Three prayers

… In fact, it should always be that way. We should always come into the presence of God with thorough confidence that God will very definitely answer our prayers. Don't we thoroughly believe that He loves us more than we love ourselves? He cares for us in absolute perfection. Therefore, we can be confident that the Lord will answer prayer. Remember what we are told of men praying everywhere. It says, without wrath and doubting, the two things. And the doubting, of course, is what I am referring to. If we pray, let us pray with thorough confidence that God is going to answer our prayers. Now, I want to look this evening at three prayers, all in the Old Testament, that were very clearly and definitely answered. And this is the first one, in 2 Chronicles 1, verse 7. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people. For who can judge this thy people, that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this is in thine heart, and hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people over whom I have made thee king. Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee. And I will give thee riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. A very striking and remarkable prayer. Solomon at this time was entering into the position of king over a nation that David himself had brought into subjection, and along with other nations round about in his subjection to Israel. David is a very striking type of Christ who gains the throne by conquest. Solomon is a type of Christ who reigns in peace, peace having been established. And of course it looks at the thought of the millennium, the millennial reign of Christ. So Solomon is pictorial of this. Now, Solomon at this time, his heart was young and tender, we are told elsewhere, and he realized that he had a very serious and real need. He was put in a position of great responsibility to rule over a people that are God's people. Now that's a very serious thing, isn't it? To have a place of responsibility to keep in subjection those who are the people of God. Moses realized something of the seriousness of that, remember, earlier, and he recognized his absolute weakness and helplessness in reference to it. He thought that he could never do it, but God told him he was going to. And Moses actually turned out far, far better than Solomon as regards the faithfulness of his devotion to the Lord. But however, Solomon at this time realized how deep beneath he was. God told him, ask what I shall give thee. I wonder what you and I would have asked in a position like that. Well, God commended him for not asking for riches and honor, wealth, or asking for the life of his enemies. He commended him for asking for simply wisdom and knowledge. Now, before Solomon asked for that, he reminded the Lord of how he had shown great mercy to David his father. Now you have made me to reign in his stead. So he remembered that David had been so blessed by God, and he's going to keep that in mind. It is good for you and I, all believers, every one of us, to keep in mind those who have gone before. Remember your leaders who have spoken unto you the word of God. So it is good to keep them in mind and follow their faith. Not follow them simply themselves personally, but follow their faith. There are two things that are found there in Hebrews chapter 13. Remember your leaders and submit to your leaders. Submit to your present leaders. Remember the ones who have already passed on and remember their faith. But, however, Solomon did remember this, and so he asked the Lord, Let your promise to David my father be established. Give me now wisdom and knowledge. Now, Solomon got that wisdom and knowledge, and the Lord, in fact, gave him more than that. The wisest king who ever ruled, the wisest man, no doubt. And if you want excellent instruction along wisdom's lines, for instance, if you want good philosophy, read the book of Ecclesiastes. That is a book, a real book of philosophy. I have no doubt it is the best in existence. And, on the other hand, if you want, what's the word? Oh, not psychology, what's the other word? Psychology. If you want to learn psychology, read the book of Proverbs. There you have it in perfection. So Solomon was a very remarkably wise man. Give me now wisdom and knowledge. Now, I'd like to draw attention particularly to the reason for which Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge. Do you notice what it was? Verse 10. That I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this people that is so great. I have no doubt that Solomon remembered what was said of David. Remember, all Israel loved David because David went out and came in before the people. In other words, he had a good, clear, honest testimony. Nothing to hide. Now, that's a lovely thing to think of in regard to any believer. And I'm sure all of us should desire to have a testimony that is clear and in the open. Now, however, there is something difficult about this. He wanted this wisdom and knowledge to go out before the people. He wanted to be like his father David, to have the same testimony