Could you turn with me, please, in the scriptures to the 42nd Psalm, Psalm 42. As you're turning to the page, can I just say a word of thanks to my hosts today. I want to thank Paul and Karen for their hospitality this afternoon and for their fellowship. I want to just make that public. It has been good to be alone and to have fellowship, as I've already said. Psalm 42, and the psalm is entitled to the chief musician, Maskell, for the sons of Cora. The word of God says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude, I had went with them to the house of God, with a voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God. For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, and from the Hell-miser. Deep calleth on to deep the noise of thy water-spouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime And in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with the sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieting within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Amen. And we know that the Lord will bless the public reading of his own inerrant word to all of our hearts. With God's word open before us, let's just bow for a moment in prayer, please. Let's pray. Dear Lord and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank Thee again, Lord, for all that has gone before. Lord, we thank You for the words of these hymns that draw us to Calvary, that draw us to a Saviour's love, that draw us to the way of salvation, the only way of salvation, that draw us to Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of man. Lord, we pray that even now as we come around Thy Word, Lord, we pray that You would open it before us Lord, we pray that you would speak to us through it. Lord, I pray that thou wouldst take all that is of thyself, O Lord, and apply it to each and every heart. O Lord, may there be nothing of self. Lord, I pray that thou wouldst be given all the honour and all the glory. For it's in Jesus' name we ask these things. Amen. Amen. Tonight, I want to take this 42nd Psalm Consider some of the thoughts expressed in it in relation to our relationship with our creator God. The song, as we read through it, we notice at the very outset it was written by one of the sons of Korah. And the psalm expresses the deep pain and desperation of the psalmist. We see that pain expressed in so many of these verses. The psalmist say, but those that are looking on, they're chanting him, they're taunting him, they're saying, where is your God in the midst of all your troubles, in the midst of your trials? Where is the one who you claim to serve, the one who you claim rules supreme over all the affairs of men, where is he? We see the psalmist is downcast. He says within himself, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquietened in me? And yet, he knows where his strength and his help comes from. He says to his soul, hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. And even in the midst of all his pain and all his darkness, he wants to know that nearness, that peace that only His God and His Redeemer can bring. And friends, tonight, as we come around God's Word, I want to bring you face to face with the only one that can calm the storms of life that you face and that can bring you through the storms of death and bring you safe home. But I want to also let you see tonight that if you reject God's way of salvation, then there is only one outcome, and that is an eternity in that awful place called hell, that place that is reserved for all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior this evening. Dear friend, as we come around God's word, I want you to pray even now that the Lord would speak to your heart and the Lord would challenge you. Oh, may we know the power and the presence of the Lord moving in this place. Tonight, I want to take perhaps what we considered an uncommon verse in this passage. Some may say that it may be slightly out of context, Because tonight I want to speak specifically to the backslider and to the sinner. And I want us to notice the love and the mercy of God towards deprived, sinful man, to those who are without Christ Jesus, or those who have perhaps even walked from the pathway. I want you to see tonight that there is hope for you. There is hope for you. Or you may feel that life is hopeless. You may feel helpless against what's going on in your life and in your way. But I want you to notice, I want you to notice that there is hope found in Christ Jesus alone. Tonight I want to take from my text the opening words of verse seven. And there the psalmist says, deep, calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts. Yes, it's an unusual text, isn't it? It's an unusual text. And we could ask ourselves, what is the question? What does this mean? You may say, well, that's a peculiar text to take for a gospel text. And yet as I studied this text, I believe it to be one of the most challenging that I have considered for some time. I believe the thought behind this verse may be the deep and dark storm clouds that are forming. In the eyes of the psalmist, all seems to be darkness, all seems to be despair around him. And God is blocked from view and he looks up into the darkness of the sky and he can see nothing. And the clouds are obscuring the stars. It just seems like that darkness and that deepness never ends. And then he considers himself, and this pain, and this despair, and he finds himself almost in the depths of the deepest ocean, under the weight of that lack of the presence of the Lord with him. He looks at the mighty torrent that flows from those black skies, those rain clouds, and he sees it flow towards, from heaven to earth. And he says, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts. Friend, here are two deeps, one above and one below. One could be seen to resemble the God of heaven, and the other could be seen to resemble the depth of the soul of man. Oh, what a contrast. Oh, what a contrast. Deep calleth unto deep. And so the first thing that I would now like to notice is man's soul is a great deep. Man's soul is a great deep. In man's soul, there's a great depth of need. In verse one, we see the words of the psalmist. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so my soul panteth after thee. Oh God, oh there is a great need in the mouth of the psalmist, in the mind of the psalmist. You know dear friend, the psalmist is trusting in his God. And when we consider each one of us in our sin, is there not a great depth of need in our lives? Dear friend, Without the Lord in our lives, without Christ as our Savior, there is a massive void. And man seeks to fill that need, that void, in so many ways. And perhaps you're here tonight and you're seeking to fill that void in so many ways. Maybe you're here tonight seeking to fill that void just by coming to church. Oh, preacher, I know there's a need, there's something missing in my life. And I just can't put my finger on it. And if I go to church, well, it makes me feel a wee bit better. No, preacher, I know there's a need. You know, folk all over the world search for something to fill the need, don't they? We look around us, we see folk jumping out of airplanes with parachutes, Jumping off cliffs, bungee ropes and all sorts. Why are they doing it? There's a need there. They want to feel that rush. They want to feel purpose in their life. We see folks striving for position and wealth and fame. What is there? There's a need and they want it filled. There's a deep need in the soul of man. They want something more than the general humdrum of life. Something more than the ordinary routine. A number of weeks ago, I was down at the ploughing championship. We were giving out tracts. And on that first morning, there came a lady into the tents. She started to chat to her brother, Crane. And she says, you know, there's something missing in my life. There was a need. There was a void. And praise God, brother John Crane was able to bring her to the scriptures. And to show her how that need could be met, he showed her that the world could never fill that need, could never fill that void, and only the Lord Jesus Christ could fill that void. Praise God, there and then she came and she put her trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. And she went out of that tent a different lady. Praise God, tonight we can have the need of our souls dealt with. I want to notice, secondly, that there is the great deep of possibility within the soul of man, the great deep of possibility. The psalmist says in Psalm 64 in verse 6, the heart is deep. In Proverbs 20 in verse 5, Solomon says, counsel in the heart of man is like deep water. And there is a great depth of capacity in our hearts for pain or pleasure, for wealth or woe. The depths of its capacity is the depth of its possibility. Dear friends, out of the heart springs acts of love, acts of unselfishness, acts that display the goodness of man. The other side of that coin is out of the depths of the heart Out of the depths and caverns of the heart proceed acts of selfishness, greed, and hatred. Dear friend, we think of the words of Jeremiah 17 in verse nine, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Dear friend, tonight, Not one of us know the depths of depravity that our hearts are capable of. We look out upon this world and we see all manner of evil, all to different degrees. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're saying, I'm not such a bad person. You know, there's so-and-so is far worse than I am. Take a look at the news and see what's going on, and you'll see there's far worse than me. Take a look at history and you'll see there's far worse than me. You're saying tonight, I'm a good person. Preacher, don't talk to me about the depravity of my heart. And yet, dear friend, Each one of us are capable of the most heinous and the most despicable crimes known to man, but for the grace of God. But can I also tell you, can I also tell you out of the depths of this heart, the possibility, those possibilities cause us to sin against God day and daily. Dear friend, let me tell you, don't ever judge yourself by the person beside you. Don't ever say, I'm better than so-and-so, and hope that that's going to get you into heaven. Because, dear friend, each one of us are born in sin, and one sin separates us from God. And one sin left unconfessed and unforgiven will dam us to the darkest caverns of hell for all eternity. Dear friend, there's a great deep of possibility. Furthermore, man's soul is a great deep of responsibility, of responsibility. Friends, each one of us are responsible for our own actions. I've already touched on this. You look to the person beside you and you say, well, I'm not like them. We could consider the Pharisee and the public in the temple. The Pharisee did not recognize his own responsibility before God. Oh no, he was happier to look on the public and judge himself on the merits of the public. What did he say? He stood and he prayed thus within himself to God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers. Even as this publican. Even as this publican. Dear friend, I wonder how will you stand on that great day? Each and every man will give an account for himself and none other. And can I tell you tonight, maybe you're saying, well, listen, there's so-and-so down the road and they say they're a Christian, and I'm far better than they are. Well, I know what he or she gets up to. When you're judging yourself by a Christian, you know something? There is only one who we can judge ourselves by, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, nobody else. He was the only sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And dear friend, tonight in your sin, don't you dare judge yourself by anybody other than the man on the middle tree. Because that is the only standard that God expects. We have noticed for just a moment that man's soul is a great deep, even as deep as the deepest ocean. But I want us to notice, secondly, that God also is a great deep. When we look out into the night sky, that sky goes beyond all those stars that my creator, God, created and stretches far beyond the greatest telescope that man ever invented and man ever will invent. And we come to consider the almighty, the living, the self-existent, the eternal God of heaven. Who can search, who by searching can find out the limits of the almighty? Oh, he is the unfathomable one. The dictionary describes something as unfathomable if it is incomprehensible or not completely understood And dear friend, that is the Lord God