The Believer's Benefits (3)

We're going to begin our worship this evening. We're going to sing to God's praise in Psalm 40 in the Sing Psalms version, page 50 of the psalm books.

We're going to sing from verse 1 down to verse 8.

The tune is Rockingham.

I waited long upon the Lord. He heard my cry and turned to me. He raised me from the slimy pit and from the mire. He pulled me free.

We see in this psalm just that wonder of what the Lord does for us, how he is there to help us.

And again, this evening we're going to be thinking of that theme of the benefits of God towards us from Psalm 103.

But we're going to sing from verse 1 to 8, Psalm 40. We stand to sing to God's praise.

I waited long upon the Lord. He had my cry and turned to me.

He raised me from the slimy pit and from the mire. He pulled me free.

He laid my cry and turned to me. He laid my cry and turned to me.

He laid my cry and turned to me. He laid my cry and turned to me.

He laid my cry and turned to me. He laid my cry and turned to me.

He laid my cry and turned to me. He laid my cry and turned to me.

O Lord, our many and our great day are.

Your plans for us are far beyond, our power to number or declare.

Good day, not us, but God's or bones, beyond us and great fights for sin.

But you have opened up my ears, who did not see burnt offering.

And I declare, Lord, I have come and threaten of me endless soul.

I want to do your well, my God.

You're always in my heart and soul.

Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray.

Amen.

Lord, our gracious God, we come to wait upon you anew this evening,

thankful for the patience that you give to us and the patience that you show towards us.

We thank you that you are a loving and a gracious God,

and you are the one who has, for his people, lifted them up out of the miry clay

from the slimy pit and put our feet on the rock that is Jesus Christ.

And we thank you for the wonder of that salvation.

We thank you for the wonder of your grace towards us,

that you are a God who remembers us,

and that you give us a joyful song of praise to offer up to you.

And we pray this evening that as we begin our worship with that song of praise to you,

and as we go on praising your name this evening in song,

that you would help us to sing the riches of these words that we look at and that we read and that we sing together.

Help us to sing with that joy from our hearts,

that you are one who has blessed us with so many benefits.

You have been gracious towards us, as the psalmist says,

our power to number them or declare is beyond us,

because there are so many, the wonders that you have done.

And we do bless you, Lord, for the wonders.

We bless you for the ones that we so often just see as the normality of life,

the wonders of life itself,

the wonders of what we see and what we feel, what we touch, what we taste.

We have so much to give thanks for, whether it's the food on our tables,

the water, the fluids that keep us and sustain us,

the wonders of health and strength, the air that we breathe.

And there's so many things, Lord, that we just take for granted.

And we just want to thank you for them.

But we want to thank you too, Lord, for the wonders of your grace,

the wonders of salvation and the joy that there is in that,

the wonder of the world in which we live in,

created by you in all its perfect state,

how you brought it all into being by the word of your power,

how you saw it all as so very good,

the day and the night,

the animals, the kingdoms, the seas, the skies,

all in their enormity.

And yet, oh Lord, also wonderful in the work of your hands.

And then mankind as you created us in your image.

And we see the marvels of that.

And yet we know too, as we read your word,

that we see the sin that came into the heart of man.

We see the sin that spoiled that relationship, that creation.

And yet, Lord, you did not give what we deserved.

You remembered us with your steadfast love,

your covenant love.

And even from the fall, when sin came into the world,

you have been a God who has been working out that great plan of salvation,

shown to us through the sacrifices in the Old Testament,

shown through us through the Passover meal,

that your people would remember you on a yearly basis

and your deliverance of them

as you brought them out of Egypt

into a land that was so rich and blessed by you.

And we thank you that there was that remembrance

down through all the generations,

but it was always pointing to a greater remembrance

when your love would be seen

and you're giving your own son, Jesus Christ,

who came into this world,

who was born into it,

who lived the life that we couldn't,

who showed his authority in so many different ways,

his teaching, his miracles,

his authority over all things.

