get there and we'll say the Hebrew alphabet up to the letter for tonight, which is Yod. Easy to remember, Yod. Notice the little symbols that represent each letter. If your Bible has that, there is, let's see if we can say it together, Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Hey, wah, heyth, tayth, yode. Now, yode is where we're at tonight. Yode is a very interesting little letter. You remember with each letter of the alphabet, there's eight verses of scripture that follow it, with the starting of each one of those verses with that particular letter. So with Yod, you have verses 73 all the way down to verse 80, starting with the letter Yod. Now, Jesus mentioned this letter. Notice what it says. You can just listen to this verse. You don't need to turn there. Over in Matthew chapter 5 and down in verse 18, Jesus said, For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. The jot is what you would call the yod. It kind of looks like a little comma, just a little That's one of the smallest letters besides the tittle. The tittle is even smaller than the yod. So I want you to notice here that the Word of God is inspired right down to the letters. I find that very fascinating that God is emphasizing even the letter. In Psalm 119 and verses 73 through 80, what we find is God's hand at work as the psalmist emphasizes his hand. Then he emphasizes God's heart. Now anytime you see a body part likened to what how God works. That's what is called a big old word. It's called anthropomorphism. Now anthropomorphism is giving a characteristic to God whereby we can understand or relate to better. God is a spirit, therefore there's not necessarily hands. He's spirit. Listen to what the Word of God says in verse 73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. Now let's pause there, because this is something that I brought out, I think it was this past week. I don't remember which message it was, but it's something I'm going to bring out tonight, but it's something I'm going to bring out also Friday, because it's been kind of right down the line of where I'm studying and a lot of different messages. Here the psalmist acknowledges that God has made him. and fashioned him. Now go back to the book of Genesis, all the way back to the book of Beginnings. In Genesis chapter 1, I want you to notice in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved or hovered above the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. God saw the light, that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning was the first day. In verse 6 it says, And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. So go to the third day. God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas. And God saw that it was good. God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, the fruit tree, fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, an herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind. And God saw that it was good, and the evening and the morning was the first day. I want you to notice what all God has done. He's laying the foundation as He's creating the world. He created the universe, but here He's highlighting the earth. And He's making it... He's starting with the foundation, just like any builder would. If he's building something, he starts with the foundation. Everything he makes is good. And when he makes, notice the trees and the herbs and the grass. When he makes that, everything is fully mature. In other words, God's making it a place of habitation. And he's making it for man. As God speaks, these things happen. It says in verse 14, and God said, in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night. Let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. Let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser night to rule the night. He made the stars also. This is mind-boggling. Ponder this for a moment. God's made the earth. He's made the land. He's made the seas. He has made the fruit tree. Boom! Fruits already on it. The grass, the herb yielding seed. Boom! Fully mature. The tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind. And then all of a sudden, God puts a spotlight on it. Here's God's creation, and God throws light on his creation. Here's the earth. He shines upon what he has done. Wow. He's showcasing it. Boom. In the fifth day, the Word of God says in verse 20, God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life and fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves which the waters bring forth abundantly after their kind, every winged fowl after his kind, and God saw that it was good. How did God do that? Let the waters bring forth abundantly." You know, God spoke and it was. This is powerful. God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth, and the heathen in the morning were the fifth day." What's so fascinating, there's so many different kinds of sea creatures. There are things that you haven't even seen before in the sea. You know what? There are depths in the oceans. Once you go past a mile deep in the ocean, it's dark and it's cold. And man can't go that far down. He can only go so far. There are things that live in the dark that only God knows that He created for His glory. Very fascinating. You get out there and start googling some things in the ocean that you ain't never seen before, you'll be thinking, wow, that's pretty fascinating. We've seen a lot of things, but we sure haven't seen everything. And we can see more things, but you know what? There's always more to that more. God has spoken all these things into existence. By the time you get to the sixth day, what you have is the cattle and the living creature on land, and you have mankind created. But God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature, and his kind, and cattle, and creatures, and things, and beasts of the earth. God spoke. Boom, it was. But if you go to verse 26, what God says, He says, let us make man in our image. after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Now skip down to chapter 2 and look in verse 7. Chapter 2 and verse 7 says, And the Lord God formed the