Psalm 135 this evening. I'm taking
the title for the message from what is said in verse 6. Psalm
135 verse 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased. Now that whatsoever is a big
word. It's a wide word, isn't it? It encompasses all of God's
decrees, all of God's eternal purpose. And whatsoever the Lord
pleased, Whatever he's pleased to do, that's what he does. His
will is done in heaven, his will is done on the earth, and in
the seas, and in all deep places. Remember the lesson that God
taught Nebuchadnezzar, that all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, and God doeth according to his will,
in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of this earth, and
no one can stay his hand or say unto him, Lord God Almighty,
what doest thou? So I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said there in verse six, whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that's what he did. Now the question's gonna
be, and we're gonna try to answer the question, what did it please
the Lord to do? What has it pleased the Lord
to do? And we're going to look at five things in Scripture that
the Lord tells us that He's pleased to do. Now, I want us to consider
this Scripture from the Scripture and try to answer that question,
what the Lord is pleased to do. This Psalm is much like Psalm
115. Hold your place there and turn
back to Psalm 115. Psalm 115 verse 1, not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy,
for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? David comes back and said, our
God is in the heavens. he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased." Whatever the Lord is pleased to do. He says, I've
spoken it, I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I will
do it. This Psalm, like Psalm 115, the
Lord draws a sharp contrast between the true and living God, who
works all things after the counsel of his own will, and the mere
idols created by men that are dead and useless. Idols of men,
gods of men, bring nothing but false hope and a false refuge
of lies. As it says, and this is so, this
says the same thing in Psalm 115. Look at verse 18, Psalm
135. Verse, well, let's begin reading
at verse 15 when it talks about the idols of the heathen are
silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths,
but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not, neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make
them are likened to them, so is everyone that trusteth in
them. What good would it do to trust
a dead, cold idol? To be occupied with right thoughts
about the true living God, as he's revealed in the scripture,
will increase our faith, it will encourage our hope, It will inspire
our love, our affection toward him, set your affection on things
above. The way to have strong and true
faith is to trust the almighty God as he's revealed in the word. You see, saving faith doesn't
have strength in itself. Saving faith always looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our hope. He is our strength. He is our salvation. Remember,
we read of Abraham, Abraham believed God, it was counted to him for
righteousness. But it says in Romans 4 that
Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief,
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully
persuaded that what he had promised, God was able to perform Therefore,
it was imputed to him for righteousness, for righteousness. Abraham believed
God and God counted. What did he believe? Our Lord
Jesus Christ said of Abraham, remember, he saw my day and rejoiced. Abraham's hope was the same hope
we have, the Lord Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Now let's
go back to verse one. We'll work our way down through
verse six. Believers, Praise ye the Lord, verse one. Praise
ye the name of the Lord. Oh, you servants of the Lord. Believers are servants of the
Lord. What an honor to be called a servant of the Lord. You remember
the apostle Paul often calls himself, before he mentioned
that he's an apostle of the Lord, he calls himself Paul the servant
of the Lord. a loving bond slave of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But believers who are God's servants,
they do praise the Lord. They do praise the name of the
Lord. The name of the Lord declares
who he is, almighty Jehovah, eternal God. And ye that stand
in the house of the Lord or part of his household in the courts
of the house of our God, praise ye the Lord. Now, when we talk
about, when we read this statement in scripture, And as I said,
this statement, praise ye the Lord. I looked this up today.
It's found 24 times in the word of God, but 22 times it's found
here in the book of Psalms, in these 150 Psalms. Several times
right here in these few verses. Believers who are the servants
of the Lord are told to praise him. This is their desire and
their delight to honor him and to glory only in him. And it
is a common repeated phrase, praise ye the Lord. Now, this
is not that religious nonsense that goes on in some religious
circles. You remember years ago, there
was a show on TV, a religious show called the PTL Club. Remember
that? Praise ye the Lord. Praise the
Lord Club. I don't even want to mention
their name. But that was a real popular religious
show. But this is not that religious
outward veneer. This is sincere heart worship. And this is what we desire to
do in our heart is to praise the Lord, to honor Him, to glorify
Him. And you can't overdo this. Can
you worship God too much, too often, too sincerely? Of course
not. Praise ye the Lord. And you can't
overdo this. You cannot give him too much
honor, worship, or glory unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said,
God forbid I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Praise, he says there, the name
of the Lord. His name reveals who he is. His
character, His attributes, nor the name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ that declares
His person and His work. He is the Messiah who accomplished
our salvation as the Savior. I like the description that's
given to us in Isaiah 9, for unto us a child is born, a son
is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,
that is, God whom we worship. Now notice, and I love this statement
here, ye that stand in the house of the Lord, the house of the
Lord, Now this is not talking about a physical house, this
is talking about his family. We are of the family of God,
we're of the household of God. The apostle writes about it this
way, therefore you're no more strangers and foreigners but
fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.
