Word of Salvation – Vol.39 No.11 - March 1994

Remember The Power Of The Lord

Sermon: by Rev A. Esselbrugge on Psalm 78:42

Readings: Romans 12:1-8; Psalms 78:1-7, 32-43

Brothers and sisters, young people, boys and girls,

What is the prominent picture that you have of the Old Testament revelation of God's plan of salvation?  If you were asked to give one or two major themes that seem to summarise the whole of the Old Testament, how would you put it?

I think that may be a difficult question.  In my own reading of the Old Testament, I often ask myself what certain stories tell me about God's dealing with sinful mankind.  I wonder why a particular incident has been recorded, and what it shows me about God.  Very often, I haven't got a direct answer.  Some time ago, that kind of question began to bother me.  I couldn't see the forest, because I couldn't understand how various individual trees related to the whole picture.  I wondered why for example, the story about Esther and Mordecai is in the Bible.  It doesn't seem to tell us very much, except that it's an interesting incident.  But, God's word, because it is God's Word, will never waste our time with things that don't encourage and direct us toward Him.  So why a story in which God Himself is never mentioned?  I had the same kind of questions about the long parade of the various kings of Israel and all their horrible falling away from God, recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

It wasn't until I began to put all of those questions together, that I began to realise something enormous and grand and an overall picture began to take shape.

When you look at the Old Testament as a unit, but conscious nevertheless of what it contains in all its parts, then you begin to see that there are three major themes to the Old Testament.  There are of course many more, and in fact innumerable lessons God has for us in His Word, but there are three major lessons, seem to grow and to dominate everything else.

When you read about the various kings, when you take in the constant falling away from God of God's chosen people, when you observe the passions of the prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah, then you begin to see the first theme, namely, the awesome power of God.

1.  The awesome power of God to punish and destroy all that turns away from Him.

When you see also how God constantly rescued His people, from slavery in Egypt, from exile in Babylon, and you see the prophet Jeremiah hauled out of the pit after despairing of his life and having sunk into the mud that rose to his chest, and you listen to songs of praise from the mouth of Moses, then you also begin to see the second great theme of the Old Testament.

2.  You see the magnificent power of God to save whom He wills, from certain disaster, to marvellous peace and glory in His favour.

And then, listen to the Psalmist, listen to the constantly recurring reminders of the promise of a Saviour, who would come and bruise, and finally crush the head of the serpent.  Become aware of how God in all justice could have left all His people and the world itself, to stew, and to fall ever deeper, and you then begin to gain a glimpse of the third theme.

3.  You see the kindness and gracious mercy of the Lord God of heaven and earth.

Why do I want you to see these things now?  Well, Psalm 78 is in many respects the Old Testament history up to the time of King David, condensed down into one chapter.  We should really read that whole Psalm together now.  It's a Psalm of worship, to be read by the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it in fact describes the Church.  I'd be afraid, though, that some might find it boring.  So let me encourage you to take the time today to read this Psalm, being conscious of these three great themes as you do: the power of God to punish and destroy; the power of God to save, and the great and wonderful mercy of God.

There are the great themes we must remember.  These themes of God's power to punish and destroy; God's power to exercise His love and mercy and save, these we must make every effort to preserve whole and complete in our hearts.  As a church we need to look for ways to do that through Bible Studies, Catechism classes for the young and youth group activities, through our worship services, and through many other activities.  These great themes need to be constantly repeated, so that they become permanently and consciously fixed in our hearts.

We need to be doing the same in our families.  These great themes should be drilled into our children.  We should be talking about them as we walk along the road, as we sit down to eat, and even as we lie down to sleep – not only with our children, but also with each other as couples.

I don't think we truly realise the importance of this.  Our verse here in this Psalm, simply describes for us that the people of Israel 'did not remember His power'.  They didn't remember.  How on earth is that possible?  You read the rest of this Psalm, and we have a parade of God's power presented to our senses, and yet those people didn't remember!

Read the drama and the awesome display of God's power as He struck Pharaoh and the Egyptians with a series of plagues, until Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go.  It must have taken a particular effort to blot out their memories.  It didn't just happen.  It had to be a deliberate choice.  Of course they remembered, but they chose not to bring it to mind.

Would you look with me at Judges 2.  There we have a devastating reminder of what can happen when we fail to make every effort to instil these great themes of God's power and mercy into each other.

The people had come into the Promised Land, but they hadn't been obedient to the Lord, and they didn't break down all the heathen influences and distractions of the people who were there before them.  And we read... (vs 6-10).

What a terrible thing, from one generation to the next, the living knowledge of the Lord God Almighty was lost.  How quickly the Word of the Lord is lost, when it isn't taught to the children as we are instructed to do in Deuteronomy 6.  Look at verse 17, there were still the voices of trustworthy and faithful leaders, but their voices rang out without the support and confirmation of the parents, and they were ignored.

I'm reminded here of the parable our Lord Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man died and went to hell.  Lazarus also died, but went on to live in the heavenly courts of the Lord.  The rich man cried out that someone might be raised from the dead, and be sent to warn his brothers to change, and so avoid his fate.  He was told, if they wouldn't listen to God's Word and call to mind the great power and mercy of the Lord, neither would they listen and take note of a miraculous messenger sent to them from the grave.

How easily we overlook the power of God; how easily we forget, how quickly sin leads us away from all things that will lead us to the feet of Jesus, to plead His almighty saving grace and mercy.  How unceasing our efforts must be, in God-given strength, to prevent the success of the devil.

Our verse in Psalm 78 also says that they not only forgot His power, but they also forgot the day God displayed His power, and rescued them from evil.  The day was erased from their calendar.

Even in this the devil works to distract and lead the people of God away.  On a Sunday our Lord Jesus Christ burst the shackles of death, and with the glory of God upon Him, He stepped from the place of the dead, and revealed Himself to His disciples.

On this day, the day which is reserved for the gathering together of His, to worship the Triune God, our Lord rose from the dead, and His work of rescuing a people out of sin and hell was finished.  May we never forget the function and purpose of this day.

Sin came into this world, and has infected and ruined our relationship with God, and yet He, in His mercy has satisfied His justice, and rescued us in a marvellous and dramatic manner.  Until the time of our Lord's choosing, when He shall come again, and bring an end to sin, we must wrestle with all our being against it.  The Lord's power has overcome, yet in us, and on this earth, sin continues to disincline the mind to hold onto the memory of God's ways.

One of the greatest sins we can commit, is to limit God and to constantly try to put Him to the test.  We do that when we think about God in human terms.  We do that, when we doubt His ability or even His readiness to fill us with good things as we seek Him, and His forgiving grace.  We test God every time we doubt His power, and when we try to tell Him how, when and where He should work His power.  We test Him when we set bounds to His power, when we limit His truth, when we restrict His wisdom to our limited comprehension, and His mercy to the confines of our experience.

In this way, the memory of the fullness of God's power and mercy in the acts and revelations of His Word are progressively suppressed.

Today, and this evening again, we shall set before each other the great and awesome power of God.  By His Son, He has revealed His justice and mercy.  By the all and supreme power of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have been rescued from sin, and the promised land of glory in the heavenly kingdom of God lies before us.

Let us hold before us the great themes of God's power to destroy sin and sinners, God's power to save sinners of His choosing from certain destruction, and God's gracious mercy to sinners.  Let us hold these great themes before each other and before our children.

May we never be accused of forgetting His power.

AMEN