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[0:00] We're going to begin our service singing to God's praise from Psalm 89, Psalm 89, and at the beginning of the psalm.

[0:15] God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall thy faithfulness make to be known to generations all. For mercy shall be built, said I, forever to endure. Thy faithfulness even in the heavens thou wilt establish sure.

[0:34] I with my chosen one have made a covenant graciously, and to my servant whom I love to David sworn have I, that I thy seed establish shall forever to remain, and will to generations all thy throne build and maintain.

[0:52] The praises of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express, and in the congregation of saints thy faithfulness. For who in heaven with the Lord may once themselves compare?

[1:07] Who is like God among the sons of those that mighty are? We can sing these verses, Psalm 89, verses 1 to 6.

[1:18] God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall. God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall.

[1:45] God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my father, I shall ik. God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my heart I shall sock up with my得 and jullie will have my donkey. ц ali Z consiste in ourioniour for mercy shall be the cursed life of earth, and this降 приход is tengoe.

[2:03] He will never listen, and with my heart I shallóp my heart I shall pray. For mercy shall be thehill many of the cripples I pros now and pans forever to endure.

[2:23] Thy faithfulness here in the hands thou wilt establish sure.

[2:41] I with my chosen one I come and pray to thee and to myself who is my love to take this form of life.

[3:19] That I, thy seed established now forever to remain and will to generations of thy throne build and maintain.

[3:56] The places of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express and in the complication all saints thy faithfulness.

[4:34] For who in heaven with the Lord may one himself compare who is thy God among the sons of course that might be are.

[5:13] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord, O God, as we are before you in this act of worship, grant to us that privileged position of being able to worship in spirit and in truth.

[5:37] Being able to see the face of God even as it is revealed to us in the mirror of your word.

[5:52] We know that we cannot see the physical God because as God you are spirit and you are here in our midst even though our eye is not able to discern your presence.

[6:22] And yet you have given us the capacity to appreciate your presence and by your own intervention we are able to ascertain that you are in our midst in a meaningful way just as it was true of another who discerned the presence of the Lord and who was so affected by it that he desired for his shoes to be taken from his feet for the place whereon he stood was holy ground.

[7:07] And that is still the case with regard to any of our number who may be made aware of the presence of God that we are not only aware of a God who is holy and who possesses that otherness that deity requires us to believe belongs to you but also that it impresses upon us the fact that we have no right of access to your presence and no right to believe that any one of us can exist in that presence.

[8:00] when we think of the dramatic change that occurred when our first parents sinned in their first transgression those who had a constant experience of the presence of the divine and who had an unhindered vision of your holiness without being overly affected by it in an oppressive sense and yet the moment they departed from the position they possessed as creatures who were created in the image of their creator they soon understood how how great the fall was that altered not only their position in ways that they discerned instantly but their moral condition was such that they could not abide your presence and fled from it they experienced death instantly because the promise was given to them that the day that they would eat of the forbidden fruit would be the day that they would die and spiritual death entered into their experience and their appreciation of what that was was such that they could not abide your presence lord help us to understand the way sin entered into this world and the fact that it still reveals itself in the lives of all will inhabit its environs and all will be affected by it not just in our life here in this world but in the way in which our life will conclude we pray for an understanding of what your word teaches open the eyes of our understanding so that we would appreciate what it is to know the gospel of your free grace to know it not just as those who are taught from it but that we would understand the reality of the salvation that Christ has brought on behalf of his people such as the heavenly father gave to him within the covenant that all that is his and all who are his will be returned to the father and the glory will be yours throughout the endless ages of eternity we pray your blessing upon us time here together remind us of the privilege that we have to hear your word read to be able to sing it with others and to be able to listen for a time to what your word has to say to us and to us an attentive heart and a retentive memory so that we would take with us from this place what we have heard and that we would have a receptive desire to implement the truth insofar as it devolves upon us so to do grant to us your mercy in allowing us these privileges remember each and

[12:01] every one of us according to need we pray your blessing upon our individual souls not one of us who knows what they are our will bring our way we acknowledge that it is right and proper for us to put plans into operation and to look forward sometimes with reputation sometimes with anticipation to future blessings and future graces and gifts that we have experienced in the past and we believe may well be ours in the future but grant to us an understanding that these things might be brought to an end within a fleeting moment and that not one of us has a right to expect anything beyond the present we pray that whatever the present reality is that it would involve us in a living relationship with yourself as our

