He Has Magnified His Name

Q: What does the Bible say about praising God?

The Bible emphasizes the importance of praising God wholeheartedly regardless of surrounding opposition. In Psalm 138, David expresses a commitment to praise God with his whole heart, indicating a total devotion that does not waver even in the face of false gods and religions. He recognizes the futility of these false worships and instead resolves to glorify the true God, affirming that no external pressure should dissuade him from worship. David’s determination to praise the Lord reflects a biblical principle that worship is a response of the heart, rooted in a firm commitment to acknowledge God's sovereignty and grace.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is evident in His control over all creation and His faithfulness to His promises. God's sovereignty is a fundamental doctrine affirmed throughout Scripture, including in Psalm 138 where David expresses trust in God's character. The psalm asserts that God's faithfulness and His Word are magnified above His name, indicating His power and control over all things. This idea is further illustrated by examples of how God responds to His people in their helplessness, showing that He governs their lives according to His divine plan. The consistent fulfillment of God's promises throughout history serves as a testament to His sovereignty.

Q: Why is God's faithfulness important for Christians?

God's faithfulness assures Christians of salvation and His unwavering promises. Christian faith rests on the understanding that God is faithful and will fulfill His promises. Psalm 138 beautifully illustrates this truth by emphasizing that God's Word is magnified above all else, signifying its foundational importance in the believer's life. God's unwavering faithfulness is the basis for salvation; it assures us that Christ, as the incarnate Word of God, achieved redemption through His sacrifice. Thus, for Christians, understanding God's faithfulness not only nurtures trust but also inspires them to witness His grace and mercy.

Q: How should Christians respond to false religions?

Christians should respond to false religions by boldly proclaiming the truth of God's grace. In a world filled with false religions and ideologies, Psalm 138 encourages Christians to stand firm in their faith and to respond with worship rather than debate. David exemplifies this approach by vowing to praise God with his whole heart in the presence of false gods. The key to addressing opposing beliefs lies in living out the truth of the Gospel and demonstrating the transformative power of Christ in one's life. By focusing on God’s grace and mercy, believers not only affirm their own faith but also set an example that can attract others to the truth of Christ.

