you'd like to follow along I'm
going to be in 2nd Samuel chapter 22 2nd Samuel chapter 22 I'm just going to read the first
four verses 2nd Samuel chapter 22 verse 1
and David spake unto the Lord the words
of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out
of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.
And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. The God of my rock in him will
I trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my savior. Thou savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord who is
worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from mine
enemies. I'm just going to stop right
there. When you feel yourself to be
utterly unworthy, you have hit the truth. Charles Spurgeon said
that. That's pretty good. You understand,
David is writing this song after the Lord had delivered him out
of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.
David had enemies. And I'm not gonna tell you that
David's the picture of a believer here, because no, David is a
believer here. And the believer has enemies.
But God has promised us deliverance from all of our enemies. It may
not come in the form you assume. It may not come in the form or
the way you want, but he has promised us deliverance, and
he will fulfill every one of his promises. Now this is repeated,
I'm not gonna turn there, but this is repeated in Psalms 18,
which is a Messianic psalm. However, right here, this is
David's song here also. And that's what I'm gonna talk
about. This is a song of praise to the Lord who did deliver David
from his enemies and did deliver David out of the hand of Saul,
the king. And I'm gonna tell you this,
God was and God is all of these things and more to David and
every single believer. Because understand, David wrote
this as a personal thing. That's the way he wrote it. He's
writing of his personal deliverance. And as such, he is writing of
the believer's deliverance by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there
are nine things here. Luckily, there are no other preachers
today that I'm gonna talk about, because there's a lot, and this
is in two verses. I'm gonna talk about verse two
and verse three, and a little bit of verse four at the end.
There's nine things here. If you want, I'll give you a
list of them right now. I'll find it here. There we go. The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
my deliverer, my trust, my shield, my high tower, my refuge, my
savior, and my salvation. That's the nine things. So we're
going to start with the Lord is my rock. That's where David
starts. And he said, the Lord is my rock.
And I looked. This is the very first instance
in the scripture of the phrase, my rock. They've been talking
about rocks before. But David says, this is my rock. This is my rock. A man after
God's own heart sang this as a song unto the Lord. The Lord
delivered David out of the hands of all his enemies. And whether
you know it or not, believers have enemies. Sometimes they
reveal themselves. Other times they don't. Sometimes
they're sneaky. And then you find out later.
Oh, I'm not going to tell you that they're backstabbers, but
they are. That's just the way it works. Been there, done that. Don't
want to do it again, if I can avoid it. But it's not up to
me. Let's see. Oh, my. David wrote in Psalm
62 and verse 2, he only. is my rock, only is my rock. I shall not be moved. Now what
this word rock means in this context, according to the Hebrew,
is this is a high rock. This is not some little boulder.
This is not some pebble. He's a high rock. He is actually
a boulder, a big boulder. It says this, and it amazed me
when I read it. It's a boulder with a sharp edge.
You understand? If he's your rock, you want to
be on top. You don't want to be on the side
where that sharp edge is, because that'll cut people. Oh, the Lord
is my rock. And also in Psalm 62, David says
this twice. I shall not be moved. Now, I can tell you this, it's
not because David stood so fast, it's because the rock is not
going to be moved. I shall not be moved because
he only is my rock. Got nothing to do with me, it's
got to do with the rock. It always has. Matter of fact,
the Lord is my rock. He gives rivers of water whenever
I thirst. Paul told us later on that that
rock in the wilderness that followed the people of Israel, the Hebrews,
followed them around, that rock was Christ. And I'm here to tell
you in 2 Samuel when he says the Lord is my rock, that rock
is Christ. That rock is Christ. He's the
chief cornerstone. He's the one that the builders
rejected. He's the stumbling stone and
a rock of offense. He's the stumbling stone that
I'm going to tell you something, the religious will trip over
him. That's why he's called the stumbling stone. He's the stone
upon which all his people, as Walter said last week, We fall. He that falls on that rock shall
be broken. But, but, that very same stone
falls on someone, they are ground to powder. That saying by Spurgeon
I just read, when you feel yourself to be utterly unworthy, You have
hit the truth. I'm going to tell you something.
