I'm 135 this evening. I'm taking
the title for the message from verse 6. And verse 6 will serve
as our main theme of the message this evening. Look at verse 6
again. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
or whatever pleases the Lord, His pleasure, His purpose, that's
exactly what He does. He does so because He is the
absolute sovereign over all things. Whatsoever the Lord please, that's
what He does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and everywhere
else, all deep places. He always has been sovereign,
always will be the absolute sovereign everywhere and over all things,
over all aspects. Whatsoever the Lord please that's
the title of the message now. I want us to consider from this
scripture this evening What the Lord our God is pleased to do
for us through the Lord Jesus Christ Who is God our Savior
now the Word of God gives us five distinct things that it
pleases the Lord to do and Now this psalm is much like Psalm
115, where the Lord draws a very stark and sharp contrast between
a true and living God who works all things, everything, after
the counsel of His own will. He said, I've purposed it, I've
spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I will do it. He works all things
after the counsel of His own will decree. And the contrast
is to the mere idols of men that are nothing but dead, useless,
the imagination of vain men, and the idols and gods of men
bring nothing but false hope, nothing but a refuge of lies
unto sinners. Look what it says over here in
verse 18 of psalm 135 they that make them that is impotent idols
golden calves They that make them are like unto them So was
everyone that trusted him then if you trust an impotent God
who wants to and can't You don't have salvation if you trust the
Christ who tries to save and can't You don't have Salvation
you're not trusting the Christ of God to be occupied with right
thoughts about God and That's as he's revealed in the scripture
And that's the only place where he gives us any information as
to who he is To be occupied with right thoughts about God as he's
revealed in scripture to the believer it will increase our
faith and It will encourage our hope. We have a good hope through
grace. It will inspire our love for
Him and motivate us to serve Him. The way to have strong and
true faith is to trust the true and living and the Almighty God. That's so, isn't it? As He reveals
Himself in the Word of God. I like what it says of Abraham
in Romans chapter 4. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that all that God has promised,
He's able. He's able to save, able to keep,
able to do all things according to His own purpose. All that He promised He's able
to perform, able to do. That makes a good study just
to look that word up. God is able. Able to save, able
to keep, able to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus. God
is able in all things. Now let's read verse 1 and 2
and then we'll work our way down to verse 6. Verse 1 and 2. It says repeatedly in this psalm
to bless the Lord and to praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name. His name
is wonderful. Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father. His name is pleasant. His name
endureth forever. Praise the name of the Lord.
Oh, you servants. Servants of the Lord. What a
blessed title that God calls His people servants. Servants
of the Lord. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter
1 called himself the servant of the Lord. Servant of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of
the Lord. Now that's the blessing. The
blessing to stand in the house of the Lord. Remember over in
Psalm 122 where David said, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go unto the house of the Lord. The house of the Lord is
where He has promised where two or three are gathered in His
name, there will I be in the midst. He's promised in the house
of the Lord to meet with His people and to bless His gospel.
There in the house of the Lord we hear the Word of God declared
and preached as it ought to be. Servants and believers are told
to honor God, to bless His name. Isn't that our desire? Isn't
that our desire? To honor Him by believing Him,
by honoring Him, by faith? That's our desire. Not only is
that our desire, but isn't that our delight? I get frustrated
with my own efforts at worship, don't you? Oh, to worship Him
like I ought to, like I should? To honor Him, to glory only in
Him? How many times through the Psalms
have we read, praise the Lord, bless the Lord, I mean, 20, 30,
40, 50 times. I mean, it's all through
the Psalms. Praise ye the Lord. Bless his
name. As David said in Psalm 103, bless
the Lord, O my soul, with all that is within me. Bless his
holy name. Now, think about this. You can't overdo that. You can't
give him too much honor, too much glory. You can't worship
Him too often. You can't bow to Him too often
and reverence His holy name or glory in Him too often, too much. Give Him too much honor and glory.
