[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and go with me to Psalm chapter 7. Every time a song is written, you'd kind of like to know where'd that song come from. And this is a song. It's written by David, attributed to David.
[0:14] And he sang it when he was being mistreated and abused by somebody out of the tribe of Benjamin, out of the tribe of Saul. We're not really sure who.
[0:25] I want you to imagine with me what it feels like to be falsely accused, what it feels like to be maligned, what it feels like for people to be slandering your character and spreading garbage about you.
[0:40] That's what's going on in the story. Then I want you to imagine David. Maybe he's in the cave and maybe he's hiding out. And he's pacing back and forth and he writes a song under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course.
[0:53] But he's going back and said, God, I need you. I can't deal with all this junk they're bringing on me. I can't handle it. It's a lie. They're not telling the truth. God, God, you know I didn't do it.
[1:07] God, you know I didn't do it. God, if I did it, you judge me. And then he says, but God, all the traps he's setting for me, they're coming to pass on him. And he ends the song in great victory.
[1:19] So I want to take you through just a little bit about the background that what we think might or what I think may be. The background, I'm going to give you two different ones. He's in desperate need of help. He's been falsely accused.
[1:29] Probably one of the better pictures of that is found in 2 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 5 and following. And that is when Absalom has taken over the throne.
[1:41] I don't really think this is when it happens, but it's a good picture of it. So Absalom is taking over the throne and as David goes out, he is the king. I mean, he's higher up than a president.
[1:54] He's not elected where you serve four years and hopefully get elected for four more years. He's not elected where there's a secret service that protects him. He's elected. He's not elected. God put him in place.
[2:05] And if you don't like him, he can take your head off and has been known to do such. Other kings have been known to kill people for bothering them. And he's on the way out of the city of Jerusalem and his son has taken over his kingdom.
[2:16] And his son is mocking him. And this Benjaminite, this son of Saul kind of guy comes out. At least he's aligned with Saul. His name is Shimei. And he comes out to David.
[2:28] As David walking along, he starts throwing rocks at David and all of David's soldiers. And he starts cursing them. And this is what he says in 2 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 5.
[2:38] He came out in verse 5 cursing as he came. And he threw rocks in verse 6 at David and all of David's servants that with him. And then he said, come out. Come out, you bloody man.
[2:49] You son of the devil. That's David he's talking about. And the Lord has returned upon thee the blood of the house of Saul. God's against you.
[3:00] God's punishing you. The Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom. You are taken in your mischief. You are a bloody man. I don't think that's really when this happens.
[3:12] I'm going to give you when I think it happens. But that's a perfect picture. I don't know. I don't know that I could have held the restraint that Paul had or saw David had as he's walking out through there.
[3:23] His two nephews are with him. They are mighty men of war. They are angry men. They're his sister's boys. They're the sons of Zerua. And when old Shimei started cussing, one of them reached and grabbed your sword and started pulling it out.
[3:35] And he's getting that sword up. And he says, I'll cut the head off that dog. Talks about my king like that. David said, just put up. Put up. I probably brought this on myself. I deserve it.
[3:47] That's an unreal attitude. But that's the David of that day. But I think more likely this story is based on 1 Samuel chapter 24. You'll find it again in 1 Samuel chapter 26.
[3:59] And David's hiding in the cave. And Saul has come to find him with 3,000 of his chosen soldiers. The best he's got. And in the story, Saul goes in the cave, whether to relieve himself or take a nap.
[4:14] It just says cover his feet. And David and his men happen to be in the cave. And so when he comes in, he doesn't have any idea. It's a large cave, a mammoth cave or something, like in Kentucky.
[4:24] And David and his men see him come in, and they just back up against the walls. And Saul comes in there to do whatever it is he's doing. And when he gets to doing whatever it is he's doing, David reaches up and cuts off part of his robe.
[4:37] So he can show him, I could have killed you if I wanted to. And he got under conviction. He said, I shouldn't have done that. He's God's man, and you shouldn't be lifting yourself up against God's man.
[4:48] You ought to respect the anointed of God, and I didn't do that. And so he steps out after Saul leaves, and Saul's out there with his men now, and he has no idea that he has been totally at the mercy of David and his men.
[5:01] And by the way, while he's in there, David's men are going, we'll kill him now. David's like, we don't do that. We don't do that. So David's under conviction. Saul steps out and Saul's, David steps out and holds up a chunk of robe.
