In faithful faith I will not
fear, since Christ is Lord, in faith and
faith. In faith and faith, in faith
and faith, I will not fear, in faith and faith. I heard my pastor preach from
this on tape recently, and it was such a blessing. Driving in my car, and I thought,
our people have to hear this. Psalm 139. This is, this is great comfort. There's
great comfort here. Great joy. Peace. Peace will be found in this portion
of Scripture, great peace. I know of no other that should
promote more peace in our hearts than this passage. This is all about God's knowledge
of His people. That's what this whole psalm
is about, how well God knows His people. and what that means. I hope you're
with me. Verse 1, O Lord, thou hast searched
me, and numbed me. Now, God, first of all, has searched
for us as a lost sheep. Christ said that. He left the
ninety and nine, and went after the one lost sheep in the wilderness. And every one of us, every believer,
was first lost, but then found by Christ. And he went searching
for them, and found them. Wayward sheep. Lost sheep. Lowly sheep. He searched for
them, but here it says he searched them. He searches in us, not
only for us, but in us. And David prayed that the Lord
would do that in verse 23. He said, Search me, O God, search
me through and through. Search me. Paul wrote this in
2 Timothy 2, 19. He said, The foundation of God
stands secure. having to see the Lord who knows
them that are His. And this should be the foundation
of all of our peace, our joy, our consolation, is that God
knows us. He knows everything about us.
Everything about us. He knows them that are His. He
searched them through and through. God's people know Him. Yes, they
do. They know God. This is eternal life, that they
might know Him. But how well do we know Him?
Scripture says His ways are fast finding paths. How unsearchable. Yes, you don't need to know Him
that way. We don't need to know everything
He does and why, when, and so forth. Our comfort is in this. He knows us. He knows us. Like a child is known by their
parents. My daughter doesn't have to know
a great deal about me. She doesn't have to fully understand
everything I do and why I do it. But all her peace and joy
and her comfort and she has no fear concerning me, but she knows I know her. I know her. There's
complete joy, comfort, freedom. You know, there's freedom in the fact that our God knows
us. Knows everything about us. Knows us. Knows us well. Verse
2. He says, Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my up-rising. When I go to bed, when I get
up, My up, my down, my lying down, my getting up. In other
words, my movements. Look at Psalm 37 with me. Psalm
37. Psalm 37. Turn in your Bibles
with me to these scriptures and prepare for a blessing. Psalm
37. This is one of them. Psalm 37. Verse 23 says, the steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord. Every step we take in this life
is ordered by God. Even before we knew Him, He knew
us. He far knew us, we're going to
say. Before I knew it, and our steps
were ordered, everything, every step, every way, all of our movements
are ordered and predestined by God Almighty to fulfill His purpose
concerning our movements. Go over to Job 23, Job 23 with
me. This is like a parent concerning
a small child, a very, very small child. You mothered when your
children were toddlers. Did you know their whereabouts?
Every moment? Huh? Or... Even older than that. Adolescent.
You know they're worth it. You've got, you've got an eye
on them. You've got an ear out for them. Certainly, they're in your thoughts
and on your mind. They're in your movement. They're
in your movement. They're not far from you. But our God knows
our every movement. His eye is upon us. Job 23, this
is good. This is Job talking. Now, you have to be careful when
you read the book of Job. You have to be careful. You have
to know who it is that you're quoting, because some of those
fellows didn't say what was right. That's what God said in the end
of the book of Job. He said these fellows didn't
speak that which is right concerning them. Job did. Elijah did. The rest of them. So you have
to be careful. Well, this is Job's book. Verse 8 through 11,
Job says, Behold, I go forward. He's not there. In other words,
he thinks. He can't see. I go backward.
I can't perceive him. On the left hand, where does
he work? What's he doing? But I cannot
behold him. He hideth himself on the right
hand that I cannot see, but he knows the way I tell him. He
knows the way, I tell you. Maybe I should come forth as
building. My foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept, and
not declined. We haven't taken one step behind. He knows my movement. Let's go
back to the text now. Psalm 139, it says in verse 2,
Thou understand this is my cause. My thoughts, what I'm thinking. God knows what I'm thinking. He knows how I think about He knows how I think about myself. He knows what I think of Christ.
