If you will, look with me tonight
to Psalm 89. Psalm 89. First thing that we notice about
this psalm is its title and author. The title is simply Mosheel,
and that means a teaching psalm. Many of the psalms have this
name, a teaching psalm. And then the author is Ethan
the Ezerite. Ethan the Ezerite. We cannot
be certain as to who this Ethan was, but most likely, after what
I've read this week, the choice is between basically two men,
and I think it was probably one who was a singer, one of the
singers that David installed for worship in the tabernacle
And he would have lived on, it's possible, he would have lived
on after David's death through the reign of Solomon and into
the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, and could have written what we
see here in verse 38. But thou hast cast off and abhorred,
thou hast been wroth with thine anointed." Remembering that when
Rehoboam came to the throne, immediately, the ten tribes revolted,
revolted from Judah, from David's descendants on the throne, and
they were never recovered again as part of the nation of Israel. They became a separate nation,
and they are called Israel. Those 10 tribes from then on
are called Israel, and the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, are
referred to simply as Judah. So of the two men that are named
in the Bible, Ethan the Azarite, or Ethan, I believe this one
was probably who it would have been. Now Matthew Henry, in his
comments on this psalm, he divided his comments into five divisions. And tonight, I want us to look
at the scriptures in two of his divisions, because in these two
divisions, we read of the covenant. That's the connection between
the two, the covenant. And maybe next week we will look
at two other divisions in the psalm. But there are five divisions
according to Matthew Henry's comments. The first division,
we're looking at division one and division four tonight, but
the first division, the first four verses. I will sing of the
mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. And now we have God speaking.
I have made a covenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David
my servant, thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne
to all generations. The first thing that we notice
here is the psalm begins with praise. And this reminds us that
for the child of God, in the darkest of times, as the times
were dark in which this psalm was written, We saw that just
by reading verse 38. But thou hast cast off and abhorred. Thou hast been wroth with thine
inheritance. But in the darkest of times,
God's people, God's children, those of us who know Christ as
our Lord and Savior, we always have cause to praise. And there are three things in
these verses that we see that this psalmist praised the Lord
for. First, He praised the Lord for
his mercy. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord forever. He praised the Lord for his mercies. Matthew Henry said, we think
when we are in trouble that we get ease by complaining, but
we do more, we get joy by rejoicing. That's good, isn't it? When we
are in trouble, we get ease by complaining, but when we do more,
we get joy by praising. God's children meet with many
dark providences in this world. Not every child of God goes through
the same thing, of course, but as we sang just a few minutes
ago, when we are in the presence of God, those crooked things
shall be made straight or made plain. There's a book that was
written many years ago by Thomas Boston. It's entitled The Crook
in the Lot. The Crook in the Lot. And every
child of God, without exception, I assume, has something, goes
through something in their life, experienced something that is
called a crook, the crook in the lot. But yet, we know as
we go through dark providences, we must remember that God's mercies
are limitless. The dark providences are limited. But His mercies, that's what
the psalmist said, I will sing of the mercies, not just mercy,
but the mercies of the Lord forever. As we go through this world,
we may sing of God's mercies all along the way. Because God's
mercy, now think about this, God's mercy is a well that will
never run dry. It will never run dry. You may
have a water well and during a drought it may run dry, may
quit pumping. But here's a well, my friends,
for God's children that is the mercies of the Lord that shall
never, never run dry. In the book of Lamentations,
where Jeremiah is lamenting what he saw after Jerusalem had been
destroyed by the Chaldeans and the nation had been carried into
Babylon in captivity. He said this, it is the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed. As bad as things were, as bad
as Jeremiah saw things to be, yet he confessed it's just the
Lord's mercy mercies that we are not consumed, because His
compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. When the Lord begins a work of
grace in the heart of His people, one of the first things we do
is we call out for mercy. God be merciful to me, the sinner. It is never merit, we never plead
God bless me because of who I am, because of what I've done, or
anything like that. But it is always God be merciful
to me, the sinner. Because we recognize immediately
that if we get what we deserve, I'm talking about those to whom
God grants repentance and faith, if we get what we deserve, we
would be cast into everlasting damnation. No, we seek mercy. We don't ask for justice. You
know, that's a lie that some people are deceived by, isn't
it? They think, well, I just want God to be just with me.
