If you would and you'd like to
follow along, I'm going to be in the 107th Psalm. Psalm number
107. I'm just gonna read the first
three verses. Psalms 107, verse one. Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord. For he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Whom he hath redeemed from the
hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands from the
east and from the west and from the north and from the south. I'm going to stop right there. For Paul title of this is my
sermon is mercy redeemed and gathered I read something in a bulletin,
and I it really applied to me, so I'm going to share it with
you Do you ever get the feeling that you're in way over your
head? It's okay. I do all the time
especially when I think about preaching Christ. Because you think about it, I
am a finite man speaking about an infinite God. I am a sinner
talking about holiness. I am ignorant talking about the
all-knowing. I have no true free will of my
own And I want to talk about his sovereign will. I see through a glass darkly
at best. And I'm talking about the light. I am an unprofitable servant
talking about the king of kings and lord of lords. I'm a clay
pot talking about the eternal potter, the eternal creator. I am nothing talking about the
one by whom all things consist. So why do we do it? God said
to. Because I am one sinner telling
other sinners that here God is good, his mercy is forever, and
he has redeemed and gathered his people. But this verse starts
off in Psalm 107, verse 1. Give thanks unto the Lord. Give
thanks unto the Lord. Give thanks unto, and the word
is Yahweh, Jehovah, the self-existent one. Because the Lord God Almighty
is the only one who exists by his own power. Our existence
is dependent upon his. And the word used here where
it says, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, is the exact same word
used in verse eight and verse 15, verse 21 and verse 31, praise. Giving thanks unto the Lord is
praising God. Praise his holy name, praise
him forever, praise him always. Thanks be unto God. Doesn't tell
us, but for what here? It does tell us, but think about
it. Thanks be unto God for what?
Oh, everything. Everything. Health, peace, love, tragedy,
consternation, illness, and injury. or the reverse or lack of each
one of those. Even old age. Give thanks unto
the Lord. Because it all comes from the
hand of God. Everything I have came from God. Everything I lost came from God. But with him, it don't feel much
like a loss. It all comes from the hand of
God. Thanks unto him, and that's praise. But here, the psalmist
tells us this. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for he is good. He is good. You know, for us
people nowadays, the word good is kind of minuscule. They like better superlatives,
Mason. Great, outstanding, magnificent. No, no, God's good. That's all
it takes, you understand? For true goodness is better than
our greatness. God's goodness is greater than
any magnificence I have ever seen. God is good, period. End of discussion. He's all good
all the time. He's real good, Mason. Why? Well, there is no bad in God. I know it sounds simple, but
try to imagine a person. I'm not going to say yourself,
because I know you can't. I can't either. Try and imagine a person
in whom is all good and no bad. I have never known any, and neither
have you. Now there might be some that
fool us, but that's their problem. But here it is. There's no bad
in God. There's no wrong in God. In him
there is no darkness. There is no evil in God. And that word good means this.
God is beautiful, best, bountiful, joyful, kindly, precious, sweet,
And of course, the primary definition of that word is good. It's good. Give thanks unto God, unto the
Lord, for he is good. Now man, on the other hand, is
different. Man, Jew or Gentile, is said
in the scripture There is none that doeth good. You understand? You're not good. That wasn't the question. That
wasn't what he was talking about. You can't even do good. I can't even do good. There's
none that doeth good. No, not one. But give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good. Instead, that rich, young ruler
came to see Jesus Christ. And he said unto him, good master,
oh, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life? Christ
stopped him right there. And he looked at this rich, young
ruler, and he said, why callest thou me good? And Jesus Christ
said these words, there is none good but God. Now, that rich young ruler after
the rest of it, he went away very sorrowful. That's in Luke
18 to 23. But Christ said this, and he didn't lie. There is none
good but God. Absolutely none. Christ said
it, I'm just repeating it. But just for the fun of it, think
of this. Later on, Jesus Christ said, I am the good shepherd. You understand what he's saying?