We are sons of God in his family, part of his body, one with him. We're in his house. We're in
his family. We're in the courts of his house.
We're in the presence of the Lord. Now look, verse three,
verse three down through verse five, he says, praise the Lord,
honor him, worship him. That's what he's talking about.
Four, the Lord is good. Sing praises unto his name, it
is pleasant. Four, or because the Lord had
chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure
or his purchased treasure, for I know that the Lord is great
and that our Lord is above all. He's above all, certainly above
all idols, isn't he? All gods, as it says there. Now, at least four reasons that
we're given here that we should praise the Lord. And I mean by
that to worship him, to reverence him, holy and reverent is his
name. Because it says there in verse three, the Lord is good.
The Lord is good. There is none good but our gracious
and holy God. You remember our Lord said to
that young rich ruler who was seeking salvation, when he called
him good master, he said, there's none good but God. He is the
Lord who is good. There is none good but our gracious
and holy God. And think about this, all that
he does is good. Everything he does is right.
Everything he does is good. Let's find a scripture on that.
Turn back to Psalm 100. Psalm 100. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. And I looked that up in scripture. I think that's found at least
four times in the Word of God. And this is one of them here.
Psalm 100. Look at verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that made us, not we
ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. His truth endures to all generations. And then another one here I want
you to look at. This is one of my favorite scriptures in the
Psalms. Turn to Psalm 34. Look at verse 8. Psalm 34 verse 8. You've got this marked, haven't
you? Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. It's tasting. Taste and see. Experience him
and see. The Lord is good. Blessed is
the man that trusteth him. So the Lord is good. There's
none good but God. Everything he does is right and
good. God alone is the author and source
of all goodness. Abraham said this, Shall not
the judge of all the earth do right? Everything he does is
right. Absolutely good. Absolutely true. Everything he does is right and
good. He's too wise to err. He's too wise to err. He knows
all things. He's too strong to fail. The
Lord cannot fail, Isaiah 42, 4. And he's too holy, but to
act justly. He is the just God and Savior.
The Lord is good. The second thing He gives us
here, because it says there, for the Lord is good, sing praises
unto His name. The last part of verse 3, because
it is pleasant. His name is pleasant. You see
that? His name is pleasant. His character,
His name, His attributes, He's pleasant. His people, to His
people, He is sweet. He is delightful. To you who
believe, remember Peter writes in his epistle, to you who believe,
He is precious. The Lord Jesus Christ, you remember
from our study in the Song of Solomon, chapter 5, He's altogether
lovely, isn't He? His name is pleasant. Because
His person is pleasant. When you think about the beauty
and glory and all the attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't
you just arrive to the conclusion that the Lord is pleasant? The
Lord is good. The Lord is sweet. The Lord is
holy. Let me read this to you in Psalm
147. Praise ye the Lord, for it is
good to sing praises unto our God, for it is pleasant, it is
pleasant to sing praises to the Lord. And praise is proper. Praise is, worship is proper
and honorable. And then, verse 4, he said, another
reason we ought to praise the Lord, for the Lord hath chosen. We should praise the Lord because
the Lord had chosen. And notice who he had chosen.
He's chosen Jacob. Now Jacob was one not whit better
than Esau. Jacob was called, his name means
supplanter and chief. Jacob was a sinner. But many
times we read in the book of Isaiah that he's called God,
our God is called the God of Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. God chose, sovereignly chose
this sinner unto himself. And you remember when Jacob wrestled
with the Lord, and the Lord wrestled with Jacob, and he changed his
name to Israel, a prince with God, a prince with God. For his
peculiar, he chose him to be his peculiar, peculiar treasure. The Lord hath chosen Jacob, the
Lord had chosen. You reckon Jacob praised the
Lord and honored the Lord by believing and worshiping him?
Sure he did, sure he did. Because the Lord had chosen a
people unto salvation. He's chosen you unto salvation. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord hath chosen, and causeth to approach unto him. Had not
the Lord chosen us, we would never have chosen him. We never
would have believed him. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand. Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that show mercy. Now, the fifth
reason we see that he gives us here why we should praise the
Lord, verse 5, because I know, for I know, for because I know
that the Lord is great. The Lord is great. How great
is the Lord? Tod described to me the greatness
of the Lord. Every attribute you can think
of His love for His great love wherewith He loved us. He saves
us with what kind of salvation? He saves us with so great salvation. You see, everything about our
Lord is great. For the Lord, I know that the
Lord is great and that He's above all. He is above all. He's the sovereign Lord over
all. And certainly, He mentions there,
Idols of the heathen, the idols of the heathen are just silver
and gold, work of men's hands. Who made the silver and gold?
