turn with me if you would this
evening to second samuel chapter twenty two and we'll look at
verse thirty two this evening second samuel twenty two thirty
two for who is god save the lord and who is a rock save our god
the hebrew there is this, who is El, E-L, that's
one of the names of God in the scripture. Who is El save Jehovah? Another one of God's names. God
has many names in the scripture, each denoting a specific attribute
of God, and three of them are in this one verse. That last
word for God, who is a rock save our God, that's a different word
than the first translated word God there. El here means mighty,
or the mighty one. Jehovah means the self-existing
one, or the eternal God. The last word for God in the
verse is Elohim, and it denotes power and authority also. But the word Elohim, it's the
word used for God in the first verse of the Bible. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. God, and that word Elohim
is a plural noun. God is one God, but this refers
to the three persons of his Godhead, the plurality of his Godhead
in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Elohim. And listen, the powerful question
that David is asking here is this, so we know that and then
the Lord, whenever you see Lord in all caps, capital L-O-R-D,
that's Jehovah in the King James Bible. But that's another name
for God. So he's saying, who is God save
God? That's the question he's asking,
and it's of course a rhetorical question. He's saying that God
is God, but he's saying it in the form of a question. The rhetorical
question contained in this is simply this. If God is not God,
then who is? Who is a God except God? Who is God if he's not? That's
a good question. This is essentially the question
that Job asked in Job 9, 24. And I want you to turn with me
and look at the language of Job 9 and verse 24. Listen to what he said here,
Job 9.24, the earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
Think about what he's saying and look around you in this world
that we live in now, this generation that lives on this earth. Now,
the earth is given into the hand of the wicked. Job wasn't the
first or the last person that's noticed this. This world is run
by evil people. And then look what he said, he
covereth the faces of the judges thereof. That's talking about
those who make the decisions in this world. It's not just
judges as we use the word, you know, a Supreme Court justice
or a circuit court judge or something like that. It's not just that,
it's judges here is the people who make the decisions, who decide
things in this world. Their faces are covered by somebody.
They're blind. And look, if not, if he doesn't
do that, whoever this he is, we're going to talk about, if
not, then where is he and who is he? What a question Job asked
here. And when, if ever, has Job's
words here been more true than they are right now? The earth
is given into the hands of the wicked. Look at the rulers of
this world, not just our country. Look around the world. Think
about it. We have a system of government here, thank the Lord,
that limits the power of any one person. And it's the best,
but think of the individuals who make up our government. How
many of them would you say are corrupt, have sold out for money?
And how many of them actually care about the country and the
people of this country? But mainly, look at the rest
of the world. The dictators and tyrants of
this world, the ones who make the decisions in this world.
Why is it the way that it is? And look at the next phrase of
Job's question. Somebody is covering the faces
of the judges of the earth. Somebody's covering their faces.
Now, again, it's not just judges sitting on a bench. You know,
this is the people who decide things, those in authority in
this world. Their faces are covered. And
let's not let's not kid ourselves. Most in most cases, the actual
leaders of this world are just doing what what They're doing
what they do because of money. It's the people that have the
money that are making the decisions and they're just using these
people to do it. So think about that. Whoever is calling the
shots in any given situation or realm of this earth, they're
blinded. Their faces are covered. We like
to say justice is blind. Justice has no prejudices and
is equal to all. But what Job is saying here is
the truth is justice is not blind. The judges are blind. There's
a big difference, big difference. They don't see what's real. They
don't care. They only see what's in their mind and heart. They
don't see the truth of what's around them and what's in the
mind and heart of a sinner. Me, me, me, me, me. Somebody is the cause of all
that Job said. Somebody's the one that's blinding
him and making him blind to justice and judgment and truth. And Job
is simply saying here that God is the one who is running the
ones that are running things. That's it. That's a simple statement,
isn't it? God runs the ones who run things. He is the king of
kings. and Lord of Lords. Hebrews 3,
4, Paul wrote there, for every house is built by some man, but
he that built all things is God. Think about that. Somebody built
everything. I confess right up front that
I'm taking that verse out of the context that it's in there
in Hebrews 3, but think of the principle taught there and see
it all in the word of God. This is true throughout the word.
