Oh! Okay. Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 941. The tune is
Meriton 366. Jesus, my Lord, my life, my all,
prostrate before thy throne I fall. Fain would my soul look up and
see my hope, my heaven, my all in thee. Hymn 941. O my God and my Lord, God's great
people, Thy throne I hold, They work my soul, ? The God I see ? ? I come, I am
? ? I who will be ? ? Here in this world ? ? I'm filled with confidence ?
? In you I'm found ? ? The Lord I will sing ? ? And he is my
friend ? In vain for preachers have I
sinned Thou art near, Thou the Word can speak Oh, my grief, what is my fault? Without Thy peace and presence,
O God, not all the world can ever know. Go to your throne, thy soul away. God's child, thy God, let us
sing today. I long to hear thy happy voice, O speak, and make my soul rejoice. Shephershp'n
said, look up and see Thy peace hath there aright to give. Enfilled with great, unearthly
love, My soul embraced the store above. And where can I put your heart? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 35. Psalm 35. Plead my cause, O Lord, with
them that strive with me. Fight against them that fight
against me. Take hold of Shield and Buckler,
and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear and stop
the way against them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation. Let them be confounded and put
to shame that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and brought
to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the
wind and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way
be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord persecute
them. For without cause have they hid
for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged
for my soul. Let destruction come upon him
at unawares, and let his net that he hath hid, catch himself,
into that very destruction let him fall. And my soul shall be
joyful in the Lord, it shall rejoice in his salvation. All
my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which delivereth
the poor from him that is too strong for him? Yea, the poor
and the needy from him that spoileth him. False witnesses did rise
up. They laid to my charge things
that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good,
to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were
sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasted. And my prayer returned into mine
own bosom. I behaved myself as though he
had been my friend or brother. I bowed down heavily as one that
mourneth for his mother. But in mine adversity they rejoiced
and gathered themselves together. Yea, the abjects gathered themselves
together against me, and I knew it not. They did tear me and
cease not. With hypocritical mockers in
feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long
wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions,
my darling from the lions. I will give thee thanks in the
great congregation. I will praise thee among much
people Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice
over me, neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without
a cause. For they speak not peace, but
they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in
the land. Yea, they opened their mouth
wide against me and said, aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. This thou hast seen, O Lord. Keep not silence, O Lord, be
not far from me. Stir up thyself and awake to
my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me,
O Lord, my God, according to thy righteousness, and let them
not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts,
ah, so would we have him. Let them not say, we have swallowed
him up. Let them be ashamed and brought
to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt. Let them be clothed
with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me. Let them shout for joy and be
glad that favour my righteous cause. Yea, let them say continually,
let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity
of his servant. And my tongue shall speak of
thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long. May the Lord bless that reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, the high and lofty one that inhabited
eternity, whose name is holy, the creator of the ends of the
earth, for all things were created for thee and by thee, O gracious
God, we do pray that thou wouldst help us to worship thee here
this afternoon. We know not how to pray for what
we ought, but may thee, Spirit, make intercession for us. We
do humbly pray thee. Pour upon us the spirit of grace
and of supplications with thanksgiving. Oh, we do pray. that we may feel
the sacred presence of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And we pray that we may worship
Thee, the only true God. We thank Thee for those beautiful
words, these three are one. One blessed, infinite Lord Jehovah,
in whom is everlasting strength, in whom It is infinite wisdom,
grace, love and mercy who is pure and holy and righteous altogether. We do desire to worship thee.
