Would you turn back to Genesis
32? I told the men in the back, I
think that our church ought to do anything we can to send to,
there's agencies in Eastern Kentucky that would help, to help them
in that time. There's devastation there and
we need to do everything we can to help them. So keep that in
mind and we'll do that. The prayer of Jacob, This is the first recorded prayer
in scripture. That makes it interesting, doesn't
it? I love when the Lord told Ananias about Paul. He said, behold, he prayeth. He never had before. He thought
he had. he'd gone through who knows how many hours the form
of prayer but now he prays and this is the breath of the believer and we find out what prayer is
for our son of Jacob from this passage of scripture and I hope
the Lord will bless this TO OUR HEART. NOW, LET'S START IN VERSE
ONE. AND JACOB WENT ON HIS WAY. HE HAS BEEN DELIVERED FROM LABAN
AND HE'S NOW GOING BACK TO CANAN. HE HAD LEFT THERE SOME TWENTY
YEARS BEFORE AND THAT'S WHEN HE WAS GIVEN THE REVELATION OF
THE GOSPEL IN THE LATTER. AND NOW HE IS COMING BACK. LET'S GO BACK TO GENESIS 28 FOR
JUST A MOMENT. VERSE 10, AND JACOB WENT OUT
FROM BEERSHEBA, AND WENT TOWARD HARAN. AND HE LIGHTED UPON A
CERTAIN PLACE, AND TARRIED THERE ALL NIGHT, BECAUSE THE SUN WAS
SET. And he took up the stones of that place and put them for
his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. This is when
he first left Canaan. Remember, his brother was going
to kill him. And his mom and dad wanted him to go back there
to find a wife. And he's all alone. And he dreamed
and behold, the ladder set up on the earth. And the top of
it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God
ascending and descending on it. Now that's the gospel. That's
the gospel. And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said, this is speaking to Jacob, I am the Lord God of
Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon
thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." Same thing
he said to Abraham. And thy seed shall be as the
dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and
to the east and to the north and to the south, and in thee
and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And Paul calls that in Galatians 3, 8, the gospel. He calls that
statement, these in your seed, shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 15, and behold, I am with thee. This is God's promise. And this is his promise to every
believer. I want you to think about that. He says to me and
you, I am with thee. Will keep thee in all places
where the thou goest and Will bring thee again into this land
He's gonna be gone for 20 years, but God promises you're coming
back. I'm gonna bring you back into this land For I will not
leave thee until I have done. I that which I've spoken to thee
of. And in chapter 31, verse three,
God tells him again, this is 20 years later, and the Lord
said unto Jacob, return unto the land of thy fathers and to
thy kindred, and I will be with thee. And before we go on, let
me say some things concerning this man, Jacob. There is not a character in scripture
that I personally identify with more than Jacob. I'm so thankful
for this man. But let me say these things about
Jacob. God loved him before he was ever
born. Scripture says that. for the children being not yet
born. God loved him before he was ever born. And do you know
if you're a believer, God loved you before you were ever born. Jacob was chosen by God to be
saved. Romans 9, 11, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Not of
works. If you don't believe in election,
you believe in works. It's that simple. Not of works. But of him that calleth it was
said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it's written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. God determined
Jacob would have the birthright before he was born. All of this
happened according to God's purpose. God revealed the gospel to him
in the latter, and God never forsook Jacob in spite of all
of his wanderings. I am the Lord, Malachi 3, 6,
I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God never forsook Jacob in spite
of all his wanderings. Look in chapter 32 for just a
moment, verse 27. This is when the Lord wrestled
with Jacob, Lord willing we're gonna consider that next week.
