Well, thank you again for coming to the DVDs. I trust that you'll find it well with you today. I certainly enjoy coming into your home, wherever you may be listening, with the word of God. Today I trust for community encouragement. That's what I want to be all the time, especially those of us unsaved. We as God's people need encouragement also. And I want to encourage everybody today with the word of God. And I'm going to read a few verses in Psalm 27. Me and Wiley are reading the whole chapter, so that's such good reading. And all the Bible's good. To someone who's got good dogs for the lesson, we're trying to get over it. So if you know of others you'd like to get on the list, let us know. We'll be happy to add them to the DVD list. In Psalm 27, I'm going to ask you today, do you ever feel like you kind of forgot about You ever kind of feel like maybe that nobody cares? Nobody even cares that I'm here, that nobody knows what I'm trying to do and seemingly no results. Well, just kind of get on a real low level. Get to a place you kind of need a boost. I trust that's what I can do today. Give you a boost. I hear in this verse one of Psalm 27, he said, the Lord is my light. Do we have to have others? We have to. Whenever we're in the light, everything is well. Well, the problem comes in when we start getting in darkness, when we can't see the light. You know, you can walk and you can go, you can run in the daytime when there's light. But when it becomes dark at night, you can't do it. You've got to have light. So, the Lord is my light. and my salvation. We know that God's salvation to the Son at first, to the soul, and then salvation to our last work, if we let Him. He said, whom shall I fear? Who else? Salvation. Salvation, as long as we've got that salvation, things will be well. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You know, to be able to serve God, and be able to know that things is well with you, this life is very pleasant, it's very sweet. And you know, people cannot take away what we have in Christ. Even if people come to the place to take our lives, I know God's able to protect from that, but if it should, we know John the Baptist's life was taken, Stephen's life was taken for serving God, but even if that should happen, what are they doing? They carried us from a place of sin to a perfect place. Put us out of this life into a wonderful life. That was the Lord. They hadn't heard of us. Who should we be afraid of? Who do I need to serve, man or God? Who do I need to stay with, man or God? The Lord is my light. If we trust in people, we'll fail. We're all humans, we'll fail each other. But he said, who am I gonna be afraid of now? Because the Lord is our help. He said, when the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Even those that was trying not to get, they couldn't even get him. Because God had took care of him. God had blessed him. Can he do the same for us? Sure he can. God can take care of us. Well, I'll be confident. Confident of what? That I have peace with God. Confident of God's salvation. Confident that God's gonna be with me. We know how that David went through a lot of things and even when Saul was after him and tried to throw the javelin and pin him to the wall and then began to get his army after him and try to catch him and God lay Saul in David's presence. He could have took his life and David would not. cut off the skirt of his garment, let him know he was that close to him. And yet David wouldn't take his life. God took care of him in a wonderful way. He can do that with you and I. We have a lot of our wonderful people fighting battles today, and we trust in them. Every one of them will be saved, and we would like to know that they are. But we know this one thing for those that are saved. The battle cannot take their lives. The battle can only change their address, even if they get killed. But they got a wonderful place with God. And they're fighting for our country, and they're trying to protect our rights. And I appreciate them. I pray for them every day of my life, and want to encourage them every way I can. I even pray for our enemies, those that's fighting against us, that we would like for God to help them to be saved. If they would trust Christ and be saved, then, you know, it would be, no doubt, an end to the battle. But a lot of that would never happen. But for our people that are there, very dangerous in a natural way, but it's not dangerous for the soul, God's gonna take care of it. He's able to take care of that lion, too. He's able to build that hedge. And I understand some that, you know, the God they've already saw. How God is one if he took care of them. That one could have been far different. But, that's God. We don't need to get discouraged from him. When there's nobody else there, God is still there. He said, though a whole should encamp against me, though the Lord seem like an all alone, I have God. I've got the strength of God. If God's for us, who can be against me? Verse four, one thing if I desire with the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to acquire His temple. Have you ever saw the beauty of the Lord? I tell you, I've tried to preach that before and I feel like a failure when I do. Then I don't believe that, you know, when you think about Isaiah's writing, he said there's no beauty about him that one would desire, talking about the