I lie Down and Sleep

[0:00] reading that I'm glad you read it and not me. The 30 verses with some big words in there so that was very good. Thank you folks for inviting me to preach. It's been a long time. I think I preached from this pulpit about 15 years ago when I finished the work at Nidre. I didn't start my ministry in Nidre. I started in southeast London and then went to Northern Ireland and then went to Charlotte Chapel and then Derbyshire and then North London. I've done a loop and then I'm back up in my own country and it's nice to be back in Scotland. I must confess I'm enjoying the accents. We don't mind.

[0:35] I'm enjoying the Scottish accents and just the Scottish food and I've forgotten how Scottish Scotland is with all the flags and so forth. So it's nice to be back in with my own people. I must confess I'm really enjoying it although I really enjoyed my time in England. Most of my ministry nearly 30 years has been in England and I've thoroughly enjoyed that and I'll miss that. I'll miss that an awful lot. Let's come before God. Let's just ask for his help now as we come to his word. Let's just pray together. Our loving Father with your word open before us we pray that you would speak to us now. We thank you that as your children we are yours. We have been adopted into your family.

[1:12] We are objects of your affection. You've saved us Lord not just from hell but you've saved us for a relationship with yourself. And Father you know every head bowed here this morning. Their lives are laid bare before you. Lord you're working in their lives at all times. And Lord I don't know where they are spiritually whether their faith is strong or weak and none of us know Lord what lies ahead. But Father I pray that you would speak to us now from your word. May your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. May you speak to us give us ears to hear Lord what you're saying to us and may through my ministry this morning as I open up the word of God to them. May they be encouraged in their God and in their Savior Jesus Christ. So Father be to us all that we need at this time we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I'll try and work this wee gizmo. Does it work? Let me see. It'll come up.

[2:07] If my brother can work this. Can you work this thing? Anyway you can maybe use that or not. Lovely. Question. How well do you sleep? There's many things in life you might need a good job, good family, good friends. But as you go through life to sleep well. They say in life all you need is a good bed and a good job because you spend most of your time in those two places. A good bed or a good sleep is worth so much. And you can't underestimate a good sleep. As you get older, as I'm getting older I discover that sleep is sometimes quite elusive. Trying to get a good night's sleep. That can be for various reasons. If you get older, if you're a man, your prostate's playing up and you're up at the toilet a few times a night. If you're a woman, it might be the menopause and you lie there like a wee tower in inferno. Just kind of things are really and you're struggling. These are no laughing matters. They rob you of your sleep and you wake up miserable the next morning. I have two daughters. They're in their 20s and they could sleep in a washing line. Young folk can just sleep anywhere at any time.

[3:21] And a good night's rest is worth an awful lot. I don't know if it's any of those medical things. Maybe you're sore back. Maybe you need another bed. Whatever it is. Maybe it's noisy neighbours.

[3:32] If that's your problem, that's beyond the scope of this sermon. But I want to cure your insomnia from a spiritual perspective. Your lack of sleep can sometimes be attributed to your inability to rest in the Lord as much as you should. You're worried and troubled about many things. My wife and I are quite different. I can fall asleep very quickly, usually within two minutes. But if I wake up at three and four in the morning, all the troubles of that day descend upon us and I can't get back to sleep. Whereas when she takes a while to go to sleep, when she falls asleep, that's her to the next morning. We're different. But a good night's sleep, if you're not resting in the Lord, that will rob you of your sleep. You're worried. You're troubled. You're worried about what's happening or what might happen. And that's not a good thing. The Lord would not have us be awake in the midnight hours or whatever for that reason. So I want to try, in this passage that we read, to try and see how we might be able to know what it means to rest in the Lord on a daily basis. That's the topic of our sermon this morning.

[4:45] Trusting, resting in the Lord during the difficult times of life. And I'm not just talking about sleeping. It can be daydreaming during the day, just worried and troubled about many things.

[4:57] In the passage before us, the passage that Daniel read for us, this was a time in the life of David, a godly man who had a heart for God, when the wheels come off, big time. He's in his palace, everything's going well. He's writing songs. He's got his concubines. He's doing whatever.

[5:13] But then a member of his family, his son Absalom, decides to steal away the hearts of the people so that they no longer follow his father, but they follow him. And that would keep you awake. If you know the story of Absalom and David, David loved Absalom. When he eventually dies, he's heartbroken.

