Isaiah chapter 40. The title
of the message is Behold Your God. This is still the message
of comfort that God has given his servants to preach to his
people. And if we're going to be comforted,
we're going to have to look away from some things. We've got to
look away from ourselves. We've got to look away from what
we think we can do. We've got to look away from the
world and everything that's in it. If we're going to be comforted,
not only do we have to look away from our earthly troubles, we've
got to look away from our earthly comforts too. If we're going
to be comforted, we must look to Christ. We've got to look
away from all these things and look to Christ. Because our comfort
is who God is, his character and who he is. So look to him
and find comfort in him. Just like Sunday's message was
look and live. Tonight's message is look and
be comforted. Now at the end of verse nine,
Isaiah says, behold your God. And beginning in verse 12, Isaiah
gives us a description of God. He gives us a description of
the God that we behold by faith. First, behold God, mighty to
save. Verse 12, who hath measured the
waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with a span
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure? and weighed
the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. God holds
all the, not just all the waters of the sea, but all the underground
water, all the water that there is on this planet, God holds
that in His hand. Now you think how much water
you can keep in the palm of your hand, not much. By comparison,
that doesn't even really give us an accurate comparison how
much greater God is than us. How much bigger God is than us. He holds all the waters of this
planet just in the palm of His hand. We measure space in light
years. You know how God measures it?
It's about like that. That's the span of His hand.
That's all the galaxies, all the space to God. It's the span
of His hand. and the dust of the earth. That's all the dirt
and all the rock, all the solid particles that make up this globe.
We measure that in cubic tons. I mean, it's hard to tell. I
mean, billions of cubic tons that is. You know how God measures
that? A pinch between two fingers and
a thumb. That's what that means. Just like when you get a recipe
calls for a pinch or a dash of flour. You just get that between
two fingers and a thumb. That's all this earth is to God,
just a pinch between two fingers and a thumb. Now that's the size,
the might of who God is. Now let me ask you, is there
anything too hard for God? Is there anything too hard for
God that great? Remember when our Lord came to
Abraham and Sarah was behind him listening through the tent.
And he told Abraham, I'm going to return. In a year, you're
going to have a son. He promised him Isaac. This is
the son of promise. What did Sarah do? She heard
that. She laughed. She said, that's not possible.
It's not possible Abraham could have a son. It's not possible
I could have a son. What did the Lord say? Abraham,
why would Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for God?
Look over at Jeremiah chapter 32. Usually when we find ourselves
in lack of comfort, needing comfort, it's because we've forgotten
this, how great, mighty God is to save. Jeremiah 32, verse 17. Ah, Lord God, behold, thou hast
made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched
out arm. and there is nothing too hard for thee. When Jeremiah
saw who God is, the greatness of his might, he said, there's
nothing too hard for you. Now I tell us this evening, behold
your God. Do you think he's got the power
to deliver you from sin? Do you think this hand that measures
space in Spain, you reckon that hand is mighty enough to save
you, put away your sin? I think so. God's the only one
capable of putting away your sin. Now look to Him, see Him
in His might, and you'll have comfort for your soul. And then
behold your God. Whatever trial, whatever difficulty
it is you're facing right now, behold your God. You think He's
got the power to deliver you? Do you think that mighty hand
can deliver you from this trial? I would say, If he made the heavens
and the earth, he more than likely is able to control everything
that's going on in his creation, wouldn't you say? If he can measure
space in the span of his hand, this earth is just a pinch between
two fingers and a thumb, I'd imagine there's nothing too big
going on in this earth that's too big for him to handle. Now
behold him, and you'll have comfort. Second, behold your God, who
has the wisdom to save. Verse 13, who hath directed the
spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor taught him? With
whom took he counsel? And who instructed him, taught
him in the path of judgment, taught him knowledge, and showed
to him the way of understanding? Who's ever taught God anything? Well, no one. He already knows
everything. And that's good because the salvation
of a sinner takes the wisdom of God. A man can never figure
that out. Now, men have come up with many,
many, many different ways of salvation, many different ideas
and methods that they might be saved, but none of them work.
