Psalm 67, and I pray the Lord
will bring this home to our heart. Bring this home to our heart.
I'm entitling the message from the words found several places
here. God shall bless us. You see that? God be merciful
unto us and bless us. God bless us. Now, we don't deserve
blessings, do we? The wages of sin is death. But
God said, I will bless my people. And then again down here in verse six, then shall the earth yield
her increase and God, even our own God shall bless us. God shall bless us for Christ's
sake. And then again in verse seven,
It's repeated again the third time. And whenever I see things
in threes, what do you think of? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. God shall bless us and all the
ends of the earth. God has a people, all the ends
of the earth, wherever the end, where is the end of the earth?
I don't know. You can't find an end, can you?
It just goes around and around and around. All the ends of the
earth shall fear him. Now God is to be feared because
he's holy. Holy and reverend is his name
and we do, we do fear him. Not in a slavish way, but in
a reverential way because of who he is. God shall bless us. Not because we're deserving,
because he's gracious because he is merciful. God has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now this is not ungodly or a
holy presumption, but rather holy confidence and assurance
in the God of all grace. He's called in scripture, the
God of all grace, who shall not fail to bless us for Christ's
sake, Christ's sake. You remember in Roman chapter
four, where it said that Abraham was fully persuaded that all
that God had promised, he's able to perform. Now you think of
everything he's promised. That's a lot of promises. Peter
talked about the exceeding great and precious promises, but all
that he has promised us, he's able to perform. Because he's
the father of mercies. He's a God of all grace. I'm
thinking of this scripture. Here, don't turn, let me just
read it to you. This is 1 Peter 5, verse 10. But the God of all
grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you, To Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. God shall bless us. Now
that, again, that's not presumption. That's believing God, taking
Him at His word. God shall bless us. Now, let's
look at verse one. God shall, God, He prays, God
be merciful unto us and bless us and cause His face to shine
upon us, his presence to shine upon us. Now, threefold petition
of prayer is all we need here and hereafter, now and forever. It includes all grace now and
all glory forever. And it's a repeated prayer that Moses prayed in Numbers chapter
six, where he said, bless us, and make your face to shine upon
us. Don't turn on me just to see if I can read it. I read
this to close the funeral service today in Numbers chapter six. Say to the people of Israel,
the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face
to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. God shall bless us. He shall bless His people abundantly
and He does in Christ. Bless us. He gives us all grace
now and glory forever and ever. Turn over a few pages. Psalm
84. Turn over there. Psalm 84 for
just a moment. Psalm 84, look at verse 10. For
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents
of the wicked. For the Lord God is sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. He will. He says I will and you shall.
I will. Give grace and glory, no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, those who
believe. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in thee. He will bless us. God be merciful
unto us and bless us. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. God be merciful unto me, the
sinner. That's what Moses prayed. Lord,
show me your glory. And the Lord said, I will be
merciful to whom I will be merciful. That's sovereign mercy, isn't
it? God's greatest glory is to show mercy. That's my greatest
need. God be merciful. What'd that
sinner pray in Luke 18? The Pharisee bragged on himself,
didn't he? the public and said, Lord, be
merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord said, that man went
down to his house justified rather than the other, rather than the
other. So he said, be merciful unto
us and bless us and cause your face to shine upon us. Bless
us for Christ's sake. I looked at this scripture just
across the page, Psalm 68, verse eight. Verse 18, Thou hast ascended
on high, Thou hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts
for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. Look at verse 19, Blessed be
the Lord who daily loatheth us with benefits. Even the God of
our salvation. He is the God. He is our God. He is the God of salvation. Unto
God, the Lord, belongeth the issues from death. Our days are
determined of the Lord. Lord, cause your face. Look back
at the text. Cause. Be merciful unto us and
bless us. And then the third thing, Lord,
cause us. Cause your face to shine upon
us. Now, if he blesses us, he's merciful
unto us, and he's the cause of his glory shining in our heart
by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit, that's a good thing.
