I've studied and looked at this
psalm, started looking at it yesterday, and I've looked at
it all day today. I've worked on it all day today.
And I pray the Lord will open it unto all of us, unto all of
us. As you read God's Word, read
it slowly, read it with meditation, read it knowing that this is
God's testimony to you, to his people. That makes it, I think,
so powerful and real to us, knowing that God is speaking to us through
his word. I'm titling the message from
the words found in verse 10, where it says, surely, certainly,
truly, the wrath of man shall praise thee. Even the wrath of
sinners shall be to the eternal purpose and glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Even the wrath of man, surely
the wrath of man shall praise Thee, and the remainder of wrath,
thank God He restrains it. Thank God He restrains sinners. If God just removed the restraints
off all men everywhere, We wouldn't live here. We wouldn't want to
live in any society where there's no restraining power of God.
It would be total, total chaos. Thank God he does restrain sinners. The wrath of man shall praise
thee. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. One old
preacher of the past said this, the devil blows the fire and
melts the iron and then the Lord fashions it for his own purposes.
He said, let men and devils rage as they may. They cannot do otherwise
than to serve the eternal and divine purpose of God. That's
saying a lot. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. We've read this scripture many
times in Isaiah 46. God said, I've spoken it. I'll
bring it to pass. I've purposed it. I will do it. All that God has purposed. from
eternity, he will bring to pass. This verse teaches us that even
the wicked and the most vile sinners are under the absolute
sovereign control of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will use them
and overrule them for his own eternal will, purpose, and glory. Pharaoh was raised up for the
purpose of God that he might demonstrate that he is God, that
he will have mercy on whom he will. Pharaoh, Pilate, we've
seen how the Lord used Pilate, a wicked man with a wicked heart,
but the Lord used him and Herod. How about Judas? The Lord used
him, didn't he, for his own purpose and glory. And many others have
been raised up and then destroyed for God's own eternal purpose
and glory. Now, do I understand all that? No, but I believe that God is
God and that he does all things well, he does all things right.
The Lord of glory is absolutely in charge of all things, that
even the wickedness of men serve the eternal purpose of God. We
read in Romans 11, all things are of God. of Him and through
Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. And then it says, you know what
it says next? Amen. So be it. So be it. All things are of God. And we
know this scripture here in Ephesians 1, verse 11, that God worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will and purpose,
according to His eternal purpose. I was thinking about, as I was
reading and studying this over, this scripture came to my mind.
I looked it up. I couldn't remember where it
was, but in Proverbs 16, 14, it said, The Lord hath made all
things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. The Lord is in absolute control
over all things. Now some think that this psalm
was written and given when the Lord bared His mighty arm and
gave Israel a great victory over their enemies in a time of Hezekiah king of
Israel over the armies of Sennacherib. We studied about that in 2 Kings
19. You remember the armies of Sennacherib? They came and they mocked Israel,
surrounded the city with many thousands and thousands. God
sent one angel. and killed 185,000 Assyrians
and Israel didn't raise a hand. God defeated their enemies. And we can be certainly sure
and consider this psalm a great delight as we see the Lord Jesus
Christ defeating all our enemies for us and giving us a total
and complete victory over sin, over death, over hell, over the
grave through his blood sacrifice and His righteousness that He's
established for us. We read in Colossians chapter
2, God says, the Lord Jesus Christ, having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them Himself, with Himself. You remember we studied in Revelation,
The Lord is described as a mighty warrior riding on that white
horse of power. And it says there, he went forth
conquering and to conquer. He's never lost a battle. He
defeated every enemy. And we have the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? He said, I'm he that liveth
and was dead, behold, I'm alive forevermore. I have the power,
I have the keys of hell and death. We read with the Apostle Paul,
thanks being to God who's given us the victory. He's given us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We didn't win anything. He's won all things for us and
freely gives us all things. God who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also?
