All right, you got your Bibles today? By the way, I read something real interesting. It said if you're worried about dying, you don't have to. You're going to live forever. The question is, where are you going to live forever? Right? That's the problem. Many locations. Now, as we look at Psalm 23, let me talk to you just a little bit about this. We'll pray and ask the Lord to help us. Heavenly Father, we're thankful again that we can come on a Sunday. We're thankful for the freedom we have in this land, and our wonderful pastor you've given to us, and the fellowship we enjoy with one another. And so we ask your blessing on all the classes today. Bless the teachers as they teach. Then be with Pastor Phelps as he brings the message this morning. And Lord, just be a really good day for all of us. So we thank you we can gather here, and we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Psalm 23 verse number four. Psalm 23 and verse number four. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. My rod and my staff, they comfort me. All of us go through valleys. I know something about every one of you. You've either had a valley, you're in a valley, or one's coming next week. But valleys are a part of our lives all the time. Some valleys are pretty pleasant. Sometimes you go into a valley, it's really nice and pleasant, you enjoy the valley, but some valleys are dangerous and dark and dismal and deadly. So whatever valley we find ourselves in, God is there. Isn't that wonderful? Yea, though I walk through the valley, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Now here's what we're going to do today. I was thinking of our lesson for this week, and we've studied some things about suffering, and it comes to all of us. It's a blessing. God uses it to grow us. But I thought it'd be good to go through some verses that I'd like to encourage you to put in your Bible. Many people, when problems come, they'll get their Bible and say, where should I turn? What's the verse for me? So I'm gonna give you some verses today, and on the outline you've got, it's got a whole lot of verses. We'll cover some of those later in our study. But anyway, we're gonna be looking at some of these verses. And when trouble comes, When problems come, when difficulties arise in your life, you ought to have a place you turn to. And I would strongly urge you to put these in the fly leaf of your Bible and have these verses there so that when trouble comes, you say, where is that verse? Where can I find some help? These verses will be a real help to all of you. Now, probably the best known verse is Psalm 23. and verses one to three, where he says, the Lord is my shepherd. David was now king. When he wrote Psalm 23, most of us feel like he was now an old man, looking back on his life and saying, you know, God has really taken good care of me. And he can remember when he was taking care of the sheep, just a lad up on the mountains, and when the prophet came to anoint one of the sons of Jesse, they didn't even include David. And after the prophet had looked over all the boys, God said, none of these, none of these. And he said, send for the youngest, David. He's up there taking care of the sheep. So he remembers that, being anointed to be the next king of Israel. And then he remembers how Saul became king. And Saul turned his back on God, and Goliath was sent. And Goliath challenged the people, all the army back in the tent, scared to death this man named Saul. And Goliath, David said, I'll go fight him. And David became the one who killed the giant. But then also David strayed. Remember that? David committed adultery, but he was restored. Praise the Lord that God is in the restoration business. And that's why all of us are here, because God has restored us. And God is like a good shepherd. That's what Psalm 23 is all about. The Lord is my shepherd. It's very familiar. The unfortunate thing is that we are not very familiar with shepherds. We read about shepherds, but we don't see them. You might pass a shepherd on the way to church. I doubt it, but if you lived in Bible times, there'd be shepherds all over the place and sheep all over the place. And David says, the Lord is my shepherd. And he says, the, that's the first word, the Lord, not just any Lord, not Buddha, not Mohammed, not any of these others, only one Jehovah, the Lord Jehovah. The word Lord in the Bible, in your Bible, is all capital letters. And when they were translating the Bible, that was a key for you to realize that is the word for Jehovah, the eternal self-existent God. I am Jehovah. So the Lord is my shepherd. That's a very important word. You got to be able to say the Lord not just as a shepherd, but he's my shepherd. And I hope all of you can say that. God is my shepherd. My is a possessive word. That means he is for me. And the Lord is my shepherd. Glad that word's in there. Glad it doesn't say the Lord was my shepherd or the Lord will be. But right now the Lord is my Shepherd, the word is is very important. It means yesterday, today, and forever, right now. There was an old preacher one time, he used to preach a famous sermon on the word is. That was his text, is. The Lord is my shepherd. Not that he used to be my shepherd, not that he will be my shepherd, but right now, today, in my circumstance, God is my shepherd. He always has been is, and he always will be is. He is my shepherd. Then the word my. very important word the Lord is my shepherd that's a