We do desire to follow thee. We do desire to serve thee in
our day and in our generation. We pray as we gather round thy
word that we may be led by the spirit of God For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Oh,
we do pray, most blessed Spirit, that thou would lead us forth
in the right way. We read in thy word, and he led
them forth by the right way unto a city of habitation. Oh, we
pray to be delivered from the temptations of Satan. Indeed,
O Lord, thou hast promised that when the enemy comes in like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against
him. O may that glorious standard
be lifted up here this afternoon. Even Jesus Christ, our Lord,
we do humbly beseech thee. For him hath God exalted as a
Prince and as a Saviour, for to give faith and repentance
and remission of sins, and we pray, Oh, we pray, yea, we beseech
thee, that we may see yon lovely man, that we may worship at Emmanuel's
feet, that we may touch the hem of his garment, that we may draw
from that sacred fullness that is in him. We pray to be drawn
to him, drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ, as the way, the truth
and the life, drawn to him that is able to make the crooked thing
straight, And the rough place is plain. Drawn, most gracious
Father, unto thy Son. For none come except the Father
draw. Oh, that we might know that sweet
drawing. May the Lord Jesus come and stand
in our midst. That we may truly worship Him.
That we may behold Him. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold him as our prophet, priest,
and king. Behold him as the altogether
lovely one, as the chiefest among 10,000. Oh, that we may see your
lovely man. Lord Jesus, when thy disciples
were met together and doors being shut for fear of the Jews, thou
didst come and stand in the midst of them. We pray that thou wouldst
do so for us here today. Come and stand in the midst of
us, that we may behold thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We thank thee for
those precious words. He giveth more grace. For Lord,
we constantly feel to need more grace. And Lord Jesus, Thou art
the heavenly storehouse of that grace. Oh, we pray that the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ may rest upon us here this afternoon. We thank Thee for that fullness
that is in Him. We thank Thee for the incarnation
of the Son of God. We thank Thee for that holy life
He lived as a man here upon earth. fulfilling, honouring, magnifying
the holy righteous law of God, we thank the most gracious Lord
for that wonderful sacrifice of Calvary, that perfect sacrifice,
that acceptable sacrifice, a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour under
the a sacrifice wherein all thy people are accepted. Oh, we thank
thee for that glorious sacrifice, for that everlasting robe of
his righteousness. We thank thee that he died for
our sins and rose again for our justification, and that he has
now ascended up on high and led captivity captive. He's entered
into glory. those pearly gates have lifted
their everlasting head, and the King of glory has entered in.
We thank thee that he has made a new and living way into the
holy place. We thank thee that there is a
great high priest, and we can come to him now. And may we be
given to truly feel, tis he instead of me is found, when I approach
to God. Lord, we thank thee for every
mercy of thy kind providence. Thy goodness has passed before
us in the way, and we would render thanksgiving unto thee for thy
mercies are new every morning, and great is thy faithfulness
in spite of all our sinfulness and all our wanderings. Lord,
thy love and thy mercy and thy grace are still the same. Jesus
Christ the same, yesterday and today and forever. Oh, we thank thee for thy unchanging
love and mercy and grace that flows to us through that crucified
Saviour. Oh Lord, we confess our wanderings,
our backslidings, our uncleanness, our unrighteousness, We often
have to say with the dear Apostle, O wretched man, that I am. For Lord, we are carnally minded. And as thy word declares, to
be carnally minded is death. O gracious God, deliver us from
that carnal mindedness, and grant that we may, this afternoon as
we gather round thy word, that we may be found in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, that we may truly worship thee. We pray for
the whole of our congregation, those present, those not here,
for whatever reason that may be. But we do pray that thou
wouldst bless us each, work mightily, work powerfully, work effectually
among us. We pray for the dear little ones
and children, that thy blessing may rest upon them. We pray for
the young friends in their teenage years and in their Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst go before them, that thou wouldst bring them
to living faith in Jesus Christ, that thou wouldst make them true
followers of thee and of those who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. O gracious God, do incline thine
ear. We do humbly beseech thee and
bless the dear young friends. Raise up a generation that shall
call thee the Redeemer blessed. a generation that shall follow
on to know the Lord, that they may be rooted and grounded in
love and know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and
that the time may come soon, O Lord, when they can come forth
and testify of thy lovingkindness, of thy great goodness unto their
souls. Oh, we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst hear us. In heaven, thy holy and thy Blessed
dwell in place, and when thou hearest, O Lord, forgive. Be
with the young friends in all their paths, whether it be in
their education, or whether it be regarding employment, or a
partner in life journey. Help them to commit their way
unto thee, and to trust also in thee, for thy great name's
sake. O Lord, we do pray. that thou
would remember the prodigals, we earnestly beseech you to lay
hold of them, to cause them to return. O gracious God, that
they're beyond our power, but they're not beyond thy power,
for thou art able to save to the uttermost all that come unto
God by thee. Gracious God, do hear us, do
have mercy upon us, O Lord, we Do beseech of thee and remember
us in these matters, for thy great name's sake. Remember this
village. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village. And graciously gather in precious
souls, bless the word of the Lord distributed, that it may
be down to the great honour, glory and praise of thy holy
name. Lord, bless the scripture on
the front of the chapel. Grant that it may be used of
thee in some poor sinner's hearts. That thou wouldst graciously
grant that the word of the Lord may have free course and thy
name be honoured and glorified. Bless the word of the Lord as
it goes out on the internet to the four corners of the earth.