And yet we see a world that condemned him

and rejected him.

And we marvel then at the cross

where he came to give his life for his people,

where his body was broken and his blood was shed,

and where he reminded us

that there was a remembrance in this too,

that we would do this in remembrance of him,

taking the bread and the wine

and that sacrifice shown through them,

that we would remember what has been done for us

at the cross

and through the greatness of the resurrection too

and all the promises that that gives to your people.

And so, Lord, in these remembrances,

we thank you that as a people today,

it leads us to that time of remembrance

in our own congregation,

when once again we will gather, God willing,

around your word

and around the sacrament of the Lord's Supper

in just a fortnight's time.

And we pray, Lord,

that we would see the benefits there for us,

that we would see that our sin is forgiven

through faith in Christ,

and that we would see that we are indeed

to do this in remembrance of him.

And so may your blessing be over us as a people,

as a congregation here,

as we prepare our hearts,

as we prepared,

as ministers prepared to come and minister here,

we think of Rory Stott coming,

God willing, next Lord's Day,

and then over the communion weekend,

having Reverend Roddy John Campbell

and Reverend David McLeod with us,

we do pray that they will minister

a word that you are giving them even now,

a word for people here to hear

and to be encouraged,

to be strengthened,

to be challenged and rebuked by,

that we would come preparing our hearts

to be under the gospel

and under the wonder of it.

And so we ask that you would hear prayers

in these days,

not just for ourselves as a congregation,

but for all our congregations

throughout our presbytery here

and throughout our land

and throughout the world.

We thank you for your people,

far and wide,

and we just ask that your word,

as it's proclaimed even this evening hour,

that it would be a blessing to many.

We thank you too, Lord,

for all that we seek to do in your name.

We thank you looking back over the last week,

how you have kept us,

how you have been with us.

Thank you for the encouragement of Friday evening

as we enjoyed the current evening,

raising funds for the work of the camps.

And we thank you for all who helped in that,

all who were there in attendance,

and for the encouragement that we had together,

hearing of the work of camps.

We pray for the ongoing ministry of them

as leaders prepare for them

and as campers prepare

to hear word of where they might be going.

We pray that there will be a real sense

of your peace and blessing in it all.

We thank you of our own young people

who have been away this weekend

in Scaladale.

We thank you for that trip.

We pray that it will be a real time of blessing,

not just in these days,

but in the days ahead as well,

that there will be great fruit from it.

We thank you, Lord,

for all your goodness to us,

for every remembrance that you have towards us

as a people,

in all our different needs,

in our homes,

in our families.

Those who are unwell,

those who are mourning and grieving.

And we do pray, Lord,

for funerals that have taken place

and will take place,

God willing,

to motto as well,

that your comfort,

your grace,

and your mercy be with us.

We do commit ourselves

into your hands now, Lord,

as we further sing your praise

and hear your word, Lord.

May you minister to us.

May you bless us by it.

And may you go before us

in the week ahead as well,

in all we seek to do

in our homes,

in our families,

in our work lives,

in our day-to-day experiences.

Lord,

may we do all

to your glory

and knowing your presence with us.

So guide us now,

go before us,

pardon us

for all our sins.

That's all we ask.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

We'll again sing to God's praise,

this time in Psalm 112

in the Scottish Psalter version.

Psalm 112.

We're going to sing from verse 1

to verse 6.

You find this on page 392.

Psalm 112.

Praise ye the Lord,

the man is blessed,

that fears the Lord aright.

He who in his commandments

doth greatly take delight.

We'll sing from verse 1 to 6,

and the tune is Bethesda.

We stand to sing.

Amen.

The man is blessed,

the faith which ain't divine.

His gene and offspring powerful

shall be the heir upon

of the upright man.

Blessed shall be

a gentle invitation.

Wrages unwell

shall never be

within his heart

and store

of his unspotted

and the truth

and the truth

in his heart.