I've often said, I'd like to be guilty of such with you. You
can't overdo this. Now, it's not this silly thing
you see going on in religion today, The idols of men are declared. It's not that silly, fleshly,
emotional thing. Worship goes on in the heart
before God Almighty. When Hannah went to the temple
to pray, she didn't even utter any words. God heard what she
said and wrote it down. They thought she was kind of
strange because her mouth was moving, but they didn't hear
her speak a word. God knew what she was saying,
and he recorded that prayer there in 1 Samuel chapter 2. Now, in
verse 3, 4, and 5, we see at least four reasons why we should praise the Lord. Verse
3, 4, and 5. Praise the Lord, for the Lord
is good. Sing praises unto His name, for His name is pleasant. Verse 4. for the Lord hath chosen
Jacob unto himself remember Jacob have I loved Esau have I hated
and Israel for his peculiar treasure Jacob was made a prince of God
by the transforming regenerating power of God he turned Jacob
thy worm into a prince of God Israel the Lord hath chosen he
chose Jacob passed by Esau You know, Esau was the mighty hunter,
the big, strong, burly character. Jacob was the mama's boy, the
wimp. God loved Jacob and passed by
Esau. For the Lord had chosen Jacob
unto himself. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed in Israel. He's
made us prince and kings unto our God, and His people are His
purchased treasure. Peculiar treasure. Purchased
treasure, it says in 1 Peter 2, 9. Well, I know that the Lord
is great, that our Lord is above all, all gods, all gods. Now, four reasons that we should
praise the Lord, and believers, Again, that's that's our delight
and that's our desire. That's what we want to do. That's
why we're here tonight Praise the Lord first of all for the
Lord is good. The Lord is good Because the
Lord is good. There is none good No, not one
But our gracious and holy God everything about him is good
everything about him is good all that he does is good. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? God alone is the author and source
of all goodness. All that he does is in wisdom
and power and goodness. He does absolutely right. Absolutely good. Never makes
a mistake. Never does anything wrong. The
Lord is good. He is good. He is good. Praise His name for the Lord
is good. He's good to His people. Secondly,
because His name, His character, His character, His name, it is
pleasant. His name is pleasant. His name
is pleasant. That word means pleasant. That
word means sweet. That word means delightful. To you who believe the Lord Jesus
Christ, His name, that God has given Him a name which is above
every name, at that name every knee will bow and every tongue
will confess that He's Lord. His name, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God our Savior, to you who believe His name is sweet. Okay, pleasant. He is altogether
lovely. His person is pleasant. Everything about Him is most
pleasant. His character is sweet. He is
our great high priest who intercedes for us. His character is sweet. God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners. We praise Him because of who
He is. His name is Pleasant, Wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Look at verse 4. We praise His
name because the Lord had chosen, the Lord had chosen us unto salvation. He has chosen sons of Jacob,
scoundrels, cheats. Turn back over here to Psalm
65. The Lord hath chosen a people unto salvation. He will have
mercy on whom he will have mercy. He saves according to his sovereign
will and passes by others according to his own pleasure. But blessed
is the man, Psalm 65, blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen and causes to approach
unto thee. that he may dwell in thy courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple. Blessed is that man whom God
has set his everlasting, eternal love upon him and will not let
him go. Had the Lord not chosen us in
that eternal covenant of grace, we never would have believed
the gospel. I would still be yet today in the grips and in
the teeth of works religion, in the bondage of my sin, had
not the Lord chosen me in that eternal covenant of grace and
in the fullness of time delivered me by His power." Our Lord said
to His disciples in John 15, we're going to run into this
eventually in our study, in John 15, the Lord said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you and ordained you. See the whole Salvation
is dependent upon and determined by him not us By him it pleased the Lord To
call out his people and we praise him because he has chosen us.
