I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our service this morning, this Remembrance Day service. We hope to, at 11 o'clock, stand
for two minutes silence as we remember the Lord's goodness
to us as a nation in delivering us in the time of war and also
those that did fight and gave their lives for the freedoms
that we have today. So let us come before the Lord
now, and let us ask his blessing in prayer upon our gathering.
Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we come before thee through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And we seek, Lord, that this
day thou hast give us a spirit of thanksgiving and praise to
thee, that we might remember thy goodness to us as a nation
your deliverances, the answers to prayer that Thou has pleased
to give us in the time of war. We thank Thee for this. We acknowledge
and confess our many sins as a nation especially is forgetting
Thee. Lord, while we would remember
those and those also of our own family and loved ones that did
die during that conflict, Lord, we would remember thee who did
command the deliverance and blessing at that time. O Lord, be pleased
then to grant us thy help in worship, help us to sing thy
worthy praise, help us to come before thy holy, thy sacred word. And Lord, do grant us thy spirit
that the power of God might rest upon us. And Lord, may there
be those up and down this land this day that do give thee the
honour and the glory that is due unto thy holy name. We, O Lord, seek these mercies
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us now stand for two
minutes silence. Let us stand. Please be seated. Hymn, 1139. Tune, Anne's 89. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God from Psalm 44. Psalm 44. If you have one of
our free Bibles, that is page 567 in the Ruby Bible. Psalm 44. To the Chief Musician
for the Sons of Coram, Maskell. We have heard with our ears,
O God, our fathers have told us, What work thou didst in their
days in the times of old! How thou didst drive out the
heathen with thy hand and plantest them! How thou didst afflict
the people and cast them out! For they got not the land in
possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save
them. But thy right hand and thine
arm and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto
them. Thou art my King, O God, command
deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down
our enemies, through thy name will we tread them under that
rise up against us, for I will not trust in my bow, Neither
shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our
enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we
boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever, Selah. But thou hast cast off and put
us to shame, and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest
us to turn back from the enemy, and they which hate us spoil
for themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep
appointed for meat, and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for naught,
and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us
a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them
that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among
the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. My confusion
is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered
me. For the voice of him that reproacheth
and blasphemeth by reason of the enemy and avenger. All this is come upon us, yet
have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy
covenant. Our heart is not turned back,
neither have our steps declined from thy way. Though thou hast
saw broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with
the shadow of death. If we have forgotten the name
of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange God, shall
not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of
the heart. Yea, for thy sake are we killed
all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore, hidest thou thy face,
and forgetest our affliction and our oppression. For our soul
is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaveth unto the earth. Arise for our help, and redeem
us. for thy mercy's sake. Lord, bless to us that reading
of his holy word and help us as we come before him in prayer. Let us pray. O thou great and holy God, Lord,
King of heaven, and of earth. Lord, we seek to reverence Thy
great and Thy holy name as we come to bow before Thee. Lord,
for Thou art greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. Lord,
we would not forget and treat Thee as if Thou was like unto
Thee. But Lord, Thou art high above
all gods. Thou art Lord of all. And we
do seek, Lord, that we might know that Thou art He that holdest
our life in breath. Lord, Thou dost breathe life
into us, and Thou dost maintain us in Thy fear. Lord, Thou hast
said, without me ye can do nothing, and in Thee we live and move
and have our being. And Lord, Thou art He that dost
command all that happens in this world. and all in our lives. Lord, thou art not the author
of sin, but thou art he that doth command and hast art in
control. And we do thank thee for this. We thank thee for the realisation
of this, on this day set apart for the remembrance of thy goodness
and thy mercies to us as a nation over the years. The many deliverances
thou hast given to deliver from our enemies and from those that
would take away our Protestant heritage and our land. And yet,
Lord, we prove that we are our worst enemy, the same as Israel
of old was. Lord, what the enemies round
about her could do was nothing compared with what she herself
did against her God and to bring herself into bondage to idols,
to idolatry, to sin and wickedness. And we confess that we have within
a worst enemy than that is without. We acknowledge thy warnings of
those that shall be even amongst the churches and amongst the
brethren that are false brethren. And Lord, when we look at the
history of Israel, Lord, we are warned. of the damage that was
done by their priests, by their kings, by those in authority
within her. And, O Lord, do be pleased to
save us. Have mercy upon us as a nation. O Lord, we have been brought
out of the European Union, but that has not delivered us from
the wickedness and evil of our own nation, our own sins and
our own laws. O Lord, do be pleased to have
mercy upon us. and raise up, Lord, a gracious,
a godly seed, and those that know what a nation should do. We thank Thee for the remembrance
of King George VI and the many days, the times that he called
this nation to prayer, those seven times, and answers to prayer
that were given. Lord, we would acknowledge that.