And he said unto him, what's thy name? Well he knew what his
name was, he's the Lord. He's the one who initiated this
wrestling match in the first place. And he is making Jacob
confess what his name is. Jacob. Supplanter. Deceiver. Cheat. That's what he was. What's your
name? He confesses. Jacob. Verse 28, and he said, thy name
shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast
thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Now all of those things that
I've said of Jacob are true of every single believer. We are the sons of Jacob. And as I said last week, God
is called the God of Jacob more than any other title in scripture. Jacob is mentioned a whole lot
more than Abraham, and a whole lot more than Isaac, and quite
often God calls them the same name in the same verse. Fear
not, Jacob, Israel. And I have no doubt that Jacob's
who we are in ourselves, Israel's who we are in Christ. Jacob and
Israel. Every believer has those two
names. Jacob and Israel. Now God tells him to return and
he does after being delivered from Laban and in returning he's
given this encouragement. Look back in chapter 32 once
again. Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. Now that would have been an amazing
thing, do all of a sudden have the angels of God meet him? I don't know that I've ever seen
an angel before. I might have. I don't know, because
the writer of the Hebrew said, be not forgetful to entertain
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Well, maybe I have met an angel, but I know Jacob did. As a matter
of fact, he met two hosts of angels at this time. And when
Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's host. And he called
the name of that place, Mahanaim. And my marginal reading says
two hosts. There were, I believe, a host
of angels in front of him and a host of angels behind him.
And he was made to see that he belonged to the Lord and the
Lord was protecting him before and behind. And he was given
that assurance at this time. Verse three. And Jacob, I imagine he's feeling
pretty good at this time. I would too. And Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau, his brother, and to the land of Seir, the
country of Edom. Now you'll remember Jacob had
left Canaan because he was in trouble. His brother says he's
gonna kill him because of his deceitfulness. And I can imagine
why Esau was angry. And he said, I'm gonna kill him.
And Jacob pled. 20 years later, he's coming back. And he sent messengers before
him to Esau, his brother, and to the land of Seir, the country
of Edom. And he commanded them, saying,
thus shall you speak unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob
saith thus, I sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until
now, and I have oxen, and asses, and flocks, and men servants,
and women servants, and I've sent to tell my lord that I may
find grace in thy sight. Now, what I thought of, A soft
answer turneth away wrath. Don't forget that. And I believe
Jacob was using some wisdom at this time in the way he was approaching
Esau. A soft answer turneth away wrath. The next time you wanna speak
harshly to somebody about something, remember, a soft answer turneth
away wrath. And as we're going to see this,
affected Esau. Verse 6, And the messengers returned
to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he
cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Now the only way Jacob could
interpret that is he's coming to wipe me out. That's exactly
what he was thinking, and we see this from his prayer. Although
the Lord told him, I'm with you. You're going to come back in
peace. He had two camps of angels before him and behind him. All
he sees and hears is these 400 men. And he thinks that they
are going to come and destroy him. Verse seven. Then Jacob was greatly afraid
and distressed." Now that's his mindset in spite of what God
had said to him by way of encouragement, promising he's going to bring
him in and do everything he said he would do. In spite of the
fact that he had two hosts of angels with him, I guess he couldn't
see them all the time, at one time they appeared, they were
still there with him, he just couldn't see them. But he was
scared to death. And Jacob was greatly afraid
and distressed and he divided the people that was with him
and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two bands.
And he said, if Esau come to the one company and smite it,
then the other company which is left shall escape. Now, was
that prudent? Maybe it was. I don't know. I
don't know what I would do in a situation like that. Was he
trying to manipulate things? Probably. probably it's amazing
that we get these promises by God and yet we try to manipulate
and scheme and try to do whatever we can to protect ourselves.