He knows what I think about Him. He knows my thoughts. Verse 3,
Thou compassest my path and my line down. My path, that's my
destination, all known, all predestined. all determined by the omnipotent,
or that is all-powerful God, my destination, my compasses,
my path, as if to steer and to guide me in the direction He
would have me go. Verse 3, and are acquainted with
all my ways. Now, that's not the way I take. He's already said that, but he's
talking about the way I am. My ways. He knows me. He knows
me better than I know me. My ways. My life. My conversation. The real me. God knows the real
me. The real me. Who I really am.
How I really am. That's God. You know? I'm a puzzle to me. I'm an enigma
to me. Are you? I'm a paradox to me. God knows me. He knows me. My ups and downs. Sometimes I'm
up, sometimes I'm down. We're all moody to some degree. Hot. My sincerity? He knows it. He put it there. My hypocrisy? He knows it's not. My devotion, when I'm devoted,
diligent, my favors, my other favorites. My honesty, my dishonesty. He knows that. My ways, everything
about it. The real me. Let me illustrate
that. This was Peter's, this was Peter's
comfort, and this is ours too, okay? For three and a half years, Father,
he was with the Lord. You know, he was bold, but bold
was the lion. And, uh, again, Peter died. Peter acted like he didn't even
know the Lord. He reverted right back to the
way he was before the Lord found him. It's like he'd never been,
never known the Lord. The Lord knew him. And Peter,
when they were, when the Lord rose and said, go tell my disciples. And Peter. Now he, now remember
he's the one who dove out of the boat. When they found out
it was the Lord on the shore. They were all in the boat. They
all quit. They all quit. Gone fish. Peter's
the first one to say it. I quit. Oh, no, no, no. He's not going to quit. The Lord
knows it. And the Lord had begun to work
in him. He thought the fact that was
concerning. Well, they were out in the boat, and you remember
Peter said, somebody said, it's the Lord. Where is he going now? He comes
in and shall we go? He dives in the water, with all
his clothes on, and gets to the Lord as fast as he could. And
he's still ashamed, ashamed of himself. He denied the Lord.
So he had to get to the Lord. Well, they're sitting around
the fire. They're sitting around the fire, and our Lord directed
his questions at Peter. He asked him three times. Do
you remember? Peter, do you love us, Thou mate? And each time
Peter said, Yea, Lord. Do you love us, Thou mate? Yes, Lord. The third time, Peter,
do you love me? And figurations include this.
Lord, you know all things. You know everything about me.
You know I love you. You know me. I don't even know
me. I didn't think I'd do that. I
didn't think I'd do that. I thought maybe everybody else
would, but not me. But I did. I know He's sure about
something. I don't even know it, but He
knew about it. Is that guilt-free? Hmm? Now
notice all things. But He didn't know about it.
He didn't know about it. This is
the sense of the Scripture. Perfect love casts out evil. That's not our
love for Him, people. It's not anywhere near perfect.
It's His love for us. If you get on with this, He knows
that. He loves me. He'll never leave
me, forsake me. Never deny. He can't deny himself. Then we're in him. That'll cast
out fear. That'll give you peace. Fear's
gone. What do you got? Peace. Oh, but I may leave him. Yes,
you might. But he'll never leave you. And he'll bring you back. Yeah, he will. You know that. You know it, you know it, don't
you? Can you say that? Hmm? Is that your hope? Not that well you know him, or
how well you love him, or how strong your faith is, or any
of that. Nothing concerning you. But all
your hope lies in this blessed palm. He knows it. Well, uh... Verse 4, go back. Verse 4. He knows the real me. You know,
there's this piece I thought about this. He knows the real
me. It's comforting to not have to
impress him, right? You like to be around people
who know you real well, and you feel like, I don't have to impress
him. I don't have to wave my words with him. And be myself. And he knows me. That's our God. So why should
we try to impress people? Well, he knows. Verse 4. He said,
If not a word, the Lord downloads it altogether. Do you have trouble
impressing yourself? Hmm? You may think But the Lord is
just merciful to me, why I'm standing up in front of you.
