In the 42nd Psalm, we read the
following. It is addressed to the chief
musician, Maskell, for the Sons of Korah. As the heart panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My
soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come
and appear before God? My tears have been my meat, day
and night. while they continually say unto
me, where is thy God? When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude,
I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy
and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Hope thou in God. for I shall yet praise Him for
the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down
within me. Therefore will I remember Thee
from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites from the hill
Mizar. Deep call if I enter deep at
the noise of Thy waterspouts. All Thy waves and Thy billows
are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command His
lovingkindness in the daytime. And in the night his song shall
be with me And my prayer unto the God of my life I will say
unto God my rock Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in
my bones mine enemies reproach me While they say daily unto
me Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God,
for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance
and my God. This psalm, as with a number
of others, is addressed to the chief musician, to the chief
musician, Maskil, for the sons of Korah. And whilst obviously
The Psalms when sung by the Israelites were sung to instruments and
there would have been a musician to conduct the playing of the
instruments that the people may follow. The reason this is recorded
in the scriptures is because there's a spiritual meaning behind
this. The chief musician is Christ. And the instruments upon which
the psalms are played, the tunes of the psalms, the melody, the
song of the psalms, is brought forth, are the hearts of His
people. Each of them different, each
of them striking a different note. But as one people in unison,
providing that melody, that harmony of the cries of a people unto
their God. Cries which are led forth by
their Chief Musician, Christ. Cries which are directed towards
their Saviour, the Lord Jesus. Cries, both melancholic and mournful,
cries of help, cries for salvation and cries of hope, praise, joy
and triumph. This psalm, like a number of
others, begins with a cry for help, a melancholic cry, a mournful
cry, but it ends with a note of triumph. It's lifted up at
the end. It's the cry of help, a cry for
help, the cry of the destitute. As the heart panteth after the
water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God. for the living God. When shall
I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with a multitude,
I went with them to the house of God, with a voice of joy and
praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. But now he has
the cries of his enemies against him. Where is thy God? That God that once he praised,
once he sought to worship, now seems to stand so far off. He
longs for the presence of God. He longs for communion with God. His soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. And yet he can't find Him. yet
he seems so distant and his enemies come upon him and say well where
is he? look at you, look how pitiful you are, look at the
state you're in where is your God, where is your help? and the soul, the heart of this
man cries out for his God He longs for him. As the heart panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. He's
not complacent. He's not apathetic. He's not
disinterested. He longs to be one with his God. He longs to hear his God. He
longs to know that his God loves him, that he hears him, that
he's with him. He longs for communion with Him.
For communion. O the longing to know God, to
see Him, to hear Him which is expressed to you. It's real. And it must be real. Head knowledge
won't do. simply reading the scriptures
simply reading about God simply reading about the Lord Jesus
Christ and his salvation simply knowing that these things are
historical facts knowing that others have gone before you and
experienced the reality of these things won't do knowing that
many have believed upon Christ and known the forgiveness of
their sins, known what it is to have the wrath of God taken
away, the sense that the wrath of God burns against their sins,
the sense that they will one day stand before him and be judged
for their iniquitous deeds, and yet having that wonderful joy,
to have realized that that judgment is not theirs because it was
met in christ because christ stood and died in their place
upon the cross because christ came as the savior of sinners
because christ died as their substitute because his blood
was shed in their place and they've come to look upon it The Spirit
of God has led them as convicted sinners and pointed them to Christ
and His cross, pointed them to His blood, and they've come to
know the forgiveness of sins. That many have come that way,
that they've heard the Gospel, that they've seen Christ and
believed on Him. and they can testify of the reality
of that experience the joy the overwhelming joy of knowing sins
forgiven that others have experienced these things that their testimony
is true that there is strong enough and true enough testimony
to convince us in our minds that these things are real that they
are truths This won't do for the child of God that needs to
know these things himself. Knowing that they are true on
the pages of scripture, knowing that they are true in the experience
of others is not enough. We must know that our sins are
forgiven. We must know that that blood
has been shed for us. We must know that it has been
sprinkled, not only on the mercy seat in the presence of God in
the Holy of Holies, but in our own heart by the Spirit of God
as that testimony within to the reality that that blood has been
shed and that there is now peace with God where once there was
warfare. We must know it. We long to know
it. When the conviction of sin comes
upon us and the dread wrath of God rings in our ears and we
feel that judgment awaits us, we need more than just a convincing
on the pages of scripture or just the assurance of others
that if we just look unto Christ, we will be saved. We need the
experience of the Spirit of God witnessing in our hearts that
yes, That blood was shed for you in particular. We need to
know it. We need the assurance within.
