Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 13? I'd like to read verses 17 and 18. And it came to pass. When Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not through the way
of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God
said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and
they return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness, of the Red Sea, And the children
of Israel went up, harnessed, out of the land of Egypt. I've entitled this message, Tender
Mercies. The quickest and the easiest
way to Canaan was through the land of the Philistines. And
God could have just as easily crushed the Philistines as he
did the Egyptians. It's not like the Philistines
were a greater challenge to him. But yet the Lord expresses this
regarding his people. He knew that his people, when
they would see the Philistines, a very cruel, fierce, warlike
people, He knew what their reaction would be, because Israel was
a nation of slaves. They were a nation of cowards.
They were afraid of everybody. Look over in Exodus chapter 14,
verse 10. This is when Pharaoh comes back
after them. And this is after all they had seen, how the Lord
had delivered them. And they didn't have any reason
to doubt the Lord. But we read in verse 10, Pharaoh
drew near, nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes
and beheld the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore
afraid. And the children of Israel cried
out unto the Lord, and they said unto Moses, Because if there
were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in
the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word
that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we
may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us
to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die here in the
wilderness. Now do you see how afraid they
were? They were very cowardly. and
unbelieving people. And the Lord knew that if he
brought them through the land of Philistines, that they would
probably go back to Egypt. Now, can you imagine how the
children of Israel felt as they took this way through the wilderness? No doubt, many of the children
of Israel grumbling and complaining about this. Why is the Lord bringing
us this way? It would have been a lot easier
to go through the land of the Philistines, but they didn't
realize that this was mercy. They complained about it. They
didn't realize that this was mercy. It didn't seem like mercy,
but it was mercy. The Lord knew what they would
do if they were brought to the land of the Philistines. So what
he did was a tender mercy for them at this time. That's interesting.
He keeps them away from the Philistines. Do you know what the word Philistine
means? You read it throughout the Old Testament. The word is
taken out of the word that means to wallow in self. That's a place
you want to avoid, isn't it? To wallow in self. And he delivered
them from that. and brought them through the
way of the wilderness. Now, with that in mind, how many
times have you asked yourself this question, why is life so
difficult? Because sometimes it does seem
difficult, doesn't it? Why is life so difficult? Why do I have so many disappointments
and things that discourage me? and bring me down and leave me
feeling disillusioned. Why do I have so many seemingly
unanswered prayers? I ask the Lord for certain things
and it doesn't appear that I give them. It seems that He says no. Why am I so bad? Why am I so weak? Why am I so
sinful if the Lord really has done a work of grace in my heart?
Why am I still like this? Why does sin seem to have such
a stranglehold on me, and I can't get away from it? Now, I really
do realize the messes that I get myself into are my fault. I'm
not blaming the Lord. I'm blaming myself. The messes
I get into are my fault. Why did the Lord let it happen? Why am I out here in the wilderness?
You know, I see people who don't seem to have the same struggles
I do, who don't even know the Lord. That troubles me. Turn
over to Psalm 73. This is David speaking. And he says in verse one, truly,
God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well and I
slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. I envied them. For there are
no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They
are not in trouble as other men are, neither are they plagued
like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them
about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than their heart
could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly, and concerning
oppression they speak loftily. They set their mouths against
the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore
his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung
out to them. And they say, how does God know? It is their knowledge
with the most high. Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. David
says, barely I've cleansed my hand, a heart in vain. I've washed
my hands in innocency for all day long have I been plagued
and chastened every morning. Now that's David's own description
of his own life and his envy of the wicked. Let's go back
to our text in Exodus chapter 17 or 13. The Lord didn't bring them through
the land of Philistia, but through the way of the wilderness. It was not an easy way. It was
not a comfortable way. And it may have seemed to many
of them that God was almost being cruel. Have you ever thought
that? It almost seems like the Lord's being cruel to me. I mean,
I know I'm a sinner, but why didn't He give me a break? I'm
sure they were thinking this. Why is He bringing me through
this way? But in reality, this was the
way of tender mercy. and great grace. They didn't
know it, but it was the best way. It was the way for their
good. If they would have gone the easy
way, they would have ended up returning to Egypt. That was
in reality, the way of tender mercy, it's the way he's bringing
them now. Hold your finger there. Let's go back to Psalm 103 for
a moment. I want you to look at this with me. This is such
a wonderful psalm. Psalm 103, David says, Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. And he goes on to name a bunch
of them. Who forgives all thine iniquities, who healeth All thy
diseases, and he's not talking about physical diseases. You're
going to die of something. He's talking about spiritual
diseases. He's not going to heal all your physical diseases. But
bless God, if you're one of his, he's going to heal all of your
spiritual diseases. Every single one of them by his
stripes. What? We're healed. Who redeemeth
thy life from destruction. You would go to hell if it wasn't
for his redeeming blood. Isn't that a great mercy? Do
you have any reason? Even if you're in the wilderness,
I'm talking to myself. Do I have any reason for anything
other than thankfulness and gratefulness? He redeems my life from destruction.
