I talked to John on Monday evening,
and he asked me to preach this evening. I began looking for
a text and rather quickly came to this one. Last Sunday, we
looked at Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. And I
thought, well, we'll just continue in that theme and look at the
name Jehovah Jireh. I prepared notes. And today I
thought, wow, John just started a series in Genesis. I didn't
want to step in his way, but I thought, we can't hear this
too often. You cannot exhaust. This is probably
my personal favorite Old Testament picture of Christ. So I certainly
don't think you can exhaust it, but it's in God's word. And when
here in a few weeks, John gets here, it'll be a blessing again.
But in verse one, It came to pass, after these things, that
God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said,
Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And after these
things, the old Jews say, Abraham, during his lifetime at ten, great
trials. And after these things, after
nine of them, seemingly increasingly difficult trials, came the tenth
one, the most difficult of the ten trials of Abraham. And I don't think I can imagine
a more difficult trial than the death of a child. But Abraham's
not just going to watch his son die. God's commanded Abraham
to slit his son's throat, to drain the blood out of his body,
to draw and quarter that body, to lay it in order on the wood
and burn that body with fire. That's a hard trial. Now, we
know the end of this story. This story is very familiar to
us, but Abraham didn't know the end of this story. You can just imagine the turmoil
that's in his mind. And God told him, you take your
son, your only son. Now Abraham had two sons, Ishmael
and Isaac. But Abraham had already sent
Ishmael away. The son of the bond woman should
not be heir to the son of the free woman. You send him away.
God told Abraham, you hearken to the voice of Sarah. He did.
He sent him away. That was one of those nine trials. He sent
him away. And now Isaac. Now Isaac is the
son Abraham longed for. This is the son Abraham prayed
for. This son is the son of promise. This is the son God promised
to Abraham. And now God tells him, you offer
him for a burnt offering. Apparently, the Lord told him
this at night because it says Abraham rose up early in the
morning. So the rest of that night, this is my imagination. I would imagine Abraham spent
the rest of that night wrestling. with fear, with pain and anguish. Abraham had a lot of questions.
Why do I have to give up another son? Why? How am I going to explain
this to Sarah? How am I going to explain this
to the heathen? Now, the heathen offer their children as sacrifices.
I'm supposed to be different. How am I going to explain this?
Now, I tell you, that's my imagination, because never in Scripture do
we read of Abraham complaining? Never one time do we read of
Abraham questioning God in this most difficult trial. And we
can learn something about trials when we read about this and other
trials of Abraham. But you know very well that scriptures,
Old Testament scriptures in particular, are bifocal. This is a very real,
hard trial for Abraham. But this is also one of the clearest
pictures of Christ our substitute that there is to be found in
Scripture. Isaac is identified as Abraham's only son. Well,
that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of the Father, the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, his
only son. Isaac is identified, Abraham,
this is the son that you love. Well, that's Christ. He is the
son of God's love. All of God's love is vested in
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If he loves anyone, if God the
Father loves anyone, it's in his son. That's where all of
his love is, in the son of his love. Isaac, like I said a minute
ago, is the son of promise. He is the son God promised Abraham. He promised to bless the rest
of the world, all nations through this seed, through this son.
Well, who else can that picture but the Lord Jesus Christ? He's
promised throughout all Scriptures. We talked about this Sunday.
The Old Testament Scriptures say He is coming. He's promised. He's the Son of promise. All
of God's promises are in His Son. They are in Him, yea, and
in Him, amen. He is the Son of promise. And Isaac is to be taken to a
mountain that God shall Abraham and to be offered there as a
burnt offering to God. Well, God the Father did the
exact same thing. He sent His Son into this world
to be a sacrifice for sin, to be lifted up on a mountain, on
Mount Calvary, and offered there as a burnt offering to God for
the sins of His people. So we'll look at this bifocal
story the whole way through here. Now verse 3, Abraham rose up
early in the morning and saddled his ass and took his two young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood for the
burnt offering. and rose up and went unto the place of which
God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Now the first
thing you notice about Abraham is he obeyed God. He got up early
in the morning, he obeyed God. I would imagine Abraham couldn't
sleep, but he still got up early in the morning and obeyed God.
