How The Lord Heals A Fear Disorder

1 Samuel 5, 6.

The Lord's hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod.

He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory

and afflicted them with tumors.

When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said,

The Ark of Israel's God must not stay here with us

because his hand is strongly against us and our God Dagon.

So they called all the Philistine rulers together and asked,

What should we do with the Ark of Israel's God?

The Ark of Israel's God should be moved to Gath, they replied.

So they moved the Ark of Israel's God.

And after they moved it, the Lord's hand was against the city of Gath,

causing a great panic.

He afflicted the people of the city from the youngest to the oldest

with an outbreak of tumors.

The people of Gath then sent the Ark of God to Ekron.

But when it got there, the Ekronites called out,

They've moved the Ark of God, Israel's God, to kill us and our people.

The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together.

They said, Send the Ark of Israel's God away.

Let it return to its place so it won't kill us and kill our people.

For the fear of death pervaded the city.

God's hand was oppressing them.

Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors,

and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

When the Ark of the Lord had been in the Philistine territory for seven months,

the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded,

What should we do with the Ark of the Lord?

Tell us how we can send it back to its place.

They replied,

If you send the Ark of Israel's God away,

do not send it without an offering.

Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed.

Then the reason his hand hasn't been removed from you will be revealed.

They asked,

What guilt offering shall we send back to him?

And they answered,

Five gold tumors and five gold mice,

corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers,

since there was one plague for both you and your rulers.

Make images of your tumors and your mice that are destroying the land.

Give glory to Israel's God,

and perhaps he will stop oppressing you,

your gods and your land.

Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and the pharaohs hardened theirs?

When he afflicted them,

didn't they send Israel away and Israel left?

Now then, prepare one new cart

and two milk cows that had never been yoked.

Hitch the cows to the cart,

but take their calves away and pen them up.

Take the Ark of the Lord,

place it on the cart,

put the gold objects that you're sending him

as a guilt offering in a box beside the Ark.

Send it off and let it go its way.

Then watch.

If it goes up the road to its homeland,

toward Beth Shemesh,

it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us.

However, if it doesn't,

we will know that it was not his hand that punished us.

It was just something that happened by chance.

The men did this.

They took two milk cows,

hitched them to the cart,

and confined their calves to the pen.

Then they put the Ark of the Lord on the cart,

along with a box containing the gold mice

and the images of the tumors.

The cows went straight up the road to Beth Shemesh.

They stayed on that one highway,

lowing as they went.

They never strayed to the right or the left.

The Philistine rulers were walking behind them

to the territory of Beth Shemesh.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Luke 1 says,

No word from God shall be void of power.

Would you pray with me?

Father, we trust that in your providence,

you have brought each one here today

to sit under your word

and to hear this difficult text.

We pray, Lord, that your spirit will illumine it to us,

that you'll shine the glory of God

into our minds and our hearts.

We pray that you will help me, Father,

in my weakness.

I pray that you will help our congregation, Father.

Help us to see you truly for who you are.

And I pray, Father,

that those fears inside of our souls

will be settled and put into proper order

before this holy God

as you've revealed yourself to us.

For your glory we ask for Christ's sake.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Natural fear is not a sin.

As human beings, we have natural fears.

For about eight months,

my family and I had to live in Tucson, Arizona

for about eight months.

And Tucson is like a different planet.

It's barely earth.

One thing in Tucson is it seems like everything

in the wilderness and the desert

is trying to kill you and destroy you.

The plants, the bugs, everything wants to kill you.

And when we had to move there,

our little one at the time,

our youngest daughter who's now seven,

she was just born

and would be learning to crawl

in those next eight months.

And we found every single month we lived there

a scorpion in the home.

And you can imagine the mother's instincts.

We had a natural fear for the life of our daughter.

Those little baby scorpions on the counter

that are very poisonous.

And that type of fear is not a sin.

But a phobia, it's a fear disorder.

And fear disorders can be crippling.

Some of you know this very well

from firsthand experience living in this broken world.

What I saw was that one in five adults in America

suffer from some type of fear disorder.

Or anxiety disorder.

One out of five adults in the USA.

Now these are adults in the USA.

A country that does not have the fear of a land war.

Canada's got no plans to invade anytime soon.

It's not hard to find enough calories for survival

in this country.

I think we have the opposite problem.

I do.

Too many calories.

Education is free.

Social mobility is relatively easy now

in this time period of history than it's ever been.

And we have this very important invention

that keeps us going called antibiotics.

