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The Trees of the Lord - Part 1 of 3

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• Psalm 92. The title of the message is "The Trees of the Lord," and this is going to be the first part to a three-part series. So actually this is going to be an introduction and then I'm going to be furthering the message, but then the real message is going to be the end of Psalm 92. So look in Psalm 92, verse 1: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep."

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• "A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever: but thou, Lord, art most high forevermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn."

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• "I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire upon mine enemies; mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to show that the Lord is upright."

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• "He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." The trees of the Lord. Trees, of course, are a very important industry and have many blessings beside the financial aspect. They are beautiful, they're protective, they bring joy and comfort and gladness, especially with their fruits, their nuts, and their shade. And of course, I've told you that one of my favorite verses is that every man shall abide under his own vine and under his own fig tree, because I love grapes and I love figs as well. But that's another tree that's in the Bible. I've been around trees, of course, all my life, and I don't see how I could ever live in the desert or a place where there is absolutely no trees or at least a few trees. The problem is there are so many uses of trees. They're so multitudinous in the sense that I tell everybody that number one, I love trees. And number two, evidently the Lord loves trees as well because He made so many of them. I've got a friend who is a forester, and I've known other foresters as well.

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• But it's interesting just to talk to them because they can tell you about every tree and the uses of the wood of that particular tree and the distinctions and the differences between those woods. So it's absolutely amazing. And moreover, there are so many items that we get from trees, and we are so ignorant and so uninformed, we often are very ungrateful and very unthankful for that which God has provided.

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• I suppose that you know that hair dye, sponges, corks, paper, latex rubber gloves, as well as car wax, chewing gum, and chocolate come from trees. And you say chewing gum comes from trees? Yes, it does. In fact, I remember when I was a boy, that we couldn't afford chewing gum or couldn't get to town to get any if we had the money. So we would just go out to the pine trees and break off some rosin and put it in our mouth and chew that.

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• And something else I thought about on the way down here: we used to eat and chew dog candy as well. You know what dog candy is? But when you would make cane syrup, that syrup would get really hot on the edge of the kettle and it would crystallize. And if you didn't get it first, after the syrup had been made the dogs would come by and lick it off. That is why it was called dog candy. But you could eat that; it was nothing but basically pure sugar is what it amounts to. But it was called dog candy. But there are a lot of things that we just simply get from trees. And the importance of trees cannot be over-exaggerated. For instance, the truth of the matter is, without trees, without plants, we would not be alive. Earth would be uninhabitable. We don't understand how valuable trees really are. While trees themselves do not make oxygen, but through photosynthesis they take carbon dioxide and then they convert it into oxygen. So without these trees we would have very little air to breathe, that is for sure.

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• But the interesting thing is when you read through the Bible you are going to find that trees are used not only to represent Christians, but there are a lot of other truths applicable to our lives based upon trees. For instance, if you will skip down to verse 12 of Psalm 92, just showing you, he says, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." So just in this one verse Christians are likened to palm trees and to cedar trees. Actually in Isaiah 41, Isaiah 55, and Zechariah chapter 1 we are also likened unto myrtle trees. And then in Isaiah 44 we are also likened unto willow trees. So various trees in the Bible represent Christians.

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• Years ago I was visiting R.J. Rushdoony; he has been dead now a number of years, I think 2001 is when he died. But Rushdoony used to come to our church. He would visit in our home, and then Alice and I would go out and visit with him. He was a scholar to the nth degree. Back in the 70s, he had 50,000 volumes in his personal library, and he read all of the time. In fact, we always found it interesting to go into his home because here's the coffee table and it's piled high with books. Beside the coffee table was piled high with books. Beside each couch and each chair piled high with books. When you went to the bathroom, on each side of the toilet was a pile of books. Rush read about a book a day, sometimes two a day. And he would read from four or five different books at one time.

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• He could keep it all separated. He had quite a mind on him. But he asked me one time, he called me, and he said, "Dorothy is going to be visiting her family in Scotland for two weeks." He said, "Would you like to come out and study with me?" And I said, "I most certainly would." Went out and spent two weeks with him, and he asked me while I was out there, "Do you want to go see the big trees?" I said, "Yes, I guess so," and I really was not that impressed, because where I was raised from time—

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• I was seven until just a few years back, there was an oak tree in front of our house that it would take five to seven adults holding hands to reach around. So I've seen these huge trees before. In fact, Alice and I lived in Thomasville, and the largest oak in the state of Georgia is located in Thomasville. So, you know, when he said big trees, I thought, well, I've seen some big trees. And so we started going up to the big trees.