[5:36] That's a member of his family that's giving him grief. And if you're having trouble with members of your family or close friends, people problems, that will keep you awake. You will struggle. You'll think it's not right with my son or my daughter, my mother, my father, and so forth. And here is David's life, personal problem, family problem. And as his son arranges his conspiracy to steal away the hearts from his father. Not only that, as a result of this personal family problem, he is dethroned as king.

[6:18] He has to flee. We read this in the passage, verse 14. We must flee or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately or he will quickly move and overtake us and bring ruin on us.

[6:31] So this is having a big impact in his life. He's having to flee from his role as king and all his achievements and so forth mean nothing at this point and he has to dash away. And the end result was the last verse that Daniel read for us. Daniel continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and he was barefoot. This is not a highlight in David's life. There are many highlights, David and Goliath. This is not one of them. His soles and his boots, as it were, his life has been turned up unexpectedly, suddenly, and his whole, the wheels have come off big time. Not only that, through this sudden change, his life is at risk. Although he has some of his troops, he has to flee. He recognizes his life is in danger. Things have changed. Things have changed suddenly, not for the best. And he has to run. So here is a sad time, a very difficult time in David's life. Massive family problems, personal problems. His status as king has changed and been removed and his life is at risk. I wonder how you would feel if any of those things happened to you. A personal problem. It can be conflict. It can be whatever. Something from outside coming in and causing you sleepless nights or daydreaming during the day. Causing you unrest. Maybe status if you lost your job or all your achievements, all the things that you had a reputation, you were once somebody, people thought highly of you. And now you feel you're invisible. You're not as important as perhaps you once were. Your situation has changed. Perhaps even life. Maybe your life's under threat. In that sense, you've been to your GP or you don't know. How will you cope if you sit there and a test comes in and you have this wrong with you or that and it doesn't look good? And when change comes into your life, do you have a faith that can stand strong during those times? Now we left David weeping going up the mountain. Now you would understand if you spoke to David the next morning and said to him, David, how did you sleep? You'd forgive him if he says, nightmare. What are you expecting? Look at what I'm from. My son, I'm no longer king. My life's under threat. My life has really been turned upside down and I'm weeping going up the mountain. You would understand if he said that. But the good thing is you don't have to guess how he slept that night.

[9:18] So turn with me to Psalm 3. This is what I want to focus on in the moments that remain. The passage in 2 Samuel 15 is the background to Psalm 3. Psalm 3 is a great passage. Let me read this to you. It's quite a short psalm. Psalm 3. Here is a psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom. Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? Many are saying of me, God will not deliver him. But you, Lord, are a shield around me. My glory, the one who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep. I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord, deliver me, my God. Strike all my enemies on the jaw. Break the teeth of the wicked. For the Lord come, from the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Over the past, over a year, I've loved this psalm. I've dwelt in this psalm.

[10:34] I've lived in this psalm. People say you never know your Bible until it becomes part of your experience. You know verses. Many, I'm looking around, many of you are advanced in years and you will know your Bible well. If you were saved young, I'll guarantee there's hardly a verse in the scriptures that I can tell you that you don't already know. But how well do you really know your scriptures? So for the past year, I have dwelt in one verse in this psalm. And that I might make it real, that it might become real. I might not just know the verse. It's verse three. And it's this ability to sleep. So it's that.

[11:17] Now, it's this, you know, when sometimes you go to the gym and if you ever do a training thing, they'll say, you want to develop that muscle, that muscle. You need to work on these pieces of equipment. And you develop a program and you work on specific pieces of equipment that they work, you're able to work through them.

[11:35] As Christians, sometimes we come to Bible verses and we think, well, I'll have a wee dabble here and a dabble there. But to meditate and to go for the big verses. Rejoice in all things. I say again, rejoice. Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

[11:53] So these are big, these are verses to build your life around. If you know the reality of the big verses, and everything, give thanks for this is the will of God for you.

[12:04] These are life-changing verses. And verse three is a life-changing verse. It's more than just, I hope this comes across more than just a sermon. For me, it's been more than just a sermon. I've been, Lord, help me to know the reality of this. Because David here knows, I lie down and sleep. Verse five. I wake again because the Lord sustains me.

