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[0:00] Turn to Psalm 142 if you'd like to follow along. If you'd like a Bible, you can wave your hand. We can get one in your hands if you'd like one. I know a lot of people have got apps on their phones.

[0:12] You can read along. However, well, just listen in. And just Psalm 142. Psalm 142. It's a prayer when David was in the cave.

[0:24] And we talked a little about David this morning and David in the Bible and the time where he felt that it was a time of discouragement.

[0:39] And likewise, it's somewhat the same here. But along a different track, really, tonight, what David did. In the morning, we talked about David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

[0:51] And David is here in a time of trouble again, another time, and it's a prayer that he made when he was in the cave. We read from verse 1. Psalm 142.

[1:04] I cried unto the Lord with my voice. With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him. I showed him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.

[1:19] In the way wherein I walked, have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand and beheld. But there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me.

[1:30] No man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very low.

[1:43] Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I might praise thy name. The righteous shall compass me about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

[1:58] Here was David. He was in a cave. Who's ever been in a cave? Usually they're dark, dingy, mouldy, cold places, aren't they? Here was David in this cave, closed in, this dark space, feeling like he was on his own.

[2:16] He knew this time of trouble and his spirit was overwhelmed within him. He was brought very low. Imagine in that dark, oppressive place, he'd have felt trapped.

[2:27] He talked about being persecuted, of hurting. And David, it says in verse 4, it says that he felt uncared for. I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me.

[2:40] Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. David was asking about his soul. Now in case you didn't contemplate this, you are tripartite.

[2:56] Tripartite. Body, soul and spirit. The Bible puts it the other way around. Spirit, soul and body. Because it's the spirit and the soul. The body's kind of just an add-on.

[3:08] You get rid of that. You lose that. But we put so much care into our body, don't we? You know, maybe some put more care than others. Maybe I need to put a bit more care into my body.

[3:19] I know someone in my family's been telling me to watch my health. But you know, we can spend a lot of time on our body care, but what about our soul?

[3:30] Our soul care. That's what matters, isn't it? Sure, our body counts too, but let's focus in on what really matters. It's our soul that counts. And a question hurting people can often ask is this, who cares?

[3:44] Who cares? Now there's all different kinds of care. As we say, there's self-care, there's skin care, there's health care, there's aged care, there's child care. But what about soul care?

[3:56] David says, no man cared for my soul. What about soul care? That matters, doesn't it? What of a man's soul? Does anyone care?

[4:09] Spirituality, as far as the Christian faith goes, it seems a neglected thing by many these days. And in our modern culture, who would even give a thought to the soul? It's all about the body, isn't it?

[4:19] It's about sensuality, about looking good and getting trim and taut and terrific like this specimen here. You know, going into the gym and doing the workouts and looking after the soul and having the right complexion and dyeing the hair or adding to the hair if you need to.

[4:37] Whatever it be, you know, I went down to shop and had a look for a, what do they call it, a toupee. But it didn't really suit me. I thought, no, I'll just be natural, a la naturelle. But, you know, what about soul care?

[4:49] That's the point. I'm being a little flippant here, but it's about the body. No, it's about the soul. That's what matters. It's about the soul. It's about spirituality. But modern culture doesn't care anything, it seems, for the soul.

[5:03] It's a grave mistake to make, isn't it? To neglect the soul, to neglect the eternal. Surely that's more important. To neglect that which matters most. Who cares about the soul?

[5:14] That's a real question, an important question. And to neglect the soul is to miss heaven and to take the pathway to hell. That's serious. And I was talking with a budding preacher saying to her, so when you preach, you need to have gravity.

[5:28] Gravity. You know, and it's a grave thing. This is grave. This is sombre. This is serious. This is heaven and hell stuff. That's real. That's important. Now, how sad it is when we care for a soul.

[5:40] You know, we that are doing the door knocking, you reach out and bang, not interested. You just slam it. You almost get your nose. You know, slam that door, not interested.

[5:53] They don't even know what we were giving them, did they, Peter? You know, we could have, like Peter was saying, we could have been offering them a wonderful prize. They've just, no, they missed out. Never mind. It's like when the governor comes to the prison cell and offers to speak to the prisoner.

