The holy spirit in the days of moses

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE DAYS OF MOSES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Isaiah63:11-14 11Thenhis people recalledthe days of
old, the days of Moses and his people- where is he who
brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of
his flock? Whereis he who set his Holy Spirit among
them, 12who sent his glorious arm of power to be at
Moses' right hand, who dividedthe waters before
them, to gain for himself everlastingrenown, 13who
led them through the depths? Like a horse in open
country, they did not stumble; 14likecattle that go
down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of
the LORD. This is how you guided your people to
make for yourselfa glorious name.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
VERSE 11
The Remembrance Of The Past

Isaiah63:10-14
E. Johnson
I. THE MEMORYOF GOD. If God is thought of, as he must be thought of,
after the analogyof human experiences, he must be thought of as
remembering, calling the past to mind, and as undergoing changes of mind in
consequence.These are ways ofrepresenting first to thought, then in
language, aninfinite love, which must be capable of all the scale and gamut of
feeling - anger, wrath, jealousy, and the revulsion almostto the tenderness of
tears. So in the wilderness, he, being full of compassion, forgave the iniquity of
the rebels in the wilderness, turning his angeraway, because he remembered
that they were flesh, or but as the passing wind; he calledto mind his
covenant;he repented according to the multitude of his mercies (Leviticus
26:45;Psalm 78:39;Psalm 106:45). In the history of Israelthere was nothing
more memorable than the coming up out of Egypt, and the leadership of
Moses andAaron.
II. THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL EXPLAINED FROM THE GOVERNMENT
OF GOD. The outward wonders, the deeds of might, were but the
manifestation of an inward waking of his Spirit in the breast el the people. A
Spirit of instruction, of "providential guidance and sagacious government" -
"Thy goodSpirit to instruct them" (Nehemiah 9:20). A holy light seemedin
the retrospectto rest upon that period. It was said that the people "servedthe
Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that over-lived
Joshua," for"they had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for
Israel." The next generationknew not the works of the Lord, nor the works
he bad done for Israel(Joshua 24:31;Judges 2:6-10). The Spirit of Jehovah
appears to mean much the same as the face of Jehovahabove (cf. Exodus
33:14;Haggai2:4, 5; cf. Numbers 11:10-30). The term "holiness" reminds of
the covenant, and the covenantof the obligations of fidelity on the part of the
people, in response to the oath-keeping of God. Another image, almost
carrying the same meaning, is that of the "arm of Jehovah's splendour"
(Isaiah 40:10;Isaiah 45:1), ready to support Moses,to hold him up from
falling (Isaiah41:10-13). Thenthe sublime picture of the crossing of the Red
Sea rises up in imagination (Exodus 14:21;cf. Psalm106:9; Psalm77:16), and

the wide and dreary steppe. Finally, as a herd goes downfrom the mountain-
side into the pasture-land of the plain, so, under the same guidance, the people
came to their rest - a beloved word (Exodus 33:14; Deuteronomy3:20;
Deuteronomy 12:9; Joshua 1:13; Joshua 22:4;Psalm 95:11;Jeremiah 31:2;
Hebrews 4:1, 9). The spiritual sum and substance of all is, "Thus thou didst
guide thy people to make unto thyself a monument of glory." By his work he
became for ever known among the heathen. It was a work not to be executed
by any false god, nor by any human arm. "Egyptwas at this time the centre of
all science, art, and culture; arid what occurredthere would be knownin
other lands. God designedto make a signaldemonstration of his existence and
power, that should be known in all lands and should never be forgotten."
God's glory is the grand end of all he does, and consequentlyought to be
likewise ofall that we either do or suffer. And whatever, therefore, befalls any
man makes for God's glory and for his own good, if he be a child of God. We
should learn, then, to estimate things by their use and tendency. Poisonmay
enter into the compositionof an antidote; and things essentiallygoodmay,
under certain circumstances, become pernicious. Prosperitymay harden and
adversity may humble us; the one may prepare us for judgment, the other for
mercy. - J.
Israelrembering God's dealings with His people
A. B. Davidson, D. D.
It is possible that the words "Moses" and"His people" are marginal
explanations, the former to "shepherd" and the latter to "he": "Thenhe"
(Israel) "rememberedthe days of old, saying, Where is He" (God)... "with the
shepherd of flock" (Moses).... "His holy Spirit within it!" (the flock).
(A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Where is the Lord?

I. A SACRED, LOVING REMEMBRANCE.The people remembered what
God did to them. What was it?
1. He gave them leaders. "Where is He that brought them up out of the sea?"
etc. Moses andAaron, and a band of godly men who were with them, were the
leaders of the people, through the sea and through the wilderness. We are apt
to think too little of our leaders. Firstof all we think too much of them. We
seemto swing like a pendulum betweenthese two extremes. There have been
epochs in history that were prolific of great leaders ofthe Christian Church.
No soonerdid Luther give his clarioncall, than God seemedto have a bird in
every bush; and Calvin, and Farel, and Melancthon, and Zwingle, and many
besides joined him in his brave protest againstthe harlot-church of Rome.
The Church remembers those happy days, with earnestlonging for their
return.
2. God put His Spirit within these shepherds. They would have been nothing
without it. A man with God's Holy Spirit within him, can anybody estimate
his worth?
3. Then there was, as a happy memory for the Church, a greatmanifestation
of the Divine power. "That let them by the right hand of Moses." "The right
hand of Moses,"by itself, was no more than your right hand or mine; but
when God's glorious arm workedby the right hand of Moses,the sea divided,
and made a way for the hosts of Israel to pass over. What we want to-day is a
manifestation of Divine power.
4. Then there came to God's people a very marvellous deliverance:"That led
them,, through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not
stumble. Understand by the word "wilderness here, an expansive grassy
plain; a place of wild grass and Kerbs, for so it means. And as a horse is led
where it is flat and level, and he does not stumble, so were the hosts of Israel
led through the Red Sea. Godhas done so with His Church in all time. Her
seas ofdifficulty have had no difficulty about them.
5. As a blessedending to their trials, God brought them into a place of rest:
"As a beastgoethdown into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord causethhim to
rest: so didst Thou leadThy people. In the desert they resteda gooddeal; but

in Canaanthey restedaltogether. As the cattle come down from the
mountains, where they have been picking up their food, when the plains are
fat with grass, and they feed to their full, and lie down and rest, so did God
deal with His people. I read it, first, literally as a sketchof Israel's history;
next, as a sketchof the Church a history. The same thing has happened to us
as individuals.
II. AN OBJECTCLEARLY SHINING, like the morning starI see, through
the text, God's greatmotive in working these wonders for His people.
1. It was God who did it all. But then, why had God done all this? Did He do it
because ofHis peoples merits, or numbers, or capacities?
2. God works His greatwonders of grace with the high motive of making
known to His creatures His ownglory, manifesting what He is and who He is,
that they may worship Him.
III. AN ANXIOUS INQUIRY, which I find twice over in my text. Believing in
what God "has done" and believing that His motive "still" remains" the
same, we begin to cry, Where as He that brought them up out of the sea with
the she herd of His flock?" etc.
1. This question suggeststhat there is some faith left. "Where is He?" He is
somewhere, Then, He lives.
2. The question implies that some were beginning to seek Him. Where is He?
3. It shows that she has begun to mourn over His absence. I like the
reduplicated word. "Where is He? Where is He?" Not, "Where is Moses?
Where are the leaders? The fathers, where are they? But where is He that
made the fathers? Where is He that sent us Moses andAaron? Where is He
that divided the waters, and led His people safely?" Oh, if He were here! One
hour of His glorious arm; just a day of His almighty working, and what
should we not see?
4. Where is He, then? Well, He is hidden because ofour sins.
5. Foryour comfort, the next verse (ver. 15) tells you where He is. He is in
heaven. They cannotexpel Him from His throne.

6. "Where is He?" Well, He is Himself making an inquiry; for, as some read
the whole passage, it is God Himself speaking. He remembered the days of
old, Moses andHis people; and when He hid Himself, and would not work in
wrath, yet He said to Himself, "Where is He that brought them up out of the
sea with the shepherd of His flock?" When GodHimself begins to ask where
He is and to regretthose happier days, something will come of it.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
How God Feels and Why He Acts
W. Clarkson
Isaiah63:10-14
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be
their enemy, and he fought againstthem.…
The revolt or disobedience of Israelis said to have "vexed[grieved] his Holy
Spirit." We learn from this and from a similar expressionin Ephesians 4:30 -
I. THE GRIEF TO WHICH GOD IS SUBJECT. Menhave argued thus. God
is a blessedor happy Being;he is infinite in all his attributes; therefore he is
infinitely, perfectly happy; therefore there is no possibility of sorrow in his
Divine nature. But such reasoning is very precarious and unreliable. We can
argue little from infinity of which we know nothing, and we must not think of
weighing any inference thus obtained againstplain statements of Scripture.
We are there assuredthat God is capable of grief, and we must believe that he
is, our logicalconclusions notwithstanding. And, looking from another point
of view, we might wellconclude that he is and must be so. For is he not a

