Rejoice in the Lord - Habakkuk 3 Vs 1-19

Good all the chitchat.

It's so amazing. It's good to see everyone fellowshipping here today We're gonna start off with a few announcements here

Leadership meeting that we'll have this coming Wednesday. So deacons elder pastor

We meeting at 6 p .m. This Wednesday We also have but women's

Bible study is actually coming up this next Saturday That'll be here at 10 a .m.

And they'll be going over Second Kings chapter 7 with Barbara leaving that We also have missionary of the month with Jack and Bev McConn Just pray for them as they serve in biblical worldwide ministries that their efforts

They are fruitful and that those of which that are impacted by the ministry are eventually saved by their works

And that'll do it for announcements here if you guys are just join me in a word of prayer before we enter into worship and sermon

Dear Lord. Thank you for this day given us Thank you for allowing us to be here to fellowship and to worship your name

Lord and to praise you If you would just help us to prepare our hearts today Lord so that we can be focused on you and your character as it's

Preached today in your word and celebrated in our worship songs Lord your name. We pray in Jesus name.

Amen Stand together with me as we praise our Lord in song

Today's scripture reading is taken from the book of Job the last chapters chapter 42

Verses from 1 to 6 1 through 6 the book of Job chapter 42 verses 1 through 6

I'm using easy standard version Then Job Answered the

Lord and said I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be taught taught it

Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what

I did not understand things too wonderful for me, which I did not know Here and I will speak

I will question you and you make it known to me I heard heard of you by the hearing of the year

But now my eye sees you therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes

May the Lord add blessings to this world There's a new song to me and I think it's a new song to everyone up here and today you're the choir

It's a good song. The words are talking about God the uncreated one and It talks about he is

King forever new songs

Because it fits the message right and we we do want scripture in music to go together and we have

We're blessed with a group of people who do Have that devotion to that and it is hard to learn new songs and it's hard for you to to learn new songs

But we're grateful for the work that you are putting in as well Now let us turn to Habakkuk chapter 3.

This is the Last chapter of Habakkuk. It's a that's why it's a minor prophet.

It's near the end of the Old Testament It's the eighth of the twelve minor prophets and This is a prayer

It's a praise song a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth.

Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. Oh Lord Revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make it known in wrath.

Remember mercy God came from Timon the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise.

His brightness was like the light He had rays flashing from his hand and there his power was hidden before him when pestilence and fever followed his feet

He stood and measured the earth He looked and startled the nations and the everlasting mountains were scattered the perpetual hills bowed

His ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction the curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

Oh Lord were you displeased with the rivers was your anger against the rivers was your wrath against the sea that you wrote on your horses your chariots of salvation

Your bow was made quite ready. Oats were sworn over your arrows Selah You divided the earth with rivers the mountains saw you and trembled the overflowing of the water passed by the deep uttered its voice

And lifted its hands on high the Sun and moon stood still in their habitation

At the light of your arrows they went at the shining of your glittering spear you marched through the land in indignation

You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of your people for salvation with your anointed

You struck the head from the house of the wicked by laying bare from foundation to neck

Selah You thrust through with his own arrows the head of its villages

They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret

You walked through the sea with your horses through the heap of great waters When I heard my body trembled my lips quivered at the voice

Rottenness entered my bones and I trembled in myself that I might rest in the day of trouble

When he comes up to the people he will invade them with his troops

Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines Though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no fruit food

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls

Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation The Lord God is my strength

He will make my feet like deer's feet and he will make make me walk on my high hills

To the chief musicians with my stringed instruments. This is the Word of the Lord Let us pray

Father we're grateful that You are the eternal uncreated one who rescues

Thank you that you are God and how you rescue is Spectacular the whole creation fears your movement

Help us also to fear your movement and help us to rejoice in it Help us to find joy when things are going wrong

Help us to find peace when things are falling apart Because we worship you

Oh Lord in Jesus name This is the last chapter of the book of Habakkuk This prayer is the

Prophet Habakkuk's response to God's judgment against the wicked

Remember, let's let's go over how Habakkuk started it started with the prophets worry the prophets

Prayer as to how could God let his people get so evil

How could God do nothing when Judah is so perverse? and God responds

I Am doing something look what's happening I'm raising up a wicked nation a cruel nation a brutal nation to judge

Judah and then Habakkuk's response is how could God do that God if you do that?

first of all They're more wicked than we are and second of all if they come by we won't have anyone left and God responds yet again

The righteous will live by faith, but the wicked

Will be gone and That was last week's message God told us in his response

What will happen to the wicked they will pay remember the five woes. It's all starting with the

P, right? The Plunderers the plotters the pillagers and the perverters and the polytheists.