No, you don't either. No, you don't. If God is just
with you and you receive the just reward for your deeds, for
your life, then that would be eternal damnation. No, what we
all want is mercy, mercy. And it's not just at the beginning
of our Christian life, is it? But it's all along the way. We continue to need God's mercy
and his mercies do not change. We always need and we always
receive His mercy. Someone said God's mercy is God
not giving us what we deserve and God's grace is God giving
us what we do not deserve. God's mercy, God not giving us
what we deserve. God's grace, Him giving us what
we do not deserve. So the first thing the psalmist
here praises the Lord for is his mercy. And I would just remind
all of us tonight, no matter what we experience in this world,
we may always thank God and praise God for his mercy. The second thing that we see,
he praises the Lord for his faithfulness. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness, now notice, to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall
be built up forever, thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very
heavens. How do we praise him for his
faithfulness? We praise him for his faithfulness
by committing to other generations, the generations that come after
us, our testimony that, yes, God has been faithful to me all
through my life. God has never failed me. And
notice it says that his faithfulness is in the heavens, established
in the very heavens. In other words, it's above Man
cannot get to God's faithfulness. Man cannot destroy. No, the powers
of evil, principalities and powers cannot destroy God's faithfulness. It is in the heavens, established
in the heavens. And God is faithful, has been
faithful, and shall never be anything else but faithful. And the third thing we see that
the psalmist praise the Lord for was his covenant. Now, as I read this, I said in
verse three, this is God speaking here. No doubt speaking through
the Psalmist who wrote the Psalm, but this is God speaking. I have
made a covenant. The Psalmist didn't make a covenant
with David. No, this is the Lord. This is
the Lord God. I have made a covenant with my
chosen I have sworn unto David, my servant, thy seed will I establish
forever and build up thy throne to all generations. This has its accomplishment only
in Christ, only in Christ of the seed of David, who lives
forever. to whom God, we know, has given
the throne of his father David, and the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end." Now, you say, well, it
says David, I know, and God did make a covenant with David, King
David. But this covenant that we're
talking about here tonight, this covenant is a covenant that God
made with spiritual David, that is, the antitype. David is the
type, Christ is the antitype. And this covenant was made with
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a covenant. If you
look back to 2 Samuel chapter 23, I know you're familiar with
this passage, but it doesn't hurt for us to be reminded and
look at it again. This is what gave David comfort
when he came to the last days of his life. It wasn't that he
had been king. It wasn't that he had been very
wealthy. It wasn't that he had killed
the giant. All those things I'm sure were
precious memories, but they didn't give him comfort. What gave him
comfort at the end of his days, we see here, was this covenant,
this everlasting covenant that God made with him in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Verse 1 says, Now these be the
last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said,
And the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, the spirit of
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God
of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be
as the light of the morning when the sun riseth. Remember, in
Malachi, it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ prophesying of him
as the sun that riseth with healing under his wings. This is who
David is speaking of. Just ruling in the fear of God,
and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
even a morning without clouds. as the tender grass springing
out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house
be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant."
I'm sure David had a lot to regret when he says, though my house
be not so with God. When he looked back over his
life and his son's, one son who was killed in battle because
he tried to steal the throne from his father, another son
who raped his half-sister and his brother killed him, and just
one thing after the other, though my house be not so with God,
yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, Now notice, for this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although he make it not to grow. So this covenant that
we read about here in the psalm, though it did apply to David
in one sense, that his sons continue to reign on the throne of Judah
until they were carried away into Babylon. But when they came
back out of Babylon, Jeroboam, remember, is mentioned in the
three minor prophets there of Malachi and Haggai and Zechariah
as a governor, but not as a king. But look with me in Luke chapter
one, Luke chapter one, The angel speaking to Mary, Luke
chapter 1, verse 30. And the angel said unto her,
fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be
called the son of the highest. Now notice, and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob, that is Israel, forever and of
his kingdom there shall be no end. This covenant is a covenant
that the Lord Jesus Christ ratified with his blood. Remember the
night Before he was crucified, when he instituted the Lord's
Supper, he said, this wine, this represents my blood, which is
shed for many. This blood of the new covenant,
of the New Testament, which is shed for many. It was ratified
with his blood. But we also have God's oath here. Notice he said, I have sworn.
