You may be seated. And if there are any little ones involved with Mrs. Shore, they're welcome to do that. And we'll turn in our Bibles to Psalm chapter 16. All right? Psalm chapter 16 in your Bibles. And it was good to talk to Kaylee yesterday. We're excited. I didn't share this with the church, but a praise from this past week is that Kaylee's coming home for Christmas, coping and the Lord willing, you know? She's planning on coming back. We purchased tickets yesterday for her to be able to do that. So we're excited about that But you know, our kids are at that age where they are getting jobs Kaylee's working at the kind of book shop there coffee shop at Ambassador as well as in the kitchen. She's a cook and And she laughs a little bit about that, but God has given her that opportunity. Benson is looking for a job. We're trying, and he's been applying a lot of different places, had an interview, two interviews this past week, and so just praying and waiting on the Lord about that. And up to this point, he's been on eBay, just buying and selling some things. And Benson has a knack for kind of making money, a little bit. He'll go into the post office or has gone into the post office and gotten changed. You know, he looks at the 50 piece that he's gotten back and he knows that they're worth more than 50p and that the man has a whole row of them in his drawer and asked for change of those 50 piece for cash that he's got and is able to turn around and sell those and make some money that way. Just recently, God provided a great opportunity for him as he looked at a silver necklace that he had and realized that it actually wasn't silver. It was actually white gold. And as you can imagine, that's a little bit more valuable because it's a precious metal. Pure gold is more valuable than pure silver. In the Bible, when you read about gold, gold signifies that which is most precious. There in the Word of God, you have Jesus in Revelation in glory wearing a crown of gold. It says in Revelation 14, verse 14, And behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat, like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." And you have the Lord Jesus Christ there with that most precious emblem of authority there upon his head, made out of pure gold. The New Jerusalem, the city itself, is pure gold. Revelation 21, verse 18 says, in the building, and the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, likened to clear glass. And so if you're to see this new Jerusalem, I mean how amazing it must be and how precious it is. We know it's a precious city because the lamb is there because God the father is there and the spirit of God is there. But how precious it is and it's the emblems that represent it in that it is pure gold. Revelation 21, 21 says in the 12 gates were 12 pearls. Every several gate was of one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold as it was as it were, transparent glass. And so as you see the pure gold, you recognize that that means that this is most precious. You know, as we come to Psalm 16 this morning, it is the golden psalm, and it is about a golden prayer, a golden relationship, and a golden dependence that the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has upon God the Father. This psalm is it begins with that word you see there. It says the Mitch Tim of David and in the treasuries of David by CH Virgin a commentary that he's written on the psalms. He says this is usually understood to mean the golden psalm such a title is most appropriate for the matter is as the most fine Okay, and so this this psalm of David that we're going to look at this morning. It is most precious now The Psalms are precious and there's a lot of messianic Psalms. They are very precious, but it's significant that this one is called the golden song And as we think about that this morning, I want to emphasize to us It's not just a golden song, but it's a it's a golden prayer that speaks about a golden relationship and a golden dependence that the Messiah has upon God the Father, because this is, this morning, a Messianic psalm. It's a psalm written 1,000 years before the Savior came, but a psalm that very much speaks about his relationship with God. I wanna encourage us, this morning, as we come to this text, to pray golden prayers. to be in a position of golden dependence or a golden relationship with God as we consider this heart relationship with the Messiah, with God the Father. And so let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to help us as we come to the word of God this morning. Father, we're grateful for the grace that you give. Father, as we see our Savior in the Old Testament, may the Spirit of God just encourage our hearts. Father, I pray that we'd be tender to what you desire to do in this place, in this time, where there's much that we can learn from this song, there's much that we can be challenged with. And Father, our prayer and our desire would be, God, speak to us. God, would you please use the Word of God to challenge us today, to encourage us in our walk with you, to help us in our walk with you. And Father, we're thankful for our church. Father, for those that are unable to be here today, we just pray that the Spirit of God would encourage them where they're at. We pray that you strengthen them where they're at, that they know the grace of God enabling them and helping them and encouraging their heart in you. Father, for those of us that are gathered here this morning, we pray that not one person would leave church today without having had the Spirit of God encourage their heart, strengthen their faith, challenge their walk with God. And Father, as I preach again this morning, I say what I often say, and that is, I cannot preach without the enablement of God. And Father, I look to you to enable me to speak as I ought to speak, to think as I ought to think, and to be able