I love that next word, freely, freely. Give us all things. Everything I need to stand before
God. Who shall stand? It says that
in verse 7. Who may stand in thy sight when
thou art angry? None will stand outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The only way we can stand before
a holy God is to be in Christ, to be found in Him. Now let's
look at verse 1. In Judah, God is known. In Judah is God known. His name
is great in Israel, in Salem, or in Jerusalem also
with the tabernacle. It's His tabernacle and His dwelling
place. His dwelling place is with His
people. Among the redeemed of the Lord. Our Lord is a great God and Savior. Among the redeemed of the Lord,
our God and Savior is known. We say with the Apostle Paul,
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I've committed unto Him. To the Lord's
people, He's no unknown God. God is known among His people.
Listen to Scripture. Our Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
you've given me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. And this is eternal
life, that they might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. In Judah, God is known. Now,
we can read it this way. Who came from the, or who is
called the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Christ, house of Jesse,
tribe of Judah, son of David. In Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ
is God known. We can see it, read it that way.
In Christ, our line of the tribe of Judah, God is known, God is
revealed to us. And his name, oh, his name is
something, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ. His name
is glorious, and He's great. In Israel, He's great. There's
none greater. There's none greater than Him.
He is the great God, our Savior. He has given us an understanding
that we may know Him. He's made known to us in the
preaching of the gospel. He's made known to us by His
mighty deeds of grace. He's made known to us by the
revelation of God the Holy Spirit. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babe, even so, father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. Our Lord said to Peter,
flesh and blood didn't reveal this unto you. When the Lord
asking Peter, whom do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art
the Christ. Flesh and blood didn't teach
you that, but my father had revealed this unto you. God is known by
the one who sprang out of Judah. Christ is the lion of the tribe
of Judah. He's our lion. God has commanded the light to
shine out of darkness that we might see the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. And then in Israel, in Judah,
his name is great. He's a great God and Savior.
He is a great God and Savior. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Call his name Jesus, which means
Savior, He shall save his people from their sin. He is a great
God and Savior. He is our great high priest,
isn't he? Who represents us under God.
We must have a high priest. We don't have any earthly high
priest. We have a high priest who ascended into heaven who
intercedes for us, don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ is a great
God and Savior, the great high priest, the only great high priest. He's a great prophet risen in
Israel. He's a great king over all the
earth. And he's a great shepherd of the sheep. He's assured the
everlasting covenant. His works of mercy which make
him known are great. He has accomplished for us great
salvation. Everything about our God is great. Everything about our God is great,
is it not? Our great God. He said many times
in the book of Isaiah, I am God, beside me there is no other.
He's the only great God that we have. Look at verse two. In
Salem, or in Jerusalem also, is his tabernacle, and his dwelling
place is in Zion. Zion is a picture of his church.
Christ in you is a hope of glory. God dwells in his people. The
Lord Jesus Christ does in the power of God the Holy Spirit.
The Lord God dwelled among his people in the wilderness, in
the tabernacle, and later in Solomon's temple around the mercy
seat in the holy of holies where the atonement was made for our
sin. And all that tabernacle and the
temple, we studied all those things, they all picture the
Lord Jesus Christ, don't they? Christ dwelling among us in the
body of his flesh prepared by God. The true tabernacle which
God pitched and not man. He's a true tabernacle. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
minister as a priest of God in any earthly tabernacle. He ascended
to glory as our great high priest. And there, there he represents
us before God. He dwells, he dwells among his
people. where two or three are gathered
together. He said, there am I in the midst. The Word was made
flesh and tabernacled among us. In the New Jerusalem, the Lord
will be always present with us. He's present with us now. But
in that New Jerusalem, oh, I tell you, it's going to be so much
superior to what it is now. We read in Revelation 21, Behold,
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, a tabernacle
of God is with men. He will dwell with them. They
shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their
God. He shall dwell with them. Look
at verse 3. There break he the arrows and
the bow, and the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Sennacherib and his army were
defeated with a powerful, unusual miracle as they came near Jerusalem,
outside the city, outside the gate. And even so, the Lord Jesus
Christ suffered for our sins, we read it Sunday, outside the
city, outside the gate at Calvary Street. and conquered all our
spiritual enemies, and made peace with God through His blood, by
a powerful and glorious miracle, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. Now look at verse 4. Thou art
more, thou art more glorious and more excellent Christ is
better. That was the message of the book
of Hebrews, wasn't it? Christ is better, he's more glorious,
and he's more excellent than any mountain, certainly the mountains
of prey or the mountains of flesh. God gets the glory alone. Christ,
who is God over all, blessed forever, and that word there,
glorious, can be rendered bright. splendid, glorious in his divine
nature. You remember what we studied
in Hebrews chapter one, that Christ is the brightness of his
father's glory, the express image of his person. He said, you've
seen me, you've seen the father. I am the father of one. And he's
excellent. He's more bright and glorious. God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. He's the brightness of God's
glory, and he's excellent. He's more excellent than anything. He's greater than anything. He's
more excellent. He's altogether lovely, isn't
he? See, you believe. He's excellent in his office.
