Turn back to Psalm 13. I just love to read in the Scripture
those instances of boldness and resolve where the Lord's people,
where He gives them grace to just do those amazing and wonderful
things. I believe it's Psalm 119. In Psalm 121, David said, I'll
lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My
help cometh from the Lord. He made heaven and earth. He'll
not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel. Who's he talking about
there? He's talking about us. He's talking
about spiritual Israel. He's talking about me and you.
He that keepeth Israel. He'll neither slumber nor sleep.
Isn't that something? Isn't that something? He's always
awake. He's always aware of us. He's always alert to our every
need. Another time, David was out there. He had been sent by
his father to bring some food to his brothers who were away
in Saul's service in the battle against the Philistines. And
they met in that valley there in that great battle. And the
Philistines had that giant Goliath down there Many days he went
down into the valley and shouted those obscenities and shouted
those derogatory things about the God of Israel. And all the
men were afraid. Nobody would go down there and
face that man. David came. Here he is, a 20-year-old boy.
Here David rides up, you know, and he's got some cheese and
some bread from his father's house. He hears this. And he
said, what are you all doing standing around here? Do you
hear what he's saying about our God? Do you hear that? This is
men that have been in the battle. This is warriors, professional
soldiers. They face death day after day.
And they're cowing back in fear. David said, is there not a cause?
I'll go down there. And old Saul took his armor,
probably weighed as much as David did. David was probably about
a 140 pound young man. He said, I don't need that stuff.
Some will go in the power of our God. And he went down there
and slew that giant. Isn't that just so uplifting
and encouraging that the Lord does that with men? You know,
I've read that story of Martin Luther. I love that. In the height
of the Reformation when Roman Catholicism held the whole world
under its boot. Persecution, death to anyone
that didn't believe the way they believed. And Martin Luther walked
right up to the door of that monastery and he nailed them
95 feces to that door. It's what I believe. It's what
I believe. I believe everything that I know
and ever hope to know about God, it's in the Holy Scriptures.
It's in His Word. If it's don't say it, then don't
believe it. Don't preach it. Don't teach it. It's what I believe. The Scriptures alone. Nothing
else. How's man saved? Grace alone. No other way. No
other way. Grace alone. How is man saved? Through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. No other way. It's like Frank
was talking about in his Sunday school lesson. No other way.
No other way. And he nailed that up there.
And they arrested him and put him in jail and called him up
before that council. And they said, you're going to
take that down and you're going to recant everything you said.
He said, I will not. He said, I will not. I'll not
do that. Here I stand. Here I stand. I can do nothing else. Isn't
that just great? You mean God would give somebody
that boldness? He gives it to us. He gives it
to us. When He's pleased to, we have
that boldness. Isn't there just times on that mountaintop when
you just think, Lord, come and take me right now. I'm ready,
willing, and by Your grace, I'm able to go. Just strong in the
faith. Just bold. But then there's other
times, like here in Psalm 13. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful
that these portions are in God's work. God presents His people
to us with all the bruises and sores and blemishes and scars
that we live in here in this world below. And here's David. Here's David in chapter 13 of
Psalm. We don't know what his trouble is. We don't know what's
going on in David's world. And if we've never been put in
a place to use language like David uses here, will you listen
anyhow? It may be. It most probably will
be. No, it absolutely will be. that there'll be a time that
he'll bring us into this place. He'll bring us into the valley
of trouble and pain and sorrow and weakness. David may have been fleeing Saul.
You think about this for a minute. God sent the prophet down there
to anoint his king. The people had chosen a king,
old Saul, you know, because of just his physical appearance.
Saul stood head and shoulders against everybody else in the
area. Six foot six. Shoulders this big. Just an impressive
looking man. Surely this is the other kings
around us. There ain't nothing like this
fella. God said, that's not my king. That's your king. And you're looking at all the
wrong places. I'm going to send a prophet down there and anoint
my king. And he goes down there and David's
got a whole house full of brothers, every one of them big, strong,
powerful looking, athletic, strong. Every one of them marches before
that prophet. God never spoke a word. He said, is this all
the sons you've got, Jesse? Oh, he said, I've got another
one. He said, he's the youngest one. It ain't much to him. He's pretty thin, pretty frail.
He's not impressive at all. He's got red hair, you know.
