Amen. You know the name Nahum is very interesting because it's closely linked to the name Nehemiah. It's not exactly the same but it comes from the same meaning. It really means to comfort. So his name, Nahum, and if you were to name your child Nahum, you would name that child in the Hebrew literally comfort. Nehemiah has the Lord's name at the end of it and Nehemiah is the comfort of Jehovah. So if you're reading the book of Nehemiah, remember that Nehemiah bringing the exiles out of Babylon back to Judah and Jerusalem. He was an individual that bore the name in his ministry as the comforter of Jehovah. In other words, he was an individual who, through his message, had a message of comfort for the people. Now, Nahum comes as an individual whose name means comfort, and that won't be lost upon those that he ministers to. In fact, he has what is known in verse 1, the burden of Nineveh. It's very interesting to know that Nahum comes to comfort the people of God. For over 200 years, they have suffered at the hands of the Ninevites. In other words, they've been persecuted, they've been attacked, they are under pressure, they've been suppressed, and they've been maligned by this wicked and cruel nation, the Ninevites. Now you remember, If you do, if you have a good memory from the Minor Prophets study that we had, we studied the book of Jonah and his burden and his message was to the city of Nineveh. Nineveh, by the way, was the capital city of Assyria. And when you read of the Assyrians in the Bible that took the ten nations of Israel into captivity before the two nations of Judah were taken to Babylon. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh. And it was a wicked city. It was an evil city. And Jonah did not want God to spur the Ninevites. He wanted them destroyed because they were an enemy of God. And they were an enemy of His people. And Jonah knew that if he preached repentance to the people, that God would show mercy to the city of Nineveh. A wicked city. An evil city. a people who persecuted the people of God, and yet God showed mercy to the Ninevites. I want to tell you, under the preaching of Jonah, from the very king on the throne to the maid that was working in the mill, they repented in sackcloth and ashes, and God had mercy upon the Ninevites. I want to tell you, that was a hundred years before Nahum. And when God raised up Nahum, the Ninevites had been persecuting Israel for nearly 200 years. And I want to tell you something. They'd also taken Israel, the northern 10 tribes, into captivity and done many of them to death. And yet God spurred them. But now, 100 years later, the Ninevites had repented of their repentance. And now God raised up Nahum to go to the people of God and to pronounce a prophecy that he will now destroy the Assyrian Empire. And he will destroy Nineveh. And that would be a great source of comfort. Now remember, the man himself that's coming is a man who bears the name Comfort. And he's also a prophet sent by the Lord. His very name would be understood to mean that here's a man and he's got comfort in his name and he's got comfort for his people in his message. And he says to the children of Israel and to the people of God, the Lord is good. He's a stronghold in the day of trouble. And remember, trouble is coming to the earth. God will destroy the Assyrian army. And remember this, if they feared the Assyrians, who were the greatest army on earth in their day, and yet a greater army would be raised up to destroy what they understood to be the greatest army on earth, there'll be a greater power. Will they not persecute us? While it's a comfort to know that the Ninevites and the Assyrians will be destroyed and the Assyrian empire in history will never rise again, yet there will be a power on earth far greater than the Assyrians. Judah would fear that if this is what the Assyrians would do, and they're a powerful people, What will this army that defeats the Assyrians do to us? And in that message of comfort, one, God will deal with the Assyrian enemy and the trouble that they have given to Israel. And two, God will be a stronghold in the day of a fierce enemy, the ones that will defeat the Assyrians and destroy the city of Nineveh. God will be good to Israel and God would be a stronghold for them that believe and trust and have faith and are in covenant with him and he will not forsake them and he will be a wall of fire around about them and he will be the glory in the midst of them as Zephaniah said and as Zechariah promised and so Nahum comes With a message of vengeance upon the enemy, God will not at all acquit the wicked, but the Lord is good. The Lord is good to his people, and the Lord is a stronghold to them that trust in him, and he knows his people through and through, in case they miss the message of comfort in his prophecy against Nineveh. He comes with a text and a word from God. And if I was to paraphrase, and I will, the text goes something like this in verse 7. The Lord will be extremely good to His people. The Lord will be a stronghold of defense and will be the strength of His people in troublesome times and He will take knowledge and notice of all them that are trusting in him and that will believe him in covenant relationship. The text is designed by God, by the way, in its context and its application to the church today to be a means of calming your fear, of cheering your heart, and of comforting your soul. And that's exactly how I want to look at the text just now with you. I want you to think, first of all, that the Lord is good. Now that's a statement to cheer your heart. The Lord is good. That's a statement to cheer. your heart. It's important to note that before Nahum uttered these words, he first set forth what is known as the greatness of God. It's no use saying the Lord is good if he's not