suffering and all he went through. But the results of such a crime, the beautiful life that God gives a person, and I tell you, there's some kind of beauty out there, that for those that trust the Lord. A lot of things in this life is not beautiful. And I tell you, the other world, there's some beautiful things out there. So we need to see the beauty of the Lord, what all he's done for us, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he's going to do. There's such great strength there. He said how that he desired to dwell. To dwell somewhere means to stay there. Many people get discouraged. They go to church and they quit. They go to church and they quit and get discouraged. Those people don't have that strength of God. I hear this man say he dwells. He wants to stay there. If you want to get discouraged, it's easier. It gets out of the house of God. Let me encourage you, don't ever leave God's house. God's house is the source of strength. And anywhere you go away from God's house in a discouraging way, you're going downhill. You're going to weaken down as you walk away from the house of God. You cannot be strong unless you're feeding on the meals that are the house of God. That's what God intends for us in these days, that we would attend the house of God. And that we could eat the other things that God has for us in the meal of God. He said we could inquire in his temple. You ever inquire about what we have in the Lord? Now, you don't sit down and talk about it. You ever read what we have in Christ? Well, there's blessings, it's just hard to understand. He said, for in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in his pavilion. Lord hide us? Yeah. Take care of us from the enemies in the time of trouble. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. Rock, friend, is a very safe place. It's not going to crumble. It's not going to fall away. It is a very secure foundation. What'd the Lord tell Moses? Whenever Moses got to wantin' to see the Lord, Exodus 33, there the Lord said, Moses, you can't see my face and lip. He said, there's a rock here. He said, that rock, it's got a cleft in there, there's a hole in that rock. He said, Moses, that rock is there. He said, I'm gonna take it and I'm gonna put you in that rock. He said, when I pass by, I'll put my hand over it. Man, that's a wonderful place to be. Down on the Rock of Ages, the Rock of God. that that robbery will not give away. I'm gonna ask you, your salvation, I know you don't lose your salvation, but do you come to the place to feel like nobody cares? Nobody's there for you? Nobody wants to help you? Man, listen, there's somebody that cares. Somebody that helps you. We care, all care to a certain point. But no doubt there's one that cares more than we do. He said, friends are good. but there's a friend that's sticking closer than a brother. It's good to have good brothers and sisters in Christ. It's good to have good natural brothers. But there's one that can help us when they can't. There's one that can go beyond anything they can do, and that is in God. What he has for us, he said, he hides us in that pavilion, in his tabernacle. and set me up on a rock. Oh, I'm thankful to be on that rock today. How now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me? You'll get to a place you got to hold your head down, kind of afraid to be seen. Kind of just go over, just get this courage, just want to kind of walk away, just kind of hang in there, just throw in the towel, so to speak. There's a lot of that going on today. Friend, I only encourage you don't do that. Don't ever quit on God. Don't ever get discouraged on God. He said, he lifted up my head above the enemy. We ought to be more encouraged than anybody, even though we're going to always have enemy. Lift your head up. Serve God. He said, therefore will I offer in the tabernacle sacrifices of joy. Are you happy to be saved today? Are you really joyful to be saved? What a wonderful blessing to be saved. to offer sacrifices of joy, that because God saved us. What David said in 116th Psalm? God had left me, because you heard me, you heard my crying, and you saved me. I was brought low and you helped me. When the sorrows of death and past the pains of hell got hold on me, you saved me from there. Then David had something to offer sacrifices for, but he had no more than I did, because God saved me, just like he did him. And I hear David say, what can I offer to you, God, for all your benefits toward me? God, what can I do for you? You've been so good to me. You saved me. You give me what I have. What can I do? And he said in that 116th Psalm, I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Not just tell you I'm thankful. I want to offer sacrifices to prove to you I'm thankful. And hear that David here was not wanting to just say, God, I'm happy. I want to do things to prove that I'm happy, the sacrifice of joy. He said, I will sing. Yeah, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Many people lost their song today. They don't have a lot to sing about. They're just so discouraged and down. They don't have much to sing about. that was this message, that it would encourage us in the things of God. It said, hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy upon me, also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidest, seek ye my faith, my heart said unto thee, thy faith, Lord, will