Well, Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, says, I've applied these things, and he's talking particularly about himself and Apollos both being servants of Christ and the same gospel, the folly and sinfulness of dividing up into cliques based upon loyalty to a particular favorite teacher or minister. He says, I've applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written. and that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." It's interesting, pretty much the first sin of a number of sins in the church Corinth that he addresses, the sin of division. But the point here, he says, his point is that we should learn, we should not go beyond what is written. He's talking about what's written in Scripture. that that is what provides the boundaries for us. He wanted the Corinthians to be bound properly by what God's Word taught, and we certainly want that as well. Before we turn our attention to our text for this morning, let's confess our faith. And I'm calling an audible, but this one won't affect the pianist. So I decided I was going to use the same paragraph we used last week from chapter on Providence about how God the most holy, wise God often times leaves for a season His own children to periods of various temptations. It is a wonderful paragraph and I want us to be familiar with it because it is so full of comfort and instruction. But I decided as I continue to reflect on our text and topic to use a different one. So please turn to page 869 in the back of your hymnal and we are going to use the first question of our shorter catechism, and then the last question of the doctrinal part of the catechism. But first, question number one. A. W. Tozer once said he thought this was the most magnificent of the uninspired human writings, and I'd be hard put to take issue with that. Question number one in the shorter catechism, brothers and sisters, what is the chief end of man? man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Right now the catechism is divided into two major portions, what we're to believe about God, that's the doctrinal section, and what duty God requires of us. The last question of the doctrinal section is 38, so please turn to page 872. and we'll use question 38. Christians, what benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? of the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity." Perfectly blessed. What is perfect blessedness? the full enjoying of God. That wonderful note on which the catechism begins, our end is not just to glorify God, although that's a glorious and a noble calling, but to enjoy Him. And perfect blessedness is to enjoy Him forever. With that in mind, let me ask you to turn your Bibles to Psalm 142. We're just making our way through the Psalms and we're just about done here. Psalm 142 is the third of five of David's Psalms that are prayers for deliverance of various kinds. It's the only one after Psalm 72 that has a historical superscription. That's something at the beginning that says something about the historical context of the psalm. And you can find some commentators who will take issue with the fact that it says, a mask of David, and a mask was, the reason it's transliterated from Hebrew is we're not exactly sure what the word means, but it's probably a skillful or a didactic or teaching psalm. And there are some who would argue from the language of certain words, well, this couldn't have been by David. I think it was, and many, many other scholars do. So I think we should assume that it means what it says, and this was written by David. I don't think I'll say anything else except to ask you to stand so that we can pray before we read. Our gracious Father in heaven, we thank you that your word is the perfect law of liberty. And to walk within its bounds is to be truly free. We do not want to go beyond what is written because that would not only dishonor you, but it would bring us into bondage. And so we pray now that your gracious spirit who guided, carried David along in his writing of these words would be present to bless our reading, hearing, preaching, believing, and applying of them. all for the praise and honor of Jesus Christ, through whom we pray, amen. Brothers and sisters, hear God's word this morning, beginning in Psalm 142 and verse one. With my voice, I cry out to the Lord. With my voice, I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way. In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see there is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains to me. No one cares for my soul. I cry to you, oh Lord. I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me." Brothers and sisters, this is the word of God. Amen. Please be seated. The eminent astronomer Galileo once said, I never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. How about you this morning? Are you so eager to learn and so humble that you're prepared to learn from anyone? I hope so. because sadly, not everybody is. In fact, it's not the case with many people because what the Bible calls being wise in our own eyes is a very common trait. It's also a profoundly destructive one. Solomon, that wisest of men said, do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? there is more hope for a fool than for him. And when we understand what Solomon and the rest of the Bible have to say about