Psalm 85 verses 1 through 8, if you'll follow along as I read these verses, if you're in the home there, we ask that you take your Bibles out, treat this like a church service. You know, in church service we wouldn't use a cell phone, we wouldn't be laughing, there would be a lot of things that we would understand that In a church service, God wants our attention, and I believe that God wants your attention. If you're part of this service tonight, and you're in a home, He wants your full attention as the Word of God is declared. Psalm 85, verse number 1, the Bible says, Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Thou hast covered their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God, of our salvation. and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. For he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to folly. I want you to understand a few things here tonight. As we continue the series of daily choices on difficult days, we have preached a number of truths from the Psalms in this series. We have preached the truth that I will trust God on difficult days. Little did I know that when we started this series it would carry through a time that we are facing as a people today. But that choice still pleases God every day. And it's a simple choice. And it's a choice that every Christian can make. I will trust. We learn, secondly, that I will testify. Boy, is it ever a needful day for Christians to testify of God and His goodness and His faithfulness to us. And we can do that on difficult days. We can do that. We can testify of God's goodness to our children and to our neighbors. and to relatives, maybe even lost relatives, we can testify, I will testify. Thirdly, I will sing, I will sing. The psalmist over and over during difficult days said this, Lord, I may not be able to do a whole lot else today, but I can do this. I will sing praises unto you. You know what? God enjoys hearing a joyful noise. He's not so worried about whether you're hitting the perfect pitch on the hymn. He's looking at the heart that it's coming from. And we ought to be singing to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. I will sing, a third choice. I will walk in my integrity, the psalmist said. In difficult days, I can still walk right. I can still walk uprightly. I can still live a transparent life, open before God and before others. Listen, God wants us to walk that way, and you can make that choice. Fifthly, I will cry unto the Lord. Oh, what do I do on these days, preacher? I'll tell you one thing you do. You wake up every day and you cry to God about your needs. The psalmist over and over again said, I will cry. Sixthly, we learned last week, I will hope. I will hope. My confidence in God does not need to be shaken. God hasn't changed. All the works of God are true. God has taken care of his people. We see that throughout the scripture. There have been remnants that God has brought through great and difficult times. And God does the same for us today, but I will hope in Him continually. And these are six choices. Tonight I want to take you to a seventh choice, a daily choice for difficult days. That choice is, I will hear I will hear. If you did a Strong's Concordance search or you got on a computer program and you search the word hear in the book of Psalms, you would find that word 55 times in your King James Bible. Now what's interesting of those 55 times is this, 53 of them are the psalmist asking God to hear him or to hear us. Two of them is the psalmist saying I will hear or cause me to hear. Now it's interesting to me folks, we want God to hear every request we bring to him, don't we? And we have confidence that he does. By the way, if I don't regard iniquity in my heart, he does. But we want God to hear. We, God, listen to these requests today. Lord, please meet these needs in my life, but in others' lives that we're praying for. We like God to listen and to hear us when we cry out to Him. But did you ever think about this truth? God likes to be heard. God likes you to hear Him. You ever been in a family gathering? Sometimes we have this happen where everyone is festive and talking at the same time, and you're trying to listen to multiple conversations at the same time, and as you're trying to do that, you end up not being able to listen to anything. You're trying to listen to this conversation, you're trying to listen to this conversation, and you get bits and pieces, but you really don't hear much at all. Would you consider this thought that God's trying to talk sometimes to us? and we're listening over here, and we're listening over here, and we're really not giving God full attention. Brethren, I believe one of the reasons why we are going through this time, at least for believers, is that God slows us down to hear Him, to hear Him. Alexander McLaren noted about this passage, the book of Nehemiah supplies precisely such a background as fits the psalm. A part of the nation had returned from Babylon, indeed, but to a ruined city, a fallen temple, and a mourning land, where they were surrounded by jealous and powerful enemies. That is the background or the setting of Psalm 85. In fact, if you see verse number one, this passage you'll find that the psalmist says thou has been favorable unto thy land thou has brought back the captivity of Jacob or in other words they were set free after 70 years of captivity after 70 years of bondage the psalmist here is rejoicing and saying God you've been gracious to return the people to the land but if you know the book of Nehemiah well you know that when Nehemiah came upon the city the walls were destroyed. The city had no protection. It was full of rubble. Undergrowth had taken place for 70 years. The enemy had its way upon the city of Jerusalem. The temple was a heap of runes. Seventy years had passed. Some of Israel is now back. Many were lost in the captivity. But the psalm is written with that background. You see, in this psalm, there is certainly a part of it that points to gladness, but there's another part of it that points to gloom. I want you to see verses 1 through 3. The psalmist has some things to rejoice about. Thank God for that. That's been favorable. Hey, you brought the people back, Lord, in verse number one. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sin. All their sin has been covered. Oh, that's something to rejoice in. Having a hard time finding something to rejoice in tonight? Hey, God forgives. And when He forgives, He forgives completely. Verse number three, thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Thus turn thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Oh God's done some amazing things in mercy and grace that he's shown towards his people But look at the prayer in verse number four It's as though the psalmist knows that not everything's right in Jerusalem He says turn us Oh God of our salvation And cause thine anger toward us to cease What he's saying here, folks, is that the people had yet to really fully repent. They were back, but there was more turning that needed to take place in their lives. And the psalmist says, please turn us, God. Verse number five, wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again? that thy people may rejoice in thee. Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. After praying these things before the Lord, a time of gladness and prayer, but also a time of gloom, a time of understanding where things are still at, the psalmist says, I will hear what God the Lord will speak. He prayed and then he heard. Brethren, I want to remind you tonight that we have a responsibility to hear God. The psalmist in a difficult day prayed and then he said, Lord, I will hear now what you have to say to me. Brethren, is it possible that we talk too much to God and don't allow God to talk to us? Is it possible that we cast all of our cares upon Him? We load Him full of our burdens, but we don't allow Him to talk to us. The psalmist said, I will hear. Our responsibility is to hear. In Deuteronomy 6, verse number four, the Bible says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Did you know that there's a lot that God wants to talk to you and I about? Did you ever think about this? God's got things on His mind. about you and about me. Maybe he wants to talk to you about salvation in this time, right now, tonight. Maybe he wants to talk to you about getting saved and confessing your sins and believing that Jesus Christ is the only payment. Maybe he wants to talk to you about your faith, maybe little faith. Maybe you feel like you're fainting in the day of adversity and your strength is small. Maybe God wants to talk to you about that. Maybe God wants to talk to you about sacrifice or sin or folly in your life. I will say this, I know God wants to talk to you. And I know God wants to talk to me. Maybe he wants to talk to you about your family, your direction, where you're going in life, your thoughts, what you're thinking. where you're slipping. Maybe He wants to warn you and give you a reproof, warn you about a danger. But I do know this, I don't know what God wants to talk to you about, but I know what God wants to talk to you. And I know God wants to talk to me. You ever found a child to have selective hearing? You know what that is, parents, right? That's when they hear what they want to hear. You know, they hear what they like, and they discard what they don't like. Sometimes we're like that with God. Selective hearing. Boy, preacher, I like those messages on comfort. Those are really helpful to me. Boy, God, thank you, Lord, for the encouragement and the edification. But a warning? Nah, don't need to give much attention to that. You know what? We need to listen to everything that God talks to us about in His Word. Sometimes we have selective hearing remember the Bible says wherefore my beloved brethren, but every man be swift to hear swift to hear Remember what Eli gave Samuel as a piece of advice? Samuel was a little bit confused. He wasn't sure what he was hearing and he said when you hear that voice Samuel he said speak Lord This is what you're to say to the Lord speak Lord for thy servant is heareth some gentlemen in our church that are laid off tonight. A week ago you were working. Things have changed. I want to encourage you tonight, gentlemen, in your home to say, speak, Lord. I'm listening. Lord, I want to hear from you. I need to hear from you in these days. I will hear, Lord. I will open my ears to your voice. Question tonight how many times? Does God have to say the same thing to you before you get it or before you understand it Hearing and understanding means I take and I live it or I obey it You know oftentimes when a little child doesn't do what they're told to do the first time mom or dad raises their voice and they try to get that child's attention to do what they're supposed to do and By the way, parents, using the rod of correction will do a lot better than repeating yourself a hundred times with your children. But a lot of times we do that over and over again to get them to hear us. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Would you hear Him the first time? Would you hear Him the first time? Some need to be baptized. Would you hear Him the first time? The first time that you hear, man, I'm saved and I need to be baptized? Oh, I'll do that. Would you hear an understanding? It is our responsibility to hear. May I say this, Christians who are strong and unwavering in the storms of life are Christians who have been hearing and doing. You know the passage well, Matthew chapter 7 verses 24 through 27. Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which buildeth his house upon a rock, The rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon the house and it fell not for it was founded upon the rock That's true of the person that heareth God's Word and does it That person is a rock in the storm But he that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not That person is like a foolish man Built his house on the sand and the rain descended and the floods Came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it you say preacher How do I become strong in a storm? You become strong in a storm by saying God. I will hear you and I will follow what you say That's how you become strong in a storm. You become a wise man The scripture says, brethren, I think a great focus in your life right now is this focus every day, Lord, I will hear. Lord, I'll open your word today and I want to hear from you. Lord, no other voices. I put headphones on, so to speak. I'm not going to listen to anybody else's voices. Lord, your voice, your voice in my life matters. I will hear. Let there be our responsibility to hear, our readiness to hear, as Samuel said. By the way, in Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse number one, the Bible says, keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools. When we meet together and the word of God is given, we ought to be ready to hear. We ought to be eager. We ought to be hungry. God, speak to me in my life. Make me ready to hear. The Bible says they were with readiness of mind in Acts chapter 17 to get the Word of God. Boy, they searched it daily, whether those things were so. They wanted to hear from God. Question, in these times I wonder if God is stirring something up in you to hunger after His Word, to say, I've got to have this in these days. Oh, I pray that's true for your life. A daily choice for difficult days, as I will hear. Do you understand that he that is of God, heareth God's words? John 8, verse number 47. You therefore hear them not, because you are not of God. My friend, if you are disinterested in the word of God, you don't care about hearing God's words. It is a mark of a Christian, that he hears God's words. Jesus put the same truth in a different vernacular in John chapter 10, he said this, my sheep hear my voice. One of the things true about God's sheep, that's his children, that's born again believers, is they know where to tune into. They hear his voice. If you're sitting at home tonight and you have no interest in the word, there is something seriously wrong with you spiritually. because God's people, they are interested in hearing God's words. Lastly, I close with this, our reward for hearing. So our responsibility, number one. Number two, if you're taking notes tonight, not only our responsibility, but our readiness to hear. And thirdly, our reward for hearing. Here the psalmist said this, I will hear what the Lord will speak. Watch this. For he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints. What was the result of the decision of the psalmist? I will hear, we mentioned this in another message a few weeks ago, followed by he will. I will, he will. I will wait to hear from God and here's what God's going to speak. I, for he will speak peace unto his people." When we believe that God hears us, it is but natural that we should be eager to hear him. And one of the things that God brings about when we talk to him and then we wait to hear from him is answers. Answers. Thank God for answers. The psalmist was confident that God would speak and he would speak peace to his humble people. I want to encourage you tonight that we, when we take time to hear, God takes time to answer. We take time to hear. We pray and then we take time to hear. We wait on God's answers. Secondly, I want you to understand there's another blessing that comes from hearing and that is faith. You know, for all Christians today, our faith is being tested. It's tested. What I mean by that is this. We believe God. We believe in who God is. We believe God's all powerful. But not all the circumstances add up to that. So do we lose our faith? Is our faith shaken? Is our faith weakened? What's going to build our faith? Hearing, hearing. That's why you need to hear from him every day. Because your faith needs strengthened every day. And it comes by hearing. Not hearing the news. That's not gonna build my faith. But hearing from God. Not hearing the troubles. Not hearing that the shelves were empty today when I went grocery shopping. but hearing from God. Faith is built by hearing God's word. Very, very important. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates and waiting at the post of my doors. I want you to understand tonight, God says, blessed is the man that heareth me. Of course, wisdom is personified in Christ here in Psalms chapter, or Proverbs chapter number eight. But he says, blessed is the man Happy is the man. Happy is the man that heareth from God. You know what you ought to get all excited about tomorrow, Christian? Not that the stimulus package rolls out another $2 trillion. But you know what you ought to be more excited about than that? You ought to be more excited that God spoke to me. I was in the Word of God, or I was in the message last night, and God gave me something in my life. God spoke to me. Boy, He revealed something that needed to be confessed, and I found freedom in it. Or God gave me an encouragement. Or God challenged me and helped me to avoid a danger in my life. Or He strengthened my faith. God spoke to me. That's something to be happy about. So, as we close tonight, I want to encourage you. I want to urge you to hear from God. I want to urge you to pray as the psalmist prayed. Pray for revival in America. Pray tonight that He would turn us as the psalmist prayed. Brother, those are fervent prayers. I'm not praying for revival and saying, God, well, if you do it or not, it really doesn't matter to me. I don't think the psalmist was praying that way. He prayed, Lord, be merciful unto us. Dear God, would you take your anger, would you cause your anger to cease? But then after all that, he said, Lord, I will hear. Dear Christian, difficult days, they are. But there are daily choices and difficult days that we can make that we know please God. This is one of them. I will hear.