Would you turn to the 33rd Psalm?
Psalm 33. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,
for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp. Sing unto him with the psaltery
and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song. Play
skillfully. with a loud voice, for the word
of the Lord is right and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as in heap. He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the
people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. The thoughts of his heart to
all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The Lord looketh from heaven,
he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation,
he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Just a thought, he's looking
at everybody in the world right now. Whatever country they're
in, whatever station they're in, he looks. He fashioneth their hearts alike,
he considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the
multitude of an host. A mighty man is not delivered
by much strength, A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither
shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of
the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his
mercy. To deliver their soul from death
and to keep them alive in famine, our soul waiteth for the Lord.
He is our help and our shield, for our heart shall rejoice in
Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Thy mercy,
O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee. Let's pray. Lord, we're so thankful for who
you are. We're so thankful that you're
God and beside thee is none else. We're so thankful that you're
in control of everybody and everything. We're so thankful for the revelation
of your gospel to our hearts. We're so thankful for the excellency
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We're so
thankful for the complete forgiveness of sins we have in him. Now,
Lord, may we be enabled to worship. Will you unite our hearts together
to fear thy great name and to stand in awe of thee? Lord, we
pray for our friends that aren't here. We ask that you would keep
them by your grace. Those that are going through
trials in whatever way, we pray for your Blessing upon those
trials and your blessing upon them. Be with all your people
wherever they meet together. How we thank you for the privilege
of calling upon your name. Now bless us for Christ's sake.
In his name we pray, amen. That's a wonderful psalm, wasn't
it? I want us to notice the last verse, and this is why this psalm
has always been particularly dear to me. Let thy mercy, O
Lord, be upon us according as we hope in thee. I ask myself when I read that
verse, and every time I come to Psalm 33, I look forward to
reading that verse, but I ask myself, how much do I hope in
his mercy? 100%, 99%, 50%. Now notice it says, have mercy
on us, oh Lord. Let thy mercy, oh Lord, be upon
us according as we hope in thee. My hope is 100% in him, 100%.
Now I want us to remember this. The Lord will meet us on the
ground we come. If we come 100% mercy, he'll
meet us on the ground of 100% mercy. If we come on the ground
of works, he'll meet us there. He'll meet you on the ground
you come. Now, you can't mix the two. It's
either all mercy or all works that can't be mixed, but he will
meet you and I on the ground we come. Now, let's start in
verse one. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,
for praise is comely for the upright. Now, there's only one
who can truly rejoice in the Lord, and it's that person that's
righteous. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. Who's righteous? Everybody in
the Lord. Every believer has his righteousness
truly as theirs, and they can rejoice in the Lord. Here's my rejoicing. It's in
the Lord. Not in my works, not in my efforts,
not in my understanding, my rejoicing. is in the Lord. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,
for praise as comely, as appropriate, as beautiful for the upright.
Now, most folks when they talk about praising the Lord, they're
praising him for some benefit. Some good happens, praise the
Lord. Somebody was healed, praise the Lord. It's always for a benefit,
but can you praise the Lord for the bad things? If you can't
praise Him for the bad things, you can't praise Him for the
good things. You see, the fact of the matter is, is they're
all good if they come from Him. And you praise the Lord for who
He is, not just for His benefits. People are so quick, praise the
Lord, this good thing happened. You know, anytime I hear that,
I always, I want to hear people praise the Lord. I don't want
to be negative, so bear with me. But I want to say, will you
praise Him for the sickness as well as the health? Will you
praise him for the adversity as well as the prosperity? Praise
the Lord is comely. It's appropriate for those who
know him, isn't it? I mean, all he does is good.
Verse two, praise the Lord with harp. Sing unto him with the
psaltery and an instrument of 10 strings. Now, I think it's
interesting. There are whole denominations built around not
using instruments. Well, you're not gonna get that
out of that verse, are you? He talks about using instruments
in this praise of the Lord. Sing unto him a new song. Now this is not talking about
new in terms of recent manifestation. The gospel is always new, even
though it's eternal. It never had a beginning. It's
always new when we hear it as gospel, when we hear it as a
sinner. Now, when it becomes old and
stale to us, we're not hearing the right, either we're not hearing
the gospel or we're not hearing with the right attitude as a
sinner. It's always new and free. If you hear the gospel as a sinner,
and I'm talking about you really believe that you are an evil
person, when you hear the gospel, that comes as good news to you.
that Christ came to save sinners. He says, sing a new song and
play skillfully with a loud noise for the word of the Lord. But Christ is the word. The scriptures
are the word. The gospel message is the word. The word of the Lord is right. Amen. Whatever he says is right,
whoever he is, he's right. He's right. And there's a your
your heart echoes. Amen to that. He is the word
of the Lord is right. And all his works are done in
truth because he is the truth. He said, I am the truth. If I To think of any human being,
I think it's interesting, sports figures, they say, he's the truth.
