Turn with me this morning, if
you will, in your Bibles to Psalm 33. The title of my message today is
The Blessed Nation. The Blessed Nation. And my text
is verse number 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. But before we come to the text,
I would like to read through the preceding verses and make
a few comments. Verses one and two, the righteous. are encouraged to rejoice and
praise the Lord for this is comely for the upright. Rejoice in the
Lord, O you righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp, sing
unto him with psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Those who are righteous are those
who have been justified. And oh, how the righteous should
rejoice, because we realize it is only through God's grace in
sending Christ into this world, his son, into this world, to
be our righteousness, that we are righteous. And this is one
great difference between the righteous and the unrighteous,
between the saved and the wicked. That is the righteous praise
and worship God for his justifying righteousness. And then in verse
three, the righteous are exhorted to sing unto him a new song. Sing unto him a new song, play
skillfully with a loud noise. Where, how, and when does anyone
get a new song? We'll turn over just a few pages
to Psalm number 40, verses two and three. He brought me up. He did. God did. The Lord did. I didn't bring myself up. I didn't
pull myself up with my own bootstraps. No, he brought me up out of a
horrible pit, a pit of sin, a pit of depravity, a pit of ungodliness. pit of vileness, wickedness,
evil. That's where I was. He brought
me up, also, out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see and fear
and shall trust in the Lord. Now back to the psalm. So the
righteous are exhorted to sing unto him a new psalm. And that
new song is a song of redemption. Victory in Jesus. Victory in
Jesus. They were playing that hymn before
the Sunday school began this morning. I heard an old, old
story. How the Lord came from glory. Amen? Amen. Verse four, the righteous are
reminded that the word of God is right. For the word of the
Lord is right, and all his works are done in truth. In Psalms 119, the psalmist said,
I esteem all, all thy precepts concerning all things to be right,
and I hate every false way. I was reading this past week
in Lorraine Boettner's book, Studies in Theology, this statement,
and I quote, in the year 1861, the French Academy of Science
published a list of 51 so-called scientific facts, each of which
it was alleged disproved some statement in the Bible. Today,
the Bible remains as it was then, but not one of those 51 so-called
facts of science is held by men of science. The word of the Lord
is right, is right. In verse 5, the righteous are
reminded that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Sometimes people will say, well,
how could this happen and God be good? How could a good God
allow this to happen? My friends, the earth is filled
with the goodness of the Lord. If men just had eyes to see,
if they just had spiritual eyes, spiritual understanding to see
that the earth, and it's God's earth, It's God's Son. It's God's reign. Everything
in this world is His. He created it. The only thing
that man can call his own is his sin. That's not good. But the goodness of the Lord
is seen all around us. And then in verses six through
nine, the righteous are reminded that the Lord's work in creation
should cause men to stand in awe of him. By the word of the
Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath
of his mouth. We should stand in awe of God
as we look up into the heavens and see that all of this was
created by the breath, by the word of God. God said, all things
came into existence. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as an heap. Who is it that causes the waters
to ascend into the clouds and moves the clouds and causes it
to rain here and not rain there? Who does all this? Are there
just certain laws? in creation that causes this,
or is God active in His creation? Of course He is. Of course He
is. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. When we see His creation, our
Lord said, behold the lilies of the field. Just to see His
creation, the plant creation, what He hath done, the animal
creation, what God hath wrought. These things we should observe,
and as we do, We should stand in awe of Him who is the creator
of all things, and we live and move, and we have our being in
Him. Every breath that we are given,
He gives it. Every movement that we make,
He allows. For He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. Light be. That's the way it is written
in the Hebrew text, isn't it? Light be. Let there be light. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. And he said, let there be light. Light be. And light is. Light was. He spake. He commanded. And it stood fast. In verse 10, the righteous are
reminded that the counsel and devices of the wicked are of
none effect. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. Man plans and he schemes and
God brings it to naught. Look back to Psalm 2, just as
an example of this, Psalm chapter 2. What are the heathen rage and
the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord. and against
his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cards from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. The counsels and the plans and
devices of the wicked are of none effect. Then shall he speak
unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. He has set his king, the Lord
Jesus Christ, upon his holy hill of Zion. And all the inhabitants
of the earth, the rulers, the Gentiles, and the Israelites,
and the civil rulers were all set to destroy him. Crucify Him. And they did crucify Him. They
fulfilled God's purpose and God's will. God has set Him now at
His own right hand on the throne of everlasting sovereignty. In verse 11, back in Psalm 33,
in verse 11, the righteous are encouraged in knowing that the
counsel of the Lord stands forever. In Ephesians 1, Paul declared,
in whom, that is in Christ, also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now we have come to our text,
verse 12. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord, and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Tomorrow will mark the 246th
anniversary since the Declaration of Independence of our nation,
declaring our independence from Great Britain. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if it was this nation that this text was speaking about?
