So Psalm 61 and 62, let's hear the words of God. To the chief musician on a stringed instrument, a Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God. Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth, I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings. For you, O God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. You will prolong the king's life, his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. O, prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. And then to the chief musician, to Jedethon, a psalm of David, Psalm 62. Truly my soul silently waits for God. From him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you attack a man? He shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his high position. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God's. Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are a vapor. Men of high degree are a lie. If they're weighed in on the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor. Do not trust in oppression, nor vainly hope in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them. God has spoken once, twice I've heard this, that power belongs to God's. Also to you, O Lord, belongs mercy. for you render to each one according to his work. So it's Psalm 61 particularly. We're going to be thinking Help for Hard Days is the title for today and we're looking at two psalms. I love the psalms. I have to say I often find them extremely challenging. Many of them face me with a delight in the Lord and a desire for the Lord and a knowledge of the Lord that make me wonder how much I really know, when you read a psalm that says, you know, as the deer pants for the water brook, so pants my soul for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God. So, you know, one thing I've desired of the Lord, that will I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And I find that very challenging. Where's my appetite for, how much do I long, how much do I know, how much do I experience of God? So the Psalms are very challenging, they're searching. But I also love the Psalms because they're tremendously honest. Tremendously honest. The writers bear their hearts and are honest about their struggles. They bring their questions, and they bring their doubts, and they bring their fears, and they bring their battles to the Lord. They ask why, and they ask how long. And they omit, don't they, when they feel lost, and alone, and abandoned. So they're incredibly realistic, the Psalms. The writers speak of their joys, they speak of their delights, yeah, but they also speak of their sorrows, and their struggles, and their trials. At times they've confessed to feeling forgotten, and feeling alone, and abandoned, and not knowing which way to turn, and what to do, and where God is, and why isn't he doing more? You get all of those things, and in that sense, they're encouraging. because they remind us that God understands our struggles, that we can bring them to him and pour them out before him. We haven't got to hide them, we haven't got to pretend. we can come with all those things. So today we're just as I said we're going to look at two psalms, psalms that deal with struggles and battles and doubts and fears. So we're going to look at Psalm 61 this morning to consider what to do when you feel overwhelmed and then this afternoon Psalm 73 what to do when you feel like giving up. So what to do when you feel overwhelmed. So verse 2 in the New King James, when my heart is overwhelmed. Some versions have faint, it's the word that means literally covered or smothered we might say. So I think overwhelmed is a good translation and particularly in the light of the rest of the psalms. So let me ask you a question, do you ever feel overwhelmed? I mean, you know, you look like you're pretty up together, most of you anyway. But do you ever feel overwhelmed? Ever feel like perhaps you haven't got it all together after all? You know, like, you know, like you're drowning, like it's all too much and you don't know what to do. which way to turn or how to go on, or if you can go on. Do you ever feel like that? Do you have that sort of horrible panicky feeling, that knot in your stomach, that sick feeling where everything is on top of you? Perhaps you're overwhelmed by the busyness of life, or the perplexities of life, the disappointments of life, the struggles, the trials of life, or just the frailty of life. I feel like it about once a week, I reckon. Actually, I felt a bit like it this morning, knowing I was coming to speak to a room full of ladies. Sometimes it only takes a small thing, doesn't it? It doesn't take very much, and I feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it doesn't actually even take something to have to happen, just the thought that it might happen, and I'm overwhelmed. Sometimes it's a bigger issue. Often it's in the night, isn't it? When you wake up in the night, and your wife's snoring beside you, and you're on your own, and everything seems so big, doesn't it? Or I wake up in the morning, and the thought of the day, and all that's before me, and all that I have to do, it can be overwhelming, can't it? Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Well, if you do, you're not alone. You're not alone. David felt overwhelmed. Aren't you glad at his honesty? Thankfully he didn't sort of try and hide it away and pretend that he says here. when my heart is overwhelmed. I mean, it's encouraging that it's David, isn't it? I'm encouraged that it's David. I mean, after all, David, he wrestled with lions and bears, didn't he? When a lion took one of his little lambs, he didn't go, oh, well, you can have it. He went after it and got it back again. And when all the rest of the Israelite soldiers are trembling, he's the one who goes, I'll go and take on Goliath. And yet, you might think, mightn't you, that David doesn't do overwhelmed. If you were to go to David and say, David, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, you'd imagine he'd just sort of look blankly back at you and go, what's that all about? But no, he knows exactly what it feels like. That's encouraging, that's comforting for me at least. But I can tell you something even more remarkable and encouraging. Come with me to the garden of Gethsemane. There's Jesus, the Son of God. And if ever anyone felt overwhelmed, there he is in the garden. Look at him, he's fallen in a heap on the ground. He's confiding in his disciples that he's exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. So what an amazing thing that is, that when you feel overwhelmed, you can go to Jesus, who is the rock that is higher than you are, but when you go to him and tell him that you feel overwhelmed, he doesn't look blankly back and go, whatever is that all about? He knows exactly what it means. And he's able to come to you and strengthen you and encourage you and come alongside you. He knows exactly what you need. What an amazing, wonderful savior we have. Well, what do you do when you feel overwhelmed? What do you need to do? What do we need to do? How do we need to respond? Well, I think this psalm tells us what to do. And one of the reasons I put the New King James on the back, I don't know what Bible version you have, but in the New King James, we've got four I wills. And that's the one I wanted to focus on this morning. Four things that David does and determines to do when he feels overwhelmed. So the first is in verse two, I will cry. And then the second's in the first part of verse four, I will abide. And then the third is also in verse four, I will trust. And then the last one's in verse eight, I will sing. Four things to do when you feel overwhelmed. Keep praying to the Lord, keep close to the Lord, keep trusting the Lord, keep praising the Lord. Let's just think for a moment, when did David write the psalm? Well we don't know for sure, he clearly wrote it when he was in trouble, when he felt overwhelmed. Look at verse 6, he's clearly at a time when he's the king, but verse 2 suggests he wrote it when he was a long way from home. So many commentators think, and it's traditionally been linked with that time when he had to flee from Jerusalem as his son Absalom is coming to take over, attempting to take over the kingdom. A tragic time, or such a difficult time, uncertain time. Not only is there an attempt to take over the kingdom, but it's his own son who's doing it. Imagine that. His whole life is upside down. His whole family is in turmoil. His whole future is uncertain. And yet, it's a wonderful psalm of trust and confidence in God. He determines what he's going to do in these circumstances, how he's going to respond, he's not going to give up, he's not going to despair, he's going to keep crying to the Lord, he's going to keep close to the Lord, he's going to keep trusting the Lord, and he's going to keep praising the Lord. So, let's make our way through these four. First of all, four things to do when you feel overwhelmed. I will cry. There it is in verse two. From the end of the earth, I will cry to you. In verse one, he says, hear my cry, oh God, attend to my prayer. So the first thing that we find David doing when he feels overwhelmed is praying. crying out to God, hear my cry, attend to my prayer. So clearly from that we can tell, can't we, that David is praying earnestly. It's a cry, it's a calling out, a heartfelt cry to the Lord. Now when do you and I pray most earnestly? If I'm honest, it's often in times of trials, isn't it? It's often when troubles come, when you sense your weakness, and I mean, maybe you're not like this, but often I think, you know, I've been saying my prayers, but suddenly I realize I, Was I really praying? I mean, it's taken this trial to really get me praying, really crying to the Lord. So in some ways, we could say today, to be in need, to feel your weakness, to feel overwhelmed, well, it's a good thing, isn't it, if it makes you really cry, if it makes you pray again. Let's ask some questions. Where does he cry from? Verse two, from the end of the earth. Is this an indication that David visited Norfolk? Some people think that Norfolk's the end of the earth. When I first went to Norfolk, I'd never been to Norfolk before I went to the church, I was driving, I was going further and further. I had my foot hovering over the brake because I was thinking, I'm going to fall off the edge of something. And I mean, that's what, I mean, Great Ellingham, it sounds impressive, doesn't it? But it's only Great Ellingham because it's bigger than Little Ellingham, which is down the road. And we're at the end of the earth. Well, David felt like he was at the end of the earth. I mean, if it was that occasion when, you know, David's had to flee from Absalom, Then he is out in the wilderness, isn't he? He's far from home, he's far from Jerusalem, he's far from the house of gods. But I think it may just be that he's feeling far off, he's feeling alone, he's feeling isolated, he's feeling far from help. That's how clearly, how he felt at the ends of the earth. Do you ever feel like that, alone, far off? And yet we're reminded here, aren't we? I mean, simple truth, but wherever we are, we're never too far away to cry out to God. No matter where we are, how far we are from anyone else, we can cry and he will hear from the ends of the earth. There's no way you can go. There's no situation you could be in. There's no trouble you could be in where you can't cry out to God and he hear you. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it? We live in this age of technology where you have mobile phones that I hope are all switched off and wherever you are, far from home, you can still... I mean, I'm still, I don't know about you, I'm still amazed by it. I'm still, you know, this was science fiction, wasn't it, when I was a boy? This was on Star Trek. You could see somebody and talk to them at the same time. I go out to Nigeria once a year, and I'm amazed I could be in the middle of nowhere, in the bush, and I can talk to Lois at home, and I can see her. It's incredible. But it doesn't always work. Sometimes you can't get through. But we're never, wherever we are, however far away, however isolated, however alone. Remember David writes that other psalm, doesn't he? 139, if I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there. Even there, your right hand shall lead me. So, are you feeling it? I mean, you might be here today, you might be feeling it in that sense, at the end of the earth, alone. Well, cry out to God. He'll hear you. Where does he cry from the ends of the earth? When does he cry when his heart is overwhelmed? So I say, again, David felt overwhelmed. Even David felt like he couldn't go on, like it was all too much, like he was gonna faint. As I say, David who overwhelmed bears and lions and fought Goliath. Mighty King David, and yet he felt overwhelmed. So even the strongest of us, we're weak really. We like to give the impression that we're not, but it doesn't take much. Another Psalm of David, Psalm 39. I'm often struck by this. Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Not when we're old and frail and reaching the end and beginning to shape, but when we're at our prime. When we think we're, you know, I don't know when you're at your prime, but, you know, even then you're just, you're a breath. So this is when David prayed, when he felt overwhelmed. We know that when he left Jerusalem, in that account, he certainly wept with grief, didn't he, at what was happening as he leaves home, just so knowing that his own son is trying to take over the throne. So God's people can be overwhelmed at times, overwhelmed by our circumstances, overwhelmed by one thing on top of another it might be, and that's the time to pray, That's the time to cry out. Where does he pray from the ends of the earth? When? When his heart is overwhelmed. Who does he pray to? Well. Hear my cry, O God, Elohim, the Almighty, the God who he speaks of in the next one, in verse three, as his shelter and his strong tower, this eternal, unchanging, faithful, sovereign, glorious, unimaginably great God. That's who he prays to. The God who's his rock. That's why he says, isn't he, in verse two, lead me to the rock that is higher than we are. I mean, life's uncertain, isn't it? It's changing, everything's coming down, and yet here is our God, and he's like a rock, the unchanging, certain, sure God. So it's a wonderful expression, isn't it? Lead me to the rock that's higher than I am. So you're in the sea, aren't you, and the waves are coming over you, and you're right to go under, and there's a rock, and the waves aren't coming over and can't get over, and you get there, and you're on it, and you're safe. And that's what our God's like. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ is like. He's a mighty rock. He's far higher and stronger than we are. When we get to Him, when we're on Him, We're safe and sure, on Christ the solid rock we stand. And so that's what we need when we're overwhelmed. We need to come back to the rock. And in a sense that's what praying is, isn't it? It's returning to the rock, it's casting ourselves on the rock, that one who's bigger and greater and stronger than we are. One of the reasons I read Psalm 62, one of my favourite little expressions, perhaps in the whole of the Psalms, perhaps in the whole of the Bible, is Psalm 62 and verse 8. God is a refuge. for us. In other words, tell him everything. Tell him all your worries, how you feel. Don't hold anything back. Tell him everything. Pour out your heart to him. That's a tremendous expression. It reminds me of Paul in Philippians 4. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind. Here's the answer to worry and fear and feeling overwhelmed. Take it all to the Lord, tell him everything, leave it all with him. I know the peace of God's even in the midst of the storm. I will cry, lead me to the rock. that is higher than I. Actually, the prayer is even asking the Lord to get us there, isn't it? You know, lead me there, bring me, get me to Christ. They're trusting him. Now, I never like to assume when I preach anywhere that everybody in the room's a Christian. So I don't know you all here, so you'll forgive, you all look lovely, but maybe you're not a Christian here today and you haven't got that rock. You've got no real solid ground, and when the storms come, you're on your own. Well, know this, that even today, you can come to the rock, to the solid ground of Calvary, to Jesus Christ, and you can cast yourself on him, and know forgiveness and pardon and peace with God, and be safe forever. First thing, I will cry, tell him everything, pour out your heart to him. Number two, and really these are all connected and in a sense they follow on from one from the other. Number two, I will abide. I will abide, that's verse four, the first part of verse four, I will abide in your tabernacle forever. Now that expression, I will abide, It's a wonderful expression, it speaks of a place where we stay, where we rest. It's a word that speaks of peace and comfort and security, a place we can call home. We all love home, don't we, where you've been out and you get home and you kick off your shoes and you make a cup of tea and you just... Place of rest and security. And David is saying, that's where I'm gonna make my home, in your place, in your tabernacle. So even when David feels he's at the end of the earth, you see that? Even when he's far off, he's got a home, he's got a place he can rest, he's got a place he can go to, he's got a place of security and rest. I will abide in your tabernacle. I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? If it is linked for that occasion with Absalom, then he's far away from the tabernacle, isn't he? Do you remember actually when he went to leave, they got the ark, didn't they? And they said, well, take that with us. And he says, no, no, no, leave it there. If the Lord's with me, he'll bring me back here. So it may be that he's just declaring his confidence that God is gonna bring him safely back to Jerusalem and back to, he'll see the tabernacle again. But it seems to me that David is speaking about more than that. He's speaking about, I will abide where God abides. That's where I want to dwell. That's where I want to be. That's where I need to be when my heart is overwhelmed. That's where I need to go to. I want to be where you are in your house. He wants to be with the Lord in his presence, close to him, abiding in him. It comes out again in verse seven, doesn't it? He shall abide before God forever. That's where I want to be. Not just in that tabernacle, but with you. It's not so much the place, it's the person, isn't it? That's where David longs for, the presence of the Lord. That's where he wants to dwell, with God. It's almost as if he's saying, I don't care where I am or what the circumstances are, or what I have. As long as I can abide in the Lord, be with him, know him, when my heart is overwhelmed, that's what I want, I'm gonna run, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna abide in the Lord. Jesus uses similar language, doesn't he? Although the picture's different in John 15. He's the vine, we're the branches, and he calls us to abide in him, to remain in him, to get close to him, to be looking to him, to find our help and our strength and our comfort and our joy in the Lord. And there Jesus says to me, if you abide in me and my word abides in you, So abiding in Jesus is about abiding in his word. Camping, if you like, in the word of God. Making that your refuge, your dwelling place. I will abide. Where are you living? Where are you abiding at the moment? Where are you? Are you near the Lord? I mean, it's an incredible thing, isn't it? That's even possible. You remember the Psalm of David, isn't it? Psalm 15, verse one, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Lord, who can actually be? And how does he go on? He who walks uprightly, who works righteousness, who speaks truth at his heart, who does not backbite with his tongue, and so it goes on. I mean, there's a similar psalm, isn't there? Psalm 24. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may dwell in his holy place? I mean, he who has clean hands and a pure heart. I mean, which of us is that? Who's gonna put their hand up and say, that's me? How is it possible? What an incredible thing that you and I, sinners like us, can abide in the presence of the Lord, can come to Him and know Him and be close to Him. Well, it's only because of Jesus Christ, isn't it? He's the one with clean hands and a pure heart. And we, clothed in His righteousness, are able to abide in His presence. When does David say he'll abide? He says forever, doesn't he? I will abide in your tabernacle forever. Verse seven, he shall abide before God forever. So this points to something more than the earthly tabernacle, doesn't it? This is David's confidence that his knowledge of God isn't just something for this life, it's an eternal hope. So he sang very quickly, Psalm 23. And you remember how it ends? Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David is abiding in the Lord, the Lord's his shepherd, he's with him, but then there's something even more glorious, wonderful to come, abiding in his house forever, a hope beyond That's our hope too, isn't it? That's the eternal hope that we have. A hope that's not gonna end. Being with Christ and being with Him forever. So what to do in times of trouble? What to do when we feel overwhelmed? We cry to Him and we stay close to Him. We abide in Him. I will cry, I will abide. Thirdly, I will trust, in verse four, I will trust. When trials come into our lives and when we feel overwhelmed, what are we tempted to do? We're tempted to doubt God, to doubt his wisdom, to doubt his love, to doubt his ways, to doubt his word, to doubt his promises. I mean, David is clearly in great difficulty, isn't he? His circumstances are extremely perplexing, especially if there was this occasion with Absalom. Everything is collapsing. It would have been very easy for him to doubt God's word, to doubt God's promises, to wonder, why is this all happening to me? Does God care? Does God know? But instead of doing that, he says, I will trust. I will trust, I'm determined to keep trusting God's words. Now we all have perplexing circumstances to some degree or other. There'll be things that happen to us or to those that we love that we can't explain. That we can't see why. What good could come of it? Why does God allow it? There'll be things that are hard to bear. There are things that cause us to be overwhelmed. And the issue is, what are we gonna do in those circumstances? What are we gonna do when such times come? And this time is teaching us what we must do. It's teaching us that with determination we must say, no matter what happens, I will trust. I'm gonna trust God. I'm gonna trust his word. I'm gonna trust his promises. The word here means to flee for protection, to run to for refuge. And it's a wonderful expression, I will trust in the shelter of your wings. One of the ways you know if you live in the edge of the end of the world is you have chickens. Actually, I haven't got chickens at the moment. The last lot stopped laying eggs a little while ago, so their days were done. But, you know, we keep chickens. And if you keep chickens, you know, you have the little chicks, and they're all running around, they're all sweet, and then something alarms them, or mum calls them, and they all straight under, and she gets them under the wings, and they're all there, safe and secure. And that's the picture we have here. David's saying, this is what it means to trust in the Lord. I'm going to run to him for protection, come under the shelter of your wings. So you might wanna turn to Psalm 91, that wonderful Psalm. Psalm 91, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him I will trust. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. There's where I go. He's my refuge. I run to him. I hide in him. I trust in him. His word is what's going to keep me secure. I mean, could there be anywhere safer to be? than there. And there's a reminder, isn't there, of the character of God. Because again, the temptation is when trials come and troubles come, the temptation is to consider God to be rather hard and indifferent and far off. And yet the truth is He longs for us to run to Him and hide in Him and trust in Him. He's there, ready to take us in, as it were. So perhaps you're here this morning, I don't know, and you're going through trials and difficulties, and the devil's tempting you to think of God as hard, and uncaring, and not listening. And the word of God would say, no, no, you must trust him. He is, he's there, he's ready, he delights in you, and he wants you under the shadow of his wings. Why does God trust, or why does David trust in God? We might go, come on, David, look at the situation. I mean, look at this, look at the mess. Here you are, you've had to flee Jerusalem. Your own son is taking over. Why would you trust God now? Look at it, it's a mess. Well, look at verse three. Here's why he's trusting God now. Because you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. He's gonna trust God now because God has proved himself in the past. I mean, we can think back over David's life, can't we? And all the circumstances, all the different situations, on the run, hiding in caves and all sorts of enemies against him. And yet the Lord amazingly protected him and looked after him. He cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard him and delivered him. And it's what's happened in the past, what he's known in the past, that's going to make him trust the Lord now. And the same is true for me and you. Now again, I don't know you and all your circumstances, but I know this. The Lord's been a shelter for you and a strong tower. And we can say, can't we, but why are we going to trust him now? Why are we going to trust him in this? Why am I going to trust him today when I feel overwhelmed? Because so many times before when I felt overwhelmed and like I couldn't go on, he's been there. He's strengthened me and helped me and brought me through. Now, I have to admit that often when something comes up, I can almost respond as if God's never helped me before in the past, and I forget. And so I need to keep remembering. You've been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. You've helped me so far. You've brought me this far. He who has helped me hitherto will help me all my journey through. So you're here this morning and you're feeling overwhelmed and you're tempted to doubt God and doubt his purposes and doubt his promises and doubt his word. Well, I will trust, keep trusting him. And then one last thing, I will sing. So what to do when you feel overwhelmed? I will cry, I will abide, I will trust, and then lastly there in verse eight, I will sing. So whatever trials you're going