Would you turn back to Psalm
39? Psalm 39, we've already read
the psalm. But I want to look again at verse
7. Verse 7, that's our text. First you have a question, we'll
consider the question. And now Lord, what wait I for? And then the answer, the blessed
answer. My hope is in thee." David seems
to have been in a trial of some sort when he penned this psalm. What the particular occasion
was of his conflict, we really don't know. It doesn't tell us.
As he wrote in another psalm, Psalm 34, he said, many are the
afflictions of the righteous. Many. David's psalms are full
of joy, but more often than not, they're full of sorrow and pain.
He was a man. He was a man. He wasn't no different
than you and I. Yes, he was a man after God's
own heart, but he was still a man, as he said in this psalm, and
every man, no exceptions, not even to a believer, at his very
best state or altogether vanity. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, not a few, Not just rarely, or not just occasionally,
but many and often. The Lord told his disciples,
in the world you'll have tribulation. How long? As long as you're in
the world. How often? As long as we're in
the world. But the verse we read didn't
end with that note. Psalm 34 again, verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, But, but, the Lord delivers him out of them all. Perhaps, we can only guess, perhaps
it was the death of a dear friend, or a relation, or a relative,
which was the cause of David's trial. And that perhaps suggested
to him, caused him to meditate about his own mortality. Look
what he says in verse four again. make me to know mine end, not
everybody else's but my own, in the measure of my own days,
what it is that I may know how frail I am." John Flavel, an
old Puritan, many years ago, you have a quote by him in your
bulletin just above the daily readings, but here's another
one by him. He wrote this, he said, the candle
of your life is almost burned down. Hmm. Do we think enough
about that? The candle of your life is almost
burned down. The hourglass of time is almost
run out. It's almost empty. Almost empty. We talk about running on empty.
We're running on empty. Yet, a few, a very few days and
nights more and then time Nights and days shall be no more. And again, perhaps the reason
for David's temptation and trial that he expresses here in this
psalm, as he does many others, had to do with his enemies. He
had many enemies. Oh, how they watched him, like
they did the son of David after him, to try to catch him in his
words that they might have something to accuse him for. David, after
considering these things, after having looked below and finding that there's no sure
hope in the world, not lasting, not lasting. Our Lord told the
woman at the well, and again, only God can teach a man this.
Only God can make a man thirsty. Only God can make him unsatisfied
with this world, but our Lord told that woman at the well,
drink of this water and you'll thirst again. You'll thirst again. Drink of the water that I shall
give you, and you shall never thirst again." David, looking
around at the wells of this world, turns his eyes away from that,
away from down here, away from self, away from all others, away
from things, away from material riches. He lifts his eyes from
those things, those material things, and he looks above. Oh, now he's back on track, isn't
he? He looks above, and whence cometh
his help? He turns his eyes where his real
hope is, God. God, my hope is in thee. When David answered his own question,
that's what he said, didn't he? What am I waiting for? Is my
hope any different than these others that I look at? These
people that live for the world, whose heart is in the world.
Am I no better than that? What's my hope? What am I waiting
for? And David said triumphantly,
by God's grace, he says, my hope's in thee. My hope's in thee. My hope is built on nothing less,
nothing else, nothing more than Jesus' blood and righteousness,
and that's a good hope, and we'll talk about that in a moment.
Psalm 121, David again repeats himself as he does often in his
psalms. I will lift up my eyes. Yes,
he talked about his sorrow. He talked about his trials. He
talked about temptation, but he didn't stay there by God's
grace. He lifted his eyes up and said,
I will lift up mine eyes into the hills, for whence cometh
my help? My help cometh from the Lord,
the Lord God Almighty, the everlasting God. which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Isn't that a sweet thought? While
we rest, our Lord never does. While we lay down and sleep,
the faithful shepherd is always watching over his sheep. He never
slumbers. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. Every believer's hope rests on
an unchanging An unchanging God. Yes, we live in uncertain times,
but our trust is in our God who has a certain purpose. He still
does. He has a certain purpose for
a certain people. His people. Oh, who are those
blessed people? Those that he's loved with an
everlasting love. Those for whom he sent his son.
