Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1-7, 15 or Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21

Receiving Strength From The Lord

At the place called Peniel, Jacob ‘saw God face to face’ (Genesis 32:30). We see ‘the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Jacob wrestled with God and became an overcomer (Genesis 32:28). Christ wrestled with the powers of evil, and has won a mighty victory for us.

When He cried out from the Cross, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), this was not an admission of defeat. It was the declaration of victory - the victory has been won, the victory is complete. ‘Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).

For Jacob, crossing the Jabbok involved a spiritual ‘crossing over’. Jacob became Israel, a new man (Genesis 32:28).

After he had been ‘touched’ by God, Jacob was ‘limping’ (Genesis 32:31-32). This was a reminder of his own weakness.

His true strength was in the Lord. Wait on the Lord, and renew your strength (Isaiah 40:31).

We Receive Strength When We Receive The Love Of The Lord.

Here is the prayer of a man whose earnest desire is to walk with God, to have a close walk with God in the centre of His will (Psalm 17:5). His prayer is sincere. It ‘does not rise from deceitful lips’ (Psalm 17:1). He is painfully aware of ‘the onslaughts of the wicked’. His ‘enemies cluster round him, breathing hostility’ (Psalm 17:9).

Whatever troubles we may encounter, we must learn to pray with the Psalmist: ‘Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer’ (Psalm 17:1). As we call upon the Lord, He gives the assurance of His protection. Through His Word and Spirit, He assures us that He will ‘keep us as the apple of His eye’ (Psalm 17:8).

We are precious in His sight. He looks upon us in love. He does not see our sin. He sees us ‘in Christ’- ‘accepted in the Beloved’, ‘no condemnation’ (Psalm 32:1; Ephesians 1:6; Romans 8:1).

We Receive Strength When We Listen To The Word Of The Lord.

The Word of God is spoken - ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found…’ (Isaiah 55:6-7). No one seems to be listening. What are we to do? We must remember God’s promise: ‘My Word will not return to Me empty’ (Isaiah 55:11).

We do not see all that God is doing. He is doing much more than we realize - ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts…’ (Isaiah 55:8-9). We may be feeling very despondent - ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything’ (Luke 5:5). The Lord still comes to us with His Word of encouragement: ‘You shall go out with joy…’ (Isaiah 55:12).

Before there is joy, there may be many tears. When there seems to be nothing but disappointments, we must remember the Lord’s promise: ‘Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy…’ (Psalm 126:5-6).

We must not ‘judge before the time…’ (1 Corinthians 4:5).

We Receive Strength When We Praise The Name Of The Lord.

‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is beyond understanding’. Let us worship our great God: ‘I will exalt You, my God the King. I will praise Your Name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your Name for ever and ever’ (Psalm 145:1-3).

The God whom we worship is so much greater than the worship we bring to Him. Our worship is to be a ‘joyful celebration’.

* We celebrate His great love: ‘The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love’.

* We rejoice in His great faithfulness: ‘The Lord is faithful to all His promises’.

Here on earth, we have only begun to worship our great God. Our worship will continue in His ‘everlasting Kingdom’. There, we will ‘praise His Name for ever and ever’ (Psalm 145:7-8, 13, 21).

We Receive Strength When We Trust In The Grace Of The Lord.

We read about ‘Jews’and ‘Gentiles’. We learn about salvation. The Jews are not saved because of their nationality. It is ‘not because of works’. The Gentiles are not excluded because of their nationality. It is ‘because of His call’.

Salvation comes from God’s grace, not from our good works. It is received ‘by faith’, not ‘by works’ (Romans 9:24, 11, 30-32).

There is for us here a word of warning and a word of promise.

* Here’s the warning - You can be religious without being saved: ‘not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God’ (Romans 9:6-8).

* Here’s the promise - You can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ: Through faith in Him, those who were ‘not God’s people’ became ‘sons of the living God’ (Romans 9:26).

Trust in Christ, not in yourself!

We Receive Strength When We Are Faithful In The Work Of The Lord.

John the Baptist was ‘arrested’ and ‘put in prison’ (Matthew 14:3). Shortly after this, he was ‘beheaded’ (Matthew 14:10). John was a faithful man. He was ‘faithful unto death’ (Revelation 2:10). His death arose directly from his faithfulness to God. He died as a ‘martyr’.

Following the death of John, news came to Jesus, who was to die as our Saviour. How did Jesus react to this news? - First, ‘he withdrew… privately to a solitary place (Matthew 14:13). Then, having renewed His strength in the presence of His Father (Isaiah 40:31), He stepped out again into the sphere of public ministry. He continued on His way - the way that would lead Him to the Cross.

What are we to learn from John, the faithful martyr, and Jesus, the faithful Saviour, who gave Himself in death for us? We are to be faithful to God. If suffering lies ahead of us, He will make us strong.

We read of the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:15-21) and the walking on water (Matthew 14:25-33), and our thoughts go to Calvary.

* From the feeding with bread and fish, we move to the bread and wine, symbols of Jesus’ body broken for us and His blood shed for us (Matthew 26:26-28).

* From the confession of faith - ‘Truly You are the Son of God’ (Matthew 14:33), we move to the Cross to hear the centurion’s words of faith; ‘Surely He was the Son of God!’ (Matthew 27:54).

* We see Jesus, the Man of prayer (Matthew 14:23), the Healer (Matthew 14:35-36), and we look to the Cross, where we experience the healing influence of His prayer for us; ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’ (Luke 23:34). ‘Thank You for the Cross, The price you paid for us, How You gave Yourself, So completely, Precious Lord, Now our sins are gone, All forgiven, Covered by your blood, All forgotten, Thank You, Lord’(Mission Praise, 632).