[6:10] And he says, look, I've got something for you. Here in my hand. And he offers it to the prisoner. And the prisoner says, get lost. Oh, he didn't want the pardon I was going to give to him.

[6:22] Oh, okay, you'll spend another 10 years in that cell. You know, not interested is what they say, but they're not realising the gift that they're refusing. Surely they don't even care for their own soul.

[6:33] That's serious, isn't it? To not care for a man's soul, to not care for your own soul. Souls matter. They matter to God and they matter to us.

[6:44] That's why we're an evangelistic church. We're not here for a holy club, for all you lot. We're here for the rest of them. We're here for them. We're here for those who do not know.

[6:56] To reach out because it's all about reaching another soul. Until the last soul enters in and the name's written down in the book, then he'll come.

[7:06] Amen. We want to see every soul reached while we can reach. Reach the lost at any cost. We should care for our own soul and the souls of others.

[7:20] That's why we care about reaching out. We'll all get to that phase of life where it is the end of days and the soul's destination is sealed. When will that be?

[7:30] Nobody knows. Well, God knows when our time, when our number's up. God knows when that appointment that we'll all have to keep is locked into his diary.

[7:42] And the soul's destination is reached. And the one who made your soul is the author of the book about your soul. We should care about this book because it's the book about your soul by the one who made your soul.

[7:53] This is that book. And it shows the purpose and true fulfilment for a soul. And at this book, it still has the final authority. Surely he is one who cares for your soul, the author of this book.

[8:07] And his book tells of his care, of his boundless, measureless love and mercy that still extends. Think of him for a moment. Tonight, we read of the healing virtue that is in his very name.

[8:19] Song of Solomon 1 verse 3, in part it says, Thy name is as ointment poured forth. The very name of Jesus. It's like ointment poured forth unto the soul.

[8:32] He cares, he surely does care. Our Lord surely cares as he cared for those who reached out to him. And virtue went out from him, it says. In Luke 6 verse 19, There went virtue out of him and healed them all.

[8:47] This word virtue is the word we get our English word dynamite from. It's the power of God. The virtue went out of him. The power of God went out of Jesus as he healed them.

[8:59] The care of Jesus is the care of the shepherd. Of Matthew 9 verse 36, when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were a sheep without a shepherd.

[9:11] The care of Jesus is the care of forgiveness. In Matthew 18 verse 27, he tells a story where the Lord of the servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him his debt.

[9:23] You know, we were once in great debt and the Lord had compassion and loosed us from our debt, our sin debt. He's forgiven us. The care of Jesus is his forgiveness.

[9:37] The care of Jesus is like the good Samaritan of Luke 10 verse 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, this wounded man, this foreigner, and he came and he saw him and he had compassion on him.

[9:50] And he took him and he bandaged him and he took him to accommodation. He went out of his way. That's the care of Jesus for us, isn't it?

[10:01] We were wounded, beaten, forsaken, sin crushed us and left us dying on the side of the road. And Jesus comes like the good Samaritan and he binds up our wounds and he cares for us.

[10:17] His affection. His affection is unfailing. It's the affection of Lamentations 3.22. Lamentations 3.22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.

[10:33] I want to assure you today, here and now, by the authority of the author of your soul, the author of the book about your soul, as David did, I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me.

[10:47] Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. But there is one who cares for your soul, which we'll get to. You may look on your right, you may look on your left, and there may be no refuge.

[11:02] You say, refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. No man cared for my soul. But instead we can do as David did, as it says later, there is a refuge which will not fail, which does not fail.

[11:21] David found that assurance. He said, I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge. David said, I looked on my right. Refuge failed me. But then he said, but I cried unto thee, O Lord.

[11:34] I said, thou art my refuge. Friends, tonight, God's word assures you, Jesus will not fail you. Jesus cares for your soul.

[11:46] He cares. He cares. He cares still. He cares now. And he'll care tomorrow. Jesus is the refuge. Friends, he is the refuge. Where you can go, where you can take shelter, where you can be safe.

[12:02] Here's the one of which it says in Psalm 40, verse 2, he'll take you out of the miry clay. Psalm 40, verse 2. Now, there was a time Julie and I were travelling in the Northern Territory and I made a foolish decision.