And that assurance can only come when we meet with this God, the
living God, in reality. When we by faith behold him,
when we through faith hear his voice, When we hear the voice
of the Son of God saying unto us, rise, take up thy bed and
walk, thy sins be forgiven thee, thy faith have made thee whole.
When we hear him speaking peace unto our souls, when we hear
him granting comfort, when we no longer feel the burning wrath
of God against our sins and the conviction and guilt But we have
this replaced by that peace of God and that love of God, which
is past understanding. When the love of Christ is shed
abroad in our hearts, then we know that that love is set upon
us and not just others. We must hear, we must know, and
not just once in a while. Not just at one point in our
life. Not just one day when we come
to know that we are a believer. That Christ has saved us. And
then we go on for another 5, 10, 20 years hence and never
come back to that point. We can't simply live on past
experience. We may say that I know that that
day God met with me. He spake and I know it was real.
But if that's all we have, if all we can look back upon is
an experience twenty years ago, and everything since is in the
letter, everything since is just resting on past experiences,
we grow barren, we grow cold. And the soul longs and pants
after its God. As the heart panteth after the
water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? Past experiences aren't enough.
They won't do. The letter of scripture is not
enough. It won't do. The assurance of others is not
enough. It won't do. The child of God needs to hear
Christ. He needs daily communion. Is this your experience? Are
these your cries? Is this your pathway? Do you
long to hear the voice of Jesus Christ? Well, how do we find him? How
do we find him? Job trod this path. In the 23rd
chapter of Job, feeling the hand of God gone out against him,
all his worldly goods taken away, his family slain, his wife left
turning against him and mocking him. Great illness boils and
troubles upon his physical frame. And the few so-called friends
he had in this world, continually pointing the finger and saying,
this troubles come upon thee because of something thou hast
done, Job. Continually saying unto thee,
where is your God, Job? Where is thy God? Where's the
help you seek in such a state? Job cries out. He answers and
says, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier
than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him, that I might come even to his seat. I would order my
cause before him and fill my mouth with argument. I would
know the words which he would answer me and understand what
he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with
his great power? No, but he would put strength
in me. There the righteous might dispute with him. So should I
be delivered forever from my judge. Oh, that I knew where
I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. He longed
to find the God whose hand seemed to be outstretched against him.
He knew not why. His friends told him that God's
anger was upon him, that he was being judged for something he
had done. But we know when we read the book of Job, that God
was not judging Job here for what he had done. but he was
trying his faith and he was showing forth to others and to Satan
in particular that his servant Job served him not for what he
would get from him but he served him freely because he loved God
and he was a recipient of God's mercy and grace and though tried
to the uttermost in a state in which few men will rarely pass. We have our trials, we have our
difficulties, but few could claim to have suffered as Job suffered.
Though tried to that extent, Job, though he longed and cried
out for God's help, didn't in the end doubt. He was caused
to cry out at the psalmist, Oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. But there was always that point
within him, where he would also say, Why art thou cast down,
O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God. His wife told him to curse God
and die, yet he would not. And God heard his cries in the
end. God seemed so far off. These trials went on so long. He longed to hear God's voice. He longed to know that he was
not being judged for something he had done. That if he had done
something and this had come upon him because of that which he
had done, he longed to put it right. He longed to turn from
his iniquitous ways. But most of all he just longed
to hear the voice of his God, speaking peace unto his soul.
And yet he could not find him. His God seemed to stand at a
distance. He'd pray, hoping, believing,
and yet there was no answer. No answer that he could perceive.
The sky seemed silent. The heaven seemed dark. Where
is he? How long will I wait? Where is
my God? Yes, He longed to know Him, to
walk with Him, to behold Him, as all children of God do. They
need daily communion. Is that your cry? Do you long
to find Christ, to know Him, to hear Him, to behold Him by
faith? Do you long for daily communion
with God? Does your heart pant after the
water brooks? Is your soul thirsty for God,
for the living God? The child of God needs daily
communion. Just like Christ did. Just as
Christ did as a man in this earth. When Christ made a man, made
a little lower than the angels even for the suffering of death.
grew up as a man in this world and walked as a sinless man amongst
sinners as the perfect son of God and son of man amongst those
whom he came to save who railed upon him and rejected him and
despised him and cast him out as he walked through this world
he lived as him who needed daily communion with his God daily
he was ever in prayer ever walking in that inner life of communing
with his father though all men were around him though there
were these voices coming and going though men sought him some
to be healed by him some to slay him despite all the people through
with whom he was in contact despite all these around He needed that
inner life, that retreat, into which he would commune with his
father. If his father left him as he journeyed through this
world, it would be a crushing blow. He needed the voice of
his father in his soul. His heart panted after it, as
after the water brooks. He needed this communion. Do
you? Well the psalmist here does.
