Indeed,does not verse 24 echo the sentiments expressed in the recorded prayer of theLord in the garden of Gethsemane: Father, if it be possible, take this cup fromme…

Thus Andrew Bonar entitles thisPsalm as “Messiah’s complaint and comforts in the days of his humiliation.”“For,” he says, “here we see the Righteous One, the Lord Jesus, laying thefoundation of his kingdom of redeemed ones, by fully satisfying the demands ofjustice in their room.”

This is how we may sing thisPsalm. Indeed, it is with this in mind that we can sing this psalm with fullassurance that the Father will hear our cries.

This morning, I do not proposeto study the whole psalm, but on this special occasion of our 10^thAnniversary, I want to highlight the heart of this psalm, which may be taken asour Lord prays for the church even as he faced the prospect of the Cross.

TheLord helping us, I would like to highlight just four sentiments from thesewords.

1. We Serve An Everlasting God (v. 11-12)

¹¹ My days are like a shadow thatdeclineth; and I am withered like grass. ¹² But thou, O LORD, shaltendure forever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

I believe the Spirit intendsfor us to take these as the words of Christ. I believe by these words, thepsalmist was prophetically anticipating the thought of Christ, perhaps in theGarden of Gethsemane.

But now the words of our Lordare intended by the Spirit for us to take in our lips to sing in worship inunion with Christ, to admonish one another.

“Letthe word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishingone another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in yourhearts to the Lord” (Col 3:16).

We are singing the word ofChrist when we sing:

¹¹   My days are like a shadealway,

          Which doth decliningswiftly pass;

     And I am withered away,

          Much like unto thefading grass.

¹²  But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,

          From change and allmutation free,

     And to all generationssure

          Shall thy remembrance ever be.

As we sing these words, we neednot remove ourselves from owning the pronoun. We need not sing the wordsdispassionately as if it does not have immediate relevance or application tous. Rather we may take the word of the Lord as our own word to apply in our ownsituation today.

Indeed, as soon as we singthese words, we find ourselves identifying with the words in our own lives. Arenot our days like a declining shadow, do we not wither like grass? We are heretoday, and gone tomorrow. But God endures forever!

Every time we have birthdaysand anniversaries, I am reminded of how quickly time flies for us and how soonit will be that we will be with the Lord. Time is short for us. But God willendure forever.

Webegan as a congregation of the Lord ten years ago. A lot has changed sincethen. We are worshipping in a different place from where we first started. Manyof our original members have moved on, while others have been added. We havegrown more mature, our families have grown larger. But don’t forget, we havegrown older. I am today ten years nearer to the grave than when we started.

As a church we are ten yearsnearer to the return of the Lord than when we first began. Will we last thislong? I have reason to believe so, for God has promised that He who has begun agood work in us will perform it unto the day of Christ. But will you last thatlong? Will I last that long? If not, then we are ten years nearer today to our lastworship service together than when we first begun together.

It is not my intention to soundpessimistic. But my point is: time is short. Our lives are withering likegrass. Our time together is declining like a shadow. We are, as it were, besetby changes and failures even as we pass rapidly from the scene bothindividually and corporately!

But thank God that He enduresforever. Everything may change but God will never change. When my body is lyingin the dust, when this building has finally been torn down, God will still bethe same.

WhenI am not here to watch over my children, God will still be here. When all of ushere are all gone to be with the Lord, God will still endure. He will be withour children and our children’s children as long as the Lord tarries. Thank Godthat he is everlasting and unchanging, and therefore He is trustworthy. ThankGod we can place our hope on him, when everything else in this world are likeshifting sand and fading grass.

Thank God that He enduresdespite our failures and despite any changes for good or for bad we may sufferas a congregation.

And thank Godthat He will not only endure, but He will vindicate and bless His people…

2. God will Vindicate & BlessHis People

¹³ Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: forthe time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. ¹⁴ For thyservants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

Our Lord was in the Garden ofGethsemane thinking not only about the suffering that he had to endure. He wasno doubt thinking about the church. This was why he came in the first place.This was the reason he was heading to the cross. During his earthly ministry,the Lord had repeatedly referred to the time that was approaching. “Mine houris not yet come”, he told his mother when she asked him to help the bridegroomwho lacked wine (Jn 2:4). About six and a half months before Gethsemane, theLord told his brothers: “My time is not yet come” (Jn 7:6). Then he told hisdisciples who were going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles:“Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is notyet full come” (Jn 7:8).

