Ok, this evening we want to take
a look at Psalm 33. This is one of those psalms that
I think is one of my favorite psalms. I probably have about
150 of those favorite psalms. They're all precious to me. I
enjoy reading them, meditating upon the words, and preaching
from the book of Psalms. I've entitled the message from
the words found in verse 9. God spake and it was done. God speaks and it's done. It's not going to happen. Maybe
it could happen. If God speaks and God commands
it, it's done and it stands fast. Nobody's going to change it.
He said, I'm the Lord, I do not change. God speaks and it's done. That's the title. God speaks
and it's done. What great comfort! This is to
a guilty sinner in need of mercy. His word and his promise cannot
fail. His word and his promise cannot
fail. All the promises of God that are exceeding, great, and
precious, you think of everything God has promised, exceeding,
great, and precious promises of God, they cannot fail because
God can't fail. God can't fail. He spake and
it was done. He commands and it stands fast. You remember from our study in
2 Corinthians, all the promises of God in him are yes and in
him, amen, and to the glory of God. Abraham was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being persuaded that all that God had promised
All that He has promised, He is able to perform. You remember
the last words of Joshua? Joshua 24, verse 14, Behold,
today, this day, He said, I am going away of all the earth,
and ye know in all your hearts, and all your souls, not one thing
hath failed. Of all the good things which
the Lord your God spake concerning you, all are come to pass unto
you, not one thing hath failed. Mark it down. Count it as done. Everything God says in this book,
every promise, every warning, everything will come to pass. Now, where does that leave us? Verse 1, 2, and 3, Rejoice in
the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Again, in
verse 21, For our hearts shall rejoice in Him, because we trusted
in Him. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. For praise is proper, right,
comely. Praise the Lord with harp. Sing
unto Him with a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto Him a new song. Play skillfully with a loud noise. Don't just make a loud noise,
now play skillfully with a loud noise. because the Word of the
Lord is right. All of His works are done in
truth. Rejoicing, praising, and singing
unto the Lord is suitable. That's what that word commonly
means. It's suitable. It's right. It's beautiful. It
is proper. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. I think it was last week or the
week before in Psalm 147. Remember, we read These words, praise ye the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises unto our God. It is pleasant
and praise is comely. It's right, it's good, it's proper
to praise ye the Lord. Now, who is this rejoicing in
the Lord for? And who is this praising the
Lord right and good? It says there, it describes His
people as ye righteous. You see that? and for the upright. Who is to rejoice in the Lord
and praise Him and worship Him and honor Him? Those who are
made right, ye righteous. And praise is comely for the
upright, for the righteous. Those who are made righteous
in Christ, Look what it says just up the page there in Psalm
130, or excuse me, Psalm 32, verse 11, just up from Psalm
33. Psalm 32, 11, be glad in the
Lord and rejoice you righteous. Shout for joy all you that are
upright in your heart. He's given us grace in our heart. Although fallen in Adam, were
ruined in Adam, were made upright and righteous in Christ. You
remember Romans chapter 5. For by one man's disobedience,
many became sinners. So by the obedience of another,
shall many be made what? Righteous. Righteous. I love
that. And Adam all died, and Christ
shall all be made alive. He has made us righteous and
He has made us upright. Those who are made upright and
righteous, you know what they like to do? They like to hear
of Him. They like to see Him. They like
to rejoice in the Lord and praise Him. Praise the Lord. Whatever
means that God may give us instruments in singing and then we sing this
new song. We sing this new song with a
well-tuned heart. Think of this in a spiritual
way. For the Lord has tuned our heart to sing unto His name. Remember, turn over here to Psalm
40. Look at this. Psalm 40, verse 1. Psalm 40 verse
1, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined unto me and
heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
the horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set me up. He set my feet upon a rock. He
established my going. He put a new song in my mouth,
even praising to our God. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. So He brought me up, He set me
up, He established me, put a song on my mouth, He tuned me up. He tuned me up. What is this
song? Look over here at Psalm 98-1. Psalm 98-1. This new song. This new song is about the new
covenant. Psalm 98-1, O sing unto the Lord a new song. It's
a song what he had done, Psalm 98, 1. For he had done marvelous
things, his right hand and his holy arm had gotten him to victory. And who won the victory? His
right hand and his holy arm. has gotten him the victory. The new song of redemption is
worthy as the lamb that was slain to receive all honor, glory,
blessings, and power. We sang just a moment ago, come
thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing
calls for songs of loudest praise, loudest praise unto him because,
verse four, That word there on verse 4, F-O-R, because the word
of the Lord is right. It's true. The word of the Lord
is forever settled in heaven. He said heaven and earth is going
to pass away. My word? Never pass away. The word of
the Lord is right. And all His works are done, and
they're done in truth. Truth and righteousness. Truth
and righteousness. The Word of the Lord is His act,
His business, His cause, His counsel, His purpose. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Whatever God does, it is right. Right? He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. We read a moment ago, he
said, I've spoken it, I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I
will do it. The word of the Lord is right,
it's good, holy. And his works, he says there,
his works are done in truth. Can God act any way but holy
and true? He cannot act contrary to his
character. His character is holy, holy unto
the Lord. His works are done in truth,
all of His actions. His works are holy. His works
are the result of His Word, and His Word are His decrees, His
mandates, His statutes. There's no lie in God's Word.
