Great to see Kate. This is the
first time I've seen her. An Ole Miss Rebel. Would you turn to Psalm 113. Just a note, going to Mexico,
I mentioned this Wednesday night, it was such a joy to see that
a missionary is no longer needed. There are solid men preaching
there, and I was just so thankful to see that. And we're certainly
still gonna have a support of the work there, supporting the
men, but it was very special, I was very thankful. Psalm 113. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the
Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun. unto
the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens. Who is likened to the Lord our
God? Who dwelleth on high? Who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven and in the earth. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill that he may
set him with princes even with the princes of his people. He
maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother
of children. Praise ye the Lord. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we're so thankful for your word. We're so thankful for your gospel. And we ask in Christ's name that
we might be enabled from our hearts to praise you, as the
psalmist says. We're so thankful. For who you
are. We're so thankful for the forgiveness
of sins and the complete salvation that we have in your son. We pray that you'd speak to each
heart here according to your will. That you'd be with all
your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's name we
pray, Amen. Hallelujah. Praise ye. the Lord. Would to God that we
will do just that. Notice how he says, praise, O
ye servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Now, this is a very. I don't
know what it's a very serious thought right now when the Lord
looks at me and you. He either sees servants of the
Lord. or servants of the devil. That's
a scary thought, isn't it? You know, most who would be probably
maybe all who are servants of the devil don't know they are
servants of the devil. Remember when the Lord said,
ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father
you will do? That's what he said to a large group of people, the
Pharisees. They certainly didn't believe
they were servants of the devil. They thought they were servants
of the Lord. Servants of the Lord. There is no higher privilege. And this is what every believer
is, a servant of the Lord. The religion of grace, not the
religion of works. Praise the Lord, ye servants
of the Lord. And then he says in verse one,
praise the name of the Lord. Now that is not merely speaking
of articulating his name. Turn to Exodus 34 for just a
moment. I want us to remember this whenever
we read of the name of the Lord. Verse 5 of Exodus 34, and the
Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed
the name of the Lord. There it is. And the Lord passed
by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands. Forgiving iniquity and transgressions
and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty. Visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's
children and to the third and to the fourth generation. Now
when he proclaimed the name of the Lord, he gives his attributes. The name of the Lord is the person
behind the name. Now, Arthur Pink wrote a book
entitled The Attributes of God. It's very short, 105 pages each
chapter, probably no more than three or four pages. That's the
kind of book I can read. I lose attention when those big
long volumes, my eyes glaze over and I start getting bored. But
this is a book I would highly recommend. It's very simple. The attributes of God, and let
me give you the names of the chapters of this book. When we're
talking about the name of the Lord, that's his attributes.
That's his characteristics. He begins with the solitariness
of God. Look in verse five of our Psalm,
who is like unto the Lord, our God. The solitariness of God,
there's nobody like him. There's no one you can compare
him to. Any comparison you make, the
Lord's like this. No, he's not. There's no one
like him. He's all together by himself. He's solitary. There's none like
him. As a matter of fact, hold your
finger there and psalm and read Isaiah 45. I'll just read this
to you. I am the Lord and there's none else. There is no God beside me. In Isaiah chapter 46, verse nine,
he says, remember the former things of old, for I am God and
there is none else. I am God and there's none like
me. That's why idolatry is so evil. Any representation we make of
God is a slam on his character. There's no one like God. His second chapter was called
the decrees of God. And what that means is that everything
that takes place, this is part of his attributes. This is who
he is. Everything that takes place, no matter what it is,
he determined for it to take place in eternity. It covers
everything. And you know, I get such satisfaction
from that because if there's anything that's not included
in that, I get scared. What's going to happen? But we
have this confidence that the Lord is in control of everything. Every event of my life, every
event, all things work together for good. All things. What does that include? All things. Work together for good. To them
that love God, to them who have called according to his purpose.
And then there's the knowledge of God, his omniscience. He knows
everything. There's the foreknowledge of
God. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Behold,
I've loved thee with an everlasting love. Whom he did foreknow, them
he also did predestinate. He's got a chapter on the supremacy
of God, and it's stated in verses four and five of our text in
Psalm 113. The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens. Who is likened to the Lord our
God who dwelleth on high, who humbles himself to behold the
things that are in heaven and the things that are in earth?
