Okay, Psalm 89 is our study this
evening, and I'm entitling the message from the theme of this
psalm, and I'm using this title, Covenant Mercies. Covenant Mercies. Covenant Mercies. Or we could
say this, Covenant Faithfulness. covenant faithfulness, covenant
mercies. And in reality, it's not only
the theme of this psalm, covenant mercies, but in reality, it's
the theme of the gospel, is it not? The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our God is a covenant God. I've quoted this verse many times
to you, Hebrews 13, 20, now the God of peace, THAT BROUGHT AGAIN
FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS, THAT GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP
THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT." YOU SEE, GOD'S COVENANT
MUST BE EVERLASTING. YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE GOD'S ETERNAL. LOOK, JUST ONE PAGE OVER, PSALM
90, BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS WERE BROUGHT FORTH OR EVER, THOU HAST
FORMED THE EARTH, THE WORLD, EVEN FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. HE IS GOD. HIS COVENANT IS ETERNAL
AS GOD HIMSELF IS ETERNAL. OUR GREAT COVENANT GOD DELIGHTS
TO SAVE SINNERS ON THE GROUND AND BASIS OF THE COVENANT OF
GRACE OF WHICH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS CALLED, YOU REMEMBER
FROM THE BOOK OF HEBREWS WHAT HE'S CALLED, HE'S CALLED THE
SURETY OF THE COVENANT. THAT MEANS HE'S THE GUARANTEE
OF THE COVENANT. The law made nothing perfect,
but bringing in of a better hope did. And in the Hebrew 722, Christ
is called the surety of a better covenant, based upon a better
sacrifice. And we know the better sacrifice
is what? Not the blood of bulls and goats.
Oh no, his own blood. He bought us, God did. The Lord
Jesus Christ in his surety, the sacrifice, the savior of the
eternal covenant that's ordered in all things and is sure, and
he is the shepherd of the covenant, is he not? We can say with David,
the Lord is my shepherd. Now, it's interesting to me that
Psalm 89 and Psalm 88 were written by brothers. The Lord used them
to pen these two Psalms, Ethan, the Ezra height and then Psalm
88 his brother is Heman Heman and Ethan and both of them had
the same covenant promise the same covenant hope that we have
in the Lord Jesus Christ that salvation is of the Lord you
see all believers in whatever age in human history they lived
they all knew because they were taught of God, believers in any
age, Noah's day, Moses' day, Abraham's day, Job's day, all
of them had the same hope. What was that hope? Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham, our Lord said, rejoice
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Our Lord said Moses wrote about
him. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, and Peter called him a preacher of righteousness. You reckon whose righteousness
he was preaching about? It wasn't Noah's. He was preaching
about the Lord, our righteousness. And Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. You see, all Old Testament believers,
they all have the same hope that we have today, the Lord Jesus
Christ, covenant mercies in him. David, we know in scripture,
the sweet psalmist of Israel, the man after God's own heart,
David is a prominent and personal type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I call him the greater David. The Lord Jesus Christ is greater
than David, greater than any man. BUT MANY OF THESE VERSES
CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
COMING AS A COVENANT SURETY. FOR EXAMPLE, LOOK AT VERSE 19. and said, I've laid help upon
one that is mighty. I've chosen and exalted, exalted
and chosen one chosen out of the people. Now this can be said
of David, but more importantly, it said of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one who is the holy one that is mighty, that's the
chosen of God. You know, God has the elect servant,
THE FIRST TIME THAT WORD ELECT IS USED IN SCRIPTURE. YOU REMEMBER
I'VE TOLD YOU ISAIAH 42 ONE BEHOLD MY SERVANT MY ELECT AND WHO MY
SOUL DELIGHTED. YOU SEE HE IS THE ELECT WE'RE
CHOSEN IN HIM. SO YOU SEE VERSE 19 CAN ONLY
REALLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND
AGAIN, DOWN TO VERSE 27, HE SAID, ALSO, I WILL MAKE HIM MY FIRSTBORN
HIGHER THAN THE KINGS OF THE EARTH. NOW, WE COULD MAKE SOME
FAINT REFERENCE TO DAVID, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST, FOR HE'S KING OF KINGS, AND HE IS LORD OF LORDS, KING
OF KINGS. LOOK AT VERSE 28, MY MERCY WILL
I KEEP FOR HIM FOREVER. MY COVENANT SHALL STAND FAST
WITH HIM. IT STANDS FAST WITH HIM BECAUSE
IT'S ORDERED IN ALL THINGS AND IT'S SURE. VERSE 29, HIS SEAT
