WWUTT 1089 Remember the Deeds of the Lord?

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Charles Spurgeon once said when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart.

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Sometimes it's kind of difficult for us to see how God is working in our circumstances, but He is there when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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And don't forget our website, www .tt .com. Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. And a happy Thanksgiving to my American listeners, both stateside and abroad.

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We're looking at the Psalms today, and the interesting thing about these Psalms we're looking at, none of them express

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Thanksgiving. I mean, there is certainly praise to God, and I guess you could receive that as an expression of thanks, but that word thankfulness or thanks or Thanksgiving itself doesn't even come up again until the end of Psalm 79.

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I'm going to start in Psalm 76, if you want to open up your Bible and join with me there. And as with the

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Psalms we've been looking at recently, this is a Psalm of Asaph to the choir master with stringed instruments.

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In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel. His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.

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There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.

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Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains full of prey. The stout -hearted were stripped of their spoil.

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They sank into sleep. All the men of war were unable to use their hands.

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At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.

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But you, you are to be feared. Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?

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From the heavens you uttered judgment. The earth feared and was still when

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God arose to establish judgment to save all the humble of the earth. Surely the wrath of man shall praise you.

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The remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt. Make your vows to the

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Lord your God and perform them. Let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared.

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Who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

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This is not only a praise that is given to God, but is even an exhortation unto man.

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Fear God. Stand in fear of him and he will show his favor to you.

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As the prophet Isaiah said, or the Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah, this is to whom

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I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.

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At the start of this Psalm, 76 verse 1, in Judah God is known. His name is great in Israel.

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His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. You have all of these locales that are mentioned, which of course are specific to Israel, specific to the people of God in the

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Old Testament. In Judah, God is known. That was the southern region of the

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Holy Land, the northern region, or what would end up being the northern kingdom after Solomon.

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That would be known as Israel, and that was the 10 tribes of Israel that were to the north. To the south, it was

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Judah and Benjamin, and the two of them together were referred to as Judah. In Judah, God is known.

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It's because it's from Judah, from the line of Judah, is going to come our Savior, the

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Lord Christ. He is born in the line of Judah. So in Judah, God is known.

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In Christ, God is known. He is the image of the invisible God, as is said to us in Colossians 1 and in Hebrews 1.

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Everything that we can know about God, we see in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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He reveals to us the Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the

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Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. That's in Matthew chapter 11.

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In John chapter 1, I believe it's verse 18, no one has ever seen God. The only

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God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. So Jesus shows us

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God. We know God through our Lord Christ. We are in relationship with God because we are followers of Jesus.

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So in Judah, because it is from the line of Judah, will the Savior come, God is known.

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His name is great in Israel. Now he shows his greatness through the prosperity of his people.

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But think of this now in spiritual terms, for we're no longer in Old Testament times.

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The mystery of the coming Messiah has been revealed to us. He has come. He has accomplished, died on the cross for sins, rose again from the grave, ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

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We know all of this now, which was hidden in days past, but has since been revealed to us, his saints.

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So in this more spiritual age that we live in now, not literal

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Israel and Judah, et cetera, but we who are the people of God in Christ, when it says in Judah, God is known, his name is great in Israel.

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It's not through material blessings that God makes his name great to all of the nations, but the spiritual blessings that we receive, salvation, relationship with God, godliness, contentment, the pursuit of righteousness, growing and the demonstration of holiness.

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There's difference in our speech, difference in our language. It's difference in our habits.

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We don't join people in their flood of debauchery, but rather we pursue holiness. Something that we talked about on the podcast yesterday.

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So God demonstrates his greatness through his people like this. His name is seen as great in what

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Christians go through, enduring persecution and still praising his name and the forgiveness of sins that we have.

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They will know that they are Christians by our love, the way that we love one another. In these ways,

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God's name is made great in the ways that we live, that give honor and glory to God.

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His name is seen as great through his people, through the church. Jesus Christ is demonstrating his glory through the church that he is growing.

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People hearing the gospel, turning from sin, coming to faith, that number growing every day no matter where it is in the world.

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God's name is great through his church. There's the modern present day application of Psalm 76 one.

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Okay. So now verse two, his abode has been established in Salem.

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Well that's Jerusalem. Salem is just another name for Jerusalem. And remember what the apostle Paul said about Jerusalem in that spiritual context.

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Galatians 4 .26, but the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother.

