Alright, open your Bibles again
in Nehemiah chapter 9. My wife tells me I always have
a story. And I have a story. How I came to this text. A week
or two ago, I went to the conference in Lexington on Friday night. The men met in a study before
the service and I went back there. Andy Davis ran into study, led
the men in prayer, and he read this chapter. And I was greatly blessed, just
to seem like an outline just opened up as he read. And I was
sitting next to Bob Coffey, and I asked Bob, I said, how long
ago did you teach him in Sunday school? He said, about 18 years
ago. And I remember subbing in those
classes. And Andy wasn't always the happiest
camper in those classes, but every week his mother was faithful
to put him in that class. He wasn't happy to be there,
but he was there. And Lord's safety. And just look now, he
read this and led those men in prayer. He does some preaching
for Todd, just a blessing. So that's the end of my story.
You never know what the Lord will do. You pray for these children. You never know what He'll be
pleased to do. And I'd never read much of Nehemiah
actually, so I did some studying this week and found out that
Nehemiah lived at a time when the Jews were in bondage to the
Persians. And Nehemiah was the cupbearer
to the king. The king was the stepson of Queen
Esther. And Nehemiah was his cupbearer.
And one day the king asked Nehemiah, he said, why do you look so sad?
countenance fallen. Don't you have just, you know,
this great life? And Nehemiah said, why shouldn't
I be sad? My city, the city of my birth is destroyed. The walls
are gone. It's just a wilderness. And the
king said, we'll go. He took men and he took letters,
giving him authority. And the king said, you go rebuild
that wall and the city, make it a fortified city again. And
Nehemiah did. Israel's enemies, they didn't
like that. They did everything they could to stop Nehemiah from
building that wall. But Nehemiah was a single-minded
man. I like him. He's single-minded. He was not going to let anything
deter him from his work. He was a man of prayer. He was
a man of faith. It didn't matter how the enemies
came up against him. He wouldn't take any excuses.
No excuses. He's going to build this wall.
And they did. The wall and the gates were rebuilt.
And here in chapter 9, the Levites come together and give a dedication
to this finished work of these walls. And they give a confession
of the sin of the people, both the current people and the sins
of their fathers. And they give the people a description of the
God that they're to worship. And they begin in the middle
of verse 5 here where we read, and the Levites told the people,
you stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever. and
blessed be thy glorious name which is exalted above all blessing
and praise. Stand up and bless the Lord your
God. And not just any God now, not
the idols that the people worshipped in the past, not the idols that
were worshipped by the heathen that lived all around them, but
you stand up and bless the Lord, Jehovah. His name is glorious. And in case you wonder who we're
talking about here, They give a description. This is our God
in the next verses. They say in verse 6, Thou, even
Thou art Lord alone, Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens,
with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein,
the seas and all that is therein, and Thou preserves them all,
and the host of heaven worshipeth Thee. First, our God is God. He is the only God, different
from all the idols of men. Our God is the God of creation.
That's where the whole Bible starts. In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. He's the God of creation. He
created everything that is. Everything in the heavens, all
the planets and the moon and the sun and the stars and asteroids
are all in their orbit and the sun stays in its place because
God put them there. And there they stay at His command.
He's the God of creation. God created the third heaven
where the angelic host lives, where God dwells in holiness. God created the seas and everything
that's in them. Those microscopic creatures to
the great whales, God created them. He gave them life and they're
sustained by God. Everything on the land, God made
the dry land appear. He created all the different
animals, all the different sizes from the little ones to the big
ones, all the people, different kinds of people. God gave them
life. We're given life and we're sustained.
Our life is sustained by God, the creator. And he's to be worshipped. The heavenly host worships him
and his people today on earth worship him. And Nehemiah had
a job to do. His job was to rebuild that wall,
to fortify that city. And every one of God's people
has a job to do. Our job is not as great as Nehemiah's,
rebuilding the wall, but whatever it is, it's what the Lord's given
us to do. Now go do it with confidence. Can anything in God's creation
prevent you from doing God's will? Can anything in God's creation
prevent you? He made it. He sustains it. If it would prevent you, He won't
sustain it. It'll die and be gone. He's in control of His
creation and nothing in God's creation will prevent His will.
