All right, well, we're gonna be in the Psalms one more time. You know that we've been doing a sermon series through the summer called Summer Through the Psalms, the idea being that we would preach through 10 psalms every summer for as long as the Lord will tarry until we complete the entire book of Psalms, which is 150 chapters altogether. However, you guys are in store for a bonus chapter, because as you see, this is chapter 11. So we are preaching on one more psalm than expected. Part of that is, is I'll be taking some time off from preaching, but present in the service over the next two weeks. As many of you know, we are expecting a child no later than Tuesday, so it just makes sense to continue with Psalms rather than jumping back into Galatians. We will do that towards the end of September. But one of the things that I've really appreciated about the Psalms is really all that I've personally been learning. It has been a unique challenge and a unique study for me to be preaching this book to you guys week after week for the last 10 plus weeks. And you may have noticed a few things about the Psalms as you've been following along and listening both in service or maybe afterwards. And one of the things that I've noticed is the Bible really does have a lot to say about the wicked. This is a topic that comes up a lot, and one of the commentators that I read this week actually pointed out that the Bible actually has more to say about the wicked than it does the righteous, if you're to tally up all the references. Now, I think the reason for that is because there are a lot more wicked people in the world than there are righteous. In fact, we know through faith that Christ is the only one who has been righteous. And I think this has served me and hopefully it's served you during this time because it's easy to be stressed about the things of this world because just like we read in the Psalms as wickedness comes up over and over, so too as we live in this world, wickedness or suffering or pain, things that cause us stress and anxiety are still running rampant all over the world. And this has led many people, Christians included, to be very anxious about the future. Very anxious when they find themselves in times of crisis. And one of the things that I'm so happy that we get a chance to do this morning is that we get to end our summer through the Psalms on Psalm 11. Last week was a heavy message dealing with the reality of wickedness in the world. But in this Psalm, we are gonna deal with the hope that we have in times of crisis or how we as Christians can be confident in times of crisis as we face wickedness, suffering, or any trial of any kind. And so our points today is we're going to look at Psalm 11. We're gonna ask the question, how can we have confidence in the midst of crises? And our points will be number one, that we will indeed face times of crisis as Christ followers, as Christians, but there is a way in which we can face those crises with confidence, not confidence in ourself, but confidence in the Lord. So with that, let us open our Bibles and please stand for the reading of God's word, if you are willing and able. I will read verses one through seven, the entire psalm, and then if we can do our call and response at the conclusion. So here now, the word of the Lord this morning. To the choir master of David, Psalm 11. In the Lord I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain? For behold, the wicked bend the bow. They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked. Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold his face. This is the word of the Lord this morning. Let us say together, may God apply its truth to our lives. Thank you. You may be seated. And so as I said, we'll break this up into two points. The bigger, longer point will be point number two, but the first thing that I want us to see is that as Christians, we will encounter times of crisis. As we read the Psalms, this is something that David runs to the Lord over and over as he faces crises of various kinds. Verses one through three speak of this. David writes, I've stated before, sometimes we are given textual background information with regards to what crisis, what moment in time inspired David to write these words, but we are not given such a description in this psalm. And so in many ways, David is speaking generally here of some sort of crisis. But if you're familiar with the life of David, you know that he faced many, often times, it was people threatening not only his reign, but his own life. He describes these threats in vivid detail here, saying it's as if his foe has a bow drawn back. But not only that, David does not know when this foe will strike because he is hidden in the dark. And so what David is preparing for himself is he knows that there's an imminent threat. One that threatens his life, but one that will be a secret ambush style of attack. And so he's given what appears to be counsel in verse one. If you know that there's an imminent threat, if you know you are in danger, then flee like a bird to your mountain. But this is not what David does. David instead chooses to remain steadfast and find his refuge in the Lord. But the whole situation is troubling because David being a righteous king oftentimes is unduly persecuted. That these foes are clearly perceived as wicked and David in no wrong. And as we reflected on in the previous Psalm, Psalm 10, one of the troubling things that we see in this world is that the wicked often seem to be prosperous and the righteous seem to be oppressed. It's as if the world is flipped upside down for what it ought to be, that the righteous ought to prosper and the wicked ought to be punished for their wickedness. David