those his son laid down his life for, those his son interceded
for when he said, Father, those that you gave me, those that
you gave me before the foundation of the world, those you put into
my hands and I became responsible for, I want them with me where
I am. Oh, thank God. When you think
about, I heard Bobby mention it, dear, Dear husband Les, who's
now in glory, how she misses him. Of course she does. Oh,
but when you think, Bobby, where he's at now and who he's with
now. He doesn't no longer behold you,
but he beholds the face of that one who loved him with an everlasting
love. Every believer rests there on
an unchanging God, a God with a certain people, a certain purpose,
with a certain outcome. To be with his son forever, I
am the Lord, he said, I change not. A child of God is waiting
for Jesus Christ himself to appear. People talk about signs and wonders
and this and that. Oh, as Don used to say, we're
standing on the tiptoe of faith looking for who? Looking for
him that shall appear to take us home to be with him forever.
Oh, we're looking for Christ. Either at death he'll come for
us, or perhaps that day he'll come and we'll still be living.
Many will be. And we shall be changed and be
caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.
What a glorious homecoming. How thankful to the God of all
grace. I love that expression. Isn't
that from 1 Peter 5? Now the God of all grace. Not
some grace, all grace. Sufficient grace. that's able
to keep you from falling, the God of all grace, after that
you've suffered a while. Settle you down. Calm you down. Give you peace. Just rest easy. Rest easy. God's still on the
throne. Things aren't out of control,
not God's control. Oh, how thankful to the God of
all grace that sinner must be who's waiting and watching for
Christ because his hope is in him. Hymn writer said, change
and decay all around I see. Hmm, isn't that the truth? Oh, but thou who changes not,
abide with me. This is what Paul wrote in Colossians
3. If ye then be risen with Christ,
try to get all of this world that you can get. Oh, no, no,
no. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ setteth. on the right hand of God. Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For
you're dead, and your life is here with Christ in God. When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him in glory. Verse 7 again of our text, the
question, O now, Lord, what wait I for? What do I look for? expect in this view of things
as they really are. Not long life, I don't look for
that, since the days of man are so short, and his ages as nothing
before thee. I don't look for help from man,
he's frail, since he's altogether vanity. I don't look for riches
and honor, since they're poor, such poor, fleeting, fading,
perishing things. Oh, but I look for the glories
of another world, and the enjoyment of the Lord himself, both in
this life Blessed art thou, Simon, my children. Don't forget that. In this life and that which is
to come, now, Lord, what wait I for? What is there in these
shadows to entice me? Why should I linger where the
prospect is so uninviting and the present is so trying? It
were worse than vanity to linger in the abodes of sorrow to gain
an heritage of emptiness. Turn it loose, hold it with a
very loose hand. The psalmist, therefore, turns
to his God in disgust of all things else. He has a thought
on the world and all things in it and is relieved by knowing
that such vain things are all passing away. Now, Lord, what
wait I for? What's my expectation? Where
is my confidence? To whom shall I look? He'd already
confessed along with every other man that he didn't exclude himself.
We're all vanity. I am nothing. The world's nothing. All earthly sources of confidence
and consolation, they all sooner or later shall fail. What wait
I for? In life, in soon approaching death, in
a dying world, in a certain coming judgment, in an eternity at hand,
What is it that I need most? What can prepare me to stand
before God? How can I be just with God? Lord, what wait I for? Am I waiting
to stand before God, trusting in the labors of my own hands? Oh, my soul. Am I waiting like
those poor souls that Paul spoke of in Romans 10, those his heart
was heavy for? Am I waiting like those poor
souls to stand before God, having a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge? God said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and therefore going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God, and this will be their end, Christ said, in that day.
