Psalm 135, I had this verse of
scripture picked out and settled on my heart for our message
this morning. And then I got the call about
my dad. And then I knew why I had this
verse of scripture picked out for our message this morning.
This immediately became a message for me, a message of comfort and reassurance
for me. And I pray it will be for you
too. Our text is verse six, Psalm 135, verse six, it says, Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep
places. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. He did it. He was the doer of
it. If it was something that he wanted
to be done, He was the one who did it. God is in control of everything. That is the point of this entire
message. God is in control of everything. Everything in heaven, whether
we're talking about the sky, where the clouds are, all that
stuff that goes on there, or whether we're talking about space,
where the stars and the comets and the planets are, or whether
we're talking about glory, where the angels and his people and
the kingdom of God are. He's in control of everything.
In heaven, Everything in earth, whether we're talking about people,
happenings, circumstances, events, he's in control of everything
in the seas. Don't you love the accounts where
he controlled the fish? Cast your net on the other side
of the boat. First fish you pull up, there's
going to be a coin in his mouth. He told a whale, go swallow Jonah. He's in control of everything
in all deep places, all secret places, all dark places. God is in control of everything. Whatever he has been pleased
to do, he has done it. Acts 15 verse 18 says, known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. His
works, his works. Ephesians 1 11 says, he works
from the beginning. You know, they say, he has no
hands but your hands, you got to do it for him. He works all
things after the counsel of his own will. Proverbs 21.1 says, the king's
heart, meaning the earthly rulers of earthly nations, the kings,
the presidents, the prime ministers. We forget all this, don't we? The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turns
it whithersoever he will. Isaiah 46, 11 says, he tells
birds where to fly and men where to travel to. If a man comes all the way over
here from a far country, the Lord told him to do that. Whatever the Lord has pleased
to be done, that's what he has caused to happen. And everything
that he has determined to happen, that determination will stand
forever. If he determined it, it is a
determination that cannot be undone. Ecclesiastes 3.14 says, I know
that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can
be put to it nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it that
men should fear before him. Psalm 72.18 says, Blessed be
the Lord God. The God of Israel who only doeth
wondrous things. Everything that he does is wondrous,
full of wonder. Mark 737 says, he hath done all
things well. Everything he does is well. Next
time somebody says, how's it going? Say, well. Romans 8, 28 says, everything
that he does works together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. And what we need
to take from all that is this, everything that the Lord pleases
to be done, that's what's done in everything. In all things,
all things are of the Lord. All things are of the Lord. By
the hand of the Lord, according to the will of the Lord, for
the all wise purpose of the Lord. And I have a few scriptures for
us this morning to prove that to us. And to hopefully bring
some great comfort and peace and rest. regarding everything
that is, everything that happens, everything that's done concerning
anyone or anything in this world or in the world to come. All
of it is of the Lord. All of it is of the Lord. Verse
six, whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in
earth, in the seas, and all deep places, all of it is of the Lord. David said in Psalm 115, three,
our God is in the heavens right now doing whatever he's pleased
to do, whatever he's pleased to do. Everything is of the Lord. Okay, I have five scriptures
to give us a very good view of this. Number one, turn with me
to 2 Kings chapter six. Second Kings, chapter six. Here in Second Kings six, There was a famine in Israel. And the king of Israel was so
distressed over it, he had lost all hope of deliverance. It had
just gone on and on and on, and he lost all hope of food being given to the people. And Elisha was about to tell
him the good news. In chapter seven, Elisha tells
him that Deliverance is coming tomorrow. There's gonna be so
much food here. You're not even gonna know what to do with it
but Before he could tell him that this King sent a messenger
to Elisha to say in verse 33 It says while Elisha yet talked
with the elders that he was with While he yet talked with them
behold the messenger came down unto him, and he said on behalf
of the king, behold, this evil is of the Lord. What should I
wait for the Lord any longer? I can't continue on. I can't
do anything about this evil that has come upon us because it's
of the Lord. It's of the Lord. This evil,
even this evil is of the Lord. Now, I cannot explain this other
than to say that this proves the absolute sovereignty of God
over all things. Our God is not the author of
evil. He's not the author of confusion. He's not the author
of sin, but he is still the sovereign over it. He's still the sovereign
over all of it. Look at Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45 verse 5 says, I am
the Lord, and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. I form the light. and create
darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. You say, explain that. I can't. I can't. All I can do is declare
it. He said, I'm the only God that
there is. And nothing happens outside of
my control. Verse 7, I form the light and
create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. See if you can find the book
of Amos. If your Bible is like mine, it's page 1142, but it's
at the end of the Old Testament. It's after Daniel and Hosea and
then Joel and then Amos. If you can find Daniel, Hosea,
Joel, Amos. Amos chapter three. Verse six. Shall a trumpet be blown in the
city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city? And the Lord hath not done it.
