I was just thinking, as Brother
Travis was reading that, what a fitting verse. God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind. When we get fearful, let us remember
that verse. God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Again,
that's why we're just to focus on our King, aren't we? Oh, there's
so much going on in this world, but yet we just get focused on
Him and everything else just fades away, doesn't it? Open
your Bibles, if you would, to the Book of Nahum. The Book of
Nahum. Today we'll look at six divine
attributes. Six divine attributes. The book
of Nahum, chapter 1. We'll read verses 2-7. And from these verses, I'd like
us to consider six divine attributes. Six divine attributes of our
great, sovereign, majestic, holy, righteous God. My, oh my. Now the definition from Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary for Attributes is a quality, character, or characteristic
ascribed to someone or something. An attribute is a noble characteristic. When we speak of attributes belonging
to God, we speak of those things which are essential to His being.
They're essential to His being, without which He would not be
God. So let's read here in Nahum 1,
verses 2-7. God is jealous. And the Lord revengeth. The Lord
revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on His adversaries. And He reserveth wrath for His
enemies. The Lord, Jehovah, is slow to
anger. and great in power, and will
not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of
his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and
Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes. The mountains quake
at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell
therein. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good. a stronghold in the day of trouble.
And he knoweth them that trust in him. The first attribute I'd like
us to consider is God is jealous. It says here in verse 2, God
is jealous and the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries. And he reserved
the wrath for his enemies. Now, with God, jealousy is not
a fault. It's an attribute. It's right
for God to be jealous because he's perfect. You know God's
jealous for his son? He's jealous for his son. Ask those who crucified him. Oh, my. You know God's jealous
for his own honor and glory? Ask Moses. And God is jealous for His worship
and ordinances? Ask Isaiah. And you know that God is jealous
for His people? Ask Pharaoh. Any assault upon His person?
Resistance to his will, rebellion to his rule, or objection to
his own purpose is evil. And it must be punished. And
we see clearly in this verse that God will avenge his elect. He will avenge his people. It
says here, the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries.
And he reserves wrath for his enemies. Our God is no one to
be trifled with. He's no one to be trifled with.
And even though people say, well, I don't believe in Him, it doesn't
change a bit the fact that He is God. I'll tell you, He's no one to
be trifled with. Not at all. You know why? Because He's the Almighty One.
He's the one true and living God. And people say all kinds of evil
about Him, which is not true. But one day they will see Him.
The Scripture declares here, Revengeth, and is furious. The
Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies." Are you his enemy? Oh, my. What a sobering verse. The next thing we see in our
text is that the Lord is slow to anger. What a wonderful attribute. Look at this in verse 3. The
Lord is slow to anger. Now, what are we? We're quick
to anger, aren't we? And if you don't believe that,
watch somebody wrong you and then see how quickly you get
upset about it. We're quick to anger. Praise
be to God here, it says, the Lord is slow to anger. And in great power, look at verse
3, the Lord is slow to anger and in great power and will not
at all quit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. Beloved, the great and terrible God, the one true God
who is jealous over his Son, jealous about his people, we see here as patient and long-suffering. Aren't you thankful he is? You
know, when I consider how patient the Lord was with me before he
saved me, think back. Think back about before the Lord
saved you. Think how patient the Lord was
with you. He knew you were His. And think of how patient He was
with us. Now that we're saved sinners, He's even more patient
it seems like with us. Oh my! We just keep doing the
same things over and over again. We keep struggling with the same
things. And He's so patient with us,
isn't He? He's so loving with His people.
See, you know what? It's the goodness of God that
brings men to repentance. Because we see Him. We see Him
and how merciful He is to us. How wondrous He is to us. And
it just fills our hearts with joy as believers. Oh, my. He's absolutely wonderful. Turn, if you would, to 2 Peter. You know, God's not in a hurry to punish
sinners. His judgment's sure, though. God's judgment is sure.
Sinners will be judged. But He's not in a hurry. You
know, we as humans sometimes we're in a hurry to get things
done. God's not. He runs on His timetable. He's
not in a hurry. Listen to this in 2 Peter 2.