[12:27] There was a truck ahead and I thought I could go on the, what do they call it, the verge, the skirting of the road and skirt around this truck and get back on the road ahead of it.

[12:38] And the roadside was muddy. It was muddy. It was thick mud. It had been raining and I got bogged. And some friendly locals helped me get out of the bog.

[12:53] But I left my thongs behind in the mud because that was just so muddy. You know, I just couldn't get those flip-flops out of the mud. And I just, okay, I'll leave them behind.

[13:03] I don't know where they are. And that's the kind of picture here of this miry clay in Psalm 40, verse 2. It's a picture of sin. It's like that sinking sand. It's that miry, claggy clay that holds us into this sticky stuckness, you could say, to use a technical phrase.

[13:29] Psalm 40, verse 2, it says, He brought me up out of a horrible pit. That's sin. It's horrible. It's a pit. It's horrible. Out of the miry clay. And what did he do? He set my feet.

[13:41] Let me demonstrate here. He set my feet upon a rock. Amen. On a rock. Better than this chair. On a rock, on a solid rock. That's what Jesus does, doesn't he?

[13:52] Takes us out of the miry clay. He sets our feet on a rock. Jesus is the rock. And you can stand upon him. You can know you're on solid ground. It says, he set my feet upon a rock and he established my goings.

[14:04] Jesus cares. He wants to take you out of the miry clay, out of the horrible pit, and set your feet on the rock. Jesus cares today. That's what he does. You don't want to go back to the horrible pit, to the miry clay.

[14:18] Who would want to do that? The pigs will go back to the clay, the muck and the mud. But when you're saved, you won't want to go back to the miry clay. No, it stinks.

[14:30] It's sticky. It's dirty. I don't want that anymore. He changes your heart, doesn't he? You can receive his tenderheartedness.

[14:40] It says in Psalm 25, verse 6, Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been of old, ever of old. Jesus cares.

[14:51] He's got tender mercies. Jesus cares. He's got tenderheartedness. When you're in a crisis, he cares. He cares. Even though sometimes you think, where's God in all of this?

[15:01] Sometimes it's like that. But nevertheless, he cares. The Bible says he cares for you. You know, I know it's one I've preached on recently of time, recent times, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

[15:19] That's what he says. He careth for you. You've got God's word on it. That's what it says. That's the truth. Amen. He careth for you. And in Psalm 51, we see this was a time, another Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, confronted him.

[15:36] He'd gone in unto Bathsheba. You know, he'd committed adultery. And David cries, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

[15:51] David knew the loving kindness of his God. He didn't deserve any of it, did he? But he called on God's mercy. He called on his loving kindness. He called on the tender mercies to blot out his transgressions.

[16:05] And friends, that's what Jesus does. He cares. He freely extends his great loving kindness and his tender mercies. Psalm 69, 16, it talks about the loving kindness as well.

[16:16] Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving kindness is good. That's Psalm 69, verse 16. Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. This one who cares for you, he's got tender mercies.

[16:29] This is the one who rescues us from destruction. It says in Psalm 103, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.

[16:39] Loving kindness and tender mercies. That's our God. That's our Jesus. He's loving. He's kind. He's got loving kindness and he's got tender mercies.

[16:50] And our Lord shows pity and compassion, even if we must tread in the footprints of Job. You think, well, did Job get the loving kindness of God?

[17:02] He did. Ultimately, he did. We see in James 5, verse 11. James 5, verse 11. James says, Job got the tender mercies too.

[17:22] It took him a time. There was a stretch there when maybe Job didn't have a lot of tender mercies that he could see. But God was still with him through the time of his great suffering.

[17:33] And friends, whatever situation you're in, even if you're in a time like Job, in a Job situation, the tender mercies of God are for you. He is for you. You can trust in the mercy of God.

[17:44] He has shown us how much he cares by his blood. We heard about the blood this morning. The blood tells us. The blood shouts out. The blood cries out. Jesus cares, doesn't it? The blood cries out.

[17:56] Jesus cares for you. His grace shows us how much he cares. We see his care. We see his care in how his touch, that he holds us. He lifts us up upon his own shoulders.

