Psalms 42, I'm gonna begin reading in verse one. It says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually saying to me, where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. Where I'd gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise with the multitude that kept holy day.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermorites from the hill Mizor. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. And in the night his song shall be with me in my prayer unto God unto the God of my life, I will say unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with the sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.

I don't know about you guys, but there is a lot of times, despite the love and the joy that not only we receive from the Lord, but whenever we meet together, you know, we just, sung that song just a few minutes ago, which was very timely, by the way.

And then we read right here, even David said, you know, I go into the house of the Lord, my soul's lifted up whenever I go, I praise him. But yet there is this disheartening, this discouragement. There is this oppression within that we seem to, come under often in our lifetimes. And so I don't know if you're like me, there's a lot of times that I'm discouraged. A lot of times that the Lord brings me into a place where I'm just like David is here. You know, I know all the right things.

I know why all these things take place, but yet my heart is discouraged. I am discouraged. And this week was kind of one of those, there was some earlier all in the week and everything, I just was kind of discouraged about a few things. And I just happened to be talking with another brother who had called me and he also was being discouraged.

And visiting with him and we of course, you know, we both Encourage one another that the Lord is you know in charge of everything as we always do but I thought I'd look at that this week because If you notice here in this psalm David mentions it a couple of times here.

He says why art thou cast cast down on my soul and why art thou disquieted in me and Then he says hope thou in God And he says it again down to verse 11. Why art thou cast down on my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. And in the first one, he says after that, he says, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. In the last part, he says, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. God helps us by being the health of our accountants.

Whenever we get discouraged, brethren, like David did, like Moses did, like Elijah did, like everybody does, like we all do, the Lord himself is our comfort. See, I can get discouraged and try to find help in my wife, and it may help a little bit, but it may not be fully the help that I need, or in friends, or in kids, or in relatives, or brothers and sisters in Christ. We can come to each other's aid when people are discouraged, just like this brother did whenever he called me.

He was discouraged, I was discouraged, and we was talking back and forth to him and everything, and hey, we said all the right things. whenever we were on the phone with each other, that we can say to encourage one another, but when we got off the phone, you know what?

I was still discouraged. It didn't end my discouragement. My discouragement continued on. What is it there for? Why am I discouraged if I trust in God? That was the other question that come to my mind. Mike, you know, God's in control of everything and he's predestined everything and you know, If he's predestined to everything, why are you discouraged about anything? And why do you stay discouraged? And why didn't encouragement that was straight out of God's word not cease your discouragement?

You kind of see the place that we get in sometimes. Have you ever been there? I've been there a lot. But you know what the answer was? The very thing that I thought. If God's predestined everything, if God's predestinated everything, if God's predestinated everything, well, God has predestinated everything.

And he's predestinated discouragement. And a lot of times, even though we know that God predestinates all things, we don't realize, well, he's predestinated this discouragement. So instead of looking and seeing what's the Lord doing in this discouragement, What's he teaching me in this discouragement? thing is is we want to pray someone out from underneath but a lot of times we don't realize that God is bringing us through that and he's doing it for his purpose and for our good and so if he's doing that for our purpose for his purpose and for our good that's the most wise thing that could ever happen for us that is God's love towards us and bringing us to himself growing us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, releasing us more and more of our dependence upon our own self and more dependence upon Christ. So why are we so quick to want to get out from underneath that teaching hand of God? And that's exactly what David was experiencing here. Why am I cast down? Why am I disquieted in my soul?

Hope thou in God. Hope in God. Trust in what God's doing. Trust in what he's doing in our lives. Discouragement, brethren, is not, and I used to think this quite often, and sometimes I still do, but listen, discouragement is not a spiritual failure. It's a common experience among God's people. We all get discouraged. David cried this, look with me also, I was looking up different men that was discouraged in some things, and just turn to 1 Kings chapter 19.

I'm gonna read through this really quick, but I want you to hear this account of Elijah. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. This is, remember right after Elijah on Mount Carmel and all the prophets of Baal came out there and Elijah said, you know, you build an altar to your God, I'll build an altar to my God and we'll see whose God answers our prayers. And all the prophets of Baal came out there And they prayed, and they prayed, and they prayed, and they prayed, and nothing happened, you know. Elijah got a little cocky and was telling, where's your God, you know, is he falling asleep, what's he doing, where's he at, you know. And then it came time for Elijah, and what did, what happened?

