Let me breathe, just me as I
can be, living my life, living my truth, living life, living
as one. Okay, let's bow in prayer. Our
Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us here. We thank you for your house, your temple, the
tabernacle of the Lord. How amiable is this place where
two or three are gathered in your name, those of like faith. good and pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity, unity of spirit, faith, love and purpose. Thank you for bringing us. I
thank you for making me a part of this assembly. I ask your
blessings on this assembly tonight for your glory, for our good,
our edification. Lord, strengthen our faith. Get
glory to yourself and strengthen our faith. This is our hope tonight. This is our desire to grow in
grace in the knowledge of Christ and to glorify the Father as
we glorify the Son. Forgive us of our sins in Christ's
name. Amen. Okay, turn to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. preached on the last verse in
this psalm, and upon hearing that and upon reading the psalm,
and I thought back again on it this week and read it again,
and I thought, we're going to do the rest of this psalm. It's
too good. And I'm going to try to get through
it. If I don't get to verse 14, that's okay. That's been dealt
with very well. Verse 14. Each verse deserves
a message by itself, but we're going to try to look at most
of them. This is called the believer's confidence, this psalm. The believer's
confidence and his testimony. David gives his testimony in
the first six verses, and then in the latter verses, it's a
prayer. It's a prayer of David. Let's
begin. Verse 1. David says, The Lord
is my light. The Lord is my light. Sovereign
Lord is my light. Light means my understanding. If you know the holy and sovereign
Lord, then you have understanding. You understand all things in
light of his holiness and sovereignty. Without that understanding, without
that knowledge of him, You don't know anything. You don't understand.
You're in darkness. The Lord, you know Him. You have
light. The light of understanding. The Lord is my light and my salvation. If you know Him, you know He
is your salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
our righteousness. The Lord our peace. The Lord
our provider. And on and on. The Lord, Jehovah.
The Lord is my salvation. It's not a doctrine, not a creed,
not works. The Lord is my salvation. Christ
is my salvation. He's all and end all. He's my
mediator, my substitute. He's my salvation. The Lord is my salvation. So he says, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is not only my eternal Savior, but my Temporal Savior,
my Savior here on the earth. He keeps me. He keeps me safe. The Lord, like he wrote in Psalm
23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Well, if the
Lord is my Savior, the one who watches over me, the one who
ordains all things concerning me, the one who keeps me by his
power, of whom shall I be afraid? The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord. Even the wicked ones. Right? There's nothing and no one can
touch one of God's people except what he allows. Not even Satan
himself. Right? The Lord is my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life. Without him, I can do nothing.
Without him, we can do nothing. We're poor and needy. We can't
do anything. But we can do all things how? Through Christ which strengthens
us. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the strength of my life. Strength to go on. Of whom shall
I be afraid? Again, he reminds us that we
should not fear anybody. Don't fear anybody. Fear the
Lord. The Lord himself said that. He said don't fear him who can
kill the body and after that he can't do any more. But fear
him. who after he kills the body,
puts both body and soul in hell. Fear the Lord. If we truly fear
the Lord, we won't fear man. Fear the Lord. Verse 2, he says,
when the wicked, now he's talking about the wicked one. He's talking
about Satan. That's whom the Lord referred
to. He said, when you pray, pray
deliver us from evil. Be evil. The evil one. Our Lord
Himself said, Satan as a roaring lion seeketh whom he may devour. Well, David writes that. He said,
when the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to
eat up my flesh, to devour me, the Lord said to Peter, Peter,
Satan hath desired thee to sift thee as wheat. Well, what was Peter's Hope. Peter's no match for Satan. He
proved that, didn't he? When the Lord left him alone.
