Psalm 63

Good morning. Would y'all stand? Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. That hadn't come to my mind for a while, but yeah, that's good. We want to welcome you this morning to Calvary Chapel. And those of you who have joined us online, we want to welcome you. Would you join me in prayer? I think I asked you to stand, didn't I? Yes. Yes. All right, then.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather, to worship in song, and to study your word. Father, we lift up our service to you. We lift up the other end of the hall there as the teachers will be teaching the youngsters, Lord, that you would anoint that by the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord. Bless their time together. And those in the nursery who will be looking after those little ones, just bless their time with them.

And the toddlers and all that goes on. And I ask for your blessing on the ushers, too. They busy themselves with ushering, Lord. Just bless that. And now as we come to you this morning, we come just as we are. We need your strength, your help. We want to trust you in all that we do, Lord, and say. May we just sing to you this morning. And may you be glorified in this service.

We just give you thanks, Lord.

You may be seated. Oh, we praise you, Lord, this morning. The way you transform us by the renewing of our minds as we allow you, Lord, as we present ourselves to you as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto you, which is our reasonable act of worship or service. Oh, may we not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

As you renovate us, Lord, we make us new people in you. We give you praise. Thank you for the good father you are, Lord, too. And your ways are always perfect, Lord. They're not our ways. But they're always perfect. And we thank you for that, Lord Jesus.

And, Father, no matter not how we feel, the condition we're in, joy, peace, sadness, you're with us, Lord. We thank you. We might say you could take it to the bank. In his bank, we thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise you, Lord. Yes.

And never stop.

And, Father, you do. You make a way. We can trust you in every area of our life, Lord. Praise, Lord. Would you all stand? Take a little stretch.

And I won't keep you standing. Praise you, Lord.

God is good. Father, just continue to bless our service now as we spend time in your word, as we're fellowshipping a bit, and all just be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. A little fellowship time.

Okay. If everybody would find their way back to their seats, we will get started with announcements. If you would join with me, open up your announcement. What do they call this, Robbie? Bulletin. To the inside, left side, shows all the different things that are going on each week here at Calvary Chapel. Don't hesitate to find a way to get plugged in if you want.

We'd love to have you. If you don't know what to do, talk to myself, Alan, Robbie. Gosh, there's a lot of people in here that you could talk to if you want to get plugged into some type of fellowship or a study. We'd love to have you join in on those. In the middle, we'll show what's happening, at least today for sure, intercessory repair at 6 p.m. tonight.

And then this Wednesday, instead of our normal Wednesday night study, we're going to do a praise and worship night. So Ryan requested that all of these chairs be filled. If you're not, we will get you. No, we won't. Please join us. It's just going to be worship. There might be a small message involved with it, but it's going to be just worshiping the Lord. And I'm very excited for that.

So 7 p.m. on Wednesday. And with that being said, today is the first of the month. We normally do communion first Sunday of the month. We're not going to be doing that today. We'll do it Wednesday night. And so hopefully we'll run out of grape juice. All right. So everybody show up and join us. And also the little insert that you got for Holy Week services.

If there was somebody you would like to hear or to go see during this time, please do so. And that'll give you where everybody's going to be speaking. Kurt Solomon is here to speak about the mowing ministry. So, Kurt, come on up and we will let you. I don't know. Give them the info.

Okay. Good morning. How's everybody doing? My name is Kurt Solomon. Last year, Pastor Ryan asked me to take over the mowing ministry because he is getting busier and busier and our congregation is growing. So our mowing ministry, we don't pay a service to come take care of our lawn. We take care of it. We do it through volunteers within the church, and we mow the back side and the front side.

We sign up. We usually have two people per team, and some people know each other who I sign them up with. They don't know each other. Whatever leads you, however you want to try to sign up with somebody, you can put their name down, or I will sign you up, partner you with somebody. There's a sign-up sheet in the back in the lobby area. So if you're interested in something,

if you're interested in some of the things leading you, or if you're some ministry that you want to join, but you just don't know if you'd fit in. I know everybody loves mowing. It's like, don't they? Yeah. So it is a great reward. I know everybody knows that. When you look at the lawn and you're like, oh, man, it's like I've got to mow it again. But then after you mow it, you're like, that's why I do it, because it looks great.

So look at my notes here. But also, I know a lot of people there. I know a lot of people there are hesitant to sign up because they know they're busy during the summertime. Please don't worry about if I have you on the schedule for a certain weekend and you're not going to be there. You can't make it. You can either reach out to the team, like if you know beforehand that you're not going to be there.