We would remember that Thou hast raised up over this nation kings
that did serve thee, and did bear influence upon the nation,
and that did call men and women to prayer, and a nation that
did follow and did heed, and did come in their multitudes
to gather in the houses of God, and thou didst hear and answer
prayer. We thank thee for the history
recorded to us as a nation. But Lord, we feel so much to
have departed from Thee. We have not returned the benefit. We have sinned. We have gone
astray. We've cast Thy name behind our
backs. We have desecrated Thy day. Lord, we have gone our own way. We've made laws contrary to Thine. We've lifted up the hands of
wicked men and women. and that we have put down those
that would fear thy name and walk in thy ways. O Lord, do
save us, Lord, from wicked and evil ways, and from wicked and
deceitful men. And Lord, do cause that we might
have our eyes up unto thee. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst indeed command deliverances for us in thy mercy and in thy
justice, that we might know that not every deliverance of victory
is a good one, but that thou has caused that those things
we pass through might work together for our good. We thank thee for
thy word, we thank thee for that which we have read, and we pray,
Lord, that we might be kept as thy people unto thee, that we
might not be discouraged or turned away from thee, but that we might
cleave to thee, that we might be able to say with dear Job,
though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. We might be like dear
Peter after denying thee three times, that still profess love
to thee and still cleave unto thee. O Lord, do be pleased to
then bring us safely through those paths that would discourage
and do discourage many from serving Thee, and cause them to look
to the hand of man instead of looking unto Thee. O Lord, we
would cry with those of old, to whom can we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. Lord, do grant unto us then that
this day we might be found in thy court and found coming unto
thee and our hope and our expectation to be from thee. You wash and
cleanse us from our sin, take away the love of sinning, bless
and sanctify the means that thou hast been pleased to use to make
sin hateful and evil to us. Lord, do be pleased to Grant
us godliness, holiness. May they reign within our hearts. And do grant us, Lord, that we
might be like Thee. Pure and holy may we be. And
Lord, do prepare us to be with Thee forever and ever. O Lord, we do seek to thank Thee
for Thy mercies to us as a church and people. We thank Thee for
Thy kindness, Thy provisions, and enabling us to continue here
and the ministry here. We thank Thee, Lord, that we
are able to send forth Thy word. We pray Thy blessing upon all
those who have received it. We see that we might be a blessing
to the people of Cranborough, and that we might be a blessing
to those that listen online. And Lord, do bless them today
as they listen, and be with those that listen to recordings later
on. We do pray for those that do
not have a place of worship that they are able to meet with and
know people, whether in this land or in other lands. And Lord,
do be pleased to bless and raise us up and build us up here and
fill this chapel with hungering, thirsting souls. We seek, Lord,
that thou wouldst hear the prayers brought up for many in this town,
many who have been prayed over many times, who have been spoken
to, and those whose parents have prayed for them and grandparents
have prayed for them and worshipped in the chapels of this town.
O Lord, do remember those prayers, and I promise it is unto you
and your children, even as many as the Lord thy God shall call. We thank thee for our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church of God. And
we thank thee for Him who has made flesh and dwelt among us. We thank Thee for the sacrifice
offered at Calvary, that precious blood was shed there, and the
witness that Thou hast given us of the empty tomb, a risen
Saviour, and that these things are documented by many witnesses
and are evidenced by the power of Thy Spirit, making Thee known
in the hearts and lives of Thy people. We thank Thee for Thine
intercession in heaven and every answer to prayer, for Thou art
our advocate with the Father. And Lord, we do bless Thee for
those precious truths that assure us that Thou dost hear and answer
prayer in Thy own time, in Thy own way. O Lord, we do seek of
Thee that Thou dost remember each church as they gather together
in this land this day and be with our dear brethren in Australia,
in Canada, in America. We pray for dear brethren in
Holland, to bless them and be with them that are dear to us.
