Psalm 92. We spend quite a bit of time
reading and preaching from Psalm 90. It's a mine of beautiful,
sweet treasure. Psalm 91, we have neglected Psalm 92 to
a certain extent. I brought a message, I don't
know how long ago, from this psalm, I feel impressed to preach
from it again, and I believe I have some special nuggets for
you tonight that will be a blessing. It begins in this way, Psalm
92, verse 1, it's a good thing, it's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord. I believe it's a good thing to
give thanks to anyone, anytime. It's a sign of grace to be thankful. It's a sign of humility. It's
a sign of love to say thank you, and to say it often, and to say
it to many. A grateful heart, someone said,
is a godly heart. And an ungrateful heart is a
proud heart. But it says here it's a good
thing to give thanks unto the Lord, especially to our Lord,
because he deserves our thanks. He deserves our gratitude, because
every good gift, even those that come through our friends and
parents and loved ones, are really from the Lord. Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from the Lord. with whom there is
no variableness or shadow of turning or change. He's the giver
of every gift. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. And to sincerely, I want you
to listen to this now, to sincerely be thankful, not just in words
but from the heart, to sincerely be thankful to the Lord, reveals
that he has evidently given us the greatest gift, and that is
the presence of his Son in our hearts. For if true praise and
gratitude is found in our hearts, it's because Christ is there.
If true praise and gratitude is found in our hearts, it didn't
come from us, it's because of his presence. David said over in 2 Samuel,
he said, I found it in my heart. I found it there to praise the
Lord. I found it in my heart to offer
this prayer of thanksgiving. I found it there. If you'll turn
to Romans 5, I'll show you a scripture that indicates this very strongly,
Romans 5. If true thanksgiving is present
in the heart, if true gratitude and true praise is because the
true Lord lives there and true love lives there, see if this
is not what Paul says in Romans 5. Verse 1, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. We rejoice. And not only so,
but we grow in tribulations, trials also. Knowing that tribulation
works with patience, and patience, experience, maturity, and maturity,
hope, and hope making not a shame. Where'd all this come from? Read
the next line. because the love of God is shared
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us."
That's why we have faith, grace, love, any gift, Christ. Paul says, I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I. I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And then notice Psalm 92, the
second part of this. It's a good thing. It's a good
thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto
thy name, O Most High. You know, silent worship is sweet. Silent devotion, meditation,
and worship is sweet and precious. But vocal worship and vocal praise
from the heart is especially meaningful. The scripture says,
let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Isn't that right? Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Now let's stay right where we
are in the Psalms because I looked up, I will sing. I will sing,"
just those three words. And it's used so many times,
so many times. But I'll just give you the times
right around where we are right now. Look at Psalm 95. Oh, come, verse 1, let us sing.
This is vocal praise. Let us sing to the Lord. Let's
make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let's come
before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise before
him. unto him with psalms. Look at Psalm 96, verse 1. O sing unto the Lord a new psalm.
Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his
name. Show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his
glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Psalm
98. Psalm 98, verse 1. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new
song. He done marvelous things. His
right hand, his holy arm had gotten him to victory. The Lord
hath made known his salvation, his righteousness, hath he opened
his shoulder in the sight of the heathen. Verse 4, make a
joyful noise unto the Lord. Make a noise, a joyful noise.
All the earth, make a loud noise and rejoice. Sing praise. Singing
to the Lord with the harp, with the voice of the psalm, with
the trumpets, sound of the cornet, make a joyful noise before the
Lord, the King. So, silent worship is sweet,
meditation is profitable. But the psalms over and over
again, David says, sing praises unto the Lord. The birds sing. The creeks warble as they flow
down over the rocks. Frogs croak, even the frog croaks. The trees sway and whistle in
the wind. Did you ever hear pine trees
whistle in the wind? Thunder rolls. Rain falls upon
the leaves and makes a noise. To use my tongue, somebody said
this one time, to use my tongue for every purpose under heaven
except to praise God is to deny the very purpose for which my
tongue was made. Let me read that again. To use my tongue for every purpose
under heaven except praise is to deny the very purpose for
which my tongue was made." Praise God. That's the reason when Mike announces
a number, I look around and I want to see everybody singing. Somebody
might say, I can't sing, but be like the frog with the hat.
