Open your Bibles if you went
to Psalm 75. Now Psalm 74 and 75 are written
by the same writer, Asp. And I was listening to someone
this week and they said Psalm 74 could be considered 2020 and
Psalm 75 could be considered 2021. We all can't wait till 2020 is
finished. But it's a year the Lord gave
us and we're just gonna live each day as he gives us and be
thankful and be happy for what he gives us. But in this psalm
we'll read Psalm 74. We used to have a saying in Canada
when I was up there that when you're in trouble you go out,
you ever heard this, you're in the soup, you're in the soup, you're
in the midst of things. And Psalm 74 is a psalm of somebody
in the soup. They're going through troubles,
and they're going through trials, and they're going through things.
And the same writer is asked, and in Psalm 75 is after that
trial has ended. And we'll read what the psalmist
writes and what the Lord says too in this psalm. It says, unto
thee, O God, do we give thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks.
For that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. When
I shall receive the congregation, I will judge uprightly. The earth
and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the
pillars of it. Selah. So there's a statement
he makes, our great God makes. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it.
And then Selah. You just pause and think about
that. Just let that sink in. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof dissolve. I bear up the pillars of it.
He is the one who holds everything into place, including us. I say unto the fools, do not
foolishly unto the wicked. Lift not up the horn. Lift not
up your horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck.
For promotion cometh neither from east, nor from west, nor
from the south. But God is the judge. He put
it down one, and he setteth up another. And we see that done
through presidents, and through prime ministers, and through
empires in the history of this world. He setteth up one, then
he puts in another. You've heard me say many times,
the Roman Empire is gone now. The Medes and Persians, they're
gone. They were raised up for a season. They were used by the
Lord, and they're gone. They're gone. For in the hand
of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red. It is full of
mixture, and he poureth out the same. But the dregs thereof,
all the wicked of the earth, shall wring them out and drink
them. That's a chillin' verse. We'll
look at that a little later on. That's a chillin' verse. But
I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off, but the horns
of the righteous shall be exalted. So the horns of the haughty and
the proud in spirit are gonna be all cut off. And those who
are poor in spirit, like we've been looking at in our study
on Sunday nights and the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount,
they're going to be exalted. Oh my! Or, our great God in this
psalm here assures us of our stability during the storms of
life. And there are many storms that
come, and they come unexpectedly, don't they? We don't know they're
coming, but the Lord knows they're coming. Trials, tribulations,
And they come upon us, but the only reason we stand, and the
only reason we get through them, beloved, is because the Lord
keeps us. He is ever the stable one. He is ever the stable one.
The message today is called stability assured. Stability assured. See,
in ourselves, I was talking to Brother Drew this morning, in
ourselves, we are unstable, aren't we? We can be tossed to and fro,
can't we? Something can happen in this
world, and we're like, oh my goodness, and then something
else, oh, that's good, right? It's true, though, we are. We're
tossed to and fro, aren't we? But He is ever stable, beloved.
He is ever stable, the Lord. He doesn't change. He's unchanging. And His love for us never changes. He chose us in eternity, like
our dear sister sang in that song. He died for us, in our
place, because He's ever loved us. And that leaves us in awe,
doesn't it? That leaves us to say, praise
God, He included me. Because we know what we are,
sinners, saved by the grace of God. So we're seeing in this
psalm the certainty of God's stability in keeping us, no matter
what comes our way. Let's look at verse 1. Unto thee,
O God, do we give thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks,
for thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. Again, we see
here the psalmist asks, he's quick to give thanks to who?
To Elohim. That's the Hebrew word there
for God. He's quick to give praise to Elohim, the mighty one, the
strong one. Because he knows, like we know,
that we're weak. But he's strong. He's the strong
and mighty one. He's Elohim. He's Elohim. We
see two names of God here in this psalm. We see Elohim here.
And then further down in verse 8, we see Jehovah, the self-existent
one. So he's giving thanks to Elohim.
