May it please God to bless us
together as we meditate in his word this morning. Let's turn
to the prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 17, and we'll read verses
7 and 8. The prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter
17, and reading verses 7 and 8. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and
whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green,
and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit. The Prophet Jeremiah draws an
analogy really in these early verses in this chapter. We read verses 7 and 8 which
speak about the man who is blessed But the previous two verses,
5 and 6, speak about the man that is cursed. And verse 5 says, Thus saith
the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord. So that's the statement,
and there's a description of what he's like. for he shall
be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in
a salt land, and not inhabit it." So we can see that the statement
refers to people who trust in man. A pretty desolate and pretty
sad situation. And then we move on to these
two verses, seven and eight, that speaks about the person
that trusteth in the Lord. And there is a vast difference,
an amazing difference. And that one who is cursed is
very sad and very solemn, but that one who trusts in the Lord
and whose hope is in the Lord, then we have a very beautiful
description really, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters
and that spreadeth out her roots for the river, and shall not
see when he cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit. Now, the reality is that mankind
is split into two parts. We either are those who are cursed,
because we just trust in man, or we are amongst those who are
blessed because we trust in the Lord and whose hope the Lord
is. Well, I hope this morning we
may be able to find that we are amongst those who are trusting
in the Lord. We find in the Scriptures, throughout
Scriptures, the wonderful evidence of many who do trust in the Lord. And it is a great consolation
and it's a great comfort to be able to trust in the Lord because
we know that if God gives us grace, so to do, because we're
hoping in God, in the Lord, then we shall be blessed, then we
shall be favoured. And we have this illustration
here of what we should be like in a natural way, but of course
it can be applied in a spiritual way. But the difference really
between those who are cursed and those who are blessed, one
is dried up, there's no life, there's no evidence of anything
good, whereas those that trust in the Lord are blessed, they're
like a green tree, they're planted by the waters, they spread out
their roots, and they are fruitful and they neither cease from yielding
fruit. So therefore the two descriptions
are quite distinct. And it's good therefore if you
and I are able to examine ourselves as to which part we fall into. Whether we are indeed like those
who are cursed, that's a very Strong statement, isn't it? Cursed
be the man. If we are like those who are
just dried up like the heath in the desert, a parched place
in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited, that
means there's no spiritual life. And there we are, sad in that
condition. But, on the other hand, if we
are amongst those who are trusting in the Lord. We can surely rejoice
in the great truth and in the great blessing that God brings
with those who do indeed trust in the Lord. There are a number
of references, I'm sure as you would expect, in the book of
Psalms to encourage us in the blessing of trusting in the Lord
and not trusting in ourselves. And in the second psalm, or we
could almost start in the first psalm, which commences with wonderful
words in the first psalm, blessed is the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law that he meditate day
and night. So here is the picture of a man
that trusts in the Lord. He doesn't walk in the counsel
of the ungodly. He doesn't stand in the way of
sinners. He doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful, but he
delights in the law of the Lord, and really that means for us
today to delight in the word of God. The delight in the Bible
is something we really relish. We love reading. It's not something
we just leave on the bookshelf or leave on the side and ignore.
It's something we love to read. But the delight is in the law
of the Lord and in his law that he meditate day and night. And
then there's a very similar description in the third verse to that which
we read in Jeremiah. And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper. And then the psalmist says the
ungodly are not so. The ungodly are not so. So again
we have a very clear picture of those who are blessed of the
Lord. like a tree planted with the
rivers of water, fruitful in the things of God. And the last
verse in the second psalm concludes with these words, blessed are
all they that put their trust in Him. And who is the Him? Well,
it tells us, kiss the Son, the blessed Saviour, lest ye be angry
and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Therefore
the great thing for us today is to be found amongst those
who trust in the Lord, that trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that
recognise that we have a need, a spiritual need, to realise
that we are sinners indeed, that we cannot save ourselves, that
we cannot deliver ourselves, otherwise we remain in that position
of someone who is classified as cursed and is dry and withered. What a blessing for us today
if we have the evidence that we are amongst those who truly
desire to be blessed because we are trusting in the Lord and
whose hope the Lord is. Now, if the Holy Spirit has shown
to us that we are a person in need, we may perhaps feel dry,
we may perhaps feel willowed, we may perhaps feel there's no
life in us. Well, that's not a very pleasant
place to be in, is it? You may think, well, I don't
want to be there, but everyone is there until the Holy Spirit
shows them where they are. And then when the Holy Spirit
shows them where they are, that same Spirit causes them to cry
out to God, that He will have mercy upon them. And then their
hope is in the Lord. It's not in themselves. It's
not in man. We may have trusted in ourselves,
we may have trusted in our own ability, we may have thought
we're living a good life and therefore we're going to be alright
and therefore everything's going to work out well in the end.
