Psalm 48, we're going to look
at this chapter, this entire chapter, but what caught my attention
specifically in it was verse 12. That's originally what caught
my attention. Verse 12 says, walk about Zion
and go round about her. Wouldn't you love to do that?
Wouldn't you love to walk around Zion? Go round about her? The beautiful city of God. Like
the Apostle Paul, he was caught up to the third heaven. Wouldn't
that be amazing? Walk around Zion. Did you know that's what
we do every time we come together and look into this word? That's
what we do every single time we gather together and look into
the beauty of this word. We are taking a walk around Zion. That's what we're doing. We're
just getting a look at things. We're seeing things the scripture
says too wonderful for us. Isn't that what's in the pages
of this book? Things that are absolutely too wonderful for
us. We're hearing things in the heart,
not just with the ears. God's people hear things in the
heart that it is not possible for a man's mouth to utter. It's just not possible. Sometimes
God speaks to our hearts so sweetly, so tenderly, so gloriously through
his word, you just can't put it into words. You just can't. I think that all the time while
I'm studying. I always beg the Lord, would you please let it
come out half as good as it went in, just half as good. The Lord opens up His Word and
you think, how can you describe it? How can you put it into words? Don't we love it when God enables
this flesh? This flesh is a dead substance. And don't we love it when God
touches it and puts some life in there? And just for a minute,
He opens up His Word and lets us enter in. Walk on in, just
for a minute. Don't we love that? Verse 12
says, walk about Zion and go round about her. Tell the towers
thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces that you
may tell it to the generation following. Take a good look at
Zion. Everything that God has prepared,
everything that God has done, that you may tell it to the generation
following. How thankful would we be if he
allowed us to do that tonight? Tell it to the generation following.
Look with me at verse one. He says, great is the Lord and
greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain
of his holiness. Robert Hawker is a commentary
writer. I read him often, usually first,
first one I go to. And this is what he said about
that. He said, it is always comely
to bless the God of mercy before we bless God for mercy. You hear what he said? It is always good and right and
lovely and comely to bless the God of mercy before we bless
God for mercy. He said, Great is the Lord. Great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised. He went on to say, If we really
love the gift, how much more ought we to love the giver? You know, that's something that
God does in the heart of His people. Everybody wants salvation. You know what God puts in this
heart right here? A love for the Savior, the giver, Him. His mercy is great. His grace
is great. The reason is because He is great.
He is great. Verse 1 says, Great is the Lord
and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain
of His holiness, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole
earth is Mount Zion. On the sides of the north, the
city of the great king. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion. Why is Mount Zion the joy of
the whole earth? Why is Mount Zion the greatest
joy this earth could ever have? The greatest joy this earth could
ever possess? The reason is because the king
is there. That's the reason, the king is
there. The happiness of Zion revolves
around one man. One man. I have a king. We have a king. I can't wait
to see him. I cannot wait to see him. I cannot
wait to bow before him. The happiness of Zion, the happiness
of everything revolves around one man. We just sang precious
name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. That's what
he is. Take the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ with you. Child of sorrow and of woe, that
describes every one of us. We're children of sorrow, children
of woe. It will joy and comfort give
you, take it then where'er you go. At the name of Jesus bowing,
falling prostrate at his feet. I love how the scripture says
that's what the angels do. That's what we all will do. Prostrate
means as flat as you can become. Hands out, feet out, face in
the ground. You can't get any lower than
that. Falling prostrate at his feet.
King of kings in heaven will crown him when our journey is
complete. He's already the king. We're
just gonna personally acknowledge him to be so. Hope of earth,
joy of heaven. Verse two says, beautiful for
situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion. On the sides of the north, the
city of the great king, God is known in her palaces for a refuge. That's how the citizens of Zion
know the God of Zion. That's how they know him. They
know him as their refuge. I thought about all the flippant
ways that people know and refer to God. All the flippant ways
and I thought I'm not going to even name them. I'm not going
to go into it. All the flippant ways that they
refer to who he is and what he's done. True Zion, the true people
of God see him as their refuge in all things. spiritually, daily
refuge. Hold your place right here and
go to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 4 says, One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after. that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of
trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of
his tabernacle shall he hide me." Where is that? In himself. in the secret of his tabernacle,
in himself, the cleft of the rock. The citizens of Zion see
him to be the one who was broken for them, broken to provide a
hiding place in the time of trouble. A hiding place for the day of
wrath, the day of vengeance on sin. Can you see God's people
running to the hiding place in that day? Everything stands before
the judgment throne of God. Where are we going to run? The
hiding place. Safely tucked inside the hiding
place. There's a song that says, Hiding
in thee, hiding in thee, thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding
in thee. You talk about the hope of earth
and joy of heaven. Joy of heaven, hiding in thee.