to express the truth of the Word of God in a loving way, a gracious way, but a way that has the authority of God, because this is God's Word. Father, I pray that you just give us grace as we come to this time. We need it. Father, it's evident that we need it. We know that Satan has a roaring lion. He walked into battle seeking whom he may devour. Father, we know that Paul said pray that the Word of God would have free chorus. Father, our greatest need is revival. We need a spiritual awakening. Father, we need this community, by the grace of God, to be awakened to the truth of God. Father, we need unbelievers that are in their homes this morning to be made aware that there's a God in heaven that loves them, that Jesus Christ died for them, but that by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, they could be born again, they could have God's gift of everlasting life, and then when they get saved, God, we desire to see, by the power of God, their life transformed. Father, that they would be light as God is light, that they would separate from darkness, that they would take a stand upon the truth of the word of God. And Father, would you just strengthen us this morning. And Father, bless the kids' class. Give grace in that time. May the spirit of God work there. God, would you just have your way in everything that we do here at Free Baptist Church. For it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so just an encouragement to a golden prayer, a golden relationship with God, a golden dependence upon God. And so first, as we think about that, there are really just kind of two main points that I have for us today, and that is get in the position of golden prayer. Get in the position of golden prayer. Now, in the Bible, there are some positions that you see, and one in particular that has to do with prayer. And 1 Timothy 2 verse 8, it says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. That's not the main one that we're gonna consider. I'm gonna share some scripture just very quickly. But I mean, we think about Pentecostals as being like this, and you just get maybe a little bit concerned as a Baptist to walk into a church that has their hands up. You know, if we're praying and praising God, it's actually okay for us to lift our hands. It's okay if in your personal prayer time, The Spirit of God is working in your heart, and you're just praying to God with your hand up. That's okay, because that is biblical. 2 Chronicles 6 verse 13 speaks about that and kind of the main idea of positions in prayer that we see in the Bible. But, for Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long and five cubits broad and three cubits high. it said in the midst of the court and upon it he stood and he kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel and he spread forth his hands toward heaven and so Solomon not only gets up there with his hands up but he's got he's kneeling and just imagine me this morning in this position I mean you see me here and you think well that's a you know a bit unusual but biblically it's very Actually, usual when you look at the word of God. Daniel, in Daniel 6 verse 10, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and he prayed and gave thanks before his God. He said it a fourth time. I mean, Daniel would just get up in his window and get on his knees and begin to pray and seek the face of God. Stephen, as he's being martyred, he's being stoned. The Bible says in Acts chapter 7, verse 16, and he, Stephen, kneeled down and he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Peter, as Peter's praying for the life to come back into, I believe, Tabitha, in chapter 9, verse 40, Peter put them all forth and he kneeled down and he prayed. Paul, in Acts 20, verse 36, when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. Acts 21, verse 5, is kind of more the disciples and the early church, when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way. They all brought us on our way with wives and children till we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And again, picture the early church walking out there, you know, doesn't matter who's around or anything, they're just gonna make it real obvious they're seeking God. They get down on their knees together in the sand, and they begin to pray the Lord Jesus Christ himself, Luke 22, verse 41. And he was withdrawn from them, about a stone's cast, and he kneeled down and prayed. And I'm not here this morning to preach a message on kneeling in prayer as being biblical. The Bible does not say that we have to kneel and pray when we pray, but the Bible commends it. The Bible certainly, by example, shows that that is a very proper way for us to come to God, and I think there's a lot to be said for it, because if you're kneeling on the outside, hopefully, then you're also kneeling on the inside. And really, that's what I wanna preach about more this morning. It's not the outward form as we go to prayer, but that inward, this really has to do a lot more with the inward kneeling before God. And so I wanna encourage us this morning to take a position of faith. A position of faith that says in verse one, preserve me, O God, for in thee, Do I put my trust? This golden psalm, again, it's a golden prayer. It's the heart looking up to God. God, preserve me for indeed, do I put my trust? And again, I say to our church, it's a messianic psalm. This psalm is preached on in Acts chapter two by Peter at Pentecost. It's also preached on by Paul. But there in Acts chapter two, if you look down in your text at verse eight, you'll see the quote that I'm gonna read from Acts chapter two. David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ the Messiah to sit on his throne, He's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell. Neither is flesh did see corruption this Jesus hath God raised up where of we all are witnesses. All