I'm part of a club, coming in
red here to get a party show. I said it, but I'm afraid, I'm
only a sinner paid by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my glory, this is Godly
glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Good to see you, Barbara. Give the Lord thanks that you're
with us. Would you suffer a sinner to
tell what he knows? This is my story. Is it yours,
this psalm? It's our story. A son of Jacob. A child of God. This psalm begins
with, praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah. That's what that
is. Praise Jehovah. Hallelujah. The Lord Jehovah. It ends with
that. Praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah. And it says, let all the people
of God, let all Israel say, Amen. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say, these things are so. Praise ye the Lord. Hopefully
after we hear these things and are reminded of God's mercy to
such undeserving sinners as us, hopefully we will all say, praise
the Lord. Verse 2 says, Who can? Who can
utter? the mighty acts of the Lord. Who can tell it? The half has
never been told, nor ever will until we hear Him tell it. The half, the exceeding sinfulness
of our sin and the exceeding riches of His grace, the half
has not been told. Who can tell it? And this psalm
is full. That's what this psalm is all
about. Full of story after story of the sins of God's people. Israel, His elect, His chosen.
And God's goodness and mercy in spite of all their sins. And this is a book of remembrance. The whole Bible is. A book of
remembrance to those that fear the Lord. To remind us what we
are, what we have done, where He hath found us, and who He
is, and what He hath done, and where He will bring us. It's a book of our sins and His
great salvation. Verse 6, we don't know who the
writer of this is. And that's good. It could have
been David. It could have been Solomon. We
don't know. But he says, he takes his place,
verse 6, with Israel. We have sinned with our fathers. We've done the same things as
the Jews of old. All of us. He said we have committed
iniquity. Iniquity. We have done wickedly.
All of us. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Everyone in this room has done
all the things that all the sons of Jacob did. That we read about. And more. And more. David one time said, if I could
number my sins are more than can be numbered. They've gone
over my head. There's so many. And we have
repeated them. Every one of them. But God, who
is rich in mercy, has repeated the same mercy over and over
again. Verse 7, we have sinned with
our fathers. Verse 7, our fathers understood
not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude
of His mercy. They provoked Him at the sea,
even at the Red Sea. Our fathers understood not, and
nor have we. Though the earth is full of His
glory and His wonders and His goodness, and the heavens declare
it, and God has been so marvelously sustained us, He said, I have
girded you, though you haven't known Me. Been so good to you
all these years, but God was not in all your thoughts? We've
done the same thing. Didn't understand. Remembered
not. But provoked Him. Verse 8, nevertheless. I started to title this message,
Nevertheless. Nevertheless. That means as great
as their sins were, His grace is never the less. That as sin hath abounded, multiplied
innumerable evils, never is the mercy and grace of God less. As sin abounded, grace did what? Much more abound. As many as their sins were, His
mercy is greater. Mercies. Scripture talks about
that. Mercies. Tender mercies. Nevertheless, look at verse 8,
He saved them for His name's sake. Moses said, what to tell them who sent me?
Tell them I am that I am. Jehovah has sent you. And I'm
going to make, he said, my goodness pass before you. I'm going to
proclaim the name of the Lord. Here He is, the name of the Lord.
The Lord. The Lord God. Merciful. That's His name. That's what
He's full of. Gracious. Long-suffering. Abundant in goodness and truth. He saved them for His name's
sake. Showed great mercy. Mercy after mercy after mercy.
Why? Because that's His name. Call
His name Jesus. Why? For He shall save His people
from their sins. Call His name Jesus. He's Savior
and that's what He does. He saves them for His name's
sake. Saves who? Sinners. Sinners. Verse 8, to make His
mighty power to be known, that salvation's of the Lord. Verse
9, He rebuked the sea. Notice who does all this. He
rebuked the sea. He led them. Verse 9, He led
them. Verse 10, He saved them from
the enemy. Verse 11, the waters covered
their enemy. There was not one of them left. The Lord put away the sins of
His people. There is not one of them. left. Salvation is of the Lord. He
thought it. He bought it. He brought it and He taught it.
It's of the Lord. Verse 12, Then they believed,
then believed they His words, and they sang His praises. Children of Israel, they heard,
they believed when they were delivered from The enemy miraculously
provided for and walked through on dry land on the other side
and saw their enemies dead on the shore, they shouted out.
