Jehovah Shammah – The LORD Is There

[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help this evening, turn back to the portion of Scripture that we read and turn to the last book, the last chapter of the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 48.

[0:17] Ezekiel chapter 48, and we'll just read the last verse. Ezekiel 48, and verse 35.

[0:36] The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits, and the name of the city from that time on shall be Jehovah Shammah.

[0:48] The Lord is there. The name of that city shall be Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there.

[1:05] I'm sure that we've all heard or used the phrase famous last words. Because it's a phrase which is often said after someone has made a sarcastic remark.

[1:18] But the original meaning of the phrase famous last words, it was used to refer to the dying words of prominent people.

[1:28] In which the last words of famous people were recorded. So that everyone would not only remember them for what they did during their life. But also that everyone would remember them for what they said at death.

[1:43] And their famous last words were meant to be their epitaph to the world. The world that had made them famous. But when we come to the last verse, in the last chapter, in the book of Ezekiel, we're confronted with words that brought our attention to what the entire book of Ezekiel is about.

[2:06] Because the name of God which is given to us right at the very end of this book, it seeks to emphasize that this name is the climax and culmination of the book of Ezekiel.

[2:19] And I suppose you could say that this name is Ezekiel's famous last words. Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there.

[2:30] My friend, this name is the epitaph of the book of Ezekiel. Because out of all the 48 chapters of this prophet's book, Ezekiel wants the people of God to remember this name.

[2:46] He wants the people of God to take this name to heart. The name Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. And Ezekiel wants us to take this name with us.

[2:57] Because this name carries with it the greatest promise. It carries with it the greatest promise of restoration. The promise of renewal.

[3:08] The promise of salvation. This name is the promise of a saviour. And so as we consider Ezekiel's famous last words, I'd like us to see that this name Jehovah Shammah, it's the last name of God in the progressive revelation of scripture.

[3:30] We've said before in our study of the names of God, that when God reveals his name, he's revealing his character. He's telling us who he is and what he's like.

[3:41] And as we've progressed throughout the Bible, the Lord has progressively revealed his character to us. And as we said on a number of occasions, that's what we call progressive revelation.

[3:55] Where the Lord progressively reveals himself throughout the Old Testament until we have the full and final revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

[4:08] And over the past couple of months, while we've been looking at some of the names of God, the Lord has progressively revealed his character. We saw in the book of Genesis that the Lord revealed himself to Abraham.

[4:21] And he revealed himself as Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. He will provide a covenant son. A son of promise. In the book of Exodus, when the people of Israel were freed from slavery, we saw that the Lord revealed himself in the names Jehovah Nisi.

[4:42] The Lord is my banner. And the name Jehovah Rapha. Rapha, the Lord who heals you. Then we progressed into the book of Leviticus. And the Lord revealed himself as Jehovah Mekadish.

[4:54] The Lord who sanctifies you. And as we continued to progress into the books of Judges, during those stark periods of the Judges, the Lord showed himself as Jehovah Shalom.

[5:08] The Lord is peace. Then during the period of the kings where the nation of Israel was on this downward spiral, further and further away from the Lord, the Lord made himself known as Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness.

[5:23] And on New Year's Day, we looked at the revelation of God as our shepherd. In Psalm 23, we considered the name Jehovah Rohi, the Lord's my shepherd.

[5:34] Then last time, a fortnight ago, we looked at the comforting words of Psalm 46. In order to remind ourselves that the Lord is the commander and chief of the armies of heaven and earth.

[5:48] He is sovereign over all things because he is Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. But now this evening, we're looking at the last in our study of the Jehovah names of God, where on the dawn of a new era of history for the Lord's people in the Old Testament, we have Ezekiel's famous last words, Jehovah Shammah.

[6:15] The Lord is there. And as I said, this name Jehovah Shammah, its purpose is to draw our attention to what the entire book of Ezekiel is about.

[6:27] And like many of the Lord's prophets, their prophetic books are all about a problem, a promise, and a passion. So I'd like us to consider this book under these headings.

[6:42] A problem, a promise, and a passion. A problem, a promise, and a passion. So we look firstly at a problem.

[6:53] A problem. The book of the prophet Ezekiel, it's the message of a priest. Because when we were introduced to Ezekiel in the opening chapter of this book, we're told that he was a priest living in the land of Babylon, which wasn't the correct place for a priest to be in, because the temple was in Jerusalem.

