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[0:00] Well, good evening. We welcome each of you to our service this evening. We pray that we would know the voice of God speaking to the hearts of each of us that are gathered here.

[0:16] We shall begin our service by singing to God's praise in Psalm 138 of the Sing Psalms. Psalm 138, Sing Psalms, that's on page 179. Page 179 of the Blue Books, and we'll begin at verse 4, down to the end of the psalm. O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, let them extol the ways of God, for great the glory of the Lord.

[0:54] Although the Lord God dwells on high, the lowly person he protects, whereas the proud and haughty one he knows afar off and rejects. Although I walk a troubled path, your tender care preserves my life.

[1:11] You raise your hand against my foes. Your right hand saves me from their strife. The Lord will certainly fulfill for me the purpose he commands. Your love endures forever, Lord. Preserve the works of your own hands. We'll sing these verses to God's praise. O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise.

[1:34] O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, let them extol the ways of God.

[2:04] O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, let them extol the way of God. For grace and glory of God. For grace and glory of God. For grace and glory of God. O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, let them extol the way of God. For grace and glory of God. For grace and glory of God.

[2:15] For grace and glory of God. For grace and glory of God. Or love, let all earth's kings give praise. Voll. Oh, the Lord, let all earth's 이게 to most.

[2:40] O Tivon, he rules the fire of angry days.

[2:54] Although I walk a troubled path, your tender gift resets my life.

[3:13] You raise your hand against my cross, your right hand saves me from their side.

[3:33] The Lord will certainly fulfill, for me the purpose he commands.

[3:52] Your love endures forevermore. Preserve the words of you, O man.

[4:15] May we come before our God in prayer. Let us pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this hour and this day that you have set for us.

[4:31] This is your day, and may we be mindful of that. That you have given us seven days, and yet but one to set aside for you.

[4:44] To worship you, and to praise you, and to give ourselves rest. And you are the God who is mindful, even of the most lowly, as we sung there together.

[4:57] What a God you are. When we think of your majesty, and your sovereignty, and yet you do not forget us.

[5:09] Lord, we pray that you are the most worth. Lord, we pray that you would reveal their worth, or what worth you are to them.

[5:30] If there are any who feel themselves worthless. The value of our life, Lord, is beyond our understanding.

[5:40] And Lord, you did not spare your own Son. Our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:50] A life that maybe should have been spared, but was not for our good. For his love towards us.

[6:06] He did not spare his own life. He knew what was ahead of him. The anguish of his soul. He sweated drops of blood. But yet he went through with what had to be done.

[6:21] The payment of sin had to be made for his people, whom the Lord had given to him. Through love. And all because of his love towards us.

[6:34] The one who loved us before we loved him. The love that we struggle to understand at the best of times. Yet it is beyond any love that we know in this world.

[6:48] The deepest love that we can know, he surpasses it. And so we are confident. That he is the one who will be faithful to us.

[6:59] Faithfulness of marriages in this world may not last. But you are faithful to us.

[7:12] You are the God who will not leave us, nor forsake us. And we rejoice that even in our unfaithfulness, you remain faithful. You still love us.

[7:24] Even when our love grows cold. Lord, we acknowledge in our hearts. Even the Christians that sit here in this building.

[7:39] Know of their hearts having grown cold. We grow warm and we grow cold. We flow like the sea. We rise and we sink to the depths.

[7:51] And yet you do not leave us. You teach us. Because you love us. And so may we sit at your feet gladly tonight.

[8:02] And learn from what you have to say to us. Speak through your word to us. Silence any other voice.

[8:14] So that we know the true voice. May it become clear in our hearts and in our souls. A voice that we long to hear.

[8:25] A voice that we love to hear. And a voice that we will cleave to for the rest of our lives. Lord, keep the evil one from us.

[8:37] As he goes around. These little foxes and thoughts that come to us. Keep them away from us.

[8:49] May your power protect us. May you be the watchman over us for this time as we gather in worship before you. May our hearts revived and restored.

