Preached in Glasgow by the retiring Moderator at the opening of the Synod in May 2012.
Psalms 115:2,3. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.
It was manifestly a time when it was common to use idols in worship. You would not need to go far beyond the borders of Israel, even in her best days, to find idolatry; and through much of the Old Testament period you would find idolatry in Israel itself. These idolaters would see this Psalmist and other true followers of Jehovah offering sacrifices and performing other ceremonies, but they would ask, Where is their God?
The answer was, “Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased”. He is the true God, beside whom every other, supposed, god is as nothing. He is out of sight, but His works can be seen. We are to worship this God as One who has revealed Himself, and that was true of the Psalmist all these years ago. He had an inspired answer when the heathen were asking this ignorant question, “Where is now their God?” Yes, there is a God; He is the true God; He is the living God; He is in the heavens and He is ruling. And whatever blasphemous questions might be raised today, whatever might be said in opposition to the true God, we should have an answer ready. This is one of the answers provided for us in Scripture, and they are reliable answers – good, solid answers – because they have been revealed from heaven. Our God is in the heavens and He is doing as it pleases Him. He is not subject to anyone. He is ruling over everything.
As the Lord may help us, let us first consider the question, then the answer.
1. “Where is now their God?”
The heathens had their gods, but they were the work of men’s hands. Here is a contradiction: people were worshipping, and people are still worshipping, objects that they have made themselves. “They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not.” They have hands, but they cannot use them; they have feet, but they do not walk; they do not speak through their throat. People may claim that there is something divine behind the idol, but these idols were merely the result of people’s fallen imaginations and, perhaps, people’s artistic talent.
Now such idolatry is not the general problem in this country today. What still gives rise to the question, “Where is now their God?” is very largely the absence of religion. People are much more fond of using the word spirituality than religion, but their spirituality is under the same condemnation as idolatry; it is the result of man’s fallen imagination going its own way. And many, through writing and broadcasting, are spreading their ideas in all kinds of directions – as they ask the question, “Where is now their God?” The idea is being put about that we live in the post-Christian age. The Church is weak – that is undeniable – but people go on from there to say that what the Christian Church represents has no reality. And much of what lies behind that claim is the false philosophy of evolution. Men and women with great intelligence are spinning their theories, and many argue: If that is what they believe, then it is only reasonable that everyone else should believe it too. So they ask, “Where is now their God?”
You know what Psalm 14 says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God”. It is not only a human being who thus describes the fool. There was indeed a human writer, but the Holy Spirit inspired him so to speak. And if the fool says in his heart that there is no God, he is expressing his desire. How much bolder people are today when they make such statements openly! Fallen human thinking is behind such insubordination to what God has revealed. People may imply that science has proved there is no God. Well, science has not proved it; science cannot contradict the Book of Genesis. And all this rebellion did not begin yesterday; nor did it begin in 1859, the year when Charles Darwin’s major book was first published.
Unbelief takes many forms; there was the unbelief of the spies who went through the land of Canaan. They saw how big the men were whom they would have to fight; they saw how well fortified their cities were. How, they asked, can we advance into the land of Canaan? Thus it was not only the heathen who were saying, “Where is now their God?” but also those who professed to be followers of this God. Notice Moses’ concern, when the Lord then said He would cut Israel off and raise up, from Moses, a nation whom He would take as His own people. The Lord was putting great honour on Moses. Yet he was concerned that, if the Lord would do so, the heathen would say, However Israel got out of Egypt, however they got through the Red Sea, their God was not able to bring them into the promised land.
Moses found this painful, and you find the same feelings expressed in Psalm 42: “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” and again: “As with a sword within my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is now their God?” It is painful to see the Lord denied, as is happening today on a large scale. The Church in Britain has lost its influence and we can partly trace that to the unbelief that rose up within the Church. As a separate denomination here this evening we can see what the unbelief that arose within the old Free Church in the second half of the nineteenth century has led to, and similarly the unbelief within professing Churches throughout much of the world. For one thing it has led to multitudes asking, “Where is now their God?” It gives strength to people to deny the Christian God; they feel they can stand back and despise the true God of heaven, who still lives.
