Psalm 118 through the bible

Let us seek the Lord's help as we turn again to his word this morning recorded for us in Psalm 118, the 118th Psalm. And we turn especially to the words of verse 23 through to 25. Psalm 118, verse 23. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. especially focusing to start with today on those words in verse 23. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.

When I entered the chapel first thing this morning, the first thing I heard was dates being banded around, 1912 and 1952, various dates. Well, I want to begin by taking you back to a date much earlier than that, a date 468 years ago, to be precise. It is not a warm summer's morning like today, but a cold, dank autumn morning. And the location I take you to is Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. The year is 1558.

A young lady is walking through the grounds of that house. She has lived in fear for five or six years. fearing the wrath and vengeance of her wicked half-sister, Mary. And every fresh visitor to that house might bring bad tidings to the young Princess Elizabeth.

Well, not so much a lesson in history, but we have here a tremendous scene. Here she is. And all of a sudden, She sees two armed riders galloping up the hill towards her. And perhaps she thinks the worst. But here they've come to arrest her. They're armed to the teeth as they gallop up the hill. But there's something different, something rather strange. Because they counter to a halt. They tether their horses. They dismount. But they're still walking towards her. still making their way steadily towards her, but their step is slowing down and their heads are bowed. What can this mean? What can this mean? They walk up to her and instead of arresting her, they fall upon their knees and she hears the words, Majesty.

Elizabeth is now Queen of England. and reportedly her first words are those words I've just given out. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes. Five and a half years of terror are now at an end and the Lord's deliverance has been experienced in this national way, in this amazing and personal way for her as we look at this text here this morning. So friends, you can see it's got really quite a history, this great scripture. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes.

Psalm 118. I want us if we may first of all as we come to God's word here this morning to take as it were a view of the psalm as a whole to get a feel of it and its message to us here and its poignancy as it is opened up before us here this morning. Psalm 118.

I want us first of all to take a look at its place in Israel's history, its setting in the history of the nation. And then secondly, to take a look at its Palm Sunday performance because really it's a pre-enactment of what's going to happen on that amazing day when the Lord rides into Jerusalem.

And then thirdly, to take a look at its Passover conclusion. And I'll explain that more when we get that far. But the Passover, of course, observed a few days after that Palm Sunday, that tremendous occasion in the upper room where the Lord meets with his disciples and breaks bread and drinks wine with them. and it's got a Passover conclusion because Psalm 118 was the very last thing the Lord sang before he entered the darkness of Gethsemane. So then basically that's taking a look then at the psalm as it's set before us here. First of all it's place, it's place in Israel's history. Then it's Palm Sunday performance. and then thirdly its Passover conclusion.

We come to our text in a bit and coming to our text first of all you'll see there's a realisation and the realisation is this, is that the Lord This is the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing. And we're going to hopefully come to that point before we've done this morning, take a look to see what the Lord has done. And that's all that matters at the end of the day is what the Lord himself does. And then to see the reflection upon that, the reflection is there. It is marvellous in our eyes. But first of all this, its place in Israel's history.

Have you noticed the way the psalm begins and the way the psalm ends? It begins and ends in exactly the same way. It begins with this, with these words, oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. It ends in the same way, oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. You know if you study the history of Israel you can see how these words reoccur at crucial, at vital points in the nation's experience. And you can see how each and every time it is confirmed that the Lord, truly, truly the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever.

We have to start off with David. With King David, the Ark is returning to its resting place. After all those years of exile, the Lord is coming home to his people in a remarkable way. And David's so full of it, he's so full of the fact that the Lord himself has returned with power in the presence of his people.

That's all that matters at the end of the day. At Zion's its name, the Lord is there. It shines with everlasting light. And that's the first occurrence of these words. And David danced before the Lord, you remember, on that occasion. He was so full of the fact that the Lord was coming home in this special way to his people. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. The next time we hear these words, here's Solomon, and the temple is being dedicated. The work is finished, and everything is in its place. Everything has been done. The priests and the ministers are there, ready to serve. All the people are gathered together. The work is complete.

And yet, nothing is happening. You see we can do so much can't we? And yet without the Lord doing it then it's all pointless. Everything's in place though according to the Lord's instructions. How long this work has been in preparation? And yet they're waiting for the Lord to come. At last the Lord comes with great power, with such power that the priest cannot even stand to minister because the power and presence of the Lord is so mighty in their midst. You hear those words. Praise the Lord for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. That's not the end.