And truth

I could be

of Christ,

though he

in love

that's

a bright light

of Christ.

voy voy

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

voy

!

Let us pray.

Let us pray.

To a first land

He with discretion

His affairs

Will guide

Until the end

To be there

A daily thing

That ever shall

Emblem

The righteous man's

Memoria

Shall ever

As in truth

We'll turn together to read God's Word. A slight change to what's on the bulletin. Our first reading will be in the Gospel of Luke, and then our second reading will be in Psalm 103.

So we're going to read first of all in the Gospel of Luke chapter 17 and read at verse 11 down to verse 19.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

You'll find it around page 1056 of the Church Bibles. Luke chapter 17, and we read from verse 11. And here we read this account of Jesus as he cleanses ten lepers.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

But what we notice is how many actually came back to give thanks to Jesus.

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance.

And he lifted up their voices saying,

Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

When he saw them, he said to them,

Go and show yourselves to the priests.

And as they went, they were cleansed.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.

And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.

Now he was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus answered,

Were not ten cleansed?

Where are the nine?

Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?

And he said to him,

Rise and go your way.

Your faith has made you well.

Then we turn to read in the book of Psalms.

We're going to read in Psalm 103,

Reading from verse 14.

Reading from verse 14 down to the end of the psalm.

This last section we're going to look at this evening together.

But it's always looking back in light of verse 1 and 2.

Bless the Lord, it says in verse 1,

O my soul, and all that is within me,

bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits.

Forget not all his benefits is the theme that we've been looking at throughout this psalm.

We're going to see further the benefits that we read of in verse 14 to 22 this evening.

So we take up our reading at verse 14.

For he knows our frame.

He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass.

He flourishes like a flower of the field.

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.

And its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word.

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers who do his will.

Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Amen.

And may God bless these readings from his word.

Before we turn to look at this passage together,

we'll again sing to God's praise in Psalm 139.

This is in the Scottish Psalter version.

Page 433.

The tune is Belmont.

We're going to sing from verse 15 down to verse 18.

Psalm 139 at verse 15.

My substance was not hid from thee,

when as in secret eye was made,

and in earth's lowest parts was wrought most curiously.

We see then, again in verse 17 there,

how precious also are thy thoughts.

O gracious God to me.

And in their sum,

how passing great and numberless they be.

The precious thoughts of God,

they are numberless towards his people.

So we're going to sing from verse 15 to 18

to God's praise.

Please, if you are singing,

Please, if you are singing,

Please, if you are singing,

Please, if you are singing,

Please, if you are singing,

Please, if you are singing,

What's not in the me, where else in secret I?

What's made a day, where's low as part?

What's not what's curiosity?

Thine eyes, my substance, did thee hold,

Yet being that we're fed,

And in the war you all I knew,

My bed worked so on where it,

When tafted in continuance,

Where passion'd every one,

When us be there, all shameless were,

And not then there was none.

O precious Lord, so are thy thoughts,

O precious Lord, to thee,

And in their song a passing play,

And numberless may be,

If I should have that landless hand,

A more and number be,

What time so ever I know thee,

I ever come with thee.

We can turn back to our reading in Psalm 103,

And we're going to look at the last part of this psalm this evening,

Verse 14 down to the end.

We read again at verse 14,

For he knows our frame,

He remembers that we are dust.

And so it goes on,

But in light of, as I said, what comes in verse 2,

Forget not all his benefits.

That's been the theme as we've been going through this psalm.

Forget not all the benefits,

And we've outlined how many benefits that we see,

For God's people in this psalm.

If you were to come to the Lord every day in prayer,

Just come with one thing to give thanks for every day over 10 years.

That would be a total of 3,650 things that you've thanked God for over these 10 years.

And to some that might sound a lot.

3,650 things that you've thanked God for.

Sounds a lot.

And yet it doesn't come close to the number of things that we have to thank God for.

We could spend every day in prayer, all day in prayer.

And we just cannot get through the number of things that we can give thanks to God for.

