Turn back to Psalm 115. I titled this message, The Lord
Will Bless Us. He will bless His people. And we can read it like this.
The Lord will bless and bless and bless His people. And we know something of that.
We know something of that. Now in the former psalm that
I read, Psalm 114, the past wonders which God had wrought were recounted
to His honor and to His glory. They gave remembrance to what
God had delivered them from out of the land of Egypt, the land
of bondage, and how that the sea fled and the Jordan River
was driven back. How God displayed his power in
delivering them out of the land of Egypt. And in this psalm,
he's entreated to glorify his name once again, to display his
power Not just for their sakes, but for His name's sake. The
writer of this psalm is not given. Some think David and some think
Moses and some other names are mentioned. But the writer of
this psalm is not so much giving praise here in this psalm, but
a plea. It's a plea and a prayer. for God to rise up and display
His power for His name's sake. Lord, do this. Do this, not for
our sakes, but for Thy name's sake. Thy name's sake. This psalm also was sung at the
Passover. They would remember their deliverance
from Egypt. They never forgot that. When
they would take the Passover, they would sing this song. One
writer said this, the burden of it seems to be a prayer that
the living God, who had been so glorious at the Red Sea and
at the Jordan, should again for his own namesake display the
wonders of his power. Lord, rise up for your namesake. That is a mature believer, isn't
it? when you desire God to act for His name's sake, for His
own glory. He says here in verse 1, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory. Do this for Your name's sake,
for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake, for Thy faithfulness. should
the heathen say, Where is now their God? God's people are jealous
over His name. They are jealous over their Father's
name. You know, my earthly father,
I'm jealous over his name. I don't want anybody talking
about him, not in my presence. But how much more our Heavenly
Father, how much more Him? who has saved us, called us by
his grace, redeemed us by the blood of his Son, given us the
righteousness of his Son. O Lord, protect your name. Do this for your namesake. The
psalmist is asking God to rise up and stop the insults of the
ungodly who question his mercy and truth and faithfulness towards
his people. Lord, put a stop to them. I feel
like that, don't you? I watch some of these preachers
on TV and what I've known over the years. I wish God would shut
their mouths. I wish the Lord would rise up
for His namesake and shut them up. I wish He would. The psalmist is saddened that
God was no longer feared as when He brought them out of the land
of Egypt. You know, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt
in the Red Sea, parted before them, and the Jordan was driven
back. The nations around about there feared. They feared a God. They didn't know Him, but they
feared a God of Israel. But here they don't fear Him
now. They're giving insults toward
His people and toward their God. They're making fun of Him. They're
making fun of Him. Lost men never fear God for long,
do they? It's the wrong kind of fear.
It's a slavish fear. But they never fear God for long.
As soon as trouble is past, as soon as it's gone, their fear
is gone. Their fear is gone. The only
fear that lasts is one that is born out of reverence and awe
of Him. One that's born of God. That's
the only fear that truly lasts. Now notice the repetition of
the word here, not unto us. He's emphasizing this, not unto
us, not unto us. This seems to indicate a very
serious desire to renounce any glory, any glory which they might
at any time take to themselves. Say, Lord, do this for your name's
sake. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us. Not asking for you to
do this for our sakes, but for your name's sake. Lord, he's
very serious about this in his prayer, this psalmist is. Not unto us, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory. Display your power for your name's
sake. Who am I? Who am I? Do it for my sake?
Who am I? But Lord, who are you? Who are
you? And the question he asked, why
should the heathen nations be allowed to insult or question
the mercy and truth and faithfulness of Jehovah towards his people? Why should they be allowed to
do that, Lord? These attributes seem to be the most haunted act. They were surrounded by their
enemies, and oftentimes Israel was taken by enemies. And they
would just taunt him. Where's your God? Where's your
God? I thought he was the God of mercy.
Where's your God that's part of the Red Sea? Where's he at
now? How could the heathen think Jehovah
to be a merciful God if he gives his people over to the enemies?
If he gives his people over to suffering, where's your God at?
When the people of God suffer, the ungodly rise up with insults
against their God. Turn over to Matthew chapter
27. Matthew chapter 27. Look at what
they said to our Lord. Let me see where I'm at here.
