Psalms 136. I want to begin here with just
verse 1, because Keep Your Bible Open, we want to refer back to
this chapter. Psalms 136, verse 1. O give thanks unto the Lord,
for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. I think probably that one of
the sweetest sounds there has to be in any language is this
word, mercy. Mercy. We love the sound of that
word. We crave it. God has taught us
to do so. Thy mercies, how tender! Now
firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for
His mercy. You know, thirty times in the
book of Psalms that phrase is used, give thanks unto the Lord
for His mercy. Next to the attribute of God's
love, it's probably, unless I have miscalculated, more mentioned
than any other of God's attributes. 360 times in the Bible, the word
mercy is mentioned. And we love this word mercy. Oh, give thanks. And it's God's
glory. It's not just a part of God's
glory, but it's God's glory. Mercy is God's glory. He delights in mercy. Remember
when Moses said, show me your glory? And the Lord showed him
his glory, and this is what it was. The Lord God merciful. That's his glory, to be merciful.
He cannot be anything else but merciful. Not at the expense
of justice, but he can never cease to be merciful. Merciful. We taught last week on grace,
and I wanted to tonight to make a distinction because there is
a distinction between grace and mercy. This is an old definition
that's been around for a long time. It's one of the best ways
to distinguish between grace and mercy. Grace is God giving
us what we do not deserve. He gives us salvation. Salvation
is a gift of God. Everything that pertains to salvation
is The grace of God. Life, forgiveness of sin, justification. Grace is God giving us what we
do not deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what
we do deserve. What do we deserve? We deserve
the consequences of sin, don't we? The misery of our sins is
what we deserve. But what has God gave us? He
gave us mercy. He has not gave to us what we
deserve. And I believe, and not all would
agree with me with this, but I believe there is a general
grace as well as a general mercy. And I'll say that for this reason.
Some don't believe in a general grace. They say every time you
find grace in the Bible, it's always saving. It's always redeeming grace.
But if we stick to the definition of grace, grace is God given
His favor, giving us what we do not deserve, then that would
mean the very air that He gave us to breathe is grace, isn't
it? Whatever goodness that He bestowed upon any man lost or
saved in this world is grace. So there is a common grace upon
all men. God causes His Son to rise. What
is that but grace? He gives us garden, He gives
us food, He gives us an appetite. All of these things is what we
would call common grace. And there is a peculiar grace.
I mean a redeeming grace. Covenant grace. And that's to
the elect only. We have common grace that brings
all the blessings of this life to us. But there is a peculiar
grace. There is redeeming grace. distinguishing
grace, and that comes to the elect only. That's not common
grace. That's redeeming grace. And there's
common mercy, and there's peculiar mercies, or covenant mercies.
I like to refer to them as covenant mercies. But there is common
mercies that's upon every man, woman, and boy and girl in this
world. The mercies of God are over all
His works. Look here first then at common
mercy. Let me tell you three types of mercies. First of all,
there's common mercy. Here in Psalm 136 and 25. Psalms 136. Where were we at
first? Let's begin here. Look in Psalms 36 and verse 25. He giveth food to all flesh,
all kinds of flesh, for his mercy endureth forever. He gives food
to all kinds of flesh. Men, fowls, lions, Goat, sheep,
beast, all kinds. I want you to look over in Psalms
104. Old Psalms 136. But look in Psalms 104. If you
want to study a good psalm sometime that teaches the mercies of God
over all His creation, Psalms 104 is a good psalm to look at.
Because it tells the mercy of God in supplying the needs of
all His creatures. Even the little creature and
the beast and the fowls of the earth. Read here some with me
in Psalms. Look in Psalms 104. And look
in verse 10. Speaking of the Lord, He sendeth
the sprains unto the valleys which run among the hills. They
give drink to every beast of the field. The wall asses quench
their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the
heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
He waters the hills from his chamber, the earth is satisfied
with the fruits of thy works. He causes the grass to grow for
the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring
food out of the earth. the wine that maketh glad the
heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread
which strengtheneth man's heart. The trees of the Lord are full
of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted, where
the birds make their nests, as for storks the fir trees are
their house, the high hills are a refuge for the wild goats,
and for the rocks, the rocks for the conies. He uponeth the
moon for seasons, the sun north or going down, Thou makest darkness,
and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep
forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and look at this,
they seek their meat from God. The sun rises, they gather themselves
together, they lay down in their dens, man goeth forth unto his
work, and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold
are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them
all, the earth is full of thy riches." And just read on, verse
26, "...there go the ships, there is that Leviathan, whom thou
hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee, that
thou mayest give them their meat in due season, that thou givest
them they gather, what thou givest them they gather." You open your
hands, they are filled with good. You hide your face in their trouble,
you take away their breath, they die and return unto the dust. See how God satisfies everything,
Glenn? What did He say? What did our
Master say about the fowls of the earth? Does not your Father
feed them? And the grass of the field, does
not your Father clothe them? So the mercies, the commons,
General mercies of our God is over all His creation. And we
see it. As we look around, we ought to
learn to see the mercies of God preserving and feeding all of
His creatures. Psalms 145 and 15. Listen to this. The eyes of all
wait upon Thee, and You give them their meat in due season.
