Read verses 13 and 14 again with
me in Psalm 27. I had fainted unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the
Lord, ye of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I sent
this text to most of you, and the title is found in the text,
Waiting for Good to Come Out of Trouble, or Trusting in the
Lord in a Time of Trouble. I send the text ahead of time,
the title, to whet your appetite for these messages and for you
to read them ahead of time and prepare for them. A text would
appeal, would excite many of you, and so it has. You responded
and others responded that listened over a mixed load. And a thought
occurred to me, I got such a good response, that people will, they'll
be waiting for a blessing, they're going to expect a blessing out
of this. And I thought, have I put myself on the spot? No,
because it's not up to me. God's Word will be a blessing
if you're waiting and looking for a blessing. I thought, am
I getting people's expectations too high? Their hopes too high? No. Exactly what I want to do
is get our hopes just as high as I can get them. As high as
they happen. The hope in God. Hope in God. I want us to get our hopes up.
I want us to hope up, not be cast down. I know, you know,
false religion, their health and wealth gospel, you know,
they talk about expecting a miracle and a blessing and all of that. But our hope, what I want you
to do is hope in His Word, hope in His promises, hope in His
Son, hope in His mercy. see that even the tough times,
the troubles, all come from Him and their mercy. I want us to
hope in His mercy and I want us to wait. This whole psalm
is to encourage God's people, to encourage God's people to
believe and trust in the Lord. So many psalms. spoke of trusting
the Lord nearly 70 times in the psalms. I began reading in the
beginning of the psalms and just read all the way through to this
psalm and further. And nearly every other psalm
is just full of the word trust. Trust in the Lord. O Lord, O
my God, I trust in Thee, that none that trust in Thee be ashamed.
I trust in the Lord. The whole psalm is to encourage
God's people to believe Him, to trust Him, to trust His wisdom. To trust His goodness. He's too
wise to err. He does all things well. He's
too good to do wrong. He's too loving, too kind to
do more than we're able to bear. He said so. This whole psalm
is to encourage us to hope and wait on the Lord no matter how
bad. No matter how bad. No matter how bad. And the troubles
may seem. Just wait. Okay? This is what he tells us. He
has to keep telling us that, doesn't he? Because we worry. We fear. We're afraid. We don't
know what the future is. But he does. He's ordered it. Ordered all things concerning
it. Predestined all things concerning us and everyone and everything
about it. And he said it's good. David said, this is what David
seems to be saying, if I didn't believe that some good was going
to come out of this, I'd just die, I'd just faint. So I'm going
to wait. I'm going to wait, and I won't
see it. You remember, James spoke of
Job. He said, do you remember the patience of Job? Do you remember
what all Job went through? He said, do you remember the
end of that man? Do you remember Job's end? Go back and read it. Joy far exceeded the sorrow that
he experienced in the beginning. Can anything good come out of
all this? Wait and see. Okay? How do we know that? How
do we know it's all good? How do we know it's all going
to be good for his people? How do we know? Because God is good. That's right. Because God is
good. This is a psalm for those who
are afraid. David said, what times am I afraid? I trust in Him. I call on the
Lord. This is a psalm for those in
trouble. This is a psalm for those with troubles. Fears. That's worries. This is a song
for those who are waiting for some kind of news, be it good
news or bad news. This is a song for those who
are weak. Anybody? This is a song for those
who are worried. Anybody? This is a song for those
who are afraid, those who faint, those who say, I don't think
I can make it through this. This is a song. This is the song
of David. You've read something of David's
life. David is called a man after God's own heart. God loved David. Oh, how he loved David, didn't
he? David loved the Lord. And the Lord sent David trial
after trial to him because he loved him. He put him through all kinds
of trouble. David had troubles of heart.
Read the Psalms, it says, the troubles of my heart are greatly
enlarged. I've got heart trouble. Troubles
of mind. Troubles of body. He was wounded. Almost died one time from his
wound. They thought he was dead from a battle. He had troubles
of soul. My soul was exceeding my sorrow. Troubles within himself. Troubles with himself. My sin
is ever before me. Troubles with others. He had
troubles at home. He had troubles in the work.
He had troubles with his enemies. He had troubles
with his friends. He had troubles at home with
his wife. He had a wife that did not... His first wife, Michael,
Saul's daughter, that was his first love. He loved her dearly.
