Psalm 67. It says, To the chief
musician on Neginoth, a psalm or song. God be merciful unto us, and
bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. That thy way may be known upon
the earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people
praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee. Oh, let the
nations be glad and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the
people righteously and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the people praise thee, O
God. Let all the people praise thee.
Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own
God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the
ends of the earth shall fear him. Now this psalm is one that does
not get the cart ahead of the horse. Now we've all heard that
term and of course kind of an antiquated term I suppose in
the day in which we live because nobody rides in a cart and a
horse with a horse, but we understand that the horse has to pull the
cart. And it would be foolish to put
the horse behind the cart and expect to go anywhere. But often,
I would say far more often than not, men get the cart ahead of
the horse when they begin to talk about the blessings of God
upon men. And they often attribute the
blessings of God to men on the basis of something men have done
in order to avail themselves of these blessings. I mean, that's
pretty common. It's most assuredly very common
in that which is declared around the globe today as the health
and wealth Now, I don't call it the health
and wealth gospel, I call it the health and wealth lie, because
that is a lie. God is not waiting to bless men
on the basis of their faith, or on the basis of their deeds,
on the basis of their obedience, on the basis of anything. But
it is the prerogative of God to bless men according to the
good pleasure of His will. And such He does. Elsewise, no
man would ever receive a blessing, because there is none that seeketh
after God. There is none that doeth good.
You know, they tell us, some tell us, well if you go about
doing good, you know there is a guy that is pretty prominently
on one of the radio stations around here in the area and that's
his whole thing is you know you just need to be doing good and
God's gonna you know you may have the blessings of God if
you'll just do good. Well that sounds good and it
appeals to the flesh and most people just think it's great.
Yeah, that's just the way it is. But that's really a lie. It's really completely backwards
to how things are. Paul said if there had been a
law that could have given life, then righteousness would have
been by the law. That is by the deeds of men,
by something men did, if that was the way that it occurred.
But we know that it's not that way. He said the law is weak
through the flesh. The law is glorious, it's wonderful.
And we certainly don't ever desire to be found speaking against
the Law of God. Some accuse us of that, but we
don't speak against the Law of God. The Law is a glorious thing.
It's a wondrous thing, but we must understand what the Law
is given for. It's given for the purpose of
revealing sin. By the Law is the knowledge of
sin. A righteous man, the scripture
says, don't need a law. Law's not made for righteous
men. Law's made for the disobedient. That's why the law's given, to
show us what we are by nature. And so, it is a foolish thing
when men would attribute the blessings of God to them or to
anyone else on the basis, to be on the basis of what they
have done. And so the psalmist says, he
gets this right, he said, God, be merciful unto us and bless
us. That's the only way that a man
will ever receive any blessing from the hand of God, is according
to the mercy of God. God doesn't pay blessings. See,
God's not into paying business, because if He did, the wages of sin is death. If
you want to be paid up, then that's what you're going to get. Because you know, how can a man
do anything that would cause God to bless him? But the Lord
said, you know, when you've done everything that I have commanded
you to do, you need to look and say of yourself that I'm an unworthy
servant. Because to do what God said to
do is just what you should do. It's not anything extra. But
that's how men think of it in the flesh. But as we say, the
psalmist said, God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause
His face to shine on us. Because if God doesn't cause
His face to shine on us, it will not. it will not shine upon you
because of something you have caused, or brought to pass, or
put into motion, or whatever wonderful work you might think
that you have done. But may He cause His blessing
to shine on us. That is our desire. Now those
who have been born again by the Spirit of God, they desire the
blessing of God. They're not content without the
blessing of God. They hunger and thirst after
the blessing of God. Just like that woman who came
to the feast where the Lord was and she asked Him to come and
heal her daughter who was taken with a devil. And the Lord said,
woman, what have I got to do with you? I'm a Jew. I mean,
you're a Gentile. And what are you coming in here
asking me to come do for you? Don't you know that this food
is for the children of the kingdom? And she said, you're right. She
said, but even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the
master's table. Because she fully understood
that she had no grounds upon which to come to the Lord asking
for anything. That it would be strictly according