Divine Father? And has he not undutiful, rebellious children? How, then,
could he fail to be grieved at heart? The fact of God's fatherhood is the most
certain of all truths establishedby Divine revelation;no ground is more solid
than that. Our human fatherhood is indicative of the Divine; it is the
reflectionof it; it is immeasurably less than it; its best, its tenderest, its most
holy and generous feelings, are hints and shadows ofcorresponding feelings in
the heart of the heavenly Father. If, then, in our thought, we purify, magnify,
multiply that parental grief which father feels when his children go astray, we
understand something of the grief of God.
1. Our Divine Father has expended on us boundless thought, affection,
treasure, training, patience - a "multitude of loving-kindnesses." He has
"given himself for us" in one supreme actof self-sacrificing love.
2. He looks for filial response from us, for eagerattentionto his voice when he
speaks;for the acceptanceofhis pardoning love, for daily remembrance of
him and communion with him; for cheerful obedience to his holy will.
3. He too often finds stubborn and protracted inattention, persistent refusalof
his overtures of mercy, forgetfulness and neglect, a painful disregard of his
will in our relations with one another - disobedience.
4. Then his heart is grieved. He who should be satisfied with us (Isaiah53:11)
is disappointed in us; looking for fruit, he finds none; his Holy Spirit is vexed,
is grieved, in a way and in a degree beyond our human understanding, with a
grief which is Divine.
II. THE ACTION WHICH HE TAKES. "Therefore he was turned to be their
enemy, and he fought againstthem." God's attitude towards his people,

consequenton their guilt, seemedthat of an enemy. He was as one who strove
with them; he sentthem discomfiture, calamity, exile. God may seemto be our
enemy, to contend with us. He may send us:
1. Unhappiness of heart, a sense of the insufficiency and uselessnessofour life,
dreariness and despondency of spirit.
2. Failure of our temporal plans and schemes, andsense ofmiserable defeat.
3. Bereavement.
4. A wounded heart through the inconstancyor the unfaithfulness of a friend;
or some other blow which bends and threatens to break our spirit. God is
againstus, we feel.
III. THE END HE HAS IN VIEW. Howeverwe read ver. 11, it is clearthat
the purpose of God in thus striving with his people was restorative. He meant
to give them rest, thus filling their hearts with joy and "making to himself a
glorious Name." This is the meaning of all his adverse action towardus. He
seeks ourrestorationto himself and to his service. There are with us, as with
Israel, two strong securities.
1. His past loving-kindnesses. He who had bound his people to his heart as the
God of Israelhad done (vers. 11-14)could not and would not desert them in
their distress.

2. The honour of his holy Name. God is establishing a kingdom of peace and
righteousness, andhe wants us as his loyal citizens. This is the meaning of all
we are enduring. It is a summons from God to return to ourselves, to enter on
our true heritage, to have fellowship with him. - C.
VERSES 12-14
The Spirit Of GodIn Moses
Isaiah63:12-14
R. Tuck
Where is he that put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them? The shepherds of
the flock are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; but the chief reference must be to
Moses."Godgave Moseshis Holy. Spirit, and with him the gift of performing
miracles, and leading and teaching the people." The images of these verses
may be thus explained. "One might suppose that Israelwould have trodden
with trembling, uncertain steps, the strange way overthe bottom of the sea on
which human foot was never set. But it was not so. Rapidly and surely, as the
deserthorse goes overthe flat smoothdesert without tottering, so did they
march overthat strange, perilous road. The image of the cattle descending
into the valley is very appropriate for marking the arrival of the Israelites in
the promised land after journeying in the desert. The prophet thinks of the
herds of nomads that must cross a mountain range or plateauin order to
reachregions rich in pasture." The point to which attention may be profitably
directed is, that we usually fix our thoughts on the outward revelations given
to Moses, andthe actualmaterial things which he was required and
strengthenedto do. And yet there is a secretmystery in Moses whichis full of
suggestionforus, and makes him a model for us of the Divine dealings with us
also. Godwas in Moses, dwelling in him by his Spirit, the impulse and

inspiration of all good, true, wise, and loving things. We may, therefore,
illustrate from Moses -
I. THE SPIRIT OF GOD FOR US; OUR GUARANTEE OF SAFETY.
II. THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITH US; OUR CONFIDENCE OF
SUFFICIENCY,
III. THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN US; OUR INSPIRATION TO ALL
GOODNESS.As materials of illustration the following emblems of the Spirit
may be helpful Water: cleansing, fertilizing, refreshing, abundant, freely
given. Fire: purifying, illuminating, searching. Wind: independent, powerful,
sensible in its effects, reviving. Oil: healing, comforting, illuminating,
consecrating. Rainand dew: fertilizing, refreshing, abundant, imperceptible,
penetrating. A dove: gentle, meek, innocent, forgiving. A voice:speaking,
guiding, warning, teaching. A seal:impressing, securing, authenticating. -
R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
That led them.
Isaiah63:12
God and His people
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. GOD LEADS HIS PEOPLE BY INSTRUMENTS WHICHHE CHOOSES
AND QUALIFIES, II, HE DEFENDSTHEM WITH THE ARM OF HIS
POWER.
III. HE REMOVES EVERYDIFFICULTY THAT INTERCEPTS THEIR
COURSE.
IV. HE GLORIFIES HIS OWN NAME IN THEIR DELIVERANCE.

(J. Lyth, D. D.)
To make Himself an everlasting name.
God's glorious and everlasting name
(with ver. 14: "to make Thyself a glorious name "): — Manschiefend is to
glorify and enjoy God. God's greatestandhighest objectis to make to Himself
a glorious and an everlasting name. Since God is God it must be so:for He is
full of love and kindness to His creatures, andHe cannotmore fully bless His
creatures than by making Himself known to them. Everything that is good,
true, holy, excellent, loving, is in God. God may well desire to make to Himself
a name — that is to say, to make Himself known — because He is worthy to
be known. This knowledge ofGod is the heaven of the perfect. It is the help of
the growing. Mencan only getholier and better as they know more of God. It
is also the great hope of sinners. If you knew Him better, you would fly to
Him. If you understood how gracious He is, you would seek Him. If you could
have any idea of His holiness, you would loathe your self-righteousness. Ifyou
knew anything of His power, you would not venture to contend with Him. If
you knew anything of His grace, you would not hesitate to yield yourself to
Him.
I. GOD'S DESIGN HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. Fromeverlasting He was
God most glorious;He existed, but He had as yet no name. For a name is that
by which any one is revealed, and until His powercalledinto being the hosts
of heaven, God was Godalone, and there were none to whom He could be
known. Then the angels lifted high His praise in their songs, and bowedlow
before His throne. In creationHis name was manifestedand magnified. But
our subjectis how God has made His name glorious amongstmen.
1. The text speaks ofGod as making to Himself a greatand glorious name, in
redeeming Israel.
2. As God got to Himself a greatname at the Red Sea, He has done much
more by the greatwork of salvationin the gift of Jesus.

3. HIS designhas been accomplishedin the saints in glory.
II. GOD'S DESIGN IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED. In many ways the grand
work is still going forward. God is carrying out His gracious plan. This
purpose is being fulfilled —
1. In sparing the provoking.
2. In turning the rebellious to Himself.
3. In forgiving the guilty.
4. In purifying the unholy.
5. In preserving the tempted.
6. In using weak instruments.
7. In doing greatthings for His people by sending very wonderful seasons of
refreshing and reviving to His Church.
III. GOD'S DESIGN IS VERY DELIGHTFUL.
1. Becauseit hides pride from men.
2. Becauseit opens a greatdoor for sinners.
3. Becauseit gives comfort to strugglers.
4. Becauseit sustains in trying times.
5. Becauseit answers ourchiefestprayers. "Hallowedbe Thy name, etc.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Isaiah63:14 The Spirit of the Lord causedthem to rest. (R.V.).

It is the noonday glare in Palestine. The sun’s rays like spears of flame are
striking down upon the parched sand-wastes, and all the land burns like a
furnace. Away yonder is a sequesteredglen, where mosses line the margins of
streamlets and pools, and rich pasture keeps greenin the shadow of the hills.
Thither the cattle descendat noon. As the shadows creepdownthe mountain-
sides they follow them, and presently the herd browses onthe succulent
herbage or reclines beneath the shadows ofthe spreading trees, while the
brooks purl pastclear and cool. Similarly Isaiah says Godbrought his people
through the wilderness, leading them as a horse that might not stumble, and
finally conductedthem into the restof Canaan.
But how fit an emblem is suggestedofour Father’s dealings with us. The
scorching sun of temptation shines around us. The glare of publicity, the fever
of money-making, the strife of tongues, torment the children of men. But for
God’s beloved ones there is a secretplace by Him, a greenand verdant nook,
wateredby the river of God. Over its portals these words are written: “I will
give you rest.”
When once we learn to trust our Fathers unfailing love, we are causedto rest.
Notice that forcible expression:the Spirit of the Lord causedthem to rest.
Here is anew thought of the omnipotence of love. It can so reveal itself that it
almost compels rest. Cause us to lie down, O Lord, we pray Thee!Job speaks
of Him as giving quietness:and then who can make trouble? Seek quietness as
his gift! Lo! there is a place by Him, in the mountain-shadowed valley of his
care, where disquieted souls are at peace. Seek it! - F B Meyer
Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible
Isaiah63
Isaiah61

Isaiah
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Verses 1-19
Some of you will remember that chapter 62 ends with the announcement of
the Saviour’s coming: “Sayye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation
cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him,” The
present chapter describes his coming.
Isaiah63:1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah?
Who can HE be, this mysterious personage, this friend of God’s people, this
destroyerof their enemies? Who can HE be?
“Who is this that comes from Edom,
All his raiment stain’d with blood;
To the slave proclaiming freedom;
Bringing and bestowing good:
Glorious in the garb he wears,
Glorious in the spoils he bears?”
Isaiah63:1. This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatnessof
his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
He that has come to save us is majestic in his person, but he is also mighty in
his powerto save. When we ask, “Who is this?” the answercomes to us, “I
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save)” Listen to this, you who feelthat
you are greatsinners, you who know that you need a mighty Saviour. Here is

one able to do for you all that you need. He comes from the field of battle,
from the place of conquest, where he has fought the fight on your behalf, and
won for you the victory over sin, and death, and hell. Who is he?
“’Tis the Saviour, now victorious.
Traveling onward in his might;
‘Tis the Saviour, oh, how glorious To his people is the sight!
Jesus now is strong to save;
Mighty to redeem the slave.”
Isaiah63:2-3. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like
him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone;and of
the people there was none with me:
In all Christ’s redeeming work he was alone. None could help him to redeem
his people. He must alone pay the ransom price. None could help him in his
last greatbattle, when he stood forth as the sole Champion of all whom his
Father had given to him.
“Deathand hell will he dethrone,
By his single arm alone.”
Isaiah63:3-4. ForI will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my
fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all
my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my
redeemedis come.
It was the day of vengeance onthe enemies of God, vengeance onsin and
death, and hell; and it was the year of redemption for the greathost of
believers in Christ, for whom his garments were dyed in his own most
precious blood. Notice how the greatredeemerspeaks ofhis chosenpeople;
“My redeemed.”
Isaiah63:5-6. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wonderedthat
there was none to uphold: therefore mine ownarm brought salvation unto