right, Jesus is so Peter takes this text that we're looking at. He says David was speaking about the Messiah David was speaking about Jesus in it. If you read the Treasuries of David, Charles Spurgeon takes not just that phrase that Peter took out, but he takes the whole Psalm 16 as a messianic psalm. And so we're thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ here praying this prayer saying, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. It's a prayer of faith. in God's ability to preserve the life of Christ. Now, from the birth of Christ, or soon after, his life was sought. We know that King Herod sought to put the Messiah to death by killing all the two-year-olds that were in that area. We know in the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, and other times the devil tried to kill the Lord Jesus, tried to get him to jump off the temple, but also that people sought the life of the Lord. And the Bible says in John 7 verse 30, then they sought to take him, but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. And so the Bible says that, I mean, they look at the Lord and they wanna kill him. We know he's the Messiah, they reject him as Messiah, and they want to destroy him, but they don't. Because the Bible says, because his time was not yet come. Why? Because, preserve me, O God. For indeed do I put my trust." God was holding back their purpose and their desire. John 8, verse 20, these words fake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands on him for his hours was not yet come. Again, he wanted to, they wanted to take him. There were other times where, I mean, he passing through their midst went his way and they couldn't get him because God was answering this prayer. Jesus said to Pilate as he's on trial in John 19 verse 11, Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. He says, you know what? If you hadn't been given the authority to take me, you'd have no power against me. Why? Because preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. It was his dependence upon God. He knew that God was watching over him, that God would protect him, and that God would meet his every need. I received an email this past week and there's a lot of things that are concerning with COVID and all the things going on in world economies and the exit from Afghanistan and how that has impacted global politics. And there's just a lot of things that are taking place. I got an email that wisely spoke of US currency that it could happen in the very near future because of some things are taking place and it's wise for me to have that information to pray about that information to ask God for wisdom why because I'm paid in USD all right that's my my paycheck my savings some of my savings is in USD but you know as I as I thought about that I said I'm thinking myself you know I wasn't really trusting in my finances I didn't think I until I begin to realize that there's something, you know, where they're kind of shaky. But, you know, it's like what the currency says in the United States. I shouldn't trust in the currency, but I trust in what it says, because on the currency it says, in God we trust. And that's the way it should be for us. But how often is it the case that, you know, we say, I want to trust God, but are we really trusting God? A lot of people today are trusting face masks. They're trusting social distancing. They're trusting, you know, in everything that they can do. And I'm not saying we should be unwise. I'm not saying that we shouldn't consider the science and make informed decisions. But the thing is, what am I trusting in? Preserve me, O God. For thee do I put my trust. You know, a great position of this golden relationship and this golden dependence upon God is that trust that's in that relationship, that position of faith. And then secondly, take a position of obedience. Take a position of obedience. It says in verse two, O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord. The Son of God, within his human heart, acknowledges that he is in a position of obedience to his Father. My soul says to Jehovah God, thou art my master. You know, as Spurgeon said about this, he said in his inmost heart, the Lord Jesus vowed himself to do service to his heavenly father. And before the throne of Jehovah, his soul vowed allegiance to the Lord for our sakes. We are like him when our soul truly and constantly in the presence of the heart searching God declares her full consent. to the rule and government of the infinite Jehovah saying, thou art my Lord. You know, Jesus Christ in his life never once deviated from the will of his father. The Savior was absolutely perfect as to what his father wanted him to do. Everything that his father wanted him to do, Jesus Christ did perfectly. John 4, verse 34, Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His word. You know, Jesus' submission to God, again, was a complete submission and obedience to God. He prayed in the garden, as you remember, three times, He prayed, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. What an amazing relationship the Lord had with the Father to absolutely perfectly do the will of God. You know, how often are we, as we bow our head before God, and are we in a position of complete obedience to God? Mark 3.35 says, for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same as my brother, and my sister and my mother. There are gonna be tough times where we gotta make a decision between a friend and obeying God. We gotta make a decision between a desire and obeying God. We gotta make a decision between kind of what we wanna do and what God wants us to do. But a great position to be in, in a position of golden prayer and golden dependence, is a position that says, okay, God, if you want that, God, you've got that. Whatever that is, I yield that to you. Take a position of obedience. And then take a position