Psalm 146. Verse 5 says, Happy is he that
hath the God of Jacob for his help. We know that verse well, don't
we? We quote it all the time. I titled this message, Happy
in the God of Jacob. Happy, happy, happy. Outside of the God of Jacob,
I have nothing to be happy about. This world is disappointing.
But in the God of Jacob, I am so happy. Verse one says, Praise ye the
Lord. What a wonderful way to begin
a psalm. Praise ye the Lord. The translation
of those four words is Hallelujah. I love that word. I have for
a long time. I love the songs we sing that
say that word. I love that word. There are times
that the Lord allows us to enter into the message. And He sends
His Spirit and we know He sent His Spirit. We feel His presence. Our heart does burn within us.
We're just overjoyed. We're just so thankful. We're
just so happy. We just have so much love and
the only word that expresses that to God is Hallelujah. And
it's a shame that people turn that word into an outward show
when they raise their hands and they sway They just bring attention
to their self and they've ruined that word. But I love it. I love it. True praise comes
from deep in the heart. Our concordance says the word
is an adoring exclamation. A loving exclamation. We praise
thee, O God, for the son of thy love, for the Lord Jesus Christ,
who died and is now gone above. Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen. Praise the Lord and so
be it. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Revive us again. Us. All of us. Verse 1 says,
Praise ye the Lord. You need to praise the Lord.
And then it says, praise the Lord, O my soul. I need to praise
the Lord. We all need to praise the Lord. We all have to praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God if we all want to praise the Lord. Thanks be
to God. If we do, it's He that made us
want to, made us willing. Verse 2 says, while I live will
I praise the Lord. That's by God's grace. But while
I live, will I praise the Lord? There is only One whom we praise. There is only One whom we give
honor to and glory to, and it is not the Pope, and it's not
Mary, and it's not John Calvin either. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I
love John Calvin. I love Him with all my heart.
I agree with Him. The Scripture sets forth all
five of those points. I believe all five of those points. But I don't sing the praises
of John Calvin. By the Lord's grace, by His work,
verse 2 says, I will sing praises unto my God. I'll sing praise
unto the God of John Calvin. My brother, John Calvin. He's
the God of Mary. He's the God of the Pope. He's
the God of all. We'll sing praises unto our God.
Every knee must bow. Verse 3 says, put not your trust
in princes nor in the Son of Man in whom there is no help. There is no help. The longer
we live, there is no help. We realize that. There's no help. No man can run for any office
and come up with any slogan that's going to prove to me that he
can provide me help. Let's not put our trust in any
mortal man because all flesh is grass. It's all grass. Let's not put our trust in any
politician And there's a few that I like. I like them a lot. But they make promises that they
can't keep. They make promises that they can't keep. Let's not
put our trust in any economic business mogul, any major corporation
owner, anybody who says they know how to turn this economy
around. It's God who gives the increase.
Let's not put our trust in any religious leader. Any of them. The scripture says all flesh
is grass. All men are sinners, starting
right here. All men are liars. And they cannot
help. They cannot help. Don't trust
in them, you'll be disappointed, be very disappointed. The true
God-sent religious leader, the true servant of God, points men
and women to Jesus Christ. They say, trust Him, trust Him. They would never say, trust me.
Now, you trust me on this, unless they're saying, I'm about to
quote Jesus Christ. What they say is, I am just a
man. I'm just an earthen vessel like
everybody else. I'm just a sinner. Don't look
to me. Look to the Lamb of God. That's what God's true servant
said, John the Baptist. They said, who are you? And he
said, it's not important. What's your name? It doesn't
matter. Behold, the Lamb of God. Look to Jesus Christ. Put your
trust in Him and not in any man. No man. Why? Verse 4 says, Because man's breath
goeth forth. That means he dies. His breath
leaves his body. Man dies. It says he returneth
to his earth. From dust he came, to dust he's
going back. And it says in that very day,
all of his ambition and all of his intention, all of his thoughts
perish. Everything he said he was going
to do is over. Let's not put our trust in anything
that can be gone so quickly. Gone. Just gone. Look down at verse 10, it says,
The Lord shall reign forever. The Lord shall reign forever.
Proverbs 2,3 says, Trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. He's unmovable. He's unshakable. He's immortal. He's invisible. He's our rock. He's our foundation. He's our fortress. He's our God. Verse five says, Happy is he
that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the
Lord his God. It's amazing to me that the word
God and the word Jacob can even be in the same verse. That's wonderful, isn't it? The high and holy God. And the
low and vile sinner. Happy, I mean, happy is he who
has the God of sinners for his help. This God is willing to
be the God of sinners. Happy is the person that has
the God that helps sinners. That's a happy person. Look at
Psalm 144, verse 15. Psalm 144, verse 15 says, Happy
is that people that is in such a case. Yea, happy is that people
whose God is the Lord. They're happy. They really are
happy. This world is so tough. This
world is so trying. It's so difficult to have patience,
which we don't have any of. And we just grovel here below.
