Let's turn back to Psalm 115. When I woke up this morning, I began to seek a message for you tonight. I want so very much a living word from the living God for your needy hearts in this hour. Something fresh, something comforting, something challenging, something instructive, something from God's heart to my heart to your heart.

I know that you have come here tonight from a day of long, hard, wearisome toil. I know that you have much on your mind and much on your heart. I know you have many burdens, many cares, many earthly distractions, everything in this world which Satan might use to keep our hearts from the worship of Christ, he will bring to us and to our attention.

The last thing I want to do is weary you with a lifeless lesson on religion. The last thing I want to do is add to your heart's burdens by pointing out your faults and your failings and your disappointments in life. by reprimanding and reproving. I know it's my responsibility to remind you and myself of our sin, to remind you and myself of our emptiness, of our nothingness, of our insignificance. But the last thing I want to do is leave you here this evening and to send you home to face another day, another week, with nothing but disappointment and frustration.

I want so much that God might be pleased to grant a special message for this special occasion when we come together to worship our great God and our Savior. Now, I believe he's given me such a message. If he will give me the power of his spirit to preach it, then we will be blessed of God.

My subject is set forth in verse 18 of Psalm 115. We will Bless the Lord. When I read those words this morning, I said, that's it. Lord, if you will enable me tonight to send your people away with this holy, resolute determination of heart, saying in our hearts, we will bless the Lord, then our time together this evening will be profitable. May God be pleased to grant that these words are burned into our hearts. and that these words become the words of our hearts before we leave here this evening.

Now, I'm going to just get right into the message without any further introduction, and let me give you five reasons why we will bless the Lord.

Now, this psalm was written probably by David because of some providential distress the church was experiencing. The heathen were mocking God's saints, deriding the saints of God because there were so few of them. because they were so insignificant, because they had so little influence, because they had so little of the world's good, and because they were so troubled. In the midst of troublesome times, this psalm was written to encourage God's saints to trust the Lord God with implicit confidence, to expose the vanity of all false gods and all false religion, and to excite our hearts with reasons why we should give praise to our God continually.

If you're troubled, If you're distressed, if you're tossed about in a stormy sea, if you're a child of God with a heavy heart, this psalm is written especially for you. I hope you will leave here this evening with this psalm in your heart.

First, we will bless the Lord because of his great salvation. Now, there is a direct connection. When I read a moment ago, I just read Psalm 115. But there is a direct connection between Psalm 115 and Psalm 114, the psalm that precedes it. The commentators, most of them, are of the opinion that these are not two psalms at all, but rather one psalm with two parts. The first psalm in Psalm 114 speaks of God's great salvation. It's given to us in the picture of God's deliverance of Israel. Look at what the psalmist says. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of a strange language, Judah was God's sanctuary. Israel was God's dominion. The sea saw it. And when the sea saw it, it fled. Jordan was driven back, the mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? Thou, Jordan, that thou wast driven back, ye mountains that skipped like rams, ye little hills like lambs? Tremble thou, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, which turned the rock into standing water and the flint into a fountain of waters.

Now what the psalmist is telling us by connecting these two things together, the time of trouble and the great deliverance of God's grace and salvation, he's telling us that no matter what our temporary trouble is, no matter what our present experiences are, no matter how bad things may appear outwardly, we have abundant reason to bless the Lord God because we have experienced and we continue to experience God's great salvation. We are men and women who have been saved by the blood of Christ and by the power of His grace and He continually saves us by His blood and by the power of His grace.

Notice in the psalm as you read it, Psalm 114, the psalmist speaks of deliverance out of Egypt and in the same psalm, in the very same verses, he speaks of deliverance across the river Jordan. He's telling us that God's salvation, while it is something that we experience at a point in time, when God comes and brings deliverance to His people, when God comes and gives us freedom from the bondage of sin, when God comes and saves us by His grace, that begins at a point in time, but it is a continual deliverance. It is the continual grace of God that we experience facing all of our troubles and all of our enemies.

We have come out of Egypt. The Lord has brought Israel up out of Egypt. Israel, God's elect people. Israel, the people of God's choice, has been brought up out of Egypt, out of the world, out of the cursed and condemned race. By the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover, who was sacrificed for us, our sins have been put away. So that though we were born naturally under the sentence of death, and though we were all ourselves condemned to die by nature, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us, and now there is no dread of death, for He has removed from us all curse, all condemnation, all corruption, all guilt, and all wrath. He's taken those things away by the sacrifice of Himself.

