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welcome to everybody it's good to be back in the house of our God on this lord's day Sabbath for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 7 Revelation chapter 7 beginning in verse 9 after these things I looked and behold the great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb all the Angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worship God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom Thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever amen then one of the elders answered saying to me who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from and I said to him sir you know so he said to me these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore the Sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will Shepherd them and lead them to living law living fountains of waters and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes amen we'll take your Trinity salter and turn to Psalm Psalm 113 Psalm 113 will stand as we sing together Oh I Oh Oh I'll let us pray Almighty God and Father we gather again on this lord's day and it is a great privilege it is a privilege to call upon you in prayer it is a blessing to sing your praises through Psalms and hymns it is a blessing as well they gather around the word of truth and in all of this we pray that you would be exalted that you would be enthroned upon the praises of your people here that you would be lifted on high and that we would acknowledge your greatness and your glory in your majesty our Father we acknowledge that you made this world and all things in it that you govern all your creatures and all their actions and we acknowledge the fact that you are our Savior the father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world father sends the son to live and to die and to rise again so that we might have everlasting life and we thank you and praise you that you sent the Holy Spirit that in your timing by your grace we listened we heard we believe the gospel of our salvation and how we praise you that you brought us together here is a covenant church as the people of God located in a specific area and we ask that you would just be pleased to encourage and strengthen our hearts tonight and help us Lord God most high to approach you in an acceptable manner with reverence and godly fear we pray father that you would be pleased to look with favor upon each and every one in this assembly we do pray for those who struggle physically and those who struggle with ongoing challenges in their lives we know God that such things can be a great trial in the hearts of your people and yet we know that you give great grace and you sustain and you bless and you help we would pray that all those in our church that stand in need physically you would supply their needs in Christ Jesus that they would know of a truth that their God is with that and sustains them and blesses them even in the midst of the suffering that they undergo on a regular basis as well our Father we pray that you would just encourage their hearts and strengthen them to give honor and glory and praise unto you we ask Lord that you would look with favor upon the young people and the children in our church how we thank you for the many blessings that you have given to us we know that children are a blessing from on I and we would pray even tonight that you'd be with those ladies who are pregnant that you would give them physical strength and health and watch over these little ones in the womb and give us as parents and as Grandparents great wisdom and grace to love these little ones and to set a godly example for them and we would pray that you would help us to have a heart for their salvation that we would give them the gospel that we would teach them the truth as it is in Jesus that you and your grace and mercy would be pleased to save our little ones and our young people we pray in a particular way for those young people that live in this wicked world that is so filled with sin and corruption we know there are many temptations in their lives there are many things that seek to to solicit them to do evil we would pray that you had set a hedge around them that you would guard them that you would cause them to want to serve the Lord God most high through Jesus Christ the Savior may you lay your hand a blessing upon each and every one of them and may you cause them to call upon you even in their youth and that they would remember that that blessed word that reality that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life we pray for our community that you would give us grace in this community to shine as lights help us father to be bold witnesses with the truth of the gospel and may we seek by your grace to set forth a good example of what the Christian faith looks like help us Lord God as a church to be able to reach out to those in need specifically that spiritual need for salvation we would pray that you would bless the preaching of the gospel from this pulpit and that you would use the word of God for the salvation of sinners in this community bless other churches in this city we thank you that we're not alone here we thank you for those faithful witnesses that are indeed proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray that you would prosper them that you would bless them that their churches would be marked by piece and unity and the presence of God Almighty and may look with favor upon all ministers of the gospel in this community may they indeed continued to proclaim the glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace we would ask as well our Father that you would bless the missionary enterprise we thank you for the men that we know the man that we support as a church and we would pray that you would continue to bless the preaching that they engage in we think of those in China and we would pray that they'd have opportunity to continue to speak the truth there and we do pray that the gospel would run swiftly and be glorified in that great nation that many would come to know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior that many would leave their idols for the true and the Living God and that you would be