the words to which I should like to call your attention this morning to be found in that chapter which we read at the beginning namely the 63rd chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah and considering it especially from verse 7 to the end of the chapter. Now I take it like this because here we have recorded the prayer of the Prophet. Most of you will recall and remember that in the sixty-second chapter, the previous chapter, the Prophet has been outlining the condition and has arrived at certain conclusions and has made certain resolves, seeing the state of the Church, the nation as it then was, The Prophet decides to set watchmen upon the wall and to call upon his fellow countrymen to engage in ceaseless prayer. The essence, you remember, of the decision was that they would not take any rest themselves and they would give God no rest until Jerusalem once more had become a praise in the earth. Now the prophet prays thus and arrives at this decision, as I say, because of the condition of Israel, because of the forsaken and desolate character of God's people at that time. He has in mind, of course, the Chaldean captivity, the taking away of the children of Israel to the captivity of Babylon. That's the primary thing in his mind, but he doesn't stop at that. It goes on undoubtedly to the end of all time. and is therefore a picture which is appropriate to the condition and the life of the Church in any period of detention and of suffering. And therefore we are taking this great passage in the Prophet's prophecy in order that we may learn certain lessons for ourselves. Well, now there was his decision. And then you remember, we saw last Sunday morning, in the first six verses of this chapter, that God vouchsafed to give him a vision. God so often has done this. He does it to encourage his people. Lest they be wearied and faint in their minds, lest they be entirely overwhelmed, he gives an encouragement. He gave them a glimpse of their glorious deliverer and of his final victory. And thus, being encouraged by God through the vision, the Prophet proceeds to offer up his prayer. And it is to this prayer that I am anxious to call attention this morning. It begins here at the 7th verse of the 63rd chapter, and it really goes on to the very end of chapter 64. But we obviously can't take it as a whole, but we can take certain big sections, and I am proposing to do that this morning. Now my concern is just to hold the Prophet's prayer before you, and merely to comment upon it and to underline what I would regard as its leading principles. And I do this because I feel that it is necessary that we all should be instructed as to how we pray. It's a very easy thing to say, let us pray. But the Bible, in the accounts which it gives us of prayers and of the whole method of prayer, makes it perfectly clear that we need instruction, lest we indulge in mere vain repetitions and lest we fail to pray with the understanding as well as with the heart. And so you will always find that in these recorded prayers in the Bible, There is always a scheme, there is a system. The prayers do not just ramble on from point to point without any sequence or any connection. There is a definite arrangement and order. And as these prayers so prove to be effectual and efficacious, surely there is nothing better for us than to study them and to follow them and to emulate their example. Well now, here I say we have a great and a typical prayer offered by the church in a period of declension. It is a great prayer, if you like, for revival. A prayer to God to look down from heaven and to visit his people once more. Well now then, let us follow the method of the prophet. What does he do? We observe that the first thing he does is that he reminds himself of the character of God. And he not only reminds himself of that, he reminds God of that. Now that is the great burden of the seventh verse. I will mention, he says, the loving-kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses." Now that's a great and a comprehensive statement. He's starting, as I say, with the character of God. And that is ultimately the secret of all true prayer. Prayer must always begin by a realization of God and of his character. Otherwise prayer can be a mere attempt at discovering some kind of psychological relief or ease. Prayer can be the mere uttering up of pious hopes and aspirations, the mere expression of our fears. If prayer is to be real, surely the first thing we have to do is to realize the One to whom we are speaking. I think that's obvious in every walk and in every department of life. To have an intelligent conversation, you must know something about the one to whom you're speaking. You must know something about their background, about their knowledge, the things they're interested in. Well, it's exactly the same in prayer. Prayer is personal communion with the living God. And there is nothing more important than that we should remind ourselves of God's glorious character. And the Prophet does that. And the thing to notice, of course, is the way in which he uses the plurals. Loving-kindnesses, praises, he says, great goodness, mercies, multitude of his loving-kindnesses. He doesn't put these things in the singular, but in the plural. And you