This is one of those special
psalms it is to me. It is another gospel psalm, a
gospel psalm. What tells us again is the good
news of God's saving mercy to those who are undeserving, to
those who are ungodly. I'm entitling this message, entitling
the message from the words found in verse 10, where it says, mercy
and truth. And here's the title of the message,
just from the words in verse 10, the first part. Mercy and
truth are met together. Mercy and truth are in complete
harmony in the salvation of sinners, God's people. Righteousness and
peace have kissed one another, have kissed one another. Now
in the salvation of sinners, And that's what we have in Christ
Jesus. All the attributes of God are magnified and exalted. Not only mercy and truth, but
also righteousness and peace. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
as a sinner's substitute does not change the character of God,
does it? Does God cease to be holy and
just become loving? No, because the scriptures teach
the Lord, he says, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
therefore, doesn't change the character of God. He's always
been merciful. He's always been loving and long-suffering
unto his people. But rather, all the attributes
of God are honored in Christ crucified. to enable God to be
holy and just, holy and just, a just God and
Savior. To enable Him, as we read a moment
ago in Romans chapter three, to enable Him to be a just God
and Savior, to be just and the justifier of them who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves sinners in such a way
that's in harmony with His complete character. So as not to compromise
His holy character, and yet in the salvation of a sinner, His
mercy is honored, His love is honored, His grace is honored,
His justice is honored, His holiness is honored in the salvation of
a sinner. That's what's being said in verse
10. As I said earlier, this is another,
another blessed gospel psalm of Christ and Him crucified.
For it tells us of the good news of God's saving mercy to the
undeserving. We've read so many times in Romans
chapter 5 that the Lord Jesus Christ died for somebody. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
the ungodly. The good shepherd, the Lord Jesus,
laid down his life for His covenant people, for His sheep. And in
time, He will cross their path with the gospel, and He will
indeed, as it says in verse 7, show them mercy and grant them
salvation. Now, who alone can show mercy?
Who alone can grant salvation? It says in our text here, verse
4, He's a God of our salvation. And then it says in verse 9,
surely His salvation. So it's His to give to whom He
will. That's what we call sovereign
mercy. Sovereign grace. Now He will reveal Himself to
whom He will. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent, says in Matthew 11. He hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto his babes, even so,
father, for so it seemed good in God's sight. Now, in verses
one down to verse three, we have a declaration of all that the
Lord has done for us. And it declares unto us again,
that salvation is His doing, isn't it? Salvation is not something
that God does a part of and we do a part of and then we put
the two parts together and have a whole. No. Salvation is all
of God, all of grace. Look what it says in verse 1
down to verse 3. We see all that the Lord hath
done. He repeats Himself over and over
and over. Lord, thou hast been favorable
God has been gracious unto his people in time past. And because
God does not change, he will yet be favorable, gracious, well-pleased
to show mercy unto his people, unto thy land. Now, he's not
talking about a piece of dirt. He's talking about the people
who live upon that land, and they're his covenant people.
He mentions this in verse one, in this name, Jacob. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. God sovereignly put his own stamp
of approval and love upon Jacob, not because Jacob was deserving,
but because God is long-suffering and merciful. Thou hast brought
back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast been favorable, gracious,
favorable unto his people. He will continue to be gracious
unto his covenant people for one reason, not because we're
good people, not because we're deserving, but rather because
God delights to show mercy. God delights to be gracious unto
us for Christ's sake. God saves us for Christ's sake,
not because we're deserving. We're not deserving of anything
but his wrath and judgment and condemnation. God, if we look
back at Israel being a type and picture, typical Israel, national
Israel, had the type and picture of the Lord's sovereign mercy
unto them. You know, those people were a
bunch of rebels. rebels against God, sinners by
birth, nature, and practice. Yet God delivered them from Egyptian
bondage after 400 years. They couldn't deliver themselves. God delivered them. Thou hath
brought back the captivity of thy people. And then they went
into captivity again for 70 years in Babylon. God raised up a man,
a pagan king named Cyrus, remember? And he declared the decree and
set the Jews free. You see, this is the Lord's doing.
And all that is a picture of God saving mercy unto us. They were not worthy of deliverance
after 400 years of bondage in Egypt, yet God delivered them.
