If you'd like to follow along,
I'm going to be in Psalm 149, Psalms 149. Psalm 149, beginning
in verse one. Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto
the Lord a new song. and his praise in the congregation
of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that
made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful
in their king. Let them praise his name in the
dance. Let them sing praises unto him
with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure
in his people. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their
beds. Let the high praises of God be
in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute
vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people,
to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters
of iron, to execute upon them the judgment written. This honor
have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. Excuse me. I'm gonna read you something
Tim James wrote in a bulletin I found very pleasing. We, we who are in no way, excuse
me, in no way Are we sovereign? And we are intellectually disabled
when it comes to grasping the meaning of sovereignty. We believe
the fact of it, we rejoice in the blessedness of it, and we
know the one who is sovereign only by the faith that this sovereign
gives us. Thus our opinions and ersatz,
I like that word, ersatz, explanation of sovereignty, are of little
value. Saving faith does not consider
feeling, experience, or pipe dreams. Saving faith believes
what is written in God's word. Tim James wrote that, and I agree
wholeheartedly. I wish I could really lay a hold
of the sovereignty of God. Walter, my worries would disappear.
My worries would be gone. I know he's in control, I know
the one who is sovereign, but I still don't really get a hold
of it. And I wish I could, I really
do. But now, having said that, I'm going to try and preach the
sovereign God. This is what we do. This is what we do. My title
here today is Pleasure in His People, Paul. Because I'm gonna
just start in verse four. Well, I'll back up a little bit
when I do it, but. For the Lord taketh pleasure
in his people. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. Now verse one tells us, sing
a new song, What? Unto the Lord. Sing unto the
Lord a new song. His praise in the congregation
of saints. Verse two says, let Israel, and
I love this, let Israel rejoice in him that made him. The congregation, the saints,
What's that mean? Believers are to rejoice in their
creator, their maker, their maker. It is he that has made us and
not we ourselves. And if you don't know that, you
don't know God. because he is gonna bring you
to the place where you know you have nothing to do but to cry
out for mercy, to ask for his grace. And you know why you're
gonna ask for his grace? Because he's told you to. You
have nowhere else to go. You've nothing in yourself. We're
talking about the sovereign Lord, the creator of Israel, the creator
of all of his people, the maker. It also says, believers rejoice
in their maker. Believers rejoice in their maker.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, and let the children
of Zion be joyful in their king. That's who this Lord is. The
Lord is the creator and the maker. King the king the king of his
people The creator is their king and
their king is their creator Because believers are Israel was a new
creation a new creation We are a new creation created in Christ
Jesus unto good works That's what the scriptures tell us.
He is not only our king, he is our maker. You understand, there's
some people who want to say, let Jesus save you. Accept Jesus
as your personal savior. Make him your Lord later. No,
if you're not coming to the king, if you're not coming to the creator,
you're not coming to God. He's not gonna save anyone that
he doesn't create. in this manner. Now where this says, their creator,
their king is the Lord. For the Lord taketh pleasure
in his people. The Lord, capital L, capital
O, capital R, and capital D. This is Yahweh, Jehovah, the
self-existent one. Now, you've heard us before say,
that a lot of times in the Old Testament, where it says the
Lord, even Yahweh, it refers to Jesus Christ. So in this case,
is this referring to the Father, or is this referring to the Son? Yes. Yes. It's both. It's the Lord. The Lord, our
God, is one God. But we also know that God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and these three
are one. Yes, this reference is to the
Father, and this reference is to the Son. This is the Lord, the one Lord,
Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father chose us in the Son,
the Son came and saved his people from their sins, and the Spirit
gives us life from above. Born from above. And the Spirit
abides, dwells in his people. dwells, he lives in those who
are foreknown, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified. It's Romans 8. This Lord, Father,
Son, and Spirit, takes pleasure in his people. Takes pleasure
in his people. And that's the part that stopped
me when I read this. I mean, to me, that is just an
astounding statement. Because stop and think for a
minute. The creator takes pleasure in his people. And you understand,
when he's talking about his people, he's talking about us. He's talking
about believers. In this case, he's talking about
the congregation of Israel. He's talking about those who
know God, those who love God, those who trust his son, those
who believe his son. And yet, we're still us. We're still us. The Lord of all creation takes
pleasure in his people, the saints, those who believe Christ Jesus.
And the primary meaning of this is he's pleased with us. And sometimes I find that hard
to believe about myself, not you, about myself. He is pleased with us. Another
meaning of it is he accepts us. He loves us. The Lord loves his
people in his son. You got to put that in. I have
to put that in. See, there's a lot of people
who have a tendency to think of this Bible here is a book
about them. The Bible's not about you. The
Bible's not about me. The Bible is about Jesus Christ.
The Bible is about the Lord of glory, the sovereign Lord of
glory. It's not about you, it's not
about me, it's not, we're mentioned, he's taking care of his people.
