Let's look at Psalm 117. Psalm 117. When I look at this psalm, I
am reminded that the Lord's hand is not shortened to save by many
or by few. You know, this is the shortest
chapter in the Scriptures. It is also almost exactly in
the center of most Bibles. You turn one way or you turn
the other way, this particular psalm is right in the middle.
And of course we believe that all these things take place according
to a purpose. That they didn't just happen
that way, but the Lord ordained for it to be that way. He would
not take delight in the eloquence of men, though men think that
he does sometimes. You know, they think how important what
they have to think or say is. May the Lord deliver us from
such. They're not a thing of thought or a word that any of us have ever
spoken that really amounts to anything. I mean, the only thing that we've
ever said, and that by the grace of God, is to speak the glorious
name of the Savior and praise to Him. And all else is just
blowing in the wind, you know. Bob Dylan wrote that song, the
answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. Well, the answer
is not blowing in the wind, but what we say is blowing in the
wind for sure. So we rejoice this day that we
come to this particular psalm, and though it is only two verses,
yet it contains in it really the purpose of God for men. And, you know, I think when I
think of this psalm being the shortest chapter in the Bible,
I also think of the shortest verse and how full of glory that
is. And of course, I'm sure you probably
know the verse I'm speaking of. Jesus wept when he stood there
before the tomb of Lazarus. Much can be said about that.
And much speculation has often been made on what exactly was
he weeping for. But I see when I read that, The
thing that comes most clearly to me is the humanity of Christ. He would have us to know that.
Now, ofttimes, it's easier for men to see the deity of Christ
than it is for them to see His humanity. But it is in His humanity
that our redemption is brought forth. We wouldn't have any. But what a glorious thing it
is to consider those things. And in those things, the very
shortest of words that need a lot of explanation. You know, men
often wax eloquent on trying to describe the humanity of Christ,
even as they do the same with what is known as the Trinity.
And I've read a lot of books on that subject over the years
and heard this one and that one go into all these different explanations
and all of that stuff. And at the end of all of it,
we're left trying to explain the unexplainable. I mean, when
the Lord appeared to Job, that's basically what He said. You know,
you're talking all this big talk, But he said, where were you when
I formed the earth? No, did you bring the food to
the animals? I mean, what have you done, Job? And Job was brought down to a
place where he confessed, Lord, you know, I've heard of you by
the hearing of the ear. I thought I knew something. You
know, men think they know God, don't they? I mean, a lot of
people will get mad at you if you tell them that they don't
know who God is or anything about God, because everybody believes
they know God. Well, I mean, I prayed this morning. You know,
I talked to Him. I know who God is. But most of
the prayers that men speak, unfortunately, especially those by nature, are
just like the prayers of the Pharisee. They pray thus with
themselves. Now they're satisfied with it.
And you know, I don't ever tell a fellow he didn't pray. I don't
know what people do. I mean, I can't get inside their
head or don't know where they're coming from or whatever. But
I know this, that only the Lord can cause a man to pray. But
then, only the Lord can show a man who He is. And a man cannot
truly pray until he knows who God is. And when he knows who
God is, then he will be as that, not the Pharisee that prayed,
but as the publican, who didn't even so much as lift up his eyes
to heaven. He didn't have any boast to make. He didn't have any deal to make. See, people make deals with God.
God, if you'll do this for me, I'll serve you. What a foolish
thing. I mean, what the pride of man
to think that he could make a deal with God. The one who said that he will
have the heathen in derision, he will laugh, he will mock when
their fear cometh. He who will by no means clear
the guilty, who will not at all acquit the wicked. To think that
a man should think that he would somehow or other have some bargaining
chip that he would come to God with. That would be something
that would cause God to sit up and say, Oh, well, you know,
that's a pretty good deal. I think I'll take that. The Lord is the Lord of all. He's the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. And He would teach us that throughout
His Word. And until a man's brought to
that place, he cannot truly pray. And a man will never know what
he is until he knows who God is. And when he knows who God
is, then he will be broken in his heart to see what he is.