God sent them into Babylonian captivity. You know why? Because
of idolatry. And yet after 70 years, God delivered
that nation again. You see, He has been favorable
and He will yet be favorable. He will yet bring back the captivity
of His people. And all that is a picture. The
Lord Jesus Christ setting His covenant people free from the
curse of the law. The law of God has a claim on
us. The law of God says we're guilty before God. The Lord Jesus
Christ, by his grace to his satisfaction of God's law and justice, he
has set us free from the curse of the law. And you know how
he did that? He set us free from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. He took the curse of that law.
What is the curse of that law? What does the law of God demand?
Holy, just. You want the law of God demands?
The guilty must die. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did for those covenant people. He set us free. Christ
has set us free from the curse of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ
has set us free from the bondage of sin. Turn over here to Galatians
chapter five. Galatians chapter five. He set
us free from the bondage of sin. Sin had a Death grip on us, a
claim on us. He said it's free. Stand fast
in the liberty. Look what it says in Galatians
5 verse 1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. Our Lord said, you shall know
the truth and the truth will set you free and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Christ has set us free from the
curse of the law. He said he would, in Isaiah 61,
turn over there. In Isaiah 61, he said he would,
he promised he'd set his covenant people free. In Isaiah 61, look
what it says, verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because
the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
the opening prisoners, the opening of the prison to them that are
bound. Well there's the promise. Now turn to Luke chapter 4 and
he came and fulfilled that promise. In Luke chapter 4 when the Lord
Jesus was manifest in the flesh fulfilling all God's law for
us. He says in verse 18 of Luke 4,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Now where
is he reading from? Isaiah 61. to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. That's the year of jubilee when
those who indebted themselves were set free. The debt was canceled,
they were set free. And he closed the book and gave
it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of all
them were fastened in the synagogue were fastened on him and he began
to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears. He indeed has set his people
free. He has fulfilled it. He said
on Calvary's tree, it is finished, it is done. Now look back at
Psalm 85 one more time. Thou has been and he will be
gracious unto his people. He will set the captive free,
sons of Jacob. And then again, he declares in
verse two, that he's forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Now
you think about that for a moment. He's forgiven the iniquity of
his people. And he has covered not some of
their sin, not most of their sin. He has covered all their
sin. That includes original sin. What
do I mean by original sin? That sin that was reckoned and
imputed unto us from Adam's fall. Original sin, how about How have
you done on your own? Actual sin. We've all sinned,
we read a moment ago. I come short of the glory of
God. All sin, original sin, actual sin. Sin of omission, sin of
commission. All sin, future, past, present,
future. The Lord has forgiven the iniquity
of thy people and has covered all their sin. Now who did this? It's not mom and dad, it's not
the church. The Lord has brought back the captivity. The Lord
Jehovah in and through Christ crucified has forgiven the iniquity
of these people. These people, he keeps repeating
this again. Jacob, thy people, thy people,
thy people. Who are these people? Well, we know who they are. Scriptures
tell us. who these people are. They are
His by His sovereign choice. He chose His people. We read
in John chapter 6, He said, All that the Father hath given to
me, they will come to me. And those that do come to me,
I will unknowwise cast out. Who are these people? They are
His by His sovereign choice. Who are these people? They are
His by His divine He bought them with His own blood. You know,
the believer, we're not our own. We're bought with a price. God
bought the church with His own blood. They're His people by
His sovereign choice. They're His people by His divine
purchase. You know, He's going to have
what He purchased. He's going to take them all the way to glory.
He'll have them, not lose one of them. Who are these people? They're His by irresistible call. He calls them unto Himself, His
covenant people. How does the Lord forgive iniquity
and cover all the sin of these chosen people, these certain
people, these elect people? How does He do that? He just
say, well, there's sin, I'm just gonna forgive it. What about
your law? What about your justice? What
about your truth? What about your righteousness?
You see, it's just not like we would do sweeping the house.
I don't do this. But it's like some people do,
sweep the house and lift up the rug and put the dirt under the
rug. You know, it's out of sight,
out of mind. That's not how the Lord forgives iniquity. That's
not how the Lord covers our sin. You see, God being holy and just
demands a payment for sin. Demands a full payment for sin. So how does the Lord forgive
iniquity and cover all the sin of these chosen people? And here's
the amazing grace of the gospel. By taking all the sin of God's
covenant people, charging and imputing all of their sin unto
the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree, whereby he made complete
satisfaction for all their sin. He made complete satisfaction
for all their sin. How complete is it? He said their sin and their iniquity. Well, I remember no more Remember
from Isaiah 53 he was wounded for our transgression. He was
bruised for our iniquities And with his stripes, we are healed. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we are
healed. The Lord Jesus Christ being the just one, he suffered
once for our sins, the just one who knew no sin. that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. The just one suffered
once for our sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us unto God. You see, the Lord has forgiven
the iniquity of thy people because the Lord Jesus Christ made full
satisfaction for all of our sin. Covered, look at what it says
there, he covered all their sin, all of it, he covered it, completely
so. covered it. How did he cover
it? By taking it away. By taking
it away. As far as the east is from the
west. He appeared once in the end of the age to put away all
their sin by the sacrifice of himself. And therefore that leads
us to verse 3. Again, this is describing unto
us What the Lord has done. He's been favorable. He's brought
back the captivity. He's forgiven the iniquity of
his people. He's covered all their sin. That's
good news. I want in on that. How do I know I'm one of those
people? Pretty good question, isn't it?