2 Peter 2. Let's read this. Verses 9 to
18. His judgment's sure. But our
great God, He defers His wrath, giving sinners space for repentance.
So we see then that the one true and living God is a merciful
God. He's ready to pardon. He's willing to be gracious,
beloved. And have not we who are the people
of God tasted His graciousness? Have we not tasted His mercy? Have we not tasted that He's
long-suffering? Look at this in 2 Peter 2, verses
9 to 18. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations. Praise be to God. And to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. What a contrast. But chiefly, them that walk after
the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous,
are they self-willed Man likes to talk about their free will,
right? Self-willed. They are not afraid to speak
evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, which are greater in
power and might, bring not rallying accusations against them before
the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts
made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that
they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. and shall receive the reward
of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in
the daytime. Spots they are in blemishes,
sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast
with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease
from sin, beguiling unstable souls. In heart, they have exercised
with covetous practices, cursed children, which have forsaken
the right way." Now, notice that. It's singular. There's only one
right way. It's singular in the text there.
Who's the way, the truth, and the life? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one right way, isn't
He? See, but man devised all these different ways to supposedly
get them to glory. And they're wrong. They're wrong. They've forsaken the right way.
And they what? They've gone astray. Just wandering away, doing whatever
they think is right in their minds. Off they go. My, oh, my. Following the way of Balaam,
the son of Bosar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but
was rebuked for his iniquity. The dumb ass speaking with man's
voice forbid the madness of the prophet. These are wells without
water, clouds that are carried with the tempest, to whom the
midst of darkness is reserved forever. For when they speak
great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust
of their flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean
escape from them who live in error." Notice they speak great
swelling words of vanity. Empty words. They've forsaken
the right way. But we who are the redeemed of
the Lord, we know that the Lord is slow to anger. We know that
He's long-suffering with us. And we know that before we're
saved, well, we know now that He was long-suffering with us
before we were saved, and even more so after we're saved. Because now we know what the
truth is. And yet we struggle so much still, don't we? But
praise be to God for God's mercy, which was shed upon us in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read verse 3 again. We'll
see here the next attribute is that our Lord is great in power.
You've often heard me say that we desire to do things, but we
lack the ability sometimes. Well, we definitely lack the
ability to save ourselves and we lack the power to save ourselves.
But we look to the One who has all power and all ability. And
look how the Scripture brings it forth so clear here in verse
3. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. In Hebrew
that means what it means. Great. He's great. We know that His power is unmatched.
There's nothing that compares to his power. And will not all
acquit the wicked? The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind, and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. So this third attribute is the Lord is great in power.
That's the one who saved us. That's the one who saved us by
his grace. See, we lack the power to save
ourselves, don't we? But He has all power, beloved.
This is why the Scripture says He's able to save to the uttermost
those who come to Him, come to God in and through Christ. Because
He has all power. Praise God, His power was exercised
to save we who are His people, eh? He's supreme, beloved. He's almighty. And you know He can do, and He
always does, all that He's pleased to do. We may want to do something,
but we may lack the power, we may lack the ability, we may
lack the time. He's not so for God, beloved. Oh, He does not lack power, does
He? Not at all. He has all power. He's the Almighty One. He doesn't
lack ability either, does He? Oh, no, not at all. And you know
what? Praise God He's willing to save
us. Oh, my. Praise God that He was willing
to save His people, that He sent His Son here to die in our room
and place. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
46. We see here clearly in our text
brings forth that our God has all power. We see it brought
forth here in Isaiah chapter 46. He's a great God. You know why He's a great God?
Because He has great power. He's the one true living God. My, a weak God is a frustration
to Himself. and to those who trust Him. A
weak God is no God at all. Why? Because they can't save
anyone. You know why? Because they're
imaginary gods. All those Greek gods and all
the gods that people make up and worshiping angels and all
this stuff. Angels are real, but Jupiter
and all these other guys that they all used to worship, Just
imaginary gods. Figments of people's imagination.
