Good morning. Matt, I will tell you when you
were looking for me, the thought of running did. It often occurs. Open your Bible with me to Psalm
111. Psalm 111. We'll look at this entire passage this
morning, but let's begin in verse nine of Psalm 111. Here we read, he sent redemption
unto his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy, and Reverend is His name. He, we start this passage with
He. Almighty God. He, all things,
all things begin with God. In Genesis 1, verse 1, we read,
in the beginning, God. And listen to just a few of these
scriptures. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. All things are of God. By Him were all things created. We refer to God's Word as a,
I've heard men say this, as a hymn book, because everything in this
book concerns Him. It's all about, it's all about
him. And our text says he, he. Now look back at the beginning
in verse one of Psalm 111. And let's see what this says
about him. It says, praise ye the Lord.
Verse one, praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart. In the assembly of the upright
and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endureth forever. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. He hath given meat unto them
that fear Him. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. He has showed his people the
power of his works that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. The works of his hands are verity and judgment. All
his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever
and are done in truth and in uprightness. Now back to verse
one, we read, praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly, in the assembly of the upright,
as we sit together as an assembly of friends, having fellowship
together. And in the congregation, the
appointed meeting, when God's saints meet together, praise
ye the Lord. And if you have a margin in your
Bible, another way to say that is to simply say, hallelujah. Hallelujah. He who is worthy
of praise. He who is worthy of all praise. In Psalm 145, David said this,
I will extol thee my God, O King, and I will bless thy name forever
and ever. I fear, actually I'm pretty confident
in our day, We've let organized religion rob us of some of these
words in God's scripture. And the one is this, this word
hallelujah. I think sometimes we're hesitant
to use that word. Men often use it. I used to work
with a man and I mean, he'd be talking about lunch. And somehow
the word Hallelujah would enter into it because it was delivered
on time. That's not how we use this word. This word is a term
of, it's a term of praise. We're praising Almighty God.
But yet we've let man rob us of this glorious word. Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord. Men have
their, these so-called religious places, they have their praise
teams and just the flippant use of the word. Let's not let man
rob us of praising our God. And may God give us a true heart,
a true heart to praise him that liveth forever and ever. Let's read on in Psalm 111. Verse
one, we see he who is worthy of praise. And then verse two,
we see he whose works are great. You see that the works of the
Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His works. Oh, how marvelous
are his works. Consider his works in creation. Turn back to Psalm 19. Psalm 19, look at verse one of Psalm 19. Here we read of his works in
Christ. It says here, the heavens declare
the glory of God and the firmament his handiwork. God, who in creation
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, He said, let
there be light. When there was nothing but darkness,
He declared, let there be light. And what happened? There was
light. He brought about light. He created it. His works in creation. His works in providence. Romans
8, 28, we're familiar with this passage, aren't we? We know,
we forget that first part, we know, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Noah saw, think about this, in
Providence, Noah saw the entire earth destroyed, save him and
his family. Job, Job lost all that he had. Huh? All his possessions. Abraham
was willing to sacrifice his only son. But yet we read this,
all things. All things work together. All
these things, whether we understand them, and in most, I think most
times we don't. There's much we don't understand.
We might pretend to, but there's much we do not understand. But
we do know this. We know all things work together
for good. All things. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar,
he said, this is the decree of the Most High. This is what's
gonna happen. You're gonna be driven from men.
Your dwelling is gonna be with the beast of the field. You're
gonna eat grass like the oxen for seven years till you know
this, that the Most High ruleth. He rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. and he giveth to whomsoever
he will." God is sovereign, his sovereignty in Providence. And
God did what he said he was gonna do, didn't he? Huh? You remember
that? At the end of those days, Nebuchadnezzar,
he lifted up his eyes to heaven. And he said this, he said, I
lift up mine eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to
me. And he said, I bless the most high and praised and honored
him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion in his kingdom from generation to generation, who
doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And none can say unto him, none
can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? HIS WORKS
DECLARE WHO HE IS. HE IS SOVEREIGN, ALMIGHTY GOD. NOW, BACK IN OUR TEXT, BACK HERE
IN PSALM 111, VERSE 3, STILL CONSIDERING THIS
WORD, HE, HUH? LOOK AT VERSE 3. HERE WE READ
OF HIS WORK, HIS WORK. What is His work? Well, we know
this. It's honorable, and it's glorious,
and His righteousness endureth forever. His work, in verse 2,
we read of His works, but here we read of His work. Turn to
John chapter 17. John 17, verse four. Our Lord
speaks here. He says this. He said, I have
glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work, the
work. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. What work was that? His death
on the cross, the work of saving his people, the work of salvation. In Philippians 1.6, Paul writing
to the Philippians, he said, being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, he'll perform
it, he'll complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And on the
cross, what did he cry? This work, it's singular, isn't
it? He said, it is finished, didn't he? It is, it is finished. His work is honorable, the work
of saving his people, his righteousness, his salvation, it endureth forever. an everlasting, eternal, effectual
salvation for his people. In Isaiah 45, seven, we read
this, Israel shall be saved in the Lord with a everlasting salvation. Psalm 111, verse four. What else does it say here? Verse
four, he hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord
is gracious and full of compassion. He's gracious. He saves us by
his grace. Verse five, he hath given meat
unto them that fear him. He will be ever mindful of his
covenant. He has showed his people the
power of his works that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. Consider what the children of Israel saw with regard to
almighty God's power. We looked at a few of these things
in our Bible school this morning. Remember, he said this to Pharaoh,
he said, for this cause have I raised thee up that I might
show in thee my power and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Remember he turned the water
to blood, and he sent frogs, and lice, and flies, and that
murrain of cattle, and bulls, and hail, and locusts, all those
different things. He sent darkness, and finally
he sent the death of the firstborn. Yet in all these things, he delivered
his children. He delivered the children of
Israel, his special people. Look at verse Let's read on here. The works of his hands are verity
and judgment, and all his commandments are sure, truth and justice. He's faithful. Almighty God is
faithful to his people. All his commandments are sure.