You open Your hands, and You satisfy the desire of every living
thing. common mercies, common mercies. And then there are special mercies,
what some would call special mercies. If these common mercies
are over all God's creatures, mainly the beast and the fowls
and even the grass and He nourishes the earth, special mercies are
reserved for mankind. men and women. And God treats
men, He treats humanity different than He does beasts, doesn't
He? We're more valuable to Him than beasts. And here's the amazing
thing about that, is we don't deserve what beasts deserve.
We never read that any beast rebelled against God. We don't
read that beasts sinned against God. But man has, hasn't he?
And of all God's creatures, man is the most less deserving of
any of us. Yet, how does he treat humanity?
With mercy. With special mercy that he does
not bestow upon any beast. Numerous blessings he gives to
all life and breath and all things. A special mercy to mankind. Am
I hearing music? Is somebody singing? What is that? Oh, is that you,
Galen? You singing? I wonder what that was. I thought, man, I've had it.
I've done gone here. Special mercies. Special mercies. Okay? Special mercies. Come on,
stay with me. Special mercies. Thirdly, is
covenant mercies. covenant mercies. We got common
mercies, we got special mercies, and we got covenant mercies.
And only the saint can give thanks for covenant mercies. Everybody
ought to give thanks for common mercies. They don't. They abuse
them. Man don't give thanks for his
special mercies. But I tell you, every saint gives
thanks for covenant mercies. Covenant mercy. I want you to
look here with me in Psalms 136 where we were. Look in Psalms
136 in verse 24. One of the reasons I chose Psalms
136 is because it had so many things in here concerning mercy
that I want to look at. We've seen His common mercy there
in verse 25, but look here in verse 24. And He hath redeemed
us from our Now, there is redeeming mercy, isn't there? And he says
here we should give thanks to the Lord for His redeeming mercy. I want you to turn with me to
a couple of places in Scripture. I'm trying to stay here in the
Psalms. Look in Psalms 89. I want you to put your marker
in Psalms 136. Look in Psalms chapter 89. This
chapter is concerning covenant mercies. Look here in verse 1
through verse 3, Psalms 89, verses 1. I will sing of the mercies
of the Lord forever. I'll thank Him for them, and
now I'm going to sing of them. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shall be established
in the very heaven. I have made a covenant with my
chosen, I have sworn unto Christ my servant." That is the greater
David. I am not speaking here of David
as we know him, King, but this is Christ. Look over here in
verse 20. I have found David, I have found
Christ my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him, with
whom my hand will be established, my arm also shall strengthen
him. The enemy shall not exact upon
him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down
his foes before his face, and I will plague them that hate
him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and
in my name shall his horn be exalted. And I will set his hand
also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall
cry unto me, You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also, I will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for
him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him." Now,
why is this so important that he keeps saying, my mercy is
with him? I'm not taking my mercies from
him, because God the Father made the covenant with the Son. That's
who made the covenant. And God promised to give His
mercy, His covenant mercy, to His Son. He put all saving mercy
in His Son. And He says, I'll never take
it away. What I put in Him, I'll never take it away. Well, what
does the Lord Jesus do with this mercy? He gives it to us. He gives it to His elect. And
as long as God will never take it from Him, Christ will never
take it away from His people. But you say, Bruce, what happens
if they falter? What happens if they fall? What
happens if they stumble? What happens when they err? Will
He take mercy from them then? Well, look here on in verse 28.
My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore. My covenant shall
stand fast with Him. His seed, His people, His children. Also will I make to endure forever,
and His throne, His throne of mercy, 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." Now, let's be honest, brothers and
sisters, with ourselves. Is anybody here perfect? Is anybody
here lift their hand and say concerning the law, I'm blameless? That I believe God perfectly,
I love Him with all my heart, always without fail? Don't we
all err in the best we do with unprofitable servants? Every
day, what do we say? Forgive us of our transgressions.
