I'm going to be in Psalm 135,
if you would be turning there. Psalm 135. I'm going to read the whole book,
whole Psalm. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye
the name of the Lord. Praise him, O ye servants of
the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of
the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the
Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praises unto his name, for
it is pleasant. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob
unto himself. and Israel for his peculiar treasure. For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep
places. He causeth the vapors to ascend
from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings for the
rain. He bringeth the wind out of his
treasuries. who smote the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and beast, who sent tokens and wonders into the midst
of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants, who
smote great nations and slew mighty kings, Sihon king of the
Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
and gave their land for inheritance, and heritage unto Israel, his
people. Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever,
and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations. For the Lord
will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning
his servants. The idols of the heathen are
silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths,
but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Neither is there any breath in
their mouths. They that make them are like
unto them. So is everyone that trusteth
in them. Bless the Lord, O house of Israel. Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi. Ye that fear the Lord, bless
the Lord. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,
which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. We are admonished and encouraged
here to praise the Lord, yea, the name of the Lord. This is
to those whom are in his court, that is God's enclosure in his
house. Praise him because he is good. Sing praises to his name, because
it is pleasant to do this, as well as his name is pleasant. Then in verse four of Psalms
135, we read four. 135 verse four. Four, the Lord hath chosen Jacob
unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. We then hear why we are to praise
the Lord and why his name is sweet or pleasant. The psalmist
tells us that God chose a people for his pleasant name. These
are those who are in his enclosure. Then the psalmist begins to tell
us how he accomplishes this, his sovereignty. My title is
Praise Ye the Lord. My subject is God's sovereignty. Most people do not know what
the sovereignty of God is. The reason is they do not know
the Lord and His pleasantness. They do not know God. They are
these heathens spoken of in this psalm. Heathen here means those
who are not God's people. What do these heathens have or
what do they do? They have idols. Silver and gold,
the work of men's hands. I want to say that this can be
silver and gold, or it can be a piece of wood, or it can be
something hewn out in their mind and imagination. Anything that
is not the name of the Lord, that pleasant name. What are
these idols like? They have mouths, but they speak
not. They have eyes, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. And what else? Neither is there any breath in
them, no life. These idols are mentioned here
in this psalm, but what is the key here? They that make them
are like unto them. So those who were not God's people,
they cannot speak, even though they have mouths, not anything
to the praise of his name. They cannot see the one to whom
they are to praise. They cannot hear the one who
has done all these wonderful works, so that they might praise
him. They have no life or that is
ability to praise him, the one whose name is pleasant, because
they are dead. If you have anything, any idol
at all, and do not have the Lord, the one whose name is pleasant,
then you are dead at the very least, and it may be that you
are reprobate. There are those in this world
who will give a head not to God being sovereign in some things.
This is but a God of their own imagination who is not sovereign
over all things and thereby not sovereign over anything. He is
one of these idols hewn out with their hands in their mind. God
to them is what they want him to be. Therefore, he is not sovereign
at all. They're God they believe to be
sovereign in doing good things for them when they want something.
They will give God the praise. God prays when something good
happens to them, like when they score a touchdown. But you even
notice when they do this, what do they do? So that's who their God is. Some think he is sovereign in
defeating the devil when the devil is doing those bad things. Some think he is sovereign over
everything but salvation. When it is salvation that is
the very thing he is sovereign over because it is him who purposed
to save and therefore created all things and created them to
this very end, to his glory. There are a lot of people in
the world today that give lip service to God being sovereign
some of the time. Some think he is sovereign on
Easter Sunday. Some at Christmas, some on every
Sunday and Wednesday night when they go to church. These are
heathens. They are not God's people, nor
is their God, God at all. All they are about is making
themselves feel good. Their problem is it does not
last, so they have to keep doing, doing, doing. We know the word
sovereignty itself is not used in scripture, but God's word
defines to us exactly what sovereignty is, so that's where we will get
the definition from. But I wanna give you a definition
online that I did, I think it was Merriam-Webster's, but let
me just give you that real quick. Okay, first, the noun, 1A, one
possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty.
B, one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere.
