WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:07.299 Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:10.220 for your help thus far, and we come now to ask 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:15.019 again for your help and aid in this time to follow, 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:17.679 that you would own your word for your glory and 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.519 our good, that your spirit would go out among 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:24.539 us and apply that word to each one, that we would 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:28.260 be in full cooperation with the spirit, enabling 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:31.500 him to accomplish all that you would in our lives. 00:00:33.099 --> 00:00:35.679 Pray for the loss that they might be found of 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.899 you today. Ask for myself that you would govern 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:43.219 my thought and speech, that your word and your 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:47.359 word alone would go forth. And we pray it in 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.899 Christ's name. Amen. This isn't working, is it? 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:31.159 in Psalm 27 again this morning, dealing with 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:35.680 verses 4 through 6. Last Sunday, you'll remember 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.099 if you were here that David is expressing his 00:01:39.099 --> 00:01:44.040 total confidence in the Lord. The Lord has done 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:49.019 it all. He is his Savior, he is his strength. 00:01:50.099 --> 00:01:54.489 He saw him through difficult places. And he has 00:01:54.489 --> 00:01:57.890 complete confidence that he will continue to 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:01.489 bring him through anything that comes in the 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:05.670 future. So today we're going to read verses 4 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:11.909 through 6. One thing have I desired of the Lord, 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:15.830 that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the 00:02:15.830 --> 00:02:19.669 house of the Lord all the days of my life, to 00:02:19.669 --> 00:02:23.060 behold the beauty of the Lord. and to inquire 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:26.340 in his temple. For in the time of trouble he 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:29.620 shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:32.939 of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:37.520 set me up upon a rock. And now shall my head 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.360 be lifted up above mine enemies, round about 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.039 me. Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:49.800 sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:56.960 praises. Unto the Lord. So you notice as we read 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.680 that there was a lot of references to tabernacles, 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:04.819 temples, houses. And that would be appropriate 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:07.180 for the old covenant because that's where God 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:10.120 was found. If you wanted to meet with God you 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:13.120 headed to the temple. If you weren't around Jerusalem 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.520 you'd head to your local tabernacle. And that's 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.699 where you would expect to find God. So that's 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:26.460 why there's a lot of references there to worshiping 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:29.319 or communing with God. And that's what these 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:35.719 three verses are all about. Because of David's 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:40.000 confidence in God, he desired communion with 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:45.740 God. So this is his attempt here to explain. 00:03:47.050 --> 00:03:52.110 How we commune with our God. It's a very informative 00:03:52.110 --> 00:03:57.129 passage. So I'll say this right off the bat. 00:03:57.210 --> 00:04:00.770 Is there some place in our day, in the New Covenant 00:04:00.770 --> 00:04:04.409 era, the era of the Spirit, that God can be said 00:04:04.409 --> 00:04:08.270 to dwell? Well, we know that he's dwelled in 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:13.789 each of us, right? We have the Spirit. Is there 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:16.709 a physical place, though? Is there a physical 00:04:16.709 --> 00:04:20.170 building in this day and age where we can say 00:04:20.170 --> 00:04:23.949 for a certainty God dwells? Well, if there's 00:04:23.949 --> 00:04:26.449 nobody in this building, then God's not in this 00:04:26.449 --> 00:04:29.449 building. He has no special, this building, the 00:04:29.449 --> 00:04:31.990 building of itself has no special significance. 