Jacob's History

… And he lied upon a certain place, and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed. And behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereof thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places within thy house, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I spoke to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house, and if all that God shall give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. I'm sure we all know the fact that in the Old Testament God is very commonly called, and in the New Testament too, in reverse. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. In the New Testament, His name is really the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, revealed in this way in perfection. But no doubt in the Old Testament it does show us the fact of those three names. That God was seen by Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. But no doubt in the Old Testament it does show us the fact of those three names. That God was seeking to reveal Himself, in some measure at least, as a Trinity. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now we all know that Abraham is a type of God, the Father, Isaac a type of the Lord Jesus, the Son. And in Isaac however, rather in Jacob, we see the real working of the Spirit of God. Now of course the Spirit of God is behind the scenes, we wouldn't say that Jacob himself is the type of the Spirit of God. Nevertheless he is typical of the Spirit's working in the people of God. Now I believe this is the reason that God is called the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. He has a threefold character in nature. And we see this beautifully portrayed in these three men. Now in the case of Jacob, there is the working of the Spirit of God. No doubt typically in the nation of Israel, in bringing them from a place of distance, back into the presence of God. Jacob was received, voluntarily left the place of blessing, and went down. And God doesn't finish dealing with Jacob until He has him back again in the place that He intends to have him. And that God is true in regard to the child of God. It's true in relation to every individual, as well as in regard to the nation. Of whom Jacob is a very striking type, being the immediate father of all Israel. So that the end of this history will no doubt be beautifully seen in Israel restored in the millennium. And blessed with every natural blessing in earthly places. Now however, there are four rather striking milestones in the history of Jacob. There are four pillars which he sets up. And I'd like to be able to look at all of these before we're finished. This is the first one found here in this chapter. Jacob set up a third. He called it Bethel. But however, at this time, I'm sure we all know, Jacob was not in a good state of soul. He was going out from the presence of the Lord, really. From the place that God had promised blessing in that nation. I think we all know the reason he was going out, too. His mother was afraid for his life. And his father told him that he better go down elsewhere and get a wife. Of course, both of them were weary because of the fact that Esau had taken wives and daughters of the land. And they didn't want this to happen with Jacob. Rather destructive regard to Esau, you know, when he thought about it. Jacob was sent to get a wife. From Adenarum, from among his relatives. Then Esau went and got another wife from the daughters of Ishmael. He figured, I'm going to please my parents because they don't want wives of Canaanites. Well, I'll get a daughter of Ishmael. She's, after all, the daughter of Abraham. Abraham is the father of Ishmael. And she thought in this way. He thought in this way. And she thought in this way. He thought in this way he was going to please his parents. That's the way that the pledge is. What? Get another wife? To add to the two he already has? However, that's the pledge. But, in the case of Esau, we find that kind of a nature. He would like to please his parents in a certain way, but he wants to please himself first. That's the pledge always. But all pleasure comes first. And then I like to please other people as well. But what about God? Now, in relation to Esau, I know some people have said that Esau is a better character than Jacob was. Well, I don't believe that's true. The fact is that God doesn't expose everything about Esau that he might have. But he does expose the inconsistencies and wrongs of his own people. And he does that for us. He does it to show us what the pledge is in ourselves. And I'm sure we can be very thankful for that, can't we? He doesn't have to expose the wrongs on the part of others. Although, even in regard to Esau, he had absolutely no right to expect the blessing from his father when he had sold his birthright to Jacob. And he had sold the birthright to Jacob. Now, it's true enough, Jacob was all wrong in the way that he got it. And his mother was wrong too. There is a book that's been written by a man who I believe is probably a Christian Jew. But however, he makes the mistake of justifying Jacob. He says, Jacob have I loved in God. And certainly, if he said that of Jacob, he didn't love a schemer. He didn't think Jacob was a schemer or anything like that. And in his book, he says that Jacob was right in