ALSO WILL I MAKE TO ENDURE FOREVER. HIS THRONE DAYS OF HEAVEN. THAT IS HIS THRONE IS THE ETERNAL
THRONE. NOW YOU SEE THEY CAN ONLY BE
UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST OUR KING. MY COVENANT LOOK AT
VERSE 34. MY COVENANT WILL I NOT BREAK
NOR ALTER THE THING THAT'S GONE OUT OF MY LIPS. ONCE HAVE I SWORN
BY MY HOLINESS I WILL NOT lying to David, his seed shall endure
forever. His throne as the sun before
me, it shall be established forever as the moon as a faithful witness,
a faithful witness in heaven. WHAT IS THE FAITHFUL WITNESS
IN HEAVEN? WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE ALL
HONOR, GLORY, AND BLESSING, POWER, BOTH NOW AND FOREVER. NOW, LET'S GO BACK TO VERSE 1. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord. We sing that now, don't we? But
you know, we're going to sing that forever. We learn it here. We're introduced to it here,
how the Lord saves sinners by his mercy, but we're going to
sing of his mercies forever. UNTO HIM WHO LOVED US AND WASHED
US FROM OUR SIN IN HIS OWN BLOOD. WITH MY MOUTH I WILL MAKE KNOWN
HIS FAITHFULNESS TO ALL GENERATIONS, ALL GENERATIONS. I WILL SING
OF THE LORD'S MERCIES. LOOK AT VERSE 15. BLESSED IS
THE PEOPLE THAT KNOW THE JOYFUL SOUND. THEY SHALL WALK, O LORD,
IN THE LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE. WHAT IS THAT JOYFUL SOUND? IT'S
THAT GOSPEL SOUND. THE GOSPEL SOUND OF SALVATION
THAT'S OF THE LORD. I LOVE TO SING OF THE LORD'S
MERCIES. THOSE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED SALVATION
BY THE LORD'S MERCIES, WE LOVE TO SING ABOUT IT. WE LOVE TO
WRITE ABOUT IT. WE LOVE TO PREACH ABOUT IT. IT
IS OF THE LORD'S MERCIES THAT WE'RE NOT CONSUMED. WE LOVE TO
TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT. THE LORD IS RICH IN HIS MERCY. We love to sing about it. Psalm
95, verse one, he said, oh, come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let
us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Psalm
96, verse one, oh, sing unto the Lord. new song sing unto
the Lord all the earth sing unto the Lord and bless his name show
forth his salvation from day to day declare his glory among
the heathen psalm 98 one you see over and over again he said
oh sing unto the Lord psalm 98 one a new song for he had done
marvelous things HIS RIGHT HAND IN HIS HOLY ARM HAS GOTTEN HIM
THE VICTORY. THANKS BEING GOD WHO HAS GIVEN
US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND THEN WE WANT
TO SING OF HIS MERCIES AND THEN WE WANT TO MAKE KNOWN HIS FAITHFULNESS. his faithfulness to his word,
to his father, to the gospel promises. I want to make known
his faithfulness. Now I'm thankful the Lord has
given us faithful gospel preachers. And I am thankful the Lord has
given us faithful believers. But most of all, I'm thankful
for the Lord's faithfulness to us. His faithfulness to us. but my mercy, look at verse 24,
but my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him and in my name
he shall be exalted. His faithfulness. He said, I'll
never suffer my faithfulness to fail in verse 33. You see, it is upon his faithfulness
to all the requirements of the covenant that salvation was accomplished
by his doing, his dying. God's faithfulness cannot fail
because his covenant of mercies cannot fail. Upon his faithfulness,
listen to this scripture, Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faithfulness
of Christ, Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ or by the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, his faithfulness was
perfect obedience to the Father in every thought, word, and deed,
perfect. No wonder Paul said that he counted
everything else lost and dung and ruined, that he may win Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. So we rest upon HIS DOING, HIS
OBEDIENCE, HIS FAITHFULNESS, AND MY FRIEND, HIS FAITHFULNESS
WAS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY, HONORING THE VERY LAW OF GOD THAT WE HAVE
BROKEN. AND GOD DEMANDS FAITHFULNESS,
GOD DEMANDS A PERFECT OBEDIENCE, AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST RENDERED
THAT UP FOR US. LOOK AT VERSE 2, FOR I HAVE SAID,
PSALM 89, 2, I HAVE SAID, MERCY, shall be built up forever. That is, his mercies endure forever. His mercies are built up. They're
built up upon his faithfulness. They're built up upon his covenant. Our Lord said, I'll build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail. I lay in thine
for a foundation of stone, built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the
rock of ages. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish. Not only here, but in the very
heavens, the very presence of God. We have an advocate, a mediator,
oh, he's faithful. He's faithful to his people.
