Please take your Bibles and let's open them up this morning to the book of Psalms and we have made our way to Psalm chapter 33 this morning.
Now we're continuing our summer series through the book of Psalms and we are again in Psalm 33 this morning. And so when you found that let's stand in honor of the reading of God's word if you're able physically to stand, stand together.
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with a lyre. Make melody to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song. Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap. He puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of His heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nations. Blessed is the nations whose God is the Lord. The people whom He has chosen as His heritage.
The Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all the children of man. From where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth.
He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. The king is not saved by His great army. A warrior is not delivered by His great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him. On those who hope in His steadfast love.
That He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord. For He is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in Him because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us.
Even as we hope in You.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Would you pray with me one more time as we prepare to hear the preaching of God's word?
Father, there are so many reasons here in this psalm that ought to compel our hearts to give You praise.
And so we pray, Lord, would You take those reasons and put them into our ears and through our minds and into our hearts.
And then out through our mouths.
And out into our steps and our hands and our feet as we go out of this place.
Living for Your glory and singing Your praises.
We pray that You would do that for Your honor and Your name's sake.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
You may be seated.
Amen.
I have to confess to you that every now and then a strange phenomenon happens in my life.
And I hear that it gets even worse with age, which is bad news for me.
But a strange phenomenon happens where I will go to a store.
I will park the car.
I will get out.
I will walk right in.
And then I will go to get what I need.
And I will realize I have no idea why I am there.
I know that in general.
I'm at a grocery store, so probably I need to buy groceries, right?
That much is clear.
But exactly what I need, exactly why I've come, sometimes I've got to confess that part is a little bit fuzzy.
And if I didn't have my wife to remind me or even sometimes my boys to remind me or even just my smartphone to remind me,
I confess to you that I would be helpless.
It's a strange phenomenon, isn't it?
But I think that it's not just me, right?
In fact, I think that's fairly common.
In fact, I would be willing to bet that at this very moment in grocery stores all across the world,
there are people wondering why they are where they are.
But, you know, it's interesting.
I would also be willing to bet that that same phenomenon is also happening in churches all across the world at this very moment.
It may be happening right here, right now.
It may be happening to you right now.
And for whatever reason, maybe you're so busy with the events of your week,
maybe distracted by what seems like more pressing matters in your mind or preoccupied with other things,
that you have forgotten why you are here in the first place.
So you should know that you're not alone.
This is very common.
And this is one of the many reasons why I'm so thankful for the book of Psalms.
You know, the book of Psalms.
It functions, it often acts as a reminder for forgetful people like us.
And it gives voice and expression to what we ought to feel and what we ought to say
if we really remembered who God is and what God has done.
Psalm 33 this morning, the psalmist, likely King David,
he calls all of God's people to give praise to our great God.
But he knows how forgetful we are, and so he gives us four reminders.
This will be our outline this morning, if you're taking note.
Four reasons why God is worthy of our praise.
Reason number one, first, he says,
Praise this great God because he is the forgiver of sinners.
We praise God because he forgives sins.
We see this in verses 1 through 3.
The psalmist commands God's people,
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
Now, I want to see who's been paying attention
because if you are really on top of it,
you might have noticed that that sounds very familiar
to where we left off last week.
If you look at the end of Psalm 32, right?
Psalm 32 was this glorious psalm
all about the great blessing of having your sins forgiven.
You remember it started,
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered,
against whom the Lord does not count his iniquity.
And the response of the forgiven,
the proper response of the forgiven,
you see it there at the end of Psalm 32, verse 11.
It says,
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous.
Shout for joy, O you upright in heart.
And then we keep reading,
and now Psalm 33 begins,
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
Now, I think that we would be right
to see that these two psalms,
they flow together.
Psalm 33 is a continuation of Psalm 32.
We ought to read it that way.
So the psalmist says,
Have you been forgiven of your sin?
Have you been counted righteous in the sight of God,
justified by His grace?
Has God been so gracious to you
as to not count your sins against you,
and to remove your sin from you
as far as the east is from the west?
If He has declared you righteous,
what response could we give a God like this?
Psalm 33 says,
Praise!
Shout for joy
if you've been forgiven of your sins.
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to this great God.
Praise Him for forgiving you of your sins.
And He tells us, you know,
one way that we can express this praise
is in song.
He says in verse 2,
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.
That's an instrument.
Make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song.
Play skillfully on the strings
with loud shouts.
Forgiven people sing.