He longed for it. The great message of this psalm
is this sense of longing to be with God. Of longing for this
union with God. Of longing for the reality of
being in God's presence. A religion which is more than
notion. A religion which is known and
felt, which is real. And yet despite the longing,
God tries this man, as he tries all his children. Despite that
life within the heart, placed there by the Holy Spirit, when
we are born again, when we come to faith in Christ, when we come
to believe upon Him, despite that newness of life, the Spirit
within, which cries out unto God, which cries out Abba Father,
Our pathway brings us through many many trials. And that heart
cries out, it cries out for that union. And yet so often God stands
afar off. He will try us. He will have
us pray. He will have us long for Him.
He will see how we fare in the furnace of affliction. And he
will seem as though he's removed himself. And we will feel at
times like he's no longer there. And yet in reality, he's never
gone away. He's with us in the furnace of
affliction. He's with us in the fires, whether we know it or
not. They burn, they hurt, they're
trials indeed. And yet we're not consumed, we're
not destroyed. As Paul writes, cast down, afflicted,
yet not destroyed, not destroyed. Yet the heart, the soul that
cries out for the living God, feels the pain of it when he's
not there. feels the loneliness, feels its
weakness and poverty, feels its great need of God's help and
strength. And in such a state, the enemy
of God, the enemies of God's people, come alongside them. And when they're at their weakest,
at their lowest point, the enemies taunt, where is thy God? Where is your help? look at you
in that state where is he he's deserted you he's not there he's
not real you were never saved you never will be saved there
is no god it's all in your head it's all a persuasion where is
he If he's real, why doesn't he come to your aid? If he's
real, why don't you prosper? If he's real, why don't your
churches build up into great congregations? If he's real,
why doesn't he intervene in the troubles in this world? If your
God is real, why hasn't he brought peace on earth? If he's real,
why doesn't he keep the earthquakes and the disasters away? Where
is he? Where is he? and they mock and they taunt and so easily their cry can get
into the heart of the child of God because he's in a state of
wondering where is my God? and they come alongside and they
echo his thoughts within where is thy God? and the last thing
he needs is for others to echo the doubts that he has within
his own heart yet they pour this oil on the fire It's all the
more gall in this taunt when that's the cry from our own heart.
When we cry out with Job, oh that I might know where to find
him. And they say, where is he? And yet he's not gone. He's not
gone. Where is he? Well he's not in
the dens of iniquity. he's not in the dens of iniquity
of this world he's not where the worldly go he's not in the
thinking and ideals of this world he's not in the seeking after
riches and of power in this world he's not in the pleasures of
this world he's not where the world seeks God as they worship
the creature more than the creator as they worship the might of
man rather than the God that made him He's not in the dens
of iniquity. In despair you might turn aside
from the things of God. You might be tempted in this
state to say it's worthless, it's hopeless. I strive to seek
after God, I read the Bible, I pray, I go to worship, but
nothing prospers. I'll give it all up. But he's
not where the world is. He's not in the dens of iniquity.
And he's not to be found in the lies and deceits of false religion
and false gospels that take the name of God and take the name
of Jesus and alter it and twist it and twist the truths and present
a Jesus that struggles to save all mankind, that wants to save
all mankind, but stands at their decision. stands helpless because
he cannot save them unless they choose to be saved and because
everyone chooses not to be in the end he saves no one where
is God in that? he's not found in the lies and
deceits of false religion he's not found in the form of religion
that creates a masquerade that creates an edifice that pharisaical
religion that creates a serious exterior a seriousness of will-worship
where those in this way take the scriptures and they read
them and they're devout and they turn away from the things of
the world and they meet and they make sacrifices for God they
turn away from these things they give up these things and they're
very serious And yet in the end they're resting in their own
strength, their own will and their own works to be received
by God. And they've never known the grace
and the mercy which is freely given in Christ. Christ isn't
in these things, he's not found in them. He's not found in them. Well where is he? Where is thy
God? When he seems so far off, where
are you going to turn to? Where are you going to find him?
