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good evening to everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me as we begin worship this evening to Isaiah 52 beginning at verse 13 isaiah 52:13 Isaiah 52 beginning in verse 13 reading to the end of Isaiah 53 this is the Word of God behold my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high just as many were astonished at you so his visit was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men so shall he sprinkle many nations Kings shall shut their mouths at him for what had not been told them they shall see and what they had not heard they shall consider who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord being revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no form or comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was but he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by His stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it's Shearer's is silent so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors Amen well you can stand with me and turn in your hymnals to 173 that's the larger Trinity hymnals will stand and sing 173 [Music] let's go to our God in prayer let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice in this Lord's Day evening and we thank you that we can gather once again in the house of God to rejoice in Father Son and Holy Spirit and to sing the praises of Amazing Grace we once again ask that your name would in this place be hallowed that you would be honored and praised once again that the gathered Assembly would worship you in spirit and in truth and on to that end we pray for the ministry of the holy spirit that our souls would be stirred to a high end heavy praise of our thrice holy God and we do ask that you would help us this evening we long in the context of worship to have our God honored and praised and we pray for that this evening we rejoice in the forgiveness of sins we rejoice in that righteousness that is not our own that avails with you even Christ Jesus the Lord's we thank you that by faith we have the glories the riches the excellencies of Jesus Christ and that we have such a salvation that avails with you knowing once again that we're not saved by our own deeds and our own works but we're saved by Christ Jesus the Lord from first to last midst and throughout the salvation is of a glorious Savior we thank you that you did send him in the fullness of the times that he came into this lower world and this lower shame to affect the redemption of a multitude which no man can number we thank you so much for that glorious saving work and we thank you that by grace through faith in Him we have that salvation and we rejoice so along with saints not only in this place but throughout the world we thank you that you have your churches in a multitude of nations that throughout the earth your Saints gathered together to hear the word proclaimed to gather together for corporate prayer to sing hymns songs and hymns and spiritual songs and we do just pray God that you would affect the the joy of your Saints throughout the world that you would condescend in the midst of worship and that cause your saints to rejoice in you and to bless them with that grace of endurance to go through many trials and we think of those who go through trials in our own it's Lord we pray for those who are sick those struggling with disease and illness we think of Linda we think of Dawn Neufeld we think of John Proctor Lord we think of many others that are affected by by stillness and disease we do just pray that you'd help them in the midst of these things we know that you are the one with whom it is to heal and we do pray for healing in all of these matters we do pray that you attend to your saints a grant healing grant reprieves from the pain and the the discomforts and all of those things associated with sickness we do just pray that you'd help them Lord and we pray that in the midst of being afflicted that you would lift them up you'd caused them to rejoice in their God and be resigned holy unto your will as the judge of all the earth who does right for his Saints and for his own name we do pray God that you'd once again be with the persecuted Church we think of our brothers and sisters and many foreign lands that are affected by the tyranny of governments and by the opposition of their own countrymen we would once again pray that you'd be near to them that you would comfort them Lord in the midst of their trials we would pray God that you would bring an end to their oppression that you would deal with those who oppress them to do persecute them as we often pray Lord we pray that you would come by Amazing Grace attending the proclamation of your word and bring many of those enemies of yours to be worshippers of the triune God we pray that you would save those who presently persecute your people like the Apostle Paul so many years ago that you would affect that change by victorious Grace and it caused those who presently persecute to be found among those whom they are now persecuting as friends as fellow believers and we do pray Lord that you would for all of those who are in opposition who would remain so who would remain in rebellion who would not heed the clarion call of the gospel to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would take them out of the way that they would no longer persecute but rather that justice would be rendered and that your people would able would be able to freely gather to freely believe in the lands that they find themselves and we do just pray though in the midst of these trials that you would lift them up in the inner man our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that caused them as it were to look away from their persecutors and to look with eyes of faith upon the risen Christ we do pray that you'd be with us then tonight and worship Lord we rejoice once again that we can gather together in freedom unmolested by the outside world in the government we can gather in liberty with full Bibles to worship our triune God and we do pray that you'd help us to count this as a high and heavy honor that you would now bless us in worship we pray that we would bless your most high name as we gather in worship and we do pray as we sing as we as we pray as we read the scriptures as we engage in the preaching of the word later on as we observe the Lord's Supper we do pray that you would receive all honor and praise that you would effect the strengthening of your saints here by all of these worship activities these elements of worship God by them you would strengthen your people and we pray that you would save sinners this evening whether young