passage that we've kind of started and we're anchoring into as we think about God's crooked work. And that is Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verses 13 and 14. So if you would turn to Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verses 13 and 14, we'll read that passage first, and then we'll go from there back to the book of Deuteronomy. So Ecclesiastes chapter number seven, Verses 13 and 14 as we begin. Consider the work of God. For who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other. so that man can find out nothing that will come after him. And then if you would turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter eight, Deuteronomy chapter eight. Deuteronomy chapter eight, and we will read the first three verses of Deuteronomy chapter eight. Every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So he humbled you, allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. as we established from Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verses 13 and 14, that God will, in his own providence, bring into our lives those crooked ways, those ways that are perplexing and painful and persistent, that we in our strength cannot overcome. these prolonged ways, these providential ways. God will bring these painful providences into our lives. But when he does this, he does this purposefully. So last Sunday evening, we began to think about what are the purposes that God has for bringing these painful things into our lives. If you remember, I encouraged you, as we began thinking about those, that as we think about each of the purposes that God has for bringing these into our lives, it's vital that we trust God in these painful providences. It is vital that we consider God's purposes in these painful providences, and it is vital that we submit to God's purposes in these painful providences. So God has His reasons. Let's trust Him. Let's consider what God may be doing in our lives as these things come. And let us always submit to Him. We remember that Peter tells us to submit yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. So what purposes might God have for bringing painful providences into our lives? God is not some unkind bully who simply likes to beat us down, who simply likes to cause us pain for no reason. Last week we considered that God may bring painful providences for the purpose of examination, to examine our hearts, to reveal to us whether or not we are truly believers. We also consider the fact that God may bring this painful providence into our lives for the purpose of bringing salvation. We think about how God knocked Saul off of the horse and just caused him to be blind for the purpose of raising him to spiritual life. We thought about Jacob and how God disabled Jacob so that Jacob would, by God's grace, limp into his kingdom. God may bring painful providences for the purpose of saving souls. as they look and see that they have no strength in themselves and can only look to God. We said as well that God may bring painful providences into our lives for the conviction of sin. We saw this in the lives of Joseph's brothers. Years later, their conscience weighed upon them as they faced the trials of Joseph, which of course God was using in their hearts. And they would say, we are guilty concerning our brother. And later they would say, God has found out the iniquity of our hearts. God may also use painful providences for the purpose of correction or punishment for sin. We cannot sow our wild oats and expect there to be crop failure. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, and there are consequences for our sins, and God may bring chastisement even into a believer's life, and that may be what's going on when we face painful providences. We looked at Psalm 99, verse eight, which said, you answered them, O Lord, our God, you were to them the God who forgives, though you took vengeance on their deeds. We also consider the fact that God may use painful providences for the purpose of restoration, to restore us to a place of fellowship. Remember the prodigal son? Prodigal son leaves his father, spends all the money, ends up in the pigsty, and he comes to himself and says, my servants have it better than I do. I will arise and go to my father. And so God may bring us to the place where we are wallowing in the pigsty so that we will come to ourselves and return to him and have our relationship restored with him. But tonight I want us to consider three ways, three purposes that God might have in painful providence. And all of them are found in Deuteronomy chapter eight, really verses two and three. Now some of you know about the book of Deuteronomy. The book of Deuteronomy is the second giving of the law. So the law was first given in Exodus. And that was the law that God gave at Mount Sinai. The children of Israel have left the land of Egypt. God's brought them out with a mighty hand. They stand there at Mount Sinai and tremble before the power of God. And God gives them his law there at Mount Sinai. And from their perspective, back in Exodus, it's only a matter of days or weeks until they enter the promised land. But do you remember what happened in Numbers? In Numbers, Moses sent 12 men to spy out the land. And as the children's song goes, 10 were bad and two were good. They all came back saying this land is an amazing land, flowing with milk and honey. By the way, I never really understood that expression for many years. When something is flowing with milk and honey, it means it's a very fertile land. Flowing with milk means that the cattle can be very healthy, and when they're healthy, they're able