We turn in the inspired scriptures to Psalm 143. Psalm 143, Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land. Hear me speedily, O Lord, my spirit faileth. Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies, I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake. For thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul out of trouble. and of thy mercy cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul, for I am thy servant. The text to which I call your attention this afternoon is the last part of verse nine. I flee unto thee to hide me. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has mercifully spoken to us in the Psalms. There's hardly an occasion we face a trial that we bear that's not addressed in the Psalms. David, who penned not all, but the majority of the Psalms, was a type of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only as a consequence of his own sin, therefore, which showed that David was only a type and not the king, but because of the Christ whom he represented, David's life was one of great difficulties and trials. In fact, David seems to have faced all human temptations, all forms of persecution, all trials as well as joys, being led by the Spirit in order that he might occupy the place God had given him as that Old Testament type of the king of kings who had yet to come to save us from our sins. It was because Christ lived in David, therefore, being in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, that the Psalms are full of rich instruction for us. and in fact serve as a testimony of our own experience as we express ourselves in these inspired Psalms to our great Redeemer in whom we have life. Today is the last Lord's Day, the last Sunday of another year. How quickly has that year gone by? We have reason to reflect upon many events of this past year. Besides the causes for joy individually, as families and as a congregation, we also realize that our earthly sojourn hasn't been easy. Our earthly sojourn is not easy. It's not ever easy. For some, this past year has been difficult. The trials and sorrows have been many. Some of those trials continue. without any signs of letting up. We confess that the way of the Lord is perfect. Not because we see it with these eyes, but because he has said so. And he has proven what he said. He has shown himself faithful in the history of the church and in our own lives. He's working to accomplish His purpose in us, polishing us, preparing us, purifying us, even as gold is purified by fire. In addition, God leads us in this life in a way that stands connected with the lives of many others. When finally all is made perfect, and we are able to reflect upon the wonder works of God in our lives, we're going to see, and it will amaze us, how what God did in our own lives was intertwined with what he was accomplishing in the lives of those around us. Here we can scarcely see how our sufferings, our trials, have to do with our usefulness to others. and how the trials that we face serve God's purpose in drawing out the expressions of Christ's life and love in those of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. But nothing happens to us in isolation. Nothing happens to us apart from our broader place in the body of Christ. Today, however, as we consider this text and in the context of this psalm, I take into account the broader picture of our lives in the midst of this world. And I do so especially mindful of the fact that we live and our children are growing up in a world rapidly developing in wickedness. Not only has Western civilization, as we have known it, been in a state of decline, but the foundations of Western civilization, with its broader influences of Christianity, have been riddled by the attacks of the evil one, who I am convinced has been loosed. for this last time in which he shall deceive the nations to gather them together to battle. The rapid apostasy in the church world, the advance of Islam into much of Europe, the attacks upon Christianity and Christ's church in various forms, all call to remembrance the perilous times in which we live. We have seen in our own country frightening developments of sin. We've seen those developments politically, economically, culturally. We have reason to wonder about what our own children and grandchildren, if not we ourselves, will have to face in the coming years. And as we look back and we contemplate the relationship of those events to the future, God graciously brings us to His Word to comfort us and to strengthen us anew so that we cry out, as did David the psalmist, unto the Lord our God, I flee unto Thee to hide me. Jehovah is our hiding place. That's the theme of this text this afternoon, our hiding place. And as we contemplate this theme on this last Sunday of the year 2024, we must consider, first of all, the danger we face, secondly, our own weakness, And finally, the confidence we may enjoy. You understand, I trust, that the only reason for you and me to make this confession is that we live with a sense of danger. You realize, too, there have been many who have perished not realizing the danger they face. There could be any number of us, just to use an example, not knowing the symptoms of deadly diseases, whether cancer