[5:12] And he said, hey, check your robe. You got a hole in it. I'll just cut this off your robe. And then he said this. It sounds kind of like this psalm. In 1 Samuel 24, 9, David said to Saul, wherefore hearest thou men's words?
[5:25] Why do you listen to what people say? Behold, David seeks my heart. They tell you that I'm trying to hurt you. Well, the truth is, if you'll recall, what happened was David was alone keeping his sheep.
[5:39] He was not looking to be the king of Israel. And he's just keeping sheep. And when the man of God came down to pick the new king, David wasn't even at the house. David's daddy didn't even invite David to the house.
[5:55] And so Samuel is looking for the man to anoint. He looks at him and says, well, he's a good-looking kid. But man, God said, hey, none of these are the man. He said, well, do you not have another child?
[6:06] He said, yeah, I got one more. I didn't expect to bring him in. He said, well, you better call him. And he comes in. What's funny is he anoints David king. He pours oil on his head and says, that's from God.
[6:16] You are to be the next king. And when David gets through getting anointed, David said, okay, do you mind if I go back and take care of my sheep? They better be out there by themselves. I need to get out there on my sheep. What a weirdo. I mean, if I get anointed for king, I'm going to tell my brothers, bow down, finally.
[6:31] I might be the run of the litter, but now I'm the boss. You heard it. God just said it. That's not David. David goes back out to his sheep. And time goes by and he's now, he's playing the harp in David's kingdom or Saul's kingdom.
[6:44] And Saul's tried to kill him, throwing spears at him twice. And then he's had to run for his life because Saul knows that he can tell. He knows he did wrong. He knows he's going to lose his kingdom.
[6:55] And that means his boy won't be the king. And he wants his son to be king. He wants to pass on the kingdom. But he's already had the, he's already been told by Samuel, you're not going to be the king. And so he's chasing David.
[7:07] Because maybe if he could kill David, he could change what God's plan is. And so David says in 1 Samuel 24, 12, he hollers out to Saul, let God judge between me and you.
[7:21] And Lord avenge me of thee, but my hand shall not touch you. Saul, let God pick which one of us is supposed to be the man.
[7:31] So when we read the psalm, how do you deal with intense persecution or unfair accusations? David has been slandered.
[7:42] It's very difficult to fight slander. They want to destroy a person's good name and reputation by lying. Slander is one of Satan's favorite weapons.
[7:53] It's done in secret, usually behind the back of the victim. The more a slanderous charge is denied, the more it seems to be true. And the minds of those have been poisoned. But, and I'll just say to you before I get into the psalm, when you read the psalms, one of the things you want to watch for is we have an accuser of the brethren.
[8:10] And when David, a lot of times you're going to read David's psalms, and basically David in the psalms is going to like, kill them, God, kill them. And you say, we can't pray that.
[8:21] I can pray it, but not against you, not against people. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. And did you know some of you this morning, you're just on the verge of quitting on God.
[8:33] You're on the verge of being discouraged. And what you don't know is you're in a spiritual war, and as much as Saul is prowling with 3,000 men just outside the mouth of the cave, the devil is after you.
[8:44] And he wants to destroy you, and he's beating you down. And in your heart, you're like, I don't know if I can. I don't know if I'm made right. And the devil is accusing you and making you feel like you're a loser.
[8:55] And if you're not careful, the slander of the devil will take you away from doing God's will for your life. I don't even know if I ought to go to church. I don't even know if it has any value. I definitely can't be a missionary.
[9:06] I'll never learn the language. I'll never be the man of God. I'll never teach a Sunday school class. I'll never see anybody saved. All those are lies of the accuser. Could I get an amen? Hey, the God of heaven said you are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ.
[9:19] The God of heaven loves you no matter what. And by the way, they sang a song, Did You Pay Attention? He loves you more. Your sins are forgiven. They're under the blood of Jesus Christ.
[9:31] So I want you to go with me through this passage, if you would. How do we react when we are falsely accused? The number one way, we respond with complete faith and trust in God.
[9:44] Psalm 7-1 is a sermon all in its own for all of us. Look at it. Read it with me. And just say it in your mind. Oh, Lord, my God. When he got in trouble, he didn't call his soldiers.
[9:56] When he got in trouble, he didn't summon up his personal strength. When he got in trouble, he didn't consider his own characteristics. When he got in trouble, he said, there's only one place I can run to. Oh, Lord, my God.
[10:08] In thee, in you, do I put my trust. I'm not trusting in my friends. I'm not trusting in my family. I'm not trusting in my abilities. God, I need help.
