Okay, this evening, I'm going
to try to bring a message from Psalm 57. And the title of the
message is taken from verse 7. Verse 7. You see verse 7? David
said, My heart is fixed. My heart is set. Oh God, my heart
is fixed. And because it is fixed upon
him, David said, I will sing. I will sing unto thee, I will
give praise and honor unto thee." My heart is fixed. Notice the
marginal reference on the word fixed also means prepared. Both
are true. The heart of the believer is
fixed upon the exalted and victorious Lord Jesus Christ. We can also
say as believers our heart has been prepared. Our heart has
been prepared to serve Him, to worship Him in spirit and in
truth. What a blessed thing it is to
have a heart fixed by God. And I'll tell you what that heart
means in a minute when we get down to that verse. And to have
our heart prepared, to have a willingness and a need and a necessity to
worship God. to seek his favor in the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. And as he was fleeing from his
enemies, he's also fleeing unto the Lord God Almighty. David is fleeing unto the King
of Glory in his heart for refuge, for strength, for grace to help
in time of need. Physically, he was running from
his enemies, but in his heart, spiritually, he was running and
seeking mercy in God Himself. Christ and that's where the mercy
of God is revealed and given and provided for us in Christ
alone now look at verse 1 be merciful be merciful unto me
be merciful unto me Oh God you know God delights to show mercy
seeing that God delights to show mercy it would be awful wise
to ask God to be merciful unto us would it not Most folks aren't
interested in mercy. Most folks are just interested
in merit. But the believer, being taught
of God, is a mercy beggar before God. Be merciful unto me, O God. And then he repeats himself.
It's not a vain repetition, is it? Be merciful unto me. For
my soul trusteth in thee, I look to thee alone, in the shadow
of thy wings, and that refers to the mercy seat, I will make
my refuge until all these calamities are over past. Now here's our
constant need, because we are sinners through and through,
we're sinners by nature, sinners by birth, because we're sinners
through and through, we have a constant need of God's mercy,
God's forgiveness, His grace. A wise man taught of God will
pray and ask for mercy. As we read earlier in that prayer
that the Lord, or that parable that the Lord gave about two
men that went to the temple to pray, the one as a proud, arrogant,
self-righteous man, the other as a Mercy beggar he cried out
for mercy God be merciful to me a sinner a wise man taught
of God Well, I asked the Lord for mercy Have you ever asked
the Lord for mercy? Have you ever called upon Him,
Lord, forgive me for all my sin. Be merciful to me. The foolish
and the self-righteous man like the Pharisee will only come before
God and you know he didn't really pray at all. He just stood before
God and bragged on himself, didn't he? There was no prayer in that.
No begging God in that. He said, Lord, I just thank you
I'm not like that man over there. He's a miserable, wretched man.
You know, I'm somebody. You reckon God heard his prayer? You reckon God showed mercy to
him where the Lord said he didn't? He went down to his house condemned
rather than the other. It is right, therefore, to pray
for mercy. It is right, therefore, to approach
the throne of grace and beg for mercy. It is right to seek mercy
where mercy is found. Would you seek mercy? Would you
have mercy of God? Well, seek it where it's found.
Turn over here to Psalm 59 verse 16. 59 verse 16 I will sing of thy power. Yeah, I will sing aloud of thy
mercy in the morning in the morning For thou has been my defense
and the refuge and refuge in a day of my trouble under thee
Oh my strength will I sing for God is my defense now look at
this You see the last part of verse 17. He's a god of my mercy. I Mercy originates with Him. He's a God of my mercy. Since God is a God of mercy,
The Scriptures also say that He is the Father of all mercy.
