Okay, we're looking this evening
at Psalm 111, and I know that you've already turned there in
your Bible, and I would encourage you to follow along as we look
at these verses here in Psalm 111. I'm entitling the message
from the theme of this Psalm. YOU WOULD JUST READ OVER THIS
PSALM, THESE TEN VERSES, WHAT THEME WOULD YOU COME AWAY WITH?
IT TALKS ABOUT AND MENTIONS FOUR OR FIVE TIMES THE WORK AND WORKS
OF THE LORD. THE OLD TIMERS, THE OLD COMMENTARY,
THE OLD PREACHERS, THEY REFERRED TO THIS PSALM AS THE PSALM OF
GOD'S WORKS, GOD'S DOING. WE KNOW THAT SALVATION
IS HIS DOING, RIGHT? This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. So we see many times that the
Lord mentions everything that He has done for us. He doesn't
say what we have done for Him. You see, our salvation is based
upon what He has done for us. It's certainly not based upon
what we do for Him. Do and done. BIG DIFFERENCE. DO IS SALVATION BY WORK. DONE
IS SALVATION BY GRACE. WELL DONE. SALVATION AS IT'S
REVEALED AND MAY KNOWN IN THE PAGES OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IS DESCRIBED
AS THE WORK OF THE LORD. IT'S ALL ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE
AND HIS GRACE. AS WE SAY MANY TIMES THROUGH
THE YEARS, SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. HIS DOING, HIS DYING. One old-timer called that the
double deed of the Lord Jesus Christ. His doing and His dying,
which makes salvation that we enjoy in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that makes it to us all of grace because of His doing and His
dying. That makes salvation to us all of His mercy, not according
to our works. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. It's by the faithfulness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. I quote these two scriptures
all the time about works, salvation. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, right? But according to his mercy, he
saved us. And Paul, when he writes back
from prison, BEING READY TO BE EXECUTED FOR THE GOSPEL, HE WRITES
BACK TO TIMOTHY AND SAID, DON'T BE ASHAMED OF ME OR THE GOSPEL.
REMEMBER THAT GOD CALLED US AND SAVED US AND CALLED US WITH A
HOLY CALLING, NOT ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS
OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, GIVEN US IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Uh-oh,
before the foundation of the world, before you had done anything
good or evil, the purpose of God was already done. The wages of sin is death. The
gift of God is eternal life. Look at verse one. Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Now, this is not
that mere religious slang that goes on You tune in to most radio broadcast. There's one particular preacher
that comes on the radio on Sunday morning, and he's on the radio
station that I come on at the same radio station, WXCC 96.5,
but he preaches a while. He says two
or three words, and he says, Praise the Lord, hallelujah.
And then he says two or three more words, praise the Lord,
hallelujah. A couple more words, praise the Lord, hallelujah. That's not what this is saying
right here. This is the actual worship of
believers in their heart. And it's not that we say or go
around saying all the time, praise the Lord, hallelujah. THAT'S
REALLY REDUNDANT NONSENSE. BUT IN OUR HEART BEFORE GOD,
THAT'S OUR DESIRE. AND WHAT HE'S TALKING HERE ABOUT
IS WORSHIP. I WILL WORSHIP THE LORD. I WILL. WHY? WRITE UP THE PAGE,
VERSE 3 IN PSALM 110, I QUOTE THIS VERSE ALL THE TIME TOO,
THY PEOPLE SHALL BE WINNING IN THE DAY OF HIS POWER. I WILL
PRAISE THE LORD. HE MADE US A NEW CREATURE IN
CHRIST. I WILL WORSHIP THE LORD BECAUSE HE'S GIVEN US A DESIRE
AND A WILL TO BOW TO HIM AND WORSHIP. NOTICE, IT'S THE LORD. WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS DETERMINED
BY WHO YOU BELIEVE. PAUL SAID, I KNOW WHOM I HAVE
BELIEVED AND I'M PERSUADED. WORSHIP THE LORD. THE ONLY PLACE
WHERE A SINNER WILL REALLY REVERENCE AND WORSHIP HIS NAME IS AT THE
THRONE OF THE ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN LORD. HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. HIS PEOPLE
CONFESS IT NOW, BUT ONE DAY EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, EVERY TONGUE WILL
CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. I WILL PRAISE THE LORD
WITH MY WHOLE HEART, WHOLE HEARTED SINCERE WORSHIP BEFORE GOD."