Some of us have needed antibiotics this past winter

to survive.

And we have.

We've survived another winter.

But still,

we have so many anxieties and fears

as adults in America.

20% of our nation

with a fear disorder.

Whenever we start to fear something creaturely,

more than we fear the creator,

our fears are out of order.

We have a phobia disorder.

The Puritan John Flabel in the 1600s

saw this exact pattern.

And this is a time of plagues

and a fire that swept across London.

But he pointed out,

sometimes we,

even as Christians,

we fear too soon.

Other times we fear too much.

And still other times we fear for no good reason.

We can relate to that, can't we?

As we read the Bible,

we see more and more a picture of God

as a loving father.

And no loving father wants his children

to be crippled by phobias.

The good news is that God

is the God who heals us.

So beloved congregation

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I want you to walk through this

difficult passage with me

and with God's help,

we'll see how it is that the Lord

heals the fear disorders

of his people.

Because we have to ask the question,

why was this story told?

And why is this story preserved

in God's word?

Why would God's people

throughout all the generations

and us now have this

as part of our Bible?

We're told every part of the Bible

is for our good,

for our instruction.

And that's the conclusion I've come to

after studying it and meditating it

with you and my hearts

and in my prayers.

So I want you to be ready

as we work through this

to answer the question,

will you let God

heal your fears?

Will you let

our powerful, mighty God

heal your fears?

Put them in proper order

today.

That's my prayer.

Well, I see two steps

to get us going

of how God does this.

First,

the Lord disarms

the power

of lesser fears.

The Lord disarms

the power

of lesser fears.

And he does this

very literally.

So what were the

disordered fears

in our passage

for today?

Well, we know the Israelites,

what did they fear?

Israel feared

the Philistines.

And the Philistines,

we know what they feared.

It was Dagon,

their devil,

demon god.

They had a great temple

to Dagon.

We saw last week

how did the Lord

disarm Dagon.

Well, he did it

by breaking off

the arms of Dagon.

In chapter 4,

verse 3,

they asked the question

the Israelites do

about the Philistines.

They say,

why has the Lord

defeated us today

before the Philistines?

Bring the ark

that it may save us

from the hand

of our enemies.

Listen for that theme,

the hand.

Whose hand

are you afraid of?

The Israelites were afraid

of the hand

of the Philistines.

The Philistines then,

taking this ark captive,

carry it to their temple,

humiliate the Lord of hosts,

they taunt him

over the victory,

the very victory

that he allowed them

to have.

And then in this temple,

we read in chapter 5,

verse 4,

there was Dagon now

as the Philistines

gather around,

fallen with his face

to the ground

before the ark

of the Lord.

Both Dagon's head

and hands

were broken off.

Dagon disarmed,

powerless.

The Philistines

disarmed,

powerless.

And now we read today

in chapter 5,

verse 6,

would you look there

with me?

The hand of the Lord

was heavy

on the people

of Ashdod.

He ravaged them

and struck them

with tumors.

It's the hand

of the Lord.

Because this passage

links these tumors

with rats,

scholars have come

to the conclusion

that these may have

been symptoms

of a bubonic plague.

The bubonic plague

or the black plague,

it was transmitted

by mice

and then fleas

that would ride

on the backs

of a mouse

would get onto humans

and bite the humans

and then humans

get the bubonic plague.

What it is

is bacteria

that would be carried

and transmitted

that way

that causes a swelling

of your lymph nodes.

A swollen lymph node

is called a bubos.

That's why it's

the bubonic plague.

These are located

on the neck,

under the armpits,

and the groin

and they're accompanied

by severe headaches,

frequent chills,

shivering,

high fever,

muscle aches,

nausea,

vomiting,

fatigue,

and sometimes confusion.

The swelling

under the skin

turns to a purple

and black

pus-filled boil,

painful tumors

that can erupt

and spread

very contagiously

to others.

A victim

of the bubonic plague

would die

within three

to eight days.

Who is able

to stand

before this

holy Lord God?

Not Dagon's statue

and not the people

of Ashdod.

They're totally powerless

and disarmed.

The hand of the Lord

has stricken them.

Look at verse 7.

There it is again.

The Lord's hand,

they said,

is harsh toward us

and to Dagon

our God.

Now when we have

this reference

to the hand of God,

disarming Dagon

and disarming

the Philistines,

is it God's hand?

Is that really

what it is?

Well let's look

at the rest of Scripture

to shed some light

on this phrase,

the hand of God.

