Reaction to the Presence of God

Good morning everyone. I'm going to open this bottle of water because I think my throat is

going to be dry. We were at camp last week and there was an awful lot of shouting and singing

and other things but if you know Rachel and I then you'll know that we're quite competitive.

Therefore my throat, my voice might not last. Anyway, let me ask you this morning, how is your

posture? How is your posture? I smiled because there was at least one person who straightened

himself up and I'm sure that you've thought about that in your head as I was saying that. Now,

we change our posture depending on who comes into our field of vision. We either sit up or we relax

or we tense or we might even stand up. You know, when a judge comes into the room, we might stand

up. Not that I've had the pleasure of doing that that often but, you know, we might stand up, you

know, in a day gone by, you know, gentlemen would have taken off their hat at certain occasions and

you see we change our posture and our position depending on who is in our presence. Now, we do

that out of a sense of interest in the individual or out of respect for that person. I think if you

were here last week and I listened to it on the replay, if you were here last week you'll have heard

Ciaran saying that at that line up where the soldiers were lined up for the Queen's,

in front of the Queen, you'll have heard of the stance and the posture that the soldiers took. Psalm 114

is a psalm that talks about the reaction to the presence of God. And I'm smiling this morning because

JT wouldn't have known this and neither would Charles but actually you read the same passage

and it was just about the relationship between God and the earth. You know, the diction or the word

choice in the psalm is such that the writer gives human characteristics to how the earth behaves in

his presence. In our psalm this morning we're going to think about three things. If you're taking notes

then you can write these down. We're going to think about deliverance, deliverance out of Egypt. We're

going to think about presence, so presence of the Lord and we're going to think about reverence,

reverence of his possession. Now the possession that I'm going to speak of here is not his people

as we would often think but I'm going to think about the earth. Psalm 24 says this, the earth is

the Lord's and the fullness of the world and those that dwell within for he has founded it upon the

seas and established it upon the river, upon the rivers. But we will draw a parallel of how nature reacts

between verses 3 and 8 in our passage and we will apply it. Now for anybody who is maybe new,

the Psalms in general are a collection of 150 different prayers and songs and poems and they're

largely split into two categories. Those are praise and I think if you've been through Sunday school

then you'll certainly remember these or certainly other points in your life as a Christian then you'll

remember these because they are easy to remember. But they're largely broken to that of praise and

that of lament. And if you want a fascinating study then just look through each of the 150 chapters in the

Psalms and you could separate out whether or not the writer is writing a song or a prayer or a poem

of praise or of lament. Now I'm not a scholar and neither am I well versed in poetry but as you begin to read

through you'll start to see that, you know, it won't be hard actually as you start to read through,

you'll see that there is a poetic nature, there is a rhythm. And as I say, you know, at Sunday school

and that you can see how the Israelites didn't find this particularly difficult to remember and to

recite. And I'm sure you could probably smile as if you're like me when you were a young kid and you

were growing up then you had to come up at a sworry. I don't know if you ever went to a Sunday school

sworry or a presentation and you had to remember some kind of Christian poem or a chapter in the

Bible. The Psalms were always the easiest. I think I had Psalm 1 a number of times but they were always

easier to remember. One thing that you'll pick up on when you read through the Psalms is the

repetition. Now this is not a lazy way of writing, it is just a style, a particular style that

emphasises the thoughts of the author. By repetition they're repeating something that is important.

You know, the other thing about the Psalms and it is a great comfort to all of us is this,

as we read through them we are struck by how mighty and how powerful God is. It's also a book that,

and I'm thinking of Psalms 19 verse 1, it says, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord of God.

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 23 would be the opposite to that, we were in difficult days and it said, even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. That doesn't mean to say it's easy,

it just means that the writer would not be afraid of evil. It gives expression. So the Psalms in general

give expression to the heart and the thoughts of the writer and as we draw alongside, we can, and we

meditate upon them, you know, we can draw alongside the author in our thoughts and in our meditation,

either in our struggles or in our exaltation of the Lord. So we come to the section that we're dealing

with today and we started it last week. Our little series is called From the Lips of Jesus

and it goes from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118. It's called the Hallel Psalms and that word Hallel just

means praise. It's kind of where, I'm not a wordsmith, Rachel really enjoys this kind of thing,

but it's kind of where we get hallelujah and that is just the praise of God. But Psalm 113 to 118

is a section in the Psalms that deal with the deliverance both nationally as the nation of Israel

and individually. Now, and I will forget this, but I'm sure that Ciarán will have said this last week.