Because there's no plain upon which men have the ability
to interact with God. Now I know that's not what modern
religion teaches. But that's the truth of the matter.
There's no place, there's no plane, for he dwells in the light,
the scripture says, which no man can approach unto. He only
hath immortality, dwelling in the light. Our God's in the heavens,
David said. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Now, where does man come along and think that he can somehow
interact with this one who is eternal? Apart from the grace
of God, man never can know God. Never can know the way of God.
But the blessing is that the Lord does, by His grace, visit
with men and show them who He is. And He reveals Himself in
the pages of this book. A man can read this book and
he can memorize it and still not know anything about it. if
you don't know the one about who it is about. It's just like
the book of the Revelation. I mean, there's probably been
more books written on the book of the Revelation than any other
single book. I mean, you've got these people
that they've got all this stuff figured out in charts and they
know what this means and that means and who this is and who
that is and all of that stuff. And they go through a whole book
and miss the whole purpose of the book. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. I mean, you know, if you read
the book of the Revelation and you don't see the glory of Christ,
then you missed the book. You missed it. You didn't see
it. The testimony of Jesus, the Scripture says, is the spirit
of prophecy. Plain and simple. All prophecy,
every prophecy, is pointing to Christ. All of them. That's the
reason the Lord created the world, was to manifest the glory of
His grace and the exaltation of His Son in the earth as the
Redeemer of sinners. Now that's a glorious thing if
the Lord ever shows you the truth of that and etches it upon your
heart. It's a glorious thing to consider.
And so we come to Psalm 117. And it says, O praise the Lord,
all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is
great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord. O praise the Lord, all ye nations. Now, as we look throughout the
Scriptures, It is evident that the Lord has a chosen people. Now, the Jews, in a carnal understanding
of who the people of God are, believe that they, being the
literal descendants of Abraham, fall into that category. And
they have, over the years, considered that. And the Lord has sent blindness
into their hearts, in part, not all, because the Lord is pleased
even of the natural children of Israel. He has a remnant,
as Brother Al mentioned there this morning, He has a people
among them. But He has a people among all
nations. And that's why The psalmist says,
oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Now, David didn't expect that
the Philistines were going to praise the Lord. I mean, he knew
that they worshipped Dagon. And he wasn't trying to get them
to do that. But what David, I believe, is
speaking about is the fact that the earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof and all men. without exception, owing to the
Lord praise. But most specifically what he's
talking about is that those people whose God is the Lord of all
nations, Jew and Gentile alike, praise the Lord. See, the people
of God are those that will bring praise to the Lord through eternity. The name of the wicked shall
rot. I mean, that's what the Scripture says. The name of the
wicked shall rot. I mean, when something rots,
what is it? There's nothing. There's nothing
there. But who shall praise the Lord forever? The people of God. For the Lord raised up people
to praise Him. He said to the Pharisees, you
know, they said, Oh, tell these people to be quiet. He says,
I can't tell these people to be quiet. He said because the
stones would cry out. The Lord is able to raise up
a people out of the stones of the earth. I mean, He can do
whatever He's pleased to do. But He's pleased to call a people
out of darkness and into the light. And those people He has
ordained to bring forth praise unto His name. What a glorious
thing. And it doesn't matter what the
nation is. Every kindred, tribe, and tongue on the face of the
earth are represented among the Lord's people. There's no nation
that's cut out. Nations that you've never heard
of. The Anakim. I mean, the Lord destroyed the
Anakim. But He said, every kindred, tribe, and tongue on earth, some
of the Anakim. He has a remnant. I mean, I don't
know who they all are. I don't know how it is. You know,
you can figure that out yourself. But I mean, that's what the Lord
said. The Lord has a people in every kindred, tribe, and tongue
in the earth. And that's a glorious thing. when you consider that
it's not geographically located. I mean, what if it was, and it
turned out that we weren't in the right geographical area?