[7:19] But the reason Ezekiel was a priest in Babylon was that it was because during his training as a priest, the Babylonians had invaded Israel and destroyed the temple and taken thousands of the Lord's people captive into slavery in Babylon.

[7:37] And Ezekiel was one of them. And as a result, Ezekiel never finished his training as a priest. But whilst he was in exile in Babylon, the Lord called Ezekiel to be a prophet.

[7:49] And his role as a prophet was to proclaim the message of the king. And the message of the king was a message of judgment. But after judgment, there was to be the promise of restoration and redemption.

[8:04] And so the first half of Ezekiel's prophetic book, it focuses upon God's judgment of the children of Israel and all the surrounding nations. And the reason God was pronouncing his judgment upon the children of Israel was because of their problem.

[8:22] And of course, the problem was an age old problem. It was the hereditary problem of sin and disobedience. Disobedience against God.

[8:35] Because when we come to this period in the history of the children of Israel, the children of Israel, they're at their lowest point spiritually. They are in exile in Babylon.

[8:46] They have been removed far away from the promised land of Israel and they've been forced to live in a foreign country, live under a foreign rule and made to worship foreign gods.

[8:59] And when we consider the progressive history of the children of Israel and their low spiritual state, it was a downward spiral all the time, further and further away from the Lord.

[9:12] And of course, the children of Israel, they were meant to be God's covenant people. They were meant to worship the Lord with their whole heart. They were meant to honour the Lord.

[9:22] They were meant to serve the Lord with their whole heart. But because of their sin, the children of Israel didn't obey the Lord. They did what was right in their own hands.

[9:32] And they worshipped other gods and bowed down to idols and served them. And this went on for years. In fact, centuries passed. But as we saw with the prophet Jeremiah, in order to combat such disloyalty and disobedience from the children of Israel, the Lord raised up prophets to remind the children of Israel that they were to only serve the living and true God.

[9:59] The prophets were to call the Lord's people to realise the error of their ways and to repent and turn back to the Lord. And down throughout the years, the Lord sent prophet after prophet after prophet to warn the people of Israel that if they didn't stop what they were doing and turn to the Lord, the Lord would bring judgment.

[10:21] And that's the message which many of the prophets preached again and again and again. The simple message. Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming.

[10:33] You need to repent and turn to the Lord because judgment is coming. But it didn't matter how many prophets the Lord sent and how many times the prophets proclaimed this message of judgment, the people weren't listening.

[10:50] They were ignoring all the warnings and they were living their lives as if God didn't exist. And do you know why that was? Do you know why that was?

[11:01] Do you know why they lived their lives as if God didn't exist? It's because they thought that judgment would never come. They thought that judgment would never come.

[11:14] They thought that because they were good people and they were God's covenant people that the Lord would never judge them. But when we come to the book of Ezekiel judgment has already come because the Babylonians have invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and they've taken God's people into exile in Babylon.

[11:38] And what's interesting is that Ezekiel was a younger contemporary of Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesied to the Lord's people when they were still in Israel.

[11:50] And Jeremiah pleaded for them to repent because judgment was coming. But Ezekiel, when he was called by the Lord to be a prophet, Ezekiel was to prophesy to the Lord's people in exile.

[12:03] But Ezekiel's message wasn't the same message as Jeremiah's message because Ezekiel's message was judgment has come. Judgment has come.

[12:15] Judgment has come. And Ezekiel's ministry amongst the Lord's people in exile under the judgment of God, it was to emphasize to them that God is not to be mocked.

[12:29] God is not to be mocked because he will fulfill his promise of judgment. And he did as he said he would do.

[12:41] Even though many didn't believe him and even though many thought he would never do it, the Lord brought judgment. And under the most awful circumstances and in the midst of the Lord's judgment, Ezekiel had the difficult job of proclaiming to the Lord's people in exile the message, I told you so.

[13:07] I told you so. Not in an arrogant way, but to emphasize that the Lord wasn't lying and the Lord was not to be mocked and the Lord was always going to be true to his word.

[13:22] And you know my unconverted friend, I wonder if that's why you aren't a Christian. Do you think that God won't judge you?

[13:38] Do you think that God won't bring judgment upon you because of your sin? Do you think that because you're a good person and you attend church and you're not like people in society and people you see on the news all the time that God will somehow overlook you?

[13:56] Well, that's what the children of Israel thought. And look what happened to them. My friend, you've heard a lot in your lifetime about the coming judgment of God.

