Thank you for taking the time to listen to one of the recent sermons preached at Wilton Baptist Church. It is our desire as a church to strive together in building a faith, family, and future that honors and glorifies our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we can be a help to you in any way, please visit our website at wiltonbaptistchurch.com. for that this morning. That's one of my favorite songs from the Book of Job. We have about three or four messages left, and that's on Wednesday night, so we invite you to come to that. Good singing, good participation. I don't know if you can take this, the sound of my voice. I'm gonna do the best that I can. If you listen the best that you can, I think that we'll make it. I think we'll be all right. So this is a terrific passage, and I'd like to extend hope and encouragement to you today from it. You know, a lot of people over in London need hope today. The people where these terrorists have been attacking them need some hope, and we need hope as well. We need to pray for those folks and those recovering today. Here we are in Psalm 43. Let's look at the passage. We'll just jump right into the text. Verse 1, Judge me, O God, and plead my cause. Deliver against an ungodly, plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength. Why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning? Because of the oppression of the enemy. I send out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill, to thy tabernacles. Then will I go into the tabernacle of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me, hope in God? For I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Now at the beginning of chapter 42, is actually the start of chapter 43. These poems go together in scripture, and you see the title there at the top of 42, and it says, to the chief musician, and then the word mashil. That's not a word we commonly use, the word mashil, and that word has to do with a contemplative or didactic poem. The word didactic means moral or educational. It's a morally educational poem. It's something for us to learn from. It's a passage of instruction. The psalmist is telling us how to think. He's telling us how to process scenarios and circumstances that we may be found in. Now, he says the word countenance in chapter 42 and also here in our verse in chapter 43 verse 5. The word countenance has to do with the outer attitude, the facial expressions. It's what we display on the outside. Then there's the soul, and that's on the inside. No one sees your soul, but they see your countenance. They see the inner workings by what you display on the outside. So the countenance And how you express yourself on the outside is very important because what is on the inside eventually comes to the outside. What's on your soul and what's in your soul eventually comes out in your expression and your countenance. Now, the psalmist has been crying. He even says, you know, I'm crying here. Why am I crying? And he's been crying because he wanted to go home. Chapter 42, chapter 43 all go together. And this is a man who was in his childhood carried off captive by an enemy state. Babylon had come to town. They had sieged Jerusalem and overrun the city eventually and took all of the young and healthy and took them to Babylon. There they re-educated them, taught them a new language, taught them a new way to live, and said, you should worship the gods that we worship. And here's a young man, he's older now, but he recalls his childhood, and he thinks back to the day where he would go up to the holy hill, and for him, the holy hill was Mount Moriah, it's where Jerusalem's at. And it's where eventually Golgotha takes place. It's where the Temple Mount is. And he was longing for the day that he could go back to Jerusalem and go to the holy altar there, the Temple Mount, and offer a sacrifice to Jehovah God. It'd been a long time. He'd been in captivity, he'd learned a new language, he'd been re-cultured, if you would, in a new land. But he wanted to go home. And he wanted to worship his God. back at the holy place. His faith started in Jerusalem. His family, what were left of them, lived there. Many of his siblings would have been killed perhaps in battle, the older brothers going out to battle, and the sisters would have been assaulted, and his grandparents would have, if they were in poor condition, just left to die. I mean, it was a tragic scenario. You can imagine being in a siege and having no food for about two years, and then the enemy coming in. It was a devastating thing. So, whatever family he had left, were living there. His friends, whoever were surviving, they were there. He longed to go home. And he expresses that the inside is then coming out on the outside in the countenance, and he wanted to have God give good health to his countenance. It starts with a healthy soul. And so he prays to God. about is countenance. The countenance includes facial expressions, vocal suggestions, even mental manipulations that we do in our mind and bodily conditions, you know, body language. All of these things factor into what people see on display when they look at us and when they see us. Our countenance is so important. What we display on the outside can impact other people about God. The attitude that we have can invigorate or isolate people for or away from the gospel. Your disposition is a big deal. I like what one person said. Take care of that face which looks out from your mirror in the morning. Make sure it's a pleasant face. You may not see it again all day, but other people will. Very true. That's a good statement. Attitudes make a difference to the perspective of our lives and to the disposition we have and to the countenance that we display. What's inside eventually comes out to the outside. Now I have good news for you. You can have a