Psalm 4. Psalm 4. And that fourth verse I told
you, I think about that all the time. When you're lying on your
bed, do you ever think of that verse? Commune with your heart
upon your bed? Well, I was doing just that.
I was thinking, do I love the Lord? Is He all
to me? Do I believe Him? Do I really?
And then I came to verse 7, and that has put gladness in my heart. I really believe He has. I really
believe I do, by His grace. Love Him, and deed Him, and worship
Him. This world, and life in general, is so full of
so many troubles. sorrows and sadness, we need
to hear a lot of glad tidings, don't we? I hope if you came in here mad
or sad, I hope you'll go home glad. I thought about naming
this. You're going to be glad when
you hear this. I hope so. David said, the Lord, you put
gladness in my heart. More than in the time of their
corn and wine increase, meaning the world, all the prosperity
and plenty. We had plenty of that, don't
we? And that's, I believe, that's part of my problem, really. I
think prosperity and plenty takes my mind and my heart away, doesn't
it? You, find yourself. Scriptures are full of glad tidings. That's what the gospel means,
glad tidings. Exceeding, Scripture says, exceeding
precious promises to make us glad. Glad means cheer. It means to be joyful when you're
glad. It means to be merry, merry. Scripture says a merry heart,
a glad heart doeth good like medicine. So may the Lord pour
in this balm of Gilead into your heart tonight. What made David
so glad? What made him so glad? Well,
the Lord did. But he put in his heart, I believe, several things
that he puts in all of God's people's heart. First thing is
David was glad in the Lord himself. Look at, just turn the page,
Psalm 9, and we're going to stay in the Psalms tonight. I may
turn and read some others for you, Isaiah, 1 Peter, but you
just have to You're in the Psalms, so you won't have any trouble
finding it. Psalm 9, verse 1, I will praise
Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will show forth all Thy marvelous
works. I will be glad and rejoice in
Thee. Aren't you glad our God is God? That ought to make us glad. Listen
to this in Psalm 95. He said, Come, let us sing unto
the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise unto Him
with song. For the Lord is a great God and
a great King above all God. He talks about everything is
in His hands. Oh come, let us worship and bow down, let us
kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God. This God is our God. So he says
in Psalm 96, sing unto the Lord, a new song, sing unto Him, bless
His name. Declare His glory among the heathen,
His wonders. The Lord is great, great to be
praised, to be feared above all gods. All the gods of the nations
are idols. The Lord made the heavens, honor
and majesty are before him, strength and beauty. Give unto the Lord,
ye kindreds of the people. Give unto the Lord glory and
strength. And it goes on to say in verse 10 and 11, say among
the heathen, the Lord reigneth. And verse 11 says, let the heavens
rejoice and let the earth be glad. Aren't you glad our God
reigns? That everything is not by chance
or That things are not chaotic and out of control. Aren't you
glad that we don't have to look to the president, to science,
and all of that? That we can trust our God? So
glad He reigns and rules everything. Everything about us, everything
around us is in His hands. Rejoice. Paul was in prison,
and he called himself a prisoner of Christ. that the Lord put
him in prison. And so he said from prison, rejoice
in the Lord. And again I say, rejoice. Philippians 4. So we rejoice
in our God. Our God reigns. And that should
fill our hearts with gladness. We rejoice in His work. His work of salvation. His works
of providence. Aren't you glad that salvation
is of the Lord? What makes us exceedingly glad
makes the world exceedingly mad. We can't say it enough, can we?
Salvation is of the Lord. Not of Him that willeth or of
Him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy. And His
mercy endureth forever. If you need mercy, aren't you
glad? His name is merciful. David said
in Psalm 31 verse 7, I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. Aren't you glad? Salvation is
not by works. Aren't you glad salvation is
by grace? Aren't you glad salvation is
by grace through faith? And that is not of yourself.
And it's really not our faith, but Christ's faith. Aren't you
glad? Aren't you glad that Christ has
made unto us all the things that we need? Mother Ed read that
tonight in 1 Corinthians 1, made unto us wisdom. I'm a fool. But Christ is my wisdom. Righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. Aren't you glad that Christ is
all? And all we need to do is trust Him. Doesn't that make
you glad? You ought to. David said, Thou
hast made me glad through Thy work. Thy work. The work that Christ accomplished
on Calvary's tree for His people is a finished work. He said,
I finished the work. Made an end of transgression.