Because it's still true, there's none good but God, and Jesus
Christ then himself said, I am the good shepherd. Jesus Christ
is God. He is God. Here's the thing, it's possible,
I suppose, if you were good, we might give thanks unto you,
but you're not. But I can give thanks unto God
for you. The believers who come here,
the assembly that gathers together in this place, I thank God for
you. But that's not the same thing
as giving thanks unto God. I'm not giving thanks unto you,
but God is good. for he is good. Excuse me, the
next statement is, his mercy forever. Now it says endureth,
but you can leave it out. His mercy forever. One of the very first uses of
the word mercy, when it's not used to describe the mercy seat,
it's about the fourth or fifth one in. But one of the very first
uses of the word mercy is used in the scripture with this word,
goodness. Give thanks unto the Lord for
he is good, for his mercy forever. You don't have to turn there,
I'm gonna read it. Exodus 33 and verse 19. And he
said, this is God speaking to Moses. I will make all my goodness
pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and
will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. This was an answer to Moses'
request, show me thy glory. He beseeched the Lord, show me
thy glory. And I'll tell you, Christ told
him, because I believe that was Jesus Christ, the voice of God
speaking to Moses. And Christ told him, I'm gonna
put you in a rock and you're gonna see my backward parts,
my back parts. What's he say? I'm gonna make
all my, goodness pass before you oh wait a minute you mean
goodness and graciousness and mercy Are part of the glory of
God? That's exactly what I mean That's
exactly what I mean All my goodness all my grace and all my mercy
because God's mercy is also glorious glorious And the word mercy,
in this case, in the Hebrew, is loving kindness. So I'm gonna
show you, oh my goodness, I'm gonna show you my grace, and
I'm gonna show you my loving kindness, my mercy. And matter
of fact, it's the exact same word as in here, His mercy endureth
forever. That word is loving kindness. Now we say, and I kind of understand
why we say it, but it's more the Webster's definition of the
word mercy. Mercy is not getting what you
deserve. And grace is getting what you
don't deserve. That's the way we look at it. But God's mercy is gracious. And God's grace is mercy. You can't separate the two. And
those two cannot be separated from God's goodness. Give thanks
unto the Lord, why? For he is good. His mercy always. It's all tied together in God. God's mercy is gracious and God's
grace is merciful. And mercy and grace are both
good. And good. Oh my. God's love, his loving kindness,
is as everlasting as his goodness. And his mercy, his loving kindness,
forever. Forever, forever. Understand, if God has mercy
towards you, he's always had mercy towards you. And if God
has mercy towards you now, he always will have mercy towards
you. There's no unfaithfulness in
God. There's no unfaithfulness in
Jesus Christ. His mercy is forever. And he
knows you're not good. He knows you're gonna stumble,
you're gonna fall. Why? Because we need mercy forever. You understand? Mercy for a minute,
for a day, for a year, for 20 years might not do the trick. Because I might outlive it. His
mercy's forever. What's that? His loving kindness
toward his people Forever it is in a word eternal And I said showed it from the
scripture that means his grace is eternal And we know it's goodness
is because he's eternal But his grace and his mercy is eternal
And this is the part I really, really did like this when I read
this, Walter. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Isn't that good? Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. Say it. Preach it, proclaim it,
witness to it. God is good and his mercy is
forever. Oh my. Those bought back by a near kinsman. That's what the redeemed means.
Because only, here's the thing, only the redeemed know of God's
goodness and God's mercy. They're the only ones who do.
To everybody else, he's the old man upstairs. In certain places
in certain countries, still probably to this day, he's the wooden
shelf we got in that special hut. over there, a wooden statue
of something. Now, only the redeemed know God
and His goodness and His mercy and His grace. They're all tied
together. 1 Corinthians 2 and 12 put it
this way, now we have received not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God. that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. What's that? His grace and
his mercy. His grace and his mercy. His
loving kindness. What does it say then? Which
things also we speak. What? The redeemed of the Lord
say so. Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The redeemed
say so. I like that. I like that. The
natural man does not. Is that plain enough? The natural
man cannot. Because the natural man cannot
know the things of the Spirit of God. For they are spiritually
discerned. And he can't know them. What? The way of peace, they
have not known. The way of peace, they don't
know. Who's the way of peace? Not what's
the way of peace. Who's the way of peace? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Because
here's the next statement. The redeemed, let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. What? Whom he hath redeemed. Understand redemption is a work
of God. It is not a work of man and God.
It is not a work of man without God. It's not God does part of
the redemption and you gotta accept it. I know there's a lot
of that goes around. Been there, and I've heard it.
