tonight in the 34th Psalm. 34th
Psalm. I'm praying the Lord give me
some guidance as to where to go after John, the little Johns. I'm sure he will in his time. I want to mention this too. David
Pledger's address out there. Got his bulletin today, and they're
going to receive an offering for those folks that was a couple
homes destroyed in their congregation that from the flood. And if you,
Bonnie the other day took a picture of his address and put it on
her phone. That way she didn't have to write
it out. So, smarter than I am. I would have never thought of
God took a piece of paper and wrote it all out. But that's
a good way to get it if you want to help those folks down there. You know, everybody wants to
help those people that really got flooded out. But you don't
know who to give it to. But this will actually go to
the people that it actually happened to. All right, Psalm 34. Let's
look at verse 11. Come ye children, hearken unto
me. I will teach you the fear of
the Lord. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many
days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil and
thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face
of the Lord is against them that do evil. To cut off the remembrance
of them from the earth, the righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and
delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart, and save as such as be of a contrite
spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth
all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the
wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them
that trust in him shall be desolate. I was talking with David Prejudice today and
he said, we was talking about the gospel and its effects, to
listen to it. And he said, a lady told him,
said, I feel the calmest when I'm sitting under the sound of
the gospel. I feel the calmest. She said, I wish we could just
stay under the sounds of the gospel all the time, because
I feel so calm there. And I said, well, I feel, when
I'm hearing the gospel, that's when I have the most assurance,
the most assurance, and get so blessed in my heart and soul,
feel the most joy when I'm listening to the gospel, when somebody's
preaching the gospel. All right, I want you to look
here with me in verse 11, and I want to talk about a teacher
sent from God, or a teacher that God uses. David said here in
verse 11, Come ye children, and I will teach, I will teach you
the fear of the Lord. What a subject to teach somebody.
Don't you think that's what all gospel teachers and preachers
and that's what we try to teach our children, that's what we
try to teach our family members, to fear the Lord, to fear the
Lord. And David says, Come ye children,
gather round I got something I want to teach you. I want to
teach you what it is to fear the Lord. And we know that the
fear of God's the beginning of wisdom. In fact, we even commanded
to fear the Lord. Peter says this, honor all men,
love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the King. So fear God. David says, come, hearken unto
me. Hearken unto me. Listen to what
I've got to say. And I'll teach you the fear of
the Lord. Here's a man, just a man, just a man. This is the
very one who says man at his best state is altogether vanity.
He's a man. He's a king. He's a king. He
is a good king. Glory is king. God always judged
other kings after him by David and how David did what was right
in the eyes of the Lord. And he is a prophet. He is a
prophet. God used him to be a prophet,
to be a preacher. He is a shepherd. He tended sheep,
tended his father's sheep out on the mountainside. He was a
warrior. Oh, my, what a warrior there was. They said Saul slew
his thousands, but David his ten thousands, and they danced.
before David when he came through the city. And then he was also
a sinner redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of Christ.
He's the one who said, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. And so in all, here's the greatest
thing about him. God said he's a man after my
own heart. That's what God said about him.
A man after my own heart. And he has some experience. So
he's had an experience. He's had a lifetime of experiences.
And then he's going to say, now, listen, I'm going to teach you
the fear of the Lord. What is it to teach the fear of the Lord?
Well, at first, I believe it's this, it's to teach God as he
is. Not like you think he is, but
as he declares of himself in his word. If you ever hear God
as he is, You go through this Bible and you find, don't find
anybody that once they seen God as He is, that didn't fall down
before Him and worship. Abraham did it. Noah did it,
Isaiah did it, John did it, they fell down before Him. When you
know who God is, you'll stop talking, you know about the way
God would do this and God would do that, and God wouldn't. God
is God, and when God teaches us who He is, and that's what
teaching the fear of the Lord is. Man don't fear the God of
today, why do they got to fear? He loves them. He has no power
unless he lets them. He has no ability but what man
gives him. He stands ready to save a person
if they'll just let him. So what is there to fear about
this God? But the God of the Bible, that's
a different story. And oh, beloved, and how come
not only is it to teach the Lord as He is, but how one comes to
know the Lord? You know, how does someone come
to know the Lord? I mean, not know some things
about Him, but to know Him, actually know Him. Paul said, I want to
know Him. I want to begin to know, to know the Lord, to know
the Lord, to know God. to say i'm i read it to you the
other night over in job where it says equate thyself now with
him and be at peace so what so so how does one come to know
the lord does he decide one day he's going to get saved decide
one day he's going to join the church decide one day he's going
to be baptized how does someone come to know the lord well i
know this much about it he's got to know you before you'll
ever know him He got to know you before you
know Him. And if He knows you, He'll see
that you know Him. And you'll know Him as He is.
