Good evening. I was thinking about the last
time that I was able to be here and worship with you, and I think
it was about two and a half years ago. I've been here a lot, but
I never was able to come here during a service. And I am thankful
to be here now, but I wish I was sitting in the pew listening
just like everybody else. But I love you. We love you and
we thank the Lord for you. I hope and pray the Lord will
bless us tonight. Turn with me to Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Text is going to be one wonderful,
glorious verse. Every single verse in this Bible
is the greatest thing that we have on this earth. There's no
thing that's greater than one verse of Scripture, is there?
What would you give in exchange for one verse of Scripture? Well, our text is verse 6. It says, "...this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved
him out of all his troubles." Is that not the greatest thing
you've ever heard in your life? That's the gospel. That's the
good news. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Trouble. We know that word, don't
we? Trouble within. Trouble without. That describes every man and
woman's life from the cradle to the grave. Trouble. That word means adversity. Affliction. Anguish. Pain. Heartache. Distress. Tribulation. Trouble. Every single person before us
has had them. Every single person. And it breaks
my heart to think that my children will have them. And we're no exception. Troubles. Our Lord said, in the world you
shall have tribulation. Trouble is our lot in life. Let's look at a few scriptures
together. Turn with me over to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter 5, look at verse 10. It says, But the God of all grace,
who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you. after you've suffered a while.
Now turn over to Job 14. Job 14, verse 1 says, Man that
is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. Full of it. I used to call my
dad, and I stopped doing it for a little while. I'll probably
start up again. But I used to call him and say, just tell me
it gets a little bit easier. Just a little bit better. Nope. Few days, full of trouble. In this study inside the church
building, my study's in the front of the building, and I look out
at the front yard, small front yard, and there's a cherry tree
in that front yard. And all winter, we moved there
officially in December, and all winter, that cherry tree has
had no leaves on it. It's an ugly tree. without any
leaves. And finally, this spring, it
bloomed. Cherry blossoms. And the tree was gorgeous, totally
pink. And as soon as they all came
on the tree, the wind blew and petals that looked like it was
snowing, cherry blossoms. And it took about two weeks,
two and a half weeks, and they were all gone. And I looked at
that tree and I thought, what a shame. You wait all year for
this tree to get beautiful. Two weeks, and then it's gone. Man that is born of woman is
of few days and full of trouble. Verse 2 says, He cometh forth
like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. Man's whole life is summed up
in verse 2. Whole life. He cometh forth like
a flower, and then he's cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow, and
then he continueth not. That's it. Turn with me over
to Psalm 3. Psalm 3 verse 1 says, Lord, how
are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. And the word selah means
just stop and think about that for a minute. With many there
be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God." Who
says that? I say that. My own thoughts say
that. My own fears say that. They trouble
me. They trouble me. Go to Psalm
31. Psalm 31 verse 9 says, Have mercy
upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed
with grief. Yea, my soul and my belly." My
soul is consumed with grief. My belly is consumed with grief.
For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing. My
strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I am in trouble. I'm in trouble. By nature, we're all in trouble. And we don't even stop to think
about it. We're all in trouble. Why? Sin. Everything that we are, and every single thing that we
go through in this life, is because of sin. Every single thing. Let me show you that in Genesis
3. Go over to Genesis 3. Genesis 3. Now, we know this
story. The Lord told Adam and Eve, you
may eat of every tree, but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. And the serpent came to Eve and she ate. Eve
went to Adam and he ate. And they both sinned against
God. Now, verse 7 says, And the eyes of them both were opened. And they knew that they were
naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God
among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked,
and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that
thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. He said the woman did it. It's
her fault. Now, before sin, Adam would have
never, never, ever blamed his wife. Never. He would have never done that.
