The scripture reading in this New Year's Eve service is Psalm 102. We read Psalm 102. And there we read God's holy word in Psalm 102, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call answer me speedily for my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as an hearth my heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I am like an owl of the desert. I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. Mine enemies reproach me all the day. and they that are mad against me are sworn against me for I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping because of thine indignation and thy wrath for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down my days are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. for he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven did the Lord behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner to loose those that are appointed to death to declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem when the people are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the Lord he weakened my strength in the way He shortened my days. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days. Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment. as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." So far the reading of the Holy Word of God. Beloved congregation, we have come to the end of this year 2021. Loved ones have been taken away from us. Sickness prowled through the nation. For some of us, it has been a difficult year. And when we look back at this year, we think of all the changes that have taken place. There were difficulties, but there were also blessings, rich blessings. There was actually a mountain of sin beside each one of our lives. But on the other side was a mountain of blessings beside each one of our lives. Many of us were sick and recovered. Certain members were in the hospital and could be dismissed. Many blessings. And in between those two mountains we see the valley of the pure grace of God. It's by God's grace that we may have come to the end of this year, 2021. We think of the outpourings of God's goodness and mercy. As we think of all the changes that took place, we are reminded that God never changes. He was the same in the days of the flood. He is the same now. He is always the same. And that's a most comforting thought, that He is always the same. because we are fickle, we change, but the Lord never changes. That's sheer grace. And we consider the words of our text from this Psalm 102, and we find them in the verses 25 through 27, where we read, Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vexture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. We see in these texts refuge in God, And we consider in the first place the instability of man, and in the second place the immutability of Christ. So we find here refuge in God. We consider the instability of man, the immutability of Christ. So this Psalm 102 is a psalm of one who is afflicted, who has gone through great difficulties. He's overwhelmed. And now he pours out his complaints before the Lord. These complaints are not about God, but about himself, because he knows that he has sinned, and that the people to whom he belongs, they have also sinned. So he is confessing his sins as he reflects on the past. We're also now reflecting on the past, this past year. unwittingly we look back and we consider and you know many of our sins we have already forgotten but the Lord has seen them has observed them we've often been ungrateful we've often been unwilling unfaithful Seeking our own honor instead of the honor of God. And so we all have our sins to confess. Neglecting to love God. Not obeying Him. And so at the end of this year it's good that we confess our sins. and that we beg the Lord to wash us from all our sins of this past year, but more than that, that we also ask the Lord that he would renew our lives, that we would learn to fight against sin, and that we need grace to accept also difficulties and hardships, Nothing happens by chance. The Lord has his own purpose. Also when hardships happen that we do not understand. In this Psalm 102 we see then not only that this psalmist confesses his sins but also we hear sorrowful complaints that he lifts up because of the needs of himself and because of the needs of the church of his days. He expresses the great afflictions they were in. Jerusalem was destroyed. The people are taken into exile. This poet is afflicted. The servants of the Lord have compassion upon the dust of Zion, upon her stones that are broken down. He expresses the great needs they were in. And as we read this psalm, we also find words that we can use when we are in distress. The Lord shows us these words. For instance, my days are like a shadow, verse 11. I am withered like grass. More verses. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Verse 2. And so Hosea 14 tells us, take with you words and so come to the Lord. And those words come to us from God's Word. And there we find words and phrases we can use to confess before the Lord. And so the Lord gives us even liberty to pour out our complaints before the Lord. Complaints. Because of hardships in life, we don't have to swallow it. Just pretend they're not there. No, you may pour out your heart before the Lord. Not in rebellion. Not in unwillingness. but with tears to pour out your need before the Lord, and then at the same time to ask the Lord for grace to pursue this way upon which thou art leading me, and that thy rod and thy staff, that they would guide me and protect me. That's how we can pour out our complaints, the difficulties in life, And the Lord is so gracious to hear and to support and to be a refuge. Outside