True faith believes God. I mean, that's a very simple
statement, but true faith believes God, even when we don't understand. And I'm very confident Abraham
did not understand what's going on, but he obeyed God. And he took off on a three day
journey, walking. Now that is a long time. Three
days. That's a long time to think about
walking to the place you're going to put your son to death. That's
a long death march, three days. I would imagine every step was
very heavy. And that's the way trials are,
though. Trials have an appointed beginning, and come to pass after
these things. They have the appointed beginning
from the Father, who's wise, who knows when to send them.
They have their appointed beginning, and they have their appointed
end. Now, to us, to you and me, or at least this is the way it
is with me. Maybe it's not this way with you. This is the way
it is with me. They come too early, and they end far too late. That's our way of thinking. They
always start at exactly the right time, and they end when the trial's
accomplished its purpose. Only when it's accomplished its
purpose. And in this trial, it was three long days for this
trial to accomplish its purpose. And that's a long journey. That's
a long way to walk. Abraham and Isaac took this long
trip. Well, I tell you, that's nothing in comparison to the
trip that our Lord Jesus Christ took. God's Son traveled down
to become a man. F. Yates said that's the longest
trip that anyone has ever taken when God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And here's another picture. Abraham,
the father, prepared everything that was necessary for the sacrifice.
He didn't tell the servants to prepare those things. He didn't
tell Isaac to prepare them. Abraham did it. Abraham saddled
the ass. Abraham's the old man. He cut
the wood. He got the wood in order. Abraham got the knife
and got everything ready and told everybody, let's go. God
the Father prepared everything that was necessary for the sacrifice
for the sins of his people. He prepared it all. He prepared
the son. He prepared a body for his son.
He's the one in the fullness of time that sent his son into
the world. God's the one that provided the sun and the rain
to grow a tree that a man would cut down and make into a cross.
God's the one that put iron ore in the ground and gave a man
the wisdom to know how to find it and make nails out of it so
they could drive them into the hands and the feet of his son.
God provided life for men, allowed them to be born into the world,
sustained their life for a number of years for this purpose. to carry out the crucifixion
of his son. God provided everything that
was necessary for the sacrifice. Let us go on, verse 5. 5 And
Abraham said unto the young men, Abigi here with the ass, and
I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to
you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid
it upon Isaac his son. 7 And he took the fire in his
hand, and a knife, and they went both of them together. Now we
know this about Abraham. Abraham believed God. He believed
God's promise that the Messiah is going to come from Abraham.
God promised it. He believed it. And Abraham had
every intention of going to the top of that mountain and killing
his son. He had every intention of doing it. But he still believed
God would keep His promise and send the Messiah through this
seed, through this son. He didn't know how, but he believed
it. He believed it because God always keeps His promise. He
told the servants that were with him, we'll be back. And look
over in Hebrews 11. I'll show you something. Abraham
wasn't just saying that to try to cover up and try to conceal
what was going on. Abraham believed he and Isaac
were coming back. Hebrews 11 verse 17, By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. In his heart, in his mind, in
his purpose he offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence
also he received him in He believed he's going to kill that boy,
that young man, and God's going to raise him from the dead. He
knew God would keep his promise and send a Messiah through this
son, this son of promise. But that was still a tough task.