As the psalmist said there in Psalm 139,

If I should count them,

Than the sand they more in number be.

The things that we have to give thanks to God for,

They're more than the grains of sand.

And you think to yourself,

How many grains of sand on the beaches around our island here?

Just how numberless the things of God are.

The same in Psalm 40, verse 5, it says,

Psalms 40:5

The wonders you have done, O Lord, how many and how great they are.

Your plans for us are far beyond our power to number or declare.

We can never cease to give thanks to God for all that He has done for us,

His benefits towards us.

And yet we do forget.

That's the reality of the people that we are.

We do forget His benefits.

The psalm here is showing us a psalm of David,

Who himself was forgetful of the benefits that God had given to him in so many different ways.

In some ways, he's reminding himself and reminding us not to forget the benefits of God.

And sometimes it takes something to make us just count our blessings.

A reminder somewhere along the way to remind us, count our blessings.

Remember them, how many they are.

One Christian woman said she was reminded, she was a nurse.

She worked in a hospital.

She was working with young people.

And very often these young people were very ill.

And she was reminded this day of just how she so often would feel ungrateful.

And it was so wrong.

When she realized just what other people were going through.

And one day she was reminded of it in a powerful way.

When this young girl was coming up to her eighth birthday.

And she was unwell and she was asked,

What would you want?

What do you want for your birthday?

And the little girl just paused for a moment and says,

I don't know.

And she started thinking to herself.

She said, well I've got two sticker books.

And I've got a beautiful doll.

I can't think of anything else.

I think I've got everything that I need.

And just that simple way was a reminder to this Christian woman of how much she had herself in Christ.

So much of it is like the simple things of life.

And yet they are the blessings that Christ give to us that we so often forget.

That they are the benefits that the Lord has given to us.

And so our thanksgiving, our thankfulness is not on what we want as such always.

It's more on just what we have.

And the things that we have to give thanks for.

And so as we come to the conclusion of this psalm,

I want us to see that we're taking that thought with us.

What this psalm wants us to realize and to continue to go forward in is this understanding and this knowledge to come back to this psalm again and again and think to ourselves, what are our benefits?

Let us not forget the benefits that the Lord has given to us.

They are more than can be numbered.

So it's not a case of concluding our study in this psalm.

It's hopefully just a going on in our study of this psalm.

By coming back to it again and again, we see these benefits.

When we sing this psalm, when we read this psalm in our own time,

and we can do it again and again because it's so worth coming back to or listening to it being sung.

We see these words that we can take with us day by day.

The benefits that we are so forgetful of.

Let us not forget these benefits.

And what's interesting about the word, just to go back to verse 2 for a moment before we come into the benefits we're looking at this evening,

is the word itself, benefits, that we see here in this psalm.

Not forget all his benefits.

It's a word that in the original language would have a root.

I'm not going to try and show off any Hebrew because I don't have it.

But looking into the word, you see the words have roots.

And they would often be connected to other words.

And when you look at the root of benefits, it's another word it's connected to is kamos.

And you say to yourself, where's the connection there?

Well, the connection was in just the longevity of these benefits.

And when you think of the camel, it was the length of time the camel could sustain itself in difficult situations, in difficult conditions.

And the Old Testament people would be very familiar with this.

They would see it in their day to day experience.

The camel was known as the king or the ship of the desert it was called.

Because it could sustain long journeys without food and water in hot climates and carry great burdens on it.

And so this ability to keep going.

And that's the root behind this word as well.

The benefits are the longevity of them.

And how they carry, how they keep us and keep us going.

They sustain us.

And the other thing about camels was as well as being great burden bearers, if you like,

they were also a measure of wealth.

So that if you had many camels, your wealth was often counted in how many camels you owned.

And so when you tie that back to the word benefits that we have here, and not forget the benefits of the Lord,

you see these two things.

How God is able to carry the Lord's people.

All his benefits to us that keep us going.

So often through life's barren deserts, it is the Lord that sustains us and takes us to glory.

