And it's indeed a very gracious psalm, even though of a psalm of sorrow and lament. Certainly a gracious psalm as we turn God's holy word to 2 Chronicles 33. 2 Chronicles 33. We hear the word of the Lord in the first 20 verses. Let us hear God's word. Find it on page 712 in your pew Bible. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down. And he raised up altars for the Baals and made wooden images. And he worshiped all the hosts of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, and Jerusalem shall be my name be forever. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced Hussein, used witchcraft and sorcery and consulted mediums. spiritist. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God. of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Syria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed to him. And he received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God After this, he built a wall outside the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance to the fish gate, and it closed awful. And he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all of the fortified cities of Judah. He took away the foreign gods and the idols from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built, in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on high places, but only to the Lord their God. Now the rest of the Acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Indeed, they are written in the books of the kings of Israel. Also, his prayer and how he received his entreaty and all his sin and trespass and the sites where he built the high places and set up wooden images and carved images before he was humbled. Indeed, they are written among the sayings of Hosea. So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Ammon reigned in his place. As far as the reading of God's precious, infallible word, I'd like to also draw attention to one other verse from 2 Kings 21, verse 16, where we have just a little extra snippet of the horrific a reign of King Manasseh before he was saved. Verse 16 of 2 Kings 21. Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Let's also turn and Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 40, regarding the Sixth Commandment. Lord's Day 40, you can find it on page 76 in the back of the Psalter if you'd like to follow along. Lord's Day 40, question answer 105. What does God require in the Sixth Commandment? Answer. that neither in thoughts or words nor gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor by myself or by another, but that I lay aside all desire of revenge, also that I hurt not myself nor willfully expose myself to any danger, whether also the magistrate is armed with a sword to prevent murder. Question 106, but this commandment seems only to speak of murder. Answer, in forbidding murder, God teaches us that he abhors the causes thereof, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that he accounts all these as murder. Question 107, but is it not enough that we do not kill any man in the manner mentioned above? Answer, no. For when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, he commands us to love our neighbor as ourself, to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness towards him, and prevent his hurt as much as in us lies, that we do good even to our enemies. As far our confession regarding the sixth commandment, Lord's Day 40, Dear congregation, this morning we already began to look at the sixth commandment, you shall not murder, especially from the account where Elisha goes to anoint Hazel to be king of Syria in 2 Kings chapter eight. There we find the great wickedness that lie in the heart of Hazel. and how he assassinated his king, King Ben-Hadad, that he might become king of Syria, and how he would then afflict, in way of God's covenant judgment, horrific crimes against humanity, against the people of God, against Israel. He'd been ripping children out of the womb, killing, dashing the children to pieces, and to kill the sword, the young men. We recognize there in that account that God is the giver of all life. He's the one who restores life, and he's the one who takes life. All things are in his hand. Everything is in his control. We can understand when the realities of the sin of man and also breaking the sixth commandment, how Elisha was weeping, weeping. And as we come to our text this afternoon in kind of a follow-up sermon to also see the amazing grace of God for those who break the sixth commandment, we recognize that Manasseh was also a very, very wicked king. This Manasseh, as we find recorded for us in 1 Kings chapter 21, and also 2 Chronicles 33, was a king who was king in Judah. And we found in 2 Kings 21 verse 16 that Manasseh shed very much innocent blood till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. The innocent blood, especially of the children, offered the hands of Moloch in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He made Judah to sin and did so much evil in the sight of the Lord. And we recognize yet in this passage God's amazing grace for the greatest of sinners. I'd like that to be our theme for this afternoon. If we first look at Manasseh's great sin, secondly, Manasseh's repentance, and thirdly, God's