But then in time, he came to us and delivered us by the power of his grace, applying his blood to our hearts with irresistible power. When God the Holy Spirit called us in regeneration, when he called us to life and faith in Christ, he applies the blood of Christ. That is, he takes the finished work of Christ and comes to our hearts. He said, now this is for you. This is for you. The Lord God has slain His Son for you. The Lord God has laid sin upon His Son for you. And now, by the power of His grace, He sets us free from the bondage that all our life long we experienced. my life in the shackles of my own depraved nature. I lived my life in the leg irons of my own sin and I could do nothing but sin. As much as the sin caused me pain, as much as the sin aggravated my life, I could do nothing else but I was a bondman to sin and a bondman to Satan and a bondman to the lust of my flesh. But God by his almighty grace comes and reveals Christ and he sets the captive free. That's the work of his grace. We've been delivered. Not only so, but we are God's sanctuary and his kingdom.

Oh, wondrous, wondrous, wondrous grace of God. God dwells in you. The heavens cannot contain him, but God dwells in his people. We are his sanctuary. We're the place where God resides. The Lord God has made us to be his temple. Not only are we a sanctuary, we're his kingdom. The Lord exercises his sovereign rule over all things in our hearts and for our good. He that spared not His own Son, Bob, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? He that redeemed us, He that called us, He that saved us by Christ Jesus, He is our King, and He's the King of the universe, and He rules this world for the good of our hearts, for the good of our souls, and for the glory of His name.

More than that, all of our enemies have fled away before the presence of the Lord our God. Because we are redeemed, because we are called, because God dwells in us, the sea of His wrath flees away, the mountains of our sins flee away, the hills of our ignorance flee away, and God Almighty rules within us. Let the people, the nations, the kingdoms of the earth who oppose and oppress God's people tremble. The Lord God is present with His church. He's ever-present, always present, never ceases to be present.

And the Lord has opened to us an abundant, ever-flowing fountain of grace by the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ in our place. He turned the rock, you know the rock, Christ Jesus, when the rock was smitten When the Lord God took His Son and made Him to be sin for us and slew His Son in our stead, when Christ Jesus cried, It is finished, a rock was opened to us and that rock became a fountain of grace ever flowing, ever flowing with abundant grace for the sons of men.

Our temporary earthly troubles then are no indication of God's disfavor. When the psalmist comes down to Psalm 115 and he And it begins to describe this time of trouble when the heathen mockingly, jeeringly look at God's troubled people, God's afflicted people. They say, well, where is your God now? David says, remember, remember, in the midst of those earthly troubles and difficulties, in the midst of your temporary trials, that's no indication of God's disfavor. The Lord our God does deal with his own as a loving father. He chastens those whom he loves.

But don't ever think that because God brings hard times your way. Don't ever suppose that because God brings sickness, and God brings trouble, and God brings bereavement, and God allows men and women to torment you and to afflict you. Don't ever think that's an indication of God's disfavor. Look here in Isaiah 54. Let me show you this. Isaiah 54. If you haven't gotten there, just jot it down and read it later. In verse 7, the Lord says, for a small moment, just for a minute, have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath, not the terrible wrath of his judgment, but in the little wrath of a loving father, in a little wrath have I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

Now that's the promise of God's covenant. The Lord God will not impute sin to His own. Because He will not impute sin to His own, the Lord God will never, He will never, He will never forsake His own. His favor is always upon us. His smile is always upon us, for we're in Christ Jesus, accepted and to belong.

I wish we could learn that. I know we've got the doctrine of it in our heads. I know we understand the doctrine of it. But oh, if we could get it in our hearts, we would cease the mourning and the lamenting and the repining whenever we have trouble as though, well, the Lord's forsaken me. I can't possibly be one of God's children and things like this wouldn't happen to me.

We live in this generation where there are many unfree willers. Those workmonger religionists who suppose that their salvation depends upon them, who suppose that their condition in life determines whether or not God is gracious to them, who suppose that if God frowns upon them in His providence, then it's certainly because God frowns upon them in His grace. If God smiles in providence, they suppose that it's certain that God smiles in grace.

We understand better. We understand better. Our Heavenly Father chastens us, but He will not punish us. He corrects us, but He will not destroy us. He hides His face from us for a season, but He will not utterly forsake us. He even allows us to fall, but He will graciously lift us up.

This is what He says, Judah is my sanctuary. And God will never forsake his sanctuary. Therefore, we will bless the Lord.

Now that's the foundation for Psalm 115. Now a time of trouble comes and David gives us further reasons to bless the Lord.