He's giving thanks to the one who has delivered him from all
those trials and tribulations of Psalm 74. And notice the thanks
is upward. It's not the fellow man. It's
upward. He's not giving thanks to the fellows that went through
it with him. He's giving thanks to Elohim who took him through
it all. So the thanks is upward, not
the fellow man or to themselves. Ask knows where his help comes
from. He knows. He knows. He's been taught of
God that his help comes from above, beloved. He's been taught
that. through the various trials that
he's went through, and the situations that Israel's went through, he's
been taught that his help comes from the Lord. Have we not been
taught so too? We've been taught that, haven't
we? Oh my! And you know we need to be reminded
of that, don't we? Constantly. Because again, things happen
in this world and we go, whoa! Don't we? Just remember he's
in control. Just remember he's the one on
the throne. He's ever stable. But what do
we cry? Well we cry with Peter, don't
we? Lord help my unbelief. or but flesh, aren't we? Oh Lord,
help my unbelief. Let's go back over to Psalm 74. We'll see a little bit of this
midst of trials and stuff that they're going through here. Psalm
74, look at verses 1 and 2. Here Asaph is writing again.
He says, Oh God, why hast thou cut us off? forever. Why doth
thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember
thy congregation which thou has purchased of old. Remember Christ
is a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He's purchased
his people from old. And not all Israel saved, are
they? But he's talking about the Lord's people here. Remember
thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old, the rod of
thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed. And Christ has
redeemed his people with his own precious blood. This Mount
Zion wherein thou hast dwelt, he dwells in the midst of his
people, doesn't he? And then look at verses 18 to 23. Remember this, that the enemy
hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have
blasphemed thy name. O deliver not the soul of thy
turtle dove into the multitude of the wicked. Forget not the
congregation of thy poor forever. Have you ever been in a trial
where you're praying that God will preserve you and keep you?
We have, haven't we? God's people, we can all say
yeah. And there's some trials we go
through that no one else knows but God and us. Trials of the
mind, trials of the heart. Oh my. Trials of affliction when
our health has declined and we're laying there in the bed crying
out to our great God. Oh, He's ever with us, isn't
He? Have respect unto thy covenant, for the dark places of the earth
are full of the habitations of cruelty all around us. We live
in a world full of sinful people, don't we? And we're sinful too,
but we're just safe sinners, aren't we? We live in the land
and the world of wickedness. O let not the oppressed return
to shame. Let the poor and needy praise
thy name. And we are poor and needy, aren't we? Arise, O God,
plead thine own cause. Remember how the foolish men
reproach thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine
enemies. The torment of those that rise
up against thee increases continually. Now let us read verse 1 again
in our text, and we see that Asp is on the other side of that
now. He's on the other side of that persecution from God's enemies.
And he's given thanks to our great God. He's given thanks
to Elohim for the deliverance. Look at this again. Unto thee,
O God, O Elohim, do we give thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks,
for that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. So we
see again us giving thanks to Elohim. Beloved of God, let us
never neglect to give thanks to our great God. Let us never
neglect that. We can praise Him at any time,
anywhere. Anytime and anywhere, let us
not neglect to give Him praise. When we consider how merciful
He's been to us, when we consider that He sent Christ to die as
our substitute, when we consider that Christ's blood was shed
to purchase our eternal souls, we can't help but say, praise
your name, Lord. Praise your name for your goodness
to me. Praise your name for your mercy to me. I don't deserve
that, but praise your mighty name. Praise you for your providential
dealings with me, too, Lord. You ever think, stop and think
about how the Lord has ordained us each to be here this morning,
to be part of this group, to be part of this body, to be here
right now, here in the gospel preached and proclaimed, whether
you're saved or lost? Did God ordain that? That's pretty
incredible. And then to think for we who
are the people of God, that God's given us ears to hear the gospel,
when before we might have sat there and it went right over
our head, or we were out in the world and didn't have a care
about nothing. That's where we were at one time, weren't it?
We didn't have a care about the gospel. I wasn't raised in a
church. I didn't have a care about the gospel. Didn't have
a care about Christ, right? We've talked about that. Didn't
have a care about it at all. But now, praise God, this is
the only place I want to be, is with you, dear saints of God,
who love the Lord. And little did I know that God
had chosen me in eternity. I had no idea. And neither did
you, did you? That alone gives us reason to
praise His mighty name, eh? To be so thankful. And for those
who sat in church and did not hear, and then one day heard.
