Go now with me to Psalm 115.
Psalm 115. If I had a title, I guess it
would be from verse 12, The Lord hath been mindful of us. That's
the verse that caught my attention. Just reading for my own enjoyment
through the Psalms. My father asked me the other
day, I said, where do you go when you need to hear from the
Lord? You need the Lord to speak to
you through His Word. Where do you go? I said, the
psalms. Every time. He said, I do too.
And so I was reading from the psalms, and this psalm, I came
to this psalm, and that verse really spoke to me. The Lord
had been mindful of us. Well, how? How? He revealed Himself to us. That's
how He's revealed Himself to us. A true God. A true God. And it begins with
not. It's the only chapter in the
Bible, I believe, that begins with not. It begins, let's say, in what
salvation is not. What we are not doing. Who God
is not. Not like their rock. Our rock
not like their rock. Our God is not like their God. And this is not unto us, O Lord. This is not unto us. This is not about us. Paul said
the gospel in Galatians 1, he said, it's not of man. Neither did I receive it from
man, but of God. Not unto us. It's not about us. This is not about me. It's not
about you. It's not about man. For that reason, we don't know
who wrote this psalm. Do you notice the author's name
is not mentioned? Not mentioned. Good. Like Hebrews. That's a summary of the whole
Testament. We don't know who it was. Well, that's not important. It is not important. Not unto
us. Not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory. Thy name. So glad I turned the
radio on this morning and heard that message. I was a little
late in turning it on. Came over here to do some things.
But I turned it on just in time. to hear what I heard and I was
glad I did. He talked about faith, be it
simple faith, weak faith, still faith. Faith is in the name of
the Lord. Psalm 9, verse 10 says, those
that know thy name will put their trust in you. The Lord, that's
his name, Jesus, Savior, Christ, Messiah, Lord, Jesus. Christ,
Lord, is not just a title. It's His name. It's who He is.
Who He is is what He does. Lord reigns and rules. Lord, well, for Thy name's sake,
for Thy name give glory and for Thy mercy. Salvation is by the
mercy of God. By the sovereign mercy of God.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Mercy is God sparing
sinners the wrath that they deserve, the wages of sin that they've
earned. But God, who is rich in mercy,
who is in great love with what He loved us, His people, even
when they were dead in trespasses, quickens them. Oh, it's by grace
they're saved. Mercy. Not giving us what we
deserve, but showing mercy. Hidden Titus, one of the few
verses that does say not, There's very few, I looked them up, and
I don't want to misquote it if I can find it. Titus 3, he says
this, Titus 3, not, verse 5, not thy works of righteousness,
which we have done according to his mercy. He had saved us. He had saved us according to
his mercy. Not, this is not about, it's
not about man, not about what you must do. about what He had
done, about who He is. Oh my, not unto us. For your
mercy and thy truth's sake. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Thy mercy
and truth iniquity is purged. You know how many times mercy
and truth go together in the Scripture? Look it up. Many times. Mercy and truth. Mercy and truth. Mercy is God will have mercy.
This is His glory. Truth. How do you know? Because
of the truth. Because He said He would. The truth. Thank God
for this truth. What's truth? This is truth.
It's the word of truth. The gospel of our salvation.
What is truth? How do we know this is truth?
How do we know it's true that this is the word of God? Because
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This was the word made flesh.
We know this is true because Christ lived it. Christ declared
it. The truth. Thank God for the
truth. If we didn't have the truth,
we'd fall for lies. If we didn't have the truth,
we'd die believing a lie. Wouldn't we? Truth. Truth. And how we know it's the truth
is the truth was made flesh. That's how we know. He was declared
to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness, the Holy Light,
and the resurrection from the dead. Everything He is, everything
He said, and what He said concerning this Word is truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. Mercy and truth. Then the psalmist
starts thinking about all he sees and hears around him. And that may be part of the reason
he begins with not. Because there's so many lies,
so much error. The truth is in the minority.
Always has been. There are few that believe the
truth. Many are called, but few are
chosen. This is a fact. As in the days
of Noah, as in the days of Lot, huh? In our Lord's day on this
earth, few, most, believe lies. Most believe in false gods. Many false prophets have gone
out into the world, our Lord said. Many, many. The laborers,
though, are few. True laborers. Isn't that what
He said? That may be why He says not. And the prophets and the
apostles went out everywhere, and where they had to begin their
message was, this is nuts. Like Paul came to Mars Hill.
