And please turn if you will to
Psalms chapter 89 Psalms chapter 89 I want to begin
reading in verse Verse 15 verse 15 to 18 Blessed is the people that know the joyful
sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou
art the glory of their strength, and in Thy favor our horns shall
be exalted. For the Lord is our defense,
and the Holy One of Israel is our King. That's what I want to speak to
today, or get to today, if I can. The Holy One of Israel is our
King. Now the truth of God is revealed
in the Psalms. The truth of man. is revealed
in the Psalms. It's here to be read and to be
understood by the vast majority. It is not read and understood,
but it's here in these Psalms. And in this Psalm, we find the
truth of Christ and what he has done to his people. Not just for him, he's done some
stuff to his people. And this is what I want to know.
This is what I want to know. And not only that, in this passage
I just read, we know why we do some things. But it starts here, blessed is
the people that know the joyful sound. And I can't read that
word blessed anymore without thinking of Bruce Crabtree. Happy,
happy, happy. Blessed. Some people are blessed
in this world by God. That's an amazing thing. The scriptures, the Psalms in
particular, are full of statements of blessing. And I don't know about you, but
I like being blessed. I enjoy it. But what he says
here is, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. Now, the first thing I looked
at this, it says, blessed is the people. Now, the verb used
is, is in italics. I know it's interpolated, but
it's in the singular. but people is plural. We usually
say blessed are the people. That's what we say. You say blessed
is him or blessed is he, blessed is she, but you say blessed are
they, plural. I know it's interpolated, but
I do want to point this out. The people of God are one. him They are one and if one is
blessed all are blessed and All are blessed. He says here that
know the joyful sound So, what is the joyful sound
It doesn't actually state it clearly here but we have a few
hints in other places and I believe it is the sound of love, of grace,
of mercy, and of peace. That's the joyful sound. I think
the direct reference here is the sound of jubilee, the
sound of the jubilee trumpet. The trumpet of the jubilee is
blown in the 50th year on the day of, guess what? Atonement. On that day, the trumpet of Jubilee
is to be blown, the 50th year, every 50th year. This trumpet sounded forth liberation,
freedom from slavery. If you had sold yourself into
slavery, at that trumpet sound, you were to be free. Now we're
not gonna go into Israel's rejection of it and not carrying it out
and the problems that came from that. But that's the joyful sound
I believe he's talking about here. This trumpet shouted forth
liberation, freedom from slavery, and the restoration of the inheritance
back to the original owner if they had sold it. That's a joyful sound. That is
joyful news from a joyful sound and a wonderful metaphor for
the results of the work of Christ, freedom and inheritance. But now, and Gil pointed this
out, and I believe he actually has a point, he's right, because
in this time, in this day and age, the joyful sound we have
is the gospel. We have the gospel, and it is
a joyful sound. And the blessed people know that
joyful sound. The sound of the gospel, because
the gospel of God is the sound of good news for sinners. It's the sound of grace, mercy,
and peace for those who have offended God. It's about the
sound is about the pardon of the blood of his dear son. The truth of righteousness, sanctification
and redemption given to every child of God is a joyful sound. But it is only a joyful sound
under those who know that joyful sound. They're blessed. Everyone is not blessed. I mean,
that's the context. Blessed is the people that know. Now, you don't know of yourself.
It's been given to you. But you are to know that joyful
sound. And it is a blessing from God
to know that joyful sound. And then very clearly here, the
next statement, there's the result given for knowing the joyful
sound. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. What? They shall walk. Oh, my. Oh, my. What's the big deal about this?
Well, I read it wrong. It actually reads like this.
They shall walk. It's not a question. It's a statement. The walk is necessary. The walk is going to happen. Now, am I sure about that? Yes, I am. I can read. That's what it says. And the
book says what it means, and it means what it says. If you
know the joyful sound, they shall walk. Who? Those blessed people. It's clear. There's no question. There's no reason for debate.
There's no argument to be made. It just says it. They shall walk. Now there are some say, well,
I believe grace. Well, me too. I believe salvation is all of
grace. Me too. Well, I believe that you don't
have to walk to be saved. Me too. but the same scriptures that
tell of that grace say they shall walk. Blessed is the people who
know the joyful sound. They shall walk. There's no questions
here because here's the thing, and it's a very serious thing.
If there's no walk, there's no grace. You've got no reason to
suspect grace has been given to you. And that's just the way
it is. Now, I didn't say you walk perfect.