Every house, every nation, every household, every economy, every
society, every government is built by some man or group of
men. All of it is. But the one who
built the ones that built it all is God. In other words, As
Isaiah said in chapter 9, the government is on his shoulders,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one whose name is wonderful, the
child who was born, but the son who was given, whose name is
wonderful, counselor to the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. He said the government is on
his shoulder. What government? The government. The governing
of governments is on his shoulders. He's the one that does all this.
It's according to his purpose and his will. He worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. He doesn't consult
men in it. He does as he pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth and
none can stay his hand. We're saying to him, what doest
thou? He that built all things. Somebody
built everything. And whoever that is, is God. David is saying, I know who it
is. It's Jehovah. That's who it is. It's Jehovah
God. It's the God that we worship. Remember what Job asked at the
end of that verse that we looked at there. If not, if God's not
doing this, then where is God? And who is God? Wow, let's think
about that. If God didn't purpose and cause
and bring to pass all these things as they are in this world, then
where in the world was God when they happened? Where was he? What was he doing? And who is
the one who did this? Let's find out who God is. Or
he might be asking it this way, who is the pathetic God that
didn't show up while all this was taking place? What God are
you talking about? What God are you worshiping if
he didn't do, if he didn't accomplish, where was he and who is he? He
didn't have much power apparently. He must've been on vacation.
That's what Elijah said about the false gods of his day. He said, well, maybe they're
sleeping or maybe they've gone on a vacation. They obviously
can't hear you. Now, sentimental religious people
mostly cannot think that God would allow bad things to happen
to good people. Well, you know, maybe your God
wouldn't. But the first problem with that statement, God wouldn't
let bad things happen to good people. The first problem with
that is there aren't any good people. And the second problem with that
is this, the only time ever that something bad happened to someone
who was good. Was it Calvary? That's the only
time it ever happened. And we only say that it was bad
in that it was evil. What we did was evil. There's
no question about that, but God meant it for good. As Joseph
said of his brother, he said to his brother, you did some
evil to me, but God was doing good in that. He used your evil
for good. That's what he does. That's the
gospel. Our evil that was wrought at Calvary in murdering God's
son, God meant it for good, to save much people alive, as Joseph
said. To save much people alive. And I'm wanting to bless God. But bad things, you know, God
doesn't do that. Well, let me ask you something.
The only time that a bad thing happened to a good person was
at Calvary. Who purposed that? Where was God when that happened?
Who was in charge of that? Who brought that to pass? The
Bible says it pleased the Lord to crush his son. That's what
this book says. Many people would say, well,
God, you know, that hurricane that came and killed thousands
of people, God wouldn't do that. That was Satan that did that. God wouldn't do that. Brother
Job has a question for you. If God didn't do it, then who
did and where was he when they did it? Where was God Almighty
when somebody killed thousands of people in his universe? That's
a pretty good question, isn't it? Amos asks in Amos 3.6, shall
there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? You know,
this religious world scoffs at the idea that God would do something
terrible like that. The Bible scoffs at the ones
that scoff. Are you kidding me? You really
think something happened in God's universe and he didn't do it?
That word evil there, shall there be evil in the city and the Lord
has not done it? That doesn't just mean sin, although
that's included. It's not just saying, it's saying,
shall something bad happen somewhere and the Lord hasn't done it?
If not, then who did it? And where was God when they did
it? That's Job's question. How can we know that all things
work together for good to those that love God, to those who are
the called according to his purpose? You know how I know that? Because
God makes it so. And you know how he does that?
