The Joy of Forgiveness

Good evening again to you. This is Pastor Michael Carnes at Beacon Baptist Church conducting another live stream midweek prayer service for our congregation and others who perhaps are tuning in. We're grateful for your presence with us tonight and let me read the words of the hymn. This is what we need, I think, above most for everything else in our day, in our world, and in our lives. Revive thy work, O Lord, thy mighty arm make bare. Speak with the voice that wakes the dead and make thy people hear. Revive thy work, O Lord, disturb this sleep of death. Holdering embers now by thine almighty breath. Revive thy work, O Lord, create soul thirst for thee and hungering for the bread of life, O may our spirits be. Revive thy work, O Lord, thy precious name and by the Holy Ghost our love for thee and thine in flame.

This is Psalm 5 verse 11 and 12. But let all those rejoice who put their trust in you. Let them ever shout for joy because you defend them. Let those also who love your name be joyful in you. For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous.

With favor you will surround him as with a shield. Would you please join me as we look to the Lord and humble our hearts and minds before him and quiet our hearts and ask him to draw near to us and to meet with us and bless our time together. Father, we acknowledge our weaknesses. We acknowledge our frailties, our finiteness, our creature status. We acknowledge that the earth is yours and the fullness thereof and all who dwell therein, that it is indeed in you that we live and breathe and have our being.

We owe our very existence to you, our very life to you, and we acknowledge that tonight, that you hold our lives in the palm of your hand. Therefore, Lord, we ask that you would strengthen us in the inner person, make this time profitable for our souls. Lord, we confess that we can very easily get distracted and lose our way in this fallen world. And we need reminded that we are but pilgrims simply passing through, looking for a city whose maker and builder is God. Lord, we ask you to draw near to us. We ask that you would enliven our hearts, do what even the hymn writer has expressed, create soul thirst for you.

Cause us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, or as the hymn writer has put it, for the bread of life. And, oh God, if it would please you to bear your arm and quicken those who are dead in trespasses and sins and make them alive, you have done that for all who know you in a saving way. And that is our hope for those who are yet strangers to your grace, that you would do for them what you have done for us. And we thank you for the truth that you who have begun a good work in us will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ. And the knowledge that you are working in this world to accomplish your eternal decrees, that you are working in us both to will and to do according to your good pleasure. So encourage us with these truths and bless our time together as we look to you for that blessing. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, we will continue on Sunday as we have grown accustomed to over these past four or five months together on Sunday morning for People Present Service. We encourage you to come. And we are trying to accommodate you for social distancing.

Every other pew is marked off. We're encouraging you to come and wear a mask. And I hear people talk to someone again on Sunday who said, I just hate wearing a mask. And I want to say, well, join the club. I don't know anybody who says, you know what, I enjoy wearing this. It makes such a fashion statement.

I feel so much better. Nobody thinks that. Nobody feels that way. But we're doing that because it's a way of serving one another. It's ministering to one another. It's not focused on me. It's focused on other people. And we serve one another and show concern for one another by protecting one another.

And we wear those particularly as we sing. So just a reminder about that. It would be sad if we had visitors who would come whose church perhaps isn't meeting or perhaps a visitor to the area. And they come and look around and say, well, these people aren't serious about following protocol and protecting one another. I'm not real comfortable here.

I think I'll not come back. We don't want anybody to not return to a place where they can receive spiritual benefit for some temporal reason like that. So let's be mindful and let's be other-centered as we think about our responsibility and our stewardship. Next Tuesday, November 10, the Elders, the Beacon Elders and Deacons will be meeting for their monthly meeting in the Fellowship Hall.

Just a reminder concerning that. We'll continue to livestream on Wednesday night and Sunday night, a particular focus on Sunday nights. Added to our typical routine is a video update from a particular field of mission service that we're in partnership with someone. We had about an 11-minute video from Tom and Connie Chapman from Chile. Last Sunday night, this coming Sunday night, I have a very encouraging video to share with you from Paul and Trish Schneider and their ministry.

So look forward to that. We'll look at prayer requests here in a minute. Let me, for lack of a better way of speaking to this, let me address the elephant in the room and that is our concern over the elections that took place yesterday. And most of us were, I don't know, I can't speak for anyone.