In verse 43 of Matthew 27. He trusted in God. Let him deliver
him now if he will have him. He said, I'm the son of God.
He trusted in God. Let's see if God will show up.
Let's see if God will deliver him. Let's see if God will have
him. And that's what David's saying.
Why are they allowed to do this? Spurgeon said, when the prayers
and tears of the godly seem to be unregarded and their miseries
are rather increased than assayed, Then do the wicked multiply their
taunts and jeers and even argue that their own wretched irreligion
is better than the faith of Christians? Why are they allowed to do this?
Well, there is an answer to this question. There is an answer
to it. God has put their feet in slippery
places. You remember over in Psalm 73,
look over there, over in Psalm 73, David was envious of the
wicked. how they prospered. There were
no bans in their death. They were not in trouble as other
men. They were not plagued like other
men. And then he came down to verse
17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their
end. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. Sometimes the nations are permitted
to blaspheme in order that they may fill up the measure of their
iniquity, and then God will deal with it. God deals with men in
His own time, not on our timetable. He deals with men when it best
serves His glory and the good of His people. That's when God
will deal with them. And then He also does this, that
His grace to His elect may be made most manifest. You can see
how gracious he is to us in Christ when he finally deals with us.
But the scripture says this, even the wrath of man serves
God's purpose. God's purpose is fulfilled by
everything that lives and moves and has its being all the time, constantly. I'll be saying David here. David probably wrote this. But
the psalmist here gives an answer in verse 3. But our God is in
the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Our God is. Our God is. He is self-existing. I am that
I am. Our God is on the throne in the
heavens, ruling all things after the pleasure and after the counsel
of His own will. Our God is doing this. Our God
is. He is above the insults of men. You and I feel peer pressure,
don't we? We have what we call our peers.
God doesn't have any. He has no peers. He feels no
peer pressure. Not at all. He's above the insults
of men. You can insult me and I can feel
it, but God is above that. He's above that. Our God is not
on a shelf somewhere. He's not someplace where we put
Him. He's in the heavens, the heaven of heavens, the third
heaven, paradise. That's where He is. That's where
our God is, and that's where He's always been. Even before the heavens were,
He is. Scripture says that God looks
down from heaven to behold the children of men. There's only one God that does that,
and He wasn't made by men. He's not looking down from a
shelf somewhere. Another writer said this, He
is supreme above all opposing powers. The Lord reigneth upon
a throne high and lifted up, incomprehensible in essence.
He rises above the loftiest thought of the wise, absolute in will
and infinite in power. He is superior to the limitations
which belong to earth and time. This God is our God. This God
is our God, and we are not ashamed to own Him, although He may not
work miracles at the beck and call of every vainglorious boaster
who may choose to challenge Him. Show us a miracle. Is that not
what they said to our Lord? Show us a miracle. Show us a
sign. God is not here to entertain us. Christ did not come into
this world to entertain. He came to save. And God is not
at the beck and call of everyone that wants to sign to prove that
he's God. He's not going to prove to anybody
he's God. He's God. He doesn't prove that to anyone.
He reveals it to some. To some he reveals it. And he
says here, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased up to this moment,
up to this time right now. His decrees have been fulfilled.
Every one of them, not one of them has been stopped. Not one
decree has been set aside. Every decree that God has decreed
from eternity has been fulfilled. It's been fulfilled. His eternal
purpose is accomplished. Oh, what a God we have. What
a God we have. He has not been asleep. He does not sleep or slumber
that keeps Israel. Psalm 121. He's not been asleep. As one person said, he's not
oblivious to the affairs of men. He knows what's going on. He's
ruling it, controlling it. And he hath done whatsoever he
pleased. Whatsoever he hath pleased, God
has accomplished it, and is accomplishing it, and will accomplish it. It
doesn't matter how distasteful it will be to his enemies, they'll
still serve his purpose. They don't like it. They may
not like it at all. They won't like it. His enemies
won't like it. But they will serve every jot and tittle of
his decrees. Now he speaks about their idols. He says, Our God's in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. And that's enough. That's
all you need to say, wasn't it? To these unbelievers. But here
he puts a contempt upon their idols. He doesn't even call them
gods, does he? They're idols, that's all they
are. Idol worship. Their idols are silver and gold.
