Alright, let's open our Bibles
to Psalm 77. The title of the message this
evening is, Is His Mercy Clean Gone? I hope to look at that
in such a way that you'll never look at that question, that phrase,
again the same way. You ought to look at it completely
differently after hearing this message tonight. Is His Mercy
Clean Gone? Now, what do we do when we find
ourselves in a day of trouble and seem like the sun never sets
on that day? It just never ends. I tell you
what we often think. We often think that God has forgotten
us or God has cut us off. And I can tell you why we think
that. We all tend to think that people are just like us. We tend
to think that other people are motivated by the same things
that we're motivated by. We think that people would just
do pretty much the same thing we would do in similar circumstances. An honest person just tends to
think everybody else is pretty much honest. A dishonest person
thinks everybody else is dishonest. A dishonest person can't imagine
somebody just trying to make an honest living. Everybody's
got to be scheming and conniving like they are. They just think
people, everybody thinks people are just like them. And that's
often a mistake. You know, an honest person better
know there's dishonest people in the world, hadn't they? But
I tell you the worst mistake that we can make is thinking
that God is like us. What a horrible mistake to think
that God would do things the way we would do things. We find
ourselves in a day of trouble and it's not ending. And we wonder,
has God deserted us? Has God quit being merciful to
us? The only possible reason we think that is we think God's
like us. We would quit being merciful
to someone. We would quit being faithful to someone. We would
quit being kind to someone. but not God. No, he will never
do that to his people. So what do we do when we find
ourselves in that day of trouble and it seems like it's never
ending? Well, first, let's look at how we got in that day of
trouble. Verse one. I cried unto God with my voice,
even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me. David
starts out crying unto God in his trouble. David knows that
the Lord hears the cries of his people. David, he knows that. But we also know this. I know
God hears the cries of his people. His ear is not deaf, ever. But
I also know God doesn't always answer immediately. In the small
sample size of my experience, just one person out of a billion
people in the world, I can tell you it seems like he seldom does.
It seems that way seldom answers immediately. Well, when the Lord
does not immediately answer our cry for help, this is human nature. We're going to start trying to
come up with a solution on our own. We're going to try to find
a way on our own to speed matters up. And that's what David does.
Look what he says in verse 2. In the day of my trouble, I sought
the Lord. My sore ran in the night and
ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted. Now the word sore there in verse
two, my sore ran in the night. That Hebrew word is in the scripture
more than 1500 times. And almost every single one of
those times that word is translated hand. I have no idea why the
translators translated it sore here, but the word is hand. And this is what David's saying.
I sought the Lord. I cried unto the Lord of my trouble,
but when He didn't answer me right away, I spent all night
trying to come up with a solution by my hand, by my power. I tried to just find a way to
get a solution to get me out of this problem, but I couldn't
find one. I couldn't find one, so my soul
refused to be comforted. Our soul is going to always be
refused to be comforted by anything that we can do, because nothing
we can do can bring peace. And David went on in verse 3,
he said, I remembered God and was troubled. I complained that
my spirit was overwhelmed. Now, David hadn't forgotten God.
He remembered God. He knew who God is. This is the
man after God's own heart. He knew God. He knew the Lord
was his deliverer. He knew this is the one. I've
got to cry to him. But David was also still trying
to fix this problem with his own hand. He said, I remember
God and was troubled? Now that can't be. How can you
remember God? Think on God. Think on who He
is and be troubled. The only way you can remember
God and be troubled is if you're doing what David was doing. He's
not resting and depending entirely upon the Lord. He's calling on
the Lord and He's trying to work with His own hand behind the
scenes too to make things happen, you know. And don't all of us
do that all the time? I mean, we can all identify with
David here. Now we pray, we seek the Lord,
we know we must depend upon the Lord, we call upon Him. To whom
shall we go? I mean, we call upon the Lord.
But we also, this is just human nature, we'll try to help matters
along by doing what we can do to help the situation. Isn't
that exactly what Sarah, Abraham and Hagar did? That's exactly
what they did. They knew God. They knew who
he was. They knew the promise of God, but they thought they'd
help matters along a little bit by their own hand. And what happened? They produced Ishmael. They didn't
produce Isaac. They didn't produce the son of
God's promise. They produced Ishmael that's been a curse on
this earth ever since. That's what man's hand can produce.
And we do that. We want God to save us and we
cry out for mercy. God save me. But then we also
try to act a little better to increase the odds, don't we?
