Good evening. Let's open up tonight's
service in the hardback hymn on number six. Number six. Y'all
please stand. Come thou almighty king. Number
six. ? Come Thou Almighty King ? ? Help
us Thy Name to sing ? ? Help us to praise ? ? Father of glory
? ? For all Victoria ? ? Come and reign over us ? ? Ancient
of days ? Come thou incarnate Word, gird on thy mighty sword,
our prayer attend. Come and thy people bless, and
give thy word success. Spirit of holiness on us descend. Come Holy Comforter Thy sacred
witness bear In this glad hour Thou who almighty art Now rule
in every heart And ne'er from us depart Spirit of power To
the great one and three, eternal praises be, hence, evermore. His sovereign majesty may we
in glory seek, and to eternity love and adore. That may be my favorite call
to worship him. That's our prayer this evening.
The Lord would come. Let's open our Bibles together
to Exodus chapter 33 for our call to worship scripture reading
Exodus chapter 33. Good to see you all tonight. Be here. Mhm. We'll begin reading in verse
13. Now, therefore, I pray thee,
if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that
I may know thee, that I might find grace in thy sight, and
consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto
him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. That's what the Lord's done,
isn't it? He separated his people. He made a distinction between
the Egyptians and the Israelites. He's made us to differ. And the
Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou
hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know
thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by,
that I will put thee in a cleft of a rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand,
and thou shalt see my back part, but my face shall not be seen. Not yet, not yet. We look through a glass darkly
now, but then face to face, face to face. Let's pray. Our merciful and gracious heavenly
father, thank you for forgiving us these words. Thank you for
the experience that Moses and the Children of Israel had. how
much like them we are. Lord, we pray the same for us
that you would make a place for us near unto thee that you would
put us in that cleft of the rock that we would find grace in thy
sight. Lord, if thou go not with us,
take us not up from hence. Oh, Lord, how completely dependent
we are on thy presence and how very hopeful we are that you
know us by name. Lord, we pray that you would
remove your hand and give us a glimpse of thy glory and cause
us, Lord, to see thy backside, where you have been and what
you have accomplished. and the finished work of thy
dear son. For it's in his name we ask it. Amen. We're not going to sing to him
number 158. On your blue hardbacks, you may remain seated number
158. Come, Holy Spirit, heav'nly dove,
With all thy quickening powers, Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours. Look how we grovel here below,
fond of these earthly toys. Our souls, how heavily they go
to reach eternal joys. In vain we tune our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas languish on our tongues. And our devotion dies. Dear Lord, and shall we ever
live at this foredying rate? Our love so faint, so cold to
thee, and thine to us so great. Come, Holy Spirit, heav'nly dove,
With all thy quickening powers, Come shed abroad a Savior's love,
And that shall kindle love. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 89? Psalm 89. I've titled this message, When
Providence Clouds Promises. We have the promises of God that
are sure and steadfast, the promises of God that are all yay and amen
in Christ. We worship a God of whom it is
impossible to lie. God's promises are our hope. We rest our faith in his faithfulness
to fulfill all his promises. And yet how oftentimes in his
good providence, he will take us through things that seem to
cloud the fulfillment of his promises. Now, we saw last Wednesday
night from Psalm 89 that God's covenant is sure. It's sure and it's steadfast. It's fulfilled in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the covenant promises of
God, which he made before time ever began, the Lord Jesus Christ
promised to fulfill those covenant promises. And we saw that even
when his seed, the seed of Christ, disobey the Lord when they sin,
that he corrects them, chastises them, but he never ever cancels
his promise. The covenant cannot be changed. Now in the rest of Psalm 89,
the psalmist, is having a hard time reconciling the providence
of God with the promises of God. You ever have that problem? Lord,
these circumstances that I'm in don't seem to be consistent
with the promises that you've made. That's a testimony of our unbelief,
isn't it? That's all it is. Because the
truth is that God's works always serve to fulfill his word. They are never contradictory
to his word. What seems to us to be the cancellation
of God's covenant promises are in fact the confirmation of them. You remember when Jacob, his
sons had to leave Simeon down in Egypt and they came back to
get Benjamin and Jacob said, Joseph is no more. Simeon is
not. And now you want to take Benjamin
from me? And what did he conclude? All
these things are against me. All these things are against
me. Oh, no, they weren't. They were working in perfect
time and in perfect harmony in order to fulfill the promises
that God had made to Jacob. He just couldn't see. He couldn't
see. See, faith believes that God
is going to be faithful to fulfill his promises. Now, what we just
read in Exodus chapter, the Lord hasn't shown us the future except
for what he's promised to do. How he's going to do that, how
he's going to bring that about, we don't know. What do you say?
