Father, we thank Thee for this day and for the psalmist who foretold a day in which thy gospel would go throughout all the earth, and that all the nations would call upon thee. And Father, as our Savior has commanded that we go into all the earth and preach the gospel to all nations, making disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever thou hast commanded. We pray that thou wist grant us good success, that thou wist grant us diligence in our callings, that as we go forth that we might subdue all things to thy feet. For we ask these things in the name of King Jesus. Amen. There is a certain aspect to the Psalms, this is not part of my notes, you just get this at no additional charge. There is just an aspect to the Psalms as we sing them and as we read them, as they become part of our devotions, as day by day we become more and more familiar with the Psalms. There's just an aspect to the Psalms, what one might call a missionary aspect, as the psalmist sees the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. That really, while it's available to us in other portions of scripture, it just is not available quite in the concentrated way that it is in the Psalms. And yet, the psalmist does again and again remind us of the fact that a day coming, a future to Him in which the nations would bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we live in a day that, you know, we were born in what the nations, what the scripture refers to as the nations, or another way it's sometimes translated is heathen. The Hebrew word is goyim, plural of goy. which means simply heathen or nation or Gentile we might say. If I'm not mistaken I believe everyone of us sitting here this evening would be considered a goy by Old Testament descriptions and yet because we live in a day in which the gospel is no longer limited to one nation but has now gone throughout all the earth. We have been brought into the commonwealth of Israel." You see that middle wall of partition that stood between Israelite and Gentile has been broken down by Christ. And He has made of them both, that is of Jew and Gentile, one new man according to Ephesians chapter 2. So we live in the day of which the psalmist spoke. What more fitting thing for us to sing than the psalms? Let's examine Psalm 66, because we have in Psalm 66 a praise of God that turns into thanksgiving. And it's a general thanksgiving. It's not a thanksgiving just specifically for a harvest, but it's a thanksgiving for deliverance, that the psalmist and the nation in which the psalmist lived, Israel, had been long afflicted, that, as we'll see, Men rode on their heads or over their heads. Men persecuted them in such a way that their heads were bowed down. And so I'd like for us to look at how the psalmist speaks of, first of all, God's dominion over the whole earth in verses 1 to 7. And then secondly, of his mercy toward his church or toward his people, we might say, in verses 8 to 12. And then finally, his personal devotion toward God in verses 13 to 20. Now, don't write those down as though those were the divisions. Those are the divisions that we'll be looking at, but those are not the heads. Those are not the titles. But that does give us an idea. What I want you to see is the structure of the psalm moving from the outward-most realm of God's concern inward. Okay, I want you to see that. In verses 1 to 7, The psalmist concerns himself with what? The whole earth, the whole world, all the lands. Then in verses 8 to 12, what does he concern himself with? God's people, his church or Israel as it stood in the day of the psalmist. And then finally in verses 13 to 20, he deals with his own personal devotional life. So he starts by speaking of God's concern over all the earth, and then narrows down from there. Let's look first of all then at verses 1 to 7. We'll call this the fact that all should praise God. The psalmist calls upon all lands. That is to say, he calls upon the whole earth. Notice in verse 1, he says, make a joyful noise unto God, and then who is he addressing himself to? All ye lands, all the lands. And so he's calling upon the whole earth, or all lands, to praise the Lord. Or actually, he says here, to praise God. Most of the time, the psalmist refers in this psalm to God as God and not as Jehovah or Lord, as it sometimes, well, as it virtually always translated. First of all, he points out that God is worthy to be praised by all because He's good to all. He has done good works toward all men. In Matthew 5.45 we see that set forth by Christ under what idea? The rain falling on the just and the unjust. the sun shining on both the just and the unjust, that God has a certain goodness toward His creation as His creation, that God does uphold the creation by the power of His hand. What doctrine do we call that? Who knows the name of that doctrine? Providence. Good. Nobody said common grace. It's the doctrine of providence. God, by His providential power, upholds His whole creation. The reason I reject this notion of common grace is that there's nothing common about grace. Grace is a particular motion of God toward his people. God does not demonstrate grace toward the whole of mankind. Rather, God demonstrates grace toward his people. But God does demonstrate his goodness toward all of mankind. And as he upholds all of creation, We call that by the title or we call that doctrine by the name Providence. Secondly, not only is He worthy to be praised by all because He's good to all, but secondly, it's the duty of man as creature, not