Jehovah and Me

Amen. If you would turn in your Bibles once again to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. And we'll be reading this text throughout the message instead of reading it all in its entirety again.

I want to begin tonight with a brief introduction. A. W. Tozer said in the 1950s, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason the gravest question before the church is always God himself. And the most important fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be.

And why is that? Tozer goes on to say, We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the church. As a child and maybe even as an adult, have you ever played the game Word Association? Somebody says a word and you're supposed to respond with the first word that pops into your mind. What comes into your mind when you personalize these three words? Jehovah and me.

What comes into your mind when you personalize these three words? Jehovah and me. A second question, what influences your response to that question? What influences your response to Jehovah and me? I think the answer is this, your personal understanding of Jehovah and your knowledge of yourself. If you have a deeper understanding of Jehovah, then that's going to mean much more to a person who has a shallow understanding.

If you're honest with yourself versus a person who excuses things than him or herself, that's going to impact as well your reaction to those three words. The title of the message is Jehovah and me, and Psalm 139 is a wonderful worship song that is filled with awe and adoration. As we look at this prayer of David, we're going to consider four things from a personal perspective of a believer. At the end, I'll challenge any who may be here tonight outside of Christ, but we're going to look at this through the eyes of a Christian, through the eyes of a believer. And let me put you at ease, points three, four, and five will not take up any more time than point one.

If I didn't say that, I'm done with point one, I think you'd probably call out for breakfast. But I assure you, what we're going to consider tonight is number one, Jehovah's perception of me is pervasive, verses one through four. Secondly, Jehovah's providence for me is personal, verses five through 12. Jehovah's plan for me is precise, verses 13 through 18.

And finally, Jehovah's purpose for me is perseverance in the faith, verses 19 through 24. But first of all, Jehovah's perception of me is pervasive, verses one through four. You say, why would you use the words perception and pervasive? Well, perception is the way you think about or understand someone or something. The way you think about or understand someone or something.

The word pervasive is a good word. It means existing in or spreading through every part of something. So when we put those together, Jehovah's perception of me is pervasive. We are saying Jehovah knows every minute detail of us.

He knows every minute detail of us. Verse 1a states for the chief musician, a psalm of David, Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. The first three words, Oh, Lord, you. Notice that that is in capital letters, L-O-R-D, meaning Jehovah.

And that's the English word for Yahweh, the personal name for God who is self-existent, eternal, unchanging in his perfections as the creator and sustainer of all that exists. And, beloved, your progressive understanding of Jehovah will impact your response to the statement, Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of God, just reading, Oh, Lord, I am that I am.

You have searched me and known me. At the conclusion of his deeper revelation of himself to Job, the most righteous man of his day humbly replied this. He said, I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. And the result, he said, therefore, I abhor myself and repent dust and ashes. Job was reduced to such utter humility before this greater understanding of God that the ashes from which he complained and contended his innocence became the ashes from which he confessed his sinfulness. He's the most righteous man of his day in that he had room for growth. And his contrast of hearing and seeing, I've heard of you, but now I see you, I have seen you, that's simply showing his previous understanding of God was sadly lacking.

And, beloved, after God got done telling Job more of himself, the realization of who God was changed everything about his outlook, if you read the final chapters of Job. Here's the problem. Our fast lane culture fights against the command, be still and know that I am God.

What's the answer? You and I have to purpose to be lifelong theologians. That might sound like a word that you've never used with yourself, but the word theology comes from two Greek words that combine meaning the study of God. And we all ought to be theologians, students of who God is. Notice verse 1b. He says in verse 1a for the chief musician, a psalm of David, O Lord, you've searched me and known me. You've searched me and known me, the second part of that verse.

The word searched me. Spurgeon is very quick to point out that without effort, God, who is omniscient, knows us as thoroughly as if he had examined us minutely and had pried into the innermost corners of our being. God knows us. He can read us, does read us like a book.

Jeremiah wrote of the great mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts. He said, You are great and counsel and mighty and work for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. God has searched me.