[10:20] Look at it. Oh, Lord, my God. In thee, do I put my trust. God, save me from them that persecute me and deliver me.
[10:31] I can say to you today, and I don't know what anybody else in this room goes through, but, man, I seem to live in a battle. Not with people. Not with you. Not with anybody else.
[10:41] With my thoughts and my imagination and the junk that comes into my head. I mean, it can be like nobody loves you. Everybody hates you. You should go eat worms. That's what my kids used to sing.
[10:52] Amen? It's like if you're a Christian and you're trying to serve God, it's like there's all this junk going on in your head. If God loved me, I wouldn't be sick. If God loved me, I'd have more friends.
[11:02] If God loved me, that's not true. He loves you. Amen? And so what's happening in the passage of Scripture is David is under attack. Now, David's attack is a literal attack, but yours is a spiritual attack, and I'll try to show you that in a minute.
[11:16] We know that a faithless prayer is a worthless prayer. You should write that down. A faithless prayer is a worthless prayer. And David's, oh, God, in thee do I put my trust.
[11:30] We know we need God when we're falsely accused. When attacked, David goes to God in prayer. He doesn't take advantage of personal things. He trusts that God will avenge him.
[11:41] And what's really funny is at least two times he's in the cave, and at least two times Saul comes into the cave, and at least two times he and his men could have killed Saul, and he could have rescued himself.
[11:54] But he doesn't do it. By the way, when Saul throws the javelin at him, the spear at him, he could have grabbed the spear and thrown it back. He's already the anointed of God. But he said this, I'll not trust what I can do, and I'll not trust what my family and friends can do, and I'll not trust any of that.
[12:11] He killed a giant. What is Saul? Saul cowered in the face of the giant. But he says, I'll trust God. We're in a fight against Satan and spiritual wickedness.
[12:24] And we need to know that God is the only one who can rescue us. In Psalm chapter 7 and verse 2, the Bible said, he's talking about Saul coming after him, but if you can think of this, he will tear my soul like a lion.
[12:39] Rending it in pieces. I was in Harbin, China, and they took me to the tiger park.
[12:50] Big old, huge, humongous tigers like you had never seen. I mean, these are not in a zoo. They're just running in a field, and they load you in a bus, and the bus is like prisoner ready.
[13:01] You know, it's got mesh all around it. And you can pay for a piece of meat or a chicken or a lamb or a calf. And they drive you out there, and then a truck comes out.
[13:13] And they drive you out in the middle of these tigers. They're just milling around and all that. And here comes that truck. And, buddy, when that, when they got there, those guys, those Chinese fellows got up in the back of that truck, and they threw a lamb off.
[13:25] I saw his breakfast, and I heard him rip. It was horrendous. I think a lady would have been going, oh, man, people are just excited, man, watching that. David says, that's what the lion wants to do to me.
[13:37] That's what Saul wants to do to me. God tell you, that's what the devil wants to do to you. He wants to rip your marriage apart. He wants to rip your heart apart. He wants to tear your family apart. He is out to get you, and there is none to deliver.
[13:51] David said, I have no way out of here. Satan is a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. He prowls the room today.
[14:04] He looks at you and says, I'll take him out. I'll cause him to deny the faith. I'll cause him to walk away from Jesus. I'll destroy that marriage. And he seeks what he can do. We wrestle not against flesh and blood.
[14:15] Put Ephesians chapter 6 down there, starting about like verse 10 and go down below that. Spiritual wars are won by the Spirit of God, not an attack or defense of ourselves on the human stage.
[14:27] You and I are in a fight, and it's a battle every day. And most Christians won't admit this, but you were told to put on armor. You're supposed to get a helmet on your head. You're supposed to get a breastplate on. You're supposed to arm up with the Word of God, the sword.
[14:39] You're supposed to get a shield of faith. You're supposed to put shoes on your feet. We are in a war, and we take a stand for God. We can't honestly say, like David, that we're innocent, but we do it with the right attitude.
[14:53] Look at Psalm 7.3. Oh, Lord, my God. Now, if you've got your Bible, you ought to have a paper Bible there. Mark this, if there be any iniquity in my hand, if I have rewarded unto him that was in peace with me, yea, I have delivered him, that without cause is my enemy.
[15:08] So David says, now, God, God, I am not guilty. Now, you've got to understand what he's not guilty of. He's not guilty trying to kill Saul. He's not guilty trying to take the kingdom.