fools, that is scary language indeed. No wonder Isaiah says, woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight. To be wise in our own eyes is a form of pride. It's a form of intellectual pride. And even though we might never say it, most of us would never actually admit it, what it boils down to is this, to be wise in our own eyes is to act and function as though we already know all we need to know. We don't need anyone to teach us or correct us. And that for all practical purposes, we never make mistakes. We don't admit it, at least. All of which means that when we're wise in our own eyes, we cut ourselves off from learning and growing. We condemn ourselves to keep repeating the same mistakes again and again and again. That's why Proverbs says, a rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. You can strike a fool a hundred times and he doesn't learn from it. And of course we said, There's more hope for a fool than for somebody who's wise in his own eyes. Solomon says, crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him. He continues to do it again and again and again. And that's what happens when we're wise in our own eyes, which brings me back to my original question a minute ago. Are you so eager to learn and so humble that you're prepared to learn from anybody? even a caveman. Are you prepared to learn from a caveman this morning? Perhaps in asking that question, I should ask another one. Do you believe in cavemen? I do. I believe in cavemen. I believe that not only there were cavemen, I believe they prayed, at least some of them. If you're wondering how I can be so confident about that, it's because the Bible says so. Now, I'm not talking about those mythological half-human brutes who supposedly evolved over millions of years into humans. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about real men in real caves. Listen to Job chapter 30. He describes people through want and hard hunger. They gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation. They are driven out from human company. They shout after them as after a thief. In the gullies of the torrents, they must dwell in holes or caves of the earth and of the rocks. Judges 6. The hand of Midian overpowered Israel because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. By faith, some were tortured. Others suffered mocking and flogging. They were stones, sawn in two, killed with a sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth." And these were choice believers. My wife's dad was stationed in Naples in the army in the late 1960s, and she says there were people on the hillsides of Naples when she lived there who lived in caves. There are cavemen still, and I don't doubt in the Middle East and some of the parts of the world where things are so awful, some of our own brothers and sisters may be living in caves. David did. David was a caveman. That's what the text says. A masculine of David when he was in the cave. Now we don't know which cave. 1 Samuel 22 and 1 Samuel 24 describe Saul's pursuit of David and refers to several times when he was forced to hide and live in caves. But we know that he did. And as for cavemen praying, notice what the superscription says, of David when he was in the cave, a prayer. This is a prayer David wrote or at least recorded. He may have written it at the time, he may have written it later reflecting back, but it's a prayer that David prayed. So my question again this morning, are you willing to learn from a caveman? and specifically from his prayer. I hope so, I trust you are, because I believe this caveman's prayer can teach us a great deal of valuable lessons. The first is this, in various worldly respects, beloved, God's own dear children may sometimes be very poor indeed. In worldly terms, God's own dear children may sometimes be very poor indeed. Now, as a general rule, cave dwellers are typically poor. Maybe in literature, there's Mr. Tumnus' cave in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was attractive and comfortable until the White Witch's secret police came in and trashed it. But in reality, in most cases, I don't think caves are particularly comfortable. They represent a relative lack of human comfort. David was living in a cave. And not only that, and this seems to be one of the key notes of the psalm, he seems to have been almost completely bereft of all worldly comforts including friendship. He was in the cave, says verse one, I pour out my complaint before Him. I tell my trouble, and the Hebrew word for trouble means to be in a tight place. My spirit faints within me. In the paths where I walk, they've hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see the right hand is the place where normally your bodyguard, your strongest help would be. Look in the right hand and see. There is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains for me. No one cares for my soul. Verse six, I am brought very low. My persecutors are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison. Now that may have been literal, but more likely it's figurative. He feels like he's in prison. He's pinned up, he's bound up, and he can't get out, no escape, as he's hiding from Saul and Saul's bloodhounds hard on his trail. Spurgeon says, it's better to be opposed by foes than forsaken by friends, but that's how David appears to