or old Lord those who entered in these two doors outside of Christ we pray that you would cause them by your grace and for your glory to leave those same two doors singing the praises of your most high name we pray for pastor Butler as he preaches your word once again strengthen your minister in the pulpit and help him to proclaim with clarity and courage the words of the living and true God and we do pray God that having gathered tonight for worship your name would be honored your Saints would be strengthened sinners would be saved and that every act of worship tonight would be done unto the praise of Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen let's stand again and sing this time we're gonna sing five thirty five in the same hymnal that's five thirty five let's stand and sing together [Music] Oh [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 103 Psalm 103 Psalm 103 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm of David bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your iniquities who heals all your diseases who redeems your life from destruction who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the Eagles the Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed he made known his ways to Moses his acts to the children of Israel the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in mercy he will not always strive with us nor will he keep his anger forever he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us as a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear him for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust as for man his days are like grass as a flower of the field so he flourishes for the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place remembers it no more but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children to such as keep his covenant and to those who remember his Commandments to do them the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all bless the Lord you his angels who excel in strength who do his word heeding the voice of his word bless the Lord all you his hosts you ministers of his who do his pleasure bless the Lord all his works in all places of his Dominion bless the Lord O my soul amen will let us pray father we thank you for your written word we thank you for the Psalms David and the fact that you have given them to us for our benefit and for our encouragement we pray tonight that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts and our lives she would guide us as we consider this psalm to promote in us this desire to bless you to speak well of you and to exercise gratitude toward you for all of your mercies and all of your benefits given to your people so we remember our Lord's death in a specific way tonight through the the supper we may we indeed praise your great and your awesome and your Holy Name for such a wonderful gospel for such a wonderful means of salvation how we thank you for the Lord Christ for his life his death his resurrection how we thank you for his current session at your right hand and how we pray that even now he would intercede for us that we would know his blessing upon us and that this time of worship would bring glory and praise and honor to father son and spirit do forgive us now for our sins and our unrighteousness and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well David certainly had a lot of reasons to bless God or to speak well of God and essentially that's what it means to bless him when God blesses us that means he conveys good things or he gives us good things when we bless God it means we ascribe praise to him we speak well concerning his name and as we do so hopefully we will respond with gratitude and thankfulness to our God for who he is and for what he's done there are several reasons in this particular Psalm for us to bless God typically at our Thanksgiving dinners we usually go around the table and persons will express one or two things that they're thankful for sometimes there's a bit of a lull within that sort of rehearsal of God's good gifts I don't think it's because the people can't think or don't think or rather neglect God in terms of things to be thankful for perhaps its public speaking perhaps it's sort of you know putting yourself out there and and describing for instance those things that are very special in your life well I suspect that if you had David over for dinner tomorrow night and you asked him for a list of reasons why he is thankful to God he would rehearse something very much like Psalm 103 now the psalm breaks down into three sections first the reminder to bless God in verses 1 and 2 secondly the reasons to bless God in verses 3 to 18 and then finally an exhortation to bless God in verses 19 to 22 it's intriguing David starts the psalm by talking to himself David ends the psalm by talking to the entirety of God's created order because God is worthy to be praised God is worthy to be blessed God is worthy to be thanked and glorified so David calls upon all creatures to do that very thing now note in the first place this reminder to bless God in verses 1 and 2 he talks to himself a psalm of David it says bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name turned back for just a moment to psalm 42 psalm 42 you see something or you learned something about David David was not only a man who had a Thanksgiving dinner would have a whole litany of reasons for thankfulness to God but David was also a man who talked to himself and David talked to himself in Psalms 42 and 43 in situations or in times in his life when things were not altogether great fact if you look at psalm 42 6 or 5 he says why are you cast down O my soul and why are you disquieted within me hope and God for I shall yet praise him for he for the help of his countenance he repeats this in verse 6 oh my God my soul is cast down within me therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan and then in Psalm 43 at verse 5 why are you cast down O my soul and why are you disquieted within me hope in God for I shall yet praise Him the help of my countenance and my god so in difficult time David talks to himself he exhorted him self to remember God to think fondly of God in good times David talks to himself and he reminds himself to bless the Lord to speak well of the Lord and to entwine that with thankfulness and expressions of gratitude to the Lord CH Spurgeon said soul music is the very soul of music the psalmist strikes the best key note when he begins with stirring up his inmost self to magnify the Lord he soliloquized holds ahold self communion and exhorts himself as though he felt that dullness would all too soon steal over his