The Scriptures also teach us that He delights to show mercy,
therefore it's most fitting to seek mercy in whom it is found,
in Christ. It's right and it's honoring
unto God Almighty to seek mercy in Christ Jesus. Now what is
the difference We often use the word grace and we often use the
word mercy. What is the difference between
grace and mercy? There is a difference. Let me
see if I can give you this definition. Grace is God graciously giving
to us what we do not deserve. of His unmerited sovereign favor,
God graciously giving to us what we do not deserve, all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. And that's what
He has done. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him
give us all things? So grace is God graciously giving
to us what we do not deserve. Therefore we sing with old John
Newton, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. It is amazing grace
that God would be gracious unto us and bless us abundantly. We're
not deserving of his grace, are we? Certainly not. What is mercy
then? Well, mercy is God not giving
us what we do deserve. God not giving us what we do
deserve. What do we deserve? Nothing but
wrath, nothing but judgment. As one old preacher said, I believe
it was old Rock Barnard that said, anything this side of hell
is mercy. God not giving us what we do
deserve. Do any of us deserve God's favor? Do any of us deserve God's mercy? You can't merit grace, you can't
merit mercy. Mercy is sovereignly given of
God and He gives it to whom He will. Now we know this from the
scripture. His mercy is undeserved. his
mercy is undeserved the scripture in titus three five said it's
not by work of righteousness which we have done is it but
according to his mercy he saved us so mercy is undeserved none
of us are deserving of God's mercy are we certainly don't
merit it secondly his mercy is plenteous plenteous turn over
here to psalm 103 he is plenteous in mercy psalm 103 You know there's,
he has a storehouse of mercy and you cannot exhaust his mercy. And we're going to see here his
mercies are everlasting. But look at Psalm 103 verse 8,
the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and he is plenteous
in mercy. He is plenteous in mercy. So
His mercy is undeserved. His mercy is plenteous. His mercy
is unfailing. We read in Lamentation 3, 23,
that His mercies are new every morning, and it is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed. Something else about His mercy.
His mercies are not temporary. You know, His mercies are eternal.
I can show you that. Turn over here to Psalm 136.
And you look at Psalm 136 carefully and it tells us all about the
mercy, all about the mercy of the Lord. Psalm 136. You turn
and read this with me. Look at verse 1. And this is
all the way through this Psalm. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of gods, for his mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the
Lord of Lords, for his mercy endureth forever. To him who
alone doeth great wonders, for his mercy endureth forever. To
him that by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endures forever."
Now, you got the idea? You got the point? His mercies,
they endure forever. Everlasting mercy. Something
else about his mercy. His mercy is sovereign, isn't
it? Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
it's God that shows mercy. When Moses asked the Lord to
show him his glory, remember what the Lord said, I'll cause
all my goodness to pass before you, and I will be merciful and
gracious to whom I will. God's greatest glory is my greatest
need. Show me your glory, I'll be merciful.
His greatest glory is my greatest need. I need mercy, the mercy
of God. His mercy is my greatest need. We read this in the book of Ephesians,
remember? When it described everything
we are by nature, dead in sin, without God, without hope, children
of wrath, even as others, but then it said, but God. who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead and in sin, and hath quickened us together
with Christ Jesus." Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going
to take my place before the throne of God Almighty as a mercy beggar. Knowing that He delights to show
mercy, knowing that His mercy is plenteous, unfailing, eternal,
and sovereign. He doesn't have to show mercy
to me, but I'm gonna beg mercy. I'm gonna come boldly before
the throne of His grace and ask for mercy and grace to help in
time of need. And remember this, As you read
through scripture, I've never read when the Lord Jesus Christ,
God incarnate, in the flesh, walked among men, anyone who
sought him with a need of mercy was turned away. I've never read
one case that woman who had the issue of blood, blind Bartimaeus,
that leper that approached the Lord and fell down and worshipped
him and said, Lord, you can heal me if you will. you can make
me whole he said I will be thou healed that ought to encourage
all of us to ask God for mercy grace to help in time of need
because God is merciful and God delights to show mercy look what
it says in the second part of verse one David said my soul
my soul trusteth in thee where else can a guilty soul look for
grace and help grace to help in time of need, but unto Him.
