I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship this day, our Harvest Thanksgiving. May
the Lord be pleased to be with us and bless the word that is
preached and the hymns that we sing. We're using the hymn sheets
today, so if you're joining online, the sheets can be downloaded
from our website audio streaming page. If you're using the video,
the words will be on screen during the hymns. You will notice that
this year our harvest report has been provided by our brother
in the ministry and retired former farmer, Mr. Alf Chapman. That is printed on the front
of the hymn sheets. The collections today are for
our free Bible fund and you'll see in the porch a map of where
the Bibles go. You can always access this on
our website from the notice page and other pages. It would show
that since we started the Bible distribution with the boxes four
years ago, 350 have been taken from our home box and 727 from
here, that's 1,077. Then the Bibles that are requested through
the website over the years has been 2,956. So that's a total
of 4,033 Bibles distributed. And we pray the Lord's rich blessing
on all who have received them. There's been 427 Bibles sent
out just this year alone. We've yet to approach the schools,
but that is being harder and harder to actually get Bibles
into the schools now. We especially welcome the Lord's
servant, Mr. Stephen Hyde, the pastor at Shores
Corner Baptist Red Hill. I'll ask him now to ask the Lord's
blessing upon our worship. Let us all join together in prayer.
Let us pray. Most blessed, eternal, and ever-gracious
God, that one who we know has created all things, the Lord
of Lord and King of Kings, we're thankful, Lord, to be able to
gather here on this anniversary time to think about this Thanksgiving,
harvest Thanksgiving service. Oh Lord, we desire to have a
thankful heart that once again we've been blessed with a harvest. And Lord, we pray that we may
also, each one of us, be concerned about the harvest of our souls.
And so, Lord, now come and be with us throughout this service,
through the hymns, through the reading of the Word, through
the prayer, and through the sermon. May thy name be honored and glorified,
and may all of our souls be eternally blessed. We ask it for Jesus'
sake. Amen. Let us sing the first hymn on
our hymn sheet. This is from the Young People's
Hymnbook, 287. The tune is St. George, 516. Come, ye thankful people, come. Raise the song of harvest home. All is safely gathered in, ere
the winter storms begin. God our maker doth provide. for our wands to be supplied,
come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home. The first hymn on the hymn sheet. Please God to bless the reading
of His holy words to our soul's prophet. Let's turn to the book
of Psalms and we'll read two Psalms. Psalm 70 and Psalm 71. So that's the Book of Psalms
and reading Psalm 70 and 71. So Psalm 70 is headed to the chief
musician, the Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. And
Psalm 71, although it doesn't actually say so, it's generally
assumed that it is also a continuation and a psalm of David. And it's interesting that these
psalms were written when David was an old man. So Psalm 70. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste. to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and
put to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back
for a reward of their shame that say, aha, aha. Let all those that seek Thee
rejoice and be glad in Thee. and let such as love thy salvation
say continually, let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make no tarrying. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness,
and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear unto me, and
save me. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me,
O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord
God. Thou art my trust from my youth. By Thee have I been holden up
from the womb. Thou art He that took me out
of my mother's bounds. My praise shall be continually
of Thee. I am as a wonder unto many, but
thou art my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with thy
praise and with thy honour all the day. Cast me not off in a
time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength
faileth. For mine enemies speak against
me, And they that lay wait for my
soul take counsel together, saying, God hath forsaken him. Persecute and take him, for there
is none to deliver him. O God, be not far from me. O my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed
that are adversaries to My soul. Let them be covered with reproach
and dishonor that seek My hurt. But I will hope continually,
and will yet praise Thee more and more. My mouth shall show
forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day, for I
know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of Thy righteousness,
even of Thine only. O God, Thou hast taught me from
my youth, and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. Now also,
when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not. until I have showed Thy strength
unto this generation, and Thy power to every one that is to
come. Thy righteousness also, O God,
is very high. Who has done great things, O
God? Who is like unto Thee? Thou which hast showed me great
and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again and shalt bring me up
again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my
greatness and comfort me on every side. I will also praise Thee
with a psaltery, even Thy truth. O my God, unto Thee will I sing
with a harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly
rejoice when I sing unto thee, and my soul which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of
thy righteousness all the day long, for thou art confounded,
for thou art brought unto shame that seek my hurt. May God bless the reading of
His holy words to the Prophet of our souls. May He now help
us to come to Him in prayer. Let us all pray. Ever-Blessed, Most Gracious,
Merciful, Eternal and Holy Lord God, we're thankful that we are
privileged to be able to come to Almighty God and pour out
our heart in prayer to Thee. And Lord, we gather together
on this occasion for Harvest Thanksgiving. And Lord, we desire
to be very thankful that as a nation, thou hast not dealt with us as
our sins deserved. But once again, a harvest has
been brought in. And Lord, we give thanks for
this. and Lord for Thy faithfulness. If we look back over the centuries,
indeed over many millennia, until that time when the flood came
upon the earth, Thou didst gloriously say that the earth would never
be flooded again, but there would indeed be sea time and harvest. And so, Lord, down through the
ages, down through the years, this promise has been faithfully
fulfilled. And we're thankful, therefore,
to once again come and acknowledge that thou art a faithful God.