Peter thought he was. Peter, for a moment, got lifted
up in pride, didn't he? And said, everybody else will
leave you, but not me. So the Lord taught him a lesson,
didn't he? The Lord left him alone just for a few hours. And he denied the Lord and cowered
like a Satan sifted him. But the Lord
said, but I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fail not. You're going to fail. You are
going to fail. You're going to fall. I'm going
to let you fall and see how weak you are. Without me, you can
do nothing. Though you boast of great things,
I'm going to let you see that you can't stand for one moment
without me in your own strength. And he did. But I pray for you,
the Lord said, that your faith fail not. You're going to fail,
but the one in whom you trust never faileth. It's good for
us to fail. Why is that? That we might trust
in the Lord alone and lean not to the arm of the flesh. So,
he says, when the wicked, the wicked one, even mine enemies
and my foes, Satan's not the only foe. He is the archenemy
of the believer. But he has his demons and devils. It's true. As I told you before,
the Lord cast out devils more than any other miracle that he
performed. And there are still many. And they're not like we
would think. They're not like Hollywood depicts
them. But David says, even though my enemies, which are many, and
my foes, my foes, we've got many enemies and many foes. The whole
world is against the believer. Our sins are ever before. And
that old, old arch enemy, our old man, is against us, right? And what do they prey upon? David
said, they want to eat up my flesh, the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, so that I cannot do the things that I would. It's
the flesh. It's the flesh that Satan appeals
to. It's the flesh that the world appeals to. It's the flesh that
our old man craves. But, he said, they stumbled and
fell. When they came on me, they stumbled
and fell. They assaulted me. And they do assault me, but I'm
still standing. How about you? I talked to an older believer
one time who was going through a difficult trial, and he said,
I can't take any more. And it was a difficult trial.
But you know something? He did. He could. The Lord gave him, his grace
is sufficient. He giveth more grace. He did.
He's still standing. He's still standing. Job was
still standing. In all this, the Scripture said,
all that Job went through, the Scripture says, in all this,
Job sinned not with his mouth. In all this, the wicked, they
assault, but we're still standing. Huh? Christ said, Sin shall not
have dominion over you. That's his promise. I like that. Verse 3, Though an host should
encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though an host should
encamp against me. I want you to look back at 2
Kings chapter 6. 2 Kings chapter 6 is this wonderful
story of Elisha who's being pursued by the king of Syria. It's a
funny story. Really, because in chapter 6,
Elisha was telling the king of Israel everything that the king
of Syria was going to do. The Lord revealed to Elisha every
move the enemy king was going to make, and he would tell it
to the king of Israel. And somebody told the king, and
the king of Syria said, there's a spy among us. We need to find
out who the spy is. And one of the fellows said,
no, it's not. It's the prophet. He knows what you're saying in
your bedchamber. And he's telling us. So the king
of Syria sent a whole army to get one man. Now here it is,
they're a host, they sent the king of Syria, which was a huge
kingdom, sent his huge army to get one man. One little prophet. Look at it now in verses 14 through
18. He sent horses and chariots,
a great host, and they came by night and compassed the city
about. Now when the servant of the man
of God, this is a little house servant of Elisha, rose up early
to go about his business, you know, gathering water or whatever.
He went out and behold a host compassed the city both with
horses and chariot. He looked up and saw this huge
army surrounding the city. He knew who it was. He knew who
they were after. Oh, it scared him to death. And his servant said unto Elisha,
Alas, my master, how shall we do? What are we going to do?
And Elisha answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are
more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about one One man. How about you? Elisha was a man of like passions. Right? Isn't that what James
wrote? So it is with all of God's people.
They that be for us, with us, are more than they that be within. And the Lord smoked that whole
army with blindness. They couldn't touch Elisha. Couldn't
touch him. So go back to our text. So he
says, and hosts should encamp against me. All the world is
against the believer, and they are. You ever feel like everything's
going against you? As far as this world goes, it is. But if God be for us, who can
be against us? What does it matter? It's all
going to be well. You say to the righteous, I remember
hearing old Jack Shanks preach on this, say to the righteous,
it shall be well with them. Say to the wicked, it's not going
to be well with them. It's all going to turn out in
our favor. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. You have the Lord's word on it.