He has chosen us We say with the Apostle Paul We're bound
to give thanks to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord
because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation Fourthly
We delight to praise the Lord and bless His name because it
says down there in verse 5, because the word therefore can be rendered
because I know that the Lord is great. He's great. How great is He? He's above all. You take all
the gods of the heathen All the gods of them, Amorite, Malachite,
Jebusite, Mormons, the Catholics, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the
Baptists, the Methodists, the rest of them, all the idols of
men, the Lord our God is great and He's above all gods. He's above all things. There's
none as high as the Lord. Turn over here to Psalm 145. Great is the Lord. Psalm 145,
look at verse 3. How great is the Lord? Beyond description. Look what
it says. Psalm 145, verse 3. Great is
the Lord, and greatly to be prayed, and of His greatness. Unsearchable. Unsearchable. We can't search
it out. Turn to Psalm 147, verse 5. great is our Lord and of great
power. His understanding and His power,
His wisdom is infinite, infinite greatness. He is our great Savior who gives
us so great salvation. You know everything about Him
is great. He's our great Redeemer. who obtained for us eternal life.
He's our great Mediator and Advocate. We have an Advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous. He ever lives to intercede for
us. He's the one Mediator. We desire
to praise Him for who the Lord our God is. It says in Psalm
71, 19, there's none like Him. He's great. He's great. Well, just how great is He? Look
at verse 6 now. And here we get to our text,
verse 6. Just how great is our God? Well, He's great in creation.
Whatsoever the Lord please, that's what He does in heaven and earth,
seas, and all deep places. He's great in creation, isn't
He? Created all things by the word of His power. He upholds
and sustains all things by the word of His power. He's great in creation, the order
of creation. I was watching that show, the
History Channel, they were talking about the Mayans down in Yucatan
where Brother Cody and Brother Walter had been missionaries
down there. Brother Walter had been there 40 years. And they
talk about those Mayans, how they were star watchers and astrologers
and how they were able to watch those stars and map out those
stars, and the order, and the orbit, and the movement of those
stars were exact, year after year after year. Did those things
just happen? Billions and billions of the
stars that are out there through all the galaxies of the universe,
God's not in the universe, the universe is in Him. He, all things
are held by His power. In Him, all things consist. God's the order of creation.
He's great in creation. He's great in providence. In
providence, those things that unfold in time. God is great
in providence. Great in providence. I often
quote that scripture in Romans 11. where it says, all things
are of God for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things
to whom be glory and all things working together for good to
them who love God. To them who love God, all things
are working together for good. He's great in creation. He's
great in providence, in providence. That which He has decreed from
eternity unfold exactly in time as it pleases Him. And He's great
in salvation. He's our great Savior. He's our
great God and Savior. This verse tells us that there's
no limit to His sovereignty. No limit to His greatness. No restrictions upon Him. or exceptions to his sovereign
absolute throne. David, turn back over to Psalm
115. And this is similar to what's
said here in Psalm 115, where verse one says in Psalm 115,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. Give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? I get the sense that they're
asking, David, David, we don't see your God. Our God's over
here in the temple. We know where he is. We shine
his shoes every day. We buff his head, shine him up,
make him presentable. Where's your God, David? Our
God is in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he had pleased. whatsoever the Lord please that
did he in heaven earth seas and all deep places our great God
and Savior does as he pleases when he pleases with whom he
pleases and he is accountable to no one but himself and his
own eternal decree he works his sovereign will and
purpose everywhere Heaven, earth, sea, all places. A God whose
purpose is frustrated, whose will is restricted by the will
of man, whose decrees are altered by different events, is no God
at all. Not worthy of worship. Not worthy
of worship. You know, in Psalm 115 and this
Psalm, God mocks the idols of men. They have eyes, though,
and they can't see. I have ears, but they don't hear. I have hands, but they're useless. He mocks them. He mocks them. And we, as well, mock those who
talk about a God who wants to and can't, who's tried and failed.