00:04:33.189 --> 00:04:36.149 But when the people of God gather together as 00:04:36.149 --> 00:04:39.389 one people before him, he guarantees himself 00:04:39.389 --> 00:04:43.470 to be there. So in that sense, there is a place 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:47.029 that when we come, we know that God will be there 00:04:47.029 --> 00:04:50.209 because he's promised to do so. Wherever two 00:04:50.209 --> 00:04:52.910 or three are gathered together in my name, I'll 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:57.069 be there. So hopefully you can appreciate the 00:04:57.069 --> 00:05:00.430 certainty of God's being here amongst his people, 00:05:00.529 --> 00:05:05.269 owning his word, enabling us, and so forth, when 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:08.050 we do gather together with one common goal, that 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:10.889 being to worship. and to fellowship with our 00:05:10.889 --> 00:05:15.649 God, and to hear from Him. So we have that much 00:05:15.649 --> 00:05:20.589 in common. We know that God does meet with His 00:05:20.589 --> 00:05:24.990 people when we come together on the Lord's Day 00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:28.769 or any other day for worship. So there's seven 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:32.569 clauses, perhaps, or there's seven words in this 00:05:32.569 --> 00:05:36.110 one verse that we need to consider this morning, 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:41.069 verse 4. And we need to take seriously if we're 00:05:41.069 --> 00:05:45.069 serious about our walk with the Lord. We should 00:05:45.069 --> 00:05:51.250 view this as an extreme privilege to have communion 00:05:51.250 --> 00:05:55.430 with God. I mean, can you just say that in a 00:05:55.430 --> 00:05:58.750 sentence and just like it just rolls off of our 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:01.589 lips? Or when you say that, does it register? 00:06:01.649 --> 00:06:06.810 This is incredible. A mere man such as me can 00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:10.990 have communion with God. Hopefully we can receive 00:06:10.990 --> 00:06:16.069 it in that way this morning. But this isn't just 00:06:16.069 --> 00:06:23.149 a humdrum privilege or advantage. It's really 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:28.449 an exciting prospect to have fellowship, communion 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:34.850 with God. So what is David telling us? So we're 00:06:34.850 --> 00:06:37.389 going to look at these seven clauses or words 00:06:37.389 --> 00:06:42.589 in this verse 4. And hopefully we will then know 00:06:42.589 --> 00:06:52.670 of communion with God when we follow this pattern. 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:57.910 So the first thing is one thing. That's how he 00:06:57.910 --> 00:07:04.050 starts off. One thing. Not many things. One thing. 00:07:05.930 --> 00:07:08.490 How many times have you heard about multitasking? 00:07:09.670 --> 00:07:11.970 How many times, oh, I can do this and that and 00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.610 this and that all at the same time. I can keep 00:07:14.610 --> 00:07:20.110 juggling all these plates. Well, maybe so. It's 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:23.610 your job. Maybe it's a good thing to be multitasking. 00:07:23.610 --> 00:07:25.949 If you're at home trying to take care of the 00:07:25.949 --> 00:07:28.329 house and some kids, it may be a good thing to 00:07:28.329 --> 00:07:32.899 multitask. But if you're... Looking to have communion 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:36.240 with God, that's the one thing that you have 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:42.060 to concentrate your entire being upon. I mean 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:45.459 real communion with God. When you're driving 00:07:45.459 --> 00:07:52.620 down the road, you can pray. That's fine. I do 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:56.920 that occasionally myself. Not very often. But 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:02.939 you can do it. But that's multitasking. That's 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:07.639 not applying our whole self after God in communion 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:11.939 with him. So it's important that we come to realize 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:15.459 that. God doesn't, he wants our whole selves. 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.959 He doesn't want to share us. He's bought us. 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.459 He's brought us to God. We're his. He owns us. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:28.000 We're his slaves, if you will, or his servants. 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:30.360 Yes, we're also his brothers and his friends. 00:08:32.269 --> 00:08:37.769 But he wants all our attention. One thing. So 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:40.950 by and large, that is the posture that we must 00:08:40.950 --> 00:08:45.350 take if we're going to be successful in our communion 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:52.210 with God. We have one thing on our minds. And 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:57.730 he goes on. One thing have I desired. There's 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:02.200 that word desired. What does that word mean? 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:09.220 This one thing that he's desired. We still don't 00:09:09.220 --> 00:09:15.039 know what it is, but he's desiring it. The biggest 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:20.960 contrast, perhaps, is I wish. One thing I have 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:27.320 wished. It doesn't say that, does it? He says 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:31.330 the one thing that he's desired. In other words, 00:09:31.389 --> 00:09:35.649 he's got a goal. He knows that it's realistic. 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:41.769 He's not in la -la land or in the dream world. 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:46.629 He's not wishing for something. He has an honest 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:51.230 expectation of success. How's that? He desires 00:09:51.230 --> 00:09:56.070 this. This is the one thing that he desires in 00:09:56.070 --> 00:10:01.350 his life. Now again, We have multiple desires. 00:10:01.809 --> 00:10:05.789 I understand that. But what's the most important 00:10:05.789 --> 00:10:08.450 thing in your life? That's the question that 00:10:08.450 --> 00:10:12.889 we have to ask ourselves. What are we going after 00:10:12.889 --> 00:10:22.110 in this life? Fame? Fortune? Power? What's our 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:27.029 number one desire? The one thing that you must 00:10:27.029 --> 00:10:33.990 have above all else. Now this next phrase, this 00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:37.250 next word here is what separates wishing from 00:10:37.250 --> 00:10:44.870 desiring. And it says, oh, I got ahead of myself. 