of humility. The Savior says here in our text, he says, my goodness extended not to thee. The work that Christ did didn't increase the goodness of God. God was perfectly good without the work that Jesus Christ would do on the cross. And Jesus was perfect in everything that he did. 1 Peter 2.22 says, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. And yet Jesus looked at his goodness, that he was perfectly good, and said, my goodness extended not to thee, and in no way greatens the goodness of God, though it magnifies the goodness of God. Spurgeon said it this way. Although the life work and death agony of the son did reflect unparalleled luster upon every attribute of God, yet the most blessed and infinitely happy God stood in no need of the obedience and death of his son. It was for our sakes that the work of redemption was undertaken and not because of any lack or want on the part of the most high. How modestly does the Savior here estimate His own goodness? What overwhelming reason have we for imitating His humility? I mean, the Savior looked at it. He understood God was perfect. God was complete without redemption. Redemption did not have to take place to increase the greatness of God. And Jesus himself said, my goodness extended not to thee, but think about in the heart of men, how often we want to think that we've done something great for God, that we've done something that has increased God. By the grace of God, we can do things that magnify God. We can do things that exalt God, but nothing. that increases who God is and Jesus with the humility that he taught Luke seventeen and verse seven, he gave an illustration about humility. He said, but which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by when he has come from the field, go and sit down to me and will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may suck and hurt thyself and serve me till I've eaten and drunk it and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did those things that were commanded to him? I true not. So likewise ye when you shalt done all those things which are commanded you say we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. You know there's gonna be things that the master has us out doing and and things that we diligently do, things that we might do well, but yet as we come back, it's not to accolades upon our goodness or some praise to ourselves, but only to say, God, I have just begun to do what you desire me to do as your child. And so golden prayers are often offered by those that are in a position of humility, and then take a position of ministry and minister the gospel. Notice it says at the end of verse two, my goodness extended not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth. You know, as Jesus did that great work, again, it wasn't to the benefit of God the Father, but it was to the great and glorious benefit of mankind and for our redemption. That's what we're talking about this morning. As Daniel mentioned, the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin, that that is the work that Jesus Christ had to do for us. If Jesus had not died, all of mankind would still be hopelessly lost. There would be nothing that man could do to achieve the mercy of God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 17, and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sin. And the thing is today, if I'm in my sin, then I stand before God guilty. If I stand before God guilty, then I'm cast into the lake of fire. And if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then I am in that hopeless position. Listen, if Jesus Christ had not died, then I'm in a hopeless position this morning. The Bible says in John 8, 24, I said, therefore unto you, and ye shall die, your sins for if you believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins you know as we knock on doors a lot of times we meet somebody that is an atheist you know they'll say something has happened yesterday they'll say to each their own right that's that's what you believe our statements like that I I said to this man yesterday I said look it's it's not what we believe what matters is what's true What matters is that we understand that there's a heaven, there's a hell, that there's a God. And an atheist is somebody who thinks that they have escaped the punishment for their sin by refusing to believe in a righteous judge who has the authority to cast them into hell. They think that somehow they've gotten away from the judgment of God because they don't believe in that. And yet, as we understand today, the problem is that they stand still guilty. before God Colossians 2 13 says in you being dead in your sins in the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross as we knock on people's doors the fact is all the sin that they've ever committed is gonna hold them guilty before a holy God. That's only the blood of Christ. It's only the fact that here in this text that Jesus Christ, my goodness, extended not to thee, but to them that are in the earth, to the saints, to those that will believe, to those that will receive the gift of God in everlasting life. It is a great ministry to them. His ministry was one of the gospel. Today, if Jesus was at Free Baptist Church physically, present this morning, how interested would the Lord be in the ministry of evangelism? How interested would he be in the ministry of missions? How interested would he be in the preaching and teaching the gospel that we do as a church and the encouragement of the bus ministry, trying to get people to come to Christ. That was why he did what he did in obedience to God the Father was so that the gospel could be ministered. Again, a great position for us in that golden relationship with God is to be ministering, have a position of ministry, ministering the gospel. And then also, ministering to the church. It says, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. It's a precious verse because it's speaking about the church, those that are saints, the excellent in whom is all my delight. Before he got saved, God couldn't look at us and say there's something excellent there, but with conversion, there's a wonderful change that has taken place in our lives. It's what the Bible speaks about in Titus 2, verse 14. says who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good words. God desires us to understand this the world is going to look at us and say you are weird you don't do this you don't do this you don't do this you don't know this you don't know this But that's why Christ died. Christ died to set us free from our sins, so that we would be different, so that when people look at us, they go, that's a peculiar people, and to Christ, that is a precious person. That's why he died, so that we could be set free from our sin. Galatians 1 verse 4, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. Ephesians 5.25, speaking about the church, the Bible commands husbands to love their wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Now I know this today, if the Savior was here, his interest would be great in that we would be separated from sin, that we would be zealous of good works. Read the book of Titus and read the book of 1 and 2 Timothy, the doctrine which is according to godliness and the gospel which is of godliness. There's a great desire that God has to set us apart, and then that we come together, we fellowship, and that the church be built up, and the church be encouraged. I know this, that the Savior would be greatly interested in everything that's taking place here, because he came to minister the gospel, and he came to minister to the church. as we think about that, you know, how's my position of minister? I want that golden relationship with God. I want that golden prayer, like, am I somebody that is ministering the gospel? Am I somebody that is ministering to the local church as the Lord came to minister those two things? But then we find as well, take a position of faithfulness. Take a position of faithfulness. You know, when I think about faithfulness, I think back to when I was in high school and college and more aware of godliness within our church. But I'm looking at the deacons that were in my home church growing up, Bible Baptist Church in North Hudson, Wisconsin. And I think of men like Dr. Mealy, Mr. Hasman, you folks know their son, Dan Hasman. But these were men that were just consistent. Mr. Isaacs, men that you knew where They had a stability for God. I don't know about you, but a lot of times in our day, I find myself praying the prayer in Psalm chapter 12, help Lord, for the godly man cease it, for the faithful fail from among the children of men. You know, most men will proclaim every man his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find, and yet the Bible says to us as ministers, the same, commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. We look around and we just go, help Lord. We got contemporary churches that are compromised. We've got a whole generation of people that have just turned their back on God, and we look around and think, God, is it even possible in our day? Praise God, we can be faithful. We can be a faithful person. Maybe the song that we need to meditate on today is, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. We might need to think the world behind me, the cross before me, though none go with me, still I will follow and just say, by the grace of God, I want to be faithful. Faithfulness is a position against ungodliness. It says in verse four, their sorrows shall be multiplied. that hasten after another God. Jesus looked at that and said, there's people that are running away, seeking false gods, they're hastening themselves towards sorrow. Again, our world wants to have it both ways. I met a woman in Livingston this past week, we were doing evangelism, and she said, she was in her garden, I'd just been witnessing with Pastor Dylan to another man, and she might have heard some of that conversation. She's there, and I just, I started speaking to her about her birds that were there, and I spoke to her about God just briefly, and she said, I'm a Christian. And I said, oh, I said, you know, what church do you go to? She goes, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. Oh, that's true. And I said, oh, I said, well, have you been born again? She goes, I'm not gonna have you preach to me or something like that. And I said, well, we were talking about the birds. I thought we could just talk. She goes, I don't wanna talk. I said, well, okay. But you know, you got somebody that's saying that they're a Christian, but their life is so un-Christ-like. And see, we see that in our day again and again. Somebody that names the name of Christ, the Bible says, let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The Bible makes it very clear that somebody that is identified with Christ is somebody that is to have a position that is against ungodliness. In Matthew 6, verse 24, it says, no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else you will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man. You can't do both. There's a lot of people that say, well, I heard this week, well, I'll go to church where they accept my opinion. I heard somebody else say that I go to this church because they accept me speaking about her sin. Well, the problem is, that's a church that is against God. God doesn't accept our opinions. God doesn't accept man's ideas. It's that God is the one that gives us the way. We've got to repent of our sin and follow God. And so somebody that is faithful is somebody that has a position against ungodliness. But then they also have a position for God. It says, their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. I'm gonna obey God, I'm gonna honor God. I'm not even gonna get close to that. I'm separated from that. I'm not participating in anything that they are doing. Again, in our day, we stand in a day of great compromise. Church of Scotland, and I just saw the Methodist Church in Britain as well, has taken a position for homosexual marriage. You know, how do we view that? We view that like this. We distance ourselves from that. We are not participant in that. We do not agree with that. We will not fellowship with that. Why? Because that is against God. And we understand that very clearly from the Bible. 