Now this evening, we're gonna
bring a message from Psalm 97, or study it. And we pray the
Lord will be pleased to bless it to us. I'm entitling the message
from the words found in verse 12, the last verse of Psalm 97. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous. Give thanks, give thanks. Now here's the title. Give thanks. at the remembrance of His holiness,
His holiness. Now, you know, most people, they
give thanks when they think about their holiness. We don't have
any holiness in ourselves. We're always ungodly sinners,
but we do give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. God is holy. We're instructed
in the Word to give thanks in everything. Remember back in
Psalm 92 verse one, where it says, it's a good thing to give
thanks unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name. It's a
good thing. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord. Now we're instructed to give
thanks in everything for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you, but all believers, This is true. All believers are especially
thankful when remembering the person we worship, the God whom
we worship, and his holy character. God is holy, holy. This is true of our Lord Jehovah. He is holy. Sovereign and holy
in all of his doings and all of his ways. And it is also true
of God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator.
It says of him, even though he took humanity unto himself, he
never stopped being the holy God that he is. We read in scripture,
such a high priest became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled,
Separate from sin. Peter called him in 1 Peter 1,
the Lamb of God without blemish and without spot. God is holy. The Lord Jesus Christ as God
is holy. He is holy, most holy. It says
of him in another verse in 1 Peter, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. The Lord Jesus Christ never stopped
being God when he was manifested in the flesh. As God, he's absolutely
holy. As God, he's absolutely sovereign. Now this psalm is another psalm
And I'm convinced that all the psalms are full of the gospel,
the good news of salvation for sinners in Christ Jesus. This
is another gospel psalm concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
look at verse one. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let us
rejoice, all the inhabitants of the earth. Let us rejoice. Let the multitudes or the islands
that are far off, far off, Hawaiian Islands, Delusion Islands, Japan,
wherever the islands are, let all the earth rejoice and be
glad. Our God who is God, He does reign. He has, He does, and He will
forever reign. And His reign is not a temporary
reign. You remember from Psalm 90, verse
2, His reign is not a temporary reign, is it? For the mountains
were brought forth, wherever thou hast formed the earth, the
world, from everlasting to everlasting. How long will He remain holy?
everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. He is the sovereign eternal. His reign is absolute and it's
eternal. We've seen this statement before
that the Lord reigneth. Remember Psalm 93 verse 1, turn
over there. The Lord reigneth. This is good
news. He's sovereign. He's clothed
with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength.
Wherewith he hath girded himself, the world also is established
that it cannot be moved. Again in Psalm 96.10, we read
again about the Lord does reign. Say among the heathen, the Lord
reigneth. We're not to go and tell everybody,
smile, God loves you. But we are supposed to tell everybody
the Lord reigneth, the Lord reigneth. You imagine people are real fond about putting
bumper stickers on the back of their car, aren't they? Smile,
God loves you. You reckon there was a bumper
sticker on the back of the Ark of Noah's day when all those
who were perishing under the wrath of the Holy God, smile,
God loves you. Where was the love of God manifested?
In the ark. Where is the love of God manifested
today? In the Lord Jesus Christ. God
is holy, God reigns forever. And we're gonna see, we've seen
this statement before. Say among the heathen, the Lord
reigneth. Don't tell everybody God loves them, that's not so,
that's a lie. That's a lie. This religious world has promoted
a lie on God. God doesn't love everybody. Jacob,
have I loved Esau, have I, uh-oh, what's that word? Loved less,
they say now. No, God hated Esau. Loved Jacob, that's sovereign
distinction, sovereign love. We're gonna see this statement
again. Look at Psalm 99, verse one, the Lord reigneth. The Lord
reigneth, let the people tremble. He sitteth between the cherubim,
let the earth be moved. God reigns. There is nothing
in the universe that the Lord does not completely reign over
in heaven and in earth. An old pagan king was made to
confess that, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar confessed that
God Almighty does according to his will in heaven earth, sea,
and all deep places, and no one can stay his hand or say unto
him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? He's sovereign in
creation, made all things by the word of his power, all things
are sustained and kept by the word of his power. We've read
that in Hebrews chapter 1. He's sovereign in providence.