I see. Try to obey, try to do what you said, and God, you've been there for me. It said, hide not thy faith far from me, put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast helped, been my help, leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation." David pleading for the closeness of God to stay there, that he'd never leave him, he'd never depart from him, and God promised us he would not. Notice this statement now. When my father and my mother Even, and I know, nobody no doubt would be in this situation. I certainly trust her not. I have a wonderful mother, so I don't believe she'd ever forsake me. But, you know, I have a daddy. He wouldn't forsake me the long as he was living, but he's not here anymore. So he can't help me anymore. No, mother will help me any way she can. But if there come a time when mother's not there, father's not there, when there is nobody to help you, Do you still have help? When you come to a place that you don't have a husband or wife to encourage you, you know, think about Job, even with all he went through. He come down to the place, his own wife, said, Job, won't you curse God and die? Just go ahead and get out of it, Job. I feel like this is a great blow unto Job, that to think about his own wife, no doubt, just about ready for him to quit, to give up, and just go ahead and die. Job said, you talk as one of the foolish women. Now, God never mistreated me. He made a statement, even though He slayed me, yet will I serve Him. Friend, God has never mistreated any of us. He got the wonderful blessings of this life and all the other world for us. We need to stay with Him, don't get discouraged. When all else would fail you, all other people might fail you. The Lord will never fail you, friend. He'll always be there. He said, my father and my mother forsake Then the Lord will take me up. He'll be there for me. He's not going to take me and do me wrong. He said, teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path. Lord, I can know how to follow you. I can know the blessings that's there because of my enemy. Lord, it's going to take you to protect me. It's going to take you to take care of me. I cannot do it myself. When I want to know one thing, it's not the things of this life that can protect us like God can. It's not the guns, it's not the houses, it's not the locks and keys. It's God that can protect us. Those things may be good in its place, but I want you to know it takes God. So God's our force today. When all else failed, God's still our force. He said, deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemy. God, I don't want to be into their hands. I want to stay with you. For false witnesses have risen against me as such, You ever have people tell things that's not true on you? False witnesses and all, they did our Savior like that. Why shouldn't they do us that way? They did the men and women of the scripture like that. Why shouldn't we have to? Some people say, I don't believe I ought to have to go through this. Why? Why shouldn't we have to go through it? Our Lord went through it. The people of our forefathers went through it. We have very little to suffer. We got nothing to complain about. God, don't deliver me unto this. There are false witnesses out. Lord, I need your help to overcome all this. He said, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. To be able to see what God is able to do. Are we able to see what God's able to do? Go back in your life and see what God has done for you. Is he not able to do it in the future? Is he not able to continue this? He said, I'd have fainted if I had not saw the goodness of God. If I had not saw what God's able to do with what I've been through, he said, I'd have probably hung in there. I'd have probably threw in the towel, too. He said, wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. That's hard to do. Wait on the Lord. Don't mean to give up and do nothing, but don't try to get ahead of God. Let us follow His leadership with the Spirit of God. And there's wonderful blessings in following God. Today you're discouraged. It seems like sometimes that you're the only one there. Seems like nobody really cares what you're doing. There's probably people that care. Don't you know one thing? There's one that definitely cares, and that is the Lord. He cares about all, and He'll really help those that will lean on Him and depend on Him. I hear the psalmist said in the third psalm, don't you notice how he started out this psalm? Are you talking about seeing a man as discouraged? I believe if you go there and see this psalmist, and you just see him just so down, just didn't feel worthy, didn't feel like lifting up his head. Couldn't hardly even face life anymore. He said in verse one of psalm 73, he said, truly God, he said, truly God is good through effort. even to such as I have a clean heart. But as for me, my step, my feet were almost gone. My step and well, my slip. What do they say? God, you've been good to others. And I look out there and see how others is prospering, everything going good. But as for me, you haven't been that good to me. I'm about ready to hang it up. My feet is about to slip. My way is about to come to nothing. Now, I'm about ready to quit, huh? That's just so discouraging. And what he was doing was watching the prosperity of the wicked. He said, how that everything going their way, even though