all-powerful. He's no good to you if he can be defeated. He's no good to you if he's lacking in certain qualities or characteristics. The Lord can be no good to you, child of God, He is unable to help you. And it's remarkable that Nahum, before he brings to you the child of God, the promise of God's goodness, he speaks about the greatness of God. In other words, whenever he says the Lord is good, he's really saying this, the Lord is great and the Lord is good. Now you cannot say that of the Muslim God. You cannot say that. Oh, you hear the Muslim cry, Allah is great. You never hear him cry, Allah is good. I want to tell you, if God was only great and he wasn't good, he would be a despot. He would be a monster. He would not be a God you could ever love or get to know. If he was great, and just, and holy, and He wasn't a God of mercy, and of kindness, and benevolence, and compassion, and a God who was good. I want to tell you, even though He's great, He's no good to you. No good. And if He's good, and He's not great, He's still no good to you. He has to be great. And He has to be good. And that's the message of Nahum. The Lord is great. He'll destroy the enemy. And the Lord is good. He'll be good to Israel. I want to tell you something. Look at verse 2. He's great in His inflexible justice. Look at verse 2. The Lord is slow to anger. That's true. But He's great in authority and power. And He will not at all acquit the wicked. That is, the wicked will not get off. I want to tell you something. We have pride on the streets of Port Rush last night. We had pride on the streets of Belfast. I went down and protested along with others. We will have pride this Saturday, marching in a march of shame and sin on the streets of Cookstown in the Mid-Ulster one, and they're growing. They are growing, and it is a political protest demanding the change of legislation that will basically demand of you the acceptance of their lifestyle. That's contrary to Scripture. And I want to tell you, the Lord will not at all equip the wicked. And I know that there's been much to do about a street preacher, but not a word has been said. of the verbal backlash that we got standing there in a dignified open air from Sodomites and their language and their vileness and their illegal protest alongside us. We are under restriction by law and complied with it, but they're not. And what we were called, and I want to tell you it was worse than what a street preacher said to a bunch of sodomites. It was worse that we got, but not a word, not an intervention. But I'll tell you this, God will not at all acquit the wicked. They will not go unpunished. That's why we should pray for such. Of course, legislation means we can't pray for them. Legislation means we can't counsel them. Legislation is coming in that if someone declares their agenda to be changed, you must accept it. And if you challenge that, then you will be criminalized. That's the law today. But I want to tell you there's a God in heaven, and the Bible says he's great in power, and he will not at all acquit the wicked. That is, he not let sin go unpunished. And we should remember that. While we know that some in that community God has given over to a reprobate mind, Romans chapter one, you should read that child of God. They're given over. Some of them are given over. And I'll tell you something. you're among them and protest, you know those that are given over. They're vile. But there are some that can be saved. Corinthians tells us, such were some of you. And there's some that can be saved. And we should reach out and pray for them and evangelize them and warn them of the wickedness of their sin for God will not at all acquit the I want to tell you, in that protest and other protests, it's getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and yet the very political protest on the streets of Pride is getting bigger and bigger, and they're boasting more and more and more, and they go by numbers. But there's still a remnant. and I say this to you as a child of God, you need to take your stand, because God will not at all acquit the wicked, that is, he not let go sin unpunished, and we need to take a stand for truth, to warn individuals who will be saved and can be saved, that they may turn from their wickedness and sin. Can I say something else to you? There in verse three it says, the Lord is slow to anger, but he's great. in power. And God is jealous and he revengeth in verse 2. But there is it there, you have it in verse 3, the Lord is great. He's great. He will have his way. with the earth and the nations. I want to tell you something, the Lord cannot be resisted. Verses three to six, we read them, and not labor the point, time's moving on, but God cannot be resisted. Therefore, I say this to you, the Lord is great, but alongside his greatness comes this wonderful statement, the Lord is good, and if he's great, and he is, then also he's good, and what a God you have. He's great, he can help you, and he's good, he's willing to do it. It's one thing for someone to be great. Someone might have great influence in a factory. But they're not a good person. And when you go to them and you say to them, could you get me a job? You're the right person. And I know if you speak the word, I'll get a job in your place. But he's great and he's great influence with the bosses. And the bosses allow him a free hand to employ people in the firm. But he's just a bad person. And he's not good. But yet he's great in influence. And he's position. And he's authority. And he can set and he can hire. And if you go to him, he could get you a job. But if he doesn't like you, And if he doesn't like your stand, if he doesn't like your morals, and he doesn't like your attitude, and he doesn't like you as a person, and he doesn't really know you, then he's no good to