[9:03] May our hearts restored. Under your word. And the presence of your spirit applying it to our souls. Lord, we pray. For our island in these days.

[9:17] For our town in these days. We pray for your gospel message to go to the people. With your power. Applying it and convicting and converting the hearts and souls of men.

[9:33] That we may be constantly in prayer. That you may work according to your mysterious ways. And drawing men to you. That it will be for your glory.

[9:47] That your kingdom may come. And that men and women may come to know the salvation found through the blood of Jesus Christ.

[9:57] And acknowledge him as their risen savior. Who has revealed himself to them. And confess in their heart that Christ is a reality for me.

[10:15] Lord, we pray. Amen. For those who are struggling this day. For those who need you. In a special way.

[10:28] Those who are seeking you. Seeking your aid. Seeking your comfort. Lord, we pray for those who are laid low. With ailments.

[10:39] Those who cannot come to the house of worship. Lord, we pray for those who are listening online. Lord, we pray that you may be with them as you are with us.

[10:53] Lord, comfort those who are mourning. Lord, be with those who are waiting operations.

[11:04] Lord, we pray for those who are anxious about many things in their lives. Lord, pray that they would know the comfort of your presence with them.

[11:15] And we remember the COVID situation across our nation. And the growing numbers within our island. And we pray that it would not take hold of a great number.

[11:31] And that there would be negative results even for our own minister. And those who are in close contact. And those who have tested positive.

[11:43] We pray that they would not be seriously affected with the condition. So, we are mindful of those who go out with the gospel message.

[11:54] We pray for their encouragement and strength as they do so. Pray for their continued strength and faithfulness. To go and speak to the lowly.

[12:08] To each person. About the gospel of Jesus Christ. Equip us as Christians to do so. Unashamedly. As we go about our daily duties.

[12:20] Lord, we pray for congregations that are also vacant. We remember Colin and his decisions that he has to be made. Be with him. Guide him. Be his shepherd in these things.

[12:35] And show him and reveal to him your will. Lord, we pray. That you would be with us for this hour. That our hearts would be turned towards you.

[12:49] That we may have ear to hear your word. Lord, forgive us our sins, we pray. And all these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

[13:00] Amen. Amen. If I could say a word to the younger ones that are here with us or listening at home. I went to church last week and there was no electric in the building.

[13:15] So we had no lights. And isn't electric good in a sense? It can be very dangerous. It's not to be played with. But isn't electric good?

[13:26] And you'll know maybe that we as an island have been running off the power station. Because there was a problem with the cable that connected us to the mainland.

[13:40] So the power station down in Battery Point there has been running away. Generating power for our whole island for the last year or so.

[13:52] It seems longer than a year. That building you'll know, you'll see smoke coming out of it most of the time. There's three chimneys there.

[14:03] So you can identify which building it is. And if you don't know which building it is, ask your parents to show you. There's a power in the electricity that's generated.

[14:16] And it goes all over the island. And you may not see the power station. But you may see the effects of the power that has been generated at the power station. You may live in Ness. And you may plug in your kettle or plug in your TV.

[14:31] And your TV may come on. Because of the power that is generated from the power station. Although you don't see where it comes from. But as you get closer to town and you see the smoke and you see the chimneys.

[14:46] You may even get close enough to hear the noise of it. I feel for all those people who stay down on Seaforth Road and down there. This noise chugging away all the time.

[14:58] But this is one power source. For the whole island. And we might not understand everything that's contained within this source of power.

[15:12] It generates electric for us. But you know, it made me think. We have this one power source. And you can see the three chimneys that come from this one power source.

[15:30] It reminds me of the catechism. It says that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Same in substance.

[15:42] Equal in power and glory. Same in substance. It's the same building that generates the power. It's the same power that comes out of it.

[15:55] It's almost like you can see the three chimneys that rise from it. You know, Jesus is our power station.

[16:08] We need to come to Jesus to give us power and strength. It says in Psalm 68, verse 35, He is the one who gives power and strength to his people.

