I would like for you to take the Word of God, please, and turn with me to the Psalms. Psalm 138, if you'll have your Bible open there, and we'll begin with verse 1 in just a moment in Psalm 138. The overriding message of the birth of Christ is that God will come to us. I want you to remember that. It's not just that He came, He will come to us. The Lord sent His Son. He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Expression after expression, the word of God, that God comes to us. And all of us need that message. All of us need that message. Think of that. The Lord will come to our aid. Psalm 138, beginning with verse one. I will praise thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth, for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou answered me and strengthened me with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee. O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth, yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies. and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the words of thine own hands. Forsake not the works of thine own hands. If you're in the habit of marking things in your Bible, I want you to mark the expression found in the first part of verse eight. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. He will perfect that which concerneth me. Over what are you concerned, all of you? What concerns me? What concerns you? At this moment, if there was a way to have a personal interview with you, And someone said, now speak from your heart, please. Tell us what's really on your heart, please. What is it that concerns you? What is it? Studying the Bible is a discovery of the Lord and the things God is up to. Not just what he has done and what he will do, but what he's doing. And we discover these things about the Lord. And I want you to discover in this 138th Psalm that whatever concerns you is known to God. And the Bible says, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. I really believe the whole Psalm is about that expression. It wraps itself around that idea of God perfecting that which concerns us. All of us have a tendency to get anxious and the Bible says that we're to be anxious or careful for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication. Take it to the Lord. And the result of all of that is that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep, shall guard, garrison, take care of our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The Lord is concerned about our concerns. There's no doubt about it, no doubt about it. He will finish what he has started. And what he's starting in your life to bring about the knowledge of this concern, God desires to finish. I want you to hold your place here and turn with me in the New Testament, if you would, please, to the book of Philippians, where Paul wrote this to these wonderful Christians in Philippi in chapter one, He says, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God about every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. And here's the verse, verse six of chapter one. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. God will finish what he started. We can trust him for that. Now this Psalm of David, in the 138 Psalm, expresses the heart of David and also the heart of our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, there's some things in this particular Psalm that are a bit difficult for me. And I've been praying and asking God to help me understand. And it seems that the most obvious thing is the difficult thing. Let's look at it together. And I want you to write some things down, would you please? First, we begin with the whole heart, the whole heart. Your heart is the battleground. You may think you're having a problem with someone or something or a job or family or whatever crisis you may be dealing with, but that's not the real crisis. It's about whether or not our whole heart is given to God. Often when I'm counseling with people who want to get married, that's always interesting, you know, the ideas that men have, women have, trying to get them together on the same page. And then on the other end of that spectrum, you're counseling with people who say, we just can't live together any longer. And it's shocking most of the time when I agree with them. Some woman comes in with every kind of accusation imaginable about her husband and says, I can't live with this anymore. And I said, I couldn't either. And she's sort of shocked. She's expecting an argument. Or the man may come, typically he comes alone, sneaking around, telling me what's wrong with his wife. And I say, I can't help you unless I talk to both of you. But he'll come in and say, I just, I can't put up with this anymore. And I would say to him, I couldn't either. But it's the heart that has to be changed and can be changed. You know, I read an interesting book by a man who was a Christian, but not a minister. Always a minister of sorts. His name was John Wooden. He was a professor and a basketball coach and a great man. And he coached national championship teams. And he said, I never really worked as much on the team as I did on the individual. If I get the young men to be the young men they ought to be, then I could bring them to the point where they could play together as a team like they ought to play together. He had certain requirements, interesting requirements, even about their bodily appearance, and certain other requirements about character and decency. But the emphasis was working on the individual, getting that person to be the person he was supposed to be in order to play like he ought to play. And the truth of the matter is, you and I will never do what we ought to do that's right in the eyes of God until we make it a heart issue. The Bible says, I will praise thee with my whole heart. With my whole heart. Don't get away from that. My whole heart. If Evelyn and I are having some difficulty, I've got to go straight to my heart, not