Go with me if you would back
to Psalm 1 38. Psalm 1 38. This is a song that
very much speaks to me. Very much the words in this psalm
are just so clear and they're so powerful and they're so comforting Every time that we look at this
together it blesses me and I'm just thankful for it. I'm
so thankful for this song. I was reading back through the
Psalms and turned to this one and I had a moment of, oh yeah,
I forgot about, forgot about Psalm 138. And, um, I pray the Lord will bless it to
us tonight. I pray he will make us not only blessed, but thankful
to know this right here. Look with me at verse six, Psalm
138, verse six says, Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the
lowly. But the proud he knoweth afar
off. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. That's good, isn't it? That is
good. I want us to just dwell on that
and think on each line, each of those lines that we just read
for just a minute. Verse six says, though, the Lord
be high. I love that. I love that. How glorious it
is to think on his highness, you know, You've heard servants,
uh, reverence their King by calling him your Royal Highness. Well, just think on his Royal
Highness, how glorious it is to think on his Highness. And I'll tell you why it's glorious.
It's because in every way possible. The sinful flesh of man, and
I include my own simple flesh in this, but in every way possible in
the flesh of man, Paul said, but for the grace of God, there
go I. And it's so, but for the grace of God, there go I. But
the sinful flesh of man in every way tries to bring him down. Whether men realize it or not,
whether women realize it or not, they try to bring this high and
Holy God down. That's what Romans one tells
us in their imaginations. They, they bring him down. They
try to bring him down on equal par with them, bring him down
in mind, bring him down in their eyes, bring him down in their
heart. And they tried to make this high and Holy God common. And he's not common. And that's what man, you know,
me and him, not only have they tried to make him common, they
tried to make him lower than they are lower in ability, lower
in authority. They say things like, won't you
let God that's bringing him down. lower than your authority, lower
than your ability. So man has tried to bring him
down in decision, will, that's all man does is bring him down,
down, down. Here's the thing about it. He cannot be brought
down. He cannot be brought down. God
the Father has highly exalted him, highly lifted him up in
a way that can't even be fathomed by man. Man's imagination, you
know, eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has entered
into the heart of man. Man cannot imagine the highness
of our God. He is far above all things. His name is far above all names. His word is far above all words. Look right here at verse one,
Psalm 1 38 verse one says, I will praise thee with my whole heart. I tell you, that's a blessed
man or woman who has been made able and willing to say that. I'll praise thee with my whole
heart before the gods, little G gods. I will sing praise unto
thee. All of the gods that man's imagination
has made up, man says, well, I think God is like this. Okay,
well, I don't, I think God is like this. All of these little
G gods. He said, before all the gods,
I'll sing praise to the true and living God, the high and
holy God. Verse two, I will worship toward
the holy temple. and praise thy name for thy loving
kindness and for that truth. For thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name, even above your own name, you've magnified
your word. In the day when I cried, thou
answeredest me and strengthenest me with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall
praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways
of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Great is the
glory of the Lord. So great. Great is his glory. High and lofty is the glory of
the Lord. Ephesians 4 says, He is far above
all heavens, all of the planets and the stars, and He's far above
all that. Psalm 113 says, He looks down
on heaven. He's far above all the heavens, but He looks down on heaven.
You know, we have it in our mind that He is in heaven, and He
is. But Psalm 113 says, he has to
humble himself to behold the things that are in heaven. High
above, highly exalted is our God and our King and our Lord
and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That's who we're talking about,
the Lord Jesus Christ, highly exalted. All right, but look
with me at this right here, verse six. It says, though the Lord
be high, yet hath he respect unto the
lowly. That is compassion, that's kindness,
that is love. Though the Lord be high, yet
hath he respect unto the lowly. How low does he mean? How low
of a center is he talking about? An extremely low center will
want to know the answer to that. The lowest of the low will want
to know the answer to that. Just how low is he talking about
here? Turn with me over to Psalm 113.
