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[0:00] I'll do a quick review and I want to read the first ten verses again with you, get us back into the passage, and then we'll review the three points we got through and then finish, Lord willing, here with the last two.

[0:12] So beginning in verse 1, Psalm 34, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad.

[0:25] O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed.

[0:38] This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him and delivereth them.

[0:49] O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. O fear the Lord, ye His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him.

[0:59] The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Now last week we took verse 8 as the text and the thought of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.

[1:13] And the illustration is easy because we do that very thing when we've experienced some new dish, a new drink, new dessert. We always find a new restaurant and we're going to tell everybody about it.

[1:24] And you've got to try their such and such. I've heard people say that. I'm coming to this area, being new to the area and asking about spots to go to or places to eat. Oh, you need to go here and you need to try this.

[1:36] Because that's the best thing they've ever invented ever. It's so good. And people talk like that. They want to share their experiences that they've tasted and they've seen.

[1:46] And that's what David does here is he says how good the Lord has been to him. And he even gives reasons why. And he talks about that in this passage and he tells us.

[1:56] He tells everybody, taste and see for yourself. Experience for yourself the Lord is good. Don't go off the testimony of somebody else. Definitely don't go off your parents telling stories about how the Lord's been good to them.

[2:10] Taste and see for yourself. Get into a relationship with God. Find out how good he is and how good he can be to you personally. Don't go off of somebody else.

[2:21] And David, that's what he's saying. God has been good to me. God has done this. God has done that. And he says, taste and see. Find out. And I want to challenge you to do that this morning.

[2:33] So last week we studied, we noticed that there was different verb tenses in this passage. There were some from the past. And those we looked at, there were some from the present where the Lord currently is doing some things.

[2:44] And then some future results of the goodness of God. And we'll mention that now this morning. The first point that we studied last week was to taste and see for yourself the Lord's salvation.

[2:55] It's mentioned in verses 4 and verses 6 where he sought the Lord. He heard him. He delivered him. He cried to him. And the Lord heard him. And he saved him out of all his troubles. And while David was dealing with enemies and those that would persecute and chase and hunt him down for his life.

[3:10] And day after day the Lord delivered him from his enemies. The thought there is too easy to miss. That this man cried out to God and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

[3:24] He saved him when he cried to him. Why the very passage in Joel that talks about the second coming of Christ says that they that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.

[3:36] And that day they'll be delivered from the enemy and the Antichrist and the forces against them. And then Paul takes that thought and says to the New Testament sinner, he says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

[3:50] And that call is a call of faith. And that passage in Romans 10, it's an obedience to the gospel. Believing on Jesus Christ. And how shall they believe on him and who they have not heard. And believing on Jesus Christ is easy.

[4:04] And it's a good thing to do. And when you taste and see what it is to trust Jesus Christ with your soul. Oh, you find out that the Lord is good. You find out that the Lord forgives me of all of my sins.

[4:18] He gives me a free gift of eternal life. He gives me, puts on my account the righteousness of his son. And doesn't charge me with any of my iniquities.

[4:30] That sounds too good to be true. And the reason it sounds so good is because the Lord is good. And if you haven't tasted of the Lord's salvation, you should taste and see for yourself.

[4:41] It is not by works of righteousness which we have done. It's not by a birth into any family. And it's not by a religion or any deeds that a man has done. But it's by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

[4:53] Thank God for his salvation. The Lord is good. And I challenge you, if you haven't, to taste and see it for yourself. With that salvation comes a side dish of peace.

[5:05] And with that salvation comes a side dish of assurance. There's such blessedness knowing that your sins are forgiven. And that no matter what happens in this life, I could get cancer today.

[5:18] I could be on my deathbed in two months. Our family knows of a woman that was a teacher in a Christian school. Two months ago, she's teaching, found out she had cancer. She's now in the dirt.

[5:31] That's how fast it took her. She had a good spirit about her too. But you know what? She could rejoice the whole time in the salvation of God, knowing where she's going.

[5:43] There's something good about that, brethren. There's something good. So taste and see for yourself the Lord's salvation. In verse number five, we notice they looked unto him. They were in need of help and they looked unto him and were lightened.

[5:56] And so I said taste and see the Lord's strength. The Lord picked them up and helped them when they needed help. And as I said last week, if you live long enough, you're going to need that help.