They went out and they started pouring water on the wood, even, just kind of rubbing it in their face. Here, look, here, not only do I have my altar out here, I'm going to pour water all over it. And then he prays, and the fire comes down out of heaven, it burns up the thing and everything like that, and then he kills all the prophets, right? This is where we're at.

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Now remember, that was just a great event that just took place. I mean, Elijah ought to be on a cloud. said, then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

And when he saw that he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to bear Sheba, which belonged to Judah and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is enough. Now, oh Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's.

And as he lay and slept under the juniper tree, Behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was a cake baked on the coal and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, arise and eat because the journey is too far or too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink. and went into the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights under the under whore of the mount of god so he just seen god deliver him from all this do all this great mighty thing up on mount carmel and then he comes down and he gets a little whisper that somebody's don't like him and wants to see him dead and what's he want to do he just wants to give up and die I mean, and this is Elijah. This is the greatest of the prophets, you know, Elijah. Look with me also at 2 Corinthians. Go from what might be the greatest prophet to the greatest apostle here. 2 Corinthians 12. Paul writes this, Verse seven, and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing, I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.

And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So brother, there we see the answer or the key to discouragement. David said, hope in the Lord. Paul said, or Jesus said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. in your infirmity, my power is made known. See, it's during these times of discouragement, it's during these times of affliction, that in our infirmity, Christ is made known.

And here's the reason why, is because Christ will not fail. His promises are always sure to us. And as we will see, no matter how deep and dark the affliction might come upon us, no matter how long the discouragement might last, He will persevere. He will cause us to persevere. He will preserve us. We will not fall away. We will not go under. We will not be utterly destroyed because He will continue to keep us.

So discouragement is not outside of God's decree. God has decreed discouragement. He decreed it for Paul, for Elijah, for David. All that was not just random acts that just happened to happen on these people in their everyday lives, but discouragement was something that God sent to his child for a purpose.

It would be one of the all things that Romans 8 talks about. All things work together for good. discouragement is one of those things. Matter of fact, let's just read that. Romans 8, is it 8, 28, 29, 28. Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And always remember there, brethren, the called there, that definite article the in front of called is missing in some of the modern translation Bibles. And you say, well, what's so important about that? Well, it's very important. Because of that removal of that definite article, the, there's a lot of people that preach that just anybody who's called, who are called according to his purpose, can mean a universal thing. But the called is a specific particular group of people. The called, and that goes along because it ties it in with other parts of scripture where we are called the called of God. especially in 2 Timothy 1, 9 and 10, we are the called. It is the sanctified ones, the called out ones, those who have been called by God as his people, and that's who that's talking about. But it says, we know that all things work together for good who are the called according to his purpose.

And this is not a conditional promise. It's not all things work together for good if you take it and run with it. If you, you know, if you do this or if you do that, no, it's not a conditional promise. It's a statement of divine certainty. All things will be for your good. All things will be.

Because it's rooted in God's eternal decree. It's rooted in God's eternal purpose. God has before the foundation of the world, has declared and determined what he is going to do. And that end is to glorify himself. So everything from the beginning of time to the ending of time is for the glory of God. Romans tells us that all things are of him and through him and to him. for his glory, right? So from the beginning of time to the ending of time, and everything that happens in between those two points is all God's decree of what's gonna take place, what's gonna happen in bringing forth this glory. So every minute detail of our lives, your life, my life, everyone's life that's outside of this house, everything that's out there, every weather event, every cataclysmic thing that we might experience in this lifetime, every bit of that has been pinpointed by God, wrote down in His decree, this will happen, this will happen, this will happen exactly like this. Because every bit of it is what He has determined will be the very thing that brings forth the glory that he is requiring for himself. Every bit of that.

And so whenever we begin to think on these things as David did, hope thou in God, hope thou in God. Whenever I feel discouraged, why is my soul cast down and why am I disquieted within my heart? Hope thou in God. Know that this is one of those elemental things that God has decreed to happen to bring forth His glory and to bring forth my understanding and dependency upon Him. To break away from my self-reliance and my self-righteousness, and it's to bring me closer to Him. So don't let my heart be disquieted. Don't be cast down.

