I certainly appreciate this opportunity to be with you after many years have passed since our last visit here, although we've had the privilege of seeing several of you at other meetings in the areas, different parts of the country from time to time. Certainly I'm aware that we must have the blessing and presence of the Spirit of God if we're able to set forth that which would be your edification. I trust that you will continue in prayer on our behalf. I want to read from the 32nd Psalm. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer, Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place." Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart." The psalmist describes a condition that indeed is wonderful to contemplate. is he whose transgression is forgiven. If you've never felt yourself to be a transgressor, that won't mean a whole lot. But if you have felt yourself to be an unworthy sinner, if you have seen that you have come terribly short, you have not only been a sinner by nature, but a sinner in practice. You have felt that you have offended the righteous God of heaven and earth. And then to have the feeling and the peace of mind and heart, the assurance that's given by his Holy Spirit, that you have been blessed to have those transgressions forgiven and that sin covered. What a blessed state. Sin is a subject obviously dealt with throughout the Word of God. Its entrance into the world is described in the very first book of the Bible. When we read of Adam willfully transgressing, rebelling, sinning against God, and consequently plunging himself and all of his posterity into a state of guilt and corruption and alienation from the holy God of glory. And then as we trace the footsteps of humanity from that day forward, we see the horrible consequences of sin. We see the heartache, the trouble, the turmoil, the wars, the rumors of wars. We read even among those people whom the Lord had favored, those who were chosen by him, blessed above all other peoples upon the earth, given the most favorable of circumstances. that these, his people Israel, also greatly rebelled against God. He said, You only have I known of all the families on the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquity. I have known you intimately, I have known you in a way of special blessing like I have known no other people, and because your blessing has been greater and your light has been greater, now I will deal with you accordingly and punish you for your iniquity. You read the book of Judges, you think sometimes that the terrible accounts of crime that we read on the front page of our newspapers today are horrendous, and they are, but there's nothing happening today that exceeds some of those horrible things described in the book of Judges. When God's people had sunk to a very low degree and were as a law unto themselves, and only briefly recovered when various leaders and judges were raised up by God to speak to his people in those times. And then we come to the writings of this man David. What a unique character. blessed of God very early in his life. He had courage, he had faith, he was given strength by God to kill a lion and a bear with his own hands without even a weapon. They came in to attack the flock that he was guarding. This experience gave him courage to believe that the God who had delivered these beasts into his hands could give him the strength to go out and meet the challenge of that Philistine giant named Goliath. All of the trained soldiers of Israel had heard this challenge day after day. But men who were supposed to be men of war were unwilling to go forward. Yet the shepherd lad, David, found that his heart was stirred within him. He could not bear to hear the words of this uncircumcised Philistine, and he said, I will go up to fight him. Oh, they thought this was absurd, that a young lad, not trained by the military force of that day, having experienced only intending his father's sheep could go out to stand against this great giant, But you see, the victory was won before ever David got on the battlefield, because he recognized that the battle is the Lord's. And while Saul attempted to give him his armor, he said, I've not proven this, I cannot use it. He laid it aside and took with him those smooth stones from the brook, and you know the unfolding of the story of how by God's providential blessing That one stone struck the giant in the forehead and down he went to the ground and David went forward and took the giant's own sword and cut off his head. And it was a day of victory in Israel and the people rejoiced as they saw the Philistines fleeing before them. What a day, what a happy day, what a time of conquest and victory in David's life and in the experience of Israel. God had great things in store for this young man. And you know that he eventually became the king of Israel. The sweet singer of Israel was the king. And he was a good king. And he did rule uprightly. But he was a man. And in the weakness of his flesh, he sinned greatly. This man with such an experience of walking with God, this man who had enjoyed such a demonstration of power at various times in his life, now fell when he lusted after another man's wife. Not only did he commit the sin of adultery, but he sought to cover his tracks by sending Bathsheba's husband to the front line of battle and having them withdraw suddenly. So did he die. Now, David went for a period of time reasoning, perhaps, that this matter was settled, knowing, of course, that he had done wrong, but he had not come to grips with his sin. He had not made that proper confession before God. And we find in this psalm a description of some of the experiences of this man in those days of struggle, those days when he sought to keep it all in himself, and those days of confession, and those days of forgiveness, and those days that followed. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgivable. David knew what it was to be made to feel to be a terrible transgressor, which in fact he was. He knew what it was like for the Prophet to stand before him and relate that little story of the man that was rich had plenty, while his neighbor had but one little ewe lamb. And when his friend came in from a journey, instead of taking from his own flock, he took the one ewe lamb that belonged to his neighbor. How did King David react to that? He was indignant! He would not tolerate this kind of conduct in his kingdom. He would not allow it. How absurd to think that an individual would be so selfish, so inconsiderate, so greedy. Take one little lamb from his neighbor when he had everything he could ask for of his own. Do you not see One of the traits of human nature very vividly displayed there. How easy it is for us to become indignant about the sins of other people when we have some in our own life that we haven't dealt with. How easy it is for us to be ready to condemn and point the finger of accusation and say, oh, I'm appalled, I can't believe the sin that I've observed elsewhere. Nathan said, Thou art the man. And David fell apart. God has his way of sending a message to his children when they have sinned, when they have failed to come to grips with it, when they have not repented, when they have not turned from it. That message may sometimes come as he sends his servant to declare, Thou art the man. It may sometimes come in the singing of a hymn, because we are told that we admonish one another in hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts. It may sometimes come with a word of admonition, a word of rebuke. A variety of ways in which the Lord can deal with this, but let me tell you something. When the Lord gets the message across, Thou art the man, and you come to grips with your own sin. Not the sins of somebody else, not the faults of your neighbor, but your own sins and your own faults. Oh, what an experience. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day. During those days that he kept silence, during that time that he had not confessed, during that time he had not come to grips with his own sin, It was as though his bones waxed old. I want to tell you sin can have a devastating effect in the life of the child of God. Unconfessed sin can make you feel like you're old when you're not. Unconfessed sin can cause you to have aches and pains and bodily affliction. When though you're feeling physical pain, the problem is a guilty conscience, because you haven't dealt with sin. My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. I don't think that that means he literally sounded like a roaring lion out here, but there was a roaring going on inside of him. There was a turmoil. There was a confused state of mind. There was a churning inside. There was no peace. And as disturbing as that experience may be, One of the evidences of grace that you may have is that when you sin, you cannot be satisfied. There is a roaring inside of you, there's a turmoil inside of you, there's an unrest, there's a dissatisfaction when you know you have sinned. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. The Lord knows how to put his hand on us. The Lord knows how to bring us down. The Lord knows how to humble us. There is no sinner so high or so proud that what God can break him, break his heart, lay him low in the dust. The Apostle Paul described himself as being the chiefest of sinners. Don't you know that as he went on the road to Damascus, he never imagined that before that journey was ended he'd be on his knees crying out, Lord, Lord. And none so mighty, none with such a name, none with such a position, but what God can humble them and lay them down low in the dust. That ought to give us courage to know that the God that we worship, the God of whose grace we speak, is one who has all power and is able to bring down the mighty from their seats. Thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." David said, I had so much struggle going on inside of me, my mouth got dry. My mouth was as dry as the desert. I was suffering stress and turmoil within me because of my sin. And I'm confident that one of the reasons today that many people across America are turning to so many devices to try to find peace and rest is because the problem is a spiritual one. Many times the problem is a sin problem, and they're trying to deal with it in some other way. physical symptoms may be felt as a result of our failure to deal with sin in our life. My moisture was turned into the drought of summer. But then he says, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. The best route for the sinner is to confess his sin to the Savior. I confess, I acknowledge. In the 51st Psalm, where the same aspect of experience is brought before us, he said, My sin is against thee. Against thee and thee only have I sinned. I'm acknowledging that my sin, as great as it was, My fellow man, as hurtful as it was to members of my own family, as discouraging as it was to people of my own kingdom, Lord, I'm vitally concerned because my sin was against thee." And I believe