to His mercy. As Blind Bartimaeus, Jesus thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Mercy is not a debt. Mercy is
not paid out because somebody believes. Mercy is that which causes men
to believe. That's an important distinction. That needs to be set forth over
and over and over again. We need to look at that every
day. Because we're prone to go the
other way and go out to the stable and hitch the old horse up behind
the cart and wonder why we don't go anywhere. Because we won't
get anywhere. with the cart behind the horse,
or in front of the horse. God be merciful unto us, bless
us, cause his face to shine upon us. Say, La, that thy way may
be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations. The
Lord said, No man can come to me except the Father which hath
sent me draw him. And he said, I will raise him
up at the last day. May the Lord Teach us, because
that's His way. May thy way be known. See, the
way of the Lord in the earth is not trying to get men to do
something. Now, if you listen to most stuff
that you hear today that goes under the guise of being the
gospel, it's about trying to get folks to do something. They
are trying to get folks to give them money. They are trying to
get folks to go out and do this or do that or whatever. The gospel
is not about getting folks to do something. The gospel is good
news. It is about what the Lord has
done for us. That thy way may be known. See,
the way of the Lord One of the things that this man who's so
prominently on the radio here lately, he says he's going to
teach you this is how to live God's way today. Well, he doesn't
have a clue about what God's way is because God's way is this. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. That's God's way.
You see, God's the first cause of all events. He's not sitting
back waiting and wondering what people will do. But He's the
one that causes those things that come to pass to occur according
to the good pleasure of His will, that thy way may be known upon
the earth. See, we want to declare God in
the rightful place that He's at so that men will not be mistaken
and think that somehow or other God is dependent on men. I remember
hearing years ago Pharoah Griswold talking about when he had been
in a motorcycle wreck and he was in a wheelchair and in a
body cast, or mostly in a cast, and he couldn't move. And a preacher
came on the radio or the TV, he was watching him, and he said,
?Today I?m going to preach on God has no hands but your hands,
God has no feet but your feet.? And Pharaoh said that he just
hollered out and his wife came running into the room and said,
?He?s going to preach on a wheelchair, God!? God?s not in a wheelchair. He?s
not needing anything from men. You can't provide one thing that
God needs. Now that's disappointing to some
folks. You know, because they're just sure they can just... God's
waiting for them to do something. God's not waiting for you to
do anything. If you rightly understand things,
you'll be waiting for Him to do something and saying, Oh God,
have mercy on me, a sinner. Help me, Lord. Cause thy blessing
to fall upon me, that thy way may be known in the earth, thy
saving health among all nations." There's a lot of people, they
talk about, you know, divine healing. Well, they say, do you
believe in divine healing? Like Lester Roloff said, well,
I didn't know there was any other kind. You know, divine healing is not
anything out of the ordinary. But then, divine disease giving
isn't either. Because, you see, the Lord said,
I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
He said, I form the light and create the darkness. Because
it belongs to Him. And the health of men The state
that men are in is all according to the good pleasure of God.
I mean, Job was going along pretty good, wasn't he? I mean, he had
a pretty good life, had a nice family, had plenty of money,
friends. You know, everything was going
along good. And the Lord brought old Satan
up before him one day and he said, Have you thought about
my servant Job? Now a lot of people present that
the other way. They say Satan came to the Lord. But the Scripture
says that the Lord pointed Job out to Satan. Now that seems
terrible, doesn't it? Except when you consider that
Job's God's creation belongs to Him. Nay, but, O man, who
art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing form, say
the hymn that formed it? Why shall it make me thus? No. You see, Job belonged to
the Lord. But you see, the Lord loved Job.
Now some people would say, well that doesn't seem very much like
he loved him. Well, you see, when you understand where Job
was and what Job was, and the place the Lord brought him by
the thing that he did, by turning him over to Satan for a little
season, on Satan's short leash that he could only go insofar
as the Lord would have him to go. And Job was brought to the
place where he said, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, and I repent in dust and ashes. Oh, what a blessing. Now the
world would look at that and they would say, well, Job was
better off before all these bad things happened to him. Oh no,
Job would tell you different because the scripture says that
the Lord blessed the latter end of Job greater than he did the
first. What a glorious blessing it is
when the Lord is pleased to show mercy to men. And what can a
man do to cause it? Not a thing in the world. Because
it's mercy. It's kindness. It's goodness.
