Well, good evening. Welcome to the Fellowship of the Lord's People. Again, it's lovely to have David with us this evening, and also Anne. Welcome. As I said this morning, David doesn't really need a welcome, but it's good to give him a welcome, and he certainly deserves one. So, God bless you as you're amongst us, brother. Turn with me as we begin, please, to Revelation 5. I want to read a few verses from Revelation chapter 5 and verse 6. Revelation 5, 6. Revelation 5, 6. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and nation and people, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. Then the four living creatures said, Amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshipped him who lives forever. and ever. Let's pray. Our great and our awesome and almighty God, we come before you this evening and we would indeed join with that chorus of glory and worship you who lives forever and ever. We praise you who are the eternal one. You are the one who is not dependent upon any other for your existence, for there is none before you and there is none beside you, nor will there be one after you. For you are the everlasting God, without beginning, without end. You are life in and of yourself. And how we praise you and worship you, that you are the one who has given existence to all, you are the creator, the one who has made all, who has given to us life and breath. And how we worship and praise you as the living God, and rejoice that we who by nature are sinners, We who by birth are born in the dust and the dirt and the stench of sin have been redeemed by your grace and are able now this evening in our Lord Jesus Christ and through the work of the Spirit to come and to worship you, the eternal and everlasting God. So, Lord, may our worship be found acceptable in your sight. For your name's sake we ask it. Amen. First hymn is 595. Now this is a hymn we invariably get lost in in the second, third and fourth verses. That's because the number of syllables is not reliable. So, it's a bit difficult to describe, but in the first verse you've got no problems. In the second verse, in probably the first, second and third lines where there are two notes, you must only sing one syllable. But then in the third verse, That's only true in the second and the third line. In the fourth verse, it's only true in the third line. So just be aware. Yes, I know. Just be aware that this is a difficult one to sing, and just watch out in the second, third, and fourth verses. And if you go wrong, just pick it up with gusto, and praise God anyway. 595, be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, naught else, naught be all else to me, save that thou art, thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. 595. ♪ Without my mind or my soul ♪ May I reach their hearts through the night with their song. We are turning in our Bibles back to the Old Testament, to Psalm 10 and Psalm 11. Psalm 10 and Psalm 11. Let's hear God's word, shall we? Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire. He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved, I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor. He catches the poor when he draws him into his net. So he crouches. He lies low that the helpless may fall by his strength. He has said in his heart, God has forgotten, he hides his face, he will never see. Rise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand, do not forget the humble. Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, you will not require an account. But you have seen, for you observe trouble and grief, to repay it by your hand. The helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil men. Seek out his wickedness until you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations have perished out of his land. Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble. you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more. And then Psalm 11, which carries the inspired title to the chief musician, a Psalm of David. In the Lord I put my trust, How can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? For look, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates. Upon the wicked he will rain coals. Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness. His countenance beholds the upright. Amen. It's God's word, holy, infallible, inspired, and inerrant. He will add his blessing to its reading and to its preaching. Let's come before the Lord in prayer, shall we? Oh, our sovereign God, how we thank you that you are in your temple, that you are seated upon your throne in glory. We thank you that your throne is such that it cannot be touched by the powers of this world. It cannot be touched by any power in this universe. Indeed, it cannot be touched by any power anywhere. Not even the forces of hell itself can assail you upon your throne. Such is your sovereign right, that you alone are the God who rules, and there is none beside you. You are utterly alone and unique in your person and your power and your sovereign rule. And Lord, we rejoice in that, for we trust in you, who are the Father of the fatherless. And we rejoice in you who are our shield. And we rejoice in you who are our exceeding high reward. And so, Lord, we thank you that our faith is in our Saviour and