Alright, he says, my heart shall not fear, though war should rise
against me. The war should rise against me,
and it does, mostly within. The war that I battle mostly
is within. How about you? Do you say like
Paul said in Romans 7 verse 14, he said, I see a law warring
in my members, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin and
so forth. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me? Well, the last verse, Brother
John, in that chapter, he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Christ is the deliverer of all
his people, though war, though there's a war raging within them. And this will I be confident,
David said. And this will I be confident. The believer's confidence
is what the Lord, who the Lord is, where he is, and what he's
done for him. That's the believer's confidence. What the Lord has
done for him, who he is, where he is. He said, the Lord is my
life, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Though a host
can camp against me, whom shall I fear? Though a war rages within
me and without, what shall I be afraid of? It's the Lord. It's the Lord. The Lord is my
comfort. And what he does in every believer
is a work of regeneration. And there's a certain amount
of confidence that you can take in what the Lord has begun. Because
Paul said this in Philippians 1, he said, I'm confident, I
have this confidence that he that hath begun a good work in
you will perform it. This work of regeneration David
tells about in verse 4. And I want you to see if this
is within you. I want you to ask yourself this
honest question. I want you to ask yourself, can
I say these things with David? In verse 4, David is going to
pour out his heart here. This is the heart of a regenerated
child of God. Something you can't fake. Desires and hopes and wishes
and a testimony that cannot be faked. And I want you to ask
yourself, is this the way I feel? Is this my heart's Look at verse 4. He says, One
thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after. One
thing have I desired of the Lord. Now this work of regeneration
that God does, God who hath begun the work, this work of regeneration
begins with a desire. A desire. That's where it began,
a need. A need, a desire to know God,
a desire to know the truth, a desire to have your sins forgiven, a
desire for the mercy of God, a desire to know Christ, to win
Christ and be found, a desire, a need, a hunger and a thirst
for righteousness, a desire to hear the gospel. Do you have
that desire? All of these things are one thing,
really. Do you have that desire? One
thing have I desired of the Lord. You can't fake that. You can't
fake it. It's either there or it's not.
And the Lord is the one that creates that. One thing have
I desired of the Lord. And when there's a real desire
there, whatever a person really desires and wants and loves and
hopes for in his heart, will seek after that. He said, one
thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after. I will seek after." Paul said
this, he said, I haven't arrived yet. Paul said, I'm not there
yet, but this one thing I do, I press toward the mark, for
the prize of the high calling of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How about you? Hmm? Can you say that? This one
thing have I desired of the Lord and that's what I'm after. Can you say that? Now, you're
worried right now because there are other things you desire.
That's flesh. Flesh does that. The flesh desires
things. And I would warn you that things
are the most detrimental thing there is to things there are
to spiritual life. The most detrimental thing there
is. Our Lord warned the church at Laodicea over in Revelation
3 of lukewarmness. Lukewarmness, that is indifference
to the gospel. Why were they indifferent to
the gospel? Because the Lord said they were rich and increased
with goods and had need of nothing. I would warn you of these things.
But now God gives us all things richly to enjoy. Ecclesiastes,
the whole book, is about that, that you're free to enjoy these
things. Go ahead and enjoy them. God gives them to enjoy. But
don't let them take hold of your heart. Don't let them take you
from this one thing that they need. Can you say from your heart, there's one thing I desire more
than anything else? David said that. One thing have
I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after. Here it is,
verse 4. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may dwell in the
house of the Lord. Turn to Psalm 84 with me. The house of the Lord. What is
that? David's talking about the place where he worshiped. Yes,
he is. He's not talking about an eternal
house, though that is certainly our desire. We want to dwell
with the Lord someday, all the days of our life. But David,
now, David's talking about right now, all the days of my life
here on this earth. And I may dwell it because he
goes on to say what he does. This is the Lord's house. Now,
you know it's not a building. Building is wood, hay, and stubble.
Though we don't treat it like that. But the Lord's house is
his people. It's his church. It's Mount Zion.
It's the temple of the living God. That's what he said. That's where the Lord dwells.
And that's where his people dwell. And it's really where the mercy
seat is. Where the gospel is preached.
Where the angel of the Lord is. between the mercy seat. That's
where the Lord said he'd meet you. The church of the living
God. David said, I want to dwell there all the days of my life.
I don't want to leave. At this time, when he wrote Psalm
84, he was exiled. He was on the run. Psalm 84,
he was running, I think, from Absalom at the time. And he wanted
more than anything else to be in the house of God where God's
people were worshiping. He couldn't. He was out living. He missed it more than any time.
And he wrote Psalm 84. And he said this in Psalm 84,
how amiable, how lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.