And then, oh, to teach the fear of the Lord is how to live. You
know, not only to teach God as He is and how one comes to know
the Lord, but how to live in the enjoyment, the enjoyment
of His grace and enjoyment of His presence. Oh, to enjoy God,
enjoy His blessing and grace, enjoy the presence of the Lord,
whether we feel it in our home or feel it in our car or feel
it in our service or feel it out while we're working, to have
the presence of the Lord and enjoy His grace. And Davis says
here, again, come you children, hearken unto me. Oh, listen,
every chance you get when something happens, describe God to your
children. Describe Him to your children.
Describe Him as He is. Describe Him by your friends
and by the events that happen in life, by the creation, by
providences that happen. And when you get opportunity,
but now Davis said here, gather around me. I wanna teach you
the fear of the Lord. Now, when David begins to teach
the fear of the Lord, there's an order down through these verses
that I believe that has to do and how dramatically it changes
us and deals with us as God begins to teach us the fear of the Lord.
And David, a teacher of sin of God, teaches us the fear of the
Lord. The first thing is about desire. I'll teach you the fear
of the Lord. Look in verse 12. First thing
is desire. What man is he that desireth
life? Do you desire life? And now when
he talks about life here, he's not talking about just living.
He's talking about life given to a person in Christ, life given
to a man through God. That's what he's talking about.
Like we sung that song, you must be born again. And he says, he
that desires life. Oh, listen, a man. And then he
says, a man that would see good. See, life, see, many days. Desire
life, the life of God, the life of Christ. And I tell you, the
man that will see good, it begins with the fear of the Lord. See
God in His goodness? To see Christ in His goodness?
to see grace and its glory to see the gospel that God would
give us the gospel oh how good God is that all the health that
he gives us that all the thing a place to worship oh to see
the goodness of God and oh man listen he said and a soul's anxiety
if the soul has any anxiety it must have the right object And
the right object is life. It's Christ. And I tell you,
if a man is going to have soul's anxiety, let it be after the
right object to begin with. You see, man lost life. We know
that. Lost life. We lost life. We're separated from God. When
we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Two things right there. We had
no strength. None. No strength to come to God. No
strength to keep from sinning. No strength to do anything to
save ourselves. No strength. When we was like
that, without any strength, Christ came down here and died for who?
The ungodly. And oh my, so we lost life. What man desires life? What do
we pray for our children? What do we pray for our grandchildren? What? That God would give them
what? Life. Desire life. Do you desire
life? I mean, desire Christ. Desire
the life of God in your soul. I mean, got to have it. Can't
put it off. hunger for it, thirst for it,
desire it. This is the beginning of the
fear of the Lord. That's the first thing. Oh God,
I want life that only you can give. I need life that only you
can give. I want that life, oh Lord, that'll
last forever, ever, and ever, and ever after I leave this world. I want this life that's forever
and everlasting. That's the life I want. That's
the kind of life. I don't care if you live 90. We still gotta
leave this world. And that's what you do after
you leave this world. That's when life's gonna really
count. That's where it's gonna count. Oh my, I desire life,
real life, true life, God-honoring life. Our Lord Jesus Christ said,
I am the life. And then look what else he says,
not only about desire, desire in life. May see good, oh to
see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Keep thy
tongue from evil. and thy lips from speaking peace,
be speaking God, depart from evil and do good, seek peace.
This is what the fear of the Lord will do for you. It'll cause
you to desire life, and then it'll cause you to keep your
tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking God. Depart from
evil, depart from evil, do good. That's one thing that the fear
of God will put in you. It'll put in you to depart from
evil. Let me show you, look over here with me in Proverbs 21.