Will any circumstances, whatever you can dream up, any events,
any people, any group of people, any things keep God's elect from
coming to Christ? No, sir. Our God's the God of
creation, and He's in control of His creation. Now, verse 7,
they go on, they say, Thou art the Lord, the God who didst choose
Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and
gavest him the name of Abraham. Second, our God is the God of
election. God chose Abram. Abram didn't
choose God. God chose Abram. God called Abram. Salvation is of the Lord. And
it begins in his electing love. Salvation is God's choice, not
man's choice, God's choice. That's what God told Moses, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy
in his electing love. Someone might say, Well, there's
no hope for me then. I'm not worthy for God to choose
me. I'm too sinful. Oh, how I wish somebody would
say that. Oh, how I pray that someone would
say I'm too sinful for God to choose me. Because that's what
makes you worthy. God chooses sinners to save. He didn't come to call the righteous. He didn't choose the good or
the righteous. God chooses sinners. When we think of Abraham, The
first thing that goes through our mind always is a man of great
faith. But God didn't call a man of
great faith, did he? God called Abram an idolater,
a heathen idolater. That's who God called. God called
Abram. Now he brought him out of that
idolatry and changed his name to Abraham. But when God called
him, he was a sinner, an idolater. God called Jacob the same way.
God chose Jacob and gave Jacob the birthright. He didn't give
the birthright to his older brother Esau. He gave it to Jacob because
God chose Jacob. That the purpose of God according
to election, the God of election might stand. Not of works, but
of him that calleth. And God elected. He chose Jacob. And what did he do to Jacob?
He changed his name to Israel. And every child of God is the
exact same way, saved the exact same way, elected before the
world was founded in Christ Jesus, called to the preaching of the
gospel, given faith in Christ, and given a new name that matches
their new nature. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called Jehovah-Sed-Kenned, the Lord Our Righteousness. He's
the God of Now verse 8, he says, And foundest his heart faithful
before thee, and madest a covenant with him, to give him the land
of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites,
and the Jebusites, and the Gergesites, to give it, I say, to his seed,
and hast performed thy words. For thou art righteous. God found
Abraham faithful because God gave Abraham faith. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. God found Abraham faithful because
God gave Abraham faith. That's why Abraham was faithful.
And our God is a covenant God. Everything God ever does for
a sinner is done because of his covenant of grace. And God didn't
so much make a covenant with Abraham as he revealed his covenant
to Abraham. You know, if we say I'm going
to make a covenant with you, we're going to make a covenant
with each other. Well, the covenant is I'll do this if you do this. That's not the way God presented
his covenant to Abraham. God said, Abraham, come here.
This is what I'm going to do. You're not doing anything. This
is what I'm going to do. Abraham, you're childless. Look up at the stars. Count them
if you can. Social thy same feet. That's
what I'm going to do. Abraham, look around you. Look
at this land. You don't own any of it. Your
seed will. Your seed is going to come and
possess this land. That's my promise to you. I promise
you that. That land was called the promised
land because God promised it to Abraham. And to this day,
the descendants of Abraham still fuss and feud and fight over
that land. It's mighty important to them. They live there. Boy,
they fuss over it. But you know, Abraham, That wasn't
the most important part of that promise. It was part of it, but
it was not the most important part of that promise. Look over
at Hebrews chapter 11. Now here that land was promised
to Abraham, but look what Paul says about him in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 9. By faith
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country. He never
owned a bit of it. dwelling in tabernacles with
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God." Abraham wasn't looking for that land. He was
looking for a city, a spiritual city. He was looking not for
land, for a person. That's who he was looking for.
You know why he was looking for a person? Because of God's covenant. God promised the Messiah would
come through Abraham. In thee shall all nations of
the earth be blessed. And that's who Abraham was looking
for. And Abraham found him. What'd our Lord say? Abraham
saw my day and was glad. Because our God's a covenant
God. God always keeps His promise. He always keeps His word. Look
at the end here of verse 8. and hath performed thy words,
for thou art righteous." God's holy, and He'll keep His covenant. And Abraham's descendants inhabit
that land to this day, because that's God's promise. And more
importantly, Christ appeared. In the fullness of time, Christ
appeared in Bethlehem's manger to save His people from their
sins. You know why He came? Because God's covenant. God promised
Him to Abraham. And there he is. And Abraham
has a spiritual seed that's greater than all the stars of heaven,
greater than all of them because of God's promise to Abraham.