God has searched you. And then he says at the end of that verse, not only has he searched me, but God has known me in his omniscience. God knows all individuals.

But the most vital question that anyone could ever ask is this. Does God know me intimately in salvation? Jesus warns about this in Matthew 7, 21 through 23.

And I'm sure all of you have read this. He said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. And many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. The problem was these people relying upon religious works instead of an intimate relationship with Christ to save them. And that's what Jesus is referring to when he says, I never knew you. I was sharing with my class Sunday school class this morning and I'll quickly repeat that. I know the girls in my senior Bible class at school.

There are three, I should know them. But I said to them, I know you and I love you as girls who I'm investing my life in. Time is life.

When I invest my time in you, I'm investing my life in you. I don't want to shake you two girls, but I don't love you the way I do that girl. And that girl had to happen to be Trinity, my granddaughter, understandably. I don't love Trinity the way I do my wife.

Why? There is no other relationship on earth as intimate as a man with his wife that you shall become one. That is the type of intimate knowledge that God has of those given to Christ before the foundation of the world.

What do we call the bride of Christ? So this intimate knowledge and salvation, Ephesians one, four through six, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he's made us accepted in the beloved. If you're a Christian tonight, thank God he knows you intimately.

But what about sanctification? God's intimate knowledge of us orchestrates everything that comes into our lives, and that ought to give us tremendous peace. Romans 8, 28 through 30, you've memorized to be sure. We, believers, know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, and for whom he foreknew, knew ahead of time.

And again, it is not just a head knowledge. God knows all things, past, present, future, that are and that could be. So he knew us intimately, he foreknew us, and those he predestined to be conformed with the image of son.

Why? That he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. I can have great confidence that when something comes into my life, if for no other reason, it's there to sanctify me as a believer.

And I have to see the glass half full from that respect. God is using this severe mercy or this difficulty to polish me to better reflect the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice verses 2 through 4, they color God's pervasive knowledge of us in the day-to-day affairs of life. Verse 2, you know my sitting down and my rising up. You must understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

There's not a word on my tongue, but behold, oh Lord, you know it altogether. And again, David uses contrasting pairs to express the totality, the pervasiveness of God's understanding. Notice verse 2, the first part, you know my sitting down and my rising up. Contrast again.

J.I. Packer says that this verse refers to my most common and casual acts, my most needful and necessary moments and movements. All are known by God intimately. What application can we make in these verses? Well, I ask the question, what impact should understanding that God's knowledge of us is pervasive, what impact should that have on your life?

Think about it. There's nothing to be hidden, thought, word, or deed from God. What impact should understanding that God's knowledge of us is pervasive have on your daily life? And then this, are you guilty of trying to compartmentalize your faith? And there's certain areas of my life that God cares about, areas that he doesn't. No. There is no such thing as compartmentalizing our faith.

I've used this illustration before. I better be the same Bible teacher as a soccer coach. You can't compartmentalize, you know, act like some ACC coach with some spiritual salt and pepper.

No. We're to be what we should be before God at all times and in all places. We don't want to compartmentalize our faith. Look at the second part of verse 2. He knows my thoughts. David writes, you understand my thought afar off. Spurgeon states that this speaks of God's omniscience. And notice this. He says, even before it's my own, my thought is foreknown and comprehended by thee.

I don't know about you, but that's mind-boggling. Even before it's my own, my thought is foreknown and comprehended by thee. John Owen said this sobering, quote, he sees the inside of all and what men are there that they are to him. He sees not as we see, but ponders the hidden man of the heart. All knowing God, thy searching eye looks past my habits to my heart where weaknesses and strengths lie bare before thy piercing holy stare. With sovereign gaze, you loathe all sham and know me as I truly am. Help me to captivate each thought that loyal, loving I might be, faithful and true to Christ alone, exalting him on my heart's throne.

Make this my passion and my plea that Christ be all in all to me. Application of verse 2 again. Do you cultivate thoughts that truly honor God by immediately, immediately house cleaning your heart of anything that's unworthy of him? When a wrong thought goes through your mind, deal with it then.

