Turn back, if you would, to Isaiah
49. Not long ago, when we looked
at the doctrine of Christ, I told you I hoped to preach the Word. And we looked at a lot of the
Word. And that's what I hope to do
again. I want to preach the Word tonight. I was so comforted by
the Word itself. And so, I want to look at this,
and we're going to read the Word. Isaiah 49, our text tonight,
verse 13, begins with this word, sing. Sing. Sing. It's a good thing. It is a good
thing. Sing. I sing, for I cannot be
silent. And His love is the theme of
my song. Sing. I want you to turn with
me to Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44, look at verse 21. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel,
for thou art My servant. I have formed thee. Thou art
My servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
Me. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions." All those transgressions, they're
gone. And as a cloud thy sins return
unto Me, for I have redeemed thee." I'm glad you chose that
song. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout,
ye lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing, ye
mountains, O forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord hath
redeemed Jacob and glorified Himself in Israel." Sing. Sing. If we can get a hold of
that and be reminded of that, we'll sing. Turn with me to Acts chapter
16. Acts 16, and look at verse 16. It says, "...it came to pass,
as we went to prayer, a certain damsel, possessed with a spirit
of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain
by soothsaying." She was a soothsayer, and people were in control of
her, and she made them a lot of money. Verse 17, The same
followed Paul and us, and cried, this woman cried, saying, These
men are thy servants of the Most High God, which show unto us
the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But
Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the Spirit, I command
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came
out the same hour. And when her masters saw that
the hope of their gains was gone, they couldn't make any more money
on her, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the
marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates,
saying, These men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city,
and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither
to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together
against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely." Watch them hard. "...who having received
such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their
feet fast in stocks for preaching the truth." Verse 25 says, and
at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God. And the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were
opened and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the
prison, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice
saying, Do thyself no harm, we are all here. Then he called
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized, he and all his." Straightway, they were all baptized. And when he had brought them
into his house, he set meat before them and he rejoiced. He rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. Sing. Ask Paul and Silas, was it worth
being beaten and thrown into prison for God to save a man
and his whole house? Oh, sing. Our text in Isaiah
49 says, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break
forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted His
people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted. Verse 14 says, But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. That's what I was saying in my
heart recently. Oh no! That's not the outcome
I wanted. The Lord has forgotten us. The
Lord has forsaken us. Well, Zion turned to Isaiah 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Verse 18 says, "'To whom then will you liken God?' To whom then will ye liken God?
Now look at verse 12. It says, Who hath measured the
waters in the hollow of His hand? Do you believe that? If God said
it and wrote it, do you believe that He actually took the waters
into the hollow of His hand and poured them into the earth? I
do. and metered out heaven with the
span of a needle, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure."
All the dust particles numbered. "...and weighed the mountains
in scales, and the hills in a balance. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord? or being his counselor hath taught
him." Who taught him? With whom took he counsel? And
who instructed him? And taught him in the path of
judgment? And taught him knowledge? And
showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket. and are counted as the small
dust of the balance." Just the leftover dust. Behold, He taketh
up the isles as a very little thing. Not those little bitty
isles down in the Caribbean that they really can't get on the
map. The big isles, the continents. That's a small thing. Verse 16
says, "...and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn the cedars
of Lebanon, Those big huge cedars, the redwood forest, the cedars
of Lebanon, that's not even sufficient to burn. "...nor the beasts thereof
sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as
nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing." Not
only are they nothing, they're counted to Him less than nothing,
and their vanity is just a puff of smoke. That's all it is. To
whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto Him? The workman melteth a graven
image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth
silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation or sacrifice chooseth a tree that will not
rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Have
you not known? Have you not heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. That stretches out the heavens
as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. That
bringeth the princes to nothing." These princes in this earth,
He's going to bring them to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity. They're not in control of anything.
Yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not be sown,
yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he shall
also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken me,
or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One?" Lift up your eyes
on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth
out their host by number. He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power,
not one faileth." Well, you know, they're going to force this new
health care plan on us. Who is the keeper of my health? The great physician. Verse 27 says, Why sayest thou,
O Jacob? And speakest thou, O Israel?