Before sin. Verse 13 says, And the Lord God
said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?" And
the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat. The serpent
did it. Eve did the same thing. She's
no better than he is. Verse 14 says, And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel, Unto the woman
he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow." Isn't that terrible? I will greatly multiply thy sorrow. Is there anything worse in this
life than sorrow? Pain is pain. Is there anything
worse than sorrow? He said in verse 16, and thy
conception. Eve didn't even know what that
was. She'd never conceived before. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children. The only reason that childbirth
is painful is because of sin. That's the only reason. If it
weren't for sin, childbirth would be nothing but a happy, joyous
occasion. He said, And thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Verse 17, And
unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground
for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life. The reason that this ground is
so hard and rocky is because of sin. The Lord God put Adam in the
garden to till the ground. But the ground was already tilled. It was just fluff. And as soon as Adam and Eve sinned,
the ground just hardened. Isn't that something? Verse 18 says, "...thorns also,
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field." Roses never had thorns on them until sin. Not one thorn. As soon as Adam
and Eve sinned, and then that's what was taken,
impressed into the beautiful head of the Lord of Glory. Thorns. The fruit of sin. It was pressed
into Him. Verse 19 says, In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground,
for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and into dust
thou shalt return. Adam had never sweat before. Oh, never sweat. He had never sweat before. He'd never been hot before. He'd
never been tired before. Not one day in his life. He'd never been bitten by an
insect before. Never. All of a sudden, Adam and Eve
sinned. And he thought, what was that? All of a sudden, lions started
running after lambs. And Adam thought, oh no. What's happening to everything?
Lions used to eat with lambs. What's happening to everything?
Sin. Sin. Chapter 4 says, The Lord gave
them two sons, Cain and Abel. And sin took over. Murder. Can you imagine how Eve cried? Think about that. Eve had two
sons, two boys given to her by the Lord. She loved them. Can you imagine how Eve cried? Can you imagine how sorry Adam
was for sinning against God? Oh, Lord, I'm so sorry. You told me. I didn't obey. I'm so sorry. Is there any way we can be forgiven? Is there any way we can go back
to the way it was? From that moment on, his days,
his wife's days, and every child born to him, and that includes
you and me, They've all been full of trouble. Trouble. Romans 8.22 says, We know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. The whole creation. And it's
because of sin. We were walking up around Dad's
resort that he has there. And he said, hey, my flowers
are dying. I've got to water them. You know why they died? Sin. Sin. Isn't it awful? Awful. This world, this physical
life, it has no happy ending. Isn't that terrible? It's a bleak, sad story. There is no way to change it.
Not the condition of this world. There's no way to reverse it.
Not the inevitable death of this world. And if we stay in it, we're going
to go down with it. We're going to go down with it.
Everything here is rotting. It's rusting. It's decaying, including us. Because of sin, this world is
good for nothing but to be burned up. That's just the truth. Because of sin, I, by nature,
am good for nothing but to be burned up. Do you know that the world can't
see that? You cannot see that. They're totally at peace with
this world, this dying, sinful world. And the reason is because they're
blind to it. But if God ever opens up a sinner's
eyes, if the Lord ever does a work and opens up a sinner's eyes, And if that sinner ever sees
the truth, if that sinner ever sees the end of this life, the
truth, the end of this world, the end of themselves because
of sin, if that sinner ever sees the judge of all sin and the punishment for sin, And
if that sinner ever sees a substitute for that punishment, he will cry. He'll cry. If he ever gets a hold of that,
he's going to start crying. Blind Bartimaeus cried, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they all told him, He doesn't want you. He's leaving anyway, Bartimaeus.
He's passing by anyway. You're going to miss him. There's no hope for you, Bartimaeus.
And he cried the louder, Lord Jesus Christ, Savior, Thou Son
of David, King of kings and Lord of lords, have mercy on me. Please have mercy on me. I'm
rotting. I'm dying. I'm dead. Have mercy on me. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 6. He said, O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither
chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones
are vexed. My soul is also sore, vexed. But thou, O Lord, how long? Return,
O Lord, deliver my soul. O save me for thy mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance
of thee. In the grave, who shall give
thee thanks? I am weary with my groaning.
All the night make I my bed to swim. I water my couch with my
tears." All I can do is cry. Just cry. Listen to what he said
in Psalm 42. As the heart, as the deer, panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat, day
and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? My tears are saying, where is
thy God? This poor man cried. David said, out of the depths
have I cried unto thee. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Who?
Somebody help me! Somebody help me! Is there anybody
out there who can help me?" Well, this poor man cried, and
the Lord heard him. Let me tell you a true story. And if you've ever been around
a gospel preacher for the last 40 years, you've heard it 40
times. But I love this story. This is a true story. It's about
a Union soldier in the Civil War. He was out fighting and he got
word that his mother was dying. And he wanted to see his mother before
she died. So he knew that his only hope
of getting to see her on her deathbed was to make it to President
Abraham Lincoln. and ask him to grant a leave
so he could go and see his mother. So he made it to the White House.
And he walked up to the front doors and there were two guards
stationed there. And he pled his case. He told
them the whole story and he said, I have got to see President Lincoln. He's my only hope. And they said, you can't. You
just can't. We can't let anybody in here.
Can't. And he said, you don't understand.
My only hope is to get to President Abraham Lincoln. If he doesn't
grant me leave, I'll never get to go. And they said, no, you
don't understand. You're unauthorized. We're under
orders. We're terribly sorry, but you
can't come in." And the man broke down. He sat
down on the steps of the White House, and he put his head in
his hands, and he just cried. He just cried. And a little boy
was walking by at that exact moment in time, and he said, And he said, son, you wouldn't
understand. And the little boy sat down beside him on the steps
and he said, tell me, what is it? So the man told him, he said,
my mother is dying. And my only hope of getting to
see her before she dies is if I could see President Abraham
Lincoln and if he'd grant me leave to go. And I cannot get
into the White House. And the little boy said, well,
I'll take you in. Come on, let's go!" So they got
up, and they walked right through the front doors of the White
House, past the two guards. They walked down a hall, past
two more guards. They opened a door and walked
straight into the Oval Office. And President Abraham Lincoln
said, What can I do for you, son? And he said, This man here needs to see you. This poor man cried, and the
Son of God heard him. This poor man cried, and the
only one who was able to do anything about it, the Lord, heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles. Look at our text, Psalm
34. Verse 1 says, I will bless the
Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard
me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him
and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed." Verse
6 says, this, this. I'm here to preach good news. And this good news that I have,
it includes me. This. The song says, I was sinking
deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within,
sinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard
my despairing cry. from the water lifted me, now
safe am I." This! Christ didn't just come
to save sinners, Christ came to save me! The chief of sinners! And here's the good news. If
you're poor, if you're poor, poor in spirit, He came to save
you. That is good news. I can say that with confidence.
If you're poor, poor, poor, poor, He came to save you. Look at
verse 18. It says, The Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. Verse 19 says, Many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Look at verse 8. It says, Oh,
taste and see that the Lord is good. He's good. The blessing of God to a sinner
is that He would make him poor. That's the blessing, is that
the Lord would break us, bring us down, and make us poor. Poor in the love of this world.
Poor in pride. Poor in self. and rich in the
Lord Jesus Christ. In ourselves, we have nothing.
Everything we have is rusting. It's just going away. We have
nothing. But in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have everything. All things. He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not,
with Him, also freely give us all things." Verse 6 says, "...this
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all his troubles." My trouble is my sin. That's my trouble. It must be dealt with. It must
be punished. It must be. But look at this. Turn over to Psalm 27. Verse
5 says, in the time of trouble, when the time comes for my sin
to be dealt with, when judgment comes, in the time of trouble,
He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret of His tabernacle
shall He hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock."
Isn't that good news? That rock is Jesus Christ. And He said, let not your heart
be troubled. Because in another place, he
said, God is going to wipe away all the tears from your eyes.
How? How does He do that? By revealing
to a sinner that the Lord of glory was made poor for this
poor man. That this poor man might be made
rich. By revealing that the Lord of
glory cried My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" So that
this poor man may never cry again. The Lord Jesus Christ groaned
in the Spirit and was troubled to the point that he perished. That this poor man might be saved
from all his troubles. Now, let's close with a word
of encouragement. 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8 says, We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but we are not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body. That means always carrying around. Always remembering the dying
of the Lord Jesus. That the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. Are you a poor man? Or a poor
woman? Cry unto the Lord. He'll hear
you. And he'll save you out of all
your troubles. Every one of them. May the Lord
bless his word.