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[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read in the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 14.

[0:16] Exodus chapter 14. And if we read again at verse 13. Where we're given that promise.

[0:26] Exodus 14 and verse 13. And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.

[0:40] For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.

[0:56] Earlier this year, there was a very interesting documentary that was shown on the BBC. It was called, Why Ships Crash?

[1:09] Why Ships Crash? And it's based upon what happened to that container ship called the Ever Given. If you didn't see the documentary, you might want to watch it.

[1:19] It's still on BBC iPlayer. But the documentary tells us about this ship, the Ever Given. It's the largest container ship, or one of the largest container ships in the world.

[1:31] But on the 23rd of March last year, 2021, the Ever Given, it ran aground in the Suez Canal. And when it ran aground, it completely blocked the Suez Canal in both directions for six days.

[1:47] And as you know, the Suez Canal, it's this man-made canal. I was looking it up. It was first completed in 1869. But since then, it's been widened and it's been deepened in order to accommodate all the increasing maritime traffic that's passing through it.

[2:03] Because the Suez Canal, it's this 120-mile artery that stretches through the heart of Egypt. And it connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

[2:15] And it's a crucial link between Asia and Europe. And the Suez Canal, you could say, well, it's a shortcut. It's a shortcut that saves container ships thousands of miles of travel and several weeks of sea time.

[2:29] And it's said that 18,000 ships pass through this narrow strip of water, the Suez Canal, each year. And, you know, it's only 24 meters deep.

[2:40] And it's 205 meters wide. And so the Suez Canal, it's really narrow. Which is why this ship, the Ever Given, which is a 224,000 ton container ship, which carries 20,000 containers on it.

[2:58] And at the time, it had 500 million pounds worth of goods inside. When this one ship blocked the Suez Canal for six days last March, it brought this world's trade and economy into this.

[3:14] It brought it to a grinding halt. And it sparked a global emergency. Now, the reason I mentioned the Ever Given and the reason I mentioned the Suez Canal is because I believe that a few miles south of the entrance to the Suez Canal was where Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.

[3:38] Only a few miles south of the Suez Canal is where they crossed the Red Sea. But when we look at this chapter in Exodus 14, it's not Moses who is the main character in the story of salvation here.

[3:55] As always, it's the Lord who is the main character in the story of salvation. Because in this chapter, we see three things. We see the Lord protecting His people, promising His people, and He's providing for His people.

[4:09] And there are our three headings this morning. So in this chapter, the Lord is protecting His people, He's promising His people, and He's providing for His people.

[4:21] So first of all, let's look at the Lord protecting His people. He's protecting His people. Look at verse 1 of chapter 14. It says, Now, when the congregation of Israel, when the Israelites made their exodus from Egypt, they not only experienced and enjoyed freedom from Pharaoh and salvation from slavery, they also experienced and enjoyed the Lord's promised presence with them.

[5:09] Every step of the way. Because the Lord promised the Israelites that from their first step out of Egypt until their last step into the promised land, the Lord would go before them, boys and girls, as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

[5:28] So the Lord would lead them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And the pillar was a symbol of the Lord's promised presence amongst His people.

[5:39] It was a constant and continual reminder and reassurance to the people that the Lord was with them. He was with them every step of the way. From their first step right to their last step in their wilderness journey.

[5:54] And as you know, that's the Christian's great hope, isn't it? That from your first step of faith and commitment to Jesus Christ until your last step, when you close your eyes on the scene of time and enter eternity, when faith gives way to sight and you see Jesus face to face, from your first step until your last step, the Lord promises that His presence will go with you every step of the way.

[6:24] From the city of destruction all the way to the celestial city, He promises that His presence will go with you every step of the way.

[6:37] Of course, as I mentioned last Lord's Day, there are some of you here and at home. And since last Lord's Day, you still haven't left the city of destruction.

[6:48] You still haven't made that step of faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. And maybe, I don't know what you think in your mind, but maybe you wonder, maybe you worry, that if you begin this journey, if you take that first step, you won't see it through to the last step.

