This evening, I want to take
a look at Psalm 138. Psalm 138. Notice verse one. I will. I will praise thee with
my whole heart. David has been made willing in
the day of God's power. And that is the only way that
we can say I will. because God says you shall. You
shall be my people. I will be your God and you shall
be my people. I will praise thee with my whole
heart before the gods. WILL I PRAISE UNTO THEE. I'M ENTITLING THE MESSAGE FROM
WHAT IS FOUND IN VERSE ONE, WHOLEHEARTED PRAISE. WHOLEHEARTED PRAISE. Now this is another blessed psalm
that was given to David, given by God the Holy Spirit, and it
truly expresses the believer's desire, as David says in many
other psalms, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within
me, bless his holy name. That is the believer's want to,
will, and delight. LORD, TO WORSHIP HIM, AND TO
PRAISE THE LORD. HE SAYS IN VERSE 1, I WILL PRAISE
THE LORD, BUT HE SAYS, I WILL PRAISE THE LORD WITH MY whole
heart, or my entire being. When we read the word heart in
scripture, it's not talking about the organ in our body, it's talking
about the whole of the person that we are. It includes our
will, it includes our thoughts, it includes our affection, it
includes our understanding. We will praise the Lord, that's
to desire and delight the believers with our whole heart, with our
whole being, with all of our thoughts. Of what value would
half-hearted praise be? Love and worship be half-hearted
praise. Wouldn't be worth much, would
it? In reality, it's nothing but hypocrisy. Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, therefore, is not half-hearted. Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ is a total sellout. As David, or as Paul says in
another place, he says, I know whom I have believed and I'm
persuaded that he is able to keep that. I've committed unto
him against that day. So true worship is a total sellout
and commitment and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. We
need a broken heart to mourn over our sin You remember Psalm
38, he says, I'm nigh them of a broken heart and save us such
as be of a contrite spirit. But we need a whole heart or
a new heart. What God gives in regeneration
to praise him, to believe him without a new heart, we cannot
believe him. That's why we must be born again.
And that's what he does in regeneration. He gives us a new heart. TO PRAISE
HIM, TO BELIEVE HIM, TO LOVE HIM, AND TO WORSHIP HIM AS HE
OUGHT TO BE WORSHIPED. THE PROPHET EZEKIEL, THE LORD
SAYS THROUGH HIM, HE SAYS, I'LL TAKE AWAY THAT STONY HEART AND
I'LL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART. I'LL GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH,
ONE THAT HAS A DESIRE TO PRAISE AND HONOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS
A NEW CREATURE. Old things are passed away and
behold, all things have become new. While our worship is not
perfect worship, because we still have this old sinful flesh to
drag around, for the believer, although our worship is not perfect
worship, I trust we can say that it is sincere worship. in his
sincere worship. The Father seeketh such to worship
him in spirit and in truth. And we can only do that with
a heart that's regenerated or having a new heart in the Lord
Jesus Christ that thinks upon the Lord. that thinks right thoughts
about the Lord as he's revealed in the word, that meditates upon
his word, whose affections are set on things above, not on the
things of this earth, whose understanding has been enlightened, enlightened
of the Lord. He's given us an understanding
that we might know him that is true, the only true and living
God. Men by nature don't have right
understanding. God must command the light to
shine in our dead hearts that we might see the glory of God
as it shines in the face of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. When God gives a new heart and
a new nature in regeneration, It's no longer, do we say, I
want it my way and my will, but rather that new heart that's
broken, that's been made new, that has a desire to seek the
Lord. We pray, Lord, not my will, but
thy will be done. submission and bowing to the
will of the Lord. As Job says so well, when the
Lord took away all of his substance, all of his children, and his
health, he said, the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. and then it says that Job worshiped
God. I desire that for you, and I
desire that for me, that wholehearted praise. And then watch the second
part of verse one. Before the gods of this world,
before the pagan idols of this world, he says, I will praise
thee, and I will sing, I will sing praises to the Lord. David was not ashamed. David
was not ashamed. Turn over here to Psalm 96.5.