Now verse 11, I'm sorry, verse 9, verse 9 through 11. And did
see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry
by the Red Sea and showed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh and
all his servants and all the people of his land. For thou
knewest that they dealt proudly against them, so didst thou get
thee a name, as it is this day. And thou didst divide the sea
before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea
on the dry land. And their persecutors thou threwest
into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters." Third, our
God is the God of deliverance. He delivered His people. The
Lord heard the cries of His people when they were in bondage to
He sent Moses, the deliverer, and he brought Israel out of
Egypt with a mighty hand. You know the story. He brought
them through the Red Sea on dry ground, and Pharaoh and his host
were swept up and drowned as those walls came crashing down
on them. They drowned in the Red Sea. And the fame of the
name of the Lord went through all those lands round about.
When the spies went to Jericho, what a Rahab town. I know you.
I've heard about the name of your God, his fame, the fame
of his name went abroad and they knew him. And that's just a picture
of how God delivers his people from our sin. He'll hear the
cries of his people today, his people who are in bondage to
sin. That's what Egypt's a picture of. In scripture, Egypt's always
a picture of sin. And that's the way we're born,
in bondage to sin. But if you'll cry to the Lord,
you beg his mercy, you cry to him for salvation from your sins,
he will hear and deliver because he's the God of deliverance.
He'll hear. He said my ears not heavy that it cannot hear. He'll
hear. You call and you keep calling. He'll hear and he'll deliver
you because he's the God of deliverance. And deliverance from sin is no
small thing. I know deliverance from Egypt
was no small thing, but it pales in comparison. to our deliverance
from sin. Israel's deliverance from Egypt
just took God performing a few miracles. That's His light work.
Deliverance from sin cost the very blood of God's Son. It cost
His life. It cost the life of our substitute. It took God's Son being made
sin for us and God's wrath being poured out on Him. Now, let me
ask you. Is there any chance that anyone
for whom Christ died will not go free from sin? Is there any
chance that anyone for whom Christ died will remain in bondage to
sin? No, sir. Not a chance. It's God's Son who died. He will
deliver His people from their sins. He's the God of deliverance.
And He'll deliver us because our sins are gone just like they're
cast into the ocean, just like Pharaoh and his army was gone,
cast into the depths of that ocean, never to be heard from
again. Our sins are gone under the blood of Christ. He's the
God of deliverance. In verse 12, he's the God who
leads his people. Moreover, thou lettest them in
the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire,
to give them light in the way wherein they should go. God leads
His people. His name is Jehovah Rea, the
Lord my Shepherd. I shall not want. He'll lead
you beside the still waters. He'll lead you into the green
paths of His Word to feed on. God led Israel through the wilderness
of sin. He led them both day and night.
And He leads His people today. He's not leaving you to wander
aimlessly through this life. God leads His people. Sometimes
He leads you through paths of light. Sometimes it's through
paths that are dark. But He'll give light to our paths.
He'll show us the way that we should go. And I'll tell you
where He leads His people. He always leads every one of
His people to the exact same place, the Promised Land, to
dwell with Him. That's where He's going to lead.
He leads His people. At verse 13, Thou camest down
also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest
them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments. and made us known unto them thy
holy sabbath, and commandest them precepts, statutes, and
laws by the hand of Moses thy servant." Now God is holy. God came down upon Mount Sinai
and gave his holy law to all men. Do and live. Here's the way to live. Here's
the way to righteousness. But disobey and die. And Israel
bold found out right quick they can't keep that law. And we're
just like them. We've got the same nature. We
can't keep the law. We don't even have any desire
to keep the law by nature. But God says here, made known
is Holy Sabbath. He's not just talking about a
day where you don't go pick up sticks and don't cook. He's talking
there about a person. The person in whom we find rest. The Lord Jesus Christ. See, God
did give the law through Moses. But then he sent his son to be
the law keeper, that we might rest in him, to be the savior
of his people. Look over in John chapter 1. John 1 verse 17. For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. That's where we find our rest
in grace and truth in Christ Jesus. Now verse 15, And thou
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. Oh, our God will provide. He's
Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. Israel went through
that wilderness for forty years. Their clothes never wore out,
their shoes never wore out, their feet never outgrew their shoes.
