If you would open up with me again to 1 Kings chapter 19, which we've read already together. Charles Spurgeon has a book entitled Lectures to My Students. It's addresses given to men studying for the ministry. And in that book he has one lecture entitled The Minister's Fainting Fits. The Minister's Fainting Fits. And in that lecture he writes, as it is recorded that David in the heat of battle waxed faint So may it be written of all the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous. The wise not always ready. The brave not always courageous. The joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron, to whom wear and tear work no perceptible detriment, but surely the rust frets even these. And as for ordinary men, the Lord knows and makes them to know that they are but dust. And what we have before us here in 1 Kings chapter 19 is one such fainting fit in the life of Elijah, the prophet, the great prophet. of the Old Testament, Elijah was not a man characterized by weakness, fear, and timidity. As Leonard Ravenhill said, this crag of a man stood as majestic and immovable as the mountains of Gilead. Consider the immediate context of our passage, the showdown at Mount Carmel. On the one corner you have 450 prophets of Baal along with 400 prophets of the groves backed by King Ahab his wife Jezebel and the whole kingdom and in the other corner. you have the solitary Prophet Elijah with nothing more than a simple faith in the true and living God. And he stood there, immovable, challenged the whole nation. How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. It was Elijah himself under the direction of the Lord who instigated this confrontation. It was he who challenged Ahab to his face and called upon him to meet him with all the prophets of Baal on top of Mount Carmel. And he stood there, immovable, called upon the name of the Lord. The Lord sent down fire from heaven. And as the fire of the Lord fell from heaven, Elijah stood there still next to that altar as it was consumed, as the very stones were consumed with the fire of God from heaven. And there stands Elijah, full of the grace of holy boldness, as the fire of the Lord consumes the sacrifice. And at Elijah's words, the prophets of Baal are all taken and slain. but spiritual victories are followed by temptations. The spiritual victories of the child of God provoke the malice of the enemy. Brethren, let us not be ignorant of Satan's devices. He will have his revenge because their victories, the victories of the children of God, are his losses, their advances are his defeats. When the Lord has been pleased to use us in some way, he used Elijah in a great way that day, but when the Lord is pleased to use us in some way, or when things have been going well for us spiritually, we have a tendency to let our guard down. But it is and it's then when Satan attacks, he waits for the moment when weary from the battle and satisfied with our victory, we lay down our weapons and begin to take our ease. It's just such a time that certain that Satan stirs up Jezebel against Elijah and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life. Elijah moved with fear, flees into the wilderness. Why is it that the man who could confront Ahab to his face just a short time ago now melts at a threatening message from Jezebel? How is it that this mountain of a man is now as weak as water from this simple, from this message? Where is his boldness? Where is his constancy? Where is his strength? Well, Elijah's strength, like that of any believer, was rooted in faith. Faith is the root grace. If you take away faith, all the spiritual fruit withers. When the faith of the Christian fails, the fruit grows rotten on the vine. Just as Samson, shorn of his locks, was weak like any other man, so Elijah, bereft of his faith, is weak like any other man. With the shield of faith, he could have quenched the fiery darts of the wicked, but he's laid down that shield and he's unable to stand in the evil day when this threatening message comes to Elijah. So guard yourself. When you find that the Lord has used you in some way, when you find that things have gone well for you spiritually, Guard yourself. Satan is watching. Satan is waiting for the opportunity to send forth his fiery darts. So soon as you lay down your shield, so soon as you lay down the weapons of your warfare, he's ready to attack. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. Under the juniper tree in the wilderness, Elijah begins to pour out his heart to the Lord. This is the first thing Elijah does right in the passage, begins to unburden himself, pour out his heart before the Lord. However, his prayer expresses a sinful desire. His very prayer is an expression of his sinful fear and unbelief. He requested for himself that he might die. It is enough now. Oh Lord, take away my life. For I'm not better than my fathers. This is not the spirit. Of the Apostle Paul. who had a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. This is instead the spirit of despair. Despair is hopelessness. It's important to get fixed in your mind the distinction between depression and despair. This depression is having low and sinking and sad thoughts. There are many kinds of depression and the Christian can go through various seasons of depression, but despair is something different. Despair is hopelessness. Despair is the opposite of hope. And it was the spirit of despair which Elijah had here. He despaired of the Lord's goodness to him. He despaired of his continued usefulness to the Lord in his life, and therefore he prays that the Lord would take away his life. Contrast this with Paul in Philippians 1. when Paul expresses his desire to depart and be with the Lord. It's something altogether different from what Elijah says here. Paul says this, Philippians 1.20. according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. what I shall choose, I want not, for I'm in a straight betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Paul's desire is grounded in hope. Paul has, he says, an earnest expectation and hope that God will be glorified, whether in his life or in his death. But Elijah, despairing of the glory of God in his life, prays that he might die, that he might be delivered from the miseries of this world and from the threatenings of the enemies of God. He despaired of the Lord's own goodness to him. Child of God, you are called to hope. Do not despair of the good purpose of God concerning you. He knows the plans he has for you, even when you cannot see them. It was true for Elijah here. Elijah could see no good outcome here. He's given his best effort for the kingdom of God in the world, and in response, his life. is on the line. He sees no good