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• It was about an hour or so away. And as we passed a number of pine trees, I saw pine trees probably larger around than 55-gallon drums. And that still really didn't impress me because we have pine trees that big around in South Georgia as well. But when we got to the giant sequoias or the giant redwoods, that is when my mouth actually fell open and I almost tripped on it.

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• I could not believe it. In fact, there was one stump there, and I think Stephen Lorraine has seen that stuff. It's about six foot high. I walked across it. It took me 17 steps to get across it. It's called a mammoth tree, and if you look very quickly here is a black and white picture of it in the 1800s, and it's got 32 people dancing on it, and there is room for more people on that tree stump. In fact you can see that there are people around as well. It's absolutely astounding when you see this. And when you begin to look at these giant sequoias, I must say that pictures cannot convey the reality of the magnitude of these trees. I don't care if it's a movie camera, I don't care if it's a modern-day camera, but even when Alice used to take pictures, she'd have to take pictures in sections because the tree was so high you could not get them all in one frame. And these trees are just absolutely magnificent. Let me—

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• tell you something about these giant sequoias before I get into the Scripture. They have very specific requirements for growth. And they normally grow in a 260-mile strip of mixed conifer forest on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Primarily they grow from 5,000 to 7,000 feet up.

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• Now there are some coastal redwoods as well. Another thing about these giant sequoias is they can live more than 3,000 years. In fact, some of the ones that we have seen and that we have pictures of were alive when David and Solomon were on the thrones of Israel.

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• Now let that sink in. These trees were alive when David and Solomon were on the thrones of Israel. If you go to Yosemite and you go to the village there, there is a section of a redwood or giant tree that's cut round. It's only about, I guess, this thick. But as you look at it, there's little flags on certain of all these rings, and I forget exactly where it starts, but here's one little flag: Magna Carta, 1215. Another little flag: Columbus discovers America, 1492. Here is another one, here is another one. In other words, just that one tree, the rings on it cover thousands of years.

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• I might be mistaken, but I almost think the birth of Christ is on that. But it is astounding when you realize how old these trees become. And another thing is their branches can be eight feet in diameter. That's a branch. That's a branch. One tree has enough wood to build ten two-story houses. Their bark can be three feet thick. Three feet thick. There's one coastal redwood that measured at a stunning 379.1 feet tall. Wow. These trees can be as tall as a 26-story building. Stop and think about that.

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• The General Sherman Tree, which I hate to mention, I cringe at pronouncing that name, but the General Sherman Tree is a giant sequoia and it boasts 52,508 cubic feet. Every time we visit there and I have my picture taken, I always sit so conspicuously as to cover the name Sherman. I don't want it to be seen. But the General Sherman tree is not only the largest living tree, but the largest living organism by volume.

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• It is at least 2,100 years old. It weighs 2.7 million pounds. It is 275 feet tall and has a circumference of 102 feet.

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• The General Grant is next to it. It's the second largest tree by volume. It only has 46,608 cubic feet. The third largest tree is the President, known as the President, has over 2 billion leaves on it. It's over 3,240 years old. And after I began to see some of these sequoias, I had the wind knocked out of my sails and I had to admit I had never seen big trees before, you know. I thought I'd seen some big trees. And Rush then looked at me and he asked, "Would you like to know how these trees apply to Christians?"

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• And I said, "Well, yes." And so I'm going to give you in a few minutes what he spent an hour or two giving me. And this was just off the top of his head. First of all, he pointed out that all of these sequoias were in clusters or in groups. For instance, if you go to Sequoia National Park, you will notice that they are always grouped together. One of the most famous groups is known as the Parker Group. It almost sounds like an insurance agency or something, but it's a clique of lawyers, but all it is is a group of giant sequoia trees. And I love that particular group because not only are they extremely close together, but there are little nooks and crannies in these trees where you can go in and stand in them, have your picture taken. In fact, there are pictures of an entire company of soldiers with their horses inside one of these trees. It was hollow, and there are also some of these trees men made houses in them and lived in them for years. And so this Parker group is a group of trees very close together, and if you look out you will see other trees that are grouped very close together.

