Psalm 28. This psalm is a prayer and our Lord told us to pray without ceasing. He said, ask and it shall be given you. He said, you have not because you ask not. In Ezekiel 36, our Lord listed all of these wonderful things that he was going to do for his people, but he said, I will yet for this be inquired of by them to do it for them. They're going to ask me for it. They're going to ask. They're going to ask me first. So based on the word of our Lord, we know that the best way we could begin this new year is in prayer to our Lord, in communion, in communication with our Lord. He said, if you ask a good thing in my name, I will give it to you. So I believe we'd be very wise to begin this year in prayerful communication with our Lord, asking him for some good things. That's how I want us to begin 2026, asking him for some good things.

And what are good things? Well, it's anything that he has instructed us to ask for in his word. Whatever he's told us to ask for, those are good things. And in the last verse of Psalm 28, David asked four things here. Our Lord recorded it in his word to instruct us to ask these same four things. These things are written for our learning. So I've titled this message a prayer for 2026, this Bible study, I've titled it a prayer for 2026. And this is our prayer. If you look at verse nine, it says, save thy people and bless thine inheritance, feed them also and lift them up forever. Lord, that's our prayer. That's our prayer for this coming year. That's what we desire to happen. That's what we desire to see happen here, here. Lord, among your people here and then everywhere in the world that you would be pleased to do this and pleased to answer this prayer. Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance Feed them also and lift them up forever. That's what brought me here.

I want to look at the entire psalm, the entire prayer, and then we'll end by focusing for a minute on those four requests. But look with me at verse one. It says, Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock. This cry is to you, unto thee, my Lord and my rock. That's a good place to start. That's a really good place to start. A cry to our Lord and our rock. And I do want to just convey to you that I really don't want this to just be an outline. Let's use this. Let's take this, listen to this, apply this, use this. 2026. This would be a good place to start. A cry to our Lord and our rock. And who is our Lord and our rock? Jesus Christ. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That rock is Christ. Where do you want to start 2026? How about on Christ? How about let's start on Christ. The rock that is higher than I. He is the sure foundation.

Verse one says, unto thee will I cry, oh Lord, my rock. Be not silent to me. I'll cry to you, be not silent to me. Lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Be not silent to me, I live by your word. Tell me if you understand this experience. When you are not feeding on the word, you feel dead and you feel cold and you feel lifeless, spiritually dead, right? Lord, I live by your word. Don't you want the Lord to speak to you? I do, I truly do. Help me, Lord, hear my cry. Let this be a living cry. Let this be a fervent cry. Help me. Speak to me, Lord. Be not silent to me. I cannot live by bread alone. That's what this world is. That's what day in and day out is. I cannot live by bread alone. I must have every word that proceeds out of your mouth. I must. I must have it. That's why I'm crying to you. I need you to make sure I have it. If it's left up to me, I won't have it. Please hear my cry.

Verse two. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Thy holy oracle literally translates the holy of holies. the place where blood was offered to God for the sin of his people. David said, I'm lifting up my hope in that. I'm hanging my soul on that. And so are we, aren't we? So are we, we're hanging our souls right there.

Verse three says, draw me not away with the wicked, How would he do that? He's crying to the Lord. How would the Lord do that? Draw me not away with the wicked. How would the Lord do that? He would do that by taking his hand off of us and letting us go. All he'd have to do is just take his hand away and just let us go. Oh, so prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. You all may not feel it. I actually do esteem you better than me, but prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. So prone to leave the God that I love. That's how sinful I am. That's how wicked I am. I am cut from the same lump. I'm no different than any other sinner. Don't let me go. Here's a great place to start, 2026. Don't let me go. Don't let 2026 be the year that you take your hand off of me and let me go. Don't leave me to myself.

Verse three, draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands, render to them their dessert. That word dessert means what they deserve. And it's clear to see that David here is talking about other people all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But how many times did David say this about his own self? How many times? Turn with me over to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, this is a Psalm of David. Verse one, he said, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. It's also present tense, isn't it? or I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Can we see and understand what he's saying right there? He's saying, I see all of this in me. I know you see it in me, I see it in me. And you're right to judge me. And I want you to judge me. I want you to judge my sin. I want you to put away everything in me that has brought reproach to you and reproach to your glory and reproach to your gospel. I don't want you to clear me. I want you to judge me. But I only want you to judge me in Christ. I only want you to judge me in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse four, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part. Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Purge me with the blood of the lamb, the blood that was sprinkled on the mercy seat, and I'll be clean. My desire is that you would do this for me. Lord, would you do this for me? Isaiah said, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." But he said, if you'll take a coal from off of the altar, the altar of sacrifice, the altar of blood atonement, blood covering appeasement, if you'll take a fiery judgment coal from that altar and burn me with it, You touch it to my lips. In Christ, my blood sacrifice from that altar. He said, my iniquity will be taken away and my sin will be purged. I'll be purged.

Go with me back to Psalm 28. Verse 1 says, Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock, be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward the holy oracle, He said, I'm just as worthy as anybody to go down to the pit. So hear me, I'm casting my all on this blood intercession.

In the Holy of Holies, verse three, draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands, render to them their dessert. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them and not build them up.