Nobody would follow somebody like that, you know. Jesse said,
go get him. Go fetch him. Bring him in here. And he brought
David in. He walked in the door. God spoke
to the prophet and said, that's him. That's him right there.
You rise and anoint my king. And then he goes there and serves
in the palace with Saul, you know. And he's not very long
there until Saul decides to kill him. He's afraid of him. He's jealous of him, you know.
And David, he's on the run. And he goes out there and some
men follow him. They're living out there in caves. Is this what
the prophet meant? He said, you're going to be king
of Israel? Is this what he meant? Here I
am out here. I don't even have anything to
eat. I go up here and ask this. A fellow named Nabal. Can you
spare some food for me and my men? Nabal said, I don't know
you. There are many men that have
run away from their masters nowadays. He said, I don't know. I'm not
going to take mine, what I've given, what I've got, what I
have in my possessions, this that I've worked for. I'm not
going to take it and give it to you. There David is up there in hiding,
you know. He may have penned this at that
time. He may have pandered when he was fleeing from his son.
Can you imagine what a burden that would have been? Can you
imagine the heartache that David was under? His own son kicked
him off the throne, assumed the throne. Think about the time
when he saw that other man's wife. And he had her brought
to his home, you know, spent the night with her. She'd become
pregnant. Her husband was away in battle.
He comes home, and he won't even go in with his wife. He said,
I can't do that. I've got men dying out there
in the battle, in the field. I can't come home and do anything
like that. And he slept right there at the
door, you know. David knew he was in a mess now. How's he going
to cover his tracks, you know? So he sent him up there to the
front of the battle. Tells them all to pull back. He has that
man killed. That faithful servant of David's.
He has him killed. Can you imagine the grief? Can
you imagine? You know, the passion of the moment has passed. And
that cold, hard reality of what we've done, it sets in. Can you
imagine what David's gone through? He may have wrote it then. He
may have wrote it then. He may have written it after
the death of that child. That child that was conceived
wicked act of David and Bathsheba. That child died when he was seven
days old. He may have been in the valley deep enough there
to write this song. But we don't know the occasion.
And I say that David used this many, many, many times. I say
David was in a situation where he wept and cried and pleaded
to the Lord many times. Let's look at this just for a
few minutes. He begins this and he says, How long wilt thou forget
me, O Lord? Forever? Forever? I want to be very careful here not to beat up on David. Not
to beat up on David. Have you ever felt this way?
Oh, don't answer. Don't raise your hand. But you
examine your own heart. Have you ever felt this way?
Lord, are you clean going? Do you see what's happening here?
Do you see what's going on here in my world? I'm at my wits end.
I don't know which way to turn. I cry all night long. Have you forgotten me? Are you
aware of this? How long will you hide your face
from me? How long will you hide your face from me? Have you ever
experienced anything like this? Someone near and dear and close
and there's that rupture. There's that schism that develops. There's that thing that's said. There's that harshness and coldness
and that quick smile. They look away now. They don't
communicate with you anymore. They don't speak to you. They
don't seek you out. Call you and say, how you doing?
What kind of day you having? And that's bad enough in itself.
But David in his heart, he says, Lord, have you hidden your face
from me? I can't see you. I can't see
you. I don't hear that still, small
voice speaking in my heart. You remember that Elijah was
out there, and he had faced down 450 prophets of Baal, you know?
That's another story of boldness. Isn't that something? Wouldn't
you like to identify with him? Here he stands up there on that
Mount Carmel, I'll tell you. He stands up there, and here's
the enemy out there. Here's Elijah, all by himself. Here stands the enemy. 450 of
them. Man, I'm telling you, Elijah's dressed in a... He's just got
a robe draped over him and a leather girdle about his waist. He looks
like he's right out of the woods. His hair is long, beard, black
hair. He looks like a mountain man.
Over here stands the enemy. Every one of them's got a $500
robe on, gold and silver and purple and blue and hats. Man, they're impressive looking.
They're impressive looking. And he said, you've prepared
two orders. You put your sacrifice on one
and I'll put mine on the other. And he said, pray to your gods.
And they did. They prayed. Man, can you imagine what a...
