And His mercy to His people endures
forever. And this is what the Scripture
boldly proclaims here. Our great God, and we see, we
see right here, beloved, why our great God is worthy of all
our praise, don't we? We see that right here in the
Scriptures. Just reading that, reading that wonderful psalm
and being reminded constantly that God's mercy endures forever.
And that's to His people, isn't it? That's to his people. Now
he's merciful in the sense that he feeds everyone, right? He
does, he does. He gives food and clothing around.
But there's a special mercy for his people, isn't there? And
that's in Christ. And that mercy endures forever.
God's mercy is forever towards his people. And it's absolutely
wonderful. We ought not to forget that,
because that mercy of God is manifested to us. Let us remember
this, too. The mercy of God is manifested
to us in and through Christ. Just think of your redemption.
And even look in the latter part there where it says, who remembereth
us in our lowest state? Well, that was when we fell in
Adam, wasn't it? That's even when we're down and
out, too, isn't it? That's when we're in a very lowest
state. He remembers us. His mercy endures
forever. And then look, it continues,
and hath redeemed us. How did God redeem us? Well,
God himself became a man, didn't he? And he redeemed us. Why? Because his mercy endures
forever. It's wonderful, beloved. The
mercy of God is a wonderful topic to meditate upon and to contemplate.
because it'll bring you great joy in the midst of trials and
tribulations and heartaches, whatever you're going through,
it'll bring you great joy to know that God has had mercy upon
me, upon me. And this is an attribute of God,
again, this is an attribute of God of which we should give much
praise to the God for. We should praise Him to our great
God, and we see how the psalmist is bringing this forth. We see
how the psalmist is bringing this forth, that God is to be
praised for his mercy, isn't he? We are to praise him for
his mercy. Look at verse one. Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord. So the psalmist is bringing forth
here that we are to give thanks to our God, to our great Lord.
Why? Because his mercy endures forever.
We're to give thanks. Doesn't it fill your heart with
joy and praise to know that God has sent mercy upon you in Christ? Give Him thanks, then. Hey, give
Him thanks. Praise His name. Praise His name. Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good. He's the only one who's good. He's the only
one good. For His mercy endureth forever.
Then look at verse 2 again. Oh, give thanks. We're told again.
Oh, give thanks unto the God of gods. Why? For his mercy endureth
forever. And then in verse three, we're
told again, oh, give thanks to the Lord of Lords, for his mercy
endureth forever. Now note there, he's good, he's
the God of gods, he's the one true God, and he's Lord over
all. Right there, right there it's
proclaimed, right there in those three verses. Therefore, we ought
to give him praise and thanks for the mercy that he's had upon
us, and not just but for the fact that His mercy endures forever. And think of this, if God's mercy
endures forever and God doesn't change, therefore His mercy towards
us never changes. That's wonderful. That's absolutely
wonderful, beloved. And God's people are to give
thanks. Then look at the last verse. We're reminded again.
Oh, give thanks unto God of heaven for his mercy endureth forever.
In light of everything that we read in that psalm. And it so
encompasses God's sovereignty, it encompasses his mercy towards
his people, doesn't it? It encompasses his delivering
his people from various trials and tribulations, doesn't it?
As we read through there, we saw that. and how He raises up
kings and takes them down and slays our enemies. And we're to give Him thanks,
beloved, because His mercy endures forever. So in light of all these
things that have been spoken of in the Psalm, rejoice, because
His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven for His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136.26, that last
verse. So God's people give thanks to
God for the mercy which we have received in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now this is undeserved mercy,
this is unsought of mercy, and this is unmerited mercy. We do not get what we deserve,
we get mercy. Remember, Paul said, I've obtained
mercy. He wrote that many times. I've obtained mercy. Paul knew
what it meant. Because remember, Paul was a
Pharisee of Pharisees. He knew what it meant to obtain
mercy, beloved. He knew. He knew what it meant.
