God's Proclamation of His Name

So, we're going to be in our service this evening singing, firstly in Psalm 30, Psalm

number 30, that's in the Scottish Psalter version, that's page 239, verses 1 to 5.

Lord, I will thee extol, for thou hast lifted me on high, and over me thou to rejoice made

not mine enemy.

O thou who art the Lord my God, I in distress to thee with loud cries lifted up my voice,

and thou hast healed me.

O Lord, my soul thou hast brought up and rescued from the grave, that I to pit should not go

down, alive thou didst me save.

So on singing to the end of verse 5, Psalm 30, Lord, I will thee extol.

O Lord, I will thee extol, for thou hast lifted me on high, and over me thou to rejoice

with

I in this place to thee.

When thou Christ lifted up my voice,

and thou hast healed me.

O Lord, my soul thou hast brought up,

and rescued from the grave.

And I to live should not go down,

a life that didst me save.

For he that I with holy want,

sing praise unto the Lord.

And give unto infants,

when ye this holiness record.

For what a moment last is rough,

like in this paper lies.

Weeping may fall,

a night and dew,

and more does your God arise.

Let's now all join together in prayer,

as we call upon the Lord in prayer.

Our gracious and almighty God,

we thank you once again for the many ways in which we have known your blessing through this day already.

And we thank you, Lord,

that we come together once again,

by your grace and by your enabling,

the desire in our hearts to lift up our voices in praise,

lift up your holy name in adoration,

and to realize,

and to realize, Lord,

that your holiness,

even as we have been singing in these words,

is not meant to deter our coming for an audience with you,

but also only to direct our thoughts,

so that we realize, Lord,

who we come into the presence of.

We thank you tonight, Lord,

for all the promises that meet us as we come together to worship you.

We thank you for the way that so many have already been fulfilled in the history of your people.

For as we read in your words,

so many promises that you made to your people Israel long ago

came to be fulfilled as the years went by,

and you came to manifest yourself to them as a faithful God,

a God who kept covenant with his people,

a God who brought to fruition the things that you had promised to bring to them.

And we thank you, Lord, that that is the same for ourselves,

that you have especially come in these days of the New Testament age

to fulfill your promise that a Savior would come,

Emmanuel, God with us, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We bless you, Lord, tonight for all that has already been fulfilled in him.

You have provided for us an atonement for our sins.

You have brought your presence in such a unique way into the midst of your people.

You have come to pour out your Spirit on that great day of Pentecost,

as was long promised down through the ages.

And you have come, O Lord, to bring the gospel into the world,

a world that lay in darkness,

a world that needed the light of the gospel of your truth.

We thank you that that light has reached ourselves,

that it has come to our shores and come into our hearts.

O Lord, we pray tonight for that renewed sense of privilege in your presence,

and for that renewed sense of your presence with us.

We thank you, Lord, that we can anticipate this,

and that your promise to be with your people will also remain fulfilled and present

as you come to bless them and as you come to live in their midst.

Lord, bless us, we pray tonight, as a congregation of your people.

Bless those who join us online as well, from different parts of the world it may be.

Grant that we may all have a sense of a unity of mind and purpose as we come to worship you.

And enable us, Lord, to receive your word once again,

that word that is engrafted in the souls of your people.

Help us to receive it believingly and gladly.

Enable us to welcome yourself as we welcome your word.

And enable us to be like the Thessalonians of old,

who had a reputation reaching far and wide beyond their own location,

that they had embraced the Lord and his gospel,

that they were a people who lived to the praise of God.

We ask that this may be true increasingly of ourselves.

We thank you for your goodness to us,

for the ways in which your goodness is manifested to us.

And we thank you for that goodness day by day that we receive

in the various gifts that you give us,

even in what we regard as ordinary gifts of your providence.

Yet, Lord, we know that none of them is ordinary,

for we deserve none of them.

And you have in your grace and kindness come to bless us in our lives.

We thank you tonight for the gospel,

and we thank you for all that it contains by way of good news for us sinners.

We thank you for the way in which you have, Lord,

blessed that gospel abundantly down through the years,

even in this congregation.