notice that he repeats the loving-kindnesses. And his object in doing that, of course, is to remind himself of the abundance of these characteristics in God. God is one who is full of loving-kindness, full of compassion, full of goodness, full of mercies. The multitude of his loving-kindness. How good is God? That's what he is reminding himself of. And of course you can see the value of doing this, especially in the circumstances in which the Prophet was praying. The need was desperate. They seemed to have been abandoned. Many of them were given to grumbling and to complaining. So the Prophet realizes that the first thing he's got to do is to be perfectly certain about God. As if to say, whatever the explanation is of our present state and condition, it isn't God. God, he says, I know, to be full of these lovingkindnesses and goodness and mercies and compassions and praises. And you and I must ever learn to pray in this way, whether it is an individual prayer or whether it is a prayer on behalf of the church. If we go into the presence of God with any doubt in our minds as to his goodness, There is very little point or purpose in our praying. When the devil comes and suggests that God is against us and that God doesn't care and so on, well, I say the first thing to do is to clear our minds, to get rid of any doubt or uncertainty about the being and the character of God. Well, you remember how the Apostle Paul puts it. He says, in nothing be anxious. Well, how are you to avoid this anxious care and burdened anxiety? He says, In nothing be anxious, but in all things, with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto God. You may find yourself in very trying circumstances this morning. Everything may seem to be against you. And you're beginning to wonder and to doubt, perhaps, whether God is really concerned about you, and you're beginning to query and to question his promises. The first thing, my dear friend, you have to do is to get your mind and your thinking clear and straight. If there is any such lingering doubt in your mind or your heart about the character of God, I say your prayer is already useless. Start with the prophet. I will make mention of the loving-kindnesses of the Lord. God is good to all, and His tender mercy is over all. There's no doubt about that. That is God's character, and it is eternal, and it is unchangeable. He is everlastingly a God of loving-kindnesses. of mercies, of goodness and compassion. And as he starts with the loving-kindnesses, you notice that he repeats it at the end of the statement, according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. Whatever may be the explanation of your individual condition or of the state of the Church in general at the present hour, it is not to be found in any lack of loving-kindness or mercy or compassion, in God, our Heavenly Father. Well, now that is, I say, the point at which the Prophet starts. And if we are not clear about this, I say, there is no point in proceeding. If you have any criticism in your mind or your heart about God, stop praying. It's an insult. If you feel that God is against you and unfair to you, stop praying, I say. There is no purpose in your going on another sentence. We start by worshipping God, by adoring Him, by praising Him, by ascribing unto Him not only all might and majesty and dominion and power, but all the excellences of his holy nature that he has been so graciously pleased to reveal to us. That must ever be, I say, our starting point. But then you notice that having done that, the Prophet proceeds to do something else. And this is the thing which he elaborates, and therefore which we must consider in detail. Having reminded himself thus of the character of God, he makes a review of the history of the children of Israel. And he does that at great lengths, down indeed to the end of verse 14. That is what he does from verse 8 to verse 14. He looks back upon the history of the children of Israel. Now, here is something that I am most anxious to emphasize in connection with his method. Because it is such a common method, you will find in the scriptures. You get it in all these prophets, you get it likewise in the book of Psalms. The psalmist finds himself again in difficulties, or he finds the church as she then was, the nation of Israel, in trouble, surrounded by enemies, perhaps defeated. And this is the invariable thing which they do. They look back to the past, as if to say to themselves, well now then, why are we in this position? How have we ever come to this? Has this ever happened before? And obviously, to do this is the very essence of wisdom. Let me put it to you in this form. What we are dealing with here is not something theoretical. This is essentially historical. When we talk about praying to God and the benefits of prayer, we are not in the realm of mere academic knowledge. or something, as I say, which is purely theoretical. We are dealing with the dealings of God with his people. God's dealings with us today. Yes, but we are reminded that we are not the first people to be in this world. We are not the only people to find ourselves in difficulties. Fortunately, we have this long record the history of God's dealing with his people in past ages and centuries, going right