You know, He's giving to you, and blesses you, and giving me
something to say from His Word. Most of the time, I don't know. I can't say things that I want
to say. What I, later on, later on I
think of what I want to say. Don't you? And what I did say, oh, the Lord
knows every word. Have you ever tried to talk to
somebody and say, what I'm trying to say is, he knows. He knows. It's kind of like an old married couple. They've been married for so long,
and you say, honey, she's not young. She says, did she grow
up young? Yeah. Well, what? No. That's exactly right. It's not a word, but I say, Lord,
I know. It ain't nothing. Try to, try
to pray. I know. God, he knows what things we
ever need helpin' for. Even before. We ask, and then we don't ask. We forget to ask. Later on, we
think, I wish I asked. We don't. A word is not a word
in my tongue. O Lord, thou knowest it all yet.
Verse 5, I like this. Thou hast beset me behind and
before. You've laid your hand on me. He's beset me behind and before.
This is what Satan said concerning Job. In Job chapter 1, do you
remember? Once you're good at reading,
go back and read the first two chapters of Job. And Satan came
to present himself before the Lord, and the Lord said, you
consider my servant Job, aren't you? You want to have that, my
servant Job, don't you? You want to assist him this week,
don't you? You try to devour him, aren't you? And Satan said, yes. And he said, I can't. You've got an edge around me,
man. You've got an edge around me.
I can't get through you. But if you lift your hand, and
Satan can't touch these people, touch not by anointing dust. Don't lay anointing. If you see
me, touch not. He's got all of us. His head's
just about. predestine all things concerning
us, and that we are under his sovereign care and protection. Nothing and no one, a thousand
may fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand, will not come
thy way. Thou shalt not be afraid of the
pestilence." Why? Because he has just arrived. He has just about to set us behind
before he's in front of us, and he's not. He's got an anvil.
Huh? Did you ever, as a child, think,
my parents are omniscient. They're omnipresent. Do you think,
I used to think, my mother, I'd try to attend every way I was
to sneak around. You boys, and some of you girls,
don't care. You know what I'm talking about.
My mother had a keenest sense of smell. Hearing, eyesight. Sometimes I thought, John, I'd
had a way with it. No, she just turned a deaf ear
and a blind eye. Didn't deal with it. He laid his hand on us. I like
this. He had a hold of his children. Again, when your children were
little toddlers. We had one child. And people
with one child, oh! I remember in statement, you
remember maybe going to the mall? And this was a time when all
this child kidnapping was starting to take place and all that. Oh,
I would not let her out of my sight, sir. I'd lay low on her. I'd deal with her if I had to. You know, for me, our God has
hope in us. Yes, he does. He said, no man
shall pluck you out of my hand. No man shall pluck you out of
my Father's hand. You're in two hands. You're held by two hands.
The Father and the Son, and led by the Spirit. Things He's laid
hold on, read on. He's handed upon us. Such knowledge is too wonderful for man. I hope this is wonderful to you.
Such knowledge is too wonderful. He said, it's too hard. I can't,
I can't, I can't understand it. I can't figure it out. I can't,
uh, grasp it. I can't understand it, but I
believe it. Don't you? You have to. You look back on your past life
now. You look back on your past life, at what all the Lord has
brought you through, and how he's brought you, and how he's
protected you, and how he's provided for you, and how he's Worked
all things together to bring you to where you are now. You
have to believe that he teased you about it. That he's directed
your path. That he's got his hand on it.