And he gave thanks to God for it. So the least we can do, think
of this, for the endless supply of mercy, which has been given
to us by God in and through Christ, The least we can do is give thanks
to our God, to praise His mighty name. Again, because we are undeserving
receivers of this mercy. And when we contemplate that,
when we think about that, oh my, it's not hard to give thanks
unto God for that, is it? It's not hard to give thanks
to God for the mercy that we receive. We have experienced,
we who are the redeemed of the Lord, have experienced, even
in this life, That is mercy endures forever, hasn't it? We have,
haven't we? We have. Just think of how many
times He constantly delivers you. Think of things that have
come up in your life that cause heartache, and heartache is real,
beloved. Sometimes I think heartache is
one of the hardest things to go through. And that comes in
various forms, beloved. It comes in various forms. And
it's a hard thing for people to go through. And we've all
experienced it, haven't we? We've all experienced it. Whether
it be heartache through a trial, whether it be heartache through
someone deserting you, whether it be heartache through another
thing, it's hard and it hurts. But praise God we can have comfort
and refuge in the fact that God's mercy towards us never ever changes. It endures forever. And therefore,
again, it's not hard for us to give praise to our great God.
It's not hard for believers in Christ to give thanks to our
great God when we consider. Also, it's not hard for us to
give thanks and praise to our great God when we consider God's
divine excellencies, who He is. As we go through this study on
the attributes of God, it just manifests more and more the greatness
of our God, doesn't it? And who He is, He's great. And
He's greatly to be praised. He's greatly to be praised. When
we consider who He is, He's holy, He's righteous, He's the God
who rules over all. And then when we consider that
He's had mercy on us, oh my, oh my. It turns our lips to giving
praise. We can do nothing but give Him
thanks, can we? When we consider the mercy we've
received. Turn, if you would, to 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 3. And look at what the scripture
declares in 1 Kings chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 about the mercy of God. Solomon here declares that God's
mercy is great. Great. Now we can say that too,
can't we? We can say that God's mercy is
great. Oh my. God's mercy is so great it saved
this sinner, and it saved you who are a sinner too. That's
how great His mercy is to us. Oh, it's wonderful. Our God is
great, beloved. He's great. Look at this in 1
Kings 3, verses 5 and 6. And Gibeon the Lord appeared
to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall
give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shown
unto thy servant David my father, look at this, great mercy. I
ask you who are the redeemed of the Lord, has not God shown
you great mercy? He's shown this sinner great
mercy. Oh, great mercy. according as he walked before
thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart.
And thou hast kept for him this great kindness, and thou hast
given him a son to sit on the throne, as it is by day." Now
look at that. He's walked before thee in truth. Why? Because God revealed the
truth to him. And God keeps him in the truth. In righteousness. Well, he's clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. just like every other believer
in uprightness a heart with these given a new heart he's been given
a new heart beloved to love and to serve Lord Psalm 86 5 says
this for thou Lord are good and ready to forgive plenius in mercy
and all them that call upon the plenius in mercy and all them that call upon the
and the believers as yes Yes, He's plenteous in mercy to me.
He is. All my sins are forgiven. All
the debt, the sin debt that I could never pay is wiped out. I'm washed
clean by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the
believer says He's plenteous in mercy. Plenteous in mercy. Turn if you would to Luke chapter
1. Luke chapter 1. In Luke chapter 1. we see the spot for to the tender
mercy of God oh my Luke chapter 1 verses 76 to 79 now child shall be called the
prophet of the highest for now she'll go before the face of
the Lord to prepare his ways look at this to give knowledge
of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from
on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness,
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace."
But notice there, the tender mercy of God. Oh my. and His mercy endureth
forever." Now turn if you would to 1st Peter. 1st Peter. 1st Peter chapter 1. Oh, God's
mercy is a constant theme. A constant theme through the
scriptures. And here we see, so we've seen
God's mercy called tender mercy. We've seen God's mercy be called
great mercy. Now look at this in 1st Peter
1, verses 3 to 5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His what? Abundant
mercy. Beloved, God's mercy is abundant
mercy. You cannot measure it. You cannot
measure it. It is abundant mercy. Immeasurable. hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, right? And we have a hope, don't we?