[12:29] How? Because of verse three. Verse three. You are my shield, my glory, the lifter of my head. So that's the sermon title that I've given. Here is someone who's trusting in the Lord. Now, how is he able to lie down and sleep? It's because of verse three. But you, O Lord. Now, what's actually happening here what's happening here is people are, he's going through a hard time, and people are beginning to question. Look at verse two. God will not deliver him. His faith is under threat. People are saying, he's lost, lost hope. There is no hope for this guy. But David says, but you, O Lord. And that is, that is the big thing. This is, the psalmists, or the commentators call this psalm, the morning psalm.

[13:30] Because you wake up in the morning, you have a good sleep, and you're ready to go. And that's why this is called the morning psalm. You've had a good night's sleep. I don't know about you, but I want that. I want that every day. I want a good night's sleep, and I'm ready to go every day. I don't like waking up before our sleep, and you're walking, you get to the afternoon, and you're taking black coffee to keep you awake, and your mind is racing a hundred mile an hour. I want to be able to sleep, resting in the Lord, knowing that all things are well. And I wake up with this morning psalm, because he sustains me. I want that to be the reality of my life. And I hope you want that as well. You want to be able to sleep well, but sleep and rest in the Lord, knowing that even during the night hours, and whatever comes, the Lord is in control. So let's look at this together. Three things. The first point's the longest, so don't think, wow, the first point's the longest. I'm going to miss the rugby, not only the French match, but if you get on at this, I'll miss the Ireland match as well. First point's the longest. The other two, boom, boom, will come very quickly. They're taken from verse 3. Verse 3 is where we're going. Good, I'm going to lose this. My brother's working this. The Lord is our shield.

[14:42] The Lord is our shield. As it says, people are beginning to slag him off, basically. God won't deliver him. He's on his own. He's on his lonesome. It's up to him to sort it out. He's going to fail because God is not there. His faith is under threat. So he has to reaffirm it. The psalm moves in confidence, and his ultimate deliverance is from the Lord. And the reason why, David, I'm going to give you the end of the sermon. The reason why David is able to sleep is because the Lord is his shield, his glory, and his hope. And when the Lord is your shield, and the Lord is your hope, and the Lord is your glory, you never lose them. You never lose them at any time. And that's how you can sleep at night.

[15:33] So the Lord is his shield. What does this mean? When the New Testament talks about battle and war, David's in a war, physical war. Folk change it, charge after him, with big pointy spears.

[15:46] It's physical. When the New Testament talks about battling, it's a spiritual battle. Every morning you wake up, you're in a spiritual battle. And I'm not just talking about the devil giving you a hard time. I'm talking about how you will live your life. Will you live your life trusting in the Lord, or will you live your life planning and organizing your life around your own capabilities, around your own mindset, your own personality? That is the spiritual battle you will face.

[16:16] Will you rely on you, or will you rely on the Lord? And that is the battle we face every single morning. And David does this, and he says he wants the Lord. The Lord is his shield. And I don't know with you, but I want that in life. I want protection from harm. I want to know that it's well, not just with my soul, but with my life. I want to know when I wake up, the Lord is in control.

[16:43] He's not falling asleep. He who keeps you neither slumbers nor sleeps. I want to sleep, but I can only do that because he neither slumbers nor sleeps, and he looks after me. I want to know that. And you want that in your life as well. You seek protection from all sorts of things. Poor health. You'll take multivitamins. You'll take the tablets. You'll want to be as healthy as you can. From financial hardship.

[17:09] You hope that your pension is going to be enough, and everything's going to work out okay. From conflict. And we try everything. We're hardwired to protect ourself. Everything in us says, John, you are going to have to protect yourself. It all depends on you. Now, if that is you, the way you live your life, you will come a cropper because there's only so much we can do. And we need to rely on the Lord to orchestrate things for us, to have his hand over us, that underneath his wing, he protects us, he leads us, and he guides us. There's nothing wrong wanting a shield, wanting protection.