C, an acknowledged leader, arbiter. Now as an adjective. 1A, superlative
in quality, of the highest degree or quality, of the most exalted
kind, supreme, sovereign virtue. C, having generalized curative
powers of sovereign remedy, and that's able to cure disease.
of an unqualified nature, unmitigated, sovereign contempt, E, having
undisputed ascendancy, paramount, then 2A, possessed of supreme
power, a sovereign rule, B, unlimited in extent, absolute, that's the
best one out of them all, C, enjoying autonomy, independent,
sovereign states, Three, relating to characteristics of or befitting
a supreme ruler, royal, a sovereign right. I started looking up passages
in the Bible dictionary that I had for sovereignty. And most
of the time when you look at these, some of them don't even
come close to talking about what they say it does. In this case,
God's sovereignty is all over the scripture. I was just totally
amazed myself. And so I started looking at A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God,
trying to get this down to where I could get it down into a message
clear. That didn't help. Very good book,
very good book, but it didn't help. But I want to look at what
God tells us in his word about his sovereignty. And I wanna
do it with these two points. Sovereignty and salvation is
why he is sovereign in all things. And woe to those who do not submit
to his sovereignty. First of all, we read here in
the 135th Psalm, for the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself
and Israel for his peculiar treasure. This is a very familiar language
to those who know him and have had their understanding open,
because we also read in Romans 9, as it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. In other words, this says, God
loves those whom he chose, and he hates the heathen, or those
who are not his people. This is the whole purpose of
God. It says, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. What was his purpose? To love some and hate others. Not just that though. He also
chose Christ to be the redeemer of his people whom he loved.
The scripture calls Jesus Christ the elect. You want to know why
all this is? Everything we see around us in
this world, it is because God was pleased to give glory, honor,
and praise to his name, that name that is pleasant. None of this would have been
had God not been pleased for it to be so. In the beginning,
God. In the beginning of what? Time. It all began with God. He was
the only one there. What did God do? He created. So because of the salvation which
he purposed, and in that purpose, choosing a people, and we are
not debating this, this is in the word of God. He chose a people
because he purposed to save some people. In doing this, it pleased
him to create everything that is to bring about a people's
salvation by himself and for himself. Not only did our God
create all things, but he is in absolute sovereign control
of all things. That includes all happenings,
all animals, all flora and fauna. He is in control of all the elements,
earth, wind, fire, and rain, and all of it, even those that
I've missed. He is in total absolute control
of all angels, including the elect angels and the fallen angels,
which includes Satan. He is for sure in total absolute
sovereign control of all mankind. Why? Because he purposed it all. It is what God wanted to do.
He willed all of this to happen. anything that happens or does
not happen, he willed it to be so. Because he created all things. I know some will say, God did
not create evil. Is Satan evil? God created Satan. Is man evil? Genesis 6-5 says,
and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Nothing has changed. Man as he
is born is as wicked and evil as he ever was. God created man. What does God say about it? In
Isaiah 45, seven, he says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. God Almighty tells us right here
that it is he that does all of this. When you see evil, you
see God at work. He created it and purposed it
to happen. This is God. If you do not agree
with this, it is not me that you are fighting against. God
says to us, I the Lord do all these things. What else do we
have that might show this? In Joshua 23 and verse 15 we
read, therefore it shall come to pass that as all good things
are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, So
shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have
destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God
hath given you. Sounds to me like this is something
God wanted to do. It says shall. That means there's
no doubt this was going to happen. Then we have Job, and we've looked
at Job. Satan come before God and God
suggested Job to Satan so that he, that is Satan, might sift
him, that is Job, as wheat, just as he did Peter. What does Job
say about the whole matter? And let's remember, this includes
killing all of his children. Job 2.10 says, but he said unto
her, and he was speaking to his wife, thou speakest as one of
the foolish women speaketh. What, shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this
did not Job sin with his lips. But then at the end of the book
of Job we have it confirmed, just in case we have any doubts.