our lives are hidden in Him, in you. And so we rejoice and we are glad. And we are glad, Lord, that we can come to you in all our weakness and in all our frailty and seek your face in prayer and know that we have an audience. For you command us to come into the holiest of all with boldness, even to approach you upon your very throne. We thank you for the presence of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit himself, who enables us to do so. even taking our prayers and offering them before you. We thank you for his ministry and we pray that as we continue in a few moments to look at your word, that you by the Holy Spirit would take your word and you would break it to every one of our hearts. Lord, may none of us go away without having fed well upon your word this evening. Lord, to that end we pray for ourselves, Give us humble hearts and minds. Lord, let none of us think ourselves too great, too learned, too wise to need to sit under your word. Lord, may your word come to our hearts, applied by the Spirit, with a richness that only you can give it. And Lord, we pray for your servant, our brother David. We pray our hand will be upon him as he opens your word. We pray, Lord, that you will work through him. May he know that sustaining and enabling and helping of the Spirit as he opens your word, that, Lord, these words will not be so familiar to him, that they will not come without a freshness to his own soul, much less, Lord, to ours, but rather that your word would come to every one of us with your power and your Spirit at work in our midst. And Lord, for those of our brethren who cannot be with us, Lord, for various reasons, we pray your hand upon them. Lord, we would ask especially this evening for Phil and Park Cartwright as they are struggling, Lord, with illness. We pray for others, Lord, struggling with illness and age too, like our sister Christine Reynolds and her husband Trevor, Lord, and we pray that your hand of grace would be upon them. For our brother Trevor Ellis, Lord, as he is continuing to be unwell, may he too know your presence, the comfort and the strengthening of your presence. Lord, may they all know your hand upon them in their different situation and their different need. May they know that you are their all-sufficient God and Saviour. and that you will supply all their needs according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus, that you might be glorified. Lord, for our brother Gerald in Hospra, we pray he may continue to recover well. We thank you for the operation. We thank you, Lord, that the operation has gone well, and for those who now care for him. We pray, Lord, that you will have your hand upon him. Restore him, we pray, O Lord, and may he again come under the sound of your word, we pray. And Lord, for our brother Darren and for Lindsay, as Darren is laid aside, Lord, we pray for them both that you will strengthen them. Lord, enable Darren so that he may so conduct himself that the swelling will go down in his ankle, that he may be able to have this operation. And Lord, we pray you will restore his physical fitness and that he may again be amongst us as one of the company of people worshipping and praising you. Lord, we pray for those elsewhere where your Word is being preached. We thank you for our brothers and sisters down in Dudley. We thank you for Conrad as he preaches your Word there. We pray that you will bless the preaching of your Word, that you will bless his ministry, that you will bless that fellowship, that others will be drawn and saved and added to that number. Lord, we pray too for our dear brother Stephen over in Solihull and the fellowship there. We thank you for them. We thank you for their faithfulness. Lord, as they continue, even without a building, we pray that you will meet their every need and that, Lord, in your good time, you will open the door to a more permanent home for them as a fellowship. Lord, keep them until that time and bless them and bless the ministry of your word. Lord, that you will be with our brethren in India, in the Punjab, and with Roop and all who labor with him there. We pray that you will bless the ministry of your word this day and every day as it goes out. Keep them safe, Lord, we pray. As we pray, you will keep our brethren in northern Nigeria safe from these Fulani tribesmen, these Muslims who would come in and destroy so many. Lord, keep your people safe. Have your hand upon them. Strengthen them, Lord, in yourself. May they have such a vision of you. that they will fear no man and that Lord they will stand strong in the gospel and may these men who are coming in the wickedness and sinfulness of the human heart be humbled before the gospel and be saved. Lord, hear us then and answer, for we are a needy people. We are a poor people and a weak people. And Lord, we need your presence. We need your spirit. We need you to teach us and to build us up that you might be glorified. So hear and answer prayer. For your glory's sake we ask it. Amen. Well, please take your hymn books, and as our brother comes up to preach, let's stand to sing 779. 779. Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone, as thou hast sought, so let me seek thy erring children, lost and lone. 779. ♪ And I'll always love you ♪ Yeah. And if you'd like to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 11, Psalm 11, that is our meditation for this evening. Just seven verses, sorry, one shorter than this morning, but seven verses, but they contain a very big lesson, a great message today for every Christian. I'll have a text, it's found at the door of the psalm, Simple words, in the Lord, I put my trust. In the Lord, I put my trust. It can be translated, in the Lord, I make my refuge. But we'll stick to, in the Lord, I put my trust. Now Mr. Spurgeon, In his great book, The Treasury of David, he calls this the Song of the Steadfast. In other words, those who are devoted to the Lord, those who are committed to his cause, those who are unwavering in following the Lord, who are loyal to the Lord. I don't want to outdo Mr. Spurgeon, but this is what I've called it. Courageous Christianity. Courageous Christianity. And you'll understand when I've finished why I've called it Courageous Christianity. One of the wonderful things about the book of Psalms is this. You are looking into a man's soul. Great John Calvin called it and put it like this, an anatomy of all the parts of the soul. So when you read a psalm, you're looking into a soul, the soul of a man. You see his very experience, not just of life, but of the Lord. You'll see every emotion, his highs, and his lows, his joys and his sorrows. You'll see his faith, but you'll also see his fears. And sometimes you'll even see his doubts, but you'll also see his trust. And that's why I've chosen this text, in the Lord I put my trust. Now as Andrew read those two Psalms, you would have noticed from Psalm 10, it's about the wicked. In fact, if you wanted to be a little bit technical, it's the doctrine of man. Man's total depravity. What man is really like in his heart without God. And you'll see from that Psalm how man in his depravity despises God. But not only despises God, but he despises the godly. And you see man in all his awfulness. So we can say that Psalm 10's about the atheist, the unbeliever, the one without God and against God. But in Psalm 11, it's about David. and his friends. Please notice it doesn't say, in my friends I put my trust. It says, in the Lord I put my trust. And you'll understand in a few moments why I say that. Let me explain the outline of the psalm. The first three verses, not counting our text, is about what his friends are saying to him. Okay, so the last part of verse 1, 2 and 3, David is repeating what his friends are saying to him. And then verses 4 to 7 are David's reply to his friends. So the psalm falls into two parts. What David is saying about what his friends are saying and then David's reply to his friends. So let's notice three things from the first three verses. I'll say three things. Number one. Advice that is not good. Advice that is not good. And David realized that it was not good advice. Now please see how he's repeating what his friends are saying. He says, how can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? Now that's what his friends were saying, but David said, how can you say that to me? His friends are saying, David, You're in a bit of a difficult situation. You've got people against you. What you need to do, David, is get out of that situation and, as it were, fly as a bird to somewhere where it's more comfortable, to the mountains, and have a more of an easy way of life. So you're a bit more comfortable. You're not in danger. But David realized that that advice was not good. David hadn't been called to run from the battle. He was called to be a courageous man of God. And that's why David is such one of the wonderful characters of the Bible. He was a courageous man of God. Isn't it strange? The people who were saying this to David wasn't the atheists, the ungodly of Psalm 10. It was his friends, those close to him, that were saying these words. In 1857, there was a man by the name, and those of you who have been around for a little while, you will know this name, John G. Payton. He sensed the call of God upon his life to go to the New Hebrides Islands out there in the South Sea to reach the cannibals of that area. Some missionaries had gone already, but they hadn't lasted long. They were clubbed to death and eaten by the cannibals. They were courageous Christians, weren't they, to go. Other missionaries had gone to some of the other islands and had known more success. And there had been conversions. But at the age of 33, Peyton wanted to go because he felt God was calling him for that work. Immediately he said to his church, which he was pastoring, I'm going to go as a missionary to the New Hebrides. Immediately there was opposition. You can't go there. You'll be eaten by the cannibals. And they said, look, this is what we'll do. We'll buy you a nice new house to stay here. You state your salary and we'll pay it, but you've got to stay here. But Peyton said, no, God is calling me to this work. There was one man by the name of Mr. Dixon who said this. The cannibals, Peyton, they'll eat you alive. But Mr. John G. Peyton had a good answer for Mr. Dixon. He said this, Mr. Dixon, you are advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms. And in the great day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. That was a good answer, wasn't it? He lived to the age of 83 out there in the New Hebrides. His wife did die early on and his son. But he laboured on. And at the age of 83 he said this, Oh, that I had my life to begin again. I would consecrate it anew to the Lord Jesus in seeking the conversion of the remaining cannibals on the New Hebridee Islands. That is courageous Christianity. He was spoken against by his friends. They said, no, don't go. but he was a courageous man of God. William Carey was burdened to reach India with the gospel. He gave a paper on how the heathen should hear the gospel, only to be met by a minister, not an atheist, but one of his friends. Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine. But William Carey went to India and today India has the gospel because of a courageous man who stood for his Lord and did that which he believed was right. When I preach in the open air, I expect opposition. People to be against me. But what is the warning of this psalm? The warning of this psalm is to be on your guard. Because within the church, in the visible church, there may come opposition for the Christian, who wants to obey their Lord and be zealous in the cause of the gospel. And this is what David's friends are saying. Oh, flee as a bird to the mountains. Have an easier life. Don't live a life where you'll be attacked and are in danger. Just flee like a bird to the mountains. In 1859, Darwin produced his book all evolved and churches just began to fall down and say Mr. Darwin must be right but one man stood not far from here actually John Angel James in Birmingham and said to the Christians do not forsake the teaching of Holy Scripture that is being a courageous Christianity, a Christian. We need today courageous Christianity, Christians who will stand when even in their own churches there is opposition to them. Now some of you are young, but those of us who are older and have been around for a little while know that so often that can be true. that you find opposition from those who claim to name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So make sure your friends are those who are godly, those who love the Scriptures, those who are zealous for the Lord, in order that you might stand and be a courageous Christian. The second thing I want you to notice is in verse 2. David, you're going to be attacked. For look, the wicked bend their bow. They may ready their arrows on the string that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. Now what a picture this is. There's those who have got some arrows and they want to shoot at the upright in heart. Now of course this happened to David. David in 1 Samuel, you can read all about it. Saul on three separate occasions got a spear and he threw it at David. Now of course in the providence of God he missed. There was an occasion when Saul sent his men to David's home and said get David and kill him. Those of you who know the rest of the book of 1 Samuel Saul was hunting down David to kill him. He was being attacked. But why? David was upright. King Saul wasn't. He was full of envy and jealousy. He was what we refer to in the New Testament a man given over. to the lusts of the flesh. And here is a man who was dominated. His whole life was given over to jealousy and envy and he wanted to bring David down. And his friends, the friends of David said, David, you're going to be attacked. Run to the mountains like a bird. Escape for your life. But David was a courageous man of God. He didn't want a more comfortable lifestyle. He said, in the Lord I will put my trust. And the great fact is this, unfortunately, and it's true, those who want to live a godly Upright life will be attacked. Not with a bone arrow, but sometimes from words that come from lips just like a bone arrow. People who may be in the visible church, but are given over, just like King Saul, to the lusts of the flesh. And they're out for your downfall. No wonder his friends began to say, David, you must flee like a bird to the mountains. But David said, no, I will stand for my Lord where he has placed me. Isaac watched. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed? through stormy seas. How we need to be those who stand despite the attacks of others. And the third thing I want you to notice, verse three. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Now what his friends were saying, he said, look, Not only are those against you and going to attack you, but there's apostasy in the land. The very foundation of the nation is falling away. And that's what was happening during the reign of King Saul. And King Saul, because envy and jealousy had got such a hold of him, he thought the priests were helping David. And King Saul did a terrible thing. He murdered 85 priests. That was a terrible, terrible sin, and I'll tell you why. It was the priest's job to make sure the foundation of the nation was secure. You see, when the foundations are moved, you just crumble. The foundations, it was their responsibility, the priest's responsibility to make sure the foundations of the nations were secure. Now the foundations of Israel were these. Number one, the word of God. Number two, the atonement that would make them right with God. But King Saul murdered the priests. And as a result, he cut himself