to produce lots of milk. Flowing with honey, the bees, have access to all kinds of flowers and it's a good, green, lush land. They even brought back evidence of how wonderful this land was. They brought back clusters of grapes that had to be carried on a pole between two men. But they come back and 10 of the spies say, well, the problem is there's giants there. and we can't go in. Now, of course, God had already promised them this land. Their saying that we cannot enter this land, that they're too strong for us, was actually a statement of unbelief. We read, really, about it back in Psalm 95, where they did not believe. Well, what happens, of course, is that there are two spies that say, wait a minute, if the Lord delights in us, we are well able to take this. God is stronger than those giants are. However, the majority of the children of Israel believe the majority of the spies. And they begin to grumble and complain about Moses and Aaron. And they even get so upset that they want to take up arms to kill Moses and Aaron, God's appointed leaders. And God says, I've had enough. My judgment is going to fall. And because of that, he said, you will not enter into this rest. You won't enter into Canaan. Everyone 20 years of age and upward is gonna die as you wander for 40 years in the wilderness. So those 40 years have elapsed by the time that we get to Deuteronomy. And Moses is telling what had been the younger generation back then, he's telling them God's will and God's law once again. as they look forward to entering into the promised land now after 40 years. That's the context here. Those 40 years were not easy years. We get some hint of that in this passage. They're being led, number one, in the wilderness. Verse two says they're being led in the wilderness. In verse three, We are told that God allowed them to hunger. You read the full account of what happened to them in those 40 years in the wilderness. They faced all kinds of challenges, including enemies of God's people that would meet them to attack them. This 40 year period was a period of painful providence. Things were not easy. Instead of the lush, beautiful land of Canaan, they are instead wandering around in a desert. What purpose did God have for this painful providence? Well, in our text before us, we see three purposes that God had for doing this. And it reminds us that God may have more than one reason for bringing you through the dark valley that he brings you through. God may have more than one reason for the painful providence. So what are those three reasons in this text? Well, first, humiliation. Second, not only humiliation, but revelation to reveal what was in their hearts. And finally, in this passage, instruction. God has three purposes in these 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Three purposes. First, humiliation. You see that here in verse two. He says he led you all these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you. And verse three, so he humbled you. Humiliation. That was his first purpose. The second purpose was revelation, in other words, to reveal what was really going on in their hearts. And then finally, instruction, that he might make them know that man shall not live by bread alone. So let's think about each three of these. First of all, humiliation. God may have a purpose of humiliation when it comes to the painful providence that you're going through in your life. Even back in Ecclesiastes chapter seven and verse 14, we are reminded that God does the things that he does and that the result of it is that we don't know what's gonna come after. Some days have joy, some days have sorrow, and we really, in our own wisdom, have no idea what kind of days are coming next or exactly what's gonna happen next. That revelation of our lack of understanding about what will come is something that could and should humiliate us in the right way. That is to cast us down from pride God's crooked ways, God's painful providences often reveal to us just how weak and foolish and sinful we are. Notice again in Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse two, you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you. Verse three, so he humbled you. We are naturally proud, aren't we? Pride is natural to the human heart. We see ourselves as the hero of every scenario and every story. Every circumstance of life, we see ourselves at the center. We have a tendency to think better things of ourselves than we ought. And this is revealed in so many different ways, but one of the ways it's revealed is that if someone does something against us, let's say they lie to us, oh, we're upset about that. But if we end up lying to someone else, well, we have 10 reasons why it was necessary or acceptable or why they're really flying off the handle and really taking this, you know, they ought to calm down because it really doesn't matter that much. We're naturally proud people. And God has a purpose so often in bringing that painful providence because we enter into that painful providence and we know that we don't have the wisdom and we don't have the strength. to see our way out of it. Was this not the same testimony of the Apostle Paul? If you keep your finger there in Deuteronomy chapter 8, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7. This, as you remember, is the passage that speaks of Paul's thorn in the flesh. Notice what Paul says, and lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations. So he's just talked about how he was caught up in heaven, caught up to paradise, heard inexpressible words, even though he speaks of it in oblique terms as he comes to verse seven. We know it's Paul that experienced that. Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. He says it twice in one verse. Lest I should be exalted above measure, he begins the verse, and he finishes the verse, lest I be exalted above measure. We often don't think of humiliation as a mercy from God. But think with me about how wicked and how damaging pride is. When we are proud, we are exalting ourselves into a place that we do not deserve. Paul would say, what do you have that you didn't receive? And if you received it, why are you puffed up about it? Why do you boast about it? Everything that we have, including any skills that we may have developed, any intelligence that we have, all of that is because God has given it to us and allowed us to develop it. Pride is a wicked sin because it fails to acknowledge God's hand. It says, I am the reason for this. Friends, pride casts Satan out of heaven. Isaiah 14 verses 12 to 15 describe that. After Lucifer has said, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will, yet you shall be brought down. Pride casts Satan from heaven. And friends, pride will deaden your zeal for God and devastate your walk with Him. even and maybe especially spiritual pride. In Psalm 10 in verse four, we read, the wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. The more pride inhabits our heart, the less we seek God. The more we think that we have it all together, how great we are, how strong we are, how wise we are, pride will deaden your walk with God. It will devastate your walk with God. It will kill that zeal that you have for God. And friends, pride will wreak havoc in your life. Pride has broken homes. Pride has ruined relationships. Pride has divided churches. As if this were not bad enough, we need to recognize that pride brings upon us the very resistance of God Himself. Have you thought about that? The scripture tells us, 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5, he quotes from the Old Testament, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Friends, when we are proud, That does not activate great things in our life. It actually activates the opposition of God himself. In Proverbs chapter six, verses 16 and 17, we read, and I quoted this earlier or part of it earlier to Mike, these six things doth the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him. The very first thing that is listed in the six things that God hates, the seven abominations, what's the very first thing? A proud look. You think God hates pride? God resists the proud. God hates a proud look. And ultimately pride will result in judgment from God, either condemnation, sorry, either chastisement first or damnation. For those who are God's people, God will chastise his people who are proud. God spanks his kids. But for the unbeliever that persists in pride, the end is far worse. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 27 says this, for you will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks. No matter how great you think you are, God will bring you down in His time. I'd say it this way, pride will never lift a man to heaven, but pride has cast many a man into hell. So friends, you think about this, how horrible pride is. and what pride brings as its results, how can we be proud? And how we ought to be grateful to God when He humiliates us, when He takes us down, when He gives us a true view of who we are. There's a sense, friends, in which the Christian life begins with this. The Christian life begins with us seeing our sinfulness. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the truth of God's word hits us again and again and again. And it leaves us in this place where we recognize, I don't have any righteousness that I can offer to God. There is no reason why God should look at me and let me into heaven, allow me into his presence. There's nothing like that. Christian life begins, if you will, with humiliation. As we see ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. And then we look to the one who alone can save us, Jesus Christ. the one who came to live and to die for sinners. See, as long as you think that you're good enough, you will never, ever trust Jesus for salvation. You'll never be saved. This is why Jesus would say that those who are whole don't need a physician, but the ones that are sick. Jesus wasn't saying that there are some people that are spiritually great and they don't even need to be saved. What he was saying is that you need to realize just how sin sick you are. And it's only when you see that, that you can seek the remedy in Jesus. I give a gospel invitation over and over again in this church. Some perhaps profess faith, but who knows? Only God knows the heart. And here's my appeal to you once again. If you have not seen yourself as a sinner who cannot save yourself, if you have not turned from your sins to trust in Jesus and His sacrifice, do so today. You will find as you come to Him in faith and repentance, His promise, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. No one has ever come to Jesus on Jesus' terms and Jesus cast them out. Turn to Jesus. I know Even in Bible college, there were some people that went to Bible college unconverted. And it took a work of humiliation in their heart to admit that and turn to Christ. I mean, after all, right, here's this person in Bible college to admit, I've never truly been saved. That was a great work of humility. But let me say this, if there's someone here who finds themselves in that place, where maybe you have given people the impression that you trusted Christ years ago, or maybe just now God is opening your eyes to the true reality of your heart. There is no one here that's going to say, Oh, I thought they were saved a long time ago. What a horrible liar they were. No. If you come and trust in Jesus, we will rejoice with you. And even more, there will be even more and greater rejoicing in the presence of the angels. Rejoicing in heaven as you come to trust in Christ. Oh, trust in him today. So we see then that God may use painful providences in our lives to bring humiliation. But when he does this, he's not doing this to be mean, to be unkind. This is actually an act of mercy. Think again about the fact that it spares us from the devastation that pride brings into our lives. When we find ourselves humbled, we find ourselves no longer being resisted by God, we find ourselves rather getting grace from God. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. One of the most wonderful things that God can do for us is to humble us. Because it places us in the way of blessing. And furthermore, those who submit themselves under God's mighty hand will find that God in due time will lift them up. God may do so in some ways in this life, but even if that lifting up has to wait until glory, what a raising up that will be. And so God uses painful providences for the purpose of humiliation. But second in our passage, and I'll try to move a little bit more quickly here, God uses painful providences not only for the purpose of humiliation, but for the purpose of revelation. In other words, to reveal what's in our hearts. Now we talked earlier about how God may use painful providences to reveal to us whether we're saved or not. So here what I'm thinking about is more the idea of what sins may be hidden deep within our hearts. God can use the painful providences to bring those to light. I've mentioned Thomas Boston in his work, The Crook in the Lot, As Boston thinks about this idea, he calls it the discovery of latent corruption. And he says this, I know it's old English, but think about this. He says, there are some corruptions in every man's heart which lie, as it were, so near the surface that they are ready on every turn to cast up. Some of our corruption, some of our sins, it doesn't take much and there they are on public display. But he goes on. But then there are others also which lie so very deep that they are scarcely observed at all. But as the fire in the pot makes the scum to cast up, so he's speaking of a boiling pot and how that pot makes things to rise to the surface, the scum to cast up to appear at the top and run over, so the crook in the lot, or what we're calling God's painful providences, raises up from the bottom and brings out such corruption as otherwise one could hardly imagine to be within. Think about these three examples, and Thomas Boston points our attention to these three examples. The first example is the example of Moses. Moses, one of the meekest men in all the earth. But who would have known such anger and unbelief was there inside? As was revealed when the rebels complained bitterly before the rock the second time. The first time Moses obeyed God and spoke to the rock, or sorry, first time Moses obeyed God and struck the rock with his rod. But the second time, God told him that he was not to strike the rock, but to speak to the rock. Now Moses probably would not have understood all of the typology back then, but Paul tells us that this rock is a picture of Christ. And Christ was only struck once. While Moses gathers the assembly together, these grumblers, complainers, in Numbers chapter 20 and verse 10, he says to them, here now you rebels, must we bring water for you out of this rock? Of course not. Moses couldn't bring water out of that rock. It was only God that could do such a thing. God would use Moses, but only God could do that. In verse 11, then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Water came out abundantly. This is a sign, a reminder of God's grace. God used Moses for the benefit of the people, even though he had done wrong. Water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. But the story doesn't end there, does it? Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe me to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given you. God's crooked work of having Moses have to deal with these rebellious, grumbling, complaining people would reveal in Moses' life sins of unbelief, because you did not believe me, God said, and reveal in Moses' life irreverence, because you did not believe me to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel. That crooked work revealed those sins that lay hidden deep within him. unbelief and irreverence, even in Moses, one of the holiest and meekest men to ever walk the earth. And so it may be, and this goes along with humiliation in many ways, so it will be or can be in our life that God, we reach a certain place in our spiritual life and we think, you know what? I'm pretty good. I got everything together now. We start thinking about how good we are, and God, in kindness, reveals these sins to us. No, my child, there's still more to deal with. We never reach a point where we have arrived. Think also of Job. Job was such a holy man that God himself would say to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? That there is none like him in all the earth. But as God allows Satan to bring all kinds of devastation upon Job, it's God that's still in control even of that. Satan cannot take a step further than God allows him to take. Job goes through that painful providence and he, in so many ways, is such an example to us. But as you read the book of Job, you see Job, not only, you know, he