faculties as indeed it will over us all unless we are diligently on the watch in other words we need to rouse ourselves to a blessing of the Lord and this is precisely what he does bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name now notice he repeats this and adds to it verse two bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits see that's something else we learn about David David knew what the psalm the hymn writer would later write when he says prone to wander and prone to leave the god that I loved David knew what it was to have remaining corruption David knew what it was to perhaps forget to bless the Lord and he doesn't want to let himself do this and neither should we it shouldn't be the case that one day out of the year we call it Thanksgiving and we express to God some form of public thankfulness each and every day ought to be Thanksgiving each and every day we ought to bless the Lord each and every day we ought to remind ourselves of his goodness of his kindness of His mercies and of His grace this is precisely Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ if you are not active reminding yourself and actively engaging yourself in blessing God than you will be forgetting him and it is simply unacceptable for the redeemed of God to forget God and when we look at this particular section it ought to cause us to reflect upon the book of Deuteronomy David says bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6 Deuteronomy chapter 6 God knew and God spoke to the situation realizing that amnesia would certainly lead to apostasy in other words if we for debt to praise God if we forget to thank God if we forget to bless God then apostasy is on the horizon notice in Deuteronomy chapter 6 beginning at verse 10 this is the danger of forgetting God with reference to affluence in the land there is a danger of abandoning God because of surrounding idolatry and a danger of doubting God because of hardship that's the nature of this exhortation in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and if you look at verse 10 so it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your father's to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build houses full of all good things which you did not did not fill you not wells which you did not dig vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant when you have eaten an hour full then beware notice verse 12 lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage David doesn't want that to happen David doesn't want to forget God David wants to call upon his own soul to bless the Lord bless the Lord and all that is within me bless His Holy Name forget not all his benefits because the tendency is and the proness says for us to forget it's a terrible thing brethren but there is a base in gratitude that the people of God can engage we don't thank God we don't rehearse his blessings we don't come to the supper if ever there's a great time for us to meditate on the goodness of God it's in light of what Christ has done this is an expression of our thankfulness to God and blessing of God notice in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and this isn't just one isolated sort of emphasis but it's something that would affect or play Israel in the land notice in Deuteronomy 8:11 beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments his judgments and his statutes which I command you today and then in verse 14 when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage now if David the man who is described as a man after God's own heart has to actually talk to himself and remind himself to bless the Lord if that man whose ha was a man after God's own heart has to actually exhort himself to not forget God then brethren we lesser mortals ought to follow suit we ought to rehearse the blessings of God we ought to esteem the glory of God we ought to consider the manifold mercies that he has conveyed to us and we ought to exhort our souls not to forget him this is David's posture one final text in the book of Deuteronomy notice in Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 those who attend our Wednesday night Bible studies will know that Deuteronomy 28 is certainly foundational to the rest of the Old Testament it is God's curses upon disobedience and blessings upon obedience and as you might expect when they went into the land and they engaged in idolatry they reaped the curse of God when they went into the land and they for not God they reap the curse of God and that is precisely what 2847 indicates because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything therefore you shall serve your enemies the Lord's God takes this seriously we are saved not to be new we are saved not to be silent but rather we are saved to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into marvelous light so back to Psalm 103 David calls upon himself to bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits now note secondly the reasons to bless God verses three to five highlight the gifts verses six to seven highlight the recipients of those gifts and verses 8 to 18 demonstrates the giver of those gifts but notice the gifts received in verses three to five who forgives all your iniquities so we see it broken down into two categories for David I bless the Lord for spiritual things and I bless the Lord for temporal things I bless the Lord for the forgiveness of sins now brethren at any Thanksgiving celebration or at any time in the life of God's people when they're reflecting upon things that they ought to be thankful for this really should head the list shouldn't it this really should be number one we were dead in our trespasses and sins we were just Lila the wrath and the fury and the judgment and the penalty of God we were liable to damnation and Hellfire and every bad thing things that make Deuteronomy 28 the curses specifically looked like a walk in the park we are subject to that by virtue of our connection to Adam but God in His grace and mercy delivered us God in His grace and mercy transferred us from the Kingdom of the of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love brethren that's always a reason to bless the Lord to express gratitude to God again listen to spurge and he says he selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love threads them on the string of memory and hangs them about the neck of gratitude only one Spurgeon isn't there and then he says this pardoned sin is in our experience one of the choicest boons of grace one of the earliest gifts of mercy in fact the needful preparation for enjoying all that follows it till iniquity is forgiven Healing Redemption and satisfaction