The 14th Psalm and the 53rd Psalm is almost identical. And the first two verses, well, the first verse is identical. If you want to turn there in the 14th chapter, you might even follow along and read the 53rd as I'm reading the 14th, and you'll see that it's slightly different. But it's conveying the same thought. It says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looketh down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. The 53rd verse says, God looked down from heaven on the children of men to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them has gone back. They are all together become filthy. There is none that does good. No, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and call not upon the Lord? There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor because the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel will come out of Zion, when the Lord bring us back to captivity of his people. Jacob shall rejoice in Israel, shall be glad. The fifth verse of the 53rd verse, our chapter says, there were they in great fear, where no fear was. For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee, Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. This first verse is a verse that's quoted a lot, isn't it? The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. So not only is a fool a fool, he's a liar. But sometimes, you know, I think that there's more hope for a fool than there is a liar. But you can't be a fool without being a liar, because the fool has said there is no God. Now, hopefully, he don't believe it. But if he's a fool, won't he believe his own lies? Not only is a liar a liar, but a fool is a liar that believes is foolish enough to believe his own lies. That's a troubling place to be, isn't it? But praise the Lord for the 107th Psalm. It says in the 17th verse, fools All right, we just read about the fool has said in his heart there is no God, but listen to this. Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He set his word, he sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Delivered who? The fool. Let's put that in a proper, says the fools, right? Let's talk about fools. So instead of they, we'll say fool. Then fools cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed the fool and delivered the fool from their destruction. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. I'd encourage you to read this whole chapter because that's the running theme over and over. It's in here I don't know how many times. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Why? Because he saves the fool. Then he goes on to say, and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his work with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end. Then they cry unto the Lord and their trouble. and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. So we found, we've read here, for y'all that it is the fool that says in his heart, there is no God. We know not only as the fools say it, but I guess you could argue that on the spectrum of fools, that there is a spectrum when it comes to fools, that there are those that would say that there is no God in their heart. And then if you was to go a little further on the spectrum, Now, there are those that would voice it with their lips. There are those that would not dare, though they be a fool and say there is no God, they would not dare say it out loud. And then there are those that are a greater fool still that would declare it, get on TikTok or get on Facebook and declare it to the world. that there is no God, and yet the Bible has said here that the fool, because of their transgression and because of their iniquity, are afflicted. Sometimes the best cure for a fool is the affliction of God. I'm afraid sometimes that there are those that are praying that the Lord would bring protection on the fool. But the only way the fool's gonna see there is a God is that the hand of God be upon them. And it's a wonderful thing to know. If you've been around any of them, You might, if you're there very long, if they're all the way over on the spectrum beyond what you might say, the Lord could help. Maybe the problem is that we need to pray that they'd be afflicted, that their soul be abhorred by all manner of need. You know the Bible talks about fool in his belly, and that he serves his belly. But there are those, once the Lord's affliction comes upon them, there's no manner of food that they can eat that'll bring them satisfaction. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He said his word. What's the cure for the fool? The word of God. And what will it do for them? It says here it'll heal them and deliver them from their destruction. When and where are they at? At the gates of death. The Bible says here. Will you join me then and say? Oh, let me praise the Lord for his goodness. And it bore his wonderful works to the children of men. Then he goes on to talk a little further. It's a fool's errand, is it not, to go out on that ocean. We've got big ol' ships today, them big ol' container ships. I've watched a little short on YouTube where it's showing them big ol' container ships out in the Pacific somewhere. where they've got four and five. Those semi-containers stack on their deck and it shows that the waves are so great. That big old massive ship disappears. What's it talking about? I'm talking about what it says