Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 44 from your hardbacked hymnal, number
44. Let's all stand. And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me, who caused his
pain? For me, who him to death pursued? Amazing love, how can it be that
Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love, how can it
be That thou, my God, shouldst die for me. He left his father's throne above
So free, so infinite his grace Emptied himself of all but love
and bled for his own helpless race. Amazing love, how can it
be? that thou, my God, shouldst die
for me. Amazing love, how can it be that
thou, my God, shouldst die for me? No condemnation, I am my Lord's, and He is mine. Alive in Him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine. Amazing love, how can it be that
Thou, my God, Please be seated. Good evening. Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 73. I'm going to do something a little different
tonight. I want to read the entire Psalm as our scripture reading,
our call to worship, and then we'll go back and look at the
particulars of this passage of God's Word. Psalm 73. Truly,
God is good to Israel. to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no
bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not
in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore, pride can passeth them about as a chain, violence
covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak
wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore, his people return hither and waters of full
cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how does God know?
And is there knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are
the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart
in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long
have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will
speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them
in slippery places. Thou casted them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly
consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh,
so, O Lord, when thou wakest, thou should despise their image.
Thus my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reins. So
foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel and afterwards receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon the earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth. But God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever. For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I put my trust in the Lord God
that I may declare all thy works. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father. We are thankful that you've.
Put it in our hearts to be here. That you've provided opportunity
for us to be here. Lord, how hopeful we are that.
That you will be here with us. that you would rend the heavens
and come down, that you would draw us unto thyself, cause us,
Lord, to be turned, and we shall be turned. Lord, we are in desperate
need of your mercy and of your grace. We need for you to give
us faith. Lord, we need for you to open
the mystery of the gospel once again to us and enable us to
set our affections on things above where Christ is seated.
at thy right hand. For we ask it in his name. Amen. Number 11 from your Spiral Gospel
Hymns Hymnbook. Number 11. Let's all stand together
again. ? With broken heart and contrite
sigh ? ? A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry ? ? Thy pardoning
grace is rich and free ? ? O God, be merciful to me ? I smite upon
my troubled breast With deep and conscious guilt oppressed
Christ and His cross my only plea O God, be merciful to me
No works nor deeds that I have done can for a single sin atone. To Christ the Lord alone I flee. O God, be merciful to me. And when redeemed from sin and
hell, with all the ransomed throng I dwell, my raptured song shall
ever be, God has been merciful to me. Please be seated. Lord willing, tonight will be
somewhat of a continuation from Sunday morning on the resurrection. You have your Bibles open to
Psalm 73. There's one word in this psalm
that, properly understood, will give the whole meaning of the
psalm much more help. And that word is found in verse
3. where Asaph, who wrote this psalm,
who was the song leader for David, Asaph said, for I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the peace of the wicked. That word prosperity is the word
peace. It's only translated prosperity
a couple times in the scriptures. and it's translated peace many,
many, many times. And so, this struggle that Asaph
is experiencing is the same struggle that all of God's people have
in having peace. Having peace. The world already
has it. They have peace. Look at the next verse, verse
4. For there are no bands in their
death. I've watched many unbelievers
die and right up until the moment of death there's no fear of death
in their hearts. They have no They have no fear
of standing in the presence of God with their works. They think
that heaven is what they deserve, never been to a funeral, that
the person who died wasn't preached into heaven, and it seems that
everybody has peace, peace, when there is no peace. For the believer,
on the other hand, Those who know themselves to
be sinners. Those who have some understanding
of the holiness of God. There's a spiritual warfare that
takes place in our hearts to come to that place of true peace. The world has settled for a false
peace. and they go right through life
and right through death, trusting in a false peace. For the child
of God to have true peace, there's a struggle in the heart. That's
what Asaph's talking about in this psalm. He's not talking
about looking at the prosperity in terms of the physical wealth
of the wicked and wanting their wealth. He's talking about the
peace that they have and the works that they're trusting in
and the fact that they have no bands in their death and they're
not struggling. They're not struggling like I'm
struggling. They're not, and the truth is
you don't struggle with the old man until the new man comes.