Jesus says

in John 4,

John 4:24

verse 24,

that God is spirit

and Jesus also says

in Luke 24, 39,

that a spirit

does not have flesh

and bones.

So God does not

have flesh and bones

yet it's the hand of God

that's heavy

upon his enemies.

So what is

the hand of God?

It's God acting

in space and time.

It's a display

of God's

sovereign power.

How God will orchestrate

material causes

and effects.

God displays his power

in a specific way

through providence.

God acting

in human history.

Sometimes God acts

with nature,

sometimes he acts

against nature,

and sometimes

above nature

as our confession

puts it.

Today we'll see

two examples.

striking the Philistines

with this plague

carried by rats

causing tumors

on their skins

as God

showing his mighty

sovereign providential

hand on them

with nature

using natural disease.

Why does the Lord

do this?

See,

the Lord is revealing

even to this

lost pagan people,

you and your demon God,

you're not the ones

who have taken

the Lord captive.

The Lord has not

fallen into your hands.

Your hands are cut off.

You've made immobilized

by this plague.

You've fallen

into the hands

of the Lord,

and his hand

is heavy upon you.

This is the Lord of life

showing those

who opposed him

that to fight

the Lord of life

is to choose death.

He's teaching them

to fear

the heavy hand

of God

in order to live.

I say this

with as much love

and sensitivity

as I can.

There may be some here

or those who will

listen to this later

who still

oppose this Lord,

the Lord of life

in your heart

or in your life.

You're opposing him.

I need to lovingly

warn you

the same way

he's warning

the Philistines.

To oppose God

is to invite

his wrath

upon you.

The call

is to wake up.

You don't need

the Lord

to send boils

onto your skin.

You have his word.

You can see him

acting graciously.

Let his spirit

soften you up

to receive

this God

because until you

fear his heavy hand

you and I

can't have

eternal life.

We need to see

first the bad news

of what we deserve

and we deserve

the wrath

of God

for opposing him.

So the Lord

disarms the power

of these lesser

fears.

That's the first

step to healing

and putting our

fears in order.

What's the second

step?

What I see next

is that the Lord

replaces creaturely

fear with the fear

of the creator.

The Lord replaces

the fear.

Instead of fearing

these creaturely

things like

the Philistines

or a demon god

that they made

a statue to

or even a plague

carried by mice,

they need to fear

the creator

of it all.

The holy God.

So the people

of Ashdod then

are going to

pass off the ark.

It's going to go

to two more cities.

The first one

is called Gath.

The second one

is Ekron.

So look at verse 9

and Gath

there's that theme

one more time.

The hand

of the Lord

was against

the city of Gath.

Also with a

very great destruction

and he struck

look very specifically

who did he strike?

The men

of the city

in Gath.

Flip back

to chapter 4.

1 Samuel chapter 4.

1 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

Do you remember

the Philippines

called a battle?

What is it

that they try

to stir up

in their army

to go to war?

1 Samuel chapter 4

1 Samuel 4:9

verse 9.

They say

be strong

and conduct

yourselves

like men

you Philistines

that you

do not become

slaves to the Hebrews

as they have

become to you.

so here's

these warriors

from the Philistines

behave like a man

you know

be courageous

and fight like a man

so the Lord

shows them

here's who you

really need to fear

you need to fear

the creator

of man

he strikes

the men

of Gath

and what's

the next detail?

Both young

and old

and my translation

in English

puts it both

small

and great

tumors

broke out

on them

well

in a few chapters

we have the most

famous story

of 1 Samuel

and that's the story

of David

and Goliath

do you remember

what city

Goliath is from?

