Oh Mary, how sweetly you weep
Blessed are our friends God of love, God of mercy Oh, how sweet
to be there I'd open your Bibles with me,
Psalm 141. Psalm 141. I want us to read the whole Psalm
together. And then we'll dwell mostly upon
three verses. Psalm 141. Psalm of David. Lord, I cry unto thee. Make haste unto me. Give ear unto my voice when I
cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense, and as the lifting up of my hands and the lifting
up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord,
before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil
thing. To practice wicked works with
men that work iniquity, let me not eat of their dainties. Let
the righteous smite me. It shall be a kindness. Let him
reprove me. It shall be an excellent oil,
which shall not break my head. For yet my prayer also shall
be in their calamity. When their judges are overthrown
in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the
grave's mouth as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord, in thee is my
trust. Leave not my soul destitute.
Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me and the
gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their
own nets. whilst that I withal escape. I love the Psalms. I resort to them quite often. I can always find something I
need there in the Psalms. The Lord blessed David. He called
him a man after his own heart. And he blessed David with a wisdom
that exceeded, I believe, any man. I believe even that above
his own son, Solomon, because David, his heart remained
right with the Lord. You know the story of Solomon,
but I believe Solomon gleaned much of his wisdom from his father.
I believe he did. I believe this will be a very
instructive message to all of us. I know it's a needful one. And it fit me well, it's a needful
one for me. In these three short verses,
verses three through five, we find three vital areas that need
to be dealt with in us, in our persons. Three things that are
interrelated and connected to one another, and they make up
the title to my message. My mouth, my heart, and my head,
in that order. The mouth, in verse 3, being
the speech. Verse 4, the heart being the
affection, the desire. And the head, in verse 5, being
the understanding, conscience, knowledge. These things are mentioned
by David in the course of a prayer. He begins, this whole psalm is
really a prayer unto God. He begins in verse 1, let's go
up there just briefly. He says, Lord, I cry unto thee. I cry unto thee. Oh, for a heart
that cries unto God, that really cries out unto God, pours out
its heart unto God, and doesn't just recite Calvinistic terms,
right? A heart that cries out unto God. And he says, O Lord, I cry unto
thee, make haste unto me, O for a heart that cries out unto God
for an answer, and that right in a hurry, an urgency, a sense
of urgency, and fervency in prayer, urgent and particular needs,
and wanting an answer. I believe if we really want an
answer bad enough, we'll get one. And that right early. He says, I cry, Lord, I cry,
give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. Verse two, look at
this. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. Let my prayer be set forth or
directed. Particular earnest, needy petitions
with thanksgiving. But earnest in particular petitions,
that is true prayer. Listen to these things. John
Owen gave these interesting observations concerning prayer as it is related
to incense here. This is good, this is excellent,
excellent. John Owen said that prayer, spoken
of here in the sense of being incense or the evening sacrifice,
incense. He said this about prayer. Just
as incense is beaten and pounded So must the heart be broken in
true prayer. Right? You know your own self,
how you've not rightly prayed with any real sincerity unless
you've had a broken heart. Huh? Without it, your prayers
feel cold and dead and dull, and you feel like they just bounced
off the ceiling. With a broken heart, though, You can pray with
some feeling, can't you? Some urgency. Like the incense
that is pounded and broken and made into a broken mixture. And he said this, too, just as
incense is useless without fire in it. You must have fire. That's the
Holy Spirit, isn't it? Holy Spirit, unction from on
high, some zeal, some fervency in prayer. I prayed far too many
times just reciting words and not without some real fervency. Then he said this about prayers
being incense. Incense, when it is burning,
always ascends upward. Always. That's a tendency of
smoke or incense, smoke from incense, is to go upward. And
our prayer is to God. That's what David said. Unto
thee, O Lord, do I cry. This is the reason I've talked
so much about praying in a public manner, how we want God to hear
us. We're not to pray so as to be
seen of men. I beg to differ with anybody
and everybody that says, well, we ought to pray so people know
we're a Christian. No. That's their whole reasoning
behind praying in public so people will know you're a Christian.
