All right, go with me now, if
you would, to Psalm 138. Psalm 138. This morning, we looked at the
first five verses, which greatly declared the difference in the
true and living God and the false gods of man's made-up religion. And with the true, capital G,
God being declared, I mentioned to you that the last three verses
here are so comforting. There's so much comfort here.
We're gonna see that as soon as we read this first line in
verse six. Psalm 138, verse six, it says, though the Lord be high,
yet hath he respect unto the lowly. That's incredible. That's just incredible. Selah. Just pause there for a minute. Dwell on that. Think about that.
Though the Lord be high, lofty, exalted. That's what that means.
And He is. The Lord is high. The Lord is high above. Exalted above. And what I'd like
for us to do is let's start this message by taking a stroll through
the Psalms like we do sometimes, all right? We're just gonna stroll
through the Psalms and see how highly exalted above he is. Turn with me if you would to
Psalm 61. Psalm 61 verse 2 says, from the
end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. How high is he? Well, he's higher than me. He's
higher than you. Look with me at Psalm 87. Psalm 87 verse 5, it says, And
of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her,
and the highest himself. shall establish her, the highest
himself. He himself is the highest. There's no rival to him. No rival. Look with me at Psalm 92. Psalm
92 verse one says, It is a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high. He is the most high. And verse
eight right here says, but thou, Lord, art most high forevermore. Never will he cease to be the
most high. You know how we love the thought
and just cherish the thought that as He is, so are we? That so, the scripture says,
but never will He cease to be the most high. The, singular,
most high. He is the most high forevermore. Look at Psalm 97. Psalm 97 verse 9 says, For thou, LORD, art high above
all the earth, thou art exalted far above all gods, all little
g gods, far above. Psalm 99 verse 2 right here,
it says, The Lord is great in Zion and He is high above all
the people. In Isaiah 40 it says, all nations
before Him are as nothing. And they are counted to Him as
less than nothing and vanity, empty. That's all nations. Why is that? It's because he's
so far above them. So high, so far above them. Look at Psalm 113. Psalm 113 verse four says, the
Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens. David said, our Lord is in the
heavens. Our God is in the heavens, seated
in the heavens. And he is, but he's not just
seated in the heavens, he's far above the heavens. You think
about the heavens, you can't fathom the heavens. He is far
above the heavens, he's above the host. He's above the angels,
he's above it all. Look at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse six says, such
knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high. I cannot attain unto it. I cannot fathom how high he is. I cannot fathom just how high
he is. But look back at our text right
here. It's on my same page. Psalm 138,
verse six. It says, though the Lord be high,
yet hath he respect unto the lowly. Is that good news or what? Even though he's so high, he's
so lofty, he is so exalted yet even so he has respect. And what that means is he sees,
he beholds, he thinks on the lowly. Who are the lowly? The definition of the word is
the humbled, the humiliated, the broken, the depressed. That's who he has respect on. That's who he thinks on and beholds. And it's because of sin. It's
always because of sin. Always, people are broken over
many things and sad over many things and depressed over many
things, but over sin, that's who he looks on. Broken over
sin. All who are broken and contrite
because of their sin. Even though he's so high, he
has respect to them. He beholds them, he thinks on
them. What does he think on concerning
them? When he is thinking on them,
what is he thinking on? Look with me at Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57 verse 15, for thus saith the high and lofty
one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in
the high and lofty place with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit. to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Verse 18, he said,
I have seen his ways and will heal him. What is he thinking
on as he's seeing? As he's standing there beholding
the lowly, what's he thinking on? Verse 18, I've seen his ways
and will heal him. I will lead him also and restore
comforts unto him and to his mourners. Only God's people are
truly broken over their sin before him. Only God's people are truly,
truly Broken, and I mean broken, not just give assent to the fact
that they're sinners, I mean broken. Only God's people are
broken over their sin before him. Therefore, if a man or a
woman has been made to be truly lowly, I mean lowly before him,
made to be that by God, then these are his thoughts toward
that sinner. This is his mind, his thoughts.
He says, you are mine. If a person has been brought
down over his sin, made low, he says, you're mine. In spite
of your lowliness, I'm going to redeem you. I'm going to purchase
you. I'm going to wash you. I'm gonna
make you clean and holy and pure again. And I'm gonna do every
bit of that with and in my own blood. And then I'm gonna raise you
up and I am gonna sit you right here in the heavens with and
in me. David said, Though the Lord be
high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly. That's amazing. That's
amazing. Go back to Psalm 138. Verse six says, Though the Lord be
high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud, those
who don't see themselves to be lowly. Those who are not ashamed
to stand in their natural condition before him. Those who are not
broken and not contrite before him over their sin. Verse six
says, though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the
lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. Afar off means he's
going to destroy them. The proud, the self-righteous,
he's gonna cast them out. far off and he's going to destroy
him. Proverbs 3 says, Surely he scorneth
the scorners, but he giveth grace unto the lowly. Surely that's
what he does. What a blessing of God it is
to be brought low before him. It's painful and it's real and
it's low. It's much lower than we think
it is. It's much lower than we think
it is. But what a blessing it honestly is to be brought low
before him. Because all who are brought low
before him, I mean, all self-worth, I mean, you see emptiness, empty
vessels. I mean, made to be an empty,
empty vessel. All who are brought low are gonna
be raised up. All of them, he raises them up.