When Paul came to Mars Hill, he was looking all around him.
He was beholding all these gods and all these idols and all these
religions. And he said, I have perceived
that in all things you are too superstitious. You are too religious. Say, I've been held to all these
gods you've got here, and I'm going to declare you the God
you don't know, the unknown God. And then he went on to say, He's
not like you think He is. That's the first thing you've
got to say. God in Psalm 50 says, Thou faultest to man. You thought I was altogether
such as one as yourself. I am not. The first thing. Trying to find that verse where
Ezra and Nehemiah, they're trying to build a wall. They're trying
to build the temple and the wall. And someone said, we can't build
it, there's too much rubbish. Got to clear out all this rubbish
first. Got to tear down before you build. But God is not like men think
He is. And now He's going to declare
who He is. Look at verse 2. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? That word wherefore is used often
in Scripture. I finally looked it up. What
it means is how. How could they ask this? Why
would they ask this when the heavens declare His glory, when
the firmament Declare it his glory, show it his handiwork. Why would they ask this? Where
is God? He's in the heavens. That's where
he is. He made the heavens. He said
the heavens can't contain him. Where's your God? They'd say.
We have ours. He's outside our heart's door,
you know. He wants in. We let him in whenever we want
to. He does. He's hanging around. When we need him, he'll show
up. He's in the tabernacle. He's in the cathedral. He's in Mary's arms. See that
statue? That's our God. And that's his
mother. Our God. See, this is not salvation, our Lord said. I said, this is life eternal. Now listen, He didn't say this
is higher doctrine. He doesn't say this is just higher
doctrine and you can be saved if you don't know this, but you
come to a knowledge of it. This is life eternal. What it means to be saved. That
they might know Thee, the only true God. The only God who is in it is
truly God. It's life, it's salvation to
know that. And you don't know that until
He makes Himself known to you. Can thou by searching find that
God? No. What man knoweth the things of
a man, sayeth the Spirit of man revealing. Even so, no man knoweth
the things of God but by the Spirit of God. God must reveal
Himself. This is life eternal, he said,
our Lord, that they might know the true God. This is not a matter
of doctrinal difference. This is not the Armenians have
their opinion of God, and the Calvinists have their opinion
of God, and we all worship the same God. No. We have different
gods. And our Lord said this is life
eternal. You know that much. The only
reason you do is because God made nothing. God, our God. You know, He's all men's God,
whether they know Him or not. And anybody that says, make Him
Lord, doesn't know God. It's as plain as that. It's His name. You don't let
Him be who He is. He is Lord. He is God. He reigns
and rules among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of
the earth. That's God in whom we live and move and have our
beds. You let Him be God? Somebody says that doesn't know
God. Ignorant, blind, dead. Our God. How do you know that
God is God? Because He said, I'm going to
be their God and they're going to be my people. They're going
to know that I'm God, that I work, and who that's meant. Isaiah
43. They're going to know. Our God. Where is your God, David? He said, we have our gods. Here
they are. Where's your God? He said, why
would you ask that? Our God, David's God, the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of David, Solomon, God
of his people, is in the heavens. He said, man, higher above all. Higher above all. That makes
Him higher than anybody else. Higher above all. And He hath
done. It was a popular slogan. Maybe it's still popular today.
I don't know. They have abbreviated it WWJD. It became a popular Religious
slogan, anybody that wears it or says it doesn't know God. It's not ignorance, it's they
don't know God. You wouldn't abbreviate the name of Jesus
Christ ever if you knew him. You wouldn't call God, the holy
God, the man upstairs if you knew him. The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom what? To know God, saving
wisdom. You wouldn't abbreviate anything
concerning our God for convenience. WWJD, what would Jesus do? And
they sound cute. It's blasphemous. Let me tell
you what he hath done. Okay? Not what would he do. Let
me tell you what he hath done. We read it there in Psalm 135,
didn't we? Whatsoever God hath pleased,
he hath done, purposed all things, predestined all things. He says,
I've spoken it, I'll do it. I've purposed it, it'll be done.
It's not, what will he do? That's kind of talking about
a God that's going to change. If we do this, what will he do?