You're not going to feel you're utterly unworthy until you fall on that stone
and you're broken. But that's still, still much,
much better than that stone falling on you. Being ground to powder
is not good. Oh, he's the one. It's better
to be broken than ground up. The Lord Jesus Christ, my rock,
is the foundation upon which his house is built. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
have a foundation of sand. He's the rock upon which everything
is built of any eternal value. And the Lord is my rock upon
which he sets people. Psalms 40 in verse two. Put it
this way. Excuse me. He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and. Now being delivered out of the
miry clay is good. Being out of the horrible pit
is good, but here's the better part. Set my feet upon a rock. A rock. I'm telling you, there's
no miry clay on the rock. There's no miry clay on the rock.
And the rock's not in a horrible pit. But not only that, he set
my feet upon a rock and established my goings. Established my goings. Oh, I like that. You understand? The Lord knows where every one
of his people is. He knows where every one of his
people are going. You don't know. I don't know. He knows. And that is good enough
if we believe him. Oh, the Lord is my rock. Therefore,
I shall not be moved. The second thing. I'm going to
try not to keep you too long but here is nine of them. The
Lord is my fortress. Now look that up. And you know
what it means? It means fortress. That's what it means. Fortress. Well, or castle. And a strong
place. I like that. A strong place. And here's the thing. In him,
I dwell. In him, David dwelt. In him,
every believer dwells. A fortress, a castle, a strong
place. Psalm 71, verse three, put it
this way. Be thou my strong habitation. Isn't that good? my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. I like that, I like that. Thou
hast given commandment, whoa, to save me, to save me. God has given a command to save
his people. You think that commandment's
gonna be broken? I don't think so. Oh, I know so. What? Thou hast given commandment to
save me for thou art my rock and my fortress. We dwell in
him. Understand? And there's not a
power around or ever has been that can assail the fortress
of Jesus Christ. He has all power, all power. Oh, God's people are in God's
fortress and his fortress, my fortress, your fortress, if you
believe him, your fortress will never be breached, never be breached
because he's a strong place He is the strong place and we live
in Him and here's the thing, He is the strong habitation. What's that mean? That's what
you inhabit, an inhabitation. That's where you live. You live
in Him, in your fortress. Oh Lord, my strength and my fortress
and my refuge in the day of affliction. This is Jeremiah 16, 19. The
Gentiles shall come unto thee. Where? From the ends of the earth.
From the ends of the earth. And shall say, surely our fathers
have inherited lies, vanity, and the things wherein there
is no profit. Listen, the Gentiles shall come
and shall know in the Lord in the fortress, my fortress, David's
fortress, your fortress, is the truth. Is the truth. The Lord is my strength and my
fortress. There's none like him. What has
David said later? I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. Forever. Forever. Oh my. We live in Him. He is our fortress,
our strong habitation. In Him we live, we move, and
we have our being, even when we don't realize it. It's the
truth. And sometimes, folks, we don't
realize it. I'm not talking about doubting
your salvation or doubting Him Talking about doubting, maybe
doubting your part in it. Or you don't feel it. You don't
feel Him. That happens. Life happens. But listen. He is faithful. We're not. I'll include myself. We are not faithful. We are only
faithful in Him. And because of Him. And because
of him, making us both to will and to
do of his good pleasure. That's the only time we're faithful.
But he is always faithful. He is our fortress. Oh my. Next one, my deliverer. The Lord
is my deliverer. You know what that word means? He's the one that carries you
away. That's good, I like that. Because
sometimes, folks, you need to get away. Sometimes I like being
away from the world, Elizabeth. I really do. I like being away
from the world. You know why? Because this world
is ungodly. and is full of ungodliness and
unrighteousness because of the ungodliness. But he is my deliverer,
he's the one that carries you away. Here's the thing, he causes
you to escape. Ain't that great? Because here's
the thing, folks, we need to be caused to escape. Understand,
talking about what we just said a minute ago, we were okay in
a horrible pit. Because you understand, at the
time, we didn't know there was anything else except a horrible
pit. And if that's your reality, if
that's all you know is the world, you're dealing with it as best
you can. You may not be happy in it, but you're not looking
for something else because here's the thing, you don't know that
there is anything else. Now sure, you might want more
money. You might want whatever you can buy with money. But that's
not better. In some ways, it's worse. You
know? Oh. Understand, people with money
have a hard time understanding that with godliness is great
contentment. Because they're already content.
