here this morning. I'm not sure where I am. I know I'm close to Buffalo. I think I'm in Tonawanda. I'm not sure. Amherst. Excuse me. Excuse me. Those are fighting words, I know, but I'm just so glad to be here. And I don't know whether you noticed this or not, but when I walked in, I did not have a cane. Listen, you have no idea. A year, a little over a year ago, March 1st, 2023, I was hit head on by a tractor trailer in the Yukon, 45 miles east of Whitehorse. And some of you have seen the picture when I was here before. You saw it on my phone. Unfortunately, I have a new phone now, and so I can't find anything. I moved from, don't crucify me for this, but I moved from an iPhone to an Android and I can't find my way around anywhere. I can't use my GPS, that doesn't work. I can't get to my photos, so I can't show you a photo. All I can tell you is that a little over a year ago, I found myself in a twisted wreck of metal at 10 degrees above zero and about 10 inches of fresh snow on the ground. And I was transported by a lovely lady from there to the hospital, and from there I went to an orthopedic surgeon that said I would never walk again. And you don't know this, but this is one of the first times in over a year that I've stood behind the pulpit to preach. I've normally sat on a stool. And some lady in Florida, bless her heart, I gave my testimony in the Sunday school hour and told them how I got saved off a bar stool at 19. And she said, well, it looks to me like that's the way you got started, and that's the way you're going to finish. But God has really been good, and I went from being told by an orthopedic surgeon I'd never walk again, to a wheelchair, to a walker. And you don't want to really be in Alaska in the wintertime with a walker. I could just see a picture on the front page of the newspaper the next day with the four feet of the walker sticking up through the snowdrift and Whiteside somewhere below. But I went to a walker and when it started snowing, I knew that was a recipe for disaster. So I went to a cane and just within the last month I've shucked the cane and as they say down south, now I ain't got nothing. So I praise the Lord. And I told somebody just recently, listen, just because it wasn't instantaneous doesn't mean it isn't miraculous. I should have never ever. And I'm going to tell you the reason why today, why I escaped the crash. I should have never escaped it. And and I'll tell you about all of that. But I've got something really exciting to tell you about. I have been traveling all this time. In fact, I spent the holidays in a village in Alaska. That's one of my heartbeats is to take the gospel into the villages up there. There are 41 villages in Alaska that still don't have a church of any kind. any kind. I mean, not a Roman Catholic, not Jehovah's Witnesses. They don't have anything. And in my last 40 or 45 years, I would like to make an impact on those villages and take the gospel to those that have never heard. And we're talking about Americans. who've never heard. Somebody said to me, well, how do you do this? I really don't. I don't know any more about what I'm doing today. 62 years, I've been preaching now 62 years. You'd think with all that practice I'd be a lot better at it, wouldn't you? But at any rate, in all these 62 years of preaching, you know, I don't know too much more about what I'm doing now than I did 60 years ago when I started, except that I've learned to stay close to someone who does know what they're doing. And I can't do what I'm about to tell you has happened. God has just done it. I'm going to be leaving here tomorrow, Lord willing. And I say that because you never know. God may have different plans than I have. And He's often done that over the years. And that's fine with me. I've learned to live with that. And whatever he has in my future is fine with me. And I'm resolved to that. But I'll be leaving here tomorrow and flying back to Anchorage. And then on Thursday, I fly from Anchorage, eventually winding up in Seoul, Korea, where I'll be preaching next Sunday. And then from there I fly on to New Delhi, India, and I'll be flying up to the Nepal border and be training pastors and preaching there for two weeks. And then I get on a plane and I fly to Singapore and then to the Philippines and I fly into Davao in Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines. And I will be teaching and preaching there in another dangerous part of the world. And then on the way home, like it's on the way, I will stop in Samoa for a week. They're having a gigantic pastors conference there. In India, hundreds of pastors. In the Philippines, hundreds of pastors. In Samoa, thousands of pastors. Pastors from all over Southeast Asia, from the South Pacific. Pastors from Australia, from New Zealand. from Indonesia, from Micronesia, from, you know, you name it, they'll be there, from all the islands. So, 30,000 miles in five weeks. And I hope they don't preach me four or five times a day like they did last time, or I may be preaching my funeral service over there. But there's a lot involved, and I want to share this with you because I'm only going to preach one more time, and then I'm on my way. I preach tonight here in the area, and someone who doesn't have any discernment, and I'm going there tonight, you'll have to think about that for a minute. Discernment, you understand discernment? Yeah, okay. So that's why I got in, because they don't have any. So, and then the next time I fly, I will be, preach, I'll be on an entirely different continent. Do you realize today you can build