You can reach out to the team that's set up to mow the previous week or the after week. And everybody is really good about switching with somebody if you can't make it the weekend that you're signed up. So please don't let that be a hindrance to sign up. I set a goal. I was hoping that we would get 26 people to sign up, and that way everybody would only have to do it twice.

We're a little short on that right now, but I had to set a goal. You never want to set it too short. So there is a lot of opportunity to sign up out there, and that would help the other people that do sign up that they wouldn't have to mow as frequently. So if it's leading you to do this, please think about it and sign up. I will probably be getting the sheet put out.

I don't know about next weekend but the weekend before, but as everybody can tell, the purple flowers are growing out there, or what I call them the purple weeds. So if you have any questions, you can reach out to me after church or my phone number. I will write it on the sheet in the back, the sign-up sheet, if you'd like to call me and visit with me about if you should do it or not. Just please feel free to reach out to me.

My name again is Kurt Solomon.

Thank you, Kurt. And I don't know, did you mention that the church owns the mower, has a mower? So, okay, if you don't have a mower and you want a mower, you can come mow after a brief training session how to drive a ZTR, right? And Kurt will do that. Now, also, if you want to sign up and you know a friend that has a ZTR, another mower, right, they could sign up as a team, two mowers, half the time.

My wife and I used to do that for a while. We'd bring our little tractor down here and mow, and it went a lot quicker, so it was good stuff. Okay, last thing, turn off your phones, please, or set them to stun, or just turn them off completely. That'd be good. And where Alan is, I know he's around here somewhere, we're going to be reading out of Psalm 1 for our scripture reading, our responsive reading.

I'll read the odd verses. Alan, if you would join with Alan in the even verses, stand when you get to that point, please, in the honor of the reading of God's word. Psalm 1. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers. The wicked are not so. But they are like chaff, which the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Amen. Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the day that you have made this opportunity. You've come here with us to gather on this Palm Sunday. Father, as your people. Goodbye in your triumphal entry into Jerusalem, throwing down palm branches and coats. Lord, laying down those things for you, not knowing that a week later you would be laying down your life for them.

And Father, you've. You've blessed us beyond measure by your sacrifice. So, Lord, this morning, as we go into your word, may we hear your words. May we put into practice the things that we learn about you today. As we get closer to this Easter Sunday and celebrate your resurrection. Father, may we not be afraid to speak out the truth of your word. Lord, may we be a blessing to you.

May we honor you with all that we do and say. Lord, we love you and we praise you. And in all things, we give thanks in the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray. And all of God's children said, Amen. Today we have Pastor. Pastor Robbie. I'll call him Pastor Robbie to speak for us as Ryan's with the kids. I don't know if you all knew that he's he's with everybody.

Go ahead, Robbie. There you go. He's with everybody in Silver Dollar City with Tristan and Jared and the young ones. So, Robbie, it's yours. Thank you. Well, good morning to you all again. Would you turn in your Bibles to Psalm 63?

I'm going to be. In a different version today. The old King James. This old boy has been with me and it's 17 companion volumes for about 51 years. And so it was a blessing. I didn't tell the first service, but it was a blessing how this I was blessed with this. I was about my senior year and there were I was a part of a Christian church in those days. And there were some meetings that we would.

They were called lay witness missions that we would go gather at. And so I had gone to a few of those. And right around toward Easter time, I believe it was I had a knock on the door. I had been home here because I went away to school and was gone all the time, you know, in Kansas City. But I was home at this time and we had a knock at the door. And this is a couple of fellows that somehow I had met at one of those meetings.

And. I shouldn't be doing this because it's taking time from the word. Anyway, one of those meetings and they wanted they said they were from the I think it's the first Christian church over in Hayesville. And they wanted me to go over there with them. And they presented me with this whole Braille Bible. It was such a blessing. I was able to start reading the word.

I mean, right off the bat, you see. And so God is good with all those. Amen. Amen. So Psalm 63, guys. Father, we thank you for this opportunity again to be in. Your word. Would you speak to us by your Holy Spirit as we read your word? Would you. Give us hearts yielded to let you do your work and move in our hearts, Lord. We thank you so much. And we ask that you would just just bless our time together in Jesus name.

This Palm Sunday, you know, as as we pay attention and remember that Sunday before the are starting the week. Before he's crucified, you see, and raises from the dead. He came, you see, as a suffering savior. As he's on that donkey going through the street there with the palm branches and the coats, the robes and things laid down. He hears them saying, Hosanna, you know, save now.

And so he had. This joyful kind of entry. It would seem that they were hoping maybe as he came in, he would take care of this Roman Empire and that this kingdom would be set up immediately. You know, right then you see. And that, of course, he had the Jewish leaders who were very opposed to the things that were going on. So he was accepted and rejected to you see.

