May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word
Let's turn to the book of Psalms Psalm 137 and we'll read the
first six verses So Psalm 137 and reading the first six verses
By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down, yea, we wept
when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the
willows in the midst thereof, for there they that carried us
away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required
of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget
thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not
Jerusalem above my chief joy. we don't know who wrote this
psalm but clearly it was written by somebody who had knowledge
of the situation in Babylon after Israel were taken and carried
away captive to this place which many many miles away from Jerusalem
many days or weeks journey it was it wasn't just around the
corner and they were of course there as had been prophesied
so very very clearly by the prophets if they did not obey God if they
did not obey his word they would go into captivity and they would
be in captivity for 70 years well Israel ignored such truths
they continued in their sinful way and in that chapter that
we read in that 36th chapter of the 2nd Chronicles we see
a little of the scene which existed at the end of that time when
they were still in Jerusalem and then when the Chaldeans came
through Nebuchadnezzar and captured Jerusalem they besieged it and
the result was that they took captive most of the people took
them right away to Babylon They destroyed the temple, they destroyed
the city walls, left it in a place of chaos, burnt the houses. It was a dramatic end, really,
to what had been a very prosperous situation. And now we see the
picture of these people, or at least most of them. Here they
were by the rivers of Babylon and there were several rivers
in Babylon there were several large rivers in Babylon doesn't
tell us which ones or what but it was seen this was the picture
the Israelites when they had some time they did have time
they came and they sat down and they sat down and what did
they do? they wept And why did they weep? Because
they remembered Jerusalem, remembered Zion. They remembered how they'd
had times of favor and privileges and now these have been removed. And here they were, captives. And therefore they were in a
time of mourning and a time of sorrow and we have a little picture
they're hanging their harps they use harps obviously as musical
instruments to sing the songs of Zion as we read for there
that day that carried us away captive required of us a song
and they that wasted us required of us mirth and of course the
result was how shall we sing the Lord's Song in a strange
land. It seemed so foreign that they
were being asked to sing those songs which they'd been used
to singing when they were favoured to live in Jerusalem. And now
these privileges had been removed and they were in a low state. There's a lot about children
of Israel in the Bible. There's a lot about the time
of captivity when the Israelites were taken captive. There's a
lot in the Word of God which speaks about the sinfulness of
Israel turning their back upon the commands of God, turning
their back upon the laws of God and desiring to please themselves
and there's a lot about therefore the result of that disobedience. We may say well why is there
such a record of these details in the Bible? There's a record
for our benefit. We moved on many years since
this occasion. Many laws have been given to
the Church of God. We've had many mercies. We've
had great favours. We've had the advent of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We've had his life. We've had
his death. We've had his resurrection. we've
had his ascension we still have his intercession we have the
great and glorious blessing of God granting us his word, remember
these Israelites did not have the word of God as we have it,
they only had potentially just perhaps the books of Moses and
yet we have so much more to instruct us and yet if we were honest
and it's good to try and be honest we can't really throw stones
at the Israelites we cannot really say well of course they were
a terrible lot my friends we have to realize that we also
are a terrible lot. We look around today, in our
nation, throughout the world, we see so much, we might term
it anarchy, turning against the Word of God. How few people desire
to obey God's holy law. How few people are concerned
to walk in the precepts and the laws recorded in the Word of
God for His honour and glory. And so many today turn their
backs upon the truth of God. And we need to look at ourselves. It's easy, you see, to look at
other people. we need to look at ourselves and see how we walk
today whether we walk in accordance with the great truths contained
in the Word of God and perhaps we can understand the truth of
these words in this 37th Psalm as we look back perhaps in our
lives and we find we're now in a time of desolation we're not
in a time of spiritual prosperity we find that we've walked contrary
to God we've turned our back upon God we've allowed the vanities
of this poor world to intrude and to decimate the reality of
the great truth of God and we may therefore understand the
Israelites as here they were they were sat down by the rivers
we might think well that would have been a pleasant occupation
surely that would have brought joy and peace into their hearts
but no they wept because they remembered the times
of happiness back in Jerusalem. They remembered the times when
they were able to observe the ceremonies which were conducted
in the temple and by the priests, the sacrifices which were offered. and the wonderful blessing that
these things brought. And now, because of their sinful
disobedience, they turn their back upon God. And God is faithful. We tend to think of God, faithful
God, doing those things which we want Him to do. and we're
thankful it is so but we should realise also that God is faithful in bringing to bear his judgements
upon the earth his judgements upon those who turn their back
upon him those who ignored his gracious commands and have decided