[14:08] You've heard a lot about the return of Jesus Christ and the day of judgment. You've been warned about the extent of your sin. You've been warned for many years about the state of your heart and that the outcome of an unrepentant heart before the Lord is hell.

[14:26] You've been warned. You've been warned about the lake of fire. You've been warned about the place of outer darkness where there is only wailing and gnashing of teeth. My friend, you've been warned many times.

[14:39] But your problem is you aren't listening. You aren't listening. And you're ignoring all the warnings. And you're living your life as if God doesn't exist.

[14:52] He exists today on the Lord's Day. But tomorrow, well, he's a distant memory. My friend, when we are reminded as a community of the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, these things should be a warning to us.

[15:11] And I tell you, my friend, when it's your turn, when you are next in the queue for eternity, when you die, if you wake up in hell, the only message you will hear from the Lord is, I told you so.

[15:33] I told you so. My friend, you need to make urgent changes to your life before death comes and judgment calls.

[15:45] You need to come to this Jesus with all your sin and lay hold of the promise that in Him there is renewal, there is restoration, there is forgiveness, there is reconciliation with God.

[16:03] So let's look together at this promise. This promise. We've considered Ezekiel's message that there was a problem. A problem of sin.

[16:13] But secondly, we see that Ezekiel presents a promise. A promise of restoration. A promise. Because he says, the name of the city from that time on.

[16:28] It's in verse 35. The name of the city from that time on shall be Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. As we said already, when we come to Ezekiel's famous last words, they draw our attention to what the entire book is about.

[16:50] Because it's a book about a priest called to be a prophet to proclaim the message of a king. And the message of a king was the message of judgment. But after judgment, the promise of redemption and restoration.

[17:04] And this promise was assured and affirmed to the people of God in the name Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. But in order for us to understand how precious a promise this was, we have to first of all understand how much the exile had affected the people of God.

[17:26] Because when we think about the Jews being exiled out of Israel and into Babylon, we may have this tendency to think of it just as a 70-year holiday.

[17:36] Or this time of migration from Israel to Babylon and then back to Israel again. But the exile was, I suppose, similar to what we've witnessed on the news over the past year.

[17:50] Thousands of people fleeing a war zone. Taking boats or walking with their children and their families across borders and over boundaries into foreign territory.

[18:03] Except the refugees of our century are fleeing in search of a better life. Fleeing war. But the Israelites in the 9th century BC, they were being forced against their will to leave the country that they loved.

[18:21] The country that was precious to them. And the reason the Lord's people loved the land of Israel, there was three reasons. Three reasons why the Jews loved the land of Israel.

[18:32] The first reason was the people loved the land of Israel because it was the promised land. It was the land that the Lord had promised to Abraham all those years ago.

[18:46] The land that was flowing with milk and honey. The land of blessing. It was, and it was from that land that the Messiah would come. But secondly, the land of Israel was loved by the Lord's people because that's where the temple was.

[19:01] And in particular, the capital city of Israel was the place where the temple was built. It was built in Jerusalem. And this was the temple which Solomon had built with all great, all this great expense where everything in the temple was overlaid with gold.

[19:22] The temple had become the focal point of their worship. The temple was everything to them where every Jew would make their pilgrimage at least once a year to the temple.

[19:34] But the temple wasn't precious because of the grandeur and the structure of the building. The temple was precious to the Lord's people because that's where the glory cloud of the Lord dwelt.

[19:48] Which is the third reason why the land of Israel was precious to the Lord's people. Because the glory cloud of the Lord which had led the children of Israel from their first beginning.

[19:59] It had led them from the moment they left Egypt and journeyed towards the promised land. That glory cloud had been with them and leading them.

[20:11] The pillar of cloud by day. The pillar of fire by night. And it was with them as they moved in tents towards the promised land. where the glory cloud the Shekinah glory as it's often called.

[20:25] Which literally means the glory that dwelt. The glory that dwelt. Because this glory cloud it dwelt amongst the Lord's people.

[20:36] It dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. It dwelt in that great place of worship for the people of God. And when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem it was to be this permanent residence for the glory cloud of the Lord to dwell.

[20:55] And as this Shekinah glory cloud dwelt amongst the Lord's people the cloud could always be seen. And it was always known as a symbol of the Lord's presence.

[21:08] Because that was the Lord's promise to his people. That he would be their God and they would be his people. And that he would dwell with them. He would tabernacle amongst them.