me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine
anger, and ‘make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength
to the earth.
Dearfriends, I will not go into a full explanation of these verses just now; I
have often explained them to you; but this is the one lessonthat they teach,
there is a Saviour “mighty to save.” Nothing can destroy those who put their
trust in him; he will overthrow every enemy of our souls if we take him to he
our Saviour. Now the prophet speaks again
Isaiah63:7. I will mention the lovingkindnesses ofthe LORD, and the praises
of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowedon us, and the
greatgoodness towardthe house of Israel, which he hath bestowedon them
according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his
lovingkindnesses.
It is well to talk of God’s love and God’s mercy, for, if we afterwards speak of
our own sin and unfaithfulness, it tends to setour sin in a clearerlight, and we
are the more ready to confess it, and to mourn over it. God has dealt well with
us; and, therefore, that we have dealt ill with him, is the more shameful. See
what he did for his ancient people, and behold in his action a picture of what
he has done for his spiritual Israel.
Isaiah63:8. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie:
so he was their Saviour.
He thought well of them, he said, “They will be true to me.” He loved them; he
chose them; he put them in a place of trust and honour; he enteredinto
fellowship and sympathy with them.
Isaiah63:9. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angelof his
presence savedthem: in his love and in his pity he redeemedthem; and he
bare them, and carriedthem all the days of old.
This is what he did for them in Egypt, what he did for them in the desert. He
was very near them, one with them, very tender to them.

Isaiah63:10. But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit; therefore he was
turned to be their enemy, and he fought againstthem.
Hear ye this, ye people of God! This is what God will do to you if you rebel
againsthim, and vex his Holy Spirit; he will turn to be your enemy, and will
fight againstyou. If God’s people will not yield to his love and his pity, they
must suffer from his hand and his rod.
Isaiah63:11. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, andhis people,
saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of
his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
God begins to think of the past, and of what he did for his people in the days
of old.
Isaiah63:12-14. Thatled them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious
arm, dividing the waterbefore them, to make himself an everlasting name?
That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they
should not stumble? As a beastgoethdown into the valley, the Spirit of the
LORD causedhim to rest: so didst thou leadthy people, to make thyself a
glorious name.
See what God did for his people in his tenderness and lovingkindness. Is it not
strange that, after that, they rebelled againsthim?
Isaiah63:15. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy
holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of
thy bowels and of thy mercies towardme? are they restrained?
If you are in trouble tonight, if you have lostthe light of God’s countenance,
here are words for you to use in prayer to God.
Isaiah63:16. Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of
us, and Israelacknowledgeus not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our
redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Get a hold of this greattruth, believer. Say, “Godis my Father. He is my
Father still; and though he smite me, though he frown upon me, I will not quit

my hold on him; I will still plead his dear Son’s name, and wait for his mercy,
trusting in his grace.”
Isaiah63:17-18. O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and
hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’sake, the tribes of
thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessedit but a little
while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are thine: thou
never barest rule overthem; they were not called by thy name.
I pointed out to you, at the beginning of our reading, that this chapter
appropriately follows the preceding one. It is itself most suitably followedby
chapter 64. Indeed, the first verse of that chapter belongs to this one, and
should not have been separatedfrom it. God’s people, in their low estate,
recognizedthat deliverance must come from the Lord alone, so they prayed,
“Oh that thou wouldestrend the heavens, that thou wouldestcome down, that
the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as whenthe melting fire
burneth, the fire causeththe waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine
adversaries, thatthe nations may tremble at thy presence!” God bless the
reading of his Word, and give us his presence during the whole of the service,
for Christ’s sake.Amen!
charles simeon
VEXING THE HOLY SPIRIT
Isaiah63:8; Isaiah63:10. He said, Surely they are my people, children that
will not lie: so he was their Saviour …But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy
Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought againstthem.
WE all notice with wonderthe perverseness ofthe Jewishpeople, and justify
in our minds the judgments inflicted on them. But it would be well, it, when
looking at them, we beheld our ownselves, as in a glass:for verily the whole of
their conduct is but a just representationof our own. The expectations which

God formed respecting them were such as were perfectly just and reasonable:
and when he was so grievously disappointed, we wondernot that he resented
it in the way he did.
We shall find it not unprofitable to considerthis passage,
I. As fulfilled in the Jewishpeople—
God’s expectations from them were reasonable—
[The mercies which he vouchsafedto them, when “he took them for his own
peculiar people,” are well known. They are againand againspecified in the
Holy Scriptures [Note:See Nehemiah9:7-25.] — — — In particular, he
revealedto them his laws from heaven [Note:Nehemiah 9:13.], yea, and “gave
his Holy Spirit also to instruct them [Note:Nehemiah 9:20.].” In doing these
things, he said, “Surely they are my people, that will not lie.” They will be to
me a peculiar people: they will love, and serve, and honour me: and nothing
will ever induce them to depart from me.
This, I say, was nothing more than what his mercies towards them most
plainly calledfor. Never had any nation under heaven been dealt with as they
had been [Note:Deuteronomy 4:7-8; Deuteronomy 4:32-35.]:and therefore he
might reasonablyexpect that they would requite him according to the mercies
vouchsafedunto them.]
But they most grievouslydisappointed him—
[“They soonforgathis works, and were disobedient to him at the sea, even at
the RedSea.” Theirwhole conduct was one continued series ofmurmurings
and rebellions;as Moses himselftestified, “Ye have been rebellious from the
day that I knew you [Note: Deuteronomy9:7; Deuteronomy 9:22-24.].”
Nor was it in the wilderness only that they thus grieved and vexed him. When
they were brought into Canaan, they still continued a stiff-neckedand
rebellious people; insomuch that Godhimself was “brokenwith their whorish
heart [Note: Ezekiel6:9.];” and “was pressedunder them, as a cartis pressed
that is full of sheaves [Note:Amos 2:13.].” Thus they proceeded, till at last
they filled up the measure of their iniquities, in the murder of their Messiah.]

His resentment againstthem, therefore, was most just—
[In the wilderness they so provokedhim to anger, that of the whole number
who were above twenty years of age at the time of their coming out of Egypt,
two only were suffered to enter into the Promised Land. In Canaan, too, he
was constrainedin like manner to punish their descendants also with the
severestjudgments, insomuch that on some occasions “his ownsoul was
grieved for the misery of Israel.” But all his chastisements provedineffectual
for their permanent reformation; so that he delivered them up, first into the
hands of the Chaldeans, and in process oftime into the hands of the Romans;
and has now, for these eighteenhundred years, made them a spectacle to the
whole world, an awful monument of his righteous indignation.]
But wherefore are these things related concerning them? Surely for our sakes.
It will therefore be proper for us to considerthem,
II. As recorded for our instruction—
The whole history is declaredby St. Paul to have been written as an
admonition to us [Note:1 Corinthians 10:1-11.]— — — Let me then ask,
Has not God been disappointed in us?
[The mercies vouchsafedto the Jews were nothing more than shadows ofthe
blessings which we enjoy. What was their redemption, in comparisonof ours?
— — — What their support in the wilderness, and their possessionofthe land
of Canaan, in comparisonof the spiritual food administered to us, and the
glory kept in reserve for us? — — — Were the Jews a favoured nation in
comparisonof the Gentiles? Whatthen are we in comparisonof the Heathen
world? yes, and in comparisonof a greatpart of the Christian world too?
How fully and faithfully is the Gospelministered to you! I may truly say, as
Paul did to the Galatians, that “Jesus Christis evidently setforth crucified
before your eyes.”
What, then, must have been God’s expectations respecting you? Surely of you
he has said, ‘They will walk before me as dear children: they will never lie: I
can depend on them: whoevermay neglectme, they will not: whoevermay
disobey me, they will not: I have given myself to them, to be their Saviour;

and they will feel their obligations, and surrender up their whole souls to me,
to be savedin the wayof mine appointments.’
But how have you fulfilled these expectations? Has he seenyou devoting
yourselves to him in sincerity and truth? Has he not seenyou, on the contrary,
wearyof his service, and going for happiness to an ensnaring world? Has he
not seenyou indulging many hidden abominations, and yielding to
unhallowed tempers; and either neglecting altogether, orperforming in a
mere heartless and formal way, your duties of prayer and praise? — — —]
May we not then well expectthat his angershould be kindled againstus?
[Yes, truly: such conduct cannot but “grieve” and “vex his Holy Spirit:” and
he might well swearconcerning the greaterpart of us, as he did respecting the
Jews, that “we shallnever enter into his rest.” And what if he should do so?
What if, instead of being to us a “Saviour,” he should become our “enemy;”
and all “his love and pity should be turned to wrath and fiery indignation?
Can we bear the thought? Reflect, I pray you, my Brethren, what “an evil and
bitter thing it will be to fall into the hands of the Living God.” Yet can we
expectno other, than that he should be thus incensed, when we are
multiplying our rebellions againsthim, and “trampling under foothis dear
Son, and doing despite to his Spirit of grace.”He has told us, that “we shall
reap according as we sow:if we will sow to the flesh, we must of the flesh reap
corruption: but if we will sow to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.”]
Verses 11-14
DISCOURSE:1016
GOD CONTEMPLATED