These tornadoes that passed through Kentucky were not an accident.
God sent him on purpose. God decreed from all eternity.
And he's sovereign in salvation. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. I rejoice that God reigns. The only place we will actually
worship is at the throne of a sovereign God. Everything else is just
really idolatry. You worship a God that's not
God, what are you doing? It's idolatry, isn't it? We worship
God who is God. We bow before his sovereign throne
and we're glad. Believers do rejoice in this
truth. Believers are glad. The Lord reigneth. Oh, I don't like that. What does
it say there? Let the earth rejoice. Let the islands be glad. Believers
rejoice in this truth. Believers are glad that the Lord
is sovereign. Says in Isaiah 9, 6, the government's
upon somebody's shoulders. The government's upon his shoulders.
He rules and reigns over all things. This is a message that
we're supposed to preach that the Lord reigneth. Turn over
to Isaiah. Remember Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52,
verse seven. Here's a message we're to declare,
not go tell everybody God loves you, not so. Isaiah 52, seven, how beautiful
upon a mountain are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publish peace, that bring good tidings of good, that publish
salvation, that saith unto Zion, God reigns, thy God reigneth. Lift up your voice, cry aloud,
spare not. Tell everybody that God is God. The gospel message in which we
rejoice is that God reigns. If the Lord our God is not almighty
to save, is his hand shortened that he cannot save? I that speak
to thee in righteousness, or what was that verse in Isaiah
63? He's mighty to save. The Lord is not almighty to save.
This sinner has no hope of salvation. Being dead in sin, what does
it take to raise a dead man and give him life? Power. The power
of almighty God. No wonder we read he's able to
save to the uttermost all those that come to God. by him. Now look at verse 2. Psalm 97
verse 2. Clouds and darkness surround
about him righteousness and judgment are the habitation the establishment
of his throne. His throne. Now many times from
our vantage point Many times from our vantage point, dark
clouds of our own unbelief seem to obscure His sovereign throne. Dark clouds of unbelief. Now
maybe you don't have a problem with unbelief, but I confess
unto you that I still have a battle with unbelief. Now I can illustrate what I'm
trying to say here. Last week, when all those thick,
dark, black clouds moved through, it seemed to blot out the sun. Now did the sun stop shining?
The sun was still shining bright. From our viewpoint, it looked
like the sun blotted out. And oftentimes, Our own unbelief
obscures His sovereign throne from our vantage point. We can
be assured that when dark clouds of unbelief roll through our
mind, the Lord still reigns in righteousness and judgment. The
Lord is still upon His throne, working all things after the
counsel of His own sovereign will. His throne is a throne
of judgment and righteousness. We've seen that in Psalm 89.
Turn back over there. Psalm 89 verse 14, justice and
judgment are the habitation of thy throne. Psalm 89 verse 14,
mercy and truth shall go before thy face. It's only through the
Lord Jesus Christ. that His holy righteousness and
His holy throne is to the believer through Christ Jesus satisfying
God's holy law and justice, that the throne of God's justice to
the believer is the throne of grace, a throne of mercy. Believers wade through the darkness
of doubt and trouble because we know in our heart the Lord
does reign. The Lord is my shepherd, we shall
not want. And that brings me to this song
by William Cowper, who had such a battle with depression and
doubt, and thought for sure that when he died that he would not
see God in saving mercy. And he wrote this song, God Moves
in Mysterious Ways, His Wonders to Perform. He plants his footsteps
in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds
of never-fading skill, He treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break. with blessings on your
head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides His smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. Wait upon the Lord, and again
I say, wait upon the Lord. Behind the frowning providence
he hides his smiling face. Clouds and darkness are round
about him, doesn't change him. They seem to cloud out the brightness
of God's sovereign reign, but it's only from our vantage point
he still reigns. Look at verse 3, a fire goeth
before him, burneth up his enemies round about. The very being of
God is power, consuming all opposition. His omnipotence, his sovereign
reign is a devouring flame, which burns up the enemies that are
round about him. Now, there's one thing I don't
wanna be. It's an object of God's wrath.
