[0:00] Well, as this is Remembrance Sunday, maybe it'd be appropriate that if we could stand just for one minute silence before we begin our service.
[0:30] Thank you.
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[3:20] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[3:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A fearful day, come from the high he lay, and all among he set my feet, he shall be shined by him.
[4:13] He put a new soul in my heart, a God to my heaven.
[4:30] And he shall see it on, shall we help, and all the Lord we hide.
[4:50] O blessed is the man who trusts upon the Lord behind, pretending to be some other ölch nesteanton.
[5:25] O Lord, my God, for many are the one that shall have come.
[5:48] thy picky soul to have us worn off, ourters well that shall go.
[6:08] In order not to pray alone, to hear them be clear, and speak of them, my good day, Lord, and come in unheard of.
[6:49] Let us bow in prayer. Lord, as we gather before you this morning, we give thanks for being able to worship you and to sing your praise. While we might be very familiar with the words of that psalm, it's a psalm that always finds its heartbeat within our own heart, because it is a new song that we have begun to sing.
[7:13] It tells us there that that's one of the great things of being taken out from the fearful pit and miry clay, and feet established on a rock, and that a new song has been put in our mouth.
[7:28] And we pray that every one of us here today will be able to sing that new song, who will be able to sing of the freedom and the liberty that is found in Jesus Christ.
[7:38] We give thanks, O Lord, that you are the God who reaches down to where we are, and shows us where we are, and shows us our need. And we give thanks, O Lord, for your delivering power, for the fact that you are able and you do deliver.
[7:55] And we pray that if any here today still don't know you personally as their own Saviour, that even today that you will touch their hearts, and that you will bring them into that peace which you alone can give.
[8:09] Lord, we bow before you this morning, and again we give thanks for your house and being able to worship you. We give thanks for this day that you've given to us, a day that we have been reminded that we are required to remember it, but also a day where we celebrate the rising of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
[8:32] And so every time that we come here, we remember that we come and we worship our risen Saviour. And we pray that that risen Saviour may become ever more glorious and wonderful to us in our journey through this world.
[8:48] Lord, we pray in a day like this when we term our Remembrance Sunday, and we give thanks, Lord, for all who gave the ultimate sacrifice at a human level in giving their lives for the freedom that we so enjoy in the day that we live in.
[9:09] Lord, a war is a fearful thing, and it is something that we never want to enter into again. We know that there have been wars since the First and the Second World War.
[9:23] Lord, there have been many wars throughout the world. Lord, we pray that you will keep us from entering into that fearful cauldron of hatred and violence and bloodshed.
[9:35] We pray, Lord, that you will protect us. We pray for the areas of this world that experience these things. We pray particularly for Ukraine, and we ask, Lord, that there might be a greater withdrawal of forces, and that it might be possible that they might come to begin to talk terms of peace.
[9:57] And we would ask that for all the troubled areas of this world. So, Lord, we give thanks for the freedoms that we enjoy, although they came at a great cost. And so often we forget these things, and we take them for granted.
[10:11] Help us to remember, Lord, that you are the God who has ultimately given us these things. But above all, on our Remembrance Sunday, help us to remember the greatest life that was ever given.
[10:23] And that, of course, is our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray, Lord, that we might always remember him. Lord, we ask that you will bless every single one of us here today.
[10:34] We come with all our own different needs and worries, our concerns, our problems. And although we live with a great element of freedom, we're living now in very challenging times and difficult times, with new financial restraints and pressures placed upon us.
[10:50] And we ask, Lord, that you will help, that you will continue to help, and that you will enable us all to get through this time. Watch over us, we pray.
[11:01] Pray to bless this congregation. And we see there's a vacancy committee coming. Lord, we pray that you will direct the hearts and the minds of the congregation here and lead them in the right way.
[11:12] And lead a pastor to them, Lord. We give thanks for this congregation, for the warmth of it, and for the sense of peace that is here. Lord, we ask that you will bless them.