And she gave him nothing but trouble. She didn't love the
Lord. He had troubles with his children. He lost three sons. Do you know
that? David lost three sons. One of them abused his daughter. He had troubles that he caused, troubles he caused others, and
troubles others caused him. Troubles with temptation. Troubles
with lust. Troubles with sin. Doubts, fears,
worries, sorrow, grief, sadness, physical troubles, emotional
troubles, heart troubles. Because God said, man that is
born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. But, like Psalm
107 said, four times. Psalm 107 brings up the children
of Israel. They went through all those troubles
for 40 years. Wandering through the wilderness.
All kind of troubles. Troubles that they made. Troubles
their enemies gave them. Troubles the Lord sent just to
try them. And it says the Lord delivered
them out of them all. It said every time they cried. They cried
unto the Lord in their troubles, it said. And He delivered them
out of all of them. Then, it says, they were happy.
Every time. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
10, you know this, you know it well, you need to commit it to
memory. There is no temptation, no trial
taking you, but such is common to man. Peter said, know this,
for your comfort, know this, that the same afflictions, the
same afflictions, whatever you're going through, Right now, you've
got a brother, you've got a sister somewhere that's going through
the same thing, the exact same thing. But will with the temptation
make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it? This
is the way. What we're doing right now, this
is the way to escape. We want to hear the word of the
Lord. This is the refuge of the gospel. Our Lord is a city of refuge
Himself. He's a refuge for the troubled. He's our source of peace. His word upon which we hope,
His mercy, His goodness. You've come to the right place
tonight if you've got some trouble. David's psalm is our psalm. This
psalm, Sister walked in and said, I would have crawled here to
give here when I heard you preaching from Psalm 27. This is our psalm. This is David's
psalm. All who go through trouble are
God's people. Five things, five ways to break
this up. This is our confidence, our desire,
our joy, our song, our prayer, and our hope, our expectation.
Alright, look at this. Our confidence. Verses 1 through
3. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, my enemies, my foes, came upon me. And there are many. There are
everywhere. And you could look at this as Satan himself. Demons of our own evil nature. The old man within. Within, without. Enemies. Wicked. Everywhere. My foes. They came before me
and ate up my flesh. They stumbled and fell. Why is
that? It's because the Lord did that. Though when hosts should
camp against me, my heart shall not fear. The war should rise
against me, and this will I be confident. What then? We're confident.
The Lord is my light. The Lord is my salvation. That's
who we need to be confident in. The word trust is not in this
psalm, but the whole theme is there. Confidence is the same
thing. The one that you have confidence
in. Trust means to believe in, to
have faith in, to depend upon. Trust is something or someone
you flee to for refuge. for safety, for protection, someone
you have hope in. The Lord is our confidence. We have confidence in Him. We
trust in Him. I remember reading as a very
young believer Psalm 9, and this really stuck with me. They that
know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee. They that know thy name
will put their trust in thee." See, God, His very name should promote trust in us. His
very name. In Exodus 34, the Lord said,
I will proclaim my name to you. When Moses said, the Lord said
He was going to send them all through the wilderness through
many trials and enemies And Moses said, if you don't go with us,
don't take us. He said, I'm going to make all
my goodness pass before you. I'm going to proclaim the name. Here's His goodness, alright?
His name is the Lord. That means He doesn't change.
Jehovah, that means He's the same yesterday, today. If I am
the Lord, I change not. He won't change His mind and
change His promises. When He tells you something,
you can depend upon it. On Him, He doesn't change His mind. And the Lord, the Lord God, the
Lord God omnipotent, all-powerful, sovereign, reigneth and ruleth,
no one or nothing is outside of God's absolute control. He orders everything and everyone. The Lord God. The Lord God Merciful. That's His name. He said, that's
my name. God said, that's my name. Can you trust Him for mercy? Can you hope in His mercy? That's
His name. The Lord, the Lord God, Merciful,
Gracious. That's His name. You need grace? All grace? The grace of wisdom,
the grace of faith, the grace of patience, the grace of understanding,
the grace of whatever. Unique grace. He giveth more
grace. That's His name. You can't exhaust His grace. His mercy is new every morning.
He said the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering. That's His name. Oh, He's done
with me now. Surely, you catch me? No. He's
long-suffering. That's His name. The Lord, the
Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness. Why is everything going to be
good? Because God is good. That's His name. That's His name. In goodness and truth. He's telling
us the truth. He's telling us the truth. We
can trust Him. Keeping mercy for thousands. That's his name.
