Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Psalm 77. Psalm 77. And that song that we just sang
is very fitting for this psalm. We'll be looking at this wonderful
psalm, which shows us that in the day of trouble, in the day
of trouble, the redeemed seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and
they are delivered by him. They are delivered by him. When
we were down, Vicki and I were down in Ashland, the men meet
Sunday night before service, and on a rotating basis, one
man will read scripture and then pray for the service that night.
And this was a psalm that the man who was doing the study,
the read that night, was reading. And as he read it, Verse 15 just
struck me. Thou hast, with thine arm, redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. And Brother
Allen Ison was sitting beside me and I said, I need to preach
that. And you know, Brother Ison says,
yep, that's a good one. And so I came home and put this
message together, and what a blessing it was to study this psalm. I've
just named the message, Deliverance. Deliverance. One word. So that's how this sermon came
to be. So let's look at this psalm tonight. And as always,
the hope is that the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified and
magnified. Now we see the psalm writer is
Asaph. Asaph. It's not David. It's a dear brother called Asaph.
And Asaph looks back to past deliverances. We'll see that
through the psalm tonight as we study. Asaph looks back at
past deliverances, drawing strength and comfort
contemplating what the Lord has done for his people. What the
Lord has done for Israel. And I know often times I've said
we need to look back and see what the Lord has done for us,
because we can draw great strength from that. And we're going to
see that tonight. This dear brother is going to
do that. He's going to look back and be strengthened in his faith
by seeing what God has done for his people. Now one may ask,
who is Asaph? Turn to 1 Chronicles 16. Who
is Asaph? Now there was a number of Levites
that King David assigned to minister before the Ark of the Lord and
to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. They
were to worship in the temple, and Asaph was one of them. Asaph
was one of them. He was a devout man. Look at
1 Chronicles 16, verses 4 to 6. And he appointed certain of the
Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record,
and to thank, and praise the Lord God of Israel. Asaph, the
chief. So he's not just anyone, he's
the chief. He's one of the ones who are in charge. And next to
him, Zechariah, Jeal, Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Medithiah, and
Eliab, and Benathani, and Obedim, and Jaoal, with psalteries and
with harps, but Asaph made a sound with cymbals. Benaniah also,
and Jehasorel, the priest with trumpets continually before the
Ark of the Covenant of God. So he was one of the great singers,
and not just one of them, it says Asaph the chief, so he was
He was a man of authority in the temple, and he was one who
gave praise and worship to our great God. Spurgeon comments
this. Spurgeon comments this. He says
that Asaph, that his psalms have usually a dark tinge about them.
He says that he was a very meditative man, and you can tell that from
his writings. A man of souls acquainted with
grief, just like our Savior was. But also a man of strong faith,
and a man of rejoicing spirit. One commentator said this, you
need to do business in great waters to understand Asaph. So,
folks who have went through things in life, deep waters of trials
and tribulations, which every believer has, every believer
has, will understand and can relate to Asaph's writings. And
he says this, one writer said this, Asaph, he is one who does
not wade, but he gets into waters to swim. So he goes into deep
waters, deep waters. Now Asaph obviously was a gifted
individual and he understood where the gift came from. He
used his music to praise the Lord. He uses music, he uses
giftings to praise the Lord and to proclaim our God in song.
Turn, if you would, to 1 Chronicles 25. Now we see here the sons
of Asaph are mentioned as being separated and by law appointed
to the service of singers in the temple. So his sons were
also singers. But Asaph was one of the ones
who wrote some psalms. Look at 1 Chronicles 25, verses
1 and 2. Moreover, David and the captains
of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph,
and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy
with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals. And a number
of the workmen, according to their service was, of the sons
of Asaph, Zachar, and Joseph, In Nethaniah, in Asarala, the
sons of Asaph. Asaph, under the hands of Asaph,
who prophesied according to the order of the king. So with that in consideration,
let's go back to our psalm. A little bit of background of
who Asaph was. Let's look at verse 1. It says,
to the chief musician, To Jethethon, a psalm of Asaph, I cried unto
God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave
ear unto me. Let us take note here that Asaph
takes refuge where the church takes refuge. In God. Crying out to God. When affliction comes, and when
trials come, Notice the psalmist here speaks by his actions of
his confidence in God. Because who does he go to? Who
does he go to amidst these trials? Right to God. If he had no confidence
in our king, then he wouldn't go to him. That's why we go to
him. Because we have confidence in
our king. Who he is? He's God. He's God. And so Asaph
has been taught who God is. He's born again just like we
are. Remember, the Old Testament saints are saved the same way
we are, by looking to Christ. By looking to Christ, born again
by the Spirit. So in this way of him going to
God, with his voice, he confesses that God's ways are dark and
mysterious, which they are. But his people trust and rest
in him no matter what comes. Sometimes we look at things in
our lives and we look at situations that occur and they're mysterious
to us. We don't understand always why they occur. But we rest,
we rest knowing that his will will be accomplished, don't we?