And we do this every Sunday,
don't we?
And we come in,
we gather together,
we have songs prepared
and planned out for you to sing.
We come in and we sing these songs to the Lord.
But have you ever wondered why we do this?
You know, this is one place,
out of anything that we do,
where it's pretty easy to just go on autopilot
and you just sing the words
and your heart really isn't engaged.
It's easy to do that.
There's a quote from a medieval writer
who said that some in the church
are bodily in the choir,
but mentally in the market.
Right?
I've been there.
It's easy to do.
That's not how it ought to be.
Church, we sing because
we are both commanded
and compelled to sing.
We are both commanded
and compelled to sing.
We should know that the righteous
are commanded,
clearly in Scripture,
to sing praises to the one
who has made them righteous.
Why do we sing when we gather together?
It's because God has commanded us to sing.
We don't come up with this on our own.
We worship God according to how God wants to be worshipped.
And He wants to be worshipped through singing.
The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3, verse 16,
it's a command.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.
How, Paul?
How are we to teach and admonish one another?
Singing songs and hymns
and spiritual songs
with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Now, the book of Psalms itself is a song book.
This is the song book of Israel.
And if we ever wonder
whether we ought to sing
or even what sort of songs we ought to sing,
well, we have a pretty good starting point right here,
don't we?
God's people would sing these songs
together in the temple
and at times of worship
and as they journeyed to and from.
These songs are God-centered,
robust in their theology.
I mean, we spend about 40 minutes
unpacking these psalms every week.
These are songs that teach truth
about God and His works in the world.
They teach us about God
and His faithfulness to His people.
These are songs that express emotion
but where emotion rightly follows the truth.
These are songs that ultimately point us to Christ.
These are songs that God desires us to sing.
We sing because God commands us to sing.
But it's much more than that, isn't it?
We also sing because we are compelled to sing.
Church, when you stop
and consider
the glorious good news of the gospel
that God forgives sinners,
and not just sinners out there,
but sinners like me.
God forgives my sin.
That God has made me righteous in His sight.
That God has declared me to be upright
and holy.
Me with all of my baggage
and all of my sin.
That God has removed my sin from me.
The only proper response
is to sing His praises.
This is the response
of the heart made new.
Martin Luther, in fact,
he said,
only a new man can sing a new song.
A man of grace,
a spiritual
and an inner man before God.
If God has made you new,
forgiven you of your sins,
the church,
sing His praises.
He says,
praises.
That's reason number one.
Not only this,
he gives a second reason here
in verses 4 through 9.
The psalmist says,
second,
praise Him because
this great God
is the creator
of all the world.
Praise Him
because He is the creator
of all the world.
We see this in verses 4 through 9.
You know,
the early church fathers
talked about
two books
of revelation.
Meaning two books
that reveal
who God is.
They said that
God's word
reveals who God is
and God's world
reveals
who God is.
The psalmist here,
he opens up
both of these books
for us.
And he starts here
with God's word
in verses 4 and 5.
And this is
the better book,
isn't it?
This is the only
divinely inspired
supernatural revelation
of who God is
and what God's done.
This is where God
speaks without fault
and without error
and tells us
in words
that can be
opened up
and read to a child
who He is.
I mean,
it's just an astounding
blessing that we have
this book
in our language.
The psalmist
opens up this book
and he reads it
and he says,
praise God.
Why?
For the word
of the Lord
is upright.
Verse 4.
The law of the Lord
is perfect,
Psalm 19 tells us.
Reviving the soul.
What other book
does that?
The testimony
of the Lord
is sure,
making wise
the simple.
The precepts
of the Lord
are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The commandment
of the Lord
is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord
is clean,
enduring forever.
The rules of the Lord
are true
and righteous,
all together.
What other book
can you say this about?
There is no other book
in the world
like this book.
There's no other
greater source of wisdom.
There's nothing so pure
and desirable
as the word of God.
I mean,
how embarrassing
is it
that so often
we treat this book
with such indifference
and that we would rather
draw our attention
to a television show
or a game
or social media
or a segment
on the news.
When anytime we want,
what a privilege it is.
Anytime we want,
we can open up this book
and read
and hear the voice of God.
Declare who He is
and what He's like
and what He has planned
for us in His world.
This is a great blessing.
It's the greatest treasure
that you own, church.
The psalmist
reads this book
and declares
the Lord is good.
But church,
we should know
not everyone
owns this book.
