Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3361
“The right hand of tie Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” Psalm 118:16.
THIS verse might full often have leapt from the lips of Believers in the olden times. This verse might have constituted part of the Song of Moses at the Red Sea, for how wondrously did God there overthrow the host of His enemies, when, after dividing the sea, Egypt was swallowed up in it, God, Himself causing the last foe of Israel to be swept away by the mighty waters! “Sing unto the Lord,” they said, “for He has triumphed gloriously,” and by the shores of the Red Sea they knew that “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” It was so in the wilderness when Joshua fought with Amalek and Moses held up his hands in prayer. It was so when they smote Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Are not these things written in the Books of the wars of the Lord, and is it not said, “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name”? It was conspicuously so in the driving out of the Canaanites. When the people of Israel, untrained for war, marched into the land, they found that their enemies had chariots of iron and they were entrenched in cities that were walled up even unto Heaven—but yet all the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites could not stand against the twelve tribes of Israel! They fled before them like chaff before the wind! They were scattered like the clouds before the tempest! “Oh, praise you the Lord and magnify Him, for He cast out the heathen and He planted His people in their own land.” The right hand of the Lord was that day exalted, for His right hand does valiantly!
And was it not so throughout the period of the Judges? Time would fail us to tell you of Samson, of Gideon, of Barak and all those mighty men who were as weapons in the hands of Jehovah—javelins cast forth by Omnipotence! Truly in those days, also, the right hand of the Lord did valiantly! David, who penned this Psalm, knew this in his own experience, for he smote the Philistines hip and thigh with great slaughter. And long after David had slept with his fathers, others arose and God was with them—and the Lord did mighty deeds. Have you forgotten how the hosts of Sennacherib lay like the sere leaves of autumn when the breath of the archangel had blasted them? Right onward throughout the whole history of Israel, the foes of God had made headway for a while, for He put His hand, even His right hand, into His bosom. But when the Lord has risen and His people have chanted the solemn Psalm, “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered,” then they that hated Him have fled before Him! Into smoke have they been consumed like the fat of rams! Into smoke have they been consumed away! “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
But from those triumphs of physical might over warlike powers we turn our eyes to another field of battle—a spiritual one! And God who was mighty with weapons of war, we find mighty with the sword of the Spirit and with the weapons of the Gospel! And we claim the verse which is now before us as a song of the New Testament as well as a chant of the Old! The right hand of the Lord is this day exalted and still it does valiantly!
We shall ask your attention not to a very lengthy sermon, but to these three points—The triumphs of the Lord Jesus; the triumphs of the Gospel in the Church; the triumphs of Grace in individual hearts. To all these, and I know not to which one more than another, the text is most appropriate.
I. CONCERNING THE TRIUMPHS OF THE LORD JESUS IT MAY BE SAID, “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” He did not come as a Man of war, for He is the Prince of Peace. He came not here with sword, shield and buckler, but He came with a body fitted to suffer and with a heart that was made
strong to endure. The Christ of God came in lowliness and in shame, to be despised and rejected of men, but for all that He fought great battles in the midst of His weakness and won for Himself wondrous spiritual victories. Observe, dear Friends, with holy adoration, how our Lord Jesus Christ met Satan in conflict, not once nor twice, but many times! In fact, throughout the Savior’s life, the prince of the powers of the air assailed our Master. That was a glorious duel which was fought in the wilderness and on the lofty mountain, from which those two contending spirits had a view of the whole world! And on the pinnacle of the Temple, too. Sharp was the sword of Diabolus when he sought to smite the Savior under the fifth rib and make a full end of His innocence. But oh, how glorious the strokes of the Lord, Himself, with the sword of the Spirit, when He said, “It is written,” and yet again, “It is written,” and yet again, “It is written,” and He chased the fiend away! And then triumphant angels came and ministered to the Conqueror amidst the loneliness of the desert. Oh, you Spirits, you might have sung that day, “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” All through His life our Savior kept His vantage ground. The prince of this world assailed Him, but he made no dent upon His armor, much less wound upon His soul! He was tempted in all points—the darts flew so thick that they assailed Him from head to foot—but He was without a wound at the close of the conflict! He was tempted, but yet without sin. And you know how it came to the last tug of all in the Garden of Gethsemane. Oh, what a wrestling was that, when, as it were, the arch-fiend grappled close with Christ and gripped Him so that—