Well, this evening we have a
study in Psalm 116. Psalm 116, I'm entitling the
message from this psalm, from verse five, where it says, gracious
is the Lord. Our Lord is gracious. Every attribute
of his character, God is gracious. We're not left in the dark. about
the God of Holy Scripture. He's not who we think He is.
He's who He is, as revealed in the Word of God. He's not left
us in ignorance. He's given us His Word that describes
His character. God who is God, absolute, eternal,
everlasting, sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. He plainly
describes himself in the word of God. God is holy. The Lord our God reigns. You
remember Isaiah six, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. That's one word that describes
the character of God. If you could sum it up in one
word, what one word would you use? God is holy. He's holy. His love? Holy love. His mercy? It's holy mercy. His grace? It's holy grace. Has to be because God is holy. God is love. God is light. God is truth. God is long-suffering. and God is merciful. He is merciful and gracious. Psalm 117 verse two, for his
merciful kindness is great toward us and the truth of the Lord
endureth forever. His mercy is not temporary mercy. Look over here at Psalm 136.
You remember this Psalm when we studied Psalm 136? Verse one,
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endures
forever. O give thanks unto the God of
gods, for his mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of
lords, for his mercy endures forever. To him who alone doeth
great wonders, for his mercy endures forever. I'll let you
read the rest of that Psalm, but that's repeated all the way
through this Psalm. Oh, give thanks, verse 26 of
Psalm 136. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven for his mercy. His mercy endures forever. Aren't
you glad? We read in Micah 7, 18, that
God delights to show mercy. I'm gonna take my place as a
guilty sinner before his throne because it's called a throne
of mercy. I'm gonna come before God as
a mercy beggar and pray, God have mercy on me, the sinner. Oh, seven words. Just pray that
over and over and over and over and over again, you can't exhaust
it. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. God is sovereign in his
mercy. Exodus 33, God said, I will have
mercy upon whom I will have mercy. But let us not forget, God will
have mercy. He's sovereign, but he must show
mercy. Why? Why must he show mercy? because he's merciful. He is
merciful. He is just, yes. He is holy,
yes. But our God is merciful to his
covenant people. Now this Psalm has no title,
subtitle, it just says Psalm 116. This Psalm has no name put
to it, sometimes it says the Psalm of David, sometimes the
Psalm of Moses, or others. This Psalm has no title, this
Psalm has no name put to it, but most think that David penned
the words here, but we can be confident of this. These recorded
words are the words given by God TO HIS PEOPLE THROUGH HIS
PROPHET. WE READ THIS PSALM AND ALL THE
WORD OF GOD. WE READ IT AS IT IS IN TRUTH
THE WORD OF GOD. WE HEAR IT AS SUCH. WE RECEIVE
THE WORD OF GOD AS IT IS IN TRUTH THE WORD OF GOD. WE BELIEVE IT,
BOW TO IT, SUBMIT TO THE WORD OF GOD. YOU KNOW WHY? ALL SCRIPTURE
IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD. IT'S GOOD FOR US TO HEAR IT.
BETTER FOR US TO HEAR IT AND RECEIVE IT, THE BEST TO HEAR
IT, RECEIVE IT, BELIEVE IT, AND THE GREATEST TO BOW AND SUBMIT
UNTO IT. GOD IS GOD. I believe, therefore have I spoken
and was greatly afflicted. That's a well-known verse. It's
recorded and repeated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4, but also
verse 15. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. We could bring a whole message
on that one verse or those two verses. But let's look at the
whole psalm. AND CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE
LORD AND ASK HIM TO BE OUR TEACHER. ONE THING I'VE NOTICED ABOUT
THIS PSALM WHEN I READ IT AND RE-READ IT, HOW MANY TIMES IT'S
REPEATED, ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR TIMES WHERE IT SAYS, I WILL CALL,
I WILL CALL, I WILL CALL, THEREFORE WILL I CALL UPON THE NAME OF
THE LORD. VERSE 4, THEN I CALLED UPON THE
NAME OF THE LORD. VERSE 13, AGAIN, I WILL TAKE
THE CUP OF SALVATION AND CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. AND
AGAIN, VERSE 17, THEY KEEP SAYING THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, I'M
GONNA CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. NOW, WHAT IS IT TO CALL
UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IT IS, IT'S
TO WORSHIP HIM. WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN
TRUTH. WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE
SAVED." THOSE WHO WORSHIP HIM DO SO BECAUSE GOD HAS DONE SOMETHING
IN THEIR HEART. NOW, LET'S NOTICE VERSE 1 AND
VERSE 2, AND I'LL MOVE DOWN THROUGH HERE WITH SOME SPEED. David, if he's a writer, David
was a man after God's own heart, and he says, I love the Lord. Now, the only reason any sinner
can say that I love the Lord, we love him, remember the scripture,
we love him because he first loved us by nature. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. By nature, the carnal man does
not love the true and living God. If any man says that, oh,
I love the Lord, it's because God's done something in our heart.