you. For he's just not a good person. But the Lord is great, well able to do anything for you, but he's good. And you know he's good. You have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The Lord is good. Such a powerful God who was great but not good would be a tyrant. He would be uncaring. He would be vicious. He would be unsparing. He would be callous. But Nahum tells us, God is great. Hallelujah. But God is good, praise his name. And I tell you, great, he can help you. Good, he will help you. That means the Lord is benevolent, he's kind, he's loving, and he's caring. He's compassionate and considerate. He is patient and he's extremely good to his people. I want to tell you the Lord is good all the time. Often we only say of God he's good when he answers prayer, when he saves a soul. when He comes and meets you at the point of your need, when He supplies some financial difficulty you're in, when He answers some prayer you've made and offered, and He steps into some situation, He sorts out a problem, He does something for you, and you turn around and say, the Lord is good. How many of us as God's people, in adverse circumstances, can bow our hearts and lift our soul and our voice, and no matter what happens to me, Can you say the Lord is good? I want to tell you he's good all the time. He's good when there's sunshine and it's good when there's rain spiritually. He's good when you're on the mountaintop and he's good when you're in the valley. He's good when you're in the light and he's good when you're in the dark. He's good when you're in peacetime and he's good when you're in trouble. The Lord is good and he's good all the time. It's part of his nature. Just as we say he's great, he's good. Just as we say he is holy, he's good. Just as we say he's righteous and just, he's good. Just as we would say the Lord is merciful, he's good. And I want to tell you something, God's goodness is really the perfection of his nature. That's what it is in theological terms. The goodness of God is nothing else but the perfection of his nature. So God is perfectly good. That is, He cannot make a mistake in dealing with you. He cannot be hard and harsh against you. He cannot be cruel in dealing with you. He cannot be unfair in what He allows in your life and mine. He's perfectly good. That's what that really means, the Lord is good. Did the Lord not say to the rich man who came to Him and said, good master? And the Lord says, there's none good. perfectly good but god. Non perfectly good but god. But he didn't rebuke the man for calling him good because Jesus Christ is god and he's good and he's great. The goodness of god is When he acts in mercy, love, compassion, it's because of his goodness. The Lord is good. We've often said of people, they're good people. And we know what we mean, but they're not perfectly good. but they're good people. And there may be people who are generous and kind and loving, and they just have a tender, compassionate spirit. And we often say when we see them and we see their actions, you know, there's a good man, there's a good woman. That young person's a good young person. Parents might even say of their children, you know, my children are good. I would like to talk to the parents that have actually said that. My children are good. Most of the time, sometimes, they'll never say all of the time because we're imperfect. But I will say this, there's times whenever you say, you know, that young girl of mine, I think it might even be said of Katie, who's getting married, she's giving us no bother. She's a good girl, and she is. And we say that of our children, you know. And you know they have their faults, but you know they're good. perfect. But we don't really mean they're perfectly good. But when we use that word of God, we're using it of an infinite being. And he has to be good always. And he has to be perfectly good. And he is. Child of God, remember this. The Lord is not only good, he's perfectly good. It's the perfection of his actual nature. The spring of all his actions is his goodness. So, That's what is known as the goodness of his bounty. Whenever the Lord helps the weak and the faint hearted, that's what is known as the goodness of his pity. Whenever the Lord fulfills his promises to you, that's what is known as the goodness of his faithfulness. His faithfulness is good. His goodness is the spring of all His actions. When the Lord protects you, and Christ preserves you, and the Spirit comforts you, that's what is known as the goodness of His power. When the Spirit of God directs your path and guides your feet, that's what is known as the goodness of His wisdom. and the Lord is infinitely good, and he's perfectly good. And when God the Father pardons all our sins, it's what is known as the goodness of his mercy, and the goodness of God is the foundation of all his dealings with his people. And I want to tell you how good is the God we adore. He's our faithful, unchangeable friend. His love is as great as his power, and it knows neither measure nor end. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. for he is good and his mercy endureth forever. The Lord is good. Now that's a statement. to cheer your heart. Let me say secondly, the Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble. Now that's a statement to calm your fears. The Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble. That's a statement to calm your fears. The word trouble, mostly used of God's people, that word trouble in the Hebrew literally means this, a day of straightness or narrowness or tightness. We've often said in this province, it's what is known as an ulsterism. Well, how are you keeping? And here's what people say, I'm getting it tight. I'm getting it tight. I guarantee you, even our young people have heard, even maybe their parents say, I'm getting it tight, you know. And do you know what they mean by that? Without realizing it. really comes straight from the Old Testament and the Hebrew word for trouble. It literally means tightness, where you are actually hemmed in. Well, you feel you've no way out. You feel you're crammed in by your troubles. You feel that now you're struggling to get out of this dark tunnel. You feel that there's no escape, the present trouble you're in, and there's no way out, and I see no light, and it doesn't look bright. That's what that word trouble means, and he's a stronghold in the day of narrowness. A day of tightness when you're hemmed in and you are crammed that you can't physically help yourself. And if someone is crammed in a little tunnel, and that tunnel, and by the way, I know it's hard to believe when I was in a cell eight feet by 13 for a long time, but I'm seriously claustrophobic. And you couldn't shut me into a small space. And I mean, you would go into franticism. Seriously claustrophobic. It comes from events in my childhood, which I don't want to mention. And I mean that it comes from days in my childhood that I don't want to mention. I won't mention. But seriously, extremely claustrophobic. And to think that you were crammed in anywhere and physically couldn't move and couldn't escape. Here's the word trouble. And you know, if you were claustrophobic and you were shut into a small space like that, you know how you fear. You know how the mind races and enfranticism sets in. And in many ways, the heart could stop. You could take a heart attack. You could literally die in that enclosed space. It means there's no way out. And it seems that that's exactly the troubles of the believer. And the believer can, spiritually speaking, become spiritually claustrophobic. In other words, they begin to be frantic and they panic and they're irrational in their behavior and in their logic and in what they do and say. That's why at times as a pastor, Some things are said in a time like that, and you probably would be horrified to have known that or heard that, but don't ever point the finger. because I guarantee you, you may even be worse than what other people have said and done. And I wouldn't repeat what some believers have said. They didn't mean it, but I want to tell you, it seemed they were hemmed in and they were literally spiritually claustrophobic and they began a spirit of franticism spiritually and a panic that led them to make statements that they know are wrong and they regret to their dying day. maybe you have done that. Maybe that's you we're speaking about and you've been hemmed in but I want to tell you, isn't it good to know that in such a time, the lord is a refuge for you. The lord is your protector. The lord will give you strength. He'll be a stronghold for you. He will be a fortress to you. He will be the preserver and the protector of your mind, of your soul, of your body, of your spirit, the said, safe to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61, David said, on the death of Absalom. That's right. Read Psalm 61, on the death of his child, on the death of his son, Absalom, which he never got over, by the way. Now, we talk about Christians and believers getting over the death of a loved one. I want to tell you, David never got over the death of Absalom. Yet he's a man after God's own heart. He wrote about his experiences. He comforts now, to this day, millions of believers, to this day, with his words of inspiration under God. And yet in Psalm 61, he lamented and probably died of a broken heart. He even mourned, O Absalom, Absalom, Absalom, would to God I had died instead of thee. And he penned under inspiration in deep grief, Psalm 61. And it is a psalm of deep emotion. And he says, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. because he knew the Lord was good and he was a stronghold in the day of tightness and a day of trouble. Oh, safe to the rock that is higher than I. My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly. So sinful, so weary. Thine, thine would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages I'm hiding in thee. My wife and I did not travel too far. over the summer period down to Annalong, up to Port Rouge, and around a few places, that's about all. It rained every single day, by the way, as the cloud hovered over us on the Sunday night we finished here, and it stayed right until yesterday. It's still here, gonna follow us. It just seemed, I said to June, wherever we were driving, we got out of the car, it emptied. And at one stage I said to June, June, I'm telling you this, I'm telling you this, there is a cloud over us. And wherever we go, it's raining. And if people want to go somewhere dry, they should ring us and ask us, where are you? And go in the opposite direction. That's the way it seemed. But one thing I did learn is my skin is waterproof. Not my clothing, but my skin is. But we did go alongside the harbors. And I said to June, maybe on at least two occasions, look at it. a complete calm. All those boats were sitting in calm water. I mean you could see the bottom and as small as I was I climbed up on the harbour wall and I looked over and you wouldn't believe what was over on the other side. The waves were literally six, seven feet high crashing in against the harbour wall and then I looked at the harbour. It was still and those boats were perfect calm. There's a certain harbour in the United Kingdom where is what is known as a powerful breakwater. It is a harbour wall. It rises some 30 feet in the air out of the water and it defies for years the fury and the power of every single wave that crashes against it. It's a powerful breakwater. It's no surprise because it was built on such a scale, because with every storm, each wave crashes against it with a force of a thousand sledgehammers. And