Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Nehemiah 9. Nehemiah 9, we'll continue our
study in this chapter from last week. And tonight's message is
called, The God of Mercy. The God of Mercy. Last week we
considered the first 12 verses where we saw that the Israelites
were fasting with sackcloths and were repenting for some of
them having taken wives from the people of the land of Canaan,
which they were not supposed to take wives from, mixing in
with idol worshippers. And God had warned them not to
do this. And so now we see in this chapter
they're repenting of their sin. And last week we saw them recount
how God had chosen Abraham when he was an idol worshipper in
the land of Ur. and had called him from that
by his sovereign, invincible, effectual grace. And this was
a picture of God's distinguishing grace and mercy to his blood-bought
people, because he chose Abraham and took him out of Ur, but left
everyone else that was there, as far as we know, left them
in their idolatry. And what a picture we have of
God's distinguishing grace. Then we looked at how the Israelites
were delivered from Egypt by God's providential hand and how
God wiped out the Egyptian army. He wiped out the Egyptian army
and Pharaoh and the enemies of his people and his own enemies.
And then we considered the cloudy pillar by day and the pillar
of fire by night, which guided and directed and protected the
Israelites as they went through the wilderness. And tonight we're
see continue to see the Israelites recall how how merciful God was
to them. And let that we who are as blood
bought people. Seeing in the picture of Israel
and how merciful he is to Israel, let us see how merciful he is
to us. How merciful he is to us. So
let's read our text where read verses 13 to 21. Thou camest down also upon Mount
Sinai, and speakest with them from heaven, and gavest them
right judgments, and true laws, good statutes, and commandments,
and madest no one unto them by thy holy Sabbath, and commandest
them precepts, statutes, and laws by the hand of Moses thy
servant, and gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger,
and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their
thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess
the land which thou hast sworn to give them. But they and our
fathers dwelt proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened not
to thy commandments and refused to obey, neither were mindful
of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their
necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return
to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon.
gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness,
and forsook them not. Yea, when they had made them
a molten calf and said, this is thy God that bought thee up
out of Egypt and had wrought great provocations, yet thou
and thy manifold mercies forsook them not in the wilderness. The
pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead
them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night to show
them light in the way wherein they should go. Thou gave us
also thy good spirit to instruct them and withheld us not thy
manna from their mouth and gave us them water for thirst, for
their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain
them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes
waxed not old and their feet swelled not. Truly, in reading
this portion, we see that our God is a God of manifold mercies. Manifold mercies. He's long-suffering
with His people, isn't He? And we see this pictured with
Israel. And we know, as blood-bought
believers who are still sinners, who are saved sinners, each one
of us know that He's long-suffering with us. He's long-suffering
with us. He's slow to anger and of great
kindness. and He is this to all believers in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's consider each verse starting
in verses 13 and 14. Thou camest down also upon Mount
Sinai, and speakest with them from heaven, and gavest them
right judgments, and true laws, good statutes, and commandments.
And madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandest
them precepts, statutes, and laws by the hand of Moses thy
servant. Note the Lord comes to them again. He came to Abraham and now He
comes to Israel. And what great condescension
again is seen here, just like we saw with Abraham. And just
like we saw today, when we looked at how the Lord went to the Gadarene
demoniac. He went to Him. He went to Him. It says here, Thou comest down
also upon Mount Sinai. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. came down by visible tokens of
His presence as a cloud, fire, smoke, and we see this over in
Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19 verses 17 to
23. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God and they stood at the nethered
part of the mount, and the Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke,
because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof
ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. Verse 19, And when the voice
of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses
spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down
upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mount, and the Lord called
Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Go down and charge the people, lest they
break through unto the Lord the gaze, and many of them perish.
Many of them perish. And let the priests also which
come near to the Lord sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break
forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for thou chargest
us, saying, Set bounds about the mount and sanctify it. So
we see the Lord came us down also upon Mount Sinai. Just like
it says over in Nehemiah chapter 9. Let's go back to Nehemiah
9 and note in verse 13, and speakest with them from heaven. We saw
that over there in Exodus chapter 19 too. This is when he gave
them the 10 commandments. Exodus 20 verse 1 says this,
and God spake all these words saying. This is when he spakest
with them from heaven. He spoke to Moses who was the
mediator. The mediator. And then it says in verse 13,
And gave us them right judgments, and true laws, and good statutes,
and commandments. He gave them the Ten Commandments,
and also judicial and ceremonial instructions. These were not
spoken to Israel, but given to Moses on the mount, to be delivered
to them. And then note, this is spoken
of in verse 14, And made us known unto them, Thy holy Sabbath commandest
them precepts, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses, thy servant.
