WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:05.120 Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your help 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.460 thus far. You come now again to confess our need, 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:10.839 our weakness, our helplessness apart from you. 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.259 And indeed you would help us as we open your 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:16.679 word this morning, that you teach us all that 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:20.019 you would have us to know, that you enable me 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:23.839 to present the word in a manner that is glorifying 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:28.160 to you and helpful to all of us here. accomplish 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.320 your perfect purposes in the lives of your people 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.799 this morning. We pray again for the loss that 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.320 they might be found of you, that you would be 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.060 merciful, granting repentance and faith to some 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:43.539 who are yet in their sins. And we have asked 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:46.560 this also for other assemblies who are gathered 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.399 together in the truth of your word, that you 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.179 would be present among them as well in saving 00:00:53.179 --> 00:00:56.969 your people out of their sins. So help me then, 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:59.630 once again, as I present the word. Help us all 00:00:59.630 --> 00:01:03.009 to receive it. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 00:01:04.810 --> 00:01:08.090 Well, we're still in Psalm 27 this morning, if 00:01:08.090 --> 00:01:20.370 you'd like to turn there with me. We saw the 00:01:20.370 --> 00:01:25.519 beginning that the Lord is perfect. in all that 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:29.599 he does, that David and all of his people should 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:35.420 be fully confident in the Lord our God, that 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:38.599 he accomplishes his perfect purposes in us and 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.859 through us and with us, that we are the light 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:45.120 of the world because we have received the light 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.599 of the world. We're no longer in darkness, we're 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.200 no longer in the misty flats, but we're in the 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:57.780 light of God. And then we saw that the Psalm 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:00.540 of David, and as all of his children should, 00:02:00.739 --> 00:02:05.000 delights in the communion of God. Delight to 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.120 get together with God. Have communion with Him. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:14.939 What a privilege it is to commune with our God 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:20.840 through our Lord Jesus Christ. Today then we're 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:25.879 going to look at... I suppose what we would call 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:31.199 some specific prayer requests that David called 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.900 out for in his communion. And so we're going 00:02:35.900 --> 00:02:38.400 to try to learn a few things this morning about 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:43.379 prayer. Yeah, even from the Old Testament we 00:02:43.379 --> 00:02:48.439 can learn about prayer. And hopefully we can 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:53.620 and we will take these verses to heart. Examine 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:58.340 ourselves and profit from the word this morning. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:03.139 So let's read these verses together. Beginning 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:08.259 at verse 7. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:11.680 voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:16.900 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:21.439 unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Hide 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.599 not thy face from me, put not thy servant away 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:30.159 in anger. Thou hast been my help, leave me not, 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:35.360 neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.759 my father and my mother forsake me, then the 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:43.539 Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord, 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:47.740 and lead me in the plain path, because of mine 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:51.840 enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.900 mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:58.520 against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:04.199 I had fainted unless I had believed to see the 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:08.620 goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.360 So that's quite a prayer, and we understand it 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.709 rightly. If we think about it and meditate on 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:21.149 it long enough, I think we can see all of life 00:04:21.149 --> 00:04:24.949 encompassed in these prayer requests of David. 00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:30.629 Certainly, they're not very specific, are they? 00:04:31.569 --> 00:04:35.110 They're what we would probably classify as general 00:04:35.110 --> 00:04:40.589 prayer requests. But in their generality, they 00:04:40.589 --> 00:04:45.509 cover all of the specifics, I believe. I could 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:51.230 be mistaken. But a great deal of our lives in 00:04:51.230 --> 00:04:56.730 Christ are covered in these requests. So he starts 00:04:56.730 --> 00:05:01.149 off and he cries out, Hear, O Lord, when I cry 00:05:01.149 --> 00:05:07.850 with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:11.209 me. So we should have learned this already from 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:14.620 the preceding verses. All of our interactions 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:19.639 with the Lord are based on His mercy. He owes 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:26.480 us nothing but what He's promised to do. That, 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.600 if He is true to His own word, if He is God Almighty, 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:33.279 will come to pass. We can pray those promises 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:40.740 with utter confidence and surety. He's bound 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:45.819 Himself. To the care of his children. What a 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:51.339 wonderful thought. He's bound himself unto us. 