Not everyone
has access
to this book
and even
many who own
a physical copy of it
don't truly grasp
what it says
about God
because these things
are spiritually discerned
and to rightly
understand this book
you must have
the illuminating help
of the Holy Spirit
otherwise it is
worthless to you.
But the psalmist
gets it here.
He reads this word
and he sees
just look at what
God has done.
Look how
He's shepherded
His people.
Look how He's
made promises to them
and kept
every single one.
All His work
is done
in faithfulness
he says.
He says
this word
is upright
because this
God is upright.
He reads it
and he sees
God is righteous
and He loves
righteousness.
God is just
and He loves
justice.
You simply
can't know
those attributes
of God
apart from
this book.
Creation
will not teach
you this.
You need
this book
empowered by
God's Spirit
in order to
truly understand
the full
revelation
of who
God is.
But again
not everyone
has this book
so what do
they have?
They have
the second
book.
The book
of creation.
And with
a Spirit
inspired lens
the psalmist
is able
to look
around him
and see
that all
the earth
is full
of the
steadfast
love
of the
Lord.
Now
this second
book
the book
of creation
I do
want to be
clear.
This book
is not
enough
to save
anyone.
This book
of creation
does not
reveal God
as Savior.
This is why
we go to
the ends
of the earth
and proclaim
the good news
of the gospel.
Creation
does not
reveal God's
grace towards
sinners in
Christ.
Creation
does not
reveal how
our sins
can be
forgiven.
But it
does reveal
the undeniable
fact that
there is a
God and
that this
God is
worthy
of our
praise.
And this
book is
opened up
to everyone
everywhere
every single
day.
It is
universal
and it
is
undeniable.
St.
Augustine
says
some
people
in order
to discover
God
read books
but there
is a
great book
the very
appearance
of created
things.
Look above
you.
Look below
you.
Note it.
Read it.
God
whom you
want to
discover
never wrote
that book
with ink.
Instead
he set
before your
eyes
the things
that he
had made.
Can you
ask for
a louder
voice than
that?
Why heaven
and earth
shout to
you
God
has made
me.
The
psalmist
says
look above
you.
By the
word of
the Lord
the heavens
were made
and by the
breath of
his mouth
all their
host.
Now this
is far
above my
pay grade
but I
am told
by people
much smarter
than me
that the
observable
universe
is something
like 93
billion
light years
in diameter.
I don't
even know
what that
means.
That is
beyond my
comprehension.
It is so
large and
massive and
seemingly
endless and
that is just
the observable
universe.
astronomers
estimate that
the observable
universe contains
2 trillion
galaxies and
200 billion
trillion stars.
That is like
monopoly money.
Of course
it is all a
guess.
Who knows
what all is
there.
No one has
explored all
of that space.
No one can.
It is far too
much but we are
told God
made all of
it.
And simply
by the word
of his
power.
He simply
spoke and
made it all.
The very word
of his mouth
brought everything
into existence.
And so now
when we look
up and we
see the stars
and we look
up and we
see the heavens
they speak
to us.
Psalm 19
says the
heavens declare
the glory
of God.
The skies
above proclaim
his handiwork.
Day after day
after day
pours out
speech.
Night after
night after
night pours
out knowledge
and guess
what?
Everyone
hears it.
Or if you
prefer the
psalmist says
look below
you.
Go down
as far
down and
as deep
as you can
into the
deepest ocean.
Again by
Google research
it tells me
that explorers
have only
seen less
than .0001%
of the ocean
sea floor.
That is like
nothing.
Do you
realize how
small that
is?
They say
that is
approximately
the size
of Rhode
Island.
Scientists
estimate that
we have only
seen maybe
a third
of the
animal
species
that live
in the
ocean.
Every
single
year
they
discover
about
2,000
more
new
animal
species.
It is
just
astounding
to think
about
how little
we know
about this
world.
The
psalmist
says
yeah
God
made
that.
in fact
the Lord
simply
gathers up
the waters
of the sea
as a heap.
Have you ever
tried to hold
water in your
hands?
He gathers
them as a heap
and he puts
the deep
into the
storehouses.
Here is the
point church.
You could
spend a
lifetime
trying to
explore
every corner
all the
nook and
cranny
all the
glories
of the
heavens
and the
earth
and not
even
scratch
the
surface
but if
that's
true
how much
more so
the God
who made
it?
You could
spend an
eternity
exploring the
glory of
this creator
God and we
will if we
are in
Christ.
Again
the right
response
to a
God like
this
is praise.