or strokes or heart ailments, who ignore those symptoms to our own peril. not realizing the danger that even comes to expression in our bodies. That's possible. Many there have been who have been traveling and who were sailing down the highway on dry pavement, not realizing they were soon to hit a stretch of road that had been coated by freezing rain. Some of our children who have studied the history of the Titanic remember how that great ship, supposedly unsinkable, sailed into the unknown danger of that field of iceberg, and of that one iceberg in particular that would doom her to destruction. taking down 1,490 lives with her. Many have perished not realizing the danger they were in. We speak now of death in a physical sense, and dangers that have physical consequences. But there's another aspect of life. Multitudes eat and drink, marry and are given in marriage, even as in the days of Noah, until the flood came and took them all away. So Jesus warns us in Matthew 24. There are multitudes who ignore the danger of the eternal wrath of God. Some, as I reflected upon in my introduction, do so in blatant opposition to the Lord of hosts. They're enemies of God and His church, who have no regard for the things of God, no concern about life everlasting. But depending on where you live, and that would be the case in our own communities, those aren't the majority. We're surrounded by those who lay claim to being children of God. Some indeed are ignorant of God's truth. They have very little understanding of the treasures of the gospel, of fellowship with God and the joy of His covenant. Instead, being blown around with every wind of doctrine, not being taught the Word of God faithfully. They belong to churches apostatizing from the faith with mind-boggling speed. People not realizing the danger of the situation they are in. They might acknowledge that they're sinners, But if that be true, they're quite content with their own spiritual state, their own righteousness, what they perceive to be their own spiritual strength. They live hand in hand with the world. Oblivious to the fact that they're being swept along with the world like a little rowboat on a river leading to the gigantic waterfalls. Without regard to their spiritual lives. They eat and drink, marry and are given in marriage, work and carry out their business in this world as if that's all there is. They would probably listen to any superstition that promises them a sense of peace, that makes them feel good. What's your perspective of life? You see, many find God's word of truth too restrictive, too unsettling. They prefer to remain oblivious to their spiritual danger and the well-nigh certain destruction of their generations. People of God, Scripture reminds us repeatedly of the peril that surrounds us. It warns us that we are engaged in a spiritual warfare. And that not merely against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Yes, even against spiritual wickedness in high places. It reminds us that the prince of this world is Satan. whose name means adversary and who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And the Bible tells us that we are evil born in sin. He cautions us to review very carefully our way of thinking. and our relationship to this world in which we live. Because after all, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Jeremiah 17, verse seven. There are times, people of God, when we play with sin as it were. even as a child might play with fire, disregarding the danger. We tell our children, never play with fire. Jesus taught his disciples, pray that she enter not into temptation. And yet, there's a fatal attraction by our sinful flesh toward the temptations that are particularly appealing to our own personal weaknesses. Our creed, the canons of Dort, recognizing the danger that every one of us faces even from day to day, points in the second article of the fifth head of doctrine to the sin that cleaves to us, reminding us of the reason to humble ourselves before God and to fly for refuge to Christ crucified and to mortify the flesh more and more by the spirit of prayer and by holy exercises of piety. You see, we cannot pray that we enter not into temptation while at the same time we continue to play with fire and put ourselves in ways that apart from God's grace will lead to our downfall. Then we make plain that we don't mean what we pray. So that even though the form of danger that David faced differed somewhat from the form that we face today, the fact is we face the same danger and with the same weaknesses of body and soul. We look back over the developments of this past year, this past decade, our own lives. We see the signs of Christ's return opening before our very eyes. And we must realize, people of God, we cannot stand in our own strength, even for a moment, We plead that God enter not into judgment with us. That's what David prayed in verse two of Psalm 143. For in thy sight shall no man living be justified. We pray, in other words, that we be kept in Christ, in whom alone we are justified. And let me remind you that the worst danger of all to our spiritual lives are the dangers not so readily perceived. That's why watchfulness must accompany our prayers. It's one thing to deal with