Psalm 61:1-8

[0:00] Amen. Good evening. I am tickled. I was tickled this morning to be back at church.!

[0:30] He hears and answers prayers. And we appreciate the people of God praying. Many prayers went up for my wife. Some by me.

[0:42] Many by other people. But I am thankful that God hears prayers. And not only does He hear, He acts on behalf of His saints. And I am thankful for that.

[0:53] You ought to be turning your Bibles to the book of Psalms. Chapter 61. I shoot on this psalm a lot. While we were at the hospital. And thought a lot about it.

[1:04] And I will be honest. As much as I preached out of Psalms. Throughout the years. As most preachers do. Y'all heard me say the last time I preached from Psalms here. I feel like I am cheating every time I do.

[1:16] Because it is kind of an easy book to preach from. But I don't think. I don't recall. Ever preaching Psalm 61. I have probably quoted it many times.

[1:27] But I have never preached. Psalm 61. It is only 8 verses. I was telling Brother Mike. I guess it was one evening last week. He called to check and see how we was doing.

[1:39] And something come up about me preaching. I don't remember whether he brought it up or I did. But I said. I said. You know. It has been almost 3 weeks since I preached. I have not been on a street corner.

[1:50] I have not been in a church. I have not been nowhere preaching. So. You know. It might be a 3 hour sermon next time I stand. I don't. I don't anticipate doing that to you all.

[2:02] But if it happens. I'll just go ahead and apologize. But not. Not for the preaching. Just for keeping you so long. But anyway. Psalm 61 is a wonderful song. It's a.

[2:12] It's kind of a run to song. It has been. It has been to me. Here lately. The. The beginning. The. Top notes of it.

[2:24] In my Bible. You may have it. You may not. It says. To the chief musician. Upon. Nagina. A psalm of David. That. Upon. Nagina. Simply means. Upon. Stringed. Instruments. Or upon.

[2:34] A stringed. An instrument. But it says. A psalm of David. And we need to keep that. In mind. That. That it was David. Who penned this. And there's some commentators.

[2:45] Out there. That will say. They don't believe. That David did so. Folks. I wasn't there. This was a thousand years ago. Or a thousand years before Christ. It was three thousand years ago. I wasn't there.

[2:57] I don't know who penned it. But I know this person. Dealt with some things. In their life. And I know. That they. They knew God. And they knew what God. Was capable of.

[3:07] And they appreciated God. And they worshipped God. Whoever the writer was. Whether it was David. Whether it was Asaph. Whether it was. Some guy named Tom. Sitting down on the street corner.

[3:19] I don't know. But I can tell. By. By this song. That whoever wrote it. Knew God. And they knew what he could do. They knew what he had done. Knew what he would do.

[3:30] On in. To the. To the future. Sister Sherry said. Tonight. Tonight. Before she sang. That sometimes. It's good. To just sit back. And look at what God has done. And it kind of.

[3:40] Gets into that. In this very song. That was kind of my confirmation. That's where I. That's where I needed to preach from. Tonight. That's where I would be. Preaching from. This evening.

[3:51] But again. I do appreciate y'all's prayers. Y'all continue to pray for my wife. And. I believe the Lord's going to bring her through this. Amen. Seems like.

[4:02] Since we started coming here. Y'all ain't seen nothing but sickness. Out of. Out of. Out of. Me or her. Either one. And. She actually brought that up.

[4:13] She said. Them. Them people are going to think. I'm just down all the time. But. You know. It. As the saying goes. It is what it is. God is good.

[4:25] Regardless. Right. And regardless. Whether. Whether I'm at the hospital. Whether I'm at the funeral home. Whether. I'm at work. Whether I'm at church. God is good. It. It.

[4:35] Doesn't matter where I am. That does not negate the goodness of God. Psalm 61. Beginning with verse 1. The psalmist says. Hear my cry. Oh God.

[4:46] Attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth. Will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock. That is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me.

[4:57] And a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou oh God.

[5:08] Hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life. And his years. As many generations. He shall abide before God forever.

[5:22] Oh prepare mercy and truth. Which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name forever. That I may daily perform my vows. Back to verse number 1.

[5:33] In Psalm 61. David begins with. Hear my cry. Oh God. Attend unto my prayer. But he begins with three words. Hear my cry. Hear my cry.