He keeps mercy for thousands. Oh, listen to this. I had so
many psalms I wanted to read with you, but I'll turn for sake
of time. Psalm 86. Listen to this. You've
taken away all your wrath. I'm sorry. That's a good one.
Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice
the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, ready
to forgive, plenteous in mercy upon all them that call upon
me." He went on to say, O Lord, thou art God full of compassion
and gracious and longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.
The other time David said, God, I'm ready to pardon. Be of mine.
He's the one to pray. Ready to pardon. Waiting to be
gracious, Isaiah read. For all who call on the Lord,
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved from
anything you need saved from. Trust in the Lord. No one has
ever trusted the Lord and been disowned. Don't put your trust in men.
You'll be disappointed. And no one has ever trusted the
Lord and been disappointed. Ever. No one's ever trusted the
Lord and been turned away. No one's ever called on the Lord
for mercy, for grace, for help, for salvation, and he's turned
away. Not one. No one's ever trusted the Lord
and held on to his promises to the end, steadfast to the end,
and he cast them out. Not one. How many souls have
been on this planet? Not one. Not one of them. I love that song, it says, not
one of them that trusted in Him shall be ashamed. Not one. Trust Him. No matter who it is, no matter
who you are, no matter what it is, and this will be become. He says the Lord is our light.
and our salvation. Look, I do want you to turn to
the little book of Micah. I'll give you time to find it. Micah chapter 7. I want you to
see this. This is wonderful. You might
want to read the whole chapter, the whole book. The Lord is our
light, David said. My light, whom shall I fear?
You know, little children, our granddaughters are growing up,
but they still want a night light in their bedroom. Little children. And why? Because they're afraid
of the dark. And they think it's just a little
light. If I can just see a little light,
I won't be so afraid. If I can just have a little light
in the darkness, I won't be afraid. You see the picture? The Lord
is our light. His word is a lamp under our
feet, a light under our path. He lightens our darkness. That's
what you pray tonight. He is our light. Our light. We shouldn't be afraid. The darkness
and the light are alike to Him, to the Lord. Evil seems to lurk more at night
time, doesn't it? People do their evil at night
time. That's why people are so afraid of the dark. Well, you
can't see what's out there, but the Lord does. And there's nothing
happening that He doesn't ordain or allow. Look at Micah chapter
7. And he was grieving over all
the that were happening in the earth. Verse 2, the good man
is perished out of the earth. There's none upright among men.
They lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man that is brother.
Verse 3, they do evil with both hands. The best of them, verse
4, is like a briar. Oh, my. Verse 5, don't trust
in your friends. Put no confidence in them. And
on and on it goes. The man's enemies are those of
his own household. But verse 7, Micah said, I will
look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice
not against me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall arrive.
When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be alight unto
me. Or what time I'm afraid, David
said, I'll trust in the Lord. What did he do when he got afraid?
He woke up in the middle of the night. I bet he got the word
out. Let's start calling on the Lord. Lighten my darkness. Enlighten
my fears. Show me that Thou art God over
all. Our salvation. The Lord is my
light and my salvation. Psalm 84 says He's a sun and
a shield. He's our sun. He's our light.
He's our salvation. Listen to Psalm 121. You know
this, don't you? He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is on thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. He
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
forth forevermore. The Lord is our light, our salvation. Look at this. That's our compass.
Our compass is in Him. Look at verse 4. Here's our desire. Here's every believer's desire.
It's toward the Lord. One thing if I desire it, and
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and inquire in His temple. David, we just looked at this,
didn't we? Hoping and he wants, he desires,
his great desire is to someday be with the Lord forever. Be
with the Lord. And while he's on this earth,
his desire is to be in the house of the Lord. Because it was his
comfort, it was his peace. It's where the Lord had promised
to be. So that's where he wanted to
be. He wanted to be with the Lord, with his people, worshiping
the Lord, where he got peace and comfort in all his troubles.
Is that your desire? Are those your desires? Delight thyself in the Lord,
the Psalm says, Psalm 37, and he shall give thee the desires
of your heart. Okay, if it's the Lord you want, the Lord you'll get. Yes, you
will. If it's Him you want, it's Him
you'll get. And he'll never depart from you. Never. Oh, when he
said, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,
he's talking about himself. David said, As the heart panteth
after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O Lord. When shall I come and appear
before the Lord? Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness. That's Jesus Christ. Seek the
Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.
Desire, delight in Him. Delight thyself in Him. And He'll
give you the desires of your heart. Is your desire and delight
to be in God's house with God's people? Do you not find rest
and peace and joy and safety and health and hope and healing
and balm of Gilead? Do you not hear some good news
in time of trouble? Verse 5 says the Lord with His
people is in a time of trouble that shall hide me in His pavilion. This kind of builds up here.
A pavilion is not what you think. It's not a great grand place. That's this rock that he's speaking
of, a high tower fortress. That's the end. But he starts
out by saying, the Lord shall hide me in his pavilion. It's
like a little grass hut in the woods. Camouflaged, covered. The enemy can't see. Or like
an ark in the bulrushes. You remember that story? Moses,
the Lord put him in that ark, had his mother wrap him up in
swaddling clothes, put him up in that ark and cast that basket
on the water. Is he safe? Is that little bitty
baby in that rushing river and a little basket, a basket, is
a basket going to keep a baby safe and dry? Yep. Yep. He'll hide me in his pavilion. That ark is Christ. He'll hide me in the secret of
his tabernacle, shall he hide me. That's a tabernacle in the
wilderness. That's Christ himself, isn't
it? His tabernacle. Oh, he that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. of the Lord. And this is the
next thing. He's my refuge. He'll set me up on a rock. When it's all over, I'm going
to stand like Moses on Mount Pisgah. And I'm going to see
it out. Look. Set me on a rock. And that rock
is Christ in it. You know, His way is in the sanctuary. David in Psalm 73 was full of
envy. He was troubled, his mind, his
heart. He was angry over the prosperity
of the wicked, over the calamities, the troubles of God's people.
He said, it's just wrung out. They're wrung out with troubles
while the wicked prosper on every side. He said, I don't understand. He said, until I went in the
sanctuary. I went in there with God's people.
A man stood up and took God's Word and opened it to me and
he began to preach. And I began to trust the Lord.
I began to see, I suppose, that God's people were ever with Him.
And they were with Him. That He said, wait, you're going
to see. You're going to see the end of
the wicked. You're going to see them perish. But you're going
to see the end of the righteous. That's how it's going to begin.
Didn't He say in Isaiah 3, Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with them." Whatever it is, it shall be well, because
it's the Lord. I was going to have us look across
the page at Psalm 26. Look there just a minute. Psalm 26. Do you not find great
peace and joy sitting with God's people in the congregation? Do
you not find health and healing and God's Word? Verse 8, Lord, I have loved the
habitation of thy house. One thing that I desire, I have
loved the habitation of thy house, the place where thine honor dwelleth.
He said he didn't want to sit, verse 5, he didn't want to sit
in a congregation of evildoers, that false gospel. I won't sit
there. I can't stand it. But I have
loved your habitation. Verse 12, my foot stands in an
even place, a wonderful place, a congregation. God bless the
Lord. Look at the next thing. Here's
our joy and our singing. Verse 6. He says, My head shall
be lifted up above mine enemy. Surely he's talking about Christ.
He is. I just read Psalm 18 before I
came here. Read it. Read the whole psalm.
It's the psalm of Christ's victory over evil. Read it. It's wonderful. And that's Psalm 22. But the
Lord's, my head is lifted up above my enemy because Christ
is the woman's seed who crushed the serpent's head. Bruised his
heel, but he crushed his head. He's been lifted up above my
enemy in my head. Therefore will I offer in his
tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing. I will sing praises
unto the Lord. David's in trouble right now.
He wrote this song in trouble. We want to see that. He's going
to pray here in just a moment. He's in real trouble. He's in
real deep trouble. It's not the first time and it
won't be the last. But he already said, I will sing. He's anticipating
that he's going to sing. He's in trouble, but he knows
from experience. See, the trial of our faith work
is patient and patient experience. We go through some things. And
we experience God's mercy. We experience His help. We experience
His grace. We experience His presence. And
it gives us hope. We experience hope. And waiting
on the Lord for the next trial to come. And to get us through
that. But he said, I'm going to sing. I will sing. I will. Look at Psalm 42. This is one
of my favorites. Sent this to a sister who was
dying. And I believe it was a blessing.
Psalm 42, David in this psalm, he says, this is the one, he
said, my soul thirsteth for God, the living God. Verse 2, when
shall I come and appear before God? But he knows the number
of our months are with him. The vows are set. My tears have
been my meat day and night. Verse 3, while they continually
say, where is your God? Oh, he says, I remember, I pour
out my soul in me. I went with the multitude. I
went within the house of God with a voice of joy and praise
for the multitude, but I was cast down. Why? Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou this quiet? Hope thou in God. I will yet
praise him for the help of his camp. Oh, my God, I am cast down. He says, who's he talking to?
He's talking to himself. He's communing with his own heart.
Why art thou cast down? He says he prays to God, but
God, I am cast down. You know I'm cast down. I'm disquieted
in me. I can't sleep. But he says in
verse 6, I'll remember Him. Verse 7, these trials, these
waves, these troubles, one after another. But verse 8, here it
is, here's your hope. The Lord will command His loving
kindness in the daytime. Weeping may endure for a night.
The Lord has promised, joy will come in him. He will command
his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his songs will be
with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. But I say, God
would be forgotten me, and mourning because of the oppression of
the enemy. Verse 11, Why art thou cast down on myself? Why
art thou disquieted within? Hope thou in God. I will yet
praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
I will praise Him. You remember Psalm 13? You remember
that? David asked four times, how long? How long? How long? How long? You remember that? The howling
song? David's howling, how long? We've all howled haven't we?
Oh Lord, how long is this going to go on? How long do I have
to endure this? How long? Over and over. He started out, remember he started
out by pining, pining. Then he began to pray. Pining
from pining to praying. Then he went from praying to
praising. He started out by going, how
long? And then he ended up praising. It wasn't long. He started out
by sighing. Sighing, sighing. Our Lord said,
for the sighing of the prisoners I will arrive. He started out
by sighing. Then he started suing the Lord
for mercy. Then he ended up singing in six
verses. In six verses, he went from the
deepest, darkest hole that he was in, wondering how long he's
going to be in it, to the highest mountain. I never thought I'd
get out. Look at me. I'm singing. Have
you ever been in such a dark hole and such deep trouble that
you thought, I'll never get out, I'll never sing again, I'll never
be happy again? Ever thought that? Did you start singing? Eventually.
You had to wait a while, but you did. I'll never be happy
again. I know the Lord will make sure
of it. He'll make sure of it. Here's the prayer of His people
through David. Our prayer. That's our confidence.
That's our desire. song, our joy, and our prayer. Verse 7, O Lord, hear me. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon me. Answer me.
Answer me. You said, seek my face, and my
heart said, thy face will I seek. Oh, the Lord delights in them
that hope in his mercy. Delights in those that seek his
faith. This is our prayer. Lord, hear me. Will the Lord
hear the prayers of His people? Will He? Look right beside it,
Psalm 28. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me. If you be
silent to me, I'm going to go down in the pit. Hear the voice
of my supplication. When I cry unto thee, when I
lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle, don't draw me away with
the wicked, Lord. We look at verse 6. Blessed be
the Lord. He has heard my voice. That didn't
take long, did it? The Lord is my strength and my
shield. My heart trusted in Him and I am helped. Therefore, my
heart greatly rejoices. So I'm going to start singing. Yes, you will. The Lord has ordained
it. Our prayer. The Lord hears every
cry of His people. Every cry that they... One place
in Isaiah, he said, before they called, I'll hear them. Every
tear, David said, every tear was in his body. The Lord will
not, the Lord cannot forsake his people. He's not able to
do so. He said, I will never, no never,
no never leave them. Others may do it, verse 10, when
my father and my mother forsaken me. And some in here have experienced
that. The Lord will take me up. The
Lord will take me up. Here's our prayer. Look at verse
11 and 12. Teach me thy way, O Lord, teach
me. I don't know which way to turn.
Teach me thy way. Oh, he will. I was going to have
you look at Psalm 25. I'll look at it for you. Oh,
he says sinners, he will guide in the way. He'll teach them. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? He'll teach them the way that he shall choose. That's
God's chosen one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, He will. He'll teach His people. He'll
teach them to look to Christ. He'll teach them that Christ
is their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. Lead me, verse
11, here's our prayer, lead me in a plain path. In a way of
plainness, because of my enemy. I don't want to be given over
to my enemies. I don't want to join with them.
I don't want to be a reproach to thee before mine enemies. Now, he will. Verse 12, deliver
me not over to the will of mine enemies. False witnesses are
risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty, the chief
one being our great adversary. Alright, here's our hope and
expectation. And he says this for our help.
