Psalm (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] Jude, St. Christ, number 709. Thy presence, gracious God of all, prepare us to receive thy word.

[0:13] Now let thy voice engage our ears, and faith be mixed with what we hear. Thus, Lord, thy waiting servants bless, and tell thy gospel, which is best.

[0:24] Four hundred percent. Thou art, thy waiting servants, and tell thy gospel, and tell thy gospel, which is thy word.

[0:48] Now let thy voice engage our ears, and faith be mixed with what we hear.

[1:06] Now let thy waiting servants bless, and proud thy gospel, which is not fair.

[1:27] Jr. Distracting courts and carrying boots And picked up hearts and hopes of all With who divine may we be paid And satisfied with ingress Thus all thy waiting shall pass And crown thy ghost hell with such a chance

[2:27] To us the sacred world of life With sovereign power and energy And may we in thy faith and fear May you should practice what we do Thus all thy waiting shall pass And crown thy ghost hell with such a chance And crown thy ghost hell with such a chance

[3:31] All the realest thy son reveal Lead us to know that you thy will Thy saving power and love display And guide us to the land of thee Thus all thy waiting shall pass And crown thy ghost hell with such a chance And crown thy ghost hell with such a chance As the Lord shall be pleased to help me

[4:42] I shall call your attention to a subject You will find in Psalm 126 Third verse Psalm 126 And the third verse This is a wonderful word For a sinner born again To feel that he or she has an interest therein To have some evidence Of being shut up inside the little word Us Us Which includes

[5:42] The elect of God All whom God the Father ordained to life eternal A little word A little word Two letters Yet it sets forth millions untold Us Do you really think as you are here before God That you have any well-grounded evidence That you are shut up in this little word us?

[6:15] Do you think you could venture to say before God The Lord hath done great things for us? The Lord hath done great things for us Could you take up that word of the psalmist elsewhere?

[6:29] Come and hear all ye that fear God I will tell you what he hath done for my soul Is it a sure point with you That God has done something for your soul?

[6:46] Or is it the terrible truth With some of you That as yet God has done nothing for your soul And you are not concerned either That he should do anything For your soul To fit you For eternity Your consciences will tell you the truth As to whether God has done something for your soul Or no Which of the two is it?

[7:26] Is you are here before God? And now if you say As the great majority of you will be able to do Oh I do humbly hope God Has been pleased to do something for my soul Then what God has done for your soul Poor sinner You must regard it In the category Of great things You must never think That anything that God does is little Whatever God does He does for his own glory And therein What he does Is a great thing And when you look at this word before us The Lord hath done great things for us Whereof we are glad Oh the great things To do with a sinner's salvation Were done at such a great cost

[8:28] That there is no preacher Though he be sent of God All preachers sent of God Put together Cannot begin to tell you Only just a little At how great a cost These great things Were done for poor sinners Who were sinners Saved by grace The apostle Peter Refers to it In his epistle And that will help you To ponder it a little For as much as ye know That ye were not redeemed With corruptible things Of silver and gold From your vain conversation Received by tradition From your fathers But with the precious blood Of Christ As of a lamb Without blemish And without spot Who verily was foreordained Before the foundation

[9:29] Of the world But was manifest In these last times For you For you The Lord Hath done great things For us An amazing consideration If any of us are here Before God And we are And if we have been singled out From the mighty mass Of mankind And made to differ And made to differ From the world at large What a great thing that is It should humble us Eh And it should make us glad I want to look at this subject If the Lord should help me From just two viewpoints First of all There is the psalmist Declaration The Lord hath done great things

[10:31] For us The second viewpoint Is the psalmist's delight Whereof we are glad And I want you to weigh this matter up As grace is given That if our religion is that Which God has wrought in our souls There will be times When you and I will be glad Glad With an indescribable Gladness That is solemn And sober And sweet And which is And which is Spiritual In its nature Remember that Then were the disciples glad When they saw the Lord God It might be helpful To look just a little

[11:32] In approaching the subject At the setting of it And this word is recorded As setting forth How the godly Israelites Mark the word in Godly Israelites felt When When They Returned from Babylonish captivity And were found again In their homeland The land of promise All their Babylonish captivity Was 70 years long And While they Were there Oh they were All times Sad hearted By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down Yea we Wept when we Remembered Zion We hanged our Hearts upon the willows In the midst Thereof

