Worship service 04/26/26.
Greetings and call to worship.
—Greetings and good morning, saints and fellow believers, the called and elect of God. Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you abundantly through the everlasting Spirit of God, sent for the sanctification of the church and the establishing of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We are gathered once again on this most holy and blessed Sabbath day, consecrated for the beautification of the church and the glory of the Father through Jesus Christ. Praise be to God for His unspeakable gift. Psalm 108:3-6 says, “I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.” Inasmuch as God is worthy to be greatly praised and magnified, it is a sacrilege to deprive him of that glory by indolence, idolatry, or avarice. Let us therefore offer him the best of our works, in mind, heart and practice, that we be not ungrateful like the heathen and heretics in the world today.
A Puritan minister writes, “Is this fourth commandment, concerning the keeping of the Sabbath, ceremonial or moral?
A. Though the commandment which the Lord laid upon the Israelites, for the observation of other Sabbaths, was ceremonial, and abrogated, and not to be observed by Christians, yet this fourth commandment, concerning the weekly Sabbath, was moral, and binding upon all nations, and that throughout all generations.
Q. 10. How doth it appear that the fourth commandment was moral, and not ceremonial?
A. The morality of the fourth commandment doth appear–
1. From the time of the Sabbath’s first institution, which was in paradise, in the state of innocency, before there was any ceremony.
2. From all the arguments made use of to back it, which are perpetual, and not ceremonial.
3. Because it is placed in the midst of the decalogue, or ten commandments, and all the other nine are moral, and therefore this too; and, with the rest, it was written by God on tables of stone – which showeth the perpetuity of it.
4. Because the Gentiles were required to observe this, the stranger as well as others; but they were not under the ceremonial law.
5. From the testimony of Christ: “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day.” –Matthew 24:20. This flight was to be at the destruction of Jerusalem, in Vespasian’s time, when all ceremonies were abolished; and yet then our Saviour speaks of the Sabbath in force, which would aggravate their grief, if they should be forced to break it.
Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:
Our holy and righteous Father,
Full of all glory, justice, and righteousness,
Merciful and faithful—The Covenant God who will by no means clear the guilty, taking vengeance on them that follow after other gods, yet showing mercy to thousands that love thee with the whole heart and keep thy commandments:
We come before thee solemnly and sincerely, as those whom thou hast elected from before the creation of all worlds and purchased by the precious blood of thy Son, called out of darkness and brought into the fellowship of the gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We bow in all reverence before thy throne, knowing the severity of thy law, the holy requirements of the gospel, as well as our own vileness and unworthiness to draw so near unto thee.
We freely confess, O Lord, that apart from the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are denied access to the covenant promises, are under the wrath and curse of God, and must be cast from thy presence as an abominable thing. Moreover, we confess that without faith in the Mediator, consent to sound doctrine and a repentant heart, endeavouring to walk evenly and zealously for thee, which is the gracious work of the Spirit, we have no evidence of fellowship with thee. For we are by nature guilty and polluted, unable of ourselves to repent or return, and altogether unfit to render thee any service that is not defiled by sin. Therefore, do we confess our utter dependence on the Father’s love for our election, the Son’s righteousness for our justification and the Spirit’s work in our hearts for our sanctification. We believe that thou art our God, and the rewarder of them that diligently seek thy face. Therefore, inasmuch as we are convinced of our sin in Adam and the redemption in Jesus Christ alone, we cry out to thee for mercy: For pardoning mercy to cover our iniquities, And sanctifying mercy to make us meet for thy presence. Hear our prayers, deliver us from all trouble, cleanse us by the blood of Christ and the washing of the Spirit by the word. Sanctify us by the truth of thy word. Defend us from all evil, Strengthen our faith, subdue the lusts of the flesh that swell within us, And enable us to perform this holy service, Not in our own strength, But in the virtue which thou dost supply of thine own free goodness. And now, O Lord, as we come to the reading of thy holy word, we pray for a special blessing upon this portion of Scripture, that it may be effectual to build up thy holy church, which thou hast called thy special possession, and thy little flock. Open our hearts to receive it with meekness; Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and cause us by thy grace to live by it; And may the same Spirit who breathed life into the church in all ages; the fathers, apostles and prophets, the reformers and Puritans, so guide our whole lives, That we may grow up in Him in all things, even He who is the Bridegroom and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. All this we ask in his most worthy name, Amen.
Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:
Psalm 28 [3]: 1 Being in great fear and heaviness of heart to see God dishonored by the wicked, he desireth to be rid of them. 4 And crieth for vengeance against them: and at length assureth himself, that God hath heard his prayer, 9 Unto whose tuition he commendeth all the faithful.
A Psalm of David.
1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but malice is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their inventions: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
5 For they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, therefore destroy them, and build them not up.
6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my petitions.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and exalt them for ever.
Exposition:
—Previously we saw David’s petition unto God, and his hope that he would not be like them that go down into the pit. And this we must ever bear in mind: though the Lord is always with us and will not forsake us, yet we are not always sensible of it. At times, whether through outward temptations or inward anguish, we are not presently persuaded of His nearness, because of the weakness of faith and the prevailing corruption of the flesh. Therefore, this prayer is most necessary, that we may not be like them that go down into the pit without hope. For, as one Puritan writes, “the Christian is what he sincerely desires and endeavors to be,” and through faith and good hope we will surely be helped by the Lord who loveth us and looketh upon our troubles. Therefore, since by the love of God we are made anew, and by the same grace our desires are conformed to the Word, so the fulfillment of these precious promises in the Word shall surely be according to those desires. For this cause, we have good warrant to pray, yea, and to continue steadfast in prayer, as David does, saying, “Be not silent to me.”
But David does not cease praying here; rather, he increases in vehemency and force, saying, “Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.” Wherein we learn several things.
- First, although David was beyond all doubt persuaded that God always heard him, yet he must continue to pray for divine audience, that he might demonstrate the sincerity of his desires. Prayer is not for God, as though He knew not what we need, but for ourselves, that we might learn dependence upon Him in all things. David understood this, and therefore prayed with holy understanding: “Hear the voice of my supplications.”
- Second, David pleads the vehemence of his cry and earnestly begs that God would answer him according to the greatness of the distress he suffered by reason of his enemies. This shows that his condition was no ordinary infirmity, though that also requires prayer, but one attended with tears, sighings, and great strivings of soul and spirit before God. Such vehemence was a testimony of David’s faith and of his willingness to “call upon God in the day of trouble,” expecting that He would answer.
- Third, the manner by which he approaches God is heightened: in praying he cries, and in crying he lifts up his hands. This is an expressive and lively form of worship, in which David manifests his great need and necessity, showing how earnestly he desires the Lord to hear and answer his petition.
- And lest any should reckon David among the fanatics, who affect lively worship without principle or order, he qualifies himself as a true worshipper. He does not gather with fools, nor with frenzied apes who wail and howl in religion without holy substance or right motive. Rather, he demonstrates his sincerity by directing his worship toward God’s holy oracle—that is, toward the place of worship in Jerusalem, the tabernacle, even the holiest of all, where the ark of the covenant was kept, signifying God’s presence with His people. Thus David shows both the object of his faith and the rule of his worship: not seeking to gain God’s favour by trickery or vain display, but manifesting himself to be a true servant, desirous to worship God in the right way, though for a time removed from the immediate enjoyment of the ordinances.
Therefore, let us also learn to pray in a right manner, when, like David, we plead our case with vehemence, and lift up holy hands in the proper spirit and with the right frame of heart, being fully persuaded that God alone can save, and that He is a loving and gracious Father, willing freely to forgive, freely to save, and freely to provide for His own all their days.