are unknown blessings it ought not to surprise us that when David calls upon himself to bless the Lord that first thing that first reason that evokes from him blessing to God is the forgiveness of sins Christian you have much to be thankful for with reference to this particular boon you have much to rejoice in with reference to God in the consideration of this blessed thought my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord certainly as a reason to bless God forgiveness ought to head the less now notice the physical blessings in verses three b25 he speaks of the fact of physical healing he speaks of the protection from calamity he speaks of the crowning with loving kindness and mercy and the provision of temporal Goods in verse five in other words it's not just spiritual blessing that God conveys upon his people david says elsewhere in the psalms that god loads us daily with benefits isn't that the case you know if you're asked to say why are you thankful to God or why should you bless God brethren david provides for us a great framework to hopefully provoke us into thinking likewise now I realize that some will come to three b25 and say wait a minute I had a particular malady and I prayed and the Lord didn't take it away I had a particular flexion and I prayed and the Lord didn't take it away almost sounds like David is of the school of Benny Hinn almost sounds like he believes in the health wealth and prosperity almost sounds like he believes in the name it and class and you'll never have a sniffle you'll never have a lamp you'll never have a hitch in this life I know that there are some that will evoke this or invoke this passage as a sort of justification for that mindset but that ain't the point the point is that any temporal blessing any good thing any benefit granted to us is granted to us by a benevolent God and I would sister I would say there are a whole host of things that God has probably spared us from that we will never know how many times should we have been hit by cars how many of times should we have picked up a staph infection when we're at the hospital how many times should we have been laid low because of some malady rather that the Lord God spared us from you see David comes to praise God with a comprehensive worldview he sees God not only intimately in the spiritual blessings visa v8 the forgiveness of sins but he sees God in God's preservation of David on the battlefield he sees God in God's preservation of David on his sickbed he sees God's hand in all of life and that is the reason to bless the Lord and David doesn't ever let go of that reality notice the receipt recipients of these gifts described in verses 6 & 7 the Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are what oppressed thought is a champion for the for the the defeated God is a champion for the lost not as a champion for those who who stand in need of vindication God is the deliverer of those who are oppressed and then in verse 7 he tells us it is the Covenant people it is the people of God he made known his ways to Moses his acts to the children of Israel so the recipients of the gifts of God are those for whom Jesus died because those are the ones who are in fact the people of God those are the ones who were indeed oppressed by sin those are the ones who have been vindicated by the Father Son and Holy Spirit in the glorious work of redemption so the recipients of the gifts and now David rehearses the glory of the giver of these good gifts notice in verse 8 he says the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in mercy that's who God is all that is in God is God God is his attributes God is merciful and gracious isn't that beautiful that David can say it that way the Lord his man has to a certain capacity man does to a certain capacity when the Bible tells us God is love it would never say that about me I have the capacity to love but the defining characteristic of Jim is not love whereas with God he is his attributes and so when David rehearses this he gives sort of this overarching statement concerning who God is in verse 8 he says the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in mercy and then what I believe David does is he teases that out he flashes that out he amplifies it he develops it he demonstrates it in more detail in verses 9 and following so this is who God is he is merciful he is gracious he abounds or rather he is slow to anger and he abounds in mercy and now note how David develops this in the first place his mercy is such that he does not strive with us notice in verse 9 he will not always strive with us nor will he keep his anger forever no make no mistake about it when you sin against God you grieve the Holy Spirit when you sin against God you prefer to provoke your father just like in a family situation when it while sins against the parent the parent shows demonstrates or displays displeasure at the conduct of that child well God does that God treats us as a father treats his children in fact that's one of the aspects of mercy that we ought to appreciate in just a moment but the Lord will not always strive with us he will not always hold on to that anger he will not always hide a smiling face before behind a frowning Providence our God is not that way notice secondly his mercy is toward the undeserving that's the very definition of mercy grace is unmerited favor isn't it mercy is unmerited favor to terrible human beings if I could just give you the most basic sort of a definition mercy is when God looks upon a pathetic people and he shows them favor a people that are not deserving a people that are not only not deserving of good things but deserving of every bad thing every sin deserves God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come according to the Shorter Catechism and yet God in His mercy in His grace in his kindness does not press those things upon us at every turn God's grace and mercy is toward the undeserving verse 10 he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities now brethren do you ever just stop here and thank God for that you ever just pondered that reality I think that you know it's in us to complain with about what we don't have well you know I could use a little bit more there's I I would want some more of that or I could use some more of this particular thing whoever just stop and consider what we really deserve and what God has spared us from I'm not talking about car accidents downtown I'm talking about hell and damnation and fires of of hell and judgment you see God has been merciful to us notice he has not dealt with us according to our turn to Psalm 130 Psalm 130 where this same sort of idea is present Psalm 