00:10:45.289 --> 00:10:50.509 I've desired of the Lord. I left that little 00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:54.250 important phrase out of there. The one thing 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:59.750 that I have desired of the Lord. So he's going 00:10:59.750 --> 00:11:04.860 to the right place. He's knocking on the right 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:10.740 door. He's seeking for his desire to be met at 00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:18.700 the right source. So again, there can be no doubt. 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:23.740 We have full confidence in the Lord. We exercise 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:28.500 our faith in the Lord. The Lord is who we're 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:33.659 going to. That's where our desires will be met. 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:37.279 And that's where this number one. Most important 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.259 desire of all. Desires will be met. In the Lord. 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:49.440 So that was three. This is the fourth. And this 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:56.279 is what separates. Wishes from desires. That 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:04.480 will I seek after. Seeking. Seeking after the 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.679 one desire that we have in the Lord. We're seeking 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:13.500 it. We're pursuing Him. We're going after Him. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:19.960 We're not just wishing upon a star. In other 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.220 words, we're invested. We're invested in this. 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.529 I'm going to spend time on this. I'm going to 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:30.129 give this my undivided attention. It's the one 00:12:30.129 --> 00:12:37.330 thing. I have to have this. I'm not going to 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:43.289 be satisfied with anything else but this. I'm 00:12:43.289 --> 00:12:45.190 going to be like Jacob. We're going to hang on 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:53.110 to the Lord until he blesses us. He's going to 00:12:53.110 --> 00:12:57.480 seek after this one desire that he has. Of the 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:09.720 Lord. So. Many people. Have asked. Why can't 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.120 I make any progress. In my walk with the Lord. 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:19.799 What am I doing wrong. Can you help me. Tell 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.399 me what I need to do. Well it's all right here. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:29.059 It's what we need to do. We need to be real. 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:34.179 We need to earnestly seek the Lord. You can't 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:37.600 do it when you're doing something else. You've 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.759 got to get away from everything else. You've 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:48.779 got to be concentrating on the Lord. To have 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:53.200 communion with the Lord. You have communion with 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.879 your kids, you know how it is. You can be talking 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.120 to your kid, your mind's a million miles away. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:07.440 That's not it. God knows that. You're not fooling 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:13.639 God. Think of the privilege that you have to 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.779 fellowship, to have communion with God. Why would 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.759 this be a problem? Why would this be something 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:26.159 that you would have difficulty with? It doesn't 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:28.360 make any sense if you think about it and you 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.259 think through it. We have time for everything 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:35.080 else, but we don't have time for communion with 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:41.379 our Lord. What's wrong with us? What's wrong 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:45.080 with this generation of Christians? They don't 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:47.259 realize the blessed position that they're in? 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:51.879 Is that possible? Certainly not. We hear about 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:56.159 it every Sunday, Wednesday. Surely we've read 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:00.320 the word. We know how blessed we are. Don't we 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.159 want more? Don't we want to become better acquainted 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:11.379 with God? What is your one desire? What is one 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.940 thing you're unwilling to let go of? The one 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:18.679 thing you will not make a compromise over. The 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:22.159 one thing that you will allow nothing to come 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:27.559 between you and your Lord. This is it. This is 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:31.399 it. This is the seriousness of it. And that's 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:39.019 what makes it so strange. That we would allow 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:42.639 anything to take precedence over our communion 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:51.139 with God. You know, we heard on Wednesday that 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:53.320 there's nothing in the Bible that commands us 00:15:53.320 --> 00:16:00.460 to have a personal quiet time. Well, there was 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:03.639 plenty in the Old Testament that commanded them 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:07.840 in their worship of the Lord, in their pursuit 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:11.679 of God. They had to go to Jerusalem three times 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:13.940 a year. They had to. That was part of the law. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.240 They had to abstain from all work on the Sabbath. 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:25.500 And there's others. But in this day and age, 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.259 and in the age of the New Testament, it's just 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:31.620 laid before us in the manner that I'm doing. 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:37.740 You have the privilege of knowing God. Why would 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:42.500 you not pursue Him? Why would you not want to 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:45.100 grow? Why would you not want to make progress? 00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:48.980 Why would you not want to behold the beauty of 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:59.139 the Lord? What's wrong with us? That shall I 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:03.460 seek after. And here it is, that I may dwell 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:06.700 in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:12.359 David doesn't want to be separated from this 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:16.079 great privilege. He wants to be alive and well 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.440 in the house of the Lord. We would talk about 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:22.380 being in the family of God, being his children, 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:27.700 being of his household, all the days of our life. 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:34.299 So if we're a member of God's household, we should 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:36.900 start taking on the resemblance of our father. 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:41.559 And our older brother, for that matter. If we're 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.079 having fellowship there, that's who we should 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:49.559 resemble. And do we really want that? And if 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:51.319 we don't really want that, how are we going to 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:55.500 spend eternity in heaven? It's a total contradiction. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.740 You can't spend a half an hour a day with your 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:03.079 God here on earth, but you're going to spend 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.829 eternity with him in heaven? That doesn't make 00:18:07.829 --> 00:18:17.329 sense. Again, you're missing the blessing if 00:18:17.329 --> 00:18:24.549 you don't commune with God. You're way short. 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:34.210 Your growth is stunted. I may dwell in the house 00:18:34.210 --> 00:18:40.769 of the Lord. All the days of my life. And what's 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:44.769 he going to do there? The next clause. To behold 00:18:44.769 --> 00:18:52.769 the beauty of the Lord. I mean. That's a limitless 00:18:52.769 --> 00:18:59.349 endeavor. That's a limitless objective. The Lord 00:18:59.349 --> 00:19:02.089 in all of his beauty. The beauty of holiness. 00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:10.329 His great love. His mercy. His omnipotence. His 00:19:10.329 --> 00:19:16.650 unchangeableness. All the beauty of nature. Why 00:19:16.650 --> 00:19:18.829 is there a hundred thousand different kinds of 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:22.630 flowers? All kinds of different colored flowers. 00:19:23.390 --> 00:19:28.569 Why are there so many different birds? Why do 00:19:28.569 --> 00:19:32.210 we have pollinators? I mean, the beauty of the 00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:39.900 Lord is obvious. It's all over. Contemplate that 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:42.819 beauty. Contemplate that beauty that was willing 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:51.220 to die for you. For our sins he died. And if 00:19:51.220 --> 00:19:55.460 you think about it rightly, you would be able 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:58.319 to think about it. If I was the only Christian 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:01.539 in the world or the elect person in the world, 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:05.019 Christ would have died. That's how personal this 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:13.049 is. He died for individual peoples. He died for 00:20:13.049 --> 00:20:20.309 me and my pathetic, sinful self. And all of us 00:20:20.309 --> 00:20:25.650 here who know Christ can say the same. We want 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:28.990 communion with our God. We want to grow in our 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:32.549 love for Him. We want to grow in our appreciation 00:20:32.549 --> 00:20:45.140 of Him. Communion with God. The second thing 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:48.640 then, and the last in the verse, is that we want 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:56.000 to inquire in His temple. Again, I've got to 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.740 say it again. There's nothing better than questions. 