Psalm 89, the third longest psalm
in the Psalms, 52 verses. And my desire is to cover them
all briefly, but I listened to a message by John Chapman on
Psalm 89, and he only got through the first four verses. And it was great, but I hope
to, through the whole song. Let's pray. Lord, would you be pleased in
your mercy to speak to our hearts from your word? Lord, we ask
that you would deliver us from self-deception. We ask that you
would deliver us from our own thoughts, and that you would
be pleased to speak. Lord, if you speak, what else
would we need? Bless us for the Lord's sake,
in his name we pray, amen. Now the author of this psalm
was a contemporary of Solomon, and he actually lived under the
kingship of David. I think that's interesting. Now
this is a Psalm of Christ, speaking of him being the anointed, but
the man who wrote this Psalm actually was under David's kingship. Now look in verse one. I will sing Whenever we sing, may we sing
from our hearts for the glory of God. I will sing. You know, when these hymns we
sing and we just don't think about what the words are, it's
not good. I will sing. May the Lord enable
us to always have this in our hearts. You know, we're going
to hear the Lord sing one of these days. This is speaking
of him, but one of these days we're gonna experience when he
said, I will sing praise unto thee before my brethren. To think
of the Lord singing. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations. Now, this is obviously the Lord
speaking. And he says, I will sing, I will make known with
my mouth, thy faithfulness. Now, this is one of seven times
in this psalm, faithfulness, the faithfulness of the Lord
is mentioned. And I was thinking, how could
we define the faithfulness of God? It's a beautiful attribute. The Lord will never act contrary
to any of his attributes. That is faithfulness. You can
completely rely on what he says. Aren't you thankful? He says,
with my mouth, I will make known, I'm going to articulate the faithfulness
of God to all generations, for I have said, Mercy shall be built
up forever, now salvation by the mercy of God. Mercy is important when your
sin is all your fault. That's when it's important. When
it's not your fault, it's take or leave it. But when your sin
is all your fault, you need mercy. And this is what the psalmist
speaks of. For I've said, mercy shall be
built up forever. And I like this word built up. That implies a purpose, um, a
design, and it's a permanent building built up. The scripture says we are a spiritual
house. We're the temple of God. And this is what he's talking
about when he's talking about mercy being built up this spiritual
house forever. He mentions. God's faithfulness
again, thy faithfulness shall thou establish in the very heavens. Verse three, I have made a covenant
with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant. Now this is speaking of the covenant
of grace. He's talking about David's Lord. David means the
beloved, and Jesus Christ is the beloved. And he says, I have
made a covenant with my beloved. Speaking of the eternal covenant
of grace, I have sworn unto David, my servant, verse four, thy seed.
Let's talk about the elect. That's his seed, the elect. Thy seed, we're born of him. Thy seed will I establish forever. and build up thy throne, the
throne of his absolute sovereignty to all generations. And the heavens shall praise
thy wonders." Don't you love that scripture in Psalm 19, the
heavens declare the glory of God. I just love that. I mean, you just look at God's
creation and it's a declaration of his glory. The heaven shall
praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness. There's a third
time this is mentioned in the first five verses. Also, in the
congregation of the saints. Now his faithfulness is what
I'm relying on. His absolute, utter dependability. You can believe his word. When
he said it is finished, I'm relying on his faithfulness. It's finished. My salvation is accomplished
by what he did. This is the reliance of every
believer. Aren't you thankful the Lord
is faithful? Utterly dependable. I mean, I
don't want to sound... All men are liars. Amen. All men are liars. He only is
faithful. Utterly, completely faithful. Now, I just gave a scripture
for when I said all men are liars. You know, David, that's, it's
true. But he is utterly faithful. Verse six, for who in the heaven
can be compared unto the Lord? And who among the sons of the
mighty? And what I've read is those are the angels, is what
he's referring to. Who in the sons of the mighty
can be compared to him? Now, this is one of the many
glorious things of the Lord. You can't compare him to anybody.