In the comforts of life? In the deceits of others who
tell you to turn to the left hand and to the right hand in
religion? No. You will find him and you
will only find him in the Gospel of Christ. in his truth as made
known by his spirit where is he he may seem afar off he may
stand afar off you may have to wait a long time but the way
to find him the way to hear him is through his gospel through
His Gospel continually to turn to that Gospel, to hear that
Gospel, to cry out to God, to give us that Gospel, to preach
it, to make it known in the Word of God, to take the Scriptures
and open them up to us by His Spirit, to reveal Christ unto
us. He's in the Gospel, in His truth. And yet, as the Psalmist found,
even when we go there, Even when we look there, even with the
scriptures, the truth before us. He finds that the soul needs
more than just the letter. He needs to hear with more than
just the natural ear. You can be where the gospel is
preached. You can sit under a faithful
ministry. You can have a faithful translation
of the scriptures. You can hear them read or write
by others. And yet nothing can go in. You
can remain in darkness and in blindness in such a place. Many
gather with the saints who are never saved. They hear with the
outer ear, but their heart never hears within. And the true child
of God can gather with the saints. And the true child of God can
hear the gospel faithfully preached. And whereas at one time they
heard those truths, that message, and it melted and broke their
heart, another time they hear, and the words come and the words
go, and they come in the meeting and they leave the meeting, and
God still seems afar off. And the enemies outside say to
them, where is thy God? When I remember these things
the psalmist says, I pour out my soul in me. For I'd gone with
a multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the
voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day.
You can go there. I still feel that God's so far
off. Well the gospel's the place to
go. And if God seems to stand at a distance, the gospel's the
place to keep going. and to keep listening and to
keep praying and to cry out under him. For in the end, he hears
the cries of the broken and the destitute. In the end, he heard
Job's complaint. In the end, he heard the psalmist. And the distance at which he
stands is for a reason. Till its work is done, till that
is wrought within the heart which the spirit determines to produce
in the end he hears despite the cries of the enemy outside he
hears he hears Christ at the cross was nailed
upon the tree and surrounded by men religious men, priests,
scribes, pharisees, those who regularly went to worship God
as they fought, those who thought they did God's service in slaying
this man upon that tree, the one who claimed to be the Son
of God, this one whom they despised for blasphemously asserting that
he was God as they saw it. Christ was alone in the midst
of this people. This religious people. Alone. And they nailed him to the tree.
And he looked on and there was none to help. None to hear him. Even his disciples had been scattered. There was no one, no man who
could save him from that plight. He must tread this pathway. He
must go this way. And all these who had heard the
word of God in the scriptures from old times, they had the
oracles of God, they had the prophecies relating to the coming
of Christ, despised the only one who ever truly served God,
and the only one who could ever save them. The one they nailed
to the tree was the one who could bring them everlasting life and
spare them from destruction. Yet their hearts despised him.
How alone would Christ have felt. But not nearly as alone as he
felt when God took him upon that tree and laid the sins of his
people upon him and made him to be sin in their place. and
poured out his wrath upon him. At which point Christ cried out,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me alone? Where is thy God? they cried
unto him. Where is he? If thou be God,
if thou be the Son of God, call down a legion of angels to help
you. If you're truly God, if you're
truly the Son of God, why doesn't he come to your aid? Where is
your Father? Where is thy God? How alone he
felt, and yet his faith was never diminished. because even in that
place even in that state Christ hoped he knew that his God would
hear him though he hung on that cross for an eternity three hours
in the light three hours in the darkness yes but it was an eternity
through which he passed in his suffering as God's wrath was
poured upon him though he hung there for eternity He did not
cease to hope. He did not cease to believe that
God would hear. In the end, why art thou cast
down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him for the help of his countenance. I will yet praise
him. Deep caulifunter, deep at the
noise of thy water-spouts, All thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his
lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall
be with me in my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say
unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in
my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto
me, where is thy God? And yet he can cry out at the
end, hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health
of my countenance and my God the psalmist could write this
but this was the cry of Christ his enemies as it were put a
sword through his bones and reproached him they despised him and rejected
him and here upon the cross all the waves and billows of God's
wrath are gone over Christ in judgment against the sins of
his people sins which he never committed but for which he paid
the price for which he died that they should live and yet his
heart the deep calleth out unto the deep Deep call if unto deep
at the noise of thy water spouts Oh the cry, the longing of his
heart As the longing of the child of God Longs after God, that
spirit within them Deep crying unto deep, calling unto deep
They must be united They must know his presence They must And
that faith within them As with the faith of their master Christ
upon the cross. Though tried, though tested to
the limit, in the end never fails. For there is a hope of faith,
a hope that goes on hoping. however hard the way, however
long the time it is, however far off God seems, it goes on
hoping. Hope thou in God. Hope today,
hope tomorrow, hope next year, hope in ten years' time, however
long it will be, this situation, this trial you're in, though
it may go on for a lifetime, though you may never see the
answers to your prayers in this world, Hope thou in God, for
if you are his, you shall yet praise him for the help of his
countenance. Though opposed, though the enemy
cries out where is thy god and though the flesh within us wars
against the spirit within us and so often cast us down yet
that faith within still rises up with eagle's wings it rises
up and flies and it hopes in its god it hopes it trusts it
will not be quenched it will not because that faith springs
from the life of God within. And where God speaks and puts
life in the heart of he who was once dead, a dead sinner, a sinner
dead in trespasses and sins. People like you and me, when
God speaks, when we're born again by his spirit, when we hear the
gospel, and we're brought as convicted sinners to the foot
of the cross, and we look and behold our savior, when faith
is put in the heart and where life is breathed within us, that
life is never quenched. however hard the trial, however
difficult the pathway, however alone we may feel, and however
far off our God appears to stand so often, it's never quenched. It cries out, it rises up with
eagle's wings, it flies, just like Christ did. just like his
faith did in that hour of need when he hoped and trusted in
his God though God seemed afar off though God's back was turned
against him though he felt forsaken still he hoped he looked upon
those that crucified him and said to his father forgive them
for they know not what they do Still he hoped. At the end, he
gave up the ghost and said, into thy hands, Lord, I commend my
spirit. He gave it up. And he knew that
his spirit would go into God's hands. He knew that God would
receive him. He knew that he had done all
upon the cross. He knew that he had accomplished
what he was sent to do. He knew that he had conquered
sin. He knew that he had conquered
death. He knew that he had taken sin away. he knew that he had
wrought righteousness and he knew that his hope in God would
be answered he knew that faith would be rewarded that it would
be rewarded for faith is rewarded in the end it's tried yes it's
taught patience yes it's brought almost a breaking point and beyond
yes but ultimately faith is rewarded with a reward so great, so wondrous,
so rich, so overwhelming, that it exceeds anything that the
enemies of God ever experience. These enemies that look upon
the despised children of God in their state in this world,
these enemies who are so rich and so joyous in this world,
that have so much, that have so much that seems to go their
way. what they have is nothing compared
to the riches and the glory and the inheritance that is given
to God's people in Christ that is theirs what God's people has
despised few rejected those nothings in this world those that don't
have a great name those that don't have great riches those
that don't have great report those that have few friends those
who seem so weak and helpless what they have in christ is greater
riches greater reward than any that the children of wrath, the
children of the devil, their enemies anything that they experience
in this lifetime they seem happy now they seem so rich now they
seem to be in comfort and have such assurance now even the religious
amongst them they seem so assured of their salvation so assured
of their beliefs so certain that when they die they are going
to heaven they seem so comfortable so assured now while the children
of God while we are pitiful oppressed broken weak and without strength
but in the end on that great day of reckoning their end is
destruction their end when they come before god with their lord
lord we did this in thy name and that in thy name is to hear
him say unto them depart from me ye workers of iniquity i never
knew you and they are sent into darkness and destruction and
the fires which are never quenched for all eternity, their end is
destruction. Though they are so rich and so
joyous now and so assured now, their end is death evermore.
