Go with me if you would back
to Psalm 61 where our brother just read for us. Psalm 61 and let's read verse
two together. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. I feel led today to bring a Wednesday
night message on Sunday morning. We have four messages a week
here, and in my mind, this is the theme of each one of them. The Bible study is a time of
instruction. Sunday morning is a time of declaration. Sunday evening is a time of reflection. And Wednesday night is a time
for comfort. If you need some comfort, come
to Wednesday night. I've wanted to tell people that
for 10 years now. It's my first time doing it.
I'll give you a secret. I'll give you an in. If you need comfort,
come to Wednesday night. If you need to get your mind
around some things and your understanding around some things, come to the
Bible study. If you want to hear a nice, relaxing
summary of everything, come to Sunday evening. I feel like that's
the most relaxed service of the week. Sunday mornings, everybody's
tired because nobody goes to bed on time. Saturday night,
nobody. And you did too much, you worked
around the yard, and everybody's twisting, and my muscles hurt,
and I'm just tired. Sunday morning's a tired time.
Right? Wednesday night, everybody's
been working all day. You've got to get dinner on the table.
You've got to get the kids ready. You've got to get the kids back
home and into bed. They've got school. Wednesday night's rushed
and tired. But Sunday night, everybody who
wants one goes home and gets a nap. We've already been together. The ice is broken. We come back
just so happy and relaxed. If you want a nice, relaxing
summary of the day, come to Sunday night. And if you want to hear a lifted
up voice with strength crying, behold your God, then come to
Sunday morning. And if you want to hear all that,
if you want a well-rounded hearing, come to all of them. It may not always follow that
pattern, but generally that's the theme of each one of those
services. Today, though, is going to be
one of those days when we don't follow that pattern. Today, I feel led to bring a
Wednesday night message on Sunday morning. If you need some comfort
today, then this message is for you. If you need some comfort,
truly, this message is for you. This message is for anybody looking
for some comfort and some peace and some rest and some stability. This message is for anybody who
needs something to fall on and something to call on. This message is for anybody who
is in distress of any kind and doesn't know where to turn and
doesn't know what to do and feels like they are standing on the
end of the earth and feels like their heart is completely overwhelmed
in them. If that's anybody here today,
then this message is a cry to God on your behalf. Verse 2 says, From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Isn't that so? Doesn't your heart just say,
yep, that's it. That's it. From the end of the
earth will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
Just overwhelmed. My heart will cry, and this is
it. This is our message. This is
our cry. Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. I
need a rock higher than me. I'm down here drowning. I'm wallowing. I need higher ground. Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. If the Lord is willing, we're
going to end this service with the song, the rock that is higher
than I. And this is what the first verse
and chorus of that song say. Sometimes the shadows are deep and rough seems the path to the
goal. Our goal is Christ. Our goal
is the end of all this. Deliverance from all this, but
sometimes you feel like you're down in the valleys and the shadows
are deep and rough seems the path to the goal. And sorrows sometimes how they
sweep like tempests down over the soul. Oh, then to the rock,
let me fly. To the rock that is higher than
I. Oh, then to the rock, let me
fly. To the rock that is higher than
I. When the flood comes, oh Lord, let me flee to that rock that
is higher than me. What is the rock that we can
flee to? It's not a what, it's a who. It's a who that rock is
Christ. That rock is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't you pray the Lord will make this real to us. Don't you
pray the Lord will cause us to truly really enter into the rock. This rock is Christ and this
is not a metaphor. This is not. This is reality. This rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one. He is the
only place and he is the only one that we truly have to turn
to. Really? Every time we feel like
we're on the end of the earth. And our hearts are overwhelmed.
It's always because of sin. I'll tell you what the problem
is. It's always because of sin. Sin is the root of all of our
problems. Sin is the culprit of all of
our problems, our spiritual problems, our emotional problems, our physical problems. They are all the result of our
sin. Oh, if we could just get rid
of this sin, if we could just get rid of this sin, that's what
we need. We need to be rid of our sin. Well, listen to this. This is
the honest truth. There's a remedy for it. You know, you have a sickness,
you have a problem, and a doctor says, there's a remedy for that.