I'm going to show you my hind part. I'm going to show you where
I've been, and you're going to have to trust me for where I'm
taking you. Abraham is called the father
of the faithful. He's the example of faith. He
believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. But
what did he believe God for? He was in the era of the Chaldeans
just like all the other pagans and the scripture says, the Lord
said, Abraham, I'm going to take you to a land that you don't
know and you're going to have to trust me. You have to trust
me each step of the way and so many steps of the way in that
in that experience. It seemed that. Providence clouded. Promise. Until finally, the Lord said,
of your own loins, you're going to have a seed that I'm going
to bless all the nations of the world. And your descendants are
going to be like the stars of the sky and like the sands of
the seashore. And Abraham couldn't see. It
wasn't happening. He was 100 years old. Providence didn't
seem to him to be consistent with the promise. We're just
like that, aren't we? how we have to be reminded that
God Almighty is, in fact, working all things together for good
for them that love God and those that are called according to
His purpose. His providence is always consistent with His promises. But look at verse 39, after,
you know, the clearest example of this is the cross, isn't it? And Luke chapter 24, don't you
love that experience that those disciples were having after the,
they were, it was after the resurrection, they didn't know the Lord had
raised from the dead, and they were stumbling, so discouraged,
depressed, melancholy, dragging one foot behind the other, going
back home to Emmaus. And the Lord Jesus Christ walks
along beside of them. And they say, and he asked them,
what's wrong? What's wrong with you? Haven't
you heard? Haven't you heard? The one that we thought was the
prophet, The one that we were convinced was the fulfillment
of God's promise, the one that we believed was the Messiah who
had come to save Israel has been crucified and has died and buried. And beginning with Moses and
the Psalms and the prophets, he began to expound unto them
those things concerning himself. until they got to Emmaus. And
in the breaking of bread, he made himself known to them."
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to everybody, to the disciples,
to Peter, to his mother, to the women, to everybody. And much of this can be understood
in our text, can be understood as that very example of the cross. What happened to the covenant?
What happened to the promises? All the providential circumstances
seem to be contrary to, but in fact, they were not contrary.
They were in fulfillment of the promises. They were, in fact,
confirmation of the promises of God. Verse 39, I'm sorry, verse 38. But, but, thou hast cast off
and abhorred. Thou hast been wrought with thine
anointed. Lord, all those faithful covenant
promises that you made that we saw in the previous verses of
this psalm, now the psalmist is saying, but Lord, Now, was
he referring to the time of Rehoboam, the grandson
of David? Because the promises were made
to David. And what the psalmist is now saying is that the family
of the one of whom you made the promises is not being, the nation
was divided. Or Zedekiah, when the nation
was taken off into Babylon. And the psalmist is saying, Lord,
you made these covenant promises to David, but look at the state
of Israel now. We look at the church, and we're
prone to say the same thing, aren't we? We look at religion
in the world and we think, Lord, you've made these promises, but
look at the state of the gospel. Look at my own life. Lord, have you forsaken your
anointed? Is the covenant promises sure? When I look at the circumstances
of providence, it seems like everything is contrary to these
promises of salvation. Thou hast noticed the psalmist
says, Lord, you did this. You're the first cause of these
things. And brethren, it's good for us to be reminded of that,
isn't it? You remember when David was fleeing
Jerusalem and Absalom had already come and taken over his throne?
And David was having to run for his life. And the descendant
of Saul, by the name of Shimei, saw David and his men leaving
Jerusalem, and he cursed him. And he threw stones at David.