[7:10] Maybe you wonder and you worry that if you start, you might fail and you might fall along the way. But you know, my friend, you come to this chapter, you come to the history of the Israelites, and you see that as it was with the Israelites and their exodus from Egypt, so will it be with you.

[7:27] That the Lord promises that His presence will go with you every step of the way, from your first step until your last step.

[7:38] From the first step until the last step. And that was true of this congregation, the congregation of Israel. Because when the Passover took place, when the plague of death wreaked havoc in Egypt, and it was then that the Israelites, they left Egypt under the cover of darkness, and they were being led by this pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

[8:04] Now, we're told in Exodus chapter 12 that the Israelites, they traveled south. They traveled, as you'll see on your map, they traveled from Ramesses to Sukkot.

[8:16] Now, this is the kind of day I'd love a screen in the church to help us visualize the journey. We'd see the journey. But if you have a map, and maybe you've got a map in the back of your Bible, or you have the sheet of paper that was handed out to you at the door, you'll see that when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they lived in the northern part of Egypt.

[8:36] They lived in this area called the land of Goshen. And the capital city of the land of Goshen was called Ramesses. Ramesses was named after the great Ramesses.

[8:48] Ramesses the Great was one of the most powerful pharaohs in Egyptian history. And yet the irony is that on the night of the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites, they experienced freedom from Pharaoh and salvation from slavery by leaving the stronghold, the stronghold of Ramesses.

[9:10] And then we see that they traveled south. They traveled south night through the night and all day. And they came to a place called Sukkot.

[9:21] But the thing about Sukkot was that historians don't really know where it was. So it's on your map, but it's pretty much a guess. They don't really know where it was.

[9:32] It's hard to pinpoint exactly where the Israelites stopped for their first night of freedom. But, you know, I don't believe that Sukkot was an actual place.

[9:47] I don't believe that Sukkot was actually a city or a town in Egypt. Because in Hebrew, boys and girls, in Hebrew, the word Sukkot means tent.

[9:58] The word Sukkot means tent. And the Feast of Sukkot was something that would feature throughout the history of the Israelites. They called it the Feast of Tents or the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths.

[10:14] The Jews call it Sukkot. That's their feast that they have each year, the Feast of Sukkot. And it's this annual festival in the Jewish calendar which commemorates and celebrates the exodus from Egypt and the wilderness wanderings for 40 years.

[10:31] That's why I believe that Sukkot wasn't actually a place on the map. It wasn't a town or a city in Egypt that they stopped at. No, Sukkot was the place where the Israelites first set up camp.

[10:45] Sukkot was the place where they first pitched their Sukkots, their tents. Sukkot was the place where the Israelites spent their first night as pilgrims and sojourners traveling towards the Promised Land.

[11:02] This was their first night as free slaves. This was their first night as those who had been set free from Pharaoh. And you know, it had such an impact and an influence upon them that they named this place where they first set up camp.

[11:20] They named it Sukkot. And it was a huge camp. There was three million people there. They named the campsite Sukkot. And so as a people, the Israelites, as you know, they had spent 430 years in Egypt.

[11:36] They had spent 430 years in Egypt, but Sukkot was the place where they spent their first night of freedom from Pharaoh and salvation from slavery.

[11:49] And you know, that's often what it's like when you become a Christian. I don't know about you, but I often remember and reflect upon that first night I went to bed as a new creation in Christ.

[12:04] And maybe for you it was a long process to get to that point where you made a confession and you made a commitment to Jesus Christ. But that first night, that first night in the pilgrim's progress, that first night when you had left the city of destruction, your first night as a pilgrim and a sojourner towards the celestial city.

[12:27] No, it's a night you don't forget. But friends, again, there are some of you still in Egypt. There are some of you, you look at your map, there are some of you still in the land of Goshen.

[12:42] There are some of you, as it is in the pilgrim's progress, still in the city of destruction. You haven't fled for freedom from Pharaoh. You haven't sought salvation from slavery to sin.

[12:58] And my friend, my plea to you is, don't be left behind. Don't be left behind. The camp is moving out. Don't be left behind.

[13:10] Take that first step of confession. Take that first step of commitment to Jesus Christ. Don't be left behind.