well pleased to bless them we also pray for the the Brethren there in Perth Australia having just arrived we pray that you would bless our dear brother and sister and their children cause them to acclimate there cause them to find their place in that community and continue to bless Alan as he preaches and teaches the word of truth we also pray our God for those in various lands who suffer for the cause of God and truth it seems daily we're learning each and every each and every day of new persecutions against the people of God and we just pray Lord in heaven that you would bless in these nations the gospel and that you would cause there to be a turning unto you we pray for that church in islamabad we thank you for that that strategic church that play that church in a very necessary needful place and we would pray for pastor daniel and for the saints of God and that in that local body that they would be faithful in their community that you would bless their efforts to reach Muslims bless their efforts to reach sinners for the cause of God and truth and may you prosper them and may you encourage them and may you strengthen them and protect them each and every day and our Father we pray now that as we gather together that you would forgive us for our sins whenever we come before a holy God we see our own unholiness we see our waywardness and we affirm that the hem writer was spot on when he said prone to wander and prone to leave the god I love forgive us for this waywardness and cleanse us from all unrighteousness captivate our minds in our hearts and cause us to take every every thought captive to the obedience of Christ as we worship tonight and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn in your Trinity hymnal to number 678 six seven eight we'll stand as we sing together you can turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel the Prophet chapter 21 for our scripture reading Ezekiel 21 will pick up reading in verse 14 you therefore son of man prophecy and strike your hands together the third time let the sword do double damage it is the sword that slays the sword that slays the great man that enters their private chambers I have set the point of the sword against all their gates that that the heart may melt and many may stumble ah it is made bright it is grasped grasp for slaughter swords at the ready thrust right set your blade thrust left wherever your edge is ordered I also will beat my fists together and I will cause my fury to rest I the LORD have spoken the word of the Lord came to me again saying and Son of Man a point for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go both of them shall go from the same land make a sign put it at the head of the road to the city a pointer road for the sword to go to rabaa of the ammonites and to Judah in the fortified Jerusalem for the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road at the fork of the two roads to use divination he shakes the arrows he consults the images he looks at the liver in his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem to set up battering rams to call for a slaughter to lift the voice was shouting to set battering rams against the gates to heap up a siege mound and to build a wall and it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance that they may be taken therefore thus says the Lord God because you have made your iniquity to be remembered in that your transgressions are uncovered so that in all your doings your sins appear because you have come to remembrance you shall be taken in and now to you Oh profane wicked Prince of Israel whose day has come whose iniquity shall end thus says the Lord God removed the turban and take off the crown nothing shall remain the same exalt the humble and humble the exalted overthrown overthrown it will make it over there I will make it overthrown it shall be no longer until he comes whose right it is and I will give it to him and use son of man prophecy and say thus says the Lord God concerning the ammonites and concerning their approach and say a sword a sword is drawn polished for slaughter for consuming battle for flashing while they see false visions for you while they divine a lie to you to bring you on the necks of the wicked the slain whose day has come whose iniquity shall end return it to its sheath I will judge you in the place where you were created in the land of your nativity I will pour out my indignation on you I will blow against you with the fire of my wrath and deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy you shall be fuel for the fire your blood shall be in the midst of the land you shall not be remembered for I the LORD have spoken amen well let us pray or blessed God and Holy Father as we consider this chapter as we consider this book we see your your terrible wrath and fury against covenant breaking Israel God may we learn the lessons from such passages as these as the the true Israel is the Israel of God the church of our Lord Jesus Christ may we consider these things in light of the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 may we strive to be those who are faithful to our God the God who has saved us the God who has called us to himself they grant us grace to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight and how we do thank you that we have the the Covenant keeper himself even our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that he obeyed perfectly your law that he died in our place and that he rose again and that in him we have eternal life nevertheless as the was joined together to him help us to pursue those things that are right before a holy God and we pray these things through Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn you can turn to number 369 in the Trinity hymnal 369 will stand as we sing together we can turn in your Bibles to psalm 67 psalm 67 should explain the particular theme chosen with reference to the hems a missionary emphasis tonight we want to look at Psalm 67 under the consideration the hope of the nation's this is indeed a missionary Psalm a psalm that promotes the glory of God throughout the peoples of the earth and certainly as God's people we ought to have that same desire that same longing as the