Listen to what Isaiah 46, let's read this, verses 9 to 13. Look
at this. Remember the former things of old, for I am what? He's God. There's no room for
debate in there, is there? He's stating who He is. Isaiah
chapter 46, verses 9 to 13. Remember the former things of
all, for I am God, and there is none else." So all those other supposed gods
that people have are just figments of their imagination. Declaring the end from the beginning. Again, you've heard me say many
times, we know our lives when they begin, and then we get older,
and then we pass away. But he knows from the end all the way to the beginning. What comfort for the believer
in Christ who's given his life and given his soul to the Lord
Jesus Christ, right? And the only reason we do that
is because we're made willing in the day of God's power. It's
wonderful. Oh, look at this. declaring the
end from beginning and from ancient times of things that are not
yet done. He already knows how it's all
going to end. Saying, my counsel shall stand. In other words, no one will thwart
God. No one. No man. Man may puff up and say all these
things, Not one person is going to ever thwart God. And I will
do all my pleasure. You know them birds singing when
you go outside? That's all according to the will of God for you to
hear. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's wonderful. Calling the
ravenous bird from the east. The man that executed my counsel
from a far country. Look at that. My counsel from
a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. If God says he's going to do
something, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. I have
purposed it. I will also do it. Hearken unto
me, you stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness. And is
that not our natural state? Stout-hearted. Oh, rebels. Shaking our fist at God. I know you who believe were there
too. You who are the redeemed of the Lord. We may not have
outrightly said stuff, but we sure shook our fist at God, didn't
we? By our actions, by our thoughts. My, oh, my. We were far from righteousness.
Look at this. I bring near my righteousness.
Who's God's righteousness? The Lord Jesus Christ. I'll bring
him near. It shall not be far off, and
my salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in
Zion. That's the church. Salvation's place. Not the building. But God's people. What it means
is God's people are saved by the grace of God in Christ. Who
are we in? Who's the head and we're the
body? Christ. I will place salvation in Zion
for Israel, my glory. Who's the Israel of God? God's
elect. God's elect. And we're saved
by the grace of God for what? For God's glory. Our God, our great God, has all
power to keep His word. We saw that brought forth there.
I've spoken it. I'll also bring it to pass. I've
purposed it. I will also do it. My, it's wonderful. And our great God has all power
to accomplish his purpose. Whatever he is purposed to do,
he'll do it. Rejoice, you who are the people
of God. God purposed that you'd be saved. You're saved on purpose by the
mercy and grace of God. It's wonderful, isn't it? It's
absolutely wonderful. And our great God has all power
to accomplish the salvation of His people and to keep those
who are saved. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it for
thy courts above. Oh, saving grace is keeping grace,
beloved. Absolutely wonderful. Let's read
verse 3 again. In verse 3 again, here next we'll
look at, the Lord will not acquit the wicked. What does this bring
forth? This brings forth that our God is a just God. He's a
just God. The Lord is slow to anger and
great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord
hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds
and the dust of his feet. So here's another attribute of
God brought forth, that our God is just. He's just. Justice and truth are the habitation
of His throne. And He's long-suffering. And
His long-suffering is not a lack of will or ability to punish
His enemies. No. God's great in power. And you know what His justice
demands? If justice demands the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. And God will not clear the guilty.
Cannot clear the guilty. His law must be satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. If God is just, He must punish
sin. And He's just. He must punish
sin. So then how can a sinner ever
be saved? Will God lay aside his justice
that he might be merciful? No, he can't do that, can he?
No, because justice is essential to his character. How then can
he save us? Well, we know we can't save ourselves,
right? There's only one way, substitution. This is the good news of the
gospel. Listen to what Job proclaims. He says, Then He is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom. Have you found a ransom? Have you found a ransom for your
soul? Scripture says, For what shall it profit a man if he shall
gain the whole world and lose his own soul? But what shall
man give in exchange for his soul? Well, there's nothing we
can give in exchange for our soul. We need a ransom, don't we? And
we can't provide it. We can't provide it. Scripture
says, by mercy of truth, iniquity is purged. And by the fear of
the Lord, men depart from evil. Proverbs 16. Turn, if you would,
to Romans 3. A ransom has been found, beloved. A ransom has been found. Job
found that ransom by the grace of God. Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord by the grace of God. You know, the angels proclaimed When
Christ was born, that peace was on earth. And you know why? Because
He's the great peacekeeper. And how does peace with God come?
