[0:00] Right, we're in Psalm 114 tonight. As you've noticed, the Psalms have been getting smaller. There's eight verses tonight, but we're just five away from a very long Psalm, Psalm 119.
[0:14] We're going to need a long service on that Thursday night. Maybe pack a dinner for you when you come for Psalm 119. Psalm 114, these eight verses speak about the great Exodus of the children of Israel, personifies it, tells it in just a really neat fashion, a supernatural event, giving it a personal reaction.
[0:35] Some of you men in here or ladies, you might remember when you were dating, maybe Dan told Shannon, I would move heaven and earth to marry you, or I would be willing to give you the moon, maybe make some great promise.
[0:49] I'm certain that some of you men had to make some great promises because I have no idea why your wives married some of you in here, all right? Or myself included, you make these great promises that we can possibly not keep.
[1:00] But God literally moved earth and sea to form people. And the Exodus story is just incredibly powerful. And this Psalm makes sure that we don't skip over it as just one event of many events in the Old Testament, but it just makes sure that we see the beauty.
[1:17] That's what we should rejoice in tonight. Maybe we'll end in one of the songs like we've sung, many good songs tonight. It's speaking about the power of God. And so the Lord moves heaven and earth to form His people.
[1:29] I want to help, before I read the chapter, before I read the Psalm here, I want to help make sure that you're ready as we speak about the Exodus. I want to kind of remind you of why it was so very important to us.
[1:43] How many of you have a favorite song in here, Christian song, don't embarrass yourself, all right? How many of you have a favorite hymn, a favorite song in here that you'd be willing to share with us tonight?
[1:55] I know I don't normally ask your questions, you speak out. But anybody have one? I'm not looking at you, Jonathan. All right, David. It is well. It is well. That is a great song. I love singing that as a church. When I surveyed the wondrous cross, that would be my favorite song that we sing.
[2:09] Anybody else have another one in here? Yes, sir. Burdens. Burdens are lifted. Burdens are lifted at Calvary. All right. Brother Eric. Let's do it again. Okay. I don't think I understand that one.
[2:20] How great thou art. How great thou art. All right. And I bet that is beautiful in many different languages. Anybody else have another one? Jacob. O Church Arise. O Church Arise. Those are all great songs.
[2:31] A lot of the songs that we sing that are our favorite songs would focus on the cross, right? When I surveyed the wondrous cross or some others I mentioned, some theme about the cross.
[2:41] Well, here's a couple songs and see if you recognize them. Exodus 15. 1. Then sing Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.
[2:55] The horse and the rider has shone into the sea, and the Lord is my strength and song. It has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare him as a habitation. My father is God, and I will exalt him.
[3:06] The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea. His chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.
[3:19] It continues on the verse 18. And then another song picks up. In verse 20, One's called the Song of the Sea.
[3:38] One is Miriam's song. And that would be a song. That would have been a popular favorite song for them. If I was to ask them, what are some of your favorite songs? A lot of attention would have been given to the Exodus.
[3:51] After the flood, you know we have 2,000 years of human history, where we watch God's interactions in dealing with the children of Israel. And we should really cherish that portion of the Bible.
[4:03] We should cherish all portions of the Bible. But that's a portion of the Bible that sometimes you might feel disconnected. That was God's interaction with another group of people. But is there in those 2,000 years where we see that we get a better grasp upon the incarnation of God's Son, the substitutionary atonement, justification by faith from the works of the law, understanding that time really helps us.
[4:28] In the New Testament, we're told in 1 Corinthians 10.6 that the intent was given that it would be given as an example to us. Romans 15.4 says, It is written for our learning that through patience and comfort in Scripture, we may have hope.
[4:42] It has a purpose for it. The book of Revelation, some classes really enjoy it. Some people like me find it more challenging to teach, but it has a purpose in providing hope and comfort. And now this part of human history as we read it tells us that it's supposed to be an example to us.
[4:57] It teaches us things that we need to know. It also helps us provide hope. Romans 3.19 says that, Before I read Psalm 114, I want to remind you that the story of the Exodus is for our benefit, that it is our history as well, because it's the history of our great God.
