Well, good afternoon. I won't be monotone. Once I see eyes drooping, I'll raise my voice. But I appreciate Brother Joe being willing to read the scripture for me, because it was a long scripture. So it helps to get that out of the way. So hopefully you paid attention to that. that chapter of Psalms, Psalm 73. And if you're watching on the Internet, or listening through the Internet, or watching on TV, I encourage you to pause and read chapter 73 of Psalms before listening or watching the message. I think you'll get so much more out of it. For it is His truth that we seek. But I titled this also on where hope, help, and understanding is found. So that's the title of the message tonight that's based on Psalm 73. Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you again for this evening, this afternoon, should I say, and the chance to honor our pastor for the years that you have blessed us with him. And just pray you continue to bless him with wisdom and knowledge and as the end of shepherd, you continue to be sensitive to your Your will and your word and your wisdom and knowledge that he might impart it to us that again is a church. We might be the lighthouse that you've appointed us to be. Forgives for our failures or shortcomings. Father in your word, you said truly without you I can do nothing and I'm fully aware of that and so I pray that you might take this flesh. Set it aside Lord and let your Holy Spirit use this vessel for the time that is given that we might praise you forward for it's in Jesus name, Amen. Psalm 73 was actually written, if you notice in your Bibles, by Asaph. So Asaph was a Levite, one of the leaders of David's choirs. It's detailed over in 1 Chronicles 6.39 to give you a little background. In fact, as far as Psalms, Psalm 50 and then Psalms 73 through 83 inclusively were attributed to Asaph. You know, he's mentioned along with David throughout Scripture as being skilled in music and also himself as a seer or more like a prophet, a man of God who was able to have the blessings of God giving him visions of what to come. And directly from God, not a seer as many would say fortune tellers or things like that. In fact, Nehemiah 1246 says, for in the days of David and Asaph of old, there were chief of singers and songs of praises and thanksgiving unto God. But with that said, and with listening to Psalm 73, one thing I learned from that, and I think Asaph learned from that, is that life can be so misleading, can't it? You know, being in a world where Satan is the prince and the power of the air, and where we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness in the world, it really can cause us to be misled on who really is in control. And then when we lose sight of that truth, we can really be misled to what and why things happen the way they do. Obviously Asaph understood, and you hear that from the very first verse in Psalm 73, he understood that which was undeniable, and that is that truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. And that goes to us still today, relevant to us today, that God truly is good to America. And even those that are of a clean heart within America that live righteously, even those that aren't His children, His grace flows forth. And sometimes you even see it flowing forth even to those on earth that are lost and undone, but yet they live morally and ethically compared to those that truly live undone and evil lives. Unfortunately and sadly, without Christ, that's all their blessing will be, and all the grace that's poured out to them will be. But God is gracious, and God's truly good to us. But yet Asaph, like we, as God's children, live in a world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and year after year, and when we lose sight, We start seeing and experiencing things that are diametrically opposed to that which we know God desires to take place, and to God's righteousness. Then dwelling on them, wondering why God, who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, allows us to go on and to continue on. Now let's make it real for us here now. Why is it that men can mock God and yet fall into riches? Why is it man can blaspheme God and never battle sickness or seem to never answer for it? Why is it that men can fill their selves with alcohol and pump their bodies with all kinds of drugs yet wake up and boast about it like nothing ever occurred? They seem to be the ones that when They're the laziest and most dishonest. Now, that doesn't mean that every lost person is lazy and dishonest. But, you know, in work and stuff, sometimes you see somebody that's lost, and they're arrogant, and they blaspheme God, and yet they're the laziest and most honest workers. Yet, all of a sudden, they get the promotions. They get the bonuses. They get the false recognition. Why is it that we as God's people, chosen before the foundation of the world, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, break our backs, go out of the way to give our all at work, be on time, to not only get no recognition, but rather a pink slip, letting us know our position's been eliminated. Now to be out of work, wondering where we're going to go to feed our family, we now go out to our car to find it has two flat tires and a transmission shot. Anybody been there? Why is it, as God's people, we can feed on His Word, be in our prayer closets to find out we now have cancer, or heart problems have come our way, or a bad knee that now is going to involve surgery and weeks of therapy, while the bills and problems keep piling up? Nothing seems to go my way. Where are you, Lord? Have you been there? Well, if you're honest, sure you have. Maybe not recently, but in your long life, when you're younger, I'm sure you were. And this is where Asaph was in Psalm 73. But then Sunday morning comes. We wake up. thinking back with our girls when they were little, drag ourselves out of bed, go upstairs. I don't have to go upstairs anymore, I've got a ranch now. I'm so grateful, thanks to the Lord. Go upstairs, down the hall, drag the kids out of bed, put our family in the car, drive them to the only place where we can truly see clearly, the house of God. Suddenly, all those distorted pictures that we've been seeing throughout the week and have been beat down and frustrated by, and all the things that have been this past week are starting to come in to clarity, come into