130 out of the depths verse 1 I've cried to you O Lord Lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications why is he in the depths it's not the physical sufferings that David is undergoing at this particular juncture in his life it's not Saul it's not the Philistines it's not the very battlements that he has to engage in what provokes gave it to cry out of the depths is David's own sin and look at out David says this in verse 3 if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand you see brethren be very careful when you pray to God with reference to justice we want grace we want mercy justice means hell for each and every one of us now certainly we it is good to pray for justice may God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven may you indeed show you know your justice throughout the land certainly the brethren with reference to our case before God a great big dose of grace and mercy are those things we ought to be seeking from the hand of our great king but he says if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and similarly in verse chapter a Psalm 143 pastor Kirkpatrick preached on this last Sunday night and highlighted that it's at least an illusion and some of those passages of Paul that speak to justification by faith alone notice in Psalm 143 1 a psalm of David hear my prayer O Lord give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness answer me and in your righteousness do not enter into judgment with your servant for in your sight no one living is righteous how many of us pray that how many of us actually say that with David how many of us go to the throne of grace and say please God do not enter in to judgment with your servant I don't want you to enter into judgment with your servant because your servant is a ratch your servant is vile your servant is a transgressor your servant has lacked conformity under your holy law god I want grace I want mercy I need loving kindness from on I so back to Psalm 103 David highlights who God is in terms of His mercy and grace and then he gives us a play-by-play description of how that mercy comes to us his mercy is such that he does not strive with us verse 9 his mercy is toward the undeserving in verse 10 thirdly he says his mercy is infinite notice in verse 11 for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy toward those who fear him he ever to stop at these things that go praise God this is good I'm a terrible person I need infinite mercy I'm a lawless man I need infinite mercy I'm not just speaking about me I'm kind of including all of us there he's all saying there Butler's he's got a messed up case so do you may I just say to you the most loving and non triggering sort of way you're in the same mess I'm in and we ought to praise God for infinite mercy it's infinite look at how David does this they have it as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy toward those who fear him brethren we don't have just a little bit of mercy in God we don't have just a little bit of grace in God we don't have a God as a miser a God who's in Ebenezer Scrooge weighing out the smallest shekels and apportioning them out in in strict divisions no he's a God whose abundant he is a God who is definitionally merciful he is a God who is definitionally gracious he is all that he is all that is in God is God and when he displays that mercy to us it is mercy on bounded and he goes on to say that his mercy I don't know how else to say this is Thoreau verse 12 as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions rama's you see what he's doing he's highlighting the height of God's mercy the brat the width the depth of God's in mercy he is wanting us to come away from this appreciating the infinite mercy of God but as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us yeah do we ever ponder that I know we struggle with sin I know there is that remaining corruption the reality of Romans 7 in Galatians 5 are real in our own hearts and souls the flesh lusts against the spirit spirit lusts against the flesh these are contrary to one another so that you don't do the things that you want Galatians 5:17 Paul the Apostle in Romans 7 the good that I want to do I don't do the things I don't want to do I find myself doing so I know that we're all there you know we get these ideas on a Sunday that I'm gonna read my Bible tomorrow I'm gonna be faithful my love my wife I'm gonna be like Christ I'm gonna be like Jesus wiser you know I'm gonna submit to my husband and make him waffles I'm gonna do all those good things not that that's the only expression of submission but it's a good one and they get all into that so so we have this active campaign against our remaining corruption as well we should but we ever just stop and think the Lord has taken my transgressions and he's cast them away have we ever just pondered the reality of Mike of the prophet Micah 7 18 and 19 who is a God like you now that's what Micah means the name Micah you know like Jesus means Yahweh saves or Joshua means yahweh is salvation' certain names I think Kelly our oldest daughter that that that word means warrior woman I never knew that well maybe I guess I did but she seems to have that sort of spirit about her but the name Micah means who is a God like you when you stop and think about this God described say by David who is a God like God so Dave Micah now takes his name and votes his own name or utilizes his name to ask this very pertinent question who is a god like you and and here's why he asks the question what follows is indicative of why he says who is a God like you we might do this who's uh who's a wife like you who who does all these great things or who's a a husband like you that does all these great things it's the the question that's a demonstrator highlighter put the spotlight on the on the person focus there and this is what the Prophet says who is a God like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy isn't that beautiful God delights in mercy sometimes people might think why do you preach the gospel every Sunday morning because God delights in mercy why do you witness to people on the street because God delights in mercy why do you tell people about Jesus because God delights in nursing it's a god thing you see it's it's what God does it's who God is why it's always offensive when I get this idea or I hear these sorts of statements like God really isn't out saving sinners God really isn't about running like the father in the prodigal son and falling upon him and kissing in and putting rings on his finger that's you know that's who God is you may not like that you may be a bit uncomfortable with that a god that sort of