And I'm entitling the message
from the words found in verse 10, mercy and truth. Mercy and truth are met together. That's the good news of the gospel. Mercy and truth are met together. Now, we've been studying through
the book of Isaiah, and we called the gospel there of Isaiah, the
writings of Isaiah, the gospel according to Isaiah. And he is
a prophet of God. But we also see through the book
of Psalms, 150 Psalms, we see the gospel according to David,
according to the psalmist. And our Lord did say in Luke
24, the risen Lord, his last word to his disciples, all things
must be fulfilled which are written in the law and the prophet and
the Psalms concerning me. Concerning me. So this is, when
we look at the Psalms, We're looking for the gospel, aren't
we? We're looking for the gospel. It's all about Christ. It's all
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed. There's reconciliation. There's harmony. There's harmony.
All the attributes of God are magnified and exalted. in the
gospel of Christ, not only mercy and truth, but also righteousness
and peace. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
as a sinner's substitute does not change the character of God. The Lord didn't die in order
for God to be merciful. The Lord Jesus Christ died because
God is merciful. God is love. He doesn't change. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
doesn't change the character of God. He said, I'm the Lord,
I change not. But the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ magnifies all the attributes and character of God or honored
in Christ crucified to enable God to be a just God and Savior,
to enable him to be just and the justifier. Now that's the
question of questions. How can God be just and holy?
and save sinners and not violate his own holy justice. He can't
take our sin and just sweep them under the rug. Sin demands payment. And the Lord Jesus Christ paid
the debt in full and set me free, set us free as we sang a moment
ago. Now, this is another good gospel psalm, for it tells us
of the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving mercy
to undeserving sinners, like you, like me. This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners, and I can say with the apostle, I'm the chief one. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come to die for the righteous. He came to die for the ungodly,
for sinners. The Good Shepherd laid down His
life for His people, His sheep. And in time, due time, He will
cross their path with the gospel and will reveal Himself to those
people. He does that by revelation. He
comes to us and shows us His mercy. He shows us His mercy
in Christ and Him crucified. Now, verse 1 and verse 3, we
have a declaration what God has done for us. Lord, see the all
capital letter, Jehovah, Lord Jehovah, thou hast been well
pleased. God is well pleased with the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's well pleased for his righteousness
sake. The Lord speak from heaven said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear him. Lord, thou has been well pleased
with thy land, with God's people, God's church, the land of Zion,
the land of salvation. Thou has brought back the captivity
of Jacob. Now, whenever you see that word
or name Jacob, you should always remember that God loves every
Jacob. Jacob have I loved. Jacob is
a representative or a emblem of God's covenant children. What
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us? Jacob's. that
we should be called sons of God. The Lord has been favorable and
gracious unto his covenant people, and he will set them free from
the bondage of sin. Israel of old is an example and
picture of the Lord's free grace, unmerited favor. You remember
Israel, the national people, they were in Egyptian bondage,
how many years? 400 years. Are they going to
deliver themselves from that bondage? No way. No way. God had to send a deliverer
named Moses, and God delivered them through that prophet, through
the blood on the door, and through opening up that Red Sea. Remember,
Moses said, the Lord said, by Moses, stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord. And they walked through, the
sea was divided, they walked through on dry ground. Now who
did that? Thou hast delivered them from
captivity. And again, some years later,
when the Assyrian army came from Babylon and came into Jerusalem,
and destroyed the temple, destroyed the city, that great temple that
Solomon had built. I mean, they just destroyed it.
They carried away hundreds and thousands of the best men in
Israel, including Daniel, including Ezekiel. They killed multitudes,
thousands, and they were carried away into Babylonian captivity
for 70 years. How are they going to escape
the army? of the king Nebuchadnezzar. God
raised up another king named Cyrus and defeated the Assyrians. And that was God's purpose and
God's man to do so. But they're not getting out of
that captivity until God raises up the means whereby he would
deliver them And that's the same thing, likewise, with God's spiritual
people, His spiritual Israel. Even so, likewise, the Lord has
set us free from the curse of the law, hadn't He? That law
that was against us, that was contrary to us. The law says,
you remember what the law says? Cursed! Cursed! Guilty! Guilty! Well, we can't deliver
ourselves from the bondage of the law, but the Lord Jesus Christ
has redeemed us from the bondage of the law, being made a curse
for us. He redeemed us with his own blood.
Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free." Our Lord,
when He was in Nazareth, went to His own hometown synagogue
and asked for the book of Isaiah. And He read from Isaiah 61, said,
"'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath caused me
to set the captives free, to heal the brokenhearted, recovering
of sight to the blind,' and gave them that book. to those Pharisees
and said, this day is a scripture fulfilled. He is the one who
has set us free. Whom the Son set free, they're
free indeed. The Lord has brought back the
captivity. We couldn't deliver ourselves
from the bondage of sin, from the penalty of the law. Who did
that? He did that for us. Look at verse
2. Again, he declares, thou hast,
the Lord hast, This is not the church, this is not mom, this
is not dad, this is not the preacher, this is not the ceremonies of
religion. The Lord hath forgiven the iniquity
of somebody. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from there. And I've quoted this verse wrong
for so many years, I caught myself the other day. And I had to go
back and look it up. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sins. It's plural. Original sin, actual sin, sin
of omission, sin of commission, all sins. He delivered us. He shall save us. Thou hast forgiven
all the iniquity of thy people. Is it completely forgiven? Well,
you know, most of the big sins are forgiven. You have to take
care of the rest of them. Now, that wouldn't be good news,
would it? Thou hast forgiven all thine
iniquity. Based upon what? Based upon the
Lord Jesus Christ putting away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. So completely, so fully that
he said their sin and their iniquity, well, I remember No more. Oh, that's good news. You mean
God doesn't remember my sin? None of the past, present, or
future. Thou has forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. And then he says, thou has covered
all their sin. Covered it up with his blood,
the blood of Jesus Christ. God's son cleanses us from all
our sin. Who are these people? They're
his people by his choice. Our Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I chose you. Who are these people? They're
his by divine purchase. He bought us. God bought the
church with his own blood. They're his people by divine
call. He calls us out of darkness into
his marvelous light. He commands the light to shine
out of darkness. Aren't you glad for the good
news there? Thou has been favorable. Thou has forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. Thou has covered all their sin. Selah. Think about that a while. All our sin covered. Blessed is a man. You remember
Psalm 32? Isn't it Psalm 32? Blessed is a man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. That's a blessed man. Verse three, look at this. Thou hast, that is the Lord,
has taken away all thy wrath, the wrath of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ bearing our sin and his own body on the tree. What also
comes along with bearing our sin? The wrath of God. The Lord
Jesus Christ, as He was made sin for us, He knew no sin, but
He has our sin laid upon Him, and the wrath of God fell upon
Him, and He drank the cup of damnation dry. Therefore, in
Christ, there is no judgment left, no wrath left for us, because
the Lord has taken away all our sin, and has satisfied the holy
justice of God, now in Christ there's no condemnation for those
who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. He made complete atonement for
His people. Again, that's good news, good
news. The Lord made complete atonement
for all our sin. Now, verse 1 through 3, We have
a declaration of what God has done for us, His people, His
covenant people, His church. Now he says in verse 4, and this
is our prayer. This is our prayer unto the Lord.
And make this your prayer right now. Now turn us. Turn us. Turn us. Turn us to God from
our idols. Remember, 1 Thessalonians chapter
1, we've been turned to God from our idols. Turn us, O God, of
our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to see. Who else
could turn us? Who else could turn us? Turn
back just a couple pages, I think it's Psalm 80. Turn over there,
Psalm 80 verse 3. Look at verse 3, Psalm 80. Turn
us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be
saved. Turn us, O God. Turn us from
self and our idols, our own ugly self-righteous, and turn us to
thee, O God of our salvation. Salvation is of the Lord, isn't
it? He's a God of our salvation. Look at verse 5. Will thou be
angry with us forever? God has a right to be angry with
every sinner. God has a right to be angry because
He's holy. We're unholy. Will thou be angry
with us forever? Will thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? Will thou not revive us again
that thy people may rejoice in us? The only way that God's holy,
righteous indignation and anger is turned away from us is through
Christ and Him crucified. That's the only ground of salvation,
is the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. Will thou not revive us, verse
six, Lord, revive us again, that thy people, thy people may rejoice
in thee. We need as believers, regeneration
happens one time, one time, but there is an ongoing life in a
believer of conversion. Regeneration happens one time.
