Our study this evening is found
in the Word of God. Now, you would be most alarmed
if I brought some other book, wouldn't you? And try to bring
a message from some other book, I would hope that you would reverently
ask me to leave. Maybe not so reverently. Maybe
violently ask me to leave if I tried to bring you a message
from another book. We preach not ourselves, but
we preach the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do so from the word of
God itself. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did. When he preached to men, he took
what was written, what had been given, and he preached Christ. Christ preached, what did he
preach? Christ, he preached himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Psalm 89, I will sing of
the mercies of the Lord forever. Forever and that's true with
believers with thy mouth with my mouth. I Will make known thy
faithfulness to all to all Generation or from generation to generation
now, I'm entitling the message From the theme of this psalm.
I'm calling it covenant mercies covenant mercies and in reality
It is the theme, not only of this psalm, but Covenant Mercies
is the theme of the gospel, and it's the theme of all the Word
of God. God has an eternal covenant of
grace. We read about it all through
the Word of God, but this scripture particularly speaks about that
everlasting covenant of grace. In Hebrews chapter 13, don't
turn, let me just read it to you. Now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. It's everlasting that way, and
it's everlasting that way. And you know why it's everlasting?
From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. It says that, I think, I think
it says that. Yes, it does, in Psalm 90 verse
two. Turn over there, before the mountains
were brought forth or ever thou hast formed the earth, the world,
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. So His covenant,
no doubt, is an everlasting covenant because our God is everlasting. Now our God, the God of the Bible,
is a covenant God. He delights to save sinners only
upon the ground, basis, and reason of that covenant being fulfilled
and honored by none other, by none other than Christ Himself. This covenant of grace is not
satisfied or fulfilled by any willful, wiggling, maggot of
a sinner, but this covenant of grace is fully honored and satisfied,
ratified and guaranteed only with the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. The Lord Jesus in Hebrews 7 is
called the surety of the better covenant. The surety, the guarantor
of a better covenant. Better in the sense in his person,
better in the sense of his sacrifice, better in the sense of his priesthood.
Isn't that the key word in the book of Hebrews? You who are
students of that word, students of that book, the key word is
better, isn't it? A better priesthood, a better
sacrifice, a better covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ then, he's
better. The law made nothing perfect,
but bringing in of a what? Better hope did. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is that hope that every believer has. It is a good
hope. through grace. He's given us
an everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace. The Lord Jesus Christ then is
everything in this covenant. I mean, he's not something of
it. He's everything of it. He's the alpha, the omega. He's
the author, the finisher. He's the beginning and the end.
He's the middle part, the first part, the last part, and every
part. It said Christ is all And in all. Is that what it says?
That's what it says. He's everything in this covenant.
The Lord Jesus Christ then is the surety of the covenant. He's
the sacrifice of the covenant. He's the savior of the covenant.
He's the standard of the covenant. He's the standard bearer. This
covenant of grace. That covenant of grace is the
same as the gospel of God. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're one and the same. They're synonymous. The everlasting
covenant of God ratified with the blood atonement of Christ
is the same as the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're one and the same. Now
it says here in the introduction of Psalm 89 that Ethan, the Ezraite,
had the privilege of recording these words. He was a penman. He was a servant that God used,
like his brother Heman, the Ezraite, who was used of God to give Psalm
88, both Ethan and Heman Both find their comfort and hope of
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for they both
write about Christ, Christ and Him crucified. All believers
in whatever age in human history, they have lived from the fall
this way, from Adam's ruin this way. Every believer down through
history that has ever lived, believers now, They all have
the same hope that we have today. And that hope is a person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you some examples.
We go back to Noah's day. Noah was called, I had to look
this up, I thought it was in 2 Peter, but I looked it up just
a moment ago. He is called, Noah was a preacher. A preacher of what? Righteousness. Whose righteousness did Noah
harp about? Preach about? 120 years he was
building. He was building. He was building.
