Okay, Psalm 138. It says, I will
praise thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy
truth. For thou has magnified thy word
above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou
answeredest me and then strengthenedest me with strength in my soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they
hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways
of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Though the
Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud
he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. And so the Lord, moved in the
heart of David to praise him. And whenever he says, I will
praise thee, there's no doubt who it is he's speaking about
because he doesn't have but one object of praise in his mind. And so that it wasn't necessary
for him to single out the Lord God of heaven and earth. But
when he said, I praise thee, it was understood in his mind
that he would be praising that one because of the fact that
that's the only one worthy of praise. And he knew that and
that was part and parcel of his life because he lived to praise. We were talking before the meeting
began about this very matter of praising God because we delight
in it. Now some people praise God because
they feel obligated to do it. But the sons of God praise God
because they delight in it. I mean, it's a great thing. It ministers peace to the soul
of the man that loves the Lord, to worship him. And so it is
that when the Lord told the woman at the well, that the Father
seeketh such to worship him as worship him in spirit and truth.
He was contrasting that to the idea that she had as she asked
him, well our fathers said to worship in this mountain and
you say to worship in that one. He said, look, none of that makes
any difference at all because all of that's just going through
motions. He said the Father seeks those that worship him in spirit
and truth. And so it is that it is a glorious
thing. to be able to worship the Lord
in spirit and truth because you can't just do that. People think,
well, let's just go worship the Lord. Well, you can't just go
worship the Lord. I mean, if the Lord doesn't meet
with you, you can't worship him. But yet he gives us a desire
to do so. And when he gives us a desire
to do so, we do so. Because it is our delight, even
as David said, I will praise thee with my whole heart. And
true worship is not a halfway matter. It's not something you
can do while reading the newspaper. Nothing wrong with reading the
newspaper, but when you worship the Lord with your whole heart,
other things are put out of your mind. Your focus is on Him. And so may the Lord give us such
grace. And there again, it's impossible. You can't teach somebody to worship
the Lord. It's only a thing that the Spirit
of God can impress upon a man's heart and give him a love for
it. I love to be in the house of God before him. Before the
gods, he said, are in the presence of other gods will I sing praise
to thee. Now there are other gods as we
have spoken before. Now there are gods that have
no power. There are gods that have no kingdoms. There are gods
that have no hands. They have no feet. They can't
speak. They can't do anything, but they're gods nonetheless,
because men have hewn out many gods. And there is no greater
God that is among the sons of men, and especially in this day
and age in which we live, than the God of free will. Now that
is a sacrosanct principle. that one bears with his own life
to approach and to speak against. Because you remember when the,
I was speaking about the, or the Lord was speaking to the,
those that would cast out the devil. Oh no, no, no, I'm getting
this all confused in my mind. It was when the seven sons of
Sceva thought they would cast out devils. And the scripture
says that the devils tore them. And such it is, dear brethren,
as you know, the free will causes men to desire to tear other people. That would speak against it.
I mean, you never had an enemy until somebody takes issue with
you against the absolute sovereignty of Almighty God to do as He wills
an army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And
men will rise up against that. But nonetheless, before the gods,
we don't mince around about this. You know, we stand against that. David said, I will worship the
Lord in the very presence of the other gods. I don't have
any respect to them at all, because the other gods of the earth are
deceivers, they're liars, and we have no time for them. And
so he said, I will praise thee before the gods. Well, I sing
praise to thee, because there are gods many, and there are
many people who have many gods, and they're all happy with them.
See, you can't make a man unhappy with his god. I mean, only the
Lord can do that, but he can. I remember I believe it was Rolf
Barnard said that you can do anything, you can preach anything
you want, but he said if you kill somebody's God, he said
they'll come, they'll rend you. He said they'll come after you
when you kill their God. And David said I don't care.
He said I'll praise the Lord in spite of all of these things. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. In other words, there's only
one place that the Lord will be worshiped, is in the holy
temple of the Lord. And the place of worship of the
Lord was one place. Remember, he warned the nation
of Israel about building other altars. He said, this is it. whenever Nathan and Abiram thought
that they would set them up a place. They said, why should we have
to do it here? I mean, we'll set us up our own place, the
Lord killed them. Because the Lord will be worshipped in one
place. He'll be worshipped in one way.