But you understand, it's about him. And it's about his work. His creation. Oh my. The Lord God, the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit take pleasure in us, in believers, in those
that know and trust His Son and believe His Son. Because please understand, and
I want to be very clear about this. Believers are no better
than unbelievers. We've still got unbelief in our
hearts. It's still there. We are different, but we're not
better. You understand what I'm saying?
And here's the thing. Believers know who, and I mean
who, maketh thee to differ. And it's not themselves, it's
God. It's the Lord himself. Because
we are not better, we are still sinners unto this day. Nevertheless, the Lord takes
pleasure, and here's the thing, in us, in his people, The Lord
does take pleasure in his people. Wow, man. We know we don't have anything
that we haven't received. But we do have it, Walter. He
is made unto us by God. Of God are ye in Christ Jesus,
who is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. This is all from the second Adam.
From the first Adam, we didn't get any wisdom, we didn't get
any righteousness, we didn't get any sanctification, we didn't get
any redemption. All we got from the first Adam was that we were made
sinners. But from the second Adam, oh,
he is made unto us. All of that. We are not better,
and the Lord takes pleasure in us, in his children, in his people. You understand? That's mercy. That's grace and that's love
from the Lord. Matter of fact, that's unspeakable
love full of grace and truth. The creator takes pleasure in
those he has created. That's grace. He's not taking any pleasure.
Let me be very clear about this. He's not taking any pleasure
in our merits because we don't have any. Salvation, the pleasure of the
Lord, shall prosper where? In his hand. In Christ's hand. But salvation has never had anything
to do with and never will have anything to do with our merits. It has to do with His mercy,
His grace, and His love, His sacrifice, His redemption, His
justification. We have, believers have, in them,
The Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit of God. And the Father takes pleasure
in us. The Son takes pleasure in us. The Spirit takes pleasure in
us. We are, we are blessed. with all spiritual
blessings, in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus. The Lord of
all creation took mercy upon his fallen creatures, and not
only that, he takes pleasure in those he has raised from the
dunghill. That's where we were. He raises
the poor from the dust, he raises the beggar from the dunghill.
To set them with princes. The Lord takes us from the dunghill,
and he provides us with the garments of salvation. He gives us the
garments of salvation. Then he provides us with, gives
us, his robe of righteousness. And not only that, he puts it
on us. He puts it on you. It's not,
here's the rope of righteousness, come in and get it. Put it on.
No, no. It told the prodigal son, was told by the father.
Told his servants, go get the best rope and put it on him.
Put it on him. We'd put it on wrong if we was
doing it. We'd have it on inside out. Upside
down or whatever. But the Lord takes us from the
dunghill and clothes us and sits us at his table. And the Lord
takes pleasure in his people. I just find that amazing. Because
the father sees his son in us and takes pleasure in us. We
are his sons. What is it? Created in Christ
Jesus. We are his creation. Unto good
works. What? That were ordained before.
That we should walk in them. The Lord takes pleasure in his
people. In his people. I love that. I
do. And the second thing it says
here. He will beautify the meek with salvation. Understand, we're not beautiful. He beautifies. This is the thing. We are so
prideful in what we think of ourselves. Not that I'm like
that or anything, but you know. We are prideful, even in the
littlest way. You understand? You can be proud
of your humility. I'm just a humble fella. I don't
toot my own horn. And you can get pride in that. That's not the meek he's talking
about here. He beautifies the meek with salvation. He beautifies the meek He saves those that don't deserve
it. Almost anyone will admit that,
okay? But here's the other part. He
saves those whom he gives to know they don't deserve it. You understand? Jesus Christ
never saved anyone who wasn't lost first. He's gonna show you your loss
before he'll save you. Again, salvation is never about
our merits, it's about his mercy. Always, always, always. He saves those who know they
don't deserve it, who know they have no merits. Matter of fact,
our merits, our righteousnesses, our goodness are nothing but
filthy, bloody rags in God's sight. in God's eye. You can
look wonderfully well to the world. You can look wonderfully
happy and prosperous and meek even. But that doesn't cut anything
with God. He sees our meekness as what it is. And unless He
gives you the meekness, you're not going to be one. The Lord in other places refers
to us as worms, maggots, and rightfully so. Now, we've known people who don't
like being compared to maggots. That's pride. That's pride. He says we're less than the small
dust of the balance. You understand there's a balance
here, and we can't tip it one way or the other. And he calls us maggots, red
worms. Oh, Jacob, thou worm. That's us. If you come to know you're nothing
but a worm, God may have done something for you. because he beautifies the meek
with salvation. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Now do you know you are a worthless,
useless, ungodly worm? That's meek. That's meek. To know that you have absolutely
no claim on a holy and just God. That's meek. That's meek. Excuse me. Jesus Christ came
to save sinners, not the righteous. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. And he'll make sure you know
you lost. Because no one, I've said it before, I'll say it again,
no one will be saved until they know they are lost. Call upon
the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved. But you're not
gonna call upon him until you know about him. And when Job saw him, Job said,
I've heard of you with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. And what'd he say? I hate myself. I abhor, that's even worse than
hate. I abhor myself. Have you ever abhorred yourself?