Deal with it then. Notice verse 3, David says he knows my ways. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. The bottom line is this, my lifestyle is known by God. The places that I go, the things that I do. And David again, if you'll notice, uses contrast of rest and activity to show the thoroughness of God's knowledge of us.

The pervasiveness of his knowledge of us. Psalm 119, 10 and 11, with my whole heart I've sought you. Oh, let me not wander from your commandments. Your word have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against you. Those who fear you will be glad when they see me because I've hoped in your word.

And beloved, here's the point. The content of our heart will be evidenced by the consistency of our habits. The content of our heart will be evidenced by the consistency of our habits.

You can fake it every now and then, but you can't fake it permanently. There are some religious people that can walk the walk for a while, but the reality is the content of our heart will be evidenced by the consistency of our habits. I want teenagers, I have wanted teenagers to learn the word of God in their head. To love the word of God in their heart. To live the word of God in their habits. And if you learn it in your head and love it in your heart and live it in your habits, you will leave it automatically in your history.

It's just what people see. It's the pattern of your life and it goes back to what I said earlier. The content of your heart will be evidenced, made known, by the consistency of your habits. What application would we give for verse 3? Do you delight in the word of God enough to make its principles your roadmap for each day?

And that requires a quiet time. That requires you getting up early enough to get into the word. Do you delight in the word of God enough to make its principles your roadmap for each day? Drop down to verse 4. He not only knows my ways, he knows my words. He says, for there's not a word, not a single word on my tongue, but behold, oh Lord, you know it altogether. Jesus said, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. And then he says these sobering words, I say to you that every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment.

Every one of them. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. And just as your content, the content of your heart is shown by the consistency of your habits, the content or the consistency of your habits is also evidenced in your words.

Does what you say and what you do, do they match up? He says every idle word, Jesus said, and that refers to lazy, useless, barren words that accomplish no good. Ephesians 4, 29 through 30, let no corrupt, and let me pause here, that word means rotten or worthless. Let no rotten or worthless word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, building up, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed in the day of redemption. We can grieve the Holy Spirit through words that do not honor and please God. Application of verse 4, do you strive to say only those things that glorify God and edify others by censoring impure, hurtful, untrue, prideful speech?

Can I say that again? Do you strive, that's an intentional decision, do you strive to say only those things that glorify God and edify others by censoring impure, hurtful, untrue, or prideful speech? That takes purpose, that takes consistency, that takes concern for the spiritual welfare of other people. We've looked at Jehovah's perception of me is pervasive. His understanding of me goes to the very core of who I am. Secondly, Jehovah's providence for me is personal, verses 5 through 12.

Jehovah's providence for me is personal. And we'll look at this first of all in verse 5, his protection. Notice what it says, you've hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me.

The words hedged me behind and before means to beset, bind up, fortify, enclose. And the idea is that God is in total control to guard and to guide me as his possession. He's in total control to guard me and to guide me as his possession.

When you think of hedged me in behind and before, you can't help but think of Job. God's hedge of protection was impenetrable. The only way that Satan got through any of it was by permission of God. And then he was checked and allowed to go just as far as God would allow him to go.

He says and laid your hand upon me. From the treasury of David, Spurgeon compiled this book. I'll give you the following quote. He says, to make of me one acceptable to thyself, to rule me, to lead me, to uphold me, to protect me, to restore me in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my affliction, in my despair.

God, you have hedged me about. And if we'll stop to contemplate again, Jehovah and me. That's awesome. It's an awesome thought and statement. Psalm 19, 3 and 4, in a minute I'll read that, but I want to first of all read verse 6. And in this verse we see we must guard against losing the wonder of it all. David's thought about these things and in verse 6 he says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high, I cannot attain it. He is thinking about Jehovah and himself in this and he's saying such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It's high, I cannot attain it. Now, Psalm 19, 3 and 4. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him? Who am I that you are mindful of me?