[16:22] So what I want you to remember is, when everything works for you, all the electricity that is generated, remember the power station.

[16:35] And when you see the three chimneys, remember the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And the one source of power that is there.

[16:45] Remember Jesus. Remember God. Remember the Holy Spirit. The three elements of the Godhead.

[16:55] But if Jesus is to be our power station, if we want our telly to work, we must plug into the power.

[17:08] So if we want Jesus to be our power, we must plug into that power. We must come to Jesus and be willing to seek him and to find the power that is contained in the Bible.

[17:26] So I want you to remember that. If we want the power that is available through Jesus, we must come and plug in and look for him in the Bible.

[17:40] And remember the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Godhead, when you see the three chimneys that power our island.

[17:50] So we'll say the Lord's Prayer together. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.

[18:01] Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

[18:12] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.

[18:24] If we could turn to our Bibles and read, we'll have two readings tonight. We'll have one from the book of Daniel. We'll take that first and then we'll turn to the book of Psalms.

[18:38] So if we turn to the book of Daniel, chapter 6. Book of Daniel, chapter 6. And we'll begin our reading at verse 16. This is a count of Daniel and the lion's den.

[19:00] Daniel, chapter 6, verse 16. Let us hear God's word. We'll read down to verse 25. End of verse 24.

[19:11] Then the king commanded, And Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you.

[19:28] And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. And the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

[19:41] Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him.

[19:53] Then at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.

[20:07] The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?

[20:20] Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him and also before you, O king.

[20:41] I have done no harm. Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.

[20:52] So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harem was found on him because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives.

[21:17] And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Amen. May we continue briefly in our reading in Psalm 127.

[21:34] Turn with me to Psalm 127, the book of Psalms. Again, we'll just read that whole passage together.

[21:52] Psalm 127. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.

[22:04] Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil.

[22:20] For he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb, a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior, are the children of one's youth.

[22:37] Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies at the gate.

[22:48] Amen. May the reading of God's words be blessed to each of us as we come to consider it for a few moments together.

[23:00] I want to take us the text for this evening, the latter words of verse 2 in Psalm 127. For he gives his beloved sleep.

[23:17] I wonder how you slept last night. How did you? That's a common question we put to one another, most likely asked between ourselves or our family members, maybe someone that is within our care.

[23:34] Maybe you can say that you slept like a baby. Or maybe you can say that you saw every hour of the night. And at times it is nothing longer than what we know of as a long night.

[23:53] And although we can lose our sleep, it's a very hard thing for us to find it at times. And we certainly, we never quite realise it when we do, just that we experience the benefit of having slept.

[24:09] Some people manage to survive with but a few hours, and most of us probably require the full eight or seven or eight, as I do.

[24:21] But there's nothing surer that can be said that our sleep is precious. It has a huge impact on the following day. It affects our health in ways that we don't notice.

[24:35] And it affects our attitude in ways that we do. Or certainly that others notice. Such as our cars need refuelling, so do our physical bodies.

[24:49] We cannot just keep going and going and going. We need to refuelling. We need to stop. We need to sleep. It is vital for a healthy life.

[25:02] And our text from the end of verse two tells us that sleep is given to the beloved of the Lord. Sleep is a gift of the beloved of the Lord.

[25:18] But it does not mean that we sleep all day. Proverbs tells us that. Not to love sleep, lest we come to poverty.

[25:29] Chapter 20, verse 13. No, in the normal sense of sleep, it is for a refreshment, for our strength, to enable us and equip us to work, to renew our minds.

[25:46] But in key terms of the context given here in our psalm, we are built up. We are protected. We are revived and restored under the Lord's direction and under his supremacy.

[26:06] And that supremacy of the Lord must be sanctioned in our lives. He must be our chief builder.

[26:19] He must be our principal enabler, our gracious sustainer.

[26:30] and maybe most dearly known to you is that he is the prince of your peace. The Christian knows the Lord to be such this to him or her.

[26:49] And the Christian will have it no other way. They can essentially sign their name to what is written here unless the Lord. Unless the Lord watches over the city.