Many shall stand before me saying, Lord, Lord, did we not do thus
and thus and thus and thus? Fully persuaded that they'll
hear him say, enter in. And he'll say, oh, can you imagine
the horror in that moment when they hear him say, the judge
of all the earth say, depart from me. I profess unto you,
I never knew you. They profess to know him, but
he says, no, no, no, that cannot be because I never knew you. Oh, once we're his. We're his
forever. The child of God shall never
glory to his name. They'll never hear those words.
I never knew you. Oh, he's always known us. He
knew us before the world was created. He knew us by being
chosen in him before the world began. He knew us when he laid
down his life for us. He knew us when he prayed. He
knows us now. And when we stand before him
in glory, he will yet acknowledge us and say, enter into the joy.
Come on, welcome home. Oh, welcome home, Larry Chris.
All this is for you. Oh yes, my hope is in thee. Oh Lord, what wait I for? Am
I like that rich fool? God forbid, who was waiting to
build bigger barns. Remember our Lord spoke that
parable to those who trusted in their riches. He said there
was a man, rich man, who had Much goods laid up, and he said
to himself, what am I going to do? Never crossed his mind to
share it with the poor. Oh, no, no, no. Never crossed
his mind, what shall I do with what I have? I have more than
I shall ever need. What can I do for the glory of
God with what he has entrusted into my hands? That thought never
crossed his mind. What shall I do? Oh, this is
what I'll do. I've got so much that I'll build
bigger barns. I'll store it up. I'll save it.
I'm gonna kick back, I'm gonna get in my lazy boy Billy and
I'm just gonna kick back and I'm gonna say to my soul, soul,
take your ease, eat, drink and be merry, cause you've got much
good laid up for many, many years. And the Lord God spoke that night
and said, you're a fool. You're a fool. This night, this
night, oh how frail I am. Oh, how rare, how short, how
brief my life is. It's a vapor, James said. And
the Lord said, thou fool, this night, this night, oh, what a
solemn thought, this night, thy soul shall be required of thee.
Now God will do that. Oh, he'll do it multiply times.
This night, this day, God shall speak such words concerning multitudes
and say, this night, thy soul shall be required of thee. Then,
then, then who shall those things be that you've laid up in store,
that you've provided? What difference will they make?
Oh, but that one, that one the Lord taught that anyone rather
who acts that way also is a fool. Our Lord made application of
his parable when he said, so is he, so is he that layeth up
treasury for himself and is not rich toward God. I saw an article
by Brother John Chapman in several bulletins over the last few weeks. Brother John, he pastors up in
Spring Lake, North Carolina, where Brother Rupert Reidenbach
was pastored. But it was called, one day everyone
will be penniless. One day everyone will be penniless.
Robert, you may have sent this to me, but it said that we live
in a very wealthy country. Many kings have not had the riches
that we have. However, someday every person,
even the richest in the world, will be penniless the second
they die. Can't take anything with you.
Naked you came into the world, naked sure you return. However,
John wrote, however, when the day comes for believers to die,
the only thing that will matter is their relationship to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's all that'll matter. That
was the answer to David's question, that he asked himself, Lord,
what do I wait for? My hope is in thee. The wise
man said, Solomon, riches, riches and honor are with me, yea, durable
riches and righteousness, if we have him, if we're found in
him, we have true riches, everlasting riches, riches that fade not
away, treasure in heaven that can't corrupt, that can't be
stolen, that can't rust, that can never perish, riches of God's
saving grace. And here's the answer of the
believer. Here's David's answer. Lord,
what wait I for? My hope is in thee." That's the
answer of every believer. The psalmist now returns to himself. He comes to his right mind, so
to speak. He seemed to be adrift for a
while, but oh, now he's in safe anchor. He returns to the right
way of judging and acting, making the Lord the object of his hope
and trust, expecting all things. grace and glory, alone from him
is God. And this is the hope which makes
us not ashamed." Here the psalmist steps off the sand. All these
things he mentioned before, himself, man, vanity, frailty, fleeting,
perishing, clay, all that sand, all that sinking sand, but he
steps off now. He lifts his eyes to heaven and
he says, my hope is in thee. He puts his feet up on the rock.
