So this morning, as we return our attention back to Psalm 62, we will be considering the last half of Psalm 62. We began the first half last week, and a little better than that, and we'll complete this Psalm today. And as we turn to Psalm 62, perhaps we do so under a recycled heading. I'm not sure, I think I've used this heading before. Why would you settle for less? Or why would you settle for less than best? Why would you settle for what God has for you? Why would you settle for what the world offers as opposed to what God offers? Why would you settle? Right? So if you went to go buy a car, and on the way to the dealership you pass by a used car lot in somebody's front yard and they just happen to be standing out in the middle of the street flagging you in and you pull in to this used car lot and they decide they want to sell you or convince you that you are in the direst need of a 1980 Yugo Why in the world would you ever settle for that? I'm not even sure you can get parts for a Yugo anymore. But yet we settle for less every day, don't we? We settle for what the world offers. We settle for what we believe is best. We settle just to have something because we're tired of waiting. Right? You ever been there? And we'll find out today as we read the back half to Psalm 62 that if we would just wait, and yes, here's the word nobody likes, be patient, that God will provide. He will provide for us the things that are genuinely best. And that's a hard thing to do, I know. I've had trouble with it in my own life. I have had my Abraham moments where I wait and I wait and I wait And no, it wasn't Nancy that suggested it, so that is a difference from my Abraham story. I'm not gonna blame her. But I made a decision to try to help God out, and it turns out badly every time, doesn't it? Maybe I'm the only one here today that has had that type of experience, but I think if we were honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that we too have tried to help God along the way. We have subscribed to that age old scripture in Second Hesitations chapter 14 verse one. God helps those who help themselves. Got some folks looking in the table of contents right now trying to find Second Hesitations. It's not there. Second Hesitations is not a book in the Bible and there is not a verse that says God helps those who help themselves. But we have many verses in one way or another that says God provides for those who wait on him. And today is no different. In Psalm 62, Starting at verse 8, reading down to verse 12. Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Those of low estate are but a breath. Those of high esteem are a delusion. And in the balances, they go up. They are together lighter than a breath. They're lighter than those of low esteem. Put no trust in extortion, set no vain hopes in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God. and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, and you will render to a man according to his work. Father, we thank you for the day that you have given to us. We continue to praise you for the song sung with such fervor and exuberance this morning. The prayers prayed, the word delivered. And we ask, Father, now that as we look upon this most sacred text, that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts that are ready to receive what you have for us, Father, as we contemplate why we would ever, ever settle for less. Father, forgive us this past week as we have done just that. Perhaps in our ignorance or worse yet, in the hardness of our hearts, we have chosen to go our own way as opposed to going your way. We have chosen to try to fill our lives with the things that we do as opposed to the things that you do. And so we ask, Father, that you would forgive us for that and that you would help us in our frailty, our weakness, Father, in our humanity, Father. We are unable to even care for ourselves. And so, Father, help us along our way that we might trust you and trust you implicitly with everything that we need. We love you, Father. We praise you. We thank you. And we ask these things in your precious and holy name. Amen. It is said that on one of the islands of Japan that there was discovered a mass grave. at this mass grave, the marker indicated that there were the heads of 1,111 Christians buried in this mass grave. The date on this grave was 1637. Now, here's an interesting point that I want to interject. We hear in media and in movies and in books and in news and in just the general reference of our culture, the Ming Dynasty. You ever heard of them? The Ming Dynasty. And the Ming Dynasty is somehow held by the secular world in high esteem. And it is true that the Ming Dynasty was an art-filled dynasty. They did a lot of things. They completed the Great Wall of China. They exercised prowess in politics and cultural life, but they also killed 11,000 Christians. For in this day and time, in 1637, it was when the Japanese government ordered that all Christians be exterminated, and that the inscription above this grave states that 1,111 Christians were beheaded at this site, and their heads were buried here, but their bodies were buried separately. You see, the purpose of this burying the heads in one place and the bodies in another stems from the fact that the Christian missionaries that brought the gospel to the Japanese islands had proclaimed the resurrection of the body from the dead. And the Japanese rulers supposed, in their infinite wisdom, that if they buried the bodies and the heads separately that the Christians would not be