Where did they get the silver and gold or the wood to make
a graven image? God is above all. He is above
all. For I know, and this is only
by the revelation of God to our heart, for I know that the Lord
is great. And that our Lord is above all.
He is called our great Savior who gives us so great salvation. He is our great Redeemer. He is our great Mediator, isn't
He? You know what this great sinner needs? I need a great
Savior. That's what we have in Christ.
He is the great God and Savior that we have. I've got written
down here Psalm 145, verse 3. Turn over there. Psalm 145, verse
3. Well, let's begin reading at
verse 1. Psalm 145, I will extol thee,
my God, O King. I will bless thy name forever
and ever. Every day will I bless thee. I will praise thy name
forever and ever. Great is the Lord. greatly to
be praised and of his greatness That's unsearchable, isn't it?
It's unsearchable. His greatness is unsearchable. I got another Psalm written down
here Psalm 147 Psalm 147 verse 5 turn over there Psalm 147 verse
5 great is our Lord and of great power His understanding is infinite
He is the infinite, eternal God. Everything about Him is great,
so those who know Him, what do they do? They praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Now, we desire to praise Him for who
the Lord our God is. We praise Him for who He is and
what He has done. Turn back to Psalm 71. Let's
see if we can read that. We desire to praise Him for who
He is and for what He's done. Psalm 71. Verse 14, Psalm 71,
I will hope continually and will yet praise thee more and more.
My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness and thy salvation
all the day for I know not the number thereof. I will go in
the strength of the Lord. I'll make mention of thy righteousness,
even thine only. Oh God, thou hast taught me from
my youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also
when I'm old, Gray-headed. I'm past gray-headed. I've turned
white. I'm white-headed. Oh God, forsake
me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation,
thy power to everyone that has come. Thy righteousness also,
oh God, is very high. Who has done great things, oh
God. Who is like unto thee? For there's
none like Him. How many times have we read in
Isaiah where the Lord said, I am the Lord, beside me there is
no other. He's the only just God and Savior. So that gets us down to verse
6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, in earth,
and the seas, and all deep places. All deep places. Now how great
is our God? He's great in creation, created
all things by the word of His power. He's great in providence,
things that come to pass in time. He brings them to pass according
to His eternal decree of Him and through Him and to Him are
all things. And He's great in salvation, isn't He? He's the
great God and Savior. This verse tells us there's no
limit, no restriction or exception to His sovereign throne. Whatsoever
the Lord is pleased to do, that's what He does. Now, you and I
can't say that. We can't say that. For our will
is hindered by our fallen, frail nature. The reason man's will
is not free, it's because it's in bondage to his nature, his
nature. But God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Our great God and Savior does
as he pleases, when he pleases, with whom he pleases, and he's
accountable to no one but himself. I've learned this over the years.
The only place a sinner will truly worship is at the throne
of the absolute sovereign God. the only place. Our God works
his sovereign will and purpose everywhere in heaven, earth,
seas, and all deep places. A God or gods whose purpose is
frustrated, whose will is resisted, whose decrees are altered, is
no God at all. Our God, he said, I am the Lord,
I change not. I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Now, I want
to spend just a few minutes here and focus on five things the
Word of God teaches us that the Lord is pleased to do. What the
Lord is pleased to do. Now, here's the first one. What
does it please the Lord to do? In 1 Samuel, 22, excuse me, 1
Samuel 12, verse 22, we read, for the Lord will not forsake
His people for His great namesake, because it had pleased the Lord
to make you His people. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people, His sovereign choice. David writes, O come, let us
worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our God,
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and
the sheep of his hand. It pleased the Lord to make you
his people, to make you his servants. The Lord our God is sovereign
in mercy, had chosen a multitude of guilty sinners from the beginning
of the world and determined to save them. in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we call that unconditional
election. You know the word elect and electing
and elections found throughout the New Testament over 24, 25,
26, 27 times? Those who deny God's right to
sovereignly choose whom He will They're just nothing but rebels
against God. Those who believe God's word
know that God sovereignly from the beginning had chosen the
people unto salvation. We read that so many times. Ephesians
chapter one tells us that God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies and Christ according as he had chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world. Now, who did the
choosing there? Our Lord said, you didn't choose me, I've chosen
you. When did He do this choosing? Before the foundation of the
world. Why? To the praise of the glory of
His grace. So it pleased the Lord to choose
a people unto salvation and to save them by His sovereign grace. Secondly, we'll turn and look
at this one. Turn over here to Isaiah. The
book of Isaiah 53. And this is a very familiar scripture,
Isaiah 53. What did it please the Lord to
do? Well, it pleased the Lord our God to send our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time to put away our sin,
the sin of those chosen people, the sin of those people given
to Christ. And look what it says in Isaiah 53. He was wounded
for our transgression, bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
Verse 5. But look what it says in verse
10. What did it please the Lord to do? It pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He hath put his soul to grief,
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
serpent justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity." It
pleased Jehovah, God Almighty, God the Father, to bruise the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what happened at Calvary.