possessive word personal possessive in fact the word my is found 17 times in psalm 23 17 times he says my My, my. I heard about the ladies. One was a little baby in a crib, and the ladies were looking at this little baby in the crib. One said, oh, that is just the sweetest little baby. That's such a pleasant little baby. That's such a precious little baby. One lady out of all there said, that's my baby. Saying my is the most important thing. I hope you can say he is my shepherd. That's Psalm 23, that's the first verse. You ought to mark it in your Bible, and when you need help, turn to Psalm 23. Here's another one. Another verse is Psalm 32 and verse 8. Psalm 32, 8. If you'll put that, mark it in your Bible, Psalm 32 and verse 8. The Bible says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shouldst go. I will guide you with mine eye. And the word guiding with his eye means my eye is going to be upon you. This is a life verse for many people. Some of you probably picked out a verse to be your life verse, and the life verse is Psalm 32a. I will instruct thee and teach thee which thou shalt go. He is watching every day, 24-7, God's eye is upon us. A preacher friend of mine one time was doing a radio broadcast with a fellow pastor. They went up to the studio, got all settled in, and he was going to have his guest pastor be the preacher. And as they sat down, got all ready, the guest pastor had a, excuse me, had a black eye, a glass eye, not a black eye, had a glass eye. And he pulled out his glass eye, pulled it out, put it on the table right there in front of him. He says, now preacher, I'm going to keep my eye on you the whole time you preach. Well, that's what God does. God doesn't have glass eyes, but God has his eye upon us. In Psalm 23 verse 9, be not as the horse or the mule that must be guided by the bit and the bridle. You know, some people are pretty stubborn people. You know people like that? Don't raise your hand, but you probably know somebody who's a pretty stubborn person and God has to guide them with his eye. Psalm 34, 17, the next verse, Psalm 34, 17, the righteous cry. The Lord heareth and delivereth. Not only does he cry, but he also delivers out of all our troubles, all our anxieties, all our fears. God delivers of everything. If God tells us not to weep, then we don't have to weep. We can rely upon the Lord. How sad it would be How awful it would be to have no one to call. You got a problem? What can you do? You go to the Lord in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? Never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. And thank God there is a place to go. We wish we could escape adversity. All of us wish we could escape trials and problems, but the one good thing about all of that is God is with us. In the midst of the trial, God is there. God promises to be with us. Then the next verse is Psalm 40 and verse 17, Psalm 40, 17. I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me, thou art my help and my deliverer. You are personally on God's mind. Now, I don't know if you've had an occasion to have something on your mind all day long. Maybe it's a child that's away from the Lord, maybe somebody's gone, the husband's gone on a business trip, and somebody's there, but it's on your mind all day long. We had a missionary family visiting our church a few years ago, and they had a little child who had never developed. The little girl was in a wheelchair. The kids pushed her everywhere. She couldn't talk. She couldn't stand. She couldn't walk. And she had some brothers and sisters that really took care of her. They just watched over her like a nanny all the time. They were right there taking care of that little one. Well, that's what God does. God looks after us and takes care of us. The next verse is Psalm 42 and verse eight, Psalm 42, eight. Hope you've got that down. The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. and in the night his song shall be with me. Morning and night. In the morning he is there, and in the night time he is there. Then verse 11, Psalm 42 is a very familiar verse. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. This is a good verse to turn to when you have troubles. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God. The Daily Bread had a very interesting story some years ago, but it was about a popular restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. I doubt that any of you have ever been there, but they said this restaurant in Bangkok has a very famous soup, and it's world famous. In fact, it's recognized all over the world for its most famous soup. It is a soup. they have been working on and using for 45 years. How would you like to have 45-year-old soup? Well, it's won many awards, best restaurant in all of Thailand. And what they do every day, they replenish the soup. So they started that 45 years ago. Every morning, they replenish. If they need carrots, if they need potatoes, if they need meat, whatever, they put all that in that broth. And they've had it for 45 years. If you go there, I hope you'll get some of that good 45-year-old famous soup. And the children of Israel were in the Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Human resources would say, oh, that's a long time. You know, that's not a long time to God. 70 years to God is nothing. It's just a little bit of time. And God is with us all the time. Another verse, Psalm 43 and verse number 2, Psalm 43, 2. But now, but thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, I have redeemed thee. I will call thee by thy name, thou art mine. God promises to be with us all the time. Psalm 43 is another good verse. So if you're keeping track, that'll be another good verse to have in your Bible. When troubles come, you turn to Psalm 43. Then let's go to Isaiah. Isaiah has some wonderful verses for times of trouble. Isaiah 44 and verse 14 through 16. Mount Zion says, the Lord hath forsaken me. My Lord hath forgotten me. In verse 15, can a woman forsake her suckling child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? And the Lord says, I will not forget thee. In verse 14, In many calamities, the Jews were in exile, but God is looking over us. And there was one guy there, I never will forget him, his name was Frank. And Frank had a huge tattoo. This was in the days before tattoos were popular. But he had a huge tattoo all the way down his arm, all the little frilly things. But in the center of it all was the word mom, mom. And even this rough, tough guy, he had mom there. Well, you don't have to tattoo God on your shoulder, or on your arm, or on your hand, but God is there, as close as a tattoo. The next verse is 2 Corinthians 1, 3, and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. When it looks like the Dead Sea is in front of you, remember God has a way through the Red Sea. When your problem is too big, just think of Goliath. When it looks like it's all over, than think of Calvary. God is there all the time. And here's another good verse. My wife brought this to me yesterday and said this was such a blessing to her, 2 Corinthians 12, 9. So here's another verse to turn to in troubled times. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient, not was or will be, is right now. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in mine firmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So there you have some verses. One more I'll give to you, 1 Peter 5, 7. 1 Peter 5, 7. 1 Peter 5, 7, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you, all your cares, you cast them upon him. He cares for you, he cares for your spouse, he cares for your children, he cares for your grandchildren. And the word cast, casting all your care upon him, the word cast was a word that was used for throwing a blanket over a donkey or a horse. If you're gonna ride the horse, you put a blanket down and kind of protect the skin. Well, God says, cast your blanket on me. Be not troubled with thoughts of tomorrow, of duties you surely must do. On the Lord cast your troubles and sorrows. It cares, it cares, or He cares about you. It matters to Him about you. You've heard of the great orphanage in England, and the director of that had on his desk, it matters to him about you. And those are good verses. Now, you got your list? Let's go down through these verses and see what we can find out. First one on the list should be Psalm 3. You got it? Psalm 3. I'll give you a couple of comments if you want to jot them down, Psalm 3. In Psalm 3, David, is fleeing from Absalom. Absalom is going to kill his own father and take over the throne and so David is fleeing and in verse one he says, many are the troubles that rise up against me. Many there be which say there's no help for him in God but thou O Lord are a shield than my glory in the lifter up of my head. David could rejoice in the fact that even though his son was chasing him, planning to kill him, David says, God is my helper. So when everything else fails, God is there. The next Psalm is Psalm number nine, verse 10, Psalm 910. The Lord is a refuge in time of trouble. They that put their trust in him God will lead them. God will never, ever forsake you. If you're a Christian, whatever comes in your life, whatever problems arise, whatever difficulties arise, God says, I will always be there. I'll never leave you. I've told my wife many times, I'm never going to leave you, and if you go, I'm going to go too. I'm going to be there, and I will always be there for you. In Psalm 28, verse 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusteth in him. I'm helped, therefore my heart greatly rejoices. He cries to God, and God is there, and God cares for him. Psalm 33 is another good verse. In verse 20, our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our helper and strength. Now we all wear face masks. I see them today, a lot of you got a face mask. There's an invisible virus. I've never seen the COVID virus have you? I've seen pictures of it in microscopes but I've never seen the COVID virus. It's there though and so we all put a mask on and won't it be great this coming week we get to take them off or no next week pardon me next Tuesday is supposed to be the day to take the mask off in the state of Indiana when the when the psalmist was upset. He said, God is my help and my shield. God is my face mask. Psalm 34, verse four, I sought the Lord. He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. All right. Psalm 42, he brought me up out of a horrible pit. set my feet on the rock and established my going. He put a new song in my mouth. I heard a man preach one time on this. He brought me up, he brought me up, he set me up, and he tuned me up. That's what God does for us. He brought us up, set us up, and tuned us up. Thank you, ma'am. All right, Psalm 42, Psalm 42, another verse to put down on your list, Psalm 42 and verse five. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. When your soul is cast down, when you're discouraged and troubled, one remedy. One remedy, this was, by the way, Psalm 42 was written when the people were in exile, they'd been carried away to Babylon, they were slaves in there, and they longed for the temple, longed for God. Psalm 42 says, why are you cast down? Hope thou in God. The one remedy for being cast down is to hope in the Lord. Psalm 46, another good verse to mark in your Bible, Psalm 46. This, by the way, was the psalm that was the basis for a mighty fortress is our God. Martin Luther wrote that one when he was running from the king and king was out to kill him. And Martin Luther wrote, a mighty fortress is our God. God is our refuge. and strength. Psalm 56 and verse number 3. Psalm 56 and verse 3. David got discouraged one time and by the way David got down. The author of the 23rd Psalm had fits of depression, discouragement, thought he was all alone. He fled to Gath. Now Gath was a city of the Philistines. So here was David, the king of Israel, going to the enemy for protection, and he goes to Gath. Well, the people in Gath said, let's kill this man. He's the captain. He's the ruler. He's the king of all of the Israelites. Let's kill him. And David wrote Psalm 56. What time I'm afraid, I will trust in thee. In God have I put my trust. I will not fear what man can do unto me. Our natural instinct when troubles come is to be full of fear, be full of panic. Be worried about the future. But David says, my soul waits on the Lord. Psalm 62. The next verse is Psalm 145. Psalm 145. The Lord upholdeth all that fall upon him. The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken heart. By the way, Psalm 145 is the last of the Psalms that David wrote. David wrote 73 Psalms. So in your Bible, nearly half the Psalms are by David. And this is the last one that David wrote, Psalm 145. Psalm 147, 147. He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth the wounded. The Lord lifteth up the meek. This was read at the completion of the walls around Jerusalem and was read at that occasion and it became the last psalm of David. Then if we go to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 12 verse 2. Behold, the Lord is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my shield. Have you ever seen a little bashful child and you try to talk to the little child and he runs to his mother, runs to his dad, wraps his arm around mom's leg, wraps his arm around dad's leg, and he's bashful and shy? That's what we ought to do. When trouble comes our way, we run to the Lord, wrap our arms around his leg, he is the God who cares for us. Then Isaiah 26.3, Isaiah 26.3 is another great verse for troubles, that will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts us in thee. You cannot avoid strife. You cannot have a life free from trouble. It's going to come, mild or intense. but trouble is going to come in all of our lives. But the wonderful thing as a Christian is God is with us. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. That is the thing you think about all the time. Then Isaiah 40 and verse 11, here's another good verse. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd and shall gently carry the lambs in his bosom. He shall lead those, God is often pictured as a shepherd, a great shepherd who cares for us. And when we're weary, he's the one that carries us. Another verse, Isaiah 40 and verse 29, 40, 29. He gives power to the faint, And to them that have no strength, He increases strength. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40, 29. Mark that one in your Bible. It'll be there when you need it. Isaiah 41, 10. Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not distressed, for I will strengthen thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Jeremiah was present for the destruction of Jerusalem. So his city was being destroyed and Jeremiah writes these words. 17.9 Jeremiah, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. God says I'll take care of you. Jeremiah 17.9. And then Romans 8 and verse 18. Romans 8 to 18, I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. The writer, of course, Paul wrote Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things work together for them that love God. So these are all verses for your help in time of trouble, in time of need. And I hope you'll mark them in your Bible and keep them there. And the next time trouble comes knocking on your door, You turn to the Word of God, and the Word of God will be a real help in your life. I would encourage you, strongly urge you, to write all these verses, at least the reference in your Bible, and it will be there in your Bible when the time comes that you need the help of God. Any other verses I've missed? Maybe you've got a favorite verse. Any other verses? Anybody? Well, we haven't covered them all, but we've covered a lot of them. And I looked at this list and thought, this is so good. I've got to share it with everybody. We cast our care upon the Lord and he will sustain us. All right, let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're glad for the day. We're glad for your promise to be with us. We're glad for your help and protection all the time. Lord, may we just keep our mind and eyes upon you. And we pray for your blessing on the rest of the day. Again, we pray for pastors he preaches. Give him a message from his heart to speak to our hearts. And we pray your blessing upon the day. In Christ's name, amen.