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• And Rush said, "Let me explain to you why these trees are so closely grouped together." He said, "It is because although they are tall and heavy, their roots are very shallow." And he said, "So they grow together, so their roots get intertwined, and each tree helps hold up the other tree." He said, "Without them being in groups, they're in far greater danger of just being blown over as individuals." Now let this sink in just for a moment. I want you to hold Psalm 92, but I want you to turn in your Bible to Acts chapter 2. And I want you to see—I can quote some scriptures as well—but I want you to see originally how the Christians, the first Christians, stayed together. And the truth of the matter is, if a Christian really wants to get taken by the world and taken by the wolves, all he has to do is separate himself from the other Christians. So in Acts chapter 2, if you will look there at verse 44, the Bible says this: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common."

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• Notice they were together. They had all things together and had all things common, "and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

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• Since you're in the book of Acts, turn right over to the book of Romans chapter 15, and look if you would please at verse 14. Romans chapter 15 and verse 14. Notice what the Apostle Paul said to these Roman Christians. He said, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."

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• So he says you are very capable of helping each other and taking care of each other. And then if you would turn right on over to the book of Galatians, just over a few books, Galatians chapter 6, and look if you would please at verses 1 and 2. Galatians 6, verses 1 and 2. He says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual"—and now he's talking about Christians—"ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." So He tells us that we need to stay together in order to help each other. And let me just point out the fact in 1 Peter 3, verse 8, the Word of God says, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." And so Rushdoony pointed out very clearly that all of these trees were grouped together and clustered together because they needed each other.

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• They had to have the support, the mutual support of each other. And certainly that is true concerning Christians. The second thing he pointed out concerning these giant sequoias is that they are incredibly hardy and they resist fungal rot and wood-boring beetles. And their thick bark is flame resistant. The flames do not hurt the trees. They're loaded with tannic acids. So let me just make the application. Christians also are equally resistant to worldly rot and to the beetles of flesh and destruction.

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• Now when I say that we are resistant, that does not mean that some of us do not have problems, but the truth of the matter is it will not overcome us, nor will it destroy us. The Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 5, verse 24: "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof." We have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof. In other words, we are not living for the flesh. The Apostle Paul said it almost the same way in Galatians 6 and verse 14. He said, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

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• So once again we are going to find out that just like these sequoia trees, we are resistant to the fungal rot and to the wood-boring beetles. You remember that passage in 1 John 2, verses 15 and 17, where John wrote this: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

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• Now, the interesting thing is, when you look at these trees, and you see that thick bark, and you understand that they are almost—well, they are not almost, but they are impervious not only to rot and to beetles, but they are also impervious to fire. They are fire resistant. In fact, fire actually helps them. Let me make this application. Do you remember that passage in Matthew chapter 3 when the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John's preaching and he said to them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now the wrath to come deals with God's judgment upon the ungodly. And if you will study that passage in Matthew chapter 3, John said concerning our Lord that "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."

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• I have heard Christians say, at least professing Christians, I've heard them say, "Well, I want to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire," and my response is, "Not me. I don't mind being baptized with the Holy Ghost, but I don't want to be baptized with fire." And if you look in the context of Matthew chapter 3, it's believers who are baptized with the Holy Ghost. It's the unbelievers who are baptized with fire.

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• That's why John is saying, "Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" And when you look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 10, the Bible says, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." So we have been delivered from God's wrath, from God's judgment. In that sense of the word, real genuine believers are impervious to the fire and to the judgment and to the wrath of God.

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• So let me ask you this question. Since these giant sequoias are impervious to fire, and the fire cannot kill them, how does it help them? And the answer is very simple. The fire clears the forest floor of all the vegetation and all the trash, producing ash, and the heat opens the cones of the sequoia, and all the seed then falls on that freshly cleared ground. The fire actually helps them to reproduce. Without the fire, they would not be reproducing. Let me show you—I want you to turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 8. The point that I'm going to make is very simple.

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• The early church faced great persecution and it multiplied. The truth of the matter is this: persecution does not destroy Christians. Neither does it destroy Christianity. It is always a means of reproduction. Notice if you would please, Acts chapter 8, verse 1: "And Saul was consenting unto his death"—that is the death of Stephen, the first martyr. "And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem." What happened?

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• "And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." So they said, "We'll take care of this problem. We will persecute them." And they persecuted the Christians and all they did was scatter them. Now watch what happens. Verse 2: "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."

