If you will take with me in your Bibles to Psalm 92. Psalm 92, we'll look at verse 4. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands I'll sing for joy. Porque tu, oh Señor, me has alegrado con tus obras, cantaré con gozo ante las obras de tus manos. Let's pray, oramos. Señor, Lord, once again we come to you this evening, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his work, what he's accomplished on Calvary's cross. To bring reconciliation, to bring salvation to your people, to bring us to a place of a secured eternal redemption. God, I just pray that you would use this text this evening to push us to greater worship of him. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated, put into more center. It was June the 5th, June the 5th, 2008. Cinco de Junio, 2008. I was in a rough spot in life. I was in a difficult position in life. I was reading in the text of scripture that day, reading in the text of scripture that day, Psalm 92 was in my reading. Psalm 92 was in my reading. I was kind of wrestling with What I was to do in life. And it was verse 4 that pushed me to missions. Because of the work of the Lord, we should sing. And this verse had a huge impact on my life. And this week I looked at it once more. And began to dig a little bit into the psalm. And decided this is what I'd bring for us this evening. I want to give you a little bit of background in this psalm. We find this psalm in the fourth book of the Psalms. Psalms are divided into five books. As Palmer Robertson says, como Palmer Robertson dice, he gives an outline to these books. El da un bosquejo a estas libros. And book one, he says, are the Psalms of Confrontation. El libro uno, dice el, que son los Psalmos de Confrontación. Book two, libro dos, the Psalms of Communication, los Psalmos de Comunicación. It's God addressing his people, Dios confrontando su pueblo. And book three, maybe the ones that we identify with most. The Psalms of Devastation. If you remember Dr. Rinehan preached Psalm 88 here. That psalm is in Book 3. And then Book 4 is Psalm 90-106. And it's the psalms of maturing, the psalms de madurar. And book 5, libro 5, psalm 107-150, psalm 107-150, psalms of consummation, los psalmos de consumacion. And Book 4 is in a great place. It leads us from devastation to rejoicing. It gives us a greater hope than Book 3 has left us with. And we see in this Book 4, we see in Book 4 that Psalm 90 is the first psalm there. Psalm 90 is the first psalm there. That's the psalm of Moses, the song of Moses. This is the psalm of Moses. And it's by, Dr. Renahan pointed this out when he was here. Dr. Renahan pointed this out when he was here. It's by that psalm and the position of that psalm. It's by that psalm and the position of that psalm. We know they're not in chronological order. Because Psalm 90 was the first Psalm ever written. And it's put at the first of Book 4. So, the editor of the Psalms intentionally did that. But in Book 4, there is a special collection of Psalms. And it's Psalm 92 through 100. These psalms give us hope to Israel. Esos psalmos da una esperanza a Israel, that a king will sit on the throne. Que un rey va a sentar en el trono. So, in the midst of this rejoicing, en medio de este regocijar, you have Psalm 92-9-100. Tiene el psalmo 22, el psalmo 100, that are saying, rejoice, you're going to have a king. Regocijarte vas a tener un rey. We can identify these psalms with a Hebrew phrase, Yahweh Malik. The Lord is King. El Señor is Rey. And this phrase provides us with the focus of this psalm. Esta frase nos da el enfoque de estos salmos. So, you have this phrase, Yahweh malik, tienes esta frase, Yahweh malik, that means the Lord is King, que quiere decir el Señor es Rey, and we find this phrase in Psalm 93.1, encontramos esta frase, Salmo 93.1, and 96.10, 96.10, 97.1, 97.1, and 99.1, 99.1. But you need to know this. Debes saber esta. This phrase is greatly debated. Esta frase es un gran debate. So we use a phrase in Latin. Nosotros usamos una frase en latín that Christus rex. Christus rex. Christ is king. Cristo es rey. And the debating of that phrase is the same debating of this phrase. Debatiendo esta frase es el mismo debate de esta frase que está aquí. It's normally used for the crowning of a king. And it's understood as a king becoming king. If you ever watch the crowning of a king or queen in England, it's a great ceremony. And all these important people there, and they walk up to the throne, they sit down and there's a crowning. That would be, this phrase would be used of that. And it's this phrase that many use to argue. Christ will be King. Cristo va a llegar a ser rey, like in the future, in the futuro. And some use this phrase to defend their position, he'll gradually become king. Algunos usan esta frase para defender su posicion, gradualmente el va a llegar a ser rey. But in these psalms, there's a problem with that. En estas psalmos hay un problema con esta. The phrase is inverted. Normally, when this phrase is used, it's malec yawe. Normalmente, cuando esta frase está usada, es malec yawe. That means malec yawe. Yahweh will be king. Yahweh será rey. Or put whatever name you want in there. Pone cualquier nombre