He crowns me with loving kindness. That's the Old Testament word
for grace. And tender mercies. Who satisfies thy mouth with
good things. So that thy youth is renewed
like the eagles. Satisfaction with Christ, renewal.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto
the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He'll not always chide.
Neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with
us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Isn't that a glorious thought? What would happen to you if he
did reward you according to your iniquities? and deal with you
according to what you really deserve. Thank God for this.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy
toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath He removed our transgression from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth than that fear him, for he knoweth
our frame." He remembers that we're dust. The Lord knows me all the way through. And He remembers that I'm dust. I couldn't help but think of
when I thought of that verse in Scripture. I was thinking
about the Lord's dealings with His disciples. They were stupid. They were unbelieving. They were
proud. They were unloving in so many
respects. They were competitive, trying
to one get above the other. You could just go on and on talking
about the disciples. I love that passage of Scripture,
where the Lord says, How long shall I suffer you? How long
am I going to be with you? Can you imagine Him saying that about
you? I certainly can. But this Scripture I found so... This is what came to my mind
when I was thinking about this. The Lord's in the garden. He's praying
that if it be the Father's will that this cup would pass from
Him. And He says to His disciples, come and watch with Me. Come
and watch with Me. And He goes off about a stone's
throw cast and He prays more. He comes back and where does
He find Him? He said, what? Could you not
watch one hour with me? He goes back and comes back again
and finds him what? Asleep again. And you know what
the Lord said? He said, truly, the spirit is
willing and the flesh is weak. Don't you know that's true? And
do you know the Lord is pitiful toward that? He's filled with
tender mercies. And what mercy He was showing
the children of Israel at this time? They were complaining,
why am I in the wilderness? I could have so easily got to
the destination through the land of the Philistines. And they
didn't know every step of the way was a tender mercy. Would you turn with me to Ecclesiastes? Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Verse one. To everything. There's a season. And the time to every purpose
under the heaven. Everything that's taken place
has been according to his purpose. There's a reason for it. Everything. He talks about some things that
are very difficult, some things that are very joyous, but look
at the things he mentioned. There's a time to be born and
there's a time to die. There's a time to plant and a
time to pluck up that which is planted. There's a time to kill
and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build
up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and
a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather
stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to
cast away, a time to rend, and a time to sow, a time to keep
silence, a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate,
a time of war, and a time of peace. Now what prophet hath
he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the
travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised
in it, but listen to this. He has made everything beautiful
in His time. Everything is beautiful. And if I don't see it, I believe
it. Because God's Word tells me,
and we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. He's made everything beautiful.
Now let's go back to our text. You know, that's so comforting
to me. The Lord brought me to the path that I needed. He's
going to continue to bring me to the path that I need. And
I might not like it at the time. I'm sure the children of Israel
didn't. I found a lot of problems. Why? Why? Why? But it's just
what I needed. There was an absolute necessity
for my good and for His glory. That's true regarding everything. Everything. Back to our text. Verse 18. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, a long and arduous
journey. And the children of Israel went
up, harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And they didn't realize
it, but he was bringing them by way that he would work out
an even greater deliverance. They had no idea that the parting
of the Red Sea was getting ready to take place, did they? They
didn't even have a clue. They didn't even suspect that.