He rules all things and all people in every place, in all the places
of his dominion. And that's everywhere. How could
he do that if he's not controlling all things? I don't want to live
in a world where the devil can do things without God. And we're
even a germ. I don't even want, my pastor
a long time ago used to say, if one germ is floating in the
air that God's not in control of, we're all goners. One germ. I don't want to live in that
world. I'm glad to live in the universe that God made and where
he runs everything. If that germ comes to you, it's
because he sent it and he did it for your good if you're Christ's. Listen to where, where was God
and who was God when this world was made? That's the question
that God answered now. Look in the book of Job with
me. The book of Job, right before
Psalms, chapter 38. I wanna read you a passage of
scripture. Where was God and what was he
doing when this world was made? We like to say, Paul the Apostle
did that Christ is all that Christ is all in all if that's true.
Where was he when this world was made? Job 38 verse 1 Listen
now. Who do you think is speaking
to Job here the Lord who speaks? Audibly in the whirlwind. This
is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to Job and Then the Lord answered
Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge? Who is this that's talking about
stuff and doesn't know what he's talking about? He doesn't have
any knowledge of what he's saying. Gird up now your loins like a
man, for I will demand of thee and answer thou me. God's not
answerable to us, but we're answerable to him. When he says, answer
me, you better have something to say. Where were you, he said,
when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast
understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof,
if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy, where were you? when that happened? Or who shut
up the sea with doors when it break forth, as if it had issued
out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment
thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and break up for
it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, hitherto
shalt thou come, but no further. And here shall thy proud waves
be stayed. And throughout that whole chapter,
chapter 38 of Job and the next one, chapter 39, God asked Job
questions like these one after another. And you know what Job's
response was? It's in Job chapter 40, verse
three. Then Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? What
shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I
will proceed no further. I am contemptible and despicable. That's what he said. That's his
response to God and his sovereign power. And listen, the one that
was sovereign in the old creation is sovereign in the new creation.
And he runs the world that he made. He's sovereign in providence.
He's sovereign in salvation. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. What are you going to say to
that? I am contemptible and despicable,
and I'm going to shut up now. That's what Job said. That was
his response. I've heard people say, I've heard
it more than once in my life, God, oh, God wouldn't send anybody
to hell. Who is God save the Lord? If
not, then where was he when somebody put them in hell? And who is
God? Why do you think there is a hell?
Where do you think hell came from? It was just something that
was there when God, you know, just God just looked over there
one day and there was a hell. The devil does that? Really,
is that what your answer would be? You better lay your hand
on your mouth before you say that. Who's gonna cast the devil
into hell then? If the devil's the one that casts
people into hell, who's gonna cast him into hell? Listen to
Revelation 20 in verse 10. And the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast
and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night
forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne
And him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. and they
were judged every man according to their works, and death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Who do
you think wrote that book? And who do you think those ones
are whose names are written in that book? Those are the ones
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. It's called the Lamb's
book of life. The lamb, the lamb as it had been slain, his book,
his book of life. And listen, if your name not
in there, who do you think cast those ones into the lake of fire
whose names were not in that book? What are we saying? Who is God except God? Who is it talking about? Listen,
in Revelation 117, John describes the Lord Jesus Christ here, and
he says, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first
and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell. and of death. Now, do you think
there's an actual key to hell? You think so? There's like a
physical key to hell that opens the door of hell. Or do you think
Christ is saying, I'm the one who decides who lives or dies. And I'm the one who decides who
goes to hell and who doesn't. You reckon that what he might've
been saying, if there is an actual key, he's the one who holds it. And listen now, if the one who
holds the keys of hell and of death says to you, you've got
nothing to be afraid of, then you've got nothing to be afraid
of. You know who he says that to? Those who are washed in the
blood of the lamb. Now we're considering from scripture
this question that David asked rhetorically in his final song,
who is God but God? God says in Psalm 46, 10, be
still. Just stand there and shut up
and know that I am God. You say, well, you know, the
title of this message this evening is God is God. And you might
say, well, everybody knows that. That's kind of obvious. God equals
God. God is God. Very few people know that. Very
few people. Most people think God is an old
grandfather up there that's doing his best and trying, you know,
to help everybody out and be, you know, benign and congenial
to everybody and be fair, you know, according to man's sense
of fairness and all that. Very few people understand who
God is and that he's God. God. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit. The very definition of God is
that he does as he pleases. But there's a little more to
it than that. It's glorious just to think of the sovereign Godhood
of God. And David's talking about that.
