I love the opening of John Piper's book, Let the Nations Be Glad, which is a book on missions. And what a great title for a book on missions, Let the Nations Be Glad. Here's the opening sentence. Missions is not ultimate. Worship is. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever. The opening of that book lays out the goal for which God has made all things. Truly, we can say the greatness of the glory of God and the supremacy of the majesty of God and the matchlessness of his worth deserve praise and honor from all peoples. Praise and honor as far and wide as the world is. to the ends of the earth. We find our greatest purpose in true worship of the living God who satisfies our hearts. That is what we were made for. It is an abandonment of our true purpose and meaning of existence to live in rebellion against the living God who alone can satisfy us, who alone has made us for his glory, and who alone can save us from our transgression. God is worthy of praise because of who He is. And we can speak at length from biblical passages about what God is like. He is also worthy of praise because of what He has done. And we can speak from biblical passages over and over again of the deeds of the Lord. So His character and His wonders are plenty of reasons, eternity enough of reasons to praise the Lord. The psalmist wants us to be in awe of God. And that is so that we will join the psalmist in praising the Lord too. One of the tragic effects of sin on our hearts and minds is that we are not filled with unceasing awe of God. We should be. And by His grace and power, we shall be. But one of the tragic effects of sin on our hearts and minds is we become numb to and easily dulled by and distracted by all sorts of things. We will be raised from the dead and we shall be glorified by the Spirit of God and our future life with God will have with it capacities for delight and joy and worship that we do not yet know and experience. The deadening effects of sin will be gone. Praise the Lord. The distractions of temptation will be no more. Praise the Lord. Our hearts will exult in the greatest reality that there is, the living God. The psalmist wants to help our hearts through what he writes though. In Psalm 65, he wants us to be caught up in praise and worship. As much as we can be, there is no limit that the Bible gives us to our pursuit of delight in God. He is always worthy of more delight than we have. He is always greater than the greatest heartfelt worship we can offer. It doesn't say so much negative things about us as it does grand eternal things about God being not like us. He is incomprehensible. And yet what he has revealed of himself is true. He is worthy of worship from all the nations. And so here we are among the nations seeking to praise the Lord with awe. In Psalm 65, we're told that it is to the choir master, that it is a Psalm of David. and that it is a song, which is exactly what choir masters have as their business, and so they're very interested in songs, and so to this choir master, here is another psalm, a song of David. We're not told any historical background here, but we do know from the content that David, along with the Israelites, they have plenty of reasons for worshiping God. We are never lacking reasons for eternal praise of God. for who God is in his eternal beauty, majesty, and grandeur, and all that he has accomplished in the world, not just in creation, but in the surpassingly great work of redemption, we never lack reason for praising the Lord. Our circumstances come and go. There are unchangeable truths compelling the hearts of the saints for worship. And I want to give three reasons from the psalm this morning that the psalmist wants us to praise the Lord. And they are these, the Lord's forgiveness, verses one to four. The Lord's power, verses five to eight, and the Lord's blessing, verses nine to 13. The Lord's forgiveness, the Lord's power, the Lord's blessing, these demonstrations of God's hand, His forgiveness, His power, His blessing, are highlighted by the psalmist. These three reasons, though the list goes on. Think with me about the forgiveness of the Lord in verses one to four. He begins by declaring that God should be praised. So he's not laying out an option, but an obligation, a duty for which we were made and ought. He says, praise is do you, O God. God should be praised. And one of the ways we can get to the essence of sin is that in our sinfulness, humankind has a resistance at the core to praising God above all things, because we desire to be God. An instinct of self-exaltation that's all associated with our fallenness. and yet praise, worship, the psalmist says it is due to God. It is due you, O God, in Zion. The location here, Zion, in the days of David is a reference to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is important to David in the days of his kingship, and so this could be the context for David's psalm. He reflects on things prior to his kingship in a number of psalms, psalms that were written in the context of Saul's monarchy. But here, David has a special significance to Jerusalem. He calls for the ark to be brought there. Later the tabernacle and then later the temple will all be associated with worship in Zion. This is very