[5:44] Folks. There is nothing dignified. About what the psalmist here is saying. About what David wrote. He is saying. Hear my cry. Many of us. I met myself here recently.

[5:54] Many of you throughout the course of your life. Have been in the same situation. This isn't. This isn't a formal prayer. That he is thinking of here. When he wrote this.

[6:05] This isn't a formal cry. This isn't something. As I said. That's dignified. It's not something that he thought out. He says. Hear my cry. Oh God. Hear my cry.

[6:16] Folks. And how many times have we found ourselves. In similar situations. Where we didn't have time. To think. Of something polished. To present to the Lord. We didn't have time to think. Of something that was going to sound good.

[6:27] We didn't have time to think. Of all the these and the thous. That we needed to say. During our prayer. But he says. Hear. Hear my cry. But then we have the object. Of his cry. Hear my cry.

[6:38] Oh God. Hear my cry. Oh God. And folks. If we are praying. Or if we are asking anybody. In a prayer. Or a supplication. Or a petition. For anything. If we are asking anyone.

[6:50] Outside of Almighty God. A person may hear that. A spouse may hear that. A loved one may hear that. A church goer may hear that. A pastor. Or a deacon.

[7:00] Any number of people. Could hear that cry. But chances are. That's as far. As it's going to go. And they're only going to be able to help you. So much in the long run. But when we say.

[7:11] Hear my cry. Oh God. God. Here's the cry. Of his saints. God. Here's the cry. Of his people. And he acts on behalf. Of his people. He will answer unto their cry.

[7:23] I promise you. When you cry. Love. Unto God. He does not fall. On deaf ears. From the book of Isaiah says. His arm is not too short. Nor is his ear too heavy.

[7:33] To save. He is saying me. He hears me. He keeps me. He keeps me. God. He sustains me. He's sustained me. Over the past three weeks.

[7:45] And I believe. He will sustain me. For the rest of my time. Hear. Hallelujah. Hear my cry. Oh God. Who are you praying to? Who are you asking for help?

[7:56] Brother Alice brought it up. In Sunday school this morning. When adversity comes our way. So many times we want to say. I need to call the pastor. I need to call this one. I need to call that one.

[8:06] I need to call a self-help line. I need to look at a self-help book. I need another five-step program. I need to do this. And I need to do that. Folks. You need to cry. I need to God.

[8:17] That's what you need to do. That's what I need to do. He is the one that will hear our prayers. And He is the one that will sustain us home into the future.

[8:28] He'll keep us going now. He's kept us going up to this point. And He will keep us going for the rest of all eternity. Hallelujah. He inhabits eternity.

[8:39] And He inhabits the praises of His people. Give God praise. That when you cry unto Him. He hears your prayer. He hears your supplication. The psalmist here says, Hear my cry, O God.

[8:51] Attend unto my prayer. Hear my cry, O God. And attend unto my prayer. This is the psalmist here saying, I want you to focus upon me. I understand that I am one of eight plus billion people here on this planet, God.

[9:06] But I need you to attend unto my prayer. Unto my petition. Unto what I need at this moment. And God can attend to that.

[9:16] And He can attend to every other prayer that every other saint of His has on this planet. All simultaneously. Folks, that's a wonderful thing about God. That's the wonderful thing about God.

[9:27] Hey, when Jesus Christ was here roaming this earth, when He was here, He was here performing His ministry for three plus years. Hey, He could only be here at a certain time or He could only be there at a certain time while He was here.

[9:43] And this flesh would praise be unto God. He said, when I go to the Father, I will pray the Father. And He will send another Comforter. He will send the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit indwells you.

[9:55] It indwells me if we are saved and born again. And that is how God can act simultaneously for and in His people. The Spirit that abides in me.

[10:07] The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. It abides in me. He abides in me. Almighty God Himself abides in me. Then I'll follow right to the church at Corinth.

[10:19] Know you not that you're the temple of the living God? Hey, if I'm the temple of the living God, God is living on the inside. And He was speaking to an entire congregation of believers there at Corinth in 1 Corinthians.

[10:33] Hallelujah. That God dwells with us. But here the psalmist is pleading with God. Folks, I've done some pleading here lately. I have prayed. I have cried.

[10:43] And I have pleaded with Almighty God. And the psalmist here is pleading with God. At Him, unto my prayer, Hear me, O God. This isn't the psalmist saying, If you have a moment, God, would you lend me your ear?