Because this thing of a salvation of a sinner takes wisdom, a man
doesn't have. Man has fallen, we have no wisdom. This is the
question Job asked. How should a man be just with
God? How is it that a man can be justified? Job never could
figure it out. His three friends could never
figure it out. Only God has the wisdom to save a sinner and to
do it in justice. Only God has the wisdom to save
sinners without violating the character of God. And God's way
of salvation is our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the wisdom
of God. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Paul said in Colossians 2 verse
3, that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. God is wise enough to save away,
save sinners in a way that's consistent with his holiness.
And he does that by his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And that
salvation, the salvation that enables God to save a sinner
and still be holy is a salvation that glorifies God, isn't it? Well, if there's a salvation
that glorifies God, you can rest in it. You can have comfort in
that. Now look to Christ. Look to Him
and the wisdom of God and be comforted. Salvation in Him will
never fail. He is the way that God is both
just and justifier. What more comfort do you want
than that? And you know, God governs His creation with this
very same wisdom. God's too wise to make a mistake.
Whatever trial it is you're going through, the same difficulty
I mentioned a moment ago, whatever difficulty it is you're going
through, I can promise you this, God knows how to deliver you
from it. Look at 2 Peter 2. Always our knee jerk reaction
when some problem comes up is, well, what can we do? What can
I do to fix this? How frequently do you find you
don't have an answer? I don't know. God knows. 2 Peter
2 verse 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the
day of judgment to be punished. Now here's comfort. God already
knows. He knows how to save. He knows
how to deliver. Now look to him. Just look and
keep your mouth shut. We don't need to give God any
advice on how to save us or how to deliver us. Just look to him. Look and wait. God is so wise,
he knows what we have need of before we even ask. Isn't that
comforting? Just look, behold him. Third,
behold your God who's sufficient to save. Verse 15, Isaiah chapter
40. Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket, and are counted as a small dust of the balance.
Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing, and Lebanon
is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as
nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity."
Now here's man's problem. We're sinners. We've sold ourselves
to sin. We've sold ourselves under the
law and our souls must be redeemed. We've got to be bought back from
the law. We've got to be bought back from the power of sin. We've
got to be redeemed. And if we're not, we're going
to be damned. Now there's a price on our head
because of our sin. What price are you going to pay?
What price will you pay for your soul? And I suppose a better
question is what price will God accept? What is it that you can
come up with to pay that God will accept? You know, there's
nothing on this earth that is of any value at all to God. If you could gather together
all the nations, all the people, all the valuables of this earth
and put them all together at one time, that would be nothing
to God. It would be less than nothing
to Him in vanity. Put all this together and it's
worthless to God. God says it's the drop of a bucket.
And you know what a drop of a bucket is? Drop of a bucket is that
drop after you take a bucket full of water and you turn it
upside down, dump it out, and you turn it right side back.
There's a little drop of water that come to the bottom of that
thing. Well, you don't fish it out and get it because you think,
That drop of water is not going to do anybody any good. It's
the drop of a bucket. That's all this earth is to God. And if all this put together
is a drop of a bucket, what do you mean? Drop in a bucket. And
all the dirt, all the rock, all the solid stuff that makes up
this globe. And hidden in there is gold,
silver, diamonds, and rubies, and precious gems, and platinum,
and all this stuff. Put it all together. It's worthless
to God. Worthless. God says it's the
dust of the balance. Now, dust of a balance. I mean,
in this day, what they do, if you're gonna buy something weighed
up, they put on these, on a balance, right? You know, they put a pound
of what they know is a pound over here, and then, you know,
till evening's out, you know you got a pound. Well, and you
go measure that out, you're measuring out seed or flower or whatever,
and there's some dust that's in the air, land it on that scale.
Well, you don't demand that the grocer brush that off because
you know it's not going to make any difference to the scale.
It's not going to affect the scale at all. If you put everything
that we think is valuable in this earth together, all in one
place and put it on a scale next to the cost of the redemption
of our soul, it won't move the scale. It's the small dust of
the balance, insignificant. That's all of us put together,
insignificant. We're the dust of the earth,
aren't we? Made from the dust, we're insignificant. Well, if
there's going to be a sacrifice then, if there's going to be
a price paid sufficient to redeem the souls of God's elect, God's
going to have to provide it, isn't he? We can't provide it.
