WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.160 Psalm 57 this morning, please. Psalm 57. Or if you prefer the 57th Psalm. Either way works. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:15.500 I appreciated that special. I do. I appreciate the singing. I appreciate the willingness. 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:24.440 I appreciated the meaning behind the song. I'm always in a danger when we come back to this 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:30.400 area because as most of you, or some of you, or okay, whoever just cared to remember my testimony 00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:36.640 may know, my wife and I grew up over in Shenandoah, which is only about 90 miles from here. 00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:43.680 And we were living here in Lincoln actually just a few months before we got saved. And if you go down 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:54.420 to, I believe it's 56th and A, there is a park on the southeast corner of that intersection. 00:00:54.439 --> 00:01:04.519 And in that park is a tree. And under that tree, I sat and I tried to commit suicide. My life was a 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:14.180 mess. Sin had twisted it, had hurt it, had ruined it. At least I thought at that point. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:24.200 But God in His mercy and in His grace allowed me to survive that. And it was a serious attempt. I was 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:30.320 not just trying to get attention. A lot of times people will do that just to get attention, to get 00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:34.299 somebody to pay attention, and they're not serious about what they're doing. This was a serious attempt. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:42.540 And God in His mercy allowed me to survive that. And just a few months later, led us to a church 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:48.920 where we heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the very first time in my life, I heard a clear 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:55.159 presentation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ at 24 years old in America, having grown up in the 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:04.079 Midwest. So don't tell me that everybody in America heard. It is not so. And it seems to me that even 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:10.479 since then, it has become more and more so as we become less and less churched, and as we become less 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:17.199 less and less Christian as a nation, there are people out there who need to be reached, and they 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:22.060 are the most unlikely people you might think. They're the people that might intimidate you. I will get to 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:30.219 my outline here in a minute. Really, I will. When I was reached, I had hair. It was, and not that I, I didn't 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:38.500 just have hair. I had long hair. I was a woolly booger. I tell my kids when I, when they were growing up, 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:42.680 I would tease my kids. I would tell them, you know why I look like this is because I had long hair when 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:49.639 I was young, and you only get so much, and I used all mine up. I was, I was rough. I wore all, I wore my 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:59.219 entire wardrobe consisted of jeans of various conditions and black rock and roll t-shirts. If 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:05.759 you came to the house, there would be loud music pounding away. It was the kind of place then that I was 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.879 the kind of person that if you came up and knocked on the door to try to witness to me, you would probably be a 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:18.239 little bit intimidated or probably think, oh, this guy, he's a hard rocker. He's a drinker. I can, I can tell 00:03:18.239 --> 00:03:24.819 already. He came to the door with a Budweiser in his hand. He's not going to listen, and all the time inside, I was 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:32.560 screaming, please help me. Oh, your, your family special got me wound up. Please help me. The Lord reached down, and he 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:38.659 changed my life, and he changed our family, and he has set me on the path that he has set me on, and I am so 00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:47.319 happy that he has, and I praise him for what he has done in our lives, and I praise him also that he has 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:53.060 allowed me to make friends such as I have here. Thank you very much for allowing us to be with you this 00:03:53.060 --> 00:04:00.620 morning. I told you I'd get to my outline, Psalm 57 this morning. If you're at Psalm 57, and you're able, would 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:06.700 you join me in standing to your feet, please, this morning for the reading of God's Word? Psalm 57, 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:13.140 starting in verse number one, the Bible says, Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me, for my 00:04:13.140 --> 00:04:20.220 soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:27.939 be overpassed. I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:35.800 from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:44.100 his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:52.680 sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the 00:04:52.680 --> 00:05:01.720 heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:09.740 digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. Verse number seven is our text for the 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:20.620 morning's message, though we'll finish reading the rest of the psalm. My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:30.259 and give praise. Awake