Wouldn't it be wonderful? Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord. But this nation that our text
is speaking about doesn't fly a flag at the United Nations. It's not listed in all the nations
of the world. This nation is a spiritual nation. And I want us to turn now, if
you will, to 1 Peter 2 and read about this nation that is blessed. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, here it is, and holy nation, a peculiar people
that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time
past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Let me mention several things
that are true about this nation whose God is the Lord. First, every nation has a foundation. It may have been one man or it
may have been a group of men known as the founding fathers
of that nation. Our nation, there were 56 men
who signed the Declaration of Independence. And most of those
men were wealthy men, not all of them, but most of them were
wealthy men, and they spent their fortune in supporting the army,
and most of them lost all of their material wealth in this
world in founding this nation in which we live. I think it's
a shame that most of us do not know as much as we should about
the sacrifices that those men made. But many of them lost everything
they had in this world. You know, the John Hancock, he
signed his name in such big letters, didn't he? So the king, it is
said, so the king of England would not need to put his spectacles
on to see his name. But when they signed their name,
they were pledging their everything, their honor, their sacred honor,
and their wealth. to get and win independence. They were founders. They were
founders, rather, of this nation. We speak of George Washington
as being the father of our country, but there were actually many
men who were founders of this nation. Every nation has a foundation,
and this nation, who is God, The nation that God calls blessed
is a nation whose God is the Lord has one founder, has one
foundation who is called the stone, the rock, the stone. And I want you to notice in verse
eight here in first Peter, we read a stone of stumbling and
a rock of offense. When you stumble on a stone,
when you stump your toe on a stone, that stone is usually on the
ground, isn't it? On the floor, in a low place. That causes us to think about
the fact that he who was rich, who is God the eternal son, came
into this world as a man, and he came as a poor man. as a lowly
man, and that was an offense to the nation of Israel. They
stumbled when their king came riding on the foal of an ass
into Jerusalem. They expected a king, a messiah
that would come with all the worldly power and circumstance
and pomp that goes with great men of this world. And the Lord
Jesus Christ came as a man who was poor and lowly, and they
stumbled at that. He was a rock of offense. But we know that he is God's
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every member of this nation whose
God is the Lord is built upon Him. When our Lord in His Sermon
on the Mount ended that wonderful, wonderful message, He spoke,
He illustrated it by those who hear His sayings and do them
by two men. One man built his house upon
the sand, And one man built his house upon the rock. And the
rains came, the winds came, and the house that was built upon
the sand, you know, it was destroyed. It was taken away. But that man
whose house was built upon the rock It withstood the trials,
the afflictions that are surely to come in this world. But the
founder, the foundation of this nation whose God is the Lord,
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And every person here today,
it behooves us. It is all important that every
one of us know, not hope, Not say, well, I hope so, but
know that we know that we are founded today upon that rock,
upon Christ, the Lord. For other foundation no man can
lay. There's one name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. That's the name of
Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that's the first thing about
this nation whose God is the Lord. It has one foundation,
one founder, the Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, every nation has
citizens. And I want to mention seven truths
about the citizens of this nation whose God is the Lord. Every
citizen of this nation is chosen. Notice that in verse 9, 1 Peter
chapter 2 and verse 9. But you are a chosen generation,
chosen. Every citizen of this nation
whose God is the Lord is chosen, chosen by God. We're not ashamed
of the Bible teaching the Bible doctrine of election. I'm not
ashamed to confess I believe in God's unconditional election,
because my friends, if we deny that truth, then we are denying
the grace of God. For by grace are you saved, the
scripture says. And if we do not believe in the
doctrine, the truth of the fact that God chose those whom he
saves, Then salvation isn't by grace. We make ourselves to differ
when the scripture is very clear. Who hath made thee to differ? God has. God does. You might say, Preacher, why
do you emphasize this so much? Well, I'll tell you why I do.
