Alright, turn with me if you
would to Psalm 67. Excuse me. Psalm 67. Let's read this chapter
again. God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon
us. And I love that David put us
alive to the first verse. He said, that's far enough. Let's
just think about that for a minute. Just pause right there and think
about that. God, be merciful unto us and
bless us and cause His face to shine upon us, that Thy way may
be known upon earth by saving health among all nations. Let
the people praise Thee, O God. Let all the people praise Thee.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, For thou shalt
judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise thee, O
God, let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield
her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the
ends of the earth shall fear him. David is begging God to
bless us in verse one. He's begging God to bless us. And he is confidently declaring
that God shall bless us in verse seven. And that's what I want
us to focus on in this psalm tonight. God blessing us, God's
blessings upon us. If you have a center reference
in your Bible, you may see that verse 1 references Numbers chapter
6. Turn with me over there to Numbers
chapter 6. This is a beautiful benediction
or prayer that the Lord has given us. Numbers 6 verse 22 it says, And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this
wise, you shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face
shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. and they shall put
my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
The Lord has a particular people that he has chosen to bless,
and he said, I will bless them. He has a chosen people, and I
pray we are among them. because he said, I am going to
bless them. I'm going to bless them. You know, the blessing of the
Lord is Christ. He is the blessing of the Lord
in begging God for all things and begging him for mercy. We're
begging for Christ. When we beg for mercy, we're
begging for Christ. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. And the only hope that we have
of standing in the day of judgment and being justified and being
accepted in the day of judgment, the only hope that we have is
mercy in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the only hope we have. David cried, God be merciful
to us. Be merciful to us. What that
means is give Christ what we deserve. Would you please give
Christ what we deserve? We read in the scriptures of
what God says he's going to do in the punishment of sin and
particular sins. He says, if you do this, then
this is how I'm gonna punish you for it. We read that and
think, I've done that. I do it too. What's gonna stop him from punishing
me? Why would he not punish me? If
he's gonna punish them, if he will not clear them, then why would he clear me? Why won't he punish me? for doing
the same thing. If I am in Christ, He did punish
me. If I am in Christ, He punished
me. He did not clear me. He gave me everything that I
deserved in the sacrifice of His Son. That is God being merciful
to us by removing our sins from us and laying them on Christ
His Son. David cried, God be merciful
to us and bless us. Go back to Psalm 67. Verse one
says, God be merciful unto us. Would you please give Christ
what we deserve? And would you please give us
what Christ deserves? Would you be merciful to us and
would you bless us? That's pretty bold, isn't it?
Would you please give Christ what we deserve? And to go a
step further, would you give us what he deserves? That's pretty
bold. That's a bold thing to ask. Would you be merciful to
us and gracious to us? Grace is getting what we don't
deserve. Would you please give us what
we don't deserve? That's what we're asking for
when we're asking for God's grace. Would you please give to us what
only Christ deserves? Only Christ deserves grace. And He is grace. He is the gift. And we beg, we ask and we beg,
would you please not give us what we deserve? And please give
us what we don't deserve. The true blessing of God is Christ. God's true gift to sinners is
Christ. The end of verse one says, calls
His face to shine upon us. Please cause his face to shine
upon us. Nothing would be a greater blessing
to us than if he would just look upon us with favor. If he would
just look upon us in the countenance of his favor. If he would smile
at us, that's what he's saying. If he would shine on us, the
Lord will, and we're gonna close this message in a moment with
the song, That Will Be Glory. Oh, that will be glory. And this
is what that song says. It says, when all my labors and
trials are over, and I am safe on that beautiful shore, just
to be near the dear Lord I adore, will through the ages be glory
for me. That will be glory for me, just
to be near him. When by the gift of his infinite
grace I am accorded in heaven a place, just to be there and
to look on his face will through the ages be glory for me. Here's
the line I wanted to get to. Friends will be there I have
loved long ago. Joy like a river around me will
flow, yet just a smile from my Savior I know. will through the
ages be glory for me. Oh, that will be glory for me.
If he would just look my way and smile at me. You ever have
a close friend that you can catch eyes with each other and smile?