And then conversion. Conversion is a whole life of
living out, being justified by faith. The just shall live by
faith. Will thou not revive us again? Yes, he will. Revive us again. We need reviving because of the
weakness of this flesh. We have that new man created
in us. that is made new and revived
every day, but we still have this, we still drag around with
us this old wretched man that Paul talks about. Who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Thank God he will revive us again
and again and again. And we fall and we stumble and
he picks us up. We fall and we stumble and he
picks us up. Or revive us again. that thy
people may rejoice," what? We rejoice in thee. He is our joy. He is our joy. He is our joy. We are the true
Israel, you remember Philippians 3, which worship God in the spirit,
that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in
the flesh. We rejoice in the Lord. As he revives us again
and again, Aren't we revived every time we come and sit and
listen, study the Scripture, when we come to worship? We're
revived again, aren't we? Revived again by the Spirit of
God, that we may rejoice. We rejoice. We rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say, and again I say, rejoice. Again,
he prayed, verse seven, show us your mercy. Show us your mercy. Show us your mercy. We don't
see it naturally. We don't see the mercy of God.
God has to show it to us. That is, He has to reveal that
unto us. You remember that scripture?
He's hid those things from the wise and prudent and has revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, it seems good
in thy sight. Show us thy mercy. Show us thy
mercy, O Lord. All salvation is of God's mercy
toward us. Moses asked the Lord, do you
remember? Exodus 33, Lord, show me your
glory. Remember, what did the Lord say? I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. God's greatest glory is my greatest
need. I need mercy. It's of the Lord's
mercy that we're not consumed. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us. Show
us mercy. I don't want judgment. You hear
people say, oh, I want what's coming to me. No, you don't want
that. All you've got coming to you is judgment. The wage of
sin is death. I don't want what's coming to
me. I want mercy. I'm a mercy beggar. I'm going
to take my place before the throne of God as a mercy beggar. Remember
he says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy. And find grace to help in time
of need. Show us your mercy, Lord, and then grant us thy salvation.
See the second part of verse 7? Grant us thy salvation. Salvation is a gift. It's a grant. It's a sovereign grant. God doesn't
save everybody. God's not in the business of
trying to save everybody. The God of the Bible doesn't
try to do anything. He does all His pleasure. He
works everything out to the counsel of His own will. God must grant
salvation or we will not be saved. He grants salvation, and this
salvation we know of here is sovereign salvation. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. We are to sit still and
behold the salvation of the Lord. None of us are deserving or worthy
of His salvation, but we rejoice that Christ is pleased to save
sinners. Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, grant
us Thy salvation. Now, look at verse 8, I will
hear. And if the Lord shows us mercy
and grants us salvation, we're going to hear what God the Lord
will speak. What's he talking about there?
He's talking about His Word. He's talking about what you have
in your hand, in your lap. I will hear what God the Lord
will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people, His covenant
people. or to get those covenant people.
All that the Father has given to me, they will come to me.
For he will, not maybe, not could be, or perhaps, he will speak
peace unto his people and to his saints. But let them not
turn again to foolishness. Now, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace for us with His
own blood. One of the worst statements a
sinner can make, and if he makes this statement, he's ignorant,
and he's yet in darkness. A lot of people say, well, I'm
trying to make peace with God. You ever heard somebody say that?
You can't make peace with God. If you can make peace with God,
no need for Christ to come. He made peace for us with His
own blood. You see the difference? He will
speak peace unto His people. He's reconciled. God has reconciled
unto His people through the blood atonement of Christ. He's forgiven
our sin. He's covered our sin. He's taken
away His wrath. His people are saints. You see that in verse 8? His
people and to his saints. Now his people are his saints.
What is a saint? A saint is a sinner saved by
grace. If you know yourself to be, as
I said Sunday, a lot of people don't understand this, but if
you know yourself to be a sinner, you're a saint. I'm a sinner? Yes. I'm a saint in Christ the
Lord Jesus Christ. What does a saint mean? Set apart. God set us apart and declared
us to be holy in Christ. That's a saint. It's not something
that we do. There are some churches that
make people saints. We don't make anybody a saint. How can one sinner say, well,
I'm going to make you a saint? God makes us saints. Every believer
is a saint. And here's a warning. Let's not
turn again to foolishness. Let's not turn again to foolishness.
Now, we're prone to it. You remember that song we sang?
Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I
love. Here's my heart, oh take and seal it for thy courts above.