that's one of the first evidences of grace in an individual's life, when they begin to feel like, I'm a sinner before Almighty God. I was talking to somebody a while back. He said, I just don't understand this talk that some of you religious people have about being sinners. I said, you know, I really never have done anything very bad myself. I just don't know what you mean about feeling like you're a sinner. I really don't feel that way. I tell you, that doesn't give me a lot of courage. When I'm looking for evidence for somebody to say, I don't know what it is, to feel like a sinner. Jesus said he came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You feel to be a sinner? If you feel your wretchedness, your unworthiness, your heart is broken with a sense of sin, I'm not talking about justifying your sin, continuing in sin, excusing sin, wallowing in sin. I'm talking about feeling the burden of sin and the desire to be delivered from it and to forsake it. That is an evidence of grace. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. I acknowledge my sin unto thee. My iniquity have I not hid? I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Talk about grace, how wonderful grace is. You remember one time the question was posed as to whether David would choose one of three alternate punishments And he said, I'll cast myself upon the Lord. Let me not fall into the hands of men, but unto the Lord. And when it's all said and done, though we fear the Lord, wouldn't you rather feel like your case was in his hands than anywhere else? Lord, deliver us from the judgment that sometimes is meted out of men. For oh, when we find a Savior, who not only is perfect and good and just, but he's loving and compassionate and he came to save sinners, that's good news to the guilty soul. And so he says, I confessed and the Lord forgave us the iniquity of my sin. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. For this should all seek to pray, who feel that burden of sin." I'm not talking about the alien sinner praying that he might have life. The alien sinner's not going to feel the weight and burden of sin. The alien sinner's not going to feel his guilt before God. I'm talking about the knowledgeable sinner, the sensible sinner, the burdened sinner, the one that knows he's a sinner because the Spirit of God's revealed it to him, and he cries out, God be merciful to me, the sinner. That's not the prayer of the dead, that's the prayer of the living, that's the prayer of the burdened soul. God be merciful to me. And he says, let such pray in time when thou mayest be found. I'm not suggesting to you the idea of a too late doctrine which is sometimes preached out in the religious world today. I'm saying that as far as our walk and travel here in this life is concerned, there is a situation where the child of God can rebel for such an extended period of time, sinning against great light until he's left in a great measure of darkness and may not so much as find the tenderness of heart to turn his footsteps once more toward the house of God. I would say then, little child of God, this evening If you find a tenderness in your heart toward the things of the Lord, you should be grateful for it and thank God from the depths of your soul even this evening. You may look back over your life and recall that there have been times that you wouldn't have had a mind to be in a service like this as you are tonight. There may have been times even since the moment that the Lord first dealt with you and gave you the hope of eternal life when through spiritual neglect and carelessness and involvement in the sins that are all about us in this world and a part of this human nature that you became so dreadfully cold and so barren and empty in spiritual things and had such a lack of interest in the things of God that you didn't desire to come where the songs of grace were sung and the gospel was being preached. But the very fact that this evening You've had a desire to come here and sing these songs and hear the gospel preached. It says something about your spiritual state, that there's a tenderness of heart within you, and though you may yet feel to be far from God, though you may yet feel that there's a terrible emptiness and coldness with which you struggle, Take to heart the words of this text, for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time that thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place. And that's the expression that I want us to center some thoughts upon here this evening in particular. But I wanted to get the background that you could see what was under consideration, what David had in mind when he says, Thou art my hiding place. He talked a number of times in the Psalms about the hiding place. The prophet talked about that hiding place. A man shall be his hiding place from the tempest, and we're thankful indeed to find that hiding place in many difficulties that we encounter in life. But when you think of the background, the setting in which this expression is found, you think of a man who had been overwhelmed by sin. You think about a man who had stumbled and fallen. You think about a man who was terribly guilty before God. But in that time of darkness and desolation in his life, he said, I need a hiding place. And he said, thou art my hiding place. Talk about grace. Surely when the Lord first showed you, you were a sinner. When the Lord first stripped you of your pride and your self-righteousness, broke your heart, laid you low in the dust, you