I took my title from verse 23, which says, this is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Now throughout this psalm, it is our Lord Jesus Christ speaking. And he begins the psalm speaking about God's mercy. And all through this psalm, we see God's mercy. We see the many different ways God's mercy is marvelous in our eyes. The first thing we see, we see God's mercy confessed. Verse one, O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth forever. Let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth forever. Let everyone everywhere, it seems like the psalmist is saying, say, His mercy endureth forever. And we give thanks. The psalmist begins, oh, give thanks unto the Lord. We give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy, don't we? God's people should be known as a thankful people. We've got so many things to be thankful for. You just think of the countless many things that we have to thank God for. our families, our homes, our jobs, our health, our food, our clothing, our shelter, every provision of this life. I thank God for all those things, don't you? Well, he's the one who gave them. But most importantly, a sinner is thankful for mercy. Now, mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Well, what do we deserve? We deserve God's justice, don't we? We deserve to be condemned for our sin. The only way a sinner can be saved is in mercy. It's the only way that it's possible because we can't do anything to deserve mercy. We can't even do anything to deserve less punishment. The only thing that we can earn, the only thing we can deserve from God by what we say, do, and think is eternity in hell. The only thing we can deserve because everything we do is sinful. So the only way we can be saved is in mercy, if God does not give us what we deserve. Now we've seen this a number of times in the Psalms, where the writer says, God's mercy forever. You'll notice that the word endureth there is in italics, it means it's been added by the translators, and maybe that helps someone understand, but what the psalmist actually writes, is God's mercy forever. God's mercy is eternal. That's what he's saying. It doesn't have a beginning and it doesn't have an ending. And if you think about it, that's the only kind of mercy that can save a sinner. Mercy that doesn't have a beginning and it doesn't have an ending. If God waited until he saw what I would do and see if I could deserve mercy, I'd never have it. No, the only way I could have mercy is if God, before time began, chose to save a people. And that's what He did. Before God created anything, He determined, He purposed to have mercy on a chosen people. God's mercy is as old as God is. It doesn't have a beginning. There's no beginning point. God chose to save a sinful people for one reason. God's merciful. Not because they deserve it, but because God is merciful. And every saved person, I don't care who they are, where you find them, every saved person will confess, I'm saved by God's mercy alone. No reason, but by God's mercy. The Psalmist here says, let Israel, let spiritual Israel confess, I'm saved by God's eternal mercy. Unearned, undeserved mercy. Let the House of Aaron, the priests, the preachers, let them confess, I'm saved by God's eternal mercy. No other way. Let every believer, anyone who fears the Lord, let them confess, I'm saved by God's eternal mercy. See, we all have the same, I don't care who you are, what it is, what role you play in God's church, how it is that you might serve the Lord. Every believer says, I'm saved by God's eternal mercy. That's the only thing I can hope in. And I'm thankful for God's mercy, aren't you? I'm thankful for salvation by mercy. I'm thankful that I don't have to do anything to deserve salvation, because I can never do it. I'm thankful that God in his mercy provided a way not to give me the punishment that I deserve. That mercy has no beginning. And it has no end either. And I'm thankful for that. If I'm saved by God's mercy, you know why I can never lose my salvation? People, I don't hear that that much anymore, but I remember being a boy and hearing people argue about that. You know, once saved, always saved. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If I'm saved by God's mercy, I can never lose my salvation. Because God's mercy has no ending. Oh, that's marvelous in my eyes. Isn't it yours? Oh, this is the Lord's doing. This is God's mercy. And it's marvelous in our eyes. All right, number two, we see God's mercy purchased by the sacrifice of Christ. Verse five. I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. Now you know it throughout our Lord's earthly ministry, he was a man of prayer. At times he would pray all night. But I believe what he's talking about here, this time of distress was at Calvary, when he would cry to his father. And you know there at Calvary, the father would not hear the cries of his son. And that shows you and me how serious sin really is. You know the father loves his son. He spoke from heaven audibly. He