And it will be. It will be. Even if we don't
understand the situation, we rest and trust in our great God
and King. Knowing, and let us always remember
this, knowing that our trials and our tribulations and things
that surprise us are divine appointments. They're divine appointments. Now here's a good illustration.
It says here, he lifted up his voice
and he gave ear unto me. Here's a good illustration of
how the Lord hears our prayers. or crying out to him. A check
without a signature at the bottom is nothing but a worthless piece
of paper. The stroke of a pen confers on
it all its value. All its value. The prayer of
a poor child of God is a feeble thing in itself, but once endorsed
by the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, it availeth much. our great mediator, our great
mediator, as Brother Chet prayed between God and men, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us note in the
first verse, it says that God's not far off from his people.
Look at the latter part of verse one. And he gave ear unto me. He hears his people's cry. He
hears his people's cry. What peace we can draw here knowing
that our great mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, hears all
our prayers. He hears them all. And he's interceding
for his people before the Father. Here's another good illustration.
There was an officer in the city of Rome who was appointed to
have his doors always open in order to receive any Roman citizen
who applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus
Christ is ever open to the cry of all who want mercy and grace.
And let us remember, it is His office as our mediator to help
His covenant people. He always hears us. He always
hears us, beloved. Look at verse two. It says, in
the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My soul ran in the
night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted.
Notice, he sought the Lord. And this is the best place for
we who are going through times of trouble. He sought the Lord.
He sought the Lord. Now, when men seek comfort from
men, they find no rest. No rest. No rest at all. No comfort. There's no comfort
in religion. Religious folks have no comfort
because they're always trying to do something else. They have
no rest, no comfort. Because they're trying to gain
merit and favor with God by their works, and they'll never find
rest. And it'll lead to their destruction. If God leaves them
there, they'll end up in hell. We seek comfort. in the one who
is called the God of all comfort. In and through Christ alone,
trusting and resting in his works, which he did for us as our substitute. Look at verses three and four.
I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was
overwhelmed. See, La. Thou holdest mine eyes,
waking. I am so troubled that I cannot
speak. So we see the psalmist troubled.
He cannot speak. He's overwhelmed now. But now,
we'll see, he begins to reflect upon his great God and King. Amidst the storms that have come,
look at verses five and six here. I have considered the days of
old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song
in the night. I commune with mine own heart,
and my spirit made diligent search. So he's reflecting upon past
deliverances, beloved. He's reflecting, and we're gonna
see through the psalm, he's not just reflecting on past deliverances
of himself, but for God's people. For God's people. He's considering,
the scripture says here, the days of old. And what had happened
with the people of Israel, his ancestors. And he would have
been taught about what had happened to them. He would have been told of God's
many deliverances of the people of Israel. And he would have
seen this even in his own life. He would have been able to reflect
back, just like we who believe can reflect back and go, my goodness,
look what the Lord took me through. Time after time after time. Think of this. The days of Adam
to the then present He could have reflected on all the deliverances.
The Israelites coming out of Egypt, their passage through
the Red Sea in the wilderness, the times of the judges and what
occurred to them. And how they were delivered out
of their troubles. And they were delivered from
their enemies time after time after time. Let's look at the following three
verses together and we can see his reflections. Now he's going
to ask some questions here. The answer to each of these questions
is one word. Never. Never. Will the Lord cast off forever? Have you ever been in a storm
and wondered that? Have you ever been in such a
valley? I have. If we say we don't doubt, we're
lying. Because we've all been in the valley. Will the Lord
cast off forever? Will he be favorable no more?
Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promises fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shed up his
tender mercies? Selah. Pause. Now these blessed questions,
these blessed inquiries, they all lead the soul right to God.
