Your Way Was through the Sea

Transcription

1 Your Way Was through the Sea Preached the Lord s Day after the death of Anna Wright on account of the waters of great Lake Ontario, Jefferson County, NY, July 15, 2007 Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen. Psa. 77:19 This morning it is necessary to interrupt our usual preaching series to reflect on an event that, in hearing of it last Sunday evening in our gathering, took us by great surprise, and left us with an uncomfortable, aching sorrow. You may have heard, or seen on the news, that Anna Wright of our downtown congregation, along with 4 other teenage friends, were swimming at Lake Ontario when the waves became high, the undertow became strong, and all struggled in the water. Three were able to swim to shore for help; one was then pulled alive into an assisting boat; but Anna did not resurface. By the next morning it was rather clear that, although Lake Ontario had taken/kept her body, the Lord had taken/kept her soul. The search for her body continued into Tuesday, when, as our downtown church was about to pray in the evening, her body was found. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your right hand shall take hold of me (Psa. 139:9,10). Some of you knew Anna well; others of you not at all. But there is today a reminder that when one member of the Body of Christ suffers (or in this case many suffer), all suffer. And there is today, because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, special reason to consider and pay particular attention to that hope we have in Jesus Christ. 1

2 Such is the occasion that leads us to this 77 th Psalm; for here the Psalmist, like many this past week, cried aloud to God (v. 1). His reason may have been either a piling up of various troubles, or a single calamity. (We don t know for sure.) At any rate, he was in great pain. He was deeply alarmed, and in that, understandably nostalgic. All day he cried to God. And in the night, when it might be expected he would sleep because of exhaustion, God kept him awake (v. 4), and he still cried to God (v. 2). He couldn t help but think of the past, the way things were before (v. 5). He yearned for it to be this way again (v. 6). It seemed to him that God might never again be favorable (v. 7), that His love had now ceased, that His promises were over (v. 8), that He is now forgetting to be gracious, and being angered, packing up and closing down all compassion (v. 9). The Psalmist, as many today, is a grieving man. Those whose loved one dies especially in a calamity whether it s a daughter, a sibling, or a friend sometimes feel just like this. They may think like this; they may grieve with this for some time. But for the people of God, whatever dark cloud of calamity moves in will be met at some point with the rays of faith s sunshine. For as the Psalmist wonders and questions God, he here evidences and grows full in faith. His questions lead him to reaffirm what he already knows by faith. Verse 10: Then I said, I will appeal to this to the years of the right hand of the Most High (NIV, ESV). In other words, under a dark cloud of providence, though my heart question and contest and plead with God in weakness and grief, I will rest in that ever-abiding reality that the right hand of God where Jesus Himself sits! is also my sure defense. This is my grief and infirmity (on the one hand), but the years of the right hand of the Most High (is the other). The past (for which I m nostalgic), the future (for which I m hesitant) are such that I must confess the supreme everlasting God, to be held by everlasting arms. So, I will remember the deeds of the Lord, Your wonders of old, and ponder all Your work. (vv ). 2

3 And that work of God that grabs the attention, and begins to fill the memory and hope of the Psalmist, is that mighty work of God redeeming and bringing His people through the waters. (Our comfort and consolation is found not in avoiding the thought of mighty waters in this trying time, but instead considering them in relation to God s purpose.) Verse 19 is the verse on which we focus, and through which we are comforted today: Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen. And as we consider this, 2 truths surface from it for our comfort ~ that God displays His sovereignty over the waters, and that He delivers His people through the waters. What is our comfort with respect to great waters? I. That God displays his sovereignty over the waters. The Scripture tells us that God works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). It rhetorically asks, Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it? (Amos 3:6). Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? (Lam. 3:38). God said through the prophet Isaiah, I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord who does all these things (Isa. 45:7). The Scripture sets before us a sovereign God sovereign over all things and events created, whatever they are, wherever they are, however they happen, and whenever they occur. And He is no less sovereign when we consider water, for the Psalmist said, God does whatever He pleases, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps (Psa. 135:6). And Jonah reminds us that the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up (Jon. 1:4). 3