[17:49] But if you rely on yourself, you will come a cropper. I wonder if you have a theology of suffering. It's interesting. A couple of weeks ago when I was here, Daniel mentioned the fact that he didn't believe in a God of chance, that things just do not happen by chance. Let me show you this next bit here. This is the Baptist Confession of Faith in chapter 5 in the providence of God. This is how God works in your life every day. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, in other words, God comes, he is the first cause of things in your life. All things come to pass immutably, which means God decides as the first cause, this is going to happen, it won't be changed, and it will certainly happen. Infallible. That's just God saying, I'm going to work in John's life, this is what I'm going to do, and it will surely happen. And we maybe acknowledge that God is a sovereign God, he's working in our life. That will cause you to sleep, okay, if you really believe that. But look at the second causes. He says nothing happens to us by chance or without his providence, his care. Yet by the same providence, he orders them to fall out according to the nature of second causes. Now, God works in your life according to the first cause, he decides, but he does it through second causes. Necessarily, freely, contingently. Necessarily, as he's putting into effect a law of physics and chemistry and science and so forth. So if you drive a car in the wrong side of the road, something will necessarily happen and so forth. And during COVID, if you went out without a mask and unprotected, certain things will happen. There are certain things won't necessarily happen. You get older. I'm 62. I don't know if my marathon running days are finished or whatever, I still feel fit.

[19:53] But as you get older, you begin to creak, your back gets sore, your aches and pains. That's things happening necessarily. That's God's will. That's how God works. He works through things that happen necessarily. Freely, as you go about your life, his will is done. As you operate freely, a bit like the man firing the arrow, the king was told he would die. He's not turned into a robot. He fires at random in the Old Testament. The arrow goes and God's will is done. He's acting freely. As you act freely, as you go about your life, as you wake up and you burn your toast and so forth, that's you acting freely. That's the will of God. God is a big God. He works through you acting freely and contingently.

[20:39] He will, if you do something, he will respond to that in a particular way. You don't need to stress about Wednesday and Thursday or Friday of this week. You just got on with living. The Lord is in control.

[20:53] He leads and guides. If you have that theology, you will sleep. But if you think it all depends on you and you're on your own and God is sleeping and you're awake, then you will struggle to sleep.

[21:07] And this is what you need to affirm in your mind as God is your refuge. That when things are happening, he sees, he knows, he allows things to happen. When you stub your toe, whatever that might be, when you lose your job, all these things happen. Things do not happen to us by chance. It's very easy in the Christian life when things go pear-shaped to exclude God. I've been a pastor now for 30 years and I often visit people pastorally and they tell you their woes, which is great. It's nice. It's a great privilege when people say, I'm really struggling, pastor. This is the problem. And when they've been talking to you about 10 or 15 minutes, at some point you do want them to turn around and say, but God, but God is in this. Despite a feel like this and despite I'm weeping, despite the hardship of this, God is in control. He, none of this has caught him by surprise. He's working according to second causes. But it's sad to say it doesn't always come. It's just a pity party and you think you need to bring the scriptures and say, you need to think this way. You need to realize that God is in control of all these things. You need to be able to blame God. I remember years ago listening to a sermon and it really struck me. It was a young couple that were trying for a family for many years.

[22:33] She became pregnant and she miscarried. And the pastor had just arrived from his holidays and he put his bag in the hall, got a phone call. This had happened. And he went to see this young couple and the girl was sitting up in bed, tense as could be. And the verse he shared with her was Genesis 50, where Joseph says to his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

[23:01] And it was the aspect about God meant it. That God is in this, whatever happened. And he says, and her shoulders just dropped and the tension went out her body because God was in it. And he says, if you cannot blame God, you cannot trust God. And when we go through a hard time, we tend to exclude God. God's not there. This is nothing to do with God. This is bad. This is this person giving me grief and they need to sort themselves out and so forth. Whereas if you can say, this person has given me grief, but God is in this, this situation. And that's exactly what David does. You remember later on in 2 Samuel 16, Shammai comes to him and starts throwing stones at him. Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel, you have come to ruin. And he's basically giving them grief. Just what David needs at a time like this, somebody bending his ear. And what does David say? You remember Abishai decides, what does he say? He says this, why should this dead dog curse my Lord, the King? Let me go over and cut his head off. But very subtle. I don't know if somebody's giving you grief and you want somebody to cut their head off. But sometimes we are like this, Lord, sort them out, sort this out. What is happening here? And we got all stressed. And David says to him, he says, look, basically my own son and flesh and blood are trying to kill me. He says, how much more this Benjamite, leave him alone.