focus. We now begin to see that which what we think they have and what they've received throughout all that week that they thought they had is not all that it's cracked up to be. As our sight becomes more clear, we begin to see that their careless life that looks so good and tempting to enjoy is just for a season. See, there's a large patch of ice ahead on this lake of life that they're living. Not thick, like the ice they're walking on now, but the patch is beginning to melt. The seasons are changing. And that ice is thinning out. And they're clueless to it. And they're still working on this ice and saying, it looks fine to me. I'm standing solid. Do you see me slipping and sliding all over? But very soon, they're going to step on a patch. And up in the air they go. You ever gone up in the air from stepping on a patch of ice that you didn't see? I have. Out in the middle of about 75 people in a 19-car pileup. out on 75 in Michigan when I was the 19th car that slid in. And I got out to meet the officer and my moon boots I had at the time hit that ice and I was up and I was down flat on my back while everybody else was all around going crazy. I don't really think, I was worried about my ego, but I don't think anybody else saw it because they were trying to stay solid and standing upright themselves. But splash. Splash goes that individual, and in and under they go to be swallowed up by the life and the sin that had been their greatest joy just prior. Now all they had, all they appeared to get away with, is gone. And destruction sits before them. We now see that they never, never go to bed and close their eyes with a piece of pathless understanding. like we do. Because see, now we see more clearly. We now see that their hour, that Luke 22, 53 said, is come. And no more to be passed or slipped away. Sunday morning comes. And the sights we saw through the week are now focusing in. We now begin to realize Never is there a day that goes by that God is not with us. Never is there a day or will there be a day that when we think we are going down for the last count, that God doesn't have a hold of our hand to pull us out and through. Amen? Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening comes, and we begin to see and remember all those times we didn't know what to do. where to go, that God was there all the time, guiding us through, by our side and at our side, walking us in the way. And one day, before you and I realize it, he'll be there to receive us up into glory, where no longer will this life ever try and get its claws into us, or get itself over us. Oh me, as Brother Hank would say, all these things we saw, unjustness, corruptness, sickness, sorrow, will no longer worry us when God sets things in order. But my brother and sister in Christ, as long as I'm here on earth, as long as you're here on earth, As long as you and I are in the flesh today and in this body, we're going to see wrongs. Our flesh shall fail us. Our soul shall be often troubled. But thanks to Him who was and is and is to be, for being my strength when strength can't be found. For being my joy when joy can't be found. All that I missed out on down here won't matter anymore. Or should I say, all that I thought I missed out on down here won't matter anymore because really those things I missed out on really had little value compared to the presence of God within me and Him there all the times of my life. And I'm putting people of God within my life and the Word of God daily within my life. as I have the completed Word. And you do too. You think of those of days of old. They never had the completed Word like we do today. And yet, what do we do to appreciate it? Many times we leave it on the counter to not be open through the week until we get to the next mission. Sometimes we'll say, well, I got another Bible. Sometimes we see pews with Bibles on it. And we'll say, boy, we hope that that's not their only Bible. But then some people bring their Bibles home, and they might as well have left them on the pews because they've just sat on the tables or on their dresser or something throughout the whole week. And you think, well, I've got a question. Oh, I've got another Bible. I use my phone, or I use this or that. But do you? Do you truly use it to the state of where you wouldn't have to be frustrated by the ways of life trying to pull you down? When we get up each morning, each day, may we know that this is a day that the Lord hath made, as David said. And as David said in Psalm 18, one through three, may we be able to say, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler and a horn of my salvation. and my high tower." See, He can see things because He's omniscient, that we don't even know is on the forefront, that we may be walking a long ways, but He's there as our Lord. He's there as our Heavenly Father. He's there as our strength. And when we call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies. Going to the Lord and not to the world when the world has fallen upon us is where we get the way out, is where we get the deliverance through and over. See, it's not being removed from, I've come to realize in my walk with Christ, it's in my being delivered through and over. Because by being delivered through and over, we become stronger. Our faith becomes more precious. Our Lord truly becomes more high and lifted up before our hearts, our minds, our souls. And let us not to forget where we need to be to gain understanding. And in doing so, we'll not only possess it, but to give Christ the glory. And that's found in Ephesians 3.21. Unto Him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus throughout the ages, world without end. Amen. My friend, it's a divine command. Deuteronomy 12.5 says, But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of your tribes, to put His name there even unto His habitation shall you seek, and thither thou shalt come. Today, my friend, is the local church. For us, my friend, it's the First Baptist Church of Independence. That's where God has put his hand on. That's where God has set out a place for us to come meet. And we as a church need to be. within the house of God that God has formed, that we might worship Him, that we might come nigh. It's a place that God provides His blessings upon, if you find any research in Psalms 84.4. It's your place to go, my friend, when the world is crashing upon