away back to the beginning and the origin of the human race. And there is nothing, surely, that is of more priceless value to us, and to the Church in general, than to be familiar with this very history. God doesn't merely give us teaching, he gives us history. He says what he's going to do with his people and for them, but he's not only done that, he's given us a record of what he has done. And this, I say, is invaluable for the church. Now the prophet therefore begins to look back and he says, well now, what is the relationship of Israel to God? Let me go back to the very origin, to the beginning of this story. And you and I must learn to do exactly the same thing. Take the way in which the Apostle Paul puts this. He says, referring to the history of the children of Israel in 1 Corinthians 10, he says, these things are written for our ensample, upon whom the ends of the world have come. He says, why have we got the history of the children of Israel in the wilderness, and what happened to them, and all the rest of it? Well, he says, the purpose is this. that all this has been written for our example, for our help, for our aid. That's how God dealt with them. Let us learn the lesson. God is still the same, and the principles of his dealings with mankind never vary. These things are written for our examples, upon whom the ends of the world have come. And you and I are looking at this paragraph this morning, for precisely that reason. But we can supplement this. We can not only go back to the Bible and look at the principles there enunciated of God's dealings with his people, but we can go back and look at the whole history of the Christian Church, which brings the position much more nearly to our contemporary position. And this is surely one of the first lessons that the Church needs to learn at this present time. The trouble is, of course, that we are so obsessed with ourselves and with the twentieth century that we fail to learn the lessons of history. And yet they're there for us in great abundance and profusion. It's an odd thing to say, perhaps, but to me it's a great comfort that the Church of God has many a time in the past been in the same sort of condition in which He is today. And it is the people who forget that who are most depressed at the present time. I mean the people, you see, who are always talking about our difficulties, about the wireless and the television and communism. All along they say, here's the problem, as if nobody had ever had a problem before. Now the antidote to all that is to go back into the history of the Church. There is nothing new about the present position. The only thing that appears to be new is the particular form in which the difficulty presents itself. But many and many a time, the Church has been down in the depths at the bottom of the trough. And everybody was beginning to think that the end was at hand. Well, now then, I say, go back and let us study the history. Let us follow this man as he does so. And here he begins. For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie. So he was their saviour. What does he mean by that? Well, he's reviewing the history of God's dealings with his own people, the children of Israel. And what he sees above everything else is God's goodness to the people. He sees it in this, that it was God who called them. He said, God said, surely they are my people. Well, how did they ever become his people? Well, because he made them his people. The nation of Israel came into being through God calling a man whose name was Abraham. And he turned his name into Abraham. It was God's action. It was God who called him out of error of the Chaldeans. It was God who took him to the promised land. It was the action of God, the calling of the people. They are my people. Now that is the fundamental thing, says the prophet, which we must grasp. We are not like the other nations of the world. We are in a special and in a peculiar relationship to God. We are His people. And therefore, because he has called them and has started this work in them, he is their saviour. That is the pronouncement. This word, so, should not be here. He said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie. He was their saviour. Not because they didn't lie. They did lie. But because he has called them, he is going to save them. They are his people. He has separated them unto himself, and they belong to him in this peculiar and extraordinary manner. Well now, here is the first thing we have to realize about the Church. The Church of God is not a human institution. She is not one among a number of institutions and societies, any more than Israel was just one among a number of nations in the ancient world. Oh no! She is his new creation by water and the worm. The church is the people of God. The whole of the origin of the church is the result of God's purpose. It is God who has made her and created her. It is he who calls us out of darkness into his most marvellous light. We have no being, we have no existence. apart from our relationship to God. And then he goes on to remind himself and the people of God's dealings with them. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bared them and carried them all the days of old. You see what he's doing? He says, here are we, the children of Israel, The Chaldeans have come and have conquered our city, have ruined it, carried us away captive. Well, who are we? Well, we are these people of God to whom God did these extraordinary and marvellous and wonderful things. I'll remind myself, he says, of the origin and of the beginning. Now, we must be careful about the exact translation here. I read, in all their affliction he was afflicted. It's generally agreed that that is not a good translation. It would be better to put it like this. In all their adversity, He was no adversary. Or if you prefer, in all their enmity, He was not an enemy. They were very often His enemies. He was never their enemy. That's the glorious thing which He can say. In all the enmity that they experienced from other people, He was not an enemy. Now, you simply to read the story of the children of Israel, to confirm this for yourself, There they are in affliction, in adversity. But God was never their adversary. God was never their enemy. There were others. They were their own enemies. He wasn't. And the angel of his presence saved them. Go back and read the story. of the angel of the covenant who came and visited them and helped them, that's the angel of God's presence. That is undoubtedly a prefiguring of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, if indeed it wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ himself actually appearing in that particular form. And then this most tender statement, and he bare them and carried them all the days of old. That was literally true. And you see the value of reminding ourselves of this kind of thing. Well, we are here like this now, says the prophet. But oh, I think of the days, I go back to the times when God was carrying his people. Like an eagle carries her young upon her wings, so God carried his people, carried them through the wilderness. carried them in the desert, carried them through the sea, carried them across the river. This is how God dealt with the people in times past, the goodness of God to his people. And as the Christian church looks back to her origin, she sees exactly the same thing. Go back to the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Look at that handful of people. With nothing to recommend them at all? Why are they there at all? Why do you call them the church? Well, it was the Lord who chose them. He called them. He set them in this position. He left his word with them. But look at them. Just a little handful of people with the whole world against them. The Jews against them. The leaders, the authorities, the Gentiles against them. The whole world was against them and yet look how God blessed them, look how God carried them, look at His tender dealings with them, look at the angel of His presence, the power of the Holy Spirit, and see that little church, that helpless, defenseless band of people, see them triumphing, prevailing, conquering, going forward, God leading them on and giving them mighty victories. In His love and in His pity, see God carrying them along, and follow the history of the Christian Church throughout the centuries, and you'll find exactly the same thing. Doesn't the early history of the Protestant Reformation seem almost impossible? What can one man like Martin Luther do with all that was against him? What can these little bands of people conceivably achieve? with so mighty opponents standing over and against them. But God carried them along. And that is what happens in all the great periods of revival that the Church has ever known. God carried them all the days of old. Now there is nothing that I know of that is so thrilling as to go back to these histories, to these stories, and to see the Church as she is being carried along by God. thrilled with the power and the might of his great authority and his great goodness. There is the origin, there is the beginning. But what happened to it? Was the history of Israel always a history of blessing and of being carried along by God's goodness? Well, no, says the man. And this was his comfort, you see. What happened? Well, this is what happened. but they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit. Therefore he was turned to be their enemy and he fought against them. Now here again is something that you find recurring as an almost endless theme in the writings of the Old Testament. This furious alternation in the history of the children of Israel. There they were at the beginning, but then you find them utterly downcast and almost destroyed. What was the matter? Well, it's always the same. It was because these children of Israel, who'd been so called and so greatly blessed, rebelled against God and vexed and grieved His Holy Spirit. Though they were these special people of God, Though they were in this unique relationship to him, though they'd experienced these abundant blessings, this is what we find. They began to feel envious of the other nations and their gods. They began to feel that the religion of the God of Israel was too narrow. These ten commandments, they said. We are not allowed to eat what we like, we can't marry whom we like, we can't live seven days a week as we like. They rebelled against God. They said this religion is intolerable, this yoke is something that we