[15:20] He's not guilty of pushing Saul off the kingdom. It's not what he's doing. God did that. When Samuel grabbed Saul's robe and ripped it into pieces, that was God doing it.
[15:32] That was Samuel doing that, not David. And so now Saul's out there saying, I'm going to kill him. Because you see, when David was in Jerusalem, and David's doing the work, they're singing, Saul has killed his thousands, and David has killed his tens of thousands, and Saul's a jealous man.
[15:50] And Saul says, God, you know I didn't try to take his throne. You know I didn't do it. He's falsely accusing me, and I let him go when I had it in the power of my hand. I delivered him.
[16:01] He had no reason to be my enemy, but I delivered him. I didn't kill him. I didn't take advantage. David says, I claim innocence. Inaction, innocence, inattitude.
[16:14] David was willing for God to judge him and show him if there was sin. He said in verse 4, 3 and 4, he said, if, if, verse 5, he said, God, if it's true, let them tread down my life.
[16:29] God, if I did it, go ahead and let him kill me. I'll just pray now and say, God, if I'm guilty, just kill me. Lay my honor in the dust. David said, I'll submit.
[16:40] We trust God to work when we do right and still suffer. Did you know you can do right and still suffer? You can do right and be attacked and criticized and hated.
[16:54] You can do right and people not love you. In 1 Peter 4, verse 19, wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God. Canon's sitting here.
[17:06] Name on an arrest list in China. God, suffering for the will of God. Let him commit the keeping of their souls to him. And well doing. God, you take care of me.
[17:17] That's what, that's what David said. That's what he told Saul. He said, let's let God do the judging here. Let's let God figure out who did wrong here as unto a faithful creator. Did you know that when people attack us, I don't like any of the things I'm about to say?
[17:32] I don't really like it. But it's what the word of God says. So it's true. You know, I don't always like what's true. But in Matthew 5, 11, he said, I'm supposed to rejoice when people mistreat me. Praise the Lord.
[17:43] Y'all pick on me. Call me names. Insult me. Make fun of me preaching the word of God. That's okay. Matthew 5, 11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you.
[17:56] For my name's sake, for me, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward in heaven. For so persecute they the prophets. There is a right way to suffer.
[18:07] In 1 Peter 3, 13. Now, you know, we're not, as Christians, we ought not to suffer like thieves and liars and criminals. You know, you're in the jail and the guy says, well, I don't know why God put me in jail.
[18:18] Well, you got drunk. God didn't. Say, man. That's not the kind of suffering we're talking about. You did what was wrong. That's why. But in verse 13, he said, be followers of that which is good.
[18:29] If you suffer for righteousness sake, if you suffer for doing right, happy are you. You suffer for doing right. You lose your job because you witnessed to somebody.
[18:41] You lose your job because you took a stand for what was right. Be not afraid of their terror. Don't be troubled, but sanctify the Lord and be ready to give an answer for the hope which is in you with meekness and fear.
[18:53] Keep a good conscience. And when they speak evil of you and they shamefully accuse you, you just suffer for well-doing. Satan wants to use your suffering to pull you away from God.
[19:04] I need you to listen to this just a second. I am not talking about what do we do with suffering that we deserve? What do we do with suffering that we deserve? We confess and get it right and get it off the table.
[19:16] You know, if you're doing wrong, if you're walking down the road, if your son who's a year and a half old has a paperclip and you told him don't stick the paperclip in the plug-in and he sticks it in there, he got shocked.
[19:29] That's his fault. Well, and nowadays, you got to childproof the house to 12 foot and below. Amen? But in the old days, in the old days, you couldn't childproof everything back then.
[19:39] Nowadays, they got a way to childproof everything. But if you do wrong and you suffer for it, that's your problem. But do you know why? If you suffer for doing wrong, do you know why you suffer for doing wrong? So you'll get right.
[19:52] When you get slapped on the hand, you say, I was wrong, and you confess it to God and get it right. Say amen. And by the way, there's not a sin you can commit that will make God hate you. If you're a born-again believer, he forgives sin.
[20:05] You ought to say amen better than that. He forgives us. We have failed him. We've done what we shouldn't have done. But our sins can be forgiven and we can be restored. So if you suffer for doing wrong, then just get right.
[20:19] Just get right. Get your fanny spanked and climb up in daddy's lap and get a hug. Now say amen right there. Get a spanking and climb up in daddy's lap and get a hug.