He said, I'll never leave them, I'll never forsake them. He said,
all that the Father giveth to me, they'll come to me, and those
that come to me shall never cast them out. Why? Built upon I've said, mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shall be established
in the heavens. Mercy is built up. The foundation
of mercy stand assured. Mercy is built upon the unfailing
promises of God. You remember what we studied
in 2 Corinthians 1 about the promises of God? their yes and
amen and in him and to the glory of God, the promises of God,
they're exceeding great and precious. They never fail. They never fail. Like our God, Abraham was fully
persuaded that all that God had promised, able to perform order
than all things and ensure Faithfulness is established eternally before
God's throne upon the faithful obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ,
being obedient unto death, having redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us. In Christ, there is mercy. Without the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's a consuming fire. In Christ, there is mercy. That's
why he said, come boldly. Come with liberty to the throne
of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. Out of Christ, there is no mercy.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, there is where the love of God revealed
and nothing outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see no love
outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing but wrath, judgment outside
of Christ. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. Let him be cursed when the Lord
comes. Verse three and verse four, I made a covenant. Oh,
thank God he has. He made a covenant with my chosen. Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit, they have that eternal agreement, eternal
covenant to save sinners upon the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, justified by his blood. I made a covenant with my chosen,
the Lord Jesus Christ is that chosen. I've sworn unto David,
my servant, and it's the greater David that he's referring to,
my servant, behold my servant, My elect in whom my soul delighteth,
Isaiah 42, 1, thy seed will I establish. The Lord has a people. He is
the elect. We're chosen in him. Thy seed
will I establish forever and build them up, build them up. thy throne to all generations."
That's covenant language. That's grace language, is it
not? The covenant that God made with David is typical of that
eternal covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ is a surety
of the covenant. He is the sacrifice of the covenant. He's the sacrifice of it. He
obtained for us eternal redemption with his own blood. He is the
Savior of the covenant, called his name Jesus. He shall save
his people. He's the sweetness of the covenant,
both to the Father and to his people. His sacrifice is a sweet-smelling
savor unto God. He's the shepherd, the good shepherd,
the chief shepherd, the good shepherd of the covenant, who
does what? laid down his life for the sheep. The church of
the Lord Jesus Christ is his seed, his people, and they shall
be established forever. The body of Christ, his church,
can no more perish than the head of the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We stand complete in him forever. Kept by the power of God. He
keeps us from falling and then he presents us. complete and
whole in Christ, without spot, without blemish in him, based
upon his covenant faithfulness, based upon his covenant sacrifice. You see, he's a surety of it.