[12:34] Yes It was a very sad time And the godly Israelites By Babylon's streams In that long captivity Must have had many Solemn and sorrowful Reflections As they Thought on the land Of promise When they dwelt therein And could worship God As they desired to do God Wrought a miracle In raising up Cyrus Who conquered the Babylonian kingdom And God put it in the heart of Cyrus In the heart of Cyrus To let the children of Israel Go free And he made a proclamation That those who found it in their hearts To do so Could return To the land of promise And dwell there again There is a word Which says

[13:36] He shall let go my captives Not for price or fee Or reward And so God wrought in the heart of Cyrus Who was a great conqueror And the very sad consideration is That there were hundreds of thousands Of Israelites in captivity But only at the first About 50,000 Found it in their hearts to return And if you like to read about it in Ezra And Nehemiah You will find how it was That those who did return Found it in their hearts to do it The word of God will tell you Them whose hearts God had stirred up And those alone Returned to the land of promise Them whose hearts God had stirred up

[14:38] So that They were Israelites indeed That returned from Babylon The proclamation still held good in Babylon For any to return who desired to do it But alas, very few more The Lord availed themselves of the privilege The great majority of the Israelites The great majority of the Israelites remained Where they were And they just became Babylonized And they were not Israelites indeed And now that needs thinking about They are not all Israel That say they are of Israel You and I must be related to Nathanael Behold an Israelite indeed In whom there is no guile And now when the children of Israel Did return to the land of promise All they saw Was Jerusalem on heaps The walls broken down

[15:40] The temple There was only just the Bare foundation of it left And the cities of Judah Were in a ruined state also But they were atorn Or they were again in the land of promise And they had it in their hearts That Jerusalem should be rebuilt Another temple raised And the walls repaired But the first thing they did Was to establish again The worship of God And carry it out And therein They were made glad And now that is the Setting of the subject The Lord The Lord has done great things for us Whereof we are glad

[16:44] And now looking at the psalmist declaration here You will observe the Trinity is referred to The Lord The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit Blessed Trinity Hath done great things for us Do you ever Pause in Your journey in through life And ponder in your heart The great things which the Lord Has done Done for poor sinners like you and me Think of what the Father Hath done And he did all he could do Speaking with great reverence What did he do?

[17:34] God so loved the world That he gave his only begotten Son That whosoever believeth in him Should not perish But have everlasting life Oh it was great love That this great thing Might be done for poor sinners That they might be saved with An everlasting salvation And what a great word that is In the Hebrews God who at sundry times And in divers manners Spake in time past Unto the fathers by the prophets Hath in these last days Spoken unto us By his Son Whom he hath appointed Heir of all things By whom also He made the worlds The Father hath done great things for us Revealed his nature

[18:36] God his love God his love Yes Christ be my first elect He said Then chose our souls In Christ our head What a great thing it is to contemplate That before this world was built A time was born There was a covenant made A covenant of grace And in that covenant There was ordained a number Which no man can number Who should be a people Prepared unto glory Hundreds of millions untold Making up the us in the text Not the us in the text Not the us in the text Not the us in the text And the Father Ordained that vast host

[19:38] To life eternal You remember What the Savior said In that wonderful prayer Of his As thou Hast given In power Over all flesh That he should give eternal life To as many As thou hast given him As many as thou The Father Hast given him As many No more No less Argue not about it No reason But simply say As grace is given Lord in thy house I hear there's room And venturing hard Behold I come Oh tell me Savior Can there be among thy people Room for me?

