Dear congregation belonging to our Lord Jesus Christ, on this first day of a new year 2025, many people greet each other with the words happy or blessed new year. And that's what we hope for, isn't it? Both for ourselves and for those around us. We hope for a happy and especially a blessed 2025. But how can that happen? We can have our hopes. But how can we truly experience blessing in this coming year? People can have all kinds of ideas about that, can't they? It's true of us too. We might make plans for a special trip or vacation. We might resolve to exercise more or to look at our phones less. Or things like that, we might hope to buy a new vehicle or a new house perhaps or a new toy. And these are things that we can think of or be tempted to think of as the way, the way to experiencing blessing this year. And certainly those things can be a means of blessing, they can be something we enjoy as a gift from God. But what about seeking and trusting God? How easily so many people dismiss that. And that can happen even in the church. Perhaps it's true of you. You have zero interest maybe in seeking and trusting God. You don't think that's the way to blessings, so you dismiss it. Or maybe at least you minimize it. It's not that important to you. Or perhaps it is, hopefully, hopefully it is. But you struggle at times. You struggle to believe that seeking and trusting God is the way to real blessing. Maybe you're just tired. You're worn out. You're discouraged from difficulties and trials that you've experienced, and the battle against sin and evil, and perhaps from other things too, as you've tried to seek God and trust Him. And now at the beginning of this new year, maybe you're tempted to think, maybe it's not worth it. Is it really the way to blessing? Perhaps, you wonder. Well, our passage this morning, Psalm 84, verses 9 through 12, makes clear that it is. What are these verses about? They're about seeking and trusting God. In a sense, that's what the whole psalm is about. Already at the beginning, in verses 1 through 4, the psalmist expresses his great intense longing to be with God, to be in his house, to be in his temple courts where the people come to worship and praise him. Blessed are they, he says in verse 4, that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising thee. And then in verses five through eight, he reflects on the blessing of those who are not yet there in God's house, but are heading that way, maybe not to the literal physical temple, but they're headed for the heavenly city, that heavenly temple. They're trusting and following the Lord as pilgrims through all the difficulties and challenges of life. And he reflects on the blessing of that. And so with that encouragement in mind, in verse 9, really beginning in verse 8, the psalmist turns to the Lord in prayer. And in verse 9, the psalmist prays and asks the Lord to look upon the face of his anointed, referring there particularly to the King, ultimately to Christ, Jesus. Why does he do that? Well, because that's the only way he and we can come to the Lord, through his anointed, through Christ. And so the psalmist prays for the Lord to look upon this anointed one, to look upon ultimately Christ with his favor. Why? Because he wants God. He wants him more than anything. Nothing can compare to seeking and trusting God, living in communion with Him. That's what he's really saying in verse 10. Even just one day in God's courts is better than a thousand, meaning a thousand anywhere else. It's better than any earthly blessing. Yes, even, he says, even just being a doorkeeper, just standing at the door, just standing at the threshold, at the entrance of God's house is glorious. It's incomparably better than dwelling in the tents of wickedness. You see what he's saying? He's saying seeking and trusting God, that's the way of incomparable blessing. The last verse of the psalm emphasizes that when he says, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in Thee. And so these verses are all about seeking and trusting God and what an incomparable blessing that is. But why? What is it that makes seeking and trusting God such a blessing? Well, that's what verse 11 is all about. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. That verse is especially what we want to focus on this morning to encourage us all to seek and trust God every day this year. Yes, even every moment. And so our theme then with God's help is the incomparable blessing of seeking and trusting God also in 2025. What makes it so? Well, verse 11 tells us three things. First, the Lord God is a sun and shield. Second, he will give grace and glory. And third, he will not withhold any good. So the first thing then that makes seeking and trusting God an incomparable blessing is that he is a sun and shield. For the Lord God is a sun and shield." What is that saying? It's not saying, of course, that He's a literal sun or shield. They're metaphors. We understand that, right? It's saying the Lord God is like a son. He's like a shield in His character, in His being. In other words, He's an all-glorious helper and sustainer and protector. That's who He is. What an encouragement that is to seek and trust Him. Just think for one thing of how all-glorious He is. That's part of what His being called or compared to as Son here is saying, right? The Son, what's the Son, children? It's glorious, isn't it? It's bright. It's so glorious, it's so bright that you can't even look at it on a clear day. You can't look at it directly, you instinctively have to look away. In fact, if you don't, if you try looking right at the sun, you could damage your eyes. That's why your parents and your teachers and others, they tell you, don't look directly at the sun. Because it's so