I might please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the book
of Psalms, Psalm 68, and we'll read the first verse. Psalm 68
and verse one. Let God arise. Let his enemies
be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee
before him. This was, as we read, a psalm
of David. And what we also realised, it
was the prayer of David. And as it was indeed the prayer
of David, so may it be our prayer. Because how we do need God to
arise and God to appear for us and God to bless us. It is interesting
that these words were really a repetition of the words spoken
by Moses when they were traveling, Israel were traveling in the
wilderness, and the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire
led and directed them. And when that pillar of cloud
or the pillar of fire went up, and moved, then Israel moved. And what occurred, the Ark of
the Covenant was taken up and moved. And it was on those occasions
that Moses then said, let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. And we are aware, I'm sure, that
in those journeys that Israel took, all through those 40 years,
how God was with them. Quite amazing really, as we consider
how they were so awkward and so rebellious and turned against
God and weren't ready to accept his commandments and do his will. But God did not forsake his people. All those years, and God did
arise, and God did go before them. And my friends, God made
no mistakes in that journey, that 40 years. Israel didn't
know from one day to the next, indeed from one minute to the
next, where the cloud was going to lead them. But the truth was
that God was in that leading. And therefore, how necessary
it was when that cloud rose up to direct the people that this
concern should be let God arise. Yes, and go with them in this
situation. And so God did not fail his people. My friends,
God never fails his people. We fail God very often, sadly
so. But you see, God never fails
his people. And what a blessing it is to
know that we have a God like that. And so here David comes
with this desire and this real prayer, let God arise. I wonder sometimes if that's
really been the cry of our heart, the real true prayer of our heart.
Because we live in a day, don't we? We live in a dark day really
in this world and in our nation. We cannot avoid recognising the
situation. And we as a nation know that
we have largely disobeyed God, turned our back upon God, passed
laws so contrary to the laws of God. Do we not cry out? Do we not pray? Oh, let God arise. And my friends, we have a God
who is able to do great things. We can look back, can we not,
in our history, as our country, and see the many occasions where
God has wonderfully appeared wonderfully appeared and delivered
us from the enemy. The enemies have indeed been
scattered and those that hate us have fled away. And so we
see, do we not, the mercy and the grace of God which has been
toward us as a nation. And we've been blessed with religious
liberty. We've been blessed with a Bible
in our own language. We've been blessed with so much
freedom and so much faith that the blessing of the Lord has
been upon us. And now you see we've reached a sad condition.
We find there are so few people who are concerned about worshipping
the Lord in a true way. Many perhaps worship in a false
way. But to know that we have a God
who is still the same, And so may we come believing the Lord
is still the same. God is able to do great things.
And may we pray, Lord, let God arise as a nation, indeed, as
a church and people, indeed, as individuals. Because my friends,
you see, our religion comes down not in generalities. It comes
down to a personal directive, personally to each one of us
in our own spiritual life. And do we feel and do we recognise
that we do have a real need for God to arise in our lives, in
our spiritual life, that God will indeed make us more like
Him. As we mentioned in prayer, what
a blessing it is to have a desire in our hearts to be amongst those
who are desiring to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see,
if we really have that Concern and all that we might all have
that concern Then surely our prayer will be like this prayer
was let God arise Because we need God to arise on our behalf
and to give us strength. You see we're very weak, aren't
we? Left to ourselves. We haven't got much courage when
we're faced with the enemy and by that I mean when we're faced
with the world and Yes, because they're likely to mock us and
they're likely to jeer at us because of the things that we
might say in reference to believing in the true eternal God. But my friends, we should not
worry what people say. You know, the Word of God tells
us, The fear of man bringeth a snare. And how often perhaps
we fear what men will say, poor old men, which are going to soon
die and pass away. And we're more worried about
what they're going to say than what Almighty God thinks of us. Surely we should only really
be concerned about what Almighty God thinks of us and consider
that the people are really relatively irrelevant. And yet you see we
are so weak in and of ourselves. And therefore how appropriate
is a prayer like this, let God arise on our behalf, day by day. It's a good prayer, isn't it?
We get up in the morning and perhaps we might pray this prayer,
let God arise. on our behalf and give us that
grace to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Because
if God has called us, if God has called us in this way, out
of the darkness of nature into his glorious light. My friends,
what a privilege it is. And may we be really concerned
therefore to set forth his way and never be ashamed of the gospel
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so, let God arise
and strengthen us. Day by day, to stand firm for
the things of God. Times are not getting easier,
are they, in our nation? Times are getting more difficult.