And so, Lord, we give thanks that once again we're able to
remember thy goodness and mercy in bringing about the fulfillment
of thy word. And so, Lord, as we come together
today to remember the harvest which has been granted, and to
be thankful for it, and to be thankful for the great God who
has again granted this blessing. And Lord, surely, as a nation,
we don't deserve such favours. For Lord, we've turned our back
upon Thee in so many ways. And Lord, as we examine the present
situation, Lord, we see our government set upon passing laws contrary
to thy law, contrary to those things set forth clearly in thy
word. And Lord, it seems that we're
on a downward trend. We have been for many years,
and Lord, it gets worse and worse. But Lord, we come and say, our
eyes are upon thee. For Lord, we believe thou are
able to come and do great things. Indeed, we believe we have a
God who is able to send revival. Once again, we will come and
pray, Wilt not Thou, Almighty God, revive us again that Thy
people may rejoice in Thee. Lord, as we go around the villages
and the towns in our nation, Lord, how evident it is that
so few people, few old people, few middle-aged, few young people,
are concerned about the state of their eternal soul and where
they will spend eternity. O Lord, we pray earnestly that
Thou wilt once again remember our nation for good. Lord, may
there be a turning to Thee And we know, Lord, if Thou didst
work and turn men and women's hearts to Thee, they will be
turned. And we pray, therefore, gracious
God, that we may not be backward in praying to Thee, nor Thy word
declares to us. And we'll be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do these things for them. So gracious God, let
us not be negligent. in our prayers to this end. And
Lord, we seek that as we now are found upon the earth at this
time, Lord, that we may recognise thy judgments against our nation
in so turning away from thee. But we believe we come to a God
who is full of mercy. And so, Lord, we look to thee.
But Lord, we have nowhere else to go. Thou art our hope. And we pray then, Lord, thou
wilt hear prayers to this end, and grant there may be a returning
unto thee. Lord, influence, we pray, our
government. And Lord, we seek thou would
gain as thou hast done in the past. Turn men's hearts, change
their mind, change their desires. Lord, we know nothing is too
hard for our God. And so we pray, Lord, if it could
be thy will, we may yet know better days. And Lord, help us
to realise that we've been placed on this earth for such a time
as this. And to realise, gracious God,
that thy word declares, ye are my witnesses. Therefore, let
us not turn away from such an important statement. But Lord,
may we be concerned that we are living witnesses in this earth
at this time, and that we are known by the things that we believe,
the things that we profess, and that through our lives, the Lord
Jesus Christ may be lifted up and honored and glorified. We're thankful, Lord, for the
word of God. We are thankful that we today
are still able to read it freely and still buy it freely. And Lord, we are thankful for
this privilege, but Lord, we fear that these great blessings
may be removed from us. Oh Lord, how sad to contemplate
a day without a Bible. And so Lord, make us thankful
for it. May we be diligent in reading it. May it be a blessing
to our souls. May it not just be another book,
but may it be to our souls the Holy Word of God. So instruct
us by it, direct us by it, encourage us by it. Lord, our eyes are
up to Thee. Thou wilt arise and do great
things. And likewise, as we pray for
our government, Lord, we pray for our royal family, we pray
for King Charles, our sovereign ruler, we commend him to Thee,
and pray, Lord, that in his old age, it will cause him to remember
some of those coronation oaths he made. And we pray they may
be brought back to his remembrance, and they may be an influence
for good. We think of him and also the Princess of Wales having