[10:58] This is Him saying, Attend unto my prayer. Listen to this petition that I am making known unto you, O Lord. Hear my cry, O God. Attend unto my prayer.

[11:12] He says, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. Hallelujah. From the end of the earth. How is the psalmist feeling here? How is David feeling? David's feeling like he's exiled.

[11:23] David's feeling like he's far from peace. He's feeling like he's far from answers. He's feeling like he's way down in the valley. Maybe he's feeling like he's so far down in the valley that God could not possibly hear him.

[11:37] He's so deep down in that valley. Maybe he feels like he's pinned so far back. So far back in problems. So far back by the enemy that God couldn't possibly hear his cry.

[11:49] How many of you have felt that way? Folks, I've felt that way in my Christian walk. I've felt that very way. I've felt like there is no way that I'm this deep and that God can hear my cry.

[12:00] The folks of God that saved my soul can hear the very cry. Every cry that I make. He can hear every cry from every one of His saints. Everyone that has ever repented of their ways and believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[12:14] My God hears their cries. He says, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. Think about this, folks. This is why I said the top notes are so important.

[12:27] This is a psalm with David. This is a king that's writing this. This is a king that sat upon the throne of Israel. And he is writing this, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee.

[12:40] The king himself felt exiled. The king himself felt far away. The king himself felt like there was no one to listen to him.

[12:51] This is the same king David that slew Goliath. This is the same king David that led armies, that ruled a nation. This is the same king David that was anointed by God by the direction of Almighty God through His prophet.

[13:06] And here he is from the end of the earth. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee.

[13:16] When my heart is overwhelmed, folks. This is king David saying, not if my heart gets overwhelmed. There's no if in that. When my heart is overwhelmed.

[13:28] Folks, it's going to happen. Storms will come our way. Disasters will come our way. Sickness will come our way. Death will come our way. It'll hit our families. It'll hit our loved ones.

[13:38] It'll hit our co-workers. It'll hit schools. It'll hit young. It'll hit old. So many people. So many young people. They look out at the cemetery.

[13:50] They think there's nothing but old people out there. Nothing but people that lived right to the ripe old age of 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years old. Let me remind you young people.

[14:01] You listen to me now. The first grave that was ever dug on planet earth was for the Son and not the Father. The first grave that was ever dug was not for Adam.

[14:14] It was for His Son. Death is not a respecter of persons. Your time here is up. Your time here is up. David here is telling God from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed, folks.

[14:32] Death is going to come. Sickness is going to come. All these things are going to come. Adversity will come. Negativity will come. Your heart will be overwhelmed. The question is, where do you cry to?

[14:45] And even more so, whom do you cry to when that happens? From the end of the earth. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. This is David telling God, I will cry unto you no matter how far out I am.

[15:00] No matter how far out I feel like you are, folks. We talk about God like He's a blue billion miles away somewhere on the other side of the solar system when He's dwelling within us.

[15:11] Amen. Hallelujah. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am.

[15:25] Folks, there is so much that is in this line right here. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am. He's already stated when his heart is overwhelmed that he will cry unto the Lord.

[15:36] And then he tells the Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I am. He's saying, He's saying my vision is too blurry. He's saying my steps are too heavy. He's saying my way is too weak.

[15:47] I need you to do this for me, Lord. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am. If it's higher than Him, He can't obtain it by Himself. He needs help.

[15:59] Folks, if it's higher than Him, He has to be lifted up. Hallelujah. That's what God done when He saved me. He picked me up out of the miry clay. He set my feet upon a solid rock.

[16:09] And He established my going. That's in the book of Psalms as well. And that is what He has done with every true blue, born again believer. And we have a rock.

[16:20] His name is Jesus Christ. Paul wrote about that to the church at Chorus while we're on that. He said, For they all drink of that rock. That spiritual rock.

[16:31] They all drink of it. Speaking about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. He says, And that rock is Christ. Folks, we have a rock. And He is higher than I. Folks, I am not that rock.

[16:42] And you are not that rock. And there is no preacher that is now, nor ever has been, nor ever will be outside of Jesus Christ. That is that rock. That rock is Christ. And when we are picked up by Almighty God, when we are picked up by His grace, and we are set upon that rock, there is no earthquake that can shape that rock.

[16:59] There is no storm that can cause that rock to erode. That rock is immovable. It is unchangeable. It has ever been. And it ever will be. Hallelujah. Lead me to the rock.