That's what we ought to be saying. It should cause wonder in us that he who names every star in the universe numbers every hair on our head. It should cause wonder in us that he who names every star in the universe numbers every hair on our head. A definition that I've used many times in teaching is this when it comes to the fear of God. And I said from the start this Psalm is a hymn of worship that is permeated by awe and adoration. The fear of God is a reverent attitude of awe and adoration whereby the child of God guards and guides his thoughts, words and deeds by the word of God for the glory of God. Awe over who God is, adoration over what God has done. Send his only beloved son to die in place of me.

That's awesome. It should cause wonder. Application of verses 5 through 6. Do you guard against losing the wonder of God's amazing grace in your life? And let me simply say this. I know it would make the message too long so I didn't include this.

If you want to recapture the wonder of it all, I would recommend, and I did this but I didn't include it in this message. Think about Galilee. Could you pick one phrase said about Jesus or by Jesus in Galilee that grips you? A phrase like the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. The Prince of Heaven who dwelt with the glory of God from eternity past says the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Think of Gethsemane when it said of Jesus Christ that he was so emotionally stressed he bled as it were great drops of blood.

Think of Jesus in Gabbatha where Isaiah 50 says he was marred more than the sons of men. Many were astonished at his appearance. People who were used to seeing crucifixion were astonished. And then lastly, think of him on Golgotha and hear him say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

It's doing those kinds of things that will rekindle awe and hearts that are growing cool. Do you guard against losing the wonder of God's amazing grace in your life? And then quickly, verses 7 through 12. We not only see his protection in verse 5 and 6 but his presence. Verse 7, Where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there.

If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to you. David, beloved, marvels that God who fills the universe at all times with all of his being has his hand upon him.

He has promised never to leave us. I want to read the amplified version of Hebrews 13, verse 10b. In the amplified version, probably if the whole Bible was done in that, well, obviously, you can get an amplified version. I mean, it's much thicker than a regular Bible because it uses more words to be able to give the real meaning of the Greek or Hebrew. But here's what it says in the amplified version.

The amplified highlights the emphasis conveyed by the Greek words. I will never under any circumstances desert you nor give you up, nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless, nor will I forsake you or let you down or relax my hold on you, or surely not. And the emphasis in this verse, folks, is for our benefit, not God's. He knows what he's going to do. He's just reassuring us weak believers of what he's going to do. He's going to be with us wherever we are, wherever we go. In Psalm 23, David said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why? For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Application of verses 7 through 12. Do you battle anxious thoughts with the truth, that the Creator and sustainer of all things is with you, leading you, protecting you, and providing for you? Do you battle anxious thoughts with the truth, that the Creator and sustainer of all things is with you, leading you, protecting you, and providing for you? We've looked at Jehovah's perception of me as pervasive.

He knows everything that there is to know. We've looked, secondly, Jehovah's providence for me is personal. Thirdly, Jehovah's plan for me is precise.

Verses 13 through 18, and we'll first of all look at 13 through 16, break it up. My particular characteristics and abilities were ordained by God, and they began at my conception. Verse 13, you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you.

Why? For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. This can be said of me, and it can be said of you. God made me when He desired and as He desired and equipped me to perform His will for His glory. You could say the same thing. Believer, God made you when He desired and as He desired, and He has equipped you to perform His will for His glory.

That's the bottom line. God has fashioned my days from first to last. He's fashioned my days from first to last. Verse 16, notice, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. That word, fashion, means to mold into a form or to determine. God has determined my days for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Job 14, verse 5, speaks of mankind in general, and it says this. His days are determined. The number of His months is with you.

You have appointed His limits so that He cannot pass. I've shared that numerous times with people who were terminally ill or had loved ones who were terminally ill. I've shared it with Ann on occasions.

The bottom line is this. God knows when He's going to call me home. And I, for one, and I'm sure several of you can say amen to this, when I went into the hospital with a heart attack, and it was kind of, and I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. It was an abrupt, shocking thing to go up and see if I had indigestion, acid reflux, kiss your wife, she parks the van, you walk in, and as she's coming and going with you, they say, no, you can't go with him. And then they put you, after hours on a bed in the emergency room, and if you've been there, you know why I go bed. They put you in a room and closed the door. And they've told you that you are going to have a procedure done in your heart where they put a stent in.