[13:11] God that you would bless your word to us to that end that our faith would be genuine and that the Christ upon whom we rest would be the one who would secure our eternal destiny we pray then for our homes and our families we pray for those who know you that their faith would be strengthened and that it would be encouraged and that you by your grace would bring them on in the faith we pray for those who are still strangers to your grace that they would become knowledgeable in the things of God and that their knowledge would be a saving knowledge and that they would know what it is to put their trust in the one who has come into this world to seek and to save sinners we pray for our community for our congregation and we bring before you all within its bounds who are in need of being remembered especially remember those frail elderly amongst us those who are confined to their homes because of illness of many forms we pray for those who are grieving and sorrowful especially at this time when wounds that were made perhaps a long time ago are newly experienced and painful seek

[14:47] Lord your salvation even in that respect the salve of your love would be dispensed liberally so that a conscious awareness of what you are able to do for us would draw us to yourself we are inclined to seek mercies for selfish aims may we seek what is for your glory and do so understanding that it is your glory that will be revealed at the last continue to bless your word in our midst and beyond and we ask that all the congregations of our presbytery all the congregations of our denomination all the churches who are zealous believers in the true evangel that their labors would be blessed remember our nation those who govern us and those who are responsible for implementing the rule of law sanctify what they are doing turn the wicked from their foolishness and incline all our ears to the truth of God's word we pray

[16:13] Lord for your sustaining grace to be the experience of those who do own and honour Christ as their saviour especially within the corridors of power remember the nations of the earth especially those that are in turmoil those who are suffering because of Covid there are many privileges that we enjoy here even those who have suffered from Covid can hope expectantly that recovery will be theirs but we have things that are at our disposal that are deprived others within the world poverty demands that the things that we enjoy they have no access to may we pray for them earnestly and may you answer our prayer we ask now that you would continue to watch over us in this place that you would guard our company and that you would keep the evil one at bay that your word would have free course amongst us guide us in the truth we ask in

[17:35] Jesus name Amen going to read from the scriptures of the Old Testament the book of the prophet Habakkuk the book of the prophet Habakkuk and chapter three it's a short book three chapters we are going to read this final chapter together the prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shugion O Lord I have heard thy speech and are afraid O Lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy God came from Taman and the Holy One from Mount Paran Salem His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise and his brightness was the light he had horns coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power before him went the pestilence and burning coals went forth at his feet he stood and measured the earth he beheld and drove asunder the nations and the everlasting mountains were scattered the perpetual hills bow his ways are everlasting

[19:06] I saw the tents of cushion in affliction and the curtains of the land of Midian to tremble was the Lord displeased against the river was thine anger against the river was thy wrath against the sea without its ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the tribes even thy word sail thou didst cleave the earth with rivers the mountains saw thee and they trembled the overflowing of the water passed by the deep buttered his voice and lifted up his hands on high the sun and moon stood still in the reputation at the light of thine arrows they went shining of thy glittering spear thou didst march through the land in indignation thou didst thresh the heathen in anger thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people even for salvation with thine anointed thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the neck

[20:26] Selah thou didst strike through with the staves ahead of the villages they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly thou didst walk through the sea with thine hushes through the heap of great waters and when I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered into my bones and I trembled in myself that I might rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up into the people he will invade them with his troops although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines the labour of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls yet

[21:26] I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation the Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hind feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments Amen and may the Lord add his blessing to his reading of his word to his name be the praise we shall sing now from Psalm 103 Psalm 103 from the beginning down to verse 7 6 stanzas O thou my soul bless bless God the Lord and all that in me is best up his holy name to magnify and bless bless all my soul the Lord thy God and not forgetful be of all his gracious benefits he hath bestowed on thee all all all all all all all iniquities who doth most graciously forgive who thy diseases all and pains doth heal and fear relieve who doth redeem thy life that thou to death mayst not go down who thee with loving kindness doth and tender measures crown who with abundance of good things doth satisfy thy mouth so that even as the eagle's age renewed thy youth god righteous judgment executes for all oppressed ones as ways to