Proverbs 21, right to your right, right before the Psalms, Proverbs
21. He says, keep your tongue when
speaking evil. You know, there's some tough
things happening right now with some people. And instead of getting
upset about it and worried about it and all that, it makes you
grieve for them. It makes you grieve for the parents.
It makes you grieve for them. It makes you grieve for the whole
family. And instead of saying, oh my, he shouldn't have done
this, he shouldn't have done that. If he would have went here,
he wouldn't have went there. That's not got nothing to do with it.
It's how you think about it. Keep your tongue from evil. If
I can remember this right, there's three things you ought to always
think about before you speak. First of all, is it true? Is
it true? Secondly, was it necessary? Is
it necessary to say? It could be true, but is it necessary? And thirdly, what good would
it do or what harm would it do? And a lot of folks like to not
keep their tongue from evil because they like to see other people
hurt. I don't want to see anybody hurt by my tongue, do you? No,
I don't. I certainly don't. And here in
Proverbs 21 and verse 23, look what he says. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his
tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. How many times have
you said, boy, I bit my tongue. I bit my tongue to keep from
saying this or to keep from saying that. Oh, I wanted to say something,
but I didn't. I just didn't do it. And that's what you ought
to do. That's what you ought to do.
We all always do that. And oh my, look over here in
Psalm 141. Here's another verse of scripture
about this. Psalm 141. Oh, keep your tongue from evil. I'm 141, look in verse three
and four. Look what David said here. This same man here is gonna
teach us the fear of the Lord. David says, set a watch, O Lord,
before my mouth. I ain't got sense enough to do
it for myself, you set a watch. Set a watch, set the Holy Spirit,
set your word, set the truth, set something before my mouth,
set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, keep the door of my lips. Oh! That's what he understood,
that his tongue and his mouth and things that he had said and
do, oh the damage it could do. He said, so Lord set a watch,
keep my tongue, keep the door in my lips, and listen to what
he says in verse four. Incline not my heart to any evil
thing, to practice wicked works that work iniquity, and let me
not eat of their damage. Oh my. Keep your tongue. When David teaches men about
fearing God, he teaches him. He teaches him the first thing
you do. Keep your tongue from speaking evil. What are some
of the ways a person can speak evil? We think about, you know,
speaking evil about somebody. I tell you what, you can speak
evil about yourself. When you start talking about
your goodness, and your morality, and your righteousness, that's
evil. That's one of the wickedest ways you can use your tongue,
is to brag on yourself. And to talk about how good you
are, and what you can attain, and what you've done, and all
the palatine ice you are, and how wonderful you are. that's
one way and oh my talking about God talking about his son saying
things about him oh listen and oh listen refrain you leave but
don't let your mouth say anything evil about God about Christ and
watch your mouth what you say about the Lord Jesus Christ I
heard a preacher say today said it's impossible for us to honor
him and love him and desire him for enough in our hearts and
there is no way we can give him what to do with him, what he's
worthy of. And that's why he says, keep
your tongue, depart from evil. And when a man departs from evil,
he knows he has to forsake his own ways, has to forsake his
own thoughts. And oh, beloved, I'll tell you
what, when you depart from evil, Paul said it like this, seeing
we also are compassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, Let
us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that's set
before us, listen, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. So the fear of God teaches us
about desire in life, teaches us about keeping our tongue from
evil, And depart from evil, look what else it does in verse 14.