It's impossible for Him to lie. There's no sham in His works.
There's no deceit in his promise. In his works of creation, they're
all right and good and true. His works of providence, working
all things out to the counsel of his own will, of him, through
him, and to him are all things. His works are done in truth,
in salvation. He saves us in a way that's honoring
to his character, satisfying both his holy character and his
mercy. His truth abounds. Where sin
abounds, where sin abounded, grace does much more abound,
abound. The Word of the Lord is right.
All His works are done, are done. He said it's finished. They're
done in truth. They're done in truth. Verse
5, He loveth righteousness. Could He do less, being the holy
God? He hates wickedness. He loveth
righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. The Lord is good. But I like
the reference on the word goodness, the marginal reference is mercy.
The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. It is of the Lord's
mercies that were not consumed. Do you remember Jeremiah chapter
3, Lamentation? He said the Lord's mercies are
new every morning. God delights to show mercy to
his people. Only in the gospel of Christ
can God love righteousness and justice in complete harmony with
His holy character and save His people from their sin and not
violate His own law of holy justice and righteousness. That's the
beauty and mystery of the gospel. How God can be just and justify
the ungodly. How God can be a just God and
Savior only in the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to turn with
me? You can. I'm going to turn to
Psalm 85. And we're going to read verse
10 and verse 11. Mercy and truth, Psalm 85, 10.
Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That's reconciliation. That happened
at the cross. Truth sprang out of the earth.
Righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall
give that which is good. And our land shall yield her
increase. Righteousness shall go before
Him. and shall set us in the way of His steps. As He is, so
are we in this world." Oh, what good news! What good news! How
God can be a just God and Savior only in Christ. One old preacher
said this, If the earth be full of His mercy, what must heaven
be like? Think about that. If earth is
full of His mercy, what must heaven be like? No sin, no evil,
no wickedness? What must heaven be like? Look
at verse 6 and verse 7. By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made. God created all things by the
Word of His power. He spake and it was done. In
the beginning, God said, let there be this, light, darkness,
water, all these things. By the Word of the Lord, and
we can look at this too as by the Word being the Lord Jesus
Christ. God made all things through Christ,
the Creator. Without Him, not anything made,
it was made. By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made. God's the Creator of heaven and earth, and all
the host of them by the breath of his mouth. You think the infinite
vastness of space. We read one time in a psalm recently,
you remember he counts all the stars by their name. He knows them all by name. He
created them all. He's intimately acquainted with
his creation. He sustains it by his power.
The study of physics is an amazing thing. I don't know how these
scientists can study physics and not come away in awe and
reverence of God's creation. The laws of physics are so exact
and so continuous, they never alter, they never change. Gravity
is always down, it's never up. God sustains and controls all
things by the word of his power. The orbits of the planets, Our
solar system, everything, the sun, the moon, the stars, the
seasons, everything controlled by Almighty God. The rain, the
clouds, the wind, the lightning. Look at verse 8. Let all the
earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of the Lord. Isn't that good? Stand in awe
of Him. You remember when we read the description
of those of the total depravity of humanity. One of the things that God described
when he said, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that
understand, there's none that seek after God. And then he said,
there's no fear of God before their eyes. I can't remember
what year it was, but there was a campaign that went along for
years. It must have been back in the
60s or 70s or sometime. But everybody wore a shirt or
a hat that said, No Fear. Remember? I can't remember when
that was. Our Lord said, Let all the earth
fear the Lord. Now by nature, that's not there.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. But he said, let all the
earth fear the Lord. That's what every man should
do. Every man should regard him as holy and reverent is his name.
Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world be awed by the character of God. You know why one of the
problems in the last hundred years or so The preaching of
God, the God who is God, the God of the Bible, has been brought
down to a level to make God equal with man. And they brought God
down in their preaching, in their teaching. That's why there's
no awe and reverence of God. The way to have men stand in
reverence and awe before God is to lift Him up high. Declare
that He is holy. Declare that He is sovereign.