I watched some of this foolishness on TV. Man, it's just a... It's
wild. I mean, it's wild. All they need
is some popcorn and some refreshments. It's a show. I mean, it's a show. And they've done all that. They
jumped and danced and cut themselves and screamed and rolled on the
ground. Elijah stood there and watched all this. He must be
asleep. Or he's traveling. He's in a
far country. You're going to have to make
more commotion. And it really fired him up. And
this went on for hours. And nothing happened. And then
finally, Elijah stood forth and he prayed that prayer. Sixty-three
words. Lord, let it be known this day. You're God in Israel. And I'm your servant. And the
fire fell and consumed everything. He even licked up the water around
that altar. And then he ran. And then the
next thing we see, Elijah's fleeing from Jezebel. She said, I'm going
to kill him. And here he flees. Can you imagine? I can. I can
easily imagine. I know me. And there he is out
there in the wilderness hiding in a cave. And the Lord passed
by in an earthquake and shook that place. Passed by in the
wind, fire, all that physical, impressive looking display. Nothing.
Nothing. And then Elijah, there he sits.
Sits there in the mouth of that cave. And the Lord spoke to him
in a still, small voice. Elijah, what are you doing? What
are you doing here, Elijah? He said, I'm the only one left.
He said, no, you're not. I've got a whole bunch of them
back there that hadn't bowed to Baal. Now you go back and preach
to them. You go back and tell them what I said. Well, that's
what's going on here with David. David, this is a bold warrior. This is a soldier. This is a
valiant man. But not here. And I'm so thankful
that God puts this in His Word for people like me. Sometimes
when I don't, I feel like He's forgotten me. Sometimes when
I don't see His face, I don't hear that still, small voice.
I read His Word and it's just words on paper. When them nuggets
don't roll out there in front of you, you know. When they don't
grab your attention and say, boy, look at that. That's always
been there. Now it looks like them letters
are three inches high. Now I see. There's times when
that don't happen. And I'm guilty of this. I hope
none of you are. But he says, how long will you
forget me? Forget? The Lord forget His people? The
Lord forget His people? How long will you hide your face
from me? Hide your face? The Lord hide
His face from His people? Turn His back on His people?
It can't happen. It can't happen. He may be pleased
to put us in a time of trouble for a purpose, to teach us something,
to show us something, but He's not going to forget His people.
He's not going to forget His people. He goes on here in verse
2 as David progresses through this sorrow in his heart, He
said, how long shall I take counsel in my soul? Have you ever done
that? Have you ever been in an awful
situation, a heartbreaking situation, a sorrowful situation, a painful
situation, and you take counsel in your own heart? I think I'll
do this. I think this will work if I do
this. Take counsel in my own heart. I'll figure this out on
my own. I'll figure this out on my own. I've got sorrow in my heart daily.
This thing has gone on and on and on. You get up in the morning
and you have this trial, and by noon it's gone. This goes
on and on. Like that man laying there at
the pool in Bethesda. That man that couldn't walk.
He didn't have anybody to take care of him. He laid there by
that pool. He'd been in that mess. He'd
been in that situation for 38 years. 38 years! Do you think the Lord always
intended to recover that man? Do you believe that? Do you believe
before the Lord created the heavens and the earth that He determined
that in His good pleasure and in His time, He'd raise that
man up from that bed of sickness? We all believe that, don't we? Yet the Lord left him in that
situation for 38 years. The woman with the issue of blood,
do you think He always intended on that dusty road with that
crowd around Him? Do you think He always knew that
there was going to be a time when she would reach through
that crowd and touch the hem of His garment? And immediately
He said, virtue has gone out of me. Do you think He always
knew that? I'm confident as I'm standing
here. He always knew that. He always had His eye on that
woman with the issue of blood. Yet He left her that way for
twelve years. Not only did He leave her that way for twelve
years, everything she had, She had inherited the family farm.
Her husband had died and left his Social Security and his pension. She was living pretty good. And then she used all of it up. She had to sell the house. Spent
every penny she had on doctors that didn't help her, made her
actually worse. Twelve years she was in that shape. And then
the Lord passed by and He saved her. David knew this, like I
know this. Nothing happens to the Lord's
people. All things work together for
good. Don't we believe that? All things. Not all good things. All great things. All prosperous
things. All happy and healthy things.
All things work together for good to them who love God. To
them who are called according to His purpose. That's one of
the foundation stones where we differ from the rest of the world.