the rock of ages, Christ himself, my hope is in thee, that is the
Lord, the self-existing, everlasting one, the true and mighty God,
worthy of the confidence of men, he will live when all creatures
die. I am the Lord, I change not,
I live forever, and his fullness will abide when all second causes
are exhausted. To him, therefore, let us direct
our expectations. And on him let us rest our confidence,
away from the sand to the rock, that all wise builders turn themselves,
if not today, yet surely, surely. Every believer that's been a
believer for any time at all soon learns there will be a time
when a storm will arise before which nothing will be able to
stand but that which is built upon the rock. Yes, the winds
come to the child of God, The storms come, the waves beat,
all but they're built upon that foundation that God's laid and
not man, the Lord Jesus Christ and every child of God that's
fallen down on him, that's resting on him, shall never be washed
off, shall never perish. Robert Hawker said this, he said,
oh how blessed it is to set loose and detach from all things here
below, that we may have our conversation in heaven, that while going home
to our Father's house, we may use the world as not abusing
it, knowing that the fashion of it passes away. And like the
patriarchs, may be always on the lookout for that city which
has foundations, everlasting foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. He has prepared for them a city."
We are going to a city. where the roses never fade, how
thankful to the God of all grace that sinner must be who's waiting
and watching for Christ Jesus himself because his hope is in
him. I want to mention several things,
and we'll be brief. The first will be taken from
2 Thessalonians 2. If my hope is in him, then it's
a good hope. It's a good hope. It'll be good
today, tomorrow. It'll be good while I live. It
will be good when I die. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 16. If my hope is in him, it's a
good hope. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace. Because it's a hope that rests
on God's free grace makes it a good hope. Not man's free will,
so to speak, so-called. Not man's works. Not man's merit. Not man's worth. Oh, but God's
grace that's in Christ Jesus. That's the grace that reigns.
That's the grace I need. That's grace that abounds. Yes,
sin abounds, but oh, it doesn't abound over God's grace. No,
no, no. Grace that is able to keep me
from falling. Oh, that must be reigning grace.
And to do not only that, keep me from falling, but present
me faultless. Wow. So what grace that must be. Oh,
that is a good hope through grace. present me faultless, without
fault, before God. Grace that saves. Could you just
sum it up that way? Grace that saves, does everything
necessary to save the sinner, to bring me from the pit, the
pit of my natural depravity, and present me without fault
before the throne of God Almighty. Oh yes, that's good hope through
grace. Because as the hymn writer said,
It was grace that first inscribed my name in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb. And He accepted me. He took me. In that everlasting covenant
of grace, He pledged and promised His Father, I'll be responsible
for Him. Put Him into my hands. I'll take
Him. Put Him into my hands. I'll answer
for Him. I'll answer for him. I'll do
everything necessary to save him, to keep him, to preserve
him, and to bring him back to the Father's house and present
him to you without a father, without a blemish, without any
such thing. I'll do it. I'll do it. And bless
God, he shall not fail. For it was grace that gave me
to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to
pray. When our Lord, the Lord God,
spoke to Ananias concerning Saul of Tarsus that Ananias heard
about, Saul was notorious for his hatred of Christ and his
people. He'd come to Damascus to drive them back to Jerusalem
that they might be put to death. And our Lord said, Ananias, I
want you to go down and find Saul. And Ananias said, ooh,
are you sure about that? And he said, Ananias, behold,
he prayeth. What was so unusual about that?
Saul of Tarsus had never prayed in his life. Not really, not
truly. The only kind of prayer Saul
of Tarsus ever uttered was like that Pharisee who said, Lord,
I thank you that I'm not like other men. I'm a Pharisee, a
Pharisee. Oh, but now, now he's being brought
down, Ananias. I brought him down off his high
horse in the dust, and now he's praying. He's praying to Jesus
Christ, that one he once persecuted. Oh, yes. Grace taught my soul
to pray. I'd have never prayed otherwise.