had cancer diagnosis, and we pray, Lord, in both cases. Lord,
this may cause them to consider their way, consider their latter
end, and to be found seeking unto thee in a time when thou
mayest be found. Oh, Lord, may our royal family
be a good example to our nation. and not a bad example. And Lord, we think of the world
scene. And Lord, we see so much unrest, war in the Middle East,
war in Ukraine, floods and storms and hurricanes and earthquakes
and volcanoes occurring in so many parts of the world. And
Lord, we believe these things don't just occur by chance, but
we believe they are ordained by Almighty God. And nor may
it be, perhaps, a sign of the times. And nor we realise that
we must be getting nearer to that occasion when time will
be no more. And nor, whether it comes in
our lifetime, we know not. But Lord, should it do, should
it be so, may we be ready for that occasion. Lord, may we not
be looking to ourselves, but may our eyes be upon Thee. Lord, we come and we pray for
the little church here, Lord. We commend them to Thee. My servant
Roland, as he proclaims the gospel faithfully, week by week. Lord grant that he may be encouraged
as he preaches the word not only to those that assemble here,
but to the many who listen in to the broadcast. And we pray,
gracious God, that there may be much blessing, that he may
be wonderfully encouraged, Lord, in his labour of love. Lord,
strengthen him and his wife and remember them for good. We do
pray, Lord, that many in this town of Cranbrook may be moved
by the Holy Spirit to come and worship here, Lord, those who
may be restless in their soul, Lord, with that hunger which
natural things will not satisfy. And may they find in this place
the glorious work of God, the wonderful gift of salvation. And we pray, Lord, Thou art our
rise. Lord, we know over the years there'll be many prayers,
Lord, put up to Thee for prosperity. And so, Lord, we seek graciously
that we hear those prayers. We know nothing is too hard for
our God. And so, Lord, we seek. that thy
name may be wonderfully blessed and honoured and glorified in
this place. Lord God, do touch men and women,
boys and girls' hearts to realise their need and be directed to
come here and to worship. Oh Lord, do hear us then when
we pray for these things. Indeed, when we join in prayer
with our brother and sister for this blessing, nor do we pray
earnestly that we will arise then and do great things, nor
do we pray for the Bible distribution work that they are able to do,
nor through giving away free Bibles, nor are we thankful they
have a desire for the salvation of souls, and nor do we pray
Therefore they would honour this desire, and grant, Lord, as the
Bibles are taken, may they indeed be read. And Lord, as they are
read, may Thy Holy Spirit direct and convict and pour forth a
blessing, so that Thy Word may be made a living Word. O Lord God Almighty, we know
nothing is too hard for Thee. Lord, then do hear us when we
pray for this. Lord, such prayers have gone
up for many years now, and Lord has not seen fit to answer. But Lord, help us to continue
in prayer. Let us not be weary in well-doing. Let us not forget. But Lord, may we be constant
in our prayers and in our desires. And so we earnestly pray that
we'll bless the work here, and as our brother preaches the word,
may he be endued with fresh oil, week by week, to declare the
unsearchable riches of Christ, so that he may rejoice and the
people may rejoice. Oh, Lord God Almighty, hear us
then, when we pray for these things. And Lord, we come now,
we gather here to worship. And yet, Lord, we know that we
will not worship unless thy Holy Spirit comes and makes one with
us and controls our minds. Lord, we're here this afternoon
and we know, Lord, how keen the devil is to distract us, to turn
our minds away from the things of God to the vanities of life. But help us, Lord, to concentrate,
each one of us, young and old, upon the great things of God.