said, this is my son. This is my beloved son. I love him. This is my only begotten son. But when the son of his love, his only begotten son, was made sin, sin was found on him, the father wouldn't accept him, wouldn't hear him, wouldn't show him anything but his unmitigated wrath. Now that shows us how serious this matter of sin is. And at Calvary, the father punished his son fully for the sin of his people. You know why? So he can show mercy to his people in justice. You see, in order for God to have mercy, mercy is not giving us what we deserve. In order for God not to give his people what they deserve, He had to give Christ our substitute what we deserve. Sin had to be punished somewhere. If God's not gonna punish you and me for it, there's one reason. He punished our substitute for it. Now that's the Lord's doing. Only the Lord can do that. That is God's mercy. Only God would make his son sin for his people. Only God would cause his son to suffer everything sin deserved so he could show mercy to his people. Only a holy God would do that. Now that is the Lord's doing. That is a purchase made by the Lord. And it's marvelous in our eyes. But you know, later on, most of that time on the cross, the father would not hear the son. But later, when the sacrifice was complete, when sin was put away, the transaction is done, mercy is purchased. Then the father did hear the son again. The savior cried, father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he gave up the ghost in full assurance the father would accept him. And he did, he did. And the father delivered his son from death. And he said, the psalmist says, in a large place, And what that refers to is, it means an open space, a wide open space. A lot of times when scripture speaks about a trial, it speaks about being in a small, confined space where you're just crushed. That was Christ at Calvary, wasn't it? He'd be crushed under the weight of the justice of God. But now the Father's delivered him. He's not being crushed by God's justice anymore. He's in a wide open space. And the father delivered his son because the sin of God's elect was gone. It's been washed away under the blood of Christ. Now, if you're a sinner, you know that you have no hope in yourself. Nothing you can do can earn you salvation. There's nothing you can do to get less punishment than what you deserve. Hearing that your sin has been put away by God's own son, by the blood of God, will make you start shouting. That's the Lord's doing, isn't it? Only God could do that, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Verse six, he goes on, he says, the Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me. Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. Now I know man was very active in doing everything that their our, I shouldn't say their, I should say our wicked hearts, wanted to do. But really, it was the Father who punished the Son. It was the Father who executed judgment upon Christ at Calvary. So, the Father was against Christ in that way, wasn't He? In that He would not have mercy or pity upon His Son. But all He would give Him was the full wrath of God against sin, the fury of God against sin. But the father was for Christ in this way. He was accepting his sacrifice. And the father is against those who refuse to believe on his son. They all gathered together. They gathered together against God's Christ. They gathered together against this man. And they thought they finally, after three and a half years of plotting and planning and trying to get him, they thought, We finally got him. We finally got our way. They thought they had accomplished their mission, didn't they? I'm sure those fellas went to the Passover saying, mission accomplished. They were shaking hands, well done. And they were complete failures. They completely and utterly failed to accomplish their purpose. And a little while later, Peter's going to tell them about it. You didn't accomplish your purpose at all. You accomplished God's eternal purpose to save his people by the sacrifice of his son. See, they put the Lord Jesus to death, but they didn't accomplish their will, did they? No, they accomplished God's will. They accomplished God's will and salvation through the sacrifice. And that sacrifice is what enabled God to show mercy to his people because Christ satisfied justice for them. And I hate to even talk about this, but there is a flip side to that coin. God's gonna, that sacrifice of Christ completely, utterly, eternally saved God's people from their sin. Gave them nothing but mercy from God. But the flip side of that coin is what God's gonna do to those enemies of his son. Those who do not believe on him. One day God's gonna destroy him. Look at verse 10, he talks about that. All nations compassed me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about, yea, they compassed me about. There was no strength in numbers, was there? Because in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees. They're quenched as the fire of thorns. For