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• So what did persecution do in Acts chapter 8? It just scattered the people so they would have a greater influence and preach the Word to others. If you look in Acts chapter 12, Acts chapter 12, and you remember in this passage Herod had already beheaded James, arrested Peter, and intended on murdering Peter. But the angel opened the door and he escaped from Herod. And in this passage God killed Herod. In fact, look in verse 21: "And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Here is verse 24: "But the word of God grew and multiplied." Notice: James had been beheaded, Peter had been arrested, but the word of God grew and multiplied.

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• So the third truth that Rush pointed out to me was that these sequoias are fire resistant and the fire actually helps them to reproduce. The fourth truth he pointed out to me was very, very emphatic in my mind, and that is this: the sequoias never stop growing until they die. Now I told you the height of some of these trees—as high as a 26-story building. The only reason they do not get any higher is because lightning will knock the tops out of them. It does not kill them, but it just does stop them from growing taller. They continue to grow; if they can't grow up, they grow out. Okay, Christians are never to stop growing. The Bible tells us in the book of Romans chapter 1 that "the just shall live by faith." Yes, but the Bible also says that we go from faith to faith. So the truth of the matter is this: we should be stronger in our faith tomorrow than we are today. We should be stronger in our faith next week than we are this week.

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• The Apostle Paul said it like this in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 3. He says, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth."

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• Now notice what he said. Your faith groweth exceedingly and your charity abounds. In other words, you have not stopped growing. One of my favorite passages found in 2 Peter 3 and verse 18. Let me explain it. I have done so before here, but in light of this let me say it again. 2 Peter 3 and verse 18, the Bible says, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." So Peter says, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

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• The little word "and" in the Greek is the little word kai, K-A-I. And kai is translated in our Bibles not only as "and," but it is also translated a large number of times as "even." So you could actually read 2 Peter 3 and verse 18 like this: "But grow in grace, even in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." So no one is really growing in grace unless they are growing in knowledge. So therefore, we should be growing in knowledge of our Lord and His Word more and more. We should be increasing in knowledge. We should be increasing in grace. We should be increasing in obedience. We should be increasing in holiness. We should be increasing in submission. We should be growing until we die, just like these sequoia trees. Wow. They keep growing until they die.

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• Now, before we get to the very first passage in Psalm 92, I want to just give you something else. You're going to find as you read the Bible that oftentimes God commands us to go not only to creation but to His creatures that we might learn. Everyone is familiar with a couple of these passages. For instance, Psalm 19, verses 1 through 3: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

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• "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

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• Now listen to what he said. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech." In other words, every day you ought to be able to look at God's creation and learn something from it. At night when you see the sun and the moon, he said, it is uttering knowledge. And then he says, "There's no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." It doesn't matter if you're in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, it doesn't matter where you are, the heavens still declare the glory of God. So he's telling us there are things that we can learn from His creation. When you get to the book of Romans chapter 1 and verse 20, the Bible says, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." So the Bible tells us the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen.

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• In other words, creation is designed to give us what you and I would call a general or a natural revelation concerning God. So when we look at God's creation, we should be learning and considering what creation is teaching us.

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• Now, since you're in the book of Psalms, I want you to turn back to the book of Job, the next book back, and I want you to go to Job 12. Job chapter 12. And let me show you a couple of verses here. Very interesting. Job chapter 12. And look what he says in verse 7, and Job is speaking—verse 1, "And Job answered and said," so Job is teaching. In verse 7 he says, "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." Isn't that interesting? Now he says the beasts are to teach us. Well, what can a beast teach us? Well, you know it is interesting how God talks about beasts in the Bible.

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• For instance, when you get to Isaiah 1, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib." Then He says, "But my people doth not know, they do not consider." In other words, there is something that you can learn from even dumb animals. He said, "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee."

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• Now obviously the beast cannot speak, or at least cannot speak English, but Alice can tell you, I talk to my animals all the time. I talk to my dogs, I talk to my cows, I talk to horses. I don't expect them to answer me, but you know what, I've asked Bedford and Claiborne many times, those two male dogs of mine, I would ask them, "Do you know who your creator is?" And they're not going to answer me. I understand that. But you know, there is a nature in those animals that God created. And even coming down here today, I asked, or I said to Bedford, "I just wish I knew what you knew. I'd like to know how much you really know." Wouldn't that be fun if you could just find out what an animal knows? That's the beast. I'll tell you one—you won't believe this, but I've got the man. When my old bull General Beauregard got sick, he started losing weight.

