Psalms

[0:00] In humble dependence upon the help of the Holy Spirit, I seek to direct your attention to Psalm 46, the last two verses, 10 and 11.

[0:17] Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.

[0:35] The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

[0:47] The last two verses in Psalm 46. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.

[1:11] The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

[1:22] You may say this is very similar to the text a fortnight ago.

[1:33] But I do not make any apology because I believe it is a word that has been given to me because I have sought with all my endeavor to find another word, find another text.

[1:56] But this one seems fixed.

[2:06] Therefore, we must, as an able, try to look at it a little.

[2:17] It was standstill a fortnight ago. Now it says be still.

[2:29] This, I judge, I know it from experience, is one of the hardest things to do.

[2:41] And it is only when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon one that one is enabled to be still.

[2:58] And what I am speaking about is in the face of things that seem to be going wrong.

[3:14] In the face, perhaps, of things that look like landing you, perhaps, in disaster, in trouble.

[3:30] With regard to the children of Israel and what we looked at, how to go, it was that they were to go forward.

[3:45] There was a sea in front of them and they needed to see and they did see the hand of the Lord in making the way for them. As I pondered this word that is a little, that is before us this time, I thought a little upon that case of Elijah.

[4:11] It seemed to come to the mind as I thought about, as I was considering these things a little. Elijah came before Ahab and declared unto Ahab, There shall not be dew nor rain.

[4:33] It's well to mark, my dear friends, what the Word of God says there. It does not say there shall not be rain. It says there shall not be dew nor rain.

[4:47] The dew in the land of the Bible was a very necessary thing, much more beneficial to them, perhaps, than what the dew is, although the dew is beneficial in our land.

[5:04] But there the dew was something that was very, very beneficial. But there should not be dew nor rain upon the earth, upon the land for such and such a time.

[5:19] And the Lord said to Elijah, Get thou eastward, and abide by the brook Cherith.

[5:38] And the word tells us how Elijah went and dwelled. You know all the ins and outs of it.

[5:50] I know the account of it. But as well to look at it again, I was rather struck as I read it down again, regarding that which I have already mentioned.

[6:01] There shall not be dew nor rain. We turn to James. We read there, And Elijah prayed that it should not rain.

[6:14] Elijah prayed in his prayer. Says the margin there. Elijah prayed in his prayer. How that comes home, does it not, my dear friends?

[6:28] Do we pray in our prayers? It means, my dear friends, that there was real prayer. Earnest prayer.

[6:40] He prayed earnestly. That it might not rain. He prayed in his prayer. But to come back to this, And the Lord said to him, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, And hide thyself by the brook Cherith, That is before Jordan.

[7:01] And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook. And I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

[7:12] There is no doubt, As the days went on, That Elijah, Had a dire necessity, Of this grace, To be wrought in his heart, To be still.

[7:37] Here he was, By the brook Cherith, The Lord had sent him there. The Lord had commanded, This is sweet to ponder, My dear friends, And some of us have had to Enter just a little into this, Commanded the ravens To feed thee there.

[8:02] We believe we can truly say We have seen And experienced this In just a little measure. Not as Elijah did, Not as Elijah did, But we have seen, And realized, The ravens, Bringing food.

[8:26] But this is the point I wish to come to. As Elijah, Sat, By the brook, Lived by the brook, We read, Lower down, And in, And so he went, According to the word of the Lord, And dwelt there, Dwelt, By the brook, Cherith, That is, Before Jordan.

[8:55] And it says, He drank of the brook, And in, It came to pass, After a while, That the brook, Dried up. Now, My dear friends, This didn't dry up suddenly, You know.

[9:09] This wasn't a brook running today, And dried up tomorrow. Elijah lived, Twelve months, By that brook, And he saw it gradually.

[9:20] No doubt, When he went there, To a, A bubbling brook, Flowing, Beautifully, And it gradually, Dried up.

[9:32] He saw it, Diminish. And, It must have been, An exercise of soul, To him.

[9:47] Because, The word says, He is a man, Of like passions, As we are. He was subject, To the same thoughts, That would arise, As he saw this brook, Drying up, Oh, How necessary, It was for him, To be still, And watch, And wait, To see the hand, Of the Lord.

[10:19] How necessary, It was for him, Then. Presently, The brook, Dried up completely, Now, My dear friends, We get, A fulfillment, Of working out, Of this, Promise, Be still, And know, That I am, God.

