Faith in the God Who Saves Us From Our Enemies pt. 3

Finally, the third action we are to take when attacks arise is we are to trust in the Lord.

3) When attacks arise we can trust in the Lord (v.21-38) – After we’ve stood firm in His promise to protect us, and sought him immediately and passionately, we are to trust that He will be there for us. There are two aspects of the Lord that we can trust in:

a.) We can trust in the Lord’s sovereignty (v.21-29)

After being sort of quiet through all of this, the Lord, the Lion of Judah, finally speaks. Look at verse 23: “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice? And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!” There is no place for pride in this world because the Lord is sovereign and will not be blasphemed.

Furthermore, the Assyrians have mocked the Lord and boasted in all the things that they had done. Look at verse 24: Through your servants you have reproached the Lord,
And you have said, 'With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest. I dug wells and drank waters, and with the sole of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.' Well, what does the Lord say about that? Verse 26: Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, from ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Illustration: Make no mistake, the only reason anyone in this world has any success at all is because the Lord has allowed him to. Why has Bill Gates made billions of dollars? Because the Lord has allowed him to. Why is George Bush our president? Because the Lord has allowed him to be. Why are bad things happening in your life? Because the Lord has allowed them to. Why has Clemson beaten Carolina 9 out of 10 times? Because the Lord has allowed them to. Why does the Lord do this? Because this life is not about us, it is about bringing glory to the one who created us and died for us so that we may have eternal life with Him!

The Lord is completely independent and ultimately holds all things in his hands, therefore we are to trust that when we are being attacked, God is in control of the situation. The final action we can take is to trust in the Lord’s promises.

b.) We can trust in the Lord’s promises (v.22-38)

Look at verse 32: For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion’s survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. The Lord has always made sure that there would be a remnant, because through this line of Jews, Jesus Christ was born and we are grafted into His family by his death on the cross.

Finally, look at verse 34: 'By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,' declares the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"

The Lord promises that the king of Assyria will leave town by the same way he came in. And He will defend his city for His own and His own servant David’s sake. Why David? Because He promised David that the Messiah would come from his line and 700 years later that promise was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born, lived, crucified, buried, and resurrected and is now seated at the right hand of God.

Illustration: I heard a story about a little girl who was brushing her hair and looking at herself in the mirror. The family was not planning on going anywhere so they asked her what she was getting ready for? She said, “I want to look pretty when Jesus comes back. He’s coming back and I want to be ready.”

That little girl was showing her parents in a visible way that she believed that Jesus kept his promise that he would return for his church. We can trust in the Lord’s promises – it only takes a child-like faith to do so.

When attacks arise, we can trust in the lord, seek the Lord, and stand firm in the Lord. But without Jesus, we are left to fend for ourselves in this world that controlled by Satan.