Do something, though, but praise God. Praise God. Verse 2, "...show forth his lovingkindness
in the morning, and his faithfulness every I want you to turn to Jeremiah
31. Show forth, talk about his lovingkindness. Show forth his lovingkindness
in the morning and his faithfulness every night. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. That's lovingkindness, isn't
it? Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. He saw me
ruined in the fall, and yet he loved me, notwithstanding all. He saved me from my lost estate
is lovingkindness. Oh, how great. And I need to
show it forth in the morning and in the evening. His loving
kindness in the morning, his faithfulness every night. And
I see that in three stages, three applications, morning and night. In the morning and evening of
each day, I need to begin the morning praising the Lord. I need to close the day the same
way." That's what he said. Show forth his loving kindness
in the morning, his faithfulness every night. And our schedules
are all different, but that can be arranged. Our day should begin
with praise and petition, and our evening end with thanksgiving. It can be when you gather around
the breakfast table, have your meal to give thanks unto It can
be in the evening when you close your day with an evening meal
to give thanks unto God. But every day ought to begin
and end with thanksgiving for his lovingkindness and for his
faithfulness. And then, in the morning of your
life, young people, the scripture says, Remember thy Creator in
the days of your youth. Nobody here is too young to thank
God for his loving kindness. You look and see your parent
sitting there beside you, has something for which to give God
thanks. All the blessings he's given you, in the morning of
your life, in the early days of your life, in your youth,
give thanks for his loving kindness. And then, us folks should be
getting older, even down to old age. All my people shall prove
my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. And when holy hairs shall
their temples adorn, like lambs they shall still in my bosom
be born. It's time to praise the Lord
in the morning of life and in the evening years. And then another
application I see here. The other morning we got up and
while the coffee was making, Doris looked down and she said,
look at that sun coming up. Isn't that beautiful? Just kind
of refreshing time, isn't it? The sun rises and the dew's on
the grass and the birds are singing and it's a happy time. And so
in my mornings, when I'm happy and healthy and prosperous and
getting along fine, I need to sing of His loving kindness.
But then in the evening shadows, in the night of affliction, somebody
said as we get older the days get short and the nights get
long. You can't sleep, sorrow and trial. That's the time to
give thanks. Time to give thanks. So I'll
show his loving kindness in the morning and his faithfulness
no matter how dark it gets. I bless the Lord day or red for
us tonight in the study at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. And the humble shall hear thereof
and be all for glad. And the fragrance of it will be a fragrance of sweet smell
throughout the whole house. Verse 3, upon an instrument.
of ten strings, upon the psaltery, upon the harps, with a solemn
sound. Now David and his singers, this Asaph was the lead singer,
like our lead singer is Mike, but all the rest of us sing with
him. So Asaph and his singers, he delivered that psalm I read
a while ago to them. Well, they used estimates. They
used estimates. I know there's some of my brethren
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was one of them that wouldn't allow an
instrument of music in his church building. They never used any
kind of instrument. And when I read his writings
on this psalm today, he did everything in the world to convince me not
to use them. But he can't convince me when the Word of God says
over and over and over and over again. David played a guitar,
a lute, or something with strings, that's been sang. This thing
says the cornets and the trumpets and the organ and the lute and
the stringed instruments, get one with ten strings. But let
me tell you something, the instruments are to accompany the singing
and not to overwhelm it. Instruments are to accompany
singing, not overwhelm it. Sometimes I listen to these religious
things, I don't, well, I'm half deaf anyway, but if I could hear,
I couldn't hear what they're saying. Beblam, it's a dion of
racket. Instruments are to help us to
praise, not to substitute for our praise. Let's hear the voices. Let's hear the words. These are
words here. We need to hear the words. How
can we say amen if we can't hear the words? That's what he said
about speaking in an unknown tongue. How are they going to
say amen if they don't know what you're saying? See what I'm saying? If they don't know what you're
saying, how are they going to say amen? Don't overload us with music. Let's be careful to tune our
hearts to sing his praise just as careful as we tune our We're
very careful here to tune these instruments so they sing in tune.
We need to sing in tune to tune our hearts, to sing in tune. With a solemn sound. That word
solemn is worship. It's reference. No, you won't
hear any contemporary music here as long as this old gentleman's
in the pulpit. It's going to be scriptural music. Worship, worship, solemn sound,
serious sound, sincere sound, a sound of worship and reverence
and holiness before the Lord. God takes no pleasure in fools
and gets no delight out of their ramblings. Ah, the harp with
the solemn sound, strike a good note. For thou, Lord, listen.