feel here. All worldly comfort, almost certainly physical comfort, and other kinds of comfort are taken away from him. very poor indeed. And in this he's not alone. I've already read from Hebrews 11 about that many of that great cloud of witnesses of great believers who lived in dens and caves of the earth. Think of Moses from Pharaoh's palace to the backside of the desert herding Jethro's sheep. Paul saying, I've learned in whatever circumstances I am To be content, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need." And he describes his life in 2 Corinthians 11, many a sleepless night, hunger and thirst, often without food and so on. But think especially, beloved, of our Lord Jesus Christ. whose parents were too poor to afford a lamb when they went up to the Temple to dedicate Him as was to be done by every Jewish first born son. They couldn't afford a lamb and so they had to take advantage of the provision to offer birds instead. Jesus said of Himself, foxes have holes, birds have nests, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. As far as we know He died with nothing but the clothes on His back. And except for a few women and John he was bereft of friends and other comforts, rejected, reviled, mocked. And it's interesting in passing to note that Jesus Himself was in a certain sense a caveman. There's a tradition, an ancient tradition that the stable where Jesus was born and where He was placed in a manger, and you know that's all that Luke's Gospel says, all the angels said, you'll find Him lying in a manger. and we typically picture it as a standalone building, a shed of some kind, but an ancient tradition says that it was actually a cave, which was frequently used to put animals in, so he may have begun his life in a cave, and he certainly ended it in one. Luke says, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, a cave, where no one had ever yet been laid. Beloved, like David, we may feel the pain of poverty. Now, most of us don't. Some of us have at times. Most of us right now probably are not, but we may. need, loneliness, but we should never be surprised or disconcerted by it. None of us has promised exemption from it. It's been the frequent experience of God's dearest children, even his own beloved son. J.C. Ryle says, it's a great sin to be proud, to be unbelieving, to be ungrateful and lazy and dishonest, but it's no sin to be poor. Sometimes I think we fear poverty more than we do sin. And if it requires us to sin to maintain our standard of living, we're prepared to do that. Now that doesn't mean poverty is inherently more spiritual. That's a mistake that some in church history have made that, well, Jesus was poor and you can make the case of others, so it must be inherently more spiritual. That's not the case. But again, it has been the experience of many of God's beloved children, as it was for David, at least at this point, when he wrote Psalm 142. So the first lesson, David, the caveman, teaches us from his prayers that it's by no means unusual for God's own dear children to experience poverty in terms of this world's good things. But along with that lesson, in the light of it, David teaches us something else as well, and that brings us to our second, in some respects, our most important point this morning. Despite their worldly poverty, God's children are always, always, always immensely rich in the things which matter most. And I think the most crucial passage of that in the psalm is in verse 5. I cry to you, O Lord, I say, you are my refuge, my portion. You, Lord, Jehovah, the most high God, creator and sustainer of heaven and earth, you're my portion in this life. One commentator says the word portion always implies one's highest good or one's prized possession. Today's English version renders it, it's more of a paraphrase, but it makes the point, you are all I want. Remember what the psalmist in Psalm 73 said, I think it was Asaph. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and besides you I desire nothing else on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Now why? And in Psalm 16, David has said, the Lord is my chosen portion, my cup. Why would David say that? Well, the Psalm itself gives us several excellent reasons. First, he's the God who knows everything and who knows. And to know doesn't just suggest abstract knowledge, it means to care about. Parents, good parents, know what their children are doing. And when we say they know it, it means that they're aware of it and they care about it. They're concerned that they be safe and, you know, wise and all the rest. What does David say here? in verse 1, with my voice I cry to the Lord, with my voice I plead for mercy, I pour out my complaint, I tell my trouble, when my spirit faints within me, you know my way. Just a few Sundays ago we looked at Psalm 139. That glorious Psalm about how God knows everything. He knows the words we speak before we even conceive them in our minds. He knew every day of our life before we're even born. And we can't escape His presence or His knowledge. If we go to heaven, if we go down to the grave, we can't escape Him. He knows. Not only that, He cares. He's not only the God who is everywhere and knows everything, He's the God of all grace who will save, strengthen, and bless His people. Verse 4, look to the right and see there is none who takes notice of me. As far as human beings are concerned, it may not have been exactly true, but David certainly felt that way and perhaps you have too. Some of you may feel that way this morning. Here in a room with 100, 100 plus people, nobody really takes notice of me. No refuge remains for me. No one cares for my soul or for my life. You may think they may feel that way. If I died right now, nobody would know or care. They might have to step over me and make arrangements to have the body disposed of, but that's just about all that would be involved. But not God. Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. How much does He care? That much. Attend to my cry for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors. They are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison. Last Sunday, our service was taken from Psalm 107, and one of the groups of people in that psalm were those who were in prison and bondage because of their own folly and rebellion, and God sent his word. He broke the bars of iron and the gates of bronze and brought them out. And David's confident he's going to do that for him, and he did do it. Bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me. for you will deal bountifully with me." He's the God who is everywhere and knows everything. He's the God of all grace who cares about his people, who saves and strengthens and will ultimately bless them. He is the God who is their refuge. I cry to you in verse 5 and say, you are my refuge, my fortress, the place where I can go and be safe and secure. Now that's just what David says in these seven verses. That's why it's wonderful to have God as your portion. Listen to some other, and I could take all day, I'm not gonna do it, it's tempting, I'm gonna try to resist the temptation, but listen to some others. The end of Psalm 16, David says, in your presence is fullness of joy, in your right hand pleasures forevermore. Jeremiah 2.13, my people have committed two sins, they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. And what would that mean to people who live in a desert land? What kind of picture is that? Not just water, but a fountain, an ever flowing abundant fountain. God says, that's me. the fountain of living waters. Remember what Jesus said, he who believes in me, I will give him to drink and he will never thirst. A water that satisfies the soul. Psalm 36, how precious is your steadfast love, oh Lord. The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house and you give them to drink from the river of your delights. for with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we see light. Psalm 63, because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you, my soul be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips when I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night. 65, how blessed is the one whom you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. Is your soul satisfied this morning? It can be, not with anything in this world, but with God. Now it may not be, but it's not because it can't. We sang just a few minutes ago from Psalm 84, a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Where would you rather be right now? Is there somewhere else you'd really rather be if you're honest? contrast that with Psalm 1714 that speaks of men of the world whose portion is in this life. Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 6 who did what they did, their religious acts to impress people, they're praying, they're fasting, they're giving. You have your reward. I hope you enjoyed that. The people saying, wow, what a prayer. all you're going to get. Men of the world whose portion is in this life. Jesus said, this is eternal life that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. Eternal life is knowing God through Jesus Christ. And Paul said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. A. W. Tozer said, when the Lord divided Canaan among the tribes of Israel, Levi received no share of the land. God said to him simply, I am thy portion and thine inheritance, and by those words made him richer than all his brethren, richer than all the kings and rajahs who have ever lived. And C.H. Spurgeon says, there is no living in the land of the living like living upon the living God. Brothers and sisters, these are great spiritual facts and realities, even though we may not see them with our physical eyes or necessarily feel them with our emotions, but with the eyes of the soul and the hands of faith, these can be ours. told many parables in the Gospel of Luke we don't have anywhere else. One was about the rich fool, the man whose business was so successful he said, and you've seen I've been struck around Laurel these days a number of restaurants are being knocked down and rebuilt. I just heard that the Chick-fil-A on 198 is going to be knocked down and rebuilt. And I think that's a good thing. I think it must mean that they are doing well. And that they need more room to accommodate their customers. And this man in Luke chapter 12 his barns were so full he said, I'm going to have to tear them down and build bigger barns. He said to his soul, take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. And God said to him that very night, you fool tonight your soul is required of you. And Jesus said, so is everyone who is not rich