You come a bit further on in Israel's history. You come on to a very dark day. A very dark day in their experience. Here's poor Jeremiah. And, well, reference was made, I think, to Jeremiah in his prison cell in prayer this morning before he came in to the chapel. He's below zero, and he's so low in spirit. He's in this prison. He's in this dungeon. And Jerusalem is in a state of ruin. It's in a state of collapse around his ears. Everything seems to be dark.

But in that place, the Lord comes to him. The Lord speaks to him. Call unto me, Jeremiah, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Amazing, isn't it? The Lord speaks in that darkness. And the word is this, call unto me. Keep on calling, Jeremiah. Keep on. Don't give up. Oh how easily we tire and fail and get dispirited. But the Lord says, keep on Jeremiah. Everything seems to be so hopeless and dark, but no, keep on calling.

And the Lord then through that wonderful 33rd chapter of Jeremiah begins to unfold all the wonderful things that are going to happen eventually. that this city, which you think is finished, that there's no hope for this city anymore, there's no hope for this people anymore, but in this place, the Lord says, in this place, you'll hear the sound of children in the streets again, playing innocently and happily. You'll hear the sound of the bride and the bridegroom. It will be a place of life and love once more.

Certainly didn't look like that to Jeremiah there. But that's what's going to happen, says the Lord. And you'll hear the voice of those, wait for it, the voice of those who shall say, praise the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Well, Jeremiah never lived to see that, but you know, many years later.

I want to take you to another scene. Yes, it's still, it's Jerusalem again. But the remnant of God's people have returned from Babylon. Miraculously they've been delivered from their captors and here they are once again in their own land according to God's promise. Those extraordinary scenes at the end of Ezra chapter 3 that are recounted to us in the word of God. God's people have come home again. And guess what happens?

Well, you see, it's not much to show for it because Jerusalem has been in ruins for 70 years. It's a complete mess. You know, it's just ruins. They managed to clear the space in the center of the city. They've managed to rear an altar and they've made a start, yes they've made a start on rebuilding the temple but really it's all rather a bit pathetic and it's not very impressive at all.

But friends there's an extraordinary scene there. In fact as all the people gather together to worship, the Lord has brought them home again in a remarkable way. The Lord's done it. The Lord opened a way where there seemed to be no way at all. And here they are, here they are back home again.

And what do we see? Well, we see an assorted crowd of people. You see on the one hand there are some old people. not many old people but quite a few older people who could just about remember how wonderful Solomon's temple was before it was destroyed. And they look at it now and it's still a pathetic mess.

And because of that, they're so overwhelmed at the thought of that, that people are crying. Okay? I'm not making this up. People are crying. And then not just a few silent tears, you know, trickling down their cheeks, but they're howling. They're howling. You might as well make it a dreadful racket, you might think.

But there's others there, younger people, children, teenagers. And it's all marvellous, it's a wonderful excitement to them. They've never known anything like it. And they're full of joy. And they're laughing, they're laughing. So you've got one half of the people crying, and the other half are laughing. And you might think, what a dreadful row this is going to be. But it wasn't, it wasn't. That's the amazing thing.

Ezra tells us this, we're told that in his book, the end of Ezra chapter 3. To find those words just to show you I'm not making all this up and I'm not dramatizing it. Ezra chapter 3, verse 12. but many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice and many shouted for joy so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people for the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off. What the sacred writer is saying is this, is that the sound that was coming from the congregation was extraordinary.

It wasn't a cacophony at all. It was an amazing, almost indescribable sound that was heard miles away. And what did it mean? It meant life. It meant that God's people were alive, again, spiritually alive. That's the evidence of life, isn't it? That you hear a baby crying, that you hear the sound. It's evidence of life. And that was what was so remarkable about that scene. And guess what the words were. It's all there in that chapter. Praise the Lord for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. What the Lord said to Jeremiah would at last come true. And God's people were home again. And the Lord was faithful to them. So you see something of the history of these words. As we come to this psalm here this morning.