4 There at the creation of the world, God displayed His sovereignty over the waters. After establishing the earth upon the seas, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen. 1:2; Psa. 24:1). And then the next day, the voice of the Lord, which is over the waters, thundered and said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. (Gen. 1:6; Psa. 29:3). And then the 3 rd day God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. (Gen. 1:9). The pattern is here set, that day after day after day, God is sovereign over the waters. They are assigned their places. They are appointed their limits; they can go no further than the sovereign will of God. But since He has created them, He will use and govern them as He sees fit. He would sovereignly use them to judge the world at the time of Noah, but also, by that same sovereignty (somewhat ironically), to save Noah and his family (1 Pet. 3:20 cf. Psa. 93:1-4). He would again show that sovereignty by turning the waters of the Nile into blood (Psa. 105:29), and still again, the waters at Cana, into wine (John 2). And our Psalm reminds us of God s sovereignty over the waters. At v. 16: When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters saw You, they were afraid. (God acted on them with power, and they responded to Him with fear.) Again at v. 13: Your way, O God (which is, again, through the great waters), is holy. (It is set apart from us. It is sovereign; as He said through Isaiah, higher than our ways. ) And v. 19: Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints are unseen. (Waters are but a means to God s end. And though God could have ordained other ways for Anna to die, His way was through the sea, and His path through the great waters of the great Lake Ontario so as, sovereignly, leaving His footprints unseen. Who could have known last Sunday that God was stepping earthward so that Anna would step heavenward?) 4

5 We do well to hold (and not neglect) this truth of God s sovereignty, because, as Anna s death, so her continuing life, and our very comfort, is attached to it. For when Anna struggled in the waters, she was not alone. God was there. She had not fallen outside the sovereignty of God. In fact, she was truly at the center of it, for all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). What was the good that God worked, then, in last Sunday s tragedy? Being sovereign over the waters, what good did God work at the waters? Let s move to an answer under a 2 nd point; that: II. God delivers His people through the waters. God is to us a God of deliverance; and with God the Lord are escapes from death (Psa. 68:20). Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25). And our verse unfolds that very comforting truth, Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen. As we ve emphasized the sovereignty of God in the verse by the words His way and His path and His footprints, we here emphasize the rescue of God by the word through through the sea, through the great waters ; not from the sea, nor around the great waters, but through them. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me (Psa. 23:4). God has not guaranteed exemption from even the most grievous of trials. But He has promised to be with us through them, and after them. Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven (Acts 14:22). The Bible portrays redemption and deliverance as a passing through waters. 5

6 The Psalmist, then, is remembering the particular work of God in redeeming His people from Egypt through the Sea. It was the singular event that crystallized their freedom. There they stood at the edge; the waters of the sea before them; the army of Pharaoh behind them. What could they do?! (Nothing.) Yet there in their trouble, as they cried aloud, God worked wonders. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap (Psa. 78:13), while He destroyed their enemies and afterward led them like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (Psa. 77:20). (And they remembered it again as they passed through the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and ever after in their songs.) It was a foundational lesson in God delivering His people. But it points to something greater. It points to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, in which He would provide a greater redemption. It would not be from the slavery of Egypt, but from the slavery of sin and death. It would not happen at a Red Sea, but a bloody-red stained cross, where the justice of God was meted out against sin, and the mercy of God opened for all who would come repenting, believing, and receiving the grace of forgiveness. And this great redemption our Lord was pleased to signify by water the waters of baptism; through which every child of or convert to the covenant pass. Peter teaches us, that as Noah was saved through the waters of the flood, the waters of baptism have a like correspondence: Baptism saves you; not the removal of dirt from the body, but an appeal to God from a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 3:21). He was describing the work of the Spirit in giving us what that to which water baptism point the washing away of our sins, the sprinkling of our consciences, the bathing of our bodies, the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 22:16; Heb. 10:22; Tit. 3:5; Eph. 5:26). From their earliest, the people of God are those who pass through the waters; it is their common identity. And it is God who delivers them through the waters. 6