[6:07] You're going to find out what it's like to need to look to him to get strength to go another day. I don't want to make up all the scenarios, but you'll be in them.

[6:18] And when you're in them, you'll know it. You can look to him. You can taste and see for yourself the Lord's strength. I ran you through a bunch of psalms last time, real close by here in 27 and 28 and 31.

[6:30] All of them describing how the Lord is their strength. And then in verse number seven, it describes the angel of the Lord. And the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them.

[6:44] And I showed you that. The picture there is like the host is coming against him. As we read, I think it was back in 27. And there's this, the angel of the Lord is kind of surrounding and protecting from the enemy.

[6:56] And in this thought was taste and see for yourself the Lord's security. What it is to be surrounded by the angel of the Lord. But while you're thinking of like keeping you from harm.

[7:07] But no, that's not the point here because that's the picture. But the point for you and I today is that when you're in Jesus Christ, inside of Jesus Christ, you're inside the protection and the security.

[7:20] You can't lose your salvation. You can't sin and fall out of Christ because you're secure in Christ Jesus. That's New Testament Pauline doctrine. And that's one you better get to know and experience and understand.

[7:34] And we're going to move on from there. And now in verses 9 and 10, let's see this. This Bible says, Fear the Lord, ye his saints, there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, suffer hunger.

[7:46] But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. And so fourthly, I want to say, Taste and see for yourself the Lord's supply. The lions lack, but not his children.

[8:01] Taste and see for yourself. It's said in verse 10 that they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Any good thing. Now it doesn't say that they'll not lack riches and wealth and wonderful things of this world.

[8:16] It doesn't promise all your days will be health and wealth and it's all good. No, he says you won't lack any good thing. What would that mean? Well, in the passage in verse 8, the Lord is good.

[8:30] Matter of fact, a little later in verse 14, Depart from evil and do good. There's some evidence of some good things here. And I want to point that out.

[8:40] That any good thing that is promised to them that seek the Lord is in the realm of the Lord himself. And in the realm of righteous living. Of doing good.

[8:52] It's in that, what's the word? I don't want to say realm a third time. You get the idea. Leave that one out for you to figure out.

[9:04] It's connected to him. It's godliness. It's righteousness. And I want you to notice that this promise is to them that fear him.

[9:15] In verse 9, the promise is to them, to they that seek the Lord. And so God says, if you fear me, that is, obey me. If you seek me, you desire to know me, I'll take care of you.

[9:27] Let me give you an example of this. Turn in your Bible to Philippians chapter 4. This is one of those verses that the name it and claim it crowd and the prosperity gospel will get all excited about.

[9:42] That God will just give me everything I want. That's what my Bible says. But no, the condition on it is how you're living. And if you're fearing him and seeking him, that's the passage.

[9:56] Now, Philippians 4, notice verse 19 is a promise. And this is kind of the thought here. Taste and see for yourself the Lord's supply. It says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

[10:11] Now, I could be careful to point out the word need and not lust. That's true. But that's not even what I want to point out to you. The promise comes to a specific person in this passage.

[10:26] It's not just some blanket statement that we can blow out of proportion. God's going to give you everything you ever wanted. But rather, he'll supply all your need according to his riches.

[10:38] Why would he do that? Well, it's because, like I'm pointing out in the Psalms, it's because you're seeking him and fearing him and doing right, God's going to take care of you. Now, look back at Philippians 4 and look at verse number 14.

[10:56] Notwithstanding, ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction. What do you mean? Verse 15, Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

[11:17] Even in Thessalonica, ye sent once and again unto my necessity, my needs. They were taking care of Paul. They were financially supporting him. And because of that, because they were givers, because they were giving to the work of God and supplying the needs of the man of God, in that case, that needed, that was preaching the gospel, Paul said, but my God will supply all your need.

[11:43] According to his, if you give, the Lord's going to take care of you. And there's an example of what's going on back here in Psalm 34. 4. Taste and see for yourself the Lord's supply.

[11:56] Taste and see for yourself that if you'll do right and you'll obey God, he will supply your needs. Your carnal self and your flesh says, how am I going to make this work?

[12:08] How am I going to figure this out? I need this X, Y, and Z and I better start formulating a plan now. But the Lord says, just trust me. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not into thine own understanding.

