Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in Chambersburg. Know that we pray for you. We try regularly to pray for churches during even our morning worship, and you are one of the churches that we pray for. We pray for your ministers, for God's grace upon you, and for his continued blessing. We do appreciate your prayers for us as well, and I give thanks for the privilege we have to be with you today and to sit together under the Word of God. I'd like to ask you to turn with me to Psalm 138. This will be our text this morning. If you have your copy of God's Word, as we I've sung this psalm just a few minutes ago. Let's hear now the reading of it. Psalm 138 of David. I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart. Before the gods I sing your praises. I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me. My strength of soul you increased. All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord, for though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Let's pray together and ask God's blessing on his word as we sit under it today. Father, we give thanks for this day. We give thanks for each day, but in particular, the Lord's Day. We thank you for the means of grace. We thank you for the privilege we have of coming into your presence to sing your praise and to receive your word. We pray that you would be with us by your spirit, that Christ would be exalted as we listen for his voice in the word, We pray that you would bring this word home to our hearts, that we might not only hear it with our ears, but that we might receive it with faith and with love and with a desire to walk in it and to live by it. We ask these things in Christ's name, amen. One of the ways that our individuality reveals itself is in relation to how we process events or circumstances in life. Some of us are more detail-oriented. Some of us are perhaps given to the bigger picture. We know that there's sort of a spectrum here. You may fall on one end or the other of that, or perhaps you're more in the middle in the way that you process information and work through things. But the truth is that we all know that you have to maintain a grasp on both of those things in order to navigate life well. Though we might be given to one over the other, perhaps, if we lose sight of the big picture, that often is difficult, makes things difficult for us. And likewise, if we lose sight of the details of life, that also can bring us difficulty. Life can be a lot like a puzzle. The details on the individual pieces are pretty important, but often we don't get a sense of what the picture is unless we're able to sort of step back and reflect upon everything. And that's when, perhaps, things make a little more sense. God's work in our life is often mysterious. It is so for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because we're creatures. We are creatures. We are not God. And so our knowledge is limited. We don't have God's perspective. We don't see things from God's point of view. And sometimes This makes life difficult for us, both in the details and also in the big picture. But when it comes to the big picture, we do have the Word of God. God has given us scripture. And we know that in the Bible, God has revealed primarily His plan, His purpose, the big picture, if you will, of what He is doing in the world. The Bible really communicates to us one central thing, and that's how God is saving sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ. If somebody asks you, what is the Bible about, that is a simple Response that you can give them that communicates. Well, of course, we know the Bible is vast There's many details in the pages of Scripture But if we step back and we get a sense of what the Bible is saying to us It's this that God is saving sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ what God is doing in the world through Christ is the big picture if you will and And that means that we can't, or excuse me, that when we can't make sense of the details of life, in our lives in particular, in the world around us, if we can remember what God's purpose is, what that big picture is, that will give us comfort and confidence because it anchors our hopes in what God is doing in the world. It anchors us to what he is doing more broadly. In Psalm 138, God calls us to consider His providence as it works out His redemptive plan for the world, and even more particularly, how this relates to us, to you, to me, to our lives. You see, your life, whether you are in Christ or not this morning, your life is connected to what God is doing in the world through Christ. And that reality ought to be shaping how you think. It ought to be shaping how you think about yourself, how you think about the world around you, and how you think about the circumstances of your life. To help you follow along with me this morning, it's important for you to know that I follow the Puritan method of preaching. So text, doctrine, and use, or application maybe is the newer word. That's the way in which I work through a sermon. So we'll think about the text, Psalm 138. We're going to draw a doctrine or a teaching from that text and consider it in its broader witness from Scripture. And then we'll seek to make some application from that doctrine into our lives. So text, doctrine, and