And those that yelled Hosanna may have been some of those. That they'll crucify him, you see. Because, you see, he came the first time as a suffering savior for you and me. He'll come again the second time as a king reigning in glory. Amen. So we're going to look at Psalm 61. Let's read it first and then we'll begin to comment a little bit. Psalm 63. A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Oh, God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise. The thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness. And my mouth shall be praised. And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the. The night watches because thou has been my help. Therefore, in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul follow with hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me.

But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion. For foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that swears by him shall glory. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. And so we were coming to this psalm today. You know, when you get asked to do a study like this, you're praying, Lord, what what am I supposed to share?

You know, and you do some looking and praying. And so I've come to this psalm and so as we've read this psalm, we we see we want to consider as David writes this psalm, let's look at the word picture here. We're going to see with physical thirst and spiritual thirst because he's going to be in a dry land. He see. But as we look at this picture and why there could be some spiritual dryness, maybe some things that he's facing.

He's going to be in a dry land. He's going to be in a dry land. He's going to be in a dry land. He's going to be in a dry land. It is thought that possibly then that this psalm was written during the time of Absalom, you know, and you remember when Absalom was seeking to take over the kingdom, you see. And he had bent the ear of the different people, you know, and as people, he'd stand outside there, the palace, you know, and as people come in, he'd listen to their complaints and, you know, bend their ear in the way.

And he had bent the ear of the different people, you know, and as people, he'd listen to their complaints and, you know, bend their ear in the way. That he wasn't being loyal to the king, you see. And now there are others who think, too, that this could have been during one of those times of his running from Saul, you know, King Saul. As you think of the background, you remember in that situation, Saul had been rejected, you remember, as king.

God had taken his hand off. He had not been obedient, you see. But while he is still king and knows he's rejected, I think Samuel kind of pointed that out.

Samuel begins to, as a result of the direction of God, goes over to David's dad, over to their residence, their home. And so he's asking David's dad to bring out the boys, you know. And he's going to. See which one God has chosen. Well, he's got the old, you know, the oldest ones, of course, and he goes down the line. He says, now, now. Is this all, are these all the boys you have?

You know, is there another? Well, the dad says, you know. Well, you know, we've got, we've got that young fellow back there that out there that he's a, he's a, he's a shepherd. He looks after the sheep, you know. Bring him. So that, that, that fellow gets brought into. Samuel. And guess who God anoints? David. You see, God. It would, it would, it would look like God was going to be choosing one of those older boys.

You know, they've lived longer and all that. And man, you know. But God saw something in David's heart that showed him that he would be a leader. And so it's during this time, you know, as the shepherd boy, and he's called, he's anointed. That he ends. He ends up, and what's interesting is David is interested in what's going on, you know, as they're fighting the Philistines.

And, you know, his dad says, hey, David, let's leave the sheep a bit. Go over here and take some food to your brothers because they're over there fighting. Well, when he does this, there is a big, big, big thing going on. There's a problem. There's a huge problem. His name is Goliath. And they're all concerned about Goliath. And this Goliath is defying the Lord God.

And old David says, hey, I'm not going to stand by while you defy the Lord. He gets that sling and those rocks. Thump. Down goes the big man. And you see, Saul kind of sees this guy, and he wants to bring old David in. And, you know, and of course, he'd even offered his armor, but it was too heavy for David, you know, when he killed Goliath. But as time goes by, David begins to serve in the battles.

And jealousy sets in because the ladies are all saying, Saul killed his thousand. David is 10,000. They didn't say, well, it was Saul, you see. So, yes, it was either David on the run from Saul or when he's dealing with Absalom, his rebellious son. But at any rate, David is here. In this wilderness of Judah, a very dry, dry, dry place. And so as you look at that first one, you see, remember how he started it?

He said, oh, God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsts for thee. My flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. You see, and so that's the setting. That's where he is. And he seeks the Lord early. And he gives an honest condition of his soul. An expression of his heart, you see. How important it is to give an honest expression of the condition of our soul and our heart before the Lord.

With whatever condition we're in, whatever thing we're facing. Whether it be a disease. Whether it be in good or bad times. Whether it be in a desert place where it's all dry. Where spiritually I'm feeling rather dry. I've had a dry period in my life. What does David do? He expresses the desire that he wants to seek the Lord early. In a dry and thirsty place where there's no water.

And so he's honest with God as he expresses his heart. How important. How important it is for us to look at that way. He's seeking the Lord. Not based on his circumstances and conditions, whether they're good or bad. But he wants to seek the Lord. He wants to draw close to him. Who will aid him and strengthen him through the times he's going through. What a heartbreak he had.