here. They mount up to the heavens and they go down again to the depths. Their soul melted because of trouble. I couldn't be out there. One of them big old container ships. When the sea's so rough that it disappears. Back when this year was rolled, they didn't have ships as big as I had. They were just little boats that mostly navigated by keeping. the shore within our sight. But listen to me now, when the Lord Do you see what they did? When you got troubles, I know some. When they're depressed, they wanna go and sleep. That ain't what the fool does. That ain't what the man on the ocean does. When trouble comes, what are you supposed to do? You're supposed to cry out to the, it's all right. Just a little while ago, you were saying ain't no God. Oh, just surrender. Just submit and bow your knee when the Lord begins to move. Don't stay in the bench. Don't stay in the cloak of the fool. Strip it off. Cry out to God. And when you do, you'll find healing. You'll find deliverance from your destruction. Though you be at the gates of hell. Though you be right here as it says here. at the gates of death, and for the fool that beheld, but praise the Lord. He's just a call away. He's just a prayer away. If you see the one that's brought you at your doorstep, at this door that's brought you in your iniquities. The Bible says there's joy and sin for a season. Guess what then comes after that? Payday. You might be able to think in your mind. I can handle what this is gonna cost me. The iniquity that it's gonna bring, I'll be able to weather the storm. Listen, let the afflictions of God work its work that you might understand. That judgment's coming. Eternal damnation is coming. But repent while you still got time. Because when you do, then you can join with the Christian and say, oh, that man would praise the Lord for his goodness. and for his wonderful works to the children of men. It don't matter where you find yourself, whether it's on solid ground, or whether it's on quicksand, or whether it's on solid ground, or whether the old ship is rocking to and fro like a drunkard. We've heard so many people in times past at the turn of two century ago where the seaman, though he'd be on a ship, that'd be rockin' to and fro, as it says here, like a drunkard. And then they would turn to drink, a drunkard on a ship, rockin' to and fro. Is there any hope for that man? There is. if in his transgression and in his iniquities that he is afflicted by, he sees that the God that brings judgment is the same God that brings salvation. If we surrender to him, if we submit to him, if we have the courage and the sense to say, oh Lord God, the one that's made the storm, is the one that will deliver us and bring us home safely if we cry out to him and look to him for our salvation. What's salvation look like? Sometimes, in a lot of instances, salvation looks like the desired haven or the blessed haven of the home shores. But sometimes salvation comes in a thundering crash of a wave that breaks apart a ship only to give up the souls on that ship to the depths of the ocean. Sometimes salvation can be found even then when one enters the gates of death. But the gates of death don't have to be the gates of hell. So what are you praying for? And what are you praying that might come upon your lost loved ones? The only way a fool's gonna find salvation is through their transgression and their iniquity, through their discomfort of the enjoyments of life, right? Through dainty meats, the Bible says, hold a neck to your throat, right, if you don't have self-control. But there's one better yet, when the Lord takes the joy of those meats away from you. When you find that there is nothing in this life worth having, when you face death without the Lord, cry out in your trouble. For the Lord will deliver you. He will save you from your distress. He said his word, and his word will heal them. So then what? The fool only finds healing through the word of God. and only then can be delivered from the destruction that would come. So pray, right? If you gave up hope for some of your lost loved ones, maybe the problem is you've been giving them your words instead of giving them God's words, right? I know there's a lot of people do it, and some of them I wonder if they even read it. You can get an app on your phone, that gives you a power verse for the day, right? Well, that's good. But if all you got is power verses, and you don't put them in their proper context, you might end up thinking all manners of things, because for one, I've known that there's a lot of people that believe that they can win an MMA fight, because they can do all things through Christ Jesus, including a choke hold, including a tap out, including an arm bar. That's utter foolishness, because I've looked. I could be wrong, but I don't think mixed martial arts is even in the Bible, even though I think some of them probably practiced it. One of the mighty men of David, they might have practiced mixed martial arts, but it wasn't taught by some pagan in some foreign land. Because the Lord talked about it, David talked about praying to the Lord that he'd make his hands to fight, right? And you know what? That's the kind of education a man can use is when God gives you that education. But you know what? We need men that are more willing to put their hands to the fight and put their mind to the fight, right? Because a