There is a great physician with a remedy for this. God provided
a remedy for our sin, and that remedy is in the rock. On the rock. In the rock. It truly is. Turn with me over
to Exodus 33. Exodus chapter 33. Verse 12, And Moses said unto the Lord,
See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 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 may 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 Moses 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. Moses said, Lord, I need you
desperately right now. That's what he's saying. I need
you. He said, Lord, go with me. That's
a prayer of comfort. That's a prayer to pray. Go with
me. Lord, go with me. If you don't
go with me, don't let me go. That's what He's saying. Lord, go with me, be with me,
stay with me. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, as long as you're with me, I
know I don't have anything to be afraid of. Even though I'm
still afraid. I know I don't have anything
to be afraid of. Moses said, Lord, please go with
me. Verse 17 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. He said,
I'll go with you. Because you have found grace
in my sight, and I know you by name. He says that to every child
of His. You have found grace in my sight, I know you by name. Verse 18, And Moses said, I beseech
thee, show me thy glory. And the Lord 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. The holy God,
judge of the earth, who must punish all sin and iniquity. Verse 20, He said, Thou canst
not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live. Verse 21, the Lord said, Behold,
there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and
it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will
put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by. He said, When my judgment comes,
my judgment on your sin, He said, when it comes time for it to
pass by you, there's a place of safety I'll put you in. It's a broken place in the rock.
Don't you thank God for the broken place in the rock? He said, and while you're in
that broken place of the rock, my right hand will cover you.
Don't you thank God for that covering? My right hand will
protect you. My right hand will atone for
you. You'll be safe. That right hand is Christ. The
broken place is Christ. The rock is Christ. Can't we
see Calvary in all this? God said, He is my remedy for
sin. He's my remedy. And God told
Moses, not only is Christ my remedy for sin, He's my source
of life and comfort and healing and sustainment. Look with me
at Exodus chapter 17. Exodus 17 verse 1, it says, And
all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the
wilderness of sin after their journeys, according to the commandment
of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the
people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide
with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And
Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you
tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there
for water. And the people murmured against
Moses and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us
up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with
thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord,
saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready
to stone me. He said, Lord, I'm on the end
of the earth here. That's what he's saying. My heart
is overwhelmed within me. What do I do? Verse five. And
the Lord said unto Moses, go on before the people and take
with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest
the river, take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand
before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite
the rock. And there shall come water out
of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel. Moses cried, Lord, we need relief. We need a remedy. And the Lord
told Moses who represents the law. Moses in the scripture represents
the law. The Lord told the law, smite
the rock. What do we do? We need relief
here. We need remedy. What do we do? He said, strike
the rock. That's my remedy. That's my provided
peace. That is my provided relief. That
is their hope. That is their comfort. Strike
the rock. Let the rock be smitten instead
of them. Can we see Calvary in this? Let the rock be smitten so they
won't have to be. That's my remedy. For probably
six or eight straight years, I told this story all the time. I told it everywhere I went.
There's nowhere I didn't tell this story. I told it multiple
times. And I quit telling it for a while
because I told it so much. I did tell it once here recently,
but I believe possibly somebody in this room has never heard
it, so I'm going to tell it. And I'm going to tell it like
I used to tell it, not the Cliff Notes version that I have been
telling recently. Years ago, Hannah and I were
visiting Adam and Carrie Simpson. in their family. Carrie used
to be a coffee, Bob and Rebecca's daughter. And she married Adam
Simpson, and their first child was a little girl named Lucy. And don't we love Lucy? I was
writing that down, and as soon as I wrote her name, I thought,
I love her. She's just so dear, so sweet. She's been here many
times. On this particular visit, Lucy was four years old. This
had been a long time ago. She's engaged to be married now. But we were there and we were
going to have dinner. And I sat down in my seat and
Lucy crawled up into the seat next to me. And as she was, you
know, jumping up, scooting in, she was holding on to this picture that she had colored
in Sunday school. And I looked at it and I said,
well, Lucy, that's such a beautiful picture you have there. And she
said, thank you. You want me to tell you about
it? I said, I sure do. So she held it up and it had
a man standing in the front next to a waterfall and a whole bunch
of people in the background. And she said, well, this is Moses.
And these are the children of Israel. And she said, the children
of Israel were whining and complaining. They were just whining and complaining. They said, we're so thirsty,
Moses. We're just so thirsty. And they just kept on whining
and complaining and whining and complaining. She said, so do
you know what Moses did? I said, what? She said, he struck
the rock. And she said, do you know what
came out of that rock? And I said, what? She said, living
water. And the people drank and drank,
and they were so satisfied. And she said, do you know who
that rock was? And I said, who? She said, Jesus
Christ. And she said, do you know what
that rock did? And by this point in the story,
I had forgotten. I did not know. And I said, what?
She said, it followed the Israelites wherever they went. That rock was there for them
wherever they went. When they needed that rock, it
was right there. They'd go over there, there's
that rock. God in His providence would send
them over there, there's the rock. Every time they needed that rock,
it was right there. Turn with me over to 1 Peter
2. 1 Peter 2 verse 3, it says, If so be, you have tasted that
the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious."
That's talking about Christ. Verse 5 says, You also, as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. While our Lord was on this earth,
he said, whoever this stone falls on, Judgment's coming. And whoever this stone falls
on, it will grind that man or woman to powder. But this is
what he said. He said, whoever falls on this
stone. Do we hear that? Whoever falls
on this stone for mercy, for safety, for comfort, for peace,
right here, he said, will not be confounded. will not be confounded. Verse 7 says, Unto you therefore
which believe, He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling, and
a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed, But you are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people,
that you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which in time
past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." What he's
saying is, if you have been caused to cry, Lord, please lead me
to the rock that is higher than I. I'm falling. I'm calling. If you've been caused to do that,
that's the evidence of the fact that you're a chosen generation.
God chose you. And you've been made to be, in
Christ, a royal priesthood. You are a purchased people. That's
what the word peculiar means. Purchased people. And He said,
if in faith, in looking to Christ, and crying out to Christ, and
believing on Christ, you show forth the praises of Him who
called you, that's the evidence that you've been taken from darkness
to light. And you belong to God. But because
you've obtained mercy in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, you rock. Now, let me just point out two
things from our text and we'll close, all right? We're closing
here. Go back to Psalm 61. Psalm 61, number one, if this
is truly from the heart, our cry to the Lord, if this is,
then this is the faith we need to cry it in. All right. The
end of verse two, David said, Lord, lead me to the rock that
is higher than I. Lord, would you lead me? You must lead me. Otherwise,
I will never make it to you. That's saying, Lord, salvation
is of you. That's what it's saying. Lord,
lead me and I'll follow. Draw me and I'll come to you.
Lord, I cannot come unless you draw me. I will not come unless
you make me willing to. Lead me, Lord, I'm looking to
you, I'm casting my all on you. You're high, I'm low. You're
my only hope. If our heart's cry is to Him,
Lord, You lead me, then we need to cry to Him in true faith.
That's the first thing. And the second thing is this.
If that is our heart's cry to Him, then we can cry it in the
comfort, in the peace, in the joy of this. Our Lord said, if
you ask in sincerity, you will receive. When you feel like,
and let me just close out here by saying this, when you feel
like you're standing on the end of the earth, when, not if, when
your turn comes and you feel like you're standing there on
the end of the earth and you get to that place where your
heart is completely overwhelmed in you, if you cry to the rock
that is higher than you, If you cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ,
this is his promise. He will hear you. He will help you. And he'll raise you up with him.
In heart, in soul, when you need him, cry out to him. Cry out
to him. He said, I will be with you in
your time of trouble. And he said, I will hold your
hand all the way through it. Cry out to him. Lord, we're crying
out right now, aren't we? We're crying out right now. We
come to you right now. Lead us to Christ. Lead us to
comfort. Lead us to peace. Lead us to
rest. Lead us to Christ. Amen. All right.