[27:05] Unless the Lord builds. They put their name to it because they can't vouch that these words are trustworthy and true. They'll have it no other way.

[27:19] There is none besides. Unless demands one way. The Christian puts their name to that.

[27:30] Because they are receivers of especially good qualities that gives the Christian rest.

[27:41] But firstly, thinking practically here, there are a few things we need for a good night's sleep. We need to feel secure in our homes.

[27:56] We need to be comfortable. And usually we'd like it to be quiet or peaceful. If we lack any of these things, if we lack security, comfort or peace, we tend not to sleep very well.

[28:10] But even if we have all these things in place, it doesn't guarantee that we would sleep as we would like to. Though all these external requirements are made, though our building is secure in the storm, and even though the Christian has the external securities of comfort and peace, being within the Lord's household, we are not free from the worries, the pressure, the anxieties that life brings to our souls.

[28:51] That's why we need the Lord as our watchman. You see, the watchman was the lookout for the city.

[29:04] The watchman protected what was within the city. So peace within the city was made or broken by the voice of the watchman.

[29:17] If the watchman saw trouble and declared it, that would cause unrest within the walls of the city. If the watchman saw no danger, there would be peace within.

[29:33] And in a sense, the same goes for our souls. Having the Lord as a captain of our watch, the captain of our lives, will reassure you with this unrivaled discernment and perspective on things.

[29:55] Tested and trusted by those who have already confessed unless the Lord and put their name to it.

[30:06] Peace is promised to the Christian, but every so often as is in the course of life, there is cause to be alerted.

[30:19] There is a time of war and a time of peace. There are tests and trials that come to each of us. And so we need this watchman of wisdom looking out ahead in our lives and telling us what's ahead.

[30:39] If there was a watchman over your life, would you not want to hear words that were truth and clarity?

[30:53] You wouldn't want a watchman standing up on the wall declaring false worries for you or false comforts.

[31:05] That's probably worse, actually. That's what the devil does. He employs falsehood to distract us or to make us feel more comfortable about things when we should be worried or concerned, rather.

[31:27] The devil, either way, he wants to cause a frustration or a distraction away from the truth of what is set before you.

[31:40] And you know, if there was ever a voice that would not let you sleep, surely it would be the voice of our conscience.

[31:59] If there was a voice that would ever not let you sleep, surely it would be the voice of your conscience. I'm sure we've all been there.

[32:11] We lie in bed to sleep, only to recall maybe things we shouldn't have done, words we shouldn't have said. It's almost like King Darius in the account we read of in Daniel.

[32:29] He had all his kingly comforts in his palace. He had all his vast securities. He had peace externally with the men around him, but his conscience would not allow him a wink of sleep.

[32:50] Within his soul, he didn't have the comfort. He had no peace within his city.

[33:03] He found no sleep, verse 18 says, and sleep fled from him. And I'm sure you've heard the saying, that I don't know how he sleeps at night.

[33:22] And in a sense, that's what's happened here. Darius couldn't sleep for what he had done. There's a strange truth to it, that in the night hours, as we prepare to sleep, our conscience almost seems to come awake.

[33:40] things that never bothered us during the daytime can revisit us when we want to rest. And our sleep is broken by this conscience.

[33:56] And maybe that's a healthy conscience. A healthy discernment. King Darius' mistake was eating away at him.

[34:10] But Daniel, on the other hand, his conscience was clear. He was blameless before God, he says. He was blameless before the king.

[34:26] Now, it doesn't say that Daniel slept. But I would be confident enough to say that he had a better night than Darius. You see, the conscience was eating away at Darius.

[34:43] The lions were indeed eating Daniel. Daniel was comforted by the presence of the angels. But as Christians, I find that our consciences should be increasingly alert, more so than it was before.

[35:11] Awakened to sift out any sin, or at least it should be. And you maybe also have heard it said that a good conscience is a soft pillow.