outcome. It looks bleak as can be to Elijah. And that darkness clouds out the hope of a good outcome from the Lord. But the Lord had plans for Elijah, and the Lord has plans for you if you're in Christ Jesus this day. Do not despair of the good purpose of God concerning you. even if your circumstances look bleak, even if you can't see how a good outcome could come from the straits that you're in in life, the Lord has his good purpose. So we see Elijah in a state of sin. He's fallen. from the strong faith and the hope and the boldness which he had in the Lord. How then does the Lord deal with the fainting prophet here under the juniper tree? Does he berate him for his hopelessness, for his sinful fear and for his foolish request that he might die? No, the Lord has compassion upon Elijah. in his state of weakness, his moment of great weakness. The Lord will deal with Elijah's sins, but not at this time and not in that way, not in harshness. Verses five and six. We see how the Lord deals with Elijah just after he's expressed this desire that he might die. It says in his he lay down and slept under a juniper tree. Behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was a cake bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink and laid him down. Again, the Lord sees Elijah's exhaustion, his weakness and his distress, and he deals with him in compassion. and in tenderness. Child of God, can you testify of times when the Lord could have chided you for your sin, when you were to be blamed, when you could not escape a condemning verdict from the law of God, and yet the Lord dealt with you not according to your sin, but dealt with you in tenderness, binding up your wounds and ministering to your weakness. This is how the Lord deals with Elijah, the fainting prophet in his time of distress. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him. and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. So Elijah strengthened by this angelic food. It says manna from heaven provided immediately from God to Elijah by the hand of the angel. Elijah goes in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights unto Horeb, the Mount of God. Here in Horeb, the Lord questions Elijah. And he came hither unto a cave and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said unto him, what doest thou hear, Elijah? What doest thou hear? This searching question. What's this question mean? What's the import of this question which the Lord puts to Elijah? Well, on first glance, you may say it's a reproof for his sin. It is a reproof for his sin, but it's more than a reproof. It's a call to account, and it is, but it's more than a call to account. It's an invitation to unburden himself before the Lord. What doest thou hear? To unburden himself like what we read of in Psalm 102, in the title of that Psalm, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. It's this, but it's more than an invitation to unburden himself before the Lord. It's a call to heart, searching self-examination and prayer. Heart searching self-examination. and prayer. It's the kind of prayer that Jonathan Edwards speaks about in his resolutions where he says this, resolved very much to exercise myself in this all my life long. That is with the greatest openness of which I am capable of to declare my ways to God and lay open my soul to him. All my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and everything and every circumstance. Searching the soul, doing a spiritual inventory of all the aspects of one's spiritual state before the Lord, one's sins, one's temptations, hopes, fears, desires, difficulties, all that is there within the soul of a man and all the circumstances and laying it all out before the Lord, having examined oneself. When's the last time you had this kind of meeting with God? When's the last time you did this kind of heart work before the Lord. This is what we're called to as Christians. We're not called to simply come to the Lord at intervals, remaining apart from Him in the intervening time, but instead, we're to live as before the face of God, pouring out all our soul unto Him, declaring our ways before Him. What doest thou here? How did you get where you are? Elijah, this isn't where you might've been expected to be found. This state, this condition, how'd you get here? What doest thou here, Elijah? Search your own soul. What state do you find yourself in? No matter what state you're in, you would do well before the Lord to ask yourself, How did I get here? What am I doing here? What doest thou here? Examine yourself. Search your soul before the Lord. And this this this work of self examination, it's not to be done merely in a legal spirit, simply finding the sins. That's an aspect of it. But if you have the grace of God operative in you, you should be able to find that when you examine your soul before the Lord. And so, Elijah, when the Lord calls him to this heartwork, to this self-examination and prayer before the Lord. Elijah says, I have been very jealous before the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away." So Elijah pours out the burden of his soul before the Lord, having searched himself. Well, the Lord gives the prophet, this fainting prophet, a vision there upon Mount Horeb. And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind, rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still, small voice. And it was so when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entering end of the cave. It's important to know that this mountain, Mount Horeb, is the same mountain as Sinai. Two names for the exact same mountain. It's Mount Sinai where the Lord gave the law by the hand of Moses. Mount Sinai, that mountain which burned with fire, that mountain that we read about description of it in Hebrews 12. The mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor into blackness and darkness and tempest. And the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, which voice they that heard it entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. And these things which the Lord shows to Elijah on the mountain, on Mount Sinai, Mount Horab are the very signs, the very terrors, which the Lord showed to Moses and the children of Israel all those years before. The windy tempest, the earthquake, and the fire were all symbolic of the terrors of the law, as the Lord gave the law on Mount Sinai, and as the people were terrified at the sight of these terrifying and terrible wonders. And Moses said, I exceeding fear and quake. And so the Lord shows these signs, shows these terrors before Elijah, shows him the wind, the windy tempest, which breaks the mountain, breaks the rocks, shows him the earthquake, which shakes the ground under