runs from the porch and falls on this pig smelling son that might offend your delicate sensitivities but that is our dog he delights in mercy is what the Prophet says he will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea so brethren I think the point that I'd like to encourage here is this in all your striving against sin in all of your notice I'm assuming that this is going on in all of your pursuit after holiness and righteousness and all of your striving to kill those things that rise up against you in terms of sanctification never forget what David is able to say David is able to say that God has removed our transgressions from us when all is said and done we may have issues we may have struggles we may have trials in terms of the daily battles in life but never forget war has been won there may be mop-up battles along the way and we may not always mop up as well as we ought but the better the war has been has been won by our Savior he has removed our transgressions notice as well his mercy is tender notice in verse 13 as a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear Him now God isn't embarrassed with showing how he really is to us and I think at times we get a little uncomfortable with such sorts of expressions we say well wait a minute we can't actually think that well of course we can actually think that it's intriguing because I mentioned earlier Deuteronomy Deuteronomy is basically a series of addresses on the on the plains of Moab before the children of Israel enter into the Promised Land remember the first generation dies in the wilderness because they grumbled they complain they murmured so Deuteronomy takes up the second generation and essentially on the plains of Moab Moses gives them a series of exhortations to prepare them for life or tenure in the Promised Land and one of the things God says in Deuteronomy chapter 1 is that as a father carries his children so the Lord carried you and that's intriguing because for the most part I think Israel complained about their time in the wilderness let me face it it was the wilderness right they didn't have homes they didn't have cities they didn't you know have all the good benefits that they'll have later in the land of Canaan so for Israel it was probably a time of taxing a taxation not you know literally but it was a taxing time it was a trying time it was a time of to mold but it's just then that God says I carried you like a father carries his children what an indictment here they're complaining about what it was like in the wilderness and God says you know if you actually want to interpret things properly I was like a father unto you carrying you through the wilderness so God uses that imagery God uses that language so that we'll know who God is for us and when it comes - sort of explaining God's mercy I think verse 13 is one of those verses the people of God ought to keep close to their heart as a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear Him it's a blessed reality isn't it that's mercy and then notice his mercy is sympathetic verse 14 for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust I think at times in that fight for sanctification in that pursuit of holiness we can be hard on ourselves and and I suspect we ought to be probably in our situation we probably need to be harder on ourselves than we are you go back to the Puritan era and you know times where you know guys used to really take these things seriously maybe they would have needed to lighten up a little bit but but I don't think our issue is that that we need to lighten up a little bit I think we probably need to step it up a little bit but in all our strivings after holiness and all of our pursuing after godliness and all of our seeking to be faithful to the lord may we never forget that he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust we need to keep that near and dear to our hearts in other words God's not like us as parents now maybe this never happened in your home but I think it happened in my home where you yell at your kid and you say how in the world could you ever do that how in the world could you ever do that how in the world could I ever say that to a kid knowing my own heart and scent that's the bigger issue right how in the world could you do such and such a thing and I think we as parents need to be very careful at this particular point how could you ever call yourself a Christian and do those things man I'm glad God doesn't deal with us that way because he'd always be right but notice what the text says he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust now Jesus chides the disciples for their having fallen asleep in the garden but he doesn't smile then he doesn't dispossessed them he doesn't cut them off he doesn't say well no longer are you my disciples no Christ knows the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Christ understood because he assumed our humanity with all the essential properties and all the common infirmities they're up yet without sin so Christ is able to identify his sleeping disciples and say look you couldn't watch with me for one hour but he doesn't stop them from being his disciples they failed they failed at a crucial moment their friend needed his friends and they were asleep on him or what about Peter Peter denies the Lord Christ three times does Jesus cut him off never ever to have him again no he doesn't do that in fact he preemptively warns him that he's going to do this and then affirms to him that when you return strengthen your brethren you see God knows our frame he knows that we're but dust keep that in mind God's nicer to us than we are I don't usually like using the word nice relative to God but it seems to fit here you know everybody wants nice God is nice not knowing God's not nice as far as nice is concerned but in this regard I think it's legit he's nice to us he knows our frame he he pities us that's the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is all of this to us because of what Christ has done on the cross and then notice his mercy is enduring verses 15 to 18 as for man his days are like grass as a flower of the field so he flourishes for the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place remembers that no more you see the temporary nests of man but verse 17 contrast the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness children's children to such as keep his covenant and to those who remember his Commandments to do them again Spurgeon writes how vast the contrast between the fading flower and the everlasting God how wonderful that his mercy should link our frailty with his eternity and make us everlasting - from old