Hope in the Lord. Know that His purposes are being fulfilled. Know that His work is being done, that His promises are still true. that nothing is going away that he has promised to you. You have all the covenantal promises of God, which are yay and amen in Christ Jesus, by the way. Every one of those are being distributed and being applied and being worked out and being done.

On our behalf, for his glory, for your good, his glory. And so I think a lot of times whenever we come into these times of discouragement, if our mind will go back that God has predestinated these things and that this is actually something that God determined should be done to bring forth his glory and his praise. I mean, I know it's not the first thing that comes to our mind, right?

It's not mine, but that's what David did. Let me turn back there again to, Psalm 42. He reminded himself that not only is God controlling all these things, but these things should actually be to the praise and the glory of God. David even said, I think it was later, I can't remember exactly what chapter it was in, but David mentioned that you know, whenever God afflicted him, it caused him to trust his word more. It caused him to trust him more. And so he's seen that the affliction was something that we could actually see and view as something that was good, although it's not good as we're going through it. It's tough, hard, sometimes painful.

But brethren, absolute predestination teaches us that Every event, every event, including that inward seasons of heaviness that we go through, that very thing that I was experiencing this week and every one of us that's ever experienced it, is ordered for the Lord's glory. Look with me if you would at Isaiah. Isaiah 41, if you would. Here's the verse you can always go to whenever you come into these times of discouragement.

Verse 10 says, fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. He didn't say, fear not, for nothing will happen to you. He didn't say, fear not, you'll never be discouraged. He said, fear not, for I am with thee. See, there's a promise.

Whenever you're discouraged, whenever you're going through affliction, whatever the case might be, sadness, hardships, loneliness, whatever the case might be, all those things that we feel when we're afflicted, The first and foremost thing that we need to know as God's children is that he is with us. And the Bible says if he is with us or if he is for us, who can be against us, right? Though we may be separated in this physical life, remember Paul said, you know, nothing can separate us from the love of God. but it doesn't preclude that height or depth or width or persecution, death, all these things are gonna happen to us, but the thing is, is what's the point in all of it? Is no matter what comes upon you, even the very worst thing that could happen to you, you die in a physical understanding, you die the Lord is still with us.

The Lord is with us. So no matter what happens to me in this life and in this body, the Lord is with me. No matter where I am, there he is. No matter what happens to me, he's with me. And he's with me, And he says, be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee.

That means he's gonna give you everything that you need to go through what he has determined you to go through, which means you will persevere. You will make it through there. I know you're gonna make it through, why? Because Jesus said, he will strengthen thee, and he will help thee, and he will uphold thee with the right hand of his righteousness.

So brethren, the believer's discouragement is not a detour from God's will. I used to hear all the time from adults, whenever they were counseling other adults, you know, I would hear, you know, someone say that they were depressed and I would hear other people in the church say, well, you're a Christian, you shouldn't be depressed. The Bible says be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, let all your requests be made known unto God. So make your requests known to God and you won't be anxious.

Now, how many of us have not only do we know that, but have exercised that and what happens? There's still some anxiousness. There's still depression. Some people say Christians cannot be depressed. farthest thing from the truth. And whenever other Christians, professing Christians, tell other Christians, you shouldn't be depressed. You shouldn't be discouraged.

All that does is compound the problem. That's why I quit saying stuff like that a long time ago. By God's grace, he taught me quit doing that, especially as a pastor. Whenever I would come in and what was I gonna, well, I'm gonna give them, I'm gonna give them God's word. I can't give them anything. And I would always tell people, guys, I'm not a counselor. All I can do is tell you what the word of God says. And I would always pick those verses that tell you how you ought to be instead of giving them the verses that tell them what God is doing for you in these situations.

Be not afraid. Be not dismayed. He will strengthen thee. He will uphold thee. This is by his hand and for his purpose. When you come out on the other side, it is for your good. So brethren, it's not a detour. Whenever somebody is depressed, somebody is discouraged, somebody is under affliction and feels this anxiousness, it is not a detour from God's will. It is a design that God has designed so that he might reveal some things.