up, my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp. I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:37.959 among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:45.740 unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. Let's pray 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:52.079 together this morning. Father, we thank you so much for allowing us to come together here. Lord, we thank 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:57.259 you so much for the four part of the service. Lord, for the singing, for the congregational singing, for 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:02.079 the special. Lord, I thank you for the blessings we've already enjoyed this morning. And now, Lord, 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:06.720 I pray that you would bless in the preaching of your word. Holy Spirit, that you would fill me, that you 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:12.379 would use me, that you would control my mind and my words, that you would move amongst the seats here 00:06:12.379 --> 00:06:17.399 this morning, that you would speak to hearts directly. Lord, that you would strengthen us in 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:22.800 you, that you would comfort us in you, that you would challenge us. Father, we pray together, especially 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:29.159 if there's anyone here who does not know you as their personal Savior and does not know the joy of 00:06:29.159 --> 00:06:34.279 sins forgiven. Father, we pray that today would be the day that they accept you as their personal Savior. 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:41.500 And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. David is writing in this psalm, as he wrote, 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:48.639 so many of the psalms, looking back on his life. And in verse number seven, he uses a phrase and a word 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:54.160 that we don't commonly use, perhaps, in this particular kind of context. He said to the Lord, 00:06:54.259 --> 00:07:02.420 my heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. Now, usually, when we use the word fixed in everyday 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:09.819 conversation nowadays, we mean as in to repair something, to make something that was not working 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:16.740 or that was broken, to set it right again. I work for a refrigeration service company. People call 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:22.279 us up. We send out the technicians. And the technicians find out what the problem is with 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:29.420 their equipment. And they pay them to fix it, to make it. It's not working. We're going to make it 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:34.060 work again. Now, they do not send me to do this because they know exactly how good I am at fixing 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:40.879 things. It is not pretty when I try to fix stuff. It never goes well. We had a problem with the 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:47.579 toilet just the other week. And I had to replace something inside the tank. And to replace it, 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:52.560 I had to take the tank off the back, off the toilet entirely. And I told my wife, we went to Ace 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:58.980 Hardware. We picked up the parts. I told my wife, it should take us about an hour. Seven o'clock that 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:05.280 evening, after much trial and tribulation, after trying to get this chubby body around in the 00:08:05.280 --> 00:08:11.060 different positions needed to get to all the bolts in the toilet and such, seven o'clock in the evening, 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:17.060 I finally got that stupid thing all the way back together without leaks. I had it back together 00:08:17.060 --> 00:08:22.939 within an hour. I did the first time. But you know what? Usually when you have your toilet and you 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:28.420 flush it, you do not want water running on the floor. This is generally not considered well. So this is 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:33.639 why my company does not send me out to fix things, to repair things, because they want it done. They 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:38.500 want it done right. They want it done quickly. But that's not what David is talking here all about 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:43.420 here, though there is application. There is application for that use of the word, because 00:08:43.420 --> 00:08:49.560 does not the Lord, when he saves us, does not he fix what's wrong with us? Doesn't he start working 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:54.320 on us and changing us? Part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God in a believer's life 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:59.900 is to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. The Bible says to conform us to the image of his son, 00:09:00.280 --> 00:09:06.300 meaning the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, what God is doing in a believer's life all through 00:09:06.300 --> 00:09:13.260 their lives after they accept him as their personal savior, God is fixing us. He's working to repair 00:09:13.260 --> 00:09:19.600 what's wrong with us. And it's a lifelong thing. We are never going to be entirely what we should be 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.139 down here. And personally, I believe it's going to be an eternity long thing, because we're never 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:30.460 going to be completely and totally like the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is unique. He is God incarnate. 