in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust thorn at me that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord delivered me from your hand, and I'm gonna destroy them. So we see that no men could do real harm to the Savior. They caused him unimaginable bodily sufferings, but they could do no real harm to the Savior. They could do no harm to God's will and purpose. And since Christ put away the sin of his people, since he arose from the dead, men can't do any real lasting harm to anybody who's in Christ either. They can't do any real lasting harm to any of God's people. Their soul is secure, secure in Christ. Now that's the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. Now think about this. The psalmist, the savior lays out before us God's mercy, God's mercy for his people. And on the opposite side of that is man, man's will, man's way. God's will is to save his people by the sacrifice of his son. God's will and way is to save his people in mercy. Man's way is to earn my own righteousness, to be good enough that God will accept me on my own. That's the two ways of salvation. Now, since man can't do anything to harm God, I mean, they tried and they failed. Since man can't do anything to change God's purpose, I mean, not only can that stop God's purpose, they can't change it. They can't even delay it. Since man cannot accomplish his own salvation, I mean, the very best of men gathered together and encompassed our Lord about what happened to them. They're all destroyed. Well, then it's foolish to trust in even the best of men, isn't it? Verse eight. It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, and even the very best of men. Oh, I'd a whole lot rather trust my soul to God's mercy than my doing, wouldn't you? Whole lot rather trust my soul to God's mercy. We can't trust our soul to anything that we do, because everything we do is filthy with sin. So it's better to trust in the Lord There's forgiveness with the Lord. It was better to trust in Him, isn't it? There's salvation in Christ. It's better to trust in Him. There's no salvation in us, but there is in Christ. It was better to trust Him. If we trust the Lord, this is what you'll say. That's the Lord's doing. God had to be the one to even give me the faith to trust Christ in the first place. That's the Lord's doing. He enabled me to trust Christ and not trust in myself, and that's marvelous in my eyes. You see, God purposed mercy for his people. In his eternal covenant of grace, that was God's purpose, to give mercy to his people. But somebody had to actually come in time and purchase that mercy for his people. God ordained a sacrifice, but somebody had to come and actually offer that sacrifice. God ordained to pay for the sin of his people, but now somebody had to come make the payment. Somebody had to come and put away the sin of God's elect so that God could accept him. And that is what God's own son did. He left the glories of heaven and came to this earth as a man. And he didn't even come as a prince, as a mighty man, as a respected man. Everybody who was anybody turned thumbs down on him, despised and rejected. He came as a hated man for this reason, to come purchase mercy for his people. He came to purchase mercy for a people by sacrificing himself for a people who had done nothing but sin against him. who would spit in his face, who would lie on him in a mock trial, who would drive nails through his hands and through his feet, who would shake their fists in the face of Almighty God and say, I'll not have this man reign over me. Just like that parable, we read and marked, opened the surface. The father sent us a prophet. We start throwing rocks at him. Sent us another one, we killed him. Sent another one, we beat him, put him down in a ditch, and finally sent us his son. The father said, surely they reverence my son, and we did. First thing we did when we got our hands on him was put him to death. Yet that's who Christ came to save. That's the most marvelous thing I have ever heard. That's just the most marvelous thing that can be on human tongue. The son of God came to sacrifice himself to put away the sin of people who hated him. And I tell you what, God's church rejoices in that mercy. Look at verse 14. The Lord is my strength and song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The Lord Jesus Christ has done valiantly, hasn't He? In the salvation of His people, He's done valiantly. He is the mighty conqueror. And all the adoring shouts of His people, this is my Savior. He is my salvation. He's my strength. He's my rejoicing. He has become my salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted because of His purchase, because He satisfied His Father in every way, because by His blood, He blotted out the sin of His people, the Father highly exalted Him, giving Him a name which is above every name, and that's just exactly the way I like it. By God's grace, that is exactly the way I like it. That's the way it should be, isn't it? That's the way it should be. He purchased mercy for