The salvation of God's people is certain and sure because of
that covenant of grace. He said, I won't lose one of
them. I'll bring them all back to the Father. They were lost. and the Lord came to seek and
to save every lost one of his people. Look at verse five. The
heavens shall praise thy wonders. The heavens shall praise his
wonders when the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, was manifested
in that little baby. HEAVENS, THE HEAVENLY HOST OF
ANGELS SAY GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. UNTO YOU THIS DAY IS
BORN A SAVIOR THAT'S CHRIST THE LORD. THE HEAVENS SHALL PRAISE
THY WONDERS. WHAT A MIRACLE OF GRACE. GOD
MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. O LORD, O LORD, THY FAITHFULNESS
ALSO IN THE CONGREGATION OF THE SAINTS." IN HEAVEN, WHAT DO THEY
TALK ABOUT? THEY TALK ABOUT THE GLORIES OF
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE GLORIES OF HIS FAITHFULNESS, THE GLORIES
OF HIS SACRIFICE. WHAT DO THE SAINTS UPON THE EARTH,
WHAT DO THEY TALK ABOUT NOW? SAME THING, THE GLORIES OF HIS
PERSON, THE GLORIES OF HIS WORK. VERSE 6, FOR WHO IN THE HEAVEN
CAN BE COMPARED UNTO THE LORD? WHO IN HEAVEN CAN BE COMPARED
UNTO THE LORD? WHO AMONG THE SONS OF THE MIGHTY
CAN BE LIKENED UNTO THE LORD? WELL, THERE'S NONE LIKE HIM.
THERE'S NONE LIKE HIM IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH THAT CAN BE COMPARED
UNTO HIM. there is none like him remember
back in psalm 86 look at verse 8 psalm 86 verse 8 among the
gods Well, there's none like thee, O Lord, neither are there
any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify
thy name. For thou art great and doest
wondrous things. Thou art God alone. How many times have we read in
the book of Isaiah? HE SAID, I AM GOD. BESIDE ME
THERE IS NO OTHER, THE ONLY JUST GOD AND SAVIOR. THERE'S NONE LIKE HIM IN HOLINESS.
THE ANGELS DECLARED HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. THERE'S
NONE LIKE HIM FOR SOVEREIGNTY WHATSOEVER THE LORD THAT'S WHAT HE DOES. THERE'S
NONE LIKE HIM IN HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US EVEN WHEN
WE WERE DEAD IN SIN, QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. GREAT IS OUR LORD. LOOK AT VERSE 7. BECAUSE THERE'S NONE LIKE HIM
AND NONE CAN BE COMPARED UNTO HIM BECAUSE HE IS GOD ALONE. GOD IS GREATLY TO BE FEARED IN
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS. WE HIGHLY REVERENCE HIM, DON'T
WE? HOLY AND REVERENT IS HIS NAME.
THESE SAINTS OF GOD THAT WERE DEFEARED CAN ALSO BE RENDERED
WORSHIP. THEY WORSHIP HIM. GOD IS TO BE
GREATLY WORSHIPED IN THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS, AND THAT'S WHAT
WE DO HERE. WE COME TO WORSHIP GOD IN THE
PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST AND BE HAD IN REVERENCE. OF ALL THEM
THAT ARE ABOUT HIM. NO MAN SHOULD EVER TAKE THAT
TITLE TO HIMSELF AND CALL HIMSELF REVEREND SMITH OR REVEREND JONES. HOLY AND REVEREND IS HIS NAME.
JUST CALL ME TOM. THAT'LL DO. OR THOMAS. THAT'LL
DO. OR JUST CALL ME SINNER. THAT'LL
DO TOO. BUT DON'T CALL ME REVEREND. Holy
and reverent is his name. Any man who takes that title
to himself is ignorant of God. Just plain and simple. Isn't
he? I'm Reverend Jones. No, you're a sinner. You're a
sinner, ungodly. Look at verse eight. O Lord God
of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Or doth thy faithfulness
round about thee? Our great Lord is not only faithful
to his covenant promise, he's able and strong to accomplish
all he's promised. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. Anything too
hard for the Lord? With the Lord, all things are
possible. He is the one that has a mighty arm. None can stay
his hand or say unto him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? It's not possible for any creature
to exalt him too high. O Lord God of hosts, who is strong
like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about? It's not possible
for any creature to exalt him too high, to brag on the Lord
Jesus Christ too much or to give him too much glory. All that
preacher did is talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. All he did
is give God all the glory for the salvation of the Lord. I
remember a story about our dear friend Scott Richardson, faithful
gospel preacher. And a lady in the community started
attending the ministry there, and she attended for a while,
and one day she caught Brother Richardson out there at the end
of the service out there by the door. She said, you know, I've
been coming here for a while, and all you do is preach about
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All you preach about
is Christ, Christ, Christ. You know what he said? Will you
put that on my tombstone? Put that on my tombstone. See,
we preach not ourselves, do we? We preach the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't give him too much honor,
you can't give him too much glory. Just put that on my tombstone.