I believe that certainly was going on as well, but he forgot
the promises of God and he was scared to death. Have you ever
been there? You forget what he has said. You start scheming and try to
do what you can to Preserve things. That's what
he was doing. Verse nine. Here we have the first recorded
prayer in scripture. And I pray that the Lord takes
this and teaches me and you something about prayer. Verse nine. And Jacob said, Oh God of my father Abraham and
God of my father Isaac. He's approaching God with some
understanding of the covenant. He's the God of Abraham. He's
the God who appeared to Abraham and revealed himself and the
gospel. He's the God of Isaac. He's the
covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. Now, how important is this? This is the New Testament when
it comes right down to it. The New Covenant, the New Testament. I love what David said in 2 Samuel
23, five. He said, although my house be not so with God. And I have no doubt he was referring
to his family. They were a mess. And I have
no doubt he was referring to this house. As a matter of fact,
I think that's what he's mainly referring to. He had parts of
his family that Abigail was a. Wonderful person. Feared God,
I think Bathsheba did, and there were others. So he's talking
about himself, this house. The best or the most accurate
thing you could say about this house. Is it's not so. With God. You say that to your
own shame, but you know it so. This house is not so with God. Although my house be not so with
God yet, hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. The covenant making covenant
Keeping God the covenant is sure because of the blood of the everlasting
covenant Although my house be not so with God yet as he made
with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure And I love what David said after
that This is all my salvation This is all my desire. Not only
is it all my salvation, it's all I want. And that's the way
that Jacob approaches God, the God of Abraham and Isaac. And in prayer, I don't come to
God on my own, but in the covenant he made with Christ. When we come into God's presence,
there is some awareness of the only way I can come into his
presence is in the covenant he made with Christ. And that is
how I come. Now notice again in verse nine. And Jacob said, O God of my father
Abraham, and God of my father Isaac. Now here's the next thing
I want us to notice. The Lord which said unto me,
return unto thy country and thy kindred and I will deal well
with thee. Now, he begins where you and
I ought to begin with what God has already said. And that's
the only way I can come into his presence with any confidence.
pleading what he has already said in his word. You said, return unto thy country. Everything that we believe has
this as its foundation. It's what he said. And when I
pray, here's an example. Here's an example. You said you
came into this world to save sinners. You said that, not me. I'm a sinner, save me. It's that
simple. We find that what he said, now
listen to me, what he says to us is a whole lot more important
than what we say to him. Amen? Infinitely more important. And that is what Jacob is doing.
He is coming into God's presence from what God has said. I'm coming and asking you this
because it's something you said to do. You said, I'll give you
this land, the same promise he gave Abraham and Isaac, the seed
of Christ. You said, I'm with you. I'm asking
you to be with me. Now let's go on reading verse
nine. The Lord would say unto me, return
unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I'll do well with thee. You
said that. I'm not just making up what I think. This is what
you said. You said, I'll deal well with
thee in me returning to, in you returning to your country. You
said this. Now look what he says next in verse 10. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed
unto thy servant." Now, number one, he comes in the covenant. Number two, he pleads only what
God has said. And number three, when he comes
into God's presence, it's not with any kind of sense of entitlement. He says, I'm not worthy. Now
he'd been walking with the Lord for a long time. The Lord had
revealed himself in the latter 20 years before this, but yet
look at his own assessment of himself. I am not worthy of the
least of thy mercies and of all the truth which you revealed
to your servant." Now, not only does he pray with an
understanding of the gospel, he prays with an understanding
of himself. I'm not worthy. of the least
of thy mercies. Now this phrase, I'm not worthy,
I mean, what John the Baptist say? The
man that was the greatest of them born of women. I'm not worthy to untie your shoes. That's how
he felt. What about the prodigal returning
back to his father? Every one of us can identify
with this man. What did he say? I'm not worthy to be called a
son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. What about the man whom the Lord
said had the greatest faith in Israel? Now that's quite a commendation,
isn't it? He said, I'm not worthy for you
to come to my roof. Under my house, I'm not worthy
to come to you. Speak the word only. I don't
want you to waste your time with me. Speak the word only. And
my servant shall be healed. I am not worthy of the least
of your mercies. There is no sense of entitlement.