We think, well, if I learn a little more and I start acting a little
more, all that is is mixing grace and works. That's all it is.
We want God to deliver us from trial. And whether you're a believer
or an unbeliever, if you've got any sense whatsoever, when you
find yourself in that day of trouble, you're going to cry
out to God, God, help me. God, get me out of this. God,
get me out of this foxhole. Get me out of this. But then
we also try to find a way to, you know, help our escape. If we've got two escape plans,
you know, two is better than one. Like we can bring this matter
to a conclusion a little faster if I come up with something smart
to do. And our efforts like that, you write this down, will never
produce anything better than Ishmael. Ishmael is all we can
produce every time. And trying to follow our way,
our plan, was just going to make matters worse. It did for David.
Look what he says in verse 4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking.
I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Now, this trouble keeps
getting worse and worse and worse. And I can't sleep. I can't sleep. I'm so troubled by this. This
trouble won't end. I don't even have the words. I can't speak. I don't have any
words to describe the pain that I'm feeling, the anguish that
I'm feeling. There just aren't words to describe
the misery of being without God and without His presence. There
are no words to describe it. Verse 5, David says, I've considered
the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance
my song in the night. I commune with mine own heart
and my spirit made diligent search. I hear David seeking the Lord,
but he's still trying to help God out. He remembers all the
things that God did in the past. And I'm telling you, that's a
good thing to do. If you would comfort and calm your heart Think
about everything God's done in the past. How He's shown Himself
faithful. How He's shown Himself to be
true and gracious and wise and powerful. Think on those things. From the time I can remember,
I have had trouble sleeping. I just, I mean, I cannot turn
it off and go to bed and fall asleep. I just can't do it. It
was that way when I was a little guy. Whatever part of my makeup,
that's what I got. And you know, my mother always
used to tell me, count your blessings. If you just lay there and count
your blessings, you lay there and think on God, your flesh
is going to go sleep. Count your blessings. Think on
what God has done. That'll calm your heart. That'll
help you. Because God hasn't changed, has he? God's still
able to help his people like he has in the past. Think on
what God did for Israel. God's able today just like He
was then. This is what David's doing. He says, I remember who
God is. I know that God's able. But I
commune with my own heart. I know God's able, but I'm communing
with my own heart and I'm making diligent search to see what I
can do to deliver myself. I know what God's done in the
past. I know God's still able to do those things. And this
is what David's searching. Is there a way I can get God
to do that again? Is there something that I can
do to get God to help me like he helped Israel in the past?
That's what he's doing. And when we look to our own hand,
our own power, our own wisdom, our own way out, it will always
lead us to despair. That's what happened to David.
Look at verse 7. Will the Lord cast off forever?
Will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever?
Does his promise fail forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? God's not answering
David as quickly as he wants and tries to find his own way
out and it leads him to despair. Now David started to doubt God. Every child of God has these
awful thoughts. Nobody's picking on David. If
we're honest, every one of us has been there and we ask, Has
God cast off his people? I mean, I cried to him, he died
answering. There's no relief for this. Has
God cast off his people? You know, Paul answered that
for us in Romans chapter 11. Paul said, God forbid. God's not cast away his people,
which he thought. That's the inerrant word of God. God forbid. God hasn't cast off his people.
That word favorable there in verse 7, it means to satisfy
a debt. and to reconcile. Now we know
Christ has reconciled His people to God by His sacrifice. He paid
the sin debt of His people and reconciled them to God. Paul
says that in Colossians 1.21. And you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by your wicked works, yet now hath He
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. Christ has done that by His sacrifice. Now you can bank on this. The
Father is not going to quit accepting the sacrifice of Christ. The
Father is suddenly not going to become unsatisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ as payment for the sin of God's elect. He's
not going to come back and say, the debt's bigger than what you
paid. Never. The blood of Christ has cleansed
us from all sin. God has reconciled. By the death
of Christ, by the sacrifice of Christ, Almighty God is reconciled. And he's given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. He's given us this gospel to
preach, the gospel of how God is reconciled to sinners. And
that good news hadn't changed. This gospel is going to be preached
till God calls an end to this thing. Because God's reconciled
to his people. So no, God hadn't cast off his
people. David asks, is God's mercy clean gone forever? Is his mercy gone? Jeremiah answered
us, no, his mercy's not gone. His mercy is new every morning. His mercy's new every morning.