But once we get a hold of the God of Jacob again, we realize,
I actually really am happy. I really am. I'm not searching
for something that I don't have. I'm happy. We quote our text all the time. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for our help. But here's the question. Why?
Why are we sinners happy? Psalm 146 here gives us ten reasons. Ten reasons to be happy in the
God of Jacob. The first one is in verse six.
It says, He made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein
is. And he's our God. That's the
one who is our God. To get straight to the point,
he is able. He's able. Look at everything he's made.
Look at everything he's created, he's able. He can do what he
says he will do. If a sinner needs help, he's
able. He's able to deliver thee. He
can take out of us a heart of stone and create in us a new
heart. He's the creator. He can create
a brand new heart, heart flesh. He created all things. Now, here's
something we must know. He can destroy all things. He's able to do that as well,
he's able. And he plainly said, I'm going
to destroy everything and everyone who does not cry out for mercy
and help. I'm going to destroy it all. If God be for us, who can be
against us, but if God be against us, who can be for us? Somebody will hear that and say,
God's not against anybody. He might not save everybody,
but God's not against anybody. Well, let's turn over to Ezekiel,
chapter five. Ezekiel, chapter five. Verse 5 says, Thus saith the
Lord God, This is Jerusalem. I have said it in the midst of
the nations and countries that are round about her, and she
hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations
and my statutes more than the countries that are round about
her. For they have refused my judgments and my statutes. They
have not walked in them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, Because you multiplied more than the nations that are round
about you and have not walked in my statutes, neither have
kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments
of the nations that are round about you. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I, even I am against thee. And will execute
judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
Verse 11 says, Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, surely
because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy destructible
things and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish
thee. Neither shall mine eye spare,
neither will I have any pity. And then he continues in chapter
five, which is more destruction. Chapter 6 is more destruction. Chapter 7 is more destruction. Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter
10 is more destruction. Now go to Chapter 11. Ezekiel
11, verse 13. Ezekiel says, It came to pass
when I prophesied that Pelatea, the son of Benaiah, died. Then fell I down upon my face
and cried with a loud voice and said, Oh, Lord God, without make
a full end of the remnant of Israel. Are you going to kill
all of us? Are you going to kill us all? Verse 14, again, the word of
the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, thy brethren, even
thy brethren, the men of thy kindred and all the house of
Israel, holy. Are they unto whom the inhabitants
of Jerusalem have said, get you far from the Lord unto us? Is this land given in possession?
Therefore, say thus, saith the Lord God. Although I have cast
them far off among the heathen and although I have scattered
them among the countries. Yet will I be to them as a little
sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. The Lord is
good. He is good. He is good. He is what good is. Verse 17 says, Therefore say,
Thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people
and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered,
and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come
thither and shall take away all the detestable things thereof
and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give
them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you. And
I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give
them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep
my ordinances and do them. And they shall be my people and
I will be their God. The Lord is good. He is so good. He said, everything I created
and gave to you, you defiled. You destroyed, you ruined. So
he says, I'm going to create something else. I'm going to
create a new heart in you. I'm going to create a new spirit
in you. I'm going to gather you. And
listen to Isaiah 65, verse 17 says, Behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered nor come
into mind, the one that you defiled and ruined. But be ye glad and
rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold, I create
Jerusalem rejoicing in her people a joy. And I will rejoice in
Jerusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying. I'm going to
create new heavens, new earth, a new heart, a new spirit. I'm
going to make all things new. Happy is he that had the God
of Jacob for his help. It says in our text, He made
heaven, He made earth, He made the sea, He made everything that
therein is. Verse 6 goes on to say, He keepeth
truth forever. He keepeth truth forever. Our
Lord said unto the Father, Thy word is truth. He will keep His word forever. He keeps his promise to the remnant,
to his people. Psalm 119 says, Thy law is the
truth. Thy commandments are truth. He kept them. He kept his own
law. He kept his commandments. For
us, he keepeth truth forever. In the Gospel of John, he said,
I am the truth. And you shall know the truth.
And the truth shall set you free. He keep the truth forever. I'm so glad that makes me happy. Why are we sinners happy? Our
text, verse seven says. He executed judgment for the
oppressed. An oppressor is someone who rules
in a cruel way. The oppressed are those under
cruel bondage. They're pressed upon, they feel
the weight. Our concordance says the oppressed
are the defrauded, the violated, those gotten deceitfully deceived,
helpless. He's the help of the helpless. Help of the helpless, he's the
savior of sinners. Verse seven says his people are
happy because he giveth food to the hungry. David said, I have been young
and now I'm old and I've never seen the righteous forsaken or
a seed begging bread, but he gives something to the hungry
that's far more important than bread. Man cannot live by bread
alone. But He gives every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God. He's given that to us. He's
given us the Word of God to have and to hold. He said, Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. He's given us righteousness. And that's Christ, the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If they hunger after that spiritual
food. They're going to be filled, they're
going to be absolutely filled. He gives food to the hungry.