And then the doctor says, if that doesn't work, it will be an open-heart surgery. Okay. And the thought hits you, I may never see my family again in this life.

I may never see them again. And as I told you before in a message, there's a head and a tail to that. The head is, I know where I'm going. I'm not fearful. I'm not fearful. I know where I'm going.

The tail? I've got to leave my family behind in this world. And so what do you do? You pray, Lord, if it would please you, allow me to live longer, because I want to be here for my family when things get tough. But you have a complete peace that God is in control, and He has the right as your Creator to put the period on your life. He might put an exclamation point in the way you die, or it could just be a period.

You take your last breath. And I don't know why, but the Lord brings one of my favorite lines of a hymn to my life, and it's called, and I don't know why, but the Lord brings one of my favorite lines of a hymn to my mind. When my spirit clothed the mortal, wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way, even to the period at the end of my life.

That gives us unbelievable confidence, folks, in resting in Him. Application of these verses, because you rest in the truth that God has made you when and how He chose, and will call you home at His appointed time. And then we look at verses 17 and 18. My priority is the word of God. Verse 17, How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with you. God's thoughts, as revealed in His word, can only become precious when we prioritize our time to meditate upon them. Not just read them with a lick and a promise, but His thoughts, as revealed in His word, will become precious to us when we prioritize our time and give ourselves time enough to meditate upon the word of God. It should be our desire to live a life in which there is never a waking moment when He is not the ever-present guide of our praise and our petitions.

Can I read that again? It should be our desire to live a life in which there is never a waking moment when He is not the ever-present guide of our praise and our petitions. Application of these verses are the precepts and presence of God precious to you. We've looked at Jehovah's perception of me as pervasive. He knows my thoughts, my lifestyle, my words. Jehovah's providence for me is personal.

It's personal in His presence and His protection. Jehovah's plan for me is precise. My birth, my makeup, my abilities, or lack thereof, my death. And then finally, and very briefly, Jehovah's purpose for me is perseverance in the faith.

Jehovah's purpose for me is perseverance in the faith, verses 19 through 22. O that you would slay the wicked, O God, and depart from me therefore, you bloodthirsty men, for they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate you? Do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with a perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. One definition of the word purpose, and we've said Jehovah's purpose for me is perseverance in the faith, one definition is an intended result. God's purpose, God's intended result for us, is that we persevere from salvation to glorification. And we will persevere because He preserves.

That's His intended purpose. These verses show that perseverance is not passive. You might have sat there wondering, how are you getting perseverance out of such aggressive verses?

Because perseverance is not passive, it includes passionately contending for the faith against those who hate God and His truth. One thing I pray daily and all of us should, Lord, help me to know my convictions, give me the courage to contend for the faith. Help me to know my convictions, the hills upon which I am willing to die.

Help me to know my conviction and give me the courage to contend for the faith. Breaking these verses down, verse 19, bloodthirsty man refers to men who shed blood ruthlessly. Verse 20, they speak against you wickedly.

The ESV words that they speak against you with malicious intent. In other words, these people actively oppose God and His purposes. Verses 21 through 22, David clearly takes a separated stand.

He's going to separate from these people and he views the enemies of God as his enemies. And this brings to mind other passages. Ephesians 6 admonishes believers to take up the whole armor of God.

Why? That they may be able to stand on the evil day. Jude exhorted believers, quote, to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. And finally, Paul admonished Timothy to wage the good warfare, to fight the good fight of faith, to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ, to keep himself from entanglement with the affairs of this life.

I want to give this caution. The point is Jehovah's purpose for me is perseverance in the faith. Part of that is contending for the faith, but here's a caution. Make your contending for the faith about God's glory and not your own.