You have to believe that. Don't you? I do. I sure do. I killed myself when I was 16
years old. Not intentionally, but I sure
did. Like, Brother Kelly said, the redneck's famous last word
to me, what's this? Redneck's famous last word, what's
this? Oh, I said that a thousand times. Ringleader, Henry, what's this,
boys? Oh, no, you don't. Held back
a car, held back weather. Well, I sure see the Lord standing
on me. And surely you can, too. You're one of His own. Verse
7, Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? That's the Holy Spirit. Some of these ignorant people
say that a spirit wasn't given until the New Testament. That's
just not so, is it? David said, it's, take not thy
spirit, thy Holy Spirit from me. Isn't it? Whither shall I
go from thy spirit if I'm not given? He that hath not the Spirit
hath not God. He's not led by the Spirit, hath
not God. That's what John said. God's
Holy Spirit leads His people when they have the Spirit. Whither
shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? Turn over to Jeremiah 23. This
is great. Jeremiah 23. You know, we can't
hide from God. No one can. Can't hide from God. Many want to and try to. Most wickedness, and this is
what David is going to talk about here, most wickedness is done
under the cover of darkness. Cover? Well, the police may not see
it, but David said darkness is light
to God. Most wickedness and evil and
so forth is done under the cover of darkness. You cannot do that. He's omniscient, sees all, knows
all. Jeremiah 23, look at this, this
is good. Verse 23, in my God's hand, said
the Lord is not a God of our own. In other words, I'm everywhere. In Him we live and move and have
our being. And my God is close and my God
is far off. See what that says. Verse 24, Can any have
himself in secret places that I do not see him stay with the
Lord? Do not feel evident of it. God, He has to do everything. So who can have it from God? Verse 11 and 12 says that, sure
in the darkness, if I say the darkness will cover me, the night
will light it up. Say darkness hideth not from
thee, night shineth this day. Darkness and light are both alike
to God. Anybody who says that, they don't
know God. David says, it's all alike to
God. It's not hid from God, nothing's
hid from God. But the believer doesn't want
to hide from God. The believer doesn't want to
hide from God, though sinful, though guilty. The believer doesn't
really want to hide from God. As a matter of fact, when we
get caught, we run to Him. Don't you? My dogs, I hate to
keep bringing it up, I hope nobody gets tired of hearing about my
little dog. That's the best illustration I can come up with. You like
to talk to Sherry. Sherry likes Annie. I'll talk to Sherry. Annie, she
hasn't learned anything in all these years. And she's always
doing something wrong. And I'm showing her what she's
doing. Slinking up. I'm slinking up. Her tail's up and her ears down.
I mean, she literally belly props up to me. So sad, I think. What am I to
do? My mercy is going to do it for
every man. I'm not going to leave her, forsake her. I'm not going
to be mean to her, no sir. I'm going to correct her, but
I'm not going to be mean to her. Ah, boy. The believer doesn't
want to hide from God. Listen to this. I like this. In John 3, our Lord said, He
that doeth the truth cometh to Christ, that his deeds might
be made manifest unto the glory of God. In other words, he that
believes Christ, though he's found out, though he's guilty,
he comes to Christ, as it says in John 8, to correct him. That's what David says. The world doesn't want to be
found out. The believer does. You know what
I'm saying? The believer does. Once God... You know, I know you know. Keep
searching. There's things in there I don't
know about myself. Things I'm capable of that I
don't know. You know. Get them out. Go back to the text. Verse 8.
He says, If I send up into heaven, thou art there. It's time to
move on now. Huh? Sunday morning, Sunday morning,
every now and then, the Lord takes us up on Mount Transfiguration. Takes us up there on a tanning
bed. Just like John Peter and John.
And Sam and Rebecca takes us up on the mountain. And we're
glorified with a view of Christ. Aren't we? Huh? Up on the mountain.
He's there. And we're there. And we want
to build a bridge out of that. Well, Monday morning, we're in
there. As soon as you hit the door,
man doesn't stand. You're in hell. You feel like
it. You're amongst a bunch of hellions. There you are, those that don't
know God, don't care to pressure God. He's there. He's there. Ever-present hell. He's right there. I bet you, John, at times, when
you're at MWH, you like to find Stan, talk to him. Patrick? Isn't it, huh? Stan, when you're
amongst all those people that are like you were, at times you
think, where's John? Where's Patrick, or whoever,
somebody? I tell you who he is, right beside
you. That's who you call on. Ever
present. He's there. Verse 9. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, if I go all the way
down into Georgia, Mr. and Mrs. Ross, if I travel all
the way to Georgia, if I go to Baltimore and find
a place to worship, Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient.
Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient. Be omniscient I think about myself
when I was 41 year old boy. I didn't know God. I didn't care about God. He was there. He was there. I was out there
in the middle of the ocean. Okay, we say, what's this? He's watching over me. Verse
10, Even there shall thy hand lead me, thy right hand shall
hold me. However far out I get, and we
will, we'll get away at times. We'll strive. Come to wander,
Lord, I fear. Come to lead the God I love. What's our hope? His hand on
my back. He leadeth me, O blessed God. O words with heaven of comfort
brought Where, whate'er I do, where'er I be, still tis God's
hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me. Verse thirteen. You possess me. You possess my reins. Reins. What's that? That's your innermost
being. The word is kidneys. That's the
depths of your... You can't live without your kids. That's the innermost being of
your guts. Down deep in your guts. The deepest
recess of your being is He possesses you. He possesses every part
of you. He owns you. You're not your own. You're not
your own. That's what Christ said. You're not your own. You
belong to Christ. I thought about this. And this
is not just a doctrine of particular redemption, but whatever you
pay for is what you're going to take care of, isn't it? I remember when I was a teenager,
my father bought my sister and my mother a Volkswagen, a 1969
Volkswagen Beetle, and about a little while later I got my
license, and so we all got a share of that car. Did I take care
of that car? I'd like to ask you a question,
man. Do tire do not last? Rear tires
only last 5,000 miles? I don't understand. Why'd that
clutch go out? I thought the last was on there.
I didn't take care of that car. I didn't buy it. I didn't pay
for it. But, I hear about such a thing. Same year in high school, I got
me a job at a killing station helping gangsters. Harder, and
that's tough work, isn't it? Tough work. Changing oil, pumping
gas. Saturday night, all my friends
are pulling in. They're going out partying. And there I am,
pumping gas. But, I had my eye on a 67 Firebird
400 with a thrust gauge. So that's what kept me pumping
gas. You know, and I'd pump gas, and I bought that Firebird, and
I'd take care of that fire. You better believe it. Still
wore the retired hat. But I took care of it. I always
took care of it. Whatever you purchase, you'll take care of
it. Our God has bought us with a
price. A great price. You're not redeemed
with a corruptible thing such as silver and gold, but with
the precious blood of the Lamb. God, the Church of God, which
He purchased with what? His own blood. Is He going to
keep us? Is He going to take care of us?
He owns us. He'll not let us go. He'll bought
with a price. The blood of God's Son. He owns
me. Everything about me. My reign, my innermost... We're
blood relations. You know, blood, no matter what,
you can't do away with it, can you? You can't, even if you wanted
to somehow relate it, you can't do it, can you? You're blood. Blood's thicker than water, you
understand? Blood relations cannot be annulled.
That girl out there is me. That's me. I mean, it's literally
me. Uh-huh. She's got all my genes.
My blood is running through her veins. She's mad. I can't disown her. I'm going to disown her. I'm
going to disown her. I don't want to. You see that?
She's mad. The scripture says, I am like
a mother, and he is like a son. His blood is in him. He's a creature
in us. Christ in us. His Spirit's in
us. His Son's in us. He can't, he
won't, you can't deny blood relations. No matter how sorry they are,
no matter how sorry your brother or your sister or somebody is,
they're still your brother or your sister, right? Why don't you go get a potty
hole, Debra? She's in the front of her potty. She's sorry about that. She's
old. She's old. Y'all know that. That's right. You can't disown
her no matter what. You don't want to disown her.
You love her. Yeah. That young sister of yours. Blood. Blood relation. You know, it does not interfere
what we shall do. If we see Him, we'll be like
Him. He shall perfect that which is
concerned with us. He's possessed me from, look
at verse 14. David just stops and thinks about
this. He possessed my reins, my innermost being. Verse 13,
He covered me and my mother's womb. Oh, I praise you. David's
talking about God's foreknowledge of him, knowing him before the
world began, and knowing him when as yet he was not made.
Verse 14, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works. Oh, that my soul knoweth right
well. Every believer is like that,
from creation to him. Yeah, I'm a pure-blooded one
of humanity. God is. You don't have to give
me some big, long dissertation on creation as opposed to evolution.
