David said, I was glad when they
said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. It's a good place
to be. I'm taking the title for the
message from what's repeated in Psalm 136. This statement's
repeated in all 26 verses. His mercy endureth forever or
forever. His mercy forever. His mercy
like himself, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Like his love, his love is everlasting. Like his grace, has no beginning,
has no end. Like his love, and like his grace,
and like his mercy, has no beginning and has no end. Someone asked
me the other day, did the Lord choose us and then love us, or
did he love us and then choose us? Well, he's loved us with
an everlasting love, and in love he chose us in Christ. Chose
us in Christ. Now, restating and re-saying
that which is true and honoring to God is not vain repetition. It's not vain repetition. But
for you, it's safe. Don't we learn things by repetition,
repetition? That's the way school teachers
teach children, repeating, repeating, repeating. I remember someone
said years ago that I heard that statement and they said, if something
is repeated seven times, there's a good possibility that you might
retain it. Well, God gives it to us here
26 times. His mercy endures forever. May God give us ears to hear
that. Our Lord said, but when you pray,
use not vain repetition as the heathen do, for they think they
shall be heard for much speaking. So we're not repeating vain sayings,
but we're repeating what God has already said. The Apostle
writes this way in Philippians 3, Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me indeed, is not grievous. But for you, it's safe. It's safe to hear truth repeated.
Truth repeated and declared. And that's what the gospel is.
It's just repeating what God's already said and doing it over
and over and over and over and over again. I've preached thousands
of sermons and I say the same truth every time. God is God. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation
for sinners and God saves sinners by his grace. We read in the
word of God that God is what is God. The Word of God says God is God. God is God. It says that, Deuteronomy
10, 17. And then throughout the book
of Isaiah, we read this statement. He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other, the only just God and Savior. So the Word of
God says that God is God. God. There's no other God. God is God. And then the Word
of God says that God is spirit. Remember John chapter 4. God
is spirit and seeketh us to worship him in spirit and in truth. For
who is our God? Our God is God in heaven and
earth. Our God is spirit. God the Holy
Spirit is God. And then the scriptures teach
that God is good. God is good. It says that in
verse 1. Oh give thanks unto the Lord
for he is... What is he? He's good. Everything
he does is good. Everything he does is right.
And then the scriptures teach that God is light. God is. God is God. God is spirit. God is good. God
is light. In him dwells no darkness at
all. That means that God is holy.
God is too holy to look upon sin with favor. And then 1 John
chapter 4, the scriptures teach and says that God is love. God
is love. God is love and he demonstrated
that here in his love, not that we love God, but he loved us
and he sent his son to be the sacrifice for our sin. And then
in Psalm 103 it says that God is merciful and God is gracious. God is gracious. Now the scriptures
have a lot to say about our God who is the God of mercy. He's a God of salvation, right?
He's a God of purpose. He's a God of grace, but he's
also the God of mercy. What does the scriptures teach
us about God's mercy? Well, I found seven things, and
I'm sure there's more than this, but seven things I found in the
Word of God describing His mercy. In Psalm 108 verse 4 it says,
His mercy is great. Now, God who is God, everything
he has is great. His mercy is great toward us.
And then in Psalm 86 5, it says his mercy is plenteous. He has
a storehouse of mercy that can never be exhausted. His mercy is plenteous. You need
mercy? Seek it where it's found in Christ. And then you remember this scripture
from Psalm 51, His mercy is tender mercy, tender mercy. You remember
Psalm 51? Turn there if you want to, we'll
read verse one, Psalm 51. Have mercy upon me, David prays. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Tender mercies. His mercies are
tender, tender mercies, great mercies, plenteous in mercy.
And then in 1 Peter chapter 3, let me read it to you, excuse
me, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, it talks about His mercy is abundant,
abundant mercy. Abundant mercy. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, that's reserved
in heaven for you. Well, isn't it something to talk
about the mercy of God? His mercy is tender, he's abundant
in mercy. And then you remember this one,
his mercy is rich. Remember 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. So his mercy is rich mercy, overflowing
mercy, abundant mercy. And then in Romans 9, his mercy
is sovereign mercy. We read that in Exodus 33 and
Romans 9. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy. Now, when I read Exodus 33 a
moment ago, remember I emphasized God said, I will have mercy. God must show mercy. You know
why? That's his character. That's
just like God must show love. That's his character. And then
the seventh one is this. His mercy is everlasting. His mercy is everlasting mercy. Psalm 100, Psalm 100 verse five,
His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. For the Lord is good. His mercy
is everlasting. His truth endure to all generations. Isn't that good news? You know
what's good news too? Sinners. God delights to show
mercy to sinners. Mercy is for the miserable, grace
is for the guilty. Now, the question for us this
evening is, do you need the Lord's mercies? Do you need the Lord's
mercies? Absolutely we do. We cannot be
justified before God without the Lord's mercy. The reason
we need mercy is because we're guilty of sin. Not only are we
sinners, but we are sin in Adam. All died in Adam. All sinned. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Sin is what we do. But sin is
what we are. Sins, plural, is what we do. Sin is what we are. Born in sin,
shapen in iniquity. Who needs mercy? Sinners. Sinners
need mercy. That's me. I'm a sinner seeking
mercy. We're told to come boldly to
the throne of grace. You remember Hebrews chapter
4? I quote this all the time. We're told to come boldly to
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help and in time of need. Notice it says, obtain mercy.