So secondly, we will bless the Lord because he is a God worthy of praise. Look in verse one. Not unto us, O Lord, Not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

No matter what we experience, No matter what becomes of us, no matter what God does with us, no matter what God and His providence does to us, the Lord our God is worthy of praise. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away, Job said. Blessed be the name of the Lord. There is no glory, no honor, no praise due to any man for anything.

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. even in the natural, civil, social things around us. Any distinctions of men is the work of God. Whatever it is that distinguishes men from one another, that's the work of God. If a man happens to be larger, a man happens to be taller, stronger, better looking than another man, it's because God made him that way. If God is pleased to give a man a position of prominence, give a man a position of leadership, give a man a position of civic responsibility, God made him that way. If God is pleased to make a man a poor man, a destitute man, an afflicted man, a weak man, a sickly man, God did that. It's God's providence. And there's nothing to be given honor to men with regard to these things. I recognize that we give honor to whom honor is due according to God's Word and according to the principles of our Lord himself. When a man is given a place of authority over us, God has put him in authority over us and we respect him and treat him with that kind of respect.

But insofar as giving honor to men is concerned, giving honor to men as though they themselves have something in them that makes them better than others, we recognize it's not so. And this is especially true in spiritual things. Not man, but God deserves the praise. Who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? The scriptures are very plain.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The apostle says in verse 26, you see your calling, brethren. You see your election. You see who's saved by God's grace. Look around you. Look around the auditorium here this evening. You see your calling. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Nothing here to be bragged about. There's nobody here of any peculiar distinction. There's nobody here of any particularly glamorous life. There's nobody here of any particularly outstanding gifts and talents and knowledge. We're just all common folk, just the common dust of the earth, that's all. Not many noble, not many mighty, not many wise are called.

Verse 27, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world. I don't like that. If you ever come to know God, you'll learn to like it. Foolish things. We're all just foolish things. The foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, just the off-scouring of the earth, hath God chosen yea, and things which are not to bring to naught the things that are. Why? that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

We who believe not only recognize that glory is due to God alone, but we desire that God alone be glorified. The psalmist says, unto thy name give glory. Unto thy name give glory. We take no glory in our privileges, our gifts, our graces, or even our past favors. We don't even request deliverance from our present evils for our own sake. We go to God in prayer. Our prayer is not that God will bring deliverance from this trial or that trial because this is what we want. If that's the way we pray, James Lee, we pray according to our own lust that we may consume it on our own flesh. No wonder God doesn't hear us. No wonder he doesn't.

Well, I want to get out of this mess. I've had enough pain. I've had enough trouble. I've had enough difficulty. Wait a minute. God's teaching us something. We seek God's deliverance, not for our sake, but his sake. Not for our honor, but for His honor, because His name's at stake in the welfare of His people. His honor's at stake in the good of His people. And when we call upon the Lord God to deliver us, we call upon Him not for personal comfort, but for the glory of our God. In prayer, we seek not to gratify our lust, but to glorify His name. And we desire that God Almighty will give us grace that we may glorify Him ourselves. How can I glorify God? Well, you can begin by ascribing all praise to Him. You can begin by ascribing to Him all the glorious attributes of His being. You can begin by declaring to God the perfections of His nature, recognizing His sovereignty, His supremacy, and His majesty.

We give thanks and praise and glory to God when we give thanks to him for all things. For all things at all times. Giving thanks to the Lord God. Rejoice evermore. In everything give thanks. In everything. That's tough. No, that's not tough. That's blessing. That's blessing. It's tough to face all things without the knowledge of God. It's tough. It's tough to face evil. I'll tell you who's tough. That Bible who stands up and tells men and women they suffered difficulty in trial and they suffer heartache and they suffer this thing and that, but God has nothing to do with it. Now that's tough. That's tough, leaving them with no hope, leaving them with no comfort, leaving them with no strength. This is blessing. In the midst of your trouble, Bob, give thanks. God's doing this for good. God's doing this.

Well, I can't thank God for evil. That's not the point. We thank God for God. We thank God for His goodness, for His blessing, for His providence, for His grace. We thank God for Himself. And in the midst of all things, we give thanks to Him, acknowledging that they are His hand.

We give praise and glory to our God by exercising faith in Him. When we can't see anything, when there's no prop that we can get hold of, when there's no foundation that we can rest upon, when there's nothing physical, nothing tangible, nothing visible that we can look at and say, now here's the evidence of God's favor. In the midst of the most horrid trial, trust Him, and that glorifies Him. Oh, for faith to honor God. for faith to glorify the Lord our God.