Isaiah63:11-14. Thenhe remembered the days of old, Moses, andhis people,
saying, Where in He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of
his flock? Where is He that put his Holy Spirit within him? that led them by
the right hand of Moses withhis glorious arm, dividing the waterbefore them,
to make himself an everlasting name? that led them through the deep as an
horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beastgoeth down
into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord causedhim to rest: so didst thou lead thy
people, in make thyself a glorious name.
THESE are supposed, by some, to be the words of Jehovah:but they seem
rather to be spokenby Israel, who, under the chastisements ofthe MostHigh,
were brought to a measure of penitential reflection. Such was the effectwhich
God designedto produce upon them [Note:Jeremiah3:4.]. And he
complained when his judgments did not operate thus favourably upon their
minds [Note: Cite Jeremiah2:5-7. which preciselyaccords with the text.] —
— — A review of former mercies is at all times very desirable, as well for our
own comfort as for God’s glory. I would therefore now call upon you to
contemplate the MostHigh,
I. In a way of grateful recollection—
The wonders wrought for Israel, in their redemption from Egypt, are here
recounted—
[Here they record their passagethrough the Red Sea, and the special
influences of the Spirit of God upon Moses andthe elders, during their
sojourning in the Wilderness, and their final rest in Canaan, the promised
land. Repeatedlyis every one of these mercies specifiedin my text. Thrice is a
passagethrough the sea mentioned; with this particular circumstance, that,
whereas the bottom of the sea is for the most part abrupt and rugged, it was
so smoothed for them, that the whole nation, men, women, children, and all
their cattle, were enabled to pass it “without stumbling,” and with the same
facility as a horse moves in the open field. Twice also is the Holy Spirit
mentioned, as exerting his all-powerful influence on the minds of their leaders,
so as to conduct them in the safestway, and to the greatestpossible advantage.
Their final rest too in Canaanis illustrated by a beautiful simile of a beast,

which, after all his labours, descends into a fertile valley, and, under the eye of
his master, enjoys in the greatestperfectionsuch provision and rest as his
necessitiesrequire.
These things formed the principal theme of praise and thanksgiving to that
people in all ages. After their return from Babylon, Nehemiah expatiated
upon them with adoring gratitude [Note: Nehemiah 9:5-25.];and to this hour
they are deservedly the greatsubject of that nation’s boast.]
Nor are they less interesting to us than to the Jews themselves—
[In these manifestations of God’s power and grace, we see far more than in
any description of the Deity that could be given us. Here we see Jehovahin
action, if I may so speak. Every one of his perfections is here painted, as it
were, to the very life. Whateverexpressions might be used to characterize his
condescensionand love, we could not form so just a conceptionof him as from
this history. Behold his sovereignty, in choosing a people so unworthy of his
love! Behold his power, in bringing them forth from the midst of such a
powerful nation, that were determined to retain them in their bondage!
Behold his care over them for the space of forty years, providing for their
every want; and his truth and faithfulness, in bringing them at last into the
promised land! And is he not the same God now? Or will he do less for his
people now? or rather, will he not do at this time for the souls of his people as
much as he then did for their bodies? I say, these manifestations of his power
and grace deserve to be reviewed by us, no less than by the Jews themselves:
and we suffer greatloss, in not calling them more frequently and more
gratefully to our remembrance.]
But let us contemplate him more especially,
II. In a way of affectionate inquiry—
Twice is the inquiry made, “Where is he?” And this inquiry should be made
by us,
1. That we may obtain similar mercies at his hands—

[We need, in fact, the very same mercies as were vouchsafedto the Jews of
old. For, are not we also in bondage? — — — And cananything less than
Omnipotence deliver us? Are there not also seas ofdifficulty before us,
through which we need to be brought by the spiritual influence of Heaven? —
— — And do we not need the Holy Spirit also, to instruct and guide us in all
our way, and to accomplishin us and for us all the goodpleasure of our God?
— — — Needwe not the same provision also for our daily wants? And do we
not need that rest which remaineth for us in the Canaanabove? — — — Yes,
in truth; all that was vouchsafedto Israelof old, is a type, and not a type only,
but a pledge also, of what shall be vouchsafedto us, it only we commit
ourselves, like Israelof old, to the guidance and protection of our God [Note:
Illustrate this by Psalms 77:5; Psalms 77:11-13;Psalms 77:19-20.]. Inquire,
then, I pray you, “Where is this God?” “Where is He” that did these wonders
for his people of old; that we may supplicate his favour, and have them
renewedto us?]
2. That we may render to him the honour due unto his name—
[This also is twice mentioned, as God’s peculiar design in all that he wrought
for Israelof old. And surely it should be a primary motive with us in
contemplating all which he did for them, and all that he has done for us also,
in that more wonderful redemption which he has accomplishedfor us through
the Sonof his love. Methinks our hearts should be full of it: we should never
forgetit for a single moment: we should be speaking ofit every day, and all
the day long. We should never be contentedto remain at a distance from him.
In attending upon the public ordinances, we should go in this spirit; “Where is
he?” ‘I want to find my God; I want to tell him of all his tender mercies;and
to adore him for all the wonders of his love.’In our secretchamber, too, this
should be our one desire; nor should we be ever satisfied, till we cansay, with
the Church of old, “I have found Him whom my soulloveth [Note:Song of
Solomon3:3-4.].” The constanthabit of our mind, whether in public or
private, should be, “I will mention the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the
praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowedupon us; and
the greatgoodnesstowardthe house of Israelthat he hath bestowedon them,
according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-
kindnesses [Note:ver. 7.].”]

See, then, Brethren,
1. What improvement to make of your troubles—
[They are sent in order to bring you nigh unto God [Note: Hosea 5:15;Hosea
7:14; Hosea 7:16.]: and if they produce this effect, you will have reasonto
bless God for them to all eternity. Be careful, however, that these impressions
do not pass awaywith the occasionthat calls them forth. Alas! our better
feelings too often prove but transient [Note:See Psalms 78:34-37.]— — —
And then, like metal takenfrom the furnace, we become only the more
obdurate. But “we hope better things of you;” and that you will be able to
attest, that your trials have only quickened your desires afterGod, and
rendered you more thankful for all the mercies that have been vouchsafed
unto you.]
2. What to expect at the hands of God—
[See, in the text, Elijah’s mantle; and take it up; and, with an impassable river
before you, strike the waters in faith, saying, “Where is the Lord God of
Elijah [Note: 2 Kings 2:14.]?” See how the Church of old actedin the
extremity of her trouble: “Awake, awake,put on strength, O arm of the Lord!
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations ofold! Art thou not it that
hath cut Rahab(Egypt), and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath
dried the sea, the waters ofthe greatdeep; that hath made the depths of the
sea a wayfor the ransomed to pass over [Note: Isaiah51:9-10.]?” Thus may
you expectyour greatestobstacles to be made the very means of your
preservation. Only picture to yourselves the weary beastfeeding or reclining
in the fertile valley; and there you have the perfect image of what shall be
done for you, when once your appointed labours shall be ended: you shall
then “restfor everfrom your labours,” and enjoy perfect peace in the bosom
of your God.]
CHARLES SIMEON GIVES US A WIDER CONTEXT

Verse 15-16
DISCOURSE:1017
PLEADING WITH GOD
Isaiah63:15-16. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of
thy holiness and of thy glory; where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding
of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards me? Are they restrained? Doubtless
thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer;thy name is
from everlasting.
BEHOLD a suppliant in the presence ofhis God, Draw near, my Brethren;
and hear his pleadings at the throne of grace. Surely from this you may learn
much of the condescensionofyour God, who suffers himself to be so
addressed;and much of your own exalted privileges, in that, in every time of
need, you have such a God, before whom you canspread your wants, and
from whom you can obtain whatsoeveryour necessitiesmay require.
The words before us may be supposed to be uttered by a pious Jew, mourning
over the desolationof his country during the Babylonish captivity, and
pleading with God for a restorationof the blessings which it was once the high
privilege of his nation to enjoy.
The whole of the Jews’captivity in Babylon, and of their redemption from it,
was of a typical nature; and may well be consideredas prefiguring the trials
and deliverances ofGod’s people in all ages. St. Paulquotes a part of this
prayer, in this very view; and shews, that the things here implored were not
confined to that particular occasion, but have their accomplishment under the
Christian dispensation [Note:Compare chap. 64:4. with 1 Corinthians 2:9.]. I
may well, therefore, lead you to consider,
I. To what circumstances God’s people may be reduced—
The whole Bible attests, that God’s people are more or less “a poor and
afflicted people [Note:Zephaniah 3:12.].”
They are exposed, like others, to temporal afflictions—

[They have no exemption from troubles, either personalor domestic. Disease,
with all its attendant evils, will press on them as well as others;and the loss of
dear relatives be felt by them as keenlyas by any others. And especiallyif
there be misconduct in their offspring, it will be more acute and pungent in
them, in proportion as they feel the value of their own souls, and are
concernedfor the souls of those connectedwith them. In addition to the
common calamities of life, they have also some as arising from religion itself.
For who everfollowed the Lord fully without having a cross to bear? We are
told, that “all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
And so we find it in actualexperience. From the time of Abel to the present
hour, there has not been one who was “reallyborn after the Spirit that has not
been hated and persecutedby those who have been born only after the flesh
[Note:Galatians 4:20.].”]
To spiritual troubles, also, they are subjected in no slight degree—
[At their first turning to the Lord, they are not unfrequently bowed down
under such a load of guilt as makes them apprehensive that they shall never
find acceptancewith their offended God. And, at subsequent periods also,
they are often “in heaviness, through manifold temptations.” Satan, their
malignant adversary, harassesthem with his assaults;and with his fiery darts
inflicts a wound upon their inmost souls [Note: Ephesians 6:16.]. Sometimes,
too, they are made to experience the hidings of God’s face, and to fear that he
has utterly withdrawn his loving-kindness from them [Note:Psalms 77:2-3;
Psalms 77:7-9.]. In comparisonof this, all other troubles are light: “The spirit
of a man may sustain any common infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can
bear?” Even our blessedLord, who uttered no complaint on accountof any
other sufferings, cried out by reasonof this, “My God, my God! why hast thou
forsakenme?”]
But in my text we see,
II. To whom we should betake ourselves, under such circumstances—
St. James says, “Is any afflicted? let him pray.” Prayeris the greatantidote to
affliction of every kind. And here we see in what waywe should approach our
God. We should draw nigh to him,