[23:01] Moses he his acts made known to Israel's sons these verses psalm 103 o thou my soul bless god the lord oh thou my soul bless on the lord and all that in me is be shed it his holy name to my name I have blessed blessed oh my soul the lord thy god and are forget for me upon this gracious benefit he hath restored on thee all thy name which is to death most graciously forgive who thy decease as all and pains doth he love thee relieve who who just redeem thy life above who joth miss not go jow who thee with love in kind and and and and and and and and and and and and who with the the man can talk good things does satisfy thy might so that fear does thee eagles each renew in this life good

[26:45] God righteous judgment executes for God of oppressive ones his ways to most see his acts made known to Israel sons we shall return for a short while to a portion of scripture that we read together the book of the prophet Hapakuk chapter three and we will read the beginning of the chapter a prayer of

[27:48] Hapakuk the prophet upon Shikion O Lord I have heard thy speech and was afraid O Lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy certain preacher referring to the problems of his own day and referring to what he perceived as the world situation wrote our problem is why doesn't God intervene why does God allow these things why are the ungodly so successful why does

[28:49] God not come to revive the church and the preacher was Martin Lloyd Jones and his words were spoken over 50 years ago not sure when I think his sermon based on the book of the prophet Haggai was probably published in the 50s but he was addressing a contemporary situation what he saw round above him but what I believe was significant about how he perceived things was that he was able to speak of what he saw in his own current experience and believe that these same questions could equally have been asked by the prophet in his own day and it could equally certainly be argued that many a generation between probably before the writing of

[30:20] Habakkuk after he had written prophesied up until the present day these same thoughts these same words would have been uttered by a great many people contemplating their own generation it may well be that the Christian church today looking at their own situation most of which focuses our attention on the COVID and what surrounds COVID and the influence that it has upon our society you could ask these questions why does God not intervene why does God allow these things why are the ungodly successful questions that many a

[31:22] Christian may well be asking maybe even those who aren't Christians asking these questions in a negative and a hostile way if God is God why does he not do something different the fact of the matter is that Habakkuk was addressing a situation in his own day for which he had no answers he understood that God was speaking to his generation to the constituent body that bore his name in the world and who were living and living not as they ought but leaving themselves ripe for God's judgment and what the prophet sees is what we could see in our own day and generation the dilemma and the challenge that faces every believer when we see events in the world such as we are witness to in our own day and generation we try and live our life living out our faith in a world that is hostile to that faith in a world that has no time to listen to anything to do with faith the answer they go perhaps to our faith is well if your faith is valid if your faith is genuine if your

[33:13] God is real then surely things could be different or would be different Warren Weersby one of the commentators writes the prophet contrasts two kinds of people in his world and ours the unbelieving proud and self sufficient people who think they do not need God and the believer who is justified because they have trusted Christ and experienced saving grace saved by faith living by faith I just want us this evening to briefly consider the opening words of this chapter which you can recognise as a prayer some consider it to be a prayer and a psalm or a song of praise some think that it is a passage which extends to the end of the chapter as a prayer prayer and you could equally well argue that to be the case but I want to limit our thoughts to these opening verses take take that burden on his mind and when you contextualise what he has to say in that light you can understand why he says what he has to say but looking at it from our own perspective and looking at this prayer as a prayer that is offered by a man of

[36:38] God who recognises that the situation in which he finds himself in is a situation into which God has spoken and that he must acknowledge that he recognises the voice of God not only that he recognises the voice of God but that he understands what the voice of God is saying and he acquiesces in what God has to say he is not in dispute with it he is not in any way shape or form resisting the conclusions that he has to arrive at concerning what he hears God say and what God is promising to do the Puritan John Owen says that you know based on the opening verse here a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon

[37:39] Shigeonoth a lot of people are not really clear on what these words Shigeonoth mean but there is a connection with the composition of certain psalms of praise but amongst what John Owen has to say is this he says a song upon Shigeonoth leaves not one string of our affections untuned it it is a song that reaches every line of our heart to be framed by the grace and spirit of God therein hope fear reverence with humility and repentance have I shared as well as joy delight and love with thankfulness so his approach is he has much more to say than that but his approach is to look at the words of the prophet as the words of someone who has composed this psalm of praise to God and what's extraordinary about that is the background to that psalm of praise because

