Good thing going, isn't it? I can hear it. Psalms 48. Psalms
48. We're going to look at just one
verse, but I'll make a few comments about the context of Psalms 48. The whole psalm shows forth the
protection that God gives His church, or His people, or His
very elect. Look with me in verse 1 of Psalm
48. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of
our God, in the mountains of His holiness." Verse 2 and verse
3, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion. There's the church on the sides
of the north, the city of the great king. Verse 3, God is known
in her palaces for a refuge. Look with me at verse 8. As we
have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God, God will establish it forever. He will establish His church
forever. There's nothing formed that can
hurt. There's nothing formed that can
do destruction until the time is called, until the time comes
and then when He takes us all home. And look with me at verse
12. Walk about Zion. and go round
about her, tell the towers thereof." Verse 13, Mark ye well her bulwarks,
consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation
following. So, he's speaking of his protection. He's obviously going to take
care of his church, he's going to feed it, clothe it, and nurture
it. And now we come to the last amazing
verse. This absolutely amazed me. It's almost as if the writer,
to prove his first 13 verses, states most emphatically that
Zion and Zion's inhabitants are, shall be, and always have been
kept, covered and protected by God and God Himself. Because,
He says in verse 14, for this God, the same one that we know
as Jehovah God, on throne, kingdoms come, kingdoms go, but His Word
abides forever. This God, the one that the psalmist
was just talking about, great is the Lord and greatly to be
praised. He's in the city of our God.
He's in the midst of the city. He's in the midst of Zion. There's the only one and true
Jehovah God, lofty, supreme, majestic, and in total control
over all things. This God is our God. Now just that statement right
there, this God is our God. It just blew me away. It's just
so straightforward. It's almost like it's in contemporary
language. This God is our God forever and
ever. Let's look a little at this phrase. This phrase. Let's look at the
first phrase. This God. This God. Capital G. Jehovah. Not any other so-called
gods. Those are in the Scriptures as
well, but they're usually a small g in plural. But this God, not
what others are so called, the one who inhabits eternity, the
scripture says. The glorious I am. When Moses
was talking to the Lord out of the fiery bush, he said, who
should I tell them that sent me? Now, you would think a long
dissertation because God inhabits eternity. You would think, but
just simply, you tell them I am, I am, I am sense you. He's also termed the wonders,
the rock of ages, the immovable, immutable rock of ages that cannot
be chipped away or cannot be washed away, permanent, solid,
true. He's also termed the high and
exalted one, the only true God and a savior, God manifest in
the flesh to take away our reproach from ourselves. This God, this
God who cast away our sins as far as the scripture says from
the east is from the west. This God whose authority though
it's questioned by every generation can really not be challenged
by any generation and we know this and the more you walk in
this world and the more you speak or the more you hear people speak
about luck and chance and fortune, all these different things we
know of. There's no such God as this. And it seemed like hundreds
of years ago, it used to be more accepted that, okay, God is sovereign,
we know what you're talking about. You say the word sovereign, and
people, you almost have to explain what you mean. I just tell them
shortly, sovereign grace. And I had a guy ask me that,
what do you mean? I said, Sovereign, that's who God is, and Grace,
that's how He saves. And then he asked more questions
so that I could elaborate about who this God is, this glorious
I Am. His authority is always challenged,
it's nothing new, but it cannot be challenged. There's a question,
but His authority cannot be challenged by any. He says He has the King's
heart and substitute president, substitute governors, substitute
mayors, substitute secretaries of state. He has their heart
as he does ours in his hands and he turns it as he pleases. This is the God that we worship. This is the God that we gather
together. This is the God whom we worship and whom we pray will
hear our prayer through our mediator. He has control, absolute control,
and exercises Lordship over all. Blessed forever. Amen. We need
to act like it. We need to believe it, whether
it's 2020 or whether it's 1820. It's all the same. The natural
man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. He cannot.
They're foolishness. They're foolishness. We look at the world and it's
upside down. Well, just get a history book,
or read a few commentators, or read back 18, 16, 15, read back
to 370 A.D. It's the same. It's the same. But this God, this God, here's
the amazing thing, is our God. Our God. Now here's what I read
that just, I never really looked at it this way, which is sad
to say, but I'm thankful that He continues to reveal Himself
to me. This God is our God forever and ever. This is the language
of a suitableness in God. And it is founded in truth. In
the covenant of grace established not with us, but with the surety
God has, so to speak, made over himself to his people, saying,
I will be their God. I am thine and all that I have,
my perfections, my relations, my works, my word, my ordinances,
my dispensations, I am thy salvation. To thee I am all in all. Hence,
there is no propriety like this, not only for the value of it,
but the reality of it. Justly speaking, this is what
I liked, nothing else is our own. Nothing else is our own.