[17:12] That is higher than I. This is David. This is King David saying, I need help. I need help. I need you to lead me. I can't do this on my own, Lord.

[17:23] I need you to lead me to the rock. And I need you to place me upon it. Verse 3, For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy.

[17:36] Thou hast been a shelter for me. God not only provides the shelter for the psalmist here, and He not only provides shelter for you and I, God Himself is the shelter that we have.

[17:49] And He should be the shelter that we seek. Hey folks, when the storm comes, and the rain comes, and the flooding comes, you don't run out into the rain to dance in it. You run for shelter to be covered from it.

[18:01] We should do the same when the storms of life come. When the storms of life come, when sickness, financial problems, and all these other things hit, we should run to the shelter that we have in Almighty God.

[18:14] We should run to this one that David is saying here. That He would cry unto him from the ends of the earth. We should run to the very same one. He says, For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy.

[18:28] Let me tell you now, David knew something about having some enemies. His very own son Absalom was his enemy. The Philistines were his enemy. Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, he was his enemy.

[18:39] He knew all about having enemies. He had entire armies after him. They said, God has been my strong tower. He says, You have been my strong tower.

[18:50] Now again in verse 2, He says, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For, substitute that word for with because. It means the same thing.

[19:03] For, or because thou hast been a shelter for me. He will cry unto God from the end of the earth. When his heart is overwhelmed, because God has been his shelter, and because God has been his strong tower.

[19:17] Think of the times in your life that God has brought you out. Think of the times that you have suffered, that you thought, I will never survive this. I will never make it out of this.

[19:27] And think of the times that God has brought you out of. Amen. Amen. You see, a lot of times, your own mind is the very tool that God will use to bring glory to Himself.

[19:41] Your own mind is the very tool that God will use to show you what He is capable of, what He's done in the past. Giving you confidence that He will answer whatever your petition is right now.

[19:54] For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. What is a strong tower? Folks, back in the Bible times, a strong tower was quite a statement. A strong tower was always in an elevated area.

[20:05] It always had four to five walls that were very thick, very hard to penetrate. Those walls, that's exactly what He's saying about God. He says, You've been my strong tower from the enemy.

[20:16] Now granted, David may have been talking about physical enemies. As I said, he had entire armies against him. His own son was against him. He may have been talking about that, but folks, we have an enemy as well.

[20:27] We have an adversary. His name is Satan. His name is the devil. He is the dragon. He is the serpent from the garden. We have an enemy. We have an enemy called sin, but folks, our very worst enemy that we have is ourselves.

[20:41] For the Bible says in the book of Jeremiah, for the heart is deceptive above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. We are our own worst enemy. But God can protect us even from ourselves.

[20:54] How so? How so? Because God is dwelling on the inside. I don't know how long y'all lived in sin before you got saved. I don't know how long you got up there and enjoyed the world before you got saved.

[21:08] For me, it was 33 years. I remember what sin made me feel like. I remember how well I thought that I had it. I remember waking up in the morning thinking how I could sin throughout the day, not even classifying it as sin.

[21:21] Just thinking about it as my life. I remember those things. But folks, I know when I was 33 years old, I know that God reached down and He saved my unworthy soul.

[21:33] God came to where I was and as I've already said, He is the one that lifted me up. He is the one that saved my soul. He's the one that washed me clean. He's the one that made me a new creature in Christ.

[21:44] But I still remember. I still remember the sin that I was involved in. But He's my strong power from that.

[21:55] If any of that sin crosses my mind, I've got that Holy Spirit on the inside saying, no, no, no. You don't do that anymore. And folks, the more often that happens, the more natural it becomes for me to not even think about that stuff.

[22:11] To not even consider it. Why? Folks, this is an experiential thing. Hey, a brand new born again believer would have a whole lot harder time with that.

[22:23] As opposed to somebody that's been in the room for 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 years. They don't know how to fight just yet. All they know is that yesterday there was a sinner on their way to hell and that today they're a saved saint of God on their way to glory.

[22:39] Hallelujah. That's all I knew. That's all I knew when I got saved. I've learned some things since then. I've learned some things about God. I've learned some things about Christ.

[22:51] Verse 4, I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.

[23:02] Where have we been so far? We've been David saying, hear my cry, O God. Attend unto my prayer. We've been with David when he says, from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee.