the arrows that flyeth by day, to use the language of Psalm 91. We see that enemy. We can watch the arrows fly. It's quite another thing to deal with the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Perhaps we think that we do well avoiding those public gross sins that bring deepest shame? But what about that silence sliding away of the heart from Christ? That decline of what ought to be our first love? The persons who are in the greatest danger are those who think that they're strong. Witness Peter. the fall of Peter recorded for our example. That's why we need repeatedly to be reminded in the preaching of the danger that surrounds us and of our own spiritual weakness and dependence upon the grace of our Redeemer, the importance of our faith in Christ, And that brings us to the second noteworthy consideration in the confession that we make when we join David here. To confess before God, I flee unto thee to hide me, is also to confess our own weakness. Even as gifted as he was, David knew that he had absolutely no ability to fight victoriously the Lord's battles in his own strength. From the time he fought the giant Goliath, David knew that his strength was only in the Lord. appalled at the danger Israel faced from an enemy who openly defied the living God? David knew that his was the calling to take a stand for God's cause. And when King Saul initially objected to David's plan to fight with that great warrior Goliath, David answered him, as we read in 1 Samuel 17, verse 37, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. David's strength was in Jehovah his God. There were times, however, when David forgot that. Though he had it straight from his youth, having been faithfully taught the things of God, having learned his dependence upon God, even so, there were times when he didn't think so clearly. When his sinful flesh and desires clouded the issue. There were times in David's life when he tried to go it on his own, and the results were always disastrous. But in the wondrous ways of God, David, with all his strengths pointing us to Christ the true King yet to come, and with all his faults serving as a mirror into our own natures and lives, he could write the Psalms under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an expression of our own spiritual struggles. There are times in our lives when we forget what we're about. When we fail to realize the tremendous power of sin and of our own sin. There are times when we neglect to live in the awareness of that danger thinking that we're doing well enough on our own. So we might say, for example, I'm strong enough to handle those television programs, those movies. I see the low moral standard, the portrayal of every form of fornication, The blasphemous portrayal of God, the abuse of His name, I see that. I see the way they make fun of marriage as God ordained it. But I wouldn't think of committing those sins. Another might say, I can handle seeing the female form in all its beauty. in those porn sites on the web, having appreciation for the female form that God created. Because I would never commit fornication. That's committing fornication. Or one might say, It's just a little poker with the guys. It's only a small sum of money. I would never become a gambler. I'm not a big enough fool for that. How subtly the devil would sow his deception in our own evil hearts. There is no one so foolish as the one who thinks he's not as other men are. Beloved, we are all pitifully weak. And though we have David and many other saints in the scriptures to remind us that even the holiest men, when left to themselves, are certain to fall, We don't even need that reminder, if only we look at ourselves. Our own sins, our past failures and falls are a masterful teacher. We are sinners saved only by grace. And we are strong in the battle, only as the blessed Spirit of Christ sanctifies us and gives us that strength. But blessed be God, as we stand at the close of another year, surrounded by danger and aware of our own spiritual weaknesses, we're also taught that in our weakness lies our strength. The Apostle Paul was taught the same lesson and spoke about it in 2 Corinthians 12. There was given him a thorn in the flesh. We aren't told what that thorn was. But one of Satan's devils used it to torment Paul for some time. The apostle pleaded with God to remove that thorn. He must have wondered if he could go on while bearing such a burden. But the response of the Lord was this, my grace is sufficient for thee. for my strength is made perfect in weakness. We have to be reminded of that too. Even in the face of great opposition, though all hell rage against us, we stand amid the danger not in our own strength, but in the strength of Christ, who now stands as the fulfillment of David's type, King of kings and Lord of lords." God mercifully taught the Apostle where he must find his strength. God taught David the same. You see, both those men were what we would consider big men. Both of them were given tremendously influential positions in God's kingdom. And because they were also sinful men, they were in danger of being consumed by that sinful pride that endangers every single one of us. When we are not conscious of our weakness, when we rather dare