straighten her out, but straight to my heart to get it straightened out with God. You say, well, you may not be the whole problem. Watch out, we may start a fight here. I may not be the whole problem, but I still have to get my heart right with God. And when I get my heart right with God and she gets her heart right with God, then she and I are going to get right with God together. It's always a heart issue. You say, I've told that boy a thousand times. Yes, but his heart has never been changed. Or I've told that girl what she ought to do and she doesn't stop this nonsense. Her heart has never been changed. So he says, I'm coming before God I will praise thee with my whole heart. And you see there's no shame now before the gods or the idols of the world or others. So before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. You and I are hindered about our outspokenness for Christ. Not because of the intimidation of the world, it's always there. but because our heart is not fully given to God and we live in the audience of one, the Lord. And we want the approval of the audience of one, the Lord. We want to be approved of God. We care what people think and do and say, but we're not distracted by it because our heart, our whole heart is given to the Lord. I don't know of anyone that understands this any better than a Christian parent struggling with rearing a child. All the way through, early on with little developments that take place, we call them little when they're little people, with the whole idea of choosing a life's mate and choosing the right person. And sometimes parents come to me with all of that and they'd say, and I try to help them, and they say, I don't like her, I don't like him. And I say to them inevitably, she has who she desires to have. He has who he desires to have. If it's going to be someone different, then the heart has to change. Because when the heart changes and it's given to God, like it'll be given to God, then she or he will want what the Lord wants in this matter. It's always a heart matter. If you're choosing someone to lead in a ministry, if you're looking for a pastor, if you're trying to find someone to guide in some area that reflects character and decency, you're looking at the heart, not just training and ability and degrees. the whole heart. And he goes on, I don't know about the whole heart, but I want you to hold your place here just a moment and mark these verses in the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 29, God is dealing with his ancient people, Israel, and what discipline he brings into their lives. And the discipline went all the way to Babylonian captivity. And the Lord says in Jeremiah chapter 29 beginning with verse 10, for thus saith the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place. God says 70 years and I'll visit you and you can return from your captivity. And he says in verse 11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you. Isn't that an interesting thing? Now, we would read this and if it said, I know the thoughts you have, we'd say, well, he knows all of us. But God says of himself, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. What I want for you, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end. God knows when we are ready to receive. God knows when our heart is where it ought to be. Many of us think we've got delayed blessings. Well, they're coming sometime, but they're delayed and they are delayed because God knows his thoughts of us and what's going on in our lives and when we're ready to receive, when our heart is wholly given to him, that's the goal. The example of that, of course, is in the Lord Jesus Christ who's come, he says, to do the Father's will. That's where we are, to do the Father's will. Let me go on. Verse 12, then shall you call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you. Here's the verse, and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. There's some things that are cloudy in the life and ministry of this church, in my life, in the things I'm trying to achieve and move forward with. And the Lord won't let the cloud pass and give clarity until my heart is where it ought to be with Him. And I've seen that time and time again. You say, well, you don't know what I want. Well, God does. Some of you have great desires and you have tremendous concerns, overwhelming things. You think, I don't know when this is ever gonna happen the way I want to see it happen. It's going to happen when God sees that your heart is ready for it to happen. Back to Psalm 138. I will worship toward the holy temple. Keep your eyes on the Lord. Praise and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth. He gives two reasons to praise the name of God. His loving kindness or mercy. His mercy endureth forever. And for the truth. Truth. We ought to praise God for truth. We're not following a lie. Truth. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Now that seems like the simplest thing in the world to understand. but that's what I've had such trouble with. Let me read it again. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Now I love the word of God. It lived by forever. My convictions about the Bible have been clearly spoken. I believe every word of the word of God was settled in heaven before any word of it was ever given to man. I believe it's all the inspired word of God. I believe we have it by supernatural revelation. God revealed it to men. and we have the divine guarantee that we have exactly what God wants us to have in inspiration. I believe we have the preserved word of God. It's liveth and abideth forever. It's not for any private interpretation. It liveth and abideth forever. I believe it is a supernatural book that God illumines us. He brings light to us and direction to us. It lives and shines and guides us. There's nothing in this world like the Bible. Nothing like the Bible. What does he mean by this verse? Our whole heart? His word? What does he mean by this? May I ask this? What place does the Bible have in your life? Whatever place the Bible has in your life is the place God has in your life. We can't separate God from His Word. God's given His Word. His Word is His expression. But the Bible does say that Christ who humbled Himself became a man, bled and died for our sins, and suffered the humiliation of incarnation and of calvary, the humiliation of living a life among sinners. The Bible says He became the drunkard's song. Think of that. The worst dredges of humanity mocked the Son of God on this earth. And through that humiliation, like none other suffered, God says through his resurrection, through his death, burial, and resurrection, he's given him a name which is above every name that the name of Jesus, every knee would bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How do you get any higher than that name? Now let me read the verse again. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. I don't think it's possible to understand this verse without comparing it to John chapter 1 and verse 1. So I want you to turn there, please. John chapter 1 and verse 1. This is very important. Not just to me, I believe it's important to God, and preaching is placing an emphasis where God places an emphasis. That's what preaching is, putting the emphasis where God puts the emphasis. And that's what I'm attempting to do, and discovering what the Lord wants us to discover in His word. The Bible says in John chapter one, the gospel according to John chapter one and verse one, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. There's no doubt in our minds that he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son. God the Son. The perfect expression of God, God the Son. The revelation we have of God in the Bible is progressive. God reveals himself. He begins in the book of Genesis with chapter one, verse one. In the beginning, God created. And he tells us more and more and more and more about himself. For example, in the life of Abraham, he says to Abraham, you're going to have a baby, and your wife, who's 90 years old, who's passed, bearing children. Humanly impossible for her to have a child, is going to have a baby. But did you know before he told him that, he revealed himself to Abraham as the almighty God. What did he do? He gave his word that he's the almighty God. His word, the almighty God. Now Abraham wasn't in heaven with God. Abraham was on earth and God was speaking to him. The Lord dealt with him and God gave him his word. I am the almighty God. And then He revealed what the Almighty God will do. We have the perfect revelation, the perfect expression, the perfect manifestation of God in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the divine manifestation we have of God, this moment, is this Word. This Word. God expresses Himself in this Word. If you and I want to have our heart wholly given to God, that's not going to happen apart from allowing the Word of God to have the rule over our lives, above our lives. Sometimes I try to illustrate with people when I'm counseling them. I take a Bible and put it in my hand and hold it over my head and I say, I must be a servant of this Word, obedient to this Word, under this Word, under this Word. And I'm saying to you, you and I cannot give our whole heart to God apart from that heart attitude that thy will be done. We don't memorize scripture and read scripture and talk about scripture and teach scripture to prove what we know. We do these things to allow the Lord to read us and search us and reveal to us what he wants in our lives. If you stay away from the Bible, you're staying away from God. You want to build a marriage without God? Then keep the Bible out of it. You want to raise children without God? Then keep the Bible out of your home. You want to try to have a career without God? I'll do this myself. Go right ahead. You could do that by keeping the Bible out of it. You want to have a church without God? Many people do. There's a church opening in Knoxville that they advertise online. They're giving free beer at a bar. Everybody comes. Not interested. Not interested. And you shouldn't be either. Not in that kind of church. You can have a church without this book, but you can't have a whole heart given to God without this book. And by the way, don't take away from this meeting the only thing you take away is someone starting a church giving away free beer. Before we condemn that, and I condemn it from top to bottom, head to toe, all the way through, think it's terrible, awful. I hate alcohol as a beverage. I don't think any Christian should be drinking it. But you and I need to clean up our own act before we start taking the axe to everybody else everywhere in the world. That means getting our whole heart right with God. We better get to a second thing. I can see some of you think I'm lingering a little long here. Let's look at it, please. He says, in the day when I cried, thou answereth me and strengtheneth me with strength in my soul. I want you to write an expression down somewhere. This is how we get soul strength, soul strength. That's the strength that guides us through everything else. I battled lots of things in my life at this juncture. Physical things, most of you have been around a long time, aware of that. And I'm always worst enemy. If I have to go to the doctor and the doctor quizzes me about things, I mean, honestly, it's like going before the Bema, you know, and telling the Lord, I know I should have, yes, I shouldn't have eaten that, and I shouldn't eat all that popcorn, but I just like it, you know, and I shouldn't, and you know, the wife God gave me, I'm just kidding. But anyway, I understand. We neglect to do the thing we should do. But the reason we are so weak as Christians is because our soul is missing strength. What is our soul's strength? Let me read the verse again. Psalm 138, verse three. And the day when I