So, Lord, we come to Thee now. Remember us for good. Bless us,
we earnestly pray. Revive Thy work. Encourage our
souls. Get honour and glory to Thy great
and holy name. May the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, be lifted up, and we plead that promise, and I, if
I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. May it be so, we earnestly pray. Look upon us now, forgiving all
our sins, we ask it for Jesus' sake. Let us further sing the second
hymn on our hymn sheet. This is Hymn 276 in Gadsby's
hymn book. It's by John Newton and it's
based upon the account in 1 Kings chapter 17 verse 6 where Elijah
was fed by ravens. at the brook Cherith when there
was a famine in the land. May be an encouragement to us,
especially when we read that in the last days there shall
be a famine, not of bread and of water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord. May we hear them not just as
we've had them read, but hear them by the Spirit making them
power to our souls. Elijah's example declares, whatever
distress may be tied, the saints may commit all their cares to
him who will surely provide. When rain long withheld from
the earth occasioned a famine of bread, the prophet secured
from the dearth by ravens was constantly fed. The second hymn
on the hymn sheet, the tune is Covenant Blessing 737, the hymn
276 in Gadsby's. May we please almighty God to
bless us together this afternoon as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the book of Psalms
and Psalm 71 and we'll read verse 16. Psalm 71 and reading verse
16. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. As I mentioned when we commenced
reading this chapter, it was written when David was an old
man because he tells us in verse 18, now also when I am old and
gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I have shown thy strength
unto this generation and thy power to every one that is to
come. It's good to realise that here
was the psalmist desiring to be able to show forth God's strength
and God's power to the generation and to those that are to come. Well obviously we weren't in
that generation but we are amongst those that were to come. And
so as we Think of that and realize that here we have a psalm written
by, we think, David, and how wonderful it is to realize the
relevance of it to us today. And as he's able to tell us with
humble confidence, he says, I will go in the strength of the Lord
God. He had reason to be able to say
that. You may remember earlier in the
book of Samuel, first book of Samuel, we read in the 17th chapter
that occasion when he fought Goliath. And before he fought
Goliath, he came and spoke to the king, King Saul. And he gave
a very clear testimony of where his strength was. And it's good
to just remember sometimes these, what we might term historical
words, but yet very true words. And he tells us this. And David,
in verse 39, and David girded his sword upon his armor and
he has said to go, but he had not proved it. And David said
on the sword, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved
them, and David put them off. And he took his staff in his
hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and
put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script.
And his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine."
Now we might just remember that what he'd said, therefore previously,
in this same chapter of his words that he's spoken to David. Because the words that were spoken
to Saul were this, let no man's heart fail because of him that's
Goliath. Thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou
art not able to go against this Philistine. to fight with him,
for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy
servant kept his father's sheep. And there came a lion and a bear
and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went after him and smote
him and delivered it out of his mouth. When he arose against
me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion
and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God." Then
we come to this wonderful verse of great confidence, verse 37. And David said moreover, The
Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of
the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, go and
the Lord be with thee. Well, we know the outcome. At
least I hope we know the outcome. But David, of course, slew Goliath
with just a single stone which he slain with his sling, having
picked up from the brook which we've just read. So here we have
David's confidence in his God. Now, the great wonder is that
our God is still the same today. The Word of God tells us, I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. And so, as David had that confidence
in his God, so may you and I have the same confidence in Almighty
God and be able to say, and this is confidence in our God, I will
go in the strength of the Lord God. He didn't say, I've done
these wonderful things previously and I'm quite able to cope and
do things myself. No, He put all this trust and
all His desires in the strength of the Lord God. I will go in
the strength of the Lord God. Well, God knows what there is
in your life and my life, what things there may be before
us, things perhaps which we aren't aware of at the present time,
and yet what a blessing it is to have a confidence in God. Now let me just say this. The
Bible, the scriptures, really give us two pictures And you
young people might like to just remember this. Two pictures. The first picture is with regard
to our natural life. That means the things that you
and I will have to face and enter into as we journey through our
life on this earth. And the second is our spiritual
life. And really our spiritual life
is more important because it has reference to our eternal
soul. So as you and I read the word
of God, we really want to read it in that way and see how it
speaks to our heart, how it speaks therefore to our soul, how it
directs us in what we should do and what we should say. David, he had a difficult life. We can read about his wonderful
victories, but there were many times that he had to cry unto
the Lord. Many times he had to pray for
wisdom. Many times he asked God what
he should do. It's an example. It's a testimony
for us today. As we come into situations which
are difficult, to not try and solve them ourselves, that's
what we do naturally, but to come to our God and to come to
Him in this way and to be able to say with a humble confidence,
I will go. How? In the strength of the Lord
God. We all have problems, don't we?