important to David. And so he says, praise is due to you, O God, in Zion. This is the place of worship. And therefore in the sanctuary city, well then there should be praise to God offered there. David says that's what's right and fitting. Not only is there praise to God, but responses among the people of obedience and praise, it's part of what they've committed to. They have vowed before the Lord to conduct themselves, to live in a certain way. God is to be praised, and that means something for our lives, to be lived in light of the worthiness of God. So therefore, to you shall vows be performed. It's a way of speaking about the words and hearts and decisions and lives of the people being unto God. Because people who live that God might be praised, they want their lives to be in light of that goal. Their hearts are oriented toward God. So that what they want is not just for God to be praised with their lips, but their very lives to be caught up in the glory of God in all things. To you should be praised, to you vows shall be performed. And by whom? Well, in verse two, God is the one who hears prayer, and he says, oh, you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. And I want you to think for a moment about the scope of that. The scope of that. He's gonna give various other statements in the psalm about the broadness of the world. So if God is due praise, who all should be involved in that? And he says, all flesh shall come. This is not just inhabitants of the city. This is not just people in the surrounding area. This is a recognition that the God of the Israelites, that David's object of hope and trust, he should be the object of praise. God should be the object of praise throughout the earth. This is the beginning of the Bible. The first book which is Genesis lays out for us the problem of sin which affects all the world. and the hope that Abraham's family will be for the world. He says to Abraham that through you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed, which means not only is sin a worldwide problem, God is gonna bring to the sinful world worldwide blessing through the line of Abraham. And He will do this through the coming of Christ. Christ is the seed of Abraham and the one who is the blessing to the sinful world. And all flesh shall come. And in the fullness of the way the Word of God's storyline works out, we call people to come to Jesus. Coming to Jesus is the fulfillment of verse 2, to you shall all flesh come. Jesus says, when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself. He is speaking in himself about his life and person and work as being the fulfillment of the hope from the Old Testament that people shall pilgrimage to God. They shall flock to him. They shall pursue him. They shall seek him. How shall all flesh come to him? They shall come to Jesus. That is how they shall come to him. Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but by me. So he says to God, indeed, to you shall all flesh come. The mission of God for the nations in Genesis has not changed in the days of David, but rather continues full on. And David knows that what we need most fundamentally among the nations is the pardoning of our sins. There are a lot of problems and hardships. They do not all rank the same way. The greatest problem that mankind has, the depths of our soul entrenched and entangled in the corruption of sin, and the death spiritually that results, the alienation that is the outcome of that, the shame associated with those in rebellion against God. He says in verse three, when iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. So he's using two words interchangeably here. Iniquities. and transgressions. These are words for sin. These are words of rebellion. So someone has broken the law of God. Someone has committed what is not right before God. People have sinned or transgressed the boundaries that God has laid out for His creation. Iniquities prevail against us in the way that we cannot get ourselves out from under the suffocating effect of sin. Iniquities prevail against us, and it shall not be any other way left to our own devices that we will be prevailed upon by our sin and death. We do not exercise dominion over it. Rather, we are enslaved to sin apart from Christ. What is the hope that David lays out? Not just for those in Zion, but for the nations who should stream to the living God. He says, when sins were prevailing against me, you atone for our transgressions. So where does he locate the hope for forgiveness of sins? That our sins might be covered. The hope is not in ourselves, but in God alone, who is the atoner of our transgressions. Think of it. The gospel news says that the one against whom we have sinned is the very one from whom we receive mercy and pardon. And so our iniquities prevail. And when that happens, God's atoning work sourced in God alone, he is the atoner of our transgressions. So blessed is the one you choose and bring near. Now God has made a number of choices in the Old Testament that are borne out by the unfolding Old Testament story. He sets apart the Israelites. He sets apart the city of Jerusalem, especially through David and Solomon's entrenching of worship and sanctuary activity. He set apart the tribe of Levi