godly countenance. You can have a godly countenance today. Now, there are several problems that we could face to make us have a bad attitude, and it's not really conditional on the circumstances. We can respond, no matter the circumstances, and have a godly disposition and a godly attitude. Notice how he mentions here, why art thou cast down, in verse 5, O my soul? You know, you can have a cast down spirit. And here's a weary soul, kind of tired. And we could use the word relenting. Maybe a person who's about to give up. And maybe you're here today and you have some really major difficulties in your life, maybe some relationship struggles. And you're saying, I'm about to give up. Or maybe some financial struggles. And I just, I can't do anything else. Or maybe there's some big decisions you're trying to make. I just feel like giving up and walking away or just quitting. And you're weary. You're weary. You have a spirit that is cast down, a relenting, giving up spirit. This message will help you. Perhaps you're kind of like this, a waiting storm, a waiting storm, maybe a resentful spirit. I'm glad to tell you that this man, as far as I can tell, does not have a resentful spirit. He's not angry. He is not bitter. He's not upset. He was carried away captive. He's lived in a foreign land. I mean, he has a lot of things he could complain about or be bitter about from the time of his childhood, but he was not thinking like that. He did not have this resentful spirit. But those with resentful spirits, they let this bitterness build up in them, and they're like a waiting storm. Their lives are chained to disappointment and misplaced expectations, and when things don't go the way that they think they should go, They explode, they get angry, and they let everybody know it. That's a waiting storm. This man is not like that. It could be that you are a weary soul or a waiting storm. Either way, this message will help you. Then the third idea, and we find it where he uses this word disquieted. in verse five. This is a wired spirit. He's kind of restless, kind of restless. And there are some here today, I'm sure, and a crowd this size, a congregation this size, and you're kind of restless. You're going, you're going, you're going, but you don't know where you're going. I just got to be doing stuff, doing stuff, but you don't know why you're doing what you're doing. And you're disquieted. A restless spirit. It's a person who's juiced up. I mean, he's amped up. He just got to be going. He don't know where he's going to go, but he's just moving. And a lot of times a person like that, I got to make this change, got to make this change. I don't know why I need to make this change. I just need to make a change. I just need to do something. different. And this man, he has a disquieted spirit. So whether you're relenting or resentful or restless, this message can be a help to you. We should be like the psalmist in this passage and give ourselves this pep talk every single day. Now, this is a lot more than a pep talk, let me tell you, but you need to give yourself a pep talk every day about the perspective that I am going to approach this day that God has given to me. Here's how to have a healthy attitude. Wouldn't you like to have perfect physical health? Yeah, preacher, we're listening to you. Try to give us this message. Yeah. We would all love to have terrific health. What about your emotional and mental health? And more importantly, what about your spiritual health? What about having a healthy countenance? I'll tell you today from this passage, four verses that then we'll conclude in verse five of how to have a healthy countenance, how to have a attitude, a countenance, that makes a difference. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we thank you for this passage. We pray as we seek you that you would work in each heart and life. Answer the questions that each one may have, whatever type of spirit or perspective they have today, that they would have a healthy countenance, a healthy perspective of life that starts in the soul that then bleeds into the rest of their life that impacts other people all for your glory. I pray for strength. I can't deliver this message, but Lord, I pray that you would help. Help us to listen and to hear this passage. Speak to hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. How to have a healthy attitude or a countenance that counts. First of all, let God be the judge. That's in verse one, let God be the judge. Judge, judge me, oh God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. Let God be judge. God can plead and will plead your cause. Now notice what he says. He doesn't say, judge them. He doesn't look at his oppressors, those who captured him, those who retrained him to think like the Babylonians. He doesn't say, judge them. Judge them, God. Now, aren't we good at saying that? Lord, put them in their place. Judge them. If you let them have it, it's OK with me. That's not the way to think. He was not saying, judge them. He said, Lord, judge. Me! Judge me. What the psalmist is saying here is, Lord, here is my case. Here is my problems. Here is the situation that I am in. Would you judge me? Would you judge my situation? Would you plead my cause? This is my cause. I would love to go back to Jerusalem. I would love to worship Jehovah God. I would love to get back up on Mount Moriah and offer my sacrifices. Would you judge me? Judge me. Would you judge them? That happens anyway. It happens anyway. You don't have to pray like that. Now, there are imprecatory prayers in the Bible, and what I mean by that is, sometimes a psalmist would pray against other people, but that's not what the psalmist is doing here. Most of the time in our Christian life, we need to pray, Lord, not judge the other person, but Lord, judge me. Judge me. Vindicate