Well, as you drove into church today, it may have occurred to you that the Reformation Day is only a couple days away. October 31st, 1517. Martin Luther took initiative when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was intent on protesting the many unbiblical practices of the Roman Catholic Church. But little did Luther know that God would use his actions to spark one of the most important movements in Christian history, the Reformation. It would be through the Reformation that God would preserve the only gospel that saves, the gospel of justification by grace alone, through faith alone. Twelve years prior, while a younger Luther was returning to his university, his life was changed. In 1505, he was almost killed when a bolt of lightning came crashing down beside him. And in that moment of terror, he did what most of us would do. He cried out, Saint Anne, save me, and I'll become a monk. And immediately, he abandoned his hope for a law degree, and a few days later, he ended up at an Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. Then in 1508, he was transferred to a new university in Wittenberg and took the position of a professor. And during that time, Luther was taught a way of salvation that was popularized by medieval scholars, which is called the via moderna, or the modern way. It was unbiblical heresy, but it governed the operations of the Roman Catholic Church. And what the via moderna taught was that God is perfect and he's good, But he chose to condescend to accept people if they can do what is in them. In other words, a person could be right with God by observing the sacraments and simply doing their best. But as Luther studied the Psalms and Romans through the years of 1512 and 1517, he became convinced that the Scriptures taught a much more serious view of sin. Sin was not simply a weakening of the person, as the Catholic Church taught, but Luther became convinced that more than weakened, men were dead in their sin. Ephesians chapter 2, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. He came to see sin as a root problem that defines who human beings are before God. What is more, as the Lord often does, he brought these biblical truths to life through the personal experience of Luther. The more Luther struggled to exert himself by following the via moderna and doing what was in him, the more he realized that he was repeatedly falling terribly short. And he thought, how can men who are dead in sin do anything to please God? In his lectures on Romans between the years of 1515 and 1516, Luther began identifying justification with simply trusting in God's mercy. This eventually was refined as Luther determined that it was by faith By faith in trusting God's mercy, by faith in Christ, that a man was justified before God. Romans 1 verse 17. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just man shall live by faith. Justification is by grace alone through faith alone. And God would use the Reformation that Luther sparked on October 31st, 1517 to preserve that truth. You see, no man is justified before God by a process of growing in their own righteousness. That is another gospel. But by faith alone, God is pleased to facilitate a glorious exchange where a believer's sins are passed to Christ, and at the same time, Christ's righteousness is accredited to the believer's account. And that is a sovereign and one-sided grace that takes us sinners from the ash heap of our sin and brings us back to God again. And that is a grace that should make us praise the Lord. Amen? Shouldn't that make us praise God? And that's exactly what our passage would have us do today. So with that, please turn in your copy of the scriptures to Psalm 113. And we'll read Psalm 113. I'll read this in your hearing. This is Psalm 113. This is the Word of God. Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations and is glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God? Who is seated on high? Who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people, He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord. So first point for this morning, we are servants called to praise the Lord. And that's from verses one through four of our text today. Do you hear the psalmist, his invitation for you to praise God? You see, from the beginning, God created all things. The mountains, the seas, the land animals, and of course, human beings. The expectation was that his creatures would give him praise. Praise rings out of the heavenly hosts, all those beings inhabiting heaven who owe their very existence to his grace and love. They break forth and sing. They offer a joyous sound of praise. The cherubim from Isaiah chapter 6 cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. But of course, it's not just the heavenly hosts who render this praise to God. We read in Psalm 19 that the praise of the Lord cries out from all creation. Even the lifeless objects that He made, the heavens are telling of the glory of God, and the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Creation pours forth speech to give glory to the One who made them. Awesome is His name. He is awesome and full of glory, and all of creation was made to glorify Him, indeed all things. are from him, and the scriptures have one overarching intention, and that's from creation to redemption, to bring forward the glory of God. As you drove in today, you can see the beautiful fall colors that have adorned the trees. They speak of the genius of the Creator. You see the peaks of the mountains lifted up, and they lift up the name of Yahweh. They declare the majesty of God. Who could form such massive objects? And of course, all the animals that call Earth their home, He made them all, and because of Him, they live. Their existence and their ways proclaim that God is great. When we look at creation, when we behold the handiwork of our God, we realize that all creation is pouring forth testimony of his majesty and glory. We can behold