It's not gone. Well, has God caused his promise
to fail? Is God not gonna keep his promise?
Jeremiah answered that one for us too. Great is his faithfulness. No, God's not broken his promise.
And then David wonders, has God forgotten his people? Look over
in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah answers this. It's a powerful, powerful picture
that the word of God gives us. Has God forgotten his people?
Isaiah 49 verse 14. But Zion said, God's people said,
the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. And
here's God's answer to that. Can a woman forget her sucking
child? Can a woman forget that infant baby she's nursing at
her breast? That she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget. Now that's mighty rare, isn't
it? That a mother would forget her child. But yea, they might. They may forget. Yet will I not
forget thee. We would forget, but God cannot. It's not just that He will not,
He cannot. God cannot forget His people. Well, has God shut up His tender
mercies? Has He blocked them off so that
flow of tender mercies will not come to us? Why, of course not. Of course not. It's of the Lord's
mercies that were not consumed because his compassion fail not. That word compassion is his bowels
of mercy. His bowels of mercy fail not. So no, of course God hasn't cast
off his people. Of course his mercy is not clean
gone. Of course God hasn't broken his
promise. Of course God hadn't forgotten to be gracious. Of
course he hasn't shut up his tender mercy. So verse 10, David
says, this is my infirmity. This is my sin. This is the condition
of my heart. And it's all my fault. It's all
my fault because of my sin. And like I've said, every believer
I'm confident can identify with the way that David feels in this
day of trouble. I want to give us four things
to remember. We're in this day of trouble.
What can we do? Alma gives four things to remember
that will comfort our soul. Number one is this. In that day
of trouble, it seems like the sun's never going to set on it.
You remember this. God's on the throne. God is in
control of this day of trouble. In verse 10, David says that
this is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right
hand of the most high. You just remember God the Most
High. You remember that God is on the
throne. This day of trouble is not an
accident. This day of trouble is not something that happened
outside of God's control. No. This is in God's control. God's the one who sent it. And
somehow, even though we may never see how, somehow God is working
this together to accomplish His purpose of redemption for His
people. Somehow He is, I don't know,
but I know He is because that's what He said He's doing in His
Word. And that's what David's talking about here because he
talks about God's right hand. Well, you know who that refers
to. He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the right
hand of God's power, the hand that works, the hand that God
sent to accomplish the work of redeeming His people. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only one with the power to do it.
He's God's right hand who has the power to redeem God's people. And God is working every event
of our lives, every one of them. He's working them together to
bring about our redemption and the redemption of His people.
And if we'd remember that, if we would really remember that,
we'd be a whole lot more willing to wait on the Lord, wouldn't
we? We'd be a whole lot more. If the Lord just enable us to
remember that, we'll be a whole lot better equipped to just wait
on Him. And also remember this, the Lord's
on the throne. He is the one who's ruling over
this thing, just like He does everything else. He's got all
the power. He is the Almighty. That's His
name, the Almighty. Well, you know what that tells
me? God doesn't need me to help Him do anything. No. God didn't
need my help to save me and deliver me from my sin, did He? No, He
did that by Himself. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty on high. Well, God's not going to need
my help to deliver me from this trial either. He's going to do
it all by Himself when His purpose is fully accomplished. And not
before. Brother John Chapman made a statement
one time that I thought was profound in its simplicity. He said it
could be a whole lot more wise to pray, not that the Lord bring
an end to the trial, but that God teach us His purpose in it. Pretty wise, isn't it? But you
know, God has always done that for you. He's always displayed
His power in delivering His people. Look at verse 14. Thou art the
God that doest wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Look at verse 16. The water saw
thee, O God. The water saw thee. They were
afraid. The depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out
water. The skies sent out a sound. Thine
arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was
in the heaven. The lightnings lighted the world. The earth
trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea. and thy
path in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known."
We didn't know what God was doing, but suddenly, He worked all this
out in great power to deliver His people. He's always done
that. And He's going to keep doing it too. So you remember
that God's on the throne. Number two, in that day of trouble,
when it seems like the sun's never going to set on that day,
you remember all the works of the Lord. Verse 11, David says,
I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember
thy wonders of old. Do what David did here. Remember
all of God's works from ancient times. Remember God's work of
electing a people to save. Almighty God chose a people to
save before he created anything. Now what a work. that God would
choose a people knowing who they'd be, knowing their sin and their
wretchedness. He chose to save those people
before He ever created earth and put man on it. Now the power
of that, the love of that, the compassion and grace of that
ought to comfort our hearts, isn't it? And then remember God's
work of creation. God spoke and it was so. The
universe was an empty space. And God spoke and created. God said, let there be light,
and there was light. God said, let the dry land appear, and
it appeared. God said, let the animals appear,
and they appeared. Let the grass appear. And it
was so. He did that just by speaking. God asked us, now consider this.