Oh, but he is the one that causes me to escape. The believer knows
that this one thing, the true believer knows he or she did
not deliver themselves. They were delivered. They have
a deliverer. Because you understand, those
Hebrews were in Egypt until God delivered them. and they'd been
there 400 years as slaves before God delivered them. And they
were delivered because when God sent forth to deliver his people
from Egypt, guess what? They were coming out. You understand? And he fixed it so that even
if they had wanted to stay, they were kicked out. People don't
think about that. He created such an uproar in
Egypt with the death of the firstborn that they said, go. Here, take
this gold, what we owe you for 400 years of back wages. Wasn't
stealing, folks. It wasn't a bribe. It was what
they were owed. Yeah, I see it. But it's OK. They were coming out because
they had a deliverer, the deliverer. What is it? He, the Lord, is the deliverer,
and he carries us away, oh, and here's the good part, to himself,
to himself. Oh, I like that, I do. Oh, here
it is. Psalms 40 and verse 17 says this. But I am poor and needy, yet,
glorious thing. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me. The Lord thinketh upon me. Thou
art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, my Lord, my
God. Oh, I like that. Because here's
the thing. Only the poor and the needy want
the deliverer. Only the poor and needy know
they need a deliverer. You understand? Pharaoh wasn't
looking for a deliverer. The deliverer came for the people
of God and left the other ones there. What did he say? He's the one, the deliverer is
the one that carries you away. Oh my, I like that. The Lord, though I'm poor and needy, yet
the Lord thinks about me. He thinks about you. Each and
every one of his people, the Lord thinks about you. What's
the Lord think about his people? Well, Jeremiah 29 and verse 11. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord. And I love this verse of
scripture. I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not evil, to give
you an expected end. Now that is one glorious piece
of scripture. Poor and needy though I am, weak
and wounded, sick and sore, the Lord thinks upon me. and thoughts
of peace. And not evil. Thoughts of peace. You understand, no matter what
you've gone through in this life, no matter what you're going through
in this life, no matter what you will go through in this life,
the Lord thinks thoughts of peace to his people. Not only that,
you understand, God's already thought everything through. known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. He's not making
it up as he goes along, folks. He's not dealing with circumstance
like we do. He already knows. But to give
you an expected end. Oh, I like that. You know, if
I'm poor and needy, the end I want is to not be poor and needy.
You know? I'm not saying I have to be rich
or anything, but I am. In Christ. And you are. Max said,
preach the unsearchable riches of Christ today. Oh, he's got
more riches than we could ever know what to do with. And he's
promised to us, oh, to give us an expected end. Oh, thoughts
of peace to give you an expected end. I'm gonna tell you something,
the end that I desire is to be, what? Delivered by him from this
sinful world. You understand? Paul said it
in Romans. I desire to be delivered from
the body of this death. I know a lot of people read it,
I want to be delivered from this body of death. Well that's true,
but that's not what he said. It's the body of this death. Oh my. And he is my deliverer. Next in verse three of 2 Samuel
22. What does it say? The God of
my rock, in him will I trust. Trust. I'm going to tell you something.
That word trust, the root word for that trust is the word flee. Run. Move. Go. Wait a minute. For protection. For protection. Oh. Understand, if you're in
a heap of trouble, and you're on the run and you're moving
or you're running and you see somebody you know and you see
somebody you love and you see somebody you trust, what are
you gonna do? You're gonna run right to them. And if you're a little
kid, you're gonna run behind them and grab their legs and
say, save me. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one whom we trust. He's the one we flee to. Oh,
my rock, my fortress, my deliverer is a person and he is the one
to whom I flee for protection, for protection. Oh, I like that.
Believers flee to him. Believers flock to him, the good
shepherd, the good shepherd. We know his voice. because the
Lord Jesus Christ is not a stranger to us, to believers. He's not a stranger. And I know
he'll protect me. I know. Oh, we follow him. The world doesn't trust him.
The world, religious and otherwise, will not hear him. What is it? You understand, I identify with
those that flee to him. Is that pretty good? I identify
with those that flee to him for protection. They're my brethren. They're my brethren. Those that
flee to Christ, I go to hear his gospel. I want to hear the good news
of my Lord Jesus Christ. I hear the gospel of God, that
Jesus Christ is my deliverer, is my rock, and is my fortress.
