If you would turn back with me to our last scripture reading this evening, our text this evening is the 33rd Psalm. I think it'd be useful for us as we begin this evening to begin in a cave. A cave that's carved deep into the earth, a cave vertically cut, a cave that has a source of light behind it. And from that, you see in the cave, a group of men. Men who were raised in that place from their infancy to their adulthood, who've never left the cavern, who've always been there and who've always and only known the shadows on the cave wall. It's all they've known. They, they're chained to the cave, believe that is the sum total of reality. That's all that there is. But imagine with me for a moment that one of those men, he breaks his chains and he ascends the cave. He ascends and as soon as he enters, as soon as he enters the mouth of the cave, he sees sunlight. exchanged for that firelight. Color and a verdant hillside exchanged for the cave's wall. The man would say he's never seen before. The man would say he has not really grasped reality before that moment. This is the moment where he sees everything in a new way. And I know I've said this to you in the past, but the scriptures urge us to be that man. You and I, we see everything so darkly, so dimly. The natural man, he thinks the shadows on the cavern wall is the sum total of reality, and yet the scriptures say it's not so at all. there is something higher than yourself that you must see. Realities beyond what you've known, you must now contemplate. But the scriptures not only call us to contemplate things that are higher than ourselves, the scriptures in a very challenging way, they urge us to see old things, familiar things in new ways. I think friend, in many ways, that is one of the most challenging aspects of scripture. That challenge is given to us in our texts this evening. This 33rd Psalm is a calling for you and I to see things as we've never seen them before. These things are old and they are familiar to us, but if we see them as the scriptures urge us to see them, We'll see them as we've never seen them before. I want you to notice how the Psalm begins this evening. You notice here that he begins by saying, praise is comely for the upright. Now, he says comely there, it doesn't mean fitting, he means beautifies. He says praise, that is the praise of God beautifies, adorns the upright. Now it's striking, friend, what he says here. It's quite profound. He says, that which is the crowning aspect of the righteous, that which really adorns and really beautifies the godly is their praise. It's their worship of God. Striking, isn't it? But that's followed then by an exhortation. He then says that you and I are to enter into this. He says, for we are to praise the Lord. with harp, sing unto him with a psaltery and an instrument of 10 strings. You and I, we are to be engaged in this work. But what is the work as he describes it for us? You find it there in verse three, he says, sing unto him a new song. Too much ink and too much consternation has been poured over the meaning of new song here. It's really straightforward. He's not calling for a new composition. As you notice here, he's saying, you need to sing. As you've never sang. before. You need to sing in a way, you don't need a new composition, you need to sing in a new manner as you've never sang before. In fact, the very next line confirms that, doesn't it? He says, play skillfully with a loud noise. The word skillfully there is really to be one who is engaged zealously in the work. Sing as you've never sang before, he says. Engage in this work that is that which adorns the godly. Do that vigorously and skillfully. Sing as never before. But then the question, of course, is why? Why? And that brings us to the fourth verse. He tells us in verses four and five why this particular exhortation at this time. He says, for the word of the Lord is right. and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Now, I want us to just step back for a moment and take that line by line. He says here, friend, that the word of the Lord is right. The word right there carries with it the idea of faithful. That which the Lord God says, he brings to pass. Not one word will fall to the ground. All of his works are done in truth. It's the same idea simply expressed in a parallel way. The Lord our God is faithful. So sing a new song, sing in a new manner as you've never sang before, why? Because the word of the Lord is sure, his works are faithful. But then he says this in the next line, he says in verse five, that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. The earth is full, filled, that means at every corner, at every part of the globe, Every part, there is the goodness of the Lord. But what is the word goodness here? The word goodness there is probably a word in the Hebrew that you do know. It's hesed. Hesed. It's a word that you and I, we often find in our text translated as mercy. Sometimes translated as loving kindness. And the idea behind it, friend, is that that covenant mercy, that covenant and that special goodness that God shows to his people, to his inheritance. That's the goodness of the psalmist says the earth is filled with, the covenant mercy, the covenant love, the covenant faithfulness of God. It fills every corner of the globe. Now, friend, you and I, we might say, and the scriptures do say, the earth is full of the glory of God. The earth is full of the evidence of his wisdom. The earth is a display of his power. But here he says the earth, every part of it, every part of it is filled with the covenant goodness, the covenant mercy, the covenant love of the Lord. That's going to raise a question for us. And it's a question we'll carry with us the rest of our time this evening. But what I want you to notice here As he's saying, he says, you need to sing in a new way. You need to be engaged in this work as you've never engaged in it before. Worship as you've never worshiped before. Why? Because the Lord is faithful. His word is always fulfilled. And the earth is a monument to that covenant faithfulness, to that covenant love. That's why you sing this new song, he says. Sing as you've never sang before because you are looking at the world. as you've never looked at it before. Sing a new song because you see in a new way. You live in this world. You live in a particular context in history. The psalmist knows that, but he says you need to see all of that in a new way as a monument to the covenant love of God. And because you see it that way, you will sing a new song. What he says here is that then the world is a monument of God's faithfulness. The world is a monument of God's faithfulness. That's our theme this evening. But I want us to look at that