Thou God seest me!

Notes from a sermon heard on Sunday 28 April 2013

Genesis 16 verses 1 – 16

“And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” verse 13

God promised to Abraham a son that he would bless the world with.  He became impatient and so did his wife.  They were well past the hope of having any child naturally speaking.  Sarah came up with an idea – I have a maid here, if I give her to you as a wife maybe she will conceive and have a son.  Abraham goes along with the plan and Hagar does conceive and she despised her mistress so leaves her masters home and it is at this point we take up the story.

Hagar’s pathway – “And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face” verse 6.  Her path took her out of her master’s house and right into the wilderness.  Remember the demonic in the gospels.  His life was spent in the tombs.  Day and night he cried out, no-one could bind him.  The devil had driven him out into the wilderness, from the home he had with his mother and father, separated him from them.  Hagar is found running away, fleeing from her master’s house.  She is trying to make her way back to Egypt where she felt she would be happier.  When we are not saved there is a hunger for something to satisfy the longing in our heart.  Hagar thought what she would desire was down in Egypt – food, safety shelter but she only found hardship by the score.  The Bible tells us “the way of the transgressors is hard.”(Proverbs 13 verse 15)  Hagar was forced this way by the disobedience of Abraham and Sarah, her master and her wife.  If we profess the name of Christ we need to be careful that we don’t drive men and women away from Christ, bring hardship and difficult times for them.  When we are not saved there is always a restlessness in our hearts.  Remember the prodigal son sitting in his own home, the delights of a far off field were starting to call out to his heart.  One day he said to his father ‘would you give me the money due to come to me?’  I’m sure the father looked at him, pleaded with him to leave his money alone but the son wanted it then and there.  The world was calling him.  He packed his bag “not many days since.”  There was something more that he needed in a far country.  He wasted his living on riotous living.  He made plenty of friends, took him to places never been to before, introduced him to people never met before.  For a time he had a great time until a famine hit the place and hard times came.  It all started with a restlessness on his soul.  Onesimus was the servant of Philemon.  One day he had restless feet and he ran away from the house of his master.  He thought he would find his pleasure in Rome and ended up in a prison house.  Where’s the pathway you are on leading you to?

Hagar’s pursuit – “And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur” verse 7.  She is running away to Egypt, to somewhere she thinks she will find all she needs.  Here in the wilderness God finds her.  Jesus left his father’s side to come down into this world to draw alongside you and wants to talk to you.  He finds us whenever we are not looking for him.  There are times when God speaks to our hearts when we are not looking for him.  There may come a time when we find he is not to be found.  There is a great myth today that says you can get saved when you want.  The only way to come is when God is drawing you.  It is possible he may pass you by.  Proverbs 1 verses 24 to 28 says “Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh… Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early but they shall not find me.”  God knows all about you.  He was pursuing Hagar.  He knew her by name verse 8.  “Hagar, Sarai’s maid.”  He knew her name and whose maid she was.  The God of heaven knows everything about us and where we are right now.  “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”  (Hebrews 4 verse 13).  As Nicodemus approached Christ that dark night he came silently and secretly to the Lord.  He tried to camouflage himself by the questions he asked and the praises he would give yet the Lord looked right through him.  Jesus told him ‘you are not saved Nicodemus’. There is not a heart bypassed by God and he knows those who are his.  He knows exactly where you are right now.  Hagar may have been in the wilderness but she was by a fountain.  A place where she could be satisfied.  Jesus is the living water.  You can be found in him right now.  “Where have you come from and where are you going Hagar?.”  God wants honesty.  He wants to make it clear the direction you are going.  The pathway you are on will lead you to hardships in this connection.  How many times has God called you in the past?  How many times have you realised you need to be saved?  It is not a joke, something to pass away – you need to be saved.  Remember the woman at the well.  Jesus called for truthfulness “go and call your husband.”  She replied “I have no husband, I have had 5 husbands.”  She was opened up to her sin.  There is a problem tonight because people cannot admit they are sinners.  In verse 8 we read the words “he said.”  God talked to Hagar.  Thank God for the one pursuing you.  There will be a joy in Christ’s hearts if you would only trust him.

Hagar’s plan – “And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands” verse 9.  You will have to return to where you came from, submit to your master.  God had a plan for her and he has a plan for us.  Repent of your sin, stop and turn around just as Hagar had to do.  For her to find satisfaction and peace in her heart with God she had to turn around and make her way back to the home of her master.  Mistakes had been made and things had to be sorted out.  Every sinner has to return and come under the authority of the Lord because Jesus said let a man take up his cross, let him deny himself and come after me.  The prodigal lying in the pig sty thought to himself “in my father’s house there is room for me.”  Onesimus found the Lord in a prison house but he had to make his way back to his master.

Hagar’s prize – “And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction” verse 11.  A child would be born.  The promise of a new life with Christ is our prize if we accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

Hagar’s promise – “And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” verse 13.  You can come to the Lord, find him as Saviour but you must do it earnestly and seriously.  The moment you do that there will be a well fountain of praise welling up in your heart.  Psalm 40 “he put a new song in my heart even praise unto our God.”