I know in these days of self esteem and worth and all that
other stuff, people don't want you to mess with it. Don't worry
about them. Worry about the one who sits
on the throne. If you hate yourself, because
Because you've seen him the Lord That's not a bad place to be
because there you can't call upon the name of the Lord He will beautify the meek with
salvation The Lord takes pleasure in his people I like that, I
like that. And it says, let the saints be
joyful in glory. Now, I gotta start out by being clear,
here is not your glory. Let the saints be joyful in glory,
it's not your glory. It's not my glory, it's not any
man's glory, it's the glory of the Lord. It's not even the glory
of the saints. It's the glory of the Lord. Be
joyful. Why? He saves the meek. He takes pleasure in his people.
Be joyful in him. The saints, believers, are accepted
in the Lord Jesus Christ. but we do not share his glory.
We're covered by it. We're covered by his glory. And we are covered by his glory
in the sight of the Lord. We are to be joyful of the glory
of his salvation. Because his salvation is glorious.
God himself Jesus Christ himself humbled himself and came down
to this earth. Took upon the form of a servant.
God himself, Jesus Christ, fulfilled every jot and tittle, the smallest
bit of God's holy law. God himself gave himself for
his people. God himself, Jesus Christ, bore
in his body on the tree all of their sins. And God himself, Jesus Christ,
takes pleasure in his people. Jesus Christ himself offered
himself to the Father without spot and without blemish. And Jesus Christ right now is
bringing in his lost sheep to the flock. Let the saints be joyful in glory,
his glory, his work. Jesus Christ has redeemed us
to God. He has reconciled us to God. He did it himself. He has justified
us himself. We know of his glory because
of his apostles' writing. And others wrote the word of
God. John 1 and verse 14 put it this
way. It says, and the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. What? The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And through the eyes
of faith, we behold his glory and are full of joy. Be joyful
in his glory, the glory of the Lord, our creator and our king,
our sovereign. the sovereign Lord and our sovereign
king. We are partakers of the heavenly
calling and we are made partakers of Christ himself. 2 Peter 1 and verse 4 says this,
whereby we are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these Ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust. The Holy Spirit lives in the
children of God, his people. Let the saints be joyful in glory. The glory of Christ Jesus, our
Lord, the Lord. And the last thing I wanna talk
about is this. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. And I
read that and I thought, what? Let them sing aloud upon their
beds. Let the saints be joyful in glory.
Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Now I looked, and John
Gill wrote this, and I think it's pretty good. While others
are taking their rest and ease, let them meditate on the word
of God. Commune with their own hearts
and about their state and condition. Remember the Lord and his goodness
to them, all which give an occasion to give thanks unto him and sing
aloud his praise. And the phrase denotes the safe
and secure state of the saints upon their bed, lying down and
sleeping comfortably, having nothing to fear, the Lord sustaining
them. And so may and should sing upon
their beds. That's pretty good. I like that.
I like that. And I believe it's true. But
I got one little thing to add to it. When you're alone at the end
of the day, sing unto the Lord. When you're by yourself, when
all is quiet, sing aloud upon your bed. Sing a song unto the Lord who
loved us and gave himself for us. When there are no other people
around, I think that's part of the meaning here. There's nobody
around to see. There's nobody around to know.
There's nobody else around to impress. Sing aloud unto the
Lord upon your bed. You understand, a good song,
a good hymn, a good spiritual song sung aloud is a wonderful
thing to sing to the praise of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. to sing the praise of our God.
Sing aloud upon your bed, because here's the truth. When you're
alone, when you're by yourself, salvation is between you and
God. I can't help you. I can preach. I can teach. Walter can preach,
teach. Paul can preach and teach. But
salvation is between you and God. When you're by yourself, Christ
said at one time, you know, when you pray, go into your closet
and pray. Don't let the left hand know what the right hand's
doing, much less anybody else. Pray in secret, and my Father
will reward you openly. Sing aloud upon your bed. It says it in the front in verse
one. Sing a new song and his praise in the congregation of
the saints. And sing alone upon your bed. Sing
aloud upon your bed. Both are needful. Be joyful,
rejoice, be thankful, praise his holy name. So when you're
by yourself, sing. Sing. It doesn't matter if you
can't sing well. Sing aloud upon your bed. Why? Because the Lord takes pleasure
in his people. Sing a song unto him. The Lord takes pleasure in his
people. Our Father, Lord, help us. Help us to thank you and praise
you as we should. Help us to thank and praise your
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as we should, as we ought, and Lord, as you
deserve. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. And we are grateful, blessed
and thankful. Be with others who couldn't be
here and those who wanted to be here, but for whatever hindering
cause couldn't make it. Help those in other places. Lord, be with Walter and Paul
as they come and preach your word. Help us to receive it and
give you the thanks and the honor and the glory now and forever. In Christ's name we ask, amen.