[11:23] Bless the leadership and bless all the membership and all those who attend regularly. And even those, Lord, who just attend now and again. We pray that they might come more and more.
[11:34] Lord, we ask that you will bless this community, that you will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing upon them. We ask, Lord, that you will bless from every age group, from the youngest right to the oldest.
[11:46] We pray for our young people as they grow up. Lord, help them at an early age to come to believe in you. It's the greatest thing that they can do, greatest blessing for their lives.
[11:57] And we pray that you will watch over them and keep them. Lord, we pray for all our schools, our day schools, as well as Sunday schools. We give thanks for Sunday school.
[12:09] We give thanks for the way that children are taught and the way that they should go. We pray to bless parents with the responsibilities that they have of bringing up children in the way of the Lord.
[12:20] Lord, we pray for all our schools. But be merciful to us, Lord, as a nation. We seem to have turned our back upon you more and more and more. And there's the worst judgment we can have is where you hand us over to ourselves and to our own wisdom, which is no wisdom at all.
[12:36] It would lead us into more and more trouble and more and more problems. Lord, our God, we pray that you will have mercy upon us as we see so many decisions that are made, which are so flying in the very face of your word.
[12:51] Oh, Lord, forgive us. Be merciful to us as a nation. We pray to bless all in authority. We pray for our king and for the royal family. We pray for those in Westminster and Holyrood who lead us.
[13:03] We ask, Lord, that you will bless them. Bless our local council. We are commanded to pray for all, for kings and all who are in authority over us in order that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in godliness.
[13:18] Oh, Lord, our God, we pray that that might be true. Pray to bless all the missionary endeavors throughout this world. And we pray that many will come even this very day to know and to believe in the Lord Jesus.
[13:32] Watch over us then and do us good and guide us and have mercy upon us. We confess our sin before you. We do so collectively. We do so individually.
[13:43] We give thanks that your word assures us that you are a God if we confess our sins, who will forgive us and pardon us our sin. And so we seek for that forgiveness and for that cleansing even now.
[13:56] Bless those who are unwell. Bless those, Lord, who mourn. And we know that mourning is part and partial of life. And we pray for those whose hearts are heavy at the loss of loved ones.
[14:08] And we've seen so many deaths even in the course of this year itself. And so many who we mourn deeply. And we pray your blessing upon all whose hearts are heavy and sore.
[14:21] Grant us your grace then, we pray. Do us good and forgive us our sin. In Jesus' name. Amen. Just a wee word to the young folk.
[14:33] Last week or the week before, maybe it was the week before, very recently anyway, I went to the doctor. Well, it was to the nurse. I phoned up because I was beginning to really, really struggle hearing.
[14:47] And I knew that my ears were getting blocked. And I was really, really struggling. I was having to say pardon all the time. And if I was listening to something, I would have to put the volume right up.
[15:01] And it was beginning to get, it was getting worse and worse. And anyway, I was told to put drops in my ears for a week, which was fine. But all it did seem to do was make things even worse.
[15:12] So that by the day I went down to the nurse, I could hardly hear anything. And I had an old, I'm very sad, a wee blue car.
[15:22] I loved it. I had it for a few years. It's an old banger. We've called it an old banger. And what was disappointing me was that it was due for an MOT. And it's coming up to the end just now.
[15:34] But I put it into the garage a couple of weeks ago to see how it would be worth doing it up a wee bit. And I was told, no, it's, you won't even get another MOT.
[15:45] And I was really disappointed because the car was running. I often had it down here so smoothly and not a sound out of it. Anyway, I went and I got my ears syringed.
[15:57] And I came out and I went into the car. Well, it started up. What a roar. And I actually thought somebody must have banged into it.
[16:07] I was part on Francis Street in Broadby. I thought somebody must have banged into it. But I'd started and moved forward. I said, I'll have to get out. So I went round onto Keith Street. And it was shaking and roaring.
[16:19] I said, something has happened since I went in. And it's when I came out of the car and started to look dawned on me. I can hear. And here's this car that I thought was running so quietly and so smoothly.