[39:05] God has introduced the people to the jeopardy in which they are lying not only has he threatened them with judgment he has declared that that judgment is imminent so here in this place at this time the composer is concerned to acknowledge that this present predicament is God's doing he acknowledges whatever it is that he understands God to be doing whatever he is yet to do he is not in any way opposed to it he is acknowledging God as the one who is able to do it and the one who is rightfully purposed to do it but there is nothing in his thinking that does not acquiesce in what

[40:15] God is doing it is the result of God's judgment and if it is the result of God's judgment then it is deserved God that never never at any point judges without merit God never executes acts where he is dealing punitively with individuals or with societies he does not do that without doing it for good reason the psalmist recognizes that and acknowledges that many of the commentators are of one mind with regard to this God does all things well at all times he understands that God has threatened the rod but he trusts the hand that holds the rod that it will do what is necessary and what is best now the fact is only faith can allow him to speak like that only faith and an understanding of who the God in whom his faith rests allows him to respond in that way remember his eye is upon

[41:52] God and his ear is listening out to what this God is saying and in this particular instance the Chaldeans said the rod that God purposes to use and it teaches him to fear this God as well as instill fear on the part of those who are wise enough to experience it or to feel that fear it is the beginning of wisdom now it is a precursor to the humbling of self that is needed if we recognize what God is doing that it is right then surely it follows that we must humble ourselves unto the mighty hand of God whether we live in the generation of

[42:55] Habakkuk or the generation into which Martin Lloyd Jones was speaking or our generation if we understand that God has reason to be grieved with our society society if we acknowledge that then surely we must acknowledge that however he chooses to deal with that society it is wise and it is expedient for us to acknowledge it humbly the history when I was thinking about what Martin Lloyd Jones was saying I was thinking about his context his contemporary situation and at the time of the Second

[43:59] World War when people were embroiled in war there were a great many people who at that time acknowledged that God was speaking and that God had reason to speak a great many people but it did not take long for the same people many of them to forget that God had spoken and it's amazing how easily people forget things I was reading recently about the Holocaust you know what the Holocaust is the Holocaust is the malicious and vicious activity wrought by the hand of the

[45:00] German hierarchy under the hand of Adolf Hitler and those who followed his example where countless millions of Jews were put to death in concentration camps now that's a fact of history you know it and I know it that such a thing happened and there's evidence proving that fact that exists to this day and yet there is a strong constituent body of people who today deny the Holocaust who refuse to believe that such a thing ever happened there are millions of people in America today who blatantly and openly refuse to acknowledge that such a thing occurred during the Second World War how could that happen how can any person believe not just one person but thousands millions of people who openly deny that and yet when you see that happen is it any wonder that you live in a world into which

[46:25] God has spoken countless occasions he has spoken loudly openly clearly and people deny that they refuse to acknowledge that God can speak or that God does speak or that he chooses to speak in this way and every one of us must realise that there is but a short step between us and a kind of unbelief that affected generations that have gone before us where God has been ignored and denied and God has been trivialised and God has been ostensibly disproved as to his existence even those who were witness to his actions and activities on the scene of time the prayer of the

[47:33] Psalms the prayer of the prophet is revive thy work he says revive thy work I have heard what you've got to say I was afraid oh lord revive thy work now the question is what is he going to revive what what work is God going to revive what does he want him to resume what we imagine revival involves or is he just thinking of himself as the product of God's grace and he wants to be quickened he wants to be stimulated what we understand by it may vary but certainly I think that the foremost of his mind is this if God speaks to this generation of ours he is speaking to me

[48:45] I am not going to be in a cocoon I am not going to be overlooked I am not going to be isolated I am not going to be different to those who are going to suffer under God's hand in the sense that he is going to pass me by you know if you think about us here in Egypt and the angel of death passed over the land there was that occasion where there was opportunity given to Israel to avoid the slaughter of the angel of death by sprinkling the blood of a lamb on the doorposts and the lintels so that the elder statesmen of the house whoever they were would avoid death but God doesn't promise that when he brings his judgment to bear on a denomination on a society so the prayer on the part of the prophet is revive your work or as some would have it preserve your own work in this make sure that you remember that you have a people here that are yours now does that ring a bell in our covid infested society

[50:16] God if he is judging our society using this vehicle to bring us to our senses he's not saying well you're a Christian you're not going to suffer covid you're not a Christian and you're going to get a double dose of it that's not the way it works I don't doubt for a minute that God could do worse than bring such a a nearness into our midst I can't say for certain I can't say that God is speaking to us through this thing you must decide for yourself if this is what you understand what this illness has brought us to if God is saying anything to us if he is saying anything at all to you this prophet is saying