All right, let's open our Bibles
tonight to Psalm 138. Psalm 138. First thing you'll notice when
you turn to Psalm 138 is it's a very short psalm. But it's a powerful psalm. it is a precious psalm. And by God's Spirit and grace,
when I finish speaking tonight from this psalm, you're going
to understand why I have chosen this for my text this evening. Let's read verses two and three
first. I will praise thee with my whole
heart before the gods. Little G, remember that. Before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. I will praise thy name for thy
lovingkindness and for thy truth. For thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou
answeredest me, and strengthenest me with strength in my soul." Now God's servant David wrote
this. And David was so weary and so
vexed with false gods, many false gods, and much false religion,
and false worship all about him. He was so weary and vexed with
it. In every nation and all about
him was the worship and the promotion of idolatry. false worship, false
gods, false religion, as there is all about us. And I know I speak for you as
well as for myself. I am weary of it. I am weary
and I'm vexed in my spirit with the false gods. Aren't you? Impotent
gods. False Will worship. Aren't you tired of listening
to it, hearing it, reading about it, hearing people talk like
they talk on the job, on the streets, in their homes, various
events, a false gospel, an impotent God, and will worship. But David
was vexed with it and weary with it. Now what will David do? What will David do? What will
we do? We're in the same situation.
Much religion, many gods, false worship. Well, he starts out
in verse 1. He says, I'll praise thee with
my whole heart. I will praise thee with a firm,
my whole heart, he said, I will praise thee. No divided allegiance
here. No divided heart here. No double
vision here. I will praise thee with my whole
heart. A firm, total commitment to the Lord Jesus. The Apostle
Paul starts out Romans with that very word. He said, Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, a servant of Jesus Christ, a servant of
Jesus Christ. call to be an apostle, separated
to the gospel. I think there's some preachers
and some people who are going to come to the end of life, yea,
even to my age, they're going to regret a divided loyalty. David said, with all of the false
gods and idols and idolatry about me, I'm going to praise thee
with my whole heart, my whole being, my whole soul, everything I've got, I'm going
to praise the Lord. In whatever situation, I read
on as he goes a little further, before these false gods and before
these false religions and before this world worship, before the
gods, I'm going to sing praise to thee. Why should the presence
of these false religions and false gods and false worships
intimidate us? Wherever we are, with whomever
we are, surrounded by whatever Why should the presence of these
false gods rob Jehovah of the glory and praise due his name
from his child? David said, I'll not cease to
praise thee just because I'm in the presence of false gods
and false worshipers. I will not cease to praise thee
with the praise with which thou ought to be praised because of
fleshly demonstration. Do they deny God's sovereignty?
How more bold is Stanford? That's what he's saying. Before
these gods. He says, I'm going to praise
you with my whole heart. My whole heart. And before these
gods, these false gods, and this false religion, I'm going to sing praise to thee. Do they deny the deity of our
Redeemer? I'll more fervently adore him.
Do they despise the effectual atonement? I'll more constantly
proclaim it. Do they exalt the will and works
of the flesh? I'll preach the gospel of God's
sovereign grace. That's what I'll Now, bitterness
and debate is not the way of our God. The wrath of man does
not work the righteousness of God. It doesn't do any good for
me to try to put them out of business by debate and argument. It'll just advertise heresy. Controversy advertises heresy. The best way for you and for
me to answer them to be an answer to the false religion and false
gods, is to personally worship the Lord our God with such a
zeal and dedication, and preach and witness of his great grace
and mercy on Christ with more boldness." That's what David
said. That's what he said right there.
I'm encompassed with error. I'm encompassed with false gods. and false religions. But I will
at this time praise thee, the living God with my whole heart,
and before the gods I'll sing praises to thee." One old writer
said, I want you to consider this, if half the time that men
have spent in debate over religion and controversy and counsels,
if half that time had been spent praising God and preaching his
gospel, the church today would be sounder and stronger than
it is. Think about it. This is the way. I'm confident this is the way. Mr. Spurgeon summed it up in
a most simple illustration. He said, is a stick crooked? put a straight one down beside
it. Is a stick crooked, lay a straight
one down beside it. And any man of a sound mind will
see the crooks in the stick. And instead of advertising the
heresy, David says, before these gods and false religions, religionists,
with my whole heart I'll praise And I'll sing praise to thee.
Now look at the next verse. I'll worship toward thy holy
temple. Here's David. Now remember who's
writing this, David. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. Stop and think for a moment.
The temple hadn't even been built. Solomon built the temple. But
the tabernacle was out there. And the ark and the mercy seat
was out there somewhere. And what David is saying is this
tabernacle with its mercy seat and sacrifices and priesthood
is a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the one
to whom I look. I look to the mercy seat. And
that's Christ. David's saying this very thing.
I'll look to the mercy seat. I'll look to Christ Jesus. I'll
look to him. The temple was a type of our
Lord Jesus Christ, therefore we find David worshiping with
his eye on the temple, the mercy seat, with his eye to Christ. Jonah, what did Jonah say? Jonah,
down in the belly of the wave, down in the darkness of the fish's
belly. What did Jonah say? Seaweed is
about me, the iron bars are closed, the darkness is about me, yet
will I look toward the holy temple. I will look for help and mercy,
and the only place it can be found, Christ Jesus. Mercy seat,
that's right. Daniel. We find Daniel opening