But also when we see the benefits that we have, we see just like the camel shows riches of people,

that when we enjoy the benefits of God that we are rich beyond measure.

So there are these things, these benefits.

They are God's keeping of us.

His sustaining power towards us and the riches that we have through him.

And so we want to just go into these verses from verse 14 to the end of the psalm.

Thinking back to the last time we looked at this psalm,

we thought of how Charles Spurgeon had described it as a mountain top of a psalm in the midst of all the others.

How there are psalms that we see can help us when we are down in the valley,

when things are going hard for us.

And we can see the other psalms are kind of lifting us up out of the valley.

Well, this psalm is like coming to the mountain top,

where you see it as above everything else.

It's just a psalm looking out and seeing everything around and just praising God,

giving praise to God for all the benefits that we have.

And so there's four I want to look at this evening in these verses.

The first is his knowledge of us, the benefit that we have in that.

The second is his steadfast love.

Then we see his kingdom rule and then finally his everlasting praise.

So we have these four.

First of all, we want to look at his knowledge of us.

When you think of David, the author of the psalm,

in his life he had much wealth and power and authority over others.

But as he looks in this psalm, you see him almost just surveying his life in a different way.

Not looking at his riches as money and property and all of these things,

but the benefits that he has from the Lord.

And what he's reflecting on is not looking at his strength,

but we find him here in verse 14 looking more to his weakness.

Looking to his weakness.

And you see that when it says,

For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass.

He flourishes like a flower in the field and then the wind passes over it and it is gone.

It's place, it knows its place no more.

And so you see here David kind of reflecting on how quickly life goes by.

And how in our strength that we see so often we're actually just frail creatures.

We all know it, I'm sure.

We go through life.

I guess if you're young here, you're not thinking this far ahead of not being able to do things.

But you find that as life goes on, the older you get, the more you feel it in your bodies.

The things that you could do so easily in the past, they become harder to do.

Or sometimes they don't just take longer, you just can't do them.

It's the reality of our lives.

It's the reality of the change that we see in our bodies.

And this is the experience of David here.

And here he's reflecting and he's seeing we are dust.

We are not immortal.

We are frail creatures.

We are just here for a short time.

And so you say to yourself, well, where's the benefits in this, you might ask?

How do we see this as a benefit?

Well, it's not in what we are as we grow old in that sense that we find ourselves failing in different ways, losing our strength, losing abilities in different things.

It's what we see at the beginning of verse 14.

And it says, for he knows our frame.

He knows.

He knows everything about us.

He knows our frailties.

He knows we are dust.

He knows our days are numbered.

And yet in that, there is great benefit.

Because the Lord is the one who is keeping us.

The Lord is the one who has provided for us in all of these things, in all of life.

Our days are numbered.

They are like grass, flourish for a time.

And then the wind passes over and they're gone.

But that's just for this life.

Because the Lord has a knowledge of us.

And day by day, his knowledge of us is in this sense that he keeps us.

He keeps us going.

And so that day by day, we can see the Lord's hand upon us.

When we're young, we see it in the help and the guidance that he gives us.

We think of young people you've just gone through, times of prelims just now.

And hope you've been praying as you've been going through them.

And you've been prayed for as you've been going through them.

And that you can look back and see, well, the Lord helped me.

Maybe it was a question you were praying about that you hoped it would come up and it did.

Or that something would come back to you in the middle of an exam.

And you were reminded of and you were able to answer that question.

The Lord helps us.

And so it goes on in all of our days.

Martin Luther once put it like this.

He said, God's wonderful works which happen daily are so lightly esteemed.

Not because they are not important.

But because they happen so constantly and without interruption.

In other words, it's these things that just happen every day.

But we don't see them as from God.

And he goes on to say, man is used to the miracle that God rules the world and upholds all creation.

And because things daily run their appointed course, it seems insignificant.

And how much do we take for granted and yet we should see it as the gracious benefits of God.