And we glorify him, seek to glorify him by living for his glory, living in this world so as to bring honor and glory to God our Father. Lord God, keep me, keep me in this world from living, from acting, from speaking in such a way as to bring reproach to your name. The gospel of your grace are the glorious son of your heart.

Our God is worthy of all glory because of his mercy and his truth. Look at verse one again. Unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. His mercy and his truth are manifest in the salvation of sinners by Christ and in all the deliverances of his people as we experience them at his hands. Particularly, His mercy is revealed in the salvation of our souls by Christ Jesus. His mercy, His eternal covenant mercy planted, His immutable redeeming mercy purchased it, His effectual regenerating mercy performed it, His almighty unchanging mercy preserves it, His glorious resurrection mercy will perfect it, and His truth or His faithfulness is set forth in Christ as well.

You see, Christ is the truth. He's all the truth, nothing but the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us all the promises of God and all the promises of God in Him are true and faithful. He is the faithful and true surety and the faithful and true witness in Christ our God. We find faithfulness and truth to forgive us of all our sins.

And the Lord our God is worthy of all praise because He alone is God. Now look at verse two. Wherefore should the heathen say? The heathen, who are they? They are not tribesmen in Africa with bones in their noses. That's not who the heathen are. Now that includes them, but that's not who they are. They are not barbarians. They're not the heathen who were on this continent when our forefathers came here. Who are the heathen? The heathen are religious men and women who don't know God. Men and women who have religion but not God. Men and women who have their gods and they worship their gods and they have their form of worship and their form of religion and their creed and their practices but they don't know God. They're heathen for they're ignorant of God. The very root meaning of the word heathen is ignorance. They're ignorant of the Lord God.

Now we will not bow to nor worship nor even acknowledge the existence of the gods of the heathen. We own no God. We own no God. We acknowledge no God. We bow to no God. But the great, glorious, almighty, sovereign, electing, predestinating, redeeming, saving, preserving Jehovah. We own no other God. We will accept no other God.

Because we are few, and we are, I admit that. And they are many, and they are. The religious world around us is a vast multitude. Because we have little and they have much? Because we suffer and they prosper? The heathen around us mock and they jeeringly declare, where is now their God? You claim to worship God? You claim to be the people of God? You claim that your God alone is God? Where's your God? Where's your God? How many times have I heard men mock the gospel of God's free grace? and belittle predestination, and belittle election, and belittle divine sovereignty. And they say, look at that. How many people do you preach to on Sunday morning? 40, 50, 60, somewhere in there. I don't know. Don't count them. Well, I'd whole lot rather worship a God that brings 4,000. Where is your God? Where is your God?

You see, they judge by sight. We judge by faith. They judge by success, we judge by the word. They judge by prosperity, we judge by promise. And I response to the heathen who are around us crying belittlingly, sneeringly, jeeringly, where is your great God? As they speak, I respond and say, our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Some years ago, back in 1969, Brother Henry Mahan's son, Robbie, Flew from Kentucky to Vietnam. He was there just a few days. He was killed. Report came out in the paper. Of course, Henry is well known in the Ashland area. Been there for nearly 40 years. One of the local preachers called him up. Soon as the news broke, got him on the phone and said, where is your God now? Where is your God now? You can expect such. You can expect such. We've been declaring that our God's sovereign, that your God's nothing. We've been declaring that our God's in heaven and your God is a pygmy of your imagination. We've been declaring that our God rules and you have no God. Where is your God now? Where is your God now? Henry responded immediately, he's exactly where he was when he gave me my son. He's in the heavens. And he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. And that's our God.

In David's day, The heathen religious world worshiped gods of silver and gold. Today, the heathen around us worship their god for silver and gold. They worship God for what they can get from him. They worship God who gives much. In David's day, the heathen had their image gods. In our day, they had their imaginary gods. You see, a God whose will is frustrated, a God whose power is limited, a God whose purpose changes, a God who wants to save but cannot save, a Jesus who wants to redeem but cannot redeem, a spirit who wants to bring men to Christ but cannot bring them, a God who promises everything but has power to do nothing, is no God at all. The God of the Arminian free willer, the fundamentalist, the works religionist is no more a God than Jupiter or you. No more of a God. No more a God than this pulpit or that book or that chair.

A God whose arms are tied, a God whose will is bound, a God whose power is limited, a God whose purpose is frustrated is no God at all. No God whatsoever. He is nothing but the idolatrous figment of man's imagination. He gets no praise because he deserves no praise.