The sovereignty of God. You know, only he's sovereign.
If he's sovereign, nothing else is. He doeth according to his
will. Now listen to that. He doeth
according to his will. In the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand, none
can check him, none can stop him or call him into question.
What doest thou? Give an account to yourself. He doeth according
to his will. And it's all good and it's all
perfect and it's all holy and it's all right and it's all just. The immutability of God. I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. He doesn't change. He's utterly
faithful to who he is. You know, when I've heard people
say, I don't want to put God in a box, I hate it when people say that. You can't put him in a box. I'm
not worried about that. But he is absolutely as he is
all the time. He's utterly predictable in that
sense. He's going to do as he will because he's God. The holiness
of God, His absolute otherness, the independence of God. Go on
to the justice of God. He said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. God's attributes, that's the name we're celebrating. He says, praise, O ye servants
of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Verse two, blessed
be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. I love the way Paul dealt with
this thought. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, when is he to be praised
and blessed like this? Well, from this time forth, right
now, If you haven't done this before, do it now by the grace
of God. Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore, eternally. Verse three, how often
is the Lord's name to be praised from the rising of the sun until
the going down of the same? The Lord's name is to be praised. His glorious person, his attributes. Now, I realize that the, Old
man doesn't do that, but the new man does all the time. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Verse four, the Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens. We have the atmosphere where
the birds fly. We have the. Heavens of the galaxies
and the stars. And and then we have the third
heaven, that's where Paul was brought when the Lord taught
him the gospel, he brought him into the third heavens. And the
Lord is above all of that. That's the vastness of the Lord.
The universe is in him. Before there was a creation,
all there was, was God. In his omnipresence, you couldn't
go anywhere where he was not. And his glory is above the heavens. Verse five. Who is like unto the Lord? Nobody. He's incomparable. Think of this, he's made himself
known to you. Isn't that amazing? That the Lord would make this
glorious God, the God of the universe, would make himself
known to me, that he would reveal his son to me. This one God in
three distinct persons, who's like him? I've heard people try
to give illustrations. Well, the Trinity's like this.
Don't make an illustration. Just believe what God says about
himself and his word. He's one God in three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. There's nobody like him, and
he's made himself known to me. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me, make himself
known to me, save me. Who is like unto the Lord our
God, who dwelleth on high above the heavens? And look what it
says next about him, who humbleth himself to behold the things
that are in heaven and in the earth. Now, God, the God of glory is humble. The Holy Spirit. is humble. Doesn't pride seem utterly offensive
when you see the pride in your own heart when you think of the
Lord being this way? Christ described himself as meek
and lowly in heart. Sinners never felt threatened
and judged by him. God the Holy Spirit, he shall
not speak of himself But whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak,
he shall glorify me. His office is to glorify the
Lord Jesus Christ, not himself. God the Father humbling himself. And when he looks down at the
things in heaven, in heaven, he's humbling himself. Much more
the things in earth. He humbles himself to behold
the things that are in heaven and the things that are in the
earth. I think about the way the Lord humbled himself. He
humbled himself to become a man. He humbled himself to have the
limitations of the flesh like you and I do. He didn't have
to, but he did how he humbled himself when he went to the cross
and was made sin. The thing that he hated, the
thing that is so revolting and disgusting to God, he was made
to be. He loved his father so much.
He humbled himself. And to think of this God of glory
humbling himself, and when I think of the wretched pride that dwells
in our hearts, it seems so offensive, doesn't it? God humbles himself. To behold the things that are
in heaven and in the earth. Now look in verse seven. He raises
up the poor. out of the dust. That's talking
about the resurrection. He raises the poor out of the dust and
he lifteth, and that word lifteth is generally translated exalts.
He exalts the needy out of the dunghill. Now this is in, you
probably know if you've read the prayer of Hannah in first
Samuel chapter two, this is quoted there. I don't know which one
was written first, this or that, but poor and needy, poor and
needy. I hope I'm poor and needy this
morning. I hope you are too. That is the way David, the man
after God's own heart, described himself more than any other way.
Poor. Now he was wealthy, but he was
poor. Not only was he poor, he had
nothing to bring to the table, nothing to recommend himself.