No, God hath purposed all things. What hath he done? David said,
here's what he hath done, and nothing can undo it whatsoever
he hath pleased. Whatever he pleased. Oh my, and the great comfort
and peace and salvation of God's people is that if it pleased
the Lord to make you His people, see, it's up to Him. It's up to Him. It was up to
Him. Not is up, it was up. It chose a people before the
foundation of the world. It pleased the Lord to make,
if you're a believer in this God, it pleased Him to make you
His people. And if He did, all things work
together for your good according to that purpose. And nothing
can change it. It's not doctrine. We're leaning
on the sovereign God. All, everything. Our God. Here's
the difference between our God and theirs. Our God is God. There God wants to be. We've
got to let Him be. You don't need a God like that.
You don't need a God who can't save. You need a God that gives
commandment to save. Our God is God. There He wants
to be. Our God's one. There's as many. There's as many
different conceptions of God throughout the world as there
are people, as nations, aren't there? They believe this, they
believe that. Denominations and so-called Christianity. Here,
O Israel, the Lord our God is one God. One Lord. One faith. All God's people believe in this
same God in one land. One truth. One land. Our God is unchanging. He doesn't
change. He doesn't change. And therefore,
you sons of Jacob, who are changing up and down, hot and cold, evil,
you're not going to save them. He doesn't change. Who he's purposed
to save, you'll save them. What he's promised, he won't
undo it. He's unchanging. There's changes. Changes. With the times, you know. Contemporary
worship, that means modern, worldly worship. When does the worship
of God change? Does the worship of God change
with the times? Will God change with us? We better be changed. Our God is holy. Theirs is perverse. Our God loveth
righteousness. Theirs loves Everything and anybody. Our God is just. What He says
goes. What He promises, He fulfills.
He's just. If He says, I'll pardon, He'll
pardon. If He says, I'll punish, He'll punish. He's just. Justice. Justice. There is His unjust.
He might not give you what He promised. Our God is sovereign. Our God, the God, true God is
sovereign. He really reigns and rules. He
really does over everything. The Scripture says that your
hairs are numbered. Do you believe that? The world
doesn't believe that. That's ridiculous, they say.
Well, let me tell you this. One little germ can kill you,
can't it? One germ can kill you if God does not reign and rule
over molecules. We're in trouble. We're in trouble. God reigns and rules. Their God's
not. He's a bystander. He's a bystander. He's on the outside hoping everything
turns out right. Our God is free. His will is free. Our God has
free will. He does according to His will.
And none can stay His hand. If He wills it, it's going to
be. Their God depends on man's will.
Subject to man's will. Our God chose whom he would. That's why we read Psalm 135.
He says he chose Jacob. Chose Jacob. Israel for his peculiar
treasure. Jacob have I loved. That's our
God. Their God wants men to choose
them. It's a different God. Our God's
not God. God does as He will. Whoever's
God does as He will. The very name means that. Our
God purposed, predestined all things. There's hoping His plans
work out. He's willing to change them if
they don't. Our God's in the heaven. Their's
is not. He's outside waiting, wanting in. Our God hath done.
Half done, it's already been done, known unto God all His
works from the beginning of the world. That's our God, who is
God. There God wants to, tries, fails, He can't do unless man
lets it. Our God does whatsoever, all things, everything, every
single thing, God's doing it. I kill, I make alive, I wound,
I heal, I raise up, I cast down, I promote, I demote, I the Lord
do all these things. There God doesn't do anything.
He can't do anything. does what he hath pleased, and
their God does what pleases man." Different God, isn't it? Isn't
it, Brother Stephen? A different God. Their God is
not God. He went on to say their God is
the work of men's hands. Do you remember that? They have
eyes, and we won't read it again. They have ears. They have eyes,
but they don't see. ears that they don't hear, mouths
that they don't speak, noses, hands that they can't make anything,
feet that they can't walk. And please tell me, have you
not heard modern preachers say this many times? God has no hands
but your hands. Have you not? And they're still
saying it. Still a very popular saying.
They are not God's preacher. And the God they're preaching
is not God. He's an idol. A man-made God. A God of their
imagination. That's just true. And those that make them, he
said, those that trust in them are just like their God. What's
that? Blind? They haven't heard the
voice of God because God wasn't pleased. That's why. They're dead, like their God.
