and I have looked forward to this for some time since pastor invited me over I was here in 2015 and you say why didn't you come back and it wasn't because I did not want to come back I did I got terribly sick in 2016 stricken with an illness and went through a couple years of treatment not able to travel and so this is really the the first time that I have been this far away from home in a long time and so I picked here to come first and I enjoy your pastor, he's one of my dearest friends, I love his family just precious Christians and I hear about you all the time Every time that we FaceTime each other, and he has such wonderful things to say about you, and it's my pleasure to be here. We'll talk more. I'm not gonna... I'm gonna use a little bit of American Southern lingo. I'm not gonna mess around, okay? We're gonna get right at it tonight. And turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 89. Would you turn there, Psalm 89? The book of the Psalter, 150 power-packed hymns. the Hebrew hymn book. God GAVE us the Psalms, and they're the language of the heart. Every human emotion is born out in these 150 Psalms. And we find Psalm 89 is interesting just where it lands. I believe that God has placed each Psalm in the Bible for a purpose, where it's at in the Bible. Not just that it's in the Bible, but where it's located. When you read Psalm 88, it is a psalm where there's not one ray of sunshine. There's not one ray of hope. There's not one word of encouragement. It is a psalm that one person titled it when darkness is your friend. It's almost like the psalmist can't see the light of day, but then when you come to Psalm 89, instead of a low note, now while there's going to be a low note in the psalm, it starts with a high note. Would you look at verse number 1 please? He said, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. But He just didn't say, I'm going to sing of the mercies of the Lord. I'm going to do it forever. Did you see that? I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever, thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens." I began to look at this passage and noticed that when you come to Psalm 89, it actually marks the end of the third book of Psalms, 150 Psalms, the Jews divided into five books, they parallel the first five books of the Bible, so you have Genesis Psalms, Exodus Psalms, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. It's interesting, the Genesis Psalms are Psalms 1 through 41, Genesis is the book of beginnings. It reminds us that every good thing in life begins with God. You know, every blessing, every good gift, every perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable, and is neither shadow of turning. Then you come to Psalm 42, and you come to the second book, and this is the Exodus Psalms, all the way through Psalm 72. And when you come to the Exodus Psalms, it reminds you that Exodus in the Bible is the book of redemption. And you find that it reminds us of the God who redeemed us. Boy, it sure is good to be redeemed tonight, isn't it? I'm glad that I will sing of my Redeemer. And then you come to Psalm 73. And you're at the Leviticus Psalms, of which Psalm 89 closes out this section. It's interesting when you study the Leviticus Psalms, Psalm 73 through 89, the emphasis is upon the sanctuary, the place of worship where Israel, the people of God, met with Jehovah God to worship Him. And it teaches you and I to bring every situation, every circumstance, every burden, every blessing, if you will, into the very presence of God. Aren't you glad that we can bring everything in our lives into the presence of God? Now every psalm has a story, and when you come to Psalm 89, you're going to find that what we know of the psalm is found in, and it's what we call a superscription, the divinely inspired title. If you have that in your Bible, most do. It says, Amaskel, of Ethan the Ezraite. Now, here's going to teach us some things. First of all, a mescal. That means instruction. It's the twelfth of the thirteen mescal psalms, and it's a psalm not just to make us feel better, but to help us to think differently. It's to teach us, to help us to learn that that God wants us to know. And while you're going to find a low note in the psalm, there's also going to be a high note. We'll see that. We know that the author of the psalm is Ethan the Ezraite. He's mentioned in 1 Kings 4 in verse number 32. 1 Kings 4, 32. He lived in the days of Solomon. He's also known as Juduthon. He's a musician who led in the worship music, in the worship of Jehovah in the temple. He's also a man of great wisdom. I believe that Ethan the Ezrahi outlived Solomon. I believe that. I believe he was a contemporary of Solomon, yet he outlived Solomon to see the tragic reign of King Solomon's foolish son Rehoboam. And you remember that it was under Rehoboam that the kingdom is going to divide, and I believe that's actually going to be borne out in the psalm. He's mourning. He's broken in this psalm. You're going to see that. The low note has to do with the collapse, the beginning of the collapse of the Davidic dynasty. It's going to take several hundred years for it to happen, but here's the beginning of it. This is where Rehoboam went his own way rather than God's way. Instead of following the wise men of Solomon, he followed the foolish young men. And I just want to say something, and I want to remind us that there's something to be said for the hoary or the silver hair, if it be in the way of God. and the wisdom, and the example, and the direction, and I thank God for