Young and old. We must never despise the young
with their problems and their troubles, but to realise it's
a wonderful favour to realise that we have this great God and
to be blessed with a humble faith to believe that this God will
appear And this God will help. And this God will
give us strength. We started this 71st Psalm with
these wonderful words. In thee, O Lord, not in ourselves,
in thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to
confusion. My friends, God never puts us
to confusion if we're trusting in the Lord. And indeed, in the
previous psalm, in the first verse in the previous psalm,
David says, Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to
help me, O Lord. Sometimes There are those situations
in our natural life, sometimes in our spiritual life, where
we need God to come. And we have here, therefore,
a wonderful example of prayer. Really, these two Psalms are
prayers to God. What a mercy it is that we have
an example how to pray. You may wonder, How should I
pray? Well, there are many prayers
in the Word of God, many prayers which you and I can take as examples
as to how we should pray. And so here we have this wonderful
example. Make haste, O God, to come to
our God like that. See, God knows about us. We can
be honest with our God. If we think there are things
that need God to appear for us, very soon, it's an urgency, we
can come and we can quote the Word of God. You will never be
wrong if you quote to God His Word. And so, I will go in the strength
of the Lord God. will come to him like this and
will say, make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to
help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul. You see, here he goes straight
into our spiritual state. And believe you me, the devil's
always on the lookout to destroy our soul. The devil is always
trying to make us not believe his word, to always bring us
to that place and tell us, well, of course that doesn't apply
to you. My friends, you and I should
remember the devil has been and always
will be a liar. Therefore, don't listen to what
the devil says. Listen to what God says in the
pages of His Word. And so says David, let them be
ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned
backward and put to confusion. that desire my hurt. The devil desires to destroy
us. I have said sometimes, and I
will just tell you again, some of you may have heard this little
account, but young people might be interested to hear it. When
I was, I think, a teenager, I may have been 20 anyway, and I'd
just joined the church, and I'd just been baptized, and I was in the Bethesda home
at Red Hill. In those days, it was full up
and with old people, and generally speaking, it was all ladies,
and there was this old lady there, and she said to me, come here,
my boy, and sit down. So I went and sat down by her,
and she said, I want to tell you something. And this is what she said. She said, you must realize that
when we get older, the devil tempts us more because he knows his time is short. They were words of wisdom. And
I've never forgotten. And it's good to remember that
because we're tempted to think, as we get older, our life, perhaps
our spiritual life, may get easier. But generally speaking, we're
finding it gets harder because the devil's trying to deceive
us, trying to turn us out of the way. And that's why you and
I should be thankful that we have such very positive words
in the Bible to encourage us and indeed to
strengthen us. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. Well, what a mercy, isn't it?
If you and I can go forward in our life, natural life and our
spiritual life, go forward, in this way in the strength of the
Lord God. It's a very blessed path because
God is almighty. He is able to do great things. He's able
to do impossible things. The word of God tells us the
things which are impossible to men are possible with God. So therefore, let us never think
that anything is too hard for God to do, because God is almighty. God is all-powerful. Just recognize, though, that
your life and my life is one that we walk not by sight, We
walk by faith. And walking by faith means believing
the truth of God's word. May sound very simple. But you
see, God tests the reality of our faith. We don't want to have
a false faith. We don't want to end up at the
end of our journey of life and find we've been deceived. We want God to arise. and deliver
us from all that is of the flesh, all that is false, and be found
following Him, following His gracious Word. And you only have
to follow, really, the lives of the children of God, set forth
in the Word of God. You can turn, perhaps, to the
many accounts we have in the 11th chapter of the Apostle Paul
to the Hebrews, where the Apostle tells us about those who were
blessed with living faith and what a mercy we have such an
account to strengthen us. You only have to read that. I
expect most of you are familiar with the examples of faith that
we have in that 11th chapter. We're told it commences with
a definition. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And for by it the elders
obtained a good report. What a mercy. Well, he then goes
on to tell us about Abel and Enoch and then about Noah. You may remember Noah, I'm sure,
with the flood. And it's easy for us to read
now, but when you think that he was told by God to build an
ark, I think it took him something like 100 years to build. And
he built it on dry land. He didn't build it on the sea.
He built it on dry land. And no doubt, he had many people
mock him and say, what are you doing? Well, he did that, which
God had instructed him to do. What did he do? He went. in the strength of his God. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. Day after day, week after week,
year after year, building a great big ark that would accommodate
all the animals on the earth and those eight human beings. Well, God honoured him. And at
last, as you know, the earth was flooded. And we only have
to read then about Abraham. You think of Abraham. There he
was living in Ur of the Chaldees. And he was told to get up and
leave Ur of the Chaldees. And he wasn't told where to go.