And he says, our time is not our own, our wealth is not our
own, our children are not our own, our bodies, our souls are
not our own, but God is our own. He's our God. Even God, even
our own God shall bless us. And I looked at this, and looked
at this, and I had Melinda look at it, and we looked at it. It
just, it just, it got under my skin all week. The fact that the sovereign of the universe
condescended to make himself known, not only known, but to
make the two one, made us one unto Him. We have, by the sovereign,
free, discriminating choice of us, we take possession of Him. He is ours and we are His. We
are one with God in Christ Jesus. Let me see if I can't show some
scriptures to show what I'm talking about because, again, you probably
got it. I got it, but it's going to be
redundant. But I needed to go over these things. I needed to
see them. It's the wonder of wonders. This truth that God
calls His grace is total unmerited, free, unworked for, particular
discriminating grace that found us vile, corrupt sinners who would not come to Christ
that we may have life. But He must draw us or we'll
perish. Isaiah 49. This God is our God. Isaiah 49, verse 16. And I've read these verses before,
and I've read over them a lot of times, but I read them slow,
and all of a sudden you're like, whoa! Verse 16, Isaiah 49, Behold,
I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands Thy walls are continually
before me." I always looked at that really quickly. Behold,
I have graven thy name. Thy name upon my hands. That's
not what he says. Behold, I have graven thee. Your very person. The person,
particularly, specifically that I died, I sent my Son to shed
His blood for. And the Holy Spirit to renew
and quicken and make new creatures. That person. I've engraven thee
in the palms of my hand." Not just the names, but our person. So that includes everything about
us. Our griefs, our sin, our trials, our struggles, who and
what we are, He has placed in His hands. Look at verse 15. Can a woman forget her sucking
child? That she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? It's happened. Sure it's happened.
We're depraved. We're sinners. Yea, they may
forget, yet will I not forget thee. So, I'm not saying any
moms would do such a thing, but it's possible. If you don't think
it's possible, you don't know the state of your heart, the
state of yourself. We would do that. We would do
that. And it has been done. Therefore,
that verse 16, behold, that's the contrast. Anything with man. You compare men to men. Some
men come up higher. Some come up heroes. Some come
losers. Some great husbands. Some not
so good husbands. Some great moms. Some not so
good moms. There's no... But like I said
before, God is absolute. And if He has cared for you once
in the covenant relationship with His Son, He will never abandon. They may behold, but I have graven
thee in the palms of my hands. I have graven thee in the palms
of my hands. Others may and will forget us,
but never Him with whom we have to do. You think about your own relation
that are dead. And we have pictures of them,
perhaps, and we have memories of them, and those are sweet.
But you answer this question as I've answered this question.
When those folks first passed away, the first couple of months,
you thought about them a lot. But now this morning, yesterday,
weeks, And the longer they have passed from us, the fewer, the
less we receive. And that's why they named these
buildings. I don't know who Hauk is. I have no idea who that stadium
at SEMO is named after. It meant something to somebody.
Probably all those people are gone. We will be forgotten. by other humans. That's not the
issue. That's never the issue. This
is not our home. We are just passing through. Revelations chapter 21. Revelations chapter 21. This
is beautiful as well. Verse 3. Revelations 21 and verse
3. And I heard, says John, a great
voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God."
God Himself. It's not in italics, so it's
in the original. Not he, not another will dwell
with us, but God himself. God himself. And again, who is
this God? It's for this God. We've just
talked the ruler of all that he surveys. None can stay His
hand or say, what are you doing? Though we often challenge Him.
Even believers in the fit of the flesh, a fit of fear, or
a fit of unbelief. Why, Lord? Why, Lord? All this
evil has befallen me. And like I said Wednesday or
last Sunday, Joseph. Joseph. He had 12 or 13 years
since he was put in a pit, sold by his brethren, He can't even
trust his brothers according to the flesh, and we're going
to try to trust other people who we don't know who they are? You know what I'm saying? Those in authority? Oh, he's
in authority, so he's got to be... We don't put our trust
in man. Joseph. 12, 13. We know he was in jail for two
more years after the butler forgot him. So whether 13 years, Two
years in a stinking cell with no word, no scriptures. I was talking to David Pledger
and he said, yeah, the prison minister said, they've got Bibles
everywhere. They can get those things if
they want them. He had the law written in his heart though,
right? He was a believer. But I would try to put just a
memory, but the Lord would put it in there. But he didn't have
the written word, but he had an indwelling spirit. There was
no bitterness, he didn't get mean, he didn't get revenge,
he didn't get even. But he said, you meant it for
evil, but God meant it for good. Can we truly say that? Today? What about tomorrow? I don't
know. Tomorrow the evil is sufficient for itself. Leave it alone. We
have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. Our faith rests
in a risen Savior today. Romans chapter 8. You know this
one, but it's always good to go back over this. Romans 8.
We'll start in verse 35. This is like so many messages are
meant to comfort the people of God. And there is no comfort
in this world. There's temporary comfort. I
take that back. With your children and this and that, there's things
that you do and jobs and stuff. You can be content. I'm not saying
that. But it's just temporary. The true and real contentment,
the true, real satisfaction comes from simply trusting Him at what
He says in His Word. And He says this God is our God. Our God. Romans 8. Chapter 8,
starting in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword, as it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him That loved us. For I am persuaded. That's what
I desire. I desire myself to be persuaded.
