Mercy Unto The Heavens - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lacerre Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! The praise of my God and King, the triumph of his grace!

This is Lacerre Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Grace is a charming sound, harmonious to be heard, And with the echo shall resound, And all the saints shall hear. Grace hurts the dark, the way, To save rebellious man, And all the steps that praise his way, Which to the wondrous plan. Grace first described by name, In God's eternal book, The praise that gave me to the Lamb, Who all my sorrows took. Grace led my roaming feet, To gent the heavenly role, And knew to find, Each hour I meet, While prayers be gone to God. Grace taught my soul to pray, And made my mind so full. But praise that kept me to this day, And will not let me go. Grace all the world shall crown, Through everlasting gaze, Evading him the topmost stone, And well deserves the praise. If the messages we bring on this broadcast are a blessing to you, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us how the Lord has used the truth of his word to be a comfort tower to give you instruction.

If you'd like to help keep the program on the air, you can write us at Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Rock of ages, glad for me, Let me hide myself in thee, Let the water and the blood, From thy womb, inside which flow, Be a sin, a double cure, Save from wrath, and make me new. Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no longer know, This for sin could not atone, Thou my Savior and Thou alone.

In my hand no price I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold, beyond thy throne, Rock of ages, glad for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Today we continue with the message entitled, Mercy Unto the Heavens.

The text is Psalm 57 verse 9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations, For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, And thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let thy glory be above the earth. So in talking about mercy, we have first defined it. We have considered it in what the scriptures have to say about it.

And then we'll come to talk about the fact we are to ask for it and then to give thanks for it. How great is the mercy of God. Verse 12, As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. That's good news to a sinner.

You feel convicted, you feel guilty, you know you've done wrong, you'd like to reverse your steps, you'd like to wipe it out, and you can't do it. But there's one that can forgive. And therefore, as far as the east is from the west, He hath removed our transgressions from us and remembered them no more. Verse 13, Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him, For he knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust.

That's good to know, isn't it? We know that God is a God of power, God of greatness, a God of glory. He is holy.

He is a God who sometimes displays His wrath because He hates sin and will punish it. But how good to know that if you are a recipient of the mercy of God, if you're one of His children, He remembers your frame that you are dust. He knows about your weakness as you come humbly before Him. Psalm 145, verse 8, says, The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all.

Now think about that. God is good even to the ungodly. Points out, as Jesus spoke, that the rain comes and falls upon the just and the unjust.

Some refer to that as common grace. Well, it is by the grace of God that even the ungodly are sustained and God provides for them. The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies over all His works. So once again, the emphasis is put upon the fact that God's mercy is great. Furthermore, it endures.

It doesn't just last for a while. Psalm 136, verse 1, says, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. And that statement is made in all the 26 verses of that psalm.

Repeat it over and over. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. And then I love the expression made by Jeremiah. Although it was in a dark time for him, going through difficult days, he said, He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He felt that affliction had come and God's hand was upon him. And let me tell you, when God bends his bow, he'll always hit the target. He says, He's in a dark place. But he goes on to say this, It is of the Lord's mercies, this is Lamentations 3.22, 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. How is it that we're not consumed? It's of the Lord's mercies because God is merciful.

We have to say it in our own case, not just as Jeremiah recited, but must we not conclude? It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Think of His mercy to sustain us, give us air to breathe, sustain us in the weakness of our bodies, even in times of sickness and frailty, sustain us when we're on the highway. His mercy is there. His mercy is new every morning. His compassions fail not. And then there is a mercy that might not initially be recognized as a mercy.

Let's look at it. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. How can chastening be mercy?

Well, think about it. If there is a child whose parents do not love Him enough to train Him, to discipline Him, to chastise Him when it's necessary, that's a terrible situation. A parent that recognizes his duty before God will train a child, bring him up in the way that he ought to go, and will exercise discipline. And God says, For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. So one of the evidences of sonship, one of the evidences that mercy has been bestowed upon you is the mercy of God to chasten you when you go astray. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Oh yes, chastening is painful. It's grievous.

It's something that you want soon to be over. Years ago there was a little boy sitting with his father in a church down in south Georgia. And at the Sunday morning service this little kid just could not get still.

He was just disturbing things. So finally the father picked him up and he was marching down the center aisle to take him out. The little boy cries out, Brother, pray for me. Well, there may be times when you felt the chastening rod and you felt like saying, Brothers, pray for me. This is a difficult time. It's not joyous.

It's grievous. But nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So when you're praying, Lord, help me to get the lesson.

I don't want to have to go through this again. I want to get the lesson now. Whatever correction needs to be made, whatever change is necessary in my life, help me to recognize it. Yes, it's the very mercy of God that He even chastens us when we've gone astray. And then as we think further about mercy, ask for it.

You ask because you need it. God is a holy God and you are a sinner. Romans 3 19 says, Now we know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.

There's none that can't exempt themselves and say, I'm not a part of that fallen race. No, all the world has become guilty before God. Verse 23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How can justice be upheld and mercy still be given? God doesn't just ignore sin.

God doesn't just overlook it and say, Well, I'm not going to pay any attention to it. His holiness, His justice demands that payment be made. Psalm 85 10 says, Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Whatever immediate application there was in the writing of the psalmist, I can't help but believe it looked forward to that time that the greatest unity between mercy and truth would be at the cross.

When Jesus Christ laid down his life and paid the penalty, so now God can be merciful because the price is paid. In Luke chapter 16, verse nine, it says that he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Generally, a person who is self righteous feels their superior to everybody else. They despise others.

They look down on them. So Jesus says, here's the parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterous, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess.