And I'm not there now, and I won't go back. Redemption is a work
of God, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Redemption
is a work of God, even in the Old Testament. He has redeemed. He has redeemed. Now, who is
said to be the redeemer? This is where it gets down to
it. Well, in Isaiah, it says, The Lord of hosts is his name. The Lord of hosts is his name.
The Holy One of Israel is his name. And the Redeemer is his
name. So guess what? The Redeemer is
the Holy One of Israel, is the Lord of hosts. He has redeemed. We were given
an example in the Old Testament, in the book of Ruth, with Boaz. There are three qualifications
for the Redeemer in the Old Testament as far as
man was concerned. The only two qualifications we
have for the Redeemer here are A, he's the Lord of hosts, and
B, he's the Holy One of Israel. That should be enough to give
you a hint. But three qualifications for the Redeemer. The Redeemer
is to be our near kinsman. The Redeemer is to be able to
redeem. And thirdly, the Redeemer has
to be willing to redeem. I'll tell you who he is. Jesus
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the one who
is God and man. is the redeemer. He is our near
kinsman, and he is able, and he is willing. As of right now, he has redeemed
his people. Because here it is, Revelations
5 and 9, and they sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast
slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. Out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation. Paul wrote this, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. This psalmist was writing about
Jesus Christ. And the redeemed say so. I like
that, I do, I like that. The redeemed say so. Those redeemed
by Jesus Christ. He has redeemed. By his blood,
the blood of his cross. Not by the cross, but by the
blood of his cross. He has redeemed them, says, from
the hand of the enemy. Of the enemy. What Paul write, if our gospel
be hid, it's hid to those that are lost. What? Whom the God
of this world has blinded their mind. There's another one that says,
those that oppose themselves. If God might give them repentance
to relieve them so they could get out of the snare of the devil.
Those that oppose themselves, those that are unbelievers, are
taken captive by the devil at his will. But here's the thing,
the redeemer has redeemed us from the hand of the enemy. Satan cannot touch one of the
redeemed without the permission of God. That's true in the Old
Testament. Job. Job said, you brought a
hedge about him. What's the Old Testament proverbs?
A hay guy had a wife. He said, I'm gonna put a hedge
around her. You know why? So she can't get
out. We have to be, and this is just
the fact of where we are, we are still sinners. Saved by grace,
yes, but we are still sinners. We have to be protected from
ourselves because we are our own worst enemy. All we like
sheep had gone astray. And guess what? That's what we
do. If he didn't keep us on his path,
if he didn't shepherd us, We'd starve in the wilderness,
Mason. Oh my. If our gospel be hid,
it's hid to those that are lost. He has redeemed us from the hand
of the enemy. What? Thanks be unto God. For he's good and his mercy forever. He hath redeemed us. Mm, I like that. He hath redeemed. And then it says this, verse
three, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and
from the west, from the north and from the south. And gathered
them. Y'all might have noticed, sometimes
I'm big on gatherings. I like gathered. I like being
gathered by God. The gathering together of God's
redeemed. And here's the thing, there is
no gathering that matters without his mercy and his redemption.
You can go to the Lilly family reunion, and that's a gathering. That's a gathering and a half,
but they don't count. This is the only gathering that
counts. All those whom God has redeemed
and brought to a knowledge of Him are my brothers and sisters
in Jesus Christ. All of them. Whether I know them
or not. You understand? My knowledge
doesn't matter about that. His does. He has redeemed. And He's bringing them in. All
of my brothers and sisters in Christ are the redeemed, whether
I know them or not. Because they are, we are, those
redeemed that he's brought to the knowledge of himself, that
he's brought in to the flock. We are all members of his body. His church, the church, is not,
a building, it is his people. It is his people, the redeemed.
Because the gathering is not an organization, it's an organism.