[18:07] In Isaiah 40 verse 11, it says, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young.

[18:18] You know, think of a shepherd as, I know there's some shepherds in our midst tonight. There's people who have some lambs in their backyards. And they'll see the lambs.

[18:30] They need that bit of extra care. Sometimes, especially when a sheep bears more than one lamb, one of the lambs can get rejected. You know, Julie and I experienced that too.

[18:42] But one of the lambs gets rejected by the mother, the mother lamb. And so they don't get the nourishment. And so the shepherd has to take special care of the lamb in such a case so that the lamb will still get milk and still can thrive and be nourished and survive.

[19:03] And the picture here is how he shall feed the flock, his flock, like a shepherd. He shall carry the lambs with his arm. And there's that sense we will carry them over his shoulder and carry us.

[19:15] And friends, he carries you. You know, people might have heard of that familiar poem of the footprints in the sand. And it's a great one to have a read of where it talks about somebody thought that as he looked at some footprints along the sand, and he thought there was a time where there was two sets of footprints where God was walking by him.

[19:38] And then it seemed as life took a severe turn, that it seemed that God left him. There was only one set of footprints in the sand. And he thought, well, God must have left me then and abandoned me, left me to suffer on my own.

[19:55] But then the story comes through that, in fact, it was at that time the shepherd was carrying you, that the footprints were when he was carrying you. And likewise, he carries us.

[20:07] He binds up our wounds. And friends, we can know the Father's heart, that he keeps us, he watches over us, he neither slumbers nor sleeps. Hear his tender voice. He speaks peace.

[20:19] Receive his comfort. Receive his words. The Lord Jesus has a heart of compassion. We see, read the Gospels and see the love of Jesus.

[20:30] See the heart of Jesus exposed and raw. The heart of Jesus, as he felt compassion, as he knew compassion, as he wept at the tomb of Lazarus, as he knew human pain and human agony.

[20:46] Jesus cares. He knows about your struggle. He knows exactly what's happening right now for you. No matter what your struggle, Jesus cares.

[20:58] It's his word. He careth for you. He careth for you. We need not worry because Jesus cares for us. But we can make the same mistakes of Bible characters, as for example, when the Lord visited the home of Martha.

[21:12] And here was Martha. The Lord Jesus was here. And this was a grand occasion. And she was anxious about all the arrangements that had to be made. And she was fretting and fussing and getting all kind of antsy.

[21:24] And getting anxious about the arrangements for her guests. And she said to Jesus, as she saw her sister, Mary, was just sitting, listening to Jesus.

[21:35] She said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister have left me to serve alone? This is Luke 10, 40. She was cumbered. She was distracted. Martha's care had such overwhelming effect on her heart.

[21:49] And Martha, the warrior, was filled with all this self-woe and even accusation and feeling hurt and blame. And the Lord Jesus just says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful, in other words, full of care, and troubled about many things.

[22:10] Then he pointed to Mary and said that that was the right thing, the best thing, to sit at his feet and to hear his word.

[22:21] Now perhaps there's some stuff going on for us and we get all anxious and, oh, I'm not going to be able to fit it all in. Stuff going on. The best thing is to come to him, is to get closer to him, find time for him.

[22:38] Perhaps you may ask, does Jesus care about my pain, about my hurt? Does Jesus care? We see that in Isaiah 53. Notice what it says there.

[22:49] Isaiah 53 from verse 4. And this is a familiar one of Isaiah 53. As it was some 800 years before Christ came, it was the prophesying of his coming. And in Isaiah 53, it tells us of our Saviour, the Saviour to come.

[23:03] Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.

[23:15] The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. Notice what it says there in verse 4 of Isaiah 53. It says this. He has already carried our sorrows.

[23:29] That's deep, isn't it? He has already carried our sorrows. You might think, you might say, preacher, look, I've got some sorrows happening. You know, and there's people been telling me that.

[23:44] People have been telling me that. You know, their pillows are wet with tears. I want to tell you this evening, surely he has already carried your sorrows.

[23:56] He's already borne your griefs. You can take hold of that scripture and know, yes, thank you, Jesus, you do care. You do care about my sorrows, about my griefs, about my hardship.