That's a good thing. Cause the face of Christ to shine
upon us, or let us see the glory of God in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For he is called the express
image of the invisible God who put away our sin by the sacrifice
of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
son of righteousness that does arise in our hearts, that we
might see the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Lord, cause your
face to shine upon us. Now, turn over here to Psalm
80, and look at this. Psalm 80, verse 3. This is repeated. You cause your glory, your face,
your Christ to shine in our hearts, that we might see the glory of
God in the face of Christ. Psalm 80 verse 3, turn us again,
O God, and cause thy face to shine upon us, and we shall be
saved. Do we need saved? Do we need
to be saved? Yes. Psalm 80 again, look at
verse 7. Turn us again, O God, God of
hosts, the Lord of hosts, cause thy face to shine and we shall
be saved. You see, he's the first cause
and last end of our salvation. Again, he says in verse 17 of
Psalm 80, let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand upon
the son of man whom thou made as strong for thyself, verse
18, that will not go back from thee,
quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us, O Lord
God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine upon us, and we shall
be saved. Now again, three times he says
that. Why does he give that three times? Our God is a God, our hero, Lord,
the Lord our God is one God, but he's manifested in three
distinct persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So he's the cause
of our salvation. The father chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. The son in time came and
redeemed us by his blood. And then God, the Holy Spirit
was he do. He regenerates and he quickens. He raises us up
from the dead and makes us new creatures in Christ. Now look
at verse two. Be merciful unto us, bless us
and cause your face, your glory to shine upon us. Thy way may be known upon the
earth, thy saving help, or thy saving power among all nations. Now, there is a way that seems right
unto men, but the end of that way is death. There is just one
way of salvation. Remember I told you the story
about the little boy who was riding along with his grandpa? And the little boy, five, six-year-old,
was riding along in the car with his grandpa, and he saw a traffic
sign that said, one way, one way. And that little boy had
been taught by somebody that there's just one way of salvation.
He said, look, Papa, there's the gospel, one way, one way. We ought to remember that every
time we see a one-way sign. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
that way of salvation. He's not a way. A lot of people
say there's this way and that way and another way. We're all
trying to get to the mountain of heaven, but we're all going
different ways. The Buddhists are going this
way, the Muslims are going this way, the Hindus are going this
way, the Mormons are going this way. There's just one way of salvation.
And our Lord specifically said, no man can come to me except
the Father which sent me draw him in that way. He said, I'm
the way, the truth, and the life, and no man come to the Father
but by me. So it's an exclusive way. It's
God's way of salvation. It's Christ is the new and living
way, that thy way may be known. You see that? Now, by nature,
we don't know the way. We're dumb, lost, ignorant sinners,
guilty. By nature, we don't know the
way. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He must show us the way. What did Moses pray? Lord, show
me your glory. He must, that word known means
revealed. He must reveal Himself unto us,
or we'll never know Him. As I said in a message recently,
it takes God to reveal God. It takes God to reveal God. He's
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
unto His babes. Even so, Father, it seems good
in Thy sight, that Thy way may be known. The second part of
verse two, Thy saving health among all nations,
thy saving health, or thy saving strength, or thy saving power
may be known. Now where do we see the saving
power of God revealed? In Christ. Christ is the wisdom
of God. Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God and the power of God. Now I know everybody is concerned
about personal physical health. Everybody
wants to be healthy. And there's nothing wrong with
wanting to be healthy. We should eat right and exercise
right and do those things that are right. But that's not what
this is talking about. This is talking about our spiritual
well-being, our spiritual well-being, our spiritual health in Christ. God's salvation is by his appointing,
his promising, his sending. Salvation is by Christ and by
him only. He came to obtain it. He's the
author of it, the strength of it, the power of it, and he's
the health of it. That means he's the life of it.
He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. He is the way. If He's merciful
unto us, and He blesses us, and He causes His face to shine upon
us, we'll know that Christ is the way. We'll know that His
salvation is the salvation of His saving power, and He makes
this known among all people, all nations. Remember Revelation
5? He has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under heaven that sang that new
song, redeemed with the blood of Christ. Now, here's a chorus
to this psalm. In Psalm 67, let the people praise
thee. The people. Now, when I see that
phrase, the people, what do you think of? Here's what I think
of. called his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. He shall save his people from
their sin. Let the people praise thee, O
God. Let all the people praise thee.
And that word, their praise, has reference to do with worship.
And he repeats it again. Let the people praise thee, O
God. Let all the people praise thee.
Now, this is something, when we talk about When we talk about
praising the Lord, it is worship. And that praising the Lord and
worship, it's not something outward this way, with the waving of
the hands and all this. It's in the heart. The Lord looks
upon the heart. That's how we worship the Lord,
and that's how we praise the Lord, in the heart. The Father
seeketh us to worship him in spirit and in truth. It is impossible
to approach God apart from Christ, right? Right? But it's also impossible to worship
the true and living God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ and him crucified. Where the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is denied, there's no true worship. How'd you get
that? where the grace of God and the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is denied. There's no true worship
where the gospel's denied. We worship him in spirit and
in what? Truth. Spirit and in truth. Excuse me. Now look at verse
four. Let the nations be glad and sing
for joy For thou shalt judge the people. There's those people
again. He's talking about God's elect,
God's covenant chosen. He shall judge them righteously.
And he did at Calvary. That's what happened at the cross.