use. That may be a little different than what you're used to hearing, but perhaps that explanation will help you. In the text of Psalm 138, we see that David prays and praises God. He declares his confidence in God and he takes comfort from the reality that God is going to fulfill his promises to David. And in particular, these promises relate to his son, the son that would reign on his throne, the son that would do so forever. We see if you're using the ESV, that's the translation that I'm using this morning, perhaps you're using a different one, but it may be divided in the same way. The ESV divides the psalm into these three sections, and that's helpful as we think about the parts of the psalm. Because in that first section, we see David's praise. In the center part of the psalm, verses four through six, we see a prophecy about the kingdom of Christ. And then in the latter verses, we see providence. We see David's declaration that God will not forsake his purposes for him. Now that's not the whole sermon outline, but that's going to help us work through the text. As David praises God, we see that God is the object of his praise. He is lifting up his voice and giving thanks to the Lord, to the covenant God. It's not just God, but it's God in a particular context in David's life. It's the Lord, it's Yahweh, it's the covenant God. The God whose character is steadfast and faithful. We see that there in verse two. Steadfast love, faithfulness. The manner of praise is with David's whole heart. If you read through the Psalms, you should take note of how often David speaks of worshiping God with his whole heart. It's not just with his voice. There's a correspondence with the inner and the outer man. That's actually integrity. That's what the word means, integrity. David praises and prays with integrity. His voice, his outer man is praising God, but it's with his heart as well. The manner of praise. We see the place of praise before the holy angels or before the gods. This word gods is the word Elohim and it's used obviously to refer to God. It's one of the ways in which God is named in scripture, but it's used in other ways. Sometimes it refers to creatures to whom a high degree of honor is given. So rulers or angels, these are ways in which scripture sometimes translates that word for us. It's before the gods. Paul speaks of angels present in our worship in 1 Corinthians 11. And Calvin, John Calvin says that the reason why the cherubim overshadowed the ark of the covenant was to let God's people know that when they came into God's presence that the angels were there as well. There's something significant about God's creatures joining together in heaven and on earth to sing God's praise. And David makes mention of this. We see the effect of praise. It's an increase of soul in verse three. On the day I called you, answer me, my strength of soul you increased, or another way of translating that, if you're using the ESV, perhaps you see a footnote there, you made me bold in my soul with strength. The soul is invigorated. This is the effect of worshiping God. Our souls are strengthened. We are fed and nurtured. But David's reason for praise is what God has done. The ESV reads, you have exalted above all things your name and your word. They're in verse 2. Most other English translations follow the Hebrew a little bit better. You have exalted your word above your name is another way of translating that. And maybe your translation is more along those lines. And even in the ESV, they put that in a footnote, that there's this exaltation of God's word above his name. Now, if that's the better way of translating that, if that's more faithful to the Hebrew, that does also present a question to us. How is it that God exalts His word above His name? What is God's name? Well, the name of God is everything that God has made known about Himself. It's what God has said or revealed about Himself. When your name is mentioned, everything that somebody knows about you or associates with your name is brought into that when they use your name. When your name is mentioned, everything that you are, in a sense, is a part of that or associated with that name, and that is so It's the same for God. God's name is what God has revealed about himself. It's what is true of God. It's God's essence. But David says, you have exalted your word above your name. How can that be? Why this contrast between the revelation of God's name and his word? Well, I think what David is emphasizing is not merely God's Word, but it's God's keeping of His promises. It's God fulfilling His Word. It's His faithfulness that shines in an exceedingly great way when His Word is fulfilled. Andrew Bonar said that when God's grace was given in Christ, that this, in a sense, cast all the other displays of God's grace into the shadows. Because God in the incarnation and in the fulfillment of salvation has done something glorious. It's not that his other works aren't glorious, but in the fulfillment of his word in Christ, there's a particular glory that shines. And I think that's something of the sense that David is getting at here, that it's God's fulfilled word. It's the promises of God that have been given and fulfilled that outshine, in a sense, everything else that God has revealed about himself. His