Verse three, I have made a covenant with my chosen David. I have
sworn unto David my servant. So again, we see these two immutable
things that we have. Those of us who have fled to
the Lord Jesus Christ, who trust in him as our Lord and Savior,
we have God's word and we have God's oath, giving us assurance
that Our souls are safe in his hands. Now, let's go to the second
division. It's actually the fourth division,
but it's the second one that we're going to look at. And we
go down to verse 19. We're skipping over Matthew-Henry's
division two and three and going to the fourth, which begins in
verse 19 and runs through verse 37. In these verses, we see more
of the surety of the covenant and the promise that was made
to him, that is to Christ, our Redeemer. The promise contains
what the scriptures refer to as the sure mercies of David. And we have that two times, in
Isaiah chapter 55 and in Acts chapter 13, the sure mercies
of David. What are the sure mercies of
David? They are the covenant blessings that are ours through
Jesus Christ our Lord. We won't turn to that passage
in Isaiah, but I want you to look with me in Acts chapter
13. where we see this term, Acts
chapter 13. And I do so because we know that
here the Apostle Paul is preaching in a synagogue in Antioch of
Pisidia. And he was given the opportunity
to speak and he took advantage of it. If you look, we won't
read all of his message there, but if you look in verse 32,
we'll begin our reading And we declare unto you glad tidings. Well, glad tidings, that defines
the gospel, isn't it? What is the gospel? What does
the word gospel mean? It means good news. Good news. We declare unto you glad tidings,
how that the promise which was made unto the fathers God hath
fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he hath raised
up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second Psalm,
thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning
that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to
corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies
of David. I will give you the sure mercies
of David. Wherefore, he saith also in another
psalm, thou shall not suffer than only one to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep, was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption,
but he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Now notice,
here's the good tidings. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, that is through Jesus
Christ our Lord, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins,
the sure mercies of David, the forgiveness of sins, and by him
all that believe are justified. Another one of the sure mercies
of David, forgiveness of sins, and free justification from all
things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now, if you will turn back with
me to Psalm 89. And the first thing that I want
to point out to us is the sureness of the promise. In verse 19,
the first part of this verse, it says, Then thou spakest in
vision to thy Holy One. Thou spakest in vision to thy
Holy One. God spoke by the prophets in
vision or by the spirit of prophecy concerning the Holy One, that
is, concerning Christ. made this comment. He said, the
Lord said by the mouth of his holy prophets from the beginning
of the world, the things that here follow in this Psalm, God
had spoken, God had promised from or through the holy prophets. And in Acts chapter three, the
apostle Peter said, yea, and all the prophets, all the prophets,
not most of the prophets, This is a reason you hear me say many
times the scriptures reveal Christ. The scriptures are a message
concerning Christ. Yea, all the prophets from Samuel,
he's usually recognized as the first prophet, although Moses
was a prophet and he too spoke of Christ. Yea, and all the prophets
from Samuel and those that follow after As many as have spoken
have likewise foretold of these days. That is the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So the sureness of the promise.
Now, the second thing I point out to us, the choice of the
person to whom the promise was given. And I want you to notice
back in this Psalm, I hope you're still here, Psalm 89, Psalm 89. But in the half verse that's
left of verse 19 and the verse 20, I want you to look and notice
how many things are here spoken about Christ. In this one and
a half verses, short verses, how many things are spoken to
us about Christ? First of all, He is mighty. have laid help upon one that
is mighty. We know the Lord Jesus Christ
is mighty, that is, he is the mighty God. His work of salvation
was a great work, is a great work, and only one who is mighty
could perform this work. Just the weight, and I know there's
no way that we can comprehend this even began really to understand
it. But the weight, have you ever
had, I know you have, you've had guilt on your conscience.
And it just weighed you down, didn't it? Whatever it may have
been, it just weighed you down until somehow, by confession
or restitution or some way, that weight was lifted. But think
of the Lord Jesus Christ who bore the guilt, the weight of
the guilt of all the sins of his people. A number that no
man can number. Can you imagine? If he just had
to have borne the weight, the guilt of my sin, it would take
one who is mighty to do that. But all the elect of God. The
weight of our sin fell upon Him when our sins were charged to
His account. So the first thing we see here
is He is mighty. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. The second thing is He is chosen
out of the people. Notice that. I have laid help
upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Mighty God, but he had to be
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. One chosen out of
the people. You say, why did he have to be
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh? He had to be our near
kinsman. He had to be our near kinsman. You know, a near kinsman was
needed when a man was so in debt, he couldn't recover himself. He was so in debt, and his inheritance
was given out to someone else. He needed a kinsman redeemer. But that man who redeemed him
had to be kin to him. And you and I, we needed a kinsman
redeemer. We owed a debt we could not pay,
and for him, To pay that debt, he had to be bone of our bone.
