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UNLEAVENED BREAD – DAY SEVEN (High Sabbath)

Fred R. Coulter – April 26, 2000

 

For this feast day, the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we’ll entitle this “The Lord Shall Fight For You, You Are Able To Overcome.”  Now let’s pick up the story of the Exodus and the children of Israel after the Passover, and leaving the Night To Be Remembered, and let’s pick it up here in Exodus 13:17, cause there are definite lessons for us in this last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread contained in here.  And God wants us to understand these things year by year, in season and out of season, so that we can come to God and really know and grow and understand and live His way.  And brethren that’s what it’s all about.  That’s the whole thing concerning this.  That we come to the point in our lives that we accept the will of God as our will.  God does not want us to give up our free choice and our own will, He wants us to make His will our will.  Then we grow in character, then we grow in love, then we grow in fulfilling and doing the things that God wants us to do.  Now we are told that these things that happened to the children of Israel are examples for us so that we learn not to do the same thing that they did.  So let’s begin in verse 17.

“And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near…”  Now the land of the Philistines, if you have in mind if you come down from Palestine on down to Egypt, there  is a nice curve that goes right along the Mediterranean Sea.  And right along that was the highway that went up to the holy land. 

Now here’s a good lesson for us.  God never takes us the way that we think.  Now let me ask you a question.  Has your Christian life been the way that you though it would be the day you were baptized?  No, it isn’t.  Has God led you in a different way for a specific purpose?  Yes.  But has it been His way?  Yes.  You see we are to walk in the way of Christ.  In the way of the Lord as He leads us.  We are not to walk in our way and then ask God to reach down and bless what we do because we have done it. 

And we’re also going to learn another lesson here, which is this:  that there will be trials and tests.  And these trials and tests, as we will see, are not the ones that we would choose.  See, because in our own minds, if we choose the trials and tests you know what we would do. We would choose the ones and say, “Well, I know I can do this.”  And you can be guaranteed that’s not the one that God’s going to give you.  

So He didn’t with the children of Israel, even though it was near.  Even though it was convenient to go by the highway of the Philistines.  “…For God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”  Now let’s equate this with spiritual warfare, because we’ll tie this in a little bit later on.  Have a lot of people left because they couldn’t endure in the spiritual warfare?  Yes.  And so God took them a different way. 

“But God led the people about[or that is round a different way], through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed [or that is in their ranks] out of the land of Egypt.  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”  Which they did.  “And they took their journey from Succoth [which means a place of booths], and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night…” So here’s another lesson: we are to walk in God’s way day and night.  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (vs. 18-22).  So all the forty years it was there so the people could know that God was present with them.  Now today we have something greater than the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire.  We have the Holy Spirit in us, which let’s us know that God is with us, and God is in us. 

Now let’s come to chapter 14.  “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.”  So they were to line up along the sea.  “For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in [you’re trapped]” (Ex. 14:1-3).  God will always bring you to a situation where you have no recourse but to trust in God.  And that’s what God wanted to do with the children of Israel.  Now we will see they didn’t understand it.  Let’s go on.

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.  And they did so.  And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” (vs. 4-5).  “We’ve given up all of our slaves, now we’ve got to do the work.  We’ve got to draw the water.  We have to make the clothing.  We have to prepare the food.  We have to tend to the animals.  We have to do all these things.”  No they had the live of leisure where they could just sit back and do none of these things, because the children of Israel, as their slaves, did it all for them. 

So they said, verse 6, “And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand” (vs. 6-8).  Now here comes the enemy after them and we’ll see how they reacted and what God did. 

Now let’s pick it up beginning in verse 9.  “But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea…”  And God knew that they would be overtaken.  He did that deliberately.  “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD” (vs. 9-10).  Now you see, when you start going through difficulties and trials, and the thing we need to understand and the thing we’re going to realize in this is that God delivers us out of all of our troubles, all of our trials, everything that we go through.  But He is the One that has to fight the battle for us.  We have our part, we’ve got to do the walking.  But God will do the fighting.  So let’s see what they said. 

