If you will, let's open our Bibles
tonight to Psalms, Psalm 92. Psalm 92, It is a good thing
to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy
name, O Most High, to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings,
and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound, for
thy Lord has made me glad through thy work. I will triumph in the
works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not, neither
doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring, as the
grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is
that they shall be destroyed forever. But thou, Lord, art
most high forevermore. For lo, thine enemies, O Lord,
for lo, thine enemies shall perish. All the workers of iniquity shall
be scattered. But my horn shalt thou exalt
like the horn of an unicorn. I shall be anointed with fresh
oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire
on mine enemies, and mine ear shall hear my desire of the wicked
that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish
like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat
and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. He is my
rock and there is no unrighteousness in him. The title of my message
this evening I'll take from the title that is next to this psalm. If you notice it says a psalm
or song for the Sabbath day. And I would entitle the message
a song for Sunday. A song for Sunday. Now I know
Sunday is not the Sabbath. Sabbath was a type. That seventh
day of rest was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. is our rest. He said, come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Our rest is not a day. Our rest
is Jesus Christ our Lord. But a song for Sunday. And I
have three divisions in the message. First of all, we want to say
something good for God's people. And then second, something that
makes glad God's people. And third, something to compare
the wicked with God's people. First, something good for God's
people. What is it? What is it in this
psalm that we are told is good for God's people? It is worship. It is worship. It is what we
have come here tonight to do. And we see every part of our
worship service is mentioned in these first three verses. The ingredients of our worship
services are found here. We give thanks We sing praise,
we show forth or preach or declare God's loving kindness and His
faithfulness and we do it all with deep joy and solemnity or
reverence. This is what he said, it is a
good thing. It's good to worship the Lord. Now God has ordained that His
people gather together to worship Him. I know we run into people
and you meet people who say, well, I can worship God in the
country. I can worship God in the mountains
and all of the beautiful places that we find in this world. And
no doubt we can see the handiwork of God in nature. And there are
many, many beautiful places which remind us of the wisdom of our
Creator. There's no question about that.
But still, worship. God has ordained that His people
come together and worship. In fact, He has said, where two
or three gather in my name, there am I in their midst. And every time we come together
to worship the Lord, we come with expectation. We do not need
to ask for His presence. I know sometimes we do. Nothing
wrong with that. But we have His promise. We have
His declaration that where two or three gather in His name that
He is present. He is in our midst. Now that's
either true or it's not true. He either spoke the truth or
He didn't speak the truth. And you know and I know that
He did speak the truth. And where two or three are gathered
in His name. Now I know Jacob of old, when
he was on his deathbed, he prophesied concerning each one of his sons,
and when he came to Judah, he mentioned Shiloh. Shiloh. And he said to him, shall the
gathering of the people be. What people? God's chosen people. God's chosen people shall be
gathered unto Shiloh, that is, the peacemaker, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are gathered to Him in salvation
and we are gathered together by God the Holy Spirit to worship,
to come together to worship with His declaration or promise that
He is here in our midst. In the letter of Hebrews, the
writer exhorted Believers, he said, not to forsake the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another. Now, when I stand in the pulpit,
or some other pastor or preacher stands and preaches, he exhorts
us, but the apostle says that we are to come together exhorting
one another. We exhort each other just by
being here. It is an encouragement, isn't
it, when we come together and God's people are gathered here. It is a great encouragement to
all of us. We exhort one another by our
presence. And it's interesting, I noticed
this this past week as I was preparing these notes. That just
before, just before he gave that admonition, not to forsake the
assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one another, just before he gave that exhortation, he
said, let us hold fast our profession of faith without wavering. One
of the ways that people begin to let loose of their profession
of faith is when they begin to forsake the assembling of the
people of God together. One seems to follow the other. When we begin to forsake the
worship services, then naturally our faith begins to waver. The exhortation is let us hold
fast the profession of our faith. And when we do so, we hold it
fast as we come together and hear the Word of God. Faith cometh
by hearing. I said this in the message this
morning, but it bears repeating, my friends. Faith cometh by hearing. When God gives one of his elect
faith, and remember, faith is a gift. All men have not faith. The Bible is very clear about
this. And faith comes, faith is a gift
of God, not of works. We're saved by grace through
faith, which is a gift of God. But not only does faith come,
but faith is maintained, and faith increases, and faith is
built up, and faith is encouraged by the preaching of the Word
of God. We should make no mistake about
this. I know we live in a day when
people like to share. I remember a few years ago that
was real popular among some groups, you know. Let's just get together
and sit around in a circle and share. No, that's not what God
has ordained. God has ordained that we come
together and hear the Word of God. You know, some people want
to be in a class where everyone has the right to ask questions.