We have a hope because God has an abundant mercy upon us. Oh
my, he passed by other folks, hasn't he? You know, I look at
my family, I'm the only one in my family who's saved. But God's
had abundant mercy on me and I praise his name for it. I don't
deserve that at all. At all. But he's done that by
his choosing. which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope." And what
a hope we have! "...by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead." He's raised for our justification. He's raised
for our justification. And then look at this, "...to
an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you." It's reserved in heaven
for you. And then look at this, it just
gets even better, who are kept by the power of God. So not only
does he shed abundant mercy upon us, not only are we born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, not only are we redeemed by the Lord
Jesus Christ, but we are kept by the power of God. Kept by
the power of God. And we have an inheritance, beloved,
that we cannot mess up. Again, that doesn't give us a
license to go crazy, does it? Not at all. But look at this.
To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that faded
not away, reserved in heaven for you. I've not reserved many
tables at a restaurant. Not done that very much. Not
done that very much. But you ever make a reservation at
a nice restaurant, right? And where's that table waiting
for you, isn't it? It's waiting for you. It's waiting right there
for you. This inheritance is waiting for
us. It's reserved for us. It's in heaven. And it will never
be defiled. And it's all according to the
abundant mercy of God. Look at that. Who are kept by
the power of God through faith. And that's that's a key there,
isn't it? No one goes to glory, no one has this inheritance except
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that faith
is given to us by God according to His what? Abundant mercy.
Oh my. Through faith in the salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. Now turn, if you would,
to Psalm 100. God's mercy is said to be everlasting. Which ties right in with the
psalm that we read, right? 136, which said, His mercy endureth
forever. Here we see that His mercy is
said to be everlasting. And take this in, beloved. This will show us very clearly
that God's mercy is not subject to change. It's not subject to
change. Things in our life change all
the time, don't they? Friends and family come and go,
and we can change a job, and there's always change in our
lives. But God's love and mercy towards
His people is unchanging. It's unchanging. Look at this
in Psalm 100, verses 1 to 5. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing. Now, you read that right,
and there's some times in our lives that we're not filled with
gladness. There's some things that happen
that bring sorrow in our lives. This just means you just trust
in the Lord, you rest in the Lord, no matter whether it's
times of gladness and times of sorrow. But we have that peace
that passes all understanding, don't we? We have that joy deep
in our souls no matter what's going on. And that's what that's
speaking of. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God. It is He that made us and not
we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. So there's a picture there before
us of a shepherd with sheep, isn't it? And we are the sheep
of His pasture. We know that David wrote, the
Lord is my shepherd. David was a shepherd, so he knew,
as he was penning that, what this means. And he knows what
this means. We're the sheep of his pasture.
We're under his providential care. Enter into his gates with
thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto
him and bless his name. And that's what we do. Look at
this. For the Lord is good. His mercy
is what? Everlasting. It's not subject
to change. It's not subject to change. And
His truth endureth to all generations. The gospel will always be preached.
Christ will always be proclaimed. Until there's no more sheep.
It endures to all generations. So that tells us there too that
God is numbered, isn't He? the generations. You ever think
of that? There's gonna be a time when there won't be the last
generation, wasn't there? There will be. And then the sheep
that come out of that generation will be the last. We don't have
any idea when it is. We have no clue. But the gospel
keeps getting preached and proclaimed, doesn't it? Until that last sheep
is saved. Sister Nancy and I were talking
about that on Wednesday. Boy, that'll be glorious when that's
all done. If we're alive and that's all done, that'll be absolutely
glorious. It'll be glorious when we see
the Lord in ourselves, but oh my, it'll be incredible, beloved. And ponder this. People come
and people go on this earth and in our lives, but we who are
the born-again, blood-bought people of God, we who love the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we want to hear nothing else,
do we? We want to hear nothing else. We want to be with the
Lord's people. And God's mercy towards us is from everlasting
to everlasting. It's unchanging. upon those that
fear Him. Look at two Psalms, or three
Psalms over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Look at this. Verses 15 to 18. Verses 15 to
18. As for man, his days are as grass.
Man comes and man goes, right? Our life's like a vapor, Scripture
says. As a flower of the field, so
he flourishes. Flower comes up in the spring
and then it dies off in the fall, doesn't it? Our lives aren't
very long. For the wind passes over it,
and it's gone, and the place thereof shall it know no more."