To take that fire and take that knife in his hand and walk to
the top of that mountain knowing, I'm going to kill my son. Even
though he believed God would raise him from the dead, can
you imagine what was going through his heart to think, I'm going
to slit the throat of that precious son. He obeyed God. And that's an example to us of
faith. I just can't imagine. I wish
I could have the words to paint this picture of what was going
through Abraham's mind and heart. And what did he say he's going
to do? I'm going to go worship the Lord. In the worst trial
imaginable, Abraham says, we're going to go yonder and worship. Now trials to the unbeliever
will drive them away. It's not worth it. Trials to
the believer will drive us to the Lord, to worship. And that's
what he did. In this horrible trial, we're
going to go worship. And Abraham told the servants,
you guys stay right here. Elad and I are going to go yonder
and worship. Only Abraham and Isaac are going
to this sacrifice, the father and the son alone. And that's
the picture of redemption. Our redemption was accomplished
in a transaction that took place between the father and the son
alone. The disciples had been with the
Lord, they deserved him, and he went to suffer before the
father alone. God put a blanket over the son. to darken the earth, because
this transaction was going on between the Father and the Son.
Just like the high priest went alone behind the veil, Christ
was going to go alone, the Father and the Son, and carry out this
transaction of the redemption of his people. And in this sacrifice,
the Father is the one who's carrying out the sentence. Abraham took
the instruments of the sacrifice, the instruments of justice. He
took the fire and the knife. And that's a picture of the Father.
God the Father was the one who killed his son. It pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He used men, wicked men as instruments,
but God's the one who provided the sacrifice. He's the one that
presided over the sacrifice and he's the one that carried the
sacrifice out. to be sure justice was carried out. This was a transaction
that the father did. But now Isaac carried the wood.
He put the wood on the back of his son. And there's two pictures
there. The first is obvious. That's
our Lord carrying his cross. They put that wooden cross on
his back and he carried it to the place of his execution. But
there's also another picture here. This is the father laying
the sin of his people. imputing the sin of his people
to his son. And Christ carried that awful,
awful burden. Now, this wood, when they got
to the top of that mountain, was going to be used as the fuel
to fuel the fire that would burn his body. And when the wood's
gone, the fire's gone because the fuel's gone. Well, the sins
that God imputed to his son. That was the fuel for the fire
of God's wrath that was poured out on those sins. And God's
wrath is extinguished. Why? Because the sin's gone. That sin that fueled the fire
has been put away in Christ. He carried it to the cross. Now,
verse 7, Isaac and Abraham are alone. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father. And he said, My father? And he said, Here am I, my son.
He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb
for the burnt offering? Now Isaac had been well taught.
He knew you could only worship God through the blood of a sacrifice. Isaac understood the problem,
that we're sinners, and God's holy, and we can't approach unto
Him without the blood of a sacrifice. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. There must be blood. You cannot
worship God without a sacrifice. Isaac knew that. He knew the
story of what happened to Cain when Cain tried to come before
God without the blood. And God hasn't changed. The exact
same thing is true today. None of us can worship God without
the blood of the Lamb. We've got to be a lamb. There's
got to be blood. Now, it's not typical animal
blood that makes atonement for the sin. This blood of the lamb,
that's just a picture. It's the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, that cleanses us from all sin. And we can never approach
God without that blood, without in the person, that person, the
person of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need
to teach that constantly to ourselves and to our children, to our little
ones. Because I'm telling you, Isaac's question is the great
question for all mankind. Where's the lamb? Where's the
lamb? Every parent, if you're a believer,
every parent, it's our prayer that our children will ask this
question, this very question someday. Where's the lamb? Where's the Lamb whose sacrifice
can put away my sin? Where's the Lamb who can reconcile
me to God? Will somebody tell me where's
the Lamb? That's our prayer in it. And
you know the second part of the parent's prayer? If my daughters
ever ask that question, it's my prayer that God will send
a man who God's given the answer to. He gave the answer to Abraham. Oh, if somebody will ever ask
this question, where's the lamb? If they ever ask you, here's
the answer. Verse 8. And Abraham said, my
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
So they went both of them together. Abraham already knew Jehovah
Jireh, didn't he? God will provide, he said. God's
going to provide a lamb. Abraham didn't know how the Lord
was going to work this out, but he was confident the Lord would.