But God led him and God directed
him. You see, you and I like everything
cut and dried, don't we? Well, don't forget. we walk by
faith and not by sight. And the reason for that, that
when it comes to pass, we praise God for it. We thank God for
his goodness and mercy toward us. Well, Abraham was tested,
he obeyed God, he obeyed God and then, as you know, he was
blessed with a son Well, first of all, through Hagar, which
wasn't the right way, but eventually blessed with Isaac. And then
he was instructed to offer up Isaac. Just ponder for a moment,
you young people, think of that. It was Abraham had been promised
he'd have a son. And through that son, there would
be thousands and perhaps millions, indeed, of people born through
him and now he's told to offer him up. What's he going to do? Is he going to argue with God?
Didn't argue at all. We're told the next day early
in the morning he got up and he took his servants and his
son and fire and wood and off he went until he reached the
mount where he was indeed to offer up Isaac. Well, what a
mercy. He was given faith to do that. And as you probably know, he
was just about to slay his son Isaac when God told him to stop. He said, now I know that thou
believest in God. And so sometimes you and I may
be tested in our life, perhaps natural
things, perhaps spiritual things, to really the very last second
when deliverance can be brought. But don't forget the case of
Abraham. God knew what he would do. We
don't always know, but God does know. And God did come and God
did wonderfully and gloriously deliver him. And then, of course,
there was Moses. You remember Moses, I expect.
And well, Moses was brought up in Pharaoh's household, a very
affluent place, a very comfortable environment. And then clearly
God told him that he was the person that was to deliver the
Israelites from Egypt. And he thought that his countrymen
would understand that, but they didn't. And the result was that
Moses had to go far away into the backside of the desert, a
desert place, and live there. for 40 years, 40 years in comfort
in the palace of Pharaoh, 40 years in the desert. And what
was it for? Preparation. Preparation for
Moses to lead Israel then out of Egypt. And you see, when God
then told him, when He appeared to him in that burning bush,
His attitude was that he thought he wasn't able to. He wasn't
the right person. What had occurred? 40 years of
training in the wilderness. God had brought him right down. My friends, God still deals with
his people in a similar way today. Yes, he raises up and he brings
down. And our life is for the honor
and glory of God. And so it was then with Moses. And so it was with David. And
David tells us here, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. But then we come on to this other
part, which is very relevant. He says, I will make mention
of thy righteousness even of thine only. You may realise that we speak
very much, we read very much in the New Testament about the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in the prophecy
of Isaiah about our righteousness being as filthy rags. That means
it's of no value at all. And you and I need to have a
righteousness which is acceptable to God, because there is no one
in heaven who is not dressed and clothed with the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, the wonder of the Gospel,
the wonder of the Word of God to us is that it spells out to
us in some detail what this actually means, and we can read about
it. We won't go through it all this afternoon, it's too long.
But in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, we're told very clearly
what this meant. And in the fourth chapter, there's
several chapters which deal with it, but in the fourth chapter,
we read this. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to the flesh is found? For if Abraham
were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before
God. And it's very tempting for us
to think, well, if I do that and I do this, it'll be really
good and God will be very pleased with me. We have to realize that
it's not what we do, it's what God has done. And so we're told,
for what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God. Do you and I believe God? You
may say, well, of course I do. Well, it's just important to
question ourselves on this, because if we do truly believe God, we
will understand what really this word means, or we go in the strength
of the Lord God, because we believe in that God, and we believe that
he is that God who can do this for us. And so Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." What
a wonderful thing it is to believe in God. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You see, we're told as Paul goes
on in this chapter, he said, now, to him that worketh, is
the reward, not reckoning of grace, but of debt. That means
if we've done something, then it's a debt. We owe which we
can never repay. But him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. So see, the great truth is that
if God gives us faith to believe, then it's counted for righteousness
and no unrighteous person will be found in glory. And what a mercy then for us
today, if God gives us faith to believe, to believe what?
To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when will you want
to do that? When will you need to do that?
