Now, go to Proverbs 19. Proverbs 19, I'll start there. Proverbs 19. Some of these verses I used, I think, last week, but I wanna, I believe the Lord's helped me in seeing a truth But I have to say, I'm guilty of missing so much. And I believe when you see it tonight, I believe it'd be a blessing to you. That's what I'm desiring. It'll be a help to you and a blessing to you. Proverbs 19 and verse 23. The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil." This is a great truth. This is a, as I said, that word fear changes. In different places it means other things, but here it has the meaning of in this fearing God of are worshiping Him, are loving Him, are obeying Him. He's no longer just someone that you don't know, but He changed into somebody that you really want to please. You want to show your love to Him. You want to show your adoration for Him. You want to show that He's good to you. And you want to thank Him and praise Him and honor Him and obey Him. This particular fear shows that God will answer if you fear Him, if you worship Him, if you praise Him, if you adore Him, if you love Him, He's going to answer you. He's going to bless you. So often, you know, I started getting this study, and I just can't believe I missed it so much. I can't believe that I didn't see this truth. Turn with me to Psalms 27. You'll get the idea, I think, what I'm trying to say to you. Psalms 27. You sing this song. This verse. But watch Psalms 27, verse 13. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the what? The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I'd fainted unless I believed to see. I'd have never made it. I just couldn't understand, you know, how I'd miss it, and I just... feel that, my, I'm missing what God has been doing for me, blessing me, helping me for serenity, you know, and it just opens up. And the psalmist said, I can't believe it. I'd have fainted to believe that I, to see the goodness of the Lord, not seeing how many times He's blessed me and helped me and watched over me. Well, I won't go to Romans 12. You know what it means to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto the Lord. This is what it's talking about, of you giving yourself. The fear of the Lord is you worshiping God, you're honoring God, you love God, you're serving God, and He's helped you, He's blessed you, He's encouraged you. Turn with me right quick to Psalms 103. And I'm going to do a lot of Bible turning because I want to just show you this, how it works. Psalms 103. Another one I could quote. I could do better if I take some time with it though. Psalms 103. Now watch, you'll see this principle of God blessing you. Psalms 103. Well, we'll use one bless the Lord all my soul and all's within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord all my soul. And what does it say? forget not all his benefits the benefits the things he does for you and The blessings of God and how he does. And we'll read them. Okay, keep reading. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Yeah, I couldn't have to go no farther. You're talking about something that you can shout with joy, something that refreshes your heart, something that just gives you a relief when you know that God has forgiven you all thine iniquities. Who healeth all thy diseases. God will. God will. Now, I want you to think with me just for a moment. Now, you read that verse there, Healeth all our diseases. You say, Preacher, no, we don't. Well, it couldn't possibly be that we don't believe Him or have faith in Him. He tells us, and James talks about if you have sick, the prayer of faith will save the sick. Is that what the Bible says? Does that say he would do it? The prayer of faith, he'll save the sick. And so it's talking about here, you know, that God will, if we do our part, if we pray believing. And I've seen him do it and you've seen him do it. You've seen people that were, there's a lady sitting back there named Beverly. And I was in the room with her when we was over here and they were going to turn him off. They said he can't go any farther, they can't keep him on that respirator any longer, remember that? So what's he do? He straightens right up, start to take the respirator off, he's going good. I mean, here they is, they, one thing is, they said he was gonna die, didn't he? I mean, when he's there, well, how'd that happen? The Lord did it, that's what it is. And he's able to do that. Follow on. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. These are the blessings of God. This is the goodness of God. This is God rewarding you for loving and worshiping him and praising him, acknowledging him, living for him, serving him, obeying him. who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness." He crowneth you with loving kindness. Can you picture that? That's one of the reasons I stayed on some of those things a moment ago when I went through Psalms 1. That's why I wanted you to see that you've got to learn and I've got to learn how to make the application where it fits us. to where you experience it. You know it's God. You know it's the Bible was telling you the truth. You know He's doing these things for you. He says, He redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. I can't go slower because I got so many. crowns you with tender mercies. Are you picturing what he does for you? I'm talking about the blessings of God. He said, who satisfied thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made those ways unto Moses as acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious. We can be glad for this next part. Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. It's hard to understand that he'd rather forgive you than judge you. Plenteous in mercy, slow to anger, but he'd rather give you mercy. Plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. For He, verse 10, I would have to preach or say anything else if you really get this deep down in your mind and your heart, He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. I would have to go no farther. You are blessed. that God hasn't dealt with me or you how we really deserve to be dealt with. I'm telling you, this fear of the Lord is where God is answering us. He says, because of it, because of your adoration, because of your exalted Him, because of your worship of Him, because of your praise of Him, because of your love for Him, because of your obedience to Him, because you serve Him. I will serve Him because you give that song out and you actually sing what I'm preaching in that song. He has, does it say, I'll serve him because he's given life to me. God don't have to give you another breath. He don't have to give you another breath. Everyone, that's why it says, everything that has breath, let it praise the Lord. So I'm showing you, trying to make you see this thing how that by treating him in a way that shows that he is worthy of everything, every way, every way possible that you can please him. That should be the strongest desire in your life, is to please the Lord. Make him be happy with your life. Thankful for your life to where he shows his thanks in these things. He'll give you evidence of how he'll watch over He'll provide for you. I gotta go faster turn to Proverbs 14 Proverbs 14, I hope you'll maybe jot some of these down and look at him sometime I use this a little bit I think last week verse 26 The fear of the Lord this is that same fear of And notice it's something that's rewarded. This kind of fear is rewarded. You're not afraid. Sometimes the word fear means you're really afraid. You're really afraid of Him. But this doesn't mean it this way. He says the fear of the Lord is a strong confidence, a strong support. He says, and His children shall have a place of refuge. If we have that fear of the Lord, you'll have a place for the children to hide from this world and to seek God and draw close to God. He'll shelter them. I think the member of the Bessala sheltered. And I spy, that's what God will do for you. If you just show how much you love him, it changes from him just being a God in heaven that has no personal contact, that it's just a name. And you just can't really imagine what he's like. And you don't know how to identify with him or associate with him. You don't know how to understand him. This fear of the Lord changes all that. It brings you into a closer relationship to him, to where you can, I'll deal with it maybe later, fellowship with him. Verse 27, the fear of the Lord is a ever flowing fountain of life. It's something that continually fills and meets your need. It's a fountain flowing over, constantly bringing forth support and strength and wisdom and understanding and knowledge of God. And so it's a steady flow of God's presence into your life, giving you life. He that hath the Son hath life. That's not eternal life. That's present life. He's got a life he wants you to have called an abundant life. And that's the reward. He wants you to have abundant life. This is the reason that the Christians should have joy. They should have a countenance that doesn't look sad. And like everything's bad, it's hard, and it's tough, and it's life. No! The joy of the Lord is your strength. And we ought to be people that's showing the goodness of God in the land of the living, the kindness of God, the mercy of God. Uh, he's, he's blessed you. He's helped you. He's encouraged you. He's lift you up when you was down. He showed you the way when you didn't know how to go. He's answered your cry, your prayers at nights. Did you ever get a song in the middle of the night? All of a sudden just break out singing a song in the middle of the night. And God has give you that song, that encouragement, something to correct your mind to where you're turned into going from stormy mind to purity of mind and to worship of God. I'm saying he rewards you. He's a loving God. He's a kind God. He's a merciful God. Plenteous in mercy will not chide nor keep his anger forever. It's a glorious truth to understand that no more is he just standing in the shadows and I'll call you when I need you. We don't use him as a rescue squad and we don't use him as just the last resort, but he's the first one on our mind. We seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things are added unto you." I'm saying, you and I, you'll never grasp all this of what God has done for you in His way of saying, thanks for loving me, thanks for accepting me, thanks for believing in me, thanks for trying to show me the best way you can, that you want to please me. You want to be a sacrifice that's acceptable, and you know that's just your reasonable service. You want to so live for him that he can sense that you mean in your heart, that you want to be like him. You want to be