able to rise from the grave. How foolish. But you see how worldly wisdom creeps in. And it's interesting to me, I did some research on this this week, because we think of the Ming Dynasty as being this ancient dynasty of long ago, having concepts and principles of culture and life that have stood the test of time, thousands of years. No, it was 1637, almost 100 years after the Protestant Reformation. Here's another one for you. We were talking about transcendental meditation this morning, all right? We're talking about meditating upon the word of God, and then we mentioned this idea of how the world has taken meditation and run with it, and we get this idea of what's called transcendental meditation, which is not meditation upon scriptures at all. It's that sitting on the floor with your legs crossed and touching your fingers, going home. That's transcendental meditation. And it's trying to find peace within your inner self. You're trying to somehow cleanse the bad karma, right? Thank you, Taylor Swift, karma. The bad karma out of you. Well, did you know that meditation didn't even exist before 1500 BC? was begun in the earliest days of the Hindu culture, the Hindu religion, which traces its roots back to India, 1500 BC. Almost 500 years after King David. After King David. But do you see how we posit authority in antiquity, in these old ancient cultures, how we somehow want to begin to follow the mysticism of this ancient culture and we try to find truth and peace and significance in the things that men have done only because they did them some 3,000 years ago. all the while realizing or failing to realize that anything that man has propped up as being possible to attain ethereal status came about almost 3,000 years after the Old Testament began to be written. Written. They're the new kids on the block. aren't they? The Bible, now listen to me, listen, listen, listen, listen. The Bible is the source of wisdom. It is the source that in some way or fashion I think we could make a reasonable argument that every other religious system borrows from in some way, shape, or fashion. And so why would we not go to the source document? Why would we settle for less? Why would we try to follow some sort of transcendental meditation, do whirly dervishes, and get ourselves so dizzy that we just can't stand up anymore? and try to find peace and inner harmony doing that because six guys from Britain who happened to sing really nice songs did it. Why would you do that? Why would you subscribe to the philosophies and the religions and the methodologies of an ancient culture who was known for killing Christians but people in Hollywood seemed to like it? Why would you settle for that? We shouldn't. We shouldn't, because all of those philosophies are found to be wanting. It is only the word of God that is reliable and trustworthy, and we must take it in its purest form, and we can't add to it, and we can't take away from it. Yes, it is true, we can put all kinds of additives in our coffee, right? There are some of us who are purist, we like plain black coffee. There's some of us that like to put flavors. There's some of us that like to put cream. There's some of us that like to put it over ice or have it hot. There's some of us that want to drink it through a straw. Some of us couldn't even contemplate drinking it through a straw. But that's coffee, not the Bible. We must take the Bible in its purest form. Agreed? Now, having established that in my rather protracted introduction, I want to speak for just a moment on the first thought this morning related to the idea as found in Psalm 62. And that is, we must first accept that what God says is right is the standard that we must live by. Well, that doesn't seem very hard, does it? Let me say it again. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I missed the hard part. We must first accept that what God says is right is the standard that we must live by. You know, with every new thing that we buy, we get an owner's manual, don't we? Now, it may not be much of an owner's manual, It may be folded up on a little two by two piece of paper written in like half micro font or something like that, but you get an owner's manual. And the owner's manual is the manufacturer's suggested maintenance and upkeep of that particular thing that you just bought, right? And who better to tell you how to take care of that thing than the person who made that thing, right? We understand that. And yet we don't follow that same, well, let me back up. Maybe we do follow the same philosophy with God that we follow with owner's manuals, because I know that a lot of people just throw them in a drawer and never look at them again, right? A lot of people have taken their Bible after their so-called conversion experience, thrown it in a drawer, and never looked at it again. Well, at least we're being consistent. Right? With owners' manuals and Bibles. And then we wonder why it is that we have such difficulty in life. Why is it that we seem to be so unsatisfied? Why is it that we're so unfulfilled? Why is it that I've tried this and it didn't work, and I tried that and it didn't work, and I tried that and it didn't work. And I'm going, well, let me try again. Maybe this time it'll work. Well, that's the definition of insanity, isn't it? Doing the same thing again and again and again and expecting a different result. Don't we think it's time to take the owner's manual out of the drawer, dust it off, and begin to consult the owner's manual on how it is that we ought to live life? Does that seem