00:09:30.680 --> 00:09:35.980 He is God the Son. There is no one like him. So no matter how close we get to being like him, 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:42.060 we are ever able to grow more and more and more and more and more like him. And that excites me 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:50.079 entirely. It excites me to the to my marrow to think that I get to spend eternity learning about 00:09:50.079 --> 00:09:56.379 him and growing closer to him and becoming more and more and more like him. Because to tell you the 00:09:56.379 --> 00:10:02.039 absolute truth, there's still an awful lot about me I don't like. And I don't mean just the face. 00:10:03.719 --> 00:10:07.619 There's a lot about me I don't like. And I love the fact that the Holy Spirit of God 00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:14.100 not only saved me, but forgave me. And he is sanctifying me. He is making me more and more 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:17.320 like Christ. And if you're a believer, you're here this morning and you've accepted the Lord 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:23.379 Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He is doing that for you also. And the more that we yield to 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:27.919 him and the more that we allow him to do that, the more he works in us to become like Christ, 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:35.100 to make us like Christ. But that's not the way David is using the word in this psalm. In this psalm, 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:45.759 that word fixed means to be settled, established, firm, fast, if you will, stable. As it were a fixed 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:53.540 point, a fixed point of reference. My heart is fixed. I am stable. I have made up my mind. This 00:10:53.540 --> 00:10:59.420 would be the opposite of what James is talking about. In James chapter 1 verse number 8, a double-minded 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:07.059 man is unstable in all his ways. Do you know why a lot of folks and even believers are unstable in 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:16.319 their lives? It's because our hearts are not fixed. We are trying our hardest to say we're a Christian 00:11:16.319 --> 00:11:24.860 and to perhaps walk some with God, but at the same time, we want the world. We want the things of the 00:11:24.860 --> 00:11:30.360 world. We want the toys of the world. We want the, you know, the devil succeeds so often, so easily in 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:35.800 our lives just by saying, hey, look at the shiny little thing. Look at the shiny little object. 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:41.320 Doesn't this look pretty? Doesn't this look nice? And all of a sudden, instead of over here walking 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:46.899 with God, we're over there walking after the world and doing what the devil wants us to do. Oh, we're saved. 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:53.819 Now, remember, just because a person is saved, just because a person's sins are forgiven does not mean 00:11:53.819 --> 00:12:01.459 they're perfect. We can still mess up. We can still fall. That's why John wrote John 1, John 1, 9. If we 00:12:01.459 --> 00:12:06.039 confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:10.679 because even as a Christian, we're going to mess up and we need to go to the Lord and say, Lord, 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:17.599 I'm sorry, I fell for the shiny object. I fell for the distraction. I let the world get in front of 00:12:17.599 --> 00:12:23.419 my face. Please cleanse me. Please forgive me for that and help me to walk with you. But how much 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:29.120 better would it be instead of falling for the shiny object that we stay over here to begin with, 00:12:29.839 --> 00:12:39.259 that we determine my heart is fixed. It is set. It is stable. Instead of being unstable in all my ways, 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:44.679 instead of being double minded, pardon the world, pardon God, sometimes here, sometimes there, 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:53.419 sometimes hot, sometimes cold. Instead of that, my heart is fixed. My heart is fixed on God. If you'll 00:12:53.419 --> 00:13:02.899 notice in all this, in all this Psalm, 11 verses long of this Psalm, God is mentioned eight out of 11 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:08.840 of the verses. When David's talking about my heart is fixed, he's not just talking about I am 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:13.259 determined to have, be a person of character. Is that not a one? That's a wonderful thing. 00:13:13.800 --> 00:13:18.680 We should be determined to be people of character. He's not talking about I'm determined to be 00:13:18.680 --> 00:13:24.320 intelligent. That's, this is not a bad thing. My heart is fixed on gaining intelligence and gaining 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:29.600 knowledge. That's, that's not a bad thing. But that's not what David's talking about. He's talking, 00:13:29.800 --> 00:13:34.160 not talking about character. He's not talking about intelligence. He is not talking about any other 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:42.319 character attribute that we could talk about. He is talking about my heart is fixed on God. He is my 00:13:42.319 --> 00:13:52.039 goal. He is my target. He is everything to me. Jesus is all the world to me, as the song says. That is 00:13:52.039 --> 00:14:00.759 what my heart is fixed upon. And because I'm fixed upon him, I am fixed upon the things that he wants in 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:07.240 my life. I'm not worried about what's going on around me. I'm not worried about the things that 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:13.240 I have to face. Psalm 112, verse number seven says, he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:20.120 is fixed. Trusting in the Lord. Instead of being distracted, instead of being back and forth, 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:26.080 we are fixed. And we are fixed not just on things that are transitory, things that are here and gone, 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:31.720 not certainly not fixed on things of the world. But our heart, our intellect, our will, 00:14:32.680 --> 00:14:39.200 everything about us is concentrated on God. We bring God into every part of our life. 00:14:39.920 --> 00:14:46.520 You know, society really doesn't have a problem so much with the person who's religious. 