LIMITING GOD


A. "AND LIMITED THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL" - Ps. 73:41
  1. Our text refers to the return of the spies, who brought an evil report of their findings in Canaan:
  2. They caused the people to revolt against Moses and his aids:
    1. That brought swift judgment from the Lord.
    2. All over twenty years old were to die in the wilderness - Num. 14:1-30
    3. Their experience has an important lesson for Modern Israel - 1 Cor. 10:9-11; Rom. 15:4
B. LIMITING GOD
  1. The words of the Psalmist sound like a great paradox:
    1. How can poor, frail, mortal beings limit Almighty God?
    2. How can poor sinners set bounds to the operation of the Infinite One?
  2. But words of inspiration say, "And limited the Holy One of Israel":
    1. That shows that man is a free moral agent; that God does not force him against his will.
    2. "If ye be willing and obedient": "Whosoever will" - Isa. 1:19; Rev. 22:17
    3. That we are, to a certain extent, masters of our own destiny; we have it in our power to receive or to reject God's will and way.
  3. The fact remains, and history shows that men do limit God, set bounds for him, make it impossible for Him to help them:
  4. This is a most serious point to consider because if God is unable to save us if we die in our sins, it is because we are unwilling to let the Holy One in Israel do for us what He is so eager to do, what we cannot do for ourselves:
  5. This subject is full of divine signification:
    1. We are, by our very nature, sinners, and we need help from God, which He is willing and able to provide - Heb. 7:25-27
    2. We limit Him, we cut Him off, we deny Him the opportunity to help us; that is too sad to contemplate!
C. LIMITING THE HOLY ONE IN ISRAEL
  1. To limit God is to set bounds to His operations:
  2. To circumvent or confine Him in His ability to effect certain purposes and works:
  3. How can these things be?
    1. Men limit God when they prescribe their own ways, and reject God's way - Jer. 6:16; Isa. 53:6
    2. Men limit God through unbelief - EXAMPLES -
      1. Numbers 14 is a vivid illustration.
      2. The ministry of Jesus Christ in his own country is another illustration - Matt. 13:58
    3. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." - Isa. 59:2
    4. How often do God's own children limit the Lord with phrases, "If thou hadst been here" - John 11:32; "If thou wilt" - Mark 1:40
  4. I can think of four specific ways in which God is limited:
    1. By disobedience! God had set out to take Israel into the promised land, but the majority of these people disobeyed the Lord, rejected His promise, rebelled against Him, and they perished - Heb. 4:1- 11
    2. He sent His only Son to save them, but they rejected Him; they crucified Him, thus made it impossible for God to save them - John 1:10-12; 5:40. He sent his prophets and apostles to lead them to God, but they turned against them, and made it impossible to save them - Matt. 23:34
    3. And modern Israel, to a large extent, limits God by sheer negligence, "Ye have not, because ye ask not" - Jas. 4:2, 3
    4. Unbelief is the one roadblock to the blessings of heaven which troubles modern Israel; if that were not so, then why does the true witness give such a painful description of the Laodiceans? - Rev. 3:14- 17


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