[20:34] One of our friends, one of my friends, was telling me yesterday that his son, who's not four yet, went in a bedroom and he locked the door.
[20:46] And they were in the living room and they kept hearing, and they said, what's going on? I don't know. Must be the neighbor upstairs. And they said, well, you better go check. And they went in and checked and he put blankets on the floor.
[20:59] He climbing up on the bed and jumping on the blankets. And he'd been told not to do that. And then when dad tried to unlock the door, you know, use one of them things to unlock where he locked it, he put the lock back.
[21:09] And dad was doing it. And finally dad got in and he said, what are you doing? He said, he lied. So he is jumping, locking, and lying. And he got a spanking.
[21:23] But daddy still loves him. All he needed to do was get it right. Can I get an amen? But when you're doing right, sometimes you're teaching a Sunday school class and people aren't coming like they should and people don't pay attention like they should.
[21:36] Sometimes you're witnessing and people don't listen. And sometimes families make fun of you and hate you because you're trying to serve Jesus. When that happens, trust God. The gospel will separate us, but we go to God.
[21:52] Any true righteousness you have, though, is never yours. You see, in this verse, David said, I'm innocent. And he could say that about that one thing.
[22:03] But you can say that now. I used to read the book of Psalms and I'd say, man, I can't say that. David said, judge me according to my righteousness. I'd be like, don't do that with me. Just don't mess with my righteousness.
[22:16] Me and you both know it ain't worth judging. But I can say that now, can't I? Because I've been made a new creature. Old things are passed away and all things are become new.
[22:27] I do not stand before God in my righteousness, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus. Do you realize that the day you got saved, he cleansed you and made you whole?
[22:40] And even though you sinned after you got saved, he already covered that too. Are you living that way? If you're here this morning, you don't know for sure you're saved. You need to get saved. You need to get saved.
[22:51] And know your sins are forgiven and know Jesus saved you. You know from the Bible you're going to get a spanking, but that's okay. Now we got to hurry. Psalm chapter 7 and verse 6.
[23:02] What do we do? What should we ask for when we are falsely accused? Look at Psalm 7 and 6, what David said. This is so funny to me. David's like, he's trying to get me. And I got soldiers ready to cut his stinking head off.
[23:15] But here's what I need. Underline this in your Bible. Arise, O Lord. And you be mad. You don't like it when people do wrong, so get up. Lord, wake up.
[23:25] Stand up. Lift up yourself. Awake for me. I love this. You ought to know that. Awake for me. Lord, help me. David said, God, I need you to come in and do it for me. Now you can pray that.
[23:39] He calls on God to move on his behalf against his enemies. It was God who anointed him king. It was God. He needed to come and protect him. You belong to God. And when you're under attack, call on your father.
[23:53] Did you know sometimes, just listen to me, sometimes you just get plum pooty. You know, you're over sitting in your house and you're just sitting there going, I just don't know if anybody loves me. My life's terrible.
[24:05] Well, that ain't true. Come on, can I get an amen there? That's not true. That's the devil playing with your mind and you ought to have enough sense to say, I'm not letting you do that. I'm going to bring all my thoughts into captivity.
[24:17] But when that happens, you know what you're supposed to do? God, help me. Arise. Lift up yourself. Wake up. Come protect me. You belong to God.
[24:28] Ask God to work. By the way, when God helps you get over your mess, you know what happens? The saints rejoice. Look at Psalm 7-7.
[24:39] In Psalm 7-7, he says, So shall the congregation capacity about, and for their sakes return thou on high. You know what happens? In the middle of all that junk and David's getting whipped, David said, God, if you'll come down here, people will gather around you.
[24:52] God, save me for their sakes. They need to see that you take care of the man of God. And you are the man of God. You are the woman of God. And God takes care of you.
[25:03] David believed that the people would know he had been doing right. The people said he had a perfect attitude. The people knew. But how can good get trampled? And David says, come and help.
[25:14] And they'll know. David stands ready to be judged. In Psalm 7-8, the Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity.
[25:28] I need you to mark this down here. You can't say that if you're not born again. You can't say that if you know your sins aren't forgiven.
[25:39] But you can say that when you know my righteousness is his. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, he took my sin on him. And he made me the very righteousness of God.
[25:52] There's the verse. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God. Judge me according to my righteousness. Today, if you're a born again believer, the devil can't whip you.