lot of times victory is won through strategy. I'm not saying that you can think your way out of problems, but what you can do is you can give those problems that you thought about for a long time to Jesus. And when you give them to Jesus, you can find victory. He told the children of Israel when it came to the Amorites, he said, he said, it wasn't my sword and shield that drove them people out of, I drove them people out of the land because hornets. He said, hornets went before you. Can you imagine? Can you imagine how well, I mean, I've been stunned by hornets and I've been stunned by wasp. Matter of fact, the job I've got now is I'm a wasp whisperer. I throw open the lid on the propane tank and there'd be wasp. And I whisper to him and say, oh, please, don't sting me. Ain't that stupid? Why would a guy pray to a wasp? You don't pray to wasp. You know what I'd do? I'd learn that you can, now we gotta keep this secret, but, because I don't know that this is proper. But if you ain't got nothing in your hands but a propane hose, you can crack that propane hose and it'll kill wasp. It'll freeze them right, just like that. But you know what? I've opened up that lid, and I'll say, oh, I've only been doing this job for a month. Now I open up the lid, and I go, oh, that's just regular wasp. Now when it's the red ones, then I go, whoa, that's a red wasp. But you know what? I haven't been stung yet, but it's the time of year where they're really mopey. You can just kind of. Matter of fact, we was out of place and we moved the tank and had a big old wasp nest in it. We got, we tore it out of there. Well, I came back there because the guy was changing companies and was going with us. And so we tore, this is, we tore the old nest out of the old tank, put our, sent our tank there, and then put the old tank out there where the other company could pick it up. So Darryl and I been here, don't need to worry about that. Threw open the lid, well guess what? All them wasps that we didn't kill were all huddled there. And so I took my hat off and I started finishing the job I'd started a week earlier. Because see, it's so late in the season that they weren't even attempting to even buy a house. No, they weren't even attempting to make another wasp nest. They were just huddling around, waiting to die. Right? There's a lot of people today. That's where they're at. They're with the fool, huddled around at the gates of death, waiting to die, just thinking there ain't no hope. And that's where me and you need to give them the word of God. Don't give them some words of wisdom. Don't give them a power verse. Or maybe you do need to give them a power verse. But because a word spoken season And if it's the word of God, all the better. The Bible says that he sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction. So I could send God's word or he could send God's word. So then when we send the word of God, we wanna pray that the Lord would be with it, right? Because there is the verse that is read as it was read from a book. Then there is the verse that is read like it is read from the voice of God, his lips, right? We preach the message, don't know. I don't know that when Melchizedek was down here, the king of Salem, the king of peace, the king of righteousness, if any of his words were recorded, and that if he dwelt down here for just a period of time, we have no knowledge of it, right? But that when he left Salem, which was the future site of Jerusalem, how long did his words remain? Were they recorded? Were they wrote down? We have no way of knowing, but what we do know is that they wasn't followed, right? that it didn't last more than a few generations, because in the fourth generation, in 400 years, as the Bible was saying here, that the children of Israel would return from Egypt, there was no evidence that that kingdom existed any longer. The word of God is the word of God and we all know it, but the fool says in his heart, there is no God. And if there is no God, there is no word from God, right? But when God sends it, it has his fingerprints all over it, as it were, it has his power behind it. So that's what we need to pray, right? Lord, send your word to our lost loved ones. Lord, though they be fools, though we were fools, and though there would be... I said, well Darrell, I never said that there was no God. But you said you didn't need to listen to him, and which is worse? Which is the greater fool? To convince yourself that God doesn't exist? Or to convince yourself you don't have to listen to the God that does exist? Either one of you is going to lead you to the gates of death without Jesus. But aren't you glad that his word can save us and heal us and deliver us from all of our destructions? That's a plural, from their destructions. Let's get some songs to sing. Sometimes When we see people acting foolish, we'll say, well, the Bible says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And then that's like, it gives us, I guess what, the license to not pray for them as earnestly as we ought to, to give up on them, to say, well, they all know better, say, well, maybe they'll come back around. But if a fool has said in his heart, there is no God, Well then, the only way he'll hear anything else is when he hears God's Word. It's the only thing that'll heal him from his delusion. It's the only thing that'll deliver him from his destruction.