They never planted a crop, but they never went hungry. They
never dug a well, but they never died of thirst. The Lord sent
them manna from heaven and gave them water out of a rock. And
you know those are pictures of Christ. Paul said that rock was
Christ. He is the water of life. Look
over at John chapter 6. That manna, all that manna is,
is a picture of Christ, who is the bread of life. In John chapter
6, verse 31, these Pharisees are looking for
miracles. And they said, Our fathers did eat manna in the
desert. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to
eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. But my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Christ is
the bread from heaven. He is the children's bread. And
that's the goodness of God. God brought them from Egypt,
brought them to the brink of the promised land that he promised
them for 400, more than 400. I don't know how many years ago
it was. God promised that land to Abraham.
And here it is. Go in and possess it. That's
the goodness of God. But look in verse 16, the contrast
to the nature of man, to the goodness of God. Verse 16, But
they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and
hearkened not to thy commandments, and refused to obey, neither
were mindful of thy wonders which thou didst among them. But they
hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they 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 brought thee
up out of Egypt, and they had wrought great provocations, yet
thou and thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness. And 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 and the way
wherein they should go. Man is totally depraved, completely
and totally depraved, dead. After seeing all the miracles
that Israel saw, being delivered from Egypt in such a miraculous
way, they refused to obey. They refused to go in. After
being delivered from Egypt, they're afraid of the people of Canaan?
They made him a golden calf, just made him a hunk of metal
and bowed down and worshipped that hunk of metal and gave that
hunk of metal the credit for delivering them from the bondage
of Egypt. And man is so stupid. There's just no other word for
it. It's stupid. That's what total depravity makes
us is stupid. After spending years crying to
be delivered from Egypt, the Lord delivered them. And what
did they do? They appointed them a captain. to lead them back
to bondage. They're going to cross that Red
Sea again and go back to the Egyptians and say, would you
please let us be your slaves again. Stupid! Total depravity. That's what
total depravity does. And salvation does not come from
seeing miracles or reading some truths and giving some mental
assent to some truths about God that we read in Scripture. Salvation
is in seeing and laying hold on and believing and clinging
to and loving the Lord Jesus Christ. It's knowing Him. It's
not seeing miracles. It's not knowing doctrines. It's
seeing Christ. And this gives a sinner hope.
Because despite all of their sin and all of their rebellion,
the Lord did not forsake them. He didn't leave them alone to
die in the wilderness. Why not? That's what they deserved,
wasn't it? Why didn't they? Because God's
faithful. God promised that land to Abraham. He said, Abraham, your seed is
going to possess that land. And he is faithful. That promised. Look back in Exodus 32. Moses
interceded for the people. In Exodus 32. Verse 7. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Get thee down, for thy people, which thou broughtest out of
the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned
aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They
have made them a molten calf, and worshipped it, and have sacrificed
thereunto. And said, These be thy gods over
Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and
behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me
alone. that my wrath may wax hot against
them, and that I may consume them, and I will make of thee
a great nation." You know, to most men, that sounds pretty
good. No, no, no. The Lord's going to make of me
a great nation. I'm just going to step out of the way and let
him destroy these popes. But what did Moses do? As a picture of Christ, Moses
besought the Lord his God and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath
wax hot against thy people? brought forth out of the land
of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand. Wherefore
should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring
them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them
from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and
repent of this evil against thy people. And look how he pleads
God's own word, Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel thy servants,
To whom thou swearest, you remember the promise that you made by
thine own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed
as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken
of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto
his people, because Moses interceded for them, pleading God's own
word." And that's such a clear picture of Christ. interceding
for his people, he says, Father, they're sinners. They're no denying
it, but their sins are covered in my blood. Yes, they're sinners,
but don't pour out your wrath on them. Your wrath for those
sins are poured out on me. Now they're righteous. That's
Christ interceding for his people. And we see here a God that sinners
can come to to find everything that we need. He's a God ready
to pardon. And that properly translated
is a God of pardons, plural. Well, that's good news to a sinner.
Sinners like hearing that. Because I don't need just one
pardon. You know, you read about a guy
in prison, the governor pardons and he goes free. I don't need
him. I'm right back up in prison.
I need many pardons. He's the God of pardons. That's
good news for a God of many sins, or for a people of many sins.
Our God is a God of mercy. Manifold mercies. We read that
He's rich in mercy. Mercy beggars love to hear that.