me. Make my life right. Make my healthiness right. Make my situation right. He will plead your cause. He will protect your case. God can protect your case, whatever it is. He will protect it. Notice how he protects against the ungodly in verse one. This is the people who say no to God. They say no to God, and they would even be the ones that would say, no, there is no God. So they say no to God and say, there is no God. He says, would you plead my case? Would you protect my cause about this? How about the majority then? Notice it says the ungodly nation. Here's a nation, a majority of people that's around him. And don't we live in a day that's a lot like that? where it seems like there's so much ungodly people around us. Lord, you take care of us. Lord, you judge us. You know what? You'll judge them. We know that. But our prayer is you judge us, make us right in this society, in this day, in this time in which I am living. He will plead your cause. He will protect your case. He will provide your care. Notice how God can deliver from deceitful men. The word deceitful means fraudulent men, deceitful men, men who are lying, maybe stretching the truth or saying things that are not right. And that happens a lot to Christians. A lot of times people persecuting will say absolute statements about things they do not understand or did not really be around or to witness or to see. They'll say things about you as a Christian to put you down. And so, deliver me. God can deliver you from those who are deceitful men. Also, He can deliver you from unjust men. These are men full of iniquity, men who are perverse in their living. And so, the psalmist is saying, judge me, I want to be Different compared to all these other people Lord judge me plead my case plead my cause protect me provide your care to me a Majority of the time maybe not all the time, but a lot of the time Maybe not all the time, but a lot of the time We want people to perceive that we I'm talking about me, and I'm talking about you We want people to think that well I'm perfect I'm glad that they're in church. I'm glad they're here, but I'm perfect. I've never done what they did. I've never lived like they've lived. And you better watch out because we inflate ourselves with self-ego and self-righteousness. That's not the righteousness of Christ. If you come to church, or if you get together with people in the neighborhood, or if you have family over at your house, and that's how you approach them relationally, you're going to have a lot of problems. I mean, that's an arrogant spirit. And that's not a right way to look at things. We feed our egos. And when we think like that, we are actually judging them. So we're not like the psalmist, Lord, judge me. We're actually saying, I'll be the judge of them. And that's the wrong way to live. As a world conqueror, Alexander the Great, wanted his portrait painted. The finest artist was called to produce the painting, and when the general requested the portrait be a full-face pose, the artist was filled with consternation. He had a difficulty with this because on one side of Alexander's face was a hideously disfigured scar because of a battle, a battle scar from when he was in one of his battles. He studied the subject. He kept looking at Alexander for some time, and he eventually seated Alexander at the table, and he placed the general's elbow up, and he said, hey, go ahead and put your hands right here. And on purpose, he covered up the blemish and the flaw, if you would, on General Alexander's face, Alexander the Great's face. You know, when Jesus went to the cross, he had the nail prints in his hands, the spear thrust into his side. He had scars that were left even after the resurrection. He said, Thomas, come on over here and feel these things. He said, fellas, come around here and look at these scars. And they looked and they felt and they saw. He had scars on his body, not because of his own sin, because of our sin. It was our sin. And it's foolish for us to parade around and act like I'm so much better than, or I'm so much more than this person, and try to cover up my own sin. Folks, the only difference between you as a Christian and someone who's lost is you're a saved sinner, but you're still a sinner. When it comes to believers in the church, well, that's a brother in Christ, he's a saved sinner, and she's a sister in Christ, and she's a saved sinner, but we're all sinners. And the reason we come together as a church is because we admit that we're sinners and we want to do something about it. Lord, help me. I don't want to be addicted. Lord, help me. I don't want to fall into this sin. Lord, help me. I don't want to have a bad attitude. Lord, help me. I want to do the right thing. So it's foolish to say, I've arrived, I'm here, And I got it all together. Go ahead and come with humility. Let God be the judge. Let God be the judge. We're not the judges. Let God be the judge. Number two, lean on His power. Notice, for thou art the God of my strength, why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Our strength comes from God. I like how one person said that we've grasped the mystery of the atom, but we have rejected the sermon on the mount. We have achieved brilliance without wisdom and power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. That's where we're at. We've been there a long time as well. Nuclear giants, but ethical infants. Folks, we have such power, but it's not our power. We have such opportunity, but it's not just because of us. It's not of our own mind. And as the psalmist is looking at this, Lord, you're the God of my strength. But sometimes we come and we'll say, well, I'll build this or I'll do that. And if my family is going to succeed, it's going to be me. Or if I'm going to do this job, it's going to be me. If we're going to earn and I have some