to plan their own life and to follow their own life rather
than submitting themselves under the hand of Almighty God. Well, we have the pictures in
here. These Israelites sat down by
the rivers and what were they doing? They were weeping. Weeping. because of how they
turned their backs upon God weeping when they remembered the favours
which they had enjoyed well really it's a picture today of the church
of God and it's a great blessing if the church of God are brought
into a scene like this, where they weep before God. They remember the great and blessed
promises. They remember what God has done. They remember the great and glorious
way of salvation, set forth in the Old Testament types and shadows,
and then gloriously revealed in the life of the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, the Church of God have,
for the most part, put these things into the background and
haven't been numbered amongst the true worshippers who worship
God in spirit and in truth. And true religion forms a small
part of their life. They're left to occupy themselves
in the vanities of this world. That's why God in his great mercy
and favour enabled King Solomon to endeavour to find happiness
in the things of this world. he had all the ability to do
that he had all the funds to do it but he draws that tremendous
conclusion or it's vanity or vanity and vexation of spirit
and that is there recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes for
us today to realize the relevance of these things They're not there as just an
interesting comment made by Solomon. It's the Word of God written
for all ages. And it's the Word of God written
for us today. And we live in a world where
the devil is very keen on encouraging us to spend our time on the vanities
of this world and of course mankind desires to turn away from the
things of God that's exactly like the Israelites did in days
past instead of enjoying the great and glorious commands of
Almighty God they disobeyed they disobeyed and we today are no
different you may say well perhaps you could explain that a bit
well I can explain it in this way we live in a day a very busy
day when there are many things to occupy our lives and the result is that the things
of God to a large extent are put into the background they
don't take the preeminent position in our lives which they should
do just like they should have done in the days of Israel and
instead of listening to the many commands in the days of Israel
there were many commands, many laws which they were instructed
to keep very accurately and very carefully and there was so much
departure and because of that departure, that's why the Lord
said if they continued in that departure He would bring judgment
upon Israel and would turn them out of Jerusalem and send them
into captivity And again, they ignored those words. They thought
they would never come to pass. They thought they were a special
people. They thought they would continue enjoying the freedom
that they had. And therefore, what did they
do? They walked contrary to God. And my friends, we have to be
very careful. We can think today, well of course, we're the people.
and you know some people have got enough nerve to think that
the way we act and the things we do we're the only people that
are the righteous people let's be very clear about this and
I hope you do understand this there is only one Church of God
only one Church of God and you and I can isolate ourselves and
think we're the most wonderful people there's only one Church
of God and to realise that often we walk contrary to God we ignore
the Word of God you may say well I don't think I do well we may
read it in the morning we may read it at night we may pick
it up and just read perhaps a few verses if we've got enough time
we might read a chapter we might read a bit more but it is it's
just a duty just to get through something rather than to love
the Word of God. Again, we've gone through, have
we not, the 119th Psalm, which David wrote, and we see there
the truth emanating from his heart. So often he recalls how,
love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day and all the night. And what a blessing it is for
us if that's true. sadly it's not sadly we live
in a world and the devil is very keen and very successful in occupying
us so that the things of God are not in the forefront as they
should be in our lives we don't set a good example before our
fellow countrymen we don't testify of what we really believe and
yet you see the word of God is very clear it tells us ye are
my witnesses you and me you and me in the world today you see
how many people know that we are professing Christian? How many people know that we
worship the true God? How many people know that we
really read the Word of God? How many people know that we
pray to God? Or do most people think we're
just like them? There's no difference. We carry
out, we talk about the things of the world. We try and get
involved in talking about the things of the world. what a good
thing if God gave us a desire and prayer
for opportunities to speak to those that we meet with and not
be afraid of the consequences you see naturally speaking we
always want people to speak well of us we don't want people to
speak against us but remember we only have one master we only
have one God and that's the true God and so may we be concerned
therefore to be walking in his way and in his paths you see
the fact was that Israel here would now deprived of the wonderful
blessings that they had enjoyed back in Jerusalem. And when we
think how God wonderfully ordained that Solomon should build that
magnificent temple, how David, his father, should prepare for
it, and how God graciously blessed that building and blessed the
ceremonies that were carried out there and the wonderful picture
that it portrays to Israel of the Glories of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
The shedding of blood set forth so wonderfully in that picture. And yet, you see, they turn their
back upon that. Well, my friends, today we're
blessed, aren't we? With the glory of the gospel.