That does not prove you're a Christian. Besides, who are we trying, who
do we want to see us? Who we pray into anyway? Prayer
is God-worthy. Right? It's between me and God. And public prayer, if you look
it up in Scripture sometimes, is always in the context of the
church. Look it up. Every time. In the
context of the church or those who are about to be believers. Prayer is always upward. If I'm
praying for you to see me or to hear me, I'll get my reward.
If I'm praying for God to see me and God to hear me, then he'll
hear me. And then he said prayer, like
incense, incense always is a sweet savor, sweet smelling savor. And what must our prayers always
be full of to be a sweet savor to God? Christ. They better be full of Christ.
God delights to hear that name. or else we have no right at all
in this matter, no part at all in this matter. We have no rights
to the throne of God Almighty at all. But if we come with that
sweet name on our lips, pouring out that name, pleading his blood,
his merit, his righteousness, talking about the promises God
made concerning his son to us, he'll hear us. He'll hear us.
Sweet savor to God. Now, to our dwelling place here
in chapter verses 3 through 5. And see if this doesn't fit you.
It did me. He says in verse 3, Lord set
a watch, set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. My mouth, my lips, or the tongue
Turn it over to James chapter 3. You could guess that I would
go there, wouldn't you? James chapter 3. The tongue,
what a powerful tool this tongue is, isn't it? This is a powerful
thing. When used for the glory of God,
I tell you what, God Almighty has saved souls through the instrument
of this tongue. That's how powerful it is. Under
the inspiration of and under the direction of God Almighty,
under the anointing of God's Holy Spirit, souls have been
saved through that. I was saved through the instrument
of man's tongue. What a powerful tool, what a
gracious tool it can be, what a merciful thing, what great
works for God it can accomplish, yet what terrible mischief for
Satan. is done through the instrument
of his tongue. The old saying, sticks and stones
may break my bones. Let me change that saying a little
bit. Sticks and stones may break my
bones, but words do irreparable damage. They do. They can. A brother offended
is harder won than a strong city, the Proverbs say. James chapter
3. Let's look at these verses concerning
the tongue and the mouth that David was speaking of. Verse
2. Many things we offend all. I'm so offensive. How about you? We are offensive, not only to
a holy God, but to one another. We're offensive in so many things.
In many things we offend all, don't we? We are not very much
like our Lord. Those that are most like our
Lord are the ones we like to be around the most. Maybe that's
why some people don't invite me over. I'll think about it. Maybe that's why people don't
invite you over. And many things we offend all,
no doubt about it. We're offensive people. Many
things. If any man offend not in word,
are you looking at it with me? Verse two, if any man offend
not in word, The same is a mature, perfect man. He's able also to
bridle the whole body. If you offend not in word, you're
a perfect or mature man. You're able to bridle the whole
body. If you contain the tongue, the
rest of it's easy. That's what he's saying. If you
can handle this little member and keep it from wagging in the
breeze, then the rest of it is gravy. It's easy. Isn't that
something? That's a powerful verse, isn't
it? Look at verse 3. We put bits
in the horse's mouth, that they may obey us. We turn about their
whole body with a little bit. Verse 4. Behold, ships, though
they be so great, driven with fierce winds, yet they are turned
about with a very small helm, a rudder, whithersoever the governor
listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter A little fire can light. It just
takes a spark to set a forest on fire, doesn't it? It just
takes a spark. Verse six, the tongue is a fire.