earning power, I'm going to earn that money. I'm going to do it by myself. But it's not good enough. Our strength comes from God. I'm going to have some mental fortitude. I'm going to go right through this persecution. I'm going to endure some difficulty because I'm strong. I can do it. No, you can't do it. You can go for a little while, but you'll fall. Sure, it's not from your own mind. It's not from your own muscles It's not from your own money and it's not from your own motivations here. The psalmist says Lord. You are my strength We can't go another day without God How many times do we try it? Okay, we get up throw our clothes on, get to work, we drive there fast, we get there, we get it done, we get through the day, we get back home, we do whatever we do, we go back to bed, we do the same thing, we do it again. How many of us actually stop and rely on God for a little bit? I mean, pray, meditate, take some time where everything's off, nothing's pressing, I'm gonna meet with God for a little bit. How many of us do that? I don't have to raise your hand, but just think about it. Where do we get our power? I find it interesting when Zerubbabel comes back to Jerusalem. This is after the siege. This is after the walls of Jerusalem, the temple, everything's been knocked down. Zerubbabel comes back. He lays the foundation for the temple. They're going to rebuild the temple. This is in the book of Zechariah. Zechariah 4, 6 says, Zerubbabel! How are we going to build this? It's not by might, it's not by power, but by the Spirit of God. How will I succeed as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a wife, as a mother, as an employee, as an employer? How will I succeed as being a student, or being a teacher, or being whoever God wants me to be? It's not our own ability, it's God. God, You are, You are my strength. Our strength comes from God. Our stability comes from God. Notice how he mentions his mourning. Why dost thou cast me off? He feels kind of rejected in these moments of desperation. And he says, why go I mourning? Because of the oppression of the enemy. Then it kind of turns the page and he starts talking about truth. We'll get to that in our next point. Our stability comes from God. The word mourning means covered in darkness. I mean, it was like just a darkness all around him all the time. The word many times is used to include sackcloth. So when Old Testament characters especially would be going through a trial or difficulty, they would put sackcloth on and ashes, grain sacks, if you would, grain sacks and ashes. They'd rub it all over them. And that's what they would do to show that they are mourning. And it's like that Johnny Raincloud, if you would. You know, just everything's dark. And why go I mourning all the day long? I mean, the sun's up, but man, it's dark right here where I am at. You ever meet anybody like that? Okay. He's asking, why is it like this in my life? Why am I Johnny Raincloud? Why do I go mourning all the day long? Why am I crying all the time? Why am I complaining about this? Here's a man who was a refugee of war, like we mentioned earlier, carried away captive to a faraway land, ripped from his family. Many of his friends and loved ones were killed in battle with the siege and famine. He learned a new language. He adapted to a new culture. He lived among people who did not care for Jehovah God, the God he learned about in Temple Sunday School, if you would. He didn't learn about it. He didn't have the same people around that were worshiping God like he learned when he was young. He was in a miserable place, a miserable place, and he wanted to go home. Just think about how desperate you would be if you were carried overseas or far away. And you're not sure what's happening back home, if anyone's still alive or dead or what's going on. You're forced to be educated in a new religion, new language. I mean, you think, we don't think like that. We don't think like that. But put yourself in his sandals for a little bit and just think about how dramatic and how life-changing that was. It's a lot more than the problems we have. I can't get my nails to dry. I have too far to drive to work. I mean, we have problems that people in this world would say, what? You know, what's the big deal? You know, what's wrong with you? You know, the Turkish air conditioner is too cold. Man, I mean, that's the biggest problem you have. You got to go, you know what I'm saying? And don't all of us truly living here have a good? Every single one of us probably. And we have problems, I'm not saying that. We have struggles, we have physical problems, we have relational problems, we have decisions, I don't know what I'm gonna do about this side or the other. But when you think about it from his perspective, he said, why am I crying all the time? He doesn't wanna be crying all the time. He says, God, you are my strength. Why am I going? Because of the oppression of the enemy. I mean, here's the enemy. Why am I like this? You know, we tend to have emotional rollercoaster rides, and I encourage you today to get off the rollercoaster and set your feet on a rock. Just depend on Christ, get through each day, look at the bigger picture of whatever is happening, and just praise God. One pastor friend of mine on Twitter, he said this, And there's some good things on Twitter, some bad things, but there's some really good statements people making, 144 characters, and here's what he said. You can do more damage by serving in a church with a bad attitude and a complaining spirit than you can by not serving at all. That's a good statement. That's really a good statement, it's very true. Here's a man who, he does not want to cry over his past. Here's the persecution of the past. I was carried away. I don't want to keep crying about this. It's over. He says, I don't want to cry