Psalm 92. Psalm 92. I'm entitling the message from
the words found over the theme of what's said in verse four. Victorious in Christ. Victorious
in Christ. Look at verse four, Psalm 92.
For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work. I will. I will triumph in the
works, I will triumph in the works of thy hands. The believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, where it says in the book of Romans, nay, in all things,
in all things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In all things,
we are more than conquerors. In all things, thanks be unto
God that has given us the victory over sin, over Satan, over death,
over the law. Christ has blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ has won
the victory, has won the battle, and because He is victorious,
So are we. He has won the victory for us. He always causes us, it says
in 2 Corinthians, He always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. Now, it says that this psalm
is a psalm for the Sabbath day. You see that? Psalm 92, the title
of it. This psalm indeed is for the
Sabbath day, for the Lord Jesus Christ is our Sabbath rest. Says in Hebrews 4, let us therefore
labor to enter into that rest. The most difficult thing, let
me rephrase that, the most impossible thing for a sinner to do is to
rest totally in the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation. Apart from His grace, we'll go
about to establish a righteousness of our own. But by His grace,
by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit, where He reveals
Christ unto us as our Sabbath rest, Christ unto us as our righteousness,
redemption, and sanctification, in Him we rest. He is our Sabbath
rest. Christ is our righteousness. Now, look at verse 1. Psalm 92,
it's a good thing. You know what a good thing is?
It's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. It is a good thing
to sing praises unto thy name. His name is most high. God had highly exalted the Lord
Jesus Christ and had given him a name which is above every name,
that at that name every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. One of the evidences we
find here and the character we find here of the believer resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ is that we give thanks. God's people
are thankful people. Everything I have, everything
I know, everything I ever will be is by His sovereign mercy,
by His sovereign love. Oh, it's a good thing. It's a
good thing. It's a right and proper thing
to give thanks unto the Lord. You remember this scripture from
1 Thessalonians? In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Believers
are thankful unto the Lord. And then believers, secondly
in that first verse, they love to sing praises unto the name
of the Most High God. Singing with joy in our heart
Unto the Lord God Almighty. This is the song of redemption. This is a song of grace. Turn
over here to Psalm 98, verse 1. This is that new song. They sung a new song. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive all honor, glory, blessing,
and power. Sing unto the Lord a new song. It's a song of redemption. For
He had done marvelous things. His right hand and His holy arm
has gotten the victory for us. Believers are thankful unto the
Lord. Believers resting in the Lord
are thankful. Believers resting in the Lord
sing praises unto the Lord. He's not just high, He is most
high. Matter of fact, there's none
higher than Him. He is the most high God, the
most sovereign God, the most powerful God, the most holy God. He's the most high in everything. He's high. He's lifted up. He's
exalted. Now, Sing praises unto him, and
be ye thankful. Be ye thankful. And then look
at verse two, and then we'll consider verse two and verse
15 together. Show forth, to show forth, sing
praises to his name, and give thanks to show forth thy loving
kindness. Do it in the morning, do it in
the evening. Thy loving kindness, thy faithfulness
in the morning and in the evening. Look at verse 15 now. To show,
and this word here, to show means to demonstrate, to show forth
that the Lord is upright, that the Lord is righteous. He is
our rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Believers are thankful.
Believers delight to worship and praise the Lord. Believers
love to demonstrate, to tell forth, to show forth, and to
boldly stand out, to manifest in the morning and in the evening
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful for
the gospel of Christ? The gospel of Christ, the gospel
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the power of God
unto salvation. I like what the Apostle said
in Romans 1 just prior to that verse I just quoted. He said,
for as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to
you who are at Rome. Remember what Paul, in his last
words, as he stands in prison, sits in prison on death row,
when he writes back to young Timothy, where he said to him,
preach the word, be instant, be instant, always in season,
out of season, be instant to preach the word, preach Christ,
with all longsuffering and doctrine, preach Christ. Can you overdo
it? Can you preach too much? Can
you preach Him, Christ the Lord Jesus Christ, too much? Can you
give Him too much honor, too much glory, and all salvation?
Can you be thankful too much? Can you praise Him too much?