Laterwhen the Lord went down to Jerusalem, some of his enemies sought to arrest him,but we are told “no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come”(Jn 7:30). That happened again later when the Lord was in the treasury of thetemple, where we are told, “no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yetcome” (Jn 8:20).

But now the hour had come.

The time had come for the Lordto go to the Cross. But the hours of tribulation for our Lord were also thebeginning of the hour of blessing for His church. The time for the Father tofavour Zion had come. The set time was come (v. 13) for the spiritual Jerusalemto experience the Lord’s blessings. It was time for the Father to bless andvindicate the Church.

It was time for the promisesgiven to the people for generations to be fulfilled. It was time for theprayers which the people had uttered for generations to be fulfilled. God wouldvindicate his people. He would restore Zion according to the hope and desiresof the people.

Today the time has indeed come.Christ our Lord has gone to the Cross. He paid for our sin, and he rose againfor our justification. And He has ascended and sent His Spirit to fill thechurch.

Therefore today, more than evenat the day when the Jews were in exile, and more than the day when our Lord wasin the Garden of Gethsamane, the set time for God’s favour upon Zion has come.

Today we may sing this psalmwith anticipation and expectation. We may expect great things from the Lordbecause we are in the time when God has promised great blessing.

Today when we feel that thingsare not going on as well as we wish it to go as a church, we may confidently sing:

¹³   Thou shalt arise, and mercyyet

          Thou to mount Sionshalt extend:

     Her time for favour whichwas set,

          Behold, is now cometo an end.

And we can sing with great expectation believingthat God is pleased to arise for his church when we desire for him to visit herwith his blessing. For the Lord will arise to show mercy and favour for thesake of his elect who love the stone and dust of Jerusalem.

Beloved brethren, the saints ofold took pleasure, as it were, in the stones and favour the dust of Zion. Theirattitude toward Zion was one of positive hope and love. And for that reasonthey might confidently sing that God would restore Zion to them for Goddelights to arise for his people.

Oh look to the Father togetherwith Christ the King of the Church. The Father will yet grant us the desires ofour heart. He will arise to vindicate His church and He will bless her for thesake of his son and all united to him in faith, love and hope!

And while he blesses us, hewill glorify himself by drawing other sheep which he has unto Zion…

3. God will Glorify Himself by Drawing the Heathen to Zion

¹⁵ So the heathen shall fear the nameof the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. ¹⁶ When theLORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

God will arise for the sake ofhis church. He will magnify His church for the sake of his children who loveher. How does he arise for the church? He arises for the church by doing greatthings for the church. In the past, God arose for the church with great signsand wonders such as when He delivered her out of Egypt; or when he smote185,000 of the Assyrian Army in one night; or when he enabled the congregationat Pentecost to speak in many languages of the world.

When he does so, then theheathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and even kings and powerful people onthe earth will be affected by His glory, and drawn to Him.

Forwhen God shows his mighty power through the church, then sinners are stopped intheir tracks and made to consider if they should seek after him. So it happenedduring the days of Esther, where we read that after the king’s decree on behalfof the Jews went out, “many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fearof the Jews fell upon them.” (Est 8:17).

Thissame thing will repeat itself in our day if God arises on our behalf. Was notthe Prophet Zechariah speaking about our own time when he declared:

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days itshall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of thenations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, Wewill go with you: for we have heard that God is with you” (Zec 8:23).

What a beautiful picture! Inthose days, the people from all languages will tug at the clothes of the Jewand plead with them, ‘We will go with you’! We have heard that God is with you.Bring us with you to Jerusalem, for we desire to worship Him.

Butwho is a Jew?

“²⁸For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,which is outward in the flesh: ²⁹ But he is a Jew, which is oneinwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in theletter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Rom 2:28-29)

We are the Jews! We are theones whom Zechariah is talking about. We are the ones whom the people of theworld will ask to lead them to Jerusalem.

Today we do not see much ofthis happening, for the church is languishing. But do we not see it at the timeof apostles when multitudes were crying out “What must we do to be saved?” Anddo we not see it at the time of the 16^th century Reformation andtimes of revival that the Lord granted the church?

Will the Lord arise for usagain? Will the Lord draw sinners to the church again? Will the Lord magnifyhis glory again by building up Zion?

Belovedbrethren and children, is this your prayer? Is this your hope? Will you cast inyour lot to labour to that end that the world may see that the God we worshipis a mighty God who transforms lives and can build up a mighty people where thedevices of man fails?