I can go to Him. He's got manifold mercies. Our
God is slow to anger. Oh, that encourages a sinner
to come to Him. He's slow to anger and I'm glad
of that because I mess up a lot. I mean every minute, every second,
He's slow to anger. And our God is a God of great
kindness. And it's true, a little kindness
goes a long way. How far will great kindness go?
If it's from God, it will take you all the way to eternity,
to glory with Him. That's how far it will take you.
And despite all of their sin and rebellion and stiff neckness,
the Lord did not forsake His people. He didn't quit leading
them. Look at verse 20. God gave us them also thy good
spirit to instruct them. and withheld us not thy manna
from their mouth, and gave us them water 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." This is exactly what the Lord
has done for us, His people. He continually leads us. He has
given us His Spirit to instruct us. He has given us Christ, the
bread of life and the water of life. He gave us an appetite
for Christ. You know, those of the Israelites
and the wilderness said, don't give us this man anymore. I'm
sick of tasting this. I want something else. The Lord's
given you a taste of Christ so that you never say give me something
else. You continually come back to give me more of him. He's
given you an appetite for Christ, a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. He's given us everything so that
spiritually we lack nothing. We are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. A righteousness that we can never
lose, a righteousness that we can never wear out. It won't
just last 40 years. It'll last for eternity. In verse
22, they go on and say, Moreover, God gave us then kingdoms and
nations, and didst divide them into corners. So they possessed
the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the
land of Og, king of Bashan. This was lands of giants, and
the people just went in and took them. They were no problem too
big for God. They might appear to be giants
to Israelites, but not to God. And their children also multiplied
as thousand stars of heaven, and brought us them into the
land concerning which thou hast promised to their fathers, so
that they should go in to possess it." Does it surprise us that
the children were stars of heaven? Isn't that what God promised
Abraham? Does it surprise you that the children of Israel went
in to possess that land? Why, no. God promised it to them,
and they went in. and enjoyed it. Verse 24, So
the children went in and possessed the land. And thou subduest before
them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them
into their hands with their kings and the people of the land, that
they might do with them as they would. And they took strong cities
and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells
digged, vineyards, and olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance. So they did eat, and were filled,
and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy goodness."
My goodness. They went in and lived in houses
they did not build. See, the Lord didn't drive out
everybody out of Canaan all at once. It was bit by bit. People
went in to a house, and there was a city full of houses. Everybody
had already been in the grocery store. They walked into the house.
The cupboards were full. The furniture was wonderful.
They sat down and enjoyed. They ate food they did not harvest. They lived in houses they did
not build. They drank out of wells they did not dig. And they
delighted themselves in the goodness of God. And spiritually, isn't
that our experience? We enjoy a salvation we never
earned. We wear a righteousness we did
not make. And we delight ourselves in the
goodness of God. And not because of who we are,
but because of who God is. who he is. I'm telling you, you
stand up and bless the Lord your God. And you'd think that'd be
enough. But it wasn't. And you know why
it wasn't? Because the nature of man will
never change. The nature we were born with
will never change until we put it in the ground. After all that
the Lord did for them, look at verse 26. Nevertheless, they
were disobedient and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law
behind their They slew thy prophets, which testified against them,
to turn them to thee." The prophets weren't testifying against them
to be mean to them. They were trying to turn the
people to God, and what did they do? They slew the prophets, and
they wrought great provocations. Therefore thou deliverest them
into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them. And in the time
of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them
from heaven. And according to thy manifold
mercies thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand
of their enemies. But after they had rest, they
did evil again before thee. Therefore leftest thou them in
the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over
them. Yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou heardest
them from heaven, and many times didst thou deliver them according
to thy mercies, and testifiedest against them, that thou mightest
bring them again unto thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened
not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy which are
good judgments, which, if a man do, he should live in them. And
they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would
not hear. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testified
against them by thy spirit and thy prophets. Yet would they
not give ear. Therefore gavest thou them into
the hand of the people of the lands." You know, this story
is repeated so many times in the history of Israel. The Lord
blessed. They get fat and flourishing.
And then they'd forget the Lord. They'd turn to the idols. They'd
turn to the worldliness. And the Lord would give them
into the hand of their enemies. He still didn't forsake them. They're
still His people. He didn't forsake them because
of His manifold mercies. And then the Lord delivered them.