I know I personally was up late watching and had an interest in what was developing and so a little short on sleep last night and perhaps you were the same. But a few days ago, I was checking the website concerning Samaritan Ministries, which is a health-sharing ministry that I participate in for my own health care. And on that site was this short article, Four Ways Christians Should Respond to the Election Results.

Now keep in mind, we didn't know any results. It simply was basically a generic article to suggest how Christians should be responding. And the author is Daniel Darling. He is an author. I don't know much about him, but what I read, I was encouraged by.

And I'm not going to read the whole article, but I want to read a couple of things about it. As he said, Four Ways Christians Should Respond to the Elections. Those four ways were, number one, be thankful. Number two, be gracious. Number three, be hopeful.

Number four, be prayerful. And I thought for our purposes tonight you might find benefit by me reading this short part that speaks to being thankful. He says, yes, I know elections can be nasty. Politicians often appeal to our basest instincts.

TV ads depict opponents in the worst possible light, and everyone argues online for reasons nobody really quite understands. And yet we should in some ways be thankful for the noise and the chaos and the rancor of our representative republic. It means that our leaders are not put in power by force or by birthright, but by the vote of the people. The partisanship we so often decry is a feature of a free people. Most people around the world have no choice in who leads them.

They don't get a vote. Leaders are instead put in power by military might and autocratic rule. There is much to lament about America's growing incivility, and it could lead in the future to increased instability.

When Christians engage in tribal partisanship, it damages our Christian witness. But we should be thankful for the privilege of free elections and the stewardship God has granted us to use our influence to shape the governments that lead us. And that's the first thing.

And then the last thing. Be prayerful. Be prayerful. Be thankful and be prayerful.

Be prayerful. We may be uncertain about what the immediate future holds after this election, but we are certain about our responsibility as followers of Jesus. Paul commands Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2 to pray for all of those in authority. Imagine if we prayed as much as we tweeted or texted or posted about politics. And in a post-election environment we should pray, specifically both for the leaders who have been voted out of office and those who are newly elected. And he says some specifics about that, but just a reminder of our God-given responsibility to be prayerful for those that God has put in authority above us in the political sphere.

So that's all I intend to say tonight about the elections. But I do want to say that Carly and I are proud grandparents of our first grandson. And his name is Daniel Webster Hemings, born to our daughter Abigail and her husband Dan last evening around 10.30 after a long protracted labor of about 30 hours.

But God was kind and gracious to Abigail and to Daniel Webster and he is a healthy little boy and Abigail had courage and endurance and stamina to endure the labor and they are recovering. His name comes from both sides of our families. Webster was the middle name of Dan's great-grandfather. And his name was Daniel, let's see, yes his name was Daniel Webster Hemings and our son-in-law Dan was named after him. And our grandson's name is Webster Davis, Webster Davis Hemings. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to get this straight, his name is Webster Ross Hemings, I think I've given him about three different names here tonight. Ross, his middle name is Carly's father's name, Abigail's grandfather, so they wanted to honor Abigail's grandfather and Dan's great-grandfather. So again, our grandson's name is Webster Ross Hemings. Boy, I'm glad I got that straightened out. So thank you for praying for Abigail and for our grandson and we are thrilled with God's kindness to us.

Let's take a look at the prayer side of our sheet. With that reminder to pray for those in authority, leaders, we want to remember the government official of the week, Elon Mayer Jerry Tolley. Under praises I've already mentioned our grandson.

Webster Ross, he weighed six pounds nine ounces and was eighteen and three-quarter inches long. Scott Hazelep had hernia surgery and is recovering from that for which we're grateful. Bill Truesdale had surgery for an aneurysm that went well last week and is scheduled for an additional surgery on tomorrow at Duke to repair another aneurysm.

So remember him if you would. For under members, Amanda Abernathy is struggling a bit and has quite a bit of discomfort yet from a dislocated shoulder. She's caring for three children and that is complicating her recovery. Drew Guthrie had a procedure to stretch her esophagus on Monday and they have biopsied a mass that they found that is cancerous and she is in very much in need of our prayers. Doctors are trying to determine what it is they can do for her.

Right now they don't believe that where the cancer is that it's operable. So please uphold Drew and the family as they wait on the Lord concerning this need. Nellie Hunter is recovering from recent surgery on her elbow. Larry was having some issues and went to the doctor and they said they need to help him with his salt intake.

