Sermon # 229 Series: Isaiah
Title: “Why Hast Thou Made
Us To Err?”
Text: Isaiah 63:9-19
Reading: Office: Auditorium:
Subject: The Penitential Lamentation of Afflicted Saints
Date: Sunday Evening - December 10, 1995
Tape # S-4
Introduction:
As I
stand before you tonight, I feel totally unfit to be the one preaching. I need
someone to preach to me. Recently, I have had calls and letters from pastors in
various parts of the country expressing grave concern for the apparent judgment
of God upon our generation and lamenting the evident apathy of so many who
profess faith in Christ to the things of God. I share their grave concerns. Any
man who has a pastor’s heart grieves for the people trusted to his care, when
he sees in them signs of spiritual declension. But I am troubled by something
far more personal. I am deeply disturbed by the coldness, apathy, and
indifference of my own heart to those things that I know to be most important: the Word, worship, and work of God. And
I am even more deeply concerned about my coldness and indifference to Christ.
I
know that I have preached a good many sermons along this line lately. Yet, as I
began to prepare for tonight’s service, we have come at this time to this
particular place in Isaiah’s prophecy. I am certain that we have come to this
passage at this time by divine arrangement. And I am equally certain that the
message of our text has been brought home to my heart at this time by divine
arrangment. If it applies to you, may God the Holy Spirit apply it to you, ashe
has to me. If it does not now apply to you, listen carefully. I assure you that
before long it will; and you will then need to remember what you hear here
tonight.
You
will find my title and my subject in verse 17. “Why Hast Thou Made Us To Err?”
Proposition: In the passage before us we have, recorded by
divine inspiration, the penitential lamentation of God’s afflicted saints, when
the hand of God was heavy upon them.
Without
question, these verses were written in connection with the afflictions of the
Jewish people in a time of captivity. But they are as applicable to God’s elect
today as they were to God’s elect in those days. Though they were in physical
captivity, those who knew the Lord expressed their greatest lamentation not for
that, but for their spiritual bondage and captivity. Matthew Henry was exactly right when he wrote, “Convinced
consciences complain most of spiritual judgments and dread that most in an
affliction which draws them from God and duty.”
Divisions: As we look at these verses together, I want to
show you three things in them. I will expound the text, faithfully declaring
what God has recorded in his Word. But I want to do so in a very personal way,
for the words here spoken by the saints of old are echoed in my heart tonight.
Here is my outline:
1.
In
verses 9-10, we find A Realization of
Great Compassion.
2.
Verses
11-14 contain A Contemplation of Great
Goodness.
3.
Verses
15-19 reveal A Lamentation of Great
Sorrow.
I. First,
in verses 9-10, there is A Realization
of Great Compassion.
God’s
lovingkindness, tendermercy, and great compassion for us is seen here in his
tender care of us, illustrated in his tender care of the children of Israel.
These verses exhibit with unrivalled clarity the works of God’s providence, and
show forth the wonders of his grace wth astonishing exactness. They give us a
marvellous summary of the history of God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.
In these two verses we have recorded...
·
God’s
tender compassion toward his people while they were groaning under the yoke of
Pharoah.
·
The
Deliverer he sent to them. “Tthe angel of
his presence,” the Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, his own
dear Son, was sent to bring the chosen nation out of the house of bondage.
·
The
success of his work for them. The redemption God wrought for Israel was a
complete redemption. Not a hoof of a calf was left in Egypt!
·
And
the Lord’s continual care for the nation, throughout their wilderness
wanderings, even when they rebelled against him.
Even when we think only of God’s goodness to the
nation of Israel, we are astonished at the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness.
But there is more in these two verses than that. These verses are written to
assure us of God’s great compassion, tendermercy, and constant faithfulness to
his elect, who were typified by the nation of Israel.
A.
It was the Lord’s great
compassion toward us that preserved and kept us when we were yet lost and
living in rebellion to him.
When
we lived with our fists in his face, the Lord God looked on us with an eye of
pity (Ex. 3:7; Hos. 11:7-9). He longed for our return to him (Jer. 13:27). He
urged us and pressed us to bow to and receive his mercy (Ezek. 33:11; II Cor.
5:18-21). And the very instant we began to feel any burden of sin, as soon as
we began to mourn over our sin, as quickly as we resolved to repent of and
confess our sins, his heart was so excited with love for us that he ran to be
gracious to us (Luke 15:20). Every sigh, every groan from his chosen, redeemed
people enters into his ears and is treasured by him (Jer. 31:18-20).
Though
this compassion of God toward us is first experienced when we come to him in
repentance and faith, it does not begin then. Oh, no. God’s compassion for us,
we discover with great joy, was the cause of our coming to him.
1.
He
loved us from eternity (Jer. 31:3).
2.
He
chose us to be the objects of his grace (Eph. 1:3-6).
3.
He
made a covenant for us in which he arranged the salvation of the people he
loved (II Sam. 23:5).
4.
He
sent his Son to redeem and save us because he loved us (Rom. 5:8; Gal. 2:20).
5.
Just
as he did with Israel of old, God Almighty arranged all the affairs of
providence to bring us out of the house of bondage at the appointed time of
love (Rom. 8:28; Ezek. 16:6-8).
6.
At
the appointed time, the Lord God came to us and delivered us, causing us to
flee to him (Eph. 2:1-4).
7.
That
same free, immutable, faithful love keeps us in his grace and will not let us
depart from him and will present us at last in perfect holiness before the
presence of his glory (Jer. 32:37-40; Eph. 5:25-27)).
B. The Lord’s great compassion for us is also
to be seen in his constant, unfailing
care of us, even when we rebel against him
(v.10).
As
the Lord God watched over his children in the wilderness, so he graciously
watches over each of us today. As he bare them, so he bares us. As he carried
them, so he carries us. As he chastened them, so he chastens us. This is the
thing I want you to see: “There is not any state in which his eye is not upon
us for good.” (Charles Simeon) When
we are assaulted by persecution or by temptation, he stands by our side to give
us aide. As our days demand, so he gives us strength. He supplies us with
sufficient grace for every need. When we are fallen, he lifts us up, brushes us
off, forgives our sin, and encourages in the way. But more than that, he
carries us in the way!
·
Lamentations
3:24-26
II. In verse 11-14, we see A Contemplation of Great Goodness.
There is some debate as to whether these words are to be
understood as the words of God our Savior speaking about his goodness to his
people, or the words of his people responding to his chastisements in a
penitential remembrance of his great goodness to them. It does no violence to
the Scriptures to interpret them either way. But for now, let’s take them as
the words of God’s penitent people reflecting upon his goodness (Jer. 3:4). It
is God’s object in chastisement to cause us to remember his goodness (Jer.
2:5-7). We are wise to remind ourselves constantly of God’s former mercies,
contemplating his goodness to us for our own correction and comfort, and for
God’s glory.
A. The wonders God wrought
in Egypt for his people are here recounted
in a way of grateful recollection.
Here the children of Israel
recall the crossing of the Red Sea, God’s special anointing of Moses to guide
them through the wilderness, and their blessed rest in Canaan, the land of
promise. Repeatedly, each of these mercies is mentioned. Three times the
crossing of the Red Sea is mentioned. Twice the Holy Spirit’s special work is
recalled. Their entrance into Canaan is both recalled and illustrated with
thanksgiving. Thus, even in their time of great sorrow, bondage, and
helplessness, the faithful among the nation celebrated...
·
God’s
infinite love toward them.
·
His
sovereign goodness to them.
·
His
mighty power bestowed upon them.
·
His
special redemption of them.
·
And
his faithfulness to them.
B. This contemplation of
God’s great goodness led to a solemn, pathetic
question that was really more of a statement of realized fact than a question.
Twice this plantiff cry goes up, “Where is he?” Where is our Redeemer? Where is our Comforter? Where
is our God? It is like the cry of Job, when he was in such great trouble. “Oh that I knew where I might find him! that
I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my
mouth with arguments.” (Job 23:3-4)
III. Verses 15-19 contain A Lamentation of Great Sorrow.
There is so much expressed in these verses that I cannot
begin to expound them. But really, I think, they do not so much need exposition
as reverent contemplation. Let me cal your attention to these five things, and
I will be done.
A. Here is a prayer arising
from a heart sensing God’s absence (v.15).
·
“Look”
·
“Behold”
·
“Where is thy zeal and
strength?” Where
is your help?
·
“Where is the sounding of
thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me?” Where can I find some token for good, some
mark of your love, some evidence that you care for me?
·
“Are they restrained?” Do you hold back your love
and mercy from me?
B. Here is a confession of
faith without evidences, of confidence
without signs, and of assurance based entirely upon
the Word of God (v.16).
God, grant us this kind of faith. Give me grace to trust
you, to believe you, to cast myself upon you, when my soul is barren, my heart
is empty, and you hide yourself from me. Look at this remarkable confession.
·
“Doubtless thou art our
Father.”
·
“Thou, O LORD, art our
Father.”
You, our Father are the only sovereign Lord God of the universe. You are God
alone!
·
“Thou art our Redeemer.” Not just Redeemer, but OUR
REDEEMER! Our special, effectual Redeemer!
·
“Thy name is from
everlasting!”
You never change. Any change that has taken place is in us, not in our God.
C. Here is an acknowledgement both of our sin
and of God’s absolute sovereignty. “O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways and hardened our herat
from thy fear?”
This
verse causes the commentators to turn summersaults. Most have no idea how to
handle it. This is not an attempt to blame God for our sin. God’s children
would never dream of doing such a horrid thing (James 1:13-15). This is simply
the humble, honest acknowledgement of two facts understood by all who
understand the Scriptures:
1.
Our
sin and hardness of heart is ours, it is our doing.
2.
The
Lord our God is totally, sovereign even over our sin.
D. Here is the cry of a broken heart, longing
for God’s manifest presence. “Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.”
It is
as though the one praying feels unfit to ask even for mercy for himself. So he
prays for the Lord’s gracious return for the sake of his people.
E. Here are arguments for mercy that no father
could resist (vv. 18-19).
1.
Your
children have enjoyed the privileges our the inheritance you have given them
but very little. RETURN.
2.
Our
adversaries have trampled beneath their feet your sanctuary, your name, your
worship, your honor. RETURN.
3.
“We are thine!”
·
You
never undertook to rule for them.
·
They
have never surrendered to your rule.
·
They
refuse to bear your name.
·
We
are not much. We are nothing. But “we are
thine.” We gladly bear your name.
RETURN! “OH that thou wouldest rend
the heavens, that thou wouldest come down!”
Application:
·
Psalm
13:1-6