Well, I found over the years, most people who want to ask a
question, they're not asking for information. Anytime anyone
asks for information, we are more than happy to try to answer. But most people, when they ask
a question, are asking this question so they can make a comment and
show you how much they know. No, we want to come together,
as this passage of Scripture tells us, first of all, to worship,
to give thanks. That's what we do, isn't it?
We give thanks. The Apostle Paul said, And look
at the word. It is a good thing. And we can
say that about each one of these things that he mentions here.
It is a good thing to give thanks. It is a good thing to sing praises. It is a good thing to declare
or to show forth God's loving kindness and His faithfulness. And it is a good thing to do
this with a solemn sound. That is, with reverence and fear. In Philippians chapter 4 and
verse 6, I said, and the psalmist here says, we come together to
give thanks. In Philippians 4, Paul said,
be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
notice, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto
God. Every time that we pray, every
time that you pray, and I know this is so, we give thanks. Yes, we have liberty to come
and make our needs known unto the Lord, but with making those
needs known, we also give thanks. We thank the Lord. I thank the
Lord, first of all, that I have the privilege of prayer, don't
you? I mean, just think about it. God Almighty, and I may speak
with Him, that you may speak with Him. Only through, I recognize
this, only through the mediator, through His Son, Jesus Christ. But what a privilege it is. We
thank the Lord that we may call Him our Father. Not only do we
come together to give thanks, but we come together to sing
praises. It's a good thing to sing praises.
Again, the Apostle Paul in the New Testament said, teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Now
I like the old hymns. For one reason, I know the words
to many of the old hymns. And I just like the words. Most
of the hymns that we sing were written out of some experience. And the words, we want them to
be scriptural. Much of the new things that are
being written today is just repetition. And it sounds good, maybe. It
has the same beat that you could hear if you went to a dance hall. Same beat, same note. No, I want a hymn that is solemn,
that is full of reverence. That's the hymn I want to sing.
And that's the hymns that we sing here. And I thank God that
it is that way. Someone said, well I like to
go, someone said, do you have a contemporary service or a traditional
service? I've been asked that several
times over the years. No, we have a traditional service.
The way God's people, as far as I know, have worshipped God
down through the years, down through the ages. We've come
together to sing hymns of praise, hymns of worship that honor and
glorify God. And notice we do it with joy
because he mentions these instruments, instrument of ten strings and
the harp and the psaltery and I thank God for the instruments
that we have here that help our singing and praising the Lord. And then we show forth, we show
forth, we declare, we preach. His loving kindness and His faithfulness. So first of all, something good
for God's people. Second, something that makes
glad God's people. His work. His work. That's what makes glad God's
people. His work. God's work. That which
makes God's people glad is His work. When we consider God's
work in creation, in providence, but especially God's work in
redemption, we are made glad. Listen to the thoughts of one
of the men that I read this past week. He began, and I'm quoting, "...by
powerful telescopes We may explore the heavens till we are overwhelmed
with amazement. And that just registered with
me because we have visited, as I'm sure you have, places where
they show the stars and the millions of stars up on the ceiling. And then the universe and here's
this little old tiny planet, Earth. And that's where I live. And God created all of that. And with our giant telescopes,
the United States, I believe, has sent out a telescope now
that's going to circle one of the planets. I believe it's Venus.
