King, he's a king, he's always
been a king. He was born as a king. And Herod,
as you might recall in Matthew chapter two, sends for the chief
priests and the scribes and asks where he's born and then they
say Bethlehem. And Herod's intention when he
was asking the question was to find out where he was so that
any rival king would be killed. And he did his level best to
kill the Lord Jesus Christ. He killed every male child in
that district as promised. It's a question that's asked
of the Lord's people. Often, if you turn with me very
briefly to Psalm 42, you'll see that it's a question that David
asked, that David, in his despair, it would appear that the commentators
are right. As you go through this psalm,
you realise that this is the psalm that David prayed when
Absalom, his son, had taken over the rulership of the kingdom.
And you know what happened as David walked out of Jerusalem,
Shimei was there on a bank and he was throwing stones and dust
at him and cursing David. And the question that was asked,
wasn't it? He says, He says in verse one,
as the deer pants after the water brooks, you can imagine a deer
being pursued by wild dogs or whatever it might be, and it's
just panting for the water brooks. So panteth my soul after thee,
O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? We mustn't forget the fact that
this notion of triumphalistic Christianity is not something
you find in the Old Testament. I love the honesty of the people
of God and the honesty of David. David says, I will say unto my
rock, verse nine, unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten
me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me while
they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast
down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health
of my countenance and my God. David both cried out in his anguish. And cried out because of that
sword was in his bones, but he was made to cry out even more.
They say daily, where is thy God? Have you been asked that
question? Many, many, many times in various ways, aren't they?
People ask that question. Where is God? Look at this world. children of God who are so few,
so weak, so easily ignored, so often treated with disdain and
contempt. Where is your God? You say he's
absolutely sovereign and he reigns over all for his glory and the
good of his own. Where is he? Where is he? Everything
looks. You say he's returning. Everything
looks as if he's not returning, not ruling, not in control. Look
at the power of all of these nations. Look at the power of
humanity. And you say God is absolutely
sovereign. Peter was asked this question,
wasn't he, in 2 Peter 3. He says, all things continue
as they have been since the beginning. That's what they say to him.
And where is the promise of his coming? Where is the promise
of his coming? Where is your God? That question's
being asked today again and again and again, isn't it? Where is
he? We've figured out how this world was created. We've figured
out how this world came to be. We've figured out how we can
build our empires in this world. We've figured out that all we
need is enough time and enough money and enough education and
we can fix the problems of this world. Little do we know that
we're on a very fast track to destroying it. The servants of
God have asked this question, haven't they? Where is... You'll
go, where is? You might recall in Second Kings
when Elijah was being taken up to heaven, Elisha knew that he
was going and Elijah, Elisha crossed the Jordan and Elijah
said, if you see me going, if you see me taken up, you'll receive
that double portion that you asked for. And Elijah saw him
go and the mantle fell from Elijah and Elisha picked it up And he
went down to the Jordan and he smoked the Jordan again, and
the Jordan opened up. And he says, where is the Lord
God of Elijah? We've just seen him, but we still
ask the question. Children of God have asked this
question so many times. Let's be honest, this question
has been often on our lips. When the way is dark, when the
road is rocky, when the burdens are so heavy. Job asked this
question. Job, you know the story of Job.
He lost absolutely everything. He lost 10 children, he lost
all of his possessions, and then he lost his house, and his wife
said to him, just curse God and die, Job. Poor Job. And Job had no idea of what was
playing out behind the scenes, the hidden hand of God and the
hidden hand of Satan in all of this. And he says in Job 23,
he says, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier
than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him, that I might even come even to his seat. I would order
my cause before him. I would fill my mouth with arguments. And that's exactly what Job did
right until the end, isn't it? In chapter 30, he is defending
his own righteousness. And I just love what happened
at the end of the book of Job. Elihu, representing the Lord
Jesus Christ, comes and he preaches the gospel, and it's always that
way. Elihu comes and preaches the
gospel, and then God appears, and Job declares, I am vile. I abhor myself and repent in
dust measures." At the end of Job's life, as you well know,
he was given another 10 children. heaven and he was restored to
all of what he had before. But in that process, like all
of us, let's be honest, where is my God? This doesn't seem
just and it doesn't seem right, and yet the problem always is
that we can't see the big picture. We're like Job, aren't we? All
we can see is what we see with earthly eyes, unless the Lord
brings the Scriptures to us. But Job, like David, even though
he asked a question, he had a confidence in God. He had a confidence. He says that he knoweth, verse
10 of Job 23, that he knows the way that I take, and when he
has tried me, He wasn't denying the fact that God was involved
in his trial. I shall come forth as gold. I shall come forth as gold. But in that process, in that
painful process, he says, behold, I go forward, verse 8, and he's
not there. I go looking for him and I can't
find him. I go backwards, and I cannot perceive him. On the
left hand, where does he work? I cannot behold him. He hideth
himself on the right hand, and I cannot, that I cannot see him. But, says Job. The same question,
isn't it? It's asked. It's asked by believers,
it's asked by scorners, it's asked by mockers, it's asked
by haters in John chapter 7. It's asked by infidels, it's
asked by atheists, it's asked by this world. It's a common
question, and it's a good question. And it's our question for today. And it's a good question to ask,
isn't it? It's a question that is answered so beautifully from
the scriptures that I trust it there is a blessing in this.