It wasn't what wicked men did. They put a crown of thorns on
his head. They put nails in his hand. They
put a spear in his side, nails in his feet. But it wasn't what
men did. It pleased them to do that. They did what God determined
before to be done, but it's what God was doing at the cross. That's
our hope. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Christ died as our substitute.
Death of Christ was not generally applied to all men everywhere.
It was particular, definite, effectual only to the elect of
God, those for whom God had chosen. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ didn't
die for those who were not chosen. He laid down His life for the
sheep. He shall save His people from
their sin. So, it pleased the Lord, God
Almighty, to bruise the Lord Jesus Christ because He was made
sin for us. Thirdly, what did it please the
Lord to do? Turn to the book of Colossians.
This is familiar scripture, but it's good to read it again and
see it again. In Colossians 1, verse 19, what
did it please the Lord to do? Colossians 1 verse 19, for it
pleased the Father that in Him, that is in Christ, should all
fullness dwell, having made peace to the blood of His cross by
Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked wicked
work, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy, unblameable, unapprovable in his sight. It
pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell." Now
look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 and 10. For in him, that is
in the God-man mediator, dwelleth all the fullness of God, of the
Godhead bodily, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, the fullness of
God, in a body. And you are complete in him,
which is head of all principality and power. So praise God Almighty. to dwell in the fullness of God,
to dwell in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every blessing
that our Lord God has for His covenant people is found in Christ. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. Because of His fullness is the
reason we have grace. Grace upon grace. For you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. It pleased God that in Christ
should all the fullness of salvation be manifested and reside in him. Here's the fourth thing. Turn
over here to First Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter one.
First Corinthians chapter one. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. 1 Corinthians 1. Look
at verse 18. 1 Corinthians 1.18. What did
it please the Lord to do? It pleased the Lord that through
the preaching of the gospel to call out His people, His elect,
His sheep, and they will hear His voice and they will follow
Him. 1 Corinthians 1.18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, But in us which are saved, it's
the power of God and salvation. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise. I'll bring you nothing to understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. Here it is, verse 21. It pleased
God. By the foolishness of preaching,
it saved them that believed. For the Jews require a sign,
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews, a stumbling block unto the Greeks' foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greek, Christ the
power of God, Christ the wisdom of God. It pleased God through
the preaching of the gospel to call out his people. Aren't you
glad he sent you a gospel preacher? I'm sure glad. Here's the last
one. Turn to the book of Galatians.
What did it please the Lord to do? Turn to Galatians chapter
1. Galatians chapter 1, look at
verse 15. But when it pleased God, there's
that statement again. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that's what He did. What did it please the Lord to
do? But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb, called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the
heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." When
will a sinner be saved? When it pleases God. When it
pleases God. Not when we turn over a new leaf,
not when we give our consent, not when we give our permission.
When it pleases God. Salvation is by the free and
sovereign grace of God. It's not by our will, is it? It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It's God that showed mercy. He's
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them
unto Baal, Deeb, and so farther. For so it seemed good in his
sight. Now think about this statement. I've said this before over the
years. I don't know if you remember it or not. It takes God to reveal
God. Christ is God and it takes God
Almighty to reveal that to our heart. It takes God to reveal
God. He must command the light to
shine in our darkened dead heart that we might see the glory of
God that shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, what's
the word of the Lord, please? That's what He did. There's five
things the Lord has revealed in His Word. to tell us what
He's pleased to do. Thanks be unto our great God
that is pleased to save sinners in Christ, and He is that unspeakable,
unspeakable gift of God. Those who have seen His glory
speak of Him. When Isaiah saw His glory, what
did he do? He spoke of Christ, didn't he?
Now here's something else to take this home with you. Take
this home with you. Whatsoever pleases God, pleases
the believer. Now think about that. Whatsoever
pleases God, pleases the believer. Because what he does is right.
What he does is good. All things work together for
good to them who love God. To them are called, be called
according to his purpose,