God's going to have to provide it. And that's exactly what he
did. Remember when Abraham and Isaac
were going up to the top of Mount Moriah, Abraham said, my son,
God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice. God's gonna
provide a lamb that's sufficient to put away the sin of his people.
All the trees of Lebanon, they're not sufficient to put sin away,
but Christ is. Christ is sufficient. Christ
is all you need to have your soul be saved, justified, washed
from all of its sin. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient
to once for all put away the sin of God's elect. Now look
to Him. Now behold your God. Look to
Him. See Christ and His sufficiency
and just rest. Have comfort for your soul. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow because
Christ is sufficient. God's provided the sacrifice
that's sufficient. Fourth, behold your God. He's greater than any idol. Look
in our text here, verse 18. To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness will you compare unto him? The workman melteth
a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and
casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot. He
seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that
shall not be moved. Now behold your God. There's
idols all around us. They might be carved out of stone. They might be ceramic statues.
They might just be this false Jesus that's a figment of man's
imagination, but there's idols everywhere. You don't have to
strain yourself to find one. Don't get caught up in them.
Behold your God. God is spirit. God is beyond
man's comprehension. That's the problem with these
idols. These idols are something a man thought up. God's beyond
man's comprehension. If we're ever going to see God,
if we're going to behold Him as He is, He's going to have
to reveal Himself to us. When you look at an idol, you
know what it looks like? It looks like something a man
would make, because it's limited to man's imagination. This past
weekend was Jan's birthday, and I made her a birthday cake. She
was at work, and I made her a birthday cake. And she got home, and I
sung Happy Birthday to her. Now, you know how mothers are.
You're used to seeing something that a child made and saying,
I love that. Well, this cake I made, it was
thicker on this end than it was on this end. It kind of ran down. I made frosting from scratch.
I did do that. But then I tried to put it on
the cake, and it's a mess. I mean, it looks like a five-year-old.
And that's an insult to five-year-olds everywhere. It's just not a good-looking
job. That cake looks like I made it
because that cake is limited to my very limited abilities. That's an idol. It looks like
a man made it because it's limited to man's imagination. Man can't
imagine God. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. That's
why these idols fall so far short. Man can't even imagine God. 1 Corinthians 2. But as it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, Yea, the deep things of God, man cannot
imagine who God is. So don't look at these idols.
Now behold your God. He sits on the circle of the
earth. We'll get to that in just a minute. But that verse 22 says
he sits upon the circle of the earth. Behold your God. He sits on the throne of the
earth. He sits above all things outside
of time outside. He God, that's where he sits. Where does an idol sit? Right
where you put him. And he doesn't move from that
spot because he has feet, but he walks not. He doesn't have
any power except what you give him. But not God. Behold your
God. He sitteth on the circle of the
earth. And an idol is only as rich as a man decides to make
it. Now a king, he may have Seems like unlimited resources. Well,
he's going to make him an idol full of gold and silver chains
and all these things, you know. He looks pretty impressive. A
peasant who doesn't have anything, he gets a tree and log, you know,
and cuts a car's an idol out of it. That idol is only as rich
as the man that made him. Now behold your God. Ignore those
things. Behold your God. Oh, he's rich. He owns the cattle on 1,000 hills. If he was hungry, he wouldn't
have to ask you. He owns everything already. And
you want to talk about rich? Behold your God, rich in mercy,
rich in grace. Behold your God who owns everything
and gives it to whomsoever he will. Behold your God. There's
none like him. There's none like him in holiness.
There's none like him in power. There's none like him in mercy.
There's none like him in truth. There's none like him in salvation.
Behold your God. Fifth, behold your God in electing
grace. Verse 21. Have you not known
Have you not heard, hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Have you not heard this? Don't you know this is true?
Well, you do. Well, what's the difference between
you and some idolater? What's the difference between
you and some idolater? I don't know if Catholics have
midweek service, maybe they don't, but Saturday morning some Catholic's
gonna bow down to a ceramic statue. What's the difference between
you and them? God's electing grace. That's
the only difference. God chose a people from the foundation
of the world and he sent his son to die for those people.
And he sent the gospel to you. He caused his people to be born
again. So they'd have ears to hear.