a church in the Philippines, a building in the Philippines that will seat between 150 and 200 people? You can build a building like that for $12,000. So the day that I volunteered for this, I kid you not, I know you won't believe this, but it's the honest truth. I did not have money to buy a cup of coffee. And when I found that out, I said, I'll pay for two. I'll build two churches in the Philippines. And boy, it got quiet in here all of a sudden, didn't it? Well, listen, so $10,000 God can handle, but 35 he can't. I mean, really? This is in my message, and I'll give you some of the thunder right now. Years ago, I was standing on my front porch on my house, and I was living in an over 65 development, and a dump truck came down the road and turned left right in front of my house. So when he turned, he was driving away from me, and on the back of this dump truck, this is what it said. If the job is too big, your God is too small. So I guess if I can trust God for $10,000 to get over there and get back, I can trust Him for $35,000 to build a couple churches while I'm there. So I want you to pray with me about that. I leave on Thursday, and you know how God does things. He waits to the last moment just to make sure that you're trusting Him. And I'm not trusting anybody. I'm not loyal to anybody but Him. And so I'm looking forward to Him doing great things. So keep that in prayer. I leave the 26th of September and I get back the 2nd of November. Can you imagine flying from Samoa which is south of the equator coming into Anchorage, Alaska, November the 2nd. I'm going to be in climate shock for probably three weeks. But that's okay. I would rather go and be a little uncomfortable than sit in front of my TV and not go and not see God work. And do you realize that in this one trip alone, and I say this very carefully and very humbly, do you realize that I will influence more people and cover more miles than both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul did in their entire lifetime? Hundreds of pastors in India, hundreds of pastors in the Philippines, and thousands of pastors in Samoa. And the accumulative consequences of that are just incalculable. And we're talking about influencing hundreds of thousands of people here. So this is a rare opportunity. And I can tell you right now, I would have never handled this properly if I had been a young man. You know, when you're young and you're first starting out, people don't think you know anything. And when you get older, they think you know everything. And I'm not sure that either of those is true. But I need your prayers over these next five, six weeks, that God will use this vessel of clay in a miraculous way. He has raised it up for His glory, and I'm gonna tell you about that. So turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Psalm 3. Interesting that you were in the Psalms this morning. And I must confess to you that this Psalm didn't mean a whole lot until my accident. And you know how that goes if you've been around a while and you've walked with God for some years. You can read a passage a dozen times or three dozen times and you come back to it and something lights up that you've never seen before. And all of a sudden this lit up to me and I just want to share it with you because I'm so excited about it. I just love to preach this. So I hope you'll catch some of the excitement that's here. Psalm 3.1, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of tens of thousands that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord, thy blessing is upon thy people. And the last word, and you noticed it was two other times in this passage, I'll talk to you about it in a moment, the last word in the psalm is Selah. Let's bow for prayer. Father, thank you for the privilege to stand behind this sacred desk this morning. I'm thankful, Lord, for this church, for its godly pastor, and for these good people. And I pray, Lord, that as a result of dealing with this passage this morning, that you would speak to our hearts in a new, fresh way and send us out of here this morning different than when we came in. And we'll praise you for what you're about to do in Jesus' name and all of God's people said. Well, the Psalms are an interesting book. They are the hymn book of the Bible. They're songs of trust, hymns of devotion. They were Israel's hymn book and prayer book. This is called in Hebrew the book of praises. It's the best loved book of the Old Testament. A hundred and fifty poems set to music for worship. They were used in private life and they were used in public life. Most Bible scholars think that this was the most glorious accomplishment of Israel's golden age when they were at their absolute apex as a nation spiritually, materially, and economically, educationally at their height. In the titles of the Psalms, 73 are ascribed to David, 12 to Asaph, 11 to the sons of Korah, 2 to Solomon, 1 to Moses, and 50 are anonymous. David is the author of the preceding Psalm and no doubt was the author of some of the other anonymous Psalms. David was a warrior of unprecedented bravery, military genius, and he was a brilliant statesman who led his nation to the pinnacle of power. David was also, pastor, a poet and a musician. So you have good scriptural foundation for being a musician. And with all of his heart, he was a lover of God. These Psalms were written to be sung. Moses sang and taught the people to sing. Israel sang along the journey to the promised land, Numbers 21. Deborah and Barak sang praises to God, Judges 5. David sang with all of his heart, Psalm 