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:57.259 For all of our lives. To see us through. To take 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:03.079 us through. What a wonderful thing. So David 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:08.240 is acknowledging that. And he's asking in all 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.199 sincerity. all of his desire to be heard by God. 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:19.379 David wants God to hear him. And what does he, 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.279 he says, hear my voice. Now here's a clue. Some 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:27.920 of us, we have problems sometimes in our thinking 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:32.420 prose. We have problems controlling our thought 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:40.300 processes. We get distracted, perhaps. Maybe 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:44.319 it happens quite often. I don't know. I know 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:48.300 it happens. The frequency of it, I don't know. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:52.519 We're all different. But David said when he hears 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:58.319 his voice. So here's the solution. If you pray 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:03.600 out loud, it'll never happen. Have you ever heard 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.980 somebody praying? And all of a sudden he starts 00:07:06.980 --> 00:07:09.100 talking about what he's going to do in the afternoon. 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:15.560 It doesn't happen. David's telling us he's praying 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:17.779 out loud. The Lord's going to hear his voice. 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:25.319 So again, in the old days, it seemed anyway to 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:30.800 be much more practiced. A verbal prayer in the 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.970 quiet place of our closet. I don't know if that's 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:41.529 still going on today or not. But if you have 00:07:41.529 --> 00:07:46.750 problems in this area. And it's really hard perhaps. 00:07:47.389 --> 00:07:51.870 Pray out loud. And the problems will disappear. 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:58.810 And remember. The privilege it is to go into 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:02.310 God's presence. He told us to come. He called 00:08:02.310 --> 00:08:04.829 us to come into his presence. He receives us 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:11.910 as children. And that's all true. But David is 00:08:11.910 --> 00:08:17.230 not presumptuous here in any regard. This is 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:20.569 the Old Testament again. But let's just make 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:27.430 sure that we are not overly presumptuous. That 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.699 we're not... Barging in that we're not rude. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.600 That we're mindful that this is our father. That 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.740 we're mindful that we are his children. We're 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:42.779 mindful of all that we receive is of mercy. David 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:49.759 certainly was. But he lived before Christ. But 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.899 we can still learn and should learn. The proper 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:58.230 attitude in prayer is one of dependence. And 00:08:58.230 --> 00:09:04.710 mercy. So he goes on. And he says. When thou 00:09:04.710 --> 00:09:12.049 said unto me. Seek my face. My heart. Or. My 00:09:12.049 --> 00:09:15.110 inner being. My very being. Said unto thee. Thy 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:21.129 face Lord will I seek. There's a great lesson 00:09:21.129 --> 00:09:26.899 there. There's a wonderful lesson. The Lord said, 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:31.899 seek my face. Where do we seek his face? We seek 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:36.039 it in the word. It's not out there in the sky. 00:09:36.299 --> 00:09:39.559 It's not in the forest. It's not by the stream. 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:46.340 God's face is in his word. And it's in the relationship 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:50.879 between the word and the spirit. And when the 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:53.960 spirit gets a hold of the word and has that, 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:57.799 has that word particularly for you, for me, and 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:03.139 applies that to ourselves, bingo! There's nothing 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:07.179 better than that. There's nothing better than 00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:12.960 a sure word of God when you seek His face. He's 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:20.279 told us to do it. And David says, I... I have 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:23.120 responded to what you said. I have sought your 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:31.980 face. Are we content with seeing the backside 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:36.679 of God? Are we content to skirt around the edges? 