It can be a fire. It can be smooth oil. We'll see
that in a minute. But it can sure be fire. A world of iniquity. There's an abundance of iniquity
right on the tip of our tongues, right? So is the tongue among
our members. It defiles the whole body. I
think that has spiritual reference to the Church, too. It sets on
fire the course of nature. It brings out the nature within
people, doesn't it? It set on fire of hell. Tongue. You know, the tongue
is where nearly every problem begins. It's a starting point. of most major trouble. Starting
point. It's our biggest problem. It's mine. Let me say mine. It's my biggest problem. Though
it's a small member, it's my biggest problem. Look at verses
8 through 10. The tongue can no man tame. Right? Why do you think David was saying,
Lord, set a watch? I've tried to tame it. And I
can't Lord you do it reading David's praying about. Neither
will I be tamed unless we pray about Lord help. It's a token
no man tamed. It's an unruly evil full of deadly
poison there with bless. We've got even the father and
there with curse. We mean anybody guilty. But you're
made of this at the similitude of God out of the same mouth
proceeded blessing and cursing. He doesn't say sometimes it does
and he said that's it does. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. What's the cure? A tongue no
man can tame. So we must apply to the great
physician, the great physician. God can tame it. The greatest
of men, back through the Scriptures, could not tame their tongues.
You know, the Scripture says Moses was the meekest man on
the face of the earth, doesn't it? And he was. Moses was confronted by evil
and wicked men time and time again, and what would he do?
Most of the time, he would fall on his face as a meek man before
God. Fall on his face, right in front
of the people, wouldn't he? You remember that? Fall on his
face, just so broken. And when they'd say, you take
too much on you, he'd fall on his face. Oh, I didn't take this
on myself. He was a meek man, a meek man. But one time, finally,
when the people provoked him to anger, the Scripture says
he spoke unadvisedly with his lips, didn't he? Must I get water
out of the rock for you again, you infinite, ungrateful children? Must I get water out of the rock
again? Moses, you're going to die. God
killed him for that slip of the tongue, didn't he? Huh? Yes. And he struck that rock
and violated the title of Christ. being smitten one time. He violated
the gospel by the slip of the tongue. His tongue was his undoing.
Moses! You reckon I can tame it? Moses
couldn't. Job. Job, it says, in all these
things Job sinned not, nor charged the Lord with foolishness. Right?
But finally, what happened? What Joe finally do in trouble
after trouble after slander after accusation kept coming from his
buddies. What happened. Job cursed his
day didn't it. Peter. Peter sure couldn't tame his
tongue could he. Hi everybody here is going to.
Going to. Leave you not me. He was the
first one. So the tongue is an unruly thing
that no man can tame, but God can. And this is the reason David
cried out, first thing, Lord, handle this thing. It stays out
of control. Said a watcher of mine, hold
my tongue from evil. Lord, take hold of this rudder
and turn the whole man, lest I make shipwreck of myself and
others. We can do that, you know. We
can offend a weak brethren. A brother, a weak brother, with
this? And our Lord said he'd be better
if a millstone were tied about your neck to do such a thing.
Do you see how serious a matter? Do you see why I'm dwelling on
this? Do you see the importance of this? Certainly. And it can hurt. This thing can
hurt, buddy. Think about these things. Parents,
countless words and talks have been overheard by your children. which have done damage in their
hearts and their little tender minds and their little tender
understanding. I hear people say things at times
around my own daughter and I just, oh, I don't want her ears to
hear that. I need to be that sensitive about what my wife
and I say around our daughter, right? Countless words and talk
have been overheard by our children and weak believers in the presence
of weak believers. Untold sermons have been preached,
words without end that didn't need preaching. Gossip, slander,
backbiting, strife, discord, murmur, and the worst use of
all of this tongue. You know what the worst thing
of all that this tongue is guilty of? This tongue was
created. Why would God give you a tongue?
To praise Him. To thank Him. The worst thing
we can do with it is murmur and complain. Right? You look it
up. Every time the Lord judged the
Israelites, it was for murmuring and complaining. Every time.
Every time. Are our tongues used principally
for blessing or cursing? Are our tongues used principally
for thanking God or for complaining? If it's the latter, cut it off or at least pray this
prayer. Lord, set a watch. Set a watch. Somebody said the tongue that
is used for complaining is kind of like an old creaking, rusty
hinge. You ever heard an old hinge on
a door? I'm a WD-40 fan. Right, Dan? He can attest to
that. I love WD-40. I could sell that
stuff, Dan. I could sell it and make a fortune.