[24:33] For the Lord has told him to. He involves the Lord. He brings the Lord into the situation and says, God is in this. God is in the hardship, the difficulties that are coming my way. It may be that the Lord will look on my misery and restore me instead of this blessing today. That requires great humility. Great humility. Lord, I don't like what's happening and it seems to be getting worse.

[25:01] But Lord, you are in this. You are in this. And then he says, if I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see his dwelling place again. But if he says, I am not pleased with you, then I am ready. Let him do whatever seems good to him. That's quite something to be able to say that when the wheels are coming off. To say, let God do to me as he pleases. He can restore me or whatever.

[25:32] The difficult parts of our life are under God's control. What does it mean to live the Christian life? Does it mean we go through life with silver slippers? Not at all. Paul, in this very center, of ministry, in the very center of the will of God, says this. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that his all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. Note the words he used. At the center of the will of God, you can be hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. Do you have a theology as a Christian that includes that?

[26:19] Because that is the reality of the Christian life. You can be perplexed. Lord, I don't get it. I don't understand. But in the midst of those four all-embracing things, you're not crushed. You're not in despair.

[26:34] You're never abandoned, and you're not destroyed. Does that not thrill you? If you were a good, rampant, charismatic church, you'd be saying, amen, brother. David would be saying, amen. He'd be saying, I agree with you, Paul. That's it. When others are saying there is no God, yeah, this is hard, and I'm weeping, but Lord, I'm not crushed. You've not abandoned me. You are still very much at the center of my life. John Piper, great quote by John Piper, well-known quote, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life at once, and you might be aware of three. I like that. It makes me laugh every time.

[27:16] Lord, these three things, oh, they're freaking me out, but the Lord is already in your tomorrows. You exist here in time and space. You are here in, what's this, February the 26th at half past 11 in this place. That's where you exist. God is already in the 27th, in the 28th, in the 30th. He is ahead of you. He's always ahead of you, and he's everywhere. You exist in time and space. He does not, and this is the God that we serve. He is our refuge, and he lay down and sleep because the Lord is a shield. If the Lord is your shield, as I presented it here, you will sleep, and I wake. I still wake. I must confess. I've been looking at this passage for about 14 months, and even last night when I woke up at four o'clock and things began to come into my mind, trivial things, just rubbish. I'm trying to fit my bathroom and my kitchen, and suddenly I'm plastering the bathroom at four o'clock in my mind and wondering if it's all going to go pear-shaped, and I'm saying,

[28:22] Lord, I just give it over to you. I surrender it to you. You're my shield. I reaffirm it. I have to reaffirm this all the time. I'm off my head. I'm 30 years a pastor, and I still can't get the basics right, and you're saying, Lord, help me in this. May I trust my life into your hands as shield.

[28:44] Secondly, very quickly, glory. The Lord is his glory. He says here, Lord, you are my shield. You are my glory. David's glory was not in his position as king. If that was the most important thing to him, he'd be boo-hoo, crying his eyes out. I used to be king. I used to win battles. I used to play on the harp. I used to have concubines. I used to be famous. Women used to write songs about me and sing to me.

[29:10] He's a great guy. I've lost all that. Woe is me. He would have said that if that was his glory, glory, but his glory was not his achievements, it was not his status. His glory was God, and when God is your glory, when the best thing about you is not your salvation, it is the fact that God is your father. He is your glory. You never lose that. You will never lose that to the day you die, but it has to be real. You have to glory in him. You have to be able to say, like the other psalmist of old who says, there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. If your glory is your health, or your achievements, or your reputation, or your children, or your husband, or your wife, when these things go, your glory will go, and they will surely go. They will change, but if God is your glory, and your glory in him, that will never change at any time. And for David, the kingship was not what it was all about. It was, he was the glory. I wonder if you can truly say this. It's not family, friends, children, job, status, none of these things. They will change if God is your glory.

[30:29] You won't get this in a sermon. This is a lifelong walk with God. This is not only reading daily, thrilling at the word of God, praying, talk. God talks to you through the word. You talk to him through prayer. You're saved for a relationship. Experience God. Experience him taking you through the difficult times. Look back in your life and say, I was in hospital. This prayer was answered.

