May it please Almighty God to
bless us together as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
prophecy of Nahum and the first chapter and we'll read the verse
7. Nahum chapter 1 and reading verse
7. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in a day of trouble. and he knoweth them that trust
in him. It is interesting that generally
speaking the prophets were given a word to preach or to speak
to the people, but here Nahum was to write a book, the book
of the vision of Nahum, Elkashite. So it was a written book to the
people and it was a written book particularly to the people of
Nineveh. I'm sure we may remember that
God graciously had compassion upon the Ninevites in the days
of Jonah and although he rebelled to begin with he was given repentance
and went and preached to Nineveh and there was that repentance.
Now we come many years later and we find Nahum again having
a burden to Nineveh to proclaim the truth of God to them and
point out their wickedness and those perhaps who were leading
them. What we do know that several,
I think a hundred years or so later, Nineveh was indeed destroyed. So we must not forget that God
is very gracious and very sovereign, but also we're not to turn our
back upon the mercies of the Lord. We are to recognize his
favor. As the Ninevites were blessed,
having Jonah preach the gospel to them, and to repent. But you see, the effect over
the years wore off. So we pray that in our lives,
the effect of the blessing word of God may not wear off, but
it may have a wonderful effect for good upon us. And so Nahum
comes down to these great words and says, the Lord is good. And I can never fail to remember
when I read these words, our brother, Philip Mercer, who we
know is now in glory. Because I would say almost without
fail, whenever you met him, he would say, the Lord is good. And some of us who know a little
about Philip's life, we know that it was not an easy life.
He had those things to contend with, but nonetheless, he had
the grace of God in his heart to be able to say, the Lord is
good. It's a wonderful example, the
good testimony. We should be thankful tonight
that we have such a word as this before us to remind us in our
lives that the Lord is good. Because as the Lord addresses
his people, to believe and to trust and to recognize that the
path the Lord has ordained for each one of his people is and
must be a good way. And it's a good way because the
Lord brings them through his way to their eternal home. And the Lord doesn't leave us,
doesn't forsake us, but he's gracious to us and mindful of
us and therefore he brings us safely at last home to glory
in a path I'm sure that none of us would choose ourselves,
but the Lord knows what to choose, and the Lord knows how to deal
with us, and the Lord knows that which is good for us. And so
perhaps in our lives as we travel on day by day, it doesn't appear
always that things are good. Sometimes it appears that things
are far from that. They appear to be the opposite. But it's good when God gives
us that understanding and that grace to carefully trace out
our path and carefully see how the Lord is indeed dealing with
him. We need sometimes to be reminded
of the saints of God. Remember perhaps of God's servant,
Jeremiah, another man who as we perhaps realize, never had
an easy path. Never had an easy path. And in
the third of Lamentations, we're told a little about his pathway. And you might say, well, is this
the pathway of a man of God? And the answer is, yes, it is.
But it's a strange path. So are the people of God's path.
strange path. He tells us, I am the man that
has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Is that really
so? Is Jeremiah really the child
of God? Has he really faced this? Yes,
he has. He has led me, led me, what a
good thing to be able to say that, and brought me into darkness
and but not into light, the complete opposite of what you and I would
think. We would think Jeremiah would
have said he had led me and brought me into light and not into darkness. But no, Jeremiah tells us the
truth. He tells us what God was doing
and had done with him. Surely against me as he turned,
He turneth his hand against me all the day. Well, Jeremiah,
Nahum says, the Lord is good. Is that true? He hath builded
against me, encompassed me with gore and travail. He hath set
me in dark places, as though they be dead of old. He hath
hedged me about, that I cannot get out. He's made my chain heavy. See, Lord arranges these things
sometimes in our path so that we can't get out of it. The Lord's
led us, we're in that way. We have a heavy chain which stops
us in our movement and we have to abide in that place the Lord
has led us. And then he says also, also when
I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer. And that's not
easy, is it? When you and I, perhaps, are at the end of our
tether, as it were, and we cry and shout, and our prayers don't
seem to have any avail, they shut out. What are we to do? Give up? No,
we're not. Jeremiah didn't give up. Nahum
didn't give up. The people of God, by the grace
of God, don't give up. Although he tells us, Jeremiah,
he hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths
crooked. You see, we don't like that,
do we? We like a nice plain path, a nice straight path, a nice
easy path. Well, be thankful if perhaps
Your path and my path is sometimes, like Jeremiah's, and God has
very graciously granted that such a path is detailed in the
Word of God, so that we realize we're not out of the way, we're
not a stranger, but in actual fact, we are being led, we are
being directed. The Lord is with us. He was unto
me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He
hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath
made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set
me as a mark for the arrows. He hath caused the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision to all my people
and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. Well, we could go on,
but let's come down a bit further. Let's come down to verse 22. And we see a remarkable change
in the way Jeremiah addresses us. This is what he tells us. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. He recognized that the Lord was
looking upon him in mercy. The Lord wasn't dealing with
him as his sins deserve, and therefore he's able to declare
