Candidate For Mercy

Transcript

Alright thank you very much and hello again dear radio friend. How in the world are you? Now we’re looking — we’re finishing up our look at Psalm 107. Look with me at that last verse, “Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.” Now how do you understand the loving kindness of the Lord? Go back in the Psalm and stop on these refrains, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men for He satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness”.

The lovingkindness of the Lord meets me at the point of my inner need. “Wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord, He satisfieth the longing soul”. The lovingkindness of God can be understood when you realize that He meets me in my inner need. Oh, it’s the defeat inside that makes the defeat outside, isn’t that true? “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he”, the Bible says. Think about a thing long enough and you’ll do it; and it’s that inner defeat, it’s that inner warfare that we are losing. That is where God begins to work in his loving kindness. He loves you so much that he wants to help you in your heart life in your inner life.

Then look at the second refrain, “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men for He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars and iron and sunder”, this has to do with the delivering power of God; the delivering power of God. I had a letter awhile back from a couple who live in Pittsburg, and the letter said, “When I first heard you, I really wasn’t all that impressed and I was a little bit offended as a matter of fact, when you said it if there’s somebody who was a slave to alcohol, if you’ll admit that you’ll a slave and ask Jesus to deliver you, He will”. The letter went on to say I was a little bit offended but then I thought to myself, well why shouldn’t I try it.

And so I got down on my knees and I prayed, “Oh God I know I am a slave to this disease of alcoholism and I’m going to ask you in Jesus name to deliver me”, and then he did what I had taught people to do that is to thank God for hearing you. Take the step of faith and thank Him for hearing you. The letter went on to say he said, “Mr. Cook I can’t say that anything definite happened that minute but I have to tell you that events began to shape themselves so little and little, I have turned clear around in my life and I’m now free and delivered” or words to that effect. I remembered too, his wife added a little P.S. and said, “I want to say, Amen, to what my husband is written. It’s a whole new ball game it’s like having a second honeymoon” and she signed her name. Well, Hallelujah.

Yes, Jesus will deliver the alcoholic, Jesus delivers the drug addicted person, Jesus delivers the person who has let us say trouble with greed or pride or dishonesty or whatever, yes He does. The key to it is to ask Him, talk to Him, talk to Him you’ll know and He’ll know when you mean business and there be a difference believe you me. Talk to Him, call on the Lord, “call unto me”, we read in Jeremiah, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show the great and mighty which thou knowest not”. God does answer prayer and He does deliver. He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Oh, Halleluiah for the delivering power of the Savior. How do you get it? You ask Him to deliver you. The old song is right, “Ask the Savior to help you comfort, strengthen, and guide you. He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through. Yes, He will”, that’s part of the lovingkindness of our Lord.

And I noticed another refrain here, “Oh that men would praise the Lord”, this is verse 21, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing”. If you want to understand God’s love as I said in another broadcast learn to praise Him. “Sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing.” Start praising God and you’ll love Him more. If you don’t believe that just try it, start praising God and you’ll love Him more. Over in the last chapter the Book of Hebrews we find this verse, Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”. Now the last verse of Psalm 107 says, “Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord”, how do you understand God’s loving kindness? Start praising Him and your heart will respond to Him in love.

Then you come to this last refrain verse 31, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders and there were back again to the point that I made early that there is power in united praise and thanksgiving”. Eric Hutchings, my good friend from Great Britain, was over in Korea not long ago when they had people more than a million strong, gathered in a great area to partake in a service that was put on there, and he said the thrill of the whole occasion was to hear these people, more than a million strong, together shout praise to God, Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Interestingly enough he said, every time they cried halleluiah and the earth reverberated with their shout. Just a few miles away across the 38th parallel the communist guns boomed out as if to give us scornful reply, happened again, and again, every time these people praise the Lord Hallelujah, the guns on the other side the Northern side of the 38th parallel would boom out, their scornful reply. Strange and yet not strange because if there’s one thing that the enemy of your soul hates, it is that triumph full praise of God that just refuses to be intimated and refuses to stop praising the Lord.

A gentleman who spoke at our chapel service a while back mentioned that he had been terribly abused by his interrogator in a communist prison, and one day he looked at his interrogator and tormentor and he said, “you are trying to make me hate you and you’re trying to make me break in my spirit because of hating you”, but he says, “I choose in Jesus’ name to love you and I’m praising God for what He’s doing right now in your life”.

He said the man recoiled as though he’d been struck in the face and went away. And it was not too long after that said this man who was speaking for us, not too long after that, but that there was the rattling of the key in the lock in the midnight hour and that same interrogator came quietly into the cell and said, “I’ve not been able to get away from what you told me. I want to trust Jesus Christ as my Savior”.

There’s power in praise, have you thought about that? Power in the love at the lovingkindness of God, as exemplified in the fact that He satisfies your inner need; as exemplified in the fact that He delivers you from the captivity of sin and habit as exemplified in the fact that He helps you praise Him even in the midst of trial. There’s power, power, power in the work of the Lord in your life. Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good for His mercy endureth forever.

Now Psalm 107 starts with mercy and it ends up with lovingkindness. Have you given any thought to that? Where do you start with God? You don’t start to ask for His lovingkindness and His blessing you ask for His mercy. Sometimes remember that you are a candidate only for mercy, everything outside of hell is pure mercy and grace. Start with mercy, Catherine Marshall’s said that one time in a difficult situation she simply gave up and prayed, heavenly Father in Jesus name have mercy upon so and so. And she said strangely enough, things began to change after she prayed that prayer. Be a candidate for God’s mercy.

Adoniram Judson, as he lay dying, gathered the young men around him and he said, “Every day exalt the mercy and the grace of God. Make much”, said he “of the mercy and grace of God.” That’s the starting place. God is merciful, His mercy endureth forever. Be a candidate for mercy and grace and you’ll be able to understand something of the lovingkindness. So do you see how God works in people’s lives, and then it says, “they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord”. He doesn’t always do the things we ask, and He doesn’t always do the things that are pleasant to us, but He does take out the distress, He does take out the inner turmoil and tempest. He does make us victors over circumstances, instead of the victims of it, and in it all He shows His wonderful love to us. He does it because He loves us.

Dear Father today, help us to say yes to Thy will, help us to cry out to Thee in prayer and help us to listen to Thy Word, I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio walk with the King today and be a blessing!