Times are getting more difficult in the world. The world has passed
through, historically, many very difficult times. And my friends,
we're passing through, or beginning perhaps to pass through, difficult
times. We know not what the future holds,
but what we do know is that we need God to arise and to help
us each in this day in which we live. That we may not be carried
away with the multitude, not carried away with the wicked,
not carried away with the sinful situation which envelops our
nation at the moment. We see all around us, don't we,
great immorality. We see greed. We see pride. It emanates everywhere. And the
truth is, of course, as we look at ourselves, we have to confess,
there we go but by the grace of God. Now, my friends, if God
has given us his grace, just think of that. If he's given
us his favour, his blessing, if he's looked upon us and has
brought life into our dead soul, given us life. And that life
is through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we not owe a
great debt to our God? A debt that you and I can never
possibly repay. A debt to the Saviour for that
great price He paid to redeem our souls. Oh my friends, may
our prayer not be then, let God arise in our lives in this day
and age in which we live. So we might be a good example. Indeed, as the Word of God explains,
that we might be living epistles. That means an open letter. The Bible refers to letters as
epistles, but we might be an open letter. People might be
able to read us, known and read of all men. We don't have to
have it tucked away in our pockets so no one can see it. You know,
to have it as it were before us, as an open letter, a living
epistle, known and read of all men. Yes, so that men and women
could see clearly whose we are and whom we serve. Let God arise. All my friends, we need, do we
not, the power of God to come into our lives, to enable us
to walk before him worthy of the vocation wherewith we are
called. You see, God doesn't call his
people to hide our lights. We're not called, my friends,
to creep into a corner. We're called to display that
light. We're not to put that light,
as the word of God tells us, not put a candle under a bushel
to hide it. It's to be set on a candlestick
so that men and women, boys and girls, know whose we are and
whom we serve now. We will need therefore that cry
from our heart, oh let God arise and help me to do those things
which are right and God honouring. It's a wonderful blessing if
we're concerned about the honour and the glory of our God. We're often concerned, aren't
we, about our own honour and glory. Well, my friends, the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's our example. And he was not concerned about
what people thought of him. He wasn't concerned how he was
misjudged and how people spoke wrongly against him. They wrongly
accused him. And it's very painful when people
wrongly accuse us of doing something. It's a very painful situation
to bear, but when that may be so, we then need, you see, God
to arise on our behalf and to strengthen us and to support
us and to enable us to walk in the way the Saviour walked. When
he was reviled, he reviled not again. He didn't answer back. Our tendency is to try and justify
ourselves, isn't it? Yeah, people may say wrong things,
and well, we bristle, don't we? And we want to substantiate any
wrong statements which are made and to stand up for ourselves.
Remember the life of the Saviour. And my friends, let us always
consider we have before us in the Word of God the example of
the Saviour. And the Saviour tells us If you
love me, keep my commandments, which is to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ in his way. And therefore, let us not remember
when he was reviled, he reviled not again. We have a wonderful,
a wonderful example before us in the word of God of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if we are a follower, if
we desire to be a follower, If we are a professing follower,
then surely it should be to walk the way the Saviour set an example
for us. And in doing so, you and I will
need God to be with us. We will need that daily prayer,
let God arise. Let God arise and help me today
and help me. You know, we cannot go in our
own strength. We need the help of Almighty
God. We need the strength, we need
the support, we need the help of Almighty God. Paul was able
to say, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. And my friends, that's the only
way and that's the secret. If you and I rely on our own
ability, we shall fail. Remember what the Apostle Paul
was called upon to pass through such hardship, such opposition,
but you see, he's able to give that great statement, I can do
all things through Christ. that strengthens us, those things
which perhaps appeared impossible. And you know, Paul had to walk
a pretty lonely life, didn't he? You know, some of those occasions
he was by himself. When he went to Athens, there
he was, in the middle of that great city, by himself. Apparently
the only Christian at that time in that vast city. But what did
he do? sit at home, as it were, in his
hotel or in his room. No. He got up and every day he
went into the marketplace and declared the things of God. Oh, my friends, he had that blessed
zeal from on high and his cry was, let God arise. He stood
on Mars Hill. He preached the gospel. He told
the Athenians they were worshipping the unknown God. And many today
are worshipping the unknown God. My friends, if God has given
us that glorious light, everlasting gospel, is it not a blessed obligation
for us to walk worthy whereof the vocation wherewith we are
called? And you see, that vocation is
to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have many vocations. The Christian has a wonderful
vocation. vocation is to follow the example of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let God arise for our help. Now, the Word of God again encourages
us, but it also tells us that we are to not assume, we are
to pray. We are to pray. We are to pray. Pray for help. The Apostle again,
Paul when he wrote to the Thessalonians, he says, he speaks to him, he
says, to pray without ceasing. It doesn't just mean a prayer
when you get up in the morning, which is good and right, but
my friends, it means as you and I go through the day, through
the day, to pray to God and you'll find that's a blessed occupation. because not only will it direct
you to God himself and the things of God, there won't be so much
room then for following the material things of this vain world which
only oppose the things of God. Let God arise, O for our help. The Lord has said he will hear
and answer the prayer of those who are needy. Not those who
are self-sufficient, but those who are poor and needy in their
own eyes. Now then, it's a wonderful thing
when God shows us our poverty, perhaps shows us our emptiness.