He's the head and we're the members. He's the head and we're the body. And there is, not trying to be,
not going to be, there is one flock and one shepherd. That's
it. Either sheep I have. What did
he say? Them I must bring. And there's going to be one flock
and one shepherd. I like that. And I'll tell you
this. There is a great gathering yet
to come. This is talking about being gathered together here
on the earth. But there is a gathering yet
to come. And guess what? I'll tell you a secret. It's the same people. It's the
redeemed. It's the same people. Ephesians
1 and 10 put it this way, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. You know why? For he's good. He's good. His mercy is forever. Oh, my. And he hath redeemed,
and he's gathered them, and he's going to gather them. Colossians
1 and 20 says this and having made peace through the blood
of his cross By him to reconcile all things unto himself by him
I say Whether they be things in earth or things in heaven
There's a gathering coming of those that praise God and give
thanks unto him There's a gathering coming of the redeemed of who
know of God's goodness and God's mercy. They are looking for his gathering
together of all of the flock, all of the flock. Because here's
the thing, here's the conclusion. There is no gathering without
his redemption. There is no redemption without
his mercy, his loving kindness. And there is no mercy without
his goodness. All of God's goodness, all of
God's mercy, all of God's redeeming power, all of God's gathering
of those he redeemed is all in and only seen in his blessed
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you can't separate these
things. You understand? God's goodness and his mercy,
his loving kindness, and his redemption and his gathering
is all the work of one man, the man Christ Jesus, the Son of
God. He redeemed all. Now, just one more thing. Well,
actually, just a few more things here in this chapter I want to
point out because of this. Look at verses 8 and 9 of Psalms
107. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. For he satisfieth the longing
soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Praise the Lord for his goodness,
because that is where his mercy and grace and redemption all
flow from. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ
for providing all of that. And what's it say? He satisfies
the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul. Now if you're not longing and
if you're not hungry, I'm not talking to you. But if you are
hungry, oh, you know, If you're longing for mercy, if you're
hungry for redemption, here's the man you need to see. Jesus
Christ the righteous. Jesus Christ the righteous. He
satisfies. Verses 15 and 16. See the same
verse again. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works for the children
of men. For he hath broken the gates
of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder. He's broken the gates and he's
cut the bars of your prison. Those that he's redeemed, he
has set free. He is set free. You are no longer
in bondage to sin. You are no longer in bondage
to Satan. You are no longer in bondage
to yourself. Whom the Son sets free is free
indeed. Verse 21, oh that men would praise
the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the
children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and declare his works with rejoicing. I like that. Declare his works
with rejoicing. You understand? This is the good news. Jesus
Christ is good. He's merciful, he's gracious,
he redeemed his people from their sins. And he gathers them together
now here. And then he'll gather them all
together hereafter. Verses 31 and 32. Oh that men
would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful
works to the children of men. Let them exalt him. also in the congregation of the
people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. We gather together in his name. Why? To exalt him and to praise
him and to thank him. Praise him in the assembly of
the elders, and exalt him in the congregation of the people. If you're not preaching Christ,
it's not a good gathering, Walter. Our Lord has done all things
well. Verse 40, he pours contempt upon
the princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where
there is no way. Yet, this is the good part, yet
saith he the poor on high from affliction. And maketh him families like
a flock. That's a gathering. Maketh him
families like a flock. And here's what, the righteous
will see it. Understand? Let the redeemed
say so. Why? Because the redeemed, the
righteous, shall see it. Shall see it. And rejoice, and
all iniquity shall stop her mouth. All those full of iniquity need
to shut up. Whoso is wise and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness
of the Lord. And that word there, where it's
translated loving kindness, is the exact same word in verse
two, one. Mercy, mercy. Whoso is wise and
will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving
kindness of the Lord. The loving kindness of the Lord
comes through his grace, comes from his goodness. and comes
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed his people from
their sin. And they shall understand the
loving kindness of God. No one else shall, but they shall. Those redeemed by his blood and
brought to see him as he is, as best we can. But they'll understand
the loving kindness of God. Why? It's forever. His loving kindness is forever.
His mercy is forever. His grace is forever. His goodness
is forever. His redemption is forever. I will never leave thee. I will
never forsake thee. Take heart. What? Rejoice. Rejoice. The redeemed shall say
so. I like that. We are supposed
to talk. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for this time and this place. Lord, most of all, thankful for
you. You gave us your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. You showed
us your goodness, your grace, and your mercy in your son. Be with those who couldn't be
here today for whatever reason. Bless them and bless us with
your word and your understanding. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your word and give him a gospel message for today and
every day. In Christ's name we pray.