We don't earn mercy, do we? We obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. We understand by the scriptures,
God saves sinners through his sovereign mercy in the Lord Jesus
Christ. turn to Titus chapter 3. You
remember from Lamentation, the book of Lamentation, where it
says, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because
his compassion, his love fails not to renew every morning. In
Titus chapter 3, Notice what it says in verse
3, Titus 3, 3. We ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lust, pleasures,
living in malice, envy, hateful, hating one another. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. Now, from reading
what our description of our character in verse three, we certainly
don't deserve any mercy, do we? We were foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving lust and pleasure, living in malice, and be hateful,
hating one another, but God appeared toward us. Not by works of righteousness,
verse 5, which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us. According to what? His mercy.
He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. not by
works of righteousness we have done but according to his mercy
he saved us. God delight to show mercy to
those who are in need of mercy. I read Exodus 33 a moment ago
but let me read this to you found in Exodus 34 Verse 7 and verse
6, the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord,
the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. forgiving iniquity,
transgression, and sin, and that by will, will by no means clear
the guilty, visiting the iniquity, the fathers upon the children,
upon the children's children, and to the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth and worshiped God. Keeping mercy. He's the keeper of mercy. Thank
God he doesn't keep it to himself. He gives mercy. He shows mercy
to sinners. The only reason we know for grace
is grace. Remember John 1 16 of his fullness,
have we all received grace for grace? The only reason for grace
is grace, right? What would you think the only
reason for mercy? Mercy. God delights to show mercy. Micah 7 verse 18. Who is a God
like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever because he delighteth to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. When
Moses asked the Lord, Lord show me your glory. You think of everything
Moses had seen there in that deliverance from Egyptian bondage.
And the Lord didn't say, well, I departed the Red Sea. I killed
all the firstborn where the blood wasn't on the door. He said,
the Lord said to Moses, I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. Notice, I will be merciful. Mercy cannot be earned or merited. It is a sovereign gift of God
revealed in and given through the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy
is God not giving us what we deserve. What do we deserve? The wages of sin is death. Mercy
is God not giving us what we do deserve. Grace is giving and
showing to us his unmerited sovereign favor. We need both. We need
grace to help in time of need and we need mercy. The mercy
of the Lord will justify freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The wages of sin and death, the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Aren't you thankful the Lord
is gracious and the Lord is merciful unto his people? Now how do we
know that God will give mercy? Well, because he said he would. because he said he delights in
it. But we know also God will give
mercy because the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins. God
showed and demonstrated, God showed no mercy to the Lord Jesus
Christ upon Calvary tree, right? God dealt with him as the sinner
substitute in strict justice, strict justice, holy justice,
that he might be just and the justifier, a just God and the
Savior. God dealt with him with no mercy,
paying our sin debt, fully satisfying justice that God might show mercy
to us through Christ and him crucified. The only way that
God can show mercy unto us is for our Redeemer to pay our sin
debt and redeem us from the curse of the law. He was manifested
to take away our sin, and in him is no sin. You remember the
scripture, Proverbs 16, verse 6, it says, by mercy and truth,
iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord,
men depart from evil. You remember Psalm 85, I quote
it quite often, verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. Where'd that happen? At the cross.
Reconciliation, God was in Christ reconciling his people unto himself. One of the many comforting truths
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is this fact, that sinners
are told to seek mercy where mercy is found. There's no mercy
in the law. The law says, cursed is everyone
that continues not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. Sinners are told to seek mercy
where it's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Wouldn't it be
a wise thing to seek mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ? Like the
mercy beggar in the temple, you remember the Pharisee bragged
on himself and justified himself and was condemned. The poor old
publican smote his breast and condemned himself and said, God
be merciful to me a sinner. And the Lord said, he went home
justified. Those who justify themselves
will be condemned. Those who condemn themselves
will be justified. That's a way of mercy. That's
the way of grace. One of the encouraging truths
of the gospel, given to sinners, guilty sinners, vile, ungodly
sinners, I've never read anywhere in scripture were a sinner who
was seeking mercy, did not receive mercy. How about blind Bartimaeus,
sitting by the wayside, wayside begging, and he heard about the
Lord Jesus Christ coming through. Remember what he said? Thou son
of David, have mercy upon me. And his friend told him to hush. He doesn't have time for you.
And he cried out some more. Thou son of David, you're the
Messiah, the Christ of God. Have mercy upon me. And the scripture
said, the Lord stood still. and the Lord restored his sight.
He found mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ who was merciful. How
about the leper? Diseased from head to toe. He
came to the Lord and worshipped him and said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. He was seeking mercy, wasn't
he? And the Lord said, I will be
thou clean. I will be merciful to you. That
ought to encourage us to seek mercy where mercy is found in
Christ. Now, if anybody ought to be thankful,
it's those who have been made objects of God's sovereign mercy. Doesn't that just overwhelm your
heart? That's why he says there in verse one, oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Verse
2, O give thanks unto the God of gods, for his mercy endures
forever. O give thanks to the Lord of
lords, for his mercy endures forever. And then he says in
verse 26 again, O give thanks, O give thanks unto the God of
heaven. The God of heaven who sits on
the throne for his mercy endures forever. It is a wonder and a
wonderful thing that the Lord would make sinners, objects of
his love, his grace, and his mercy. He hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babe, even so father,
for so it seemed good in his sight." Now, for just a moment,
I want to look at verse 23 and verse 24. Psalm 136 verse 23, who remembered
us in our low state. Boy, we weren't high born, were
we? We were lowborn, low as you can
get on the dunghill, beggars on the dunghill. And yet the
Lord remembers us in our desperate, desperate condition. Why? For
or because His mercy is forever. He will never forget his covenant
children. The Lord remembers us in our
sinful state. He remembers our frame. He knows
that we are but dust, and yet he shows mercy unto us. Look right across the page, Psalm
138, verse 6. Though the Lord be high, yet
hath he respect unto the lowly, the proud he knoweth. far off. He remembers our frame. He knows
that we're but what? Dust. Dust in his sight. The Lord cannot and will not
forsake his covenant children. He has obligated himself as a
surety of the covenant. Now hold your place there and
find Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49. He will not forsake us. He repeatedly
says this in the Word of God. He said, I will not, I will not
forsake you. I will never forsake you. But
sing, sing, O heavens. Isaiah 49 verse 13. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth. Break forth into singing, O mountains,
for the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy. on his afflicted. But Zion said,
the Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me. Can
a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion
on the son of a woman? Yes, they may forget. But I will not forget thee. Behold,
I've graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually
before me. God will not forsake his covenant
children. Who remembers us? He's always known his people,
the foundation of God, standing sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. He knows his sheep by name and
calls them out. So he's remembered us. And then
verse 24 says he redeemed us. That's good news. He remembers
us in that eternal covenant of grace as our surety and sacrifice. And then in time, he redeems
us from our enemies. That law of God that was against
us, that was contrary to us, he took it out of the way, nailed
it to his cross. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. He has redeemed us. What did he redeem us with? Not with silver and gold, not
with the vain traditions of man, he redeemed us with his precious
blood. He redeemed us from all our sin. He paid our sin debt. He appeared
once in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He redeemed us, delivered us
from all our enemies, sin, Satan, death, and the law of God. He redeemed us. He bought us
with his own blood and he will bring us home to glory. All that the Father giveth to
me, the Lord said, they will come to me and I will never cast
them out. He bought us with his blood. God bought the church with his
own blood. Paul writes this in Ephesians
1, in whom we have redemption. We have redemption. Redemption
is deliverance. Deliverance from our sin. In
whom we have redemption. The forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of his grace. He remembered us. For his mercy
is forever, and then he redeemed us from our enemies. He's a mighty conqueror. We're
more than conquerors through him that loved us. And why does
he do all this? For his mercy. His mercy is forever. For mercy's sake, for Christ's
sake. He redeemed us. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with his own blood. He remembered us, he redeemed
us, and then verse 25, he feeds us. He feeds us, who give us
food to all flesh, especially he gives to us the bread of life,
The Lord Jesus Christ. We feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the true manna from heaven. He said, I'm the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on
me shall never thirst. We feast upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our bread. He's our water.
He's our food. He sustains us who giveth food. He giveth and he giveth and he
giveth because his mercy. is forever. What does he say
in closing? Again, he says, oh, give thanks. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven. In everything, you remember Paul
writes, in everything give thanks. Pray without ceasing and everything
give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5. Pray without
ceasing and everything give thanks for this is a will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven, the God of gods, the Lord of lords. He's king of kings
and Lord of lords. Give thanks for his mercy. it endures forever and ever. Amen. It's a good thing to give
thanks unto the Lord.