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This is the church in the book of Revelation. The new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven is describing the bride of Christ.

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When you read all of that in context in the bride of Christ is the church. So where we read his abode has been established in Salem.

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God is with us in his church, his dwelling place in Zion. Zion was the temple

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Mount where the temple was built. And we are temples of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle

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Paul says to the Corinthians, the Holy Spirit dwells in you as the temple of God, if you are a follower of Christ.

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So his abode has been established with us, his church and his dwelling place in our hearts through the

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Holy Spirit whom he has poured into us. Verse three, there he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword and the weapons of war.

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God is protecting us and he is helping us to defend against the devil's schemes.

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As the apostle Paul talks about in second Corinthians chapter 10, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

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We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey

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Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

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So through these weapons of warfare that we have been given, these spiritual weapons of war,

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God has broken the flashing arrows, the shield of faith in Ephesians chapter six.

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When we're reading about putting on the full armor of God, the shield of faith, it says is to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one.

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So the flashing arrows, God has broken them, the shield, the sword and the weapons of war.

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Glorious are you more majestic than the mountains full of prey. The stout hearted were stripped of their spoil.

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They sank into sleep. All the men of war were unable to use their hands.

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Even the mightiest of men cannot contend with the majesty of God. Verse six, at your rebuke,

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O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned. Verse seven, but you, you are to be feared.

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Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? We read in Psalm chapter seven that our

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God is a righteous judge who feels indignation every day. We read in Galatians that what one sows, he is also going to reap and God is not mocked.

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So there are consequences for sin. And when God in his anger is roused, who is able to stand before him, who can avoid or get past the judgment of God, whether that judgment happens naturally, the consequences we suffer as a result of our sin, or it's going to be the judgment that we will all stand in on that great day of judgment.

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We who are in Christ will be delivered from that judgment, but those who are not in Christ, the wrath of God will be poured out upon them.

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Knowing that God is the great judge who sits enthroned over all creation, we can know that God is to be feared.

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Who can stand before you once your anger is roused? From the heavens, you utter judgment.

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The earth feared and was still when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth.

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Those who are humble before him. Once again, going back to the words of Isaiah, this is the one to whom

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I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.

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In the book of Proverbs, we read, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But don't we read in 1

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John that perfect love casts out all fear? Yes, but John explains that for fear has to do with punishment.

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See when we, though we have sinned against God, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear of the judgment of God because Christ took that for us.

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So now we are recipients of God's love and his mercy and his grace, and we have nothing to fear of his judgment.

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But that doesn't mean that you don't fear God. He is still an almighty

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God. And if he were to appear in front of you right now, you would die. His glory is so great, our frail human bodies cannot possibly withstand it.

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So just in his glory, he would wipe out all life if he were to appear unveiled before us.

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Knowing that kind of holiness, which God is and we are not, that should strike fear into our hearts.

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And God will establish judgment to save all the humble of the earth, those who are humble before him, who recognize that holiness, that power, and that righteousness.

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God will save. But those who are proud and haughty and think, I don't need God. I can do just fine without him.

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I'm a good person. I can be good on my own without God. These people who are so full of pride will fall on that day of judgment.

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Verse 10, surely the wrath of man shall praise you. The remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.

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The Lord is using even the wicked schemes of men to draw people to himself.

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And when a person is oppressed by another, it may cause them to turn to God and cry out for deliverance.

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And so those who come out of the wrath of man, they praise God. Even man's wicked and evil schemes can still be used for God's ultimate glory.

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He is going to be glorified in the midst of all things that happen. The remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.

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So those who had survived the wrath of man, who turned from evil and sin to God and pursue him and his righteousness,

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God will draw near to him. And we've had kind of some warrior motifs that have come up here in Psalm 76.

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I've already mentioned the armor of God, which is in Ephesians 6. What is the belt in that armor ensemble?

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It is the belt of truth. So those who love God's truth,

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God will put on like a belt, will draw them to him. Verse 11, make your vows to the

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Lord your God and perform them. Let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared.

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The magi in the Christmas story, they brought gifts to the king, to him who is to be feared, who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

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So we have that double -sided thing, the two -edged thing with the fear of God. We who love

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God, we love him with a reverent fear. But those who do not love

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God, they fear his judgment. It's a different kind of fear. So there's that kind of two -edged thing with fear that we've got mentioned.