[16:33] It was like a tank. The racket it was making. And I began to hear everything. It was so different. I was hearing the birds tweeting. Even like putting on the water in the sink.
[16:48] The rush of the water. I was hardly hearing it. Everything. The floorboards. And I was saying, you know, there's not a creek in our house. There's lots of creeks. Because all of a sudden I was able to hear again.
[17:02] Now I know that for some people it must be a very difficult thing. Where they can't hear. Where they've always been deaf. That must be very difficult. But the thing is that very often.
[17:17] And particularly at a time when we come to church. People often don't hear. I remember when I was growing up there was a song. The Sound of Silence.
[17:28] And there was a line in it I never forgot. And it said, people hearing without listening. You know, the other day when I came in. Just since I got my.
[17:39] There was something on the news. My wife was sitting watching the news. And I said, what was that? I said, I don't know. She said, I wasn't listening. Even though she's looking at it.
[17:51] And she was hearing. But she wasn't listening. And that's what it says. People hearing without listening. Sadly, that happens in church too.
[18:02] It often happens in church. Where people come and they hear. They hear words. They hear the sound. But they're not really listening. And it is so important to listen.
[18:16] Because you know what the Bible tells us? That faith. That's where we come to trust in Jesus. Comes by hearing. Faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God.
[18:29] So the most important thing that we can do. Is to come and to listen. To the word of God. Because this is where we come to meet with Jesus.
[18:40] And we come to know about Jesus. So I would ask you that every time that you come to God's word. And every time you come to church. Ask the Lord. Lord, help me to listen.
[18:53] To hear what's being said. Help me to understand what's being said. And help me, Lord, to believe what's being said.
[19:06] So remember how important it is to hear. Because you can be hearing without listening. So you make sure, particularly when you come to church.
[19:18] When you go to Sunday school. Whenever God's word is read or preached. That you're listening. And ask, Lord, Lord, take this right deep within me.
[19:29] We're going to sing again from Psalm number 66. Psalm 66. And we're going to sing verses 6 to 12. Into dry land the sea he turned.
[19:45] And they a passage had. Even marching through the flood on foot. There we in him were glad. He ruleth ever by his power. As eyes the nation see.
[19:55] O let not the rebellious ones lift up themselves on high. Ye people, bless our God aloud. The voice speak of his praise.
[20:06] Our soul and life who save preserves. Our foot from sliding stays. For thou didst prove and try us, Lord. As men do silver try. Broughtst us into the net.
[20:18] And made bands on our loins to lie. Thou hast caused men right over our heads. And though that we did pass through fire and water. Yet thou broughtst us to a wealthy place.
[20:30] Psalm 66. Verses 6 to 12. Into dry land the sea he turned. In the dikk National Anthem. And below his name is the queery he turned.