96.5. Look at Psalm 96. Let's go to verse one. Oh, sing
unto the Lord a 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,
his wonders among the people. For the Lord is great and greatly
to be praised. He is to be feared above all
gods. For all the gods of the nations
are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. The heavens of heaven
declare the glory of God. David was not ashamed nor embarrassed
to declare and sing praises to the Lord of lords in the face
of idols and the opposition of men. Remember Paul writing to
the Romans, said, for as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you who are at Rome, because I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. It's a power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Paul says in another place, I'm
not ashamed of God because I know whom I have believed. David,
while contending for the truth, poured contempt upon the idols
of men and upon those that trusted in them. Look right across the
page. Psalm 135, I think it is. Psalm 135, look down to verse
15. Psalm 135, verse 15. The idols of the heathen are
silver and gold. work of men's hands they have
mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not they
have ears but they hear not neither is there any breath in their
mouths they that make them are likened to them so is everyone
that trusteth in them you remember psalm 115 when the heathen came
before david and said david where is your god We know where our
God is. He's over here in the temple.
David said, Just as Elijah contended with
those 850 prophets of Baal, he was not ashamed to declare that
God is God. And when God burnt the sacrifice,
consumed the sacrifice, he altered the stones and the water, Elijah
declared, God is God. Beside him there is no other. You remember from our study in
Acts 14, where Paul said to those people, turn from these idols
unto the living and true God, which made heaven, which made
the earth. It is a great delight and comfort
to the believer to know that the God we own and worship is
God. He rules and reigns in heaven,
the earth, the seas, and all deep places, as he says in Psalm
135, whatsoever the Lord please. That's what he did in heaven,
earth, sea, and all deep places. All things are of God. That's
the only place where a sinner will really worship, is at the
throne of the sovereign, almighty God. This word praise also has
a meaning of confessing. Our confession of the gospel
is wholehearted confession, is it not? We own all that he is,
all that he does before this ungodly world. Do you realize
that we're surrounded by pagan gods? They tell us God down at
our church, he wants to save people, but they won't let him.
The God down in our church downtown, he's done all, he wants to do
all these great things, but people have him hamstrung or they have
his hand tied. He can't do anything unless you
let him. That's another God. That's an
idol God. That's not God, it was God who
does according to His will all the time, everywhere, with whoever
He wants, whenever He pleases. So we confess Him. NOW HOW IMPORTANT
IS PUBLICLY OWNING, PRAISING, PREACHING, BELIEVING, AND CONFESSING
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT?
VERY IMPORTANT. YOU SEE, THE LORD HAS NO SECRET
DISCIPLES. LISTEN TO THIS SCRIPTURE, MATTHEW
10, WHOSOEVER THEREFORE SHALL CONFESS ME BEFORE MEN, I'LL CONFESS
HIM BEFORE MY FATHER. which is in heaven, but whosoever
shall deny me before men, I'll also deny him before my father."
Now, that's a serious matter, is it not? So we own him and
we confess him. He is God and we worship him
as such. When the enemies of the gospel
rail against us, do we become silent or do we
keep preaching the gospel? You remember what they did to
the apostles in the early church we studied in the book of Acts
when they beat them and commanded them and said don't you mention
the name of Jesus Christ one more time? You remember? Just stop preaching. What did
they do? They went everywhere, in the temple, publicly, and
house to house, privately, preaching and teaching the word of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God is God, and beside him there
is no other. Though we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel than which we have already preached
unto you, Paul said to the Galatians, let him be accursed. I'm reading
almost finished with Arthur Pink's book on the sovereignty of God.
I would highly recommend that you read it. If you read it before,
you can read it again. The doctrine, he said, Pink said,
A.W. Pink, he wrote this in 1930. Arthur Pink died the year I was
born, 1952. The doctrine of sovereignty,
in the doctrine of sovereignty lies a foundation of all Christian
theology. That's the bedrock. God is God. Sovereignty, he ruled and reigned
everywhere, everywhere, all the time. What you believe is determined
by who you believe. Now think about it. What you
believe is determined by who you believe. As David says, I
know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able. Now look at verse two. I will
praise thee wholeheartedly, I will confess thee wholeheartedly before
the gods, will I do this? Before the pagans of this world,
we do this, we preach the gospel, radio, internet, pulpit, track,
however, and then he says, I will worship, verse two, I will worship
toward thy holy temple. And praise thy name. I'll praise
his name for who he is. His name declares who he is.