We have the gospel. it's revealed to us in the New
Testament in all the detail and wonderful detail we have not
only the actual things that occurred but also in the spiritual relevance
of them as we read the epistles and as we read the book of the
epistle of the Hebrews sets forth before us the glory of Christ
And what a mercy it is to have that. But do we really appreciate
it? Now, we enjoy these favours. But my friends, let us be fearful. They might be removed. They might
be removed. Our government is keen to remove
them. Thankfully, our government may be prohibited by the power
of God. but nonetheless we are to thank
God for these favours and for these blessings and my friends
to really make the most of them make the most of them it's a
great blessing that we today every month are able to hold
our market stall and that should be a wonderful priority in our
church life as we are able therefore to present the Word of God to
the passer-by. Many there are. My friends, may
our great concern be to be involved in these wonderful privileges
that we still enjoy. We're still able to gather together
to worship here, aren't we? We don't know how long these
blessings will be granted. And then it may be, I don't know,
but it may be that if these things were shut down, we'd find that
we weep because we have turned our back upon the opportunities
which presented themselves, which God gave to us. And we've given
priority to other things. Well, here was Israel weeping. And as they wept, they would
have looked at themselves they would have realized how they
had sinned against God and disobeyed the commands of God my friends
we're no better today and we want to be very aware of our
situation and be concerned that we do do God's will that we do
follow his word he's given us his word to read he's given us
his word as a book of great and glorious direction for us and
we should not think that it therefore has reference to other people
we should always take it to ourselves and see whether you and I are
following the gracious words set down by the Word of God. You know, we can rejoice in it
and write that we should do. But it's there for our encouragement
and it's as a guide and a book of wonderful direction to us. And of course, the great blessing
for us is it directs us to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
right from Genesis, right through the Old Testament. and gloriously
set before us in the New Testament the saviour of sinners and all
that he did to redeem his church and to be brought to that position
where we realise that we need that great and wonderful redemption
applied to our souls but it's not just a figure it is a figure
but it has a wonderful application to redemption of our souls which
is so vitally important the devil tries to turn us away
from the things of God and yet you see our life on this earth
is exceedingly short exceedingly short as we compare it with eternity
and our great concern should be whether our souls are right
for eternity there is a day coming in all of our lives a last day
for us on this earth my friends are we ready to depart this life
and will we be able to be in that scene that the Apostle Paul
was blessed to be to look forward to that day and to anticipate
it and to recognise the glory of it to go and to be with Christ
which is far better how do we analyse such a truth in our minds
do we think it's far better to be with Christ than to be on
this earth that's a that's a testing question it's a testing question
for us especially you who are younger you think you've got
your life before you naturally it is so but do you view it in this way? that to be with Christ in glory
is far better it's a great test isn't it of the reality of our
religion now I know of course we are born into this earth and
we are to live on this earth but we are to show forth the
great truth of God that you and I are strangers and pilgrims
on this earth this is not our rest it's not our home and indeed
as we read in I think it's the prophecy of Micah it is polluted
it is a polluted world it's polluted by sin does that have a sanitary effect
upon our thoughts? we live in a polluted world And
yet the Lord has gone to repair a place in glory for his church,
a place where there is no pollution, a place where there is purity,
and yet not for a few years, because there's no time in heaven.
