Let's turn the Word of God this evening to the Book of Psalms and the 86th Psalm. Psalm 86. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. For I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy. For thou, my God, saved thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord, For I cry unto thee daily, Rejoice the soul of thy servant, For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee, For thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord. Neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great and doest wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name for evermore, for great is Thy mercy toward me, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul and have not set Thee before them. But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth. Oh, turn unto me and have mercy upon me. Give thy strength unto thy servant and save the son of thine handmaid. Show me a token for good that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed, because thou, Lord, hast opened me and comforted me. Amen. We thank the Lord for this word and we trust again that he will write it upon our hearts. Let's unite our hearts now before him. Our gracious God, as we come to consider the scriptures of truth together this evening, we pray that thou would take those scriptures up and that thou would illuminate them to ourselves. Lord, that we might see clearly that which thou hast written. Lord, that we might be challenged in heart and soul. We pray, O gracious God, that Thy people might continually sing praises to Thy name. Those who are lost, that they might realise their need of a great and glorious Saviour. Father, we pray that Thou wouldst put Thy hand upon this service, guide my lips and my words, and we pray, O Father, that Thou wouldst be exalted in the midst of us. These things we ask in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen. I want to take as my text this evening the 13th verse of this psalm. For great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. For great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. When we think about the psalmist, we realise that here is a man who has a great and wondrous understanding of God and of his mercy and of his grace. Over and over, throughout the scriptures, throughout the psalms, he speaks of that mercy and he speaks of that grace. We know that it was he who wrote those words that we read earlier from Psalm 22. Prophetic words. David is called in the scriptures a prophet. And he was indeed a prophet. A man who had a comprehension of somewhat, but altogether a wondrous revelation of the Lord that he might speak unto us and tell us of the great doings of the Lord our God. But David was a man also who was aware of what he was. He was a man who had searched his own heart. He was a man whom God had searched his heart. He is the one who says, search me and try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. He is a man who has had the touch of the Spirit of God upon his soul. He is a man who has repented in dust and ashes. He is a man who knows that he deserves eternal destruction. But he is a man who can praise the Lord for so great a salvation. And as we read this psalm once again, we find that he comes to the Lord asking for that mercy. And then he uses these words when he speaks of his own salvation, for great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Comes to mind those words from Romans chapter 8, if God spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And David uses that very argument in prayer. He is saying, Lord, you delivered my soul from the lowest hell. If you delivered my soul from the lowest hell because of thy great mercy, then the mercy that I ask of you now surely is nothing in comparison and surely will be given because thou art a God of all mercy. God is the God of all mercy. He is the most merciful. We hear the lip service of the Muslim saying that Allah is most merciful. But we see the mercy of Allah in his people, in his worshippers. There is no mercy there. There is only hatred and anger. That is the teaching of the Quran. But here, in the word of God, we find a God who is merciful, a God who is long-suffering, a God who is patient, a God who doesn't just forgive the sins of his people, but sent his own son to die to take away the punishment of them. God makes that first step. But here, as David uses these words, let us go with him to the very statement that he makes here. for great is thy mercy towards me and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. David was in that situation like all of us. We are all in danger of the lowest hell. We are all in danger of that eternal abode where God pours out his wrath without measure. upon every person who has sinned in this world and has not repented and turned unto him. There was a first of all here a great peril that awaited him and there is a great peril that awaits us. Let's think first of all about the designation or the purpose of hell. For hell was made not for mankind but for the devil. Return with me to Matthew's Gospel and chapter 25. We find that very statement and we know therefore it to be true. Matthew 25 and verse 41. Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Prepared for the devil and his angels. It was for the devil. that one who was cast from glory because he rebelled against God, that hell was prepared. It was for the devil that the fires were stoked and the burnings began. that the brimstone began to flow. It was for the devil and waits for the devil. For we read that the angels that sinned are held in everlasting chains unto that judgment. And in Revelation we find that when the judgment comes that the devil is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are. There it was that God purposed to cast that wicked one that he should be forever tormented. God spared not the angels that sinned. 2 Peter 2, 4-10. Let's look at those words. It's important, as I have often said, to turn up the scriptures. I realise that not everybody knows the scriptures well and it can be difficult to find the places. But if you can, then do so. And if you can't, then listen carefully. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly, and delivered just lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelleth among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous are they, self-will, These are they whom the Lord will cast into that lake of fire, the angels that sinned. The designated purpose of hell is that the devil should be tormented, that everlasting being which God created would be there for eternity. But when we consider that purpose of hell, we also must consider the dreadful prospect of hell, the prospect of hell. It was a place where there was torment. Turn to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. Do you know, do you realise that the person who spoke most about hell is the Lord Jesus? You would think that the Lord Jesus in his meekness, in his loving kindness, in the lovely way that he spoke to so many people who came to him, would have nothing to say about such a dreadful place. But over and over again, the Lord Jesus makes reference to hell. And he tells the people to flee from the wrath to come. He tells them that there is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He tells them of the horrors of hell. It is because he loves us that he tells us. One in the past made the statement that Jesus was a sadist and that he was telling the people to see them suffer, to see them fear and be in terror of this place. But this is a real place. And Jesus, far from being a sadist, died upon the cross of Calvary to deliver men and women from hell. It is not his purpose to see men and women suffer in hell. that it is the outcome of our iniquity and our sin. Matthew 25 and verse 30. There we read, And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. This is a description of hell. Outer darkness. Some have said, well how can it be outer darkness if it's a place of fire? Surely fire necessitates light and yet he says it is a place of outer darkness. But of course the Lord Jesus Christ is showing us pictures, he is seeking to demonstrate something about the place. It is not a description as we might see in a painting. But what he is saying that here is a place of loneliness, Here is a place where no future can be seen. Here is a place where no one can have fellowship with anyone else. Here is a place of abject despair in the darkness. Outer darkness. Oh what a place this is. This is the dreadful prospect of hell. A place of outer darkness. In verse 30 also we read the words, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, weeping and gnashing of teeth. The word gnashing comes from another word meaning to gnash and it's used in Acts chapter 7, where we read that the people who, the Sanhedrin who listened to Stephen as he preached to them, that they were angry with him, they fell upon him and gnashed upon him with their teeth. Such was their hatred, such was their anger, such was the torment of their own soul that they gnashed upon him with their teeth. This is what hell is like also. God, who the psalmist says, is in all places, if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. God is there, but he is not there smiling upon those who are cast stiffer, but he is there to torment them. not to torment them with red-hot pokers, as the Papists might seek to convey to us, but to torment them with his very presence, that here is the holy God who said, come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And you rejected him. The word torment is a word which means an anguish of heart. It's not torments of the torturer, but it's the torments of the mind. It's the torments of the memory. It's the torments of what if. The presence of God increases the very torments. The Bible tells us that it's a place of fire. A place of fire. And fire We read is what God is, our God is a consuming fire. Or to dwell in the presence of God in unrighteousness is to be destroyed. Those who stood in God's presence in the Old Testament and indeed in the New, feared. And here were the disciples, those whom the Lord had chosen, those whom the Lord had set apart, those with whom the Lord had had converse day by day. But on some occasions when Jesus stood in their midst they feared, they feared because here was holiness, here was righteousness and the sins of their hearts tormented them. Remember Peter when Jesus was in his presence and he said depart from me your Lord for I am a sinful man. But imagine to be in the presence of God in unforgiven sin. The anger, the frustration, the anguish, the gnashing of teeth. Someone once said that if there could be a vote in hell, that one person could be cast out of hell, that the vote would say, cast God out of hell for our torments. are because of him, because we rejected him. The scripture uses the word also brimstone to refer to hell. It's an interesting word. It is the word theon. It comes from the word theos. Theos means God. Theon is brimstone. It is the fire of God. It is the wrath of God. It is the presence of God. And we read also concerning hell that when those who are cast into hell are cast into hell they are cast body and soul into hell. Body and soul. There are many who think that hell is a place of departed spirits only. But the scripture does not say that. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 28. Here the Lord Jesus says to those people who are with him fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Note the way that the words are reversed both soul and body in hell and he is not saying he is able to destroy the body and then the soul in hell but both soul and body in hell. The Bible tells us that in the day of the coming of the Lord there will be a resurrection. The resurrection of the just unto righteousness, the resurrection of the damned unto hell, unto judgment. That resurrection will give a body which is fitted to dwell in hell for eternity. It's an interesting terminology which is used, isn't it? Where the Lord says, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. How do we dispose of the body when it dies? What do we do with the corpse? We might bury one in the ground and the worms come and they eat that body and the body is destroyed until it returns to the dust. But in hell the worm dieth not. But worms die when the food supply is gone. When the body is lain and the worms have done their work, the worms Well, they are no longer there. But in hell, the worm die if not because there is an everlasting supply. Or we might take that body and we might put it in the incinerator or upon the pyre and we might burn it. But when the body is burned, the fire goes out. But in hell, it never goes out. For the body never is consumed, destroyed. but never consumed, an eternal punishment. Turn to Revelation chapter 14. In verse 10, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Have you ever thought about those words? How many times have we sung about being washed in the blood of the Lamb? And John looked and he saw as it were a Lamb that had been slain. The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Is there a more gentle, comforting, blessed figure than Christ as the Lamb of God? But here, here they are tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment descended up forever and ever and they have no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." You might say, well this is specific. This is of those who worship the beast and his image. But we read later on that all those who do not believe, the unbelieving, the fearful even, shall be cast into the lake of fire that burneth with fire and brimstone. It's the same lake, eternal, never-ending. We can think of some of the torments that the people of God have gone through in this world. People have been burned at the stake. People have been stretched upon a rack. People have had fingers and toes chopped off. People have had all kinds of horrors committed against them that they might recant But Christ says to them, don't fear those who can harm the body but cannot touch the soul, but fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. It is worse. The worst thing you can possibly think of in this world. Hell is worse. And perhaps the worst thing concerning hell of all is that it is forever and ever with no hope. You might think tonight that I am saying these things to frighten you into making some kind of a call upon Christ. But it doesn't work like that. Fear does not turn us to Christ. A recognition of our condition before God will turn us to Christ. But my purpose tonight is to show you why it is that the psalmist considers these things, for great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." We've seen that designated purpose of hell, the dreadful prospect of hell, but consider also our dangerous position with regard to hell. Turn over to Romans chapter 2 and verse 9. Romans 2 and verse 9. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul. Let's go from verse 4, because that would be better. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honour and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God. A dangerous position. For we are approaching that judgment. We will stand before God. And the psalmist knows well. He was never in hell. He was never delivered out of hell, in that sense. But he says, thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. because I was as sure as life itself on my way to hell but you delivered me I was lost and you delivered me friend tonight has Christ delivered you from hell then we see the person that atoned for him In verse 12 we read, I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart. I will glorify thy name forevermore, for great is thy mercy toward me, the person that atoned for him. We see, as we consider the person that atoned for him, the enduring care of the Lord. We know that God created man and set him in the garden in the east of Eden, but man sinned against God. He put himself in a position where the only place that God could put him after judgment would be in the place which he had prepared for the devil and his angels. And if those who followed the path of the devil and his angels sought to continue in that path, then they would end up in the same place. Obviously. Very clear. If we walk the road that the devil has walked, we will end up in the same place as the devil gets to. But the enduring care of the Lord for us meant that he didn't cast us off. Note those words that we quoted before. God, he spared not the angels that sinned. But when we consider humanity, God spared a people for himself. In John 3.16, that most well-known of verses, perhaps in the scripture, for God so loved the world, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the enduring care of the Lord for us. He cares and he has sent his Son into the world to die for us that we might be redeemed. In 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10 we read, herein is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. It was Christ who would be the mercy seat. It would be his blood which was shed that we might be reconciled to God. Oh, what wonders we read as we read the scripture. Why do we love him? Verse 19, because He first loved us. What the Lord has done for us, marvellous things. Far beyond marvellous things. There are not words to describe what the Lord has done for us if we are the Lord's people here tonight. For every child of God, we could not write down, should we have the words of all nations under the sun, we could not write down what God has done for us. In just delivering us from hell, we couldn't even write that down. Before we even come to the many things which He has done for us by His grace, is it a wonder then that the psalmist says, I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name forevermore, for great is Thy mercy toward me. Enduring care of the Lord, but consider also the extreme cost to the Saviour. In Philippians 2 we read, even the death of the cross. Even the death of the cross. He was hung upon a tree. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 21 for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse 23. His body. We'll read verse 22. If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, then he be put to death, and now hang him on a tree. His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. And then if you turn to Galatians 3.13, Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. It was Christ who bore the curse for us. The curse of hell, the curse of the judgment of God, the curse of the wrath of God, the curse of God's standing and us in his presence in sin with a burning gaze of a righteous and holy God upon us and the anguish of our souls that we never turned, that we never believed. that we never trusted him for he wouldn't have redeemed us had we done so but we hated him and in hell we will hate him much more for there will be no love in hell there will be no palliation of the horrors of sin in hell there will be nothing to even out even the worst of sinners in this world just sin, corruption, hatred, the gnashing of teeth, the wailing of anguish. We read together from Psalm 22. I read from there on a purpose because it speaks of pictures of what Christ endured upon the cross at Calvary. Just a few words from there in verse 16. The dogs have compassed me. The bulls of Bashan have gaped upon me. All the dogs of hell surrounded Christ. Men mocked him. The anguish of his heart and of his soul was upon him. But he died there for us, that we might be redeemed. The person that atoned for him. But there is an essential choice of the sinner. When I say there is an essential choice, I say so advisedly because there is a choice and we will make a choice tonight. There is always a choice. Perhaps tonight you came in unsaved and you will choose to go out unsaved. That's a choice. Every moment of the day we make choices. Sometimes they are simple choices, whether we have marmalade or jam on our toast in the morning, but it's a choice. Sometimes we are faced with choices. What do we do in a certain situation? You may be driving on a road and you think, well, quite often there's a traffic jam ahead. But if I turn off this road, it might be just as bad on the other. I need to make a choice. The exit from the motorway, for instance, may be just coming up. Do I continue on and hope it clears? Or do I turn off and go across country, I might get lost. Or it might be just as bad. But we have to make a choice. The time is coming. There's only 200 yards left before we have to go one way or the other. And we make our choice. And we live with the consequence. And so it is tonight. You make a choice. You choose whether you will walk out of this building without Christ and gamble that it won't be tonight when the Lord says, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. But there is a choice. But Christ has made an atonement upon the cross of Calvary. And David is able to say, thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. And every child of God here tonight can say, the Lord has delivered my soul from the lowest hell. But what about you? And finally, there's the praise that is ascribed by him. We've come to consider this verse and verse 12 also, really. What is this praise that is ascribed to the Lord? It is a praise, first of all, of peace. There is such a joy in the psalmist's heart that he has delivered from the lowest hell. Then he can say, my heart is filled with praise for the Lord, because the Lord has redeemed me. The Lord has saved me. The Lord has set me by his side. The Lord will accept me into his presence in that day. I will be on the Lord's side. And what a peace the Lord has given to my soul. Great peace have they which love thy law. I will lay me down in peace and sleep. There's a marvelous peace which comes upon the heart of the child of God when they think upon these very things. We have spoken about hell tonight. We could have spoken more about hell. We could have gone into all of the torments of hell. But for the child of God who is resting in Christ, we can think upon hell and then we can rest in peace before the Lord saying, but the Lord has delivered my soul. from the lowest hell and that lays beneath these words I will praise thee O Lord my God for I am at peace with thee a peace that passes understanding a peace with God the peace of God the Apostle Paul on five occasions I think it is in the New Testament says may the God of peace be with you may the God of peace sanctify you wholly The God of peace. Do you know that God of peace? Is he your Lord? Can you praise him tonight because you have the peace of the Lord? Then also is there praise of proclamation. The praise of proclamation. You see, when we have something, when we know something, when we have a revelation to ourselves, give us that peace, we proclaim it. And we say to all, what peace is within my soul. What a joy is within my heart. I am redeemed. Oh, praise the Lord. It's a proclamation of peace. And as we preach the gospel, both from this pulpit and day by day and wheresoever we may be, it's a proclamation of peace. It is a praise to the Lord. I will praise Him who has delivered my soul. I'll praise Him before you. I'll tell you that my Lord has delivered me, my Lord has forgiven me, my Lord has given me such a peace in my heart that I have no fears. All that you would trust into, the praise of proclamation. Verse 17 we read, show me a token for good that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed. Because thou, Lord, hast hope in me. and comforted me." The Apostle says that he preached the gospel, that it was a gospel of peace unto some and destruction unto others, but it's a proclamation of praise. And finally there is the praise of perception. For the psalmist knows the Lord, and this psalm is about this. For great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. And I will praise thee for so great a salvation. And I will come to thee and cry out to thee. I cry unto thee daily. Verse 3, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give here, O Lord, unto my voice, and attend to the voice of my supplication. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. A praise of perception. You see, the psalmist now knew the Lord would hear his prayer. that the Lord would answer his prayer, that the Lord would be merciful to him because he had delivered his soul from the lowest hell. Do you know the Lord? Is he your saviour, your deliverer? Is he your friend? Are you able to speak to him with that perception of the beauties of his person? Tonight you might know him, for he has promised where two or three are gathered together, there he is in the midst. You can speak to him this night in the quietness of your heart and you can say to him, Lord, save my soul, save my soul. I don't want you just to say those words because you are seeking to escape the horrors of hell, but because you understand that hell is set before you because of the sin of your soul. Hell is the end. Hell is the destruction of those who continue in sin. But sin is the reason. It is sin that must be dealt with. And tonight, Christ can deal with your sin and give you repentance that you might turn unto Him with all your heart. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, We ask thee that thou write these words upon every heart and we pray for those who do not know thee, who make a gamble with their souls every day. Who read in the scripture, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For in hell, anyone would give anything, anything, not to be there. But they have nothing to give. But O Lord today, Thou hast given Thy life that we might be redeemed. And Lord, we need not to give anything for our soul, for Christ has given His for ours. Lord, we pray that souls tonight might be saved, that Thy people might go away rejoicing, though it's a fearful subject, rejoicing that Thou hast delivered our soul from the lowest hell. Lord, that those who walk in darkness might not continue unto outer darkness, but that they might come to the light. Yea, Lord, when they come to the light their sin shall be made manifest to them. It will be a fearful thing to stand in the presence of a holy God, but not as fearful as hell. For here, on the grounds of redemption, Thou wilt take unto thyself those who confess their sin before thee. Thou wilt wash them and cleanse them and clothe them with a robe of righteousness. But in hell there is no redemption. There is no robe of righteousness for them. Lord, all we pray that Thou would cause young people, men and women, to trust in Thee tonight that they might be delivered. Hear our prayer, we ask thee. Touch our hearts. May the Spirit of God do His work to reveal Christ and to reveal the truth. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.