This evening, we're going to
take a look at Psalm 72, and I'm entitling the message from
what is said down in verse 8. And it's the theme of this psalm,
and really, when you think about it, it's the theme of the whole
Bible. It certainly is the theme of the gospel. That is, he shall
have dominion from sea to sea. Our God rules and reigns over
everything, every creature, every place, everywhere, universally,
eternally, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God, from
the river to the ends of the earth. He's the eternal God. his dominion
he shall reign the Lord Jesus Christ has always will has always
and will and forever reign that means he's sovereign everywhere
where God is he's sovereign and God is everywhere everywhere
we read in Daniel chapter 4 a moment ago His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away. It says that again in Daniel
7, 14. His kingdom shall not be destroyed.
His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. And that's the
lesson that Nebuchadnezzar was taught, remember? He said all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he
doeth according to his will and the army of heaven among the
habitants of this earth that none can stay his hand or say
unto him what doest thou whose dominion he liveth forever. His
honor is glorious whose dominion is everlasting and his kingdom
there shall be no end. That's a blessing to know that
our God is God. He rules and reigns, always has,
always will. He's never stepped off or given
up his throne or dominion. Now it says in the title there,
a psalm for Solomon, and there may be some references to King
Solomon, the son of David. But this psalm is all about the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, Behold a greater
than Solomon is here. And that is true of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's greater than all men. He
is the great and eternal God. It is, therefore, a glowing description
of the sovereign reign of our blessed Savior. Look again at
verse 17. His name shall endure forever. His name. God giving him a name
which is above every name, that at that name every knee will
bow, every tongue will confess that he's Lord to the glory of
God the father his name shall be Continued as long as the son
and men shall be blessed in him and all nations shall call him
blessed or the blessed God The Lord Jesus Christ is our blessed
God and Redeemer look at verse 1 now give the king talking about
the king now the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Talking
about the King, Lord Jesus Christ. Give the King, the God-man mediator,
thy judgment or thy decrees. The Lord came to execute all
the decrees of God, did he not? Oh God, and thy righteousness
unto the King's Son. What kind of righteousness does
a sinner need to stand before God Almighty? The righteousness
of God. only in Christ, only in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has by
his glorious person as a God, man, mediator, as God the Son,
has all right and power to judge and his righteousness and his
decrees are very high and they're right. Remember Psalm 71, look
right across the page, verse 19. By righteousness also, O
God is very high, who has done great things, O God, who is like
unto thee. As God, he has all power and
right to judge, and his righteousness is very high. But this is referring
to him also as a God-man mediator, in his office as mediator, prophet,
priest, and king. who has the man Christ Jesus,
has the spirit without measure, who has all power in heaven and
earth, given unto him in that eternal covenant of grace to
save and redeem his people from their sin." Remember the words
of our risen Lord to his apostles? He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. Go preach the gospel. Now as
God, he has all power, but as a God-man mediator in his office
work, God decreed him to be Lord and has given him power. Remember
Peter, preached at Pentecost, that same Jesus whom you crucified,
He is both Lord and Christ. He's the Lord and He is the Christ. He's not Lord by something we
do. He's Lord by God's decrees. God's decrees. Now watch the
second part of verse 1. Thy righteousness unto the King's
Son. He gives his people by his grace
and imputes to them a perfect righteousness that he worked
out for us through his faithfulness, through his obedience. Blessed
is a man whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works.