all these creatures and the mountains and the streams and contemplate the deep seas and even consider the heavenly hosts. But how exciting is it to know that you're called to join in the same praise of God? Verse one, praise, oh servants of the Lord. That's you, that's me. Praise the name of the Lord. Now, a key word in this verse that I want to draw your attention to is the word servants. See, even from the beginning when God created Adam and Eve, they were created to be dependent, dependent on the Lord. to live for His praise and to serve Him. You see, their lives were intended to never depart from the constant service of Yahweh. Their lives were never to depart from the perfect obedience and pure love of their Creator. They were to look to God for all things. They were to lean on God's wisdom instead of their own. And when we consider, in fact, the fall of man, was it not the pursuit of independence from God that led them to listen to the serpent? And with that, they turned their back on God, and they turned the world upside down. We weren't born to be free, as the popular slogan goes. But we were always intended to be servants of the Lord. when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. The Lord came to them by a man named Moses and he shared with them the good news that God had heard the cries of his people and that he would rescue them. But the exodus from Egypt didn't actually give the Israelites independence or personal freedom. Rather, they were brought under a new authority, a new master, The Lord would be their God and they would be his possession. We read that in Exodus chapter 19 verse 5, you shall be my own possession among all the peoples. They were to be servants of Yahweh. Leviticus chapter 25 verse 55, for the Israelites are my servants. They are my servants that I brought out of the land of Egypt. And that same theme, we can trace it all the way through the New Testament. The redemption that we have in Christ is also referred to as an exodus. Before he saved us, we were slaves of sin. Romans chapter six, but now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves of God. The same idea, Paul calls himself a bondservant of Christ. He tells us that we were purchased with a price, therefore we should honor God with our body. Because of Jesus' work to redeem us, we are called to be his servants, servants who no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for us. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, and if you're anything like me, then we have to admit that fulfilling that calling is harder than it sounds. Sin has messed up the whole design. It's hard to be servants who live for the praise of Yahweh because ultimately, I want to be served. We want to be served. It's the sinner's symphony to please self, to praise self, to prioritize self, Is it only me who feels this way? Do you feel this drive in yourself to serve self? There are countless blessings that we have been given in Jesus Christ. We have forgiveness of sins. We are given the Holy Spirit who seals us for the last day. The gift of eternal life. Ephesians chapter 3, we read, he's blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. And we say, amen, all the promises of God are mine in Jesus Christ. And then we read that he's made us co-heirs with Christ. And he promised us an inheritance that will not rust and it will not fade. And we say, hallelujah, my cup overfloweth. And then we read that he's made us a kingdom of priests, and we're going to reign with him. And we say, I'm ready. Give me the scepter. I was born to reign. And then we get to this part where we read that we're going to be servants of God. We're going to be servants of God, and we're going to live not for ourselves, but we're going to live for him who died for us. Not my will, not my way, not my hopes, not my dreams, but your will be done in my life, Lord, to the praise of your glory. And that's when, if you're like me, the music stops and we start to negotiate. Well, Lord, if you're all powerful and if you're all wise, then can't we find a way to order things so that your praise and your glory just matches up with exactly what I'm hoping to see happen in my life? We don't say those exact words. Right, but we show it through our actions. Take away what we want. Take away what we expect. Take away what we hoped for, and it becomes pretty clear, pretty quickly, that it's difficult for us to be servants of the Lord. Sin has messed up the whole design But to be a servant of Yahweh means to be under His complete ownership. We are His possession. It's a call to live in complete submission to Yahweh. He reigns over us. It's a call to have single-minded devotion and complete dependence upon Him. It's a calling to live for His praise and not our own. And that's the most blessed life that we can have. When we live for God, we come into contact with the purpose of our life. When we're full of the praise of God, that's when we become full of God. And we find that he's the greatest treasure that we can receive. He's the pearl of great price. He's the treasure hidden in the field. I want to be clear on this point. We shouldn't expect to be perfect servants of the Lord in this life. And as we think about everything I just said, when we think about that call to be completely under the submission of the Lord, aren't you happy to know that Jesus Christ was the perfect servant of Yahweh in our place? And at the same time as we seek to love him, love him for living the life that we could never live, We should seek to be good repenters, pushing forward to lay hold of the things that God has set before us. Not only because it's pleasing to God and gives him glory, but because it's the most blessed life that we can live. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens. Oh God, give us a satisfaction with you so that our hearts would learn to sing your praise." And then looking back at Psalm 113, we see that there's a shift that occurs at verse 5. Verses 1 to 4, we have a call to praise along with emphatic shouts and exclamations about the glory of Yahweh. And then in verse 5, a question. Who is like the Lord our God? Who is like Yahweh? And the function of that question is to move us from the call to praise to the reasons of praise, to move us from the invitation to praise to causing us to reflect on him who is worthy of all praise. And the two reasons the psalmist gives us are, first, because of who he is, and second, because of what he has done. First, we praise him because of who he is. He is the Most High. Again, verse 5, who is like the Lord our God who is seated on high? Who is like the Lord our God? The statement comes off as a sort of challenge. After calling for his universal praise, the question to you is, can you find anyone like him? Who is like the Lord our God? The obvious answer is no one. Not a one. There is not another. There is no one like him. He is altogether unique. He outpaces all. He exceeds all. He shines brighter than all. We would sooner walk on the surface of the sun than find another one that's like him. Because there is simply no one like him. He is the one who is seated on high and enthroned above all. The psalmist urges us to reflect on the bright glory of the God of Scripture and then to praise Him. You see, we have a natural desire to behold awesome things. Is that not true? Don't you have a desire to behold things that are just fascinating and amazing? You know, I think about, I'm from California, and there are some people from California or have lived in California here. So I think about times from my childhood in California, like going up to Yosemite Valley. and seeing water gush over the edge of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is a waterfall that stands nearly a half mile tall. As I stood there and beheld this amazing piece of creation, I thought to myself, what power would be required to carve out a valley this deep? When my parents and I would go on vacation to Big Bear Lake and be driving towards the Sierra Nevada mountains and seeing them in a distance as we would drive, I would just be amazed at these granite giants. What power would be required to stand up these mighty mountains? And I'm sure that you can think about ways that you've been impressed by creation. And you think, God, and you think to yourself, God made all of this. He spoke everything out of nothing. This is an amazing God. Who is like our God? He is the Almighty. But you don't have to go into the deep woods or stare at mountains to come to these conclusions. All these points, all these parts of creation, they're pointing to the majesty of God, but you know there's actually something that's even nearer to us. something even more remarkable, and that is the mystery of life, the mystery of conscious awareness, that you and I can live and experience the created world, that we can experience relationships with one another, that we can accrue memories, that we can look at our hands and wiggle our fingers, that we can think, that we can feel, that we can live, that we can love. And this life that you have, this life that I have, was entirely given to us from God. All life is dependent on Him, yet in His holiness, He alone is the self-existent one. Who is like this God? And we haven't even touched on His moral purity, His omniscience, His faithfulness, His goodness, His justice, His righteousness, His wrath. The reality is that there is simply no one like Him. But He's not only the most high. His glory shines even brighter when we consider that He is also the most humble. That comes from verse 6 in our passage today. Again, I'll read verses 5 and 6. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? And when you look at the Hebrew for verse 6 in particular, a better translation here would be the one who brings himself low to behold the things in heaven and on earth, or who humbles himself to behold the things in heaven and on earth. On the one hand, the Lord is so exalted and glorious that he must humble himself to even behold his creatures, right? But on the other hand, we see that God is a God who is willing to humble himself to dwell with and behold his creatures. He is the most high and he's the most humble. He is the God who feeds the birds of the air, who clothes the lilies of the field, whose eye is on the sparrow. And he is the God who kindly and graciously cares for you and me. Do you know that the Lord is near you? He has taken notice of your life. He humbles himself to look upon the things of the earth, to look upon your life and mine. He carries your steps all the days. It's written in the Scriptures. All the days of your life are written in his book before you even lived one of them. Who is like the Lord our God? He is simultaneously the most high and the most humble. There will never be one like this one. Can you say with me that he is simply amazing? Can you say that with me, that he is amazing? And so we are called to think these thoughts of him and bring our praise out of the storehouses of our hearts so that we praise him because of who he is. But his glory becomes even brighter when we begin to think about what he has done in the lives of men. This is from verse seven to nine. He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord. Now in response to the question, who is like our God? We've heard of the glory of Yahweh. He is the exalted and transcendent one. There is simply none who can compare to his majesty and supreme beauty. He is the most high. And we've heard that this God, who is exalted above the heavens, is also the most humble. He brings himself low to engage the creatures that he has made. And now the psalmist would turn our attention to the works of Yahweh and stimulate us to praise him because of what he has done. Verses seven to nine are actually a quote from 1 Samuel 2 that Joe read for us this morning. Hannah exalts in the Lord because of how He delivered her by giving her a child, Samuel. And in this way, He lifted her up. The psalm which happens to have been sung, this psalm, Psalm 113, which happens to have been sung before Passover, imports the praise of Hannah and undoubtedly draws their attention back to the redeeming work of Yahweh who rescued them from slavery in Egypt. They were rescued from slavery in Egypt to be the servants of the Lord, his own possession. He raised them from the dust. From the ash heap, he lifted them up to a place of privilege. He seats them with princes. He lifts them to the place of exaltation. His people sung this psalm of praise to the Lord for the redemptive works that he accomplished for them. You see Yahweh saw the miseries of his people and we read that he remembered his covenant. He saw the suffering of his people and took the cause of their salvation upon himself. And having entered in as it were, he bore them up." We read as on eagle's wings. Having entered in and touching the lowest place, he's worked for them and raised them up and changed their future. He gave them a new life and a new hope. So when the psalmist asks the question, who is like the Lord our God, the prompting for us is to recognize this God, to join in the praise of God. All of creation is singing. The heavenly host is singing. But in our sin, in our condition, as fallen sons and daughters of Adam, We have turned our backs to God. We refused to turn to him. We refused to acknowledge him. We refused to submit our lives to him. We refused to give him praise. We worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator. And with that, we accrued for ourselves the wages of sin, which is death. And when God humbled Himself to come down, as it were, and behold our miserable condition as fallen sons and daughters of Adam, He saw that we were content with our shame. We were happy with our poverty. We were taking pleasures in our heirs. And He sees and describes our lives, as He does in Psalm 113, as being a dustbin. which is a reference to the place outside the city where the trash would collect. He describes our lives as ash heaps, which is a picture of desolation and ruin. When invading armies during this time of history, when invading armies would siege a town, it was very often the case that upon victory they would burn the entire city down. And the idea was that they would burn it so that they would make the city a wasteland that no one would return to. And the Lord looks down at our rebel lives, lives lived in defiance of who he is, and says it's an ash heap. Instead of serving him and living for his praise and moral purity and love, We served ourselves. You see, we serve ourselves when we're impatient with one another. We serve ourselves when we get irritable towards our spouses or our children. We serve ourselves when we cling to bitterness. We serve ourselves when we refuse to yield to each other in regards to our preferences. We serve ourselves when we lift up our hobbies above the Creator and give them our heart. And this God, this one unique holy God who's exalted above the heavens, looks at our lives, our unredeemed lives, lives lived completely contrary to His design, lives that are completely broken and spoiled by sin. And he says, they're a garbage heap. They're an ash heap. They have no value or merit before me, like the vine from Ezekiel chapter 15. What use do they have except to be burned? And that might sound harsh, but it's simply what the scripture teaches us about who we are outside of Christ. And it's actually the truth about who we are that leads us to Christ. You see, the Bible doesn't teach us that we need more self-esteem. See, we already have, it assumes that we have an abundance of that. But what the Bible instructs us that we need is more God esteem. Luke chapter five, verse 31, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Luke 7, 47, if we want to love Jesus much, then we must know that we have been forgiven much. I think Bishop J.C. Ryle said it right when he said, we must dig down very low if we'd like to build high. And that's what an accurate view of sin does for us. It's not harsh, it's not mean, but it's actually the diagnosis that you need to get well. So what can we do? What can we do, what can be the solution for our miserable estate? How can we get back to God again? Is it by way of the via moderna? Is it by doing our best? Can we, by increments, do what is in us and step by step, as it were, make our ascent back to God again? Is God gonna look at your good works? works that he describes as filthy rags and welcome you into his eternal kingdom. Is that going to be the merit that you bring to him and stretch out your hand before the almighty God and say, here they are, God, all my works, all the works that I've done. I wasn't as bad as other people. You see, the truth is we simply cannot climb a ladder of our own righteousness and get back to this God again. The distance is too great. The perfection of God is too great. The evil of sin and the demands of justice are too great, which is part of the reason why Peter tells us in 1 Peter that angels desire to look into the mystery of the gospel. You see, these angels in heaven, I like thinking about what these angels must be seeing from their perspective, from their vantage point. See, these angels in heaven, on the one hand, they're seeing the glory of God, the infinite perfection of this God, that He's perfect in holiness, that He's awesome and wonderful, He's unlimited in every way, He's perfect and glorious, He's pure, there's none like Him. And they marvel at this God, and they give Him praise. Day and night, they give Him praise, holy, holy, holy. And then those angels look down at the ash heap, of our ruined lives, lives that were lived completely contrary to his design, lives that were the lives of rebels. We didn't love God, we hated God. We loved ourself. Lives that when you look at the totality that they produced are entirely contemptible. And they're looking at this glorious God and they look down at the ash heap of your life and they ask the question, How can man be brought back to this God again? How can it be done? How can the two be reconciled? He's too great. You're too evil. And then we read in Isaiah chapter 59 verse 1. The Lord booms forth. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save. And then he came. The man Jesus Christ. Born of a virgin. Infinite God and helpless babe. sleeping in an animal's feeding trough, the most high and the most humble. And he said, I myself will take up their cause. I will bring them back to God again. And Jesus Christ, he lived the perfect life. You see, the life that we could never live. so that as our representative, he would earn for us a righteousness that would be acceptable before God. He lived as a servant, the servant you could never be. He lived as the parent, or he lived as the... He did everything perfectly before the Father and lived a life that we could never live. But then the angels wonder, is it enough? What about all their sins? What about justice? Will God withhold his justice for these? But the Lord our God would not only take upon himself the cause of earning our righteousness, but he also took our cross. The only perfect one, the only pure one, the only one who merited reward, and eternal life before God. They took him. They nailed him to a cross. The death that we deserved, the suffering that we had earned, and being nailed to the cross, he took upon himself the justice and the wrath that each one of us had accrued to our account. see, you should have suffered. You should have been the one who drunk the cup. I should have been the one who drunk the cup of God's wrath against my sin. But this Jesus, simultaneously the most high and the most humble, He did it for us. a pain that you'll never know, a misery that you'll never know. And then they laid his dead body in the tomb. And that wasn't, of course, the end of the story. But three days later, God declared the righteousness of his son when he raised him from the dead. You see, he didn't die for his own sin. He died for the sins of others. And he rose victorious over the grave. And he ascended to heaven and he sits at the right hand of God. Angels and authorities and powers have been made subject to him. And now everyone, everyone hearing me today, every one of us who put their faith in him alone for salvation. Everyone who throws themselves upon the mercy of God, not trusting their own merit, but trusting in the finished work of Christ alone, all these are forgiven of their sins. You see, Jesus, and they're given eternal life. You see, this Jesus came to become everything for us, everything that we need, everything that we need to be fully reconciled to God. He has enabled us to enjoy Him forever and to praise Him forever. Do you believe this? Amen. And when He was raised up, we read in Ephesians 2 that we were raised up with Him. And we sat down with Him in the heavenly places. You see, you sit at a table greater than the richest and most privileged men of this world. You sit with the king of kings. He calls you his son, his daughter. He gives you his spirit. He says, I'll never leave you or forsake you. And I've gone to prepare a place for you. And you know, eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has in store for you who love him. And he gives you a clear conscience. so you can approach him, right? How great is the gift of a clear conscience before God? The knowledge that your sins are forgiven, that you've been accepted, and he has given you access also to pray to him. And he tells you in his word that he loves to hear your voice. Christian, the God of the ages loves to hear your voice. Hallelujah. This is a glorious God. This is a glorious redemption. And it's all because of Jesus Christ. I would encourage you this morning as you're reflecting on these things, let's praise the Lord. We have much to praise him about. And if you don't know the Lord this morning, then I would just encourage you. What you heard today is the only gospel that saves. Martin Luther had it right. The only way that you can be saved is if you repent of your sins and trust in Christ alone for your salvation. Jesus Christ took us from the ash heap of our ruined lives and brought us back to God again. Again, Psalm 113. Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the sun to its setting. The name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens. who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth. He raises the poor from the dust. That's us. And he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Would you pray with me this morning? Father in heaven, Lord, I just thank you for your word. Your word instructs us with truth. Lord, we would never come to these thoughts without your word. We need your special revelation. We need to learn from your word that you are the high and exalted one. You are the holy one. There is no one like you. Lord, you're not like us. You're infinitely glorious. You're wonderful. You are the most high and you're also the most humble. You humble yourselves to behold our lives. You humble yourself to take upon yourself the cause of our salvation. You teach us from your word that our lives, far from being simply imperfect, there are ash heaps before you. But we thank you for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, our only hope, because you sent him to be born of a virgin. You sent him to live the life that we couldn't live. You sent him to die the death that we deserved. You sent him to raise us from the ash heap of our ruined lives and bring us back to you again. And we stand before you with this precious treasure of the gospel. in earthen vessels so that the power would be known to come from you and not from ourselves. So Lord, I pray that you give glory for yourself today. Change hearts today. Encourage us to sing your praise today. Pray all this in your son's name. Amen.