In fact
he tells us
in verse
8 let
all the
earth
fear the
Lord.
Let all
the inhabitants
of the
world
stand
in awe
of him
for he
spoke
and it
came to
be.
He
commanded
and it
stood
firm.
Praise
him
because he
forgives.
Praise
him
because he
has created
all things.
Third
praise him
because he
rules over
all things.
We praise
him.
Third
reason
because he
is the
sovereign
ruler
of all
things.
The
incredible
truth is
that God
did not
just
create his
world and
then sit
back and
let it
go as
it wanted
to go.
This is
what the
deists
thought.
The 18th
century they
compared him
to a great
watchmaker who
creates this
watch and
then lets it
tick on
its own.
The Bible
says no,
no,
no.
This great
praiseworthy
God who
created all
things,
he now
very actively,
constantly
upholds all
things and
rules over
all things
and in
fact controls
all things
according to
his providence.
How do we
know?
Look there
to verse 10.
He says,
for one
thing,
his plans
always prevail.
That's what it
means practically
to be sovereign.
His plans
always prevail.
You always
get your way
every single
time.
Now,
we have to
learn the
hard way
that that's
not us.
We have to
learn the
hard way
that we
are not
God.
Some of
us are
still
learning
this
lesson.
God gets
his way
every single
time.
Look there
to verse
10.
He says,
the Lord
brings the
counsel of
the nations
to nothing.
He frustrates
the plans
of the
peoples.
The counsel
of the Lord
stands forever.
The plans
of his
heart
to all
generations.
His plans
never fail.
God
always
gets
his way.
When all
the nations,
all the
earth
gathers
together
to build
the
tower
of
Babel
and
rebel
against
the
Lord,
what
happens?
He says,
God looks
down on
their big
old tower
and he
scatters
them to
the ends
of the
earth.
He
frustrates
the plans
of the
peoples.
When
Joseph's
brothers
want to
sell him
off for
dead,
sell him
into
slavery,
they plan
his
destruction,
what does
he say
in Genesis
50?
You
meant that
for evil,
but God
meant it
for good.
When the
Jews and
the Romans
together send
Jesus to
the cross
and the
devil himself
plans to
destroy the
Son of
God,
what happens?
God's
eternal
sovereign plan
of redemption
prevails.
This is what it
means to be
sovereign.
God always
gets his
way.
He's totally
in control.
not only
this,
the psalmist
also shows
us he's
sovereign over
the choosing
of his
people from
among the
nations.
Look at
verse 12.
Blessed is
the nation
whose God
is the
Lord.
Who's he
talking about?
The people
whom he has
chosen as
his heritage.
The psalmist
just marvels
at this.
This big,
glorious,
sovereign,
creator God
who is
powerful enough
just to speak
and create
all things,
who actively
upholds all
things,
who rules
over all
things.
This great
God,
out of his
own volition,
has chosen
to bless a
particular
people out
of all the
nations of
the earth
and to make
them his
chosen heritage.
What a
blessing.
I just
marvel at
this.
This is an
expression of
God's
sovereignty.
God did
not choose
Lot.
He chose
Abraham.
Why?
I don't
know.
Do you?
Tell me
after church,
please.
God did
not make
his promises
to Esau.
He made
his promises
to Jacob.
Why?
I don't
know.
He didn't
make the
Philistines his
chosen people.
He made
Israel his
chosen people.
The psalmist
reflects on
this and he's
overwhelmed with
a sense of
why me?
What a
blessing to
be counted
amongst God's
chosen people.
What a
blessing that
God would
choose me,
all of his
sovereign grace.
Moses says
in Deuteronomy
chapter 7,
the Lord
your God
has chosen
you to
be a
people for
his treasured
possession
out of all
the peoples
who are on
the face of
the earth.
Why me?
And this
is God's
sovereign grace.
He is
free to
choose.
But even
so, the
psalmist says,
even so,
this great
God still
sees all
that happens
in all
the nations.
Yes, his
eye is
especially on
those who
fear him.
We see that
in verse
18.
But even
so, this
sovereign God
sees all
that happens
in all
the world.
I can't
even fathom
this.
I went
to see my
grandmother
this week
and we
had all
five kids
there.
And my
sister was
there trying
to tell
me something.
I have no
idea what
she was
trying to
tell me
because my
attention
was on
trying to
keep my
five kids
from breaking
grandmother's
house.
I can't
focus on
everything at
once as
much as
I try,
but not
so with
God.