There's not just one, there are many. You've visited several
of them, haven't you? Cherokee, Ashland, keep going. Pikeville. Oh, aren't they lovely
places, huh? Cities of refuge. Places of rest,
oases in the wilderness. Aren't they? How amiable, how
lovely your tabernacle, your church, O Lord, of hosts. My soul longeth, David said,
my soul longeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. David thought
those buildings back then were open. They didn't have windows
in them and so forth. And David thought about the sparrow who
made a nest up in the top of that building. He said, I'd just
like to be a sparrow up there. Verse 3, the sparrow found in
the house to swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her
young, even dine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
A little bird, I don't know if it's the same one or not, but
some bird keeps nesting in this ivy on the side of the building
here. And it's been doing it for years. And as far as I know,
the young must be all right and they must fly out and be okay. And that doesn't surprise me.
You bring your young here and it will be wet. Make a nest here,
how about that? All right, go back to the text.
So David said, I want to dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life. Lord, that's the one thing I
desire here. That's all I need, really, here. I want to be here. And what do
we do here? In verse 4 he says, I want to
behold the beauty of the Lord. That's what we do here, isn't
it? That's all we do here. That's all we do, is behold your
God. That's what the Lord told the
prophet Isaiah. Tell the people, behold your
God. Behold thy King cometh. Behold the beauty of the Lord.
Behold the glory, the majesty, the excellencies, the wonder,
the power, the altogether lovely Lord. the great work of salvation
of the Lord. Behold the beauty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Behold. That's what we come here
to do. That's what we come here to do,
don't we? And that's what we'll do, and all of this certainly
applies eternally. That's what we're going to be
doing in our eternal tabernacle. He says, I want to behold the
beauty of the Lord in your house all the days of my life. And,
verse 4, to inquire in his temple. That's why we're here, too. We're
here to inquire of the Lord. We're here to learn of the Lord.
We're disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're here to learn of
him and from him. We're here to inquire of him
of the things that we need. We're here to ask. We're here
to bring our petitions to the Lord. In everything, give thanks. But you can let your request
be known. We're here to inquire of the
Lord. How? By prayer. We do call on
him to ask the thing. And then we look into his word.
Inquire in his word to see what he would have us to do. Inquire
of the Lord. That's what I want to do. This
one thing have I desired. And that's why I'm here. How
about you? Verse 5. He says, for in the time of trouble,
and there's going to be plenty of time, Man that is born a woman
is a few days and full of trouble. In the time of trouble, you're
going to need what you get here. You're going to need this. And if you do, if you dwell here,
if you behold the beauty of the Lord, if you inquire into His
Word and ask those things of Him, in the time of trouble,
He will hide you. in his pavilion. Now what is
his pavilion? Well that pavilion is not as
you'd think. You'd think of a pavilion as
some vast place. It's not at all. The word pavilion
actually refers to a little small hut made of rushes and reeds. Kind of sounds to me like the
little ark that Moses was in. Sounds just like it. That's what
that pavilion, a little pavilion, They're going to hide me. Just
like Moses, the enemy is after me. But the Lord puts you in
his heart for safekeeping. And even the enemy will do good
by you, since the Lord has ordained it. I gave Egypt for your ransom,
he said. Ethiopia and Saba, all the world
for you. And he says he'll hide me in
his pavilion. And in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide
me. That's the Holy of Holies. That's the secret place of his
tabernacle. Oh, we go into the holy of holies, don't we, John?
When we behold the beauty of Christ? We go into the holy of
holies. Oh, there's nobody going to go
in there and harm us. The secret of his tabernacle,
and the Lord shows us secret things. He'll hide us. Hide me, oh my Savior, hide me.
Till this trouble be past. It's the only place to hide.
And he shall set me upon a rock. No matter what trouble comes,
in the time of trouble, it's not if, it's when. In the time
of trouble, he'll set me on a rock. And then it won't matter. Go
or stay, he's standing on a rock. No matter how hard the trouble,
if you're standing on the rock. Verse 6. And now shall mine head
be lifted up above mine enemies. Here's his testimony. My head
shall be lifted up above mine enemies. Whose head? What is
our head? Who is our head? Christ is our
head. Christ is our head. Now the world
doesn't hold up the head. They don't. That's what Paul
wrote to the Philippians. Not holding the head, he said,
Colossians. Oh, but the believers, they want
the head held up high where they can see it. This is why we preach
Christ. When you come in here, we've
got our heads hanging. You need to see Christ high and
lifted up. You need to see your head exalted, Christ your head
exalted, sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high.