The first thing I learned whenever I'm in those things is I learned Mike's weaknesses. I learned Mike's weakness. What is it that causes me to get discouraged? There's my weakness. Whenever I think that I should be something, but I'm not. Mike's weakness. What does that teach me over and over again? It teaches me, Mike, you're not all that. Or a bag of chips. You're not all that. You cannot persevere.

See, if left to Mike's self, he would go into deep darkness and never come out. because might cannot do anything, but because God is with me. As David said, hope in God. My hope is in God. Whenever I come to these places, my hope is in myself to get myself out of this. It isn't to pull myself up by my bootstrap. It's not for me to get my 40 days of self-help from the Christian bookstore. It isn't for me to turn on my, you know, praise and worship music so that it'll bring me out of my funk.

It is the hope in God. He has a purpose in this. You know what the other thing that shows me? It shows me my weakness. But it also shows his sufficiency because inevitably, I'm always brought out of it. Inevitably, the Lord always brings me out of it. And whenever he does, he usually brings me out of it, showing himself to me. And it shows that he is sufficient for me. Sometimes, like I said, our friends and our family and our relatives and our preachers and our churchmates and all like that.

They may try to give help, but they don't quite understand. They come to our aid, but it doesn't seem to help. And we seem like we are left alone. But whenever we get to the other side, guess what? We found out that he was sufficient. That's what he told Paul. My grace is sufficient for thee.

But see, we don't like to hear stuff like that. Because that means, you mean I can't do nothing about this? I can't change this. I can't stop it or end it what I want to. No, my grace is sufficient for you. That means God is sufficient for you. That means God is all you need. Whenever nobody else will come to your aid or can come to your aid. Sometimes they won't come to your aid and that's pitiful. But sometimes they come to your aid, but it doesn't work. They can't come to your aid.

God is always there and he's sufficient. And to know the promise in the covenant of God of what he said he will do, that should be enough to get us through. That will be enough to get us through. It should be, that's the admonition. The reality is it will be because God has promised He will, because he said right here, I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. I've heard a lot of old Baptists say that we walk through valleys, not around them. The Lord walks us through the valley. And a lot of times he doesn't walk us around the valley.

There used to be a song a while back, and I'm trying to remember who sang it. I think it was, I think it was Caveman's Call, but I can't remember. Anyway, they sang a song that, and I can't remember all the words now all of a sudden, but the gist of the thing is that don't look Don't look harshly about the times in the valley because whenever the rain comes, it's the valleys that fill first.

The valleys fill up first. So whenever you're in the valley, that's where all the food is, where all the sustenance is. The higher you go up on the mountain, if you've ever been up on the mountain, we've been up to the mountains in Colorado a few times. And one time as a kid, I went up to Cameron's Pass and Cameron's Pass is up where the oxygen level gets so low that vegetation stuff kind of quit growing. It's all bare up there. The higher you get up to the mountain, the less food there is, the less sustenance there is. There ain't pools of water up on top of a mountain. We always want to be up on top of the mountain, but it's down in the valley where we really learn, where we grow, where we trust in the Lord, where we're fed mostly.

Amazon man, I thought he was coming in to get some Jesus or something Look with me if you would see I've got a few passages here. I wanted to read to you kind of print it out. Look at Psalms 34 Just some encouraging Encouraging passages for you guys. Psalms 34. Look with me if you would at verse 18.

It says, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth 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 of his bones not oh well that goes on to talk about christ but he keepeth his bones and not one of them is broken but notice here he says the lord is nine to them that are broken apart and save us such as be of contrite spirit and many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord will deliver them out of all look if you would at one peter chapter five Look at verse seven, or excuse me, verse six. It says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you.

Listen, there's a lot of times that I don't feel like people care for me. And there are, there's some people out there that don't have anybody around them that cares for them. But here's the promise, child of grace. If there's not anybody that cares for you, there is one. You are the child of God and he cares for you.

Turn, if you would, over to Romans chapter eight again. Just a few verses after from where we was at there. Verse 31, it says, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spareth not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Look down if you would at verse 38. For I'm persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Look you over, if you would, at Matthew chapter 11. Brother, nothing profound this morning, just words of encouragement to let you know when you're discouraged, that the Lord is there for you, and it's for a reason. You're part of his eternal purpose. Matthew chapter 11, look if you would, verse 28.

