It should be pretty obvious.
Genesis 32, verses 1-12, And Jacob went on his way, and the
angel of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said,
This is God's host, and he called the name of that place Mahaman. And Jacob sent messengers before
him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir of the country
of Edom. And he commanded them saying,
thus shall you speak unto my Lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob
saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until
now. And I have oxen and asses and
flocks, men's servants, women's servants, and I have sent to
tell my Lord that I may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers
returned to Jacob saying, we came to thy brother Esau And
he also cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid
and distressed. And he divided the people that
was with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two
bands. And he said, If Esau come to
the one company and smite it, the other company which is left
shall escape. And Jacob said, O God of my father
Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto
me, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal
well with thee. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shown
unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over
this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my brother and from the hand of Esau. For I fear him, lest he will
come and smite me and the mother with the children. And thou saidest,
I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of
the sea, which cannot be numbered, for multitude." And then he lodged
there. We're just going to look at this
prayer in verses 9 through 12. And I've entitled this message,
Learning from Jacob in Time of Trouble. Learning from Jacob
in Time of Trouble. In this section of Scripture,
in Genesis 32, we're going to look together at Jacob's prayer
and ask God the Holy Spirit to teach us to petition Jehovah
God in like manner. The Scripture says that man that
is born of woman is full of trouble. His days are few and he's full
of trouble. And the believer, we have troublesome times in
this country as we have troublesome times maybe at work. It's a greater
scale. You kind of start looking out
and seeing things that are not good anywhere to the believer.
At least it seems like the struggles are current and the struggles
are many. But there are six things, six
petitions Jacob addresses the Lord God when he hears that his
brother is coming to meet him with 400, as it says in verse
6, 400 men. Of course, you know how our mind
goes. We're assuming the worst. And that's human nature. And
I read somebody, a lot of different writers, and they said most of
these homemade troubles that we brew up in our mind, most
of them never come to fruition. So we spend a lot of time and
energy and anxiety over things that do not take place. So what
did Jacob do? After he heard the bad news,
and he's afraid, he's reasoning, I'm afraid, I'm going to divide
the people, I'm going to do this, I'm going to divide the people
into two bands, so if he kills one, the other is going to escape. That's his thinking. But let's
look at how he petitions God. And let's learn to do the same
thing. The first thing we find in verse 9, the first thing is
he says, O God of my father Abraham and my father Isaac. Verse 9,
Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father
Isaac. We notice immediately the personal
manner in which he addresses the Almighty God. My. My. That's very personal. My. It's as much to say I'm speaking
to family and this family communications is based upon family, a family
covenant. He knew his God well enough to
know that there was a covenant, that he had a covenant. Like
David said, it was ordered and all things ensured. It's as much
to say as I'm coming to you based upon my relation to you and your
relation to me. I'm coming to you, as you could
say, as a child, as one in great need of assistance right now.
God of my father, Abraham. My father, my father, Isaac. Better still, it's as though
He's saying, I am coming to you based upon your only begotten
Son and dearly beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ and His covenantal
agreement with Him. Because the believers in the
Old Testament, they understood the grace of God just like we
do. And when we go to Him, we don't go to God based on anything
of our merit or worth or work. We go based upon what Christ
has done. You must hear me, it's almost
as though Jacob is saying, you are my sovereign father and I
am your wayward child. You have done ultimately for
my salvation, my deliverance, and my reconciliation. And in
this agreement, this covenant, is ordered in all things insure.
David spoke that, but every believer knows that. To petition like
this, this first personal Petition this personal relationship that
we have with God the Father through God the Son Made it us to aware
by God the Spirit It will give us a renewed sense of that We
are being cared for by the wonderful creator of all things that it
will give us that confidence Not a confidence in ourselves
But in him whom our souls we placed our souls in and our trust
completely and truly. It's as though he's saying, my
father who's sovereign over all, my father who kept Abraham, took
him abroad from the Irv counties, my father who protected Isaac,
I petition you, your son, to do the same for me. So the first
thing he does, it's personal. It's personal. The second petition,
Jacob appeals in his very present and difficult situation. He doesn't
wait. He petitions immediately. Why do we wait? Why do we wait
to go to the Lord? We have an open channel. We can go boldly
through the throne of grace because of what our Lord has done. Why
do we wait? Look at what he says. He says, Lord which sentest unto
me, return unto thy country and thy kindred, and I will deal
well with thee." He's appealing right now. And
he's basically saying, I am in this position, this straightened
condition for following your instruction. I'm here. You said you would
deal well with me. You said return to your own country.
And you can look back in Genesis and see where all this conversation
took place. I'm doing what you said. I am
here at the place of worship as you prescribed, and I'm in
this straight. I'm in this straight. I'm following
your directions. I'm submitting to your wisdom.
