Psalm 40

Q: What does the Bible say about waiting on the Lord?

The Bible encourages believers to wait patiently on the Lord, trusting in His timing and perfect will. Psalm 40 illustrates the importance of waiting on the Lord, as exemplified by David who said, 'I waited patiently for the Lord.' This waiting is not passive; it requires active trust in God's sovereignty and timing. We wait because we believe that God is the first cause of all things, and that our steps are ordered according to His purpose. His revelation of will comes at the right time, and all His actions are ultimately for our good and His glory. As believers, learning to wait on the Lord strengthens our faith and produces patience in our hearts.

Q: How do we know God's election is true?

God's election is affirmed through His sovereign choice revealed in Scripture, asserting that He saves whom He wills. The doctrine of election is a cornerstone of Reformed theology, profoundly rooted in Scripture. Ephesians 1:4 states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This sovereign choice is not based on any foreseen merit or action on our part but is entirely an act of God's grace. The assurance of God's election provides comfort to believers, affirming that our salvation is secure in His unconditional love and purpose, as expressed in Romans 8:30, where it states that those whom He predestined He also called, justified, and glorified. Thus, the truth of election is demonstrated in God's unwavering commitment to His people throughout history.

Q: Why is trusting in God important for Christians?

Trusting in God is crucial for Christians as it brings peace and assurance of His providence in all circumstances. Trust in God is foundational to the Christian faith. Psalm 40:4 states, 'Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust.' This trust acknowledges our dependence on God for every aspect of life, recognizing that He is sovereign over all events. In trials and tribulations, it is through trust that Christians experience the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Moreover, trusting God empowers believers to face challenges with courage, knowing that He is working all things together for their good (Romans 8:28). As we learn to lean not on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge Him, He promises to direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Let's open our Bibles again,
this time to Psalm 40. Now while you're finding the
scripture, I plan to speak this evening
in the 7 o'clock hour from the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Tonight's message will be taken
from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And the title of the message
will be, Election, More Than a Title to Heaven. Election, more than a title to
heaven. I spoke last Sunday on grace,
more than a doctrine. And tonight, election, more than
a title to heaven. Let's look at Psalm 40. Psalm
chapter 40. And David, it's called the Psalm
of David, and it begins in this way, I waited patiently for the
Lord. Oh, how difficult it is to learn
that lesson. To wait on the Lord. But David
didn't just say, I waited on the Lord. He said, I waited,
how? Patiently. In other words, one
writer said, David is saying, waiting on the Lord, I waited
on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord, patiently,
patiently, I waited. A young man said to his teacher
in a Bible college many years ago, Teach me Psalm 40." And his professor replied, young
man, read the first line, which he did. I waited patiently for
the Lord. He said, now learn that and then
we'll go on. Not much use going on unless
we learn that. Waiting patiently on the Lord. There are four reasons why I
ought to wait on the Lord. I know that He's the first cause
of all things. I know God declared the end from
the beginning. He said, my purpose shall stand,
I'll do all my pleasure. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will, so He's the first cause of all things.
Secondly, I know that my steps and my ways are altered by the
Lord. I know the steps of his people
are ordered by God. Do I not know that? And thirdly,
I know this, that in due time, in due season, he will reveal
his will. In his time, not my time, his
time, he'll reveal his will. It'll be known, the will of God
will be known in his own time. And then fourthly, what he does
is for my good. All things work together. I know
this. All things work together for
good, eternal good to those that love the Lord, to those who are
called according to His purpose. Then why not wait on the Lord?
If He's the first cause of all things, if my steps are ordered
and purposed by Him, and He will in His own time reveal His will
for me, and that'll be good for me, then why not wait on the
Lord? Look at Psalm 27 and see how
David ended that psalm. Psalm 27, verse 13 and 14. He said, I would have fainted. I would have given up. I would
have thrown in the towel unless I had believed to see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living. Sooner or later, in God's
own time, This thing's going to work out for my good and His
glory in this land. Now watch. So wait on the Lord,
and be of good courage while you're waiting. Be of good courage.
Do what your hand finds to do, and do it well. And wait on the
Lord, and be of good courage, and He'll strengthen your heart.