speaks of this upside down reality of the world in verse three. He says, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? So David chooses not to flee, but at the same time recognizes that there's nothing that he can do to protect himself, to prevail over those who would seek to do him harm. And so as we look at this situation, as we look at David's description of these things generally, what we can see David describe is a test of faith. Are you going to fear the powers of man and the wickedness of this world and run from them? Or will you trust in the Lord, fear him above all things, knowing that these men who appear to be mighty, according to the world's standards, are no match for our great Lord. And so this is appropriate, because much like David, we must come to the realizations that we will face times of crisis, that we may face threats, we may face all kinds of wickedness in the world. If it's been true of David, and if we saw that it was true of Jesus, the only actual righteous man to live and breathe and walk on the earth, then we know that it will be true of us as his followers. In fact, Jesus, much in line with what David says here, warns us to be prepared for such times of crisis or persecution or suffering. We hear from the words of Jesus himself in John chapter 15, verses 18 through 19, speaking to his disciples. He says this, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. You see, Jesus, in many ways, is speaking some of the same warnings that we see here in this Psalm. That in the midst of crisis in this upside down world where the wicked seem to prosper, the easy thing to do, the way in which we can flee, is to live according to the world. But as long as we remain steadfast to love Jesus more than anything else in this world, to live for him, then we will be received as he was received by this world with vitriol and hate. And so do not simply run from these crisis, but instead run to God in the midst of these crisis. Trust in his protection, his deliverance, and that God can ultimately use any situation for his glory and your good. as I thought of how to illustrate this principle here that in the midst of crisis, we are run to the Lord and see God deliver and work and be glorified. I couldn't help but be reminded of a Bible story. Some of you may be familiar with this. If not, I would encourage you to go back and read these chapters. But I think of the story that takes place in Daniel chapter three. three of Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These are Israelites who have been taken into captivity into a foreign land and essentially enslaved in servanthood through the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. But yet these three men, instead of assimilating, instead of becoming part of the world, part of this culture, remained steadfast to God and worshiped him alone and not to their false idols. And this got them into a major crisis. You see, King Nebuchadnezzar fashioned a statue after his own likeness and commanded that throughout all of his kingdom, at the sound of the bells, that everybody would have to bow down and worship this image of himself as a God. Now, these men, they were not revolting, they were not warring against this nation. In fact, they humbly submitted, but they would not bow down to a false idol. And so there were Chaldeans or Babylonians who hated these men, who sought to harm them. And we read in Daniel chapter three, verse eight, it says, therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews of not obeying the king. Why did these men not obey the king? Because Nebuchadnezzar was not their king, God was. And God had commanded in his first two commandments, you shall have no other gods before me, and you shall not fashion for yourself an image or idol to worship. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they're brought before the king, they're given one more chance to obey his command, to bow down before his idol after his image and likeness, otherwise they'd be thrown into a fiery furnace. Look at how these men respond to such a threat in the midst of this crisis. This is Daniel chapter three, verses 16 through 18. It says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand. O king, but if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. They are both confident that God can deliver them. But even if not, their allegiance is still to the Lord. Even if the fire consumes them and burns them all together. So of course, Nebuchadnezzar is infuriated. He heats the furnace hotter than it's ever been heated. He throws them into the fire. In fact, the guards who are appointed to throw him in are burnt up themselves. But yet what is the result? We read in Daniel chapter three verses 24 through 25, then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the fire? They answered and said to the king, true, O king. And he answered and said, but I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Many believe, myself included, that the pre-incarnate Christ was these men's refuge in that furnace, keeping them from any harm. And they were delivered, and as a result, they come out of the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar is astonished, because he's faced with the reality, although he may be the most powerful king in the entire world at this point in time in history, He pales in comparison to the power of the one true God, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, whom you and I worship as Lord. And so Nebuchadnezzar then makes a new decree faced with these realities. Daniel chapter three, verse 29, therefore I make a decree. Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses laid in ruin for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. The world was upside down. Things were not as they should be. They were commanded to live contrary to what God had called them to live. They were threatened to be thrown into a fire and consumed and destroyed, but God worked this out for their deliverance and for his glory. And so we live in a world not too different from the world of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. where the foundations of right and wrong have eroded. What the world calls right, the Bible would call wrong, and what we would call right, the world would call wickedness. And we ourselves as Christians may be faced with hard decisions in our life. Will I live for God? Or will I flee from my enemies and join their midst and their ranks so as to deliver myself from a moment of crisis? or from a moment of suffering. I think of three ways that this could touch our lives, and maybe it's touched some of your lives already. I think occupationally, that you may be working in such a setting that you are commanded to do something that would go contrary to what the Bible clearly and foundationally teaches. I think a lot of the issues that we have to deal with in modern culture with regards to genders, I know of teachers working in schools who have had to resign because they've stood on the truth of God's word and are not willing to go along with the student's chosen gender, but instead want to recognize what the Bible teaches, that God has made you male and female in his own image and likeness. that such things can face you occupationally. They can face you legally. We live in a litigious lawsuit culture. We have churches being sued for not going along with things such as same-sex marriage, but even in a personal way, we have to make choices with regards to people that we know or neighbors of how will we affirm or not affirm certain lifestyles? Will we attend that wedding or not? These will come at consequences oftentimes. I think even just simply socially that as a Christian you may be unwilling to participate in office gossip or crude jokes or as some might call bro talk with the buddies. that you can lose friendships, or at least be on the outskirt of your friendships as a result. Taking these difficult stands results oftentimes in suffering, exclusion, maybe even real-world consequences, but there's another result that is possible as well. Taking these difficult stands results in a more powerful witness of your faith before others. resulting in more coming to know God as the one true God. If God can deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a fiery furnace, can he not deliver us from these situations? Can he not use this for his glory? Can we not have the same faith that these men had? I hope we can. And the only way that we can do that is with his spirit working in us, as we take refuge in the Lord, that we don't flee from these situations, but we use these situations to run to the Lord. And so, brothers and sisters, be prepared for these times. They most assuredly will come. And either the ways that I've described or ways in which we'll catch most of us, if not all of us, by surprise, but times of crisis will indeed come. But yet this Psalm teaches us that we can have confidence in those times of crisis as well. And so I think of four ways in particular, this Psalm points us to the idea of even though when we're faced with real dire crisis, we can be confident in the midst of them. The first is because God reigns from his temple in heaven. Look at verse four with me of Psalm chapter 11. David, after saying the world is upside down, says in verse four, the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes sees, his eyelids test the children of men. And so what's interesting here is that you have David writing this psalm, saying that the Lord is in his temple and we may be tempted to think the temple in Jerusalem. But what's the problem with that for those of you who enjoy some Bible trivia? Well, the temple, if David has written this, has not been built yet. David's son Solomon would build the temple. And so what we need to understand is that this is not a reference necessarily to the physical temple on earth, but God's throne in heaven. That these two phrases, they mirror one another. The Lord is in his holy temple and the Lord's throne is in heaven. This is the same sentence repeated in a different way. And so one of the ways that we must have confidence in times of crisis is knowing and believing and trusting is that God is reigning from his holy throne in heaven over all the earth. that we ought not to forget God's mighty power, that he is the king over all the earth and that he is sovereign over everything that happens on the earth. We may be caught by surprise by the crisis that we find ourselves in, but God is not. In fact, he is such a powerful and authoritative king that there is nothing that comes to pass here on this earth without his design and purpose in it. God is sovereign. And so we can take comfort that we are never living outside of God's sovereignty or his plan for our life. That ought to bring you comfort, Christian. This is something that the Bible talks a lot about, because sometimes as we face these situations, this is the only comfort that we have, that God is sovereign, God is in control, and I will trust in him. Reflect with me on some of the passages that speak about God's mighty sovereignty and control of him reigning over this earth from heaven. Lamentations 3, 37 through 38 says, who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is not from the mouth of the most high that good and bad come? Lamentations is a book of exactly that. Lamentations, moanings and groanings for the suffering of God's people. But all