Well, the only place of security, the only place of true comfort,
the only true place of real blessing is to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. and therefore to be amongst those
who are trusting in the Lord for their salvation, whose hope
is in that great and glorious salvation which was brought about
through that Sinatonian death of the Saviour on Calvary's cross. So today, as we look into our
hearts, we must always realise the necessity of doing that to
not just carry on thinking, well, I shall be alright in the end.
We may not be alright in the end. We need to have a very positive
evidence that we are amongst those who are truly trusting
in the Lord. And if we are really amongst
those who are trusting in the Lord, you see, there will be
the evidence of it. And the psalmist David tells
us in the 34th Psalm, he says, O taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. There is the evidence, therefore,
to our souls the Lord is good to us as by his grace we taste
of the good things of God. We taste of those spiritual blessings
And we are found therefore in a healthy state in our spiritual
life. And that healthy state is to
be, like it's described here naturally, a tree planted by
the waters and its very fat roots by the river. See, if a tree
is planted in a dry land, a salt land, not inhabited, that tree
will soon shrivel up. it'll soon die and there won't
be any life. Well, what a mercy then if you
and I are found planted by the waters. And what does that mean? It really means the Lord has
planted us there. He's come and taken us. He's
planted us by the river. You may say, well, what does
that really mean? I believe it means this. that you and I are
found close to the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we are close to
him, then you see there will be that partaking of that blessing
which he grants and brings about, a tree planted by the waters,
the water of life, the water of life only exists through the
wonderful grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is living water. It's not something which is without
life. It's living water. And you may
remember, perhaps, when the Lord Jesus Christ was on the earth. And he was directed by the Holy
Spirit to pass through Samaria. not a place that a Jew would
normally go through, but nonetheless the Holy Spirit directed him
so that on that journey he sat by the well and there came a
woman of Samaria and talked to him and Jesus spoke to her and
she come to draw water out of that well. The Lord Jesus spoke
to her about the necessity of possessing the water of life,
which if she did, she would never need that water again, because
it would be within her, springing up, because it emanated from
the Lord Himself. And what was her desire? Lord,
give me this water that I thirst not. Now so it is then, in a
spiritual way. The Lord Jesus brings us to see
ourselves in a barren state, in a hard-hearted state. Without
life, we shall need the Saviour. We shall need the water of life. We shall need to be blessed.
Indeed, in these words which we read here, O taste and see
the Lord is good. We'll need to have the evidence.
The Lord is looking upon us. He is revealing Himself to us
as our Saviour and He is planting us by the waters. Blessed is the man for he shall
be as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth out her roots
for the river. There is never any success in
a tree unless it has good roots. It is the roots which spread
out and absorb moisture from the ground. some trees that have
a very large foliage they need a lot of water and the roots
go a long way you may have observed often weeping willows which are
often by rivers or by water and they have a lot of foliage it's
very interesting with the weeping willows because they're usually
the last tree to lose their leaves In the autumn and the first tree
to bring forth the evidence of life, you see a very wonderful
kind of green effect as they begin to sprout. And their roots
are very extensive, sometimes their roots can go twice the
height of the tree, a very wide coverage of roots. The trees
in that position by the rivers are healthy and they're very
pleasant to look at and they're very good to observe. And so
what a blessing it is in our spiritual life if we have good
roots spread out to absorb spiritual moisture, spread out to absorb
spiritual life which comes of course from the blessed Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that spreadeth out her roots by the
river. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord. So if we're trusting in the Lord,
if we are amongst those who are hoping in the Lord, it will be
because the Lord has planted us by these supplies of water,
he's brought us near to himself, So there is that blessing, there
is that wonderful favour of being well watered and therefore there
is a good rootage to feed the tree. There is good rootage to
feed our souls. What a blessing for us today. We understand something of these
wonderful favours and wonderful blessings because it is so needful. We live in a dark age. We live
in a barren age. We live in a desert age, really.