It says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Go back into the Old Testament again. Let's look at Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 10 that we just read a while ago. I want to read a little bit further in this.

It says, fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be as nothing and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them and shall not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of naught. For the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Now, who is that talking about? Talking about Jesus. That's who's in view there. Jesus himself is saying that he will hold thy right hand and that he will help thee.

Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument. Having teeth, thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them and the wind shall carry them away and the whirlwind shall scatter them. He's saying here, you're gonna become a testimony through this. You're gonna become a testimony.

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not, forsake them. It seems like we're being forsaken sometimes. It seems like we're left alone. But know that God has not forsaken you, that that is his eternal purpose for you to go through that.

He says, I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness, the cedar and the shita tree and the myrtle and the oil tree. I will set in the desert, the fir tree and the pine and the box tree together. That they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord have done this. the Holy One of Israel hath created it. Produce your cause, saith the Lord.

Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things what they be, that we may consider them and know the latter end of them. or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods. Yea, do good or do evil that we may be dismayed and behold it together.

Behold, ye are of nothing and your work of naught and abomination is he that chooses you. I have raised up one from the north and he shall come from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name, and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth the clay, who hath declared from the beginning that we may know, and before time that we may say he is righteous.

Yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no man even among them, and there was no counselor that when I asked them could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity, their works are nothing, their molten images are wind and confusion."

Now I read the rest of that to see, and the reason I drew in on that phrase in verse 14, that it is Jesus himself that is here. is because everyone else that should come against us is always gonna fall. The Lord is always gonna bring his people through. Even if he brings them in through all this stuff and they come to their utter disaster, in the end of all things, all these people that contended against the people of God, guess what? They're gonna be nothing.

They cannot stand before the Holy One of Israel. And so whenever he gives you the promise, and the reason that I went down to the bottom of this so that you can see that at the end of all things, the Holy One of Israel will be the only one who is standing is so that you might know the one who says that I am with you is that guy. The one who says that I will uphold you is that guy, that nothing can come before him and destroy him or his people. He's the one that says, I am with you, I'm holding your hand. Joshua chapter one. We're just about done here. Joshua chapter one. Look at verse nine.

It says, have I not commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. Brethren, we have God's promise of him abiding with us forever. Was it David, correct me if I'm wrong, was it David who said that if I make my bed in hell, he is with me. If I go up into the heavens, he's with me there. No matter where we go, no matter what's happening, no matter what's going on, no matter what affliction we're under, no matter where we're at, his presence is with us. that continues that promise that Jesus made that I will be with you.

I will hold you. Listen, if you're holding somebody by the right hand, you're pretty much in their presence all the time, right? You know, you can't hold somebody's hands and not be in their presence. Well, God here says that whether ever thou goeth, I'm going to be with you. I'm never going to leave you alone. I'm never going to leave you to yourself. I'm going to bring you through some things. that's gonna make you think you're by yourself. But it's not gonna be that. It's gonna be me bringing you through something that is needful for you and ultimately will be to the exaltation of Christ Jesus.

So brethren, the discouragement is part of and is an activity that God brings us through to show us his perseverance or his preservation. As I mentioned before, it does expose our frailty of flesh. Go back to, go back to 2 Corinthians real quick. Notice something here with Paul. Second Corinthians 12.

It says, unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn. Lest I be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. God brought this affliction and ultimately a discouragement to Paul that he couldn't get rid of this thorn in the flesh, this messenger of Satan. He couldn't get rid of him. And he sought the Lord three times. Will you take this away from me? God said, no, that his grace was sufficient. So what did Paul learn in that? Well, Paul learned the frailty of his flesh.

Well, To the child of grace, there's something that happens that doesn't happen in other people. To the child of grace, whenever we're shown the frailty of our flesh, God gives us faith to rest in the sufficiency which is in Christ. And that's exactly what Paul did. And he told you the story of it in Romans 7. Whenever God showed him the frailty of his flesh, he's seeing that I cannot do anything, what did it in turn do? It caused him to persevere in the Lord, knowing that it wasn't about what Paul has to do to get through, it's trusting in the Lord and what the Lord is doing.