That's just the truth. Just the truth. I would have
never prayed for mercy. I would have never prayed, God,
forgive me if he hadn't stripped me. I'd have never wanted to
be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ if he hadn't
brought me down, if he hadn't got me lost. I'd have never sought
to be saved, to be found. Grace taught my soul to pray.
Grace made my eyes overflow, gave me a godly sorrow. It was
grace that's kept me to this day and will not let me go. Those are a few of my favorite
lines of that old Oh, grace that's kept me to this day and will
not, refuses to let me go. Grace all the works shall crown
through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone and well deserves the praise. If my hope is in the Lord, then
it's a good hope. If my hope is in Him, here's
the second one, it's a blessed hope. This is in Titus chapter
2, a blessed hope. It gives the sinner who has it
a blessed hope. And it rests upon the blessed
hope of Jesus Christ himself as its foundation. Titus 2, 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation, does it offer salvation? No, no, no, no. The grace of
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live
soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking
for that blessed hope, that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, my soul, think
about that. Blessed hope. Oh, Donny Bell,
I love how Donny Bell put it. He said, we just keep looking
out the window. Just keep looking out the window
for the Lord Jesus Christ to descend from heaven with a shout. Thank God for this blessed hope. There's a better day coming.
Oh, there's a better day coming. Verse John 3, Behold, behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not, strangers and pilgrims. Thank
God for it. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know when he shall appear, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is. We shall see him as
he is. If my hope is in him, Peter tells
us in his first epistle, then it's a living hope. It's not
a dead, dead Worthless, lifeless hope. Oh no, it's a living hope.
1 Peter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
have begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. The hope of a child of God is
a living hope. It has life in itself, and it
looks for life, Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life
as its object. From the very first moment that
God opened our eyes saying, look unto me and be ye saved, look
and be, from that very first moment, Till now, we've been
kept alive by the same power and grace. We have the word,
the promise of the captain of our salvation that we shall never
perish. That's what Christ said. I mean,
that pretty well settles it, doesn't it? Christ said, let
me tell you something about my sheep. He was talking to the
Pharisees. Remember that, John 10? They came around and said,
OK, OK, how long are you going to keep us in suspense? How long
are you going to make us doubt? If you're really the Christ,
the Messiah, why don't you just tell us plainly? And Christ said,
I've told you. I've told you plainly, and you
believe not. You believe not because you're not my sheep.
I'm not talking to you. Christ said, I'm talking to my
sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I'm laying
down my life for the sheep, and it's the sheep that I'm giving
eternal life to. My sheep are in my hands. Now
listen, listen to the great shepherd. Oh, my soul. He said, and they
shall never perish. Oh, but what if? Never. But what
if? Never. They should never perish. They'll never be snatched, plucked
from my hand. Oh, thank God that that's so.
Christ told his disciples, I think it's in John 14, that same night
before he went to the garden, he says, because I live, ye shall
live also. The same life, think of this,
the same life that now is in Jesus Christ, the head of his
church, our bridegroom, flows from him to every member of his
body, the church, the same life, I'll live. A child of God will
live as long as Jesus Christ lives. The only way that a child
of God will die, spiritually die, is if Jesus Christ, his
head, his life, should die. And that will never happen. As
he told grieving Martha at the grave of her dead brother, he
that believes in me shall never die. Even the temporary separation
of soul and body at death does not even interrupt, there's not
even a pause, doesn't even cause a pause, a moment's interruption
in the everlasting life imparted by Jesus Christ to his believing
people. When I die, that doesn't put
a stop to everlasting life. Oh, this body, this shell, it's
laid in the grave temporarily for a little while. Oh, but when
Christ comes back, I'll be with him and that body will be united
with that immortal everlasting soul. He has everlasting life
and shall never perish. It's a hope that will never make
those who have it ashamed, isn't it? Eric Lutter, pastor's there
in Ozarks, Missouri. We were up there a year or so
ago. I like this article he wrote. He said, there's a people who
know the last day, the judgment day is coming. They have no fear
of its coming. It's not because of foolishness
or a lack of care that they are not worried. They're not afraid
because their sin is all put away in Christ. Their sin is
covered. by the blood of Christ. And they
now rest in the Savior's perfect righteousness made for them.