But what a mercy. The Lord looks upon us. The Lord
is continually gracious to us. You know, the 84th Psalm, a well-known
psalm, starts off, How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of
hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth,
for the courts of the Lord. Well, a place where God gathers
with his people. As we gather for worship this
morning, do we long to gather with the people of God, to hear
the good news of the gospel, to receive that water of life,
and to praise God for it. And as we come to the end of
this 84th Psalm again, We read, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in thee. There is no blessing to those
who trust in man, but there is a blessing to those who trust
in the Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. And so this morning,
may we indeed be found trusting in the Lord, that he will revealed
himself to us as our saviour, as that one who has gone before
us, as that one who has taken away all our sin. What a mercy
it is when the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we are sinners and
gives us that blessed grace of repentance to cry unto God for
mercy. Mercy is welcome news indeed
to those who guilty stand, and every born-again sinner passes
through that pathway of recognising their own sinfulness and the
need of mercy, and that need of receiving this blessed water
of life and to be found then with this good root. You see,
part of this root is to bring us to that knowledge of our need
of a saviour. If we don't have any knowledge
of that then you see really we're just very shallow. We're very
shallow in our religion and there's no rootage and we perhaps can
be like we can read of in that well-known a parable the Lord
gives of the Sermon on the Mount. You may remember the instruction
there is in that sermon. And it describes various types
of people and then describes also those who are found on the
good ground. It's a wonderful blessing to
be found on the good ground and not on the bad ground. And the
Lord gives us these descriptions, he speaks about the sower the
sower is of course those who preach the gospel he gives the
natural illustration first the sun fell by the wayside and the
fowls came and devoured it some fell on stony places where there
was not much earth and they sprung up because they had no deepness
of earth and when the sun was up they were scorched because
they had no root they withered away some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprang up and choked them, but others fell
on good ground, which did indeed bear fruit. And then the Lord
came and told them, he described to them what it meant. And it's
good, he says, Hear ye therefore the parable, when one heareth
the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart, this is
he which receiveth the seed by the wayside." That's very true,
isn't it, in our lives? It's true in all of our lives
to some measure. We hear the word, we hear the
word preached, we go outside the chapel. If anybody said now,
give us a summary of what was preached this morning, you might
say, Many times perhaps we weren't
even able to hardly remember anything. Give a few days, give
a week, and you might not remember anything. If I was to say, well
what was preached last Sunday morning? There might be a lot
of blank faces, mightn't there? But you see here is the important
thing, if we are indeed to be found with a good root taking
in the moisture and the water and the good food that the Lord
provides what a mercy then if we are amongst those who are
good ground hearers and then we're told about that which he
that receiveth seed into the stony places which of course
is very similar to the description we have in this verse in Jeremiah
Because he heareth a word, and the rooted himself a jury for
a while, but when tribulation or persecution arises because
of the word, he is offended. And the Lord gives the illustration
of that. As the sun comes up, and that's what it's spoken of
here really in the previous verse, about when the heat comes, and
the parts ground, and it withers away. But you see, if we are
by the river, When heat comes, our leaf remains green. There's not that falling away. What a mercy it is. And then
of course the last illustration is the cares of this world, which
choke the world and therefore it becometh unfruitful. There's no spiritual food. There's no spiritual blessing.
And what a mercy though if we are amongst the good ground,
the well-watered ground, the ground which does indeed provide
a suitable position for healthy growth so that our branch is
green, there's the evidence of life, there's the evidence of
the blessing in it. Because that is really what it's
all about, isn't it? You see, if we've been with Jesus. If we heard His voice, then there
will be the evidence of it. Men and women, boys and girls,
take knowledge of us, that we have been with Jesus and have
learned of Him. If there's no difference, if
we're just the same as the world, there won't be any evidence of
any difference, because we won't be amongst those who have been
planted by the waters. We won't have been amongst those
who benefit from hearing the preaching of the gospel. We won't
be amongst those who are spiritually healthy. We'll be amongst those
who are barren. Now it's a very, very sad situation
and a very solemn position to find that you and I are classified
amongst those who are cursed. It's not a pleasant word, is
it, to be cursed? It is a pleasant word to be blessed. So what a mercy, therefore, to
find that we are amongst those who are truly blessed, because
by the grace of God, we are trusting in the Lord. That means that
we are praying to God in faith. We're not just rattling off a
load of words, perhaps hardly any words, maybe many words,
it matters not. If they're just mere words, then
you see there won't be any benefit, there won't be any true profit.