psalmist says that the nations would be glad and sing for joy in the presence of our God so I'll begin reading in Psalm 67 at verse 12 the chief musician on stringed instruments a psalm a song god be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us say law that your way may be known on earth your salvation among all nations let the people's praise you O God let all the peoples praise you o let the nation's be glad and sing for joy for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nation's on earth seyla let the people's praise you O God let all the peoples praise you then the earth shall yield her increase God our own God shall bless us God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him will let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word and we pray now for the holy spirit who gave us the written word we pray that he would aluminum ines and our hearts and guide us and lead us as we consider this psalm and may it affect us for good may we be a prayerful people in private and in families and in the church as a whole that we would be calling upon you to bless those who Minister across the globe and we would pray that your word would indeed go forth and that Christ would indeed have dominion from sea to sea again forgive us for all sin and unrighteousness and bless us not because we are worthy but because you and your mercy has saved us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen we have had cause to consider many times in our church that sin is messy business when an individual sins it affects them in an adverse way nobody ever sins and has a happy life fact the proverbs say the way of the treacherous or the way of the unfaithful is hard when you see somebody with a difficult life that is connected to two sinful choices think Solomon in the Proverbs sin also affects families sin is messy business when it affects families when it's not dealt with when it's not repented of when it's not forsaken when it's not confessed it has an effect upon family units sin also affects churches when churches don't deal properly when they don't exercise church discipline when they don't preach the law when they don't hold sinners accountable to the things of God that affects the church and brings adverse conditions as well sin effects nations when a nation is populated with sinners it is not going to be long before things go awry in fact again in Solomon in the Proverbs he says that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people we need to understand that sin exists in this world in the only hope and the only answer is through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and that is essentially what David is highlighting in this particular song now it's not ascribed to David but as Spurgeon says one would be a fool to argue that David did not write this particular song it is a prayer for the church or the people of God and it is a prayer for the world and I want to look at two broad categories first the petitions offered by the psalmist verses 1 to 5 and then secondly the promise assumed by the psalmist in verses 6 and 7 but in the first place the petitions the things that he asks for the requests when we make potato before God that means we go to God and we ask him for very specific things and as I said there are two categories or two specifics here he prays first for the church and then he prays for the world note in the first place his prayer for the church verse 1 God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us in the first instance he prays for God's mercy I think behind this particular verse is the ironic blessing in number 6 24 to 26 there the priest would offer the benediction Yahweh bless you and keep you the Yahweh make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace so the same sorts of things that were pronounced in terms of benediction upon Israel are here prayed for by the the author of the song by David for the people of God God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us it is intriguing that mercy is the first petition sought God be merciful to us this is a good place to start when it comes to prayer because when it comes to prayer we are conscious of the one to whom we pray we're not asking a fellow we're not asking an equal we are not petitioning even a king or a governor or a or a president or a prime minister we are petitioning the High King of heaven God most high the one who is holy holy holy in the language of Isaiah 6 the one before whom the the Angels have to cover their eyes because he burns in holiness and so when we consider that it's a good place for us to start asking for mercy CH Spurgeon and his commentary the Treasury of David he says mercy is a foundation attribute in our salvation the best Saints and the worst sinners may unite in this petition so he praised God be merciful to us the conscious reality that God is holy that we are not and that we stand in need of mercy he then asks secondly for blessing God be merciful to us and bless us now when we bless god that means we speak well of him when we bless god it means we praise him or we honor him or we worship Him paul uses this convention in Ephesians 1 he says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ know when he says that he does not suppose for a moment that the sinner the redeemed Center adds anything to God by our blessing God we don't increase in by not blessing him we don't diminish in he is unchangeable he is immutable our God is like a rock and ice Deuteronomy 32 but when we bless him we speak well of him we praise and we celebrate his good name when he blesses us He bestows good things on us he advances us he increases us he stabilizes us he secures us in Psalm 68 verses 19 and 20 the psalmist says blessed be the lord who daily loads us with benefits is this not your self same confession is this not something you can testify to can you not say a party amen to Psalm 68 19 blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits he loads them He pours them out they are abundant upon us he goes on to say the god of our salvation seyla our God is the god of salvation and to God the Lord belong escapes from death so as he prays for the people of God he seeks mercy he seeks blessing