There's a man bubbling with pride. Lord, I'm superior. I'm not like other people. I'm not ungodly. I'm certainly not like this publican over here. And look at what I do.

I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breath saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

Have you ever been there? If you haven't, I pray you will. That we come humbly before God acknowledging, Lord, I am a sinner. I've broken your law.

I'm a rebel by nature. Have mercy. God be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted themselves shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The hymn writer puts it, I own I'm guilty, own I'm vile, yet by salvation's free. And in thy all-abounding grace, O Lord, remember me. Somebody may say, well, I go to church all the time. I was brought up in a Christian home.

Well, that's well and good. But if you've never gone to that place, as did the publican, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And recognize that your salvation alone is dependent on his mercy, the work of Jesus Christ at the cross.

You need to go there. So we see pictures of mercy in the scripture. What did the publican receive? Mercy. He didn't deserve anything. He received mercy.

He went down to his house justified. What about the prodigal son? When he said, I will arise and go to my father. What did he receive?

Mercy. I remember talking to a man one time and he says, you know, there's a lot about the Bible I don't understand. The one thing that troubles me more than anything else is that story about the prodigal son. He said, it just wasn't right. That boy didn't deserve to have a feast. He didn't deserve that at all.

I said, that's the point of the lesson. He didn't deserve it. But it was mercy that he was welcomed by the father. What did he receive? Not what he deserved. He received mercy. What about Saul of Tarsus, a great enemy of the church, persecuting Christians, despising the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What did he receive? Mercy. And the Lord called his name on the road to Damascus. Saul, Saul, how persecute is thou me? Humbled this man, transformed his life, used him then as the greatest of the apostles. Oh, how great is the mercy of God.

Paul could then say, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. And we see so many examples of this in scripture as God's people cry out for mercy. Psalm 25 16, turn thee unto me and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.

You ever been there? We felt to be desolate, afflicted, heavy burdens. You didn't think you could carry it any farther. And you prayed, Lord, turn unto me. Have mercy on me. Psalm 30 verse 10, hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me. Lord, be thou my helper.

Oh, we need help desperately to cope with all of the challenges of life. Lord, have mercy on me and be my helper. Psalm 33 verse 22, let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon me, according as we hope in thee. Our hope is alone in the Lord.

Have mercy. And then David's prayer after his great sin, and he'd been confronted with the prophet said, Thou art the man. Psalm 51 verse 1, David says, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. What a comfort to know that as sinners, we can approach a holy God and come with a confession of this kind and expect that there will be cleansing. He says, restore to me the joy of thy salvation. Psalm 86 verse 5 says, For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. So in all of this, we see those that call upon the Lord. And we're to call and expect that there's hope and blessing and help as we seek his mercy.

And then the fourth thing is to give thanks for it. Psalm 94 verse 17. Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence when I said, My foot slippeth. Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. The psalmist said, I wouldn't have made it.

I would have dwelt in silence. I said, My foot slippeth. I'm not going to make it. I'm going down.

I'm sliding. Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. That's the source of our help. Psalm 32 verse 10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart. So he says, mercy is going to compass me about.

It's going to be on every side. Now as a result of his mercy, he says, let us rejoice. We're to give thanks for it. Let us shout with joy.

Yes, his mercy is great. And then Psalm 59 verse 16. But I will sing of thy power. Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning. For thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of thy trouble. I'm going to sing of thy mercy. I have called upon the Lord and he has heard me and he has been merciful to me. And I'm not going to just go on my way and forget about it. I want to sing about it. I want to talk about it. And I want to speak concerning his mercy to those about me, even unto the nations as he said previously.

So here are some things we've learned about mercy. It's great unto the heavens. It is abundant. It is plenteous. It's according to God's rich mercy. It is tender.

It endures forever. It is unmerited favor. And there are multitudes of avenues through which the mercy of God is displayed. Do you feel your need of mercy?

And listen to this. Hebrews 4 16. Let us therefore come boldly what to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Isn't that wonderful that you are invited to come, encouraged to come, even come boldly. You say, well, I'm not worthy. You're right.

You're not. But you come boldly because you're coming in the name of Jesus Christ. The previous verse cited him as our great intercessor. We come to him knowing that there is hope according to mercy. You say, I need mercy. You come not to the bar of justice, but to the throne of grace. And you obtain the mercy you need and find grace to help.

So let's think once more about our text. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations.

I'm not going to be quiet about it. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth.

Oh, may that be our prayer. And may our song and declaration be to praise God for the abundance of his mercy. Dear Lord, we thank thee that thy mercy is great. Thy mercy is abundant. Thy mercy goes on and on forever. We need thy mercy on a daily basis. We need it in our lives individually.

We need it as a church. We need mercy on our nation in these troubled times. We thank thee that thou hast encouraged us to come boldly that we may obtain the mercy that we need and help. O Lord, give us that mercy and give us that help and help us to magnify thy name. We praise thee. We rejoice that thou art a God of great mercy. Hear us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Jesus, what a friend for sinners, Jesus, lover of my soul.

Friends may bear me close, assail me. He, my Savior, makes me whole. What a wonderful truth to consider that the mercy of God is great unto the heavens.

There's an abundance of it. And if we know that in ourselves we're fallen bankrupt sinners, we rejoice to hear the good news of the gospel, that there is an abundance of mercy in the grace of God to rescue us from our low fallen state. I hope that you will take time to write us this week. Until next week at the same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Jesus, what a Savior, Hallelujah, what a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.

Jesus, what a help in sorrow while the billows o'er me roam. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Hallelujah, what a Savior, Hallelujah, what a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.