What he has done, legality and his standing before God but what he is doing in the life of Paul by the Spirit of God in bringing him through all of these circumstances in his life and that through the faith that is given to him causes him to persevere through those things looking unto Jesus and not to himself.

The other thing I see whenever I'm looking here at this passage here is that these discouragements are given to us and that exposes or reveals the immutability of God's grace. God's grace can't be thwarted. God's grace can't be stopped. God's grace can be found in everything, including the deepest, darkest sorrows that we might go through. A lot of times we think about God's grace and we're all like, you know, oh, wait, this is this happy joy thing. Oh, you know, I've been amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Grace is this great, positive, great thing. But brethren, hardly ever do we rejoice in the grace of God, that God's grace is there bringing us through all these trials, bringing us all through our discouragement. That grace is what's sustaining us through that as well. And so God's grace is immutable. It can't be killed even in the darkest hearts of our sorrow like David felt, like Elijah felt.

And here's another thing, and it goes with kind of what I said a while ago, To go through depression, to go through discouragement, to go through hardships like that, it's not a threat to your salvation either. I used to hear that as well. You must not be saved. You must not be saved then. It's not a threat to your salvation. This is actually how God displays his power. This is how God displays his grace, his mercy. It's how God grows his children. Look with me now at Romans again. Back to Romans 8. We've just kind of been dancing all around Romans 8. Romans 8. Look at verse 26.

It says, likewise, the spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Let me ask you guys something. How many of y'all have been in the depths of despair, discouragement, depression, Anxious that whatever the case might be whatever any of those attitudes and and feelings that we come under Have been there and you've went to God and Honestly didn't even know how to pray didn't know what to pray for Lord all I know is it hurts It's it's there and and I don't know how to get out. What's what what's the deal? Well, the Bible here tells us that the Spirit is helpeth with our infirmities. For we know not what we ought to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now, just a side note here, this is not talking about speaking in tongue. I hear Pentecostals all the time going to this verse here, saying that there's this prayer language where we speak in a language that is, you know, we don't know. It's called the prayer language. You ever heard anybody say that? It's a prayer language.

Folks, what you see on TV and on the radio and you hear in these Pentecostal churches, these charismatic churches, these word of faith churches, any churches that's speaking in tongues, modern day churches today that are speaking in tongues, those aren't biblical tongues. And I actually would caution you because I believe a lot of it's demonic, but it's not modern day tongues. Modern day tongues is just gibberish. It's not nothing real. This ain't even talking about that.

This is saying with groanings, which cannot be uttered, meaning you can't say it. You can't voice it. You can't bring it forth. You don't have words to say the groanings of your heart. The spirit is there to intercede, to help you in those infirmities. when you don't even know how to pray and come to God. There's times I come to God and pray. God, I don't even know what to say. I don't even know how to bring it up. I don't even know what the issue is, but there's just something not right. I just, I don't feel like I'm trusting you. I don't feel like you're there, whatever the case might be.

And there's times that I just can't voice it, but the spirit knows what is there. and the spirit does that. And so whenever we pray, whenever we come to those times, we're not necessarily, and this is something that has really helped me. When we come to those and we pray what we seem to pray in desperation, do you realize that you're not praying in desperation either?

The child of God doesn't pray out of discouragement. Just tweak it just a little bit to make it biblical. We don't pray out of discouragement. We pray within discouragement. Just tweak it just a little bit. We're not praying out of our discouragement. We're praying within our discouragement.

Why? Because of this verse right here. because of this very verse right here. The spirit is interceding according to the will of God. Let me put it to you this way. If anybody ever prays, who's the one that gives you that prayer? At least I believe from what I understand of scripture, that it's the spirit of God who causes me to pray.

That's why a lot of times these forced prayers that we see a lot of times in churches and the liturgy of churches a lot of times we have a set order of who prays now or somebody calls upon somebody will you pray and then they're all of a sudden put on the spot to pray and things like that you know now can the spirit call somebody to be able to pray with it yes but what i'm saying is is There's a lot of times, and I've struggled with this.

