Open your Bibles now again to
Psalm 146. The place I want to get to and
spend most of my time on tonight begins with verse 5. It talks
about happiness and hope. And that's the title of the message,
Reasons for Happiness. and hope, even here, even under
any condition, even in any circumstance, we have a happiness and a hope.
For it says here in verse 5, happy is he, he is happy, that
hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord
his God. So the message will be in Part
1 and Part 2. Let's look at Part 1, the first
four verses. This is a Psalm of David, I feel
certain, because the Psalm just before it is a Psalm of David.
But he says, Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. Who? Praise ye, and I praise the Lord. There may be many people present,
but my business is to praise the Lord myself. How? Oh, my soul. True faith and true
prayer and true praise is a hard work. It comes from within. As David said in Psalm 103, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his
holy name. Well, verse 2, when do I praise
the Lord? I praise him while I live. While
I live will I praise the Lord. I'll sing praises to my God while
I have any being. Now, the scriptures have a lot
to say about that. In Psalm 6, verse 5, it says,
In death there is no remembrance of the Lord. In the grave, who
shall give thanks to thee? Tonight is the time for me to
praise him. Psalm 115, verse 7 says, The dead praise not the
Lord, neither any that go down in silence. Isaiah 38, verse
18 says, For the grave cannot praise thee, O Lord, death cannot
celebrate thee, they that go down into the pit cannot hope
for truth. So, while I live. I'm going to
praise the Lord. And I'm going to sing praises
unto my God while I have any being, while I live and while
I breathe. And while I have a being, I will
with David praise the Lord. And with the Apostle Paul, I
will ascribe all that I am to his grace. He says, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. Now, verse 3, he says, put not
your trust in princes, that is, kings, human leaders, nor in any man or group of men,
because it says in the rest of this verse 3, put not your trust
in princes, nor in the Son of Man, any of them, in whom there
is no help. Now, David was a prince when
he wrote this. He was a king when he wrote this,
but he realized that human leaders are just that, human, only frail
men. This is not telling us, though,
not to have respect and confidence in our leaders, not at all. This
is not telling us to have no respect for authority, but it's
speaking in regard to salvation. That's what he's talking about.
That's exactly what he's talking about, because if you notice
in your marginal reference, it says, "...put not your trust
in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no salvation."
That's what we're talking about. We're speaking about spiritual
life, speaking about salvation. Don't trust man or men. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me show you a scripture on that. I've given you this before,
but let's look at Jeremiah a minute. This is a scripture that is well
for us to market in our Bibles, having to do with put not your
trust. Turn to Jeremiah 17, but Paul
said in Philippians 3, verse 3, we are the circumcision, we
are the true children of God, true Israel. Three marks. He said, number one, we worship
God in spirit. Two, we rejoice in Jesus Christ
only. Three, we have no confidence
in this flesh, mine or yours or anybody else's. We put no
trust, no confidence in this flesh. Now, here is the danger,
Jeremiah 17. Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and makes flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord." You can't leave your salvation
in the hands of any man, or denomination, or assembly, or bishop, or preacher,
or evangelist. Paul said, I thank God I baptized
none of you. lest any man should put any confidence
in the fact that Paul baptized him. That's why he's saying that.
He's not discounting baptism at all, but he simply doesn't
want people to go around saying, Well, I've got a little better
hope for heaven because Paul baptized me. And he said, I thank
God I baptized none of you. So a man that trusteth in man
and makes flesh his arm, his power, his salvation, his heart
departs from the Lord. In verse 6, he'll be like a heath.
That's a little old shrub out in the desert, a heath in the
desert. And shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the desert, in a salt
land not inhabited. But blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is, the Lord, the Jehovah, capital
L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That's always Jehovah, Jah,
God my Savior. For that man will be like a tree
planted by the waters, spreadeth out her roots by the river, shall
not see when the heat comes. The heat or the cold or whatever
it is is not going to affect his standing and his strength
and his hope. But her leaf shall be green and
shall not be careful in the year of drought. Neither shall cease
from yielding fruit." That's where it is. That's what we're
talking about. Spurgeon had an outline on verse
3 here. Turn back to Psalm 146, verse
3. Put not your trust in princes,
no matter how high, no matter how intelligent, no matter how
whatever, nor in the son of man in whom there is no salvation.