I'm bowing before your ever powerful and righteous ways. Turn with
me to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. and starting in verse 12. Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice
inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's suffering, that,
when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding
joy. And if you be reproached for
the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and
of God resteth upon you. On their part He is evil spoken
of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer or a thief, an evildoer, a busybody in other men's matters.
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let
him glorify God on this behalf. He's saying, Lord, I'm glorifying
You. I'm doing what You're saying.
I believe I'm following You as much as I can see the will of
God and the grace of God in my life. I'm following You. And
I'm suffering. Don't suffer for being nosy or
a busybody. Don't suffer for being a thief
or this or that. If you suffer as a Christian,
don't be ashamed, but glorify God. And this is what Jacob is
doing. 1 Peter 2. Turn back. 1 Peter 2. Verse 19 to the end of the chapter.
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God, I'm
doing what you have me to do. I have a little bit of an understanding,
by your grace, of the Scriptures. And I believe I'm doing what
you would have me do. This is thank-worthy. A man for
conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what glory is it if you be buffeted for your faults? You
shall take it patiently. But if, when you do well and
suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even here unto where you call, Because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps.
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who, when
He was reviled, reviled not again. When He suffered, He threatened
not. This is the passage, this is
the section of verse I like. But committed Himself to Him
that judges righteously. That's what we are to do. I gotta pay taxes and I, you
know, in this state, in this country, in this part of... Commit
yourself, like Jacob. He's not gonna change Esau's
mind. He doesn't know Esau. He thinks he understands Esau.
He's prepared. He's separating his... He's got
400 men. What's to prevent Esau from 200
going this side and 200 going that side and taking care...
You know, we just don't think rationally. When we're afraid,
When we have fear and we're not walking by faith, he immediately
goes to God to petition these six things. He's saying, as you have all
things in your tender loving hands, and as you kept the Son
of your love from failing at Calvary's tree, so also keep
me, keep us from dishonoring your gracious name. Or as one
of the disciples said in Matthew 8, Lord, save us ere we perish. Just commit yourselves to Him
that judges righteously. Back to our text. The third thing.
In Jacob's prayer, and we don't want to do this because we think
we're somebody. Verse 10, I am not worthy of
the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you
have shown unto thy servant, he confesses his unworthiness."
They're all teachable lessons, they're all paramount, but this
seems to me to stick out because, like we saw in Bible class, like
Nathan said, and Bruce, and everybody, in our own little sphere, that's
the most important thing. I'm here to protect myself. No, Christ protected not Himself. He suffered the horrible reproach
and went to Calvary. He didn't back down. This acknowledgement
is not natural to us because we deem ourselves worthy of notice,
significant to observation. If we know anything of the grace
of God correctly, we know we deserve damnation and hell and
are utterly unfit in ourselves for the Kingdom of God. We know
this. We know this about ourselves.
And I think that this spirit, this attitude, this giving, one,
it will keep us content with such things as we have, and two,
it will cause us to always be grateful and thankful for mercies
received." Which is the fourth request. This is what he's saying.
So we acknowledge that we deserve nothing. And Bruce was mentioning
this morning, Bible class, things in this country. Because we're
used to, we have an expectation. You know, everybody gets two
cars, two car garages. This is life in America. Talk
to the brother that we know, brethren, talk to him in Africa.
What's their expectation? To whom much is given, much is
going to be required. And are we willing to say how
unworthy, not worthy, our unworthiness
and our utter insignificance Acknowledge it. And this will
keep us humble, this will cause us to be content, and cause us
to be grateful. Which leads us into the next
thing. The fourth request, or the fourth petition, is he says,
now I become two bands. The latter part of verse 10.
With my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I become two bands. Which is to say, Jacob is confessing
God's goodness to him. Because if you remember, it's
been a little over 20 years ago, at this point in Jordan, he came
over, he crossed the Jordan, this same book, the book of Jabok,
alone, broke, downcast, a wanderer in a harsh world, and now he
comes back, he's got wives and children and men servants, maid
servants, camels, he's got all these things. Now he's wealthy,
he's in good measure, he has children, he has family, he has
abundance. We should do this various times
in our life as well. We should review how God has
dealt well with us. Oh, I can't... What did John Newton say? I'm not what I want to be, I'm
not what I should be, I'm not what I could be, but by the grace
of God, I'm not what I used to be. We need to look back at the
pit from which we've been dug and be thankful. So this fourth
petition, he's saying, he's confessing, I don't deserve anything, I'm
not worthy of anything, but you've been kind to me." Turn to Psalm
75. Psalm 75. And this hit me back early in
my life when I was working, and I got a promotion. And just started
to get a little cocky. a good worker, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah. Now people are finally seeing, you know, that kind of
attitude. Psalm 75 verse 6 and 7, For promotion comes neither
from the east or from the west or from the south, but God. God
gives promotion. God is the judge. He puts down
one and sets up another. So, anytime something good, we
say, happens to us, God gives promotion. It's by God's grace. And I think it's good to review. To review and see what He has
done for us. The Scripture says in Deuteronomy,
as our days are, so shall our strength be. That's His good
word to us. You don't need to have strength
for tomorrow. You don't know if we have tomorrow. As your
days are, so shall your strength be. That is a promise in Deuteronomy
33 and verse 25. That is a promise. You know, it's often said, Spurgeon
often says, the more you get, the more you have to be concerned
with taking care of it. And some of that goes with the
more you have to be concerned about somebody stealing it. If
you didn't have it, you wouldn't have to worry about it. That's
our nature. So, in this fourth petition,
he's confessing to God that He has been kind to him. And fifthly,
his fifth petition, is found in verse 11. Deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau. For I
fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mother with
the children. Deliver me. Here we have the words of Christ.