and then thirdly he seeks communion he wants the presence of God that's the end of verse 1 God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us that's the language of intimacy that's the language of communion that's the language of that that access to God that we spoke of this morning that has been brought about by that new and living way through Jesus Christ this is the desire of God's people again the benediction in the ironic blessing in number 6 and lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace is there anything you crave or desire more than the countenance of God upon you the God of heaven and earth shining is light upon you that is what the psalmist craves that is what the psalmist praise for notice in psalm 42 we get a glimpse of David when he has this longing for God in verse 1 of psalm 42 as the deer pants for the water Brooks so pants my soul for you Oh God if you were to ask yourself tonight what do i pant for what do I long for what do I desire is it the Lord God most high I know that we have many interests we have many hobbies there are many things that that we give our time to and not all of them are sinful not of all of them are necessarily evil but if we put hobbies or sports or interests or anything before our longing for God if we would long more to see the canucks go to the very Stanley Cup more than we want the presence of God that's not good if we would long to bake the best cake in chilliwack more than we long for the presence of the countenance of God that's not good we need to check our hearts and we need to confirm or affirm that we are like David when it comes to such things as the deer pants for the water Brooks so pants my soul for you O God and then he says in verse to my soul thirsts for God for the Living God when shall I come and appear before God this is what he wants notice in Isaiah I'm sorry in Psalm 63 versus one two three this is when David is in the wilderness and David when he was in the wilderness was on the run David didn't go to the wilderness so he could sunbathe David didn't go to the wilderness because it was a wilderness oasis he didn't go to the wilderness because it was Palm Springs he went there because he was being hunted he was being pursued Saul wanted to rid world of David this is why David finds himself in the wilderness now certainly as Saul is pursuing David and as David is having to oversee his troops and as David is having to make sure that his troops eat and that they rest and that their battle ready for when they do meet up with Saul in his army david has a lot of things going on you get me David isn't just basking out there just music david has a lot of responsibility a lot of heavy duty thought process going on with reference to preserving his life preserving his men making sure that they do things properly and upright and yet look at what fills his mind when it comes to the quiet place he says oh god you are my god early will I seek you my soul thirsts for you my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water so I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power in your glory I love verse 3 says because your loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise you now perhaps we're not all at this point but this is the point we ought to pursue we ought to seek God's loving kindness as better than life God is better than our lives God's mercies gods graces God's kindness God's presence in our lives his countenance that is better than life itself and this is what David says because your loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise you this is the desire of the people of God it is the longing of this particular solemnise it is the longing of those who have been called out of darkness into marvelous light as we saw this morning we have by the grace of God through the blood of Christ entered into the holiest the Apostle then charges us to draw near we ought to draw near we ought to pursue that access which has been provided for us by the Lord Jesus Christ so in sum the three petitions for the church are mercy blessing and communion now he turns his attention to the world the people out side of the church notice specifically in verses 2 3 and 4 the first place he praised for their salvation it's a good thing to pray for those outside of the church for their salvation notice in verse 2 that your way may be known on earth your salvation among all nations you see this is what concerned David with reference to the nations around them but don't miss that first word in verse 2 that there is a strong connection between verses 1 and 2 the vert of the word that highlights that strong connection notice the church receives mercy the church receives blessing the church receives communion that she the church may make known the way of God on the earth that they may make known the salvation of God among all nations this was to be a particular task of Israel in the Old Covenant look at Deuteronomy for want you to appreciate the connection here the church doesn't pray for mercy blessing and communion so she can just be gluttonous with her mercy blessing and communion she prays for the mercy blessing and communion of God that she may be equipped to go out and publish those self saying things to the world around them in Deuteronomy chapter 4 specifically beginning in verse 5 no surely I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess therefore be careful to observe them for this is your wisdom in your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people for what great nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us for whatever reason we may call upon him and what great nation is there us are in all this law or I'm sorry and what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day you see Israel was to be among the nations of the earth a mediator of sorts they were to mediate the blessing of God as they received mercy as they receive blessing as they knew communion they were to shine as a light among the nations around that they were to publish the truth as it is in Jesus now note how this has been applied to the New Covenant Israel specifically the church look at first Peter chapter 2 1st Peter chapter 2 interestingly enough Peter