Let's open our Bibles again to
Psalm 136. After reading this psalm a few
moments ago, it won't surprise you in the least that the title
of the message is His Mercy Endureth Forever. Now I'll tell you, this
is my favorite psalm. This psalm is written for somebody
like me. Somebody who needs to hear the
same thing over and over and over again before I get it. That's
the way I learn is repetition. And it gets more necessary the
older I get. I need repetition. This psalm
is written for me. This psalm is written for somebody
like me who needs assurance from having the same truth of God's
mercy repeated over and over and over. This psalm is for sinners
who need mercy. I claim it as mine. Now the phrase,
His mercy endureth forever, is repeated 26 times in this psalm,
but it's not repeated once too often. There's no vain repetition
in this psalm. This phrase, His mercy endureth
forever, is repeated, so we'll learn to sing it. This is one
of the sweetest phrases man can sing. God's mercy endureth forever. This phrase is repeated to comfort
God's people. We need mercy constantly. Isn't
it good to hear His mercy endureth forever? And this phrase is repeated
so we can learn some things about God's mercy to His people. Now,
you know what mercy is. Mercy is not getting what we
do deserve. Well, what is it that we deserve?
By nature, we deserve God's wrath, don't we? By nature, we deserve
eternal damnation, eternal separation from God for our sin. And the
only reason God's elect don't get that eternal wrath, they
don't get eternal damnation and separation from God, is because
God's mercy endureth forever. The first thing we learn in this
Psalm about God's mercy is that God's mercy is reason for thanksgiving. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he's good. for his mercy endureth forever. Now there's none good but God.
You just think how good God is to all his creatures. He is so
good in natural things that God provides to every creature of
this earth. God is so good, but God's goodness
is seen most clearly in his mercy to his people, his mercy that
endures forever. Sinners like us constantly need
mercy. Can you think of a moment in
your life you haven't needed mercy? We ought to be giving
thanks then that God's mercy endure us forever. No matter
how sinful we are. And believe me, we're more sinful
than we realize we are. But no matter how sinful we are,
God's mercy will never run dry. because his mercy endures forever. It'll always endure. Now there's
seven divisions in this psalm that highlight God's mercy to
his people. The first division is this. Mercy
is who God is. Verse two. Oh, give thanks unto
the God of gods for his mercy endureth forever. Oh, give thanks
to the Lord of lords for his mercy endure forever. Now, God,
is God. The name used here is Elohim.
This is God in his holiness, in his power, in his might, dwelling
in a light that no man can approach. This is God who's the absolute
sovereign ruler over all of his creation. There's no detail too
small that it is out of his jurisdiction. He is sovereignly ruling and
reigning over every detail in his creation. Now there are earthly
powers, but God set them up. There are earthly rulers, and
he brings them up, and then he brings them down. We'll see an
example of that here in this Psalm. He'll bring them up, and
he'll bring them down to accomplish his will. The king's heart is
in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of the waters. He turneth
it whether so ever he will, because he's God. Ruling and reigning.
There's no power that can withstand the will and the purpose of Almighty
God. He rules and He judges in absolute
holiness and His will is ironclad. It shall be done. There's no
changing it. That's God. Yet the character of God is to
show mercy to sinners. Can you imagine such a thing?
You think what a terror the sovereign would be without everlasting
mercy. You put a man, give him just
a little bit of power. I remember when I was a kid,
these yahoos, they'd get some teenage yahoo and they'd make
him a lifeguard. That guy turned into a tyrant
in about five minutes because he got a little bit of authority.
You give a man authority. I'm telling you, he'll rule for
his own gain, no matter what it costs people, no matter who
it hurts. Now, here's God. He's the king of all these puny
kings. He's the Lord of all these so-called
lords. He's got all power in heaven
and earth. And what's his character? His
character is to rule in mercy. Mercy is who God is. And God's
mercy is just like it. God's mercy. We'll see an illustration
of this in this Psalm. It's sovereign mercy. God's mercy
is sovereign mercy because God's sovereign. Mercy is God's to
give and God's to withhold. We don't ever deserve God's mercy. Then recipients of mercy that
I'm looking at this evening ought to be a thankful people giving
thanks for God's mercies. God's mercy is like Himself.