104, verse 33. Hezekiah's singers sang the words of David, 2 Chronicles 29. Nehemiah's singers sang loudly. I love that for the timid, independent Baptist that just barely can't get out of squeak. Nehemiah's singer sang loudly. It doesn't say they were on tune. It says they sang loudly. Be nice if you were on tune. That would help a lot. Jesus and the disciples sang at the Last Supper, Matthew 26. Paul and Silas sang in prison, Acts 16. At the dawn of creation, the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy, Job chapter 38, verse 7. Tens of thousands and tens of thousands of angels sang and the whole world in creation joins in the chorus. Revelation chapter 5. In heaven everyone will sing and never tire of singing. Someone has said that when you're in a crisis of life and you need a message from God, get in the Psalms and start reading and He will meet you there because every problem known to man is dealt with somewhere in the Psalms, even yours. Our text this morning is verse three from Psalm 3-3. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. The word selah is used three times, and it refers to a music designation. These psalms were sung in David's day, and this was directed to the musicians to indicate how this song was to be sung. We have those indications in our hymnals. I, by the way, so blessed this morning to sing from a hymnal. You know, I get in so many churches that sing off the wall and preach in the dark. You know, why these churches can't get bright lights on the projectors, I have no clue. But they shut all the lights off so they can see on the… so they sing off the wall and preach in the dark. I don't get it. When they look up my medical records, I tell them, look, I'll tell you an easy way to find it. Just Google up Noah. I'm right next to him. The word on the street is that when Noah built the ark, I held the hammer. So that's how you find me. I guess I'm just too old school. I want you to notice that this psalm, like many of the psalms, do not This psalm has a title, and let me tell you something, whenever you see a title on a psalm, you need to take special notice. Notice what the title of the psalm says, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Now, I want to tell you a little bit about Absalom this morning by way of introduction. Absalom was the third son of David by Maacah. He was extraordinarily handsome, 2 Samuel 14 says, but in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. Eat your heart out, ladies. Two years after the rape of Tamar by David's oldest son Amnon, Absalom lures him away from the palace and murders him, 2 Samuel chapter 13. Permitted eventually by David to return to Jerusalem, where after two years they finally have a face-to-face reunion, and tragically, David makes one of the most serious mistakes of his life when he treats Absalom as a subject instead of as his son. Absalom then premeditatedly undermines the leadership and authority of David and steals the hearts of the people with deceptive words. Absalom pulls off the ultimate coup d'etat and David is forced to flee the city and vacate the royal palace. Absalom then usurps the throne and leads the armies of Israel, incidentally, that David had trained David is forced to flee the city, vacate the royal palace, and he is running for his life because the armies of Israel are pursuing to kill him and Absalom wants to secure the throne for himself. The armies of Absalom and David engage in battle. Absalom is killed by Joab and 10 of his men. And you hear David's mourning for his son. And the king was much moved. and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son Absalom, what God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son. 2 Samuel 19, 4, but the king covered his face and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son. What a tragic price to pay for parental neglect. It is while David is fleeing the armies of Israel, led by Absalom, broken by the spiteful betrayal of his favorite son, that he sits down somewhere along the highway and writes this psalm. This psalm isn't written in the palace. This psalm isn't written in the temple. This psalm is written somewhere along the highway. And in the two first verses, you say, you see the plight. I mean, there are thousands and he talks about verse six. I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people. That's not a hyperbole. That's the actual truth. There were tens of thousands of people that were looking to kill him and would be elevated if they did. David was in great grief, betrayed by his own son. Let me ask you something this morning, and I don't want you to give me any outward indication, but I wonder if there are some of you here this morning that are afflicted with children that have disappointed you and even betrayed you. David's in great danger. There are multitudes headed up by Absalom who wanted David dead. These are the very ones to whom David had been such a blessing. to his immediate family and to his subjects. There's no question about the fact that David was suffering for his sin. 2 Samuel 12, 11, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. When David writes this psalm, Psalm 3, the whole world has just blown up. And David writes this psalm. David's life needs a balanced view. His life is a strained mixture of good and evil, with noble deeds and fine aspirations and splendid accomplishments, and yet it was stained with horrible sin. No Bible character more fully illustrates the moral range of human nature as that of David. It seems impossible to conceive that the same man who wrote