I've quoted it to us here a couple of times. Let's read it. Psalm
113. This is amazing, the amazing
part of amazing grace. Psalm 113 verse 1 says, praise
ye the Lord, praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name
of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun unto
the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our
God who dwelleth on high? who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven and in the earth. Now watch verse
seven. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust. How lowly are we talking? How
low of a sinner, how low in sin is he still willing to regard
and help? He said the dust. A sinner in
the dust. You know, the scripture so often
when a man was just so low and just so broken and just so shamed
and so depressed, the scripture says he covered himself in dust
and ashes, just throwing dust and ashes on himself. Well, that's
who the Lord helps. Verse 7 says, He raiseth up the
poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy Out of the dung hill,
the dung hill. Not off of, he said out of the
dung hill. He's not just talking about the
insignificant and the unworthy, the dust. He's talking about
the unwanted. The dunghill, the repulsive,
unwanted sinner. That's who he's talking about.
He said, that's who I'll help. That's who I'll raise up. That's
who I'll wash and cleanse in my soul, cleansing blood. That's
who I'll make white as snow in the blood of the lamb. Verse
seven says, he raises up the poor out of the dust and lifted
the needy out of the dunghill. that he may set him with princes,
even with the princes of his people, his chosen people. Lifts him up to set him among
princes. Verse nine says, he maketh the barren woman to keep
house and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise you the Lord. He said, I came to cleanse the
filthy and to give life to the dead. Praise the Lord. Praise
you the Lord. That's what I was and am by nature,
filthy and dead. That's salvation. Clean and alive. Go with me back to Psalm 138. Verse six says, though the Lord
be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, he has respect
unto the lowly. The scripture says over and over,
this is so important right here. The scripture says over and over
again. We could turn to so many scriptures
that tell us over and over again that the Lord is no respecter
of persons. The Lord is no respecter of persons,
but one. There is one person that the
Lord respects. And that's Jesus Christ, the
son. He said, this is my beloved son. In him, I'm well pleased. I'll
accept him. I respect him for who he is and
what he's done. all for His lowly people. Philippians
3 says it's because Christ humbled Himself and made Himself to be
a servant of the Father, to do the work that the Father gave
Him to do, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, that He might save and redeem His people. That's
the reason why God the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him
a name above every name. The only way that any sinner
can receive respect from God is in Christ. That's the only
way. It's all because of who he is
and what he has done. The father respects Christ, the
son. But every soul that has been
placed in Christ the son receives the same thing from the father
that he receives. As he is, so are we. His respect, the father's respect
to us is not in our works or not in our anything. It's in
his son. It's all in his son. God loves us in his son. The love of God to us is in his
son. It's all extended to those who
are in the sun. The election of God is in the
sun. It's all in the sun. In Isaiah
42, the father said, my son is mine elect. I choose him. We're only elect in Him. And
the Father only has respect. He only has a willing compassion
and a joy and a respect towards us lowly sinners in Christ our
Savior, His beloved Son. Verse six says, though the Lord
be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, but the proud
He knoweth afar off. The proud he knoweth afar off,
that was proven to King Nebuchadnezzar. And he spent the rest of his
days telling everybody, don't follow in my footsteps. Those that walk in pride, he's
able to abase. All pride is going to be abased
before him, but there is no pride that's gonna be abased like self-righteous
pride. self-worthiness before God. That's what the Lord said concerning
the Pharisee and the publican in the temple. He said, everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Lord, let me humble myself before
you. If I do, that's you creating
a willing heart for me to be humbled. But let me humble myself
so you don't have to humble me. Let me cast my all on you. Let
me bow before you. Verse seven says, though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies and thy right hand shall
save me. He said, that's my, that's my
hope. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. This life is, this is few days
and full of trouble. Trouble. David said in Psalm
23, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, you're with me. That's the reason. The right
hand of God is with me. Jesus Christ, my Savior. The
scripture refers to our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ as being
at the right hand of God. It constantly says he is at the
right hand of God. And what that means is in the
place of his honor. It doesn't mean that he is beside
God. It means he is sitting in the seat of God's honor. It means he is God. He is the
one who sits in the seat of God's honor. He is at the right hand
of God. And he is the right hand of God. The right hand, the right arm,
he's the strength of God's ability to save. Jesus Christ is the
strength of God's ability to save. Turn with me over to Isaiah
52. Isaiah 52 verse 9 says, Break forth into joy, sing together
ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his
people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations. and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God. The Lord hath made bare
Christ his holy arm. Every time that we read these
verses, I want to tell you this story. And sometimes I don't,
and tonight I am. I've told it to you so many times
before, but This is how I relate to this.
