Temple Baptist Church - 4-25-2021
Lamentations 3:22-23
Introduction:
A. In Exodus, chapters 33-34, Israel is at Mt. Sinai and Moses alone with God at the summit. Moses, like most of us, wanted to see God’s glory because of the great task of leading a rebellious nation into the Promised Land of Canaan where there would be war!
B. God concealed the Glory of His Person (Exodus 33:21-23) but revealed to Moses the Gloriousness of His Work: 34:5-8. Let me give you a little analogy to help understand this precept.
1. Our work for Christ on earth glorifies God in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (15) Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
2. God’s glorious work on earth also glorifies God in heaven.
Exodus 33:22-23 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Exodus 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
C. In the Psalm of Psalms, the 23rd Psalm, verse 6 sums it up:
Psalms 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Notice with me the word “surely.” Something that we can be assured of.)
1. The goodness and mercy of God are a surety in the life of the child of God! God has always been good and merciful to us and He, who cannot change, will always be the same.
2. When David wrote the 23rd Psalm, did not know the greatness of his future failures. He did not understand the greatness of God’s tender mercies as the “sweet psalmist of Israel” sat on a hillside, watching over his flock, and wrote of the mercy of
God. Jeremiah the Prophet said it all in Lamentations 3. God has been merciful to each of us.
D. This morning, you are looking at a one hell deserving preacher! Without any false humility and certainly with no bragging on a past, sinful life, I often say that I have no idea why God would give me the “time of day.” I think of the verse that says, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
E. You should be able to praise Him for all eternity for just the little that I have already said! No wonder the psalmist said, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
F. The word “mercy” is found 276x in 261 verses; the word “mercies” is found 44x in 44 verses, while the word “merciful” is found 40x in 36 verses but we will look at enough to cause us to praise the name of the Lord! We will find that:
1. The Lord Is Merciful In His Salvation - 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (He saw our sinfulness and still sent the Saviour! We deserved Hell and yet He send His only begotten Son that we might go to Heaven one day. He saved us from a life of sinfulness and a Devil’s Hell! Do not tell me He is not worth to be praised this morning! Glory to His wonderful name!)
2. The Lord Is Merciful In His Provision - Psalms 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. (God has been good to me in times when I have not been so good to Him. He has never let me down in the 32+ years that I have been saved. I have lived well; I have eaten well; I have paid the bills! When I was laid off, He gave me a job. When I had a great need, He sent someone. That is mercy!)
3. The Lord Is Merciful In His Protection - Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
4. The Lord Is Merciful In His Forgiveness - 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (No matter how terribly that I fail Him, He forgives! No matter how often I fail Him, He forgives! No matter how many times I fail Him, He always forgives and—and thank God—He forgets!)
G. God’s Mercy on earth Glorifies Him in Heaven!
1. God’s Mercy Is Everlasting - Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
2. God’s Mercy Is Unchanging - Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
3. God’s Mercy Is Abundant - Numbers 14:18 The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression...
4. God’s Mercy Is Motivational - Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
5. God’s Mercy Is Inexhaustible - Nehemiah 9:27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
6. God’s Mercy Is Renewable – Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
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