What do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is he your sin atoning victim? Is he your propitiation for sin? Look what it says in verse three,
thou has taken away, God has taken away all thy wrath. Thou
has turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. All of God's
wrath toward these certain people has been removed. And here's
the reason why. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
made complete atonement for all their sin. No condemnation is
left for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now look at Romans 5,
turn there, Romans 5. Looking at this earlier today,
Romans chapter 5. He has removed his wrath. He's removed his wrath. Look at verse 6 of Romans 5.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet for adventure for a good man some would dare
to die. But God committed his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died For us,
substitution, for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath. He's taken away all
his wrath. Saved from wrath through him. Now I want you to look at two
other scriptures. Find 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians
chapter one. Taken away all that wrath because
he covered all our sin. By taking our sin, you know what
he took to himself? He took God's wrath for us. Therefore it says in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1 verse 9 says, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned
to God from your idols. To serve the living and true
God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. Now get a hold of this. Look
at chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 9. All of God's
wrath toward his people has been removed. Look at verse 9. Got it? First Thessalonians 5
verse 9. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who
died for us. He's appointed us to salvation,
not under wrath. All wrath has been removed. God's
anger toward our sin has been fully, eternally, and eternally
quenched. by the death of Christ in our
room and in our stead. That's why it says in Romans
8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's delect? It is God who justifies. Who
can condemn us? Nobody, because Christ has died. Risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, interceding for us. Now look back to the
text, Psalm 85. So here's everything that he
has done for us. Done for us, done for us, done
for us. Now look at verse four. Now turn
us, turn us. What is this turn us business?
I'll tell you what it is, it's repentance. Turn us. Turn us, oh God, of our salvation,
and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Turn us. He's done
a work for us. Now our prayer is this, Lord,
do a work in us. Turn us. Give us a repentant
heart. Now we've seen something of this
turning before in Psalm 80. Turn back over there. You remember
Psalm 80, verse three? Turn us again, oh God. and cause
thy face to shine upon us to shine and we shall be saved.
Turn us, oh God, of our salvation. In salvation, there is removal
of God's wrath toward us. And there is removal of our enmity
toward him. Both are accomplished by the
power of God in the gospel. Now, find 2 Corinthians chapter
five. 2 Corinthians chapter five. God is reconciled, now he tells
us here, now you be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5. Look at verse 18, all things
are of God. All salvation is of God. He's
forgiven our sin. He's taken away thy wrath, who
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath committed unto
us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit namely that God was in
Christ, to wit means namely that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now who is this world? It's His
people. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Now whom did He impute them to? The Lord Jesus Christ. And have
committed unto us the word, the message of reconciliation. Now
then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead now, be ye reconciled.
As Pastor Mahan used to say, lay down your shotgun. Surrender, submit, bow to Christ. For he had made him sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made to righteousness of God
in him. The wrath of God is quenched
by the death and satisfying sacrifice of Christ, and our enmity toward
him is turned away in regenerating grace when he turns us by the
power of the Holy Spirit, giving us a new nature, and he causes
the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
and he causes us to love him. no longer to disbelieve him,
but to bow unto him and submit unto him. He must turn us. We
can't turn ourselves. Our Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father which sent me draw him. And that's
why it says, turn us, oh God of our salvation. If he doesn't
do it, I tell you what, it won't be done. If God doesn't grant
repentance, we'll never repent. If God doesn't grant faith, we'll
never believe him. Turn us, oh God of our salvation,
and cause, he's the cause of this, cause thine anger toward
us to cease. Now, look at verse six. Wilt thou be angry with us forever?