Isn't that wonderful? You sat there and you heard the
message preached and proclaimed, and it just went over your head
like any other unsaved person. Now you knew some things. You
heard that Christ was God, but you didn't believe it in your
heart. And then one day the Holy Spirit regenerated. Oh my! Now what happens? Praise your
mighty name, Lord. Praise your mighty name. Thank
you, Lord. for giving me ears to hear and eyes to see, and
to look upon Thee, Lord Jesus." Because if He hadn't have done
that for either of us, either we who weren't in religion or
were even in the Grace Church, sitting and listening, but did
not know Christ, praise God He gave you ears to hear and eyes
to see. This is the one that gets me. This is what gets me,
because it pleased Him to do so. Isn't that wonderful? For
both cases. Oh my! We have much to be thankful
for, don't we? Much to be thankful for. We don't
get what we deserve, because if we got what we deserve, we'd
be going to hell. But we don't get what we deserve.
God's given us mercy and grace. Oh, and then again, we should
thank God and praise God when we think of what it costs to
purchase our eternal souls. The precious, precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of the sinless, spotless
sacrifice. Oh, what a cost. What a cost.
And we should praise God when we think of the wonderful truths
of the gospel which we have in Christ, which are proclaimed,
the forgiveness of all our sins, all of them gone, as far as the
East is from the West. So far gone that God says, I
remember your sins no more. That's good news for sinners,
isn't it? That's good news. I remember my sins, and sometimes
in the middle of the night, something will come up that I did years
ago. You ever had that happen? Sister, you nodding, yeah? It's
happened. It's years ago, something come up, and we think, oh my
gosh, Lord. And then that peace comes. The
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Oh, thank you,
Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank
you, thank you, Lord. Oh, and then we should praise
God for our adoption by God and for the justification that we
have before God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
should praise God when we think that we're sanctified in Christ.
We're made holy in Christ. And then Christ has robed us
in His royal righteousness, beloved. The royal righteousness of Christ.
He's robed us in that. Taken off our sinful garments,
our dirty garments, and robed us in the wedding garment of
the Lamb. Oh, now did we even know about
that before we were saved? No, we didn't have a clue, did
we? And now we rejoice in it. Now we rejoice. We have much
to be thankful for, don't we? Much to be thankful. Oh, we should
praise God and give Him thanks for His infinite goodness, which
we can never measure. His infinite goodness, which
is being shown us. It's been displayed to us, hasn't
it? We who are objects of His grace. He's displayed His infinite
goodness and He's displayed His infinite mercy to us and His
infinite grace. He's displayed that to us in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we should praise God for
His countless deliverances of our souls from our enemies and
His enemies. Now, I look back on my life,
some of us have talked about looking back on our life and
going, wow, look what the Lord did. But there's countless times
when we didn't even see it. When he's delivered us from things
that we didn't even know. Delivered us from ourselves,
too. Delivered us from things of the world. Delivered us from
Satan. Because we have three enemies, don't we? The world,
the flesh, and the devil. And the middle one's the toughest
one for us, isn't it? The flesh. That's my biggest
enemy, I'll tell you that, is the flesh. That's a constant
battle. And even still he's delivering
me from my flesh, from my sins. My oh my. But praise be to God. Our souls, we who are God's people,
our souls have been delivered. We've been delivered. Elohim
is at hand to answer and to do wonders look it says for thy
name is near thy wondrous works declare It says there in verse
1. He's near beloved. He's not far off You know them
gods of wood and stone that they're gods of people's imaginations
there They're not even real our God is real and he is near he's
real and he's near he's close. He's ever with us Sometimes we
feel like we're alone. Don't we we're not alone beloved
Elohim is ever with us. Each one of his sheep. I'm not
just talking about us as a group, as a congregation, because he's
with every single one of his sheep. Oh, that's wonderful.
That's absolutely wonderful. The Lord is what? My shepherd.
David didn't say the Lord's just the elect shepherds, did he?
Which we know he is. He said the Lord is my shepherd.
He leadeth me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He's near. He's near to us. He's not far
away. He's not a God of wood and stone. He's the living true God. We
don't serve a hidden God. We don't serve a God who sleeps. He never sleeps. He never slumbers.
And so no wonder we read in our text here that Elohim is near
and close. It says, for that thy name is
near, thy wondrous works declare. He's close in times of joy. He's
close in times of sorrow. He's close during good health.
He's close during bad health. He's ever near his people. every single one of his sheep
at the same time. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible,
isn't it? God is ever with me at the same
time he's with you, ever with us, ever near. My oh my, glory
be to our Lord, whose perpetual deeds of grace and majesty are
sure tokens of his being with his people. Just his manifestations
of his mercy and grace to us, as the old-timers said, are sure
tokens. sure tokens of his being with his people always and ever.