It's sovereign and it's eternal. Why does God's mercy endure forever?
Why is it eternal? Because God's eternal. There
has never been a time that God has not seen His people in His
mercy toward them in Christ Jesus. Because His mercy endures forever.
That doesn't just mean out in the future. That means from what
we call eternity to eternity. There's no beginning to it and
there's no ending to it. His mercy forever. Mercy is who
God is. Second, mercy is what God does. Verse four, to him who alone
doeth great wonders for his mercy endureth forever. Now we don't
have time to talk about all the wonders that God has done. The
wonders of creation. We'll look at a few of them here
in a minute. It is a constant wonder to me how God's creation
works together, what it does, it's just, what a wonder. You think of God's wonders in
ruling, overruling, providence, the wonders of human history,
how human history, how often it's turned on a dime, just what
seems like the most insignificant thing has turned a history of
the world. Well, that's no accident, that's God turning the world
as he will, his wonders in providence. And think about just the events
of your life. All the things that happened
so that you came right here this evening, so that the time you
first came to hear the gospel, maybe it was you're born, going
your parents brought you, maybe you're dating some girl, came
with her, who knows what, but all those things are God's wonders
in bringing his people to hear the sound of the gospel. And
without a doubt, The greatest wonder that God has ever done
is the salvation of his people. And that wonder was done in great
mercy. What a wonder that God would
become a man so that he could be the representative of sinful
men and women. What a wonder that God would
send his son to suffer and to die in the place of sinful men
and women. What a wonder that God both could
and would make sinners to be righteous. Now, who did God do
all those wonders for? Sinners. Why would God do so
many great wonders for sinful people? One reason. Because His
mercy endured forever. Everything God does Everything
he does is to accomplish the salvation of his people. Whatever
it is we see happen, we almost never understand it, but everything
you see happen, you mark this down, it's happening to show
mercy to God's people. Somehow, some way, God's working
that to show mercy to his people, every event. It is a great wonder
how God has worked all the events history together to accomplish
his will to show mercy to his people. And all those wonders,
Bobby did them alone. Who alone doeth great wonders. Salvation is accomplished by
God alone. There's not a cooperative effort
between me and Jesus. It's God alone doing these great
wonders. There can't be any reason for
mercy found in man. The reason for God's mercy is
found in God alone. God's purpose of mercy, God's
purpose of the salvation of his people started in eternity before
the world was ever created. Because his mercy endureth forever. God's mercy began long before
creation. And God's purpose of salvation,
his purpose of mercy to his people would never be derailed. Adam
was put in a garden and he fell. God's purpose never changed. Why? Because His mercy endureth
forever. God's purpose of salvation continued
when Christ came incarnate. There lay the babe. Kings tried
everything they could to kill that baby. Why didn't they? Because God's mercy endureth
forever. This is the Savior. He's going
to die, but not that way. He's gonna die as a substitute,
bearing the curse of his people. God's mercy endureth forever.
God's purpose of salvation continued when his precious son was betrayed
by a sinful man, when he suffered and died at the hands of wicked
men. Why didn't God wipe out the whole human race right then?
Because his mercy endureth forever. And God's purpose of salvation,
His purpose of showing mercy to His people continues from
the time of the apostles all the way up through this evening.