That's the righteousness we need, and that's the very righteousness
that he gives. Christ himself is the Lord, our
righteousness before God. Give the king thy judgments,
O God, and the king's sons give them that everlasting righteousness
in Christ. And that's what we have. That's
what we have in him, an everlasting righteousness in the blessed
Savior. In Psalm 71, you remember that
whole Psalm is about his righteousness. Look at verse 24, Psalm 71. My
tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long.
for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame that
seek thy hurt. So when we talk of righteousness,
let's not talk about creature merit or creature morality. Creature morality is not righteousness. Your morality won't do because
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God Almighty. Now look at verse two. He shall
judge thy people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. Because he is our wise and almighty
king, who is king of kings and lord of lords, he's clothed with
divine authority to judge and rule his people with wisdom,
righteousness, and power. True wisdom is manifest in all
the decisions of Zion's king. We do not always understand his
doings, but they're always right. Whatever God does is right. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Therefore the Lord always acts
in wisdom toward his covenant people, and they're described
there as poor. Poor and needy, verse 12 and
verse 13. He shall deliver the needy when
he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall
spare the poor and needy. He shall save, he shall save
the needy. I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord, the Lord thinketh upon me. Turn back one page. Look at verse four and five in
Psalm 70. that all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, let God be magnified. But I'm poor, I'm needy. Make
haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help, my deliverer. O Lord, make no tearing. What
a great helper we have. It's often said in religious
circles, God helps those that help themselves. That's not true. That's not in the Bible. God
helps those who are helpless. God helps those that are helpless.
He is our help. He is our refuge. He is our strength.
Look at verse 3. The mountains shall bring peace
to the people and the little hills by righteousness. Where
the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, there's peace. Where He reigns,
there's peace in the heart, lasting, deep, and eternal peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace for us with His
own blood. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. His servants,
therefore, they publish peace. Peace with God through Christ.
Turn to Isaiah 52. I think I read this recently. His servants publish peace. We
have peace with God. That's the gospel message. Isaiah
52, 7. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publish peace.
Dofton also said in religious circles, make your peace with
God. You can't make peace with God.
That's what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He made peace with God for
us with his own blood, and we published that. We proclaim peace
with God in Christ that bring us good tidings of good, that
publish salvation, that saith unto Zion, what? God reigns. Gets right back to the sovereignty
of God. He reigns and rules over all
things. And because of that, because
God reigns and rules and righteousness and peace, and we declare that
message, his people enjoy peace by the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Isaiah 32, don't turn, let me just read this one to you. Isaiah
32, 17, the work of righteousness shall be peace. and the effect
of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. And that's
what we have in Christ. We have righteousness and we
have peace with God. The mountain shall bring peace
to the people. The mountains of his grace and
the little hills, the hills by righteousness, by his righteousness
for us. Look at verse four. He shall
judge the poor of the people. He shall save. The needy. Who does he save? He saves sinners. He shall judge the poor of the
people. He shall save the children of the needy. I am poor and needy,
yet the Lord thinketh upon me, and shall break in pieces the
oppressor. Three blessings of the gospel
are given there in verse 4. He shall judge the poor of the
people. Our sins have already been judged
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are crucified with Christ.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he came to save the needy. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save who? Not the righteous sinners to
repentance. And he shall break, it says there,
in pieces the oppressor. He shall judge the poor. He's
judged our sin. He shall save the needy. He came
to seek and to save the lost. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sin. He shall break the oppressor.
What oppresses you? What oppresses you? What does
he break that oppresses you? Sin. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're no longer under the law, but under grace. He
breaks the oppression of sin. Sin does remain in us, but thank
God by His grace it does not reign and rule over us. He does. We're under new management. A
new government, the Lord Jesus Christ rules and reigns. Look
at verse 5. They shall fear thee or reverence
thee as long as the sun and moon endures throughout all generations.