[5:29] And so we rejoice in it as we hear it. A few of the motives that are given. What is the motivation? Why would God pour out ten plagues upon Egypt? Why would He deliver them in such a spectacular way?
[5:41] Why would He divide the Red Sea? Some of us in here have almost lost friendships before over playing Risk, isn't it? All right, Zach, we almost lost some friendships in the early days over a game of Risk.
[5:54] And you think, well, you don't want to get yourself trapped, you know? You don't want to put yourself in one area and you can't get out. Did God put His people in a place that He couldn't get them out of? And was it accidental?
[6:04] And was He left with that option? Why did He do it in the fashion that He did? The Bible outlines to us some motives behind the Red Sea and the Exodus.
[6:14] Exodus 9, 16, it says, In this very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee my power that my name shall be declared through all the earth. Then He says in Isaiah 43, 7, He did it so that His name would be declared, but He's building a people from it.
[6:31] Even everyone that is called by my name for I have created Him for my glory. I have formed Him, yea, I have made Him. God is forming a nation out of a bunch of people that have been in bondage now for 400 years, and He's going to do it for His glory.
[6:46] And the result, Isaiah 43, 21, This people that I have formed for myself, they will show forth my praise. And all the events of the land, all the events, the land and the people, Isaiah 60, 21, Thy people also shall be all righteous.
[7:02] They shall inherit the land forever. For the branching of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. God is going to bring out a people in such a spectacular way.
[7:14] He's going to move sea. He's going to make mountains tremble. And the way in which He does it, He is going to receive all the glory. We sing as a church a song where we say, Oh, let your will be done in me.
[7:26] In your love I will abide. Oh, I long for nothing else as long as you are glorified. We sing it often, and I pray that every time that we do sing it, that we mean it as well.
[7:37] So the Exodus story is going to be set up in a way that God will receive glory. But not only does God receive glory from the nation of Israel, but we also see what He's doing for the people of Egypt. God's purpose in delivering Israel the way He did goes beyond Israel, and He aims for Egyptians to worship Him.
[7:53] Exodus 14, 3, For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his hosts.
[8:05] And the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. That He did it in such a way that the Egyptians would recognize that He was the one true God.
[8:16] So much is happening at this Exodus story. God's being glorified by Israelites. He's going to be glorified by the Egyptians seeing Him. And then on a side note here, in that same passage, one of the great wake-ups calls to the world is when people stop serving it, stop serving the world.
[8:34] Exodus 14, 5, And it was told the kings of Egypt that the people fled, and that heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, Why have we done this that we have let Israel go from serving us?
[8:50] A great wake-up call to Egypt was that the children of Israel were no longer in bondage to them, no longer serving them. Some of the great pictures that we have seen recently from the mission field in Mexico City is where Jonathan saw many people saved.
[9:04] And that same week, he was sitting down with these people and teaching them how to share the gospel. A people that are now, they have their great exodus. They have their great redemption. They are no longer in bondage to the world.
[9:16] And it makes a statement. Everywhere they go, they now have a different interaction with the world. Their relationship with their family now is different. A couple weeks ago, we saw how Jesus brings a division. When you say that Jesus is going to be Lord, it brings peace to us that call Him Lord, but it brings division among those who do and those that don't.
[9:35] And so here we have a group of people that have been brought out that no longer serve the world, no longer serve Egypt. The greatest earthly resource, more than any veteran missionary, more than any seasoned pastor or Sunday school teacher, is a new convert.
[9:52] The message that they give, they come out and they speak about it. And we find that from Exodus. We see that God's glorified from the Israelites, from the people in Egypt. We'll see what's going to happen.
[10:03] And then the whole world, it passed beyond, just through Israel, past the borders of Egypt. Exodus 9, 15. Romans 9, 17.
[10:25] Hebrews 11 echoes this where it says, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for the same purpose that I have raised thee up, that I may show my power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
[10:37] Hebrews 11 tells about many people of faith. One story that you're familiar with is the lady named Rahab, who was a harlot. In verse number 31, that when the spies came in, she sought peace.