Spurgeon gave this outline. He said, trusting the flesh.
Ours or yours or others, three things, it dishonors God. Number
two, it degrades us. Number three, it'll disappoint
us. We'll always be disappointed.
Always be disappointed. Man's no help in trouble. He's
no help in redemption. He's no help in death. He's no
help in judgment, but the Lord, the scripture says, is a very
present help in all seasons. Very present help. Now, here's the reason why we
don't put our trust in men or in the sons of men or in the
leaders, princes, because, number one, his breath goes forth. And he dies. That's right, no
matter how important it is, no matter how important it is, no
matter how rich he is, no matter how strong and healthy he is,
for waltz of a little air, he dies. That's not much to put
your hope in. Just for waltz of a little air,
that's all, just a little air, he falls to the ground and he's
dead. So his breath goes forth. And
then secondly, he returns to his earth. That's a smaller state
than his earth. But you know, people talk about
us going, our earth is six feet deep and six feet long and three
feet wide. No, no, the earth is so large.
But this man returns to his ashes. Just a handful. You can hold
them all in your hand. when they cremate him, and put
him in a little urn. That's his earth. Thus thou art,
to thus thou shalt return. What a small estate. Only a few ashes to be gathered
by somebody and put in an urn. He returns to his ashes. That's not much to put hope in,
is it? And then thirdly, and in that
day when his birth stops, And when he goes back to his ashes
and dust, in that very day, his thoughts perish. All these grand
and glorious ideas he had, they're gone. All of these schemes and
plans and purposes he connived and got people to follow him,
they're gone. All of his philosophies, here's
what I think, here's what I believe, it's gone, too. All of his thoughts,
they all perish with him. and those who trust him perish
with him. What a frail and weak support. So there's no happiness
in those first four verses having to do with the flesh, trusting
men. Here's part two, here's the happiness.
Happy is he, and I put happy only is he. Happy only is he who has the
God of Jacob or his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Now, I've got to turn over there to a familiar scripture. I use
it so often. Exodus 3. But you've got to look
over there, and let me show you something here that I see. Happy
is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. God of Jacob. And
our God identifies himself in Exodus 3, 14 and 15 in two ways. Moses said to the Lord in Exodus
3, verse 13, "'Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and
shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me unto
you,' and they will say, What's his name? And what shall I say
unto them? Who are you?' First he identifies
himself by his nature. And he said to Moses, I am that
I am. I am that I am. Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent thee. I am eternal,
I am almighty, I am all-wise, I am eternal, I am sovereign,
I am God. That's his nature. I am that
I am. The heaven of heavens won't contain him. Absolute God, Creator, Judge,
Holy, Righteous, Magnificent, Majestic. That's who he is. But
that don't help me a whole lot. That kind of scares me, doesn't
it? This is what it says in the next verse. And God said, Moreover,
unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel,
Don't just tell them about my power and majesty, tell them
about my grace. The Lord, Jehovah, God of your
fathers, is the God of Abraham, that old 75-year-old man that
God called out of idolatry and made him his friend, found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. That's who I am, a friend of sinners. I'm the God of Isaac,
the promised son, the type of Christ, the covenant God. that
made the promise to the seed, not seeds, but seed, Isaac. That's who I am. You've got to
hope that you're in him. I'm the God of Jacob. Now, that
is a rascal, isn't it? Everybody here ought to be able
to get in right here and now. If you can't get in with Abraham,
and you can't get in with Isaac, you can get in with Jacob. Who
are you? What's your name? My name's Jacob,
supplanter, cheat, thief. I'm not going to call you Jacob
anymore. You're going to be Israel, a prince with God. All right,
now, that's reason for happiness. He's God,
but he's a friend of sinners. He's the friend of sinners. Watch
out now, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of
Jacob, has sent me unto you. I started this business, I sent
you to them. They didn't come after me, I
came after them. I have shared it, I sent you
to them, and this is my name forever, Jehovah Savior, friend
of sinners. I am, but I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and this is my memorial unto all generations. True help is in his power, and true hope is in his mercy. That's it. Now, then, I'm going
to give you some reasons here, verses 6-10. for happiness and hope. How happy is he that hath the
God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, Jehovah
his God? Number one, here is the reason.
He made heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that therein is. Well, he who made heaven has
the power to make me a place in heaven. He said, I go to prepare
a place for you in heaven in my Father's house of many mansions.
