{"id":23742,"date":"2024-12-16T23:31:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T23:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/?p=23742"},"modified":"2024-12-16T23:31:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T23:31:54","slug":"enduring-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/2024\/12\/enduring-mercy\/","title":{"rendered":"Enduring Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Posted by permission. Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sermon preached at Bethel Chapel, Luton, by Mr. B. A. Ramsbottom, on Lord\u2019s day morning, 13th May, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever\u201d\u2014Psalm 136:23<\/em><\/p>\n

Someone once asked an old minister why this Psalm keeps repeating the same words verse after verse: \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever.\u201d The minister thought for a moment or two, and his answer was this: \u201cWell, because it does endure for ever.\u201d And beloved friends, what a favour that is! What would we do without mercy? And if there were mercy, what would we do if it did not last, if it did not endure? The mercy of God made known in Jesus Christ is the foundation of our hope. We would not have any hope without it. It is the foundation of the gospel. There would not be any gospel without it. O that wonderful display of mercy which we have in the Word of God! How the saints of old valued it! How it was their plea! How it was their hope!<\/p>\n

Now I take it that as this Psalm was sung in the temple, it was sung in two parts. Perhaps the Levites sang the first part and then the people joined in the chorus: \u201cFor His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d One thing we do know is that this Psalm was sung on a number of auspicious occasions in the Old Testament. One was at the consecration of Solomon\u2019s temple, and this is what they sang: \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever.\u201d What a display of God\u2019s mercy there was in great glory that day when the glory of the Lord filled the house. It would be a wonderful thing in our little measure this morning as we consider the mercy of God if His glory was to fill this place and to affect our hearts.<\/p>\n

Another occasion when this Psalm was sung: you remember Jehoshaphat when he had that great multitude that came against him, and he prayed that lovely little prayer which many of you often pray, I am sure \u2013 at least, in the spirit of it: \u201cWe have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.\u201d And remember, the Lord told them to go into battle, and they would not need to fight in the battle. The place was going to be called Berachah, the place of blessing. But as they went against their enemies, this was the song which they sang: \u201cPraise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now as we read the Psalm through, you notice something of the gracious format of it: in the three opening verses, remembering Almighty God, and then follow a few verses about the wonders of creation, and then a few verses on Israel coming out of Egypt, and then a few verses on Israel\u2019s journey through the wilderness. Then right at the end, just one or two verses that come right down to where you and I are this morning. But it is mercy all the way through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d Now then, what is it for Almighty God to remember a sinner? I am sure some of you here pray that prayer and you love that prayer: \u201cRemember me, O Lord, with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people: O visit me with Thy salvation.\u201d That is very personal. When you pray for the Lord to remember you, what is it that you really seek? What is it that you really want? Do you sometimes say something like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot hope but in Thy blood;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember me, O Lord, for good\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us.\u201d Well, we are told that \u201cGod remembered Noah.\u201d What did that mean for Noah? It meant the salvation of himself and all his house when the whole world was perishing. That was mercy, and Noah felt it. \u201cGod remembered Noah\u201d; \u201cfor His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d We are told that the Lord remembered Hannah, poor, sorrowful, broken- hearted Hannah. What did that mean for her? It meant that her prayers were answered. It meant the gift of Samuel. But if you read the following chapter, Hannah reached some heights. Her prayer of thanksgiving for the Lord in His mercy remembering her was very similar to that song of thanksgiving of Mary in Luke chapter 1. It seems that Hannah by faith looked beyond Samuel and she had a glimpse of Christ.<\/p>\n

It is a wonderful mercy for the Lord to remember a sinner. Even in our common parlance we have it. You perhaps hear that someone has died, and perhaps there is some old friend, and unexpectedly they remember him in their will. What does it mean? Well, it means a lot. It is a wonderful mercy if the Lord remembers us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate.\u201d Now that was a low estate in which the Lord\u2019s people were, when the Lord from all eternity in the covenant of grace viewed them as \u201cruined in the fall, yet loved them notwithstanding all.\u201d O what a low estate, that wretched condition, the whole human race ruined through the fall of Adam! And that was mercy, everlasting mercy, as eternally God remembered them in that low estate, and loved them with an everlasting love, and entered into covenant with His beloved Son. Now that was mercy, and beloved friends, it is everlasting. It is \u201cfrom everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