“And they said unto Moses…”  Now here they were in a bad attitude.  And sometimes you wonder, “Why does God let these things happen.  Is He God?  Can He not change things?  Can He not make it better?  Why am I in the middle of this trial?  And here they were being afflicted by the Egyptians coming.  They were afraid they were going to be recaptured, thrown back into slavery, go back into Egypt and so forth.  So they complained to Moses saying, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?  wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?  Is this not the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?”   Ah, that isn’t what they said, they said, “Oh, the burden is too much, help, send a deliverer.”  And that’s what God did.  “For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (vs. 9-12). 

You see when you begin comparing your circumstances with circumstances that you think that you would rather have, and your circumstances in a trial are difficult now, then you begin to accuse God, and accuse Him of things which are not true.  Because in the trial God has promised He will provide a way of escape.  And the children of Israel did not understand that.  So God had to show them that He was going to perform a great and a vast miracle to save them from the hand of Pharaoh.  And when you understand it, being delivered from all of our trials and troubles, really amounts to accumulatively a great and a vast miracle on the part of God because He wants to fight for you but you have to trust in Him.

Now verse 13.  “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not…”  The first thing we are to do is to overcome fear.  “…Stand still [don’t be going in a different way], and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you today…”  That’s why you have to wait on God.  Always wait on God.  “…For the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”  Because God had a greater plan in mind.  He was going to take care of the enemy.  He was going to do them in His way. 

Verse 14.  “The LORD shall fight for you…”  That is the key thing brethren.  That’s why you’re to cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you and He will fight for you.  “…And ye shall hold your peace.”  In other words stop your complaining.  Maybe this will help us understand why we need to learn to rejoice in the trials that we go through.  It is not because God doesn’t love us.  It is because God loves us and He knows.  And it is because God wants to do us good at our latter end.  That’s why He took the children of Israel through all the things that He did, as He says in Deuteronomy 8, “…to do them good at their latter end.”  So we need to understand that when we are going through a trail.  Are you going through a trial right now?  Do you have a difficulty right now?  Do you have a problem that needs to be solved?  Take it to God and ask Him to work it out His way.  But His way and His schedule may be different than yours.  So trust God, wait on God, stand still, don’t criticize, hold your peace.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore [why are you complaining] criest thou unto Me?  speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward…”  And that’s what we want to do in everything that we do.  Go forward.  Let God deliver us out of all of our troubles.  And as I look back and see the things that I’ve gone through through the 40 years since I’ve been in the Church of God, God has delivered us out of all of our problems.  And in the final analysis that has been the best, because just like the children of Israel, when we started out we didn’t know where we were going or how God was going to lead us.  And it’s the same way with us today.  We walk in faith, not by sight.  We walk in the power of God, not by our own.  And that’s the whole lesson of this day. 

Now here’s what God told Moses to do after He told him to go forward.  “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.  And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get Me honour  upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host [that is all of his army], upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten Me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen” (vs. 16-19).  So you see God’s way is perfect and complete. 

Now you would think that Pharaoh would have gotten the point back there when all of the plagues, and all of the signs and wonders were happening before the Passover and before the Exodus, right?  No, but he didn’t.   So let’s see what happened. 

“And the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel, removed an sent behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them [that is to the Egyptians], but it gave light by night to these [that is the children of Israel]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.  And Moses stretched his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night…” (vs. 19-21), so He blew it back, blew back the sea. 

Now I’ve mentioned that it had to be a wide channel for them to walk across in order to get over there in just a few hours that they did.  Because going out in a column it would have taken hours, and hours, and hours, and hours for them to get to the other side.  As much as 10 hours as we saw when we calculated the moving of the Exodus.  So this had to be they were camped along the narrow seashore there along the Red Sea and when God caused the east wind to blow it blew the waters back.  And also I mentioned that perhaps God raised the floor of the seabed to help get the waters to stand on the side and make a wide opening for them to go.  Now some people objected to that.  Well I didn’t say it as dogma.  I just said maybe God perhaps did.  There’s evidence of great movement of the earth in that location of the Red Sea so perhaps He did. Either way, regardless of how it occurred, the wind blowing and God’s miraculous intervention and moving the sea back, it stood as walls, and the children of Israel walked in the midst of the sea. 