for the priesthood. A number of things God has chosen that people might be brought near. That's what it means to come near to God, to dwell in your courts. He has not left it up to them. You figure out what approaching God looks like for you and just give it your all. That's not what he says. Instead, in verse four, we find out that when we read the Old Testament, God has not only initiated saving work towards sinners, he has drawn sinners to himself by appointed means. He has exercised His sovereignty and people are brought near to dwell in His courts. Now in the Old Testament, the way this choicing or electing work looks is that it's the Levitical priesthood and the Israelites draw near to God to His courts with sacrifices to them, various ceremonies and rituals that are to reflect a genuine heart of faith in the worshiper. And this includes not just the Israelites in general, but even the kings of Israel are to draw near by the appointed mediating work. And the one who draws near, that God brings near into his presence, that one is blessed by God. And there is no greater reality to receive than the blessing from God himself, which is to come near into his presence. There is no greater thing. So blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. The effect of the sinner drawing near to God by God's appointed means is this. At the end of verse four, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple. Now the reason the house is good is because God is good. And the reason the sanctuary or the temple is holy is because God is holy. I think these are phrases that are meant to direct us to God by referencing His dwelling place. We could say it this way, we shall be satisfied with you, your goodness, your holiness, your presence, because that's what the courts of the Lord meant. That's what the dwelling place of God represented. When they draw near to God, they come to God by faith through his appointed means of drawing near and they receive from God, blessing, life, goodness, they know God and it is satisfying to them. God is not dull to those who know Him. God is not something by which their hearts and minds are numbed and consider extraneous. For those who know the living God and seek the living God, their hearts are aflame and stirred by who God is and what God has done. They don't want to coast. They want to pursue. They want to draw near. They want to be satisfied. They want to seek God. They have a hunger for God. Oh God, give us a hunger for you. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple. Verses one to four are about the Lord's forgiveness, and it is the atoning work of God and the appointed means of drawing near that fill the psalmist with delight. In fact, of all things he could praise the Lord for, he opens in verses one to four, focusing on the fact that God atones for transgressions. Now, verses one to four are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. How could they not be? We're talking about atonement for transgressions. Hello, New Covenant, cross, saving work of Jesus, substitutionary lamb for our sake, propitiation for our sins, faithful and blameless one, counted blameworthy and sin for us. He bears our transgressions and he is bruised for our iniquities. And when we come to Christ, we come as those seeking to be satisfied in him, for Christ to be the treasure of our hearts, for us to abandon the ways of folly and wickedness and death, and that Christ, who is our very life, would be the joy of our hearts. And the call to the nations is that they should come to Christ, because to you all flesh should come. Oh, God, that's what you have promised. That's what your word holds out. And in Christ it shall happen. Christ will build his church. He is redeemed for himself a people from the nations, from every people, tribe and tongue. And therefore, there is satisfaction and goodness and holiness in Christ and for his people. In fact, we come as believers into the presence of God by his son. We are in union with Christ and we know the goodness of the Lord and we recognize the holiness of the Lord. And yet we are not driven away from his presence, knowing that we are sinful and we are unholy. We come to God by his appointed means. Jesus, we come in his name and we come by virtue of his meritorious work. Verses one to four are about the Lord's forgiveness, which means verses one to four are ultimately about the crosswork of God for our sake. We praise God for what he has done in Christ for us. And then in verses five to eight, the second reason the psalmist lays out is the Lord's power. He moves from the Lord's forgiveness to the Lord's power. And in verses five to eight, he begins this way. By awesome deeds, you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation. The awesome deeds of the Lord are many. He's going to articulate a few of them, and he's going to highlight the work of God in creation, that God as creator, not just redeemer of sinners, but also creator over the world. By awesome deeds, the Lord answers with righteousness. Let's just be clear, God can never answer with unrighteousness. Never has, never will, won't happen. God's answer to us is always and will always exclusively be according to his perfect righteousness, his just character. He