O what mercy there was in the eternal Son of God, that pity as He saw His chosen, given to Him by His Father, and He saw them in that low estate in which they would be found, perishing sinners, and yet those eternal undertakings as He became their Surety and Saviour and everlasting All, and determined to do everything for them for their salvation, even though it would cost Him His life. O what a display of sovereign mercy there was there!<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d Then when the eternal Son of God became incarnate and came into this world, it was a world of sin, it was a world of sorrow, but He remembered His poor, unworthy people in this sinful world in their low estate, and He remembered His covenant. What a word that is: \u201cHe will ever be mindful of His covenant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you young people ever think of some of the blessings and the glories of the covenant of grace, \u201cordered in all things, and sure\u201d? Do not think of it as just a theme for old people, and well-tried, well-tempted ones. I remember in my early days spiritually, what a comfort it was, what a foundation! \u201cAlthough my house be not so with God.\u201d You will find in your little lives there will often be things and they are \u201cnot so with God,\u201d not as you would have them to be. You wish they were different. Your house is \u201cnot so with God.\u201d Your spiritual condition is \u201cnot so with God,\u201d as you would have it. And then a wonderful word: \u201cYet,\u201d and it is all mercy in it from first to last. \u201cYet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.\u201d It is a beautiful truth. David, the man of God, was so troubled. He was going to die, and his house was \u201cnot so with God,\u201d but he saw that everlasting covenant, and he saw it fulfilled by Christ, sealed with the blood of Christ, and he could die in peace. I do hope that the Holy Spirit will lead you young ones into some of these things. It is the certainty of it. That is the whole point of this chapter. It is the certainty of that mercy. It is a rock foundation.<\/p>\n

I always remember, I seemed to be so sweetly favoured with views of the everlasting covenant and my interest in it. One day, I woke up and everything seemed dead and dark and gloomy. I said, \u201cLord, what is the matter? What has happened?\u201d Do you know what the Lord spoke to me?<\/p>\n

\u201cThough with no sweet enjoyments blessed,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This covenant stands the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a foundation there. Whatever you feel, whatever you do not feel, when you are dark, when you are light, when you are on the mount, when you are in the furnace, this covenant stands the same. It is the whole theme of this glorious chapter, that the mercy of God endureth for ever. You will never go to the throne of grace and find that the Lord is no longer merciful. We are bidden to come boldly to the throne of grace. Why? That we might obtain this mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. If words mean anything at all, beloved friends, it is this: you have your times of need. I am sure some of you, many of you have them this morning. But in those times of need, His mercy is there. He is still remembering you in His mercy. So in your time of need, on mercy\u2019s ground, you will find grace to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d So there is the Lord Jesus coming into this world of sin and sorrow. It was a low estate. The point is, in love and mercy and matchless condescension, the dear Son of God Himself was willing to enter into that low estate \u2013 mind you, completely separate from sin. But that verse so many of you love \u2013 this is the Saviour\u2019s low estate He entered into as He was remembering you in your low estate \u2013 \u201cYe know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor\u201d \u2013 that is His low estate \u2013 \u201cthat ye through His poverty might be rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

You have that beautiful little commentary on it in Philippians chapter 2: \u201cWho, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.\u201d That is the Lord Jesus. He was remembering His poor, unworthy people in their low estate, but He was willing to enter into a low estate Himself. \u201cDespised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.\u201d For \u201cwho can tell how low the King of glory stooped that He might conquer hell?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d We cannot forget Gethsemane, the agonies even unto blood, and then the arrest. When they came forth to arrest the Lord Jesus, He went to meet His adversaries. \u201cWhom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth…. I am He.\u201d And they fell back helpless to the ground. You cannot believe the wickedness, the audacity of fallen man. You would have thought they would have fled, or submitted, but they came again in their arrogance. Again, \u201cWhom seek ye?\u201d Again that reply: \u201cI am He.\u201d They are helpless on the ground. There He is for a few moments appearing in His eternal glory as the almighty Son of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt were an easy part<\/p>\n