They will all pay They will have their judgment day And the whole earth got silent

Because unlike the false gods God and now

After the global silence the Prophet opens his mouth

To God in response it is a praise song to the Lord. This is the elaboration of the second part of God's answer in Habakkuk 2 for But the righteous shall live by faith.

That is a motto of God's people whether Jews or Christians the righteous will live by faith

Because even when the world is falling apart God's people will live

Despite what may be happening God's people will trust in the

Lord and that is how they will live and thrive and Now, how will they live by faith

Habakkuk shows us in this song by looking back to God's past?

redemption The righteous must trust God Who has saved them in the past and Just like any meticulous masterpiece a back hook song is carefully structured verses 1 to 2 introduced the prayer song verses 3 to 7 covers covered

God's salvific act of Exodus delivering Israel from Egypt's Enslavement verses 8 to 15 account

God's salvific act of the conquest getting them to the promised land Salvation isn't just one way.

It's complete it's not just out of Egypt, but it's to the promised land and verses 16 to 19 is the

Prophet's song of trust after reflecting on the character and the history of God and This song is of course not completely chronological

It repeats certain aspects of God's redemption And this is because that's not the purpose of the song the purpose of the song is to praise

God for his past Redemptive acts rather than put every single detail on the record in Chronologically if you want chronological redemption read the historical narratives, right this song

Just like any songs you don't get every detail Right, you get you get the meat of the burger, right?

You get the juicy part you get you get the focus of God's redemptive acts Now I in this sermon

I will be using the terms deliverance and redemption interchangeably and I do want to Define what that is.

I took my mom one time to a church that I've been Attending it was in Monterey and you know, it's it's a great church

They they preach from the Bible and that morning the pastor preached from Isaiah Right, and it was a very good sermon and you know,

Christ is the center and he kept using the word deliver Now for most

Christians we understand that means salvation Deliverance deliverance from sin and deliverance on to God, right we understand that but my mom after the whole sermon, which she listened carefully

Asked me afterward. What does it mean for God to deliver? It's it's it's become a very

Christian ease word word We might only use delivery in terms of Amazon Prime but deliverance is a salvific act

Especially in terms of Israel when God rescued Israel from their enslavement from Egypt and Still delivered them to the promised land

God's salvation it shows the complete scope of God's salvation. He doesn't just let them be in the wilderness

Right, or they would still be there Now redemption

Redemption is also an old term. It means to buy back and and some of you might have had coupons to redeem

Right, so you understand what it means? It's it's to purchase back buy back in ancient times if a famine hit or plague or pestilence hit and All of a sudden you find yourself

Starving and there's no food your land didn't produce anything. Well, there's no title

Title 11 bankruptcy, right?

So what do you do you sell yourself into slavery for a couple of years for for the money?

That you need to borrow from someone and you serve as a servant for that household now

You're wealthy relative Living in another city. Here's about this and I gotta

I Gotta free my cousin. So what does he do?

He would buy back he would pay The owner in one sense to to buy you back

So that you are freed from that and and and and and redemption is a huge theme in the

Bible and ultimately God redeems us

Because he bought us back ultimately, Jesus bought us back through his sacrificial death

So I will be using those two terms Interchangeably, but it is how

God saves those those are salvific words, right related to salvation And I didn't want to assume you all knew that because it has become a

Christian ease word Christian ease words rather and I I do want to Make sure we all know that this is how

God saves Now this text speaks to all of us who may be currently suffering to all who wonder how

They can go on with their lives like this those who

Whose world seems like it's falling apart That's that's what this song is about The focus is not the judgment nor the suffering the focus is on the

God who will eventually deliver his own through it

Until the end of this book Habakkuk also struggled to see how

God's people would survive He was in your place Is there any future in God's people

In this chapter We are reminded of To whom we must look when we are cast out

I'm not sure what you're going through Some of you are really sick and you might be listening to it later on Some of you have lost loved ones

Some of you are struggling with the job Some of you have family problems

And you're wondering is this gonna be it? where is

God in this and Habakkuk shows us We must look back to God's perfect record of deliverance

The main point of today's text is that we must commemorate God's past record a powerful salvation to rejoice in God's future redemption

We must commemorate God's past record a powerful salvation to rejoice in his future redemption

First we must celebrate our Savior God's past salvation of his people

We must celebrate our Savior God's past celebration of his people after being silenced in all by God's Majesty Habakkuk praise to God a prayer of Habakkuk the

Prophet on Shigyonoth verse 1 is the introduction to his prayer and Shigyonoth is a hard word to translate because we do not have the ancient

Hebrew music dictionary We believe it is a musical term

Possibly about how the melody must be sung or maybe the style of music

It is unclear However, since I didn't sing it this morning, it didn't really make an impact

Verse 2 begins the song it reads like a song which means we must account for a large amount of figurative language and intensification as we read on Figurative language does not mean it's fake.