He's promised us he'd be with us to the end of the world and
then we'll be with him forever. That's amazing. God's presence
with his people is here declared and declared that he's in our
midst by his wondrous works and marvelous works. And God's providence
is always bringing wonders to pass which evidence his continuous
presence with us. He's evidence to us as his body
that he's ever with us, hasn't he? that he has not left us nor
forsaken us and he never will beloved and that's wonderful
he's ever with his people he watches over us and he cares
for us and he ever will be let's read verses 2 to 5 now when I
shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly The earth
and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the
pillars of it, Selah. I say unto the fools, deal not
foolishly unto the wicked. Lift not up your horn on high.
Speak not with a stiff neck. We see here that God reminds
the psalmist, after he went through all those trials and tribulations,
after he's been through the soup, God reminds him about his great
power and his great strength. He says here, when I shall receive
the congregation, I will judge uprightly. This is the voice
of God, who will, when the proper time has come, and it's always
in His timing, and we know His timing is not ours, because we're
always wondering, Lord, when are you going to take care of
this situation? Right? Being honest, but His timing
is not our timing. Sometimes it's before, sometimes
it's a little after, sometimes it's a long time after. Some
prayers he answers right away, but all in his time, all in his
time. So God reminds us almost about
his great power and strength. And he reminds us that when the
proper time has come, he will mount his judgment seat and avenge
the cause of his people. He will do that. Vengeance is
mine, sayeth the Lord. I will repay. It's not for us
to go and seek vengeance. Not at all. That's why you've
heard me say we need to be quick to forgive. We need to be quick
to let things go because the Lord take care of things. That's
His doing. That's not in our hands. We just
leave it in His hands. Here take up and avenge the cause
of His people which is the church. the ecclesia, not the building,
but the people, the ecclesia in his congregation. And he'll
judge righteously, won't he? He'll judge righteously. So take
heart in this wonderful verse here before us, beloved, in verse
2. No matter what we go through in this life, God's with us.
No matter what we go through in this life, God has set a time
when by his grace, great mercy, and his great grace, he will
deliver us. And he does. And he has, hasn't
he? Time and time and time again. And it was always at His set
time. So we can take heart here. He
delivers us not in our power, because we have no power to deliver
ourselves. But He continually manifests
that He is Elohim, the Mighty One, the One with all power.
And He's the One who delivers us. He's the One who does it.
And He's the One who we continually trust in, isn't it? He's the
One we want to hear. We come here each week wanting
to hear about Him. And about the wondrous things
that He's done for us. And you know that Elohim is Christ.
And Elohim is God the Father. And Elohim is the Holy Spirit.
The three are one and they are Elohim. Oh my. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. Elohim, it's plural in the Hebrew.
Elohim created the heaven and the earth by His almighty power.
So remember that He will deliver us from whatever we go through
in His set time by His almighty hand. He will do it for His people.
Battles of Lords. I constantly remind myself of
that. The Battles of Lords is not my battle. It's the Lord's
battle. It's His battle. We just march behind His banner,
don't we? Brother Tom, you know what it's
like to be a soldier. You're being led by that captain or
by that general. You follow them. Well, Christ
is the commander-in-chief. He's the captain of the Lord's
host in Joshua 5 with a sword in his hand, ready to go. And
we just marched behind him, beloved. It's his battle. He's never met
a foe who he hasn't put under his foot. No one's a match for
Elohim. And in that case, praise God,
he showed us mercy. Oh, what a great God we have.
Elohim himself determines the period of intervention. And when
that arrives, swift are his blows and sure are his deliverances.
He takes care of the situation right away. And it leaves you
with no doubt that he took care of the situation. Because how
swiftly he moves. And he delivers his people. And
God doesn't send anyone to do his bidding. He doesn't send
anyone to do his bidding when he delivers his people. He does
it himself. He does it himself, beloved.
He sits himself upon the throne. He set that set time to deliver
His people and He does it and it's incredible. We just stand
back in awe, don't we? We just stand back in awe. Our
God who governs the world by His sovereign almighty power
and by His wisdom has appointed a boundary to all things. Do
you know the ocean can only go as far as He allows it? Scripture
says there's a boundary set that that ocean can't pass. I've seen
both oceans. I've seen the Atlantic and the
Pacific, and I'll tell you what, they're incredible. And to know
now as a believer that God has set a boundary where they cannot
pass, my, those huge oceans take anything and swallow it up. God
has set a boundary you cannot pass. Isn't that incredible?