deceiving his father because he had to obey his mother. Well, how about obeying his father? However, the fact is, we can face the fact that Jacob was wrong. And we've been wrong too, in far too many instances. And Jacob himself knew he was wrong. When he went out here, he went out with a conscience of a wrong. Now, when eventually later he came back to me, he said, Jacob, you're wrong. Now, when eventually later he came back to me, Esau, how did he feel? He knew perfectly well that he was wrong because when he met Esau, he thawed himself to the ground seven times. And he called him my lord Esau, cringing before his brother because he was afraid. You see, that always bothered him from that very time until twenty years later. He just couldn't get rid of it. Until he met Esau again. Until he met Esau again. Nevertheless, Esau was one who despised the birthright. Jacob was one who valued it. Now, here I think is a very important principle. The child of God values what God has to give. Jacob valued it. Even though he used some very bad, wrong methods, he valued what God had to give. Now, this is characteristic of the child of God. In fact, there's an expression by one of the writers. He says that to take freely what God freely gives is the source of all power, all joy, all blessing. And it's true. To take freely what God freely gives. In other words, to accept as a gift thy grace that which God bestows. Now, this is true for him as regards every spiritual blessing on the part of the believer. On the part of the believer. He has every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Let him take them and use them. I know that some people say, well, look, healing is also in the atonement. That is physical healing. And so you have to accept that too. Well, you have to accept it too, then you wouldn't die, would you? This is the case. You're a healer. God heals you. After all, if salvation is in the atonement, what kind of salvation is it? Isn't it perfect? He saves the soul for eternity. Completely and absolutely. Forgives absolutely every sin. All right, if you say the same in regard to healing, what do you have? It's absolutely perfect healing. You couldn't die. You don't know. Natural blessings are not found to include events. In fact, we have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. As regards material blessings, the Lord states, Then forgive them to us according to his divine wisdom, in the way in which he sees that it will work for our greatest good, or to withhold them from us. Whether physical health or whatever it may be. But now, Jacob went out in verse 10. From Beersheba and went toward Haran. The meanings are very important, I believe, here. Beersheba means the well of the oath. Haran means Mount of Nears. We have a picture of Israel going out as it were for the presence of God from the blessing of God and the promise of God's blessing. That is the well of God's oath. Leaving this, I'm going to sojourn in the mountains. A mountaineer. The mountain of love. Getting up to a little higher level, personally. Now, you know that this is the case with everyone who gets away from the Lord. A true believer. The Lord loves to have his own near himself. But when one gets away, you know what happens? You don't take up with love anymore. You don't take up with love anymore. You don't take up with love anymore, first of all. Now, he may not know enough to realize that the Ten Commandments is not the rule of life. And yet, at the same time, he'll take the same attitude. He'll take a legal attitude in regard to his entire life. The further one gets away from the Lord, the more legal he'll become as a matter of fact. Justifying himself. Now, this was true of Jacob. And all this history has been true of the nation as well. God blessed Israel to begin with. He said to them, He has seen how I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to my Son. And the grace of God has brought Israel out of the land of Canaan. Or Palestine, or Egypt, rather. Now then, if grace had done this, it wouldn't have been wise for them to depend entirely upon his grace and say, Lord, we'll just depend on you. And say, Lord, we'll just depend on you entirely for everything. They don't know. Israel didn't have that kind of an attitude. No more than did Jacob here. Jacob said, if God will be with me, why, look at the things I'll do. I'll give a tenth of everything to God. He promises that he's going to. Please go. They don't know that's the plan. And that's of no value whatever to God. A promise like that means nothing whatever to God. Well, Israel was the same. They said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do. God proposed giving them the law, and they said, even when proposed. Secondly, when God told them what the law would be, even before they knew what it would be, they said it would be. And then when he told them, or Moses told them, what the law would be, they said again the same thing. All that the Lord has spoken we will do. Afterwards, Moses wrote it in a book, and again they said the same thing. They would keep the law. Well, the fact is they didn't know what their own hearts were. And they had to learn this by experience. This is true of all of the history of Jacob. He has to learn that he himself is unable to deserve the blessing that God had promised. To Abraham, God