I invite you to turn back to Psalm 113, and that's where we're going to be focusing our attention this evening. While you're turning there. I want to say thank you again for the very warm fellowship that I've enjoyed with you all today here at Providence. As I said this morning, it is always a great joy to be back among you, to renew fellowship with old friends and to see new faces too and meet new believers. So thank you again for your warm welcome and invitation to come and preach the word of God among you. Well, recently I read the story of George W. Bush Senior, came out after his death, that in 2001 at a Christmas concert, he came across the work of Compassion International. If you've heard of them, they sponsor, they give the opportunity for people to sponsor children in different parts of the world. And there President Bush was sitting in the Christmas service, heard this message about Compassion International, and he decided, I want to sponsor a child. So he went to the front afterwards and began speaking to the representative from Compassion International. His security detail didn't know what was going on and they were a bit concerned about what was being exchanged. But what he was picking up was the details of a little boy from the Philippines called Timothy. And under a pseudonym, so Timothy didn't know who he was, George Bush Senior wrote to Timothy and sponsored him until he was 18 years old. And he would send him little gifts Timothy liked to draw. So he'd send him drawing pencils and painting materials. And it was only after Timothy had graduated from the scheme that he was told that it was a former president of the United States who'd sent all these touching and affectionate letters to this little boy in the Philippines. There's something beautiful about that story because it tells us about a man of greatness, at one time the most powerful man in the world, but also a man who had grace and condescension. Stoop down and write a touching letter to a seven-year-old boy in poverty in a different part of the world. And when we see those two attributes, those two characteristics together of greatness and grace, majesty and condescension, highness and humility, when we see those two things together, it's beautiful, isn't it? Psalm 113 tells us, that God is incomparably great, but he's also incomparably gracious. He is both full of majesty, but he also condescends to deal with us. And that's the theme of this psalm. The majesty and condescension of God, the greatness and the grace of God. And that's what we're going to be considering this evening. Now, it's a psalm that calls us to praise God for his greatness and his grace. And the psalm begins with a call to praise. And it answers this question. Who is it? who is obligated, who must praise God for both his majesty and his condescension, for his greatness and his grace. And the answer to that question is found in verses one to three. So who is to praise God for his greatness and grace? Well, the first one, First group of people is the servants of the Lord. Look at verse one. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord. Now, who are the servants of the Lord? They're not the angels, although they do serve the lords. When we read this phrase, servants of the Lord, in other parts of scripture, this language is used of the children of Israel. Now, why did they come out of Egypt? Well, they came out of Egypt into the wilderness that they might serve the Lord. In Egypt, they were serving Pharaoh and they were redeemed to become servants of the Lord. And in the new covenant, you and I, if you are a believer this evening, has been redeemed by God's grace through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might be a servant of the Lord's. And as those who have been purchased by Christ's blood, those who have been reconciled to God by His wonderful grace, we have a great obligation to praise the Lord for His greatness and His grace. But I want you to notice this psalm as we sing it. We are exalting each other to praise the Lord, aren't we? We're exalting one another as God's people when we gather on the Lord's Day to praise the Lord. Praise you, the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord. In the book of Ephesians. Paul says that we are to be speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and in spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Now, who are we speaking to? Who are we singing to when we praise the Lord? Well, Paul says it's in two directions. We worship God, we praise Him, but also we are speaking to one another on the Lord's Day when we come together. That's why we sing. One of the reasons we sing together, because we are exalting one another, like the book of Hebrews says. God, I don't know about you, but I find so often when I come on the Lord's Day to gather with the saints, my heart is cold. I find I'm slow to praise. And it's often, as I experienced even this evening, gathered in the prayer meeting through the prayers of brothers and sisters. that I'm encouraged to seek the Lord, to praise Him. And as we gather for the service, and as we begin to sing the praise of God, we hear like-minded, saved servants of the Lord, praising the Lord, and our hearts are encouraged to praise Him. That's why we can't forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That's why we need to gather together as the saints of God and praise the Lord. So that's the first group of people who were to praise the Lord for His greatness and His grace. There's another group of people that's mentioned here. Look at verse 2. Who is this talking about? It is our desire and the desire of Christ. I take the view that really all of the Psalms are essentially the words of Christ speaking as our Davidic King, as our promised Messiah. The heart of Christ is that future generations should praise the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever more. What is your greatest desire for your children? For your grandchildren? even for your great-grandchildren? What do you want most for them?" Now, it's easy to say when we're gathered with God's people, oh, we want them to be converted. That's our greatest desire. But to know really what we want for them, we need to search our hearts to ask this question, what do we fear most for our children? for our grandchildren, for the children in this chapel. Perhaps you don't have your own children, but you care for the children in this chapel. What is our greatest fear? Is it that they simply don't do well in life and get a good job and buy a house? And is it that they might marry the wrong person? Is it that they might fall into some scandalous sin and bring shame