these blessings are toward him, they are new every morning, great
is thy faithfulness. Then he says the Lord is my portion,
saith the Lord therefore will I hope in him. I really read
these verses to come down to this 25th and 26th verses. The Lord is good, says Jeremiah. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. And that's what
our lives are to be. To recognise this great truth,
that the Lord is good, and to realise that in our lives we
perhaps have to wait for the Lord's appearing. That wait for
him, to the soul that seeketh him. And then he goes on to say,
it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for
the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he
bear the yoke in his youth. And then David was really also
familiar with this path, and we're blessed indeed to have
so many Psalms of David, which is so encouraging. And in the
40th Psalm, which I expect is familiar, I hope it is to us,
where he tells us, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined
unto me and heard my cry. And it's not easy to wait for
the Lord, as Jeremiah tells us. It's not easy to wait patiently
for the Lord, as David tells us. But both these characters
were godly men, and were left on record for our benefit, the
Lord's gracious dealings with them. I waited patiently for
the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. Eventually he was heard. We sometimes think the Lord does
not hear. The Lord hears, but the Lord
waits to be gracious. He waits so that we appreciate
it when the Lord does come and answer us. when the Lord does
reveal himself unto us as he does not unto the world. It is
then that we really appreciate the deliverance. We appreciate
God's kindness. We appreciate his blessing toward
us. David tells us where he'd been. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the M�ori clay. set my feet upon a rock
and established my goings. It's very easy to get into a
horrible pit, it's very easy to be bogged down with a mirey
clay, not very easy to get out, but the Lord brings us out, and
when the Lord brings us out it is for his honour and for his
glory. And so we're told here In the
life of David he says, And he hath put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. When deliverance comes, it's
time for praise. It's time for blessing. It's
time to acknowledge what the Lord has done in hearing answering
prayer and not casting us off. Both of these characters might
have thought the Lord had cast them off. No, the Lord had not
cast them off at all. The Lord is good. Well, what
a mercy for us tonight to realize the Lord is good. You know, there's
so many characters in the Word of God that we could mention,
but perhaps just Think of the characters in the book of Daniel,
those three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They may have thought
that they'd been left to their God. They may have thought they
were going to be forsaken, because what had they done? They'd honoured
their God. They'd not obeyed the king's
commandment, because it was contrary to the Word of God. And they
had to be thrown into that burning fiery furnace so that the Lord
would show his grace and goodness in delivering them. And they
would have been able to say truly from their heart, the Lord is
good. There was a wonderful deliverance
in their cases to such an extent, they'd been in the fire, the
exceedingly hot fire, and yet there was no smell of burning
upon them." Well, if you and I know anything about burning
and have had a bonfire at all, we'll know how much the smell
of bonfire very quickly penetrates into our clothes. And here were
these men, wonderfully delivered. The Lord was with them. The Lord
was good. And similarly, Daniel himself,
when he was thrown into the lion's den, Yes, and what did the Lord
do? He shut the lion's mouths. We may have some lions in our
life. The Lord can shut their mouths.
Yes, so there's no harm comes to us. We may have had to endure
a night, perhaps a night of darkness, perhaps a night of fear. What
a blessing to have the Lord with us in a night of darkness, an
evening uneven, like Daniel was with all those lions around him. And yet you see God shut their
mouths. It's a wonderful blessing when
God shuts the devil's mouth. He does sometimes. We didn't
expect it, but God does it. And so then, what can we say? Well, we can say, like Nahum
does here, the Lord is good. The Lord is good. And you know, you and I won't
be able to really make such a statement unless the Lord has been and
blessed us. unless the Lord has heard our
prayers, unless the Lord has graciously come and delivered
us, then you see we have the wonderful evidence of the truth
of these words and be able to say the Lord is good. And that perhaps is so wonderfully
set before us in our spiritual lives when perhaps we may be
tempted and thrust down by the evil one who desires to bring
us into that condition of an evil heart of unbelief. He wants
us never to believe the gospel. He wants to drive us away from
the things of God. He wants to put so many other
things in our life that if possible we forget God and turn away from
him. Well, it is a wonderful blessing
when the Lord graciously looks upon us like he did to the Apostle
Peter. Peter denied his Lord three times,
having said how strong he was, and he wasn't going to deny the
Lord. He would die for him, not a problem. And yet, in just a
short time, Derry was denying his Lord and Master three times,
with oaths and curses. He made a proper job of it. But
you see, what happened when it came to his hearing, what the
Lord said would appear, would occur, the crying of the cockerel. And the Lord looked upon Peter. He looked upon Peter. What a
mercy. Peter's reaction was, of course,
to go out and weep bitterly because of his behaviour. But he would
have to have said, without any doubt, the Lord is good. And of course, as we read his
epistles, that shines forth very wonderfully as we see God's grace
towards Peter. Peter's able to share that wonderful
grace in his epistles. And so what did he see? He saw the mercy of the Lord
Jesus. He saw that he wasn't dealt with
as he sees deserve. And of course, he was able to
observe that great and blessed sacrifice that the Lord made
to deliver his people and to deliver Peter. What a mercy tonight if the Holy
Spirit applies his word to our souls in deliverance, in forgiveness,
and brings us to recognize something of the glorious love of the Savior