me. That's the way it should be. That's mercy purchased by the blood of God's Son. And thirdly, we see this. We see the effect of God's mercy. It is to make God's people righteous. Verse 17, I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me sore, but he's not given me over to death. Now this is still Christ speaking. I know he says here, I shall not die. And we know Christ did die, but this is what he means. I'm not going to die and stay dead. The father did chasten him sore, didn't he? Oh, he put him to death. But the father didn't give Christ over unto death. No, three days later, the father raised him from the dead. He raised Him from the dead because the sin that had been charged to Christ had been put away. It was paid in full, all by the sacrifice and the death of Christ. Death couldn't hold the Savior because there was no sin. There's no power of death to hold Him because sin was gone. And when the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the tomb, He gave us the evidence. His sacrifice justified His people, made them without sin, made them righteous. The resurrection of Christ declares that the mighty work of the Lord and the salvation of His people is complete. God's elect are delivered. They're delivered from sin. They're delivered from death. They're delivered from the power of sin because Christ died in their place. Now that's the Lord's doing. Only God could do such a thing. Only God could put away sin And only God would do that. Only God would do that for sinners. Isn't that right? If it was left up to you and me, who would we save? Sitting back here, right there's one of them. That's the first one I think, well, maybe I could myself, honey. I got some daughters. I got some sons. But those are all people that love me. Those are close to... Only God would save sinners. Oh, that's marvelous in my eyes. Is that marvelous in your eyes? It's marvelous in my eyes that the death of Christ took away any reason for his people to die. The death of Christ took away any reason that God would condemn his people because he made them righteous. Verse 19, he says, open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them and I will praise the Lord. Now I can just imagine, this is our Savior speaking after His resurrection. He's ready to send back to the Father. He's gonna go back into glory, this hated man, Jesus of Nazareth, is gonna go back to glory as the Prince of Glory. And the Father's gonna tell Him, you see here, on my right hand, oh the homecoming, that must have been. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty conqueror, can go ascend into heaven, and He can demand that the gates of righteousness be opened to Him. He can walk right through them any time He wants. He's not going to enter in to some back door now. He's not sneaking around back and coming in some side door and sneaking in. No, he's coming right in front door. He's coming through the gates of righteousness. And it's only right that he do it. He is righteousness personified. He has satisfied the Father. He's won the victory. It's only right that he enter and that he rule. He bought that right by his substitutionary death for his people. and all of God's elect are gonna enter the exact same way. Verse 20, he says, this gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. All of God's elect are gonna enter into glory the exact same way that Christ our righteousness did, through the gates of righteousness. You're not sneaking in, you're not getting in by the skin of your teeth, it's not like a maybe thing, no sir. You're entering in the front door. Righteousness is open to God's people because Christ made them righteous. Christ made his people righteous by his life. Christ came as a man, and he obeyed God's law, and he did it perfectly. Now, he didn't do that to give you and me an example. What would Jesus do? I ask you, does it really matter? Can you do it? No. We can't keep the law. Christ kept the law as the representative of his people. He did that for his people so he could give them his obedience and make them righteous. And then Christ made his people righteous by trading his perfect obedience for their disobedience. He traded his righteousness for the sin of his people. He traded it with them. And he suffered and died the death that sin deserves. It satisfied justice for them. Now they're righteous. Christ who knew no sin was made sin for his people so that his people would be made what? The righteousness of God, the righteousness of God in him. Now that substitution, that's the very heart of the gospel. You can't preach the gospel without that stuff. That substitution and satisfaction is the heart of the gospel. That's how God's elect are made righteous. That's how God's elect are made what God can accept. Perfect righteousness. And since Christ justified His people and made them righteous, they enter into God's presence accepted. Perfectly righteous. Now that's the Lord's doing. That's marvelous in our eyes. And then lastly, we see God praised for his mercy. Verse 21, he