No, he's not, nor is any human being. If I'd say I'm the truth,
I'm aware of being such a liar in and of myself. I always present
things in a way to make myself, I'm a liar, but he's the truth. Somebody says, how do you expect
me to listen to you if you say you're a liar? You'll figure
it out. I like what Tim James said about
Romans 7, where Paul said, what I would, I don't do. And you're
familiar with passage scripture. And Tim James said, would you
buy a used car off this fella? And well, yeah, he's really the
one I would trust more than the fella who claims anything different.
But he loveth, verse 5, He loveth righteousness and judgment. That's who he is. He loves righteousness
because he is righteous. And he makes all of his people
righteous, and they are righteous. And he loves judgment. You know,
the gospel is about judgment, isn't it? Isn't it about mercy
and grace? Yes, it is, but first judgment.
That's what justification is. My sin was judged, put away,
and now the very judgment and righteousness of God demands
the salvation of everybody that Christ died for. Aren't you glad
the Lord's like that? He loves righteousness. He loves
judgment. That's who he is. Verse six speaks
of his creative power. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made. He spake and the universe came
into existence and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth. Verse seven, he does what only he can do. He gathers the
waters of the sea together as a heap. He lay up the depth in
the storehouse. This is talking about the greatness
of the Lord. Let all the earth, you know,
everybody ought to worship the Lord, shouldn't they? Everybody. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him. Now here's the appropriate response
to the Lord. Fear. Fear. That fear of God that's
the beginning of wisdom. That fear that has such respect
for him and his holiness that you're afraid to look anywhere
but Christ. and you stand in awe of him, in awe of his glorious
attributes, in awe of his holiness, in awe of his sovereignty, in
awe of his majesty, in awe of his power, in awe of his grace,
in awe of his mercy. You stand in awe. Everybody ought
to fear the Lord, and everybody ought to stand in awe of him. Verse nine, here's why. This is speaking of his sovereignty.
For he spake and it was done. It was done. Just from him speaking
it, it becomes a done deal. This is the awesomeness of his
word. He spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. The Lord, verse 10. Bringeth
the counsel of the heathen to naught. You know, the scripture
says that people imagined a vain thing. The people imagined a
vain thing. Let's throw off his cords from
us. We're not going to submit to
his reign. They have their counsel. They
have their devices. The Lord brings it all to nothing. I love that story in Genesis
11 of the people building the Tower of Babel. And this was
right after the flood, and I think in some ways they're saying,
look, we're gonna protect ourselves from this. We're gonna build
us a tower high enough so we can have refuge even if the Lord
does flood the place. Well, what did the Lord do? He
scattered it and brought it to nothing. Now, men have their
councils, men have their devices, men have their plans and purposes
and schemes. The Lord brings it all to naught. Listen to this scripture from
Proverbs 19, 21. There are many devices in a man's
heart, many plans, many purposes, many schemes, many desires, but
nevertheless, The counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Men have all their devices, but
it's the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Verse 11, the
counsel, the purpose. Now the counsel of the Lord is
his decrees. It's his decrees. I love how
the Lord Jesus Christ is called the wonderful counselor. And
I've said this before, that doesn't mean he's somebody you can get
good advice from. That means he counsels, he decrees, and
it stands fast. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's not somebody to come and give you good advice. He is the
wonderful counselor. His counsel stands firm, his
decrees. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Don't you
love that, the thoughts of his heart? He's so glorious. And
the thoughts of his heart will stand to all generations. Verse 12, blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for
himself. Now, people have tried to think
of their nations as Christian nations. most of the nations
in Europe. At one time or the other, I know
they're more secular now, but they would consider themselves
Christian nations. The United States has considered
itself a Christian nation. There's only one Christian nation. And here's how that is described
by Peter. It's called the chosen generation,
the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people. The Christian nation is all of
the elect of God. the people that he has chosen
for himself. That's pointed out, isn't it?
Look in verse 12, blessed is the nation, that people whose
God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Blessed is the man that thou
choosest. Psalm 65, four, blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and cause us to approach to thee. Now that's the Christian nation. Verse 13, the Lord looked from
heaven. He beholdeth all the sons of
men from the place of his habitation. He looketh upon all the inhabitants
of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike.