Whether it was with Saul or Absalom. His desire was to do that which was right. Yes. Yes. Had David fallen? Uh-huh. In fact, there was probably some reaping and sowing going on with Absalom as a result. But he was, David, he was honest before God.

He didn't, he didn't pass the buck. He had recognized his fall and all. He had looked to the Lord. But in all his activity, his desire here. With whatever. Whatever he's going, going on in his heart. He wants to seek the Lord early. Matthew 6, 33 and 34 says this, but seek you first the kingdom of God. You see the order here and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

It starts with seeking the Lord as you seek the Lord and his righteousness doing that, which is right in the sight of the Lord. He provides for us. He takes care of us. He provides the job you need, the provision he says. And then he says, take, therefore, no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. You see, you can't deal with tomorrow.

You got to, you got to, you know, you can look ahead, you can plan and all that. But you've still got to live each day as you go. He says, So as you, as we look at this physical thirst for water and the spiritual thirst and quenching of the water of the word, you see how important you see he's coming to the Lord just the way he's in that situation. Imagine, remember they, this, these, this, the book of Psalms is the song book for the, for Israel.

It was the song book for them. So you can just imagine the emotion with which David was singing this Psalm. You see, David is such a, he's such an interesting fellow. He is a musician. He was a shepherd, a king. In fact, some of the times he got in some pretty hot water was as Saul got worse and worse about his condition and knowing, uh, and the jealousy thereof.

He, he heard David play the harp and he'd want David when he was going through times, he wanted that. He wanted David there with him. That harp and that harp music as David would worship the Lord would comfort old Saul. But you know, one of the times that they're there at the table eating, you know, Jonathan Saul's boys there and all of them are there and son of a gun.

If old Saul doesn't kind of get freaked out and he tries to nail David to the wall, didn't he? I'll bet you David, and I bet you had done the same thing he did. He scooted right out of there and he's out there, you know, and, and again, he was, he was in these kinds of situations and I, and I, I'm saying this to lead to this. You see, God had called David and anointed him, but he was gonna do a work in his heart.

He had some things to do in his heart. He had some things to do in his heart in preparation to be king. And David was loyal to the king in spite of how the king was to him. So he would end up out in these places running from Saul. And you know, as time went by and the concern for his family and all, he found a place for him to go and they all gathered there, you know, there's about 600 men that began to

gather around him. And God was using that gathering that time in his life to make him a man of God. Amen. And he worked for that 600 men, those, those mighty men that he had with him. He was learning leadership. He began his leadership learning by being a shepherd, shepherding the sheep, how, what an important kind of a job he had because we're all sheep bar, right?

That's all we humans are. So he was just learning how to deal with, with, with people and you see, and God used all that stuff. And I'm sure David thought, man, this is rough. And so this, this, whatever this experience is, he's go, you know, whatever has caused him to have to run, whichever situation caused him to be in this wilderness of Judah. He had done some walk and he had done some learning.

He had been gone through the fire to be made a man of God. And so if it's, if it is Absalom's rebellion and they're protecting him and getting him out of there, this wasn't his first rodeo. And so he's. In this, he's in this wilderness place, but he's saying, Lord, I'm going to seek you early. Let's look at verse two real quickly to see thy power and thy glory.

So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary, you see, David expresses, you see that desire of his heart from this dry land. Yeah. He is in a, uh, he is in to see his power and glory as he has seated in the sanctuary. And um, that was his desire of his heart. You see, David wrote in Tuam, Tuam 27, David wrote in Psalm 27, four, one thing have I desired of the Lord and notice what he says, that's will I seek after that I may dwell

in the house of the Lord. So he wanted to be in the presence of the Lord, right? All the days of my life to behold the beauty, just the awesomeness of God, the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see, he wanted to be there learning, you see, and so he's reflecting on this, you see, he's reflecting on this as he's in this dry wilderness area, thirsty land.

Let's look at verse three now, because thy loving kindness is better than life. You see that mercy of the Lord, that loving kindness. My lips shall praise thee. That's a neat verse right there. We used to sing a song about that. So you, you see here in verse three, we see the why verse two, because thy loving kindness, you see, and the response of praise. And I'm wondering if I skipped a Psalm, but before it's said and done, I'll get back to

it. And so we see that response of praise. Psalm 36, 7 says this. How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God. Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Isn't that neat? You see, his loving kindness is always there. Jeremiah 31, 3. Now, Jeremiah, quite an interesting fella. If anyone knew about dry places and having some rough times,

God called him as a young, young, young person to serve, you see.