So he's talking about those who have one nature He's talking
about those who walk by sight, all they have is the flesh. They make all their judgments
and all their determinations with fleshly standards and fleshly
eyes. And here we are, here we are,
the children of God, knowing that we in and of ourselves are
nothing but sin. Knowing that there is a God with
whom we must do. Knowing what Job said in Job
19, I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. That's what Job
said. Is that your experience? Your
experience? It's the experience that Galatians
chapter 5 says, the spirit wareth against the flesh and the flesh
against the spirit. These two are contrary to one
another so that we cannot be what we would. If it wasn't for
our new man, we'd be just like the rest of the world, resting
in our works with no fear of God and no fear of death. if
all we had was the old man. If all we had was the new man,
which we will one day when this old man is put in the grave,
we'd be perfectly sinless and holy without any struggle whatsoever. But here we are. This is what
Asaph is talking about. Here we are. They don't struggle
like we struggle. They don't wake up in the morning. Turn with me to Romans chapter,
I tell you what, let's not begin in Romans, I want to turn to
that passage, but let's begin in 1st Peter chapter 5. 1st Peter
chapter 5. You know, at the end of the day, Having acceptance with God is
everything. Everything. Martha, your brother
will rise in the resurrection. Lord, I know. I knew your brother
will rise again. And Martha said, I know that
my brother will rise in the resurrection in the last day. And what'd the
Lord say? Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he be dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Martha, do you believe this?
Believe me. Trust me, Martha. This is the
struggle that we are experiencing in this world to enter into His
rest. We're the only people in the
world that understand the consequences of death. It's a sobering, serious,
serious thing. If we don't, we don't take it
lightly like the rest of the world. That's what ASAP is talking
about here. He said, I wake up thinking about
it. I struggle with this sin problem
and this old man all day long. And I, and, and it's a spiritual
battle. And, and I mentioned recently
that I was talking to a brother and he said, the only time that
I have full assurance of my salvation is when I'm in worship. And I
thought that's biblical. until I went in to the sanctuary
of God, then knew I their end." This is the place. This is why
we're here, isn't it? We're here because we struggle.
We struggle to believe. We struggle to have faith. Because
we understand what's coming. And the world's not worried about
it. They're not worried. They're dying by the thousands,
by the millions with no care or concern for the things that
are on your heart, the things that are on my heart. Now that's
a miracle of grace that God would put that on our hearts because
the rest of the world That's what Asaph meant when he said,
for I was envious at the foolish. And that's what the whole world
is. The whole world is foolish. They're foolish about salvation.
They're foolish about God. They're foolish about eternal
life. They're foolish about the things that matter. When I saw
the peace, the peace of the wicked. There's no bands in their death.
They're walking through life like, you know, this is it. And it is for them. It's all
they've got. You have your Bibles open to
1 Peter. Look at chapter 5 at verse 8. Casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Now, why would you have to cast
your care upon him unless you had something to be cared about?
you see the world doesn't cast their care upon him all they
go through their rituals and they and and they they've made
a covenant with death and with hell they're in agreement I'm
not going to hell I'm I'm good person what God say I'm gonna
disannul that covenant that you made so they're they're walking
by sight and trusting a covenant and trusting in works that they
can see a decision that they've made, a work that they've performed.
He's talking about the self-righteousness. And it's not just the religious
that's self-righteous. All men are self-righteous. All
of them are. We have the care of our souls
on our hearts all the time. The Lord says, cast your care
upon me, for I care for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. We know it. We've got a lot of
experience with that, don't we? What did Paul say in 2 Corinthians
chapter 10? He said, though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but they are spiritual. They're spiritual. This is a spiritual war that
we're in. That's what Asep's talking about, this spiritual
conflict. that every believer has because
of the care and concern that they have for their immortal
soul. Religion's all about trying to
help folks have a better life, be a better person, you know,
have more, you know. It's all about temporal things,
isn't it? The gospel speaks to those things
that are eternal. And the child of God has been
given by God a concern for those things that are eternal. And so the Lord says, you care
for your soul? The reason you care for it is
because I put that care in your heart for your soul. Cast your
care upon me. Be vigilant. Be sober. Don't
be like the foolish world. Don't get caught up in all that
temporal stuff. Because there's a spiritual devil
out there. And he's like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. Verse 9, whom resist steadfastly
in the faith. In the faith. We don't fight
the devil with flesh. What is it to resist the devil
in the flesh, in the faith? It's to flee to Christ. It's
to flee to Christ. There's our struggle. Our struggle
is to flee to Christ. We labor to enter into his rest. looking on to G Hebrew says that
you've not yet suffered on the blood yet yeah you know that this this
this life is tough for the child we're living in a foreign country
we don't speak the language we don't have the same values and
culture and it all along this world is trying to press us into
its mold And yet we have this conflict because we understand
that there's something beyond this world that makes this world
irrelevant. That's what Asaph's talking about.