We may have been pretty proud of our condition at one time
and thought we could hold a debate with anybody and answer all the
questions that were put to us. But if that is so, you know,
the Lord will bring us down in our estimation. He'll bring us
down to make us dependent upon the Lord. So then we shall go
in this way. We will go in the strength of
the Lord God. Paul goes on to say, and make
mention of his righteousness, even of thine only. You see there's
no look into self then, no look into our own righteousness, our
own ability. We won't speak about what we've
done, we'll speak about what God has done. Let God arise to
help us in this day and age in which we live, because surely
If we're honest and we look around, we find the Church of God in
a lukewarm state, generally speaking, in a lukewarm state. And I'm
sure if we really look at ourselves in our own lives, we can't say,
well, I'm not in a lukewarm state. There are those times, you see,
when if we're honest, we do find we're lukewarm. We're not spiritually
lively as we should be, and I hope as we want to be. And if that
is so, then we have a very suitable prayer. Let God arise. You see, David needed it. David
needed it. He was the king. He was in an
important position. But he still needed God to arise
on his behalf. How many times David had to fight
battles. He fought physical as well as
spiritual battles. We perhaps don't have to fight
so many natural battles today. We probably will have to fight
some. There are situations which are battlegrounds. But there
will also be those situations which are spiritual warfare. And we will need God's to appear
for us. Now God was very gracious to
David. And so many times David prayed
to the Lord as to what he should do. Let God arise. and show me
what I should do. David knew where to go. He didn't
get up and go and fight the enemy and just hope that things will
work out alright. He prayed to God. You read in
Samuel, etc., his life. He inquired of the Lord, shall
I go up? He inquired of the Lord, My friends,
it's a blessing for us today to follow an example, to inquire
of the Lord as to what we should do. You see, sometimes we pay
lip service to such a position, but you know, when the grace
of God is powerfully working and we're spiritually alive,
we should want God to arise and to help us, to show us, to direct
us, to say and do those things. which are for the honor and glory
of our God, not for our honor and not for God's glory. And
not for our glory, but for God's glory. Let God arise, you see. And as was evident in the history
of the children of Israel, the enemies were scattered. The enemies
were scattered. They weren't able to withstand
the power of God. God was with them. How many glorious
victories we can read of in the Word of God when Israel were
waiting upon their Lord, their God, to direct them. When they
had that living faith to trust in the Lord. So many glorious
examples, don't we? And God was with them. Let God
arise. You remember we preached a little
while ago about Gideon and how Gideon was greatly blessed And
he was given that prayer to his God. And he didn't count himself
worthy, less than the least in my father's house. Oh, Gideon,
you're the man that I've come, you're the man that I've called,
you're the man that shall lead, but not in your strength. Great
army, 30,000 people. brought right down to a mere
300 without any swords, without any weapons, just a picture and
a lamp. Oh yes, what a great victory
was brought to pass. They didn't have to fight. Sometimes
it would be like this. The Lord says, you have no need
to fight in this battle. He said, is it Jehoshaphat? Yes,
Jehoshaphat was very fearful, surrounded by the enemy. What
must we do? What must I do? Oh, Jehoshaphat,
no need to fight in this battle. Yes, my friends, the Lord, you
see, fights for his people. Let God arise, let his enemies
be scattered. You might have some enemies.
You might have some enemies. You might be very fearful of
them. You might feel what they might say. You might feel what
they might do. Whoever that might be, it might
be an individual. It might be a company. My friends, let God
arise. And let His enemies, because
if you are a living child of God, your enemies are the Lord's
enemies. Yes, your enemies are the Lord's
enemies. And therefore you can pray, let
God arise, let His enemies be scattered. Let enemies scatter. Man cannot stand before God.