just as redeemed. It's not just the duty of those who are redeemed to praise God as their Redeemer. It's the duty of all men as creatures to praise God as their Creator. So it's a duty that we owe to God. He's worthy of it on His part, and it's a duty on our part. And third, I think we see here an intimation at least. in verse 4, where we see the words, "...all the earth shall worship Thee, and sing unto Thee." And we'll go into that word there, sing, that's repeated twice in verse 4 in just a moment. But the intimation there is that there will be a conversion of the nations to Christ. That there will come a time in which the nations worship God, the nations as nations worship God. Now, There are differences of opinion among theologians as to the chronology of how that's going to take place. And some call themselves this millennial and that millennial and so forth. But the fact of it is, the psalmist here does foretell a day in which the nations, as nations, will call upon the name of the Lord in worship. So there's an intimation of the conversion of the nations to Christ. And fourth, the psalmist does not leave us in the dark as to how man should offer praise. He tells us to praise the Lord, he says all the nations should praise the Lord, and then he doesn't just leave us in the dark and say, now y'all figure out how to do it. Rather, he tells us how we should praise the Lord. And you know, we should expect that, shouldn't we? Let's stop and think about this for just a moment. Do you recall when Adam, not recall personally, but do you recall reading when Adam was in the Garden of Eden? Before the fall, God had some work for him to do, didn't he? God said, I have a will, a plan for what I want you to do. Now, you figure out what it is and I'll come back later. No, that wasn't the way it happened at all. God told him, even in his unfallen state, he needed revelation from God to know what was God's will for him, didn't he? And God gave it to him. Well now, in our fallen state, we're much more in need because of the, what the theologians call the noetic effects of sin. That is, we think wrong because we're sinners. And because of the fact that we think wrong as sinners, the carnal mind, you remember, is what? Friendly toward God? No, at enmity with God. So we think wrong. And because we think wrong, we need God's Word to tell us how to praise Him, to tell us how to worship Him. What can a fallen man bring God? by way of his own imagination. If Adam couldn't bring of his own imagination, what can fallen man bring of his own imagination? Nothing. We have nothing to bring God. So God tells us how to offer praise. First of all, notice that all lands should make a joyful noise, or a holy joy. Not just a noise, but a holy joy. that we are to say unto God, we are to sing forth the honor of His name, we're to make His praise glorious, we're to say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works. Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee." So the first thing we should learn about worship is who should it be directed toward? Toward God! Worship is not primarily directed manward, is it? Not primarily. Now, there are certain aspects, and we're doing one right now, aren't we, that are manwardly directed aspects. That is to say, when I preach, I'm not preaching to God, am I? Who am I preaching to? To you. Now, hopefully you're listening to God the Holy Spirit as I preach, but primarily you're listening to my words, aren't you? So, what's the rule for, I hate to call it horizontal worship, but as we As we speak one to another, what's the rule? Let all things be done to edification. That's the rule. But primarily our worship is directed toward God. And when it's directed outward, that is when it's directed man to man or person to person, then the rule is let all things be done to edification. There are rules, principles, if you will, in scripture. And again, even the joy that we're to express here. And we see the joy that the psalmist feels in being delivered from this recent affliction. Even that is to be a holy joy and not just something that we work up. In Isaiah 58.4, I think we've talked about this passage before, the fast that God has chosen. Isaiah 58, 4, Behold, ye fast for strife, and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. In other words, it's not enough just to be noisy, if that noise is clamor. James tells us why there's fighting and bickering among us, why there's clamor among us, why there's noise among us, why we bite on one another. Why do we do that? Why does James say we do that? Because you have lusts. Because you have desires that you think are more important than pleasing God. And that's just the kind of people we are. James understood us, didn't he? That's exactly the kind of people we are. But the noise that we're to make before the Lord is not just a clamor, it's not just any kind of noise, it's not bickering and fighting and complaining, but it's to be a holy joy, a holy noise. First of all, it's to be hearty, that is to say we should worship God with fervor, we should worship Him with all of our might. This idea, now listen, if I'm stepping on toes, then I'm stepping on toes, but listen, This idea of standing around ho-hum with our hands in our pockets thinking that we're doing worship, I'm not suggesting that you have to have your hands up in the air to worship. I'm not saying you have to do that. But the idea of just standing around looking to see what color the walls are and so forth while you're worshiping, no, no. There