We often think poetry means it's fiction Actually poetry does not mean fiction poetry is just another genre to declare

God's story in Poetry you can still describe a real event you just get a more vivid picture and illustration

Second there is parallelism in every verse and even between verses What that means is it builds upon each other that's that's the key to Hebrew poetry it's not about rhyme it's parallelism

I'll show you an example in verse 2. There are two parallel pairs. I Prefer the

ESV for this verse because it shows it rather clearly the first pair of Habakkuk's response to the

Lord's past redemptive act is this Oh Lord, I have heard the report of you and Parallel to that is the second line in your work.

Oh Lord, do I fear? The first line shows the prophets awareness of God's Old Testament redemption

What God has done in history? The second line builds upon that report which he has heard the prophet has heard

God's work and he responds in fear You can see how the

Hebrew poetry. This is how it must be read It's it's parallel and the parallel as it goes on it builds upon it

There's an unfolding and building up of the poetry poem

Habakkuk is addressing the God of history who has done powerful deeds

Now what's his prayer request look at the second pair of parallelism in The midst of the years revive it in the midst of the years make it known in wrath remember mercy

Habakkuk surrenders the control and timing to God Who has full control over time and who has full control over every event in human history?

Despite the coming judgment against Judah, please revive it in your time

Please reveal your will to us in your time. You see the parallelism here revive your people

But also let us know what's happening and even in your chastisement have compassion

With this Habakkuk unpacks the report of God that gave him comfort Verses three to four show

God's glorious appearance before his people in the past God came from Timon the

Holy one from Mount Paran, Selah Now Selah is another musical term it possibly means a pause

Timon here is a city in Edom which is a southern country of the land of Israel Now Mount Paran is also a mountain range or that stretches from Edom to the

Sinai Peninsula modern -day Saudi Arabia This verse

Remembers the glorious appearing of the Lord before his people on Mount Paran Mount Sinai rather Unlike the false gods the

Lord our God steps into the world that he has created

Unlike the false gods the Lord God steps into the world to save The impact of God's appearance is spectacular

Look at the parallelism his glory covers the heaven his glory fills the earth with praise

Whether heaven or earth whether high or low God's glory will be palpable

God's glory will not be ignored Verse four unpacks further.

He appeared like the light not only that rays of light beam from his hand

Not only his whole body, but even his hand rays came forth and his powers in the light

Now what does this powerful deity do he marches on to save his own?

I think that's the beauty of this poetic song Yes, God does deliver and when you read from Exodus to really

Deuteronomy you can see how God delivers but what this poem what this song allows it to do is it depicts the

Lord God as a warrior among them who goes on ahead and Marches on and he is unstoppable

That's what the song illustrates and and you can't quite grasp that just from reading the narrative you get to Experience that you get to see it unfold when you read the song verse 5 introduces his entourage

Before him went pestilence and fever followed at his feet the Prophet here personifies two things that represent judgment that surround

God before him the pestilence went on and behind him fever or plague

Before God's presence goes the judgment against Egypt and following him are the plagues

God did not stop his judgment against the pagans just because Egypt loosened its grips

God was determined to save his own to the uttermost Nothing, no pagan nations could be stopped because God's March and his entourage was coming pestilence and plague

Verse 6 describes God's powerful procession further and the everlasting mountains were scattered the perpetual hills bowed

His ways are everlasting The mountains and hills that have been there for thousands of years

Were shaken before the presence of this warrior God now, of course

He calls it everlasting because normally normally mountains and hills do not get moved and they've just seemed

Seemingly have been there forever However before the warrior God they will make way

Nothing will stop God Even the greatest and largest landforms in that area had no chance against this warrior

God who is determined to save his people. In fact the other parts of the

Old Testament. We do see that the land did experience earthquakes as Israel was marching on Judges 5 4 through 5 and Psalm 114 3 through 6

Psalm 114 3 through 6 also personifies the mountains They skipped like rams.