que quieras ahí. But they will be king. Ellos serán rey. But our phrase, Yahweh malik, pero nuestra frase aquí, Yahweh malik, is opposite, is al opuesto. When it's inverted the other way, Malik Yahweh, It means it's marking the event. The show of it. That he's not king and now he's king. So it would mark the ascent to the throne. But when it's written like it's here, Yahweh Malik, The Lord is King, el Señor es Rey, as it is in these Psalms, como es en estos Psalmos, it shows an unchangeable state of being. Muestra un estado de ser incambiable. So it's a declaration that cannot change. It's una declaración que no puede cambiar. So, if you look in Psalm 93, see this in Psalm 93, verse one, versicle uno, the Lord reigns, dice, el señor reina, that's the phrase, esa es la frase. You're like, Yahweh is king. El Señor is rey. The Lord is king right now. El Señor is rey ahora. So rather than mark the excitement of becoming king, en lugar de marcar la emoción de ser rey, it's a declaration of something that is that cannot change. Es un declaración de algo que es, que no puede cambiar. and the eternal truth that is unchangeable here. Verdad eternal, que no puede cambiar aquí. It's Christus Rex. Christ is king. Cristo es rey. Look at Psalm 93 in verse two. Mira Psalm 93, versículo dos. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting. Dice, This speaking of the reign of Christ. He's king, he's always been king, and he always will be king. in this special grouping of Psalms. In this special group of Psalms, 92 through 100. We see this phrase four times. We see this phrase four times. And so we can clearly see 93 through 99. Claramente podemos ver 93 a 99 separated from the rest of the Psalms in this book. Separado de los restos de los psalmos en este libro. Separated from 90 to 91. Separado de 90 a 91. Separated from 101 to 106. Separado de 101 a 106. You can clearly see the editor of the Psalms. Puedes ver claramente, el editor de los psalmos, put these psalms together. Juntos, esos psalmos juntos. So the question that we would ask is why would we group 92 and 100 in this grouping if they don't contain this phrase? La pregunta es, porque juntamos los psalmos 92 y 100 si no contiene esta frase? Well, the content of Psalm 92 and 100 is very important. We can think of them as bookends. We see this in two ways. Vemos esto en dos formas. So, I want you to think about it like this. Quiero que pienses así. Psalm 92, Salmo 92, and Salmo 100, Salmo 100, are the bookends for this section that's special. Son los sujetos libros por esa sección que es especial. And we see this in two ways. Vemos esto en dos formas. The title and content of the psalm. El titulo y contenido del psalmo. If you look at the title of Psalm 92, it's kind of strange. A psalm, which means a song, a song, for the Sabbath. The Hebrew word mizmor, which we translate psalm, is a song of praise. So it's a raising your voice to the Lord. The second word, translated song, is shir, is shir. And it's to express a communal singing. Es expresar, cantar communalmente. So it's not individually, no es individual, but it's together, it's juntos. So come together and sing a song. Juntas y cantas un cancion. Come together and praise. Juntas y adoras. And the last phrase, the última frase, a song for the Sabbath, un cántico para día de reposo, clearly shows a pointing to the praise and worship context of the Sabbath. Claramente apunta al contexto de adoración por el día de reposo. If we look at Psalm 100, si miramos Psalm 100, the title is A Song for Giving Thanks. El titulo es un psalmo para dar gracias. It's one that I like to preach on Thanksgiving. Es uno que me gusta predicar día de acción y gracias. It is a song of giving thanks. Es un psalmo de dar gracias. So you have Psalm 92 and Psalm 100. Tienes psalmo de 22, 90 en 100. A call to praise. So think of it like this pencil. The bookends are give praise and give praise. And then the middle is Christus Rex. Christ because he's king, give praise. But we have to answer a question for this psalm to make sense to us this evening. When did Christ ascend to the throne? When did he become king? And with many questions around here, we must answer the question with simply yes. When is Christ King? Yes. Cuando Cristo es rey, sí, he's always king. Él es siempre rey. There's never been, nunca ha sido, nor will there ever be, ni puede ser ningún tiempo, when Christ is not king or reigning. Cuando Cristo no es rey, ni reinando. This is true and always will be true. Es verdad y siempre será la verdad. But there is a certain time and event when his reign is not only in providence and sovereignty. But it's realized through his people, the church. We see this in Hebrews. After making purifications for sin, He sat down. I want you to think about it like this. Jesus in the high priestly prayer. He prays. Restore to me the glory I had at first. He humbles himself and comes. He gives himself. He raises himself from the dead. And he's seated at the right hand of God. This is Christ reascending to his throne. Ese es Cristo reascendiendo a su trono. Having accomplished his work, habiendo cumplido su obra, and as Hebrews 2.8 and 9 says, como dice Hebreos 