And Lord, that thou would be pleased to grant in those nations
thy blessing as well. O Lord, we do seek of thee now
thy help as we turn to thy word. May it be a blessing to young
and to old, and we do pray for thy blessing on the rising generation,
those who heard thy word last evening at Heathfield, Lord,
do bless thy word to them. And Lord, may it really affect
how they live their lives and how they hear thy word today.
May it be fresh in their minds what has been said before them.
May it really enter into their hearts. But do be with their
age friends, and his infirmities increase. Lord, do grant that
help with them, and do prepare us each to stand before thy face. Thou knowest our days, each day
is shortening, one day more, one day less. And Lord, do prepare
us for that time when we shall stand before thee. Lord, do grant
unto us not to be deceived, that may we be found upon the rock.
Do bless us, Lord, to know thee, and know the visits of thy face. Lord, do bless us with a truly
receiving of Thee into our hearts as our Lord and our Saviour. Lord, do help us now, we're dependent
upon Thy Spirit to shine upon Thy Word as we continue in worship. We ask through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here this evening at 6.30pm, on Thursday
at 7 o'clock and next Lord's Day at 11am and 6.30pm. Hymn, 397. Tune, Pentonville 488 Seeking for the help of
the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 44, and reading
for our text, verse four. Thou art my king, O God, command
deliverances for Jacob. Psalm 44 and verse four. The psalmist, and we must remember
this is part of the inspired word of God, He begins and he
speaks as a foundation of what the Lord did for Jacob, for Israel. Verse 2, we read, And this record
of what God did for Israel is in the Word of God, not just
that He gave them deliverance, not just
that he brought them into the promised land, but how he did
that, how thou didst drive out, how thou didst afflict the people,
cast them out. And this is what is set before
us as the beginning, but then it goes to the Church of God. And we would remember that it
is the Church of God that is typified by Israel when in Acts
7 we read of Stephen the first Christian martyr as he was giving
his testimony he speaks before the Jews before he was stoned
to death and he sets forth of the Lord being with Israel and
so in verse 37 we read this is that Moses which said unto the
children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise
up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear. This is he, now of course this
is speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is he that was in
the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to
him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the
lively oracles to give unto us." It's very clearly pointed. They
drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, says the
Apostle, and that rock was Christ. And so we would see this psalm
as a psalm pointing to the Church of God, to her King, and to the
deliverances that he commands her. Thou art my King, O God,
command deliverances for Jacob. He mentioned in prayer the deliverances
that God has given to this nation and those deliverances at Dunkirk
and Normandy the Battle of Britain, there are many miracles that
were performed there, the Lord controlling the winds and the
weather and controlling men, so that the decisions were made
that brought about victory for our land. Our King, King George
VI at that time, seven times between March 1940 and the spring
of 1944, called this nation to prayer,
and after each time there was deliverances, answers wrought. And some of those times were
times called to give thanks. And we would remember that as
a nation, especially at times like this that are set apart
as a Remembrance Day. But we would pass from that to
what is a more important battle and that is the people of God,
and that conflict that they have with the world, the flesh, and
the devil, and the vital need of deliverance through our Lord
Jesus Christ to be brought unto his eternal and everlasting kingdom. So I want to look this morning
at three points. Firstly, the Church's King, His
people's King. Now text says, Thou art my King,
O God. And then secondly, the one needing
deliverance. It is Jacob. Command deliverances
for Jacob. He is the one that needs to be
delivered. Then thirdly, this command deliverances. commanded deliverances, not just
deliverances, but they are commanded. So let us look first at the King,
the Church's King. Thou art my King, O God. When the Lord took Israel out
of Egypt, He warned them. He said that if He was to be
their King, then he would give them his laws, and that they
should obey those laws. If they did not, then he would
chasten them, he would correct them, and that he would not just
be a puppet, he wouldn't just be one that was dictated to by
them, but they were to be subject unto him as their king. And we must always remember that,
Our Lord, as His subjects, we are not of those that make demands
upon our King. We are not of those that do not
serve Him humbly and meekly and subjectively to His laws and
to His ways. The one mark of the people of
God is that they put themselves underneath the Word of God. and humble themselves before
God and not lift themselves up in pride. Pride is the chief
sin of mankind, of fallen man, and all the time it seeks to
rise up. It's very, very deceitful and
can come upon us unawares and lead us into all manner of sin. The path of victory, the path
of blessing, For the people of God is humbling underneath their
king, very clearly seeing that the Lord is king. You know, when the Lord did give
Israel a king, and we read most solemnly of Saul, that he gave
them a king in his anger and took him away in his wrath. At first, the people, they were
not subjected to that king. It wasn't until the Lord then
established him that they did obey him. But one real mark of
a king is that he is obeyed. And we know even with King David,
a man after God's own heart, that there were those times that
Absalom, that others rose up against him and troubled the
kingdom. They were not subject to him.