Lord, destroy everything that does not give the glory to Christ alone. And please, for Christ's sake, cause us to give the glory to Christ alone. Verse six, blessed be the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications." How do you know, David? How do you know he has? It's because he's caused me to realize, verse 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I'm helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth. And with my song will I praise him. I know that he's heard me. I know that he's had mercy on me because he has caused me to cast my all on him. That's the evidence. Those who have been heard, those who have received mercy, cast their all on him, all of their all.

Verse seven says, the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength and he is the saving strength of his anointing. And because of that, because that's what you are to us, Lord, this is our prayer to you. Verse nine, save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them up forever.

Now here's what I want to point out about that verse. All four of those requests are answered and fulfilled by the same thing. All four of those requests have the same end. David said, save thy people. Save thy people. Who are his people? Let me pause, let me pause one second here. We're either gonna do this or not do this. All right, who are his people? I'm just gonna tell you, we're not gonna turn, turn, turn. I'm gonna tell you, I don't have time. Acts 13, 48 says, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Who are God's people? The ones who were ordained to it. Acts 20 says, feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. Who are his people? It's the very ones that Christ purchased with his own blood specifically. Christ did not die for everybody. He did not shed his blood for everybody. He did not make a general atonement or a general salvation. As many as were ordained to eternal life received the blood that was shed. And they are His people.

Turn with me to Ephesians 1. Go with me over there to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3, it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Who are his people? It's every soul that the Father chose in Christ, predestinated to Christ, made accepted by the blood of Christ. Those are his people.

All right, now, who is that? This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

All right, now listen, listen. Really, really take this as some solid truth here, okay? Some of you are sitting here right now in the guilt of your own sin. And if you are, he did this for you. Not every person will sit here inside these four walls in the guilt of his or her own sin. Not every person will sit here in the guilt of his or her own sin. Some will sit here in the pride of their own knowledge. Some will sit in the arrogant lie of their own self-righteousness. Some will sit in the ignorant assumption that everything's fine. Everybody who goes to church is saved. There is not one word of hope in God's word for any soul that sits in any of those conditions.

But to the soul that sits here in the guilt of his or her own sin, the promise of God's salvation is to you. How can you say that, Gabe? Because God told me to. How do you know that, Gabe? Because God said so.

All of his people are made to know their sin. Their sin. The promise of adoption and inheritance in Christ is to sinners. The sinful, guilty soul, not the one who used to be sinful and used to feel guilty. The sinful, guilty soul is the one that God said he would speak peace to in the blood of Christ saying, I'm your God. and you're my people, and I will lead you, and I will feed you, and I will carry you all the way home. That's salvation. And that's the blessing. That is the blessing.

Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Salvation in Christ is the blessing. I was gonna read those verses again, I'm not. It says, blessed be the God and Father who blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Why? He saved us, he chose us, he predestinated us, he adopted us. He accepted us in the blood of the beloved. That's the blessing.

Christ is the salvation of his people. Christ is the blessing of his people. his people, his inheritance, as our text says. Psalm 2, the father said to the son, if you ask me, I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance. What a blessing. Just knowing that, hearing that, that's the blessing. We feed on him. It's a blessing because that's what feeds our soul. That's what makes, that's what a blessing is. Oh, that feeds my soul.

We feed on him. He said, this is my body broken for you. Take it and eat it. What does that mean? Oh, my spirit will teach you. Are you satisfied with the broken body and shed blood of Christ? Are you still hungering for something else? Is Christ enough or do you need more to look some... No, I'm satisfied. No, thank you. Wouldn't you like to add some of this over here to that? No, thank you. I've had enough. I'm good.

We feed on him. He said, I'm the bread of life. He that comes to me is never gonna hunger. He that believes on me is never gonna thirst. If you have Christ, you have all the spiritual food you need.

David said, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Here's a great way to start 2026. Lord, would you let me taste that? Not just your people, not just somebody else in the room, what about me? Would you let me taste that? Let us taste the goodness and the graciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ because he's our nourishment.

We feed on him, save thy people, bless thine inheritance, feed them also and lift them up forever.

I'm not gonna read Ephesians 2 to you that says, but God who's rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved, even we're dead in sin, he quickened us together with Christ, by grace you're saved. He raised us up together and made us sit with him in heavenly places.

Christ is our safety, Christ is our comfort, Christ is our nourishment, Christ is our glory. And we see every bit of that in our prayer.

All right, I'm gonna close, go back to Psalm 28. I'm gonna close with this. We'll close by seeing our salvation and hearing the blessing that feeds our souls and lifts us up. And we're gonna do that by hearing the words of Jesus Christ himself in this psalm.

Listen to him. He's on the cross of Calvary. As our substitute, he is praying and interceding to the Father in his death, in his dying moment. He's doing this for us, okay? See if this right here doesn't save you, bless you, feed you, and lift you up.

Verse one. Listen to the Savior right here.

Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock. Be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands, render to them exactly what they deserve. In me. What are you saying? In me. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them and not build them up. in me. Blessed be the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength. and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them up forever.

Can we not hear, Father, forgive them? Forgive them. My God, my God, forsake me. He knew why thou art holy. He knew why the Lord was forsaking him. My God, forsake me so you can receive them to yourself.

If the Lord will let us see that and enter into that in 2026, we'll be saved, we'll be blessed, we'll be fed, we'll be lifted up. May the Lord make it so. Amen.

You're dismissed.