And of course we know by the grace of God that that one temple,
that one way, that one place where he will be worshipped is
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's impossible to worship God
apart from worshiping Jesus Christ. Now you hear, and it's popular
in the secular world and in our nation's leaders, about talking
about the many faiths and the many, you know, all of us need
to come together and we're all really all of one mind and heart.
No, we're not. The people of God are strangers
in the earth. And we don't have any friendship
with the world and it's God's. We have none. We can't have any. What fellowship Paul said, has
light with darkness. You know, there can't be any. There's not any. And so it is
that the people of God worship towards his holy temple. Because that's the only place,
and that temple is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the temple. He
said, you see this, all these stones, he said, they're all
around here, he said, they can be cast down in a moment. But
he spoke of the temple of his own body when he said, though
you tear it down, it will be raised again. Because he is the
temple of God. And praise thy name for thy lovingkindness,
for thy truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name. The lovingkindness of the Lord.
We've spoken about it before. But the Lord is kind to all of
his creation. I mean, the fact that the sun
shines, the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the Lord's
kind. He sends the things that people
need to survive. I mean, joy that comes in this
world, He sends it out of kindness. But the loving kindness of the
Lord is reserved unto His people. Because the loving kindness of
God is of a different nature than the general kindness of
the Lord. So don't ever let somebody say
the Lord is not kind because he is kind unto all. But he is specifically and specially
desirous of ministering his loving kindness to his people and he
draws them with cords of love and he will not let them go.
I mean even when I was a child and I had no thought towards
the lord except maybe in a passing way the loving kindness of god
encompassed me and he brought me to the place he wanted me
to be you see the lord's mercy is over his people from the very
beginning and he will not let them go and they cannot perish
that is the loving kindness of god oh what a merciful god he
is Because when we all ought to be cast off, He shows mercy. For thy truth, I'll praise thy
name for thy truth. And we know what the truth is,
do we not? Now, you know, sometimes men
will argue with one another about what the truth is. And in our
own minds, we get to thinking we know what the truth is and
somebody else doesn't. But remember this, when it all
boils down to this, the truth is Jesus Christ. He is the truth. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. And there is no other truth beyond
that. You might think you know some
things, but if you know anything that leads you to any other place
other than Christ, it's not the truth. The truth always leads
a man to Christ. You know, it doesn't make a difference
what it is. I mean, you can look at mathematics. Mathematics will
lead a man to Christ in the sense that he is the truth of that. He is the logos, the logic. See,
there is no logic outside of Christ. And you know, men didn't
invent mathematics. The Lord invented it. I mean,
He's the one that causes 2 plus 2 to be 4. It's not just something
somebody came up with. I mean, it's what it is because
of the fact that He is the truth, and the truth is found in all
things. because he made all things to
testify to the truth. Even as I remember reading about
John Bunyan in one of his books, that is, he had written a book
for children and he said that the chicken, when he drinks water,
He lifts his eyes to heaven and gives God thanks. And if you've
ever seen, every time I see a chicken drinking water, or a little bird,
you know, in a birdbath, and they, because they don't have
a swallowing reflex, so they have to lean their head up, and
so the water will run down. But they, the Lord designed all
of that. That didn't just happen. I mean,
all of the things, you know, they discover these odd looking
creatures down in the ocean, that have eyes on stalks and
stuff like that. And of course, the scientists,
they say, oh, well, you know, over millions of years, these
fish, they needed to have this thing where they could see over
stuff and whatnot, and they caused that eye to grow up. How ridiculous
is such things? Because God made that fish. And
I don't know all the reason that he made it. I don't understand
a lot of that stuff. Maybe just to confound the wise. You know, of course it's my own
theory, I have no way of proving this, but it's just like the
dinosaur bones that they find in the ground. Now people consider,
and they may be right, I'm not saying, but I'm just saying this.
Because there's bones in the ground that men say is from a
dinosaur, doesn't mean that such a creature ever lived in the
earth. I mean, the Lord could have just
made those bones and put them in the ground in order to confound
the mighty. They came along and said, oh,
well, look, we've figured this out. We've got all these different
dinosaurs. Now, maybe all that did. I'm sure of this, however,
that the oil that's in the ground did not come from dinosaurs dying. and somehow getting down miles
deep in the dirt. I mean, you know, the wisdom
of men is folly, but the truth of God is found in Christ and
in his word that he has given to us that we might know who
he is. And so all of this knowledge
that men have, knowledge can become a God in the eyes of men
because it's knowledge for knowledge's sake. It's what the scripture
says, calls science falsely so called. Because anything that,
the study of anything that leads a man away from Christ is not
the truth. It's not going in the right direction.