Now, we're asking the question, why are we happy? How can sinners saved by grace
not be happy? How can we not be happy? In the God of Jacob. Just look
at this one verse. Verse seven says that the Lord,
our God, executes judgment for the oppressed. He gives food
to the hungry and the Lord looseth the prisoners. How could they
not be happy? He said the Lord hath anointed
me to proclaim liberty to the captives. The opening of the
prison to them that are bound, how? How can he do this and still
be just? How can he do this and still
be fair and still be right? If he is good, how can he let
prisoners go? If somebody did that, if somebody
went down to the prison and let all the prisoners go, I wouldn't
be too happy about that. If we're in prison, we're there
for a reason. If we're prisoners, it's because
we deserve to be prisoners. How can this be possible and
legal? He fulfilled the law. He abided
by the law. How can this be legal for a guilty
man like me? The song says there's a sweet
and blessed story of the Christ who came from glory just to rescue
me. He came for one reason only from
sin and misery. He in loving kindness sought
me. And from sin and shame has brought
me. Hallelujah, the Lord Jesus Christ
ransomed me. He bought me. He paid my price. He paid my debt. He did it with
His own blood. The song says, Hallelujah, what
a Savior who can take a poor, lost sinner, lift him from the
miry clay and set him free. I will ever tell the story, by
God's grace, if He allows me to, I will ever tell the story,
and the whole time I'm up here, I hope to shout, glory, glory,
glory, hallelujah. Jesus Christ ransomed me. That
makes me happy. I'm really happy about that.
He ransomed me. This was no jailbreak. He paid my price. He did it out
in the open for all to see. There's nothing to hide. Alas,
and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote
that sacred head for such a worm as I? Verse 8 in our text says,
The Lord opened the eyes of the blind. The song continues, At
the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light. And the
burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by grace I received
my sight. And now I'm happy all the day." The Lord opened the eyes of this
spiritually blind man. I was blind to the truth. I was
blind to God. I was blind to Christ. I was
blind to my sin. Everybody knows they're not perfect,
but the Lord God has to open our eyes. He has to open our
eyes to see just how vile we really are. We'll never see it. But if he does open our eyes.
And if we see Christ crucified, Christ crucified, then we will
see the hope of glory. We'll see the truth. We'll see
the way. We'll see life. Verse 8 says,
The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down. He raiseth them from
the grave, bowed way down, when he reached way down. He's the
giver of life. He quickens the dead. Ephesians
2 says, You hath he quickened who were dead in sins. I was
dead. He gave me life. I was down and
he raised me up from sinking sand. He lifted me with a tender
hand. He lifted me from shades of night
to planes of light. Oh, praise his name. That means
hallelujah. He lifted me and I'm really happy
about that. Verse 8 says, the Lord loveth
the righteous. When that centurion, who was
standing by the cross of our Lord, saw him give up the ghost,
when he saw actually with his own two eyes Jesus Christ crucified,
he said, surely that was a righteous man. There is only one man who
is righteous, and that's Jesus Christ. And I'm very happy about
the fact that God the Father loves him so much, he gave him
a gift. And we sinners are that gift.
We are a present from God the Father to God the Son. And our
master said to his father, all that thou hast given me, I kept
them all. The son loves the father so much,
whatever gift the father gives the son because he loves him
so much, I'll keep them because I love you. He hasn't lost one. He hasn't
given one away and he hasn't destroyed one. Verse nine says
the Lord preserveth the strangers. The Lord said concerning his
people, they are not of this world, even as I'm not of this
world, we're just pilgrims and strangers passing through. And the Lord preserves his strangers. Verse nine says he relieveth
the fatherless and widow. How does he do that? He gives
the fatherless a father. That man was sick of the palsy,
and our Lord said to him, Son, be of good cheer. You be happy.
That woman had an issue of blood, and he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. He wrote in 1 John 2, My little
children. He gives the fatherless a father.
He gives the widow a husband. Song of Solomon is a book written
for a husband and a wife. I am my Beloved's and my Beloved
is mine. In Revelation 21, John saw God's
people coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride,
adorned, or her husband. God's people are the children
of God, the father and the wife of God, the son. And I'm happy
about that. Verse nine says, but the way
of the wicked, he turned it upside down. We need help, don't we? We need help. We are the wicked. Well, happy is that wicked man.
who has the God of Jacob for His help. Because verse 10 says,
the Lord shall reign forever. Even thy God, O Zion, unto all
generations. He said, I'll be their God, they
shall be My people, and I will dwell with them. I'm going to
live with them forever. Let every creature shout His
praise. unto all generations, every generation. Let every creature shout His
praise. It says, Praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. And may the Lord bless His Word.