eternity the Lord viewed his people as objects of mercy and as such chose them to be become partakers of his grace the doctrine of eternal election is most delightful to those who have light to see it and love wherewith to accept it it is a theme for deepest thought and highest joy well brethren I hope that you see David had his reasons for blessing God and when we bless God we ought to express gratitude and thankfulness for those things that we ascribe to him and then notice finally the exhortation to bless God he makes the statement concerning the establishment of God's throne and the scope of his rule we asked the question yesterday in our theology study what's the kingdom of God it's a big question I think most of the guys that were there yesterday would say yeah it is a big question I don't know that we ever answered it but there's a sense where the kingdom of God is all comprehensive it encompasses everything and that's what verse 19 tells us yahweh has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom does what it rules over all now David understanding this David conscious of this moves from this soliloquy that means speaking to himself to calling upon the created order notice what David does here in verses 20 to 22 he says bless the Lord you his angels David don't you realize the pecking order in terms of creation it goes worm and it goes cat and it goes dog and it goes man and then it goes angel who do you think you are would you let a dog call upon a man and tell them to bless the Lord absolutely positively it's the universal duty of all of God's creatures to remind one another to bless the Lord and for David to call upon the angels to bless the Lord is perfectly consistent with what God reveals concerning himself and the responsibility bless the Lord you his angels who excel in strength who do his word heeding the voice of his word bless the Lord all you his hosts to ministers of his who do his pleasure bless the Lord all his works in all places of his Dominion bless the Lord O my soul the reason for this is because God is altogether lovely God is chief among 10,000 God is worthy to be blessed worthy to be praised worthy to be glorified worthy to be honored his people ought to engage in this blessed privilege so that then they will issue forth and gratitude thankfulness and praise unto God crea a man specifically knows what it is to be forgiving of sin the good angels don't know that because they never sent the bad angels don't know that because they're never forgiven the reasons that David gives specifically in verses 3 to 3 to 18 are specifically appropriate to man fallen man redeemed man in Jesus Christ we have been forgiven we have been watched over we have been preserved by the God who is definitionally merciful and gracious and that mercy is detailed by David in such a way that when we come to the end of the psalm there's only one consistent response from all of God's people bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name if you are not a believer tonight the means by which you learn to bless the name of the Lord is the cross in other words it's not just take this home and think about it and then speak well of the Lord now there's a sense where every creature every single creature ought to thank God for provision we ought to thank God for food we ought to thank God for water we ought to thank God for shelter we ought to thank God for safety improve and all of the good things that he gives us but in terms of blessing the Lord the way that David does is not simply reflecting upon a list but it's rather believing on a person even our Lord Jesus Christ that one in whom is forgiveness that one in whom is redemption that one who saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him the way to be a truly thankful person is not by having a good October 8th but rather by finding life eternal in the Lord Jesus Christ well let's close in a word of Prayer and may God indeed cause us to be a people who bless and praise him father thank you for this psalm thank you for these reasons to thank God thank you that david fills in the blanks and helps us to think through the implications of who you are and what you do in our lives and god these are certainly reasons to bless the Lord certainly reasons for us to express gratitude and God help us in this not just one day out of the year but each and every day we know that gratitude and thankfulness is an expression of a the grace based salvation we're not thankful for the good things that we have done but we're thankful for the great and glorious things that Christ has done on our behalf we praise you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him and as we eat this bread as we drink this cup as we proclaim the Lord's death till he comes may we see this as the chief reason to bless God Almighty and to express our thankfulness to you and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you can turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew 26 as we observe the Lord's Supper we'll read from Matthew's Gospel in the institution of the Lord's Supper by our Lord Jesus Christ Matthew 26 the section that will read prior to the passing out of the bread and the wine begins in verse 17 and continues to verse 25 Matthew 26 beginning at verse 17 the word of God now on the first day of the Feast of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying to him where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover and he said go into the city to a certain man and say to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover when evening had come he sat down with the twelve now as they were eating he said assuredly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him Lord is it I he answered and said he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me the son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born then Judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is a tie he said to him you have said it amen well we have this occasion of the giving of the Lord's Supper the institution of it by our Lord and as we've noted many times before it's a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ is here instituting it on the occasion of the remembrance of the Passover meal remember that Christ is ultimately the one to whom the Passover pointed he is our Passover sacrifice our Passover that was sacrificed for us as much as the the institution of the Passover itself occurred and remembers the deliverance of the people of Israel from out of bond in Egypt it had that typical aspect it had that pointing forward to reality that ultimate reality that the Passover lamb the lamb would be slain Jesus