Come thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Newton said it is a point of long to know. Often causes me
anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I his or am I not? Let us not turn again unto folly,
to foolishness. Let us not turn to seeking salvation. Nothing is more foolish and folly
than to seek salvation by the deeds of your wicked hands. Now
that's folly. That is foolishness. Surely,
verse 9, His salvation, surely His salvation is nigh them that
fear Him. Nigh them that fear Him. Can
you turn over here? Let's turn a few pages. I think
it's Psalm 34. Turn over here to Psalm 34. Verse 18, the Lord, Psalm 34,
18, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. He saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. The Lord is... What is it to fear the Lord?
It's to worship Him. It's to honor Him. It's to give
Him all the glory for the salvation due unto His glorious name. That
glory may dwell in our land, in our midst. God forbid we should
glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that gets
us down to verse 10. And this is such a, I want you
to take this verse and commit it to memory. I want you to take
this verse and I want you to think about it the rest of the
week. And I'm going to ask you to stand up here and quote it
on Sunday morning. I'm not going to do that. Mercy
and truth are met together. The attributes of God are all
in harmony in Christ crucified. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That happened at the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and Him crucified. Mercy
and truth. God shows mercy, but not at the
expense of His truth. He shows peace, but not at the
expense of His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier. Now that's the question of all
questions, isn't it? How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? Well, it's not by deeds of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saves us. So,
mercy and truth, reconciliation, righteousness and peace are kissing
each other at the cross, Christ and Him crucified. Verse 11,
truth shall spring out of the earth. Now, who is truth? Christ is mercy, Christ is truth,
Christ is righteousness, Christ is the Lord our peace. Truth,
having put away our sin, died for our sin according to Scripture.
On the third day, truth sprang out of the earth. Don't you see
the resurrection there? He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again because He justified us. How important is the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ? If He's not raised up, we're
dead in our sin, and He's an imposter. If He's not raised
up, we're in big trouble. If He's not raised up, we better
start looking for a mediator, a high priest, and a Savior.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is raised up from the earth. But
not only that, He ascended to glory when He by Himself purged
our sin. He sat down on the right hand
of God. Righteousness shall look down
from heaven and is set aside. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law, make
it honorable. Isaiah 42, 21. Righteousness
shall look down and say, I'm well pleased. Verse 12, the Lord
shall give that which is good. Can he give anything less than
what is good? There is none good but God, right? There is none good but God. The
Lord is good. The Lord shall give that which
is good. Faith is a gift of God. Salvation
is a gift of God. These are all the good gifts
of God. And because God gives everything freely by His grace,
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? He
freely gives us all things. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without work. We're justified freely
by His grace through redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yea, the Lord shall give. He shall give. I was looking
at a scripture here. Yeah, right across the page.
Psalm 84, look at verse 11, right across the page. What will He
give? The Lord God is sun and shield, light and protection. The Lord will give grace and
glory. Boy, I need that. Grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold
from them that walk uprightly, O Lord of hosts. Blessed is the
man that trusteth in Thee. The Lord, yea, the Lord shall
give that which is good. And we shall yield the increase
of His goodness. What is the fruit of the Spirit?
His goodness. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, meekness, temperance, righteousness. Look at this now. Righteousness shall go before
Him. This is talking about the resurrected
Lord. The forerunner for us has entered
in and is seated. Righteousness shall go before
Him, that is, the resurrected Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
went to glory, having accomplished our salvation, is seated on the
right hand of God, now watch this, and shall set us in the
way of His steps. Now, you remember Psalm 24? Psalm
24. Turn over there. Psalm 24. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? The Lord shall set us in the
way of His steps. That's what it says there. Psalm 24, verse 3. Psalm 24. You got it? Who shall
ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. who hath not lifted
up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive
the blessing from the Lord, and the righteousness from the God
of his salvation. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, there's that Jacob
again. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this one that has clean
hands and a pure heart, who's never lifted up his soul to vanity?
That's the God-man mediator, and that's us in him. Lift up
your heads, O ye gates, lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up
your heads, O ye gates. Lift them up, ye everlasting
doors. The King of glory shall come
in. Verse 10. Who is the King of
glory? He's the Lord of hosts. He's
the Lord of His people. He is the King of glory. You
remember what it says, Hebrews 6. We have an anchor
of a soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters into the veil where
the forerunner for us has entered, even Jesus, our great high priest. And then, I'll quit with this.
Don't turn. You're familiar with this. Ephesians
2 verse 4, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace are ye saved, and hath raised
us up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ,
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. He raised us up
together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Righteousness shall go before
Him and shall set us in the way of His step. We're already seated
in the heavenlies in Christ. Already done.