Standing in the Breach

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Hey, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions.
This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. I'm so glad you joined me this morning. We're at Psalm 106. Why don't we go ahead and we'll have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you.
We thank you for your Word. We thank you for your spirit who applies your word to our hearts. Lord, we pray that as we read your word now, that it would be living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, that you would pierce the division of even soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and that you might conform us to you. as you wield your sword in our hearts.
In Jesus's name, amen. All right, let's go ahead and go into Psalm 106. Let's turn our Bibles there. Psalm 106. Praise the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all his praise? Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times. Remember me, oh Lord, with the favor you have toward your people. Oh, visit me with your salvation, that I may see the benefit of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
This is a hard turn here. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand your wonders. They did not understand the multitude of your mercies, but rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Nevertheless, he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up. So he led them through the depths as through the wilderness. He saved them from the hand of him who hated him and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their enemies.
There was not one of them left. Then they believed his words. They sang his praises. They soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel. but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
When they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint to the Lord, the earth opened up, and swallowed Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful things and wonderful works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea. There He said, that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen one stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he destroy them. Then they despised the pleasant land. They did not believe his word, but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord.
Therefore he raised up his hand in an oath against them to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their descendants among the nations, and to scatter them in their lands. They joined themselves to Baal Beor and ate sacrifices made to the dead. They thus provoked him to anger with their deeds. and the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped, and that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forevermore.
They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them, because they rebelled against his spirit, so they spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them. But they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works.
They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrifice to the idols of Canaan. And the land was polluted with blood.
Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds, Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against his people, so that he abhorred his own inheritance, and he gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times he delivered them, but they rebelled in their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction. when he heard their cry, and for their sake he remembered his covenant and relented according to the multitude of his mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all who carried them away captive. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, amen. Praise the Lord.
We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? Well, you'll remember yesterday we looked at the previous Psalm, Psalm 104, and as we looked there, we saw the great deeds that God had done, his covenant faithfulness to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Joseph, through the Exodus, and how wonderful God is to be praised.
But though God is faithful, His people often aren't. That's what we find in this passage. He continues to remember. The psalmist continues to remember here. What does he say? We have sinned against, we have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.
He calls God the God of his salvation and calls upon God to remember him. I think this is the pattern. I'm going to turn away from the texture and just talk to you for a moment. This is the pattern, the experience that I think we all feel at times. God does miraculous things. He brings them out of the wilderness, and they rebel. He feeds them with manna, and they complain. He gives them good things, and they won't take them. He gives them great commands to keep that they might have long life, and they disobey them.
Again and again, the Israelites sin against God. Again and again. And the psalmist here readily identifies himself with them. We have sinned. We have transgressed. But God doesn't leave his people there, does he? Two things I want to point out to you today.
Moses stood in the breach. Phineas stepped in. God has sent his Savior now, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has stood in that ultimate breach. Jesus Christ has made us right with our Father. Jesus Christ has intervened. He's redeemed us back. Better than Moses. Better than Phineas. But the psalm doesn't end in despair, does it? Even though the psalmist is in Babylon, most likely. Maybe he's in the citadel of Susa. I don't know where he's at. But I'm gonna jump back to the text here. I want you to notice how this ends.
At the bottom of the text, after he's gone through all this waywardness of God's people, he still cries out, save us, oh Lord, our God. and gather us from among the Gentiles to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Let the people say amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Save us, oh God. Save us that we might praise you.
Maybe today you need to cry out, Lord, save me. Maybe you need to confess your sins today and be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. For if we confess our sins with our mouth, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all of our transgressions. Will you be washed in the blood of Christ? Will you cry out to God to save you? Walk in his ways, love him. Find refuge in Jesus Christ. Cling only to the cross of Christ. Trust in Him. If it was up to our own hearts, if it was up to our own deeds, we'd be cast away. But God is merciful. His mercy endures forever.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We pray that we would rest in your mercy and your grace Father, we pray that your Spirit would continue to free us from bondage to sin, that in our lives we might live unto holiness. Father, this doesn't make us right with you, but Lord, in your mercy, you have stood in the breach and made us right with you. By your Spirit, now conform us to Jesus Christ. Lord, we desire to sing your praises and to give you glory. Father, we confess we are so often like the Israelites of old. Please, let us cling to Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you hope in Jesus Christ. May you rejoice that He has sent one in the breach and His mercy never ends. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.