That's a good song, isn't it?
I almost asked you all to sing with me on the chorus, but I
thought, I don't know, they may not know the words yet. Go with me to Psalm 138. Psalm 138, the last verse in
this psalm is a verse that brings great relief to my heart every
time I read it. That is, I am being very sincere. It brings great relief to my
heart every single time I read it. Psalm 138, verse eight says, The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hand. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. You know what that means. That
means I don't have to do it. That's what it means. I don't
have to do it, which is good news because I can't do it. That's extremely good news because
I can't do it. You know, you go through that
phase where you keep telling yourself, man, I gotta do better.
And believe me, we do. We oughta do better. There's
no excuse here. I'm not excusing sin. I'm not
excusing the flesh. But you know, you go through
this phase where it's like, okay, I'm gonna, all right, today's
a new day. We're gonna straighten up a little bit today. Honestly, I am past the point
of even trying to fool myself into thinking that I have the
ability to make anything out of this flesh that will be pleasing
to God. If I do better than yesterday,
great. But I'm still not going to be
pleasing to God. I am still not going to be, not
in this flesh. Never will I do anything that
is remotely pleasing, much less perfect. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I cannot
do anything to perfect the things that concern me. But the good news of God's gospel
is He can and He will. He has. He did, he can, and he
will. And he did, and he will. And he already has, but he will.
Some of you understand what I'm saying. He is able and willing. He is able and he's willing. The Lord will. He will. You know, I think about
that leper, came up to him, that leper, he was breaking the law
because a leper had to leave the crowd crying, unclean, unclean. You know, you go that way, I'll
go this way. He came into the middle of the crowd. That was
a law. They broke the law. He was a sinner. Came right up
in and he bowed down before the Lord. He said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. And the Lord said, I will. I will. The Lord will. The Lord will perfect. That means make perfect. It means bring to maturity, bring
to fullness, bring to completion. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Sinful me. ruined me, wretched me. The Lord will do that for me.
That's a good thing to believe and know and cling to. The Lord
will do that for me. Look with me at Psalm 57. This is so good. This is so good. Psalm 57, and we'll wait till
all the pages stop turning. Okay. Verse two, Psalm 57, verse
two, it says, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that
performeth all things for me. That is what makes me happy.
That right there is what makes me happy. That is what brings
relief to me. When you look at me, that's what
you see in a relieved man, a very relieved man. What must I do? What must I do? What must I do? Nothing. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. Go back to Psalm 138. Verse eight says the Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me, the Lord will do it. He will do it. He
will do it. He's the one who will do it.
I've wondered before. Why we have pews in true gospel
churches. True. You know, places that declare
the true work of Christ, I've wondered why we have pews before.
I almost think it'd be better if we just line the auditorium
with lazy boys. Because the good news of God's
gospel in Christ is that restful. It is that restful. This is what the gospel says.
Take a load off. You know, we come in just so
worried and we come in just so fretful. Fret not thyself. Relax. But I've sinned against
God. Rest. Rest, just rest. Why? Why? Because there's nothing
for you to do. That's the reason why there's
nothing for you to do. Well, I thought I had to believe
on Christ. Oh, God will give you faith. God will put His faith, the faith
of Christ, God will put that in you. He will. As the rivers
of water, God will turn your heart in His good time. God will do
that. Just wait on the Lord. Rest. Well, don't I have to at least
come to Christ? Oh, don't worry, God will draw
you. He'll do that. God will actually,
according to the scripture, He will carry you. He will carry
you all the way to Jesus Christ. And He'll make you willing and
happy for Him to do so. He does that for all of his elect,
all of his chosen people, every particular soul that was given
to Christ and redeemed in Christ, all of them are carried to Christ.
Every one of them. All of them. All that the Father
giveth me, come to me. They shall. Why? Because the
Father's going to draw them. The Father's going to get them.
Wait on the Lord. Rest. Lean back on the recliner of
God's Word. Rest. Prop your feet up on the
promise of God's Word. Look with me at Philippians chapter
1. Philippians 1. Verse 6, 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. Everything that needs to be done
concerning you, he will do it. He will do it. He's the one who
will perform it. You just rest. You just rest. Trust Him and rest. Listen to these scriptures right
here. Psalm 37 verse 7, it says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. We want to know, what should
I do? What should I do? Here it is. Rest in the Lord and wait
patiently for Him. Psalm 116 verse 7 says, Return
unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully
with thee. Return to your rest. The Lord
has dealt bountifully with you. How has He dealt bountifully
with us? The next verse right there says, For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my
feet from falling. You did all that for me, so I
could just rest. Return to your rest. Return to
your rest. Matthew 11, 28, our Lord said,
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give
you the instructions on what you need to do. Not what he said. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. I'll give
you rest. Turn to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4 verse 1, let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. How do you come short of rest?
By working. You almost rested, but you didn't. Let's fear lest a promise being
left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem
to come short of it. Verse 2, for unto us was the
gospel preached as well as unto them. What does the gospel say? Rest, the work is finished. Unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit
them. not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. They heard, stop working, the
work's done, but they thought, I don't believe that. I don't
believe the work's done. I think I need to keep working. Verse three says, for we which
have believed, we enter into rest. What is the evidence of
faith? What is the evidence of faith?
