Let's turn to God's Word and
I want to direct you to words that we find in Psalm 78. Turning to Psalm 78. It's the
second longest Psalm. The longest of course is Psalm
119. that's divided into various sections. Here is a long psalm of some
72 verses, Psalm 78, and I'll read from verse 56 through to
verse 66. The psalm is recounting something
of Israel's history. Reading then at verse 56. Yet
they tempted and provoked the Most High God and kept not his
testimonies, but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their
fathers. They were turned aside like a
deceitful bow, for they provoked him to anger with their high
places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When
God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel,
so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he
placed among men, and delivered his strength into captivity,
and his glory into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over
also unto the sword, and was wroth with his inheritance. The
fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given
to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation. Then the Lord awaked as one out
of sleep, And like a mighty man that chouteth by reason of wine,
and he smote his enemies in the hinder parts, he put them to
a perpetual reproach. As I said, it's a psalm that
sets before us something of the Lord's dealings with the children. If Israel speaks of their rebellions,
speaks of their unbelief, and how God comes to chasten them. And of course, we have to remember
how all these things happened unto them for examples, as Paul
says to the Corinthians, and they're written for our learning,
upon whom the ends of the world are come. Again, Paul, there
in Romans 15, tells us, for whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning, that we, through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And so whilst it's
dealing with the history of God's ancient people, we remember that
they were a typical people, typical of God's true people, God's spiritual
Israel, and so there are lessons for us to learn. And here we
read of how God departed from them. It says
in verse 60, We forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he
placed among men, and delivered his strength into captivity and
his glory into the enemy's hands. It's referring, in fact, to those
chapters that we read in the first book of Samuel. What we
have there in chapters 4, 5, and 6 concerns at the battle at Ebenezer, they
fell before the Philistines and the Philistines captured the
Ark of God. That's the strength that is spoken
of in verse 61. He delivered his strength into
captivity, his glory. All the Philistines were able
then to take away the Ark and all that that signified to them. And the theme I really want to
take up tonight from that particular history as it's referred to here
at the end of this 78th Psalm. The theme is found in verse 65. Then the Lord awaked, as one
out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouted by reason of
why. God's awakening to deliver is
the theme, God awakening to deliver, the delivering again of that
Ark of the Covenant from the hands of the enemy. We think of all that that Ark
should have meant to them, and doubtless did mean to those who
were the faithful in Israel. It was, as we know, the very
throne of God. In Exodus 25 we're told how God
gave instruction to Moses with regards to the mercy seat, the
covering that was to sit on top of the Ark of the Covenant to
Cherubim. And God said that He would come
and there between those cherubim upon the mercy seat He would
meet with the children of Israel and He would commune with them. And later here in Psalm 8, the
Psalm of Asaph, Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest
Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubim,
shine forth. before Ephraim and Benjamin and
Manasseh, stir up thy strength and come and save us. Turn us
again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved."
All the significance then of the Ark of the Covenant and the
Mercy Seat, the very throne of God. In fact, it's equated with
God Himself, as we saw at the end of that reading. There in
verse 20 of 1 Samuel chapter 6, where God smote the men of
Beth Shemesh because they dared to look into the ark. And what do those men say? Who
is able to stand before this Holy Lord God? Or the very ark
then, it's the token, the sign of the very presence of God. when God awakes how God then
shows himself when he shines forth from between those cherubim
upon the mercy seat and I want us to consider three things tonight
as we think of the way in which God acts when he is pleased to
awaken He comes in miraculously, he comes majestically, and he
also comes in a merciful fashion. Those three things are what I
want to try to address from these words of the text here in verse
65 of the psalm. Then the Lord awaked as one out
of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. God acts miraculously. And we saw that quite clearly
in what happened when the Philistines took that Ark and brought it
to Ashton. There in 1 Samuel 5, verse 2,
the Philistines took the Ark of God They brought it into the
house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. This is their God. And
when they of Ashtod rose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon
was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him
in his place again. And when they arose early on
the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and
both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left
to him. What is happening here? Here
is God, as it were, destroying their idol. But their idol is
made to bow down. Herod is, as it were, brought
to worship Him who is the only living and true God. And all of this, you see, is
the hand of God. This is God, as it were, awakening
now. He's going to deliver Himself,
as it were, He's going to deliver the children of Israel also. And what does he do with these
Philistines? Well, he visits his judgments
upon them. We're told here that verse 66,
In the psalm he smote his enemies in the hinder paths. He put them
to a perpetual reproach. He strikes them down with hemorrhoids.
