I want to first go to 1 Chronicles
chapter 21. It's a little lengthy. And I'll read just a little bit
of chapter 22. All the writers that I've read
agree that this is the reason this psalm was written. I'm getting
ready to start reading in 1 Chronicles. I finished up 1 and 2 Kings.
But part of this The next chapter has to do with
the psalm we'll be looking at. And Satan stood up against Israel
and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab
and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba
even to Dan, and bring the number of them to me, that I may know
it. And Joab answered, The Lord make his people a hundred times
so many more as they be. But, my lord the king, are they
not all my lord's servants? Why then doth my lord require
this thing? Why will he be a cause of trespass
to Israel? Nevertheless, the king's word
prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and
went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave
the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they
of Israel were a thousand, thousand, and a hundred thousand men that
drew sword. And Judah was four hundred, threescore,
and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi, that's the priestly
tribe, and Benjamin counted he not among them, for the king's
word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this
thing, therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have
sinned greatly, because I have done this thing. But now I beseech
thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done
very foolishly. And the Lord spake unto Gad,
David's seer, saying, Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith
the Lord, I offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them,
that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and said
unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee either three years'
famine, or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while
that the sword of thine enemies overtake thee, or else three
days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence in the land, and
the angel of the Lord, destroying throughout all the coast of Israel.
Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again
to him that sent me. You know, I've learned this.
One of the greatest trials that God can give me and you is to
give us a choice. I don't want a choice, and that's
what David says here, look. And David said unto Gad, I am
in a great strait, let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for
very great are his mercies, but let me not fall into the hand
of man. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of
Israel 70,000 men. God killed 70,000 men over this
incident. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem
to destroy it. And as he was destroying, the
Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to
the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood
by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted
up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the
earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand, stretched
out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of
Israel, who were clothed with sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it
not I that commanded the people to be numbered, even I? It is
even I, it is, that have sinned and done evil indeed. But as for these sheep, What
have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee,
O Lord my God, be on me and on my father's house, but not on
thy people, that they should be plagued.' Then the angel of
the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go
up, set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying
of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord. And Ornan turned
back and saw the angel and his four sons with him hid themselves. And his four sons with him hid
themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan
looked and saw David and went out of the threshing floor and
bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David
said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that
I may build an altar therein unto the Lord. Thou shalt grant
it me for the full price, that the plague may be stayed from
the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let
my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Lo, I give
it thee, the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing
instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering.
I give it all. And King David said to Ornan,
No, no, nay, but I will verily pay it for the full price, for
I will not, and this is important, listen to this. I will not take
that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without
cost." I'm not going to take that which costs me nothing and
give it for a burnt offering. He said, no, I'm going to pay
you the full price. I'm going to deal with this. I'm going to deal with this problem.
And I'm going to offer to the Lord that which I've purchased
from you." So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels
of gold by weight. And David built there an altar
unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings
and called upon the Lord. And he answered him from heaven
by fire upon the altar of burnt offerings. And the Lord commanded
the angel and he put up his sword again to the sheath thereof.
I can't imagine I can't imagine seeing this angel standing between
heaven and earth with that sword drawn. It had to be an awesome,
awesome sight. And at that time when David saw
that the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan
the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there for the tabernacle of the
Lord which Moses made in the wilderness and the altar of the
burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before
it to inquire of God, for he was afraid because of the sword
of the angel of the Lord. Then David said, This is the
house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offerings
for Israel. And David commanded to gather
together the strangers that were in the land of Israel, and he
sent masons to hew whit, wrought stones to build the house of
God." And listen, y'all can read that later, but he made all these
supplies, but God said, you're not gonna build my house. Solomon's
gonna do it because you're a man of war. You've shed a lot of
blood. He said, but your son, Solomon,
is gonna build my house. And so this, and if you look
at Psalm 30, now go to Psalm 30. And this is what I read agree
that this song was written for, a dedication. Some say it was
written, Spurgeon said it was written of the dedication of
David's house where he lived. And Spurgeon made a good point.