on the name of the family? Is that what we fear most of all? Or is it this? that they might spend their whole life without truly praising the Lord, that they might not become servants of the Lord. That should be our great desire. And as we sing verse two, blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. We're saying, Lord, save future generations, even until Christ comes. May the name of Jesus Christ be praised in my family, even when I am in the grave. May my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren love the Lord Jesus Christ and worship him and bring glory to the God of greatness. and grace. There's another group mentioned here too. From the rising of the sun, verse three, unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. Now, I've often quoted this psalm to myself at the beginning of the Lord's Day, and I thought that this verse was really referring from morning till evening, but that's not the The meaning here, the meaning is from the east to the west, from the rising of the sun, so it's going down from one end of heaven to the other. The desire of God's people is that all people, all nations should bring praise to the God of greatness and grace. This was God's plan, wasn't it? From the beginning. We see that, don't we, in God's covenant with Abraham, that through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And as the scriptures go on, we see it through Abraham's son and descendants, and it would be a son of David. And we see that through that son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ, the blessing has come to the nations through the gospel. I was in Leicester Square doing an open air a few weeks ago, and a young lady stopped to listen to the preaching of the Word of God. And she listened for a while and then walked away. And I said, oh, what did you think to what my friend was saying? And she said to me, what made him so passionate about what he was saying? And I said, oh, that's an interesting question. I said, where are you from? She clearly wasn't British. She was a Jew. She was from Israel. And I said, can I ask you a question? God's covenant with Abraham. How do you believe the blessing has come to the nations? What do you think the meaning of that is? And she scratched her head for a moment. She said, you know what? I don't know what that really means. And I told her that is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, that he through the gospel turns us away from our sins and he gives us pardon and righteousness. And I as a Gentile now, I'm grafted in to the people of God. I am, I am a united with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how we can preach with such joy and such passion and call sinners to worship the God of greatness. and grace. Now, this is the we see this picture filling out more in the scriptures in the prophetic scriptures. Malachi, chapter one, verse 11, says this for from the rising of the sun, even so, it's going down. My name shall be great among the Gentiles in every place. Incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the nations. Did you know that very scripture is fulfilled in our midst this evening? Here we are, people from different nations, and we are gathered, aren't we, to give praise to the God of greatness and grace? Yet is it not our desire that more would hear, that more would believe, that more would become worshipers of the living God? So encouraging to hear of the different outreaches of this church, the work that's begun recently in Strouden, the visitor that came this morning as a result of that. Praise God for that. But that's why we do what we do. That's why we preach the gospel, isn't it? Because we are jealous for the praise of God. We know that our God is worthy of worship. And we are jealous that these people are giving their love, their affections, their worship to idols. when our God is worthy. And so we pray, from the rising of the sun, Lord, unto the going down of the same, Lord, may your name be praised. Now, why should we praise the God of greatness and grace? Well, the psalmist gives us those two reasons, because he is great and because he is gracious. The greatness of God is described in verses four to six, and His gracious dealings with us are found in verses seven to nine. So let's firstly consider the greatness of God, the greatness of God. Look at verse four. Verse four talks about the exaltation of God above Earth. The Lord is high above all nations. and his glory above heavens. What is the most powerful thing known to man, apart from God, of course, it is. Is it not the nation, a nation state with its armies and its government and its and its authority? But here we're told the Lord is high above, not just one nation, not just one. He's not just a local God. He is the God who rules over all the nations. He is exalted above them all. As we read in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 15, Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. This is what Psalm 97 verse 9 says, For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou are exalted far above all gods. But the song goes on because it says not only is the Lord exalted above earth and all the nations of earth, it tells us that he is even greater than that. Look at verse four. The Lord is high above all nations. His glory above the heavens. He's exalted even above. The heavens, what is the most glorious thing that the human eye can set upon? Is it not the heavens in all of their splendor on a clear night? And yet, the Word of God tells us that God's glory, God's greatness, far surpasses even the heavens. Whatever glory the heavens have, God's glory outstrips them all. They are a pale reflection of his greatness. But we're told not only is he exalted above earth and he's exalted above heaven, but we are told that he is exalted in his dwelling place. Look at verse five. who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high. Now we know that where you live often indicates something about your status. or how much money you have. And I'm sure there are streets in Cheltenham where to live on that particular street shows that you've made it in the world. You've got a lot of money in the bank or you're someone that's high up in society. And there'll be streets that are not like that. But the Word of God tells us that God's dwelling place tells us something about who he is. He dwells on high. Paul says he dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. He is exalted in heaven where his glory is manifested. But this God, who we praise for his greatness, is also a God of grace. And we begin to see that in verse six, who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. Now, at