I hope you enjoy where we go finding the answer to this as
I've enjoyed my studies in it. The very first place we have
to go to find where God is, is in his word. There's absolutely
no point searching for him outside of his word and Job and David
had a prominent hasn't found him at all and they have just
been deceived by satan as isaiah 8 22 says if they speak not according
to this not up for personal opinion i'm not giving my opinion or
moses and the prophets witness they all so to preach christ
is to preach where is now their God? He asks the great question that
the dedication of the temple in 2nd Chronicles 6a and he said
but will God in John's gospel and the rest of the New Testament
Gospels show us again and again and again that the Jews thought
that they were worshipping God and he was absent from them.
I do love that picture of those Jews coming up to examine John
the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ on the banks of the Jordan,
and John's beholding him and says, behold the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world. And they come and they
have a look at John and they say, nothing special about him,
nothing special about his message. And they look at the Lord Jesus
Christ, nothing special about him. And what did he do? His disciples say, And they weren't asking about
a house. They were asking about where he is and where he resides
and where they can be in his company. And he says, come and
see, come and see. They heard John and they followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. And those Jews, those self-righteous
Jews sent from Jerusalem went home as empty eyes. did when
they arrived and what did the Lord Jesus do? He took his people,
he took his disciples and he went to a wedding feast and displayed
his glory. That's exactly what he's doing
in this world now isn't he? He's not here to please the whims
of the religious crowd. Our God is in the heavens. He
doesn't dwell in religious traditions and holy days and religious organization
ceremonies, no matter how lavish. He dwells in his word. He dwells
in the heavens. He dwells everywhere, of course.
He is omnipresent. Nowhere. Psalm 139. He's everywhere, isn't he? That's
why he can work all things together after the counsel of his own
will for the good. spiritual good of all of his
people. Our God is in the heavens. Our God is present. Our God is
revealed in his word. Our God created all things by
the word of his power, and he upholds all things by the word
of his power. In him we live and move and have
our being. Our God is bigger than we can
possibly imagine. You think that I'm altogether
like you as God's complaint against humanity, isn't it? And what's
your God doing in the heavens, David? Our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Don't you love how in
the Old Testament they put the work of God in the past tense?
You realise, Isaiah chapter 53, it's all in the past tense. Why? When God thinks it, it is done. the end from the beginning he
has done whatsoever he hath pleased what does it please God to do
you can look it up in a concordance there are a number of things
and I'll just go to a few of them in set first Samuel chapter
12 it is pleased God to make you his people it's pleased God
to make you his people in Colossians 119 it pleased God should all fullness dwell. It
pleased God to make Christ our Saviour. It pleased God to prepare
a body for Him. In Isaiah 53 verse 7, it pleased
the Father to bruise Him. Literally, it pleased the Father
to crush Him. I know the Jews were wicked,
the Romans were weak and compromising, but the real event of the cross
was the work of the Father and the work of the Son, as recorded
by the Holy Spirit. God sent his Son into this world
to go to the cross. It was the Father's will and
the Father's covenant. And God was pleased that his
justice is satisfied in his Son. Where is your God? He's in the
heavens doing whatever it pleases him. What's he doing on this
earth? See, Paul's a pattern. He says,
in Galatians chapter one, when he's giving his testimony of
God's work in his life, he says, when it pleased God to reveal
his Son, where? In me. In me, says Paul. It pleased God to reveal His
Son in me. It's so much better than having
the Son revealed to you. He must be revealed to you, but
in salvation He's revealed in you. And how, how does God arrest
the souls on their Damascus road to hell? It pleased God by the
foolishness according to God seen in the
eyes of this world as foolishness. Where is he? He's in the heavens.
He has done whatsoever he hath pleased. Where is he? Turn with me to Isaiah 57. I
just do love this passage of scripture so much. I don't have
time to expound the whole lot of it. If you want to know what
this world is doing and what the judgment of God upon this
world is, then you read the rest of this verse. Because there
is a 4 at the beginning of the verse I'd like us to go to. But
here is the people Here is a people who knew about God, who spend
their times now worshipping sticks and stones and trees and high
hills. It's exactly what I saw in India. It's exactly what's going on
in this world now. We are worshipping the creation.