can't bear. They rebelled against Him and they turned to other gods and they sinned against the God of Israel. Though he had revealed himself to them and had given his holy law in utter detail so that there was no doubt about it, they rejected it all, turned their backs upon him, plunged into sin, imitated the other nations, took up their gods and their idols and bowed before them and worshipped them. That was their story. In spite of all that God had been to them and had done for them, they thus deliberately rebelled against Him and grieved and vexed His Holy Spirit. Read their story. It's here for us. It's been recorded for our example. The children of Israel would have continued in a state of blessing if they had not rebelled, if they had not vexed and grieved the Holy Spirit of God. And when you see them down, that's always the explanation. They rebelled against God in belief and in the matter of practice. And here, my friends, we come to the very nerve of our present position. Why is the Christian Church as she is today? Why is it the case that only ten percent of the people of this country claim even a nominal relationship to Christianity, and only half of those do so with any regularity and constancy? Why are the places of worship in this land as they are today in contrast with what they were, say, a hundred years ago? Think of a hundred years ago. This very building was built in 1864, and of this size. Why? Well, because the previous one, which was a large building, was not big enough. And at the same time, Mr. Spurgeon was attracting those thousands south of the Thames. All places of worship in London were crammed full, and it was the same throughout the country. God was blessing. There was that great revival in 1859, affecting parts of the country. But before that, and in addition to that, God had been blessing the people. The great blessings of the revival of the 18th century were still continuing, and religion was flourishing, and the Church was in a dominant position. Even the statesmen had to pay attention to her. They talked about an unconformist conscience and an unconformist vote, and they had to pay attention to what the Church said. The Church was flourishing, rejoicing in the blessings of God. Why are things so different today? That's the question. That is exactly the question you see confronting us. It's the same question in principle as that confronting this prophet. Why are we down? Why are we being carried away to Babylon? What's gone wrong? How does it come to pass that this people, who were so great and so blessed, has come down to this? It's the same question. And alas, unfortunately, the answer is still the same. When Israel, when the Church is in trouble and is desolate and forsaken, it is always because of her own rebellion. her own grieving of the Holy Spirit of God. That is the only explanation. But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit. And as the children of Israel did that, so the Church of God has done that in the last hundred years. This is the only explanation. You notice that the Prophet doesn't say that the trouble with Israel was that these enemies had come and attacked. No, no. That isn't, he says, the explanation. That had happened, of course. But that isn't the explanation. Go through this Prophet, go through all the other Prophets and the Psalms, and you will find that they always say this and this alone. Whenever Israel is down and defeated, it is never because of the strength and the power of the enemy. Oh no, because if they were right with God, it doesn't matter what the enemy is, nor ever powerful, God will always make them victorious. That's never the explanation. Whenever Israel is defeated and is down, it is always and invariably because of her own rebellion. our own folly, our own vexing and grieving of the Holy Spirit of God. And alas, my friends, that is the diagnosis today. Whether we like it or not, that is the real explanation. It isn't because of these new enemies that have arisen against the Church. They're always there. It isn't communism, you know. It isn't the two world wars. It isn't the competition of the wireless and the television and the cinema. No, no. There has always been the opposition to the people of God. These things are not variables. These things are constants. Well, what has happened, you say? Well, what has happened is this, that the Church herself, in her own has rebelled against God and grieved and vexed His Holy Spirit. How? Well, in exactly the same way as Israel did, in belief and in practice. The children of Israel turned from God and His revelation. They turned to other gods and to their own notions and ideas. They deliberately set God on one side and made their own gods. And that is precisely what the Church has done in the last hundred years. There is only one true explanation of the state of Christendom and the state of the Church today. It is that the Church herself last century deliberately rejected God's revelation and put philosophy in its place. It was the church that did it, not the common people. The church in her own leaders began to criticize this book, to set themselves up as authorities, to deny certain aspects of the teaching. They denied the God of the Old Testament. They don't believe in