Wait, I say. Wait, I say on the Lord. Young people, hear me. Wait on
the Lord. And then in Psalm 40, listen,
and he inclined unto me while I waited. He inclined unto me
and he heard my cry. He bent over and heard my cry
while I waited. He heard me. When did he hear
me? When the time and the trial had
accomplished his design. When all that happened in my
days and in my years and in my months had accomplished His design,
He heard me. And when He could get all the
glory and all the praise, and when I had finally learned to
depend on Him, He heard me. Waiting on the Lord, I waited. And in due season, He heard me. He inclined his ear to me and
he heard me. Now let me ask you something.
Is it not a marvel that Almighty God should hear me at all? Now
you think about that. Is it not a marvel that Almighty,
why should God hear me? I waited and He heard. I and
He. If I ever find out who He is
and who I am, I'll be willing to wait. That's the lesser waiting
on the greater. Why should God hear me? Why should
I grow impatient or weary with waiting on Him? All the blessings
are in His hands. He's the fountain of life. Let's wait on the Lord. Wait
on the Lord. And then in verse 2, and he heard
me. Now watch what he did for me.
I waited on him. I waited patiently on him. And
in due season, in his own time, when his purpose was accomplished,
what did he do? He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit. A horrible pit. out of the miry
clay, he set my feet upon a rock, he established my going, and
he put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God, and many
will see it and fear and trust in the Lord." Now, three things
David said here. I waited on God. How long does
one wait? Well, how long will a beggar
wait for food? How long does one wait? He waits
until the trial is accomplished. He waits till God can get all
the glory. And he waits till he's learned
to depend solely on Him. And then what does God do? He
said, He lifted me out of a horrible pit. What is this pit? Well,
back in the Bible, back in Old Testament days, they didn't have
modern prisons like we have out here on the highway. A prison
was a dungeon, and a dungeon was a pit. Jeremiah was in one
one time. You remember when Jeremiah was
cast into the dungeon? What they did, they would just
dig a hole in the ground, a deep, deep hole in the ground with
straight sides. And they'd let a man down into
that hole, way down deep into that dark dungeon. Horrible pit. Why was it horrible? The bottom
was marshy. mud, no facilities, and he just
stayed until he died in that pit. There was no way out. And the only relief or the only
help must come from above. Someone with authority and someone
with ability and proper provision, if he ever is lifted out of that
pit, must come to his aid and lift him. And the longer he stayed
in there, the more horrible the thing became. And God, here's
what David is saying, I waited patiently on the Lord. And He
heard me. He bent over, inclined His ear
to me. I was crying unto God, and you
heard my cry. And He lifted me. He brought
me up out of this horrible pit. What kind of pit was I in? The
pit of sin? Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things written in the law to do them." I was in
the pit of sin. I was in the pit of false religion,
no way out. I was in the pit of self-righteousness. And he came motivated by his
own will, motivated by his own pity and love for me. He came
where I was. Not only just to lift me, but
he came down where I was, became what I am, and justly and righteously
made me what he is. When I was pastoring Tennessee
a long, long, long time ago, there was a missionary who came
to preach for us in 1948. His name was Parrish Reedhead.
He was a missionary to the Sudan interior in Africa. He told us that one afternoon
he and a group of natives were going out to conduct a service. The natives were running ahead
of him, carrying the equipment and more behind him. He and his
wife were in the middle here and some friends who were there
to help him. And they were going along this
jungle path just way out in the middle of the jungle. And he
said as he walked along he heard a cry up ahead, a muffled voice up ahead, but he
could hear what the the person was saying in the native language,
help me, help me, somebody help me, help me, oh somebody help
me. And he said, we quickened our
pace and we began to run and as we ran the voice got a little
louder and finally he said, I rounded a thicket of brush and jungle
growth and he said, I came on a scene that was the most horrible
thing I'd ever seen. There sitting In the middle of
that trail was a man in the last stages of leprosy. I saw a woman
in Mexico who had leprosy and she had lost some fingers and
toes and was disfigured, but I had never seen anything like
Reed had described to me. He said this man had leprosy
all over him. He just had to wear a little
cloth. And he was sitting there on the ground, you could see
all of his ribs, and his arms were so thin, and his hands were
eaten off, and his face, he said, was just one open ulcer, and
flies were all over him, just leprosy in its last stages. And
his eyes had slits in the mouth where he was holding those gnarled,
decaying hands up in the air, and he's just saying, help me,
somebody help me. Talk about helplessness and hopelessness. And Reed said he stopped and
just stood and looked at him and he thought, that's what God
in His holiness and perfection sees when He sees me. The leprosy
of sin, the decay, the horrible pit, the corruption. And he said, I thought as I stood
there and looked, nothing I could do for him. Not one thing. But
he said, I thought if I could, if I could just reach and take
his hands in mine, one in each hand, and lift him up, and bring
him up to look straight at me, and then put my arms around him
and draw him against me, and put his ulcerated face against
mine, and his wretched dying body against mine, and just let
all my health flow into Him and His disease into me and reverse
the places. That's what Christ did for me.