Psalm 23 could commit the sin against Uriah the Hittite. The writer of scripture indicates that David was a man after God's own heart, 1 Samuel 13, 14. Not because he was perfect, but because he looked at his sin the way God looked at his sin. And if you don't think so, you need to look up Psalm 51 sometime and Psalm 39, where David pours his heart out to God. Some want to crucify him and others want to glorify him. I tell you, we need a balanced view. Possibly, this is the reason why God pulls back the curtain and allows us to see David's failures is so that we can understand that David had a heart just like ours. David says, verse three, In the midst of this crisis, but thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. David was familiar with the importance of a shield. You will remember he was a warrior, a figure of protection, and he says God is his shield. What a sign of protection. So much so that David says, verse 5, I laid me down and slept. I awake, for the Lord sustained me. This guy goes sound asleep, and he's got ten thousands of people near him, all of whom want to kill him. Evidently, he really believed that God was his shield. What are you worried about? I'm telling you, folks, I deal with so many people that are so frantic about what's going on in America. Listen, you don't need to look at the circumstances, you need to look at the God of the circumstances. Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, God needs to get America out of the way so King Jesus can come back? Did that ever occur to you? I mean, I get these, and they're frantic. I spend hours on the phone listening to these people. They're just frantic. And what does this mean in biblical prophecy? I don't know. All I can tell you is I know this for sure. God's program is not one second behind. His program is right on time. He knows exactly what He's doing. Just like there was a lot of confusion about His first coming. I mean, can you imagine trying to figure out how the Messiah was going to come out of Egypt? That's what He said. My son out of Egypt. Yes. Well, when you get all the facts, you can understand that. And someday we'll have all the facts and you'll understand it. But in the meantime, don't get ulcers, worried about who's going to be elected next. Keep your eyes on the God of the universe who has a plan for all of us. Well, that's not even in this message. That's free of charge. I'm just a frustrated preacher trying to calm down all these frantic people. Just as a shield protects a warrior from swords, arrows, and darts, so David envisions the God of the universe protecting him from the dangers that surround him. What are you worried about? I heard years ago of a very Man, if I mentioned his name, some of you here would know him. And I have a good friend, I know you can't believe it, but I do, who was the president of one of our large Bible colleges in this country, and he invited this speaker to come. And so they thought the first thing they better do is limit him. So they limited him to 20 minutes. I mean, this guy could have preached for four hours. So this is what he did. He's addressing the faculty, the staff, and the whole student body of this university. And this is what he said. He got up, they gave him this big lofty introduction. And he got up and he said, you don't need to turn in your Bibles because by the time you get there, I'll be done. He said, I just want to give you one verse. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And he said, I'm going to repeat it just one more time. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And then he said, so what's your problem? And he turned around and sat down. David's in big trouble, verses one and two. Enough with all the pain of Absalom's rebellion, but imagine the slander, the wicked, hellish lies of those who opposed him. I don't have time to tell you about David Livingston, but I can tell you that David Livingston's ministry in Africa was absolutely totally ruined and undermined by a bunch of know-it-all pastors in Scotland. And they really forced him to do something he really didn't want to do. He didn't want to endanger his family by taking them into the interior. But the gossip was so bad in Scotland that he did it. He finally did it. And in six months his wife was dead. And David Livingstone was never again the same. Ever. by a bunch of people that couldn't keep their mouths shut, that thought they knew better than God what was going on. That's what's going on here. David had won the hearts of the people. Now all of a sudden they are against him. And not only do they intend to harm him, but they have erroneously concluded that God has abandoned him also. You better watch that, friend. Did you catch that in verse two? Many there be which say of my soul, there's no help for him in God. David's in the midst of insurmountable distress. The extent of Absalom's rebellion surprises and grieves him. But he refuses to look at his circumstances as grave as they were. And he looks to God as his only answer. And can I say to you this morning, As lovingly as I know how to say this, dear Christian friend, you need to get your eyes off of your circumstances and onto the God who created the universe. Nothing's too hard for Him. David goes to sleep, totally Absence of fear. No fear anywhere. He just lies down and goes to sleep because he really believes that God's his shield. I ran across this many years ago and I want to share it with you this morning. Some of you will have heard this. It's called Overheard in the Orchard. Said the robin to the