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:43.899 Or will we be totally and honestly open and committed 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:49.750 to our God? To have our God? Above all else. 00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:54.350 To know the face of God in our personal relationship 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:57.570 with him. You know we're looking forward to that. 00:10:57.649 --> 00:11:00.870 Aren't we face to face? We're going to see him 00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:05.009 as he is. We'll have a time for that. But this 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:07.549 is telling us. Yeah we're not going to see a 00:11:07.549 --> 00:11:11.350 physical face. But we are going to see. We are 00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.990 going to know. We are going to experience. A 00:11:13.990 --> 00:11:16.490 closeness in our relationship with God. That 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:21.440 is expressed as. Face to face. It is possible. 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:29.759 It does happen. And it's not automatic. So don't 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:35.620 be presumptuous. Seek his face. He's told you 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:39.919 to do it. He's told us all, seek me, seek me, 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:47.559 seek me. Knock. You will find me. you will be 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:55.519 answered. The privilege of prayer, the privilege 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:59.600 of communion with God, the utter necessity of 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:08.840 prayer in our communion with God. Now he goes 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:17.200 on in verse 9. And he says, Hide not thy face 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.159 from me. Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.799 hast been my help, leave me not. Neither forsake 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:30.399 me, O God of my salvation. I venture to say that 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:35.840 nobody in this room has ever prayed that. Have 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:44.559 we? Maybe if you ever felt your sin enough. Maybe 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:49.440 if you ever fell into sin enough, we may have 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:54.879 had an occasion to pray that. When our sins weighed 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.779 us down so heavily that we couldn't believe that 00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:04.559 we are God's son or daughter. That we might have 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.600 actually felt forsaken of God, even though we 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:16.960 weren't. Our circumstances perhaps are overwhelming. 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:22.559 We've experienced things that we've never thought 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:27.340 we would experience. We've already heard testimony 00:13:27.340 --> 00:13:36.299 of it. Is God with me now? Can I really go face 00:13:36.299 --> 00:13:39.840 to face with God now? He seems so far from me. 00:13:41.870 --> 00:13:47.509 Well, just the opposite is the case. When you 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:50.429 feel your need of Him the most is when you should 00:13:50.429 --> 00:13:54.909 be running to Him the most. And then you should 00:13:54.909 --> 00:13:59.210 be anticipating actually communing with Him face 00:13:59.210 --> 00:14:03.169 to face and receiving from Him everything that 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:06.809 you need in this particular time, place, circumstance, 00:14:06.990 --> 00:14:11.299 whatever it is. God delights to have his children 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:17.320 call upon him in that way. He's waiting for us 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:24.620 to. He's bidding us to. Again, it's mercy. It's 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:29.320 coming in humility. Coming with nothing in our 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:38.529 hands. But coming in surety. God has helped us 00:14:38.529 --> 00:14:43.750 in the past. Will he abandon me now? God has 00:14:43.750 --> 00:14:51.730 saved me. How can he let me go? He can't. He'll 00:14:51.730 --> 00:14:57.750 keep me. I'm persuaded that he will. I know that 00:14:57.750 --> 00:15:02.970 he will. He's given us the most important thing, 00:15:03.009 --> 00:15:06.970 his only begotten son. Made us at one with Him. 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:15.490 How can He withhold all the rest? We simply need 00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:21.289 to come and seek from Him that which we need. 00:15:23.090 --> 00:15:27.690 And what a glorious time it will be. And it may 00:15:27.690 --> 00:15:30.629 not be immediate. You may go through something 00:15:30.629 --> 00:15:38.639 for quite a while. But when it comes, it comes. 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.879 And there's nothing like it. And it never gets 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:53.679 old. He goes on and he says, when my father and 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:57.759 my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.799 me up. Then the Lord will gather me up. He will 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:06.220 gather me under his wings. He'll throw his arms 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:10.480 around me. He'll make up for every loss I've 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.840 ever experienced. What greater loss could there 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:17.259 be than the closest human relationship fails? 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.820 Your mother and your father have failed you. 