I'm not positive about that. And it's going to start sending
back pictures. But what happens when we see
all of this? As this man said, by powerful
telescopes we may explore the heavens till we are overwhelmed
with amazement, now listen, and fear we are too insignificant
to attract divine regard. Isn't that what the psalmist
said? When I consider the heavens the work of thy hands, what is
man? What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Now, back to the quotation. We
may then turn the microscope upon the vast world that eludes
our unaided senses, and there we shall find innumerable tribes
of creatures, all well cared for, and displaying the skill
and kindness of infinite perfections. with the microscope we can see
those tiny little living organisms that you cannot see with the
natural eye and know that they are all the product of infinite
wisdom when we become students of Providence
we find ourselves no less no less amazed Aren't you amazed
at God's providence in your life? Where you were born? Who your
parents were? Where you heard the gospel? I
mean, think of all the places in this world where you could
have been born and the gospel never preached there. God's providence. And who you married? God's providence. Your children? Your parents. It just amazes
me, doesn't it you? And that is all His work. God's
people. What I'm saying is what the psalmist
said here. For thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through thy work. God's work. It's not accidental. It didn't just spring up out
of the ground. It didn't just fall out of heaven.
No! It's God's purpose and God's
plan, which He planned and purposed before the foundation of the
world. God's providence. And then, and
I go back to quoting, when we contemplate redemption, the best
we can do is wonder and adore. That's the best we can do. Wonder
and adore. You notice the psalmist said,
O Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. Very deep. God's thoughts, his
counsels, or his purpose are very deep. When Paul writes about
this, if you want to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, you
know the natural man The man apart from the grace of God,
the man apart from the work of God, the Holy Spirit, he cannot
understand these things, spiritual things, because they're spiritually
discerned. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And let me begin reading in verse
7. Now I'm going to begin in verse 1. And
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified." Paul said, when I came to Corinth, I determined
my message would be Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I had no desire. I determined not to try to impress
anyone with my learning, my speaking ability. The one thing that I
was going to do and that I did, I declared Jesus Christ who is
and Him crucified, His person and His work. That was my message. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men. If it does, it's going to fall. If your faith is based on the
wisdom of man, it's going to fall. No, but in the power of
God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world that come to nothing, but we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. What is this
hidden wisdom? It is how God may be just and
justify the ungodly. So a man doesn't understand that. Man cannot comprehend the gospel. Unaided man, apart from God the
Holy Spirit, Which, now notice, which none
of the princes of this world knew. Those are the leaders of
the nation of Israel, the princes. For had they known, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. You're talking about blind. How blind is blind? It's blind. They had the Word
of God. They had the Old Testament, all
these prophecies, and it's almost like they read the prophecies
and said, let's do this. Let's do this. Let's do this. No. They did everything, but
they didn't know that they were fulfilling the prophecies of
God. That's amazing, isn't it? But as it is written, I have
not seen nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of man
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him,
even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. And that's the
reason. Preacher, preach the Word. Preach the same words that
we have in the Word of God. Speak about substitution. Speak
about satisfaction. Speak about the blood. Speak
about justification, sanctification, redemption. Use these terms. Explain them. Declare them. Yes,
the very words that God the Holy Spirit used. But which the Holy Spirit teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. We look at a scripture
here, and we go over here, and we compare it. We look at a scripture
over here, and we go over here, and we compare it. Scripture
with scripture. Line upon line, precept upon
precept. But now, notice verse 14, but
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. A brutish man. Notice that this
is what David says in the Psalms if you turn back. Verse 4, he
said, For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work, I will
triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not, neither
doth a fool understand this. All of God's works make God's
people glad, but especially his work of redemption. Think with
me tonight for just a moment. What if, what if there were no
redemption, no salvation? Thank God there is. We were not
redeemed with corruptible things as silver or gold. but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without
spot." Now, here's the third thing, hurriedly. Something to
compare the wicked with the righteous. Grass, trees. Grass and trees. The wicked are
compared to grass. Verse 7, when the wicked spring
as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish,
it is that they shall be destroyed forever. But thou, Lord, art
most high forevermore. The wicked are said to spring
up as the grass. That is, the grass springs out
of the earth. We don't have to plant weeds.