The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they
through their throat. And they, they that make them,
are like unto them. So is every one that trusteth
in them. Let's talk about their idol,
David says. Let's talk about their idol.
He doesn't even call it a god, he calls it what it is, an idol.
The first thing he says about their idol here is this, it's
the work of men's hands. It's the work of, I've never
made anything worth worshipping. No man on this earth has ever
made anything worth worshipping. It's the work of men's hands.
There's only one God. Oh, teach that to your children.
There's only one God. And His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. God manifest in the flesh. All
others are the works of men's hands. All these other religions
going on, it's the work of men's hands. Their idols are less than
they are. If it's the work of a man's hand,
of men's hands, is not the builder greater than the building? Does
he not deserve, does it not say yet in Hebrews that the builder
has more honor than the building? The fact that men worship that
which is less than themselves is a testament to their own depravity
and spiritual deadness, that they would worship something
less than themselves. They whittle out a piece of wood
set it on a shelf or whatever it may be, and worship it. That's depravity, total depravity. Hey God, now listen to this.
I thought about this today. And they whittle out of God like
themselves. It says in the psalm, you thought
I was altogether like yourself. So they whittle one out and then
they They stick some kind of character to it, and it's a character
like themselves. That's why Islam is so violent. It's just like the one who whittled
it out. But a God that can be imagined is no God at all. Our God is a God of revelation. He's not a God of imagination.
We did not imagine this God. He is a God of revelation. Scripture
says, who by searching can find out God? No one. He must reveal Himself or you'll
never know Him. If He doesn't reveal Himself
out of the pages of this book by His Spirit, you will never
know who God is. He is a God of revelation, not
imagination. And we don't have to use our
imagination. We have His Word. We have a revelation. Think about
this. The God who's in the heavens, our God is in the heavens. We
don't have to imagine what He's like. We have a whole book here
of who He is, what He's like. Men fashion a God like themselves. They that make them are like
unto them. How's that? Dead. Dead. They are as dead as the
things that whittle out dead, for they are, silver and gold
may give it some monetary value if you melt it down and sell
it, but it does not give it deity, life, or holiness. That belongs
to one God, the Lord, Jehovah. Jehovah, Jesus, is who that belongs
to. That's who it belongs to. Our
God is spirit. Not gold, silver, wood, hay,
or stone. Our God is Spirit. And never
feel inferior. Never let yourself feel inferior
to other religions, for their God is no God at all. No God at all. I read this sometime a long time
ago, and I've kept it down. Again, I made a note of it. Gold
and silver are good servants, but cruel masters. Cruel masters. Good servants, but don't make
a god out of it, because it's a cruel master. O Israel, trust
thou in the Lord, for he is their help and their shield. Whatever
others do, Let the elect of the Lord hold fast to Him. Stand
fast, Paul said, in the liberty with which Christ has made you
free. Hold on. Hold to Him. Lay hold of Him. We prove our loyalty to the Lord
by our confidence in Him. Hold fast to Him. O Israel, O
elect of God, That's faith. That's what faith
is. Faith is a real simple trust
in the Lord. It's like these little children.
They trust you parents. They believe everything you tell
them until they get older. But they believe you. They believe
you. And that's what faith is. It's
really, truly believing God. It's just trusting Him to do
as He said He would. O House of Israel, O Israel,
trust in the Lord. No matter what insults others
may cast on us and our God, in times of trouble especially,
that was your God. I told you this before, but when
I lost my job at National Mines, one of the men said, you must
not be living right. He started making insults. He
started making insults toward my God. Our God. What am I to do? Come back at
that fool? Don't answer a fool according
to his folly unless you'd be just like him. Trust him. Just trust him. Let
him say what they want to say. Just keep on trusting. He is
our help and our shield. He's our help. He's our friend.
He is our protection at all times. The Lord, Jehovah, is our protection
at all times. O house of Aaron, this is the
priesthood. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the
Lord. He's their help and their shield.
Those who are called to be ministers to His people, trust Him. That's
what he's saying. Trust him. And lead him with
confidence. That's what he's saying. Lead
him with confidence. He's your help and your shield.