[12:25] In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Start to walk with God. Start to be one of them that fear him. Start being one of them that seek him.

[12:37] Go to the Bible and seek him. Seek a relationship. Seek God, what do you want me to do in this life? Not how can I get rich in this life? Not how can I be successful? How can I retire early?

[12:48] But God, how can I please you in this short, short life and watch him just supply your needs? I'm a living testimony that God will supply your needs.

[13:01] My kids, they're clueless, but they think we're rich. They're clueless to this, but they think we're rich. Some of them think we're poor. I should say that too. And they're clueless to that part of it too.

[13:14] And that all the way, God supplies our needs. He always has and he promised he would. And you should taste and see that for yourself. You should stop trying to manipulate things and plan for your future.

[13:29] I don't want to tell you how to handle things. There's certain decisions that are just practical and right if you have the opportunity. But you should learn to trust God. And if God puts it on your heart to do something, do not second guess it.

[13:43] If God puts it on your heart to do something that would bring him glory, don't say, but wait a minute, Lord. You know I can't afford that. Wait a minute, Lord. What about, I'd be giving up overtime if I came to the meeting Monday night or if I came to church.

[13:58] Yeah. Why don't you trust him? Why don't you test him and see if he won't supply your need when you think you need the overtime pay, when you think you need to earn that more money, but when you have a decision to make.

[14:11] Taste and see for yourself. The Lord won't let you down. Now, in addition to the carnal needs and things in this life, God's going to supply your spiritual needs, which is far greater.

[14:23] The Bible says in Ephesians that he blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And I could go on for a good five minutes just giving you a list of things that God spiritually has ministered to us and has promised to us and the supply is beyond just the carnal needs and necessities in this life.

[14:44] He's taking care of the whole thing. Name one thing. Name one thing outside of this world that you have coming to you from the scriptures that isn't of God.

[14:56] It's all dependent upon him. He's supplied all your needs both now and then. He's the one that made it possible for your sins to be paid for. He's the one that even gave you an opportunity to hear the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and believe it.

[15:14] He's the spirit that works in your heart and softens you, that opens your eyes to understand these truths. Who are you? You're a sinner that ought to be in hell.

[15:25] You're a rebel. You're a selfish, proud fool. And God's good to you. And God's so merciful to you. He's been patient with you.

[15:36] He's been long-suffering with you and your dirty heart. Praise the Lord. And all those physical, those spiritual needs, but could I just like crank it up a little bit more?

[15:47] It's going to get better than that. Not only does he supply the needs of them that fear him and the spiritual blessings that get us into his presence and have us washed of our sins and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

[16:00] He says that we're an heir of God and he says that we're joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And there's some things that I'm going to try to, just try to describe to you here.

[16:13] I can't do it justice. But my Bible says that when we get to glory, when we're in before him, that he will reward us.

[16:26] Those I would, I'd tack it on to this passage, them that fear him, them that seek him, those that are, those that are departing from evil and doing good and the righteous, that are, he's going to reward us.

[16:39] It says, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. There's some things on the other side that God has prepared.

[16:57] And we haven't even seen them. We haven't heard about them. We haven't even been able to imagine what that is. It's neither, it's not even entered into the heart of man what he's prepared.

[17:10] You know, the Bible says, for now, to you love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. And we're told to, to set our affection on things above and not on the things of this earth.

[17:25] And so there's these things down here that attract us. And by the way, they all come out of the dirt. Everything. You want a beautiful, brand new, $400,000 car?

[17:39] It's made of metal and plastic. It's got some paint. Everything it's made of came out of this dirt. And it came out of some trees or plants or some gum and all of it came from here.

[17:54] You want a beautiful, big mansion. You see some $80 million home. Say, I wish that was mine. Look at that fountain. Look at that driveway. Look at that terraced landscape. Oh, I want it so bad.

[18:05] Made out of the dirt. Wood, concrete, stones, dirt, dirt, dirt, out of the ground. And that's the things of this earth. And God tells us to set our affection not on the things of this earth, but on things above because there's things that He's prepared for us.

[18:24] Now, I kind of, I stop right there because I can't describe them. But I can imagine something. Knowing the goodness of God, just let me take your imagination for a moment.