7 And yet, throughout their life, though believers are freed from the greatest of troubles, God brings these very people through the waters of trial. We know that God displays His sovereignty over the great waters. Yet, the deep and great waters of trial (figurative waters) still occasion fear in us. (They did for Anna, as they did her friends.) We fear the thought of being pulled away in an undertow. We rightly dread the thought of having to work in mighty waters to resurface and get air. It haunts us to have to use that little air we have in our lungs to deliver ourselves from the waters. The pressure can be too great. But under the sovereignty of God, and in the midst of our fears, there is deliverance. Again the Psalmist writes, Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. (Psa. 69:1). (Remember that the experience of the Lord Jesus as He endured the waters of judgment at the cross for us is the fulfillment of the Psalm.) And so, God s promise through Isaiah is true, then, for us, first true regarding Christ; When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you (Isa. 43:2-3). In all waters of trial, though there be fear, there is deliverance from the Lord for you His people. Was this not true for Noah, kept safely amidst the tossing wind and fomenting waves of judgment? Was it not true for Jonah, sinking to the bottom of the sea, weeds wrapped around his head, yet calling on the Lord in prayer, retrieved and hurled onto the beach? Was it not true for the apostle Paul, surviving the Adriatic waters? Was it not true for the disciples, tossed to and fro on the lake, yet calmed by the windhushing Savior? God delivers His people through the waters, whether they be on them or under them, physical waters or figurative waters. 7

8 But Anna was rescued from both. She went from joy irrepressible on the shore, to joy inexpressible and full of glory in heaven. What blessed privilege to be in the spirit on the Lord s Day in every way possible! I don t hesitate to say that it was the same kind as Christian came to know in his pilgrim progress just before the celestial city: As Christian and Hopeful went on, they were met by two men in golden raiment whose faces shone like the light. Christian asked the men to go along with them. They said they would, but added, You must go on your own faith. So I saw in my dream that they all went on together till they came in sight of the gate. Between them and the gate was a deep river, dark and cold, and there was no bridge. At the sight of the river the pilgrims turned pale, and were silent. The two men said, You must go through, or you will never get to the gate. Is there no other way? they asked. Yes, said the men, but since the foundation of the world only two, Enoch and Elijah, have been permitted to go that way, nor shall any others ever be so permitted until Christ comes again. Then they accepted the inevitable. Entering the water, Christian began to sink. He cried to his good friend Hopeful, I sink in deep water; the billows go over my head; all His waves go over me. Be of good cheer, said Hopeful, I feel the bottom, and it is good. Then said Christian, Ah! my friend, sorrows of death have surrounded me; and I shall never see that happy land. Then an awful horror and darkness came over Christian so that he could not see what was before him, and to a great degree he lost his sense of what was transpiring around him. He could not quite remember or speak coherently of the good things he had enjoyed in the way of his pilgrimage. But what words he spoke indicated that he had great fears of dying in that river before reaching the beautiful gate. They that stood by perceived that he was troubled over sins he committed both before and after he became a pilgrim. They assumed also that he was seeing visions of hobgoblins and evil spirits, since he mumbled about such in his coma. Hopeful, therefore, had all he could do to keep his brother s head above water. Sometimes he would go under for a second; then he would rise up again, though half dead. Hopeful would try to console him, saying, Brother, I see the gate, and I see the saints standing by to receive us. But Christian would say, It is you, it is you they wait for; you have been Hopeful ever since I came to know you. And so have you, Hopeful would reply. Ah! Brother, surely if I were right, Christ Jesus would now come to my rescue! But because of my sins he has brought me into this snare and left me, was Christian s reply. Then Hopeful said, My brother, you have quite forgotten the text which says of the wicked, There are no pains in their death, but their strength is firm they are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. These troubles and distresses that you go through in these waters are no sign that God has forsaken you. They are sent to call to your mind that which you have received of His goodness, that you may trust Him in your distress. Then Christian seriously reflected for a moment as Hopeful added these words, Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. 8