You just saying, you're my friend. So we said about Abraham, that's
what he says about all of his people. I laid down my life for
my friends. If he'll just look my way and
smile at me. That's going to be glory. Verse one says, God
be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine
upon us. Now I want us to consider this
for just a moment. In verse one, he said, may God
bless us. And in verse seven, he said,
God shall bless us. You know, that's not, anytime
the scripture says shall, you can count on it. That does not say God might bless
us. It doesn't say we are in the
best possible position for God to bless us. He said, God shall
bless us. He shall bless us. Now here's
what I want us to consider. What does God's blessing look
like? As we spend the rest of our days
on this earth, David said, God shall bless us. What does God's blessing look
like? What is the evidence of God's
blessing? We're asking him to bless us.
How will we know when he's doing it? What is the evidence of His
blessing on us? Now, we could try to point the
finger at those who are worldly-minded all that we want to. We could
try to say, look at them and look at what they think. But the fact of the matter is,
believers naturally think the same thing that the world thinks. And the reason is because believers
are still flesh And the flesh cannot help it.
It naturally thinks that the evidence of God's blessing on
a person is health, wealth, and happiness. Believers think the
same thing unbelievers think. The spirit knows better, but
the flesh just can't help it. We who are believers, and I'm
talking about myself, we who are believers, we can't help
it. In our flesh, we think the same thing that this entire world
thinks. When our health is gone, our
money is gone, and our happiness is gone, we think God's blessing
is not on us. What am I doing wrong? What's
going on here? Why God's blessing is not on
me? When all of that stuff is gone,
we think His blessing has just skipped over us. You see what's
going on with that guy over there? God's blessing is on him, and
it's just skipped over me. Now, is that the case? Does our
health, our wealth, and our happiness determine whether or not God's
blessing is on us? Look with me, if you would, at
Matthew 8. Matthew 8, verse 1. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. Great multitudes. He delivered the sermon on the
Mount and he finished his message and he started walking down the
Mount and great multitudes followed him. Verse two says, and behold,
there came a leper, a leper, one leper. Out of that great multitude,
one man came to him in the sickness of his flesh. Verse two says,
and behold, there came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth
his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Now, out of all those people,
who was the blessed one? Here's the answer. Here's the
answer to the whole message, the one who had a need. Out of all those, I'm sure that
was not the only sick man in that great multitude. They're
all sinners, and where sinners are, sickness is, and all of
these things exist. But this man came to Christ with
a need. And we can apply this to where
we are today. Look with me at Mark chapter
five. Mark 5 verse 25, it says, And
a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent
all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and
touched his garment, For she said, if I may touch but his
clothes, I shall be whole. In straight way, the fountain
of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she
was healed of that plague. And Jesus immediately, knowing
in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press and said, who touched my clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, you see this multitude thronging
you, and sayest thou who touched me? And he looked round about
to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing
and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down
before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be
whole of thy plague. Out of all those people who touched
him, he was being thronged. He was being thronged. She was
not the only person who touched him. I guess we have it in our mind
that one person reached in and touched him. He was being thronged. He was being groped. Out of all
those people who touched him, who was the blessed one? The one who had a need. Turn to Mark chapter 10. Mark 10, verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging. And if you notice, that other
woman spent all she had. These people are all sick, broke,
and unhappy, all of them. And I love this man. I can't
wait to speak to old Bartimaeus. Every time I read his name, I
just like him. But he sat by the highway side begging, and
when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind
man saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he casting away his garment,
rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said
unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Out of that
great crowd in Jericho, Out of every person who watched him
pass by, who was the blessed one? The one who had a need. Our Lord said, they that are
whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick do. I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The greatest blessing, the greatest
blessing that God could ever bestow on sinners like us is
a heart cry and a heart need for Christ. Not just a mind need. a heart
need. And if he uses physical sickness
to bring about that need, then that physical sickness is
our blessing. Charles Spurgeon was a very,
very sick man. He died at the age of 57 years
old. He had to take long sabbaticals from the ministry. He had to
leave the ministry for a while and he went to, I think it was
France, but he had a lot of pain in his body. Anyway, just toward the end of
his life, very sick man, but this is what he said. He said,
one of the greatest physical blessings, physical blessings
we could ever receive on this earth is health. The only physical blessing that
is greater is sickness. And the reason he said that is
because it drives us to Christ. A need for Him is the evidence
of God's blessing upon us. Now do we beg for sickness and
trials and things like that? No, we do not. No, we do not. We don't cry, Lord send sickness
to me and send trials to me. We don't cry that. But if that's
what it takes for me to see my need, so be it. When there is no need for Christ,
No need for his spirit, no need for his worship, no need to gather
with his people. There is no evidence of God's
blessing. When there's no need, when life
is good and the days are just rolling by and we're doing our
thing and everything's fine, there's no evidence of God's
blessing. A heart need for Christ, that
is God's blessing on a sinner. Sometimes God sends that blessing
by removing our health. That's the exact opposite of
what the world would think is God's blessing. That's the exact
opposite. Sometimes He does the exact opposite. to bestow a blessing on his people.