had given him perfectly unconditional glory. God had given him perfectly unconditional blessing or promise. He had said that in blessing I will bless thee, I will multiply thy seed, and in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed. Now God had promised this unconditionally to Abraham. Thank God he reiterates this also in the case of Jacob. But that blessing would stand. Now that's just what is involved in the case of the well of the ocean. But do you know why we like it? Instead of standing absolutely upon the truth of God's word, God has spoken. Receiving the blessings God has to give and thanking him for it. Instead of doing this, by how easily we see well, maybe I can help God to do what he wants to do in a certain way. I may have an idea of what God's counsels are. I decide, well, I better help him out. Do you know how we see this continually? We see it in the history of Abraham, don't we? God had told him he was going to have a son. And when he and his wife saw that it was so late in time, they decided to help the Lord out. Isn't it common? We want to help God out in regards to what he does. Now, we see this with Jacob before. When the time came for the blessing to be given by Isaac, he was going to give Esau the blessing and Rebekah was in a panic. And no doubt Jacob was too. Is there any other way to get the blessing? What would have happened if they hadn't done what they did? They had to do something in a hurry, didn't they? Didn't God promise? He had promised Rebekah, the eldest will serve the younger. And besides this, Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob. Now what were they going to do, get the blessing? Esau was right on the point of Jacob. Well, we don't know what would have happened if they hadn't done that, do we? Would anything have happened? Well, of course something would have happened. Rebekah had simply gone to the Lord and told the Lord, You have promised the eldest will serve the younger. Now the whole matter is up to you. Would the Lord have changed his mind? Of course he would have. If just the way he saw fit, he might have worked a miracle. But instead, we see how they decided they had to help the Lord out. And while they did change God's plan, he gave them both a bad conscience and some trouble. Well, that's the way it is with far too many things, I'm sure. How good for us to let the Lord do his own work and to be found in prayer dependent on God. Well, now, he lied upon a certain place in Persephone and carried there all night because the sun was set. In terms of the stones, I think the property is that the stones were laid out on the ground. The sun was set. In terms of the stones, I think the proper translation is here, he took one of the stones of that place and put it for his pillow and lay down in that place to sleep. Here's a stone in the history of Jacob. Here's another rather interesting one. I don't suppose you would be too comfortable lying on a stone, would you? I don't suppose he was either. You know, I think it's just symbolic of the fact that he wasn't comfortable. He didn't have an easy conscience as he went out. As he was going toward Beersheba. And the stone doesn't speak to us of the law. In fact, we find this a number of times in Jacob's history, something that would remind us of the tables of stone on which the commandments were laid. And are, in quotes. Now, that's not exactly the kind of a pillow you want, but in contrast to that, what John the Apostle looks like. Remember the time with John the Apostle? Jesus was it. What a difference. Well, the Lord delights in having real, true communion with his disciples. And he longs for this. But, when one gets away, we see what happens. The Son was said, another rather interesting expression. And the Lord appeared to him in the dark. After the Son was said. This is quite different to the Lord's appearance to Abraham, isn't it? Do you remember in the 18th chapter of his book? We're told that the Lord appeared to Abraham in the heat of the day as he sat in his tent door. Everything clear and bright. And Abraham, when the Lord appeared, he ran to meet her from the tent door. In fact, he recognized one of them as the Lord. There were three men. And he said, my Lord. Single note, the Lord himself. Now, there is a remarkable picture of communion. The heart enjoying the Lord himself, personally there in the tent door, in the heat of the day. I suppose you have even the thought of afflictions, trials, treasures. But the heart is ready to welcome the Lord. And if it had been true in Jacob's case here, if the Lord had appeared to him in the heat of the day, I wonder what Jacob would have done. If he had seen the Lord coming, he probably would have run, don't you think? Sounds that way from the way he spoke here. In fact, I don't think he would have stayed the night in this place if he had known what was going to happen. See what he says? Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. How grateful is this place. That's characteristic of a soul who is out of communion, don't you think? And yet, how wonderful to see the grace of God in dealing with that man. He dreamed. And behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending up. I'm sure we know that this looks like a dream, but it's not a dream. It's not a dream. I'm sure we know that this looks forward to the day in the millennium when restored communication is going to be known between earth and heaven. The ladder is set up on the earth, the top of it reaches to heaven. In other words, peace is established on earth. The angels of God ascend and descend upon this ladder. There is restored communication. That's where he comes from. And all the heart longs for him. Look at the world today. In the awful state of confusion in which it is. No revelation from God, no word from God to meet the deep need of man in all his misery and ruin. Well, the last word we have is what we have here in Scripture. For all these centuries that have passed, God has just been completely silent. But what a day when between heaven and earth communication is again perfectly established. Now God is looking forward to this. Doesn't he show us that his heart longs for the day when Israel will be in proper communion with God and when all the earth will break forth and sing? But to Jacob it's only a dream, of course. And the Lord stood above him and he said, And he said, In regard to all that he has to say to Jacob, don't you marvel that everything he speaks of is the way in which he's going to bless him. There isn't one word of reproof to Jacob. By the way, that's one reason that this man gives. The man who wrote the book, I remember, that's remarkable. One reason that he says that Jacob had done no wrong because if he hadn't, God would have reproved him. Well, is it always true that God reproves when a person does wrong? No, it's not. In Scripture, there are many cases of people doing wrong that were never reproved by God. In fact, Abraham, when he definitely did wrong in the way that he denied that he was the husband of Saraiah and said he was just her sister, her brother. But God laid Pharaoh for it in Pharaoh's house. And then later on, Pharaoh reproved Abraham. God didn't reprove him. Pharaoh did. And I think that hurt Abraham far worse than himself. He was an unbeliever. But, however, Jacob knew perfectly wrong, well, that he was wrong, and we see this. We know that Jacob knew perfectly well he didn't deserve such blessing as this. He felt it. After God had told him and isn't this true of all of us? We know perfectly well that a blessing like this is certainly not deserved by us. Far from it. And yet, God says, this blessing is going to be yours. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. Now, there ought to have been a real lesson for Jacob right at that moment, don't you think? The land whereon thou liest the land whereon thou liest He didn't say the land you're going to. Right here is the land you're going to get. That made Jacob a little uncomfortable because he was leaving it right then. He wasn't intending to stay. No doubt he was uncomfortable. But, nevertheless, God just tells him about the facts of how he's giving him the greatness of the blessing. And, thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. Now, of course, as we see here, this is the earthly seed that he is speaking of in connection with Jacob. He also speaks of the stars of heaven in connection with Abraham, remember, and Isaac. And the stars of heaven, of course, speaks of the heavenly seed. But, in Jacob, he being a type of the nation Israel, it's the dust of the earth that's spoken of here. And, he's just spread abroad and it's as clear as can be the east, the west, the east, the north, and the south. He's blessed. Now, in verse 15, he goes further. And, behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places with us on our goings and will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. How grand a word that is, isn't it? Even though he was not walking in a proper course, nevertheless, the Lord said, I'm with you. Well, you may say, well, can the Lord go with someone, a believer who's going in a wrong course? Well, no, he doesn't say here he's approving of the course of Jacob. And, even though Jacob is not going with the Lord, and that's the actual fact, he wasn't going at the Lord's instruction. There was not a spirit of true, honest obedience here in the case of Jacob. In spite of this, the Lord says, I am with you. And the Lord certainly was with Jacob. We know that Jacob acted wrongly in far too many cases later on in the way that he acted toward Laban. Laban acted badly toward him, too, of course. But, however, the Lord blessed Jacob in spite of him. He increased him greatly. God had promised him what he did. Of course, you might ask the question, well, would God have blessed him so greatly if he hadn't used means to get more wealth? He used some pretty deceitful means there in the case of his dealings with Laban to get more blots and hurtings. He didn't have to do that because God had promised he would bless him before this. All Jacob had to do was cuss God for him. But, however, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places where thou goest. Isn't that grand, too, in regards to the history of the nation Israel? Hasn't he been with that nation in all places wherever they've gone? But they've suffered terrifically. Do we say then God is with them? Yes, we do. God has been with them. He's allowed them to suffer. And the nation has certainly found something of the dreadful results of their own disobedience to God. And we will, too, if we get away from