Add that to my tombstone. All he did is bragged on Christ. Can you get it all on there?
I don't know. I don't know, we'll try. O LORD, God of hosts, who is
a strong Lord, like unto thee, or thy faithfulness round about
thee. And then he gives us some explanation
of the greatness of his person. He rules a raging sea. When he was on that ship with
his disciples, and the ship was caught in that storm, and the
ship started to sink, And they said, Lord, he's over sleeping.
They woke him up, said, Lord, don't you care? We're gonna drown. And he spoke a word. Peace, be
still. And there was a great calm. Who
else can do that but God Almighty, a strong Lord like unto thee. Thou rulest the raging of the
sea when the waves thereof arise. He just says, be still. Thou
has broken the enemies. Rahab refers to Egypt in pieces
as one that is slain. Thou has scattered thine enemies
with thy strong arm. The heavens are thine. The earth
is thine. As for the world and the fullness
thereof, who created all this? God created all things. In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Created all things
by the word of his power. He even created the North Pole
the South Pole has now created verse 12 God's created them Those
magnetic poles that surround this sphere that we live on How
does all that work? God creates all that. He maintains
all those things. By Him, all things consist. The
North Pole, the South Pole. Thou has created the heavens
and the earth, Mount Tabor, Mount Hermon, East and West. They shall
rejoice. They rejoice in the name of the
Lord. Even the mountains know who created them. Even the heavens
and the sea and all things therein, all creatures in the earth, they
know who created them. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand, high is thy right hand. How high is it? None higher. Justice and judgment,
verse 14. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne, Thy throne, God sits on the absolute
sovereign throne, exercising justice and judgment as he sees
fit in his wisdom. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? And upon justice being satisfied,
upon judgment being met upon the Lord Jesus Christ, mercy
and truth go before his face. He saved sinners in truth and
mercy. You remember that Psalm 85? You
all have memorized that now, haven't you? Mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where? At the cross. All the
attributes of God are magnified and glorified in harmony in Christ
crucified. Verse 15, blessed is the people
that know the joyful sound. And it's a joyful sound of the
gospel. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. We're born in darkness. One day
God turned on the light. God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, that we might see the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16. Oh, I got through all them notes,
how about that? Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name, and I love this,
in thy name, THEY SHALL REJOICE ALL THE DAY. WE ARE THE TRUE
ISRAEL THAT WORSHIP GOD IN THE SPIRIT, THAT REJOICE IN CHRIST
JESUS, AND WE HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH. IN THY NAME THEY
SHALL REJOICE. GOD'S GIVEN HIM A NAME ABOVE
EVERY NAME. AT THAT NAME EVERY KNEE WILL
BOW, EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. IN
THY NAME THEY SHALL REJOICE. And in thy righteousness, they
shall be exalted. Now you reckon whose righteousness
the saints of God are exalted in? All of our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. He said of us, we've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. He said of us, there's none
righteous, no, not one. But in his righteousness, we
shall be exalted. How good you have to be to stand
before God, as righteous as God. Well, preacher, how can that
be? To be found in Christ. He is
our righteousness. He's called the Lord our righteousness,
is he not? For thou art my glory, the glory
of my strength, verse 17, and in thy favor, thy grace, grace,
our horn, SHALL BE EXALTED, FOR THE LORD IS OUR DEFENSE, THE
HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, HE'S OUR KING. YOU HAVE A KING? I HAVE A KING. HE SAID, I'VE
SET MY KING UPON MY HOLY HILL ZION. WE HAVE A KING. HE'S KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS. HE IS KING BY GOD'S DECREE. GOD HAS MADE THAT SAME JESUS.
whom you have crucified, God hath made him both Lord and Christ. He's the king, he's God's king,
and we bow to him and worship him and receive him as such,
our king.