Paul writing to Timothy, he said, nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. We should stop and consider these
things. Sometimes I feel like we read through these scriptures
too quickly and fail to give, how could we ever give full consideration
to them? But think about it. The Lord
knoweth them that are his. I have two boys and a daughter-in-law,
and I know them. Think about how we know our children. We're his children. And He knows
us, the Lord knoweth them that are His. And all that He has
appointed, all that He has decreed shall stand. Nothing is going
to stand in the way of His decree. His purpose shall stand eternally. Verse eight, they stand fast
forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. Now
again, let's look at this verse nine. I've just four points here,
four reasons to praise Him, four reasons to praise Almighty God. And listen, the first one is
this, He sent redemption. He sent redemption. Not only
one to deliver, but he sent deliverance. Not only did he send a redeemer,
but he redeemed his people. He sent redemption, full redemption. In Luke 1, 68, the scriptures
declare, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited
and hath redeemed his people. Now, false religion would try
to convince us of this, that he tried to redeem. That's what, whether they realize
it or not, that's what they're saying. He tried to redeem. He
attempted to redeem. They say he made a down payment
and you take care of the rest of it. Where this foolishness
comes from, listen, a down payment with man owing the balance? We
don't pay our bills, do we? Listen, God's word declares this,
an accomplished, effectual, complete redemption. And it's His. It's His. He redeemed us from
sin. He redeemed us from Satan. He
redeemed us from the law. Galatians 3 verse 13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. The idea of a payment, the wages
of sin is death. That's what sin requires. The sentence of condemnation
and death was upon us, yet the Lord Jesus Christ took that upon
himself. He paid the redemption price
in full. He paid it with his own blood. He bore the wrath of his father
on the tree and he paid the sin debt. He paid the purchase price
for his people. He bore his wrath on his body,
in his body, on the tree. One man said this, he drank damnation
dry. Peter, 1 Peter 1, he said, you
weren't redeemed with corruptible things, not from silver and gold. Now these things are valuable,
but they cannot pay the redemption price. The redemption price is
so much higher than that. He said you're redeemed from
your vain conversation received by tradition, you're your father's.
Not by a religious show, not by outward works, not by waving
of the hands. Men put on a spectacular show,
don't they? but that's all it is, is a show.
We must have, listen, listen, doing this or not doing that,
that's not where salvation is found. Salvation is found in
Christ, in Christ alone. We read this by the deeds of
the law, by our doing and dying, or by our refraining from doing
things, whatever, listen, by the deeds of the law, there shall
be no flesh justified in his sight. The believer is justified
by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. The redemption price. Listen, we read in our text,
he sent redemption, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Just like that,
much like that Passover lamb we read about in the Old Testament.
And that blood is revealed throughout the scriptures. Men, I don't know if squeamish is
the term to use, but men don't want to talk about blood. But
my friends, we must have the blood. Apart from the blood,
there is no life. When Adam sinned, what'd God
do? He slew an animal and he clothed
Adam and Eve. There was bloodshed, wasn't there?
The high priest, when he went in to the Holy of Holies, he
didn't dare go in there without blood. The Passover lamb. That Passover lamb, that blood
had to be, that had to be shed. All these things picture and
point to our Lord Jesus Christ. Only His precious, sin-atoning
blood, only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will do. We can shed all of our own blood
we want to. It's not gonna pay, it's not
gonna pay for anything. So we have, listen, we have His
redemption. and then we have His people.
This redemption that God sent, who was it for? Well, the scriptures
declare this, that it's for His people. Isn't that clear? Look at Psalm 111 verse 9. He sent redemption unto His people. Who are His people? Well, that
word's interpreted, it's a particular people. A particular people,
a nation, a kindred, a people. Over in Revelation 5 verse 9
we read that thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. It's his people.