him, they say. They made a mere man out of the Lord of Glory. They denied his virgin birth. They denied his miracles. They denied his atonement. They denied the person of the Holy Spirit. And they reduced this to a book of ethics and of morals. That is why the Church is as she is. The Church rebelled in her doctrine and in her belief. She set up the wisdom of men in the place of the wisdom of God. She became proud of her learning and of her knowledge. And what she asked about her preachers and her servants was not any longer, is he filled with the Spirit? Has he a living experience of God? But is he cultivated? Is he cultured? What are his degrees? No, I'm not romancing, am I? This is literal history. The Church herself rebelled against God and vexed and grieved His Holy Spirit. And man substituted his own notions and ideas for God's revelation and God's teaching. It's an exact repetition of what the children of Israel did. And of course it was not only done in belief and in teaching, it was done also in practice and in conduct and in behavior. People began to feel that the old evangelical way of living was too narrow. That was the word, narrowness. And they wanted a broader kind of outlook and a broader kind of life. And so in belief and in practice they turned their backs upon God and lived according to their own devices. And the enemy came in, of course. The church as a mere organization can never compete with the world. She is beaten at the very beginning. Oh, it was pathetic to see how the church tried to do it. She tried to bring in things from the world. She introduced dramatics, and this and that and the other, but it hasn't worked. Of course not. The church can't do things like that. It's the world that can do things like that, and so much better. The church has only one source of strength, and that is the power of God. the power of His Holy Spirit. And when she turns against that and rebels against it, she invariably finds herself defeated. And this is what happens, of course. Because she did that, God punished her. They rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit, therefore He was turned to be their enemy and He fought against them. And we must be perfectly clear about this. This is literally true. I said at the beginning that God's character is unchangeable. Yes, that's absolutely true. And this is unchangeable. And also, absolutely true, God told these children of Israel before he took them into the Promised Land. He said, if you'll obey me, I'll bless you. Mount Gerizim. He said, on the other hand, if you disobey me, cursing I will curse you. Mount Ebal. He told them he'd do it, and he did it. He said, if you don't obey my laws, if you don't walk in unison with me, I will curse you. And he cursed them, though they were his own people. In other words, having rebelled against him, these people began to discover that they were fighting against God, and that God not only did not bless them, but he fought against them. There are endless examples of that in the Old Testament history. Who was it that raised up this Chaldean army to destroy Jerusalem? The Bible says it was God who did it. He raised up an enemy to chastise his own people. He temporarily, metaphorically, became their enemies in order to reduce them and in order to subdue them. He did it repeatedly in this long Old Testament story. And I have no hesitation in asserting that he has done the same thing many and many a time in the long history of the Christian church. If the church in her cleverness rebels against him and vexes his spirit and turns her back upon him, she mustn't assume that she's just going to be left to herself. No, no. God will raise enemies and he'll attack her. He'll become an enemy to her. He will scourge her. He will humble her. And I have no hesitation in asserting that we are witnessing that very thing today. The Church is still not humbled. She still doesn't realize that she's the cause of her own troubles. She doesn't realize that it's her rebellion that's done it. Is there any evidence of repentance for all this devastating higher critical movement of a century ago? Have they gone back on that? Have they admitted it? No, no. They're still holding on to their results, though they see that it doesn't work and they're trying to add other things to it. There is no repentance. And so God raises enemies against the Church. He's always done it, and he will continue to do it. And that is what he did, but thank God that isn't the end of the story. What happened? Well, says the prophet, then he, the nation of Israel, remembered the days of old, Moses and his people saying, where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within them, that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, etc.? What's it mean? Well, it's this. When God had chastised his people, had thus raised up enemies against them to humble them and to subdue them, In their utter defeat and hopelessness and despair, they suddenly came to themselves and remembered Moses and the days of old and the origin of their being. Now, there's a perfect counterpart to that in the New Testament. I just mention it because it puts the whole picture. It's the prodigal son again, you see. walks away from home, despising his father with his