And, of course, Jeremiah really ended up being right in the place God wanted him because he didn't feel like he could handle it. You know, it's when we realize our inability. Over there, we just looked at earlier, Matthew 6, 33 and 34. Well, when you start that whole section in the Sermon on the Mount, he begins by saying, Blessed is the poor in spirit. You see, that recognizing our depravity without God

is what helps us yield to say, Okay, Lord, I can't do it. Jeremiah knew he didn't feel like he could handle it. But the Lord said, But I've called you in your mother's womb. You see, God called us to be what he wants us to be. And before we were born, before the foundations of the world, he called you and me as believers.

And Jesus paid the price, redeemed us. The Holy Spirit seals us. Jeremiah 31, 3. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee. With an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn thee. What a wonderful thing there. Verse 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live. You see, as long as he's on top this earth, he's going to bless the Lord.

I will lift up my hands in thy name. What a wonderful thing. And so we see the result. Then the Lord is blessed as he lifts up his hands and praise while he lives. He's given his heart, you see, to the Lord. He's praising the Lord, matter not what his situation is. Remember the setting. David is in the wilderness of Judah in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

Notice. Rather than getting deeper in the pit, of drought, he seeks the Lord early. Isn't that neat? You see, it's how we respond to these things. We're all going to have those times of being in the pit in some way or other. And God allows certain things to take place that will cause us then to either reject what he's doing or look to him and let him do a work,

building character, doing things, things in our lives that gives us more than just an acknowledgement of who he is, but an experiential knowledge of him. You see. Now, let's look at verse five here.

And we see in verse five, he said, My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee, with joyful lips. You see, there's something about that whole joy and him praised and being satisfied in the Lord. Yes, a good meal is great, but there's nothing like the satisfaction of the Lord. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Verse five. We see then that David is satisfied as he sees himself in the providence of the Lord.

In the in God working in the affairs of his life and the affairs of all our lives in spite of his circumstances, he can be content and and you see the providence of the Lord is interesting. Remember, God does supernatural things as a result of the natural activities of life, right? As we, naturally go about our day and he'll impress our heart to go here instead of there and a work will take place. We won't realize at first for some reason we went that direction down the road and something came up along the way where somebody needed help or something and you end up helping or there's something going on and you see something you didn't see.

Had you not gone that way? You don't see it at first. Maybe. But as you look back, you see, you see how God's providence was working in that situation. How many of you ended up sharing with someone unbeknownst that you would in that day and you chose to drive a different way and at a particular store you weren't planning to go to, somebody is talking with you and you ended up saying,

can I pray for you about that? Whatever it might be, you see God's providence. He's working. You see now. Then he says in verse six here, he says, when I remember the upon my bed and meditate on the in the night watches all that that time, you know, we see that as he is satisfied, he remembers and meditates upon the Lord in the night watches that meditating,

you know, when you meditate on the Lord there, you're taking time, you see, to really, to really contemplate on what God's doing in your life in light of the word. And so even though the enemy could be near, he meditates on the Lord. You see, Psalm 1976 and 77 says this from Psalm 119 verses 76 and 77 says this. Let I pray. I pray thee thy merciful kindness be for my comfort according to thy word unto thy servants.

Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live for thy law is my delight. You see all I want you to turn over to Psalm one a minute and we're not going to teach on the whole song. Don't worry. But I want to look at this a minute and he used that word delight there and this song really is such a beautiful picture of the the righteous man and the ungodly and you see the contrast between the two.

Now in the first verse now I want you to there's two words. I want you to pay attention to before we even look even though we're not going to read the whole song. We did do. We did go through the whole song earlier, but as, uh, we look at this Psalm. Notice the first word of the Psalm is blessed. The last word is parish. And you see that contrast between the blessed man and the ungodly and the and the result thereof.

But we want to just kind of focus on this a little bit here and it begins with blessed or oh, how happy is the man that walketh not in the countenance of God. The ungodly. And it's a progression here or a digression nor stands. So he's walking. Then he's not careful if he's involving himself in the council, the ungodly, he might find himself standing in the way of sinners.

And if he's not careful, he doesn't want to be sitting in the seat of the scornful. And so he's saying here, blessed is the man. That walks not in the counts of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful. That's that's the what we shouldn't do. You see, we want to we're blessed when we won't do when we don't do those three things.

But notice this conjunction, the word, but when that word appears, there's usually a nice little contrast, isn't there? Notice what he says here. Then in verse two, but how many have, how many times have you heard that word? Yeah, you can go, you can do the, you know, you can go do that if you want, but here's what the consequence is going to be, you know, anyway, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And in his law, he does. Does he meditate? Does he meditate day and night? And what's the result? And he, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You see the water of the word that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does. He do a show prosper. But then you see the next phrase, the ungodly are not.