1. In a way of humble expostulation—
[Expostulation, if devoid of humility, would be most offensive to God: for
“Godgiveth not accountof any of his matters:” and to call him to our bar,
would be presumption in the extreme. Yet God is pleasedto allow us to
approachhim, and even to expostulate with him, provided we come to him
with real humility and contrition. Though he dwells in the high and holy
place, yet will he regard the cry of the poor destitute; and “from the
habitation of his holiness and his glory” supply his every want. He has a zeal
for his people’s good:he has said, that “he will plant them in the heavenly
land assuredly, with his whole heart and with his whole soul [Note:Jeremiah
32:40-41.].”He feels for them, too, as a tender parent for his child under some
greatcalamity. His whole soul is in a state of commotion on their account
[Note:Hosea 11:8. Jeremiah 31:20.]. But, if we be under circumstances of
distress, without any immediate relief from him, ho will appearto have
“forsakenand forgotten us.” On those occasions, therefore, he permits us to
address him in the language ofexpostulation: “Look down from the
habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy strength,
the sounding of thy bowels, and of thy mercies towards me? Are they
restrained?” Yes:not only will he approve of such holy importunity, but he
will never suffer such prayers to ascendin vain [Note: Psalms 42:9-11.].]
2. In a way of confident affiance—
[There are times and seasonswhena person, who is on the whole pious, may,
by reasonof his trials, seemto be abandoned of his God, and scarcelybe
recognisedas having the divine image enstamped upon him. Thus it was with
Job, under his heavy and accumulated calamities. But a personshould not,
therefore, castawayhis confidence;but rather hold it the faster, that it may
afford him consolationand support under the pressure of his troubles. He
may, in addition to his expostulations with God, lay hold upon him under the
endearing relationof a Father: “Doubtless,thou art our Father, though
Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israelacknowledgeus not: thou art our
Father, our Redeemer;thy name is from everlasting.” A personmay have an
evidence in his own soul that he has been adopted by God, yea, and been born
of him: he may be sure, in his own mind, that he has been redeemedfrom

death and hell, and been brought into the light and liberty of God’s children:
and he may look to God as one whose “name is from everlasting,” and who
will approve himself to be “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” O!
what consolationwill flow into the soul from this recognitionof God’s relation
to us in our low estate!I say, Brethren, “hold fast this rejoicing of your hope
firm unto the end;” and you will find, that with this anchor fixed within the
veil, you will outride the storm, and be brought in safetyto the desiredhaven.]
Let me, in conclusion, ask,
1. What know you experimentally of this method of pleading with God?
[The pulse does not so clearly mark the state of our bodies, as our prayers
mark the state of our souls. Many, in their whole lives, have never thus
expostulatedwith God; or held fasttheir relation to him, as their plea for
mercy. In fact, the generality of Christians would accountthis to be the most
insufferable presumption. But I callon you, under all trials to which you can
over be reduced, to “encourageyourselves in the Lord your God;” and, like
Israelof old, to wrestle with him in prayer, till you have obtained the desired
blessing.]
2. What warrant have you for the confidence which such expostulations
imply?
[Before you cansay with truth, “Doubtless,thou art our Father, and our
Redeemer,” youmust have experiencedthe regenerating influences of the
Holy Spirit; and must have fled to Christ for refuge, as your only hope.
Others, indeed, may not have noticed in you this change, so as fully to
recognise youunder your new character:but you must be deeply conscious of
the secretexercisesofyour soul before God; and must be able to appeal to the
heart-searching God, that you have thus sought mercy at his hands. Tell me
then, Brethren, whether you can thus appeal to God? And, if your conscience
testify againstyou, that you are yet unregenerate, and without an interest in
Christ, let your trials be regardedby you as messengers from the MostHigh,
to call you into a state of reconciliationwith him, and to save you from the
troubles that shall never end.

WHERE IS THE LORD? NO. 2258
A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, MAY 29, 1892,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER
4, 1890.
“Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, andHis people, saying, Where
is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock?
Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right
hand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the waterbefore them, to make
Himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as a horse in
the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beastgoes downinto the
valley, the Spirit of the Lord causedhim to rest: so did You lead Your people,
to make Yourself a glorious name.” Isaiah63:11-14.
I TOLD you in the reading that Israel had a goldenage, a time of great
familiarity with God, when Jehovah was very near to His people in their
sufferings and was afflicted in their affliction—when He helped them in
everything they did and the angelof His presence savedthem. But after all
that the Lord had done for them, there came a cold period. The people went
astrayfrom the one living and true God. They fell into the ritualism of the
golden calf. They must have something visible, something that they could see
and worship. Even after they were brought into the PromisedLand and the
Lord had workedgreatwonders for them, they turned aside to false gods till
they worshipped strange deities that were no gods and provoked Jehovahto
jealousy. “Theyrebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned
to be their enemy and He fought againstthem.” Not that He ceasedto love His

chosen, but He must be just and He could not patronize sin—so He sent their
enemies againstthem and they were sorelysmitten, and brought very low.
Then it was that they beganto remember the days of old and to sigh for Him
whom they had treated so evilly. And they said, one to another, “Where is He
that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is
He that put His Holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right hand of
Moses withHis glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make Himself
an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as a horse in the
wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beastgoes downinto the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord causedhim to rest: so did You lead Your people to
make Yourself a glorious name.” I have but a short time, as the Communion
Service is to follow and, therefore, I must leave much unsaid that I think your
own imagination will make up to you at home. But I shall ask you to notice,
first, that the text contains a sacred, loving remembrance. It dwells very much
upon what God did in the old times, when He was familiar with His people
and they walkedin the light of His countenance. After that, I shall callyour
attention to an objectclearly shining in the text. We getit twice over. In the
12th verse we read, “To make Himself an everlasting name.” In the 14th
verse, “To make Yourself a glorious name.” When I have spokenof those two
things, I shall dwell more at length upon an anxious inquiry, which is put here
twice—“Whereis He?” In the 11th verse you get this repeatedquestion,
“Where is He? Where is He?” I. So then, to begin with, we go back to God’s
dealings with His people and with us—and we have A SACRED, LOVING
REMEMBRANCE.The people remembered what God did to them. What was
it? As it is here described, He first of all gave them leaders. “Where is He that
brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock?” Mosesand
Aaron, and a band of godly men who were with them, were the leaders of the
people through the sea and through the wilderness. Brethren, we are apt to
think too little of our leaders. Firstof all we think too much of them and
afterwards we think too little of
2 Where Is the Lord? Sermon #2258
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 38

them. We seemto swing like a pendulum betweenthese two extremes. Man is
reckonedas if he were everything to some and God becomes nothing to such,
but without unduly exalting man, we can truly say that it really is a great
blessing to the church when God raises up men who are qualified to lead His
people. Israel did not go out of Egypt as a mob—they were led out by their
armies. They did not plunge into the RedSea as an undisciplined crowd, but
Moses stoodup there with his uplifted rod and led them on that memorable
day. We may as well sigh for the glorious days of old when God gave His
people mighty preachers of His word. There have been epochs in history that
were prolific of greatleaders of the Christian church. No soonerdid Luther
give his clarion call, than God seemedto have a bird in every bush—and
Calvin and Farel and Melancthonand Zwingli and so many besides that I will
not attempt to make out the list—joined with him in his brave protest against
the harlot church of Rome. “The Lord gave the word: and greatwas the
company of those that published it.” The church remembers those happy
days, with earnestlonging for their return. They were giants in those days—
mighty men of renown— well fitted by the Lord to lead His people. We are
next told that Godput His spirit within these shepherds. They would have
been nothing without it. Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within them? A
man with God’s Holy Spirit within him—can anybody estimate his worth?
God says that He will make a man more precious that the gold of Ophir, but
to a man filled with His Spirit, mines of rubies or of diamonds cannot be setin
comparison. When the 11 apostles wentforth on the day of Pentecost,
endowedby the Spirit of God, there were forces in the world whose very
marching might make it quiver beneath their feet. God send us once more
many of His servants, within whom He has put His Spirit in an eminent and
conspicuous manner, and then we shall see bright days indeed! The command
to such still is, “Tarryuntil you be endued with power from on high.” Then
there was, in the next place, as a happy memory for the church, a great
manifestation of the divine power. “Thatled them by the right hand of Moses
with His glorious arm, dividing the waterbefore them, to make Himself an
everlasting name.” “The right hand of Moses,”by itself, was no more than
your right hand or mine, but when God’s glorious arm workedby the right
hand of Moses, the sea divided and made a wayfor the hosts of Israelto pass
over. As the psalmist sings, “He divided the sea, and causedthem to pass

through; and He made the waters to stand as a heap.” The right hand of
Moses couldnot have workedthat miracle, but the glorious arm of the Lord
did. What we want today, brethren, is a manifestation of divine power. Some
of us are praying for it day and night. We have expectedit. We do expectit.
We are longing for it with an insatiable hunger and thirst. Oh, when will
Jehovahpluck His right hand out of His bosom? When will He make bare His
arm, as one that goes to His work with might and main? Pray, O you servants
of God, for leaders filled with the Spirit, and with the powerof God working
with them, that multitudes may be convertedunto Christ and the sea of sin be
dried up in the advance of His kingdom! Then, there came to God’s people a
very marvelous deliverance—“Thatledthem through the deep, as a horse in
the wilderness that they should not stumble.” Understand by the word
“wilderness” here, anexpansive grassyplain—a place of wild grass and herbs,
for so it means. And as a horse is led where it is flat and level and he does not
stumble, so were the hosts of Israelled through the Red Sea. The bottom of
the sea may be stony or gravelly, or it may be full of mire and mud. Probably
there will be huge rocks standing up in the middle of the stream. There may
be a sudden fall from one stratum of rock to the other—and to come up from
the sea on the further bank would be hard work for struggling people
carrying burdens, as these Israelites did—for they went out of Egypt
harnessedand laden, bearing their kneading troughs in their clothes upon
their shoulders. But God made that rough sea bottom to be as easytraveling
for them as when a horse is led across a flowerymeadow. Beloved, God has
done so with His church in all time. Her seas ofdifficulty have had no
difficulty about them. He has come in all the glory of His powerand smoothed
the wayfor the ransomed to pass over. Has it not been so with you, my
brethren? And as a blessedending to their trials, Godbrought them into a
place of rest—“As a beastgoes downinto the valley, the Spirit of the Lord
causes him to rest:so did You lead Your people.” In the desertthey resteda
gooddeal, but in Canaanthey rested altogether. As the cattle come down from
the mountains where they have been picking up their food, when the plains
are fat with grass, and they feedto their full, and lie down and rest, so did
God deal with His people, bringing them from all the moun
Sermon #2258 Where Is the Lord? 3