restoration. As we consider, first of all, Manasseh's great sin, we recognize that the sin that lie in the heart of Manasseh and the heart of each one of us really begins with idolatry. It begins with idolatry. We turn to the scriptures, whether we look at 2 Kings 21 or 2 Chronicles 33, and we hear the same words. How Manasseh did so much evil in the sight of the Lord, and even did more than the nations which the Lord had driven out of Israel. and how he had rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he raised up altars to Baals, followed Ahab and Jezebel, even though he was the king of Israel, yet he imbibed the Baal worship and the Asherahs. He even had the boldness to be able to build altars in the house of the Lord in the temple. which David had prepared and Solomon had built, and where God had promised, in this house and in Jerusalem I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name here forever. And Manasseh had the boldness to bring these asherahs, to bring Baal worship, to bring the worship of the gods who ordered the heavens, to bring them right into the very house that God had stamped with his own name and said he would place his name forever. This is a host of idolatry that Manasseh had brought to Judah. And in this idolatry, he's so passionate, so convicted of his idol worship, and that these idols had power, that he was willing to take his own children and offer them on the hands of Moloch, the brazen hands of Moloch, and offer his children as sacrifices, showing his dedication to the gods of the heathens. Not only for himself to do so, but to seduce all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah to do so. So that there wasn't more innocent blood shed anywhere than in Jerusalem. He shed very much innocent blood. He filled Jerusalem from one end to the other with this innocent blood. I wonder if we should stop a moment, because many of us may be thinking about Hazel again, who said, oh, I wouldn't do such a terrible thing. What do you think I am, a dog to do such a gross thing? And maybe we think about applying this to abortion today, as we talked about this morning. You think I would be such a dog to do such a gross thing? But maybe we ought to just stop and meditate and think about our own idols and how we may be even offering our own children to the idols that we have in our own hearts. Let's just hold that thought for a moment. Because idolatry and idol worship creates not only a heart that is idolatrous, but also a heart that is indifferent. Indifferent. And that's exactly what has happened to Manasseh. The contrast between Hezekiah, his father, and Manasseh, it couldn't be greater. Hezekiah had done rightly. He had governed rightly. He wasn't perfect by any means. As a matter of fact, one of his last statements I find so challenging. When Hezekiah's life was extended and then he had shown the Babylonian Empire all of the riches of the temple and was so proud of it, and then he was judged for it, and he says, After the judgment came to him, so Hezekiah said to Isaiah, the word of the Lord which you have spoken is good. Isaiah had brought the word of judgment, but that it would be stayed until generations in the future. And then he said, for he said, will there not be peace and truth, at least in my days? You see, Hezekiah also had some of these same issues of pride, and he also had some of these own challenges and sins. And Manasseh, he picks up on those too. And Manasseh, he takes that to the absolute extreme. The absolute extreme. becoming completely indifferent to all of his upbringing, and boldly, even openly, despising the Lord God of Israel, and even seducing Judah and Jerusalem to sin. He was indifferent because of the power that he had received and all of the influence he was given. Wanted to appeal to the people and to the gods and to the nations around. And even becoming indifferent to the very word of God itself when God continued to plead with Judah. He says in verse 10, the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people. He came and spoke to them through the prophets and through his word, but they would not listen. Overtures of his grace were set forth to Manasseh, but he would not listen. It's indifferent, indifferent to his upbringing, indifferent to the authority that God had given him as king, indifferent to the word of God. And really, isn't that all at the heart of breaking the sixth commandment? As our idolatrous hearts become indifferent to the word of God because our idols become more important than the word of our living God. Again, I take us back to our own lives. What's your idol? What would you kill for? What would you die for? If I ask your children, what would your dad sacrifice you for? You say with a hazy yell, oh me, I wouldn't do, what do you think I am, such a dog that I would do such a thing? Do your children see that you love material and the goods and the riches and the power of this world and the influence of this world more than you love them? What do they see? Do they see your priorities in life? And mine too? You see, the heart of breaking the sixth commandment and offering our children the hands, the molten hands of materialism, the molten hands of entertainment and technology of our