Why then, why then, doesn't God forsake us? Why does He hold
us up? Look what He says in verse 32.
I will visit their transgressions with a rod. I'll chasten them
sore, and their iniquities I'll visit
with stripes." And we've all experienced that, haven't we?
Nevertheless, my love and kindness will I not utterly take from
whom? From Him. Nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail, my covenant will I not break, nor all of the thing that
is going out of my mouth, once have I sworn by my holiness I
will not lie to my Son, my Savior. Everything that pertains to salvation
is attributed to God's mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything concerning salvation
is attributed to God's covenant mercies that He has put in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He chose his elect in Christ
before the foundation of the world. And how does he refer
to them? Vessels of mercies that he has
before prepared unto glory. What distinguished the holy angels
from all of those angels that sinned? They are elect angels. They are elect angels. Wouldn't
he have mercy of God to his angels? that He chose them to keep them
from the fall. Don't you think that even holy
angels praise Him for that? What is it that distinguishes
the redeemed from those who finally perish, but God has chose them
to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ? What a mercy of God it
is! Though He suffered all His people
to fall in Adam, yet He elected to redeem them from that fall. And what can we attribute that
to? Mercy. Mercy. Oh, give thanks unto the
Lord for His mercy. His covenant mercy. His redeeming
mercy. I tell you, elected mercies. I'll never get over it, will
you? We'll never get over His elected mercy. And that's secured
for us our salvation. And it secured for us the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us. I want you to turn to another
passage with me. Look over in Luke chapter 1,
and look here in verse 68. We attributed our election to
the tender mercies of our God, vessels of mercy, and the coming
of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ to this earth to redeem us. He
hath redeemed us for His mercy endureth forever. And what do
we attribute the coming of Christ to? Mercy. Give us just mercy. Look in Luke chapter 1 and look
in verse 68. This is Zacharias, the father
of John the Baptist. John was born and he was filled
with the Holy Spirit. Zacharias was. Here's what he
began to say in verse 68. Look at this. Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel. for he hath visited and redeemed
his people. He hath raised up an unhorn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake
by the mouth of his holy prophet, which I have been since the world
began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the
hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to
our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant. the oath which
he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that
we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve
him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him
all the days of our life. And thou shall, John the Baptist,
shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his way. to give knowledge
of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,"
look at this, "...through the tender mercies of God, whereby
the day sprang from on high," what a name for Christ! "...the
day sprang from on high, has visited us, to give light to
them that sit in darkness, and the shadow of death, to guide
our feet unto the ways of peace." The coming of Christ, God did
it to remember the mercy that He promised to the fathers. And
what was that? We just read about it in Psalms
89, didn't we? My mercies will I not take from Him. And He sent
Him, a great Savior, that mercy may now come to us and save us.
Old Christmas Evans, he was an old one-eyed preacher, a Welsh
preacher. Larry's probably read about him.
And he got very graphic sometime when he preached. And he was
preaching and got carried away about mercy, going out to the
graveyard. And she had tears running down
her face. And she retched for the gate
to the graveyard. And just as she began to unlatch
it, Justice retched and grabbed her hand and said, No, no, no,
you can't go in there. And Justice said, I love those
people. I desire to go in and get them from their graves and
give them life. Justice said, No, no, no, you can't go in there.
And mercy said, what will it take to let me in this gate and
go raise them from the dead? I love them. And justice said,
it takes one thing. It's going to take the blood
of Emmanuel. And just as mercy runs to the
throne and says, oh, Emmanuel, will you give your blood that
I may go and deliver my loved ones from the grave? And Emmanuel
says, I'll go. I'll go. And Mr. Evans said, this all took place
long before time, but in time, Emmanuel came and poured out
His blood, and then mercy with her blood-stained hands reaches
for the gate, and justice smiles, and mercy goes in and raises
her loved ones from the dead. Emmanuel's blood is what enables
mercy to come to you and comes to me. the mercies of a covenant
God. We attribute our election. We
attribute the coming of Christ, Emmanuel, to secure our salvation
by His blood, to mercy. We attribute everything to His
mercy. Our calling, our regeneration. What did Paul say about it? But
God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, have quickened us together
with Christ, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us." Nobody has ever been
saved apart from pure mercy, undeserved mercy. Nothing else
can do any good to us poor sinners but mercy. Aren't you glad then? Aren't you thankful for mercy?
Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for His redeeming covenant mercies. And what are we told when trouble
comes? When we come into trials and weakness? Come boldly to
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Mercy will keep
you. Mercy will strengthen you. Mercy
will get you through this line. It will do it. The mercy of the
Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. The
Lord takes pleasure in them that fear Him and them that hope in
His mercy. The eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy." And Jews
said, we are looking for the mercy. We are looking for mercy. So from way back yonder in eternity,
to the coming of Christ, to our calling, The forgiveness of our
sins to weigh out you on in eternity that is to come. What is it that
we owe our complete salvation to? The mercy of God. Is that
your hope? Are you hope? When you appeal
to your head tonight, is this probably your last thought for
this day? Lord, my hope is in your mercy.
I'm hoping, I'm looking for mercy. The Lord takes pleasure in you.
He takes pleasure in you. So sovereign covenant mercies,
they're not common mercies. That's for the fowls, the beasts,
God's creatures. They're not just special mercies
because that's for every man. But these are covenant mercies. And they're laid up in the mediator. And they're laid up there for
all God's elect. And one thing more you can say
about this kind of mercy is sovereign mercy. It's sovereign mercy. You say, Bruce, why do you say
that? For this reason, the Lord said to Moses, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but it's of God that
showeth mercies. Sovereign mercies. A debtor to
mercy alone, of covenant mercies I sing. No fear were thy righteousness
own, my person and offering to bring. The terrors of law and
of God with me have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and
blood hide all my transgression from you." Look back quickly in Psalm 136.
A couple of more things concerning this, and we'll go quickly to
something else, something very solemn. Look in verse 11. Notice the distinction. He makes
a distinction. If you'll study this Psalm closely,
136, you'll notice some distinctions he makes in his mercy. In verse
11, this is his mercy to Israel. He brought out Israel from among
them for his mercy endureth forever. With a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm for his mercy endureth forever. to him which divideth the sea
in parts for his mercy endureth forever, and made Israel to pass
through the midst of it for his mercy endureth forever." Verse
16, "...to him who led his people through the wilderness for his
mercy endureth forever." Verse 21, "...he gave their land for
an heritage for his mercy endureth forever, even an heritage unto
Israel his servant for his mercy endureth forever, who remembered
us in our lowest states for his mercy endureth forever, and hath
redeemed us from our enemies. So see, that's covenant mercies,
ain't it? And who was these covenant mercies for? That's for Israel. It's for Israel, isn't it? It's
for Israel. He took the smallest nation in
the world and redeemed them from the bondage of Pharaoh, brought
them out of Egypt, led them through the Red Sea, brought them through
the desert, and brought them into the land of promise. And
what did they continually give thanks to Him for? Mercy. It's
mercy. Mercy. But we've got something
else here in closing. I want you to consider this.
This is a very solemn thought, too. I would to God that unbelievers
would take this serious. Take this serious. The destruction
of Israel's enemies. This is strange language. But
the destruction of Israel's enemies is attributed to the mercy of
God. Now look at this in verse 10.
I want you to look at this. Look here in verse 10. To him, to the Lord God, that
smote Egypt in their firstborn. Remember that? He smote the firstborn
down in Egypt. Even Pharaoh's firstborn. For
His mercy endures forever." Now, he begins up here, Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord for His mercy endures forever. Then he goes on and
tells us in every verse what to be thankful for. He smote
Egypt's firstborn. Oh, give thanks unto Him for
His mercy endures forever. Now, how could it be called mercy
to smite the firstborn? Well, you know something? Pharaoh
would not let Israel go until God did. What a mercy it was
to Israel that God smoked the first one. Then he said, no,
you're not going anywhere. Until justice came and judgment
came and killed his oldest son. And then he said, get out of
here. That's mercy. Justice to Pharaoh. Justice to
the Egyptians. But mercy to Israel. Look what
he says here also, look in verse 15. But he overthrew Pharaoh
and his host in the Red Sea. Oh, give thanks for his mercy
endureth forever. What do we see in mercy in destroying
and drowning Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea? You know
what would have happened if God had? They would have recaptured
them, wouldn't they? Then he went through the Red
Sea, got Israel, and brought them back into bondage. What
a mercy then it was to Israel that God overthrew Pharaoh and
his army in the midst of the sea. Look here in verse 17 and
through verse 20. To him who smote great kings,
give thanks unto him for his mercy endures forever. He slew
famous kings. Sihon, king of the Amorites. And Og, king of Bashan, give
thanks unto him for his mercy, and dears for his effort." Why
is this mercy? These were the Jews' enemies.