God's given us that love for him in our heart. And he says
here, I love the Lord because he heard my cry, he's heard my
voice, and he's heard my prayer. LOVE THE LORD, VERSE 2, BECAUSE
HE HATH INCLINED HIS EAR, HE HEARD MY CRY. THEREFORE WILL
I CALL UPON HIM AS LONG AS I LIVE. IF YOU KNEW YOU HAD THE EAR OF
GOD, THE ATTENTION OF GOD, THE EYE OF GOD UPON YOU, WOULDN'T
YOU CALL UPON THE LORD FOR ALL SALVATION, PARDON AND FORGIVENESS? SURELY YOU WOULD. I LOVE THE
LORD. DO YOU REMEMBER THE RISEN LORD
ASKED PETER THAT DAY, PETER, DO YOU LOVE ME? PETER SAID, YES,
LORD. YES, LORD. YOU KNOW. YOU KNOW
THAT I DO LOVE THEE. NOW, ADMITTEDLY, I HAVE TO ADMIT
THIS. DO I LOVE THE LORD LIKE I SHOULD?
No, I don't. Well, do I love the Lord like
I will one day? No, I don't. But I can say in
my heart sincerely before him, I do love the Lord. I don't care too much for that
song that goes, oh, how I love Jesus. I'd rather sing that song,
oh, how he loves me. Now, we do love the Lord. but not like we ought to, not
like we should, not like we will one day. One day we'll love him
without any sin. We'll love him perfectly. But
right now I have this old flesh that I drag around that's still
in enmity against God. We love him because he first
loved us, because he has heard the cry of our heart. Therefore,
I will call upon him as long as I live. In this life as a
believer, in the morning when we get up, before we get up,
we call upon the name of the Lord. All through the day, what
are we doing? We're calling upon the name of
the Lord. And it's not, that we make a conscious effort, that
we find some place to bow the knee, or bow the head, or try
to draw the attention of men, but all through the day, the
believer's heart's in an attitude of prayer, of thanksgiving, of
the awareness of his greatness, his majesty, and giving thanks
unto the Lord. I'll call upon him as long as
I live. I HAVE ANY BREATH IN MY BEING,
I'M GOING TO CALL UPON HIM. NOW, LOOK AT VERSE 3 AND 4. THE SORROWS OF DEATH COMPASSED
ME, AND THE PAINS OF HELL, IT SAYS HERE, BUT THE WORD CAN BE
RENDERED GRAVE, GOT HOLD UPON ME, OR FOUND ME, AND I FOUND. SORROWS OF DEATH FOUND THE PAINS
OF THIS LIFE, AND I FOUND TROUBLE AND SORROW. THEN CALLED I UPON
THE NAME OF THE LORD, O LORD, I BESEECH THEE, DELIVER MY SOUL. YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT TROUBLE?
YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HEARTACHE? YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PAIN
AND SORROW, THE PAINS OF DEATH? Being a believer does not exempt
us from the reality of the trials in this flesh. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man mediator, was called the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. Our Lord said this in John 16. He said, these words have I spoken
unto you that in me you might have peace. In this world you
shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome." You know, the trials that God sends our way, He calls
them precious trials. They're precious trials. They
don't work against us, they work for us. Our light affliction
that He sends our way, they're for our good and they're for
His glory. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. The trials and sorrows we have
in this life do not produce faith, they reveal whether faith is
real or whether it's not. Then, oh, I found trouble. I found sorrow. I found death. It's touched all of our families,
hasn't it? How many loved ones have you
buried? I buried my mom, buried my dad. You've experienced the same thing.