So right. We know what they're like the chaff that blow the way which would should encourage us then to share. The Lord with those who don't know the Lord. I love this other section here. Another verse. I want you to look at with me. You see, Colossians 316. It's a wonderful verse to begin that chapter, the practical portion of Colossians. He says, seek those things which are above where Christ stood at the right end of the father.

Let this mind, you know, and have the mind of Christ. You see, that's your things on on things above. And then he then he talks about how, you know, we're going to be with the Lord and all and he will be coming and all. But he also tells us then as you do that, there's some things you're going to need to pay attention to. You're going to, you're going to need to mortify the deeds of the flesh.

Set those things, let those die, you know, and it gave us out a whole list of things. Then he reminds us to have some things we need not to do and to put off the old, old man, that old nature that wants to crop up. You see, as believers, we haven't, we still have that old nature wants to take over. And do those deeds that are of the old man. And then he says,

but instead put on the new man. We're a new creation creation in Christ. You see any, any, any talks about, you know how that, uh, where to be kind in those different things. And we were the Lord's. And then one of the things he says, and of course he emphasizes love and all, but one of the things he says is let the peace of God rule in your hearts. And that word rule is referring to like an umpire.

And we've all been at games where we have umpires, right? They're ruling. And if he's not ruling right, there becomes some unrest. Yeah. And so in order to have peace, he's got to, he's got to call that game. We'll see in order for us to have peace, we need to rule in our hearts. First of all, we've got to set our mind on things above. We've got to, we have the peace of God.

We've, we've gained peace with God. We were at war with him until we came to know Christ. But then the peace of God reigns in our hearts. And those times that we aren't feeling much peace, maybe he's doing something. Our hearts, it causes us to in a conviction. We're saying, Lord, you're showing me I'm, I shouldn't be doing that. And you're encouraged me to do this.

And so we want to follow his will. We want to be obedient. We want to love him because he first loved us. And that's when that peace range, you see, it's ruling in our hearts as he is directing us and leading and guiding us, you see. And then you get down into this wonderful verse in chapter in verse 16. He says, let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly in all wisdom,

teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual sing songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord, you see. And so now let's stop and think about that. First thing he says is, let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly. Let that word, be at home in your heart. Amen. Now, David, I believe, had experienced some very quality time with the Lord.

You know, David was the kind of person. Yes, he was a sinner like you and I, but as you read through his life there, you know, in first and second Samuel, when he, when he, when he enters the scene of scripture, you see him. So, you know, often always, whether it was a battle coming up or whatever, you know, he would, you know, and he was in good communication with the priests and, and in the prophets and all, but he would, he would always pray and ask, Lord, do you want me to go there? Is that, that's what you, you know, he would always inquire of the Lord.

Remember our verse that we just talked to you about. One thing of my desire to the Lord, that what I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold his beauty, to inquire in his temple. You see, we too must have the word of God at home in our hearts, dwelling richly in all wisdom. How do we do that? Got to spend time in it.

It needs to be daily. If you can, I would encourage it. Meditate on it. Think, you know, you've heard, some of you have heard me share this before, but it, it is a kind of a, you, you, you ranchers or farmers would probably relate to this. And those of you who drink milk, you consider the old cow in the morning. And this word meditate kind of leans toward this.

That old cow in the, in the, in the, in the cool of the morning with, with the dew, dewy grass. Well, she just eats to, eats to beat the man. And she doesn't do much chewing. She just goes, you know, and boy, oh boy, you know, in the afternoon, it's all nice and sunny and just warm. And she just gets there in the grass and just relaxes. And all of a sudden she starts belching up.

It comes, she begins to chew on it, meditate on it. You see, as we read the word and just think that becomes milk. Yay. How about a glass of milk guys? No, anyway. So, but as you, but as you're reading the word in the morning, and as you're looking at that, and you're taking it in through the day, as you pray, as you're living and you meditate on what he's showing you,

you see, it becomes a part of you. It begins to dwell in your heart. Amen. And so we want to let the word of Christ dwell, dwell in a dwell in you, richly in all wisdom, you see, teaching and admonishing one another. We need one another. You see, in spiritual psalms and hymns and songs and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Amen.

Now, let's look at verse seven here now. Okay. All right. Oh, I never turned back. Did I was still in Psalm one or two, wherever I wanted to land there. And that's not the place I want to be. All right. We said verse seven. Here we go. Jumping in. Go. Okay. So the Lord says, therefore, in the shadow of thy wings, will I rejoice? You see, as he, as he, as he,

because thou has been my help. Therefore, in the shadow of thy wings, I will rejoice. And you, and you think of those night watches too, and that time of, you know, meditating on those night watches as he did. He would be thinking about the Lord, you see, and being concerned about what was, what was up, but, but meditating. Do we have those times where we wake up at night?