So a little dietary instructions there for Larry. Continue to remember both of them in prayer. Liddy Norris is recovering from a cracked wrist and broken bone in her arm. Art Pope is struggling with health issues and COPD.

Mary Shaw is facing a long rehab with her recent shoulder surgery. And Shirley Watkins is weak but at home and recovering some strength so please pray for Shirley. Brooke Faust, daughter of Johnny and Pam Faust, was involved in a serious car accident. I think this happened on Saturday evening. She's in Moses Cone Hospital, had one surgery to repair a badly broken hip facing additional surgeries and other needs there in that situation we would ask you to pray. Sue Lynch's, let's see, Eddie Phillips is a neighbor to a friend of Sue Lynch who got his hands caught in a corn picker and lost all of his fingers on one hand and mangled up his other hand pretty badly.

That's a sad, sad thing to report. Please remember this man, Eddie Phillips. Under missionaries, continue to remember Trevor and Theresa Johnson and their family, Paul and Trish Schneider. And Stuart Waugh and Laverne is there in Johannesburg. Stuart's recovering from recent liver transplant. Haven't really heard anything recently which normally means that things are progressing.

But I did see on the wire come across on my computer that things are very, very deteriorating economically in Zimbabwe. So please remember the country, the churches, the pastors, those we know and love there. In the section of sympathy, we're remembering the family of Gary Hendricks, his family and his home going. Max Hudson, an uncle of Jamie Henshaw and Tracy Airy. Max was at a local rest home and had contracted COVID but had recovered from it and died rather suddenly.

I don't know that they have determined a cause but he will be missed. So remember that family. And then Ben Vestal, brother of Lori Craig and Lee Vestal, former member of Beacon, passed away this past Sunday morning in Lynchburg, Virginia. Ben had a solid testimony of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I won't read all of this but this was an email forwarded to us by Lori Craig.

I'll just read this paragraph here. At 19 years old, Ben reached out to God asking about the true meaning of life. God let him out of a life of sin and darkness unto himself.

In 1975, Ben began attending Liberty University and while there, his life was most changed by his apologetics and creation studies that provided him with a firm foundation for his faith in Christ. As he approached death, Ben spoke often about the peace he had in the Lord. He knew what awaited him was his eternal destiny and he told us that cancer was just his ticket to get there. He loved to quote Henry M. Morris, quote, The future is bound up in the past.

One's belief concerning his origin will inevitably determine his belief concerning his purpose and his destiny. Ben lived long enough to celebrate his 67th birthday with his family but he is now in the presence of the Lord and we are envious of him but sorrowful for his family and those who loved him who are left behind. Under salvation, there are two names that are highlighted and that is Andrew Fleming.

This is a nephew of Amy Freeman. He was in a motorcycle accident over the weekend. He's very banged up but is alive.

He was wearing his helmet and they're praying that the Lord will use this to work in his heart. And then you see the name of Dr. Margie Persons. This is a sister of Bonnie Coy. She fell down some stairs and fell on cement on Saturday, October 31. She's to be having some plastic surgeries because she fell on her face.

So please uphold this person. This is Margie Persons in prayer, not only for these physical needs but her need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Two new names, well not new names, but two highlighted names under the cancer section.

That does not mean any of the other names are less important. It's just we have updates here concerning Shirley Rockey. Shirley is a teacher at Alamance Christian School, was in the hospital last week with stroke symptoms and after a lot of testing they found cancer in her lungs. So there's a real need there in Shirley Rockey's life. This is Jim Rockey, Laura Rockey's son who was a member of this church for years.

Shirley is Jim's wife. And then Gaylord Remel, father of Lee Ann Michaelhannon. He is scheduled for surgery this coming Monday, November 9 to remove the lower right lobe of his lung. He's been diagnosed with cancer but they believe that the cancer is localized there and they're planning to remove that portion that's cancerous.

He is 81 years of age and has heart and liver issues so he is a bit at risk. So I know Lee Ann would much appreciate our prayers for her father. Well, we're trying to get a lot of things done here this evening. Let me mention this axe and fax.

There will be a supply of these out here on the table in the connecting hallway. What caught my attention is an article on hummingbirds by design, a fascinating article about the incredible way God has created these birds and their navigation system and just so many interesting things that will cause you to rejoice in such a God that would create such a bird for our enjoyment and for His own sake. So, I picked that up.