God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. That
statement has three great meanings. I still remember as a kid, I
remember the first time I really heard this. God must first provide
a lamb for himself before God ever does anything for you and
me. God's got to do something for Himself. He's got to provide
a lamb for Himself. God's the one that we've offended
with our sin, and in order for that sin to be put away, there
must be a perfect sacrifice. There has to be a sacrifice that
will satisfy God's holy justice. Well, you may can't provide a
sacrifice like that, because everything we touch is defiled
with sin. So God must provide. a lamb for
himself, a lamb that will satisfy his justice and enable him to
be just and justifier. That's why he sent his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, because he had to provide a lamb for himself.
Second, God must provide himself as the lamb. In order for our
sin to be put away, the lamb must be perfect, sinless. Well, that Lamb is the Lord Jesus
Christ. John identified Him as the Lamb
of God. He's the Lamb without blemish and without spot. Perfect,
holy, sinless. The Lamb, for our sacrifice,
must be as holy as God Himself. Or He can't put away sin. It's
got to be pure, sinless blood that's shed. So what did God
do? He became the Lamb. He made his
son of a woman, sent his son to be the lamb for the sacrifice. He provided a lamb for himself.
He provided himself as the lamb. And then God must provide a lamb
for his people. Now God has a people. He elected
them in eternity past. God set his love on them. But
they're sinners. They're depraved. They're wretched.
They're vile. They're incapable of providing
anything that God will ever accept. So, God must provide the Lamb. They can't provide the Lamb for
themselves, so God will provide the Lamb. He'll provide the Lamb
to be the sacrifice for His people. He'll provide the Lamb to be
a substitute that will die in the place of His people. And
that Lamb came, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He provided everything
God requires. He provides everything we need.
And when He cried, It is finished. My friends, it was finished.
Everything that was ever going to be required for our redemption
was complete because he provided it. He provided the lamb. And
that answer will satisfy a believer, just like it satisfied Isaac.
He said, all right. And they went both of them together.
Well, verse nine, they came to the place which God had told
him of, and Abraham built an altar there. He laid the wood
in order. And he bound Isaac his son and
laid him on the altar upon the wood. Now we have this vision
in our mind because this is the picture, you know, that we have
in children's books that Isaac was a small boy and that's not
the case. All the writers will tell you
Isaac was a full grown man, at least 30 years old, full grown
man in a prime of his life, prime of strength. And in order for
him to be bound on that wood, Isaac had to lay himself on that
wood. He had to willingly lay on that wood. No 125-year-old
man, 120, 125 years old, about how old Abraham is here, could
subdue a 30-year-old man against his will. Couldn't do it. I really
believe Abraham and Isaac sat down. He built the altar, he
put the wood on it, and they sat down and talked. And Isaac became a willing participant. Abraham told him, remember back
down there at the foot of this mountain, you asked me, where's
the land for the burnt offering? My son, you're the land. You're
the land because God said to come here and do this, to sacrifice
you as a burnt offering. And Isaac was in agreement. Isaac
laid down on that wood, allowed himself to be tied down to that
wood to be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord. Now that's
a clear picture of God the Father and God the Son. The Father elected
the people, put them in his Son, but in order for those people
to be redeemed, the Son's going to have to die. He's going to
have to become a man. He's going to have to produce
a perfect righteousness and he's going to have to suffer the full
fury of God's wrath against sin. He's going to have to be made
sin for his people and suffer and be slaughtered as a sacrifice
for sin. And the son said, I'll do it.
They are in full agreement, father and son. And Christ came and
he willingly laid down his life for his sheep. Christ, just as
Isaac was the obedient son, Christ became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Isaiah said, he's brought as
a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before his shearers is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth. He didn't open his mouth because
he's a willing participant. He had to be willing. He told
his disciples, he said, no man taketh my life from me. I lay
it down on myself. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. In the garden, that mob never
could have taken the Lord until he allowed it. I mean he just
spoke and it all fell over backwards. They never could have taken him
unless he willingly went with them. They never could have nailed
him to that cross. Those Roman soldiers may have
thought they were something. They never could have nailed
him to that cross if the Lord didn't allow it. He's the Lord.