he's from Gath

be a man

come and fight

like a man

that's the same

taunt

Goliath uses

in chapter 17

and we have

this detail

that all the men

of the city

of Gath

small

and great

are stricken

with tumors

now we can't

say for certain

but the best guess

is that there's

20 years

between this

chapter 5

and chapter 17

where Goliath

calls out the nation

of Israel

to fight him

and to send a champion

so MMA fighters

today

it's the closest

we have to

hand-to-hand combat

they're in their

peak years

in their early 30s

if we subtract

20 years off

of that

chances are

that Goliath

was like one

of these young men

sitting here

getting tumors

just like the other

old men

having this message

from the Lord

of hosts

because every man

great and small

in the city

of Gath

had tumors

breaking out

on them

and they say

get rid of this

ark of the Lord

of hosts

and so it goes

to Ekron

in verse 10

in Ekron

they gathered

together

all the lords

of the Philistines

of the entire

empire

there are five

major cities

we only have

three highlighted

in this passage

well these are

the same

lords of the Philistines

the generals

of their great army

that's going to be

plaguing and hunting

Israel

that's going to

come out

and call

this same

God of the Israelites

to call his bluff

see if he'll come

fight us

maybe he can

defeat us

how quickly

they forget

all of their generals

were there

stricken

and seeing

what's happening

the Lord

has shifted

their focus

away now

from Dagon

and the plague

to himself

look at verse 11

send the ark

of the Lord

God of Israel

away

let it go back

to its own place

so that it will

not kill us

or our people

for there was

a deadly destruction

throughout all

the city

and the hand

of God

was very

heavy

there

verse 11

verse 12

those men

who weren't

stricken dead

by the Lord

were stricken

with

inflamed

pussy boils

instead

what would it

have been like

to be in this city

in Ekron

the last place

before it finally

goes away

during the black

plague

they recorded

how

there was a

putrid smell

in the air

the smell

of death

because all

the vapors

from decaying

flesh

set off

a sulfuric

aroma

released by

the decomposing

bodies

so the Lord

of hosts

the commander

of the Lord's

angel army

you see what

he's done

he's invaded

demon land

he's given

them

a foretaste

of hell

there's

weeping

and gnashing

of teeth

it's the same

Lord

in all the

ages

we sang this

in that great

hymn by

Martin Luther

the Lord

of hosts

his name

from age

to age

the same

Hebrews

10 31

we read this

it's a fearful

thing

to fall

into the hands

of the living

God

see that's

the New

Testament

affirming

this same

living God

the Lord

of hosts

you should

have a

healthy

dread

of falling

into his

hands

as his

enemy

it's one

God

from the

old covenant

into the

new covenant

it's one

Lord of hosts

who is able

to stand

before this

holy

Lord God

not the

rulers

of Ekron

or Gath

not Goliath's

family

not the

Philistine

Lord's

the Lord's

message is

this

the same

to them

as it

is to

us

either you

fear God

now

for your

own good

or fear

him in

hell

forever

John

Flabel

made this

helpful

observation

the only

remedy

for sinful

fear

is godly

fear

weak

Christians

fear man

too much

and god

too little

do you see

what he's

saying

he's saying

that the

remedy

for an

unhealthy

fear in

our lives

the remedy

for an

anxiety

disorder

is to

fear god

properly

if John

Flabel is

right

this

disorder

that's

become like

a pandemic

across our

nation

it's because

there's

insufficient

fear of

god

we can

even say

that most

pastors

evangelical

and otherwise

are responsible

at least in

part for the

anxiety disorder

in this

nation

for not

opening up

the word

of god

and helping

us to see

by faith

the god

who deserves

to be feared

with reverence

because we've

made god so

small

all these

other fears

in our life

have cripped

up

and they've

crippled us

i don't need

to tell you

you know

this

many people

go to

what they

think is a

christian

church

they don't

encounter

the god

of the

bible

because the

bible

is barely

opened

pastors

true or

otherwise

have turned

their pulpits

into stand

up comedy

routines

philosophy

podcasts

or group

therapy

sessions

for positive

thinking

and the

result is a

pandemic

with fear

disorders

many never

hear about

and never

encounter

the true

god

of the

whole bible

i'm sure

we all have

someone we

love

that does

have a

fear disorder

and suffers

with anxiety

the most

loving thing

we can do

with them

is to

open

our bible

with them

and ask

the holy

spirit to

teach us

to fear

god

properly

john

flavel

again

the only

remedy

for sinful

fear

is godly

fear

a proper

fear

and reverence

for god

because god

replaces

a lesser

creaturely fear

with fear

for the creator

well now comes

the reaction

the response

how will the

philistines

respond

to this

hand of god

that's come so

close among

them

i see that

those enslaved

to sin

they reject

god

because to

reverently

fear him

would change

everything

isn't that a

pattern you

notice

those enslaved

to sin

unless the spirit

awakens them

they will

reject god

because to

reverently fear

god would

change everything

the philistines

rejected yahweh

so that their

life could go

back to the

style they

liked and that

they were used

to but first

they had to

test god and

they even did

this on their

own terms

in chapter 6

verse 2 the

philistines called

for their own