My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over
from my God. He can't see me. Hast thou not
known? Hast thou not heard? that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His
understanding. There's nothing He doesn't know. Nothing. He giveth power to the
faint, and to them that have no might, He increases strength.
Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord..."
Oh, I'm anxious. This didn't turn out like I wanted
it to, and now what am I going to do? I've got to change my
health care plan, and now I'm going to have to do this, and now I've got to
do that, and I've got to burn my birth certificate, and I've got to
get rid of my Social Security. Wait on the Lord. Just wait on the
Lord. Wait on the Lord. "...They that wait upon the Lord,
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not faint."
Wait on the Lord. Back in our text, Isaiah 49.
That comforts me. Isn't that good? I'm not really
saying anything. I don't really have anything
to say. Our text, Isaiah 49 verse 13
says, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth
into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted His people,
and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The
Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a
woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Can she? Rita, can she? The answer is yes. It says in verse 15, "...yea,
they may forget." But he said, I'm not going to.
Yet will I not forget thee. It is possible for a woman to
forget her natural born child. But he said, it's not physically
possible for me to forget you. Yea, they may forget, yet will
I not forget thee. Verse 16 says, Behold, I have
graven thee upon the palms of my hands." Turn with me to John
20. John 20. Look at verse 26. And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands. And reach hither thy hand, and
thrust it into my side. and be not faithless, but believing."
He said, Thomas, you see that right there? Touch it. Those scars that he received
from the nails that were driven into his hands because of my
sin, and the sins of all his people,
Those scars are still there. They're still there. Every time he looks at his hands, he remembers his little ones. Every time. I'll never forget you. That man, Ed Hale, wrote a song
called, I'll Be Looking for Scars Up in Heaven. Scars up in heaven. Scars that love held on the tree. Scars that turned judgment to
mercy for a hell deserving sinner like me. I've engraved them on
the palms of my hands. Back to our text, Isaiah 49. Verse 16 says, And I thought
this was interesting. I looked up that word. And it
does mean low, behold. But it also means if. If I have
graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually
before me. Thy walls are continually before
me." Now what are our walls? Turn with me to Nehemiah chapter
2. It's two books before Job. Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah is before the king,
Artaxerxes. In Nehemiah 2 verse 2 says, Wherefore
the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou
art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow
of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
and said unto the king, Let the king live forever. Why should
not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's
sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with
fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven,
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy
servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest
send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres,
that I may build it." Verse 11 says, So I came to Jerusalem,
and was there three days. And I rose in the night, I and
some few men with me, neither told I any man what my God had
put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with
me save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night
by the gate of the valley even before the dragon well and to
the dung port and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were
broken down. And the gates thereof were consumed
with fire. Verse 17, Then said I unto them,
Ye see the distress that we are in? How Jerusalem lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come, and let us build
up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Now
go to chapter 4, verse 6. So built we the wall, and all
the wall was joined together unto the half thereof." We built
half the wall back. For the people had a mind to
work. But it came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobiah and
the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashtodites heard that
the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began
to be stopped, then they were very wroth and conspired all
of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to
hinder it. Nevertheless, we made our prayer
unto God and set a watch against them day and night because of
them. Verse 13, Therefore set I in
the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places I even
set the people after their families with their swords, and their
spears, and their bows. Verse 15, And it came to pass,
when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had
brought their counsel to naught, that we returned all of us to
the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from
that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the
work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields,
the bows, and the habergens, and the rulers were behind all
the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall,
and they that bear burdens with those that laid it, every one
with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other
hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had
a sword girded by a side, and so builded. And he that sounded
the trumpet was by me. Thy walls are continually before
me. What our God is saying to us
in our text is, your defense and your safety is continually
in the front of my mind. I heard a message one time by
Brother Henry Mahan on God's guardian angels. Oh, man. He said, when you're driving
down the road, they're sitting on the hood of your car. When you walk