He says, who is mighty except Jehovah? Who is all powerful? Who does what he wants to except
him? Nobody else can say that. You
can talk about man's free will all you want to. The free will
of man is a stranger to this book. This book absolutely refutes
the idea of man's will being free. First of all, if you don't
know the Lord Jesus Christ, your will is captive to Satan. Look
it up, read the Bible. Who is mighty? Who can do what
they want to except God? So that's what's being talked
about here. And that's glorious, isn't it? But do you know what's
even more wonderful than that? How can anything be more wonderful
than that? Well, listen, I just read to you, be still and know
that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. Somebody is gonna acknowledge
that he's the Lord and not us. I will be exalted in the earth.
And that's glorious right there, but listen to the next verse.
The Lord of hosts, that God who is God, is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Think about that for a second.
And that's what the psalmist wrote Selah after that. That
means stop and think about that for a second. The one who is
on the throne of the universe and does as he pleases and holds
the keys of hell and of death in his hand is my refuge. He's with me. And that doesn't
mean physically. If God is with you, he's with
you because he's for you. And if God be for you, Who can
be against you? Oh, now that's, now you're talking
wonderful. Now, when you just simply think
about God being God, doing as he pleases, as David said in
Psalm 115, three is where he said it, but our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. And that's glorious
just to think about that, his power and authority and omnipresent,
omniscience and omnipotence. That means he's everywhere, all
knowing and all powerful. But David didn't start that Psalm
that way. Listen to the passage, Psalm
115, one through three. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. And there it is again, all caps,
Lord Jehovah. Not unto us, O Jehovah, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. What for, David? For your mercy. Because You have mercy on sinners
like me. And for your truth's sake, let's
give glory to God for his gospel's sake. Thank God there's good
news for sinners like me. And you know what it is? You
know what the good news is? Those angels sang, glory to God
in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men.
And you know when they sang that? They were talking about a person
when they sang that. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
that day into this world. And you know what his name was?
God with us. God with us. Listen to it, for your mercy
and for your truth's sake, wherefore should the heathen say, where
is now their God? But our God's in the heavens. The one who is
merciful and whose truth is all glorious is in the heavens, and
he does whatever he wants to. The one who has mercy has mercy
on who he wants to have mercy on. That's what David's saying.
That's what God said. I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and whom I will, I'll harden. Oh, glory to his
name. God has always done what he pleased
and none can stay his hand or question him. And what is it
that God has been pleased to do? It pleased the Lord to crush
his son. It pleased the Lord to have mercy
on sinners. And the only way mercy can be
had for sinners is by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody
said this, and I heartily agree, because it's from the Word of
God. Listen, though, the way this is said, I like the, the
greatest glory of God that God has ever seen fit to reveal to
sinners is His glory in saving sinners by the sacrifice of His
only begotten, well-beloved Son. I believe that. I believe that
that is according to scripture. Listen to what, I believe that's
what Paul wrote in Romans 9 21. He said this, hath not the potter
power over the clay? That's just kind of obvious,
isn't it? Guess who the potter is and guess who the clay is.
Hath not the potter power over the clay, authority and power,
ability, of the same lump, all human, there's no difference,
to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. What
if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy? which he had aforeprepared unto
glory." And then Paul said this, even us, even wretched vile worms
like us whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but also of
the Gentiles. Now listen to me. You can see
something of the glory of God in a beautiful sunrise. You might
look at the sun coming up in the morning and say, oh, how
glorious God is. You know, the scripture says
in Psalm 19, when the heavens declare the glory of God and
the firmament showeth his handiwork. But if you're going to see the
riches of God's glory, You won't see that in the sky. To see the
riches of God's glory, as declared there in Romans 9.21, you're
gonna have to hear the gospel and believe on the Son of God. You're gonna have to know something
about this. Listen to the language of Hebrews
1.1. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake
in time past, unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, we talked about
that, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty. Now you think about this, the
one who is the brightness of the glory of God, and who is
the very image, the very exact image of the person of the Father,
would not sit down. until he had redeemed me with
his precious blood. That's the riches of the glory
of God. Here's the brightness of God's
glory. Here's the riches now. Isaiah 53, three, he is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and
we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised or crushed for
our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him And with his stripes, we are healed. When he gave himself, when he
made his own soul an offering for sin, he redeemed somebody.