These are a set of Psalms that were sung at the Passover. Psalm 113 and 114 were sung before the meal

and then the other four afterwards. They might have been sung at other times, but they seem very fitting

to sing at the Passover because they deal with the deliverance out of Egypt.

You know, it's quite possible that given that the Lord at the Last Supper was celebrating the Passover,

that he would have sung these Psalms. You know, in Matthew and in Mark 14,

it says that once they had eaten, they went out and they sang a hymn and it's most likely

these Psalms that we are talking of. But at that Last Supper, the Lord Jesus infused the Passover meal,

the Passover celebration with a new meaning. He promised to be part of, he promised not a physical

deliverance from, you know, physical danger or human oppression, but he promised a spiritual

salvation from enslavement and the grave penalty of sin.

Now, I suspect that this chapter that we are reading off here, that we've read here,

is not one that you're necessarily familiar with. Unless you have done a study in the Psalms or you

regularly read your Bible, it's probably not one of the Psalms that you may be familiar with. It

certainly wasn't one that I repeated when I was at Sunday school. But it's a beautiful poem. It's a

song of praise, as we've thought, and it's just a little refresher of the deliverance of God's people

out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised land. As you see, and I've already said

this, but as you see in each of the verses, you see a number of things that are repeated. And it just

reinstates or restates the idea that the Psalmist wants to get across in just a slightly different

way. It gives a bit more weight, a bit more colour to each of the repetitions. However, I think that each

of the lines do talk about a different event. And I think if we were just to skim over the surface of

that, we might lose some of the meaning. So for a few short moments this morning, let's just

scratch that surface a little bit and dig a little bit deeper and see what's going on in the book,

in this chapter. So what's the big idea? Well, on the face of it, and I've already mentioned this,

it seems fairly straightforward. I don't think there's anything from a word point of view that

we can't understand. And I think it'd be very easy if you know anything about your Bible. And I

appreciate that there'll be those who know a lot more about their Bible, and there'll be others

who maybe don't know an awful lot. But even if you just scratch the surface, and you'll start to

see references to events in the history of the nation. And maybe if you've watched The Prince of

Egypt, or you've watched Joseph, or any of these kind of musicals or films, then you'll start to

maybe see one or two bits and pieces of that. So you don't necessarily have to know a huge amount

about your Bible, but you will start to see that this references back to events in their history.

You see, the people of Israel had been enslaved for hundreds of years in Egypt. The time had come

for their deliverance, and God had sent Moses to lead the people out of Israel after a number of

plagues. And he defeated Pharaoh and Egypt at the crossing of the Red Sea. God then dwells with his

people, symbolized in the tabernacle that Moses built. And then we see in the poem that it describes

how nature trembled at the presence of God and obeyed him. You know, and we see that with the

reference to the pattern of the Red Sea and God meeting Moses at Sinai. Then we've got the reference

of Jordan, that Jericho that Joshua crossed as he led the nation into their inheritance.

But the message of the psalm is all about deliverance. And yet I think, and you can have a

wee look at your Bibles if you've still got them open, I think if you were to look at the top of your

section here, it says this, tremble at the presence of the Lord. I don't know what it says in your Pew

Bible, but I suspect it says something similar. So even though it is a passage about deliverance,

it's also a passage about the presence of the Lord. And that's why you can see why I have these

three points. Deliverance out of Egypt, the presence of the Lord, and the reverence of his

possession. So let's get a little bit deeper and think about these first two things,

deliverance and presence. Deliverance, as you read, again, if you've got your Bibles open,

you'll see this in the first line, verse one, deliverance. Now I want to give you a when and a

then. And I don't know if we've got any teachers that are still in or at Cresce, but at school,

you'll get a little sentence structure or you'll get some kind of teaching that goes,

given when, or given, yeah, given when, then this will happen. So when you do that,

then this will happen. And it's the same if you're a bit more academic and you're in,

you're doing some kind of science or maths and you're working at some kind of structure that will

say, when this happens, then this happens. And I'm sure that some of you will smile when you get to

that. Well, in our first verse here, we've got a when and a then. Verse one, when Israel went out

of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language. It's not in there, but let's

put it in there. Then Judah became his sanctuary and Israel his dominion. When they came out of Egypt,

then God dwelt with them. You know, it's an amazing story, this, the story of deliverance. And it's no

wonder that they celebrated the Passover every year. It was like a national birthday. I was going

to say an independence day, but it wasn't maybe the independence, even though God had liberated them

from Pharaoh and he had separated them from Egypt. He had separated them unto himself. So it wasn't maybe

the independence that they were looking for. But they were freed from the bondage of their Egyptian

masters. And if you were to read in Exodus chapter 12, you'll see there that they were commanded to

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

observe this feast forever. In fact, they were to tell their children this, and it's good to bring

your children to church. So if you're here this morning and your child's making noise and they're not

outside, then it is good to, that our children hear what we believe and why we believe it.