In Job 42.11 it says, Then came there unto him all his brethren
and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance
before, and did eat bread with him in his house. And they bemoaned
him and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought
upon him. Every man also gave him a piece
of money and every one an earring of gold. Not only does it sound
like God wanted to do this, it actually tells us God wanted
to do it. God is in absolute sovereign
control, but let's point out that the scripture tells us that
he loved Jacob and hated Esau before they had done any good
or evil. Jacob was chosen in Christ from
before the world began. Esau was rejected of God from
before the world began. God did not look down in time
to see what we would do, because we had done neither good or evil
to either merit or demerit favor before God. We were chosen by
God based on his absolute sovereign will, or we were rejected by
God based on his absolute sovereign will. It just pleased God to
do it this way. What are we going to say to God?
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast
thou made me thus? Go ahead and try to enter into
disputation with God. God created all things and it
was by his sovereign control that everything is brought to
pass, just as he purposed it before the foundation of the
world. God purposed to destroy the whole earth and all the people
that were on it, and actually all life that was on the earth,
except for eight people and the animals that came into the earth.
The only reason eight were saved was because Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. The grace was there, God just
enabled him to find it, and it was in the face of God, that
is his eyes. Jesus Christ is the face of God. So God purposed salvation, and
that by his own right hand. In doing this, he was pleased
to show mercy to some. Because of this, he began to
create all things by the power of his word. Not only has he
created all things, but he then began to move to carry out in
time everything that happens. What do we read in Colossians
1, and this is speaking of Christ, Colossians 1, 16 and 17? For
by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. By him all things consist. This
word means set together. All things, anything you can
think of is set together by Christ. He puts everything together,
and he either keeps them together or he tears them apart, depending
on his will. He made everything. He made everything
for himself. Everything that goes on in this
world and in the heavens are happening because he is pleased
for them to happen. 1 Samuel 2 and verses six through
10 reads, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down
to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh
rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He raises up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them
among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set
the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his
saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength
shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt
the horn of his anointed. You can kick and scream against
God, and we sometimes do, but you are not going to change God.
He is going to do whatsoever he is pleased, and you complaining
about it or getting mad about it is not going to change God's
mind. If someone does something to
you that you do not like, God was pleased for them to do it,
whether it was evil or good. Does that mean it's okay for
us to do evil? No. But our Lord also says, vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So think about that
if you think you're going to sin that grace may abound. Now if you would, turn with me
to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 and 24 through
31. I'm sorry. Isaiah 46, eight through 13. Remember this and show yourselves
men. Bring it again to mind, oh ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. Hearken unto me ye stout hearted
that are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness.
It shall not be far off. And my salvation shall not tarry.
And I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. It was this sovereign almighty
God that purposed to do all these things for his honor and glory. He does this for his people in
which he would and now does place salvation in Zion. Where is Zion? Wherever Jesus Christ is. Right
here in us. He says he would place salvation
in Zion. When he placed Jesus Christ on
that tree being made sin and a curse for us, Jesus Christ
is salvation and he is the only salvation that there is. It is
this salvation whose name is pleasant to sing praises unto. It is pleasant to sing them to
his name because his name is pleasant. His works to bring
about salvation is a pleasant thought to those in his court.
All things that God has done in all creation was for himself,
to give honor, glory, and praise to his name. He created all things,
He controls all things, He does all the work, so He gets all
the glory. This is a sovereign God, my God,
your God if you are in Him. What do we see in all of this?