Because if we do not realize this and emphasize this, we will
be robbing God. We will be robbing God of praise. Will a man rob God? Every preacher
who denies the truth of God's unconditional election and says
that it is man that makes the decision, makes the choice, it's
not God, is robbing God of His glory. And God will not share
His glory with another. He just will not do that. Every
member of this nation is chosen And every citizen of this nation
whose God is the Lord is born a citizen. In verse three of
chapter one, the apostle said, blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again. Every citizen of this nation
whose God is the Lord is born a citizen. Born again. In Philippians 3, the apostle
said, we know that our citizenship is in heaven. Every one of us
here today who are citizens of this nation, we have our citizenship. And everyone who is a citizen
of this nation whose God is the Lord, we have our citizenship. And our citizenship is in heaven,
the scripture says in Philippians 3, for our conversation, that
is citizenship, is in heaven from whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The new birth is from heaven. When our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. This new birth is from above. It's a work of God, born of water
and of the Spirit, the Word and the Spirit. We're born citizens of this nation. Our citizenship is in heaven. And every person to be a part
of this nation whose God is the Lord must be born again. You say, Preacher, what does
that mean to be born again? It means that God must work a
work of grace in our hearts and give us a new heart. It gives
us a new nature. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? Do you? Flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto thee. Simon? But my father, which is
in heaven, a new birth. God gives a new nature. And we
have faith and repentance. We have a new man living within,
new desires. Oh, we still have the old man.
There's no doubt about that. There's a continuous warfare. in us between the flesh and the
spirit, that spirit which is a new man produced by being born
again of the spirit of God. But every member, every citizen
of this nation whose God is the Lord is born a citizen. Number
three, every citizen of this nation whose God is the Lord
is kin to every other citizen We're all kin, right? We're all
kin to each other. That word in verse nine, generation,
where you are a chosen generation, that Greek word that's translated
generation there, it's used 19 times in the New Testament. But
it's only this one time translated generation. It is two times translated
nation, but most of the time it is translated kindred or kin. Every citizen is kin. We're all kin who are members
of this nation. We all have the same father. We all have the same father.
We've all been born of the same spirit. That is God, the Holy
Spirit. And we all have the Lord Jesus
Christ as that friend that sticketh closer than a brother. That brother
which is born for adversity. We're all kin. Number four, every citizen of
this nation whose God is the Lord is a priest. It's a priest,
a royal priesthood. Look at that in verse nine. But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. That is a
kingdom of priest. This is what we read in Revelation
1, verses five and six. Unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins and his own blood and hath made us kings
and priests unto God and his father. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. A priest, if you're a child of
God this morning, if you're a citizen of this nation, you are a priest. And a priest is called to offer
sacrifices. What kind of sacrifices? Not
blood sacrifices. We're not offering blood sacrifices,
are we? Why? Because by His one offering,
that one offering, that one blood sacrifice of the body of Jesus
Christ on the cross, He hath put away the sins of His people
forever. But the sacrifices which we offer
are spiritual sacrifices. Verse number nine, we are to
show forth the praises of him. And number five, every citizen
of this nation whose God is the Lord is a saint, a saint. That's that word holy in verse
nine, a holy and holy nation. That same word is sometimes translated
holy, sometimes translated saint. It means, of course, separated,
doesn't it? The Apostle Paul usually began
his letters to the churches addressing the saints, the saints to whom
he wrote. They've all been separated. Don't
you love it when you see these politicians, they get caught
in a lie or something and they say, well, I never said I was
a saint. They don't realize. what the term really means, do
they? They don't realize what that
means. Every child of God is a saint. It's not after you die
and some man over there in Rome and some commission tries to