They're born again with a new heart and a new mind that loves
God and has an understanding of who God is and loves the gospel. What a blessing to be in a place
where you can hear God's word preached. That's comfort. If you're in a place, if God
puts you in a place where you can hear the gospel preached,
that's comfort. God did that. It didn't happen
by accident. God did that. And all through the years, how
this congregation has heard. Haven't you heard? Haven't you
known? Why? It's by God's grace. Sixth, behold
your God, the creator. Verse 22, it's he that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Now, a few Sundays
ago, we looked at the story of creation from Genesis chapter
one. And you think how spectacular that looked when God said, You
know, in the midst of this darkness and void and chaos and confusion,
God said, let there be light. And there was light. God said,
let the sun appear. And it appeared. God said, let
the moon appear there. Well, I mean, just I mean, one
moment there was nothing. And the next moment, there's
the sun and the moon. God said, let the stars appear. And they
all appeared. God said, let the dry land appear. And it was so.
God said, let the grass appear, and the trees, and the plants.
I mean, just suddenly, there they are. God said, let the animals
appear. I mean, what a spectacular, amazing
sight that must have been. And you know, that was light
work to God. Nothing, it didn't make God tired,
it was light work. When God created outer space,
you know what that was? It was just like us closing and
opening the curtains. Tonight, you know, I'd go home and close
the curtains. That's God spreading out the
space between Him and us. That's as easy as it was for
Him. Just like God setting up a pup tent for men to dwell in.
Now here's comfort. Creation was light work to God. Was it going to be hard for God
to save your soul? No. He, of course not. Is it gonna
be hard? Now behold your God, he's a creator.
Is it too hard for God to make a way of escape for you when
it's time? Of course not. Now behold your God. Next, behold
your God. He's king of all. Verse 23. That bringeth the princes to
nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Now we
know this. And this is not just words, now
this is truth, it's comfort to God's people. God rules every
event in this world, every one of them. Now right now, right
now, 2015, who is ruling? Come on now, who's ruling? Who's
controlling all the events of our nation? Is it the President? Is it the Supreme Court? Or is
it God? It's God, isn't it? Who's going
to determine the future of our country? Boy, these elections
better go right. Now, wait a minute. Is the future of our country
dependent on these elections? Is it dependent on your choice,
the choice of this country? Or is it God? Now, who's steering
this thing? It's God. He's steering it by
his eternal will. Now, God's a God of means. God sets up earthly rulers. When
these next round of elections come up, I can tell you he's
going to win. God's person, God's man, God's woman, whoever it's
going to be, is going to be the person appointed by God. He sets
up earthly rulers for good and order in his world to accomplish
his purpose. In Daniel 4, God told Nebuchadnezzar
this. He said, now you need to learn
this. The most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and he gives
it to whomever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. If you get elected president,
I think we just heard you're the basest of men, just nothing,
the basest of men. But look at Romans chapter 13.
Now this is the basest of men God sets up for his purpose,
to accomplish his purpose in the earth. But now let's be sure
to respect that authority. They are the basis to men without
question, but they're God's ruler. Romans 13, verse one. Let every soul be
subject under the higher powers. For there is no power but of
God. The only reason that person holds any place of authority
is God put him there. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise
of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But
if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not
the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God,
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore,
because this is God's ruler now, you must needs be subject, not
only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Or for this
cause, pay you tribute also for they're God's ministers, attending
continually upon this very thing. And I know what goes through
people's minds. Well, I know that now, I see that. But our rulers are so wicked,
they're so off in left field, you know, it seems like the sky
is falling. I grant you, it does seem that way. But here's our
comfort. You know why we get all bent
out of shape about that? Because we're looking at Washington.
Behold your God. Now behold your God. This won't
last long. Look at verse 23 back in our
text. was God rules that bringeth the princes to nothing. He maketh
the judges of the earth as vanity. There have been many powerful
empires through the history of this world. Where are they now? God just breathed and blew them
away. That's where they are now. Look at verse 24. Yea, they shall
not be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stalks shall not take root in the earth. And he shall
also blow upon them and they shall wither. And the whirlwind,
when God just breathes on them, the whirlwind shall take them
away as stubble. Now this is never gonna change.