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:05.700 Inquiring. God wants it. He wants us to inquire 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:10.410 of Him. He wants us to learn. He wants us to 00:21:10.410 --> 00:21:16.029 grow in our faith, in our knowledge of Him. Is 00:21:16.029 --> 00:21:18.509 that a prayer request? Do we pray that way? Lord, 00:21:18.789 --> 00:21:21.809 enable me to grow in my faith and knowledge of 00:21:21.809 --> 00:21:25.750 You. Enable me to love You more. Do we pray that 00:21:25.750 --> 00:21:34.670 for ourselves in our communion with God? I mean, 00:21:34.690 --> 00:21:41.299 when we read the Word, I don't think there's 00:21:41.299 --> 00:21:44.380 a passage in the Bible that you could read that 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:48.099 you couldn't learn something from. That doesn't 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:50.660 tell you more about God. That doesn't tell you 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:54.859 more about yourself. That doesn't reveal a promise. 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.680 That doesn't give a warning. One of those things, 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:04.140 one of those questions are going to be answered. 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:06.660 Maybe multiple questions are going to be answered 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:09.970 in the same verse. Do you ask questions of the 00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:12.990 Bible when you're reading it? That's how you 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:19.130 inquire. That's how we learn when we inquire 00:22:19.130 --> 00:22:22.549 after God. He delights to answer those inquiries. 00:22:22.650 --> 00:22:25.190 He delights to reveal himself more and more to 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:30.269 his people. To draw closer to us. To have us 00:22:30.269 --> 00:22:34.009 to grow closer to him in our love and admiration 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:40.609 and appreciation, our gratitude. Grow in your 00:22:40.609 --> 00:22:44.869 faith and knowledge of God. The one thing that 00:22:44.869 --> 00:22:50.509 we should desire above all else. So then he goes 00:22:50.509 --> 00:22:54.930 on in verse 5. For in the time of trouble he 00:22:54.930 --> 00:22:58.230 shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret 00:22:58.230 --> 00:23:02.329 of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall 00:23:02.329 --> 00:23:06.009 set me up upon a rock. So this is all physical. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.599 Things, physical structures. We obviously know 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:15.359 that now it's all a spiritual reality. It was 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.700 a picture of things to come and it is now a spiritual 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:24.460 reality as we go through this life. We are totally 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:29.799 safe in God's presence. We are totally in God's 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:32.880 presence all the time because he lives within 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.799 us. Remember practicing the presence of God. 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:41.859 You all realize you are in the presence of God 00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:51.319 every second of every day. That's amazing. It's 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:58.279 too much for me. But we are. He's going to do 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:00.660 all those things. He's going to deliver us. He's 00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:03.420 going to protect us. He's going to set us up 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.940 on the rock of Christ. He already has. And we're 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:09.839 not going to be moved. Regardless of what comes 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:14.640 our way. We will not be moved. We will remain 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:21.900 on Christ. Or in Christ. Forever. And so. In 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:26.420 verse 6 he says. And now. Shall mine head be 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:29.180 lifted up. Above mine enemies round about me. 00:24:30.039 --> 00:24:32.700 In other words. I'm going to have victory over 00:24:32.700 --> 00:24:36.539 all of my sins. There's no sin that can hold 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:40.500 me captive. Remember, that's our enemy. I have 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:45.140 power over sin. That resurrection power that 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:48.039 raised Christ from the dead enables me to resist 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:52.960 and conquer sin. We're without any excuses when 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.000 we sin. God makes a way of escape. And we don't 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:02.490 have to sin. And that's what he's declaring here. 00:25:02.869 --> 00:25:10.210 He's going to have the victory. So again, it's 00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:15.930 not a wish. Do you pray for it? Do you pray in 00:25:15.930 --> 00:25:19.329 that manner? God, give me victory over this sin. 00:25:20.430 --> 00:25:25.509 I hate this sin. Give me the victory. Rid it 00:25:25.509 --> 00:25:34.500 from me. The answer will be yes. The victory 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:39.460 will be yours. But then he says, as a result 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:44.140 of all these things, that I will offer in his 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:49.940 tabernacle sacrifices of joy. So the New Testament 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:54.519 talks about spiritual sacrifices. We're no longer 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.079 in the business of offering physical sacrifices. 