You can see the background to it. And that's the first thing that we notice then, the place in history and the exceeding joy that encloses the psalm. Now secondly, what about its Palm Sunday performance? A number of things to notice about it. It's a pre-enactment of what is played out in reality on that tremendous day that saw the Lord enter his holy city. It's really remarkable to see how the whole psalm is a demonstration of that. We see a number of things there. First of all, this is a triumphant song of praise. It's a song of overcoming, of triumph, of victory over all enemies. It's certainly that. It's also processional. It's a processional psalm.

That is to say there's a progress from point A to point B. And it's significant. You know, sometimes you see a pageant, don't you? There's a procession, there's a special celebration, a special day, and there's a crowd that are marching from one point to another. They're showing something significant and important. This procession of Israel in ancient times, you know, in their ancient worship, there were processions, singing all the way. and full of significance as well, because it would have a presentor.

You know, sometimes if you listen to, or if you witness, you know, good music, whatever form it takes, you know, there are lead singers. Even on a secular level, you have, for example, in opera, you have soloists. And their voice stands out from the others. that they're lead singers.

Yes, you hear the chorus. You hear everybody joining in. But the thing is this, is that they're led by a presenter. Somebody is actually leading the song. And that's what you've got in this psalm. Because look at the number of times the word I appears through the narrative of the psalm. There is somebody who's leading this procession. Somebody who is actually leading the song.

And as it unfolds, as the experience unfolds, he's narrating this unfolding experience that he's passing through, and everybody else joins in. And if you go to that, what's happening on Palm Sunday, Jesus is leading, isn't he, that procession. He is the one. He is the one who is leading.

It is primarily his experience. But all of his faithful followers are caught up into it as they follow him, as they accompany him. That's the genius of this psalm. It's his psalm. It's his experience. It's his pathway and full of significance that is.

You know there's a hymn by Joseph Hart which is not often sung, it's a hymn about heaven but there's a particular one line in that hymn that stands out and it's this, and Jesus leads the song. What a wonderful thing to be able to hear that, to hear his voice and he leads the song. I think these were the some of the last words that Paul's maternal grandfather uttered when he was dying. Jesus leads the song.

What a witness to be able to hear the Lord leading the song. There's a collective experience here. Primarily, it's his experience. You see, as we can see, as the word opens up, it's his pathway. It's his pathway. He's singing out his own personal experience, step by step. And his people are caught up into it.

You know, there was so much that people didn't understand what was going on on that Palm Sunday. There was so much they still had to learn about what their dear Lord and leader was going to go through. But nevertheless, the adulation, the support was really quite genuine, if I may say that, because you've got to distinguish between the two crowds in Jerusalem. There were those who'd followed the Lord all the way from Galilee, And these were the people that strewed the way with the palm branches and welcomed him and embraced him. They weren't the Jerusalem renter mob that make their appearance later on. We know that in the hour of his distress, all failed him. We know that. But the reception was really quite genuine.

Hosanna! You see that's in the psalm here. Hosanna. That's the great watchword through the psalm. Because that's what he's come to do. He's come to save. Hosanna. Which means of course, save now. Now is the time to save. Not tomorrow, not next week, but now. Now is the time. Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

So there's this great crowd, here's the Lord riding in lowly pomp into his city, you know, that's obvious, we see that, but then here are the people who come with him and who, as it were, receive him and support him on that way into his city. So then this is what we see. It's Passover conclusion. It's Passover conclusion. Going to move several days forward now to the upper room. And here we have the Passover itself.

You know, the Passover meal was a very serious reflection upon Israel's great deliverance to start with. You've got to go back to the time of the exodus. Again, it was a time when the people were absolutely helpless and in need of God's deliverance. They couldn't deliver themselves from the Egyptian bondage.

So the Passover meal, as it were, looks back to that when the lamb, of course, according to the instructions, according to the orders is slain. and they see it embodies of course their deliverance from the Lord but also their coming together as a people under the Lord's care.

And we It was a serious affair. And yet also it was a very intimate affair. It was a family meal. It was a meal that brought people together. But there were certain observances throughout that meal. And there were certain hymns that were always sung at that meal.

And the last hymn to be sung was this Psalm 118. And we can safely say this, friends, that it was virtually, from all that we could tell, it was the very last item of praise that Jesus sang before he went into the darkness. And it's all the more significant on that account.

What was before him? You see, he would go from that upper room, and very shortly he would be in the most dreadful darkness imaginable. It would be Gethsemane to start with. Though he was so well informed, he knew that this was what lay before him. He'd not yet experienced this. And so he goes into the garden.

