were driving up this morning and I had to transfer it to another format so it's easier for me to read, so I've only got to read through it one time, so pardon me if I falter through this, but this is a song by Joseph Hart. Believers own, they are blind. They know themselves unwise, but wisdom in the Lord they find, who opens all their eyes. Unrighteous are they all when tried, but God himself declares in Jesus they are justified. His righteousness is theirs. That we're unholy needs no proof. We sorely feel the fall, but Christ has holiness enough to sanctify us all. Exposed by sin to God's just wrath, we look to Christ and view redemption in his blood by faith and full redemption too. Simple words, but profound truths. One more thing, pardon me, just for a moment. All right, everybody in Psalm 119, Psalm 119. I want to begin reading in verse 65, so make your way to verse 65. This is the ninth section in this psalm. Of course, most of you probably already know this is the longest psalm. It is in 22 sections, but I'll mention that in a moment. Let's look at Psalm 119, verse 65. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Now just in light of that last verse, this is not my message. I remember Henry Mayhem saying, well, he said it years ago, but I probably heard it years ago, but I heard it on tape. You know, the scripture teaches us that the love of money is the root of all evil. And it doesn't matter whether that love of that money is the love of a million dollars or the love of one dollar. The amount's not the point. It's the love of the money. But be that as it may, I thought I'd just throw that in for free. Here's my subject for this morning. And it's taken directly, I'm using this directly from a quote from God's holy word. And it's a difficult statement. I don't know that I can always honestly quote this statement. and feel it like it's supposed to be, but it's true nonetheless. It is good for me that I have been afflicted. Now this letter, Teth, I didn't read it. You see it there, Teth. It's a part of the Holy Scripture. Now, just as a little lesson, remember, in the Psalms, these headings are a part of the inspired words, so never leave those out. Many of the others, like the Gospel according to Matthew, that's not a part of the inspired text. But in the Psalm, everything you read there is a part of the inspired text. This letter, Teth, it's the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And this is not my message, but I feel I need to share this with you this morning. It almost pains me that I said that word. I don't like that word too much. But to give to you this morning a little thought about this Hebrew letter, Teth. In this ninth section of the 119th Psalm, this letter, it's what it is, it's a letter. The ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet means God's goodness. Psalm 119 is written in what some call an alphabetic acrostic. Now it's one of, Psalm 119 is one of nine complete acrostics in the Old Testament scripture. But let me say this, do not follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole. In this day and age, there's even movies made about the Bible, and it's called the Da Vinci Code, and people are looking for secret messages in the Bible. And some of these alphabetic acrostics, they're looking for special meanings and hidden meanings from God, and when they do, they're missing the actual words that are inspired in the Holy Bible. They try to take the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and make some kind of sentence looking for some hidden, deep, dark secret. Just my warning. Don't follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole. Here's why. There is no secret or hidden message in the acrostic itself. It was merely a literary style of the day. It was not written for code. If you get entangled in some supposed code, you'll miss Christ in the inspired word. Now, hear my, I'm telling you this from experience. I've been trying to do this for 38, 39 years. When you start to follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole, it will not bless your soul. It will just take you into more darkness. Now, I have a quote, and I want you to listen to this quote. It doesn't matter who wrote the quote. Whatsoever is good for God's children, they shall have it. For all is theirs to further them to heaven. Therefore, if poverty be good, they shall have it. If disgrace be good, they shall have it. If trials be good, they shall have it. If misery be good, they shall have it. For all is ours to serve for our greater good. Most of so-called professed Christianity in our day is always about the positive. You understand what I'm saying? The mountaintop experiences. They bring forth Christianity as something to bring you physically in this world to some higher plane. And I'm here to say there's nothing to do with the gospel. The gospel is intended by God to, one, convert the soul, to save us inwardly, and to cause us to see the corruption that we are in the fall of Adam, and then to bring us hope in Christ Jesus. That's what the gospel's for. That's what the word of God is for. So let's concentrate this morning just on two verses. There's too much here for me to try to deal with in 30 to 45 minutes. Two verses, so let's read those again. I've already read them once, but I want to read those again because we'll concentrate on those. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. Did you see that? Before I was afflicted, I went astray. So therefore, that lets me know this kind of affliction is a good thing. It's a good thing. But now, have I kept my word. Now, verse 71 is where I actually took my title. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. How is Christ in this text? Well, I have to confess to you, I'm sure that Christ is in this text in a far greater way than what I am able to see. But I know that there is one way in which Christ is in this text. You don't have to turn to this one. I just want to turn or read these words. These are inspired words from the Apostle Paul himself. Remember, it is, before I was afflicted, I went astray. So somebody's doing the affliction, the afflicting. Someone is suffering the affliction, okay? It is good for me that I have been afflicted. So somebody's doing the afflicting and somebody is suffering the affliction. Now, let's see how Christ is mainly in this text. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the context is clear, that is, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even, ah, this old sinner, I like this part, even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image, ah, amazing, who is the image of the invisible God? This is such a profound thing that, think of it, those who've seen Christ literally, when he was on this earth, those who've seen Christ literally in his body, had looked upon God himself. They spoke with him. and heard from and was able to actually touch God himself. Amazing. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Now here is how we see Christ in the text of Psalm 119, 65-72. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him. There is nothing that you could think of in the whole of the universe that Jesus Christ did not create. If it exists, He created it. Even the angelic hordes of which some fail, God Almighty, in the person of His Son, created it all. But look, and were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Or that is, they are held together. So who is the afflictor in this Psalm 119? None other than Jesus Christ himself. A great healer never heals a well person. Sounds a little overstated simplicity, doesn't it? And yet it is one thing that does not sink into the minds and the hearts of natural men and women. Think about this. There are two main ways I want to look at this. Before I was afflicted, that's what I'll deal with in particular. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. This is true in our initial gospel conversion. God never lifts a man or a woman up until he brings them down into the dirt before him. God never saves an individual until he first manifests to them their lost condition. Turn to Luke chapter 5. These are the words of the master himself. This is not this preacher's take, because my take on it means nothing. I mean that. I mean, it means nothing. I have my take on a lot of things, but Mike, it means nothing. Turn to Luke chapter 5, find verse 27. This is familiar. This is nothing new. I have nothing new to preach. Luke 5, 27, after these things, he went forth, that is Jesus Christ. He went forth and saw a publican. as a tax collector, a Jewish person who was actually collecting taxes for the Roman government, collecting taxes from his Jewish brothers and sisters to give to the Roman government. After these things, he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and he saith unto him, follow me. And he left up, and he left all, rose up and followed him. I don't even have time to deal with that, but there was power in that follow me. That wasn't a request, it was a command, and it was a command that gave the very ability to follow the command. And Levi made a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans. All the bad boys were around. All of his friends who were actually thought of by most Jews as turncoats, people who turned on their own nation. And he made a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans and others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do you think this would be something that just everybody gets and understands under any kind of canopy or whatsoever, but men by nature can't get this, especially spiritually? What did he say? They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. What do we often refer to concerning sickness? What do we call it? An affliction, right? This is my, have you ever talked about it? We love talking about our what? Afflictions, our sicknesses, don't we? We're all sick by nature. Not just physically, but more importantly, we are sick spiritually. We are sick down in here, inside, in the heart, and the soul, and the mind. but we don't recognize it by nature. It is God that must make us see and feel and taste the reality of our affliction. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. My brothers and sisters, anyone here in this congregation, if God has not caused you to see your spiritual sickness, you are not a Christian. I do not care what kind of experience you have had. I don't say that to criticize your experience. I'm not saying your experience wasn't real, but I am telling you it was not of God. Jesus Christ didn't come to save the whole. He came to save the sick. And how's he did it? I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Look at Jeremiah 31. There's another. Another important thought of this. And I give this from Jeremiah because I want us to realize this is not what I read of our Lord's words is not just some New Testament truth. This is eternal truth. This has always been true. Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 in verse 18, I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Sounds like Ephraim is what? Afflicted, no. Sounds like Ephraim is under deep distress and turmoil. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised. As a bullock, unaccustomed to the yoke. You see the vivid imagery here? Like some young bullock that you put this yoke on, and what's he do? Begin to kick. Begin to kick, begin to bite, begin to shove, begin to try to thrust his horns. What does he say? As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, turn thou me, and I shall be turned. What is this word declaring to us? God commands all men everywhere to repent. but no man will yield until God first turns him. It's just a fact. It's just the way it is. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented. So if you repented to get God to do something for you, you got the cart before the horse. You're trying to put your work in God's place, and then put God's work in your place. And God always must act first. This is the way it is. That's God's way. There's never any other different way. Surely, after that I was turned, I repented. And after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Again, before I was afflicted, I went astray. I went astray. But here's a second way in which this is so. This is true. Again, this is true in our initial gospel conversion. It has to start this way. It has to start this way. This is the way God does it, and he does it in no other way. But I believe there's many ways to get there. No, there's only one way. But once God has brought us by that one way, this affliction doesn't end. It's just commenced. It's just started. Before I was afflicted, so there was a time when I wasn't afflicted, I was dead in trespasses and sins. I didn't even recognize how bad I was, let alone how glorious God is. I did not recognize the corruption that was down in here, and I certainly didn't recognize the glory and the beauty and the majesty that was in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, thank God, he affected me. He made me see my sickness. But this is also true in our sojourn as believers. Again, modern Christianity kind of, if they don't say it this way, they give the impression that once you get saved, once you get saved, then all your troubles begin to lessen. And we can know that's when your troubles start. And if that scares you off, bye. And I say that not out of anger, but out of sadness. If that would scare you off, bye. What did our Lord say even to the disciples when a plethora of his disciples had already walked away? He said, will you also go away? Is this too hard for you? It's the truth. And I'm not your enemy because I tell you the truth. I'm not your enemy. Now, I do not believe in coincidence. Although I am sure that many times I use language that is the language of coincidence. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Does that sound familiar, Hebrews chapter 12? We just heard that read to us. Now, I had sent Jason and Mike my text and my title, but nothing more. Jason stands up here and reads Hebrews chapter 12. That's no coincidence. So I don't have to go back and explain a whole lot in Hebrews 12. It's already been read to us. So let's begin. Think about this. This is true in our sojourn as believers. Hebrews chapter 12, look at it, verse five, for the sake of time. And have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, despise not thou the chastening. What is chastening? We will see it is to be afflicted. It's to be afflicted. Despise thou not the chastening of the Lord. Somebody says, well, God's chastening me. He's angry at me. No. If he was angry at you, he'd cast you into hell. Even if there's anyone here this morning that's an unbeliever, the only reason you're not in hell is because of God's grace and mercy right now. Now whether that will be eternal for you and personally in you, I have no idea. Only God knows that. But as Henry Mahan used to say, every breath on this side of hell is one less you'll take in hell. Now how doctrinally accurate that is true is, I do not know, but it's still fact. I don't know about breathing, inhale, that doesn't matter. But every moment a person stands on this side of eternity is one less they will spend under the judgment of God Almighty. We ought to thank God for that, should we not? Look at it. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. And this is tough, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Because when he does chasten you, When he does rebuke you, it hurts. You will even wonder, has he abandoned me? Has he abandoned me? Now, before I go any further, let me say this. All chastening, when you're being chastened, if you're being chastened, does not necessarily mean you're being chastened for some specific fault or failure or sin. Job was afflicted or chastened of the Lord and had to be corrected, but not because of some particular fault he had, but because he was faulty. Do you see the difference? Now, yes, God will chasten his people over individual acts of rebellion, but chastening doesn't prove you did something specifically wrong. Because, my brothers and sisters, even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. He has to correct our thoughts about our own good deeds. And we're still to walk in good deeds. were to be a people zealous of good works, but were not to rely on them as merit before God. So just say, if God's chastening you, it's not well. We'll get into that. Well, oh, God's being mean to me. Oh, no. Oh, no, look. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor will faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord chastened, for whom the Lord loveth. Do you see that? Loveth. He chastened. So to be chastened, to be afflicted, of the Lord, right? This affliction comes from the Lord. See, we think that when the Lord chastens, He calls us some bad circumstance to happen. The circumstance may be a part of the chastening, but the chastening is of the Lord. It's Him dealing with you down in here. It's not Him bringing just some bad circumstance onto you. That's the way I was taught in religion. If something bad happens to you, you've done something wrong, you better find out what it was. Correct it, and then God will quit chasing you. If God ever quits chasing you, guess what? Then are ye illegitimate. Bastards, and not sons, right? Huh? For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth. That's affliction, is it not? scourges every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons, is it? I was taught this for years in religion, and I knew the terminology and the doctrine behind it, but I never knew the experience that it was. God saved me. When God actually saved me, it started and it hasn't stopped since. He keeps afflicting me and afflicting me, and it varies in different ways. God is not some cookie-cutter kind of God. He knows how to deal with us individually exactly like we are. Because we've all sinned to come short of the glory of God. Some of us have real troubles with different sins and things that others do not have trouble with, correct? Any of you had more than one child, you know it's difficult. You can't treat them both exactly the same way when it comes to correction. It just don't work. But our father is an all-wise father. He knows how to deal with us in love and scourge us. I mean, it's like being whipped on the back. That's affliction. That's affliction. Let me move on. I just think of all that our brother Job went through. All that he went through, I mean, he lost loved ones, all of his possessions, his friends began to despise him. Three of his best friends came and began to mock him. That had to hurt. Even the wife of his bosom said, why don't you just curse God and die? And he hadn't done anything wrong except be a sinner and in need of correction. And all of that was brought down to this. Lord, all that happened, the whole book of Job is brought down to this major thing. Lord, I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear, and that's absolutely essential. because it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them. That's essential, but it's more than just the hearing. I've heard of you with the hearing in my ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I hate myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. And he hadn't done anything wrong, except be jumped. Just be himself. Just be a believer, and even a top-notch believer, if I can put it that way, but he was still just a sinner saved by the grace of God. And so am I, and so are you. And though I am standing on a podium up here above you, that has nothing to do with anything. That's just so you could see me a little better when I'm preaching and you don't have to look at the back of somebody's head. We're all sinners. in need of the free and sovereign grace of God. I need God to afflict me. And since he has, although there are times when I cringe and I doubt myself, I know that his chasing is because he loves me. Let's move on. Furthermore, verse 9, We've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. Remember, chasing is not just to beat. I mean, God, I wish I understood this when I was a young father. You don't punish a child just to punish the child. You punish the child to correct the child, to curb further behavior. So it's not just giving a lashing. was given a lesson. It has to be administered in what? Love. And I didn't always do that. I didn't always do that. Furthermore, we had our fathers. If our flesh has corrected us, that's what chastening is about. Corrected us. And we gave them reverence, shall not we much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits that live? For they, verily, or that is, for they truly, for they truly chastened us for their own pleasure, but he for our profit. Note that we might be protectors of his holiness. Now, I know how that is brought forth. Religion teaches God chastens you, then you become holy. That's not what it says. The chastening is the holiness of God bearing down upon you to correct you. Do you see that? When He's chasing you, you're partaking of His separateness, His holiness. He don't do it to make you holy. He done it because he's already made you holy in Christ Jesus. And as ye have received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in him. But I walk like this, God is constant. Watching the boundaries, putting up limits, correcting us when we go this way too far, correcting us when we go that way too far. It's good for me. that I've been afflicted. Now, let's go on. Now, no, look at this. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous. We know that, don't you? I knew, like I said, when I was in religion, I knew the mechanics of this, but I didn't know the experience of it. Now, no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. That's affliction, you know. That's affliction. God don't... I used to have a teacher come along when I was in the first grade, and if she caught you turning around talking to somebody, she'd sneak up behind you and give you a little whack. That wasn't hard, give you a whack with a ruler across the hand. Well, you felt it when she whacked you. You got caught. You got busted. God doesn't do that. God doesn't do that. God lays hold of your heart, and your soul, and your mind, and brings it back in line with subjection to Jesus Christ. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. This is not something God's trying to do. This is what God does. You see it? I was taught in religion, when God's chasing you, he's trying to tell you something. God don't try to tell anybody anything. When God acts, it's done. It's done. But, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised, not those who exercise it, but are exercised by it. You see, it's exercised thereby. Wherefore, now here we go. Wherefore, do you see that? Wherefore? You see, before I was afflicted again, I went astray. Does this mean that I am to judge my fellow believer when I see them so afflicted? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Well, if they hadn't have done this, this wouldn't have happened. But they did. So have you done your thing. So have I done mine. Look wherefore lift up the hands which hang down. Don't criticize, help. Don't condemn, support. And I tell you folks, it's not that easy to do. Because when we see somebody else suffering, especially if we know they've done something wrong, that self-righteousness mells up in our soul. And we say, well, say it down in here even if we don't say it here. Well, if that was me, I wouldn't have done that. You ever said that? I wouldn't have done that. Apart from God's restraint, I will be a Charles Manson. Apart from God's restraint, I would be a Charles Mason, or a David Trish. But it's worse than that. I'm a Walter Pendleton. I'm a corrupt, fallen, deceitful, depraved person. And I will is in the grace of God in Christ Jesus. And that once he begins his good work in me, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Because if he ever does stop, you can talk about doctrine all you want, and I believe this. If he ever does stop, Jason, I'm a boner. because he chastens all of his own all the way to glory. He keeps correcting and correcting and correcting and then when he's done correcting he takes us on to glory. That's what he does. That's what he does. Oh, God, help us to be along suffering one more than another. But we need it, don't we? We need it. And make straight paths, well, wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather let it be healed. Follow peace with all men and holiness. Now remember, follow it. You ain't never gonna personally attain it in this life. I'm just telling you. You're not gonna personally get it in this life. But you follow after it. You keep following and you keep following and you keep following. and no matter how much you fall flat on your face, God lifts you back up, and you just keep following, and you just keep following. And you fall flat on your face again, he lifts you up, and you just keep following, and you just keep following. But in fact, this keeps happening to me. I keep following. I can't be a Christian. No, he's showing you, reminding you what you really are in yourself. That's what it's all about. to keep reminding us what we are so that we will trust His Son alone. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. But there's a caveat here. There's a caveat here. There's a warning here in this caveat of affliction and chastening. There are some imposters in the midst. That's right. There are some imposters. There are tares among the wheat. But even then, God tells us, take your hands off of it. Well, I'm going to take, I'm going to make sure that tare is exposed. No, no. You may expose the tare, but you're going to pluck up some wheat with it. And remember what our Lord taught? Let it alone. There's tares among the wheat. The weird, the amazing thing about tares and wheats, when they first start up, they look exactly the same. And let me tell you, none of us is a gardener like the God of creation. He knows the difference when they're just there, when they just sprout up. He tells us to take your hands off of it. I mean, this thing of constantly putting, there are people all over, getting constantly put out of the church, put out of the church, put out of the church. You gonna put a sinner out of the church? You really? Huh? Now understand me, there are some people who may rebel and are defiant and things must be done, but we're all sinners saved by the grace of God. We all fall. We all get angry when we shouldn't. We all sin. You've got to be there to support one another, and help one another, and not be constantly pointing the finger at one another. But remember, there are impostors. Look at it. Looking diligently. And that's to look at yourself. Look at yourself. Don't worry about everybody else. Look at yourself. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby, here's the trouble, many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. This is serious language. He was rejected, for he found no place of repentance. I can't explain this, but I thank God I don't think I've been hurt. He saw I was an apostate. He's a man that knew God, but turned his back on God's way. Look at it. For he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. That frightens me. That frightens me. Now we see. Now we see. It is good for me. that I have inflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." Now, what do you think of that? Maybe your mind is doing right now the same thing mine did when I first read this. Of course, I've read it several times, but this just caught my attention about a month ago. Statutes, we usually think about laws, right? Rules. Commandments. And that word is translated statutes, especially the Old Testament sometimes is talking about the law or commandments. But here's what it means here. Here's the second point from the second verse. Christ's affliction of his children is good. It's good, even though it's grievous, even though it hurts. It's for our spiritual profit. By these afflictions, Christ teaches me his statutes. Now, no matter how the word is used in a context, the main meaning of this word statutes, and you know, many words have varying meanings. You have to look at the context often to see the meaning. But often in the Hebrew and the Greek, it's not so. You spell it a certain way, you know it means this, or you spell it another way, still the same word, but you add to it. I'm not a Hebrew or Greek scholar, but it means this other meaning. But think about it. Here's what this word statutes here means. Literally, it means to engrave or carve, okay? So certainly, we could think of the Ten Commandments as the statutes of God, right? They were actually written in tables of stone with the finger of God. They were engraved, right? But here's what it means spiritually or metaphorically, to enact or to decry. to enact or to decree. Look at it. What does it say? It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your decree. That we might, let me say this to you, that we might learn that God is in absolute charge and in absolute control. Because once he brings you there, if he really brings you there, there's no turning back. He won't let you go. And you say, well, what if I run away? Jonah did. And he was running away from God. And he met God. Think about it. He was running away from God, but he ended up running into God. Because if you're his, you can try to get away, but you won't. Somebody says, well, preacher, if I believe that, if you believe that you bow to Jesus Christ, so don't bring that to me. You are like you are, and you're rebellious to truth because you're a rebel like I am. And it takes God to put the yoke on you. Mm, like a bullet. And God finally puts the bit in your mouth and says, whoa, you'll go this far and no further. Turn with me to Micah. I have that marked. And in case you don't know, it's the seventh book back from the end of the Old Testament. So I'll give you a moment to turn there. If you're following along, I'm not demanding that you do so, but if you're following along, I want you to listen to these words and read and see them as, see the words on the page, God's inspired word on the page as I read them. Micah chapter seven. Micah chapter seven. Some of these words will probably sound familiar to most. It's beginning in verse 5, almost done. Matthew 7, verse 5. Trust ye not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom, your wife. These are some strong words, aren't they? In other words, don't trust anybody. He said, really, preacher? Yeah, when it comes to the righteousness before God, don't trust anybody. Don't trust yourself. Now this one, for the son dishonoreth the father, and the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and here's a, our Lord directly quoted this more than once, and it's recorded in the New Testaments. Look at it. A man's enemies are the men of his own house. You see, when God saves you, he may not save your kinfolk. He don't have to. And they may become your worst enemies. It don't always happen, but I have seen it happen in these 38, 39 years. But look, therefore, I will look unto the Lord. God is not telling us not to put confidence and trust one another. I am not your actual hope and you are not my actual hope. The Lord himself is our only hope. Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. So that means something. It's as though he has not been hearing me before. Though he knows what I have cried out for, even before I know what to cry out for. Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Now look, rejoice not against me, O my enemy, when I fall. Notice what Micah wrote. When I fall. He did not write if I fall. Because you, as a believer, will fall. What was it? A couple of disciples said, well, Lord, how often do we forgive our brother? He said, 70 times 7. What's that? 490? Am I correct? 