But look at this. Oh, look at this. But the mercy
of the Lord is what? From everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear Him. And His righteousness unto children's
children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember
His commandments to do them. Look at that. His mercy is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. And that's
that reverent fear. That's not a slavish fear. That's
a reverent fear of awe for who God really is. And that's what
God gives his people, doesn't he? Because we see the holiness
of God and we see our own sinfulness. And we are in awe of who he is.
And we are in awe that he's had mercy upon us. Not just mercy,
but abundant mercy. Oh, it's abundant mercy, isn't
it? And God's people praise our great God for his mercy towards
us. We sing with the psalmist during good times and bad, aloud
of Thy mercy. Oh, we sing of His mercy. When
all Thy mercies, O my God, my soul, or my rising soul surveys,
transported with the views I'm lost in wonder, love, and praise. When all thy mercies, O my God,
my rising soul surveys, when we survey the mercy that God
has had upon us in Christ, transported with the view I'm lost in wonder,
love, and praise. It doesn't take us long to be
taken away in wonder and praise and awe when we think of how
merciful God has been to us. Oh, it's incredible. God shows
mercy upon whom He shows mercy, doesn't He? He shows mercy unto
whom He shows mercy. This is what the Scriptures declare.
He's gracious, He'll be gracious to whom He'll be gracious. And
He's merciful to a people of His choosing. To a people of
His choosing. And this is called, they're called
the elect of God. We know that from studying the
Scriptures. And for the elect of God, this truth fills our
heart with adoration and praise, doesn't it? The fact that we
were amongst those who were chosen. Undeserving, just like everyone
else. And remember, every believer feels that way. We're not the
only ones who feel we're undeserving, because every believer feels
that way. We feel like we're undeserving of this mercy and
grace, but yet it's being bestowed upon us in Christ. And it's of
God's choosing. It's of God's choosing. Romans,
or the Exodus, I'll read Exodus, turn if you would to Romans chapter
nine, and I'll read Exodus. Exodus chapter 33 verse 19 says
this, and he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,
and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and
will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I'll show mercy. Now that's a distinguishing God,
isn't it? He proclaims in Exodus that he will have mercy on whom
he'll have mercy, and he'll be gracious to whom he'll be gracious.
Look at this in Romans chapter 9. Also the same truth is found
in Romans chapter 9. verses 15 to 18. For he saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy on. That's
the scripture I just read. And I'll have compassion on whom
I have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth. Man
often speaks of will, don't they? We see right there very plainly
stated by inspiration of God that salvation that the mercy
that God has on people is not because of their will. Because
our wills are bound by our nature, aren't they? We've studied that
before. We come into this world dead in trespasses and sins.
Nor of him that runneth. That means works. Nothing you do can gain this
mercy, this grace which we have in Christ. But of God that, what? Here's that word again. Showeth
mercy. mercy all God's had mercy on
me has had mercy on you oh it's wonderful isn't it is absolutely
wonderful for the scriptures say it on the fair all for even
for the same purpose have I raise the up that I might show my power
in the and that my name might be declared through out all the
earth therefore happy mercy on him here well mercy on whom he
will he heart and read And to think that I'm
a born-again, blood-washed believer, and it's not according to my
will, it's not according to my works, but it's because God showed
me mercy. And it's so for you if you're
a believer too. And others, He just leaves in
their sins. This mercy is abundant mercy,
isn't it? It's abundant mercy that we've
received. Turn to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3. Oh my. This mercy, beloved. This
mercy. This mercy is so It's amazing. It's amazing. We see clearly
set forth here that this mercy of God, that it's by the mercy
of God that we've been saved. And let us never forget this.