I go to prepare a place for you. He who made heaven can make me
fit for heaven. He can make me meet for that
glorious inheritance, which he said he did. God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, hath made us meet to inherit the glorious
happiness and inheritance of the Saints. He who made the earth,
he made the heavens and he made the earth and the sea and all
that therein is. Well, he who made the earth and
all that therein is can provide for this little sheep through
all his days, all that I need to eat, drink and wear. He can
preserve me while I'm on this earth, and he can one day raise
me from this earth. If he made me, sir, I'm in pretty
good shape. Pretty good shape. Got a reason
to be happy. Here's the next reason. He keeps
truth forever. He is truth. To know him is to
know the truth. The scripture says, let God be
true in every man alive. I'll take that. Let God be true
in every man alive. His word shall not fail. His
word says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. I believe that, because God is
true to his nature, God is true to his covenant, God is true
to his word, and God is true to his Son. God, who cannot lie,
promised eternal life before the world began. I've got a reason
to be happy, because this God who made heaven and earth and
who keepeth truth forever, he executes judgment for the oppressed. All of these things that God
has identified with us in doing have to do with spiritual truth. He executed judgment for the
oppressed. We have in him both righteousness,
holiness, and deliverance from judgment. Let's see what David
said in Psalm 103 about this. He executed judgment, justice,
righteousness for the oppressed. In Psalm 103, verse 6, that's
what it says. The Lord executed righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed. There is therefore
now no judgment to them in Christ Jesus, because at the cross judgment
was finished. Back in verse 7, he executes
judgment for the oppressed, and he gives food to the hungry.
I know he feeds the sparrow, the song says, and he'll feed
us. I know he provides bread for all of his creatures. I read
that a while ago. It says that the Lord openeth
his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. He feeds
every living thing. But this is not talking about
feeding this mouth. It's feeding this mouth. That's
right. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness, they'll be filled. That's what
he's talking about. He's our bread. He's our wine. He's our life. He's the bread
from heaven. Then he says in verse 7, the
Lord looseth the prisoners. Words like this don't mean anything
to most people. They don't understand words like
hungry and thirsty, blessed are they that hunger and thirst for
righteousness. They don't know anything about
that. They don't know anything about words like blessed are
the poor in spirit, they shall see God. They don't know anything
about the captives. He sets the captive free. They
don't know a thing about the blind to which he gives sight. They don't know a thing about
being a prisoner, but we do. And we rejoice in Isaiah 61. This is the way he described
us in Isaiah 61. He luceth the prisoners, got
a right to be happy, because he sets the prisoner free. Listen
to Psalm 61, verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
to the poor, the meek. He has sent me to bound up the
brokenhearted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty
to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are
bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of
vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for their ashes,
the oil of joy for their mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness, that through Jesus Christ they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he in all things
may be glory to us. All right, number 6, I find it
in verse 8. It says in verse 7, The Lord
looseth the prisoner, sets the captive free. And then verse
8 says, The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. Are we blind? Well, some fellows asked him
that one time. Let's see what he said over here
in John chapter 9. In John chapter 9, our Lord,
this is his own words. he openeth the eyes of the blind."