just very briefly under three a's. I want us to follow the psalmist as he takes us by the hand and he shows us first of all, how he sees the faithfulness of God on the earth. Now, he does that from verse six. After giving us in verses four and five, the theme of the psalm, the ground for the exhortation in the first three verses. In verse six, he tells us that by the word of the Lord were the heavens made. And then he goes on and he shows us that the heavens were made by the Lord, the seas were gathered by the Lord, the hand, the word of God had established the foundations of the earth. Now, as you look at this description of creation, what do you notice? Well, you notice, first of all, the emphasis on the divine word, don't you? It begins there. He says, you need to see that all of these things, the expansive heavens, the vast and the weighty sea, the firm earth, he says, you need to see all of these things have come to being by the word of the Lord. They were all brought into being out of nothing. God, by his word, brought them out of the infinite nothingness, if you will, into existence simply by his word. It's an infinite divide, isn't it? Between existence and non-existence. And yet he says here, by the word of the Lord did they cross that barrier. It was brought to being by the word of the Lord. Now, I know I'm emphasizing this point. Why am I emphasizing this? Because the psalmist is saying, as he looks around him, he sees that all of these things were accomplished as God spoke. Now notice as you move through these three verses. Verse six, he talks about the heavens. Verse seven, he talks about the gathering of the waters. Verse eight, he talks about the earth standing, the world standing there. But note, friend, how he culminates in verse nine. This is the point. This is what the psalmist has been drawing our attention to as he's taken us through creation. He says, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. Now, I said to you at the beginning that there's something of a question here, isn't there? When the psalmist says the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, knowing that that goodness is really referring to divine faithfulness, his faithfulness to his covenant people, according to his promises, we might raise the question, how is that so? Again, we would say that the earth is full of the glory of God, that it's full of evidence of his wisdom, of the tokens of his power, but how do we see the faithfulness of God, even in creation? Again, it's in verse nine. For he spake. and it was done. He commanded, he says, and it stood fast. Note what he's saying. Our God, he spoke and he brought by his word that into reality. His word brings reality. God speaks and it happens. Friend, don't miss this because here you find the psalmist is showing us not only how to look at the world, he's showing us how to read the book of Genesis, isn't he? How does the book of God begin? God spoke and it was so. God uttered the word and it obtained in reality. God brought reality by his word. And when the psalmist looks at the world, when he looks at Genesis one, he says, here's what I see, he spake and it was done. It says, Ezekiel says, he says, I am the Lord, I will speak and that word that I shall speak shall come to pass. Creation for the psalmist is a monument to the fact that when God speaks, he speaks into reality. His very word brings out of non-existence into existence. His very word is fulfilled and accomplishes his purpose. Now come down with me to verse 10. In verse 10, you have something of a change where he says here, the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. So he tells us that the nations, the heathen there is the word for nation. He says here that the Lord bringeth all of that to nothing. But then in verse 11, you have the contrast, but the counsel of the Lord standeth forever. And so you have parallels that are against each other. You have the council of the nations that fall, but the council of the Lord that stands, and it stands through all generations. It's an enduring council. Now, I want you to notice this. Then he comes not to focus on generals. He's not thinking principally in the abstract. He has a particular focus, and that focus is given to us in verse 12. He says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Now, what you notice here is that he's now honing his focus. As he looks through human history and he says, all that I see around me is the failure of human counsel. He says, I see the counsel of the Lord and it stands here. A nation whose God is the Lord. They are blessed. There is a people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Now he's looking through human history. And he says, the council of the Lord stands and I see it here. That nation, that people who are the Lord's, they indeed are blessed. This is an observation. All of the other nations, the kings, the kingdoms, the empires, they've all fallen by the wayside. But there is one people that have been blessed, the people of God, whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Then you notice the psalmist moves on in verse 13. He says, the Lord looketh from the heavens. He beholdeth all the sons of men from the place of the habitation. He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Now note this. In verses 16 and following, he makes the contrast. He says that all of these kings, all these great ones on the earth who confide in their own strength and in their own ingenuity, it will do them no good. But then verse 18. The contrast comes again. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. Friend, what do you find here? The psalmist is engaged in that work of meditation still, and he's drawing us really in a very brief survey of human history, isn't he? He's showing us that the counsel of the heathen fail. The strength of the heathen fail, but the people of God, those who are his inheritance in verse 12, who are described as those who hope in his mercy, they stand. They have the eye of the Lord upon them. He will keep them alive, he says. He holds his people while all of the other nations crumble and are reduced to the wasteland of history. There's a people on the earth who survived. What is he saying? He's saying here that God in history has spoken and it was done. God claimed for himself a peculiar people, the church of God. promised that it would survive. It was his counsel, the Lord's counsel that it should stand. Despite all the malice and all the machinations of the nations, it would stand. And the psalmist says it has. Human history is the record of empires and kingdoms collapsing. But the psalmist says, but it also testifies to the counsels of the Lord stand. And you see that in his people. There is a