Turn with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 138. I would like to bring two messages
from this Psalm. We're gonna look at the first
five verses for our message this morning. And then the Lord willing,
we'll look at the last three verses tonight. There is a stark
truth to declare in these first five verses. And there is great comfort to
declare in the last three verses. And for that reason, I felt led
to divide them in this way. So let's read verses one to five
together here in Psalm 138. I will praise thee with my whole
heart. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy
truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. 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. David here is declaring the difference. He is putting a difference, just
like our Lord did in Exodus 11. He put a difference between his
people and the world. In that same way, David is declaring
a difference in God and the gods. The capital G, God, the Lord
God, and the little g gods. He's declaring
a great difference, which there are no other gods. There are
no other true gods. There's only one God beside him. There is none else. And that's
why David said in verse one, I will praise thee with my whole
heart. My whole heart goes to you because
there's nowhere else and there's no one else for it to go to.
He goes to you the whole heart. There is one true capital G God. But sadly, he declared the truth
and I want us to enter into this. Sadly, he declared the truth
that there are many little g counterfeit gods out there. There's a bunch
of them. There is one God that has been
declared by the Holy Scripture. But there are many little g phony
gods that men and women have made up. They have changed the
declaration. There's one declaration of the
true God, but some have twisted it and altered it. And the reason
that men and women do that is because they don't like the declaration.
That's the reason that mankind does that. Men and women believe
they can improve on the declared God. That's why they change it,
that's why they alter it. They believe they can improve
on this declared God. They believe that they can fashion
a better God. And in the process, they lose
God. That's what they do whenever
they change his declaration. They throw out God and they end
up with no God at all. That has always been the case
and that is always going to be the case for sinful man. The
nature of a sinful man is prone to alter the declaration of God. That's what he's prone to do.
And but for the grace of God, all of us, this is the truth,
but for the grace of God, Every single man, woman, boy, and girl
in this room would try to change and alter the declaration of
the true and living God so that we all could worship and serve
the God of our imagination. All of us would do that. That's
where God finds all of his people. all of His people. And but for
the grace of God, that's where we would still be, worshiping
false gods of false religion, where we would still be. Look
with me at Psalm 135, verse 15. Psalm 135, verse 15, it says,
the idols of the heathen are silver
and gold The work of men's hands. They form them. They make them into whatever
they want them to be. Verse 16 says, they have mouths,
but they speak not. The one who made the little g
God has to speak for the little g God. And that happens all the
time. Verse 16 goes on to say, eyes
have they, but they see not. The men who make them have to
see for them. They make this God, but he can't
see. And I'll give you a little example. The most common little
God that men like to make is the one who cannot see their
sin. Can't see. Oh yeah, I look pretty
good. You have to see for that God.
Verse 17 says, they have ears, but they hear not. The men who
make these little gods have to hear for them. I'll cry to you
and then I'll have to answer my own cry. Because only I can
hear me. Verse 17 says, neither is there
any breath in their mouths. The men who make them have to
live for them. There's no breath in their little
God. You gotta live for that God.
Verse 18, they that make them are like unto them, dead, can't
do anything. So is everyone that trusteth
in them. They are trusting in the works
of their own hands. That's what they're trusting
in. That's what you get when you worship a false god, a little
god. You have to worship yourself
because there's nobody else to worship. You have to trust yourself when
a false god is your god. There's no one else to trust.
Look with me at Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44 verse 1 says, Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant,
and Israel, whom I have chosen. He said, you haven't chosen me,
I chose you. I've chosen you. Verse two, thus
saith the Lord that made thee and formed thee. You didn't make
me. You didn't form me. I formed
you. I made you. And I'm gonna call you to myself.
I'm gonna reveal myself to you. I'm gonna show you who the true
and living capital G God is. And I'm gonna show you what the
true and living capital G God has done for you. Done for you. You know the question in false
little g God religion is, what are you going to do for God?
All right, we got a little g God here. We got a false, fake, phony
God here. What are you going to do for
Him? How are you going to help Him? He said, let me tell you
what I'm going to do for you. Look at verse 21 right here,
Isaiah 44. He said, remember these, O Jacob
and Israel. For thou art my servant. You're my servant. I have formed
thee. Thou art my servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
me. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions. He said let me tell you what
I have done for you. I have blotted out. What did
he blot out with? His own blood. I have blotted out as a thick cloud
thy transgression, and as a thick cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forests, and
every tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified
himself in Israel. That's what I have done for you.