When were they delivered? Brant and I were talking about
this on the phone the other day. When were they delivered? When
they cried unto the Lord. Did you notice that back in verse
9? You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard
their cry by the Red Sea, and you delivered them. In verse
27, they cried unto thee in their trouble, and you heard them from
heaven, and according to thy manifold mercies you gave them
saviors. In verse 28, yet when they returned
and cried unto thee, you heard them, and many times you delivered
them because of thy mercies. Could we cry to God this morning? I wish we would. I wish we would
cry to God for mercy and salvation. Because I'll tell you this, He'll
answer. How many times do we have to
see it repeated in Scripture before we realize if I'll cry
to the Lord, He'll answer. If I cry to Him for forgiveness
of sins, He'll answer. Oh, I tell you, call on the Lord. Now, be reverent. It's not like
you're just calling me and asking me to come do something. I ain't
nothing. You're calling on God, the Creator,
the God of election, the God of deliverance. You're calling
on the God of gods. But by all means, you call on
Him. Call on Him for forgiveness of
sins. Call on Him to be delivered from
the bondage of sin. Call on Him and beg Him to wash
you in the blood of His Son. Call on Him for everything you
need. Call on Him. What did our Lord
tell us? You have not because you ask
not. Have you ever asked for mercy?
Did anybody ever tell you that? Have you ever asked for mercy?
Somebody told me that. No, never have. Well, maybe you
ought to. Call on Him. He'll have mercy.
He delights to show mercy. And we don't call on God because
of our character. We call on God because of the
character of God. Look at verse 31. Nevertheless,
for thy great mercy's sake, thou didst not utterly consume them,
nor forsake them, for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
Now therefore, our God, the Great, the Mighty, and the Terrible
God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the troubles
seem little before thee that have come upon us, and on our
kings, and on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets,
and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of
the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit thou art just in
all that is brought upon us, for thou hast done right, but
we have done wickedly." I promise you this from the authority of
God's Word. God will save a people according
to His great mercy's sake. The Lord has not utterly destroyed
Israel, spiritual Israel or national Israel to this day because He's
a covenant God, a God who promised it. He's a gracious God and a
merciful God. He will act in justice, but He
will also act in mercy and grace. Our God is the great God. He's
great in His being. In His person, He's great. He's
great in His power. He's great in His patience. He's
great in His long-suffering. He's great in His grace. He's
great in forgiveness. Call on Him. Stand up and bless
the Lord your God. Psalm 145. Psalm 145. He's great. David said in verse 3, great
is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is
unsearchable. The greatness of His mercy and
His grace is unsearchable. Call on Him. Our God is the mighty
God. Isaiah talked about Him in Isaiah
63. He is the mighty God, the mighty
conqueror, the mighty warrior. In Isaiah 63, verse 1, Isaiah
says, Who is this that cometh from Eden with dyed garments
from Bozrah, this that is glorious in his peril, traveling in the
greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. This is the one who is coming
with his garments that are dyed in his own blood that he shed
for the sins of his people. He's come mighty to save. He'll
defeat every enemy. He's defeated our sin. If you
see it, you're in bondage to sin, call on Him. He's already
defeated it. He'll destroy every enemy. And the last enemy which
shall be destroyed is death. He put it away. He died so we
don't have to. Our God is the terrible God.
This is not like Ivan the Terrible who everybody feared because
he did atrocious acts. This is the God to be referenced,
to be feared and worshipped. He is the God with whom we have
to do. So come to Him, begging for mercy. You know, we read about the God
of election, the God of an eternal covenant, the God who's mighty
and terrible. And some would say, well, there's
nothing I can do about my salvation. It's already been determined.
What you're saying is it's already been determined. Oh, there is
something you can do. You call on God. You beg Him
for mercy. And you say, why bother? Why
should I bother calling on Him? Because He's the God who keeps
covenant and mercy. Could it be there's mercy still
reserved for me? Call on the God of mercy and
find out. Just call on Him and find out. Call on Him with the
prayer of the people. Lord, You've done right. We've
done wickedly. Take sides with God against yourselves.
I've done wickedly. There's no reason that you should
deliver me. But because of your mercy, because
of your covenant, would you? And he will. Now he will. That's
what the people are doing here. They say, Lord, we've done wickedly. There's no hiding it. We cast
ourselves on your covenant and on your mercy. And if we'll do
the same, we'll be delivered like they were. All right. Lord
bless you.