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• He weighed 3,000 pounds. He started going down and he lost four or five hundred pounds. I called the vet. He was staying by himself. And the vet came out. I said, "Now, if you have to give him a shot," I said, "let me give it to him because I can put my hands all over him." And I said, "Then you can come up and check him out." So we walked down to where that bull was lying down and the vet looked at him from 10 or 15 feet away. And he said, "I don't have to give him a shot."

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• He said, "I can tell you right now what the problem is. It's cancer." He said, "The reason he's staying by himself is he's hurting and he doesn't want to be around other animals." And I said, "What can I do?" He said, "You can't do anything other than put him down." He said, "That's all you can do. He's going to die." I said, "OK, thank you." So I walked the vet back up to the house. He got in his truck and left, and I walked back down.

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• to where Beauregard was lying down, and I stood about six feet from him. And I said this, "Beauregard, I know you don't understand a word I'm saying to you, but the vet said you had cancer. And the vet said the only thing I could do is put you to sleep. But I said, I'm not gonna do that. I said, you've been a good bull, and I love you, and you're a friend."

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• I said, "As long as you can live, and eat and drink, you can stay here. I said, and when you get down and you can't come to food, I'll bring it to you." And by the way, I did for about six or eight months before he ever died. And I said, "But I just want you to know, I am not going to put you to sleep. I'm not going to do that."

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• The Lord is my witness. That bull got up, came up to me, put his nose on my foot, smelled me all the way up, and stopped right here just so I could pet him like I normally do. The hair on my neck stood up. I know that bull did not understand English, but yet he understood something. I don't know. All he is saying is, "You ask the beast," he said, "they will teach you. Ask the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee."

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• "And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." Wow. How about that passage in Proverbs 6 and verse 6 where he says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." Are we to learn from ants? And the answer is yes. How they provide for themselves in the summer so they will have during the winter. Look how they help each other. Look how they work together. Look how they cooperate. I'm just simply saying God is saying that we can learn from creation.

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• Now, I want you to look back at Psalm 92, and the reason I gave you that is very simple: because Psalm 92 consists of 15 verses. I want to work my way through it. But as you can readily see, this psalm is about creation. And this psalm is a psalm or song of the Sabbath. If you have a title above Psalm 92 in your Bibles, and mine does, it just simply says this: "A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day." So Psalm 92 was a song that was to be sung in the tabernacle and in the temple on the Sabbath day. Now Martin Geier said this, and I'm quoting: He said, "The songs which the Levites formerly sang in the sanctuary are these: on the first day they sang Psalm 24:1-10. On the second day, Psalm 48:1-14. On the third day, Psalm 82:1-8. On the fourth day, Psalm 104:1-35. On the fifth day, Psalm 81:1-16. On the sixth day, Psalm 93:1-5."

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• And on the seventh day, they sang Psalm 92:1-15.

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• which is a Psalm of the Sabbath. Now, it also refers to that future Sabbath where we will rest in Him. You remember that our Creator, the Bible says, rested on the seventh day. Not that He was tired, but He ceased His works on the Sabbath day. So we are to rejoice in God's creation Sabbath, but we're also to rejoice in the New Testament Sabbath as well. There is the old creation. There's the new creation. You remember that passage in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where he said, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." And then in the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 15, he said, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." And in each instance, the word "creature" is the word "creation." We are a new creation in Jesus Christ. So, we are celebrating now not just the old creation, but the new creation as well. I want us to look in Psalm 92, beginning there with verses 1 and 2.

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• We'll get through verse 5 today, but look in verses 1 and 2. He said, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night." Now, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord"—I'm going to explain that momentarily—"and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High." Most of us cannot sing. I would be embarrassed to probably have to sing a solo in front of everyone because I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I said that one time and one lady said, "You can carry it, you just can't dump it." Well, whatever, I can't dump it, I can't carry it. But he said, "It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord and sing praises." Then he said, "To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night." Stop and think about this: "To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning." What kind of lovingkindness can we show forth in the morning?

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• Or that God shows us: He allowed us to live through the night. Then he says, "And thy faithfulness every night," or "and thy faithfulness every night." What's that mean? He's allowed us to live through the day. Okay.