That's what he was. and he didn't only do that, he
also blighted the land with mice. Isn't that indicated again in
that 6th chapter where we were reading? Chapter 6 and verse
5 where the The priests of the Philistines
are instructing them and telling them what they should do with
the Ark in order that they might be delivered from these terrible
judgments that have come upon themselves and upon their lands.
They say there in chapter 6 of 1 Samuel, verse 3, If you send
away the Ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty, but in any
wise return him a trespass offering. Then ye shall be healed, and
it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from
you. Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which
we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emeralds,
and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of
the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your lord. Wherefore ye shall make images
of your emirates, and images of your mice, that mar the land. And ye shall give glory unto
the God of Israel. For adventure he will lighten
his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your
land." God himself, you see, even these pagan priests recognize
these things. There was a double plague upon
the Philistines. and therefore they must send
this trespass offering of the emeralds
and of the mice, made out of gold, together with the ark. But what do they do? They attempt,
as it were, to test the situation. Is this really the hand of God? Remember what they're told there
in verse 7 of chapter 6, make a new cart, take two milched
kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to
the cart, and bring their calves home from them. And take the
ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart, and put the jewels
of gold which you return him for a trespass offering in a
coffer by the side thereof, and send it away, that it may go,
and see If he goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth
Shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil. But if not,
then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us, it
was a chance that happened to us." What are they doing? These priests, as they're given
this instruction, these directions, they're telling the people to
make this test to see if this is really the hand of the God
of Israel. But see how they act, they had
to take these milked cows, not beasts of burden. They had never
before borne a yoke, it says. They were kept only for milking.
They were milked cows, milking cattle. And it would be quite
natural for these animals to go where their calves were. But
what are we told there at verse 10? They tied these milch kind
to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And yet, the
kind took the straight way to the way of Beth Shemesh, glowing
as they go. It's the hand of God. It's God's
providence that's at work here. But it's God in a miraculous
way showing Himself. they will not be able to keep
the Ark of the Covenant, because where it is amongst the Philistines,
it will bring terrible judgments upon them. And as God acts in
that miraculous way, so also we see that God acts in a very
majestic manner. He humbled and he destroyed Dagon,
their god, their idol as we saw at the beginning of chapter 6. And he humbles all the lords
of the Philistines. They imagined that they had triumphed
over Israel and they had taken the Ark from Shiloh. Well, what had happened, of course,
if we'd read the fourth chapter, the children of Israel had actually
taken the ark into battle with them. That's how they came to
lose it. And they thought they'd accomplished a great triumph
over Israel and over Israel's God, those Philistines. But now we see how God humbles
even the Lord of the Philistines. What happens is that they follow
they follow the carts being pulled by these cattle they're being
humbled they're following the ark as it were as those who are
but servants to see what the Lord God himself will do God
is in all of this humbling the enemies of Israel and the enemies
of God himself As we have it in the text, the Lord awaked
as one out of sleep and like a mighty man that shouted by
reason of wine and he smote his enemies. In the hinder parts
he put them to a perpetual reproach. But not only that, when God acts
in a majestic fashion it doesn't just affect the enemies of God,
it also affects those who are God's professed people. He humbled
also those men of Beth Shemesh. He smote the men of Beth Shemesh,
we read at the end of that sixth chapter in 1st Samuel. Why so? Because they had looked into
the ark of the Lord. Even he smote of the people 50,000
and 3 score and 10 men. 50,070 men he smote. And the people lamented, because
the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this
holy Lord God? And to whom shall He go up from
us? They recognized that God is now
dealing with them. But why did God deal with them
in this severe fashion? Well, Beth-shemesh was a priestly
city. It was a place that was provided
for the tribe of Levi, of whom, of course, the Aaronic priest
came. They were Levites. We read there
how it was the Levites who took down the Ark of the Lord. When
that cart arrives there in chapter 6 and verse 15, it's a Levite. who have that task, of course,
of handling the Ark of God. The city is a Levitical city,
a priestly city. And God had told the Lemites
quite plainly how that they must never look into these holy things,
though they are favoured and privileged to handle them, they
must never be presumptuous with these things, lest they die.