How do I know that? Because the gospel is still being
preached. The gospel of God's mercy is still being preached. In all these years, we're still
preaching the same gospel the apostles did. Why? Because His
mercy endureth forever. Mercy is what God does. Third,
we see God's mercy in creation. Verse five. To him that by wisdom
made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever. To him that
stretched out the earth above the waters, for his mercy endureth
forever. To him that made great lights,
for his mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day, for his
mercy endureth forever. The moon and stars to rule by
night, For His mercy endureth forever. Now you just think of
the wisdom of God in creation. It says here, God by wisdom made
the heavens. That's all of space. God by wisdom made that. How's
all that stuff stay up there and not collide? By God's wisdom. The earth is the exact distance
from the sun that will support life. If it was any closer to
the sun, we'd all melt. If it was any further away from
the sun, we'd all freeze to death. The Earth is tilted just the
right way, so we don't all freeze to death or burn up. God's wisdom
in that. Oh, it's amazing. How does this
atmosphere, nobody can really answer this question for me,
how do we breathe air? I mean, it's just air. How come
it don't float off to space? How does it all stay here? I
got no clue. Other than this. God's wisdom
in the way he made the earth. If you know, if there's a scientific
explanation for that, don't tell me. I don't want to know. I know
what it is. God's wisdom in creation. I saw
this the other day. I'm 50 years old. I just, I'd
never heard of such a thing. There's a layer around the earth
that keeps radiation from the sun from just poison and everything
on the planet. I never knew such a thing existed.
Wisdom. God created this earth. It's just it's unbelievable.
Well, all right. I see the power of God. I can
see some of the glory of God, His handiwork and creation. I
see some of the wisdom of God, how He created this earth. But
where's mercy there? Let me tell you. The very reason for creation
is mercy. God created the heavens and the
earth, and he put man in it for the sole purpose of putting his
mercy on display. Now before the earth was created,
there was angels, wasn't there? The angels worshipped God. They
saw his glory. They flew around his throne crying,
holy, holy, holy, and they worshipped him. The angels even saw God's
justice when he cast Lucifer from heaven. They saw his justice
and they worshipped him. But no beans. ever would have
seen God's greatest glory in showing mercy to sinners, unless
God had done all the work of creation, He created a perfect
garden. And you notice even the order
of creation, God didn't create man first. No, He got everything
ready. Then He created man, put him
in that garden. All the while knowing Adam's gonna fall. God
did that and the angels watched, just flabbergasted. Why did God
do that? Why did God allow that to happen?
So that for eternity, His elect would rejoice in His mercy that
endureth forever. In God's elect, God saves them. He regenerates them. He gives
them life. And they can see some pictures of God's mercy and creation.
The sun rules the day. How horrible would this earth
be without the sun? Just when we have a few less
hours of daylight in the winter time, like right now, people
get depressed just with a few hours less. Think how it'd be
without the sun. And an object of God's mercy
sees that sun as a picture of Christ the son, the son of God,
who is the center of a believer's universe. And the light of his
presence gives us life and joy and light to the soul. Just like
the sun gives light and joy and life to the earth. And we see
the moon and the stars, they rule the night. God put all those
stars up there in space and a sailor get out there in a boat in the
middle of the ocean without anything but looking up at those stars
and can navigate across the ocean. That's a practical purpose for
those stars. And out there on the beach, some
young couple, all in love, looks up at the stars and the moon
and all their just love, just, oh, I guess that's a practical
purpose too. And the moon, it controls the
ocean tides. And the moon has an effect on
the moods of people. A full moon is out, that's when
the crazies come out. Somehow affects the mood. What
a marvel. But you believers, you look at
the heavens. You see more than that, don't
you? You see a picture of God's mercy to His church. The sun's
easy. That's the picture of the Son
of God, the light of the world. But what's the moon? The moon
is God's church. The moon is you believers. What
does the moon do at night? It's reflecting the light of
the sun. That's what the church does. We reflect the light of
the glory of Christ by preaching Christ. And those stars, they're
God's pastors. That's what he said in Revelations
1.20, the mystery of the stars. That's God's pastors giving light
to the world by preaching Christ. And you look up at that dark
night sky. I wish it was clear skies earlier
today. I was hoping we'd still have
them. The next clear night, you go out and look. You know what
you're going to see? Even the darkest hour is not
left without rule. God put the moon and the stars
to rule by night. And that's our comfort in times
of dark, dark trial. That dark hour is not out of
the control, out of the rule of our almighty God and his mercy,
which rules and endures forever. There's God's mercy in creation.
Fourth, we see God's mercy and justice. Verse 10. To him that
smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy endureth forever. Now, you all know the story of
the plagues very well. After each one of those plagues,
Pharaoh called for Moses. He said, Moses, ask God to quit. I'll let you go. I give up. And
every time, he changed his mind, didn't he? And God told Moses,
before it happened, he said, Moses, I did that. Before Pharaoh
did what he did, God told Moses what Pharaoh was going to do.