every person who knows Jesus, and as they've lived their lives, they've stayed true to Him. I believe they have something to offer, don't you? And I believe that's where Ethan's at. I believe he's an old man. I do. I believe he's an old man. And there's some difficult days. There's some dark days. I believe that in this psalm he's going to plead for the restoration of the kingdom and the fulfillment of God's promises to David. I'm giving some introduction. I've got to hurry because I've got a lot of points, but I'm going to deal with them quickly. And it's also a royal psalm. What do you mean by that? That means it's messianic. It looks beyond King David to David's greater son, the Messiah. I want to show you that. Look at verse 18. Would you look there? Look at verse 18. For the Lord is our defense. Aren't you glad that God is our defender tonight? And the Holy One of Israel is our King. The Holy One of Israel. He's talking about the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 19. Then thou spakest in vision to the Holy One, here it is again, and saidest, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. And we know that Jesus is the anointed of God. He's the Messiah. And friend, aren't you glad that when we study the Bible, we can find Jesus on every page. Isn't that a blessing? Well, 52 verses long. We're not going to look at all of them. Isn't that a blessing? Third longest psalm in the Psalter, but it has one theme. And you say, Preacher, what is it? It's the faithfulness of God. ETHAN KNEW IN HIS DAY THAT HE COULD PRAY AND PRAISE AND SING IN THE MIDST OF A DARK AND DIFFICULT DAY BECAUSE GOD WAS FAITHFUL. AND CAN I HELP US UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE DARK DAYS IN LIFE, IN'T THERE? THERE'S DAYS THAT WE SING A LOW NOTE. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE GOD THAT WAS FAITHFUL TO ETHAN THE ESHRACHITE IS FAITHFUL TO YOU AND I TONIGHT. And you're going to find that there are seven references to the faithfulness of God, and we're going to quickly just highlight them. And then you can go back for a deeper study. How about that? Can we do that together real quickly in the time we have? And we're going to find that each time he talks about the faithfulness of God, that it's connected to something that's unique. I want you to notice first of all this. God is faithful at all times. God is faithful at all times. Look again at verse number one. Would you look there? Notice what he says. I will sing of the mercy of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. You know what that means? That means that God is faithful in every generation at all times and in every circumstance. There's never going to come a time that God is not faithful. I believe Ezra is saying this, the reason I can sing of the mercies of the Lord forever is because of His mercies that were not consumed. Aren't you glad that God is merciful? But I believe he could do that and sing it because God is forever faithful. Isn't that wonderful? There's never going to come a time when God's not faithful. Many times, now watch this, many times I've been unfaithful to the Lord, but there's never been one time He's been unfaithful to me. I believe we could say with Jeremiah tonight, Great is thy faithfulness. Number two, I told you we're going to go quick tonight. God is faithful for all eternity. Look at verse number two. He said in verse number two, For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens." Heaven. That word established means to be fixed, to be firm, to be immovable. Notice he mentions the very heavens, high above this world with all of its troubles, all of its trials. We live in an ever-changing world. Everything around us is changing. Everything. Life changes. We resist it. We don't want it. We don't desire it all the time. Listen, not all change is bad. Not all, but change many times is hard and we see everything around. I'm reminded of one preacher, David Jeremiah, who made this statement. He wrote a book like this. He said, I thought I'd never see the day. We're experiencing things happening in our cultures, in our societies. America and here in the British Isles. that we thought we'd never see the day. Isn't that true? And that's the way it was in Ezra's day. Ethan, the Ezraite. And I thought about this. Life changes. Everything around us changes. Everything around us, there's uncertainty, but Jesus never. He said, I'm the Lord, I change not. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. You know, God is faithful at all times to all generations for all eternity. When you think about heaven, what does it remind you of? Eternity, isn't that right? It reminds you that God is forever faithful, all right? All eternity. Notice number three, God is faithful to all saints. Look at verse number five. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. Who are the saints? Well, that's us. That's God's people. That's God's people. And those who belong to Him because of faith in Jesus Christ. I like what J. Vernon McGee said, he said, you're either a saint or you ain't. There's no in-between. And I'm glad I'm a saint tonight. You know, we sing a song, I don't know if it's sung much over here, but many times people will use this phrase out of a song. I'm just a sinner saved by grace, and I understand that, I do. But do you know that's not how God sees you? It's interesting that when a person comes to know Jesus Christ as Savior, God never refers to them as a sinner again. Son, Soldier, Servant, Sheep, Saints. You see, could it be that God's lifting the bar? Could it be that the reason God never tells me that I'm just an old sinner saved by grace is because, see, that can be an excuse for low living. Well God, you know I'm just a sinner and you know what sinners do, they sin. And God said, no, you're a saint. You belong to me. I believe God's lifting us to see who we are in Him because God wants to lift us in our level of living. Wouldn't we agree with that? And listen, God's not just faithful to some of His saints. He said these saints. That means all of them. He's faithful to all His saints. Can I just tell you tonight, I don't know where you're at and I don't know what you're going through, but God will never fail you. He'll never leave you and He'll never forsake you. David put it this way in Psalm 27 in verse 10. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. I like that verse, don't you? Number four, are you ready? I told you we'd just move along tonight. We're just touching the high spots. God is faithful in all circumstances. Look at verse eight. O LORD GOD OF HOSTS, WHO IS A STRONG LORD LIKENED TO THEE? Aren't you glad our God's not weak? Aren't you glad for that? He said, WHO IS LIKENED TO THEE, OR TO THY FAITHFULNESS ROUND ABOUT THEE? Isn't that a blessing? Nothing is too big, too hard for God. Our God's hand is not short that it cannot save. There's nobody outside the realm of God's grace. God's hand is not short. That wayward person that you pray for, they're never too far that God's hand can't reach them. God's hand reached way down. Pastor Stagner reached further down than I could ever reach up when he lifted me out of my sin. His hand is not short. There's nobody you know that's too hard for God to save. And may I say that when we think about nothing too hard for God, He may not take us out of every situation in life, but He will see us through every circumstance and situation in life. Isn't that right? No matter the season of life that we find ourselves in, God is faithful. As you sit here in this church tonight, and it's the first time I can put on social media that I preached in a building at 13 degrees, and I don't have to tell them Celsius. I can just say 13 degrees, and we'll let them have the imagination, okay? But maybe tonight you're experiencing smooth sailing. Maybe life for you is going good. Enjoy that as a gift from God. Take that as a blessing from the Lord. You know, God gives good times, doesn't He? I'm thankful for the times that life's been smooth sailing. And I'm going to enjoy that. You know why? Because the stormy times are going to come. The stormy waters are going to come. And listen, can I tell you that when the stormy waters come, anchor yourselves to the faithfulness of God to steady you in the storms of life because He is faithful in all circumstances. I'm going to just read it real quickly. Look at verse 9. You sort of get this feel. Notice He says, Thou rulest the raging of the sea. When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. You know, the disciples experienced that in real time, didn't they? peace be still, I'm glad the same one that stilled the stormy waters in their life can still the stormy waters in my life And it keeps going on down. Verse 13, Thou hast a mighty arm, strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before Thy faith. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. I like that. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. That word, countenance, means His presence. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted, for Thou art the glory of their strength. I'm glad God gives us strength for the journey. and in thy favor our horn that word horn has the idea of our self it can have that idea but actually horn in the bible is a symbol of strength because animals would push with it it's a symbol of strength of power and what he's saying is that thou art the glory of their strength and in thy favor in your blessing our STRENGTH, OUR HORN, OUR ABILITY SHALL BE EXALTED LORD YOU'RE GONNA ENABLE US TO BE AND DO ABOVE ANYTHING THAT WE CAN BE AND DO ON OUR OWN AREN'T YOU GLAD GOD'S FAITHFUL TONIGHT? LET'S HASTEN NUMBER FIVE GOD IS FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS PURPOSES LOOK AT VERSE 24 Verse number 24, But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. Now I believe it's talking about the Davidic kings, but I believe it also looks beyond that to the Lord Jesus. I believe it does. Notice this phrase, WITH HIM. Did you see that? That's a reference to Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Look back at verse 19. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. And then he begins to talk about David, David's sons, but isn't the Lord Jesus the greater son of David? Isn't that true? Let me just say something. All of God's purposes for you and me are bound up in His Son, the Lord Jesus. We are in Him, and He is with us. That's pretty powerful, isn't it? That means that what God has purposed for you in Christ, He will perform. That's what He says, My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with Him, and in My name shall His horn, His strength, His purposes, Be exalted. He's going to perform what God, what the Father has given Him to do. I love Philippians 1-6. He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. That what God started in your life, He'll finish. Isn't that good? Number six. God is faithful in all His affections. His affections. Look at verse number 33. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from Him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. Now here it talks about David's sons as kings. Rehoboam, the grandson of David, who's a foolish man. He's going to be disobedient. He's going to dishonor the Lord. He's going to begin the decline of the Davidic dynasty, the breakup of the kingdom. But do you know what God promised him? Look what he said. He said in verse number 34, Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him. I may visit his transgressions. I may chasten him. I may deal with his disobedience. But I'm not going to take my love from Him. And I'm not going to allow my faithfulness to Him to fail. Loving-kindness is the Old Testament word for grace. There was a teacher, she had some children in her Sunday school class, and she said, now, boys and girls, what does loving kindness mean? And one little child threw their, put his hand up, and she said, now, what does it mean? And he said, well, loving is when my mama makes me a peanut butter sandwich. And kindness is when she spreads the jelly on top. God is loving, but he's also kind. You know, there's no other word for grace but amazing. Let me just say something, and if you don't get anything else, I want you to get this. There's never going to come a time that God's going to stop loving us. Never come a time. Even in our failure. That's what's happening. There's failure here. Ethan sees the failure. He does. But he knows the promises and the faithfulness of God that God will never remove His loving kindness from His people. I fail. Truth is, if we're honest tonight, you fail. But God loves us even in our failure. Isn't that something? Doesn't mean He condones my failures. but He loves me in them. And I love to say failure is never final in the Christian life. Jude verse 21, sort of jot that one down in the margin of your notes there. The Bible says, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into eternal life. The Bible said, I'm to keep myself in the love of God. There's times maybe when I fail, or maybe when difficult times come, that somehow I think that God may love me less, or maybe that God is withholding His love for me, or why in the world would God even love me? But you know what? If God loved you for one... we're now in nanoseconds, right? For one nanosecond. If He loved you one nanosecond less than what He loves you right now, He would cease to be God. God loves you with all the love that's within Him all the time. God is faithful in all His affections. Number seven, oh what a Savior! Isn't it good to be saved tonight? Number seven, God is faithful in all His witness. Look at verse 36. HIS SEED SHALL ENDURE FOREVER, AND HIS THRONE AS THE SUN BEFORE ME. IT SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER AS THE MOON, AND AS A FATEFUL WITNESS IN HEAVEN, SELAH." Think about that, a musical rest or pause. He's saying ponder this. He's talking about the covenant that he made with David that he'd never like a man to sit upon the throne. And that His sons, if they disobeyed, God would chasten them. But He would never stop loving them, and He would never withdraw His faithfulness from them. And God uses the heavens as an example of His faithfulness to Israel. Listen to Isaiah 66 verse 2. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, so shall your seed and your name remain." God's faithful witness in these verses is not the moon, but as the moon. Just as the moon faithfully does what God placed it in the heavens to do, it's always there doing what it always does. It never changes from our perspective what we see, alright? never changes. And His witness is not some thing but some one. It is His seed. Look at verse 36. His seed shall endure forever. That goes beyond to the promised seed, the Messiah, David's greater son, the Lord Jesus. Now I want you to catch this, all right? Do you know that Revelation chapter 1 and verse 5 tells me that one of the names of our Lord is faithful witness that Jesus himself is God's faithful witness the moon dwells in the sky in the stellar heavens the Lord Jesus dwells in heaven itself Jesus is God's faithful witness to us he's our mediator our I don't have to go, listen, you don't have to go through me, you don't have to go through pastor, you don't have to go through any human, priest, potentate, pope, person. You have a direct access to God at all times through Jesus Christ. He's our high priest. Do you know right now in heaven, Jesus is praying for every one of you. Can you imagine that? That right now the Son of God is praying for you and then He's my advocate. I learned something in a book I read about an advocate. I always thought about it as a lawyer, a defense attorney. But you know, a defense attorney doesn't love me. A defense attorney might come to my aid, he might defend me, but he doesn't love me, and he doesn't lift me out of my mess, my failure. Can I tell you that Jesus loves me when I'm up, He loves me when I'm down. That word advocate is the same word used of the Holy Spirit in John 14 when it talks about Him being our comforter, one who comes alongside to help, who comes to me in my hurt, my pain, my trials, my difficulty, my failure, and lifts me up. He's my advocate. Isn't that a blessing? And for in one day, we're gonna be where He is, amen? The psalm ends as it begins, and I'm done with praise. Remember he said, I'll sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. Now look at verse 52. Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and amen. I think that's where your pastor gets that. Amen and amen. Right there it is. It's in the Bible. It's in the Bible. I just want to remind you tonight, God is faithful. Pastor, you come.