[23:15] We've been with David when he said that when his heart is overwhelmed, he wants the Lord to lead him to the rock that is higher than I. We've been with David saying that God has been a shelter and he has been a strong tower and now we're with David.

[23:26] He says, I will abide in thy tabernacle. We've gone from past tense. You've been my strong tower. You have been my shelter and we go into presidents. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.

[23:40] Hey folks, he wasn't looking for just a one-time rescue here. He wasn't looking for something for first aid. He wasn't looking for a band-aid here. David was looking for something that was permanent.

[23:51] He wasn't wanting just a rescue. He was wanting residence with Almighty God. And that's exactly what God gives. Is it not? Fast forward to the New Testament times.

[24:03] God takes up residence in us. And to hear Jesus Christ speak about it in the Gospel of John, He abides in us and we abide in Him. Folks, it's a mutual abiding that takes place there.

[24:14] If we are in Him and He is in us, folks, what can harm us? What can come against us? What can possibly thwart us if Almighty God is living on the inside and we are living on the inside of Christ Jesus?

[24:29] I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. Why? Because He knows He can trust God. He knows He can trust God. He goes into that. I will trust in the cupboard of thy wings.

[24:40] It goes from the tabernacle. And I remember this is King David speaking here. The temple had not yet been built. The temple was built by Solomon. David wanted to build it. But God said, no, you're a man with bloody hands with your seed.

[24:54] Your son will build this house for me. So we're still in the tabernacle time. So David says, I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.

[25:05] Why? He knew that's where God was. Folks, that was God's physical presence with His people. It was God's physical presence with His people. It was the security that they had when they were coming through the wilderness.

[25:21] Folks, that tabernacle wherever they sat down, that's where God was. They would set it up. God would be back in the holiest place. They had everything just as the temple was set up except it was a tent instead of a permanent building.

[25:34] But He says, I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. Folks, He is confident of that. And I am confident that it is forever that I will abide with my God.

[25:46] I will forever abide with my Savior. I will forever abide with He who saved my unworthy soul. Hallelujah. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.

[25:56] I will trust in the cover of thy wings. He says, I will abide in your tabernacle forever, oh God. Right there where God is, He says, and I will trust in the cover or the covering of thy wings.

[26:12] Not only is He going to be right there where God dwells, but He's going to be nested right up underneath the wing of Almighty God. Folks, He is saying, I'm going to be right next to the very heartbeat of God.

[26:23] Hallelujah. That's where I want to be. What safer place for any of us to be than right next to the heart of Almighty God. Hallelujah. And He says, Selah. Selah.

[26:33] There's a lot of theological controversy surrounding this word Selah. The best explanation that's ever been given for it, even Jewish Hebrew scholars have trouble with it.

[26:47] But the best explanation, or the most common, I should say, explanation for Selah means just pause and reflect. Some people say it means a rest in the music.

[26:58] Could very well mean that's the same thing as a pause. But, either way, it does have the meaning behind it of reflection. So in other words, David says, don't just skim past these first few verses.

[27:11] And these weren't even in verse format when David was writing. He says, don't skim past this. You rest, you reflect on what I've just said. But then, he continues, for thou, O God, hast heard my vows.

[27:24] I will abide in thy tabernacle again in verse 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the cover of thy wings, Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. I will abide with you in your tabernacle.

[27:37] And in your tabernacle, I will abide under the cover of your very wings. I will abide in your cover and with you, O God, for thou hast heard my vows.

[27:47] Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. He says, you have heard the vows that I have made. Hey, folks, how many times have you whispered through your own tears vows unto God? God, if you'll just do this for me, I promise you I'll do this in the future or I'll do that in the future.

[28:02] How many people have said, God, if you'll just save me, I will serve you. God, if you'll do this and you'll do that, I will do that and I will do this. Hey, you be careful because God remembers those vows.

[28:15] Right. You be cautious vowing to God. Amen. God's got a perfect memory. I can't say that and I've got a wife that will testify to it. My memory is far from perfect, but God's memory is absolutely perfect.

[28:28] Amen. What vows is David referring to here? David made some vows unto God. David made vows all throughout the Psalms. The Psalms that he wrote, you flip on over to the books of Kings and the books of Samuel.

[28:44] David made some vows unto God. And here in verse 5 it says, For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Folks, it's not, and people will lose their minds trying to figure out what vows they're talking about.