Right to God. They all look to Him, and again,
the answer to them all is never. Now let's think of these questions
with an eye to our Savior. Let's, you and I tonight, think
of these questions with an eye to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we know the law and the
testaments, they testify of him. Will the law, will the Lord cast
off forever? God will never cast away his
people. Never. Never. They are safe in Christ alone. They have been redeemed by Him.
They've been redeemed with His precious blood. And they will
be saved. Those whom Christ died for will
be saved. They will be saved. They will
be saved. They will be regenerated. They
will be. We're living proof. We who believe
are living proof of that. They will be regenerated by the
Holy Spirit of God, they will be granted faith, and they will
be granted repentance to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So
will the Lord cast off forever? He'll never cast one of his sheep
away. Never. Never. No matter how bad
the storm gets, he's always with you. He's always with you. And
will he be favorable no more? Every single day we are loaded
down with benefits. We don't even see them. Every
day we're loaded down with benefits. We know scripture declares we
have all spiritual blessings in Christ. All of them. All of
them. Will he be favorable no more?
My. All spiritual blessings in Christ
and know how favorable God has been to his people. Think of
this. How favorable has God been to
us? He elected us in eternity. God sent Christ, His Son, the
second person of the Trinity, down to this world to die for
our sins. Christ himself hung upon that
cross and paid everything that God demanded. We are regenerated by the Holy
Spirit of God. My, and then, When we die, He
takes us home to glory. He will never stop being favorable
to His covenant people. Never. Never. Is His mercy clean
gone forever? Well, God's elect have obtained
mercy in Christ and praise His mighty name that we have. His
mercy is like a depthless sea to us. His mercies are new every morning
to us. Every morning. You'll never find the bottom
of God's mercy. The believer will never find
the bottom of that. Never. Doth his promise fail
forevermore? Praise God, no, his promises
are the same yesterday, today, and forever. God doesn't change,
therefore his promises don't change. And he's shown mercy and he's
given grace and he has manifest his everlasting love to his covenant
people in Christ Jesus our Lord. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Turn, if you would, to Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Oh, how gracious God is to his
elect in Christ. Look at Exodus 34 verses 6 and
7. He will never stop being gracious
to his covenant people, to his elect. He'll never stop being
gracious to us. Look at Exodus 34 verses 6 and
7, and the Lord passed by him and proclaimed, The Lord, the
Lord God, merciful and gracious. We could just sit right there,
long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving the iniquity and transgressions and
sin. that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
into the third and fourth generation. But look at verse six and the
Lord passed by him and proclaim the Lord. That's the self existent
one. And then he proclaims it again.
The Lord God merciful. Oh, how merciful is God to his
people and gracious. Long suffering, how long suffering
is with us. and abundant in goodness and
truth. He's not just goodness and truth,
He's abundant in goodness and truth. So will the Lord ever
stop being gracious to His people? Never, never, never. Hath He in anger shut up His
tender mercies? Now a bitter, angry man may shut
up mercies to other people. We've all seen people like that
in our lives, but God will never shut up his mercies to his covenant
people. Never. The mercies of God are
not restrained with his people. They flow freely through Christ
and the people of God are crowned with loving kindness and tender
mercies. God may hide his face a little from his people, yet
with great mercies, will he gather us? And with everlasting kindness
will He have mercy to His people. He will never, ever stop being
merciful to His people. So let us trust and rest upon
our God. A covenant God. A covenant God. And when things are dark and
discouraging, Let the Word, the Oath of Jehovah, sealed in the
Blood of the Covenant by the Lord Jesus Christ, be our hope
and be our rest. And let us remember that the
Unchanging One, the Everlasting One, the Sovereign One, is the
very One who we trust our eternal souls to. Oh, what a great God
Christ is. What a great Savior. And as we
reflect upon these things, as we reflect upon who our God is,
that He is God, and that Christ is God, and that Christ hath
redeemed His people and saved His people, as we reflect upon
what God has done for His people, and to know that the psalmist
and our brethren in the past have went through the same struggles
that we're, there's nothing new under the sun. They went through
the same struggles that you and I go through. And to know that
God has delivered them too. And that now they are rejoicing
in glory. This can give us great strength
to know that the everlasting one, the sovereign one, has watched
over them amidst all the storms of life. And we can draw from
that well. Great comfort. Great comfort. What a great God we have. What
a king, supreme. Now in verses 10 to 15, we have
reference to the wonders of old, the works of our sovereign majestic
God. And we see the psalmist reflecting
upon them, and it gives great comfort. to the troubled soul.