To walk in faith and not in fear. Not in fear of tomorrow. Not
in fear of a disease, a bug, an insect, the plight, the plague,
any of these things. I am persuaded that neither death
nor life Angels, principalities, powers, things present or things
to come, height, depth, any other creature shall be able to separate
us. Why? Because of our God. This God. From the love of God
which is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. So those people
who are seeking love of God in things, events, science, articles,
It's not there. It's only in Christ. Again, we sing this song. We haven't sung it in a while.
We sing this song. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. Jesus
is mine. There's nothing between. And
if there's a but between, if there's a hesitancy, between us and Christ. It's not
going to work. But truly, He does the work.
He completes the work. There's nothing between us and
our Savior. Again, this unerring, truthful,
wonderful book tells His people, His church, that they are the
apple of His eye. To touch His bride is to touch
God. Zechariah 2, verse 9. It also
says that Christ in us, in us, is the hope of glory. Colossians
1, 27. He says in John 5, 4, I am the vine, we are the branches. We talked about the grafted,
the two become one. Remain in me and I in you. In
another place, you don't have to turn to these places, Ephesians
5, starting in verse 22, this to me I think is perhaps one
of the best illustrations. He says, we and Christ are married. Are married. Now, I don't know
if I said it, I can't remember, with Matt and Tara's wedding,
but I think something was, I usually say it, two become one. Become
one. Two individuals. but you become
one. Two are one together forever. No one shall cause that union
to be broken. Now if it's based on us, or our
works, or how good we are, or how good we remember, you better
be careful because as you get older, you start losing it. But if the work, if this union
has been completed, has been optimized, has been sealed, satisfied
by this God, the only true God, it can never be broken. No one shall cause this union
to be broken. We are one, says the Scriptures, with Christ,
truly, sincerely, and really. He is our God, our God. Again, back to our text in Psalms
48. But now look at Galatians. Look
with me at Galatians. I've looked at this when we studied
Galatians. I looked at this the other day. Here it is. Okay, that's good. I didn't see it quite like that.
Galatians chapter 2. And verse 20, notice the bare
naked language of the word, I, me, the believer, the sheep,
the elect of God, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
so he's not talking about death, but he is, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." It's like I've been saying for months,
fear, unless it's the fear of God, fear is not a faith. Fear
is not a faith. Fear is a detriment to faith.
And you can watch this and you can hear this and you can see
what somebody else is saying or somebody else's thoughts or
whatever and that will produce anxiety and worry and fear, but
it's not a faith. It's not faith. Faith says, come
what may, I'm going to trust Christ. I'm going to trust Christ. And there's examples everywhere
of this. Everywhere of this. Okay, Paul. You're a mariner. You have wisdom and age and a
scholarly, but you don't know anything about maritime aspects.
You don't know anything about sailing. You don't know anything
about this. In the book of Acts, the ship
broke up. Before the ship broke up, he
says, cut the boats loose. He says, because if anybody gets
out, he says, I can't guarantee. The promise was everybody's going
to be saved, but they've got to remain in the ship. And here's
this man, who's a land lover, he's telling these seasoned mariners
during Euroclodon what to do. And they did it. And I love the
part where it says, the ship broke up, but they all made it
to the island alive. And some swam, some by broken
pieces of the ship, and that's the believer's life. You're on
a ship, we're on this ship, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, wherever,
and we're heading to our promised land. We put a confidence in
the ship, it's going to break up. Put a confidence in 401ks,
may not be there. Confidence in the government,
who knows. Confidence in whatever, it's going to break up. But we're going to be safe. Now,
Bruce, he may have to swim half a mile to get to shore. I may
find a log, part of the ship, and hang on to it and get taken
in. But we're all going to be safe.
Why? Because this God is our God. This God is our God. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. I hope I am properly conveying
the text. Back to our text in Isaiah 40.
I pray that I'm, and hope that I'm, properly conveying the understanding
of the text. Yes, God in Christ Jesus is in,
for, and about his dear loved ones. The God who created the
world has condescended to worms of the dust to take up, or as
the word says, to tabernacle among us. It has to be this way. It must
be this way. If not, salvation is a myth, it's a dream, and
there's not going to be one person saved or will ever be redeemed.
But, the Scripture says, this God is our God. But He says a few words more,
forever and ever. Now, the help of man, sometimes
due to his own fault, and sometimes due to things unforeseen, sometimes
we're here, sometimes we're not. Sometimes we can get something,
you call and say, I need some help. I may start to come over
and the car may break down. There's things that happen to
man, mortal man, that we're so fickle. But not this God. It's forever
and ever. And I thought to myself, well,
I need to look this up. I could ask Audrey, I could ask Devin,
what does forever mean? It's pretty plain. It doesn't stop. It never ends.
It goes and goes and goes. You can't say that about man,
about human. But our mortality, we'll put
on immortality. Why? Because this God is our
God. It means exactly as it sounds. Forever and ever. Eternity. Forevermore. World without end. Always together
with the Lamb that was slain for us. Always next to the One
whom we love. Always. Forever and ever. I pray that God is your God this
morning. If He's your God this morning,
Cry to Him that He would be, because if He's your God, He
will be forever and ever. To God be the glory. Matt, would
you close us?