Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

It ought to be Requiem it is just fine and in Psalm 136, verses 17 through 26, we read these words to him who smote great things, for his loving-kindness is everlasting and slew mighty kings, for his mercy endures forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his mercy endures forever. And Og, king of Bashan, for his mercy endures forever. And he gave their land as a heritage, for his mercy endures forever. Even a heritage to Israel, his servant, for his mercy endures forever. Who remembered us in our low estate? His mercy endures forever. And has rescued us from our adversaries for his mercy endures forever. Who gives food to all flesh, for his mercy endures forever? Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy endures forever. Let us pray. Father, thank you for this.

Your word help us to see your mercy this day in the evidence that is around us and in the evidence that is inside of us as we know Christ. For we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Perhaps you read recently about a man, Norman Croucher, who ascended white needle mountainous in the Himalayas. It’s a mountain that is over 21,300ft. And the reason you might have heard about Norman Croucher is that he is a man who has no legs. Being the first person to ascend the Himalayas without legs. See, that gets our attention when we read it in a newspaper. But I wonder, what is it that gets our attention about God? There was a time when certain words only had to be spoken, and immediately it gathered the attention of God’s people. There was a time when all you had to say was faith.

And by faith alone, the reformation began and Luther stood before his congregation and said, soli fides. Faith alone. There was another time when the word grace could be simply and a type of hush would fall over a room of christians as Martin Luther stood before thousands and he declared, by grace, are you saved? There was another time, many thousands of years ago, where a single word had the rapt attention of God’s people. And that word is mercy. Just to say the word mercy within the context of the Jew who lived at the time of being freed from Egypt and then being brought into the promised land, and knowing that there was no reason why they should receive this mercy, that they were amazed by even the word mercy. Psalm 136 is 26 verses long.

Each of those verses ends with this phrase, for his mercy endures forever. It was penned by David. We know that this particular psalm was sung in the temple that Solomon built. It was used as an opening prayer of celebration as the people would repeat, his mercy endures forever. It was this psalm that was sung by Jehoshaphat as he went across and defeated the enemy. And he drove them all the way to Tekoa. And Jehoshaphat had the people assemble, and they sang, his mercy endures forever. Perhaps in the age that we live, where everything has become so visual, it is hard for us to relate to a word, for it to truly capture our heart.

But I think in the scripture, the word of mercy is certainly one word that ought to do something of sending the grace of God into our life, a word for which we must be thankful. Now, why is mercy so important? It’s mentioned over 26 times in this psalm. It’s mentioned in context to the salvation that the Jewish people had faced by the hand of God. We’re told in verse 17, to him who smote great king. And then it lists Sihome, king of the Amorites. And in verse 20, ab, king of Bashan. Who were these men? If you remember, the Jewish people, having been freed from Egypt, were now coming to conquer the land. And as they did, they came to the land where Sihon was the king of the Amorites.

They requested that they would be able to cross through the land of the Amorites. They sent a messenger who requested that they would cross the land. And as they crossed that they would not get off of the path. They would not eat any of the food, and they would drink no water from the Amorites. The word was brought back from King Shehhi that you cannot cross the land of the Amorites. And God prepared the Jewish people. And there was a battle as Shihon came with his troops from the Amorites. And they were defeated on that day by God’s people. His mercy endures forever. And for the Jewish person, this mercy was remarkable. Later we read that God protected the Jewish people from Og, who was the king of Bashan. And again, a battle and the Jewish people conquer. His mercy endures forever.

We might ask, why would God show his mercy on these people? Was it because they were so devout? Was it because of their piety? As a matter of fact, as we look to the events preceding King Sihon and King Og, we find that the people were complaining to Moses. They refused to follow the leadership of Moses. They asked Moses, are you bringing us in the wilderness so that we can die? The anger of God was so great against the Jewish people that he then introduced into the camp untold hundreds, thousands of serpents. And anyone who was bit by that serpent would die. And Moses was instructed to take his staff, which was in the shape of. Of a bronze snake, and to hold it over his head, and that anyone who would even look upon that staff would be saved.

It was from that disobedience that scripture tells us the next events that occurred in the life of the Jewish people was standing before King Sheholm and later, and that we clearly see that it was not because of their devotion, it was not because of their piety that God brought safety and defended them against the Amorites and against Bashan. There’s another reason, I think, that it is important for us to remember the mercy of God. And that is there is something in each of us that makes it much easier to talk about the problems that we face rather than the mercies that we’ve experienced through Jesus Christ.

I have noticed that in the face of God’s blessing, so often our attention is wrapped upon some new problem, some new dimension of analysis that needs to be considered, and that very often we get so caught up in that process of the problem that we need to take a perspective and to look behind us to see the mercy of God and all that he has done in the past. I visited a couple several months ago who obviously were enjoying what to me were the blessings of God, wonderful job, a wonderful family, living in a wonderful community. And as I was talking with them, what surprised me was how quickly they were able to talk about the problems that they were facing that particular day, that particular week.