That's not God at all. Not the God of the Bible. The
God of the Bible is great. It says in this text, whatsoever
He is pleased to do, that's exactly what He does. Now, here's the
question, and I've given this to you before, although you may
not remember, I preached this message back
in 1999. Now surely you remember that. And
I preached it again in 1995. So surely you remember it. But
it's worth repeating, is it not? Okay, five things the Word of
God says that the Lord is pleased to do. Five things. First of
all, it says in 1 Samuel 12.22. Verse Samuel 12, 22. It pleased
the Lord to make you His people. Pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Now here's the Scripture verse. For the Lord our God will
not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because it
has pleased the Lord to make you His people. He hid these
things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babe.
even so father for so it seemed good in his sight." It pleased
the Lord to make you his people. The Lord our God in sovereign
mercy has chosen a multitude of guilty sinners out of Adam's
fallen race from the beginning from all eternity and determined
to save them in Christ Jesus. Now, theologians have come up with
a term But the Bible term is simply
God's electing grace, election. The theologians call it unconditional
election. That is, God doesn't choose us
upon a condition found in us. His choice is according to His
own sovereign will, His own sovereign purpose. And we've read this
many times in Ephesians chapter 1. He blessed us according as
He had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
And then we read John chapter 6 verse 37 where it says, All
that the Father giveth to me. Where did He get those people?
The Father gave Him a people. All that the Father had given
to me, they will come to me. For a man to read this book we
call God's book and deny God's electing grace How can that be? He's blind. He's blind. Because election is everywhere
in God's Word. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated, that the purpose of God according to what election
might stand. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
It pleased the Lord to make you His covenant people. Secondly,
in Isaiah 53 10 it says, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him in our
room and in our stead. It pleased the Lord our God to
send our Savior in the fullness of time to put away the sin of
those chosen people. by the sacrifice of himself.
It pleased God to bruise Christ in our room and in our state. We call that substitution. We
call that satisfaction. It wasn't what wicked men did
at Calvary. That's not our hope. It's what
God was doing at the cross. That's our hope. God planned
the cross. He presided over the cross. Pilate thought he was
in charge. Remember what he said, don't
you know I have power to release you and power or power to crucify
you? And the Lord said, you don't
have any power over me. God planned the cross, presided
over the cross, but most importantly, he participated in afflicting
God, dear son, with the sword of his justice. God made Him
to be sin for us. Men could never do that. Men
could never lay upon Him the iniquity of His covenant people.
Men couldn't do that. It's what God was doing at the
cross. That's our hope. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him in our room and in our stead. The just dying for the unjust
that He might bring us unto God. That was God's pleasure. Now
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was not universal and general. It wasn't a shotgun approach.
It wasn't a shotgun atonement. You get the idea of a shotgun.
It's just kind of scattered. It just kind of hits here and
there. You might hit something. You might not. The atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't a shotgun approach. He took dead
aim. He took dead aim at His covenant
people. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
was not universal and not genuine. It was particular, definite,
and effectual only for the elect. You mean to tell me, preacher,
the Lord Jesus Christ died only for the elect? That's exactly
what this book teaches. To teach otherwise, that he died
for all the sins of all men, and yet some men wind up in hell,
that's a horrible reflection upon the character of God. You
mean he died for sinners, for all men everywhere without exception,
and yet some perish? How can that be? That cannot
be. There's none in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ dies. He said, of all you have given
me, we're going to see this Sunday, of all that you have given me,
I've not lost one, but I'll raise him up at the last day. He can't
lose His covenant people. The Lord Jesus Christ paid their
sin debt. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save His people from their sin. He died for the elect. I don't
know why that's... I know that's not offensive to
believers. They glory in that. Those who hate God, hate His
atonement. Mark that down. Those who hate
the way of grace hate the God of all grace. That's the problem. Well, that's not fair. It pleased the Lord to save His
covenant people according to His own purpose and grace, not
our will. Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but God that shows mercy. Thirdly, it
pleased the Lord our God that in the fullness, it pleased the
Lord our God that all fullness should dwell in Christ Jesus. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18
it pleased the Lord that in him should all fullness dwell it
pleased the Lord that in him in the Lord Jesus Christ in the
God-man mediator should all fullness dwell he is totally and fully
absolutely God all fullness dwells in him and here's the blessed
part of that to the believer In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ Jesus we stand complete. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace." Aren't you glad He's full? Grace upon grace. Our God supplies all our needs
according to His riches through Christ Jesus. His riches in glory
through Christ Jesus. It pleased God to make you His
people. It pleased God to bruise the
Lord Jesus Christ in our stead. It pleased God that in Christ
Jesus should all the fullness of salvation dwell now and forever. Fourthly, it pleased the Lord our God through
the preaching of the gospel to call out His elect. His sheep
will hear His voice and will follow Him. Now here's a scripture
verse. First Corinthians chapter 1 verse
21. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to call out His covenant people. Never discount
the means that God has ordained to call out His people. Now I
wouldn't make much of any preacher, any servant, he just a, we have
this treasure in an earthen vessel. I would not make much of any
instrument But I'd make much of the means that God has chosen.