[20:48] It was a great day he brave. In the Lao-Nin 하나. In march religion. through that cloud of new every kingdom where now he who left ever by his power his life in her every終 is over as the Joy is now
[21:53] The heart's keep of his praise And her soul in life who sin Preaches a fear from hiding stains For that good is true I'm trying to soar Amen, new silver crown Brought us into the dead And with hands on our eyes to lie
[22:54] The last cause made Right over earth And though that we did come Through fire and water Yet thou brought us to a wealthy place Let's read God's word now in the book of Deuteronomy The fifth book of the I'm going to turn books of Moses in the Old Testament Deuteronomy And chapter 8 Deuteronomy chapter 8 All the commandments which I command thee this day
[24:00] Shall you observe to do That you may live and multiply And go in and possess the land Which the Lord sware unto your fathers 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 wouldest keep his commandments or no And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger And 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 wax not old upon thee Neither did thy foot swell these forty years Thou shalt also consider in thine heart That as a man chasteneth his son So the Lord thy God chasteneth thee Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments Of the Lord thy God
[25:01] To walk in his ways and to fear him For the Lord thy God bringeth thee Into a good land A land of brooks, of water, of fountains And depths that spring out of valleys and hills A land of wheat and barley and vines And fig trees and pomegranates A land of oil, olive and honey A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without skishness Thou shalt not lack anything in it A land whose stones are iron And out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass When thou hast eaten and art full Then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God For the good land which he hath given thee Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God In not keeping his commandments And his judgments and his statutes Which I command thee this day Lest when thou hast eaten and art full And hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply
[26:04] And thy silver and thy gold is multiplied And all that thou hast is multiplied Then thine heart be lifted up And thou forget the Lord thy God Which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt From the house of bondage Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness Wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought Where there was no water Who brought thee forth water out of the rock of Flint Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna Which thy fathers knew not That he might humble thee And that he might prove thee To do thee good at thy latter end And thou say in thine heart My power and the might of my hand Hath gotten me this wealth But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God For it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth That he may establish his covenant Which he sware unto thy fathers As it is this day
[27:05] And it shall be if thou do at all Forget the Lord thy God And walk after other gods And serve them And worship them I testify against you this day That you shall surely perish As the nations which the Lord destroyeth Before your face So shall you perish Because you would not be obedient Unto the voice of the Lord Your God Amen And may God bless to us This reading of his own holy word We're going to sing again From Psalm number 77 Psalm 77 and verse 10 Psalm 77 verse 10 And then did I say that surely this is mine infirmity I'll mind the years of the right hand of him That is most high Yea I remember will the works performed by the Lord
[28:06] The wonders done of old by thee I surely will record I also will of all thy works my meditation make And of thy doings to discourse great pleasure I will take O God thy way most holy is within thy sanctuary And what God is so great in power as is our God most high Thou art the God that wandered us by thy right hand most strong The mighty power thou hast declared the nations among To thine own people with thine arm Thou didst redemption bring To Jacob's sons and to the tribes of Joseph That do spring Psalm 77 verses 10 to 15 Then did I say that surely this is mine infirmity And did I say that surely this is mine infirmity
[29:12] I know in the years of death I've come Of Him that is, O Shire, Did I hear the wilderness That Lord will find them o'er That my heart shall hold Like Thee, I surely will be born.
[30:07] I also end up all thy birth Like the Earth is Suppose I imagine the reverse I have the freedom I come act, O y Kelis What?
[30:28] I walk, I push, my word That the tarczy- Oh Oh Oh
[32:07] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Joseph Harker's Name Let's turn again for a little to Deuteronomy chapter 8 and reading at the beginning Deuteronomy chapter 8 we read verses 1 and 2 Deuteronomy 8 verses 1 and 2 all the commandments which I command thee this day shall you observe to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and to prove you to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not as we know this is remembrance Sunday and it's the time of year when we remember those who have fallen those who gave their lives the supreme sacrifice really that any person can give where they give their lives for the good of others and that's what people did and we know that probably there are very few families in our island that wasn't touched by the horror of the wars