Verse 22.  “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”  Now most people have in mind what it was like in the movie, “The Ten Commandments”, and that was all trick photography, and they went down into a narrow channel, whereas this was a wide channel.  It’s still to the right and it’s still to the left, is it not?  Regardless to how wide it is?  Yes. 

“And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.  And it came to pass, that in the morning watch…”  Now this is basically from 3 to 6 in the morning, our time that is speaking.  “…the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians…”  So that’s when they were coming.  They came after them in the morning watch.  “And took of their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them again the Egyptians” (vs. 23-25). 

So there they were stuck in the sea, all becoming mud.  Took all of the wheels off of the chariots after they pursued in there.  So this was an early morning event, probably sometime right at sunrise when this occurred, because the night watch is from 3 until 6, so sunrise may have been say maybe 5 o’clock at that particular time, or quarter to 6 as we have it.  And the children of Israel got across there in a very quick hurry. 

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it…”  So it was just right there at sunrise.  And when it got lighter in the morning then it was “…the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea”, never to be found again.  “And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that come into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them” (vs. 26-28).  Now when God does fight our battle for us He does it completely.  He doesn’t leave us to our own devices.  And we’ll see a little later on when you use your own devices.  We’ll see that in just a minute.

“But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out to of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.  And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and His servant Moses” (vs. 29-31).  And then of course they had quite a day of celebration, saying that God is a man of war, He has destroyed the Egyptians and He has saved us. 

Well, we need to have the same thing happen to us.  We need God to intervene and fight our battles for us.  Let’s go to Numbers 13 and lets see what happened when God told them to go in and look out the land.  And we find something here that’s very important and a tremendous lesson for us.  A very important thing concerning the children of Israel and their relationship to God.  Now let’s see the example here of how this would fit to us.  And let’s understand how it is that if we try and do it our way, and we don’t believe God, then God is going to bring more difficulty upon us.  And that’s certainly something that we don’t want.  Now if we do it willingly God’s way, and we do it in a way that pleases Him, then He will fight our battles for us. 

Now here in Numbers 13 we have the spies coming back and giving their report, and to access about going into the promised land.  Now it tells how they came back, and they showed them all the fruit of the land.  And as a matter of fact they said it was a land flowing with milk and honey.  But they said here in verse 28, “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak [now those were the giants] there.  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Nu. 13:28-30).  He knew that with the help of God, the power of God they would be able to overcome all difficulties. 

“But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”  Now there’s a big lesson for us.  It doesn’t matter whether the enemy is stronger than we are, God can take care of them, without a doubt.  “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers [that is compared to them], and so we were in their sight” (vs. 31-32). 

Now notice, rather than saying, “Why you men, you brought this evil report.  Now why do you do this?”  No, what happened?  Numbers 14:1, and this is what happens when we look to the circumstances and our own means of doing things.  We get discouraged.  We complain.  We criticize.  But more importantly when that happens then, God is not with us to fight our battles for us.  That’s what we need to understand in it. 

Now Numbers 14:1, “And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.  And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron…”, probably shaking their fists and crying to one another.  And mothers saying “Oh, our children are going to die, and we’re just too weak.  We don’t have any weapons.  How are we going to fight these cities against the giants?  They’re all walled up.  How are we going to do it?”  “…And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in the wilderness!” (Nu. 14:1-2).  Now you see, that is a tremendous accusation against God.  So you see whatever the trials or difficulties that come along, accept them as part of the thing that God is bringing you through.  God had a greater plan for them.  God could have overcome it, but they didn’t want to trust God. 

You know it’s very much like the Church today.  The Church today gave up on the Sabbath and the holy days and began to do as the world does to call it a curse.  And now look what has happened to them.  God has left them.  God has rejected them.  God will not help them, or fight their battles for them, just like here with the children of Israel.

Now verse 3.  “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives, and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (vs. 3-4).  I mean a full-fledged rebellion going on here. 

“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.  If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.  But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.  And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.  And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me?  and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?  I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they” (vs. 5-12). 