His
eye is
especially
on His
own people,
but even
so,
verse 13,
says,
the Lord
looks down
from heaven,
He sees
all the
children of
man.
From where
He sits
enthroned,
He looks
out on
some,
no,
all the
inhabitants
of the
earth.
He who
fashions the
hearts of
them all
and observes
all their
deeds.
Do you hear
that repetition
of all,
all,
all?
This great
God is not
caught off
guard or
surprised by
anything that
happens in
His creation.
This sovereign
God is never
responding or
reacting.
He's never
behind the
eight ball like
you and I
are often
behind the
eight ball.
He is
sovereign and
omniscient.
He sees
all.
What's the
right response
to a God
like this?
The psalmist
gives us one
simple response
here in
verse 16.
He says,
trust Him.
Trust Him.
This
powerful,
sovereign,
almighty
God is
worthy of
all of
our trust.
Look there
to verse 16.
He says,
the king is
not saved by
his great
army and
a warrior is
not delivered
by his great
strength.
The war horse
is a false
hope for
salvation.
By its
great might
it cannot
rescue.
When we
get a side
of this
great God
who rules
and reigns
over all
things,
why would
we ever
place our
trust anywhere
else?
David knew
this firsthand,
didn't he?
Do you
remember his
battle with
Goliath?
This
Philistine
giant,
this
experienced
warrior,
a grown
man,
more grown
than most
grown men,
in full
armor,
matched up
against this
little shepherd
boy with
a few
stones and
a slingshot?
A betting
man would
never put
his money
on David
in a million
years.
It is
humanly
impossible.
Goliath
ought to
win a hundred
times out of
a hundred,
right?
But do you
remember what
David said
as he
marched into
battle to
face Goliath?
Do you
remember what
he said?
This day
the Lord
will deliver
you into
my hand
and I
will strike
you down
and cut
off your
head.
Why?
That all
this assembly
may know
that the
Lord saves
not with
sword or
spear,
for the
battle is
the Lord's
and he
will give
you into
our hand.
Do you
trust God
like that?
How easy
is it
to put
our trust
in any
number of
other things
in our
own strength
in our
own intellect
in our
own ability
to scheme
our way
out of
whatever
problem
we're
facing
this week
in our
401k
in our
money
in our
retirement
plan?
The
psalmist
says
if this
God is
who
he says
he is
he's
worthy
of all
your
trust
all
your
trust
you
trust
him
like
that
behold
verse 18
he says
the eye
of the
Lord
is on
those
who
fear
him
on
those
who
hope
in
his
steadfast
love
that
he
may
deliver
their
soul
from
death
and
keep
them
alive
in
famine
the
psalmist
says
praise
this
God
because
he
rules
over
all
but not
only
this
fourth
and
finally
ultimately
church
fourth
we
praise
him
because
this
great
God
is
our
God
in
Christ
and
what I
want you
to
understand
here
as we
bring
this
to a
close
is
that
whatever
reason
the
psalmist
had
to
praise
God
and
he
had
many
reasons
church
we
have
it
amplified
and
enlarged
and
enhanced
in
Jesus
Christ
as
great
and as
loud
and as
joyful
and as
exuberant
as his
praise
was
our
praise
ought
to be
even
greater
why
because
we
have
even
greater
clarity
on
who
God
is
and
what
he's
done
it's
like
as
we
take
this
psalm
and
filter
it
through
Christ
the
camera
lens
gets
focused
and
the
image
gets
enhanced
and
we
get
to see
with
greater
clarity
who
this
God
is
on
his
side
of
the
cross
the
psalmist
knew
the
forgiveness
of
his
sins
but
we
know
how
all
this
works
don't
we
he
knew
that
a
sinner
could
be
counted
righteous
in
the
sight
of
God
but
we
know
this
is
only
possible
because
of
the
finished
work
of
Christ
received
by
faith
church
this
is
why
we're
here
we
gather
this
morning
and
every
Sunday
morning
on
the
Lord's
day
resurrection
Sunday
to sing
and to
rejoice
and to
worship
because
our
God
has
worked
salvation
in
Christ
for us
our
Savior
has
come
and
purchased
our
forgiveness
he's
died
in
our
place
he's
risen
to
new
life
and
by
faith
in
Christ
by
faith
in
Christ
we
are
counted
righteous
in
the
sight
of
God
this
is
why
we're
here
church
that's
why
we
gather
for
worship
the
psalmist
read
God's
books
he
knew
God's
word
he
lived
in
God's
world
just
like
we
do
he
knew
that
God
spoke
and
created
all
things
he
knew
Genesis
1
in
the
beginning
God
created
the
heavens
and
the
earth
but
church
we
know
the
name
of
that
life
giving
word
we
know
with
even
greater
clarity
in
the
beginning
was
the
word
and
the
word
was
with
God
and
the
word
was
God
he
was
in
the
beginning
with
God
all
things
were
made
!