nation. that stands, the people of God. Where does this lead us? And here we close. Verses 20 to 22, he makes really a confession of faith. He says, our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his holy name. Friend, note what he's saying here. He's saying very pointedly that this God who speaks into existence, his very word brings reality. This God whose counsel stands and can be seen through the history of humanity, we have trusted in him. This is the God in whom we hope, he says. a God who speaks, and it is so. Then you notice how the psalmist closes. It closes with a petition. He says, let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Note, friend, what he says here. He says that because we are those who lodge ourselves in the promise of God, therefore, therefore, let thy mercy be upon us. It's faith that interests us in the mercy of God, says the psalmist. Hold all of that together. And what do we learn? First of all, we need to see that there is a perfect unity throughout the psalm. The psalmist begins by focusing on the word of the Lord, and then he moves to the counsel of the Lord. He focuses on the fact that the Lord simply by his word speaks into existence. And then he says, by his counsel, there is a people on the earth that is blessed that will survive. Psalmist looks at creation and he looks at providence and he says, there I see a theater, a monument to God's faithfulness. God's word brings reality and it can be seen in creation. It can be seen in conservation. And because it is so, says the psalmist, because you live in this expansive monument to his faithfulness, this is a sure ground of your consolation. I don't know, friend, if you and I, we make use of creation and providence the way that the psalmist does. Psalmist says, do you want to know that our God, his word stands, that he brings to reality that which he has spoken. Don't you stand on land that he called forth with his word? Do you not sleep under an expansive sky that he framed by his own counsel? Do you not live in a particular time where you can look back and you can see that so many nations and so many kingdoms have fallen by the wayside, but there is one people who've been blessed, just as God has promised. Oh, we are so carnal, aren't we? And all of these things preach to the psalmist. He's a new man and he looks at the old world, but he looks at it in a new way. He sees it as a token, as so many evidences, so many encouragements to trust in the God who speaks, and it comes to pass. That's why we read Romans 4 at the beginning. Do you remember that phrase that the apostle uses? It's a striking one. And speaking about how the Lord dealt with Abraham, you remember what he says there. He says, that Abraham will be a father of many nations. But note how the apostle uses that. He says, this is the God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. This is the God who calleth those things which be not as though they were. What do you think he means there? Well, friend, the scriptures are really clear in context. God is calling Abraham a father before Abraham has been made a father in time. Why? Because Abraham certainly would be a father. The promise is so certain friend in the scriptures that it really is just history written beforehand. He can call Abraham a father before he is one in time because Abraham will be a father. You see the promises of God that way, as so certain, friend, that they are just history written beforehand. Psalmist would urge us to see the promise that way, because he says you live in a world that holds that truth out to you. A world in which you know that when God speaks, it comes to pass. And what promises will be history to us? To you who are in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has promised that he will be your guide even unto death. That's simply history written beforehand. It shows the ground upon which you walk. Our God has promised that we will one day exchange these These earthly tabernacles are one made not with hands. Our God has promised that one day he shall wipe away all tears, that death shall be no more, that the earth will be rejuvenated, a new heavens and a new earth will come without sin, without its effects. Our God has promised that everyone who looks to him shall not be ashamed. Everyone, friend, are simply pieces of history written beforehand because ours is the God who speaks and it is done. Plato was the one who first really gave to us the idea of the cave. But in Plato's narrative, the cave story ends rather tragically where the man who comes up and he sees everything for the first time, he decides he needs to go back down and he needs to tell his friends. And the way that it ends for Plato is that when that man goes down to tell his friends but there is a world out there that they've never seen. They need to see things differently. They rise up and kill the man. They do not believe him and they do not want to believe him. Friend, the flesh doesn't want you to see the world around you in the way that the scriptures command us to. They certainly don't want us to see that you and I live in a Testament, a clear monument to the faithfulness of God. Friend, that is your calling and mine this evening, to mortify that part of us. By grace to endeavor to see as we ought to see, indeed to see as we've never seen before. Friend, to see ourselves living in the theater, in the monument of divine faithfulness. It tells us indeed that our God brings to pass what he has promised. And that we are most obliged. And friend, we should be most willing to then trust in him. So what will it be for us this evening? Friend, will you and I Will we make use of these things to that end? Will we see ourselves living in a theater before a monument of God's faithfulness? Our friend, will we resist at all? For you who are in the Lord Jesus Christ, friend, remember that he is the one who grants sight, he grants clarity. If you want to see things as the psalmist does, and I trust that you do, you need to go to him. You remember the man in the gospels, he was blind and the Lord, he healed him, he returned his sight. But you remember that that man, when he looked around at the men that were gathered in the crowd, he said, I see men walking his trees. And then the Lord, he touches the man once again. And then that man is given not just sight, but he's given clarity. Friend, you and I, we need to constantly go back to the Lord Jesus for this kind of clarity. That he would make us see as we ought to see. In fact, that we would see the old world in a new way. And that seeing that old world in a new way, we indeed would sing as we've never sang before. Worship as we've never worshiped before. for the praise of his own glorious name. Amen.