off from God. Remember that pathetic sight right at the end of 1 Samuel? Because God had forsaken Saul, he consulted with a witch. What a sad sight that is. All because he destroyed the foundations of the nation, the authority of the Word of God, and the atonement. Now you know what happens when you cut a flower from your garden? There it is growing beautifully in your garden and you cut it. You can keep it in water for a little while but after a little while it begins to fade and then to die. Do you know what the history of the church is? Strictly you move the foundations of the authority of the Word of God and the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ, those churches will first of all fade and they will die because they have cut themselves off from Almighty God. Now perhaps some of you you see hear that word Doctrine and you say well, I can't get my head around some of those things Well you press on Doctrine, the structure, is of great importance. It's that which brings life to the soul because you are thrilled with the great truths of scripture. And do not let anyone take the foundations of your Christian life away from you. Understand why the Bible is the word of God. Understand why the atonement is so vital to your salvation. And we could go on. So his friends are saying, well it's bad advice. Flee to the mountains like a bird, get out of the situation. But David would be a courageous man of God and remain faithful to his Lord and stand despite, not just his enemies, even his friends, what they were saying. And we have this wonderful man of God in scripture. Now those are the first three verses, that's what his friends were saying. Now we come to verses four to seven and this is David's reply to what his friends were saying. In the Lord I put my trust. Now David's friends saw the problems. So that's why they said, flee like a bird to the mountains, get out of the situation, have an easier lifestyle. David didn't see the problems. Shall I tell you what he saw? He saw the Lord. He saw the Lord on the throne. Look at verse 4. What a verse this is. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. Now this is wonderful. The Lord is on the throne. Now we can't see the Lord But that verse is saying, he can see us. Isn't that lovely? He can see us. He can see our heart. He can see everything about us. We can't see him, but he can see us. And the Lord is on the throne. When that javelin was thrown at David, it couldn't kill David, you know, because the Lord was on the throne. When Saul was hunting down David, David wouldn't be caught because the Lord is on the throne. And throughout David's life you see this wonderful experience. His is a life that is preserved. Everything seemed against him. But his life was preserved because God said, David you'll be king. And through David's family line would come the Lord Jesus Christ to be the saviour of sinners. The Lord is on the throne. And that's what made David a courageous Christian. Isaac Watts wrote these words, and they're worth meditating on. Through all his mighty works, amazing wisdom shines, confounds the powers of hell and breaks their dark designs. Strong is his arm and shall fulfill, now listen, his great decrees and sovereign will. Isn't that wonderful? God, before the world was, made certain decrees that things that must happen and nothing can break them. because he's on the throne. He is sovereign, the sovereign king. And did you notice in Psalm 10, verse 16, the Lord is king forever and ever. Saul wouldn't be king forever and ever. But our God is. He's always on the throne. And you, who are you? Some of you, you may be struggling. You see all the problems with life. You listen to the news. And perhaps you have family situations, and perhaps you have situations in your neighborhood, and you say, whatever's gonna happen? What can I do? Well, don't see the problem. See the Lord on the throne. He will work all things for His glory and for your good. But notice verse five. The Lord tests the righteous. And that word test means to investigate, to see what's in your heart. In other words, the Lord wants you to move on in the Christian life. So he comes and he says, I want to see what's in that person's heart. So he sends a little trial. And from that trial, he sees how you respond and how You trust him in such situations. It happened to Abraham. It happened to Moses. It happened to Elijah. It happened to Daniel. The Lord sends a little trial, sometimes a big trial, to see what is in your heart. Years ago, I used to do a lot of children's talks. So I was always out for new ideas. And one day I was working at the local brickyards. And I saw the green bricks, which were just clay. And then of course I saw the red bricks. And I was very cheeky. I said, I don't suppose I could have a green brick and a red brick, could I? Well, I told them what I wanted it for. They were most interested, by the way. And I got a green brick and I got a red brick. And of course, in my children's talk, the green brick, it just crumbled. hadn't been through the kiln, through the fire. The red brick, oh you can break that one very easily, it'd been through the fire. And do you know something? My friend used to say this actually, he used to say, Christians are no good