Volume 38 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3
tains of their trouble into a sweetvalley, a land that flowed with milk and
honey, where they might rest. This is a memorial, a sketchof the past. I read
it, first, literally as a sketchof Israel’s history. I read it, next, as a sketchof the
church’s history. There have been times with the church as at Pentecostand
the Reformation, when, though she had wandered, God returned to her, made
bare His arm, raised up shepherds, put His Spirit upon them, and then led His
people straightahead through every difficulty and gave them rest. You are,
most of you, acquainted with the history of the period before Luther’s day. It
did not seemlikely then that the gospelwould be preached everywhere
throughout Northern Europe, but it was so, and God singularly preservedthe
first Reformers’lives when they were very precious. Zwingli died in battle,
but he should not have been fighting, and he might have died a natural death.
But Calvin, and Luther and the rest of them, for the most part, remained until
their work was done and then quietly passedaway. And the churches, despite
long persecution, had comparative rest. It was so here and it was so across the
border in our sisterchurch of Scotland. She cannot forgetthe covenanting
blood and the putting to death of those who were for the Crown Rights of
King Jesus, but at last, she had her time of rest. Time would fail me to tell you
the long list of shepherds that God gave to His covenanting church, the mighty
men who, being dead, yet speak to us by their works and who, while they
lived, made the church of God in Scotlandto be glorious with the presence of
her Lord. Well now, the same thing has happened also to us as individuals.
We have had our cloudy and dark day, but God has appeared for our help.
Some of you could tell how God led you through the deep as through a prairie.
You went a way that you never knew, a new way, an untrodden path, as
though it were the bottom of a sea but newly dry—but the Lord led you as a
groom leads a horse, so that you did not stumble—and before long you came
up out of the depths unharmed. With Moses andthe children of Israel, you
sang the praises ofHim who had triumphed gloriously. And then you beganto
learn another song, not so martial, but very sweet—“TheLord is my
Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in greenpastures:He
leads me beside the still waters.” In conflicts for the God of Israeland His
everlasting truth, some of us have been counted as the mire of the streets—but

in that we rejoice and will rejoice—forJehovahlives and He will bring up His
people againfrom Bashan. He will bring them up from the depths of the sea
and there shall be rest againin the midst of Israel, if men are but faithful to
God and faithful to His truth. Thus much upon the sacredmemory of the
past. II. But now, in the secondplace, I want you to notice AN OBJECT
CLEARLY SHINING, like the morning star. I see, through the text, God’s
greatmotive in working these wonders for His people. It was God who did it
all—my text is full of God. He brought them up out of the sea. He put His
Holy Spirit within them. He led them with His glorious arm. He led them
through the deep. He causedthem to rest. He did it all. When the history of
the church is written, there will be nothing on the page but God. I know that
her sin is recorded, but He has blotted that out and at the end, there will
remain nothing but what God has done. When your life and mine shall ring
out as a psalm amid the harps of glory, it will be only, “Unto Him that loved
us and washedus, be glory and dominion foreverand ever.” “Nonnobis,
Domine.” “Notunto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory.”
So will sing all of us who are the Lord’s redeemed, when we have come up out
of the greattribulation and have washedour robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. But then, why had God done all this? Did He do it
because ofHis people’s merits, or numbers, or capacities? He tells them, many
a time, “Notfor your sakes do I this, says the Lord God, be it knownunto
you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” God
finds in Himself the motive for blessing men who have no merits. If God
lookedfor any motive in us, He would find none. He would see in us many
reasons why He should condemn us, but only in Himself could He discoverthe
motive for His matchless mercy. God works His greatwonders of grace with
the high motive of making known to His creatures His own glory, manifesting
what He is and who He is, that they may worship Him. He tells us in the text
that He “led them by the right hand of Moses withHis glorious arm, dividing
the waterbefore them, to make Himself an everlasting name.” So He has
done, for to this day the highestnote of praise to God that we know of is the
one that tells of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt—and when this world is
burnt up,

the song that will go up to God in heaven will be the song of Moses—the
servant of God and of the Lamb. Still, if we want a figure and a foretaste of
the ultimate victories of God over all His people’s enemies, we have to go back
to the Red Sea and look at Miriam’s twinkling feet, and hear her fingers
making the timbrel sound as she cries, “Sing you to the Lord, for He has
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea.” He
did it to make Himself an ever-enduring name—and He has succeededin that
objective. Isaiah adds that the Lord led His people and brought them into
their rest to make Himself “a glorious name.” God is glorious in the history of
Israel. God is glorious in the history of His church. God is glorious in the
history of every believer. The life of a true believer is a glorious life. For
himself he claims no honor, but by his holy life he brings greatglory to God.
There is more glory to God in every poor man and woman savedby grace and
in the one unknown obscure person, washedin the Redeemer’s blood, than in
all the songs ofcherubim and seraphim who know nothing of free grace and
dying love. So you see, beloved, the motive of God in all that He did, and I
dwell upon it though briefly, yet with much emphasis because this is a motive
that can never alter. What if the church of today is reduced to a very low
condition and the truth seems to be ebbing out from her shores, while a long
stretch of the dreary mud of modern invention lies reeking in the nostrils of
God? He that workedsuchwonders, to make Himself a name, still has the
same objective in view. He will be glorious. He will have men know that He is
God and beside Him there is none else. Thus says the Lord God, “All flesh
shall know that I the Lord am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty
One of Jacob.” “The earthshall be full of knowledge ofthe Lord, as the
waters coverthe sea.” O brethren, He is a jealous Godstill, and when the
precious blood of Christ is insulted, God hears it and forgets it not. When the
inspiration of the blessedBook is denied, the Holy Spirit hears it and is
grieved—and He will yet bestir Himself to defend His truth. When we hear
the truth that we love, the dearestand most sacredrevelations from our God,
treated with a triviality that is nothing less than profane, if we are indignant,
so is He. And shall not God avenge His own electwhich cry day and night
unto Him? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily, though He bears long

with His adversaries. God’s motive is His own glory. He will stand to that and
He will vindicate it yet. And we need to have no doubt, nor even the shadow of
a fear about the ultimate result of a collisionbetweenGod and the adversaries
of His truth. Shall not the moth that dashes at the candle die in that flame?
How shall the creatures ofa day stand out againstour God who is a
consuming fire? Here, then, is the hope of the people of God—the constant
persistent, invariable motive of Godto make Himself glorious in the eyes of
men. III. My third point is AN ANXIOUS INQUIRY which I find twice over
in my text. Believing in what God has done, and believing that His motive still
remains the same, we begin to cry, “Where is He that brought them up out of
the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit
within him?” This question suggests thatthere is some faith left. “Where is
He?” He is somewhere. Then, He lives. Beloved, the Lord God omnipotent still
lives and reigns. Many usurpers have tried to turn Him from His throne, but
He still sits upon it and reigns among His ancients gloriously. He was, and is,
and is to come—the Almighty—“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and
forever.” He is, but where is He? The question implies that some were
beginning to seek Him. Where is He? Those were brave days when He was
here on the moors, or on the hills of Scotland, or at the stakes ofSmithfield, or
the prisons of Lambeth Palace.Those were glorious days when Christ was
here and His people knew it and rejoicedin Him. Then the virgin daughter of
Zion shook her head at the harlot of Rome and laughed her to scorn—forshe
lay in the bosom of her King and rejoicedin His love. O beloved, do we begin
to long after Him again? I hope that we do. I trust the cry of many loyal
hearts is, “Come back, King Jesus!When You are away, all things languish.
Ride againdown the streets of Mansoul, O Prince Emmanuel! Then shall the
city ring with holy song and every house shall be bedeckedwith everything
that is beautiful and fair. Only come back!” If the King may but have His own
again, I shall be content to sing old Simeon’s song, “Lord, now let Your
servant depart in peace, according to Your word!” The church longs for the
King’s coming. Where is He? Where is He? It shows now, dear friends, that
she has begun to mourn over His absence. I like the reduplicated word.
“Where is He? Where is He?” Not, “Where is Moses?Where are the leaders?
The fathers, where