The holy Sabbath was not made known to anyone but Israel. Think
of that. All the other nations around
them. It was not made known to them, but it was made known to
Israel. It was made known to Israel.
All the other nations around were passed by. They were left
in darkness. They were left in darkness. And
this was a privilege granted to Israel. And we know that spiritually,
Israel is a picture of the church. A picture of the church. And the Sabbath also, though,
is typical of our rest in Christ. Our rest in Christ. And what
a rest the believer has in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. He is
our Sabbath. He is our rest, beloved. Let's
continue with verses 14 and 15. And gave us them bread from heaven
for their hunger, and brought us forth water for them out of
the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should
go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. But they and our fathers dwelt
proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments. What a picture we have of Christ
here. Before us, we know that He is the bread of life for His
people. He's the bread of life. He's
the bread that came down from heaven, isn't He? He is. For His people, for His blood-bought,
chosen people. And all that we need spiritually
is found where? In Christ. In Christ. He's the
bread of life for us. And we as believers, we hunger
and thirst for righteousness. We didn't before the Lord saved
us. We didn't before we were regenerated. But now we hunger
and thirst for righteousness, which is we hunger and thirst
for Christ. Christ, who is our righteousness? Who is our righteousness? And our righteousness is only
found in him. And he is the water of life to
his people. And the Lord gave them food and
water And he promised them that he would do so. And he promised
them that they would possess the land of Canaan, that they
would have meat and drink for their journey in the wilderness.
And he promised them that they would have the good land at the
journey's end. What a picture of our journey.
What a picture of our journey, beloved. We who are the blood-washed
saints of God, we journey through the wilderness of this world.
We're heading to our eternal rest, which is in Christ. We're
heading to Canaan. Where Christ dwells. Where Christ
dwells. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. We'll read verses 1 to 8. 1 to 8. Our eternal rest is Christ. Hebrews chapter 4 verses 1 to
8. Let us therefore fear lest the promise being left of us
entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached. God sent a preacher. God sends
preachers to preach the gospel. And at the appointed time of
God's decree, all according to His eternal purpose, His lost
sheep are given ears to hear and eyes to see Christ. And we
who believe can say, unto us was the gospel preached. It was
preached to us, and it still is preached to us, and we rejoice
in it, as well as unto them, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we, which have believed, do enter into rest." We enter
into rest. Who's our rest? Christ. Christ is our rest. We've ceased
from our labors, haven't we? We've ceased from trying to justify
ourselves before God based upon our own works. And now we look
to Christ who finished the work. We rest in him. As the old timers
used to say, we repose. And you're all reposing right
now. You're reposing. You're reposing on the bench
in the pews. And it's wonderful. We just rest. And rest means you don't work.
When you're resting, you're not working. You're not working. For we which have believed do
enter into rest, as He said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
that they shall enter into my rest, although the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. For He spake in
a certain place on the seventh day on this wise, and God did
rest the seventh day from all His works. And in this place
again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again,
he limiteth a certain day, saying unto David, Today, after so long
a time, as it is said, Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. The rest is
Christ. He is our rest. And God always
provides for his people no matter the circumstances or the times. Let's read verses 16 and 17 here
now. But they and our fathers dwelt
proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments. Note here Pride is a monster. Pride is a monster. And it's
a monster sin. And it's the root of rebellion
against God. It's the root of rebellion against
God. And then look at verse 17. And
refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders, that
thou didst among them, but hardened their necks. And in their rebellion
appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art
a God ready to pardon. Thou art a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and forsook them not." What a verse we have here. What a verse we
have here before us in verse 17. God's mercy is on full display. And note God's grace radiating
from this verse. But thou art a God ready to pardon. Now think of all that we've read
and how they rebel. And it says right in the verse
before, they dealt proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened
not to thy commandments. And oh, our God is a God ready
to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and forsook them not. Our great God delights to show
mercy and pardon chosen sinners. And we need not guess about His
character, beloved. It's displayed right here in
the latter part of this verse. David said of Him, Thou, Lord,
art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all
them that call upon Thee. And each believer can say, yes,
He's plenteous in mercy to me. Plenteous in mercy to me. And
we see His readiness to pardon and His long suffering to Israel. God's dealing with national Israel
are very typical of his dealing with spiritual Israel. Think
of this. We are no more deserving of mercy
than the Israelites were. God showed a mercy despite the
rebellion. He showed a mercy. And we are
no more deserving of mercy than they were. Yet God in Christ has been pleased