I used to say to people that came to India, I said, you are
looking at your future. because the promise of Psalm
115 and many other places in Scripture is you'll be like the
gods you worship. You go and worship the gods of
stones, of polished stones and of high hills and trees and forests
and things and you'll end up being like them. But let's go
back to our verse. In verse 15, it's one of the
most glorious verses in all of the Scriptures. I just love it
so much. For, in the midst of all of this idolatry and all
of this depravity, that God is going to bring his judgment upon
nation Israel, and he's bringing his judgment upon this world
right now. For thus saith the high and lofty
one, that inhabiteth eternity. Where is he? He's inhabiting
eternity. Whose name is Holy. Where is he? I dwell. in thee
high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones. We, in our terrible ignorance,
try and speak of eternity past and eternity future. Our God
dwells outside of time and space, brothers and sisters. Eternity
is one ever-present reality in the mind of God. He lives eternity. He dwells in eternity. He lives
beyond time and space, and yet he rules time and space. If you
ask me whether I understand any of that at all, I would say I
don't have a clue, but that's what he says. I don't have to
understand it, I believe it. The High and Lofty One. He inhabits
eternity. He's High and Lofty One. What a lovely description. It's
the same as in Isaiah Chapter 6 when Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ in Isaiah 6. He's a high and lifted one up. Holy, holy, holy is he. If you ever see and if you ever
know God, you will see him high and holy. You'll see him lifted
up. Lifted up in his exalted majesty
and lifted up in his almighty power. See, his place reflects
his character, doesn't it? He says, he's the high and lofty
one whose name is holy. That's his name, is holy. You write that over everything
about him. All of his attributes have holiness written over them.
But his place reflects his character. He lives in a high and holy place. It's what we read of Solomon
saying he dwells in the heavens of heavens. They can't contain
him and he lives, as Paul says, in light which no man can approach
unto. It's called the holy habitation
by Zechariah. But listen to what it goes on
to say. This is glorious, brothers and sisters in Christ. With him,
this high and holy one, whose name is Holy, and he dwells in
this high and holy place, and he's not on his own. With him,
also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit. He's there with
them. He's there with his people. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those that are poverty
struck. They have nothing of any righteousness
to bring to the table. They can't bargain with God.
They come as a leper. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Blessed are those that mourn.
They shall be comforted. He lives in this remarkable place
with him that is contrite, a crushed spirit in the humble spirit. He looks, as Isaiah 66 says,
he looks to the poor and to the contrite spirit that trembles Don't you love the fact that
in all of that exaltation, all of that glory, he dwells with
people like us, brothers and sisters? Though the Lord be high,
yet he hath respect unto the lowly, Psalm 138. And what's
he doing with those who are there with him? They come contrite
and they come humbled to revive the spirit of the humble and
to revive the heart of the contrite one, with him. His work in this extraordinary
place is to comfort his people. And he can only comfort those
who find no comfort in their own works and their own ability.
He comforts the crushed. He comforts the contrite. He
comforts the humble. Our God dwells in his word. He dwells in eternity. He dwells in this high and holy
place. Where is he now? Where is your
God? This is remarkable. Turn with me to Psalm 22. Psalm
22 is just a remarkable passage of scripture. It is the declaration
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. So this is a psalm
that's all about the cross. This is a psalm which is a great
exemplar of what Peter said. All of the Old Testament is about
the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. You know how it begins. These
are the words the Lord Jesus used from the cross, aren't they?
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me? And from the words of my roaring,
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. That's
what they did at the cross, didn't they? If you really are God, come down
from the cross, save yourself and save us. I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not in the night season, but am not silent. But,
says our great God on Calvary's tree, but thou art holy. Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest
heaven. He inhabits the praises of His
people. He inhabits the praises of His
people. Let's go down to verse 22, because
it's divided into two. You have down to verse 21 all
of the descriptions of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the mockery He suffered there. But from verse 22 on to the end
of the psalm, it's a glorious description of the triumph of
our Saviour. I want us to understand that
if we want to find out where he is, we need again and again
to go back to the cross of Calvary and find out what happened at
the cross. Because listen to this, he inhabits the praises of Israel,
so what are the praises of Israel? In verse 22, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren. He has people in this world that
he calls my brethren. And what's he doing? He's declaring
the character of God to them. In the midst of the congregation,
in the midst of his gathered people, he will praise thee. I will praise thee. Verse 23,
ye that fear the Lord, praise him. This is where God is. He
inhabits the praise of his people, and the praise of his people
are associated with the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Calvary's tree. Ye that fear the Lord, Praise
him, all ye seed, the seed of Jacob. Glorify him and fear him,
all ye seed of Israel. Verse 22, my praise shall be
of thee in the great congregation. the great congregation. I will
pay my vows before them that fear him. Verse 26, the meek
shall eat and be satisfied. We've just been talking about
eating the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter
six and being satisfied. You'll hunger no more and you'll
thirst no more is the promise. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your heart shall live forever. Have we heard words like that?