You can't sleep sometime. You may have a burden. That's a time where you can maybe think about the word, maybe sing a song in your heart that lifts you up. I remember years ago in one of my situations, I remember singing how great thou art. You see, in my heart, when I couldn't sleep because of what I was facing, you know, health matters, whatever, and it would be a way to get my mind focused on him.

You see, and, and, and so you can trust him. You see, in the night watches. It's, it's so good. It's so good. Even though, and you know, even when the enemies around, he was going to trust the Lord. David sees God, as his help and rejoices in his presence, in his protection, I should say. And so he looked to the Lord. Let's look at verse eight. Now, my soul follow with hard after the thy right hand uphold of the following hard after the Lord.

You see, so we do. So we see David's response really to his circumstances. The Lord is his upholder and he follows hard after the Lord. You see, you think about David in this situation, knowing that the enemy enemy could be near. He was going to trust the Lord. Follow hard after the Lord. You think of that following hard after the Lord, you ever get a situation where you're walking in,

you're just in a tight spot. And so whoever's leading, so you, you got to follow close, you know, Diane and I, sometime I have to follow close sometime in the store, you know, and, and we do that sighted guy thing. It used to be in the stores. I could pretty well see where she was, you know, and see that blonde hair, you know, and son of a gun is not as easy now.

So I got to follow a little hard after or she'll be saying, are you, are you there, Robbie? You see, when we do that side of guy that I'm following hard after knowing where I'm going, you see, and that's what we do with the Lord. We follow hard after him. You see, let's look at Psalm 62 verses one and two. We're, we're going to finish up here pretty soon guys.

So hang in with me. Verse one, truly my soul waiteth upon God from him cometh my salvation. Oh, wait on the Lord. That's hard to do. He only is my rock and my salvation. You see, there's not another thing that you can depend on to be your salvation. He is our rock. You see, and, and, and so we want to handle it ourselves sometimes, but he is our rock and our salvation.

He is my defense. I shall, I shall not be greatly moved. So he's our rock and he's our defense. We don't have to defend ourselves. He's our defense. Proverbs three, five and six are another set of verses that are very special to me. Trust in the Lord with all thine hearts and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways. Acknowledge him. And he shall direct thy path.

And let's, let's just look at that in minutes. Okay. It begins with saying trust in and who to trust in who were to put our confidence in today. Amen. Don't put your confidence in this world. We know that our leaders government. Now, there are those types of governments would like you to do that. See, they want you to avoid God. God, God, God, but we say, trust,

put your confidence in the Lord, God, and do it with all your heart. And then, if you're going to trust in the Lord, you're certainly better not lean on your own understanding. Amen. But I want to tell you that'll get you nowhere quick. And that's not a quick trip. I want to take nowhere. And so you want to not lean on your own understanding. Well, how are we going to know how to?

You're going to have to spend time with God. You're going to have to be in his word and use the tools. He's given you prayer. Those different things that he's given you to study meditate on his word. As you're reading, pray about it. You're not going to remember every single thing all the time and all that kind of thing. But I want to tell you, you know, it'll,

it'll come to your mind when you need it. If you, you know, when you, when you meditate on it, and then notice, he doesn't say, acknowledge in all in some of your ways, acknowledge him. I can handle it now, Lord, because I got this good job. No, he says in all thy ways, acknowledge him. And what will be the result? He shall direct thy pass. And you know, what else will happen?

He's liable to take you out of your comfort zone. He's liable to call you to do something that you feel very unable to do. But Paul says in second Corinthians there that in his weakness, he's in our weakness. He's made strong. His grace is sufficient for us. I can think of some different times. I've been taken out of that comfort zone when I first went out to California.

That was a different. I'd never been to California. That was a different zone. For sure. It's a way different zone now, I guess, but anyway, but it was it was a different situation. And you know, and you know, what else happens? God uses people in your life to kind of help you get out of that zone. Sometime, whatever it might be. The Lord used a good friend of mine named Brad to kind of push me along at times.

I might be waiting on him at times, but he and he would go along with it. I mean, anyway, but his brother, Sam was out in California and involved in gotten involved with Calvary Chapel and all. And he said, Robbie, look, we need to go out there, you know? And so as time went by, we did, but it wasn't, you know, had no, I did have some family out there a little bit, but I never never got to see him.