I assume that's what he means by grass. It comes out of the
earth. It just comes, doesn't it? The
seeds are broadcast by the wind or some way, somehow, but the
grass just springs up out of the earth. And because it does,
it is earthly. And it looks good for a short
time. The grass springs up and it's
green. It flourishes. It looks good
for a short time. But then the drought of summer
comes along. and the cold of winter, and it
is destroyed. The wicked are God's enemies,
and they shall perish, and they shall perish forevermore, just
like the grass. But notice the righteous. The
righteous are compared to trees, but not just to any tree. There's
a number of different kinds of trees. But the righteous are
compared to two particular trees, the palm tree and the cedar tree
of Lebanon. Now, the palm tree is a tall
tree and it's evergreen. It is an evergreen tree. One writer said, and I'm taking
his word for this, because there are different kinds of palm trees,
but in that part of the world, In Palestine, in that area, in
that part of the world, the palm tree serves more than any other
tree, the people in that area. And the palm tree is an emblem
of constancy. It's constant. It's faithful. And it's patient. It's patient. And it's fruitful. And it is
a tree that shows forth victory. You remember the palm branches
that they waved, even in heaven we read. No tree serves the people
of that area like the palm tree, but one writer said this, it
grows erect, or not at all. It grows erect, it grows straight
up. are not at all the palm tree. Now the cedar tree of Lebanon
is another strong lofty tree with green branches and a long
life expectancy. Remember the temple that Solomon
built in Jerusalem, the temple of the Lord that was so beautiful.
Where did the lumber come from? Where did the wood come from?
It came from Lebanon, the cedars of Lebanon. And then it was overlaid
with gold, that on the inside. Picturing, of course, the Lord
Jesus Christ, his deity and his humanity. But that's another
message. Consider what is said here about
the righteous as trees. First of all, they are planted. Notice that in verse 13. Those
that be planted. These trees just don't come up
of themselves. They're planted. They're planted. Let me read you a passage over
here in Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15 Then came to Jesus scribes and
Pharisees which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders? For they washed not their
hands when they ate bread. But he answered and said unto
them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your
tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor
thy father and mother, and he that curseth father or mother,
let him die the death. But you say, Whosoever shall
say to his father or his mother, It is a gift. by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother,
he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, where
did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude,
and said unto them, Hear, and understand. Not that which goeth
into the mouth defileth the man, but that which cometh out of
the mouth, this defileth the man. Now notice, Then came his
disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees
were offended? Do you realize you offended these
people? These are religious people. These
are the people that are looked up to among all the Jews. These
are the people, they say, if anyone goes to heaven, he will
be a Pharisee. Do you realize you offended?
Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard
this saying? But he answered and said, now
notice, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted,
shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind
leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch. Every plant which my heavenly
father hath not planted. These trees here in the psalm,
the first thing we see about them, they are planted. Who planted
them? God did. It is God who plants
the righteous. They are planted in God's everlasting
love. They are planted in Christ, chosen
in Him from before the foundation of the world. They are planted
in God's purpose to save them and nothing shall pluck them
out of His hand. They are planted in the house
of the Lord, in the family or household of God, His church,
and they are members of his spiritual temple. And number two, they
bring forth fruit. Notice the word still. Still. Underline that in verse 14. They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age. Now, if they still bring forth
fruit, that means they've been bringing forth fruit. They've
been bringing forth fruit, and they shall still bring forth
fruit, even in old age. And what is this fruit? It is
the fruit of the Holy Spirit, isn't it? That the Apostle Paul
tells us of in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. And
here's the third thing about these trees, they're all planted
by God, they all bring forth fruit. And listen, they all show
forth God's faithfulness. Notice, they shall bring forth
fruit in their old age, they shall be fat and flourishing
to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no
unrighteousness in Him. They show forth the Lord's faithfulness. He is upright. Faithful, Paul
said, faithful is he that calleth you who will also do it. Every saint, old saint, young
saint, every child of God, everyone shows forth God's faithfulness. if it were not for His faithfulness. You say, well what about our
faithfulness? Our faithfulness is not worthy to be mentioned
in the same week with His faithfulness. No, we show forth His faithfulness. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here tonight. Let's sing a verse of a hymn
and we'll be dismissed.