Not in Christ Jesus. Will thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? Not in Christ Jesus. Now look
at verse six. Will thou not revive us again
that thy people, here's these people again, that they may rejoice
in thee? Now, what does it mean to revive
us again? Revive us again. Now he's not
talking about being saved and lost, saved and lost, saved and
lost. We're born again by the Spirit
of God one time. Just as we're born naturally
from our parents one time. We're born again by the Spirit
of God one time. This is a must. Our Lord said
you must be born again. That which is born to flesh is
flesh. That which is born to spirit is spirit. We must be
begotten. This is a quickening and a regenerating work of God.
That happens one time. Regeneration happens one time
when we're brought from death unto life. when we're quickened
from the dead and made to love and believe and bow to Christ.
It's a work of grace alone, translating us out of the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of God, dear son. But there are many times,
God's people, because of the plague of our old sin nature,
that we need a reviving, a refreshing, a renewing of the Holy Spirit
that we may continue to rejoice in him and find sweet rest in
him. Wilt thou not revive us again? And when he does, you know what
happens? That thy people may rejoice in thee. When he revives
us with the gospel, with his truth, with his word, and that's
why it's necessary for God's people to meet together. Every
week, every time there's an opportunity to come and listen and sit into
the gospel. God's people should avail themselves
of this privilege of publicly gathering together and worshiping
the Lord together. And it causes us a reviving and
it causes us a rejoicing. Now look at verse seven. Show us thy mercy. We'll never
see it, we'll never experience it unless he shows it, reveals
it. This showing here is a revelation
of mercy. Show us thy mercy. Turn us again
and show us thy mercy. Oh Lord, there it is again, and
grant us thy salvation. You know, salvation is a grant,
a grant. You young people who apply for
college aid, Sometimes you get grants, don't
you? You know, it's a gift. I mean, you don't have to pay
it back. It's a gift. They give it to you. You know,
salvation, and that's just a very faint picture, salvation is a
grant. That is, it's a gift of God,
not of work, lest any man should boast. God does, because of Christ,
show us mercy. And he does grant us salvation. All of salvation, is of mercy
from first to last. Mercy, mercy. That is God not
giving me what I do deserve. All of salvation is mercy. Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us. All of salvation from first to
last is of God's mercy. Sovereign mercy he said I will
have mercy on whom I will but nonetheless it's of the Lord's
mercies that were not consumed Show us thy mercy He tells us
in Hebrew chapter 4 to come boldly under the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy Not earn it, but obtain it find grace
to help in time of need I'm gonna take my place before God as a
mercy beggar and Seek mercy where it's found in Christ. Show us thy mercy, O Lord. Remember
what the beggar cried in the temple, God, be merciful to me.
God, be merciful. And they say that word there,
merciful, is the same word as we read propitiation. God, be
my propitiation. Be my mercy seat. Be my atonement
for sin. Be my covering for sin. Show
us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Salvation's
a gift of God. grant us salvation. Salvations
of the Lord, in verse 4 it says, O God of our salvation, grantest
I salvation. And then it says, verse 9, surely
His salvation is near His people. And that leads us to this conclusion,
doesn't it? Salvations of the Lord. He purposed
it. He purposed it. He planned it.
He purchased it with his own blood, and he applies it to his
covenant people. We are to sit still and behold
the salvations of the Lord. None of us are deserving or worthy
of his salvation, but we rejoice that Christ is pleased to be
called the friend of sinners. He saves sinners, sinners. Look at verse eight, I will hear, what God the Lord will speak.
For he will speak peace unto his people. There's his people
again. His people are his saints. His people have been set apart,
that's what the word sanctified means, they have been set apart
in that covenant of grace and made holy in Christ Jesus. He will speak peace unto His
people. He's made them saints. And because
He speaks to them in peace, and because of they are made saints
and sanctified in Christ Jesus, they will not turn again to folly.