He has all power to save us. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. He has all righteousness to justify
guilty sinners. He has all grace to sustain us,
all wisdom to enlighten us, and full atonement to pardon us. And He makes us complete in Christ. Now, Wouldn't it be insanity
to trust something other than Christ, to trust some other person
than the Lord Jesus Christ alone for all of salvation? Remember
he spoke that parable in the certain that trusted in themselves. that they were righteous. Sadly,
many people today, they trust in themselves. They think that
their morality somehow recommends them to God. Or somehow they
think that what they have done or given removes God's wrath.
That's not so. He has all power to forgive,
all righteousness to justify, all grace to save me, all wisdom
to enlighten me, and full atonement to set me free. In Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand
complete. Now look at the second part of
the third part of verse one. I trust in thee, yea, and he
uses this rather homely illustration. In the shadow of thy wings will
I make my refuge until all these calamities be overpassed. Now turn back to one other psalm.
We've seen this before. Psalm 36 verse 7. Psalm 36 verse
7. How excellent is thy loving-kindness,
O God, Therefore the children of men put their trust under
the shadow, under the shadow of thy wings. Now here's the
illustration. In the shadow of thy wings, David
said, I'll make my refuge. Some of you may have been raised
on a farm, I don't know. But you used to be on the farm
that a lot of times the chickens would run loose. The chickens
would just run loose. And often times when mama, the
hen, mother hen would have a bunch of little bitty chicks and when
the storm approaches and the clouds get black and the thunder
rolls and the rain begins, mama hen will just kind of spread
her wings and all them little chicks will just run right under
the shadow of her wings. They find great comfort there,
don't they? They find great delight there.
And that's the illustration that he's given here. The Lord Jesus
Christ spreads the shadow of His wing, the wing of His love,
the wing of His grace, and we make our refuge under the shadow
of His wing. This also has a reference to
the mercy seat. Over that mercy seat in the Holy
of Holies were the winged creatures that covered that mercy seat,
where that blood on the day of atonement was shed, covering
the broken law of God. And we know that is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our mercy seat. We take our
refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we find great comfort and
delight in Him. In the time of trouble, we run
into Him. We run to Him. and we rest. I recently did a study through
the book of Ruth and you know the story of how Ruth fell in
love with Naomi and fell in love with Boaz the Kindman Redeemer
and Naomi said to Ruth the Lord had blessed thee the Lord had
the Lord God of Israel had blessed thee under whose wings thou art
come to trust And we trust under the power of His wing, the power
of His grace. And this again refers to the
mercy seat, to all these calamities be overpassed. Our prayer is, Lord, hide me
under Your mighty wing daily, that I might find strength and
grace and mercy in these times of trouble, calamities, these
days of wickedness. Hide me until they're all gone. and then take me home where there
will be no more trouble, no more calamities, no more death, no
more sickness, no more trial. Let's see if we can find that
and read about it. Over in Revelation 21, turn over there. Revelation
21. Revelation 21. Verse 2 says, I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. No more death. no more sorrow, no more crying,
there shall be no more pain, and the former things are all
passed away. He's gonna make a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Lord, hide me
until that day, and then take me to Thee on high. Now look
at verse 2. Look at verse 2 back at Psalm
57. Now this is one of my favorite verses. One of my favorite verses
in the Psalms, and maybe one of my favorite verses in all
of God's Word. I said one of my favorite. I
have many favorites. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. He performs all
things for me. His covenant children. Our prayers
are unto the Most High God. Now, how high is God? Can we
preach Him too big? Can we preach Him too high? Is
there any danger of doing that, giving too much honor and glory
unto God alone? Look at Psalm 135. I don't think
so. Not unto us, O Lord," David said,
not unto us, but unto thy name do we give glory. Psalm 135,
verse 5. I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods. He's above all, isn't he? Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. in heaven, the earth, the seas,
and deep places. Our God whom we serve is the
Almighty God. He's not a peanut God. He's the
Most High God. He is the Almighty God. He is
the Absolute Sovereign God who does what he will, with whom
he will, when he will, who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. However exalted our enemies may
seem to be, our great God and Savior is higher than all." He
has no rival, does he? Does anybody rival his power?