He came where I was, became what I am, took my sins, He took my
hell and gave me heaven. He took my guilt and gave me
righteousness. He took my sin and gave me holiness. He literally took my place. and
lifted me out of that horrible pit. And what did he do? Listen. And he set my feet on
a rock and established my going. He came where I was and lifted
me out of that corruption and mire and filth, washed me in
his blood, sanctified me. And what did he do? Set me on
the edge so I could fall back in? No, sir. He set me over here
on a rock. There's a lot of difference in
a pit and a rock. And He set my feet on a rock.
What is that rock? That rock's Christ. And I shall
not be moved. I shall not slide back into the
pit. I may tremble. I may shake. I may fear. But the footing is secure because
it's not dependent on me. It's dependent on the rock. Isaiah
wrote this, listen to it. He said in Isaiah 28, the Lord
said, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. And he that
believeth on him will never be ashamed. So he lifted me out. He brought me up. And every word has a meaning.
He brought... I didn't do it on my own. He
brought me. He put that sheep on his shoulders
and brought him home. He brought me. He brought me
up. I was down. He brought me up. Also, out of
a horrible pit, Myrick lay and set my feet on a rock. Now watch
verse 3. And he put a new song in my mouth.
A new song. I didn't know it by nature. I
didn't know that song. He put that song in my mouth.
He revealed the gospel to me. He taught it to me. What is that
new song? It's praise to God, not praise
to my preacher, not praise to myself, not praise to my deeds
or my works. I hear religion today praising
one another, everything so big, so wonderful, so great. Some
girl was going to sing the other day and the preacher couldn't
stop talking about how wonderful she was, what a wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful thing she was. And this new song that God's
given us is not idle religious chatter, filling in empty space
with words. This song that He's put in my
mouth is praise to our God. Praise God from whom all blessings
flow. God, all creatures here below,
praise Him. Ye angels and seraphims and cherubims
above, praise Father, Son, praise the Holy Ghost, praise God. What is this new song? David
said it's a song of a new covenant. There's nothing in that old covenant
to sing about, is there? David on his dying bed said this,
The Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant. I'll sing
the praises of that covenant. Paul said it's a new and living
way. God hath opened for us into the
Holy of Holies, a new and living way. John says it's a song of
a new heaven and a new earth. Behold, God said, I make all
things new. John Newton says it's amazing
grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. We'll sing it, watch this, and
many are going to see it. Now that's a strange word for
David to use there. God has brought me out of a horrible
pit, and God has established me and set me on a rock so that
I shall not be moved, and God has given me a song to sing.
Praises to God. praises to His sovereignty, to
His majesty, to His greatness, to His glory, to His redemptive
glory, to His Son, to His blood, to His righteousness, and many
will see it. You don't see a song, you hear
it. Not this song. You see it. Oh, I see. You teachers have
Once in a while you'll teach and teach and teach. That's why
I want the students to say, I see it. I see it. What does he mean
he sees it? He heard it, but he sees what
he heard. You see what I'm saying? I see it. And he's not talking
about seeing with these eyes. He's talking about seeing with
his comprehension, understanding. I get it. It's coming together. And I tell you, there's no use
trying to make people religious and getting them to join the
church and be baptized and make a decision. There's no use trying
that until they, oh, I see it. We got a new song of a new covenant,
of a new and living way, of a new heaven and new earth. of a new
creature in Christ, and we're going to sing it. Keep singing
it. I've been singing it here. September will be 40 years. Can
you believe that? How many of you here, raise your
hand real high, were in the church 40 years ago when I was called
as pastor? Raise them up real high. Look
at that. There's a whole bunch of them
over here. 40 years I've been singing
this song. A.M. was on the pulpit committee,
called me his pastor. Sitting right over there, forty
years ago. September of forty years ago. I've been singing
this song. The grace of God in Christ Jesus.
And he says, many, many shall see it. And fear. Fear of who? Fear of the Lord.