And here's why. Because he knew God. And what comes out of the knowledge
of God? He knew he was a sinner. He knew God, and what always
happened out of that, he knew he was a sinner. Now what does that mean when
he's saying, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies because
of who I am? Turn with me for a moment to
1 John. Hold your finger there in Genesis
32. I want to read these scriptures before I make this statement.
1 John 1, verse 8. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now there
the word sin is a noun. If I said it, it's sin. If I did it, It's sin. Because I have a sinful nature
all the time. And there is no time when I can
say, well, I didn't sin there. Yeah, you did because you did
it. That's all it takes. The plowing of the wicked is
sin. Verse 10. If we say we've not
sinned, now that is a verb. If we say regarding anything
that we've done, I've not sinned, we make him a liar. Because he
says we have, and his word is not in us. Now, with those scriptures
in mind, well, let me say one other thing on that. Look in
verse one of chapter two, my little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. Isn't that amazing? You have a sinful nature that
makes everything you do sin, and I'm telling you this, that
you sin not. I love that. I love that. You know, the Lord
never says sin's okay, acceptable. These things write unto you that
you sin not. But here, when he says I'm not worthy, here's what
he believes about himself. All I am in and of myself is
sin. All I do is commit sin. Every time I breathe, I commit
sin. Every action is a sinful action. I don't care if it's my praying.
I don't care if it's my reading the scriptures. I don't care
what it is, whether it's one of the quote bad things or one
of the quote good things. The scripture says our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. Now that's what Jacob means when
he says, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. There is
absolutely no sense of entitlement. You see, when you believe you're
a sinner, you believe that all your sin is all your fault. And if you don't believe it's
your fault, if you're a victim, you don't really believe you're a
sinner. If you're a sinner, it's all your fault. If you're a sinner,
it's all your fault. and you can't look down on anybody, you
have no claims on God, that is exactly what Jacob meant at this
time. And you never leave that position.
I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies and of all the
truth which thou hast showed me. Don't you feel that way?
I'm not worthy of the least of his mercy. And you think of the
truth that he's made known to you. How many, you know things
that Most people don't know. And the only reason you know
it is because he has made it known. And Jacob was acutely
aware of that when he said, I am not worthy of the least of thy
mercies and the truth thou hast shown me. Now, whenever somebody
complains about providence, they're saying I'm worthy. anytime someone
complains about how God saves sinners. I don't see how it's
fair for him to elect some and not elect everybody. I don't
see how it's fair for him to only die for the elect. What
they're saying is I'm worthy. That's all they're saying. You
can dress it up any way you want, but they're saying I am worthy. That was not Jacob's attitude.
As a matter of fact, right before he died, here's his own assessment
of his own personal life. Few and evil have been the days
of my pilgrimage. That's Jacob's assessment. I am not worthy of the least
of your mercies and all the truth you have shown me. But before
we leave this point, I want us to remember this. There's somebody
that is worthy. Remember in Revelation chapter
5? Who's worthy to open the book
and loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven and earth
was found worthy. Abraham, are you worthy? No,
no. What about Joseph or Daniel? Are you worthy? No. I can't help but interject what
I heard Henry Mahan say about this, I love this. Pope, are you worthy to open
this book? He didn't even know there was
one. But there is one who is worthy.
And he makes me worthy. because he comes as the lamb
having been slain and took away all my worthiness and made me
worthy. He came and took the book." So
if all we do is wallow in our unworthiness and don't see his
worthiness, it's not True, our wallowing in our unworthiness
is really not real. It's just an act. If you see
your unworthiness, you see His worthiness, and you rest in Him. Now, let's look what he says. I am not worthy, verse 10, of
the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou
showed unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over
this Jordan, That's all I had, and now that I'm coming back
over the Jordan, I've become two bands. All this mercy you've
shown me, now here's what he asked for. Deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my brother. From the hand of Esau, for I
fear him. And you know what you pray about? You pray about something that's
way out of your league. God hears prayer. God answers
prayer. God does miraculous things. And
that's what Jake is praying for. He knows he doesn't stand a chance
of these 400 men Esau is bringing. He knows there is no way that
he can defeat these men. And he thinks now he's This is
all he has. Now, you know, he's done everything
he can to try to lessen the blow. He's put the people into two
camps for whatever reason, but now he's doing what he should
have been doing all along. He's praying. I think it's interesting
when our last resort is prayer, after we've tried everything,
that's plumbed down on our part. Our first resort ought to be
prayer at all times. And that is what Jacob is doing
at his last report. 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
And look what he goes back to after making this request. Thou
has said, I will surely do thee good. He's going on what God has said.
