Hell of my song shall be nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee. Thank you, Sherry. Beautiful
hymns, aren't they? I go back to Psalm 37 with me. This is a psalm we've looked
at often. It amounts to about once every
two years. We've looked at it thirteen,
this will be the fourteenth time. Mostly, we've looked at the first
eight verses. blessed precepts, encouragements
from our Lord, exhortations from our Lord and a great help. The
whole psalm is to tell us, to encourage us to trust the Lord
and don't fret. He says that three times. Fret
not, but trust the Lord. Fret not, wait on the Lord. Now,
let me say this before we... I hope to get through it. This
psalm speaks of the righteous and the wicked. You notice that
as we read it, the righteous and the wicked. It puts people
in one of those two categories, the righteous and the wicked.
Now, who are the righteous? You ought to know by now who
are the righteous. Let me settle this right off
so you won't worry about it when it talks about the righteous. Those are righteous who are in
Christ. They are considered righteous
by God. Yes, they are righteous, holy,
unblameable, and unreprovable in God's sight because they are
found in Christ. Because Christ was made sin for
them. And they were made righteous.
The righteousness of God in Him. The wicked are all those that
forget God. All those who hate God. And such
were we. But not now. Right? They don't hate God. By the grace
of God. We love Him. We think on Him. The wicked are those who don't
believe God. They don't believe His Word. They don't even believe there
is a God. Well, that's not me. Is that you? No, it's not. The workers of iniquity, it's
very obvious, open workers of iniquity, isn't it? Open and
outward. maliciously wicked people is
very obvious, but scriptures, our Lord spoke of the religious
people being workers of iniquity who steal God's glory. You don't want to steal God's
glory. You don't want Him to have all the glory. The wicked
are those who love their own righteousness. They love their
own righteousness. And they hate the mention of
Christ's righteousness, that nothing you do matters, only
what Christ does for you. The religious hate that. I don't.
Do you? No. So all those who love God's
salvation, and all those who love salvations of the Lord,
Love Christ, His righteousness, and trust in Him. I say to you,
from God's Word, you are righteous. Okay? Settle that. Settle that. You are righteous. All right.
Verses 1-3, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither
be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. They shall soon
be cut down like the grass, wither as a green herb. Trust in the
Lord. Trust in the Lord. Don't fret. This psalm begins with trust. Trust in the Lord. And then the
very last line says, God will save them that trust in Him. It begins and ends with trust.
Trust. And maybe my favorite psalm...
We need to quit saying that, don't we? But one of my favorite
verses, truly, is Psalm 3422. The Lord redeemeth the souls
of His servants. The Lord redeemeth. And none
of them that trust in him shall be guilty. Oh, I need that. I need that. I love that. None
of them. None. There's never been a sinner
that trusted in the Lord, in his mercy, hoped in his mercy
that the Lord turned away. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the
Lord. So, Brent Mott. Fred, he says
this three times, Fred not, verse 1, 7 and 8. Fred not. Fred, I
looked it up, and it's more than just worrying, it's getting angry.
This psalm was written by David, and David looks around at the
wicked world around him and all they're doing and saying against
God, and all they're doing that's unrighteous, and all the injustice
and everything that's going on, and he's getting angry. That's
what Fred means to get hot. An American saying is, get riled
up. And you can't help it. If you
love God, like David said in Psalm 139, Lord, I hate them
that hate Thee. If you love God, you hate to
hear Him blaspheme, don't you? More than your flesh and blood. If you love the truth, you hate
a lie. If you love Christ's glory, you
hate man's pride, don't you? If you love holiness, you hate
sin. You just do. And in Psalm 39,
David said, I'm going to be silent when the wicked is before me.
He said, I held my peace from good, even from good. My sorrow was stirred. He said
my heart was hot within me. That means he started praying.
He started getting angry. And I look around and you look
around at this present, Scripture calls it, evil world. My own
country in particular. That used to be, had some sense,
just 30 or 40 years ago of the fear of the Lord. And just, well,
maybe further back than that. Some, a little bit of the fear
of the Lord, a little bit of decency, a little bit of, a little
more truth of now. And I look around me and I look
at all the wickedness and the perversion and I feel like a
lot inside of them, don't you? And it vexes me. the injustice,
and I fret, and I get angry. And that's what he says. That's
what he's saying to us. Fret not because of evil workers. They're going to be cut off.
Fret not. Envy not. Verse 1, be not envious against
the workers of iniquity. Psalm 73. Brother Stan and I
love that. You do too. It's similar to this psalm. Psalm
73, David said, I was envious at the prosperity of the wicked.
Remember that? I saw their prosperity. They're
not in trouble like other men. They're full of pride. Their
eyes stand out and they speak loftily and they set their mouth
against heaven. They set their mouth against
heaven and their tongue walking through the earth. In other words,
they're filthy. They're vile. Their mouths are
filthy. Without hesitation, speak against
God and the things of God. And David said, I was angry. I was angry. When it says he's
envious, it doesn't mean he wants what they have. When you think
of envy, it doesn't mean that. It means he doesn't understand
why they prosper as they do. He said, I didn't understand
why they have so much. And they get it by evil means. And they use it for evil purposes. Down in verse 21, the wicked
borroweth and payeth not again. Borrow what? From who? From God. Borrow from God. Everything man
has, he gets it from God, doesn't he? It's borrowed. And they don't
repay him with thanksgiving. But, you know, and I look around
at false religion. It has the best land, the best
locations. I am forced to drive by that
Catholic place every day. It sits on a nice hill there,
a big sprawling place with the best view of all, you know. And don't think that I don't
think that, you know, they have the prime places They don't lack
for anything. Big budgets, big crowds for evil
purposes. Look at Psalm 94 with me. Psalm
94. Go over there. I read this yesterday and it
goes so well with this. Religion is so evil, so corrupt,
and in it the money and man's praise and glory counting heads,
and it's so corrupt, hidden wickedness goes on, and it makes you angry. Psalm 94, O Lord God to whom
vengeance belongs, O God to whom vengeance belongs, show thyself.
Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth. Render reward to the
proud. Lord, how long shall the wicked? How long shall the wicked
triumph? How long shall they utter and
speak hard things? All the workers of iniquity boast
themselves. How long, Lord? David in another
place said, Lord, it's time. He says, it's time for you to
work. They may void your law. They're twisting it. They're
corrupting it. They're lying on you. perverted the Word of
God and the Gospel and all they're saying about God and all they're
saying about Christ, it ought to make us angry, people. It
ought to make us angry. Doesn't it? It does. Let me go
back to the psalm. So that's what he's saying. Don't
fret. Don't get mad. I mean, there
is a righteous indignation, like David said there. I love, not
I hate them that hate thee, He's telling us, in spite of all that,
never mind them. Don't worry about them. The Lord sees. The Lord knows. It's soon enough. You'll see.
You'll see. He says, wait. Verse 7, wait. Verse 9, wait. Verse 34, wait. And is not your favorite psalm,
Psalm 27, wait. I say, wait on the Lord. You'll see. You'll see. They'll
soon be cut down. Just a little while. Verse 10.
A little while. You'll see. They'll not be. You'll see. He
said, Lord, the workers of iniquity. And I thought about this. There
are three evil workers that vex us. There are three evil workers. the ones that vex us. Our adversary
vexes us. The Lord has him on a leash.
The Lord has him in a chain. Oh yeah. He can only go so far
and do so much. He only does what the Lord allows
him to do. Then there's all the evil out in the world. Evil people
and things and so forth. The Lord is in control of that
too. Proverbs 16, the Lord hath made
all things for himself, even the wicked, for the day of evil.
The Lord reigneth. I create peace. I make evil.
I am the Lord. I do all these things. And there's
this fellow inside, this evil fellow inside. He's got him under
test. He's got him. He'll subdue him.
Oh, yeah. There are seven or eight precepts
that you know and you've heard many times And that one is fret
not. Don't get angry. Just trust in
the Lord. Verse 3. Trust in the Lord. Trust in His wisdom. He knows
what He's doing. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world. We don't know. We don't know. We can't take matters into our
hands. We'd mess it up. We'd mess it up. The thing we
think needs to be done is probably not the thing to do at all. The
worst thing that's happening, we may attempt to stop, may be
the best thing that could possibly happen. We just don't know. God does. And it's all working
together. It's all working out. Trust in
the Lord, His wisdom, His purpose, His power. He's able to subdue
all things under Himself. He is. His mercy. Trust in His
mercy. Trust in His mercy. He's ever
merciful. Trust in His love. Nothing but
good is going to happen to you and yours. That's right. Trust in His love. Trust in His
righteousness. He said that Christ is made unto
us righteous. If we don't feel it, we'll trust
Him. Okay? Don't look to yourself. Don't
fret. Trust Him. Do good. You'll dwell in the
land. Trust first. Do what He tells
you. Verse 3, you'll be fed. Delight thyself in the Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord.
Do you delight in the Lord? Do you? Do you delight to hear
the Lord? Well then, he says, he'll give
you the desire of your heart. He'll give you the desire of
your heart. The Lord is so good and so righteous, He gives, He's
merciful to all His works, and He knows He gives everyone, nearly
everyone, anything they want. Whatever people want to go after,
they can get it. What do you want? What do you
really want? David said, One thing have I
desired. One thing. Lord, I just want
one thing. I want to know you. I want to
win Christ, Paul said. I want to be found in Him. Is
that you? He'll give you the desire of
your heart. Yes, He will. Read on. Delight thyself. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Commit thy way unto the Lord. David in Psalm 139 says, Lord,
there's nothing about me you don't know. Not a thought you
don't know. Not a word in my mouth before
I speak it. Not a step I take. It's all ordered by you. Everything
about me you know. You know. Do you love that? Oh,
He knows you. I love that. That both creates
fear in us and trust. Fear and trust. We need both.
Fear. Fear. We're in His sight. and that
creates fear and reverence and respect and a carefulness, but trust. He knows you. He knows you for
Him. Commit your way unto Him. Lord, everything about me you
know and I'm yours. He'll bring it to pass. Everything
in your life He will direct. He is directing. He has, He is,
and He will. He'll bring it all to pass. And
you'll see, verse 6, He'll bring forth thy righteousness I love
this verse. He'll bring forth thy righteousness
as the light and thy judgment as the noonday. In other words,
he's going to show you your righteousness as clear as the sun. Thy righteousness? David said
this. He said, Lord, in Psalm 71, he
said, deliver me in thy righteousness, thy righteousness. He said, let
me find it here. He said, my mouth shall show
forth thy righteousness and thy salvation. He said, I'll make
mention of thy righteousness and thine only. He said, thy
righteousness also, O God, is very high. And the last verse,
he says, my tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness. All day. What is thy righteousness? Jesus Christ. Clear as the sun. The Son of Righteousness. He'll
make it clear to you. We read these verses. We read
verses about the righteous and the wicked, and we think, oh,
I'm wicked and I'm not righteous. But hold on now. If you trust
Christ, you're righteous. And He makes it plain. Clear
as a noonday sun. He'll bring it forth. And your
judgment, understanding of Christ. Verse 7, rest in the Lord. Rest
in the Lord. Wait patiently for Him. Wait
for Him to work. Rest. Rest. I like what the margin
says. Be silent to it. Don't murmur. Don't complain. Don't fret. Don't
fuss. Just be quiet. Put your hand
over your mouth and rest. Sit still. Wait and see the salvation
of the Lord. Wait patiently for Him. The Lord
moves. The Lord's providence is moving.
He's working. The wheels of the Lord's providence
move very, very slowly. Sometimes in a way we cannot
see, but they are moving. They are moving forward. to fulfill
His purpose. So rest. Wait. Rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wait for Him who is coming again. Fret not. There it is again.
Because of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man
who bringeth wicked devices to pass, I've told you before, I've just
about given up looking at the news and listening to it, but
I haven't completely. I wish I could, but I can't help
it. I look at it and it just, what
people are, what our leaders are doing to our country, just
without, without a thought to the citizens of this country,
just changing the laws. Who cares who laid down their
life, who did what in years past to establish these laws? You
just want to change it. You're not going to tell anybody
or ask anybody. Does that make you mad? It makes
me angry. You can't change God's laws.
Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. You see, this
is all happening according to God's law. When that evil Jeroboam
was raised up in the time of Solomon, the Lord was dividing
Israel, Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Jeroboam was a wicked, wicked,
wicked man. Manasseh, all those wicked men.
Who put them in office? The Lord did. The Lord did. But Jeroboam and Judah was complaining
to the Lord, Lord, why is this happening? And the Lord said,
this is of me. This is from me. This evil man,
Jeroboam, he said, it's from me. Don't fret. Don't fret. Well, shouldn't we fight? Well,
say what's right, yes. But don't fret. Don't fret. The Lord's working all things
together. The whole lot is cast in the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Fret not. Trust, wait, you'll
see. Verse 12, he said, the wicked
plots against the just, gnashes against him with his teeth. The
Lord's laughing. The Lord is laughing. I wish I could be that of the
Lord, don't you? I wish I could be that believing,
that peaceable, where I could just
laugh. Well, it's all going according
to the Lord's will. Verse 8, he says, cease from
anger and forsake wrath. Cease from anger, forsake wrath,
fret not, don't get angry in any wise to do evil. I tell you
what we need to do. We all need to buy some guns
and take our country back from these social... No, no, no. Hold on now. Let me remind you.
I'm here to remind all of us, myself included, this is not
our continuing city. Our Lord said, if my kingdom
were of this world, my servants would fight. But it's not. We're
going to fight for truth and righteousness. We're going to
fight. Is there not a cause? Yes, there is. The cause of God.
The cause of Christ. The cause of truth. The cause
of the gospel. We're going to fight for that. But for this
godless world to save? No. No, we're looking for a new
heaven and a new earth, aren't we? That's our home that we're
looking for. And there is a warfare, but it's
not in politics. No, no, no. That's not our battleground. And He said, they'll be cut off. Verse 9. They'll all be cut off
and you'll inherit the earth. People, He says, trust three
times. Trust. Trust in the Lord. Trust
in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. He says, fret not three times.
Fret not. Fret not. Fret not. He says,
wait three times. Wait. Wait. Wait. He says, they'll
inherit the earth seven times. Seven times. shall inherit the
earth." What earth? The meat shall inherit
the earth. What earth? Well, not this one.
We read throughout the scriptures how he's going to fold it up
like a vesture. How all these things are going
to be dissolved and melt with a fervent heat. And that's what
Peter said, didn't it? 2 Peter 3. Seeing that all these
things be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
you to be? What? Not caught up in these things,
but in all godliness, waiting, hastening the coming of our Lord.
That our affection set on things above. Vanity of vanity. It's
all vanity. But the wicked are taking over. The wicked are taking the world.
Rich are getting richer. They're taking this world. Let them have it. Right? We're
going to have all we need. Food and rain. Didn't our Lord
say that? Down in verse 25, I've been young, David said, and now
I'm old. I've never seen the righteous
forsaken for his seed begging bread. Didn't our Lord say that's
all you need? And He showed us that. Our problem
is, our problem is, we have too much. And we worry about it. That's our problem. Our Lord
showed us a person, a man, who lives completely by faith. That
was him. He didn't have any place to lay
his head. Notice he said, all you need is food and raiment.
Not even a dwelling place. Why? The Lord's got caves. Caves where David and his men
will go into. Food and raiment. Food and raiment. And our Lord showed us that.
Amy, He depended on the Heavenly Father for every meal of every
day. Every meal. Every meal. You know, men gave it to Him.
Men gave it to Him. And our Lord said, Consider
the ravens. Consider these things. Our Lord
was the greatest example of that. So we were looking for an inheritance,
not this earth. Let them have it. They're going
to get it anyway. Yet a little while that the meat,
verse 11, that shall inherit the earth and delight themselves
in the abundance of peace. It's a dog-eat-dog world and
everybody's after it and all, and boy, you don't want in the
middle of that, do you? Oh, peace. I look forward to a place wherein
dwelleth peace. Verse 12 and 13, the wicked plotteth. The Lord laughs. The wicked,
verse 14, drawn out the sword, bent their bow to slay the upright. It's going to enter their own
heart. Whatever men do, it's going to come back on them. Proverbs
are full of that, aren't they? Whenever a man digs a ditch,
he's going to fall in it to himself. Whenever the net is cast, he's
going to be caught up in it. That's right. Verse 16, this
is wonderful. A little that a righteous man
hath is better than the riches of many wicked, or many riches
of all the wicked. A little that a righteous man
hath. Food and raiment. A little fear,
the scripture says, a little fear is better than, fear of
the Lord is greater than much treasurism. There is little with
the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith
and sorrow and worry and fear and misery when it's gone. A
little. A little. And I thought of this. I don't have much faith. I don't. I wish I had more. Our Lord said, O ye of little
faith. But I tell you what, a little
is better than none. Isn't it? There's people that
don't have any. They don't even believe God at
all. I do. Oh, it's weak. I believe. A little that a righteous man
has. A little hope. I have some hope. I hope in Him. And it seems so little, but it's
better than none. We sorrow, but not as those who
have no hope. We've got hope. A little peace. I have a little peace. A little
peace. A lot of times I'm all upset.
I'm fretting all the time. All the enamel's gone off my
teeth from grinding them. But I have a little peace. I
do get a little peace, and it's only when I look into His Word
or call on Him when He speaks to me. I've got a little peace,
and I'm thankful for that little bit that I have. Have a little
joy. A little is better than none.
Better than none. I'd rather have a little of what
I've got, what the Lord has given me. A little peace, a little
joy, a little faith, a little hope. Wouldn't you? Then none.
Then great treasures. Wouldn't you? Oh, yes. Read on. It says the Lord's going
to see them. The Lord sees what they're doing. the wicked. Verse 19, it said,
God's people will not be ashamed in the evil time. They'll not
be ashamed. He knoweth the days of the upright.
He's determined their days and inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time. Oh, my. I was just reading in Second
Thessalonians, where it says the Lord is coming, and He comes
to be admired of His people. Now listen to this. When the
Lord comes, you who are troubled, He says, rest with us. The Lord
Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of His power, that He'll come to be glorified in His saints
and admired in all them that believe. And that day is going
to be an evil day for many, but not for us. Not for us. It's a homecoming. It's going
to be a good day. A good day. This whole world
is worried about the end. Don't you be worried about the
end. Look at verse 37, the perfect man, the upright, huh? Who's that? Who's that? Who's perfect? Who's upright?
Whoever's in Christ. The end of that man? Mark it down. He says, Mark it
down. Write that down. The Lord wrote it down with a
pen of iron and rock. Write it, Lord, on the tables
of our hearts. Our end is good. It's good. It's all good. Not be hungry,
he says. We don't miss a meal, do we?
Not physically or spiritually, especially spiritually. Verse
20, the wicked shall perish. Verse 21, the wicked receives
everything from God, doesn't repay Him with thanks, but the
righteous showeth mercy and giveth. This little congregation is not
many people, and there are many just like this. Just many, just
like our little flock here, the Lord's little flock. All our
needs are met. All our needs are met. They black
nothing all this year. And because God makes God's people,
He puts in them a merciful and generous spirit, Mercying? They give. Verse 22, such as
be blessed of the Lord will inherit the earth. Those that be cursed
of Him shall be cut off. It doesn't matter what they have,
who they are. If cursed, they're cursed. But
if blessed... I like what Isaac said to Jacob
and Esau. Don't bless him. Isaac said,
I bless and he shall be blessed. I can't take it back. And our
Lord, whoever he blesses in Christ, such as be blessed of him to
be in Christ, shall inherit the earth. The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord. He delighteth in his way. Ordered. Our steps are ordered. Oh, I'm
thankful for that. Aren't you? The Lord, the man
of God, the woman, the believer delights in God's way, and God
delights in him. God delights in him. Verse 24,
though he fall, and we will. It doesn't say if they fall.
It says though he fall. Proverb 24, though a righteous
man fall to seven times, the Lord will pick him up again.
He'll not be utterly cast down. The Lord is opposing him. I've
been young, I'm old, I've never seen the righteous forsaken. Never. Nor his seed begging bread. He's
ever merciful. The Lord is merciful and lendeth.
Lendeth. Remember that. Linden. All that
we have is on loan. Remember the pearl? We gave it
all for the pearl. And it's on loan. And He's going
to take it all back. But not the pearl. Not the pearl. And His seed is blessed. His
seed is blessed. His seed is blessed. See that? Those in Christ. Depart
from evil and do good. Dwell forevermore in Christ,
with Christ. Come ye out from among them.
The Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints. The
Lord, we think there's no judgment, that this is a reprobate society. Well, it is. It's Romans 1. It really is.
But now the Lord still exercises judgment. Oh, yeah. You're hearing
it tonight. You're hearing it tonight. Judgment
is still being preached. He forsaketh not his saints.
They're preserved forever. By what? The Word of the Lord.
The seed of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous shall
inherit the land and dwell therein forever. They shall. No ifs,
ands, or buts about it. In the mouth of the righteous
speak wisdom. What's that? Christ. Talketh
of judgment. God's judgment. The law of His
God is in His heart. None of His steps shall slide.
Do you remember that psalm where it says, the wicked shall slide
in due time? The Lord said of them in slippery
places, and you and I Worry sometime and not knife your feet. They're
not a rock. You're in a solid place. You'll
not slide. Your steps won't slide. You're
going. He's established your way. And though you fall, He'll
pick you up. The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay
Him. The Lord's not going to leave us in His hands. The wicked
one. Nor when He condemns us, the
accuser of the brethren. Huh? They overcome him by the
blood of the Lamb. Wait on the Lord, verse 34. Wait
on the Lord. Keep his way. What's his way?
Lay hold of Christ. Don't let go. And he shall exalt
thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off,
you'll see it. I've seen the wicked in great power spreading
himself like a green bay tree. You know how many kingdoms have
come and gone? Great and powerful ones. The
Medes and the Persians. The Romans and Alexander the
Great just took over this nation. You know how people feared Alexander
the Great, that young warrior that just went and just took
everything he wanted. He died at thirty years old.
Died of syphilis. The Lord killed him with a germ.
That great evil man. Wait, you'll see. I've seen the
wicked. Yet he passed away. He was not
gay. I sought him. He could not be found. Mark the
perfect man. The upright. His end is peace.
Transgressors will be destroyed. The end of the wicked will be
cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. There's
nothing we want to hear more than that, is there? There's
nothing that gives us more peace than that, is there? Nothing
that will make us cease fretting more than that. Salvations of
the Lord. Stand still. Their strength is
to sit still. See there? He is their strength
in time of trouble. Just come and sit. We come here,
we sit, and what we want to hear is that the Lord reigns. We sing
that song, though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler
yet. Old Martin Luther's song. Though
this world with devils filled threatens to undo us, we will triumph. His truth will
triumph through us. He's their strength in time of
trouble. Trouble in time, don't it? Troubled times. And the Lord,
listen to these shalls, and I quit. The Lord shall help them. You
need help from the Lord? Help with sin? Help with whatever?
Need help? The Lord shall help and deliver
them from the evil one, from sin, from its presence, from
its power. He'll deliver them. He shall
deliver them from the wicked one, from the adversary, and
save them. Why? For His name's sake. That's
His name. He undertook to save you. He
came down here to save you. It's a faithful saying. You need
to believe it. That's why He came. The Lord
will save. He will deliver. He will save. He shall help His people. Why?
They've quit sinning. Because they are a whole lot
better now than they were when they started out. Why? They trusted Him. I think I can do that. That's about all I can do. I
have a hard time doing that. But that's all my hope. All my
plea is that when Christ died, He died for me. That God said, He taketh pleasure
in them that fear Him and those that hope in His mercy. Trust Him. Okay, Lord, You said
it. I had no alternative. I had nowhere
else to go. So fret not. Fret not. Tomorrow morning when you wake
up, I advise you not to look at the news. Look at the good
news first. Seriously, I'm very serious. Look at this first and then what
you read will be like, oh well. Prepare you for it. All right,
stand with me. God and our Father, how we thank
You for Your Word. It is just all our help, our
hope, our peace, our comfort, our assurance, our faith. It's
not because it's the Bible or a book, but because it's Your
Word when You speak to us. And You do. Oftentimes, the Word
is just printed words. It has no effect on us. Oftentimes,
the preached Word has no effect on us for weariness of the flesh
or whatever, sinfulness. But sometimes, Lord, You do speak
very really, very powerfully to us, and we know and are sure
that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and live
and abide forever, and we are in Him that is true, and Your
Word is true, and this is Your voice and it breaks the cedars,
Takes the hinds to calve and steals our hearts. Lord, there
are times when that happens and we thank You for them. We ask
that You make them more frequent. That You speak to us more often. That You speak peace to our hearts
in these troubled times, these turbulent, evil, present, evil
times, Lord. Perilous times. Speak peace to
Your people. Make us see spreading and trust
in our Lord. And again, we ask for your salvation
upon our loved ones and our neighbors. It's in Christ's name we are
met here tonight. Ask these things. Amen.