So he says in Isaiah 45, if you look over one chapter, in Isaiah
45 verse 20, he said, assemble yourselves and come, draw near
together ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no
knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and pray
unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me? A just God and a Savior, there
is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and there is none else. Once a sinner sees Him, I mean
really sees Him, this is what that sinner will say. Soon as
a sinner sees Him, this is what he will say. Look with me back
at our text in Psalm 138. Verse one says, I will praise
Thee with my whole heart. before the gods, in front of all these other gods
that men are setting up and declaring, before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. All of my worship, all of my
praise goes to you only. The apostle Paul, who was before
known as Saul of Tarsus, He grew up in religion, worshiping the
gods. The works of man's hands, that
false requirement. But after the true and living
God revealed himself to Saul, this is what he went around telling
everybody. As we read his writings to everybody, he said, don't
let anybody come to you preaching another Jesus. There's not another
one. Don't listen to anybody who is
preaching another gospel. There's not another one. He said,
there's one God, one Lord, one faith, one hope, one, one. David said, I'll praise thee,
I'll praise you with my whole heart. If a man or a woman is
truly going to praise the living God, then that's how he or she
will praise Him. If we're gonna truly praise Him,
that's how we'll do it, with the whole heart. With the whole heart. So many
people try to worship with the mind. And I would love for men and
women to get a hold of this. So many people try to worship
with the mind. The mind gets involved. So many people, they don't realize
that they're doing it, but they try to worship with the mind. So many people try to worship
God with the hands. In the things they do, in the
show that they put on. So many people think if you just
raise your hands, you're worshiping God. So many people try to worship
God with the knees. They want to come down to a place
where they can kneel. So many people try to worship
God with the mouth. They may not attend anywhere,
but every time they have a conversation, they're going to let you know,
I'm religious. God's people worship Him with
the heart. They worship Him with the heart. That was the warning
that our Lord gave to the Pharisees in Mark chapter 7. He said, here's
the problem. Your heart is far from me. Your
heart is far from me. Romans 10 says, with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness. Proverbs 4 says, out of the heart
are the issues of life. Proverbs 23 says, my son, give
me thine heart. Give me your heart. If God ever
gives that command to a sinner, God will give that sinner the
ability to give his heart. David said, with my whole heart
will I praise thee. And that is the giving and the
doing. That's the gift and the work
of God for a sinner. That's the grace of God to a
sinner. That's God's kindness that he would give a new heart
that's able to praise. Before, it was just a dead, stony
heart. But that's his kindness that
he would give a new heart, one that's able to praise and one
that has a desire to praise. Verse one, David said, I will
praise thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. I will worship you in the place
where you've chosen to put your name there and your truth there. And God's people will. That is
exactly what God's people do. David said, I'm not gonna go
worship in the houses of these false gods. These houses of lies and bondage
and words. Verse two, he said, I will worship
toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness
and for thy truth. I'm gonna gather in the place
where I can praise you for your grace. That's what loving kindness
is, grace, favor, free gift. I will praise you for your free
and sovereign grace. He said, and for thy truth. Every
word of truth that has been proclaimed out of your mouth, I'll praise
you for your truth. Now, I love this right here.
I absolutely love this. Look at the end of verse two.
He said, for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. The name God. the name Jehovah. Think about what he's saying
right there. His name declares who he is. His name represents
his character. His name is what his holiness
and his righteousness and his justice stands on, his name. And he said, above all of that,
you have magnified your word. What does that mean? When he
says, above your own name, you've magnified your word. What is
he saying in that? What exactly does that mean?
Look with me, if you would, at John chapter one. John chapter one. Verse one says,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. Verse 14, and the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word, Christ. Loving kindness, grace, Christ. He is the grace. He is the loving
kindness. Truth, he said, I am the truth,
the word. Look with me at 1 John chapter
five. 1 John chapter five, verse seven,
it says, For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. Christ the Word. Look with me
at Revelation 19. Revelation 19 verse 11 says, And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called. The Word of God. God has magnified His Word above
all things. That's His Son. God has magnified
Christ above all things. Where did He magnify Him? On the cross of redemption. For
those that the Father chose, Christ humbled Himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, magnified him, highly magnified him, and given him
a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ the word. is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. David said, you have magnified
your word above your own name. You've magnified your word above
your own name. The Father said, you want to
magnify me? Magnify my son. Go with me back to Psalm 138. Verse one says, I will praise
thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy
truth. For thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou
answeredest me and strengthenest me with strength in my soul. not in my body, not strength in my flesh of any
kind, but strength in my soul. He said, you've strengthened
me in my soul. Over in Psalm 66, David said,
come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what
he hath done for my soul. I'll tell you what he's done
for my soul. Verse 3 says, In the day when I cried, thou answerest
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. It is true that every knee is
going to bow, and every tongue is going to confess. But do you
know what kings he's talking about right there? He's talking about us. Do you know what we have been
made to be in Christ? Kings and priests. It's humbling,
isn't it? That's humbling. Kings and priests unto our God. Verse four, he said, 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. They're gonna
sing, there's gonna be a lot of singing throughout eternity.
There's gonna be a lot of singing. I love how the song Marching
to Zion says, let those refuse to sing who never knew our God. Some people don't like to sing
publicly. But if you ever come to see this
living God, you're gonna start singing. You'll sing in the soul, you'll
sing in the heart, you'll sing out loud. He said, yea, they
shall sing in the ways of the Lord. What are his ways? Mercy. That's his way. That's his most enjoyable thing
to do. He doesn't have time, but that's
how he spends his time. Showing mercy. Grace. Grace, here you go. That's what
this is, here you go. You need more? Here you go. Here
you go. Sure, here you go. Yeah, there
you go. That's his way. Here you go. Out already. Here you go. Truth. That's his way. Peace. That's his way. Rest. That's his way. Known unto God were all his works
from the beginning of the world, and that's where he finished
them. It's over. That's his way. It's
over. Security. Don't you love the
thought of security? Security. All of his ways will forever
bring songs that cry, the end of verse five says, great is
the glory of the Lord. Great is the glory of the Lord.
That's what we literally will be singing for all eternity. Great is the glory of the Lord. So great, so wonderful to God
and to God alone. To Him alone and to no other
be the glory for all the great things He's done for us. To God
be glory. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.