Rest in Christ. Rest in Christ. What is the evidence
of strong faith? Complete and total rest in Christ. Trust in the promised word of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what is the promised word
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Here it is. He will perfect that
which concerns you. He will perfect that which concerns
you. He perfected creation. He perfected salvation, redemption, justification, sanctification,
Substitution, I know all those are big words, but that's everything
that pertains to our salvation. Christ perfected it all. If we need wisdom, Christ will
be our wisdom. If we need righteousness, Christ
will be our righteousness. If we need faith, Christ will
be our faith. If we need faithfulness and devotion,
Christ will be our faithfulness and devotion. Christ will be
all and in all for us. Therefore, we can just rest. We can rest. Look at Hebrews
7. This is good. This is a good
scripture for this particular subject matter. Hebrews 7, look
at verse 19. It says, for the law made nothing
perfect, but Christ did. Christ is that better hope right
there. Verse 19, for the law made nothing
perfect, But the bringing in of a better hope did. That's
Christ. By the witch we draw nigh unto
God. No man comes to the Father but
by Christ. Look at Hebrews 10 verse 11. This was man trying to earn his
own redemption. work his own forgiveness with
God all through the Old Testament. Verse 11, it says, every priest
stood all that time, standeth daily, ministering, offering,
oftentimes, the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin.
Somebody would do something, and the law would say, you have
to bring a dove for that. So they would do it, and then
they'd bring a dove, and they would kill the dove. And then
he'd turn right back around and go do it again, and he'd have
to go get another dove and say, here, I did it again. And they're
just doing the same sacrifices and the same sacrifices. Verse
11, every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this
man, Jesus Christ. After he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He
did it. He did it, and he did it alone.
He did it by himself, alone, by himself. He purged our sins. Look with me at 1 Peter 5. 1
Peter 5. Verse 10, it says, but the God
of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, he'll
make you perfect. And he'll establish you and strengthen
you and settle you. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Just rest. He'll do it
all. Rest in him. Now go with me back
to Psalm 138. Verse 8 says, the Lord will perfect
that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Why will the Lord perfect that
which concerns you and me? He will, but why? Why will He do that? Here's the answer. It's because
His mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. Do
you ever feel like whatever good he may be working in you, you
are constantly messing it up? Ever feel like that? Well, number
one, we cannot mess up God's good work. We can't do it. But number two, he will continue
to work in us, in spite of us, because his mercy toward his
people endures forever, forever. He does not change, and that's
why we're not consumed. He is merciful, and therefore
his mercy endures forever. What he is, it endures forever.
I know we're turning a lot, but we're almost done. Go with me
to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, look at verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we're dust. We keep saying, I
don't feel like I'm anything more than just dust. He knows.
He knows that. Verse 15, as for man, his days
are his grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto children's children. It endures forever.
It endures forever. This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every single morning. Great is thy faithfulness. That's wonderful. Back to Psalm
138. Verse 8 says, The Lord will perfect
that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. You will do it. You know, David is speaking with
the confidence that God has given him. The Lord will perfect that
which concerns him. I believe that. You know, Paul
said, I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. The Lord
will perfect that which concerns me because he's merciful. And David said, Lord, please
don't ever forsake the works that you've done. I know you'll
do this because you're merciful, but please don't ever forsake
the works of your own hands. Our only hope, honestly, our
only hope is in the fact that God will not forsake the works
of his own hands. He won't repent from His goodness
and grace to His people. Listen to these scriptures. Deuteronomy
4.31 says, For the Lord thy God is a merciful God. He will not
forsake thee, neither destroy thee. Nor forget the covenant
of thy fathers, which he swear unto them. He's speaking to every
soul in that covenant. Every soul in the covenant of
Christ, every soul in the covenant of blood. Every soul that he's caused to
hope in that word. Every soul. That's who he's talking
to. Somebody will hear this and say,
well, I'm hoping in this word. Then he's talking to you. Every soul that hopes in his
word. First Samuel 1222 says the Lord will not forsake his
people for his great name's sake. Because it has pleased the Lord
to make you his people, he will not forsake for his great name's
sake. What is his great name? The Lord
that healeth thee. The Lord that redeemeth thee,
the Lord that saveth thee, the Lord your God. I am the Lord
your God. He will not forsake for his mercy's
sake. He will not forsake for his great
name's sake. He will not forsake because of
this right here. This is the most important moment
in the message. Go to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking. Verse one, he said, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why hast thou forsaken me? The Lord Jesus Christ will not
forsake his people because he was forsaken for his people. He was forsaken by God. for His
people, to put away the sin of His people. That's what it took.
He had to be forsaken. That means abandoned, deserted,
left helpless. Because He was forsaken on the
cross of Calvary in the very place of His people, in the very
stead of His people, for His people, as His people, so they
did not have to hang there. For that reason, he said, he
has promised to each one of his own, I will never leave you and
I'll never forsake you. I'll never forsake you. Because
I was forsaken for you, I'll never forsake you. Look with
me at Psalm 37, verse 25. I have been young and now am
old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging bread. Never seen it. He is ever merciful
and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. His chosen seed. They're blessed. Paul told the
Corinthians, he said, we're troubled on every side. We're troubled on every side.
You know what God's people are troubled on every side, troubled
in the world. You shall have trouble in the
world. You're going to have tribulation,
but you just remember this. Here's where you can rest. I've
overcome the world. But Paul told the Corinthians
were troubled on every side, yet not distressed because of
that reason. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Why? It's because we're clinging
to the life and death of Jesus Christ. That's the reason why.
We are clinging to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what God's people cling to, the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are clinging to the promise
of his word that he will perfect that which concerns us. And he
will do that because his mercy endures forever and he will not
forsake the works of his own hands. That's our hope. And it's
a sure hope. It is a sure hope. It's one we
can rest in. Amen.