2.8 y 9, crowned with glory and honor. Coronado con gloria y honra. We understand this, entendemos este. It's not more glory. No es mas gloria. More glory is impossible. But it is glory and honor. This is very important for us to understand this section. It's very important for us to understand this section. So when we see this, when we see this, that there's a point when Christ is recognized in the world. There's a point when Christ is recognized in the world as having ascended to the throne, ascending to the throne, and it's after his work, it's after his work. That doesn't mean He wasn't always reigning. But, we must recognize, When we see the work of God mentioned without direction to what it is. We must look to the cross. And understand the work of redemption. Here's the doctrine I want us to get this evening. The elect of God have a special plight. They have a supernatural journey to that plight. They have a specific foundation for that plight. They also have a sensible response for their plight. What is the special plight of the elect? ¿Cuál es la condición especial de los elegidos? Our text tells us this evening. Nuestro texto nos dice esta tarde. You, oh Lord, have made me glad. Dice, porque tú, oh Señor, me has alegrado. The Christian is glad. El cristiano es alegre. The state or condition of the believer is one of gladness. Now, we need to define gladness. It does not always mean happy. It can mean or contain happiness. But it does not depend on happiness. The word means to be in a state of well-being. Joy is at the heart of gladness. Two things are necessary for the gladness in the heart. First, to be content. There is a lack of contentment, there is no gladness. We often think of ourselves. We tell ourselves. We think, oh how faithful am I. But the question we have to ask, Am I satisfied in Christ? Is Christ enough? I confessed, I probably shouldn't do this. I'm going to qualify this because it backfired on me last time. I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm especially not asking for empathy. There was a time not long ago. I was very, very sad. I felt all alone. I remember one morning I was sitting in my office. And I was going through a very difficult time. I was reading my Bible. And every so often I would look up at my phone. I wish someone would call or text. How are you, brother? That would make my day. The Lord used that to show me something. You would be happier from a text from a human. Será más feliz con un texto de un humano than you would from the very word of God. Que serás de la mero palabra del Señor. Is your heart satisfied with Christ? ¿Tu corazón está satisfecho con Cristo? He gave me words of life. Me dio palabras de vida and I'm looking for a text message. Estoy mirando un texto. The question of gladness, la pregunta de alegría, is are we content with Christ? Estamos contentos con Cristo? Is my heart satisfied with Him? Mi corazón está satisfecho con Él? I love what our confession does with justification. You read this great definition. It's all of Christ. His person and his work. And then paragraph two says this. Chapter 11. We, thus, nosotros, entonces, and the Spanish doesn't get it right. The Espanol no lo traduce bien. We, thus, nosotros, entonces, receiving and resting on him. Recibiendo, reposando en el. Is that not enough? No es suficiente? Is it not enough that Jesus came and gave his life and died for me? No es suficiente que Cristo vino a dar su vida y me rescate? Is it not enough that the king of the whole universe came for me? No es suficiente que el rey de todo el universo vino a mi? When one receives and rests on the person and work of Christ, his heart's content. Do we battle with being content? Absolutely. But we need to know this. A lack of contentment is a lack of faith. We're like little faith in Pilgrim's Progress. He had the jewels of the kingdom in his pouch. And he's standing on the road asking, begging for money. So he can have lunch. We are the same many, many times. Many times we aren't glad of heart. Because we have discontentment in the heart. The more that we give ourselves to the means of grace. More that we submit to the word of God. The more we know of Christ. The more we grow in being content in him alone. If we would be glad of heart, it must start with being satisfied in Christ. Second. Fear. Fear removes joy, gladness. Temor quita gozo en el corazón. It robs us of being joyful and glad. Nos roba de ser gozosos y felices, or alegres. Let me give you an illustration. Déjame darte una ilustración. You take two kids to a swimming pool. Lleves dos niños a una alberca. One of them is not scared of the water, and one of them is. Uno no tiene temor del agua y el otro sí. They both get ready to go to the pool. Los dos alisten y llegan a la alberca. And they're so happy. Están tan felices. I've got my swimming trunks on. I'm ready to go. Tengo mis shorts para nadar. Estoy listo. But they get to the pool. Llegan a la alberca. One jumps in and has a ball. Uno se mete y disfruta mucho. and the other sits beside the pool in terror. El otro se siente al lado de la beca en terror. Fear has robbed one of being glad. El temor ha robado a uno de ser gozoso. The