While you are finding that, let me quote a verse or two. If our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God
of this world hath blinded their minds. But God hath revealed
unto us, he that that commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our heart to give us the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ." Now, watch John 9, verse 39. We were born blind. We were born
dead in sin. We could hear the voices of the
world, but we couldn't hear God. We could see the things of this
world, but we couldn't see his gospel. They have eyes, he said,
but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't
hear spiritually. So he has come that the blind might see. Now,
listen, that they that see not might
see, and they that see might be made blind. Do they really
see? No, they think they do. Do they
really see? No, they claim to. Do they really
see? Not his gospel, but another gospel,
not Christ Jesus, but another Jesus, not his spirit, but another
spirit. They are blind. Some of these
religious Pharisees, in verse 40, they got angry. They were
with him, they heard these words. He said, I've come into this
world that those that are blind might see. And they which see
might be made blind. He said, Are we blind also? And
our Lord said, If you were, you'd have no sin. If you could take
your place before God, before Christ as a blind, deaf, dumb,
lame, dead, depraved sinner, I'd take your sin away and you'd
have no sin, because you'd come to me. But you claim to see. You say, We see. We don't need
a Redeemer. We don't need a Savior. We don't
need a work of grace. We don't need that. We're all
right with our works. Therefore, your sin remains. And come that
they would see nothing. I say, scales removed from their
eyes. That old blind man, Bartimaeus,
the Lord Jesus called him. He said, What do you want? What
would you have me do? He said, Lord, that I might see. The Lord said, according to your
faith, be it. And he saw. Blind bottomless. That's what
we are. But there are a lot of folks around
there that could see the sun, but they couldn't see the S-O-N. He that seeth the S-O-N hath
eternal life. Yes, soon he'll open the eyes
of the blind, he'll raise them that are bowed down. I see we're
still on spiritual truth, because this is what the psalmist said
in Psalm 38. You've got to read Psalm 38 here on this one. He came to raise them that are
bowed down. This is not talking about that
woman that was bent over like this. She was bowed down, and
he straightened her up. He spoke and she straightened
up. But these folks are bowed down spiritually. Here David
talks about it in Psalm 38. Listen, verse 1. Oh, Lord, rebuke
me not in thy wrath. Don't chasten me in your hot
displeasure. For your arrows stick fast in
me, thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger. Neither is any rest in my bones
because of my sin. It bothers me, it's ever before
me. Mine iniquity has gone over my
head as a heavy burden, too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are
corrupt because of my foolishness. I'm troubled. I'm bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all day long."
Have you ever been there? Lately? All the time? Bowed down? Well, he raises up
them that are bowed down. That's right. Look at verse 21
and 22 of that same psalm, 38. And David closes that psalm with
this, Verse 8, loveth the righteous." Well,
who in the world is this? And none righteous, no, not one.
But he was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Jeremiah said, He is
the Lord our righteousness, and because he is the Lord our righteousness,
then we are his church, his body, the Lord our righteousness. So
he loveth those that love him. He loves those that fear him
and believe on him. That's what I read over there
in Psalm 145, verse 18. The Lord is now unto all them
that call upon him, to all them that call upon him in truth,
in Christ. He's the truth. He'll fulfill
the desire of them that fear him, that worship him. He'll
hear their cry and save them. He loves the righteous, and they're
righteous in Christ. He's their righteousness. All
right, verse 9. The Lord preserved it to strangers.
That's us. I read Ephesians 2. It tells
us about what we were when he found us in Ephesians chapter
2, verse 11. Listen. Therefore remember that
you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
an uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision of
the flesh made by hands. At that time, you were without
Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenant of promise, having no hope without God in this world. He doesn't leave us that way.
He preserves the strangers. Verse 9, he relieveth the fatherless
and the widow. The Lord provides for his people
who have no parents, I'm sure of that. He provides for his
daughters who have no husbands. But this is a continuation of
spiritual provision and salvation. It refers to all those who in Adam, through the fowl. lost
our relationship with God. That's right. Without hope, without
God. And now we've got a Father in
Christ, and we say, Abba, Father. He sent forth his Spirit into
our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We're orphans no more.
We have a husband, too, as Christ, the Bridegroom, the Son of Righteousness. That's right. But the way of
the wicked he turneth upside down." Now, here is the last
one, number 11, the reason to be happy. Because the Lord shall
reign forever. Even thy God, O Zion, Zion's
the church, Zion's true Israel, Zion's the true people of God.
The Lord will reign forever, even your God, O Zion, unto all
generations. So praise the Lord. Isn't that
a great psalm? That's 11 reasons to be happy
and to have a good hope. Isaac Watts wrote a hymn on this
psalm. I'll read it to you. He said, The Lord shall reign
forever. He cannot die, he cannot abdicate,
he cannot lose his crown. So here is the psalm. Happy is he whose hopes rely. on Almighty God who made the
sky. His truth forever stands secure. He saves the weak. He helps the
poor. The Lord hath eyes to give the
blind. The Lord supports the weary mind.
He helps the stranger in distress, the widow and the fatherless. He sends the bowed-down conscience
peace. He grants the prisoner sweet
release. He loves his people. He knows
them well. But he'll turn the wicked into
hell. Thy God, O Zion, ever reigns. Praise him with everlasting strains. So I'll praise him while he lends
me breath, and when my voice is lost in death. My days of
praise shall not be passed while life and love and glory.