so hard? It may be foreign. We may not be used to it, I understand, but is it really hard? Is it really hard to accept that what God has said is right is the way that we ought to live? Because if God is holy, and God is pure, and God is good, and God is all-knowing, don't you think what he says is for our own benefit? For our own good? It may not be the easy way. It may not be the quick way. But it is the best way. In Psalm 62, 8, David says, trust in him at all times. O people, David's address is to those who listen. Are you listening to David currently? Are you listening to David even now? Okay, I expected a little more response than that. Are we not listening to David? Yes, we are. So what does David tell us? What's the takeaway from verse eight? What can I put in my pocket and take it with me tomorrow as I go to work, as I go to school this afternoon, as I face whatever challenges I might have today? What is it? that this week when I know I've got a difficult meeting or a difficult something that I've got to do that I'm not looking forward to, a pain in my life, a struggle in my life, a grief in my life, Rusty, what is it in verse eight that I can take into the week to help me? What verse can I lean on? Well, trust Him at all times. Trust God at all times. David was a man who knew incredible success. He's king of Israel. But David was also a man who knew and was personally acquainted with grief. I think as he writes about Messiah in the Psalms, he was a man of grief. He was acquainted with grief. I think David, as he writes those words, was pouring out his heart about Christ, that one that would come to save, one that would come to make everything right, would be one that would be personally acquainted with the griefs of life, and Christ was. There is nothing that you face, beloved, nothing. No pain, no struggle, no grief, no feeling of insuperiority or substandard. There is no feeling of valuelessness, no wanting, no desire, no anything in your life that Christ did not experience himself. Now the difference is he never sinned, but Christ is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He knows the deepest hurts that we live through. He knows the pains that we have, which makes him a trustworthy source. We simply can trust him at all times. We can trust that what he has said is right. Now you notice I didn't say we can trust that what he said is right. I didn't say that. It's assumed that we know that what Christ has said is right. I did say that we can trust and that we should trust and we should accept that what Christ has said is right is the standard by which we live. I think sometimes we play that little game too, don't we? Oh yeah, I know Jesus is right, but that's for somebody else. That's not for me. I know that Jesus is right in how we ought to build our relationships, but that's for somebody else. Jesus is not here. I'm really struggling. I'm alone. I don't feel very valuable. I need some value in my life. We go and try to seek it somewhere else as opposed to seeking it in Christ, right? No, we shouldn't. We should live by the standard that Christ has established that as the great shepherd, if we are truly one of his sheep, He knows our deepest needs. He knows where to take us to get water. He knows where to take us to get food. He knows how to protect us from our enemies. He knows how to go get us when we are lost and we have wandered off on our own. He knows. And we ought to trust him in those areas of our life. Job chapter 13, verses 15 to 18, this is Job. This is Job defending his position. This is Job saying, after all of his friends are coming to him and saying, Job, you really messed up. Job, God's mad at you. Job, you better find out what you did wrong because God's about to snub you out. Here's Job, he says, though he slay me, I will hope in him, yet I will argue my ways to his face. This will be my salvation that the godless shall not come before him. Keep listening to my words and let my declaration be in your ears. Behold, I have prepared my case. I know that I shall be in the right. We get an indication here in this passage of Job, a little foreshadowing of what's coming at the end of Job, that Job will be vindicated. We know from the very first chapter of Job that Job was a righteous man. He walked before the Lord in righteousness. Was he perfect? No, he wasn't perfect, but he walked in righteousness. Or to put it in the context of Psalm 62, Job walked trusting God at all times. And Job trusted God at all times in such a way that he got Satan's attention. That's a pretty big feat, don't you think? In a sense, I'm kind of glad Satan doesn't know my name. I don't know if he knows it or not. But Job trusted God in such a way that Satan noticed and said, hey, God, you ever considered your servant Job? Actually, that's what God said to Satan. Yeah, I know him, what about him? God, let me tell you something. Job only trusts you because you've blessed him. Right? You've given him a great wife, you've given him flocks, you gave him a great house, you gave him peace on every side. Yeah, who wouldn't praise you, God, whenever you give him all that stuff? I bet you, if you take all that stuff away, Job will curse you to your face. And we know the story, right? God said, okay, take all the stuff, spare his life, you can't touch him, he's mine. All the stuff in this fallen world, all the riches, all the goods, all the influence, the great family, the great house, if they had cars back then, the great cars, the herds, the crops, the servants, everything. That's all