Can you worship Him too much? Oh no! The Father seeketh such
to worship Him in spirit and in truth. God help us to confess
Him, to preach the gospel, and contend for the faith once delivered
unto the saints. Now, He mentioned, I think, four
things right here in verses 2 and verse 15. Let us stand and manifest
and boldly stand and contend for His loving kindness, for
His pity, for His mercy, that is sovereign mercy, sovereign
grace. Remember David prayed in Psalm
51 have mercy upon me according to that loving kindness according
to that Eternal mercies Lord have mercy upon me according
to your loving kindness The Lord is loving and kind is he not? unto his people show forth that
the Lord is in his loving kindness does save sinners through his
loving kindness, his mercy in Christ Jesus. You see, it's of
the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. It's not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us. So we do show forth, we are thankful,
we do sing praises to the name of our most high God to demonstrate
his loving kindness, his mercy unto sinners. And then secondly,
to do this, and this is all involved in the gospel, in that message
of the gospel, to show forth Thy faithfulness. Now whose faithfulness
is he talking about here? His faithfulness. His faithfulness. The Lord is faithful to every
covenant promise. And he said not one word shall
fail. I'm persuaded, aren't you? That
all that God has promised, he is able to perform. Anybody ever
ask you that question about, you know, they're usually inquiring
as to what denomination you belong to or what religious background
you have, and sometimes they say, well, what persuasion are
you? Well, this is my persuasion.
I'm persuaded that all that God's promised, He's able to do. I'm persuaded, as Paul said,
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. I'm
persuaded that He's able. He's faithful. Aren't you glad
that our salvation, our righteousness, does not depend upon our doing,
our faithfulness, but rather upon the Lord's faithfulness,
the Lord's obedience unto God in all things. He was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. to show forth His
mercy, His love and kindness, to show forth His faithfulness,
and all these things we'll see in the gospel, don't we? And
then in verse 15, let's pick it up there, to show that the
Lord is upright, that He's just and holy. Now, this is a great
and glorious mystery of the gospel, how God can be just and holy.
and yet be a just God and Savior. How he can be just and the justifier. The Lord is upright and he is
holy. No doubt about that. And yet,
because of the Lord Jesus Christ satisfying all that God required,
satisfying God's holy law and justice, establishing righteousness
for us, putting away our sin, and upon that, He does show mercy. The Lord is upright God in saving
sinners. Does He compromise His holiness
in saving sinners? Absolutely not. He never compromises. He is a just God and He is a
Savior through the substitutionary, satisfying sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then to show the Lord is
my rock. You see that the last part of
verse 15? That's what the gospel demonstrates. That's what the
gospel message is. His loving kindness, his faithfulness,
his uprightness, and then the foundation that God has. He's
the rock on which we build. Rock of ages, cleft for me. We
sang it a moment ago. Let me hide myself in thee. He
is the rock. You remember what our Lord said
to Peter? Upon this rock, I'll build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail. You remember Isaiah 28 16 God
said behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a rock,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. You see, I love that scripture
over in Deuteronomy 34 where it talks about our rock is not
like their rock. Their rock is nothing like the
rock that God has provided, and that foundation is Christ Jesus. All other ground is sinking sand. Christ is that rock, that solid
rock. I told you before, I think, the
story about the Irish preacher, the Irishman that was preaching. Did I tell you that story? And
he was out in the open air type preaching years ago, and he had an audience, I guess there's
some Englishmen there, and they knew he was from Ireland and
Irishmen, and they kept heckling him, well tell us about the shamrock,
the shamrock, you know that good luck charm so-called. Tell us
about the shamrock. He ignored them for a while.