Calvin— “Hear the voice of my prayers when I cry to thee. This repetition is a sign of a heart in anguish. David’s ardor and vehemence in prayer are also intimated by the noun signifying voice, and the verb signifying to cry. He means that he was so stricken with anxiety and fear, that he prayed not coldly, but with burning, vehement desire, like those who, under the pressure of grief, vehemently cry out. In the second clause of the verse, by synecdoche, the thing signified is indicated by the sign. It has been a common practice in all ages for men to lift up their hands in prayer. Nature has extorted this gesture even from heathen idolaters, to show by a visible sign that their minds were directed to God alone. The greater part, it is true, contented with this ceremony, busy themselves to no effect with their own inventions; but the very lifting up of the hands, when there is no hypocrisy and deceit, is a help to devout and zealous prayer. David, however, does not say here that he lifted his hands to heaven, but to the sanctuary, that, aided by its help, he might ascend the more easily to heaven. He was not so gross, or so superstitiously tied to the outward sanctuary, as not to know that God must be sought spiritually, and that men then only approach to him when, leaving the world, they penetrate by faith to celestial glory. But remembering that he was a man, he would not neglect this aid afforded to his infirmity. As the sanctuary was the pledge or token of the covenant of God, David beheld the presence of God’s promised grace there, as if it had been represented in a mirror; just as the faithful now, if they wish to have a sense of God’s nearness to them, should immediately direct their faith to Christ, who came down to us in his incarnation, that he might lift us up to the Father. Let us understand, then, that David clung to the sanctuary with no other view than that by the help of God’s promise he might rise above the elements of the world, which he used, however, according to the appointment of the Law. The Hebrew word דביר, debir, which we have rendered sanctuary, signifies the inner-room of the tabernacle or temple, or the most holy place, where the ark of the covenant was contained, and it is so called from the answers or oracles which God gave forth from thence, to testify to his people the presence of his favor among them.”
Dickson— “In his conflict with trouble, he runneth to God for a comfortable answer, with reasons to help his hope to be heard. Whence learn, 1. It is good to pray in time of trouble, and to be instant, and resolved to be instant; for Unto thee will I cry doth import these three. 2. A soul in great straits is not able to suspend, and want comfort long: it must have some comfortable answer, because of what God is unto it by covenant, My rock, be not silent unto me. 3. It bringeth deadness of spirit on a supplicant, when his prayer is not taken off his hand, which albeit it be by no reason, but a consequence ill inferred from the Lord’s not answering of us, yet we are subject to this evil, and should pray to have it prevented: Be not silent, saith he, lest I become like them that go down into the pit. 4. Though the heart be in bonds in time of prayer, under trouble, yet the Lord will not despise the voice, nor the knees bowed, nor the hands lifted up, nor the least expressions of a supplicant’s desire to be helped by Him: Hear my voice when I cry, and the lifting up of my hands, saith he. 5. Seeking of God in Christ, and trusting the fullness of the Godhead in the person of the Mediator, represented by the tabernacle and oracle, answereth all objections from the supplicant’s unworthiness, and giveth encouragement to expect a good answer from God; for to this purpose doth he mention his lifting up of his hands toward the Lord’s holy oracle.”
Opening Prayer.
—Our Holy and righteous Father in heaven, merciful and gracious, abundant in loving kindness towards thy people whom thou hast purchased. We come to thee humbly and sincerely, not as those who seek and search for high things, for our eyes are not lofty nor our hearts haughty. We come unto thee asking for thy watchful protection and sovereign governance over our lives, that we might live before thee in humble sincerity. Thou must be righteousness for us and work righteousness in us else are we undone. And in so doing we are reconciled to thee and in fellowship with thee. Therefore take care of us as thine own children who love thee and whom thou lovest, for we know and trust that thou hast a mind to provide for us all our days. Pardon our sins, bless us and sanctify us by thy grace that we might serve thee in truth, trust in the promises, and rest content in thy providence towards us. Above all grant us a heart to serve and love the Lord Jesus Christ who is worthy of all praise, honor, glory and worship in whose blessed name we pray.