So it is that we praise God for His truth. For Thou hast magnified
Thy Word above all Thy Name. Now that's a glorious thing if
you think about what that says there. For Thou hast magnified
Thy Word above all Thy Name. Why? Because the Word His word,
that is that which He has spoken, is indeed the manifestation of
His name, which is above every name that is named. His name
is Jesus the Lord. That's who He is. And He's to
be worshiped. He's to be praised. And His Word
is magnified above all His name, because that is His name. And
He would have all men know that when He speaks, His Word is His
name. It's magnified, it's glorified. In the day when I cried, thou
answeredest me and strengthenedest me with strength. in my soul."
Now, you know, when people think about the answer to prayer, they
usually, what they mean by that is that they ask the Lord for
something and He gave it to them. And they say, well, God answered
my prayer. But you see, God always answers
the prayers of His people. Now, He doesn't always give them
exactly what they ask for, but He always answers them. We see
that with the Apostle Paul, do we not? I mean, he asked the
Lord to remove this thorn in the flesh, whatever it was, and
the Lord didn't do it. But Paul would never say, the
Lord never answered me, did he? The Lord did answer him. And
the Lord said, my grace is sufficient. Now that's a satisfactory answer,
is it not, to the children of God? His grace is sufficient? It's not satisfactory to the
world, because what they want is what they want. But you see
what God's people, by the grace of God, as the Lord works in
them, He causes them to delight in the Lord's will. So that they
can say, Father, may thy will be done. I mean, the Lord taught
us to pray like that, did He not? Thy will be done in the
earth as it is in the heaven. I mean is that not a true prayer
straight from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ who illustrated
the very thing did he not in the garden when he said nevertheless
not as I will but as thou wilt because he gave himself up to
do his father's will and so it is that the Lord does answer
prayers And the second, but you can't take the first part without
the second part, and strengthen me with the strength in my soul.
Because you see, it's often in the denial of our requests that
the Lord answers us and strengthens us. Because in our weakness,
we're made strong. And when we're in a place of
lack, in a place of need, how much stronger do we cry out to
the Lord? and he does strengthen his people. We don't always see
it that way. I mean, we might think, Lord,
I'm getting weaker. But no, because you see, the
weaker that a man becomes in looking at his own self and his
own ability and his own ability to rise above in his mind his
problems, He's not necessarily stronger, is he? But he's stronger
as the Lord makes him strong. And what's the strength of the
people? It's to trust the Lord, to give it over to the Lord,
to rest in Him. I mean, that is the strength
of God's people. That's the place wherein they
find their greatest strength. It says, all the kings, of the
earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy
mouth. And that's a very important word
there, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Because all kings
of the earth, I don't know of any really too much that I can
see, that praise the Lord. Now they all give some kind of
credence to religion, They speak of God, many of them go to church
and all that. But when it comes right down
to it, do they hear the word of the Lord? I mean, can a man
who hears the word of the Lord go contrary to that word if the
Spirit of God is working in him? Now, he may do it. See, Jonah
did, did he not? but he was glad to get out of
the place that he was, and he was glad to do the will of the
Lord when the Lord brought him to that place. And all the kings
of the earth shall praise thee. See, the worship, the scripture
indicates that that will be true. It says, who shall not fear thee,
O Lord, and glorify thy name? See, all the kings of the earth,
all the peoples of the earth shall worship the Lord when they
hear the words of his mouth. Now in that final day, when men
are forced to worship him, they'll do so because he forces them
to do so and they will worship him. But the glorious thing is
that the Lord is in the present hour calling men and giving them
ears to hear his word now and causing them to say, yes Lord,
we will worship you. You are worthy of worship. They
hear the words of his mouth. The Lord said to the churches,
let the spirit speaketh unto the churches. Let him that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. And so when we preach the word
of God, if we say something that is true, and a man says, I won't
listen to it, I won't hear it, then he doesn't have ears to
hear it. Because the Spirit of God gives men ears to hear the
truth. Now, if I stand up and speak
something that's not true, I believe by the same token the Lord gives
men ears to hear that say, wait a minute, that doesn't sound
right. You know, if the trumpet sounds an uncertain sound, how
can the people prepare themselves for battle? And so it is that
the Lord causes his people to hear the words of his mouth.
Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the
glory of the Lord. Is that not the testimony of
God's people that the glory of God is that which is to be exalted
above all things? Not the glory of men. Now, as
we walk through the world, it is a natural thing. I mean, every
man, especially the sons of God, as they see themselves be what
they are, and this causes great pain, but we're all seeking our
own glory by nature. Every man is seeking his own
glory. You know, you do, I do. Everybody wants to be recognized
and known, you know, for himself or something he does or whatever.
I mean, we just like recognition. Now on the one hand, that's not
a bad thing if we desire the recognition for the glory of
God. But now there's a fine line in
that, is there not? But may the Lord give us wisdom
and grace that we might be those that seek nothing but the glory
of God. For great is the glory of the
Lord. His glory is great. It's so great
that it makes all of ours Be nothing. It makes us ashamed. You know, how can a man glory
when he's standing in the presence of God? See, that's the folly
of the idea that men have that they will reason with God in
the day of judgment. I've shared with you, my old
neighbor, he said he was going to tell God all these different
things that he had always tried to do the best he could. No,
he's not going to do anything. Nobody's going to say a word.
When they stand before Almighty God, they're going to be on their
faces because it's impossible for men to stand in the presence
of God. Apart from the grace of God,
John, the beloved apostle, the man whom Jesus loved, the scripture
says, a special bond that he had with John. Yet when John
saw him high and lifted up in his vision on the Isle of Patmos,
what did he do? He said he fell at his feet as
a dead man. And only by the mercy of God
as the Lord Jesus reached out his hand and said, fear not,
that he was able to arise. Oh, what a glorious God he is.
Great is the glory of God. Though the Lord be high. Now
listen to this. See, we can't ever, and it's
impossible that a man could overstate the glory of God. I've often
thought about that, because I've had people criticize me for,
they say that, well, all you talk about is the, you overemphasize
the sovereignty of God. Now if that, that's the most
ridiculous statement that could ever be made. You cannot overemphasize
this absolute sovereignty of God because it's absolute. There's
nothing that a man could ever say. A man can say everything
he wants to about it, and he will still be lacking in his
ability to declare the glory of God in his absoluteness. So it's impossible to overstate
the sovereignty of God. That's not possible. Any more
than to say, well, you know, you give God too much glory. I mean, how foolish is that? That's an impossibility. And
so when we think of that, though the Lord be high, and He is high,
He's high and lifted up, and His train fills the temple. Though
the Lord be high, yet listen to this, yet hath he respect
unto the lowly. Now that is a glorious statement,
dear brethren. I mean, see, a lot of people
think that, well, the Lord should just have respect unto men. I
mean, we're created in his image and all that, you know. I mean,
man's got a little God-shaped blank in him and everything. I mean, he's a lot like the Lord
in many ways. Shouldn't the Lord have respect
to him? How foolish! You know, we have
no place of standing before Almighty God. And so it is that we are
struck with wonder and amazement when He says, He hath respect
unto the lowly. He came, Scripture says, to seek
and to save that which was lost. He said to the Pharisees, that
the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before
you do. The religious respectable men
of the earth. He said he came, he thanked his
father that he showed the truth to babes and held it back from
the wise and the prudent. He hid it so that they cannot
see it. Why can't they see it? Because
their eyes are blinded. as all men are by nature, but
he hath respect unto the lowly. Now, how does a man get to be
lowly? Can a man say, well, you know, I think I'll be lowly?
Can you be lowly? No, you can't be lowly because
it's just in your nature to not be lowly. Nobody wants to be
lowly. What do you mean? I mean, that's
weak. Nobody seeks out a place like
that. But God, who's rich in mercy,
brings men to that place. Job, the scripture says, was
an upright man before God. I mean, you can read his testimony.
He said many lovely and beautiful things about the Lord, and he
had some knowledge of God. And some respect and a degree
of love, no doubt. But Job wasn't lowly even at
that time. I mean, he still, when he argued
with his physicians of no value, he still didn't consider himself
quite low enough, did he? But when the Lord showed up,
he became lowly. He said, I've heard of thee by
the hearing of the ear. He said, but now mine eye seeth
thee, and I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes, because
the Lord made him lowly. You see, he made Jonah in the
belly of the whale or the fish. He made Jonah lowly. Jonah was proud, was he not?