Numbers chapter 4 and verse 20. There is such a thing, you see,
as sinful curiosity, and that's what's forbidden. All God says
quite plainly, the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,
the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children. There are things that are secret
and all that is associated with that worship of God was something
that they were not to be presumptuous with. And so there we see how
subsequently those men of Beth-shemesh, they send the ark of wine. They
sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kir Japhielim, saying, The
Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord. Come ye
down and fetch it up to you. And that's what we read of in
the following seventh chapter there in the first book of Samuel. So God shows himself, shows something
of his majesty, even in his dealing with the Bethshemites as well
as his dealing with the Philistines and so in the whole episode we
see that providential and yet more than providential that's
quite miraculous really the workings of God we see something of the
majesty of God but also in all of it we see the mercy of God
and that mercy ultimately is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said this psalm is certainly
a long psalm and look at what we read previously In verse 6
of the psalm, it speaks of the generation to come. Verse 6,
that the generation to come might know them, even the children
which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their
children, that they might set their hope in God and not forget
the work of God's, but keep His commandments. Now, the generation
to come. That is a reference to the New
Testament and to the New Testament Church, to the Gospel Church. As I say, all of these things
are written for our learning, upon whom the ends of the world
are come. And who is that one who is the
great deliverer of his people? It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
For the Lord awaked as one out of a sleep, and like a mighty
man that chouteth by reason of wine, ultimately it's in the
work of Christ that we see the great deliverances of God. He
is the image of the invisible God. No man hath seen God at
any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared Him. O in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." Though we're reading here in Old Testament
history, we are to seek to understand it in terms of what God would
do in the fullness of the time. And how the Lord Jesus Christ
reveals something of the majesty of God in the miracles that He
performs. Though He comes in that state
of great humiliation, though he takes upon him the form of
a servant, and he is made in the likeness of men, and yet
does he not reveal something of his glory, something of his
majesty? When we think of his miracles,
his beginning of miracles, did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, it
says, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed
on him. Or he comes to his own, he comes
to the Jews, they receive him not, but there are those who
do receive him. when He reveals to them His glory. And as He
reveals His majesty in the miracles that He performs, so He also
reveals His mercy constantly throughout the whole life of
His ministry here upon the earth. He is ever-merciful, He is ever-gracious,
a bruised ridge how He not break, nor quench the smoking flax. He's full of compassion, time
and again as he performs the miracles we're told quite explicitly
how he was moved with compassion there in Matthew chapter 15 verse
32 following where he's feeding the four thousands we read how
he was moved with compassion upon the multitude and again when he cleanses the
leper at the end of Mark chapter 1 when the leper comes and asks
for cleansing what does the Lord do? He has compassion upon him
and he touches the leper and he cleanses the leper again in
Luke chapter 7 we read there at verse 11 following of the
widow of Nain and he witnesses this scene her only son is dead
and the Lord sees the funeral procession as it were and it
says he has compassion upon that widow and he goes and he touches
the fire and he raises the young man to life again and restores
him to his mother. You read in the Gospels how time
after time it's the compassion of the Lord that moves him that
moves him to minister to the people. And here we see, you see, how
it is God himself who must act on behalf of Israel. The Israelites did not seek to
recapture the ark. But in his sovereign providence,
God restored it to them. Why was it that God did such
a thing because of his great mercy. What is that that sits
upon the top of the Ark? It's the mercy seat. And it's
a place where God sits enthroned in the midst of Israel. They were not beforehand with
God. It was God himself who had to act in order for the restoring
of the Ark of the Covenant. He says, I am sought of them