Oh, that thou wouldst richly bless thy word and bless thy
people everywhere. and return to Jerusalem with
mercies. Remember, parents, and all in
the midst of the journey of life, graciously undertake for them. Deliver us from temptation. Deliver
us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the
power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. O Lord, we do
pray that thou in thy Great mercy would make us more spiritually
minded and set our affections on things above. Remember each
one of us in the evening time of life's journey, do be gracious
unto us and bless us. Do guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
guide us safely through life, through death, into eternal glory. Oh, deliver us from evil. O Lord, we do beseech of thee. We thank thee for that soul-sustaining
truth, Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever. O Lord, we do pray that thou,
in thy great mercy, would remember all thy servants as they labour
in word and doctrine this day upon the walls of Zion. Set them
free, set them at liberty, Grant yet mighty signs and wonders
to follow the preaching of the word. All do hear us, Lord, for
thy great name's sake. And graciously send forth yet
true labourers that shall stand upon the walls of Zion, preach
the word, and determined to know nothing among men, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Let thy
hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou
madest strong for thyself. Gracious God, do incline thine
ear, do have mercy upon us now, do come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from of the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 262. The tune is St Clement, 813. Thou fountain of bliss, thy smile
I entreat. Overwhelmed with distress, I
mourn at thy feet. The joy of salvation, when shall
it be mine? The high consolation, of Friendship
Divine, Hymn 262. ? Of thy feet ? ? Let glorious
proclamation ? ? Of Christ be sung ? ? Let holy consolation
? ? Of great cheer be sung ? Now I come to see the death of
my foe, For mercy only I had as before. ? Tis the year, O Savior, to save
and renew ? ? Faith's mighty be given, and finished shall
do ? and give me to her that he might
love me. ? It's true, my dear nation ? ?
Dear Lord, I can trace ? ? Some mortal relation ? ? Some turbulent
affliction ? The Lord, the Savior, is with
us. How kind and love my heart! Thy
season is best. ? Still your star-branded banner
? ? Ris'n high with me ? ? And carried our nation ? ? Phantom
still in me ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 35, and
the third verse, and we will read the last clause for our
text. Psalm 35, reading the last clause
of verse three. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. We notice here in this psalm
how David was surrounded with enemies. It was obviously a psalm
written at the time when Saul was pursuing him. And Saul pursued
him over many years. And he lived in the cave of Adullam
in the Judean wilderness. And Saul came out on many occasions
to, as it were, chase him and he wanted to destroy him. And
we notice here in this psalm how David, he's so pleased with
the Lord for his life. There was a time You know, if
you go right back to when David was first anointed king, and
he would only be about 16, and, you know, firstly, it was, everything
went quite nicely, and he was called to the palace of Saul,
and he used to play the harp when Saul was, an evil spirit
troubled him, trying to soothe him, And, but then Saul turned
against him, right against him. There were two occasions when
he, as he was playing the harp, he threw a javelin at him, wanting
to kill him. And David went out to war. He was very successful in battle
against the Philistines. And it began to be sung, Israel
that Saul hath slain his thousands but David his ten thousands and
Saul being a very jealous man he hated this and I believe as
time went on he saw that David would be king in his place for
the Lord had rejected Saul he rejected him because he was
disobedient You know we read in the teachings of Christ and
also in the prophets that by their fruit she shall know them.