are they?” Let them stay where they are. But where is He that made the
fathers? Where is He that sent us Moses andAaron? Where is He that divided
the waters and led His people safely? Where is He? Oh, it is a question that I
put to all your hearts! Oh, if only He were here! One hour of His glorious
arm; just a day of His almighty working and what should we not see? We will
not ask for tongues of fire or mighty rushing winds. Let Him be here as He
may, but if He is only here, the battle is turned at the gate and the day of His
redeemedis come. We sigh for His appearing. Where is He, then, as the text
asks? Well, He is hidden because ofour sins. The church has been tampering
with His truth. She has given into the hands of critics the Word of God, to cut
it with a penknife, to cut awaythis and tear out that. She has been dallying
with the world. She has tried to gain money for her objectives by the basestof
means. She has played the harlot in what she has done, for there are no
amusements too vile or too silly for her. Even her pastors have filled a theater
of late, to sit there and mark with their applause the labors of the actors!To
this pass have we come at last, to which we never came before—no, not in
Rome’s darkesthour—and if you, who profess to be God’s servants, do not
love Christ enough to be indignant about it, the Lord have mercy upon you!
The time has surely come when there should go up one great cry unto the
Lord Jehovahthat He would make bare His arm again, for well may we say,
“Where is He? Where is He?” For your comfort, the next verse to my text
tells you where He is. He is in heaven. They cannotexpel Him from His
throne. “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion.” By every possible
contrivance, in these modern days, they have tried to drive Christ out of His
own church. A Christless, bloodless gospeldefiles many a pulpit, and Christ is
thus angered—but He is in heaven still. At the right hand of God He sits, and
let this be our continual prayer to Him, “Look down from heaven, O Lord!
Castan eye upon Your failing, faltering, fickle church. Look down from
heaven.” “Where is He?” Well, He is Himself making an inquiry, for as some
read the whole passage, it is God Himself speaking. He remembered the days
of old—Moses andhis people. And when He hid Himself and would not work
in wrath, yet He said to Himself, “Where is He that brought them up out of

the sea with the shepherd of His flock?” WhenGod Himself, who is always a
strangerhere—for are we not strangers with Him and sojourners, as all our
fathers were?—WhenGodHimself begins to ask where He is and to regret
those happier days, something will come of it. “You that make mention of the
Lord— you that are the Lord’s remembrances—keepnot silence and give
Him no rest—take no rest and give Him no rest—till He establishes andtill He
makes Jerusalema praise in the earth.” “Thatlittle cloud,” said one of old,
when Julian the apostate threatenedto extirpate Christianity, “That little
church will soonbe gone.” All that I see today of darkness is but a wave of
smoke. Behold, the Lord God Himself shall chase it away with a strong west
wind. He does but blow with His wind and the clouds disappear, and what
stands before us today shall be as nothing. I thought, as I came here tonight,
that the man who drives the tram car gave me a lessonon how I should look
upon all future time. He starts, say at Clapham, with his car. If he could have
a view of all that was on the road betweenClapham and the Elephant and
Castle—the carts, the wagons and other traffic that are exactly where he
wants to go—andhe were to add all those obstaclestogether, He might be
foolish enoughto say, “I shall not complete my course tonight.” But, you see,
he starts, and if anything is on the rails, it moves off. And if, perhaps, some
sluggish, heavily-laden coalwagonis slow to move, he puts his whistle to his
mouth and gives a shrill blast or two, and lo, it is gone!So when the church,
serving her God, begins to look far ahead through prophecy—whichshe never
did understand and never will—she will think she will never reachher
journey’s end. But she will, for God has laid the line. We are on the rails and
the rails do not come to an end till the journey’s end is reached. And as we go
along, we shall find that everything in our way will move before us—and if it
does not, we will pray a bit. We will blow our whistles and the devil himself
will have to move, though all his black horses shallbe dragging along the
brewer’s dray, or what else belongs to him. He will have to get off our track,
assuredlyas God lives, for if Jehovah sends us on His errands, we cannotfail.
The old Romans picture Jove as hurling thunderbolts. Sometimes God makes
His servants thunderbolts, and when He hurls them, they will go crashing
through everything until they reachtheir mark. Therefore be not for a
moment discouraged, but trust in God and be glad without a shadow of fear.

If any here have never trusted in God, never made Him their Friend, or been
reconciledto Him by the death of His Son, I pray them to think of their
present condition. Opposedto God! You are standing in the way of an express
train. You are urged to getout of the way. You will not! You are going to
throw that train off the rails, you say? Poorfool, I could put my arms about
your neck and forcibly drag you from the iron way, for assuredly, if you
remain there, nothing can come of it but your everlasting destruction.
Wherefore, flee, flee, I pray you, from the wrath to come. The train of divine
judgment comes thundering along the iron road evennow. It shakes the earth.
Awake!Rise!Flee!God help you to do so. Behold, the Savior stands with open
arms to be your shelter. Fly to Him and trust in Him, and live forever! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ISAIAH 63-64 Isaiah63:1-6. Who is
this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is
glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatnessofHis strength? I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save. Why are You red in Your apparel, and Your
garments like him that treads in the wine vat? I have trodden the winepress
alone;and of the people there was none with Me; for I will tread them in My
anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon
My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. Forthe day of vengeance is in
My heart, and the year of My redeemedis come. And I looked, and there was
none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore My
own arm brought salvationunto Me; and My fury, it upheld me. And I will
tread down the people in My anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and I
will bring down their strength to the earth. It is a dark and terrible time—no
one at God’s side, His people discouraged, Edomtriumphant. Then comes the
one greatHero of the gospel, the Christ of God, and by His ownunaided
strength He wins for His people a glorious victory. He is as terrible to His foes
as He is precious to His friends. He stands before us as the one hope of His
ancient church. There is a picture Isaiah was inspired to paint. Now the

prophet goes onto say— 7. I will mention the loving-kindnesses ofthe Lord.
Are you, dear friends, mentioning the lovingkindnesses ofthe Lord or are you
silent about them? Learn a lessonfrom the prophet Isaiah. Talk about what
God has done for you and for His people in all time—“I will mention the
loving-kindnesses ofthe Lord.” Let this be the resolve of every one of us who
has tastedthat the Lord is gracious— “Awake,my soul, in joyful lays, And
sing your greatRedeemer’s praise. He justly claims a song from me, His
loving-kindness, oh, how free! He saw me ruined in the fall, Yet loved me,
notwithstanding all; He savedme from my lostestate, His loving-kindness,
oh, how great.” 7. And the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord
has bestowedonus, and the greatgoodnesstowardthe house of Israel, which
He has bestowedon them according to His mercies, and according to the
multitude of His loving-kindnesses. This is a verse full of sweets,but I must
not dwell upon it. My objective at this time is to read much and to say little by
way of comments, so I cannotstay to pick out the sweetnesses here. There are
very many. This passageis a piece of a honeycomb. Readit when you get
home. Pray over it, suck the honey out of it, and praise the Lord for it. 8. For
He said. In the old time, when God called His people out of Egypt, He said
this— 8. Surely they are My people, children that will not lie. Or, children
that will not act deceitfully or will not deal falsely. 8. So He was their Savior.
He thought well of them. He treatedthem as though they were trustworthy.
He took them into His confidence. He said, “Surely they will not deceive Me.”
This is speaking afterthe manner of men, of course, for God knows us and is
never deceivedby us. We may deceive others—we may even deceive
ourselves—butwe can never deceive Him. 9. In all their affliction He was
afflicted, and the angelof His presence savedthem: in His love and in His pity
He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
Happy Israel!
These were her golden days, when she was faithful to God, and God
communed very closelywith her. Then God was very near to His people, so
near that He is representedas carrying them in His arms. He could be seenin

a bush. He could be seenin a cloud. He could be seenworking with a rod. He
was very familiar with His people. 10. But they rebelled and vexed His Holy
Spirit. Therefore He was turned to be their enemy and He fought against
them. This was a greatchange in dispensation, though there was no change in
the heart of God. He deals roughly with His people when they rebel against
Him. They would not be improved by tenderness, so now they must be
scourgedby His rod and come under His displeasure. When men turn from
God, He is “turned to be their enemy.” 11. Then He remembered the days of
old. His people were never out of His mind, even when they wandered away
from Him. He remembered the love of their espousals, whenthey went after
Him into the wilderness. He remembered the days of old, the happier days,
when His people walkedcloselywith Him. They also remembered these days.
It is strange that they should ever have forgotten them. 11 – 14. Moses, and
his people, saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the
shepherd of His flock? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him? That
led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the water
before them, to make Himself an everlasting name? That led them through
the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a
beastgoes downinto the valley, the Spirit of the Lord causedhim to rest: so
did You leadYour people, to make Yourself a glorious name. Now comes a
prayer suggestedby their condition of sorrow and desertion. 15. Look down
from heaven. You are still there, though we have wandered. Look down upon
us from heaven, O, Lord! 15 - 16. And behold from the habitation of Your
holiness and of Your glory: where is Your zeal and Your strength, the
sounding of Your heart and of Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?
Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not; You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer;Your name
is from everlasting. That lastsentence may be read, “Your name is our
Redeemerfrom everlasting.” This is a sweet plea with God—“We have
offended You, but we are still Your children. We have wanderedfrom You,
but we are still Your own, bought with a price. Your name of ‘Redeemer’is
not a temporary one—it is from everlasting to everlasting— therefore look on
Your poor children again. Leave us not to perish.” 17 - 18. O Lord, why have
You made us to err from Your ways, and hardened our heart from Your fear?
Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your inheritance. The people of