For sinners. Only in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Scripture says we have peace
with God. Through Christ. Through Him. Look at Romans 3, verses 24-26.
Look at this. Being justified freely, how?
By His grace. So we are justified by the free
and sovereign grace and mercy of God in Christ. That's the
only way. There's no other way. Being freely
justified by His grace, how? Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Through the shedding of the precious,
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our ransom, beloved. He's
ransomed our souls, hasn't He? He's purchased us from the slave
block of sin, beloved. He did it all by Himself. Because
it says through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, nobody
else. That means there's no redemption
in Buddha, no redemption in Mary, no redemption in Muhammad, no
redemption in any false god. There's only redemption in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this. Whom God set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. To declare
His righteousness. Well, it says here, God set forth
Christ to be our propitiation. To take the wrath of God. For us. For His people. We know
that. Through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for what? For the remission of sins.
Well, He's sinless. So whose sins is He dying for?
The sins of His people. He's the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God. Remember 1 John 3? We read a few weeks ago that
He was manifested to what? To take away our sin. Hallelujah. He came into this world to take
away our sin. It says, for the remission of
sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Oh, God's
so long-suffering. To declare, I say, at this time
His righteousness, that He might be what? Just. See, God's a just
God. He must uphold His justice. He
must uphold His law and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus.
The question is, do you believe in Christ? Have you fled to Him who is the
refuge, the only refuge for sinners? If God Almighty saves a guilty
sinner and forgives his sins, three things must be done. The
sinner must be punished to the full satisfaction of justice.
Well, Christ dies in our place. Isn't that wonderful? He's the sinner's substitute.
The Lord Jesus Christ dies In the place of his people, the
sinless one pays all that God demands for his sheep. Now, he
said, I lay down my life for the sheep, right? If you're one
of God's people, you're a sheep, right? That means he laid down
his life for you and for me. That's incredible. Number two, the sinner's sins
and his guilt must be totally removed. Well, praise be to God. The beloved Lord Jesus Christ
cleanses the saved sinner from all our sins, past, present,
and future. Because again, every one of our
sins was future when Christ died on the cross, right? He died for them all. What a great God. What a glorious
Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. Our guilt is removed and our
pardon is sure. And it's not because of anything
we've done, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He has saved us. Mercy! Oh, our God is so merciful to His
people. Our pardon is sure. I said a few weeks ago, Paid in
full. Remember when I was younger,
we used to go with my dad to the hardware store. And he used to have a stamp.
It was so neat. They had a stamp. Paid. Or paid in full. It was great. You know, as a
little guy, you always want to, you know, you ask, can I do that?
And they were like, sure. And you're like, stamp. But it
was just neat because that paid means it's purchased. It was
now my dad's possession. He purchased it. Beloved, Christ purchased us. Christ purchased His people with
His own blood. And you remember the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us? Oh, so much wasn't it? Scripture says He's blotted
it out. Paid in full. And then he rose
from the grave for our justification. For our justification. Oh, what
a glorious God we have. And then the third thing for
a sinner is he must become perfectly righteous to be in the presence
of God. Well, we know that we're unrighteous. How then can a sinner become
righteous? by being clothed in the perfect,
spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, all that a sinner needs
is found in Christ. It's found in Him. And we're
made whiter than snow by His precious, precious blood. And
now, the believer, right now, we're clothed in that righteousness.
So when God looks upon us, he sees Christ. He doesn't see our
sin. He doesn't remember our sin.
We remember our sin, don't we? But he doesn't remember it at
all. It says, as far as the east is from the west, so far have
I removed thy transgressions from thee. Down. Tossed into
the sea of forgetfulness. It's glorious. And these three things can only
be done by the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Only He can make us righteous. Only He can remove our sin and
pay for our sin, though we're still sinners on this earth.