I Mainly know this because we went over that just a month ago but the fact that the mountains moved is not just a fuzzy feeling how great

God is they literally quaked as God passed on Now What is actually everlasting is contrasted in this parallelism and the everlasting mountains were scattered

They don't seem so everlasting now the perpetual hills bowed They don't seem so perpetual now, but what actually is everlasting his ways are everlasting

God's ways cannot change God's ways are set in stone and Verse 7 shows the impact of God's procession on the nations along the way

I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction the curtains of the land of Midian trembled the land of Midian which includes

Kushan Was on the southern portion of the Transjordanian side So if you have the map of Israel, there's

Israel by the coast from the coast to the river That's the Jordan when I say Transjordanian.

I mean this side this side of the Jordan now as God is getting closer to his land.

The pagans are Trembling. It's not just the mountains that tremble pagan nations are trembling the ones who are powerful

The ones who have been established for centuries the ones who are advanced in technology

Compared to the enslaved that once used to be enslaved Israelites They're trembling

Not because of Israel, but because of God In fact there's an archaeological inscription called

Kuntillet Ajrud, I don't know if I'm saying it right and it's found around this region the

Midianite land and It talks about a divine warrior who is covered in light

Imagine that we just started with the glorious light coming out of God And he moves the mountain he when he moves the mountains melt and the peaks are crushed

Just like what we've just read So this is not a foreign

I mean this this is not a new concept Perhaps these people have seen

God really move as Israel marched on Now whether mountains or the wicked rulers nothing will get in God's way of delivering his people

God is unstoppable Now verses 8 through 15 commemorate

God's deliverance of his people into the promised land It's more than just out of enslavement, but into Verse 8 starts with the rhetorical question.

Oh Lord, were you displeased with the rivers was your anger against the rivers?

Was your wrath against the sea that you rode on your horses? Look look how it builds way up through parallelism

Displeased with angers this pleasure is slightly unpleasant

Now it builds Right was your anger against the rivers now, that's a strong emotion

Not only the rivers was your wrath against the sea Now it grows from the rivers to the sea.

And of course this is This is depicting

God's act of parting the sea the Red Sea, but also parting the river the

Jordan River Right God struck it. God struck two bodies of water that seemed unfathomably large and dangerous yet God Parted both of them and that's why the

Prophet is asking. Were you angry at that? Were you furious at those is that why?

And of course, there's the answer that you rode on your horses your chariots of salvation

This depiction this poetic depiction of the crossing of the Red Sea and Jordan Exodus 14 and Joshua 3 for respectively the question depicts the furious warrior who drives his chariot and When you read horses and chariot in this passage think tanks, right?

Those were the tanks of the ancient days over the large bodies of water in order to save his people the purpose is not just because he's just Carelessly angry at the ocean and then and and and the rivers that he created

Rather he's angry because they're in the way of his people

God is here to save and he's on his chariot figuratively God's mode of transportation is the chariot of salvation

What that means is his mode of transportation. He exists to save his people Your mode of transportation might be for commute

But God's mode of transportation is for salvation That's what he does

Verse 9 describes God's weaponry your bow was made quite ready Oaths were sworn over your arrows when it comes to saving his people.

God is armed and ready This parts kind of hard oaths were sworn over your arrows.

I Think it means that every arrow had a place to go and they were they were to hit kind of like Those advanced missile technology that that it's guided missile

Right, well if God swears oaths on them, they sure will hit Wherever they need to go verses 10 to 11 show

God's superiority of Superiority over every part of creation verse 10 shows his create control over the highest of mountains and the lowest of this

Whether the highest thing on earth or the lowest part of the earth God is in control

Verse 11 shows God's power over the celestial bodies the Sun and Moon stood still in their

Inhabitation at the light of your arrows. They went at the shining of your glittering spear

It helps to remember that the pagans worshipped the Sun and the Moon They're in fact some of the higher gods, right?

They're not just like the God of the creeps that they're they're really worshipped Even now people look to astrology and zodiac signs to make discernment about their future, right?

What's your zodiac sign, right? It This is what this year is gonna be for you.