What is his office? Prophet, priest, and king. He's
excellent in his office. He's excellent in his work as
savior, mediator, advocate, intercessor. He's the prophet of God who reveals
God unto us. And he's a priest of God who
represents us unto God. And then he's a king who reigns
over us. Prophet, priest, and king. The
Lord Jesus Christ is everything that we need. He's glorious in
his person. He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other. In his resurrected glory, he's
exalted at the Father's right hand, far above all principality,
might, dominion, Signified here by the mountains of prey? Or
the kingdoms of this world? What are they compared to the
great and glorious God our Savior? They're nothing. Our Lord said
this, we're going to see this in Matthew 28. All power is given
unto me, Matthew 28, this is how the book of Matthew ends.
Our risen Lord said to His disciples before He ascended, all power
is given to me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach
the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the earth. He is excellent above
all. Look at verse 5. The stout-hearted. That's the hard-hearted. Do you know anybody like that?
Hard-hearted? Stout-hearted? That's a description
of us by nature. Doubt-hearted, hard-hearted.
The doubt-hearted are spoiled. They're conquered. They have
slept their sleep. And none of the men of might
have found their hands. He breaks the rebels before him. The doubt-hearted are spoiled. The enemies of Israel, Sennacherib,
and the Assyrian army were shackled by God and defeated. But how
much more? How much more is this among the
elect of God, who by nature are stout-hearted, rebel, hard-hearted? But the Lord does break them
and mold them, doesn't he, to his image. How does he do that?
By his power. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God and the salvation of everyone that believeth. He nigh them
of a broken heart. He saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. Now think about this. The stout-hearted,
the hard-hearted, they're overcome, they're spoiled, they're defeated. And none of the men of might
have found their hand. You can't fight back. You can't
fight God. You can't fight against God.
He breaks us that he might heal us. He strips us that he might
clothe us. He convicts us to comfort us
with the gospel. You remember, there was a man
we studied about in the Book of Acts. His name was Saul of
Tarsus. He was that stout-hearted, proud,
religious Pharisee, wasn't he? You remember what happened to
him when he met the Lord Jesus Christ? As the old preacher said,
he was unhorsed. God took him off that high horse
of pride and put him in the dust. and made him cry out, Lord, what
would you have me to do? You see, when the Lord conquers
us, he takes the fight out. He takes the fight out. Later,
Paul's last words, as he sits in prison waiting to be executed,
he writes back and reminds Timothy, it's God who saved us and called
us. with a holy calling, not according
to our work, but according to God's own purpose and grace,
given us in Christ before the foundation of the world. The
Lord in His grace does slay us and then raises us up and makes
us new creatures in Christ. The stout-hearted are spoiled.
They have slept their sleep. Now He's made us alive in Christ. And none of the men of might
I found their hands. There's no way to fight against
God. Just fold up your tent, put up your sword, lay down,
as one old preacher used to say, lay down your shotgun. You've
been conquered by Him. Submit unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to set the prisoner free.
He makes us new creatures in Christ. Look at verse 6. At thy rebuke, Oh God of Jacob,
both the chariot and the horse are cast into a dead sleep. He's defeated them, hasn't he?