Verse four, you have made me glad through your works. I'll
triumph in the work of your hands." I got an outline from an old
writer, I don't remember his name, couldn't pronounce if I
did, he was a Frenchman. But he preached a simple outline
from this verse of scripture. He had four points from verse
4. Four points in verse 4, a whole
sermon on verse 4. First of all, he called attention
to his state. He said, you've made me glad.
I'm glad. You remember that old song, Ronnie?
Oh, say but I'm glad. I'm glad. Jesus has come and
my cup's overrun. Oh, say but I'm glad. I'm glad. My outward man's perishing,
getting weaker every day, groaning, decaying, but my inward man is
renewed day by day, and it's awful glad. Awful glad. My state is I'm glad. Second
point he made was this, how did I come to be glad? He made me
glad. That's how I come, I'm glad.
Thy Lord has made me glad. Turn to Psalm 40 and David tells
us about that over here in Psalm chapter 40. He made me glad. He made me glad. Let's see what
he says about it here. Verse 1, I waited patiently for
the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry, and he brought
me up out of a horrible pit, horrible dungeon, out of the
miry clay, where my feet were down there in that slush and
filth, and set my feet on a rock and established my going and
put a new song in my mouth. And praise to our God, and many
shall see it, and fear, and trust in the Lord. Oh, blessed is that
man that makes the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lie. Now hang on right there now,
and I'll give you the next part. He says, Thou, Lord, hast made
me glad. And stay there now, I'm going
to read that verse forward. The third point he says, what's
the reason for my gladness? Here it is in verse 5, the work
of our Lord. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works, Psalm 40, verse 5, which thou hast done, and
thy thoughts which are to us with, they cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they more than can be numbered. What works is he talking
about? Creation? No. Providence? No. Salvation. Look at the next line. For sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened. Oh,
this Christ comes in here speaking. Burnt offerings and sin offerings
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book which is written of me. I delight to do thy will,
O my God. Thy law is within my heart. And
Paul picked up on that in Hebrews 10. You'll have to go to Hebrews
10 with me. He picked up on that in Hebrews
10, this marvelous work. Out where we left off, verse
9, Hebrews 10, remember I read, Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, the
first Adam, the first covenant, the first tabernacle, the first
priesthood. the first law, the first mercy
seat, our first nature, he takes away the first and establishes
the second, by which we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest handed daily
ministering, offering oft times the same sacrifices which can
never take away sin, but this man, Christ Jesus, my Lord, after
he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the
right hand of God, from his foes expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified." I'm glad. Who made you glad? The Lord thou hast made me glad. How do you make you glad? by
the wonderful works of redemption. That's how he made me glad. Thy
wonderful works. Through thy works. And listen
to this. What shall be the end of my gladness?
Verse 4, Psalm 92. Let's go back to the old man's
outline. Verse 4, Psalm 92. I'm glad. The Lord made me glad. He made
me glad through the work of redemption. And here is the end of my gladness. I shall triumph. I shall triumph
in the work of thy hands." In the work of whose hands? The Lord Jesus. Now, don't turn
to this, I've got it right here. And supper being ended, and the
devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's
son to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands. and that he was come from God
and went to God, arose and took a towel and washed his disciples'
feet." His hands. I'm glad. Who made you glad? The Lord did. How did he make
you glad? Through his work of redemption.
What's the triumph? I shall triumph in the work of
his hands. My Lord wrote out redemption. Let me read you one more verse
on that, Hebrews 2, verse 7. Verse 2, verse 7. Verse 2, verse 7. Verse 2, verse
7. And you put all things in subjection
unto his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
unto him, he left nothing that is not put unto him. Now you
don't see all things put unto him, but you see Christ, who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every son. For it became him
upon whom all things by whom are all things, by whom are all
things, and bringing many sons into glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through suffering. We have a right to
be glad. And we'll triumph in the work
of his hands. Verse 5, O Lord, how great are
thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep. O Lord, how great
are thy works. Oh Lord, it's just too much to
comprehend, how great are thy works. This is, David uses this
term frequently, oh Lord. Turn to Psalm 8 and listen to
him over here. David and Moses in his Psalms,
David and Moses both use this, oh Lord, oh Lord, how great are
thy works. My thoughts, thy thoughts are
very deep. Look at Psalm 8, "'O Lord, our
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set
thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies,
that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I
consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, the
stars, which thou hast ordained,' what is man? that I was mindful
of him, the Son of Man, that I visited him. And here's that
word again, I made him a little lower than the angels and crowned
him with glory. Oh, Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth. Oh, Lord. And then, let me just
read this to you over here in Romans 11. Paul is, oh, he said
the depths. Oh, oh, the depths of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments, his ways past finding out. For of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Oh,
Lord, how great are thy works and thy thoughts. Now I do want
you to turn to Psalm 139, because this This I want us to read together. O Lord, how great are thy works
and thy thoughts. Psalm 139, verse 14. I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works, that
my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret. curiously wrought in my mother's
belly. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect,
and in thy brood all my memories were written, which in continuance
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious
also are thy thoughts unto me!" Oh, God! Oh, God, how great this
is! Oh, Lord! He just keeps trying
to comprehend the greatness of God's works and his thoughts.