I've smoked a couple of them. It's the only one that's ever
been in the history of the world with zillions of human beings
on this earth. There's never been one like that. I say, there's never been a smoke-loading
like that. Now, come on. God is. He's made and I'm fearfully and
wonderfully made. Martha said, Hannah and I like
to watch that baby story on TV, The Learning Channel. Y'all like
to watch these babies being born? We cry every child born. Every single one that's born,
we cry. For I don't want her to see it tonight. Every single
one's a miracle! Isn't it? Fearfully and wonderfully made.
He says, when I was made in secret, my substance was not hidden from
thee. Verse fifteen, when I was made in secret, when I was informed
before my mother even knew I was there, He put me there, curiously
wrong, in the lowest parts of the earth. That means in the
mother's womb. And that has a reference to Ephesians
4, verse 9. It talks about Christ being laid
in the womb. Lowest part. That's as low as
our lowest beginning. Now, deep in the recesses of
our mother's womb, He was there. Verse 16. Now, I can see myself
as yet being unperfect. He's been in me already, and
everything's out of me. Pre-destined everything concerned me. You
know, the color of my hair, or the... Everything about me. All
my hair numbers. Everything about my height. Everything about... My numbers
were written. And that's the marvelous wonder.
The child is born complete. And that baby comes out of that
while they're complete. They'll never grow another finger
or anything. They won't change if there's
two of them. You know? And we're complete in Christ.
Yes, we are. Complete in Him. Can't be more
holy in Christ. Perfect holy. when before there
was none of them. Verse 17, Oh, how precious also
are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How precious are thy thoughts
unto me. Have you ever been overwhelmed by the fact that someone was
thinking of you? Anybody ever called you
up or dropped by to see you and said, I was just thinking of
you? or dropped you a card. I've just
had it on my mind all the time. Huh? That overwhelms you. If
you know what a rock and a stone you are, and you don't deserve
anybody's consideration. And when somebody's thinking
about you all the time, it overwhelms you then. God never is thinking
about us. That's what he says, respond
to your thoughts, toward me, if I try to count them, verse
18, oh, they're more than enough than the sand. When I'm asleep, be stable. When I'm asleep. When I wake up, I'm still with
you. You're thinking of me. How precious,
how precious, how meaningful, how valuable, how needful God
thinks of me. Verse 18. No, verse 19. He says, Surely thou wilt slay
the wicked, O God. I believe David, all of a sudden, starts thinking of those who
deny his God. He's been thinking about how
great his God is, how great his God is, the wonderful works of
his God, how high, how marvelous, how merciful, how kind, how gracious, God knows him and provides for
him. And then these unbelievers, the
world over, like he said, David wrote in Psalm 14, the fool hath
sinned. There's no God. David starts
thinking about these people that say there's no God, that deny,
that reject Him, that Well, across the board. Evolutionists. You know, when I pick up these
magazines, and I watch these documentaries on TV, historical
things, geographical things, that makes me mad. Every single
one beginning with seven million years was started, that makes
me mad. Does it make you mad? Huh? Men act, just, How many knows
of God? Cross the board. Does it make you mad? Huh? God's going to... David said
this. David, a man after God's own
heart. Now, this holy hatred that we read about here, that
he's going to, this holy hatred, and there is such a thing as
righteous indignation. David said it over in Psalm 119,
verse 126. He said, It's time for you to
work, O Lord. They've made a boy gym ball.
In other words, David said, Do something! They're ignoring Your
Word. Have you ever thought that? That's what David said. It's
time for you to work. Everybody in the world over is
rejecting Your Word, denying Your Word. Show up! That's what he said. That's not
thinking yourself better than anybody else or more knowledge. That's not it at all. It's just
zeal for your God. You have to believe you ought
to have it, like a child with his parents. Somebody, somebody
begging out to you. Now, our Lord said, love your
enemies. Pray for them in spite of the
evil you do. But not your God. When Peter, when Peter, they
came to apprehend the Lord, Peter took out his sword and went swinging
at that guy's head. And he missed by Christ directing
the sword, you know. And because you're off, the Lord
healed that wound. The Lord did not pray for Peter.
The Lord didn't rebuke Peter. The Lord didn't say, don't do
that Peter. You love him. The Lord didn't say, oh, he doesn't
mean it, Peter. He didn't say that. He just said, put up your sword.