[30:53] That prayer was answered. Walk with God. It's real. We're not playing at this. He's a real God. We have a real savior. I'm in Hebrews just now in my quiet time, as well as Leviticus, which is a bit heavy duty.

[31:05] But I'm in Hebrews, and I'm loving it. I'm loving just the priesthood of Christ compared to Moses and Aaron, and they all died, and their ministry came to an end. And Jesus' ministry goes on. He ever lives to make intercession for you. Ever lives. Monday morning. Glory in him. Glory in him. Love him.

[31:28] Get to know him. Walk with him daily. There are no shortcuts to that. Walk with him. Then you can say, the Lord has helped me. There is nothing I desire on earth besides him. I wonder if you can say that.

[31:42] I've got two daughters. I love my daughters. I would die for my daughters. But can I say that I desire the Lord more than my children? That's quite something. Quite something. If we can say those type of things.

[31:54] is the Lord your glory. Is Jesus the best thing about you? The fact that you have him. Not just eternal life. You have Jesus. Thirdly, and with this we'll finish. The Lord is his hope. In the midst of this, in the midst of tears and crying and hardship and people giving him grief, but you, Lord, there is a shield about me, my glory, the lifter of my head. I was at the EMA conference in London during the summer there, and they were looking at various prayers of Mary, but one, I remember them focusing on the prayer of Hannah. If you know your Bible, Hannah was getting grief from her husband's other wife who had children, and she couldn't have children, and she just kept taunting him the whole time.

[32:46] You can't have children, and it made her life a misery. She was crying when she went up to Jerusalem and so forth, and accused of being drunk and all sorts of things, and her life was just very unpleasant, and then she prayed, and then the Lord decided to open her womb, and she had a child, and then her prayer, she basically says this. In the EMA conference in London, all these pastors, the weak expression was used, God is the God of reversals. He can change your situation like that.

[33:23] He can do that. Even after years of hardship and difficulty, he can come in this life and change it, and that was her prayer. The Lord brings death and makes alive. He brings down to the grave. He raises up.

[33:35] The Lord sends poverty and wealth. He humbles and he exalts. God can do all of these things. He can, if you're proud and exalted, he can bring you down. If you're humble, he can raise you up.

[33:48] If you feel dead, he can make you alive. This is the God we serve. This is where our hope lies, and that's what David is saying. He lifts my head. It might be that he will restore him as king, or it might just say that in the midst of this, he will cause him to lift his head.

[34:05] It's a great picture. I've got a habit of, if I walk along Princess Street, you could walk past me. That used to happen when I was in Charlotte Chapel, folk would. I've got a habit of walking like that.

[34:16] I tend to look at the cracks in the pavement. I don't know why. Maybe my countenance, just you're just down. Maybe some people are like that. Some people walk about with their head held high. I walk about just staring at the pavement, wondering if I'm going to trip or fall, or worried about the day I haven't seen, and so forth. And it might be that the Lord will change your situation and restore him back to king, or restore you back to where you were before. Or he may just cause you to rejoice in the situation.

[34:47] As I thought about that, the lifter of my head. There are various ways to lift somebody's head. You know, if you're ever speaking to somebody, and they're just going, well, it's bad, and the weather's rubbish, and this, that, and the other. And sometimes you just go with one finger, and you just go, it doesn't take much just to lift their head and go, cheer up. The Lord is with you.

[35:05] The Lord cares for you. Others, you need four fingers. It's kind of, we've got more work done here. Others, you have to grab them by the ears and rotate their head and say, listen to me, look at me.

[35:18] You're not listening. You're not looking. The Lord knows where it will take to encourage you, in the midnight hours, whether it's one finger, four fingers, ten fingers, saying, you've been walking me for 20 years, and you don't know what it means to rest in me and to walk with me. You know the verses. You don't know the reality of it. And the reason I know you don't know is because you're not sleeping, because you're worried and troubled about many things during the day and at night. May the Lord help us to know what it means to arise. I lie down and sleep because he sustains me, because we know him as our shield. He is our glory. He is the lifter of our head. May we know these things as we walk with him day by day, not just this week, but for the rest of our life. Live in Psalm 3.

[36:13] I commend it to you. Let's stand and we'll sing our closing song. I don't know what it is. Our brother, the musicians have chosen this. I'll hand it back to them. We'll sing this and then I'll close in prayer.