within your purview right now anyway, Satan, so take it. But Job is mine. And that's exactly what Satan did, didn't he? Took everything. Took everything. And Job says, even if God takes everything away from me, I'm gonna place my hope in him. However, I'm just not gonna be the golden retriever that lays down and takes the beating and doesn't say anything, right? God has given me a brain. God has given me a spirit. I have walked before him and proven myself to be holy. I've done what he's asked me to do. I've worshiped to him. I've sacrificed to him. I've prayed to him. I pray for my kids. I do sacrifices for my kids. I've done everything that God has ever asked me to do, and I promise you that when I get the chance, I'm gonna ask God because I think at the end of the day, you're going to find out that I'm right. Not that I'm above God, but that I can bring my case before God. I can bring my complaint before God and he will hear me. Why? Because I'm righteous. Which is the key in verse 16. He knows that he will have an opportunity for vindication that actually he knows that God will vindicate him because the godless cannot come before God. And his hope is that he is going to stand before God. Do you see? This trust in God at all times is not just an ethereal, theological, philosophical, somehow pie-in-the-sky mentality that we have that we just espouse on Sunday, or during our quiet times, or when we're among friends. and being very, very holy and saying very, very holy things. No, this trust is a living trust, a material trust that we employ when there's nobody else around and everything is going wrong and we really feel like that we've been left out on the backside of Midian and forgotten about. You ever felt like you've been forgotten? Not many of us are comfortable in acknowledging that, now are we? When we all have those dark hours, whatever time of day it may happen, 4.30 on a Tuesday afternoon, two o'clock on a Friday night, where we feel like we've been forgotten. Nobody cares. Nobody loves. Nobody's even interested. Been there? God does. God cares. God knows. God loves. and we have to trust him. John Bunyan put it this way, he says, as your faith is, such your hope will be. As your faith is, such your hope will be. Hope is never ill when faith is well, nor strong if faith is weak. You see, I think the real issue here is that we've got to have a living faith and not just a theoretical faith. We need an actual practical living, put it into practice, does something with it faith, as opposed to a faith that we read about in a book and nobody really understands what it is anyway. Right? Secondly, not only must we accept that what God has said is right is the standard of life, we must also realize that God has warned us about the alternative. God has warned us that worldly gain is of no lasting value. Now, I want us to be careful here. I realize that David uses terms of financial gain, okay? I realize that. Extortion, robbery, riches, But that's not all he means. He starts off with the lowest state and the highest state. Those who are nobody, those that are somebody, right? And the aspiration of the nobodies to become somebodies, and the somebodies who are wishing that they could be nobodies again, right? We're talking about cultural dynamics. We're talking about how we interact with one another. We're talking about some degree of anthropology and politics. We're talking about how we live in a peaceful society with one another. We're talking about financial institutions, and we're talking about educational institutions, and we're talking about the warp and the wolf of life. That's what we're talking about. So let me just boil it down to a little simpler terminology. Let us not put our trust in worldly things. Let us put our trust in godly things. It's the distinction that we've made on Wednesday nights for almost three years now. What is worldly? What is godly? Is it worldly thinking? Is how I'm thinking right now worldly? Am I chasing the things of the world? Am I valuing the things of the world? Am I hoping in the things of the world? Or am I hoping in the things that are godly? Am I speaking and thinking the things that are godly? Am I valuing the things that are godly? That's the distinction. And here again in Psalm 62, we are told, do not value the things of the world. And look, it does not mean that if God has blessed you financially that you're somehow in sin. That's not true. But as we saw Friday night, as we're talking about productivity and wealth and those kinds of things, however that might be defined, when our heart turns sour and we think that somehow we've done it, then we're off base. We need to understand that our trust is in God. and not the things of this world. Our heart should be bent towards God and not the things of this world. Our attitude should be one of glorifying God and not trusting or espousing or holding high and lifted up the things of the world. Verse nine. Those of low estate are but a breath. Those of high estate are a delusion. And in the balances, they go up. They are together lighter than a breath. He's just talking about culture. Culture will not save you. And we shake our heads. We go, oh, yes, yes, absolutely, Brother Rusty. Culture can't save us. And for those of us who are a little older, I think we probably have a firm grasp on that concept. However, in the era of post-modernity, millennials, Gen Xers, Gen Zers, and everything else that came after that, were taught philosophically that community is everything. Doesn't matter whether you agree with