[10:48] She sought to be among the children of Israel. Some 40 years afterwards. And why did she get to that place? How did she know that? And we learn her story, her testimony in Joshua 2.
[11:00] And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you.
[11:12] When he came out of Egypt, that ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of Jordan, Sion and Og, whom were utterly destroyed. She tells the story, I heard 40 years ago, I heard what your God did.
[11:24] I heard he did it in such a supernatural and amazing fashion that I can't help want to worship the one true God. So if we were, if Rahab was in here tonight, and I would say, what is your favorite song?
[11:35] It would very likely have to do about the Exodus, right? Because that was where she came to know about the power of our great God. As Kyle gives out tracts, and as he talks about it in June and in May and different months, and we speak much about the cross, a gospel tract at this time might have had a picture of the Red Sea on the front of it.
[11:53] It might have had a story about something that happened 40 years ago, and the word was spread. Without a commandment, it was just spread. We don't have passages in here necessarily telling them to speak about it.
[12:08] It just happened. That brings great conviction to me. It's just natural that when you would see God do something in such a supernatural way to make a people for himself that you'd want to speak about it.
[12:20] Greg's working on some ideas that will go out on the wall here to help us. You know, it is not a matter of obedience that every one of you pick a certain time in the day that we all get together Saturday at 10, Wednesday at 10, 2, or whatever.
[12:33] But evangelism is a matter of obedience for every one of us. And we should be looking for opportunities, a track a day. What does obedience look like in your life in regards to sharing this great story?
[12:46] It ought to be very natural to you that you would want to share the story that happened. And this time, Rahab got the message. It came to her. People were spreading it. People were talking about it because God had did something incredible and so powerful.
[12:59] So we also see that not only did God do it for his glory, but it's evidence that God keeps his word. Nobody would glorify a God that would not keep his word. And God is demonstrating that he is a promise keeper against all odds.
[13:12] Deuteronomy 7, 6 says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the faces of the earth.
[13:23] The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you are more in number than other people. For you are the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which you had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
[13:42] God had kept his promise to the people. He made back in Genesis 15, this nation you will serve, I will judge, and afterwards you will come out and you'll come out with great substance.
[13:55] Even when it seemed impossible, God made a promise that after this time they would come out. And this blessing is based on his love for them, but because the Lord loved you.
[14:05] It's important to remember this and in the order that in Exodus God is glorified. In Exodus we see that God kept his promise. In Exodus we see that God demonstrated a great love for his people.
[14:17] And God will do this in such a great way that they will sing and they will know of his great power for generations to come. Now the Exodus 1.14. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from the people of strange language, Judah was a sanctuary and Israel was his dominion.
[14:34] The sea saw it and fled. Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs. What held thee, O thou sea, for that thou fleddest?
[14:45] Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back. Ye mountains that skip like rams, O ye little hills like lambs. Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of God of Jacob, which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a foundation of waters.
[15:03] Nothing will prevail against God's plan for his people. When God delivered the people from bondage, he took them and they became a sanctuary to him and his dominion.
[15:14] We said in verse number 1 and 2. We've been through a lot of Psalms together, 114 Psalms together. There's some things that are unique in this Psalm. One, for example, when it says, it does not start off when God brought Israel out of Egypt, but it says when Israel went out of Egypt.
[15:31] We don't see the name of the Lord until verse number 7. The delay mentioning of him builds anticipation. They knew from Exodus 20, it says, I am the Lord thy God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
[15:43] But there's an incredible story in the way that it's being told here. God is getting you to focus on the specific aspect and the way in which he did it. He mentions that they were people of a strange language.
[15:55] That's what some of you say when you travel through Kentucky, Ohio, right? You say those are people of a strange language. It's distinctive. 70 people go into Egypt.
[16:06] 400 years later, around 2 million people are coming out with a distinct culture, with a distinct language. They were never absorbed into the people. God always kept this distinctive aspect about them.
[16:18] It was a miracle to them that God would do that, that God protected them. The 70 went in, and God brings out all these people with this unique language and unique culture, and the people that were around them spoke a different language, a strange language.