that ask not for me, I am found of them that sought me not. And
then those words from Isaiah 65 are repeated by the Apostle
in the New Testament. He quotes that very passage there
in Romans 10, I was found of them that sought me not, I was
made manifest unto them that ask not after me. Lord, we come
together to seek the face of God, but let us not think that
we're really beforehand with Him. Why do we come to call upon
His name? Because He is the one who puts
it into our hearts, thus to call upon Him, thus to seek Him. And
as we seek Him, can we not plead with Him that He would yet awake
in our day, that He would show Himself, reveal Himself as King
in the midst of His people, and that he might come to work
the wonders of Christ, destroying his enemies and saving a multitude
of sinners. Well, this is the God, then,
that we come to worship. This is the God that we come
to pray to. And he is able. He is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, Paul says. Nothing is impossible
with the Lord. and we should be those then who
desire that he would yet be pleased to come again to reveal himself
to us just as he he did deliver the ark, he restored it to the
children of Israel but also he gave them ultimate victory at
the very place where they had been defeated. If we read on
there in those opening chapters of 1st Samuel, we see the significance
of the place called Ebenezer. The very name, of course, means
the Lord's helped us. All the Lord was pleased then
to restore the ark and to grant victory over those enemies, even
the Philistines. But how Now we must of course
always come before him with all due reverence. The most striking
thing that he dealt so severely with those men at Beth Shemesh.
And so they wanted rid of the Ark. They sent it to Kerjath-Jirim.
And you know even subsequently when David would take the Ark
from Kerjath-Jerim and take it up to Jerusalem when he wants
to establish the worship of God there at Manzion moving as it
were from Shiloh where they first set up the tabernacle he wants
to set it all up now at Jerusalem and they arrange to take up the
Ark from Kerjath-Jerim and you know the incident how do they
convey the Ark of God. Well, they arranged to make a
new cart. And as the ark is being taken
from Kiryat Jerim to Jerusalem, the oxen stumble and the ark
seems likely to fall off the cart. And a man called Uzzah
stretches forth his hand to steady the ark of God and he is struck
down dead, a man called Uzzah. And David, poor David is tormented
by that. And so they delay taking the
Ark. But then we read subsequently
what happens in the first book of Chronicles, chapter 15. And what they have to do, of
course, is to be careful to do things just as the Lord God Himself
had instructed them. It was for the Levites to convey
the the Ark of the Covenant through all the wilderness wanderings.
They were to be the ones who would bear the Ark. What David
had done really was foolishness. So there in the first book of
Chronicles, in chapter 15, verse 11, David called for Zadok and the
Biathra of the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriah, Isaiah,
and Joel, Jemiah, and Elial, and Aminadab. And said unto them,
Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves,
both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the
Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for you.
For because ye did it not at the first, The Lord our God made
a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due
order. So the priests and the Levites
sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of
Israel. And the children of Israel bear
the ark of God upon their shoulders with the stakes, thereon as Moses
commanded, according to the word of the Lord." It all has to be
done, you see, according to the words of the Lord. It's the due order. David says
to these Levites, we sought him not after the due order. And what is the due order in
which we come to pray? Well, we come to the mercy seat
of the throne of grace, and we come to plead only the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way of access
whereby we can ever approach God. We must implore that name.
We must place all our confidence and all our trust in Him who
is the great High Priest. And we come to plead with the
Lord that He would yet awaken Himself in our day and generation. Then the Lord awaked as one out
of sleep and like a mighty man that shouted by reason of wine. Now the Lord help us thus to
seek His face. Now before we pray, let us sing
our second praise in the hymn 285. O for our hearts to seek
my God, encouraged by His gracious Word, to view my Savior all complete,
and thy submissive at his feet. Arise, O God, thy cause defend,
deliverance unto Zion send. Arise, arise, O God of might,
and put thy threatening foes to flight." The hymn 285, the
tune Winchester New 439.