Is anything too hard for me? No. Remember how God created this
earth and put man on it for this purpose. so that His Son could
get glory in saving His fallen elect out of it. Now the power
of that, the wisdom of that, the graciousness of that should
comfort our hearts in remembering. And then remember how God has
miraculously delivered Israel time and time and time again.
And probably you can recall times He did that in your life too.
Brother Cecil Roach told me one time that he used to like to
sit out on his rocking chair in his front porch And he'd read
those stories, how God just miraculously delivered Israel and Israel never
fired a shot. And Cecil said, I read those
things. I just laugh out loud. He said,
my neighbors think I'm crazy. Well, remember that the power
of God and the willingness of God to display that power, to
reach down, to deliver his people ought to comfort our hearts. And then remember God's work
of incarnation. God made His Son to be born flesh. He prepared a body for His Son. The Son of God was born a real
baby to a virgin and a manager. My soul. But I'll tell you what is more
wondrous than that. Not just that God's Son could
be born flesh. But why was his son born flesh? So that his people would have
a representative. Bone of their bone and flesh
of their flesh. His people would have a representative
who's holy, who's righteous. God made his son flesh and that
enabled him to take away the sin of his people who were in
the flesh. Because he could be their representative. He could
be their substitute. An animal could never be their
substitute, could it? Different nature. So Christ took
on Him the nature of man. So He could be the substitute
for His people and put their sin away by the sacrifice of
Himself. God sacrificed Himself to please
Himself, to satisfy Himself so that He could save His people
from their sins and accept them into His presence. Now the power
of that, the grace of that, that God would be willing to do that
for the likes of us gathered here tonight We ought to comfort
our heart in every trouble. And then remember all the works
of our Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. He went
about doing good all the time. All of His works, everything
He did was perfect. Everything. And I tell you why
that comforts the hearts of God's people. Because everything He
did, we did. Because He's our representative.
His obedience is our obedience. His perfection is our perfection. You think of the wonder of the
Lord Jesus, the only man who ever lived to be perfect. He perfectly obeyed God's law. And he was happy to do it. Most
times when I obey the law, I do it kind of grudgingly. Here coming
up, I'm going to have to take a bunch of papers down to a CPA
and pay my taxes. And I'm not doing it out of the
goodness of my heart. I'm doing it because I have to. The Lord Jesus didn't feel that
way. No. One second. He delighted to do his father's
will. He delighted to perfectly obey
God's law so that he could honor his father and so that he could
make his sinful people to be righteous in him. Remember that. Remember his works. Remember how he interacted with
people. Remember his compassion for sinners.
You think of the master coming across those who are sick, who
are sorrowing, who are broken hearted, who are dead, who had
no hope. When he left them, they weren't
that way anymore, were they? Think of his compassion. Remember
how not one time ever Did he turn away a needy sinner who
was begging for mercy? Not one. If in the day of trouble
we call and the Lord hadn't answered, tell you what we better do. Keep
calling. Remember a Syrophoenician woman?
He couldn't run her away, could he? No. She got to mercy. She came to him. Now the power
of that, the grace of that, the willingness of the Savior to
stoop The sinners, like we are, ought to comfort our hearts always.
And remember this, remember God's eternal purpose. Before God created
anything, He ordained everything that would ever happen in human
time. He ordained everything. And human time began. God put
Adam in the garden and the clock started ticking. Human time began.
And from that time till now, now we look back on it and call
it called history. This is what happened in history.
But you know, all that was is God carrying out his will. That's
all it is. And from now till the time Christ
returns, all that's going to be, I don't know what those specific
events are, but I can tell you what it's going to be. It's going
to be God carrying out his will that he ordained before the foundation
of the world. And that includes even me in
my present trouble. God ordained this from the foundation
of the world. That ought to comfort our heart
to remember the works of the Lord. But now, I've said all
that to get here. Here's the third thing. This
is the most important. I hope we go home with this. In that day
of trouble, when the sun just doesn't seem like it's ever going
to set on it. The night of trouble just doesn't seem like the sun's
ever going to come up. And that winter of trouble, when
we're just sure winter's going to last forever and spring's
never going to follow again. Here's the third thing to remember.