takes language applied to Israel in the Old Covenant applies that to the church to highlight this particular function we are not blessed for the sake of being blessed we are blessed in order to be a blessing to others we receive mercy we receive blessing we know the countenance of God so that we can publish those things to the nations around us notice in first Peter 29 but you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation this is language right out of the book of Exodus applied to Israel in the Old Covenant co-opted by the apostle and applied to the church in the New Covenant this is why it's not a stretch to call the church the Israel of God the true Israel or new Israel or whatever it is we want because Jesus was the true Israel He fulfilled all that the father had given for Israel of old Christ fulfills and by virtue of our union in him we are the Israel of God so you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people notice that word that corresponds to the beginning of verse 2 in Psalm 67 all these things are true that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but now but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now obtain mercy now certainly we proclaim his praises as we sing Psalm 113 we proclaim his praises as we sing Trinity hymnal 369 we proclaim his praises when we gather together as the church but we proclaim his praises when before a watching world we shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation we proclaim his praises when somebody at work says you know you're different than the rest of the the people here what is it about you well the Lord God has saved my soul he has delivered me from my wretchedness and rebellion and he has given me life eternal in Jesus Christ that is a proclamation of the praises of God most high whether or not sinners get converted God is glorified in the proclamation so you see the close and intimate connection between the blessings received by the church in verse 1 and so on 67 to what they engage in in Psalm 67 verse 2 now obviously it is Christ who saves the people's it is the church that proclaims the truth Paul in first Corinthians 121 says for since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know god it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe now ultimately it's Christ who saves sinners but sinners don't know of Christ unless they hear the gospel and the church's function is to proclaim that it is to testify it is to tell a lost and dying world that there is salvation to be found in Jesus Christ our Lord mo tier notes this connection between verses 1 and 2 he says it is of course true that God blesses us for our own enrichment because he loves us and delights to share himself with us but there is another side to blessing it comes to us for the sake of somebody else in other words we're not just to hoard our blessings we're not just to hide them you know in our our special place at home but rather we are to be a blessing to others he says blessing puts us under responsibility whether it is that we so respond to God's blessing that I see the difference in our lives or that there is someone waiting to be told of this generous God blessing is granted in order that the world may know his salvation CC we ask for mercy we ask for blessing we ask for communion so that we may indeed publish these truths to the unconverted around us Spurgeon says it is the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way to be everywhere known so he says that your way may be known on earth your salvation among all nations God's ways his Providence is revelation the word scripture it declares to us his way specifically what is in view is the salvation of God salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we ought to be Paul's in our day determining to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified we ought to be Paul's in our day where we say god forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ you see it's not the case that we simply tell sinners about a blessed we are we are blessed by God to tell centers the way of salvation to tell them the way of God to tell them the means by which sinners move from wrath to life through the sovereign grace of this particular God the salt way and salvation of God is to be made known throughout the earth I think David here picks up a thread that the scripture everywhere acknowledges the blessing of God will traverse the nation of Israel the language is suggestive of the Abrahamic covenant the promise made to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed and that is precisely how David prays that your way may be known on earth your salvation not just in Israel but your salvation among all nations it will transcend the confident people of old it will transcend specifically under the New Covenant to a global Church to a people group of people from every tribe tongue people and nation so David prays for salvation for the world secondly he pray that the world would worship God I mean that's the thrust in many respects notice verse 4 is central in many respects to the entirety of the song oh let the nation's be glad and sing for joy this is repeated throughout let the people's praise you O God let all the peoples praise you it's an amazing thing you hear about Calvin for instance John Calvin you all have heard of John Calvin well a lot of people have this idea of John Calvin that he was just sort of this monster you know he preached predestination an election anybody who does that they're just bad well Paul did that and he's not bad I said did that he's not bad Jesus did that he's not bad well not too you know consign Calvin to this pit because he preached predestination and election one of the things that's interesting is he has a series of sermons on 2nd Samuel moving through 2nd Samuel an hour Wednesday night I you know read some of them I'd like to say I read all of them to kind of lengthy the end of every one he ends with prayer and he prays for the world he prays that the world would know the salvation of god I think I say everyone the ones i read the ones i'm conscious of he doesn't just say bless me lord bless our church just keep it here he said may the middle world know these