has these friends that start accusing him, well, the reason you're going through this is because you're such a horrible person. And you'll find what Job does is, he starts out by saying, that's not the reason why God is doing this, why God is allowing this. But then he takes some steps further and ends up saying things that sound like God has no reason for doing this. Job himself will recognize his own sinfulness when at the end of the book God has revealed himself to Job and Job will say, I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes. Think of the psalmist Asaph. In Psalm 73, Psalm 73 begins, surely God is good to Israel. But then very quickly, Asaph begins to talk about how he had nearly slipped and fallen away from the faith. What was it in Asaph's life? Well, we don't know exactly what Asaph himself was going through, but we do know that he looked around him and he saw what seemed to be the the overabundance and prosperity of the wicked. They have everything going for them. And Asaph, in his despair, he goes so far as to say, you know what? Why did I even bother? Why did I even bother cleansing my hands? Why did I even bother walking with God? Why did I ever bother trying to be righteous? God's crooked ways brought in Asaph the revelation that deep within him lay envy and the mistrust of God. And again, friends, I want us to understand that God is doing this for our good. It's part of God's chastening work, which is for our prophet to reveal to us, listen, my son, listen, my daughter, you are mine and I love you, but there are still miles to go in your walk of grace. We look back in Deuteronomy chapter eight. God says it this way to Israel. He led you, or Moses says this on behalf of God. You shall remember the Lord your God led you all the way. Isn't that a wonderful thought? That God led them all the way. So God leads us. even through the painful providences. God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you. To know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. This is not because God had no idea what was going on in their heart. God knows our hearts better than we do. God knows all things. but rather that Israel might know what was in Israel's heart. That Israel might know whether they would walk according to God's commandments. And so God may bring you through the painful providence to reveal to you things that lie deep within you that need to be addressed, confessed, forsaken, brought to the cross, But there's another reason in this passage, isn't there, that God has for these painful providences in the life of Israel, these 40 years in the wilderness, these times of hunger. In verse three, so he humbled you, allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth. of the Lord. God used this painful providence for the purpose of instruction. Remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 119 verse 71, he said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. When we look back across the years of our life, we don't say, at least I don't think that Christians normally say, you know, it was in the times of greatest ease. It was the times of greatest prosperity. It was the times that everything was going the smoothest. That's when I learned the most about God and his ways and his word. Doesn't normally work that way, does it? So often God brings us through the painful providences and it is in those dark hours that we draw closer to him and we are taught the more by him. Specifically in the context both of Deuteronomy chapter eight and Psalm 119, 71, God uses that painful providence to drive us to Him in His Word. You know, often, when those dark times come, as believers, we almost reflexively look to a couple of passages. Believers that have walked with the Lord for many years, it's almost reflex that we look to a couple passages. At least two, if not others. Psalm 23 and Romans chapter eight. God uses the painful providence to teach us things that we would not have otherwise known. You know, we have much to be thankful for. But one of the most wonderful things and mysterious things that we have to be thankful for is God's painful providences. They're not purposeless. God does not waste the pain in your life, but brings it and allows it for his purposes and for our good. On the three we considered tonight, God may use painful providence in your life to humble you for the purpose of humiliation, God may use the painful providence in your life for the purpose of revelation, to reveal to you those sins that still need to be dealt with. And God may use the painful providences of life for the purpose of instruction, that he might teach you more of himself and more of his ways. Is this not what Job would say after he had gone through his time? He would say, As he compared his walk with God before the great trial and affliction and after, he would say, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you. Friends, God isn't wasting that pain. And God is at work in your life. And so my encouragement to you again, My encouragement to you, trust Him. Consider what God may be doing when the painful providence has come and submit. Submit to what God is doing. If we live our lives angry continually about what God is doing, if we live our lives continually trying to second guess God, how foolish that is. It seems right in the moment. But when we submit ourselves to God, He lifts us up in His time. Well, friends, next week, by God's grace, we'll think about three more things that God is at work doing in painful providence. And I think that these will be an encouragement to you as well. But we will conclude there for this evening.