We do pray that you would continue to bless that gospel among us,

and help us to hold it forth in the way in which we live in the world.

Enable us, Lord, to commend it to our fellow human beings around us.

We ask tonight for those who never come to attend the gospel.

And Lord, in our community there are so many of them,

that we pray that you would bless to them the fact that the gospel is available.

Help them to think of the great loss that is theirs when they don't avail themselves of this good news of Jesus.

And Lord, we ask that your spirit will be abroad in our communities,

as you have been in years and times gone by,

to bring to people a sense of their need, a sense of their sinfulness,

a sense of their need of coming to the Lord to receive his forgiveness,

and a sense of their need of a savior.

O Lord, our God, we pray that in our day too, you would do great things.

Manifest the power of your name.

Show us the glory of your being in the salvation of sinners.

And establish your church, we pray.

And establish your people and help them to be settled in the way of holiness.

Give them the strength they require against temptations that abound in this world.

We pray for ourselves, O Lord, as a congregation in that regard.

O help us never to be deflected from following you, from walking in the footsteps of faith.

Help us never to be deflected from whatever duty we owe to you.

And grant, O Lord, that day by day we may make it our purpose to live as the people of God,

as people who are known to be the Lord's covenant children.

We ask that you would grant to us, O Lord, as we seek to move ahead from times of confinement and restriction.

You label us, we pray, to avail ourselves of all the opportunities that open up for us,

so that we may serve you in our communities as a congregation.

Bless us in all our activities, we pray.

Bless your gospel to our youngest through to the oldest.

We ask, O God, that you would impress upon us time after time how suitable and how relevant your gospel is

for our needs at every stage of life.

We pray for those who are seeking after you but haven't yet come to close in with you

and to give themselves wholly to you.

Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit will produce that faith in their hearts that will enable them to cleave to you.

We pray for any Lord who tonight may be concerned over their relationship with you,

concerned over their sins, concerned over eternity, concerned over their state of mind or heart.

Gracious Lord, we ask that you would, through the gospel, bring peace to them,

bring about to them, O Lord, that union with Christ which alone is able to give us a sure foundation.

And we ask that you would graciously bless the gospel tonight to any who are of such a mind.

Blessed to your people as well, O Lord, as we pray for the unsaved, so we pray for the saved alike.

We ask that you would grant us progress and sanctification in hope and an expectation of that eternal life,

which will be fully revealed at the coming of the Lord.

Lord, we ask that you would continue to establish us in the ways of holiness,

in the ways of seeking to bring praise and honor and glory to your glorious name.

Remember those tonight, Lord, who have struggles.

We pray for those who have struggles in their faith,

struggles in their view of themselves or of God or of the gospel,

who have struggles, Lord, in different ways otherwise than their lives.

Those who are struggling with temptations, those who are struggling with various addictions,

those who find the going difficult and difficult to maintain progress in these matters.

We pray for those who are struggling with mental health issues.

We commend them to you all, O Lord, also, and give thanks that you are the God of the mind as well as of the body,

that you are able even there to do wondrous things.

And we do commend such to you tonight, O Lord, and ask that you would bless them.

Bless to the bereaved, the distressed, those who are anxious over loved ones,

those who are unwell and may be approaching eternity.

Lord, prepare them for that, we pray.

Grant to those receiving treatment, those who have undergone surgery,

those who are living in care homes or spending time in hospital,

those who are being cared for at home.

O Lord, we commend them to you and ask that you would bless the brokenhearted,

the lonely, those who feel isolated,

those, Lord, who would love to have more of human company

and yet from day to day go without seeing many people.

O remember them and give them your own presence,

so that they may know that you are with them

and that they need not fear when the Lord is on their side.

We ask your blessing to be with the new ministry now opening up amongst us.

We give thanks, O Lord, for Reverend Calum Mordo,

and we pray that you would bless him and his family

and that this time, O Lord, grant as they settle among us as a congregation,

that they will know your good hand upon them

and that you would use them and use his ministry in the gospel

in a mighty way, Lord, in our midst.

And we ask that as we seek to serve the Lord here,

that he may know that the Lord is with him

and confirm to him the rightness of his move to come to accept our call.