He said, when we move to a house or we build something or we build
a place to lodge in, first thing, we ought to dedicate it to the
Lord. It's his. But this is the situation. If
you'll look at the top of that psalm, a psalm and a song. This was to be sung at the dedication
of the house of David. Even though David wasn't allowed
to build it, he wrote this psalm that when Solomon built it, it
was to be sung and dedicated. So, that's the background of
this psalm. I know it's rather lengthy, but
it's the Word of God. Now he says in verse 1, I will
extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not
made my foes to rejoice over me. Now after reading that, we
know what he's talking about. He said, Lord, You've lifted
me up. You have not allowed the enemy, and if you'll notice what
he says there, and has not made my foes to rejoice over me. They can't do anything unless
God lets them. Just like Satan could not touch
Job. Satan said to God concerning
Job, you have put a hedge about him. That's the reason in my
prayer I said, Lord, put a hedge about your children here. Protect
them. God has a hedge. He truly does.
God has a hedge about every one of his children. And Satan and
no one else can break that hedge unless God lets them in, unless
God allows it. And that's why David said, I
will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast
not made my foes to rejoice over me. Someone said this. Prayer
brings deliverance, and deliverance brings praise. It brings praise
to God. We must not forget to show our
gratitude to the Lord when He delivers us out of trouble. All
of our deliverances is of the Lord. You know that? Let's recognize
that. Everything we come out of, every
trouble we come out of, God brings us out of it. It's the Lord who
brings us out of it. And we should recognize that.
He has lifted us up and He's lifted us up in grace. He's lifted
us up in mercy. And He keeps us and protects
us at all times by His grace and by His mercy. Oh Lord my God, in verse 2, I
cried unto Thee and Thou hast healed me. All healing As I said
this, I think, last week, all healing is of God, whether He
just speaks the Word, or whether He uses medicine, the means. All healing is of God, whether
it be physical or spiritual. All healing is of God, and the
Lord should be glorified in every aspect of our being. Over in 2 Chronicles, I'm not
going to turn over there because I've already read a lot to you,
but over in 2 Chronicles 16, there was a king named Asa. And he was king in Israel for
39 years, well, 41 years, but at 39 years, it says, he was
diseased in his feet. And he became very diseased,
crippling. And it says this, that Asa was diseased in his
feet, and he sought not the Lord, but the physicians." He's not saying it's wrong to
seek the help of a physician, but in all matters, all matters,
physical sickness, spiritual sickness, in all matters, we
are to seek the Lord first. It said, Asa did not seek the
Lord concerning this disease that he had in his feet. He sought
the physicians, and he never one time sought the Lord about
it. And shortly after that, about
a year after that, he died. All healing is of God, and that's
what David recognizes here. Oh Lord, my God, I cried to Thee,
and Thou hast healed me. David knew that what he did was
wrong. There was a spiritual sickness
in it. And he said, Lord, You've healed me. You've healed me. You know, one of the Lord's name
is Jehovah-Rapha. You know what that means? The Lord that healeth thee. He's
Jehovah-Rapha. It says in Isaiah 53, By His
stripes we are what? Healed. By His stripes we are
healed. He's the one who heals us. Whatever
the problem is, He's the Great Physician. He is. And, O LORD,
Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. It seems to me like at this time
that there was also a great sickness that fell on David. And David
believed that he was going to die. Unless God does something,
he's going to die. And he said, You've brought up
my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive. that
I should not go down to the pit. The only reason that I am not
in hell is this. God has kept me by His power
through faith. God has kept me alive. And God
has kept me believing the gospel. He has kept me by His grace,
and He's kept you also. And the reason that nothing has
taken our lives, this virus that's going around, you know why it's
not taking our lives? God has kept us. That's the only reason. It's not because I haven't come
in contact. I guarantee you that we've had
to come in contact over four months. But God has kept us alive. He's the one who does it. Thou
hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Our lives
on this earth is held in the hand of God. It says in Psalm
31 15, My times are in Thy hands. My times. And until My time comes,
I cannot die. As one writer said, and I don't
remember who it was, but he said, We are immortal until He makes
us mortal to take us home. I remember, you all don't know
him, Jason knows him, he flew one of the first bombing missions
in Germany, Cecil Roach. He was an elder at 13th Street.