[21:20] And so we can see why the Lord's people loved the land of Israel. Because it was the promised land. Because the temple was there. Because the glory cloud dwelt in the temple. But because of the problem of Israel's repeated disobedience where they had forsaken the covenant and turned to all their idols the Lord brought judgment upon Israel.

[21:43] He used Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to invade with his army and destroy Jerusalem and bring destruction. And in bringing destruction the promised land was violated and ransacked by this Babylonian army.

[22:01] And it was all because of their sin. It was because of their sin that the children of Israel were removed from the promised land and exiled into slavery in Babylon. It was because of their sin that the city of Jerusalem and Solomon's glorious temple was brought to the ground.

[22:18] It was because of their sin that the glory which had dwelt in the temple amongst the Lord's people for centuries it departed. The glory of God departed.

[22:30] And because of their sin the children of Israel were separated from the land of blessing. They were separated from the place of blessing. They were separated from the God of blessing.

[22:40] And it was because they had forsaken the covenant that the Lord had forsaken them. And my friend that's what sin does. That's what sin does.

[22:50] It separates from God. It exiles us far away from God. It removes us from the blessing of God. It takes away the glory and the beauty of God.

[23:04] And because we become slaves to sin. Because of our sin we need reconciliation. Because of our sin we need renewal.

[23:17] Because of our sin we need restoration. Because of our sin we need redemption. And it's God alone who promises it to us. And that's what the second half of the book of Ezekiel is all about.

[23:30] This beautiful book because Ezekiel's famous last words they assure us and they affirm to us that the promise of salvation is in and through the name Jehovah Shammah the Lord is there.

[23:44] In that name the Lord's people were being promised that they will return to the land of blessing. They're promised that the city of Jerusalem and the temple will be restored.

[23:58] And they're promised that the glory cloud will be seen again. And so from chapter 33 onwards Ezekiel's message changes from a message of judgment to a message of hope.

[24:12] A message of hope where there is the promise of a future hope. There is a day of salvation. That's what we can see from the last verse of Ezekiel 48 where we're told that the name of the city from that day that day of salvation it shall be called Jehovah Shammah.

[24:33] The Lord is there. And so what we see from chapter 33 onwards is first of all the restoration of the people of God.

[24:44] The people have been restored because instead of receiving visions of judgment Ezekiel receives visions of blessing and hope where in the valley of the dry bones the Lord promises life.

[25:01] And he promises that his spirit will dwell in his people. And the Lord promises to take away their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. The Lord promises to cleanse his people from all their filthiness and to remove all their idols.

[25:16] The Lord promises to restore the divided kingdom where there shall be one kingdom and one king. And all these visions which are to be fulfilled on the day of salvation their visions of forgiveness visions of renewal and restoration and blessing.

[25:35] But Ezekiel he not only prophesies about the people of God he prophesies about the restoration of the promised land. Because in chapter 40 onwards Ezekiel receives the vision of a restored city and a renewed temple.

[25:54] where Ezekiel prophesies about the eastern gate and the northern gate and the southern gate and if you read through it you'll see all the titles and all that he's speaking about.

[26:06] He speaks about the outer court of the city the inner court of the city and every detail of this city is restored. And every detail is given right down to all the measurements of the city.

[26:21] but then he speaks about the temple. The temple that had been destroyed. Ezekiel prophesies about the temple courtyard and the dimensions of the temple and who is to be admitted to work in the temple and to perform the acts of worship and keep the feasts and bring glory to the Lord.

[26:42] Because Ezekiel says that that's the purpose of the renewed temple. The purpose of the temple is for the glory of the Lord to dwell here. Ezekiel tells us in chapter 40 he says the spirit lifted me up and he brought me into the inner court and behold the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

[27:06] Then I heard him speaking to me from the temple while a man stood beside me and the man said to me son of man this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.

[27:26] No more shall the house of Israel defile my holy name. It was a wonderful promise of restoration. But Ezekiel's visions not only included the redemption of the Lord's people it not only included the restoration of the city and the renewal of the temple Ezekiel's visions also included the reassurance that the promised land is all there.

[27:53] Everything they had lost was to be restored to them. Everything they had been taken away from them because of sin was going to be given back to them.

[28:04] And that's what we were reading about when we read the closing words of chapter 48. We were told that the promised land which had been divided and ransacked was to be restored to the people.

[28:18] Every tribe out of the twelve tribes of Israel were to receive a portion of the land from the east side to the west side.

[28:30] And this division of the land was to emphasize that the renewed promised land was one kingdom under one king. A king whose love for his people went from the east side to the west side.