He is other. He is altogether other. You can't say with regard to
anything, the Lord's like him or the Lord's like that. No,
he is other. And any comparison we make with
him is idolatry. It's bringing him down to our
own base thoughts and levels. He is other. Who among the sons of the mighty
can be likened unto the Lord? I remember reading Charles Spurgeon
make this statement. I thought it was so good. And
he said, if you said, who is the Lord most like, an angel
or a grasshopper? And if you answered angel, you're
wrong. You're wrong. There's no one
that can be compared. There's nothing that can be compared
with the Lord. Verse seven, God is greatly,
Psalm 89, verse seven, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly
of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are
about him. Now here's two words that I hope
you and I can get a hold of. Fear and reverence. The fear
of God. Now, this is not the fear of,
oh, if I mess up, he'll make me sick or he'll make me wreck
or I'll lose money or something. That's not the fear of God. The
fear of God is such a reverence and respect for his person that
you are afraid to look anywhere but Christ alone at all times. That is fear. That is reverence. God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all
them that are about him. Oh, verse eight, oh Lord God
of hosts, who's a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness
round about thee. Now he speaks of his omnipotence.
Who's a strong Lord like unto thee? Now, what would the Lord's
will be without his omnipotence? It'd be like mine. I can will
things and wish things, but I can't bring anything to pass. He has
the power to bring whatever he wills to pass. And he does always
make his will come to pass. Who's a strong Lord like unto
thee? And once again, he celebrates his faithfulness, the faithfulness
of God. Great is thy faithfulness. Verse nine, thou rulest the raging
of the sea, and the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. The
Lord demonstrated this, didn't he? Remember when he said to
the wind and to the waves, peace, be still. And there was a great
calm. Only God can control the weather. Can you imagine the power we
would have if we could control the weather? I remember one time
when I was in Mexico, it was thought somehow, this is what
Cody told me anyway at the time, he said, the Mexicans think that
the United States has the ability to make the hurricane just hover
over them. And well, if we did have power
like that, we'd have some power, wouldn't we? But we don't have
any power. But he has power. He over the raging that seemed
so uncontrollable. He controls all of it. Oh, this is my father's world.
Everything that happens. He is an absolute control over. Verse 10, thou has broken Rahab. That's Egypt. And the word Rahab,
Egypt is referred to Rahab several times. I'm not talking about
Rahab the harlot, but this is talking about Egypt. And it means
proud one. Oh, God hates pride. God hates pride. And you think
of the pride in your own heart. I think of the pride in my own
heart. It scares me. hates pride. Six things that
the Lord hate, yea, seven are abomination to him. The first
thing he mentions is a proud look and a haughty spirit. Thou has broken Rahab in pieces
as one is slain. Thou scattered thine enemies
with thy strong arms. I tell you, if somebody's an
enemy of the Lord, they've got an enemy that they can't defeat. He scattered
his enemies with his strong arm. The heavens, verse 11, the heavens
are thine. The earth also is thine. Don't you love that scripture? The earth is the Lord's. And
the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein,
everything belongs to him. I love thinking of this. The
Lord is Lord, both of the dead and the living. Somebody's dead
in sins, they belong to the Lord. Not by way of salvation, but
they belong to him. Yes, he has a sheep, but the goats are his
too. He is in absolute control of everybody and everything. The heavens are thine, the earth
also is thine as for the world and the fullness thereof thou
has founded them. Now I like this word, the fullness
thereof. Now I firmly believe we ought
to be very responsible. And we ought to be responsible
toward the environment. We shouldn't be polluting. We
ought to be doing everything we can to protect the environment.
