Enduring Mercy

[Posted by permission. Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel.]

Sermon preached at Bethel Chapel, Luton, by Mr. B. A. Ramsbottom, on Lord’s day morning, 13th May, 2018

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever”—Psalm 136:23

Someone once asked an old minister why this Psalm keeps repeating the same words verse after verse: “His mercy endureth for ever.” The minister thought for a moment or two, and his answer was this: “Well, because it does endure for ever.” 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!

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: “For His mercy endureth for ever.” 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’s temple, and this is what they sang: “His mercy endureth for ever.” What a display of God’s 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.

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 – at least, in the spirit of it: “We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.” 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: “Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever.”

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’s 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.

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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: “Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people: O visit me with Thy salvation.” 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:

“I cannot hope but in Thy blood; 

Remember me, O Lord, for good”?

“Who remembered us.” Well, we are told that “God remembered Noah.” 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. “God remembered Noah”; “for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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.

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.

“Who remembered us in our low estate.” Now that was a low estate in which the Lord’s people were, when the Lord from all eternity in the covenant of grace viewed them as “ruined in the fall, yet loved them notwithstanding all.” 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 “from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.”

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!

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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: “He will ever be mindful of His covenant.”

Do you young people ever think of some of the blessings and the glories of the covenant of grace, “ordered in all things, and sure”? 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! “Although my house be not so with God.” You will find in your little lives there will often be things and they are “not so with God,” not as you would have them to be. You wish they were different. Your house is “not so with God.” Your spiritual condition is “not so with God,” as you would have it. And then a wonderful word: “Yet,” and it is all mercy in it from first to last. “Yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.” It is a beautiful truth. David, the man of God, was so troubled. He was going to die, and his house was “not so with God,” 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.

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, “Lord, what is the matter? What has happened?” Do you know what the Lord spoke to me?

“Though with no sweet enjoyments blessed, 

This covenant stands the same.”

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’s ground, you will find grace to help.

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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 – mind you, completely separate from sin. But that verse so many of you love – this is the Saviour’s low estate He entered into as He was remembering you in your low estate – “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor” – that is His low estate – “that ye through His poverty might be rich.”

You have that beautiful little commentary on it in Philippians chapter 2: “Who, 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.” 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. “Despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” For “who can tell how low the King of glory stooped that He might conquer hell?”

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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. “Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth…. I am He.” 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, “Whom seek ye?” Again that reply: “I am He.” They are helpless on the ground. There He is for a few moments appearing in His eternal glory as the almighty Son of God.

“It were an easy part

For Him the cross to fly;

But love to sinners fills His heart, 

And makes Him choose to die.”

“Who remembered us.” Then He remembered His covenant purpose. He remembered how He said, “In the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will.” 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: “the passport of the whole church of God to heaven.”

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” Now we see the Lord’s 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.

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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, “Why me, Lord? Why me?” And the only answer is on the grounds of His mercy, He who says, “I … will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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. “O when wilt Thou come unto me?”

You want that beautiful word to be fulfilled: “Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills,” 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, “Behold, He cometh,” and that is in mercy. “Behold He cometh … He looketh forth at the windows,” 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.

“He remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” But then in greater or less measure, the Lord will remember you savingly. “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” It is a wonderful thing when the Lord remembers a sinner. But O that beautiful word: “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.” 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. “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.”

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” 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.

“But though I have Him oft forgot, 

His loving-kindness changes not!”

“Who remembered us.” During that terrible English civil war, there was a soldier going into battle, and this was his prayer. He said, “Lord, I shall be very busy this day, and fear I may forget Thee, but O do Thou remember me.” “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.”

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” I am sure some of you this morning may feel to be in a low estate. Sometimes God’s 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’s 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 “supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

“Who remembered us in our low estate.” Sadness, sorrow, bereavement – that is a low estate. Ill health, those you are concerned about, those of you this morning not feeling well – it is a low estate. Loneliness, disappointment, things going wrong, things you cannot manage, your various fears – 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’s sure and safe retreat in prayer. Mercy must be your plea there.

But this wonderful thing, that the Lord remembers His poor, unworthy people! Others may forget you; even the Lord’s people may forget you; but the Lord does not forget, and it is that loving, kind remembrance. Perhaps some of you can say, “The Lord hath been mindful of us” – that is, He who remembered us in that past trouble when we would have sunk. “The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us.” 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.

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.” So whatever your low estate, His mercy is all sufficient – 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.

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

“My name from the palms of His hands 

Eternity will not erase,

Impressed on His heart it remains,

In marks of indelible grace.”

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

“Who remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever.”