Declare that He is Lord. Declare that you are in His hand.
He can save you or damn you according to His own purpose and will.
He said, I am the Lord. Cannot I do with my own what
I will? Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world always stand in awe of Him. shrink with fear, reverence,
and holy adoration before God. One day, every knee will bow,
every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through
the glory of God the Father. They will stand in awe of Him
then, won't they? But we ought to do it now. We've
got to fear the Lord now. The fear of the Lord, you remember
the Scripture, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of what?
Wisdom. Let all the inhabitants of the
world awe and reverence Him. Verse 9, He spake. What does He speak? all of His
decrees, all of His counsels, all of His mandates. He spake
and it was done. God hath from the beginning,
we read a moment ago, God hath from the beginning declared the
end. How could He do that? The Lord
Jesus Christ stood as a Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior. He spake and it was done. He
spake, the Lord. And it's finished. It's done.
He commands. And it stands fast. Nothing is
going to change the decree of Almighty God. Nothing is going
to change the decree of Almighty God. Whatsoever the Lord doeth,
it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing
can be taken away from it. He said, I the Lord do all these
things. I love that verse, don't you?
It describes the character of the God that we ought to stand
in awe and reverence before. God is God in all things. You can't give Him too much honor,
too much glory. Verse 10 and verse 11. Now here's the exact opposite.
God is God, holy, sovereign, almighty. 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?
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and earth
see, and in all deep places. Now look at the exact opposite.
Verse 10 and verse 11. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to nothing. Now men can plot and plan, but
God brings all the counsels of men to nothing. Nothing. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the
people. No effect. No effect. Two extreme
opposites. No counsel, purpose, or wisdom
shall stand but God's. The Lord overrules all evil to
bring out of it good for his own glory. Think about that. The wrath of man will praise
thee. The remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain. The Lord
bringeth the counsel of the heathens not. He maketh all the devices
of the people none effect. None effect. Man is so frail
and impotent and wicked that all devices, plans, and thoughts,
and purposes shall fail, but not so our great God. His counsel
is forever. His thoughts to all generations. Look at verse 11. The counsel
of the Lord. He brings the counsel of the
heathen to naught, but the counsel of the Lord shall stand forever. Forever. Forever. The thoughts of His heart. Now
you think of all the thoughts of the heart of God. That's infinite,
isn't it? All the thoughts of His heart.
His heart's toward His people. He's loved His people with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with love and kindness
as He draw them, the counts of the Lord, oh, that stands forever
because God is forever. From everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. The thoughts of His heart, they
continue generation after generation after generation. What was true
in Adam's day? Abraham's day, Noah's day, Moses'
day, Isaiah's day, Paul's day, the Reformers' day. It's true in our day. God does not change. He will
carry out the thoughts of His heart toward His people. And
that leads us to verse 12 where He said, blessed, blessed is
that people. Blessed is that nation whose
God is the Lord. That's a blessed people. That's
a blessed people. I believe this nation here he's
talking about is the nation of his elect. That's a blessed nation
whom the Lord has chosen for His own inheritance. And the
people, the people that He has chosen for His own inheritance. Turn to Psalm 65. Psalm 65. Blessed, verse 4, blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee,
that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. At the blessed people,
those whom the Lord hath chosen to be his own, to be his inheritance,
That's a blessed people. Oh, my friend. My friend, how
blessed we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed, blessed, blessed. You remember, turn back one page.
Psalm 32 verse 1. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. Psalm 32, verse 1, whose sin
is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
That's a blessed man. The blessed man that's chosen
of God, that's redeemed by His precious blood, called out of
darkness into His marvelous light. Blessed is that man. And the
people. Our Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I've chosen you. God has from the beginning chosen
us unto salvation. What do we call that? We call
that God's elective love, God's elective grace. God has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings according as he has chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Had he not chosen
us in eternity, We never would have believed the Gospel. You
remember from Acts 13.48, as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Had He not chosen us, we never
would have believed the Gospel. We don't love Him because He
first loved us. He's blessed us and chosen us
to be His own. What a blessing to think that
God set His eternal love, the thoughts of His heart upon His
people. Look at verse 15. Yeah, let me go back. Verse 13. The Lord looked from heaven and
beholdeth all the sons of men from the place of His habitation.
He looked upon the earth, the habitants of the earth. He fashioned
all their hearts alike, considered all their works. What does the
Lord see when He looks from heaven? Let's see if we can find Psalm
14. Turn over there. Psalm 14. The Lord looks from heaven. Psalm
14. Turn over there. Psalm 14. It
is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants
thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40. Psalm 14, the fool
hath said in his heart, verse 1, there is no God. They are
corrupt. They have done abominable works.