He never could have even died. They never could have taken his
life unless he what? Gave up the ghost. It wasn't
taken from him. He gave it up. He died willingly
as a sacrifice for his people. to redeem his people that the
Father gave him. And that's what Isaac's doing,
a willing participant in his sacrifice. Now verse 10, And
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven,
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Hear my. And he
said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God. Thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son, from me." Now, Abraham's trial reached a real
breaking point. I mean, it was at the point Abraham's
heart was just broken. The moment he was dreading, at
that moment is the moment the Lord provided a way out. God
hadn't spoken to Abraham since He told him, You kill your son.
He hadn't spoken again. Now He speaks. And this is the
way our trials will be too. When we get to the point that
we think we absolutely cannot take this another second, more
than likely that's the moment God will speak, because He'll
provide relief. Our God is the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Well, He hasn't changed. God
doesn't change. He'll provide for us the same
way He provided for Abraham. Now, at this moment in the story,
Isaac stops being a picture of Christ. And now he becomes a
picture of you and me. There he is at the last moment
when all hope is gone and the knife of God's justice is ready
to come slit his throat. That's the moment that God speaks. Now, no sinner will ever find
salvation until all hope in themselves is gone. They've got to come
to the point That they see themselves as dying and receiving exactly
what they deserve from God. Damnation. That's the point they've
got to be brought to. And when they're brought to that
point, when a sinner is utterly shut up to Christ, there's no
hope anywhere to be found except for Christ, then God speaks. Deliver them from going down
into the pit. I found a ransom. He told Abraham, don't you harm
the lad, for now I know. Well, now God knows everything.
God didn't learn anything in this experience. Abraham did.
God didn't learn anything. That would be better phrased,
better translated, for now it is known that you fear God. Now Abraham knows he fears God. Now Isaac knows Abraham fears
God. Now everybody's going to hear
this story, knows this. Abraham fears God. People can tell if you truly
fear God by your walk. That's how you can tell Abraham
feared God by his walk. He obeyed God. And here's another
picture. Abraham didn't withhold his precious
son from God because he feared God. God didn't withhold his
only son from being a sacrifice for you and me because he loved
his people. That's why he didn't withhold
his son. Now Isaac's going to be spared, but now justice still
has to be carried out. What about the death sentence?
What about judgment of sin? Well, look at verse 13. And Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram
caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took
the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead
of his son. Now at the last possible moment, God speaks. And he points
out the substitute. This is the gospel. He points
out the substitute. It's the ram caught in the thicket
by his horns. Now the horns of a ram, that's
his strength, his horns. That ram wasn't just tangled
up in the bush accidentally. He was caught by his horns, by
his power. Now the ram has become the picture
of Christ. Isaac's not the picture of Christ
anymore. Now the ram is. to endure that cross, to go to
the cross. He was compelled by love because
he loved his people, but he was constrained by his power. He
was constrained by his power to save. He's the only one that's
got that power. He is constrained to go to the cross because he
has the power to satisfy God for his people. Nobody else does. He's got the power to do for
us what none of us could do for himself. It's his power. that
compelled him to go to the cross. This act on the cross is not
a display of weakness. It's a display of power. This
is God putting away the sins of his people with the power.