Christ himself for the redemption of his people and here the one to whom the Passover pointed is instituting the supper which will be the remembrance of himself in the context of a meal that was pointing forward to him it's a wonderful thing that our Savior here engages in remember tonight we are engaging in an act of remembrance it is not a real sacrifice that is taking place here for the quick and the dead but rather a remembrance of that once for all sacrifice that was given and our confession says a spiritual oblation a spiritual offering of praise by the gathered assembly for so great a sacrifice that is being remembered we are engaged in an act of remembrance it's a nice it's a kindness that God has given to us so that we might not forget all our benefits he's given us he's condescended to give us this meal that we might not forget him that we might not forget the oblation of the Lord that real sacrifice that was rendered for the quick in the dead in a 2000 years ago for 1500 years 1500 Passover's were observed pointing forward to this one this one who would come and give himself for guilty sinners even Jesus Christ the Lord so we are engaged in an act of remembrance we're also engaged in an act that has been ordained by God whereby the Holy Spirit strengthens his people our confession in chapter 14 paragraph 1 talks about some elements of worship that God uses in order to strengthen the the faithful resolve of his Saints and one of those things is the Lord's Supper along with baptism prayer in the Ministry of the word and here we have something whereby God feeds us spiritually that we might be strengthened by the spirit in our faith a reminder that when the bread comes around when the wine comes around these are elements of the Lord's Supper for believers only so if you're here tonight and you're not a believer you are not to take of the bread and you are not to take of the wine as we'll read in a moment this is a sacrifice given which is given for people who are redeemed the blood of the new covenant is for those is for the remission of sins so it is only those who avail of new covenant benefits believers that are to take of the bread and are to take of the wine as well as we read elsewhere in the New Testament and in 1st Corinthians you're only to take if you are living consistently with your profession if you're harboring unrepentant sin and you're not willing as a believer to repent of that you're not to take you're to examine yourselves but remember we have a forgiving God we have a God of grace and a God of mercy so repent of your sins and find favor with God and so take and so drink our God is quick to forgive he does not sanction some sort of Protestant flagellation where we have to go off for three months and and you know somehow merit and atone for our own transgressions no when we sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and he's faithful to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity so if I could have the brothers come up and pass out the bread what we can do is remain seated and we're going to turn in our hem books to 186 remain seated and we'll sing 186 as the bread comes around [Music] [Music] [Music] we read in verse 26 of Matthew 26 and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we can partake of your Lord's Supper we rejoice now that we can take of this bread that emblem of the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice that he bore in his own body our sins the sins of all who believe in his name on that tree that we having died to sin might live unto righteousness we thank you for the saving work for the cross work of our Lord Jesus Christ and we do pray that now as we partake that we would reflect with great joy upon his cross bearing we would pray with that we would praise you Lord God for the glorious reality that Jesus Christ became a curse for us upon that tree that he died in the stead of all who believe in his name and we pray that we would never forget and so glorious of salvation so do be with us now bless us in this element of worship and might we return to you praise we pray in Christ's name Amen let's take together if I could have the brothers come up and pass out the wine just a reminder when it's coming around the juices in the outer ring if you'd like to take the juice it's in the outer ring you can remain seated and we'll sing 357 together 357 [Music] [Music] [Music] we continue reading in Matthew 26 at verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives amen let us again pray God we rejoice now that we can take of this element the wine that we rejoice in what it is emblematic of the shed blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and truly we rejoice in that precious act upon Calvary's cross at the same time solomon at the same time joyful our Savior giving himself before us upon that cross we thank you for the shed blood of our Savior knowing that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin we thank you that in Christ Jesus and in that blood shed we have the forgiveness of sins might we always be mindful of this may we always be grateful might we always give you thanks daily for so great a sacrifice and for so great a salvation we thank you now that we can partake of this might you impress upon us the joy that it is to be found in Christ not having our own righteousness which is from the law but that which is from you through faith in Christ Jesus and we thank you for the shedding of his precious blood we pray in his name the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's take together well if we can all stand together as a church we're going to sing in our hymn books now that wonderful hymn 175 Man of Sorrows let's stand and sing one seven five together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen the Heavenly Father we thank you that we were able to gather together today as the saints of Christ to rejoice in Father Son and Holy Spirit to sing the praises of Amazing Grace to rejoice in the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God we do pray that you would go with us into this upcoming week that you would help us by your spirit to live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation to hold forth the word of truth might we Lord God be able empowered by you to put sin to death and to live unto righteousness and might we daily give thanks for all of your glorious benefits we do pray go with us now and we pray that next Lord's Day might we all return again to give you honor and to give you praise and we pray the name of Jesus Christ our Savior amen please be seated we'll have a time of Prayer when the piano is finished you're dismissed you