When I was real young, probably about five years old, living
in Louisiana, I made this request all the time. But I have a very
vivid visual memory of the house that I was not exactly born into,
but my second home. My dad was sitting up in his
bed and after me watching all of my TV shows that had muscle
men in it, I came up to him and I said,
dad, show me your muscle. And he pulled his sleeve up,
you know, and gave me what he had. And I laid both of my hands
on that muscle. And I felt safe. I felt safe
in His strength. There it is, there's your muscle. Well, the Lord hath made bare
His holy arm for all of His children. All who need His strength, all
who need His safety, all who need His comfort, all who are
weak and lowly, crying out to him. If you get low enough, if
you truly get low enough, you will cry out to him, Lord. And
I don't mean this in any other way than reverence as a child
to a father. But if you get low enough, you'll
cry out to him, Lord, I need to see your muscle. I need to
see your strength. I need you to help me. I need
you to revive me. Lord, revive me. Do you ever
get to a place where you need reviving? Revive me again, please. Be my strength and shield. David
was constantly saying, Lord, please be my strength and my
shield. Protect me, defend me, save me
by the strength of Christ alone. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is totally of you. Not me and you together, it's
you alone. If that's our cry to him, honestly, we will see
his strength. He'll make known Christ to us,
the strength of our salvation. We sing the song, once my soul
was astray from the heavenly way and was wretched and vile
as could be, but my savior in love gave me peace from above
when he reached down his hand for me. He lifted me up from the deep
miry clay and saved me. I need your strength,
I need Christ to be made known to me. Go with me back to Psalm
138. Verse eight says, the Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me. I honestly, very few lines in
scripture ought to comfort a sinner's heart like that one right there.
One, a person who is just imperfect in every way, shape and form.
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. I cannot do it. I can't do it. I cannot perfect
myself before God. I can clean up a little bit and
I can straighten up and fly right a little bit, but God looks on
my heart and God looks on my mind. And I can't do it. I cannot earn my own righteous
perfection before God. Thank God, Christ will do it
for me. Isn't that relieving? Christ
will do it for me. Philippians one verse six says,
he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. He'll do it. He'll do it for
every single one of his people. Verse eight says, The Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth
forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. The works of thine own hands. He has no hands but your hands. Lies. Forsake not the works of
thine own hands, the works that Christ wrought, the works that
he earned perfection for his people, the works that satisfied
justice and judgment for his people, the works of his body,
the works of his blood. That's where our mercy comes
from. That mercy that endures forever. Mercy is in the blood. He said, Lord, please don't forsake
it. Don't forsake mercy. Don't forsake
your grace. Don't forsake the works of your
own hands. He won't. He cannot deny himself. He said, I'll never forsake you.
Not if you're in me, not if the father gave you to me. Our acceptance
with God is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 64
verse 8 says, he is the potting potter and we are the clay. We are the work of his hands.
He'll mold us and shape us and do with us whatever He's pleased
to do. And thank God He has been pleased
to conform us to His image. He will perfect everything that
needs to be perfected concerning us. To every soul who is truly looking
to Him to accomplish that work of perfection and acceptance. The promise of the father is
not only will he accomplish that work, he'll perfect it. Not only will he accomplish acceptance,
he'll perfect acceptance. And he'll do it by conforming
us to the image of Christ. I've heard the illustration so
many times of that man who was whittling those hound dogs. And
a fella came by and said, those are fantastic. How do you do
that? And he said, well, I just cut off everything that don't
look like a hound dog. And that's what. The Spirit of God will do for
us. He will perfect everything that concerns us, and in the
end, we will look just like Jesus Christ. That is unimaginable
to me. We don't know what we shall be,
but we know that the moment that He appears, we're gonna see Him. We'll all be changed. We're gonna
be just like Him. He's gonna perfect us to the
same perfection that Christ is. And I can't wait. I cannot wait. Lord, perfect that which concerns
me. Perfect that which concerns us. This is our hope. This is our
desire. This is our plea. Lord, please
look down on us lowly sinners. Please save your people. Reach
down with your right hand and save your people. Perfect that
which concerns us, don't let Your mercy toward us end. Forsake
not the works of Thine own hands. All who are looking to Him for
that work will receive it, every one. All right, let's all stand
together.