up to their house, they're sitting on your front porch. Your defense
and your safety. I thought about, who was it,
Elijah? He prayed that his servant would
see what he saw, because they'd come to take him. The Lord opened
his eyes, and when he opened up, he saw chariots of fire and
flaming swords. Your defense and your safety
is in front of my mind. Priority number one. Isn't that
comforting? Thy walls are continually before
me. What are our walls? Turn with
me to Psalm 122. Psalm 122. It says, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet
shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built
as a city that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the
tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel to give thanks
unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of
judgment, the thrones of the house of David, Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love
thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions'
sake, I will now say, Peace be with thee. Because of the house
of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. Our Lord is saying
in our text, Your peace with God is continually in front of
my mind. Continually. In the world, there
is no peace. They're trying to make peace
when there is no peace. Look over here and there's nothing
but trouble. Look over there and there's nothing
but sorrow. Look within and there's nothing
but fear. Look without, and there's nothing
but worry. Look up. Peace. Total peace. Peace with God. Your peace is continually before
me. What are our walls? Go with me
to Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26 verse 1 says, In that
day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a
strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he
trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. My margin right there in verse
4 says, For the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages. Trust in
the Lord. He's appointed salvation for
walls. Your salvation is continually
in the front of my mind. Rock of ages, cliff for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Where
do our walls go to? Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60 verse 15. Whereas thou hast been forsaken
and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee
and eternal excellency. A joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk
of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings, and thou
shalt know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold,
and for iron I will bring silver, for wood brass, and for stones
iron. I will also make thy officers
peace, and thy exactors righteousness." I'm going to put peace and righteousness
over you. Verse 18 says, "...violence shall
no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within
thy borders, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation." and thy
gates, praise. The sun shall be no more thy
light by day, neither the brightness shall the moon give light unto
thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and
thy God thy glory. The sun shall no more go down,
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be
thine everlasting light, and the days of thy morning shall
be ended. Thy people also shall be all
righteous, They shall inherit the land forever, the branch
of my planning, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in
His time." Our Lord says, Zion, my chosen,
my elect, Your eternal excellency, that's talking about our eternal
home, is continually in the front of
my mind. Look, it's across my page, Isaiah
62 verse 5. As a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall thy sons marry thee. And as the bridegroom rejoices
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I've set
a watchman upon thy walls. If I could afford it, I would
hire a bodyguard for her. I'd put a watchman on our walls. God can. And He has. What is our defense? What is our safety? What is our peace? What is our
salvation and what is our eternal excellency? The answer is, it
is not a what, it's a who. Who is our wall? Go to Revelation chapter 4. Revelation 4 verse 1 says, After
this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the
Spirit. And behold, a throne was set
in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He that sat was to
look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. This one
who sits on the throne looks like jasper. I saw him and this
is what he looked like, jasper." Now turn to Revelation 21. Revelation
chapter 21. Verse 17 says, this is heavenly
Jerusalem, verse 17 says, And He measured the wall thereof a hundred
and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that
is, of the angel. And the building of the wall
of it was Jasper. That's what the wall is made
out of. He that sits on the throne looks just like Jasper. And the
whole wall is made out of Jasper. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
defense. He's our maker, our defender,
our redeemer, and our friend. He is our safety, our peace,
our salvation, our eternal excellency. Now turn back to our text and
I'll close. Isaiah 49 verse 17 says, Thy children shall
make haste. That word translates builders. Thy builders are going to come
and make haste. I know you're broken down. I
know you're broken down. I know you're hurting. But thy
builders are going to make haste. The Lord said, the Spirit of
the Lord God hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain. But He said, thy
builders are going to make haste. It says, Thy children shall make
haste, thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste shall go
forth of thee. Don't let them get you down.
This is not our place. We have here no continuing city.
It's not our place. Don't let them get you down.
Vengeance is mine. They shall soon be cut down like
the grass. So sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth, and break forth into singing. O mountains, for the
Lord hath comforted His people, and He will have mercy upon His
afflicted." I hope the Lord will bless His
Word to our heart. Let's stand together.