Might please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Genesis chapter 32 and we'll read verse 24. The book
of Genesis chapter 32 and reading verse 24. And Jacob was left
alone. and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. It is wonderful that the Lord
God has left on record such an account of Jacob in his word
and the detail it gives to us to encourage us today. Because David's path, we might
think, was unique. In one sense, of course, it was
because it was the path that Jacob had to walk out. But nonetheless,
there are similarities in the people of God as they walk through
this wilderness. And Jacob came into this time
of great need. And we come into times sometimes
of great need. And we see how Jacob did his reaction to this
time of great need. And also we see how God very
graciously and wonderfully came and blessed him. And it is a
great favour for us to have in this chapter something, a record
of the prayer of Jacob before coming to these words when we're
told Jacob was left alone because we're told In the ninth verse,
Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father
Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country and
to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee. Well, what was
he doing? He was reminding God of what
God had said to him, how God had instructed him. And it is
good for us today, in our lives, if we go forward in a certain
way, whatever that might be, to know that we're walking in
that way that God has directed us in. Because then if things
appear, and I say that they only appeared to be going wrong, we
can come and plead the situation before our God. And that's what
Jacob did here. He came and he pleaded, he said,
which said unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred
and I will deal well with thee. Now having made that statement,
he then gives a little explanation of himself. And again, it's good
to realise that here was, we might say, an eminent man of
God, and yet describing himself, he says this, I am not worthy
of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou
shalt unto thy servant. Well, it's a good thing if you
know, if you and I come to that position to realise that we're
not worthy Indeed, we're totally unworthy to realise how amazing
it is that the Lord God has not cut us off as a cumbra of the
ground. And so he comes and says, I'm
not worthy of the least of all the mercies and all the truth
which thou showed unto thy servant. For my staff, I passed over this
Jordan. and now I am become two bands. So having confessed really his
situation before a holy and righteous God, he now says and comes very
specifically, deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and smite
me and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely
do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be numbered for multitude. So we see Jacob here pleading
with his God. And it's an example for us today
of how we should come and approach unto the Almighty God. It's a
pattern which is well worth following in our little lives as we now
walk upon the earth. And perhaps we may be faced with
mountains like Jacob was. He feared that his brother Esau
was come to slay him with an army really, 400 men, and he
was very fearful. And perhaps we can remember that,
of course, Jacob had had really come and taken the blessing from
his brother Esau, although I know that Esau very foolishly sold
his birthright, so therefore in truth the birthright was Jacob's,
and from that position it was not wrong that he should take
the birthright, but nonetheless no doubt Esau wouldn't have seen
it like that, and thought that Jacob had stolen the birthright
and therefore Jacob was fearful that Esau would come to destroy
him. Well, we can understand the position,
a very difficult position, but David, I mean rather Jacob, came
to his God. How many times in the Word of
God we find this, that God's people come to the Lord in their
time of distress. You may remember the Apostle
Paul, a man of God, a praying man of God. He was on that ship
in that great storm, that whirlwind which had come upon the boat
that he was in. And they'd been in this storm
for some 14 days and nights. And what did he do? prayed to
his God. Indeed he may have been the only
believer on that ship but he prayed to his God and his God
heard and answered his prayer and he was able then to come
confidently to the crew and to the other prisoners and say that
God would deliver them. See, when God graciously comes
and hears our prayers, we can have that confidence in the Lord
that he will answer those prayers. And so he did with the Apostle
Paul. It's interesting, you know, to
just realise that on that occasion, there were all those days and
nights which have passed until we might perhaps think a time
of desperation. The same meaning like Jonah,
you may remember Jonah. Jonah cast into the sea, swallowed
up by that whale. There he was three days and three
nights. It would seem until he prayed unto his God. Well my friends, we have these
examples in the Word of God to encourage us to pray to God. to pray to him in every time
of need. Well, here we have then Jacob
on this occasion, with his time of need, praying to his God. And therefore, when he heard
that Esau was coming with all those 400 men, that he divided
the company so they might be separated, so they might not
all be lost, and we're told, And he rose up that night and
took his two wives and his two women servants and his eleven
sons and passed over the Ford Javuck. And he took them and
sent them over the brook and sent over that he had. And then we're told, and Jacob
was left alone. Well, it must have been a very
lonely experience for him. And perhaps sometimes we might
feel alone, but Jacob proved he was not alone. He proved that God was with him.