Oh, oh my. The world won't have him. They
won't have this man to reign over them. But he's my trust. He's the one
I flee to. Then the Lord is my shield. And
that word means shield, buckler, and protector. Psalm 3 and verse
3 says, but thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and
here it is, and the lifter up of mine head. You understand? He's my shield. He's the lifter up of my head. Believers sometimes will walk
around with their head down like this. But when he's your shield,
A, you want to look over the shield so you can see what's
going on, but B, behind that shield, I'm protected. You understand? Shoot at me all you want. If
it's bulletproof, I'll be OK. Hey, that's the way it is. And
I'll lift up my head. Because you know why? If he's
your shield, they can't hurt you. They can't hurt you. They can shoot at you, but it
bounces off. Oh, I like that kind of protection.
I like that kind of protection. Oh my, he's my shield and he's
the lifter up of my head. Stand tall. What does it say
when you put on the full armor of God? Having done all to stand,
stand. Don't sit down. Don't duck your
head. Stand. Oh, I like that. Yes, we are poor and needy. Yes,
we are not good. No, not one. We have wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores from top to bottom. which have
neither been bound nor mollified with ointment. Yet, he thinks
of us. He thinks of us. He lifts up
our heads. Why? I'm gonna tell you something.
The reason he wants you to lift your head up is to look unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. Oh my. Look unto Jesus. Psalm 28, verse
seven. The Lord is my strength and my
shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped. I am helped. Oh. Therefore, my
heart gracely, greatly rejoiceth. And with my song, I will praise
him. Oh my. He's my strength and my
shield. By Him, by grace, we are helped. Oh, I am helped. In Him, I am
helped. In Him, you are helped. If you know Him, if you know
Him. Oh my, what does it say? I'll just talk about it above
all taking the shield of faith Wherewith he shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked that's from Ephesians
6 and verse 16 You understand We I Do not quench the fiery
darts of the wicked the shield does What my shield does? I like that. I like that. And
the shield of faith. And the faith is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is my shield. And he says the Lord is my high
tower. And I like that. Not just a tower. A high tower. High tower. You know what that means? Look it up. inaccessible place. You know what that means? You
can't enter it. You cannot access it. It is not
accessible. You can't, you know, I've been
dealing with this, you know. There are places that are wheelchair
accessible and there are places that are not. And that's just
the way it is in this world. Well, this is an inaccessible
place. This is my high tower. Understand, I did not enter the
high tower, I was entered into it. You did not enter the high
tower, you are placed in it. Oh my, I like that thought. You understand, believers are
delivered into the high tower. The Lord Jesus Christ, our high
tower. Only in him can we enter because
he delivered us there. And here's the thing about the
high tower, it being inaccessible, no one can reach you there. You understand? What Jesus Christ
say, he says, I've got you in my hand. And no man can pluck
you out of my hand. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, hey, wait a minute. I'm in my father's hand and no
man is gonna pluck you out of my father's hand. Oh, it's a
high tower. It is inaccessible to mortal
men. It's inaccessible to Satan and
his angels. Oh my. You understand? No one can touch me there. Matter
of fact, my cell phone won't work there. And you can't get
to me, not in the high tower. No man can reach this place.
That's what inaccessible means. Matter of fact, there's a saying
that I use every now and then when talking about places in
West Virginia. And it applies here to this high
tower. You can't get there from here. You can't. It's inaccessible. If he does
not place you in the high tower, you will not be in the high tower.
And here's the other thing. If he places you in that high
tower, you're there. You're there. Oh, I like that.
I do. You understand, Satan has denied
entry to the high tower. He's already had his head bruised
by the one who is the high tower. No access. No access. Oh, and here's the thing. This
is a beautiful thought that come to me. See, In him, not only
do we have access, we got something better. We have entrance. We
have entrance. He's my fortress and my high
tower. What? He's my strong habitation. Ah, I like that. Oh yes, he is
my high tower. The next one is my refuge. The
Lord is my refuge. Literally, that means a retreat.
Figuratively, it means a fleeing. Understand, we're in the world,
but we're not of the world. And he brings us out of the world. It's one of the literal definitions
of the word sanctification. Separation. Separation. And you know, how can you be
separate? If he's your refuge. Oh, he separated
you. He separated you. He brings us
out of the world. What does it say? Believers are
delivered from the power of darkness. And being delivered from the
power of darkness is good, is real good. But this is even better.