And gracious Lord, grant to be his peace from day to day.

Remember our nation. Remember our community.

Grant, Lord, we pray that you would deliver us from the thralldom of darkness and of sin

and bring us into the broad, upright ways of righteousness and peace

and prosperity in the gospel.

Lord, we pray against all those who seek to stand forcibly against the gospel

and against the ways of the Lord, against the sanctity of human life,

against the Lord's day and its proclamation and its keeping,

and every other way, O Lord, in which we find your ways so much cast aside and despised in our land.

Be pleased, Lord, to listen to those who cry to you

and seek for days of reviving and refreshing,

which we know, O Lord, from your Spirit are alone adequate to change us from the ways of sin.

Receive our thanks, cleanse us from our sin.

And we ask it all in Jesus' name for his sake. Amen.

Let's now sing once again to God's praise in Psalm 31.

Psalm 31, and we're singing in the Sing Psalms version this time from Psalm 31 at verse 19.

Verse 19, your goodness, Lord, is very great.

Prepared for those who fear your name, you show your goodness openly to all who your protection claim.

Your presence hides and shelters them from those who plot to take their life.

And in your tent you keep them safe from evil tongues that stir up strife.

Verses 19 to the end of the Psalm.

Your goodness, Lord, is very great.

Your goodness, Lord, is very great.

Your goodness, Lord, is very great.

Prepared for those who fear your name,

Your sure配 your goodness open to me,

To all who your protection claim.