AND WHEN HE SAYS THE HEART, THE HEART, HE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT
THIS ORGAN, HE'S TALKING ABOUT your will, your thought, your
affection, the whole you, your soul, your spirit in the heart,
in the heart, with the heart man believeth unto salvation,
with the mouth confession is made unto the Lord. With my whole
heart in or around the assembly of the upright AND IN THE CONGREGATION. THE ASSEMBLY OF THE UPRIGHT. THE ASSEMBLY OF THE UPRIGHT. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN UPRIGHTED BY HIS GRACE. HE'S TALKING HERE
ABOUT BELIEVERS. I WILL PRAISE THE LORD. THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST IS WORTHY OF ALL HONOR, PRAISE, AND GLORY THAT
WE CAN POSSIBLY GIVE HIM NOW AND FOREVER. WHAT IS THE ETERNAL
OCCUPATION OF THE REDEEMED IN GLORY? WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT
WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE ALL HONOR, POWER, AND GLORY. WHEN SHALL
WE PRAISE THE LORD? LOOK RIGHT ACROSS THE PAGE, PSALM
113, VERSE 3, FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN UNTO THE GOING DOWN
OF THE SAME, THE LORD'S NAME IS TO BE PRAISED. THE LORD IS
HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS, AND HIS GLORY ABOVE THE HEAVENS. WHO
IS LIKENED TO THE LORD, OUR GOD, WHO DWELLETH ON HIGH? So we do
honor, worship, and praise the Lord when? All the time. Where? Well, it mentions there in the
assembly of the saints, in the assembly of believers. It says
in Psalm 149, praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise in the congregation of the saints. Psalm 149 verse
one, every believer is a saint. So when? All the time. Where? Especially among believers. How? With the whole heart, wholehearted
praise. And why? I'll have you turn to
this one, turn back a couple pages. Psalm 107, Psalm 107. This one statement is repeated
over and over. Psalm 107, look at verse eight.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his
wonderful works to the children of men. Why? Verse 15, Psalm
107. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children
of men. His name is wonderful and everything
he does is wonderful, is it not? Now, the rest of this Psalm,
GIVES US VALID REASONS WHY WE SHOULD WORSHIP, HONOR, BELIEVE,
SUBMIT UNTO, AND PRAISE OUR GREAT GOD. VERSE 2, THE WORKS OF THE
LORD ARE GREAT. YOU SEE, EVERYTHING CONNECTED
WITH HIM IS GREAT. HIS PERSON IS GREAT. HE SAID, I'M GOD, BESIDE ME THERE
IS NO OTHER. His person is great. His obedience
and faithfulness is great. Therefore, everything he does,
the works of the Lord are great. The works of the Lord, notice
it's plural there. The Lord our God is great. Everything
about his person and work is great. Everything he does, guess
what? It's great and it's good. His works are great. Whether
we consider his work of creation, read Genesis 1 and 2, amazing. God, in the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. You think how infinite space
is. God inhabits eternity. His works
of creation, He created all things by the word of His power. His
work of providence, how He rules and reigns sovereignly over His
creation, and certainly the work of salvation is great, is it
not? Everything about our God is great. Let me read this psalm to you,
found in Psalm 40. Verse 5, Many, O LORD my God,
are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts
which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I were to declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. Oh, the manifold
wisdom of God's glorious, glorious, glorious works, His works. Believers seek to know MORE OF
HIS WORKS, DON'T THEY? THE WORKS OF THE LORD ARE GREAT,
SOUGHT OUT OF ALL OF THEM THAT HAVE PLEASURE. I HAVE PLEASURE
IN HIS DOING. I HAVE PLEASURE IN HIS WONDERFUL
WORKS, DON'T YOU? BELIEVERS SEEK TO KNOW MORE OF
HIS WORK OF REDEMPTION, HOW HE FINISHED AND PUT AWAY SIN BY
THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF. More, that's why I sang that
song. We sang that song more about
the Lord Jesus Christ, more of his love, more of his grace. We had this psalm a while back,
Psalm 92. For thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through thy work. I will triumph in the works of
thy hand. O Lord, how great are thy works!