day, we are giving our children to be cremated alive on the hands of Moloch. Let not one of us say that we are better than Manasseh. That we can't be hardened and indifferent to the word of God as Manasseh was. that we aren't guilty of seducing even our own children to follow in the sins of offering ourselves to our idols. This is Manasseh's sin. Can you identify with it? We always want to point the finger outside to those who who may have had an abortion, or those who participated in euthanasia, or those who are these wicked rulers of this world who are doing and conducting themselves in war in such a way that is unjust. But we forget to look into our own hearts. and the envy and the bitterness and the greed and all of the things that fill us with hatred and anger that boil up within us, that we too would even go as far as Manessa. In a certain way, we're all Manessas. But the Lord is also the God of Manessa. This is the second point I want to see, Manessa's repentance. Manessa was a great sinner, a great sinner. But Manessa's repentance is absolutely profound, isn't it? Suddenly, right after you hear these words, and they would not listen, what do we read? Therefore, the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria. The most gracious thing that the Lord could do to such a hard and proud and stubborn and rebellious heart as Manasseh is to bring him under his hand of affliction. To judge him personally. To touch his very life by the hands of the king of Assyria. This king of Assyria who took Manasseh with hooks. In other words, he took him like you would take a bull and put a ring in his nose and hook him and drag him off in bronze fetters and to bring him to Babylon treating him like an animal. And in the midst of all of this infliction, day after day, being tortured and tormented by this king of Assyria, what do we find Manasseh doing? We find that the Lord had brought this affliction on him to bring him to repentance. What do we read in verse 12? And now when he was in affliction, in the midst of this affliction, this gracious, horrific affliction of God upon Manasseh, he implored the Lord his God. He remembered the God of his father, Hezekiah, and he implored the Lord his God, and he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. It came to a point of breaking Manasseh and his will and his pride and his arrogance. And he's humbled before the Lord. And he prayed to Him. You see, Manasseh is calling upon the name of the Lord in sincerity and truth with a broken and a contrite spirit. He is absolutely humbled before his God. And what do we read? That God had received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and he brings him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. And then Manasseh knew that he was God. Manasseh's repentance. is a repentance not to be repented of. This was a true, genuine repentance. It brought a true sorrow to his heart, not only because of his affliction, but because of what he had done. He had forsaken the God of his fathers. He had turned his back on God, the God of his father, Hezekiah. And he had brought in idol worship, and he had deceived and seduced the people of Israel, the people of Judah, to sin. And he's broken in the dust before God at the hand of King Assyria. And there in the dust, he implores, the Lord is God. Oh, what beautiful words. but also with important words. The importance of true repentance. In our own lives, when we see our own sins, there would be a true remorse, a true repentance, as we humble ourself before God and implore him for his grace. He too would hear our supplications. but also in engaging with others who are living in sin, even the sin of breaking the sixth commandment. And to be able to also direct them to the need for true repentance. I think about the pro-life movement in many ways and I value it and I love to go to the Pregnancy Center in Brantford, encourage them in devotions and things of that nature, and I do so every few months. And what a blessing it is to talk to them and encourage them to be a continued witness of God and who He is, and to bring them to repentance and to bring them to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that there is in Him. But it does begin with true repentance. But so much of our advocacy for the children that have yet to be born, that are being murdered in the wombs of mothers, it doesn't necessarily come with a desire for Those who practice such things or those who give their bodies to such thing or give their children to such thing, it doesn't necessarily always come with a desire for true repentance. Sometimes it comes with explaining they're just in a difficult situation and they made the best choice that they could. And certainly God will overlook the sin. But rather we need to seriously consider how we engage. Do we bring people and seek to bring people to a true repentance? Not to be repented of. To recognize that God is the giver of life. And I humble myself before God because I have taken life. True repentance is necessary also for us. for not advocating for the unborn, for those who are pushed into this box of making tough decisions and euthanasia. Ought we not to also repent as a nation and true repentance? Oh, that January 22 would be a day of true sorrow in our heart for a country that murders children in the womb? Rather than a day where we think we have it all together and all those people just don't, but that we would all, that in the house of God, we would humble ourself before him in prayer. Do we actually consider this such a heinous sin that we would even be willing to gather that Wednesday evening in prayer? Manasseh had true repentance. What does our repentance look like? Maybe we can parallel it with his ongoing repentance and God's restoration. Notice what God does for Manasseh upon his repentance. He brings him back to Jerusalem and into his kingdom. He restores him as king in Jerusalem. And then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. It's God's restoration. It's all about God's grace. And we need to apply that too as to how we engage. When we're calling for repentance, we need to set the grace of our God before those who we call to repentance. Because God is in the business of restoring sinners, even sinners who have violated the six commandments in a very flagrant way. that they too would know that the grace of God is an abounding grace, even to the greatest of sinners, even to Manasseh-like sinners. Because there we find Manasseh restored to his kingdom, restored to his original place. And he knows the Lord, his God. That's absolutely important. Manasseh knew not just about the God of his father, Hezekiah, but he knew him personally. He knew him as a holy God, a God who demanded what was right and what was just. and what was holy, and he humbled himself before his God, but he found in his God a God who is willing and ready to forgive to the uttermost all who come to him in faith and repentance. This is the God whom Manasseh come to know. He was a God that was far greater than Moloch, than Baal, than the Asherahs, than all the gods of the heavens. He was the God who is the God of heaven and of earth. He was the God of his people Israel. He was the God of Manasseh. Is he your God? Do you know the God of Israel? then you will too, like Manasseh, serve your God. Yes, it's important. It's important to know Manasseh's restoration and how he knew God and how we all and those who we provide guidance and counsel to know God personally, but also to disciple them, to serve God. Manasseh served the Lord his God. He not only knew the Lord his God, but what did he do? After this, instead of building all of these carved image, he actually did smart things to protect the people of Judah in Jerusalem. He built walls outside the city of David in the west side of Gihon. And he put military captains in the cities of Judah. And then here's the real evidence of his repentance. He took away the foreign gods and the idols from the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem. And he cast them out of the city. And he also repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. In his restoration, you see the evidence and the fruit of his repentance. It's an ongoing repentance. And you can imagine the temptations, can't you, that Manasseh was faced with. When Manasseh comes back into Jerusalem and he's restored to his kingdom and to his throne, how his buddies from the past came to him and says, let's go into the temple and let's worship the Asherahs. And she can really help us and guide us and all the gods of the heavens. Let's go and praise them. And Manasseh says, get away from me. Instead, you can choose this day whom you're going to serve, but as for me, in my kingdom, we are going into the temple, and we are going to take these idols, and we're going to have an iconoclast party, and we're going to cast these idols out of Jerusalem. They will have no more place here. You can choose to be with me or you're against me. That is true repentance. Manasseh. wants to serve only the Lord, his God, and calls Judah to serve the Lord, his God. Isn't that the beauty of repentance, of true repentance? It's a turning, and it's a wanting to know God, and to know him better, and to serve him. That's what it means to be restored as a son, a daughter of God, to know the Lord, your God. This is my God. Behold my God. You see, for Manasseh, late repentance is better than no repentance. But late repentance still came with consequences. Late repentance made the people of Israel and Judah there to syncretize the worship. They still went out and worshiped, but they worshiped to the Lord their God, even on the idols outside of Jerusalem in the high places. But we find the effects of Manasseh's sins, despite his repentance and restoration, greatly affected his son. who would take his throne. His name was Ammon. When Ammon became king, he was 22 years old, and he was greatly influenced yet by the idol worship of when his father was young. And he brought them all back, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but he only reigned a couple years. and his servants assassinated him in his own house because he refused to turn and humble himself as Manasseh did. Sin has this devastating effect on families, for our children. Let's not forget that. And yet late repentance is better than no repentance. But it reminds us today is a day of grace. Today, if you hear his voice, you hear his word, and you have to