I believe in it. I spray it everywhere. Some people's
mouths need to be sprayed with it. They're always creaking and
complaining like an old rusty hinge, you know. And one of the
old writers said it's kind of like an old rusty hinge that
doesn't have the oil of gladness. The oil of joy and gladness. No oil of joy and gladness. It's
full of creaking and complaining. And it's a screeching sound in
our own ears, isn't it? How you doing? Well, I'm good,
I'm good. We find somebody's got something sweet to say, thank
God about. Anybody, anybody? Oh, I had a
good day, Lord's blessing, just today. Oh, that's music to my
ears. Right? We're all guilty of it. Is our
tone used principally for thanking or complaining? Is our tone used
principally for provoking one another to love? or. It's a good thing to ask ourselves
and do we use these times principally to provoke one another. That's
what he said in a provoke one another to love or. We need to watch what we say. Lord said before my mouth, keep
the door of my lips, set a watch, this watch is like a sentry,
a guard. Lord, guard my lips, lest I speak
unadvisedly. Lord, guard my mouth, to raise
an alarm every time I start to speak off the top of my head.
We do that far too often, don't we? Top of the head talk. We
need to do a little. Let's look at some verses of
Scripture concerning the tongue. If I dwell here a while, It's
alright, it'd be profitable. All scriptures are given for
doctrine, for proof, for correction. Look over Proverbs 10. You wouldn't believe how many
scriptures there are concerning the tongue. Why? Because it's our biggest
problem. Proverbs 10, look at verses 11
and 12, and I'm just going to jump through the Proverbs here.
I want to stay in the Proverbs, so look at these with me. We
need to look at this. I need to look at this. Proverbs
10, verses 11 and 12, and I won't comment at least much. Verse
11 and 12, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence
covers the mouth of the wicked. Hatred stirreth up strife, but
love covereth all sins. Did you hear what so-and-so said?
Yeah, but that's what the wicked would say. Did you hear what
he said? And the righteous said, you don't mean it. Right? Look at verse nineteen. In the
multitude of words there wanteth not sin. Whew! If I think so. In the multitude of words, you
open your mouth long enough, you'll stick your foot in it.
Count on it. But he that refraineth his lips
is wise, or at least they think he is." We're going to see that
in a minute. It says the same thing. Verse
32, "...the lips of the righteous knoweth what is acceptable, but
the mouth of the wicked speaketh forwardness." All the time, so
forward, so quick to talk. Look at chapter 11, verse 9,
"...a hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor." But
through knowledge shall the just be delivered." Verses 12 and
13. He that is void of wisdom despises
his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. A tail-bearer
reveals secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth
the matter. Chapter 12, verse 16. A fool's
wrath is presently known. A fool's wrath is presently known,
or very quickly understood, via the mouth. But a prudent man
covereth shame. He may have a temper, a prudent
man. He may get mad, but he bites his tongue. He that speaketh truth showeth
forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Look at verse
22. Lying lips are abomination to
the Lord. They that deal truly are his
delight, those that delight in truth. Scripture, 1 Corinthians
13, talks about love rejoices in the truth, doesn't it? We
need to get to the truth of the matter, right? That's what it's
saying. We'd rather get to the truth
of the matter rather than believe hearsay. But that's all it is
until you get to the truth, isn't it? It might be a false witness. Now look at chapter 13, verse
3. Verse 3 of chapter 13. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth
his life. But he that openeth wide his
lips shall have destruction. Chapter 15, verses 1 and 2. A soft answer turneth away wrath,
but grievous words stir up anger. Well, I've proven that. Not very
often, but the Lord has proved that to me. The tongue of the
wise useth knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools poureth
out foolishness." Belches out, the margin says, foolishness.