Make contending for the faith about God's glory and not your own. I remember decades ago when I was in college of a guy getting sent home from school for street preaching. Are you kidding me? They sent him home from school for street preaching. Yes, they did. Why did they do something awful like that? Wasn't he doing a good thing?

No, he wasn't. He was openly violating an ordinance for that particular part of town. They would let you go many places, but he wanted to go there. And when that guy spoke, and I never saw him speak, but word got out, when he spoke he'd even mimic the founder of the university I attended. Why did he get shipped? Because it was about making a name for himself in the eyes of the other kids.

It was very obvious that's what he was doing. My point being, when we contend for the faith, make sure it's about God's glory and not your own. Let me give you three verses.

1 Corinthians 10, 31-33, very quickly. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks of the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved.

What's your point, brother? Paul, who wrote these verses, was the enemy of Christians until God stopped him in his tracks. He was the enemy of Christians until God stopped him in his tracks. So as we contend for the faith, try to keep in the back of your mind this is a lost sinner in need of a savior.

Have courage, have convictions, but be cautious that it's all about God and the eternal good of others and not about you. David bookends the psalm and we close with this. He bookends it with the same words. He began the psalm with, oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. And now notice verses 23 and 24. He ends the psalm with, search me, oh God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my anxieties. See if there's any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. He is speaking of an ongoing desire for God to search our hearts, to disclose any wicked way in us, to lead us in the paths of righteousness, and that's the touchstone of sanctification. We want God the Holy Spirit to lead us to be more like Jesus. It's the pathway to Christ's likeness.

What have we considered tonight? God's perception of me is pervasive. He knows all there is to know about me. God's providence for me is personal right down to the details of my life. God's plan for me is precise. And finally, His purpose for me is perseverance in the faith. The title of the message is Jehovah and Me. In the midst of turmoil that is engulfing our world, those who by grace alone through faith alone and Christ alone are trusting in Him have the confident expectation that for us the best is yet to come.

There will be rough water between here and there, but the best is yet to come. If you're not certain if you're standing before God, then my exhortation to you is flee to Christ now. Declare your agreement with God that you're a sinner whose righteousness is as filthy rags and who needs undeserved forgiveness. Declare unto God that you're entrusting by faith the welfare of your eternal soul to the safekeeping of Christ as your Savior. Rejoice in the promise that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. To Christians, if your fervor for Christ has waned, pray for God to search your heart and to lead you in the way everlasting.

If you're indeed grateful for His grace, continue to grow in your gratitude and let the wonder of the Gospel be evident through your words and your ways. I want to close with a poem that should especially make the unsaved do some soul searching and should also make Christians be more fervent in their witness to the lost. Be more fervent in their witness to the lost. When God pulls the plug on this earth as it is today, there will be no more witnessing. There will be no more repentance.

There will be no more faith in Christ for people who are not believers. In God's eternal plan, there lies the time when time shall cease, when that which is shall always be as judgment is released. No time for what that might have been, no time to seek Christ's face for those who spurn the Gospel call and shun God's means of grace. Boast not that you may come someday to kneel before the cross, that you may yield your rebel will avoiding endless loss.

The breath that you presume will voice repentant faith in Him may never come, and you will die and trespass in sin. This is the day to flee by faith to Christ who has atoned for the scarlet sins of all who trust in His shed blood alone. Tis at the cross, they're justified with rast, dread wages paid, that you, redeemed and reconciled, will find your debt is laid, no more estranged as enemy, but now God's child by choice, saved by His wondrous grace through faith, love drew you to His voice. You may invest with gratitude the time that God may give and know true peace and purpose if you look to Christ and live, let us pray. Father, as we conclude this message, it's my prayer that it has caused believers to rejoice in what we have in you. Help us to have the same awe and adoration that David expressed in this psalm. And for those who may be here tonight or may be watching via live stream, Lord, if they're not certain that they are resting in Christ, that they are trusting in Him, may they flee to Him today. Help us, Lord, to never lose the wonder of it all, and we'll praise You for it in Christ's name. Amen.