Not only depart from evil and do good, do good to all men,
especially them who are the household of faith. But he said, seek peace
and then pursue it. Seek peace, seek peace. Seek peace for yourself, seek
peace for yourself. Now we're talking about peace
with God, peace of heart, peace of mind, conscience not bothering
us. Peace for yourself, peace for
your friends. Oh God, give them peace. Give
them peace. Peace for your mind. Peace for
your heart. Peace for your soul. Peace all
around. Peace between the brethren. And
then he says pursue it. Why should we pursue it? I'll
tell you why you have to pursue peace. Because most of us are
too contentious. And we have to seek peace. We
got too much contention about us. And oh my. And don't get
involved. Here's how to keep peace. And
how to keep your mind in peace. Don't get involved with any controversy
except the gospel. If there's a controversy going
on, just leave it alone. If a fellow wants to argue, want
to fight, want to fuss, and want to debate this and that, just
let him, leave him alone. Just leave him alone. Don't get
into any controversy over anything but the gospel. Don't get into
no controversy except over the truth. Because the minute you
do that, it'll destroy your peace, It'll trouble your mind. It'll
trouble your spirit. And the scripture says a fool
meddles. He meddles. He gets in something
that he can't get out of. And he says, pursue peace. Pursue
it. Go after it. Want it. Desire
it. Peace. And he says, seek peace. He doesn't say here, he doesn't
teach us to make peace, but to seek peace. And Christ made peace
through the blood of his cross. Here's another thing that the
fear of the Lord teaches us. Not only is our life, keep your
tongue from evil and depart from evil, seek peace and pursue it,
but prayer. Look what all the fear of God
teaches us about prayer. Look in verse 15. The eyes of
the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their
cry. Verse 17, the righteous cry. and the Lord heareth, and delivereth
them out of all their troubles. Look what he says there in verse
three, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. He sees his
people. I see my people. I know where
they are. I know what they're doing. It's
like our Lord Jesus, when Philip went and got Nathanael, because
he said, come see, we found him whom the prophets spoke of. We
found the Christ, the Messiah. Philip said, is there, can any
good thing, is Jesus in Nazareth, can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? Well, he went on with him, went over there, and the
Lord Jesus Christ said, and Israelite indeed, in whom is no God. And
he said, how knowest thou me? Our Lord Jesus Christ said, when
you're sitting under that fig tree, sitting there doing nothing,
but sitting, and Philip called you, I saw you there before you
got here. Oh listen, God's eyes of the
Lord are upon the righteous. And oh my, and then he talks
about his ears. The eyes are upon the righteous
and his ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry and the
Lord heareth and delivers them out of all their trouble. I guess
prayer is one of the greatest privileges God gives us. One
of the greatest privileges God gives us. Or one of the greatest
blessing that God gives us. Our Lord Himself said, Ask, and
you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it will be opened unto you. He told His disciples men are
always to pray and not to faint. And I tell you something about
prayer. You don't have to go off and get in a particular place,
get in a particular posture. to pray. Don't have to do that.
Hannah was praying and Eli thought she was drunk because her lips
was moving, but she wasn't saying anything. He said, Oh no, thy
maid servant's not drunk. I'm here singing the Lord. I
want a baby. I want a child. And oh my, what
a privilege, what a blessing to pray. Samuel said it this,
God forbid that I should cease to pray for you. And I'll tell
you something about the Lord. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous. His ears open unto the cry. And the cry here
doesn't mean that you articulate a voice, that you articulate
words. When a cry means you just lift
up your voice and say, Oh Lord, I'm here. It's me. I'm in trouble.
I've got a heartache. I've got fears. I've got anxieties.
I've got troubles. My brother's got troubles. My
sister's got troubles. Somebody, oh, listen, oh, Lord,
God, please, for Christ's sake, do for them. Heard about a lady
today that brought tears to my eyes, and I said, oh, Lord, please,
do for that woman now. You see, God understands our
groanings. He understands the speeches of
our heart when we can't even articulate what we want to say.
It's like a baby, a mother with a baby. who can't talk, a baby
can't talk, but its mother knows what it needs. It knows when
it's hurting, knows when it's hungry, knows when it needs changing,
knows when it's colicky. A mother knows those things.
And when a baby starts crying, she goes over and she understands
the cry of that baby, what that baby needs. And if she jabbers,
the little baby starts jabbering and carrying on, nobody understands
what it's doing, but mommy knows what he needs. And we delight
in those babies. We delight to take care of them.
We delight in their little jabbers. We delight in their inability
to do anything besides just smile and grin and reach and cry and
do this, that, and the other. We just delight in it. So if
we delight in our children like that, Imagine how our Lord delights
in us when all we can do is jabber. When all we can do is groan because
our hearts are heavy. All we can do is groan because
we got troubles. All we can do is groan because
we made a mistake. All we can do is groan because
we said something or done something we shouldn't have said. That's
all we can do is groan. Oh my. Oh. If we're by our children,
like imagine how God is by us. He's looking right down now on
the right. Oh, and then, oh, look here,
here's another one. Not only does the fear of God
teach us about prayer, but it teaches us about the nearness
of God. Look what it says there in verse
18. The Lord is nigh, the Lord is
nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save as such as be
of a contrite spirit. Oh, listen, the Lord is nigh.