think too highly of ourselves, we become daring and presumptuous. We start playing with fire, being carried away with the imaginations of our own deceitful hearts and carnal desires. We become worldly. even walking right up to the mouth of that great furnace of sin that has been stoked seven times hotter than a man can survive. And that's when God takes us down, if we are His. But beloved, before you fall so far, hear this Word of God. The Lord aims the arrows of His Word to the very heart of your supposed strength to make you realize you are less than the least of all saints. And He does so that you might say with David, Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. Deliver me, O Jehovah, from my enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me. As we close out this year, may that be your confession. because then we can finish out this year and begin a new year in a safe place. The confidence we may enjoy in our hiding place is the confidence of belonging to our faithful Savior. The psalmist speaks of Jehovah as his hiding place, his protection and his safety from the dangers. the one who is our hiding place, is God Himself, the great God who made the heavens and the earth, who upholds and governs all things. To use the language of our Belgic confession, Article 13, which summarizes the Bible's teaching concerning God's sovereign rule over all things. His power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible that he orders and executes his work in the most excellent and just manner. Even then, when devils and wicked men act unjustly, What developments in the world around us shall shake us to the foundation when we lay hold of this truth? God is at work, even by the hand of devils and wicked men. God is accomplishing His purpose in your salvation and mine, and that of His whole church, and nothing can stop Him or even slow Him down when it comes to His divine work. And as to what He does surpassing human understanding, We will not curiously inquire into farther than our capacity will admit of, but with the greatest humility and reverence, adore the righteous judgments of God, which are hid from us, contenting ourselves that we are disciples of Christ, to learn only those things which he has revealed to us in his word, without transgressing those limits. This doctrine affords us unspeakable consolation, since we are taught thereby that nothing can befall us by chance, but by the direction of our most gracious and heavenly Father, who watches over us with a paternal care, keeping all creatures so under His power that not a hair of our head, for they are all numbered, nor a sparrow can fall to the ground without the will of our Father, in whom we do entirely trust, being persuaded that He so restrains the devil and all our enemies that without His will and permission, they cannot hurt us. If we find shelter in Him, beloved, What a perfect shelter that must be. But there's only one way that we can hide ourselves in God, and that's in the way of knowing Him as Jehovah. Only in Jesus, Jehovah salvation, Can a sinner like you and me flee for refuge to the only God? After all, He's almighty. Just and holy is His name. We cannot flee for safety to the arms of an enemy. Psalm 5, verse 5 reminds us of His majestic holiness. The foolish shall not stand in his sight. He hates all workers of iniquity. But when you see him as did the psalmist, when you look upon him as Jehovah, unchangeably faithful to his covenant, whose joy it is to save a people in Christ, when you see Him in the face of Jesus Christ as the God of your salvation, you have in Him a refuge. A sure refuge. He sent His Son, Jesus, to save His people from their sins. The just and holy God delights to see sinners hidden in Christ. Christ who made full and complete satisfaction for their guilt and sin and whose righteousness now clothes them. For they are His. As you look back, therefore, at the unfolding of events foretell us of even much more difficult times ahead. May this confession of the psalmist, your confession, be also your constant joy. We have a hiding place. We have been kept in this past year. We've been kept. by our faithful Father. We've been kept in His hiding place. And that hiding place is in the arms of our Redeemer, the God of our salvation. When you are in Christ Jesus, you are fully reconciled unto God so that you are safe forever. Whether pursued by sin or by trouble of any kind, by the hosts of Satan, by the rulers of darkness, the darkness of this world, nothing can separate you from His love. Nothing. Jehovah is faithful. That belongs to the very essence of His name. He who has established His covenant with us, His people in Christ, maintains it faithfully, changelessly, forever. Live in that joy, beloved. Rejoice in the Lord with that confidence And then looking back over the dangers of this past year and the trials and sorrows and seeing Jehovah's faithfulness once again, you may go forward in a hope that endures. Amen. Heavenly Father, We thank Thee for Thy great faithfulness. We thank Thee for Jesus, our Savior, in whose arms we are held in the shelter of Thy love now and forever. We thank Thee for the gospel of our salvation, for the glory of Thy grace, we thank Thee for Jesus' sake. Amen.