00:14:47.520 --> 00:14:51.759 With the person who, oh, you go to church on Sunday morning, you do your little duty, 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:56.860 you do your religious rites, you know, you do this, such. But man, do you have to bring it into 00:14:56.860 --> 00:15:04.580 work on Monday? Yes, I do. Because my heart is fixed. My heart isn't just fixed on Sunday morning 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:09.439 when I'm sitting in church. My heart is fixed Monday morning when I walk into church. And my heart is 00:15:09.439 --> 00:15:15.399 fixed on Tuesday evening when I'm spending time with my family. And my heart is fixed on a Saturday or 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.879 a Friday night when I'm trying desperately to see if the Huskers are going to let me down again or not. 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:25.340 I don't want to get sidetracked. I really don't. Friday hurt. But my heart, my heart's not fixed on 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:31.740 the Huskers, though. My heart is fixed on God. Now, there are people whose heart is fixed on sports 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:37.159 or their heart is fixed on entertainment. Oh, they have to have their their heart is fixed on their 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:45.720 leisure time. I have to have my time. Our heart is to as Christians, our hearts are to be fixed on God, 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:54.320 to be concentrated on, to be stable in God. He is to be the desire of our hearts. 00:15:55.379 --> 00:16:00.200 And our heart is to be fixed in spite of certain things. Because as I've already mentioned, 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:04.540 the devil is going to bring distraction into our lives and the devil is going to bring temptation 00:16:04.540 --> 00:16:10.420 into our lives. But David tells us in this psalm that our heart is to be fixed in spite of 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:16.959 afflictions. Notice in verse number one, he cries out unto God, be merciful unto me, O God, 00:16:17.319 --> 00:16:23.399 be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:30.539 until these calamities be overpassed. David, when he was penning this psalm or when he was thinking 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:38.719 back to the circumstances that birthed this psalm, was remembering the calamities that he was having 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:45.879 in his life, if you will, the afflictions, the hard times, the difficulty, the pain that he was going 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:52.860 through at the time that this psalm was birthed in. And even though he was having difficulties, he said, 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:59.000 I'm, when he got down to verse number seven, he said, my heart is set on you. It does not matter the hard 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:06.000 times I'm going through. Because quite frankly, everybody has hard times. You know, sometimes if we're not 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:11.539 careful, it's easy to look at certain people and say, well, they don't know what it's like. 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:19.460 You know, they've got plenty of money. They don't know what it's like. Man, must be nice to have a 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:27.660 house like that. They don't know what it's like. Wow, must be nice to be able to afford a car like that. 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:33.160 You're making some assumptions. We're making some assumptions there. Number one, we're assuming that 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.880 material things and the things that we can see are what makes a person happy. And that is a false 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:42.560 assumption. And number two, when you say, must be nice to be able to afford that, you're making the 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:51.100 assumption that they can afford it. This is not always the case. You know, it's easy for us to get 00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:58.759 bound up looking at somebody else and saying, wow, they're family. They're perfect. But all we see is 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:04.440 what's on the outside. All we see is the face people put up, the image that they put forth in 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:09.299 the public or wherever they may happen to be. The truth of the matter, the absolute bottom line 00:18:09.299 --> 00:18:15.619 truth of the matter is everybody has afflictions. Everybody has calamities. Everybody has hard times. 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:20.920 And you can put whatever you want to put in there. I'm having a hard time with my finances. I'm having 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:26.579 a hard time with my family. I'm having a hard time emotionally. I'm having a hard time at work. I'm having 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:32.919 a hard time because I don't have work. Just on and on and on and on. But whatever it is, we need to 00:18:32.919 --> 00:18:38.899 realize we're going to have these hard times. And we need to resolve that my heart is going to be fixed 00:18:38.899 --> 00:18:45.720 in spite of afflictions. No matter where this road of life leads me. No matter the trials and 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:52.639 tribulations that come into my path. Because remember, Jesus did say in this world, ye shall have 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:57.800 tribulation. Jesus never promised us that we weren't going to have a good time. But he said, 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:05.080 be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. 