it's for eternity well today perhaps we are weeping because
of ourselves because of the weakness of our flesh because of our tendency
to sin tendency to embrace the vanities of time rather than
the eternal blessings set forth in the Word of God and so perhaps
what a mercy it is if you and I can remember such words as
this the Lord has recorded it for our instruction he's given
us the history of Israel as a warning to us and it should be a blessing
to us and to think that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all that
law that you and I could not fulfill because of our sinful
nature. He fulfilled it all. He made
it honorable and he died in our place to take away our sin. Is that truth joy to our hearts? Is it good news? Do we bless
God for it? And as we perhaps look back in
our lives, we all have a past life. I remember quite a few years
ago I saw a man in hospital. He was dying and I tried to encourage
him in the truths of God and he made this simple statement. He said, you know, I have a history. Well, we all have history. But what a blessing it is if
God has come and met with us and caused us to
weep over our history. and to be found looking to the
merits of the Saviour to take away all our sins, all our shortcomings,
all our disobedience, all our disobedience. Sin is disobedience. Well here we have the picture
then of the Israelites by the rivers of Babylon sitting down
and weeping when they remember Zion. It's a blessing is it not
if God comes and gives you and me grace to weep over our sins
to be sorry for our sin you might think that's very simple well
it's not very simple and I'll tell you why it's not very simple
because the devil doesn't want you to be sorry for your sin
the devil doesn't want you to confess your sin he wants you
to think that your sin's not very bad and in any way it's
not as bad as other people but you see God does bring his people
to the situation where they do weep over their sins and they
come to that place like the Apostle Paul who called himself and knew
himself and felt himself to be the chief of sinners what a mercy,
what a blessing of God's grace when he brings you and me right
down to this position These Israelites, they weren't up and dancing all
around, were they? No, they were sorry and they
wept. They wept because of their past. What a blessing if you and I
weep because of our past. And perhaps weep because we've
turned our back upon the blessings of God. When there have been
opportunities to do those things which are right and God-honouring,
we turned away from them. Well, here we have this example. My friends, we have these examples
because of God's love toward us. It's good to think of it
in those terms. to think that God has given us
such pictures because of his love for our souls and what a
mercy therefore if we are brought to that realisation that Almighty
God has loved us so much he's taken us in hand he's led us
into a position like this so that we realise we're no better
than those Israelites we've turned our back upon the things of God
it's caused us to weep perhaps we've turned our back upon God
for many years God is merciful what a blessing
God doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve as we come and cry
unto Him for mercy and cry unto Him for forgiveness. These have
become real prayers. They're not just something traditional,
just something that falls from our lips because we've always
prayed it and we realise we need to pray for Our forgiveness of
sin, so we do. And what a blessing when God
applies his word and shows to you and me that we're the sinner,
that we need forgiveness, that we must have forgiveness. It's
not something optional. There's no unforgiven sinner
in heaven, as I tell you. And it's true. My friends, unless
our sins are forgiven, we should never go to heaven. Heaven's a holy place. Oh, strive
after the wonderful evidence that we indeed are washed, washed
in the blood of the Lamb. There's a place of security. There's a place of blessing. There's a place of comfort. And as we have the picture of
the Lamb of God throughout the Word of God, surely we must Heed
those gracious and glorious words. Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. Well, we have these pictures
in the Word of God. My friends, they're there by
the gracious hand of God. Just consider today, you and
I have a Bible. We're in the minority. Very few people today in the
world have a Bible. We have a Bible. Do you know
what condition that places us in? This is the condition it
places us in. We are without excuse. But for a holy God, we should
never be able to excuse ourselves and say well of course I never
realised that, I never knew that we should never be able to say
that because we have God's Word to instruct us and to direct
us to the glorious Saviour and what a blessing the Lord has
come and touched our hearts and given us that living desire to
know Jesus Christ and him crucified and to therefore have the evidence
that the glorious God has taken us in hand and has led us to
himself. We can understand the glory of
that wonderful invitation. Come unto me All ye that labour,
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, for I am meek and humble in mind, and
ye shall find rest unto your soul. Amen.