Finally he addressed them. He said, I'll tell you about
the shamrock. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground
is shamrock. That rock is Christ. We rest
upon that rock. All other ground is shamrock. It's a sham, and it's a shame
to stand on any other ground than that rock. It's a good thing. Oh, it's a good thing to give
thanks unto the Lord. It's a good thing to sing praises
to the name of the Most High God. It's a good thing to declare
His lovingkindness in the morning, in the evening, to declare His
faithfulness, His obedience, sacrifice whereby He put away
our sin, and to do it morning and evening. It's a good thing
to show that the Lord is upright, that He is holy, the judge of
all the earth shall do right, and to show that He is our rock,
and that there's no unrighteousness in Him. The Lord is our rock. The church is built upon this
foundation. Other foundation? Can no man
lay than that which is already laid, which is Christ the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse three. Upon an instrument of 10 strings,
praise the Lord, an instrumental with an instrumental music. Now,
I don't know how many strings a piano has, but a piano has
more than 10 strings. but we ought to use all the strings
in the piano, or that guitar over there, it's a six-string
guitar, we ought to use all the strings, all the instruments,
it mentions the string instruments, the psaltery or the harp, and
to use these instruments in a way of solemn worship. Now, I'm not a bit opposed to
having instruments, musical instruments, in the worship service. Now there
are some others that may disagree with me on this, but the thing that we need to keep
in mind, turn over here to Colossians chapter 3. Whatever we do in the way of
singing and using instruments in worship service, do it in
a reverent way as unto the Lord. Now turn over here to Colossians
chapter 3, and let me see if I can make good on the point
here that I'm trying to make. Colossians 3 verse 16, let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Verse 17, and whatsoever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, giving thanks unto him. So if we can use instruments,
to accompany our singing, and it's glorifying and edifying
unto the Lord, and we do it as unto the Lord, it's a good thing. It is a good thing. Now, what
we see happening in religious circles today, there was an ad
in our local paper. They're impactful. The News Express,
they call it. and it was in last week's paper,
and they were announcing a big new worship program over in town,
that all the churches in town had grouped together to formulate
this new kind of contemporary, they didn't even call it contemporary
worship, some kind of new modern worship, with electronic screen,
electronic this, electronic that, to appeal to the young people. I tell you what, I know what
it's going to be. It's going to be a rock and roll
session, what it's going to be. And it's not going to be honoring
to the Lord. It's not going to be magnifying to the Lord. Oh,
they may use some biblical terms and biblical thing, but it's
not going to be there. I guarantee you this, there will
not be any worship there. Well, preacher, how do you know
that? The fathers seek as such to worship
Him in spirit and what? Truth. When the truth is absent,
there is no worship going on. When the gospel message is not
being declared, there's no worship going on, no matter how excited
they get. No matter how big a crowd they
draw. No matter how many young people
they force down the aisle and con them into making a decision
for Jesus. They brag about how many souls
they won for the Lord. Was there any salvation going
on in that situation like that? Not at all. Not one bit. The Father seeketh such to worship
Him in a reverent manner around the gospel. You know, worship
is a very special thing. It's a very honoring thing unto
God. Let's not pollute it. And people say, well, what type
of worship service do you have over there where you meet there
in Kingsport? Is it a traditional worship service? Is it a contemporary worship
service? You'll probably be asked that
question at some point. How are you going to answer it?
It's a biblical worship service. Preaching the gospel, not entertaining
folks. We can use instruments and string
instruments. and do it with a solemn sound,
in a reverent manner. Do you understand what I'm trying
to say? Not this rock and roll stuff
that goes on today in the name of God. That's an abomination. Keep the rock and roll work over
there in the rock and roll hall. Don't try to, you see we try
to We try to incorporate these things of the world and bring
them into the worship service. God won't have it. Now look at
verse 4. For thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through thy work. Thou hast made me glad through
thy work. I will triumph. I will triumph
in the work of thy hands. Now, four things here in verse
4. First thing we see is this, the
believer's state. The believer's state. Thou hast
made me glad. Glad. The believer's not only
full of thanksgiving, but the believer is glad. Now what do
I mean by glad? We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. My state before
God, my state before men, my state in my heart, before God
is a glad heart. Not one of hypocrisy, not one
of sham, but one of truly rejoicing in the Lord. Now, secondly is
this. How did we arrive at this gladness
of heart? How do we arrive at this gladness
of heart? Look in verse four again. Thou
hast made me glad. Thou hast made me glad. It's
the work of God. It's the work of God's grace.
Thou hast made me glad. God did it. He made all things
for His glory, including salvation. He created all things. Without
Him was not anything made that was made, right? Who made salvation? Who purposed salvation? Who purchased
salvation? Who applies salvation? Thou hath,
O Lord, for Thou, Lord, the Lord, hath made me glad. So my state? Gladness. How do I arrive at
that? It's the Lord's doing. You remember
that Psalm? What is that, Psalm 118? It's
the Lord's doing, it's the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in
our eyes. It's the Lord's doing. And then
thirdly, what's the ground of it? The ground of it is this,
through thy work, through thy work. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as our great high priest did a priestly work for us. As he represents us before God,
as our great high priest, he's done a great work for us. The ground of it, through thy
work, not our work, his work. Salvation is of the Lord through
his priestly work. Fourthly, what then shall I do?
I'll ascribe all the glory to God alone. I will triumph in
the work of thy hands. And say, verse 5, O Lord, how
great are thy works! But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption? My state glad. How did I arrive
at that? Thou hast made me. The ground
of it, His blood and righteousness. And we ascribe all glory to Him
alone, singing praise unto Him. Because the Lord has made me
glad, made me to rejoice through His work, through the redeeming
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation in Him is eternal
and complete, justified by His grace before
His throne, justified freely by His grace. And it's all upon
His doing, upon His dying, through the work of thy hand. His obedience, not ours. His
doing, not ours. Now, don't misunderstand what
I'm about to say. I think I've said this to you
before. In a very real sense, our salvation is based upon works. Not mine, but his. Not my works,
but his. Listen to these scriptures. You
remember in Luke chapter 2, when the Lord was left behind, and
he was in the temple, and the doctors were questioning, and
his parents came back in to find him, and he said, I must be about
my father's business. And then in John chapter four,
when it talks about, he said, my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work. And then in John 17,
in his priestly prayer, he prayed, Lord, I finished, what? I finished the work you gave
me to do. You know, there's a work to be
done. that we could not do. There's
an obedience to give that we could not give. There's a righteousness
to establish that we could not establish. There was a lot of
honor that we could not honor. He did completely and fully. That is our hope. I finished
the work you gave me to do. Now glorify thou me with thine
own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. And then, what did he say on Calvary's tree? In his dying
hour, he said, it's finished. It is finished. It is done. You see, I will triumph in the
work of his hands. Remember what the king said of
the hands of God? No one can stay his hand. or
saying to him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? His hands are
sovereign hands. No man can, he said, I give them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. No man can pluck
them out of my hand. My hand, the work of his hands. You know, the hand is a marvelous
device. What would we do without hands? I mean, Brother Earl,
you work with your hands every day, don't you? Your hand, what
would you do without your hands? You think how important are your
hands to you and your business, to do your work? How about the
work of God, His hand? Oh, His hand. Oh, His hands are
powerful and mighty. His hands created all things
and fashioned all things. Thou hast made me to triumph
in the work of thy hands. We have, oh, we have, Blessings,
innumerable blessings through His doing, His dying, through
the work of His hand. Look at verse 5, O Lord, how
great are Thy works. Can you describe the work of,
the great work of redemption? The great redeeming blood? His great priestly work? I'm
thinking of this scripture that Psalm 40, turn back over there,
when we talk about his great, how great are thy works, how
great are his doings. Psalm 40 verse 5, turn over there,
Psalm 40, Psalm 40. Look at verse 5. Many, O Lord my God,
are thy wonderful works. which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered." Numberless, infinite
work. How great are thy works and thy
thoughts. The thoughts of God. are very deep, it says, back
in the text. Psalm 92, look, verse 5. The
thoughts of God. The thoughts of God. How deep
are the thoughts of God? What are these thoughts? Well,
His decrees, His counsel, His purpose. He said, I've spoken
it. I'll bring it to pass. He said,
I'll do it. Known unto God are all of his
works from the beginning. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. How great are thy works! How great and deep are the thoughts
of God! Of him, through him, and to him,
are all things. Oh, the depths of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
his judgment and his ways past finding out. Now, do you know
where that scripture's found? Let's turn and see if we can
find it. Romans chapter 11. Maybe it's
something you want to mark here. How deep are the thoughts, the
decrees of God? How deep are thy thoughts? Romans
11, look at verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
thy judgment and his ways past finding out. Verse 36, for of
him, And through him and to him are most things. All things. That covers all the bases. Of
him, through him, and to him. All things. To whom be glory
forever. Amen. Forever. The salvation
that we enjoy is by the decree of God, of which in time, the
Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Now, look at verse six. A brutish man does not know.