Verse 4, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness
therein is a breach in the spirit. Verse 28, look at verse 28, the
heart of the righteous studieth, or thinketh about what he's going
to say. Study it to answer. The mouth of the wicked poureth
out evil things. Chapter 16, and on and on it
goes. Look at chapter 16, verse 27
and 28. An ungodly man diggeth up evil,
stirreth up evil, a man of Belial. In his lips there's a burning
fire. Verse 28, a forward man soweth
strife, sendeth forth strife, a whisperer separateth chief
friends." Chapter 17, verse 9. He that covereth the transgressions
seeketh love. He that repeateth the matter
separateth very friends. Verses 27 and 28 of chapter 17. He that hath knowledge spareth
his words, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. And
this is that verse I was talking about. Even a fool, when he holds
his peace, is thought of being wise. He that shuts his lips is sustained
a man of understanding, even though he might not be. Somebody
said it's better to be a fool and keep your mouth shut than
to open it and remove all doubt. Right? I wish I could learn that. Look
at verses 7 and 8. Chapter 18, verse 7 and 8. A
fool's mouth is his destruction. His lips are a snare of his own
soul. It will come back to haunt you.
Verse 8, the words of a tailbearer are as wounds, they go down in
the innermost parts of the belly. Verse 13, he that answers the
matter before he hears it is folly, it's shame unto him. Verse 21, and this is, I'll quit
with this one, and this is so powerful, look at this. Proverbs
18, 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue. And they that love it shall eat
the fruit thereof." It's a powerful memory. See how much the Scripture
says about the tongue? You see why David, a man of such
great wisdom, said, Oh Lord, set a watch over my mouth. And I said I was going to quit,
but I lied. You see what a liar we are? We're
all a liar. Look over at Proverbs six. You've got to see this. Everybody
in here could practically quote these verses in Proverbs six.
It says, six things that the Lord hate, yea, seven are abomination
unto him. You know that three out of the
seven involve the tongue. The Lord hates when they say
it, and three of the seven involve the tongue. Look at verse seventeen,
and following a proud look, a lying tongue, number one, hands that
shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief. Verse nineteen,
number two, a false witness that speaketh with lies, and the last
one, He that soweth discord among the brethren, and that's always
in the form of talk, isn't it? Those three out of the seven
involve the tongue, and we need to watch what we say. We need
to watch what we say to our wives. There's a verse in Micah, chapter
seven, verse five, I believe it is, it says, the doors of
your mouth from the one that lies in your bosom even." We
need to watch what we say to our wife about a brother. Submissive thoughts about the
church and the people in it, huh? We're going to drive them
away from it. We're going to make them believe
it's hypocrites in it, huh? We need to watch what we say
to a brother about the pastor. Even though you may not like
him and what he's doing or saying, watch out what you say. That
is so in discord among the brethren, right? We need to watch what
we say. We need to never, in the presence
of our family, or brethren say anything but what is in total
agreement and for the sake of unity in the brethren. Right? If not, we're guilty of sowing
strife and discord among the brethren. The Lord hates it.
It's an abomination to him. And he that does not gather with
us, what's he doing? Scattering abroad. He that is
not sowing love is sowing discord, one or the other. Oh Lord," said
Watch. I've got a mouth problem. I've got a big mouth. I need
the Lord to shut it. I've got three problems. I've
got a mouth trouble, I've got a big mouth, I've got a hard
heart, I've got a hollow head. That's the three things. Look
back at the text. Psalm 141. Go back there now. And the reason I believe it's
in this order, you would have thought David would have started
with the heart, wouldn't you? But he didn't. He started with
the mouth. Why? Because I believe it's as if
David thought about, he realized something he'd said. He caught
himself something he'd said, and he regretted it. Something
spoken to the hurt of someone, or slander, or murmuring, or
complaining. And he said, why did I say that? It's as if he caught himself
and said, why did I say that? What makes me do that? And then
he goes to verse five and he says, verse four, it's my heart
that's the problem, isn't it? My heart. If I wasn't so hard-hearted,
there wouldn't be hard words come out of my mouth, out of
the abundance of the heart of the mouth speaking. Incline not
my heart to any evil thing, especially evil speech or evil conversation. Let my words be seasoned with
grace. Let my heart be tender. We have spiritual heart trouble,
don't we? Spiritual heart trouble. And it's not due to inexertion
or not exercising the heart. I think we just exercise it wrong.