Oh, what a wondrous thing it is. that God would show mercy
to the sons of men. See, the only time that men get
mad with the sovereign grace of God is when they think that
men deserve something. Because if they understand that
men don't deserve anything but destruction, then the fact that
God shows mercy at all is an amazing thing. God, be merciful to us that Thy
way may be known, that Thy saving health among all the nations.
Oh, what a wondrous thing when the Lord heals the brokenhearted. Let the people praise Thee, O
God. Let all the people praise Thee.
Now, isn't that an amazing word, let? But it just kind of went
over. It says, let the people praise
Thee. How do people praise God? because he lets them do it. Have
you ever thought about that? I mean, God lets men praise Him.
You can't just praise God unless He lets you do it. What a wondrous
thing! Oh Lord, let the people praise
Him. Oh God, let all the people praise Him. Is that not what
we would desire? That all men would praise God?
I mean, what a wondrous thing it would be if all men praised
God. Oh, let the nations be glad and
sing for joy. Now, we can't be glad and sing
for joy because of who we elect, or who doesn't get elected, or
who gets impeached, or who doesn't, or whatever happens. I mean,
those things can't bring us joy. Let the nations be glad and sing
for joy, because you see, that which we come to remember today,
when the Lord lets a man see the glory that surrounds Jesus
Christ, then there is true joy, because in Him is seen the true
joy of all the earth. For thou shalt judge thy people
righteously, and govern the nations upon the earth. Selah. Now that is in quite contrast
to the governments of the earth because the governments of the
earth ultimately are oppressors. There is not a good government
in the earth. Now there are some governments
that are better than others I mean, I'd rather be here than I had,
you know, in some places, but I'd rather be here than I would
be in Iran or Iraq or some, you know, place like that. But all
governments are oppressors because that's just the way the Lord
designed it to be, to remind us what we are by nature because
there wouldn't be any need for governors and laws. We wouldn't have to have a sheriff.
if men weren't sinners. I mean, the sheriff would go
out of business if all men were righteous men, would he not?
If all men loved the way of God and loved one another, there
wouldn't be any need for a sheriff. The people in the jail, Jamie,
you wouldn't even have a job. There wouldn't be no such thing
as a jail. Oh, let the nations be glad and
sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people righteously. You see, the Lord, He is a righteous
judge. Some people take comfort in that
for the wrong reason. Now we're glad that God is a
righteous judge because we believe that Christ Jesus the Lord has
paid the sin debt that we have and on the basis of the righteousness
of God, He sees that and He is satisfied. But have you ever
heard people say, or you may have said it yourself, well,
God looks on the heart and you take comfort in that. But you
know, if a man understands what his heart is, he can't take any
comfort in that. I mean, you take comfort in the
fact that God knows your heart? That ought to cause you to tremble.
Yes, God knows your heart. He knows exactly what you are.