and they sought to rise against him, troubled the whole land. And so may we be very clear,
if we use this language, if this is so, if we ascribe that we
are the Lord's people and that he is our king, that we are then
in subjection to him, to his word, to his servants, that we
are walking humbly, meekly, and not walking in pride. You know, recently, our king,
King Charles, visited Australia. And there were some there, some
even in the Senate, one lady, they of Aboriginal descent, and
she disrupted the procedures, calling out, you are not my king,
not my king. She would not acknowledge the
king of Great Britain, the king Australia and there are many
that are like that of course by nature that is a language
we are not have thee to rule over us there is no desire that
God should be King who is the Lord that I should obey him is
the language of Pharaoh when Moses was sent to ask that the
people of God be sent away. And that is man's response, but
it should be a very different one with the people of God. How then does the Lord become
king over people? Well, in one sense, he is rightfully
the king over all the earth. He is the king of kings, and
Lord of Lords. But in a Gospel sense, the Lord
becomes the King or acknowledged to be and looked upon as King
for his people because he begins with them like he did with Israel. He brings them like he did calling
Abraham, forming him into a nation in Egypt and bringing them out
and making them his people. We'd always look to that cause,
that everlasting cause, chosen in Christ from the foundation
of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest
them me. A people given to the Lord and
a people given that he should be king over them and reign over
them. But by nature, they will not
have him to reign over them. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. But to them that received him,
he gave them power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on his name. And so he becomes their king
first by his everlasting choice, and then he becomes by what he
has done for them at Calvary, what he has done here below,
his finished work there. written over the cross, Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And really he is set forth
there as the King of the Church of God, a suffering Saviour,
a King that went forth, as it were, just like David did, in
the midst of all the people against Goliath. And the conditions were
that if Goliath prevailed, then the children of Israel would
be the servants of the Philistines. If David prevailed, then the
Philistines would be servants to the children of Israel. And
it was one man, as it were, fighting that battle. And we see the situation
at Calvary. They all forsook him and fled,
all his disciples, all that were with him. And there was no man
with the Lord. He stood alone. He was to bear
the sin of his people alone. He was to stand as a spectacle,
as their king, as their seed of David, as their deliverer. And of course, David, after that,
before that he was anointed king, you might say secretly by Samuel. But then God ordered it that
he be thrust forth into the limelight thrust forth before all the children
of Israel. And then the women were saying
that Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands. And immediately he was thrust
into the limelight. Jealous was Saul over him, but
God had used this to lift him up amongst the people. And how
much more so with our Lord Jesus Christ. I, if I be lifted up
above the earth, would draw all men unto me." He's lifted up,
he's extolled, he's shown forth in his sufferings, his death,
his bloodshedding, his being made a sacrifice for us, and
then rising again from the dead, showing that He truly was God,
I have power to lay down my life, power to take it again, showing
that the sacrifice was accepted, showing that He was spotless
and pure Himself, death could not hold Him, and that those
sins of which were laid upon Him were borne away. And so He becomes their King,
the people's of God King, the King of the Church of God, through
what he has accomplished at Calvary. But then there's a further way,
and that is when the people for whom he bled are called by grace. That work is done by Almighty
God, and that work establishes the Lord as their King and makes
them willing in the day of his power. No earthly king has really
power to control the thoughts and feelings of his subjects.