his windows toward the mercy seat, toward the temple, in the
direction of the temple, and three times a day, praying in
that direction. Was he an idolater? No, sir.
He was looking to where the mercy seat was, where the sacrifice
of blood was put. on the broken lot. Christ is our altar, our mercy
seat, our temple, our tabernacle, our sacrifice, our priest. If
Christ turned for just a moment to Hebrews
8, listen to this, Hebrews chapter 8, Hebrews 8, verse 1 and Now of the things which we have
spoken, this is the psalm. We have such a high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, true
temple, which the Lord picked, not a man. Hebrews 12, turn over
there, just a moment, Hebrews 12. verse 2, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. So we look to
Christ. What are we going to do in this
day of famine, idolatry, willed worship, false gods? Praise the
Lord with our whole more boldly, powerfully, before the gods,
sing praises to him. Turn our faces toward Christ,
and look at the next line, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth. What is our song? Love and truth,
grace and truth. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth came by our Lord Jesus Christ. That's our message, love
and truth, his loving kindness and his truth. Now think about
this a moment. John in 2 John talked a lot about
love and truth, truth and love, love and truth. I praise God
for his love. He loved us, here in his love,
not that we loved God, but he loved us and gave his son propitiation
for our sins. We love him because he first
loved us. He said, I've loved you with an everlasting love.
I've always loved you. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn you. Love, the love of God, how rich,
how pure, how measureless, how strong. But we praise him for
his lovingkindness and his truth. You see, his truth in which his
love is revealed in action. according to his character and
his attributes. God's grace and love must be
demonstrated and manifested in agreement with his character.
God's love cannot be demonstrated apart from the truth of God's
righteousness and holiness. So that's what he's saying. I
praise you, O God, for your loving kindness and your truth. There
are a lot of preachers today talking about God's love, but
they don't preach Christ's sacrifice and Christ's righteousness and
Christ's blood in its effectual work and application. And you can't have the love of
God. It's like they say, God loves
everybody. It's impossible. God loves meaning
Christ. in truth. A God who can love
men out of Christ and in sin and rebellion is not a God of
truth. Hang with me just a moment to
Psalm 85. Look at this. This lends meaning
to this verse over here in Psalm 85, verse 10. It says, "...mercy and truth
are met together." Where did mercy and truth meet? In Christ, on the cross, in his
satisfying justice and the law of God. That's where mercy and
truth, the only place he can meet together, where God can
be just and justify, where God can forgive sin because sin is
paid for through the blood of Christ. Read on. Righteousness,
holiness, strict holiness, and peace have kissed each other.
Well, there's no place that can be except Calvary. You understand
what we're saying? God's love cannot be preached
apart from Christ. God's love cannot be preached
apart from God's holiness. It's a holy love. And God loved us in Christ. He
chose us in Christ. He regarded us in Christ. He
accepted us in Christ. He redeemed us in Christ. He
forgave us in Christ. He can look with satisfaction
upon us in Christ because Christ fulfilled all that his law and
justice required and demanded of us. So I thank you, he said,
for your love and for your truth. We worship God in spirit and
truth. Man can't just stand on a street
corner and holler, Jesus. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, let's read on here.
I read this Sunday, and here's another thing I'll do. Rejoice
in that you have magnified your word above your name. You have magnified your word
above your name. Here's what that says. God's
faithfulness and word, God's word, is so dear to that his
own Son, the sole revelation of himself, is called the Word
of God. Christ is the Word of God, the
incarnate Word of God. Thou hast magnified thy Word
above thy name, and his Word, his faithfulness in his Word
is so dear to him that the Son of God is called the Word of
God, and God's faithfulness is so dear to him that he is exalted
in it above all other attributes. God's faithfulness His holiness
and faithfulness is one and the same. His holiness, his integrity,
his faithfulness, God's word. And we see this even to an extent
in some men. There are men right here in this
room that would give up their property or even their lives
rather than forfeit their word. They would give up their property
and their lives rather than forfeit their word. Their word is so
important to them. Their word is their integrity.
And they're not going to part with it. They're doubtful they'll
part with it. Well, think on an infinite scale of our God. See, that's the basis of Abraham's
faith. He believed that God would do
what he said. That's the basis of his faith.
He not only believed God would do, he believed God could do
what he said. God's faithfulness. And listen,
what a firm salvation is ours which rests upon that which is
magnified above his name. And that's his word. Our salvation
is based on God's said it. You know, Russell read a scripture
tonight. In Psalm 116, David said, I believe,
therefore have I spoken. He believed what? He believed
God. And that gives you a reason to speak. In hope of eternal
life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. Paul repeated that, I believe,
therefore have I spoken. Let me tell you something. You can't stress too strongly
the integrity of this Word. God said it, God will do it.
You can rest on that. You can rest on that. What am
I going to do in the face of all this uncertainty around me?
I'm going to praise God with all my heart. And before these
false religions, I'm going to take a firmer, stronger stand
and praise I'm going to turn my eyes to Christ and keep them
on that Christ. My altar, my temple, my tabernacle,
my mercy seat, my sacrifice, my mediator. I'm going to rejoice
in God's love and God's truth in Christ Jesus. Christ is the
truth. Christ is God's love manifested
in God's truth. And I'm going to rest on his
word which is magnified above his name. And then he said this. I'm going to ask you something