He had to be a man that he might suffer and die. Because remember,
the penalty of sin, what is it? Death. Death from the very beginning. Adam, in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. The penalty of sin was death. God cannot die. He's a mighty
God, but he's also man. And the third thing we see about
him, he was found of God. Notice in verse 20, I have found
David, my servant. Now this of course speaks of
Christ. I have found Christ. What does
that mean? I have found, it means I have
provided. I have provided your savior. This is found in the book of
Job under the words, I have found a ransom. God speaking, I have
found a ransom. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. God provided the ransom. God
provided the savior. That's amazing, isn't it? Isn't it? If all the great men
of the world, so-called, got together, and tried to provide
a Savior, they couldn't come up with one. Only God could provide the Savior,
and He did. I have found Him. And then the fourth thing, God
exalted Him. We see that also. I have found
David my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him. Back in verse 19, I have laid
help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one. The Lord
Jesus Christ, he's exalted, isn't he? He's exalted to the very
right hand of God. He's no longer upon a cross. I wouldn't give you two cents
for a crucifix, would you? That stuff like that can only
turn people's eyes away from Christ himself. Christ is not
upon a cross. Christ died on the cross, but
Christ is on the throne. He's exalted on high, on the
Father's right hand. He's exalted as the one mediator
between God and man. Not two, not three, not ten,
not a hundred. He's the one mediator. As one preacher that we knew
said one time, God will only be spoken to through Christ,
and God will only speak to men through Christ. And that's just
so. He's the one mediator. He's exalted above all men. And then another thing, God anointed
him. And the scripture says, I have
anointed him. We know that the scriptures tell
us that at his baptism, he was anointed. The spirit of the Lord
came down upon him in the form of a dove. And John tells us
that he was given the spirit without measure. That's what
Messiah means, isn't it? That's what Christ means, anointed. He's the anointed one, the appointed
one. And then lastly, we see he's
God's servant. I have found David, my servant. Doesn't that remind us of Isaiah
42? Behold, my servant, my elect,
whom I uphold. He's the Lord's servant. Now,
here's the third thing, and quickly. The promise that God made to
Christ, and there's several here, but first of all, and I'll go
through these quickly. In verse 21, God promised that
He would strengthen him. He would strengthen him. With
whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen
him. He promised his son, when he
came into this world as a man, that he would strengthen him
in the work that he was required to do to suffer in order to bring
many sons to glory. But he's promised that he would
not fail. And second, that he would not
be defeated in his work. In verse 22, the enemy shall
not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. No,
he would not be defeated in his work. Satan would and did bruise
the heel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that's all he could do. Not
only would his enemies not defeat him in his work, but they would
all rather fall before him. In verse 23, and I will beat
down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. And then third, in verse 24,
God's mercy and faithfulness would be with him. He's the only
mediator between God and man. You know, when we think about
the life of Joseph, when he became prime minister in Egypt, everything
was turned over to him. Now you have to have wheat to
live. You have to have food. If you're
going to get any food, you've got to go to Joseph. Joseph had
the keys to the granary, even as Christ is the one savior of
sinners. If you're going to go to God,
if you're going to have your sins put away, it must be through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And fourth, his kingdom would
be expanded over all the earth. In verse 25, I will set his hand
also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers, telling us
that his kingdom would grow around the world. It wouldn't be limited
to Canaan, to the nation, the physical nation of Israel. No,
it would be a kingdom that would encircle the globe. He's got
His people that He's redeemed from every nation and every tribe
and every tongue. And the last thing, or no, the
fifth thing, that He would cry to God as His Father and God. Notice that in verse 26 and 27. He shall cry unto me, thou my
father, my God, the rock of my salvation, and I will also make
him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. Do you
remember when the Lord appeared to his disciples and he said,
I ascend unto my father and your father, unto my God and your
God. He will cry unto me, the scripture
here says, as his father and as his God. And then his kingdom
is forever and ever. His seed, those who are saved,
were given eternal life. And even when we sin, and we
do, God will visit us. God's chastening hand may be
upon us, but he will never disinherit one of his children, never. Verse 28, my mercy will I keep
for him forevermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure forever and his throne as the
days of heaven. If his children forsake my law
and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression
with the rod, not with the sword, but with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes, nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly
take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant
will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my
mouth. Once have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not lie unto David, his seed, that is his children,
God's children, his spiritual seed, You, if you're one of his
tonight, his seed shall endure forever and his throne as the
sun before me. It shall be established forever
as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Nothing will separate God's people
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. I pray the Lord
would bless these words. Look at the psalm when you go
home, read over these verses again, and think about what we've
said here tonight and think about the promises that were made in
this psalm and the covenant that God made with Christ before the
foundation of the world and with us in Christ. Now, let's sing
another hymn and we'll be dismissed.