That's a God who saves us. That's a God who delivers us,
beloved. It's incredible. He set a boundary to all things.
And he's also fixed a time and an hour for his judgment, hasn't
he? Now men mock that, and they say, oh, when's the Lord coming
back? Y'all tell us, oh, he's coming
back. Oh, he's coming back. Yeah, he is. And he has set a
time. And there will not be a second
more. And he will not come a second early. And he will not come a
second late. He will come at that exact set time. And he will. Sure as that sun rises in the
morning and sets at night, he will. It's just not the set time
yet. And no man knows the hour or the day of that set time.
No need for us to speculate. A lot of people like to speculate
about that stuff. There ain't no reason to speculate.
Just know that he's coming back. And it'll be in his time. And
it'll be sure time. It'll be a set time. And no man
can hinder that time. When He reveals His great judgments,
no man is able to hinder that. No man is able to stop God from
delivering His people. No one. They stand powerless
before Him. That's our God beloved, Elohim,
the Mighty One. That's the One who saved us.
That's the One who keeps us. Hallelujah. That's all we can
say. Praise your mighty name, Lord. Praise your mighty name.
And our God governs this world by his sovereign almighty power
and by his wisdom and by his grace. Look at verse 3. It says,
the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear
up the pillars of its sila. Note the earth and all the inhabitants
are established. Beloved of God, the earth and
all the inhabitants of the earth depend upon our great God. They
depend on Elohim. Whether they believe it or not,
they all depend upon him. If he were to remove his almighty
power, everything would just dissolve, wouldn't it? I was
talking to Vicki, and I said, you know, think of that when,
and I think I might have mentioned this in a couple sermons back,
but think of that when those men were, those soldiers were
around the Lord. He could have just said in a
word, be gone. He could have. He's God. He's
Elohim. He's the one, he's the very one
who holds them all together. Oh my. And note here again that
the earth and its heavens are established. The Hebrew word
here for dissolve in the text here is a verb meaning to dissolve,
to melt away, to faint, to become weak, to become disheartened.
It's used in a powerful metaphor to describe the weakening and
fearful hearts of the people of Canaan. The same word is used.
Remember when the Israelites came and their hearts melted?
It's the same word. They melted in fear. It also
speaks of the weakening and falling away of warriors in battle, where
a warrior will get fatigued if they're in a prolonged battle.
They'll get fatigued, and after they just want to sit down and
rest, or lay down and rest. They're so fatigued from the
battle. Same kind of word. It refers to the shattering and
termination of a nation as well. In Amos, turn if you would to
Amos chapter 9. I know I haven't had us turn very much today,
but I want to stay right in this psalm today. But here in Amos
chapter 9, it refers also to a shattering and termination
of a nation or persons before God's actions. As we see the
word melt used in this text here. Amos chapter 9, verses 5 and
6. And the Lord God of hosts is he that touches the land,
and it shall melt. Same word there. Same word. It
shall melt. And all that dwell in there shall
mourn, and it shall surely rise up wholly like a flood, and shall
be drowned by as the flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth
his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the
earth. For he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth
them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord, which is Jehovah,
is his name. But see that there, that word
melt in verse 5, same Hebrew word, is used and dissolved over
in our text. And beloved of God, when anarchy
is abroad and tyrants are in power, everything seems like
everything is becoming undone. Rebellion threatens all. Remember
this, that the Lord upholds and sustains the world, even during
those times. Even right now with the things
we see going on in our country here, the Lord still upholds
He's still upholding the pillars of the earth, beloved. He hasn't
abdicated his throne. He's still there. Oh, the flesh,
the flesh, the flesh. We cry again with Peter, don't
we? Lord, help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Help me just
to trust you more, Lord. Help me just to rest in you more.
How can I sink with such a prop as my eternal God, who bears
the earth's huge pillars up and spreads the heavens abroad? God
proclaims in this verse that he bears the pillars of the earth.
Therefore, they must stand. They must stand because Elohim
upholds them. When God tells us in this word
he's going to keep us, that's Elohim telling us he's going
to keep us. The very one who upholds the pillars of the earth.
So think of how much comfort this can bring we who are the
people of God. If God holds the pillars of the
earth, which he does, then why should we worry or fret? Because
the same one who holds the pillars of the earth is the same one
who keeps us. Lord, help my unbelief. Help me, Lord. And then Selah.