Men will always be wicked. Rulers will always be wicked. And God will always be on the
throne. God is taking an active interest
in the events of His creation, especially as they relate to
His own children. Now behold your God, that's comfort. God's absolute sovereignty is
not just doctrine to God's people. That's our comfort. Behold your
God, the sovereign ruler. And then last, behold your God,
the Savior and Keeper of His people. There is none like our
God. There's none, no rock like unto
our rock. Verse 25, to whom then will you
liken me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? You know, there's no gospel like
our gospel. There's no gospel like the gospel
of God. The gospel of Christ has no equal
because this is the gospel of God, not the gospel some man
made up. The gospel of Christ actually declares salvation that
saves a sinner while declaring God to still be God. It's the
only gospel that does that. The gospel of Christ actually
declares salvation for a sinner that puts God on a throne and
man in the dust. This is the only gospel that
does that. And the gospel of Christ is a sure salvation. because Christ can't fail. See,
the problem with all these other so-called gospels is they can
fail because they're dependent on you. You may can fail, Christ
can't. Verse 26, lift up your eyes on
high and behold who hath created these things that bringeth out
their host by number. He calleth them all by names
by the greatness of his might. For he's strong in power, not
one faileth. Now when God created the heavens
and the earth, he created all the stars and he put them right
in their place and there they all are. There are more stars
than we can count. You remember that night God took
Abraham out and said, Abraham, look up, count the stars if you're
able. Well, I don't know how many stars
he could count. But today, we can count more. We've got telescopes
that go out into space. And we can see way deeper than
Abraham ever could. And we still can't count them
all. I mean, just an estimate. There's so many of them, we can't
count them all. We can't see them all. But you know, God's
got an exact count on every one of them. God's even named every
one. Every star, God named them. I
used to see this on TV. It probably comes out. around
every Christmas time or something, you know, the gift to get somebody,
you don't know what to get them. You can send off and they'll
send you this certificate and you can name a star after, you
know, your loved one. Sounds real romantic, doesn't
it? You know, God didn't look at the star, you know, named
after Janet or whatever. But you know, really, that star's
already got a name. God gave it a name. That's his
name. And you know, God remembers every
name too. I can remember faces and we go,
Jan, I go places and I see somebody and I think, oh my, I know them. I can't think of their name.
I'm whispered, what's their name? God remembers every name. But I'm sure this is talking
about a whole lot more than constellations and stars out in space. Because
some of them fall, don't they? You see a shooting star? Sometimes
one of them goes out. Look over at Genesis chapter
15. I'm just confident that this
host that God brings out by numbers, not stars of heaven, but it's
God's elect. In Genesis 15, verse three. And Abram said, behold, to me,
thou hast given no seed. And lo, one born in my house
is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. All that seed
of Abraham is God's elect. Those stars are a picture of
God's elect. They're the children of Abraham.
They've been given the same faith as Abraham, they've been made
righteous the same way Abraham's been righteous, and none of God's
elect will ever fail, none of them, because Christ and his
great power won't fail. Now, even though we have that
promise of God, that he'll never fail, his people will never fail,
How often do we become full of doubts and fears? Often. Verse
27, back in our text. Now, after hearing this, this
is the question God asks. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest, O Israel, my ways hid from the Lord, and my judgment
is passed over from my God? Now, why do you say that? Why
do we think this trial I'm going through is not ending because
somehow it slipped past God's attention? Why? If God knew this
was happening to me, he'd put a stop to it. Or we think, well,
I know God knows everything. So this is not happening to me
because God doesn't know it. This has happened to me because
God just got tired of me. He's done with me. He's just,
I have more trouble than I'm worth and he's done. He's casting
me out. Either way, those doubts, they're
doubting God's love for his people. They're doubting God's power
for us to save and preserve and protect His people. They're doubting
the very character of who God is. Well, what's God's answer
to us in these doubts and fears? Behold, you're God. The only
reason you got these doubts and become filled with these doubts
and fears is you've forgotten who God is. You've taken your
eyes off of Him. Now behold, you're God, verse
28. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary. There's no searching of his understanding. Have you not heard? Now I'm talking
to you. This is not the nameless masses
out there, many of whom maybe they haven't heard. You've heard. Every person in this room has
heard the gospel many times. A lot of you your whole life
heard the gospel. Have you not heard? Oh, we've
heard. This congregation has heard the
gospel over and over and over and over again. Well, then you
know this because God's given you an understanding. You know
God never gets tired. Now, you know there's no end
to God's grace for his people. There's no end of God's love
for his people. This trial hadn't happened because
God's too tired to stop it. This trial is happening for my
good. Now, I don't understand that. I don't understand why. I don't
see how any good's ever gonna come out of this, and I may never,
but that's all right. God does. He knows. And that's all the comfort that
I, all I need to know to have comfort in Him. Our comfort is
found in trusting God. Not in seeing the way out, not
in seeing the finished product, but trusting God. Trusting His
character. Trusting His grace and His love
and His power and His wisdom. He didn't have to explain to
me what He's doing, I couldn't understand it anyway. I just gotta trust
Him. He's doing right. And this is comfort for our souls.