Amen.
Lesson 81. [1.2.55.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Prophets. Micah. The Prophet of the Spirit of the Lord.
Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2.
Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis—Jonah, Micah
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.
Intro. Micah 1-4.
Lessons from Micah.
“This inscription, in the first place, shows the time in which Micah lived, and during which God employed his labors. And this deserves to be noticed: for at this day his sermons would be useless, or at least frigid, except his time were known to us, and we be thereby enabled to compare what is alike and what is different in the men of his age, and in those of our own: for when we understand that Micah condemned this or that vice, as we may also learn from the other Prophets and from sacred history, we are able to apply more easily to ourselves what he then said, inasmuch as we can view our own life as it were in a mirror. This is the reason why the Prophets are wont to mention the time in which they executed their office…I have said that he was contemporary with Isaiah: but as Isaiah began his office under Uzziah, we conclude that he was older. Why then was Micah joined to him? That the Lord might thus break down the stubbornness of the people. It was indeed enough that one man was sent by God to bear witness to the truth; but it pleased God that a testimony should be borne by the mouth of two, and that holy Isaiah should be assisted by this friend and, as it were, his colleague. And we shall hereafter find that they adopted the very same words; but there was no emulation between them, so that one accused the other of theft, when he repeated what had been said. Nothing was more gratifying to each of them than to receive a testimony from his colleague; and what was committed to them by God they declared not only in the same sense and meaning, but also in the same words, and, as it were, with one mouth” Calvin
- There is no nation or kingdom but is accused of sin and accountable to the Lord. Mic. 1:1 “…the kingdom of Israel was not so divided from the tribe of Judah that no connection remained: for God was unwilling that his covenant should be abolished by their defection from the kingdom of David.” Calvin
- The places of contemporary worship are not holy, but the Lord will oppose them from His holy place. Mic. 1:2 Trapp—“That is, let him testify from heaven, Psalms 11:4 , that he is displeased with you, and that I have carefully sought your soul’s health.”
- All high places of the earth, whether kingdoms, or fortresses, palaces, places of refuge, or spurious and vain arguments, will be trodden down before Him. Mic. 1:3-4
- Man’s inward wickedness is determined by original sin, yet the expression thereof is determined by opportunity. Mic. 2:1-2
- Inasmuch as men devise evil against the Lord, He will devise evil against them. Mic. 2:3
- The word of the Lord doeth good to them that walk uprightly. Mic. 2:7
a. They are called the house of Jacob but are not so. “We may further easily learn what application to make of this truth in our day. We find the Papists boasting of the title Church, and, in a manner, with vain confidence, binding God to themselves, because they have baptism, though they have adulterated it with their superstitions; and then, they think that they have Christ, because they still retain the name of a Church. Had the Lord promised that his dwelling would be at Rome, we yet see how foolish and frivolous would be such boasting: for though the temple was at Jerusalem, yet the Lord went forth thence to punish the sins of the people, yea, even of the chosen people. We further know, that it is folly to bind God now to one place, for it is his will that his name should be celebrated without any difference through the whole world.”
b. The word of the Lord is against them, despite their protest.
c. The cause for their punishment is rebellion.
d. The blessing of the Lord is ever with them that fear Him and heed the voice of His prophets.
- Repentance is turning away from false confidences and carnal security. Mic. 2:10
a. False Christs. Merits, works, free will, earthly princes, saviors.
b. Wealth, status, possessions.
- The Lord will not hear the prayer of sinners. Mic. 3:4
- The false prophets devour the people with lies and avarice. Mic. 3:5
- The Lord will hear and vindicate His true servants and reject the false prophets. Mic. 3:6-8
- Though the Lord afflict His people, it is not unto destruction, but He will have mercy on His church and save her by His own power. Mic. 4:5-13
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.