priests and

diviners and

they asked them

what shall we do

with the ark

of the lord

tell us how we

should send it

back to its

place

and these

pagan priests

of dagon

they say

well create

these little

models out of

gold and send

them along as a

guilt offering or

an appeasement

gift to try to

appease yahweh

the number five

because there's

five major

philistine cities

so the whole

philistine empire

will be represented

someone pointed

out how would you

like to be called

in to be the

model for a

tumor you know

hey you got a

good one on your

neck come on

over let's let's

see if we can

sculpt that

well 6 5

perhaps then

yahweh will

lighten his hand

from you there's

the hand of

yahweh one more

time he will

lighten his hand

from you your

gods and your

land they're under

a triple

providential

pressing by the

living god and

it's fearful thing

to fall into his

hands so they

prepare a new

cart so brand new

wood they're not

just repurposing an

old farm one and

they get cows that

have never been

yoked up most

likely these are

both signs of

respect let's not

mess it up by being

disrespectful but

there's also a

twist there's a

little scheme they

want to test out and

try to determine

whether these

plagues were a

coincidence was it

just a bad break or

is it divine

judgment these were

cows who had

suckling calves that

had never been under

a yoke inexperienced

mama cows I grew up

in a rural part in

Brazil and there was

a corral where all

the cattle had to

come through and get

vaccinated well I

remember walking up

one time and there

was this this heifer

in this pen all

alone and everybody

was scared of her

like getting out of

her way and what

it was that had

happened is they had

separated the mother

from the calf and

even these experienced

cowboys were scared

because this mama

without her calf was

going to destroy

something and so

even even city people

know you can't

separate a suckling

calf from a heifer

that's just given

birth so this was

their test was it

Yahweh who struck

and ravaged us or

did this disaster just

happened to us and

it has nothing to do

with Yahweh's hand

we need to know

see they were

providing Yahweh an

opportunity as

someone put it to

write his signature

across their

circumstances and

they made it as

difficult as possible

for God to do so

contrary to nature

the cows go walking

off to Israel as if

they were in the grip

and being led by the

invisible hand of God

the Philistines got

to witness God

miraculously revealing

himself to them

see earlier with the

disease he was working

with nature now he's

working against nature

making it even more

clear this is the hand

of God he had spoken

to these Philistines

now through their cowl

Yahweh had stooped

down and showed

himself even on terms

that they could

understand he is the

true and living God

he confirmed to the

Philistines it was I

who struck your God

your land and even

your bodies but now

what will they do with

this revelation how

will they respond

well the only right

response would be for

them to fear God

to learn we have to

worship you you are the

true and living God

we will humble

ourselves before you

we will go to your

land and learn from

your people we will do

whatever your law

requires for us to

become your people

with Israel but that's

not what the Philistines

wanted they wanted

their own comfortable

lifestyle they wanted

their own power and

dominance perhaps the

majority simply said

well I'm glad that's

over now back to life

as usual Dale Ralph

Davis made this

observation it's so

easy for us sinners

Philistine or otherwise

to respond only to the

pain and not to the

truth about God in a

circumstance once our

immediate fears are

alleviated our heads are

no wiser and our hearts

are no softer Yahweh

stoops to reveal himself

even to enemies of his

people this is the same

Yahweh who will one day

draw near those who are

far off and he'll do this

by the blood of his own

son so they reject God

because they don't want to

reverently fear him and

have to change everything

but I think what the Lord is

doing for his people who have

his word and who get to read

this wonderful account of God's

mighty hand in providence he is

healing and he's showing them his

redemption foreshadowed once

again the Lord will heal again

here through reversal what's the

reversal that just took place

it's the enslaved deliverer

turning exile into exodus see the

ark of the Lord that the ark of

the presence of God the one who can

deliver his people taken into

exile on their behalf and then

turning that exile into a great

exodus see this exodus theme even

the Philistines point this out

they remember God's mighty hand on

Jericho and on Egypt look at

chapter 6 verse 6 they point out

this connection why then do you

harden your hearts as the

Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their

hearts they see the parallel God is

doing to us what he's already done to

any who have opposed him and the

ark is described as a prisoner of war

remember in chapter 4 22 it was

captured as if God had been

enslaved and allowing himself to

become that we read in chapter 6

now look at verse 1 the ark of the

Lord was in the country of the

Philistines seven months in Deuteronomy

15 12 and 14 we read that a slave in

the seventh year shall be set free and

and that slave shall not go empty

handed you were to put in the hands

of that slave generously from what God

has blessed you with and so that slave

shall go free why did God allow it to

take seven months for the ark to remain