[28:55] It's not which vow. It's the fact that God heard them. Folks, have you ever considered that? Have you ever considered the miracle that we are nothing more than little specks of dirt on this planet Earth that we have?

[29:10] But God takes time out to hear His people. God wants to hear from His creation. Hallelujah. That amazes me. And that is a miracle in and of itself that God would even want to hear from me.

[29:25] And hear from you. Folks, we're all just sinners. Sinners saved by grace. Hallelujah for the grace of God. But why God would want to hear from us lowly creatures that have rebelled against Him.

[29:40] That have gone against His commandments. We have trampled upon the covenants of God in our sinful days in the days before we were born again. Why would He want to hear from us?

[29:52] Folks, that's God. That's God. That's an attribute of God. His mercy and His love and kindness and His long suffering and His patience.

[30:03] All these are attributes of Almighty God. That's why Paul could write to the church in Rome that God committed His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

[30:14] While we were yet sinners, He didn't die for me after I was already saved. He died for me that I could be saved. Hallelujah. Amen. That's my God. For Thou, O God, has heard my vows.

[30:27] He heard David. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name. God, You brought me into the very company of people that fear You.

[30:37] Of people that reverence You. You've given me the same heritage. You've given me the same inheritance that You've given them. And David understands he didn't earn it.

[30:50] He understands that God has brought him here. Remember back in verse 2, He said, Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. David understands that he could not obtain anything on his own.

[31:03] And that includes this inheritance that he's talking about here. He says, Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name. You've brought me into Your very family. God. Amen. And I'm sure David, remember King David, David was thinking about all the people of old.

[31:20] Some of the prophets. Moses. Many other people I'm sure David was thinking about that were so much more worthy in his finite and earthly mind that were worthy of being brought into the heritage of the Lord.

[31:35] He says, You have brought me into their heritage. You have shared with me that. You've given me the same place and I will have the same location in eternity. But it is all of God that He obtained that.

[31:47] Nothing of David. Nothing of the psalmist. Nothing of me that I was saved. It is all of God. Salvation is of the Lord and the Lord is salvation. Verse 6, Thou wilt prolong the king's life and his years as many generations.

[32:02] Folks, we have gone from a man that said, Hear my cry, O God, and attend unto my prayer. We've heard from a man that thought that he was at the very edge of the earth.

[32:13] He says, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. We have gone from a man that was in anguish. He was in turmoil. He was in depression. He was sad. He was all these things.

[32:24] And He says, Thou wilt prolong the king's life. Thou wilt prolong the king's life and his years as many generations. Folks, this is a sign of someone who gets it.

[32:35] This is a line that someone would have written that gets it. I don't only want this for me, God. I want this for the generations beyond me. And parents, if you're here and you have no heart for your lost children, shame on you.

[32:48] I question if you was even saved yourself. If you have no heart for your grandchildren. If you have no heart for the lost in general, I would question if you were saved yourself. Thou wilt prolong the king's life.

[33:02] I hope there's no doubt in David's mind. He says, Thou wilt, not thou may, not thou mine, thou wilt prolong the king's life. How did he know this? Because of everything else that we've read up to this point, he had confidence in what God had told him.

[33:17] And God had told him in the book of 2 Samuel in chapter 7 that there was going to be a house built. He had promised him that his lineage would carry on. And folks, that was a promise that was actually made all the way back in the book of Genesis when Jacob was on his dying bed and Judah came to the bedside and he said, The scepter shall not depart from your hand.

[33:40] Amen. Judah came there. Who's Christ? The Lion of the tribe of Judah is he not? The scepter will never depart from Christ's hand. He rules. He's always ruled.

[33:52] And he ever will rule. Amen. This is not only David talking about talking about the immediate future and the immediate present here. Folks, this is prophetic as well what he's saying here.

[34:04] what David was writing here. Thou wilt prolong the king's life and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. That's how we know that this is prophetic.

[34:17] He's talking about himself, yes. He's talking about the immediacy of the present and of the future, yes.

[34:28] But he says, He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. He shall abide before God forever. Who shall abide before God forever? King David speaking of himself here, yes.

[34:40] But prophetically, he's talking about King Jesus on end of the future. He shall abide before God forever. And folks, he forever abides before God. He forever abides at God's right hand where he forever makes intercession unto all the saints of God, unto everyone that has believed the Gospel, everyone that has given up on themselves, given up on men that put their trust and their faith in Him.