It's when the Holy Spirit shows us that we're a sinner. And indeed, when the Holy Spirit
shows us, like the Holy Spirit showed the Apostle Paul. He told
him that he was the chief of sinners. He didn't look around. and point finger and say well
of course that person is worse than me. He looked into his heart
and realised he was the worst of sinners. Now that is the mercy
and that is the grace of God because it stands us on that
ground. But to him that worketh not but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly That means the Lord
Jesus Christ, His faith is counted for righteousness. What a blessing
that is, isn't it? You think of it, to know that
we're righteous. Not because of what we've done,
but because God's given us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's counted for righteousness. And you can then come and say,
I'm blessed, great God, forever blessed. My rags are gone, and
I am blessed with garments white as snow. Yes, it's nothing in
self. It's all a grace, free, unmerited
favor of God. And so says the psalmist David here, I will
gain the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of thy
righteousness even of thine only. And what a good thing when God
opens our mouth to speak about the things of God. He tells us
in this psalm again, he says, towards the end, I will also
praise thee with the psaltery even thy truth, O my God. Unto thee will I sing unto the
harp, O thou holy one of Israel. If God has blessed you and me
with faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only
one who can save our soul, the only one who was able to pay
the price for our sins, to realise He did His Father's will. Go back to Gethsemane. Hear the
Saviour. What does He say? If it be possible,
let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but
Thine be done. And it's good when God brings
you and me to be able to make a like statement. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. Submission
to the will of God. It's a great blessing. It's a great favour. Something
to be so very, very thankful for. And so would I. wonderful
thing it is to read such words as this about righteousness. Well, we can't go into any more,
but you can read them in those first few chapters in the epistle
to Paul to the Romans. They're very good. They're very
great. They're very glorious. And how necessary it is that
we receive that righteousness. And then just to think that God
gives it to us. He gives it to us. We didn't
have to work for it. He gives it to us freely, freely. And there is an exchange. Do
you know what that exchange is? He takes your sin and my sin
and places it on himself. We have a word for that. It's
imputed, your sin and my sin, taken from us, all our sin, not
one sin left behind, and imputed onto the Saviour. And He, in
glorious exchange, gives us His righteousness. I will make mention
of thy righteousness, even of thine only. Oh, isn't the reason
surely to praise God? I also will praise thee with
the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God, unto thee. When I sing with the harp of
thou, holy one of Israel, my lips shall greatly rejoice when
I sing unto thee, and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. It's very important for us to
realise the glory of the scriptures, because here is the Old Testament,
and it's prophesying that which will come to pass. It's a proof
of the truth of God's Word. And it's good if you study the
Word of God and study the Old Testament, and as you study it
to trace and find out the many references there are to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here it is very clearly set before
us here. My lips shall greatly rejoice
when I sing unto thee in my soul, which thou hast redeemed. The New Testament tells us redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. Our debt, our sin, was paid for
by the Saviour. He paid for it when He hung upon
that cross at Calvary, when He gave His life that you and I
might receive life. Oh, it's a great and wonderful
blessing, isn't it? It's a great depth which is impossible
for us in our natural mind to understand. But what a great
favour if God gives you and me faith to believe in this great
and wonderful plan of salvation, and to have the evidence that
we are indeed redeemed, that we are blessed indeed, and that
we shall therefore, by God's grace, his unmerited favour,
be found at last in glory for eternity. What a word that is. for eternity, forever and ever
and ever. And so says David, my tongue
also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. This good news
he wanted to talk about all the time. We live in a sad world,
don't we? We don't talk much about the
things of God. We don't talk much about our
redemption. We don't talk much about the
righteousness of the Saviour which has been given to us. But
what a blessing if we truly desire that when every opportunity presents
itself, and not only old people, young people as well, My tongue also shall
talk. You see, I've commenced the saying
by how positive God's word is. And here it is. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness
all the day long. For thou art confounded, for
thou art brought unto shame that seek My hurt? Well, the devil
seeks your and my hurt all the time. His desire is to deceive
us, to turn us out of the way. But remember, the Word of God
tells us, they that endure unto the end shall be saved through
the grace and mercy of Almighty God. Let us close this afternoon's
service by seeing the third hymn on the hymn sheet. This is 410
in Gadsby's, but omitting verses 5 and 6 in Gadsby's. We've got
six verses here on the hymn sheet. Those of you who are following
the hymn book, you'll notice the verses that are missing,
which is 5 and 6 in your hymn book. is based upon Mark chapter
7, verse 37. And we're beyond measure astonished,
saying he hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf
to hear and the dumb to speak. The tune is Hereford 871. Now for a heart prepared to sing,
to God my Saviour and my King, While with his saints I join
to tell, My Jesus has done all things well. All worlds his glorious
power confess, His wisdom all his works express. But O his
love what tongue can tell, My Jesus has done all things well. The third hymn on the hymn sheet. Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.