Peter said they have a heart that is exercised with covetous
practice. David said, Incline not my heart
to any evil thing, to practice, to exercise wicked works. We're all guilty of exercising
our hearts the wrong way. See if this is not so of you.
Instead of communing with our hearts on our bed. You know,
that song was Psalm four. Commune with our heart on our
head, be still. He's talking about. Communing or examining
yourself before the Lord and And at begging the Lord to search
your heart and try your heart and examining yourself within
you ought to be of the faith and knowing your own self and
thanking God from the heart. Instead of communing with our
hearts on our beds, generally we, concerning the Lord and his
word, generally we commune with our hearts about the next day's
activities and pleasures, don't we? We lay on our bed and we're
thinking about, what are we thinking about? Scripture says, Commune
with our hearts on the bed concerning the Lord. Instead of applying
our hearts unto wisdom, we generally apply them to foolishness and
lightheartedness, don't we? Someone said this, one of the
old writers. If you have the Spurgeon's Treasury of David,
you need to use it. It's chock full of nuggets like
this. That's where I got that saying
by John Owen, and that's where I got that. There is strife for
the heart just as there was for the body of Moses. There is strife
for the heart just as there was for the body of Moses. The Lord
says this to his people. Son, my son, give me thine heart. Doesn't it? The Lord is not asking anybody
but believers. Give me thine heart. Satan says,
I want it. Self and the world says, we want
it. You see the wisdom in that short
saying? There's strife for the heart, just as there was for
the body of Moses. A penitent heart then, with that
in mind, a penitent heart, a repentant heart, will say this, Lord, the
troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses. Lord, examine my heart. Prove
me. Try my reins in my heart." Listen,
these are verses of Scripture. "'Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me. The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit, broken in a contrite heart, O God, thou
wilt not despise.' So break mine. "'Teach me thy way, O Lord. I walk in thy truth. Unite my
heart to fear thy name.'" Make me fear you, Lord. "'Thy word
have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.'
Hide your word in my heart. Don't let it be light-hearted.
Let it be burdened with your word, heavy-hearted. I'll run
the way of thy commandments when you shall enlarge my heart. Give me a big heart for God,
for others. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
and not to covetousness. Let my heart be sound in thy
statutes, that I be not ashamed. Keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life." The heart, the heart,
the heart. It's the seed of love, affection,
desire. Lord, create in me a new heart,
a new heart, a clean heart. Let me ask you this, and we'll
go to the next point. What is it that occupies most
of your thoughts? What is it that excites your
affection most? What is the desire of your heart? That's where your treasure is.
Right? Unless with some degree of sincerity,
you can say Christ, the things of God, you'll get heart trouble.
And you need to pray Psalm 141, verse 4, just as loud or more
sincerely than anybody I know. Lord, incline not my heart to
any evil thing. To practice wicked works with
men that work iniquity. Let me not eat of their dainties.
That's sin, which is pleasant meat for a little while. Lord,
let it not be pleasant meat to me anymore. Let it be bitter.
Right? His dainties. Look at verse 5
now, the next point. problem with my head, and all
these things you'll see are interconnected, interrelated. Verse five, let
the righteous smite me. What I'm doing tonight is smiting
you. Can you say, thanks, I needed
that? Huh? Slap you across the face
with that word of God and do it kindly. No, this is where
I need wisdom and prudence and compassion and consider my own
self, meekness and fear, and so forth. Let the righteous smite
me. Let him smite me kindly. Emergency. Let him smite me. It will be
a kindness. Let him reprove me. It shall be excellent oil. He
will not even wound me, but then he pours in the oil, which shall
not break my head. He won't break my head. Oh, not
at all. Not at all. It might knock some
sense into it. I wish we had the capacity to
receive reproof. Don't you? I have a dear friend
who, this is one of the reasons I admire him more than anybody
I know, is that he has such a teachable spirit. You know what I'm talking
about. He's such a childlike spirit, such a teachable spirit.