But all our sins are bought and paid for. And our sins were punished
when the wrath of God fell upon Christ as our substitute, the
sinless one, dying for sinners. So He's accomplished all for
us, hasn't He? All our salvation. The sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. Now let's read verses 3 to 6
in Nahum chapter 1. The Lord is slow to anger. And
we can say, praise be to God. In great and power, and will
not acquit all the wicked, the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind. and in the storm, in the clouds
of the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea. Now look
at his sovereignty in action in these next few verses. He
rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel,
and the flower of Lebanon languishes. The mountains quake at him, and
the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea,
the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
His indignation? Can anyone? Who can abide in the fierceness
of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. As I said earlier, our
God is no one to be trifled with. He's sovereign. And these verses
bring forth His sovereignty. Do you see in verse 3 when it
says, the Lord hath His way? And then we saw in verses four
and six, his almighty power on display. But fourth. So the scriptures declare that
he's great in power. And then it's about fourth in
verses four to six. The fifth attribute I'd like
us to consider from this text is God is absolutely sovereign.
See where it says he has his way in the whirlwind. That means He has His way in
everything. As we looked at this morning,
we saw the directive will of God and the permissive will of
God. He has His way in the world.
He has His way in everything. And He's in total control of
all things. The very breath we breathe, He gives to us. He's
in total control of all things at all times and all places.
The Lord hath His way. My, oh, my. I ask you who are
the people of God, do we not rejoice in the fact that He has
His way? I form the light and create darkness.
I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things."
Isaiah 45, 7. Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there
is none else. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 50. Isaiah chapter 50. We'll look at verse 2. Oh, our
Lord is absolutely sovereign. He's sovereign over all things,
visible and invisible. There's nothing that's not within
His domain. There's not a maverick molecule
in this universe. Not one. Everything is under His control. Look at Isaiah 50, verse 2. Wherefore, when I came, was there
no man? When I called, was there none
to answer? Is my hand shortened at all that
it cannot redeem? Is God's hand so shortened that
He wants to save people, but He can't? Unless they let Him. See how foolish that is? His
hand's not shortened. No. No, He saves His people from
their sins. No, His hands are not shortened
at all that it cannot redeem. Or have I no power to deliver?
We just saw in our text, He's of great power. Our Lord has
great power. Behold my rebuke, I dry up the
sea. I make the rivers a wilderness.
Their fish stinketh because there is no water and dryeth for thirst. Turn over one more chapter. Isaiah
51. Isaiah 51. Look at here in verses 10-12. Oh, our God is sovereign, beloved. Isaiah 51, verses 10-12. Art
thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great
deep, that hath made the depths of the sea away for the ransom
of Passover? Therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting
joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness, joy,
and sorrow, and mourning, shall flee away. I, even I, am He that
comforted you. Who art thou that thou shouldest
be afraid of a man that shall die and of the Son of Man which
shall be made as grass?" Who are we to fear man? Fear God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. But fools despise wisdom and
instruction. Oh, are you not thankful that
our God is sovereign? You who believe? Our God is sovereign. He has the power. He has the
ability to save us. His arm's not shortened. He's
not waiting for men to accept Him. He saves whom He wills,
when He wills. And God's people say, praise
be to God that you're saved. Praise be to God, You had mercy
on me. Praise be to God, You made me willing in the day of
Your power. Because I never would have been willing otherwise. The last attribute I'd like to
consider is found in verse 7. Look at this. The Lord is good. A stronghold. That means a refuge
in the day of trouble. He knoweth them that trust in
Him. Beloved, because He is good,
God has sovereignly chosen to save a people in Christ. And He did it because He willed
to do it. Because it pleased Him to do
it. So if you're a child of God,
it pleased God to make you a child of God. It pleased God to choose
you in eternity. in Christ to save a people and
to find a way to save them that's consistent with His justice.
He made His own dear Son to be our sin-atoning substitute, didn't
He? So marvel that this great and
glorious and good God is our Savior, because God Himself became
a man. God the Son, the Word of God,
became a man. He was manifest. Why? To take
away our sins. And in Him was no sin. Wonder of wonders. God the Father
sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for sinners like
you and I. Wonder of wonders. It pleased
God the Father to choose His people in Christ in wonder of
wonders. we can all say that I was included
in that number. It's glorious. That's why we
give Him all the glory, isn't it? That's why we give Him all
the praise. Because left to ourselves, my
oh my, we'd have perished just like everyone else. So we see here, Nahum declares
the Lord is good. The prophet has just been talking
about the storm of God's wrath, hasn't he? We saw how His judgments executed
on the wicked. Terror of His justice, the greatness
of His anger. Whirlwinds, shaking mountains,
melting hills, and burning earths. All pictures. Then He comes to
a blessed palm. You know what this is? This is an island of rest, beloved.