He said, I ain't going down there. I'll show him. I'll go get me
a ticket and go the other way. But see, whenever he was brought
down in the belly of that fish, the Lord made him lowly. And
he said, salvation is of the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar, greatest king
as far as power is concerned, or at least one of the greatest
that's ever reigned on the earth. nebuchadnezzar had monuments
built to himself he looked out over his kingdom he said man
this is great says i am a great king but in the night the lord started
to work on him now he didn't make him lonely right off the
top right off the beginning did he but he sent him out into the
field to eat grass like an ox for seven seasons and he was
out there in the rain and everything else and eating grass and he said at the end of these
days he said my reason returned unto me and I worshipped and
praised the most high God who rules an army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth and there's none that can stay
his hand or say unto him what doest thou. Nebuchadnezzar was
made lowly before the Lord and the Lord had regard unto him
You see, but here's where people get the cart ahead of the horse.
Why was Nebuchadnezzar lowly? He wasn't lowly because he decided
to be. Jonah wasn't lowly because he
decided to be. Jonah wasn't lowly because he
decided to be. Jonah was made lowly by the sovereign
grace of Almighty God who has See, he dwells with those who
are of a broken and a contrite heart. He will not despise that
man. The man who trembles in fear before Almighty God will
not be turned aside. The Lord will have regard unto
him. In fact, over in Isaiah, I think
it's about the 57th chapter. Let's turn over there. I'm thinking
that's where it's at, but we'll look and see. Isaiah 57. Yeah, Isaiah 57, 15. It says, for thus
saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity. Now think about that for a moment.
The High and Lofty One who inhabited Eternity. Now what is Eternity?
Now you often hear people say, well you know in Eternity Past
or in Eternity Future. Well there is no Eternity Past
or Eternity Future. There is no such thing. Eternity
is eternity. It has no bounds. It is outside
the realm of man's ability to comprehend it. You can't comprehend
that. You can think all day and you
can read all the books you want to about such things and you
will never come to an understanding of what that is. Because why?
We weren't designed to know it because God inhabits eternity. See, he's outside the realm of
man's existence. He made man. And the scripture
says that he only hath immortality dwelling in the light to which
no man can approach. Now that, brethren, if you pause
that and consider that for a minute, that puts man in a pretty precarious
position. Does it not? He has no help or
hope apart from the mercy of God who inhabited eternity. But listen to what it says. For
thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabited the eternity,
whose name is holy. His very name means set apart. When Isaiah saw his vision, he
said, those heavenly creatures, he said, they cease not day and
night to say, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and
is and is to come. He said, My name is holy, the
high and lofty one. He said, I dwell in the high
and holy place, a place which is inapproachable by men. He
set apart. I believe that place is eternity.
You see, I don't believe that men can be eternal. Now, we have
been given eternal life by the grace of God, but we are not
eternal in the same sense that God is, because He is the beginning
and the end. we'll never be the beginning
or the end what a glorious thing but listen
to this this is what he says I'm that one he says I dwell
in the high and holy place and with him that is of a contrite
and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive
the hearts of the contrite one What a glorious revelation, dear
brother. And that's what the David sets forth here for us.
He hath respect unto the lowly, because he makes them lowly.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. The Lord's
mercy is visited upon his people. But then he says, the proud he
knoweth afar off. He knows them. See, the Lord
knows every one of his creation. He made each one to be just like
He wanted them to be. And He knows them. See, He has
respect unto the lowly, but He knows the proud afar off He holds
them back. See, you can't approach the Lord
in pride. Impossible. But oh, what mercy is shown to
those that come, humbly seeking. As that Syrophoenician woman
came to him and said, my daughter is taken ill. She's vexed with
the devil. He said, woman, what are you
doing here? He said, it's not right for the dogs to eat of the master's
table. What are you doing here? She could have took umbrage at
that, could she not? She could have said, who does
he think he is? No, she didn't, because she knew
who he was. You see, when a man knows who
he is, then he will be humble before him. And she said, truth,
Lord, you're right. The dogs don't have any right
whatsoever to eat from the master's table. And if you cast me out
of here, you'll be right. And I couldn't say a thing in
the world about it. But she said, Lord, even the dogs eat of the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. She was lonely. See, she came to him with her
head in her hands. She knew she had no bargaining
power. See, many men think that they can bargain with God. Lord,
if you'll do this for me, I'll serve you forever. you'll just
get me out of this jam. Oh, how many times have men said
such foolish things. But the proud, he knoweth afar
off. He will cast them away, because
they will not seek him. See, the man that will not seek
the Lord will not find him. The man that will not humble
himself and pray and cry out to the Lord for mercy, he'll
never have it. The Lord holds the proud away. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thy
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. Now when Job made his confession,
he said, though he slay me, yet will I
trust him. Now, I don't know how absolutely
convinced Job was of that. I know he was after the Lord
humbled him in the end, but at least he had that testimony,
did not? And is that not the testimony
of those whom the Lord is pleased to call to himself? Though he
slay me, yet will I trust him. Lord, I've cast myself upon you.