No, the Lord doesn't end concern with geography. Now, a lot of
people, again, they think that God has certain geographical
areas on the earth that is more holy than others. They've even
designated some of them and called them the Holy Land. Well, I'm
telling you, the only place that's holy is where the Lord is. I
mean, that's what he told Moses. He said, Moses, take your shoes
off your feet because the spot you're standing on is holy ground.
Not because it wasn't the dirt that was holy, but it was the
presence of God. And so it is that while we might
use the term the holy land, don't ever think in your mind that
somehow or other that is a holy land in some measure that men
would count it, or might be as men would count it, but certainly
not in the eyes of God. For He owns the cattle on a thousand
hills. He doesn't need a piece of dirt
somewhere. I mean, all things are His. The
earth is the Lord's. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye people. Now, that's an impossible task,
is it not? For men to praise the Lord? And
yet the Lord instructs us over and over again to praise Him.
What does it mean to bring praise? It means to give Him the adoration
of the heart. That's what praise is. Praise
isn't just singing along with some song because it sounds good
to you or whatever, that's not praise. Praise is that which
comes from the heart. The Scripture says that the Lord
inhabits the praises of His people. The Lord's in the midst of the
praises of His people. He takes delight in the praises
of His people because it's that which He has ordained. He's ordained
that He would have praise in the earth. Would we not exhort one another
as the children of God, if we're indeed the children of God, to
praise Him? Praise Him, all you people. Oh,
that the Lord would give us praise. You know, that's the thing that
we desire. I mean, as we praise the Lord,
we realize how weak our praises are, do we not? I mean, when
we sing a song of praise unto the Lord, we wish we could sing
in a greater fashion. We wish we could actually magnify
His name, and we feel like that our praises are weak. We're not
enamored of our praise, but we're thankful that we're able to praise
Him, that He is pleased to give us that privilege. I believe that all nature praises
the Lord. As Scripture says, the trees
of the field shall clap their hands. And I've shared this with
you a bunch of times about walking down the road one day after reading
that passage of Scripture, walking along, and the wind was blowing
gently, and I looked up in the tree, and all these leaves were
just doing like that. And I thought about that. The
trees of the field shall clap their hands. The wolves howling
at the moon give praise unto God. All creatures do. But you
see, the tree doesn't know it, does it? The old wolf howling
at the moon, he doesn't know. The chicken, as John Bunyan said,
every time that he takes a drink, he lifts his head up to heaven
and gives God thanks for that drink. But he doesn't know it,
does he? No, the Lord has given to His people the knowledge that we praise
God. What a glorious thing. See, it's
not enough. All men shall praise Him. I mean, a man can't escape
praising God. Even those who are ordained unto
destruction shall bring praise unto the name of the Lord. They
don't know it, nor would they want to. See, God's people, they
praise God because they want to. Pharaoh was raised up to
manifest the judgment of God. That's why the Lord said He raised
up Pharaoh. That's why He created him. The
old men don't like that, do they? Oh, God created somebody to destroy
Him? Well, who art thou, old man,
that replyest against God? Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why shalt thou make me thus? See, the Lord
was humble. men down. Now that message right
there will either humble a man or it will cause him to raise
his fist against God. The people of God desire to worship
Him. Those who are in rebellion against
Him may say, well, I've never served with God like that. You
ever heard anybody say that? I have. Say, I'd never serve
a God like that. Well, no, you wouldn't. Apart
from the grace of God, you won't. But you can be sure that how
the Lord reveals Himself in the Word of God is how He is. Whether
you like it or you don't, or you agree with it, doesn't make
any difference. Oh, praise the Lord. All you
nations, praise Him, all you people. For His merciful kindness
is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endureth forever. His merciful kindness. Is that
not displayed in the cross of Jesus Christ? His merciful kindness. Why should the Lord have made
an atonement for our sins? I mean, just like he said there,
as Brother Al talked about, as he said there to Moses, I'm going to destroy these people.
They're not worthy. They're stiff-necked people.