of the Lord there is no real comfort. At the end of the day we are all alone before God. Alone we will have to leave this life. And sometimes the deepest problems of our life we can share them with a loved one, but ultimately we are alone and yet not alone. Because the Lord is there as a sure refuge. What a comfort! He is a sure refuge. Think of your parents, maybe your grandparents, maybe further back of events you know of their lives, and how the Lord sustained them, helped them, and that they could also finish their course and enter into the immediate presence of Christ. They finished the race, they kept the faith, also in the midst of difficulties they went through. And when you may go through difficulties, remember this, and seek refuge in the Lord. And so this poet humbly asks God to take notice of his affliction. And what afflictions is he referring to? Well, I mentioned already that Jerusalem was destroyed. The people of Jerusalem have become homeless. The temple is destroyed. The outward circumstances were awful. God has given them up to their enemies. And that was a result of their own sin, that they refused to listen to the preaching of God's Word. They refused to listen to the proclamation given to them by the prophets. They had become worldly. They had worshipped idols. They desecrated the sanctuary of the Lord. There was a great watering down of religion. The words used here refer to pining away, languishing. That's how the people are, because of their sin. To their own estimation, it is as if they are living in a wilderness. Because certain animals and birds are mentioned here. Birds who live in the wilderness, they don't live in the vicinity of people, no, in barren places. The pelican, the owl, there where the wild beasts live. The poet feels as if he's like a sparrow alone upon a housetop. Ashes are upon his head. Ashes, verse 9. I've eaten those ashes. In the Middle East, it was a custom to pour ashes on your head and to sit there as a sign of great grief. In verse 10, the poet says to his own estimation it is as if the Lord has lifted him up and thrown him down. The firm ground underneath him was taken away and he fell. And so this psalm shows us also the brevity of life. On the last day of this year we are also reminded of the brevity of life. How quickly matters change. Man perishes. And how many generations have passed on since creation. But the poet tells us that the Lord has laid the foundations of the earth And the heavens are the work of thy hands. The Lord created sun, moon, and stars. He directs the motions in the heavens with all its balance, where the planets stay where they are in perfect equilibrium and balance. It's all the work of God's hands. And the heavens remain there. The stars remain there. The Big Dipper remains exactly where it is in the night sky. while everything here on earth is in continual fluctuation. God made the heavens, but even the heavens God will unmake, because heaven and earth will pass away, but God's words will never pass away, because God Himself will never pass away. the heavens to our estimation seem to be continually there but Calvin says we are mortal human beings for when we are yet scarcely born we already start to die Calvin says for he says there's no part of our life which does not rapidly hasten to death The Apostle Paul tells us that heavens and earth and all creatures, they groan in travail. They are subject to corruption. Not willingly, but because of man. Because man has drawn this whole creation into destruction because of man's rebellion against God. For although God created heaven and earth, they also shall perish. In verse 26, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture, as clothing shall thou change them, and they shall be changed. And so Calvin comments here further that here on earth everything is in sheer despair until we look unto God. What's there enough, says Calvin, but corruption and rottenness And at the end of the day, we're all looking into the mirror of death. And all the changes in this world, they are in anticipation of its destruction. Nations will be overthrown. This world is hastening to its end. What stability is there in human beings? Man, with his breath in his nostrils, is weak. We all are. We will all pass on. And the Apostle Peter says the end of all things is at hand. An end of this year 2021. But there will also be an end of our lives. There will be an end of our ways. An end of our thoughts. If it would maybe possible that a few of us could be like that one messenger who came to Job and said, I alone am escaped. If that could be said of some of us, that we could escape death, then there would still be, humanly speaking, a little hope. But there is no hope in man, because the end of all things is at hand. And so we see here in this psalm the instability of human life. The wages of sin are death. And we are all fallen into sin. And because of the sins of Israel, they were led into exile and Jerusalem was destroyed. And so the people of Israel in exile, they sang their songs of complaints. Also this psalm 102. And they knew it was a result of their unfaithfulness to God? For without God there is no real hope. For we lack the only comfort in life and death when we live without God. How are you ending this year? Do you live with the Lord? Or is the Lord outside of your life. We must confess this before God. And all of us, we must confess before the Lord our instability. We must confess that without God we can do nothing. And therefore our hopes cannot be in the things of this world, but our hope must and can only be in God. And so this psalm is telling us to cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, but look unto God. As we look back