I want to be an object of his love. I don't want to be among
those who hate God. I know by nature we do, but by
grace, by grace, I don't want to be counted among his enemies.
I want to be counted among his friends, among his friends, among
his family. A fire goes before him and he
burns up the enemies. Even now, where the gospel of
God's grace is preached, the power of the Holy Spirit, it
burns its own way, irresistibly destroying falsehood, superstition. These are enemies to God's grace.
Unbelief, all manner of sin, indifference, hardness of heart. His Word is like a fire, like
a hammer. burns up and out all opposition
to God. And that's what the gospel does
in us when he does that work of grace in our heart. Look at
verse four. His lightnings enlightened the world. The earth saw and
trembled. The Lord commands the lightning
of the sky. You know, the lightning answers
back and says, here I am, send me. He controls the lightning,
as mysterious as that lightning is. as hot as that lightning
is, powerful that lightning is, the Lord commands the lightning. But again, if we consider this
verse in the revelation of the gospel, in the light of the gospel,
He commands the light of the gospel to shine in our hearts,
just as He says to the lightning, go here, and that's where it
goes. They say lightning never strikes
twice in one place. I bet it does, if God is pleased
to send it that way. God command the lightning of
His Word to shine in our heart. The gospel of Christ lights up
our soul with the blaze of His truth and of His glory. And it
causes us to see the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse five. The hills
melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. At the presence
of the Lord of the whole earth. Healed. Enemies disappear. Enemies
are made friends. Enemies are reconciled to God
in Christ. Oppositions either either conquered
in grace or condemned in wrath. But they're conquered, overcome. The hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord. At the presence of the Lord of
the whole earth. God is the King, it says in Psalm
47, not of some of the earth, all the earth. God is the King
of all the earth. King of kings, Lord of lords.
Christ is Lord and King. over all the earth, including
all creatures, who one day will bow and acknowledge that Thou
art God. Beside Him there is no other.
They'll confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. But again, with reference to
the elect of God, the Lord melts away all idolatry and vain worship
and mountains of sin. Remember from Isaiah 64, that
prayer of Isaiah, oh that the Lord would come down and rend
the mountains and then we'll melt before His presence. That's what the Lord does when
He invades our heart. Hills of unbelief melt at His
presence. Hills of rebellion melt at His
presence, at the presence of the Lord, of the whole earth.
saying just a moment ago, Cowper's words, the dearest idol I have
known, whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne
and worship only thee. The hills of idolatry, unbelief,
rebellion, they melt wind at his presence. Look at verse 6, the heavens
declare, The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the
people, all the people see His glory. Now, you remember from
Psalm 19, where it says, the heavens declare the glory of
God, the firmament showeth His handiwork. All His creation declares
His glory, His righteousness. But they also, they declare His
glory, His glory in creation, but they also declare His righteousness,
the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. How so is that?
The Lord speaks from heaven. He speaks from where? From heaven. The heavens shall declare His
righteousness. The Lord speaks from heaven and
He did this twice audibly at the Lord's baptism God speaks
the Father to the Son, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased. And at the Mount of Transfiguration,
this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And then he
said, hear him. God speaks from heaven and declares
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly those
messengers the gospel sent from the God of heaven declare the
justifying righteousness of God accomplished by the Lord Jesus
Christ and revealed by God the Holy Spirit." That's a telling sign that those
who are not sin of God are totally ignorant of the God that Abraham
worshiped, the God that the Apostle Paul preached, the God that accomplished
salvation, that freely impute righteousness to God's covenant
people. Those who were sent of God declare
this message how God can be just and the justifier of the ungodly.