They can't do anything like their God, right? All right, now listen. That's enough of their God. Look
at verse 9. Oh, Israel. Israel? Israel? Jacob. I'm a God of Jacob. Changed
his name to Israel, Prince of God. Oh, Israel, chosen of God. The God who revealed Himself
to Israel. Trust thou in the Lord. The Lord,
we've tried to describe Him. David did describe Him. The Lord. David didn't say, won't you make
Him Lord? He's telling us. He's declaring
He is. He's not saying, oh, won't you please, please make Him Lord.
Just sit down and rest that He is Lord. Trust in Him. Don't you wish you could trust
Him? Well, do it. Trust Him. Oh, my. That's why men are so torn up
everywhere today. They can't trust a God like that. Oh, Israel. Are you Israel? Trust in the
Lord. Believe Him. Rest in Him. Believe
Him. Rest. Thy God reigneth. Whatever it is, it is the Lord. Rest. Trust. Trust means have
confidence. Put all your hope in, you and
your family and everything, your future, everything. Cast it on
Him. Trust in Him. Have confidence
in Him. Don't put any confidence in anybody
or anything but the Lord. Oh Israel, do that. By the grace
of God, do that. He is their help. Not will be. is their health,
their shield. We were talking last night about,
Mindy was saying, just being honest, we all worry about our
children, don't we? We worry about them. That's what
love does. It's not unbelief always to worry. It's love. Yet we don't have
much trust in our God, do we? We just don't believe Him like
we should. We worry about Him. Mindy was
talking about Hannah getting in that van going down 81, you
know, such a dangerous road. All those big trucks and with
those precious babies of ours in the back seat. We don't want
anything to happen to them. Well, who's got them in his hands,
huh? What's their hope? On the vans
and the safety record that they have? God is our shield. Shield means protector, shield
means covering, shield means defense, shield means refuge,
means high tower, means a cave, a cliff to the rock. God is,
not might be, He is, and nothing can touch us. I'm telling you
the truth, so help me God. You're not protecting your children. Smith and Wesson doesn't protect
your children. God does. Trusting. Why can't I trust the
Lord? Why? Because I'm just... I'm just ignorant, that's why.
I believe like Dad quoted. Lord, I believe. I do believe.
I do trust you. I do. Do you trust the Lord?
I do. Oh, but help my unbelief. I do. The only way I can get peace
when they're riding down 81 is trust the Lord. Lord, they're
in your hand. Nothing can happen to us or anything
about us except the Lord wills it. That'll give you peace. Jeanette,
if you don't wake up from that surgery, Praise the Lord, huh? If you do, He willed it. It wasn't
your time. People, we're immortal. Everything
about us, this is not fatalism. This is our God. He's ordained
everything concerning us. Everything. Be it what we think
is good or what we think is bad. It's the Lord. He's doing whatsoever
He hath pleased, what seemed good to Him. We don't know. He
does know. We don't need to know. We need
to trust Him. That honors Him. Oh, Israel,
trust the Lord. He's their help. He says, O house
of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He's their help. House of Aaron,
that's the ones who served the Lord, the ones who were the Levites,
you know, who stood up to trust in the Lord. Oh, I need to trust the Lord. You know, I worry about this
church because I'm your preacher. Because I'm your pastor. That's
why I worry about it more than anything. Because I'm such a
poor and needy, helpless, just a poor man, sinner. But I have to trust the same
Lord to keep me from falling, to keep me from preaching error.
Oh, house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He's my help, my shield. Ye that fear the Lord, whoever
you are, trust in the Lord. He is the help, shield of all
that fear Him. Trust Him. Then he makes this
wonderful statement. Why should we trust the Lord?
Because the Lord has been mindful of us. He's taught on us. And He will
bless us. David wrote this, and you know
it well. What is man? That thou art mindful
of him. Why would God condescend, humble
Himself, David wrote, to behold the things on this earth? Because that's our God. That's
His great glory, isn't it? To condescend. He said, I dwell
high and holy place with Him that is of a broken and contrite
heart. Oh my. He's been mindful of us. Mindful of us. How? The Lord has been mindful of
us by thinking on us. He thinks on us. Thinks on His
people. Israel. Aaron. His people, believe
me. Thinks on us. That's humbling to think about
it. Very humbling, endearing. When
somebody calls you out of the blue, a brother or sister or
somebody calls you out of the blue and says, I was just thinking
about you, and decides to give you a call. That's wonderful.