Christian would enjoy life far more. The Christian should enjoy life far more than the unbeliever. Why? Christ has redeemed us, saved us. From the fear of death. The temor de la muerte, that's what Hebrews 2 says, look at this in Hebrews 2, that He has redeemed us from the fear of death that we were subject to. Nos ha redimido de temor de muerte que nos estamos sujetos a. Where there is more fear of God and less fear of the world. There's more gladness in the heart. Can we struggle with this as well? Yes, si. Growing in our faith is a removal of fear from the heart. It's a growing of hope. The more hope you have, the gladder you are. Can we struggle with these? Yes, si. However, sin embargo, when Christ comes and takes rest in the heart of someone, cuando Cristo viene a tomar, oh God, en el corazón de alguien, when Christ comes and redeems us, cuando Cristo viene a redimirnos, being content on Christ, siendo contentos con Cristo, and fearing God, y temando a Dios, are ours by nature. Son nuestro por naturaleza. Now we can grow in them. But in the believer they are there. The plight of the Christian is gladness. Second question. How do we come to have joy? Well, I just woke up one day and decided, I'm going to tell my heart, you just be glad. Yo desperté un día y solo dije a mi corazón, seas alegre. That's not what happened. No es lo que pasa. Why are Christians glad? ¿Por qué los cristianos están alegres? Our verse tells us. Nuestro versículo nos dice, look at the text. Mira el texto, psalm 92.4, psalm 92.4. For you, O Lord, have made me glad. He said, We are glad because the Lord has made us glad. We can all sit here this evening. And we can sit for hours this evening. Not really this evening because we have too much to do. But maybe one day we can do it. And we can all come up with reasons why we're not glad. And we can stay here all night. We all have reasons. It's been a very difficult season for us. Hear me, escucha me, I'm not saying that there's not time to look at our wounds. No estoy diciendo que no hay tiempo de mirar nuestras heridas. I'm not saying there's not time to sit and examine our afflictions. No estoy diciendo que no hay tiempo de sentarnos a examinar nuestras aflicciones. I'm not saying that there's not a time to really feel being afflicted. No estoy diciendo que no hay tiempo de sentirse afligidos. but indifferent of our circumstances. The plight of the Christian is gladness. He says, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering. Paul says, I'm about to die. If they lead me to the slaughter. If they lay my body on the altar and burn me. What a way to talk. Can you imagine getting a letter from your friend? If they burn me at the stake. That's what he's saying. He says, even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering, the sacrificial offering of your faith. Because of what I came and proclaimed to you, por lo que yo vino a hablar contigo, if I'm to be sacrificed for my labors for you, si yo estoy sacrificado por mi labor por ti, he says this, I am glad and rejoiced with you all. Y dice, me regocijo y comparto mi gozo con todos ustedes. How do you have that disposition? How do you have this disposition? Paul says, even if I die, I'm glad. Paul says, even if I die, I'm glad. Why? Why? God has made him glad. God has made his heart glad. You remember when we were kids, we used to sing. You remember when we were kids, we used to sing. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Joy, joy, joy, joy in my heart. Where? My heart. We'd say Satan can't take it away. Except now a flat tire takes it away. All my joy is gone. The Lord has made me glad. Has he not made us glad? Has he not done something to gladden our hearts? He said I want us to see. The psalmist is not dependent on himself. He's not dependent on anything else or anyone else. No, no, his gladness comes from the Lord. So I can have all these situations. Yo puedo tener todas estas situaciones, and they can affect me. Me pueden afectar. But one thing they can't do is make me not glad. Uno cosa que no puede hacerme no alegre. Why? Because the Lord has made me glad. Porque el Señor me ha hecho alegre. Third, what is the foundation of our gladness? The Christian has a specific foundation. He says, by your work you've made me glad. Some translations, the Spanish here does it. They make this word plural. It's singular. Singular. It's used in the next phrase. Está usado en la siguiente frase. And it's going to be plural. Y va a ser plural. But here it is singular. Pero aquí es singular. Your work has made me glad. Tu obra me ha alegrado. I want to remind you of the introduction. Quiero recordarte la introducción. There's one work. Hay una obra. What work is that? Que obra es eso? The work of Christ and the cross. La obra de Cristo en la cruz. Is it not sufficient to make us glad? No es suficiente para hacernos alegres? Is what Christ done not enough to place gladness in my heart? Lo que Cristo ha hecho no es suficiente para poner alegría en mi corazón? Psalm 101. The very first Psalm after this special section. Look at it with me. Sorry, 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that's