cried, thou answer me. Crying, that's not a Polly Wannacracker prayer. That's not a lay me down to sleep prayer. That's a crying out with intensity to God. A prayer of concern. The greatest sermon I ever heard on prayer, I never heard in person, I heard on a cassette. And I put it on our church website so you could hear it. It's called The Prayer of Concern by R.G. Lee. I put it up so you can get it, listen to it, download it. The Prayer of Concern. Never heard a sermon like that anywhere, anytime. Any greater sermon on prayer. But here, the psalmist says, I cried out to God My whole heart. And God answered me. You and I talk like this. We say, well, you know, I want this. I've had prayer about it. I've talked about it. When have we gotten to the place where our whole heart is given to God and we cry out to God? We cry out to God. He's not an alternative. He's the one and only. Did you know that you and I never know real freedom? You and I never know real freedom until God allows us to be locked up in something we can't get out. And only he has the key. And when we cry out to him, praise God, He comes, we're free, and there's nothing in the world like it. Nothing like it. Nothing like it. And the Lord knows when to come with the key. He knows when our whole heart is given, and He comes with the key. Oh, may God help us. He cried out, the Lord heard, and got strength in His soul. He got strength in his soul. Write a second thing down, would you please? Not only the whole heart, but the ways of the Lord. Verse four, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee. That's how it's gonna end. God already knows the last chapter. You wanna write Revelation chapter 11 down there? Let me read it. Revelation chapter 11, verse 15. And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ. The kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. God said, that's the way it's gonna end. That's what's gonna happen. Already settled. If you pick the other side, you pick the losing side. There's only one winning side, and that's the side of the one who died for us, was buried and rose from the dead, and liveth forevermore. Give him glory and praise. And the Bible says, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee. O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth, yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord. I want you to note that expression, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly. But the proud he knoweth afar off. Now what are the ways of the Lord? They shall sing in the ways of the Lord. Is that the singer singing the way God wants him to sing and praising God the way? What transforms a life? What transforms a life? You know, if somebody did some great deed today and it hit the news and somebody said, look at that, they raised a great sunken ship from the ocean or they restored a building somewhere and what a mighty feat it was. Or you think of something, someone accomplished a task that was near impossible, but they accomplished it. What would you say? Let me tell you something. Our God raises the dead back to life. Match that. Our God died for us. The Lord Jesus suffered, bled and died and was buried and rose from the dead and lived forever on high. He ascended to heaven. Nothing like that. There's nothing else like that. What transforms a life? Change is a heart that puts us with our whole heart in the ways of the Lord. Would you hold your place here and turn back to Psalm 18? Psalm 18, beginning with verse 30. The Bible says, as for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God, save the Lord, or who is a rock, save our God? Verse 30, 31. Verse 32, it is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. Now notice, God's way is perfect, verse 30. 32, my way is perfect. How do my ways get converted to God's ways? How do I come into harmony with the Lord? How does this become my way? That's the sense of this whole thing. Well, look between these two verses. After it says God's way is perfect, the word of the Lord, trusting in the Lord, recognizing God for who he is, who is God saved the Lord. And then what comes from it? Strength, soul strength. What the Lord is actually doing, He's saying, I found you in a waste howling wilderness, the Bible says, and your life needs to be transformed, changed, changed. The whole work God is doing is for us to make our whole heart His. And as we give Him our heart, and He works on us through His word, and we trust Him by faith, and we recognize again and again, He is the only true God, He strengthens us and His way, what He desires, what He wants, becomes our way, our choice, what we want. That transformation has to take place in our lives. No one can do that for you. No one can make you do that. Only God can do that. Well, you say, I want my own way. I got great ideas about my life. Well, the Bible says, the way that seeth right unto man, but the ends are of the ways of death. So the devil is tricky enough all along that course to make it look like this is gonna be good. Oh, this is gonna be great. Try this, go here, go there. Live there, change that, live there. You know, Satan has a way of just promising one promise after the other, and even offering things to us. And the pleasure of sin for a season is a pleasant thing to the flesh. And all the while, God is working on our heart to give your heart to me, give your heart to me. My way is perfect, give your heart to me. And through his word, through trusting him and acknowledging him, His way becomes our way. That's the work the Lord is doing. We come to a place where we ought to say, I delight to do thy will. Let me see if I can find this. Will you go to the gospel according to John, just a moment? In the gospel according to John, the Bible says of our Lord Jesus, In verse 29, chapter eight, verse 29, and he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. As I'm reading this Psalm, Psalm 138, as I think about this expression here in John 