[35:23] But maybe it would be better to word it as a clear conscience is a soft pillow. Because I can bet you at times having the good conscience kept you awake.

[35:44] And that pillow seemed like it was prodding you. Demanding a correction to be made, a confession, an apology, or a self-control.

[35:57] I would say that's a good conscience. One that is awake. One that identifies error. And more importantly, that it is directed and discerned by the Lord's word.

[36:13] Our conscience must always be checked against the truth of God's word.

[36:23] The truth of the watchman. You know, our conscience is a funny thing. Richard Sibbes, an English Puritan, made the point of saying that the conscience has somewhat divine in it.

[36:40] There seems to be almost this inbuilt moral auditor within us. Assessing us when the lights go out at night.

[36:56] And it's just in us. We can't help it. But as Christians, we should fall in line with what Paul says in Romans 2, verse 15.

[37:08] he says, the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness. So our conscience should bear witness to our heart as a Christian.

[37:27] Our heart that is for Christ. Because it says after in that passage that God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

[37:42] Our secrets that our conscience may condemn us for. God will judge them. They will be revealed.

[37:55] So would it not be better that we deal with it? Imagine you are in a line.

[38:07] God's going to judge us all. And we are in a line. And you're watching the people before you've been judged. There's a distinction being made between the people as you are in the line.

[38:22] People are going to the left and to the right. And as you draw closer, you begin to hear the exchange of speech between the judge and the one that is being judged.

[38:35] You might hear something like, well, I listened every day, every Sunday I came to church and I gave my money to the church but he is thrown into hell.

[38:47] Or you might hear something of what is spoken in Matthew chapter 7. The person might confess, Lord, Lord, I did mighty works in your name. But as condemned with the words, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

[39:07] And you're getting closer in this line and you can ask, well, who can be saved? And what is your conscience saying to you as you think on your own life?

[39:20] And maybe there is one called up next in the line. Someone maybe you knew as being untrustworthy, who didn't have a good reputation with men, but when he is set before the judge, he says nothing but points to Jesus, his Saviour, with tears in his face and he hears from the judge that you have believed with your heart and are justified.

[39:51] I know your heart, enter now your rest. And we could go on and we could paint different pictures of different people in this line, as we all kind of are.

[40:10] But the thing is, it's a matter of our hearts. You know, are our hearts in line with our conscience? how is our heart?

[40:23] Do our heart and conscience align with God's word? You know, this day that we imagined will come. It may not be as you imagine, but something similar.

[40:37] We will be judged. And believe it or not, we are technically lined up for it. People are passing before us.

[40:48] to be judged. We know not the heart of any man, but there is particular people that we know because of the fruits of their lives, that we can be sure to say of that they have fallen asleep in Christ Jesus.

[41:11] And it would be true of them people to say that they had given up building their own house, they had let the Lord to control of their life and let the Lord watch over it and protect their life.

[41:29] They gave up the vanities of their toil and waited on the Lord. They can say that they have not lacked anything.

[41:41] And under whose banner, in whose secure dwelling, their soul finds rest.

[41:56] Their sleep is sweet and they will be known to those who are left as having fallen asleep in Jesus because he called me his beloved.

[42:16] He loved me first. The judgment will be passed on each of us. How will you sleep tonight when you think of these things?

[42:32] What is your conscience saying to you as you close your eyes tonight? What is your place before the judge?

[42:48] But it's a matter of our hearts to live our lives led by the word of God, corrected and reassured as we walk our lives.

[43:04] Do our hearts cleave to the words of unless the Lord? Is a heart desire in that builder and that watchman to lead me?

[43:20] Do I give him the time of day or do I consume my time with the toil of the day?

[43:32] Do I vainly fall in line with the world working a way to satisfy ourselves?

[43:44] Or are we left with a voice of conscience that condemns us, that audits us for our lack of devotion, our obedience and our courage?

[44:03] Maybe we can say that yes, I have fallen in line with the world too easily. I know I do and sometimes my heart aches because I'm not devoted to God as I want to be.