Just pause and think. Just pause and think that the
one who keeps us, and he's a believer, the one who keeps me, we can
bring it home, can't we? The one who keeps me, put your name in there,
the one who keeps me is the one who upholds the pillars of the
earth. Oh, my. We could just sit there for years,
couldn't we? Oh, it's wonderful. But sila, pause and think about
it. Think about that this week. Meditate upon that this week.
Chew that over in your mind this week, that the one who keeps
us, the one who saved us, is the very one who holds the pillars
of the earth. Let's read verses four and five now. It said, I
said unto the fools, deal not foolishly unto the wicked, lift
not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck. We see
here in these two verses that the Lord bids the boasters to
not boast and commands the mad oppressors to stay their foolishness.
It's madness to fight against the Lord. It really is. It's
utter madness. I said unto the fools, deal not
foolishly, and to the wicked, lift not up the horn. How calm
and how quiet are his words, yet how divine the rebuke we
see here. If the wicked were not mad with
sin, they would even now hear in their conscience a still,
small voice bidding them cease from their evil and forbear their
pride. You see, when we were dead in trespasses and sins,
our conscience was seared, just like the unsaved world's is.
Scripture says that, that their conscience is seared. But the
one thing that the blood of Christ does, though, is it does silence
the screaming conscience, doesn't it? Because conscience screams,
you're guilty, you're guilty, you're guilty, you're guilty,
you're guilty. And the blood of Christ silences that, doesn't
it? That's wonderful. Now we know what sin is. Now
we know who we sinned against. Now we know why Christ had to
go to the cross, because of my sin. And if you're a believer,
because of your sin. Praise be to God for the blood
of Christ. Now the horn here, it says, unto the wicked, lift
not up thy horn. Again, our God bids the ungodly, the wicked,
to stay their holiness. Stop it. Just stop it. The horn
was an emblem of boastful power. And only the foolish, like wild
and savage beasts, will lift it high. You know, man would
try to assail heaven alone if they could. If they could get
to God and tear him off the throne, they would do it. Man would do
it. They can't, though. He's so high above us, and we're
just like animated dust to him. But I'll tell you what, man is
so proud and so self-righteous, and I know. We still have pride
in us, don't we? Even after we're saved, we still.
We still struggle with sin, even after we're saved. And we don't
just say, look at those sinners, because we were there. And we
ask God to have mercy on them, don't we? See, religion says,
oh, look at all those sinners. They're so evil. And the person
who's been saved by the grace of God says, oh, God, have mercy
on me. And then we say, God, you've
had mercy on me. Oh, you've had such mercy on me. Please have
mercy on others. Please have mercy on others.
We see our great God here in dignified majesty. He rebukes
the glories of the wicked who beyond measure exalt themselves
in the day of their imaginary power. They really don't have
any power, but they think they do. Remember who's speaking here.
It's Elohim, the strong and the mighty one. He says, lift not
up your horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck,
in verse 5. For their abounding pride, there's a double rebuke
here. So we saw a rebuke in verse 4. Now we see another rebuke
in verse 5. A double rebuke. A word from
God soon abases the lofty, doesn't it? Oh, that proud man would
obey the word here given to him. Speak not with a stiff neck.
Again, pride before God is madness. It's madness. My, oh, my. Be
hushed, you vainglorious one, you prideful praetor, you boastful
one, or the vengeance of God shall silence thee to thine eternal
confusion and damnation. Spurgeon said that a long time
ago. Let's read verses 6 now to 8. For promotion cometh neither
from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is
the judge. He put it down one and set it
up another. For in the hand of the Lord, so we see Elohim in
verse 7, and we see Jehovah in verse 8. For in the hand of Jehovah
there is a cup, and the wine is red. It is full of mixture,
and he pours out the same. But the dregs thereof, all the
wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them. Beloved
of God, the truth of the scripture that God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that He redeemed His people with
His own precious, precious blood. And the fact that we are clothed
in His spotless righteousness, all by the will of God, brings
forth that promotion comes from above. It comes from above. It's
God who exalts those who are low. And He abases the prideful,
doesn't He? It's God who promotes us. Promotion,
it says, cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south. Brother Norm Wells used to say that when we
die, we receive our promotion. We're promoted to glory. I like
that. And God promotes men and women.
We don't promote ourselves. God's preachers are called by
God and given a message to preach and proclaim. We don't promote
ourselves. We don't give ourselves titles.