If we come to God in a right way, we come to God in a truthful
way, And if we come to God and pour out our heart to God, because
God is the only one that looks into our heart and knows what's
there. God knows what we're thinking. No one else does. We can make
some very rash statements and come to very wrong conclusions.
But the Lord looks at the heart. The Lord sees what we possess. whether we are indeed amongst
those who are rejoicing in what Christ has done, amongst those
who are trusting in the Lord, trusting in his finished work,
trusting that he has died for us, that he has taken away our
sins. Because if the Lord gives us
a spirit of repentance, that we're truly sorry for our sins,
we will need to know therefore that we are right with God. And
the Lord is dealing with us as His children. He's dealing with
us in love to our souls. And we can be thankful for it.
And you know, if we have the evidence of that, it'll be really
shown forth in the words that the Apostle John uses in his
epistle. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us. That will be the wonderful overriding
evidence that we are planted by the waters and this love of
Christ is found springing up in our hearts. It emanates from
the roots. It emanates from that good foundation
and it emanates therefore to the blessing of our soul. And
you see when we are in this favoured position, May we all find ourselves
in this favoured position. Blessed be the man. We're healthy
in our soul, we're blessed in our soul, and therefore we're
told, and shall not see when heat cometh. You see, if we are
without any root system, we're not able to gather the water,
the moisture, and let me just say this, You see, with a good
root system, the roots spread out. And the reaction is, in
a dry season, the roots spread out further. It's not big roots,
it's the small, fine, fibrous roots which actually gather the
water. And those roots, they go after
water. They need water to keep the sustenance
in the tree. the small roots spread out. Mercy then in our spiritual life.
If, when perhaps the heat cometh, difficulties arise in our life. Spoken of here really is the
sun of course, drying up things. Well, difficulties in our life
sometimes turn us away from God and we, instead of seeking after
God, we look to man and we're cursed. for that position. What a blessing, therefore, when
the heat comes, there is in our heart that stretching out after
God, after the Saviour, seeking for those supplies of grace,
seeking for that spiritual moisture which would encourage us in spiritual
growth. Well, they shall not see when
heat cometh, it's not really noticeable. Because there there
is that seeking after moisture and finding moisture. Finding
moisture. It's a wonderful picture really
of a tree spreading out the roots to find the moisture, to keep
the tree healthy. For he shall be, who? The man that trusts in the Lord.
That's the picture my friends. If you and I are not trusting
in the Lord, there won't be any healthy greenness. There won't
be any evidence of God's love toward us. We shall become dry
and barren. But her leaf shall be green. Yes, when the heat comes, there's
the moisture, there's the roots, spreading out, stretching out,
seeking after spiritual blessings. Oh, it's good, isn't it, to be
found a good seeker. And that's not just, you know,
religion centered on coming together on a Sunday in chapel. No, real
religion is a daily religion. It's a 24-hour, seven days a
week. It's not something we just pick
up and put down. Because if we are to be healthy
and if we are to show forth greenness and health, it won't be just
on a Lord's Day when we get dressed and dress up smartly where it
is and try to appear to men to look right. No, it will be when
we stand as we do at all times before God. Blessed is the man
that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. And it really
comes down to those who are blessed with his trusting and those who
indeed are waiting upon the Lord. It's a wonderful mercy. to be
found waiting upon the Lord. Isaiah, as we know, has many
blessed statements in his prophecy, often classified as the Gospel
of Isaiah. And in the 30th chapter of Isaiah,
in the 18th verse, this is what we read. And therefore will the
Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, a continual desire
for God's blessing, and therefore will he be exalted. But he may
have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed
are all they that wait for him. Are we amongst those who indeed
today are blessed because we are trusting in the Lord and
we are waiting for the Lord? I don't know this morning, but
there may be those who are waiting for the Lord to come to them. They're waiting for the Lord
to answer their prayers. They're waiting for the Lord
to bless their souls. They're really hungry and thirsty.