Your holiness. Or, “Your holy people.” 18 - 19. Have possessedit but a little
while: our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary. We are Yours:
You never ruled over them; they were not called by Your name. “You did give
us the land by an everlasting covenant;but we have had it only a little while.
Lo, the enemy has come in and driven Your Israelawayfrom her heritage!
Can it be so always, O Lord?” Happy times seemvery short when they are
over and when they are succeededby dark trials, we say, “The people of Your
holiness, Your holy people have possessedit but a little while. Our adversaries
have trodden down Your sanctuary. We are now become (for this is the true
rendering of the passage)like those overwhom You have never ruled, those
who were never called by Your name.” That is a sadcondition for the church
of God to be in and I am afraid that it is now getting into that condition,
sinking to a level with the world, leaving its high calling, quitting the path of
the separatedpeople and becoming just like those whom God never knew and
who were never called by His name. It is a pitiful case—andhere comes a
prayer like the bursting out of a volcano, as though the hearts of gracious men
could hold in the agonizing cry no longer— Isaiah64:1, 2. Oh that You would
rend the heavens, that You would come down, that the mountains might flow
down at Your presence, as whenthe melting fire burns, Or, much better, “as
when the brushwood burns,” for if God does but come to His people, they are
ready to catchon fire, like the dry twigs which are soonablaze. And His
enemies also shall be like brushwood before the fire. 3. The fire causesthe
waters to boil, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the
nations may tremble at Your presence!When You did terrible things which
we lookednot for, You came down,
the mountain flowed down at Your presence. O Lord, come again! You came
in the past; repeatYour former acts and let us see what You can do for the
avenging of Your people. 4. For since the beginning of the world men have
not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside
You, what You have prepared for him that waits for You. God is ready to
help. He has everything in preparation before our needs begin. He has laid in

supplies for all our needs. Before our prayers are presented, He has prepared
His answers to them. Blessedbe His name! You remember how Paul uses this
passage, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have enteredinto the heart
of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God
has revealedthem unto us by His Spirit.” The spiritual man is a privileged
man. 5. You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that
remember You in Your ways. God does not wait for us to return to Him. He
meets us. He comes to us the moment that we turn our feet towards His
throne. While we are, like the prodigal, a great wayoff, He sees us, and has
compassionupon us and runs to meet us. 5. Behold, You are angry, for we
have sinned: in these we continue and we shall be saved. In Your faithfulness,
in Your love, in Yourself, in Your ways of mercy there is continuance. This is
our safety. What are we? Here is the answer— 6. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnessesare as filthy rags;and we all do fade as a
leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have takenus away. It is not a flattering
picture that the prophet draws. Even our righteousnessesare like filthy rags,
fit only for the fire—what must our righteousnessesbe like? We ourselves are
like the withered leaves on the trees and just as the wind carries awaythe
faded leaves of autumn, so our sins, like a mighty blast, carry us away. 7.
And there are none that callupon Your name, that stirs up himself to take
hold of You. That is a wonderful descriptionof prayer. When a man wakens
himself from sinful lethargy and stirs himself up to take hold of God in
prayer, he will become an Israel, a prince prevailing with God. 7, 8. For You
have hid Your face from us, and have consumed us, because ofour iniquities.
But now, O Lord, You are our Father. Adoption does not come to an end
because ofsin. Regenerationorsonship does not die out—it cannotdie out. I
am my father’s son and so I always shallbe. And if I am my heavenly Father’s
son, I shall never ceaseto be so. “Now, O Lord, You are our Father!” This
truth must not be perverted into an argument for sinning—it ought rather to
keepus from sinning, lest we should grieve such wondrous love. 8 - 12. We
are the clay, and You our potter; and we all are the work of Your hands. Be
not furious, O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we
beseechYou, we are all Your people. The holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a
wilderness, Jerusalema desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where
our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasantthings

are laid waste. Will you refrain Yourself for these things, O Lord? Will You
hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely? The prophet touches the minor
key and weeps and wails for the sorrows ofhis people, but he does not neglect
to pray. In the next chapter, God breaks out and says, “I am soughtof them
that askednot for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not.” How much
more quickly is He found of them who seek Him! Verily, God does hear
prayer, and He will hear prayer—let us not cease to pray to Him as we look
round on the sad state of the professing church at this time—and with Isaiah
let us cry, “Will You refrain Yourself for these things, O Lord? Will You hold
Your peace, and afflict us very severely?”
GOD’S GLORIOUS AND EVERLASTING NAME NO. 2229
A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S DAY, NOVEMBER
8, 1891, DELIVEREDBY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAYEVENING, FEBRUARY
15, 1891.
“To make Himself an everlasting name. . .To make Yourself a glorious name.”
Isaiah63:12, 14.
MAN’S chief end is to glorify and enjoy God. God’s greatestand highest
objective is to make to Himself a glorious and an everlasting name. Since God
is God it must be so, for He is full of love and kindness to His creatures, and
He cannot more fully bless His creatures than by making Himself known to
them. Everything that is good, true, holy, excellent, loving, is in God. He is not
only the giver of “everygoodand every perfect gift,” but He is Himself the
sum and substance ofall blessing, and it is for the highest goodof all the
creatures He has made, that they should know their God. “Man, know

yourself,” is a frequent exhortation of the philosophers of earth; and self-
knowledge is said to be the highest form of knowledge, but it is not. “Man,
know your God,” is a far wiserprecept, for knowledge ofGod as far excels all
other knowledge as the heavens are higher than the earth. It is life eternal to
know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christwhom He has sent. Know your
God, then, for here your hope, your comfort, your holiness, your heavenwill
be found. God may well desire to make to Himself a name—that is to say, to
make Himself known—becauseHe is worthy to be known. There is no name
so well worthy of publication. There is no characterlike His. There is none
that can be comparedto Him. Even among the gods of the heathen, if they
were gods, there is none like our God, and, indeed, there is none other. He can
truly say, “I am Jehovah, and there is none beside Me.” He ought to be
known, and it is a worthy motive of His actions that He should make unto
Himself a greatname. This knowledge ofGod is the heaven of the perfect. I
believe they have no higher joy in the land of light than to know God. The
blaze of their glory is the presence of Deity. The height of their heaven is that
God is near them, and that they are near to Him. Heaven would be no heaven
if God were not there. It would be a circle without a center, a skywithout a
sun. The holy song of the seraphim would be hushed; they would cease to veil
their faces with their wings, and the hosannas of the redeemedwould
languish, if they could no longer raise the hymn, “The Lord God omnipotent
reigns.” Without the presence ofthe Eternal, heavenwould be shorn of the
bliss for which we long, and emptied of the glory we have been led to
anticipate. To know God perfectly, and to behold Him in righteousness, will
be all that any heart can need— “How wonderful, how beautiful, The sight of
You must be! Your glorious wisdom, boundless power, And awful purity.”
While the knowledge ofGod is the heavenof the perfect, it is the help of the
growing. Men canonly get holier and better as they know more of God. Here
is the copy; look well at it, that you may write after it. Here is that character
which you are to imitate, according to the exhortation, “Be you therefore
followers of God, as dear children.” Know God as He makes Himself known
by His works and ways that you may grow to be like Him. Continue to know
Him until you shall be able to say that He is the gladness ofyour joy, and may
join with the Psalmist, and say, “I will go unto the altar of God, unto God my
exceeding joy.”

2 God’s Glorious and Everlasting Name Sermon #2229
The knowledge ofGod is also the greathope of sinners. O child of earth, if
you knew Him better, you would fly to Him! If you understood how gracious
He is, you would seek Him. If you could have any idea of His holiness, you
would loathe your self-righteousness. Ifyou knew anything of His power, you
would not venture to contend with Him. If you knew anything of His grace,
you would not hesitate to yield yourself to Him. The more God reveals
Himself to you, and the more you know of God, the more are you in the wayof
hope and mercy. “Theythat know Your name will put their trust in You.”
Hence, then, I do not attempt to defend my God, nor stand here to apologize
for Him, when I assertthat the one greatend of all that He does is to make to
Himself a name, since it is by the making of that name that men are blessedin
the very highest degree, and helped to holiness and happiness. I would rather
ask you to praise Him who sits upon the throne, as He thus manifests Himself,
for our goodcan only be achievedby the glory of God’s name— “Who is a
pardoning God like Thee, Or who has grace so rich and free?” In seeking to
open up this subject, I shall say, first of all, that God’s design in making to
Himself a greatname has been accomplished;secondly, this design is still
being accomplished;and, thirdly, the design is, in itself, exceedinglydelightful.
I. First, GOD’S DESIGN HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. Fromeverlasting
He was God most glorious;He existed, but He had as yet no name. For a name
is that by which anyone is revealed, and until His powercalled into being the
hosts of heaven, God was Godalone, and there were none to whom He could
be known. Then the angels lifted high His praise in their songs, and bowed low
before His throne. In creationHis name was manifestedand magnified; when
the foundations of the earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Man was made in the image of God for
His own glory, and all things existed for His praise. “He is over all, God
blessedforever. Amen.” But our subject is how God has made His name
glorious among men. Let us considerit. The text speaks ofGod as making to
Himself a greatand glorious name, in redeeming Israel. When He poured His
plagues on Egypt, and afflicted the fields of Zoan, proud Pharaoh would not
yield. He thought himself able to contend againstJehovah, but the tyrant

trembled. He sought the intercessionofMoses,and, at last, he was glad to let
Israelgo. God triumphed over Pharaoh. When Pharaohgathered up his spirit
once more, his heart being hardened, and he pursued Israelto the Red Sea,
and God permitted him to follow His people into the midst of the waters, until
the waves returned in all their might, and quickly swallowedhim up. Then
sang the children of Israel, “The depths have coveredthem: they sank into the
bottom as a stone.” God’s name was glorious that day insomuch that they
sang again, “Who is like unto You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” And not that day
only, but as long as there is a man alive, the song of the Red Sea will be
remembered, and our ears shall hear the refrain of Miriam’s song;“Sing you
to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has He
thrown into the sea.” All the nations of the earth heard of that event,
especiallythe heathen races ofPalestine. Godintended to drive them out to
make room for His people, and a feartook hold of them. They trembled as
they heard what God did at the Red Sea. He had made to Himself an
everlasting name, for that one event goes ringing down the centuries.
Throughout eternity the redeemedwill continue to “sing the song of Moses the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Then God brought His people
through the wilderness, guiding them by His presence, and He led them into
the PromisedLand. The RevisedVersionrenders verse fourteen—“As the
cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord causedthem to rest:
so did You lead Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name.” Now, as
God gotto Himself a greatname at the Red Sea, He has done much more by
the greatworks ofsalvation in the gift of Jesus. Ah! Here Egypt is eclipsed,
and the destruction of Pharaoh is no more to be remembered. We were lost;
sin had taken us captive, and God brought us out with a high hand and an
outstretchedarm. But for our redemption it was necessarythat He should
become man that in a human form God should tabernacle on earth. Would He
come to Bethlehem’s manger? Would He, the Infinite, come robed as an
infant? Yes, He came, and made heaven wonder till the angels sang and sang
again. They could not understand the marvelous condescensionofthe
incarnation. Being here in
Sermon #2229 God’s Glorious and Everlasting Name 3

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