You notice how the people and the preacher both have the same
help. Both have the same help and the
same shield. The same friend and the same strength. Both of
them. Christ said, without me, you
can do nothing. So just trust me. Paul said,
who is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient to truly stand
in the pulpit and handle eternal matters? What I'm dealing with tonight
and every time we come together, it has eternal consequences to
it. Eternal consequences. That's
why whenever I'm sitting there, My mind starts to drift. I try
to arrest it, and I have to arrest it about half a dozen times.
I don't know how many times I have to do it to get my attention
back. And listen, this is important. It has eternal consequences to
it. Listen to it. Who's sufficient
for these things? Paul said God is our sufficiency. Men like myself and Frank and
others to preach and you to hear. He enables us to do this. Ye
that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. This covers everybody. This covers every one of God's
children. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their
help and their shield. And of ourselves, we are absolutely
helpless, aren't we? Absolutely helpless. We can't
fight off anything. Can't even fight off a little
cold. Can't keep even such a little germ as that from attacking us
and bringing us down. He's our help. He's our help. In vain is the
help of man. There's no salvation that any
man can give you, except one man, the man Christ Jesus. He can do it. But the man who
has Christ as his help and his shield, if Christ is your help
and your shield, if He is, then you need not worry, for
the Lord is on thy side. When we cannot see our way out,
here's the instruction, trust in the Lord. I have a sense that
when this psalm was written, I get this sense that they were
really under a lot of stress, trouble, a lot of trouble. And here's the advice that the
psalmist is giving to Israel and the house of Aaron. Things
look bleak and dark, gloomy, but here's the one thing we all
will do, trust in the Lord. You say, well, give me something
else. We need something else. Give us a gun or something. Trust
in the Lord. Trust Him. Trust in His power. He parted
the sea. He drove back the River Jordan. I mean, we can start at Genesis
and go all the way through Revelations and talk about the power of God. Look what desolations the psalmist
said, He hath made in the earth. He's not weak in power. He has
all power. Just a word from Him and every
situation will be cured just like that. Whether it be sickness
or finances or heartache or whatever it is, it can be cured that fast.
Trust in His power. Trust in His faithfulness. Faithful
is He who called you who will also do it. Do you believe that? Time will tell. Time will tell. Trust in His grace. Did He not
say, My grace is sufficient for thee? It's sufficient. Trust His word. Take Him at His
word. Trust His name. Trust in the
name of the Lord. That reveals who He is. That's
who He is. Trust anything. Now listen, this is good. Verse
12. The Lord hath been mindful of
us. He's mindful of us. David said,
Thy thoughts to us cannot be reckoned up in order. The Lord
hath been mindful of us. He knows where we are and what
we're going through. He will bless us. And you know
that word us is supplied by the translator. It says this, the
Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless. He will bless. He will bless. He will bless.
That's what he's saying. Excuse me. He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron. He'll not forget his own. He'll
not do that. He will bless. You were bought with a price.
You are a costly people. You are a costly people. We're the only thing that ever
cost God anything. It took the death of His Son to have us.
You were redeemed, bought back with a price. Not silver and
gold either. The blood of His Son. the life,
the obedience, the death, the blood, and the righteousness
of His Son. It took all that to have you, costly people. Be mindful of us. It's not possible
for the Lord to forget us at any given time. You know, there
were seven children in my family growing up, and I'm sure Mom
could not keep up with All of us at one time. No way. Especially as we got older. As we got older, we started driving.
We'd go out and stay out late. About too late, Dad locked the
doors on us. He did. He locked the door on
me. I'd sleep in the car all night. I wasn't in by a certain
time, buddy. I'd better be out there in the
car sleeping, not running down the road. But the Lord knows where every
one of His children is at any given time. And we're talking
about billions over the years, you know, overall, since the
beginning. You're talking about a lot of people. A number, he said,
which no man could number. He knows where every one of them
are at any given time. Mindful of us. He's mindful of
this little group right now. This little flock. He's mindful
of his little flock. It's his. Mindful of us. He said over in Isaiah, will
a mother forget her sucking child? He said, yes, yes, she may. We see it every day, don't we?
See it every day. But he said, I'll not forget
thee. That's right. You may not have any light right
now, and it may be dark and tough. But he said, I'll not forget
thee. I know who you are. I know what you're going through.