But God does, and our Lord Jesus Christ has power to change the
heart, renew the will, and turn our feet unto him. And so, in
that way, every calling of God, when they hear their king, when
they hear their shepherd, when they follow after him, and they're
brought to make this testimony and this profession. You know,
we read in Romans 10, that with the heart man believeth, and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And our
text is a confession. Thou art my king, O God. We're viewing God, we're viewing
our Lord Jesus Christ as truly God, as the kingdom is rightfully
his, it is given him. He has entered into it. He is
the King of Zion. And to have this profession is
a wonderful blessing, but it should be followed up in practice
and followed up in all that we do in our lives. If the Lord
truly is our King, as He was Israel's King, and Samuel warned
the people and said to them, when he gave them a king, that
if their king, their natural king, and them, that if they
followed the Lord and claimed to the Lord, then he would bless
them. But if they then turned away from him to idols, then
he would turn against them. He would chasten them, he would
deal with them. The history of Israel, of course, again and
again, was turning to idols, turning to wrong things and to
worship false gods. Then when they came into conflict
with the nations round about, their enemies, instead of relying
upon the Lord, then they went for help from man. And that was
the error, that was the thing laid at them again and again,
that though the Lord had shown how he could so wonderfully deliver
them, Yet, in effect, they turned away from their king and went
to the kings of the Canaanites, the kings of the nations, round
about. Cease from man, his breath is
in his nostrils. It is not that help and strength
of him, not to put our confidence even in princes, but in the Lord
alone. Every time we turn away from
the throne of grace and turn away from our God, and go unto
man. We're doing just what Israel
did. We're saying on one hand, thou
art my king. And on the other hand, we're
going away from our king. The most solemn, solemn account
with King Saul at the end of his life, when the Lord was not
answering. He didn't answer him by dreams,
didn't answer him in any way. And so he went to a witch, and
he went to bring up Samuel. And Samuel said to Him, Why are
you coming to me? If the Lord is not answering
you, be silent to you. Why are you coming to me? In
a most solemn indictment, that one that the Lord is not answering
will turn to another man or turn to witches or turn to a sorcery,
something else. Samuel's words are very searching
words. If the Lord is our King, let
us not turn away from Him. Let us come to him in spite of
all those things that may happen, you know, through this psalm
we read. of the dealings of the Lord with his people, where he
didn't seem to go through with them, didn't seem to help them. And we read, all this has come
upon us in verse 17, yet have we not forgotten thee, neither
have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned
back, neither have our steps declined from thy way. And so
they are still seeking unto the Lord. They still have the language,
though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. And he's going again
and again to the Lord. We need to, if we have this profession,
thou art my Lord, my King, O God, that we are subject to him and
come to him again and again and not going to some alternative
king, or something else, or some other man, or some other refuge. May this then be our profession,
our testimony. Thou art my king, O God. Think of Peter's words, to whom
can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. They had only one place, one
refuge, one place to go, and those who have the Lord as their
King have the privilege, the blessing of knowing it and professing
it that the psalmist has here. Thou art my King, O God. So the Church of God as a whole
and individual members of it can make this profession I want
to then look secondly at the one needing deliverance. Now, it is mentioned here, command
deliverances for Jacob, not for Israel, but for Jacob. In Genesis, in Genesis 45, remember
when Joseph sent the wagon, sent his brethren back to say to Jacob,
his father, that he was alive in Egypt and that they were to
go to Egypt. We read when they first spoke
to Jacob that his heart fainted. He believed them not in verse
26 of Genesis 45. They told him, saying, Joseph
is yet alive. He is governor over all the land
of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not." What a picture of a Jacob. Earlier on, we read
Jacob saying, all these things are against me. Jacob, the supplanter,
the deceiver, that is Jacob. By whom shall Jacob arise? His friends are few, his enemies
are strong. And we read then that they told
him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them.
And when he, that is Jacob, he saw the wagons which Joseph had
sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I'll go and see him before I
die. And we see this contrast. The same person, and we see him
as Jacob. We see him as Israel. We see
him wrestling early on with the angel, I will not let thee go,
except thou bless me. What a picture for us. Wrestling,
prayer, can wonders do we. the song of prayer of John Newton
in our middle hymn. And we should also remember dear
Jacob there, he wrestled alone, he's wrestling with God and he
prevails. Thou hast wrestled with God and
with man and hast prevailed. That's our Lord Jesus Christ
in a pre-incarnation appearance, God and man in one person. Several
times in the Old Testament we have such an appearance like
that. They wrestled a man with him
till the breaking of the day. That was our Lord Jesus Christ,
the eternal Son of God. And as he wrestled, that is why
he was given the name of Israel. Thus wrestled with God and with
man has prevailed. He was given the name of Israel
as a prince, hast thou prevailed. And so we have then Later on,
this same person, sometimes he's acting like Jacob in his fears,
his unbelief. He's viewing all things are against
him. But then when he hears these
words and he sees these wagons, then he becomes Israel again.