They sang from the bottom of their heart and the top of their
lungs unto God be the glory. Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah for
saving us, for so great a salvation. Sinners though we were, but God
rich in mercy hath brought us hitherto by His grace. But it wasn't long. They forgot. It didn't take long,
did it? It didn't take long until those
songs that they sung from the heart began to just come out
of their lips. Guilty. Verse 13, they soon forgot
his works. They waited not. for his counsel. Tired of waiting. Remember, Moses
went up into the mountain. And they said, He's gone. He's
not coming back. Well, what do we do? We'll just do what we want
to do. Verse 14, they lusted exceedingly. That means they wanted more than
they needed. They had all they needed. But
they began to go after everything. Oh, and they tempted the Lord.
Verse 14, they tempted God in the desert. What did He do? He gave them a request. Gave
them what they wanted, but sent leanness into their soul. They became full of food, but
they were empty of grace. They became materially fat, as
it were, but spiritually lean. Solomon said, it's better to
be the other way around. Better is the fear of the Lord,
little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble
therewith. Guilty. Guilty. They envied Moses, verse 16.
They envied Moses in the camp. They began to resent Moses. Some
of them got tired of hearing Moses. Some of them said, I can
do a better job than that. They said to Moses, the sons
of Korah said, you take too much on you. And Moses didn't take
this on him. He didn't even want the job.
He never did think he was a good speaker. Never did. But these sons of Korah began
to resent him. And they wanted to speak. Well, verse 17, the Lord opened
the earth and swallowed them up. And that still happens today.
A man, a woman, somebody becomes resentful of God's preacher. And in time, they get tired of
hearing His voice. And the Lord removes them. And
they go out in the world and it swallows them up. It always
happens that way. I'm guilty. resented God's preacher and took
issue with him? Guilty. Anybody? Moses got mad
down in verse 32, and he shouldn't have. He got mad, but he's just
flesh. What man of flesh can't get mad?
And what man of flesh can you not get mad at? Nevertheless. Verse 19 through 21 says, They made a calf, worshipped
it, changed the glory, their glory in the smillitude of an
ox. See, God created man in His own
image. The glory of man far exceeds
all creatures. But man, they began to worship
the creature more than the Creator, who is God-blessed forever, and
worshipped themselves. My, my. Instead of God, Verse
21, they forgot God their Savior. God was not in all their thoughts.
They had a lot of thoughts about a lot of things, but God wasn't
in them. God who had done great
things. Wondrous works, verse 22, in
the land of Ham. That's Egypt. Terrible things.
Things that ought to make us fear the Lord. Therefore, He
said He would destroy them. And it went on. They despise
the pleasant land. This is not your land. He kept telling them, this is
not your land. You're going to a land that floweth
with milk and honey. You have here no continuing city.
These are not your people. This is not your land. Don't
set your hopes and your dreams. This is not it. You look for
a city whose builder and maker is God. But I can't see it. But I told you, I can't lie. I've promised it
to you. And look by faith. See afar off. Don't look at things that you
see. Look at things that are unseen. But they just couldn't
look past the leeks and the onions. Leeks and onions. Leeks and onions. And they despised the Lamb. They believed not His Word. They
didn't think, when's He coming? When are we going to get there?
That's what they were... We've been in this wilderness ten years. Ten years? That's not long, is
it? We've been traveling for twenty
years and we're not there yet. Twenty years? That's not long,
is it, Brother Henry? Thirty years. Forty years. Forty years. They forgot. Verse
25, they murmured in their tents. Anybody ever murmured in your
tent? God heard it all. It was not a thought that God
didn't know afar off. Not a word in their mouth that
He didn't know at all together. They murmured in their tent.
I'm so tired of this. Why is this happening to me? I've got so many troubles. Have you forgotten where you
came from? Anybody murmured in their tent? Well, it is a tent. But it's
a palatial tent that we now live in. You know, Mindy and I started
in a little apartment, no bigger than about half the basement,
about 800 square feet. Just happy. Just happy. And now look at us. Do we ever murmur? We forgot, hadn't we? We forgot
where we came from. Anybody else guilty? Forget.
Murmur in our tents. Hearken not unto the voice of
the Lord. He's warned us and warned us.
Well, go on down to verse 29, and they provoked Him to anger
with their inventions. In other words, they came up
with all sorts of ways to sin. They did it. If it could be done,
they did it. Verse 32, they angered him at
the waters of strife. They went ill with Moses and
angered the Lord for confronting him. Verse 35, the Lord dealt
with Moses, rebuked him sharply and dealt with him, but the people
more. Verse 36 and verse 35, they were
mingled among the heathen and learned their works. They became
just like them. They're supposed to be different.