Stephen, Stephen, they had rocks in their hands and were brushing
his brains out. The whole world, he was by himself.
Every one of them were brushing his brains out with rocks and
he looked steadfastly toward heaven, the scripture said. He
said, I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the majesty
on high. Now, he who sits most of the
time stood up in order of, for the confirmation of, the head lifted up. We need to
see Christ exalted, the army of Israel. All cowed down, this
huge giant was defying them all, weren't they, and defying the
living God. Well, up came the good shepherd, the shepherd of
Israel, that man, that fair man, the future king. He came up and
said, Who is this dead dog to defy the armies of the living
God? I'll take his head off. And he
went out and proceeded to do just that. And he stood on his
dead body. David stood on the headless body
of the enemy of the people with his head in his hands. And the
people took courage. And so did we. See, our head
lifted up. Christ exalted with the head of our enemy in
his hand, under his feet. Right? Ah, he's lifted up. Roundabout. Therefore will I
offer. See, we've got something to sing about. Verse 6. David
liked to sing. David liked to sing, and he did
a lot of it. He wrote a lot of songs. He wrote most all these
songs. That's what song means. Poetry
set to music. A song. He said, Therefore I
will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. He didn't
have to prompt David to sing louder. He was the loudest one
there. The word joy there is shouting. He said, I'll sing. Yes, I will sing praises unto
the Lord. Those that have been forgiven
much will love much. Those who love much will sing
much and laugh. Now, here's David's prayer. I've
got to hurry. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. You know, it's good just to have
somebody hear you. Most of the time when somebody
comes to you with their troubles, they're not looking for advice
per se, but they just want you to hear them. Well, David, there's
one we need to hear us, really. The Lord. Hear me, O Lord, when
I cry with my voice. And he will. Have mercy also
upon me. Oh, that's what we need, isn't
it? Mercy. And answer me. We do want answers. He gives
them. Yes, he will. He gives answers. Sometimes no
answer is the answer. You know that? That's the answer. But he will answer. One way or
another, he will answer. He doesn't ignore his people,
though he does, though it may seem like he does, like that
Canaanite woman. Oh, Nancy, he heard everything
she said. She's there because he brought
her there. He's testing her, her importunity. She kept crying. He answered her. He answered her. Read on. Verse
8, David said, When you said, Seek my face, and the Lord said
that, Psalm 24, When you said, Seek my face, my heart said unto
thee, Thy face, Lord, will I see." Do you seek the Lord? Can you
say from your heart, one thing have I desired of the Lord, and
that's what I'm seeking after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, to inquire in his temple. And you told me to seek your
face, and that's what I'm doing. Reckon he'll show it to you?
Uh-huh. Reckon the Lord will show you
his face? Yes. of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shows it to all
that seek him. All that really have a desire.
Oh, preacher, I want to know the truth. Do you? Then you'll
know it. I'm seeking the Lord. Haven't
found him. Well, seek ye my face. My heart said, I face, O Lord,
will I seek. Have you ever really sought something? What does it mean to seek something?
Have you ever really sought something? I mean you're looking for something
and you're not going to quit until you find it. One time I looked for a needle
in a haystack. I dropped a nail in the middle
of a stall when I had straw all over the stall. Straw, where
the horses were having babies in that big stall. I dropped
a big old nail in that stall. I didn't have a metal detector.
I looked for a needle in the haystack. I didn't quit. I found it. I wasn't going to
quit. That's what it means to seek.
That's what it means to seek. One thing will I seek after. You said seek my face. That's
what I'm doing. That's what I'm doing. Hide not your face from
me. Hide not thy face far from me, put not thy servant away
in anger." You know, Lord, we feel like he does hide his face.
And he does in a sense that we might seek him. It's because we've forgotten
him. It's because we've turned from him. It's because we haven't
been seeking him, and so he hides his face when we get in trouble
and we start hollering. And he hides his face temporarily.
And we say with David, is his mercy's clean gone? No, they're
new every morning. The very fact that you're calling
on him again means they're still new. But he does hide his face, but
he won't forever. He ought to, shouldn't he? David is thinking about his sinfulness
right now. Thinking about what a sinner he is, he says, Don't
hide your face from me. Don't put me away in anger. You've
been my help. You always have been my help.
Don't leave me. Leave me not. Verse 9, I'm reading.
Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Really? You think he'll forsake
one of his people? What'd he say? I give unto them eternal life,
and I will never forsake them. Now what did he say? He's the
God of our salvation. See, he's all our hope. Verse
10, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will
take me up. What did he say there? Mary,
what did he say there? He said, when my father and mother. He
didn't say if. He doesn't say if trouble comes.
He says, and when trouble. He doesn't say if my father and
mother. He said when. Because our Lord
said in Matthew 10, I've come to set a man at variance against
his father and a daughter against her mother. A man's enemies shall
be those of their own household. It will happen. It will come
to that. But, now they're not going to
stay your father and mother all year from now. And so it won't
matter. You've got a heavenly father.
who loves you infinitely more than they do. And he'll take
you up. He's going to take you up. Verse 11. Teach me thy way, O
Lord, lead me in a plain path. Teach me. David says this a lot,
doesn't he? Psalm 25, many other places.
Teach me thy way, O Lord. His way seems right to me. It's
not always the right way. Lead me in a plain path. A plain path. Because of my enemies. A plain path. You know, religion
has gotten so complicated, hasn't it? It sure has. It's so complicated. Every new
thing. I don't have any of it. I'm way
behind, Brother John. They've been coming up with new
things for years now. They've got it all. I don't have
any of that. Don't need it. Don't want it.
Give me the old way, where it is the good, the old paths, where
it is the good way. The plain way. The plain truth. The one way. The narrow way. The straight way. Don't give
me that broad way. Don't give me all that new stuff.
Give me the old way. The one way. I want a way they
call heresy. That's the way I want to go.
That's what Paul said, the way they call Harrison. That's the
way I worship. That's the way I want. Plain,
too. Plain. The Lord's word is plain.
Because of mine enemy, those which observe me. Lord, let me
stay in this way from now on. Don't let me change. They're given to changes. Meddle
not with them, the scripture said. Those that are given to
change. Verse 12. Deliver me not over
unto the will of mine enemies. For false witnesses are risen
up against me, such as breathe out cruelty. Deliver me not."
Oh, he says, I had fainted. I would have quit a long time
ago unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.
Here, in this land, David's talking about now. We're going to see
the goodness of the Lord. Oh my, are we ever. But the Lord, has not the Lord
shown you his goodness here? Has he not made his goodness
pass before you here? That's what Moses asked for.
Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord said, I'll make
my goodness pass before you. How about you? Has his goodness
passed before you? It's doing it right now. Passing before you. What is his
goodness? It's the same thing. It's the
gospel. It's the gospel of your salvation.
your help, your hope, your strength, your meat, your drink, your food,
your life. These are words of life. Words
of life. Spirit and life. David said,
I would have quit a long time ago if I didn't have the gospel.
If it hadn't been for the gospel. So, he says, wait on the Lord. I need not comment on that. I
do want to read you a scripture, though. Wait on the Lord, be
of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I
say, on the Lord." Luke 12. Luke 12, in closing. Wait on
the Lord. Brother Marvin dealt with that
so very well. Wait on the Lord. That's what
we are. We're waiting on the Lord. We're waiting on the redemption
of our bodies. We're waiting on him to return,
who said he would. Luke 12, in closing. Let's look
at these verses with me. Luke 12, verse 31, seek ye the kingdom
of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear
not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom Sell that you have and give alms. Provide
yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens
that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let
your loins be girded about, your lights burning, and ye yourselves
like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from
the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto
him immediately. All blessed are those servants,
whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I
say unto you, that he shall gird himself, make them to sit down
to meet," like old Mephibosheth, and will come forth and serve
him. Wait, just wait, just wait. It does get better than this.
All right. I want to sing a hymn in closing
in the green book. Number 188 in the green book.
Sherry, if you'll come up. No, you sit right down there.
Stand up, but don't go to the piano. I want you to sing with
us. 188 in the green hymn book. 188. We've got to sing this.
Stand with me. I want Sherry to sing it with
us. All right? This is a great hymn to sing
after that. with his own precious blood. I love thy church, O God, her
walls before thee stand, dear as the apple of thine eye, driven
off thy head." Verse 4 is a good one. Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
her hymns of love and praise. Sure as thy truth shall last,
to Zion shall we give. A brighter, glowing earth can
give than prior glimpse of heaven. Thank you.