about my present. I'm not judging them. God, you judge me. You help me. You take care of me. Lord, I'll just give myself to you. And so he's not crying over the past, the persecution. He's not crying and wanting to cry about the present, the people around him and his circumstance. He gave his real problems to God. 1 Peter 5, verse 7 says, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Did you know that you cannot fix life by complaining about it? You can't do it. A majority of the time, probably 100% of the time, I'll make an absolute statement, the more you complain about something, the more you complain about it will only compound your problem. In your mind, you could go crazy. In your mind, you could perceive things that are not the same or the way that it really is. You could cause problems for other people. I mean, it just causes more problems. Complaining just compounds the problem. We could be like the psalmist and say, all these things of the past, the situation of the present, I forsake this, I commit it to God. I don't want to keep crying about it. I'm going to run to God. And that's what we find in verse three. So if we're going to have a healthy countenance and a good attitude, let God be judged. Lean on his power. Number three, walk in his way. It's in verse three. Oh, send out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. The light way is the way that we should go. The light way. It's God that's sending out the light. You think about a flashlight and I failed to bring one today, but if you have a flashlight, the flashlight of God's will may only illumine the next step. It doesn't happen that in your life, the flashlight of God's will will illumine the entire path for the rest of your life. What I'm saying is I can see what will happen next year and five years from now and 10 years from now, because the flashlight of God's will is right there. So I can see way into the future. That's not how it happens. Here's how it happens. The flashlight, just like our flashlights, it gives you enough light for the next few steps. The next few steps. I keep holding the light out there, next few steps. Sometimes, sometimes it's not even a few steps, maybe it's just the next step. We have a hard time accepting that sometimes, because that's just the way that it is. God's light, that's how it is. But I am blessed that the Bible says, that thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So the light's there. You may not know the very end of your life or the very end of whatever's happening, but you can know the next step. Just take that next step. We're so destination-focused that we neglect to cherish the simple, everyday moments. Here's what happens in our Christian life. We think long-term. We think destination. We want the flashlight to shine way on out there. But here's how we think. Next step, next step, next step. It's not fast enough. I want it out there. You know, graduation today. I want my kids growing up next week. We want our vacation now. We want things very quick. But that's not realistic. God's will is one step, here's the next step, here's the next step. Oh, the light shows this way. Go this way a little bit, go that way. We follow the light of God wherever it leads, but we tend to be so destination-focused that we don't enjoy the journey. And some of you will miss life, who will miss opportunities, who will miss the blessings that God has for you because, well, I just want to get to the end of it. I want to get the kid out of the diapers. I want to get him out of the house. I want to get him into his car. I want to get him out of college. I mean, you know, I just got to, I got to get married. I got to get the job. I got to, we miss the, we miss everything in between. Take God's light and be thankful that it'll give you the next step and be satisfied with that. That'll help you. It really helped them. They'll help you have a better countenance. Walk the light way. walk the truth way. Notice that God is sending out truth. He speaks about the light and then truth. Truth is unchanging. Men try to change the truth. And like Romans chapter 1, verse 25, speaking of men who change the truth of God into a lie and worship and serve the creature more than the creator. In that case, here they're changing. Where did we come from? Did we evolve? or were we created? Did God speak or did some slime just start to move around? And here we are as humans today. There's a big difference between that perspective. And that really makes a big deal. What is truth? Well, in Romans 1, they're changing the truth. God wants us to know the truth. Truth causes us to be accountable. Truth, it creates hostility. People don't like the truth. It's confrontational many times. But truth also conditions humility. If we want to be truthful, we should be humble, and humble people would be truthful people. So truth is unchanging. Truth is more than feelings. Truth sanctifies. In John 17, 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Truth should be on the inside. Like David said after his sin in Psalm 51, 6, Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. It's one thing to know truth. It's one thing to internalize it, to keep it, to want to live by it. Truth is available. Now, the Bible says there'll be a day we live in a day such as this where truth is falling in the street. People don't care about truth. Well, if it's true for you, that's good. It's true for you. It's good. It's true for you. It's good. It's true for you. Truth is falling in the streets. But the Bible is truth. Jesus said, I am truth. We have truth in our hands today. It doesn't change. Truth doesn't change. Truth is more than feelings. Truth is available today. In Psalm 105, the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. I don't know how to live, or I don't know what to do. The truth