I saw how at ease and how at peace the world was and how they're
just enjoying life. They don't wake up with the struggles.
They don't struggle with sin. They don't struggle with being
sober and being steadfast. They don't struggle with the
devil. The devil's got them. And they don't know it. They don't know it. He's my adversary. I'm struggling
with him. Whom resist steadfastly in the
faiths, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. So all the brethren, all the
children of God, regardless of where they are and what their
experiences are, God is accomplishing the same affliction in their
heart that He's accomplishing in your heart. And it is an affliction. It's
an affliction. We're just, we're in a bad place,
aren't we? We're sojourners. And this world's not our home. That's why Paul said, I have
fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I've kept the faith. all the way to the end. Did you
see the marine that crawled the last hundred yards of the Boston
Marathon? He got leg cramps four miles
before he finished and ran with horrible leg cramps until he
just collapsed a hundred yards short of the finish line and
crawled across the finish line at the Boston Marathon this past
week. I thought, Lord gave me that just to confirm the message
from Sunday. That's what we're doing, isn't
it? We got cramps. But Mary, I think you were the
one that said to me Sunday, the race is already won. It's already
won. The finish line is not being
moved. It's not being moved. And every step you take, you're
getting closer to it. If you have to crawl, crawl. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which a righteous judge shall give unto me, and not me only,
but unto all them that love his appearing. This is what it's
all about. We struggle in this world because
we're of another world. And the men of this world, they
don't have a struggle. They don't have a struggle. All right, turn with me to Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. You know, Asaph is saying, man, there's
times I just wish that I could be like everybody else. I wouldn't
have this spiritual battle going on every day. I wish I could
just indulge myself in the things of this world and not worry about
eternal life and not worry about spiritual things. And that's
what he would say. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then I knew their end. Then I knew their end. Death
is real. Death is coming for each one
of us. It is appointed unto man once
to die. The Lord's given us hope in death.
He's conquered death. Look at, uh, look at Romans chapter
eight at verse 15 for you, for you, have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. You struggle to remember that
you're a child of God, don't you? You get caught up in these
things in this world and you get put under the law by the
accuser of the brethren. That's how he's roaring. That's
his main way of being a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
He puts you under the law. Then you start looking at yourself
and comparing yourself to the law and you think, how could
I be a child of God? What's going to happen? Is God
going to receive me into glory? That's the only thing that matters.
It's the only thing that matters. And the Lord says, I'm not giving
you the spirit of fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. The only thing that's going to
take away your affliction, that's going to take away your fear,
is the love of Christ. The Spirit Himself or Itself
bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God
and if children then heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with Him that we also may be glorified
together. We're going to suffer, brethren.
You know, you keep thinking, well, this is going to get better.
It's going to get easier. It doesn't, does it? It doesn't.
It's not going to. It's part of our inheritance. Suffering with Christ. How much
more He suffered in this world than you and I know anything
about? We can at least enjoy this world. He didn't enjoy anything
about this world. We have moments of struggle and
then we have times when we're not struggling because we just
let go. And he struggled every minute
of his life here in this world. He was contrary to everything
in this world. He was a man of sorrows. We saw that a couple
Sundays ago. They thought he was 50 years
old when he was but 30. Verse 18, oh, write this one
down, scribe this one in your heart, brethren, for I reckon,
that's not a southern term. That's dead reckoning. That's
I know for sure. That's what that word means.