[18:37] I think, God, what is it? What is it that you have prepared for us? What is it? And how much is it? I realize and I believe that what I do for Jesus Christ in this life, the decisions I make in my heart for Jesus Christ are going to be rewarded when I make the right decision.

[19:00] And I make those decisions because I love Him and because I fear Him. I read my Bible because I love Him. I read this book not because I think He's going to show me something today.

[19:13] I don't go to this book. I don't. I know a man, he was a friend of mine for a good many years and he stood in the pulpit and said, I read my Bible because in my heart I want to be, I read and study it because I want to know it better than anybody else.

[19:26] And when he said that I thought, what? That's your motivation? You want to be smarter than everybody in Bible knowledge? And I remember sitting in the pew thinking, that's not why I read it.

[19:38] I read it because I get to know Him. I want to know Him. If I could say it, I want to know Him better than anybody else. But I read it because I love Him.

[19:49] I don't ever go to that book and think maybe today's the day that I get the answer about the great questions of life and the things. I don't do that.

[20:00] I hope you don't either. I read it because I love Him. Because this is His book. Because He calls me to fellowship with Him. And I believe God's going to reward me for that. Sometimes I have desires as a man or I have thoughts as a man or they're foolish, they're worldly or they're carnal.

[20:20] And I fight those desires and thoughts. And I try to put them down. And I do that because I fear the Lord. Because I love Him. And I know that He died for me.

[20:31] And I don't want to get out of fellowship with Him. And so I fight those desires. And one day I'm going to stand before Him and I'm telling you, this is my personal opinion, I think I'm going to be, and I think you will too, be absolutely blown away at what God has prepared for them that love Him.

[20:50] I mean, I mean what He rewards us with in the judgment seat of Christ. I believe we're going to look at that and say, what? I don't deserve that.

[21:03] Are you kidding me? I imagine the Lord's going to say, Toby, you kept my word. And that pleased me. You kept, you believed the words of my book when most of Christianity was mocking it and getting rid of it and picking up other books and calling it.

[21:25] But no, you stood on that book. And you weren't the smartest guy in the world. But you believed me. And I'd say, well Lord, that's a good book. It was amazing.

[21:37] That book did so much for me. It is a good book. You showed that to me. You revealed that to me. And God says, but I'm going to reward you because you kept my word. And I want you to have this and I'll be speechless.

[21:55] I say, God, I don't deserve that. Just having your word was enough. Just believing it. Having faith and what you've revealed, that's enough. God, but he said, no, you don't understand.

[22:08] That pleased me. Your faith pleased me. The stand you took pleased me. You taught everybody you could teach that that book is pure. And you showed them where it was pure, the things I showed you.

[22:21] And I want you to have this. And it's not going to make sense to me that he would reward me for keeping his word. It's not going to make sense what he rewards. When he says, Toby, you've resisted the lust of your flesh and you've resisted the world, the flesh, and the devil.

[22:39] And I want to reward you for that. As a child of mine, you did that for me because you wanted to fellowship and stay clean and stay right with me and obey my word. And I'll say, God, I fell because of those same three things so many times.

[22:54] I'm unworthy of a reward for fighting sin. And God says, oh, I'm not rewarding you for the times you fell. I'm rewarding you for the times you fought.

[23:06] For the times you said, no, not today. I'm going to stay with God. He said, I'm going to reward you for those times. And the Lord has some things prepared that I would look upon if my eyes could in this life.

[23:21] It doesn't make sense, God. Why would I deserve or get that? I'm unworthy of this reward. How about the times when I told you to hand a track to somebody?

[23:33] When you got out of your car to go in and pay for something and I put it on your heart to go back and get a track and you went back and opened the door and found a track and said, okay, Lord, who is it?

[23:43] Where is it? Cashier? Is it somebody else? And you handed that person a track. Those times. But God, I didn't do it so many times.

[23:54] I'm not rewarding you for those times you didn't do it. I'm going to give you a reward for what you did do for me because you loved me, because you feared me, because you were obeying my voice.

[24:08] And I believe it, folks, that what God is going to reward is going to blow us away. will look upon it and say, this isn't right.

[24:20] I don't deserve it. This isn't just because I just am thankful to be here. And then you're going to say that the little bit I did for you, imagine if your neighbor was going away for a few days and said, hey, could you do me a favor and just collect my mail for me?