They're supposed to be above the things. Oh my! Verse 36, and it says
they served their idols. Served their idols. They became
a snare to them. And they let their sons and daughters
do what they shouldn't have done. And not do what they should have
done. Verse 39, they were defiled with
their own works. Went a-whoring God who was their
faithful husband, yet they were very unfaithful to Him. Went
a-whoring after their own inventions. And verse 43, many times did
He deliver them, but they provoked Him with their counsel. Their meetings together. One
time He said, your new moons, your Sabbaths, I'm sick of it. They're a stench in my nostril. How many times have we met? Because it's the thing to do. Verse 43, many times they provoked
him, were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless. Now, he just went on and on and
on, didn't he? And the half was not told. of their sins and iniquities. Never the less. As much as they
sinned against Him. Never the less. God, in His mercy, look at it, He
regarded their affliction. What is man that is not mindful
of Him? Why would He regard When he heard their cry, he heard
them. Why should he hear them again? Like that Syrophoenician
woman whom he ignored. Why? It's not fit to give this
bread to you dogs. But such is our Lord, the God
of Israel. Oh, John, happy, happy, happy,
happy. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. The God of Israel of such a worthless
Sinful people who always, who always hears their cry. Always. Blessed. That's the title. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. Blessed be the Lord God of the
sons of Jacob. The wonderful, merciful, gracious,
kind, loving, tender, long-suffering God, Jehovah of such an unlovely,
unworthy, Worthless people. Oh, blessed, blessed, blessed
be His holy name. And verse 45 says, He remembered
for them His covenant. He remembered for them His covenant. He saved them, these old Mephibosheps,
for Christ's sake. of that covenant He made with
His Son and repented. He turned from destroying them. He should have. He should have. How many times did they provoke
Him? How many times did they sin against
Him? It just went on and on and on. It seemed like they were
going to sin everlastingly, doesn't it? that their sins would endure
forever, it seems like. But bless God, His mercy endureth
forever. The sin abounded. It can't go
further. It cannot exceed. It will not
sin. They will not sin so much. This is the gospel. There ever
was one. They cannot sin so much that
He doesn't have mercy to cover it. for His covenant, the multitude
of His mercy. The multitude of His mercy. How
many times do you think, well, I've done it now. It's over.
It's through with me now. I've gone too far. Nevertheless. Nevertheless. My, my. He remembered
for them. There's someone sitting with
Jehovah right now at His right hand. that He looks at constantly with
love and favor and acceptation as just well pleased for His
righteousness sake, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in looking
at Him, He remembers us. We're accepted. It's not a doctrine. Salvation is not a doctrine.
It's not the doctrines of grace. It's the doctrine of Christ.
accepted in the blood. He remembers for them, these
sinners, His Son, His covenant, what He has gone. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Boy, there's a lot of
charges. Who? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ
died. Christ died. And there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ. He remembered
for them His covenant. He made them to be pitied also
among them that carried them captives. Gave them favor in
the sight of the Egyptians. Gave them favor. These people,
these Israelites. Oh my, were they better than
the Egyptians? In most cases, they were worse
because they sinned against such mercy and grace. But God, for
His great love were with the loved them, even while they were
yet sinners. And He gave them favor. Now,
it ends this way. Verse 47 ends with a prayer.
It started with a prayer. It started with praise. Praise
the Lord. It started with a prayer. He
said, remember me, O Lord. When You with favor, the favor
You bear unto Your people, Your salvation, He said, the good
You show to Your chosen, Would you do that for me? He said,
the gladness of thy nation, the glory of thine inheritance. I
have sinned. We have sinned. I have sinned.
Whoever wrote this said, I've done everything they've done.
Would you please show me the same mercy you showed your chosen
Israel? And he ends this psalm by saying,
save us. He's not just praying for himself
to sin. Save us. My house. My children. My family.
My brothers and sisters. My dear brothers, save us, O
Lord God. All of us, save us, O Lord God,
and gather us from among the heathen where we're scattered. This is why God saved the Israelites. To take them out of Egypt. He
said, I am come down to deliver you out. Out from among the heathen
who don't think about Me, who don't worship Me. I'm taking
you outside the camp, into the wilderness, unto Myself. Bury
My reproach. Why? What's this all about? Look
at verse 47. To give thanks. To a God you never thought about.
To a God that Egypt doesn't even believe exists. Pharaoh said,
Who is the Lord? Who is God that I should obey
Him? His people said, I am the Lord. Come thou out from amongst
them. Out into the wilderness. And
I'm going to show you great and wondrous things as you travel
for forty years, all your life. I'm going to show you my mighty
hand. How I brought you out with a
mighty hand. and have done all these things
for you, although you are no different than the Egyptians.