[33:50] I went up yesterday it was a nice day I went up at the war memorial and I just walked round the circle where you have all the the stones with the the names of all the people who fell during the war or were lost during the war and I don't think there's a district or an area anywhere where you don't have have names so all the communities were deeply affected and families were deeply affected and I'm sure there are very few families where whether it's grandparents or grand uncles or whether might be a grand aunt where where people were lost during during the war so I'm sure all of us can identify with this and it's it's right that we should remember that's why with our war memorials lest we forget we have this because the sad thing is that so often in life we are prone to forget we forget things you see when we live particularly in the day that we're living in
[34:57] I think I saw something recently saying like about a third of people born now will end up with dementia which is which is quite frightening but when you think of the amount of information that we store in our minds it really is quite extraordinary and I look at my grandson who's just four and a half and his knowledge of things in this world now is staggering compared to my knowledge when I was four and a half because the information that's out there now is quite extraordinary and we know things that we never used to know so it's just a different world and our minds are just filled with stuff all the time and we often don't appreciate how wonderful our memories are until we begin to find that they're not what they were and we find that we're beginning to forget things and I find it myself quite extraordinary how much of life
[36:03] I used to have a very good memory and how much of life I have already forgotten and my wife would be talking about things that we did and I don't remember it it's just there's so much that seems to have just gone and I think that's extraordinary I just don't remember I don't remember being there I don't remember any of these things and then sometimes you get a bit worried and you say what's happening here but you see we have information overload but memory is important and particularly when we come to God's word and we find that the Lord so often is speaking to us about that very thing we have as we say a remembrance day today and it is only right that we remember the cost the tremendous sacrifice that was given so that we could enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we have and we should never take these freedoms and liberties for granted and we ought to remember but the Lord is telling us in the Bible there are things we ought to remember and of course the ultimate thing is the greatest death the greatest sacrifice of all is the Lord
[37:13] Jesus Christ and that's why the Lord's Supper is such an integral part of the Christian calendar of the Christian life of the church's life because when we take the bread and the wine one of the things as we read out from scripture it says Jesus said when he instituted the supper he said do this in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do proclaim or show for the Lord's death until he come of course Jesus is returning but from the time he instituted the supper till his return he wants the church always to do this in order to remember him now we would say to ourselves we won't forget well the Lord knows what we're like and even the great sacrifice of Jesus sadly as Christians sometimes we can forget just how great the impact the wonder of it and that's why it's so important to have our communion times because it refocuses so that we come right back to remembering absolutely and there's a great pattern to our communion services when we're building up and focusing upon what the Lord
[38:27] Jesus Christ did and of course as we know that it's not just with regard to the Lord's supper that we're told to remember Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes he says he highlights and he says remember he says to young folk remember now your creator in the days of your youth remember him because you're very likely to forget him and it's the most important time of all is to remember when you're young because the younger you can be where Jesus becomes your Lord and Saviour the more time you have to serve him in this world and I'm sure every Christian although we know that God is sovereign in his dealings and has his purposes in everything I'm sure one of the great regrets particularly those of us who may be a little older before coming to faith is that we hadn't come to faith earlier on and we think back on wasted opportunities and wasted years and these sort of things you look back and say oh man
[39:37] I wish I had I wish I wish I had but so the Lord is saying through Solomon remember now your creator in the days of your youth because another thing is this that the longer you leave remembering your creator the often often the harder you become you know there's something when people are young their hearts are often softer they're more ready to listen they're more ready to accept Jesus is talking about the childlike faith he talks of children remember how he took the little child and put him in the midst the longer we go on rejecting often the harder it is to come to faith because we get harder it's inevitable we become harder and harder either one of two things is happening either we're beginning to soften or we're beginning to harden and it's one of the worst you know it's one of the saddest things is to see an old person who was once really interested and has completely turned their back somebody who once would say you know there was a day when I
[40:47] I was really I really fancied being a Christian I really there were periods in my life I really warmed to the gospel but not now now I'm hard dead cold doesn't doesn't touch me in any shape or form God's word just flies by me doesn't doesn't touch me at all do you know that's sad the thing is the wonderful thing is though that even if people come to church and they have to confess and say you know this that's me now the fact that you still coming to church is the most wonderful thing because you know there's always hope for any person who puts themselves under the word of God because as we said to the young folk faith comes by hearing and the Lord is able to open the hard heart because actually we all had hard hearts and he's able to open the old heart and he's able to touch the old cynical heart and we saw that in the thief on the cross that was a cynical man because initially he was mocking it wasn't just the one that was mocking