Poor man thinks sometimes he can. Poor man thinks that he
is stronger than God. But I think when God arises,
when God works, when God appears, then you see man flees. The enemy
flees. before the all-searching eye
of Almighty God. Let God arise, let his enemies
be scattered. And so as we need the Lord to
arise on our behalf, to go before us in the unknown way. There is a way that seemeth right
to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And be
sure of this, that way which seems right will be nice and
smooth and suitable to your inclinations. And you'll think, well this is
a pleasant way, this must be the right way, this has appeared
before me. Very often, God's way is the
opposite way to what you and I think. It very often appears
to be a difficult way, not an easy way. But if God is with
us, we'll know what the Apostle said, I can do all things through
Christ that strengtheneth me. Yes, to know then the Lord is
with us in the unknown way, the future which is there, and perhaps
it may appear fearful, maybe great difficulties, maybe
a way which seems impossible to venture in. Well, let God
arise, let his enemies be scattered. Really, those things which the
Lord directs his people to do, which will be the right way,
and to know that the Lord is with us, notwithstanding there
will be trials and difficulties in that way. We only have to
think normally of the children of Israel as they walked in their
journeys. Was it an easy journey? No, it
wasn't. It was very hard. It was in a
wilderness. It wasn't easy. The ground wasn't
easy. It was no doubt rocky and mountainous and difficult terrain,
but yet God was with them. He didn't leave his people. My
friends, God leads his people like that today. Remember, We're
told he led them forth by the right way, that they might go
to a city of habitation. Let God arise and His enemies
be scattered in that right way, which may be difficult. We're
never promised an easy journey in this life, are we? Never promised
an easy journey. The Bible gives us no encouragement
to think the journey would be easy, but we can believe that
again and again the Lord will appear and his enemies will be
scattered as he arises. But the whole purpose for our
journey through this world is to bring us at last safe home
to glory and through that journey to bring honor and glory to our
God for his love, for his compassion, for his mercy, for his great
grace toward us in that journey. And day by day, as we may be
able to observe, we see the Lord's goodness. He will make all my
goodness pass before thee in the way. The Lord does make his
goodness pass before us in the way. And when we think of goodness,
it's not perhaps always in the light that we think of goodness.
Because God's goodness toward us is to make us more like him. That's God's goodness to us,
to make us more like him. And God's goodness to us is to
prepare us for our eternal home, to go and to be with Christ eternally. That's God's goodness to us.
And my friends, in order to bring us in that way, we might find,
we shall find, we will find that the way through this earth is
one with many snares and difficulties and brambles I don't know if
you've read The Pilgrim's Progress, but it's a good book. It's a
book written by John Bunyan, as you probably know, when he
was in prison. It's called The Pilgrim's Progress,
and it means just that. It gives the progress of a Christian
as he left what was described as the city of destruction And
he set out on pilgrimage, on journey, to go and to reach the
celestial city, which was, of course, the allegory for heaven. And John Bunyan traces the pathway
of that Christian man. He was called Christian. And
a wonderful journey it was, but my friends, there were so many,
many hardships. And always remember, when he
left that city of destruction, It wasn't easy. There was his
home. There were all his friends and
relatives and all the comforts. And he set out on pilgrimage.
And he ran away. He ran away. And he put his hands
to his ears so he wouldn't hear the cries of his friends and
relatives calling him back. And he was crying, life, eternal
life. That's where he was going. He
was going on this journey. He wanted God to arise, and to
help him, and to be with him, and that the enemies might be
scattered. As you may read the Pilgrim's
Progress, that life of Christian, how true it is. He went through
difficulties, the valleys, the mountains, the snares, the temptations. They were all there in the journey.