[10:47] Elijah, Saw it, For the word, Of the Lord, Came to him, Soon as the brook, Dried up, The Lord, Made known to him, That there was, Another way, For him, There was another, Place of sustenance, Another place, Where, He will be fed, And cared for, Says, Arise, And go, To Zarephah, For I have, Commanded, A widow woman, To sustain thee, See, My dear friends, Be still, And know, That I am, God, I have, Commanded, Says God, This is where we, Need to come to, My dear friends, It's our, Trust, Our, Waiting as it were,

[11:48] Upon God, Our believing in him, Be still, And know, I have, Commanded, How the, Lord himself, And this, My dear friends, Does not belong, Just to Elijah, Alone, Mark that, It does not belong, To just Elijah, Alone, It belongs, To every one, Of God's dear people, If we, Truly believe, In the divine, Appointments, Of our God, Then we shall, Truly believe, Believe in this, That he has, Commanded, Our blessing, There is, A word,

[12:49] In one of the Psalms, There he hath, Commanded, The blessing, And where is it, Is in, Zion, Where his people are, Where his people, Gather together, That does not mean, Just a chapel, Zion there, Means, The whole, Family, Family, Of God, There he hath, Commanded the blessing, That is one aspect, Of it, There is the other aspect, Of it, My dear friends, Forsake not, The assembling, Of yourselves, Together, As the manner, Of some is, Because, There he hath, Commanded the blessing, There the blessing, Will be given, As well, And much greater, In the house of God, Be still, Commanded, The things that,

[13:51] Are yours, Are, Graciously, Commanded, By him, And he says, I will be, Exalted, Among the heathen, There is another, Or there could be many, We could find in the word of God, But there is one, That has come, As I pondered this, And that, We find, In the new testament, And where, The two sisters, Sent, To their beloved, Lord, And said, Lord, He, Whom thou, Lovest, Is sick, Is sick, And Jesus,

[14:52] Still abode, In the place, Where he was, That said to him, Seeking his, Help, His comfort, That, It was his, Mind, And will, To remain, Where he was, For the time being, And he made, This statement, Unto his disciples, This sickness, Is not unto death, But unto the glory of God, A word that, Has been misinterpreted, Many times, I'll never forget, On one occasion, I referred to it, As I was speaking, And after the service, There was a man, Came up to me, He'd never spoken, To me before, I'd seen him many times, He'd never spoke,

[15:53] To me before, And he came up to me, And said, Look, I quite agree, With what you said, About that word, I had, Looked at it, That, We could, Misinterpret, A word, Like that, We might think, That, This word, Would be, As, Given to us, In the course, Of a time of sickness, Would be that, God would be glorified, In raising that one up, But I said, Not so, God might be glorified, In taking that one, And it so happened, With that dear man, He'd been out, In the woods, At work, And that word, Suddenly came to him, He got a little daughter, At home, Very ill, That word, Suddenly came to him, And he immediately,

[16:55] Left his work, And went home, Expecting to see, The little one, Much better, Instead of that, He saw her, In the throes of death, He couldn't understand it, But the Lord, Graciously, Led him, By his spirit, Into the truth, And reality, Of it, That the sickness, Was, To the glory of God, And that it took, That that went home, To glory, He had a good hope, Of her, It was, The glory of God, Jesus remained, Those dear sisters, Sat, And watched, Their, Love brother, Sinking, Saw him die, They took him, Put him in the tomb,

[17:57] When Jesus came, Eventually, What did they find, What did he find, Well he knew it, All the way along, Don't, We mustn't, Misunderstand, Mistake that, My dear friends, He knew all about, What was going on, But what did he find, He found, The sisters, Morning, Martha met him, Said, If thou hadst been here, Our brother had not died, Lord, If thou hadst been here, Our brother had not died, And it is well to note, My dear friends, How those two sisters, Spake the same words, To the Lord, When they met him, When Mary came to him, She said, If thou hadst not been here, Our brother had not died, The Lord said unto, Martha,

[18:58] Thy brother shall rise again, Yes, She says, I know, He will rise again, At the last day, And then, He, Puts to her, That, Point, About the resurrection, Jesus said unto her, I am, The resurrection, Martha said unto him, I know, That he shall rise again, In the resurrection, At the last day, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, And the life, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live, And whosoever liveth, And believeth in me, Shall never die, Believest thou this, How he brought Martha face to face, With that precious doctrine, Believest thou this,