8, as I read Psalm 138, is this Psalm about David? Or is this psalm about the Lord Jesus Christ, who's exalted above all else, who is the Word of God? Or is this psalm about us? Human, penman, David, it is about the Lord Jesus, and it is for all of us. Look, I don't want a flash in the pan church, just like I don't want a flash in the pan life. I want what liveth and abideth forever. And the Bible says, he that doeth the will of God, liveth and abideth forever. I have a wonderful little book written by Warren Wiersbe on 50 Christians you ought to know. It came from a series of things he wrote long ago. And these are people who lived ages ago, most of them. But their influence is so vibrant and alive today. Why? Why? Why such an impact after all these years? Because it's not just their lives. Their way became God's way, and they walked in the ways of the Lord. And you and I have to choose. We have to choose. I must get to this third thing. I want you to write it down as we get to Psalm 138. That's the walk, the walk in the midst of trouble. We're never gonna get rid of the trouble. In this world, we're gonna have tribulation. It's never gonna be perfect. I heard a famous Georgia preacher from a message he gave at the Moody Founders Week years and years and years ago talk about the most tragic thing that had happened to him. I was listening to it on the radio. It made me cry. And then he concluded his message by saying, and this isn't the end of it, I'm sure there's gonna be many troubles to face in the future if God allows me to live. So you don't get over something and through something just to say, I'm finished with all that. That's gonna be forever on this earth. The verse reads, though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. You say, the life has just gone out of me. I mean, I feel like the air has been let out of me. I've just been shot down and run over. I feel like I've been hit by a truck. You ever heard those expressions? God revives you. Sometimes I felt like I could never be where I once was with the Lord. You ever felt like that? Have you ever felt that way? I could never be where I once was with the Lord. I'm talking about the vibrance and all of it. And then God says, no, you can be better. And that's true. There's some people who say, I don't know if my marriage could ever be what it was. No, it can be better. You say, I don't know if my life will ever be like it was when my children were young. No, it can be better. You say, well, how? Because God is who he is. That's how. And the psalmist says, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies. I don't have to fight everybody in the world. God's hand is against them. And thy right hand shall save me. So now we come to verse eight. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Well, after learning this, my confidence has been built up in the Lord, and I just believe that whatever I'm concerned about, God's gonna come to my aid and make it right. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the words of thine own hands, God is with us. He's with us. What concerns us concerns Him. When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, I asked God to forgive my sin. I confessed to God I was a lost, hell-deserving sinner, and I invited Christ in my life as my Savior. I didn't realize then, I didn't just get heaven and my name written down and eternal life, but I began a journey. I began a journey. I was as certain for heaven at that moment as I am now. And that's the truth according to the Word of God. I wouldn't tell you anything that's not true. According to the Word of God, you're saved, it's settled, that's in God's hands and nobody can take us out. But I started a journey. And the journey, look, and the journey is to give the Lord my whole heart. And the journey is to make my ways, His ways, be converted in my life, that I really want what God wants for me. And the journey is to recognize that in the midst of the trouble, it's gonna exist. Whatever concerns me, God's gonna come and he will, the Bible says, perfect that which concerneth me. Isn't that a wonderful psalm? Let's pray together, may we? Dear Father, we thank you for your love and mercy. There's some people who have never truly started this journey with thee, have never been born again. May they be born again. trusting Thee, loving Thee, following Thee. May they come to know Thee, Lord, repenting of their sin and coming to trust Thee and Thee alone as Savior. There's so many who've started this journey and stumbled and stumbled and stumbled. May we follow after Thee. Make our way perfectly in harmony with You. And when we get out of tune, bring us back quickly. We thank you, Father, for teaching us, teaching us that in the midst of the trouble, we're never alone and never forsaken. And whatever concerns us, you're coming to us to our aid as we trust you. Our heads are bowed and eyes are closed. I wanted to give this psalm to you because God has used it in my heart. And I believe God can use it in your life. There's some of you who have prayed for much. People pray for you much. They love you and pray for you. But if you're one of God's children, I want you to know that the Lord Jesus is praying for you. He's praying for you. And he wants you to follow him. and he'll give you the rest that you've never found anywhere else in this world. That's his promise. If you've never been born again, trust him now. Ask him to forgive your sin and by faith come to know him now. If you've never obeyed him to believers baptism, you need to come now. and say, I want to publicly identify with the Lord today. I want to identify with the Lord today. Some of you love this church and attend this church, but you're not a member of this church. God has spoken to your heart. Come and tell us you want to put your life and influence in this church and get involved in the ministry of this church, serving the Lord, asking God to guide you and help you.