Hummingbirds by design, axe and fax. Here is just a short reminder from Piedmont Rescue Mission. Their motto is offering a hand up, not a hand out.

And I love that. He's talking about the Greater Vision Banquet that they typically have in October but because of COVID have had to augment and make some adjustments. So there's no banquet per se this year but they're having a fundraiser. It's a Greater Vision online event and he says this, We are already getting responses from churches and of our former guest speakers who will be coming or making a video for us to share with you the night of the event. The night of the event is a week from tomorrow night, November 12 from 6.30 to 8.30. And he said you'll be able to get the link to the event through the PRM website or the Piedmont Rescue Mission Facebook account. So he says we will also have women from the pregnancy services, men from the Rescue Mission giving testimony as to how God has worked in their lives. So just a heads up, that is a week from tomorrow night, 6.30 to 8.00.

Tune in for a part of it or all of it. And learn about this ministry and be encouraged about what God is doing through Piedmont Rescue Mission. This is from Mike and Melanie Webster who are serving the Lord in France. He has a couple of sections here.

First is victories. He says in June churches were allowed to gather again for public worship after two months of strict lockdown. Much was required for reopening including rearranging the building and sanitizing and a number of other things. He says reopening proved to be as much of a challenge as adapting to online ministry has been in March, but in spite of it all a sweet spirit has prevailed in our services ever since. He said a special blessing in recent weeks was the salvation of a dying husband known and prayed for by the church over many years.

He is now with the Savior. Challenges. And the challenge that he speaks of is not unique to France. It is something that is happening all over the world really.

But he says evidence of a second wave of the coronavirus has brought about renewed regulations and restrictions in much of Europe. Our area is currently under a strict curfew and masks are required in public even outside. This is again making it difficult to meet during the week since people need time to make it home before the 9 p.m. curfew. Work and school schedules make it hard for them to come earlier. Over the years Melanie has struggled to control different sensory issues linked to her epilepsy.

Mask wearing is extremely difficult for her as are the odors related to hand sanitizers. So that's what I'll mention there in terms of challenges. And then he says like many the world over we are experiencing a reality where planning is difficult and subject to change. Mike's current health situation has added a new dimension.

Let's see. He's had a biopsy for had a colonoscopy had a biopsy they're waiting on a second result so they're a little bit up in the air concerning his health. So he says please pray with us for clarity and direction on things and for the grace of God to accept his will in what he wills and plans for our lives. So that's Mike and Melanie Webster.

And this is from a sea loss and banger compost in Brazil. Dear friends in Christ, greetings from Brazil. The highlight of this month was our annual conference for pastors and church leaders. Over the last 15 years we've had an attendance of 2,000 pastors.

This year we had 1,340 leaders online for which we are very thankful. Different speakers talked about different aspects of biblical counseling. God used each one of them to instruct and encourage these leaders.

Most of them are young pastors leading small churches in the interior parts of Brazil. I see loss had the opportunity of closing this event with a sermon on Psalm 107. This Psalm reminds us that our God is a merciful God. It describes several acts of deliverance that God did even to people who had been unfaithful to him. Four years ago we received the challenge of revitalizing an old Baptist church located in the old downtown area of Campanese City. It is a large city with more than one million people. With God's blessing through the preaching of the word, the church is growing spiritually and numerically. Some members were disciplined and responded well, others left the church, but God has added new people giving us a healthy kind of growth. Now, our greatest challenge is the church building.

It is too old and too small and the parking space is very limited. Pray with us that God may give us a solution. So that's an update and a request from the campos who are serving the Lord in Brazil. Well, let me turn your attention to Psalm 32. Psalm 32, if you'll take your Bible and find your place, I'll read those eleven verses and then bring a short devotion from Psalm 32. Psalm 32, this Psalm is entitled, The Joy of Forgiveness. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.

My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found.

Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You have surrounded me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart. I remember in high school literature, this goes back many a year, there was an assignment given to read and analyze Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. If you are familiar with that, the main character has committed murder and the guilt associated with his evil deed begins to eat at him and gnaw at him and it makes him psychotic. He begins to hear the heartbeat of the victim that he has buried in his basement.

A cold sweat covers him as the beat, beat, beat goes on. And finally, it becomes clear that the pounding which drove the man mad was not the man buried in the basement, but his own very heartbeat in his own chest. Guilt will do that to you. Feelings of guilt can and do overwhelm people. And that's what David is describing in this psalm.