The brightness of his glory now is not just that he bore our
iniquities, but that he actually put them away. and all for whom
he died are justified before God." We're going to read some
more in Isaiah 53 in a minute, and that's exactly what we're
going to read. Those for whom he died are justified by his
precious blood. Most of those who call themselves
Christians in this world, the reason we stress this is because
most of the people who call themselves Christians in this world believe
in a Jesus that died as a best effort to save as many as would
make effectual what he could not. In other words, he didn't
actually save anybody, he just made salvation available to anybody
who had the good sense to save themselves. That's what passes
for a gospel in this religious world. But if you're a real sinner,
here's your savior. It pleased the Lord to crush
him. This is verse 10 of Isaiah 53.
He, his father, hath put him to grief when thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin. The Lord Jesus Christ crucified
is not an offer that God makes to sinners. He was an offering. He is an offering made unto God
for sinners. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, those who are produced
as a result of that, who are born again as a result of that,
he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. That just simply means that whatever
God purposed to accomplish by the death of his son, he accomplished
it. The good pleasure of the Lord
in crushing his son was accomplished. It prospered in the hand of his
son. He laid help upon one who is
mighty. And he accomplished salvation,
and then he said, it's finished. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, the soul that he made an offering for my sin. and shall
be satisfied. He's not gonna be disappointed
because somebody didn't believe on him. He died to save his elect and he
saved his elect. You got a problem with that?
Come to him. He said, I won't cast you out,
whoever comes to me. But he also said this, all that
the father giveth me are coming to me. Don't miss that part. This is who we're dealing with
now. Who is God except God? He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant. God never had but one righteous
servant. You say, well, I'm the servant
of God. Well, in a sense we are. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
but we're not righteous, not in ourselves. He talking about
our savior there. And he said, my righteous servant
shall justify many, not everybody, but everybody he represented.
When he prayed his high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, he
said, I don't pray for this world, but I pray for those you gave
me. That's who he represented. Are you one of those? I don't
know. Come to him and find out. Come to Christ. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. And how's he gonna justify? For
he shall bear their iniquities. Our substitute, the Lord Jesus
Christ, bore our iniquities in our place, and the wrath of God
for our iniquities in our place, and we are free. When the Son
makes you free, you're free indeed. And that's how he does it. When
by God-given faith a sinner looks to Calvary and sees salvation
finished, accomplished for him by God's Son, sees the riches
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, then surely
the declaration of that sinner's heart is this, who is God? Save the Lord. Who is God, save
the Lord. And from God's own holy word,
we have the only answer to that question from Jehovah himself.
Isaiah 45, 21, there is no God else beside me, a just God and
a savior. Think about that for a minute
before we close. How can God be a just God and
save a sinner? If God is perfectly holy and
strictly just, then sinners have got to go to hell. How can he
be a just God and a savior? Romans 3, 24. Let me read it
to you. Romans 3, 24. Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. It's by Christ in him crucified. that we're justified
freely, without a cause in us. The cause of our justification
is in Christ. We're justified freely by His
grace, by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a mercy
seat, a sin offering, through faith in His blood. Do you believe in His blood?
Do you believe that the blood of Christ is sufficient to wash
all of your sin away? And that when he shed that precious
blood, he saved everybody he shed it in order to save? Do
you believe in his blood? to declare his righteousness,
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth
in, that he might be a just God and a savior of him which believeth in Jesus. May God, by his sovereign grace,
almighty grace, he sits upon the throne of grace tonight. And may he from that throne grant
us a sight of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-sufficient, mighty
captain of our salvation. And may we say from our heart,
who in the world is a God? except God, a just God, and yet
He saved me by the precious blood of His Son. Amen.