And it says this, they have to tell their children this, it is a sacrifice of the Lord's Passover.

For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel, sorry, people of Israel in Egypt when he

struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses. And Caleb was definitely agreeing with that.

Now the Passover, for anyone who isn't familiar with this, is a celebration meal. It was eaten

annually to mark the night when the 10th plague was sent into Egypt. It was a plague that killed

the firstborn right from Pharaoh's palace to the livestock in the field to the slave's house as well.

No one was immune unless they obeyed God. You know, and I think that is a key thing for us to think

about this morning. They obeyed God by taking the blood of that perfect lamb and they applied it to

their door frames. And the Jewish firstborn was safe as he sheltered under that blood and as the

angel of death passed through the land. Now this is a wonderful picture. In fact, we thought about

this morning in the breaking of bread. This is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus who is described

for us in John's gospel as the lamb of God. You know, he was perfect and yet he was killed.

And his blood was shed in order that we who were living under the enslavement or the servitude of sin

could be liberated from the penalty of that sin. And if we obey God in trusting him for salvation,

then Jesus' shed blood can be applied to our lives so that when God who, and this is a verse from

scripture, spared not his son, when he looks at us, he will spare us from judgment, the judgment that we

deserved. So, just maybe a little point to note. If you haven't ever been to the breaking of bread,

then can I encourage you to come to the breaking of bread? I mean, some people might refer to it as

communion, but it is a short time in the week. It's 45 minutes upstairs, 10 o'clock, where we

remember not only our deliverer, we do remember him, and we remember our deliverance. The Lord Jesus

says, this do in remembrance of me. You know, it's not mandated in the way that the Passover was mandated,

even though the early Christians would do it on the first day of the week, they would do it on a

weekly basis. It was their habit. And it's not, it has no sacramental value like we, the Catholic

church would teach. It is simply just a time for us to remember the Lord Jesus and what he has done

for us, and we praise God for his son. Now, in our Bibles, and it's not necessarily in the chapter

this morning, but in our Bibles, this Egypt speaks to us of the world. And for those of us who are saved,

for those of us who have been delivered from the world, and I don't mean physically, like the nation

were brought out of Egypt, it just means spiritually, to give a little bit of weight to that. You know,

Ephesians chapter 2 says this, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that

is now at work in the sons of disobedience. In fact, if, and this is something else you could do,

don't do it just now when I'm speaking, but do this when you go home, read through Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2:1–10

verses 1 to 10, and see the parallel between what we're thinking about here, the deliverance of God's

people out of Egypt, and through the wilderness, and into the promised land, and read the first 10

verses, and see what you can see as a parallel to what we are talking about. But Egypt is a picture

of the world, and God saves his people out of Egypt. He takes them into the wilderness, and he

takes them to the promised land. You know, despite the nation of Israel, the Israelites living in Egypt

for more than 400 years, it still says this, and this is the second line in verse 1, and don't worry,

I won't, we won't go down the whole eight verses at this speed. We will speed up a little bit, but the

second line in verse 1 says this, a people of a strange language. You know, despite living there

for 400 years, they retained their identity. They hadn't assimilated, and they hadn't become like the

Egyptians, and I think that should be a challenge for us all. You know, whether we are, whether we are,

as the hymn would say, pressing on the upward way, then we need to be encouraged to press on,

even though we're living in the world, we're not off the world. Or maybe you're a believer who,

you might have lost the joy of your salvation, and you've slid back into living as a world,

and speaking their language. Don't forget your identity. You know, our identity is now in Christ,

Christ, and we've been brought out of the world, and we've been set apart from God. And that should

challenge us as well this morning. And if you're not a believer, then that is what is on offer this

morning, a deliverance from sin, from the penalty of sin, a deliverance of having to walk, as we've

thought about in Ephesians chapter 2, as the course of this world, there is a deliverance.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

But in our chapter, it's not just about deliverance. It's about the fact that God's presence comes to be

with us, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of our salvation. So, our key point this

morning, I do want you to take this home, is this. When they came out of Egypt, then God dwelt with them.