to unworthy sinners. And our reaction will be, the
Lord is good. The Lord is very good. The Lord
is very merciful to such an unworthy sinner. Well, what a blessing
it is then to be brought to this position. The Lord is good. And then a stronghold in a day
of trouble. You see, it's in the day of trouble
when we prove the support, when we prove the strength of God. We wouldn't know the Lord was
a stronghold, the Lord was our strength, if we didn't need him. If we are as foolish as Peter
was, relying on our own strength, we'll painfully learn that our
strength is of no avail. But with the Lord's grace, he
shows us how weak we are in and of ourselves. and how gracious
and gloriously strong the Lord is to support us and to be with
us and to hold us up. It's wonderful when the Lord
does hold us up. Yes, in the midst of trouble,
in the midst of opposition, in the midst of enmity from the
devil trying to slay us, realize the Lord draws near and holds
us up so that we prove the words here
a stronghold in the day of trouble. We're told in the 71st Psalm,
the Lord is, the Psalm is strong habitation, strong habitation. I wonder whether we've prove
that a little, perhaps in our lives, the wonder of it. He tells
us, 71st Psalm, he says, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let
me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness
and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear unto me and
save me. He says, Be thou my strong habitation. whereunto I may continually resort. What a blessing it is to have
such a Saviour. With all our failings, we can
continually resort to this kind and gracious God who understands
us. Don't forget, the Lord tells
us He was tempted in all things like us we are yet. without sin,
so he understands our position. And that's why he is this strong
habitation, this strong tower, where until we may continually
resort. Psalmist goes on to say, for
thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O God, out of the
hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel
man, for Thou art my hope, O Lord God. Well, I hope tonight that
may be true of us. Whatever the position, the situation
we're found in, to come like this and be able to say with
a humble confidence, as Nahum was, the Lord is a stronghold
in the day of trouble. And indeed like this, Lord is
my hope. Oh, Lord God, what a blessing
to have such a God as this. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble. It is quite clear from the scriptures
that the people of God walk through days, months, years of trouble. Man is born to trouble as the
sparks fly upward. It's very evident our lives are
in that way. And therefore, what a blessing
it is to know that in these times of trouble, we're not alone. The Lord is with us. and he's a stronghold. He's our strength in the day
of trouble. There should be a comfort to
us. God is our refuge and strength. How true that is. David proved
it again and again in his life. David wasn't unique. The people
of God prove it again and again. And that's why there are so many
words of encouragement for us as we find ourselves walking
in this world and yet led by the Spirit of God, like Jeremiah,
like David, like all the saints of God, a stronghold in the day
of trouble. And he knoweth them that trust
in him. very humbling to realize the
Almighty God, He knows us. He knows about us. He knows the
path you and I have called to walk because He has ordained
it for our eternal good. So the Lord God knows the end
from the beginning. We don't, but God does. And therefore, It's wonderful
to realize that this gracious God takes us by our hand and
leads us on safely through the right way. God never makes a
mistake. God's way is perfect. And so
he knoweth them that trust in him. And God gives us that truth,
that desire, that ability, to trust in him. You see, without
the strength of God, without the support of God, we would
not trust in him. But what a mercy it is to have
such a kind and such a gracious and such a wonderful God. You know, we read together that
first Psalm. It's a very beautiful Psalm,
really. And it ends up in the sixth verse with these words,
for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. He knows your
path. He knows my path. The way of
the ungodly shall perish. You see the mercy is, he knoweth
the way that is ordained for you and me. And that way which
is ordained for you and me is to bring us closer to the Saviour. That path won't lead you away,
the devil's path will, but the path of the Saviour will be to
bring you and me closer to the Saviour. What a mercy then to
realise that this great, kind and gracious God is that one
who knows all about us. He knew about the Apostle Paul,
he knew how he was going to lead him, He knew that he led Paul
in the right way, and Paul was able to come and tell his son-in-the-faith
Timothy of this. He says in the second epistle,
the second chapter, the 19th verse. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure having this seal. Cannot change. And this is what it is. The Lord
knoweth them that are his. From before the foundation of
the world, the Lord knew who would be called. The Lord knew
who he would save. The Lord knew who would trust
in him. And what a mercy is when you
think of our little sinful self, to realise that here is a great
statement. The Lord knoweth them that are
his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity. Well, the glory is, of course,
that this word is true. And he knoweth them that trust
in him, because we are the sheep of his pasture. As David said,
the Lord is my shepherd. We are his sheep. He knows where
we are. He knows what we need and He
leads us on safely. And what the glory of the Gospel
is, He brings us at last home to that great and glorious habitation
that He has gone to prepare. We have a strong consolation
in the finished work of the Saviour. He did not die, He did not shed
His blood in vain. but it was all so that his church
would come safely home to glory and that they would prove the
truth of these words. These are words, words of God
and they are true words and the church of God do prove them for
his honour and for his glory. What a mercy then if you and
I tonight are led into all truth as it is in Jesus and are brought
to be able to say The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of
trouble, and he knoweth them to trust in him. Amen.