He says in the garden, in Luke, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, This is what Jacob
said, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. I don't
understand this that's going on. I don't understand why that
guy gave me that look. I don't understand why I got
passed over for promotion. I don't understand why my car
is always broken down. I don't understand why the house
is drafty. I don't understand this. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done." You are our protector. You are
our refuge. You are our strong tower. Most appropriately, I say, Lord,
I believe, but help my unbelief. That's what he's saying. Deliver
me. We do have real fears and real anxieties. I understand
that. But we do, we gotta do, we must
do, we will do. Like Jacob, take them to the
Lord. Take your burden within and so on. Take your burden and
leave it there. Yes. Yes, indeed. The last petition. Sixthly, the last petition and
the final petition are the final argument, are the final wrestling
statement. And I've talked about this over
and over again. We as believers don't do this
as we should, but this puts the bite in his petition, verse 12. As you said, as you, God, Jehovah,
all-powerful, all-wise, immutable, unchanging, precious Lord, as
you said, I will surely do you good and make your seed as the
sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude. He
pleads back to God, God's own words of sure promise. He's saying, well we don't have
God speak to us, no, but yes we do. This scripture, all the
promises in Christ are yea and amen, and all the scripture is
given by inspiration of God, is profitable, all the scripture,
all scripture, reproof, doctrine, correction, The man of God may
be man of God, woman of God, children of God, throughly may
be built up. So, this is not a normal textbook. This is the inspired, unerring
Word of God. Either it is, or it isn't. Either
God is sovereign, or He's governed by our whims, our fancies, He's
governed by the Kremlin, He's governed by Hong Kong, He's governed
by... No. We've seen it way too many
times. He speaks, and the world's at
war. He speaks, and the soldiers fell
back. His will shall be done. So, as
one old writer said, this is suing God upon his own bond. Suing God upon his own banknote.
You've written the checks. He does not change. He's not
going to open and pull it away. Like what you were talking about
this morning. He's not that way. He's not that way. It also shows
us that the promises do not usually supersede prayer. I'm not going
to pray, I'm not going to communicate with God, I'm just going to read
this and oh, there's a promise, I'm taking it. No. Jacob is wrestling
and all these six things go together. So you don't pray, you don't
commune, you don't expect to hear from God. Our God delights to hear from
His children. whom he foreknew. One writer
said, we cannot do better than to simply repeat God's promises
and plead them with God. You just simply can't. I don't
know how to pray. Psalms is a really good place. Sitting there reading and, oh,
that's how I feel. Just say it right back to the Lord. Just
say it right back to the Lord. It's His word anyway. In closing,
turn to Psalms 119. I hadn't seen this before. This is beautiful. Psalms 119. This is it right
here. Verse 49. This is what we're
talking about. The sixth petition. His final
petition. His final argument. His final
wrestling statement. Revelation 119 verse 49, Remember
the word unto me, upon which you have caused me to hope. Isn't that exactly what we're
doing here, what Jacob's doing? Remember the word unto thy servant. upon this very Word of God, which
we could say is Christ as well. He's the Word and dwelt among
us, full of grace and truth. It's all together. It's all harmonious. We don't separate the Bible from
Christ, because Christ is the Book. Remember the Word. Remember Christ. We take the
Lord's Supper next week, we're going to have a meal on the Lord's
Supper. Do this in remembrance. Now we're asking Him to remember
this very word that He's given to us and has quickened us and
caused life where death and darkness was. Through the agency of the
Holy Spirit, by looking to Christ, looking to that brazen serpent
and living. Looking to that very thing that
we killed. It's killing us. We look and live. Remember the
Word unto thy servant, upon which you've caused me to hope. If
you can go to hell, if you can be separated from God, from believing
and snuggling and hanging on to His Word, then there's no
salvation. There is none at all. Because
Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Word. That's why
this Word lives and abides forever. That's why it's called the everlasting
Gospel. Brethren, may we hope in His Word, may we hope in His
Christ, may we hope in His grace, and hope in His mercy. And have
peace and be at peace amongst ourselves and most importantly
have peace with God through Christ. Bruce, would you close us please?