And as they're going along through this difficult, difficult way,
God's preparing to bless them with His great deliverance. But I want you to look at the
last sentence of this verse in verse 18. It says, The children
of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And this
is the only time that this particular word is used in the scripture. It is taken from the word that
means a stout abdomen. A fifth rib. Thick. Strong. Able bodied. Stout. And that's the description
of these people. Now, they were cowards in and
of themselves. I've just read that passage of Scripture. As
soon as they see the Egyptians coming after them, they're scared
to death. Why have you brought us here? They don't know what
to do. They're scared to death. But yet, when God describes these
people coming up out of the land of Egypt, He says they're harnessed,
they're armed, they're stout, they're strong. And indeed, this was the case
throughout all of their pilgrimage in the land of the wilderness.
Nehemiah 9, verse 21 says, 40 years did thou sustain them in
the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes
waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Turn to Deuteronomy
2. Verse 7, For the Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking
through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord thy
God hath been with thee. Thou hast lacked nothing. Now can't you say the same thing
regarding yourself? Look in Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2. And thou shalt remember all the
way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was
in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments,
or do you know? Do you know everything the Lord brings my way and your
way? He does it to test us, to prove us. Not to prove anything
to himself, but it proves something to us, doesn't it? We find out
what we're made of, don't we? We find out how weak we are.
We find out our need of him. And he humbled thee, verse 3,
and suffered thee to hunger. He let you get hungry. Why didn't
he feed thee? And did he fed thee with manna? Which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy
raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these
forty years. Now here's a people that were
a nation of slaves, weak, cowardly. The Lord wouldn't bring them
to the land of the Philistines because He knew that they would
be so afraid they would return back to Egypt if He did. And yet, He says they went up harnessed,
stout, able-bodied, armed. out of the land of Egypt. Now,
how can that be? I mean, this bunch of people,
this weak, cowardly bunch of people, how is it that they can
be described as those who come out stout and strong and hardest? Well, I've got six reasons I
want to give you. Now, look in verse 18 once again of our text. But God led the people about. I see that word led. Look up
in verse 17. He came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go that God led them not through the way
of the land of the Philistines. Now the word led in verse 18
in the Hebrew is a completely different word than the word
in verse 18. It's he surrounded them. He surrounded
them in every single way. Now, do you know that you are
surrounded by God Almighty? completely surrounded, and if
God before you, who can be against you? Isn't His surrounding presence
enough to make you strong? If He's with you, you're strong. You are strong. You may feel
weak, and you ought to feel weak. That's the truth. You are weak
in and of yourselves. But if God before us who can
be against us. He surrounds me by His grace. We just sang that song. Streams
of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Here's another reason why they're
strong. Christ. Paul said in Philippians chapter
4 verse 13, I can do all things. Did you hear what he said? I
can Do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Now, is that true or not? It's equally true, as our Lord
said, without me, you can do what? Nothing. Not a thing. But Paul said, I can do all things
through Christ which strengthens me. You know, you have omnipotence
behind you. That's the kind of strength you
have. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. Here's another word. Here's another
reason why. Because these people, as weak
as they were in and of themselves, they were strong and mighty and
so on. Stout, able-bodied. It's the
word grace. The grace of God. That's what you're given freely.
You don't earn it. You don't merit it. You don't
get it because you're strong. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace, the free, unmerited favor, the grace that is in Christ
Jesus. I think grace. I get encouraged. Oh, the freedom is electing grace.
I love electing grace. Justifying grace that makes me
perfect before God. Redeeming grace that pays for
all my sins. Regenerating grace that gives
me life. Preserving grace that keeps me
from falling away. One of these days I'm going to
enter into glorifying grace when I'm just like Christ. This is
how much salvation is by grace. One of these days, this person
that you're looking at, and a lot of folks I'm looking at, are
going to be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. And the
only way that can be done is by grace. It sure doesn't have
anything to do with our works. There's how they're strong, by
the grace of God. The Holy Spirit, there's another
reason. The Spirit of God indwells the
people of God. You may be weak, but He's not.
This is called Christ in you. Greater is He that's in you.
that he is in the world. It's having the Spirit of God.