Well, what are they basing upon the stars the celestial bodies? The true

God however rules over the whole cosmos and there is no star in the universe that shines without his word the

Sun and the Moon the Closest heavenly bodies the ones that seem the biggest from earth

They're subordinate. They're inferior to God after praising

God's power over creation Habakkuk praises his victory over the pagan nations from verses 12 through 15

Verse 12 shows God's battle march that continues and verse 13 tells us

God's purpose for his procession God doesn't just March for the fun of it

You went forth for the salvation of your people for salvation with your anointed

You struck the head from the house of the wicked by laying there from foundation to neck say law

God's furious and fiery March into the promised land is so that his people may be fully delivered into his land

It is not enough for his people to be delivered from Egypt's enslavement

God will see to it that his people Peacefully prosper in his promised land

The last line by laying there from foundation to neck means God will strike

Down every human enemy so that they are completely disarmed Whatever armament whatever sword whatever shield that they were carrying before after God is done with them.

They are harmless Just as the second half of the song started with bodies of water in verse 8 verse 15 ends with God's Control over the waters.

This is what I mean that it may not look Chronological it's thematic you walk through the sea with your horses through the heap of great waters

Right. This this is the parting of the Red Sea again God cannot be stopped in his salvific

March whether the mountains or see the Sun or the moon Nothing will get in the way of God's salvation of his people

Habakkuk's response to God's impending judgment is to look back to who God is and what he has done and Oftentimes if you know who

God is you cannot separate him from what he has done Because his actions and his character align perfectly a praise song celebrates both

The Lord Yahweh is the God who delivered his people from Egypt and into the promised land

And at no point was his deliverance Insufficient at no point was his salvation ever in question

God was faithful every step of the way and there was nothing that stopped him from saving his people

Whether harsh landforms or harsh nations the warrior God forged ahead to make way for his redeemed people

Christians When we take a look at this we worship the same God who faithfully delivered

Israel from Egypt Moreover we have a better and more recent example of God's deliverance to commemorate 2 ,000 years ago

God stepped into history in order to deliver once again This time not as a formidable warrior who shook every mountain that he passed along the way but as a mortal man

He Delivered his people not by crushing the enemies who opposed him

But by being crushed by the enemies Who opposed him and he did so that he may deliver us from our sin to rescue us from the sin that we're enslaved to the same

God that's that sovereignly controlled the waters hills and celestial bodies submitted to these wicked rulers

So that he may free us from the sin that enslaved us and in the same way as Habakkuk song

Nothing could stop him from delivering his people Not even his own death could stop your

God from delivering You and this is why our praise songs are centered around Christ the songs that we sang this morning are centered around Christ Because we need to remember the cross

We need to remember that he has risen We need to praise Christ for the ultimate deliverance

We need to praise him for our salvation and that's a constant thing.

It's not a Sunday morning event It's a lifestyle because if we forget

We will one day forget our deliverer God Now, how do we respond to God's past redemption?

We rejoice in the Lord despite any trials by Remembering his past redemptive acts.

We rejoice in the Lord despite any trials by remembering his past redemptive acts

After praising God's past deliverance the Prophet trembles in fear now it is the

Prophet's turn to tremble When I heard my body trembled my lips quivered at the voice

Rottenness entered my bones and I trembled in myself That I might rest in the day of trouble when he comes up to the people he will invade them with his troops

Even the Prophet cannot fully stand what God has done in the past to save his people

The whole body responds in fear his body trembles his lips chatter

His fear is bound deep. That's what it means the bone rottenness to the bones

It it impacted him to his bones the Prophet's fear is due to God who can powerfully deliver in the past will now powerfully judge his own people

That's the fear that same God which no mountains no stars

Nothing in all creation could stop him Now he's going to judge us

He's going to chastise us That's a cause for fear And that's because it's a fearful thing to stand before this

God and Habakkuk knows what is coming ahead and it's not pretty

Judah will not have a field day before God's judgment Yet, how will the

Prophet respond? Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines

Though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no hurt in the stalls

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation

After me meditating on God's past redemption he rejoices in whatever may come

Verse 17 unpacks The worst of sit with the worst situation you can imagine in the promised land

The fig tree is not flowering. The grapes and olives are failing. The grains are languishing and the livestock from small to large.

They're gone This is the ancient day equivalence of an economic depression

There's nothing to eat around here The modern illustration would be the stock markets have crashed the 401k have dried up The banks are out of cash and the grocery stores are empty

What will you do? Moreover, what do these fruits represent?

when you use in concordance giant book with all the words that are found in the

Bible Look up fig trees Deuteronomy 8 8 tells us

That the promised land was filled with fig trees and vines What this is happening?

What's happening? What what the Prophet sees or envisions will happen is nothing less than the total judgment on the promised land if the promised land is supposed to be filled with figs and vines and There's none

That is nothing less than the judgment from God In fact during Solomon's days every man could lie under his own fig tree and vine first Kings 4 25

The prosperity of Israel has never reached that level in history

In Solomon's day silver was just so common. It was they were like rocks

They're like paperweight Now silver's price is going up up up right now, right $32.