[13:22] Don't be left behind. You know, we're also told in Exodus 13, just in the previous chapter at verse 20, that on the second day of their journey, so this is the second day, the new day, second day of their journey, they journey towards the promised land and they continue south.

[13:42] They continue south from Succot to a place called Etham. And we read that the Lord didn't lead the Israelites north towards the land of the Philistines, which would have been a direct route.

[13:53] You can see that on your map. It's a direct route towards the promised land through the land of the Philistines. But instead, the Lord leads his people south. He leads them towards Mount Sinai, where he gives them the law.

[14:06] That's chapter 20. But the reason the Lord gave for directing the Israelites south instead of north, he led them south because if they entered the land of the Philistines, the Philistines would have fought against them.

[14:21] But the Israelites, they weren't ready for that. They weren't ready for a battle. It would have been a battle too soon in their pilgrimage. And as the Lord said, it would have caused them to give up and to turn back.

[14:34] And you know, we have to see that from the very outset of their journey, the Lord was protecting his people. The Lord was protecting his people.

[14:45] Yes, there would be battles in the future with the Philistines. But at the beginning of their pilgrimage, on the second day of their journey, the Lord is protecting his people.

[14:56] And you know, my friend, that's what the Lord often does when we take that step of faith. The Lord protects his people.

[15:07] Yes, there will be battles in the future. There'll be things that we come across in the future. But at the beginning, at the outset of our pilgrimage, when everything is new, the Lord protects his people.

[15:22] Just like a father protecting his children, the Lord protects his people. But there's more here because the Lord is not only protecting his people from the Philistines in the north, he's also protecting his people from Pharaoh.

[15:35] Because when we come to Exodus 14, Pharaoh's lookouts, they've been following them. Pharaoh's lookouts have noticed that the Israelites are now making their exodus.

[15:46] They're making their exodus from Egypt. But what's fascinating is the direction that the Lord leads his people. We're told in verse 2, now read it carefully.

[15:58] It says, tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-Hahiroth between Migdal and the sea in front of Baal-Zephon.

[16:09] You shall encamp facing it by the sea. So as you know, the Israelites, they're traveling south. They're going in the southeastern direction towards Mount Sinai.

[16:22] And although it didn't exist in the 15th century BC, in many ways, the Israelites were actually following the route of the Suez Canal. So if you saw a modern day map, you'd see the Suez Canal.

[16:35] And that's the route pretty much that they took. They traveled from Ramesses in the north to Succoth to Etham. And they were continuing south, but they were continuing, and you'll see on your map, they were continuing on the eastern side of this large loch called the Bitter Lake.

[16:54] They were on the east side of it. But as we read in verse 2, the Lord commanded the Israelites to turn around and go back. So they were to turn around and go back north and go around the top of the Bitter Lake and come down the west side of the Bitter Lake at Pi-ha-hiroth.

[17:12] Now the reason for this is in verse 3. It says, for Pharaoh will save the people of Israel. They are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. So the Lord told the Israelites, go this way, then turn around, go back, go around this other side of the Bitter Lake and camp at Pi-ha-hiroth.

[17:34] And the reason they were to do it was so that Pharaoh and his servants would make, would think that the Israelites were now lost in the wilderness. And they're just going round and round in circles.

[17:46] They don't know where they're going. It's to make Pharaoh think that these Israelites need him and they need to come back to him.

[17:57] But as we said, the Lord is the main character in the story of salvation. And the Lord is protecting his people in the story of salvation. And he's protecting his people so that as it says then in verse 4, the Lord says, I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.

[18:20] I am the Lord. The Lord is protecting his people. And this leads us secondly to the Lord promising his people. So he's protecting his people and then he's promising his people.

[18:34] Look at verse 5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people. And they said, what is this that we have done, that we've let Israel go from serving us?

[18:46] So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him and took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

[19:08] So this is probably about day three or four in the Exodus. You remember that only three or four days earlier at midnight on the night of the Passover in Egypt, there was this final plague.