through
him
anything
made
that
was
made
and
we
know
praise
God
the
word
became
flesh
and
dwelt
among
us
we
look
to
Jesus
and
we
see
the
greatest
revelation
of
the
person
of
God
he
is
the
image
of
the
invisible
God
Colossians
tells
us
the
psalmist
knew
that
this
great
God
who
created
all
things
also
rules
over
all
things
he
upholds
the
universe
but
here
on
our
side
of
the
cross
us
Christ
Jesus
is
the
radiance
of
the
glory
of
God
and
the
exact
imprint
of
his
nature
and
he
Jesus
upholds
the
universe
by
the
word
of
his
power
the
psalmist
reflected
on
what a
blessing
it was
to be
part
of
his
chosen
people
he
knew
that
God
had
sovereignly
chosen
Israel
out of
all
the
nations
of
the
world
to
be
his
people
but
church
we
know
on
this
side
of
the
God's
chosen
people
are
those
who
are
in
Christ
it's
the
church
gathered
in
from
every
tribe
and
every
tongue
and
every
nation
it's
believers
from
America
and
Afghanistan
from
Israel
and
from
Iraq
from
South
Carolina
and
South
Sudan
and
we
know
that
this
blessed
nation
is
not
any
earthly
nation
it's
not
Israel
as
a
nation
it's
not
Vietnam
as
a
nation
it's
not
America
as
a
nation
it
is
the
church
and
all
who
belong
to
him
who
are
called
out
of
these
places
to
be
in
covenant
with
our
God
by
his
grace
in
Christ
the
church
is
the
treasured
possession
of
God
blood
bought
sinners
like
you
and
me
the
church
is
the
blessed
nation
whose
God
is
the
Lord
and
what
an
incredible
blessing
it is
to be
chosen
by
God
Peter
says
in
2
Peter
2
verse
9
to
the
church
you
are a
chosen
race
a
royal
priesthood
you
are a
holy
nation
you
are a
people
for
his
own
possession
why
that
you
may
proclaim
the
excellencies
of
him
who
called
you
out
of
darkness
and
into
his
marvelous
light
do you
ever
just
read that
and say
why
me
it is
all
of
God's
grace
you know
the right
response
to a
God
like
this
it's
praise
it's
praise
friend
do you
know
why
you're
here
this
morning
do
you
remember
why
you've
come
we're
about
to
stand
and
sing
songs
of
praise
in
response
in
just
a
minute
I
hope
that
you
will
sing
and
sing
loudly
but
do
you
know
why
have
you
been
made
new
it
may
be
that
as
you
hear
this
morning
you're
realizing
you
have
never
really
understood
why
this
God
is
worthy
of
your
praise
maybe
you
realize
you've
never
even
had
your
sins
forgiven
and
if
that's
you
then
friend
the
invitation
is
simply
come
to
him
in
faith
and
ask
that
he
would
open
up
your
eyes
to
show
you
how
worthy
he
is
and
for
you
church
the
psalmist
gives
us
our
response
here
in
a
prayer
in
verses
20
through
22
we'll
pray
it
together
as
we
close
father
our
soul
waits
for
you
oh
God
you
are
our
help
and
our
shield
and
father
our
heart
is
glad
in
you
because
we
trust
in
your
holy
name
so
we
ask
God
would
your
steadfast
love
be
upon
us
oh
Lord
even
as
we
hope
in
you
father
we
praise
you
because
you
are
so
worthy
of
our
praise
God
we
praise
you
because
you
have
forgiven
us
of
our
sins
in
Christ
we
praise
you
that
by
Christ
and
through
Christ
and
for
Christ
you
created
all
things
and
in
the
power
of
Christ
you
uphold
all
things
by
the
word
of
his
power
we
thank
you
that
one
day
King
Jesus
the
world
as
the
sovereign
king
over
all
the
earth
and
we
praise
you
most
of
all
that
by
your
grace
we
belong
to
that
kingdom
that
we
are
your
chosen
people
in
him
we
praise
you
for
this
in
Jesus
name
amen