I can do nothing else. I love that hymn, the last verse
says, but if I die with mercy sought, when I the king have
tried, this were to die, delightful thought, as sinner, never die. Because you see, a sinner never
perished at the foot of Christ. A sinner that calls upon the
Lord, seeking mercy, has never been turned away. Never going
to happen. Oh, what a glorious God he is. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Regardless of the place that
I am put, the Lord will revive us. We have that hope, do we
not? I mean, even though Job said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him, he didn't think the Lord was going to slay him,
did he? He said it'd be fine if he did, but see, his hope
was in the Lord. He didn't come to the Lord expecting
to be destroyed, although he knew he should be. But he's just
expressing his complete determination to seek the Lord. Thou wilt revive me. Lord, I
believe that you are the Savior of sinners. And though often
I do not find within myself any reason to consider that I am
a believer, yet Lord, I trust you. And I believe that you will
save those that call upon thy name. And by thy grace, I will
call upon thy name. I will lay at mercy's door until
the healing come. And Lord, I expect to receive
healing, not because I have any power, but because you do. See,
that's the difference. A man, the Pharisees, see, they
thought they had some power, did they not? And he said, the
Lord said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of
my Father, which is in heaven. He said, many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And have we not done many wonderful
works in thy name? And he shall say unto them, depart
from me, for I never knew you. Why? Because they dared to come
to the Lord and say, Lord, we've done these things. See, a man who thinks he can
reason with God has no knowledge of the glory of God and he is
not humble before God. But the Lord will stretch forth
his hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand
shall save me. The Lord will snatch us as brands
from the burning. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Is that not what he said over
here in Psalm 136 over and over again? Thy mercy endureth forever.
It does. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. See, we know and understand that
we cannot seek the Lord apart from his favor. And if by chance
we see within ourselves a heart longing to be in the presence
of Christ, A heart desiring to serve him, to love him. How did
that come to be? Except by the mercy of God. You see, a man can't stir himself
up to seek after God. But God will stir his people
up. And there is, dear brethren,
the Lord would have his people to recognize his work in them. Not so they might boast. Well,
what do we have that we have not received? But our boast is
in Christ. See, we boast in him. Because
what he did, forsake not the works of thine own hand, he will
not. And yet it is our prayer, is
it not, Lord, save me, or I perish. Now, did Peter think when he
was going across, or took those few steps out of the boat and
started to sink, Did he think that the Lord was gonna just
let him drown? I don't think so. Why? Because he knew who
the Lord was. He said, Lord save me, I perish. He cried out expecting, did he
not, that the Lord was gonna hold him up. Else why would he? I mean, if he didn't turn around
to the guys in the boat, he was closer to the boat than he was
to the Lord. He didn't turn around to them
and say, hey, buddies, y'all snatch me out of this. No, he
didn't have any confidence in them. He knew that their rope
might break or they might lose their grip on him. But he said,
Lord, save me, I perish. And he did so because he knew
that the Lord was the one that had the power. Oh, Lord, forsake
not the works of thine. Lord, you have begun a good work.
Will you not perform it until the end? I believe that he will.
because the scripture says that he will. You see, he calls us
to faith, does he not? It might be a glimmer, it might
be weak, but it's true faith nonetheless. And that true faith
is that which causes a man to wait on the Lord, to expect that
the Lord will hear his prayer. Oh, what a glorious God he is.
full of mercy and kindness to all who call upon His name.