I'm not saying you walk straight as an arrow and never veer, never
stumble, never fall. But yes, you do walk if you know
the joyful sound. That's just the way it is. No
walk, no grace. You want proof? I got the best
one there is, scripture. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. There's salvation by grace, through
faith, and nothing of yourself. But Paul didn't stop there. For
we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God, hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. If you hear and know the joyful
sound, they shall walk. You shall walk. But this walk
is not just any walk. It's not just walking for walking's
sake. They walk in the light of thy
countenance. Walking in the light is not just
walking. Mac, you said this morning, walking in the truth. There's no lie in the light. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. That's 1 John 1 and 7. Not only
is he in the light, guess what? He is the light. John 8 and 12 says this, then
spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me, what? Shall
not walk in darkness. You're gonna walk, but you're
not gonna walk in darkness if you know the joyful sound. But
shall have the light of life. John had already written in three
in verse 19, and this is the condemnation. That light has
come into a world. Light is come into the world.
And men love darkness rather than light. because their deeds
were evil. Jesus Christ is light. He is the light. And he is the
light that came into the world and men hate him. I used to hate him. You used
to hate him. But once you come to know the
joyful sound, you're gonna walk in the light His countenance. You're gonna walk in the light.
You're gonna walk in the truth. You're gonna walk in the gospel.
You're not gonna be perfect. We're not perfect. I listen to
Earl coming up here talking about the old man. The old man hasn't
gone anywhere. But praise God, we do have a
new man. in us. We do have the Holy Spirit
in us. He is showing us the things of
Christ and we walk in that light in this world right now. This is something he has done
to us so that we shall walk in the light of his countenance.
It's not of ourselves, it's because of his countenance we walk in
the light. It's because of his spirit that he's given us we
walk in the light. Now we still sin, but we're not
under the dominion of sin anymore. We walk in him, and in him we
walk in the light. Why? Because he is in us, and
greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
We shall have the light of life. That's amazing to me. Because when you stop and you
think about this, you do think, I am blessed. I am blessed in
Him. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day. Verse 16. And in thy righteousness
shall they be exalted. The blessed ones, those who know
that joyful sound, find joy in the name of the Lord. Our rejoicing is not in ourselves.
It's in His name. It's in what? His blessed name. And it does say all the day,
And that's because it means all the day. This is not a thing
of circumstance. Your circumstances may be miserable.
Your circumstances may be bad. They may be good, but this is
talking about in his name, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we are to rejoice all the day long because why guess what? All day long, we are blessed. There's a time, I mean, I understand
being at work and I understand concentrating on doing your job
because I have to in mine sometimes. I'm looking for a really nice,
boring job that I don't have to think too hard at, but pays
really well, Mason. I have not been able to find
it yet. Yeah, I'm keeping looking. I have hope. But that's not the
point. The point is sometimes, and I
believe Walter and I've talked about this, Earl and I've talked
about this, is the fact that even while you're at work and
concentrating every now and then you'll get a thought in your
head. It comes from, as far as I'm concerned, nowhere, but I
know where it comes from. It comes from him within a thought
of Christ and how what I'm doing and what I am experiencing at
work relates to the fact of It's plain to see some of these people
don't know Christ. And some things just come, a
scripture passage will come to mind while I'm sitting there
typing on my computer, trying to figure out and interpret what
somebody's written down. This happens all the day long. And I enjoy that. I enjoy that. Whenever I think
of my Lord Jesus Christ, I do get a feeling of joy. This is
not bubbly happiness, you know, thrill. No, no, but there's a
joy that comes that I can rest in His work and His strength
and His presence and His word that you can enjoy, enjoy in
all day long. but it's only in his name. The stuff in my name comes and
goes. And it's not just Sunday either,
it's all the day. Guess what? Every day. But our
joy is a person in thy name and thy name is Jesus, Paul. Call his name Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sin. That name above every name, that
name at every name, every knee's going to bow at the name of what? Jesus. Savior. To the glory of God the Father. His name brings you joy when
you know the joyful sound. And you know this Jesus of this
book. And in thy righteousness, what?
Shall, there's that word shall again. Shall they be, what? Exalted. Exalted. Now first of all, it's in thy
righteousness. It's not in yours. It's not in
mine. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Everything we have is because
of His righteousness. Every blessing we have is because
of His righteousness. Everything we are that is of
any value is in His righteousness. He has been made our righteousness
by God and His righteousness is just as perfect as all the
rest of Him. He, the Lord, the Redeemer, is
our righteousness. And we have the righteousness
of Christ. I don't know how to state that
any better. In thy righteousness shall they
be exalted. in his righteousness. We are
exalted. We are heirs of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ in his righteousness. We, now this is
talking about, this is not a lecture. These are those who know the
joyful sound. These are the called out. people
of God, those that have been brought into Christ, regenerated
and converted. We are called out and we are
exalted in His righteousness. The beggar is removed from the
dunghill. You have been digged from the
pit. And that beggar is removed from
the dunghill to sit with princes and kings. The prodigal son has come home. And the father clothes him with
the best robe and sits him at his table. We are exalted in
His righteousness, and none of it's in us, but we are exalted
to know things, to hear things, to be able to preach things that
the princes of this world do not know. Cannot know. We know He has given us His righteousness. God looks at me, and God looks
at you if you believe, and He sees His Son. He sees His Son's
righteousness. He looks at you and sees holiness.