the while recognizing that this does not mean that God is not enthroned. This does not mean that God is not in control. That yes, the good things in life, they come from the Lord. But the difficulties that you face in life also come from the Lord. I'll have more to say on this later. Isaiah 46, nine through 10 also, in a different way, talks about God's complete sovereign control over the events of the earth. Isaiah writes, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. From ancient times, things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. If we're to envision the history of the earth as a book, God has written it backwards. That he has made known the end from the beginning, and so nothing in this book or this story of creation has not been ordained by him. And this is true even of the world's most powerful people, kings themselves. are not free from God's reign and sovereignty. Proverbs 21, verse one says this. The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wills. So if we go back to that example of Nebuchadnezzar and that story with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that's not God adjusting his plan to compensate for this powerful king. No, that's God's plan to use this powerful king for his purposes. that he moves even the hearts of kings and rulers of this world. Those who we would look as being the most powerful are still under God's sovereign rule. And so we take comfort in God's sovereignty. There's great comfort in a familiar verse to many of us, having these things in mind of God's complete control over his creation from beginning to end. We now read with great comfort, Jeremiah 29 11. For I know the plans I have for you. declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. Although God may ordain or allow us to go through suffering, through trials, through crises of various kinds, it is not for our punishment or his maliciousness. It is part of his plans for us, for our welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Do you have a hard time believing that promise from the Lord? Well, if you do, let me just remind you that this God who reigns on his throne in heaven, that that God who sits on that throne is the same God who hung on a cross for you. Because his plan was for you to prosper and to give you an everlasting hope, an everlasting future with him. and all the events and course of this world are designed for that means and that purpose. Who is the God reigning? In the temple above, it is our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12.2 talks about this, and we even reflected on it in our question and answer. Hebrews 12, two says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured to the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, where he rules and reigns and intercedes for us today, as we've already reflected on. So despite what you think or what you may feel, you can have confidence in whatever situation you find yourself in the midst of crisis because God rules and reigns over this earth from beginning to end. So that's one of the reasons why we can be confident in the face of crisis. Secondly, what I see in this passage is we can be confident in times of crisis because this passage tells us that these crisis oftentimes are God testing the righteous. God tests the righteous. We see this in verse five. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. This may not come as a comfort to you or confidence to you, but let me dissuade you or change your mind of that. Does God really test people? And if so, why does he do that? Well, let me first say why it is not, why he does not test us. It's not that God needs to discover if you will be faithful. No, instead it is through testing that we grow in our faith and become more like him. We can wrongly believe that our testing proves our faith. No, instead God's intention to test us and to test our faith is to grow our faith and make us more like Christ. Nowhere is this more clear in the Bible than the story of Abraham. Again, another biblical illustration of this point. Again, if you're not familiar with the life of Abraham, I would encourage you to read roughly Genesis 12 through Genesis 22 sometime this week. You will not regret it. But God tested Abraham. We know this to be the case because he says so explicitly in Genesis 22, verse one. After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. This story in Genesis 22 is the famous story where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac. And so we need to ask ourselves, why did God test Abraham? Well, this was not the first time that God tested Abraham. Abraham faced various crises, various moments in where he had a decision to trust God or to go with what was the most logical thing to do according to worldly standards. When he found himself in front of powerful kings and he believed that they would kill him in order to take his beautiful wife, he lied and said that she is my sister, not once, but twice. Abraham failed that test. When given this wonderful promise by God that through him and through his offspring with his wife, Sarah, that all the nations of the earth will be blessed, he failed to believe that promise and trust in that promise. He found himself in his old age, unable to have a child with his wife for many, many years, and so he conceived a child with the help of a servant instead. And so we have many examples in Abraham's life of a test or a crisis given to him in which he failed. And yet the greatest test would be once receiving that child, being asked to give that child up before the Lord. And if you read Genesis 22, you know that Abraham passes with a perfect score, that he trusts God, believing that God could even raise his son