And in that 120 years that he's building that ark, he said, no
doubt that ark is Christ. That ark is my refuge. That ark
is my righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness. His hope was none other than
our hope. Christ and him alone. You go
down a little bit further, pick up Abraham. Abraham, our Lord
said, he rejoiced to see my day, he saw it, and was glad. He rejoiced in Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide. Come down a little bit further,
and we talk about Moses. We go all the way through the
Word of God. Job said, they say Job is the
oldest book in the oldest writing. They say Job lived before Abraham. But Job, some think, is the oldest
book we have in the Bible, but Job said, I know my Redeemer
lives. Job's hope was Christ. Noah's
hope was Christ. Abraham's hope, he rejoiced in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses, was Moses' hope in the
law? Huh? No, no, no, no. For the Lord Jesus says of Moses,
Had you believed Moses, you would have believed me. Because Moses
wrote about me, he said. The Lord speaking of himself.
Moses wrote about the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses wrote about that
everlasting covenant of grace. Moses wrote about salvation of
the Lord. Did you know that? What's that
tabernacle all about? What's that mercy seat all about?
What's that blood on that mercy seat all about? All that was
given to teach them the gospel, was it not? The gospel of the
Lord. It all preached to them the gospel,
the same gospel that we have today concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we talk about Noah. Talk about Job. Talk about Abraham. Talk about Moses. Talk about
David. What was David's hope? David's
hope was Christ. That everlasting covenant of
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are many verses in
this psalm that can only be understood in the light of the gospel of
Christ. Certainly can't be true all in a sense fulfilled in David,
the king of Israel. There has to be something greater,
something more exact in this psalm concerning Christ and Him
crucified. David, we know, is a prominent
personal type of Christ. And we call the Lord Jesus Christ
the greater David. Now David was a man after God's
own heart, but the Lord Jesus Christ is that man that's come
from God. He's the man, the God-man mediator
in the fullness of time, God's, the time. God sent forth his
son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. Now, this psalm can only, and
really, when we enlarge upon that, when we enlarge upon not
only this psalm, but all the word of God is only understood
in the light of the person and work of Christ. Nothing else,
nothing else will fit but Christ and the gospel. Now look at verse
19. Then thou spakest in vision to the Holy One and said, I've
laid help upon one that is mighty. I've exalted one chosen out of
the people. Now, David was chosen and David
was anointed when Samuel went down to the house of Jesse. And
in that sense, it's true. But this can only be truly spoken
and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look again at verse 27. Also, he said, I will make him
my firstborn, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth, it says in John chapter one, higher than the kings of
the earth. Now, David was God's king, but
you remember what he said in Psalm two, I've set my king upon
my holy hills I am? Look at verse 29. His seed also
will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of
heaven. Now how long were the days of
heaven? That's eternal, isn't it? So
it can only be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 36. Verse 36, his seed shall endure
forever. His throne as a sun before me. Verse 37, it shall be established
forever as the moon and as a faithful witness. The Lord Jesus Christ
is that faithful witness in heaven. You see, it's Christ, isn't it? It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm just confident of it. I don't
have any doubt about it. I can preach it fully and feel
completely comfortable and totally, totally, totally comfortable and rejoicing
in the fact that this book speaks about Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We used to have an old elder
at 13th Street. His name was Charlie Payne. And
he was a student of the scripture. I mean, he just impressed me
to no end. And he loved to preach in the
types and pictures of Christ in the Old Testament. And he
was better at it than anybody. He was better at it. He could
find Christ where I could read and read and never see him. But
the Lord gifted him, and the Lord gave him insight and wisdom
in preaching Christ from the Old Testament. And he would give
this illustration. He said, take your Bible. Now
he said, don't do this, then destroy it. But if you would,
take your Bible and drill a hole all the way through it. And then
take a red ribbon and thread it through there and open it
up. Every page you turn to, you'd see that blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ all the way through the book. And isn't that the whole
purpose of God giving his word? Another statement I learned from
that book we talked about, Jonathan Edwards, the history of redemption
that he entitled it, he said this, the grand theme, I read
that book a lot of years ago, over 20 years ago. But one thing
I remember, I don't remember a whole lot, but one thing I
do remember, he said the grand theme of redemption The grand
theme of redemption is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
all relative to Him. It's all relative to Christ,
Christ alone. So this whole book, this whole
book is about Him. And if the Lord is pleased to
teach us that, everywhere you read in God's word, skeedaddle
to Christ, skeedaddle to Him, it'll be a blessing. It'll just
open it up. It'll open it up. when we see
it fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Now, I've taken a lot of time
here, just in the introduction, and I just don't feel like that
I'm going to make too much progress here as we look at Psalm 89,
but I'll go for a few more minutes, 25 or 30 more minutes, and see
what we can find here. Psalm 89, look at verse 1 now
for a moment. He said, I will. I will. I will sing, I will sing. Thy people, I will sing. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of God's power. What do we sing about? He said,
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. I will sing unto the
mercies. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord. I've noticed over here, look,
just a few Psalms over, Psalm 95. There's a lot said about
singing. In these Psalms over here Psalm
95 look at verse 1. Oh come come let us sing let
us sing Unto the Lord let us sing unto the Lord Psalm 96 verse
1. Oh sing unto the Lord sing a
new song unto Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing, sing, sing
unto the Lord. Again in Psalm 98 verse 1, Oh,
sing, sing unto the Lord a new song. He had done a marvelous
thing. His right hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. I love to sing. I love to sing
about the Lord. I love to sing of Him. I will
sing, it says there, of the mercies of the Lord, and believers will
sing about the mercies of the Lord, not only here, not only
right now, but will sing about the mercies of the Lord forever. Forever we'll sing that song
and redeemed unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin
and his own blood To him be all the honor and glory both now
and forever those who have experienced Salvation by the Lord's mercy
Don't we love to sing about it? Don't we love to write about
it? It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Don't
we love to tell others about the Lord's sovereign mercy? Don't we love to preach about
the mercies of God, the covenant mercies of God? As we read in
Ephesians chapter 2, the Lord is rich in mercy for his great
love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses
and in sin. Don't we love to tell others
about his mercy? It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy. His mercy, He saved
us. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord of Jehovah, my Lord, my God, my Savior, the Lord,
my Savior forever, forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to generation to generation, to all people
I will make known thy faithfulness. faithfulness with my mouth. I'm going to speak about the
faithfulness of God. I'm going to talk about His faithfulness
to every generation. The Lord will make known. He
said, I will make known the Lord's faithfulness. Now, I'm thankful
for faithful preachers of the past. I'm thankful for faithful
believers. who support the ministry, who
pray for the ministry, and who attend the ministry. I'm thankful
for faithful believers, and I'm thankful for faithful preachers,
but most of all, I'm thankful for the Lord's faithfulness,
His faithfulness. Look at verse two. Well, I've said, mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. Whose faithfulness do we like
to talk about? Thy faithfulness. Now, you know, it says this,
it talks about his faithfulness. It's mentioned at least five
times in this Psalm. Look again at verse five. And
the heavens shall praise, I wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also. Look at verse eight. O Lord God
of hosts, who is a strong Lord, like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness
round about thee? You see that? Again in verse
24. You might want to underscore
these if you have something to mark with. I'm not opposed to
marking in the Bible. But my faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him, and in my name shall his power be exalted,
his head shall be exalted. Again, in verse 33. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer thy faithfulness. His faithfulness will not fail."
And that's our hope. It's upon His faithfulness, the
faithfulness of Christ, to all the requirements of the covenant
that salvation was accomplished. It was accomplished by His faithfulness,
not mine. His faithfulness, not ours. His
faithfulness. Now, I know we've read this more
than one time, but it bears repeating. Galatians chapter 2, turn over
there. This is mentioned more than just
one time here about the faithfulness of Christ and our salvation being
established upon His faithfulness. Galatians chapter 2 verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ, the faith
of Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. Not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So we're
justified by his faithfulness. It's upon his doing and his dying
that this covenant of grace was ratified, secured, and is certain
and sure, ordering all things and is sure. God's faithfulness
cannot fail because his covenant mercies, his covenant promises
cannot fail. One of my favorite scriptures
in all scripture is found in Isaiah 42 verse four. When it
talks about the elect of God, behold my servant, my elect in
verse one, and in verse four it says of him, he can't fail. He cannot fail. The Lord Jesus
Christ shall not fail. Now, let's look at verse two.
For I have said, I have said, My mercy, mercy, God has said,
mercy shall be built up forever, forever. I will sing of the mercy
of the Lord forever because his mercy is established and built
up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. Faithfulness is established,
mercy is built up forever. Mercy is built up forever. The
foundation of mercy, the sureness of mercy, is built upon the unfailing
promises of God fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm persuaded,
as Abraham of old, that of all that God has promised, all that
He has promised, He's able to perform. I like what Joshua said. You know Joshua's last words?