[16:33] Do you feel like you live in a world that speaks a different language, that speaks a strange language, that we are God's people? We speak a different language. We have a different culture. We have a different way about them. They were in bondage for all these years, and then now God brings them out, and they're going to be a kingdom of priests, a religious people, a sanctuary, and a nation, His dominion.
[16:53] And the New Testament teaches of a greater exodus that happened for us. We were taken out of bondage. It's a truth that should bring us to our knees. Ephesians 3 says, For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in this heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might the Spirit and the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints that is the breadth, length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all fullness of God, that we have become a people, a temple that has been indwelt by Him, taken out of bondage, and we can rejoice in this.
[17:41] And in like manner, when God redeems the church, He raptures the church out of the bondage of this world, it will be staggering the supernatural events that He will do. Nothing will stand in God's way from gathering His people.
[17:55] Do you remember your redemption story? Do you remember the time you put your faith and trust in Christ? June 7th of this year, I will be saved for 30 years, and I can look back on that time and think about that, and I can think about being taken out of bondage.
[18:10] When God made the people His sanctuary, the waters fled and the mountains quaked to prepare for a new creation. The sea saw it and fled. The Jordan was driven back. And then it goes on kind of with an interview.
[18:22] I thought about doing, having Matt and Dylan come up here and be mountain and sea, and as I've had these missionary talks before, you know, kind of do an interview. It's kind of an interview here with a mountain and sea and say, mountain, what was with you?
[18:36] What ailed you? What caused you? Sea, what was going on? Mountains, you jumped like lambs. You skipped. And what happened? And it's when the mountain and the sea saw what God was doing, that God had made a people for Himself.
[18:52] The earth trembled at seeing it. What a beautiful picture of what God is doing in this world. They saw and they fled. It's an interview. One person I was reading after said, it almost seems like trash talk.
[19:04] What's up with you, mountain? What's up with you, sea? You can't handle anything, right? When the God of heaven moves upon this earth, they're helpless, but they bend to His will. They shake in His presence.
[19:16] When the Lord supernaturally changes nature, making His people sanctuary so that all the world will tremble. Can you think of a time that you have trembled, that you've seen something that caused you to tremble?
[19:30] Carson and I recently saw that. Carson yesterday was home from school and it was just me, Stephanie, and Carson. And me and Carson decided we were going to play a trick on Stephanie.
[19:41] And so Thatcher has a hot dog suit because why not, you know? And so Carson said, Mom, can I have the hot dog out of the pantry? And I thought she would think that's weird. We don't keep ready-made hot dogs in a pantry.
[19:52] The kids eat fast enough. We probably could just stack them up. But she said, Can I get a hot dog out of the pantry? And so I'm standing in the pantry in a hot dog suit. You knew where that was going, right? And I was waiting for her to say, We don't keep hot dogs in the pantry and open up the door and see that, yeah, we do.
[20:08] We do keep hot dogs in the pantry. But it went on for a little bit too long and we couldn't get her there. But I stayed. I was committed to it, all right? And so finally, when she get over there and the door opened up and I'm standing just real creepy in the back corner of it not moving, she screamed with, Ah!
[20:23] Hits her knees and like no self-defense, okay? She would have been helpless from the hot dog robber that came in there. And I felt a little bad because it wasn't, Hey, that's a little funny.
[20:34] Like she trembled. She was petrified of that, all right? She's never going back in the kitchen because of that. And so she trembled at what she had saw. And so when we think about a trembling, that's the only way in which we know to gather it because there's nothing that's big enough in this world that could bring you to fear and trembling that could also bring you to rejoice outside of the great God of heaven because everything else that would bring you fear wants to cause harm to you, that would want to scare you, that would cause you to say, I can't believe how horrible what I'm reading is.
[21:06] But the God of heaven brings you to a point that says, I'm standing in awe, I am fearful, I am trembling, but I am at home in your presence. I want to be there.
[21:16] And that's what we have. We have a trembling in the earth. God is looking for those that will tremble at His word. Isaiah 66 too, But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at the words.