Have we heard words like that in John 5, and John 6, and John
3, and all through the rest of the scriptures? Your heart shall
live forever. Let's go down to the end of it
for a moment of time. A seed shall serve him, and it
shall be accounted to the Lord for the generation. A seed shall
serve him. They shall come, this seed, they
shall come and they shall declare His righteousness unto a people. So that's what we're doing in
church, aren't we? That's what church is. We're always declaring His
righteousness. We're always declaring His name.
Because there is no righteousness in us or anything we ever do.
Our only righteousness, and the only righteousness we ever speak
of is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath
done this, that he has done this. That's what he cried out on the
cross, isn't it? It is finished, I've done it all, I've done it
all. Let me make a few points about worshipping God. You will
only truly worship a God who is absolutely sovereign. There
is no worship of God who is not absolutely sovereign. The Lord
is in the heavens, let all the earth keep silence before him.
And only before a sovereign throne will a man find comfort. That's
exactly what we read in Isaiah 57. He is works all things. A sovereign
throne is also a throne of grace and we are called to come to
that throne of grace that we might find help in our time of
need. Only at a sovereign throne will a man find a definite, permanent,
eternal salvation. We've just read about it there.
A God who saves and a God who keeps. And only an absolute sovereign
God can be reverenced and adored and praised. All ye that fear
the Lord, praise Him. Praise Him. Our God is absolutely
sovereign. And I'll have to be brief as
we finish. does that amongst that seed,
they shall come. Where will they come? They'll
come to him and declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born.
Where is he? Where is our God? He's in his
word, he's in the heavens, he's in the praises of his people.
Matthew 18, 20 is a glorious verse, isn't it? Where two or
three are gathered in my name. That's exactly what the Lord
said in Psalm 22, isn't it? He's going to declare the name
of God. He's going to declare all of the character of God,
the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, the justice of God, the
satisfaction of God. All of the attributes of God
are to be declared where they are gathered in my name. in the midst of them two or three
how many do you have if we have him we have more than sufficient
brothers and sisters more than sufficient if he does the gathering
he says to despise not the day of small things they are gathered
I love what that word gathered means it means is the Greek word
is the word from which we get sin of talking about joined together.
It means being joined together in union by the Lord himself.
All God's fellowship are his creation and not man's. He gathers
them together and they're gathered in his name to proclaim his glory
and he walks among the candlesticks. Where is he? Where is he? Christ in you, the hope of glory. And why do they gather as they
do? Because if Christ's in you and Christ's in me, then we have
a fellowship that this world knows absolutely nothing of whatsoever. We have our brothers and sisters
come from parts of the world and they come here and they find
sweet fellowship and you go there and you find sweet fellowship,
why? If Christ's in them and Christ's in me, and that's the
only hope of glory that I have is him, and his righteousness
and his doing and his work, then we are united, we are joined
together. That's exactly what he says in Ephesians 2, isn't
it? We are drawn nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If he has washed you from your sins and he's washed me from
my sins, we have no reason not to have the sweetest of fellowship. Where is he? Where is he? He's in so many other places.
Mary asked that question of the angels, didn't he? Where is he?
Where is he? You're seeking the living among
the dead. He's not here. He has risen. There is no grave
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a grave of all the other
religious leaders in the world. Up from the grave he arose, a
mighty triumph over his foes. Where is he? He's at the right
hand of the majesty on high. Where is he? He's in the furnace
of trial, isn't he? Those three men were put in that
furnace. And Nebuchadnezzar looked in
and said, there's a fourth man there. Looks like the son of man, looks
like the son of God. He was right, wasn't he? He's
there in Psalm 23, in the valley of the shadow of death. Where
is he? He's with his people where he
sends his gospel and he proclaims, he proclaims, I am with you always
until the end of the age. He's with you in trial and he's
with you in praise and he's with you and he promises, doesn't
he, I'll never, never, never leave you nor forsake you. Where is he? He's everywhere
and doing everything he chose and ruling over all things. He's
on his throne in the heavens. He's in his people. He's in his
people gathered. He's in the union and communion.
He's in the sufferings of Christ and the glory that Shophela is
in and seeing those praises in that glorious church, that great
congregation. He is the intimately and personally come
to nurture every one of his children. He's touched with the feelings
of our infirmity and he suckers them, which means he runs He's able to care for everyone
and his own perfectly and completely. Peter says, cast all your care
upon him. Why? He careth for you. Sovereign reigning ruler of all.