[24:37] That's such an easy thing. Right? You go to the mailbox. It's a normal thing, a daily thing for the most part. And for your neighbor to say, would you mind grabbing mine for a few days I'll be out of town? No problem. And so they get back in town and you go up and you knock on their door and say, here's this small little stack of mail.

[24:52] And the neighbor's like, hey, thanks for doing that. And by the way, here. And they reach and put in your hands a set of keys to a brand new 2024 SUV, $80,000 car.

[25:07] And you're like, I can't take that. All I did was get your mail. This isn't right. No. And the neighbor says, look, I own all the plants.

[25:18] I own everything. I own all these SUVs. I don't care if I give you one, take it. I could give one away every day of my life and I'd never run out. That's how I have it.

[25:30] Just take it. That doesn't match. The work involved doesn't match the reward. And yet, when we stand before God, I believe that when He rewards, it's not going to be equal.

[25:46] It's not going to be what we think we deserve. And I'll give you some thoughts on it here. First of all, in 1 Corinthians 3, it describes the fire trying every man's work of what sort it is.

[25:57] It describes the gold, silver, precious stones, wood, haste, stubble. It describes the fire trying it and what comes through the fire. It doesn't say that that's the reward. That's the work.

[26:09] But not the reward. But it says, He shall receive a reward. That stuff is for the Lord as I see it. The Lord's going to reward with something else. It doesn't say what.

[26:21] But there's a reward coming. And my Bible says, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man. The things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

[26:34] One thought of Scripture on this and then we'll move on. In Luke chapter 19, there's a certain noble man that goes into a far country to receive himself a kingdom. And in his absence, he gives ten servants one pound each and says, Occupy till I come.

[26:49] And he's expecting those servants to take that pound and that money and to trade and to gain. And some of them do. Some of them don't. One of them does and he says, When he comes back, Lord, thy pound hath received ten pounds.

[27:03] Boy, that pleased his master. And another one said, Thy pound hath made five pounds. He was pleased with that one too. And then, you know, the one that said, I was afraid and I didn't and so I'm giving it back to you.

[27:16] Well, I want to consider that the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ and that and the application is to the kingdom of God. And we can take application from Luke 19 to us today and think, when the Lord gave us something to do and we went and did it, when that man, we'll call it ten pounds, had to offer back to his Lord, the Lord didn't say, You know what's fair?

[27:42] 60-40. It's mine. You know, I'll give you four of them. Boy, would the man say, Wow, thank you. You know, it's all yours, but thank you. You know what the Lord didn't say?

[27:54] Let your pound gain ten pounds. I'll tell you what, you're a good and faithful servant. Take all ten pounds. The servant would say, What? It's all yours. I don't deserve to take all of what's yours.

[28:05] I don't deserve any of that. No. But the Lord didn't give him one pound or split it 50-50 or offer him ten pounds. Do you know what he gave him?

[28:17] Do you know where I'm going with this? It blew his mind what he gave him. It was ten cities. Now, how does that equal?

[28:29] You couldn't buy a city with ten pounds. You couldn't buy a city with 100 pounds. You couldn't buy that position and the Lord gave it to him to have rule over ten cities.

[28:43] So I think when the Lord reckons with us that he looks on those things we did in this life and he's going to reward us and because God is good he's going to reward us no doubt with things that he has prepared for us.

[29:05] Not with things that make sense to us. It's going to be different than that and that's how I see it and maybe I'm just fanatical with this but don't burst my bubble, okay?

[29:17] I'm looking forward to something and I think it's going to be good. I'm excited to taste and see what God has prepared for them that love him and in that day Christian you won't want to be the one that's standing by watching what everybody else gets because you didn't do a thing.

[29:35] You're going to pray to God, wish to God he had something for you too. The Lord's supply taste and see for yourself both now and then and now finally let's get to the end here and I told you about the verb tenses now we're going to look to the future tense in this passage it's at the beginning it's the first three verses of Psalm 34 and the result of God's goodness because the Lord is good because David experienced it it drives him to do something in verse 1 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make her boast in the Lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad and then he calls for all to magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together when a man experiences the goodness of God as David did when a man gets delivered and when he gets his needs met and he doesn't have answers for how and why but it's just