Is the devil a rival to God's power? Absolutely not. The devil
is God's devil. There is none higher than Him,
God Almighty, who He can easily defend us, deliver us, and defeat
all our enemies. You see, our enemies are His enemies,
those who are opposed to the gospel. And then he makes this
glorious statement. He performeth all things for
me. All things. All things. Now,
make a mental note sometime or jot this down. Look up in the
scripture these two words, all things. All things are of God
who has reconciled us to God by Christ Jesus. All things are
working together for good to them who are called according
to God's purpose. All things. He performs all things
for His people. Now that's good news. Because
I'm unable to perform anything. to accomplish salvation. How
about you? Are you a helpless sinner? I am. He performs all
things for His covenant people. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness by His doing, His dying. He has brought in complete
redemption from all sin by His blood atonement, and He has made
us by His grace, regenerated us, and made us new creatures
in Christ. Everything we need, He has performed for us, and
freely given that unto us. That's the good news of the Gospel. All things have been supplied,
and rightly so, for the Lord has performed all things in salvation
for us. Whatever the Lord undertakes
for us, He will and has accomplished all things for us. Now, here's
another companion scripture to this, and let's turn and read
it, Job 23. Job 23, verse 13. Job 23, verse
13. But he is of one mind, who can
turn him? God of one mind, who can turn
him? And what his soul desireth, even that, well, maybe, maybe
it'll get done. No, what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. He performeth the thing that's
appointed for me. You see, He's not appointed us
to wrath, but He has appointed us unto salvation. It says that
in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9. Jot that down right there. He
performeth the thing that's appointed for me, and many such things
are with Him. He's performed all things for
us. We cannot accomplish salvation. That's impossible. But with the
Lord, all things are possible. You remember the disciples asking
that question, Lord, who then can be saved? He said, with men
it is impossible, but with me, all things, all things are possible. God who has begun a good work
in you, he will finish it, he will perform it, he will perfect
it. It says in Isaiah 44, he is my
shepherd and shall perform, God said, all my pleasure. He prayed, didn't he? Father,
I've glorified thee on the earth, I've finished the work you gave
me to do. He performs all things for us
and then freely gives it to us. Performs all things. You see,
the gospel that we preach, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
that we preach, is a declaration of what He has done. The gospel
is not a declaration of what we must do. The gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ is a declaration of what He has done. That's what
sets this ministry apart from everybody else in this community. Their ministry is centered upon
what you must do for God. God waiting upon you to do something
in order to make His salvation effectual. That's not the message
of the scripture. That's not the message of the
gospel. Our message is what He has done for us, not what we
must do for Him. Do you see the difference? There
is a sharp difference. It's the difference between truth
and error. It's the difference between life
and death. You trust something you do, and
you'll certainly perish in your sin. Okay. David said, I'll cry
unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for
me. Now, what kind of performance
are we talking about? Look at verse 3. He shall sin
from heaven. Did he? Call His name Jesus,
He shall save His people from their sin. God sent from the
highest resources possible. He sent Himself to perform all
things for us. He shall send from heaven, and
because He has sent from heaven, He shall save me. Save me from
the reproach of Him that will swallow me up from the accuser
of the brethren. God shall send forth His mercy
and his truth and he did in Christ Jesus God sent from heaven he
shall send notice these two things he shall send and he did and
what's the result of that he shall save he shall send and
he shall save this is exactly what God did for us in Christ
Jesus in the fullness of the time we read this verse how many
times Galatians 4 you've all quoted couldn't you In the fullness
of the time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. God sent forth
His mercy and His truth. By mercy and truth, the scripture
said, iniquity is purged. Look over at verse 10, at Psalm
57 verse 10. For thy mercy is great unto the
heavens, You see, His mercy is great.