man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils. And what happened? The man became a living soul. All creation, God spoke and it was good. Man, God took some clay. He shaped that man. He formed that man. You ever made something with your hands? You know what? If you make something, if it's handcrafted and you've done it, you know what? You kind of like that. You know, if it's just store-bought, machine-made. Handcrafted seems to be better, right? How much more so God handcrafted man, made him and fashioned him. He didn't speak him into being. He did breathe the breath of life into him. But God fashioned man. Here, the psalmist, I believe, is alluding to that in the book of beginnings. In Genesis, he says, your hands have made me and fashioned me. President Trump made a comment. I can't remember exactly word-for-word what he said, but he said something like, every child and baby born in this world is created by God and life is precious. You know what? That's a statement and a half. Everybody in this congregation, you know what? You are specially made by God. You are unique. Every person born into this world and every person that's born and even dies, even at an early age, is special in God's sight because God made man after his own image. You, listen to me, are one of a kind. Brother Wayne, there ain't another. You know, you have the two strands of DNA and they match up, you know, and cause when they split off then the cells replicate and they're exactly the same. But there is nobody's DNA exactly just like another person. You can have a kind of somebody, you ever run into somebody that looked kind of like you? I did one time, thought about it, had a heart attack because I thought the guy was ugly, I'm going to have to pray for him. Actually, I saw him in a conference, he was a little bit bigger than I was, and I saw him like two rooms down and I'm looking and I'm going like, I've been up too long or something, something's wrong. But you know, no matter, if you see somebody that's kind of very similar to you, or even if you were identical twins, You're not identical in every way. You've got your own personality. You've got your own emotions, your own way of thinking. Nobody is exactly like another person because God has created us so different from one another. He is a creative designer. If you look at all creation, our problem is we don't look at all creation like we ought to. One of the things I'm going to highlight at the conference is, there's going to be many things, I don't think I'm going to be able to get it all in there, but just, I've been looking at birds. Birds are fascinating if you take the time to think about it. The nightingale is the one bird that has the most songs in its repertoire. You know how many songs is in the repertoire of a nightingale? 300 to 700. And before they change their repertoire, they usually go through about 70 songs before they change their repertoire. I mean, they've got perfect sound. Birds, they mimic each other. Sometimes they do duets with each other. That's usually when they're mating. It's fascinating. Sometimes they're antiphonal. It's remarkable how God has made the individual creatures. I've got to work when I'm walking my dog. I'm listening to birds in the neighborhood now. Sometimes birds have two vocal I can't even remember what it's called. But they got two places where they can vocalize. So they can speak in two voices singing at one time. And sometimes, I mean, they go up to like 30 notes within a second. I'm like, you know what? We're to make much of God. And here's what the psalmist is saying. God, you made me. You fashion me. Do you stand in awe of God sometimes just looking out at creation? Sometimes we need to put phones down, just sit down and stop and smell the roses and look around because God's fingerprints are all over his creation. And it's amazing what God has done. Nobody has the same makeup You might have the same makeup if you go to the store. I'm not talking about that makeup. I'm talking about how God's made you. Nobody thinks the same, has the same thoughts, nobody has the same decisions. You know what? You've got a lot of similarities sometimes between certain people, but nobody is identical one to another. So what the psalmist says in verse 1, I ain't going to get past verse 1 if I don't move on, am I? He says, give me understanding. Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments." Being God's made me. Being God has fashioned me. I am who I am, as the Apostle Paul says, by the grace of God. And you know what? You are who you are by the grace of God. So the psalmist says, give me understanding. for what purpose, that I may learn your commandments." Here's something very similar to what the Apostle Paul is praying. when he prayed in Ephesians chapter 1, and we've gone over that, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. God's made me and fashioned me. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is life all about? Give me understanding according to your commandments. Give me understanding in the Word of God. Give me understanding about who God is. And the more you understand who God is, The more you understand God's purpose for you in this world, it's ultimately to glorify Him. It's ultimately to magnify His name. The psalmist is asking for God to give him understanding that he might know God, that he might know the things of God, and that he might know the ways of God. You know what? When you start digging a little bit deeper, It is God who satisfies our deepest longings. Blessed are those who do hunger and thirst, for they shall be filled. But you know what? We're to continue hungering and thirsting, and you shall be filled. The psalmist goes on to say, "...they that fear thee will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in your word." The psalmist here, here's his motivation in life. It's very simply, he loves the Word of God. And because he loves the Word of God, he not only has faith in the Word of God, believes the Word of God, trusts what God says, he not only has that faith and that love for the Word, but here it says he has hope in the Word. Now hope is something you long for. Hope