We who believe, as I said earlier, can draw strength from these
portions of Scripture. Because we know as we reflect
in our lives how much the Lord has delivered us. And from what
we see in Scripture, it's what He does for His people. And if
I'm one of His people, then I can look and say, the Lord does this
for me. And then I can reflect in my
life and say, now I see it when I never did before. Even before
I was saved, he preserved me. It's incredible. Left to myself,
I would have destroyed myself. But he preserves his people.
Look at verses 10 to 15, and I said, This is my infirmity,
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most
High. I will remember the works of the Lord surely. I will remember
thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy
work and talk of thy doings. We ought to meditate upon the
wondrous things of God and what he's done. It'll fill your heart
with joy. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our
God? Well, there's no one. There's
no one. Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. So now let us consider
verse 15, which speaks, several commentators have said this,
of Israel being redeemed from Egypt by the arm of God. And we know from study in scripture
that Christ is referred to as the arm of God. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 136. Psalm 136. And I'd like us to
keep in mind that Christ is referred
to as the arm of God and it is He who has delivered the Israelites
from Egypt. It was He who parted the Red
Sea. It was He who was with them through
the wilderness. And it was He who took them into
the Promised Land. And as we turn over to Psalm
136, I'm gonna read verse 15 again. Thou hast with thine arm
redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. Remember
that several commentators said this verse speaks of their redemption
from Egypt, when they were bought out of Egypt. Look at Psalm 136,
we're starting verse 10, and we'll read all the way down to
verse 24. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy
endureth forever. The Lord went through and the
firstborn of the Egyptians were smote, but all who were under
the blood, all who were under the blood were saved, were saved. And I bought out Israel from
among them. Now note who did it. God bought
them out. God bought them out. And bought out Israel from among
them for His mercy endureth forever with a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm. There's the arm of the Lord.
right there, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which divided
the Red Sea into parts, God Himself divided the Red Sea by His almighty
sovereign power. He divided the Red Sea into parts,
for his mercy endureth forever. And made Israel to pass through
the midst of it, for his mercy endureth forever. But overthrew
Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea, for his mercy endureth
forever. To him which led his people through
the wilderness, for his mercy endureth forever. To him which
smote great kings, for his mercy endureth forever. And slew famous
kings, for his mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his mercy endureth forever. And Og, the king of Bashan, for
his mercy endureth forever. And gave their land for an heritage,
for his mercy endureth forever. even in heritage unto Israel
his servant, for his mercy endureth forever, who remembered us in
our lowest state, for his mercy endureth forever, and hath redeemed
us from our enemies, for his mercy endureth forever. Oh my, my. So let we who are redeemed remember
that Egypt is a picture of the world. Egypt is a picture of
the world. And we were in the world at one
time, love and sin, just like everyone else, with no care for
God and the things of God, drinking iniquity like water. But the
Lord had mercy upon us. He had mercy upon us. And think
of this, what a great deliverance. What a great deliverance has
occurred to we who are saved sinners. And what a great deliverance
will occur to those lost sheep whom the Lord will save. They
will be delivered just like we were delivered. He came to save his people from
their sins and he did it. He did it. We were in Egyptian
bondage. Beloved by our own sins, Satan
was the taskmaster. And our sins were our chains.
They were our chains. And you know what? We had no
idea we were in bondage. We had no idea. We thought we
were free. But all the time we were chained. Chained up in complete bondage. Slaves to sin. Turn, if you would,
to Proverbs chapter 5. Gives us a description of how
we were. Proverbs chapter 5, verse 21
to 22. Oh, what a great deliverance. For the ways of man are before
the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. The
Lord sees everything. Everything. He hears everything.