And he said, old man of blood, he said, you deserve what you're
getting. And Absalom said, you want me
to go cut the head off of this dog? He should not. Abishai,
I'm sorry, not Absalom. Abishai said, you want me to
go cut his head off? He shouldn't be cursing the king like that.
What did David say? The Lord sent him. Leave him
alone. Leave him alone. The Lord sent
him. Oh. Brethren, our God is the
first cause of these providential circumstances that seem contrary
to the promises of God. He's the first God. That's what
the psalm is. Thou hast made void. Look at
verse 39. Thou hast made void the covenant
of thy servant. Thou hast profaned his crown
by casting it to the ground. What discouragement. Do we not
See in these verses also what the Lord Jesus Christ was experienced
on Calvary's cross when he was cut off from the Father. And
he's crying to the Father, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? All of these providential circumstances
seem so contrary to the fact that here the creator and sustainer
of all of life was being crucified and dying on a cross. And the
men were jeering at him. It didn't make sense. Cast his
crown down to the ground. Oh no. Oh no. Contrary. Just like the providential
circumstances in the lives of my children, these things are
for the purpose of fulfilling my covenant promises. They're
not contradictory. They're in perfect concert. This
is the means by which I'm going to fulfill my promises. He did it with Shimei. Shimei
was, David was humbled by that experience. But when David came
back to Jerusalem, Shimei came crawling to David and said, oh,
oh, please forgive me, forgive me. And David made a covenant
with Shimei and said, I'm not gonna put you to death. But then
on David's deathbed, he told David's son, Solomon, thank you, he told Solomon,
he said, you take care of Shimei. And when David died, Solomon
did just that, didn't he? What is the Lord saying to his
children through these circumstances? When the enemies of the gospel
set themselves against Christ and his church, we must conclude
that it is the Lord that has lifted up their hand. What is
God teaching me and you through these things? My kingdom is not
of this world. The covenant promises that I've
made to you are spiritual promises for spiritual life. Don't think
that I've promised you health, wealth, and prosperity in this
world. That's not what the promises are about. I'm saying to you,
I'm saying to my children, my kingdom, my kingdom's not of
this world. See, David was saying to Shimei
the same thing that the Lord Jesus Christ said to Pilate.
When Pilate said, don't you know that I have the authority to
crucify you or let you go? And what did the Lord say? You
have no power at all except that which is given to you from heaven.
And we can say the same thing to the enemies of the gospel
and to the circum. You have no power at all except
that which is given to you from heaven. My heavenly father is
behind all of this. He's in control of these circumstances.
And he's given me faith to believe that his promises are going to
be fulfilled. And if this is the means by which he's going
to fulfill them, then it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Look at, look at verse Now, the
psalmist is going to present four arguments in prayer to the
Lord for the Lord to deliver him. And the first argument is
the length of the trouble that he's going through and how oftentimes the length of
trouble seems to be long for the child of God. He says in
verse 40, thou has broken down all his hedges. Thou has brought
his strongholds to ruin. Seems like Lord, this is this
is not going to come to an end. All the past, by the way, spoil
him. He is a reproach to his neighbors.
Or what about the covenant promises? How can that how can salvation
come through death? And in the same way that the
salvation of God's church and his people came through the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ, your salvation and my salvation is
only gonna come as God teaches us to die daily and trust him. Trust him. Life comes through
death. We see that in the physical world,
don't we? You see that death brings about life. And so it
is in the spiritual world. Thou hast set up the right hand
of his adversaries. Thou hast made all his enemies
to rejoice. Oh, Lord, it doesn't seem like
this is working out. Oh, this is working out exactly
as I purposed it. He's suffering the full wrath
of God's justice in order to bear the sins of his people.
Oh, it's working out. It's working out. He's fulfilled
all righteousness by his obedience, even unto death. Don't be diverted from the fact that he
seems to be the victim here. He's not the victim. No, no,
he's the victor. He's conquering his enemies by
laying down his life and he's saving his people. Lord, it seems like it's forever. Look what he says in verse 43. Thou hast also turned
the edge of the sword and hast not made him to stand in the
battle. or you haven't given him strength
to be the victor in the battle. And the sword, his sword, it's
been sheathed, it's been put away, and it seems like the sword
of the evil has come against him. Yeah. Yeah, it does. All for the purpose. of him having
that flaming sword come from his mouth as he speaks the word
and all for the purpose of him using the sword of his word,
the sword of God, which is the word of God, to pierce the hearts
of his people and to save them by the revelation of himself
made in his word. Thou has made, look at verse
44. Thou has made his glory to cease and has cast his throne
down to the ground. Lord, you did this. You did this. It pleased God to bruise him. It wasn't the Roman soldiers.