See that verse 5, Psalm 92? Oh Lord, how great, how great
are thy works, thy thoughts so very deep. Can't comprehend it,
thy works toward me and thy thoughts. Now watch verse 6. A brutish
man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. He's
not saying, oh God, how great are thy works. O God, how great
are thy thoughts to me!" The natural man doesn't see that.
The natural man knoweth not, he has no eyes to see God's power
and glory and greatness, or his redemptive glory in the face
of Christ. He has no ears to hear the words
and promises of God. He has no heart to understand
the mercy and goodness of God. He minds not the things of the
Spirit, but only that which affects his body. What a contrast between
verse 5 and 6. Look at it. Oh Lord, how great
are thy works, the wise man. How great are thy works, and
thy thoughts are very deep. Verse 6, the fool, a brutish
man, doesn't know it. A fool doesn't understand it.
From a worshipper to a boot. That's what you've got there.
And Spurgeon said this about that. The natural man sees nothing
of God's grace and mercy in Christ. The natural man receives it,
not the things of God. That's foolishness to him. His
preaching business is foolishness. His religious business is foolishness
to him. And even when it's pointed out
to him in plain language, plain scriptural language and plain
language, he can understand in his head He doesn't comprehend. He can't appreciate. He can't
rejoice. He can't say, Oh Lord, how great is thy marvelous work
and thy thoughts to me. How magnificent is thy grace
in Christ Jesus. He may be a philosopher. He may
be a teacher of men. He may be a scholar. But with
all his parade of intellect and his parade of boasting and human
acclaim, he doesn't understand the three most important things
in the whole world, the way, the truth, and the life. He's a brute. He's a brute. He's like a machine that just
operates. He's like an ox that works and
a dog that barks and a bird that feeds on dead things. He's a
brute. And God made man a little lower
than the angels, and most of them have been trying to get
a little lower than that ever since. They just keep getting lower
and lower and lower. There's a contrast in those two
verses, the wise man and the fool, the worshiper and the brute,
the spiritual man and the natural man. The man is overwhelmed by
the glory and goodness of God, and the man that can't see it,
hear it or understand it. Then he says this, and these
verses 7 through 9 give the destruction of these people. When the wicked
spring up as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do
flourish, there is one destiny. It is that they shall be destroyed. A natural man springs up, he's
born, and he develops, he gets stronger, he gets educated, he
gets a job, he gets importance, he makes a living, he keeps on
until he reaches his highest point. Like a flower, a flower,
we pick flowers today, they were little buds, and that bud will
grow and be a bloom, and it'll reach its highest point and it'll
start dying and start withering and in a couple of weeks it'll
be gone. And that's man. He's born, he springs up, he
develops, he grows in knowledge, strength, and vigor until he
reaches a point. He then begins, like the grass,
to die. He begins his downward road at
that 40 years old 39 or whatever it is. His health gradually declines,
his strength gradually goes, his mind begins to grow dull. His coordination and his gifts
gradually diminish until he's a goner. Gone. Destroyed forever. Not so with the believer. He
says verse 8, But thou, O Lord, art most high forevermore. He
is, and who is the Lord? The Lord Jesus. And his believers
are in him. And they're seated at the right
hand of God. And their outward man, yes sir,
their outward man decays. But not that inward man. No sir. Verse 9, Thine enemies, O Lord,
Thine enemies will perish, the workers of iniquity shall be
scattered, but me, verse 10, my horn My strength, my power,
my glory. That's my horn. That's what the
horn is. It's strength and power and glory. Shalt thou exalt like the horn
of a unicorn? Preacher, what on earth's a unicorn?