Your presence hides and shelters then,

From those who long to take their life

And in your tent you keep them safe

From evil towns that still have strife

The Lord be praised because he showed

The wonder of his love to me

When in the city I was trapped

Surrounded by the enemy

In my life my gosh he said

That I was hidden from your eyes

But when I called to you for help

In grace you listen to my eyes

Oh, the Lord on you they sing

The faithful will forget my God

But he will give the proud

Their due

His strong day high

Hope is the Lord

Let's now turn to read God's Word

And we find that tonight in Exodus

The book of Exodus chapter 33

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

And from verse 12

Reading through to verse 9 of chapter 34

So Exodus 33 and at verse 12

Moses said to the Lord

See you say to me bring up this people

But you have not let me know

Whom you will send with me

Yet you have said

I know you by name

And you have also found favor in my sight

Now therefore if I have found favor in your sight

Please show me now your ways

That I may know you in order to find favor in your sight

Consider too that this nation is your people

And he said

My presence will go with you

And I will give you rest

And he said to him

If your presence will not go with me

Do not bring us up from here

For how shall it be known

That I have found favor in your sight

I and your people

Is it not in your going with us

So that we are distinct

I and your people

From every other people on the face of the earth

And the Lord said to Moses

This very thing that you have spoken

I will do

For you have found favor in my sight

And I know you by name

Moses said

Please show me your glory

And he said

I will make all my goodness pass before you

And will proclaim before you my name

The Lord

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious

And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy

But he said

You cannot see my face

For man shall not see me and live

And the Lord said

Behold there is a place by me

Where you shall stand on the rock

And while my glory passes by

I will put you in a cleft of the rock

And I will cover you with my hand

Until I have passed by

Then I will take away my hand

And you shall see my back

But my face shall not be seen

The Lord said to Moses

Cut for yourself two tablets of stone

Like the first

And I will write on the tablets

The words that were on the first tablets

Which you broke

Be ready by the morning

And come up in the mountain

In the morning to Mount Sinai

And present yourself there to me

On the top of the mountain

No one shall come up with you

Let no one be seen throughout all the mountain

Let no flocks or herds

Graze opposite that mountain

So Moses cut two tablets of stone

Like the first

And he rose early in the morning

And went up on Mount Sinai

As the Lord had commanded him

And took in his hand

Two tablets of stone

The Lord descended in the cloud

And stood with him there

And proclaimed the name of the Lord

The Lord passed before him

And proclaimed the Lord

The Lord a God merciful and gracious

Slow to anger

And abounding in steadfast love

And faithfulness

Keeping steadfast love for thousands

Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin

But who will by no means clear the guilty

Visiting the iniquity of the fathers

On the children

And the children's children

To the third and the fourth generation

Moses quickly bowed his head

Towards the earth and worshipped

And he said

If now I have found favor in your sight

O Lord please

Let the Lord go in the midst of us

For it is a stiff-necked people

And pardon our iniquity and our sin

And take us for your inheritance

Amen and may the Lord once again

Follow with this blessing

A reading of his word

Let's now sing again this time

In Psalm 103

Psalm 103

And that's in the Scottish Psalter

Singing verses 8 to 13

The Lord our God is merciful

And he is gracious

Long suffering and slow to wrath

In mercy plenteous

He will not chide continually

Nor keep his anger still

With us he dealt not as we sinned

Nor did requite our ill

For as the heaven and its height

The earth surmounted far

So great to those that do him fear

His tender mercies are

Through to verse 13

From verse 8

The Lord our God is merciful

And he is gracious

Long suffering and slow to wrath

In mercy plenteous

He will not chide continually

Lord keep his anger still

With us he dealt not as we sinned

Nor did we quite a ill

Oh, past the heaven in its height

He is a mountain of fire

So great to those that do him fear

His tender mercies are

But as far as he sits distant

From the west so far have he

From the sling of the king

In the sling of the king

In his land

In his land

All the rain in which he

He is

For shmity as the father

And to his children dear

Thy pity shows the Lord

To such as worshipping in fear

Let's turn together again

to the book of Exodus

and chapter 34

looking at verses 1 to 9

34 verses 1 to 9

but particularly

the words you find

from verse 5 onwards

The Lord descended in the cloud

and stood with him there

and proclaimed the name of the Lord

The Lord passed before him

and proclaimed the Lord

the Lord a God merciful and gracious

slow to anger and abounding

in steadfast love and faithfulness

keeping steadfast love for thousands

forgiving iniquity and transgression

and sin

but who will by no means

clear the guilty

visiting the iniquity

of the fathers

from the children

and the children's children

to the third

and the fourth generation

so on

Now we have a few verses

to note first of all

before we look

in more detail

at this part of the passage

and you first of all

notice the request of Moses

back in chapter 33

and at verse 18

Here is Moses looking for

the Lord's assurance

that he would go with them

on the journey

that they have begun

into the wilderness

onto the promised land

and here is Moses

in verse 18

there saying

Moses said

Please

show me your glory

What an amazing

and wonderful

request that was

how was the Lord

going to answer

such a request

and desire

on the part of Moses

well the next verse

tells us

the Lord said

to Moses

he said

I will make

all my goodness

pass before you

and will proclaim

before you

my name

the Lord

and then he mentions

the graciousness

of the Lord

so this is how God

answered the request

of Moses

Moses is saying

Lord please

show me your glory

and God replied

to that in terms

of his goodness

and that's a remarkable

thing that

the glory of the Lord

is not something

that you can hardly

see or approach

that does not mean

that God

is not glorious

and that God's

the glorious God

we should not think

of coming into

his presence

in any other way

but appreciating

and respecting

that holiness

and that glory

that belongs

to him

but the glory

of the Lord

as Moses

requested it

is now going

to be seen

by Moses

in terms

of the goodness

of God

and that's a reminder

to ourselves

every time

you see

the goodness

of God

in whatever way

displayed

in your own life

or in the world

that is God

manifesting

his glory

because the goodness

of God

as we'll see

is actually

set out

and proclaimed

by God

in such a way

that makes

Moses come

to appreciate

these great aspects

of God's goodness

mercy

grace

slow to anger

abounding

in steadfast love

keeping steadfast love

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin

there is the

Lord's goodness

there is the

Lord's glory

displayed

in his goodness

the goodness

of the Lord

the God of grace

the God of salvation

the God

whose concern

it is

that sinners

should come to him

and be welcomed

by him

and then

you see

the response

also

sorry

the response

of Moses

following that

in verse 12

of chapter 33

you have a reference

there

to the name

as it's mentioned

where he says here

I know you

by name

Moses said

see you say to me

bring up this people

but you have not

let me know

whom you will send

yet you have said

I know you

by name

and if you trace

that out

you'll find

the name repeated

verse 17

the Lord said

this very thing

that you have spoken

I will do

for you have found

favor in my sight

and I know you

by name

and then verse 19

you find that same word

used

I will make my goodness

pass before you

and will proclaim

before you

my name

and then verse 5

of chapter 34

where you find the same

reference to the name

the Lord descended

in the cloud

and stood with him there

and proclaimed

the name

of the Lord

now why is that

significant?

well because

the name

indicates

the character

of God

those things

that are true

of God

that he's pleased

to divulge

to us

and you see

the correspondence

between God

saying I know

you by name

as he said

to Moses

and now he's

making his name

known to Moses

to pass on

to the people

in other words

God is not just

saying I know

what your name

is Moses

I know your name

is Moses

he's saying a lot

more than that

when God says to him

I know you by name

he's saying I know

your character

I know every single

thing about your character

I know the kind

of person you are

I know the very nature

of your being

and of your works

and so when God

is saying this

about himself

that he's going to

make his name known

that's exactly

what he's saying

when he proclaims

his name

as we'll see in a minute

he's really saying

this is who I am

this is what I am like

this is the God

you worship

this is why

you worship me

you know me

by name

I make my name

known to you

it doesn't matter

what names we have

sometimes

they may be significant

in terms of being

named after somebody

very often that's the case

named after

an ancestor

or somebody

significant

in the way

in which our parents

gave us names

but very seldom

do you find

our name

conveying

anything to do

with our character

because very often

we don't know

what kind of character

we're going to be anyway

when we are actually

come to be named

by our parents

but

that's not the case

of course

with God

the name

that God

carries

and the way

he knows

our name

is a way of God

highlighting for us

I know exactly

what makes you

what makes you tick

what really

exists in your heart

I know your mind

I know

everything you

actually have to say

and to do

I know your

very character

and

that's why God

is saying

he's going to

proclaim

his name to him

and now if you

come forward

to chapter 34

and verse 6

the Lord

passed by

before him

and proclaimed

the name of the Lord

proclaimed the Lord

the Lord God

in other words

God is proclaiming

meaning

God is revealing

to him

what his name

is

what his name

contains

what his character

is about

what he's like

and this is

as we said

it's in terms

of God's goodness

so if you like

the goodness

of God

the unfolding

of the name

of God

the inner meaning

of the name

of God

is actually

unpacked

for Moses

and for ourselves

in these verses

6 to 7

of chapter 34

as the Lord

then gets into

the detail

of who he is

and what he's like

and all of these

aspects

of God's character

and the name

of God

are important

to ourselves

this evening

we want to look

at two things

in a very short

compass

we look at

verses 1 to 4

Moses' preparation

to meet

with God

but then

from verse 5

verses 5 to 7

God's revelation

in his meeting

with Moses

so Moses' preparation

to meet

with God

and God's revelation

in his meeting

with Moses

look at the way

God

first of all

tells Moses

to prepare himself

cut for yourself

two tablets

of stone

remember the first

ones had been broken

when Moses came

down the mountain

and saw the idolatry

of the people

he broke

the first two

tablets of stone

on which the

Ten Commandments

were written

some people think

that was an act

of great anger

that was a rash

act on Moses' part

it's much more likely

to have been

an act of indignation

at what the people

had done

and that it was

a symbolic act

when he broke

these two tablets

of stone

on which the

Commandments

were written

he was demonstrating

the presence

of the people

the gravity

of their sin

what their sin

amounted to

they had broken

the law of God

they had smashed

the law of God

just as Moses

smashed the tablets

on which it was

written

and here is God

saying

I'm going to

write these

anew for you

I will write

the words

that were

on the first

but notice

saying

verse 2

be ready

by the morning

be ready

the meeting

with God

requires preparation

it requires

Moses to prepare

himself

not just to

prepare

these two

tablets

for God

to write on

but to prepare

himself

be ready

get yourself

ready

get yourself

into shape

get yourself

into order

and that

actually

requires a

deliberate

preparation

on Moses'