And translated into the kingdom of his dear son. He's my refuge. He's my refuge. Oh, I like that. For it became him, this is Hebrews
two and verse 10. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons
unto glory. Glory. What? To make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The captain of our
salvation is. Refuge he is my refuge. Oh, I
like that because he brings was a many sons under glory Himself
in himself. Oh, I like that. He's the refuge
and he brings us in This next one is even better The Lord is
my Savior The Lord is my Savior The root word for Savior is free. Isn't that amazing? Understand, I've preached about
it before, and other people have too, that Dabaniac, the Gadarene
Dabaniac, where they bound him with chains and he would break
them. And the thing was, you understand, even when he was
bound, he was still a bound Dabaniac. No. Christ came and made him
free. Christ came and made him free.
When they came back and they found him, he was what? Clothed
in his right mind. Oh, that's what we need, folks.
I need my right mind. I've had too much of my own wrong.
Not even my right mind. Clothed in his right mind and
he was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Not only that, he was
listening. He was listening. Oh my gosh. Oh, what is it? The Lord is my
freedom and my safety. That's what this Lord, the word
Savior means. It means safe. Safe, the Lord
is my safety. You are in his hands, like I
said, and no man can pluck him out of their hands, of his hand.
He is a just God and a savior, a savior. Oh, I like that. The law is satisfied. I don't
care what anybody says. The law's satisfied. And I'm
free from the law. And by God's grace, I'm gonna
stay that way. I don't need it. The law's oppressive
to me. He kept it. Now, I'd like to
be able to keep the law, and I do the best I can, but I don't
kid myself into thinking I'm keeping the law, because that's
all you're doing. You're fooling yourself if you
think you are, and that's just on the street. Anybody comes
up there and tells you, I haven't sinned for however long, that's
over five minutes, they're lying. That's all there is to it. I
know David had one that told him I hadn't sinned in 17 years. And Earl said, yeah, they just
told a big lie right there. Don't you know lying's a sin? Oh, that's all right. We're really
good at fooling ourselves. We're even better at lying to
ourselves. Oh my. But that's all right. The Lord is my Savior. The Lord
is my Savior. He made a perfect sacrifice and
offering to the Father and the Father is satisfied with Him. And if you're in Him, the Father
is satisfied with you. and don't get boastful, don't
get puffed up, but also remember, the Lord is my Savior. Oh, I like that. In Him, we are
safe. We are safe. He's perfect man
and perfect God, and I'm gonna tell you something, folks, He's
perfect Savior. Perfect Savior. Oh, call His
name Jesus, for, There's a reason to call his name Jesus. For he
shall save his people from their sins. Now he either did or he
didn't. That was the prophecy given by
the angels unto Joseph. And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. He saved his people from their sins. He obtained eternal
redemption for us, for us, his people. Oh, I'm gonna tell you
something. In him, we are safe. He is our
savior, and we're free. We're free. I am free from the
law of sin and death. I wish I felt like it more, but
I am. And so are you, because we are
safe and saved in him, because he, the Lord Jesus Christ, is
my Savior. And then the last one is this,
the Lord is my salvation. Understand, this is the great
thing about this, the Lord is my deliverer and he is my deliverance. He's the deliverance. He is my
deliverance. You understand? He has promised
to raise up all of the people that the father gave to him at
the last day. Every single one of them. Not
a one of them's gonna be lost. Not one. Not one. Not one. I don't care what anybody says.
Because here's what Jesus Christ said. And this is the Father's
will which he has sent me. Excuse me, this is the Father's
will which he has sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing. Nothing. And the Father's given
him power over all flesh. To give everlasting life to as
many as thou hast given me. He said, everyone, I should lose
nothing but should raise it up again at the last day. That's
John 639. Now guess what? John 640 says
this. And this is the will of him that
sent me. Everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will. What? Raise him up at the last
day. Now Jesus Christ said it twice. He's serious about it. Everything
he said is true. But we need to hear sometimes
10 or 20 times, not just twice. But twice he said, I will raise
it up at the last day. Raise him up at the last day.