For Him the cross to fly;<\/p>\n

But love to sinners fills His heart,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And makes Him choose to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us.\u201d Then He remembered His covenant purpose. He remembered how He said, \u201cIn the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will.\u201d If ye seek Me, then take Me, bind Me, crucify Me, but O let these My followers go their way. It is a wonderful word, Take Me, but let these My followers go their way. Krummacher beautifully puts it: \u201cthe passport of the whole church of God to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d Now we see the Lord\u2019s mercy in this: all His people born into this world, born in sin, shapen in iniquity, are in a low estate. When the Lord finds them, they do not deserve it. They are far off from God by wicked works. But it is mercy. It is mercy that remembers them. It is mercy that finds them out. It is mercy, through the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, which quickens them into life. It is mercy which makes them feel their need, and it is mercy which brings them to seek for mercy. O that beginning of a work of grace! Every single one He finds in a low estate. They have no claim. There is not one better than another. O but the mercy that finds them out! The great Shepherd going over the mountains to find the poor, lost, wandering sheep, and the mercy, laying it on His shoulder, bringing it back to the fold rejoicing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d And then there will always be a change. Your life will be different. There will be that separation from the world. The world cannot satisfy. You are seeking the Lord. You want to be right. I think there are some of you here this morning who can look back to that beginning when the Lord first took you in hand, when He first remembered you in your lost estate, and this morning you have to bless Him for it, and you say, \u201cWhy me, Lord? Why me?\u201d And the only answer is on the grounds of His mercy, He who says, \u201cI … will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d Then you find this newborn soul seeking the Lord, seeking salvation, beginning to pray. But he feels to be in a low estate. He is lost; he cannot save himself. He has to die; he cannot prepare himself for heaven. It is a low estate. He needs someone to come right where he is, just like that poor, wounded man by the wayside. That was a low estate, and the good Samaritan came right where he was, and found him, and did everything for him. That is what you want the Lord to do. \u201cO when wilt Thou come unto me?\u201d<\/p>\n

You want that beautiful word to be fulfilled: \u201cBehold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills,\u201d to look through the windows and to show Himself through the lattice. All these obstacles and impediments and sins and all these things in between, but, \u201cBehold, He cometh,\u201d and that is in mercy. \u201cBehold He cometh … He looketh forth at the windows,\u201d and then He shows Himself, shows Himself kind and loving through the lattice. That is what some of you long for this morning, in your low estate spiritually. Perhaps some of you feel left out. Perhaps some of you feel passed by. Perhaps some of you feel afar off. Perhaps you cannot describe where you are, but you know it is a low estate. There is nothing exalted about it. You want the Lord to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d But then in greater or less measure, the Lord will remember you savingly. \u201cI will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.\u201d It is a wonderful thing when the Lord remembers a sinner. But O that beautiful word: \u201cO Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.\u201d Have you ever had that experience, when someone has forgotten you? Perhaps it is your birthday, or something like that, and someone has forgotten you, and it is a sore thing; it makes you sad. But then you know that the Lord does not forget you. \u201cO Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d There will be various times when you feel you are in a low estate spiritually, and the wonderful thing is that the Lord remembers you. The sad thing surely, beloved friends, is this: how often we forget our God. It is one of the sad things.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut though I have Him oft forgot,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His loving-kindness changes not!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us.\u201d During that terrible English civil war, there was a soldier going into battle, and this was his prayer. He said, \u201cLord, I shall be very busy this day, and fear I may forget Thee, but O do Thou remember me.\u201d \u201cO Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d I am sure some of you this morning may feel to be in a low estate. Sometimes God\u2019s people are brought into it financially. Especially it was so in the nineteenth century. You think of Gadsby and Warburton and Kershaw, what a low estate they were found in. Poor old John Warburton had to go to bed while his wife washed the only shirt he had. Mercifully, we are delivered from those days of poverty, but some of God\u2019s people, even in things in their family, in their business concerns, are brought into a low estate, and sometimes they do not know what to do, and they have not the wisdom, but the Lord remembers them, and He is an all-wise God; He knows what to do. And He is a compassionate God; He sympathises. And He is an Almighty God; He will \u201csupply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate.\u201d Sadness, sorrow, bereavement \u2013 that is a low estate. Ill health, those you are concerned about, those of you this morning not feeling well \u2013 it is a low estate. Loneliness, disappointment, things going wrong, things you cannot manage, your various fears \u2013 a low estate. Often when you think of tomorrow, next week, the unknown way, it is a low estate. Sometimes you hardly know what to do. Well, you have to take the sinner\u2019s sure and safe retreat in prayer. Mercy must be your plea there.<\/p>\n