And the horror, the horror of what lay before him came upon him. And the sense that he was now bereft of any comfort. The hymn writer tells us, doesn't he, see him prostrate in the garden. On the ground your maker lies. Overwhelmed, overwhelmed by what lay before him. And every comfort being withdrawn. Well, you can see how he keeps repeating it three times. Father, if it be possible, let this cut pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.

But the thing is this, is that the darkness is before him. But the wonderful thing about Psalm 118 is this, is that he's looking beyond the darkness. The Psalm anticipates the time beyond the darkness. He's looking forward to that day when he will rise again from the dead. That glorious resurrection morning. This is the day which the Lord hath made. He's looking at that day.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the dark days that are immediately in front of him, he's looking beyond that day. That day which, that glorious day which is to come. And there's a lesson for us there before we go any further this morning, because whatever lies before us in terms of darkness or distress, we're to look beyond that. We're to look beyond that. We have a hope beyond that. He's looking at the day which the Lord has made, that special day, which is still to come, that wonderful day. and that's what's set before us here, the day which is to come, which is brought before us here in our view and was brought to him.

And so looking back now we can see the unfolding experience of Psalm 118, we can see what he passed through, but the wonderful fortitude, the wonderful vision, sharpness of vision that he had that unfolding before him was the sovereign work which would be accomplished and nothing would hinder it or overwhelm it at all. So this is the note of triumph in the psalm that we capture as we go through it. So he leads the psalm and he points beyond these things. We read in Hebrews, don't we? who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and despised the shame and is now set down at the right hand of the glory on high, who for the joy that was set before him, he would in the interim know such awful heart-rending bitterness in his soul, the desertion of his father, That is, the sense of the father's love and nearness would be taken away and he would be on his own as the sin-bearer, bearing our sin and his own body upon the tree, completely alone in that. None could hold his hand there or support him there.

But the wonderful thing is this, the joy was still set before him. That was the amazing thing. And that's the wonderful hope that you and I have as well, because beyond this mortal scene with all of its worries, with all of its pains, all its cares and distresses, we can look beyond. By faith we can look beyond. You know, it's amazing, all those centuries ago, Abraham looked beyond, didn't he?

He puts us to shame. You know, the limited revelation that Abraham had, and look at the abundance of revelation that we have and the wonderful promises and comforts that we have. He had so little to go on. But what did Jesus say? Abraham rejoiced and looked to see my day and was glad. He looked beyond. He looked beyond.

And that's something that you and I can do this morning by faith, through the Lord's grace, we can look beyond. I think of those words of Augustus Montague, top lady, he didn't make old bones and he was consumptive in his mid-30s, you know, he died a relatively young man but so sweetly resigned to what he was suffering, amazingly so. And he wrote those rather quaint lines that we sometimes perhaps still sing, when languor and disease invade this trembling house of clay, it is sweet to look beyond our cage and long to fly away, to look beyond.

And that's the hope that believers have. But whatever happens in the meantime, ultimately it doesn't matter. because we're looking forward to a wonderful day to come. And that day truly is wonderful and truly amazing as it's set before us in the word of God. We must hasten on, but it's a tremendous thought, isn't it, what we're to look forward to.

When I first went out to preach, it was many years ago now, over 50 years ago, but I used to, I had virtually an empty diary and I landed up going to a little chapel in this county, in the county of Surrey, you know, quite a number of Sundays. I think the year was 1976 and the little chapel at Bethel, Farnham, long since gone, long since closed now. And even in those days, there was a tiny handful of people there. And there was no church officers. There was no deacons.

So the minister just went into the vestry and waited for the appointed time to come out. But the thing is this, is that there was a little old lady there who always used to toddle into the vestry about, you know, eight or nine minutes before the service to have a word with the minister. It was very sweet, really. So well-intentioned. There was nobody else to do it. She didn't pray or anything like that, but she just shared a few words to encourage the minister.

And I'll never forget this, because the dear old soul, she was already in the early stages of dementia. And so she kept repeating herself. You knew what she was going to say. She said the same things every time. And it was all connected, of course, with her past experience. and things that she'd been through. But she always quoted that hymn of John Newton's.