that his father David had. And he got the wisdom and knowledge. But dear friends, he broke down absolutely later on in his life. Why? It wasn't for lack of wisdom. Not for lack of knowledge. There is something else at the root of it. He was told if ever a king arose in Israel, that there were three things the king was warned against. He was not to multiply wives to himself. He was not to multiply horses to himself. And he was not to greatly multiply riches to himself. Solomon did all those three things. Now, what I want to suggest is, if Solomon had only known his Bible, he would have known what the special temptations of a king were. And wouldn't he have asked to be preserved from those? Wouldn't it have been good if he had prayed this way? Lord, preserve me from doing those very things. He didn't think of that. He probably didn't think either that the reason for David's testimony was deeper than just what was seen on the outside. David's testimony came from the fact of his personal communion with the Lord. Would you like to have the outward testimony? Yes. But what about the inward state of heart that must necessarily precede it? That's something to always keep in mind. But Solomon did not. In fact, you know, Solomon was a wise man, but his mother was wiser than he was. He didn't think so, of course. He thought his mother was just, well, just like most young people think of their mothers. Doesn't know too much. You don't know too much. I remember what it was in the case of Solomon. His mother warned him. The name Lemuel is used, and I have no doubt it's a name for him, that she had given him. But O Lemuel, but the son of my womb, give not thy strength to women, nor thy ways to that which destroy kings. She had warned him about that. She had warned him against strong drink, too. Did he ever engage in strong drink? Yes, he did. But you know the number of wives he had? You'd say, well, that's absolutely foolish. Wasn't he a wise man? Yes, he was. But you know, wisdom breaks down very badly in certain areas. In one or two areas it might be remarkable understanding. In other areas, how sad it was. He thought very likely, at least I'm just supposing, but I suppose he thought that he was so wise that it wouldn't harm him particularly to marry a number of wives. It would harm other people already, but not him. Do you know that's often the way it is with people who have a great intellect? And dear friends, intellect will never uphold you. It will never sustain you in a path of faith and devotion to the Lord. Now, I don't say intellect is bad. I say that prayer here is good. It is good for him to pray for wisdom and knowledge. But it wasn't good enough. There wasn't enough here that he prayed for. And he broke down terribly. And all history is strewn with the wrecks of intellectual men who were actually Christians. Sad. Deeply sad to think of it, even. We tend to depend upon our intellects too much. How good to remember. Lean not upon thine own understanding. Do you know who wrote that? Solomon. But rather, trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Now, he knew that apparently, but he didn't take his own advice. He didn't practice his own advice. However, it's for us then to keep this in mind. Testimony is not the most important thing. The outward testimony is good. We should be concerned about our testimony before the world. There's no doubt whatever about that. And intellect is not the most important thing. We should be concerned about having proper understanding, wisdom. Certainly we should. But wisdom is more than just simply intellect, isn't it? Wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. But, however, we're going to look at another prayer in 1 Chronicles 4. Now, this one was very definitely, I say, that Solomon could have asked for more than he did. If he asked the Lord to preserve him from those dangers of having many wives, etc., would the Lord have preserved him or not? Well, of course he would. Certainly he would. But now in Chapter 4 of 1 Chronicles, there's a character here that is just found in the midst of a large number of genealogies. I know we, at home, in our home when our children were being raised, we didn't read all these details in Chapters 1 to 9 of 1 Chronicles with them. But at least this story is good to read today. Verse 9. And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bear him a soul. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coasts, and that thine hand might be with me, that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested. So there is another prayer. And this impresses me as being the prayer of a young believer. It's the prayer of the new life in a believer. O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Here he says his mother bore him with sorrow. And oftentimes this is the case, that a mother goes through real sorrow in the birth of the child, and the child is far more serious than other children are. That often happens. But at any rate, this was the case here. And it issued in a real desire to be obedient to the Lord. But notice what he says. He called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Now, blessing is a general term. And I suppose we have a thought there of prospering a person spiritually. He wants to prosper in a spiritual way. When you're saved, isn't this the way you feel about it? Just as soon as you're saved, what you want is the Lord's blessing to help and refresh you, and give you the real joy of his presence. And there's no doubt that this was what this man wanted. The presence of the Lord to bless. To make him happy, in other words. Now there's the first thing he mentions, there are four things. And enlarge my coast. Of course in Israel, you remember how the children of Israel were given different possessions in the land by lot. The lot was cast, and then each Israelite was given a certain amount of possession. But he had opportunity to enlarge his possession too. Because there were enemies in the land, and he had to expel the enemies. Get rid of these enemies, and take possession of that land. And it's a beautiful picture of the believer today, expelling the spiritual enemies in heavenly places in Christ, out of his spiritual possessions. You and I have spiritual possessions. Now what are they? Well there are many of them. For instance, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We read them in Ephesians. Redemption. Forgiveness. Salvation. Eternal life. The gift of the Spirit. All of these things are blessings God has given us. And so that it's important for us to enjoy them. And don't let Satan rob us of them. Now Satan is determined to rob us of the best blessings that we have in the word of God. And so here he wants his coast enlarged, so that he can enjoy more of the things of God. And he should be that way for all of us. We should be enjoying fully the truth of the word of God. Having it as a real vital living thing in our own lives, in our hearts. Well now this then is the second point, to enlarge his coast. Now we can add another thing to that. I don't think we should limit it just simply to the enlargement of your spiritual inheritance. But also, what about the way that many people today pray. And I mean Christians pray this. They pray this in the denominations. Pray for the salvation of more souls and the enlarging of their group, whatever it may be. And they often get it too. Well, do we pray for enlargement too? Pray for the salvation of souls, the blessing of others, to bring in, to enjoy the things of God with us? Well I trust we do. It's a wonderful thing to be able to keep that in mind always, to pray. And the Lord will answer. I may not answer as sensationally as we would like him to do, by bringing in a thousand people to our meeting sometimes. But if he just brings in one by one, isn't that worthwhile? Of course it is. Thank God for it. But at any rate, this is the prayer that the man prays. And then thirdly, that thy hand might be with me. Now there is the hand of God's power with him. To enable him to go on steadfastly, bearing a true witness for the Lord. It's a grand thing to have the hand of God with us, isn't it? In whatever it may be you're doing, to be sure that God's hand is there to uphold and strengthen and sustain you, and enable you for whatever it may be that he wants you to face. There's actually something better than that. But nevertheless, this is good. Remember what Jacob said. If thou wilt be with me indeed, in this way that I go, then eventually, he says, the Lord shall be my God, and of all I have, I give a tenth to the Lord. He was very generous, wasn't he? He'd give one-tenth of everything God gave him and gave. You give me a thousand dollars, and I'll give you a hundred back. I'd be very amazed to do that, wouldn't I? That's the way Jacob felt about it anyway. However, he made these promises to God. Now, Jacob said, if you will be with me. He wanted God to be with him. But you remember, he said also, in this way that I go. He had decided the way he was going himself, and then wanted God to be with him in the way. Is that the best thing to do? Oh, no. Let God decide the way you go first, and then have God with you in that way, in his way. Now, we'll see something more of that a little later, Lord willing. But at any rate, he desired this, and he got it too. God's hand with him, empowered. And then the last thing, and the thought is, keep me from evil. But it may not grieve me. Keep me from evil. That's what Solomon did not pray for. Did Solomon pray for that? Would he be kept? Well, of course he would. But Solomon didn't pray for that. But now Jabez does. And the Lord knew what he was saying, didn't he? In that prayer of the kingdom, when he said, and, uh, uh, uh, uh, the same words are found there, I think. Uh, to, uh, what are the words? To keep... I guess I don't even know. I've read it before. I have to assure you of that. But at any rate, uh, that's one thing that the Lord instructed the disciples to pray for, that they would be kept from the evil. And so it's important for us to remember to do that. Each of us knows, every believer knows, that he has a heart that is prone to fail, to