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• Now watch this. Spurgeon said on these two verses: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord." It is good ethically, for it is the Lord's right. It is good emotionally, for it is pleasant to the heart. And it is good practically, for it leads others to render the same homage. When duty and pleasure combine, who will go backward? To give thanks to God is but a small return for the great benefits wherewith He daily loadeth us. Yet as He by His Spirit calls it a good thing, we must not despise it or neglect it.

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• We thank men when they oblige us. How much more ought we to bless the Lord when He benefits us? Devout praise is always good. It is never out of season, never superfluous, but is especially suitable on the Sabbath. Now listen: a Sabbath without thanksgiving is a Sabbath profaned.

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• Now, he said, "To give thanks to God is but a small return for the great benefits that He has bestowed upon us." I could not read Spurgeon's quote without thinking of two passages of Scripture. The first one, if you will turn to Psalm 103 and look at verses 1-5. Psalm 103, verses 1-5, look what David says: "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

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• "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Now watch this. David says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord with all that is within me." And what? "And forget not all his benefits." What are they? He forgives all our iniquities. He heals all our diseases. He redeems our life from destruction. None of us know how many times God has saved us and God has spared us. He crowneth thee with lovingkindness and with tender mercies. Look, He's allowed us to live. He's given us family. He's given us friends and He supplied our needs. Verse 5: "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things"—even M&Ms, David, and chocolate, Steve. Wow. "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." In other words, He strengthens us and allows us to enjoy everything. Well, certainly—

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• Spurgeon is right when he said, "It is but a small return to thank God for His multitudinous benefits that He gives to us." And then that passage in Lamentations 3:22-23, where the Bible says, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." And the interesting thing, when you look back in Psalm 92, verses 1 and 2, when he says this, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name, O most High, to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."

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• In other words, this is a cycle. God does this daily for us. And we ought to be aware of everything that He's doing and give Him thanks.

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• Now, if you look at verse 3, all verse 3 is is a determination of David to praise the Lord upon musical instruments. He said, "Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound." Well, David was a musician. David could play. David could sing. David wrote the Psalms, at least most of them. So that is just his determination. So there is nothing wrong with you singing to the Lord and playing to the Lord even if you can't sing. You might want to do it by yourself out in the woods or in the shower, but at least there's nothing wrong with that, you know. So that's all David is saying. Now look at verses 4 and 5. He says, "For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work"—singular—"I will triumph in the works of thy hands"—plural. "O Lord, how great are thy works"—plural—"and thy thoughts are very deep." Now before I expound and explain that, let me give you one quick quote by David Dickson.

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• He said this on verse 4: "Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work." One of the parts of the well-spent Sabbath is looking upon and the consideration of the works of creation. The consideration of the Lord's works will afford us much sweet refreshment and joy when God blesses the meditation. And when it is so, we ought to acknowledge our gladness most thankfully and lift up our heart in His ways.

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• Now, so he's talking about celebrating God's creation. In Psalm 102, verse 25, David said it like this: "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth." Then he said, "And the heavens are the work of thy hands." So when you look at creation, think about the foundations of the earth that God has laid, and think about the Scripture: "He hangeth the world upon nothing." Ha! And think about the heavens being the work of His hands. And David said in Psalm 143, verse 5, "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." In other words, I meditate, I think on the works of thy hands.

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• Have you ever just looked at a tree? I see trees all the time. And there are times when I'm sitting in a tree stand, I just start thanking God for trees. Just stop and think about all the benefits we have from those trees and the beauties that are presented to us through the leaves. In fact, I just took two pictures this week of maple trees in our yard. Unbelievable. Even those little hickory trees that turn yellow and then gold and then brown.

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• This is musing on the works of creation. However, I want to show you another thought. If you look in Psalm 92, he said this, verse 4: "For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands." Now, David said the Lord had made him glad through His work, and that he's going to triumph in the works of God's hands. When we talk about God's works, we normally summarize them through creation, redemption, and providence. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Psalm 28 and Colossians chapter 2. Psalm 28 and Colossians chapter 2. We're going to be reading Psalm 28 first, and then we're going to turn to the book of Colossians. Okay? So notice if you would please, Psalm 28, and notice if you would, verse 5. Because now David is talking about the wicked whom God is going to destroy. In fact, we'll read verse 3 just so you can see the wicked are in the context. Psalm 28, verse 3, he says, "Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts."