I am very little surprised, very little surprised by anything that I hear the religious leaders of our day say about God or do in reference to God. Very little surprises me. Why? Because they have no God. They got no God. They're God's promotion. They're God's success. They're God's building bigger buildings and getting more folks in. Their God is nothing. He's a nobody. He's a non-entity. He's just the figment of their imagination.

So they can say whatever they want to about him, and I will too. They can refer to him any way they want to, and I will too. He's worthy of nothing but contempt.

Right after Shelby and I were married, just before we were married, while I was away in school in Springfield, my home church, called an Arminian freewill fundamentalist preacher, and he was determined to build the biggest church in North Carolina. And just before we were married, one Sunday he had the ushers to roll in a coffin, had them roll down a coffin, set it right in front of the pulpit, and had everybody come look in the coffin, and there was a mirror there.

Oh, everybody thought it was such a grand thing, just a mockery. Just a mockery. Biggest clown, biggest popsicle, biggest this, biggest that. He run off with somebody else's wife and preaching again in California. But he gets what he deserves and they do too. No God. No God. I left the place, told the man he was a false prophet, told my family he was a false prophet. Nobody paid any attention. But he has no God.

And I'm telling you that this religious generation who have no regard for, no respect for, no reverence for the God they pretend to worship, they have no God. None whatever. Their God is in their minds. Our God is in the heavens. Their God can do nothing without their help. How often do you hear it? God wants to bless you, won't you let him? The Lord wants to save you, won't you let him? The Lord's knocking at your heart's door, won't you let him in? The Lord wants to be good to you, won't you let him?

Their God can do nothing without their help. Our God can and always does exactly what pleases him. He created exactly what he wanted to create. Exactly in creation, God has his way.

Sunday night I went home, sat down and flipping through the channels, I came across National Geographic and they were having a report of some kind about certain species of monkeys. And I got to look at those monkeys. They looked a little different from other monkeys. They were all pot-bellied monkeys. Every one of them, pot-bellied monkeys, with long tails and bald hips. Well, they had an explanation for it. I forgot what it was. But I know, I got one too. God made them that way. That's all. God made them that way. He made some of us with pot bellies and bald heads, but he made us that way. That's all. What's the difference? God makes his creatures exactly who he wants to make, what he wants to make, the way he wants to make it, puts them where he wants them to be. God's sovereign in creation. God's sovereign in creation.

Evolution is nothing but a false religion attempting to deny God of his rule in the world. It is no more evil, however, than free will fundamentalism attempting to deny God His sovereign rule in the world of redemption. In providence, God has His way. In grace, in redemption, in salvation, God has His way. Not only does God have the right to do what He will, not only does He have the power to do what He will, God always does exactly what pleases Him. Always.

Their God is made by their worshipers. They form a god. Back in those days and in other countries today, they make their gods. You know, they get them a pocket knife out, whittle out some wood, or they make them a god of clay and paint it up, or they make them a god of brass or of silver or of gold. They say, this is what God ought to look like. God ought to have big arms. And God ought to be big. And God ought to have a stern face. Or God ought to have a smiling face. And they make Him according to what they think He ought to have.

Now, I don't know anybody around here except folks up at St. Peter's and Paul's and a few of the other places where they worship images. I don't know anybody sitting here tonight who worships images. But there's a far more deceptive far more ludicrous, far more blasphemous form of idolatry that all of us are familiar with. Men have taken their imagination of what God ought to be, their imagination of what God's love ought to be, and their imagination of what God's goodness ought to be, and their imagination of what God's power and His limitations ought to be, and they have formed an image of God in their minds, and they call that God Jehovah. I'm saying that he's no God at all.

They make their God, our God makes his worshipers. Their God has a mouth, but he never speaks. Our God has no mouth. God's a spirit, but he ever speaks. Their God has eyes, but he sees nothing. Our God has no eye, but he sees everything. Their God has ears but he can't hear. Our God has no ears but he hears the very thoughts of our hearts and hears them before we ever know them. The Lord God is God Almighty.

Their God has feet but he can't walk. Our God has no feet but he walks through the universe for he's the incomprehensible omnipresent spirit who is everywhere present and he walks through all the universe in all places at all times doing all his will. Their God makes no audible sound. Look at what verse 7 says. Last line, neither speak they through their throat. The word is they speak nothing understandable. They speak nothing intelligible. They speak nothing that's coherent. They speak nothing that makes sense. They don't even make a chirp or a moan. They speak nothing through their throat.