sparrow, I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush around and worry so. Said the sparrow to the robin, friend, I think it must be that they have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me. March 1st, I was on my way up the Alcan and I'm 82 years old. In the last three years, I've driven the Alcan 11 times. Once is enough for a lifetime. And I'm in a snowstorm and I'm coming around the mountain. And I left that morning from another little village in the Yukon and Watson Lake. It's a place where in World War II we built an airstrip so that we could fly our planes to Alaska and back. And I left there in the morning, and this is about 11 o'clock, and I've got a long ways to drive, because Anchorage, even from Whitehorse, Yukon, is 13, 14, 15 hours, depending on the weather. So I came around this curve, and all of a sudden, down to nowhere, here's this semi right in front of me. I mean, friend, I didn't even have time to put on the brakes. Probably would not have done so anyway. That's not the smartest thing to do when you're going to hit something head on is to hit the brakes, because then what happens is your vehicle turns sideways and you get it in the side instead of in the front. And had that happened, I wouldn't be here talking to you this morning. And everything went black. And you've heard people talk about how you can hear when you're unconscious. It's really true. I can remember the car still traveling after it bounced off of the ... and to give you some idea of how vicious this explosion was, it was the equivalent of driving into a cement wall at over 100 miles an hour. And the debris field on the highway was over 500 feet long. That's almost two football fields. So I ... Of course, everything went black. I was unconscious. And finally, I regained consciousness. And of course, all the windows are blown out and the glass is everywhere. And I looked to my side, and I can reach out and touch this lady. She's that close to me. And I think I told you this before, but some of you weren't here when I said this before, so I'll say it again. It's always good for a laugh. When I came out of, I regained consciousness, I looked over and there was a blonde and I thought I died and went to heaven. That's not true. She said to me, sir, would you mind if I pried open your door? I said, ma'am, just have yourself a spell. Knock yourself out. Well, about that time, two guys showed up and the three of them got that door open, which is a miracle in itself because the semi hit on that side. And I'm here to tell you, the whole front left of the truck was gone. It was gone. I'm talking right down the middle of the hood. The bumper's gone, the left front wheel assembly is gone, the fender's gone. Everything from the left front of my truck is gone. I'm driving an F-350 diesel long bed pickup truck. So they get me out of the car, and I know my arm's broken. I can tell by the pain, and I can tell by the way it's swelling that my arm is broken right here. And if you're interested in this car, I'd be more than glad to show you. So they're pulling at my arm. I said, man, don't touch my arm. It's broken. Let me see if I can get untangled here and get turned around in the seat. And finally I did. I got my legs free and I got turned around in the seat. And then I got my feet out on the running board and then into the snow. I mentioned 10 inches of fresh snow. And this lady had a medical background. She checked me out. She wrapped me in blankets, put me in her SUV, and drove me 45 miles to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, we pass all the ambulance system and the fire trucks and the squad cars that are going to the accident. And I said, don't stop. Don't even look at them because I know what they're going to do. They're going to want you to stop and they're going to want to transport me and just take me. I don't want to be out in the cold anymore. I just want to get to the hospital. So I get to the hospital, and I'm with a trauma team. And she'd been on the phone with them, and there are six people dressed in scrubs and masks. And so I get out, get on the gurney. They wheel me into the emergency room. And I don't know how to say this delicately, so I'll say it as diplomatically as I can. The first thing they do when you've been in an accident like that, when you get to the emergency room, is they cut all your clothes off. So you just check your dignity at the door and I'll see you probably in a couple days. And so when they cut my clothes off, the glass just poured out from everywhere onto the floor from the shattered windshield and driver's window and all the windows. And so she took off. And they had my arm x-rayed sure enough. It was broken. It was not only apart, but it was Disjointed so it had to be repaired by surgery and The doctor looked at it and he said yeah, I can do it, but he's gonna have to pay me up front. Oh Yeah Yeah, I'm a missionary that just runs around with 30 40 grand all the time. Yeah, sure. No problem. I And would you believe the hospital would not keep me overnight with a broken arm and a mangled leg and reorganized internal organs and a big knot on my head. They would not keep me overnight because I was not a member of the socialistic medicine program in Canada and so they turned me out. Well, this lady that had brought me to the hospital, when she saw I was in the hands of a trauma team, she went back out to the accident scene and drove right past all the emergency vehicles, right past them, and got right up next to my car. And of course, my car is surrounded by policemen and firemen and first responders. She said, guys, get out of the way. And they said, well, who are you? She said, I'm the lady that took this guy to the hospital, now get out of my way, there's some things in this car he needs, and I gotta get them. So they got out of her way. And she got them. Like my parka, you think I might need my parka? So she got my parka and a couple briefcases, and she comes back, and by that time, they've got me in x-ray or in the mud pit or wherever they put me at that point. And so she left a note. She said, this is my name, this is my phone number. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to contact me. Well, when the hospital turned me out, the only person I knew in Whitehorse, Yukon was this lady. So I called her and I said, I hate to ask you to do this, but they're not gonna keep me overnight. Can you come and get me? She said, sure. And I want to tell you something, folks. This lady's not even a Christian. She just likes to help people. I thought to myself, I need to take you to the lower 48 and have you speak. So I called her, she got me, and of course, now I don't have any clothes. And I've taken my work boots off, so my feet have swollen up. They're about the size of a volleyball. And so I can't get my shoes back on. And so they found a pair of sweatpants someplace, probably off some dead guy somewhere. And I got those on, and I've got my parka, thankfully. And you know those socks they give you in the hospital that have the little rubber nubblets? Aren't those wonderful? And that's what I went out in, in 10 inches of snow. So I said, look, you need to take me to a motel, and I gotta have a motel that has food. Well, now you can tell by looking at me that that's a priority with me. I'm not going anywhere unless I can eat. And I said, I haven't eaten since this morning. And I said, the hopes of me getting anything are not looking too good. So I said, and I can't go anywhere. And I don't have my phone. My phone disappeared in the explosion. So, she said, I know just the place to take you. She took me to a 1960 motel that had a restaurant next door. And when I get there, I got nothing. I don't have, I did have a sleeve, I gotta tell ya. You know, the sling that they give you for a broken arm? Well, you know what a regular sling looks like. You know what they gave me? They gave me a piece of used muslin. I mean, a Georgia June bug could have flown right through there and never clipped a wing. That's what I got for a sling. So I don't have a cane, I don't have a walker, I don't have a wheelchair, I got nothing. So I'm trying to get in there, and I finally get, and I said, you're gonna have to get me a chair. So they got me a chair, and I sat at a chair in level 10 pain, filled out my registration information, and got into, and they gave me room 134. So this lady helps me down the hallway, because there's no way I can get there. So she helps me down, and I get to room 134, and she opens the door, and I said, I think I can handle it from here, and I kind of fall into the room. And she finds out that the motel has a policy where they will not allow food to be delivered from the restaurant to the room. So she went down to the front desk and threw a frothing, flaming, foaming fit. and they decided after she got done that maybe they could make an exception in this case. So they sent me food. I don't have a phone. I can't call anybody. I'm in a foreign country. I'm in level 10 pain, and guess what they gave me for pain, doctor? Tylenol. Hey, I could have taken the whole bottle, and it wouldn't have helped me a bit, except maybe it would have knocked me out. That would have been good. That would have been helpful. So the next morning, can you imagine what that night was like? And finally died down to maybe eight, nine, as long as I didn't move anything. And so about 10.30 the next morning, somebody's banging at the door. And I go to the door and it's the maid. And she said, sir, may I come in and clean the room? I said, ma'am, listen, I really don't need anybody to come in and clean the room. And as I'm talking to her, I see on her cart, her cell phone. I said, ma'am, is there any way that I could borrow your cell phone? I was in a horrible accident yesterday, and my phone is gone. I can't call my wife. I can't call any of my friends in Anchorage. I can't call anybody. And she said, sure. Can you imagine a foreigner in a foreign country just saying, here, yeah, here's my phone, knowing that I'm going to call out of country? That was God. And so, I get on the phone, and it's not as easy as just dialing up Joe Blow and getting his number. I don't need to tell you, you look like you're intelligent people that know what the internet's all about. You gotta find a business. So I'm thinking, who do I know in Anchorage that has a business? And I thought, the name came to mind, and I looked it up, and sure enough, I got the cell phone number of the wife of one of the men that owned a company there in Anchorage. And of course, she's not going to answer this phone because this is coming from a number she doesn't recognize and it's coming from out of the country. And I said, Nicole, this is Doug Whiteside. I'm in a motel in Whitehorse, Yukon. I'm in room 134. Please give this phone number to Pastor Mark and have him call me. Well, he didn't get the message till the next morning. So that's all day Wednesday, Wednesday night, all day Thursday, Thursday night, Friday morning he calls me and he says, what are you doing in Whitehorse? Are you sitting down? I said, well, I am, I am sitting down. And I told