Fear of the Lord. That's the beginning of wisdom,
the fear of the Lord. Come, my children, I teach you
to fear the Lord. And not only fear Him, but listen,
and trust Him. And you'll trust Him. Oh, verse 4, blessed is that
man that maketh the Lord his trust. What's the word blessed? Happy? Highly favored? Oh, happy,
happy, happy, twice happy. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust, that respecteth not the proud, He respecteth
not the proud. He doesn't turn, bow to and cater
to and court the proud and those that turn aside to lies. He trusts
the Lord. He just trusts the Lord. God
will work it out. That's what Abraham said to Isaac
when they started up that mountain. Isaac was bewildered and puzzled.
He said, Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's the
land? He said, God will work it out. The Lord will see to
it. That's exactly the words the
Lord will see to it. He'll provide. That's the man
trusted. What does it mean to trust God?
What would you say it means to trust God? Well, Job said this. Job was afflicted and broken
and brought down to the bottom. And somebody told him, he said,
why don't you just curse God and die? He said, now you listen,
though He slay me, I'll trust Him. I'll trust Him. And one day, our Lord Jesus was
preaching. He fed 5,000 men, not counting
the women and children. He began to preach the gospel
of the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven. They all walked off
and left Him. And there stood these 12 disciples. A moment
ago, there were thousands of people. Can you imagine 5,000
men, not counting the women and children? How many people were
out there in front of Him as He spoke? Thousands. And they all left. And there
were the twelve apostles feeling bewildered and perplexed, I'm
sure. Hey, where's the kingdom? Where are these great and wonderful
things you're going to do? They all left you. And he said,
will you go away too? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of life. We believe. We trust you. We
trust you. Abraham had sent Ishmael away,
and now God told him to slay Isaac. What's he to do? Trust
him. When the ship would go down,
the apostle Paul stood on the deck and said, I believe God.
I trust him. A believer may be as poor as
Lazarus, as afflicted as Job, as helpless as Jonah, as lonely
as Elijah, and as persecuted as Paul, but if the Lord is his
trust, he'll be delivered. could be delivered in God's own
time. That's what he said in verse
4. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud. That is,
he doesn't cater. He doesn't bow down. He doesn't
court the approval of the proud and those that turn aside to
lies. We're outnumbered. We're not outblessed. Listen.
Many, O Lord God, verse 5. Look at this verse. Many, O Lord
God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are to us. Can you say that today? Many
are the blessings of God, the mercies of God. Many. O Lord
my God, thy wonderful works. What do you think of when you
think of the wonderful works of God? Well, I know that I listen
to preachers. modern day preachers and these
fellas on television. And most people consider, when
they consider the blessings, works and thoughts of God, they
consider material and physical things. Wouldn't you say that's
so? They begin to measure their success or measure their mercies
or measure their blessings. by the condition of their health,
finances, family. And I'd be the first to give
thanks for those things. We've been blessed. I often say
when I try to pray, Lord, you've blessed us above all people. And we've been blessed materially,
physically, in every way. Our families, our children, our
grandchildren, our food, our clothing, our shelter. But I
don't think David's talking about that here. I don't think so. I don't think so. I believe what
he's talking about here is spiritual blessings. Read it this way. Many, O Lord
my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are to us. What are God's thoughts to us?
Thoughts of love. and thoughts of grace and thoughts
of mercy, thoughts of redemption. Isn't that our greatest blessing?
Isn't that our greatest blessing? He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
That's my greatest blessing. All this will pass away. All
of these material and physical things are going to pass away.
The fashion of this world fadeth away. But do you know that I
can come boldly before the throne of grace? and find mercy and
grace to help in time of need? Do you know the just died for
the unjust that he might bring me to God? Do you know in Christ
I have redemption, I have full redemption, the forgiveness of
my sins? Do you know that? So whether
I have plenty Financially, it doesn't make any difference.
I have everything spiritually. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and the heavenlies in Christ. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. I have all things. I have all
things. You know, if you'll read the
meeting that Jacob had with Esau, Jacob was the wanderer. Jacob
was the wanderer. Esau was the established one. Esau was established, he lived
in his land, he was powerful, he was influential, he was wealthy,
he was successful, he was well-known, he was everything. And Jacob
was the wanderer. And Jacob was coming back to
the land. And Esau ran the land. And Jacob
knew that Esau was angry with him because he'd stolen his birthright
many, many, many, many, many years ago. And he heard that
Esau was coming to meet him. And so he said to his people
with him, he said, let's get a fine gift together. for Esau,
let's get some camels and some oxen and some sheep and all these
things and let's have him, when he comes to meet us with his
400 men, with his awesome forces, let's present him with this gift.