you. You can find that in Isaiah 37, 1, and 14. It's your place. where you'll truly find a lamp under your feet and a light under your path in Micah 4.2. It's a place where comfort is found no matter how old you find yourself to be. And you'll find that in Luke chapter 2 verses 36 and 37 if you're taking notes. There's a lot of verses here, but my friend, truth is found through the Word of God. And the Word of God is found within this very house that we sit in, that we join together as a church, the First Baptist Church of Independence, God's church. Look to the God in whom is promised never to leave nor forsake those who are His own. Look to Him both alone and in His church. Nor does He in His churches, however small they may be, Yet still they're faithful. And that's what we need to be. Matthew 18, 20 was the command. Wherever two or more. And we talked about that tonight. I said if nobody's here but me and the Lord, do we actually have four? Because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So I got four in presence. You know? God is in His churches. But He is within the people of that church. Is He reigning within your lives? Is He reigning within your heart? Is He reigning within your soul? Is He reigning within the every actions that you decide to take when you get up in the morning? Is He reigning within the thoughts as you daydream during the day? Is He reigning within your dreams when you close your eyes at night to rest this weary soul? Let them reign. When your flesh and heart fails you, look to the God in whom His churches proclaim. In 2 Samuel, chapter 22, verse 33, it says, God is my strength and power, and He maketh my way perfect. What a verse to keep in mind. Because my friend, I will guarantee you that your flesh and heart will fail you. Until we're present with Him, we get weary, and our flesh and heart fails us. But God never leaves us alone. God never leaves us without a resolve. God never leaves us without a solution. And in 2 Samuel, He tells us, can you proclaim, as Samuel did, that God is your strength, that God is your power, that He makes your way perfect? If you don't live out Him within your life, you can't claim that because you'll never see it take place. But my friend, I can tell you, living it out and seeing others live it out better than me, I can tell you that He makes our way perfect. God's Word provides hope, help, and understanding. And since it's in churches, commissioned to proclaim it, then may I say, look to First Baptist Church of Independence. Now, obviously, you all have because that's why you're here. But we need to give hope to those who are without, and even those that aren't here as often as they should be, often as they could be. And the hope that we give them is to provide them that hope, help, and understanding is found within these walls through the Church of First Baptist of Independence. And if you're a member of that church, then it should be found within you, in your life, and being present together as we serve together. Here, my friend, you'll be able to proclaim, but it is good for me to draw near to God. Isn't that a blessing? When you're brought through and over, and you get to that other side, and at the point you really thought Chicken Little was telling the truth, the sky was falling. but now you're on to the other side. And you see that through it all, it wasn't you that got yourself there. It wasn't the world around you that got yourself there. It wasn't your loved ones that got yourself there. It may not have even been, ultimately, it wasn't your brothers and sisters in Christ that got you there, but it was your God that got you there. Now, He may have used your brothers and sisters, And that's why we need to be present. We need to be faithful because God uses each of us to encourage and exhort each other until that day when we no longer need to be exhorted because we're in his presence. But until then we can if we're never here together. So I encourage you to encourage those that may not be here when you see them, and those that are without hope, help and understanding in their life as a whole because they're lost and undone, without a hope of eternity with Christ and the Heavenly Father, and they're just making day by day go by, thinking that if I can just get through this day, I'll worry about tomorrow. What a life. Do you remember when you were there? I do. And it was a life that I'm so glad is gone and beyond me. But I owe it all to Jesus Christ. I owe it all to the Father of Heaven. I owe it all to the Holy Spirit who unblinded my eyes and made me see Christ high and lifted up and brought me into repentance and gave me the faith to believe and to turn toward Him for everlasting life. Here, my friend, Here, no matter in what state you may have walked, you'll be able to walk out and confidently say, I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all Thy works. This is what you should seek before walking in. Let that be my result, Lord, that I may confidently say, I put my trust and to the Lord God that I may declare all thy works. And you'll walk out saying that, I promise you. He will not fail you. He will not fall through. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for this evening, afternoon that you've given us a chance again to look to where hope, help, and understanding lies within this church house where the Word is preached and where our lives draw nigh unto Thee. Where we seek to lift You up high upon our lives, and we give You the glory and worship You in spirit and truth. Father, I pray for those that have not found hope in Christ. They've not realized they're the ones that are on ice, the lake of ice of life. And that ice is thinning. And without turning from their sins and looking to Christ, they face to go under, to be sent to an everlasting destruction. But Father, let us spread the hope. The hope that lies in us. The hope of life eternal to those around us. That they may have life eternal as we have. Forgive us for our failures. Bless the remaining of the time. And let Your will be done in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. So I'll stand please and turn to hymn number 237. Why do you wait, dear brother? Oh, why do you tarry so long? Your Savior is waiting to give you a place in His sanctified throne. Why not? Why not? Why not come to Him now? Why not? Why not? Why not come to Him now?