That was his experience. He had become physically and emotionally troubled as he tried to cover his sin, ignore his guilt, and live in a state of unforgiveness. The sin and the experience in the background of the writing of this psalm, as well as Psalm 51, is David's sin with Bathsheba.

The cover up that he engaged in, the death of Uriah the Hittite, and God's dealings with him over that sin. Now there are two psalms in particular that have that historical sad event as a backdrop. One of them is Psalm 32 and the other is Psalm 51 if you're familiar with those two psalms. Psalm 51 was written first during David's anguish and David's guilt which he suffered quite severely. Psalm 32 that we're looking at here this evening was written after the anguish, after he had been forgiven, and his peace of mind and restoration returned.

So David is in a state of communion and fellowship with God and he is looking back on that experience and I think we can learn some things about what God took him through. So tonight let's look at this psalm under four headings. Number one, expression of present joy, that's verses one and two. Number two, reflection on past sins, verses three through five. Number three, provision for future needs, verses six through eight. And then verses nine through eleven, applications for every believer.

So let's look at these quickly. Number one, expression of present joy, verses one and two. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. I don't know what causes you joy. I do not know what brings the experience of joy into your life, but if you're a Christian this should be something we do not get away from. We do not forget, we do not diminish the joy that comes over us when we reflect and think about the blessing of our sins being forgiven. That is cause for great rejoicing.

Blessed is he. It's an expression of elation, of joyful exuberance, and it's associated with the experience of forgiveness. Now there are people who have lived their entire life who have known nothing of this. They have never come to God seeking mercy and seeking forgiveness, acknowledging their sin to Him. And they are weighed down with guilt and shame because the burden of sin hangs over them. And it takes the operation of the Spirit of God working in a man or a woman to bring them to the place where they acknowledge that sin, own that sin, confess that sin, repent and forsake that sin, and in so doing receive the forgiveness of God. And with that forgiveness is joy that comes.

And we should never get over that. The sense of joy of having our sins forgiven. Knowing that when we pillow our head at night as a believer in Jesus Christ that our sins have been washed away. They have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

They've been thrown into the depths of the deepest sea. And God does not hold our past sins against us. Notice what it says. Blessed is the man whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. He does not impute iniquity. He does not count it against us.

And why is that? Because our sins have been imputed, have been put to the account of Jesus Christ and have been judged in Jesus Christ and therefore we are free from the penalty of those sins. And that's why God won't hold them against us anymore because His Son paid the penalty of those sins in full. We sing that Him, Jesus, paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.

He washed it white as snow. There are four specific terms in these couple of verses that speak of His sin, His wrongdoing. Now these words are not synonyms but they're different nuances or variations of sin. And seen together, they describe the downward steps that lead a person to the agonizing condition that David was living in before he confessed his sin and wrongdoing to God.

Notice what he says. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Transgression means to rebel or revolt. It describes a willful act of disobedience. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin, sin is covered.

So there's the second nuanced word. Transgression, sin. Sin is from the Hebrew word for wrongdoing.

It means to miss the mark, to deviate from the path of blessing. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. That's our third word. Iniquity. This Hebrew word carries the idea of guilt and punishment.

And in whose spirit there is no deceit. There's our fourth word. Note those four words. Transgression, sin, iniquity, and deceit. And what is deceit? Deceit is treachery, deception, and self-deception. And here, David is tracing out for us the downward spiral of sin.

It has this destructive pattern. Think with me. This is just not him using different words to describe the same thing.

This is very intentional. This is inspired scripture. God has something to teach us here. First, we rebel against God's revealed will.

First step. Secondly, that rebellion causes us to miss the path of righteousness. This is followed by number three, the guilt and inner turmoil and the feelings associated with guilt and shame.

And fourth, deceit. It's that word that speaks of us entering into sin and choosing the route of covering our sin, trying to cover our tracks. Proverbs 28 verse 13 says, He who conceals or covers his sin shall not prosper, but whosoever confesseth his sin shall find mercy. And apart from the Spirit of God working in our lives, we are all masters at covering, concealing our sin, being deceptive about that. Again, keep in mind, he who covers his sin shall not prosper, but whosoever confesses and forsakes his sin shall find mercy.