They were the Jews' tormentors. They would have put them in bondage
themselves if they could have. Refused to give them water or
food. Refused to even sell it to them. Refused to even let
them pass in their borders to the land of promise. God slew
these great kings and great nations. If they had not, then He probably
slew Israel. What a mercy to Israel then that
God smote these great kings. Justice towards them. Judgment towards them. But mercy
towards Israel. Can you and I imagine the grief,
what grief it would be for a believer to dwell with unbelievers for
all eternity. Can you imagine what a heartbreak
it would be for the godly to have to live with the ungodly
for all eternity? The persecuted have to endear
the persecution of the persecutors. Can you imagine that? Those who
love the Lord Jesus Christ, believe His gospel, love holiness, long
to be without sin in themselves or in the presence of sin? Can
you imagine those dear people having to live with the ungodly? With the rebels? With those who
refuse to hear the gospel of Christ and bow to Him? Can you
imagine what a grief that would be to live in the midst of those
people for all eternity? What a mercy it is to the church
that Jesus Christ reigns today, and will reign until He has put
all His enemies under His feet, and until He has destroyed not
only His enemies, but the enemies of His people. Won't that be
a mercy? That will be a mercy. And you
know something when it happens? You know what the church is going
to do? They are going to say, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He's not only delivered me from
my wretched sin, but He's delivered me from this sinful world. He's
delivered me from the very presence of the ungodly. You know here
we have these fleshly passions. We can't think straight, and
it's not meant for us to be too strict. Here in this world, we have compassion
on the most ungodly people. We have compassion on them. We
sympathize with them because we can somewhat relate to them.
We bear with them. In our school systems, in our
government, in our homes, we have to be patient with sin and
with sinners. That's the world we're living
in. But you know, when we get to heaven, it will all be different
then. We won't be burdened with these
flashy passions and attachments. We won't want to be around any
sin. We will not want to be in the presence of sinners. One
of the grievous things in the world would be with a person
for all eternity who stepped on the neck of the Son of God,
as it were, in this lifetime. You preach the gospel of peace
to this world, and they not only reject it, they abuse it. And they really hate you for
preaching that gospel to them. They won't hear you. They won't
believe what you tell them. Wouldn't it be a grief to live
with that person for all eternity? I don't care if it's your wife,
if it's your husband, if it's your children or dad and mother.
It would be a grief to live with an ungodly person for all eternity. It would be just like the children
of Israel living next to Og and Bashan, those wicked kings. It
would be just like the children of Israel running through the
desert, always trying to escape Pharaoh and his army. What a
mercy it will be then for God to destroy the wicked, to put
them in hell in time. That will be a mercy. You say,
Bruce, I think you're imagining these things. Well, how are we
going to understand Psalm 136? Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
He slew Pharaoh. He grounded Pharaoh. And when
they got off on the other side of the lake, on the sea, remember
what they said? Oh, they blessed the Lord. The
horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord's got
the victory. And they got out their trembles
and their guitars and their fiddles, and they were shouting and singing,
God has overthrown our enemies. One more place, look at Revelations
chapter 19. I don't want brothers and sisters
for myself to trust in common mercy. I don't want to distrust
in special mercy. I want covenant mercy. I want
saving mercy. And those who abuse God's mercies
here, And trust in common mercies here?
Trust in good health? Don't put your trust in anything. I don't care if you've got the
best health in the world. I don't care if you've got a good job,
you've got a good bank account. How many ungodly people possess
those things? That's common mercies. That's
just special mercies. Don't rest. Don't rest in your
heart until you find yourself accepted in Jesus Christ. You can say with the Apostle
Paul, I obtained mercy. I obtained mercy. Look here what
he says in Revelation 19. After these things I heard a
great voice of much people in heaven say, Hallelujah, salvation
and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true
and righteous are His judgments, For he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with
her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at
her hand." And again they said, Hallelujah, and the smoke rose
up forever. I have children that will not hear the gospel
from me. They don't believe the gospel that I preach, that you
believe. You know what I'm going to say
someday, unless their repentance prevents it, when God judges
them and casts them into the fire, you know what I'm going
to say? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That sounds harsh
now, doesn't it? But that's what they're saying.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. They didn't want
mercy when they were upon the earth. They were told about mercy. They despised mercy. They often
used your name in vain. They often said, hell, hell,
hell this and hell that. Why can they complain now when
you put them there? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And that's the way we'll feel,
brothers and sisters, in that day. That's the way we'll feel. Mercies. Mercies. Men despise
mercy here. They'll get what's coming to
them all. Justice. Justice. God bless His Word.