felt your wretchedness and your emptiness and your unworthiness at that time, but have there been seasons since when you have backslidden, you have not lived up to the vows that you once made to your Savior, and you said, oh, how I have come miserably short. The question may have been raised, could God love such a sinner as I am? Could the Savior indeed be my friend, my helper, my hiding place? And what consolation was found when his loving arms embraced you and he blessed you to feel your sins forgiven for his namesake? Why did the psalmist put such stress on this issue, such emphasis upon this point about the effect of sin in his life? The sad consequences of it, but the beautiful deliverance that he found in the forgiving mercies of God. My friends, I believe it's because he wrote under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit and because he knew the reality of sin. And I want to tell you today, we're living in a time when sin is rampant in the lives of men and women and boys and girls across America. Many times we seem to stand perplexed, as though we know not what to say, how to respond, how to deal with the matter at all. But there are some answers in the Word of God. There are some answers to be found. In this time of turmoil and trouble, in this time when we see that there are wars and rumors of wars, in this time when we see that moral standards have been broken down to a great extent, in the time when we see the corruptions that are all about us in this greedy, self-seeking, self-centered, ungodly world, we say we need a hiding place. Maybe you have big problems living in a large city. Surely crime is a problem and sins and evils are rampant in those places, but you're down here in a rural area and things are not quite so bleak down here. Sin isn't giving us the problem down in this country, it is up where you live. We're in better shape. I know better. I know better. I know Satan hadn't moved off and left you alone and said he's just going to aggravate the Lord's people in some other part of the country. You may take a vacation, but Satan never does. He's there around the clock, my friends, day after day, year after year. How many of you here tonight? have friends, family members, acquaintances that right now are suffering in their lives some of the terrible, devastating effects of sin. How many young people do you know whose lives have been messed up by drugs? How many marriages do you know that have fallen apart or are in the process at the moment? How many of these dark, dreadful conditions do you know of in your own area, in your own community? But you see, sometimes the failure to examine what God's Word says leaves us with no response and with no solution. As though if we find one who has really messed up, one who has terribly sinned, one who has terribly come short, The attitude may be, Pastor, go on the ash heap. It's all over. We have no message for it. You know, if that had been the message that Nathan took to David, the Psalms would have been a lot thinner than they are. Asaph and a few others wrote some. But David wrote most of them. And aren't you glad you've got his writings? Have you ever sometime in the darkest scenes of night turned to one of those beautiful psalms and found strength? Have you ever at that moment when a loved one has parted this life and you felt like you couldn't bear the sorrow, turned to Psalm 23 and say, oh, how appropriate in this dark moment. David suffered some of the consequences of his sin, even when he had been forgiven. But he wasn't cast on the ash heap. He said, The Lord forgave us my iniquity. Thou art my hiding place. I found a hiding place. Don't you sometimes become perplexed in the day in which you're living and it just looks like there's one bit of bad news after another that everywhere you turn, there's some other sad consequence, there's somebody else that's got a problem, there's somebody else that's in great trouble, and you say, when's it going to stop? When's it going to end? I don't think I can bear the pressure. I don't think I can endure the stress that's a part of everything in this world today. And if you're not seeing it in your immediate acquaintances, just look at a little bit of news on national television. Just look at a few of the programs that are supposed to be entertainment and are nothing more than a promotion of loose morals in the day in which we're living, and see if the problems are not gigantic. Just open your eyes a little bit to the realities of life, and you'll soon be saying, I need a hiding place. I need someone to bear me up. I need somebody to give me strength. I need a place where I can turn for hope. And I'm glad to tell you that in our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, we have such a hiding place. Thou art my hiding place and shall preserve me from trouble. That didn't mean anyone would ever have any more troubles. David had plenty of troubles, but the Lord preserved him in the midst of them. The Lord gave him the strength. We sometimes pray, Lord, remove the thorn in the flesh! Lord, it's painful! I don't want to bear it! But his answer is, My grace is sufficient for me. He has never promised to exempt his people from every rough place in the road and every heartache and every disappointment, but he has promised to go with them. He's promised to take you by the hand. He's promised to bear you up. He's promised that underneath are the everlasting arms. It doesn't matter how low you sink, how heavy your heart may become, underneath are the everlasting arms. And then he says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. David is now saying that after the Lord has so wonderfully dealt with me, love me enough to send his prophet to declare thou art the man, love me enough to break my heart with the sense of my sin, love me enough to forgive me and assure me that he is my hiding place. I'm not going to keep this all to myself. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go." In Psalm 51 he said, "...I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." Wait a minute here, preacher. Do old Baptists believe in sinners being converted? Lord help us if we don't. I'm going to teach transgressions thy ways. I'm going to talk to the erring one. I'm going to talk to the disobedient soul, and sinners shall be converted." He's not talking about the dead being resurrected. He's talking about the sinner. He's talking about that one who is in evil and error being converted in his thinking, repenting, turning around, changing his course of action. How wonderful to find such answers. Now let me ask you. If God has ever blessed you in any measure in the area in which we're talking, oh, I'm sure that many might say, I've never, never, never come close to a sin that was quite so heinous as that committed by David. But even so, sin is sin. If there has been sin in your life and God has dealt with you, And you felt his forgiving grace, and you learned something by the experience. Have you followed the next step to instruct and teach others in the way that they ought to go? You say, well, I couldn't do that, Preacher. I'm not called to preach. I wouldn't know what to say. I feel that there is a responsibility belonging to every member of the church. to instruct and guide and teach others, not in a public way, not in an organized fashion, but on a personal, individual basis. What's it say? Let the older women teach the younger women to be chaste and keepers at home, both by example and word. The older women are to teach the younger women. It's very easy for older women to criticize the younger women and say they're not meeting their standards and they're not handling their children correctly. But what about the older women teaching the younger women? It's very easy. For older brethren sometimes to say these younger brethren don't have the financial responsibility that we had in our generation. What about taking time to teach them how to handle their money? Teach them what some of their responsibilities and obligations in life are. We have a responsibility to reach out and try to help somebody else. Not spend all of our time talking about them, but talk to them. Not spending all of our time criticizing, but trying to help them and lift them up. I will teach them. I will instruct them. I was visiting a home not long ago, and a lady who's been a friend of mine for many years, who was a school teacher, was talking about the challenge of her job. She said, it is really such a burden today to try to function as I think I ought to function in my job. She's teaching high school. She said that it so happens in the class that she has, most of the students are from broken homes. She said, I find that some of them are in homes that are in the process of being broken up. Others are in a situation where The parents they're living with are so busy trying to get their second or third marriage put together, they don't have time to concentrate much attention on the children. And she said, I can see these young people literally starved for attention, wanting somebody to show a little interest in them. And she says, it's a big enough challenge to try to teach the subject matter, but I can't stop with that. She said, I have to reach out to these young people, and I try to let them know that I love them. And she says, I don't hesitate to put my arm around them and tell them once in a while, I love you. And she said, a lot of them will come to my house on weekends and ask me for advice and want to talk to me about their life. She said, recently, she had given them an assignment and asked that they all write on any subject that they wanted. They could pick whatever was on their mind, what wanted them to write. I don't know whether it was a page or two she'd assign, but as the students came into class that day and began to lay their assignments on her desk, she noticed this girl had written eight or nine pages. When she laid it on the desk, she said, teacher, be sure you read my paper. She said, I went on trying to get the class started that day, and in a few minutes this young girl came forward and said, teacher, have you read my paper yet? She said, well, no, I haven't had opportunity yet. I'll get to it. A few more minutes passed. The girl came forward and said, teacher, don't forget, read my paper. She said, I promise, I'll read it before the class is over. And when she had the students at work on some other project, She sat at her desk and read this paper. And this high school girl had said, I'm perplexed about really what to do. I'm not sure right now what's right or wrong. My boyfriend has proposed that we have sex before marriage. He says that all of the young people are doing it today. I asked my real mother what she thought, and she said, if you really like the boy, I don't guess it makes any difference. And she said, teacher, I would just like to know what you think. At the end of the class, she told the girl, I'll write an answer for you and have it for you tomorrow. And she said, I