The Lord's people would be known by their fruits. The fruit that
Saul brought forth was pride and disobedience. Disobedience
to the Lord's word, to the Lord's ways. And It could be seen by
the godly in Israel that he was an ungodly king. He didn't follow
the leadings and the guidance that he was given. When he went
down to Amalek and he destroyed Amalek, he brought his king back.
He brought the goods back. He was told to destroy everything.
That was the commandment of the Lord through Samuel. He was to
destroy all the flocks and the herds. They were not to take
any of them. He was to destroy Amalek, the king, Agad, the king. But he brought them all back.
And Samuel, when he comes out to Saul, he says, what meaneth
the bleatings of the lambs? He kept the best of the flocks
and the herds. What meaneth this? Did not I
command thee to destroy? But you see, it's another thing,
covetous. He wasn't going to destroy them,
he was going to keep them. The other thing, he should have
destroyed Agag, but Samuel had to himself because of Saul's
disobedience. And then Samuel, he came to him
with that solemn message, the Lord hath rejected thee from
being king over Israel. the Lord hath rejected him."
What a solemn time that was, wasn't it? But of course, he
continued for many more years, even though the Lord had rejected
him. At that time, Samuel, he kept praying for Saul, and the
Lord said, how long will you keep asking me to bless Saul? I've rejected him. Go and find
me a man from among the sons of Jesse. in Bethlehem. Samuel,
knowing that this would upset Saul, who was a very powerful
man, he said, how can I go? He said that to the Lord, how
can I go? He went down, and all David's
sons, Eliab was a tall, strong built man, and Samuel said, surely
this is the Lord's anointing. Look not on his outward appearance.
The Lord looketh on the heart. Eventually, this young lad, 16
years old, was looking after his father's sheep. Samuel said,
we will not sit down till you bring him in. And when they brought
David in, the Lord said to Samuel, arise, anoint him. This is he,
this young stripling. This is he, this shepherd boy.
Arise, anoint him, this is it. And you see the Lord's choosing. The Lord chose him. But he was
a marked man. Jonathan, Saul's son, loved David
as his own brother. There was a wonderful union,
I believe spiritual union, between David and Jonathan, the son of
Saul. but his father hated him and
pursued him, tried to kill him on many occasions. When David, on two occasions,
swords were handed to him, he could have slain him, but he
would not. It says here in this, in verse
13, but as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting
and my prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as
though it had been my friend or brother. I bowed down heavily
as one that mourneth for his mother. But in mine adversity
they rejoiced." You see what the different spirits that prevailed. So there is much prayer in this
psalm against his enemies. and that the Lord would deal
with his enemies and deliver him from his enemies. But then we have this little
clause, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. What a lovely
prayer, isn't it? Say unto my soul. In another
Psalm, I think it's Psalm 28, If I remember correctly, be not
silent unto me, O God, lest if thou be silent unto me, I be
like them that go down into the pit. He wanted to hear the voice
of the Lord. He wanted the Lord to speak into
his heart. He wanted the Lord to confirm
his calling. to make his, as the apostle puts
it, to make, be diligent to make thy calling and thy election
sure. You need the Lord to speak a
word, a word of confirmation that you are indeed one of his
children. You want it to come, I think
one of the hymn writers says, till he says with his own mouth, You can't take it from somebody
else. The Lord has got to speak. And
when the Lord speaks, we read, do we not, in Ecclesiastes, where
the word of a king is, there is power. And is that not so
when the Lord speaks? Say unto my soul. No, the point
here is unto my soul. Real religion is a very personal
thing. And it doesn't do you any good. In fact, it can aggravate your
distress when you see others blessed. And you hear of others
being blessed. It's not that you don't want
them to be blessed, but you want the Lord to bless you. You want
the Lord to speak to your heart, to your soul. Say unto my soul. It's personal, isn't it? Say
unto my soul. It's one thing to let's say we
go into Tunbridge Wells and you look at the shops But if you've
got no money If you haven't got the means to buy anything you
can look you can walk right the way through all the shops But
you haven't got anything to purchase it with doesn't do you any good
does it? You look at food all beautifully
displayed in the shops It doesn't do you any good unless you can
go and purchase it. It's no good just to see it.