We might well confess with the Psalmist: “We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet” (Ps 74:9). Now, the gift of prophecy is in the past, and we need not expect signs, in the sense of miracles. But every time a sinner is brought by divine grace to the footstool of Emmanuel, a spiritual miracle has taken place. Yet we have very largely to say that, even in that sense, we see not our signs, though we should be thankful that the Lord has not forsaken us altogether. He is still bringing a few sinners into His kingdom, but not in the numbers that would make an impression on the world. The world still feels that it can very easily ask, “Where is now their God?”
The Psalmist went on to ask, “Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand?” He acknowledges that it is God who must work and expresses the desire that He would “pluck His hand out of His bosom” – that He would begin to work again. But meantime God is not working; He is leaving many to go on in their own ways and, solemnly, go down to everlasting destruction, saying in unbelief: “Where is now their God?” We cannot see any signs of His work, they say. There is no doubt much willful blindness, but how many among the multitudes in this city have seen true religion? They see one church after another close, and perhaps, even if they had investigated, they would have seen very little solid religion, and so they just go their own secular, careless ways and ask, “Where is now their God?”
Think of Rabshakeh outside the gates of Jerusalem, when about to withdraw because of problems elsewhere. He sends a letter to Hezekiah, saying, “Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of nations delivered them . . . ? (2 Ki 19:10-13). In his description of Assyria’s conquests he was, no doubt, speaking the truth, but he ignores one very serious matter: Hezekiah’s God has not lost His power.
At particular times in history He may withdraw His hand; He may not show His signs; He may not send out prophets. But He still reigns, in spite of Rabshakeh’s bluster and in spite of those militant atheists today who write as they do and in spite of professed ministers in the Christian Church who believe very little. Indeed, these ministers may be doing more damage than the most militant of atheists; their unbelief is leaving this question in the minds of ordinary people: “Where is now their God?”
Rabshakeh was not the last to make this willful denial of the existence of God. Consider Psalm 2, where David describes the rulers taking counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bands asunder and cast Their cords from us”. We can see this especially fulfilled in the way the rulers of Israel dealt with the Messiah when He came into the world. And many a time since then has the same thought, “Let us break Their bands asunder”, been prominent in people’s attitude to God and true religion. You see such deliberate opposition to the truth in this country when, for instance, the rulers take counsel together to pass ungodly laws – to permit sins that were previously illegal.
2. “Our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased”.
Where is their God? While it is true that we cannot see Him, the Psalmist answers that He is in heaven; He is ruling, and nothing can interfere with His purposes. He is doing whatever pleases Him, and there is much mystery in that. Would we expect that the Lord would allow Rabshakeh to speak as he did? Would we expect that the way from Egypt to Canaan would have been as difficult as it was? Would we expect that, in Scotland, which had such a pure Reformation, the Church of God would be in such a weak state today? Would we expect that, in places like Ephesus and Philadelphia and Sardis, where the Church was once so strong, it would disappear altogether and people feel free to ask, “Where is now their God”?
Here is the answer: “Our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased”. Whatever we see of the weakness of the Church of God today, it is still His Church; He is in control. Christ was appointed King over Zion, and anointed. How does the Lord in heaven react to what is going on in this world, when the rulers take counsel together? He laughs! He that sits in the heavens – He that is ruling – He shall laugh. How was Rabshakeh’s bluster treated in heaven? The One in heaven laughed. And whatever you see of opposition to the Church of God, people rising up in opposition to professing Christians in various generations and persecuting them, the Lord has allowed it. But He is above it all and He sees the ridiculous nature of human rebellion. The Lord laughs.
Of course, this is to speak after the manner of men, but these are the words of Scripture. Again we read: “The Lord shall laugh at him, for He seeth that his day is coming”. This person may be great in intellect or strength or authority, on the human level, but compared with God, he is puny. The Lord sees how absurd his opposition is, and we too should see how absurd it is for human beings to speak and act as this person does. Apart from anything else, time is short; before long every one of those that are asking, “Where is now their God” – everyone who is exercising their power against the great God of heaven, whether it is mental or physical power – will pass into eternity.