And he said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive.
I'll go and see him before I die. Now how is that with you and
I? Do you determine and detect this
Jacob, this Israel? Sometimes it's all the doubts,
the fears, and other times it's a rising above them and a laying
hold upon the Lord of being strengthened and to feel what the Lord has
done is enough. We do believe and we are strengthened. The Psalms are full. of language
in this way as regards Jacob, we have in Psalm 46, how God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. And it is a strength that is
putting that power upon God. Verse 7, the Lord of hosts is
with us, the God of Jacob. is our refuge, Selah. And this is how the psalm closes,
again, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. And going later on in the psalm,
Psalm 146, a beautiful psalm, happy, verse
5, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. whose
hope is in the Lord, his God, which made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that therein is, which keepeth truth for ever. It is a blessed thing when we
can discern that the Lord is our God, even though we're like
poor Jacob, so often fearful, so often afraid, so often feeling
weak, yet we have this God, who at the end of Psalm 48, we read,
for this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide
even unto death. And so the one needing deliverance
is Jacob. It is one, the Lord's people,
but he's put in the character of how he was when the Lord found
him and changed his name to Israel. His great mercy of the Lord impresses
upon us. He does remember what we were. He does remember how he found
us. He knoweth our frame. He remembers
that we are but dust. He knows our nature. He knew
Peter's nature. Though he might profess, though
all men forsake thee, yet will not I. Yet he knew his nature,
and he knows yours, he knows mine, and he is able to deliver
us and to save us. We never turn away from this
God that first appeared for us, first delivered us, first, as
it were, gave us that name of Israel. And when we are feeling
like Jacob, well, Let us go back to the same God, our King, and
plead this word, really, in our text. Thou art my King, O God. Command deliverances for Jacob. Command deliverances for poor
me, for Jacob, for unbelieving me, for the one that solemnly
sometimes limits the God of Israel or would turn away to some other
fallen to other help or other intercessor. What a blessed thing
that there is only one intercessor. Years ago, neighbor opposite
is a Roman Catholic. And he came to me and he said
to me, he said, brother, and he said, you Protestants, you
mistake us Roman Catholics. He says, we don't pray unto Mary,
we pray unto Jesus through Mary. And I said, well, that is even
worse, because you're putting Mary, a sinful mortal, in between
you, the sinner, and our Lord Jesus Christ. We may come, every
one of the people of God, come directly unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. We do not need to go through
a minister, through a priest, through a confessor, we come
straight to the Lord. And that is the great privilege
of the people of God. He is our advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ, the righteous. So may we come then to this last
point, command deliverances for Jacob. Commanded deliverances. Now there's two ways I want to
look at this word. The first is commanded deliverances
as a commanded outcome, where the Lord decrees, appoints and
commands what that outcome should be. If we were to think of the children
of Israel again from Egypt, they were to go into the promised
land. That was promised to Abraham those 430 years before the children
of Israel were brought out of Egypt, another 40 years to be
brought into that promised land. The Lord had commanded that they
should be in that land. It was a decreed outcome. with the people of God regarding
their heavenly home. The Lord prays in John 17, Father,
I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am
that they may behold my glory. It is a commanded outcome that
will most surely happen. All of those that were given
by the Father to the Son, all of those that are called by grace,
all of those those from eternity chosen will be with him in eternity
to come that innumerable multitude in heaven at last will be the
same innumerable multitude chosen in christ not a hoof left behind
everyone that outcome is commanded and we should Remember that and
look and notice in our lives and in the Church of God those
outcomes and even really every blessing. One of the hymns speaks
of that he had decreed the very place where he should show triumphant
grace. But decreeing an outcome is one
thing, but decreeing how that deliverance would be wrought
is another thing. And we have abundant evidence
of this through the Word of God, again going to the children of
Israel, that the deliverance that they had were not all in
the same way. Now sometimes, and there was
a case when Ahab was chosen to command the battle against Syria,
and Ahab asked, who shall order the battle? And the answer was,
thou shalt order the battle. In other words, thou shalt command
it as to where the troops go, how many go, where they are to
go. And we think of the war years