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:01.910 Christ has been offered. We make no... Physical 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:05.630 sacrifices for our atonement. What we do make 00:26:05.630 --> 00:26:10.410 is spiritual sacrifices in love and gratitude 00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:15.809 for our God. That could be anything. As long 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:19.990 as we're doing it to the glory of God. As long 00:26:19.990 --> 00:26:23.609 as it's something sacrificial. I'll not offer 00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:28.970 my God something that cost me nothing. Is that 00:26:28.970 --> 00:26:33.869 our attitude? How can it be a sacrifice if it 00:26:33.869 --> 00:26:39.829 doesn't cost us anything? The proper rearing 00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:42.910 up of your children is a spiritual sacrifice, 00:26:43.430 --> 00:26:47.410 if done properly. Because you're denying yourself 00:26:47.410 --> 00:26:50.910 something to do something that God has entrusted 00:26:50.910 --> 00:26:57.809 into your hands to do. Do you realize that? God 00:26:57.809 --> 00:27:02.069 expects you to sacrifice. for your children for 00:27:02.069 --> 00:27:06.170 his glory he expects you to represent him to 00:27:06.170 --> 00:27:09.869 your children it could be anything the care of 00:27:09.869 --> 00:27:13.369 an agent parent like i said it could be anything 00:27:13.369 --> 00:27:18.609 the cleaning of this building you're giving of 00:27:18.609 --> 00:27:21.069 yourself you're giving of your time your energy 00:27:21.069 --> 00:27:25.049 it's costing you something it's costing each 00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:27.609 one of us something to keep this place looking 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:33.630 as it should to honor and glorify God. We could 00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:38.269 go on and on, right? It's curious and it's interesting 00:27:38.269 --> 00:27:40.549 that the word here, and I don't know what you 00:27:40.549 --> 00:27:43.630 have in your translation, the sacrifices of joy, 00:27:43.869 --> 00:27:48.750 but the alternative reading in my Bible is shouting. 00:27:52.049 --> 00:27:56.170 Sacrifices of shouting. In other words, This 00:27:56.170 --> 00:28:00.049 is an exciting thing. This isn't some drudgery. 00:28:00.190 --> 00:28:04.930 Joy, obviously, in itself is not drudgery. But 00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:10.490 it's really exciting. It's really a privilege 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:15.230 to know God this way, to commune with Him, and 00:28:15.230 --> 00:28:18.829 to be willing to offer sacrifices of joy, of 00:28:18.829 --> 00:28:21.869 shouting, unto the God that has done everything 00:28:21.869 --> 00:28:26.589 for us. That's wisdom. trying to be conveyed 00:28:26.589 --> 00:28:32.950 here it should be exciting grandma always whenever 00:28:32.950 --> 00:28:36.250 she asks one of her grandkids to do something 00:28:36.250 --> 00:28:38.630 do you want the blessing that's what she says 00:28:38.630 --> 00:28:42.950 you want the blessing today that's what it is 00:28:42.950 --> 00:28:48.569 that's the way we should look at it not as some 00:28:48.569 --> 00:28:54.299 drudgery something that you have to do But it's 00:28:54.299 --> 00:28:57.759 a wonderful privilege to serve the Lord, to know 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:01.460 Him, to know His love, to know that He's there 00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:05.799 with us, that He desires our company. I mean, 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:09.099 that's incredible, isn't it? All because of Christ. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:13.279 We have no merit in ourselves. We have nothing 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:15.940 to recommend ourselves to God other than Christ. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:21.789 But with Christ, we have everything. We have 00:29:21.789 --> 00:29:24.289 that total freedom to come into the very presence 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:28.170 and commune and fellowship and serve and love 00:29:28.170 --> 00:29:35.390 and represent him to the rest of mankind. And 00:29:35.390 --> 00:29:39.269 then he says here, lastly, this morning, I will 00:29:39.269 --> 00:29:43.369 sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. 00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:51.970 I mean, that seems pretty simple, right? Didn't 00:29:51.970 --> 00:29:57.690 that seem simple? Well, God must really like 00:29:57.690 --> 00:30:03.730 it, right? Because God said it. He likes to hear 00:30:03.730 --> 00:30:08.369 His people praising. And He likes to hear them 00:30:08.369 --> 00:30:13.109 sing praises to Him. So again, I've got to say 00:30:13.109 --> 00:30:15.410 it again. I know I've said it, and so have all 00:30:15.410 --> 00:30:19.190 the rest of the elders. Let's have some joyous 00:30:19.190 --> 00:30:27.200 singing. Right? Let those voices be heard. You're 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.380 not singing under your breath, are you? That 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:35.519 doesn't count as joyful singing. It's better 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:38.720 than nothing, I'll grant you that. But it's not 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:41.880 meeting the expectations of God when we have 00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:47.160 any reluctance to sing praises loudly in His 00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:52.190 presence. It's a privilege. And it's such an 00:30:52.190 --> 00:30:54.509 encouragement to the rest of us to hear everybody 00:30:54.509 --> 00:31:00.509 else sing. It's a real encouragement. So I encourage 00:31:00.509 --> 00:31:06.849 you in this area, once again, sing. I might as 00:31:06.849 --> 00:31:09.329 well throw pray in there. We're doing better 00:31:09.329 --> 00:31:13.750 in all of these things. I grant you. Let's keep 00:31:13.750 --> 00:31:16.410 going. Let's keep making progress. Let's keep 00:31:16.410 --> 00:31:20.759 getting closer and closer. Let's give of ourselves, 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:26.259 for he alone is worthy of all of our praises. 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:28.240 Amen.