There's power in the blood. Oh, there's power. And that ram
was caught by his power. And Abraham took that ram, put
him on the altar, took Isaac off, cut him off by that altar. He stood there and watched as
his father Put that ram on there. Cut his throat. The blood was
running out. Abraham's seen many sacrifices. Isaac had watched Abraham sacrifice
many animals. I bet he watched very closely
as that blood ran out of the throat of that ram. He watched
very closely as the fire consumed the body of that ram. And it
had to go through Isaac's mind. That could have been me. That
should have been me. If we ever, with the eye of faith,
see the Lord Jesus Christ suffering in His agony at Calvary, His
agony under the wrath of God for my sin, we look at Him and
say, that should be me. That's my substitute. I live
because my substitute died. Isaac clearly understood Substitution
from this day forward. Substitution and satisfaction. He lived because that ram died. He walked up that mountain with
a death sentence hanging over his head. He walked down that
mountain of free man because the ram died. And I just bet
you, Isaac never got tired of telling the story of substitution. Oh, he wanted his family to know
it. He wanted his friends to know it. I can just see him,
he's an old man. His children and grandchildren
say, oh boy, here it comes again. I've heard this story a thousand
times. The eyes are going to tell it anyway. Some of the little
ones, little grandchildren come up to him and they say, tell
us that story again. You know, the one where Grandpa Abraham's
going to kill you, but he killed the ram instead. Tell us that
story again. And he'd tell them. The story of substitution and
satisfaction. I'm alive today because that
substitute died in my place. And this is the gospel. Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." Just
like Abraham turned and behold that Lamb. Behold, turn your
eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. There is salvation in Him. He died and He rose again as
a substitute for His people. Well, verse 14, Abraham called
the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said, to this day in
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord
will provide, or the Lord shall see to it. The Lord provided
the lamb for the sacrifice, just like Abraham said he would, didn't
he? Just like the Lord provided the lambs a sacrifice for our
sin. And this mountain, all the writers tell you this. I don't
know how they know it, but I'm going to send them to write.
This mountain later became known as Mount Calvary. This is the
mountain that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on. In the
mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. Now we see a picture. In a couple of thousand years,
you're going to see the reality. In the mount of the Lord, it
shall be seen. This is how God puts away sin. This, you see
God's holiness on display. He won't even spare his own son.
This is God's love on display. He'll sacrifice his son because
he loves his people. In the mount of the Lord, it
shall be seen. Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will
provide all of our spiritual needs. There's not one thing
God requires of us that isn't provided in His Son. He'll provide. He provides wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. He provides peace with God. He
provides access to God so that we can come boldly before the
throne of grace. He provides righteousness and
beauty to His people. He provides a sacrifice for sin
that allows God to be just and justifier. You think it, it's
provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he'll provide all of our
physical needs. David said in Psalm 37, he said,
I've been young and now I'm old. Yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging bread. Well, David, why not?
Because the Lord always provides. Look at Matthew chapter six. Matthew 6, verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall
drink. Now that doesn't mean thought. Think about what you're
going to eat, but don't take excessive thought for it. Don't
take excessive thought. Nor yet for your body what ye
shall put on? Is not the life more than meat,
and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air,
they sow not, neither do they reap, neither gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. He provides. Well, are
not ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought,
could add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. Yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all of his glory,
was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, provide for
you, O ye of little faith? He will, because this is his
name, Jehovah Jireh. He will provide. He'll provide
everything we need. He provides us jobs. Brink this
week got a new job. Wait a long time. I mean long.
And then he provided. Because this is what he does.
I drive over here this evening and think about this building.
The Lord provided this. Aren't we thankful? Oh, what
the Lord's provided. Look over in Philippians 4. Philippians
4 verse 19. But my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Jehovah
Jireh will provide. He'll provide comfort of his
presence. He'll provide peace in the heart.
He provides companionship to the lonely by never leaving you
nor forsaking you. He provides guidance. That's
what a good shepherd does, isn't it? Provide. Provides for his
sheep. Provides food. There's a poem
John Newton wrote, we're going to sing it here in a minute,
but there's a line in that poem that's not in the hymn. He says,
when life is most sore and death is in view, the word of his grace
will see us safe through, not fearing or doubting with Christ
on our side. We hope to die shouting, the
Lord will provide. I hope I die shouting that, but
I can tell you this. from beginning to end, He'll
provide. That's His name. That's His nature. That's His character. The Lord
will provide. And I pray that the Lord would
give us some sense and some faith to rest in Him. He'll provide.
Alright, the Lord bless you.