from the dead. You see, God was giving Abraham more and more chances, more and more opportunities to pass this test, to grow his faith. And that's exactly what happens. We can understand this concept in other areas of life that we often intentionally test ourselves in order to grow our skills or our abilities. I've talked often about this, but a favorite pastime of mine is playing pickleball, as many of you know. And the best way to get good at pickleball, which is a desire that I have, is to test yourself by putting myself in hard situations, playing against the best players I could possibly play. And yeah, I'll lose a lot of games, but eventually I will grow and I will get better. Still working on that. Same thing is true with exercising, that you add more weight, more resistance, you test the limits so that you can overcome them. You grow in these areas through your testing. It's true in sports, it's true in exercise, it's even true in the workplace, that you take on extra projects. You spread yourself a little bit further in responsibility or skills, you test yourself for advancement in your career or your profession. The same is true with our faith, that God puts us in situations where he tests us, he refines us, and he makes us more like Christ as a result. If you don't believe me, then believe the scriptures and what Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, verses six through seven that speak about how God, through testing, refines us and purifies us after the image and likeness of Christ. Hear these words from Peter. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials or various crises, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it's tested by fire, can be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Don't look at your current crisis as a punishment, but as an opportunity that God has brought intentionally into your life. And ask yourself, how do you want me to grow as a result of this, Lord? Help me that I may trust you more. And so we can have confidence in times of trial, knowing that God reigns, God's in control, and this may be one of the times in which he is growing us, that it's a testing of our faith, that we grow in faith, we grow in obedience, we grow in service, in perseverance or hope, the list can go on and on. Briefly, point number three under this section, we can have confidence, we've talked about this many times, because God judges the wicked. And even though the world feels upside down, it will be turned right side up once again. God will judge the wicked. He tests the righteous according to verse five, but his soul hates the wicked, the one who loves violence. In fact, he goes on in verse six, he says, let him rain coals on the wicked, fire and sulfur, a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Though they may appear to be prosperous now, God's judgment will fall on them if they do not repent and believe in him as you and I have. And so we endure crisis, we endure suffering caused by the wicked because we know that God will one day hold them account. The illustration here actually comes directly from this text. I believe David is referring to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example or a warning for the judgment that is yet to come. Again, you can read of this in Genesis 18, but God destroys a city, Sodom and Gomorrah, by this very means, raining down fire and sulfur and a scorching wind until it is completely destroyed and all within it. But this was a judgment that God brought down on this wicked city. And if you were to talk to these people moments before this judgment came down upon them, you would see that they were prosperous. that there in many ways we're enjoying all the wonders that this world would have to offer and this judgment came quickly and suddenly. Ironically, the wicked who have their bow held back and ready to fire in the darkness has no idea that God will unleash the heavens on them at any moment for their destruction because of their wrongdoing. The New Testament talks about God's coming and final judgment coming like a thief in the night when no one will know or expect it. But we know, as Christians, what our future hope is, to be with him, to be delivered because of Christ Jesus. And God is a just God who will punish the wicked. Let me now turn to the last reason why we can find confidence in times of crisis. And that is that God rewards the righteous. He judges the wicked. We see that over and over in the Psalms. Just look back at Psalm 10, maybe even view that message once again. But here we have this uplifting promise, this note that God rewards the righteous. Verse seven, for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds and the upright shall behold his face. The ultimate hope. that the Bible speaks of, the ultimate reward that the Bible speaks of is this very thing, that we shall behold the face of God. Yes, as we do righteous deeds here on this earth, empowered by God's spirit, there are treasures stored up in heaven, but no treasure will ever compare to being face to face with our heavenly savior, Jesus. If we look back at such a mighty man as Moses, this is what he desired most of all. More than going into the promised land, more than being delivered from Egypt, Moses says in Exodus 33, 18, please show me your glory. But God responds in verse 20. It says, you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live. God is too holy. God is too pure for anyone to behold him face to face. And yet what was impossible for Moses and in the day of Moses has been made possible for us through Christ. The Apostle John speaks of this in 1 John 3, verse two. He says, beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. We will stand before