He judged our sins righteously. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ
died. When our sin was charged to him,
laid upon him, has exacted God's penalty for sin, which is what?
Death. That's why he died. Had not God made him sin for
us, he couldn't have died. But because God did make him
sin for us, he died, shed his blood, and put away our sin.
Now justice is satisfied, the law is satisfied, and we have
salvation because of that substitutionary sacrifice. Let the people, let
the nation be glad All the pagan nation, God has
a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue under heaven.
And let them sing for joy. We sing for joy. What are we
saying? What are we saying? I think this
is a good song right here. Look at Psalm 98 verse one. Psalm 98 verse one. What are
we saying? Let us rejoice in the Lord, and
again I say rejoice, and then let us sing. Psalm 98 verse 1. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new
song. For he hath done marvelous things, and his right hand hath
gotten him, his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him
the victory. The Lord hath made known his
salvation. His righteousness hath he openly
showed in the sight of the heathen. He openly has shown Who was it
that said in scripture, this thing wasn't done in a corner?
God did it openly. Look back at verse four. Let
the nations be glad and sing for joy. We do rejoice in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have no confidence in the
flesh. God has judged his people righteously. And then it says
there, and he governs us. Sela, he governs us. Aren't you glad he's the governor?
Aren't you glad that he's king of kings and lord of lords? The
kings of the nations are in his hand, and they only do what God
determined for them to do. The king's heart's in the hands
of the Lord, and he turns it whether so ever he will, like
he does the rivers. God shall govern us and he does
righteously, sovereignly. His dominion is from everlasting
to everlasting. His dominion reaches to all,
all people, all things of him and through him and to him are
all things to whom be glory. Now, again, he said, let the
people praise thee. A lot of people when they hear
about the absolute sovereignty of God in creation, sometimes
they'll go along with that. When they hear about the absolute
sovereignty of God in providence, sometimes they'll even agree
with that. But when you get down to that third thing, that's where
you have problems with religious lost people. that he's sovereign
in salvation. Doesn't he pray that in John
17? Father, you've given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as you have given to me. He said,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I show compassion
on whom I will show compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but God that shows mercy unto
us. Now look at verse six and verse
seven. He judged our sin and put away
our sin as far as the east is from the west. He cast him into
the depths of the sea. He made an end of our sin. And
because of all that, we do bless his name. Now look at verse six. Then, then shall the earth yield
her increase. And God, even our own God, shall
bless us. God shall bless us, and all the
ends of the earth shall fear or worship him. The earth shall
yield her increase. Now this is not talking about
a physical abundant bumper crop or harvest of corn or wheat.
But if we do have a bumper crop, it's because God has blessed
us. But it's not talking about a physical cornfield or a bumper
crop of wheat or corn, but rather the increase and the abundance
of spiritual blessings of the gospel. When the seed of the
word is sown in the good ground, it brings forth much fruit. You
remember Matthew 13, 34, 60, a hundredfold? When that seed
of the Word of God is planted, that incorruptible seed planted
in the heart, that good ground prepared by God, what happens?
It brings forth fruit. It brings forth the fruit of
the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness,
temperance, these things. The Lord has promised to bless
His Word. Then shall the earth yield. yield or increase because God has blessed His Word. God even, I like this statement
here, even our own God. We say with David, the Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. We say with David, the Lord is
my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? God shall bless
us and He has and He will for all eternity. No end to his blessing,
is it? Is there? God shall bless us
and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Paul said, I planted a pollis
water, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth
anything or he that watereth, but God Almighty gives the increase. God shall bless us. The Holy
Spirit blesses us with regenerating and renewing grace. You have
to be quick in who we're dead. He gives us saving faith. God shall bless us. He grants
us saving faith. Faith is a gift of God. He gives
us comfort in our heart. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people, saith the Lord. How can a guilty sinner find
comfort before a holy God, only in Christ accomplishing salvation
for us. He gives us faith. He gives us
comfort. He gives us joy. He gives us
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And he sheds abroad
the love of God in our heart. And that causes us to do this,
to fear him, to worship him, to have a desire. By nature,
men love darkness rather than the light because their deeds
were evil. If we have a desire to believe him, trust him, worship
him, and come to him, it's only because he is the first cause
of it. God shall bless us. We see the
effect of his blessing us. Holy fear, holy reverence. Grace in the heart. changes the
mind, the thoughts, the affection, the will. He makes us willing
in the day of his power. Grace in the heart affects the
whole man, the whole you. He changes your thoughts, your
affections, your love, your emotions. He changes all these things.
He makes us new creatures in Christ. God shall bless us and
all the ends of the earth shall know it. and shall fear him and
worship him.