[19:21] There was the knockout punch, this huge blow to Pharaoh and his people where all the firstborn boys in Egypt and all the firstborn beasts in the field, they all died that night.

[19:35] It didn't matter whether they were on the throne or on the threshing floor, they all died. Whether they were in rags or in riches, whether they were a prince or a pauper, the powerful plague had an impact and an influence upon every Egyptian home.

[19:50] And as we know from Exodus 12, the Passover and the plague of death had caused a great cry within the Egyptian people.

[20:03] There was sadness and sorrow. There was grief and groaning. There was heartache and helplessness as the destroyer brought death to sons and fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

[20:15] We're told that there wasn't a house where someone wasn't dead. But now three or four days later, here we are in Exodus 14, and the dust has begun to settle, and Pharaoh's mind is now beginning to focus.

[20:32] And again, Pharaoh is fuming. Pharaoh is fuming because he asks, why have we done this? Why have we let Israel go from serving us?

[20:45] Why have we let these people just leave us? And you know, in a wrathful rage, Pharaoh, he organizes, we're told, 600 horses and horsemen to go and hunt down the Israelites.

[20:58] But you know, this only reminds me that Pharaoh was human. Pharaoh was human because Pharaoh was a man who thought that he was in charge and in control of everything and everyone in his life.

[21:15] Pharaoh thought that he was in charge. He thought that he was in control of everything and everyone in his life. But when the Lord intervened and when the Lord interrupted all his plans and purposes with the Passover and the plague of death, Pharaoh, like everyone else in Egypt, was left mourning.

[21:33] They were mourning over the loss of their loved ones. But as the days passed and as the dust settled, we now see Pharaoh furious. And it shows us that Pharaoh was only human because it seems that Pharaoh was just going through the stages of grief.

[21:51] As you know, there are stages of grief which we often experience when we encounter the loss of a loved one. There's shock. Then there's denial.

[22:02] Sometimes there's anger and bargaining and depression and acceptance. There's these stages of grief. Shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

[22:17] There's shock at the loss of a loved one. Then there's denial that they've actually gone, they're actually gone forever. But before we come to the place of acceptance, sometimes there's anger.

[22:30] Sometimes there's anger and we want to blame someone or something for what's happened. And in many ways, you could say that that's the stage that Pharaoh is at.

[22:41] He's lost someone in his home. And Pharaoh is angry. He's annoyed. He's fuming. He's furious. He's just human. He wants somebody to blame.

[22:54] So he blames the Lord for what's happened in Egypt. He wants something to happen to the Lord's people. So he pursues them in order to punish them. And of course, Pharaoh's grief, it doesn't excuse him for his actions.

[23:09] But it does explain that he's only human. And in his humanity, Pharaoh still has a hardened heart. Pharaoh still is someone who's refusing and resisting and rejecting the Lord.

[23:22] And as you know, my friend, there are many people like Pharaoh. They're just human. Because like Pharaoh, they can think that they're in charge. They can think that they're in control. They can think that they're in charge and in control of everything and everyone in their life.

[23:36] But when the Lord intervenes and the Lord interrupts our plans and purposes, we go through these stages of grief. And sometimes instead of softening our heart, we harden our heart.

[23:51] Instead of finding comfort and consolation, we want to blame the Lord. Because in our humanity, we're hardening our heart against the Lord. And you know, my friend, as I've said to you before, don't follow in the footsteps of Pharaoh.

[24:08] Don't follow in the footsteps of Pharaoh. Don't harden your heart like Pharaoh hardened his heart. The Lord brings things into our lives not to drive us away from Him, but always to drive us to Him.

[24:21] And that's what the Israelites had to learn too. Because when they became alarmed, when they became aware of the fact that Pharaoh was fuming, Pharaoh is furious.

[24:32] He's pursuing them. He wants to punish them. And the Israelites, they're terrified. They're asking Moses. They're saying to him, is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out into the wilderness to die?

[24:45] Would it not have been better for us to serve the Egyptians as slaves than to die in the wilderness? And in a moment, you see there that the Israelites, they're disabled with doubt.

[24:57] They're paralyzed with panic. They're filled with fear. They're weakened with worry. And yet, you know what I love? Is verse 13.