And it went from the problems that they had as a family then to the problems that were in their community, talking about neighbors and things that were missing that they would like to see in their community, and ultimately ending with concern about our nation, which seemed to be turning in a tragic way against the Lord. Certainly, there is a place for talking and considering our problems and finding a resolution through Jesus Christ and good thinking and good planning. But I believe, as Christians, there is an equal place, or even greater place for us to remember the mercy of the Lord and what he has done for us in the past. Here we are under the roof of a building that is yet to be completed.

It would be very easy at this point to simply forget all that the Lord has done from this moment backwards and to only focus on this moment forward. And I believe that would be a great error, as it would be a great error for an individual to do that. It would be a great error for a church to forget the mercies of the Lord that have brought us to this place. I remember a point where were unable, because we had outgrown our living room and we did not have a place to meet. And we met for some six months every evening, Sunday night, in our apartment. At that point, we cleared all of the furniture out of the living room, would bring folding chairs into our small living quarters, and people would come, and we would worship the Lord from that small beginning.

We then asked the question, where shall we meet? We went to some 40 institutions in the greater Princeton area. All of them turned us down. This was just a few years after Jim Jones, and they were concerned that their institutions might be tainted by some religious group. And so, Princeton University and the seminary and the public schools and the city halls and all of theaters were closed as possible places for us to meet. We went finally to the boy choir school of Princeton, and they told us, there’s only one thing we have to do, and that is to get the approval of the board of directors. And I had heard that some 39 times before and knew that was the kiss of death.

But for the providence of God, it was determined that we would be able to use the small room in the boy choir school. And so, we met for the first time in public worship at the boy choir school on Rosedale Road in Princeton. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. And as were not able to meet all of the Sunday school requirements, we then needed another place to meet. All of the institutions were closed in the mercy of God. We went to the city hall of Princeton, which only two weeks before had turned us down to purchase a small building that they had for sale. It was the decision of those leaders that it would be inappropriate for the state of Princeton to sell to the church of Princeton Presbyterian.

And so, they gave away a building in Princeton, and they said that we would not be able to buy that facility. Two weeks later, I went back and asked if we could use the meeting room in the city hall of Princeton. Almost tongue in cheek. But the mercy of the Lord endures forever. And the mercy of God in those two weeks had touched the man who was most opposed to our meeting in the school. He went back to Massachusetts. He asked about the city square, which came first, the public city hall or the church. And he was told in his own hometown that the city hall came first and that there were years in which the church met in the city hall.

He rethought his position when we came back to ask about renting the city hall of Princeton, which had never been used for religious purposes. That man stood up and said, two weeks ago, I oppose the church using any facility, but I am now in favor. And again, there was a vote taken, and we met for some ten months in the city hall of Princeton. His mercy endures forever. And then we faced even greater problem with more numbers of people. And where shall we meet? And Ed John Lawson tried to find every room available that we could use for Sunday school. And we finally maxed that city hall. We had been told that we could not use the public school. We went back to the public school, and it was as if there were no problems.

There was never a question raised about the constitution, which, according to its bylaws, forbade churches from using their facility. Now, that clause was not mentioned. And we met for the first time, the first church to meet in a public school in Princeton. His mercy endures forever. And then I think of only a year or two ago as we began plans to buy property. And the Lord opened up this piece of property, a piece of property that now has doubled, perhaps quadrupled in its value over the time that we have owned it. During that time, we purchased some 14 acres. Within ten days of the arrangement that we had made with the sale, the person who owned this property, were able to sell six acres of the 14 acres for virtually the same price as we had paid for the entire piece.

And God accelerated the possibility of putting up a building. His mercy endures forever. And now we are at a place meeting in this facility with the prayer that God would use this and that we, as his people, would remember his mercies, which are new every morning, that we would remember. His mercy endures forever. It is possible that you have never experienced the mercy of God, that you have never, by an act of faith, asked Jesus Christ to be merciful to you, a sinner. Christ has promised that where we acknowledge our sin, that he will come, he will cleanse us of our sin. That when he died on the cross, he died for our sin, and that bye, mercy. We are saved.

And if you do not know Christ, then I would invite you to meet him and to know his mercy, which will endure forever. It’s his mercy that will allow you to see the gates of heaven and to come into the mansion that he has prepared. His mercy endures forever. Forever. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for your mercy, which has been so kind to us, and that yet, while were yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us. And Father, thank you for the mercy that sustains us every day.

We ask that as Christians we would be quick to remember the mercies that have been shown to us in the past, that as you have defeated King Sihon in our own life, as you have protected us from ag Father, help us to remember your mercies that this day we would give you thanks in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Affirm Foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton ministries post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Dr Smith looks forward to hearing from you.

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