Wisdom, works, power, presence, providence, immutability, incomprehensible,
infinite, invisible, goodness, graciousness, righteousness,
long-suffering, love, mercy, peace. These things, when it
comes to thinking about His name, are pleasant thoughts. If you
do not see this in the sovereign God of Scripture, then you are
blind. If you do not see this and praise His name, then turn
with me to Acts 17. Woe to those who do not submit
to his sovereignty. Acts 17. 17 and verses 24 through 31. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth
to all life and breath in all things. And hath made of one
blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
earth. And hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. that they
should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him and
find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in
him we live and move and have our being, and that's every single
one of us that are on the earth, believer or unbeliever. As certain
also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's
device. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at. But now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. because he hath appointed a day
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. God commands
all men everywhere to repent. Although all men will not repent,
he has commanded it. If you do not repent, then you
will be judged one day. God is long suffering, but it
does not say he is eternally suffering. If you do not bow
down to God, the God of scripture, you will see the vengeance of
God upon your soul. God is not mocked. You are not
going to stick your chest up at God without him judging you
for it. He either did this for you in
his son and he will base you one day, or he finally, ultimately
will judge you in righteousness. That is his righteousness. You
will not stand in that day. If you have idols, don't put
forth effort to drop these idols because you will be working for
nothing. Turn to God from idols to serve
the living God. Turn to God now. He will purge
you from all idols. In fact, if you are one of his,
he has already purged you in the court of God's law. Lay down
your arms against him. If you are one of his, he will
see to it that you do, and you can be certain of that. But the
biggest fear for some should be that maybe he will not do
this. God is not obligated to us to
show mercy to us. But if he shows you mercy, you
will praise his name, because he will bring you to that place
where you have nothing but him. Ask him to cleanse you that you
might serve him. If he is pleased to do so, he
has always been pleased to do this, and in fact brought everything
to pass to bring you to this place, so that you will be able
to do what? No matter how much opposition
you might have to this, no matter how much opposition you might
give to those who teach this, no matter how much you might
think the God you search is not like this, you are not going
to change God's mind. You are not going to make God
to be how you want him to be just by believing it. Psalm 2
verses 1 through 5 reads this way. Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing? 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. 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. We are to praise his name, praise
him in word, speak the gospel to people. Tell those around
you the hope that lieth in you. Tell what God has done. Praise
him in song. Sing to God, praising him for
all his works which he has done. Praise Him in prayers and supplication,
knowing it is He that is in control of all things. In Ephesians 3,
20 and 21, we read, now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, amen. God is eternal and God does not
change, therefore His sovereignty never changes. Who God is in
the Old Testament is who God is in the New Testament. God
does not change. God is in absolute control. The
dust that you see in the air when the sunlight comes through
the window, every little speck that comes down and falls, it
falls where He is pleased for it to fall. Every little raindrop
falls where he wants it to fall. It may fall specifically on the
ground where a certain flower is and he'd purpose that flower
to drink it up and grow up a beautiful flower. Or the drop of rain can
fall on the asphalt where the heat of the sun evaporates it
into the air. Or he could allow that little
drop of rain to run off the leaf of the flower into a trickle
of water where other droplets have gone. That then runs into
a stream where a bunch of other little trickles run. Then that
stream runs into a river where a bunch of other streams run
into it. He could make more drops of rain run into the river than
it can handle on its banks, and it overflows, flooding everything
in its path. This is God who controls it all.
God controls the big things because God controls the little things.
Anything you can think of, no matter what it is, God is in
absolute sovereign control over it. How this gives comfort to
my soul. The child of God is comforted
by that because he or she knows that nothing is going to happen
outside of his control. Not one of his will slip through
his fingers. He has us in his hand tight and
controls all that which surrounds us. Nothing can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, because it is God that justifies.
It is he that controls all things to the salvation of his people
by Jesus Christ the Lord, to his praise. In A.W. Pink's book, The Sovereignty
of God, he has this sentence, and I like this. Two alternatives
confront us, and between them we are obliged to choose. Either
God governs or he is governed. Either God rules or he is ruled. Either God has his way or men
have theirs. For those in his court, the choice
is not hard to make. God is sovereign over all. I
tell you, the scripture says in Proverbs 16, 1, it says, the
preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue
is from the Lord, believer or reprobate. Again, it says in
Proverbs 16, 9, a man's heart devises his way, but the Lord
directeth his steps. So now what are you going to
do? There is but one thing to do, and that is fall down on
your face in the dust and beg for mercy. Maybe it might be
that he has been pleased from the foundation of the world to
show you mercy. One thing for sure though, if
you do not bow down to him, he has not shown you mercy, and
it may just be he never will. So now I have a new definition
for you instead of Merriam-Webster's. The definition of sovereign is
this, 1A, God. As an adjective, 1A, absolute
control over all, no matter what it is, but especially to note,
all mankind, salvation, and that because of who he is. See now,
1A. What are you going to do? Whatever
God is pleased for you to do is what you're going to do. Whether
it be in love or hate, you will do whatever he is pleased for
you to do, and that only if he allows you to live. He is sovereign
and we should praise Him for His good. We should sing praises
to His name because He is pleasant and it is pleasant to praise
His name. Oh God, enable me to praise His
name.