So Moses would know, Pharaoh's not controlling this thing. God
is. Pharaoh's doing what God said
he'd do. Every time God said, I'm going to do this plague,
Pharaoh's going to harden his heart. He won't let you go. Then one
day God said, Moses, I'm going to bring one more plague. And
after that, Pharaoh will let you go. He's going to thrust
you out after this plague. And you know what happened. The
Lord came through and that night he killed every firstborn in
every house in Egypt if there wasn't blood of the lamb on the
doorposts. And after that night, Israel
went free from Egypt and not even a dog barked at them when
they left. They went out free. They went
out in the midst of God's judgment and wrath. How many thousands
and thousands died that night? Well now Frank, how's their mercy
in killing all those thousands, tens of thousands of firstborn
children? How's their mercy in that? Verse
11. And brought out Israel from among
them, for his mercy endureth forever. With a strong hand,
with a stretched out arm, for his mercy endureth forever. You see, this is given to us
as a picture of salvation. That Passover is a picture of
how God's going to save his people. God's mercy that endures forever
is electing, distinguishing mercy. There is mercy for Israel under
the blood, wasn't there? But there's justice for the Egyptians
who are not under the blood. That's electing, distinguishing
mercy. Who made that difference? God
did. And God set Israel free from
bondage in Egypt by his justice against those Egyptians who held
his people in bondage. Now God doesn't set His elect
free through the death of their firstborn. God sets His people
free through the death of His firstborn, His only begotten
Son. And this is how God sets spiritual
Israel free from bondage to sin. He does it in justice, by punishing
that sin in absolute justice in the person of Christ our substitute.
It's justice against sin. that enables God to show mercy
to his people and set them free in justice. God delivers his
people in both mercy and justice. Now that's a sure salvation.
And because of that, God's people shall be delivered. Look at verse
13. To him which divided the Red
Sea into parts, for his mercy endureth forever. And made Israel
to pass through the midst of it, for his mercy endureth forever. but overthrew Pharaoh and his
host in the Red Sea, for his mercy endureth forever." Now
this Red Sea, whenever we read this story, we automatically
think of the Red Sea as a picture of the blood of Christ. And that
certainly fits. God's elect go through that blood
and were saved while all of our enemies are destroyed. Well,
what enemies are we talking about here? We're talking about our
chief enemy. Our sin, the sin of God's elect
is buried under the blood of Christ and God's elect go free
because their sin is gone under the blood of Christ. But this
Red Sea is also a picture of the law. Israel left Egypt, but
they couldn't get away. They couldn't go to freedom because
the Red Sea was blocking their escape. And there's no way around
it. They didn't have any ability
to cross that sea. Yet God miraculously opened a
way in the midst of the Red Sea so his people would pass through
on dry ground. Well, that's God's law. God's
law blocks God's elect from going free. Justice says I must be
satisfied. The law says I must be kept before
anyone can go free. There's got to be a perfect obedience.
There's no way around it. The law must be satisfied and
you and I can't keep that law. We can't meet the law's demands
because we're sinners. So God, who alone doeth great
wonders, miraculously opened a way for his people not to go
around the law, but to pass through the law in the person of our
representative, the Lord Jesus Christ who kept the law for his
people and who died as our substitute to satisfy the law's last demand. There's mercy in justice. God's mercy is always in justice. Fifth, we see God's mercy in
leading his people through the wilderness of this life. And
he'll lead them through all the way to glory. Verse 16. To him
which led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy
endureth forever. To him which smoked great kings,
for his mercy endureth forever. and slew famous kings, for his
mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his mercy endureth forever. And Og, the king of Bashan, for
his mercy endureth forever. And gave their land for an heritage,
for his mercy endureth forever. Even an heritage unto Israel
his servant, for his mercy endureth forever. Now you know the story
of Israel in the wilderness, God led them all the way through
that wilderness till they came to the promised land, just like
God promised that He would. And during those 40 years, they
came through many dangers, toils and snares. But despite all that,
they arrived and they took possession of the promised land. They received
the inheritance. Boy, they weren't fit, were they?