at this year, we don't look at our accomplishments or our success, but we must look to God alone. For then you see the immutability of Christ. The author of this psalm expresses the great afflictions he and his people were in. But he has hope. True hope that God would graciously hear him because the Lord has promised that we would not seek him in vain. And the Lord hears humble prayer. So he begs the Lord to come over in his life And he begs the Lord not to hide his face from him, because this poet is in trouble. And even if the Lord would not quickly deliver him from his needs, he begs that God would show him that he is still accepted by God, that he would still be favored in God's sight. Even if I do not see thy hand working deliverance, let me see the smiles of thy face upon me. For the hiding of God's face is trouble enough to make a man despair. It's the worst thing in life for a child of God. It's worse than death to have God's hiding His face from Him. So although the background is of Psalm 102 that the church of those days in distress and that Israel is on foreign soil They still know that God is the unchangeable One. And because of God's immutability, His promises have the guarantee of fulfillment. Because the Lord never changes, His promises stand. His promise that Messiah must come. His promise that the long expected Savior must come. His promise that He will not forsake the needy when they call upon Him. And though we tarry, yet wait for Him, expect Him. Because the Lord is and remains to be an ever-present help in time of need. And so the poet refers to the changeableness of the heavens, although he saw nothing of that, because the planets and stars were all there. But he knew they're all going to change. Even they will change. But the Lord will never change. Thou shalt endure continually. The Lord shall remain. Verse 27, but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end. So in the midst of all the instability of human life, when you may see maybe in our life that we went through grief in this past year, that it was as if the Lord lifted us up and cast us down on the ground, that our life started to shake, a loved one taken away, and now that that loved one is gone, we feel as if we love him or her even more than before. But he will not come back, and she will not be with us. great sorrow, disappointment, but the comfort is that God is immutable. Lo, I am with you all the days till the end of the world, in days of grief, in days of loneliness, in sleepless nights, When tears wet your pillow, I am with you, because the Lord is immutable, and His promise therefore stands, and His word stands. I am God, I change not, and therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Therefore ye sons of Jacob could carry on even when you thought, how can I carry on now anymore? You could, why? Because the Lord God, your God, never changed. It's a blessing to focus upon the immutability of God. Because of the neglect of us focusing on the immutability of God, there's a lack of comfort. And we are too worried, because we fail to consider the immutability of God. God lives on. His Word remains powerful, most powerful. Nothing takes the Lord by surprise. He is never distracted. He has His eye set upon you. He sees you day and night. And now our days can be cut short. And those who lived long lives, they still must say it's only a few days. But the years of the Most High, they cannot be counted, because they have no beginning, they have no end. He is from everlasting to everlasting. And you who have learned to love the Lord, you may know that He loved you first. And He loved you and He knew your name from everlasting, without a beginning. and that He will continue to love you forever and ever with no end. That is God. Shall He not take care of you? Shall He not carry you? Shall He not lift you up as it were on eagles' wings? Shall you not renew the strength Do you think He will let you fall? Do you think He will drop you? You know why the Lord is so faithful? Because actually these words of our text, they refer to Christ. Because the New Testament quotes these verses. And the New Testament lets them refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. It says there in Hebrews 1, 10-12, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. That's all a quote from our text. And they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." He is referring to Christ. The Apostle Paul, in writing the Hebrews letter, he is showing the supremacy of Christ. And later on he confirms that, in Hebrews 13 verse 8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We speak here of the everlasting God. We think of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit who works continually. And God the Father with His everlasting electing love. And God the Son with His everlasting priesthood. In Psalm 102, Thou art the same Thy years shall have no end." The Lord Jesus. He's from everlasting to everlasting. Before the Lord Jesus came into this world, He already existed. And that's why John the Baptist, witness of Christ, this was He of whom I speak, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. The Lord Jesus was present speaking through the prophets of the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus preached righteousness through Noah to the men of his generation. And the Apostle Paul says, the Lord Jesus is speaking through me. You seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? 2 Corinthians 13 verse 3. The Lord Jesus was present in that pillar of a fire and pillar of a cloud in the days of Moses. For when the people rebelled and murmured in the wilderness, they were doing that against the Son of God, against Christ. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 9, Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. And that refers to the angel of the Lord, that was Christ. And Abraham saw already Christ's day, and he rejoiced. And before Abraham was, the Lord Jesus said, I am. He does not say, I was. I am. I am. I am always. I am. Also today. And therefore Psalm 90 says, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. So we see here actually that Christ is described to us as having created eternity. For all things are through Him. Eternity belongs to Him. He is immutable. He is above eternity. He is God. At the center of everything. And in Christ, God's children have stability. Even to the end of the world. To the end of their lives. They will remain in the faith. Because the Lord Jesus upholds them with His everlasting power. and they may be assured of their triumph over every enemy. They are more than conquerors through the immutability of Christ. So the Lord Jesus is the mediator and He will ever remain that. He is King forever His throne is forever and ever. He is priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. His sacrifice has value also today and tomorrow, yesterday. It's the same. He ever lives to make intercession for His people. And He will always continue to be the prophet to instruct His people in all their circumstances. And hereafter, Christ will be the light of new Jerusalem. And the Lord will usher in new heavens and new earth, but Christ always remains the same. Unchangeable in love to his people. Unchangeable in limitless power to protect and to keep them. He has continually perfect wisdom to guide and to lead. His blood is always efficient to cleanse and to pardon when we look back at a year in which much went wrong, more than we are aware of. His blood is sufficient. He always remains the same. And this is the comfort in all the changes we are going through, that the Lord Jesus is the same. And therefore there is hope. His church has hope. You who feel lonesome, you who are disappointed, you who are grieving because of what happened in this past year, look to Him. He is your Savior. He can save to the uttermost and He shall do it to those who humbly bow before Him. And so God's Word gives comfort and perspective in the midst of all the changes of our days, when our society is getting confused, when many wonder who shall show us any good, when a war may be looming in Europe, May God forbid that to happen when his people are being oppressed in China and in North Korea and in so many other countries. When people are held in custody innocently, they did nothing wrong. In the midst of all this confusing world, who will show us any good? We may look at the immutability of Christ. And so you may know that as your day so shall your strength be because God in Christ is immutable. And therefore let us daily flee to Him. Let us make our calling and election sure. How? by listening to His Word, by seeking to obey it, by looking unto Jesus, by pouring out all your complaints about yourself before the Lord Jesus, by reflecting upon Him, by fleeing to the Lord Jesus with all our impossibilities and all our failures, you will make your calling and your election in Christ sure because there is true comfort in this blessed Savior. Come then with your tears, with your complaints, with your disappointments. You're welcome at His bosom. When we live in a world in which sin is becoming stronger, we may remember that He will remain the same. He is the same. And therefore let us expect good things, not from this world, but from the Lord. And as we are ending this year, and maybe if you look back at this year that it was a year without the Lord in your heart, realize you've just wasted a year. when you were all excited about things of this life and about business and income and what you could purchase, but you really had no time for the Lord. Your heart was not set upon Him. You were not really serious. And you know it. You know what lives in your heart. Who takes up center stage in your heart? If it's not the Lord, then my friend, you just wasted a year. You have failed. But come with your failure to the Lord, because He is willing to heal your backslidings. Lift up your needy hands and confess your wasted years. and look to the Lord Jesus, maybe for the first time, and realize His stability, and that you need Him, because without Him you will surely be destroyed. Look to Him, for He endures forever and ever. Amen. Shall we pray? And so, Lord, it behooves us to thank Thee for thine immutability, and to thank thee for all the riches of thy lovingkindness thou hast showered upon us, for strength thou hast given also in difficult days, for comfort thou hast given us by testimonies of loved ones, and that thou hast spoken to our hearts through the preaching of thy word, that thou hast sustained our lives that thou hast blessed us in many ways, and so we give thee humble thanks for all thy goodness and all thy mercy. Lord, grant us one more thing. Grant us a grateful heart, a broken heart, that we may lay before thee, that our lives, our hearts, may be for thee. Will thou so guide us, be with us in this evening? Will thou bring us back again tomorrow, as we may, if thou dost give us, that we may start this, the new year, also again in thy house? Lord, remember thy church throughout this world. Will thou keep her? We pray thee, Lord, wilt thou cause thy church to grow, because oppressive regimes are not in control, thou art in control. O Lord Jesus, show forth thy power and thy might, and let thy church grow exponentially to thy glory, to the exceeding joy of the angels, that there may be an innumerable multitude saved by thee. Lord, remember us in grace. For Jesus' sake, Amen.