part

now it's like

that

for ourselves

too

one of the

outcomes

of having

a sense

of the

greatness

of God

in the midst

of his people

having a sense

of what the

name of God

is about

knowing God

for ourselves

as the great

and majestic

God that he is

the God

who is marked

by grace

and slow to anger

and all these

things we'll look

at in a moment

but as God

is marked

by these

as he impresses

these on our

hearts

every time we

come together

to meet with

God

every time we

come even

personally

individually

to have our

business with

God

in prayer

and in worship

we have these

words come to

mind

be ready

for this

prepare

for this

you're coming

to meet

with God

you're coming

to actually

have an audience

with God

you're coming

to hear

the voice

of God

you're coming

to experience

the presence

of God

through the

spirit of God

and God

is saying

to us

every time

we come

be ready

for that

now he's

given us

this wonderful

day

this Lord's

day

every Lord's

day that

passes

although of course

it's through

at some extent

in every day

and every time

we come

but the Lord's

day especially

let's look upon

the Lord's

day increasingly

a day that's

so badly

so badly

neglected

by our society

and

nevertheless

here we are

as God's

people

and we're

here tonight

and God

has required

of us

to be ready

to ready

our minds

to ready

our hearts

to prepare

to receive

his word

to prepare

to give

to him

the praise

and the worship

that we owe

to him

friends

think

every time

you come

to a Sunday

morning

to a Lord's

day morning

think of it

in this way

and I must

think of it

in that way

too

be ready

be ready

to meet

with God

prepare

your heart

and mind

as far

as possible

come

I know

that

many of us

have things

to do

even on a

Lord's day

morning

especially

with young

families

and so on

and it's

difficult

to have

time to

really just

think properly

of what we're

going to be

doing

in gathering

together

in church

and in worship

but it's

great to train

our children

in this way

as well

and that's

one of the

wonderful things

about seeing

the children

at our

services

morning or

evening

or both

that we're

really getting

them into

the way

of training

them to think

this is actually

coming to

meet with

God

we're coming

to be ready

to meet

with God

we have to

prepare to

meet with

God

we have to

just sit

and think

what it is

we're going

to do

when we

come to

church

that it's

an audience

with God

that we're

coming to

meet with

him

so he's

saying to

Moses

be ready

he has to

consecrate

himself

to prepare

himself

for this

important

meeting

that he's

going to

have with

God

but let's

look more

fully at

God's

revelation

in his

meeting

with

Moses

you see

in verse

five

there

there are

three

actions

on the

part

of

God

that

are

themselves

significant

it's

very easy

to

maybe

skip

over

them

in

reading

but

they

are

important

theologically

the Lord

descended

in the

cloud

the Lord

stood

with him

there

the Lord

proclaimed

the name

of the

Lord

three

verbs

three

words

of action

on the

part

of God

the first

is the Lord

descended

what does that

mean

why is that

emphasized

well of course

because it

just places

again in

Moses' mind

that God

is above

him

that he

is beneath

God

that God

is there

that he

is in his

greatness

arranging all

of this

but it's

especially

to just

bring to

Moses' mind

again

the Lord

has the

initiative

it's the

Lord who's

prepared this

it's the

Lord who

dictates this

it's the

Lord who

sets the

terms of

this

God

is saying

by

descending

like this

he's showing

Moses just

what it's

about

that he

God

has charge

of the

situation

he's made

the arrangement

he's taken

the initiative

and so he's

come down

in the

pillar

in the

cloud

and secondly

he stood

with him

there

that's a

remarkable

thing in

itself

there is

God

mentioned

there as

having

come

down

and now

he is

saying

the

Lord

actually

stood

with him

there

it's

anticipatory

I suppose

in some

way

of what

you find

in the

case of

Jesus

and the

Lord's

God's

Son

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

who came

and in

some cases

in the

Gospels

we find

him

referred

to us