first, this is another reason why God is so great. He is so exalted that even to behold the things that are in heaven is an act of humility, of condescension of God. Even more incredible that he beholds the things of earth. But I think there's more than that here. It's not just telling us of God's exaltation, but it's telling us of his condescension. This isn't a distant, passive looking. This is a beholding in providential care. The word of God reveals that God is a God of providence, even toward the ungodly. He has common grace toward sinners. This was Paul's argument when he preached in Acts chapter 14. He preached and said, he did good in that he gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and with gladness. He was talking about God's care for creation. God's care even for sinners who have no knowledge, who have no care for Him, who do not worship Him. The Lord is good. He beholds all of us and upholds all things in His mercy and kindness. You're studying, aren't you, on Wednesday evenings, the sovereignty of God. and the sovereignty of God and the providence of God are very closely linked doctrines. But I want you to know if you're a believer here this evening, God's beholding of you is different even than his beholding of all things, his intimate ordering of all things in the world. For the beholding of God of the Christian man or woman is different because you are in Jesus Christ. and God beholds you as delightful. Listen to what John Gill says in this verse. And in a special manner, his eye, both of providence and grace, is on his own people, whom he beholds in Christ as fair and comely. and rejoices over them to do them good. And he has respect to their services for his sake and condescends to dwell on earth with them. Now you look at yourself and I look at myself and we say there's nothing bad, nothing beautiful to behold in us. Yet the Lord tells us here that he beholds the things that are in the earth. And he beholds you and me this evening. and he condescends to dwell with his people. He delights to do so. Now, in the last couple of verses of this psalm, we are told examples of this incredible condescending grace. The first example is this. The Lord exalts the lowly. The Lord exalts the lowly. Look at verse 7. He raiseth the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the donghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. Now there's a pattern in the Bible of God taking people from the lowest place and raising them to the highest place, isn't there? Think of Joseph. Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery in Egypt. And you ask the question, Joseph, can your life get any worse? But it does get worse, doesn't it? When he's falsely condemned. falsely accused, thrown into prison and there languishing for years in Pharaoh's prison in the lowest place. And yet what does God do in the life of Joseph? He raises him up to the highest place. makes him prime minister of Egypt. What did the Lord do in the life of King David? He took him from tending for the sheep, tending the sheep in the field, despised by his own brethren and taken and made king over Israel and even made the ancestor, the one through whom the Messiah would come. The Lord took David and raised him up from the lowest place to the highest place. And you know, this is what the Lord does with you and with me, dear Christian. We are like the poor man described in verse seven. Look at verse seven. He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifted the needy out of the dunghill. The description is of someone in abject poverty. The dunghill could also be translated the ash heap. And there were no There were no BIFA waste disposal services in those days. You took your rubbish and you took it out of the city and you threw it on the burning dunghill, the ash heap. And the picture here is of someone so poor, they're not even in the city, they're scrounging around for scraps of food and perhaps even warming themselves on the dirt that's burning in the ashes of the Dong Hill, the ash heap outside the city. Somebody with nothing, someone away from the palace of the king in the city, someone the lowest place. And that describes you and me by nature, doesn't it? What are we doing? We've got no spiritual life, no spiritual riches. We simply try and warm ourselves from the things of this world, try to gain as much comfort as we can, for we find there's no comfort in our souls. So we try and substitute that which we truly need, which with the things of this world. And we're only fit, ultimately, to be thrown onto the ash heap ourselves. For we are poor because of our sins. We are far away from God because of our sins. Yet this is what God does with the believer. He saves them and pardons them and cleanses them. And the book of Ephesians chapter two tells us that he raises us up together with Christ and seats us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two. This is what the apostle Paul says. He makes the description of what we once were, when we were poor, spiritually empty, had nothing to offer God. Look at verse one. And you he hath quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. among whom we all once had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. What has God done with this? Verse four. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you are saved. And he hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is what God has done for you, dear Christian. He's taken you from the lowest place and in Christ, united with Christ in his resurrection, you are now spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly places. And one day you will sit down together with the princess of old, Abraham, Isaac, in the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus said. Listen to Matthew 8, 11. I say unto you, many shall come from east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Now we're seated with Christ in heaven. And now as we gather with the saints, we are seated with the princes, those who God has made kings and priests unto his God and father. And one day we will be seated at the marriage supper of the lamb in the heavenly kingdom. How is it that God is able to take a sinner only worthy of condemnation. How is it that he can take them from the dust, from the ash heap, from the dunghill and invite them into the city and cleanse them and exalt them and make them sit even with his own son in exaltation? Well, this Psalm is the beginning of a section of Psalms called the Halal Psalms. Psalm 113 to Psalm 118. And these Psalms were sung before and after the Passover. It's very likely that our Lord Jesus Christ sung this Psalm before