He considers all their works. Some of you might remember the
song by Bette Midler, From a Distance God is Watching Us. You've heard
that. I get it in my mind. It's kind
of like one of those songs you get in your head and you want
to get it out and it keeps coming back. Oh, I hate that when I
do that. It's kind of like, what's that? If God were one of us, I remember
that would get in my head and I couldn't get it out. But Bette
Midler, that song, God is watching us from a distance. No, he's
not. No, he's not. He's not at a distance. I mean
that, I guess if you think of a distance, somehow you can see
there's some things that are unseen. No, he sees everything clearly. He examines the works of every
single individual, me and you and everybody else. He's in heaven. I look over in Psalm 14, turn
back to Psalm 14 for just a moment. Verse 2, the Lord looked down
from heaven upon the children of men. To see if there were any that
did understand and seek God. And you know, the rest of that
song. No, there's not. But the point is, the Lord looks down
and the Lord sees. And there's, you know, the only
way that can comfort you is if you're in Christ. If you know
him in Christ, That doesn't bother you. You have confidence. You
have boldness in Christ. But outside of Christ, to think
of the Lord looking at me and seeing me, it's terrifying. But
he does look. He beholds. He's not far away. He's not out there somewhere.
He's right here, and he looks from the place of his habitation.
He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their
hearts alike. He considers all their works. Now, there is no
king saved by the multitude of a host. Now, a king has mighty
armies that can protect the country. No, he's not saved by that. Now, I'm thankful on some level. On a very real level, I'm thankful
for our military that protects our country. I'm thankful for
that. I'm thankful for the military
might we have. How much confidence do I have
in it? None. None. I'm thankful. This is not saying
all armies are wrong, but here's the fact of the matter. No king
is saved by the greatness of his army or his military might. God reigns in all the affairs
of men. No king saved by his army. What
it says next, a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
I don't care how, what kind of personal strength or might you
have, he's not going to deliver you. Not at all. A horse. Think of how strong
a horse is. A horse is a vain thing for safety. If you're trusting in anything
other than Christ, you're trusting in that which is vain. It's not
gonna help. Neither shall he deliver any
by his great strength. Behold the eye of the Lord. Now this is different really
from those previous verses where he's watching everybody. This
is talking about the eye of his favor. This is talking about
the eye of his love, the eye of his grace. Behold, the eye
of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope
in his mercy. Now, here is who the eye of the
Lord's favor is upon in mercy and grace. Those that fear him. Those that hope in his mercy. Now, would that describe me and
you? The fear of God? The fear of God and that's he's a good God fearing
man. No, he's not. You've heard that phrase, he's
a good God fearing man. Well, he is, if he looks to Christ
only, he has the fear of God in his heart, but if he's just,
you know, the way men use it. The fear of God is looking only
to Christ. And if you look only to Christ,
that means you're somebody who hopes only in his mercy. Salvation by the mercy of God.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon
them that hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death
and to keep them alive in famine. Now that talks about the person
or worker of Christ. Justification delivers my soul
from death. I'm preserved in famine by his
preserving grace, keeping me. That's his work for me, that's
his work in me. Now, David says, our soul waiteth
for the Lord. Now what's it mean to wait for
the Lord? It means you don't have anywhere
else to look. You're waiting on him because you don't really
have any other options. You're waiting on Him to answer for
you. You're waiting on Him to stand for you. You wouldn't come
into God's presence apart from Him. You wait on the Lord. Our soul waits to the Lord. He
is our help. The Lord is my helper. I will
not fear what man can do unto me. Every believer can say that. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. And he's our shield. He took
the blows for us on the cross for our heart. And that's talking
about the new heart that he gives. You know, the worship is heart
worship, and it's not these natural hearts of ours. They're no good.
It's the new heart that he gives. A new heart also will I give
you. That's the heart that worships. That's the heart that believes.
That's the heart that stands in awe of God, that new heart
that he gives. And this, our heart is every
one of God's elect. Our heart shall rejoice in him
because we have trusted in his holy name. Now his holy name
represents every one of his attributes. Are you happy that the Lord is
sovereign? I'm not asking if you just believe
it's true, are you happy with that? Do you rejoice that he's
holy? Do you rejoice that he's just?
Do you rejoice that he's all powerful? Now, we have rejoiced,
we have trusted in his holy name. And here's that first verse I
read at the first of this. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon
us according as we hope in thee. Let your mercy be upon us in
the proportion that we hope in thee. Now, my hope is built on
nothing less. than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock
I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Now, is all your
hope in Christ? Well, let thy mercy, O Lord,
be upon us according as, in proportion as we hope in thee. All my hope is in Christ. Nowhere
else. And I'm promised God's mercy. Okay.