that is seen is not hope, because there it is, your hope is fulfilled there. But here the psalmist is saying he's hoped in the Word of God. We as God's children, we have much hope That means something to look forward to. We've got a lot to look forward to as a child of God because it's not in this life only that we have hope. We have hope for the future. That's true of every child of God, but that's not true of the unbeliever. The unbeliever can have hopes, but you know what? If it's not based upon the Word of God, it's very wishy-washy hopes. Things can change, boom, just like that. Now don't build your hope upon false hope. We as God's children, there are a lot of false teachers in this world. There are a lot of false preachers in this world. Our preacherettes in this world don't build hope upon a false hope. Let me tell you something. If there's somebody giving somebody advice and telling them that if you send money in and God will bless you, let me tell you that's a false prophet or prophetess or whatever you want to call her. That's from the pit of hell. That's not God. If somebody's promising you health, wealth, and prosperity, that is not of God. You can pray and you can have faith that somebody will be healed. It might be a loved one. And you can have the faith that God is going to heal them. But let me tell you something. You're not guaranteed from God's Word that He's going to heal them. You're going on something that you've been told and it's not what God's telling you. Don't base your hope upon false hopes or false promises. Sometimes it's God's will for us to get sick. Sometimes it's God's will for us to get sick and through that sickness we might pass away from this life. That's what we hope in the Word. Our hope is not on false hopes that God's going to raise me up. I can pray that he will help me up from sickness. I can pray that he would help you up, but if it's not his will, I cannot pray against his will. There are a lot of people that teach a lot of false doctrines, but here I want you to notice this hope that the psalmist has. He has hope in God's Word, and he says that those that fear you, the ones that fear God, are the ones also that hope in His Word. He says, those that fear you will be glad when they see me. Here's a point to ponder. Hope in the Word of God causes joy and cheerfulness. Did you get that? Let me back up and say it again. The psalmist is hoping in the Word of God. Those that fear God, they are also ones who hope in the Word. They are going to be glad when they see me. Why is that? Because I hope in the Word. And if I see you and I know you're hoping in the Word, you know what? It's going to make me glad to have fellowship with you. Let me ask you, are you spreading gladness or gloominess? They that fear you will be glad when they see me. If you see me with a dumb looking smile on my face, and you want to slap that smile off my face, let me tell you something, the smile is on my face because I hope in the Word and I'm around people who hope in the Word. I could be going through a very rough time, a very bad time, but I can still have the joy of the Lord even in that bad time because I hope in His Word. Are you spreading gladness? Are you spreading gloominess? Notice God's hand as he's guiding here. He says in verse 75, I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right and that you in faithfulness, you have afflicted me. God is faithful. But ever be mindful that God is good. God is good and God is faithful. Therefore, even in affliction, God is guiding. He's being faithful in guiding us, even in affliction. But we must remember, if we go through affliction, God is faithful. God is good. God is kind. God is loving. God is not vengeful. I'm going to use Morgan as an example. Morgan will often... she's got a memory sharp as a tack. Morgan will often tell me, because she's seen this little video on my phone, about Dongle. Now do you know Dongle? I can't remember what cartoon character that is, but Dongle broke a window. And she will tell me, but Brother Steve, he did it by accident. In other words, he don't deserve to be punished because it was an accident. So he doesn't get punished. God is loving. And you know what? God is not out to throw lightning bolts in your direction because you step out of the way. There are afflictions that do come in life. but you always must remember that God is faithful to his children, and God is good to his children. No matter what afflictions might come into our lives, God abides faithful, the same. Notice in verse 76 and 77, What we see here is the love of God or the mercies of God. He says in verse 76, let I pray you, your merciful kindness, be for my comfort according to your word and to your servant. Let your tender mercies come unto me that I may live for your law is my delight. The psalmist has a request to God, and he's requesting for God's merciful kindness. This is the Hebrew word chesed, love, God's great love. It's a royal type love. And he's asking for God's love because he desires to be comforted in what he's going through. And he doesn't go into depth what he's going through, but what he's going through he desires to be comforted as he's going through it. Now let me tell you something. False religions cannot give you comfort. There are people who believe you can worship in Mary and you'll get comfort. That won't give you comfort. You can pray to saints. That ain't going to give you no comfort. You can pray to Buddha. He ain't going to give you no comfort. You can take a whiskey bottle in. It ain't going to give you no comfort. You can take drugs. It ain't going to give you no comfort. It might knock you out a little bit, silly Willie. Chickadilly, whatever, but it ain't gonna comfort you. It is only the great loving kindness of God that can comfort his children. Here the psalmist needs that comfort. All these things that the world offers is kind of like Job's friends. It's worthless. But notice the next verse in verse 77, which we read, he says, let your tender mercies come unto me." This word here is not the same word as chesed in the Hebrew word. This is a word that is synonymous to it. It's