And those of us who seem to live a life where we die daily, where
our enemies continually cry unto us, where is thy God? Where we're
trampled underfoot, so few, so despised, so pitiful. Our end,
if we have the faith of Christ in our hearts, if we have the
life of God the Spirit in our hearts, if we have the hope of
faith in God's gospel, if we've known the grace and mercy of
God freely given to those that sought it not, freely given to
those whose works and efforts are just filthy rags before a
holy and a righteous God freely given to those who know they're
nothing have got nothing are nothing freely given those who
are the recipients of grace our end is life everlasting. life everlasting our end will
be well done thy good and faithful servant enter into the inheritance
which is thine we will enter into the presence of god almighty
and his son to sit and worship the lamb of god in the midst
of the throne of god forevermore and every tear will be wiped
from every eye And we will be clothed in white clothes of righteousness,
gowns of righteousness. There will be no more sin, no
more suffering, no more fear, no more disease, no more anger,
no more arguments, no more strife, no more opposition, but eternal
peace and glory, everlasting riches and everlasting inheritance. Oh, what an end for the child
of God. whose soul cries out for the
living God, whose soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,
whose heart panteth after the water brooks, who cries out now,
when shall I come and appear before God, what an end for that
day will come, when the tears which were once his meet day
and night, when his enemies continually said unto him where is thy God
when those tears are wiped away and he stands before God forevermore
when that day comes what an end it will be what glory what rejoicing
what hope oh my soul why art thou cast down why art thou disquieted
in me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise Him for the help of
His countenance. Just as Christ's faith was rewarded,
so ours will be. So ours will be. His faith was
rewarded in the midst of suffering, forsaken even by His Father,
judged, bruised, beaten for an eternity. His faith never diminished
and His faith was rewarded. And however long our trial, however
hard the way, however loud the voices that cry against us, where
is thy God? Our faith, which endures to the
end, because it's not ours by nature, but God's, which he gave
unto us, our faith will be rewarded. As with Christ, so with his people,
so with his sons. as pictured here by the sons
of Korah in the title of the psalm. So the sons of Christ
as they are gathered into the chief musician. will have that
mournful melancholic tune with which they started, turned into
a great tune of victory, a great harmony of victory, as they gathered
in with their chief musician. The chief musician suffered.
God judged him at the cross. He forsook him and all men mocked
him with, where is thy God? And yet his faith was answered,
his death accomplished all that God promised, and his people
were saved and he with them, as one. As one, the chief musician
with all his instruments gathered in, that orchestra, to sing that
glorious song forevermore, a new song in their hearts to sing
unto their Saviour in eternity to come forevermore. That's their
end. That's our end. That's your end,
child of God. Don't be cast down. Don't fail. Don't doubt. Look up. Look past
the taunting, the mocking, the scorning. Look past the trials,
the oppression, the fires. Look unto Christ. Hope thou in
God. look unto Christ and your great
reward in him that great reward which is yours by grace by grace
look up wait as Anna waited, as Simeon waited. We read of
these in Luke 2 when Christ was born, when he was brought to
the temple. There was old Simeon in the temple
who had waited years and years. He'd read the scriptures, he
knew the promise of Messiah and yet he never came. And yet he
waited and he waited and he knew one day either in his lifetime
or in another's lifetime or in generations to come one day god
would be true to his promise one day the deliverer of israel
would come one day salvation would be wrought he waited and
on this day his prayer his cry unto God was answered for on
this day the parents of Christ brought the babe into the temple
and he was taken up simeon took him up in his arms and beheld
the son of god the savior of mankind he waited for that day
when light would enter the darkness of this world and that light
was placed in his hands and he looked upon he who is the light
of the world and could say Lord now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy
people Israel. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Decades he waited. He must have
thought he'd never see it in his lifetime, and yet God brought
his son into that temple and placed the very babe in Simeon's
hands. And Simeon looked. and his faith
was rewarded. All those who had said unto him,
where is thy God, where is the promise of his coming, where
is Messiah of whom you speak? You look for redemption in Israel
and yet here we are, captive, Rome ruling us now. Anna waited,
she looked for redemption in Israel and Rome ruled the land. And yet on this day she saw it
come. The Saviour, the Redeemer, came
into the temple of God and she spake of Him. She had spoken
of Him coming to countless numbers beforehand. She said, the Redeemer
will come. And here He is. He came. They waited. They waited. They waited. They waited. They
waited. They were mocked. They were scoffed.
They wondered. They wondered. Their soul thirsted
for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before my God? When will I see his salvation? And here it was. Here it was
in their hands, in the hands of Simeon. He held the babe. And the great reward of faith
was granted. It was granted. The wait was
over. The wait was over. Oh, does your
heart pant after the water brooks? Does your soul thirst for God? Do your enemies cry out unto
you daily, where is thy God? Well, hear what God says unto
your soul. Why art thou cast down? say unto
your own soul why art thou cast down oh my soul and why art thou
disquieted in me hope thou in god hope thou in god for i shall
yet praise him for the help of his countenance can you say it
can you for i shall yet praise him for the help of His countenance. Amen.