And when that message is preached in the power of God the Holy
Spirit, and when God is pleased to reveal that message, all the
people see His glory. They see His glory. the glory
of his redeeming grace, the glory of his redeeming cleansing blood,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Those who are not sin of God,
they declare another message. They're not preaching. These
jaybirds around here, they call themselves preachers. They're
not preaching God's gospel. I say that with confidence. I don't say it with arrogance,
but I say it with confidence because they talk about what
you must do to earn a righteousness or to maintain a righteousness.
If you don't maintain a righteousness, you know we're gonna kick you
out. Salvation's not obtained by our righteousness, nor is
it maintained by our righteousness, is it? It's freely imputed by
His grace. And in that righteousness revealed,
we see His glory. All His people see His glory. The glory is the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness
have all we received grace for grace. Now, look at verse 7. Confounded be all they that serve
draven images, Those who preach another God, another gospel,
that boast themselves of their idolatry. Don't they boast? They boast about their idolatry.
God says, worship Him, all you gods. Confounded be all they. There is great confusion in idolatry. There is great confusion in idolatry,
but there is great comfort in worshiping the true and living
God. There is confusion in idolatry.
Turn over here to Isaiah 45. We've read this scripture more
than one time, but it bears repeating. You see, when God comes in and
saves us, he causes us to turn to God, the true and living God,
and he causes us to turn to God from our idols to serve the living
and true God. Isaiah 45, look at verse 16. They shall be ashamed and also
confounded, all of them. They should go to confusion that
are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed. You
shall not be confounded world without end. There's confusion
in idolatry. God wants to but you won't let
him. God wants to and he's trying. He can't because you won't let
him. He won't violate that sacred shrine of the sinner's free will. That's what they say. That's
Tommy Rock. That's what old Charles Spurgeon
called tomfoolery. Tommy rot. It's not the truth. God will do as he will, with
whom he will, when he will. If he doesn't violate our will, our mind, we have a will. The problem with it is it's fallen.
We have a will, but the problem with it is it's bonded to our
nature. God must invade us. or we will willingly die in our
unbelief. He must make us willing in the
day of His power. We'll never be saved. You see, there's confusion in
idolatry, but there's comfort in Christ. There is comfort in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to worship Him. We're to
worship Him. Now, look at verse seven, or
verse eight, rather. Zion heard. Zion heard. This is the gospel Zion. They
heard. They hear. They've been given
ears to hear. They hear that God is God. They
hear that God is sovereign. They hear that God provided a
righteousness in Christ Jesus. They've heard these things. God
has chosen a people. Christ redeemed them. They've
heard these things. And they're glad. They're glad. The daughters of Zion rejoiced.
because of thy judgments, O Lord." And these judgments are His decrees,
these judgments are His words, these judgments are His precepts,
these judgments are the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, for He judged our sin and our substitute I've heard
that, and it doesn't make me glad. I mean, it doesn't make
me mad, it makes me glad. I do rejoice that God is God. See, I told you this was a gospel
psalm. Look at verse nine. See, the gospel declares grace
for the guilty, mercy for the miserable, hope for the hopeless,
salvation for sinners. Zion heard this message. This
is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. Christ came
to save sinners. While the gospel truth does confound
and confuse and enrage the enemies of the gospel, it enlightens
and rejoices and strengthens the inhabitants of Zion. All
of his precepts and his word, his decrees, they are true and
righteous altogether. Are they not? We've heard these
things. I mean, we've really heard them.
We've not only heard them, we believe them. We've not only
heard them and believe them, but we dare preach them. You reckon I could walk into
a pulpit over in town that the first Baptist this or the first
Baptist that and declare this message of God's sovereign grace?
They'd tear that place apart. Or they'd tear me apart before
I got out of there. What's the problem? They're preaching
another God, that's the problem. They've got another gospel. They've
got a God who wants to and can't. They've got a Christ that tried
to and failed. They've got a Holy Spirit that
wants to, but you won't let him. That's another God, another gospel,
another spirit, and another Jesus. They've got them a counterfeit. Look at verse nine. For thou,
Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou are exalted far above
all gods. How high is he? Can you give
God too much honor and glory? Can you preach him too high?