[26:06] You're in Christ. You have victory. You should not be being beat up and put down. David says, God, I want you to judge sin. Chapter 7 and verse 9.
[26:16] I want all the wickedness of the wicked to come to the end. And God, I want you to stop all these wicked people on the junk they're doing. And I want you to establish the just. God, lift up the right people and take down the wrong people.
[26:27] He says, God, my defense is you. And he said, God, I know something about you. In verse 11, I know you hate wickedness. And you're angry with the way Saul's treating me. You're angry with Saul already.
[26:39] God is angry with the wicked every day. God will always do right. That's what you need to learn right now. God will always do right and he will stand for right. His judgment and deliverance may not come soon, but it will come.
[26:55] You might be a young boy named Joseph and you might be 13 years waiting on it, but God's coming. You might be David. It's like eight years, but God's coming. You might be like Moses and it's 40 years in the wilderness, but God's coming.
[27:10] He's going to work. God will always do right. You can trust God. You can trust his goodness. He stands ready to hear your prayer. Cry out.
[27:22] Stop being beat up. Stop being down in the dumps. I get it like that. And sometimes I just say, God, I got to have help here. Now, nobody hears me say that. It's all in here. But I get that way.
[27:34] I know y'all don't. You know, the battle is the Lord's. And through Jesus, we have victory. And here's what David ends the song with. I mean, so far, they're going that good.
[27:46] But David knows his enemies will be defeated through what God will do. Chapter 7, verse 14. Behold, Saul works with iniquity.
[27:58] He travaileth with iniquity. He does wrong stuff. By the way, that's what happens every time. If it ever comes into your mind, man, I don't know why God's messing up my life. Where in the world did that come from?
[28:09] That's wickedness. That's working with iniquity. And then he says that he has conceived mischief. He's just figuring out how to get me not to love God. And he lied.
[28:21] He brought forth falsehood. David said, you know, he dug a pit. I've noticed something, God. He dug a pit, but he fell into his own pit. Because I win. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us.
[28:32] Amen. He dug a pit and he fell into it. And everything he did wrong came to pass to him. You know that Saul will soon be dead. He'll fall on his own sword.
[28:44] And David believes with all of his heart that in the end, he will have victory. And he'll be praising God. On what I believe to be one of the darkest days of my life, I stood and preached that morning by faith, I will win in this too.
[29:01] And I did. Because you'll win. Not because of who you are, but because who you're in. We win because of who we're in. Psalm 717 says, I will praise the Lord.
[29:16] I love it. Would you underline that? I will praise him. I'm going to praise him. He's still, when he's writing a song, can you see him? He's still in the cave going, God, God, where are you?
[29:27] God, come. You know I didn't do it. God. Oh, God. God, come and help me. Well, I'll praise you. I know I'm going to win in this. You're good.
[29:39] Amen. That's what he said. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness. Not mine. I will sing praise in the name of the Lord Most High. His true victory will be because of God's righteousness.
[29:53] That's your victory. You're not good. He's good. We're not powerful. He's powerful. He will praise God because he knows it will be God that wins the victory.
[30:04] God's word will come true like it always does. You can know that you're going to go through trials. Everybody in this room is. You'll have hard times.
[30:15] Be deaths in the family, financial trials, family trials. But even in the trials, you are not alone. You hold on to the word of God. You trust God and you do right.
[30:27] All true lasting victory comes by and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do you know your sins are forgiven and that you're a new creature?
[30:39] Because if you don't know that, today's the day to know it. You need to be saved. You know that he hears and answers your prayers. Did you know that right now he is just sitting there waiting? Like, I love you.
[30:50] Just say the word. Come on. That's what the Bible says. Come on. Amen? Then let's pray. Will you boldly go to him in prayer, trusting that he will meet your needs?
[31:02] I was in a conference. I was in a conference. My ministry was in bad shape. I've made mistakes. I wasn't handling things right.
[31:13] I've been rude and ugly to people. And I was in a conference. And the guy preached on, come boldly to the throne of grace and time of need.
[31:25] And this guy who won't cry couldn't stop crying because I just started thinking. That's all I got. Come boldly. Come boldly. Come boldly to the throne of grace.
[31:36] I remember that. I'll never forget it. Come boldly. And this morning, I say to you, come boldly. Know the promise of God and expect him to fulfill them. Live in faith, trusting God.
[31:50] And avoid fear at all cost. Because, oh, Lord, my God, in thee do I put my trust. Save me.
[32:02] More than to persecute me. And deliver me.