The same thing can be said about wealth, financial stability. Our Lord said, it is hard for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Not hard for him, nothing's
impossible with him. But naturally speaking, he said
it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. There's no
need. There's just no need. He said blessed are the poor
in spirit. And if it takes Him stripping
us of everything we have to see our need, then may He pour the
blessing on us. Again, would we ask for that
particular trial? No, no. But if that's what it takes for
me to see my need, then may He pour the blessing on me. The
Apostle Paul said, I have suffered the loss of all things, but I
have one Christ. And in Him, I've lost nothing.
I haven't lost anything. In Him, I have it all. I have
all things. As far as happiness goes, in
this world, God's people are promised trial after trial, tribulation,
suffering, pain, persecution. But if that's what it takes to
turn our hearts and our eyes away from this world and toward
our Savior, then may he pour the blessing on us. God's blessings on a sinner,
they are evidenced in their experience. They are seen and they're experienced
when that sinner receives a heart cry and a heart need for Christ. Hebrews 12 says, whom the Lord
loves, he chastens. And there was a brother one time
who was going through a lot. He was going through trial after
trial after trial. And another brother said to him,
the Lord must really love you. He must really love you to put
you through all this. The Lord must really love you
to give you such a desperate need for him, such a continual
heart cry and heart need for him. It may help us. It may help us
a lot to remember that the blessing of this world, the favorable
circumstances of this world, and this is what you'll hear.
You have a conversation with people and say, how are things
going? Oh, the Lord is really blessing us. Business is booming.
I've never made so much money. Well, Sometimes the favorable
conditions of this world can be the opposite of God's blessing. It can completely remove our
heart, completely remove our innate. And the misfortune of
this world, all of the unfavorable outcomes may be the greatest
kindness God has ever bestowed on us. It may be the greatest
thing he's ever done for us. I recently heard this story,
and I believe this is a good one. It applies to this. Some of you, many of you, I'm
sure have heard of George Whitefield. He was a great preacher. He was riding his horse one night
to another town where he was scheduled to preach, preaching
that night. And it was quite a distance on
horseback. I was thinking about the fact
that whenever we travel and preach, sometimes it's pretty tiring
in a car. He was on a horse. And he's riding
to this town to preach and it poured rain on him the whole
time, the whole way. I mean, it was just pouring rain. And He was soaking wet, he was
tired, he was miserable, and he was complaining about it.
He was griping about it, just, you know, I'm traveling out here
and he had the burden of preaching on him. I'm going to tell you,
whenever you come to a service with the burden of preaching,
it changes things. He was tired from this traveling
and he said, I had a bad attitude about it. And he said, I was asking the
Lord, why all this rain? Why all this rain, Lord? I was
just sitting here just getting poured on, just miserable. Why all this rain? I'm going
to preach your word. Why such misery along the way? He said, I had such a bad attitude
toward his providence in the task that I had been given to
do. Just murmuring, complaining, and griping, all because of this
rain. He said, then I rounded a corner
and out jumped a robber with a flint pistol and he fired it
at me. And the flint was so soaking
wet, the pistol wouldn't go off. And he said, I took off on that
horse crying, thank you for the rain, Lord. Thank you so much
for the rain. William Cooper wrote, God moves
in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants
his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in
unfathomable minds of never-failing skill, he treasures up his bright
designs and works his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh
courage take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. Let's read our psalm one more
time. All right, go back to Psalm 67. We'll close with this. Verse 1 says, God be merciful
unto us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that
Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise Thee, O
God, let all the people praise Thee. O let the nations be glad
and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people righteously,
and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise Thee, O
God. Let all the people praise Thee.
Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own
God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the
ends of the earth shall fear Him." That's beautiful, isn't
it? That's just beautiful. Thank God. What a wonderful promise. God shall bless us. All right,
let's all stand together.