to choose, justify, and pardon his elect. Romans says this,
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be propitiation
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remissions of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
that He should be just and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 3, verses 24 and 26. God's readiness to pardon His
people is seen in His eternal purpose. In His eternal purpose. We must never think that Christ
died to make God merciful. The death of Christ is a result
of the eternal purpose and love of God towards his people. Before Adam's rebellion ever
took place, beloved the remedy and redemption of the sheep of
God, his chosen people was absolute and certain. Christ is a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Before Adam ever fell, Christ
stood as the surety and mediator of his people in the covenant
of grace. Turn if you would to Ephesians
chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. Oh, our God is ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness and
forsook them not. He's so merciful to his people
in Christ. Look at Ephesians chapter 3 verses
8 to 12. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints, and this is Paul writing this, Is this
grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ? God's preachers, we preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ. You can't plumb the depths of
these riches which are found in Christ. And to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning
of the world hath been hidden God, who created all things by
Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities and
powers and heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose." See, God has
an eternal purpose. Contrary to what folks in religion
say, God has an eternal purpose. And He purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by
the faith of Him. Our God in eternity. purpose
to save a chosen people. A people chosen out of all the
human race. A people that in themselves have
no merit before God. And He chose these people in
His eternal purpose because it pleased Him to do so. And the
believer, we stand amazed that we're included in this number.
Because we know what we are. But verse 11 there in Ephesians
3, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord. God is absolutely sovereign and
He does what He wills. He has compassion on whom we
are of compassion. But it's always in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. No words. God's readiness to
pardon His people is seen in His gracious provision. We've
seen in our text this week and also in last week's study, God's
dealing with Israel. and providing what they needed.
Think of the great provision for the church. Think of the
great provision for God's elect, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again,
all that we need is found in Him. All that we need is found
in Christ. God, at great cost to Himself,
from His own bosom gave His only begotten, well-beloved Son. And God, in His holiness and
strict justice, cannot simply give the sinner a pardon. without
honoring His justice. And so what does Christ do? He
satisfies the justice of God in our place as our great substitute. Therefore God took to Himself
sinless humanity. The Word of God, the second person
of the Trinity, became a man and He lived as our representative.
He perfectly obeyed the law for us in all its precepts and even
paid the penalty. that the law demanded for our
eternal souls. And he died as our substitute
on Calvary's cross. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter four. Galatians chapter four. Oh, what
a gracious provision. God's people have in Christ.
God's readiness to pardon His people is seen in His gracious
provision, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this in Galatians 4,
verses 4-6. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son. God sent Christ forth. Again, you've heard me say it
many times, He was on a mission, beloved. He came to this world. to redeem his people from their
sins. When the fullness of time was
come, at God's appointed time, and all according to God's eternal
purpose. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law. He was fully human and fully
God. To redeem them, that means to
purchase us who are under the law. To purchase His blood-bought
people. Why? That we might receive the
adoption of sons. And because we are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. God's readiness to pardon His
people is seen in His satisfying propitiation. How can God be
just and yet justify the ungodly? How can God be a just God and
a Savior? And this is a vital question
of the hour that nobody's asking. The only way for God Himself
to satisfy His justice is for Him to come and satisfy His justice. The only way for his justice
to be satisfied is for him to satisfy. There's no other way,
because we know that there's not a human alive who can satisfy
the justice of God. And Christ comes to this world. And satisfies the justice, his
own justice. His own justice, his own law.
Satisfies it at Calvary's cross. when he died in the place of
his people as the great substitute. He bore the sin of his people.
It was imputed to him, and he suffered for them. He suffered,
the believer says, for me. He suffered for me. Why? To satisfy
God's justice. Just let that sink in. God himself
left heaven, if you're one of his people, for you. to satisfy
his own justice. And let us not just think, well,
I already know that. We're talking the holy justice
of God. We're talking about the God of
the universe, who one preacher said that if we stand before
him, we'd be like a candle before a blast furnace, if we stand
before him in his wrath. We've seen how a candle melts.
Imagine a blast furnace hitting that. There'd be nothing left. And Christ, who is our propitiation,
has shielded us and taken the wrath of God for His people upon
Calvary's cross for our sins. For our sins. And God is satisfied with Christ. dying in the place of His people.