Their God makes no audible sound. He cannot speak through his throat. He cannot be heard, and so he cannot be known. Get your little statue of Mary and set her up there. And you can paint her up. You can move her around. You can dress her up. You can do all kinds of things with her. But you can't know her. You just can't know her. She's an idol and an idol is nothing, nothing. She can't be known because she can't make herself known. And the God of this religious world, the God, the Jesus that's being preached today, the Spirit that's being preached today, the God that's being preached today, he cannot be known because he cannot make himself known. He cannot make himself known. You see, free willism is all confusion. They are all confused. Everybody, every religion in the world. I don't care. I don't care where you go. I don't care what name you give it. I don't care whether you go to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, the Buddhist Shrine. It doesn't matter. All religion outside the gospel of God's free graces, free will works religion and yet there's no coherence to any of it. They've all got their opinion and their theories and their notions because they don't know their God. They cannot know nothing. It's impossible to know nothing and their God is a nothing, a non-entity, just the figment of their imagination. So there's nothing but confusion.

You find me one of God's children here, you find me one sitting right here in Danville, Kentucky tonight, and go to West Africa and find one in a mud hut, and I'm going to show you two men who believe exactly the same thing. They know that salvation is by grace. They know that atonement is by Christ. They know that Jesus Christ alone is mediated between God and men. They are taught of God. For God, you see, our Father, makes himself known through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Only a fool, only a fool would worship pray to and serve a God whose power is limited, whose will is changeable, whose grace is frustrated, whose purpose is defeated, whose redemption is a wasted failure, and whose salvation is conditional. As their God is helpless and ignorant, as their God is nothing, just senseless, just senseless, so are those who make their God and worship their God.

Look at verse 8. They that make them are likened to them." What's that mean? Dumb and helpless. Dumb and helpless. Their God is dumb and helpless and they are dumb and helpless. So is everyone that trusteth in them.

We will bless the Lord because of his great salvation. And we will bless the Lord because he's a God worthy of praise. And thirdly, we will bless the Lord because he is our help and our shield.

Look at verse 9. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. We acknowledge that we are helpless in ourselves, and we know that the help of man is vain, but the Lord God our Savior is our help and our shield.

God our Father is our help, for he has laid help upon one that is mighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has promised to help us in all our troubles, and he has set up a throne of grace to help us in every time of need. God the Son is our help. Christ Jesus has helped us, redeeming us out from under the curse of the law. He has helped us, delivering us from the bondage of sin and death. He helps us now, ruling all things for us, making intercession for us, and guiding us in his way. And God the Holy Spirit is our help. For He reveals Christ in us and reveals Christ to us. He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. He brings us to our Savior and brings our Savior to us. He teaches us how to pray and makes certain that we do pray.

And the Lord God is our shield, a shield to defend us as well. He's a wall of fire about us. He's our strong tower. He's our mighty fortress. He defends us. How does that song go? We sing, mortals are immortal here until their work is done. A thousand shall fall at thy feet and ten thousand at thy right hand, but no disease shall come near you. The Lord God defends our bodies. He defends us. The Lord defends us from disease and defends us from our enemies. and defends us from sickness and defends us from all things in this world. He defends us as long as he's pleased to defend us. He defends us. And nothing can harm us without his direct permission. Nothing. Not Satan, not the demons of hell, not our enemies. No arrow formed against thee, no weapon formed against thee shall prosper. A dog shall not even bark against you except by God's decree. That's the book of God. God tells us that.

So why should we fear anything or anyone? Why should we be afraid? The Lord God shields our bodies from evil and he shields our hearts from error. You have an unction from the Holy One, you know all things. And he shields our souls from destruction. There is no condemnation, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. There's not a privilege greater, an honor higher, a refuge safer than the Lord God our Savior. Now, what I'm talking about is not the privilege of a favored few, but this is the blessed privilege of all God's elect. Jehovah is our help and he's our shield. He's as much Shirley Roseboom's help as he is Don Fortner's. and as much Hubert's as he is his daughter's. He's our help and our shield. He's our help and our shield.

Notice what he says in verse 9. Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Israel. Who is that? I know who it is. You know what Israelite is, don't you? There was a fellow named Jacob, a tricky fellow, a deceitful fellow, a cunning fellow. A crafty fellow. A distrustful fellow. A lying fellow. There was a fellow named Jacob. God met him one day and said, your name's Israel. Your name's Israel. Who are Israelites? They are all who are chosen by God. Who are Israelites? Everyone that is ransomed by the blood of Christ. Everyone that's called by God's grace. Who are these Israelites? They are the tried ones of the earth, the struggling ones of the earth, the sinful ones of the earth. Israel, you chosen, redeemed, called, tried, struggling, sinful men and women. Trust in the Lord. He's your help, He's your shield. He's your help and He's your shield. He's the help and shield of each of his faithful servants as well.