is the God of our salvation. You can give many titles and phrases to describe the Lord. This is a wonderful one, isn't it? O God of our salvation, so by awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. So there's no boundary that we draw around any parts of the world where we say God is the hope of those up to this point. Rather, to the very ends of the earth and to the farthest seas, God is declared to be the hope for the nations. This is what the Old Testament teaches. And in the New Testament, the hope becomes flesh and dwells among us. His name is Jesus. He is the hope of the nations. His cross work is for the peoples of the earth. Now he draws attention in verse 6 to his work of creation. Not only is he the God of our salvation, behold in verse 6 that he is the one who by his strength established the mountains being girded with might. No small task there, just establishing the mountains Look at the maps of the world and the impressive landscapes and behold the impressive towering peaks of the world established by the strength of God. Somebody might look at a mountain and think, well, that's great. Well, that must mean God is greater than. Look at those towering, awesome peaks. Then what must that say and reflect in an even greater way of the awesomeness of the Lord? The might of God, who by his strength established mountains, being girded with might. Being girded with something is a way of clothing, a language about clothing yourself with something, like a garment. God is girded with might. It's a way of trying to describe for us that the Lord's might and strength is inconceivable, and yet here we are trying to wrap our minds around it. And so in order for the psalmist to try to say to you, well, how great is God's strength? He's saying, he's looking around the world, well, what could we point to that seems like something so overwhelming and towering and fearsome and awesome? How about mountain ranges? Let's go there. And then where did those come from and how did they get put into place? So trying to think about something that is so incredible to see, something that is breathtaking to behold and to climb. It's that that the psalmist is trying to say, now behold the Lord's strength to establish those. And then in verse seven, the seas, not only are mountains something incredibly overwhelming to behold, but in verse seven, the seas were believed in the ancient world to be places of untamable chaos. The roaring of the seas was very intimidating. Even people who made their livelihood on the seas. They knew what it was like to get into some sticky spots and all of a sudden there's this storm that comes up, something that they have to, they don't wanna perish, but they know that they can't control the seas. They can't make the waters be still. And so for them, the seas are this untameable thing over which they cannot exercise dominion. God doesn't say to Adam and Eve and the image bearers that follow in Genesis 1, to exercise dominion over the creeping things and the animals as well as over the seas and the waves. That's not part of their jurisdiction. I mean, how could it be? They can't tame that. And yet, and yet the psalmist says, not only has God established the mountains, He stills the roaring of the seas, what no one else can do, God does. That's the point. What man cannot do, behold what God can do. He stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves. The tumult of the peoples is wrapped here right at the end of this verse, wrapped in this language of roaring and something that seems tumultuous like these waves. Because in the Old Testament, something that was unsettling was not only the amount of chaotic waters around them that could certainly claim the life. Think of Daniel 7, where out of the seas come these beasts which represent various nations and peoples, like Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome. And in Daniel chapter 7, the nations are represented by things coming out of these chaotic waters. And that's because chaotic and dangerous things were not only found in the waters, but also among the vile and wicked nations, which maybe would subdue and persecute and could be difficult to overcome. So what can God overcome? Unruly waves and the wicked nations. They are accountable to the Lord. So he says in verse seven, this is the God who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. What's the response he's aiming at? He's aiming at awe. That's the goal. that we would be awestruck by what is worthy of our great awe, that the depths of our heart would shout for joy along with creation. In verse eight, you make the going out of the morning and the evening shout for joy. That's probably a reference to the ends of the earth by pointing to the east and the west. And I'm going to make that claim because at the beginning of verse eight, it talks about those who dwell at the ends of the earth left in awe. And then it talks about the going out of the morning in the evening, shouting for joy. So let's think about people at the ends of the earth and recognize that the sun going out of the morning, the sun rises in the east. And the sun sets in the evening in the west. So we're thinking about this motion from one end to the other. I think that's the