I'm tired of it. I mean, thinking of this as a
man would think of it. That's the way you'd imagine.
I'm thankful that you are not the Lord. Because that's what
you'd do. You'd have just went ahead and
destroyed them. But you see, the Lord raised up Moses to demonstrate
His mercy. The Lord said to Moses, I'll
show mercy to whom I will show mercy. And He had ordained Moses
as the intercessor. Just like He had ordained Jesus
Christ to come into the world to be our intercessor, to be
our substitute, to be our Redeemer. The merciful kindness of the
Lord is great towards us. Oh, that the people might praise
Him. And the truth of the Lord endureth
forever. Now we live in a day and age
when truth changes every day. I mean, in the minds of men,
doesn't it? I mean, because one day, I mean, you can look at
a man without any clothes on, and he can be a man. And the
next day, you can look at him, and he says he's a woman, and
he is. Now, how is that? I mean, that's
a simple thing. That's a foolish thing on one
hand, to even bring that up. But it's an illustration. You
see, all of these things are illustrations. It's like as men
decide what's right and what's wrong, and they take pride in
their sin, the Scripture speaks about it. Brethren, the things
that the Lord condemns in His Word are shameful things. And men ought to be ashamed. A man can't change what he is. You know, men can't change that. But the Lord in mercy and kindness
does change men. You who sometimes, the Scripture
Brother Al read again, you who sometimes were alienated, and
by wicked works you hated the way of God, but yet God in His
mercy, His mercy, He opened your eyes. You, which were dead in
trespasses and sins, hath He quickened." Oh, what a glorious
thing. What a wondrous thing. Now the
man who is a rebel against God, he's not looking for his heart
to be changed. You think that Paul, or Saul at the time, Saul
of Tarsus, when he was on the road to Damascus, was he going
on there, Lord, I wish you'd change my heart. No, why? He didn't think his heart needed
to be changed, did he? No, he figured he was doing the
Lord's will. He was doing what God would have
him to do. He was convinced of it. But God,
who's rich in mercy, stopped him and called him by name, Saul,
Saul. What are you doing? And Saul said, Who art thou,
Lord? Because he knew that the one
that was speaking to him was the Lord. How did he know that?
The grace of God. The only way it could have happened.
Rebels aren't looking to throw down their arms of rebellion.
They're looking to war against the Lord. But the Lord in mercy
causes them to throw down their arms of rebellion. And the truth of the Lord endureth
forever. Praise ye the Lord. The Lord's
truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Whether men
like it or they don't, the truth of God never changes. And what
God says is acceptable before Him is always going to be that. Never going to change. The law
of God doesn't change. Thanks be unto the Lord that
we have one who has obeyed the law fully and completely for
us. But that didn't change the law.
The law still says what it says. It still means what it means.
The Word of God is true whether men like it or not. Blessed is
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners. nor sitteth in the seat of scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree which
is planted by the rivers of water. Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
But the wicked are not certain, but are like the chaff which
the wind driveth away. And what makes the difference? Only the grace of God. That's
the truth. It's the truth of God. And that's
why He is to be praised. You know, if it was up to men,
we would praise men. And some men do. Oh, well, you
did such a glorious thing. I'm so glad you let the Lord
into your heart. My brother, you can't let the
Lord into your heart. He's not looking to come into
your heart. But by the grace of God, He busts down the doors
of a man's heart. He takes away the pride. He takes
away the rebellion. And He causes a man to fall on
his face before Almighty God and to delight in it. See, there's
no unwilling. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. There's no unwilling followers
of Christ. The Lord doesn't bring His people kicking and screaming
and dragging. You know, when a child doesn't
want to do something, a lot of times he'll just kind of throw
himself on the floor. You know, sometimes a parent,
about all they can do is just drag them out. And I wish more
parents would, you know, drag them out. But that's about all
they can do. But you see, the Lord doesn't
do that. He changes the heart. and causes the child to be willing
in the day of his power. What a glorious Savior we have.
His mercy endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord.