That was written about Timothy
Dwight, who is, I believe, the grandson, wasn't it, of Jonathan
Edward? And while some may think too
much is made of the church there, no. No, not at all. When he talked about, to her,
my cares and toils be given Christ said, what you do unto the least
of thee, my brethren, you do unto me. Our God's in heaven,
we're on the earth. His body is on the earth. The
head's in the heavens, His body's upon the earth. How we serve
Him, serve His body. So that's a very good hymn. And I love, don't you love God's
church? He that loveth him that beget,
loveth him that is begotten. So it's all very good. That's what
this psalm is about. Psalm 84, or partly what it's
about. Partly. Psalm 84. Let me give
you a little footnote here. You notice underneath the title,
or underneath the number is a title. Psalm 84 says, To the Chief Musician. A psalm for the sons of Cora. upon Gidduth, the chief musician.
Psalm, the word Psalm means poetry set to music. All of these Psalms
were verses, as you see, that always set to music. Every one
of them had music set to them. David was a psalmist. He played
a harp, a guitar, whatever. And he sung these psalms which
he wrote and others wrote. Moses wrote. I don't know who
played, if he played the harp, but Moses wrote some psalms. Song of Moses, it meant song.
And it's upon Gittath. Gittath, that is a Gittite harp,
a harp made by the Gittites, Gath, where David was. Perhaps
he was down there to find out where the best harps were. If
you're listening, if you're in on that. David went to Gath and
apparently he came out of there with the best harps made by man.
A Gittite harp. And it was for the sons of Korah. Korah, not the one you're thinking
of in numbers that his sons were such rebellious men against Moses. These were Levites. There were
many men Levites down through the years in Ankara. Like Judas,
there are many Judas' inscriptions. But there were other Korahs,
and they themselves were Levites under David's reign. And they
were priests, that is, and they were appointed singers. That's
what they did. That was their job. They led
the singing. So this was a psalm written, played upon a Gittite
harp, and it was for these psalm leaders, David said, now I want
us to be singing this. And that's what we're going to
do, Lord willing, right now, is sing this psalm. I'm going
to lead it. Psalm 84. That's what that little
footnote is all about. Now, what made me deal with this,
if you're interested, is verse 6 talks about the Valley
of Bacchus. Some of you had that little devotional
written by Brother J.C. Philpott. Very good, very good.
One of the best I know of, if not the best. And that's the
title. And I wondered why he wrote that
and why he gave it that title, and I looked up his I knew it
was this psalm, and went over and started reading this psalm
again. Came to that verse, I never really,
really knew what the full meaning of that is. Bally and Baker make
it well. And Brother Philpott really did
help me out. It's in June something. He gives
three or four days worth of just two verses. Anyway, it was a
real blessing to me, and I believe it will be to you. Every verse
is a blessing. Verse 1, he says, David, under
inspiration, how amiable, how lovely are thy tabernacles, O
Lord of hosts. How lovely are thy tabernacles,
plural. Now, God's tabernacle is one,
right? God had one. At this time, there
was no temple. There was the tabernacle, the
tent. But even that was made up of three courts. You remember? Outer court, inner court, holy
of holies. These three, though, all three
are one. We call all of those courts And
all those rooms, tabernacles in themselves, where on the outside
the common priest dwelled, on the inside the high priest, on
the Holy of Holies the Holy One Himself dwelled. But these three
are one, thy tabernacles. David was in and around all of
that. Remember David went in the tabernacle to eat that bread. He says, oh, how lovely. I love
everything about all three of these tabernacles. I love them. How lovely are thy tabernacles.
And what does this speak of? What is the tabernacle? In whom
we live and move and have our being. Tabernacle being a dwelling
place. Our God. Listen, oh Israel, our God is
one. But these three persons in the Godhead, right? Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. These three are one. And they
tabernacle among us somehow. But yet, all the fullness of
the Godhead is in one body. The only God that you and I will
ever see is the only tabernacle that God Almighty made, the image
of God. The only image God ever entered
into was his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to see God
someday, Barbara, whom no man has seen nor can see. We're going
to see Him. How's that? Christ. God was manifest in the
flesh. And like old Thomas said, my
Lord and my God, we're going to say the same thing
when we see Him, when we touch Him. We're going to touch Him.
We're going to handle Him. God. The unseen God. God whose spirit
is in a body. Aren't you glad? We're going
to have a body forever. And bodies need something to
hug up to, don't they? Eyes need something to see. And
bless the Lord, he assumed a body. The tabernacle of God is also
the church where God dwells. Our Lord said, where two or three
are gathered, that's where I am, the body of Christ, the dwelling
place, the local church. Now it's one, the church of God
is one. The church of God, the old writers talked about the
church invisible, that's those who have gone on before us, that's
the church. The church is meeting right now. The church is meeting
right now in heaven. And glory. There's a church.
And lots of members from this local church are there now doing
the same thing and doing it here, except more perfectly. Well,
not more, perfect. Doing the same thing, exact same
thing we're doing, except perfectly. But yet this church in heaven
and on earth, and there are local assemblies everywhere, tabernacles,
and they're lovely places, aren't they? This one I think, well,
it's awful lovely. I'm mighty partial to it, like
you are your children, aren't you? And I am too. Mighty partial. But the churches are lovely places,
aren't they? Places like Crossville. Have
you ever visited there? Well, you ought to. You'd feel
right at home there because that's your brother. That's your family.
That's another tabernacle. And other places, too many to
number. Well, he says, how lovely are
thy tabernacles, our triune God in Christ. God's church. Oh, Lord of hosts. Lord of hosts. He says that over and over again.
Oh, Lord of hosts. Our God is one, but He has many
people as the sands of the sea. Someday, it's going to be amazing. to
see a people that no man can number, out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue unto heaven, singing with one voice." That's all I can say about that.
Verse 2, so he says, My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for
the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God. My soul longeth, my heart's desire,
he says, my craving. Have you ever longed for something? Your flesh to your flesh just
craved it, cried out for it. That's what David says, thy courts,
the place of worship. He said, I crave it. Boy, there's a man I believe
who loves to hear the gospel. How about you? There's a man. who really loves the truth, loves
to worship God. And he says, I'm going to faint.
Even fainteth if I don't get there. If I don't go there. If I miss it. I'm going to faint. I can't do without this. Anybody
know what he's talking about? I don't know if David, we don't
know if David was in exile at this time when he wrote this.
We don't know. Nobody knows for sure. Apparently he was away,
and he longed to be back there. Didn't he? And he said, I can't
do it without the worship of my God, the courts of God, the
place where God is worshipped, and in effect what he's saying
is, I crave God. So he said, My heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God. Him. Not talking about going
to church, per se, but going where God is. And where God's
people meet. And where God has promised to
gather with His people. That's where God is. That's where
Christ is. He's known. God is in the assembly
of the saints. Yes, He is. He set his king on
his holy hill of Zion. That's where Christ is, right
in the middle of his people. And so David says, that's where
I want to be, that's who I want to see, and who I want to be
with, who I want to worship, and that's who I want to do it
with. God and his people, I crave it. Can you say that? Not perfectly, of course not.
But can you? There was a time when you and
I, if you're a believer, and I'm a believer, had no interest
whatsoever in being here. As a matter of fact, it's the
last thing I wanted to do, and the last place I wanted to be,
and the last people I wanted to be with. But now these are my companions. This is who I want to be with,
where I want to be, what I want to be doing, and you're my kind
of people now. You're my brethren, you're my
companion. I'm a companion of them that fear thee." How about
you? That's a good sign. Sounds like a new creature to
me. My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God. I'm going to faint if I don't
get there. He says, yea, the sparrow, verse 3, had found a
house, a dwelling place. A little insignificant common
house sparrow. Kind of like our sparrow. Well,
I think they're pretty much the same all over the world. Sparrow
is a sparrow. And the swallow, barn swallow, house swallow,
a nest for herself. The sparrow, apparently, David,
being in and around the tabernacle, saw birds making their nests
here and there, as birds are prone to do. Well, we've all
seen birds make nests in the strangest places, haven't we?
On a doorknob. And everywhere they nest. Listen to this. This is good. Apparently David saw these little
sparrows and swallows making their nests here and there on
the altars. Someone wrote this, I got this
from one of the old writers, that an old tradition in ancient
countries was that if a bird built its nest in the temple
or sanctuary, they were not allowed to be driven away. Not allowed
to, much less be killed. But if they had found sanctuary,
if they had built a nest there, truly had found a secure and
undisturbed abode. No one was to bother them. They
would just stay right there. Did you get that? A swallow? Get rid of that bird. But there's
a million more like it. Yeah, but that bird is going
to stay right here. Right here. And didn't our Lord
say, Him that cometh to me." You know, I'm just an old common...
Him. That's why I said that. Him that
cometh to me. All that the Father giveth me.
And there's not a sparrow that falls to the ground without the
heavenly Father. He knows them. He has your hair
numbered. There are old common barn swallow sparrows. You know,
there's a million just like them. But all that the Father giveth
Christ shall come to Christ. And what will they do? They find
a home. And they make a nest. And our Lord said, I'll let no
wise cast them out. You stay right here. You found
a sure abode. Now no wise cast you out. No wise. And it says here, she
found, the sparrow and the swallow have found a place where she
may lay her young. Have you, Hannah Parks, have
you found a place to bring up your young? To lay them right
here? To rest right here? You found
for yourself a nest. You found a place where you like
to nest, don't you? You ever seen an old brood hen?
Surely you've seen an old brood hen. We had one, we named it
Gladys. Sorry, Gladys. But that was out
of affection. It wasn't named after you. I
don't know where we came from up with that. Somebody said you
don't eat something you name. Anyway, we loved this old hen. She just like any other hen.
We loved her. She was a brood hen. That's all
she did, was brood. She'd sit on eggs. We never saw
her get up. You just rarely ever saw her
get up. She'd get in and she'd messle down in there, and there
she was to stay, buddy. And buddy, you remember Hannah?
He tried to get some eggs from Gladys. Tough old bird. Like Gladys. And all she, you
know, she guarded, protected those eggs, and she found a nest
for herself where she'd lay her young. And this is where I'm
going to stay. Don't you come near my young. Have you found
a place, a nest for yourself? And a place where you can bring
your children and you'll not have them go anywhere else or
anybody else disturb them. This is it. This is it. This
is the truth. This is where I'm going to raise
my children. Right here. And from henceforth let no man
bother me. I'm resting right here in Christ. This is the message. This is
the truth. This is God's church. And this
is where my children are going to hear it. And bless God. That's where I'm going to raise
them. Have you? Oh my. Oh my, oh Lord, he says,
thine altar. Oh Lord of hosts, my King and
my God. This is where you hear about
your King and your God. Is this king your king? This
God your God? This rock your rock that you build your house on
and your whole family on? Blessed, verse 4, how blessed
are they that dwell in thy house. Oh, how blessed. The word blessed
means just that. God has opened up the windows
of heaven and bestowed upon you every All the goodness that is
God, all the love, mercy, grace, and goodness that is of God,
in God, from God, has been showered upon you if you have been brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ. The tabernacle of God, the house
of God, the sure abode, your hiding place, the cleft in the
rock. If you've been, if you're in Christ, Oh, God
has blessed you. Fresh flesh and blood didn't
reveal it to you, but your Father, which is in heaven, has given
you a sure abode of good hope, yes, sure hope, through grace
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you really didn't find
this place. He put you here. Birds, you know,
they can fly out on an adventure, but the Lord is sovereign over
every bird and where it lands. The birds came to my house and,
well, I told you about that one that built a nest on the wall
right out here outside the study door. And that ivy, you wonder
why some of you think I ought to tear all that ivy off. No,
I'm not going to do it. Because nearly every year there's
a bird that builds a nest in there. And I'm instructed to
leave it there. Anybody that finds a house here
has found a house. They're not going to disturb
them. All that the Father giveth Christ shall come to Christ and
shall not be cast out. My King. This is my King, my
God, my gospel, my people, my church. It's my salvation. Huh? My hope. Is it? Defend it. Yes, any and everything. Anybody, anybody and everything.
Verse 4, he says, Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
in Christ, in Christ's church, they will be still praising thee. You can read that two ways. They
will be still praising thee. That's a good way to put it,
isn't it? God said in Isaiah 50, their
strength is to be still. Do you know what that means?
It's the same thing the Lord told the people through Moses
back there when they were standing up against that Red Sea and the
enemy was against them and they were heads hemmed in on both
sides, under pressure, tribulation, stress, distress. Where do we
go? Where do we turn? God says, stand
still! You can't swim, you can't fight,
you can't scale. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. You understand? Yes! You've come
here. You've tried to scale Mount Sinai. You've tried to fight
your sins. You can't swim to heaven. You can't walk there.
What are you going to do? Stand still. You've come to the
right place. Here's your strength. Here's
your salvation. Here's your hope. Here's all your hope. Stand still. And just watch. See the salvation
of the Lord. Just watch. See the salvation
of the Lord? Look to Christ. The salvation
of the Lord. Stand still. Oh my. And see. And just watch. Come
here. This is a place where the dead
are brought to life. This is a place where the helpless
are given all grace. This is a place where death row
sinners find full, free, eternal pardon. It's just where those
who are cripples and you know, the palsy and blind, lame, deaf
and dumb. They come and what do they do? Nothing. When it's all over they see the
salvation of the Lord. Oh my. Stand still. And they will be still. Our God
said that. He commands that, Brother Stan,
doesn't He? He says, God is in heaven and
you're on the earth. Let your words be few. Be still
and know that I'm God. Don't give the sacrifice a fool, which is known by a multitude
of words. Just don't say anything. Just
listen. They'll be still. They'll be
still. Until they can't be still any
longer. Then they dance. You understand that? Then they
start dancing. He commands that too. Well, but
read it this way. They will be still praising thee.
In other words, those that are brought there, what they're doing
when they get there, What they find when they get there is worship
is praise is salvation itself. They'll be praising God. They'll
be praising God for such salvation. So great salvation. They'll be
praising God in the beginning. The beginning of their confidence
in that all their salvation is in Christ. And they praise Him
for it. And in the end, even in the end,
when it's all said and done, they'll be still praising Him.
That's what they'll still be doing. They'll still be singing
the same old song. Same old, same old. Yep, that's
right. That's right. How firm a foundation. Huh? Come thou fount of everybody.
Rock of Ages cleft for me. How firm. Huh? We haven't learned any new song.
Once we've learned the song of Moses, I just don't care to sing
any other, do you? You can have all these new songs.
They ain't got a ounce of gospel in it. You can have them. The
day they're in Zion, know the song of Zion, know the song of
Moses, and that's what they say. That good old fella plucking
that one string, remember? Anybody hadn't heard that, I
love it, I want to tell you. Just one nod. Hadn't heard that
one string. Margaret, I've told that fifteen
times. Oh, that's right. Your age, you
tend to forget things. I'll tell it again. I thought
you'd never ask. That fellow playing in the city in a band
started plucking that bass fiddle. Can you play? Yeah, I can play.
He started playing and he's plucking one string. Boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom. And it all stops. He said, hold
on here. Is that all you know? He said, well, you fellas are
running up and down the neck looking for this note. He said,
I found it. And that's true, that's a good
illustration in it. People running to and fro and
chasing after every wind of doctrine. I found it! The message. The power of God. This is little
thing hit me to the heart, buddy. This is the message that This
is the sword of God, the spear of God that pierced the divineness
under my soul and spirit. This is the message that God
used to open my blind eyes, my deaf ears. This is the message.
Now I know. This is the sword of God. This
is the message. This is the only one there is. And I'm just going
to sing it from here on out. Until somebody else, by God's
grace, by God's Spirit, somebody else hears it. You know, I went
a long time without singing this song. I went a long time without
it touching my old, cold, dead, and hardened heart. Long time,
didn't make, didn't touch me in all that old fashion, I've
heard that before. No, I haven't. I hadn't heard
it before. Until one day, Tammy, bless God,
yes, bless God, I heard Rock of Ages for the first time. Clap for me. Letting me hide myself in Thee,
and I've sung it, I was forced to sing it as a child. Finally,
I sung it. You know what I'm talking about,
some of you. It's a good thing to give thanks.
It's a good thing that these children learn these songs. And
one day, as long as I... It's not good that they learn
the speech of these Midianites. No, it's not good at all. Nothing
good about it. I say unto them, save yourselves from this untoward,
yet learn the songs of Zion. Keep singing them. Maybe someday
the Lord will give you a heart to sing it. That's what we're hoping for.
That's what I'm shooting for. Oh boy, they will be still praising
them. These songs that we learned here,
we're going to keep singing throughout eternity. There'll be still praise
in thee. Verse 5 says, Blessed is the
man whose strength is in thee, and whose heart are the ways
of them. That is, those who dwell in God's
house. The man whose strength is in thee. You know, some rely
on their morality and their works and their goodness and their
religious life and their works of alms and piety and church
going and all that. Some do that though, don't they?
Ignorantly. Foolishly. Some rely on talent. Some rely on beauty, you know,
humanly speaking. Some depend on their self-made
men and women, you know. They don't even need religion.
They can make it. They're going to make it. They're going to
be alright. Self-made. They rely on their beauty and
talent and intellect. And all of that was given by
the God to whom they don't worship. Yet they rely on that and think
it's going to carry them through. Boy, when it's all gone, what
are they going to rely on? Some depend on the government.
Boy, I don't know who would want to do that. The government. And
some depend on science, you know. Their hope is in science. And
man is making great strides. He's going to get us out of this
mess. And some depend on education, you know. If I can just get smart
enough, I won't... Blessed is the man whose strength is in
thee. Blessed is the man who finds
all their wisdom in him. All their righteousness is in
Him. Blessed is the man who finds all their assurance, all that
they know and are and can do and will do and will be and all
their salvation, all their strength in Him. Blessed. Blessed. You know, everybody
is without strength. That which is flesh is flesh.
Flesh is so weak. Flesh is so prone to anything. Flesh will do anything. The greatest
of men and women will do anything. It's flesh. Flesh can't resist
nothing of its own. Weakness. Weak flesh. Oh, blessed are those who know
that and don't depend on anything or anyone, flesh or anything,
to do it, but whose strength is in they. The Lord God. The Lord Christ.
Here's a good illustration. A woman depends on her husband
for everything. She marries a man and she submits
to him and depends upon him for everything. He is her provider,
her protector, he's her strength. Then he dies. Then what? She's without strength. Well, listen, Psalm 54 says this,
thy maker is thy husband. Did you get that? Do you know
why I said that? Thy maker. Listen to this. Henry, the sword,
is the wife, the bride. He's the helpless one. He's the
dependent one. He's the one who committed all
things unto His husband. He's the bride of Christ, you
know. And your husband ever liveth. Thy maker is thy husband. You
have nothing to worry about. You've never provided for yourself
and you never will. Your strength is in Him. You
see? He's your strength. You'll never
lose it. You'll never lose it. You understand that? Thy maker
is thy husband. Blessed is that person in whose
heart are the ways of those that dwell in God's house, God's people,
the ways. It says ways, doesn't it? That's what it means. Christ
is the way and we're conformed to his image, predestined to
be conformed to his image. And whose heart are the ways
of those that dwell in God's house, a family. Let me illustrate
this. A family dwells in the same house,
as God's people do, dwell in Christ, in Him. A family shares
the same things. A family in a house shares all
the same things. Same food, same shelter, same
protection, they hear the same instructions. Right? A family.
All God's children dwell in the same house and they receive the
same thing. They have the same family traits.
Ways, that is, the same ways. Now, whether you like it or not,
you are your mother. You are. Did you ever pick on
Margaret Day? Did you finally wake up one day
and say, I have become my mother? You do, don't you? Every one
of you, don't you? At first you think, I want to be my own man,
my own woman or what, don't you? You think, oh, I'm unique. Yeah,
right. And then finally one day you
get to a certain age and you say, You might say, oh no, I
have become my father or my mother, depending on what they were like. That's just so. There's nothing
you can do about it. There's nothing you can do about
it. It's in your blood. They call it genes. It's there. Oh, aren't you glad? Aren't you
glad we've been predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ, huh? Aren't you glad? There's nothing you can do about
it. I wouldn't change a thing. You know, the world hates predestination. I love it! I love it! Predestined
to be conformed to the image of Christ. Until you wake up
one day in glory and say, I'm Him. I have become Him. That's what that means. And you
know, it's not only inherent, it's not only in your blood,
but it's acquired. It's an acquired trait that you look at a person.
You watch your dad. You watch your mom. Parents,
these kids, boy, they're watching you. You may not think they are.
They're watching you. They're listening to you. And
you will find out, you have found out, that they come up with and
say things that you wish they hadn't been listening to. But
it's so. And you know, it's so with God's
people. Yeah, it is. It sure is. Acquired traits. My oldest brother
was just my hero growing up. My hero. Everything about him.
I wanted to be just like him. And he had this certain little
strange physical trait that he would do. And I watched him. And I would emulate that as a
boy. The way he sat. And I'd sit that
exact same way. I'd make myself do it. I wanted
to be like him. You understand? Well, I find
myself now, I don't even think about it. I just do it. I sit down, I sit a certain way,
just like he did. And I'd look down before, oh,
that's what Robin did. And that's the way God's people
are acquired. It's a good habit right here
to be in. It's inherent. It's also acquired. And emulation
is the sincerest form of flattery. And Christ said, put on the new
man. Put him on. Put him on. Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the
love. Put it on. Put it on. Put it on. That's what He said.
It's a good acquired habit. Well, that's the ways of them. That's the ways of them. Verse
6. Who? Now here it is. This was
really my text. Who passing through the valley
of Baca, Make it a well. The rain also filleth the pools,
passing through the valley of Baca." Now, the tabernacle was
in one place. And all the Israelites and strangers,
whoever wanted to go to worship God, they had to go there. wherever
it was at that time, they had to go there, had to get there.
Had to make a pilgrimage. Some of them had to travel a
long way, a long way to get there. But certain times of the year,
you know, they had certain feasts and so forth, and they had to
make a pilgrimage. They had to gather up, they had
to quit everything they were doing, put aside everything they
were doing, leave everyone and everything, and make this pilgrimage,
this journey to where the tabernacle was. Are you with me? Alright? And many had to pass
through this valley called Baca. In order to get to Jerusalem,
many had to go through this place called Baca's Valley. The Valley
of Tears. That's what it's called. It was
a difficult valley, and it was made worse by certain times of
year. They would go through it and
it would be hot. It would be dry, it would be arid, it would
be just almost unbearable. It would be almost, well, they
just had the most difficult time going through this valley of
Bacchus. Sometimes hot, sometimes dry,
sometimes extremely tough. And since so many people traveled
this way though, it was a very well-traveled path, And so many
traveled this way to get to where the tabernacle was. Some loving
and thoughtful pilgrims, knowing that it would be hot and dry
at certain times, they would dig wells. They would dig wells
along the way in that valley for the pilgrims to stop and
refresh themselves. And so traveling on this pilgrimage
through this valley of tears, through this hot and dry place,
difficult sojourning and pilgrimage to where the Tabernacle was,
and they would become parched and dry and just don't know if
I can make it. I'm going to faint. I'm going
to turn back. No. There's a well. Somebody in mercy and in love
to the pilgrims dug a well. Oh, my, my, my, my. All of God's
people are called strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, sojourning. We have here no continuing city,
but we look for one whose builder and maker is God, the tabernacle
where God dwells with man forever. We're going there. We're on a
marching to Zion, you see. We've got to go through this
vale of tears, this valley of the shadow of death. In this
world you shall have tribulation. See, unlike this one, every one
of God's people has to go through this manner. The valley of the
shadow of death, hot and dry and thirsty land. Over in Psalm
90, he says, oh, there's labor and sorrow. But God, in mercy and in love
through His pilgrims, does well. which is Christ himself. He said,
I am the water of life. You're going to make it. In this
world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I'm the
well. I'm the well. Christ is the well spring, the
water of life, the shadow of a rock in a weary land. And his body, his church, the
place where Christ is, is an oasis, isn't it? It's an oasis
in the wilderness for hot, dry, and thirsty pilgrims to come. And that's where Christ the whale
himself is found, that they can just drink to their fullest.
They're going to need it because they're going to go back out
into that valley. They're going to go back in that
valley. Well, he said, so that's the valley of Baca, and make
it a well. And the rain also filleth the
pools. The rain. Also it comes. Rain. Sometimes
during those long journeys and through the hot and dry lands,
oh, blessed showers of blessings would fall. They'd think, I can't
find a well. And the blessing of rain would
follow, just fill up. Rain's over there, it just didn't
pitter-patter, it comes a gusher. And fill up the pools. How does rain make you feel?
I thought about that. The other day, it was a rainy
day. In order for it to be raining, pretty much, the sun is obscured. It's a cloudy day. Always, nearly
always. Except those glorious days when
the sun shines and it's raining, that's just... Is there a prettier
sight in all of God's creation than that? Well, anyway, most
of the time when it's raining, it's cloudy, and how does it
make you feel? How does rain make you feel?
Be honest. Does it make you feel depressed sometimes? Come on.
It does me. I'd much rather have a sunshiny
day. Much rather. We were coming home yesterday.
It was kind of dark and dreary and getting cold out. And I said,
I wish it was spring. Man, they said, well, it ain't
winter yet. No, I don't care. I still wish it was spring. I
know why people go to Florida now when they get old. I just
don't like cold. I don't like clouds. The other
day it was real cloudy and it made me feel despondent. It made
me feel depressed. It made me feel dreary. Does
it you? It made me feel dreary. If something
comes over you, why am I depressed? And you know, most people complain
about the rain. Weather, meteorologists, they're
always apologizing for the rain, aren't they? That's incredible,
isn't it? And it's incredible, really,
that we should become despondent and depressed because it's the
water of life. Life on this planet could not
continue without rain. It fills the pools. You have
a well, don't you? If it quit raining, buddy, it's dry up. Rain, you see, your well
doesn't come from river or whatever that is. It comes from rain.
Rain water, ground water soaks in, fills up that pool down there
that you get your water from. And well, you say, well, I've
got city water. Boy, Roanoke found out about
that, didn't he? It quits raining. Where does
rain come from? God, from heaven. All this water
of life, the blessing of all blessings, that no life can do
without, just freely falls down from heaven. And rather than
make us dreary and despondent, ought to give us cause for rejoicing. Pills up the cisterns, pills
up the ground wells. Rain also causes the creeks and
streams to run into the rivers, which some do get their water
from, and the ponds and the lakes and so forth fills up the reservoirs. Rain is a great undeserved blessing
from God. But as I said, it all comes from
black clouds. Now listen carefully. Going through
this valley. And that's tough enough. And
then a big black cloud comes over. It can't get any worse. Hold on now. Just wait. You fearful saints. Fresh courage,
take the clouds you so much dread. And we all do. Oh, don't let
anything happen. Don't let anything happen. Something's
going to happen. The clouds, you so much dread, those black
clouds are full of mercy and shall break with blessings on
your head. Behind every cloud, silver lightning. What comes from a black cloud?
Rain. Fills the pool. Oh my. So here's the picture, alright? Here's the picture. It says in
verse 7, they go from strength to strength. Every one of them,
in Zion, appears before God. Would you read that with me?
Read it again. Verse 7, I don't want to slight any verse. They
go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. Here's this vast pilgrimage,
a bunch of people traveling. Okay? There's enough water in
that well to meet everybody. Sure, yeah. If not, the rain.
Anyway, this vast pilgrimage, these people all traveled this
same road. They all traveled this same road
and whole families would go. Whole families. Old, young, male,
female, weak, strong. Whole families would travel together,
go through all the same hardships together, go through all the
same trials together, and they would help each other. Then notice
it says, "...company to company, strength to strength." They would
help each other along this pilgrimage, along this way. They'd all find
their strength in Him. That's why they're on this road.
They'd all find their water and help along the way
in that well. They'd all find it in all the
rain. They're all going through this, but they all were helping
each other on the way. They all were exhorting each
other so much more as they saw that tabernacle approaching,
or rather as they were approaching him. Marching to Zion, you see,
all along the way. Some of them wanted to quit.
No, Junior. No, no, no, no. You're coming
with us. No, honey, come on now. I can't make it. Yeah, you can't.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Passing through, and often passing
through, you know, they'd come across fellow pilgrims. At the
well. That's a meeting place, they
say, the well. They'd come to the well and they'd
stop and they'd talk to these fellow pilgrims. And what do you think they'd
talk about? What do you think their conversation was? They might have a little chit-chat
here and there about the kids and all that, but then they were
talking about Zion. They were talking about where
they were going. Talking about where they were going. They'd
go through and they'd strengthen each other, you see. Strength
to strength, company to company. Iron face to face. Iron sharpens
iron. And they would exhort each other
and encourage one another. Just keep going. Keep going.
Here's an old man. Listen to this. Here's an old
man's passing through. I'm in an old man. Somebody says,
how long have you been doing this? All my life. All my life. How old are you? I'm 87 years old. And you're
going to go all the way to Zion again? Yeah. I'd faint without
it. Can't do without it. And so here's
a young person that says, well, you know him, he can make it. If he'd been doing this all his
life, I just might do. And strengthen each other. Strengthen
each other. Until it says, bless God Almighty,
until it says, until every one of them, did you catch that? Until every one of them in Zion,
that is in the church, in Jerusalem, all God's people, all His elect,
until, somebody's not hearing this, Samuel, until every one
of them, Appeareth before God. Every one
of them. Every single pilgrim that walks
that road. Every single pilgrim that goes through the Valley
of Bacchus. Every single one of them. And there's nothing
that has betaken you, but such is common to man. And every pilgrim,
every believer, everyone who's found their strength in Him,
everyone who's looked to Christ, everyone, little, big, strong,
weak, every one of them, appeareth before God. They're all there. Not one fell along the wayside.
Not one was too weak. Not one died of thirst. Not one. Did you hear this? Every one
of them. Christ, the one that dug the
well. Christ, the one to whom we look for strength. Christ,
the one who really carries us. Christ, the path we try. Christ,
the tabernacle. Christ said, Behold, I and the
children that thou hast given me. Of those which thou hast given
me, I have lost. Everyone. Oh, how amiable are thy type
of angles. This is where you start the pilgrimage.
You see? This is where you start. A young
believer comes in, doesn't even know there is a God. I say young
believer, I mean someone who has never heard of God. They
don't even know there is a God. They don't know what He's like
or anything. They don't know Christ. They don't see a need
of Christ. They don't know what they are, blind, deaf, dumb,
dead, you know, and so forth. God chose them. God who had elected
them. God who predestinated them. God
who brought them. God taught them and gave them
life and all of this, and then he sets them in paths of righteousness. Sets them on this pilgrim road. Sets them marching to Zion. But
he does not say, boy, it's going to be smooth from here on out.
That's what false prophets say. That's what false preachers say.
All your troubles are over. No, on the contrary. The Lord
Jesus Christ says, your troubles have just begun. In this world
you shall have nothing but trouble. Man that's born a woman is a
few days. You don't have long here. You
don't want to stay here. No, I'm taking you out of here.
You've got to be full of trouble, but be of good cheer. There's
a whole bunch just like you. A whole bunch has gone in this
same world. A whole bunch who started out and nothing but trouble
started. Be of good cheer and a well on
the way. There's a shower coming behind
the cloud and everyone has looked to Christ. Everyone makes it. He's promised you strength
for the day. He's promised you. I've given
you people to undergird you and help you along the way. Everyone. Passing through the Valley of
Baca. That's what that means. Valley of Tears. And our God
said, you get through this Valley of Baca. I'll bring you through
this and there will be no more tears. No more valleys of Baca
to pass through. No, no. The Promised Land. Land flowing with milk and honey. And then the last part of this
ends with a prayer. You noticed it. Oh Lord God of
hope, hear my prayer. Here I am, a pilgrim. Listen,
what Lord would you give here? Oh, God of Jacob. You ever get
tired of hearing that? Jacob. You ever get tired of
hearing about old Jacob, huh? Oh, happy is he, that the God
of Jacob. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not going to fail, not going
to fall, not going to be consumed. Hey, sons of Jacob, Jacob have
I loved. Oh, Jacob. Blessed is he that
the God of Jacob. Happy. Give ear, O God of Jacob. Behold, O God, our shield. As I keep telling us, and me,
us, we're not protecting ourselves, we're not protecting our young,
we're not doing anything. We're not doing anything. God
is our shield. God is our shield. Trust Him.
Trust Him. Young and old alike. Keep exhorting
these young parents to trust Him. Well, I'm an old parent,
and I still worry. I need to trust Him. It's how
she healed. He said, nothing can befall you
but what I send. Nothing! A thousand fall to your
right, ten thousand to your right. It will not come nigh you. If
it does come nigh you, I'll put it there and there's nothing
you can do about it. No way! Be still. Know that I'm God.
Trust in me. Trust! Trust! You'll be full
of depression, anxiety, fear. Fear of man brings a snare. Fear
of the Lord brings peace. Our God is a shield. And verse 9, oh my, look upon
the face of thine anointed. Folks, he does. He does. Who's
the anointed? You know the word Christ means
anointed. The Anointed One. The Lord beholds
me in Him. As He is. Does God love Christ? Oh, oh. If I'm in Christ, He
loves me. Does Christ dwell with the Father
now forevermore? Ever live and ever dwell? Yeah.
Christ said, I'm already there. Seated. The face of thy anointed, that's
Christ, that's us. Holy Spirit anointed. And oh
my, look upon us in mercy and grace and favor. And the day
in thy courts is better than a thousand. What I can say about
this? What about you? What could you
say about that? What could you say about that? Huh? Right now, this, what we've done
today, this day in which the Lord hath made, A day in thy
courts. That's what we've done. We've
spent a day. Well, we haven't spent two hours. What do you think about this? Where would you have rather been?
Would you rather spend a thousand doing whatever? Or is this one
better than a thousand? Is it? Really? I mean, really?
He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to
dwell in the lavish places of wickedness. I'd rather be a doorkeeper
in God's house. What a high honor, a great privilege
to do something, anything in God's service. Anything. A doorkeeper. David's king, and
he says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to be
among the rich and famous and well-known and so forth and have
all these people. What a high honor and a great
privilege to do something, anything in the service of God's house. That's what he's saying. To be
a janitor in God's house is a greater blessing and a higher honor from
God Almighty. Yes! To be a janitor, which the
world says, that's about as low as you can get. Well, is it? Yes, that's about as low as you
can get. Well, let me tell you something, what God says about
as low as you can get. Let me tell you what God says
about that. He that is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven is a servant. Now, it wouldn't surprise me
a bit if the majority of people in heaven were janitors on this
earth. How many? Waitresses. Not many
wives mighty and noble to call. It's the greatest honor conferred
on a human being by God Almighty to be a janitor in God's house
than the CEO of IBM. I'm telling you the truth, Kevin. Vicki, it's what Christ said. Ah, but nobody noticed it. That's not why you're doing it. I'll tell you who he is. I'll
tell you who you're working for. Huh? How God sees me. Everything about
me. My goings, my downs, my upright. He knows it. And that glad and
thankful heart and that privileged and honored, highly honored son. Thank you, Lord. Brother Tom
Harding was the most faithful janitor that the Church has ever
known. I've never seen a man as diligent
and conscientious about cleaning the church building. Kevin, you're
just like that. You are. And Dickie. But that man, honestly,
he went above and beyond call of duty, just early and late,
just you name it. He was always there, without
being asked to. Considered a high honor and a
privilege. The Lord blessed him. I'd rather be a treasurer. Better
to be a treasurer in God's house than the Secretary of the Treasury
of the United States of America. A whole lot better. High honor. Though a thankless
job, a difficult job, nobody wants it, it's a high honor. Better to be a piano player.
For a little group sitting on top of the hill, it's God's church.
It is God's church. You're playing the music for
the pilgrims to sing the song of Zion. That's a pretty high
calling, if you ask me. I'd rather be that than to be
a concert pianist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra who doesn't
know God and want to go to hell. Though the whole world knows
her name, God doesn't. And though nobody in the world
knows Sherry Anderson, God's people do, but more importantly,
God does. And her playing is infinitely
more beautiful to the ears of God than that first chair pianist's. I'm telling you the truth. That's
an absolute noise in the ears of God Almighty. That woman playing
flawlessly is a noise to God's. Noise. Even the plying of the
wicked is evil on God's side. That's right. That's right. And
the pluckings with one hand of a believer, a rock of ages, is
the saints and glories singing along. I'll tell you the truth. Tell
you the truth. I'd rather be a doorkeeper. I'd
rather be anything. I can't do anything. That's what
Berger used to say all the time. Berger used to say that, didn't
you? Didn't you, people? All the time. She always said
that to him. I can't do nothing. That woman encouraged me to know
Him. Encouraged me to know Him. We're
still talking about her. She being dead, yet speaketh. That's
it. Still talking about it. Still
being encouraged. I'm still going in the strength
that I received somewhat from Virgie Jones, Ellen Fredlund,
and so on. Aren't you? My, my. Oh, a day is better than
a thousand. I'd rather be here than anywhere.
The Lord God is a Son for warmth, for life. light, shield, my protection,
the Lord will give grace and glory. I've lost a bunch of you, but
I'll tell you, this is the culmination. No good will he withhold. No good. And then that walk upright. What is it to walk upright? Well,
to look to Christ. To be found in Christ. Yep. Oh, Lord of hosts. Oh, Lord of
hosts. Oh, how blessed. How blessed,
blessed, blessed, blessed. How happy, how supremely blessed. What great grace and glory you've
already shown to him that trusteth in thee. Everybody doesn't. And there's a broad road that
leads to destruction, you know, and many there be that go thereab.
But there's a straight and narrow way, and you know, many, few
there be that find it, but there have been many that go that way. Valley of Bacchus. Come and go
with me. We're marching design. That's
what we're going to sing right now, Brother Gabe. What number is that? Number 514.