Back over in Psalm 48, verse 4 says, For lo, the kings were assembled,
they passed by, Together, everyone and everything that is outside
of the blood of Jesus Christ is against the city of God. Everyone
and everything against the people of the city, his people. The
reason is because there's a great adversary. There is a great adversary
who sways the hearts of wicked men, wicked men and women. which
is all of us outside of God's grace. But He sways the hearts
to be against Christ and His people, the King and His people.
He stirs up earthly kings. They make their decrees. They
make their battles. He stirs up the kings. He stirs up the nations. He stirs
up everything He can against the people of God. Turn with
me though over to Psalm 2. Psalm 2 verse 1 says, Why do
the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do
they do it? Why do they do it? The kings
of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us
break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
But verse 4 says, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have
I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings,
be instructed you judges of the earth, Serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He be angry
and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. Blessed, blessed are all they
that put their trust in Him. God the Father said to Isaiah,
behold my servant, take a good look at my servant, he shall
not fail. He's not going to fail. He is
going to redeem his people from their iniquity and they're going
to be a blessed people. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. Our Lord has already gotten the
victory. They set their counsel against
him, but he's already gotten the victory. The stone that the
builders refused has become the head of the corner. That's what
the scripture says. And he's not going anywhere.
He's not going anywhere. Sure foundation. Back to Psalm
48, verse 4 says, For lo, the kings
were assembled, they passed by together, they saw it, and so
they marveled. They were troubled and hasted
away. Fear took hold upon them there,
and pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind." Spurgeon said about that, he said, in
the same way that they looked up at Zion and ran away. They
came to Zion and they were going to attack it, and when they saw
what they saw, they turned and ran. And he said, in the same
way they looked up at Zion and ran away in fear. He said, those
who attack the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus, if they did
but know how well it is garrisoned by the omnipotence of Jehovah,
they also would faint with fear and give up the assault. They
would give up. Why do the heathen rage? You
know why? It's because they haven't seen
the God of Zion yet. That's the only reason. If they
saw, they would give up the salt, turn and run. And Spurgeon went
on to say, if they don't, the Lord is going to break them in
pieces, just like he broke those ships of Tarsus with an east
wind. I love how Moses said in Exodus
15, that's the blast of his nostril. That blows him away. They can't
stand against it. Verse 8, David said, As we have
heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in
the city of our God, God will establish it forever. Every victory
God said he would accomplish, he has accomplished. Every single
victory, everything he said he would do, he did it. Every single
thing. That's what David said in his
day. That's what all the apostles said in their day. They said
the prophets said Messiah would come. Here he is. Here he is. He came. He did everything that
was prophesied of him. Everything. The same thing is
going to be said in the latter day. The exact same thing. Every
soul in glory is going to look back and say, as we have heard,
so have we seen. Every single thing that was done. As we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts. In the city of our
God, God will establish it forever. He said he had found his church
on a rock. That rock is Christ. And the
scripture says the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. And
then he said in verse eight, Selah. Selah. That means dwell on that for
just a little while. Think about that for just a little
while. Pause right there. Enjoy it. Just enjoy that for
a minute. Verse nine says, we have thought
of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. What a precious thing to think
about. The loving kindness of God. He
said, we've just sat around and pondered your loving kindness,
loving kindness. What a precious place to do it
in, in the midst of your temple. When we come together, God's
chosen people, his chosen city, when they come together, we all
collectively come to think on his loving kindness toward us. You know that? We're here to
think about His loving kindness toward us. We come to think about
His thoughts toward us. He said, I know my thoughts toward
you. And that's what we're here to
do. Think about His thoughts toward us. Thoughts of peace. That's what we love to hear.
That's what keeps us going. That's what gets us over the
hump. That's what will get us all the way through this life.
His loving kindness toward His people. Verse 10 says, according
to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. What is his name? His name is Savior. Savior. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Call his name Emmanuel because
God is with us. God is with us. If God be for
us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? God is
with us, the God-man. He's the only one who can save. Did you know, you think about
this, in all of everything, all principalities and powers and
spiritual things and physical things, this earth, the earth
to come, there's only one person who can save us. And he's the friend of sinners.
Isn't that amazing? Only one, no other person, no
other thing can save us. And the only one who can is the
friend of sinners. According to thy name, so is
that praise to the ends of the earth. All of the ends of the
earth are going to hear that name, aren't they? all the ends
of the earth. He's going to return and all
of his people are going to hear with a great announcement, with
a, with a shout and a trumpet. They're all going to hear in
a glorious declaration. Behold your God. Every soul that is his enemy
in fear and judgment at the same moment in time is going to be
here. Behold your God. Behold your God. He's here. All
the ends of the earth is going to hear it. And verse 10 goes
on to say, thy right hand is full of righteousness. Who is the right hand of God?