It wasn't the Pharisees. It wasn't the Jews. It was God
Almighty that was purposing every step and every act and every
word and everything that was happening, casting Him down that
we might be lifted up. The same thing's true in our
experiences of faith right now. Providence often seems to be
contradictory to the promises of God, but they never, ever
are. They never are. Providence is
in perfect concert. It is the fulfillment of God's
word. Look at verse 45. The days of
his youth hast thou shortened. Thou hast covered him with shame.
Oh, the shame that the Lord Jesus Christ bore on Calvary's cross.
Not the shame before men. That's not the shame that he's
talking about. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't care what men thought
of him. He knew who he was. He was God. He was bearing the shame of our
sin before the Father. That's the humiliation that he
suffered. Not before men. He was separated
from the Father. He drank of that bitter cup of
God's wrath and suffered all the guilt and shame of sin before
His Holy Father. That's what He was going through. What that means, you and I don't
have any idea. We're so accustomed to sin. We're
so unaffected by it. And here he was, bearing the
shame of every sin that you've committed, and every sin that
I've committed, and every sin that every child of God has ever
committed in every generation, bearing them all before the Father. And happened to be cut off from
holiness. The days of his youth hath thou
shortened. Thou hast covered him with shame. How long, Lord, wilt thou hide
thyself forever? Shall thou wrath burn like fire? We often quote that passage in
Romans, I think it's in chapter eight that says, the sufferings
of this life cannot be compared to the glory that shall be revealed
in us. And that's a good hope. But you know what else? Whatever
fiery trials we have to go through in this life cannot be compared. to the eternal fire of God's
wrath in hell. Cannot be compared. Lord, will
your fire burn forever? No. There is a fire. There is a fire that'll burn
forever. The Lord's trying the faith of
his children. proving them and causing them
to believe the promises of God in spite of the circumstances
of their lives. In spite of the fact that God
has in his providence brought about circumstances that seemed
contrary to his promises. What's the Lord doing? He's putting
us through fiery trials. And the trying of your faith,
work of patience, and patience when it is complete makes us
perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. I'll take the fire of my trial
now over that fire that burns forever. Shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Shall it be forever? Yeah, there is a wrath that'll
burn like fire. Remember how short my time is? Here's another argument that
he's using. The shortness of life, the brevity and the vanity
of it, and the certainty of death. He said, Lord, remember how short
my time is? Wherefore hast thou made all
men in vain? God didn't make men in vain.
Nothing God does is in vain. When Solomon said vanity of vanity
all is vanity, what Solomon was saying was to make the things
of this world, the purpose and goal of my life is emptiness. But he wasn't saying that man
was empty or that life was vain. No, life is not vain. The world is vain. Life is not
there. Life is not empty. This is life eternal that they
might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ. What greater
purpose of life is it than to know God? To serve Him, to worship
Him. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
45. Life is not without purpose. It's when we set our affections
on the things of this world that life becomes vain, because the
world is vain. But listen to what God says in
Isaiah chapter 45 at verse 18. For thus saith the Lord that
created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made
it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain. He formed
it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none
else. He created all things and for
his good pleasure they are and they do exist. In Romans chapter
11 it says, of him and through him and to him are all things. All things were created by him,
all things are sustained through him, and all things are for the
purpose to his glory. There's no vanity in that. Vanity
is when we make the things of this world our goal, our life. That's what vanity is. May God be pleased to cause us
to see how vain that pursuit really is. No, even the unbeliever
is not made in vanity. He made the wicked for the day
of evil, vessels fitted for destruction, that he might show his grace
and mercy towards the vessels of his grace. God doesn't do
anything in vain. Everything has a purpose. Don't
think when Solomon was saying, vanity of vanity, all is vanity,
that that means, Well, there's no purpose for anything. That's
not what he was talking about. Yes, there's great purpose, great
purpose. Let me take you to a passage of scripture
I've been thinking about for several months now. Luke chapter
16. Luke chapter 16. This all has
to do with what the psalmist is saying when he says, when
he says, remember how short my time is. Wherefore has that made
all men in vain? What man is he that liveth and
shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from
the hand of the grave? Lord, it just seems like, what's
the psalmist saying? Lord, this doesn't make sense.