idea. So verse 8 begins by saying, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth, I think he's saying from east to west, from morning to evening, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that they would be in all of you. that if they see the sun, they should be among those praising you. Because the going out of the morning and the evening are shouting for joy. This also is fulfilled in Christ. Here He is on the boat asleep with His disciples in Mark chapter 4. And they're very disturbed by the tumultuous, roaring waves. There's a storm at the sea. And Jesus wakes doing what only God can do. He says to the storm, to the waves, peace, be still, and the waves obey Him. In fact, they are so awestruck and filled with a holy fear, they say, who is this that the winds and waves obey Him? Only the one who established the mountains, Only the one for whom the morning and evening shout for joy, that's who. The one to whom the waves answer, that's who. So the Lord's forgiveness and the Lord's power are being celebrated by this psalm, and we can see how Christ is bringing manifestation and glorious visibility to these things, where his forgiving work, his atoning work, and his power and his awesome deeds are on display, leaving people awestruck and in fear, a holy fear, a reverence and awe fitting the occasion. And then lastly, we see the third element of the psalm, verses nine to 13 speak of the Lord's blessing. We can recognize that the effects of sin are manifold. They affect us as individuals. We recognize indwelling sins and temptations, the external problems that can take place with conflict and hostility among image bearers. And yet, we know that creation itself has been subjected to frustration and futility. Romans 8 teaches us this. Ecclesiastes is one long meditation on the difficulties and bewilderments of life under the sun. We know things are not what they should be. And that things right now are not the way they will be. And here's a glimpse. Verses 9 to 13 start talking about things growing in this blessedness of abundance and harvest. And you think, well, wait a second, we're talking about mountains and seas. demonstrating the strength and power of God. We're talking about the atonement of transgression. So the people are drawing near to the Lord. And now we're talking about things growing out of the ground. Why is that the climax of the song? And I think it's because the psalmist is trying to help us see that in praising the Lord, we recognize that his blessing is coming wherever the effects of sin and curse are. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. And that means, that means not only the effects of sin on our individual lives and hearts and bodies, but also the need of creation to be made new. Think about the end of the Bible, where's it all going? Not just that we would be individually raised and made new, but that all things would be made new. A new heavens, a new earth, a new creation. Friends, this Psalm ends with a glimpse of that. That's why it's the climax. Because it is stirring the joy and delight of the people of God who know this is what God shall do. It's the Lord's blessing. One writer says that this final section of Psalm 65 is one of the most beautiful portraits of God's blessing on the land in all the Bible. And it's true. In verse nine, you visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water, you provide the grain for so you have prepared it, you water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers and blessing its growth. It's the picture of a caretaker. Not only has God made his creation, but that he is providentially guiding the world he has made. It's this imagery in verse nine of visiting the earth, and not all visitation language in the Old Testament is positive. Sometimes when God visits a situation, it's to visit for judgment, but not here. This is a visitation of blessing. This is God's hand bringing flourishing. This is God taking one thing and making it another. So he visits the earth and waters and enriches. It's as if we were to imagine God having this abundant river that never depletes. The river of God is full of water. Of course it is. There's no lack in God. Of course, all about God and from his hand, anything he gives, we would imagine it's surpassing greatness and blessing. The river of God is full of water. So when he greatly enriches it and he provides grain for so he has prepared it, it seems to picture not just God doing what is the minimum. It pictures God exceedingly and abundantly pouring out in a way that leaves creation in such a blessed state, it is difficult to conceive. So he visits with his river full of water. He provides the grain, and in verse 10, waters abundantly the furrows, unsettling its ridges and softening it with showers, blessing its growth. Verse 11 says you crown the year with your bounty. Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. Wagon tracks? How did a wagon get put in here? What are we talking about with this scene? Wagon tracks would likely be either imagining a farmer showing up and he's got various equipment and he's perhaps riding out to a location not anywhere close. And so these wagon tracks are all part of the planting harvesting process. And yet even the tracks, even the tracks will not be immune. You can imagine, you know, walking the same path over and over again in a yard. Maybe there's a place nearby in your property where you see that. And you can say, yeah, I think I walk this way all the time. I see the effect that it has on the grass and animals can have that same effect. But in the case of this, even the tracks that are made by wagons, taking the farmer, taking the equipment or returning with a wagon full of harvest. Even the wagon tracks overflow with abundance. It's a way of trying to say how comprehensive it is. There's not one square inch absent from the blessing of the Lord. That's the idea. You crown the year with your bounty. Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. In verses 12 and 13, the pastures of the wilderness overflow. Now you're not expecting that of the wilderness. The wilderness can be a really difficult place to see great and flourishing growth. I mean, it is called the wilderness. So you think about these desert areas, even the word itself denotes that it's probably not as great as other areas. The wilderness takes its name for a reason. In this wilderness or in these desert areas, He says, they shall overflow, and the hills gird themselves with joy. You know, there are prophets who speak like this. Isaiah is an example of prophets that speak about a barren land, overflowing and growing with all manner of wonderful things. The hills gird themselves with joy, and that's because God girds Himself with might. God girds himself with might, so what do the hills put on? Praise, joy in light of God. The meadows clothe themselves with phlox. That's what you would hope would populate the meadows. You need that. That'd be part of your domestic blessing, and here's this picture of it overflowing. They clothe themselves with flocks, and the valley is filled and decked out with grain. What do they do? They sing and shout together for joy. It's the picture of creation responding in praise to God, because God's pouring out his blessing, and they are pouring out their praise. God has clothed Himself with might on their behalf, and so they clothe themselves with joy and song together. It's give in response. It's gracious mercy poured out, and joyful thanksgiving in response. It's this picture of a land where there's no curse. Where the curse has been reversed by the power of God. Everything termed like excess. It is Edenic. When you read Psalm 65, it looks like a set of phrases that feels like something true before the fall, but it shall also be true in the days to come. You can imagine the abundance of the land of the new creation. David knows that the echoes of Eden and the promise of this land of Canaan called now Israel, that whatever God is doing in this land is not the full story. It is foreshadowing what is to come. And so this abundance, these wonderful descriptions just accumulating together where in our imaginations, we are just picturing something that we would love to go to. You can see that in the new creation fulfillments of Revelation 21 and 22, that the abundance of this land in Psalm 65 anticipate that future new creation. That the nations not only will be blessed by the redeeming work of Christ, but that the blessing of God will touch every square inch of the fallen world. So praise is due to God. We do behold who he is and what he has done, and we rejoice. We join hills and meadows and mountains and valleys, and we say with them, in the blessing of the Lord, that praise is due to God, and we want to give joyful praise to him. Because most profoundly, when our iniquities prevailed against us, and they were prevailing against us, God's mercy prevailed over our iniquities. And God, through Christ, has shown himself to be the sure hope of all the ends of the earth, from the morning to the evening, from every direction of creation. Our creator is our faithful redeemer and our hope is not in vain. Our hope is not in vain because Jesus has risen from the dead. The Lord Jesus reigns over all things, and he girds himself with might. He shall make all things new. He will flood the earth, not with waters of judgment, but the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the seas. He shall flood the earth with transforming, renewing power, and creation shall awake unto glory it has yet to know. Blessings shall reverse what is cursed. The desert places shall bloom. Mountains and valleys will flow with the goodness of God. And our hearts will be forever at peace in His holy and righteous presence. This is true in Christ, for He shall return. Not only is the Lord's forgiveness to be seen in Christ and the Lord's power to be seen in Christ, but the Lord's blessing to be seen in Christ. Apart from Christ, it does not come to us. But in Christ, all the promises of God are kept for those who find Christ their refuge. So then we we see from the word of God the need to hear once more to come to Christ, that all flesh shall flee to him, that he will be their everlasting refuge. And all goodness and holiness not only are his, but the proper response of Blessing from our hearts to Him. Praise and joy from our lips to Him. Rightly belong to His name, the name above every name, the name of Jesus. Let's pray together.