do wrong, to get into wrong ways. We have such a sinful nature that it can easily deceive us. So it's important for us to pray to the Lord to keep us from getting into evil ways and evil things. Not only pray for forgiveness when we do get into them, but to pray that we might be kept from them, too. But this is what he prayed for. And God granted him what he requested. Now, there's one thing I'd like you to notice, though, in this prayer. Uh, in fact, there are two things, particularly. But, uh, notice the reason he asked to be kept from evil. That thou wouldst keep me from evil, why? That it may not grieve me. Now, Solomon said before, in regard to his prayer, he wanted wisdom that I may go out and come in before this people. He was concerned about his testimony. What was Jabez concerned about? He was concerned about his conscience. He didn't want to be grieved by doing wrong. I used to often think of this, that why didn't Jabez say, uh, that it may not grieve the Lord? Isn't that more important? Yes, it certainly is, far more important. But that it may not grieve me. Well, of course, he was thinking about his own conscience. And we do have consciences that are, that are bothered badly by doing wrong. If we get into evil ways, our consciences are going to hurt. And it's good that we've got consciences to do that. Now, it's true enough that conscience is not by any means a clear guide in our ways. But if I ignore my conscience, it's going to hurt me. It'll hurt me badly. My conscience may not be altogether right in many things. But nevertheless, if my conscience tells me that's something you shouldn't be in, and I go into it, what happens? I'm going to be miserable. Of course I will. So, that's what Jabez was thinking of. So he was concerned about his conscience here. There's another thing here. Did you notice the words that stand out in this prayer? Do you notice the way he preaches? He prays, rather. He says, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coach, that thy hand might be with me, that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. He's praying for himself, isn't he? Is it right to pray for yourself? Well, yes, of course it is. And it's a good thing to keep that in mind. We should pray for ourselves. Pray to be kept. But however, again I say, it's not the highest form of prayer. He could have prayed for more than he did. Nevertheless, it's a good prayer. It has to do with the conscience. It has to do with the conscience. And it's really concerned about doing what is right in the eyes of God. It's not the question here so much of a testimony for the Lord Jesus, but a testimony, rather, that it wants to keep from what is evil. For this reason, you must be subject even to the powers that be. Scripture says, for conscience's sake. And so we all have consciences. And our consciences need to be enlightened by the word of God. Yet, we should never, never ignore our conscience. And be glad when it is enlightened properly. Well, now, we're going to turn to Exodus chapter 33, if you please. Exodus 33 You'll all remember that in Exodus 32, the children had made the golden calf. Moses came down from the mountain. And here was Joshua with him. And they heard the music. They saw the singing, the dancing, and then the golden calf. Now, Moses had the two tables of stone in his hand, on which were written the Ten Commandments. When he came to the gate of the camp, he threw them down and broke them. Now, I think it was a wise thing to do, don't you? If those stones had come into the camp whole, there would have been the death of everyone in the camp. Here are the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. But he broke the commandments. He broke these commandments, which had already been broken. He broke the stones. And then, he took the calf and ground it to powder, strewed it on the water, and made the children drink of it. And then he called who was on the Lord's side. And the Levites gathered themselves together to Moses, and he said, Go in and out of the camp and slay every man, his brother, his companion, his neighbor. Now, that would be pretty severe work, wouldn't it? To be called upon to kill your closest relatives. And that's what the Levites did. Three thousand people died that day. And even after that, God was still not satisfied. You see, this was a dreadful matter. It was a matter of challenging God's authority in his own assembly. Setting up a standard in opposition to the standard of God's authority. Now, God can tolerate a great deal of failure on the part of his people. But he was not going to tolerate any standard of rebellion like that. Then, even after he had done all that, Moses pled with God to forgive the people. And he said, If you can't forgive them otherwise, then blot me, I pray, out of thy book which thou hast written. In other words, Moses would be contempt to be cast out of God's presence for eternity if only God would forgive Israel. Now, that's certainly something to say, isn't it? To be forgiven. But God said, No, I can't do that. Him that is sent against me, him will I blot out