Nothing know we of the season when the world shall pass away, but we know the saints have reason to expect a glorious day. And it was the way that she said glorious, and it's stuck ever since. But we know the saints have reason to expect a glorious day. And that was what was set before the Lord himself, a glorious day. He could see it coming. He could see that lovely morning, that glorious morning without clouds when he would resume his breath and lead captivity captive. and bring in an incredible joy.

It's all in Psalm 16 as well. You look at the end of Psalm 16. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. These are the words of Christ. David prophesying these words of Christ. He looks beyond these things. So that's the tremendous lesson we have here. But this Psalm, as we look at it as a whole, it's a song of victory. There's been a struggle over the powers of evil as you go through the psalm, but nevertheless it's a psalm of victory. It's a psalm of overcoming. It's a psalm of triumph. The Lord is looking beyond what might easily have been a, you know, lesser sinful mortals would have been utterly overwhelmed at the prospect that lies before them.

Sometimes, you know, we have a a dread of Monday morning, don't we perhaps? What's set before, isn't it? How can I face that? How can I face that? Well friends, the Lord has been there. He's had horrible things to face, far more horrible and terrible than you and I have.

But he looked beyond. He looked beyond. And what a wonderful example he is to us in that. He's left us an example, says Peter, that ye should follow his steps. He's shown us the way. He leads the people all the way through the psalm. They're with him, aren't they? And he shows them the way.

So then, now then, just very briefly before we have to leave the matter this morning. There's a realization at work here in these words. The beginning of verse 23. This is the Lord's doing. And then of course there's a realisation in verse 24 as well. This is the day which the Lord hath made. The realisation is this, is that there's something the Lord has done.

Not what we've done. And of course at the end of the day, left to ourselves, what we've done amounts to absolutely nothing. And we live to prove it, don't we? The vanity of all things. But what the Lord does is permanent. And it is forever what the Lord does. This is the Lord's doing. Yeah, we long and pray for revival, don't we? But it's something the Lord must do. We can't make it happen. You know, we can labour and toil and pray. And all these things are absolutely right that we should do so. But the Lord's got to do it. You know, there's a tremendous example here. You know, there's an amazing young man who lived in the 18th century. In fact, again, he didn't make old bones at all. That's the amazing thing.

In fact, he was only around the 30 years of age mark when he was dying with consumption, of course, like so many in those days. You know, he was already He wasn't a well man anyway, but this man was called David Brainard. You may have heard of him, some of you.

He was a pioneer missionary amongst the Native Americans. And he went out into what was then a complete wilderness. and labored and toiled for months and months and months on end amongst these native people. What a hard, thankless labor it was because some of these tribes, you know, their lifestyle was so alien to anything Western or Christian. How was he going to get through to them?

I mean, these people romanticize about red Indians nowadays, don't they? You know, they give it sort of a glamour. But, you know, there's another side to it. You know, these people worship devils. Think about it for a minute. It was devil worship. How do you get through to people who are so diseased in their consciousness? They're full of foul, evil, depraved practices. You know, where do you start? or David Brainard laboured faithfully.

You may think how he toiled, he was wearing himself to the bone. As I said he wasn't a well man and after many many months he felt he was getting absolutely nowhere with these people, making no impression at all. But then there came a change. especially amongst the menfolk of this particular tribe. You could feel it, he says, almost like a black cloud come down upon them.

They became filled with despair and hopelessness and wrapped with a conviction of their sin. David was at a loss to try and explain, well, what's brought all this about? He says, because all I've been doing is preaching to them about Jesus and his love for sinners. He says, I haven't been preaching, you know, hell or judgment at all.

Where's all this come from? All these men, as it were, doubled up in anguish and terror. Where's it come from? And then, a little while later, the cloud lifts. And all of these horrible, filthy, devil-worshipping men are completely transformed, and they're full of light and love. They're full of the Lord Jesus. They're singing such a sweetness.

And you know what Brainard said? He said, I was a spectator. Doesn't mean that he was twiddling his thumbs and being idle. No, because he'd worked his fingers to the bone trying to reach these people. But he realized that God had done this. He hadn't done it. He says, I was a spectator. He says, I stood there and I watched the Lord do it. I was a witness to what God had done. This is the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing.