It's very endearing and very comforting thought. I was just
thinking about you and wanted to call you and tell you Tell
yourself, I was thinking, oh, were you really? Thank you so
much. Why would he think on us? He
had. He had been mindful of us. Oh,
my. And he says, I know my thoughts
towards you. To his people, to all the sons of Jacob. Yes, just
the sons of Jacob. Those that know themselves for
what they are. He says, I know my thoughts towards you, thoughts
of peace. Thoughts of peace. David says, your thoughts towards
me are so wonderful. They're too high up. I can't
reckon them up. I can't count them. They're too
wonderful for me. Mindful. God is mindful of his covenant. Mindful of his covenant. He can't
forget that covenant. He's mindful of Christ. He's
mindful of Christ. When God sees Christ, he sees
us. He sees his people. Or vice versa. Like David. Every time he looked
at Mephibosheth. He was right there beside him.
He thought of Jonathan. Smiling. He's been mindful of
that. Mindful of his covenant. How
do you know God's thought on you? How do you know God's thoughts
towards you are thoughts of peace? Has he revealed himself to you?
Most people don't know him. Do you know him? The God we've
been declaring. The only God there is. Has he
made himself known unto you? No man knoweth the Father, but
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. You know this? He's revealed himself to you.
He's revealed yourself to you. This is great love and mercy
and grace for God to show you what you are. To show us what we are. Only
sinners need Only helpless sinners, only depraved, wretched, miserable,
poor, blind, naked sinners need a sovereign Savior. Has He revealed to you, brother
John, that you are helpless, hopeless, damned, doing, wretched,
miserable, a leper, a Mary Magdalene, a thief on the cross? Is that
you, John? Listen to the good news, John. He says today you'll
be with Me in paradise. I'll remember you. He thought,
I won't forget you. He says, if so, your sins and
iniquities I won't remember, but I won't forget you. Yeah,
all the sons of Jacob. All the sons of Jacob. He'd been
mindful of them. Showed you the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's how you know He's been mindful of you. All whom God
loves, He shows them the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone whom God loves. He sets
forth Christ to be the perpetuation for their sin. They all know,
to a man, to a woman, to a person, they all know who their salvation
is in. Jesus Christ, Him that loved us and washed us from our
sin in His own blood. Who told them that? God did.
They're all taught of God. Do you believe Christ is all
your hope? God's been mindful of you. He's
thought of you. And will never forget you. And
then he goes on to say, and I quit, he said, he will bless us. Verse
15 says, you are blessed. You are. And he will. You have
been, you are now, and you will be blessed. Because God doesn't
change. His mercy endureth forever. Endureth forever. He will bless
them that fear the Lord, small and great. Verse 13, small and
great. Little faith, weak faith, doesn't
matter, does it? You heard it now at the mouth
of two witnesses. It's established, isn't it? Little faith, small faith, weak
faith, if Christ is object, is saving faith. Small and great. The Lord shall increase you.
You. Not yours, not stuff. We don't need our stuff increased.
We've got too much stuff. I need to grow in grace and the
knowledge of our Lord, don't you? Oh, that I might reach the
measure of the stature of the fullness of a man in Christ Jesus. Then maybe, then I'll say, I
don't need anything but food and drink. I have it all. If I increase in wisdom, in understanding,
in faith, in peace, isn't that where you want to increase? I
don't need more stuff. This stuff is a hindrance. A
hindrance. But I need to grow in grace like
Him and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To trust Him.
I need to grow more in trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Then
come what may, I'm going to be afraid. I'm going to be a friend. Oh, he says, you are blessed
of the Lord if you do. Verse 16, the heavens are the
Lord's. The earth He's given to the children
of man. What do you want? Dirt or eternity? You want all that the world has
to offer? You can get it. Go for it. You can get it. What
do you get? Or do you want... Well, I can't even talk about
it. The heavens. Sky's the limit,
we said. No, it's not. The dead, verse
17, don't praise the Lord. People, religions, they're not
praising the Lord. They are with their lips. They
go down into silence. Nope. But we will. What? Bless the Lord. It's not unto us, he said. It's
not unto us. O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give glory. What for? Mercy. Truth. I preached the truth to you this
morning. Yes, I have. And we will bless the Lord from
this time forth and forevermore. And let the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord. Brother John,
when you come, we'll sing this Closing hymn number 62. Crown
hymn with Minicrample, number 62.