[28:45] And in these words we have the promise of Psalm 103 coming to life for the children of Israel. As far as east is distant from the west so far hath he from us removed all our iniquity.

[29:02] And he did it in his love. In his love. And in a sense that was the message Ezekiel was prophesying.

[29:13] He was prophesying about the removal of sin. It was a message of complete redemption. Complete renewal. Complete restoration.

[29:24] In and through Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. Because when we come to the last verse in the last chapter of Ezekiel Ezekiel's famous last words affirm and assure to us the promise of salvation.

[29:43] But this promise of salvation wasn't going to be fulfilled after the exile. The promise of salvation was going to be fulfilled in a portion. All in a portion.

[29:56] Redemption, renewal, restoration. All in and through Jesus Christ. Because he is Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there.

[30:07] So we've seen the problem, the problem of sin. But alongside the problem we've seen that Ezekiel presents a promise. And that promise was to be fully realized in a portion.

[30:20] So we look lastly at a portion. The words of verse 35, the name of the city from that time on shall be the Lord is there.

[30:32] Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. So Ezekiel's famous last words draw our attention to what the entire book is about.

[30:45] A book about a priest called to be a prophet to proclaim the message of a king. And the message of the king is a message of judgment into exile. Restoration from exile back into Israel.

[30:58] But Ezekiel's famous last words reveal the identity of the king as Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. And this promise of a person was precious to the Lord's people.

[31:11] Because it assured and affirmed to them that they were not forsaken. Because as we saw, the reason that the Lord's people loved the land of Israel, it was threefold.

[31:22] They loved the land because it was the promised land. They loved the land because the temple was there. They loved the land because the glory of the Lord dwelt there. But because the children of Israel were exiled into Babylon, they thought the Lord had abandoned them.

[31:38] They thought the Lord had completely forsaken them. And that the Lord, well, he had every right to forsake them because they had forsaken the covenant through their own sin and disobedience.

[31:50] But it was through Ezekiel's last words that the Lord's people were given hope and assurance that the Lord hadn't forsaken them.

[32:03] Because the name Jehovah Shammah, it reminded them that wherever they are as the Lord's people, the Lord is there. The Lord is there.

[32:16] And my friend, this is the beautiful promise of salvation because when we consider the history of the children of Israel, after the children of Israel returned from Babylon and exile, they experienced the first moment of restoration.

[32:33] They returned to Israel and they returned to the promised land. And having returned to the promised land, they were to rebuild the temple. And the Lord spoke to his people through the prophet Haggai, saying, Build the house, that I may take pleasure in it, that my name may be glorified.

[32:52] Be strong and work, for I am with you. And after a slow start, with the help of Nehemiah, the children of Israel, they rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.

[33:04] But what caused the greatest upset to the children of Israel was the glory cloud that dwelt in the temple. Because when they returned from exile, they had the land restored to them.

[33:18] When they returned from exile, they rebuilt the temple. They rebuilt all its walls and restored it to its former glory. But the Shekinah glory cloud of the Lord's presence never returned.

[33:33] The glory cloud had departed at the exile, but it never returned. When some of the children of Israel looked around at their situation that they were in, they wept.

[33:45] They wept because the glory cloud of the Lord, it symbolized the Lord's presence, it symbolized the Lord being with them, the Lord being on their side, the Lord being there for them.

[33:57] And because the glory cloud never returned, the children of Israel thought, well the Lord has forsaken us. He's forsaken us, even though they returned to the promised land, even though they rebuilt the temple, they still thought that they were forsaken.

[34:13] But when the Lord spoke again through his prophet, he directed them towards a future promise. The Lord said, I will fill this temple with glory and the glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former.

[34:34] And my friend, the glory of the promise came in the glory of the Persian. The glory of the promise came in the glory of the Persian because when that day that Ezekiel is speaking about, when that day of salvation finally came, John tells us in his gospel that when Jesus Christ appeared on the stage of history, he was the eternal word who became flesh and dwelt among us.

[35:07] He tabernacled amongst us. He made his temple among us and we beheld, he says, we beheld his glory. We beheld his Shekinah glory, the glory that dwells among the people of God.

[35:21] We beheld the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. My friend, the glory of the promise came in the glory of the Persian.

[35:31] And the glory of the latter temple was far greater than the glory of the former temple. Because in the temple of Jesus Christ, in the Persian of Jesus Christ, we have the promise that this glory will never depart.

[35:50] We have the promise that there is salvation in no other except Jesus Christ. We have the promise that the Lord's people will never be forsaken by the glory of God in the Persian of Jesus Christ.

[36:03] We have the promise of Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. The Lord is there. He hasn't left us. He hasn't forsaken us and left us to our own sin and misery.

[36:17] The Lord is there. The Lord is there. And my friend, in Jesus we have the assurance that the Lord will always be there for us. because that's the promise of Jesus our temple.

[36:32] Because he says to his people, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

[36:48] This is the wonder of the promise. And this is the wonder of the Persian. that the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, says Paul, he has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[37:08] My dear friend, it's in him there is reconciliation. It's in him there is restoration. It's in him there is renewal. It's in him there is redemption. But the beauty of this promise and the glory of this person is that the work of restoration will continue.

[37:26] If he has begun a good work in you, if the Lord has started a good work in you, that work of restoration, that work of renewal, that work of redemption, that work of restoration, it will continue until at last the Lord's people are restored to the way they were at the first in the Garden of Eden.

[37:55] Because Adam's sin brought death. It brought judgment. It brought separation from God. Adam's sin brought exile out of Eden.

[38:08] But in the glorious person of Jesus Christ we have the promise of restoration, the promise of renewal, the promise of reconciliation, the promise of redemption.

[38:19] salvation, where on that day when the salvation of the Lord is brought to its climax and culmination, the Lord's people will be gathered into a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

[38:39] And the name of that city where the Lord's people will dwell forever and ever, it won't be called the city of Jerusalem. It won't be called the city of Zion.

[38:53] It will be called Jehovah Shammah. Because the Lord is there. It will be there that the Lord will dwell amongst his people in full communion and fellowship and harmony for all eternity.

[39:12] That's the wonder of salvation. salvation. We have been exiled by our own sin. But the Lord is able to restore through Jesus Christ.

[39:26] And you know, I'm thankful tonight for Ezekiel's famous last words. Because in them we're reminded that we have a problem. But that problem was met by a promise.

[39:40] And the promise has been realized and fulfilled in a person. Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. And tonight, my friend, the wonder of this person is that he's there for us.

[39:57] There for every single one of us. And he promises to be there for us both in life and in death.

[40:07] We know his name. We know his name. We know he has done everything for us. But it's up to us to call upon his name.

[40:25] His name is Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. Revealed to us in the person of Jesus. Jesus. We know his name.

[40:37] Because there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Other than the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:50] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for the wonderful promises that are in thy word.

[41:02] The promises that thou art one who is with us. The Lord who is there. Help us to see that thou art one who is there. To not clutch in the darkness, but to walk in the marvelous light of the gospel.

[41:17] To see the wonder of Jesus. O Lord, to come with all our sin, with all our baggage, with all our pains and sorrows. And bring them to the one who is able to restore, to renew, to redeem, to make us whole again.

[41:34] O bless us, Lord, we pray thee. Bless thy word to us. Help us to see Jesus in it. And the wonder of who he is and what he has done. Go before us, we pray.

[41:46] Bless us and keep us. In the week that lies ahead. O it is a week that is unknown to us, but known to thee. And it is for that reason we cast every care into thy hands.

[41:58] For thou art the one who cares for us. Do us good and we ask for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. We shall conclude by singing in Psalm 126.

[42:14] Psalm 126 in the Scottish Psalter, page 419. Psalm 126.

[42:27] I sing the whole psalm. There's a psalm about all the Israelites returning back from exile in Babylon.

[42:41] They couldn't believe it. That the Lord had been faithful to them. That the Lord hadn't forsaken them. That the Lord was willing to forgive them. And they talk about it.

[42:53] It's like a dream. A dream come true. That's what salvation is. It says, When Zion's bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, then filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody.

[43:09] The whole psalm of Psalm 126. To God's praise. Amen. When Zion's bondage God turned back, the Lord was our love, the Lord was our love, the Lord was our love, the Lord was our love, the Lord was our love, our tongue with melody.

[43:43] They among the healers, said the Lord, great things for them, great things for them, and hope.

[43:55] The Lord has tried great things for us, when joy to us is brought.

[44:09] As things of water in the sun, how long may joy be for, through the storm and tears, shall we be done, and hope for the storm.

[44:39] The Lord has paid the precious seed, in point for the storm, in darkness bringing back his sheeps, we, Lord, sin shall be turned.

[45:06] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.