[24:08] Does Jesus care? It says he does. It says he carries your sorrows. It says he carries your griefs. He cares about your sorrows. Yes, absolutely he does. And he's intimately acquainted with them.

[24:20] You know, some people carry sorrows and griefs that are years old. Hurts. He cares. He carries them. He's carried them.

[24:34] Does Jesus care? Yes, absolutely. He's intimately acquainted with the deepest of our feelings, of our hurts, of our past, of our regrets, of our deepest needs.

[24:49] And he's already carried them. There's a song that goes, leave it there, leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

[25:00] If you trust and never doubt, he will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. There's great comfort in the word, isn't there?

[25:12] And it says this has been given for our comfort, in other words, our encouragement. And he has gone out of his way to care. The cross shows that he cares, doesn't it? The cross.

[25:27] His unmerited love and grace. His very precious blood. His salvation, it shows that he cares. What greater gift can you ever know?

[25:39] His reaching out shows that he cares. He reaches out even to the leper that no one else would touch. And we're a bit touchy about touching at the moment, aren't we?

[25:50] With COVID, Jesus touches the leper. He touches the unclean. He touches the sinful. He touches the lost.

[26:02] He touches the untouchable. And he ministers. And he reaches out still. Jesus cares. He truly does. Trust his care. Trust yourself to his care.

[26:13] We can know that our Father has care over us and we can trust his care. There's a Psalm 4 verse 8, it says. Psalm 4 verse 8 says, I will both lay me down and rest in peace.

[26:27] Sorry, I'll say that again. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. And sometimes people are going to have trouble sleeping.

[26:40] And I'm not discounting that can happen. You can lay down in peace and sleep. There was a large vessel making a journey from Liverpool to New York.

[26:52] And one night there was this crazy storm. While the passengers were quietly asleep, this sudden squall of wind came, sweeping against the side of the ship.

[27:03] And the great boat was instantly thrown upon its side by the force of the gale, crashing everything that was movable. And awakening the passengers about this imminent peril.

[27:13] This was dangerous. And everyone on board was alarmed and getting really fearful. And yet there was one little girl, this eight-year-old girl. And this eight-year-old was the daughter of the captain.

[27:26] And she'd been thrown out of her bunk and she said, as she was rubbing her eyes, what's the matter? And her mother told her of the danger. And the little girl said, isn't Papa on deck?

[27:38] And the mum said, yes, he is. Then I'm going back to bed. And the little child dropped herself on the pillow without fear. And in a few minutes, she was asleep.

[27:50] You know, what a picture for us. The father is on deck, isn't he? In this boat that we're in. Our father, the captain, is piloting this vessel.

[28:02] He'll get you through. Amen. There's a little poem along this line. Fear not the windy tempest, wild. Thy bark shall not wreck. Lie down and sleep, O helpless child. Thy father's on the deck.

[28:15] He's at the captain's bridge. And we can trust in God's overshadowing care. There's much comfort here that we can trust God. Trust his power. Trust his protection. Trust his provision.

[28:26] He's the captain of your ship. He will take care of you. Trust his care for you. He truly cares. Consider his great generosity. We've done nothing to deserve it.

[28:37] His generous payment on your part. He's given us the very best gift that he could ever give, that we could ever receive. And you're in his hands. You're his workmanship.

[28:47] You're his treasure. God's care is as the compassion of a loving father. We see in Psalm 103 verse 13, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

[29:01] He's a good father, isn't he? He's a loving father. He's a father who cares. Keeps their eye out for their kids. He identifies with us. He associates with us. He walks with us.

[29:11] He will never leave us nor forsake us. And how can we doubt? How can we ever doubt his care? Sometimes though, let's be real, that circumstances come and you think, what's going on for me?

[29:23] This is tough. This is hard. And there was this one time where the disciples entered a boat across the Sea of Galilee and the Lord was with them and he said, let us pass over to the other side.

[29:36] This is Mark 4, 35. And so he says to them, Mark 4, 35, let's go over to the other side. And the Lord Jesus then rested and started to have a little snooze and he was going to sleep on one end of the boat.

[29:51] And here were these fishermen. These were skillful fishermen. And this storm suddenly came across and they were starting to get really worried. It was so severe. And these were hardened fishermen.