things and this is what the psalmist is praying he wants them to be saved why so that God will be worshipped so that God will be glorified we have a vested interest in center salvation it's so that they'll no longer blaspheme they'll no longer curse they'll no longer dishonor the living and true God but they will revere him and they will praise him he says let the people's praise you O God let all the peoples praise you O let the nation's be glad and sing for joy let the people's praise you O God let all the peoples praise you David what is it that you want with reference to this world I want all the peoples to praise God because God is worthy that all peoples praise him this emphasis on the nation's praising God is theological in essence it's because God is so glorious God is so majestic God is so great and so wondrous let every tongue chase him let every tongue sing his glory and note the way of gladness the hope of the nation's is not to be found in political whatever now we put a lot of stock in politics and whatever political leader they're going to make Canada great again or they're going to ruin Canada they're going to botch get all these particular slogans now I'm not suggesting that a governing authority doesn't have some effect upon the body politic certainly that's not the case that they have no effect but ultimately the hope of the nation's isn't you know the Democrat Party thankfully the hope of the nation's is Christ the hope of the nation's is the gospel the hope of a nation's is the the bloodied Savior who's risen again and sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father this is why the church having received mercy blessing and communion goes out and testifies concerning the way and the salvation of Yahweh not the way in salvation of Benny Hinn or not the way in salvation of the Prime Minister but the way in salvation of our Lord it is that by which God blesses that will bring the people's out of darkness into marvelous light so that they will proclaim his praises that they will do all the things that are specified here in this particular song so for the world David praised for their salvation he praised that they would worship and then he prays that they would be governed by God they would know divine rule they would know Yahweh's government notice and for be for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nation's on earth the government of God will be comprehensive as the gospel is proclaimed and believed on as well the government of God alone is righteous and just listen to Spurgeon he says wrong on the part of Governors that means they committing wrong wrong on the part of Governors is a fruitful source of national whoa but where the Lord rules rectitude his supreme he do if ill to none his laws are righteous pneus itself he writes all wrongs and releases all who are oppressed justice on the throne is a fit cause for national exultation and govern the nation's upon earth he will lead them as a shepherd his flock and through his greet race they shall willingly follow then will there be peace plenty and prosperity it is a great condescension on God's part to become the Shepherd of Nations and to govern them for their good it is a fearful crime when a people who know the salvation of God apostatize and say to the Lord depart from us and then he says this always and curious as I read these british authors from you know a few centuries ago he says there is some cause for trembling lest our nation should fall in death into this condemnation may God forbid you do wonder what Spurgeon would think if he were to ample around London in today's day certainly he would say we have fallen from that place now as we survey this and as I preach it I am mindful at the thought that persons will say well that's never going to happen that's just never going to happen I mean look at the world you already said sin is messy business for individuals for families for churches and four nations it's never going to happen that this is going to be the case think about David when he was king over Israel there was a lot of internal torrent turmoil right he didn't have the peaceful rain that Solomon would enjoy the borders were extended a bit but under David a lot of what David had to face was problems from Saul initially and then problems from his own waywardness secondarily so David didn't see this actually taking place did he he didn't see the Hittites and the Hittites and the ammonites the amorite sand all these i'ts coming under the sway of Yahweh but didn't stop him from praying this you see there is this idea that we get it in our minds in our hearts that well this will never happen so why should I pray for it well maybe it's never happening because we don't pray for it you have not because you ask david had no problem in psalm to specifically vs 8 i'm sorry vs 10 to 12 with reference to the king surrounding israel psalm to 10 now therefore be wise o Kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him so though David doesn't see it realize it doesn't stop him from praying for it it doesn't stop him from exhorting kings and governors surrounding Israel why does it stop us at the throne of grace why does it cause us when we look at the world and the mess that it's in to say somehow well why pray these particular prayers because it's already a done deal we don't know that we don't know what God has in store in the future we don't know how many more years this earth has two to spin on its axis we don't know what the plans of the almighty are we do know what is revealed will is and the songs of Zion that we ought to pray at the throne of grace we ought to pray and we ought to say well let the nation's be glad and sing for joy for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nation's on earth sometimes Christians get paralyzed when they see this long and the rapid rise that it's making we get all fretful and we get all fearful and we think there's no way that we can ever come back is long Oh brethren remember that Islam is like Dagon in the Old Covenant remember Dagon the god of the Philistines when they capture the Ark of the Covenant they put the Ark of the Covenant into the temple of Dagon they go in the next morning what happened