[41:58] Christ they were both mocking Christ but he one of them stopped when he realized what he was and who was beside him so you see that even the cynical heart the hard heart there wasn't a harder heart against Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul when he was Saul of Tarshish and yet the Lord broke that heart one flash of his glory into the heart of Saul it all changed that's all it takes so you ask the Lord today if you're still outside the kingdom Lord break into my heart in the same way as you broke in to Saul's life you changed Saul's life you were able just to break in Lord you need to break into my heart will you ask him that so we're told to remember and create in the days of the youth the day we have today the Lord's day the Sabbath day remember the Lord says the Sabbath day to keep it holy remember it because again we're liable to forget it it's part of our human nature the selfishness
[43:01] God's given us six days but we want the seven for ourselves but that's his day and he says remember this day remember me in this day and we know that the new church the early church the New Testament church that the day came now to the celebrating the rising of the Lord Jesus Christ on this day so here we find Israel and they've come to the borders of the land of promise and they're just about to enter in and again God is saying to Israel right this is a key moment in your life and your experience because I've taken you out of Egypt you have traveled for 40 years through this wilderness and you're now on the border of entering into a new world it's going you're going into a land that is full of so much that is good we see that and for instance in verse 7 for the Lord brings you into a good land a land of brooks of water of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates and olive oil and honey it was a rich land what a contrast to the wilderness a dry barren wilderness they've spent 40 years in and the
[44:24] Lord's saying I'm taking you into this wonderful new world new opportunities and you're going to prosper there but the key to it of course is verse 1 all the commands which I command thee this day shall you observe to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land and they're going to get on well in there because it says it talks about all the things that are going to happen to them they're going to build houses and they're going to get on so well and they're going to prosper the Lord is saying it comes with a clause and the clause is that you never ever ever ever forget me never nor forget who I am and forget my commands and then the Lord says as you go in you shall remember all the way which the
[45:26] Lord thy God took you and it's interesting that the Lord doesn't just say to them you'll remember the way he says you'll remember all the way or the whole way the whole journey not just bits of it but all the journey you see God had a purpose in what he did with Israel because he led them about he could have taken them straight from Egypt straight into the land of promise but it would have been a disaster for Israel for the simple reason is that they were not ready to receive the blessings which God was going to bestow upon them and God had a lot of work to do in them and it's the same with ourselves because you see we're always wanting we're always wanting things now and that's the nature of human nature is that we we're always wanting we always want things right away and sometimes we cannot understand why God delays or why God withholds or why God doesn't answer and particularly when we're praying for things which we would look as being to the glory of God and for the good of his kingdom particularly if we're praying for members of our family to be converted or people within the church to be converted or for revival to come and these kind of things we'd say
[46:49] Lord you've got to answer these are good prayers prayers but you know sometimes sometimes we're not ready for blessing because sometimes our hearts can pride we have no we cannot conceive of how proud our hearts actually are it is deep rooted within us it's it's been termed the mother of all sins it's right at the very heart of the fall is pride and sometimes we're not aware of it and even the most humble people there's still pride pride is there and it's so hard to discern or to understand but you know we always like to take a bit of the credit we always like to be involved there's always a bit of a wee bit and God sometimes say no you're not ready you're not ready your prayer is right what you're asking for is good I've got it in store but it wouldn't be to your good if I were to answer it right now because I've still work to do in you that's how it was for Israel
[47:54] God had work to do in them they weren't ready to answer to enter the land of promise but our time is always now and Jesus of course he said that very thing he said to the disciples your time is always now that's the way we operate because we're impatient by nature and that's one of the things that God was doing with his people was building patience it's one of the virtues in Christian character that God is keen to build within us is patience and it's probably one of the hardest things for us to achieve is patience because by nature we're impatient we want things and particularly the age we're living in which is the age of the immediate but God doesn't work like that and sometimes it's very difficult for us to understand or to go with God's timetable but we read that God says that he had a reason why they were to remember and you should remember all the way which the