Well the long and the short was, Moses intervened and said, “No don’t do that lest the heathen say you brought them out here to kill them.”  So God said alright, alright.  God is longsuffering, and merciful, and kind, but what He’s going to do, He’s going to render judgment.  He is going to take their judgment and put it upon their heads, which is this:  all that rebelled, and all that complained against God would die in the wilderness and the children, which they said God was going to kill, He was going to let them live.  So everyone over 20 years old died in the remaining 38 ½ years wandering in the wilderness, because He gave a year for each day that they were searching out the land, 40 days.  He gave a day of judgment against them that they in disbelieving God their carcasses would fall in the wilderness.  So you see, rather than fighting for them God fought against them, and that’s a tremendous lesson we need to learn.  If we don’t let God fight our battles for us, and we take it into our hands, God is going to fight against us, and we need to understand that in our Christian life of overcoming. 

Now let’s come to Deuteronomy 1, and let’s see a summary of it and what they did.  And here’s a good example of the sorrow of the world, a carnal repentance, which God will not accept.  Once you reject God like they did, once you refuse to do the will of God, once you disbelieve God and reject His help and turn against Him, and God decides to give you judgment, and God decides to fight against you, then unless there is complete and total repentance and acceptance of the will of God, it is going to be an utter disaster.  Look what happened here now when they said that “we are going to go up.” 

Now verse 41, “Then ye answered and said unto Me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us.”  Now you see here’s the lesson.  There comes a point when it can be too late.  This sounds an awful like similar to the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25.  Five were wise, five were foolish, and here are the foolish of Israel.  They said, “We’ll do it.”  “…And when ye had girded on every may his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.  And the LORD said unto me, Say unto the, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you…”  (Deut. 1:41-42). When you disbelieve God and you don’t trust in Him, and you go by your own devices, which all of us have done, did God prosper it?  No.  Did God bless it?  No. Did it fall flat on its face?  Yes.  Did we have to really then repent of it afterwards?  Absolutely.  It’s the same thing here.  God already rendered the judgment.  It was too late for the sorrow of the world.  It was too late to say, “We will obey.”  Because God had already given His judgment.  So He said, “I’m not with you.” 

“So I spake unto you [Moses said]; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.  And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you , as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even in Hamorah.  And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you” (vs. 43-45).  Now you see what happens when you try and do your own way against the will of God when you don’t let God fight your battles for you.

Now let’s go to Psalm 34.  And Psalm 34, you might say is kind of the theme of this day of Unleavened Bread.  God will fight your battles for you.  Now here, Psalm 34:4. Brethren this is great, this is marvelous.  Therefore you see, we don’t have to worry.  When a trial or difficulty comes, instead of accusing God and getting mad and getting all carnal and going out seeking to do your own will, and you become discouraged and don’t pray and don’t study that is the precise time to pray, and the precise time to study, and the precise time to draw close to God and say, “O God, I know this is a problem and difficulty and here’s the trial that is facing me.  Please help me.  Please give me wisdom and understanding.  Please deliver me from these things.  Please make a way of escape according to Your promise.  I’m trusting in Your word.”  Now if you do that, isn’t that a much different approach to it than complaining and saying, “O God, why this.  Oh another trial.  Oh I have to go through this.”  Now what if you have trials all the rest of your life.  What are you going to do?  Get mad and give up on God?  Are you going to throw away eternal life because you have trials?  Well that’s the lesson of the children of Israel.  They threw away the opportunity to enter into the promised land because they didn’t believe God.  And they had repentance that was too late and too sorry and ineffective. 

Now let’s read here, Psalm 34:4.  “I sought the LORD, and He heard me…”  That is the key.  In your trial and time of troubles seek the Lord.  “…And [He] delivered me from all my fears.  They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”  Now notice it doesn’t say “some”.  It says “all his troubles.”  “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”  The angel of the Lord is not around those who criticize Him, and ridicule Him, and complain and don’t trust God, and disbelieve Him.  You drive away the Spirit of God.  You drive away the angels of God.  “O taste and see that the LORD is good…” (Psa. 34:4-8).   And this is tasting God by living and experience.  And this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And this is the whole feast where we taste the way of God and live by it and see that it is good, it is right, it is perfect, it is wholesome, it is the way that God wants.  And if we have some trials that come along we have the greatest guarantee God will fight for us and deliver us out of all of our problems and troubles.