went home and prayed, Lord, help me. to put something down on paper that will help this girl who's looking for guidance. Help me to say it in a way that it might be effective to her." And she said, I wrote a lengthy answer. And I tried from every standpoint to show her what a mistake it would be. I tried to talk about the unwanted pregnancy that might follow, the unhappiness that comes in the life of teenagers today when that situation occurs. I tried to talk about it from a moral standpoint. I talked about it from a financial standpoint. I talked about it from every area, and I did not hesitate to talk about it from a scriptural standpoint. She said, I knew that if somebody cited me to the Board of Education, I might be called on the carpet about trying to teach religion where I shouldn't have. But she said, this girl asked for help. She needed help, and I intended to give it to her. And I cited scriptural references. as to why she ought to keep herself pure for her husband. And the next day I gave it to her. She said it was the weekend and I tried to pray that God would help that girl over the weekend. Monday morning she came in and laid a paper on my desk. I was busy getting the class started In a few minutes she came up and said, teacher, have you read my paper? She said, no, I'll get to it in a minute. She said, you want to read it? It's good news. And she said, I read that paper. And that girl said, thank you, teacher, for giving me the answer I needed. I know what you said is right. And I told my boyfriend over the weekend, It didn't make any difference what everybody else said. I was going to keep myself pure until I, in the bond of marriage, could give myself to my husband. And she said, I feel so good about it. Here was a girl who in her own conscience knew what was right and wrong. She just needed somebody that she had confidence in to say, don't do what everybody else is doing. Her own mother didn't have the courage to give her the right answer. But here was a school teacher that took time out to be more concerned about helping young people than she was about just drawing a paycheck. and gave that young girl the right answer. When this sister told me that experience, I said, I'm sure that the burden you're carrying in your job is heavy, but don't quit teaching school. We need some more teachers like you. We need some more today who are willing to reach out in love and kindness and pride to assist and guide You never know how many opportunities we may have all about us, some of which we've ignored. We haven't taken the opportunity because we may say, well, I'm afraid to interfere. I'm afraid to express my opinion. I'm afraid I'll hurt somebody's feelings. I'm afraid I'll offend them, or I wouldn't know just how to say it. That's nothing but an excuse. If God has blessed you by his grace with the hope of eternal life, blessed you with the basic understanding of his glorious gospel, blessed you to understand the principles that are in his word, you have numerous opportunities where you can share with others around you in life some of the things that he's blessed you to see and to know. David said, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine eye. about being guided with the eye of the Lord, and while that's true, I think when you look at the text here, it's not talking about the Lord guiding us with his eye. David's talking about guiding another individual with his eye. I'm going to keep my eye on you. I'm going to instruct you, and then I'm going to watch out for you. I'm going to be there as your brother. I am my brother's keeper. I'm going to be concerned about where you go. I'm going to be concerned about what you say. I'm going to be concerned about what you do. I'm watching after you. And there are some parents today that need to take that to heart because there are young people that try to intimidate their parents by saying, you're watching me too close. Nobody else's parents are watching that close. Why do I have to be in so early? Nobody else does. What difference does it make? Why? Why is it always me? Why am I the first one to have to be home in the evening? Why do other people laugh at me? I've got to be home early and they can just stay out any old time. My friends, this is God's Word. David said, I'll guide thee with mine eye. I'm going to look out for you. I'm going to be watching what you do and where you go. I'm going to give you some direction. I'm going to give you some solid counsel. There's a crying need for that in this country today. What a solemn responsibility to be a parent. Try the best we can. to give our young people the instruction and the guidance that's so necessary and yet being opposed on every hand. Sometimes we're not so fortunate for our young people to have a teacher like the one I described. For there are teachers that are giving just the opposite advice. Talked to a college student a few days ago and he said, our professor has told us in the classroom We're living in a new day. Don't be hindered by the shackles of religion that your parents have imposed on you. Remember, the only day you have is today, so whatever you want to do, do it. Now, that's what some of our young people are facing. If they're facing that, my friends, out in the world, where are they going to get the sound advice and counsel that they need if we don't give it to them? It's first and primarily the responsibility of parents in the home to teach and guide their children, but all of us in the Lord's Church have a responsibility