[30:02] They knew how to fish and how to boat a boat across the sea. This ship was tossed to and fro. Water started to come in and they were francing and they woke the Lord Jesus.

[30:13] Hey, Lord, don't you care? The disciples had doubted the Lord even in the midst of the storm. And they said, Mark 4, 38, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

[30:27] Of course Jesus cares. Yet there's times we can be like the disciples. Lord, what you're putting me through? What's happening for me? Don't you care? You know, there's sometimes it might be, perhaps you'll say, Lord, didn't you see that doctor's report?

[30:42] Don't you care? Don't you see the troubles I'm in right now? Don't you care? Don't you see how I'm struggling with these bills to pay? Don't you care? Lord, you know I've got this fear that I can't seem to shake off.

[30:55] Don't you care? The answer is yes, he cares. Yes, he cares. How soon can we doubt him? He is aware of whatever is happening for you and he cares.

[31:11] You know, it might seem like the waves are beating, the ship of my life is full. I can't take much more of this. Master, carest thou not that we are perishing?

[31:25] And yet there's many a Christian who's gone through such a shaky time and they've changed that question from Master, carest thou not that we perish? This is the Lord's doing. Let him do that which is good in his sight.

[31:39] I don't understand, but God is good and I'm going to trust him. God is in my boat with me. He is for me. He is with me. I am in him. I'm in his keeping. I'm under his care.

[31:50] And even though it looks like everything's chaotic, Christ is with me and that's what matters. And I can trust him. And know that it's of the Lord's doing. He will do that which is good in his sight.

[32:03] I've just got to trust him. And friends, you might say that's easy enough for you to say. Look, friends, we all have those moments when the overwhelming storm can come and touch one of God's children and you wonder why.

[32:19] We've got to trust. We've got to simply trust. Trust God's care plan. His bigger plan. He's bigger than this finite space of our lifetime and he knows the beginning from the end.

[32:31] He knows the future before we get there. And if we call him master, then surely we must trust his control. Now they call him master. Master, care us though not that we perish.

[32:42] But yet, if he is master, surely we just report for duty. Master, tell me what you want me to do. I'm at your service. I'm at your disposal. And after all, the very universe is under his control.

[32:55] If we call him master, if we call him lord, then simply trust him as lord. He's working out his plan in our life.

[33:06] You can trust him. It's been said that gold is poured into a furnace because it is gold and has to be refined. If it was just rubbish, you wouldn't worry to put it in that kind of furnace.

[33:17] You know, maybe God's making gold out of you. Corn is threshed because it is corn. You don't bother to put the weeds in to the corn thresher.

[33:28] And a diamond is of exceptional beauty and quality because it goes through more cutting than any other stone because the owner desires more of its beauty. And it's the same with you and me. God's making something, a masterpiece.

[33:41] We're his workmanship, it says. And our Lord is watching over us. He truly cares. Yes. Yet I fail to mention Jesus cares. That's the point.

[33:53] That's the point. Get that. Two words tonight. Luke 12, 6 through 7, it says, our Lord talks to the disciples and he says, are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and not one of them is forgotten before God?

[34:05] But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Jesus says you're more valuable, more valuable than many sparrows.

[34:18] You're more valuable than we could even contemplate or consider. Yet David, like David in his cave, we might pour out a heart before him.

[34:29] David cried out unto the Lord. He did what was right. It says, I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge. David, in all that mayhem, in that miserable, dank, dark place, that depressing place of the cave, I cried unto thee, O Lord.

[34:47] Thou art my refuge. David cried out in faith at the close there, bring my soul out of prison that I might praise thy name. The righteous shall compass me about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

[35:02] God will deal bountifully with you. It's part of his plan. No man cared for my soul. Let that not be true of you, that you will consider your soul, and the souls of others.

[35:14] Soul care. Souls matter. People may fail. I looked on my right hand, and refuge failed me, said David, but thou, O Lord, thou art my refuge.

[35:26] Thou art my refuge. You know, men will fail, people will fail, preachers will fail, churches will fail, but Jesus will never fail. Amen. Jesus is a refuge you can count on.