[25:08] The Lord is promising His people. Moses said to the people, message from the Lord, fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.

[25:22] For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent. You know, I love those verses.

[25:33] Because the Lord is promising His people that He'll fight for them. He'll fight for them. These people, they're seeing Pharaoh on the horizon, who's fuming.

[25:45] And immediately, they're disabled with doubt, paralyzed with panic. They're filled with fear. They're weakened with worry. And yet, the Lord promises His people, I'll fight for you. I'll fight for you.

[26:00] You know, what a promise the Lord gives to His people. He says to them, beginning of verse 13, fear not. Boys and girls, are you listening? He says, fear not.

[26:13] There are 365 fear nots in the Bible. That's one for every day of the year. 365 fear nots in the Bible.

[26:23] One for every day of the year. But the Lord also says, stand firm. And it's interesting that there are 12 stand firms in the Bible. One for every month in the year.

[26:37] And so, as we begin, you could say, the month of May. A new month. It's a new day. It's a new week. And yet, we see here that the Lord promises His people, fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.

[26:53] Fear not, stand firm, and see Jesus. Fear not, stand firm, and see Jesus, because He is the salvation of the Lord. And you know, with all these daily and monthly promises of God's Word, to fear not, stand firm, and see Jesus, as we said to the children, like clothes pegs, we are to claim these promises.

[27:20] We're to cling to these promises. We're to confess the promises of God's Word. We're to read our Bible and see the 7,487 promises in the Bible.

[27:35] And we're to cling to them and claim them and confess them just like clothes pegs. You know, my friend, every time you hang your washing on your line, I want you to remember God's promises to you.

[27:50] I want you to remember that we are to claim God's promises, cling to God's promises, and confess God's promises. And you know, if you're ever down or doubtful, you know, confessing the promise with your mouth is what encourages you and enables you to keep going.

[28:13] Not just thinking it, but literally saying it. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. There's a promise.

[28:24] Come unto me. There's another promise. All these great and precious promises, cling to them, claim them, confess them, because they are great and precious promises.

[28:40] And so as the main character in this story of salvation, we see the Lord protecting His people. He's promising His people. And then lastly, we see Him providing for His people.

[28:51] He's providing for His people. Now look at verse 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove back, drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

[29:08] And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

[29:28] Now for centuries, the miracle of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, it has been disputed and debated. Atheists call it an impossibility, while liberals, they claim that the Israelites didn't cross the Red Sea at all.

[29:47] Because according to liberal theology, they say it's the Reed Sea, not the Red Sea, but the Reed Sea. The liberals claim that the Hebrew word for Red Sea is actually Reed Sea.

[30:00] And the Reed Sea, apparently, I haven't been there, but the Reed Sea, apparently, is a marshy area of land just north of the Red Sea with only a foot of water.

[30:12] So there's only a foot, it's only a foot deep. Therefore, liberals claim that, well, the Lord didn't actually part the Red Sea where it was a wall of sea on either side and dry ground in front of them.

[30:26] He didn't part the Red Sea, they say. No, no, no, they just crossed through the Reed Sea, which was only a foot deep. Anybody could do that. And this is what many theological students are taught in many of our secular universities.

[30:39] They're taught liberal theology which seeks to undermine and undercut the authority of the Bible. And, you know, I remember hearing about a theological lecturer in Glasgow University a number of years ago, and he was teaching about the Exodus, teaching about this passage, Exodus 14.

[30:58] And he explained his liberal theology. He explained that the Israelites didn't cross through a parted sea called the Red Sea, but he went through the Reed Sea.

[31:11] But then one Christian student who had been taught the Bible, he put up his hand and he said, Sir, I think that's an even greater miracle, which confused the lecturer who said to the student, Well, how do you work that out?

[31:29] And the student responded by saying, It's an even greater miracle that the Lord managed to drown the whole of Pharaoh's army in only a foot of water.

[31:42] And, you know, my friend, it's a reminder to us that liberal theology will always try to downgrade and disregard the Bible. But the evidence is there.