[44:24] What does our conscience say before God? How is our conscience before God? God, is it like Daniel with a clear conscience?

[44:40] You know, it doesn't matter what it is before any of us here, before the elders, before the ministers. What is your heart and your conscience before God? God?

[44:52] And in a sense, we can say, well, you know, if I could, you know, it's not what I want.

[45:05] I can't live that life of perfection that I desire. But Jesus wants you to. Jesus will welcome you and Jesus can welcome you.

[45:24] Jesus will give you rest even though your life might not live up to your expectations.

[45:36] We must come to Jesus and trust in him to build our lives. He promises peace.

[45:49] He is the one that says to us in John 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give you, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

[46:10] that's Daniel's son, really, when he was thrown into the lion's den. I believe he would have had peace.

[46:26] That's just the Lord's will for him at that time and I believe he would have had peace because he fully trusted before God.

[46:37] He was blameless before God, his conscience was clear and so if that was the Lord's will for him, so be it. This was Daniel's song.

[46:51] Daniel was content in the crisis but Darius was convicted in his comforts. You know our preparations for judgment is a vital element to how we are before God.

[47:16] That's essential. You know, is there a crisis approaching for you tonight? God's God's gospel of Christ Jesus is your ultimate preparation for that final crisis.

[47:39] But in a sense then, it won't be a crisis for you. It may look like it, but death will have no sting for you.

[47:49] And the one who believes in Christ Jesus will put his name to that unless all glory is given to God.

[48:01] A clear conscience is a man's peace. A peaceful man is content and a content man has enjoyment. And when you have that, it will be certainly true that you can say, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

[48:27] Forever is promised and you shall find enjoyment through Christ Jesus. And that gives the believer a pillow like no other to rest upon.

[48:46] Sleep revives us. It restores us. It has many benefits for us. And the Christian has that in Christ.

[49:01] The Christian must also be mindful that we can be so easily left eating the bread of anxious toil if we do not spend our time with Jesus.

[49:16] Time and sleep for bodily renewal is as time with Jesus for spiritual renewal. Because we know the man who lacks physical sleep is slower in his actions and his thoughts.

[49:34] He is lacking energy for work and he can keep working, but he's not very efficient or effective in his work.

[49:47] But maybe more importantly is that the man who lacks sleep is more prone to make a mistake. We as Christians need to have our rest and restoration in Christ Jesus.

[50:06] we need to receive the benefits of sleep in a sense to our souls through time with our Saviour.

[50:18] Resting upon him as the builder and the watchman of our lives. The one who gives us peace and knowing the enjoyment of such a life.

[50:33] otherwise without the refreshment, the renewal, we may not understand the times as we should.

[50:45] We may not understand the Lord's word as we ought to, his voice as we should or would like to. We may not be effective in our Christian work, in our Christian lives, and we undoubtedly will be more prone to mistakes.

[51:05] See, time with Christ is vital to the Christian life. Sleep for the physical life, as sleep is for the physical life, time with Christ is for the Christian life.

[51:19] Time with Christ is precious to the Christian, as sleep is precious to the body. And so also for the Christian, it is for the church as a whole.

[51:33] Some might say the church feels tired. I'm not saying that the church should sleep no far from it, but likewise needs to rely upon the words of unless the Lord.

[51:52] The Lord will restore and revive us, personally, within us. that we come to spend our time with our Savior for that restoration, individually and collectively, and then the church will have the strength to restore us and revive us.

[52:21] He loves the church. if we would, we need to learn to rest upon him because we are not immune to being consumed in too much works as a church, weighting ourselves down in our toil, in our good impressions or good plans that we think are good.

[52:45] the heart of the church and our heart needs to be built and directed by the Lord Jesus Christ, by his word.

[52:57] We need to be refreshed and restored as sleep would restore the body. The church needs to be restored in Christ Jesus for that daily strength and that clear discernment of watching so that we do not make mistakes.

[53:24] I'm not saying that just because you're a Christian you'll sleep well at night, but you'll be prepared for what is ahead of you. Christ is the one who will be with you regardless of what is ahead.