how often they describe in detail the life that you and I walk
through today on this earth. Yes, we bless God that he enabled
John Bunyan to write that allegory of that Christian man journeying
to the celestial city. Let God arise, let his enemies
be scattered. Now then, if God is going to
arise on our behalf, what would he do? he'll direct us to the
Lord Jesus Christ. If we ask God to arise on our
behalf and to help us, he will direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we will have there a wonderful
example. And my friends, as we journey
on, if we are to become more Christ-like, it will mean that
we are to walk in measure the path the Saviour walked. And we shall view again by faith
what the Saviour endured to save our sins. Now, it's a good prayer
to pray, let God arise and direct me into the love of Christ. Now, you may be surprised at
the Leading and the blessing that God grants to such a prayer
Because if we are to know something of the love of Christ We are
to know something That it cost the Savior to die in our place
To die and to pay that price to atone for our sins It won't
just be reading an account It's good to read an account, and
it's blessed to read an account. Sometimes the reading of the
accounts are greatly blessed to our souls, but nonetheless
there will be a walking in that way. There will be a following,
and there will be a union, and there will be a communion. You
see, we cannot expect to experience things by just, as it were, sitting
down with our arms folded. No, there will be that walking
our profession out. Walking our profession out so
that God's name is honoured and glorified. Let God arise, let
his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee
before him. And it will be sometimes like
when the light shines into our dark heart. The light reveals
to us the glorious light of the everlasting Gospel. The Apostle
Peter, in his life, he knew what it was to receive the blessing
and the favour of God. And he tells us in the second
epistle, in the second letter he wrote, he says, towards the
end of the first chapter, and this voice which came from heaven,
for he received from God the Father, speaking of the Lord
Jesus, honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased." He's referring now to that occasion when he
and James and John were with the Lord Jesus Christ and they
went up into the mountain and the Lord Jesus Christ was wonderfully
blessed with the power of God. That cloud descended and the
three disciples viewed the Lord Jesus Christ in that spotless
robe, and they heard the voice of the Father saying, this is
my beloved Son, hear ye him. That's what the Apostle is referring
to here. And this voice which came from heaven, we heard. when
we were with him in the Holy Mount. And it's a good testimony
because here we see Peter, he could not forget, he could not
possibly forget that occasion, that wonderful occasion when
the Lord was revealed to him in that wonderful way. And my
friends, you and I do not forget occasions in our spiritual life
when God may apply his word And he says therefore and this voice
which came from heaven We heard when we were with him in the
holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy Where unto
ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that that shineth
in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in
your hearts." Well, the day star, as we probably know, is a very
bright star, because you can see it in the daytime. It's a
very, very bright star. And that's just the same in our
spiritual life. When the Lord shines into our
hearts, it's like that day star. It's a very bright light, a light
that shineth in a dark place. until the day dawn and the day
star rise in your hearts. It is a revelation from God. It's a personal experience of
the Word of God coming into our hearts as a shaft of light. And that shaft of light reveals
to us the evil of ourself, the wretchedness of our heart, but
also directs us to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
wondrous work of salvation. Now that, my friends, is the
spiritual light which God sends. And what a favour it is if we've
been praying like this, let God arise, and suddenly this great
light shines. And we were perhaps walking,
as it were, in mistiness. It wasn't clear at all. Then
suddenly the Lord came and shone into our heart, let God arise,
let his enemies be scattered. And the devil won't be able to
stop that light shining. The devil will do all he can.
to distract us from the things of God. Believe you me, He'll
bring everything to bear to distract us from seeking the things of
God and from praying like this, let God arise. He doesn't want
God to arise. He wants God, as it were, to
stay down, to be no appearance of God. He'll oppose. He'll oppose you day and night.
My friends, we'll never be free of the opposition of the old
devil this side of the grave. But let us be thankful we have
a great God. Let God arise. Let his enemies
be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee
before him. Everyone is under God's control.
Sometimes we may fear what men, we may fear what women might
say to us. We need not fear. Because if
God is with us, we need not fear. Who can stand against us? Who
can oppose us? They may try to. They may say
evil things. But if you and I have a good
conscience before God, we pray to him, let God arise. This may
be the way the Lord is directing us and bringing us closer in
union with himself. It is through much tribulation
that you and I must enter the kingdom and be of good cheer.
says our Saviour, be a good cheer, I have overcome the world. What
cheer there is, what reason for joyfulness, what reason there
is to praise our God for His great and glorious work and to
come to Him then in this way and say, let God arise, then
His enemy will be scattered. It's wonderful I think in this
chapter, as you read it through, there are some things very hard
to understand, perhaps almost impossible to understand, but
nevertheless As we come to the end, David's able to close the
chapter with these three wonderful words, blessed be God. Now it would be a good testimony
for you and me in our spiritual life, if we're able to come perhaps
to the end of a day, perhaps the end of an experience, and
be able to say, blessed be God. Oh, my God's been with me. My
God has heard my prayer. My God has revealed to me what
I am. My God has revealed to me what
He is. And I can say, blessed be God. Now, the Church of God can say,
blessed be God. And it would be a good thing
for you and me tonight, as we consider ourselves in the greatness
of Almighty God, and recognize the wonder of such a prayer.
Let God arise. Let His enemies be scattered.
them also that hate him flee before him to be able to then
say under the blessed influence of our God, blessed be God. Amen.