490 in a day. Kind of gets tiresome after a while, doesn't it? Somebody says he's being melodramatic. No, it's not melodramatic. He's expressing to us two things. One, how corrupt we are. We're still gonna keep failing and failing and failing and even failing one another. But we're still to be long-suffering with one another. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in what? Darkness. You see that? When I sit in darkness, here it is, the Lord. shall be a light unto me. It's not just he gives me light, though that is true, but it's deeper that the Lord himself is my light. When I'm enabled by faith to see him in his word, I've done it about every place I've ever been. It's like, I can breathe. Gives me some peace. Gives me some hope, because I know I sit in darkness. I know I fall. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. And look, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. Remember, even in our best state, man is altogether what? V-A-N-I-T-Y. We're infamous. The only thing that has any worth in us is God in us, the hope of glory. That's the only thing. That's the only thing. Look, here it is. I will bear the indignation of the Lord God because I have sinned against him until he pleads my cause. If you have the creator of the universe pleading your cause for you, what do you have to fear, even from yourself? even from yourself, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me. And beloved, he did in Christ Jesus. He executed judgment upon the Son. My sins are paid for. And though I still have to deal with the consequences of my actions, I will not be condemned for my sins. My Lord was condemned in my stead. And remember, Mike is looking forward to the Messiah coming. We know what's happened. It's already done. It's already done. This book tells us so. He will bring me forth to the light. You see it? He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold my righteousness. You know what that says? When he brings you into the light, you see your righteousness fade as doth a leaf. And I shall behold his righteousness. Listen to the words of these songs. This song. Thy people, Lord, have ever found. Tis good to bear thy rod. Afflictions make us learn thy will and lean upon our God. This is the comfort we enjoy when new distress begins. We read thy word, we run thy way, and hate our former sins. Thy judgments, Lord, are always right, though they may seem severe. The sharpest sufferings we endure flow from thy faithful care. Before we knew thy chastening rod, our feet were apt to stray, but now we learn to keep thy word, nor wander from thy way. A couple of scriptures, and I'll close with Psalm 22, if you're willing to see it as I read it. Psalm 22. Psalm 22, 23. Ye that fear the Lord, Praise him. All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. And fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Why does he not? That's no deep thing. He's the one doing it. Even if he's using some means, just like he did with Satan. Satan couldn't touch Job until God gave him say-so. And when he gave him say-so, he said, there's a limit and you can't go no further. I can rest in God like that. And when he does correct me, when he does chasten me, he's doing it not out of anger, but in love. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him. But when he cried unto him, he heard. Now one more, Psalm 25, just a page over probably. Psalm 25. Verse 16. Turn thee unto me. and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and affected. Ever been there? God ever push you there? If you've been a believer for very long, yeah, some of you out there, I have to be honest with you. I don't, I can't say I relate to what you're going through. I don't. But I know it's tough because there God brought it upon you. He brought it upon you. If you're His, it will be for your good. It will be for your good. I can't tell you how, but I can tell you why. Because He will get glory out of saving you. His way. His way. Look at what Meredith does. Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain, and hear, let us never forget, let us never grow above this, and forgive all my sins. If you ever grow above having that in your prayer, you've grown too far. You're too old. Sin's always a part of the equation. Sin's always a part of the equation. Heavenly Father, oh God, some of these things are tough. Our circumstances are often tough, and we have those times when we can breathe and relax a little bit, but not often. But we, by your grace, bow to your wise and sovereign purpose. God, teach us your way. Make us look to Christ. Calls us to bow to Him, trust Him, and lean upon Him in Christ's name. Amen. All right, Jason. Thank you, Lord. We all need to hear that message. It created a lot, don't we? Next week, Walter will be back. And at some point, probably next week, I'll let y'all know. We're gonna have like little dinners afterwards, but not next week. Won't give us plenty of time to prepare for that. So that we can get to meet Walter in the end. We'll get together and iron this out as we go here. I'll let you know. O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? wisdom. Some day the path He chose for me will all be understood. In heaven's clearer light I'll see All things first now and then. Okay. I don't need her. I don't need her. He's gone! Oh. You got a sense for this, right? You.