Can you go too far with his sovereignty? I'd like to be guilty of it.
I'd like to preach. I'd like to preach him as high
as he is. I can't. For thou, Lord, art high above
all the earth. Thou art exalted. God has highly
exalted him and given him a name above every name that at his
name every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he's
Lord. You cannot give him too much
honor, too much glory. You cannot exalt him too high. For he is the most, he is the
most high God. Didn't we read that over here
somewhere? Where was it we read that? The most high God. Look at verse, Psalm 95, verse
three. For the Lord is great, a great
God, a great king above all gods. He is the most high God. You can't give him too much honor,
too much glory. Now look at verse 10, back in
our text. Ye that love the Lord, Now we
love him only because he first loved us. We don't love him as
John Newton said. William Cowper had a dear friend
named John Newton. John Newton said, I don't love
the Lord like I ought to. I don't love the Lord like I should.
I don't love him like I'm going
to one day. But I do love him. I do love
the Lord. Ye that love the Lord do this,
hate evil. Hate evil. He preserveth the
soul of the saints, he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Now here's a rule, a rule here is given for us to judge if we
really love the Lord. Do you wanna know now if you
really love the Lord? If you love the Christ of God,
you'll love his people. By this shall all men know that
you're my disciple, that you love one another. If I love the
Lord, what he loves, we love. What he hates, we hate. Let's go over here to Psalm 119
just a moment. Psalm 119 verse 3 says, how sweet
are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I tolerate
every false way. We know those folks are just
a little bit confused on some doctrine there, you know. No,
I hate what they preach. I hate what they preach. Why do I hate it? God hates it. I hate what they preach. Let love be without dissimilation,
without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil, cleave
to that which is good. I hate that which is contrary
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you? Sickens me. How can someone leave an assembly
where the gospel of God's grace is preached and go and sit in
a congregation of idolaters and be happy? Now you explain that
to me. You can't do it. You cannot do
it. You cannot do it. And yet, folks have sat here
some 10, 15 years, got up, walked out that door and went right
down and set in a free will church and see no difference. I'm wrong
somewhere. Either I didn't define the message
of God's grace or they didn't hear what I was saying if I was
telling the truth. Now one of the two. Ye that love the Lord hate evil.
You see, He preserves the soul of His saints. He delivereth
them out of the hand of the wicked. He delivered us from idolatry.
He delivered us from bondage. And you want to go back to that
crap? Excuse the slang. You want to go back to that way
that's contrary to the gospel of God's grace? Boban's Cathology. That's all they preach. BS. Bovine scatology, BS. That's the kind of word for it. Look at verse 11. Light is sown, light is risen
for righteousness and gladness for those who've been made upright
in heart. Light's sown in us. Christ is
our light. Because Christ is our light,
don't turn, let me just read this to you because you're familiar
with it. Because Christ is our light, he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. We don't walk
in darkness anymore. We did. He delivered us out of
the kingdom of darkness, translated us into kingdom of God, dear
son. Light is sown for righteousness and gladness for the upright
in heart. And gladness for the upright
in heart. Verse 12 now. Verse 12. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. That message
is repeated in the book of Philippians over and over and over again.
Rejoice in the Lord. We have so much to rejoice in.
We have no confidence in the flesh. We rejoice in God. Worship God. Rejoice in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it says rejoice in the Lord
ye righteous. Every believer is made righteous
in Christ Jesus. And give thanks, give thanks. How are we made righteous? Not
by our doing, but by His. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works. Imputeth, imputeth. Give
thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. Only a believer can be thankful
when remembering who God is. You can't remember someone you
don't know. We give thanks at the remembrance
of who he is. An unholy gospel is no gospel. God is holy. The glory of the
gospel of Christ is that God, who is almighty, can remain just
and holy, not compromising his holy character, and yet justify
the ungodly, be a just God and Savior. That's the glory of the
gospel. Give thanks at remembrance of
who he is. He's holy, holy, holy, Lord God
almighty.