The Lord has anointed His King over Zion. The King may be in heaven, but He is ruling. “The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens,” we are told, “and His kingdom ruleth over all” (Ps 103:19). What do you say about that great sin that took place in Jerusalem, when the Saviour was hung on the cross? What rejection of Christ there was then! What conspiring of princes and rulers against the Lord and against His Anointed! But it was all according to the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God; nothing went out of control, and it never will. He is saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Is 46:10). There is a determinate purpose in connection with all human wickedness which we may not be able to understand. Yet we can understand some things in the light of the Word of God, and we should have a sense that the Lord is always ruling.
He is ruling today, although the Church has been allowed to become as weak as it has, and although atheism and false religions have been allowed their present success. Of course, false religion is nothing new; that was the context in which this Psalm was written. But we must bear in mind the truth expressed in Psalm 96: “All the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens“. This is obviously something fundamental to God’s revelation of Himself. He is the Creator. No doubt Satan knows what he is doing in giving a great deal of his attention today to undermining the doctrine of creation. I have mentioned evolution already, but this is the true doctrine: the Lord made the heavens and the earth. And if you were to search through the Scriptures, you might be amazed at the number of times God is affirmed to be the Creator. It is obviously something fundamental to the view God would have us to take of Himself.
Now, if He is not the Creator, what is He? When people believe that everything has come into existence through natural, undirected processes which just happen to work as they do, it is no wonder that they ask, “Where is now their God?” It may not be the subject that should be preached on most often, but it should be fundamental to our thinking that this great God whom we are to worship – whom we are to obey and in whom we are to trust – is the One who made all things. Even Nebuchadnezzar was made to realise the power and authority of God. “He doeth according to His will”, he confessed, “in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?” (Dan 4:35). You see the independence of God: He is high above all things that are on earth.
This generation needs to have a sense that God is absolutely in control of everything. And the people of God, in particular, need a stronger sense that, even today, when spiritual things are as low as they are, God is in control. He is working according to His own counsel; He is doing what pleases Him.
If we look around us with unbelieving eyes we will see human activity; we might also recognise that the devil is busy. But above it all God is ruling. Although what Rabshakeh was saying was largely true, this is what ought to influence our minds: God is doing whatever pleases Him.
Now let us notice Hezekiah’s reaction. He took the letter from the messengers and read it; then he went up to the house of God, spread it before the Lord and prayed. And when we today see the blasphemy of atheists or those who follow false religions or are militantly promoting unnatural practices, where can we go? Let us follow Hezekiah’s example. Here is his prayer: “O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth”. And notice, in particular: “Thou hast made heaven and earth” (2 Ki 19:15). God as Creator was fundamental to Hezekiah’s thinking – under the influence of divine revelation. What he had in mind when praying to God as Creator was His infinite power. He knew that God was ruling, not only over Israel but over all the kingdoms of the earth. Even when an Assyrian army invaded, the Lord was ruling and He was infinitely powerful.
“Lord, bow down thine ear”, Hezekiah prayed, “and hear . . . the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God” (2 Ki 19:16). Perhaps the fundamental matter with Hezekiah was that the living God had been reproached. He acknowledged, “Of a truth, Lord, the Kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands . . . Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only.” And he was very quickly assured that his prayer was heard. Here is an example for us. We are to commit ourselves and our needs – and the Church and the whole generation – into the hands of the great God who rules over all the nations of the world, even those which are most militantly promoting atheism or Islam. He is ruling over those nations that are trying to grind out of existence the slightest indication of Christianity.
Notice now Moses’ concern after the fearful outbreak of idolatry in connection with the golden calf. He asked, “Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them?” Then he asked the Lord: “Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people” (Ex 32:12). Should we not ask the Lord, for Christ’s sake, to turn from the fierce wrath that would pursue sinners down to a lost eternity, the fierce wrath that is leaving sinners in their carelessness and rebellion?