He flew one of the first bombing missions. And he said when he
came back, he flew over and he came back, that plane was riddled
with bullets. I mean bullet holes, just riddled
with it. And the only person that got
hurt was the person that dropped the ammunition on his foot. But
he said that plane was shot full of holes, and it didn't hit anybody
in that plane. My times are in thy hand. That ought to give us some peace
and comfort as we travel through this life, because death is all
around, isn't it? It's all around. We were watching
a program the other day, me and Vicki, and I said, man, I said,
every inch of this earth, something has died on it. But our times are in His hands,
and He's kept us alive. It's the Lord who keeps us alive,
and He keeps us from falling away. David said in Psalm 40, that
you have lifted me out of this horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and you've set my feet upon a rock. You've set my feet
upon solid ground, solid standing, and that rock is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, because, listen, in verse
4, because He's lifted me out of the pit, He says to all, all
of God's saints, sing unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord. I think next Thursday we need
to sing unto the Lord again here, don't you? I think we need to
sing unto the Lord again. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints
of His. Nobody else is going to do it.
Isn't that sad? Isn't that sad? This is God's
creation. There are 7 billion people, over
7 billion people on this earth, and only a remnant will sing
unto the Lord. The rest of them won't acknowledge
Him at all. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints
of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
David says, put this to song, it deserves to have a tune put
to it. True praise, in a sense, is like
singing to the Lord, isn't it? It's the same as singing to the
Lord. And all God's saints are to sing to Him. You know, over
2 Chronicles 20 and 21, It says this, "...and when he
had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the
Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness." They
should sing unto the Lord and praise His holiness. You know
why we give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness? Because that
means that God is a just God and a Savior. And a Savior. God's children are thankful that
the Lord is holy. I'm thankful He's holy. I am.
You know why? I'm going to give you a few reasons
here. Number one, it means He'll do
right. And number two, listen, because God is holy, I want you
to get this, because God is holy, it means He must show mercy.
If God is perfect, then He must show mercy. If God is merciful,
then He must show it. If God is love, and the Scripture
says, God is love, that love must be shown. And He's going
to show it. He's going to give it. You know,
when the angels fell, He did not provide them a Savior, right?
But there's a multitude of angels that did not fall. He didn't
let them fall. They kept their first estate,
it says. They're called the elect angels. He did not let them fall. If He had let them, they would
have. They would have fallen just like the rest of them. But
He didn't let them. He kept them. And there's a multitude
of sinners on this earth that God's going to save. He's going
to show mercy to them. He's going to show pardon to
them and forgiveness to them because He's holy. He's holy. He must, He must express, God
must express His attributes. I could not, could it, if there's
a person here that needs mercy, if there's people here that need
mercy, and I'm a merciful person, but I won't, but I say I'm a
merciful person, but I won't have mercy on them? What's that
say about me? I'm not merciful. I'm not merciful. But the Word of God says God
is love, God delights to show mercy, and therefore He's going to.
We give thanks after remembrance of His holiness. And He says
in verse 5, For His anger endureth but a moment, in His favor is
life. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning. What a verse! Put this one on
your refrigerator. This is a refrigerator verse. Now, I want you to understand
this. And this is the first thing that struck me. It says, "...His
anger endureth but a moment." If God speaks to us and has written
the Scriptures to us in language you and I can get a hold of,
language that you and I can understand, Because if God was angry because
of my sin and your sin, would He not be angry all the time?
What do you do that doesn't have sin in it? Nothing. Absolutely
everything we do has sin in it. Paul said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. That which I would do, I do not.
That which I would not do, that I do. And he said, O wretched
man that I am! But he's speaking here in language
that you and I can understand. You say, I can remember my earthly
father. Now, he would get angry with
me. He'd get angry with me and he'd
really wear me out. But God here, it's really an
expression of His displeasure with sin. And it's His correcting us. Whom
the Lord loves, He what? He chastens. And that's what
this really is talking about. He's talking about the chastening
rod of God to me and you. It seems like anger, doesn't
it? With me and you, it comes across as anger. That's the way
it came across to me when my dad gave me a whipping. But I
can tell you right now, at the bottom of it, my dad loved me.
I know he did. My mother loved me. I know she
did. But it came across as anger at first. And this way we see
it on our side of it, but on God's side of it, it's whom the
Lord loves, he chastens. David speaks here of the chastening
rod of the Lord. And because he's holy, his anger
against his child endures for a set period of time and then
it's over. It's over. When repentance takes
place, his chastening rod is put up, and the subject is not brought
up no more. There's a good lesson for us
as parents, those who are to be parents someday. When you
discipline your child over something, when it's over, it's over. Let
it go. I know a person, I know a lady,
that when she has disciplined her children over something,
a month later she's still not got over it. I mean, it's a month
later, she's still bringing it up. It's like, let it go. Aren't you glad God lets it go?
Turn over to Psalm 103. In verse 8, the Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will
not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. He
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. Listen, if God dealt with us after our sins,
and if He rewarded us according to our iniquities, we would be
in hell right now. We wouldn't be here. We'd be
under the wrath of God. But I tell you this, if He has
not dealt with me and does not deal with me after my sins and
rewarded me according to my iniquities, it's because He dealt with Jesus
Christ for my sins and rewarded Him for my iniquities. Because God does not let sin
go unpunished at all. He can't, not be a just God. For His anger endureth but a
moment, in His favor is life, eternal life. There is no death
in the Lord's favor. God's chastening never leads
to death. It leads to correction. It doesn't
lead to death. The Lord's chastening rod tends
to life, not destruction. That's why He sends the rod. It's for correction, not destruction. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning. I want to tell you something. I know that children have been
abused, I know that. They've been whipped for wrong
reasons and overly whipped, and I know that. But when God makes
His children to weep, it's that He might bring them
that true joy, that true joy of righteousness. that true joy of being delivered
from sin. And weeping may endure for a
night. David said in Psalm 6, he said, I water my couch with
tears. He said, I water my... my couch
is soaked with tears. And some of you know what that's
about. Some of you, I'm sure, have wept all night. Sometimes
that can be just a night. Sometimes it can be days, weeks,
months, and even years. But here's the promise. Joy cometh
in the morning. You can mark this down just as
sure as your God's child. If He makes you cry, He's going
to make you rejoice. Joy is going to be on the hills
of weeping. We have it right here. Right
here it is. Joy cometh in the morning. It's better to weep for a night
than to weep for eternity. I'd rather weep for a night.
Ten thousand times rather God deal with me here then let me
meet Him in judgment." When the Lord makes us weep,
He's going to make us to rejoice in the morning. And the Lord always... I've lived
long enough, I can see this one. He always sets one against the
other. Always sets one against the other. And the next verse
tells us why. In verse 6, and in my prosperity,
I said, I shall never be moved. In my prosperity, why don't he
just say this, in my prosperity, I was lifted up with pride. You know, the person that came
to my mind when I read this, David said, in my prosperity,
in my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved. Didn't Nebuchadnezzar
say something like that? Didn't he go out on the balcony
and pop his suspenders and say, look at all this that I've done.
And God put him out to pasture for seven years until he gave
God the glory and honor that would do his name. This is what
happens when we enjoy prosperity too long. In my prosperity, he doesn't
say, in my prosperity I prayed to the Lord. We never do, do
we? We never do. In our best times,
when the sun is shining, we rarely pray or have any kind of sincerity
in our prayer. It's usually just more mechanical
than it is anything. But when God makes us cry, when
He makes us weep, that's when we pray. That's when we pray. We can't enjoy prosperity too
long, we become self-conceited. Prosperity cracks clay pots.
It cracks clay pots. You think you'd like to have
a better job, make more money, and have this and have that. You better thank God he doesn't
give you what you and I would like to have naturally. He gives us what he can wisely
give us. Lord, by thy favor, thou hast
made my mountain to stand strong. It's funny how we think what
we have is a mountain. Thou didst hide thy face, and
I was troubled. We think too highly of what we
have, don't we? You made my mountain. There's an old saying, don't
make a mountain out of a mohill. David said, you made my mountain
to stand strong. But I hope that what he's saying
and what we ought to say is that the prosperity we have, whether
it be temporal or spiritual, is of the Lord. What do you have you didn't receive? God can either bless the work
of our hands or He can cause it not to prosper. Either way. Whichever He sees best. Satan said again to the Lord
concerning Job, he said, you have blessed the work of his
hands. That's why he has all he has.
You blessed the work of his hands. Thou didst hide thy face, and
I was troubled. It's troubling to a child of
God when he can't find the presence of God or the favor of God, when
it seems like the Lord is clean gone. There's nothing a child of God
desires more than fellowship with the Lord, to have His presence. You know, outward trouble is
one thing, but soul trouble? That's quite another. That's
quite another. Henry used to say, that's a white
horse of another color. Only a child of God knows the
difference. I would much rather have outward trouble than soul
trouble. I'd rather have physical sickness than spiritual sickness. Physical sickness leads me to
the Lord. Spiritual sickness causes me
to bring reproach on the Lord. I cried to Thee, O Lord, and
unto Thee, Lord, I made supplication. He didn't go to any of these
counselors or any of them. He said, I cried to Thee. Not
like Asa, who went to the physicians and not the Lord. He went to
the physicians first. David said, Lord, I come to Thee.
I come to Thee. Our deliverance out of trouble
starts with prayer. You know, true prayer is of God.
True prayer is a prayer that God has moved you to pray, because
He's going to deliver you, and He moves you to pray for it.
And we flee to the mercy seat for help in time of trouble.
We do not flee to anyone else. We flee to the Lord. If you notice back there when
David said, in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved.
You never read of him seeking the Lord in his prosperity, in
trouble. Prosperity lulls us into a spiritual
stupor. But when I was in trouble, David
said, I cried. I cried to the Lord. I groaned. It was like a wounded
animal. I cried. And here's David's argument. You know, there's nothing wrong
with arguing with God if it's done respectfully. You know that?
There's nothing wrong with it. Come boldly to the throne of
grace. Not arrogantly, not with pride, but humble. But I tell
you, I know this. I know that if you're... I know this. If your child is
dying, you're gonna beg God to save that child. You're gonna
beg like you've never begged in your life. It won't be just a, Lord, I thank
you. Like that Pharisee, Lord, I thank
you, I'm not like other men. No, you'd be like that publican
smiting, beating upon your chest. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Here's David's argument. I had
it written down, David's prayer, but I've changed it to David's
argument. What prophet, and he's speaking
to the Lord here now, what prophet is there in my blood? When I
go down to the pit, shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare
thy truth? What prophet is there in my death?
If I die from this, what prophet is there? Why do we really want to live?
David, why do you really want to live, really? If the doctor
tells you or me, you got about six months to live. Now, why do I want to live? Why
do I want to take the treatments and try to live longer? Why do
I want to do that? David, why do you want to live? Well, here's some reasons I thought
of today. to really want to live for the believer. And what David
is saying here, and he's saying this, I want to live to praise
your glory before men. I want to live so I can preach
the truth and spread the gospel. What short time I do have here,
even as long as it's short, isn't it? When we die, we are taken off
the battlefield. This is the only place where
we can contend for the faith and I want to be a part of that.
And I want to for a while longer to praise you before men. I want
to preach the gospel to this world. I want to preach the gospel
to this church. I want to live for your glory
on this earth a little while longer. That's the only reason
I need to live. I don't need to live for any
other reason." And I think David is saying this
too. I was thinking about David and his situation, and he said,
Lord, you've healed me. I mean, he was sick. You raised
me from the grave. You raised my soul from the grave.