We don't do that. It's God who makes us who we
are. And it's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. We
don't promote ourselves to a position or a title. And all of God's
people, again, are promoted one day. You'll be promoted one day.
You'll leave this earth, and you'll be in the presence of
the Lord. And so will I. We'll be promoted, beloved. It's
wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Oh, and God delivers his people.
Again, some will mock and say, where's the Lord? Why hasn't
he come yet? Again, the sun rises and the sun sets, and God has
appointed a time for judgment. He's appointed time for the judgment
of this world. All that we see will pass away.
This is all temporal here. Everything we see, including
each other, is just temporal. Mark my words, the unseen Lord
is real. He's real. He is at work behind
and within the cloud, working all things out according to His
will and according to His purpose. Look at verse 7. and eight but
God is the judge Elohim is the judge he put it down one and
set it up another for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
and the wine is red it is full of mixture and he poured out
the same but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall
wring them out and drink them what a chilling verse but first
before we get to that verse look at verse 7 here Remember earlier
I said Christ was Elohim? It says there, but God is the
judge, right? Turn if you would to John chapter 5. It says in
our text there, but God is the judge. Elohim is the judge. He
put it down one and set it up another. Elohim, God, is our
Savior. Elohim, God, is our Redeemer. Elohim, God, died as our substitute
on Calvary's cross. And we will see it right here.
It's wonderful. I was studying this up. As soon
as I saw that, but God is the judge, it came up to my mind
when it's over here in John chapter 5. It says, but God is the judge. Elohim is the judge. Okay, look
in John 5, 21 to 23. For the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. For the Father, what, judges no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son." Well, who's the judge over there in
Psalm 75, 7? It's Elohim. Christ is God in
the flesh. Isn't that amazing? There's a
text, if anybody ever doubts, you can take them right to, right
there. Right there. For the Father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not
the Son honors not the Father which has sent him. Oh, my. Let's
go back to our text in Psalm 75, verse 7. It says, but God
is the judge. He put it down one, and he setteth
up another. Now, this speaks of how it's
God who's made us to differ. It's God who's made us to differ,
beloved, one from another. It's God who has shown us mercy.
It's God who chose us to be vessels of mercy rather than vessels
of dishonor. It's all God. He's the one who's
made us different. Why? Because it pleased him to
do so. Isn't that wonderful? That's wonderful news, isn't
it? And because God did the picking and the choosing, we're out of
the equation, right? So it says he's made one to honor
and one to dishonor. So he's got two of them right
there. He says, that's a vessel of honor, and that's a vessel
of dishonor. My, that brings it home even
more, doesn't it? The mercy and the grace of our
great God. Again, it says he put it down
one and set it up another. Oh, boy. Empires rise and fall. It has been Assyria yields to
Babylon. Babylon yields to the Medes and
the Persians. The Greek Empire was here, blossomed,
flourished, and then the Roman Empire was raised up, and then
it was gone. My oh my. God alone is all-powerful. Kings are but puppets in his
hands. Kings, presidents, prime ministers, world leaders, judges,
bring it all the way down to people in the municipalities
and all, they're just puppets in his hands. He does whatever
he pleases. He's in control of all things. Scripture declares
even the very hairs of our head are numbered. That's how intricate
he is with his creation. Not even a sparrow falls to the
ground. You ever see a bird laying on the ground dead, just know
that that sparrow fell there and the father saw it fall and
he had appointed that it would fall at that exact place. It's
incredible. God alone is all-powerful. We
see here in verse 8 though, let's look at verse 8, here we see
the punishment of the wicked. It's prepared, it's set. You
know it's a set time. It's a set time when the Lord
will come back and the punishment of the wicked is a set and sure
thing to happen. Now this is a sobering verse.
I was talking to Brother Marcus last night and I said, I said
I'm so joyful for the main part of the message and I said but
we're going to hit a verse that's very sobering, very sobering. We see in verse 8 that the punishment
of the wicked is prepared. God himself holds it in readiness. He holds it in readiness. He
has collected the world's most dread. In the chalice of his
wrath, he holds it. One old-timer said that. One
old preacher, I like reading the old preachers, and he said,
that chalice is the chalice of his wrath. Look at verse 8. For
in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red.
It is full of mixture, and he poureth out the same. But the
dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth, shall wring them
out and drink them. The wicked scoffed at his feast
of love, and we were among them, weren't we? The wicked scoffed
at his feast of love, but we see here they'll be dragged to
the table of justice, and they're made to drink their due desserts.