For your loving kindness, for your truth, for thou has magnified
thy word above thy name. Now let's take a look at verse
two. Believers not only worship and
confess the Lord, BUT THEY PRAISE THE LORD FOR WHO HE IS. WE WORSHIP
AS HE SAYS THERE TOWARD THY HOLY TEMPLE. NOW WHEN YOU THINK OF
THE HOLY TEMPLE You should also think of the
tabernacle of the Lord, because the tabernacle that we studied,
you remember the Solomon, the temple that Solomon built, glorious
as it was, all those things are typical of the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. David in his day approached God
in a prescribed manner with the appointed priest at the appointed
time with the appointed sacrifice at the appointed place. What
was the center part of that worship in the tabernacle? It was a mercy
seat. What is the center part of that
holy of holies in the temple? Well, it's the mercy seat. What
is that mercy seat? That's where the blood was put
on that mercy seat, making propitiation for our sin. So David came with
the appointed priest, with the appointed sacrifice, to the appointed
place, the mercy seat. That's exactly how we come today.
Christ is our great high priest with the appointed sacrifice,
right? not the sacrifice of bulls and of goats, but with his own
blood, he obtained eternal redemption for us. So we have the appointed
sacrifice. We have the appointed priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who made the atonement for our sin upon
the mercy seat for us. He reconciled us to God. We also
confess his name. WE ALSO CONFESS HIS NAME. WE
PRAISE THY NAME. WE WORSHIP AND THEN WE PRAISE
HIS NAME. HIS NAME DECLARES WHO HE IS.
NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN, YOU REMEMBER, GIVEN AMONG MEN WHEREBY
WE MUST BE SAVED, WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE. His name declares
the Lord Jesus Christ. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sin. What did Peter declare at Pentecost?
This same Jesus whom you crucified, remember? He's both Lord and
the Christ. He's the Lord. He's Jesus, our
Savior, and he is the Christ of God. He's anointed in all
of his offices, prophet, priest, and king. His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, who has all power in heaven and earth. God given him a name which is
above every name, that at that name every knee will bow, Every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We worship toward
thy holy temple. That is, we approach God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember he said, no man comes
to me but through. No man comes to the Father but
by and through me. And we confess his name, who
he is, what he's done. And we confess and own and celebrate
his character, his attributes. Notice what he says there in
verse two, for thy loving kindness, his loving kindness and thy truth,
his loving kindness. How long has God loved his people?
How long has God loved his people? Jeremiah said, God says to that
prophet, I've loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore
with loving kindness. With loving kindness, I will
draw thee unto myself. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate,
worship, and confess all of his attributes, his characteristics,
his loving kindness, his mercy, and then his truth, his truth. Thank God the Lord Jesus Christ
is full of grace and truth. You remember? The word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And it's of his fullness that
we have grace. in him dwells all the fullness
of a godhead bodily and we stand what in him complete made whole
now the last part of verse two thou has magnified thy word above
all thy name now here's the reason why because the word of the lord
is magnified above or rather Over all his name, he's magnified
his word. All that he does and all that
he is. Includes his written word is over all that he has done. Over all his name, all that he
has done and all that he is. He put the stamp of his word
upon it. Remember, he said, I've spoken
it. I've brought it to pass. I will do it. He spake and it
was done. He commanded and it stands fast. His word written is magnified
over all his name. All the promises of God in him
are yes, and in him, and amen, and to the glory of God. He said,
my word will not return unto me void, but where I send it,
I bless it. I bless his word, all scriptures
given of God, and it cannot fail, because God cannot fail. It refers to the written word
is above or over all his name, who he is, and then also the
incarnate word is magnified or glorified over all his name. God's glory is magnified in his
incarnation. The heavens declared You remember,
glory to God in the highest. Unto you this day is born a Savior
in the city of David, Christ the Lord. And what did the heavenly
host do? Glory to his name. Glory to his
name. In his crucifixion, Paul said,
God forbid us a glory saved in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then in his resurrection glory, he's raised again because
he's justified us. And all of his resurrection glory
speaks of his accomplishment for us. All that he has done
is accepted of God on our behalf as our mediator, as our advocate
with the atoning blood that he presents to God on our behalf. Notice verse three. In the day
when I cried, you answered me and you strengthened me with
strength. Now, here's one of the many distinguishing
characteristics of a truly living God. He hears our prayers. You remember in 1 Kings 18, those
prophets of Baal, from morning to afternoon to the evening,
they jumped up and down and cut themselves and screamed and cried,
O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. And it was silence. Elijah called upon the true and
living God and God answered by fire. Let it be known this day
that thou art God and fire fell. He hears our prayers and answers
them because he is the true and living God. And he answers every
prayer that we pray according to his sovereign and eternal
purpose. Because he is the living God,
he hears our prayers, our cries. Because he is the almighty God,
he answers our prayers in a way that he sees fit. And what does that do? It gives
us strength inwardly. You see that? It gives us strength
inwardly. Hold your place there and look
at Psalm 143. Psalm 143, verse one. Oh, hear my prayer, O Lord. Give
ear to my supplications. and in thy faithfulness answer
me, and in thy righteousness answer me. And then another Psalm,
let me read it to you, don't turn, but Psalm 46. He says, strengthen me in my
soul, strengthen me in my heart. Now, we don't need to be strengthened
physically, This physical body is deteriorating, but where we
need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ is inwardly. God is our refuge and strength
of every present help in trouble. When Paul prayed for the FOR
THE BELIEVERS THERE IN EPHESUS, HE PRAYED FOR THEM THAT THEY
WOULD BE STRENGTHENED INWARDLY, IN THE NEW MAN, IN THE HEART.