[19:58] They had had to exercise, In that, What I was trying to bring before you, Was this, They had to exercise, During that period, Much of this, Which is before us, Be still, Be still, Be still, Know that their hearts, Were torn asunder, With grief, At the loss of their brother, But then, Be still, And know, That I am, I am God, And so that is what they were brought, To know, And to understand, And to see, As the Lord Jesus came, And he, Wrought out, As it were, That word that he had proclaimed, To his disciples, It was for the glory of God, And there is,

[21:01] My dear friends, As I said, These two sisters had mourned, And we get that wonderful, Word, Which shows to us, How, Jesus himself, Associated himself, With his people, Jesus wept, Jesus wept, He groaned in his spirit, The word of God says, He groaned in his spirit, Jesus wept, As he saw, Realized the sorrow, Of these dear ones, He said, Where have you laid him?

[21:53] Be still, And know, That I am God, And that is what, Jesus is saying, Unto Martha, When he, Said to her, Where have you laid him?

[22:10] Saying this to her, And when she said, Martha, Then said Martha, To the Lord, To Jesus, Lord, If thou hadst been here, My brother had not died, But I know that even now, Whatsoever thou wilt ask, Of God, God will give it thee, Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again, Martha said unto him, I know, That he shall rise again, In the resurrection, Of the last day, Jesus is saying unto her now, Be still, Be still, And know, That I am God, And as he opened up to her,

[23:12] That doctrine of the resurrection, Then, He said to her, Where have you laid him? And some there said, Could not this man, Which opened the eyes of the blind, Of course, That even this man should not die, I will be exalted, Among the heathens, You may say, But these were not heathen, But my dear friends, Heathen in that sense, Means those who do not believe in God, And there were many, Who were around the Lord Jesus Christ, Who did not believe in him, Therefore he would be exalted, Before their eyes, He would be exalted, Among the heathen, Amongst unbelievers,

[24:14] Is what it means, Amongst unbelievers, Could not this man, Have done this? They come to the grave, And he says, Take away the stone, Then he cries out, With a loud voice, Said I not unto thee, He says unto Martha, If thou wouldest believe, Thou shouldest see, The glory of God, There is this, The Lord Jesus speaks, Regarding his, And, That he, That, God should be exalted, And he, Makes this, Proclamation as it were, Jesus lifted up his eyes,

[25:14] And said, Father, I thank thee, That thou hast heard me, And I knew, That thou hearest me always, But because of the people, Which stand by, I said it, That they may believe, That thou hast sent me, And when he, Thus had spoken, And he cried, With a loud voice, Lazarus, Come forth, And he came forth, Bound, Hand and foot, With grave clothes, And his face, Was bound about, With a napkin, And Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, And let him go, Be still, And know, That I am God, And I've looked at these two, Portions of the word of God,

[26:19] With a desire to bring before you, Not only before you, Before my own mind and heart too, That God is able, To perform, To perform, Far beyond, What our mind and our thoughts, Can anticipate, Can anticipate, But he says, I will be, Exalted, Among the heathen, I will be, Exalted, In the earth, Therefore my dear friends, It rests, With us, With us, God will exalt himself, I know, God will be exalted himself,

[27:20] And that day will come, When, Every eye shall see him, And every tongue, Shall acknowledge him, But, In the carrying on, Of the earth, He says, I will be exalted, Among the heathen, I will be exalted, In the earth, We turn aside again, For a moment, We look in the book of Daniel, We get two cases there, Of where, Apparent, Godless men, Exalted God, We read how, Nebuchadnezzar, Was driven, He had gone on to the roof of Babylon, And said, Is not this great Babylon, That I have built, I have built,

[28:21] My dear friends, It's a solemn thing, When, When we're all, Somewhat guilty of it, When the big eye gets, On top, You know, When the big eye, Gets a little bit up, Say it's a solemn thing, And God will not have it, And Nebuchadnezzar, Walked on the roof of Babylon, The palace of Babylon, And said, Is not this great Babylon, That I, Have built, And immediately, The word went forth, And he was driven, From among men, And went and lived, In the fields, And ate grass, Like oxen, For a period, Of what happened, The Lord, In his mercy, Delivered, Nebuchadnezzar, The day came,