[31:54] The evidence is there. And there is evidence. Over the past 20 years, divers have discovered the remains of chariot wheels in the floor of the Red Sea.

[32:05] The evidence is there, which confirms the biblical account that we read in verse 26. The Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.

[32:20] So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

[32:32] The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained.

[32:43] But the people of Israel walked. They continued to walk on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

[32:55] But as you said, Moses, Moses is not the main character in this story of salvation. The Lord is the main character because throughout the whole chapter and throughout their wilderness journey, the Lord is protecting his people.

[33:12] The Lord is promising his people. The Lord is providing for his people. And that's how this chapter concludes in verse 30.

[33:23] The Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians.

[33:35] So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. My friend, the Lord is the main character in the story of salvation.

[33:47] And like the Israelites, we're called to fear the Lord who fights for his people. We're called to fear the Lord who fights for his people.

[33:57] And we're called just like we are in verse 31 there, to believe in the Lord because he's the one who promises to protect his people. He makes promises to his people and he also provides for his people.

[34:14] And you know, my friend, at the beginning of a new day, a new week, a new month, like clothes pegs.

[34:26] Like clothes pegs, let us cling and claim and confess the promises of God's word because the Lord is saying to us this morning, as it is in verse 13, fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will work for you today.

[34:50] Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will work for you today. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us.

[35:03] Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for thy word. We give thanks for that reassurance that it is the Lord who leads his people and he is the one who gives promises to his people, great and precious promises.

[35:23] Help us, Lord, we pray, day by day in this wilderness journey to claim these promises, to cling to these promises and to confess these promises because every promise has been written for us to confess and to know that they are ours in and through Jesus Christ.

[35:43] Lord, bless us, we pray. Bless our time together in fellowship after the service and Lord, help us to eat and drink and to do everything to thy glory. Go before us and we pray for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake.

[35:57] Amen. We're going to bring our service to a conclusion this morning by singing to God's praise. In Psalm 106, Psalm 106, we're singing from verse, it's in the Sing Psalms version, sorry, Psalm 106 in the Sing Psalms version, page 141.

[36:20] Amen. Amen. As I mentioned earlier, Psalm 105 and 106, they recount the history of the Exodus.

[36:34] And so these verses in particular speak about them crossing the Red Sea. Psalm 106, we're singing from verse 6, we have sinned just like our fathers.

[36:46] We have done what was not right. When our fathers were in Egypt, they despised your deeds of might. All your mercies they ignored at the Red Sea spurned the Lord.

[36:57] Yet for his name's sake he saved them and revealed his mighty hand. By his word the sea he parted led them through as on dry land. From the hand of foes set free, rescued from the enemy.

[37:12] We'll sing down to the verse marked 13 of Psalm 106 to God's praise. Psalm 106, we have sinned just like our fathers.

[37:28] We have done what was not right. When our fathers were in Egypt, they despised their deeds of mine.

[37:48] On your mercies they ignore, at the Red Sea spurned the Lord.

[38:04] yet for his name's sake he saved them, unreal his mighty hand.

[38:18] By his word the sea parted, led them through us on dry hand.

[38:32] from the hands of foes set free, rescued from the enemy.

[38:49] Then their adversaries wander, not a single one survive.

[39:00] So the people sang his praises and his promises believed.

[39:16] But his works they stood for God and his counsel set at night.

[39:33] 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. Are you going to answer the questions?

[39:49] Yeah? Yeah? So what led the Israelites in the wilderness? A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of what was it by night?

[40:06] Fire. Yeah, pillar of fire by night. Well done. So that led them all the way from the first step until the very last step. What does the word sakot mean? Tent.

[40:18] Tent. So they slept in tents for 40 years. Imagine sleeping in a tent for 40 years. Would you be happy with that? No. You like your bed, don't you? Okay, how many fear nots are in the Bible?

[40:33] 365. How many stand firms? 12. So 365, one for every day of the year and 12 stand firms, one for every month of the year.

[40:45]  So we have to, what do we have to do? God's promise is we have to cling to them just like clothes pegs. Cling to God's promises. Cling to God's promises.