Thou has said, I will surely do thee good and make thy seed
as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. Now deliver me. In Psalm 39,
eight, David said, deliver me. from all my transgressions. He
said in Psalm 40 verse 13, for innumerable evils have compassed
me about, mine iniquities have taken hold on me, so that I am
not able to look up. Therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me. Psalm 51 14, deliver me from
blood guiltiness. Oh God, thou God of my salvation. And here's why I'm asking you
to do this. You said you would. This is not about my worthiness.
This is about your word. You said you would do this. You said I'll surely do thee
good. Would you turn with me to 2 Samuel
chapter 7. This is what we're gonna end
with. 2 Samuel chapter 7. And it came to pass, 2 Samuel
7, and it came to pass Beloved, that ought to be a precious statement
to us at all times. God purposed it, it came to pass. And it came to pass when the
king, speaking of David, sat in his house, and the Lord had
given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king
said unto Nathan the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of
cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said
to the king, go do all that's in thine heart, for the Lord
is with thee. And it came to pass that night
that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, go and tell
my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me
an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I've not dwelt in any
house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out
of Egypt, even to this day. but have walked in a tent and
in a tabernacle, and in all the places wherein I have walked
with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the
tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying,
Why build ye not me in a house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt
thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep, to
be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee,
whether soever thou wentest, and have cut off thine enemies
out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto
the names of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover, I'll
appoint a place for my people Israel, and I'll plant them,
that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more,
neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more
as before time. And since the time that I commanded
judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest
from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that he'll
make thee a house. And when thy days be fulfilled,
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and I'll set up thy seed after
thee. This is the seed that all the families of the earth shall
be blessed, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I'll establish
his kingdom. Now I know it's talking about
Saul, but more so it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
He shall build a house for my name. Oh, the house the Lord
builds. And I will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall
be my son. If he can meet iniquity, I'll
chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children
of men. Now, that was true of Solomon. The Lord chastened him. I have no doubt that he came
back. and when the Lord was made sin. But, verse 15, my mercy shall
not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away
before thee, and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established
forever before thee, thy throne shall be established forever.
According to all these words, and according to all this vision,
so did Nathan speak unto David. Went King David in and sat before
the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that thou
hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing
in thy sight, O Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy
servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner
of men, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto
thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant for thy word's sake. And according to thine own heart
hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know
them. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God, for there's none
like thee. Neither is there any God beside thee, according to
all that we've heard with our ears. And what one nation in
the earth is like thy people? Even like Israel, whom God went
to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to
do for you great things and terrible for thy land before thy people,
which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations
and their gods. For thou hast confirmed to thyself
thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever, and thou,
Lord, art become their God. And now, O Lord God, the word
that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his
house, establish it forever." And what? Do as thou hast said. I want to find out what the Lord
has said. And I want to have this same
plea. I'm asking him not to do for
me because, fill in the blank, do as thou hast said. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Save me, do as thou
hast said. Let's pray. Lord, you said in your word that
him that cometh to you by your son, you will in no wise cast
out. Lord, you said salvation is by
grace. Do as thou said, save us by thy
grace. You said whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, we're calling
on your name to save us. Do as thou has said. put in us
a hunger and thirst for your word. Let us, by your grace, see what
you have said in your word, and let us cry with Jacob, with David,
O Lord, do as thou has said. Lord, you said that you forgive
for Christ's sake. Do as thou hast said. Lord, you said to all who ask,
they'll be answered. Do as thou hast said. Whoever
seeks, finds. Do as thou hast said. To whoever
knocks, it shall be opened. Lord, by thy grace, we're asking,
we're seeking, we're knocking, desiring your mercy, your grace. Do as thou has said, we're trusting
only what you have said. Hear this prayer for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.