You know, God's presence is with those who he delivered out of Egypt. You know, he dwelt in the

tabernacle that Moses built, and then later in the temple, as we'll come on to see. And, you know,

it's just when I was thinking about this, you know, God dwells with those that he has delivered.

Not just anyone, not just any group out there, not just any religion. God dwells with those that he has

delivered. Revelation 21 and 3, it says this, the dwelling place, behold, the dwelling place of God

is with man. And we should remember that. You know, we're reminded in Paul's letters that our bodies

are the temple of the living God. So, when we are taken out of the world, when we're taken out of

Egypt, as it were, then God comes to dwell with us. And that should be an encouragement for us

this morning. Now, we move into verse 2, and the names that you'll see here, there's two names you

see here, Judah and Israel. And they're both talking of the same, just with a slightly different aspect

or not, as you might see later on in the life of the nation, where they are split into two.

And you have Israel and Judah. Even though the sanctuary was in Judah, and that's where Solomon

eventually built the temple, these, the two in here are one and the same. In fact, actually,

when you come to the thing, the first verse, the last sentence in that first verse, and it talks

about the house of Jacob, as we've just read, you know, remember that Jacob's name was changed to

Israel. It was changed to Israel the night before they crossed the Jordan and went into the promised

land. These three, the house of Jacob, Judah and Israel, are all talking of the same.

And, you know, as we read this, then just think about the nation as a whole. You know, if you want

to dig a little deeper, and when you start to study, this is where you get excited about, where you see

these things, you'll discover that there is just a slight difference as to why they have been called

Israel and Judah and the house of Jacob. And if you dig in, then you'll find that there's treasure

just in these slight differences in the verse.

Now, before we move on, I was also going to mention that the word dominion is in there also.

Israel has dominion. That was referencing a throne that was set up. That throne was also set up in Judah.

You know, God would exercise his dominion over the nation.

Now, fast forward to today, and you come to Colossians 3 in the New Testament, and it says this,

that let the peace of God rule in your hearts.

The question I've got for you today is, does God have dominion in your life?

You know, it took Israel out of Egypt, and it says this, Israel has dominion.

Does he have dominion in our lives?

Now, not a dominion of fear, as we might think of that kind of picture.

We have a king in a kingdom with dominion over his subjects, but a dominion of peace,

a peace that he offers us by the blood of his son.

Now, that brings me to this section of the poem,

where the author gives nature these incredible lifelike characteristics, verses 3 to 8.

And here we're going to think about reverence.

So, in the beginning there, we've got the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt.

We've then got the presence of the Lord with them.

And now we're going to think about the reverence.

And this is a response to the presence of the Lord.

You know, the author, he demonstrates that when God's presence was near,

nature itself was not only reverent, but it was obedient.

And we think of that when we think of the seas and the river part in the way that they did.

You know, I think the author is doing this,

because unfortunately, they're the people who should have been reverent and obedient.

And if you've read through Exodus, you'll remember that they pretty much complained

the whole way through the journey, the 40 years that they were in the wilderness.

They pretty much complained that whole time.

And often they were very disobedient.

You know, I think potentially the author is talking about nature

and the way that nature responds,

because he's wanting to leave out the failure of the people.

And as they are sitting, having their Passover meal,

and as they are reciting this,

they probably don't really want to be thinking about their failure.

And here we have nature instead being reverent and obedient.

It was a response that the people should have had.

Now we've got two bodies of water that are mentioned here.

The sea looked and fled, and Jordan turned back.

We've then got two landscapes, two elevated landscapes.

The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs.

You know, both the Red Sea and the Jordan had remarkable events

that happened at them, where the nation crossed unhindered,

on dry land, as we would be reminded in Nehemiah 9 and Hebrews 11.

The first was the Red Sea.

It opened up when Moses took his rod, took his staff and his hand,

and he cast them out, lifted them up, and he stretched them out over the water,

and the waters parted.

Now was Moses doing that?

No, it was God.

It was God who parted the sea.

The sea obeyed because of God's presence,

and the people passed through.

And through the desert, God leads his people by a cloud and fire,

and he provided them.

He provided them bread and meat, and he provides for them water.