here in this nation, the outcome is appointed by God, But God
used men, commanders, to make decisions, to decide where to
send the troops, what to do, what strategies to use. Those
things were what were used to bring about the deliverance. And when we look at this word,
command deliverances for Jacob, really what we're asking the
Lord Lord, be thou the orderer of this deliverance. You be in
control. You command what is actually
happening to bring about a deliverance. Those are falling into the Lord's
hand as to what He actually does. It's very important to realize
this. It's easy for us to look to the
end. You think of Abraham being given
the promise of his seed. that should be a stranger in
a strange land, or to thee in this land will I give this land. But he didn't tell him about
Joseph, about Jacob, about going into Egypt, how they went into
Egypt. That was to be walked out. But
that was commanded by the Lord. He ordered it. It didn't just
happen by chance. And so by way of example, you
get the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. How did the Lord
command that deliverance? Well first, He gave them nine
signs and wonders that reduced Egypt to ruin, but did not affect
a deliverance of Israel. The Lord was bringing about a
contrast as He was commanding that deliverance from Egypt he
didn't say no just come straight out he didn't say i'm just going
to soften pharaoh's heart and just bring him out no he commanded
it what was going to happen there's going to be nine signs pharaoh's
heart is going to be hardened it won't result in their deliverance
and then i am going to decree a passover where the blood is
shared where the people shelter in their houses, the angel of
the Lord goes through the land, where the blood is, they are
safe, where they are not, then they die, the firstborn die,
and they shall be then thrust out of Egypt. And the Lord commanded
that. He organized that deliverance
in that way. That's how they was brought out.
And of course, when we translate that to the gospel, without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission. The way the Lord has
commanded the deliverance of his people from eternal wrath,
from being dead in sin, is through our Lord Jesus Christ. No other
way is only through Christ, only through his blood, only through
faith in his name, only through his word, and the Lord commands
that. It's not for man to make up the
rules and to decide, well, we're going to be delivered some other
way. No. The Lord has commanded it. And as it unfolds, he orders
everything, my life's minutest circumstance. It is ordered by
his cares, decreed, is appointed. And so then when Israel came
out of Egypt, we read, then came Amalek. Here comes an enemy.
What is to be done? How are they to overcome him?
What shall they do? Well, the Lord says, you appoint
Joshua. He's with the sword. He fights
against Amalek. But you, Moses, you go up onto
the mount and you lift up your rod. And as you lift up the rod,
then Joshua realizes the deliverance and blessing, the power of God.
It's like joining prayer. with action, not just prayer
only, not just action only, but acting and fighting and prayer
joined with it. And then when he got weary, we
had Aaron and her holding up his hands in prayer. Now it's
a bit like the account Mr. Ramsbottom told of two girls
that were running to catch a train. And one of them said, let us
stop here and pray that we might catch the train. No, said the
other one, let us continue running and pray as we're running that
we might catch the train. It's not just prayer, but it
is acting as well. But the Lord commanded that deliverance. So did that mean then that every
time an enemy came, the same pattern would be wrought? The
same fighting method? No, it wasn't very different,
wasn't it? From when they came to Jericho,
the method was very different. To go around it once, and to
go around it those six days, and then the seventh day, to
go around it seven times, and then to shout, and the walls
were to fall down. Who ordered that? Who commanded
that that should be the method, the strategy, that Jericho should
be overtaken? It was God's way, God's appointment,
and they followed, they did just what he said, and the Lord gave
them deliverance. You think of the case of Gideon. You have all the Midianites,
a great big multitude, and God appears to Gideon, and says that
he will, through Gideon, deliver Israel. How should it be done? Gideon feels powerless. He feels
weak. He needs signs. He needs help.
The Lord would order it. Well, the Lord does order it.
He brings his forces right down to 300. Why? So that the glory is God's, not
man's. And then, He doesn't do it first
by sword, but he does it with the pictures, the trumpets, the
lights, and the three companies. What a picture of a triune God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit round about. And the Lord set
every man his sword against each other. And the Lord gave deliverance
in that way. You've already mentioned about
Goliath and how that for 40 days, There was no deliverance found.
No one found that could go against Goliath. And then David comes,
and that is speaking to the people. His elder brother, he speaks
against him, accuses him of just coming down to see the battle.