The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Well,
God knows it. And He judges righteously. And
there's not a man who will ever perish that will not perish because
of the righteous judgment of Almighty God. I mean, hell is a testament to
the righteous judgment of God. But I'll tell you what is a greater
testament to the righteous judgment of God, and that's exactly what
we're going to do this morning as we remember the Lord's death. It is in the death of the only
begotten Son of God that the righteous Judge manifests Himself
most clearly. He who would spare not His own
Son, but offer Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him
freely give us all things? Dear brethren, He is a righteous
Judge. When thou, my righteous Judge,
shalt come, shall I among them stand. Oh, thou shalt judge the
people righteously and govern the nations upon the earth. He governs the nations. The heart of the king turns with
his every will. There's not one decision ever
made in any government on the face of the earth at any time
that is not ordered by Almighty God. the manifesto are told or
if it's proper if it was uh... nancy pelosi or whatever as i'm
i was kind of aggravating to us and we have to kind of work
through it to say where it's going down but you can be sure
that all of these things are in the hand of almighty god otherwise
i don't want to get up in the morning You know, I want to pull
the cover over my head and just stay right where I'm at because
I have no telling what might happen. But God judges righteously
and He governs the nations upon the earth. Say, Lord, here it
is again, let the people praise Thee. Oh God, let all the people
praise Thee. When we consider that, Lord,
allow us to praise You. Don't let us be like we are by
nature and get angry because things don't turn out like we
want them to. And the guy we wanted to get
elected didn't, and this, that, and the other, and all these
things. No, Lord, let us praise You. in whatever transpires. Let us praise you. Because we
won't otherwise. We'll be mad. Well, that didn't
turn out like we wanted it to. Our football team lost, or this,
that, or the other, and all these silly things that we get concerned
about and we don't like. But let us. Lord, allow us to
do it. Because we won't otherwise. We
won't Then shall the earth yield her increase. By the same token,
by the power of God, let us do these things. Let the earth yield
its increase, because it will not, only as you bless us, O
Lord. And God, even our own God, shall
bless us. These things shall be seen. It's
a wonderful thing to be blessed by the Lord, but it's a greater
thing to know that the Lord has blessed us. See, every person
on the face of the earth, there's not a person on the earth today
that is not an object of the blessing of God. If a man gets
something to eat, if he has one moment's joy, if he has one moment's
relief from pain, it's the blessing of Almighty God. So all men are
blessed by God. But it's a great mercy. when
men are brought to the place to know that. I mean to be brought
into the place where we can see that and see the blessing of
God. We don't always see the blessing
of God when in the midst of our troubles and trials, but it's
the blessing that He brings us to. When his wife came to him and
she said, curse God and die, he probably gave a few minutes
thought to that and said, you know, that probably would be
a pretty good thing. But he didn't sin with his mouth, the scripture
says. He praised God. He said, we're
going to receive good from the hand of the Lord, not evil. He
understood that. See, he knew where all things
came from. But our own God shall bless us. That is the source, He is the
source of our blessing and He has brought us to the place to
know it. Now, there are multitudes who would tell you that Jesus
Christ died on the cross that don't see the glory of it. They don't receive the blessing
of it. It's just something that they
think historically happened. It's not the sum and substance
of their thought process. They don't delight in it. They
just learn it like they learned that the South lost the Civil
War or the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor or something. It's just
another fact that they've got. Jesus died on the cross. But the blessing of God is when
He brings us to the place to see what it is that Christ did
when He died on the cross. He didn't just try to do something.
He didn't die hoping that it would do some good. Now that's
what a lot of people tell us. They say, well, Jesus died for
everybody and that's all up to you. to make sure that it was
actually paid off. No, when Christ went to the cross,
he was satisfied with what he did. He said, it is finished. He paid the price for the sins
of his people. And he shall see of the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. And there's not a sinner that
shall ever perish for whom Christ shed his precious blood. and
paid his sin debt. Because payment God cannot twice
demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand and then again at mine. That's a glorious thing. What
a wondrous thing. To be brought into a place of
blessing. To know that Jesus Christ paid
our sin debt. God shall bless us and all the
ends of the earth shall fear Him. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name? John said, Who shall not fear
thee? Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess. It's not a question of whether
or not the world will worship at the feet of Christ. It's just
a matter of when. And it's just a matter of whether
or not men are blessed to see it. before that great day when
the Lord shall manifest His complete and finished purpose for this
earth upon which we live. Now we know that His purpose
for the creation of the earth is to magnify the glory of His
grace in the sending of His Son to purchase the redemption of
a people that he loved in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. We know that to be true. But there's coming a day when
he shall manifest that to the whole world in a clear way in
which it cannot be overturned, it can't be in the minds of men,
it will be made plain. What a blessing it is to be brought
there down to his feet. Oh Lord, let us Praise you. God shall bless us, and all the
ends of the earth shall fear Him. A wondrous prospect.