identify and understand that we too are those who break the sixth commandment in many ways. I mean, the list in our catechism goes on and on. We don't have to offer our children literally on the hands of Moloch. But neither in thoughts or words or gestures, much less deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor by myself or by another. or how God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, and commands us to love our neighbor as ourself and show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness toward him, and prevent his hurt as much as in us lies, and that we do good even to our enemies. Who of us can say that we aren't six commandment breakers? And yet God is a God of mercy and of grace, as is testified in Manasseh's life. But dear congregation, it begins with repentance and leads to restoration. Because this late repentance of Manasseh does produce a godly grandson. And this godly grandson of Manasseh, who would take the place of Amon, is the name Josiah. And Josiah was a king who became king already at eight years old. And he removed all that Amon brought back in. And he broke down all of the altars. and he restored the book of the law. As a matter of fact, so much good is done by Josiah that the word of God testifies this in 2 Kings 23. Now before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to the law of Moses, nor after him did any arise like him. What an encouragement that you find there in, even though there's a dip down in the spiritual life of Judah, that God had used this repentance and conversion of Manasseh for his grandson Josiah, that he would bring Judah back to himself. That's the hard work. of advocating for life for those who are engaged in pro-life ministry. Many times you don't see the fruits as you're engaging. You may never see the fruits of those whom you engage. They may go off and you think they never heard you, never knew you. I remember sitting at many pro-life booths in Alberta and kind of almost walk away from you chuckling and you think it has no impact. And so often you hear of testimonies of those who have been impacted through the work of CCBR and pro-life and how they turned and how there were support groups like pregnancy care centers, and supportive mothers with children, and fathers, and how they're discipled. And you may see them synchronize things of this world and things of the Bible. And yet, if there are times when God uses this to bring families to himself, and to raise up a godly seed in our society. What an encouragement that there's grace for sinners. What an encouragement to come alongside a mom who's aborted several babies, and to come alongside when she comes to know that there is forgiveness with God for her sin. and to be able to hear or testify of it, and of the grace of God. Don't do this work just to make people feel bad and feel guilty. Show them the holiness and the greatness of God, but also that God is a merciful and gracious God. He's also a merciful and gracious God to you and to me. People who have also broken the sixth commandment in countless ways. I can only imagine what it'd be like on the day of judgment. Be standing at the gates of heaven when Jesus' law is pressed upon us in its fullness, when you think you could check the box and say I never murdered anyone, but then your heart is exposed to all of its murderous thoughts, hatred, envy, and you stand before God as the greatest sinner that ever lived. And then you see David coming up in a distance. He comes before the judgment seat of God. Ah, David, you murdered Uriah. You'll never get to heaven. And he's welcomed because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then comes Manasseh. Manasseh. I read about you in 1 Kings 21. And if you look and read 1 Kings 21, it doesn't talk about Manasseh's conversion. You were the most wicked of all men. You offered your children to Moloch. You shed more innocent blood than all the kings of Israel, of all the kings of Judah. Oh, Manasseh, there's no chance that you hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome into my kingdom, for it's been restored to you a great sinner, Manasseh. then you might get some boldness to come and humble yourself before his throne. Because there's grace too for great sinners like you and me. God's grace is super bounding. When we confess our sin and we repent from our sin, and we can be restored in and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ into his kingdom. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we can't comprehend the greatness of our sin, nor can we comprehend the greatness of your amazing grace. Lord, through this account, we pray that you would give us true hearts of compassion and love for the world and the culture around us as we engage as great sinners with great sinners. that we would go forth from this place with the conviction and the resolve to serve you, to tear down the idols out of our lives, to give our children the greatest inheritance they could ever receive, the gift of eternal life. prioritizing your means of grace, by prioritizing, talking with them about spiritual life. Lord, we pray that we truly would turn in repentance to you, to be restored into your kingdom. For we pray it in Jesus' name, amen.