Dagon had fallen down Dagon had fallen down they go in the next morning and fallen down his head fell off and his hands fell off I mean it's just a show or an image or picture rather of the impetus impotence II of false religion why do we think that Islam is somehow better than Dagon how come we think that that particular Idol cannot fall before the Ark of the Covenant why is it that we have no belief whatsoever that through the preaching of the gospel God can turn those idolaters to the true and living God you see brethren we have the power of God unto salvation doesn't Paul say this in Romans 1 I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith that just as it is written the just shall live by faith see as Christians our thought isn't to be well what I see and what I perceive and how I view it simply tells me that it will never be the case well if we were to judge it that way then David shouldn't ever penned this all David should have never called upon kings and judges to be reconciled to God through the Sun in Psalm to David trusted God David obeyed God David prayed to God with that particular end in view that the nations would indeed be glad and sing for joy and that they would then come under the government of God you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nation's on earth you see brethren it may not be the case or it may be the case rather that we have not because we ask not now we could pray this for the rest of our lives and never see it realized are we sinful no you're never wrong praying the psalter you will never be found in sin praying the psalms of david you will never be condemned by God why did you pray that i would have government over the center's no that's not what's going to happen now the converse may be true why didn't you pray the Psalms of David why didn't you sing the songs of Zion and your corporate meetings why didn't you sing that that the battle cries of the Messiah himself why didn't you take those things seriously and pray them back to God we will never be faulted by our God for praying the psalms back to him this is what he delights in God loves his word it's a good thing for all of us to remember just by way of a sideline note if you don't know what to pray pray the Bible open the Psalms and make them their own go through one by one and just say Lord well david says here I Amen that I want this to be the case for me god be merciful to me I'm a sinful sinful man I need grace I need help i need forgiveness david says you know let him bless us god I I can enter into that position to I I need blessing on I'm a wretch and I need your help and lord I I need your countenance to shine upon me because it seems as if I'm a stranger to God and I don't want that you see you pray the Bible back to God and he'll never be upset with that so you can never say I don't know what to pray you've got 66 books on how to pray just open it and start to pray listen or I'm sorry moving on finally to the promise assume by the psalmist and it's twofold so the petitions for the church for the world for the church mercy blessing communion not mercy blessing communion in and of themselves but mercy blessing communion so that the church may be a means of blessing to the world for the world he prays for salvation for the fact that they would worship and for God's government over the nation's now he ends with these promises for temporal blessing notice in verse 6 then the earth shall yield her increase God our own God shall bless us the occasion the psalm was probably written as a prayer to God on the occasion of a bountiful harvest so david has this in mind then the earth shall yield or increase god our own God shall bless us again we might look at this and we might think well you know if the people in Uganda or in the Sudan turned unto the Lord that doesn't necessarily mean their fields are going to be fertile really the problem in these other nations isn't necessarily a lack of resources it's a lack of faith in the living and true God listen to Spurgeon on this this is perceptive he said sin let first late occurs on the soil and grace alone can remove it under tyrannical governments lands become unproductive hey haven't you noticed that do people under communism they don't why because communism is atheistic it is anti-god and when men tried to rival God God does not bless them I love what Spurgeon says under tyrannical governments lands become unproductive listen even the land which flowed with milk and honey is almost a wilderness under Turkish rule but when the principles of True Religion shall have elevated mankind and the Dominion of Jesus shall be universally acknowledged the science of tillage shall be perfected men shall be encouraged to labor industry shall banish penury and the soil shall be restored to more than its highest condition of fertility again we may pray this and not ever see a nation completely converted to God not that every single one in the nation but in that there might we may not see that we might not see the the tillage coming to to perfection but this is mean we don't pray you know when we see these famine-stricken nations yes we want them to have water certainly God send water upon them that that's a good thing let them grow tomatoes let them grow you know vegetables and fruits but what we ought to pray first and foremost is that they would know the way of God they would know the salvation of Jehovah because the problem is in a lack of resources it's a lack of faith in the living and true God so the temporal and then he ends with the spiritual verse 7 God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him now this kind of language is so so scattered throughout the psalter I'll just give you a few Psalm 2 verse 8 Psalm 22 27 to 30 Psalm 45 verse 4 psalm 46 verse 10 Psalm 72 8 to 11 Psalm 86 8 to 10 this is just a few this led Calvin to comment concerning Psalm 67 the song contains a prediction of Christ's Kingdom under which the whole world was to be adopted into a privileged relationship with God again he doesn't mean every man without exception but he is every man without distinction and he means this in a large way at some point brethren between now and revelation 7 a lot of people get converted don't