Now let’s come over here to verse 15.  “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous…”  God is looking down here.  He knows your circumstances.  He knows the difficulties and things you’re going through.  “…And His ears are open unto their cry.  The face of the LORD is against them that do evil…”  And that’s what the children of Israel did.  They did evil so then He had to end up fighting against them.  Isn’t that something?  What an absolute irony it is that the very people of God whom God said, “I will fight for you”, disbelieved Him to the extent that He had to fight against them and become their enemy.  Now what a shame that is.  Brethren may that not happen to us.  “…To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth”  (vs. 15-16).

“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”  Now there it is twice.  Delivered from all your troubles.  “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (vs. 17-18).  That’s how we need to take these things.  That’s how we need to go through these things.  Now with the attitude that carnal Israel had.  You know, that’s why it’s says even concerning the Sabbath with the Sabbath song, Psalm 95, where it says “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the day of the provocation.”, you see.  So brethren, will you open your heart and open your mind, and ask God to give you a contrite spirit and a willing mind to serve Him. 

Now notice verse 19.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous…” because we’re going to see that that is because we live in a world that is sinful all around us.  And we live in a world that is controlled by Satan the devil.  And he is there to do things, you see.  And he is there to turn things upside down against us.  But notice, “…the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”  Now that’s three times that we are told God delivers us out of all our trials.  Do you believe God?  If you do then God will fight your battles and deliver you, and He will save you. 

Verse 20, “He keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken.  Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.    The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate” (vs. 20-22).  Now the whole part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to get out sin, to get out vanity, to get out the self, to get out the self-willedness.  To put in the unleavenedness of Christ, to put in the will of God, to put in the faith of God, the trust of God, the hope of God, and let Him deliver us.  That’s what the whole Feast of Unleavened Bread is about, brethren.  So on this last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread it’s an important and a tremendous thing that we do. 

Now there are many other examples that we could go through showing how God delivered Hezekiah.  And what God did with the repentance of Josiah.  And what God did for those who truly followed God.  How God intervened and even helped Elijah recover from his discouragement so that he could continue and do the things that God wanted him to do.  No there are so many things, and so many lessons.  Let’s look at one Psalm here, Psalm 18.  Let’s look at that.

Now here in Psalm 18, let’s cover certain key verses which are very important for us to understand.  Let’s begin in verse 1.  “I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength.”  Now that’s why David was a man after God’s heart.  He loved Him.  He looked to Him.  Granted He had his sins and his problems just like we do.  But if your heart is right and your attitude is right, notice, “The Lord is my rock…”  That’s what Jesus said He was in the New Testament.  And we have to build on that rock.  “…and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust…”  Now notice how trust in God and responsiveness from God go hand in hand.  “…My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  I will call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.  The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.” And then God acted in such a way that “…the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills…”(Psa. 18:1-7), and showed how all it was that God intervening to help and fight for David.

Now let’s come over here and see the lesson that is learned from this you see.  Notice verse 21, “For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed form my God.”  No, he trusted in Him.  “For all His judgments were before me [never took his mind off of God’s way], and I did not put away His statutes from me.  I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.”  Now notice, let’s come over here to verse 27.  “For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.”  The high and mighty are coming down.  “For Thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”  In other words, make a way to show you the way.  “For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall” (vs. 27-29).  That is showing that he was able to accomplish what would be considered by other people impossible, you see.  Nothing is impossible with God.  All things are possible.  God can help.  God can deliver.  God will.  But it is His will to put us through the trials and the difficulties that we go through that we can learn character, that we can learn trust, that we can learn humility, that we can learn the total Christian life of unleavenedness before Him.

Verse 30, here’s what he learned.  “As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.”  In other words a defense.  If you don’t trust in Him He won’t defend you.  “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?  It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.  He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.  Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great” (vs. 30-35).

Now we will see how that applies in just a little bit in the New Testament, but let’s go to Psalm 27.  And here’s another one showing God intervening and helping and delivering and fighting and looking to God in everything, and in every way.  And if we do that then God will surely be with us in everything.