That's Christ. The one at his right hand, he's
full of righteousness. Everything he does is right. Everything he does is in righteousness. When he comes to sinners, he
deals with them in righteousness. There is forgiveness with him,
but do you know what he does not do? He does not say, that's
all right, don't worry about it, I forgive you. Can't do it. Can't do it. What he said was, you must be
punished. Get inside me. Let him have it. Even His mercy and His forgiveness
is completely and totally in righteousness. He shows mercy
because it is right. The price is paid. In Christ,
don't you love that verse of scripture that mercy and truth
are met together? They meet together. Righteousness
and peace end up kissing each other. Verse 11 says, let Mount
Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be
glad because of thy judgments. Every single one of his judgments
are good and right and just and holy and perfect and pure. Whoever
is in charge of the nation is going to have one group of people
saying, great, and one group of people saying, we hate that.
Isn't that right? This is what we want. This is
what we don't want. We're in support. We protest. Every soul in Zion says, just
right, good, true, perfect, amen. Amen. Total, everything he does
is perfect. It's perfect. So verse 12 says,
walk about Zion and go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces that you
may tell it to the generation following. Tell it to anybody
who will listen. Anybody who will listen, tell
them about the beautiful city of God, the city that God has
made. Tell them these eternal truths
that the city is built on. Tell them about the solid rock
on whom the city stands. Tell everyone about the everlasting
promises that guard this city. There are promises in here that
guard this city. He said, tell about the towers.
This city has towers. Tell them who's in the tower.
Keep and watch. The one who never slumbers and
never sleeps. Never. Christ himself. Tell them about her bulwarks,
her shield, her defense. It's immovable. It cannot be
overtaken. It cannot be. There's no weak
spot. There's no crack in the wall. No place left undefended. You tell it to generation after
generation after generation. You know that's what we're doing. There was a time when this generation
heard it and this generation did not. But we kept telling it. And you know what I pray for
this generation? is that our little ones might hear it too. You tell it to generation after
generation after generation. You just keep telling it. Keep
telling it to generation after generation. Look with me at Psalm
125. Man, I've always loved this.
Psalm 125 verse 1 says, they that trust in the Lord. Do we
trust in the Lord? Do we trust in the Lord? If I'm going to get to glory,
how am I going to get there? What am I trusting in? What am
I looking to? What am I hoping in? What are
all my eggs in? What basket? Are they in one
basket or do I diversify just in case? In case that goes south,
I got a little something going over here too. Are they in one
basket? This says they that trust in
the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but
abideth forever as the mountains are round about Jerusalem. So
the Lord is round about his people from henceforth, even forever. Don't you love that? Not going to be removed. Look
with me over at Isaiah 60. I love this. I'm looking forward
to this. Isaiah 60 verse 18 says, Violence shall no more be heard
in thy land. Could you imagine living in a
land where there was no violence? Can you imagine that? You turn the news on. What's
the news today? Salvation is still secure. God
still reigns on his throne. Violence shall no more be heard
in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou
shalt call thy walls salvation. You're going to look at all our
walls and you're going to say, that's my salvation, Christ.
And you're going to call your gates praise. The sun shall be
no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon
give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down,
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be
thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall
be ended. All sorrow will be over. Thy
people also shall be all righteous, all of them. They shall inherit
the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my
hands, that I may be glorified. He said, you tell that to generation
after generation after generation. You just keep telling that because,
go with me back to Psalm 48. Psalm 48 verse 14 says, for,
because, this God is our God forever and ever. He will be
our God even unto death. If this God right here is our
God, This God, this, this God, the God of this scripture. If
this God is our God, then we have been made to be fellow citizens. Fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, isn't that what the scripture
says? Fellow citizens. If this God right here is our
God, he has prepared a place for us. That's where he said
he was going and that's what he said he was going to do. If
I go, I will prepare a place for you in this beautiful city
of God, beautiful Zion. He said, you tell every generation
that. Every single generation, every
tribe, every nation, every kindred, every tongue. And in that declaration,
I'm going to call out my sheep. one by one, I'm going to select
them, and I'm going to call them. I'm going to pierce their heart,
and I'm going to call them. And they're all going to cry,
collectively. Every single one of them will
cry, this God is our God. This God is our God. And that's
what we cry, isn't it? That's what we cry. Thank God,
this God is our God. We are going to get to say that
for all eternity, forever and ever, never ending. All glory
and praise, that God right there is our God. That's wonderful. Let's all stand together.