All of us have loved ones that do not know the Lord. You want
some comfort. You know, we might be prone to
think someone beyond help. Maybe I think I'm beyond help.
I'm too far gone for even God to save me. My sin is so great,
even God won't forgive me. Now, when you think that way,
don't be discouraged. but really take comfort because
now, when you finally come to the point that you think I'm
beyond help, now, finally, you're a candidate for God's mercy.
You can't be a candidate for mercy until you're left without
any hope. That valley of dry bones, well, it looked like a
lost cause, didn't it? You wanna go preach to those
dry bones? Can those dry bones live? Lord, you know. They'll live if you make them
live. You can make them live. Our God is able to save to the
uttermost all that come to God by Christ. There are no cases
too hard for God. Now behold your God. In the life of a believer, it's
a warfare. And there are times we think
I can't take another step. I mean, this race, it's just
too long. I can't take another step. What
am I gonna do? Behold your God. Verse 29. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. and they shall
walk and not faint. Oh, I hope we always keep looking
to Christ, independence upon him. Look over at, we read this
to open the service, Psalm 123. This is the looking that I'm
talking. We behold our God. And Isaiah
says here, now we wait upon you, we look to you. This is what
he means. When you look to someone, this is like a child looks, you
know, you look. And you just wait to see what
they'll do. I've got two dogs that do that.
Janet's away, and they normally do this to her. Now they're doing
it to me, because she's not there. They know there's a certain time
of day they get a dog treat. And I don't know how they know
that time of day's come, but they know. So that time, they
just come and sit and look. And they don't take their eyes
off. They don't move. They don't bark. They don't do anything.
They just sit and look. And they just stare till they've drilled
a hole in my head, and I've got to go give them this dog treat,
you know? When I say look to Christ, that's what I mean. Just
sit and look and wait on him to do for you what you can't
do for yourself. This is what David said here in Psalm 123. Under thee I lift up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants
look under the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a
maiden under the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon
the Lord our God. Until that, he have mercy upon
us. Just look, just look to Him and
keep waiting on Him to show mercy. And if you look to the Lord and
you wait on the Lord, He will strengthen you. For whatever
path it is the Lord puts in front of you, He will strengthen you
for the path He gives you. And you might wonder, well, will
I make it to glory? Well, I'll tell you what, if
the Father chose you, He sent His Son to die for you. He sent
His Spirit to give you life. You'll make it all the way. You'll
make it, not because you've got the strength to do it, but because
God's gonna give you the strength for the journey that He's got
for you to go from here to there. Whatever it is, He'll give you
the strength. So behold your God. Our comfort
is found in Him. Not anything about us, it's in
Him. So behold your God. All right, let's bow in prayer. Our great God, how we thank you
for this precious portion of your word that you've just opened
to us. Father, we thank you that you're
God alone. There's none beside thee. There's
none that can be compared unto thee. We're thankful that you're
God, sitting on the circle of the earth, sitting on the throne
of glory, ruling and reigning, doing according to your will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
How we thank you for your sovereignty, your power. And oh, how we thank
you for your mercy and your grace and your love to your people.
It gives us a sure salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely we have no reason to fear
or to doubt, but have comfort in thee. Father, I pray that
you'd give each of us, as we leave here this evening, the
grace, the faith, to behold our God and to rest in him. It's in the precious name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his name, we pray.