Will you not therefore joinwith me to pray to that end? The Lord will hear our humble prayers.

4. Godwill Hear the Cries of His People

¹⁷ He will regard the prayer of thedestitute, and not despise their prayer. ¹⁸ This shall be writtenfor the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praisethe LORD.

Brethren, time is short, wewill pass from this scene in no time. But what will we leave behind? Will weleave behind a rich heritage? Will our children yet unborn read of whathappened in our generation with praise and thanksgiving in their hearts—just aswe read of the days of the Reformation with praise and thanksgiving in ourhearts?

Willour children and children’s children down the generations if the Lord tarries,have reason to read the annals of PCC and praise the Lord for what he did inour generation?

Ifthey will, we must begin today with prayer. Everything that is worthy to talkabout for generations to come always begins with prayer!

Ifwe would pray, God will hear our prayers and do a mighty deed in ourgeneration. “He will regard the prayer ofthe destitute, and not despise their prayer” (v. 17).

He will hear us when we come toHim and pour out our hearts to Him in regard to the church. Are we spirituallypoverty stricken? Are we destitute of fruits? Are we existing only for the sakeof existing? Shall we not begin to pray? Shall we not begin to labour? Shall wenot add in the extra to make this an extra-ordinary congregation? Shall we notpray that the Lord will enlarge our coast as as Jabez of old did:

Ohthat thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine handmight be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may notgrieve me!” (1 Chr 4:10)

“And God granted him that whichhe requested.” God will hear our cries. And his mighty deeds that He will dothrough us will be recorded for our posterity to come that children yet unbornshall praise the Lord.

Today, beloved brethren andchildren, we have the opportunity to write history. We have the opportunity todo the extra that will magnify God’s name greatly and benefit our futuregenerations.

Letus begin to pray and let us begin to do. What shall we do? That is somethingfor us to think about. What can you do today that will have impact down thegenerations?

• Could it be making a decisionto be wholeheartedly committed to the work of the Lord here?
• Could it be resolving to takeyour covenant seriously?
• Could it be starting andmaintaining family worship for some?
• Could it be being active ininviting unbelieving friends to church?
• Could it be starting and maintaining family worship for some?
• Could it be being active in inviting unbelieving friends to church?
• Could it be coming forward to serve as anofficer in the church for others?
• Could it be taking theinitiative to do something greater: starting a translation fellowship; openinga covenant school?
• Could it be opening a medicalclinic for the poor?  Starting an old agehome?
• Could it be starting a Reformedseminary for training third world pastors?

Whatever we may think or dreamof doing, let us remember to pray. The Lord will hear our cries. And then letus put our hand to doing what we desire to do with all our heart—serving theLord out of a deep sense of gratitude for all that He has done for us.

God our Father will look downfrom the height of his sanctuary. He will have pity on us for the sake of HisSon. He will never deny His Son. He will answer our cries to the end that hisname may be praised from generation to generations.

Conclusion

Beloved brethren and children,what did we learn from the few verses we considered?

First, we are reminded that weserve an everlasting God (v. 11-12). All may change, but God does not, and thatis what counts. Man may change, so it is not worth serving man. But God iseverlasting, it is always worthwhile to serve Him.

Secondly, we are comforted toknow that God loves His people and will vindicate and bless them (v. 13-14). Weare not merely a society of people. We are the people redeemed by the preciousblood of the Son of God. Therefore God will bless us.

Thirdly, we are encouraged thatGod would glorify himself by using us,—if we are willing to serve Him,— to drawthe heathen to Zion (v. 15-16). May the Lord stir up in us a heart ofcompassion for the lost and a deep desire to see the name of our Saviourmagnified in the world.

Finally, we are assured thatGod will hear the prayers of his people (v. 17-18). He will yet do great thingsthrough us if we would first apply to him in prayer.

Beloved brethren and children,what are these things to you? These past ten years have been amazing. We havegone through thick and thin. We have ridden the high places of joy and we havewandered through the valley of humiliation.

But we thank God that He hasbeen with us through the mountains and the valleys. We thank God that he didnot abandon us despite our failures.

And thank God for the promisethat He will yet do great things through us.

Thank God for the opportunityto write history that glorifies God for our children.

May the Lord help us! May Hedraw us to himself and make us the instruments of His praise for generations tocome. May He help us as we renew our covenant to the end that we may in a smallway begin to contribute to the rich and godly heritage that we want to leaveour children with!