captive to the Philistines in the

fullness of time he would bring

deliverance from slavery deliverance from

captivity it's the principle of Jubilee

there will be a day the fullness of

time where the captives will be released

and it'll be by the mighty work of the

one who can deliver them who put himself

into exile to lead this great exodus of

his people the the parallels with the

exodus are so strong here in Egypt the

Lord killed and struck them with the plague

and we read in Exodus 9 3 the hand of the

Lord is what brought severe plagues to

the Egyptians just as it did to the

Philistines now in chapter 6 verse 12 a

cry went up to heaven remember when the

firstborn of all the Egyptians their

sons were strucken down by the Lord that

great first Passover there was also a

great a great cry and now the

Philistines are wanting to send the

ark of the Lord away just like in Exodus

10 7 the message was to let Israel go

before all of Egypt is completely

destroyed

see this exodus of the ark leaving the

captivity returning to Israel it was

revealing to the Philistines the same

thing that God revealed to the

Egyptians with that exodus it's exposing

them to the true God to his name to his

glory to his power and to his character

think about how even that work of

Christ is foreshadowed how tumors and

rats are two of the most unclean things

and this is the ark of the Lord that was

placed in the Holy of Holies think of

all the ritual cleansings that it would

have had to gone before you can even be

close to the ark of the presence of the

Holy God a person had a spot on their

skin and a blemish they had to be far

away outside of the tent and they had to

be clean and then be inspected by a

priest before they could approach and

come close and it wasn't any animal that

could be brought to the Lord it had to

be only the animals God said were clean

and unblemished and perfect at that so

the opposite of that would be a rat

that's infected with a deadly plague you

see how those were put there right next to

the ark of the Lord

unclean animals unclean skin being carried

away by the holiest peace in the

tabernacle of the Holy God it's a shadow

of the most Holy God touching our sinful

diseases yet remaining unblemished

himself this is a shadow of the great

exodus that God himself would accomplish

through Jesus Christ our great deliverer

before I let you go today I need you to

see that accomplished by the Lord Jesus

we've seen now the heavy hand of the

Lord on his enemies for their wickedness

for opposing him but the reason we can

have access to the Holy God is because the

heavy hand of the Lord it's that same hand

that struck Jesus Christ in your place and

in mine and he did this to put our fears in

order that we would have a fear for God the

beginning of wisdom that no other fears

would compete with our fear for this

reverence of the Holy God Hebrews 8 verses

Hebrews 8:8

8 and 10 say behold the days are coming

says the Lord when I will make a new

covenant not according to the covenant I

made when I took Israel by the hand and led

them out of Egypt in this new covenant I

will put my laws in their minds and write

them on their hearts see there's the hand

of God graciously putting his law inside

his people it's an inward seal of the new

covenant by the hand of God I will be your

God and you shall be my people well how

would this new covenant happen Isaiah 53 had

to be fulfilled it was the will of the Lord

to crush his own servant the heavy hand of

the Lord upon Jesus Christ for sin for evil

for uncleanliness why did the Lord allow

himself to be exiled enslaved to be crushed

by the heavy hand of the Lord for his

enemies so that he could invade hell and set

many captives free we sing of this great

truth we have been set free from captivity

to sin long my imprisoned spirit lay there I

was fast bound in sin and nature's night but

thine I diffused a quickening way rain I

woke my dungeon flamed with light my chains

fell off my heart was free I rose went forth

and followed thee captives set free following

the great deliverer so who is it that's able

to stand before this holy Lord God there's

one man who can stand before the holy God

and it's the deliverer the Lord Jesus

Christ Hebrews 1 8 says Jesus Christ is

seated at the right hand of the throne of the

majesty of the heavens that same right hand that

strikes down his enemies that's heavy upon sin and

that crushed the sin of God's people by crushing

Jesus in our place he's now seated exalted at the

right hand of God he can stand before the holy Lord

Ephesians 2 13 makes this good news of the finished work of

Christ gospel news for you and me now in Christ Jesus you who

once were far off you have been brought near by the blood of

Christ you can stand in the presence of the holy God in

Christ Jesus by grace you can stand before this holy Lord God because Jesus

Christ is the one who has brought you near and it's possible because of his

precious blood shed for you and me so we can sing arise my soul arise shake off

your guilty fears my God is reconciled his pardoning voice I hear he owns me for his

child I can no longer fear will you let the Lord heal your fear disorder

this is the work Jesus came to do for you and for me by his wounds we are healed

how does he do this what's your response first Peter 5 6 and 7 tells us humble yourself

under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time casting all your cares

upon him for he cares for you he's proved that he cares for you in the work of his son Jesus

it was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved respond to this mighty Lord today

thanks