Recorded over there in Joshua 23 or Joshua 24 around about
in there somewhere go over and read it sometime He said of all
that God had promised not one word failed and all that God
has promised every promise that we have in his word and he's
made a lot of promises and They're yes, they're amen, and they're
in Christ Jesus. Not one promise of God, not one
word of God can fail because He can't fail. It's promise. It's ordered in all things, certain
and sure. Faithfulness is established eternally
before God's throne upon the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ
on our behalf. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. In Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, there is mercy. In the Lord Jesus Christ, matter
of fact, he is plenteous in mercy. He is plenteous in mercy. In
the Lord Jesus Christ, there is mercy. Matter of fact, he
said and commands us to come boldly under the throne of mercy. The throne of mercy. In Christ,
there is mercy. Out of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is mercy. No mercy, no mercy. In Christ, there is the love
of God revealed. Out of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is nothing but the wrath of God revealed. If any man loved not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha when the Lord does
come. Let him be accursed when the
Lord comes. If any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
look at verse three and verse four. I've made a covenant with
my chosen. I've made a covenant with my
chosen. Now who is the elect of God? This is not a trick question. Whenever we, exactly, whenever
we think of elect or election, we have to go back to that principle
of first mention. That principle of first mention,
find out how words used, the first time it's used in the scripture
and pretty much that's how it's used all the way through the
scripture. And if we use that as a standard to help us along,
the first time the word elect is used, Isaiah 42.1, behold
my servant, my elect. Now when we think of the chosen
and the elect, we think of Christ. What is election without the
Lord Jesus Christ? Well, he is the elect. We're
chosen in him. God chose a people and gave them
to Christ. For our election is in Christ
Jesus. There is an elect. No doubt about
that. And they're in Christ Jesus. That's what makes the glorious
doctrine of election so glorious to the believer. Christ is the
chosen. We are chosen in Him. I have
made a covenant with my chosen, with Christ. I've sworn to David,
my servant. And we talk about Servant of
the Lord now David was a servant of the Lord no doubt about that
David was chosen But this has to be said of the Lord Jesus
Christ for he is called the servant of God he's called the Isaiah
42 1 again behold my servant my elect and Isaiah 53 calls
him the righteous servant of God. I've made a covenant with
my chosen I've sworn unto David my servant thy seed will I establish
forever and Build up my throne to all generations those chosen
in him are Certain and sure. Entitled to everything. Entitled
to everything that Christ is and everything that He has. We're
blessed in Him. What's true of the head is true
of the body. Christ is the head of the body and we are blessed
in Him. I've made a covenant with him,
thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all
generations. Now the covenant that God made
with David is certainly typical of that eternal covenant made
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, this covenant is mentioned,
look at verse 28. My mercy will I keep forever,
keep for him forever, and my covenant, it'll stand fast. You remember what David said?
Ordered in all things and assured. My covenant will stand fast with
him. Again in verse 29. His seed also will I make to
endure forever and is thrown as the days of heaven. Again
in verse 34, he mentions his covenant. My covenant will I
not break nor alter. God can't change. I am the Lord,
I change not. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying
today, yesterday, and forever, my covenant will I not break.
I will not alter the thing that's gone out of my lips. Once I have
sworn by my holiness that I will not, you know what's impossible? It's impossible for God to do
some things. Preacher, what are you talking
about? It's impossible for him to lie.
God cannot lie. I've sworn, he swore by himself
when he could swear by no greater. Once I have sworn by my holiness
that I will not lie unto David, his seed shall endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before me. As I said earlier, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the surety of that better covenant of grace.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the sacrifice of that covenant. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the savior of the covenant. Call his name
Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. He is a shepherd
of the covenant, isn't he? The shepherd, the sacrifier,
the savior, the charity. And he's the sweetness of it.
He's the sweetness of it, is he not? Because to the believer,
it's not a saver of death unto death. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ and those covenant mercies, it's a saver of life
unto life. Matter of fact, it says in Ephesians
chapter 5, it talks about the sacrifice of Christ being a sweet
smelling savor unto the Lord. He smells of the sweetness of
that sacrifice and it is most pleasing and satisfying unto
him. You know what's obnoxious to
the Lord? We had this in our study today in Isaiah chapter
65, where it said, we talked about those who were self-righteous.