And so they met. Now Esau, the influential, powerful,
what in the world could Jacob add to him? Jacob the wanderer,
but Jacob was the son of God. Jacob have a love, Esau have
a hate, thy worm Jacob. God is called the God of Jacob.
Did you know that in the Bible? God of Jacob. He says, O ye sons of Jacob,
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not concerned. And so they met, and Jacob told
his brother, he said, here I have a gift for you. His brother said,
I don't need a gift. I don't need that. I have plenty. I have plenty. Keep it." Jacob
said, listen, you take it. I have everything. I have everything. How can a man in his shape have
everything? He had God. If I have God, if
I have his mercies, if I have his blessings, I have everything. All of this other is just added.
All this other is just comforts for the course. But all these comforts are going
to fade away. Let me ask you older people.
Somebody I know in here is going to be 65 next week. I wouldn't
call any names. But it's getting harder for you
to see or hear. Maybe a little harder to get
up in the morning? Come on now. Somebody said, well, I can do
as much as 65 as I did at 20. You didn't do much at 20 then. Getting old, getting weary. Something's happening. Fading
away. But I'll tell you this, listen
to me. I'm newer in heart than I was at 20. I'm stronger in grace than I
was at 20. I know more of His mercies than
I did at 20 or 30 or 40 or 63. We're growing in grace. That's right. You're a lot easier
to get along with than you were 40 years ago, John Blandon. That's right, isn't it? Why? That's when I met you almost
40 years ago. Oh my, growing in great. I have
everything. Listen, verse 5, Many, O Lord
my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are uswere. I cannot reckon them up in order
unto thee, if I were to declare and speak of them, they more
than can be numbered. How can you say that when everything
you've got is slipping away? No, everything I've got is growing
bigger, greater, more wonderful. I have an inheritance, eternal,
undefiled, incorruptible, that fadeth not away. It's just waiting
my coming. That's all. Just waiting my coming. And then none other than the
Apostle Paul applied this to our Lord Jesus Christ. This whole
psalm is the psalm of Christ because it's quoted in Hebrews.
Chapter 10. Sacrifice an offering thou didst
not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt
offerings and sin offerings hast thou not required. Then said
I, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written of me.
I delight to do thy will, O God. O my God, thy law is within my
heart. That's Christ. That whole thing
is quoted in Hebrews chapter 5. Chapter 10, verse 5 through
10, that's Christ. This may have been the prayer
he prayed in the garden. How could these things be said
of Christ? He was a man. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He bore our sins. But it says about mine iniquities
over here are more than the hairs of my head. That's our iniquities
he was bearing. And what the Lord Jesus is saying
here in verse 6, sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, thou
dost not desire. You see, all of these Old Testament
sacrifices never satisfied the Father. They were pictures of
Christ who did it. All of these Old Testament offerings
and blood offerings and atonements and sacrifices, that didn't put
away sin. Those people weren't saved by
those. The blood of an animal cannot put away the sin of a
man. All of this was faulty. But it fulfilled that for which
it was given, to picture the coming of Christ. That's what
he said, verse 7. Then I come. Then said I, I come
in the volume of the book, of the book of God's purposes, the
book of God's scriptures. It's written of me. I came to
do thy will, O my God. Thy law is within my heart. When
he says, My ear hast thou opened, verse 6, you see that? My ear
hast thou opened. The word is digged. That's how
you make a bond slave. Thou hast worked for a man seven
years as a slave. In the Old Testament, he had
to let him go free after seven years. But if this slave said
to his master, I don't want to be free. I want to be your servant,
your willing, loving servant, which is a bond servant. So they
take him down to the temple or somewhere and bore his ear. That's
called digging the ear. They take an owl and bore the
ear. And that was a symbol that he was still a slave, but he
was a slave by choice. He was still a slave, he still
served his master, but he served him not out of restraint because
he wanted to. And that's, our Lord is saying,
your sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings never pleased
God. Slew animals that were unwilling.
Though they opened not their mouth, they were dumb sheep,
but they didn't walk to the altar and say, slit my throat. But
he said, my ear hast thou digged. I'm a willing, loving serpent. I'm a willing, loving sacrifice. And in the volume of the book
is written of me, I delight to do thy will." Now this applies
to David and you and me. You can't appease God with offerings. You can't put away sin by promising
not to sin. You can't satisfy the law of
God by resolutions and duties and deeds and works of religion.