He was needy. He had great needs. Now, would to God that he would
put in my heart and in your heart this attitude right now of being
poor and being needy. Poor and needy, that's the best
place you can be. Poor and needy. Now listen to this. Because I'm
poor, I need this written revelation from God. I need this. If I don't have this, I don't
have anything. I've got my opinion and your opinion. That scares
me to death. Thank God for the written revelation of God. I need God to be who he says
he is in this word. I need this. I need every attribute of God.
When I call upon the name of the Lord to save me, I'm asking
every attribute of God to save me. Lord, save me as an act of
your sovereign will. Save me by your holiness. Save
me by your justice. Save me by your grace. Save me.
That's what it means to call on his name. I need, listen to
this, I need God to elect me. I need to be chosen of God. I
won't be saved if I'm not. You know, people argue about
election. I need election. I need the God
of election. I need Jesus Christ to be my
representative. I need Jesus Christ to be united
to me and me being him. I need him to keep the law for
me. I need to be in him. I need him to die for my sins
and atone for my sins. I need this. We're not talking about arguing
over doctrine. People argue over limited atonement. That's ridiculous.
I need Jesus Christ to put away my sin completely where he does
it all. I need God the Holy Spirit to
give me a new heart. I need God the Holy Spirit to
preserve me. I need salvation to be all of
grace. You see, this is, I'm poor. Not
only am I poor, I have great needs. And that's true all the
time. I'm poor and I'm needy. Now look what he says with regard
to the poor and needy. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust. Now, how dependent are we on
the Lord for resurrection? I can't think of anything that
demonstrates more clearly how dependent we are. Resurrection,
can you raise yourself from the dead? When you turn into dirt,
and that's going to be our dust, dirt, that's what we are. Only the Lord can raise the poor
out of the dust. And look what it says next. He
lifteth, he exalts the needy out of the dunghill. Now my dress
is dunghill drive by nature. That's my dress. And he exalts,
exalts the needy. You know, the Lord said, as the father hath loved me,
So have I loved you. We wouldn't believe that unless
the Lord told us that. That the world may know that
thou has loved them as thou has loved me. You want to talk about
being exalted, being, um, United to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So God looks at me the same way he looked at his son. That's just part of the mystery
of the gospel. We believe what God says and
we can't understand it, but it's true. Thou has loved them. These are the words of the Lord,
John 17, 23. Thou has loved them as thou has loved me. Now don't
ever think my life's mundane and insignificant. The Lord loves
you. That makes everything about you
special to the Lord. The Lord loves you. Verse 8, that he may set him
with princes, even the princes of his people. Now that word
prince is not the word that's normally translated prince. It's
a different word and it carries with it the idea of willingness. Willingness. Thy people shall
be willing, shall be volunteers in the day of thy power. I am drafted and I'm a volunteer. God elected me. And I volunteer
to be liked. I say that reverently, I hope.
Christ died for me and I'm willing for him to be all in my salvation. That's the way this works. You
become willing in the day of his power. Are you willing to
be saved by Christ? Are you willing to be saved by
his grace? Are you willing to have his righteousness
as the only righteousness you have? Are you willing that that's
a believer that he may sit him among princes, even the princes
of his people? I love the scripture, thou shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people. Well, I want
to be one of his people, don't you? He shall save his people
from their sins. Now, the psalm closes with this
statement. He maketh. This is omnipotence. This is irresistible grace, invincible
grace. He maketh the barren woman. Now the greatest reproach to
a woman in the Old Testament was to be barren. Give me children
or I die. And the Lord mercifully makes
the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of
children. Now, what I thought about, I
thought about the barrenness of my own heart. It can't produce
life. It's dark. Genesis 6, 5, God saw the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart. Just the thoughts right now,
we're not even talking about the actions, the thoughts of his heart. Was
only evil, nonstop. That heart, barren, lifeless. God makes it alive. The barren is given life, spiritual
life. And a joyful mother of children. That's the work of God in us.
The joyful mother of children. Every believer bears the fruit
of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The life
of God in you. The life of the Holy Spirit in
you. And that's joyful. The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness Christ's
righteousness, the peace that is a result of him being my only
righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What joy it gives
me to know that Christ did my righteousness before God. I'm
good to go because of him. The joyful mother of children. And then he ends again with this
statement that he began with, praise ye the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul and
all that's within me. Bless his holy name. Amen.