[49:02] Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee or to test thee you see Israel as we said had they had a pride in themselves because they saw themselves as God's chosen people God remember how God had made a promise covenant with Abraham with Isaac with Jacob and particularly with Jacob and he said of Abraham he said through you all nations in this world are going to be blessed and God had given Abraham great promises and he gave these promises again to Isaac and to Jacob and the children of Israel had this sense of identity this sense of belonging of we are the expression we are the people well they thought we are the people we are the people above all people on the face of the earth we're God's people and they had this idea and God knew that they needed to be taken down and it's the same for Christians as well it would be abhorrent if we have this idea that we are the people well it's you know it's the most wonderful thing that God has set his love upon you but there's no reason at any point for pride in it in fact the fact that God should set his love upon you should produce nothing but a humbleness all your days be utterly humble that that God actually set his love on you on me why me so it's not a reason for pride it is a reason for being humble but God had to deal with Israel and he had to break them and bring them down and you can see straight away that this pride and this impatience because every time they had no sooner gone into the heart of the wilderness than they began to grumble against
[51:05] God they were complaining against God all the time grumbling complaining and moaning and as soon as they hit a crisis they were so angry against God and you see this is what we're still like that we have this impatience we have this this self interest this self ambition this pride that's part and partial of life and we're always wanting to go things on our own we want to do things our way you know if the truth be told we don't want to hand things over to God why because God might not do it the way we want we would prefer it our way and there's part sometimes we're not as honest as that before God but the truth is that we would rather give it a shot ourselves and hope that we can work it out our way because we're saying well if I hand this over to God I have no idea what he's going to do I don't know how this is going to work out and he might work it out in a totally different way a way that
[52:07] I don't even want well you know this we're not ready for God's blessing when our hearts are like that and God often has to come and he says you know I've got to deal with you and you find that with Israel that year after year after year they were complaining and grumbling and they were fighting against God and they were impatient and impertinent before God times they picked up stones to stone Moses because he was God's representative hearts filled with anger and pride and resentment and in fact it even came to a point where they began to wish they were back in Egypt you'll read that they were saying oh we would rather they were back in Egypt really think for a moment Israel what Egypt was like you were slaves there was a program of genocide under the way you had absolutely no freedom no liberty but all they could think of was at moments the food that they had in
[53:11] Egypt they're fed up with this manna they wanted proper food and you know Satan is actually really really good sometimes at bringing particularly when we go through hard times when you go through a crisis when your world that you know is turned upside down and everything around you is shaken and you don't know what's going on and you know the devil will come whispering to you know it was a lot easier before you become a Christian see since you started following the Lord you've had no end of hassles and sometimes if you're in a weak moment he'll get you and you begin to look back just like Israel did and they looked back to Egypt and they were saying oh it was better for us no it wasn't but they were blinkered in the moment sometimes we are too you know there was a day before I became a Christian you used to read about the history of Israel you'd read your Bible and read and I used to say what I'm complaining grumbling
[54:15] Lord I wouldn't have been like that oh yes I would once I became a Christian I discovered that the same attitude the same grumblings same things go on in our heart as went on with them and that's why it's all recorded there for us to show us just what we really like so the Lord is humbling them through the journey and they've got to remember the whole way all the things the good things the bad things they were to remember the oh yes they were to remember the bad things wasn't just the times of blessing remember the incidents of the rebellion they had to remember that and the building of the golden calf all these things the disasters that overtook them you and I are to remember as well all the way not just the answers to prayer not just the times where we were elated and lifted up not just the times of great blessing also the times when we let
[55:18] God down the times we're so ashamed of ourselves got to remember all the way in fact we can go even further remember all the way from the time that you you can remember remember the privileges that you grew up with remember the Christian influence in the community that you grew up in remember all these things because a lot of people don't have these privileges they don't have these opportunities you and I have them and they're wonderful things and so the Lord is saying remember remember all these things and so the Lord wasn't just humbling them he was testing them he was proving them to discover what was really there and they failed so often at every test at every turn do you know when you the wonderful thing is that when Israel God's great purpose was we read that in verse 16 because God is saying in verse 16 who fed the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not that he might humble thee and that he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end you know