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse 17 says, wherefore come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. You know, as a church, we're not seeking today to please those that would come in. We want people to come in. We want them to feel welcome. We want them to be encouraged. We want to be challenged with the word of God. But the thing is this, we never, as a church, desire to please those that sit in the pews. Our desire, first of all, is to please God and to present the truth of the word of God. Galatians 110, Paul said this, for do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Paul said, you know what, you may not like it, he had to say this, am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? You may reject me, you may despise me, but by the grace of God, the message that Paul preached was that idea of buying the truth and selling it not, it was not going to compromise and set it aside, it was one of faithfulness to God. This morning, think about these positions. Are you in a position of faithfulness? That's a great position for golden praying and golden relationship and golden dependence. A position of ministry, a position of humility, a position of obedience, a position of faith. And so give golden prayers by getting in the right position. But then secondly this morning, give privileges. through golden prayer. Give privileges through golden prayer. We're nearly finished with our study of Romans. We're almost to chapter 16. We're finishing up chapter 15. But if you can remember back a couple, maybe a year and a half ago, back to our study of Romans chapter eight, when we were looking at that, it was the believer's privileges. It's what we have. If you wanna be encouraged in what you have in Christ, you can study Romans chapter 18 and see those things. And really, as we come to the rest of this chapter, it has to do with the privileges of our relationship with God. And so the first thing is satisfaction. It says in verse five, it says, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. Lord, you're my portion, you're everything to me. You supply everything I need. Remember when Satan tempted Jesus about idolatry in Matthew chapter four, It says, again, the devil take him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth them all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of him. And saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, get thee hence Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God in him only shalt thou serve. You know, Satan comes and he says, I got all this, and Jesus goes, I will serve God alone, and in that he's saying, God satisfies me, God meets my needs, God provides for me, just like our text, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance. You know, today, are you satisfied in God? Has God been the thing that has, the person that has met your needs more than anything? There was a drug addict in Ireland that I heard, I share his testimony, and a mayor from the community had come up to him and said, what has made such an amazing change in your life? He said, I tried methadone, I tried rehabilitation, but I tried Jesus Christ, and Jesus met my needs. And so he found his satisfaction in God. And then blessing. It says in verse six, it says the lines are fallen into me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. Now Jesus didn't begrudge his lot in life. Jesus was delighted to do what God had sent him to do. The Bible says in Psalm 40 verse seven, he said, then said I, will I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, thy law is within my heart. He had excitement in the will of God. Jesus, if you think about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, it wasn't an easy life. Jesus was homeless and without a place to stay. He was busy. He was surrounded by people who hated him that eventually put him on the cross, but he loved to do the will of God. We've already looked at this verse today, but in Matthew 16 verse 25 says, but whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Today, praise God. What is life about? Life is about abandonment to God. and just saying, God, I wanna do what you want me to do. The lines have fallen on me in a pleasant place. I don't need to complain about my life, look at my circumstance, and think, I can't handle this. God, this is what you've given to me, and I accepted, I embraced it, and I thank you for it, and the blessing of God is there. And then guidance. Verse seven says, I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons. You know, as Jesus sought God's will, he had the counsel of God guiding him. Psalm 119, 105 says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. He had the Word of God and he also had the Spirit of God instructing him as well as it speaks about my reigns also instruct me in the ninth season. It was that the Spirit of God directing the Lord as we often see the Savior in the ninth seasons in the Garden of Gethsemane or up on the hillside there around Galilee. Seeking the face of his father, seeking the guidance of God, the spirit of God leading him and directing him. Again, in our life, what a precious place that we have as believers. We knock on somebody's door and their life is all about going to work and just one thing to the next thing. But praise