[29:23] When, His reason, Was restored, Unto him, And then, He makes, That acknowledgement, That the God, Of the Hebrews, Was the God, Of the whole earth, And there was no God, Like him, He says, I will be exalted, Among the heathen, There he was exalted, And again, We turn, In that same book, Of Daniel, And we find, One, Darius, And, Darius, Was one, Who was favorable, To Daniel, Loved Daniel, But through, The intuition, Of his, The men, In the court, His princes, Daniel, Was cast, Into the den, Of lions, Darius,

[30:25] Said to him, Thy God, Whom thou servest, Continually, He is able, To deliver thee, And he went home, And he spent the night, Fasting, No sleep attended, His eyes that night, And as early as he could, In the morning, Went back to the den, There it was, O Daniel, Is thy God, Able to deliver thee, What's he here, O king, Live forever, From that time, Darius, Made the decree, That, The God of Daniel, Only should be worshipped, And acknowledged, I will be exalted, Among the heathen,

[31:25] And my dear friends, He will be exalted, In our day, This day and age, In which we live, He will be exalted, And I've often wondered, To what degree, Of punishment, Our land, Has got to enter into, The wisdom of God, In dealing with nations, Is that he deals, In various ways, And the just what, And how he will deal, With Britain, I've often pondered, Because Britain sinks, Lower and lower, Britain becomes,

[32:26] More heathen, Every day, Every day, Oh may God, In his infinite mercy, Grant unto us, That grace, To pray for our land, With greater earnestness, That there might be those, Raised up at the head of affairs, Who shall, Seek to rule, In the fear of the Lord, But he says, I will be, But he says unto his people, Be still, And know that I am God, I will be exalted, Among the heathen, I will be exalted, In the earth, And this is the, Safe place, Of his people, The Lord of hosts, Is with us,

[33:29] Oh my dear friends, You have a sweet sense, And realization of this, In our hearts, In every, Aspect of our lives, In every prospect, Of things that lay before us, To have this, Sweetly brought home, To us, That, Our trust, Our hearts, May be, Fully centered, Firmly fixed, That it might be said, Of us, This, That which the Selmist, Says, In one of his Selms, My heart is fixed, That our hearts, Might be fixed, Upon this, Glorious truth, I mustn't go on,

[34:30] Too fast, My dear friends, How can they be fixed, How can they be fixed, Only as he fixes them, Only as he, In his infinite mercy, Has dealt with us, And caused us, To know, By felt experience, Our lost and ruined condition, And have been brought unto him, Been led to him, To put our trust in him, And in him alone, The Lord of hosts, Is with us, The God of Jacob, Is our refuge, How wondrously, The word of God, Has left that, Glorious record, Of Jacob, Jacob, You know,

[35:34] That actually, Jacob here, Means the church of God, The people of God, All who love the Lord Jesus Christ, In sincerity, Everywhere, But the God of Jacob, That God, Who met Jacob at last, Who said unto him, I will be with thee, In all places, Whither thou goest, And I will bring thee again, To this place, I will be with thee, That God, Of whom Jacob, Said in his latter days, God almighty, The angel, The angel, That met me, May he bless the lads, God almighty, Who led me all my life long, Led me all my life long,

[36:37] Bless the lads, There is, A word, Regarding Jacob, That is very, Very sweet, My dear friends, As we read, That account, When he was blessing, His family, His sons, He is, Blessing one, And another, And then, Suddenly, Suddenly, It seems, His mind, Turns aside, And his soul, Rejoices, I have waited, For thy salvation, O Lord, I have waited, The God of Jacob, That God, Who had, Who led him forth, And my dear friends,

[37:39] That, Same God, That same God, Is God today, Men may despise, And reject him, Men may cast, All manner, Of evil, Insinuations, Against him, He is still, That same God, And the day, Will come, When, As I said, Just now, Every tongue, Shall acknowledge him, And my dear friends, These are, These, Also are those, Who have rejected him here, Those who have said, There is no God, The fool hath said, In his heart, The soundness, The fool hath said, In his heart, There is no God, And how many, There are today, Who are saying this, So many, Men in our land,

[38:40] So many people, My dear friends, What do we say? What do we say?

[38:55] What is the language, Of our heart? Can we say, That truly, This God, Is our God, And will be our God, Even unto death, This God, Is our God, That Lord of hosts, Is with us, The God of Jacob, Is our refuge, O may he, In his infinite mercy, Grant unto us, To feel, And to realize, And to know, The blessedness, And reality, Of this, Wondrous mercy, Great mercy, Amen.

[39:48] Amen. Amen.