standing

in a

certain

position

when he

comes

to meet

with

some

take

for

example

like

Zacchaeus

in Luke

Luke 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19

where you

find

that Zacchaeus

having

gone ahead

and made

his way up

into the

sycamore tree

to see

Jesus

passing by

Jesus

came

to the

spot

and he

stood

he stood

and looked

up to

Zacchaeus

now

that's a

deliberate

reference

on the

part of

Luke

to what

he saw

happening

Jesus

stopped

Jesus

stood

the same

with

Bartimaeus

crying out

Jesus

son of

David

have

mercy

on

me

Jesus

stood

and

he

asked

commanded

the

disciples

to

call

Zacchaeus

to come

to him

when

God

stands

he

does

so

waiting

for

our

response

that's

why

Moses

here

meets

with

God

standing

before

him

when

God

comes

down

when

God

comes

by

his

spirit

into

such

an

occasion

even

as

this

tonight

this

is

how

you

and

I

are

to

think

of

it

the

God

who

has

taken

the

initiative

to

come

and

actually

be

here

by

his

spirit

and

he

is

standing

he

is

waiting

here

for

your

response

and

for

mine

to

his

presence

to

his

call

to

his

word

he's

not

inactive

he's

actually

in a

posture

of

waiting

standing

to

see

what

you

and

I

are

going

to

make

of

it

and

then

thirdly

he

proclaimed

he

spoke

there

is

how

we

ourselves

too

must

think

of

God

he

proclaims

himself

what

he's

like

what

the

word

Lord

means

what

his

name

is

about

so

there's

the

Lord's

actions

but

then

we

move

on

to

the

Lord's

words

because

there's

not

much

at

all

about

what

Moses

saw

but

there's

a lot

about

what

Moses

heard

and

Moses

heard

this

declaration

this

proclamation

by

God

himself

of

what

he

was

like

and

we'll

go

through

these

words

very

briefly

each

of

them

deserves

a

much

wider

treatment

than

we

can

give

it

tonight

but

we

see

them

very

frequently

in

our

studies

of

scripture

anyway

the

first

one

is

merciful

the

Lord

the

Lord

a

God

merciful

the

name

of

the

Lord

what

the

Lord

is

like

this

is

the

first

word

the

Lord

uses

the

God

who

is

merciful

and

the

word

that's

used

there

is

a

very

human

word

if you

like

all the

words

of course

are

human

words

but

I

mean

human

in the

sense

of

being

applied

in a

very

emotional

loving

caring

way

this

word

you can

find it

for example

in

Hosea

that

wonderful

passage

in

Hosea

Hosea 11 · chapter mention

chapter

11

which

speaks

among

other

things

of

the

Lord

bringing

Israel

as a

child

and

coming

to

teach

Israel

to

walk

he's

talking

spiritually

of course

then he

goes

on

verse

8

how

can

I

give

you

up

O

Ephraim

how

can

I

hand

you

over

O

Israel

he's

talking

to

the

same

people

the

people

of

Israel

they

are

just

embroiled

in

idolatry

they've

gone

the way

of

the

Canaanites

they've

turned

their

backs

on

the

Lord

they're

worshipping

these

idols

and

God

is

saying

how

can

I

give

you

up

how

can

I

hand

you

how

can

I

give

you

what

you

deserve

in

other

words

how

can

I

make

you

like

Adma

how

can

I

treat

you

like

Zeboam

these

were

two

cities

along

with

Sodom

that

God

destroyed

in

the

destruction

of

the

cities

of

the

plain

at

the

time

that

Sodom

was

destroyed

and

he

says

how

can

I

make

you

like

this

my

heart

recoils

within

me

my

compassion

grows

warm

and

tender

that's

used

here

of

God

in

terms

of

a

mother's

love

for

her

child

or

take

another

example

of

that

word

in

Isaiah

Isaiah 49:15

chapter

49

verse

15

here

is

what

God

is

saying

to

his

people

then

can

a

woman

forget

her

nursing

child

that

she

should

have

no

compassion

on

the

son

of

her

womb

even

these

may

forget

yet

I

will

not

forget

you

behold

I

have

engraved

you

on

the

woman

forget

her

nursing

child

that

she

should

have

no

compassion

on

the

son

of

her

womb

and

in

the

Hebrew

text

of

the

Old

Testament

the

word

compassion

is

very

very

close

in

its

spelling

to

the

word

womb

where

a

child

is

conceived

and

develops

prior

to

birth

in

other

words

what

God

is

saying

is

this

is

what

I

am

like

in