Let us not be high-minded of our salvation. Let us not look
down on others. No, because this mercy that we've
received comes to us from the sovereign hand of God. Titus
chapter 3, look at this in verses 4 to 7, and then we'll break
it down a little bit. But after that the kindness and
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Look at this verse 4 here. But
after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man
appeared, the goodness, the kindness and goodness and love of our
God was made known to the saints of the Old Testament. And how
was it made to the saints in the Old Testament? By promise.
By promise, by prophecy. He was pictured all through the
Old Testament, wasn't he? In types, in shadows, Christ
was. And the goodness and love of
God our Savior is said to have appeared. Appeared. Which means was manifested. Manifested. And that happened when our Lord
Jesus Christ came to this earth. And God having sent His Son to
be the Savior of His people, what did He do? He gave proof
that He did not in vain promise salvation to man. So this verse is in reference
to the manifestation of God's goodness and love towards His
people in a special manner. And it's by the Spirit of God.
The grace and love of Christ appeared to us also when we were
enlightened. when we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God and given knowledge of the Gospel. Look
at verse 5, "...not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Have you ever
considered that the motive and the reason for our redemption
in Christ Jesus is found completely in God? completely in God, outside
of ourselves. Have you ever considered that?
That the motive and the reason for our redemption in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ is completely found in God. It's amazing. Have you ever considered
that salvation is all of grace? all of grace and comes to us
not based upon any works, which this first very plainly brings
forth. But it's all based upon the mercy
of God and the grace of God, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he has saved us. Oh, my. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Man is thinking foolishly if
they think their works can gain them merit and favor with God.
And yet, people believe that, don't they? People believe that, but all
the believers' merit is found in Christ, isn't it? All the
believer's merit is found in Christ alone. All our acceptance
with God, and let this just burn into our hearts, all our acceptance
with God is only found in Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. And think of this, in our natural
state and sinfulness, we depart further and further from God,
don't we? I wasn't looking for God. When he saved me, I wasn't
looking for him at all. I had had a religious experience
and I was a Pharisee of Pharisees, but I was still lost, thinking
it was all about me. And even before my religious
experience, I had no desire to even look at the Bible or talk
to people of God or nothing. But He saved me by His mercy.
Is it so with you? So in our natural state of sinfulness, we depart further
and further from God. It is only when He moves in our
lives. It's only when He makes us willing in the day of His
power. And when He brings us to Himself by the regenerating
power of the Holy Spirit, which is bought forth here, we have
our hearts purified and our consciences purged by the blood of Christ. Only then are we saved. Salvation, beloved, is a work
of God. It's a work of God. And it all
is according to His mercy. It's all according to His mercy.
The renewing of the Holy Ghost here refers to the new creature,
the new man, the new heart, the newness of life and conduct under
the influence of the Spirit of God. And this is a complete work
of God also. It's all Him. There's a thing
that we preachers like to call out there, decisional regeneration.
You know what that is, right? Bow your head and repeat this
prayer. That's decisional regeneration. That's not Holy Spirit regeneration.
And that's a false, that's a false refuge that people put themselves
in. The only one who can regenerate us, we see right here, is the
Holy Spirit of God. So the renewing of the Holy Ghost
refers to being born again, the renewing spoken of, the washing
of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Ghost. And God's
people who have received this mercy and grace, oh, we give
them praise. Look at verse 6, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. This is where
it comes from, only in and through Christ and Christ alone. Notice
in verse 6 that the love and kindness of God our Father, which
is spoken of in verse 4, comes to us through Christ. So ponder
this, that the mercy of God is through Christ. Salvation itself
is in and by Christ alone. And the grace communicated in
regeneration and renewing is out of Christ's fullness, the
Spirit Himself being given forth through Christ. It all comes
back to our Savior, beloved. Well, I'm out of time. May God
be glorified for the mercy and grace which he has shown us in
and through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank
thee for the scriptures that we've looked at today. Oh, Lord,
we thank thee for your mercy and grace. Oh, how it endures
forever. It's unchanging. Lord, there's
change in our lives all the time, but your mercy and grace never
changes towards your people. May we give you thanks and praise
for the abundant mercy which we have received in and through
Jesus Christ our Lord. We love you because you first
loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.