Husbands, wives, children. The sorrows of death. pains of
the grave, I found trouble and sorrow. What do we do when we
have these troubles, sorrow and heartache? What do we do? Here's
what the believer does. Then I called upon the name of
the Lord, and I prayed, oh Lord, I beg thee, I beg thee, help
me, deliver my soul, for I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble, deliver
my soul. Now watch this. Gracious is the Lord. He's gracious. He is righteous. Yeah, our God
is, he's merciful. He's merciful. David found the
Lord to be true to his word. I love that scripture. I've been
looking at it so much lately, 1 Peter 5, 10. He's a God of
all grace. The God of all grace who had
called us to eternal glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a
father of mercy, the God of all comfort. He's a God of all grace. All grace originates with Him.
The Lord is gracious. He saves us by His grace, justified
freely by His grace. The Lord is gracious, long-suffering. The Lord is righteous. He is
made to the believer righteousness. The Lord is our righteousness. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without work. He is the Lord our righteousness. We're not going about to establish
a righteousness by our morality. I'm all in on morality. But my
morality is not my righteousness. My morality is filthy rags in
God's sight. Christ is our righteousness,
you see that? He is the Lord, our righteousness. God is gracious, he is righteous,
and thank God, it says there, our God is merciful. HE DELIKES TO SHOW MERCY. OUR GOD IS MERCIFUL. JEREMIAH
PUTS IT THIS WAY IN LAMENTATION 3, IT IS OF THE LORD'S MERCIES
THAT WE ARE NOT CONSUMED, BECAUSE HIS COMPASSION, HIS COMPASSION,
THEY FAIL NOT, THEY'RE NEW EVERY MORNING. The Lord is merciful,
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he saved us. Mercy, mercy, I need his mercy
every day. Every morning, our God is merciful.
Deliver my soul, O Lord. Oh, I'm thankful. Gracious is
the Lord, and righteous is our Lord. THEY ARE GOD, HE IS MERCIFUL. LOOK AT VERSE 6, THE LORD, THE
LORD NOW, THAT'S JEHOVAH, GOD MY SAVIOR, THE LORD PRESERVETH
THE SIMPLE. Y'ALL LOOK THAT WORD UP, SIMPLE.
YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS? SILLY. SILLY. THE LORD PRESERVETH SILLY SIMPLE
SINNERS. HE HID THESE THINGS FROM THE
WISE AND PRUDENT AND REVEALED THEM UNTO SILLY SIMPLE SINNERS. THE LORD PRESERVETH THE SIMPLE. I WAS BROUGHT LOW. Well, that's
conviction of sin. That's where it brings us down
low. That's good. That's a good place to be. You
know why? The Lord deny them of a broken heart, save us such
as be of a contrite spirit. The Lord preserveth. It's simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. Isn't it nice to have a friend
or a neighbor you can count on. You ever get in a hard place
when you need some help, a helping hand, you just pick up the phone
or holler at your neighbor, hey, help! That's a good thing, isn't
it? Think about this. In every heartache,
trouble, and sorrow we have, the Lord is our help. He's our strength, and He's nearby
to help. Look back here at Psalm 46. You
remember this Psalm? Psalm 46, verse one. God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Trouble, trouble. The Lord preserved
me. WERE KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD
THROUGH FAITH, AND THE LORD HELPED ME. REMEMBER THIS PROMISE? HE SAID, COME BOLDLY UNTO THE
THRONE OF GRACE, THAT YOU MAY OBTAIN MERCY AND FIND GRACE TO
HELP IN TIME OF NEED. ISN'T THAT A PRECIOUS PROMISE? LOOK AT VERSE 7, RETURN UNTO
THY REST, O my soul, for thou hast dealt bountifully, graciously
with me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. Now, where's our rest? Our rest
is not in a place. Our rest is in a person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. You remember what he said? He
said, come unto me, all you who are laboring and heavy laden.
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest for your
soul. Rest, O my soul, for the Lord
hath dealt bountifully with me. A couple Psalms. Well, mainly
this one Psalm. Look back at Psalm 103. Psalm
103. The Lord has dealt bountifully
with me. You remember Psalm 103 verse
one, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless
his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all of his benefits. What kind of benefits does he
have? FORGIVETH ALL THINE INIQUITIES,
WHO REDEEMETH ALL THY DISEASES, WHO REDEEMETH THY LIFE FROM DESTRUCTION,
WHO CROWNED THEE WITH LOVING-KINDNESS AND TENDER MERCY. THE LORD HAS
NOT DEALT WITH US. LOOK AT VERSE 10. He has not
dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquity. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. He's not dealt with us after
our sin. He dealt with our sin and our
substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. The wages of sin is death. THE
GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD. THOU, FOR THY LORD HATH DEALT
BOUNTIFULLY WITH THEE. LOOK AT VERSE 8, FOR THOU HAST
DELIVERED MY SOUL. THOU HAST DELIVERED MY SOUL FROM
DEATH. WHAT DID HE PRAY UP HERE A WHILE
AGO? LORD, I BESEECH THEE, DELIVER MY SOUL. Boy, that prayer was
heard. Thou hast delivered my soul.