the mandates of your particular community, you uphold that community above everything else. It's really where we're getting all of this tribalism within our culture, our society, and our politics today. It wasn't just this thing that aliens showed up one night and zapped us and now we've become tribal. No, it's part of post-modernity. that successive generations of 20-somethings, 30-somethings, 40-somethings from about the mid-1990s all the way up to probably about 2020 were still being taught that your community, notice not your culture, your community, those you identify with, those that you're like, those that you like, You're similar to the ones that think like you, talk like you, love to go rock climbing like you. That community is what you give yourself to because that community will save you. Wrong. Psalm 62 says community will not save you. Low estate is so fleeting and passing and used by the elites in society that to be of low estate, you are just a breath. You're here now, you're gone in just a few seconds. Those of high estate who are using the ones of low estate like some sort of commodity are less than that. They're a delusion. Did you know that Affluence and influence is a delusion. Now, you notice I didn't say that money is a delusion. Money is a material, tangible barter token. And again, I've already said there's nothing wrong with possessing finances and wealth, okay? There's nothing wrong with it. But when you put your trust in it, it's a delusion. Affluence. is a delusion. Influence and esteem being thought well of, being somehow, I don't know, venerated as being somewhat of importance is a delusion. We see it in most acute terms today in that most of the governance of this great nation doesn't know diddly squat about what they're doing. It's a delusion. It is smoke and mirrors. It's presenting something as being this and you're being told again and again and again that it's this when everybody knows in reality it's far from this. So are you really meaning to tell me that you're putting your hope in the governance of our nation? regardless of who gets elected? Seriously? You mean your tomorrow is pinned upon the policy decisions of human beings who are broken and fallible, given to corruption and tyranny? That's where your hope is? God warns us. He raises kings. He abases kings. Whomever might stand victorious on November next, and I don't even know what day it is, the 7th, I think. Whoever it is that is supposed to have won the popular vote and the electoral college, and I know there are questions about that. I have questions about that. It's not because they got the popular vote. It's not because somebody pulled 10 boxes out in Atlanta at 2 o'clock in the morning and started counting those ballots. It's not because Supreme Court justices at the state level struck down pro-voting ID laws. It's not that this evil man named George Soros has put all kinds of evil people in office around our nation. That's not why November next turns out the way it does. November next turns out the way it does because God is sovereign and he raises up who he wants and he abases who he wants. So culture, society, politics will not save you. And then ill-gotten gain won't save you either. Extortion and robbery, obviously, that's not gonna save you. Even within our human justice system, if you are found guilty of extortion, what do you have to do? Most of the times, pay it back. and go to jail. If you steal something, and I didn't realize this, but I think it is happening, there's a degree in which you have to pay restitution. So obviously we understand that ill-gotten gain in those means and methods don't do you any good, but did you catch what David said at the end of this? If riches increase, set not your heart on them. Brother Rudy, as you were going through our time Friday night, this verse was going through the back of my head. If God blesses you with material wealth, whatever that may be, don't let your heart get proud. Yes, you may have a very healthy bank account. Don't let your heart get proud. It wasn't you who did it. You may have An idea that somehow is patented and becomes the next best thing in the world, right? Don't let your heart get proud. Look at what God has given to you and be thankful for what God has given to you, but as we saw Friday night, be suspicious of your own heart that you not start thinking the wrong ways, right? I still love the words of Top Lady. We sang them earlier today. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress, helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I go to the fountain fly, wash me Savior. Or it's all over. Right? We are completely dependent upon Christ. Now Christ is a gracious Savior. Christ is a generous Lord. We have so many things, don't we? We have so much that many of us, either in actual practicality or at least in thought, have latched onto a phrase that was coined by a very popular financial radio guy, that when somebody asks you how you doing, you always say, what? Better than I deserve. Thank you, Dave, Ramsey, I appreciate that. Because we are. Those who have come before us, even a generation or two, didn't have what we've got now in terms of wealth, technology, prosperity, understanding, education. Christ has given us much, but we can't set our heart on the stuff. We must set our heart on Christ and Christ alone. In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my rock. Isn't he? First Timothy 6.8. But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." What craving? What craving is Paul talking