glorious. See, that's what God is like. He's glorious. Yes, he's all glorious in his majesty, in his holiness, in his righteousness, in all of his attributes. He's so glorious that when Moses asked the Lord to show him his glory in Exodus 33, The Lord said to him, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me. live and so the Lord he told Moses to stand on a rock by him and he would he would pass by but while he Passed by he would hide Moses in an opening in the rock And and not only that he would cover Moses with his hands and only after he had passed by Would he take away his hand and let Moses see the back parts his back parts as it were But he did not let him see his face because Moses couldn't have survived that See, that's how glorious God is. 1 Timothy 6 verse 16, I made reference to it last night. It tells us that this God dwells in unapproachable light. That's why we must come to Him by Christ. Because only in Christ, that one mediator between God and man, can we behold the glory of God and live. He's all glorious. That's part of what His being compared to a son means. And you see, when you see Him that way, when you understand How glorious He is, and He's all glorious. When that comes home to you by the Spirit of God, then you can't help but have a holy fear and humble awe. of Him in your heart. But you also can't help but seek and trust Him, because there's no one like Him. There is nothing lacking in Him. And His being compared to the Son means not just that He's all-glorious, but that He's the all-glorious Helper and Sustainer of those who seek and trust Him. That's what the Son is for us, isn't it? It's our helper and sustainer in our physical lives. It gives light. Without the sun, we would be in almost total darkness, and there's not a whole lot we would be able to do. In fact, we eventually wouldn't be able to live. The sun doesn't just give light, you see, it gives life. If the sun were to suddenly disappear and nothing would replace it, almost every living thing on this earth would soon die, including us. The point is the sun in all of its glory is our helper and sustainer. And so is the all glorious Lord for us spiritually. When we live seeking and trusting in him, he's our helper. He gives light in our darkness. And don't we need that also in 2025? How great our darkness is by nature. And how great the darkness of this world. in which we live. But by God's word and spirit together, he enlightens our understanding so that we learn more and more to know ourselves and our sins and our sinfulness and more and more to know him and his son Jesus Christ and the salvation he gives. And he guides us as the sun gives light to guide us in our way, he guides us in our ways. He shows us really in His ways, really. He shows us the way we should go, enabling us to serve Him. Yes, He encourages and re-energizes and motivates us. Don't you find the sun does that for you? When the sun shines, you tend to be more joyful, more energetic. And when it's dark and gray and cloudy, you tend to be more discouraged and more down. I think I notice that here more than any other place, and probably because southern Alberta is normally so sunny. It's apparently one of the sunniest places in Canada, and so whenever there's a dark, cloudy day, I notice it. I feel it. I feel the gloom. I tend to feel more down, more discouraged, less motivated. But when the sun shines again and gives its light, it helps me simply by making me feel more encouraged and re-energized and motivated. And so the Lord does spiritually. As our son, he gives fresh hope, new joy, strength, and encouragement, and motivation in our life of faith. What a comfort that can be, dear believer. As you look ahead into this year and you see, maybe on the horizon, you see the dark trials that may be coming your way, He will be your Son. He will be your light in the darkness. Isn't there a reason to seek and to trust Him? He's our all-glorious helper, but not only that, He's our all-glorious sustainer. In other words, He gives us life. The Son gives and sustains physical life, but the Lord God gives in and through Christ. He gives and sustains real life, true life. spiritual and eternal life. That's why Christ came. He came to give life and that more abundantly. We need that because we don't have this life. We don't have this spiritual and eternal life of ourselves. The Bible describes us as spiritually dead by nature, left to ourselves. We need God to make us spiritually alive. And when he's done that, We need God to keep us spiritually alive. Haven't you ever felt that, dear child of God? Haven't you ever had times maybe when you've been tempted and perhaps even given in to temptation and you realized, you came to realize I have no spiritual life? I have no spiritual strength, remember Samson? Nothing, nothing, nothing in me. times when you realize that you need God, not just to become a Christian, but to remain a Christian. John Calvin said this about God being a son, that it means this, God's people neither live nor breathe except insofar as he shines upon them. Have you ever felt that? The Lord God is a son, yes, in Christ. He is the son of righteousness. Malachi 4 verse 2 speaks about, risen with healing in his wings to those who fear his name. Oh, what a call and encouragement that is to seek him and to trust him also in this coming year. He's the all-glorious helper and sustainer. And not only that, He's the all-glorious Protector. The Lord God is a Son and Shield. Maybe some of you children, You have a toy shield. Maybe you've made one yourself. Well, what does a shield do? It protects you, doesn't it? It protects you from the attacks of the enemy. It protects you from the attacks of those who wish to harm you and destroy you. And that's what