They didn't deserve it. Why did they take possession
of the land? because God's mercy endureth
forever. And there in that wilderness,
they met many enemies. And every one of those enemies,
none of those enemies were weaklings. They were all powerful enemies.
And every one of them was defeated because God's mercy endureth
forever. Israel was passing through the
land this King Sihon was over. God put him over this little
speck of dirt. And Israel said, now, we're just going to pass
through. We're just doing you the favor of letting you know
we're going to pass through. Our animals aren't going to eat any
of your grass. They're not going to graze on
any of your land. We're not going to drink any of your water. We're
just passing through. Not even going to stop. Sihon,
it's like those lifeguards I told you about as a teenager. He got
a little bit of power. He's a tyrant. He said, no, you're
not. For no good reason, Sihon decided
he's going to be angry. He's going to be an enemy of
Israel. God just wiped him out, just
destroyed him because his mercy endureth forever. Og, this man
was a giant and he was the king of a race of giants. Here he
comes, his army of giants against this poor little Israel. They
don't have any military training or nothing. What are we going
to do against all these giants? God just stepped in, destroyed
him as easily as you would a pygmy and he's nothing. God just wiped
him out. There was no enemy could stop
Israel from marching through that wilderness, going where
God told him to go, following that cloudy pillar to get to
the promised land because God's mercy endureth forever. Now this
is the life story of God's elect. God's gonna call him out of this
world. He's gonna call him to himself. He's gonna wash them
in the blood of Christ. They're gonna go through that
Red Sea and they're gonna travel through the wilderness of sin.
And in this journey, we're gonna face many dangers, toils and
snares. Most of them from within. Most
of them from within. But God's elect will go through. They will arrive at the promised
land because God's mercy endureth forever. You're gonna come face
to face with giants and they're gonna scare you to death. But
that's all right. They're not bigger than God.
God's gonna take care of them. He'll take care of them for you.
Because His mercy endureth forever. And I'll tell you the proof of
it. The biggest giant we have, giant enemy we have, comes from
right within. Our own sin. That's a giant of
a mountain we can't do anything with. God's already wiped it
out. under the blood of his son. Well,
is there anything else that big I can't take care of? He's going
to take care of his people because his mercy endureth forever. God's
elect have an inheritance. Your sons and daughters of the
king, you have an inheritance. Brothers and sisters, you're
going to have it. Now you're going to have it because his
mercy endureth forever. Look over at first Peter chapter
one. Your inheritance is not a physical land. not physical
riches, it's eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're
going to have it. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy,
his everlasting mercy, hath begotten us again into a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance,
it's incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptation. This is a tough trip
through this wilderness, but the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it will
be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. You're going to
have that inheritance because God's mercy endureth forever.
Sixth, we see this. God's mercy is personal. And
we've talked to him in kind of some generalities. We've talked
about God's dealing with other people, with his people in general. Now we're going to get personal.
God's mercy is personal. Verse 23, who remembered us in our lowest
state for his mercy endureth forever and hath redeemed us
from our enemies for his mercy endureth forever. Oh, what a
load. Low, low, low estate we're in
by nature. What low estate we're born in.
We're so low by nature, we're bankrupt. We're bankrupt of anything
good. We don't have any goodness. We
don't have any righteousness. We don't have any soundness in
us. We're in such a low estate. We're already dead, born dead
and trespasses in sin. Why redeem? Why bother remembering
someone in such a low estate as me? Because His mercy endureth forever. That's why. The psalmist says, who remembered
us? God always remembers His people. And this word remember has several
meanings. It means to take notice of, God took notice of me? Yes, he did. In divine election,
God took notice of every one of his people by name, individually
on purpose. Remembered means not to forget.
Look at Isaiah chapter 49. God will never forget his people
because his mercy endureth forever. Jan, I was talking the other
day. I already don't even remember who we were talking about. I
said, what's this woman's husband's name? I'd known him for 30 years. I couldn't remember his name
all evening. I just didn't, like the next day, it just like popped
out. I remembered. God will never forget your name.