I could cause well-being still in you right now. Don't keep me from the cross.
I came to discipleship, but the Lord didn't reveal to me that.
I admired him for that. Don't you? In the face of all
that crowd, Peter 101 was going to take them all? Well, they
were after his Lord. He said, verse 20,
they speak against thee, wicked man. Now, you can cuss me. David,
Jimmy, I was cussing David one time over. I was cussing David,
and David said, You remember the story? David's
captain said, let me take the dog's head off. David didn't
upbraid him. You know, he was defending his
king. David said, let him cuss at me.
The Lord said, let him cuss at me. I need to be cussed at. I'm
cuss worthy. Somebody would bat him out to
you. Somebody would treat you cheap. Anyway, you were getting
pretty much what you deserved. You were getting less than you
deserved, Martin. Huh? But now, don't you cuss
at him. Don't you see anything about
him? Oh, sure don't see anything about him. I don't know, when
I was a kid, I've always been small. I've always been smaller
than everybody else. I was down visiting my cousin
in Alabama. I went there every summer and
Christmas. And my cousin was five months
younger than that. And when you're twelve, that's,
you know, a kid. Just a kid. I'm just a big older
cousin from Kentucky. Us mountain boys, we don't think
nothing of nobody. And he was this much taller than
me. My cousin. Well, there was a bully in his
neighborhood. And my cousin was kind of, you know, he never did
one. One day this bully was picking
on my cousin. I tore into him like a pinball
game. Honestly, we were out in the
bushes. I was on top of him under a shrub. And my uncle had to
come out and set me up. My cousin's a foot taller than
me. He'd rip us both. But he don't
touch my cousin. You understand? Don't badmouth
my God. Don't badmouth me. I'm getting
sick and tired of you blaspheming my God. That's what they've been
saying. Do not, I hate them. They speak
against thee wickedly. Thine enemies take your name
in vain. They've got God down to the level of man. Verse 21, Do not I hate them,
O Lord, that hate thee? Am I not grieved with those that
rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hate,
but this is, this is, this is not, this is the zeal of God's
glory, peace and peace and love, but they cannot bear people diminishing
the glory of their God. David's a man after God's own
heart. He said, I ain't on it. I shot the feller one time, I'll
tell you that. He told me about other preachers. I said, I hate
them all. Ooh. He hit like a shotty. Judge not. You know, that's the
first thing I can say to you. But I take David's place there.
Those that blaspheme my God, now, you can cuss at me, that's
one thing. Blaspheme my God, I wish God
would kill them all. He'd save them or kill them. Verse 23, and he said, Now, but
all these people aside, everyone else aside, All these
wicked blasphemers, those who malign my God, all of them, never
my name, everybody else aside. You need to do something about
me. Verse 23, search for me, O God,
and know my heart. There are times when I bless
you. There are times when I take your
name, but there are times When I do wickedness, oh, search me,
oh God. Know my heart. Try me. Know my
thoughts. Know my thoughts. And see if
there be any wicked ways, please. David's not saying it. You know,
he's already said he knows everything now. He's not saying, see if
there's something you didn't know was there. Or see if, I
don't think there's any wickedness there, if there is. No. David said in one place, he said,
keep me back from presumptuous sins. Well, that is sins I don't
know about. You know them. Secret sins. Search me, root them out, find
them in me, he said, and lead me in the right way. The way
everybody's doing. Sins like weeds. And we've got
to get to the root of that. Gloriously sing it to the root
of that. Get that out of there. Get that out of there. Leave
me in the way of relaxation. I want to know Christ, win Christ,
be found in Christ, be like Christ. I do. But here's all my hope,
all my joy, all my comfort. He bought me. He does read me. And he will keep me, and never
forsake me." Now, that's... I hope that was comforting to
you. It was to me. Let's sing this, that song I
quoted. He leadeth me. 166. No, no. 166.
Search me, O God. 166. There. Let's stand and just sing first
and... First and... First and first, okay? First and first,
okay? Searching high and low, I'm coming
in. O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave We've come a long way from home. Thank you. I'm still here, I'm still here
I'm still here, I'm still here I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know Thank you.