him. Paul, I think, references this as well. In 1 Corinthians 13, 12. He says, for now we see in a mirror dimly. But then, face to face, now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. God rewards the righteous. And we shall behold the face of God and stand face to face with him, being able to achieve what the greatest prophet in all of the Old Testament could not achieve here on this earth because of what Christ has done. That we have been redeemed, we have been washed, we have been sanctified through faith in Christ. And so now we know that in the midst of crisis, even a crisis that may take our life, we have nothing to fear because we will be rewarded by going to be with him. It's a win-win situation. This is the attitude that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had. We don't need to listen to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, because God can deliver us. But even if he doesn't, we will receive the reward that we've been waiting for. to be with him face to face. This is why Paul in the midst of his various trials that he faced as he was imprisoned and beaten and mocked and rejected in all sorts of ways, he says in Philippians chapter one verse 21, for to me to live is Christ but to die is gain because that's when I receive the reward that my heart longs for. It is indeed the greatest reward. And this is why we work and endure for Him. It's the same reason why we work and endure for anything else, to receive a reward. And what is the greatest reward? Face-to-face. Let me compare this to even our earthly occupations. When choosing a career, there's a number of things to weigh. Am I gonna make enough money? Is the work that is described, even though it may be hard, unattractive, does it pay enough to offset that? Is it worth it in the end? And there are jobs that no person would want to do. but will do for the right price. However, there are many who are not willing to endure the work if it takes them away from seeing those who they love the most face to face. No amount of money, no amount of enjoyment or earthly reward can take away from me coming home to my family, from me coming home to my wife and being able to see them face to face. The best reward is, yes, to make enough, to enjoy the work, and to not be miserable, but to be able to come home and see those whom you love. And the same way, the Christian life can be difficult at times. And while there are rewards to look forward to in heaven that God has promised, the reward that we work for most of all, through the power of the Spirit working in us, is to receive that reward of being with Christ our Lord. And so as I bring this message to a close, let me just give an invitation. If you don't know that there is a reward for you at the end, and you are living in times of crisis, enduring this world that seems to be upside down with no hope for your future, let me invite you to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. that he was God become a man who lived just as you and I live here on this earth, tempted in every way that we are tempted, more so even, and yet without sin. That he went to the cross, that he not only died a physical death, but he bore the invisible wrath of God on the cross on your behalf. That invisible wrath that you would have had to absorb forever in hell apart from saving faith in him. We know these things to be true. We know Jesus to be our Messiah because he did not stay dead. He rose again, showed himself to many witnesses and has ascended into heaven and has promised that he is coming again soon to make all things new and to bring us home to him face to face. that is the hope that the Spirit is creating a longing in your heart for, then I would say, invite Jesus into your life through prayer. Live for Him as the sovereign King. And talk with me after service. I would love to answer any questions you have, to pray for you, and to encourage you in this endeavor. But to those who have trusted in Jesus, let us be confident in times of crisis, knowing that they will come, but finding our confidence that God is King and He reigns in heaven. that the crisis we may face may be the test that God is giving us to trust him more and grow in our faith as a result. We know that God will make all things right, that if we suffer at the hands of wicked people in whatever way, that God will hold them accountable. And so we need to seek no punishment or vengeance of our own. And lastly, we endure all these things with the wonderful promise of going to be with him. Let us now close in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this study that we have done this summer through these first 11 chapters of the Psalms. But I confess that it has been challenging and yet rewarding at the same time. In fact, I'm anxious to be able to return to this study next summer. But Lord, we ask that you would work the truths of this psalm into our lives. Help us to be confident, not in ourselves, not in our own abilities, but in you, our sovereign, ruling, reigning God and risen Lord. Thank you for this great promise of salvation that we have through Jesus Christ. The fellowship we enjoy with you even now by your spirit, but will only be enjoyed more as we encounter you face to face when you call us home or when you come to make all things new. God, I pray if there's anybody who has been, anybody who has separated from you right now because of their sin and their lack of faith, that your spirit would work faith in their heart, that they would repent of their sins, that they would turn to you, Lord Jesus, and confess you as Lord and Savior. Thank you once again for this great salvation that you've worked. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.