Well, the unicorn may have been, I said may have been, some gigantic
ox or buffalo. Now, its extent are unknown. But there was a time that it
evidently existed because the ancients, among the ancients,
it was a favorable symbol of unconquerable power, the unicorn,
the strength of the unicorn, the power of the unicorn. It
was a symbol, a favorite symbol of old writers, ancient writers
of uncontrollable power. And that's what he says, my horn
in Christ, status and station and standing in Christ, God will
exalt like the horn of a unicorn. It'll never diminish. In fact,
I'll be anointed every day with fresh oil until I wake with his
likeness. I'll see him and be like him.
And I don't know now, but I'll know then. I see fair glass dimly,
but then, face to face, I know in part, preach in part, understand
in part, but then I know like I've been known. Cecil, there
ain't going to be no forgetting that. I'll have all the answers
in him. I haven't reached my high point
yet. My high point will be when I
wake with his likeness. The believer is just moving on
up. The natural man, I pity him. Let him brag. But I'll visit him in the rest
home when he doesn't even know his name. That's right. He's on his way down. He reaches
a point and after that it's downhill. But verse 11, mine eyes, mine
eyes, here's the crescendo. My eyes shall see my desire of
my enemies, my ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that
rise up against me. The believer will be vindicated.
The preacher of grace will be vindicated. The believer in grace
will be vindicated. Every testimony you've ever given
and had people laugh at it, you'll be vindicated someday. Yes, you
will. God's going to see to that. And
the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. What does
verse 7 say about the natural man? He springs up as grass.
Grass. But the righteous are planted
as a tree. There's a whole lot of difference in grass and a
tree. A whole lot of difference. The
wicked spring up as grass and the righteous are planted like
a tree. The wicked are chaff which the wind blows away and
the righteous are trees planted by the rivers of water. The planting
of the Lord. Trees of righteousness. Trees,
mind you. He shall grow and flourish like
a cedar in Lebanon. What's one thing these two trees
have in common, a palm tree and a cedar tree? The palm tree grows in the desert,
hot, arid, baked, baked earth, but it's always green. A cedar
grows in the mountains where the snows of Lebanon, it's always
green. And God's trees are always green,
always living, always beautiful. In verse 13 it continues. Here's
the crescendo now. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord. Where are we planted? By trees
of living water. The grass springs up everywhere.
You run into grass everywhere, but trees are planted. These trees are planted in the
house of the Lord. In the courts of the Lord, because
he plants them, in the house of the Lord, in the courts of
the Lord, and the grass withers, that these trees flourish. What
does flourish mean? Blossom. It has several meanings. Abundantly break forth. They
flourish. Our Lord said, Every tree which
my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. like the
grass. Look at verse 14, these trees
are always green. In the house of the Lord, planted
there, they flourish, they blossom, they bloom, and they will bring
forth fruit in old age. You know the flesh now, the natural
man, the older he gets, the dumber he gets. The older he gets, the
more the flesh decays and diminishes and rots. But the older a believer
grows, the more mature, the more fruitful, the more strength,
the more blessings, the older he gets. He'll bring forth fruit
in his old age. In his old age, you haven't seen
an old gnarled apple tree that's bearing nothing but nubs. That's
not true of God's tree. That's not true of God's tree.
He says they'll bring forth fruit in their old age. There'll be
fat. Now, don't do anything with that
that you're not supposed to do. I know we get fat, don't we?
You know, we get fat. But this is not talking about
that fat, fat. This is talking about there'll
be fat, that is, there'll be full of sap, full of moisture. Not dried up. Angry, despondent,
bitter, no. Fat and sassy, that's a good
word right there. They'll be full of sap, full
of moisture, full of mercy, grace and mercy. The fruit is sweeter
as you get older. That's right. And the word flourishing,
always green, always green. planted to give shade to those
that are weary pilgrims that are passing by, an example. And
all of this to show that the Lord is upright, he's faithful. Every promise in the book is
divine, and every promise in the book in Christ is mine. He's faithful. He's my rock. There's no unrighteousness with
him, no. No unrighteousness. no failure,
no unfaithfulness. Even down to old age all my people
shall prove my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. And when white
hair shall their temples adorn like lambs, they shall still
in my bosom be born.