close to him. You want to understand him. You want to sense his presence. There's nothing, nothing more wonderful, more glorious than sensing the presence of God. Having God move in your life and speak to you, answer you. How good is life if we know the Bible's true and we don't have that time of just fellowship with him and him hugging us? I think the name of that one he said is called a comforter. Isn't that what his name is? A comforter. Wraps his arm around you. Courage is you, lift your spirit. He whispers to you, I'm here, I'll help you. I love you. We think you can't have, oh yes you can. You can have that kind of relationship. You can sense his presence. I'm saying he'll be real to you. Look at Psalms 27. In verse number 13, I think I give you this, I had fainted lest I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We fail to really grasp that, how wondrous it is that God has been good to us, the goodness of God, how we really deserve, don't deserve any goodness. Now, there's times we kind of let Him down, and He fails to call, we fail to call on him like a song about prayer. That's one of the most popular songs that was ever written for people that's really down. And he's met you on a real low plane and lifted your spirit. I'd fainted less I believe to see. lest I can finally picture and understand just how good God has been to me. We take him for granted. That's one of the reasons of that verse over Thessalonians, where he talks about how in everything give thanks. And that's why it says in Psalms 100, enter his presence with thanksgiving, thanksgiving. You thank him because he's been good to you. You thank him that he reminds you often and lifts your spirit and helps you. I gotta go faster, it's getting colder. Turn to Psalms 31, 19. Psalms 31 and verse 19. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up. Please read this with me. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them who that fear thee. which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men." Oh, my, what he has laid up for us. We take that statement Jesus made almost skeptical. I'm going. to prepare a place for you. Okay. I don't do anything to our mind. I don't. Can you imagine what he's preparing for us? Why would he be so excited and want to say, hey, I'm going to prepare a place for you and I'll come again and receive you unto myself that you'll be also. He's. I'm building a home for you, you understand? For you. I'm going to, and it's going to be a beautiful, well, the gold streets out there, you can imagine what the house is going to be like. Diamonds and pearls and rubies and who knows what all it's going to have, huh? I'm saying he's, he's, Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee. Let me keep going. Turn with me to Psalms 69. Psalm 69. And I'm going to put in at verse 29. But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him. This is, I'm gonna worship him. I'm gonna praise the name of God with a song. I'll worship, I'll magnify him with thanksgiving. Notice what you use, being thankful. This also with Michelle, this also shall What did I say was our greatest desire? Please. This also shall please the Lord better than any of those animal sacrifices, than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Oh, I just love it. Now, come on. Come on. The humble shall hear this and be glad, and your heart shall live that seek God. For our Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not. Where are we at? And despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him. Let the seas and everything that moveth therein, for God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah that they may dwell therein and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name." They that love his name. I like that song that West Coast College sings it. I'll turn to it again and again and again. And I love to hear him sing that song. They just want to name the name of Jesus. And they say three things all the way through it. His name is power. His name is healing. And this last one gets me. His name is life. It means life. He gives you life. He gives you a life worth living. He gives you a life of hope. He gives you a life of peace and comfort and encouragement. He that hath the son hath life. I mean, I'm gonna have to move faster. I'm getting too slow here. Isaiah 56, Isaiah 56. Just a few verses, verses four through seven, for thus saith the Lord unto the eunuch that keep my Sabbath and choose the things that please me, choose the things that please me. I keep trying to get that in the mind. The Christian should try to please the Lord and take hold, grab, grasp, of my covenant, my word. Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than the sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the strangers that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants. Every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar, for mine house shall be called A house of prayer, like that song they sang, for all people. Just a couple more. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, all the way back in your Bible, Hebrews chapter 11. You ought to be able to quote this verse. Hebrews 11, verse number 5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. and was not found. Why? How come? Because God had translated him for before his translation. What was the difference? He had this testimony that he pleased God. So what'd God do for him? You know, you hear these guys say, well, he was taking a walk with Jesus, you know, and they just went, no, no. Read your Bible. Let the Bible show just what it was. Enoch pleased God. Enoch did what pleased God and he missed death. He went to heaven alive. How he did it, I don't know. I'm saying it shows you the rewards. I'm trying to show you the benefits of being a Christian, the benefits of trying to please the Lord every bit of your life, honor Him, magnify Him, please Him. And He will bless your life. I'm saying He'll bless you. Oh, let's just go to 1 John 1 and I'll quit. I think that I know I've missed really seeing this in a new way. I was almost like preaching a little bit of this to my sister, Peg. And I was telling Peg, I said, Peg, you know how good God's been to you. She's 91, I think, now. Two? Three? Boy, she's moving faster. I says, Peg, I says, you think about how good God's been to you. Give us a dad. But every one of us kids, every one of them walked with God all their lives, served God, pleased God. Farrell, oh, I can't tell you enough about, she ain't supposed to be a preacher, but she does. She does it in a wheelchair, and she'll just work her way through the nurse's home, talk to folks, pray. She prays for all of them, whether they like it or not. She'll pray for them. And she'll tell the doctors, just, you can't tell me. My doctor hasn't told me that. Well, now, no matter what they say. But I was saying, all my family, my brother Nelson loved God and walked with God, and Evelyn, My other sister, she loved God and walked with God. Had a great family. And Peg and me. And Robert, my brother, he's, you hear me talk about him sometimes, he keeps telling me he's ready. He said, I love God, I'm ready to go. I'm saying to you, I say, Peg, we had a good dad that way. He's singing hymns at a Margoville hospital just before he died. And I said, Peggy, you know, God's been good to you. Give the aids you got. And I kept on talking to her. She's crying. I hear her on the phone. She's just bawling. Yeah, oh, God's been good to me. Oh, I love God. See, I don't know, my soul. If you for a moment realize what God has done for you, I'll give you an example. I was a rascal, and I'm ashamed. I was raised good. I was raised with a great dad, a praying dad. He ended up being a lay preacher. He'd fill in for other preachers. Loved me. I had Rachel tell me the other day, she says, I don't know why, she says, but you don't give up on me. I said, I want to see you saved. And it's something to have that heritage. have somebody that really loves you enough to never give up on you. I was gonna say a moment ago, you talk about being thankful after you start reading your Bible and seeing that there's times he never passed by certain places again. He didn't go back there no more. And you've heard me say, I remember girls used to sing an invitation, he may never pass this way again. He doesn't have to. And I couldn't figure why the rascal I was that he'd still call me, still trouble me. I'm saying, I fail to see the goodness of God to me. Look here at 1 John 1, and I'll close. That from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, and our eyes have, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. For the life was manifested, Jesus. The life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness. and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that she may, that she also may have fellowship with us and truly, truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Are you reading that? Our fellowship, our communion, the times we talk with Him and sense His presence, know He's here, know He's answering you. And you have fellowship with the father and the son. I mean, you realize, can you fathom that? Could you grasp that in your mind, that they would talk to you, fellowship with you, commune with you, answer you, support you, comfort you, encourage you? He said, and these things write we unto you, here's why we're writing this unto you, that your joy may be full. I don't want you to be acting like a Christian that I've never give you joy. I want people to see that you enjoy me, God. I want you to sense that, that he just refreshes you and feeds your soul, comforts you. He don't forget you. Lo, Lo, I'm with you, always, even unto the end. Amen. Shall we stand? I failed to see the goodness of God to me. Failed so many times to thank him, to take time to commune with him, to wait on him and just see what he wants me to do. You sing the song out of that songbook. Oh, I love to walk with Jesus. What is that? What is it? What does it consist of? What does it mean? Oh, I love to walk with Jesus. It means there's a communion and a fellowship and a recognition of his presence, acknowledging him, that he's there and he's answered and he loves you. Amen. Don't forget his benefits. Father, in Jesus' name, I bless your holy name. for the help, the encouragement, the strength, the goodness of God to us. I pray we won't just ignore it or not acknowledge it, but we'll say, as the songwriter says, thanks for loving me. Thanks for Calvary. Watch over these people. May we be people that love one another and overcome everything in this world that hinders our life from pleasing Thee. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen. You are dismissed.