it. You wouldn't even think that that young man really is safe. That is the fact that he just doesn't get ahead well. The Lord keeps on troubling him. Wherever way he turns, as long as he's wanting his own will, he's stopped. He's getting his help here, there, or wherever it is. The Lord is dealing with him. Well, so the Lord is dealing with Jacob. But he doesn't have to say much here. The fact of his pure grace is enough to strike into the heart and conscience of Jacob. You know, if we knew something more of the grace of God, I'm sure that we could use it a great deal more effectively than we do. But his divine grace is working here for the sake of the blessing of that man. He's going to bring him back again. He tells him, I will not leave thee until I have done that which I spoke to thee of. After all this, of course, we would just expect that Jacob would be pretty subdued to recognize God is doing this for my blessing. He did appreciate it, but not a bit of death. He appreciated deeply what God promised. Although still, there was a good deal of clinging to Jacob's personal self-righteousness. He never did see his mother after this. I suppose by the time he got back, he was a percentage of 90 years, 95 years of age, so that his mother had died. Of course, his father was still living. But all these things, no doubt, had a very real bearing on him. That man had a sad life in many respects. So that at the end, or at least it was 17 years before the end, he said, few and evil have been the days and the life of my pilgrim. That's the way he felt. It had not attained to the days and the years of his father. But, nevertheless, I'm sure that we can find a real remarkable kinship in our own lives without a Jacob. And all this certainly shows us that Jacob depended on divine grace and grace would bring it back. But he woke up in verse 16. He said, Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place. This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. No doubt it is good for us to have a true reverence for the name of God. And a reason for his being in fear and terror. If he had been walking in any true measure of communion with the Lord, the Lord's own presence should be extremely sweet to the heart of the believer. In fact, while the two things are very important, that is, the fact of God's divine importance, his truth, his majesty, should do the heart before him. Yet, there should be the deepest delight and joy in being in the presence of the Lord Jesus. He wants nothing less than that. However, Jacob had the fear of God before his eyes here. Thus, there is not freedom in communion. He was afraid. On one occasion, he saw a building that had this description over it called, This is the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. Well, I could hardly believe that. Jacob called this the house of God where he was. Now the fact was that God had met him there. And that's the reason he called it the house of God. And here Jacob recognized a very important principle that God met him. He called it therefore God's house. That's all. And he left. He kept on going the wrong way. He put the pillar up and just called that God's house. Well, I suppose there are a great many people who have some respect for God's house but they don't have any intention of submitting the order of God's house or of enjoying themselves in God's house becoming even part of God's house. But the fact is every true believer, everyone redeemed by the blood of Christ is of God's own household. That's his proper place. And it was a long time before Jacob eventually was brought back to God's house. Now here of course was only a spot in the middle of the wilderness but the most important thing in reference to God's house is where God himself is. For a long time after this Jacob was busy occupying himself in providing for his own house. It was his own things that counted more than anything else. And God had to deal with Jacob and eventually got him back to his own house. Now Timothy is told, no Timothy is not told but the Philippians are told this concerning Timothy. I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state for all seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Isn't that common? All seek their own not the things that are Jesus Christ's. And here is one man, Timothy who would care for their state to save their soul. Every man runs his own house and the house of the Lord is left desolate. Now Israel is told this. In reference to the house of God the principles that are involved here have to do with all that is God's order in relation to his divine interest. God's interest. Which are most important? Our personal interest or God's interest? God's interest. But at this time Jacob's interest was far more important to him than God's interest was. And so he just leaves God's house he sets up the pillar pours oil on the top of it and here then is a milestone in the history of Jacob. He makes a vow a decision on this occasion. And by the way verse 19 where we are told the place was named Bethel was named Luz at the first. Bethel, the house of God. You know how important the two are together? The house of God is always in separation from everything else. Nothing else. Anything that's in the world can have any place in the house of God. But Jacob vowed his vow saying