Almighty. The Bible often says that God cannot be fathomed. The psalmist writes in Psalm 145, verse three, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable with the depth of our God. And Job says in chapter five and verse eight, I would seek unto God. We couldn't fathom the depths of his God. He couldn't understand the path that his God had taken him. Search as he may try, yet God was that great deep. Isaiah 40, 28, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. Dear friend, God is deep in all his ways. His thoughts are deep. In Psalm 92, in verse 4, we see that his thoughts are perfectly consistent with his character. When they come out of the great depths of his infinite mind, and try as we might, we will never be able to get our heads around the wisdom of God. The Bible says emphatically that God's thoughts and God's ways are higher than our ways. Isaiah 55, verses eight and nine. Dear friend, it should be no surprise to us that God is unfathomable. For if he were fathomable, if we could understand him, then he would not be God. He would be just as man. And our tendency is to elevate ourselves while trying to bring God down to our own level. Well, we try to reason out what God is, don't we? And yet we reason in vain. Dear friends, God is sovereign over everything and all things, and we can never understand him. But he's also deep in his wisdom and his knowledge. Paul writing to the Romans in Romans 11, 33 and 34, of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor. Dear friend, we can never fathom the depth of our minds, of our depravity, of our reasoning, of our thinking. We can never fathom, not alone, never mind to start to fathom. The knowledge and the wisdom of God. But can I tell you, dear friend, tonight, his way is perfect. And his way never fails. And his word never fails, and his way and his word never change. Because he is the sovereign one. Dear friend, try as we might, we will never understand the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God. But there's something more, something wonderful about our God, the one that we cannot understand. And that is the depth of his love and his mercy. The depths of his love and mercy. Dear friend, come with me, please. Come with me and visit a manger there in Bethlehem. and see that God sent his only begotten son into this old sin-cursed world. Why? Because of the depth of his love. Because of the depth of his mercy. The Hemrider says, God loved a world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall. Oh, dear friend, see the mercy and the love of God tonight for sinners such as us. Dear unsaved friend, see the love, the depth of love and mercy for a sinner such as you. Dear friend, tonight, see the Lord Jesus, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, ridiculed of men, rejected by those He came to save, scorned and mocked and taken to Calvary's cross and nailed upon that cross, why? Because he loved sinners like you and me. See the precious lamb of God give himself willingly upon that center tree, why? Because of the depth of his love and his mercy. See the blackness cover that hill of Golgotha. For three hours the Lord poured out the punishment that you and I deserved upon His own dear Son. Why? Because of His depth of love and His mercy. Oh, dear friend, see the Savior placed in that tomb. Why? because of his love and his mercy for vile, wretched sinners. Go back with me one step. See the Savior upon the cross, and as they stand mocking around him, he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Why? because of the depth of his love and mercy. Dear friend, tonight, I don't know where you are. I know very few faces here. And I don't know where you stand before the Lord tonight. But I do know that if you reject God's offer of love and mercy, If you go out through that door tonight still rejecting Christ as your savior, then you're on the broad road that leads to hell and destruction. When you say God would never do that, God would never send someone to hell. Dear friend, there's mercy at the cross for you. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Are you going to trample his word on their foot tonight again and go out? Rejecting him. Psalmist says the fool hath said in his heart, no God, I wonder tonight, will that be you? Perhaps the Holy Spirit is striving with you, dear friend. You'll say tonight, no God. Not tonight, God. Oh, give me another day, give me another week, give me another year. of this to do and of that to do. How many men have went out, how many women have went out, out of meetings after hearing the gospel and said, I have to do this and I have to do that, and then I'll come to Christ, and they've never seen another day? They never heard the gospel preached again? Ushered out into God's eternity for rejecting Christ as Lord and Savior. Dear friend, Tonight we have seen the depths of our sinful souls. And we have seen the depths of God's knowledge and His wisdom in sending His Son to be our Saviour. We thank God for the plan of salvation, and it's so simple that even the little ones can believe. John 3, 16, I don't think I need to quote it to you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Dear friend, that's it. That's it, that's the gospel in a nutshell. Dear friend, tonight we have stopped and we have taken time and we have looked at the depth of man, the depth of God. And tonight, deep calleth unto deep. Deep calleth unto deep. Dear friend, God has been merciful to you. He has brought you into another gospel service. He has given you another opportunity to accept Christ as your savior. I wonder tonight, what will your answer be? Before you leave this place, What will your answer be? You'll either go out saved, trusting Christ, or lost, rejecting Christ. And let me tell you of another deep. If you go out rejecting Christ, then one day you will find yourself in the depth of that pet called hell for all eternity. The place of no more opportunities. The place of no more decisions. The place of no more repenting. There you will spend eternity, separated from the Savior. Separated, perhaps, from the one sitting beside you. Separated because of your sin. Separated because of the depth of your stubborn heart that said, no, God. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts.