[0:00] Let us worship God by singing to his place from Psalm 145. Psalm 145 and the second version of the psalm and at the beginning.
[0:42] O Lord, thou art my God and King, thee will I magnify and praise. I will thee bless and gladly sing unto thy holy name always.
[0:53] Each day I rise, I will thee bless and praise thy name time without end. Much to be praised and great God is, whose greatness none can comprehend.
[1:07] Raise shall thy works, praise unto race, the mighty acts so done by thee. I will speak of the glorious grace and honour of thy majesty.
[1:18] Thy wondrous works I will record, by men the might shall be extolled. Of all thy dreadful acts, O Lord, and I thy greatness will unfold.
[1:32] They utter shall abundantly the memory of thy goodness great, and shall sing praises cheerfully, whilst they thy righteousness relate.
[1:42] The Lord our God is gracious, compassionate is he also. In mercy he is plenteous, but unto wrath and anger slow.
[1:55] These verses 1 through to 8 of Psalm 145, second version. O Lord, thou art my God and King. O Lord, thou art my God and King.
[2:15] O Lord, thou art my God and King. O Lord, thou art my God and King. O Lord, thou art my God and King.
[2:45] O Lord, thou art my God and King.
[3:15] O Lord, thou art my God and King.
[3:45] O Lord, thou art my God and King.
[4:15] O Lord, thou art my joy and King. O Lord, thou art my God and King. O Lord, our God and King. O Lord, thou art my good that God and King.
[4:30] O Lord, shall my God and King. O Lord, thou art my love and God and King.
[4:40] Thy goodness May Come Shows sing Praises Cheerfully Wives May Thy righteousness Relay The Lord of God Is Gracious Compassion It Is The Of Soul And There She Is Left The Earth But To Wrath The Dung And Soul Let us
[5:44] Come before God In prayer Let us pray O Lord our God We Are thankful For the Words that we have Heard sung Words that speak To us of Your own goodness And Your grace We Bless you And thank you For every Way in which We have Discovered it For ourselves Not only Have we Read about it Or heard Others speak Of it We have Experienced it For ourselves Everyone Without Exception But you People in Particular They are Able to Recognize The Reality Of your Goodness The Reality Of your Grace That you Are not Dealing With Them As They Deserve
[6:44] To be Dealt With As Sinners Who have Discovered Their sin The gross Nature Of it The extent Of it The harsh Truth Concerning It They Appreciate Your Kindness And your Long Suffering They Appreciate The fact That That you Are A God Of Mercy And that You have Showed That Mercy To Them And that They Have Experienced It Time And Time Again Far Beyond Their Asking And far More Than What They Deserve You Have Taught Them From Your Word That They Need To Come To You With A Broken Spirit And A Contrite Heart Because
[7:45] That Is What Is A Pleasing Sacrifice And You Have Promised Not To Despise It And They Are Able To Come And Offer Such Sacrifices To You And Brokenness Of Heart Rising Out Of A Sense Of Their Sin Pleased That They Are Able To Come Because You Have Opened A Way To Them So Bless Us Tonight In The Name Of The One Who Has Opened That New And Living Way For His People Even Jesus Christ We Give Thanks For Every Way In Which We Have Come To Know Him For To Know Him Is To Know Life Eternal We Would Remember In Your Presence All Your People At This Time Thankful For Them For Every Felt Experience That Is Shared
[8:45] By Them For The Unity The Union And The Communion Of The Saints For The Fact That They Are Able To Discourse And Discuss Experiences That Are Shared By Them The Griefs The Sorrows The Sadnesses That Are Very Much Part Of The Experience Of Your People But They Are Able To Speak Also Of The Joys And The Pleasure That They Derive From Knowing Christ In The Psalm That We Are Going To Consider This Evening The Psalmist Said That I Would Be Glad And Rejoice In The Mercy Of God And That Gladness And That Joy Is Something That Your People Know Something Of We Pray That You Would Encourage Us To Dwell On These Things Even Tonight As We
[9:45] Meditate On Thy Truth We Remember Your People With All Their Situations We Pray For The Elderly Amongst Us Those Who Are Confined To Their Homes Some Who Are Confined To Care Homes Being Nursed By Others We Pray That In The Frailty Of Old Age That The Compassion That You Direct Us To Possess Is Demonstrated Towards Those In Need We Remember Remember Those Amongst Us Who Are Unwell We Pray For Any Who May Be Be Be Be Cared For In Their Homes Or In Hospital Or In Places Dedicated To That We Pray For The Recovery For Healing For Wisdom To Be Imparted To All The Those Entrusted With Their Care From Time To Time Nurses And Doctors All The Scientists Who Are Instrumental Bringing About New Means
[10:46] Of Recovery We Bless You And Thank You For Your Goodness Even In Showing That In This Time Of Pandemic We See It In The Way That Remedies Are Sought And Answers Are Provided And In Your Goodness We Pray That That May Go On Not Just For Ourselves But For Others Not Just Our Nation But The Nations Of The Earth Especially Those Nations That Are Impoverished And Ridden By Poverty And Unable To Enjoy The Privileges That Wealth Affords Us So Be Merciful To Them And Give To Them The Wherewithal By Which Vaccines Are Provided And Healing Is Delivered And Take Away Any Blindness Or Any Ignorance
[11:47] That May Prevent Them For Awareing Ourselves Of That Provision Pray That For Ourselves Also That There Are Those Amongst Us Who Propagate Scandalous Lies Concerning The Good That Is Done By These Vaccines There Are There Are There Are Always Problems Associated With Any Form Of Of Healing Exercised In This Way But The Good Things Far Outweigh The Bad Things And We Give Thanks That You Are Sovereign In That Also So Hear Our Prayers On Behalf Of Those Who Are Responsible For Delivering Such Care As Our Governments Who Are Responsible For Ruling In Your Name May They Remember That That They Must Give Account To You At The Last For Every Privilege That We Have Every
[12:48] Role Of Responsibility That Is Dedicated To Us And Dedicated To Your Glory May That Be Made Known To Us That You Will Not Give Your Glory To Another And That The Day Will Come When You Will Seek At Our Hands What Has Been Wrought By Us On Your Behalf And If We Have Been Selfish Or Self Centred Then We Must Answer To You Forgive Every Transgression In That Respect Lest The Grieving Amongst Us Bind Their Wounds We Pray Minister To The Afflicted Of All Descriptions Pray For The Administration Of The Gospel We Give Thanks For The Restoration Of Privileges That Allow Some To Gather And While We As We As Congregation Have Not Yet Been Able To Do So May The Day Hasten When We Can Meet Face To Face And
[13:48] When We Can Deliver The Word Of God In The Face Of The Congregation To That They May Hear What God The Lord Does Speak We Bring Before You At This Time All That Is Done In Your Name That It May Be Blessed By You And This Is Traditionally A Time When We Meet As Congregation To Remember The Death Of Christ Until He Come May before our minds and before our hearts, that though we miss much, that we would gain much also.
[14:26] So continue with us, we pray, blessing your word as we read it, forgiving our sins, and cleansing us in the Redeemer's name. Amen. We're going to hear the word of God as we have it in the book of Psalms, on Psalm 31.
[14:42] Psalm 31, and we'll read the whole psalm.
[15:42] For I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side, while they took counsel together against me.
[16:51] They devised to take away my life. But I trusted in thee, O Lord. I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
[17:07] Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Save me for thy mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee.
[17:22] Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
[17:37] O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men.
[17:49] Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
[18:00] Blessed be the Lord, for he hath showed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes.
[18:15] Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee, O love the Lord, all ye his saints. For the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
[18:33] Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Amen, and may the Lord add his blessing to a reading of his word, and to his name be the praise.
[18:50] For a short time we can turn our attention to the words of the psalm we have read in verse 19. O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men.
[19:12] The psalm that we have just read is described by some, a lament.
[19:30] And you can understand why. For my life, he says, is spent with grief, and my year with sigh. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
[19:51] These are the words of someone who is sorrowful in the extreme. But others have called it a psalm of thanksgiving, because in the experience of the psalmist, delivery or deliverance from the griefs is something that is in evidence.
[20:17] It could possibly be that we must think of the psalm as as both a lament and a psalm of thanksgiving. While we find complaints of affliction and illness, as well as betrayal and forsakenness, we also find evidences of the grateful and the thankful heart.
[20:39] The most famously recognisable words in the psalm are quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross.
[20:50] Many of the gospel commentators emphasise the unusual nature of the death of Jesus, usually pointing to the death not being the pure result of exhaustion or death claiming Christ against his will.
[21:22] The commentator Leon Morris makes what is a valid point that confirms that belief. He writes the following about the Gospel of Luke and what Luke is saying there in the context of Jesus' death.
[21:38] Luke is stressing that in the terrible death that Jesus died, paradoxically, Jesus was at one with the Father.
[21:53] He was doing the will of the Father. The word rendered breathed his last is not the normal one for saying that someone has died. In fact, none of the evangelists says Jesus died.
[22:08] Which may be part of the way they bring out the truth that in Jesus' death there was something most unusual. However, our focus this evening is on the words of verse 19.
[22:25] And there we are reminded of God's goodness. Secondly, the beneficiaries of that goodness. And thirdly, the publicity that is given to it.
[22:39] The goodness of God. How great is thy goodness, the psalmist says, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee.
[22:53] In Psalm 14, the psalmist points out that there is none that doeth good. No, he says, not one. Very few would agree with that statement, were it not for the light of Scripture.
[23:09] If all we have to go on is personal experience of this world and those in it, we would think yourselves right in concluding that there are some who are essentially good or comparatively good.
[23:22] But the psalmist disagrees. And so does the Lord Jesus. In Mark's Gospel, we read of his encounter with the rich young ruler who approaches the Lord with these words, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
[23:42] And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God. So Jesus is confirming what the psalmist said, but ensuring that there is no misunderstanding.
[23:59] Yes, men are not good, but God is. He is not concerned to confirm to the young man his own divinity by such a statement as some would have us believe, but rather to define what goodness really is.
[24:16] It is more than many understand it to be, even this genuine young man who is intent on the greatest good.
[24:28] As one of the writers put it, Jesus is focusing on the vital issue of what it means to be good. Only God sets the standards of goodness, and that is what the commandments are all about.
[24:44] Perhaps you are able to say God is good today, but what if your circumstances were like some of the things described in the psalm?
[24:59] In verse 3, for example, his prayer is, Pull me out of the net. Would it be easy for us to say, God is good if we were caught in the net?
[25:10] Or the victim of lies, Or griefs and sorrows without number? Look again at verse 12, I am forgotten as a dead man.
[25:23] Out of mind I am like a broken vessel, For I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side, While they took counsel together against me, They devised to take away my life.
[25:37] Unfortunately, Many view God Through the prism of circumstance.
[25:48] If life is good, God is good. If life is bad, God is bad. But the fact of the matter is, As is summarised in these words Of Stephen Charnock, God is originally good.
[26:04] He is infinitely good. He is perfectly good. He is immutably good. The mind of man may find Such a concept difficult to conceive of.
[26:16] But God alone needs no other For good to come to him. He is its source. If there is good, It can come from no other.
[26:28] It is great goodness, As the psalmist says. In that psalm that we heard sung, Psalm 145, The psalmist goes on to say, The other shall abundantly The memory of thy goodness create, And shall sing praises cheerfully, Whilst they thy righteousness relate.
[26:49] Good unto all men is the Lord, Over all his works, His mercy is. Again in Psalm 51, The goodness of almighty God Endureth ever still.
[27:04] It can be revealed, Or experienced by sinners, Who are the focus of the grace of God. As Charnock states, All created goodness Is a rivulet from this fountain, And it is received by all, But in particular, His covenant, Nation Israel, The people that bear his name In this world, Christians, Who are followers of Christ, They are beneficiaries of his goodness, In his revelation of Christ to them, In the experience of his grace in their heart, In the promises that are made theirs, That they anticipate being fulfilled, In this life and in the next.
[27:52] God is indeed good. Let us think of them for a moment. God has laid up for them that fear him.
[28:05] I often think of the reply God gave to Moses, When he asked him, Show me your glory. He did not say, No.
[28:15] But the answer given, Seems no answer to the question. Or the request, I will make all my goodness pass before you.
[28:28] The late Professor John L. Mackay, Explains this in the following way. Moses is not going to be exposed, To the full intensity, Of the divine radiance.
[28:39] But he is going to learn all that can be known, About the Lord's covenant dealings with his people. Goodness points to the benefits, God sovereignly bestows, On those whom he calls to himself.
[28:56] Many in this world are oblivious to God's goodness, Yet they benefit from it daily. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Of the Heavenly Father, That he makes the Son, Not just the Son, But his Son, To rise on the evil and the good, And sends rain on the just and the unjust.
[29:21] But the people of God know, That they do not deserve the least of his mercies. His people fear him, Not in a slavish way, But in a filial way.
[29:35] God is their Father. God is the one, From whom every good and perfect gift comes, And they acknowledge him as such, And they honour him as such.
[29:47] Such a child loves a parent, So they love their Heavenly Father. The psalmist also describes this God, As one who is feared, By those who fear him, As one to whom they can go, At all times.
[30:10] They take refuge in the Lord. Notice that, Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence, From the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly, In a pavilion, From the strife of tongues.
[30:30] As we saw before, God is not good because of what we are, But what he is. And the believer knows him, By reason of his persistent goodness.
[30:41] They are able to say, That goodness and mercy, All their life shall surely follow them. God has promised this for their life, In the present, And also for the future.
[30:54] There is more to follow. God is good in ways, We do not understand. Perhaps in keeping, From us what we ask for, Or more often than not, Letting us have what we would not seek.
[31:09] The griefs and the sorrows of life, We would not, Choose for ourselves, And yet they are the very things, That God uses at times, To prepare us for the world to come.
[31:26] They are the means by which, We are sanctified. The preacher, Murdoch Campbell, Who has left us many of his writings, Tells about the trials of godly parents, Who prayerfully long to see, Their children come to faith, But they have, Many years of, Fruitless prayer, And some go, To, Glory, Having never seen, Their prayers entered, Their prayers answered.
[32:05] He speaks of one such believer, Who on his deathbed, Had expressed his desire, And he told a friend, If I could see but one of them, In a state of grace, I would die happy.
[32:19] But unfortunately for him, So it would seem, He went to glory, With the prayers and answers. But Murdoch Campbell tells, Of him preaching, In a congregation in the city, And at that time, The person who led him, To the pulpit, Was one of his, Sons who was prayed for.
[32:45] A second, Who led the prayers, Was another son, For whom prayer was offered. While a third, Who sat in the congregation, Was at that time, Preparing for the ministry, Of the church.
[33:05] The father never saw, The sons come to faith. He never believed, That his prayers, While he never saw, His prayers answered. Whether he believed, Or how much he believed, That God would answer prayer.
[33:21] People will ask, Do you think, Those who are in glory, Know what is happening, In the world? In other words, Do you think they rejoice, In seeing the prayers answered?
[33:33] Such questions, Have no answer, From the scripture. But some would say, If God was good, He would have made known, His purposes.
[33:44] But that is not how it is, And that is not what determines, God's goodness. God is infinitely wise, As well as infinitely good, And infinitely holy.
[33:55] And all the attributes, Work together, And not one will take away, From the other. Briefly, The final thing, I would like to mention, Is this, The publicity, That it gives to his goodness, Read this verse again, Oh, How great is thy goodness, Which thou hast laid up for them, That fear thee, Which thou hast wrought for them, That trust in thee, Before the sons of men.
[34:22] There is a certain amount of dubiety, In the mind of the translators, When they look at these verses. In the Sing Psalms version, Of this psalm, You show your goodness openly, To all, Who your protection claim.
[34:46] Now there, I think, If I understand it, The translation, Tells us that, God's goodness, Is shown to those, Who claim, God's mercy.
[35:02] But in the Metrical version, The words are, And wrought for them, That trust in thee, The sons of men before. What God is doing, For his chosen, For his elect people, For his covenant nation, Others are able to see it, As well as his own.
[35:25] There are questions in the mind of some, As to the witness of God's goodness. Many shall see what God does, And shall fear. Many will see and deny it.
[35:37] We know that, When Israel, Where in Egypt, God worked. The Egyptians saw, The work of God.
[35:49] They believed that it was God, Who was working. And yet, They did not believe, In the God who was doing the work. They saw, The people of Israel, Go through the Red Sea, An escape from slavery, It didn't mean that they, They believed that God, Was good, Just because they saw it.
[36:13] Perhaps there are times, When God will sanctify to some, What they see God do, While others will go on in some. That is something, That is a mystery.
[36:25] It doesn't change the fact, That God is good. It doesn't change the fact, That God is good to his own people, In particular. And that, Those who are in the world, Will see it, And some will benefit from it.
[36:41] And those who see it, And do not believe, That God is good, Will one day answer, For their unbelief. That's the way it is. Well may God, In his mercy, Bless these few thoughts to us.
[36:54] Let us join together, In prayer. O Lord our God, We give thanks, That it is true, Of you, That you are a good God, That you are good indeed.
[37:06] And when you read, Through this psalm, We see the trials, And the troubles, That afflict the just, As the other psalmist, The psalmist puts it in another psalm, The trials that afflict the just, In number many be, But the promise is there also, That out of them all, The Lord will take them.
[37:30] We give thanks, That even in life, When there are troubles, And trials, That there are also, Tokens of your grace, And your blessing, For those who are your own.
[37:41] We ask that you would bless us now, And remember, Everything that is done in your name, Continuing to watch over us, Each one, Cleansing from sin, In Jesus name, Now may grace, Mercy and peace, From God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, Be with you all now, And always.
[37:59] Amen. Amen. Amen.