of my book. Moses couldn't be a substitute for them. No more than you and I could be a substitute for anybody else. Only the Lord Jesus could be that. But it does show us, nevertheless, that he had the same spirit as the Lord Jesus had. The spirit of his master. Then, God said finally to Moses, Alright, depart and go to the land that I told you of. I'll send an angel before you, but I'll not go up in the midst of you, lest I consume you. You go and carry the children of Israel up to the land, but I'm not going with you. I wonder how you'd feel if God told you that. You disobeyed me, therefore, I'm not going a step further with you on your way to heaven. Do you think you'd stand that? Wouldn't it be a horrible thing? Not to have God's presence with us? Well, that wasn't good enough for Moses. What Moses did then, was to take the tent of meeting and pitch it away off far from the camp. And we're told everyone who sought the Lord went out unto Moses outside the camp. What did Moses mean by that? He was saying, in effect, alright, if God can't go with us, we'd better go with God. Leave the camp and go with God instead. And that's something important for all of us, isn't it? If there's something in your life or mine that God can't go along with, what do we do about it? The thing is, right now, judge it and decide, no, that's got to stop. I'd better go with God, rather than try to get on alone without the presence of God with me. And then Moses prays after that. It's after he pitches the tent outside. Now we're going to read the prayer in chapter 33 of Exodus. It's in verse 12. Now we'll pause there. That's not the end of the prayer. He prays again. But at least here he gets the answer to the first part of his prayer. My presence will go. Moses, a wonderful intercessor, typically is a type of Christ, interceding for his people. When we fail, the Lord intercedes for us to lift us up again and bring us back into communion with God. And so here, it tells the Lord, you told me to bring these people up, but how can I do it? It's an impossibility so far as I'm concerned. I need someone with me. And yet you say, I know you by name, you have found grace in my sight. And it says, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way. Now that's wonderful to see, isn't it? That's just a contrast to what we said about Jacob. Jacob said, if thou be with me in the way that I go. Moses is not saying anything about the way he's going to go. He wants God's way. And you know, dear friends, no matter how the testimony of God may be covered over with ruin and with all kinds of rubbish, the fact is that God does have a way still. There are many people who say, well, the church is in such ruins today, you can't tell what's right and what's wrong. Oh? The fact is, God is still right, isn't he? God is not defeated by it. And that's the thing that's absolutely imperative, that we turn to the living God and find in God the answer. It's nowhere else. But it is in God. And if we try to figure it out ourselves, and if I try to figure out the best way, we'll always blunder badly. But if we get right back to God and trust God for it, God will show the way. Now, right here, do you notice the prominent words in this prayer in contrast to that of Jabez? Jabez, O thou who bless me indeed, thy hand might be with me, enlarge my coast, and so forth. In Moses' prayer he says, Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. He's saying of that which is for God's glory. He's not praying for himself. He's praying for that which will be for the glory of God. He's saying of God's sight. What does God see? And how good for us if we pray that way. What does God see in my life? In other words, let me be practically an open book in the eyes of the Lord. Let him look me through and through. Have me exposed fully. And it's going to be for my blessing. So God's sight is very important. And God's way is also important. Show me now thy way. So he does have a way. And now notice again, here we have another case similar to what we read before. What is the reason he asks for God's way? He says, that I may know thee. That's why he wants God's way. And I think that's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Remember what Solomon, what he said of Solomon? That I may go in and out before this people. I want to have good testimony. That's the reason I want, I have to pray as I have. With Jabez, that it may not grieve me. He was thinking of his own conscience. Moses, that I may know thee. Dear friends, you and I only get to know God in God's way. Now that's something important. God is not going to teach us his way if we're determined to have our own way. He's not going to teach us what he is, personally, if we're determined to have our own way. It took a long, long time for Jacob to give up his own way and find out that his confidence was to be in the living God alone. But to be in God's presence is to know God. And that's what we need. He wanted God's way. And God will always show what he is, his own heart is, to those who are glad to walk in the way that he himself directs. I