about? The love of money. You ever crave something? I mean, you know how powerful cravings are? There have been many a husband in human history that had to get up at two o'clock in the morning and go to the grocery store because his expectant wife had a craving. Right? There are many men in human history who have spent everything they had and mortgaged everything they were gonna make in the next 10 years because they had a craving for a brand new chariot. No, I didn't say lariat, I said chariot. But lariat fits. We're all given to our cravings, are we not? Cravings cause us to make the worst financial decisions on the face of the planet. You've heard the old adage, don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry. Sounds like an opportunity for us to go out to dinner first. Cravings. But you see, we're so hardened and calloused to this aspect in our lives that we don't even consider what the Bible says about cravings. No, we're not talking about Blue Bell chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream settled all over a kosher dill pickle. That's not necessarily what Paul is talking about. but he's talking about the burning desires of the human heart when we see those things that we don't have but we want them. Oops, that sounds an awful like covetousness. Or we see those things in life and we want them so badly that we will keep anybody else from having them if I can't have them. Oops, that sounds like envy. We are all creatures of our cravings. We are all moved by our cravings. We all have to keep our cravings in check. Why? Because it leads us into all kinds of pains. We are trusting in the increase as opposed to trusting in Christ. If you don't believe me, I think the average, the statistics are still about the same place that they've always been. There compares household incomes under one particular income and that household gets a raise, right? The household is already strapped spending about, I think as you follow those statistics to begin with, they start somewhere in about 90, 8% to 99% of the money. So as you start, the household is spending 98% to 99% of the money that it makes, not saving the historical 10% that people used to do. But then that household gets a raise. And you want to know something that's really interesting? their spending rate goes up commensurate with the money they earn, and then some. It's like they get a run and start, and they start spending more money than they make. They're spending, and I think the statistics today are still somewhere around 115 to 118% of what a household makes is what it spends. Our savings rate is a negative 15 to 18%, which means we spend 15 to 18% more than what we take in. And we do that through credit, revolving accounts, secured accounts, mortgages, car notes, those kinds of things. Why? Because we don't have control of our cravings. Would I like a new truck? Sure, I would. Absolutely, I would. That's a craving I have. But I am not gonna let that craving take me into the poorhouse. Because if I'm in the poorhouse, I can't spend the money to serve God. I can't tithe. I can't do the things that Christ has called me to do. And I wanna please Christ more than I want a new truck that's just gonna tear up in five or six years anyway. Right? So the next time you see me driving around in old blue, whom I love dearly, with the undercarriage being held together by Gorilla Tape because it's falling apart on the underside and the paint's coming off because it was a model year where GMC pulled a really bad uh-oh and their paint really stinks and it's peeling off and it looks like a spotted dog. And you probably, well you can't hear me coming down the road now, I got the mufflers fixed. But next time you see me in old blue, I want you to understand, I'm in old blue not because I don't want a new truck, I'm in old blue because I love Christ more than I love blue. That make sense? And you may think of less of me because I drive an old beat up truck. You may think I'm the subject of a country song, and that's okay. I don't care. Because my life really is a subject of a country song in a lot of ways. But you see, I'm trusting Christ, not things. Which brings me to the last thing, and I gotta hurry, because my time is gone, that accordingly, now, first of all, let me stop. Let's back up a second. We said already today that we must first accept that what God has said is right is the standard by which we live. So God has given us a standard by which we must live. That standard is not worldliness. That standard doesn't include worldly things. But the standard is this. that we should trust the goodness of God and receive his blessings as he would see fit to give them. Whatever the blessing, please don't just run to money and finances and call it good. Trust God in your very life. Trust God in your health. Trust God in your relationships. Trust God in how you see yourself, your self-esteem, your value, your worthiness, who you are. You are who you are in Christ, if you're in Christ. Now, if you're not in Christ and you're in the world, then this pain and grief and whatever you're feeling, you're feeling because your master, Satan, is tearing you down. That's not Christ. Look to Christ for all those things that you need. Verse 11, once God has spoken, twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God and that to you, oh Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you are rendered to every man according to his work. What does that mean? Can God love you? Does God have the ontological ability within himself to