It's having a new nature. It's having a holy nature that
cannot sin. It's the spiritual nature that
every believer has, and that nature is strong. Well, how come
I still sin? Well, I guarantee you right now,
one of these days you're not going to. And I guarantee you
right now, somehow, such are things that if you could keep
from sinning, you'd start getting self-righteous. There's no doubt
about it. You'd start looking to yourself. I have no doubt
about that. That's our nature. That's the way we are. But one
of these days, by the Spirit of God, I'm going to drop this
flesh and I'm going to be just like Him. Now, this word, harnessed,
means armored. Armored. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter six. Verse 10. Finally, my brethren. Be strong in the Lord. And in the power of his might. Now, is that just religious hyperbole?
No, he's telling every one of God's people, you be strong in
the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor
of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore,
take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to withstand in that evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, and he talks
about this armor. Remember, it says they walked up in armor,
walked out of Egypt in armor. Stand therefore, having your
loins, that's what was closest to you, that's your underwear.
That's what holds you together. Your loins girt about with truth. Christ Jesus is the truth. The truth is that salvation is
in Him and it's not in me. The truth is that I'm complete
in Him. The truth is that He is God.
The truth is that He cannot fail. The truth is the gospel. And having on the breastplate,
that's what protects my heart, The breastplates of righteousness. The righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ. I asked this question Sunday
morning. When Paul said, there is laid up a crown for me, that
the Lord the righteous judge shall give me a crown of righteousness,
was he talking about Christ's righteousness or his own personal
righteousness? Both. Because Christ's righteousness
is my personal righteousness. That's where my joy comes from.
That's where my confidence comes from. Christ's righteousness,
His law keeping, His perfect obedience is my righteousness
before God. That's going to protect my breast.
I've got nothing to fear. Verse 15, let your feet be shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, there's one other
place where that word is used that gives us some understanding
of what he means by let your feet be shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. And this word is taken from that
word where the Lord said, I go and prepare a place for you. He went to the cross to prepare
a place for me and my walk through this world, that's the foundation
of my walk. That's my rest. that He went
and prepared a place for me, a preparation of the gospel of
peace. Now, the only thing that gives
me peace, I mean real peace, is knowing that Christ already
prepared my place. There's nothing for me to do.
He did it all. And what peace there is in that. Verse 16, Above
all, taking the shield of faith, believing God, Believing His
Word. Believing that what Christ did
is everything in your salvation. Actually trusting Him. Is it
hard to trust Him? Is it hard to trust Him as your
everything in salvation? If you don't have any of your
own righteousness, it's easy to. The only thing about faith,
faith is the hardest thing. It's impossible if God doesn't
give it to you. But once you see who you are and God gives
you faith, it's easy to believe, isn't it? It's easy to trust. Christ only. And that's what
a shield, above all things, taking the shield of faith. And that's
what's going to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. And take
verse 17, the helmet of salvation. And here's protection for my
head. Salvations of the Lord. That protects my head. That protects my understanding.
Salvations of the Lord. And here's the only offensive
weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. What
a weapon that is. Praying always with all prayer
and supplications in the Spirit and watching there and do with
all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Now that's how
every believer is harnessed. That's how every believer is
armored. And he said, put on this armor.
You've already got it, but put it on. Put it on. Now, why would he say put it
on if I've already got it? Well, because a lot of times
we act like we don't have it on. That's why. And so he says,
put it on as you would a suit of clothes, put on the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand against all the
wiles of the devil. They went up harnessed, armed.
Why were they strong? Because they knew God. Daniel, chapter 11, verse 32,
says the people that know their God shall be strong. And do exploits. Now these people
in and of themselves, you know as well as I do, that they were
weak as they could be. Never been a weaker, more unbelieving,
more sinful, more helpless people than the children of Israel.
You know that. And they proved that over and
over again. Yet God says when they left Egypt by the grace
of God, the Lord brought them in a way they knew not. They
didn't have any idea what He was doing, but it was a way of
tender mercy. And they came out of that place harnessed, stout. staunch, strong by the grace
of God. What tender mercy. They didn't see it that way.
But it was. He leads them through the wilderness
to preserve them from going back to Egypt and to strengthen them
for the journey. Now, do you know that everything
the Lord has brought your way He did it in mercy, and he knew
if he didn't bring you through that, you would have gone back
to Egypt. Thank God for his tender mercies. Let's pray.