[51:24] I understand the need that there is for you to implement judgment on this society on this body of people who have departed from your ways I understand that you can do that and you are right to do it but I have this petition I have this prayer that you would preserve your work in the midst of all that you are doing that you would remember that you have done a work in this people that you have a people that bear your name and it is a mystery that God can bring his displeasure down upon a generation and yet at that very moment he can exercise punitive judgment on those who are opposed to him and sanctify that for the good of those who are his he can preserve his church he can strengthen his church he can bring his church on even when he afflicts the land if you don't believe that read again your history books look again at the way the church has grown and prospered and spread throughout the world what times did that happen when did these greatest specials of

[53:05] God's kingdom take place when there was peace in the land when there was harmony when there was freedom to roam no but when the saints of God were persecuted and scattered and the hand of the oppressor was on their neck you go to China and the church in China for a time was allowed to exist openly but with a certain regulations of the communist government but it wasn't the gospel that ensured the existence of the church but the persecution of the church the persecution of the children of God the persecution of those who believed the gospel that drove the church underground and saw the church grow and develop into numbers that would not have been possible were it not that very providence that

[54:21] God had introduced into their experience in wrath he says remember mercy yes we deserve your wrath yes we deserve anything and everything that you decree to bring your way because you are wise you know what our needs are nothing that we are is hidden from your eyes and if nothing that we are is hidden from your eyes you know best how to deal with this we don't dispute that but remember your covenant people David in the psalm that we sang last and we're going to sing in conclusion he states the Lord our God is merciful he is gracious he is long suffering and slow to wrath and mercy is plentious somebody has said and it's worth remembering we can never flee from

[55:30] God's judgments but we can flee to the God who is the judge we can't flee from them but we can flee to him and his petition here is not a petition that says I am better than these people that you rightfully are to punish and are to bring judgment to bear upon them that's not his petition his petition is for God to remember mercy remember your mercy in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy one of the Puritans on his deathbed was visited by a son who wanted to comfort him as he approached death and one way of comforting him was to remind him of the good that he had done the many sermons he had preached the many ways he had counseled saints and encouraged them in their faith and his answer to such encouragement was

[56:50] I'm not going to the reward of my labour I am going in the hope of receiving the mercy of God judgment is God's strange work but we're thankful to him that his compassions fail not and that great is his faithfulness to his covenant people mystery oh yes it's mystery it's difficult to understand what God does at times it's not difficult to understand why he does it his ways are at times mysterious his ways are past finding out but they're his ways and we do well to hear his voice and to do what is world tells us to do to turn to him to seek his mercy to embrace it and to covet it and to acknowledge it as the only remedy for the many wars we bring upon ourselves may

[58:09] God in his mercy bless us let's pray oh lord of god as we think of many events that are ongoing in this world of ours the deeply perplexing activities that abound that are contrary to your revealed will we are in awe of your willingness to hold back from bringing to condemnation and judgment not just individuals but the whole of our society and our generation but you are a God of mercy and a God who is infinitely wise and your ways are ways that we do well to monitor and to learn from we pray that you would bless your word to us and remember us in mercy as a people pour out your spirit upon us to that end cleanse from every sin in

[59:26] Jesus name Amen we're concluding Psalm 103 verse 8 at verse 8 the Lord of God is merciful but he is gracious long suffering and slow to wrath in mercy plenty he will not chide continually nor keep his anger still with us he dared not as he sinned but did require the room for us the heaven in its height the earth are mountains far so great to those that do whom fear his tent at Meshizar as far as east is distant from the west so far hath he from us removed in his love all our iniquity these verses 8 to 12 of Psalm 103 the Lord God God is merciful and he is gracious the

[60:27] Lord God is merciful and he is gracious long suffering and soul to run in mercy place he is he will not shy or genuinely nor keep his anger still with us he tilled not as we sin nor did we quite the hill for us the heaven in his side the earth surrounded by so great to those that could him feel him his tender merc resol star as far as he reaches from the west so far

[62:36] He promised you in this love all life in equity.

[63:02]  May I grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trust, and Abide with you all, never and always. Amen.