[35:38] Jesus cares for your soul. Trust him. Trust him. Trust him now. We want to be the kind of church that cares for souls. And not just talks about it.

[35:52] And, and some churches can get diverted, that they might care more for people's, uh, welfare, in terms of physical welfare. And I'm not saying that's not a bad thing, but, it's not the primary thing.

[36:06] I know there's someone was asking me, they wanted to, because we talked about, having a little food cupboard, that we could help, if there's a family in need, or a person in need. We've got a little stock of food, that we can supply, so that when, you know, and, and without embarrassing the person, who might need a bit of, a handout, a help out, that will have some, some soup, or some, some, uh, cans, or something, that we can just, um, discreetly give to them, because they're going through a tough time.

[36:33] We do care about the physical as well, but how much more, much more important, than, than, than such a physical handout, of, of tangible, help, help for their body, help for their soul, help for their soul.

[36:47] How much more, special, and, and essential, that is. And, as a church, we've brought some, more, marked New Testaments, we've got, thousands, and thousands, of tracts, thousands, of, of the Gospel Romans, material, that we can pass out.

[37:04] And, and we're committed to reaching out, because souls matter, souls matter. And Jesus cares for your soul today. You might, you might be like David, and say, I looked on my right hand, and refuge failed me.

[37:17] But you can say like David, I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge. You can look to him. Look to him. Friend tonight, look to him. You know, how do you become a Christian?

[37:35] We, we touched on it this morning, the preacher this morning, talked about receive. It's a gift. Trust him. Trust him. Reach out and receive.

[37:48] That gift, trust him, receive his saving. Nothing beats that. Nothing compares. It's matchless, isn't it? To know, that he cares for your soul.

[37:58] He truly does. He's done everything to save your soul. Simply trust him, now. Now. We want to be a church, that cares, for people's souls, to truly be that community, that cares.

[38:11] and such that, it will move us. It will, it will move us. And it will keep on moving us. Amen. And David said, I cried unto the Lord with my voice.

[38:23] With my voice unto the Lord, did I make my supplication. He says, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me. As people were laying these traps for me, he's saying, no man cared for me.

[38:34] No man would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. This was desperate. But he says, thou art my refuge. Can you say that tonight? Jesus, you're my refuge.

[38:46] I come to you. You can take shelter, in these overshadowing care. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that there is a refuge that will not fail. There is a refuge.

[38:56] There is one. One better than any man. The God man. God made man. God made flesh and dwelt amongst us, Lord, and you are that man.

[39:08] The only one that can be our refuge. Lord, you take us out of the miry clay, out of that horrible pit. We don't want to stay there, Lord. We don't want to go back there.

[39:19] We know that our feet have been planted on the rock, Christ Jesus, and we will stand strong and sure and firm. Pray if there's anyone here present, Lord, that knows you not, that today might be the day.

[39:31] They'll say, Lord, I don't understand all the detail of it. I don't understand how it can even be possible. But yet, I do receive your gift. I receive that you died on the cross for my sin.

[39:44] You rose again from the dead. And your word tells me that I can receive you as my saviour and Lord, and know you're saving right here, right now. Lord, that that might be true for one or more tonight.

[39:54] Lord, that your word might work in hearts. Lord, for every believer, help us, Lord, even though it seems like we're in a rocky time, a boat that's getting flooded, yet you're in the boat with us, Lord.

[40:07] You'll get us to the other side. Lord, we know you care for us, soul. We know, Lord, your word tells us he careeth for you. You care for us. Lord, we thank you for these promises that are yay and amen.

[40:19] Help us to take them to heart, Lord, and know them in reality in our own personal lives. Help us, Lord, we pray. Pray for anyone here tonight that is carrying a burden, that we can say of, as the words of that song goes, Lord, leave it there.

[40:36] Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Whatever it be, a burden of care, hard times, sad times, grief, loss, hurts. Lord, we can leave it there because you do care.

[40:48] You care for us like a shepherd cares for a straying little sheep, a lamb. You care for us like the Samaritan cared for the injured one.

[41:01] You care for us, Lord, as you showed to us fully at the cross to do everything for our saving. We praise you, Lord, in Jesus' name.

[41:11]  Amen.