The references in verse 8,

the water from the rock, are easy to find as you read through Exodus.

And I didn't have time to do this,

but there's also something in my head that reminds us of the sweetness out of hardness,

and it is the provision of honey in the desert as well.

You know, again, we can see a parallel in this,

as we think of in that verse 8,

who turns the rocks into a pool of water

and the flint into a spring of water.

You know, the parallel for us as we live today

is this of the Lord.

You know, the Lord was struck on that cross.

And you remember at the well at Samaria

where that woman comes out,

and he says,

you would have asked of me,

and I would have given you living water.

You know, the Lord Jesus,

as he was nailed to that cross,

as he was struck like the rock was struck,

out of him came living water.

And that is where we have our salvation.

Excuse me.

Just lost my place.

Excuse me a wee second.

So they come through the wilderness,

and it's not in here,

but they come to Canaan,

and they pass through the Jordan.

Verse 3,

and I know I'm skipping a little bit back and forward here,

but forgive me for that.

So the sea looked and fled,

and we've thought about that when it comes to the Red Sea,

and then Jordan turned back in similar fashion.

Now, when it comes to the mountains and the hills,

most, or there's a lot,

there's a school of thought that would think that these are the same.

These are the mountains and the hills in Judah.

I think that they're probably slightly different.

I think that the mountains refer to the mountains where,

the mountains that trembled.

It says that they skipped like rams,

that imagery where the Lord,

on a number of occasions,

met Moses.

One, when he gave him the law,

and they, you know,

remember that the smoke circled the mountain,

and it thundered.

And then another time,

when Moses asked God to reveal his glory,

then we have the mountains.

The hills, I do think,

are the reference to the Judean hills.

And Psalm 121,

you might remember this was Sunday school,

if you've been in church,

but I lift up my eyes to the hills.

Where does my help come from?

And that my help comes from the Lord.

That is a reference to these hills in Judea.

But these occurrences are nothing other than the intervention of God.

Now, he makes a way through where it is not humanly possible,

and he removes obstacles to achieving his purpose.

Interestingly, again,

you'll see how there's so many tangents in this chapter

when you think, when they are told,

that even if you had faith like the grain of a mustard seed,

you would move mountains.

There are so many references in this small chapter.

When I first read it,

when I was preparing,

I read it and I think,

oh, what am I going to speak about in this chapter?

Because it seems fairly obvious when you read through it,

and it seems fairly short.

And I know I've been speaking for a little bit of time already,

but there is an enormous amount in here.

So if I've mentioned something that you think,

actually, I want to go and read that,

then go and read it,

because it will do your soul,

the world of good.

But God achieves his purposes,

and there is nothing that can,

nothing is in his way,

there is nothing that will stop him as he leads his people.

You know, in our Christian life,

the Red Sea is a picture of our baptism.

You know, where we have severed ties with the world,

and we have been freed from the slavery of its ruler.

That is why I believe,

and I think the Bible teaches,

that we should be baptized.

Because it is a landmark,

just as the stones that are placed in the Jordan,

but for the Red Sea,

it is a landmark that we can point back to

where we have been transformed

from the gripping worldly power

of the evil one,

and we have been liberated,

and we have been led by the Spirit

in our Christian journey.

You know, we are dead to the world,

as the Bible would say.

We have died with Christ,

and we are alive to God.

And the Red Sea is a picture of baptism.

If you haven't picked it up at the minute,

the parallel of the deliverance out of Egypt

and through the wilderness

and to the promised land

is a parallel to our Christian journey.

And we'll come to that when we come to Jordan.

You know, that is another river

that is synonymous with baptism.

We see many people,

even the Lord Jesus,

baptized in the Jordan,

and many other references.

And it's about, you know,

dying and leaving the old behind

and moving on to a new life.

Now, many scholars would often,

would also say that the Jordan speaks to us

of leaving this life

and then going on to the next,

to the promised land.

It often refers to the freedom

that comes from,

or comes after a long period

of adversity and of waiting.

So whether it refers to baptism,

or whether it refers to leaving this life

and going to be with our Savior forever,

then I think it is a parallel

through the Christian journey.

Either way, the pictures are

wonderful pictures for us

to think about in our Christian life.

Just turn with me just a second to verse 7.

It says,

Tremble the earth at the presence of the Lord.

You know, the writer wants to draw attention

to how God can sweep away all opposition.

You know, this is a response

to God's glorious manifestation,

his presence at that time.