God's not pleased with those sacrifices. But I'll tell you
what God is pleased with, and that's when these hearts are
broken and these ears are digged, and we become His servants, His
bond slaves in Christ Jesus. We submit. We surrender. Lord,
I'm Yours. I delight to do Thy will. Thy
law is within my heart. The law is not on tables of stone. They are written on my heart
to love them. I delight in Thy law. In verse 9, I preach here,
watch this, these five things. This is Christ talking, but it's
us too. I preach righteousness. Whose
righteousness? Christ's righteousness. Not mine,
not yours. I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord God, Thou knowest. I have not hid Thy righteousness
in my heart. I declare Thy faithfulness. God
is faithful to His Word, to His covenant, to His Son, to His
people, to His church. Thy salvation, I have not concealed
thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
Now here's a cry for help and I'll move quickly. O Lord withhold
not thou thy tender mercies from me. Let thy lovingkindness and
thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have
compassed me about. My iniquities have taken hold
upon me, I'm not able to look up. There are more than the hairs
of mine hair, therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord,
to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me.
And let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul
to destroy it. Let them be driven backward and
put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for reward
of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha, you slipped, you
fell. Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, The Lord be magnified. Now apply that to
Christ, and then apply it to yourself. Christ our Lord, a
man, tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. This
is Christ speaking here. And this is also all of his people.
Now watch this. But I'm poor and needy. You know,
one problem today in preaching the gospel, one of the great problems is
not in preaching the good news. We've got plenty of good news
to preach. We've got good news. You know
the problem is finding somebody that needs it. Finding someone who needs it.
And David said, I need it. He said, I'm poor and needy.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness,
they shall be filled. I'm poor and needy. Mighty poor
and mighty needy. The Republican was. He found
help. Bartimaeus was. The woman with
the issue of blood. The thief on the cross. Poor
and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust. Cast all your care upon him.
He cares for you. all you can, all of it. There's a fellow out hitchhiking
along the highway, had a pack on his back, one of
the walking packs, like you fellows that hike, you carry these packs
with your tent and your provisions, carry it on your back, and he
was out, he finished his camping and walking his trail and he
was standing out on the road hitchhiking back to the town.
A fellow came by in a Jeep and pulled over and he said, where
are you going? He told him, he said, Hoppy,
and I'm going right there. So the fellow got in and he sat
on the front seat and they started the Jeep up and the owner of
the Jeep, the man driving, turned to him and said, why don't you
take that pack off your back and throw it in the back seat? And the young fellow looked at
him and said, no, I don't want to impose on you. He said, you've
been so kind to give me a ride, I'll just carry my pack. And
the driver said, well, son, he said, either way you want it. But he said, I'm carrying you
and your pack both now. You're riding in my Jeep. So
it doesn't matter. You can keep it on your back
or you can put it back in the back seat. Just take your choice. But either way, I'm still carrying
it. And let's learn a lesson from that. Cast your care on
Him. Trust the Lord. Don't carry your load on your
back. Give it to Him. Give it to Him. I'm poor and needy. Make haste
to deliver me. Trust Him. Trust Him. But God's been awful good to
me and I don't want to, you know, impose on Him. Cast it all on
Him. What did the old song say? Take
your burden to the Lord and leave it there. It'd give us a lot
of peace, wouldn't it? A lot of joy and a lot of rest.
You know, I got to thinking the other day, all of the conflict and division
about religious matters. That which ought to be our greatest
source of comfort and peace and rest often becomes our greatest
source of contention. Did you know that? And that's the things we believe.
I don't worry about the world situation. I don't lie awake
every night worrying about the world situation. I don't worry
about whether I'm going to have anything to eat tomorrow. I just
believe God's going to provide my food. I don't lie awake at
night and worry about whether a tornado is going to come through
or a flash flood and wipe us all out. What does keep me awake
sometimes? What keeps you awake sometimes? Is to know that in our faith,
in grace, in the fellowship of believers, their divisions and
discord over personalities. What I believe or you believe
or what I don't believe or what you don't believe. Isn't that
terrible? Isn't that terrible? Actually,
we ought to be able to rest, have joy and peace and fellowship
in Christ. Trust Him. Wait on the Lord. Leave it in His hands. He'll
work it all out.

Psalm 40

What does the Bible say about waiting on the Lord?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is trusting in God important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Psalm 40

What does the Bible say about waiting on the Lord?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is trusting in God important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book