But when I hear these guys talking about, we're going to ruin the
world, the world's going to be destroyed because of us, I think, do you
think you have that much power? The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. Notice he says fullness, not
the, we're running out of stuff. No, we're not. No, we're not. The Lord's in control. This is
His world. And I'm not a bit worried about,
well, we're gonna ruin this planet. We're gonna make it to where
we... Once again, I'm not advocating irresponsibility. We ought to
be responsible in everything we do, but this is the Lord's
world and the fullness thereof, not the lack thereof that we're
running out of stuff. No, the fullness thereof is,
He's God. Aren't you thankful? He's God. Look at this in verse 12, the
North and the South, thou has created them. You know, that's
so glorious. I don't even know what to say
about it. Whatever the North is, he created it. Whatever the
South is, up, down, he created it. Tamar and Hermon shall rejoice
in thy name. Those are two mountains. They'll
rejoice in his name and his attributes. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
as thy hand, and high as thy right hand. Speaking once again
of his power. Verse 14, here's something we
can rely on. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy thrones. I love what Abraham said, shall
not the judge of the earth do right? Justice and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. Now, I don't understand. why he does what he does, but
I trust his character, whatever he does. Somebody says, well,
that doesn't seem right. You don't, don't be God's judge. Whatever he does is right. And
I don't need to understand. I just understand this justice
and judgment are the habitation of his throne. And whatever he
does is right. Holy, just, and true. We trust
his character. He says in verse 14, mercy and
truth shall go before thy face." His saving mercy that's never
in conflict with his absolute truth of his character. Verse
15, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound, the sound
of the gospel. They know the gospel in their
heart and it's a joyful sound. To know that all God requires
of me, I have in Christ, that's a joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day. And in thy righteousness shall
they be exalted. Do you find Christ's righteousness
precious as being your only righteousness before God? And you really believe
that? And you know that in his righteousness,
you're exalted. Verse 17, for thou art the glory
of their strength. The glory thou has given me,
I've given them. And in thy favor, our horn shall
be exalted. His favor is why we can be saved. His grace. For the Lord is our
defense. He's our protection. The Holy
One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in vision to
thy Holy One and said, I have laid help. upon one that is mighty. Who is that? Jesus Christ. He's your help. He's your help. I need help. You got it in him. He's your help and the Lord hath
laid help on one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Christ is the chosen of God.
I have found David, my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him. Now, this is speaking of the
Christ anointing as the prophet, priest, and king. God anointed
him as his prophet. He is the word of God. God's anointed him as his priest. If he represents you before God,
you must be saved. God has anointed him as his king. Yet have I sent my king. on my
holy hill of Zion." Well, this psalm is just filled with worship,
isn't it? Verse 21, with whom my hand shall be established,
mine arm also shall strengthen him. This is God speaking of
his son. The enemy shall not exact upon
him, he won't oppress him, nor the son of wickedness afflict
him. When people present the Lord being in a fight with the
devil, That ain't much of a fight. He'll crush him just like that. There's no fight between omnipotence
and great power. Omnipotence is a whole lot stronger.
Verse 23, I will beat down his foes before his face and plague
them that hate him. Now, remember this, what God
thinks about you is seen in what you think about his son. If you
want to know what God thinks about you, how do you think about
his son? That'll answer that question.
He says in verse 24, but my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand
also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers. This is talking
about the immensity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall cry unto
me. Thou art my Father, my God, and
the rock of my salvation. Also I'll make Him my firstborn. Now this is talking about the
eternal begetting of the Son. He's called five times the only
begotten Son of God. And this begetting is not an
event of time. It's an eternal fact, irrespective
of time. He is the eternal, only begotten
Son of God. He was slain before the foundation
of the world. He was raised from before the
foundation of the world. And he is always every believer's
only standing before God, the only begotten, the firstborn. He's higher than the kings of
the earth. Verse 28, my mercy will I keep for him forevermore
in my covenant. shall stand fast with him. It's
talking about the covenant of grace. His seed also will I make
to endure forever and his throne as the days of heaven. If his
children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they
break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I
visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with
the stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from them, no, him. You see, they
are never separated from him. Now, when he talks about visiting
their iniquity with stripes, it's talking about the chasing
of the Lord. But what I thought about more than anything else
when I thought about this passage of scripture is Solomon. Well,
Solomon was the son of David. And if you look at his end, if
you read the last chapter of his life, you would ask yourself
the question, was he saved? Read it yourself. Was he saved?
I mean, he seems to die worshiping other gods. When this answers
that question, the Lord chastened him, but because he was a son,
the Lord brought him back. We don't see it. We don't have
it recorded, but this is enough for me. If his children forsake
my law, Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, proves to us that
man in his best state is altogether vanity. Solomon, I mean, look
at this man. He wrote the Proverbs, he wrote
Ecclesiastes, he wrote the Song of Solomon, such a wise man.
And yet his heart was turned by his wives to other gods. And
that's the way he seems to die. And you think, did he die in
that state? Well, the Lord's promised. He's
promised his children, although they mess up, I'm not going to
take my mercy away from him because they're in him. That's the key,
they are in him. Verse 34, my covenant will I
not break nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I'm not lying to David.
The beloved, his seed shall endure forever. and his throne as the
sun before me. It should be established forever
as the moon, as a faithful witness in heaven. But, but, thou has cast us off and abhorred. Thou has been wroth. With thine
anointed, thou has made void the covenant of thy servant.