And thy thoughts are very deep. You see, it's all through the
psalm, talking about his work, his works. OF CREATION, PROVIDENCE,
AND SALVATION. THEY'RE GREAT. THEY'RE GREAT.
AND BELIEVERS SEEK TO KNOW MORE OF HIS WORKS BECAUSE WE HAVE
PLEASURE IN THEM. THEY MAKE US GLAD. HIS OBEDIENCE
UNTO THE FATHER IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. HIS SACRIFICE, HIS OBEDIENCE
UNTO DEATH IS OUR ATONEMENT FOR OUR SIN. WE HAVE PLEASURE IN THEM. BUT
YOU KNOW WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT? GOD IS SATISFIED. I'M SATISFIED AND BELIEVERS ARE
SATISFIED WITH HIS DOING AND DYING, BUT WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT
IS THAT GOD IS WELL-PLEASED. GOD IS SATISFIED. GOD SPEAKS
FROM HEAVEN AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAYS? THIS IS MY BELOVED SON
IN WHOM I'M WELL-PLEASED. NOW HEAR HIM. HEAR HIM SPEAK. LOOK AT VERSE 3. Psalm 111, his
work is honorable, his work is glorious, and his
righteousness, his righteous work, it endures as long as you
hold out. It endures forever. He gives
his people, he saves them with an everlasting salvation, he
brings in everlasting righteousness, and he has obtained for us eternal
redemption. He says, I give them eternal
life and they'll never perish. His work, therefore, is honorable
and it's glorious. His righteousness is the perfect
righteousness. It's honorable, honoring all
the attributes of God. You remember Psalm 85, 10? Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. The only way God can be a just
God and Savior is through Christ in Him crucified. His work, therefore,
of redemption, salvation, is honorable. God honors His own
character in saving sinners like you. That's wisdom. His work of salvation is not
only honorable, but glorious. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. Remember, He chose us to the
praise of the glory of His grace. He redeemed us to the praise
of the glory of His grace. He regenerated us. What is that
all about? Ephesians chapter 1 talks about
those three things. All to the praise of the glory
of His grace. His righteousness, or what is
done in righteousness, is forever. We know something about our righteousness,
don't we? What would you say of your righteousness?
What would you say of your righteousness? It's dumb manure. What would you say of your righteousness?
Filthy rags. Would you trust something that
God said away with it? It's filthy rags. How many people,
lost religious people, go about to establish a righteousness
of their own and rest in that that God will accept it. They think morality is righteousness. Morality is nothing but wickedness,
ungodliness. In his sight, now it might look
pretty good to you and me. He might be the most moral man
in the neighborhood. I got nothing wrong with morality,
but when you trust it for salvation, it equals damnation. That's right. So believers rest in this. I quote this all the time. He's
the Lord our righteousness, you know that. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it,
you know that. And this scripture, Romans four, verse six, you remember
what it says? BLESSING IS A MAN TO WHOM THE
LORD IMPUTETH RIGHTEOUSNESS WITHOUT WORKS. THAT MEANS WITHOUT YOURS. WITHOUT
YOUR WORKS. THAT'S GOOD NEWS, IS IT NOT?
NOW LOOK AT VERSE 4. HE HATH MADE HIS WONDERFUL WORKS
TO BE REMEMBERED. He has made His work as honorable,
as glorious, as righteous. His righteousness is glorious.
His wonderful works, He has made His wonderful works to be remembered. God would have us remember what
He's done for us. He would have us forget, forgetting
those things which are behind. He would have us forget those
things that we think count for something. THE LORD IS GRACIOUS. OH, HE IS FULL, FULL, FULL OF
COMPASSION. HIS NAME, YOU KNOW HIS NAME,
WE KNOW HIS NAME, DON'T WE? UNTO US, A CHILD IS BORN, A SON
IS GIVEN, GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER, HIS NAME SHALL
BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING
FATHER. HE IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE. HIS
NAME IS WONDERFUL. HIS WORK THEREFORE IS WONDERFUL.