And that's what we all should be interested in, the mercy of God. Number two, reflection on past sins. Now David is looking back and he's describing the effect that this period of his life was having upon his life. When I kept silent, verse three, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.

That's what he says. He's describing this inner conflict that was brought about by what is known as psychosomatic illness. That is the presence of physical pain that's resulting from mental or emotional conflict.

It's a spiritual matter, but it's manifesting itself in a physical way. God's hand was upon him. God was dealing with him. He was under conviction and he was resisting God's dealings in his life.

I want you to see, he says, when I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groanings all the day long, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. And then he says, I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Notice with me that confession precedes forgiveness. Forgiveness is always predicated upon confession and repentance and the forsaking of our sins. And if we want forgiveness from God, we're going to have to confess, that is say the same thing about our sins that God says, and forsake it, repent of it. And if we're unwilling to forsake our sins and repent of our sins, then God will not forgive us. Confession precedes forgiveness. Well, God had mercy upon David, forgave his iniquity, forgave him of his sin because, what does he say? I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. God forgave completely because David confessed completely. David reflecting on past sins.

Number three, provision for future needs. Verses 6, 7 and 8. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found, surely in a flood of great waters.

They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Provision for future needs. There are three things mentioned here in verses 6, 7 and 8. Number one, there's an invitation.

An invitation. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time that you may be found. Here's an exhortation. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Go to God. Pray to him.

Seek him out. And he who comes to God he will in no wise cast out. Here's an invitation. Jesus said come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Here's an invitation. Here's number two, protection. Verse 7. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

Protection. What a comforting picture that is. I think that's one of the things that's going to surprise us in heaven when we get there. And if God allows us to review our life's history we will be amazed at how many times God delivered us, how God protected us, how God sent angels to care for us when we were in a place of danger. Sometimes we may have known about it.

Sometimes we may not have known about it. But that is the God and the provisions that he's made for his people. So an invitation, protection. And then number three. These are provisions for future needs. Guidance. Verse 8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Who of us lacks, who of us does not need instruction? Who of us does not need guidance? We face all kinds of perplexing situations, wonder what we should do about this, how should we handle that. Things that are true about our present life, things that we will be facing that we know not of.

We constantly are in need of instruction and guidance and here is the promise of future provision. God says I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Verse 8. And then application to every believer. Application to every believer. Verses 9, 10 and 11.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked but he who trusts in the Lord mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart. Applications to every believer.

Number 1. Don't be stubborn. Don't be stubborn. Don't be like a mule. Don't be like a resistant animal because God has a way of bringing us into submission.

Just like the owner has a way of getting that bridle and that bit in the horse's mouth to bring it into submission. God has his ways and God will do that. Don't be stubborn. We have a choice to make. Yield ourselves to the Lord or refuse to submit to him. Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle else they will not come near you.

Notice this. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. Here is a contrast describing two ways of living life. One way of living life is in rebellion and in subordination to God and it results in many sorrows. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. Now there is enough sorrows in this life because we live in a broken fallen world but we can bring many sorrows upon ourselves by refusing to submit to the Lord and follow him. Let's not choose that path. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked but he who trusts in the Lord mercy shall surround him.

That's quite a contrast. Mercy on the one hand for those who trust in the Lord. Many sorrows on the other hand for those who refuse to submit to the Lord.

Applications for every believer. Be glad. Here is the final exhortation. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart.

Shout for joy. And again, what is the source of our joy? I think it goes back to the very beginning of the Psalm. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.

So let's be reminded on this Wednesday night of where real source of joy is and where we ought to find contentment and satisfaction. It's not in favorable circumstances. It isn't all the things that concern us getting worked out in a favorable way. We like to see those things. But as long as we're in this world and broken and fallen and we're sinners and we live among sinners, there's going to be all kinds of difficulties and challenges.

That's just the way life is. But in the midst of that, we can know joy because we are in right relationship with the God of heaven. The God who made us, created us, saved us for himself. He's redeemed us. We belong to him. So let's return to that fundamental reality and find joy in a right relationship with God knowing our sins have been dealt with fully and finally by God in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So again, four things. Expressions of present joy, reflections on past sins, provision for future needs and applications for every believer. Well, that took a little longer than I had anticipated, but I wanted to get through that psalm. Let me lead us in prayer.