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. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble. There's all kinds of trouble in this life. But the
trouble he's talking about right here is the time of trouble. That great moment of judgment
for my sin. That's the time of trouble. Man thinks he's in trouble and
has seen trouble and been in trouble. Oh, he hasn't seen trouble
yet. That moment of judgment for all
of my sin. David said in Psalm 27, he said,
this is my hope right here. It's that in that great time
of trouble, That moment when judgment comes to me because
of my sin, my hope is that He will hide me in His pavilion. What is His pavilion? It's the person of His own self. The shelter of His own self.
David said, my hope is that He will hide me in His pavilion. in the secret of his tabernacle. This is my tabernacle and that's
your tabernacle. David said, here's my hope. It's
that he'll hide me in the secret of his tabernacle that I'll be
found in him. He said, he shall hide me and
he'll set me up on a rock and that rock is Christ. And when
the flood of judgment comes, I'm gonna be safe in him. I'll
be protected from that mighty blow. What a mighty blow. And we received it on the cross.
We witnessed our own mighty blow as we were hiding in him, right
there on the cross. Verse seven says, though I walk
in the midst of trouble, the valley of the shadow of death
and sin, He said, thou wilt revive me, you'll quicken me, you'll
bring me back to life. Man was created with life and
man lost it the moment he sinned against God. And David said,
you'll bring life to me again. He went on to say in verse seven,
thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine
enemies and thy right hand shall save me. That right hand is Christ. Christ, the right hand of God,
shall save me. What David is saying in all that
is this. Once my soul was astray. That's
what he's saying. Once my soul was astray from
the heavenly way. What's the heavenly way? It's
a person. I was astray from Christ. And
was wretched and vile as could be. That's where I was. But my
Savior in love gave me peace from above. He had respect to
me. He beheld me. He saw me. He thought on me. And this is what he thought.
He said, I'm going to send peace to him. But my Savior in love
gave me peace from above when he reached down his right hand
for me. When Christ came down, that was
the right hand of God grabbing his people. When Christ Jesus
reached down for me, when He reached way down for me, I was
lost and undone without God's precious Son. That's the moment
in the time of trouble. That's the moment when He reached
down His hand for me. Verse 6 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. Now verse eight says, the Lord
will perfect that which concerneth me. That means he will perfect
everything that needs to be perfected concerning me. As sinners, we
know we stand before God imperfect. What does it take to stand in
God's presence? Perfection. And I am not perfection
in my flesh. But David said, here's the good
news of my hope. He will perfect everything that
needs to be perfected concerning me. He'll take care of it. Perfect means finish, complete,
perfect. Paul told the Philippians, he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. If he started it, he'll finish
it. If he started it, then he will
finish it. That is told to us all over the word of God. That
message, if he started it, he'll finish it. That's told to us
all over this word, but I'm going to show you my favorite place
that it's told. Go with me to Ruth chapter three. Just before Samuel, just after
judges. Ruth chapter three. In this. book in this story,
a man named Boaz represents Christ, the great landowner, the only
man who has the right and the ability to redeem. Ruth represents us, ruined, heathen
sinners. Boaz right here has just made
a promise to Ruth that he will indeed redeem her. She came to him and she said,
if you will, you can. And he said, I most certainly
will. And he said, you go back home to your mother-in-law, Naomi,
and you wait, I'll take care of it. When Ruth got back to
Naomi and told Naomi what Boaz said, this is what Naomi said
to Ruth. Ruth 3, verse 18. Then said she, sit still, my daughter, until
thou know how the matter will fall. For the man will not be
in rest until he have finished the thing this day. You just
sit still. If he started it, he'll finish
it. You just sit still and wait. He will perfect everything that
needs to be perfected concerning you. He'll do it. He'll do it today while it's
still called today. The sun won't go down. But with
me back to 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."
There doesn't even need to be any comment on that. The mercy,
the forgiveness, that forgiveness through His blood, it's going
to endure forever. That's wonderful news. Once and
done. Once and done, it'll endure forever.
That's the power of his redemption, the glory of his redemption.
It'll last forever. Verse eight, he said, the last line, forsake not the works
of thine own hand. Forsake not the works of thine
own hand. What are the works of his own hand? This is the
last place we'll turn. Go with me to Isaiah 64. Isaiah 64, verse eight. But now, O Lord, thou art our
Father, we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are
the work of thy hand. Ephesians 2.10 says, we are his
workmanship. We're his workmanship. David
said, please don't forsake the works of thine own hands. Please
don't forsake the works of thine own hands. Don't forsake us.
He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Because
even though I'm high and lofty, I've set my affection on the
lowly and needy. I've purposed in my heart to
save you and I've purposed in my heart to keep you. And that's
what I'm gonna do. I'll do it forever. That makes
me want to start the Psalm over and say, I will praise thee with
my whole heart. I'll praise you with my whole
heart. I got this quote from Spurgeon's
Morning and Evening. Faint not nor fear. His arms
are near. He changeth not, and thou art
dear. Only believe, and thou shalt
see that Christ is all in all to thee. Everything you need.
Everything you need. Though the Lord be high, yet
he hath respect to the lowly. All right, let's all stand together.