[35:04] Hallelujah. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. Prepare mercy and truth. David knows what's going to sustain him.

[35:18] It's not going to be himself. And it's not going to be the nation Israel. It's going to be the mercy and the truth of God. Fast forward to the New Testament times. Fast forward to the cross of Jesus Christ where mercy and truth met right there.

[35:33] Mercy was shown toward us. Mercy was shown toward us sinners in that Jesus Christ was crucified on our behalf. He was crucified on behalf of sinners.

[35:45] He was crucified for all of those that had gone against their Maker. That's mercy that was shown in Jesus Christ. And there's truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the lies.

[35:56] No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus Christ is truth and Jesus Christ is the greatest show of mercy toward mankind that mankind has never seen. I've had people act merciful to me.

[36:09] I've wronged people in my life and they've been very merciful toward me. And if you're honest with yourself, you can say the same thing. Every one of us have wronged somebody at some point, but nobody's ever shown me the amount of mercy that Almighty God did.

[36:22] And given the crown jewel of heaven on my behalf. And given Jesus Christ His only begotten Son to die a substitutionary death in my place. To suffer and to bleed and to die and to suffer the mockery and to suffer the shame.

[36:36] Hey folks, He took all that stuff from me upon Himself. He took the very wrath of God upon Himself that I would never know what the wrath of God feels like. Amen. Hallelujah.

[36:47] Praise be unto God for the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve Him.

[36:58] Mercy and truth may preserve the King. Then He says, So, will I sing praise unto Thy name forever that I may daily perform my vows. So, that puts us back to the previous seven verses.

[37:10] Everything that we've covered so far. Everything that I've listed two, three, four times now. Down to verse 8. Through verse 7. It says, So, will I sing praise unto Thy name forever.

[37:25] Folks, first and foremost, if you're here and you're a child of God, that's enough reason to praise God. That's enough reason to give Him the praise.

[37:37] That's enough reason to sing praises unto His name. That's enough reason to give Him praise. Whether you're in a private setting, whether you're in a corporate setting such as we are now, folks, salvation is reason enough for someone to praise Almighty God.

[37:55] I'm not saying you've got to cut a shine every time you do it. I've seen people sit in a pew and do nothing more than cry. But those tears are bringing glory unto God and those tears are in praise unto God, the very one that saved their soul.

[38:08] And I've seen other people shout for joy. I've seen people run the aisles. I've seen people do all kinds of different types of praise. And as long as it's genuine, that's fine. Praise God.

[38:20] So will I sing praise unto Thy name because of all these things. Because I can cry unto You. Or because I did cry unto You. Because I cried unto You from the end of the earth and You heard me.

[38:32] Because You've heard my vows. Because You've given me the inheritance of those that fear You. Because You've been my strong power. Because You've been my shelter. Because You've been everything that I've ever needed in my life.

[38:44] I will sing praise unto You, O Lord. And this should be the attitude of every saint that is, that I may daily perform my vows. Amen.

[38:57] God doesn't want you to just praise Him. God wants obedience. He says, again, that I may daily perform my vows.

[39:09] The psalmist here, David here say, I have vowed some things unto God. And I will sing praises unto You that I may daily do and I may daily attend to and I may daily work these vows that I made unto You.

[39:24] Folks, that's obedience. That's obedience. It does us no good to come to the house of God and to raise a hand in glory to God. Raise a hand in praise unto God.

[39:34] It does us no good to shout. It does us no good to sing. It does us no good to preach if we don't have obedience to the Word of God. If we're not obeying Him, it's all for naught.

[39:46] It's all for show. It's all for man's backpack. But, when we sing praise unto God, and we're performing our vows unto God, and we're being obedient to the Word of God, God is glorified in that.

[40:03] And God appreciates that. And God notices those things. Be faithful, saints. Be faithful unto God. He brought you out of much.

[40:14] He saved your soul out of a hell that it deserved. He saved your soul from eternal punishment. Folks, instead of going to a lake of fire where you will die forever and ever and ever, you are going to a place where there is no need of the sun or the moon, you are going to a place where the light never fades, you are going to a place where God Himself and the Lamb of God are the light thereof.

[40:39] And we will praise this God that I've been preaching about forever and ever and ever. God bless you all. That's the message for this evening. I appreciate your attention. Amen.