At the rebuke of the Lord, just a word from the Lord, and the
enemies fall backward and are slain. You remember what Moses
declared to Israel that day when they came up against the Red
Sea? Stand still and see the salvation
that's of the Lord. Pharaoh and his army were destroyed,
weren't they? The chariot and the horse, when
Israel crossed on dry ground through the Red Sea, along safely
on the other side, and Pharaoh and his army started down into
the Red Sea, the walls of the water on both sides, and the
Lord, at his rebuke, covered them up and destroyed them all. And we see again that salvation
is of the Lord. at His rebuke, at His Word. You remember in John 18 when
they came to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ? And He said, whom
do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And what happened? They all fell
backward at His rebuke. In absolute control of all things. He rebukes. the enemies out of
wrath and judgment and holiness, but he rebukes his children out
of love and mercy. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Our God, thou rebuked,
O God of Jacob. Our God is the God of Jacob.
Remember in the book of Malachi, we read, he said, I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
you're not consumed. Because the Lord does not change.
26 times, I counted them today, 26 times in the word of God,
Our God is called the God of Jacob. He's called that more
than any other name. The God of Jacob, the God of
sovereign mercy, the God of electing love, the God who said, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. The God of Jacob is able to do
above all we ask or think. The God of Jacob is able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. The God of Jacob
is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before
the presence of God's glory. The God of Jacob is able to perform
everything He promised. He's able to perform. I'm persuaded
like Abraham, aren't you? Of all that God promised, He's
able. He's able to perform. Look at
verse 7. Psalm 76, verse 7, Thou, even
Thou, Thou art to be feared. Now, we can look at that word
also and think about this in a sense of God is to be reverenced. Holy and reverent is His name.
Thou art a God to be worshipped and reverenced. Now, He says,
and asks this question, Who may stand in Thy sight when once
thou art angry. You remember Psalm 24 where it
says, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand
in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who has never lifted up his soul to vanity, who has
never sworn deceitfully. Well, that just slammed the door
on me. The only way we can stand before God is to stand before
God in Christ. Stand before God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Take your Bible and turn to Psalm
130. This is a familiar psalm. The true and living God is to
be worshipped. He asks this question in Psalm
130 verse 3. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? There is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. We can only stand before God
being justified in the Lord Jesus Christ, justified by His blood. The fear of man is a snare, but
the fear of God is a great virtue. God is to be feared. God is to
be worshipped. God is to be reverenced. The only way we can stand before
God is stand before God accepted in the Beloved, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 8. Thou didst cause
judgment to be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was stilled. I can't help but think as we
look at verse 8, God's judgment at Calvary's tree, where we studied
on Sunday, where it said, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him
in our room and in our stead. Thou didst cause judgment to
be heard from heaven. Where did the Lord Jesus Christ
come from? In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
judgment Thou did cause judgment to be heard from heaven. We've
seen God judge our sin in our substitute to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The earth feared, and on that day, things stood still. We're going to see that in Matthew
27. The sun was darkened, and the
earth quaked. The veil of the temple was rent,
and there was a great earthquake, and many of the saints that slept,
arose after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we see that, I think, in the next verse here. Verse nine,
when God arose, that's the resurrection. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. When God arose to judgment to
save all the meek of the earth. Who's that? That's his people,
isn't it? He justified them. He justified
them with his blood. Our great God is mighty to save
his own and mighty to destroy his enemies. Mighty to save the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Christ came to save
the lost. All them and every one of them
shall be saved in him with an everlasting salvation. He came
to save his people. There's no one for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ stood as eternal surety. There's no one for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ died to put away their sin. There's no
one for whom the Lord Jesus Christ, loved with an everlasting love,
shall ever perish in eternal condemnation. That's not going
to happen. He saves his people with an everlasting
salvation. He said, of all you've given
me, I've lost none, but I raise them up again at the last day.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, the
Lord shall save His people from their sin. He came to save sinners,
didn't He? When God arose to judgment, what
happened? He saved all His people. He saved
them by His blood. He justified them by His grace.
Saved them by His blood. Verse 10, Even surely and truly,
Even the wrath of man, sinful, wicked men shall praise thee. Now we've seen in our study of
the book of Matthew, that's what made me think about this verse.
And that's what kind of led me to bring the message from Psalm
76. Those Jews, they sought counsel
and held counsel how they might destroy him. They arrested him
and accused him. They spit in his face and beat
him. They turned him over to Pilate and his Roman soldiers,
and what did they do again? They abused him and abused him.