has to be fervor. We should be hearty in our worship. We should be worshiping God with all of our might. And if we're not, Shame on us. Shame on us. If we claim to know God, listen, we claim to know the Creator God of the universe. We claim, we claim that He became man. Not only that He became man, but that He became man born in a low estate. And not only that He was born in a low estate, but poverty. And that He underwent not just the life of of mediocrity but a life of misery and that during that lifetime he was persecuted by the religious leaders of his day. And finally, that he was persecuted to death by Pontius Pilate. We claim that not only was he persecuted to death by Pontius Pilate, but that he did it on our behalf. God, the creator God of the universe, became a man and died on our behalf. How dare we be bored? Now, if you can't worship God fervently knowing that, then maybe you don't really know that. Moving on. Once again, the implication of noise, the implication of making a hearty noise, is that of public worship. Our worship is to be public. We're to cry out publicly. This is not something that we do in private. Christianity is not a private religion. Christianity is not something that we do at home. Christianity is doing something together with the rest of God's people. We gather together to worship God. Now, that's not to say that there are no private devotions. Of course, we find in the other Psalms. that the psalmist speaks of private devotions, doesn't he? He speaks about getting up in the middle of the night to have private devotions. He speaks in other places of family devotions. But here, he's speaking about public worship. And if public worship is not a prominent part of our life on the Lord's Day, then we have not yet understood the purpose of the Lord's Day in this dispensation. So, first of all, that it's to be hearty, secondly, that it's to be public, and then, not parallel to that, but parallel to the fact that all lands should make a joyful noise, we're told in verse two that we're to sing forth. Now, what's our purpose in singing forth, and not just thinking happy thoughts? Our purpose in singing forth is so that others might hear what He has done. We're supposed to be telling what God did for us. That's what our worship involves. It involves telling others what God has done for us. Now, earlier this evening, as I heard you sharing testimonies, I heard you asking for prayer requests, don't think for a moment that that's not worship. Of course it is. As we thank God for what He's done for us, as we praise God for what He's done for us, as we cry out together to God for deliverance from our present afflictions, don't you know that that is worship? Of course it is. We're to sing forth that others may hear of what he has done. In fact, the psalmist says here, not only sing forth the honor of his name, but he goes on to say later on, come and see the works of God. Come and see what God has done. We'll get to that in just a moment in verse 5. And finally, he tells us to make his praises glorious. Now, he doesn't mean here to invent a lot of pomp and circumstance. Rather, what he means is to have a contrite heart. The way we make God's praise glorious is how? What is it God's looking for? Is God looking for those who will worship Him with pomp and circumstance? Or is He looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth? John 4 has the answer. He's looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Is God pleased with a glorious sacrifice? Or is God looking for the sacrifice of a contrite heart? What will God accept? God will accept the contrite heart, we're told in Psalm 40. Well, not only does he say that all lands or the whole earth should praise the Lord, but he also foretells a time when the whole earth will praise God. In verse 4, all the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee. they shall sing to thy name." He says here that God's Word will not return void, but will result in even the heathen, even the nations, praising the name of the Lord. The word that's translated here, they shall sing, it says, all the earth shall worship thee and shall sing, or they shall sing unto thee, they shall sing to thy name. You see it used twice? That's the verb form. The word is zimmer for you or zemer for you Hebraists. It's the verb form of the word from which was translated psalm, mizmor. I realize it sounds like it starts with M and starts with a Z. It's a participial thing that's been turned into a noun. But mizmor is the word that's translated psalm in the titles of the psalms. And it comes from the verb, or the verb comes from it, their cognates, zemer. So what we're actually seeing here is sing psalms, sing psalms. So now, stay with me for a moment. The intimation seems to me to be present that when the gospel goes to all the lands and the whole earth is being converted, that is, in the gospel age, what is it they'll be singing? The intimation seems to be that they'll be singing Ms. Moore's or Ms. Morim. Psalms. The matter of our praise is to be the works of God. Come and see, the psalmist says in verse 5, come and see the works of God. We're not more in praise of Him in our lives because we're not more observant of His works. If we would be more observant of what God... You see, sometimes it takes a truck falling on us for us to realize the works of God. Sometimes it takes, doesn't it, a garage door banging into the back of our heads for us to realize the safety and mercy of the Lord, that He is indeed our