Thou has profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. Now
somebody might be thinking, is this the same person speaking?
He was talking in such assurance, and now all of a sudden he says,
we've been thrown to the ground. You've broken, you've profaned
your covenant. But how can these words be penned by the same man
who wrote the large portion of this psalm? Let me try to answer
that. The honesty in the psalms is
seldom found in any of us. He's talking about how he felt.
He's not trying to hide it. He's talking about how he felt.
And this is how he felt. And let me repeat, the honesty
of the Psalms is seldom found in any of us. We're going to
present ourselves differently. We're not going to let anybody
know what's really going on in our mind, and I'm glad. I don't want to know what's really
going on in your mind. You don't want to know what's really going on in
my mind. But here we have the psalmist speaking in utter honesty. This is how he felt. Thou has cast us off and abhorred. And you felt that way about the
Lord looking at you that way because of your own sin. This
is how he felt. Thou has made void the covenant
of thy servant. Thou has profaned his crown by
casting it to the ground. Thou has broken down all his
hedges, all of his protection. I'm just fair game for anybody.
I'm so weak. Thou has brought his strongholds
to ruin. I'm exposed. I'm helpless. All that passed
by the way, spoiler, he is a reproach to his neighbors. Thou set up
the right hand of his adversaries, thou has made all his enemies
to rejoice. Now notice this, when the psalmist is speaking
of his defeats, who does he attribute his defeats to? He said, you're
the one giving our adversary success. You know, he's not using this
as an excuse for his problems and his sins, but he is acknowledging
the fact that God is on the throne. And you're the one who has set
up the right hand of his adversaries. Thou has made all his enemies
to rejoice. Thou has also, verse 43, Thou
has also turned the edge of the sword and has not made him to
stand in the battle. The reason I'm losing is because
you're not enabling me to win. Now that's what he's saying. Thou has made his glory to cease
and cast his throne down to the ground. Now this could have been
historically a reference to David having to flee from Absalom or
from that other son who tried to take over. And everybody was
thinking that his throne was thrown to the ground. Verse 45,
the days of his youth has thou shortened. Thou has covered him
with shame. You know, even when you're feeling
like that, isn't it a blessing to know that the Lord's the one
doing it and you're still in his hand? I still think of David
when the Lord gave him three choices after he committed that
great sin and numbering the people apart from the atonement and
Lord gave him three choices. He said, you can, you can fly
before your enemies. You can, uh, There's three things. Somebody remember, I know one
of them was a fly before your enemies. One was, what? Yeah. Pestilence. He said, let me, let me fall
into the hands of the Lord. The pestilence. Let me fall into
the hands of the Lord for those three days for his mercy are
great. I don't want to, he said, don't
let me fall into the hands of man. And even then the psalmist
is saying, I'm, I'm in your hands, and that's a good place to be. Verse 46, how long, Lord? You find that phrase 13 times
in the Psalms. I'm really patient in this trial.
Well, it's not much of a trial then. How long? How long? How long, Lord, wilt
thou hide thyself forever? Shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my time is. Wherefore hast thou made all
men in vain? Is my very existence in vain? What man is he that
liveth and shall not see death? You know, it's a blessing to
remember that death is very near. You know, we're getting ready
to go into Psalm 90, and that's where he talks about the three
score in 10 years, and by reason of strength, the four score,
and I'm thinking, I'm gonna be 64 on my next birthday, and I
just, I got six years, and then I'm, if you're over 70, you're
on overtime. You know, but, but time's flying. None of us have very much longer. I can remember when I used to
have all these dreams of how things are gonna be. No more. I'm thankful for what the Lord
does. I'm glad he's on the throne, and I'm looking forward to dying.
Not because I hate life, but because I want to be done with
sin and because I want to be in his presence and see his blessed
face. What man is he that liveth and
shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from
the hand of the grave? No. Lord, where are thy former
lovingkindnesses which thou swearest unto David in thy truth? Remember,
Lord, the reproach of thy servants. How I do bear in my bosom the
reproach of all the mighty people. Wherewith thine enemies have
reproached, O Lord, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps
of thine anointed. This is what we agree, what we
grieve over the enemies reproaching is him. His gospel. But look
at the way the psalmist ends this psalm. He starts out at
the heights. He goes down to the very bottom.
And he's telling us what he felt. He was being honest. But look
how he ends this psalm. Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and amen. So be it. Let it be so.