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:25.720 They've cast you off. They forgot about you. 00:16:30.190 --> 00:16:32.690 Maybe they weren't any very good to begin with, 00:16:32.730 --> 00:16:36.110 and now they're gone completely. Whatever the 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:40.350 circumstances is, it may not be necessarily that 00:16:40.350 --> 00:16:42.470 you're father and mother, but maybe your best 00:16:42.470 --> 00:16:48.669 bosom friend has forsaken you. That's what's 00:16:48.669 --> 00:16:51.149 represented here. If this closest relationship, 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:53.889 and it does include all the other relationships 00:16:53.889 --> 00:17:01.190 that we have in this life. Are we afraid we're 00:17:01.190 --> 00:17:06.950 going to lose something for serving Christ? Are 00:17:06.950 --> 00:17:09.829 we afraid that if everybody knows that we're 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:12.390 Christians, that that's going to be a loss? That 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:14.109 they're going to turn their backs? That they're 00:17:14.109 --> 00:17:16.210 going to forget about us? That we're not going 00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:19.170 to be given the promotion at work or whatever 00:17:19.170 --> 00:17:22.529 the case may be if they think I'm a servant of 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:27.309 Christ? Is that our attitude? Well, please adjust 00:17:27.309 --> 00:17:34.539 your attitude. You want just the opposite. You 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:36.819 want everybody and his brother to know you're 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:41.759 a Christian. You want the opportunity to speak 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:49.660 to people about the Lord. And work is just the 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:56.259 perfect example. I've never had so much fun in 00:17:56.259 --> 00:17:58.559 my life when I was a kid. I got saved in a factory. 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:05.670 I was a union representative in the steel workers' 00:18:05.809 --> 00:18:09.809 union. And everybody knew me. We had three shifts. 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:14.769 Everybody knew me. They knew what I was, and 00:18:14.769 --> 00:18:17.970 they knew who I was. And then all of a sudden, 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:20.970 they didn't know me at all. Because all of a 00:18:20.970 --> 00:18:23.859 sudden, the Lord came into my life. But I had 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.559 all those acquaintances that knew me who I was 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:29.240 and how I acted and what I did. And now I had 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:32.400 all those opportunities to speak the truth of 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.200 the love of God in my heart. That's what we want. 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:46.880 He gathers us up. He protects us. He uses us. 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:53.589 He gives us purpose. He gives us a family. Do 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:55.910 I feel a responsibility for all of you folks? 00:18:56.009 --> 00:19:00.349 I sure do. Do you feel a responsibility for me? 00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:07.990 I hope you do. It's a family. It's the blood 00:19:07.990 --> 00:19:14.029 of Christ that unites us. And there needs nothing 00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:22.190 else. The Lord will take me up. The Lord will 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:28.269 gather me up. He will see me through. So then 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:30.930 he says, Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:36.269 in a plain path because of mine enemies. Notice 00:19:36.269 --> 00:19:40.089 what he doesn't say. Lord, lead me in the path 00:19:40.089 --> 00:19:46.150 that I want to go. Teach me to walk according 00:19:46.150 --> 00:19:51.740 to your way. That's what he wants. He doesn't 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:53.720 want the Lord to come and help him along the 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.799 path he's chosen for himself. That's two different 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.720 things. And hopefully we recognize this all of 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.240 our lives because we're going to experience all 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.299 of our lives in this way. We're always going 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:09.059 to have a choice. We're going to go do things 00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:11.319 the Lord's way or we're going to do them our 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.180 way and pray for the Lord's blessing upon us. 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:22.180 And that's no good. You don't make a decision 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:26.380 and then go ask the Lord to bless that decision. 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:31.759 That's what I'm saying. If you don't seek the 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:37.599 Lord first, forget it. Don't even bother. He 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.259 might be gracious and merciful, and we know He 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:43.359 is, and save you from going down all these crazy 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:47.420 paths with all these wrong ideas. Maybe so. But 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:54.980 that's presumption. Seek the Lord first. And 00:20:54.980 --> 00:21:00.220 pray for a simple plain path. Because we live 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:04.960 in a dreadful place. Full of temptations. Full 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:08.779 of the world, the flesh, the devil. It's all 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:14.279 around us. And think we can stand without the 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:17.519 help and leadership of the Lord. It's presumptuous. 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:28.140 It's pride. It's sin. Before you make any decision, 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:34.779 seek the Lord. Be willing to go in whatever direction 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:38.920 He leads. And we should pray like this. We should 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:42.019 pray this constantly. Keep me from my own will, 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:47.980 Lord. Keep me on Your path. And please, Lord, 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:51.460 make it plain because I'm a simple man. I need 00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:54.319 easy instructions. I need to be brought along 00:21:54.319 --> 00:22:01.759 so I can be safe in your way. How many times 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.099 do we demand to see the end in the beginning? 