But David says, is there not a cause? There was a cause. There
was a cause that for 40 days there was no deliverance. And
there was a cause that then David should be brought. to be brought
before all the people. The Lord ordered that. Command
deliverances for Jacob. And we need to really watch the
Lord's hand, watch it in providence, watch it in grace, how the Lord
is commanding deliverances. He has decreed deliverances for
his people, but he's decreed how it should be so. Let's think
of it another way. with the children of Israel,
with Ai, or when they first came into the Promised Land, and they
took of the forbidden things. And the Lord was not with them. When they went out, then they
were put to the worst before their enemies. And the Lord says,
I will not go before you. You've got an accursed thing
in your camp. You deal with that. And then
I will be with you. The Lord is commanding deliverance.
He just doesn't go on and say, I'm going to take no notice of
the sins of my people, of what they do or actions. I will just
command deliverance after deliverance. It almost seemed like Joshua
was expecting that. And they prostrated themselves,
fell before the Lord. Why had he forsaken them? Why
hadn't he delivered them? Ah, Israel has sinned. They had
to deal with that first. The Lord doesn't answer our prayers. We need to start looking in.
Why? Examining, searching our ways,
trying our ways. If the Lord is silent, we read
in Ezekiel, the Lord says, I will go and return unto my place until
they acknowledge their iniquity. He wouldn't be inquired of them
until they set things right. And where the Lord's given us
a tender conscience, where He deals with us, where He chastens
us, our conscience will bear witness, there is a reason, there
is a cause. Put it right. And so the Lord
commanded these deliverances. We have it in this passage here,
this psalm here. How could it be that God's people
are left like this? Thou hast given us like sheep
appointed for meat, in verse 11. Thou sellest thy people for
naught. They'll make us to reproach to
our neighbors. They'll make us to buy word among
the heathen. My confusion is continually before
me." You think, is this the people of God? Is this your language? Is this my language? Those that
are reproaching. And yet we find these people
still will say, our heart is not turned back. We have not
forgotten the name of the Lord our God. Shall not God search
this out? He knoweth the secrets of the
heart. One of the great marks in Hebrews
12 of the being the Lord's people is that he would chasten and
he will correct. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to his purpose. And we are not to, as it were,
faint when we are rebuked of him. We're not to despair, we're
not to cast away our faith, we're not to act as if the Lord wasn't
our king, or that we should dictate to him. We're to act that the
Lord is the commander and that he is looking at delivering us,
but on his terms and in his way. His way, as in 1 John 1, if we
confess our sins, that is to him, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the way that is set before
us. If we say that we have no sin,
we make him a liar and the truth is not in us. And so there is
a way that sin is to be dealt with and the Lord commands that,
he orders that. So you think of what is given
for the Church of God today. Paul says in his letter, Second
Epistle to the Corinthians, our weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but spiritual to the pulling down of strongholds. Prayer is a weapon, says the
hymn writer, for the feeble. Weaker souls can wield it best. Satan trembles when he sees. Weaker saint upon his knees.
Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, thou shalt
glorify me. That is one of the commanded
deliverances for the Lord, that they should be praying. What is the deliverance for sin?
If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. Not by dwelling upon the sin,
but turning away from it and turning to the Lord. and walking
after the spirit and not after the flesh. That is, the deliverance
is commanded for Jacob, for his people. They are ordered by God. That is how the deliverance shall
be. And we're not to reverse the
order, change the order, or do something different and think
that that will work out. It won't work out. We think of
the direction to flee, flee from iniquity, flee from sin. We see
the example of dear Joseph fleeing out of Potiphar's house. Those
are the ways that the Lord has given. When Paul writes to the
Ephesians, he gives to them the Christian armors. A good thing
to be mindful of that in Ephesians 6. He says, put on the whole
armor of God. that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. He says, then, wherefore, take
unto you the whole armor of God. This is how the apostle finishes
that epistle to the Ephesians. And what is that armor? He says,
stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, having
on the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints." There is the
armour, the heavenly armour, not to be delegated to anyone
else, but it is to be wielded by the people of God. It is that
way the Lord commands deliverances to Jacob. sinful Jacob, poor,
doubting Jacob, fearful Jacob, but it is the Lord that commands
those deliverances, not just decreeing the outcome, but how
the outcome is to be achieved and brought about. All of those
things, the Lord knowing our down-sitting, our uprising, knowing
our trials, knowing our tribulation, appointing those things for good. And it's good for us if our eyes
always upon the Lord. Thou art my King, O God. May the Lord bless the word.
Thou art my King, O God. Command deliverances for Jacob. Amen. Hymn, 285. Tune, Winchester New 439. The tune is Winchester New 439. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.