Because he knows our frame.

He knows our frailties.

He knows our weaknesses.

And yet day by day he supplies for us.

Just think of that passage that we read in the Gospel of Luke.

Ten lepers met with Jesus.

And they asked for mercy.

And Jesus said, go and present yourselves to the priests.

And as they went, they were all healed.

All ten.

But only one came back.

Only one came back to give thanks to Jesus.

What of the rest?

They just carried on with their lives.

And so often that is the way it is for us.

The little things in life that we should see from God, we forget.

And we just carry on as if it was from ourselves.

Somebody once wrote about that passage about the healing of the lepers.

And as to what happened to the other nine, it's obviously speculating.

It's not, we don't know.

But somebody put it like this.

One waited to see if the cure was real.

One waited to see if it would last.

One said he would see Jesus later.

One decided that he had never had leprosy.

One said he would have gotten well anyway.

One gave glory to the priests.

One said, well, Jesus didn't really do anything.

One said any rabbi could have done it.

And one said, I was already on the mend.

Now, it's just speculating.

But you can see it in our own attitude when things happen.

We maybe pray and ask God for help.

And we say, well, I could have done it myself anyway.

It was going to happen that way anyway.

We make our excuses.

We forget the benefits that the Lord gives to us.

And so, David here is reminding us, in our lives, God has a knowledge of us like no one else.

He knows our frame.

He knows everything that we need.

And we have benefits beyond anything when we put our trust in God.

In the shorter catechism, there's a number of questions in the 30 section of the shorter catechism, between 32 and 40 there.

And it speaks about the benefits that the Lord's people have.

And read through it in your own time at some point.

If you don't have a catechism, ask me about it.

I'll share one with you.

Here's question 36.

It says, what are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

Now, these three things, justification, adoption, and sanctification, are us coming into a relationship with God.

Being made right with God, being brought into a family of God, adopted, and sanctification continually being made right in the eyes of God.

But the answer says this.

The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from these three are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance to the end.

So much of that we have on a daily basis that we just take for granted.

But let's not forget that it's because of the great knowledge that God has of us and all of our needs that he daily gives us these benefits.

His knowledge of us.

The second thing we see is his steadfast love.

Love.

Just as God has that wonderful knowledge of us and such a great benefit.

And then we see in verse 17, it says how it starts, but.

So again, it's connected to what's just passed there.

He knows us and he knows our weakness, but it says the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.

So again, we're reminded here of, yes, our frailties and our weaknesses, we are but dust.

But God's love is steadfast.

And it's from everlasting to everlasting.

It's without end.

And this is what we have when we trust in the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15 speaks of it in this way in verse 19.

In Christ, we have hope in this life only.

We are of all people most to be pitied.

It's not just for now.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all are made alive.

And so as we think of the steadfast love of God, it's in the hope that Christ gives to us.

That it's from everlasting to everlasting.

Without end.

And therefore, if we're thinking of the steadfast love of God and the benefits that we have through it, where do we have to look?

We have to look to the steadfast love of God as we see it on the cross.

As somebody put it, before we think of the coming King, we must first mention the death of the Lamb.

And so yes, we're looking to the King coming ultimately.

But before we think of that, we have to think of the Lamb who was slain.

The Lamb where the steadfast love of God was seen completely.

That he would give his life for us.

That in him giving his life for us, we might have that hope of eternal life in him.

And again, you see this in the shorter Catechism, where it speaks about the benefits that believers receive from Christ at death.

So we have that reality of our frame is dust.

But his steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting.

And how is it tied together?

Well, it's in the hope of the resurrection.

It's not just for this life that these benefits are.

And the Catechism puts it like this.

The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness.

And do immediately pass into glory.

And their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

And you see there the benefits of believers who are in Christ.

Even at death, they immediately made perfect in holiness.

Excuse me.

And so here we see the benefits that are ours in Christ to bore our sin on the tree.

It's a poem by Francis Xavier.

It's been translated into English.