This is not right. Lord, why are you doing this? In Luke chapter 16, the Lord
gives a parable. I think I have some understanding
about this parable, and I hope that it'll be an encouragement
to you as it has been to me. In verse 1, and he said also
unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man which had
a steward, and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his
goods. And he called him and said unto
him, how is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy
stewardship. For thou mayest be no longer
a steward. Then the steward said within
himself, what shall I do? For my Lord taketh away, taketh
from me the stewardship. I cannot dig to beg, I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that
when I am put out of stewardship, they may receive me into their
houses. All right, so here's a wealthy
man who's got a steward, he's wasted his wealth. And he's confronted
by the man, he says, give an account of yourself. And he says,
I'm going to lose my stewardship. I can't work. I know what I'll
do. I'll go to, well, let's read
on. So he called every one of his
Lord's debtors unto him and said unto the first, how much owest
thou unto the Lord? And he said, a hundred measures
of oil. And he said unto him, take thy bill and sit down quickly
and write 50. And then said he to another,
how much owest thou? And he said, a hundred measures
of wheat. And he said unto him, take thy bill and write four
score. So this shrewd Stewart now is
going to the debtors of his master and reducing their bills so that
when he loses his job, he'll have a place to go. Out of gratitude,
they will receive him into their homes. The Lord's given this example,
this parable. And the Lord commended the unjust
steward because he had done wisely. That word wisely is shrewdly.
For the children of this world are in their generation more
shrewd than the children of light. Why? Because they think and plot
and plan all day every day how to get more of this world. This world's not God's children's
home. They work and they provide and
they're responsible, but their plotting and planning is not
to accumulate more and more of this world. So the Lord says
the children of the world are more shrewd when it comes to
money, when it comes to man, and when it comes to material
things, because those things have so much more value to them
than they do to us. And I say unto you, now the Lord's
using this parable. I say unto you, make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may
receive you unto everlasting habitation. Now that's the verse
that's hard to understand. Is the Lord telling us to to
be shrewd like this worldly man and go out and make friends with
the world. And is he being sarcastic? That's those are the illustrations
that I mean, those are the conclusions that a lot of men come to. No,
no. He's saying just like this guy
made friends with the unrighteous mammon of the world. So you are
to make friends with the unrighteous mammon of this world. You see, if you are controlled by Mammon,
friends don't control friends. If you're in debt to Mammon,
friends don't put friends in debt. If you're threatened, By the
material wealth of this world, friends don't threaten friends. If the material wealth of this
world flatters your sinful pride and your ego, friends do not
flatter one another's sinful pride and ego. What do friends do? Friends give. Friends are generous. Friends, the Lord is saying to
you, 1st Timothy chapter 6, turn with me there. Let's go there
for just a moment because this is such an important lesson and
this is what Verse six, godliness with contentment
is great gain. Be content with Christ. Set your
affections on things above, where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God, not on the things of the earth. This world is not your home.
For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that
we should carry nothing out. And having food and raiment,
let us be there with contempt. But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare. Those who don't have a proper
relationship with the unrighteous mammon of this world. And that's
not just money, it's everything money buys. those who have an
adversarial relationship, those who are under the control of
material wealth, those who would set material wealth as their
goal in this world. They fall into temptation and
into a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown
men in destruction and perdition. You see, friends don't do that
to one another. Friends don't drown one another in debt. Friends don't control one another.
Friends don't manipulate one another. That's what the unrighteous
mammon does to the unbeliever. And the Lord's telling you and
me, you make friends with the material things of this world.