[53:43] You know, Daniel probably did not sleep. Realistically, to sleep with lions prowling around you, you know, I'm not saying you'll sleep well, but you'll have a clear conscience.

[54:02] Your conscience will be rested before God. He is the one who will be with you and protect you. He'll be the watchman for you.

[54:14] He loves you and he wants you to come and enjoy the eternal rest that he has prepared. And the sleep, in a sense, is a resemblance of the heavenly rest that we will be given.

[54:31] But there's a warning in the passage as well that we can see. It is repeated to us the vanity of life without the Lord. You can see in chapter 2, it is vain that you rise up early.

[54:48] It is vain, in verse 1, it is vain that you try to build yourself. It is vain that you try to watch over. And all this vanity will feed you with anxiety.

[55:04] He says here, every effort without the Lord will come to no good. He is the effectiveness of our lives.

[55:15] He is life for us. He is the cause of our joy. He is the cause of our peace, our rest, and our sleep.

[55:29] So as you lay your head down tonight, how will you sleep? Are you trusting in the words of unless the Lord who builds, who watches?

[55:43] Is he your builder for your life? Is he your protector and watcher over your life? Will you sleep peacefully knowing that you are secured eternally, forever, in the Lord?

[56:00] Can you sign your name to unless the Lord? Is that truth to you tonight?

[56:15] He will give you a most reassured sleep. He will be watching over you. He tells you that you are his beloved, if we trust in him as our saviour.

[56:37] Jesus loves you. Though you will not when the world challenges us and we may face things like the lions den.

[57:00] What does our heart say? You know, these great challenges come before us as Christians. But we will have a clear conscience in these hardships.

[57:15] So are you a Daniel, relying on that God? Or are you a Darius, relying on your comforts?

[57:27] that give you anxieties? Are you trusting in these words unless the Lord? Have you found or seen the vanity of anxious toil?

[57:42] May we come to be known, each of us as beloved to the Lord. May these thoughts be blessed to us.

[57:53] us. I'll just say a short prayer. Father in heaven, we consider these things before you this night.

[58:04] And Lord, we pray that we would come honestly before you and truthfully before you with the condition of our hearts. And if we need you, may we bow the knee before you and confess that we need you in our lives.

[58:22] We need the Lord who is the great unless. The great demand of one way. The great demand of sure salvation of forever.

[58:37] Joy forever and peace forever. So go forth with us in the week. Watch us through the night hours. Be our guide and be our comfort.

[58:50] may we find comfort in your Savior. In these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen. If we can conclude our worship by singing in the Psalm 127 of the Scottish Psalter.

[59:10] Psalm 127 Scottish Psalter. That's on page 420. We'll sing the whole of this Psalm to God's please.

[59:43] Accept the Lord to build the house. And we'll stand to sing. accepting The Lord to fill the house, the builders to lose their pain, and set the Lord to send the King, the watchman watcheth me.

[60:25] Tis pain for you to rise behind, or live from rest to Thee, to Thee on sorrow's breath so gives, he is beyond the sweet.

[61:03] The Lord to fill the house, the Lord to fill the house, the Son so beautiful, as the Lord to fill the house, for strong men's hands be there.

[61:42] O happy is the Lord, the Lord to fill the house, the Son so beautiful, they are a shape, when in the gate shall speak unto their homes.

[62:20] Let us close with prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this time together. We pray that your Spirit would speak to us through our faltering words.

[62:33] Lord, be with us, remain with us. Be our watchman for the night hours and for the week ahead of us, and that we would give up building our own lives, and fall to the master builder, who will build us a sure foundation to be built upon, and an everlasting one of security, that will be unrivaled by anything that the world can offer.

[63:05] May we find comfort in your peace, in your security, in your household, and under you as our master.

[63:20] Be our Lord, be our saviour. Go forth with us as we part. Keep us in health and strength, and forgive us our sins, we pray. For Jesus' sake, amen.