[30:38] God has taken care of me when a man knows how good God is there's something that changes him on the inside there's when he considers the Lord David said this what is man that thou art mindful of him why God when God blessed him with a covenant in 2 Samuel 7 David said who am I it doesn't make sense to me but then what comes out of David is blessing and praising and boasting and magnifying and exalting the Lord his God something on the inside kicks in I think if anybody in this life any sinner realizes that God shed his blood to deliver your soul from hell and if you take into account what it is to be saved what it is to know him the true God while others are bowing down to images while others are giving money while others are saying vain repetitious prayers where others are sprinkling their babies while others are just doing anything to please what they think is supposed to be right to get to heaven when you have a true sense of what God did for you and that it's finished at Calvary and that you have eternal life you possess it

[32:06] I can't understand why you wouldn't praise him why I guess I understand it your sin gets in I get that okay sorry but you understand where I'm going when that stuff gets in and settles inside of you a rejoicing on a spring forth of your lips of your heart and I want to say fifthly here taste and see for yourself the Lord's song the Lord's song look at Psalm 40 because that man that knows the goodness of God gets a song inside of him of exalting and magnifying the Lord and praising and blessing him where did he get it from Psalm 40 verse 1 I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry yes he did he brought me up also out of a horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings and he hath put a new song in my mouth even praising to our

[33:21] God many shall see it how's that because I'm singing that's how because I'm letting them know many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord that song comes from God within you he puts a song inside a man and a woman that knows what it's like to experience for themselves the goodness of God taste and see for yourself the Lord's song it's not the world's song it's a song of thanksgiving to God it's a song of praise and worship to the Lord God it's a song that says he's the best thing that's ever happened to me without him I'd be nobody I'd be nothing I'd be on my way to hell to God be the glory great things he hath done and many shall hear it and be glad when sinners experience that the Lord is good their hearts rejoice and sing and by the way church that is nothing to be ashamed of to sing to the

[34:23] Lord Jesus Christ who cares what the world thinks don't care who's laughing they don't know they need to hear somebody they need to know why there's joy in your heart when singers sing about the Lord's salvation when they sing saved saved saved I'm happy on the way when they sing I'd love to tell you what I think of Jesus since I found in him a friend so strong and true I'll tell you how he changed my life completely he did something that no other friend could do while you get a taste of the Lord's salvation a song will come out this hymn book is full of them we sing them here but you don't have to keep that inside this building you can let that song come out elsewhere you could sing of the Lord's strength a friend I have called Jesus whose love is strong and true he's never failed however it has tried no matter what

[35:24] I do I sing about that just like Jesus to roll the clouds away there's a group of songs in that book about the providence and strength and the inner peace that God gives to his children there's plenty songs about the Lord Jesus Christ songs about his security songs about he'll never leave thee nor forsake thee and I'm hiding in thee thou blessed rock of ages I'm hiding in thee songs that say my name is written there I know my name is there I'm secure in Jesus Christ my sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole the whole the whole entirety of all of my sins is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord there's a song that says now I belong to

[36:26] Jesus not for the years of time alone but for eternity I I am his and he is mine loved with everlasting love boy a song comes out of knowing the Lord is good when you walk with the Lord and experience his goodness I believe it's a natural product of that relationship that real praise comes out real boasting real exalting and magnifying comes out of you you know what you with that man that that is grateful to God that seeks the Lord that fears the Lord that has tasted and and seen for himself how the Lord's good you know what he doesn't want to sing about he doesn't want to sing about partying on Friday night he doesn't want to sing about getting money gotta get money those things just they're just kind of vain after all he doesn't want to rock it out he doesn't want to rap he doesn't want to sit and drink a beer and wine over the blues because he's tasted and seen that the

[37:42] Lord is good the song he has now is a song the Lord put inside of him even praise unto our God he remembers when he was in that pit with the world how the Lord brought him out of that pit he doesn't go back and sing that stuff that doesn't do it for this guy and I want to challenge you this morning if the world's music has a hold on your heart you need to taste and see for yourself the Lord's song you need to find out that song is the real one there's life in that one there's joy and peace and glory in that one it will rapture your spirit and pick you up above this world you can have a bad day put on a good Christian song that glorifies God you'll be fine you'll be fine your mind will be back on him your mind will be reminded he died for you he loves you he's not going to leave you to yourself he's not going to let you drag through the mud and then just leave you there he'll take care of you be not dismayed what air be tied