[20:35] And remember Every time the gospel is preached Every sermon Could be ended like this Lord it is done as thou hast commanded And yet there is room Room for poor sinners Concerned about an interest In the things of God Room Before the throne of grace Where such characters Will find a welcome Who can tell but what God Will be gracious unto you The Father Hath done great things for us But then The Son Hath done great things for us The word of God tells us Oh these great truths are brought before you But oh that our hearts could be wrought on By their importance and their beauty

[21:38] And their blessedness And without controversy Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh And now what a great thing For poor sinners to think on Christ Jesus The eternal Son of God In his divine nature Came down into this world To save sinners And to do it A great thing had to be done I was going to say The greatest thing that has ever been done Or will be Born a babe by birth mysterious Go to Bethlehem and see The little babe Cradled in the manger Cradled in the manger Sheltered in a stable Almighty God Maker of heaven and earth And yet

[22:41] Almighty God Sighed human breath The Lord of life Experienced death How it was done We can't discuss But this we hoped was done for us A great thing Altogether beyond Our conception But we would Appreciate it We would think on it We would say thank you to God for it We would remember that word Thanks be unto God For his unspeakable gift He humbled himself Did the dear saviour He humbled himself And became obedient unto death Even the death of the cross Of a truth The dear son of God Hath done great things For us When the fullness of time was come God sent forth his own son

[23:43] Made of a woman Made under the law And being under the law Verily man he kept it In all its holy demands In him the father never saw The least transgression of his law In him we then perfection view And the saints in him are perfect too A Having lived his life Then he made that wondrous Proclamation I have finished the work Which thou gavest me to do And he went up Calvary's hill And died in the stead of poor sinners Like you and me The scene of matchless grace Tis Jesus in the sinner's place And then that word Was fulfilled Which I judge Is the Biggest word

[24:45] To be found In the holy bible Book divine When you think on it You must remember Moses Before the burning bush Take off thy shoes From off thy feet For the place whereon thou standest Is holy ground For he hath made him to be sin For us Who knew no sin That we might be made The righteousness of God In him Oh what a great thing For poor sinners to contemplate Especially when You are brought to feel No sinner needed mercy more That ever sought thy face Then this great thing Will make you glad Jesus' blood Through earth and skies Mercy eternal Mercy Christ There is a door of mercy Opened in heaven

[25:48] Yes The Lord Hath done great things For us The Father The Son The Holy Spirit Hath done great things for us What has he been pleased to do?

[26:06] He has given us the holy bible And never forget You dear young people especially Never forget that he is the author of it The author of it I must remind you often God spake all these words All scripture is given By inspiration of God And is profitable Holy bible Book divine And what a great thing It is to contemplate Sixteen hundred years Did the holy spirit take To gather it together To gather it together Holy men of old Spake a rote As they were moved By the spirit of God And in the fullness of time The holy bible was complete What a wonderful privilege it is To have eyes to read it And see through the written word

[27:10] The incarnate word Divine instructor Gracious Lord O be forever near Help me to read thy sacred word And find my saviour there Do you realise the bible is the holy bible?

[27:28] Is it not a solemn consideration That by the great majority It is much neglected Even by those of us Who have our names on church rules We are not always diligent In searching the scriptures Are we?

[27:45] Preacher and people alike Must all plead guilty here And yet Thy word is a lamp unto my feet A light unto my path And there is no greater gladness A sinner born again can know Than to say with Jeremiah Thy words were found And I did eat them And thy word was unto me The joy and rejoicing of my heart I rejoice in thy word As one that findeth great spoil The Lord hath done great things for us And now the Holy Spirit Does another great thing And it is so great That he alone can do it He which hath begun in you A good work Will perform it

[28:47] Until the day of Jesus Christ And now that brings us back To this little word us Here You and I have found Before God And if we are here aright We are concerned to get in touch with God What about?

[29:10] Oh to make it plain That good work is begun in our souls And that he is carrying it on And that he will confirm us That it is indeed begun For we are not always as sure about it As we should like to be It was a grey headed man who said Lord decide the doubtful case Thou who art thy people's son Shine upon the work of grace If indeed it be begun You find some of the most notable saints Had these questionings And whatever you do Don't you think your own thoughts about it And think that if the good work is begun Then people need not question whether it is or no You find I say the most notable saints And so will you You must not take things for granted And settle down on the lees of a profession of the name of Jesus But you want everyday as long as you live To be confirmed in your soul That you are a pilgrim

[30:11] To can unbound The matter is one of unspeakable importance There is a way that seemeth to be right unto a man But the end thereof is the way of death And the still small whisper in your ear whisper in your ear, he has no hope who never had a fear.