Not if Christ died for you, he won't. Isaiah 49 verse 13. Can a woman forget her sucking
child? Does she not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yeah,
she may forget. Yet will I not forget. I'll not
forget thee. Behold, I've graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. My son died for you. Those prints
in his palms, those are your names engraven in his hands. I won't forget you. Thy walls
are continually before me. I'll not forget my people. Then
this word remembers, it also means to have compassion. God's
compassions fail not because his mercy fails not. His mercy
endures forever. Then remembered, it means to
hear and to grant a request. Isn't this the cry of God's people? Lord, save me. Lord, you have
mercy on others. Have mercy on me. You remember
when Hannah prayed? She prayed for Samuel. All she
prayed for, God give her a son. What does scripture say? The
Lord remembered Hannah. He heard and he granted her request
and gave her a son. The cry of the dying thief. Oh,
what a low estate. Lord, would you remember me when
you come into your kingdom? Our Lord said, I'll remember
you. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, why? Why would the Lord
remember, think on, not forget, have compassion on someone like
me? Because his mercy endureth forever. Me? Me? It can't be. Why? There's just one reason,
mercy. And that mercy will never run
dry because His mercy endureth forever. Then last, we see this. God's mercy is for the elect's
sake, verse 25, who giveth food to all flesh for His mercy endureth
forever. Now, I guess you could say it's
a form of mercy. It's not saving mercy. It's not
God's everlasting mercy, but it's a form of mercy. That God
keeps supplying all flesh on this planet. Today, God fed both
lions and lambs. Today, God fed both elephants
and ants. He fed whales and minnows. He
fed man and beast. All of them are fed. They're
given air to breathe. They all live in a planet that
keeps in its orbit that green off into the sun. And the only
reason for that, the only reason is God's mercy to his elect endures
forever. When the unbeliever, when they
enjoy some physical blessings, that's not God's mercy. That's
not God's mercy at all. It's just God adding to their
condemnation. He gives them all these blessings.
They don't thank Him. They don't look to Him. God gives
them some physical blessings for now. Maybe He'll raise one
of them up to be president or mayor or governor or whatever.
And He's doing it so He can preserve this planet. He preserves order
on this planet. He keeps this planet full of
food and water and air until All of his elect are brought
in. That air you're breathing, that's not meant for just everybody,
and it's meant for you. It's meant for God's elect. He
keeps this earth full of air. Yes, rebels breathe it, but God
gives the air for you who believe. His mercy is for his elect's
sake. God even physically and materially
blesses his own enemies for the elect's sake. God's got an enemy. He's a wicked, greedy man, but
God blesses him, gives him the means to start a company, and
blesses that company, makes it profitable, all for the reason
to give you a job. That's why that man's blessed.
It's for the elect's sake. Well, where does that leave us?
It leaves us right back where we started, giving thanks. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven, for his mercy endureth forever. You reckon we can give
thanks for God's mercy? Have I heard it enough? Have
I heard it often enough? God's mercy endureth forever. I'm going to need to be reminded.
I go back, I cannot tell you how many times I've read that
song. But right now, we can give thanks,
can't we? We always have reason to. Let's
bow and give thanks for the Lord's mercies. Our Father, God of heaven and earth, King
of kings and Lord of lords, how we thank you for your mercy. How we thank you that your mercy
is without limit. It endureth forever. Father, we're thankful. We're
thankful for your mercies. How can we properly give thanks
for mercy to sinners such as we are? But we do thank you. Thank you for teaching us something
about who you are and about your mercy to your people. Father,
I pray that you bless the message, that you bless it to your glory,
that you bless it to the hearts of your people, that we can take
these precious truths in our hearts, take them home with us,
take them out to work and to school and out into the world
tomorrow with this blessed, blessed hope. Your mercy endureth forever. How we beg of Thee that You'd
always and only see us in Your mercy in Your Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. It's for His sake and for the
glory of His name we pray and we give thanks.