It's his flock. It's his sheep. It's a people. That great shepherd, He has a
flock, doesn't he? He has his sheep. It's a people
for which he died, and it's a people which he saved. In Matthew 1
verse 21, she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Who did he come to save? HIS
PEOPLE. HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM
THEIR SIN. OUR LORD SAID THIS, HE SAID,
I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP. IT IS A PURCHASED PEOPLE, A PEOPLE
PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD. WATCH OVER YOURSELVES AND ALL
THE FLOCK WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT HATH MADE YOU AN OVERSEER. BE
SHEPHERDS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD WHICH HE BOUGHT with his own
blood, a people that's been his from eternity. He chose us in
Christ, a people chosen in Christ from before the foundation of
the world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. His people by choice, his choice,
his choice. In John 15, 16, our Lord said,
you've not chosen me. That's what the world, they make
bumper stickers, don't they? Listen, you've not chosen me,
but I have chosen you. I haven't heard this hymn for
a while, but here's the words. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not chosen me.'" Huh? What else do we know of
his people? We were people going astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned each one of us to
his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. On this thing of sheep, I don't
know a lot about sheep. I worked on a cattle farm, but
I've been around sheep a little bit, and there's two things that
I believe are true of them. One, they're filthy animals,
from what I can tell, and two, they're not very smart. I was working for a fellow the
other day, and one of the sheep had got outside the fence, and
there was a hole where that sheep had come through the fence. And
it was five feet away. All the other sheep were inside
the fence. And this one sheep just kept running into the fence. Without someone to guide it,
it just kept running into the fence. We must have that shepherd. Oh, we must have the great shepherd
of the sheep. And a sheep. We've wandered,
we've wandered far from the fold. We've wandered far from the fold. How far, how far have we gone?
Well, the scriptures declare this, that we're dead. Dead in
trespasses and sin. We're a, listen, we're a kept
people. His people are kept by the power
of God. A redeemed people. We just read
that he sent redemption unto his people. And listen, if he
sent redemption to his people, rest assured his people are redeemed. We shall be redeemed. He loved
us and he gave himself for us. A people called by the spirit
of God. He said, my sheep, they hear
my voice. And he speaks to us through his
word by the power of his spirit. A people he knows by name. Think about that. Consider that.
He calls, not only does he know us, he knows us by name. Zacchaeus, he should come down. Matthew, follow me. Lazarus, come forth. Can we all put our name there
when he, that he called us, he calls his, he knows them so intimately,
he knows them by name. A people eternally his. Our Lord said this, he said,
I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. His redemption, his
people. And then the word here, it speaks
of his covenant. He hath commanded His covenant
forever. His promise, that covenant of
grace. David, back there in 2 Samuel,
he said, although my house be not so with God, yet He hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, an eternal covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although He make it not to grow. an eternal covenant, made with
Christ from the beginning. Our surety, our sanctification,
the mediator of all, given him, given Christ by the Father. Our
Lord said this, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. all that the Father chose, all
that the Son purchased, all that the Spirit of God calls to Himself. His covenant is forever. And then fourth, His name, His
name. Psalm 111 verse nine, holy and
reverend is His name. We read, there is no other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We read, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That name which is
above every name, that name at which every knee is going to
bow, that every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Ethiopian eunuch, he'd been to
some religious meeting and he was returning from Jerusalem.
He had taken a trip to the so-called holy lands, and he was sitting
there in his chariot, reading God's word. He was reading in
Isaiah. He was reading about a lamb.
He read this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb
done before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth in his humiliation,
The humiliation of being made, made sin, being hung on the cross,
bearing the shame and reproach of his people. The humiliation
of dying under the wrath and judgment of Almighty God. It
says his judgment was taken away. Who shall declare his generation
for his life is taken from the earth? When sin was found on
the Lord Jesus Christ, God slew him. And the eunuch asked Philip,
he said, is this man, is he talking about himself or is he talking
about somebody else? Is he speaking of himself or
is he speaking of another? And Philip began at the same
scripture. I said earlier, this book, it's
about him. All scripture, it points, that's
what we need to do is we need to find Christ in his word. It
points to him. And Philip began at the same
scripture and he preached unto him. the Lord Jesus Christ. And at some point, at some point,
that eunuch, he said, stop the chariot. Stop the chariot. And he said, what doth hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip asked one question.
He said, do you believe? Do you believe? And the answer,
that eunuch, it was this. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. My friends, this was one for
whom God sent redemption. This was one of his people. This
was one resting in his covenant. This is one that called upon
his name. Who gets the glory in that? Man
doesn't get glory in that. Almighty God gets glory in that.
Look at verse 10, and we'll close here. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever. I ask you again, who gets the
glory? God gets the glory. He does. And that, I guess we
could have had five points here. Fifth would have been His praise.
But that takes us, listen, that takes us right back to verse
one. We just start all over again. Praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise His name.