don't know, I don't know if Bob, if you remember Brother Dewar, in the East and the West, he has a very godly brother who lived in Spokane. And on one occasion an Indian asked him, I'd like to come and live in your home with you for a week. He was very surprised, he didn't know what this was all about. He said, fine, very good. So the Indian came, lived there with him for the full week, and then at the end of the week he said, now I know you, I'd like to apply for fellowship. Well, I wonder if that would be the case with myself or with anyone here. If someone came to live with you for a week, would it so affect them, as to make them want to come and apply for fellowship with the saints? Something to consider, isn't it? But, you get to know a person in his own presence, in his own way. Isn't that right? That's where you get to know God. Now that's why God's presence is in the midst of his gathered people. He loves to have his people gathered and we see that beautifully in Luke 22, where the two who had gone on the way to Emmaus after the resurrection of Christ, and they were discouraged and downcast, and the Lord met them on the way and then went to their home and spoke to them, so their hearts burned within them. When the Lord suddenly disappeared from them, they immediately got up the same hour of the night and walked back seven miles or so to Jerusalem. Why? To be with the gathered people of God. They recognized this. The place we're going to find him is amongst his saints. And that's an important thing for us too. What is God's way? God's way is connected with the eternal blessing of all of his saints. He loves to be gathered unitedly. The Lord Jesus loved to be gathered unitedly with his saints. And that, dear friends, in the assembly, and by the way, the assembly is said to be the house of God, isn't it? Isn't that where we learn what God's heart is? We learn God's ways. So, that I might know thee. And then he says, but I find grace in thy sight. And more than that, he goes on to say, consider that this nation is thy people. He is concerned about the whole nation of Israel. And you and I too, we're believers, should be concerned about the whole body of Christ. All those redeemed by the blood of Christ. I hope we remember to pray for them continually. Pray for all saints for their true abundant blessing. Not only for all saints, we should pray for unsaved souls too, that they might be saved. But however, that's what Moses is thinking of here. Consider this nation as thy people. They're still your people. Even though they've disobeyed you and they dishonored you, they still belong to you, our Lord. All right. The Lord said, all right, my presence will go with you then. And I will give you rest. Now, that's the way he puts it. My presence will go and I'll give you rest. And that wasn't enough for Moses. You notice what he says after this? Verse 15. He said, If thy presence go not, carry us not up hence. For it shall be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight. Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And so Moses is going to be sure that he's not just content with having the Lord go with him personally. He wants the Lord to go with all the people. And the Lord says, all right. Verse 17. I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken. Why? For thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name. Now that's a wonderful thing, isn't it? The Lord doesn't say, well, I'll go with you after all because I think that Israel is going to show up for a new leaf and they'll be a lot better from now on. Nothing like that. Nothing like that. He says, because you, Moses, have found grace in my sight. And that shows the value of one intercessor. And above all, the intercessor typically here is Christ. Christ is a true intercessor. And because of Christ's intercession, you and I who are believers are preserved and blessed and kept. And God goes with us just because Christ himself is with us. That's the important matter for all of us. To have God's presence because we have the intercession of a savior, a redeemer who cares for us every step of the way. There's another prayer here that Moses asked immediately afterwards and he couldn't get the answer to it at that time. But, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The Lord said, well, I'll make all my goodness pass before you, but I won't let you see my face at all. You'll see my back parts. My face shall not be seen. The back parts speak of all the Old Testament manifestations of God's glory which is only very partial. You never see God's face in the Old Testament. You see God's back parts. God has been here, yes, but that's all. In the New Testament, what a difference. Moses got the answer to this prayer when? On the Mount of Transfiguration. Remember, all the glory of God was seen in the face of Jesus Christ. The Lord transfigured before him and so, you and I today too, by the grace of God, have seen the face of God in the Lord Jesus. We behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Well, may we sing together hymn number 108. …