Oh. Then a little further on, 644,
he says, no man can come unto me, come to me, except the Father
which has sent me draw him And I will raise him up at the last
day. He gives us everlasting life. He is our salvation. Oh my. Bringing in many sons to glory. What's he doing? He's gathering
his people to himself, in him. In him, we live and move and
have our being. In him, oh I like that. He gives
us everlasting life, he gives us eternal life, and we shall
be raised at the last day. By him and in him, he is my salvation. Oh, I like that. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Believers know God because believers
know Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, he that's
seen me has seen the Father. He also said, I and my Father
are one. Oh, I like that. The Lord is
my salvation. Now, in conclusion, understand a couple of really
good things here. Understand God is all of these
things. God is the rock, the fortress,
the deliverer, the trust, the shield, the high tower, the refuge,
the savior, the salvation. Now there's more than that. But
you understand, God is all of these things. The astounding
thing here is that David said, he's my rock. He's my strength. He's my fortress. He's my high
tower. He's my salvation. He's my savior. You understand? He is all these
things, whether we know it or not. But we have been given to
know that he is our salvation. He is our rock. I'm a believer. These apply to me. understand
The Lord is my rock my fortress my deliverer my trust my shield
my high tower my refuge my Savior my salvation and Here's the thing
and more that's two verses a Scripture from word after man a man after
God's own heart said those words saying that Unto the Lord when
he delivered him from his enemies and all of its truth and all that's true for every
single believer, for everyone that nameth the name of Christ.
But how do you go from this being what God is to this being what
God is to me? Look at verse four. I will call
on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved
from mine enemies. Now, let me compare that with Romans 10 and verse nine. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. As the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. What? Call upon the
name of the Lord Jesus. If you can do that, if you can
do that, he'll be your rock. Actually, if you can do it, he
is your rock. You just didn't know it. Oh, what David said
here applies to every child of God personally and individually. The Lord is my rock. He's my
fortress, my deliverer, my trust. And like I said, even more. Oh,
He's my light. He's my love. He's my life. He's my brother, my elder brother. He's my Lord and He's my God. He is my head. You understand, the Lord Jesus Christ is all good
news. He is always good news, and He
is all of the good news. Oh, yes, we fail. We stumble. And yes, we fall. But we are
not utterly cast down. Not because of you, not because
of me, but because of Him. He's faithful. He's faithful. We fail. We fall. Matter of fact,
Spurgeon said something else I wrote down here. God uses people who fail. Because
there aren't any other kind around. That's true. You understand? We fail, we stumble, we fall.
But he never does. He never does. Oh, I like that.
Our Lord never fails. and our Lord will never forsake
us. I'll never leave thee. I'll never
forsake thee. No matter how you feel, no matter
how you, I want to say be of good cheer.
Because if God's for you, it doesn't matter who's against
you. Who could be against you? Who cares? It doesn't matter
if God's for you. And here's the thing, if God's
for you, he's always been for you. Everything that happened
in your life brought you right here. It's how I end up here. This was not my plan to be a
preacher, to try and preach God's gospel. That's not what I was
planning with my life. Okay, to be honest, I really
didn't have a plan with my life. I've just kind of been going
with it, you know? And most of the time I try to do what my
wife says. Hey, it's worked for 35 years. I'm not going to mess
with success, but here's the thing. This is where we are. He brought us here. All of the
experiences and in all of the times and all of the bad times
and all of the good times, he is my rock. my fortress, my deliverer,
my trust, oh my, my high tower, my refuge, my savior, my salvation. Here's the thing. He upholds us with his mighty
hand and he has planted our feet on the rock and he's the rock. He's the one who plants our feet
and he's the rock we get planted on. and he orders our way. Philippians 1 and 6, I'll leave
you with this. Being confident of this very thing, that he which
has begun a good work in you, ah, in you, oh God, will perform
it until the day of Christ. We can trust Him. He's our trust.
I understand. Life is bad some days. Well,
it's okay. Christ is good. Because here's the conclusion
of 2 Samuel 22, the whole chapter. Christ is all. Christ is all. And here, even better, Christ
is my all. Christ is your all. If you believe
him, Christ is all. Now, he's all whether you believe
him or not, but it's good that he's my all. And he's good that
he's your all. All right, folks. Let me pray. Please, God, thank
you, our Heavenly Father, You've given us your word and your word
is about your son from beginning to end Whether we see it or not
whether we know it or not He is all oh And thank you Lord
for giving us to him and Thank you for giving him to us. I You have called us a people which
were not a people. And even better, you have called
us your people who were not a people. Help us to realize this and be
comforted in our hearts by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Be with Walter and Paul as they
preach your gospel and every other minister in every other
place that you have set aside for yourselves. Help us, Lord,
as we go. In Christ's name we pray, amen.