And it's wonderful words that just remind us of how we can look to the Lord Jesus.

And he says this,

Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ, should I not love thee well, not in the hope of winning heaven or not of escaping hell?

Not from the hope of gaining a reward, not seeking a reward.

But as thyself has loved me, O ever loving Lord, so would I love thee, dearest Lord.

And in thy praise will sing, solely because thou art my God and my most loving King.

So we see there what he has done for us on the cross.

And it's not for any reward that we look for ourselves, but to give praise and glory to him, because he is our God.

He is our King.

The Lamb that was slain is ultimately the King of the world.

And so we look forward to this King coming.

The King who came down and gave himself will come again to establish his rule finally.

And that's the third benefit that we're led into here.

When we see his kingdom rule.

We see this in verse 19.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all.

All ages and all peoples.

Kingdoms come and kingdoms go.

Kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall.

But we see in verse 19,

the Lord has established his throne in the heavens

and his kingdom rules over all,

all ages and all people.

We're reminded of that in the service here this morning,

how the kingdom of God is coming.

The church of God is being built

and it's reflected in this psalm as well.

The kingdom rules over all.

So we're looking forward to Jesus coming.

But we're reminded that up until then,

his kingdom, his sovereignty is secure.

There is no changing it.

As we heard this morning,

the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

And the question could be asked,

well, where is Jesus now?

And it maybe sounds like a question a child might ask,

but it's a question maybe passes our own lips.

Where is Jesus now?

Can we ask ourselves to understand

the benefits that are ours through his kingdom rule over all?

Where is he?

Well, we are told in the word of God where he is.

We are told, for example, in the book of Romans,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8, that Jesus is at the right hand of God.

And being seated at the right hand of God

means he is at the place of highest honor.

He has established the throne in the heavens.

His kingdom rules over all.

The letter to the Ephesians is something similar to say as well.

That Jesus was raised from the dead by God,

then seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places,

far above all rule and authority.

And that God has put all these things under his feet.

His rule is from everlasting to everlasting.

His kingdom rule is over all.

So the way it is, Jesus, Jesus is at the right hand of God.

He is in charge.

And we're reminded of that in a wonderful way

in the book of Acts.

And in Acts chapter 7,

Acts 7 · chapter mention

where we see Stephen.

And as Stephen was stoned to death,

what you read of there in verse 55 of Acts 7,

what does Stephen see?

Well, as he looked,

he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Standing.

Welcoming Stephen into his kingdom.

Welcoming Stephen home, as it were.

Stephen himself saw this.

And it's just a wonderful reminder to us

that the kingdom rule of God

is from everlasting to everlasting.

He is sovereign over all things.

Again, just to quote Charles Spurgeon,

he put it like this,

there is no attribute more comforting

to his children than that of God's sovereignty.

Under the most adverse circumstances,

in the most severe trials,

they believe that sovereignty

has ordained their afflictions.

That sovereignty overrules them

and that sovereignty will sanctify them all.

There is nothing for which the children

ought to more earnestly contend to

than the doctrine of their master

over all creation,

the kingship of God

over all the works of his own hands,

the throne of God

and his right to sit upon the throne.

For it is God upon the throne

whom we trust.

We are looking to a king,

to a king who has authority.

The Lord has established his kingdom

and we have that benefit.

The final thing we see here

is his everlasting praise.

And in some ways,

we see the psalm coming full circle here.

It begins in verse 1 with,

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

You can translate bless as praise.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

And then verse 20 and 21, 22,

you see that phrase repeated again and again.

Bless the Lord.

Bless the Lord.

Bless the Lord.

Bless the Lord.

You have it again and again there.

And that's the great benefit,

finally, that we see here.

That the Lord is worthy to be praised.

That the Lord is worthy of all,

of all our praise.

Bless the Lord.

The shorter catechism, again,

no section of questions.

It says in question 38,

what benefits do believers receive

from Christ at the resurrection?

So we're looking ahead now eternally.