You learn You learn where they came from and you learn how to
use them. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows." How many children of God have pierced themselves through
with many sorrows? because they did not make friends
with the unrighteous mammon of this world. You say, what does
that scripture mean in Luke chapter 16 when it says that they might
receive you into everlasting? When you fail, when you die,
did not the Lord say, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven? You see, only when we have a
friendship, a genuine friendship with the things of this world,
Understanding that God has given them to us to use for his glory. Are we able to be generous and
able to not be controlled by these things? You see, the truth
is, let's go back to our, does that make sense? I really believe, you go on. He said, in that passage in Luke
chapter 16, it goes on to say, no man can serve two masters.
You can't serve God and mammon. You'll either love one, you hate
the other, you'll serve one, you'll despise the other. Now what's the Lord telling us?
Yes, this life is short. Yeah, it's brief. That's what
we're learning in our, look at Psalm 89. Verse 47, remember
how short my time is? Wherewith, how is thou made man
in vain? What man is he that liveth and
shall not see death? You see, the richest, proudest,
most arrogant man in this world is going to die in weakness,
and most likely, Most likely, he's gonna have nothing to take
pride in on his deathbed. Shall a man be able to deliver
his own soul from the hand of the grave? Oh, child of God, live your life. In light of the eternal. This that's what the Lord saying
here. Why do we get? Why do we get so upset about?
Our circumstances. When it seems to us that they
are contrary. To the promises of God. Why? Because we're not looking at
the spiritual. We're looking at the earthly.
We're caught up in the things of this world. And here's what
the Lord's saying in this whole text. The providence of God is always
consistent with the promises of God. And if I've got to cause
you to have uncomfortable providence, in order to get you to realize
that my kingdom is not of this world. It's not, and there's
coming a day very soon. Yeah. It's good for, I have a confession
to make to you. I've heard this and I've said
this. Preaching is a dying man preaching
to dying men. But my confession is that I wish
that I had the same understanding of that statement that I had
yesterday morning sitting at the bedside of a man who was
literally dying. I wish I could believe it like
I did then. Sitting there and reading scripture
to him for over an hour, And that Scripture meant so much
more to me. But that's the truth. We're dying. We're dying. And that's what
the Lord's telling us here. These things that we get so concerned
about and so upset about, that's the unrighteous mammon of this
world. Make friends with those things. Don't be controlled by
them. You can't serve God in mammon. We're not, my kingdom's not of
this world. No man's going to escape death.
Don't pierce yourself through with many sorrows by setting
your goal in your life to accumulate more material things in this
world. That's exactly what the Lord's telling us here. Look at verse 49, Lord, Where are thy former lovingkindnesses
which thou swarest unto David and thy truth? Remember, Lord,
the reproach of thy servants? How I do bear in my bosom the
reproach of all the mighty people. And the Lord Jesus Christ bore
in his bosom the reproach of all the mighty people, all the
people of God. Wherewith thine enemies have
reproached, O Lord, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps
of thine anointed. Lord, they watched every step.
They accused him. Lord, it seems like that's the
experience that I'm having. Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and amen. This is a psalm of. Of melancholy. Is the psalm. Of a man that's
looking at his circumstances and thinking how? How are the
promises of God going to be fulfilled? And then he closes. with a declaration
of worship. Have you ever found yourself
on Sunday mornings at home thinking, you know, I'm just not in a very
good spiritual place. You know, you're wallowing in
your sin and in your problems and you're thinking, you know,
I don't feel like going to church. You know, the only solution to
that problem is worship. It's the only solution. Bless be the Lord. In spite of
the fact that it seems like all the circumstances are contrary
to the promises of God, bless be the Lord. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for your word and know how we do hope that your Holy Spirit
would cause us to believe you. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. For the bird. 296, let's stand
together. All the way my Savior leads me,
what have I to ask beside? Can it out his tender mercy,
who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest
comfort, here by faith in him to dwell. For I know what e'er
befall me, Jesus, do it all things well. For I know what e'er befall
me, Jesus, do it all things well. All the way my Savior leads me,
cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial,
feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter
and my soul a thirst may be, gushing from the rock before
me, lo, a spring of joy I see. Gushing from the rock before
me, lo, a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me,
O the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father's house above. When my spirit clothed the mortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day. This my song through endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way.