Christ is a satisfying propitiation. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Now think of this too. The atonement
doesn't change the character of God. It honors and glorifies
His justice and His mercy. So when Christ died upon the
cross, It honored and glorified the justice of God. It magnified
the mercy of God. And Christ, who died as our substitute,
satisfied that law and that justice so much that Paul wrote this.
Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? No one. No one. It is God Look at Hebrews 2, verses 16-18. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all
things, in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of his people. See, God's justice is being offended. His law has been broken. And it's we who've done that.
And in order for us to be reconciled with God, to have peace with
God, the justice and law must be satisfied
for our sins. For our sins. And it says here
that Christ made reconciliation for the sins of His people. For
in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to
secure them that are tempted." What a great God we have. What a merciful God we have.
And we see God's readiness to pardon His people is seen in
His satisfying propitiation, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's
readiness to pardon His people is seen in the preaching of the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God in His infinite wisdom has
devised Very simple means to call out his elect from the world. And to the world, it's foolishness. The world thinks preaching is
foolishness. But to God's blood-bought people, it's the power of God,
the salvation. And God affectionately calls
out his sheep through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Wherever his people are, Whoever
they are, God will cross their path with the truth of salvation
revealed in Christ Jesus by the preaching of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
1. 1 Corinthians 1. Oh, our God is so gracious, ready
to pardon His people. Look at this in 1 Corinthians
1, verses 17-21. And Paul writes this, he says,
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Now
remember, there was some preacher worship going on in Corinth,
and some were saying, well, I'm a Paul, and I'm a Paulos, and
I'm this preacher, and this one's my favorite, and this one's my
favorite. And they'd even lumped Christ
in there. They put Christ with men. No, He's far above everyone. He's far above everyone. It says
here, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but what? To preach
the gospel. Not with wisdom of words. And
remember who's writing this. Paul could have used words. He was taught by some of the
best teachers of his day. He could have used massive words
that would have spun their minds. But he doesn't do that. He speaks
plainly, beloved. Not with wisdom of words. the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. See, to the
world, the preaching of the gospel is foolishness. Foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I love this
verse here, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. Those who
think they're wise, God destroys them. destroys the wisdom of
the wise. And will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where's all
the philosophers and all the supposed men of wisdom from ages
gone? Well, they're dead and in the
grave. But our God still reigns. He rules. He rules and reigns. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the speaker of this
world? Where are those people who were shaking their fist at
God? Oh my. They're in eternal torment. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the speaker of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? that
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. What the world calls foolishness,
God uses to draw his people to Christ. Let's go back to Nehemiah chapter
9. We see God's manifold mercies here on display. It's despite
the rebellion of Israel. God never forsook His people.
Never forsook them. They rebelled, and they rebelled,
and they rebelled, and He never forsook them, beloved. Look at
verse 18. Yea, when they had made them
a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that bought thee up
out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations. Now, John
Gill proclaims the serpent's grammar, as in Genesis 3-5, is
here. For God doth know that in that day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. They built, they made a molten
calf. They made an idol. They made
an idol. And note here they made a calf
and worshipped it and proclaimed their deliverance from Egypt
came as a result of this molten cow that they had just made. Our text says, yea, when they
had made them a molten calf and said, this is thy God that brought
thee up out of Egypt and had brought great provocations. Now in Egyptian mythology, Apis
or Hapis was a sacred bull. Was a sacred bull and was worshipped
in the Memphis region of Egypt. and identified as the son of
Hathor, it's considered to be a primary deity among the gods
of ancient Egypt. So what have these Israelites
done? They went back to idol worshiping.
So quickly too, hadn't they? Those who are in rebellion here.
They'd seen this idol in Egypt, obviously. Obviously. But note, God did not withdraw
his presence from them. He had mercy on them. Look at
verse 19. Yet thou and thy manifold mercies
forsook them not in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud departed
not from them by day to lead them in the way, neither the
pillar of fire by night to show them light in the way wherein
they should go. Despite their sinfulness, despite
their sinfulness, the Lord never forsook his people in the wilderness. Think upon this, if he had of,
they'd have been utterly lost. They'd have been utterly lost.
Without His guidance and provision, they would have perished in the
wilderness. They would have perished in the wilderness. And think
of this, considering what we have here before us in this verse.
The pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead
them in the way. If it had, they'd have been scorched
by the heat of the sun. They'd have been scorched by
the heat of the sun. And it says, neither the pillar of fire by
night to show them light, and the way wherein they should go,
they would have lost their way, and they would not have known
which way to go. And so we see here a picture of how God providentially
cares for His people in this life, right here before us. Because
we're in the wilderness of this world, aren't we? And we're heading
to the land of Canaan, beloved. We're heading to the land of
Canaan. Look at verses 20 and 21 now. Thou gavest also thy
good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna
from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
Turn if you would to Isaiah chapter 63. Isaiah 63. Notice it says
here in Nehemiah 9, it says, Thou gavest them also thy good
spirit to instruct them. or tie this in with Isaiah 63,
11-14. Isaiah 63, verses 11-14, which
says this, Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his
people, saying, Where is he that bought them up out of the sea
with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy
Spirit within him? that led them by the right hand
of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them
to make himself an everlasting name. Notice there too, that
led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm,
dividing the water before them to make himself an everlasting
name. That led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness
that they should not stumble. And as a beast goeth down into
the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest. So didst
thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name. Turn now, if you would, to John
chapter 16. One commentator brings forth
that the teaching aspect mentioned here In Nehemiah 9 where it says,
thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, the teaching
aspect mentioned here as instruct them occurs only here in the
Old Testament. And it's a remarkable anticipation
of in the New Testament, the spirit teaching God's people. Look at John 16, verses 12 to
14. I have yet many things to say
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Halibate when he, the
spirit of truth, is come. And we know that's the Holy Spirit.
He will guide you into all truth. He'll instruct us. He'll guide
us into all truth. And who's the truth of God? Christ. He reveals Christ to us. And
then the only way we grow and learn and grow in grace and learn
about the things of Christ is by the Holy Spirit illuminating
the scriptures for us. He will guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall
glorify me. The Spirit glorifies Christ.
For he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Think
of this. All that you know about Christ,
the Holy Spirit's revealed it to you. We can't boast in nothing. Not that we want to, but we can't
boast in anything. We can't. Our boast is in Christ,
in Christ alone. He's the only one we boast in.
He's the only one. We give God all the glory and
all the honor. and all the praise. Let's go
back to Nehemiah chapter 9. And note here in verse 20, he
gave them manna and water to sustain them in the wilderness.
Now remember, they rebelled and they rebelled, and look, and
withheld us not thy manna from their mouth, and gave us them
water for their thirst. All the while while they were
in the wilderness, he gave them manna until they came to Canaan's
land. And some commentators call it
the Lord's manna. Because it was prepared by Him
and given by Him to them. It was a gift from Him. And what a picture of Christ
we have before us. He's our manna. He's a heavenly
manna. And despite their sinfulness
and their rebellion, He provides for them. What a picture of Christ,
who is the blood-bought believer's manna. And He's also the water
of life to us. The water is here in reference
to the water which flowed from the rock. And let us always remember
that only by Him and by His power are we sustained in the wilderness
of this world. Only by Him and only by His power
are we sustained in the wilderness of this world. Now let's look
at verse 21. Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain
them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. I like that
right there, that little statement right there. So that they lacked
nothing. Nothing. Their clothes waxed
not old and their feet swelled not. They were sustained for
40 years and they lacked nothing. They didn't lack for clothes.
They lacked for nothing. Why? Because God always provides
for his people. He always provides for all that
we need. is found in Christ. We lack nothing
if we have Christ. We lack nothing if we have Christ.
And it all comes from God's gracious, sovereign hand. And it's mercy. Pure mercy. Free and sovereign
mercy which gives us this. Psalm 34.10 says this, the young
lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing. Their clothes didn't wear out
and their feet did not swell from all the walking. This is
a miracle. This is a miracle, beloved. And
may we glean that it's the Lord who sustains us and watches over
us and provides for us. And let us conclude with these
wonderful truths in mind that our great God is the one true
God. He's a forgiven God to his people
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a gracious God. He's a gracious God. He's compassionate. He's slow to anger and beloved. He is abounding in loving kindness. towards his people in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a covenant-keeping God.
Those he chose in eternity, Christ redeemed. And those whom Christ
redeemed are born again by the Holy Spirit of God and are made
willing in the day of God's power to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And those whom he has saved, his blood-bought people, he will
never leave, never leave. And then our gracious God will
one day take us home to be in heaven, to spend eternity with
him in glory. Is he not a merciful God? I ask
you this, is he not a merciful God? Oh, you'll never find anyone
as merciful as our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise
his mighty name.