And in the incident that we glanced at previously, after the report of the spies and Israel’s rebellion, Moses prayed, “Let the power of my Lord be great” (Num 14:17), and he quoted back to God what He had said: “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression”. In prayer we are to bring before the Lord what He has revealed to us. So Moses prayed, “Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy mercy”. See the faith of this man receiving the testimony of God and saying, “Pardon according to the greatness of Thy mercy”. The transgression was great; it was rebellion. But here is something to put over against that: the greatness of God’s mercy as revealed. How suitable for us to receive that testimony to the mercy of God and bring it before Him in prayer, asking for mercy for ourselves and for our generation – a generation so determined to dismiss God so lightly!
At the same time there is great need for the great Head of the Church to send out preachers. Thus He commissioned the first generation of ministers: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). They were to go and proclaim everywhere the good news that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And men are still sent out with a commission to preach the gospel to the whole world. The preaching of the gospel is the power that will bring down atheism, idolatry, false religion – indeed all opposition against the truth. Yet the power I am really referring to is that of the Holy Spirit accompanying the Word.
There are subsidiary instruments; there is a place for defending the faith, for writing against atheists, for example. But preaching is the instrument God is pleased to use to subdue opposition to the truth. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor 1:21), in Corinth in particular – with all their vile sins, all their idolatry, all their irreligion, all the natural opposition in their hearts to the truth. It pleased God to use this weak instrument of preaching although it appeared so foolish to those who opposed it. Yet many of them were subdued by it. Whatever else is in the counsel of God, this is: to gather many souls to Shiloh, to Christ. “Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen 49:10), and we are to look forward to that.
We have been speaking about the purposes of God, but Paul speaks of what is “predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). What is predestinated? To gather many sinners out of Satan’s kingdom into His own kingdom, just as He had gathered those Corinthians who had practised idolatrous religion and gross sins. But Paul told them: “Such were some of you, but ye are washed” – according to the predestination of God. And a great work of saving grace is yet to be done, whatever may be immediately before us. We cannot tell where we are in the purposes of God, but the Lord is in control and He will yet bring many souls to Himself, so that at last there will be a multitude of saved souls that no man can number. Yet they are numbered in His purposes as individuals and He will bring them all in.
He gives us encouragement in this Psalm: “The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us” (v 12). Then: “He will bless the house of Israel”. We may put it in New Testament terms: He will bless the Church of God. “He will bless the house of Aaron.” In New Testament terms you might possibly say: He will bless those who preach the gospel. “He will bless them that fear the Lord”, every true believer. He will bless them; He will keep them; He will bring them to glory, “both small and great”. Then: “The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children”. We are to take that as a promise that He will not forsake the Church, but that He will increase her more and more, though not in every generation. Here is His counsel, which He will put into effect. He will do whatever He has pleased, and this is part of what He has pleased.
One thing we must not omit in glancing at this Psalm is the word trust: “O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: He is their help and their shield”. However low the Church has come and however low it may yet come, we are to trust in the Lord as One who is ruling, who has everything under His control. “Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield.” Though we are not able to identify what exact stage we are at in the history of the Church, we can be sure that the Lord will bless her, whatever the appearance of His providential dealings with her. The extent of blessing is one thing; the fact of blessing is another. The fact is that the Church has continued in existence; it has not been completely swallowed up by the prevailing apostasy. Indeed, we as a branch of Christ’s Church, with all our weakness, with all our difficulties, are still in existence; we still have the testimony that the Lord gave us from the beginning of our separate existence in 1893.
Then you notice how the Psalm concludes: “We will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore”. That is our duty and, as it was the Psalmist’s resolve, it would be good if we had grace to follow him. We are to praise the Lord even in our weakness, even if to a large extent we do not see our signs, even if there are many who ask, “Where is now their God?” Yes, and we have much to praise Him for; we have the gospel, and we are seeing some fruit from the gospel. And in spite of all the ungodliness of today, we have promises of better days. We have the promise, if we have looked to the Saviour, of a blessed eternity. And He is calling on us all to trust in Him. “Look unto Me,” He says, “and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Is 45:22). All who in faith look to Christ will have a blessed eternity, and it will be one of endless praise.