him, he said, I'll be there to get you as soon as we can get there. And he got one of the men from the church and they drove 13 hours straight through to get me in Whitehorse, Yukon. Then all I had to do was endure 13 hours on the Alcan Highway, which has all kinds of frost heaves, 13 hours with a broken arm and a mangled leg and a concussion and my internal organs reorganized. And I said to him, don't worry about me screaming in the back seat. I can't help it. Don't even listen to me. You just get me to Anchorage as fast as you can. But before we left, we went to the junkyard where they had transported my truck. And I'm here to tell you, there's no way they could tow it. They had to pull it up on a flatbed and get it there that way. So it had snowed for four days straight. So all the windows are blown out. So now there's not only snow on the outside of the vehicle, there's snow inside and you can't find anything because it's full of snow. So they're digging around in there. And the owner came out and he said, is that the guy that was driving this? They said, yeah. He said, I need to talk to him. And they said, well, go, he'll talk to you. So they came and fortunately had electric windows. So I reached across with my right arm and push the button and down the glass came in their pickup truck. And he said, sir, I just got one thing to say to you. He said, I see these, these accidents come in here all the time. And he said, I can tell you this one thing. Had you been driving anything else, you would not be talking to me right now. And he said, if you had been four inches, four inches to the left, you wouldn't be talking to me right now. Because what that would have done, it would have driven the engine right through the passenger compartment and I'd have been gone. It was several weeks before I could get back to church, as you can probably imagine. And I got into church, and guess what they were singing? Thou art a shield unto me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. And I'm here to tell you this morning, friend, the only reason why I can stand behind this pulpit this morning is because My God is a shield unto me, and that's why I'm here, and that's why I have the privilege of still taking the gospel to those who've never heard. Well, He's not only a shield, He's my glory, and I'm going to run. I'm going to rush. Glory defined as magnificence. We talk about the glory of Solomon. It's praise described in adoration. Glory to God in the highest. In the scripture, it refers occasionally to the divine presence of God, or the ark of God, or God's manifestation of His presence. It's interesting that God said through Jeremiah, thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glory glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth for all these things, in all these things I delight, saith the Lord. No wonder the apostle Paul quoted that in 1 Corinthians 1.31, that as according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And again in 2 Corinthians, but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Let me tell you something. When David sat down to write this psalm, all of his glory was gone. It's gone. There's no more throne. There's no more palace. There are no more royal robes. There's no more crown. There's no more comfortable surroundings. There's no more love and respect from adoring crowds and no more worship in the services in the tabernacle. He had to vacate the royal city to become a fugitive as he'd been earlier in his life when he fled from Saul. And it all seems so unfair, doesn't it? I had some lady call me after this had happened. She found out about it and she called me and she said, I just don't understand how God could allow this to happen to you. And I stopped her right there. I said, don't say anything else. I said, the problem with you, ma'am, is that you don't understand what's going on up here in Alaska. The issue here in Alaska is not my comfort. The issue here in Alaska is the glory of God. And if God can get more glory out of me preaching from a wheelchair than He can from me standing up behind a pulpit, then that's His decision. And I'm here to tell you it was decided many, many, many years ago. And I said, another thing you need to keep in mind, that the Lord Jesus not only accomplished all the will of God, but completed God's great plan of redemption through suffering. If it's good enough for Him, it's good enough for me. What about you this morning? What's your family like? Maybe you're just a shell of what you used to be. Maybe there's nothing to be proud of. Maybe you can't drive a new car. Maybe you can't live in a fancy home. Maybe you failed miserably in the past and messed up your life, and today you are discouraged, despondent, desperate, and in debt, nothing to be excited about, and probably, if it wasn't for this church, you would have given up a long time ago. Let me tell you something. This message is for you. David said, but thou, O Lord, art my shield and my glory. You can certainly get excited about that. He's your glory. That's the way it should have been all along. He's never made a mistake and He won't with you. You can be proud of Him. He is your unfailing God. I've got this to tell you. I guess this will still work if I get out here. I'm not sure I will. So I've got all these things that are wrong with me, and including some very serious spinal problems. And I was scheduled for two spinal surgeries. One cerebral surgery here, or no, what's it? Cervical, thank you. And one lumbar down here. Good thing I'm not a doctor, huh? Let's see, which