figure out that you've performed some miracles sometime in your
life that we're gonna canonize you and make you a saint. Oh
no! Called to be saints when a person
is called by the Spirit of God and given new life. We're saints. We're set apart. We've been separated. We live in this world, but we
are no more of the world. Number six, every citizen of
this nation whose God is the Lord is called out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Do you see that at the end of
verse nine? You should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. How dark was that darkness? How dark was that darkness? It was so dark, my friends, that we could not even see the
light. That's what it says in the first
chapter of John. It was the darkness in which
we were born, in which we came into this world. I'm talking
about spiritual darkness. Men may have a lot of light in
the sciences and the knowledge of this world. but yet be blind
spiritually. And that darkness is a kingdom. It's a kingdom of darkness. And
I tell you who reigns over that kingdom, Satan does. We were
under his power, under his dominion. We were the children of wrath,
even as others. And it took power It took power,
the same power, the same almighty power that raised the body of
the Lord Jesus Christ that day out of the tomb. It takes that
same power to call a sinner out of darkness into his marvelous
light. And oh, how marvelous is the
light. How marvelous is the light. Because you see, the light is
Jesus Christ. He is the light who loved us
and gave himself for us. And lastly, number seven, every
citizen of this nation whose God is the Lord has obtained
mercy. Verse 10. which in time past
were not a people, but now are the people of God, which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Don't you love
the subject, the doctrine of mercy? I do, I do. It's right up there with grace,
isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to distinguish. Mercy is God not giving us what
we deserve, and grace is God giving us what we don't deserve. Depth of mercy, can there be? Mercy still reserved for me. Can my God his wrath forbear? And I, the chief of sinners,
spare. Oh, we've tasted that the Lord
is good, that his mercy endureth forever, that he delighteth in
mercy. One of the men here in the church
told me a couple of weeks ago after the message, it really
is true, isn't it, preacher, that he's more ready to save
sinners than sinners are to be saved. I said, I believe it with
all my heart. He's more ready to say, if you're
here today without Christ as your Lord and Savior, perish
the thought that he would not have mercy on you. He delights
in mercy. Judgment is a strange work, the
scripture says unto him. And the mercy of the Lord is
forever, and his mercies are new every morning. Oh, we love
to talk about, sing about the mercies. I will sing of the mercies
of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
His faithfulness to all generations. Let me give you these last two
points. Number three, every nation has laws. Every nation has laws. And the laws of this nation,
whose God is the Lord, All the laws are based on these two principles,
love to God and love to our neighbors. All the laws of this nation,
they're all based on those two principles. And the last thing,
the fourth thing, every nation has a language. Every nation
has a language. What is the language? that is
common to the citizens of this nation whose God is the Lord.
You say, well, some speak Spanish, some speak English, some speak
Chinese, some speak German, some speak Portuguese and other languages
of the world. What is the language of this
nation? It is a language called love,
L-O-V-E. And this is a language that may
be spoken with or without words. It is spoken by kindness. It's spoken by tenderness. It's
spoken by compassion. Remember the apostle Paul said,
though I speak with the tongue, of men and of angels, the languages
of men and of angels, and have not charity, have not love, I'm
become a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord. I'm thankful, I'm thankful this
morning, I know you are as well, that we live in the country,
we do. We've been blessed greatly. Those of us who are parents,
we've never witnessed our children starving to death. We've always
had plenty of food, haven't we? We have medical help, the best
in the world. We've been blessed in so many
ways by being born in this country, by being citizens of this nation. But there's no blessing compared
to this nation whose God is the Lord. Every benefit, every blessing. And we've got all eternity to
enjoy it. All eternity to enjoy it. Well, I pray God would bless
this word to each one of us. And remember, we will not have
a service