There's an island of rest right here. And he says, the Lord is
good. He's good. And we who are the people of
God say what? Amen. He's so good to us. Oh my, he's
so good to us. He didn't leave us where we were.
And God is essentially good. Goodness is essential to God.
Without it, he would not be God. Goodness is so essentially the
character of God, that as John Gill has observed, there's nothing
but goodness in God. And nothing but goodness comes
from Him. God is eternally and immutably
good. And you know what? He doesn't
change, does He? He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He never changes. He's good today,
He'll be good in eternity, future, and He's been good all the time. And we who are the people of
God have tasted of His goodness and grace, haven't we? We have.
And we can say the Lord is good. He's a stronghold in the day
of trouble. I'll tell you what, when the Lord revealed Himself
to me, I was in trouble. Were you? How am I going to pay for my
sins? I can't save myself. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
reveals Himself, just like Joseph did to his brethren. And we look
to Him by faith and live. And that faith is given to us.
It's amazing grace. It's truly, truly amazing grace. God's so good. And He's good
in all of His glorious persons. God the Father is good. God the
Son is good. God the Holy Spirit is good. Scripture says, For I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. God's anger and wrath towards
we who are His people has been extinguished by Christ. That wrath and that justice of
God demanded to be paid to fall upon the sinner. For we who are
His people fell upon Him for us. I ask you, do you know of any
greater love than that? That a sinless one, the sinless
one, would die for sinners and do it willingly? Again, we looked at this morning,
God's directive will was that Christ would come to this world
and die on that cross because He's manifested again to take
away our sins and in Him is no sin. So the sinless one How can we not say He's good? God is good in all His acts of
grace, in our redemption, in our justification, in our sanctification,
in all things. And we who are the people of
God now have all spiritual blessings in Christ because it pleased
God for it to be so. Oh, our great God is infinitely
and incomparably good, immeasurably good. Can you measure the goodness
of God? Can you measure the greatness
of God? Can we measure the sovereignty of God? No. We can't measure
His goodness. He's so great and He's so good. My! And God is good to His people,
His elect. Eternity itself will prove that
out, won't it? Eternity itself, it won't even
tell the fullness of God's goodness to us. And remember, if you're
one of His sheep, then God's goodness is directed to you and
at you at all times. The things we go through, the
scripture declares, the trials and the troubles we go through
are for our good and for His glory. We don't see that during
the time of trial, do we? No, we usually just look at the
trial and say, Lord, what am I going to do? Guilty. Let's just be honest. We're all
like that. And then when we stop and we
ponder how great our God is, and we stop, we ponder that our
God is absolutely sovereign, we come to a rest, don't we?
You know why? Because we stop looking at ourselves
and we look to Him. And the peace that floods our
soul, I can't even explain the peace of God that floods my soul
to anyone. It's just incredible. And I know
it's true for you. Oh God, so good to His people.
Look at verse 7. Let's read 7 again here. The
Lord is good, a stronghold. He's our refuge, beloved, in
the day of trouble. He's our refuge. And He knoweth
them that trust in Him. Look at that. He knows who His
sheep are. He knows who He's given eternal
life to. He knows who's a real professor of Christ and who's
a false professor of Christ. He knows. The Lord is good, a
stronghold in the day of trouble. And he knoweth them that trust
in him. So, beloved of God, let us ever trust the goodness of
God, even when we cannot see it. Know that it's directed towards
you. Let us flee to and abide in our
mighty stronghold. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's a refuge. He's a stronghold. And let us
ever trust our Savior's love and care. If the Lord who is
good knows me, then I want nothing else to satisfy me. Is it so
for you? He knows all things eternally.
He knows all things perfectly. May God give us grace just to
rest and trust in Him.