toward God. On the other hand in chapter 16 he tells a parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And of course Lazarus in his earthly life was very poor. He was apparently an invalid who laid at the gate of a rich man's house hoping that he would send out scraps after he had eaten so that Lazarus could feed upon them. The dogs licked his wounds, but when it came time to die the angels carried him to the bosom of Abraham, which is a Jewish expression for heaven, while the rich man went to hell. Are you rich toward God this morning? Again, it's only possible through Jesus Christ. You don't have to be a minister. Sadly, too many ministers are not rich toward God. You don't have to be an adult. A child can be rich toward God. You children, I pray that you are. Only through Jesus Christ, I'm the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me. But through him you can be. And to you who are already believers, you are rich in God already. Paul says, you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Are you living up to your privileges? How well are you living up to your privileges this morning as a child of God? How much are you daily experiencing and enjoying of God as your portion? Jonathan Edwards says this is one key way to test our true spiritual state. He's got a sermon, God the Best Portion. And one of his applications, one way you can test the state of your soul is by this. Do you want to go to heaven? Now there, I don't know anybody who wants to go to hell. I think that's, that's taken for granted. Nobody wants to go to hell. But if we're honest, a lot of people really aren't that keen to go to heaven. If they could live well here eternally, they'd be happy to do it. But if you do wanna go to heaven, why? Is it simply to be rid of your aches and pains? Or does God come into the picture at all? The prospect of knowing God even more fully than you do now, enjoying even greater richness of fellowship with him, is that part of the picture at all? I hope so. And that requires a new heart. No normal sinner thinks and feels that way. None of us naturally has a capacity to delight in God. It requires being born again, a new heart. It requires the exercise of faith in God's grace in our lives. And interestingly, Edwards says, the saints are not always in a lively exercise of grace. In his own 18th century way, I'd say we're up and down spiritually. Sometimes we can say amen. I really feel that. Other times we're cold and lukewarm. His point is, are there times at least when you could say amen to that? We wish it could be always, and one day it will, but not right now. He says, the godly have been made sensible as to all creature enjoyments, that they, creature enjoyments, created things, cannot satisfy the soul, and therefore nothing will content them except God. Habakkuk was an Old Testament prophet like Zephaniah. I think I mentioned Zephaniah last week he is a lesser known prophet. He prophesied about the same time about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and he had a vision of how Babylon would come down and devastate the city and the country. And he says at one point, though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine, though the yield of the olive should fail and there be no food in the field. Can somebody help me here? Flocks should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls. And in an economic, in an agricultural economy, brothers and sisters, that's a pretty bleak picture. No food. He says, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. And that's the potential that we have when we have God as our portion. That's a key to joy, peace, and contentment. Paul wrote from the Philippian jail, rejoice in the Lord always. And he talked about his own joy, not in his circumstances, but in the Lord. It's a basis and a challenge to our faith. It challenges us to really exercise faith, to believe it's true, and to know and enjoy God by faith. It's a call to holiness. Psalm 119.57, the Lord is my portion, I promise to keep your words. When the Lord's our portion, that puts certain obligations and motivation to holiness. encourage you if you've never done besides the Bible to read at least one of these books, The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer, that's the shortest of the three. Knowing God by J. I. Packer, and then, or Desiring God by John Piper. Three excellent modern books on this subject that will whet your appetite and encourage you. So another thing that David the caveman teaches us is that however poor and lacking God's children may sometimes be in worldly things, in terms of the true riches, having God as their portion, we are always immensely wealthy in the things that matter most. And then finally and briefly, given our extravagant share in the true riches, these true riches, God's children should always be ready to exercise their faith and express their thanks. We should always be ready to exercise our faith. And that's what the whole psalm is. It's a prayer. David here exercising his faith by calling out to the Lord in his need, trusting Him to provide for him. And notice the note on which it ends in verse seven, the righteous will surround me for you will deal bountifully with me. David's at a point where he feels abandoned. but he anticipates, he's confident that God is going to bring