Thou hast delivered. And we can look at that word
delivered in the sense of redeemed. He's a deliverer who's redeemed
us from all our sin by his blood atonement. He put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death. Death. What's the cause of death? What's
the cause of death? S-I-N. The wages of sin is death. Thou hast delivered my soul from
my sin, therefore he has delivered us from eternal death and condemnation. There's no condemnation. TO THOSE
WHO ARE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE SAID, I'M HE THAT LIVETH AND
WAS DEAD. BEHOLD, I'M ALIVE FOREVERMORE. AND HE SAID, BECAUSE I LIVE,
YOU SHALL LIVE. IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE
OUR BEING. THOU HAST DELIVERED MY SOUL FROM
DEATH. HOW DID HE DO THAT? HE PUT AWAY
MY SIN. HE DELIVERED MY EYES FROM TEARS. TEARS. One day, we'll cry no
more tears. In heaven's glory, there'll be
no more tears, there'll be no more death, there'll be no more
sorrow. Right now, we're gonna cry a
while. We're gonna shed some tears. But he ultimately had
delivered us from death and from tears because he delivered us
from our sin. And he's delivered my feet from
falling. And Adam, we fell. so far away
from God. Our sin has separated us from
God. Our feet, he delivered us from
falling into eternal condemnation and eternal wrath and judgment
because the Lord Jesus Christ took our sin and took our judgment
and he set us upon a solid rock. We're fastened to the rock. He
preserves us, we're kept by the power of God. Verse nine, he
says, I'll walk now. My walk, my walk. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. I love what it says in Psalm
37. Remember, which says the steps of a righteous man are
ordered of the Lord. I will walk. We walk by faith,
not by sight. AS YOU HAVE THEREFORE RECEIVED
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, SO WALK YE IN HIM." WALK YOU IN HIM. I DON'T TURN BECAUSE YOU'RE FAMILIAR
WITH THIS, BUT LET ME READ THIS TO YOU OVER HERE. I WAS LOOKING
AT THESE SCRIPTURES EARLIER TODAY IN THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS. ALL
THE WAY THROUGH THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS, HE TALKS ABOUT THIS WALK, THIS
WALK, THE WALK THE LORD GIVES US. I, therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you're called, Ephesians 4, verse 1, with all lowliness
and meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
love. And then he talks about this.
Be ye therefore followers of God as your children, and walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us. AND GIVEN HIMSELF FOR
US AS AN OFFERING AND A SACRIFICE UNTO GOD. WALK BEFORE HIM WITH
AN EYE FIXED UPON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH OUR HEARTS SET ON
THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THE THINGS OF THIS EARTH. I WILL BY HIS
GRACE, BY HIS POWER, LIVE AND MOVE AND WALK. THE JUST SHALL
LIVE BY FAITH BEFORE THE LORD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. I often ask people, how you doing? They said, well, I'm still among
the land of the living. And my standard reply is usually
go something along, well, I said, I'm living in the land of the
dying. I'm going to the land of the
living. But I walk before the Lord. IN
THIS LAND OF THE LIVING. THAT'S SALVATION BY HIS GRACE.