That surely is the wonderful favour today for us, because
we may have mountains before us, God knows, I don't know,
but you know. There may be those mountains
and yet what a blessing it is to realise that although perhaps
with a mountain before us we feel alone, yet to realise if
we are the children of God and if we have come to him in a right
way and we've had the right way set before us here, how did Jacob
come to his God? Yes, he came prayerfully and
we read through those few verses, which is a good example for us
how to come to God. And if we come to God truly like
that, then we can believe that we have a God who will come to
us. Quite clearly, the Lord came
to Jacob. He was left alone, but God came
to him. And we're told, and there wrestled
a man with him until the breaking of the day. It wasn't just a
fleeting prayer. It wasn't just something which
he could easily pass over. No, he was blessed with this
wonderful favour of wrestling prayer. Wrestling prayer is a
great blessing. And my friends, we should never
assume that we have wrestling prayer when we don't. Some people can very glibly say
that they wrestled with God. In actual fact, they didn't wrestle
at all. True wrestling in prayer is a
very special and very blessed experience It is a God-given
experience. It's when God comes to us in
our time of need and indicts us with true prayer, wrestling
prayer. And so that's what occurred here
to Jacob. He was left alone, but the Lord came. and wrestled
with him. We're not told how many hours,
but it would seem a good long time. And Jacob had a real need. What a blessing it is when you
and I have a real need, not perhaps something which is, we might
say trivial, but something which is a real need. And Jacob had
a real need here. My friends, when you and I have
a real need, what a blessing it is when God comes to us and
grants us real prayer. If you and I look back in our
lives, we'll find there are many prayers which have not been true
prayers. And it's a very solemn consideration
because we're told that which is not of faith is sin. And therefore, if we think we've
come prayerfully, but not in faith, really we've been sinning
against God. But here we have a blessed example
of a man of God who confessed what he was, how unworthy he
was of any notice, and yet blessed with that living faith to come
and to meet with his God, or perhaps we should say to come
and God met with him. When God comes and meets with
us, then there is that liberty in prayer. Then it is that we
experience the wonderful blessing of the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man that availeth much. And it's not because of
our righteousness, it's because that which God has given us.
We stand before him, depending upon him, depending upon him,
for that spirit of prayer. And it is a very blessed and
a very special time. It was in the life of Jacob. We don't read of other occasions,
do we? Quite like this in his life, when he was privileged
to wrestle in prayer with God. So let me just reiterate, don't
come and think that you wrestle in prayer with God when God hasn't
come to you and blessed you with a true wrestling prayer. Because if God comes and graciously
blesses us with that, we can believe there will be a good
outcome. And there was indeed. a good
outcome in Jacob's life. It's a wonderful outcome. We see the Lord gloriously appeared
for him. That which he feared disappeared. That which he greatly feared
disappeared. Because the truth is that all
the mountains and all the difficulties And all the trials and all the
perplexities in our life, God has put there. And God has put
them there for a divine purpose. And if we are a true believer,
then those divine purposes will be fulfilled and bring glory
to God. And we will realise that it is
the Lord that has given us that prayer. It's not what we've done. God has indicted prayer in our
hearts. And it's a great and wonderful
blessing. It's a very humbling experience. to know that the Almighty God
don't forget how great God is the Ruler of the Universe wonderfully
looks upon us individually He knows the exact condition and
the exact position that we're in and therefore in His time
and in His way when He has brought into our lives as he did here
with Jacob, a gracious preparation for this time when he was blessed
with prevailing prayer. And the answer was granted to
him, a wonderful answer of deliverance. And what a mercy then that we
have today the same God, the great and wonderful and glorious
God who doesn't leave us and doesn't forsake us. I referred
recently to God's servant Job and God's servant Job is a wonderful
example and in the 23rd chapter we read this, this is Job speaking
and he says, will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he will put strength
in me. See Job was, we might say at
the end of his tether almost, but you see God knew all about
Job and Job gave him that wonderful and special view of the Lord. And he goes on, there the righteous
might dispute with him, so shall I be delivered forever from my
judge. Behold, I go forward, but he
is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive
him. On the left hand, where he doth
work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right
hand, but I cannot see him. Well, there we have surely a
description of a man alone. He was alone, wasn't he? And
yet, you see, he was blessed with faith. And this is what
he goes on to say. But having been honest about
this, but he knows the way that I take and when he has tried
me, I shall come forth as gold. What do we see there? We see
Job was given faith to believe that although he couldn't see
the way ahead, He was able to declare that God
knew, He knoweth the way, and the Lord knows the way in each
of our lives. He knows the way that you take,
the way that I take. And we're told when He hath tried
me, says Job, I shall come forth as gold. Well, it took a lot,
didn't it, in Job's life. to bring him to that time of
confession. And again, it's good, you see,
when we're blessed with confession. Jacob, as we already mentioned,
was blessed with humble confession. And Job was blessed with humble
confession. And it's good to read the wonderful
truth and the wonderful favour that Job came into, because we're
told in the 40th chapter, Job answered the Lord and said, Behold,
I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. Yes, the Lord had showed Job
what he was. And sometimes, like Jacob, the
Lord brings us down to these conditions. And then, of course,
the 42nd chapter tells us, Job answered the Lord and said, I
know that thou canst do everything. Again, just like Jacob, confidence
in his God. and no thought can be withholden
from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not. And how often we utter things
which are not wise. We make statements which are
not wise. We need to remember the example
of Job. Here I beseech thee, and I will
speak. I will demand of thee and declare
thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I bore
myself and repent in dust and ashes. It's a blessing when God
deals with us. in love to our soul just like
Jacob he wasn't worthy of the least of all the mercies now
we don't come there naturally naturally we're proud people
we're sinful people and we think perhaps that we can pray ourselves
with our own ability well it's a mercy when God shows us our
need to have our prayers indicted by the Saviour. Now here we have
this statement before us. Jacob was left alone. And you may think, well, yes,
Jacob was, well, who else was left alone? Well, the greatest
man on earth that ever lived was left alone. The Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. If you feel perhaps alone, remember
the Saviour in that garden of Gethsemane. And he prayed fervently to his
father in heaven, if it were possible that the cut that he
was to endure might pass away, pass from him. He didn't stop there. He said,
nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. What does that show? It shows
to us perfect submission to the will of God. And that's a great
blessing, my friends, if you and I are blessed with total
submission to the will of God. We should be very thankful that
God in his great love and mercy has granted us that wonderful
picture of the Saviour and his humble submission to his Father. You see, the great purpose was
that his Father's will and purpose might be honoured and glorified. And it was so. It came to pass. My friends, as we come in our
time of need, God knows what he has in store for us. He knows what our lives are for.
