Songs for God’s Elect – Thirst for the Reprobate! Psalm 68:4-6

Text: “Sing unto God, sing praises to His Name: extol Him that rideth upon the Heavens by His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him…but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”

Psalm 68:4-6. 

          “For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” 

Hebrews 4:2-3.

Good morning, elect believer in Christ!  If you are a true Christian believer this morning, it is only because of the Lord God’s Sovereign grace bestowed upon you and I in Eternity – before the very foundation of the Created world.  All was His Creation; all was and is done according to His Sovereign will and Eternal purpose – God is at all times God alone, and the Lord God Almighty makes His Divine determinations according as He alone has pleased to do.  We could not, love, obey, nor serve any lesser Lord God.  Praise and all glory to His Name!

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.  Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?  But our God is in the Heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.”  (Psalm 115:1-3)

The Lord God, Jehovah (JAH), is an absolute Sovereign Lord God Almighty.  Who would dare to try to stand against His Sovereign will, or deny His Almighty power?

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved…in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.”  (Ephesians 1:3-12)

All Arminian believers and honest unbelievers please now commence to tear out this passage from their Bibles – or begin to accept God’s Word in its context and entirety as infallible.  We cannot have both Arminian theology, AND Scriptural infallibility!

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.”  (John 17:17)

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed (the flesh, self-will) but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever…But the Word of the Lord endureth forever.  And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.”  (1 Peter 1:22-25)

Clearly, it is only those that believe and receive God’s Word as absolute truth; are born again of this incorruptible seed of God’s Word; seeking to serve the Living Word, Jesus Christ – that have any real and genuine cause to sing anything!

Verse 4. “Sing unto God, sing praises to His Name: extol Him that rideth upon the Heavens by His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him”

Verse 4. “Sing unto God, sing praises unto His Name.  Sing not for ostentation, but devotion; not to be heard of men, but of the Lord Himself.”

          “And rejoice before Him.  We ought to avoid dullness in our worship.  Our songs should be weighty with solemnity, but not heavy with sadness.  Angels are nearer the throne than we, but their deepest awe is consonant with the purest bliss.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 291)

Great Jehovah, Lord God of the Old Testament, is the same God Almighty we love and serve in Christ Jesus today.  God is immutable, unchangeable, He does not, nor will not ever change.  Sing praises to His Name!

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His Name?  What shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  (Exodus 3:13-14)

“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.  For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace…”  (Hebrews 13:7-9)

Verse 6.  “God…bringeth out those which are bound with chains.  The author of this Bible Exposition was one such rebel, who was, for his vile terrorist sins 44 years ago, very much bound in modern day ‘chains’; serving justly deserved Life sentences for my terrorist activities here in Ulster (Northern Ireland, UK).  So, I speak openly, and with much shame, from a personal experience of God’s Sovereign grace.  The Lord God granted me repentance from all my sins; saved me for time and for Eternity by Christ’s shed Blood; and brought me out of my penal ‘chains’ to serve Him in the preaching/teaching of the Gospel. Hallelujah!  Sing praises unto God, sing praises, oh my liberated soul!

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a Rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”  (Psalm 40:2-3)

Verse 6.  “But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.  Even where God is revealed on the mercy-seat, some men persist in rebellion, and such need not wonder if they find no peace, no comfort, no joy, even where all these abound.  Of the most soul-satisfying of sacred ordinances, these witless rebels cry, “What a weariness it is!”  And, under the most soul-sustaining ministry, they complain of “the foolishness of preaching.”  When a man has a rebellious heart, he must of necessity find all around him a dry land.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 291)

Thought: It is a humbling thought that we elect of God have songs to sing Eternally, while the reprobate, rejected of the Lord, shall dwell in an Eternally dry land called Hell.  If you have an ear to hear, come to Christ while it is still the day of grace.