Look at this. His own iniquity shall take the
wicked himself, and he shall be what? Holden with the cords
of his sins. We were bound up, and we didn't
even know it. We were holding by our sins and
we didn't even know it. So let us think this, the Lord
taking the people of Israel out of Egypt was a picture of the
redemption of the Lord's people by the Lord Jesus Christ, by
his taking his elect by the arm and the power of God. Which we
have stated in our text. Look at verse 15 again. Thou,
being God, hast with thine arm, that's Christ, redeemed thy people. And who was it who purchased
us? Christ purchased us with his own precious blood. By his
dying upon the cross, the sons of Jacob and Joseph Now turn,
if you would, into Exodus, Chapter 6, where cross-reference Psalm
77, 15, with Exodus, Chapter 6, verses 6 and 7. And again,
I'll read verse 15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. Look at Exodus,
Chapter 6, verses 6 and 7. Exodus 6, verses 6 and 7. Wherefore
say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and look at this
verbiage, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of
the Egyptians. It's the Lord who delivers his
people. It's the Lord who delivers his people. And I will rid you
out of their bondage. They are set free. They are set
free. and I will redeem you. He's going
to purchase them. He's redeeming them. But with
a stretched out arm and with great judgments. And I will take
you to me for a people. Oh my. And I will be to you a
God and ye shall know that I am the Lord, your God, which bringeth
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So the Israelites
were bought out of Egypt into the promised land by the arm
and by the power of the Lord, just as we are bought out of
our sins, redeemed, purchased, taken out of spiritual Egypt
and set free in Christ. Turn, if you would, the Psalm
44 verses three and four, Psalm 44 verses three and four. What
powers on display? What sovereignty? The Israelites,
just like us. Now think of this too. When the
Israelites were in Egypt, they couldn't set themselves free.
Just like we couldn't set ourselves free. We were bound up by sin. Oh my! Look at Psalm 44 verses
3 and 4. For they got not the land in
possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save
them, but thy right hand, that's Christ, beloved, that's Christ,
and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou
hast favor upon them, they found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Just like Noah, just like we have, we found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And then look at this. Thou art
my king, O God. Command deliverances for Jacob. If God commands deliverances,
they're gonna be delivered. So again, what powers on display
here? The Israelites, as I said earlier,
just like us, could never deliver themselves from their bonds in
Egypt. And the Israelites were delivered
and redeemed from their bonds in Egypt by the arm of God. By the arm of God. And God's
elect, We have been redeemed. We have been delivered by the
arm of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been delivered from the
bonds of spiritual Egypt and the price of that redemption. The price of that deliverance
was the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God incarnate in the flesh, as He died upon Calvary's cross,
the sinner's substitute. And we live, and we are now free
because of Christ's death. Because of what He's done, by
His works. By His works. Now, here's a lesson for us. The believers of old were in
a habit of referring to the wonders of the Red Sea, looking back
at God's deliverance. And we who are redeemed can unite
with them, singing the song of the Lamb. And what great comfort
will come to us as we meditate upon the great workings and the
great power of our sovereign God. And let us consider this,
that until the last sheep is saved, God will continue to deliver
his sheep by the arm of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is of the Lord. And he will save all his sheep,
all of them. because Christ redeemed them
all upon the cross. There won't be one of his sheep
lost. They will be regenerated. They will be born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. They shall be saved. He purchased
them. He saved us from our sins. And all those sheep. Will go to the promised land.
By his power. and by his work. If it was up
to us, we'd be in a heap of trouble, wouldn't we? But praise God,
he saves his sheep and he brings them home. He brings them home,
all by his power, all by his mighty work. And we will dwell
in that land, just like the Israelites dwelt in Canaan, but we will
dwell in that land forever. Oh, makes you homesick, doesn't
it? Makes you homesick. My, what a topic for us to sit
and ponder and consider. Now notice at the very end of
verse 15, there's a pause. Selah, it's a pause. Stand in
awe, beloved. Stand in awe. Just pause and
reflect. that it's the arm of the Lord
which has redeemed us. Stand in awe and see the salvation
of the Lord. I like what Spurgeon said here.
He said, now we see the psalmist close with the final burst of
song of praise and adoration of God's sovereign majesty, describing
all power, glory and honor to he who is worthy. Let's look
at verses 16 to 20. 16 to 20, the water saw the O
God, The waters saw thee, they were
afraid. The depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water.
The sky sent out a sound. Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was
in the heavens, heaven. The lightning lightened the world.
The earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea and thy
path in the great waters. and thy footsteps are not known. And then the last verse, thou
lettest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Again, we see here the deliverance,
Israel's deliverance through the Red Sea, as the psalmist
continues to look back at what God has done for his people,
for the saints of old. And it brings him hope. And it
brings him comfort. Just as it does for us when we
look back and reflect, when we see these wonderful Psalms and
we see David delivered and we see Asaph delivered, it gives
us hope. It gives us hope, gives us strength. The sea parted. Think of this.