In verse 10 he says, O house of Aaron, these were the men set aside particularly by God for the priesthood, to minister in the sanctuary, to be examples and leaders and instructors to Israel. He says, O servants of God, O ministers of the Most High God, you who lead my people, you who guide my people, you who instruct my people, trust in the Lord. He's your help and he's your shield. He helps us in all our responsibilities, and He protects us in all our appointed ways.

Some of you, and others as well, have asked me on various occasions if I don't worry about my wife and daughter when I'm away so much of the time. Why, no. No, I really don't. There have been some times I have. That's because of my own belief in sin. But generally, no, I don't worry about them. I don't worry about them. I love them. I love them dearly, but don't worry about them. I'm away doing God's bidding. I'm away preaching the gospel of God's grace. I'm away doing what God bids me to do. The Lord God is my help and my shield. I have nothing to fear, nothing whatsoever. The Lord God helps and the Lord God protects his own. And thirdly, the Lord our God is the help and the shield of every true believer. Look at what it says in verse 11. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. He will help you and He will shield you. Do you fear Him? Do you reverence the Lord God? Do you trust our Savior? He's your help. Whatever the help is you need, He's your help. He's your shield from whatever you need to be protected, He's your shield.

And fourthly, we will bless the Lord because he has been mindful of us. I've got to hurry. Verse 12, the Lord hath been mindful of us. That is, he was mindful of us in his everlasting covenant. He set his eye on us and he said, I'll be their God and they shall be my people. He fixed his heart upon us and he said, I'll love you and you're going to love me. He said, I'll not forsake you and I'll fix it so you can't forsake me. He's been mindful of us. and he is ever mindful of us in his marvelous providence. Whatever God's doing, whatever he's doing, he's got his eye on you. He's got his eye on you. If you belong to him, he does it because he loves you. Whatever he's doing, whatever he allows to be done, Why on earth did God turn Job over to Satan? I know why he turned him over to him, because he loved Job. Why did God send so much trouble to that one man? Because he loved that one man. Why on earth did Job have to go through so much? Because God loved him, and God was doing him good. He's mindful of us. No matter how bitter the tears are, no matter how your cheeks burn, no matter how your heart rushes, I tell you, child of God, the Lord hath been mindful of us, mindful of us.

And look at the next line, verse 12. He will bless us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear him. Isn't that good? He will bless all His chosen ones in time. He'll do it. Some of you here have not yet been called by His grace, but I'm telling you, if you're chosen of God, He's going to bless. He's going to bless. He'll bless all of His elect. The Lord God will bless all of His servants, all of them, all our labors, all our endeavors, all our efforts. He'll bless them. The Lord God will bless all His people, all who trust Him.

Now look at the next line, both small and great. Both small and great. Some of God's people, some of his choice people, are poor, unknown, insignificant, isolated people, living in obscurity, ill-blessed. Some of them are great, mighty people. living in abundance and affluence and great influence. He'll bless. Some of God's servants preached a little handful. Nobody knows them. Nobody's ever heard tell of them. Don't speak their name. Go to the town where they live, speak their name. I don't know him. No, no. No, I don't know him. Never heard of him. You sure he lives around here? Yeah, he's been here all his life. Never heard of him. Never heard of him. God will bless. God will bless him. I don't have any question about it. Some of God's servants preach to multitudes. God will bless. God will bless them.

The Lord, then we're told in verse 14, will increase you more and more. He will increase your knowledge, all that I may know him. More about Jesus would I know. He'll increase it. He'll increase your graces. Oh, that I might believe more, that I might love more, that I might trust more, that I might hope more, that I might sacrifice more, that I might do more. He'll increase. He'll increase your gifts, your abilities to use that which he's put in your hands for his service, for his glory. He'll increase your usefulness. He'll increase your numbers.

He adds to his church daily such as should be saved. Sometimes those whom he will add are added in great numbers all at once. Sometimes they're added one or two here and there. But God adds to his church every day exactly whom he intends to save.

And look what else he says. He will increase you more and more, you and your children. How do you like that? Somebody says, does that promise that since we're believers and we worship God and we follow Christ, God's gonna save our children? No, that's not what it means at all. He's talking about you who believe and your children in the kingdom of God.