Not yours, Christ's. But God can look upon you. Now
God is of pure eyes to even behold sin. but he can look upon you,
thou worm Jacob. Why? Because Jacob had a redeemer. And in thy righteousness shall
they be exalted. That's just as certain as the
walk. We know him and we are exalted
only in his righteousness, in his perfection, because the potter is making
vessels unto honor. He's also making vessels unto
dishonor, but this is talking about the vessels made unto honor. And those vessels exalted in
his righteousness and only in his righteousness. You know we
read it and mean it and believe it that precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints but right now precious
in the sight of the Lord are his saints that are alive. Christ told his disciples, the
very hairs on your head are numbered. My father knows and values us, not in and of ourselves, not
because of anything we've done, but because he has given us to
his son. And in his righteousness, we're
exalted with him. I have a hard time laying a hold
of that. But it's true. Whether I understand it or not,
whether I can grasp it or not, that's true. We are exalted with
Christ. For thou art the glory of their
strength. And in the favor, our horn shall
be exalted. He's our strength. And He's our
strength, and He's the glory of our strength. I know Jesus
Christ, well, for when we were yet without strength in due time,
Christ died for the ungodly. He came and died when we were
without strength. And I do remember what Earl used
to say about that. That doesn't say we were weak. I'm not saying
we were puny, we didn't have any strength. None, absolutely
none as toward the Father, as toward God. But now, if you know the joyful
sound, if you walk, He is the glory of our strength. He is the glory of their strength. We do have strength now. in Him. Not in ourselves. Any strength
we have now is His. To them gave He the power to
become the sons of God. Those that are what? Born of
God. He has done some things to us. Now He is the glory of our strength. He gets the glory of it. Why?
Because he's the source. He's the source. Any strength
we have is because he gave it to us. Any strength we have is
because he keeps giving it to us. Because if it was up to me,
I'd turn around and leave. I know that about myself. I don't
trust me. I am my own worst enemy. I know
that in my flesh dwelleth what? No good thing. But there's another
that dwells in me. And in him I can do all things
according to his will. According to his will. I always
want to leave that part out. Oh, you can move mountains through
saying the name of Jesus. No, you can't. Only according
to His will can you do anything of any eternal value. And He's the glory of our strength. Why? Because He gave it to us.
Any strength we have, any talent we have, any gift we have came
down from the Father of Lights. He has all power and all might,
and He does give to the need of the person and of the time. Now this next statement, there's
a little controversy, but it's, I think, pretty plain, but, in
thy favor, our horns shall be exalted. Now, as I said, they
shall be exalted, and that's definitely speaking of those
who know the joyful sound. But in thy favor our horns shall
be exalted. Because the commentators do disagree
on this. Some of them say it's us again.
I don't think it is. Because we already said we're
gonna be exalted. But I think this actually refers
to the fact, this fact. In the favor of the Lord, in
thy favor the horn of our salvation is exalted. Jesus Christ is the
horn of our salvation. And he is actually glorified
by the salvation and by the walk and by the exaltation of his
people. That's what it's saying, I believe
that. Second Samuel 22 in verse three says, the God of my rock,
in him will I trust. He is my shield, what? And the
horn of my salvation. My high tower, my refuge, my
savior, thou savest me from violence. He's the horn of salvation. Psalms
18.2 put it this way, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and
my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler
and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. Jesus Christ is exalted, is glorified
in the salvation of his people. That's what it says, I'm pretty
sure. Now, are you sure that's him? Well, Luke one and verse
69 put it this way. And hath raised up a horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David. That's speaking of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus is glorified in the salvation of his people.
This is a fact. He spoke about this in his high
priestly prayer in John 17. And we his people are saved through
his power. And that's what the horn is represented
of. The power of a horned beast is
what the illustration. He's the horn of our salvation.
He's the power of our salvation. And he is glorified in that by
the Father. And here's the last verse I wanna
talk about. Psalm 89 and verse 18. For the
Lord is our defense. And the Holy One of Israel is
our King. For the Lord is our defense.