faithfulness shines in an exceedingly glorious way when his word is fulfilled. We see something that is unique and glorious about our God when his word is kept. And the glory of God keeping his word is the subject of David's prophecy at the heart of the psalm in verses four through six. He says, all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord. The kings of the earth. Maybe that phrase rings a bell in your mind. If you turn with me back to Psalm 2, this is the first place in the Psalter that we see that phrase appear. And if you're familiar with Psalm 2, you know it is a psalm of Christ. It's a messianic psalm. And when the psalm opens with the nations raging and the peoples plotting in vain, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed or his Christ. Set in rebellion, they seek to cast off the reign and the rule of Christ. The kings of the earth gathered together. But in Psalm 138, all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks. It points to the worldwide dominion of Christ. Those once rebel kings are now offering up their praise to God. Those kings who were once joined together in rebellion against God now joined together to sing God's praise as worshipers of God. It's a proclamation or a prophecy of the kingdom of Christ. And we see that they've heard the gospel there in Psalm 138. In verse four, the words of your mouth, they have heard the words of your mouth. Again, if you were to go back and read the rest of Psalm two, you find there that there is a call to repent, to kiss the son before his anger, before his wrath is poured forth on their rebellion. And these kings have now heard the gospel. They have heard the call to repent. They have kissed the sun. They've seen the glory of the Lord. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord. The glory of God is his invisible nature made visible by his ways. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord or his works, what he has done. It's when God works that what is invisible, what is true about God, but invisible to us is made visible. It's made plain. It's manifest and revealed. And of course, this is preeminently in the incarnation of the son of God, when he took to himself our nature and came into the world to redeem sinners from their sins. Second Corinthians four in verse six, for God, who said, let light shine out of darkness as shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. in the face of Jesus Christ and John 1 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and We have seen his glory glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth Because of the ways or the works of the Lord in particular his redemptive works These kings have seen and now praise the glory of the Lord and it's because of God's grace for though the Lord is high He regards the lowly. He looks upon the meek. He regards the humble. The haughty, they think they are high, but God knows them from afar. In other words, they do not come near. They are not brought near to God by His grace. but it's the lowly, it's those that he smiles upon. It's those whose hearts have been conquered by grace. They are the ones who are brought near and now seeing God's praise. Although David has this glorious vision of the reign of Christ, we see that he's still waiting for it because he says in verse seven, though I walk in the midst of trouble. This is David's life. In a sense, we could say he's still a pilgrim in exile. He's still walking in the midst of trouble. He sees from afar what God is doing and what God will do, but he hasn't obtained it yet. Life is hard, but despite his difficulty, we see that he rests in God's providence for him. We see his confident expectation, the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. We see his confession of faith there at the center of verse 8. Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. He's confessing his confidence, his faith in God. Who is God? He's the steadfast and faithful God. And his consequent prayer is, do not forsake the work. of your hands. The word forsake there is the idea of relaxing or letting go of something. David is basically saying something along the lines of, do not relax your hand and let go of the work that you're doing. Don't let go of me. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Now, as we begin to, we've thought about the text, and as we begin to transition a little bit from the text to the doctrine that the text is setting before us, we should consider the place of Psalm 138 in the Psalter. Psalm 138 follows 137. No surprise there, but if you look back at that psalm, you see that that psalm is a psalm of exile. It opens by the waters of Babylon. by the waters of Babylon. And we see, if you were to read through that psalm, it's an expression of love for Zion by those who are now in exile. And we know that Jerusalem was attacked by Babylon and its inhabitants taken into exile because of the nation's sin against God. They broke the covenant they made with God at Sinai, and they, as a consequence, received the covenant curses. One of the places you could go and read those curses in Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we see that God was faithful to his word. He brought upon Israel, upon Jerusalem, the curses for violating his covenant. Although the nation