But anyway, it was a, it was a different situation. We went out there, and got involved in the ministry out there. It wasn't a comfort, comfortable thing right off the bat. I had to, one of the things I had to do was get a job, and that was a challenge, you know, not everybody, you know, not everybody's big on hiring somebody that can't see well, you poor thing, you know, they might tell you, you got good vocabulary, but they weren't planning on hiring you, you know, but God blessed and gave me a job.

You see, of course, one of the jobs I got into before, I got the job that was the better deal for me was, Brad and I were going along, and he found this job. We were going along trying, I don't know if it was a zip code book or something, and we'd have to go to these houses and knock on the door and stuff, and oh yeah, I wasn't crazy about that. That was another comfort zone thing that God used, you see, for me to have to talk to somebody when I didn't really feel comfortable, didn't know what I was getting into. All those things, you see, God uses later in your life that you don't see at the time, but I wouldn't regret that.

God used it. He used my life, my time living away, going to school too, but he, well, sometimes as he's directing our paths, if we're yielding and looking to him, it's not always the path we choose, but if he chooses, it's the best path, isn't it? You see, that's the thing to remember. Now, right now, you may be facing some kind of a path. You've got to be directed and you don't know what's up.

You're thinking, why is this happening Lord? Why am I going through this particular thing? Remember, all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. And that word, that portion to those who love God is an important section of that. Amen. Because as we're loving, God, and as we're his, he does work in those things and we're not always jazz.

We're not always going. Oh, I just boy, Lord, I just praise you for that mess. I'm in. No, we usually, I like to think of it this way. Lord, I praise you and thank you that in this you're going to do a work and I can trust you that you're going to bring me through it. And that doesn't mean I'm always, you know, we're always going to have all this faith that we want to have.

But as we're in his word, as we're looking to him, and we're trusting him and stepping out in faith, not blindly, you see God's word. He will speak to us in his word. You see, God's God's word is objective. It's not some fake thing. Now, he will use others to encourage you and what God is showing you. Amen. But he'll direct your pass. If you just but trust in him,

you see, but if you, but as David finishes this Psalm, he's David, you know, as you as we look at 9 through 11, we're going to go ahead and start closing this out. And he says, but those that seek my soul, I remember the condition, the situation David's in. He's got people aren't happy with him, right? So he knows that he's got enemies and all and he says, but those that seek my soul and notice this is he's talking to.

The Lord here. He's laying his heart out before the Lord. How important that is guys that we do that. Don't hedge. God knows your heart. Just lay it out. Lay it out. Agree with him with what you what he knows to be true. What you know to be true. And oh, you put yourself in a position to be worked with by God because you're being real. You're yielded to him.

But he says, but those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. Makes me think of Psalm one again, you know the contrast between the the godly and the ungodly and it's so sad. What did we say? The ungodly will do if they don't come to the Lord parish. And this is what David is saying here about these these folks that are his enemies that don't know the Lord.

But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for foxes or jackals. But here we get by golly. We got that word but again, don't we? But the king this is what makes me think it's probably was the absolute thing in a way because he's, King now and remember he was anointed King,

but without with Saul, but he hadn't taken over yet, right? He wasn't anointed. I mean, he was anointed, but he wasn't in his position yet with us with all the soul activity. But the king shall rejoice in God. Now in all that's going on around us by faith, we can rejoice in God. He says everyone that sweareth by him show glory. And there's that word. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

You see? And so David believes that those who are his enemies God will deal with and he is going to rejoice in God. Amen. Now as we're living in the here and now. As we go from day to day and those things that we see before, us, I want to encourage you. God is faithful. His word is true. You can count on it. Can take it to the bank and it's not one of those closed Banks of his.

You can take it to the bank. He is in control. He will work and direct your path. Remember, it's going to be his way though, and it may put you in an uncomfortable situation. But as you live through, it, you will experience God in an experiential knowledge that will draw you closer to him. That will build character that will draw you closer into the image of Christ as he's working in you both to will and do with his good pleasure.

As we're living out this salvation before going to glory. Amen. Study the word, pray, fellowship with him and one another. When you fall into to sin, confess it. He's faithful and just. To forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and he's continually cleansing us, isn't he? Amen. Would you all stand? Father, we thank you for this opportunity. We've had to be in your word.

Oh, Father, God continue to strengthen us and encourage us in our walk and witness for you that we would look to you the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus. Jesus name. Oh, yes. Thank you. We need a tech guy over here to keep me alone. We would have had what you call feedback. God bless you all today. Remember, God loves you. You can trust him. Put your confidence in him today.

Go ahead. Humble himself. Give us a blessed week. Strengthen this for all that might lie ahead. And we trust you in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you all. Have a great week.