here. What better answer do you have for false gods and false
religion and false gospel than your own experience? The man who was blind, Christ
healed him. And these Pharisees got around
him. Yeah, yeah, boy, they got all around him. And they had
a lot to say. And you know how he quieted them?
He said, I was blind, and now I see. And that's something you
boys can't handle. I don't know what you got to
say, but I do know this. I was blind, and he made me see. They said, what you doing? He
said, another man said, what are you doing carrying your bed?
The one that made me whole, he told me to carry my bed. You
can't handle that. And that's what David's saying
right here. Listen, verse 3, in the bed when I cried, I cried
out of the depths, I cried out of my helplessness, I cried out
of my sin, I cried out of my inability, I cried, and listen,
and you answered me. And you strengthened me with
a strength in my soul. I've experienced all that. You try to talk this American
woman out of her relationship with Christ.
You try to talk Zacchaeus. Talk to him about works and will
worship. Talk to the man in the tomb that's
cutting himself, chained, and nobody could conquer him, and
Christ set him free. Talk to him. These folks don't
need a creed or a catechism. or a book on systematic theology
to keep them from well-worship. Talk to the thief on the cross.
Talk to Saul of Tarsus. When all this false religion
moves around, and I know folks say, oh boy, they say a lot of
good things. They don't say good things, they say rotten things. I know, but boy, I tell you,
they got something going. They got crowds. They got crowds
of idolaters. I know what God did here. I know He did it. He did it by
His grace. He did it without any help from
me. And He did it through Christ. I know. I know. That's what David's saying, and
that day I cried, and you answered me, and you strengthened me with
a strengthened muscle. And ain't nobody going to shake
that. I know that. All right, and that's what Paul
did. When Paul got before those fellows,
he told them what the Lord had done for him. He told them what
the Lord had done for him. He said, I was just like you
fellas, I was in religion, I persecuted this way, but I was on my way
to Damascus and a light shone in heaven and crippled me and
blinded me and unhorsed me and put me in the dust. And I said,
who are you, Lord? He told me who he was. And he
gave me eyes to see. And then he says in verse 4,
all the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they
hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways
of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. All the kings
of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord. I don't know how to deal
with that. I looked at that a long time.
I can tell you what I do know about it. There'll be a day when every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he's Lord.
I know that. Secondly, I know that very few
kings and noble men and wise men of the earth and rulers have
believed on Christ. Perhaps two scriptures will help
us to understand what this is saying. All the kings of the
earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy
mouth. Turn to Psalm 102. Let's see
what this says. We have a reference to Psalm
102, verse 15. It says, so the heathen shall
fear the name of the Lord. False. Gods will be denied by some of
the Gentiles, Gentile kings and Gentile rulers. Heathen. And all the kings of the earth.
Thy glory." There may be some help there. It may be that the
Lord is saying there that these kings and rulers and great men
and princes of the Gentiles will praise the Lord. Here's another
verse over in 1 Timothy, chapter 2. Listen to this. 1 Timothy,
chapter 2, verse 1. 1 Timothy 2, verse 1. Paul writing to Timothy says
this. I exhort therefore that first
of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks
be made for all men, all sorts of men, all sorts of men. For kings, for kings, those in authority,
all that are in authority, pray for them. that we may live a
quiet, peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. This is
good and acceptable in sight of God our Savior, who will have
all sorts of men to be saved, kings and those in authority
and peasants and men in poverty or whomever, and to come to the knowledge
of the truth. The Lord has a people. Maybe that's what Psalm 138 is
saying, In verse 4 there, the kings of the earth, and all sorts
of men, and rulers, and just because a man's a king doesn't
mean he can't bow to Christ. He can't hear the gospel. Somebody said, the bigger they
are, the harder they fall. It just may be God is pleased
to... He did solitarsis. There wasn't a prouder, more
arrogant Pharisee on this earth than Solitarsis, and God brought
him there. But I do know this, this is for
sure. back to our text, Psalm 138, verse 4. I know that whether
they're kings or religious leaders or whomever, all that hear his
word will praise him. All that are enabled of the Spirit
of God to hear his gospel will know the Lord and praise our
God. All who hear him will believe him, and all who believe him
will praise That's right. All who hear him will believe
him, all who believe him will praise him. Somebody says, you
believe this man believes the gospel of grace but doesn't preach
it? No, I do not. All who hear him will praise
him. All who hear him will praise him when they hear the words
of thy mouth. Yea, and they shall sing in the
ways of the Lord. They find pleasure in the ways
of the Lord. They don't go looking for it
anywhere else. They sing and preach of the ways of the Lord,
and they rejoice in the Lord of the way, for great is his
glory. All right, let's look at verse
6. This is such a blessing here. David says, Though the Lord be
high. How would you like to kind of,
to be kind of, how would you like to have to
Describe how high he is. How would you like that assignment?
Though the Lord be high, how impossible to imagine his majesty,
splendor, and glory, greatness. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up. His glory filled the temple. And all the seraphims covered
their faces and covered their feet and cried, holy, holy, holy. Paul said, how unsearchable are
the riches of his glory. Job said, can you by searching
find out God, though he be high? Jehovah is higher than the highest.
Listen. hath he respect to the lowly." That's good news. He loves sinners.
That's talking about us. Now as he is, he has respect
to the lowly. He loves sinners. He thinks upon
them. He came to redeem them. He hears