The Lord hath not allowed it, allowed it to happen. No matter
what it is, whether we see it to be a good thing or a bad thing,
it is the Lord. It is the Lord. of the Lord. Samuel had to tell the prophet
Eli one time, God is going to kill both of your sons because
of their sin against him. And Eli said, and I'm sure with
much pain and agony in his heart, can you imagine? With much pain and agony, Samuel
said, God told me to tell you that he's going to kill both
your boys. And he said, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth
him good. It's the Lord, even what appears
to be evil against us, all of it is in the hand of the Lord. All right, number two. Turn to
Psalm 37. Psalm 37. The last half of verse 38 says, the end of the wicked shall be
cut off, but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Jonah 2 verse 9 says the same
thing. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
was of the Lord in the purpose and will of God from eternity
past. Salvation was of the Lord in the blood of Christ, through
the cross of Christ, by his death, burial, and resurrection. That's
how salvation came to God's people. Salvation is of the Lord in the
quickening work of God's spirit, calling his redeemed people to
himself. Now let me just get candid with you. I want God to save people. I want God to save our children,
but I want God to save our adults. I want God to save me. And I
pray that every time the gospel goes out, God would open somebody's
eyes and save. And for that reason, I try to
do the best job I can. This is not up to me. is of the Lord. And if anybody
is going to have their eyes open and their hearts open, if any
soul is going to see Christ, God is going to have to do that.
And God is going to get the glory for that. It's of the Lord. If the Lord
is not here and the Lord is not with us, what we're doing is
dead. This is dead. We're of all men most miserable. But if God would move, if he
would move by his spirit and grab the heart and the soul of a blind sinner to him, if
he would give life, give eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart
to believe, then that soul will be saved. All of the sudden, That soul will be saved. Life
will be given. Salvation has nothing to do with
man. I am becoming more and more convinced
of that. Salvation has nothing to do with
us. Salvation is not of us. In any part, any way, any shape,
any form. We don't decide to be saved.
We don't make a choice to accept his salvation. We make nothing effectual, nothing official. Let's go ahead
and make it official. No, he made it official. He started
it. He performed it. He finished
it. If he did it, it's official. He by himself purged our sins
with his own blood. Salvation is of the Lord, period. Number three. Turn with me to
Proverbs 16. Verse 33, Proverbs 16, verse
33, it says, the lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. I just got candid
with you a minute ago, and I knew this was the next one I thought,
no, I ought to get candid in the next one. That describes
preaching. I feel such a burden in this. I'm so burdened about
this. I'm begging God to give me a message. I'm begging God
to let me get a hold of it. I'm begging God to give me liberty
to preach it and bless me and bless them and wake me up and
wake them up. That burden never goes away.
I cannot help it. I feel like the lot has been
cast into my lap. Thank God the whole disposing
is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Now our lives
have been predestinated. Everything concerning us was
ordered and made sure before the foundation of the world.