He will receive anything and everything you say to him. He'll
receive it and consider it carefully. And if it applies, he'll act
upon it. And he'll thank you for it. That's
so rare. Isn't that rare? Huh? David, it happened to David one
time. She and me, I was cursing him. Some old wicked fellow was
cursing him. And the captain of the guard wanted to cut his
head off. I need a good cousin. He might request you down station
here. You need a good cousin. Do you? Yeah, you do. You really
did. We're honest with ourselves,
aren't we? Let the righteous man. What about a righteous man?
What if I say something to you? Oh, we need it. Would you say
something to me? That I so desperately need. Can
I receive it? I wish we had the capacity to
receive or prove. I wish I had the wisdom and the
courage to properly give it. That's what a pastor... That's
what he told young Timothy, didn't he? He told young Timothy that
two times, two different times. Reprove, rebuke, correct, let
no man despise your youth. I know he's old, he's older than
your years, and he's got a problem, say something to him. You know, this is... the scripture
says it's like the faithful wounds of a friend. They heal. Wounds
heal. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Perhaps in the wisdom of God, as I thought about this, it just
doesn't make sense. In the wisdom of God, he chooses the foolishness
of preaching. God pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe, to save, to approve,
to rebuke, to exhort, to smite. This way, doing it from up there,
nobody personally gets their feelings hurt, right? That's
the reason I'm not a believer in what you call so-called counseling.
do all my counseling up here and the Word of God and somebody
said hit me good. He wouldn't have taken it in
person right but there's strength in numbers. We all take it that
way but the one whom the Lord means for it to go to they get
hit the air like that guy you know that guy that shot an error
at a venture is that I have hit some boy some young punk got
him a brand new bow and arrow you know some young soldier and
he didn't get to shoot it. They went out to war and then
not a five shot was fired and that young boy said shit. I didn't
get to shoot my new bow and arrow. This is the providence of God.
And he said you know how you go out in the woods sometimes
Rick and you don't see anything to hunt so you shoot a tree.
You ever done that? You got to shoot this gun at
something. You shoot a tree. Well that boy
said I want to fire this bow and arrow. And he shot it up
in the air. And you know, so God Almighty
directed that error right down in a chink in the armor and King
A. M. killed him. And I shoot at a venture. I don't
know who it may be who needs it. I shoot an error at a venture. The Lord knows who does, does
not, doesn't it? And I might have somebody in
my office, wrong feller, right? Shooting at him. Well, you know,
if the Lord gives me some wisdom, I certainly wouldn't. But still,
I don't know who needs what all the time, the Lord certainly
does, and that's the reason he chooses this. You see the wisdom
of the Lord in that? Well, we've got a problem with our
heart, and it's related to our mouths, and it's related to our
heads. Verses 5 says, it won't break
my head. That is, you know, our problem,
part of our problem, and I'll quit with this. After I show
you five verses. With what problem is that we're
poor listeners. Right. We can we can trace a
great deal of our problems to the fact that we're poor listeners
we're good talkers. Where everyone of us we talk
a good ballgame but when it comes to listening we're dull of hearing
we ought to be teachers but we're dull of hearing. Scripture says
we're forgetful hearers. The word is not hidden or kept
in our heart. The Lord says so many times,
how many times does he say, Ed, keep my words, keep my commandments,
keep them. What does that mean? Keep it.
You don't let go of it so quick. You don't lose it. We lost, how
much preaching have we lost? How much teaching have we lost,
huh? A better question would be, how
much have we kept? How much have we kept? That's
a problem. We've got a head problem. We've
got a hollow head. Not much in it. A want of wisdom. Lack of wisdom. Knowledge. Somebody
said knowledge is the horse. I don't care how much knowledge
you have. If you don't know. If you don't
apply it. If you don't know how to use it. You're not wise. Are you? Knowledge is the horse.