How close is the Lord? As close as your voice. He said,
the word is nigh, they even in thy mouth. What is it, Lord? That's what he's talking about.
What is this word? The word is near, they even in thy mouth.
What is it, Lord? That's what it is. And oh my,
and he says, they that are of a broken heart. You know the
first thing that really, really breaks our heart? When we see
that Christ actually bore our sins. When we see it for ourselves.
When we ourselves, when God allows us to see for ourselves. I'll
never forget it when I seen that Christ really died for me. Me! Me! Early in the morning when
I seen it. Oh, I just, I just, listen, it
just broke my heart. What an awful human being I must
be that it took Christ to bear my sin. And oh, how much love
he must have and God must have that he would let him bear my
sin. And if he bore my sin, bless
his holy name, I don't have to bear him. And oh, and I'll tell
you something. We talked, I talked Sunday morning
about how our hearts, my heart gets cold and indifferent sometimes.
It just gets like, it's just empty. But to have a broken heart
over sin, having a broken heart over yourself, having a broken
heart over people that you love and you want to see them converted.
That, a broken heart, is a mercy that God gives. You know how
many people will never have a broken heart before God? I'm talking
about broken over sin, broken over their own self, broken over
their high-mindedness, broken over their carelessness, heart's
broken because they feel like their heart's too hard, and God
breaks. And I tell you what, you know,
what a mercy. When the Lord Jesus came to Mary
and Mary said, She said, if you're the guard, thought he was the
guard, said, if you've taken away my Lord, show me where you've
taken him and I'll go and I'll get him. I'll go and I'll get
him. And then she was so brokenhearted and she was so sorrowful and
so contrite. And the Lord said, Mary. Oh, the Lord gave her a broken
heart, and the Lord healed it. Oh, Simon Peter, I ain't going
to deny you. I'll die with you. Oh, Peter,
for the rooster crows, you're going to deny me three times.
And this shows us over there, I believe it's in Matthew 27,
62. I believe, you can look at yourself. But Simon and Peter
are there in that rooster crowed, and they was taking the Lord
Jesus out of the judgment hall. And the scripture says that the
Lord Jesus looked over at Peter, looked at him, and the Lord broke
his heart. Mary's was broken and he healed
it. His was broken, but it's gonna be healed too later. Oh,
what a mercy for God to break our hearts. Uh-huh. The Scripture
says, the proud he knows are far off, but he humbles himself,
thou shalt be exalted. I want to show you this, Isaiah
57 and 15. Isaiah 57, 15. Show you something the Lord said
about this broken heart, contrite spirit. Isaiah 57, 15. Oh, the proud he knows are far
off. Look what he says here. For thus
saith the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose
name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place. But look
who he deals with him. And this is where he said he
dwells with them in this high and holy place with him also. I dwell with this man in this
high and holy place that is of a contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. He said, that's
where He takes us. Takes us to that high and holy
place. And that broken heart and contrite spirit, He does
something for us. Oh my. And I tell you, our Lord
Jesus Christ said, the heaven is His throne, the earth is His
footstool. And He said, this is the man to whom I look. He
that's of a broken heart and contrite spirit and trembles
at my word. He's so interested in my word
that he's scared not to do it, not to believe it, not to obey.
Trembles at his word. And then look down on down here.
Here's another thing that the fear of God teaches us. Another
thing about the fear of God. Verse 19 of Psalm 34. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Many are
the afflictions of the righteous. Job says, man that's born of
woman is a few days and full of trouble. We know that by experience. You see, the Lord's people are
not saved from afflictions, but they're saved in their afflictions.
This is a difference. The world, He don't save them
from their afflictions. And the afflictions of the righteous,
though they be many, but He don't only save us from our afflictions,
but saves them in it. Daniel was not saved from the
lion's den. God put him in the lion's den.