A fool does not understand. The fool has said in his heart
there is no God. Verse seven, when the wicked
sprang as grass, when all the workers of iniquity do flourish,
it is that they shall be destroyed, destroyed, destroyed forever. God will deal with sin. Verse nine, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, Thine enemies shall perish, and
all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered." In the Lord Jesus
Christ, there is no condemnation. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is nothing but condemnation. Is that so? Outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our God is a consuming fire. In the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is no judgment, no condemnation. Boy, I want to be in Him. I want
to be found in Christ. Look at verse 10. The enemies
will perish. The righteous shall be exalted. Sinners shall be exalted. But
my horn My head, the Lord Jesus Christ shall thou exalt, like
the horn lifted up, like a horn of a unicorn. I shall be anointed
with fresh oil. My eyes also shall see my desire
on my enemies, and my ears shall hear my desire on the wicked
that raise up against me. If we consider this, what believers
have in Christ Jesus. We're exalted in Him, are we
not? We're anointed in Him. He is
our power of salvation. Salvation is in Christ, the one
who has been exalted of God, the one that's anointed of God,
blessed of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
going to have His way with all who oppose Him. He that believeth
on the Son Hath what? Life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but what? The wrath, the wrath of God shall
fall upon them. But you know, to God's covenant
people, He's not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, isn't that a miracle of
grace? Now look at verse 12, and here's
a contrast. The wicked will spring up. Oh,
they'll flourish for just a short little while. And they'll seem
to prosper for a short little while. And they think they're
getting along pretty good for a short little while, but judgment's
coming. Judgment's coming. Look at verse 12. shall flourish." They're going
to flourish, really prosper, really flourish. Not like the
grass. Not like the grass that springs
up for a short time and it's gone. All flesh is grass. But the righteous in Christ Jesus.
Now how are they made righteous? They're made righteous in Christ.
He is made unto us righteousness. He is our righteousness. He's
the Lord our righteousness. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. The righteous shall grow like
a cedar in Lebanon. Lebanon was a country in this
day, in David's day, that was known for beautiful cedar trees. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and they
shall be flourishing. Now, unbelievers are pictured
as a grass. It springs up quickly and is
soon cut down. The believer made righteous in
Christ as a tree planted by the river of life. You remember how
we started this whole psalm? Turn back to Psalm 1. The whole
study in the psalm. Psalm 1. Like a tree, planted. Believers are called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Psalm 1. Blessed is
the man, verse one, that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
his law does he meditate. He shall be like a tree planted
by the... rivers of water that bring forth
fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." The ungodly are not
so, but like chaff driven in the wind. Believers are trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Now, a palm tree,
they tell me a palm tree will grow slowly, and steadily and
thrive where nothing else will grow. Believers are made to grow
in grace while they live in this desert of sin. You know, a palm tree will grow
in a desert land. And believers do grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, he says,
they'll be like cedar trees. What's a cedar tree like? You
know, a cedar tree is something that's durable, isn't it? It's
durable wood. If you want to build a hope chest
or a special piece of furniture, you'd go cut down a cedar tree.
Cedar trees are durable. Cedar trees are beautiful. Likewise,
the believer They persevere in the faith, and they're made beautiful
in Christ Jesus. They persevere. The Lord Jesus
Christ is that true vine, and in Him we flourish. In Him we
prosper. Without Him, we can do nothing. Now, in closing, let's take a
brief look at verse 13. Those that be planted, planted. in the house of the Lord, they'll
flourish. They'll flourish in the courts
of our God. Believers are planted by the
design, eternal purpose of God. Believers are planted by God. planted in the house of the Lord.
And they dwell there forever, planted by divine grace, sovereign
grace, rooted and grounded in divine love, and visited by and
watered by divine love, divine grace. Remember what our Lord
said of those Pharisees? Every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted will be rooted up. to be planted in
the house of the Lord. And then verse 14, they shall,
they shall, they shall grow, they shall bring forth fruit,
the fruit of the Spirit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing,
flourishing, green. Now they tell me that a fruit
tree that a natural tree, a natural fruit tree, stops bearing fruit
when it gets old. But not these spiritual trees. As believers grow in grace, they
also produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is what? Love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance. The fruit
of love, the fruit of faith. They are full, that word, they're
fat. It's full and they're flourishing. They're full of Christ. They
flourish in Him. They flourish in Him. In Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ
we stand complete. Of His fullness have all we received
grace, grace that's John chapter 1 verse 16 and the only reason
for grace of his fullness have we all received grace for grace
the only reason for grace grace grace heaped upon grace grace
for grace grace because of grace