And the wine is red, the scripture says. The retribution is terrible.
It's terrible. Blood for blood, foaming vengeance
for foaming malice. And the very color of divine
wrath is terrible, is red. What must the taste be? And it's
a full mixture. Spices of righteous anger, justice
demanding satisfaction. The wicked shall be rewarded
for their wickedness against God's people. And they shall
be rewarded for their blasphemies against God. And they will be
rewarded for their persecutions of God's people. And behold,
the divine wrath of God is said to be poured out into their mouths. 10,000 woes are burning in the
depths of that fiery cup, beloved, which is filled to the brim with
righteous anger. And this cup, we see, cannot
be refused. People say, I don't believe in
God. Well, you're going to meet him one day. And I pray to God
that that he saves you before you meet him. As we see here,
what's going to happen to the wicked? We know their end. We
know their end. And this cup cannot be refused.
And God himself pours it out for them and into them. Vain
are their cries. They once blasphemed his name,
but in our text we see the drugs thereof, all the wicked of the
earth shall wring out and drink them. Very sobering verse, isn't
it? Very sobering verse. And they're drinking this cup
forever, beloved. Oh, the anguish and the heartbreak of the day
of wrath. And mark it well, it is for all the wicked, all for
the ungodly, the dregs of the dregs, bitter for bitter, wrath
for the errors of wrath. Just as the Word of God proclaims,
it says in Psalm 73, turn over there a couple of Psalms if you
would. Psalm 73, look at this, what David penned here. Oh my,
and we see it in our verse there in verse 8. Psalm 73 verses 17
to 19, Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood
their end. We never understood the end of
the wicked until we look into the Word of God and God gives
us eyes to see and ears to hear. We know their end. Surely thou
didst set them in slippery places. Well they're full of pride now,
but they're on slippery ground. Thou castest them down into destruction. How they are bought into desolation,
as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors. Now I
can't leave us there. I can't leave us there. So I'd
like to say this. Oh, happy are they who drink
the cup of godly sorrow. Rejoice, you who are the beloved
of God. Rejoice that you drink at the cup of salvation. And
it's God who's given us that cup, isn't it? It's God who's
made us to drink that cup because we were unwilling. And now we're
made willing in the day of His power. Praise His mighty name.
Jesus Christ our Lord, once despised on this earth, those who despise
Him on this earth will envy the righteous. Will envy the righteous. The Lord shall judge the people.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness. And that's
the righteousness of Christ. That's not our righteousness.
And according to my integrity, that is, is in me. O let the
wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the
just for the righteous. For the righteous God trieth
the hearts and reigns. My defense is God. He's our defense.
Elohim is my defense. He's our defense, isn't he? The
one who holds the earth, who holds the pillars of this earth,
is my defense. Praise His mighty name. It says,
My defense is God who saved the upright in heart. And the only
way it could set of us to be upright in heart is to be clothed
in the perfect spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. To
be saved by His grace. To be washed from all our sins
by His precious, precious blood. Oh, what a great God we have.
Let's close with verses 9 and 10. but I will declare forever,
Psalm 75, 9 and 10, but I will declare forever, I will sing
praises to the Elohim of Jacob, the God of Jacob. All the horns
of the wicked also will I cut off, but the horns of the righteous
shall be exalted. Our great God, again Elohim,
in this Psalm assures us of our stability during the storms of
life. We will not face that wrath that's spoken of in verse eight,
because Christ Jesus our Lord bore God's wrath us in our place
as our substitute is that song sister Kathy sang praise God
he included me and the Saint will forever declare the glory
of Elohim forever here on this earth we will praise his name
and then in eternity we'll praise his name forever won't we forever
the believer in Christ says I will sing praises to the God of Jacob
our great covenant God who delivered Jacob from a thousand afflictions
and and has delivered we who are his people from thousands
of afflictions. Therefore our souls will magnify
his name, will praise his name. Power belongs to Jehovah. Power
belongs to Elohim, the strong and the mighty one. And our great
God will abase the wicked and he will exalt, he will exalt
the poor in spirit. And this wonderful psalm may
be sung in times of great depression. It may be sung in times of great
joy. It may be sung after the Lord has delivered us from another
trial that we go through in this world. But let us ever be thankful
to our great God. Let us ever be thankful to Elohim
who has delivered us from all our sins and purchased us with
his own precious blood. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And salvation is only in him and through him. Praise
his mighty name.