He knows the leading and direction we're being directed in. And we have therefore these encouraging
examples in the Word of God to believe that our case is not
something unusual. We're tempted to think, well,
no one's ever come into such a path as me. Well, we have plenty
of examples in the Word of God of those who have come into perhaps
far worse positions than we have, and especially the Saviour. We're encouraged. Paul encourages
us. in the 12th chapter of the Hebrews.
Two words. Consider him. We might feel alone. Jacob was left alone. We might
feel alone. Well, remember those words. Consider him. And if the Lord
blesses us to consider him, And to consider what our salvation
costs the Saviour. And to put everything in a right
perspective. A right perspective. We should
be humbled before Almighty God to realise that that great God
hasn't forsaken us. No, he hadn't forsaken Paul,
he hadn't forsaken Jacob, he hadn't forsaken Jonah, and he
hadn't forsaken David. Do you remember? David came in
desperate conditions, didn't he? The Lord hadn't forsaken
him. The Lord doesn't forsake his
people. And it's good, therefore, if
you and I can come to that position when we're in distress, to be
able to plead the word of God, plead his promises, as Jacob
did, and come and say, Lord, thou didst say thou hast said
to me, and I plead that promise. Now then, the greatest need,
of course, we have is with regards to our soul's salvation. And what a blessing then, if
the Lord graciously comes, we may feel desperate to know that
our souls are safe. The Lord has died for us upon
that cross at Calvary. We may be desperate, I hope perhaps
we are, to know that it is well with our soul and to bring us
to that position Sometimes we find that we're just like Jacob
and Jacob was left alone. Jacob was left alone, but he
wasn't alone. He was shut up to God. That's a real blessing. It's
a great blessing because we can pour out our heart unto our God. Because God knows all about us. He knows what he's doing in our
little lives. He knows everything about us.
And David really understood the difficulties and he encourages
us in the 62nd Psalm he says trust in him at all times nowhere
else and no one else trust in him at all times and see what
he says ye people pour out your heart before him it's a mercy
isn't it We can pour out our heart. You know something, you
pour something out, it comes out, doesn't it? Freely. And
it's good to be blessed with prevailing prayer. We pour out
our heart before God. And you see, it's God that gives
us the prayer. Pour out our heart before Him. And then he says, God is a refuge
for us. That's a great consolation, isn't
it? God is a refuge for us indeed. In an earlier psalm, the apostle
tells us God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble. Jacob was in trouble. He had
to pray. He's blessed with resting prayer. The Lord appeared. The Lord appeared. My friends, we have a God today
who is able to do great things. Let us never be disappointed. We never will be disappointed.
We may not have an answer in the way that we expect, but be
sure of this, you and I will have an answer that will bring
honour and glory to God. And it's important to consider
that because we're very proud people ourselves. And we like
to be able to claim a little bit of glory. God, my friends,
is a jealous God. God will have all the honor and
all the glory. He'll bring us down so that we're
nothing in ourselves. Nothing in ourselves, but that
Christ is all and in all. Then you see, we put the crown
on the Lord's head. We don't put it on our own. We
don't claim any virtue ourselves. We confess, as the apostle did,
to be less than the least of all saints. my friends, what
a blessing to be a saint less than the least but still
a saint one who the Lord looks upon one who the Lord blesses
and so as we think of these words as Jacob was left alone we may
be alone sometimes we may feel it's a very lonely path But remember, as the Apostle
said, if God be for us, who can be against us? No one. The Lord is on our side. If the Lord is going with us,
if the Lord is instructing us, if the Lord is granting us His
favour, We can look ahead and look forward believing through
his grace it is well with our soul. Well, here's Jacob. Jacob was left alone and there
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. It indicates
to us this great truth. Prayer is not easy. And true prayer is not easy,
because the devil stands at our elbow to try and turn us away
from real prayer. And it is therefore hard, it
is wrestling, but when the Lord grants it, what a wonderful favour
it is, because it's His work and He will bring those answers
which will be for his honour and for his glory. And Jacob
was left alone.