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God cuts off the spirit of princes who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

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Let's go on now to Psalm 77, to the choir master according to Jeduthun, a

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Psalm of Asaph. I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.

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In the day of my trouble, I seek the Lord. In the night, my hand is stretched out without wearying.

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My soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan.

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When I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah. You hold my eyelids open.

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I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago.

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I said, let me remember my song in the night. Let me meditate in my heart.

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Then my spirit made a diligent search. Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?

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Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?

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Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?

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Then I said, I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the

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Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

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I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.

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Your way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our

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God? You are the God who works wonders. You have made known your might among the peoples.

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You, with your arm, redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.

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Selah. When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid.

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Indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water. The skies gave forth thunder.

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Your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your great thunder was in the whirlwind.

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Your lightnings lighted up the world. The earth trembled and shook.

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Your way was through the sea. Your path through the great waters. Yet your footprints were unseen.

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You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Now see, at that point, when you get to the very end, you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron, it's almost like, oh, wait, okay,

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I know what we're talking about here. We're talking about God delivering the Israelites. And how were they delivered?

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They went through the Red Sea. They got away from the Egyptians by going through the Red Sea. And then God caused the sea to come crashing down on them.

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And so, you know, you've got the picture there in verse 16. When the waters saw you,

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O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid. Indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water.

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The skies gave forth thunder. Your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind.

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So we're seeing like the separation of the waters and your way was through the sea.

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Your path through the great waters. Yet your footprints were unseen.

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So we have the evidence here of God's way being through the mighty waters.

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When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid. I don't know if you've ever really stood at the ocean before and looked at it, but it's big.

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Like it's scary big. Or if you've even been out on the sea so far out that you can't see the land anymore.

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That's pretty frightening. That can be pretty intimidating. And yet something that big, which is like the biggest single thing we have on Earth, the oceans, right?

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The ocean looks at God and trembles. Might be big and intimidating to us, but not intimidated by God.

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And the Lord who has control even over the deep, separated the waters to deliver his people through them.

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We did not see God. Israel did not look and oh, there he is, you know, pointed right at him.

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So his footprints were unseen and yet he led his people. So when we enter into those moments where we cannot find

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God, and we're probably asking questions like we saw toward like the first third of the psalm.

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When I was asking these questions, will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?

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Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?

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When we struggle to see God and we hit those moments like that, where are you in the midst of this circumstance?

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Where are you in my present? Then we can look to the past and we see that God has been faithful in the past.

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And so he's going to be present. He's going to be faithful in the present. And he is going to deliver us for our future.

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All of the promises of God are still going to be fulfilled. He is still doing something great.

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And so the psalmist knows that here. There was a time when we feared that we were going to perish in slavery.

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And yet God called us out and through the wilderness and through the Red Sea. And we saw his mighty hand.

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You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. We may not have seen

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God plainly. We couldn't identify his footprints, but he was working. And he was working through someone like Moses and Aaron.

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God is working through someone in your life right now to remind you of God's goodness and the blessings that he has given you through his son,

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Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of sins, the relationship that you have with God. How is the

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Lord teaching you this? Maybe a friend, maybe a pastor, some other kind of teacher.

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Maybe somebody you listen to on the radio or on a podcast. I know that sounded kind of self -serving, but that's not the way that I meant it.

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You know, John MacArthur, R .C. Sproul, somebody like that. How is the Lord using someone to remind you of his goodness and his promises?

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He is still leading. And he leads his people through the teachers that he has given to the church.

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Even now, Ephesians 4, 11, God gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

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So we know God through his word. Somebody directs us in that word.

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Though it's difficult for us to see how God may be working in the circumstance. Now, we are reminded of his goodness and grace through his word, the scriptures, and most especially in his son,

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Jesus Christ. Once again, the image of the invisible God. Let us pray.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you on this day of thanksgiving for the goodness that you have shown to us in your son,

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Jesus Christ. And I pray that we would look for ways that we can be thankful to you today.

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If it's been difficult for us to identify where you are, may we use this day as a way to be disciplined, that we can find things to be thankful for, not just on thanksgiving, but every day.

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But this day in particular just reminds us to be thankful to God for you have dealt bountifully with us.

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We ask for your goodness and grace upon us today. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching, and we thank you for including us in your

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Bible learning. If you would consider a gift to this ministry, please visit www .tt

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