until they've been through the fire. I think he was right, don't you? It's the trials of life and the trials which perhaps the Lord sends that makes us stronger and more courageous Christians. And that's a lovely thing to know. There's a lovely hymn. It goes like this. Hymns make, sorry, trials make the promise sweet. Trials give new life to prayer. Trials bring me to his feet, lays me low and keeps me there. And those of you who have been through trials, you know that that is your experience. It brings you to the mercy seat. It brings you to the Lord. It draws you nearer to the Lord because that's the great design of the Lord. So David says, in the Lord I put my trust. Even when the trials come and the difficulties come, and he tries my heart, I know it's for my good, in order to strengthen me and to make me strong in the Lord. But there's something else David noticed in this psalm. Not only is the Lord on the throne, not only does the Lord send trials to make me a strong, courageous Christian, but he notices the end of the wicked. Now the second part of verse five and six. But the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates. Upon the wicked he will rain coals, fire and brimstone, and a burning wind. This shall be the portion of their cup. Now his friends had said, David, flee to the mountains like a bird, get out of the situation, have an easier lifestyle. What were his friends saying? Now think about this. What were his friends saying? Were they suggesting that the wicked were going to win? Well that's poor Christianity isn't it? The Christian is always on the victory side. We're on the side of the Lord who will triumph gloriously. And yet his friends were suggesting that the wicked would win. What a description here of the end of the wicked. They will be burnt up. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. Our world one day will come to an end. The Bible says it will burn, be burnt up. One day the wicked will be in an eternal hell forever and ever and ever. There's no annihilation. And that is the solemn end of the wicked What a terrible thing it must be to be an unbeliever. The unbeliever is a loser. And oh, that they would repent and turn to the Saviour before that terrible end comes. I've got one last thing to say from this psalm. Verse 7. The Lord, for the Lord love, for the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness, his countenance beholds the upright. Now this is a tremendous verse. Notice it says, the Lord, he loves righteousness. Now if you're a Christian, this is how the Lord looks upon you. You as a believer are clothed in the righteousness of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the Lord looks at you through his eternal eyes, he sees his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why, my dear friend, you who once were far from God, You who are once under his condemnation are now in his favour. His smile is upon you. And he loves you with an everlasting love which will go on and on and on. And you are his dear child. And he loves you because you're righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'll know something of his fatherly care, day after day after day. That's why David could say, the Lord is my keeper, the Lord is my shepherd, the Lord is my light, the Lord is my salvation. And that's why he says at the beginning of the psalm, in the Lord I put my trust. A few years back, I was asked to say a few words at one of my friend's funeral. And I remembered one of his favorite hymns, which had a chorus. And in these days, it's worth reminding ourselves and living in the light of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are difficulties. There are trials. There will be opposition, not only from without, but from within. There will be those who will have envy and jealousy against you, who will shoot their arrows from their tongue against you. There will be. But follow the Lord and be a courageous Christian. This is what his song was, which I repeated. It will be worth it all. when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of his dear face all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race till we see Christ. Lovely words. Our text. In the Lord, not in his friends, not in a church, not in yourself, in the Lord I put my trust. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, we bow before thee. And Lord, many of us look back over our Christian lives and we say thank you that we've been able to trust you in every area of our lives. We thank you that you're on the throne. Your sovereign will is so good and so great and no one can overthrow it. And Lord, we just come again and cast ourselves upon thee. We pray that we might know your fatherly care and protection and your love and your gracious dealings with us even in trials. that we indeed might be good, courageous Christians, we pray, particularly in this day in which you have called us to follow thee. Bless us each one, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The hymn is 731, 731. How blessed is life if lived for thee, My loving Saviour and my Lord. 731. So many years ♪ To rule the world, one, two, three, with you in my heart ♪ ♪ I believe I can ♪ that only you can sanctify the weary days. Sons, don't you ever let me die. ♪ Up in the sky