[30:47] And he who doubts not of his state, he may perhaps when it is too late. Oh, that you might give diligence to make your calling and election sure.

[31:04] The Lord hath done great things for us. The Holy Spirit does this great thing. He it is who brings about that mighty miracle in a sinner's breast. Ye must be born again.

[31:23] And it says, think if these things have been done for you. The eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

[31:36] Yes. Which shall know every man the plague of his own heart. Can you say one thing I know whereas I was blind, now I can see?

[31:52] Can it be said of you, blessed are your ears for they hear? Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

[32:06] Is it the truth that every day you are driven through sheer need to knock at mercy's door, being the sinner that you are, and you never get beyond God be merciful to me, a sinner?

[32:20] And now these are great things to be done in a sinner's soul's experience. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have shown us such things as these.

[32:36] Whene'er to call the Saviour mine, my soul with ardent wish aspires, can it be less than power divine, which animates these strong desires?

[32:46] The Lord hath done great things for us. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, whereof we are glad.

[33:03] Much might be said in enumerating the details of that good work as the Holy Spirit begins it and carries it on. But I want to look a little more at this adjective great.

[33:18] Great things. I said earlier on these things were done at a great cost. The outpouring of the Father's love.

[33:32] When God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[33:45] And think too, what great wisdom is evident in how God devised means whereby it was possible that sinners could be saved by grace and God be a just God and a Saviour too.

[34:07] and in these things being done oh what great grace is displayed. Sovereign grace or sin abounding ransom souls the tidings swell tis a deep that knows no sounding who its length of bread can tell on its glories let my soul forever dwell.

[34:35] and what great power is evident in these great things being done for that number which no man can number.

[34:48] And remember since the world has stood from Adam's day on God has been doing these great things and he is doing these great things nowadays.

[35:00] and the Lord added unto the church daily such as should be saved and he is doing it blessed be his name this Sabbath day.

[35:14] But then you and I must come back indubitable evidence that the Lord hath done great things for us.

[35:31] Now it might help you if we look at this second viewpoint of the subject I said it was the psalmist delight whereof we are glad.

[35:48] And one thing I want to emphasize like the hymn writer does did the blind receive their sight nothing but dismal things to say.

[36:02] You must have in your religion if it is of God this alone will be the evidence it is of God. You must have something positive in it as well as negative.

[36:16] You can have a great deal of conviction of sin and dwell in it and it be negative experience. And now this will help you to see the point I want to establish.

[36:35] What did the Saviour say? Ye now therefore have sorrow but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

[36:49] What did these godly Israelites realize? They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Margin singing.

[37:06] And now what do you and I know in our soul's experience about this wonderful gospel gladness?

[37:17] and remember it is the essence of the gospel behold I bring you good tidings of great joy unto you is born a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.

[37:35] And these godly Israelites although their circumstances were as difficult to be in as it was possible to be yet they found in their hearts a wondrous gladness.

[37:53] The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad. Look at this gladness from different aspects of it and now how sweet is the gladness of hope.

[38:10] Can you remember when you look back along life's way when hope in God was born within? When you felt the first little bit of gladness God let it down into your poor troubled breast and it was like a ray of light on a dull day and it said who can tell but what God will be gracious to me though by my sins deserving hell are not despair for who can tell and hope was born and you remember it still we are glad good hope through grace the saints possess the fruit of Jesus righteousness and by his spirit given I can only give you hints to think on and then there is the gladness when you can say and realise it it is good for me to draw near to God oh there is that sweet communion which charms the soul and gives true peace and joy and when you get that gladness to be near to

[39:33] God it issues in a greater gladness because you get then answers to prayer and what gladness answers to prayer give poor sinners how their hearts are warned and sometimes dissolved by the goodness of God that Christ is God I can avouch and for his people cares since I have prayed to him as such and he has heard my prayers think of the psalmist I love the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplication therefore will I call upon him as long as I live oh answers to prayer do make you glad you know Hannah must have been overwhelmed with gladness when at length

[40:38] God gave her Samuel for this child I prayed the Lord has given me the petition that I asked of him and his name is Samuel asked of God you might have some things like that along life's way not exactly a little babe Samuel but the equivalent of it the Lord has given me the petition which I asked of him yes the Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad and I tell you what will make you glad beyond words to describe and that is when you can get a soft heart when you feel within a sweet blessed melting a holy contrition when you can say and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is speaking I will be sorry for my sins then you say who am