the Last Supper. And as I said earlier, the Psalms are the songs of our Lord Jesus Christ. He meditated on the Psalms throughout his life. And we can only imagine as Christ, there on the night that he was betrayed, sung this psalm, he saw himself in verse 7. He knew that he would go down to the dust. He would go to the lowest place, the place that no man has ever gone. That is to be sunken under the flood of God's wrath for our sins. He knew that was coming upon him, but he also knew that there was joy set before him. For he knew that his father would raise him out of the dust, raise him from the dust of death, out of the grave, and he would be exalted and seated at his right hand far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named both in this age and in the age to come. This is what God has done in his son. He's taken him from the lowest place and exalted him to the highest place. And that's why we are exalted in Christ, not because of us, but because of Christ, his obedience, his sufferings, his resurrection. And the moment we believe in him, we're united to Christ. That's how it is that God can take a sinner like you or me. And in his grace, he can exalt us with Christ. Why would you not want this? Maybe you're here this evening and you're not a Christian. I don't understand. Why stay away? Why stay away from Christ, who the moment you believe in him will take you into himself and exalt you with him, pardon you, give you spiritual riches, bless you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ. You don't have to stay far away from God. You don't have to stay out of the city wall. You don't have to stay seeking to grab a few scraps of comfort from the things of this world when there is an abundance of grace in Jesus Christ for you this evening. He raises the poor out of the dust and lifted the needy out of the dunghill. Well, we've seen one example of the grace of God. He loves to exalt the lowly and he does it too, as in our Lord Jesus Christ. But there's one more example of the grace of God that we see in this passage. Look at verse nine. He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. Once again, there's a pattern of God's working in scripture that we see God takes barren women and gives them children. Think of Sarah, she was barren through old age, wasn't she? And God gave her a son in Isaac. Think of Hannah, who longed to have children, and God answered her prayer and gave her Samuel. And if you read Hannah's prayer of praise to God, you'll know that there are many parts of Psalm 113 where the words are very, very similar. Think of Mary, the ultimate barren woman who had never known a man, and yet through her came our Lord Jesus Christ. But I think the verse 9 is pointing to something beyond any of those things. There is a spiritual application and the Apostle Paul makes this very application himself because of in Isaiah 54 verse 1, we are told that Israel is to rejoice because the barren woman has born. And it's talking not about an individual, but about a spiritual work. Listen to Paul quoting Isaiah 54 in Galatians chapter 4 verses 25 to 27. But this, Agar, is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, and here he quotes Isaiah 54, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not. Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. What's Paul doing here? Well, he's comparing the natural seed of Abraham with the new covenant people of God, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul is saying that in the new covenant, the gospel, the seed of Christ will be more fruitful than any earthly, any earthly group. than the earthly old covenant people of God. Through the preaching of the gospel, many people will be born in Zion and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ will not be barren. Who is the barren woman that God gives children to? Is it not the church of Christ? The church began as a very small group, small group of believers. And yet the kingdom of God, the church of Christ has multiplied. How is it multiplied? Not by natural generation, not by natural birth. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ multiplies because of the new birth that God sovereignly grants by his Holy Spirit to sinners. This is what Psalm 87 verses 4 to 7 speaks about. And I think it ties in with verse nine here. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. These are foreign nations. Behold Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia. This man was born there and of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her and the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people. that this man was born there, Selah. As well the singers as the players on the instrument shall be there, all my springs are in thee. What's the psalm talking about? It's talking about the fact that people from every tribe and nation and tongue will be born into the church of the living God. He will make the church fruitful. Now let that encourage us this evening, that this God of greatness delights to multiply his church to save sinners. And that should give us confidence in our preaching, in our evangelistic efforts, that the church of Jesus Christ will not be barren. Take this prayer to the Lord. Take this promise to the Lord, I should say. Lord, you have promised that the church won't be barren. And Lord, we want to see more conversions. We want to see more people born again and brought into the kingdom of God. Well, here it is. This God of greatness condescends to save. He maketh the barren woman to keep house. and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our great God and our Father, we thank you that you are a God of greatness, You dwell above the heavens. You are infinite, eternal and unchangeable. And yet you are a God of incomparable grace, that you should behold us, that you should take care of us, that you should behold us in Christ, that we could cast all of our cares upon you because you care for us. We stand in awe of you and we praise you. We praise you, Lord, that you take us from the lowest place, a place of condemnation and guilt and filth, and you clean us and you raise us up and you save us and seat us with Christ in the heavenly places. And we thank you that all because of Christ we have been exalted. And we praise you too, Lord, that in your condescension, you delight to make the church of the Lord Jesus Christ a fruitful people. And we pray, Lord, that in our day we would see more and more conversions, more people born again by the spirit of God, so that we might be able to say this one was born in Zion and that one was born in her. For we pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.