I'm gonna say this, because maybe it might help some other people, and especially as we're talking about discouragement. And I don't know, nobody else may have a problem with this at all. And especially as a preacher and a pastor, it's hard to even admit this. Brethren, I don't know about you, but there's a lot of times that I don't pray.

I'm not up in the morning early praying, Praying through the middle of the day and pray a little bit night Okay, there's a lot of times I go and I don't pray all day It's not that I don't want to pray just I don't feel moved to pray Then there are a lot of days that I pray multiple times a day Especially whenever I'm at work and I'm traveling man. There's times that I'm going to clicking along down the road, just having a good time, listening to something on the radio or whatever.

And then all of a sudden, the Lord catches a hold of me and brings something to my mind. And within a mile or two, I'm in tears, driving, crying out to God. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, what happened to me, I was on my way down to Fayetteville, and this guy spoke. He sent me some song by Josh Groban, and I was listening to that song. And I tell you what, it just got me. The Lord just grabbed a hold of me while I was doing that and brought me to pray. And I prayed for 45 minutes all the way down, talking to God about stuff. Out of nowhere, I didn't plan it. You know, it just came.

Well, brethren, I believe the Spirit is the one who gives us our prayers, our true prayers. We can fake prayers. There's a lot of times we fake prayers. Okay, we pray out of, you know, social reasons. We pray out of, you know, we're called upon, we're put on the spot to pray, whatever, you know. But listen, the Spirit, whenever we really pray, the Spirit is the one who gives us that prayer, right? Well, what happens whenever the Spirit takes our prayer, gives us that prayer?

Jesus is the one who's interceding. Well, of course, I believe the spirit that comes to us is Jesus' spirit. So it's Jesus who's doing the work here of interceding. He's bringing the prayer to me. He's bringing the experience that I'm in to my mind and to my heart. And he's gripping me with that. He's giving me the prayer to pray to him. And then he's taking that prayer, that intercession of prayer, and he receives it as God, he receives that prayer. And then what does he do?

He upholds us by his grace. He may not deliver us when and how we wanna be delivered, but he does exactly what he promised he will do. He will uphold us by his grace. So that prayer, brethren, is heard every time. Even though your circumstance may not change, your prayer is heard, and grace is sustaining you every time. You don't believe it? Are you here today? Praising the Lord?

Didn't seem like it when you was going through the state of Missouri, Steph, did it? No. Every one of us has had a situation like Brother Larry and them have been through. But here they are. Here we are. Well, how did that happen? Because we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and got back in, cleared our mind, did some yoga out in the grass? No, it happened because we were sustained by God's grace. And that was sufficient for us. Everything else may not have been sufficient, but that was sufficient to get us through. And so there's the cycle.

God predestines the discouragement. He moves the heart to pray to him. He takes the prayer to himself and he turns around and gives the grace to sustain you through it. of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. So what's the end of our discouragement?

It's always, and ever will be, every subject that I ever preach to you. Remember, I even mentioned this, I think, maybe last week or the week before last. It doesn't matter what I preach to you. Preach on the family, preach on finances, which I don't preach on that hardly ever, but preach on your money, preach on your relationships, whatever it is, what's gonna be the center of it all?

It's all gonna come back to Christ. Well, guess what's the center of your, or the end, conclusion of your discouragement? It's Christ. Turn with me if you would to John chapter 16. Not a trick on words. It's not a trick on words, but there is a big difference in it. These things, verse 33.

These things have I spoken unto you, that in me, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. He's not calling you to overcome the world. He's calling you to rest in him who has overcome the world. But notice if you would here, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might find peace.

See, we think we find peace by our circumstances being ironed out. I'll have peace if everything would just shut off I'll have peace if they quit doing this or quit doing that. I'll have peace if this person would leave me alone. I will have peace if only all my afflictions would go away, then I would have peace.

You know, God never promised he would deliver us from all these things. Despite what the word of faith people say on TV, the Benny Hens and the Kenneth Copelands and the guys like that, Jesse Duplantis people. God has designed our discouragements, designed our disappointments, designed our afflictions. He has caused all those things that we might find peace in Him. So the conclusion of our discouragement is this, it's Christ. It's to find ourselves in Christ, to look to Christ, to hope in Christ, to trust in Christ, to wait upon Christ.