[38:46] God will take care of you taste and see it for yourself Christian the Lord's song now in conclusion I know that you've all eaten something that was so good that you've told somebody you've all done it you've all shared that experience with somebody else I know you've done it and I know you'll probably do it again and there was a real fulfillment in doing that when they experienced it and said yeah that is good that's real good and there's just a it just does something that bond now can you imagine that if you know that the Lord is good you need to tell somebody you need to tell somebody so they can experience the Lord's salvation so that they can experience the Lord's strength the Lord's supply all of these things God gives the world needs to know about this good God that will forgive their sins and save them eternally and carry their burdens and give them peace and hope in this unstable life they need to come to know that God is good have you tasted and seen is there anything better in this life than the goodness of

[40:10] God God let me ask you this and we'll close is there anything on the face of this earth or in your life or in your heart that you could put up and say that's better than God or than knowing God than walking is it a person is there a person on this planet that is better to you than God has been there's no one not my wife she's been wonderful to be but she doesn't come close to what God has done for me and how good he is to me it's not my family it's not my parents all good things but not God they don't compare to God if there's somebody or if there's something something that has really got a hold of you in this life and you might say well the truth is the way I'm living the way I'm thinking I'm putting them above God I want to charge you this morning taste and see for yourself the Lord is good he's better than that person he's better than that thing he's better than that career that job those finances whatever it is he deserves first place in verse three in closing oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together this is supposed to be done with more than one person it's not just between you and God anymore it's about bringing somebody else into it and letting us exalt his name together taste and see for yourself

[41:52] I'm challenging you in these areas and then beyond it to take it to someone else boy the Lord is good we got a season upon us where we're to be thankful where we're to be where we're drawn to you know it's here and gone one day and gone the next but where we're drawn to be thankful and I'm not gonna guilt trip you on this because it's too easy to do it's too easy to do that stuff and that doesn't help but let's close by thinking who can I who can I tell who can I like David told us to taste and see who can I tell who needs the salvation of God in my life that I know who needs the strength of God who's battling right now and I could come beside him and help him we could exalt his name together let's be dismissed then let's pray father as we conclude this thought and this message of the last two weeks thank you for how this text draws our attention to our relationship with you and it draws our attention away from this life and this world and the cares of this life and challenges us to focus on your goodness your supply your strength the throne of grace that's available for mercy and grace

[43:23] God I pray that these thoughts these words that your spirit would take and use them and embed them in our hearts it's my prayer that we'd get serious about our relationship with you that we'd set our eyes on things above our affections and lay up some treasures in heaven Lord make this world just look a little dirtier to us help it to look a little shallower to us help us to see the vanity that surrounds us and put a true drive and desire in our hearts and longing for the eternal God give us those opportunities and boldness to witness to our friends and neighbors pray that we'd be faithful in that not just for reward's sake but that we could rescue a sinner from the fires of hell I thank you again for your goodness to me thank you for saving my soul and for not leaving me to myself and to my foolish pride and my lust and sin thank you for getting me out of that thank you for your spirit within

[44:43] Lord I pray you'll minister to our hearts and strengthen us and help us to trust you with all of our hearts I pray these things in Jesus name amen amen please grab a hymnal got one two five two and let's stand and sing a song here together 252 if you want to talk anything over with the Lord do it now come up here and just pray as the Lord leads as he places something on your heart whatever that may be let's sing together 252 come and by sin oppressed there's mercy with the Lord and they give you rest by trusting in his word only trust him only trust him him now he will save you he will save you he will save you now for

[45:58] Jesus shed his precious blood rich blessings to bestow plunge now into the crimson flood washes white as snow only trust him only trust him trust him now he will save you he will save you save you now yes Jesus is the truth the way that leads you into rest believe in him without delay are fully blessed only trust him only trust him only trust him now he will save you he will save you he will save you now

[47:10]  I didn't put a lot of pressure on it today because I covered it last week but if you don't know that you're saved he will save you because he shed his blood for your sins you can have complete atonement and forgiveness and so if you're not saved you're not sure about it please don't leave here and go back to life not knowing let's talk about it I'll take a bible and just in a few minutes show you what you need to do it's easy and I promise you you won't regret it so let's be dismissed with prayer brother rich in the back would you please dismiss us