their cry. He has respect to the lowly. I read that scripture not long
ago and preached from it, when blind Bartimaeus, and you can't imagine the poverty
of that blind man back in those ancient days when there were
no programs for people like him, in his helplessness and dirt
and beggar, and he cried and Jesus stood still, Jehovah stood
still. Oh, the condescension of our
Lord. But listen, but the proud, he
knoweth afar off. A glance from afar reveals their
offensiveness. He has no fellowship with them,
but he views them from a distance. But the lowly, he comes where
they are, identified with them, bone of their bone, flesh of
their flesh, with compassion on them, and gives himself part
of them, numbered with the transgressors. He who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, took on himself
the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of flesh, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross for the
lowly, for the humble, for the despised, for sinners who know
their need. But the pride he views from afar. He doesn't
need to get any closer to smell them, their arrogance and their
pride. Nothing to do with them, and
no fellowship with them. That ought to answer the question
about, is his death, did he die for everybody, did he die for
all men? No, he didn't die for the proud,
he died for the lowly. No, the Lord doesn't have respect
for the proud, he has respect for the lowly. hates six, seven things. Solomon
said one of them is a proud lute. Hates it. Though he be so high,
he has respect to the Lord. Look at verse seven. Though I
walk in the midst of trouble. Believers are a few days and
full of trouble. They walk in the midst of trouble.
But watch this, they keep walking. They don't stop. They walk right
in the midst, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I walk in the midst of trouble, I keep walking. And believers
have comfort in their troubles, for thou wilt revive me and refresh
me in my troubles. And our enemies will be dealt
with by our Lord, and thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against
the wrath of my enemies. Vengeance is not mine, I don't
have to repay, God will. He'll remove my enemies in due
time. I don't need to give you examples
of that. You've seen enough of that through the years of those
who hated the gospel of God's grace. And where are they? Where are they? Those who lifted
their fist against it, lifted their hand to vote against it,
lifted their voices to speak against it, kept back their offerings to
prevent its progress. You don't have to answer them,
you don't have to deal with them. He said, I walk in the midst
of trouble, harassment, persecution, hatred for the gospel I believe,
and the gospel I preach, and the gospel I cherish and love.
But you'll refresh me, you'll revive me, and you'll stretch
forth your hand in due time. The scripture said their foot
will slide in due time. They stand on slippery places.
They don't know it. They think they stand firm, but
they're on slippery places. It's just like ice. You know, you can walk on ice, but you
better not make a false step. You can stand on it a little
while. You can be real cocky, but just kind of slip, move just
a little bit, and you're down, you're gone. They walk in slippery
places, and their foot will slide in due time. You watch them,
they stand, they look like their eyes bug out. David said in Psalm
73, they look prosperous and fat and all this sort of thing,
but you look down and they're standing on ice. And when he
gets ready, they'll move. Their foot will slide. Yeah,
don't worry about it. And listen, your right hand will
save me. We're not speaking in a cocky
fashion. The only thing that saves us
is Christ, his right hand. I'm not saved by how I stand
or how long I stand. I'm saved by upon whom I stand. That's right. Or who stands for
me. or who enables me to stay. Your right hand, your right hand
will save me, your right hand will save me. Isn't this comforting?
One more verse, just one more verse. The Lord will perfect
that which concerneth me. What concerns me? What really
concerns me? That I may win Christ and be
found in Him. that I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection, that I may attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. He's going to do it. He's going to perfect all
of that which really concerns me. I read a story about a medieval chemist, wizard, a fellow that made the concoctions,
you know. He tried to discover a way to
turn a grain of lead into gold. He worked his whole life to turn
a grain of lead into gold. Because he knew, could he do
it, that he would one day turn all the lead in the world to
gold. But he found that the first step
was the most difficult one of all. He never got past the first,
he never got the first grain. He knew if he could get one grain
turned into gold, he could get all the rest of it into gold,
but he couldn't do that. So I tell you, if God is able,
in that first glorious day of regeneration, to change you and
me from enemies to sons, and from hating him to loving him,
And from doubting him to trusting him, he'll one day take everything
about me and change it into the image of his son, perfection. All he has to do is that first
step, and that he that hath begun a good work in you will finish
it. It'll all be precious gold someday. My problem, John, is I couldn't
change that first step. Could you? He did, and he'll
change all the rest of it. He's going to perfect it. So
listen, O Lord, thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever, forsake not
the work of thine own hands. Don't behold in me my work, behold
in me thy work. And the work which his goodness
began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise in
Christ is yea and amen, never was forfeited yet. May God bless
His word, our prophet.

He Has Magnified His Name

What does the Bible say about praising God?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is God's faithfulness important for Christians?

How should Christians respond to false religions?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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He Has Magnified His Name

What does the Bible say about praising God?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is God's faithfulness important for Christians?

How should Christians respond to false religions?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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