We say, well, I reckon, reckon it could be this way, reckon
it could be that way. No, I know for sure. That's what Paul's
saying. I know for sure. That the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed in us. Keep your eye on the goal. Finish line hadn't moved. Keep
putting one step before the other. If you have to crawl, crawl.
The sufferings of this world cannot be compared to the glory
that shall be revealed in us. That's what it's all about. And the world knows nothing about
those struggles. They go right into death. And
let's go to... Let's... Well, I tell you what, before
we do that, since we did that Romans passage, let's look at
Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Verse 14. Hebrews chapter 2 verse
14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, The children are partakers of
flesh and blood. You see, we're the children of
God, and we just happen to partake of flesh and blood. We think
of ourselves as flesh and blood, happy to be the children of God,
but it's not that way. We're the children of God and
we happen to be partakers of flesh and blood. He also himself
likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy
him that had power over death, that is the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. I'm encouraged when I hear somebody
say, you know, I think about dying all the time. That's a
good thing. That's a good thing. The Lord
deliver you from the bondage of fear. That's what he said. All their lifetime were subject
to bondage. So there's a, there's a sense
in which we live our lives in fear of death, but not with bondage. Does that make sense? The Lord has delivered us from
that. Why? Because He has conquered the final enemy. The race has
been won. Our champion has already crossed the finish line. Our David has already slayed
the giant. The Philistines have been defeated. Israel. Israel look Psalm 73
verse 1 truly God is good to Israel. Oh, what an understatement. I
don't mean that. It's God's Word. He's good to Israel. All things,
all things that he's doing in this life are for the good of
Israel. That's what it's for. And what we have in verse one
is something that we have often in the scriptures. It's called
parallelism. It's two statements that complement
one another. And the first and second statement
of verse one are parallel statements. You can just take out the word
even. That word that's in italics there doesn't need to be there.
God is good to Israel to such as are of a clean heart. You say, well, I thought the
heart was desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.
Who could know it? That's the old man. He is. He
is. But the Lord said in 1 John 3,
verse 9, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. For
his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God. Who shall stand in his presence?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart is not lifted up
his soul unto vanity." So in Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have clean hands and a pure heart. Every member of
Israel has a new nature. Now this, we've got that old
nature, but we've got a new nature. The new nature is perfect in
Christ. There's our hope. There's our
hope. Truly God is good to Israel to
such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, My feet were almost gone. Now, how was his feet almost
gone? I almost quit the race. I was tempted to give up. I was
tempted to turn in the towel and to just stop. I got horrible leg cramps. And I couldn't get to the thing.
I just, that's, that's what he's saying. I attempted just to go
on out there and just, and just join the rest of the world. We'll get compare verse two to
verse 18. after he had gone into the sanctuary
of God and saw their end, surely thou did set them in slippery
places, thou casteth them down into destruction." They're the
ones whose feet were slipping. See, Asaph was standing on the
rock and he's looking at those who are standing in quicksand. He said, my feet had almost slipped.
to join in with them. Because I was envious. I was envious at the fact that
they don't struggle like other men. They don't struggle like
I struggle. They have peace. They don't worry
about their soul. They think everything's good
with God. There's no bands in their death.
Their strength is firm. They've made their commitments.
They've got their works. They've made their decisions.
They're not worried about dying. They've got saved. They've accepted Jesus. Their
strength is firm. But every day I struggle with,
well, I wonder about me. Lord, is it I? You know, when I consider my
commitments and my works and my decisions, and there's nothing
firm about me. There's bands in my death. They're not in trouble. They're not in trouble as other
men. Neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride
can pass at them about as a chain. Violence cover them as a garment.
They speak lofty words about themselves. They will tell you
about all the good things that they've done and about how they're
looking forward to going to heaven and being with their past loved
ones and You know, as tragic as that,
as those suicide bombings were in Sri Lanka this past Sunday,
and it's sad and tragic when you look at it from a worldly
perspective. Children, families tore up. I
can't imagine. My heart goes out to those people.
But you know what? Those suicide bombers and everyone
that they blew up woke up in the same place. In the end, when it was all done,
the smoke settled and the dust was settled, they're all in the
same place. David said, he brought me up
out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and he set my
feet upon a rock. Lord, that's what I need. I'm
in a miry clay. I'm in a pit. My feet had almost
slipped. I'm tempted every day to just
quit the race. Lord, I need you to put my feet
upon a rock. Therefore, their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. They have an abundance
of works. They have an abundance of religious
experiences. They've got abundance of all
that they think that they need in order to stand in the presence
of God. They have peace, peace. The false prophets have convinced
them that they're okay. They are corrupt. have corrupted
the gospel, they've corrupted salvation, they've corrupted
the nature of God, they've corrupted Christ, they've corrupted the
cross, they speak wickedly concerning oppression, they speak loftily. Loftily. Listen to them talk
about themselves. They don't talk about themselves
as sinners. Believers are the only ones that are sinners. Believers
are the only ones you can't shame by telling them how low they
are. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens. And their tongue walketh through
the earth. They traverse land and sea to make one disciple,
one proselyte, and turn him in twice the devil that they were
themselves. Therefore, his people return
hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. The
wrath of God will be wrung out to them." Here's our hope, brethren. All
of God's wrath was poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our hope. He's our atoning
sacrifice. God satisfied with Christ, look
to Christ, be satisfied with Christ. They say, how does God know?
There's no knowledge in the Most High. You mean to tell me that you
believe that God elected a particular people and wrote their names
in the land's book of life before time ever began. How does God
know the decision I'm going to make? How does God know what's... They take him down off his lofty
height, don't they? Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world and they increase in riches yeah
maybe riches up there truth is every person in this room is
more wealthy materially than the vast majority of people in
this world okay so if we just talk about material we a riches
here we've got more than most folks it's not what he's talking about
is it they've got the riches of their righteousness And they're
resting in that. And we're struggling to enter
into his rest. And we're afflicted with our
sin and with this world and with Satan every day. And it's the affliction that
God's ordained for us, just like he has for every one of your
brethren in the world. It's what glorifies Christ, because when I'm weak, then I'm strong.
His strength is made perfect in my weakness, so the Lord has
to make us nothing in order for Him to be everything, doesn't
He? For all the day long have I been
plagued and chastened every morning, verse 14. I wake up with a reminder of my sinfulness,
my dependence upon God, and I'm brought to cry out for His mercy
every day. Every day. Why? Because I'm poor
and I'm needy. Needy. If I say, I will speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. I'm glad this is in Scripture.
Now what Asaph is saying here is I can't tell anybody else
about this struggle that I'm having. So what does he say? If I tell people what I'm thinking,
All I'm going to do is discourage them. You know, it's a good thing to have a filter
between your mind and your mouth, isn't it? It really is. And it's amazing to me that people
have no filter, pride themselves in thinking they're being honest,
when really they're being a fool. Listen to what God says, a fool
uttereth all that is in his mind. But the wise man keepeth it. People don't want to know what
you're struggling with. I know you're struggling. I'm
struggling. We're all struggling. But keep the particulars between
you and God. I hate it when somebody tells
me about a particular sin they're struggling. Don't do that. I
don't want to know. I don't want to know about it.
Tell it to God. That's what Asaph is saying here.
And while I'm on this subject, you all know what I think about,
look at me. If you're going to use Facebook, if you're going
to use social media, be discreet. Be discreet. What do they call
it, a platform? Well, that's what it is. It's
a stage where every fool can get up and spout their thoughts
and feelings to the whole world like a court gesture, making
a fool of themselves. You got something private to
say to somebody, say it to that person. Don't put it out there
on social media for everybody to read it. You know, and I don't
see social media, but sometimes people send me stuff and I get
so, I can understand what Asep's saying here. If I, if I put my
thoughts out there in words, all I'm going to do is discourage
the brethren. Your pastor's been discouraged
with some of the things that I've seen members of this church
write on Facebook. Why? Because those things never
should have been said publicly. They shouldn't have been said.
Keep it to yourself. Nobody's interested. And all
you're doing is discouraging the brethren. Use discretion. And when you use social media
to promote yourself, the only people that are impressed are
the other court gestures that are out there making fools of
themselves. Okay, wise man's not impressed. Be wise, be discreet. That's
what he's talking about here. Put a filter between your mind
and your mouth and when you put something out there, you type
it out, you might, you haven't just spoken, you've screamed
it from the housetop to the whole world, to the whole world. If I should say what I'm thinking,
that's what Asep is saying in verse 15. If I should say what
I'm thinking, behold, all I'm going to do is offend the people
of God. And when I thought to know this,
it's too painful for me. It's too painful. When I considered
how envious I was of the peace of the world, and how close I
came to quitting the race, and how my feet would slip, and then
I thought about, what's that going to mean for my eternal
destiny? It's too painful for me. Until
I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I knew their end. I don't want to be a part of
that. I don't have anything to do with
that. God's given me hope. Yeah, it's
a struggle. It's a struggle to find Christ. And that's why I'm here. That's
why you're here right now. To hear about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because you have afflictions
in this world, don't you? The world doesn't know anything
about those afflictions. They don't know anything about
them. Surely, Lord, you did sent them
in slippery places, thou casteth them down into destruction. How
are they brought into desolation as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with
terrors. I've watched it on a few occasions
in my life. Men who'd made a covenant with
death, men who were in agreement with hell, men and women who
thought, you know, I'm good with God and I'm ready to go and I'm
looking forward to going to heaven and then when that moment of
death comes, terror grips their hearts. Terror. I don't want to know about that
terror. Lord, if you don't keep me, I'll
die like that. I'll die like that. You don't
give me grace? As a dream, when one awaketh,
so, Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Not just the image, the word
image is used in the scriptures for false gods, for statues and
images like that. and that these people have false
God. The Lord despises it. Thus my
heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reign. So foolish was I
and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. I remember one time, I don't know if I can quote it
properly. since I can't quote properly probably I'm not say
who said but a preacher said he said that a monkey has more
in common with God than an unbeliever and he got me got you know some
people took offense to that but you know you think about think
about here's here's ASAP say and I was as a beast before or
I'm I'm like a I'm like a wild animal. And this is a believer
speaking of his old man and his temptations to not fight this
fight anymore. What does that say about the
unbeliever? Nevertheless, In spite of all
this, in spite of my sin, in spite of my struggles, in spite
of my doubts and fears, nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Remember when Abraham, when the
angels went into Sodom to get Lot? Scripture says that Lot
lingered. Lot lingered, and the angel had
to take him by his hand and pull him out of Sodom. That's what
Asaph's doing here. He's lingering. He's lingering
with the world, thinking, boy, they've got it so much easier. And he says, the Lord took me
by my hand, pulled me out, wouldn't let me stay there. Oh, I'm so
glad. So glad. He's faithful. He's
faithful. Even when we're not. Struggle with doubts and fears
you worry about. Eternal destiny of your soul.
That's a good thing. That's a good thing the world
doesn't. I don't care. They got all figured out. And if that drives you to Christ.
That's the only place to be in. Our Heavenly Father. Help us. In our time of need. We ask it in Christ name. Amen. The top. 127 let's stand together.
? Man of sorrows, what a name ?
For the Son of God who came ? Ruined sinners to reclaim ? Hallelujah,
what a Savior Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned
he stood, Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He, Full atonement can it be, Hallelujah,
what a Savior! Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah. What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransom home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing,
Hallelujah! What a Savior! I forgot to announce, I'm sure
you probably already know, Robert's home recovering from his surgery
went well. A total knee replacement. He
was actually walking about two hours after his surgery. Peggy's diagnosis came in yesterday,
and she does have muscular dystrophy, so she'll be struggling with
that the rest of her life. Brings a miracle cure right now.
There's no there's no cure for that. They just treat the symptoms.
She'll get weaker and weaker. You can read about it. And on a brighter note. Today
is my granddaughter's 21st birthday. And we are so proud of her. We
really are. She's an exceptional young lady,
as you all know. So let's sing happy birthday
to her.