And you see there that the presence of the Lord

at the presence of the God of Jacob.

You know, earth obeys God.

And this is another tangent,

but it's another proof for us.

When the Lord Jesus was on the earth

and he, you know,

they marveled when he walked on the water

and he calmed that storm

and they said,

even the wind and the waves obey him.

Nature will only obey its creator.

It will only obey God.

And that is why, you know,

there are so many proof texts in our Bible

that would demonstrate that the Lord Jesus

is the Son of God.

He is God.

Even the wind and the waves obey him.

In fact, we were thinking about this this morning

and again in the breaking of bread.

Luke 19, that even if we were silent,

you know, we should sing his praise.

But even if we were silent,

the Lord said,

even if his disciples were silent,

then the stones would cry out in praise.

You know, earth responds to its maker

as it recognizes just who he is.

What is our response?

You know, a psalm,

as with Psalm 113

that we thought about last week,

this psalm works more fully

in the context of the whole halal.

In singing of this particular section

and this particular selection of events in history,

it just stresses to us

the Lord's supremacy over all.

Over the people,

whether that's been the Pharaoh and the Egyptians,

or over the earth.

But it just goes to strengthen the confidence

of the people who he was leading out of Egypt.

That tiny,

and we think about it,

where there's a second exodus,

as we've been thinking about this recently in Daniel,

there's a second exodus out of Babylon

and back home,

and there was a tiny remnant of Judah.

And I think as they ate the Passover lamb,

not only would they have,

the Passover meal,

not only would they have thought about

their exodus out of Egypt,

but also their exodus out of Babylon.

You know,

it gives them the confidence

that God will bring about his purposes.

And it should strengthen us too.

It should give us confidence.

Now let me ask you this.

Is God in your life?

Is he your Lord?

You know,

has he taken you out of Egypt spiritually?

And is he protecting and providing for you

on the Christian pathway

as you journey towards

our eternal destination with him?

Well,

if he is,

what is our posture?

You know,

are we reverent in our living?

You know,

does our life,

the way that we live,

praise God?

Do we remember,

do we enjoy remembering

all that he's done for us

and all that he is doing for us?

You know,

I wonder if his presence

alters the course of our living.

You know,

we have an amazing God,

right?

One who is not unaware

of our struggles.

But he is a God

who can deliver us

from our circumstance.

my thoughts today

for us

in the room

in Brunsfield

is this,

put our trust

in God.

You know,

have the confidence

in his ability

to deliver

us.

And not only just deliver us,

but to dwell with us

as we journey

through life.

You know,

there's a great chapter

in Romans,

Romans,

it's Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

it is the great chapter

of salvation.

And Paul asks us,

he says this,

if God be for us,

who can be against us?

You know,

it's quite possible

that that is just

an allusion

back to these

Hallel Psalms.

We read in,

and we'll read it in a few,

I don't know who's speaking,

but in a few weeks,

we'll read in

chapter 118

and near,

let me just read this,

Psalm 118,

it says this,

verse 6,

the Lord is on my side,

I will not fear,

what can man

do

to me?

As the nation

remembered

the Passover,

and as they

sang

these

poems,

these songs,

they were encouraged,

they were strengthened,

and

they sang their praise

to God

for all that he had done.

As we've thought about

this this morning,

let us be encouraged,

let us be strengthened.

We're on the victory side,

just like

those people

who would

year after year

after year

remember the Passover.

You know,

when we remember

our Lord

and the breaking of bread,

we stand on

victory ground.

Egypt's been defeated

and the ruler

they're in,

the world.

We are being led

through this journey

by the Lord

and one day

we will go to be

with him

in the place

that he has

promised us.

Shall we pray?

Heavenly Father,

we thank you

this morning

for these

short thoughts

in your word.

Father,

we thank you

that you are a God

who delivers.

Father,

we thank you

that you

were a God

who delivered

Israel out of Egypt

and you are a God

who delivers

your people

out of this world.

Our Father,

we are thankful

this morning

that the Lord Jesus

is the one

who delivers us,

who gave his life

that we might live.

Our Father,

help us

just to

alter our lives,

the way that we

worship you,

our praise,

as we think of all

that you have done

for us

and all that you are doing.

And our Father,

let us be touched

by your presence.

Father,

we thank you

that you said

that you will never

leave us

nor forsake us.

And as we come

before you

this morning,

we say thank you

and we worship you

in the name

of our Lord Jesus.

Amen.