That doesn't quench your thirst or stem your hunger. You need
to actually lay hold of it. Surely this is true even more
so spiritually. You need, it's one thing to hear
about Christ being preached the gospel being preached and the
word of God being read, but you want it to be preached into your
heart. You want the word of the Lord
to come into your soul. One was at the centurion that
when he was coming to the Lord Jesus and he said Lord or the
Lord Jesus was coming to his house. Lord, I'm not worthy that
thou should come under my roof, but speak the word. Speak the
word. What faith, wasn't it? A Gentile,
a Roman centurion. Just speak the word, Lord. And
the Lord spoke the word, and he was healed. And there are
several occasions in the word of God like that, when the Lord
didn't actually go there, but he spoke the word, And the word
has power. The word of King Jesus is a word
of power. The voice of the Lord. You know,
David in Psalm 29, he says there, the voice of the Lord is upon
the waters, the God of glory thundering. The Lord is upon
many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. You see, the voice of the Lord
divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh
the wilderness. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to come. You think of creation. God spake
and it was done. And so when that centurion spake,
to the Lord Jesus speak the word, you see, he knew. And we know,
look at, God spake and it was done. Indeed, here in Psalm 33, it
speaks of the voice of the Lord in creation. In Psalm 33, verse
six, by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all
the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the
waters of the sea together as an heap, he layeth up the depths
in storehouses. Look at verse nine, for he spake
and it was done. That's creation. He commanded
and it stood fast. It's by the voice of the Lord,
by the word of the Lord were the heavens made. I think, There are 11 times in Genesis
chapter 1 where it says, and God said. And look at the power
of that word. God said, let there be beasts
on the field. The beasts were created. Let
there be herbs, let there be grass, let there be light. God spake and it was done. It
was accomplished, it was fulfilled. by that mighty word of God. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. You see, you want to know personally
that the Lord has saved you. I am thy salvation. Say unto my soul. You want the
Lord to speak into your heart. into your soul. Just like he
did the Lord's servant Abraham. How the Lord spake into his heart
and when he called him out a word of the Chaldees and spake to
him, the Lord called him. He called him. What a wonderful
thing. Now the Lord has said unto Abraham,
Genesis 12, get thee out of thy country. This was a divine call
to Abraham. Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that
I will show thee. We read in Hebrews that he went
out not knowing whether he went. In other words, he didn't know
what his destination was. It was what the Lord had called
him and told him about. That is what is walking by faith.
When he left Ur of the Chaldees, he walked by faith. He's brought
into the land of promise, the land of Canaan, which the Lord
had promised unto his seed. And look at what God says to
him, I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And
I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse
thee, and in thee, This is the promise of the coming
of Christ, and in thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed. And Abraham departed as the Lord
had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. It was a divine
call unto the Lord's servant, Abraham. He did. Another time,
remember our text? say unto my soul that I am thy
salvation. In Genesis chapter 15, see how
the Lord speaks to Abraham there. After these things, when he'd
rescued Lot from southern Gomorrah, after these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, fear not
Abraham, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. say unto my soul I am thy salvation
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward I am and the Lord
Jesus is to his people I am thy shield and exceeding great reward
David he prays in this psalm that the Lord would be a shield
and buckler and you know the Lord hears the prayers of his
children I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. But in Abram's life, everything
looked different to that. And he was very tried about that.
Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is
this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, to me
thou hast given no seed. And yet that was in the promise,
the first promise. In thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. To me thou hast given no seed,
and no one born in my house is mine heir. That was Eliezer of
Damascus. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir. But he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowel shall be thine heir.'
And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted it to him for righteousness. And the Lord said,
I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to
give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it? You see, and then he took
a sacrifice. Of course, that sacrifice is
beautifully typical of Christ. Now, thy sand shall be as the
stars of heaven. Thy seed shall be as the stars
of heaven. You look up into the heavens.
There are millions and millions and millions of stars. Abraham's seed is not just his
natural seed through Isaac, it's the spiritual seed in Christ. That spiritual seed in Christ.
And it's a number that no man can number. As the Lord said
to Abraham, it's as the sand that is on the seashore innumerable.
and that seed is still being gathered in. It was gathered in during the
Old Testament in a lesser degree and in the New Testament in a
greater degree when Christ is being preached among all the
nations of the earth. Say unto my soul. You see, it's
one thing to hear of the prosperity of Zion and you would rejoice
in it, you'd be thankful for it, But if you feel barren, empty,
unfruitful, desolate, and the Lord's people, they do come into
these places. David, he says here, as for me,
I am poor and needy. He says it in several of the
Psalms, I am poor and needy. You see, say unto my soul, I
am thy salvation. When the Lord spoke to his servant
Moses, when he was to lead the children of Israel, the time
came when the Lord called him. He'd been 40 years in the house
of Pharaoh. He'd been 40 years in the backside
of the desert. And then the Lord called him
there. He spoke to him out of the burning bush. And What a
wonderful thing Moses saw there, wasn't he? And turned aside.
The bush was burning with fierce heat. And yet the bush was not
consumed. Normally a bush like that would
be consumed almost straight away with fierce heat. But it wasn't. And Moses turned aside to see
this thing. This remarkable thing. A bush
all on fire and yet It was not conceived. And he went there,
and as he stood before that bush, the Lord spoke to him from out
of the burning bush, take thy shoes from off thy feet for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground. He was in the presence
of Almighty God. And the Lord gave him then a
divine commission to go into Egypt, to return to Egypt, and
to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said,
but I'm not eloquent enough. I'm not great enough, et cetera. He didn't feel able to do it. And he said, what will the children
of Israel say to me? And the Lord said to him, you're
to say unto them that I am. And if you look at the words
in Exodus you will find that I am is written in capital letters
because it actually refers to the name Jehovah, I am, the great
I am. There are many times in holy
scripture when this is so wonderfully spoken, I am, Christ is the I
am. He's the first and the last,
the beginning and the end He's the all in all of his people.
Say unto my soul, and you want him to say to you, Jesus Christ,
the almighty King, Jesus Christ, the King of glory, Jesus Christ,
the eternal God, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. That's the desire, that's the
longing of a living soul. It's the breathings of a living
soul. It's a sign of divine life in
the heart, that when there is that yearning, that longing,
that looking, that watching, that waiting, waiting for the Lord. You know,
David knew these waitings, these longings, and indeed, it's that
well-known portion in Psalm 42, as the heart panteth after the
water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God. Wasn't any of the gods of the
heathen? It's the living God. My soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude,
I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy
and praise, with the multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Hope thou in God. This is a dialogue
going on within a person. Speaking to his own soul, to
his own heart. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Do you have such a dialogue going
on in your heart? Speaking to yourself? Questioning? Oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. Maybe many things, David had
many things that were casting him down. Many things that made
him doubt, he did. Many things that deeply concerned
him. I mean, he was running, for one
thing, for fear of his life. He was surrounded by enemies
and deceitful men that dug pits for him and laid snares for him.