rahemeh. Rahemeh means to have compassion upon. He's asking God to comfort him, to show your great love, that royal love to me, and that you would, in your loving kindness, Would you also show compassion? As I repeat, God is not a God of hate. He's not a God of vengeance toward his children. He is not a God of anger, how some people like to portray God from the Old Testament. God is love. God is kind. God is a good, good God and faithful in His goodness. The psalmist goes on to say in verses 78 through 80, finishing out this little segment of the psalm, he says, let the proud be ashamed for they dealt perversely with me, without a cause, but I will meditate upon your precepts. Here are special requests that he makes from God in verses 78 through 80, and he's basically saying shame the proud. Make the proud ashamed. In other words, humble the proud. Because they dealt perversely with me without a cause, without any purpose. And what the psalmist chooses to do, he chooses to wait upon the Lord. He says, but I will meditate in your precepts. I will meditate upon the word of God." The psalmist is saying the proud exalts themselves, put them to shame. As I meditate upon your word, I am trusting in you. In verse 79 he says, Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known your testimonies. Here he desires fellowship of like believers. He desires those believers to have fellowship with him. If they fear you, let them turn unto me. Those that know your testimonies, if there's one thing we need in our Christian walk, ultimately is God but we need Christian fellowship. We need one another. We need to pray for one another. We need to encourage and edify one another. We need that fellowship. We have that here within our church body, but you know what? There are so many poor people that are in need. There are many people within our church that are shut-ins that just need a kind word spoken to them. They need somebody to give them just a little bit of attention. brother Bobby and talking to him the other day, he's 98 now, and he said, he talks to everybody that comes into his room or by his room and he'll witness to everybody. And he talked to one lady who has her husband over there and he basically says, I just want to reassure you, I'm not looking for a wife, I'm 98 years old, I just want to talk to someone. And you know what? It gets lonely for some people, and they do like to have someone to talk to and fellowship with that can speak, that fear the Lord and love His Word. They enjoy talking to other believers. Here again, not only should we slow down and look at God's handiwork in creation, we need to slow down, and we need to speak to one another. we need to slow down and encourage those that are downcast, those who may be homebound and can't get out like you and I can. The psalmist is saying he needs the fellowship. There are people in this world that are persecuted. We hardly hear anything about it. There are people, I have no doubt, in jail in other countries because of their faith. Paul was in that situation in the New Testament, and I imagine there were certain ones that didn't want to associate with Paul because they'd get in trouble if they'd go visit in jail, and they might accuse them being associates with Paul, a male factor, somebody bad. Here's what we need to see in God's Word. He says in verse 80, let my heart be sound in your statutes that I be not ashamed. This last request, he wants to be blameless when it comes to the word of God. The word of God exhorts us, study to show yourself approved, rightly dividing the word of truth. we need to be sound in the Word of God. We need to see the big picture in its context. We need to understand when the Word of God is speaking symbolically. We need to understand the doctrines of the Word of God. We need to see the big picture. But we also need to put it into practice. In other words, flesh it out. just like I gave just a few illustrations concerning God's creation, you know what? If you contemplate how God has made things, I was thinking, I wish when I was young, when I was in public school, that I was taught that God was the creator. and not evolution. You know what? I believe we've all been affected by that teaching. They don't want anything to do with God, therefore they suppress the truth. If we get back to basics and look for God in everyday life, in His work, His heavy work, I believe we'll praise Him all the more. My thoughts are going 90 miles an hour. So many things with creation and how God's worked. You think about, and I'll close with this. You want to think of a song we can sing? You'd be thinking about a song, but I'm going to share this. You think of the stars that God has created. It just has a little blip in the scripture. He made the stars also. And yet there are trillions of stars. I was reading where we're in the Milky Way galaxy. The last time I looked that up, it's been quite a few years ago, there's about, they thought, 200, 300 billion galaxies. Now they're saying there's about two trillion galaxies. Now, if God made the stars and the sun and the moon to shine upon the earth, he really didn't need that many stars, did he? But if you think about it, God made so many stars That just shows how great and powerful and creative a God we have. And if you look at that James Webb telescope and you look out and you look out further than you've ever seen before, you can see more stars and more stars and more stars and galaxies. You know what? God has no end. You might say, but don't it take light a certain amount to travel from a star to get to Earth? Yes, but you know what? When God created it, he created the light also. That ain't no big deal for him. Let's sing, How Great is Our God. So let's all stand, we'll go to the Lord in prayer, and Lydia, play that song and we will sing it. Father, we thank you for who you are, and Lord, we ask that you would help each and every one of us here to talk to others about your greatness, about your power, your glory, about your gospel, which is your power to save them. So Lord, we ask that you work effectually in our hearts. Give us a holy boldness to speak for Christ's sake.