They're really seeking after spiritual blessings. All their hope is in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is. Well, if that is our favoured
position, you see, therefore will the Lord wait. The Lord
does wait. He waits to be gracious. He causes us to call upon his
name. He causes us to wait in turn
for him, but to not give up, to press on. You know, the apostle
tells us, doesn't he, in the third chapter of the Philippians,
pressed toward the mark before us in the Gospel. Rural religion
is not sitting at home in your armchair. Rural religion is pressing
forward. Rural religion is waiting on
the Lord. Rural religion is trusting in
the Lord. Rural religion is receiving that
grace and faith from God to continue to be blessed. Blessed is the
man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Well,
where's our hope today? If we're trusting in the Lord,
truly trusting in the Lord, our hope must be in the Lord. Can't be anywhere else, can it?
And if we're truly hoping in the Lord, then you see, our trust
is in the Lord, and we're trusting in Him that he will indeed reveal
himself to us as he does not unto the world, that he will
come and reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour,
that one who graciously feeds us with spiritual food. Indeed, the Lord is on the earth. He spoke to his disciples in
the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. The Lord said very solemnly,
except we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man,
there is no life in us." Of course, that doesn't mean physically
eating the flesh and physically drinking the blood, but it does
mean spiritually feeding upon Christ, feeding upon the truth
of the Gospel, feeding upon the wonderful blessing that the Gospel
brings and the knowledge of the Saviour Himself, rejoicing in
that grand and glorious plan of salvation, to be very thankful
that the only begotten Son of God so willingly came into this
sinful world to live that perfect sin-atonian life and to die that
sin-atonian death upon that cross of Calvary so that you and I
might receive the great and glorious gift of eternal life. Well, is our hope therefore in
this Lord the Lord the Saviour of sinners, the Lord who has
conquered sin, death, hell and the grave, the Lord who is now
ascending upon high, who sits now in the Father's right hand
to intercede for us. Are we today trusting in the
Lord that he does hear and answer our prayers, that as we pray
we come believing that he is a God who hears and answers our
prayers. We are trusting in Him. Our hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus, Balaam and righteousness. That's a good foundation. You
know, in that position we are by the rivers of water and we
are green and healthy because we are totally relying on the
goodness of the Saviour. We're not relying on anything
that we've done, but we're totally relying upon what He has done,
that wonderful work, and we rejoice in it, we feed upon it. It's food to our souls, it's
moisture to us, it's the water of life, and we bless God for
it. Well then, you see, the Lord
tells us, And shall not be careful in the year of drought. because
the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will
show us his covenant. And there is a fullness in Christ
that ever resides to answer our need. What a blessing that is. And so here we come, then shall
not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit. What a blessing it is, my friends,
to be fruitful in the things of God. And the Word of God tells
us very clearly that it's by our fruit we shall be known. That's the evidence of spiritual
life, fruitfulness, showing forth the praise of God, showing forth
what He's done for us, showing forth His wonderful work of redemption
in our souls, not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Speaking
forth his work, speaking forth his praises, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit. What a picture it is really here,
in this verse. What a full picture it is, isn't
it? For those who are trusting in the Lord. It's the outworking
of this desire. is the proof that this desire
comes from God. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord. And this is the proof
of it. For he shall be as a tree planted with the waters, and
that spreadeth out roots for the river, and shall not see
when heat cometh. But a leaf shall be green, and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit. And that would appear to speak
to us that this fruitfulness continues through our life until
we come at last to the time when we shall depart this life and
then to go and to be with Christ, which is far better. And one
of the evidences of this fruitfulness is that we're looking forward
to our eternal home. The Apostle Paul, a man of God,
tells us for me to live is Christ, that's good, and to die is gain. He was looking forward, wasn't
he? He had a good prospect of that inheritance which is incorruptible
and undefiled and that fadeth not away. He had a good hope,
indeed, that it was well with his soul. He had the evidence
of it in his spiritual life. He tells us, we read through
the epistles, of how the Lord had blessed him and how the Lord
had favoured him. And he had therefore the evidence
that his leaf was green. And so it was. There are many
hardships in the Apostle's life, but there are many blessings.
And so may you and I be encouraged as we think of the life of the
Apostle and bless God that we have a record of it in the Word
of God to instruct us and to encourage us. And that therefore
to be a true follower of the Lord. Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is well. This morning
we have the two pictures, those who are cursed and those who
are blessed. We've gone through a little this
morning of those who are blessed. May all of us have the wonderful
evidence that we are amongst those who are blessed. Because
if we are, we'll be found trusting in the Lord. We'll be found hoping
in the Lord that it is well with our soul. Amen.