He was alone and it says that, I think it's in Psalm 84, as
a sparrow alone. And that's how he felt to be.
Is that how you feel? You feel to be a sparrow alone. And yet you long for the Lord
to appear. Oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. Wherefore, therefore will I remember
thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites and from
the hill Mizer. That means the The Hermonites
is the mountain of Hermon and the hill Mizah. There's two things
there. Hermon being the highest mountain
in northern Israel, actually in Lebanon. All the year round
it's capped with snow, that's how high it is. And that snow
is the source of the River Jordan. It flows down Mount Hermon and
there begins the River Jordan that runs down through Israel. And what it speaks of being a
great mountain and the source of water, it speaks of those
new covenant blessings in Christ Jesus. It speaks of the grace
of God in Jesus Christ. The Hill Miser is providential
blessings. Same sort of thing is spoken
of in Solomon's Song. His left hand is under my head,
His right hand doth embrace me, his left hand. Providential blessings. Maybe there are things that you
need in providence. But the advice that the Lord
Jesus Christ gives us is that seek ye first, notice this, seek
ye first the kingdom of heaven and my righteousness, And all
these things, that's providential things, shall be added unto you. In another place he says, take
no thought for the morrow. Let the morrow take thought for
the things of itself, sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof. So we have these Hermonites,
these Hermon blessings, which are the rich blessings of the
gospel in Jesus Christ, and the Helmiser, which is the little
hill of providence his left hand is under my head his right hand
right hand blessings are covenant blessings his right hand doth
embrace me you know friends it's an unspeakable thing when Christ
embraces you and when you embrace Christ it's something that is
beyond all that we can even begin to describe You're in the arms
of Jesus. Safe in the arms of Jesus. Safe
forever in the arms of Jesus. Deep, it says here, Psalm 42. Deep calleth unto deep at the
noise of thy water spouts. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me. You know, there's two deeps here. Deep calleth unto deep. What
does it mean in a spiritual sense of the word? You have the deep
of a poor sinner in all their wretchedness, in all their emptiness,
in all their poverty, and all their felt uselessness and hopelessness
and sinfulness. It's a great deep when you feel
your sins resting upon you. It's a great deep when you're
convicted of sin. You feel to be lost. You feel to be so far off. You
feel to be in darkness because you feel so much your sins. You
feel lost. But the other deep, deep calleth
unto deep, is Christ. What a depth of love, mercy and
grace there is in Christ. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden. They're the words of Christ,
deep calleth unto deep. Come unto me. All ye that labour
and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. There's a great deep
of the everlasting love of God in Christ. That great deep that
answers all your need as a poor sinner. That great deep of the
sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, where sin and iniquity has been
dealt with, where God and sinners are reconciled, where peace is
made to its God and man. There is that great deep of the
precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. What
a deep there is that answers the deep of the poor sinner in
the depths of all their wretchedness, emptiness, and poverty. There's
an answer in deep, in Christ. There is. The cause that is too
hard for thee. These are the words of Christ.
The cause that is too hard for thee. Bring it unto me. Bring
it unto me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. And there's a door of hope here
in Psalm 42. After that deep calleth unto
deep, and all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me, for
the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. There's
a hope. The Lord will command, the Lord
will deliver I will deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven
also. What does that mean? Seven is
the number of completion. I will never leave thee. You
think of the sweet promises that God has made unto his people. Promises of deliverance, promises
of salvation, promises of redemption. Think of that lovely word of
promise in Isaiah. chapter 41 and verse 10. There's a multitude of promises
here in one verse. Fear thou not. This is the Lord
that is speaking to a poor, wretched, helpless sinner. Fear thou not,
for I am with thee. That's what you want to know,
isn't it? Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Fear thou not,
for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. And it goes on in verse 14, fear
not thou worm Jacob and you men of Israel, I will help thee,
saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And then in verse 17, these promises,
They flow from what we have in our text. Say unto my soul, I
am thy salvation. When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none. And is that where you are today?