We believe that. We believe God's sovereign. He's
sovereign in providence and does whatsoever He will with His people. Like He did with Job. Like He
did with Job. And yet, Dave is here saying,
I'm trying to work my way out of this here. I'm taking counsel
in my own soul. And I've got this trouble every
day. It just doesn't go away. How
long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? David's feeling pretty sorry
for himself here. I believe the Lord's forgotten
me. He's hiding His face from me. I've done everything I know
to do to work out of this situation. And it just keeps going on and
on and on. And my enemies are triumphing
over me. It looks like the Lord's just
given me up to them, you know. He's just for a pitiful me, you
know. It's a mess I'm in. I don't know
what to do. But look here in verse 3. This is where the tide
begins to turn, so to speak. David now, he's not dealing with
himself. He's not whining and crying. Like Frank read there, play the
man. David's now beginning to play
the man. Man up here, David. Okay. It's like the Lord just
grabbed him and gave him a good shaking. Are you hearing what
you're saying, David? You hear what you're saying about
me, David? He just gets his attention. And now David said, oh, this
is on the right track now. Now David is beginning to get
on the right track. Look at that. Consider and hear me. Oh, there's
where it's at. At these times of trouble and
sorrow. Don't go to your neighbor. Don't
go to a family member. You go to Him. You go to Him. Lord, consider and hear me. Lighten
mine eyes. What does that mean? Lighten
mine eyes. Restore my faith. Give me that faith that You once
gave me in Yourself. Give me that revelation of Yourself
when I saw You high and lifted up. When I saw You in Your majesty
and Your power. When I saw You as my sacrifice
on the cross. When I saw you ascended to the
heavens, seated at the right hand of your heavenly Father,
always living to make intercession for me, give me that again. Give
me that again. Lighten mine eyes. Lighten mine
eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. What's that mean? Lest
I sleep the sleep of death. We're all going to sleep the
sleep of death, unless the Lord is pleased to return and cause
us to meet Him in the air at His return. But this, lest I
sleep the sleep of death, David's saying, I'm scared to die. I believe we shouldn't be scared
to die. Have you ever been scared to die? Have you ever, in the
middle of the night, you wake up and it's just... John quoted that, I think it's
John Newton. Do I love the Lord? Do I love
the Lord or not? Am I His or am I not? The Lord
decides this doubtful case. Thou who art Thy people's Son,
shine upon this work of grace, if it be indeed begun. Let me
love Thee more and more if I have loved at all. Thou have not loved. Help me to begin right now, today. Do you ever feel that way? Do
you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like, goodness
sakes, if the Lord removes me right now, I don't know. I don't
know. I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid
to face Him. His blood may not be shed for
me. Well, that's what he's praying here. He's just opening his heart
up to the Lord. Lest mine enemies say I prevailed
against Him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I move. Who's
our enemy? Well, certainly sin. Our sin's
our enemy. Lord, don't let my sin prevail
against me. Don't turn me loose and let me
run amuck here in the way that I would go. My sin. Don't let me enter into that.
on a regular basis. Satan is our enemy. We've seen
that already from Job. What have you been doing, Satan?
Been up and down in the earth, walking to and fro in it, seeking
whom I may devour. Satan has always got his eye
on the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the believers are
always a target for Satan, whatever he can do to entangle us and
ensnare us. David's saying, I don't want
my enemy to say they've prevailed over me. Well, what about the
world? The world's our enemy. One of
those old writers said, the world is a bride beautifully adorned. Boy, I tell you what, it has
an allure. The world has an allure. It's
a bride beautifully adorned. But if you take her to watch,
you give up your everlasting soul. It's our enemy. It's our enemy. The lust of the
things around us, the desire to have those things and to grasp
them and to keep them and to beauty and youth. It's amazing the amount of money
that the average person spends on keeping this old body looking
young. Keeping this old body looking
young. It's amazing. They publish it sometimes. keeping
it thin, keeping it fit, keeping it pretty, keeping the wrinkles
off the face. Oh my goodness. And I'm not saying,
I'm certainly not saying don't attempt to look as good as we
can do. I'm not saying that. I wish some
of those things had an effect on me. But what I'm saying is
don't make that your whole life. Don't grab the world and say
I'm going to have all of the things of this life. I'm going
to have the biggest bank account. Don't do that. Don't do that.
We had an acquaintance, a fellow that was very wealthy. Very,
very wealthy. And he determined, after he died,
that he would do this and this with his money. And I knew him
pretty darn well. I talked to him. And finally,
once I told him, I said, if you want this money to go, if you've
got an idea of where you want it to go, you do it right now.