Put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And now you're justified
from all things from which you could not be justified by the
works of the law. Does that make you glad? Aren't you glad we're kept by
the power of God? Look at Psalm 126. This is one
of my favorites. Right now, it is my favorite. Psalm 126. I think about this
all the time. It fills my mouth and heart with
laughter. Psalm 126. Look at it. When the Lord... And these things
only mean something to people who have been in captivity. people
who need mercy. In verse 1 of Psalm 126, when
the Lord turned again, it seemed like we'd get captive, and then
He'd freeze us, and then you'd get captive again, and He'd freeze
us. Then again, the captivity of Zion, we're like them that
dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue
with singing. And they said, among the heathen,
the Lord hath done great things for them. Yes, the Lord hath
done great things for us, and we're glad. We're so glad. Aren't you glad, salvations of
the Lord? And be glad that all providence
is in His hands. Everything about us in our life,
everything is being predestined, and everything is ordered and
provided, ordered in all things and sure. Our times are in His hands. Everything
about us. Look at Psalm 104 with me. Do
you remember when Abraham was about to offer Isaac and he was
taking him up on that mountain and you know his heart was breaking
at the thought of losing his son. You know what it was. And when Isaac asked him that
question, Father, here's the fire, here's the wood, where's
the man? All Abraham could say was, Jehovah,
Jehovah. The Lord will provide. He'll
provide. He'll give me, if I have to do
this, He'll give me the strength to do it. Jehovah Jireh, that's His name,
the Lord will provide all things. Psalm 104 is a psalm from beginning
to end that tells what all the Lord and His goodness does for
every creature on the face of the earth. It's just a wonderful
psalm, isn't it? Psalm 105 is what He did for
His people, taking them out of Egypt. Psalm 104, verse 1, Bless
the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, Thou art very
great. Verse 10. He sends the springs
into the valley that run in the hill among the hills that give
drink to every beast of the field. Wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the
heaven have their habitation and sing among the branches.
Remember our Lord in Matthew said, you know, think of the
fowls. They don't sow, they don't reap,
but your heavenly Father feedeth them. Sparrows, are you not worth
more than many sparrows? Lilies and so on. Look at verse
13. He watereth the hills from his
chambers. This whole earth depends on water,
doesn't it? And we've seen very clearly God's
judgment throughout history by sending drought. We've seen some
dry time. But we've never really gone without
watering. Well, the water that we need
is Christ in it. And we've never gone without
Him. He's promised that. Verse 14, He causes grass to
grow for the cattle, herb for the service of man, that He may
bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the
heart of man. We've seen that that wine represents
the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When he anointed Christ with
the oil of gladness above his fellows, there in Psalm 45, he
says all his garments smell of cashew and myrrh and all that,
and he said it makes me glad to smell them. So in the wine
of his blood and the oil of the Spirit that flows down from the
head to the garment, to the beard, to the garment, It's that precious
fellowship we have in Christ. It makes me glad. It makes me
glad. Look at verse 24, Psalm 104. Oh Lord, how manifold are thy
works. And wisdom hast thou made everything. The earth is full
of thy riches. Verse 33, I will sing unto the
Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being. No, you can't sing. Yes, I will.
My meditation of him will be sweet. I will be glad in the
Lord. We sang that song. That's your favorite song. Rejoice and be glad. The Lord
provides. The Lord sends all things. The
Lord sends everything that's good for us. Even things that
we think are bad. Trials are good for us. Look
at Psalm 90. You know, the Lord chasteneth
those he loves. If you be without it, you're
a bastard. David was envious of the prosperity
of the wicked. You remember in Psalm 73, and
you remember their end. and how the Lord had dealt with
him in faithfulness by chasing him. Psalm 90 is one of the oldest
psalms in the Bible. And Moses wrote this, and he
said in verse 14, Oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy. Save us early. Brother John said
that, and I agree. The Lord dealt with us when we
were very young men, and I'm so thankful. And I pray, hope
and pray that He'll be with our young. He says in verse 14, "...satisfy
us early with Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all
our days." Verse 15, "...make us glad according
to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have
seen evil." To whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
And blessed is the man, James wrote, that endureth temptations,
he'll receive a crown of glory. Trials. Trials. Tri-faith. Trials really prove who really
believes and trusts the Lord. Who really belongs to the Lord.
They will endure these trials. Those that don't belong to the
Lord won't. Trials really prove who needs
Christ. Who needs trial? Trials prove
that Christ is all. Job lost everything. And how
did he respond? Bless the name of the Lord. He
lost everything, but he didn't lose the Lord. That's what he
needed. That's who he needed. Trials
prove unto us that Christ really is all we need. And trials proved
to us that the world is nothing at all. Nothing at all. Noah saw everything that he had
accumulated in 600 years. We've accumulated some stuff
in 60 years. How about you? He was 600 years
old. And all of that was just washed
away. Like that. Was he glad? Was he glad to be in that ark? Oh, man. Noah saw the world as it is,
and so should we. Listen to 1 Peter. Oh, I love
this. 1 Peter 1 talks about these fiery
trials that we go through. He says this, 1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to whose abundant mercy hath
begotten us unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, for you who are
kept by the power of God through faith. unto salvation, ready
to be revealed at last time, wherein you greatly rejoice in
this salvation. Though now for a season, if need
be, whatever is, the Lord sends it, we need it. If need be, you
are in heaviness through manifold or many temptations. Let the
trial of your faith, faith being much more precious than of gold
that perishes, Your faith, though it be tried with fire, is going
to be found unto praise and honor and glory, and at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, in whom,
though now you see him not, yet believe him, you rejoice with
joy unspeakable, Full of glory. Can you say that? And listen
to this, 1 Peter 4. He said, Beloved, think it not
strange concerning these fiery trials, as though some strange
thing happened unto you, but rejoice. Rejoice in as much as
you are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when His glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. So God's providence shall make
us glad, even the trials and afflictions. So the Lord himself filled David
with gladness and his works, his work of salvation, his providence,
even trials. David said this, it's good for
me that I've been afflicted. Isn't it? It's good. And His
Word fills us with gladness, doesn't it? Nehemiah, I do want
you to turn to Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8, and you'll be glad
you did. Nehemiah 8. This is one of those
scriptures that just makes you want to laugh, shout or something. Nehemiah 8. The Word of our Lord
fills us with gladness, exceeding precious promises, truth in a
world full of lies. In a day when most turn away
their ears from the truth, the fables and lies, the Lord gives
us His Word, exceeding precious promises, gives us understanding.
Back when the Lord sent the plague, It wasn't the word more real
than it had been in a long time. It seemed like everywhere you
turned, it was confirmation that the Lord is sovereign over everything. And He is. In Nehemiah 8, look
at verse 1, all the people gathered themselves together as one man
into the street. That's what we've done in it,
we've gathered. Who gathers? Well, the lot is
cast in the lap, but the whole disposal is in the lap. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad that the Lord overrules our flesh
most of the time? They asked me on the way over
here, are you looking forward to this? And I had to be honest.
I said, I don't know. I said, I'm just not feeling
it right now. I am right now. You just don't
know. But if the Lord brings you, He
overrules blessed. He may be blessed. He will be
blessed. Verse 2, Ezra the priest brought
the law before the congregation of men and women and all they
could hear, young people, with understanding. Verse 8, they
read in the book the law of God, the Word of God distinctly and
gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. And
Nehemiah, which is the governor, and Ezra the priest, the scribe,
and the Levites talked to people. I said unto all the people, this
day is holy unto the Lord your God. People were weeping. They
read the law and it convicted them. It convicted them of their breaking
it and their sin. And he said, this day is holy
unto the Lord your God. Mourn not nor weep. All the people
wept and they heard the words of the law. He said, go eat the
fat, drink the sweet, sin portions of them that weren't pure. Tell
them about it. This day is holy, young iron
Lord. Don't be sorry. The joy of the Lord's your strength.
So still the people said, hold your peace. The day is holy.
Don't be grieved. So everybody went away and they
ate and they drank and then they went from sadness to gladness. From great sorrow to great mirth. Why? They understood. They understood the words that
were declared unto them. They understood. And down in
verse 17, they read to them where the people, the feast of tabernacles,
you know, and dwelt in booths, myrtle branches and stuff, all
a picture of Christ. We've looked at that. And we
dwell in tents, don't we? But it says, the last line, when
they gathered together in these little booths and everybody was
worshiping, it said, there was very great gladness. And day by day, every day, they
kept the feast. Over in the book of Acts, let
me read this to you, you don't have to turn, but Acts, after
the people were convicted of their sins, same way, they said,
men and brethren, what shall we do? What shall we do? We've killed the Lord of glory. And Peter said, repent, be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of your sin. Promises unto you, your children,
all that are far off. And with many other words, he
exhorted and testified, save yourselves from this untoward
generation. Why? How? By trusting Jesus Christ. That's it. And so it says, they that gladly
received His Word were baptized. And the Lord added to the church,
that 3,000 or so, and they continued. They stayed there, right? Hearing
the apostles preach to them, and fellowship, and breaking
bread, and prayer, fear came upon. And they that believed
were together. It says they continued daily. breaking bread, and they ate
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God, and having favor with all the people. Doesn't the Word of God fill
you with gladness? If it wasn't for His Word, His
truth, His promises, we'd be filled with madness and sadness. The thing that filled David with
gladness and fills us with gladness is God's people. God's people. We joy and are glad in God's
people. We're glad in the Lord and we're
glad in those that know Him. I thought about this, how glad
we are when the Lord Like an axe added to the church daily,
such as should be saved when the Lord adds someone to His
church. There's nothing that makes us
happier than when the Lord... I said we're going to stay in
Psalm. I want you to turn to Proverbs
23, okay? Proverbs 23. The salvation of somebody, nothing
makes us more glad than to hear that the Lord has saved someone. When the prodigal came home,
When the Lord brought the prodigal to himself, and, you know, others
in the house may have thought there was no hope for that young
man. He's gone. The world has swallowed him up.
He'll never be back. Lo and behold, one day, look,
there he is. And the father, you know what
the father said? Let's have a celebration. Bring the best robe, put it on
him, the ring on his finger, kill the fatted calf, and here's
what he said. He said, it's meat, it's fitting
that we should make Mary and be glad. It made the father glad. He said,
this, my son, your brother, was dead, and now he's alive. He was lost. And now he's found. Don't you hope and pray that
the Lord will make some in this room lost, like Brother John
preached. Because if they get some lost,
you'll get them found. And that'll make us so glad.
Young people, I want you to read this with me, Psalm 23. Everybody,
young and old. I'm sorry, Proverbs 23. Proverbs
23. for all, but young. Verse 15, My son, if thine heart
be wise, my heart shall rejoice. Yea, even mine. Yea, my reign
shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart
envy sinners. Be thou in the fear of the Lord
all day long. Surely there is an end. Thine
expectations shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, be wise. Guide thine heart in the way.
That's Christ, isn't it? The way. Verse 22. Hearken unto
thy father that beget thee. Despise not thy mother when she
is old. By the truth, sell it not, wisdom,
instruction, understanding. The father of the righteous shall
greatly rejoice. He that begetteth a wise child
shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall
be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice. My son, give me
thine heart. What could make you more glad
than to see a prodigal walk in this door? You know anybody? We all know somebody. Now wouldn't
that make us glad? And it does. We hear of that.
You know, if he doesn't do it among us, he's doing it other
places. And we hear it and we're glad.
We're so glad. And I believe he will. This gospel
is still being preached here. The Lord makes us glad to see
his people. Glad to fellowship with his people. Glad to be with his people. I quote this all the time, because
this is how I feel. David said in Psalm 119, I'm
a companion of all them that fear thee. You're my only friends. You really
are. I really can't call people of
the world my friend. I don't spend time with them. I don't. I've got nothing. We've got nothing to talk about.