But this wonderful thing, that the Lord remembers His poor, unworthy people! Others may forget you; even the Lord\u2019s people may forget you; but the Lord does not forget, and it is that loving, kind remembrance. Perhaps some of you can say, \u201cThe Lord hath been mindful of us\u201d \u2013 that is, He who remembered us in that past trouble when we would have sunk. \u201cThe Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us.\u201d Because what He was then, He is now. He is eternally the same. That is the point here, the emphasis about this mercy: it endures; it is always there. And also the suggestion is that it is like a beautiful, full, fast-flowing river. The mercy of God endures. It does not dry up. It is not just a barren river bed. It is the flowing river of the mercy of God as it flows from beneath the throne of God, and it flows in the channel of the atonement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d So whatever your low estate, His mercy is all sufficient \u2013 strength given, needs supplied, deliverances commanded, prayers heard and answered. So you might go on, because in this abounding mercy, overflowing mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, there is everything you need. His mercy is sure to all the promised seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d Now one last thing. \u201cZion said\u201d \u2013 it was Zion who said it, the church of God, not the world. \u201cZion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.\u201d Sometimes you may feel forgotten. O but what a beautiful answer: \u201cCan a woman\u201d \u2013 is it possible? \u201cCan a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?\u201d Is that possible? \u201cYea, they may forget.\u201d Now this is it: \u201cYet will I not forget thee.\u201d That is being remembered in your low estate. That all flows from mercy. \u201cYet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.\u201d It would be a wonderful thing if one and another this morning might be able to sing,<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name from the palms of His hands\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eternity will not erase,<\/p>\n

Impressed on His heart it remains,<\/p>\n

In marks of indelible grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is matchless mercy, abounding mercy, enduring mercy, which will land the whole blood-bought church of God safely in heaven at last.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Someone once asked an old minister why this Psalm keeps repeating the same words verse after verse: \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever.\u201d The minister thought for a moment or two, and his answer was this: \u201cWell, because it does endure for ever.\u201d And beloved friends, what a favour that is! What would we do without mercy? And if there were mercy, what would we do if it did not last, if it did not endure? The mercy of God made known in Jesus Christ is the foundation of our hope. We would not have any hope without it. It is the foundation of the gospel. There would not be any gospel without it. O that wonderful display of mercy which we have in the Word of God! How the saints of old valued it! How it was their plea! How it was their hope!<\/p>\n

Now I take it that as this Psalm was sung in the temple, it was sung in two parts. Perhaps the Levites sang the first part and then the people joined in the chorus: \u201cFor His mercy endureth for ever.\u201d One thing we do know is that this Psalm was sung on a number of auspicious occasions in the Old Testament. One was at the consecration of Solomon\u2019s temple, and this is what they sang: \u201cHis mercy endureth for ever.\u201d What a display of God\u2019s mercy there was in great glory that day when the glory of the Lord filled the house. It would be a wonderful thing in our little measure this morning as we consider the mercy of God if His glory was to fill this place and to affect our hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":481,"featured_media":22562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1729],"tags":[1239],"class_list":["post-23742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benjamin-ramsbottom","tag-sovereign-grace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/481"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23742"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23744,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23742\/revisions\/23744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}