Remember God's work. His work of redemption. Verse
12. David said, I will meditate also
of thy work and talk of thy doings. Now verse 11, he said, I remember
the works of the Lord. But he's talking about something
different in verse 12, isn't he? I will meditate also of thy
work. There are too many of the works
of the Lord for us to mention, but there is one preeminent work. It's God's work of redemption.
Look back in Psalm 111. We read this to open the scripture.
Let's see if you notice this. David's talking about the same
thing in Psalm 111 that he's talking about back here in our
text, Psalm 77. He talks about God's works, verse
two. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Verse four,
he hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is
gracious and full of compassion. Verse six, he has showed his
people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage
of the heathen. Verse seven, the works of his hands are verity
and judgment. All his commandments are sure.
But verse three, His work. This is His chief work. His most
honorable work. His work of redemption is honorable
and glorious. And His righteousness endureth
forever. And that work, the work of redemption,
is the most important thing for us to remember in that day of
trouble. The thing that will comfort the
hearts of God's people always is His work. His work of redemption. In that day of trouble, remember
Christ at Calvary. Remember Him accomplishing the
eternal redemption of His people. Remember how that by one sacrifice,
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. See, that's
the only reason we have comfort for our hearts. In any day, the
only way there's any comfort for any man, woman, boy or girl
in the flesh is Christ at Calvary. The only reason we can have comfort
in that day of trouble is how Christ, our substitute, suffered
the great day of trouble for His people. He suffered that
great day of God's wrath against the sin of His people at Calvary
so He could present them faultless to the Father. God's people have
comfort because Christ said And he experienced
what we really can't say. We really can't say these things.
God's people have comfort because Christ was made sin for us. And he took the sin of his people
away from them and put it away by his sacrifice. See, everything
from verse 7 to the start of verse 10, We can't say those
things. Don't ever look at these things
as, well, has the Lord cast off forever? Is his mercy clean gone?
Don't look at those things as something that we can say. This
is something only Christ could say. This is Christ speaking. The beginning of verse 10, he
says, and this is my infirmity. This is what he said as he was
suffering for sin. He called it my sin. He called
it mine iniquity. The sin of God's elect was made
his. The father made the son to be
guilty, and then he killed him for it. Now, here's our comfort. God could never kill anybody
if Christ died for him. His justice is already satisfied
in the death of Christ at the tree. And the Savior suffered
this awful day of trouble. So he could say these things.
Verse 7, he said, Will the Lord cast off forever? Will he be
favorable no more? At Calvary, the father cast off
his son. He cast him, he turned his back
on him. Now, I know it didn't last forever,
but it was hell while it lasted. The father withdrew his presence
from his son. Verse 8, is his mercy clean gone
forever? Does his promise fail forevermore? At Calvary, God's son felt no
loving, merciful, presence from his father as he hung upon the
tree. Now he felt the presence of his
father. He felt the presence of his father in justice, but
not in love, not in mercy. And he hung upon this promise. He hung upon God's covenant,
God's promise. When those chief priests mocked
him and said, come down from the cross. He saved others himself
he cannot save. You know why he didn't come down?
He knew God wouldn't break his promise. His death is going to
bring in everlasting life for his people. Now, I know that
time didn't last forever, but it was hell for Christ while
it lasted. What a day of trouble he suffered so that his people
would never feel that. Verse 9, hath God forgotten to
be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his
tender mercies? Oh, no one ever suffered as alone
as Christ the Savior did. All alone. He suffered the wrath
of God so fully, he asked, has God forgotten me? My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Oh, what a day of trouble he
suffered. Well, when you're in a day of
trouble, remember that day. Remember that word. God's people
have comfort because Christ suffered everything we deserve in that
day of trouble at Calvary. God's people have the promise
of God. God who cannot lie has promised
mercy for our sin because Christ received no mercy at Calvary.
God's people have the promise of deliverance because Christ
was not delivered from justice. God's people have a promise from
God that he will never, no never, no never leave nor forsake his
people because he forsook our substitute at Calvary. God promises
to give eternal life to his people because Christ, our substitute,
died the death that we deserve at Calvary in that great day
of trouble. When you're in that day of trouble,
you remember this word. the work of redemption. God has
an elect people, and the Lord Jesus Christ completely, fully,
and eternally saved those people from their sin, and God will
never turn his mercy away from them, ever. Look at verse 15.
Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob
and Joseph. Now you know how Jacob is a picture
of God's electing love. Jacob have I loved. And Esau
hath I hated. But what's this about Joseph?
Joseph is a picture of that too. Let me show you that back in
Genesis chapter 48. Genesis chapter 48. This is when Jacob is dying.
God changed his name to Israel. He's blessing his sons. In verse
8 of Genesis 48, And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and he said, Who
are these? And Joseph said unto his father,
These are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he
said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not
see. And he brought them near unto him, and he kissed them
and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph,
I had not thought to see thy face. And, lo, God hath shown
me also I see. I didn't think I'd ever see you
again. Now I see, I got these grandsons. And Joseph brought
them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his
face to the earth. And Joseph took them both Ephraim in his
right hand toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh in his left
hand toward Israel's right hand. See what he's doing? He's putting
his firstborns, putting the oldest one at Jacob's right hand and
brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his
right hand. and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and
his left hand on Manasseh's head. He crossed his arms, putting
those arms on the opposite heads of the way that Joseph brought
them to him, guiding his hands wittingly. For Manasseh was the
firstborn, and he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all
my life long to this day, the angel which redeemed me from
all evil, Bless the lads, and let my name be named on them,
and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them grow
into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph
saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim,
it displeased him. And he held up his father's hand
to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph
said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put thy right hand upon his head.
And his father refused. and said, I know what my son,
I know it. He also shall become a people
and he also should be great. But truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he and his seed shall become a multitude
of nations. The younger received the blessing,
didn't he? See that's the same as Jacob. The elder shall serve the younger.
That's God's electing love. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
redeem a people that God gave them to redeem. And He completely,
fully, and eternally redeemed them from all of their sin. And
in that day of trouble, you remember Christ's work of salvation for
His people. And you will find comfort through
your heart. That work is sure. The mercy that Christ purchased
at Calvary will never run dry. It will always be there for God's
people. And then lastly, fourthly, in
that day of trouble, remember the preaching of Christ. Verse
13, Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a
God is our God. Now when Davis says God's way
is in the sanctuary, I don't think he's talking so much about
the auditorium where we worship. That's part of it, but mostly
I believe he means the heavens, the sanctuary, the heavens. That's
where God dwells. Now, God's ways are higher than
our ways. Don't waste your time trying
to figure out God, figuring out what God's doing. He's past figuring
out by RP brains. No one is as great as our God. There's no rock like our rock.
He inhabits the heavens, and we inhabit down here on earth,
made of the dust of the earth. That's how much higher than us
God is. I mean, He inhabits the heavens and we're made from dirt.
So we can't figure out what God's doing. So when you're in that day of
trouble, remember that. Remember God's in the heavens
and we're on the earth. Remember the preaching of Christ.
We can think and think and think and think and our minds will
never come up with something that must be revealed from heaven. You can't figure the gospel out.
It's got to be revealed from heaven. You can't figure out
a way to comfort your heart. It's got to be revealed from
heaven. And God does that through the preaching of his word. How
many times have you, especially on a Wednesday night, just drug
yourself in here? It's been a day. Oh, my word.
It's 35 degrees colder today than it was yesterday. This hurts
to go outside. You come to the surface and God
gives you something to comfort your heart that you can take
home with you and take to bed with you in that day, in that
night of trouble. So remember God most high. God's on the throne. Remember
the works of the Lord. Remember his work of redemption
and remember Christ in the gospel. You'll find comfort for yourself.
All right, let's bow together. Our Father, we thank You for
Your Word. How we thank You for Your Word that comes to us right
where we live in this day of trouble, the day of having to
live in this sinful body of flesh. Father, I pray You'd bless Your
Word, bless Your Word to Your glory and apply Your Word to
our hearts. Enable us to believe the Lord
Jesus Christ, that believing Him We have life, we have salvation,
we have redemption, we have union with you. And Father, when we
forget, as we so often do in these frail bodies, cause these
things to come to our remembrance, that we might remember you, that
we might remember your great work of redemption, that your
mercy can never run dry to your people, that you can never break
your covenant to your people, but these things are sure and
certain in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, bless us for Christ's
sake. Bless this message for his glory, for the good of his
people.