I think what this is saying After God is done with Judah That Prosperity of Solomon that's that's known

You can't remember that yet The prophets response is that of joy the object of his joy is the

Lord The God of his salvation the same God who saved writing the chariot of salvation the same

God who marched on to save Will one day do it again?

Is this the prophet who cried out to God that he's not doing enough? Against the wicked.

Is this the same prophet who cried out unfair in chapter 1? This trust is unpacked in verse 19.

The Lord God is my strength He will make my feet like deer's feet and he will make me walk on my high hills to the chief musician with my stringed instruments in The end the prophet will endure the trial coming not based upon his own strength

But based upon God's strength God will provide the might to continue.

His endurance doesn't come from Good farm stoic mindset.

Oh It will pass not at all Because God will strengthen

Whatever that my eyes will see or in this case will not see right no fruits

No livestock, I will continue because of God's strength

The deer's feet is a reference, of course figurative It's a metaphor for stability amidst uncertainties and trials consider

Consider hiking through a narrow path up and on the mountains Some people enjoy that Most of us inch forward whether clumsily or carefully or both

Because one little mishap means death Not the deer

They can hop and gallop through the narrowest parts of the mountains just fine Ultimately, it is

God who provides security and safety despite the collapse of a nation Despite the collapse of a culture

God will provide the strength and the means to go on our trust in the

Lord here is that God has done it already

That's what the prophets looking to the prophets not clinging to some

Fuzzy hope that oh this this sounds nice Right like karma.

Oh, it sounds nice. If you're good, it's gonna be good for you Not at all

He's looking at the perfect track record of God in delivering his people at no matter what comes against him

That's what he's looking at. This is the picture of how the righteous shall live by faith

They don't live by faith just because oh, I feel emotionally secure right now

Currently There may not be any evidence of God's favor in your life yet the only reason for rejoicing

For us the righteous is God's faithful character and his perfect record to deliver his people our trust in the

Lord alone not The global events that unfold not what our eyes see but what scripture speaks

That's the trust Not who has the control of Congress in the

White House But what God has already done for his people and how he will do it again and again because in the end

Judah did get exiled They were captured by Babylon for 70 years

But what did they all look back to That's why when you read

Ezekiel The mention of I am the Lord your God who has delivered you from the hand of the

Egyptians is mentioned multiple times Even though the main enemy is not at all

Egyptian. It's a greater Empire It's a more recent Empire Why because the key is you must look back to what

God has done for his people in the past In order to have for the future of what God will do for his people

This morning. It may not be the fig trees and olive branches that are not bearing fruit in your backyard

But your body and the nation's culture breaking down it may not be the vines and grain field drying out, but rather the delight in scripture and Any interest in the spiritual batters fizzling out

How must we respond we must look back to God We must look back to Christ the

Holy One who mercifully saves the faithful Lord who never abandons his own the victorious

King who Always leads he his people from the front when we do

The natural the proper response is that of rejoicing We rejoice in him in Christ.

We don't just survive the righteous thrive In Christ, we don't just wait in fear for the judgment to pass

The just shall live by faith Our joy is based upon God's character and nature not our bank accounts or careers

Our joy is based upon God's historical salvation of his people not our accomplishments or our health

There is nothing else you can lean on that is more secure than that This is why we rejoice

Not because life is great and everything is going according to your plan

But because God is our great Redeemer from the past and to the future and everything in between from the first day to the last day and for all the eternity

If God redeemed his people in the past like that what is stopping him from doing it again?

That's the question. We must always have in mind if God did it in the past Why can't he do it now

If God saved us from the greatest enemy, would he not come back for us?

I Believe Charles Wesley had the right mindset when he wrote this Rejoice in glorious hope for Christ the judge shall come to gather all his saints to their eternal home

Lift up your heart lift up your voice Rejoice again. I say rejoice

Let us pray father we do confess that Rejoicing may not be the first option that we choose when we wake up in the morning

Rejoicing may not be the first option that we choose when the world seems to be falling apart or our body or our lives

But father we pray that you would help us to understand that your path is everlasting and your deliverance is unstoppable

Help us to trust that the Savior of Israel is our

Savior to Help us to trust God who saved like that who could not be stopped by anything in all of creation

Is still the same God who cannot be stopped From saving us from all of creation help us to have faith so that we may live by faith