Wisdom is the what? The rider. Wisdom is to know
what to do with it. And that's what we need. And
wisdom only comes when it comes down in the heart. It doesn't
just enter the head, it goes into the heart. Look over, and
I'll quit with a few verses of Scripture. I want you to see
what God's Word says about it. Proverbs 6, again. Proverbs 6,
concerning this thing of knowledge and understanding that we so
desperately lack. Look at Proverbs six verses twenty
through twenty four. My son. And this is like the
Heavenly Father talking to us as children. My son, keep that
father's commandment. Forsake not the law of thy mother,
perhaps the Holy Spirit. Mind them continually upon thine
heart. Tie them about thy neck. When
thou goest, it shall leave thee. When you get up to walk you'll
tell you how. When thou sleepest, it shall
keep thee. You'll be able to go to sleep at night. And when
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. It'll give you direction
for the morning. The commandment is a lamp. The laws are light.
They're proof and instructions of the way of life. Look at chapter
seven, verses one through three. My son, keep my words, lay up
my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live.
My law is the apple of thine eye. Mind them upon thy fingers,
write them upon the table of thine heart." Chapter 8, verses
33 and following. Hear instruction, be wise, refuse
it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me. Now you know this is talking about Christ, don't you? Chiefly,
Christ who is wisdom, Christ whose mind we need, need the
mind of Christ. Blessed is the man that heareth
me. All that Christ is, all that Christ said, watching daily at
my gates, that's fellowship, waiting at the post of my doors,
worship. Whoso findeth me, who finds Christ,
how do you find Christ? David, diligently seek me, shall
find me. David, search for me with all
their heart. Whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain
favor of the Lord. But whoever sins against me wrongs
his own soul. All that hate me love death.
Chapter 9, verse 9. Give instruction to a wise man,
he'll be yet wiser. Teach a just man, he'll increase
in learning. Verse 8, Reprove a scorner, and
he'll hate you. Rebuke a wise man, he'll love
you. Do you need rebuke? It'll be a kindness. It'll be
a kindness. And it won't be nearly so bad
as what we deserve. It'll be an excellent oil. It won't break
your head. It won't break your head. It'll anoint it. It'll
anoint it with wisdom. with knowledge. Chapter 18, and
I will quit. Chapter 18, verse 15. I'll quit
with this verse. Chapter 18, verse 15. The heart
of the prudent getteth knowledge. The ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. Paul the apostle said, I haven't
attained yet. I don't know anything. Right. He said, if any man thinks he
knows anything, he knows nothing. Yes, he ought to know. If any
man thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself.
Huh? Now, if the great apostle Paul
said those things, who am I? Who am I? If he was still a listener
and a learner and a childlike receiver of the Word of God in
his old age, what about me? What about a thirty-year-old
man, thirty-one, thirty-two? Sixty-two, that's young. Huh? We haven't begun. We haven't,
as one old country boy would say, we haven't commenced, begun
to get started, to learn. The first, the first precepts. We've got mouth problems. We've
got hoof and mouth disease. We walk wrong and we speak wrong. Hoof and mouth. Mouth and heart
and head problems what we've got and David said Lord. Help
me. Said watch over my mouth. Lord
incline not my heart any evil thing Lord. Smite me it'll be
kind it won't break my head it'll help me. And I need help in all
those areas what about you. Well I thought it might be a
help to you I hope so. All right stand with me I'll
dismiss something. Dear Lord, smite us with your
Word. Your Word is the only thing that will effectively work in us. Not the wisdom of man or my ability
to persuade you of powers, not at all. These things will be
an offense to people coming out of the mouth of a man is himself
at times offensive. But, Lord, if you, through your
Holy Spirit, apply these words to our hearts into wisdom, turn them into wisdom
and turn them into our daily walk, Lord, we will be great
gainers. We ask that you would let us
not be forgetful here. May we remember that parable
of the sower every time. May we be reminded of the parable
of the sower. anything. Take these things, promise, they're
good, they're profitable, they're profitable unto all things. The man of God may be truly perfected
and instructed. Lord, help us, help us, help
us. I ask this for these people and
I ask them for myself, in Christ's blessed name. Amen. Yeah.