the Lord does for His people, for those who seek and trust Him. He is their shield. When you seek and trust Him in and through Christ, He not only saves you initially from your enemies, from sin and Satan and the ungodly world, but He also protects you from their constant attacks. You see, He not only gives life, but He defends your life. He's the all-glorious Protector. Well then, should we not seek Him and trust Him also in 2025? We're in the same world we were last year. And as long as we remain in that world, in this world, God's people are, as Matthew Henry wrote, here in danger. But God, he goes on, will be to us a shield to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thickly about us. What a comfort that can be as we begin this year, this new year. Perhaps you can identify with Spurgeon's words in his sermon on this text. He says this, are you in great danger? Do perils surround you? Temptations from the world, assaults of Satan, uprisings of your own corruption? Do you feel as if you moved in the center of a fierce fight? Is it as much as you can do even to hope that you will escape the fiery dart? Come you to the text, he says then, and behold how he that keeps Israel has provided for your safety. Read the blessed words. The Lord God is a shield. He is a broad shield that shall cover you from head to foot and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Here is perfect safety for all who take Jehovah to be their helper. Isn't that a comfort? The Lord God is a son and shield, the all-glorious helper and sustainer and protector. Doesn't that already make seeking him an incomparable blessing? No wonder the psalmist said, even just one day, just one day, just one in God's courts is far better than a thousand elsewhere. Because God was there. But that's not all. He will also give grace and glory. And that's our second point. That's what verse 11 says. He, the Lord God, will give grace and glory. He will give grace. When we are seeking and trusting the Lord in and through Christ, then He will give us grace. He will show us His favor freely. It doesn't say He will sell grace. It says He will give grace. What a blessing that is! You see, that's exactly what we don't have by nature. We don't have God's favor. We have His frown. We're under His wrath. Why? Because of our sins and sinfulness. We have forfeited God's favor and there's no way for us to get it back ourselves. There's no way we can restore ourselves to God's favor. Because God is just. And His justice must be satisfied. But we can't satisfy it. None of us can. I can't. You can't. Because God's justice, you see, demands perfect satisfaction. And none of us are perfect. All of us are sinners. And so we cannot restore ourselves to God's favor. You can try, but it won't work. Everything you might try to do to earn God's favor, to get Him to be pleased with you, is stained with sin. It only makes things worse. There is nothing we can do that will restore us to God's favor. And if that was all there was to say this morning, how terrible that would be. How terrible it would be to have to face a new year without the favor of God. But this is the good news. We don't have to. We don't have to. We don't have to go through this year without God's smile. Because the Lord God will give grace. He will show favor. To whom? To all those who seek and trust Him in and through His anointed Son. in reliance upon Jesus Christ. You see, that's how he gives grace. It's through Jesus, it's through Christ, because of what he did when he was here on earth, because of his life and death on the cross as that perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice that satisfies for all sin. And that's why Paul can write in Romans 3 verse 24, that though we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, we may be justified. We may be declared righteous before God, and that's what matters. That's what matters. We may be justified before God freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And what's more, as Romans 5 verse 1 says, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. This is why seeking and trusting God and reliance on Jesus Christ also in 2025 is such an incomparable blessing. Because then God will give you grace. And that means He will not only show you His favor, but He will also help you in your needs. And we all have those. We all have needs. And we all go through times of particular need. We will go through such times in this year ahead. Maybe you're already anticipating some of those times, some of those needs. Maybe there are health concerns you have or there's other things that you know are scheduled to happen that are going to happen, that are going to be difficult. And perhaps it makes you feel anxious and fearful. Oh, then seek and trust the Lord, looking to Christ in repentance and faith, because then God will give you grace. Yes, he will give you the grace you need, not only to bear, but also to profit from whatever trials he calls you to go through. so that your faith does not fail. He gives grace to the humble. He resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more strength when the labors increase. So seek him, trust him. Remember the words of Heru 4, verses 14 through 16. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The Lord will. He will help you in your needs. He will give grace. He will also give glory. Oh, what another undeserved blessing that is. Think of it. When we seek and trust Him in reliance upon Christ, He will give us not just grace but glory. Glory, to quote Spurgeon again, the Lord will give us nothing less than glory. We deserve shame, he will give us glory. We deserve misery, but he will give us glory. We deserve condemnation, but he will give us glory. We deserve death and hell, but he will give us glory. That's what this verse says he will do. And he begins that already now in this life, by giving us eternal life and by sanctifying us, making us more and more like Christ. Paul speaks of that in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18. Listen to what he says of Christians there, of those who by grace, who have turned to the Lord in faith. He says this, but, or now we all, With open face beholding us in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory. as even as by the Spirit of the Lord. In other words, God, by His Holy Spirit, He gradually transforms His people in this life already. He begins to transform them into the image of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. Isn't that glory? That's what He'll do when we seek and trust Him. He will give us glory in this life by renewing us after the image of Christ. And He will give us glory in full in the life to come when we will be with Christ at last to behold His glory. And then we'll finally bear His image perfectly, completely, body and soul. What greater glory and honor Could we have that and the glory of eternal life with Christ in perfection? Why would we not seek and trust Him in and through Christ? Why would we trade that for dwelling in the tents of wickedness? That will only bring misery, that will only bring shame, that will only bring death, that will only bring hell. You won't do that, will you? Won't you seek and trust God? Also in 2025, beginning today, and you who have been, who have come into this year already seeking and trusting Him, won't you keep doing that? He will give grace and glory also this year. How incomparable is the blessing of seeking and trusting Him, but that's still not all. The Lord God is not only a sun and shield who will give grace and glory when we seek and trust Him. He also will not withhold any good. That's our third point, very briefly. Look at how verse 11 ends. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. What's that saying? It's saying that God will not withhold any good, any good from those who truly, sincerely seek and trust Him. What a promise that is! It's not a promise of outward peace and prosperity. It's not a promise of health and wealth and that kind of thing. Many people who have sought and trusted God have not been given those things. And that's not what this promise is. The reality is that we must, through many tribulations, enter into the kingdom of God. So this is not a promise of outward peace and prosperity, but it is a promise of God's perfect loving care. That's what He will give us when we seek Him. He will care perfectly for all our needs. And we see this promise many times in Scripture, don't we? You can think of Psalm 34, we sang from it earlier. In Psalter 88, Psalm 34, verses 9 and 10. Or think of Christ's words to his disciples in Matthew 6, verse 33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God. and His righteousness, and all these things, all the things that we need shall be added unto you. Or in Matthew 7, verse 11, if you then, Jesus said, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? It's all throughout the Bible. God will perfectly and lovingly care for all who seek and trust Him in reliance upon Christ. In the midst of all the trials, in the midst of all the troubles, we can be sure. We can be even more sure than the psalmist was. You know why? Because we have a guarantee. What is that guarantee? It's the gift of His Son. Paul tells us in Romans 8 verse 32, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Of course He will. That's what Paul is saying. If God freely gave up His own beloved and precious Son, then He will freely give us all the things that we need. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, from them that walk in the way of truly seeking and trusting God in and through Jesus Christ. What a comfort to have at the beginning of this year. See, then when you are living that way, living, seeking, and trusting God, walking uprightly, then you can know that all that may happen to you is ultimately, ultimately good. We confessed it, didn't we? Lord's Day 9. Whatever evils He sends upon me in this valley of tears, He will turn to my advantage. On the other hand, if you don't seek and trust God, if you don't walk uprightly, if you choose to live in unrepentant sin, whether openly or secretly, then you can't have that assurance. You can't have that comfort. You can't have any real comfort at all. All you can be assured of is judgment. You don't want that, do you? I don't want that. So then let's seek the Lord while he may be found and trust him. What an encouragement our text gives to do that very thing. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. You think of it this way. These are God's New Year's resolutions, as it were. What amazing resolutions they are. You know, we don't have to fear that He won't keep them. He will, because He is faithful. How incomparable is the blessing of seeking and trusting God. Do you see that with me from this text? Well then, let us truly and earnestly seek and trust Him, also in 2025. Let us thirst after Him like the psalmist does here. Let us not grow weary of that. Oh, then surely we won't dwell in the tents of wickedness, will we? Surely we will love His Word and His worship and will seek to be there also on the Lord's Day, if at all possible, won't we? Surely we will seek to live in daily communion with God, won't we? Seeking and trusting God in reliance upon Christ really is the way to truly experience His blessing this coming year. It's the way to incomparable blessing now and forever. Oh, may all of us then seek and trust God. Then we will have a blessed 2025, whatever else may happen. Amen. Let us pray.