You take care of it right now. Don't rely on somebody else to
do it after you're gone. You do it right now." Well, he
didn't do it. And after he was gone, it never
went where he intended it to go. He just couldn't do it. He just couldn't turn loose of
it and say, here, take it and enjoy it. You know, it's the
summing of sunset years here. If I've got something to give
to you, I'll give it to you right now. Because there's not going
to be many more sunrises. But don't get enamored with the
things of this world. Don't build your life around
them. Don't build your life around
them. David has begun this by complaining and groaning and
moaning and questioning and doubting. And then now the tide has turned.
And he said, Lord, do something for me. Save me, Lord, or else
I perish. I'm going to sleep the sleep
of death. Lord, do something for me. Recover
my eyes. Give me that faith. Cause me
to rest in Christ and hope in Him. Do those things for me.
And I can't go any farther here until we look at our Lord Jesus
Christ. How long wilt thou forget me,
O Lord? Forever? David uttered that.
Have you ever heard anything like that before? Have you ever
heard the Lord hanging on the cross saying, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? The Lord was arrested in the
garden and they took Him to Pilate's hall, back and forth between
the high priest and Pilate, and they beat Him. John just painted
the picture here a week or so ago. No man's visage was marred
more than our Lord. He told the story about Job and
the old writers say that them bulls that was on Job was right
on top of one another. It wasn't one here on his shoulder
and one on his back and one on his ankle. They were right there
clustered together all over his whole body. From the bottom of
his foot to the top of his head. He couldn't stand up and he couldn't
stand on his head and get any relief. It's next to one another. And yet the Word of God says
no man's visage was marred more than the Lord Jesus Christ. When
they beat him, his face swelled where there wasn't anything but
slits for his eyes. He didn't say a word. They pressed
that crown of thorn down on his head. He didn't say a word. They
plucked his beard, spit in his face and took their fist and
beat him. He didn't say a word. He didn't say a word. They took
him and laid him down after they stripped his clothes naked. They
laid him down on that cross and they took a big hammer and a
spike and threw his hands and his feet. He didn't say a word.
And they went out there and dropped him in that hole on that cross
and there he hung between heaven and earth. Between two thieves,
like a common criminal. And the crowd all around him
laughing at him. He saved others. He didn't save
himself. You come down from that cross,
we'll believe you. We'll believe you." And they laughed at him,
scorned and shot out their lips. And he didn't say a word. And
this went on for a period of time. And then finally, listen
to this. Finally, he speaks the first
thing from the cross. And what is that word? All that
had happened to him. Nobody's ever suffered like that.
I've never suffered anything like that, nor will I ever suffer
anything like that. And he didn't say a word. He
didn't complain. He didn't moan and groan and whine. And the
first thing he spoke from the cross, the very first thing,
he looked around at that crowd laughing at him, jeering at him.
He said, Father, forgive them. Forgive them. They don't know
what they're doing. They don't know what they're
doing. The second word he spoke, the second word he spoke, those
two thieves were laughing at him too, ridiculing him, mocking
him, making fun of him. And then he'd done a work of
hanging there on the cross. He'd done a work of grace in
this old boy's heart. And that fellow finally turned
to him and he said, Lord, you're coming into a kingdom. I'm a
criminal. I'm a murderer. I'm getting exactly
where I should be. Do you know anything about that?
I'm getting what I deserve. But Lord, is it possible? Is there any possibility that
you could remember me when you come and you keep me? Isn't that
something? And the second word he spoke,
Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. And then the third
thing he spoke was that word of comfort to his earthly mother. Evidently, Joseph was already
dead. This woman that had nurtured him and taken care of him and
fed him and doctored him back to health when he was out of
cold and kept his clothes ironed and all that for him. And here
he is leaving. And he said, Woman, behold thy son. behold thy mother. And he entrusts her to that dear
disciple of his, John. And from that day, he took her
to his house. And then there's darkness. Darkness covers the
earth for three hours. And I can't even, in my wildest
imagination, I can't imagine what happened in them three hours
of darkness. In them three hours when he was turned over to all
the demons and devils of hell. And all the agony, the soul agony
and the accusations and all that that went on in that darkness.