within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like eagles. Dice, bendice alma mia al Señor y bendiga todo mi ser su santo nombre. Bendice alma mia al Señor y no olvides ninguno de sus beneficios. El es el que perdona todas tus inequidades, el que sana todas tus enfermedades, el que rescata de la fuerza tu vida, el que te corona de bondad y compasión. He redeems our life from the pit. Is it not enough? When we look at Calvary, He has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. El nos ha hecho lo que la ley de Diablo por la carne no puede hacer. It says in chapter five of Romans, he's saying, capítulo cinco de Romanos, that because of him, we have peace with God. Por él tenemos paz con Dios. What else do you need? ¿Qué más necesitas? Is his work not enough? ¿Su obra no es suficiente? Let me give a second application here. Let's say it's not merely referring to the cross. And it refers to any and all works of God. You works have made me glad, if we put it in the plural. Is there a work of God that takes away our joy? There shouldn't be. Do you know why it happens? A lack of perspective. We don't understand it in Providence. And we think of ourselves and not Him. Pensamos de nosotros y no de Él. But the text tells us, the texto nos dice, indifferent of your circumstance. Indiferente de tus circunstancias. He has made us glad by His work. Nos ha alegrado por su obra. If you're in Christ, you're glad because of the work of Christ. Si estás en Cristo, estarás alegre por la obra de Cristo. Lastly, in ultimo. What is our response? For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your works of your hands, I sing for joy. What can make us sing? I don't know about you, but right now it's heating up outside. Some of you are so happy. It's hard to believe you go out in the middle of the day right now. And the birds are just singing. Man, why don't you hide in the shade? The birds can sing. And they're not even redeemed. They're gonna die and be no more. And yet here we are. Something so simple. And we shut our mouths. What would cause a song to be in our heart? If you listen to the radio, you hear a song that maybe theologically it's okay. Let me give you an example. There's a very famous singer right now. There's a line in a song. It's going to be a good day. Why? The creator of all the earth knows my name. I know the theology he means by that. It's weak. He came to Sunday school this morning. You heard a right theology of that. Si viniste a escuela dominicales mañana, escuchaste una correcta teologia de este. That Jesus Christ is gonna stand before the king of kings, Jesus Cristo va a parar, enfrente de reyes, the creator of the universe, el creador universal, and he's gonna say, this one, esto, he's going to proclaim our name, va a proclamar nuestro nombre. How is it that one with a weak theology of that finds so much joy? And the one who has a right theology of that is so sad. Do we not have a reason to sing? No tenemos una razón a cantar. The deeper our theology, the louder our song should be. Más profundo en nuestra teología, más alto, más fuerte debe ser nuestra canción. What is our response? ¿Cuál es nuestra respuesta? Let me go deeper. Déjame ir más profundo. What if the sun isn't shining down? ¿Qué hay si el sol no está brillando sobre ti? What if it's a storm? ¿Qué hay si es un tormento? Most of the time it affects our song. La mayoría de veces afecta nuestra canción. I just can't find a song. No puedo encontrar una canción. I want you to know very clearly. These Psalms are written with one understanding. Christ is King. Your circumstances has no effect on that. Therefore it shouldn't affect our song. The circumstances shouldn't. We have a reason to sing. Look at Psalm 100. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, you have six commands to praise. In Psalm 100, Because he is the unchangeable king. He is the constant truth that never changes. It doesn't matter the circumstance. So removing the circumstance, here's the truth. Quitar la circunstancia es la verdad. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the workship of your hand, I'll sing for joy. We do not have a reason to not be glad of heart. For the Christian not to be glad We have to fight against the work of God in us. He has made us glad. Should we not enjoy gladness? No debamos disfrutar alegría. The way the Christian enjoys gladness, la forma que el cristiano disfruta alegría, is with a song. The song of our heart. Con una canción, una canción en nuestro corazón, when we sing for joy. Cuando cantamos por gozo, let's pray, oramos. Father God, thank you for your goodness, for your work. Thank you for Christ and all that he is, all that he's done. God, I just ask that you would allow us to fight for that joy, for that gladness, that we would walk as a people glad of heart. And the world would see, in different of our circumstances, there's joy and gladness that flows because of Christ. God, let us battle against the darts of Satan. Let us take up the shield of faith that, oh, he fling them. They don't touch us, because we've hidden ourself in you. God, I just pray that you would help your church here. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.