I'll put you through it. Spurgeon said, the Lord has many
blessings. each one worthy to be remembered. He blesses and
blesses and blesses again. Oh, how He blesses. Therefore,
He will bless, seeing He is ever mindful of us. As sure as the
Lord is, as sure as He is, He will bless. And if the Lord once
blesses you with salvation, He will continue to bless you. He
will continue to bless you. and bless you and bless you and
bless you until He calls you home to be with Him forever,
to behold His beauty. And that will be the greatest
blessing. But that will never end. That will never end. He will bless them that fear
the Lord. Those who have an awe and reverent
respect of Him. He will bless them. Listen, both
small and great. Don't think you're too small
for a blessing. Don't think that you're so small
and insignificant that the Lord will not take notice of you. You take a little child in the
house, you take the teenager, who gets the most attention?
A little child watched over him. A little small one is. Small
and great. They shall be blessed. So long as a man fears the Lord,
it matters not what his position he holds. He can be a prince
or he can be a peasant. The Lord will bless him. The Lord shall increase you more
and more, you and your children. The Lord shall increase you in
spiritual knowledge. This is the increase we want.
This is the increase we need. He's not talking here about material.
You know, the more material stuff we have, usually, It takes you
away, takes your attention, takes your time. But here's the increase
we need, and this is the increase that He'll give. These other
things He'll add along the way. But we need spiritual knowledge,
increase in faith, increase in love, hope, grace. Isn't that what we need? And He will increase, He said,
your children. It's a great blessing when the Lord increases the church
with spiritual children, isn't it? But especially when they're young. Especially. You are blessed of the Lord,
he said, which made heaven and earth. Not an idol sitting on
a shelf. Not some imagination that we've come up with. Now,
you're blessed of the Lord that made heaven and earth. It depends
on who is blessing you if it's a real blessing or not, really. It depends on who's doing the
blessing. No, I don't come blessed, but
the Lord who made heaven and earth. If He blesses you, you
are blessed and no one can take it from you. And note the power here that
he makes known, which made heaven and earth. He has the power to
bless you. He has the power to save and
keep you. He has the power, the right,
to forgive you. He has the power to make you
sons of God. This ought to strengthen our
faith, encourage our hope, for the Lord has blessed us. Even
the heavens are the Lord, but the earth has he given to the
children of men. There he specially reigns, the heaven of heaven,
paradise, and he manifests his greatest glory in that place.
Psalm 24 says, The earth is the Lord, the fullness thereof, and
they who dwell therein. All of them are his, heaven and earth,
it's all his. But the earth has he given to
the children of men. He doesn't say children of God,
does He? Oh, He's given us a lot greater things than that. He's
given us much greater things than this earth. He's given us
life. He's given us righteousness.
And He's given us all that belongs to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have all that. But the earth
He's given to the children of men. This is all they have. This
is all they have. All that men have, He's given
to them, and this is all they have, is the earth. After that,
it's over with. He's going to hold them responsible
for how they handled everything He's given them. The dead, praise not the Lord,
neither any that go down into silence. Spiritually dead men
do not give the Lord the glory due to His name in this life
or in hell. Even when they go down into silence,
they do not give him glory. When the rich man lifted up his
eyes and told me all he wanted was a drink of water and for
his brothers not to come to that place, but there's no sign of
repentance. There was no sign of repentance at all. No sowing
for mercy. He just said, give me a drink
of water. Nothing but weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth to those outside of Christ. But here in verse 18, I'll close.
But we will bless the Lord. He will bless us, it says. He
will bless us. He'll bless the house of Israel.
He'll bless the house of Aaron. He'll bless both small and great. He'll bless those who fear Him.
But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord. We who have been given life in
Christ will bless the Lord. We'll praise
Him for it. We'll praise Him now, now, and
forevermore. David said over in Psalm 34,
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth starting now at this very hour. Let us bless the Lord. I cannot
undo yesterday. I cannot undo yesterday. I may
have not done it yesterday or something. I cannot undo the
past. I cannot undo the past. But I can start right now. And
from this day forth, bless His Holy Name. Bless His Holy Name. I end this with Hallelujah. Praise
the Lord forevermore.