We got nothing in common. I don't. No, we met. You're our only friends. And
I'm glad. I got some good friends. He said,
David said this, they that fear thee will be glad when they see
me. Are you glad to see me? Yes.
Well, I'm mighty glad to see you. Mighty glad. Mighty glad. Makes us glad. And doesn't it
make you glad? Didn't it make you glad to meet
some new brethren that came to this conference? A dear sister in here opened
her home to some people she didn't even know. Two families opened
her home up, fed them. If you asked her right now, was
she glad? I guarantee you she'd say yes. She's met some new brethren. She'll be a lifelong friend of
them. That's what our homes are for. Fill you with gladness to
be with God's people. They really will. Fill you with
madness to be around the people of this world. Fill you with
madness. Just like them. Here's something
that fills us with gladness to worship the Lord, God's house. Can anybody quote Psalm 122,
verse 1 for me? I was glad when they said unto
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. I was glad. Nothing makes me happier. There
was a time. I know it's of the Lord. I know
this is of the Lord because there was a time. When there was nothing,
it would make me more miserable. I don't laugh at that. I'm sad
about it. And I'm ashamed of it. And I'm
laughing because when the Lord turned my captivity, my mouth
filled with laughter. Because I really do love coming
to the house of the Lord, don't you? Psalm 122, he said, that's
where the tribes go up, is the testimony of the Lord, to give
thanks under the name of the Lord. Nobody has to make me come
to God's house now. I don't want to. And nobody has
to make me give thanks. The Lord's filled my heart with
thanks. Aren't you glad you're thankful? Aren't you glad you're
glad? He says pray for the peace of
Jerusalem. I do pray for this church, don't you? That's the
church. Do you pray for this church? Do you pray for the church?
God's people? Your brethren? Do you? You'll prosper if you
do. Here David said, Peace be within
thy walls. Prosperity within thy palaces.
That's Christ. That's peace that's in Christ. Faith. For my brethren and my
companions sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because
of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. I
love this place. These people love this. Don't
you love Psalm 46? Isn't that your favorite Psalm?
There's a river that streams make glad the city of God. The
river of His mercy, the river of His grace, the river of His
gospel, the river, the water of His word that makes glad the
city of God. When God's in the midst of her,
she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. That make you glad? Ah, man, I had so many I wanted
to read to you. Let me read this to you. Psalm,
Isaiah 35. It says, and he quoted, Isaiah
quoted this twice. In Isaiah 35 and 51. He said, the ransom to the Lord. In chapter 30, remember Isaiah
said, in returning and rest shall ye be saved. In quietness and
confidence shall be your strength. Returning where? To Christ. To
whom coming? To hear His Word. To hear His
Gospel. To worship with His people. In
returning and rest shall ye be saved. In quietness and comfort
shall be your strength. And he went on to say in Isaiah
35, he said, The ransom of the Lord shall return. And they'll
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall
obtain joy and gladness. And sorrow and sighing shall
flee away. Isaiah 66, he said, Rejoice ye
with Jerusalem. Be glad with her, all ye that
love her. Be glad. In closing, here's the last thing.
Not the last thing, it's my last point. Not even close to the
last thing. But, we, we, our hearts are full
of gladness in the Lord himself and his salvation, his providence,
his word, his people, the worship of our Lord, his church, and
the new creation. Revelation. Isaiah 65. Turn to Isaiah 65. This is my lesson. Isaiah 65. A new creation. Our Lord tells
us this over and over again. Rejoice in that which He has done and we will experience. Isaiah 65, verse 17. Now, verse 16, it says, He who
blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God
of truth. You want to be blessed? Come hear the truth. And he that
sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because
the former troubles are forgotten, because they're hidden from my
eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye
glad, merry, cheer up, and rejoice forever in that which I create. Behold, I create Jerusalem a
rejoicing, her people a joy, and I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more
be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. And over in the Revelation, I'll
read it for you, it says here, it says in Revelation 19, it
said, I heard a voice from heaven, people in heaven said, hallelujah,
salvation, glory and honor and power and unto the Lord our God.
He said, I heard a voice say, hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come. His wife is ready. I hope I made you glad. All right,
stay with me.