Thy truth, thy truth, His mercy and His truth are great. God
cannot show mercy at the expense of His truth. At the expense
of his holy justice, but in Christ crucified, both his justice is
honored and his mercy is magnified. And that's the beauty of the
gospel. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? So look
over here at Psalm 85, another one of my favorite verses. Psalm
85. You see, in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ, In Christ being crucified for our sins,
it doesn't change the character of God, does it? Not at all. God does not change. But I tell
you what we see in the Lord Jesus Christ in Him crucified, all
the attributes of God are honored and magnified. His love, His
truth, His justice, His wrath, all the attributes of God are
honored and magnified in Christ crucified. Look what it says
here in Psalm 85 verse 10. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where did that happen? Christ
crucified. Truth shall spring out of the
earth. Righteousness shall look down from heaven. Day the Lord
shall give that which is good and our land shall yield her
increase because of his goodness. Righteousness shall go before
him. Now who is this righteousness?
Christ shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his
steps. By mercy and truth. By mercy and truth. Justice and
truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. In Christ crucified all the attributes
of God are magnified and glorified. Now look at verse 4. My soul
is among lions. I lie even among them that are
set on fire. David had his enemies. And we
have, even in this day, those who oppose the gospel of God's
grace. Now they may be, and they may
appear very religious and very self-righteous, but when you
pin them down, when you pin them down, in essence you'll find
out they're worshiping another god. They have another gospel,
they have another spirit, they have another Jesus, and they
have another God. It's not the gospel of God. Concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, their teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues, they use sharp words. They say very many unpleasant
things about those who stand for the gospel of God's grace.
You say, well, they're not talking about me like that. I tell you
what, You take a public stand for the gospel of God's grace
and the enemies will come out of the woodwork. They'll be on
you like nobody's business now. They'll
come out against you and they'll be against you. We have our enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ, how did
he fare among the religious of his day? Who were those who hated
him the most? It was the self-righteous crowd,
wasn't it? That crowd that trusted in themselves.
They were so self-righteous and so full of themselves that they
went out and held a council how they might destroy Him. And they
thought they were doing that to their own delight and satisfaction. Look at verse 5. Be thou exalted,
O God, be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory
be above all the earth. For they have prepared a net
for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have
digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they themselves
have fallen. The believer's desire in verse
5 is, Lord, be thou exalted. Lord, you be exalted. It says
that again in verse 11 of this text, Psalm 57, Be thou exalted,
O God above the heavens, let thy glory be above all the earth. That's what every believer desires,
to see Christ exalted in the preaching of the gospel, to see
Christ exalted in the life of a person. Christ in you is the
hope of glory. Christ, God has highly exalted
Him, to his right hand. Christ therefore of necessity
deserves all honor and glory. That is the eternal song of the
redeemed throughout heaven, isn't it? Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive all honor, glory, blessing, and power both now
and forever. The believer's desire is for
Christ to be exalted in us. In us. For Christ in you is a
hope of glory. Look at verse 6 for just a moment.
I want to work my way down to verse 7 here and camp there for
a minute. David said, My enemies have prepared
a net, a trap for my steps. My soul was bowed down. They
have digged a pit before me, and to the midst whereof they
are fallen themselves. And this was true in the case
of Saul, King Saul pursuing David. God delivered him into David's
hand. Those who sought Daniel's destruction
in the lion's den, you know what happened to them? They ended
up in the lion's den. And their family and their children
ended up in the lion's den. Haman built a gallows for Mordecai. And you know what happened? Who
was hanged? Haman was hanged himself. Joseph's
brethren sold him into slavery. Remember they dug a pit and put
him in the pit? Sold him into slavery. Well,
who ended up in slavery? All of them did for 400 years.
The Jews sought to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
what they cried? His blood be on us and our children. And boy, it was. God decimated
that place. God brought destruction upon
that city and upon them, their families, and their city. Now,
look at verse 7. I'll let you go. Verse 7. My heart is fixed. My heart is
fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing
and give praise unto thee. Now when the scriptures talk
about our heart, and often time we say, well you bleed with your
heart. And often time we point here.
We say, well you know, just not in the head, but in the heart.
And often times we point to the heart, the organ that pumps the
blood in our body. But when the scriptures talk
about the heart, or believing with the heart, it's not talking
about the physical organ in the midst of our chest. When scriptures
talk about our heart, it refers to our mind, our understanding,
our will, our affections, all that make up the real you. The scriptures teach us with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. In Acts chapter 8, the eunuch
asked Philip, What hinders me from being baptized and confessing
the Lord Jesus Christ?" And Philip answered him this way, If you
believe with all your heart, you can. With all your heart.