So David must have been sick at this point, at one point anyway,
thinking he was dying. And I thought of this today,
yesterday when I was putting this together, I want to die, not because of
some sin, but because it's time." You know, the Scripture says,
David served his generation and then he died. That's when it's
time, I want to die, when I have served this generation, not because
of some sin, not because of some sin, but because it's time. It's time. God's purpose for me here has
been fulfilled. And then he says, hear, O Lord,
and have mercy upon me. Lord, be thou my helper. Boy, it doesn't sound like a
king here. It sounds like a beggar, doesn't it? Sounds like a beggar. Sometimes
I think we forget that we're beggars. We forget we are beggars. You know, the Lord blesses us,
and we prosper, and we have good jobs, and we have a good job
for many years, and we've paid off homes, and we've laid up
some retirement. You're still a beggar. You're
still a beggar. That's what you are, and that's
what I am. It wouldn't matter if God put me in a mansion, I'm
still a beggar. A mercy beggar. That's what I am. Have mercy
upon me." He's begging for mercy. Be thou my helper. Lord, there
is no greater helper than You. David's the king. He's got the
whole army at his command. How many did he... I read to
you there in 1 Chronicles. Thousands, thousands, tens... I mean it was thousands upon
thousands upon thousands that drew the sword. But Dave said,
you're my only helper. If God be for us, who can be
against us? You can have the whole world
on your side. If God's for me, you're the loser.
You're going to lose. That's why Paul said, I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me. And Christ said,
without me, you can do nothing. He says, here, thou hast... I'm
going to wind this down. Thou hast turned for me my mourning
into dancing. You ever feel like... I don't...
You remember when David danced before the Lord at one time,
and his wife saw it, and she got all huffy about it, and God
made her barren the rest of her life. But anyway, David danced
before the Lord. I can say there's been times
that I felt like dancing. I mean, I have felt like dancing
before the Lord, knowing my sins are gone and that I'm really
saved. Every now and then that hits
me so hard, the Lord has saved me. I have family members the
Lord hasn't done anything for them. They don't want Him to
either. Yet the Lord called me out, separated
me, and saved me, and called me by His grace, made known to
me the gospel, and I'm going to enjoy a new heaven and a new
earth where there's no sin, no sorrow, no sickness." That makes
you want to dance. I could. Maybe I will when you're not
around sometimes. I'm not a good dancer. But this
goes to the heart. Now, I'm telling you, this goes
to the heart. If this doesn't make you joyful, my soul, you're
dead. You're just dead. Thou hast put
off my sackcloth. When I read over there in 1 Chronicles
21, David said he was in what? Sackcloth. He said, You've put
them off. Who put them off? Who put away
the mourning? David said, My mourning, my sackcloth.
I own them. It's my fault. But Lord, You
put them away. You have turned my mourning into
dancing and Thou has put off my sackcloth and girded me with
gladness. That's my clothing. Some people
can buy these most expensive suits and wear them around and
be the saddest, most morbid people on this earth. I had 10,000 times to wear a
suit of gladness that the Lord has sewed for me. He made it
tailor-made just for me. God, I can assure you this, if
you're a child of God, He will turn your weeping into dancing,
and only God can do that. Only God can truly take away
our sorrows and make us glad, and only God can put away our
sins and make us to dance." And I've got down here to read Psalm
51, so I've got to go over to Psalm 51. I read it, and that's
the Psalm of Repentance that David had after committing adultery
with Bathsheba. But let me read the first seven
verses. Psalm 51, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercy. Blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sins ever before me. Against Thee, and 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 parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Now listen,
purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." If, Lord,
if You cleanse me, I'll be white as snow. And here's, let me close with
this. He says, Thou hast turned for
me my mourning into dancing. Thou hast put off my sackcloth
and girded me with gladness. To the end, here's the purpose,
to the end that my glory or my tongue, my tongue may sing praise
to Thee and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks
unto Thee Forever. Forever. Over in Psalm 146, He
says, He'll sing and give praises as long as I have any being. Well, how long is that? Forever. Here's the purpose. To bring
us from weeping to singing, from mourning to praise, and that's
to praise His holy name. Oh, if we could hear right now,
If we could just hear the song and the singing and the praising
that's going on in heaven right now, in glory right now, it would
be astounding. It would be astounding. The praise
and singing starts here and it lasts forevermore. If we don't
do it here, you won't be there to do it. Brethren, it starts
here.