GOD HAS PURPOSE FOR HIS PEOPLE TO REMEMBER HIS WONDERFUL SALVATION
FOR US. HE WOULD HAVE US FORGET OURS,
AND NOT TO TRUST OURS, BUT RATHER TO TRUST AND REMEMBER HIS WONDERFUL
SALVATION THAT HE HAS WROUGHT FOR US. HE'S DONE A WORK OF GRACE
AND WORK OF REDEMPTION FOR US, RIGHT? BUT HE'S ALSO DONE A WORK
OF GRACE IN US. CHRIST IN YOU IS A HOPE OF GLORY. BEING CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY
THING, THAT GOD WHO HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU, HE'LL FINISH
IT. He'll perfect it. His covenant,
people will never forget His wonderful works. For we read
in Scripture that throughout eternity they sang unto Him who
loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. To Him
be all the honor and glory, both now and forever. He's given us His written word.
to read that we might remember his wonderful works. He has written
his wonderful word upon our hearts, not on tables of stone, but in
our hearts. He's given us the Holy Spirit
to reveal them unto us, and he's given the church the Lord's table.
He said, this do and remember to me. His shedding of his blood
and his body dying for us. The Lord is, verse four, the
last part of verse, the Lord is. We could just camp right
there on those three words, the Lord is. Not the Lord was, the
Lord is. He's gracious, long-suffering,
You remember that scripture over in Exodus? Let me see if I can
find it. I didn't write this down. I think
I read it not too long ago, Exodus 34, where it says, the Lord passed
by before him, proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful,
gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth. The Lord
is gracious. He's gracious. and the Lord is full. You see
that word? He's gracious and the Lord is
full of compassion. He's full, full, full of compassion. Of his fullness have all we received
grace for grace. The Lord is full of compassion.
What is compassion? It is love. HE LOVED US WITH
AN EVERLASTING LOVE, THEREFORE WITH LOVING-KINDNESS DOES HE
DRAW US TO HIMSELF. LOOK AT VERSE 5, HE HATH GIVEN
MEAT UNTO THEM THAT FEAR HIM. THOSE WHO, WHO ARE THOSE THAT
FEAR HIM? THOSE WHO BELIEVE HIM. HE'S GIVEN US SALVATION. HE'S GIVEN IT TO US. AND HE WILL
EVER BE MINDFUL OF HIS COVENANT, AND THE COVENANT HERE IS A COVENANT
OF GRACE. NOTICE THE MIDDLE PART OF VERSE
9, HE HATH COMMANDED HIS COVENANT FOREVER. HIS COVENANT HERE IS
A COVENANT OF GRACE. THE LORD WHO PURPOSED SALVATION
WILL CERTAINLY PROVIDE ALL THINGS FORTH, FOR HE IS, REMEMBER GENESIS
22, HE IS JEHOVAH, JIRAH, You remember Isaac said, where is
the lamb? Abraham said, God will provide,
and he did. Only that which God provides
will God accept. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. All the promises of God are covenant
promises. sure and steadfast, unchanging. All the promises of God in him
are yes and in him and amen. And to the glory of God and his
covenant, as David said, he's made with me an everlasting covenant,
order than all things and is sure, this is all my hope, all
my salvation before God. Covenant mercies. There's a book
back there on that table if you'd like to read, pick it up sometime.
A book by John Warburton. CALLED THE MERCIES OF A COVENANT
GOD. I THINK SOME OF YOU MAYBE HAVE
READ THAT. THE MERCIES OF A COVENANT GOD. AND THE MERCIES WE ENJOY
ARE COVENANT MERCIES. WHAT IS THAT COVENANT? IT'S THE
ETERNAL COVENANT OF GRACE BETWEEN THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. GOD GAVE CHRIST TO PEOPLE IN
THAT COVENANT, MADE CHRIST THE SURETY OF THAT COVENANT, ESTABLISHED
UPON HIS FAITHFULNESS, HIS OBEDIENCE, NOT OURS. THEREFORE, IT'S CERTAIN
AND SURE, IS IT NOT? The salvation we have in him,
he says, I give my sheep eternal life, and they'll never perish.
He will ever be mindful of that covenant, the eternal covenant
of grace. You remember Hebrews 13? Don't
turn, let me just read it to you. I quote it most of the time
when I bring a gospel message to the God of peace that brought
again from the dead, Hebrews 13, 20. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. And then it
says, amen. Amen. Amen. Look at verse six. He has showed his people the
power of his works, that he may give them the inheritance
of grace. He has shown us His power, power,
His powerful works. He revealed them unto us, and
He's made known, He's made them known unto us by revelation.
He's hid these things from the wise and prudent, revealed them
unto babe, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in His sight.