[21:28] We rejoice in our trembling. We serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in trembling. That's how we can be sorrowful yet rejoicing. 2 Corinthians 6.10, Always rejoicing as poor yet making rich and having nothing yet possessing all things.
[21:42] We're sorrowful but rejoicing because we tremble in His presence but we have a rejoicing that is happening there. Those mountains and those seas were having a great day because they saw that God was acting on behalf of His people and they trembled and they moved.
[21:58] We should help others tremble. Our music ministry, it helps us tremble as we experience the joy of standing and the fear and awe of our God. We should help our kids tremble with joy in the presence of God.
[22:10] We need to help people tremble by helping them know that someday they're underneath the wrath. They are currently underneath the wrath of God and they should recognize their sin. And so may God find us tonight a people that are trembling yet rejoicing.
[22:25] So nothing could prevail against God's plan for His people. Nothing stands in its way. And that brings us great comfort. In the promises of God, no matter what is happening, we can know that God will move earth and sea for His promises to be obeyed.
[22:41] When you say, I don't see how it's going to happen, I'm against the Red Sea, it doesn't seem possible, God drives up the Red Sea, He can move the mountains, He can do anything. The promises of God are certain.
[22:53] But not only does it end with that, that's the big picture, the parting of the Red Sea. Then He kind of takes it down into a smaller story and we see nothing can prevail against God's provision for His people, which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into the fountains of water.
[23:07] And you remember this story where the people needed water and God told Moses to go and to strike the rock and the people that were thirsty and had nothing, God provided for them out of a rock, out of the driest thing, out of the thing that should have nothing out of it.
[23:23] He provides that for them. The power of God who makes the earth tremble provides for His people, trembling from the largeness of the exodus and from the provision of the rock.
[23:34] And the big things that God has done in delivering us from our sin, we go back to our redemption story, but just in the daily provisions where God meets our needs, we just tremble at our God and realize that nothing will stand in His way.
[23:49] The psalm ends like its predecessor of the chapter before on the note of God's quiet creativity and care. He is powerful, but His power is directed to the point of need, transforming what is least promising into a place of plenty and a source of joy.
[24:07] They were up against something that could not move. Red seas don't move. They had absolutely no water, but God's provision in giving them water brought great joy, and God's plan, it moves forward.
[24:20] Nothing's stopping it. God is that powerful in this world. So I want to encourage you as we end the night. I want to encourage you in some rejoicing. Let's rejoice in the awesome power of our God.
[24:31] It should inspire every believer in here to have a greater faith as we learn that God is able to change all of creation to make room for His program. God can move all of creation to make room for His program.
[24:45] So we rejoice in His promises. We trust Him. When you're against the Red Sea and you have a promise, you just wait for the water to move. When you know that God is taking you through the wilderness and you have no provision, He can provide it for you out of a rock because nothing in this world is standing in His way.
[25:02] And the Red Sea will move, the mountains will move, they will tremble. And so do you believe that? There may be things that you so desperately need supplied for you and you're beginning to wonder whether they will be supplied.
[25:14] Do you believe that He has the power and the purpose to provide for you? Exodus, Psalm 114, would be something that the children of Israel could go to in a time of great need.
[25:26] When they were facing a wall, when they were facing a problem, they could go back to Psalm 114 and read this story and say, our God is powerful in this world to provide for us. So many things that I want to see in this world I'm completely unable to provide.
[25:40] It's as if I'm hitting a dry rock. But tonight, we can rejoice in the power of God's provision that He will move earth and sea to accomplish His will in our lives.
[25:50] He is that powerful in this world and that's so exciting for us. The Holy Spirit makes application and maybe you're not at a Red Sea moment right now, maybe you're not in a dry part of your life right now, but when you get there and you just see like God is so distant, you go back to our story in Psalm 114 and you say that our God is able to move this earth to make room for His program and you trust in His promises and you just keep taking that step because you're going to see the Red Sea part, you're going to see the water needed while you're there because this earth will move.
[26:21] .