Their life upon this earth is one of reverence unto the Lord
because holy and reverent is his name. where the Lord Jesus
Christ reigns in power, peace, and righteousness. His people
gladly reverence Him, worship Him, submit unto Him, and they're
glad that He's in charge over all things. We wouldn't have
it any other way. Aren't you glad you're not in
charge? He'd mess it up. I would too. He's in charge. People are glad that he's in
charge of all things. His dominion shall never be overturned
and his people shall worship him forever and ever. It endures forever. I was reading
through, I finished reading through Isaiah, and I picked up reading
another book over here in the Revelation. And I was reading
this the other day, and we may do another study through the
Revelation. It's been 10 years since we studied through the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. I read this verse the other day,
and it was such a blessing to me. In Revelation 4, the four
beasts, verse 8, each of them had six wings about him. They
were full of eyes within. They rest not day and night,
saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is
and is to come. When those beasts give glory
and honor thanks to him that sat upon the throne, who liveth
forever and ever. You know how many times that
word throne is used in the Revelation? 31 times. Lamb, the Lamb upon
the throne, 27 times. upon him that sat upon the throne
who liveth forever and ever and the four and twenty elders fall
down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that live
liveth forever and ever and they cast their crown before the throne
saying thou art worthy oh lord to receive glory honor power
without us created all things and for that pleasure they are
and they were created we worship him now but not like we will
one day. One day we'll worship him perfectly,
perfectly when we lay down this body of flesh and go to be with
the Lord forever. They shall fear thee as long
as the sun and moon endure throughout all generation. Verse 6, Psalm
72, he shall come down. I can't help but think of the
incarnation. God was manifest in the flesh. He left the throne of glory and
took upon him flesh and dwelt among us. He shall come down
like rain upon the mown grass. showers that water the earth.
He shall come down. He rains down fiery judgment
against his enemies, but he rains down upon his people a gently
falling rain that sweetly refreshes the soul." Turn back to Isaiah
again. Look at Isaiah 55. That fresh spring rain that falls
on the the grass and the trees and the shrubbery. It has such
a fragrance to it, doesn't it? It's a sweet, sweet smelling
savor. Isaiah 55 talks about that. For the heaven, verse nine, are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Verse 10, for the rain cometh
down in the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but
waters the earth, maketh it bring forth bud that it may give seed
to the sower, Bread to the eater, so shall my word be the goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return in me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I send it." He sends his doctrine
down like rain upon his people. He is the water of life, is he
not? told that woman at the well,
you drink of this water that I give you, you'll never thirst
again. Remember what she said? Lord,
give me that water. His coming into our hearts is
like a welcome rain upon the parched ground. Proverbs 25 says,
as cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Cold water to a thirsty soul. How refreshing. And that's what
the gospel is to his people. Look at verse 7. In his days,
his days, he's called the Ancient of Days. The Ancient of Days
became an infant of a day old. In his days shall righteousness
flourish. and abundance of peace so long
as the moon endures, righteousness shall flourish. The blessings
of the gospel are eternal blessings. It is coming to accomplish our
salvation. His righteousness shall flourish
or prosper. Remember Isaiah 53. We're going
to look at this Sunday. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Whatsoever he doeth it shall
prosper. The righteousness he establishes for us shall have
no end. He made peace for us with his
own blood. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Mercy and truth are met together.
Psalm 85 10. Where the Lord Jesus Christ reigns,
he is known as the true Great High Priest, both King of Righteousness,
you remember? King of Righteousness and King
of Peace. Where he reigns, he reigns in
righteousness and peace. And he gives that to his people.
In his days shall righteousness flourish. Whatever he does is
going to flourish. It's going to prosper. He knows
nothing about failure, does he? The abundance of peace. The abundance
of peace we have in Christ. So long as the moon endures.
Think about it. This guilty sinner has peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Perfect peace. Perfect
peace. He'll keep them. I've got a scripture
just popped into my mind. Let's see if I can find it. I
don't know. Thy will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Sometimes I can find
those and sometimes I can't. Peace with God, what a blessing
we have. Now verse eight, verse eight,
nine, 10, 11. Let's consider these together
and move right along. He shall have, He shall have dominion. It's
not maybe or could be. For he shall reign if we let
him. He shall reign. He shall have
dominion, an everlasting dominion, from sea to sea, from shore to
shore. In heaven, earth, sea, and all
deep places. You remember Psalm 135? Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he. In heaven, earth, sea, and all
deep places. Is there anywhere where his dominion is in a total
sovereign dominion? Anywhere, wherever there is,
there's God. Universally. The expanse of heaven,
how infinite it is. God is not in the universe, the
universe is in him. And from the river to the ends
of the earth, his dominion is absolute universal. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is the eternal king of the universe, not in the heavens
only, but he rules in heaven and he rules in earth. He worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. And because that's so, they that
dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies
shall lick the dust." He'll make them eat the dust. That means he'll push their face
down in the dust. You know when you whip someone,
And you push his face. When we were kids all the time,
we'd always be fighting. I don't know what it was about
our neighborhood. It seemed like we were always fighting one another.
And when you had dominion over your neighbor and you whipped
him good, you put his face down in the dirt and just rubbed it
real good. That means you whipped him. Well, over here in Psalm
110, sometimes I got my face put in the dirt too. In Psalm
110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. He'll make his enemies bow before
him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. He has no rival. That's the other thing about
the study in the Revelation. When he studied through the Revelation,
It's not a conflict between evil and good to see who's good. Is
the evil going to overcome the good? Will the good overcome
the evil? The whole idea and what's presented
in the revelation is the Lord Jesus Christ wins. He wins. He went forth conquering and
to conquer, Revelation 6.2. That's the message. He's the
conquering king and his people are winners. Thanks be to God
who's given us the victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
more than conqueror to him that loved us. They that dwell in
the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the
dust. Everyone's gonna bow to the king
of kings, even the kings of Tarshish. the kings of Sheba and the queen
and Sheba, they'll bow, they'll bow just like Nebuchadnezzar
bowed. Verse 11, all the kings of the
earth shall fall down before him and all nations, they serve
his purpose. Every king on this earth right
now serves God's purpose. Whatever that purpose is, serves
God's purpose. There's no rogue out-of-control
king, despot, ruler, dictator. They all serve God's purpose. Over here in Psalm 2, it says,
Be wise now, therefore, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish from the way when
His wrath is kindled little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. The king's heart, wherever the
king is, the king of Egypt, Russia, wherever, China, wherever, the
king's heart's in the hands of the Lord. And he turns it, manipulates
it, uses that king for God's own eternal purpose. That's so. He rules absolutely. All the
king shall fall down before him, and all nations shall serve God's
purpose. He said, I've spoken it. I bring
it to pass. I've purposed it. I will do it.
Now, verse 12. Verse 12, 13, and 14. He shall deliver the needy when
he cries. Do you ever have a need? A need
of mercy? A need of forgiveness? A need of
pardon? He shall deliver the needy when
he cries. Have you ever asked the Lord
for mercy? Have you ever asked the Lord
for forgiveness? He shall deliver those who cry
unto him. He is our deliverer. He's our
Redeemer who delivers us from all our sin. The poor and the
needy, also him that hath no helper. There's no one that can
save this vile, guilty sinner but God. He's the only one that
can deliver this poor sinner. going the right way here. We're
here in Psalm 46. Let me just read it to you. God
is our refuge and strength of every present help in trouble.
He's our help in trouble. I don't know about you, but I'm
in trouble all the time. He's my help. He's my helper. He's my helper. He shall deliver. It's not, it's
not he could or he might or Christ died to make salvation a possibility.
No, he shall deliver. He shall redeem. He shall save. He is the helper. He is the healer. He is the savior. He shall spare
the poor and needy and he shall save the souls of the needy. Who needs salvation? The needy. Who needs salvation? Sinners.
You know, there's a lot of people who don't need salvation. That's
what they think. They're not needy. God's gonna
save every lost man. That's right. Every man who he
teaches that they are needy, guilty, and lost. When you have
that revelation, when you know I need thee, that's good ground. He shall spare the poor and needy.
He shall save them. Call his name Jesus. Why? He is what he's called,
Savior. He shall save his people from
their sin, able to save to the uttermost all that come to God
by him. He shall redeem, verse 14, he
shall redeem their soul from deceit. We are by nature deceived. We think too much of ourselves
and too low. Our thoughts about God are all
wrong. He shall redeem us with his precious blood. He shall
redeem their soul from deceit, deception. He teaches us the
truth. He shall redeem their soul from
deceit and violence. Precious shall their blood be
in his sight. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. When a believer dies, it's simply
the Lord answering the prayer of our great high priest. Father,
I will. Father, I will that all that
you've given me be with me where I am that they may behold my
glory. Precious shall their blood be
in his sight. And notice that marginal reference,
Psalm 116, 15. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of the saints. Verse 15. He shall live. He shall live. Our Lord said in the Revelation
118, he said, I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive
forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death. He shall live. Our Lord said,
because I live, you shall live. And to him shall be given the
gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall be made for
him continually and daily shall he be praised. He ever lives
to enforce the terms of the covenant of grace. The believer shall
be given golden blessings in him. He's blessed us with all
spiritual blessing. The Lord ever lived to intercede
for us and he daily loads us with blessings every day. You
remember Lamentation chapter 3, the Lord's mercies are new
every morning. Continually, prayer also shall
be made for him continually. The Lord ever lived to make intercession
for us and daily shall the Lord be praised by his people. Look at verse 16, a handful of
corn in the earth A handful of corn in the earth, not very much,
is it? A handful of corn in all the earth? Upon the top of the
mountain, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. They of the
city shall flourish like grass, the grass of the earth. Now,
think of this contrast. A handful of corn upon the top
of the mountains, then the fruit shall shake like lemon, and the
city shall flourish like grass upon the earth, a handful of
corn upon the hilltop, and then grass that flourishes everywhere
all over the earth." What a contrast. And here's my thought about this.
You remember the scripture said, despise not the day of small
things. John 12 says, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it biteth alone, but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. The Lord's church had
a very small beginning. He called out 12 apostles, and
one of them was the devil. And he called out these men to
preach the gospel, just a handful. And in our study in the book
of Acts, you remember Acts chapter 1, there was 120 souls, remember,
in Acts chapter 1? But what a great and fruitful
harvest had been produced from the preaching of the gospel.
When it all winds up in the revelation, it says, I beheld and heard a
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and
the elders and a number of them were 10,000 times 10,000 and
thousands of thousands, like the grass that flourishes upon
the earth. A handful of corn, when he died,
it brings forth much fruit, much fruit. Much fruit. Verse 17, his name shall endure
forever. What a glorious name, the Lord
Jesus Christ. His name shall endure forever. And you know what? He's our husband. What's true of him is true of
us. He married us in that covenant of grace. What does a woman do
when she marries a man? She takes his name. The believer's
name is the Lord Jesus Christ because we're one with him. There
is that blessed inseparable union with the Lord Jesus Christ. His
name shall endure, His name shall continue as long as the sun,
and men shall be blessed, notice, men shall be blessed in Him. You remember Ephesians chapter
1? It's always in Him, in Him, chosen
in Him, blessed in Him, redeemed in Him, sealed in Him. all to
the praise of the glory of his grace. Remember, all nations
shall call him blessed. Verse 18, blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. You know, his
name is called Wonderful Counselor, is it not? For unto us a child
is born, a son is given. The government shall be upon
his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Everything he does, who only
doeth wonderful things. Everything he does in creation,
it's wonderful. Everything he does in providence,
it's wonderful. Everything he does in salvation,
It's wonderful, is it not? He only doeth wondrous things,
and whatever he does, it is wonderful, because his name is wonderful.
Verse 19, blessed be his glorious name forever and ever. Let the
whole earth be filled with his glory. It is, it is. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The gospel declares the glory
of God. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the whole earth be
filled with his glory. What do you say about that? What
does it say there? Amen. Oh, in case you didn't
hear it, amen. He shall have dominion. From sea to sea, amen. He only doeth wondrous things,
amen. He redeemed the souls of his
people, amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. Amen.