They mocked him, put a crown of thorns on his head, lacerated
his back, led him outside of the city, and nailed him to a
wooden cross in his hands and his feet, put a spear in his
side. Surely the wrath of man. What
do we see there? We see the wrath of man, don't
we? We see the sinfulness and depravity of humanity. They did what their wicked heart
wanted to do. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For the truth against the holy
child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
With the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand, thy counsel determined before
to be done. Christ was delivered. by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. And then Peter said,
you, by wicked hand, have crucified and slain the Lord of glory.
But they only did what God determined before to be done. You see, God
even uses, he's sovereign over all things, God even uses the
sinfulness and the wickedness of men to accomplish his own
eternal purpose. That causes us to worship him. in spirit and in truth. Even
the most furious, fanatic evil is under the sovereign control
of Almighty God. Either God is God over all things,
over all men, over all events, or He's not God at all. Look
at Jeremiah, excuse me, Isaiah. Look over here at Isaiah. The
Lord says over here in Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Verse 5. Isaiah 45 at verse 5. He said, I am the Lord, and there
is none else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though you haven't even known me, that they may
know from the rising of the sun from the west, from the east
to the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there
is none else. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
Look at the next verse. I form the light. I create the
darkness. How does He create darkness?
He withholds the light. I make peace. I create evil. How does He create
evil? He withholds goodness. I, the
Lord, do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens from above.
Let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open. Let them
bring forth salvation. And let righteousness spring
up together. I, the Lord, have created it.
You see, the Lord's in charge of all things. Look back at Psalm 76, verse
10. The wrath of man shall praise
thee. And thank God for this. Thank God for all of this. And
the remainder of wrath? God restrains that. God restrains
it. What shall become of the wrath
of man that's left? God will restrain it. Thank God
He does restrain sinners. If God totally would remove the
restraining grace, on this thing we call humanity, the race of
humanity. How long would it take us to
murder one another? You just turn on the news. You ever just really pay much
attention? I was watching the news before
I came over here. I grew up just watching the news
and watching the news, and I still do, and sometimes it's just so
depressing. But the newscast, even our local
news, whether it's Lexington or Huntington, it's stabbings,
shootings, murders, robbery, I mean just over and over and
over again. And that's God restraining men.
What happened if He just removed the restraints? We couldn't live
here. The Lord would have to take us
out of here quick, wouldn't it? The excess of man's wrath that
does not serve God's purpose shall be suppressed and muzzled
like a dog on a chain or a lion in a cage. Thank God He does
restrain sinners from going and doing all that they would had
not God restrained them. We read in Isaiah 14, The Lord
of hosts hath purposed it, who shall disannul it? His hand is
stretched forth, who shall turn it back? He does according to
his will in the army of heaven, among the habitants of this earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?
In the book of Job, Job said this, but he is of one mind,
who can turn him? Who can turn him back? What his
soul desireth, even that's what he does. That's what he does. See, the Lord God Almighty controls
all things, doesn't he? And He controls all things for
our good and His eternal glory. Now look at verse 11 and 12.
Vow and pay unto the Lord your God. What do we vow unto the
Lord? Salvation is of the Lord. That's
what Jonah said in Jonah 2.9. I paid that vow unto the Lord.
Salvation is of the Lord. Let all that be around about
Him bring presence unto Him that ought to be worshipped, that
ought to be feared. What are we presenting to the
Lord? Sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. That's what we're
doing here this evening. Sacrifices of praise unto the
Lord and thanksgiving unto the Lord. Our faithful God deserves
a faithful people. Let us honor Him with thanksgiving
and praise right now, and forever. In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then,
look at verse 12 in closing. He shall cut off the spirit of princes. He is
terrible. He is terrible to the kings of
the earth. Let's close by looking at a scripture over here in Psalm
number 2. Look at Psalm number 2. It talks about the princes of the
earth and the kings of the earth. Psalm number 2. You got it? Psalm
number 2. Ask of me, verse 8, and I shall
give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them and teach
it like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O you
kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun. Kiss the sun. Lest he be angry. and he perisheth
from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed
are all they that put their trust in him. He shall cut off. He controls all judgments, been
committed to the Lord Jesus Christ.