says, I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation. Now like I said at the start of the message, there are lots of reasons for us to be thankful. There are lots of reasons for us to praise the Lord. But the chief reason that we praise the Lord is salvation. Salvation in Christ. The chief reason we praise God is mercy. Mercy for sinners that comes to us through the sacrifice of Christ. I don't even know how to say this just right. I wish we could get our minds off of things. I'm not even talking about worldly things. I'm talking about spiritual things and positions and doctrines and ideas. And that we get our hearts and our minds settled on Christ. My friends, the gospel is a person. It's a person. It's all about a person. Salvation is a person. Salvation is not a state of being before God. Righteousness is not a legal document that says, yeah, I'm righteous. It's a person. It's a person. I've used this illustration before, but I thought about it recently. After almost 30 years, Not long after Jane and I were married, for a present from somebody, I got this two-drawer filing cabinet, fake wood filing cabinet. It's really a miracle that it lasted this long, and the thing finally fell apart. Had to get me a new one. Now, I've used this illustration before. I married that pretty lady. Now, to me, marriage is a person, it's her. And I've told you before, somewhere I've got a legal document to prove it, but I have no idea where it is. I found it just the other week when I had to change out that filing cabinet. I thought, you know, there's probably junk in here I don't need. I was throwing stuff away and shredding stuff. I found that document, legal document, all signed and sealed and fancy and everything, you know. And I just put it in the envelope and put it, you know, I didn't run out and tell Jen, hey, guess what? We're married. Marriage is not that legal document. It's a person. It's a living union with a person. I hate to compare that. forgive me, to salvation. But I want you to see, salvation's a person. The gospel is a person. The gospel is a living, vital union with the person. The psalmist says here, thou art become my salvation. David wrote that. David knew salvation wasn't a thing. David knew. He knew righteousness is a person. The gospel is a person. He, the person, God's own son, died for me. He saved me. He loves me. He keeps me. Salvation is all in Christ because salvation is Christ. That's God's doing. God made it that way. That's marvelous in our eyes. And every one of God's elect says, I'm gonna praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord because he saved me. Me. Of all people, me. God had mercy on me. The father sacrificed his son so that he could show mercy to me. Now that's the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. It's marvelous. Because the only way a sinner can believe on Christ is if the Lord reveals Christ to us and gives us faith to believe. He sent His Spirit to do that for me. For me. That's marvelous. That's astonishing. But you know, the other side of that coin is true too. It's marvelous. Not marvelous in a good sense, because I hate this is true for anybody, but it's astonishing. Who does not believe on Christ? The most religious, most orthodox, smartest people you can find reject Christ. You've got to leave them alone. Look at verse 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. And we read a reference where our Lord quoted that to open the service. So you'd see that verse there refers to the Pharisees. The builders are the religious leaders. The stone is Christ the chief cornerstone. Christ is the chief cornerstone because he's the foundation of salvation. It's all built upon him. And these religious leaders, they're the most learned in scriptures. They memorized the scriptures. They wrote the scriptures. They are steeped in religion. I mean, you think you're orthodox. I mean, these guys, their entire life, seven days a week, was just religion. They were so orthodox. You couldn't find any, they were doctors of religion, doctors of the scripture. And they rejected Christ who came and fulfilled every single Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah. And they rejected Him. They hated Him. That's the best man has to offer. Don't put your trust in princes. Don't put your trust. They'll fail you every time. The best men left to themselves are foolish and blind and ignorant of salvation in Christ. And they'll never see Him. Not unless God works a miracle for them, they won't. So it's marvelous, it's astonishing who it is that rejects Christ. Those people who reject Christ, that's the best righteousness man has to offer. God says it's not good enough. That's astonishing, isn't it? But look at Matthew chapter 21. It's also marvelous or astonishing who it is that believes Christ. Matthew 21. Verse 42, here's another place where our Lord quotes this verse from our text, Matthew 21, verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, did you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. You