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:14.789 Again, that's the impossibility. Sometimes the 00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:18.430 Lord will open it up long down the road. Sometimes 00:22:18.430 --> 00:22:22.869 he'll open it up for one step. Which are you 00:22:22.869 --> 00:22:27.529 going to do? Do you need the whole way? Can you 00:22:27.529 --> 00:22:35.470 walk one step at a time? That's a huge prayer 00:22:35.470 --> 00:22:40.589 that David has just uttered. I can only hope 00:22:40.589 --> 00:22:45.819 that we have all uttered it many times. We need 00:22:45.819 --> 00:22:52.359 God's leading on God's way for God's glory, for 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:57.619 the good of his people, for our own safety. How's 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:05.779 that? He says in 12, deliver me not over unto 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:08.940 the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:12.200 are risen up against me, and such as breathe 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:17.329 out cruelty. Again, it's the world we live in. 00:23:20.190 --> 00:23:25.089 We're fortunate here. We've been spared physical 00:23:25.089 --> 00:23:30.630 tortures and abuses and deaths. We have suffered 00:23:30.630 --> 00:23:38.009 none of those things. So again, don't be presuming 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:41.329 upon God. It can all change in a night's time. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:48.220 And even if it doesn't, all of the spiritual 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:51.900 realities of the world, the flesh, and the devil 00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:54.819 are all still going to be there. Trying to trip 00:23:54.819 --> 00:24:01.500 us up. Trying to ruin our testimony. Laying temptations 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:12.819 before us. They're our enemies. He closes it 00:24:12.819 --> 00:24:17.279 out in 13. He says, I would have fainted. I never 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:20.420 would have made it unless I had believed to see 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:23.200 the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:27.799 Here it is. He says it right before us. What 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:34.960 did he say? He says, I had believed to see. Let's 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:39.019 always get those in right order. It's never see 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:47.220 to believe. It's always believe to see. Faith, 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:50.880 in other words. Faith is the key. Lord, strengthen 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:55.299 my faith. Lord, give me more faith. Lord, send 00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:58.579 me somebody that will encourage my faith. Lord, 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:01.380 enable me to encourage someone's faith. Lord, 00:25:01.500 --> 00:25:05.240 give me a book to read that will grow me in the 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:13.559 truth and knowledge of Jesus Christ. We believe 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:17.619 to see. And what do we believe? We believe in 00:25:17.619 --> 00:25:20.420 the sovereignty of God. We believe in the goodness 00:25:20.420 --> 00:25:24.119 of God. We believe in the mercy of God. We believe 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:27.240 in the all -knowingness of God. We believe in 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:31.799 the all -powerfulness of God. You say, I'm not 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:34.480 seeing a lot of that stuff, right? That's right. 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:38.180 Do you believe it? I'm not asking if you see 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:41.980 it all the time. If your faith is right, you'll 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.720 see it. But there'll be plenty of times when 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.059 you have a doubt here and a doubt there. Look, 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:52.460 you're alive if you're still in the flesh. Faith 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:58.180 has got to overrule those times. Believe to see. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:05.640 That's what kept David going. He was confident 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:09.400 that the Lord was going to act. That the Lord 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:12.920 was going to accomplish his purposes. That he 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:16.380 might even have something for David to do. To 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:19.119 further the goodness of God. To make the light 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:24.200 shine brighter. To bring some new people in. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:32.480 To share the good news of Christ. The land of 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.819 the living. It starts now. God's kingdom is now. 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:45.480 We're living in God's kingdom now. It is a future 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:49.759 hope as well. But we're experiencing it now. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.480 Not nearly the degree and the extent that we 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:57.140 will when we get there. But we're experiencing 00:26:57.140 --> 00:27:01.559 it now. The goodness of God in the land of the 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:09.099 living. Nothing can overpower God. Nothing. Nothing 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:11.759 is happening that's out of his control. His eye 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:14.779 is on the sparrow. We've been singing about this 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:19.200 stuff all morning. Hopefully you've recognized 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:27.480 it in the song. The testimonies. Believe to see. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:34.279 Have faith. Trust in the Lord. He will direct 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:39.259 your way. We heard that this morning. So that's 00:27:39.259 --> 00:27:45.160 the prayer of David. It's a glorious thing. It's 00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:48.740 wonderful to commune with God in such a fashion. 00:27:49.099 --> 00:27:53.160 To have that confidence that is ours as his children. 00:27:53.259 --> 00:27:56.859 We all can have this degree of confidence. We 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:02.039 can all have this amount of communion with our 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:08.950 God. If we want it. If our desire is for him. 00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:14.990 Above all else. So I got one more week. To bring 00:28:14.990 --> 00:28:18.289 the word. And it's going to be on verse 14. Next 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:21.190 week. So I'll see you then.