But let them not turn again into folly and foolishness. Tell you
what the Lord uses to revive us and cause us to rejoice in
Him, and how the Lord shows us His mercy and tells us about
the grant of His salvation. Look what it says in verse 8,
I will hear what God the Lord will speak. How do we know anything
about that? Through His Word. His Word. God the Holy Spirit will take
the things of Christ, His Word, and show them unto us. I will
hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace unto
His people. What a blessing we have, to have
God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, eternal Word of Truth. He said
heaven and earth is going to pass away, but my Word will never
pass away. We have His Word in our hand. His Word, His Truth, is the foundation
of faith, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of Truth. His Word is a source of all comfort, says in First
Thessalonians, comfort one another with these words. His Word is
a means of growth, we desire the sincere milk of the Word
that we might grow thereby. His Word is a revelation of peace,
He will speak peace. unto His people. Being justified
by faith we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace unto His people. And the Lord has designed His
Word to keep us from turning to folly and foolishness again. The Lord has designed His Word
to keep us focused on Christ. looking unto Him who's the author
and finisher of our faith. And looking to Him and listening
to Him will keep us from turning again to self-righteousness and
foolishness and unbelief. Now, verse nine, surely His salvation
is near them that fear Him. It's His salvation. Who are those
that fear Him? have a reverential awe and respect,
a holy awe and respect. Those who fear him, you know
who fear him? Those who believe him. Holy and
reverent is thy name, that glory may dwell in us. glory may dwell
in us. Those who have experienced the
salvation of God through the mercy of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ have a high and holy reverential fear of Him. They quickly and
readily, openly acknowledge that all they have, know, and are
by His grace alone. And with glory in Him alone. And we say with the Apostle Paul,
God forbid that we should glory in any other. Now look at this
meeting. What a meeting, verse 10. All
the attributes of God are marshaled together in the accomplishment
of our salvation. Mercy and truth, they come together. Righteousness and peace, they
kiss each other. All the divine attributes of
God in the accomplishment of our salvation meet in the blessed
person of our Savior. You remember the verse from Colossians
chapter one, all the fullness of God, the Godhead bodily, all
the fullness of God dwells in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord himself is called. mercy. He's the sure mercies of David.
The Lord Himself is called truth. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. The Lord Himself is called righteousness. He's the Lord our righteousness.
The Lord Himself is called, He is our peace with God. In the accomplishment of our
salvation, all the character of God is honored. Now listen
to this carefully. Mercy would set us free and inclines
to pardon. Mercy is one of the attributes
of God. Arthur Pink has a very good book if you want to read
about the attributes of God. That's the title of the book,
Attributes of God. Most of you have read it. You
can acquire a copy on the internet. Mercy would set us free and incline
to pardon, but truth must stand because his righteous justice
has a claim on the guilty. How's that going to be reconciled? Mercy said, let him go. Justice
said, wait a minute, they're guilty. Righteousness speaks
up and says, now the debt has to be paid. But peace says, The
Lord Jesus Christ made complete satisfaction. Mercy is honored. Righteousness is satisfied. Truth is exalted. And the Lord
Jesus Christ pays all our debt. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Peace by the cross, Christ crucifies,
satisfies every demand, every claim of God's law and justice.
He made peace for us with his own blood, didn't he? You know,
most people Religious people are ignorant of these things.
Ignorant of these things. And yet it's the basic core center
of the gospel. How God can be holy and just
and yet justify the ungodly and not compromise his holy character. And the only way that can be
is in Christ and him crucified. Look at verse 11. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. The Lord
Jesus Christ is truth personified, isn't he? He sprang out of the
earth in his incarnation, but was made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law, and he sprang
out of the earth. in his glorious resurrection,
didn't he? Delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. He sprang out of the earth and
righteousness looked down and said, I'm well
pleased with my son. Yea, verse 12, the Lord will
give that which is good. You know, everything he gives
is good. There's none good but God. And
when He gives that which is good, there's going to be an increase.
There's going to be a bumper crop. Every good gift and every
perfect gift comes from above. The Lord will increase that which
He has given. The Lord will increase to that
which He has given. This is the fruit of the gospel.
There will be an abundant harvest of grace upon all the elect of
God. None will perish for whom Christ
died. Now verse 13, here's an encouragement. Righteousness shall go before
him and this is righteousness personified. You see he sprang
out of the earth. He dwelt among men for forty
days in the body of a glorified man, the God-man. And after 40 days he ascended
to glory. As our forerunner, he enters
in and occupies the throne of God for his people. And we being one with him, when
he died, we died. When he came out of the tomb,
we came out with him. When he ascended, we ascended
in him. And when he sat down, we sat
down in him. Righteousness shall go before
God Almighty, before Him, and shall set us, set us, His people,
in the way of His steps." You see, we're accepted in the Beloved. Now listen to this. Our forerunner,
Christ, our righteousness, had entered in, and He has set us
in the way of His steps. in the way of His steps are absolute
obedience, absolute righteousness. Believers are guaranteed, and
I'll go further, even entitled to an inheritance in God's presence
because Christ has entered in and occupies the throne for us
and we are one with Him. Righteousness shall go before
him and shall set us in the way of his step. As he is, so are
we in this world right now in Christ.