they're ungodly, everything they lay their hand to prosper, he said, here I am plagued every day. You know, this man got to the place to just feel so sorry for himself. You ever get to a place and kind of feel down on yourself? Kind of feel sorry for your own self? Is that because of what you're having to go through? Nobody's been through what I've been through. Man, I feel like God mistreated me. I'm just going through so much. Man, it's been so long. Forget about all that, friend. God's our father. We haven't suffered like some of the people have. We've not been through some of the things like you went through. Even like our Lord went through. We hadn't been through them, friend. We've been through very little. God's been so good to us. I think about a person one day. I'm talking with her. They had a good bit of trouble that year. I mentioned to them about some of the things they're facing. She said, it had been a terrible year for us. I said, well, I said, how many good years have you had? She began to name them, and this person was up in years. She began to count her days, she said, I can't. She said, many, many of them. And I said, you're going to complain over one bad year? Well, you know, none of us want those things to come. But when they come, God's still there. When the troubles begin to come, when the pressure rises, whenever it seem like even family and friends may turn on you, she said, how did the wounds of a friend go deep? A lot of times, even our friends may wound up, but God don't. God is there to lift us up. He said, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. I don't change. I'm the same God. And what we need to do is get big enough in the Lord that we can know that God is our father. So I find this psalmist in Psalm 73 got so discouraged, he's about ready to hang it up and quit. And then he mentioned, no doubt, there in verse 17, he said, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood I therein. Can we see what we have in Christ? Can we see beyond the troubles and problems of this life? Can we see beyond the wars and the heartaches and the family problems and the church problems You know, the community problems, the country problems, and all the religious problems that's out there. Can we see beyond this and look down through the house of God, through the word of God, be able to see beyond all this, see the end of the matter? Who's got the best end of it? That person that don't get discouraged and stay there. It's one thing to get a little discouraged, it's something else to stay there. Whenever we start getting discouraged, kind of feel like we're going through undue criticism, maybe. Things we don't deserve. Go and look at Jesus. Look at Calvin. Just take another look at Calvin, see how wonderful it is. What the Lord did for us. He suffers without committing any wrong. All his suffering was for somebody else. It was not for him. And I think about a person one day that they met me in the aisle, the church aisle. They told me, said, oh, said, it's just so hard. Said, it's just so hard. Said, we got to name three or four different things. It's just so hard to do this and do this and do this. I said, well, said, I'd love to help you. Said, you read how hard it was for Jesus to go up God's office hill. Read how hard it was as a bloody, vulnerable man, no doubt. Probably the blood pouring from his face back was well and then I had to go up to our Godless hill with my sins on his back. Went up that hill with your sins on his back. You reckon that was hard? The Bible says he endured that suffering. He endured the cross, despised the shame for the joy that was set before him. He could see something beyond the suffering. He could see some joy. Friend, can we see beyond the suffering, beyond the trouble? beyond all that we have, and see the wonderful thing we have in Christ. I hear the psalmist here, he said, when I went into the sanctuary of God, I understood their end. He said, the Lord put them in slippery places. Where we at? We're on the rock. We're not in slippery places. When all else fails, we're still going home, friend. We're going home in those simple signs, and I'll settle in after a while. I'm glad to be part of it. I'm thankful today to be saved and part of the work of the Lord. It's a wonderful blessing. And I want to encourage us with the word of God. The psalmist here can say, you know, God put me in slippery places. But he said, I come to a place, take another look at myself. He said, verse 22. He said, well, verse 21, thus my heart was grieved. I was pricked in my vein. So foolish was I and ignorant. I am as a beast before them. I've been a foolish person. To see all these things and let them get me down and let them bother me, I've been a foolish person. He said, nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast hold of me by thy right hand. Who's holding on? Who do we have today? The Lord's able to help. He's able to hold. He's able to take care. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory. He guided us through this life, after a while He received us home. He said, whom have I in heaven but Thee, there is none upon the earth that I desire besides Thee. But we are today, when all else fails, the Lord is still there. Heaven and earth, everything is His. He's not gonna mistreat us, He's not gonna leave us alone. He said, my flesh and my heart are failing, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. He's there for me from this day forward, the times of the past, he's been there for me. So don't get discouraged and back away and quit. Now this busy life is so easy today to get discouraged. All the problems and troubles, it's easy to find mistakes and blunders. And I tell you what we need to look at today, what we have in Christ, the wonderful future that we have. He said, for lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou shalt destroy all them that go a-holdin' from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God. What is he sayin'? I saw the end of the matter. I saw what God was gonna do. And I got the best end of this deal. He said, I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy will. You think this man got encouraged again? Whenever he got so down, so out. They said, turn back and get so encouraged in what he had in the Lord. He said, I saw the other side of it. He said, now I turn to see how foolish I've been. I was looking at the prosperity of the wicked. He said, I see where they're going to. I see that God has them on slippery places. I'm going to stay with you. Find Joshua and make a statement. And he told the people of Israel, he said, you can serve whoever you want to. They go ahead if you want to serve the God your father served on the other side of the flood, whoever you want to serve. But as far as me and my house, we will serve God. We're going to serve God. That's who we're going to serve, me and my house. He saw something in serving God far better than serving the world. Today, can we see something in serving God that's far better than serving the world? Can we really see what God has for us? It is a blessing to be saved today. And I want to encourage us, when it seems like that, nobody's that far up. Nobody cares. Nobody's even concerned. The Lord is that far up. He's our help. He's our strength. He's everything we need today. I hear him in 1 Peter chapter 5. The Lord teaches us in verse 6 of 1 Peter 5. Humble yourself, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. When is due time? That's his time. Whenever, that's God's time, due time. He will exalt us. I know there's a time he lifts us up here. I know there's a future time that's gonna be wonderful when the Lord lifts us up. Listen to what he said in verse 7. Boy, he cares. Boy, he's casting everything. Let him have it. He's big enough to handle. He's big enough to handle every situation. Discouragement is a lack of faith. So if we get down on faith, we're gonna get discouraged. Many times when people get discouraged, they've left off Bible reading. They've left off their prayer line. And it causes them to be lack of faith and to get discouraged. So don't let it happen, it's encasting all your care upon him by faith, believing God's gonna help us with it. And if we can do that, I promise you, life can be happy. You can warn us about the devil, and don't roll in lines after all of us. Hey, the Lord tell Peter, Peter, I'm praying for you. Oh, Satan desires you. Satan desires you and I today. So we need to stay very close to God. We don't need to get discouraged. We don't need to get out of heart. We don't need to get to the place where we, You know, church don't mean nothing to us. And the Bible reading don't mean nothing. Prayer don't mean nothing. That's a very discouraging statement. So don't get that way. And if you're headed that way, let me plead with you today. That's a bad drive. That you don't enjoy life. You don't enjoy others the way you could. You don't enjoy the people of God. There is a feeling of guilt, no doubt, that causes you not to enjoy the people of God. So we have a wonderful thing. We got everything we need today. There is nothing we need that God cannot provide. He can take care of our enemies. He can take care of our food, our shelter. He can take care of our family. He can take care of everything. But can I depend on Him? Or did I come to a place, maybe because of having to go through a few trials and things in this life and things in old life, feel like nobody cares? God cares. David on one occasion seemed like there was nobody there to encourage him. David said he had to encourage himself in that matter. Sometimes you and I have to encourage ourselves. That may not be anybody there to encourage us, but we can encourage ourselves in the things of God. If you're unsaved today, I don't want you to get discouraged. Maybe you've tried and tried and tried, quit trying. There's no need to try something that's never gonna work. If you've already tried it and it didn't work, there's no need to try it again. But if you'll believe Jesus Christ paid your sin debt, and you'll call out for mercy, call out to Him believing that, God, for Jesus' sake, you'll save him. I promise you by the word of God that God will save your soul when you believe Jesus Christ. May God bless you. Heavenly Father, thank you for the little time we've come on the DVDs, using thy name's honor and glory. Help many in trouble today. Bless our country, bless the war area, bless our enemies. Lord, above all, help those whose sons slave to the trust. Many are sick and in trouble, pray you help them. Lead God on through the day. Forgive us of the ways we've failed you. Thank you for everything. I pray the message today can be an encouragement to each one of us. In Christ's name we ask, amen.