[56:38] Israel when you were grumbling and you were struggling in the wilderness in year 19 and year 20 and year 23 God was saying you know I'm dealing with you for good this is for your good I'm breaking the self-will the selfish ambition I'm breaking the resentment and rebellion and enmity that's natural to your heart and what I'm building in you is a confidence in myself a trust in myself so that when you do go into the land of promise it will be a social blessing to you which is exactly what it was to Israel because God is going to do you good in the end isn't that wonderful Psalm 138 which is the psalm we're going to finish with the last verse says surely that which concern with me the Lord will perfect make may that be your word to Dave maybe there's somebody here and you're really concerned about the way things are going in life and you're saying Lord
[57:44] I don't understand my heart is soul but the Lord is saying see this which concerns you I've got it in hand this is what he's saying to his people I want to bless the latter end just like he did for a job and that's what the Lord is saying we can't see it just now but he's saying I've got it in hand and my intention for you is good that's what we read in Jeremiah the thoughts that I have to you are good and not evil to give you a future and a hope to give you an expected end and that's what God was doing with Israel he was preparing them for the blessing that they were to receive but as we said that blessing has come always comes with the clause in it that we are to remember the Lord at all times see verse 10 when thou hast eaten and art full then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he's given you verse 12 lest when you have eaten and art full and has built goodly houses and dwelt therein and your herds and flocks multiply and the silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied see the danger your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God because it's
[59:07] God who brought you out and gave you these things it's God who fed you in the wilderness and so on God who has given the danger verse 17 and thou say in thine heart my power and the might of mine hand hath given me this wealth it's the most dangerous thing any person can do is to look around at whatever they have in life and say you know I saw me I did this all myself no you didn't everything that we have every good and perfect gift is from above and if a person has ability to make and to get on in life that ability has been given by God everything everything it's not just that God all of a sudden sends big checks to you that's not what we're talking about but God gives people abilities different things different qualities different things and all these things come together this is part of what makes us what we are and God is saying to us on this a remembrance day don't forget me because everything that you have you have ultimately got from me and of course the greatest gift that God has ever given is a son let us never forget him and let us thank the Lord for his son and if you don't know his son today ask that Jesus will come into your heart and that you'll be blessed and if
[60:37] Jesus comes into your heart then you truly are blessed you have got all blessing and your latter end is guaranteed it is an end of glory if we could see the glory that the Lord has prepared for us we can't right now but that's why he's going to do us great good in the end let's pray Lord our God we give thanks for for what you show us in your word and even although these things and experiences and incidents are from long long ago they're as up to date and as relevant for us today because we can identify with all that we read off and see there oh forgive us Lord for how often we just try and go at ourselves help us Lord to be more trusting in you and to follow you with all our heart do us good and cleanse us from our sin we pray in Jesus name Amen we're going to conclude singing in Psalm 138 Psalm 138 and we'll sing from verse 5 to the end last four stanzas
[61:46] Psalm 138 oh no sorry it's Psalm 139 maybe maybe I've did 131 13 maybe I've got 138 down for tonight I can't remember what I was talking about it was certainly in my mind it's Psalm 139 Lord O Lord thou hast me searched and known thou knowest my sitting down and rising up yea all my thoughts are far to thee are known my footsteps and my lying down thou compassest always thou also most entirely art acquainted with all my ways and so on to verse 6 Psalm 138 I think it might be that we're singing it tonight but that that's what I quoted that last verse you can see it there surely that which concerneth me the Lord will perfect make Lord still thy mercy lasts do not thine own hands works for sake and that's what
[62:47] God is doing in his people and he says all is good that ultimate good but Psalm 139 which speaks of how the Lord knows us and searches us O Lord thou hast me searched and known verses 1 to 6 to the heart that has me searched and o'er that the was my sitting there and rising at the on I the Lord which stands on my eye in earth I have come process story
[63:55] That was the morning high-rear, that went with all my ways.
[64:15] For in thy heart before I see, though there may be worth I give.
[64:34] But all together, Lord, it is well known to me.
[64:53] Behind me, Lord, I'll ask me, said, And lay on me, thine hand, Search not with you to dream of me, Do I to understand?
[65:31] Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen.