Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, chapter 73. Psalm 73. I'd like to look at verses 22
to 25, but before we read, let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, We thank you that
we can pray. Help us tonight. Help us to hear. And Lord, forgive us for Christ's
sake. Amen. Psalm 73, 22. 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 afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but Thee? And there's none upon earth that
I desire beside Thee. When the Lord is pleased to call
one of His own out of spiritual darkness and teach the object
of His mercy something, there's two things that that believer
is going to know immediately. Number one, I need Him. And secondly, He is all I need. Now I want us to consider for
just a few minutes these two points. Here's the first thing
that a believer knows. I need the Lord. Listen to the words of the psalmist. This is the voice of a regenerated
heart. Verse 22. And I want you to notice
now the third word in this verse. It's in italics. It was added. It was added by the men that
were taking these scriptures and putting them in English. foolish I. Now I know this, the word was
is there and there's no doubt about that. So foolish was I. No doubt, before the Lord calls
a sinner out of spiritual darkness, before He does, the scripture
bears out. He's foolish. He's a brutish. The word is stupid. I was so
stupid. A lover of evil. One that cared
nothing for my eternal soul. Now just stop for a minute and
just ask yourself. Do I agree with that? Before
the Lord called me out of darkness, how much did you really care
for your soul? You'd hear what somebody said
and just take it for granted. That's just, that's the way it
is. Or worse than that, Wouldn't
even hear anybody. Cared nothing for the things
of God. But when you realize that that
word was is not there, it brings it right up to date. So foolish, I'm an ignorant man now. I heard Brother Henry say one
time, he said, the older I get, the more I realize how much I
don't know. You know, we learn a few things,
doctrinally speaking, and we think, well, I'm just kind of
coming to church, just kind of going over this again. I'm just
kind of going over it again, you know. I know all this. I mean, I've got this down. I know
the five points of Calvinism. Oh no, this is what I know. So foolish I am. There's an old man in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, that new man. And I realize
the foolishness of myself, seeing myself in me. I was, but listen to this, I
was so foolish. So foolish was I. How foolish? I don't know. I
don't know how foolish I am. I have nothing to gauge myself
by but God's Word. Every evening, Glenn and I will
take the scriptures before we go to sleep and try to read. And how many times have I read,
and after I've read it, I've not had time to go over it and
study it and look at the words and stuff, and I read it, Chuck,
and I think, I don't even know what I read.
Somebody would have asked me, tell me what that said. Some
things I do sort of understand. And some things I think to myself,
so foolish I am. And here's Almighty God speaking,
and I realize how much baggage I still have with me. How much
old scaffolding before conversion we knew nothing of our ignorance.
But listen to what He says in verse 22. So foolish was I, and
ignorant. Ignorant. I didn't know, I didn't
care, I didn't recognize my rebellion against God. I was ignorant of
the life of God in Christ because of the blindness of my heart.
And now being made honest, I know that the wisest of men, at best,
are ignorant men. They're just ignorant. The writer says, I was as a beast
before thee. A believer begins to see something
of the worldly mindedness of himself. Especially, before he
knew the Lord, he knew nothing. And now, we see through a glass
darkly. We know in part, we prophesy
in part. A beast. Think what a beast knows. He doesn't think anything of
heavenly things. He has no love for anything that's profitable.
Everything about a beast is just selfish. Is that not me? Is that not the way that I am?
It's awful to be in such an apathetic state, but a regenerated sinner
is going to say this, it's evident to me, need him. I need him. I need him. If he leaves me to myself, I'm
gone. Here's the second point. He is all I need. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before they,
nevertheless. Nevertheless, oh, what a precious
word. It made me think of this scripture
in Ephesians 2 verses 1 to 4, and you, Hathi Quicken. who were
dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as others, but God. who is rich in mercy. For his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace you're
saved. By grace you're saved. So foolish, nevertheless, here's
what he says, nevertheless, I am continually with thee. He is
all I need because, first, I am continually upon His mind. He who has everlastingly loved
me, He who eternally chose me, I am continually with Thee. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never leave you. I need Him who never leaves me. I need Him who is continually
before His eye, the eyes of the Lord, that look upon His beloved,
that looks upon them in mercy. I need Him who is continually
holding me in His hand that no man can pluck me out of. Continually
on His heart, continually in His favor. Because I'm found in His Son,
in whom He's well pleased. And listen to this, I need Him
because I'm continually accepted in the Beloved. The believer by faith confesses
his folly, yet he's convinced that his communion with the Lord
through Christ Jesus is inseparable. It says, But now in Christ Jesus
ye, who sometimes were far off, were made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in His flesh the enmity. He is all I need, because secondly,
He is my security. Verse 23 says, Thou hast holden
me by my right hand. Years ago, when my kids were
little, I'd take them and, oh, I'd either, you know, I'd grab
their wrist, I'd say, now hold on, hold on to my hand. They'd
grab my finger. I'd grab them around their wrist.
I got their hands in my hand. And I got them, and they're holding
on. to this. And I'd swing them or you know
twirl them or something. I'd tell them that. Now you hold
on. If you don't hold on, you're gonna fall. You're not gonna
make it. You better hang on. And they'd
squeeze as hard as they could. But you know who was holding
on? I was holding on to them. I wasn't gonna turn loose of
them. Didn't mean to. He is all I need because thou hast holden
me by my right hand. If it's only that I have a hold
on Him, I'm telling you, I'm a goner. But He has holden me
by my right hand, not left me. He has stretched out His hand
to keep me. He's been to me, my protector,
my friend, my defender. and will not banish me from his
presence. He that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out. No wise? No wise. What if I stumble? Did he cast
out David? Did he cast out Peter? Thomas? Did He cast out His people? Has
He ever cast out one of His own? He is all I need, for Thou hast
holden me by my right hand. He is all I need, for He is my
guide. Verse 24, Thou shalt guide me
with Thy counsel. Let me tell you what I don't
know. Let me just expose just a little
bit of my ignorance. He's talking about how ignorant
I was before I was converted. Let me ask you this. Who right
here will tell me what's going to happen tomorrow? Anybody? You know what that is? That's
ignorance. But let me tell you this. Let
me tell you the one. who is not ignorant, who knows
the end from the beginning, the guide. Thou shalt guide me with
thy counsel. God's counsel is going to stand.
I have nothing to choose concerning my steps for tomorrow. And if
I do choose, I'm going to choose wrongly. So by a willing heart, one made
so by the grace of God, I want to believe Him, I want to walk
by Him, walk by faith, believe in the Lord, desiring to be led
by God's Spirit. Lord guide me, I don't know what
to do. I'm foolish, I'll make a stupid
statement, I'll make a stupid step, I'm going to be ignorant, You let me rule my tomorrow,
and I'm telling you right now, it's a mess. I need Him, and
He's all I need. The Lord guides His people, and
that guiding is a mark of that believer. Romans 8, 14, For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. How do I know His will for my life? Just watch His providence. Watch what happens. Whatever
happened, that was the Lord's counsel for me. He worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will. Lord, give me a heart
to bow to that. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and then listen to this, and afterward, receive me to
glory. We're in this world, and we're
not of it. The Lord has promised, I'm going
to hold your hand, I'm going to guide you, I'm going to keep
you, I'm going to teach you by my spirit, and then I'm going
to receive you. to glory. Afterward. After what? After
this life. After this valley of the shadow
of death is done for me. What a blessed word, afterward. God's people's got something
to look forward to. They got a good hope. I don't know anything about dying. I've never crossed that Jordan
myself. I've watched believers die, and
it's a blessing. But I've never been there myself.
You hadn't either. But I can tell you this, here's
a good hope right here. Afterward, I'm going to receive
you to glory. The Lord is going to take His
people in the very moment of their greatest need, in the moment
that they're leaving this world. And He's going to receive us
unto Himself. Now you talk about a hope, some joy, joy unspeakable. Why? He's going to be there. He will receive us to glory. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward, you, Lord, are going to receive me
to glory. They're throwing rocks at Stephen, and they're just
bashing his brains out. Stephen looked up and said, I
see the Son of Man standing. Lord Jesus, Receive me. Lay not this charge to their
account. You're going to receive him to glory. But here's a precious thing. Afterward, you're going to receive
me to glory. I know this. He's going to receive
his people. But for everyone that believes
Him, everyone that has no confidence in themselves, everyone that
needs the Savior, they need Him. I need Thee every hour, every
hour. Oh, precious Savior. He's going
to receive me. One who in myself sees no good
thing in my flesh. I tell you what I see in me.
I see inconsistencies. I see unbelief. Lord, I believe,
help my unbelief. One who sees himself continually
straying from the Lord. Try praying and tell me how easy
it is to stray in your mind. One who finds himself stumbling
Not meaning to, but just can't help it. And He's revealed Himself
to me in His promise. He said, I'm going to guide you.
I'm going to guide you by my counsel. I know what's best. And He's all-powerful. He's able
to keep me. And then going to receive me
to Himself. And lastly, verse 25, He's all
I need. because he is the treasure. 25. Whom have I in heaven but
thee? And there's none upon earth that
I desire beside thee. By the grace of God, a believer
knows the Lord to be more to him than wealth, than health,
an honor in this world or peace that this world claims to be
able to give. There's coming a day when there's
not going to be any more days for us. But I realize there's
not going to be any more days for this sinner. And in that
day, may I be found desiring Him for Christ's sake. Amen. Alright, Gary.