through, whatever suffering you're facing, however difficult the way might be, the Lord is still worthy of your praise. You still have many things to praise him for. You still have reason to rejoice. So for David, in a sense, he is the result of all that's gone before. In the light of all that God is to him, all that God's done to him, in the light of the fact that he can cry to the Lord, and he can abide in him, and he can trust in him, and he's been a shelter, and he's been a strong tower. This is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna sing. I mean, that's something that marks us out, isn't it, as the people of God. We sang for you, I was only teasing. It's great, isn't it, to sing something wonderful. I mean, that helped me at the beginning of today, to sing that, to hear you singing behind me and to hear fellow believers rejoicing that the Lord is their shepherd. And so there's one thing to do, isn't it, when your heart is overwhelmed? Sing. Now you might say, well, you haven't heard me sing. Well, that doesn't matter, does it? Or listen to singing. I mean, that's a great blessing, isn't it, today? Whatever device you've got, you can listen to some good hymns. And it's such an encouragement, isn't it? I find that a real blessing. And then to gather with the people of God and to sing. Sing praise to your to your name, to sing of all that God is and all that God's done. You have given me a heritage, the heritage of those who fear your name. That's something to sing about, sing about, rejoice. That's what to do when you feel overwhelmed. And you say, well, that's a bit hard for you. Well, let me take you to the end of Habakkuk. Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, though the labour of the olive may fail. And there's no food, the fields yield no food, though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. I mean, those sound like pretty overwhelming circumstances. Everything's gone wrong, everything's gone. You've got nothing, you don't know what you're going to eat today or tomorrow. And yet what does Habakkuk say? Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. So there's overwhelming circumstances and yet in the midst of it Habakkuk says, this is what I'm going to do. Or when those circumstances come, this is what I'm going to do. I will rejoice, I'll sing, I'll sing of the Lord, I'll sing to the Lord of all that he is, of all that he's done, of all that he means to me. I mean that is a glorious, glorious blessing to be able to do that. We've got so many reasons to sing. Such a wonderful God to sing of and such a wonderful saviour and such glorious hymns as well. How full of theology they are and how good they are reminding us of things that we need to be reminded of. So there's Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi and their backs are bleeding and their feet are in the stocks. and they've been unfairly treated. It's midnight, it's the middle of the night, that's the worst time, isn't it? What are they doing? They're praying and singing, singing praise to God. They're reminding themselves of the great truths of God's word. It's such a blessing to sing. And as a pastor, it's such a blessing for me when I see people who I know are going through trials. and who've come overwhelmed to church, and yet they're singing. And they're reminding themselves of the truths of the gospel, and they're hearing other people singing as well. How strengthening that is, how encouraging that is. How long does David expect to be singing? Forever. I will sing praise to your name forever. David's singing today, isn't he, David? Yeah, of course he is. He's singing that new song in heaven. He's there in glory, isn't he? He's singing. Whenever we sing now, we have a little eye, don't we, on that, the fact that we're gonna be singing forever. We're gonna be in the presence of the Lord. We're gonna join that great company in heaven, singing praise to the Lord. What to do when you feel overwhelmed? I will cry, I will abide, I will trust, I will sing. And I like the way that the New King James puts it, as a decision. Because that's the case, isn't it? When trials come, when that feeling comes, when you do feel overwhelmed, you've got a decision to make. How am I going to respond? What am I going to do? Or Psalm 61 would say, here's what to do. Keep praying, keep close, keep trusting, and keep praising. Let's pray together as we finish. Oh Lord our God, we want to thank you for the honesty of the Psalms, that we haven't got to hide away when we feel overwhelmed, but we can come to you. Oh, Lord God, we thank you that you are the rock. that is higher than we are, that in the midst of all our frailty and all our uncertainty and all the changing circumstances of our lives, you are the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And we run to you again this morning, Lord God. We come, we do what David did all that time ago, and we cry to you, and we cling to you, and we trust you. and we rejoice in you, we sing your praise together. Lord, you know our hearts, you know everyone here, you know those who are, perhaps who've come here this morning feeling like that. Oh, Lord, whether that's true of us now or tomorrow or whenever it is, Lord, help us to remember these truths and respond with faith as David did. Hear us, Lord, we pray. Continue with us, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.