9 Then Christian broke out in a strong voice: Oh I see him again, and He is saying, When you pass through the waters, they will not overflow you. Then they both took courage. After that, the enemy was as still as a stone. Soon Christian found ground to stand on, and the rest of the river was shallow. Reaching the other side of the bank of the river they saw the two shining ones waiting for them. When the pilgrims came out of the water, the two angels saluted them, saying, We are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. Now they went along together toward the gate. Though the City stood on a great high hill, the pilgrims went up the hill with perfect ease because of the two heavenly ones leading them by the arms, and because their mortal garments had been left in the river. Therefore they went up the great hill swiftly, even though the foundation upon which the City was built was higher than earthly clouds. They ascended through the regions of the air, joyously conversing as they went exceedingly happy that they were safely through the river and had such wonderful companions. And if you have ears to hear it, that s something of the way it was for Anna last Sunday afternoon. She may not have struggled with sins and assurance, but she struggled with the waters. There was no boat to rescue Anna in time. There was no Hopeful companion to remain with her. But there was still a Savior. There was a Savior that came that day to the great waters of Lake Ontario. And in the language of the prophet He came trampling the sea with His horses, the surging of mighty waters calling regally for Anna. And though the waters lifted up their voice with their pounding waves, and the channels of the waters were seen, He sent from on high, He took Anna, and drew her out of many waters (Hab. 3:15; Psa. 93:3-4; 18:15,16). Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints are unseen. And Anna followed him in the waters with the same faith she professed when she sang on the shore. In great waters Anna drowned; but through great waters she was delivered! There she wrestled with the waves; but there rescued through the waters! 9

10 And you may look this very day in those waters of Lake Ontario for that firm ground on which Anna, like Christian, found her foothold. But it s not there, at least for your eyes to see it. Your footprints were unseen, the Psalmist tells us. But if you have ears to hear it, there is a rock that sits in all great waters, be they waters of sin or shame, by shores or beaches: Christ, Christ the rock of salvation, Christ the solid rock. All other ground is sinking sand. And if you are to attain that deliverance that Anna did, then your hope must be built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, and your help must be the grace of God in Him. If you re listening to my words, and you find this interpretation of Anna s death amiss, or naïve, you only show your own blindness. For these things, as the Psalm itself affirms, are seen by those having eyes of faith. Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen. And if you re listening to my words, and there is still a questioning, a discontentment with God s way, you must accept the fact that there is mystery with God. Let it be your comfort, and not your confusion, that there is mystery with God. Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen. Do we really want a God who is not high and transcendent; whose thoughts and ways are not higher than ours? Can we possibly have a God whose footprints are always evident? If you have ears to hear, the mystery of His ways is that it might elicit in us a sense of His worthiness. The apostle Paul reminds us: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Rom. 11:33-36) 10

11 You may know of the experience of Horatio Spafford, a 43-year-old Chicago businessman, who suffered financial disaster in the Great Chicago Fire of He and his wife were still grieving over the death of their only son shortly before the fire. Spafford realized they needed to get away for a vacation. Knowing that their friend and well-known evangelist D.L. Moody was going to be in England that fall, he decided to take the family. His wife Anna and his four daughters sailed ahead. Urgent business delayed Spafford, so he planned to follow shortly. The ship was struck by another, and sank within 12 minutes in the Atlantic Ocean. Two hundred and twentysix lives were lost. (Much less than the Titanic.) Mrs. Spafford survived, but their four daughters drowned in the tragedy. On reaching the mainland, she cabled her husband with this sad message, "Saved alone." Yet it was through the trouble of those great waters that Spafford came to realize what was true in a way he had not before: it is well with my soul. And it was on (and through) the great waters of the Atlantic that these words recognized both the mystery and worthiness of God: When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Your way was through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen. Dear friends, God not only displays His sovereignty over the waters, but by Jesus Christ, delivers His people through the waters. Let this be your peace. 11

12 These things being true and relevant to understand the work of God in Anna s death last Sunday, they are also the things we should consider for ourselves today. Let the living take these things to heart. Let it be a time when we consider our own mortality, and the swiftness with which death may come. Let it be a time to see that saved alone is true in Christ alone. Let it be a time to consider the grace and glory of heaven. Let it be a call to be about and abounding in the Lord s work until our time here is finished. Let it be a time when we begin afresh to cherish those relationships God has given us. Let it be, as we are commanded, an opportunity of which we are to make the most. God Himself be your help, and Jesus your hope. AMEN. 12