The things that we are doing in our lives were predestinated
by God for to be done. I am here because before the
foundation of the world, God predestinated for me to be here
right now. And you are here for the same
reason. These decisions that we think
we have to make, life decisions, so many decisions to make, so
many directions that we're trying to figure out, which way are
we supposed to go? All of that has already been set in stone.
It has already been set in stone by the Lord. The path of God's people, the
very steps of God's people are of the Lord. It was all before time began,
ordered by the Lord. And all we have to do is wait and watch, watch it all
unfold. You know, we seek the Lord's
will in things and we're trying to, you know, some people say,
well, you know, turn the doorknob. If the door opens, walk through
it. And if it closes, don't, you know, and that's what we
do. But really, we don't have to turn the doorknob. If God
wants us to go through the door, the door is going to open and
he's going to drag us through the door. If we have to get swallowed by
a whale to make it happen. That's what's gonna happen, and
all we have to do is stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord, and see the providence of the Lord, and see the predestination
of the Lord. So for our comfort, let's remember,
the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
of the Lord. All of our trials, our troubles,
these evils we feel like come upon us, that's of the Lord.
Our eternal salvation is of the Lord. Our entire path through
life is of the Lord. Number four, go with me to Proverbs
21. Proverbs 21 verse 31 says, the horse is prepared against
the day of battle but safety is of the Lord. That's so true. The margin says that word safety
means victory. Victory is of the Lord in every
way, victory in life, victory in death. Thanks be to God which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Victory
is of the Lord, but so is safety. Safety is of the Lord. Our safety is in His hands. Our wellness, our protection,
our life is in His hands. You know, we are constantly telling
our girls, we're constantly instructing our girls on how to be and how
to this and that. I was doing it in the car ride
over to the service this morning. Safety's of the Lord. It's of the Lord. I think everybody
ought to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves, and have a
good head on your shoulders, and look around every now and
then, and be smart. Safety's of the Lord. It's of
the Lord. We don't need to be afraid of
dying. Death is in the hand of the Lord. Job 14.5 says, Man's days are
determined. The number of his months are
with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds.
He can't pass. I think everybody ought to be
healthy, but you're not going a day early or a day late. If you want a fillet of fish,
go get a fillet of fish. I don't know. I love fillet of fish. Some people
don't. But you know what I'm saying,
you understand what I'm saying, this is all in the hands of the
Lord. You know, I do think people ought to be healthy and have
a quality of life and such on and so forth, but this is in
the hands of the Lord. Our days are in the hands of
the Lord. He said, I kill, I make alive, I wound, I heal. I was gonna have you turn over
there, but I just quoted to you, Deuteronomy 32, 39. That's what he said. I kill,
I make alive, I wound, I heal. We don't need to be afraid of
sickness. You know, we all fear going to
the doctor for a checkup and what are they going to say? The
older we get, we don't need to, I don't want sickness and I don't
want you to have sickness, but we don't need to fear sickness.
We don't need to fear it because our sickness is in the hand of
the Lord. He gives sickness. He takes sickness
away. If we're inflicted, it's of the
Lord. The Lord did it. If we're healed,
it's of the Lord. The Lord did it. He is our healer. The Lord that healeth thee. He
is the great physician. So all of our trials are of the
Lord. Our eternal salvation is of the
Lord. Our predestinated path through
this life is of the Lord. And our safety along the way
is of the Lord. It's all in the hand of the Lord.
One more, go with Lamentations 3. Lamentations 3. After Jeremiah, Lamentations
3. Verse 21, Lamentations 3, 21. 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 morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. Long-suffering, patience, forgiveness,
grace, favor. God's faithfulness. is of the
Lord. It's of the Lord. In Malachi
3 verse 6, he said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Verse 22 says, it is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail
not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore, will I hope in him. Everything is of the Lord. Therefore, we will hope in him. We will hope in him. That's all
we need to do for the rest of our days, the rest of our days
on this earth. And that's all we need to do
for the rest of time and eternity. Hope in him. That's what we're
going to do. It's all in his hand. It's all
of the Lord. Amen.