end should I operate on here? And so the problem is that I've got a pacemaker, and they want an MRI before they'll do surgery, and you can't have an MRI if you've got a pacemaker. Well, there's only one place in Alaska where you can get an MRI if you've got a pacemaker, and they've got entry-level people answering the phone. You know what I'm talking about? That's as kindly as I know how to say it. And they can't do this because they don't have all the information from the, I said, well, I gave you all that information. Yeah, well, they can't get it. I said, well, I'll get it for you. I'm the one that's in pain. I'm the one that can't sleep for months. I mean, a half hour here, two hours there. I mean, even when I was in this town last time, from Friday night to Tuesday morning, I got four hours of sleep. because of pain. So I said, look, I'll get it for you. So I get all the information there, and I call her back, and little Susie Q's on the phone. And she says, well, we did get the, I said, well, who's looking at it? Well, it'll take us a week. I said, ma'am, I'm not trying to be ugly, but I need to see your supervisor. Well, she said, she's not available right now. I said, could you take my name and my number and have her call me? Well, yeah, I guess so. I said, well, please do. I said, in case you don't know that it's right in front of you, I'll give it to you again. Here's my name. Here's my number. Tell her it's an emergency. She needs to call. So that afternoon I get a call from her. It's Thursday. She said, well, if you're in that much pain, we need to see you. Really? Finally. I got somebody that's 98.6 warm and vertical. And she said, why don't you come in tomorrow afternoon and we'll look at your pacemaker. I said, well that would be a step in the right direction. So I go in the next morning and they lead me through this labyrinth of rooms and I finally get back to this cute little gal who's gonna do my, she's probably 20, 21 years old. She's gonna do the monitoring of my pacemaker. So she takes the monitor. She takes the monitor and she puts it over my pacemaker. And when she puts it over my pacemaker, all the blood drains out of her face. She turned pale white. She said, sir, don't move. Well, I said, ma'am, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not even signed up for the marathon this afternoon. She said, I'll be right back. So she comes back after 15 minutes and she said, I'm authorized to tell you what's going on. She said, back in March, something happened to your pacemaker. I wonder what that could have been. Maybe being driven into the steering wheel. That might have had something to do with it. She said, back in March, your pacemaker went on EOS mode. Well, that's great news. What's EOS? She said, end of service. She said, when your pacemaker went on EOS mode, you had six weeks. And we were seven months out from the accident. You don't think I can get excited about telling that story? God did that. God put his hand down there and said, Whiteside, I know you're a mess, but I'm not done with you yet. And he kept that battery going another seven months. Monday morning, I had a brand new pacemaker. All right. Now, this and I'm done. But thou, O Lord, art my shield, my glory. And I'm telling you, I'm not ashamed to tell anybody what God has done. He did it. They said, you really are amazing. I said, no, I'm not. I'm just bone and flesh just like you are, but I've got an amazing God. Now watch this, watch this, don't miss this, because I know there's somebody that needs this this morning and then I'm done. But thou, Lord, art my shield, my glory. Listen to this, listen to this, and the lifter up of mine head. Now I knew that was something special, but I really didn't have any idea what it meant. And I guarantee you there's some of you here this morning don't either. So buckle in, you're about to find out. And when you do, you may want to grab your hanky and start around the room. The lifter up of mine head. Do you have any idea how David left Jerusalem? You can turn to 2 Samuel 18 and find out that when he left and his immediate family left, and his few friends. Don't turn to it, let me just tell you. When they left, they left barefooted. They left with dust on their heads. And they went up through the Mount of Olives, weeping as they went. Because here's this great warrior that God had blessed and given him the kingdom. And he has suffered such shame. Not only is he being deposed, he's being run out of town by his own son. So David sits down along the highway and there are people within sight that can kill him. And he says, but thou, O Lord, art a shield unto me, my glory, listen to this, and the lifter up of mine head. With all of the horrific sin that David committed, he'd made it right with God. And now the person that he offended can now give him confidence. that everything's going to be okay. And a few weeks later, who walks back into the city of Jerusalem but David. but thou, Lord, art my shield, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Father, take these few words and use them for your glory. Encourage the person that's discouraged this morning. Minister to the person who's broken. Minister to the person who's given up hope. And let them, Lord, lift their eyes up from their circumstances to see a God who can do anything and who would love to do it for them if they'll just look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. God grant it, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Pastor, you just close the service however you feel led. Our song book to 487