He has given us his word and my people, my people shall never
be ashamed. I'll tell you what, I look back
over my life and oh my soul, the things I am ashamed of can't
change. Can't change history. I thank
God they're under the blood but oh I'm still Ashamed of so many
things I've done and said, the way I lived. But I'm not ashamed of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'll never be ashamed of him.
1 Peter 2 and 6, wherefore also it's contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a cheap cornerstone that lacked precious,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. His
name, his honor, and his blood are pledged to bring them home
to God. And all his church shall come
and prove Jehovah's free, unchanging love. But Israel shall be saved
in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed,
nor confounded, world without end. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are my glorious dress. Amidst flaming worlds in these
arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. bold shall I stand
in that great day, through aught to my charge to lay, fully absorbed
from these I am, from sin and fear, from guilt and shame."
Hebrews 6 and 19, here's another. Those whose hope is in the Lord,
Paul wrote, which hope we have, Hebrews 6 and 19, which hope
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
entereth into that within the veil. What a sure and steadfast
anchor the hope of a believer is, because it's fastened to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The old hymn writer expressed
it this way, when the storms of life are raging, stand by
me. When the storms of life are raging,
stand by me. When this world is tossing me
like a ship upon the sea, thou who rulest wind and water, stand
by me. Oh, remember, In the storm, God
incarnate is with you in the vessel. He'll never say every
man to himself. Oh no, he'll bury the whole up
until the time of deliverance. Then he will do for you as he
did for his disciples that night. Rebuke the wind and the sea and
there'll be a great calm. Never a man spake like this man.
Oh, how often he has said. I've heard him say, oh, Larry,
it is I. It's I. I'm in control. Christ told his disciples that
day, looking across the sea, as he looked across the sea of
life to our eternal home, he said, let us pass over to the
other side. We're going over there. We're
going to the Father's house. I'm going there to prepare a
place for you. We're going to the Father's house. We should
expect that we should not, that rather we should do that very
thing We read after he said that, and they came over into the other
side. One of the elders answered, saying
unto me, John, who are these which are arrayed in white robes?
Where do they come from? Sir, thou knowest. He said to
me, these are they which came out of great tribulation. They
came out, they came out. Thank God, because he's the God
of all grace, they all came out. Because he loved them and gave
himself for them, they all came out. Because he would not allow
anything to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus, they all came out and they'll keep coming out. They
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These are those that have been
given both grace and glory. They are therefore before the
throne of God. They had the immediate enjoyment
of God in the land. Here it is in grace, above it'll
be in glory. Here they enjoy the presence
by faith, oh but there by sight. Here in part, oh but there in
the fullness of joy at God's right hand forevermore. What
wait I for? With old Job we wait for our
change to come. Thank God we shall be changed. We shall be changed. We're waiting
until we awaken his likeness. We're waiting to go to that heavenly
city whose builder and maker is God. We're waiting to enter
that place where sorrow and crying shall be done away. It won't
exist. Where there'll be no more sorrow
or tears or pain or death. We're waiting to go where there
shall be no more sin. My hope is in thee. We're waiting
to see Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. And we have this
glorious, blessed promise, we shall see His face. We shall
see His face. And the ransom of the Lord shall
return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon
their heads. And they shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sorrow and sighing, shall flee away. Through the
gates of the city, in a robe of spotless white, he will lead
me where no tears will ever fall. In the glad song of ages, I shall
mingle with the light. Oh, but I long to meet my Savior
first of all. He which saith upon the throne,
testifieth these things, saying, Surely I come quickly. And the
response of every believer is, Amen. So be it. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Amen. God bless you.