There are some sitting here tonight who are children of this church. They've been born again by God's spirit through the preaching of this gospel, by God's free grace, through the usefulness and influence of this assembly. God will bless you and your children. This, after all, is our family, is it not? And we seek his blessings upon his children.

And then look at the next line, verse 15. Ye are blessed of the Lord, blessed of the Lord which made heaven and We have been blessed, blessed of God with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We are now blessed. We're the children of God. We shall be blessed for we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We are blessed by God whose blessings none can take away. And we are blessed from heaven, blessed in heaven, and blessed with heaven. All of God's children, blessed of the Lord.

But then notice in verse 16 again, this next line, but the earth hath he given to the children of men. God teach me not to be envious at the prosperity of wicked men. The earth. Adam forsook God for the earth. And the sons of Adam today run from God seeking the earth and God's given it to them. God's given it to them. This earth has he given to the sons of Adam. He's given. No wonder the wicked prosper. You read Psalm 92 and you'll see their end. For the Lord God says this earth is their portion and in enjoying their portion He is fattening them as calves in a stall to be slaughtered in the day of judgment. The earth has he given to the children of men. What a sorrowful portion.

We will bless the Lord because of his great salvation, because he is a God worthy of praise, because he's our help and our shield, because he's mindful of us. And lastly, we will bless the Lord because we're the only ones who can.

Verse 17, the dead praise not the Lord. The dead praise not the Lord. Those who are spiritually dead can't praise him. Some of you here tonight are dead. You're dead spiritually. You have no life toward God. You can't praise him. You can't praise him. The dead can't praise him. The religious world around us can't praise him. Doesn't matter how much they hoop and holler and dance and throw up their hands and kick off their shoes and roll in the aisles and have a big time and smile and care. They can't praise him. They're dead. They're dead. Those who are dead eternally in hell can't praise Him. Oh, God will use them for the praise of His name. They will render the due praise to Him by His judgment upon them. But they, to praise Him, they have neither the heart nor the desire to do so. But we will bless the Lord. This is the holy, resolute determination of our hearts. We will bless the Lord personally. Personally, we will bless Him. And collectively, I speak as a spokesman for this assembly. I say in this place, we will bless the Lord. We will bless the Lord.

Let others have their quartets, and others have their singings, and others have their parties, and others have their gymnasiums, and others have their ball teams. In this place, we will bless the Lord. We'll bless him in our hearts. We'll bless him in our creed. Our doctrine is a doctrine that gives blessing and honor to the Lord our God. We'll bless him in the songs we sing. We'll bless him in the word we preach. And God help us to bless him in the lives we live. We will bless the Lord from this time forth.

I like the way David speaks. while the heathen say, while the heathen mock and jeer, while the heathen laugh at us, while the world looks at us with disdain and scorn and says, why those folks, that bunch of sovereign graces, they're hyper-Calvinists, they're antinomians, they don't know anything, they don't know. Where is now their God? We will bless the Lord from henceforth, right now, right now we'll bless him. We will bless Him as we experience His daily mercy. We'll bless Him even when we are tried and afflicted. We'll bless Him in the confession of Christ, bless Him in the remembrance of Christ, and bless Him in hearing of Christ. God, enable me. Lord, God, enable me from this time forth to bless Thee. And we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

How could David say such a thing? from this, from right now, right now and forever. We'll bless it. We'll bless it. Oh God, help us with David, honestly, resolutely, make this our determination. We will bless the Lord. Weariness will not suspend our praise. Trouble will not silence our hearts and death will not interrupt our blessing upon the Lord our God.

Ralph Barnard some years ago, he said he had a dream. He said, I dreamed that I could hear the choirs of heaven singing. I was off in the distance. But the voices got louder. It seemed I got nearer, nearer. The Lord had called me away. He said, as I entered the gates of the city beautiful, I saw that multitude, that great, great multitude, singing the praise of the Lord God. I got a little closer, and I could see way up in the back, you see, in that great choir. I got a little closer, and I could hear the words they sang. Thou art worthy. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us, our God, out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue." He said, I knew the song, knew it well. And I looked closer and saw that seat had my name on it. And I walked right up and took my place in that place prepared for me from the foundation of the world and began with the choirs of heaven to bless the Lord our God.

We will bless the Lord from this time forth, even forevermore. God help us to bless Him. Some of you have never yet blessed Him. You've never yet spoken a word of praise to the Lord God from your heart. Oh, God give your heart now to bless Him. May He so bless you that you may bless Him. Praise the Lord in your heart. Praise the Lord with your faith. Praise the Lord in your life. Praise the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.