[41:38] I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto and then there is the gladness when being in an earthbound state in your soul's experience you get a sweet gracious reviving then you were brought down at Jesus feet clothed and in a right mind and maybe when you have been in a backsliding state and you were painfully aware that you are in a backsliding state and in your inner consciousness you may wonder what God will do in his dealings with you to bring you back to where you ought to be and then he comes with his mercy when we are wounded by sin and scarcely a prayer can repeat the mercy that heals us again is mercy transportingly sweet oh it does make you glad beyond words to describe and these are great things to be done for poor sinners like us not only so there is this gladness to be known the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God oh you do want that evidence assure my conscience of her part in the redeemer's blood and bear the witness with my heart that I am born of God you're not always sure that you are but when you are sure you say we are glad and sometimes you feel this at such a time yes I to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given more happy but not more secure the glorified spirits in heaven there is another gladness maybe that transcends all other gladness although it is all the same in its nature all to do with the gospel of the grace of God but when all is said and done when a poor sinner can see

[44:05] Jesus and see in him all is salvation all is desire when you climb up as it were by living faith into that heavenly place in Christ Jesus my beloved is mine and I am his and his desire is toward me you can say then and that is all you can say we are glad you cannot put into words what you really feel it is indescribable then you realize through this man there is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins I came to Jesus as I was weary and worn and sad I found in him a resting place and he has made me glad the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad look at the gladness too when in a time of trouble and you enter into it it may be with great misgivings many searchings of heart wondering if your religion will stand up to the test of it and perhaps you have been dwelling at the time at the ends of the earth and you know that if God deals with you as you deserve to be dealt with then what can you expect but his anger and instead of his anger he shows you mercy kindness forgiveness and in your time of trouble you see his hand upon you for good and he makes his goodness to pass before you and he grants you a deliverance establishes you in that truth the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him oh that is wonderful gladness when you set up a way mark and when you set it up it is set up for time and eternity you may lose sight of it but when in heaven's own light you look back again along life's way you will see it standing where it was where you set it up there it remains a reality not to be undone by earth or hell you can say the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad and they are done for time and eternity whereof we are glad

[47:03] I must come to the amen but I must just say this there is the gladness when you realise the Lord has done great things for you and the outcome is you render unto him obedience the apostle Peter speaks about as obedient children some of you are disobedient children and I shall say no more than that I leave it between the Lord and you but you know not this gladness that comes when a poor sinner realising the great things God has done cannot keep silence but he says hinder me not ye much loved saints I must go with you and you go back some of you to the gladness you had when you went down into the baptismal waters to follow

[48:05] Jesus you have not forgotten it no it was a reality and it did make you glad and you have been glad ever since that you were given grace to do it the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad and I like to think especially where I am in life's evening time of what I like to call the gladness of retrospect when you can look back it is a wonderful thing to be at this end of life and look back and see wherein the Lord hath done great things for us see what is his handiwork beyond all questioning set the way marks make the eye heaps the word of God enjoins thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God hath led thee and when he helps you to do it you can only say although you look back over much that makes you feel sad and sorrowful wherein you have heard and strayed like a lost sheep but there is still that which makes you glad because you have to declare having obtained help of

[49:30] God I continue unto this day and a great mercy to continue and when you get the gladness of retrospect then you get the gladness of prospect hey you can look back and looking back you take courage to look forward and you say we are travelling home to God in the way our fathers trod they are happy now and we hope their happiness to see and what a prospect it is think on it it will make you glad to ponder it in your heart as you look back and see the Lord has done great things for us then to look forward and to feel the city to which I am journeying will more than my sorrows repay the toils of the road will seem nothing when I get to the end of the way in thy presence is fullness of joy and that thy right hand are laid up pleasures forevermore and when all is said and done what do you think will be really the keynote of what you sing about in heaven if you get there

[50:56] God grant you the mercy to do it and the preacher too but if you and I do get there surely surely we shall have to sing about this the Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad and we shall be glad throughout eternity amen and