You've heard that statement, holier than thou. Do you know
where it comes from? Isaiah 65 verse five, where they
say, come not thou near to me, the self-righteous crowd, for
I'm holier than thou. You know what the Lord says about
that? In the rest of that verse, he
said, that is smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day
long. Self-righteousness is a deadly,
vile sin that God hates. I tell you what's pleasing to
him, when he smells of that aroma, How that blessed sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that burnt offering unto the Lord, satisfied. It's a sweetness unto Him. A
satisfaction unto Him. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, His seed, His people shall be established forever.
The church can no more perish than Christ. The head and the
body are one. We stand complete in Him forever.
In Him was all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ
we stand complete. He's able to keep us from falling
and to present us faultless before the presence of God's glory with
exceeding joy. Thy seed will I establish forever."
Talking about a people, a certain people. Thy seed. Thy people. will I establish forever. God
saves us not with a temporary amnesty. He saves us with a,
you ever notice how it talks about Isaiah 45 talks about He
saves us with an everlasting salvation. It says there in Hebrews
9 verse 12 that He has obtained for us eternal redemption. And
then it says in John chapter 10 verse 27, I give unto them
eternal life. All that's based upon this eternal
covenant of grace that's certain and sure, ordered in all things,
established forever. We cannot perish in Him. Not
at all. Now look at verse 5. The heavens,
verse five, the heavens shall praise, the heavens shall praise
thy wonders, O Lord, and thy faithfulness also, the heavens
shall praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the
congregation of the saints, in the congregation of the saints.
The heavenly host, the heavenly host, if we talk about the redeemed
who are with the Lord, Or if we talk about the heavenly host
of angelic beings, they all praise thy wonders, the wonders of his
love, the wonders of his grace, the wonders of his mercy, and
thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. They
praise the wonders of the Lord's mercy and of His faithfulness. Now, let me show you an example
of that, a scripture that would help us, I think, maybe to understand
that a little bit more. Find the Revelation, and I want
to look at Revelation 7. Turn over there. The heaven shall praise thy wonders.
and the congregation of his saints shall praise thy wonders." You
know, that praise of his wonders starts here. It starts here,
and it is carried on there. And here it says in Revelation
7, verse 11. We could read more, but I'll
start here. And the angel stood around about the throne, and
about the elders, and the four beasts, fell before the throne
on their faces and worshiped God. The four beasts here are
symbolic of God's servants, God's preachers, saying, Amen, blessing,
glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be unto
our God forever and ever. Amen. We say that here and we
say that there. The congregation of the saints,
we praise His wonders. And the heavens praise His wonders. among the saints glorified in
heaven, and the saints who are still here among and living among
those who are, we live in the land of the dying. This is not
the land of the living. This is the land of the dying.
We're going, we're going to the land of the living. And I say
that because of a story I heard of one preacher going to visit
another preacher who was on his deathbed and asked him, said,
sir, dear friend, are you still among the land of the living?
He said, no, I'm among the land of the dying. I'm going to be
with the land of the living right soon. The sooner the better. And that's true. Look at verse
six now. For who in the heaven can be
compared unto the Lord? Who in the heavens? Does he have
an equal? Who can be compared unto the
Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty
can be likened unto the Lord? Verse seven. God is greatly to
be feared in the assembly of the saints, to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. Who in heaven or in earth can
be compared unto the Lord? Now, the scriptures are emphatic
upon this very point. Turn back to Psalm 86, verse
eight. There's none like him. I like
that statement. That's a good scriptural statement. There is
none like our God. Well, what's he like? There's
none like him. Repeatedly through Isaiah, he
said, I am God, beside me there is no other. There is none else. Now look at Psalm 86 verse eight.