Think of the Red Sea parted. Parted. All by the mighty power of God.
And the Israelites walked on dry land. Not like these silly
things you see on the History Channel with a little bit of
water. Scripture says it was dry land. Dry land. And then what happened
to their enemies? They were swallowed up. They were swallowed up by the
wrath of God. And what does that tell us? Well,
that tells us that God's people are delivered from their enemies.
And that the wrath of God will swallow up our enemies. Turn,
if you would, to Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14. So God's people are delivered
from their enemies and their enemies are destroyed. All by the arm and the power
of our great Redeemer, our God. Look at Exodus chapter 14 verses
19, we'll read all the way to verse 31. And the angel of God, which went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them. And the
pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind
them. And it came between the camp
of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a cloud
and darkness to them. But it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all the night.
The Egyptians couldn't get to the Israelites. They couldn't
get to them. Oh. Verse 21, and Moses stretched
out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go
back. This is His magnificent power
on display, His sovereignty on display. He caused the sea to
go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea
dry land. Dry land. The sea parted. And it was dry
land. Whenever you hear somebody say,
like I said earlier, some of these folks say, oh, there's
a little bit of water. Scripture's our final authority. It's just
dry land. That means they crossed on dry
land. That means not a drop of water
fell upon them. Now think of this, too. All who were in the
ark Not a drop of rain fell on them. Not a drop of the wrath
of God fell on them. Not a drop of water fell on the Israelites.
Because we're going to see that that water is going to fall upon
those Egyptians. And the waters were divided.
And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon
the dry ground. And the waters wore a wall unto
them on their right hand and on their left. Could you imagine?
them walking through this, I bet they were trembling, because
I would be. And look at, and you see, you're
seeing a wall of water over here, and a wall of water over here,
and you're walking on dry, they must have been in awe. They must
have been in absolute awe. And they're walking through on
dry land. The sea has parted right before
them. And the Egyptians pursued. Now
here comes the Egyptians. They're following after them.
And the Egyptians pursued. And went in after them to the
midst of the sea, and even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots,
and his horsemen. Now, I remember reading a commentator
one time on this, and they say that Egypt was once a great power,
and then something happened. Well, we can see here what happened.
Remember, these are the prime men. This is their army. Let's watch and see what happens.
And the Egyptians pursued and went after them to the midst
of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his
horsemen. And it came to pass that in the morning, watch, the
Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar
of fire and of the cloud and troubled the host of the Egyptians
and took off their chariot wheels, that they draved them heavily,
so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel,
for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the
Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the sea,
that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians. upon their
chariots and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his
hand over the sea. And the sea returned to his strength
when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians fled against
it. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the
sea. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that
came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as
one of them. What a deliverance. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were
a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus
the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. They
saw their enemies dead. What a deliverance. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians,
and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His
servant Moses. So in the destruction of the
Egyptians, we see a picture of the destruction of the wicked.
They will not escape the wrath and judgment of God. The Egyptians
did not escape the wrath and judgment of God. But praise be
to God in the deliverance of Israel. We see a picture of God's
elect being delivered and showing mercy because God is merciful
and gracious to his covenant people in and through Christ. And may we never forget the great
cost of our redemption. May we never forget it. Brother
Chet mentioned that, may we never forget that. The shedding of
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is dying upon the
cross as our substitute. And may we rejoice amidst the
storms of life, knowing that as God has delivered the saints
of old and preserved his people, he will deliver us. and preserve
us on hill tell until he takes us to glory and let's finish
just reading this verse again thou has with thine arm redeemed
by people the sons of Jacob and Joseph see gracious heavenly
father we come before thee Seeing again in Scripture that
our deliverance, our redemption is by thy right arm, the Lord
Jesus Christ, our great Savior and Redeemer. And may we leave
here this week, or tonight, and may this message give us strength
and grace as we reflect upon the great deliverance that we
saw, and how you Delivered the people of Israel from all their
enemies and Lord. We know that thou will do that
for us and that thou does that for us We praise thee and thank thee
For the mercy which has been shown us and bestowed upon us
in Christ Jesus our Lord May we think upon these things may
we meditate upon this psalm this week in Jesus name. Amen