You seek water and there is none. And their tongue faileth for
thirst. I the Lord will hear them. I
the God of Israel will not forsake them. Say unto my soul, I am
thy salvation. I will open rivers in high places,
in the wilderness, where no water is. I will open rivers in high
places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a pool of water and dry land springs of water. I
will plant in the wilderness. God will. He's speaking of the
wilderness of this world and he's speaking of his people being
planted there in the wilderness of this world and he will water
them continually. I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar. We notice it in chapter 60 this
morning. The Lord planting these trees. He says it here again. I will
plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shitter tree and the myrtle
and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the
fir tree and the pine and the box together in the desert that
they may see and know and consider and understand together that
the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy One of Israel
hath created it. He will plant his people in the
most inhospitable places, that's what it's saying. where naturally
speaking trees would not grow. You don't see trees growing in
a desert. There isn't enough water. You see a barren place
where no water is. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. I am thy salvation. Or is this
what you so long to hear? I am Thy salvation. The great I am. You think of
those wonderful titles given to the Lord Jesus Christ in Holy
Scripture. The glorious person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the saviour of sinners. This man receiveth sinners
and eateth with them. This glorious holy God man, the
man Christ Jesus. But we're looking at these two
words, I am. And when he comes to his servant
John in Revelation chapter 1, I am he which is and which was
and which is to come, the almighty, the I am, the great I am, which
is and which was. My beloved friends, with heaven
and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer, he does. And we read here in the Psalms
that he will hear the cry of the destitute and he will not
despise their prayer. This Lord Jesus, this mighty
King, this almighty Saviour, who is the same yesterday and
today and forever, I am thy salvation. This dear Saviour, who has redeemed
his people, who has delivered his people from sin and Satan's
power, who has delivered them from the curse of the law, from
its condemning sentence. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation
in Christ Jesus. That's where salvation is. And
them that are in Christ Jesus, they're saved with an everlasting
salvation. Indeed they are, my beloved friends. You think of that poor woman
The Syro-Phoenician woman, when she came to the Lord Jesus saying,
Lord help me. Lord help me. He said, oh you've
come to chapel today, Lord help me. Now, the Lord tried her,
didn't answer her immediately. He said, I'm not sent but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. How, that must have cut
through her. Lord help me. But the wonderful
thing is it says, and she worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. It was an act of worship, a bowing
down, humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, a confession
of sin, a confession of unworthiness. But he answered her, daughter,
go in peace. And her daughter was healed from
that hour. daughter was healed from the
hour say unto my soul I am thy salvation his name shall be called
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins there is salvation
in none other my beloved friends there is none other name that
is given under heaven whereby you must be saved but the name
of Jesus Christ. But in him you'll find everything,
literally everything, for time and for eternity. My God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. That's all your need spiritually,
to take you safely and honorably through life, and all your needs
providentially. Seek ye first the kingdom of
heaven and my righteousness, and all these things, that providential
things, and all these things shall be added unto you. Oh,
my beloved friends, may the Lord grant that this may be a living
word in your heart, in your soul. Say, unto my soul, I am thy salvation. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1079. The tune is Allington 203. Eternal source of joys divine, To thee my soul aspires. Oh,
could I say the Lord is mine. It is all my soul desires. Hymn 1079. Thank you. ? Tis all my soul desires ? ? Thy
smile can in me really acquire ? Unmingled and refined. Substantial
bliss, ? With health and joy ? ? And lasting
effort alike ? ? Christ our God is born ? of earth which thou didst propagate. Spirit of the Father, Shreddered the dawn of heavenly
night, And sweetly trumpeted to peace, Bless my home, my home. Bless,
show me love, my love. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? and may my pain is removed. Then shall my I thank the Lord, rejoice, and
triumph in my heart. ? To hear my voice ? ? Tell them
again to hear my voice ? Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.