No different than the Egyptians. But I am your God, and you are
so blessed to have Me as your God, and for Me to reveal Myself
to you and show mercy to you, you and you only, of all the
people on the planet of earth." He said, I have shown mercy to
you and brought you out. The people are blaspheming My
name, profaning My name among the heathens, but you, are going
to glorify My name, fear My name, praise My name, say My name that
it's exalted. I'm going to bring you out. This is why I chose you. This is why I made you, gave
you new birth, to sing praise now and forever unto My holy
name. To give thanks. Oh my, why me? And he said in verse 47, to triumph
in thy praise. He did it all to the praise of
the glory of His grace. Who is He that overcometh the
world? He that sees the glory of God in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. and praises Him for that sovereign
electing mercy and saving grace, to the praise of the glory. Throughout
eternity, God's chosen are going to be singing of the praise of
the glory of His grace who chose us, who loved us, who washed
us, who brought us, who taught us, who gave us, who mercifully
did all these things for us, unto Him, unto Him, unto Him.
While the whole world says, Me and My and I, I, I. God says, I've chosen you that
you might know Me. That I am thy God. And David, I don't know who wrote
this, but that's where he says, Oh, blessed be the Lord. Blessed
be the Lord God. You see, this is a book that
tells us from start to finish how sin abounds, but grace did
much more abound. It sounds just like all of God's
book, doesn't it? And you, who were dead and trespassed
in sin. Who walked according to the course
of this world. The children of disobedience.
among whom the God of this world held you captive, children of
wrath even as others, and you nevertheless. But God, but God. See, this is a book, God's Gospel,
God's story is about a people very bad and a God very good. A people very sinful. and a God
very merciful. A people very foolish, but a
God who is all wise. A people very fickle, a God who
never changes. A people very small, a God who
is very great. A people very poor, but a God
very rich. A people completely helpless,
but a God with all power. A people very finite, a Lord
God eternal. A people very low, a God very
high. A people dead in Adam, a people
made alive in Christ. A people lost all in Adam, who
recovered it all in Christ. A people who broke the law, a
Lord who came to fulfill it. A people who lost all and are
lost in wonder, and a Lord their Shepherd who came and found them.
A people who always fail, a God who cannot fail. A people whose
sins are over their heads, but a Lord Jesus Christ with all
things under His feet. A people very unstable, but a
God who is their rock. A people full of hate, but a
God who is full of love. A people full of enmity, a God
who breaks it down and reconciles it. A people with bonding, but
a Deliverer who sets them free. A people not worth saving, but
a God who saves them anyway. A people ready to sin, but a
God ready to pardon. A people who will not come, but
a God who makes them willing. A people who cannot come, but
a God who comes to them. A people who are lame, but a
Lord who catches them all. A people who will not call, but
a God who calls on them. A people who are far off, but
a God who brings them nigh. A people who can do nothing,
but a Lord that does it all for them. A people who play the harlot,
but a faithful husband who will never leave them. A people sunk
so deep in sin, that they can't get out, but a God whose arm
is not short and reaches low. A people in great debt with nothing
to pay, but a Lord who paid it all. A people who blaspheme His
holy name, but a God who saves them for His namesake. A people
of wrath, the children of wrath, but a God with nothing but thoughts
of peace and love toward them. A children's stiff neck, Hard-hearted,
but a God with a tender heart and largeness of heart. Sons
who play the prodigal, but a loving Father waiting and running to
fall on their neck. A people very selfish, but a
God very generous. A people naked, but a Lord who
strips Himself and covers them. A people guilty and a Lord who
takes their blame. A people who need mercy and a
God who delights to show it. A people who forgot God, a God
who can't forget them. A people who forget His Word,
cannot forget their sin, and a God who cannot forget His Word
and forgets their sin completely. A people who need a lamb and
a God who became one. A people who need a righteousness,
a Lord who has made that righteousness. A children who mess up everything,
a Father who fixes it all. A children who are foolish and
childish and a Father that pities them and knows their frame. A
people compassed with infirmity and a God who became them and
took their flesh upon Him. A people who are harassed by
Satan and a Lord who put them on a chain. A people of children
always crying unto the Lord, and a Lord who always hears them.
A people fearful facing death, and a Lord who faced it for them
and came out of that grave to relay their fears and their trouble.
A people who begin as worms and end up like angels. A people
on the dunghill whom the Lord came and set up among princes. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. And let all the people say, Amen. Amen. All right. Brother Gabe,
you come. Let's sing a hymn. Let's turn to hymn number 13
and stand together. We'll sing the first and last
verse.