I had fainted. Brothers and sisters, David says,
I had fainted. David the king. David, a man
after God's own heart. David, the sweet psalmist of
Israel. David, who trusted the Lord.
David, who the Lord spoke to and dwelled with and raised up
and kept. used so mightily. David said,
I would have fainted. And so do we. We're ready to
halt, aren't we? Unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living now. Right
now. So he says, wait on the Lord. One time he said, I have forgotten. And he said, of the children
of Israel, they've forgotten past mercy. And that's why we
get so downcast. We forget. We forget. What we can't remember, the Lord
can't forget. His covenant. His oath. And what
we can't forget. Did I say that right? The first time? What we can't
remember, the Lord can't forget. His oath. His covenant. His mercies. We forget. We think they're gone.
He said, mercy's plain gone. David once said, is he done with
me? Is all this happening because
he's going to damn me? No, mercy's not plain gone. It'll
endure forever. David wrote that 26 times. He's the one that wrote it. But
then he said, he's done with me. He's had it with me. No,
David. Remember your own writings. Remember
his mercies. Ask mercy. Forget our sin. It's ever before
you. God can't remember it. He said there's sin and iniquity
I remember no more. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought. It won't be found. It's not there.
It's blotted out. And one day we'll forget it.
Not as long as we're on this earth. We'll remember our sin.
But one day we will forget it. It'll all be forgotten. Not come
to mind. We forget past mercies. Let me
give you a few names, okay, and I'll quit with it. Adam and Eve. Do you know how frightened they
were in that garden? They thought the Lord was going
to kill them. And He should have. And make a new creation. But
He didn't. He spoke kindly to them. What
did He say to them? He talked about the woman's seed.
He talked about Christ coming. Someone's coming. Going to restore
everything you lost. But you're going to have to wait.
How long did they have to wait? How much trouble did they have
to endure? Nine hundred and thirty years. Isn't the Lord merciful? We just have to wait seventy.
That's His mercy. Rahab. Do you know how merciful the
Lord was to her? She was a harlot. What a wasted life. What a worthless
human being. How low can you get? Living in
a bad place. Jericho. And what did the Lord
do? Sent two men with promises. Two
men with the Gospel. And promised her that they would
lay down their life for her. And all she had to do was trust
Him. And they said, Joshua is going
to send for you. Just wait. How long does she
wait? How long? Don't you know she's
in that little apartment on that wall? I said, Lord, come. Please
come get me out of here. She was a mockery. She was ashamed
of herself. Joshua came. The trumpet sounded.
Naomi. Ruth, it couldn't have gotten
any worse, could it? Two ladies could not have gone
through more trouble. It couldn't have looked more
hopeless, more helpless, more bleak. Naomi and Ruth, they're
coming back with nothing. And Naomi said, Ruth, go just
pick up some scraps on the ground somewhere so we can eat. Do you
know how to end it? That's David's great-grandmother. And last but not least, Calvary. Three nights, the disciples,
the worst thing that could happen, happened. The thing they did not want to
think about, the Lord, their Lord, being killed. He kept telling
them, They didn't want to even talk about him. The worst thing
that could have happened. And he died. And they saw him
dead. And they thought it was all over.
This is the worst thing that could have possibly happened.
For three days, they were unconsolable. They
were in a deep, dark pit of fear and worry and doubts and fear.
What happened? Not to wait. Just not to wait. Three days, 70 years. Wait, I
say, on the Lord. And you'll see. You'll see. You'll see. Let's sing in closing
number 299. We don't normally sing ahead.
We're normally dismissed in prayer. But I want us to sing this. Sing
it with the understanding. Sing it from the heart. Let's
stand as we sing it. 299. Listen to the words carefully.
The Lord said, As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Day by
day. Day by day, and with each passing
moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my
Father's wise bestowment, I know cause for worry or for fear. He whose power is might beyond
all measure, Gives unto each day our eating bed. Lovingly, it's part of man's
pleasure, Mingling loyal with peace and rest. Every day the Lord Himself is
near me, With a special mercy for each hour. All my cares, He's name would
guarantee, He whose name is counselor and power, The protection of
his God and treasure, Is a charge set on him that we lay. As thy days, thy strength shall
be in measure, This the pledge to me he bears. Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord That I lose not faith with consolation
Offer me within Thy holy Word Help me, Lord, when toil and
trouble