It pleased God through the preaching of the gospel to call out His
covenant people. His sheep will hear His voice,
and His sheep will follow Him. You remember that verse? I think
I read it Sunday. I've read it often. Brethren,
beloved, He said, Do you know your election of God? How do
we know anything about our election of God? Our calling. because
the word came to you not in word only the gospel came into you
not in word only but also in power and the Holy Spirit with
much assurance that you received the word of God let's never dismiss
and that's one of the big big problems in religious circles
today they've relegated preaching to the scrap heap it's now all
about entertainment how about Marriage counseling, financial
counseling. Well, let's just get together
and have a financial counseling. Well, go to your banker if you
want financial help. Find somebody telling the truth
about God, about sin, about salvation, and camp under that man's ministry. God will bless the preaching
of the gospel. Our ministry here is not about entertaining folks.
It's not about soup kitchen. It's about preaching. This is
a preaching ministry. It's a teaching ministry. You
know, the Apostle Paul, right before he is executed for the
gospel, when he writes back to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter
4, the last chapter, he says these words to the young preacher,
I charge you before God. Preach the Word. Be in season,
out of season, it doesn't matter. It's always seasonable to preach
the Word. At a funeral, what should we
do? Preach the Gospel. At the graduation service, if
the preacher's got an opportunity to stand before that graduating
class, what's he to do? Preach the Gospel. That's right. I have a friend
of mine, Rupert Reibenbach, and he was invited to preach to a
graduating class in his hometown, and he preached to point it at
a man who wants to die, and after that, judgment! Judgment's coming! Needless to say, they didn't
invite him back. Fifthly, here's the fifth thing.
It pleases the Lord to call out His people when it pleases Him. And that's exactly what reason
I read there in Galatians chapter 1. Here is a very religious man,
Saul of Tarsus, Hebrew of Hebrews, read his resume in Philippians
chapter 3, zealous according to the tradition of the fathers,
a Pharisee, He went so far as to say, concerning the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, I count all but loss for Christ, that I might win him.
Matter of fact, he called all his religious past doing, he
called it nothing but dung, garbage, rubbish. Away with it. Away with
it. When will a sinner be saved?
But when it please God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace, He called me by His grace to reveal His
Son in me, that I might preach Him." Do you know why preachers
don't preach the gospel? They don't know Him. They don't
know Him. When Isaiah saw Him, he spake
of His glory. to reveal His Son in me, that
I might preach Him." You can't tell what you don't know. Any
more you can come back, the more you haven't been. Those who know Him, preach Him
as the sovereign Christ of God. Whatsoever the Lord pleases,
that's what He does. When will a sinner be saved?
When it pleases God. Not when we walk an aisle, not
when we turn over a new leaf, not when we make a decision,
not when we give our permission. When it pleases God. Salvation
is by the free and sovereign grace of God, not the will of
man. I've said this before and I'll
say it again. It takes God to reveal God. Now people pride themselves in
religion about being soul winners. How many souls have you won to
the Lord, brother? Nearly one. Not one. You mean to tell me you've been
preaching the gospel for 30 years and you've not won one soul to
the Lord? That's exactly right. But I know one who has. He's
the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Preachers, God the Holy Spirit. has won many souls to the Lord.
You see, it takes God to reveal God. God who had begun a good work
in you, He will perform it. He will perfect it. Thanks be
unto our great God who has pleaded to save sinners in Christ. He
is the unspeakable gift of God. He came to save sinners. He came
to save sinners. Paul said, I'm the chief one.