is there. Truth is there. There's a time we don't understand it. And a lot of time people don't want to observe it or to follow it. The truth is valuable. In Proverbs 23, 23, buy the truth and sell it not. You know, we should value truth and let truth lead your way. You could think about light, the flashlight of God's will, the flashlight of God's way. And then you could think about truth as a compass. If you have a I'm talking about an old-fashioned one, not your magnetic ones or the ones on your phone, but an old-fashioned compass. There's magnets in it, and it goes true north, magnetic north, every time. You could look at that, and you could say that this compass is so narrow-minded, This compass is always pointing the same way. It's always pointing going north. And that'd be north outside of our building here. It's always pointing going north. And it's just such a narrow-minded compass. We should be thankful that we have a direction that comes from God. Whatever way that it leads us, we must discipline ourselves. God, would you help me to fight any deviation from the compass of your will for my life. The following truth. Notice then this leads to the right way. The flashlight and the truth, the truth compass, if you would, lead to the right way. He wants to go to this holy place. He says the holy hill. The word holy is the word sacred or consecrated. sacred or consecrated. Does your attitude and your actions reflect a holy God? Now here's a dilemma that a lot of Christians get into. I have a lot more written down, but I'll just try to summarize it like this. We tend to want to do Christianity. We want to do good works. We want to do things for God. And there's a place for that. The Bible says to be ye kind one to another. Now the word kind, it actually is not something that you do, it's actually the disposition in a relationship. I'm doing kind as an adjective, it's not the end result, it's not the end thing that you're doing. So it says be kind, so it's like be, be, be, be. I find this amazing, it's in Ephesians chapter four. Be, be. Here's what we do. We don't be the Christian that we should be, but we do Christian things. We do, do, do. Do, do, do. I get it done for God. When God wants us to be still, know that I am God. When God wants us to be kind, one to another. When God wants us to be thoughtful about what the Word of God says, to be contemplating what its truth is, and it's all true, and you know, more, what do you want me to be? How do you want me to be today? It's more than what do you want me to do. But we get hung up on this, and we even believe that you're not saved by your works. Amen for that? We're not saved by what we do because Jesus has already done it all. We do what we do because of who we are, but we need to be better at being who we are to be. Otherwise, the works are just works that are empty and faithless and really meaningless. We could read Romans chapter 12 and go ahead and look at it. We can conclude with this. Here this man wanted to go up to God's holy mountain. He wanted to worship God. He wanted to be with the Lord, and I encourage you to be like that as well, to walk in God's way. That's the destination. It's to be with God. It's not just to do things for God, it's to be with God. It's kind of like Mary and Martha just doing or serving or being with Jesus. Just take some time to be with Jesus. So the fourth point then is this, to praise God publicly. And we find that in verse 4. Hold your place in Romans 12. We'll come back to that. Why? Now verse 4, then will I go to the altar of God. So that was where he wanted to go. He wanted to be with God. Unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee. O God, my God. Now the Bible speaks a lot about sacrifices. And in Romans is where we'll finish up at. There's a sacrifice mentioned there as well. Samuel spoke to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15, 22, and said, We need to praise God publicly, and sacrifices is one of those things, but we need to be obedient to God before even offering sacrifices. Psalm 4, 5 says that we're to offer sacrifices of righteousness. That's more like being than just doing. I mean, I want to live righteously. I want to be righteous, therefore I can live righteously. In the Bible you'll find many altars. I mean, they'd set up an altar over here on this mountain, an altar over here on this high place, and the people got into a lot of problems because they set up some stones, and they started to make sacrifices, and they called it an altar. Sometimes it was Jehovah God. Many times it was the false gods in the land. And so there was many altars, and they erred. The people erred when they set up so many altars. When God set up Israel, He marched them into the land, and when He took them up to Jerusalem eventually, and He established later where the tabernacle was, and then when they went up to Jerusalem where the temple was, there was one altar for the land. There was just one. But they got into a lot of problems whenever the nation was divided, people were setting up altars all over the place. There are many altars today that humans set up in much the same way. And let me tell you something, we err just as much. There are altars all over the place. There's altars of convenience. I'll just do what's easy. There's the altars of false hope, money, and stuff, relationships, positions, and promotions. There's the altar of rationalism. If I do this, it's just as good as being. That's not true. That's not true. There's the altar of humanism, selfish, man-centeredness, and then there's one altar that you need to have in your life, and that's in Romans chapter 12. And this is what I believe the psalmist is saying in his passage. He is committing himself to going back to where God is. He's presenting himself to the Lord. Notice Romans 12, verse 1 and 2. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God." Here we find the one altar for the Christian. It's where we give ourselves. It's where we give ourselves. So we praise God publicly with sacrifices. We praise God with singing. He mentions harp music and psalms were words that were sung to music. He's not merely doing stuff for God. He wants to be with God. He wants to offer his voice to God. He's offering himself to God. And then finally, at the end of that chapter, chapter 43, verse 5, he says that God is his joy. He says that God is his joy, and that's satisfaction. We want to present ourselves to God, praise God publicly, and be satisfied in Jesus. The word, he's my exceeding joy. Exceeding means glee or myrrh. It means laughter or fun. It has to do with pleasure. You can have fun in the Christian life and enjoy Christianity. The word joy is a strange Hebrew word. It would seem strange to us. It means a revolution of time, a revolution of time. It means like an age, like a time period from here to here. The psalmist was not going to let a moment go by. He wasn't going to let a day go by that he didn't spend time with God, that he didn't yearn to be with God. I want to go back to the Holy Hill. He wouldn't let a rotation in time, a 24-hour day, it's a complete rotation, go by without finding satisfaction in his God. And for us, we shouldn't let a day go by where we do not seek, purposely seek to be with Jesus Christ and to find our satisfaction in him. You can run after all the altars this world presents to you. You can try to find all the sacrifices and all the stuff the world wants you to have. but you'll never be satisfied without the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you've never trusted Christ, you need to trust him as your Savior. You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do that today. And Christian friend, there is an altar of dedication. 20 years ago or more, 21 years ago or more, I said, Lord, I'll give you my life. You can take it. Whatever you want me to be, that's what I'll be. Whatever you want me to do then, that's what I'll do. And you can do something like that. I believe it's a daily proposition that we would open our Bibles or pray to God and say, Lord, just take me, use me today. Let me be the Christian that you want me to be. It's something that you can make a dedication to God every single day. Every single day. If there's not been one moment in your life where you said, Lord, I know I'm saved. I'm thankful for my salvation. But would you now take my life? I'm yielding it completely to you. my mind, this body, this mouth, my actions, my thoughts, everything about me, this being, I'm giving it to you that I would be used in your service for your glory. That doesn't mean you'll be a preacher or missionary, but what it's saying is, Lord, I'm yielding this being, this life to you. I invite you to do that. Just a couple days ago, You can change the slide there. We went up to Lake Placid, the Wilton Baptist Academy. We went up to Lake Placid. And I thought, wow, this is really great. I always wanted to go look at this, where we beat the Russians in the Olympics. We won the gold medal. It was a really big deal. So I was excited to go. They said in 1932. was the first year in the Winter Olympics that they got out this tiered podium. It was the first time in the Winter Olympics of the years of 1932. So I saw the podium over there. I ran over up there. Somebody said, well, why didn't you jump on number one? Why didn't you jump on number one? Well, I was actually thinking about this message that day. And I was thinking about the fact that most of us want to be number one in our life. Who should be number one in their life? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, satisfaction or joy, he mentions the word joy. If you read the book of Philippians, it's the book of joy. You'll find that it's really emphasized there, joy, you could understand it this way, it's Jesus, others, you, third place. So really, if I get a chance, I'll go up there sometime, and I should be on the third one. If you want real joy, The podium of your life will be tiered like this. God is number one. Other people are number two. I'm number three. If you want to have a happy and a cheerful countenance, a healthy countenance, you have to wake up each day and say, Lord, I give myself to you in that way. Otherwise, you won't find all that God has for you to find and you cannot be all that God wants for you to be. Let's bow together in prayer. Thank you for your good listening here this morning. I just have two questions. We can have a healthy attitude by letting God be judged, by leaning on his power, by walking his way and by praising God publicly. Maybe there's a friend here today, you've never trusted Christ for salvation. You don't know for sure that your sins are forgiven. If you were to die, you do not have confidence that you would go to heaven. You can have confidence today that you're going to heaven. You can know for sure your sins are forgiven. You can know for sure you're right with God. It's not your good works or being a good person. It's believing what Jesus did on the cross. He died, shed his blood, and he rose again on the third day. And he is extending to you his hand. He wants to forgive you and to save your soul. It's a matter of you placing your faith and expressing that faith to him in prayer. Maybe you say, Pastor Harness, as you deliver this message, I would like to know more about salvation and having my sins forgiven. I would like to know confidently that I'm going to heaven. I wanna know that. God has challenged me about that. Anyone like that, just raise your hand. No one's looking, just myself. It's a personal time. Just raise your hand very quickly. I'm just glancing across the auditorium. God bless anyone and