That means your mind, your understanding, your will, and your affections.
Now let's look at these things for just a moment. By His almighty
grace, our hearts have been changed and He has given us a new heart.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. He has taken
away this stony heart. Grace has changed our mind. You
see, by nature, our thinking is all screwed up. We think low
thoughts of God and high thoughts of self. But you know, when Grace
does a work in our heart, Grace, by His power, has changed our
thinking. He's changed our mind. We now
think high thoughts of Him and low thoughts of self. He has
caused us to set our affection on Him. Grace has also changed
our understanding. What are we by nature? ignorant,
ignorant. Paul says that of those Jews
in Romans 10, being ignorant of God, being ignorant of the
righteousness of God, they're going about to establish the
righteousness of their own. Grace has changed our understanding. We're no longer seeking salvation
by our doing. He's given us an understanding
that salvation is not sin or you do something. Salvation is
done by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's changed our understanding.
It says this in 1 John 5 20. He has come and given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true and that we're in Him that
is true, even in Christ, the true God. So He has changed our
mind. We think upon Him and we think
right thoughts of Him. He has changed our understanding.
We're no longer ignorant of God. We know who He is. We know what
He has done. Grace has also changed our will. Our will. Our will. Man's will
is always... They talk about man's will being
free. Well, it's not. It's not. Man's will is in bondage. And here's the real issue. When
anybody ever starts talking about, well, you know, man has a will
and his will is free. And I try to interject this thought,
if they'll let me. It's really not the will issue. Because when you really get right
down to it, what dictates the will? The nature. the nature. Our will is in bondage to our
sinful nature. Therefore, man's will is like
free-running water. Now, you like examples, don't
you? If I took this cup of water and
poured this out on this desk right here, which way is that
water going to run? Which way is it going to run?
Let's see. Part ran right downhill. Well,
how about that? What's its nature? To seek its
lowest point. Free running water doesn't run
uphill. Something has to push it uphill. Man's nature is always self-ward
and downward, never God-ward and upward. Something has to
push it. Some has to change it. Thy people
shall be willing in a day of His power. By nature, our Lord
said, no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw
him. Grace has changed our mind, changed our understanding. Grace
has changed our will. We now love Him. And grace has
changed our affection, our affection. You know what? Believers now
love Him. We love Him, not like we ought to, not like we should,
not like we will someday, but we do love Him. We do love Him. Grace has changed our affection.
One time we loved ourselves and hated Him. Now we hate ourselves
and love Him. We say with the Apostle Paul,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, you
see what he's saying here? My heart is fixed. My heart is
fixed, and my heart is prepared. My heart is fixed. Not frustrated,
but fixed upon the object of our affection. Fixed upon the
object of our faith. Christ has established our hearts
upon Him. And the foundation of faith is
the Word alone. My heart, therefore, is not only
fixed, but as the marginal reference has, my heart's prepared. prepared,
prepared, or made ready to worship Him, to honor Him, to glorify
Him, to wait upon His good providence and to serve Him, to witness
to others, and to sing of His great goodness. Look what it
says in verse 9, I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people,
and I will sing among the nations, sing about His mercy and His
truth. We are told by the Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. I will praise
Thee among the people, among God's people. I'll praise Him
and give Him all the honor and glory. And I'll also do the same
among the ungodly, among the ungodly. I'll praise Him and
honor Him and go preach the gospel in all the world as God gives
grace to do so. I wanted to look at one other
scripture in reference to that. Let me just read it to you. In
Psalm 138, David said, I'll praise thee with my whole heart before
the gods, small g, plural. Of all the pagan idolatry that
goes on in this world, I will praise thee with my whole heart,
that's the heart that sticks by God, before the gods. will I praise thee, and I'll
sing unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple, praise thy name for thy truth, for thy lovingkindness,
and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name.