love you though you've never loved him? Yes. Can God love you though you have rebelled against him, fought against him, spit in his face, did everything you could to run away, walk away from God and criticize everybody else that was trying to follow him? Can God love you? Yes. He has steadfast love. He has the power. He has the power to love. Will he? Yes, he will. Jesus said, let he who is burdened and heavy laden come to me and I will give you rest. Quit trying to figure it out on your own. Quit trying to somehow say that it's not my fault, that somebody else did it to me. I don't have to worry about it, this is what somebody did to me and this is just who I am. Stop it. Quit trying to run from Christ because you're afraid of what he's gonna do. Really. The world, Christ. Who has the better track record of being holy and good? Really, and you're gonna trust the world? Well, the world is fun. Yeah, sin is pleasurable for a season, but in the end, it's death and destruction. Okay, newsflash, drugs will kill you. Right? And they've got some humdingers now. You ever see people have been doing crystal meth for like three or four years? I'm amazed. I see the rap sheets at the post office every once in a while. So and so, age 27, wanted for crystal meth distribution. Dude, they look like they're 90. Who in the world wants to take a drug that ages you exponentially? You're 27, you look like you're 90. Who wants to do that? Drugs will kill you. Did you know that illicit relationships will kill you too? Any relationship and whatever activities go along with that relationship that is not God-honoring, not fostered by God's design, will kill you. Oh, you may not get some kind of tropical disease, but the stress will kill you. Broken relationships bring stress. Stress will kill you. and we can go right down, you pick a category. You pick the category, the worldly category. The world says do it, the world says it's fun, the world says get away with it. You pick the category and I promise you the scripture teaches you it will kill you. Don't do it. Don't follow the world, don't get in the boat. Do not get in the world's boat. If you are drowning in the sea of life, reach out to the only hand that can pick you up out of the sea and set your feet on the road. Don't climb into the lifeboat of the world. It's death, it's sinking, you will perish. Trust in Christ. He has the power to love you. He has the want to to love you. You just have to come to him in repentance. You got to take your hands off of it and let him do it. And I realize what you're saying. I don't know, maybe. I'm not convinced. I think I got things going on pretty good right now. I'm doing all right, Rusty. I appreciate it. I know you care, but I think I got stuff. I'm doing okay. Well, I'm going to leave you with the last words of Psalm 62. God will render to each of us according to our work. We all have an appointment with God, each one of us. You do, I do, you do, you do, you do, you do. Back there, you do, all you guys back there, y'all do, y'all do. Every one of us, everyone over there has got an appointment, even the folks that are napping, they've got an appointment with God too. is appointed once for a person to die, and then comes the judgment. We stand before God, each of us, and give an account of those things that we've done in this life, both good and evil. We will have to fess up to God what we've done, and He will render to us accordingly. Does that mean that He counts our good deeds and our bad deeds, puts them in a scale? If you got more good, you're okay. Got more bad, you go to hell? No. He's going to ask us, what did we do with Christ? Did we trust Christ? That's what he wants to know. And by the way, he's like the defense attorney, he already knows. What we have done with Christ is the only thing that matters on that day. Have you trusted Christ? Have you listened to this message today and put your trust in Christ or have you settled for less? My prayer today is that you would never, none of us, would ever settle for less. Never settle. Right? Do you hear me say that? Never settle. Never settle. Christ and Christ alone is where our hope is found. Father, we thank you for the day that you've given to us. We continue to praise you, Lord, for your goodness to us, your mercy and your grace. And we just simply ask, Father, that in the hearing of your word today, that you would give each of us insight and wisdom, but more than that, Father, that you would give to us, grant to us the conviction of your spirit to show us where we have settled for less. Father, where we have chased after human philosophy, though it may be ancient, is still human philosophy. Where we have tried religious motifs, of men from distant lands at different times that's still from men. And we've dressed it up to make it look good, sound good. We've garnered people around us that agreed with us, and so we've got this whole little club that agrees with what we're doing, and yet, Father, it's all settling for less because it's not of you. Convict us of that, Father. that we might turn to you in repentance and trust you for the salvation of our souls and life eternal starting today and never ending. Father, move on us in this way, that you might save a people for your own possession, that we might be salt and light in the world, and that, Father, we might bring you glory in all that we do. We love you, Father. We praise you. We thank you. And we ask these things in your precious and holy name. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we ask. Amen.