rejected God, we know there was a faithful remnant. We know of Daniel. We know of his three friends. There is at least a small group, even in Babylon, that is still faithful to God. And Psalm 137, whether it was written in the time of exile or perhaps after the exile, it's expressing the longing for Zion of those that are faithful to God, those that weep and long for Zion because of their exile. Psalm 138 is a Psalm of David, which really, in a sense, points back hundreds of years before the exile. In fact, following 137, you find eight Psalms of David, pointing back to the Davidic reign, to David himself. And many note the significance and the movements of the psalter as there's a particular structure. There's a way that it's been edited and compiled that often points us to something if we can sit and fix our minds upon the reality of what is taking place and why the psalter is moving in this way. And we know that we've already thought about the themes of Psalm 138, the exaltation of God's promises, the glory of Christ's kingdom, David's certainty that God is going to complete his purposes in David's life. In other words, David's confidence in God, in his direction in his life, in God's direction in his life, it's directly connected to Christ's redemptive work. First, because David, his confidence is in the covenant Lord. And he also has this prophetic vision of the kingdom of Christ as the nations of the earth are now worshiping Christ. In other words, God's purpose in David's life, it has a particular outcome because of what it is connected to, what God is doing more broadly in David's life. And that's significant for that faithful remnant because of how this psalm and the psalms of David follow the psalm of exile. that this Psalm, Psalm 138 follows Psalm 137 is probably intended to serve as a reminder to the faithful in Israel that they, like David, need to confess their confidence in God. That they, like David, need to fix their minds upon the one who would come and sit on David's throne. That they, like David, would find strength and comfort as they look by faith upon the coming Lord, the Lord's promised King. The weeping and the longing of the exiles, as one commentator says, finds resolution in the return to the Davidic Psalms. The exile will end when the new David rises to reign, end quote. See, David's confidence in God's providence and his comfort in the midst of a troubled life is directly related to God's redemptive purpose in Christ. And Psalm 138 is pointing the faithful remnant in Israel to the same truth. They walk in the midst of trouble, but they need to declare with David that God will fulfill His purpose for them. Like David, their comfort and confidence in God's providence is grounded in the promised Christ. And so it is for us. So the doctrine that is before us this morning, the doctrine that I would have us fix our minds upon from Psalm 138 is this, that our comfort and confidence in God's providence is grounded in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our comfort and confidence in providence is grounded in God's redemptive work in the person and work of Jesus Christ. What is providence? Our confession in chapter 5 in paragraph 1 says this, that God, the good creator of all things, in his infinite power and wisdom doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, to the end for which they were created. Another way of saying that is providence is God's working out all things according to his decree. What he has decreed from all eternity as it comes to pass in time and space in your life, in my life, in the world around us, that's providence. And what is it that God has decreed from all eternity? Well, it's the salvation of his people and the uniting of all things in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you turn with me over to Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians chapter one, we'll read verses three through 10. This is probably a familiar text to you, but it is a glorious text because it shows us both God's plan for each individual Christian. as well as the big picture. Here's God's word from Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. Notice, according to the purpose of his will, that same word purpose that David used in Psalm 138, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose Which he set forth in christ as a plan for the fullness of time To unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth What is god doing in the world? What is his plan? Well, God's purpose in Christ is the restoration of all things or the uniting in Christ in all things, both in heaven and on Earth. And this includes the salvation of his people. Their lives, your life. If you are in Christ this morning, my life in Christ is part of the all things that God is doing. All things united in Christ. What is it that God's providence is pursuing? Now this is it, this is the big picture, uniting all things in heaven and earth in Christ. You see, providence is not God doing random things in the world. Sometimes people think about God's providence as though it was just random events and circumstances. Sometimes they just happen to work out in a way that's pleasing or helpful, but that's not providence. You know, to act without thought or purpose, that's something we ascribe to fools. When we see someone acting without a purpose or without thought, the Bible has a word for that, and that's a fool. But God is not a fool. God is far too wise to act without purpose, to lack a purpose in what he does. To act without wisdom is not true of our God, because all that God is doing in the world is for the good of his people. True or false? Everything that God is doing in creation is connected to his redemptive purpose in Christ True we read Ephesians chapter 1 God's plan for the fullness of time is to unite all things In Christ to bring to completion all things in Christ True or false the whole church is the special focus of God's redemptive work through Christ It's true, isn't it? Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might present the church to himself in splendor. True or false, if the whole church is the special focus of God's redemptive work in Christ, of necessity, this includes every single person in the church. Again, it's true. It's the whole church. It's not to the exclusion of any. True or false, Every providential circumstance of every Christian's life is ordered by God to bring about their salvation. Again, the answer is true. That, of course, is Romans chapter 8, isn't it? Romans chapter 8, one of the most familiar texts in Scripture, but one in which we find, or should find, regularly great comfort. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What do those words, all things include? All things. They're comprehensive of every event in every circumstance of your life. Does that amaze you? It ought to. That every circumstance, all things, work to the salvation, to the good. That's the good that's in view there, by the way. You and I, sometimes our view of what is good is not necessarily aligned with what God knows to be good for us. Sometimes there's a bit of alignment that needs to happen as we experience God crossing our will that we might be conformed to his will. The good that is in view there is our eternal good. It's our salvation. It's the fullness of what we have been given in Christ, being blessed with every spiritual blessing. The purpose that God is bringing to pass through ordering all things for our good is conformity to Christ that is ultimately displayed in the glorification of all who were justified by their faith in Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. And he makes it even more explicit in chapter 8 and verse 31 when he asks, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him give us all things? In other words, Paul is connecting the God ordering of all things in our lives to his redemptive purpose in Christ. This is what the all things are aiming at. This is what they're seeking to bring about. All things ordered and grounded by God's providence in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. And Paul's argument makes sense. If God has done the greater thing, he sent Christ for you. Is he somehow going to fail to give you the rest of the blessings that he's ordained for you in Christ? No. He's done the greater thing. He will do the lesser thing also. When you find yourself wondering whether God intends good for you, and that happens, doesn't it, from time to time, if you're honest, Lord, why is this happening in my life? Why now? What's going on? What are you doing? I see the details, I see what's before me, but I can't get a sense of the big picture. When you find yourself in that place, when you find yourself wondering whether God really intends good for you, you need to come back to the fundamental truth that everything God is doing in your life is for your good, because everything is serving his greater purpose for you, and that is his redemptive purpose in Christ. The ground of our comfort and confidence in God's providence in our lives is the person and work of Christ. Like David, you and I walk in the midst of trouble. Like Israel, we are in exile and we often find ourselves weeping and longing for the city of God. And like David and like Israel, we need to be reminded of the big picture of what God is doing in the world. We need to be anchored in this truth. Why? So that we may be filled with confidence, so that we may find comfort to persevere through hardship. The ground of our comfort and confidence in God's providence is the person and work of Christ. This is what is true of David. He knows that God has a purpose for him. He knows that purpose will ultimately be fulfilled, that it cannot fail. And this purpose is connected to Christ's kingdom. This purpose is connected to God's word, that God has magnified and cannot fail. And this is of comfort to Israel as they are in exile. And so even to this day, it continues to hold out before us comfort. It continues to give us confidence as we experience the turmoil and hardship of life, as we continue to weep and long for Zion, for that great and glorious day where we, like the rest of God's saints, join our voices, our hearts in singing God's praise. We are not home yet and we need to hear God's word calling us to be confident, to take comfort. How can we apply this or what are some uses that come from this doctrine? Well, first, if you're a Christian, you should seek to grow in your commitment to interpret all the circumstances of your life in light of God's big picture in Christ. God's purpose is to make you more like Christ. That's what he's doing. God has justified you. He's declared you innocent and free in Christ. He's forgiven your sins. He will glorify you. He will complete that work as he brings you to perfect holiness on that great and glorious last day. But in the meantime, he's had work to make you more like Christ, to sanctify you, to make you holy. That's what his providence is pursuing. That's his purpose. That's what he's pursuing in your life and mine. And that means that every circumstance in our lives is in some way related to his purpose. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that we always understand how every circumstance is going to affect that end or bring about that goal, but we should still be confident Because God has shown us what his purpose is. He's given us the big picture. He's shown us what his plan for the ages is. To unite all things in Christ. And so we need to grow in our confidence and our commitment to interpreting all the events of our life in light of that big picture. In other words, we need to look at the details of our lives, the ordinary day-to-day details, and we need to not lose sight of the big picture. We need to seek to connect those things to the big picture of what God is doing. So that we may be comforted, that we may find confidence. One of the ways that will help us, one thing that will help us get better at interpreting our own lives in relation to God's work in Christ is to do that in Scripture. Interpret the Scripture in relation to God's work in Christ. I said at the beginning that the message of the Bible is really unified. It's one message. It's how God is saving sinners through the person and work of Christ. And all of scripture is pointing to that reality. We need to read the Bible that way. We need to read it as a word that is unified in its message about Christ. We need to see Christ from beginning to end. And when we get better at doing that, that will help us in our own lives because we become more accustomed to the ways that God works through history. We see the ways in which he deals with his people through time and space. We see patterns. No, their circumstances might not be like ours, but the ways in which God deals with them is how he's going to deal with us largely. He's going to test us. He's going to strengthen us. He's going to give us comfort and confidence through the same means that they received it. And so we need to get better at connecting Christ to all of scripture. And as we grow in our ability to do that, that I think will also help us to grow in our own lives as we seek to interpret our lives in relation to scripture. We ought to interpret our lives in the light of what God has revealed. No, that doesn't mean that every single circumstance of your life and my life is going to be addressed in scripture. But it's here that we find the principles that should govern us and direct us. And as those things are connected to Christ and we see God's redemptive purpose unfolded and worked out through scripture, that fills us with confidence because we can recognize that God is doing the same work in my life that he did in theirs. We've begun a new year, 2025. As you think back over the year that has just passed, 2024, how frequently have you connected the events of that year to God's redemptive work in Christ? Is that something that you find yourself doing, thinking along those terms, considering the difficulties and the hardships that you have faced, and seeking to understand what God is doing in me in these things? What is He trying to teach me? How am I supposed to be growing? What sins is He confronting? You might have entered 2024 with a pretty good idea of what you thought the year would bring, only to reach the end of the year and realize you couldn't have been more wrong. Some of you have faced hardship. Perhaps 2024 was the year that you received a diagnosis of cancer, or maybe somebody that you love. It was a year in which perhaps you watched a loved one suffer. perhaps broken relationships because of sin. There are many ways in which we are afflicted. There are many hardships that we face, the loss of loved ones. There are many things that God calls us to go through. 2024 might, for you, have been the most difficult year of your life, as you think back over your life. Can I tell you this morning that God will fulfill his purpose for you? As you think about the year to come, you might be filled with hope and expectation, but the reality is that 2025 may be the most difficult year of your life. You don't know that. You don't know what tomorrow brings. But I can tell you this, that God, if you are in Christ, God will fulfill his purpose for you. And that ought to fill you with confidence. That ought to comfort you. You see, whatever difficulty you have experienced and even are now experiencing, God is using that. He's not wasting that. It's not, again, random things just happening in the world, but God's providence is pursuing a particular aim, a particular end, and it's that you be more like Christ. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you. Learning and getting better to read the circumstances of our life in relation to Christ will keep you from bitterness and anger Think about Joseph He said God meant it for good you meant it for evil. He said to his brothers, but God meant it for good You know the fact that God meant it for good didn't change the reality that his brothers meant it for evil. I But Joseph wasn't embittered, he wasn't angry, he wasn't venting at his brothers, he was simply acknowledging the reality of the situation. And it's because he could see God's hand, though his brothers did actually mean to destroy him. He wasn't bitter, he wasn't angry, because of his confidence that God was working out his purpose in his life. So the first use or application is that we need to grow as Christians in our ability to read the circumstances of life, to interpret those in light of God's big picture, his big purpose, what he is doing, the redemption of his people and the uniting of all things in heaven and on earth with Christ, in Christ. The second application is there is a warning in Psalm 138. There's a warning for unbelievers here. I said at the beginning of the sermon that all of us, every person here this morning, every life is connected in some way to what God is doing in Christ. Every person in this room will be affected by the outcome of Christ's reign. That will either be to your eternal blessing or to your eternal condemnation. God will judge His enemies and they will suffer. as we see God's wrath against his enemies. The message of this psalm is that there is a glorious king. There is one to whom the kings of the earth come and worship, and it is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ who has come into the world to save sinners, the one who is the eternal Son of God, yet took to himself our nature, being born of a virgin, doing so that he might live a life of perfect obedience obedience to God's law, doing what we could not do and cannot do, dying in our place, dying for sinners, a substitute, taking upon himself the wrath of God. But he didn't stay dead. He rose again and he ascended into heaven. He poured out the spirit to empower the preaching of the gospel, to change hearts by his grace. If you are not trusting in Christ this morning, you are the enemy of God. Don't make any mistake about that. You are at enmity with God. But the gospel declares that God is a God of mercy and steadfast love, and that he extends mercy and grace to all who come to receive it. If you have not trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you are the enemy of God. But so once was David. The one from whom, by the Spirit, we receive the scripture that we've considered today. David was not born a believer. David was not born in grace. He was once an enemy of God. And so, too, were these kings of the earth, who are now worshipers of God. And so, too, was every Christian in this room this morning. And so, too, you can be a worshiper of God by God's grace. God has forgiven us, and he will forgive you. If you are here without Christ, do not miss the message that God places before you today, that you must come. You must come to Christ. You must come. And if you come, you will have forgiveness. You will have salvation. You will be one who sings the praise of God for all eternity with joy. The third use or application is this, dear Saints, keep praying for God to do all that he has purposed. We see that confidence did not make David complacent. He had every confidence that the Lord would fulfill his purpose for him. But how does the psalm end? With his prayer to that end, do not forsake the work of your hands. Prayer is one of the means that God uses to bring about his will in our lives. We should not divorce the certainty of God's word from the means that God uses to bring it to pass. Now that's something we can easily do if we're not careful. We don't pray, but we ought to. Because the reality is that God has and will bring his word to pass, but one of the means that he uses to do that in your life and in my life is prayer. We need to pray. We need to pray earnestly for God to do all that he has purposed. all that He has promised, that He would not forsake the work of His hands. And we ought to pray with confidence. We ought to pray with faith. We ought to pray believing and expecting that the God to whom we speak, by grace, will bring to pass all that He has said. Are you a big picture Christian this morning? Are you growing in your understanding of what God is doing in the world around you? Though much opposes the kingdom of Christ, in the end all things will be united to Christ. In the end, you and I, once proud rebels, will join with the kings of the earth to sing God's praise. Forever. May the Lord fulfill His purpose for us as He exalts His own glory by the work of His hands. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your grace. We give thanks for Christ. We thank You that we have seen a little, even this morning, of what You are doing in Christ. We pray that You would fill us with hope and confidence as we Look forward to all things united in Christ. As our lives are a part of that great and glorious plan, we are amazed and we give you thanks and praise. We pray that you would comfort us even in the hardships that we presently are called to endure. We pray that you would fill us with confidence, fill us with hope, fill us with joy even as we weep and long for Zion. We thank you and praise you for all things in Christ's name.