refuge in time of trouble. But we are to call, or the works of God rather, are to be the matter of our praise. And the reason being that we're not more in praise of Him because we're not more observant of what He does. He is terrible in his works, and we're to tell him that he's terrible in his works. Well, what do we mean by terrible? All inspiring. Remember in Exodus 15, 11 that he's terrible in praises. He's all inspiring. First of all, God's works are terrible in and of themselves. They are awe-inspiring works. Imagine, if you will, standing with your back to the sea, to the Red Sea, and the army, one of the largest armies in the world, coming up against you. And suddenly the sea opens up. That's awe-inspiring. Even if you've only seen Cecil B. DeMille do it. It's still awe-inspiring. So the work, in and of itself, is terrible. But secondly, God's works are terrible because they're destructive of His enemies. That is to say, they destroy those who rise up against Him. In Deuteronomy 33, 29. Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help? And who is the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places." You see, as the Lord destroys His enemies, He at the same time exalts His people. As we tread upon the high places of our enemies, as we see in verse 3, say unto the Lord, how terrible art thou in thy works, through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee." As we see that happening, and by the way, how many of you know at least one of God's enemies who has been subdued by Him and made to trust in Him? Yeah, yeah, all of you know you, right? Right, so there's one that you know of an enemy that's been made to bow the knee to Jesus Christ. And so his works are terrible. They're all inspiring toward his enemies. But thirdly, God's works are a comfort to his people. I mentioned Exodus 15, 11, that he was terrible in praises. But look at Exodus 15, verses 1 and 2. And the reason I go back to this Exodus 15 passage is because in just a moment we're going to see that the psalmist relates the walking across the Red Sea on dry ground as being a mighty work of God from the past. So in Exodus 15 verses 1 and 2, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord. And Spake saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare him in habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. Here we see once again the works of God. being used as a matter of praise. And because of the fact that God's works are destructive of His enemies, they also are a comfort to His people. In the psalm, here in verse 6, in Psalm 66, the psalm under consideration, in verse 6, the psalmist says, He turned the sea into dry ground. They went through the flood on foot. Now watch what happens. They went through the flood on foot, and there did who rejoice in Him? There did we rejoice in Him. Now, was the psalmist there? Ha! This psalm was written hundreds of years later, but he was there in this respect. God was delivering His people, and the psalmist was a part of God's people. In other words, there's a covenantal unity within the people of God that the psalmist is expressing here. What God has done for His people in the past, He did that for us. We need to recount that to our children. And we need to praise God for what he did for our fathers. And then finally, fourthly, in verse seven, he says, he ruleth by his power forever, his eyes behold the nations, let not the rebellious exalt themselves. God's works command everything. God's works are terrible in and of themselves. They're terrible toward his enemies. They're a comfort to his peoples. And finally, they command everything. God's works command everything that comes to pass. There's nothing that happens that has not happened because God commanded it or because God did not command it. There's too many negatives in that sentence. Whatsoever comes to pass comes to pass because God's works commanded it. First of all, we know that God's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth. What part of the earth is it that God's eyes do not see, that He does not behold, that He does not make His realm, His area of rule? None. Nothing is excluded. Everything belongs to the Lord. And also we know that God's mighty arm will destroy those who exalt themselves against Him, according to verse 7. He rules by His power forever. His eyes behold the nations. Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. That's a warning. Let not the rebellious exalt themselves, because God sees, God knows, and God destroys His enemies. Well, we look then at the fact that the psalmist has said, not only should God be worshipped by all people, but the day is coming when He will be worshipped. And if you have any question as to what the matter of praise is, look at God's works. You should praise God for His works. But secondly, we should notice that praise is the special work of God's people, in verses 8 through 12. Praise is the special work of God's people. And here we see that where he says, ye people. That ordinarily is a sign that the psalmist has turned his attention to Israel. If he says, ye peoples, plural, then he means all the nations. But when he says, ye people, singular, It's usually an indication or a clue that He's turned His attention to Israel. And that's exactly what we have here. First of all, God's people should thank God for common, everyday protection. In verse 9, He holds our soul in life, and He doesn't allow our feet to be moved. Why does that happen? Why is it that every day, ladies, when you're