his feet and shows him the blazing fire, but the Lord is not in any of them. Although Elijah testifies that the children of Israel have forsaken God's covenant, thrown down his altars, and slain his prophets, yet the Lord is not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, not in the signs of the terrors of the law of God towards sinful man. This shows that the Lord will not yet execute the fierceness of his wrath toward the children of Israel. The Lord will not smite them with the windy tempest. The Lord will not send the earthquake and the fire to consume the people of Israel, not yet. but the Lord reveals himself there on Horeb in a still, small voice. The Lord likewise revealed himself to Moses in a voice. In Exodus 34, we read this in our call to worship today. The Lord revealed himself to Moses in a voice. This was after the Israelites had defiled themselves with the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. They'd sinned against God, and the prophet in a vexation has come down from the mountain with the tables of God's law and dashes them against the rocks. He grinds the golden calf into powder, puts it in water, and makes the people drink down their sin. But the Lord calls Moses back into the mount. And there he reveals himself to Moses in a voice. Exodus 34, verse four. And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning and he went unto Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand the two tables of stone and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord, spoke to him in a voice, and the Lord passed by before him. The same language is used in 1 Kings 19. The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed with a voice, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation. Although the Israelites, although the children of Israel have forsaken God's covenant, God has not. He's still the same covenant God that he revealed to Moses on the Mount after the people had forsaken the Lord to worship a golden calf. He's still the same God and his covenant still stands sure. In this, God is showing to Elijah and calling Elijah's mind back to his dealings with the people in the days of Moses upon Mount Sinai. The Lord is showing Elijah that he is not finished with Israel. Rather than pouring out his terrible vengeance upon them, he speaks to them with a voice. He sends them a prophet. He sends them a preacher. And so he does in our day. Wherefore, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the provocation, as in the temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me and proved me for 40 years, the same generation. which Moses led through the wilderness and the Lord was long suffering toward them. The Lord was patient toward them. He didn't consume them as he had threatened to do at one point during that time and start over with Moses, but instead He had respect unto the prayer of the intercessor Moses and he had he was long suffering with his people and he bore with them those 40 years through the wilderness as they tempted him and as they provoked him and as they would not hear the word of God and as they would not believe the gospel which was proclaimed to them and all of the ordinances which the Lord had given to Moses and they came at the end of that period to the promised land, and they could not enter in because of unbelief. And they perished in the wilderness. An entire generation perished in the wilderness. and were banished into the wilderness of hell, outer darkness, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth to all eternity. But God was long suffering with them during the days of their wandering through that wilderness. And so it is today. So it was in Elijah's day. And so it is Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. The Lord shows his mercy. The Lord shows his long-suffering. His covenant stands still, and he will not yet execute the fierceness of his wrath, but the day is coming A day of accounting is coming. A day of reckoning is coming and you will stand before God and there will be no more opportunity to hear and to believe the gospel. But he will say, depart from me into everlasting darkness. Depart from me, ye cursed. Will you believe the gospel this day? This is the state of Israel in Elijah's day. Elijah couldn't see it. Elijah couldn't see that the Lord was not done with Israel and therefore the Lord was not done with Elijah. The Lord had a purpose for him. The Lord had plans and work for Elijah. And so it is in our day. The Lord's longsuffering continues with us. Still, the Lord is merciful and gracious. And so the Lord continue. The Lord reveals this to Elijah that his longsuffering continues. He will not execute the fierceness of his wrath. And then he recommissions this fainting prophet, having restored him, nurtured him, cared for him, strengthened him, and then reoriented him, indeed reminded him of the gospel, he recommissions his prophet. Verses 15 through 18. And the Lord said unto him, go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, And when thou comest anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nemshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elijah the son of Shaphat. of Abel Meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in my room, and it shall come to pass that he that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me 7,000 in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." This last verse, by the way, is an answer to Elijah saying, I alone am left. The Lord has his remnant. The Lord has his remnant. And here he recommissions Elijah, just like what we read about with Peter. Peter had fallen. Peter's faith had failed. Peter, who seemed to be bold, seemed to be courageous for the Lord. His faith had failed when the hour of temptation came, and he denied his Lord. And yet the Lord comes to Peter just as he came to Elijah, and he asks him those searching questions. After feeding him, did you notice that? After he fed him with the fish and the bread from the coals, deals with him gently, and then asks him those searching questions, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? So he dealt with Elijah as well, and then recommissioned him, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Elijah, I have work for you to do. I have kings for you to anoint. I have a prophet for you to cast your mantle upon and to train up to take your place. His purposes remain. He's not done with Israel, and it's time for Elijah to stand on his feet and get back to work. So we see the Lord's gracious dealing his shepherding of the soul of Elijah in his hour of weakness and how the Lord restores him to the place of usefulness. Amen. Let's stand and call upon our God in prayer.