they did you hear the reading at the outset of Scripture this peoples from every tribe tongue peoples and nations a great multitude that no man can number at some point somewhere God's saving a lot of people Spurgeon says despite the gloomy notions of some we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer you see if we don't believe it if we don't consider it if we don't think about it we're certainly not going to pray for it and then we see in Matthew 28 it's no accident when Jesus says all Authority has been given unto given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of what the nations what do you think Jesus is echoing he's echoing the promise made to Abraham that in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed he's echoing the Psalter that foretells these days when all the nations all the ends of the earth shall fear him so he sends his church upon the task of evangelizing the nation's go make disciples of all those nations baptize the disciples you have made and in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age so we ought not to leave the psalm without appreciating the fact that we are to pray big prayers we were to call upon God with reference to salvation with reference to the knowledge of his ways with reference to the worship of the heathen turned from their idols to the true and living God because they have been saved by grace I think in conclusion that this particular song and psalms like it and doctrine like this in the rest of the Bible should define for us the mission of the church what is the church supposed to do is the church supposed to just be a place where everybody feels good no not necessarily I don't think it's a please supposed to be a place where everybody feels bad but I don't think the first order of business is everybody feels good what else is the church supposed to do not supposed to do the mission or the that the psalm itself defines for us the church is to be about the proclamation of the gospel in her local community if this is true with reference to David and the nations around the earth we are to consider our place here in chilliwack our primary focus is to our Jerusalem it is to our particular city we are to proclaim the Gospel of free and sovereign grace we are as well to seek by the grace of God to raise men up to Train man to see them educated to see them knowledgeable in the word and in doctrine so that we can send them out as missionaries to foreign fields that they may in turn preach the gospel elsewhere and we need to realize that it is the proclamation of the gospel that is the means by which the worship of God is instituted men need Christ women need Christ boys girls need Christ before they come to worship God they need to be saved by grace through faith then they come and they worship the Lord God most high as well this particular song Psalms like it the Bible that teaches the same sorts of things as well highlights the message of the church it is salvation by grace through faith now I've belabored that point severely this evening and this morning so i won't highlight it too much more but to quote John Gill he says with reference to the way in salvation of God God's Way and method of grace in the salvation of sinners the contrivance of it in Christ the IMP atrae shin of it by him and the application of it by his Spirit and the way of sinners to him through Christ the way the truth and the life the new and living way to the Father and the way of life and salvation which is Grace and by Christ alone and the gospel which points out this way and is itself called the way of God together with the ordinances of it which I ways of pleasantness and paths of peace all this was made known by the Apostles and first preachers of the gospel not only in the land of Judea but throughout the whole earth this is the message of the church this is the mission of the church we are not to be a social club we're not to be about entertainment we're not to be striving after cultural relevance that's a puzzling term to me you'll hear that you know in the church growth and in church discussion is your church culturally relevant I don't know what is more culturally relevant than the gospel of Jesus Christ me you know having a beard and wearing a hat and doing weird that's not cultural relevance the way the church is to be relevant in whatever culture she finds herself is to proclaim the cross if we strive after some conceived notion of relevance that sacrifices the proclamation of the truth we have betrayed our God we have betrayed the gospel and we ought not to be considered a church whatsoever we are culturally relevant to the decree the great degree that we are faithfully proclaiming the word of truth we are not to be a church that promotes self-help brethren were a mess we need something far beyond self-help itself that got us into the mess that we find ourselves in you don't need to come for some raw raw session on how to be better you you're you is messed up we need Christ help we need divine help and that is what the church is to proclaim throughout the world so may God Almighty cause his mercy to fall upon us may he bless us and may he shine his light upon us that we in turn may promote the glory of god through the proclamation of truth to our jerusalem and then to the uttermost parts of the earth will let us pray father we do we do thank you for this this brief song but what it contains concerning petition for the church in the world we would pray that you'd increase our faith and make us like a David who even in the wilderness long after God and sought after God who even in the midst of inner turmoil with reference to his own Kingdom his own life the consequences of his own scent nevertheless prayed that the nations would be glad not glad because they got good political leaders but glad because they fell under the the realm and the sway and the government of a good and gracious God give us grace Lord to pray such Psalms and to pray them earnestly and as Spurgeon says may we agonize in prayer for the salvation of loss centers throughout this world go with us now we pray we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen what will close with a brief time of meditation and be dismissed