cutting bread or you're cutting onions in the kitchen, that you don't just chop your fingers off? Why is that? Well, it's because God keeps your feet from being moved. How many times would you have to slip, hit your eye up against a corner to lose your sight? Once. And the reason it's an uncommon occurrence is because God keeps our feet from being moved. God protects us in the common, everyday things of life. So much so that when something bad does happen to us, we refer to it as an accident. Right? Isn't that common language to refer to bad things that happen to us as accidents? Why? Because the common course of things is for God to protect us. And that's what the psalmist is thanking God for in verse 9. And just as we don't observe the works of God enough and thus are not thankful enough, One of the areas that we don't observe God's work in near enough is the common everyday occurrences of life. The fact that we get up in the morning and we're still alive. You know what Jeremiah says in Lamentations? He says, when I get up in the morning, the first thing I think about is God's mercies are new every day. And it's of His mercies that we don't fail. It's by His compassions that we're able to put one foot in front of the other. You see, we are subject to many killing disasters, killing diseases, things that could snuff our life out in a moment, and yet our soul is kept alive, in life, as the psalmist says. God preserves us in His pleasures, and also He keeps our feet from falling, or from slipping, or from being moved. He keeps our feet from sin as well. You know your heart, and I know my heart. We would be back in sin that fast, that fast, if God didn't keep our feet from being moved. It's because God has planted our feet in the paths of righteousness that we don't sin. And even at that, we still sin. We're subject to many daily temptations, and yet we do actually manage to resist some of them. Why? Because of some good thing in us? Because we've gotten better? Because of Jesus Christ in us, the hope of glory. But not only should we thank God for common everyday protection, but also for special deliverances. And that seems to be the occasion of the writing of the psalm, is that there was some special deliverance of Israel for which the psalmist is thankful. And so he notes the dangers and afflictions in verse 11 and 12. He says, Thou broughtest us into the net. Thou laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. Now, notice how the devil afflicted them, but God saved them? No, you won't notice that. No, you won't. Who does the psalmist say caused them to be afflicted? God. What is it that's going to befall you? Listen, what is it that's going to befall you that God hasn't sent your way? The answer, nothing. Not only that, but God knows exactly how much you can bear. Let me share something with you real quickly. I'm going to encourage all of you. I've already encouraged one family, but I'm going to encourage all of you to memorize this verse this week. 1 Corinthians 10.13. Jot it down. 1 Corinthians 10.13. How many of you have already memorized that before? Either you have memorized it and maybe you forgot it, or you memorized it and still know it. 1 Corinthians 10.13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. You know what? No matter what you're going through right now, it's not unique. It's not unique. Whatever it is, I don't care what it is. Well, I do care. But regardless of what it is, it's not unique. Somebody else has gone through it before, and somebody else will go through it in the future. It's not unique. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. God is faithful and He will not allow you, He will not suffer you to be tried above your ability. But will, but that you are able. To be tempted above your ability. There's a promise there. There is a promise there that you will be able to bear it. It's not a promise that He's going to remove it from you. You see, that's one of the... He can, and many times He does. But whether He does remove it or doesn't remove it, the promise is there that He will make us able to bear it. In other words, anything we undergo is bearable. Now that's a promise from God. God has told us that whatever we, I don't care if it's financial problems, I don't care if it's loss of family, I don't care if it's loss of loved ones, I don't care if it's financial, if it's health, if it's setbacks, if it's interpersonal relationships, it doesn't matter what it is, regardless of what it is, God says, you're gonna be able to bear it. That's a promise. He will not allow you to be tempted or tried above your ability to bear it, but will with the temptation, will with the trial, also make a way of escape. Now, that escape may be by means of death, especially if that trial is persecution. How many of you were aware of the fact that there's never been a martyr in the history of the church? How many of you are aware of very much the opposite? That there have been generation after generation after generation of martyrs? Well, it may be that the way of escape is the way of death. Nevertheless, God has promised that there is, there will be a way of escape. Memorize that verse, meditate upon that verse. As you meditate upon that verse, try to discern the promises that God makes to his people. in that verse. Try to understand, try to draw out, to suck out of that verse things that you can claim for your life. Yes, I know that was written to the church at Corinth, but it's no less true when it's written to the church at Rowlett. God does care for you as his people and his design in affliction is to be gracious toward you. The psalmist uses the symbols of fire and water, and maybe it was real fire, maybe it was real water. But regardless, when we think of fire and water, we think of very dangerous things, don't we? We think of drowning in water, we think of being overwhelmed by water, we think of firestorms, the fires that were going on out in Southern California this last week. But we have come, the psalmist says, we have come through both. That's reminiscent of Isaiah 48, two. For when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame Kindle upon thee. God has promised to be with his people in fire and water. The danger of fire, the danger of water, the drowning, the overwhelming, the burning, yet God has promised to be with us through all those things. The psalmist speaks here of a net being spread. And you recall he speaks also in Psalm 124 of the same idea, floods overwhelming us, a net being thrown out like the fowler's net for the birds. And so here in Psalm 66 also, not only is the fowler's net, not only have we come through fire and water, but men rode over our heads. That is to say men were on us in such a way that our heads were bowed down. We were being afflicted by men. Now, who caused all that to happen? The psalmist knows. The psalmist knows that God brought it all to pass. But the psalmist also knows in verse 10 that God has a design in his affliction. He says, thou hast proved us, thou hast tried us as silver is tried. Why is it that the silversmith heats up his silver? It's to make something useful out of it, isn't it? It's to bring the dross to the surface so he can deal, scrape off that which is not silver. Scrape that off, and then he can take that silver, once it's been refined, once it's been turned into a more pure form of silver, he can take it and make whatever he wants to out of it. You see, that's what God is doing with us. He applies heat, as it were, to our lives. And as he applies that heat, it makes us more malleable. Let me ask you a question. When are you more likely to pray to God? In times of prosperity or times of adversity? Times of adversity, sure. Especially, you know, foxhole religion, as it's so called, is just, it's just a cliche, isn't it? About the person who makes promises to God in time of trouble. Well, the psalmist did exactly that. We're going to find out here in Psalm 66. The psalmist made vows to God in time of trouble, and one of the ways he praises God is that when the time of trouble is over and God has brought him out, he keeps his vow. That's one of the problems with foxhole religion is that so often the vow is not kept. So the purpose of God's affliction, God's design in bringing fire into our lives is to prove us, to try us. And remember the same event in the lives of two different people, the same event can be a curse in the life of one and a blessing in the life of the other. depending upon their relationship to God. First of all, our graces may be made more evident, either to others or to us. As God tries us, as God works us, whether He's working patience in us, or whether He's working kindness in us, those graces that He works in us, those fruit of the Spirit that He works in us, become more evident in time of affliction, time of trial, than in time of prosperity. Remember Job? That's what the book of Job is all about. That righteous Job brought more glory to God in his affliction than he did in his prosperity. That's not what it's all about, but that's one of the things that we should learn from the book of Job. Exercise makes us stronger. And so, having our patience exercised, for example, makes our patience stronger. Those graces are made stronger by exercise. And just as fire and heat removes the dross from metals, we mentioned that a moment ago, and the refiners kill, what's it called? A crucible. And the refiners crucible. So also, affliction removes sin from our lives. You see, just as our graces are exercised, also when we're brought in a time of affliction, what else comes to the surface? Anger, bitterness, they were always there, but we hadn't dealt seriously with them yet. So God uses affliction to bring sin to the surface as well. Hebrews 12.10 teaches us that no discipline is for the present enjoyable. Pleasurable. But eventually, what does it do? Eventually, it works the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And that's what we're looking for, isn't it? We're looking to be made more like Jesus. We're almost out of time, and I'm not out of notes. Well, make a note that troubles oftentimes make the comforts sweeter. That is to say, we don't know the worth of a garage door till it hits us in the head. The bad times make not having your head hit with a garage door seem that much sweeter. And while I put it in kind of a way that hopefully will make it memorable to you, it is the case that oftentimes we don't pay attention to common mercies until those common mercies are removed. And so affliction does call our attention. to common everyday mercies that we receive day by day. Third, we mentioned that the world was to praise God, then we narrowed it down to God's people, and now let's narrow it down even further to the psalmist himself. And under that head, we might say that we must stir ourselves up to praise God. We must do that. That's our duty. So expect some applications now. First of all, in our Devotions to God. The psalmist speaks in verses 13 through 15. He says, I'll go to thy house with