HERE'S ANOTHER SCRIPTURE I'VE JOTTED DOWN. DON'T TURN, LET
ME JUST READ IT TO YOU. ISAIAH 40. Verse 28, hast thou not known,
hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the
creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary,
there is no searching of his understanding, he giveth power
to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Yea, even the youth shall faint
and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall
mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not be faint. Now you're not talking about
what we do physically, but spiritually in our heart as we come before
the Lord to worship him. Now look back at Psalm 138 verse
four. All the kings of the earth shall
praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. All the kings of the earth, the
way of salvation for prince or pauper, king or convict is the
same. By grace are you saved through
faith, always. When any, regardless of position
or place, are truly blessed to hear the words of the Lord, they
shall all praise the Lord for such great salvation that He
gives. When any is blessed to hear the
word of the Lord, YOU REMEMBER OUR LORD SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES,
BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES, FOR THEY SEE, AND YOUR EARS, FOR THEY
HEAR. WHEN OUR EYES ARE BLESSED TO
SEE WITH EYES OF FAITH, THE LORD HIGH AND LIFTED UP, AND OUR EARS
ARE BLESSED TO HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, WE WILL MAGNIFY
THE LORD, AND HONOR AND PRAISE THE LORD, WHO IS KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS. LOOK AT VERSE 5. in the ways of the Lord, for
great is the glory of the Lord. What do they sing about? Remember,
turn back to Psalm 98. Turn back to Psalm 98. Oh, sing unto the Lord, verse
one. Psalm 98, oh, sing unto the Lord
a new song. They sing that song of the redeemed,
worthy as a lamb. O sing unto the Lord a new song,
for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm
hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his
salvation, his righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight
of the heathen. O remember the Lord, his ways
are the ways of salvation, and his glory is great in saving
his people. Verse six, Psalm 138 verse six,
though the Lord be high. He's high and lifted up. How
high is the Lord? Higher than I can imagine, higher
than I can tell you. He said beside me there's none
higher, I am the Lord. None beside me, though the Lord
be high. Now watch this. He hath respect
unto the lowly. he hath respect unto those who
he deny them of a broken heart, saviors such as be of a contrite
spirit, but the proud he knows them at a distance. The Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners he came to save. Take
your Bible there and find Psalm 113. Psalm 113. The Lord is high, yet he hath
respect to the lowly. Psalm 113, verse four. 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, who humbleth himself to behold the
things that are in heaven and in earth? He raises up the poor
out of the dust. He lifts the needy. Out of the
dunghill that he may set him with princes, even the princes
of the people, he maketh a barren woman to keep house and to be
a joyful mother of children. Praise you, the Lord. The Lord
does all these things. He hath respect unto the lowly,
his people, his children. He saveth such that are his,
but the proud, He knows them, but he knows them at a distance.
He knows them afar off. The proud he knows, but not with
an intimate love as he does his elect. You remember he said to
those in Matthew 7 who bragged on everything they had done for
the Lord, you remember he said, depart from me, you workers of
iniquity, I never knew you. I never loved you." Now, he knew
of them, but he knew them as it says they're far off, not
like he knows his elect. He knows them with an intimate
union in Christ. Pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall. Six things the Lord hate, yea,
seven, and the top of the list is a proud look. Pride, pride, pride will pull
us down. The proud he knows are far off.
Lord, humble us, keep us humble. Verse seven, though I walk, I
walk in the midst of trouble. That's our life, is it not? In
this life you shall have We're going to see in Acts chapter
14 after Paul is stoned Remember he said we must through much
tribulation Enter into the kingdom of God though. We walk in the
midst of trouble trouble You know anything about that? Believers
are no strangers to trouble we live in the midst of trouble
and I like what my friend, Brother Scott Richardson, used to say,
we're either in trouble, coming out of trouble, or going into
trouble. A life of trouble. We walk in
a valley of the shadow of death. Man that's born of woman is few
days and full of Trouble. Paul said, we're troubled on
every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in despair.
Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but we're not destroyed. Trouble. The Lord has promised
to bless us in trouble. In memory said, these words have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace in this
world, You shall have trouble. We all know about that, don't
we? Maybe the young ones don't know too much about it. But as
we grow older, you know, Abraham's greatest trials came after he
was 90 or 75 to 100 years old in his later days when he had
all those trials. The trials we endure come from
the hand of our loving father. That's why they're called precious
trials. PRECIOUS TRIALS DON'T WORK AGAINST
US, THEY WORK FOR US IN EXCEEDING AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY. BELIEVERS
DO NOT DESPAIR IN TRIALS FOR THE THREE REASONS HE GIVES THERE.
THOUGH I WALK IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE, NOTICE HE SAYS, THOU
WILL REVIVE ME. THAT'S OUR HOPE. HE WILL REVIVE
US. HE WILL BLESS US. HE'S PROMISED
US GRACE. TO HELP IN OUR TIME OF NEED. HE'S PROMISED US GRACE, HE SAID,
IS SUFFICIENT. WHEN PAUL SAID, LORD, TAKE THIS
THORN IN THE FLESH AWAY FROM ME, AND HE PRAYED THREE TIMES, AND THE LORD SAID, MY GRACE IS
SUFFICIENT, MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT, THOU WILT REVIVE ME. NUMBER ONE
REASON that we don't faint in trouble. Secondly, thou shalt
stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies. What's
he saying there? He will defend us. He will defend
us. Look right across the page. I
believe it is Psalm 136. Verse 24, he hath redeemed us
from our enemies, for his mercy endures forever. So don't despair
in trouble. Our light afflictions are just
for a moment, and they don't work against us, they work for
us. He will revive us, he will defend us, if God be for us,
who can be against us? And then it says, and the right
hand, thy right hand, shall save me. The right hand of the Lord
shall save me. Now, the right hand of the Lord
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the right hand, usually
speaking, I'm right-handed. And my right hand, my arm, is
stronger, my right hand and arm, than my left hand. The right
hand of the Lord is powerful to save. God will save us. The
Lord saves us with an everlasting salvation. He said, none can
pluck them out of my hand. We're called the sheep of his
pasture and the people of his hand. The people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand. Thy right hand shall save me. He saved me. How long? As long as I hold out. He saves
me as long as I hold out. As long as I do the best I can. As long as I maintain certain
things, he shall save me. No, he saves us with a never-lasting
salvation. Our salvation, we're kept by
the power of God in Christ. So we walk in the midst of trouble,
he will revive us, he will defend us, and he will save us. He gives
us all grace now and glory forever in Christ. Verse eight, the Lord
will perfect, and that word can be rendered perform, that which
concerneth me, thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not
the work of thine own hands. And no one can pluck him out
of his hand. The Lord will perform, perfect
that which concerns me. You remember Psalm 57 verse 2,
the Lord performeth all things for me. God who has begun a good
work in you, being confident of this very thing, God who has
begun a good work in you, He will perfect it, perform it,
until the day the Lord come back. It is God which worketh in you,
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. His mercy, thank
God for this. He performed all things concerning
me. He performed all things for us.
Atonement, righteousness, all things. and then his mercy endures
forever. His mercy, he saves us everlastingly,
and his mercy never, never, no, never ends. Look at Psalm 136,
23. Who remembered us in our lowest
state, for his mercy endures forever. The Lord will never
forsake us, You remember Hebrews 13, he said, I will never leave
thee. He said that to Joshua, remember? I'll never leave thee, I'll never
forsake thee, no, not ever. Oh Lord, your mercy endures forever. Oh Lord, forsake not the work of
thine own hands. We are His workmanship created
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In closing, let me read this
to you. You can turn with me if you want. Isaiah 64. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Look at Isaiah 64, verse six. I quote this quite often. Isaiah
64, six, but we are all an unclean thing, and all of our righteousness
is a filthy rag. We do fade, all fade as a leak. Our iniquities like a wind have
taken us away. There is none that calls upon
thy name that stirs up himself to take hold of thee, for thou
hast hid thy face from us and has consumed us because of our
iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our
father. We are the clay, thou our potter,
We are all the work of thy hand. You see that? We're the work
of thy hand, thy hand of the Lord. Saying the same thing that
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, I am what I am by the grace
of God. I am what I am.