Doesn't the Bible say, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Discouragement, brethren, is temporary, but Christ's victory is eternal. The believer's hope is not improved circumstances. That's not our hope. Because once our circumstances improve, guess what? They're probably gonna go south again at some point.

What's the phrase you always use? If it ain't one thing, it's always another, right? Is that not true? If it's not one thing, it's always another. I don't know how many times I say that at work. Just as soon as I get a piece of equipment fixed, they turn around two days later and it's something else. You gotta go right back. I gotta drive all the way over there for that again? all the way over there again. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

Well, our circumstances are always gonna ebb and flow, but there's only one constant, and that's God's grace in Christ Jesus. And so we're to find our all in him. Discouragement is not an enemy to faith. It's the tool of a sovereign God. He's decreed all things. He is governing all things. and he's working all things for the good of the believer.

If I can remember what page this is. Let's see. don't mind, get your Gatsby hymn books out and turn to, you can keep leave that running, 295. I'm not going to sing this, I want to read this and I want you to read along with me to it. This is one of my favorite hymns, probably one of my most favorite hymns from John Newton. And I know you guys have heard me talk about this. We've sung this many times, but I'd like to read it because sometimes when we're singing it, we lose the depth of what it's saying.

I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace, might more of his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face. And that's something we all want, right? We all pray that. Lord, give me more faith. Give me more love, more grace. I wanna know more about you. I wanna know more of you.

"'Twas he who taught me thus to pray." That's what I was saying a while ago. The Spirit's the one who comes and brings us that prayer. "'Twas he who taught me thus to pray, and he I trust has answered prayer. But it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hope that in some favorite hour, at once he'd answer my request, but by his love's constraining power, subdued my sins and give me rest. That's a good prayer. Lord, subdue my sin, give me rest. That's a good prayer, right? Instead of this, now listen to this.

Instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart. and let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part. Yea, more with his own hand he seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair designs I schemed, blasted my gourds and laid me low. Lord, why is this? I trembling cried.

Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? "'Tis in this way, the Lord replied, "'I answer prayer for grace and faith. "'These inward trials I employ from self and pride "'to set thee free and break thy schemes of earthly joy, "'thou mayest seek thy all in me.'" Brethren, that is the ultimate end of our discouragement, is that we might seek our all in him It's for a purpose. It's God's designed purpose that we go through these.

But remember, he's not left you alone. He's always there with you. He will be there with you through all of it. He may not take those circumstances away from you, but he will be there and lead you through it. And he promised that his grace will be sufficient for you. Look to him and be like David. Whenever you're disquieted in heart, and your soul is sunk low, open God. If you want to speak to your heart like David did, just say, open God, heart, whatever you want to do, but just remind yourself that he is with us. All right. Anybody got any questions? Comments? Anything you'd like to add? Correction? Rebuke? All right. All right, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, and we thank you for your grace that you've given us in Christ Jesus. And Father, Lord, we just pray now that you'd be with us as we leave this place. Lord, these things that we've talked about this morning, they are something that each one of us experiences on a daily basis, more than likely. But Father, we look to your word, which is true, and which cannot fall, which cannot fail, And we trust in you that even though we are brought through these things by your sovereign almighty hand, that you're promising to be with us, to lead us through it. And Lord, we just thank you for your grace and your mercy. We thank you for what is learned and comes to us through these situations in these times. Lord, help us whenever we are going through there, especially whenever we and sin, look to ourselves and think that we can do something of our own, or even worse yet, Lord, that we despise you for what we're going through. Lord, may you help us to have the right mind and heart and attitude as we go through these times that you have appointed unto us.

Lord, you tell us in your word and Ecclesiastes that there's a time and a season for everything. And that each one of those times and seasons are appointed by you and for your purpose. And we know that there can't be anything greater than your purpose.

So Lord, help us to learn that, help us to live in that. And brethren, I just pray for all these brothers and sisters that are here today. Lord, all of us who are going through these things, that you might comfort them in it, strengthen them in it. And Lord, that you might remind them of your presence with them as they go through these things. For it's in your name that we pray, amen.