Oh, he was in the lion's den. Nobody ever survived the lion's
den before. That's a great affliction, to
be put in a great big den, and there ain't no way to get out
of there, and lions everywhere. But God saved him while he was
in the lion's den. Didn't take him out of it, saved
him while he was in it. He could have kept him from going
in it, but he saved him while he was in it. And it's like the
Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He could have saved
them before he kept them from going into the furnace, but they
were thrown into the furnace. He didn't save them from the
furnace, but he saved them while they were in the furnace. That's
what I'm talking about. God don't save you from troubles.
He saves you in your troubles. He gives you that peace and that
comfort that passes understanding while the afflictions are going
on. Oh my. Here's another verse of scripture.
Psalm Isaiah 63.9. Isaiah 63.9. This is such a blessing
right here. Isaiah 63.9. This verse of scripture
here is such a blessing. Such an encouragement to me.
63.9. Oh, about affliction. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes. Everybody here
suffers some type of an affliction. Physically, mentally, emotionally,
financially, you suffer affliction. Children, but look what he said
here in verse 9. In all their afflictions, he
was afflicted. What did he say? In all their
afflictions, he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence
saved them. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them and He bared them and carried them all the
days of old. When we're afflicted, Christ
is afflicted with us. That's what He just said. And
our afflictions are light. And what do I mean by light?
Our afflictions are but for a moment. In light of eternity, they're
very light. In light of living a whole life, one affliction,
no matter how great it is, is not very long. And it's light
compared to how we should be afflicted, how we should be. But God don't deal with us as
we should. He deals with us in His mercy
and His grace, and He puts never, never, no more on us than we're
able to bear. Never, never. And then last of
all, here's the last thing that the fear of God. Gather around
me, children, and hearken. I'll teach you the fear of the
Lord. You desire life? Keep your tongue from evil. Prayer,
the Lord seeks you. Seek peace. And then there's
the fifth thing he teaches you about perseverance. Look down
in verse 22. The Lord redeemeth the soul of
his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. And in the margin, that word
desolate means guilty. None of them shall trust in him
shall be guilty. Oh, none of them that trust in
Him shall be condemned, guilty, desolate, without any life, without
any hope. Why? The Lord redeemed the souls. Our Lord paid for our souls.
The Lord shed His blood to redeem us from all iniquity. The Lord
redeemed us unto Himself a peculiar people. No wonder Paul says,
I'm confident of this one thing, confident of it, I'm confident
of it, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perform
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
give unto them eternal life. And listen to what he says, they
shall never perish. Never perish. And no man shall
pluck them out of my hand. For my Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man's able to pluck them out
of his hand. Oh my. Peter said, we're kept. How are
we kept? By the power of God. You know
how long we'd last if we had left ourselves to keep ourselves?
As they say, we wouldn't last long enough for a snowball and
a blast furnace. I mean, you just think, just
think, departing from Christ for just a few seconds and not
trusting for just a few seconds. Step outside yourself and step
outside of Christ for a few seconds. I can't imagine it. I can't imagine
being outside Christ, not even for just a half, oh my, that's
all it would take to destroy me. Oh, we're kept by God's power
through faith. And I do know this, that what
begins in grace will end up in glory. One last verse of scripture
and I'm done. Psalm 138, Nate. Psalm 138, Nate.
Oh my. Yeah. None of them that trust in them, shall be desolate, shall not
be found guilty." Oh, look in verse 8, Psalm 138. Look here. The Lord will perfect
that which concerns me. How do you know? Thy mercy, O
Lord, endureth forever. That's how long. And O Lord,
forsake not the works of what? His work. His work. Oh, my. The fear of the Lord teaches
us all those things, don't it? Cause us to desire life, keep
our tongue from evil, depart from evil, seek peace, pursue
it, cry unto the Lord, know how near God is. Our Father, Oh, in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, your blessed, blessed, blessed son, our most
gracious and blessed and holy redeemer, the one who loved us,
gave himself for us to save us from all our sins. To him who
has made us perfect and in whom we're complete, thank you for
this great salvation. Thank you for the fear of the
Lord. Thank you for instilling in our hearts this fear that
caused us to tremble at your word, tremble to not obey it,
tremble not to understand it, tremble to disobey it, tremble
to understand it. Oh God, how we bless you. Meet
the needs of your dear saints. Again, we pray for those who
are afflicted, pray for bruised, pray for others who are weak
in body and in spirit. We ask these things in Christ's
holy name, amen.