rejected God's Christ. You rejected the only way of salvation. So God's going to take the gospel from you. He's going to give it to somebody else. He's going to give you judicial blindness so that you can't see. That's amazing, astonishing. This is the very best man has to offer. They can't see. They cannot believe. They hate Christ. But look at verse 44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him into powder. Now whoever rejects Christ, the chief cornerstone, they're gonna be ground to powder under the feet of Christ. But whosoever falls down before Christ, whoever falls on the stone, whoever falls at his feet, begging for mercy, they will be broken. They'll be brokenhearted. But that's all right, that's who God came to save, isn't it? They'll be broken. Broken in the sense that they see, I can't do anything, I'm broken, I can't do anything. So I can't trust in myself. That person who's broken, they'll receive mercy from the Lord. Now that's the Lord's doing, isn't it? It's marvelous in our eyes, marvelous to see who the Lord has mercy upon. Now look back at Matthew chapter 11. It's marvelous that the Lord hides his mercy. from the self-righteous, from the arrogant, but he reveals himself in mercy to the worst of sinners, and the Savior himself found this astonishing, and thanked God for it. Matthew chapter 11, verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and you revealed them unto babes, not because they deserve it, because even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." Now that's astonishing, that's marvelous, marvelous in our eyes. Right now, quickly, look back at our text, Psalm 118, verse 24. The psalmist says, this is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. So from here on out, what's my reaction gonna be? This is the day which the Lord hath made, We will rejoice and be glad in it. For almost 30 years, I woke up to go to work at a warehouse or a convenience store or something along those lines where I typically worked. And I'd get up about 5 o'clock in the morning. And I can't tell you how many of those mornings I quoted this verse to myself, trying to convince myself to get up and be happy about the day. This is the day which the Lord hath made. I'm gonna be glad, I'm gonna rejoice and be glad in it. Tough to say that meaning when you got sleep in your eyes. And that's a good thing for us to say, that's a good thing for us to be determined. Every single day is a day God has made. He's given it to us to rejoice and be glad in it. But the psalmist really is talking about a specific day here, a specific day, the day of Christ's sacrifice. Now I rejoice in that. I rejoice in that day that my sin debt was paid in full. I rejoice in that sacrifice, that day that justice was satisfied for me. I rejoice in that day of mercy where Christ purchased mercy for me with his precious blood. Whatever else has gone wrong and gone against you in this life, that day's for us. It's really all that matters. All that matters. I rejoice in that day that God let me see that by faith. That he let me see Christ by faith. And that's what God's people have been seeing forever, by faith. Remember our Lord told those Pharisees, Abraham saw my day and was glad. This is the very exact thing he was talking about here. Abraham, by faith, you know what he rejoiced to see? He saw by faith Christ crucified as a substitute for sinners. And Abraham said, that's the Lord's doing. That's marvelous in my eyes. And we say the same thing, don't we? And because of that day, Christ died as the sinner's substitute. We can cry verse 25, Lord save me. Christ died for sinners and Lord save me. I beseech Thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech Thee. Send out prosperity. I'm poor, I'm bankrupt. Lord, send prosperity. I'm empty of anything You require. Lord, save me. Send prosperity. We can cry that in hope because Christ died for sinners. The death of Christ is what lets us beg God for salvation for Christ's sake in the first place. And it's all in Him. All spiritual blessing, really any blessing of any kind comes, but I'm talking here about spiritual blessing. What is most important? What is most needed? It's all in Christ, the blessed man. The blessed man who came to save his people. And that blessed man who comes and reveals himself to his people. Verse 26, he said, blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We blessed you out of the house of the Lord. Oh, blessed is he that cometh to reveal himself to you. God is the Lord which has showed us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even under the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, I will praise Thee. Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. In case you forgot how he started, he says, oh, give thanks. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for His good, for His mercy forever. That's the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. How I pray, I'll make that marvelous in our eyes. Let's bow together in prayer.