THAT'S WHERE WE LIVE. VERSE 10, AND PAUL QUOTES THIS
IN SECOND CORINTHIANS 4, I BELIEVE. I DO BELIEVE. I LOVE THE LORD
AND I CAN SAY I DO BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. And I only believe the
gospel according to the working of His mighty power. I wasn't
smart to figure this thing out. No, I was an ignorant fool, running
from God in absolute rebellion, and He done run me down. Broke
my heart, broke my will. Gave me grace to believe the
gospel. Will only believe according to
the working of His mighty power. Faith is a gift of God. And because,
David says here, I believe, therefore have I spoken. What do we speak? Salvations of the Lord, that's
the message. I believe and therefore have
I spoken. I tell people what God's done
for me. I don't tell folks what I've done for God. I've not done
anything for him to earn salvation. or forgiveness of sin. I believe
the gospel truth, Paul said, quoting this, therefore I speak. Because he has said, when we
speak, we speak his word. Because he has said, so we may
boldly say, the Lord is our helper. Now what's the fruit of boldly
speaking what we believe? The truth of the gospel of God's
sovereign saving grace. I was greatly afflicted. I was
greatly afflicted. Beating the truth of the Lord
Jesus Christ among those who were enemies of God in the gospel
of His grace won't win you any friends. They'll come out out
of the woodwork against you when you take a bold public stand
for saying that salvation of the Lord and that the sinner
contributes absolutely nothing. I believe the truth. I've spoken
the truth. Expect persecution. We've seen that all the way through
the book of Acts, haven't we? They were beaten and jailed and
hounded and hunted and hated. Why? I believe THEREFORE HAVE
I SPOKEN." REMEMBER, WE STUDY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, THEY COMMANDED
THEM, THEY BEAT THEM NOT TO SPEAK OR TEACH ANYMORE IN THE NAME
OF JESUS CHRIST, AND THEY WENT OUT THE NEXT MORNING PUBLICLY
IN THE TEMPLE, PRIVATELY IN EVERY HOUSE, AND THEY CEASED NOT TO
TEACH AND PREACH JESUS CHRIST AS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
LOOK AT VERSE 11, I SAID IN MY HASTE, I BELIEVED GOD'S TRUTH,
AND I SAID Not that he said hastily, but I said quickly, because I
believe the truth of God, all men are sinners. That's what
we speak. All men are liars. What's he
saying there? All men are sinners. Let God
be true and every man a liar. I believe, therefore have I spoken. While we speak, all men have
sinned and come short to the glory of God. There's none righteous,
no, not one. All together, man has bestated
vanity, vanity. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all of his blessings and benefits unto me? Well, boy,
he's given us tremendous blessings. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. I will take, verse 13,
I will take the cup of salvation. HOW CAN WE TAKE IT? BECAUSE IT'S
A FREE GIFT. IT'S A FREE GIFT. I WILL TAKE
THAT WHICH THE LORD GIVES. HE GIVES US ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.
I'LL TAKE IT WITH A HAND OF FAITH AND RECEIVE IT AS A GIFT OF GOD.
AND THEN I'M GOING TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. AS LONG
AS I LIVE, AS LONG AS I HAVE ANY BEING IN THIS BODY, I'M GOING
TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. Now, unto the Lord now, right
now, in the presence of the Lord. What is this? It's a vow of worship. It's a vow of commitment. It's
a vow of serving the Lord out of gratitude and love, motivated
by love. Verse 15, precious, precious
in the sight of the Lord. Now, there's not many things
in the Word of God that are called precious. Faith is called precious. Trials are called precious. You who believe the gospel, he
is precious. We are redeemed with his precious
blood. The redemption of the soul is
precious. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. One reason being they are redeemed
with his precious blood. But also it's an answer to the
Lord's prayer. Father, I will that all those
you've given me be with me where I am that they may behold my
glory. That's precious in the sight
of the Lord. PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE
LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS. WHO ARE HIS SAINTS? EVERY BELIEVER
SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD IS A SAINT, IS A SAINT. THE SAINTS ARE THE SONS OF GOD
BY HIS GRACE. YOU SEE, DEATH FOR THE BELIEVER
IS NOT PUNISHMENT, IT'S GRADUATION. to be absent from his body is
to be present with the Lord. For the believer to live is Christ,
to die is gain. It's gain. And think about this
for a minute. The death of a believer is precious. to the Lord, but just think about
this. How about the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ before the Father? Boy, that was precious, wasn't
it? That was precious. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him, to make his soul an offering for sin.
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Let me just read these
last verses and I'll quit. Oh Lord, truly I'm thy servant,
loving, willing, bondservant of the Lord. I am thy servant,
The son of thy handmaid, thou hast loosed my bonds. We've been
set free in Christ. You should know the truth, and
the truth will set you free. I will offer to the Lord the
sacrifice, oh, not of works, not the sacrifice of a blood
animal, not the sacrifice of any fleshly doing, but rather
the sacrifice of giving thanks to the Lord. Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, in everything give thanks. This is the will
of God. I'll offer to the Lord the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
worship unto the Lord. I will call upon the name of
the Lord. There it is again. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm gonna
call. I'll pay my vow. Again, he repeats
it now in the presence of all his people. In the courts of
the Lord's house, in the midst of Jerusalem. Praise
you, the Lord. Praise Him now and forever. He's
worthy of all honor and glory, blessing and power, both now
and forever.