Among the God, there was none like unto thee, O Lord, neither
are there any works like thy works. All nations whom thou
hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, shall glorify
thy name, for thou art great, thou doest wondrous things, thou
art God alone. I am God. Beside me there is
no one. There's none like Him. He's glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. He's glorious
in sovereignty. He's glorious in holiness. He's
glorious in power. Whatsoever the Lord please, that's
what He does in heaven and earth, seas and all deep places. He's
glorious in love. Nothing can separate us from
His loving kindnesses. Nothing is separated from the
love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ and that brings
us to verse 7 God is greatly to be feared In the assembly of the saints
To be had in reverence of all them that are about him God's
people greatly reverence the Lord. Our God is
to be greatly feared, greatly worshiped in the assembly of
the saints. Holy and reverent is his name. The only place,
now I know this is so. There's folks in religion that
play games. They play games and they have
signs talking about the Lordship of Christ. But I tell you what,
if you would go in there and try to discover what they mean
about the Lordship of Christ, we would be sorely disappointed. The only place a sinner will
absolutely bow in submission unto God Almighty is before the
throne of an absolute sovereign God. That's where worship takes
place. When you see Him, Going back
to that study in Revelation, they all fall on their faces
before the throne of the Lamb and they worship Him. God is
to be greatly worshipped in the assembly of the saints. He is
to be worshipped above all. He is to be worshipped. Look
over at Psalm 95 verse 6. Oh, come, that's why we're here
this evening. We're here to worship our God,
to preach his gospel, to worship around the gospel. Oh, come,
verse six of Psalm 95. Let us worship, let us bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God.
We are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand. Today,
hear his voice. Hear his voice. Don't harden your heart. Hear
his voice. The only place a sinner will
bow and truly worship is before the throne of the sovereign God. Irreverence is rebellion against
God. Reverence is worship. He seeketh
such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Oh Lord God of hosts, back to
our text. Oh, He's the Lord God of a host,
of a host of people. O LORD God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about
thee? Thou rulest the raging of a sea,
thou hast broken and scattered all the enemies. The heavens
are thine, the earth is thine. Mighty is thy arm, verse 13. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. And his people are blessed, are
blessed in him. Now, our God is great. God is greatly to be
feared. Oh, Lord God of hosts, who is
like unto thee to thy faithfulness round about? Anything too hard
for the Lord, with our God, all things are possible. He has a
mighty arm. He has all power in heaven and
earth. His power is not diminished. You cannot exalt or exaggerate
or go to the extreme of his absolute sovereignty. You can't preach
him too high. You cannot preach us too low.
I'd like to be guilty of both. Well, he bragged on Christ too
much. He said too much about the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
he gave him all the honor and glory. Isn't that exactly what
this book does? It puts us in the dust. and puts
Him upon the throne, and makes us to know that our God does
reign and rule over all things. I'll just give you these Scriptures
and I'm going to close. Look at Psalm 93. You know, the enemies of the
gospel might say, well, you know, you talk about the sovereignty
of God all the time. You know the word sovereignty
is not even in the Bible. Did you know that? But the truth of sovereignty
is everywhere. Look at Psalm 93. And here's
the root word of sovereignty, isn't it? The Lord reigneth.
The Lord is sovereign. The Lord reigneth. He's clothed
with majesty. He's clothed with strength. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. Look at Psalm 97. Psalm 97 verse
1. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitudes of the isles
be glad therein. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. He reigns over all things. He's a sovereign over all things. Well, you know, look at Psalm
96 verse 10. Maybe some would say, well, you
know, everybody doesn't need to know that. Maybe we ought
to just kind of keep quiet about the sovereignty of God, the sovereignty
of His electing love, the sovereignty of His electing grace. Maybe
we ought just not, let's just be quiet about those things.
Let's just not, let's don't upset anybody. I would much rather
tell the truth and offend a sinner than to tell a lie and to offend
God, wouldn't you? Who should we tell about, who
should we declare about, and whom should we tell about the
sovereignty of God? Look at verse 10. Psalm 96. Say among the heathen. What do you say? You're going
to answer to God. The Lord reigns. The world also
shall be established that it shall not be moved. He shall
judge the people righteously. Say among the heathen, the Lord
reigneth. Now, if you want to turn, you
can. I'm going to read this, Isaiah 52, and I'm going to quit. What do God's servants declare
anyway? Well, God's done the best He can do, now the rest
is up to you. God wants to, but He's trying to save you, but
you won't let Him. That's what the false prophets
say. What does God's servant say?
Well, you wanna know? Isaiah 52, look at verse seven. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publish peace,
that bring good tidings of good things, that publish salvation,
that saith unto Zion, uh-oh, God wants to and can't. What
does that say? Thy God reigns. He's sovereign. Sovereign in
creation, made all things by the word of his power. Sovereign
in providence, of him and through him and to him are all things
to whom be glory forever and forever. That's Romans 11, 36. And he's sovereign in salvation. Sovereign in salvation. Not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, But it's God that
showeth mercy. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. And you know what His people
say? Amen. Amen.