with all. All right, thank you. Then this question, second question for Christians. Could you admit Sometimes I do good things, but I do good things with a rotten heart, rotten spirit, bad attitude. If that's you, confess that as sin today, and then ask God to help me. Lord, help me be the Christian, not just do Christian things. Be the Christian that you want me to be. Whether you've done that in the past, like I did 21 years ago, and say, Lord, I dedicate my life to you, or if you've done it in the past, or if you want to do it again, I think it's good that all of us just take a moment. Lord, help me to do your will. Help me to be the Christian that you want me to be. And dedicate your life anew. I'm not talking about being saved. I'm talking about, Lord, just take my life. Use me for your honor and your glory. I'm giving you this being, my body, mind, mouth, all of me. I'm giving all of me to you, Lord. I'm dedicating myself afresh and anew today. Why not take a moment in prayer to do that? Did God challenge any of you about that today? Would you raise your hand to testify? Let God be first place, others second. God bless you. Thank you, many hands. Good, thank you. Take a moment, meet with God. Some people will come to the front and pray. Some people will kneel. If you can do that, do that. You wanna just be seated where you're at and say, Lord, take my life. I wanna be, I have countless accounts. I want to be a person that's the Christian that you want me to be, and do that today. Get it settled and get it right with God this morning. Father, we pray that you bless this invitation as we respond to your will and your leading in our lives. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Would you please stand as the piano plays? The altar is open. You want to come and talk to God, dedicate yourself, whatever the need is, would you come? Some are coming. Are there others? Amen. Several have responded, perhaps others. God's working in your heart. You can come to the front. Lord, take my life. Maybe you said that in the past. Why not do it again? Maybe you've had a bad attitude. Lord, help me. Help me with that. I don't want to just do good things. I want to be the Christian you want me to be. The good things will follow naturally. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are our God. No matter the circumstance we find ourselves in, we thank you that you are here with us and we can rely on you. Thank you for bringing us through this challenging message about being a Christian that you want us to be, to have the godly disposition and attitude no matter the circumstance or situation we're in. Lord, help us to each purpose in our hearts today that we would dedicate our lives afresh to you each day. that we would bring honor and glory to you. Lord, we thank you for bringing us through this message and for challenging hearts. Thank you for strengthening my voice just enough to get through. And Lord, I pray that we would take these truths and use them in our lives. May we not rely on our strength and ability, but no, no, but to rely on your strength, your power by your spirit. that we will live out each day. Lord, thank you for each one here. Bless as we commit ourselves to you in these areas. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for being here and listening through the voice that I had. Hope you can come back tonight. And Pastor Betz has a couple of announcements. Thank you. Just a few things to remind you of before we sing our closing song. This Saturday, June, July, sorry, I'm in the wrong month, June the 10th, sorry, at noon, if you're planning on coming to the bridal shower for Michaela Clark, would you please sign up on the bulletin board today so that way they can know and have an accurate count as to who will be here. If you could do that, that would be greatly appreciated. This is the second week. that they started a new adult Sunday school curriculum here in the auditorium. So if you'd like to join them, this new series is called Build Below the Baseline, getting into God's word and digging into it. And so it starts Sundays at 10 o'clock during our Sunday school hour. There are four different men who would take turns and speak during that time. And so if you'd like to join them, I plan on being here next Sunday for the next lesson. Next Sunday night, Pastor will begin a new series. Tonight we'll be finishing up the book of 1 Peter, and then next Sunday starting a new series in the evening on the Sermon on the Mount. So plan on being a part of that, looking at the Beatitudes, looking at many different things in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and so plan on being a part of that. And then last thing to remind you of, we're looking forward to in the summer months to being able to have a couple college groups. In the last two years, we've had a group from Pensacola Christian College that has played stringed instruments. This year, we have the privilege of having a men's quartet. And so they're bringing a quartet, a piano player, and then a speaker as well. And so that'll be Sunday morning, June 25th. So mark your calendars for that. We'll have a great time in God's word, as well as listening to some great singing. And so plan on being here for a part of that and just a great time together. All right, let's sing our closing song as we're dismissed this morning. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, when he takes me by the hand, and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day, that will be. I don't know. Here's a message from me to you. I just want you to know that everything you do is for the good of the world. I don't want you to feel like you're just another human being. I want you to feel like you're the only human being in the world. This is a message from me to you. I just want you to know that