to reach out to and guide and encourage those young people that are within our borders. I will guide thee with mine eye. Oh, my friends, how wonderful to know that we have a hiding place. In this dark and troubled world in which we're living today, we have a hiding place. I was talking to a young man who'd been on drugs since his early teens. He started because friends said, this is the thing to do. You don't want to be different, you want to be like all the rest of us. Smoking a little pot, they said, never hurt anybody. It's not habit forming, you can control it. No real problem. Make you feel good, make you feel great about yourself. Come on and go with us. And he did. And the thing I've observed in trying to help young people who have been on drugs, that generally speaking, from the time they start, their emotional maturity stops. And I've talked to young people in their 20s who are at the emotional level of one of their early teens. There has been no further maturity and willingness to accept the responsibilities of life as a result of it. And once this young man came to the realization he had gone down the wrong road and he thought all the time, anytime I want to stop, I can. Now he decided he wanted to stop and found out how difficult it really was. And I've seen him sit until the tears just streamed down his face and said, I don't know if I can ever get my life back together. It just seems like my case is hopeless. The harder I try to do right, the more things go wrong. I said, but there is a hiding place. Though you sense and realize your weakness, there's a promise that with every temptation there's a way of escape. There's a hiding place in this wonderful Savior where we can turn in the midst of the trials and adversities of life. Some of you may have suffered terrible heartache because sin has taken its toll on the life of your children or other members of your family and your friends. And you said, I just can't seem to bear it. David said, thou art my hiding place. When we come to the realization that this world in so many respects is not really our home. We're just strangers and pilgrims traveling through. There are so many dark clouds that often hang overhead. There are so many disappointments. There are so many setbacks as a result of sin. How good to know there is a hiding place. And if I speak to one here tonight that feels the weight and burden of sin and you say, Preacher, I need a hiding place. I'm glad to tell you about Jesus. He is the friend of sinners. In seasons of spiritual awakening in this country in years past, there have been times when sainted old elders like Wilson Thompson that labored up in our part of the country, preaching messages concerning sin and its consequence, salvation and its results through Jesus Christ, heard people cry aloud in the audience. and saw people come forward in numbers with tears streaming down their faces to say I need such a hiding place, my hope is in Jesus. But so many times our hearts are as hard as stone at the very principles that concern the redemptive work that's ours through Jesus Christ. But I pray that this evening the Lord will bless us to apply some of these principles And to come to the realization that as heinous and horrible as sin is, as devastating, as terrible as the results, both in time and eternity, that the sin question is not without a solution. Because many years ago, Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross and he dealt with the sin question. He put sin away, separated it as far as the east is from the west. He said, O preacher, I know he did that as far as heaven is concerned, but I'm burdened with it even now. But you know, there were two lessons. in those observances under the mosaic of economy, not only was there that lamb that was slain and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat as Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, died for us and his blood is sprinkled on that mercy seat above, but there also was that little goat that was led in front of the priest, and the priest stood there and put his hands on the head of that little goat. And he stood there and confessed the sins of the people. He didn't just say we're sinners. He confessed sins. Lying, stealing, adultery. He confessed sins. And then a man took that little goat and began to lead it out of the camp. Now think about it. Those people stood there and watched as that priest confessed their sins with his hands on the head of the goat. And then this little goat was led down the road. On he went, and they stood and watched. And he led him out of the camp. And he went farther and farther and farther Way down the road, until they couldn't see him anymore. And he kept going. And he kept going. And he led that goat into what was described as a land not inhabited. And he turned him loose. And that goat was too far away ever to find his way back. My friends, Jesus Christ was our scapegoat. Our sins were laid on him and he carried them into a land not inhabited. They can never be found or laid to our charge anymore. Satan has the accused of the brethren and will sometimes point his finger at us and disturb our rest, but those sins are gone. And when you, by faith, view Jesus Christ not only as the bleeding Lamb, but as the scapegoat that took your sins away, you'll have something to rejoice about. You'll have reason to sing his praise. As horrible as it is, it is not without a solution. Jesus Christ is the answer, because he is the Savior of sinners. May God bless you.