if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on my father's house in peace then shall the Lord be my God. You know it sounds almost astounding doesn't it? God will be my God if he does this. You know God had promised simply and clearly every kind of blessing to Jacob and that God would be with him and now Jacob says if God will be with me. Isn't that just what Israel has done? They say now if God will keep his side of the covenant why we will surely keep ours. And in fact they're more emphatic than God was. He said I will surely give a tenth to thee. Well of course that's quite a bargain isn't it? If God will give me a thousand dollars I'll give him one hundred. But isn't that the blessing? Isn't that the blessing? As though you and I could ever deserve anything from God. Now this is a principle in regard to Israel. God had promised a blessing for eternity in the land no doubt the land of Gaol. And promised it through Abraham and now Israel says well now we'll just show God that we're able to deserve it. That's practical law keeping isn't it? Would we ever take up with it? Father this man God promises me he gives me blessings so there's marvels so there's still marvels and I turn around and say well I'll just show you how well I deserve it. Instead of bowing to harm and acknowledging it I deserve absolutely nothing of it but I accept it. Thank God for it. If I am raised to stand to that principle that thanks God takes no credit whatever for it but gives God the entire glory. But how long it takes for man to learn his lesson. How long it's taken for Israel going about to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted to the righteousness which is God. So the lesson is hard to be learned simply because man has confidence in the flesh. And this first pillar is simply this it's a pillar of a mere fleshly thought self confidence. That was the very same principle that we see in Peter wasn't it? The Lord told you to deny it. He told you. He told you too much for that. Even though all men deny it yet they're not healed. There is self confidence. Now those were allowed throughout the old testament. In fact a good name was made as well as the evolving made in reference to the law of self. There were a good many different covenants that were made in Israel. Brought back again to God and realized wherein they had failed then they were allowed to make another covenant. And yet every time they made one they broke it. Do you think they began to realize weren't they? They were hopeless. Just as man today you would expect would be beginning to realize it is almost hopeless to try to improve and yet they don't. They're doing it. They're working hard to improve the condition of the world and yet wherever they work another spot breaks up that's worse than the one before. The whole world is like a sinking ship with holes everywhere and all they need is a stroller towed with just a little paint painted up to make it look nice. Well that's the flesh. That's man after the flesh. Boy then he can deserve the blessing of God. All right God will save him go ahead and show him. Now man eventually broke it down practically himself. Jacob had to have all those years of training to show him that it was no use trusting his own fleshly energy and he was an energetic man because he was a man of strength. He really put everything all power comes from God. That God alone is going to have the glory for accomplishing anything. How good for us to recognize that. At the end won't we see this? God has the absolute glory. The Lord Jesus will be magnified eternally. Even though it is at the expense of man's pride. The Lord alone speaks all the magic. Everyone was brought forth with our prophecy. Prophecy number 271. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. My gracious God alone. 271. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. My gracious God alone. 272. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. My gracious God alone. 273. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. My gracious God alone. 224. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. My gracious God alone. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. All that I am, I owe to thee. Blessed God, our Father, we thank thee that the Lord Jesus hath so perfectly finished the work that thou gavest him to do, that we rest now not simply upon promises, and certainly not upon a covenant of love, but upon an accomplished redemption. By virtue of our Christ, who doth help us, we thank thee for every child of God brought from the darkness in the distance into the light of our heavens. We thank thee too for the history of Jacob, how it shows us what our own hearts are, and our need continually of finding all our rest and refuge in Christ. Our need of communion with himself, not getting away from his presence, but enjoying the one whom he loved and gave himself for us. We entreat thee for the blessing of every child of God, and pray for all saints everywhere, that a drawing of their hearts to thy self and faith and love which is in Christ Jesus, to appreciate more deeply the living grace of God, to be strengthened and encouraged, to bear a witness toward the world concerning him who died for sinners. We commend ourselves now to thee by goodness, praying for thy blessing over us in Christ Jesus Christ. Amen. …