pockets full of money. He knows what he's going to do so much better than his father. Off he goes, ah yes, and he kept on and on and on until he found himself sitting in that field with the husks and the swine. And suddenly he came to himself and said, what am I doing here? I'm my father's son. He thought of home. He thought of his father. Yes, but it took that to make him think of his father. He had to be in rags, disheveled, empty, stomach empty, starving, dying before he came to himself. But then he remembered, and he got up, and he went back, and he went home. My dear friends, that is what has always happened to the Church before she begins to experience revival. She has to come to herself and remind herself as to who she is and what she is, that she is the people of the living God brought into being in this miraculous manner, and that she belongs to God. She comes to herself. And then she repents and begins to speak and to pray. And oh, what a wonderful prayer this is. He remembered the days of old Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him? That's the phrase. Where is he? Where is the God that called Moses that afternoon when he was a shepherd on the backside of that mountain? Where is he? Where is the God of Moses? Where is the God of David? Where is the God of Elijah? Where is he, the God who does such marvelous things? Where is he that we should be like this? That was their prayer. They turned back. And they sought God confessing their sins. They said, He is still the same God, but where is He? We know He is there, but where is He? Why are we like this? Let me repeat to you the particular Petitions that they offered, where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him, that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before him to make himself an everlasting name, that led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest. So didst thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name. Oh, they said, where is this God of power? Where is this God of deliverance? Where is this God with such teaching? Where is the God who leads and guides? Where is the God who gives us rest? Where is the God of glory? That's his nature, that's what he did. Where is he? We know that his power is still the same. We know that he can still give rest and glory to the church. We know that he can scatter every enemy, that he can divide the sea and divide the river, that he can give manna in the wilderness, that there is nothing impossible with him. There he is, and here are we, desolate and forsaken. Where is he, the God who, when he arises, can scatter all the modern enemies as he scattered the ancient enemies, and dismiss them with the breath of his mouth? Where is he? Beloved people, that is the prayer of the Church. That is the only way of salvation. We look at our enemies. And in our folly we say, what can we do? What fresh organization can we set up? What can we organize? What can we do? We here and there. No nurse is this man. When these people of old came to themselves, I find that this is what they did. They said, where is he? Oh, that I knew where I might find him. If only we could find him. Where is he? He's there. He's somewhere with all his illimitable power. But the question is, where is he? So they set themselves to seek the Lord and to seek his face. Now, says the prophet, that is what we must do. And so, you see, he begins to do it in verse 15, and he continues. God willing, we shall go on to consider that. He begins by praying, look down from heaven upon us. This God, He's there? Where is He? Well, let us seek Him. Let's drop everything else. Let's concentrate on finding God, seeking His face. Let us be urgent. Where is He? The God of Moses. The God that filled them with His Spirit, that led them, that conquered their enemies, divided the sea, and led them into the Promised Land. Nothing matters. but that we should find him. Yes, said the prodigal, I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thy face, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. That's the prayer in utter humility. seeing our rebellion and our folly, our foolish pride and our shame, let us arise and go to our Father, saying, Where is He? For the moment we find Him, we shall find that He is still full of lovingkindnesses and mercies and compassion and love and mercy and all we need. and His power is undiminished. And when He looks upon us and blesses us, again we shall become His people, and our enemies shall be scattered, and Zion shall again be filled with the glory of the Lord. Where is He? Is that the cry of your heart? I see no hope for the Church. until her people are filled with this cry, Where is he? Nothing matters but to know him and to be in the right relationship to him. We do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. The MLJ Trust retains exclusive copyright ownership to all audio files of Dr. Lloyd-Jones sermons, including all derivatives, such as translations, modifications, or edited versions of the files. You must gain written permission to license, distribute, or broadcast the audio files, and under no circumstance may the files be offered for sale to or by a third party. You can find our contact information on our website at mljtrust.org. Thank you.