And it says,

at the resurrection,

believers being raised up in glory

shall be openly acknowledged

and acquitted in the day of judgment

and made perfectly blessed.

And the full enjoying of God

to all eternity.

Full enjoying of God

to all eternity.

And that's where this psalm leads us.

Our eternal benefit.

That we can bless the Lord

with all that we are.

Bless the Lord,

O my soul.

He is worthy of our worship.

And the question is,

is he getting it?

Is he getting all our praise?

Have we forgotten his benefits to us?

Are we forgetting them on a daily basis?

The simple things,

the little things that we take for granted,

or the big things that we see in our life.

Are we giving praise to God?

Let us not forget his benefits.

But let us give thanks to God

for all his benefits to us.

And let us especially remember

the benefits that we have for life

and for eternity.

The salvation that is ours

through Jesus Christ.

Bless the Lord,

O my soul.

That's all our being.

All that we are

for now

and for eternity.

Quiz question for you

without looking

to the end of the book of Psalms.

In the last psalm

in the book of Psalms,

Psalm 150

and verse 6.

What does it end with?

It ends with these words.

Let everything that has breath

praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

The conclusion of everything

is to give praise to God.

Because we can do nothing

apart from him.

And so when we think

of the benefits

of God to us,

what does it deserve

from us

but to praise

the Lord

now

and eternally.

Our praise

will go on.

We can look forward

to when all these benefits

will be complete.

And when we will see him

face to face.

And when we truly

we will worship him

as he is worthy of.

May we go on

remembering

how many

are our benefits.

May we go on

remembering

how many

are our camels

if you like.

How rich

we are.

And how much

we are carried

by the grace

of God.

By all his benefits

to us

on a daily basis.

let us not

forget.

And indeed

as we think of

in a fortnight's time

coming to remember

all his benefits

to us

in Christ.

What better

to do

than to remember

his death

and to give thanks

to him

who gave his life

that we might live

and to come

and obey

his command

and do this

in remembrance

of him.

To take

the bread

and to take

the wine

and to remember

the benefits

that we have

in Christ

fully

complete

in him.

May the Lord

bless us

and help us

to come back

to these benefits

daily

and see

our need of them

and the blessings

that are ours

through them.

Let us pray.

Lord our gracious

God

we do thank you

for all

the rich benefits

that are ours

through your grace

towards us

all that we have

in Christ

who gave himself

for us

all that we have

through

not just his death

but his resurrection

and all that we have

to look forward to yet

we thank you

for your reign

over us Lord

that your kingdom

is secure

and that we are

to be a people

who praise you

Lord you remember us

and we bless you

for that

so continue with us

Lord

and help us

to praise you

with all our hearts

as all we ask

we ask in Jesus name

Amen

We're going to conclude

by singing

in these verses

in Psalm 103

in the Sing Psalms version

page 136

Psalm 103

at verse 15

to the end of the psalm

the tune is

before the throne

I just want to

sing these psalms

in conclusion

just to help us

just to

to sing out

these words

to sing them

and reminding ourselves

of all that the Lord

has done for us

each human life

is like the grass

and like a meadow flower

it grows

its place

will never be recalled

once over it

the tempest flows

but everlasting

is God's love

for those who fear him

and their seed

for those who keep

his covenant

and carefully

his precepts heed

we'll sing

from verse 15

to the end of the psalm

to God's praise

the end of the psalm

and their seed

is the end of the psalm

and their seed

will never be recalled

!

and like a meadow

cloud it grows

its wish

will never be recalled

once over

if the tempest blows

what ever lasting

is God's love

for those who fear him

and their seed

for those who keep

his covenant

and carefully

carefully

Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please

O praise the Lord, dear heavenly host,

His servants to bear for this word.

Praise God, His works to work His hell.

And you, my soul, praise the Lord.

And you, my soul, praise the Lord.

After the benediction, I'll go to the main door.

We'll close the benediction.

Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon

and abide with you all now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.