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• "Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert." In other words, give them exactly what they deserve, give them justice. And then he tells another reason: "Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up." Isn't that interesting? Because they regard not the works of the Lord. David said, "I'm going to triumph in thy work. I'm going to rejoice in thy works." And now he says in verse 5 that these people do not even regard the operation of God's hands. What is the operation of God's hands? If you will look in the book of Colossians chapter 2 and verse 12, you will find out. Colossians 2, verse 12. In fact, we can read verse 11: "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith"—

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• "of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." So the operation of God is when God redeems us, when God regenerates us, when God saves us. And He is telling us the very power that God exerted in raising Jesus Christ from the dead, He exerted that same power in saving us. That is the operation of God's hands. And David said God is going to destroy the wicked because they regard not the operation of His hands. Wow! So this Psalm, Psalm 92, is not only rejoicing in the first creation, it's also rejoicing in the second creation in Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to look in Psalm 92 in verse 5. He says it like this: "O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep." You know, David in Psalm 8—and if you've never read Psalm 8 or haven't read it recently, I would encourage you to do so. Psalm 8 is a wonderful psalm, but verse 3, David says this: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained."

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• Notice if you would: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained." If you will read Psalm 8, you will find that there is a mention in Psalm 8 about the paths of the seas. You may not have ever heard of Matthew Fontaine Maury. Matthew Fontaine Maury is known as the pathfinder of the seas, the father of oceanography. He was a Christian. And he was reading Psalm 8. And he said, "If God says that there are paths in the sea, then there are paths in the sea."

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• And he's the man who came up with the ocean currents and how they flow and how a ship could get a hold of these currents and go far faster than anything had ever, ever gone before. And it's all because he believed the Bible. Matthew Fontaine Maury was also a Confederate soldier and there's a huge statue of him in Richmond, Virginia. He came up with some of the most noted studies on oceanography. He is known as the father of oceanography, Matthew Fontaine Maury, just from reading Psalm 8, meditating upon it. So David said, "When I consider"—

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• "thy heavens, the work of thy fingers." How about this one in Isaiah 28, verse 29: "This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." And then when you get to Romans chapter 11, verses 33 and 34, where the apostle says, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" No wonder David said in Psalm 92 and verse 5, "O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep." And of course, in Psalm 14, verse 5, He again speaks of God's wonderful works and the multitudinous thoughts that God has toward us.

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• Now, let me give you one last quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He says this: "And thy thoughts are very deep." The Lord's plans are as marvelous as his acts. His designs are as profound as his doings are vast. Creation is immeasurable, and the wisdom displayed in it is unsearchable. Some men think, but cannot work, and others are mere drudges working without thought. In the eternal, the conception and the execution go together.

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• Providence is inexhaustible, and the divine decrees which originated are inscrutable. Redemption is grand beyond conception, and the thoughts of love which planted are infinite. Man is superficial. God is inscrutable. Man is shallow. God is deep. Dive as we may, we shall never fathom the mysterious plan, nor exhaust the boundless wisdom of the all-comprehending mind of the Lord. We stand by the fathomless sea of divine wisdom and exclaim with holy awe, 'O the depth of thy wisdom and thy judgments.' Now, just because we cannot know God perfectly and just because we cannot dive into the depths of His wisdom does not mean that we content ourselves with knowing nothing.

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• We have to consider His creation. We have to consider that God commanded us to ask the beasts, to ask the fowls of the air, to ask the fishes of the sea, to ask the earth.

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• Now this is not New Age. I'm just simply saying that God has said that there are certain things that we can learn from His creation if we will consider it, think about it, and meditate upon it. You should look at trees differently by the time I finish the next two messages than you do now. You should look at animals differently. Sometimes you're going to find those dumb animals are not quite as dumb as we make them out to be, and sometimes we are the dumber of the animals. It's amazing. The trees of the Lord, the Scripture says, are full of sap. What does that mean? The trees of the Lord are full of sap. Well, we're going to find out, Lord willing, as we look at those trees that God has planted. Let's pray.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your goodness and your kindness. We ask, Lord, that you would teach us. Help us, Lord, to learn not just from creation and the animals and the insects, but help us, Lord, from thy word, thy truth, thy special revelation. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:55:48Z