You think about Manoah and his wife. You remember Manoah and his wife? And how they got this amazing visitation of the angel, the angel of the Lord. We know who it is now, but at the time they didn't know who he was. And of course they were filled with a sense of obligation to him, you know, what can we do to honour you? You know, what's your name? What are we going to call you? But before you come to that, there's this particular thought that they were spectators, weren't they, Minoru and his wife?

They stood there and they watched the angel do wondrously. And I'll leave you with this particular thought because it's so significant. He did wonderfully and it's exactly what we've got in our text here this morning. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. It's marvelous. It's something that overwhelms us because it's what he's done. There's no mistaking when the Lord's done it. There's no debate, well has he or has he not? No, you know when the Lord's done something. There's no debate about it, it's so clear. And here's the angel of course and he's He's so coy, isn't he? He's so reluctant, seemingly, to divulge his identity. Why do you ask my name? What are you asking my name for?

How, as it were, veiled the presence of Christ is in the Old Testament, but he's nevertheless there. Seeing this name is wonderful. There's various translations of it. Wonderful, marvelous. And of course you can go through the Old Testament scripture and you can see this word constantly reappearing in various ways. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. That's the test, it's marvellous. You know that word appears a number of times through Old Testament history. I think one of the first times it appears is on that occasion when there's this old lady and she's an old lady.

Her name is Sarah and she overhears a conversation Some persons are talking about the fact that, well, you know, she's going to be visited, she's going to have a baby. And Sarah, nah, no way. She's, well, she laughs, doesn't she? It's not a very pleasant laugh either. You know, it seems utterly impossible. But the thing is this, it says after nine months, there's going to be a little life added to this family.

What is said to her, what is said to make her here is this, is anything too hard for the Lord? And that word hard is that same word translated from the Hebrew, wonderful. Is anything too wonderful or marvelous for the Lord? It's a rhetorical question of course. There's nothing too hard for the Lord. What the Lord can do.

Then of course you have the word appearing with Manoah and his wife. And then you come on to Isaiah and you see those words concerning the master there. And he's appearing. All that great long list of titles given to Messiah. But the very first name is this. His name shall be called Wonderful. Wonderful.

You know what David said about it, about the things of the Lord in that 72nd psalm. You know, ostensibly it's a psalm for Solomon, but of course the psalm goes way beyond Solomon. It's something far greater, far more wonderful in that psalm that David says at the end of it, the prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended. That is to say, if the Lord answers this prayer, I've got nothing more to ask the Lord for. It's not that his prayer life was at an end because he lived several years after that. But the prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended.

And he says towards the end of that psalm that the Lord only does wondrous, marvellous things. We have to say this, that God doesn't do ordinary. You and I do ordinary. We're very predictable, aren't we? So that's just like him to do that. We're so predictable. But the Lord doesn't do ordinary at all. He only does wondrous things. He only does wondrous things. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Marvelous in our eyes. The evidence of his working. You know, I must finish, but take a look at Jonah for a minute.

And if you take a look at him you can see how contrary he'd been to the will and the word of God. God had said go in this direction and he goes in the other direction. We can't go into the complications of Jonah's mind now in any great depth at this particular point in time. But we know that he willfully turned against the word of God. He willfully rejected the command of the Lord in his heart. and went off in the direction of Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh. But to cut a long story short, we know how the Lord brought him back in the most amazing way. What a signal testimony he was to the grace and deliverance of God. Amazing. The mercy and goodness of God.

And what was his conclusion at the end of it all? What was his great conclusion? I'm not talking about the end of the Book of Jonah. That's another story. I'm talking about after he'd been, you know, delivered from the sea creature and was miraculously, amazingly, his life was spared. What did he say?

Well, the chapel I attended in my teenage years, there was this, Massive old Victorian text behind the pulpit, massive panel with Jonah's words that faced you every time you entered the chapel. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. That's what Jonah proved. And how he proved it, because it's nothing to do with us at all. Oh, we're caught up in God's wonderful works. But nevertheless, salvation is of the Lord. And that's what we see here. So we have the words brought before us again. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes.

May we know what it is to take these lessons on board this morning, to look beyond, as the Lord did, to follow his lead through the psalm, to look beyond, and also to realise this, is that it must be God's work in God's way, and may we live to prove it. May God bless these few scattered and difficult thoughts. May the Lord bless his own word to us. as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 118 through the bible

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Psalm 118 through the bible

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