him to the place where he'll be delivered and the righteous will throng him. Some people, some scholars argue that the Hebrew could be translated instead of you will deal bountifully, you will crown me. and that he's anticipating the day, and that's just what happened. God delivered him from Saul. He eventually exalted him as king over all Israel, and he was the reigning king, the hegemon over the surrounding nations. So something could be translated, you will crown me and the righteous will come to celebrate with me. They'll see how you've exalted me and they'll come no longer alone, but having a great crowd to rejoice with me. So it ends on a note of faith. Warren Wiersbe says, David, speaking of prayer, David did what God's people always do in times of crisis. He looked to the Lord for help. He knew very little about Saul and his plans, but he did know about Jehovah and his promises. And because of his faith in these assurances, he triumphed over his feelings and over his foes. And then we should always be ready to give thanks. David is anticipating that. Lord, bring me out of prison, this tight place where I am now, that I may give thanks to your name. And that should be our first, not our last, response to all of God's mercies and blessings. Beloved, it pleases and glorifies him. So, to conclude quickly, do you ever cry aloud to the Lord? I have to admit, I always want to sit under my own preaching. I want to try to apply what I preach to you. And the last couple of weeks, last week and this week, there have been a number of things that have been convicting and helpful to me. And this was one, the emphasis here at the beginning, with my voice I cry out to the Lord, with my voice I plead for mercy. I pray a lot silently, but David here, maybe because he's in a cave by himself, but maybe because he's just so burdened, is praying aloud like Bartimaeus, the blind man, when he heard what's going on here, there's a lot of commotion, oh, Jesus is passing by. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Oh, shut up, he doesn't want to be bothered. Jesus, son of mercy, he kept crying out. And I've been praying aloud in the last week more than I typically do. And so, again, I think that's, again, not a magic formula, but at least to me, it was convicting of earnestness in prayer, really calling upon the Lord in a deeper way. And let me just say by way of concluding, beloved, if you are a Christian, As I said before, the Lord has already dealt bountifully with you. You've been blessed with every spiritual blessing. in Christ, having Him as your portion here and now in the land of the living is or should be a great reason for giving thanks. If you have nothing else you feel like you can thank God for, go back to that, Oh Lord, I thank you that you are my portion. And no one can take you away. There's nowhere you can go in the universe that that portion can be taken away. And I read in 2 Peter 3 today about when Jesus comes back and this universe is going to be consumed in fire, but this is a portion that nothing can consume. No matter what happens on the political front, no matter what happens in the stock exchange, when God is your portion, nothing can take Him away. That's reason for thanksgiving here in the land of the living. But brothers and sisters, you haven't seen anything yet. It's what we said at the beginning, perfectly blessed. and the full enjoying of God to all eternity. So trust Him and thank Him. So three lessons David the caveman would teach us in his prayer. In various worldly respects God's own dear children may sometimes be very poor indeed. Despite their worldly poverty, God's children are always immensely rich in the things which matter most because they have God for their portion. And given their extravagant share in the true riches, God's children should always be ready to exercise their faith and express their thanks. Brothers and sisters, A day is fast approaching when many people, including many who live in mansions and palaces, are going to long to become cavemen. Revelation chapter 6, the sky vanished like a scroll that's being rolled up. Every mountain and island was removed from its place. and the kings of the earth, and the great ones, and the generals, and the rich, and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves. Let me say it again. The great ones, the generals, the rich, and the powerful, everyone, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who's seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? Don't you be one of those who is looking for a cave when Jesus comes back. Learn the lessons of the caveman's prayer. True wealth is not to be found in the things of this world, but in God, the overflowing fountain of all good, as the Belgic Confession puts it. No one else can or will care for your soul as He does and has. He gave His Son to redeem you, and through Jesus Christ, the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God, Father, Son, and Spirit becomes your portion in the land of the living and for all eternity. So whatever your bank balance this morning, whether you live in a palace or in a shack, give your heart and life and sins to Jesus Christ, walk with him and through him enjoy the true riches of God's grace and fellowship. David never regretted it, nor Habakkuk, nor Paul, and neither will you. Amen.