And then at the end of that darkness, this is the greatest, greatest
trial of all. And he cried out from the cross,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? He knew something about this. We don't know anything about
it. And I hope for the grace to, when the Lord puts me in
the deep valley, When He puts me into a place of sorrow or
sickness or pain or suffering, I hope I'm not a whiner. Yet
I'm sure I will be. Lord, have You forgotten me?
No. He's not going to forget us because He endured to the
nth degree. He endured that to the nth degree,
the separation from His Heavenly Father. And He did that for me
and you. It ought to encourage us to say, Oh Lord, Oh Lord,
I'm ashamed of how unthankful I am, how ungrateful I am for
all that You've done for me. You have experienced the ultimate
separation from the Father. And You did it all for me. You
did it all for me. The Father couldn't look on Him
because He had my sin on Him. I don't understand. I don't begin
to understand any of that. But I just know because of who
He is and what He did on that cross. I know that He died in
my room instead with my sin on Him, my shame and guilt. And He put it away, far as the
east is from the west. He put it away. And He suffered
at the hands of His heavenly Father. And the heavenly Father
turned His back on Him. And He'll never, ever turn His
back on His people. Now let's go back to Psalm 13.
Now listen to this. You see David going through this.
David starts out. Like all of us, just poor, pitiful
me. What in the world is going on
here with me? Lord, You said You'd never leave
me or forsake me. Lord, You said You'd go with
me to the end. Lord, You said You'd carry me
on Your back like that little sheep. You'll carry me in Your
arms. You'll take me and present me to the Father wholly and unblameable
and unreprovable. I don't see Your face. I don't
hear Your voice. Have You forgotten me? Lord,
do you know what I'm going through here? But then finally, he comes
to himself. Like that demoniac. Do you remember
that? The Lord goes there to the land of the Gadarene. That
fellow is nuts. He's plumbed out of his mind.
And the Lord crosses his path. And the people come out to see
this thing. And here sits this man. Here
sits this man. His hair is combed. He's had
a bath. He's got clothes on. And here's
the main thing. He's in his right mind. David
finally, finally, by the grace of God, he's in his right mind.
And he begins to pray, Lord, consider and hear me. Oh, Lord,
my God. Now, verse 5, this thing comes
to its complete circle. David's way out there and wrong.
And then he comes around, the Lord brings him around, and David
says, I've trusted in thy mercy. Lord, I've trusted in your mercy.
We know something about that, don't we? Haven't we trusted? Haven't we been given faith in
Christ? Isn't He our all and in all? Isn't He that One that
there's no hope in anywhere else except in the Lord Jesus Christ?
We have that. Now listen, this thing starts
out, whatever's going on in David's world, he's in a mess. I mean,
he's hurting. He's weeping. Sorrowful. It's
still going on. It's still going on here in verse
5. It hasn't been taken away. And no mention that the Lord
removed whatever it was. He's still in that same trouble.
And yet now he says, instead of saying, Lord, have you forgotten
me? Now he says, I've trusted in Your mercy. Isn't that good?
Isn't that encouraging? That in these times of trouble,
the Lord will, oh, He may allow us to say those unseemly things,
but we won't keep saying them. And He'll bring us back to that
that we've always looked to. Him. His mercy. I've trusted
in Your mercy. And my heart shall rejoice in
Thy salvation." That's what it's all about. Thy salvation. He
loved me in eternity past. He came in that point in time.
He obeyed the law. Satisfied the justice of our
Heavenly Father. He faced Satan and defeated him.
He went to the cross and purged our sin. That's what my heart rejoices
in. His salvation for me. A wretch like me. Al, listen
to this. I'll sing. I'll sing unto the
Lord my God. It sure ends a lot different
than it started, doesn't it? He starts out complaining and
moaning and groaning about the situation he's in. And now it's
still going on, whatever it is. But he said, I'm going to sing.
I'm going to sing unto the Lord. Can't we all say this? Oh, he's
dealt bounds. Hadn't He dealt bountifully with
us? Plucked us from the burning. Gave His faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, I hope that's a blessing. And I hope the Lord will be pleased
to bless that to my heart that if He hasn't visited us in a
time of trouble yet, you pay attention. Because He will. He will. Some of us know something
about it, and all of us will know something about it before
he's pleased to come and gathers to himself. All right. I've asked
Brother Mike to dismiss us with how great thou art.