burnt offerings. I'll pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. I will offer bullocks with goats. Now, the application here is not to go out and build an altar and start sacrificing animals. but rather sacrifices that are appropriate to today. And what kind of sacrifices are appropriate to now? The sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the sacrifice of our lips, the sacrifice of offering up your bodies as living sacrifices, doing the will of God, appropriate sacrifices. And then also in the performance of our vows. Listen, if we make a vow We need to keep it. Even the psalmist says, if it's to our own hurt. When we make a vow, we must keep that vow. Now granted, in the Old Testament, those vows took the form of animal sacrifices normally. But, whatever that vow might be in our day, even if it's a rash vow, if it's not an unlawful vow, it needs to be kept. Now don't be making rash vows. But even if it is a rash vow, if it's not unlawful, we need to keep it. Be known as someone who keeps their word. And then also in our public declarations, not only in our private devotions to God, but also in our public declarations. Look at verse 16 and following. Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for my soul. come in here, so that others may join in thanks and praise." As you all heard different ones this evening sharing things from their lives, telling things from their lives, I need to get out of the habit of using the word share, and telling different things that God has done for them, proclaiming the things that God has done for them. We were able to join with them in thanksgiving and in praise of God for his mercies, and then also so that we may be edified. Perhaps we didn't know something about God's character that we learned by someone sharing, telling us what God has done for them. Well, what had God done for the psalmist? In verse 17 He tells us that He caused the psalmist to love his duty of prayer and praise. Has God done that for us? Do we yet love our duty of prayer and praise? Or do we consider prayer to be odious and praise to be something we hardly ever do? He caused the psalmist to hate his sin. Look at verse 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. There's another thing that God did for the psalmist, is He caused the psalmist to hate his sin. Do we hate our sin or do we trifle with sin? Do we try to go as far as we can? Isn't it the case that oftentimes we just, we're like that fellow who was taking pictures of Tallulah Gorge. Just feels like he can't quite get close enough. But isn't that the way we are with sin? that we just want to get closer and closer and closer to it. Say, oh, I'll be able to pull back in time. Listen, if it's our duty to avoid sin, then it's our duty to avoid temptation. In the model prayer that Christ gave us, it was, lead us not into temptation. Well, what do we do then? Do we pray, lead us not into temptation, then lead ourselves in? No, of course not. We should avoid temptation just as we would avoid sin. And then third, he granted the psalmist peace, that he had in fact heard his prayers. But verily God hath heard me. You see, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. But he has heard me. Therefore, what did the psalmist not do? What can we conclude from that? That he didn't regard iniquity in his heart. He didn't desire to be a sinner. And then finally, look what the psalmist says. The psalmist says, you know, God delivered me. I prayed and he delivered me. But he's concerned that we might think that his prayer caused God to change his mind. And so he tells us, blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. he hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me." You see, it was not the psalmist's prayer that fetched deliverance, but it was God's mercy that sent deliverance in verse 20. We need to be careful about ascribing more power to the means that God has appointed than we ought to. Yes, we make use of the means. We most certainly do. And if we don't make use of the means that God has appointed, then shame on us. But when we do make use of lawful means, let us not ascribe power to those means. Remember, as we look at the end of the pipeline, we can say there's oil coming out of the pipeline. But let's never think that the pipeline produced the oil. And so we use the appointed means of prayer. But let us never think that our prayers caused God, who is sovereign. to do our will. Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee for the psalmist and for the lesson that we have learned from him as to how to thank Thee and how to praise Thee for Thy terrible works. We confess that Thy works are indeed terrible. They're terrible in and of themselves. They're terrible in that they overcome and subdue Thine enemies, that they are a comfort to Thy people. Father, we praise Thee and thank Thee for them, for the marvelous, wonderful things that Thou dost for us day by day, the common deliverances that so often we are unheeding, and yet that Thou, by Thy mercies, by Thy compassions, renew every day. Father, we pray, make us more mindful of Thy works, that we might be more fervent and more faithful in praising Thee. for we ask this in Jesus Christ's name, Amen. You have been listening to a sermon by Dr. Richard Bacon of Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed in Mesquite, Texas. For more information on FPCR Ministries visit our website at www.fpcr.org or contact us by mail at 8301 Lakeview Parkway Suite 111-164 Rowlett, Texas, 75088.