Remember some of these needs. Will you join me, please, as we seek the Lord? Father, we want to begin by giving you thanks and praise for the gift of salvation, for the joy of sins forgiven, knowing that it cost your son his very life.

He shed his blood. He gave his life that we might be forgiven. Help us to understand that, that forgiveness is costly. Help us to rejoice in the provision that you've made for repentant sinners. And Lord, for any who are listening to me this evening, who are in a state of unrepentance, would you by your Spirit work in their hearts and help them to see themselves as you see them.

Help them to confess their sins, repent of their sins, and in so doing, find forgiveness. We thank you that we can pray to you and rejoice in your kind gifts. Lord, thank you for the gift of Webster Ross to Dan and Abby. Lord, please continue to help Abigail to recover from the archers of labor and allow her to leave the hospital soon and return home. Thank you for bringing Scott Hazelep through hernia surgery for Bill Truesdale and the aneurysm that he's already had addressed and the one he faces again tomorrow.

Be with Amanda Abernathy. Help her as she continues to recover from shoulder surgery. And as we think of her, we think of Mary Shaw along the same lines. We pray that you would speed her rehab and that she would have courage and she would know success as she makes progress. For John Spencer, who had a total knee replacement on Monday, we pray for his healing.

Again, we marvel at doctors and their ability to perform these surgeries that are necessary and help us on our way in this life. We pray for Lydia Norris and her healing from her cracked wrist and broken arm. And for Lydia Norris, the same as she recovers from those needs.

Nellie Hunter, as she recovers from a broken elbow. We're burdened for Drew Guthrie and the cancer that's been discovered and, Lord, draw near to her. Help her to look to you and trust you and give wisdom to the doctors as they seek a course of treatment for her. We're burdened for Brooke Faust and the needs in her life and the circumstances surrounding this accident.

We commit her to you. Pray for your mercy and your dealings in her heart and life. For this man who's got his hands tangled up in a corn picker, oh God, draw near to him. Help him, Father, to know that as serious as this is, as painful as it must be, that it's something that you can use in his life. We pray that if he doesn't know you, that this would be used to draw him to you.

And if he does, that he would understand that even this can work for his good and your ultimate glory. We ask you to minister to the families of Gary Hendricks and Max Hudson and Ben Vestal and each of their passing. Pray for Andrew Fleming, this nephew of Amy Freeman who's been in a motorcycle accident over the weekend. Lord, this young man needs you and we pray that you'll arrest his attention and draw him to the Savior. And what we pray for him, we pray for Bonnie Coy, Sister Margie Persons, this woman who's very intelligent, has earned a medical degree and yet does not know you, does not think she needs you.

Lord, would you bring her to the end of herself where she will acknowledge her utter dependence upon you and cry out to you for mercy. We pray for Shirley Rocky as she's been diagnosed with lung cancer, that you'll guide the doctors and have mercy on her. And for Leanne Michael-Hannon's father, Gaylord Rimmel, as he faces surgery to remove this portion of cancer from his lung on Monday.

Lord, you know the risks involved here and we pray that you'd bring him through the surgery and that it would indeed accomplish that which the doctors have purposed. Lord, we pray for our country and the potential for great unrest and rioting and instability. Lord, please cause there to be peace in the land.

Pray for a resolution to the unknown of the election and that there would be a humility on both sides of the aisle. Father, we acknowledge that these matters are in your hands, that you have sovereignly decreed who would rise to the place of authority in government and who would be replaced. We thank you that you rule not only in the heavens above but on this earth beneath. And we pray that your will would be done on earth even as it is in heaven. Thank you that we can gather in this way as people of God on a Wednesday night to pray to you, to humble our hearts and minds before you, to receive your word, to be updated concerning missionaries that we're invested in. Lord, we pray that you will bless the Webster's in France. We pray that you'll bless this online Piedmont Rescue Mission event that it would be participated in wholeheartedly.

Lead and direct and guide in that. May it accomplish what it's intended. And for Silas and Vonger Compost in Brazil, encourage them in the work you've called them to. We are grateful, our God, for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the sustaining of our lives, for the hope of heaven, for the confidence we have that you will use us as ambassadors of yours in this world. Help us to shine as light. Help us to be a preservation in this decaying culture. Hear our prayers. Receive them, we pray, through the merits of your dear son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.