God, as a believer, we can have the guidance of God. And then stability. Verse eight says, I've said the Lord always before me, because he's at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoicing. All right, have you ever woken up and you just felt like, man, my problem's still here? You know, it's just, it's still tough, it's still difficult. But then you look up and you go, you know what? God's still here too. And I've said the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, think about the statement that is here in our text, I shall not be moved. There's plenty of things in our day that we look at and think, man, that's rough, that's knocked me back, but we could step up and say, you know what? But God's got it. I shall not be moved. I'm just gonna keep God right in front of me. And that eternal life as well. It says, my flesh also shall rest in hope. Now just, again, in the context of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, think about when this is. My flesh also shall rest in hope. This is him facing the soldiers. This is him being buffeted. This is him, the crown of thorns being placed upon his head. This is him being nailed to the cross. This is him dying for a sin. And it says this, my flesh also shall rest in hope. for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Christ faced death knowing that he would be raised again from the dead. He had every confidence that as he died he would rise again. The Bible is very clear as we understand that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead as Peter shares in that Acts passage quoting this text In verse 31, he's seen this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all our witnesses. As Jesus Christ walked out of that grave, say praise God today, if we're saved, we know for sure, if we die, we're gonna rise again. And certainly as Jesus trusted in the resurrection, we can trust in the power of God to give us a resurrection life. John 11 verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he looks at Martha and he says, believest thou this? Believest thou this? Praise God, today there's a lot of people that are afraid about COVID-19. There's a lot of people that are afraid of death. You know, as a believer, I don't have to be anxious about death because we have a resurrection life, and then abundant life. It says in John 10, verse 10, about the Lord, I am come, that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And as we think about the abundant life, we just see the last point here this morning. It is found on God's path. It says in verse 11, thou wilt show me. the path of life. I've said before, I don't like to find things at a grocery store, right? It's a little bit tough for me as a man, I guess, but I like to ask somebody, and I love to have somebody say, hey, come on, I'll just show you, I'll just show you. Praise God today, again, as a believer, we've got God showing us God's path, and because of that, we have God's presence. It says there in verse 11, in thy presence is, fullness of joy. In thy presence is fullness of joy, that right relationship with God. God created man to be in his presence. Adam and Eve, we understand, sin separated man from God. The cross and the atonement of Christ, the blood of Christ and his death allows for us to be rightly brought back into a relationship with God. In thy presence is fullness of joy. We have that right relationship restored and then we have the pleasure of God For eternity, it says, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Our world today is seeing pleasure in so many things other than God, but if they just stop and understand that satisfaction is found in God and in that right relationship with God. Again, as you look at this, it's an interesting psalm. It's a golden Psalm, speaking about a golden prayer and a golden relationship and a golden dependence upon God. When we look at our Lord and we see him perfectly modeling positions that by the grace of God, we ought to look at our life and say, you know what? God, I want to be in that position of faith. I trust in thee. That position of obedience that says to God, God, whatever you want me to do with my life, God, I'll do it. a position of humility that says, you know what, my best doesn't benefit God, but it might glorify God. Ministry, that desire to say, oh, but it's a blessing to serve God and we can make a difference in the church, we can make a difference with the gospel. That faithfulness that says, you know what, I'm gonna despise the things that God despises and I'm gonna stand with God. And as a believer, these precious things, satisfaction, blessing, guidance, stability, eternal life, abundant life are ours if we're rightly related to God. And so praise the Savior for his perfect example for us. Let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, we praise you for the grace that you give. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to just look up with dependence upon you, that our trust would be strong. I pray that we'd be in a position of obedience to God. Savior, I pray that we take up the ministry of the gospel, the ministry to the local church. And Father, I pray that we'd be in a position of humility, understanding our unworthiness. And then Father, all the blessings of a right relationship are ours if we'll just stay in that close walk with God, the stability, and the eternal life, and the abundant life, and satisfaction, and guidance. And so Father, I just pray, may the Spirit of God encourage us through the Word of God. Encourage us again, Savior, in what you modeled for us. And Father, may the Spirit of God just increase our faith. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen, we'll stand and sing a hymn of invitation this morning. It's 335, Lord, I'm coming home. All right, 335, in your hymnal. Marker. 335. Let's stand, please, as we sing. I'm coming. I'm