There is none that doeth good. Oh, the Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there any did understand
and seek after God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. That's the same as Romans 3,
isn't it? That's where it comes from. The Lord looks down. What
does He see? Man at his best takes vanity.
Vanity of vanity. All is vanity. He fashions our hearts alike.
He considers all their works. What does he say of all our works?
Isaiah 64, all our works are as filthy rags in his sight.
Boy, why would you trust in yourself? Why would you trust in your rottenness
to save you? Men who are going about to establish
the righteousness of Rome, all they're doing is trusting their
wicked works for salvation. I don't care how moral a man
is, he's still a sinner. Everything he does is contaminated.
Everything he thinks is contaminated with sin. Everything he fashions
is depraved, just like himself. He fashions their hearts alike
and considers all their works. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Therefore, he says in verse 16,
there's no king saved by a multitude of hosts. You can have the biggest
army, Russia or China, United States, you can have the biggest
army in the world, not going to put away one sin. There's
no king saved by a multitude of an army of hosts. A mighty
man is not delivered by strength, not his strength, The Lord saves
those who are weak. A horse, would you trust a horse
for salvation? A horse is a vain thing for safety.
Vanity of vanity, all is vanity. Neither is there any can deliver
by their strength, not at all. Salvation as it's known and revealed
in the Word of God is totally by the power of God, the will
of God. Mortal power is mere fiction and those who trust in
it are fools. That's right. We're saved by
the power of God, not by the power of an army. No man can
deliver himself from his sin. A guilty sinner cannot produce
anything but sin. Verse 18, Behold the eye of the
Lord. The eye of the Lord is upon His
people. The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon
them that hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul, to deliver
their soul from death. Boy, that's good news, isn't
it? It's appointed unto man who wants to die after that judgment.
This body is going to die, but not my soul. I'll live forever
in Him. To deliver their soul from death,
from death. He delivered our soul, who gave
Himself for our sin, that He might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God, to whom be glory
forever and ever. You remember? Galatians chapter
1, verse 3 and 4. The eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear Him. Those who fear Him are those
who believe Him. Those that hope, We hope. We hope in His mercy. We don't
hope in our merit, do we? Well, I hope in my merit. Get
me through. No, I hope in His mercy. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us to
deliver their soul. He has delivered us by His blood
atonement. He gave Himself for our sins. God made Him to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And to keep them
alive, He keeps us alive in this famine. We're in a famine. This life is a famine. He keeps
us alive here. and tell the time that He takes
us home. Be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord.
Verse 20, Our soul waiteth for the Lord. Boy, He's worth waiting
on, isn't He? My soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help. He is our shield. He is our salvation. Turn over
about a page or two. Psalm 27, the Lord is my light,
my salvation, verse 1, Psalm 27. Whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the strength of my life. Whom shall I be afraid? When
the wicked, even mine enemies, my foes, came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. The host should camp against
me. My heart shall not fear. The
war should rise against me. In this I'll be confident. One
thing, by the desire of the Lord, that will I seek after. that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
For in a time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion.
In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me, and set me
upon the rock. In the Lord Jesus Christ my soul
waits for Thee. He is our help. Very present
help in trouble. You remember Psalm 46 verse 1?
Therefore our hearts shall, verse 21, Our hearts shall rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. You
remember? Our dear beloved brother, Apostle
Paul, sits in a Roman jail cell awaiting execution. He writes
back to those believers in Philippi and says, Rejoice in the Lord.
And again, I say, Rejoice in the Lord. Wait a minute, Paul.
You're about to die. Yeah, rejoice in the Lord. The
absent from the body, the present with the Lord. Rejoice in the
Lord. For our hearts shall rejoice in the Lord. We are the true
Israel, worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and have no confidence in the flesh, because we have trusted
His holy name. Who are you trusting? Oh, I'm
trusting God who wants to encamp. Oh, that's not the one I'm trusting.
I'm trusting the one who has all power in heaven and earth.
We have trusted His holy name. Holy and reverent is His name. Now, let Thy mercy be upon us,
O Lord. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy lovingkindness. Let Thy, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon
us, according as we hope in Him. All of our hope is in Him. All
of our hope is in Him. All of it. Now, the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing. that ye may abound
in hope through the power of God. I'll let you go with this
one. Proverbs 3 said, Trust in the
Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He'll direct thy path. Let thy mercy, thy mercy. Lord, show me your glory. I'll
be merciful to whom I will. His greatest glory is my greatest
need. I need mercy. Oh Lord, let it be upon us. Lord, we hope in Thee. We have
no other hope. Christ in you is the hope, good
hope through grace. Christ in you is the hope of
glory.