yet it stands, and it protects a little tiny boats that are in the harbor, little vessels that are tied to a little boy and a little piece of rope. And those boats are there. They might move now and again with the swell of the tide coming in, but there are no crashing waves. The breakwater takes the fury of those waves. And you know, the Lord is the breakwater for you. He takes the fury of the wave. All you're getting is a little bit of swell. trouble. That's what your trouble really is. I don't want to lessen your trouble. I don't ever want to lessen your troubles. And they're personal to you and they're hard to take for some. But I'm telling you, if we were to have the full force of them, we would not survive. But the Lord is a breakwater. The Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble. Let the waves come but remember, your little vessel will not crash. It and it's a vivid picture when you look at it. And that's the kind of shelter the Lord is to his people. William Gurnall, he's one of the Puritan writers. I think he has written three volumes. Well, it's maybe into one volume, but I have the three volumes set by William Gurnall on the armor of God. And he wrote extensively. He was a Puritan writer and author of the 1600s. And he had this to say, I quote, He says, if a heathen, a godless wretch, a heathen could say, when actually a bird chased by a hawk flew into his bosom, he could actually say, I will not kill thee, nor will I betray thee to thine enemy, the hawk, because thou flyest to me for refuge. And if a heathen could protect a bird flying into its bosom, frightened out of its life, scared of a hawk, and a heathen could say, I will not kill thee, I will not betray thee to thine enemy, since thou flyest to me for sanctuary. He had this to say, much less will God betray thee to thine enemy, seeing thou flyest to him, Christ. for sanctuary. Astronomers tell us that every year, millions, did you hear that? Millions of meteorites fly toward planet Earth with such a destructive power that if only a percentage of them, a small percentage, was to hit planet Earth, the Earth would be wiped out. Did you know that? How is the Earth protected? from those meteorites. Some of them are boulders. They suggest half the size of planet Earth. Some may even be bigger than planet Earth, and they come toward our Earth. What protects the Earth? I'll tell you what it is. It's a thin layer of atmosphere. And when they reach the atmosphere at that speed from outer space, they literally disintegrate. And that's why you only find that small particles of meteorites land on planet Earth. And it is that atmosphere around the earth that actually protects the earth, a thin layer. And I want to tell you something, in the spiritual realm, those evils that assault the believer and the church, those difficulties that are hurled our way are resisted by the atmosphere of the presence of the Lord with his people, for the Lord is good and he's a stronghold. He's the atmosphere. He's the breakwater. He's the harbor wall. He's the tower in which you run into. I was out walking last night, and I could see in the distance Scrabble Tower. That suggested a mile from my house, and I was walking long distances. But you can see Scrabble from anywhere unless it's blocked. But I could see it, and I thought of that text as I was walking toward it. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and are safe. I want to tell you Christ and his everlasting goodness, he will never let you down, he is a stronghold in the day of trouble. Now that's a statement to calm your fears. One final thought and it's this, the Lord knoweth them that trust in him. Now that's a statement to comfort your soul. If the Lord is good, and that's a statement to cheer your heart. If the Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and that's a statement to calm your fears. Well here, as we conclude, it's a statement that will comfort your soul. The Lord knoweth them that trust in Him. In other words, you can literally paraphrase it like this. Because they trust in me, I am honoured by that trust. And therefore I will honour them, and I will vindicate them, and I will preserve and protect and keep safe those, and I will take knowledge of the trouble they're in, the danger they face, and I will reward them. with my care and with my comfort. So those who trust in Christ are assured that Christ will see to it that you are strengthened for every trial. You're provided for, you're blessed, you're helped, you're encouraged, you're shown mercy, your prayers will be answered, your needs will be met. That's what it means. He taketh knowledge. Isn't that what the Lord said to the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter six of Matthew's gospel? He says, your heavenly father knoweth what ye have need of. Do you know, friends, listen to me, there's not a sparrow that has fallen to the ground and died in obscurity in the human level. Who knows how many sparrows outside this house have fallen to the ground? Who knows how many sparrows have hit their heads off the telephone wire, who have smashed into glass and windows? Who knows? God does. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without your father's permission. Nothing happens in this world, but it's under his control and for his glory. And that means everything in your life and mine is working together for your good because the Lord is good. and to them that are called according to his purpose. So I tell you, as we trust in Christ, he takes knowledge of that faith. No matter how small it is or insignificant you feel it is. And listen to me, he honors it personally by protecting and by caring and providing for your every need. Therefore, as the psalmist said, I will trust and not be afraid. And why is that? Because the Lord is good.