You know, we still need defense. Here in this world. This is where
this is talking about. This is where we know the joyful
sound. This is where we walk. in his
countenance, in the light of his countenance. And this is
where we in his name rejoice, right here, right now on this
planet. Once he's called you out and
brought you in to himself, this is what we are doing. And we still need the defense
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, put on the whole armor
of God. I'm not going into all that, but guess what? Every one
of those things is defensive, except for that sword, which
is the word. But you got the shield, the buckler,
you've got the breastplate, all of it is for the defense of his
people. But he, very clearly, he is our
defense. It's not us. I can be very defensive, but
that's another thing. That's what people say about
you when you actually respond to things they say. Don't be
so defensive. Well, keep it up and I'll get
offensive if you really want it. But this, He's our defense. The Lord is our defense. God
is our defense. We have no strength but the strength
He's given us. We have no knowledge except the
knowledge he's given us. We have nothing in and of ourselves
except for what he's given us, but still, even with what he's
given us, even with what he's done to us, right now, he is
still our defense. See, four. The Lord is our defense. For is a word of conclusion,
taking what has been said before and bringing it to a head. For
the Lord is our defense. Now, if you come up with a conclusion
that doesn't start with the Lord, you've come up with the wrong
conclusion. Might as well go back and start
over. Because something's faulty somewhere and it ain't the scriptures,
it's you. If the conclusion that you derive
from the scriptures is not the Lord, you've reached the wrong
conclusion. Like I said, you're on the wrong
track. Your train hasn't left the station. You can pick a metaphor. Because if God be for you, who
can be against you? That's a rhetorical statement,
which I will answer. No one and nothing can be against
you. Why? Because the Lord is our
defense. But here it is, and, and the
Holy One of Israel is our King. There's a reason for our blessings. There's a reason for our joy. There's a reason for our rejoicing. There's a reason for our walk. There's a reason we are exalted. The Holy One of Israel is our
King. And that's a flat statement.
That is a fact of the scriptures. This had better be your conclusion
right here. The Lord is our defense and the
Holy One of Israel is our King. If you're one of those blessed
people that know the joyful sound, you know because the Holy One
of Israel is your King. If you walk, if you walk in the
light of His countenance, it's because the Holy One of Israel
is your King. Who is the Holy One of Israel?
It's Jesus Christ. You got scripture for that? Well,
of course I do. I'll give you one. This is my
favorite. Isaiah 54 and verse five says,
for, another conclusion statement, for thy maker is thine husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. What? And thy Redeemer, the Holy
One of Israel. The God of the whole earth shall
his name be called. Who's the Redeemer? Scriptures
are clear. In Isaiah 54 and verse five,
it's the Holy One of Israel. In the New Testament, it's Jesus
Christ, the righteous. He is the Redeemer. There's only
one. There is the redemption. There's
only one. And thy Redeemer, the Redeemer,
is the Holy One of Israel, and the Holy One of Israel is our
King. everything we have everything
that has been done for us and To us has been done because of
the Holy One of Israel who is our King And if that ain't your
conclusion, you don't know what you're talking about You don't
know I'm going to point it out, you
know, this is a few thousand years ago and the Holy One of
Israel is King then. He's King now and he's going
to always be King. He's coming to be revealed as
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And guess who he is? He is the Holy One of Israel,
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Old Testament scripture quoted
in the New Testament. Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption. That's speaking of the resurrection
of Christ. He arose in power and glory and
might, and he was never corrupted. Yes, he died. Yes, he was made
sin. But no, he never saw corruption. and He is declared King here
in Psalms 89. And He is King now. And because
He is King, and because He is thy Redeemer, blessed is the
people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. All of
these things happen Because the Holy One of Israel is our king
and no other reason There's nothing in us that that would even come
close to to bringing this upon ourselves This is a gift a gift
by the free grace of the sovereign Lord of God The Holy One of Israel
is our king. He is our maker. He is our husband
The Lord of hosts is his name. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. It's another Psalm 100. Before he came into this world.
That's when this was written. Jesus did not come, Paul read
it. Matthew one. Before he came in this world,
he is king. You got a problem with that,
you got a problem with scripture. And it ain't my problem, it's
your problem. That's just the way it is. Before
he came, the Holy One of Israel is our king. He is king. And right here, if
you know the joyful sound, you can say, he's my king. That's the reason you know the
joyful sound, is because he is your king. And if you don't know
the joyful sound, if you don't know the gospel, if you don't
know the truth, if you don't love the truth, you got no reason
to think that the Holy One of Israel is your king. I mean,
the opposite's true. The Holy One of Israel has redeemed
his people and he is bringing them in, calling them out of
the world and into his marvelous light. We have been translated
out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of his dear
son. He has all power, he has all might, he is light, and he
has all majesty and glory. He is king. The God of all the earth. Shall he be called That's our Lord That's our Lord
the God of all the earth shall he be called Heavenly Father we're thankful
again for this time in this place Thank you Lord for letting us
gather Be with Walter as he brings a message. We need to hear Be
with all of us as you always are and bless us through your
son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.