All of His works are great, right? Honorable, right? Glorious, right? Righteous, right? Wonderful,
yes? FULL OF GRACE, YES, FULL OF COMPASSION,
COVENANT WORK, YES, BUT THEY'RE POWERFUL WORKS. THEY'RE POWERFUL
WORK, DO YOU SEE THAT? HE HAS SHOWED HIS PEOPLE THE
POWER OF HIS WORK. YOU REMEMBER JOHN 17-2, WE READ
A MOMENT AGO, THE FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM OVER ALL FLESH, THAT
HE SHOULD GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO AS MANY AS THE FATHER HATH GIVEN
TO HIM." AND YOU REMEMBER ROMANS 1-16, RIGHT? ROMANS 1-16, FOR
I'M NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. IT'S THE POWER OF
GOD AND THE SALVATION TO EVERYONE THAT BELIEVES IT. ALL THIS IS
PRODUCED BY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IN THE HANDS OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT. WE'RE KEPT, WE'RE SAVED BY HIS
POWER, AND WE ARE by His power. And He has given us an eternal
inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ in type and picture where
it says that He may give them the heritage of the heathen.
Israel of old at the type and picture of God's covenant people
walked into the promised land and occupied the land and God
destroyed all their enemies. They didn't lift a hand. Not
at all. They marched around and shouted,
and the walls of Jericho fell down. We read this in Psalm 44. Don't turn, let me read it to
you. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm or power save them, but thy right
hand and thine arm, thy power, and the light of thy countenance,
because thou hast had favor unto them. Thou art my king, O God,
command deliverances for Jacob. You see, it all gets back to
the central truth of what? Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is all of God's grace. Verse seven and eight, the works
of his hands are truth, justice, all of his commandments are certain
and sure, his decrees are forever, They stand fast, they stand fast
forever. They're done in truth and uprightness. The Lord reveals more unto us
about his wonderful redeeming works, it's the works of his
hands. We are redeemed by the work of his hand, of his hand,
not our hands. None can stay his hand. They
are done in truth, they are just and upright, shall not the judge
of all the earth do right, and they are sure. I love that word. The last part of verse seven,
his commandments, his gospel, certain and sure. You can bank
on it, count on it, rest upon it, trust his word. His promises
never fail. All that God had promised, how
many promises have failed? None. They stand fast forever
and ever. They're certain and sure in Christ
Jesus. He said, heaven and earth will
pass away, but my word will never pass away. Whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be forever. Nothing added to it, nothing
taken from it. Verse nine, he sent the Redeemer. He sent redemption unto his people.
He came to save his covenant people. He sent the Redeemer.
He sent redemption to his people. He redeemed us by his own. We're
not redeemed with corruptible things, are we? But with the
precious blood of Christ. God bought the church with his
own blood. He redeemed us. He sent it, or
we wouldn't have it. He purposed it, planned it, and
sent it. and he commanded his covenant forever. Holy now, holy,
holy, holy, and reverend is his name. You know what that word
reverend there means? Terrible. I wonder if the preacher
who calls himself Reverend Jones knows that this word in the original
means terrible, terrible Jones. You see, God's name is terrible,
terrible. I think I read that somewhere
over here. Let me see if I can find it. His name is Terrible,
Tremendous. Reverent is his name. I've got
it written down here. Yes, here it is. Psalm 99 verse
three. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name. That's the same word that's rendered
reverent. Next time you see in the paper,
Reverend Jones is preaching the funeral, just say, well, his
name's terrible. Terrible. He's a terrible preacher. Holy and Reverend is his name.
No man takes his title to himself. It's reserved for God alone.
He's the only terrible, tremendous, high God. He said, I am God. Beside me, there is no other.
He alone is to be worshiped. Verse 10. The fear of the Lord,
the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. You remember Psalm
53? It says, the fool hath said in
his heart, there is no God. No fear of God before the Rhine. You see, the fear of the Lord
is wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. He's made
unto us wisdom. All the wisdom of God is hid
in the Lord Jesus Christ. A good understanding, we know
the Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we might
know him that is true. The only true God, Jesus Christ,
whom he had sent. He's given us an understanding. A good understanding have all
they that do His commandments. His glory endures forever. What
is it? To fear the Lord, to believe
the Lord, and to obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
glory is forever and ever and ever.