00:19:05.280 --> 00:19:10.200 We're going to have afflictions, but we need to keep our hearts fixed on God because that is where we 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:15.120 will find our strength, our comfort, our wisdom, our guidance, everything that we need in the midst 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:21.099 of affliction. Not the fact that we don't have affliction, but we have the resources to get us 00:19:21.099 --> 00:19:26.759 through the affliction. David tells us that our hearts need to be fixed in spite of afflictions. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:35.699 He also tells us that our hearts need to be fixed in spite of adversaries. Notice verse number three. 00:19:36.339 --> 00:19:42.359 He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:48.539 David knew what it was like to have enemies. Notice, if you will, the title of the psalm. In most 00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:54.139 Bibles, you're going to have the Psalm 57 in bold print, and then you're going to have probably in 00:19:54.139 --> 00:20:00.899 italics what is the title of this psalm. It has a couple of words that it says, to the chief musician, 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.119 and then a couple of words that nobody really knows how to pronounce. So we're going to skip over those. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:14.839 of David when he fled from Saul in the cave. Now this is going to be either in 1 Samuel 22 probably, 00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:21.399 or in 1 Samuel chapter 24. In both of those times, David was taking refuge from Saul or encountered 00:20:21.399 --> 00:20:30.019 Saul in a cave. If you'll remember the story of David, David was actually anointed to be Israel's 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:35.460 second king. But Saul, the first king of Israel, became intensely jealous. Even though David did 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:42.180 not try to take over, he didn't try to depose Saul. Matter of fact, he was very, very respectful of Saul. 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:47.859 If you read 1 Samuel 24, which I just mentioned, you'll see that David was actually very respectful 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:54.799 of that man, Saul, and very respectful of his authority. Yet nevertheless, Saul hated David. He was 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:02.879 insanely jealous of David. He hunted him. He literally hunted him. He literally wanted to kill him. I mean, 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:09.220 we've heard people fussing and fighting and just saying, man, I'm going to kill you. And they don't 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:15.359 mean it. Okay, nowadays, maybe they do a little bit more than they used to. But you know, the couple of 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:21.460 brothers and sisters are fussing, man, I'm just going to kill you. They don't mean it. Saul meant it. 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:28.640 Saul tried more than once. David knew what it was like to have an enemy. David knew what it was like 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:34.720 to have an adversary, somebody who was set against him. Now, most of us probably do not know what it's 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:40.140 like to have somebody that would like to kill us. And as long as I don't go back to Kansas, I should be 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:50.759 okay. That was a joke. That was. I can go to Kansas. Mississippi, well, that's a... No. Most of us 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:56.119 don't know what David experienced here. But most of us do know what it's like to have people who don't 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:02.460 like us. Most of us do know what it's like to have people who don't like what we stand for. 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:09.420 Matter of fact, I can just about guarantee you that if you do have your heart fixed on God and you are 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:15.440 living for God, that you are going to encounter people who don't like you for no other reason than 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:24.279 the fact that you are trying to live for God. That's just the way that the world is. And in spite... 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.860 And sometimes it can be discouraging. Sometimes it can be disheartening and it can be difficult. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:36.480 It can. But if our heart is fixed on God, we're going to realize that these people are adversaries 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.900 that are raging against us. They think that they are one thing, but the truth of the matter is, 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:45.400 as we keep our hearts fixed on God, we come to the realization that they are nothing more than 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:52.540 puppets under the control, under the spiritual control of the devil himself. And he is using 00:22:52.540 --> 00:22:58.980 them to attack us. And instead of becoming angry or becoming hateful, we will actually have pity 00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:05.580 on the people who stand against us. We will have pity on the people who treat us unkindly. 00:23:05.579 --> 00:23:12.839 We will pray for them that they would know the joy of having God as their Savior, that they would 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:19.779 be able to break loose of the snares of the devil and be saved themselves because we see the truth of 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:26.859 the matter. Because our heart is not fixed on them. Our heart is not fixed on their behavior. Our heart is 00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:33.980 not even fixed on our hurt. Our heart is fixed on God. David tells us that our heart should be fixed 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:40.660 on God in spite of afflictions, in spite of adversaries, and in verse number four, in spite of 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:48.200 accusations. My soul is among lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:57.200 whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. If no one has lied about you yet, 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:05.660 you probably haven't been around very long. If somebody hasn't misunderstood something about you. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:12.779 If somebody hasn't misapplied something to you. If someone hasn't gossiped about you. 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:20.360 And heaven forbid that we, sitting in this room, are among that number that gossip. Heaven forbid that we 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:26.740 among this room are among that number that use our tongue unkindly about other Christians, about other 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:35.959 believers, or for that matter, about anybody. People are going to say things. I wish I could say it 00:24:35.959 --> 00:24:41.779 differently. I wish I could say that they weren't. But people are going to say things. And sometimes those 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:48.059 things are unkind. Sometimes they are cutting. Sometimes they are downright cruel. And if we allow 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:54.980 ourselves, we will focus on the hurt. We will focus on the injustice of it. Well, brother Scott, you don't 00:24:54.980 --> 00:25:00.279 understand. It's just not fair. I understand. And I agree. It's not fair. But brother Scott, it's just 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:10.000 not right. I understand. And I agree. It's not right. I agree. But who are we fixed on? Are we back fixed on 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:17.159 them? Are we back fixed on ourselves? Are we back fixed on the injustice of it? Or is our heart fixed on God 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:23.320 where I'm going to just let them say what they want? Let them accuse me of whatever they want? 00:25:24.080 --> 00:25:31.519 Let them lie about me. Let them slander me. God knows. You know, that's where we need to seek our 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:39.060 validation. There's a word for you. There's where we need to seek our affirmation. There's a word the 00:25:39.060 --> 00:25:45.540 world likes a lot nowadays, doesn't it? Affirmation. We need to seek our affirmation from the Lord. We need 00:25:45.539 --> 00:25:52.240 to seek our vindication from God. We need to keep our hearts fixed on God. When all the world may be 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:59.019 gossiping about us, we can look up and say, God, thou knowest. Thou knowest that my heart is right 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:04.539 with you. Thou knowest that I am living for you. Thou knowest that they are lying against me, that their 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:09.859 teeth are sharp, that their tongues are sharp, that they are cutting against me. But Lord, you know, 00:26:09.859 --> 00:26:15.679 and my heart is fixed on you because if we're not careful, these sort of things will draw us away 00:26:15.679 --> 00:26:21.259 from God. We will focus on the hurt. We will focus on the injustice. We will focus on the people. And 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:28.199 before you know it, we are drawn away from God because our heart is not fixed in the way it is 00:26:28.199 --> 00:26:36.099 supposed to be. Say, well, how is our heart supposed to be fixed? Our heart is supposed to be fixed not just 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:42.639 in spite of something, but our hearts are supposed to be fixed to do some things. Our heart is to be 00:26:42.639 --> 00:26:49.619 fixed to pray. Our heart is to be settled on God, to be set on God, to be steadfast on God, so that we 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:56.639 can turn to Him at any time in prayer. Notice verse number two. David says, I will cry unto God most high, 00:26:56.719 --> 00:27:04.019 unto God that performeth all things for me. And notice that that is sandwiched in between the 00:27:04.019 --> 00:27:10.680 calamities in verse number one and the reproach of Him that would swallow me up in verse number three. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:17.579 In spite of these things, or maybe even because of these things, David says, I will call unto God. 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:24.460 I will cry unto God. Why is he turning to God in the midst of calamities and in the midst of persecutions? 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:30.920 He's crying unto God because that's where his heart is. That's where his heart is fixed. He is not to be 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:39.580 drawn away by the distractions. Very real distractions and very real pain. In his distress, 00:27:40.300 --> 00:27:49.279 he does not draw in. He does not draw back. He does not cower and hide, but rather he turns to God and 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:55.779 cries out to God in prayer. Our heart is to be fixed to pray. Not only that, but our heart is to be fixed 00:27:55.779 --> 00:28:03.220 to praise. Again, in verse number seven. My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing and give 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:10.619 praise. Awake, my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp. I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:18.399 among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations. This seems an odd response to persecution 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:25.480 and to troubles and to calamities. And yet, because he has turned to God in prayer, he is able, and his 00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:32.120 heart is fixed on God, he is able to praise God, even though at this time, in the midst, in the events 00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:37.759 that this psalm is writing about, at this time, he had not been delivered. This is not a psalm in the 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.259 events of the psalm. This is not a psalm for the praising, for the deliverance of the calamities, 00:28:42.259 --> 00:28:47.420 or the praising for the deliverance from his enemies. This is praising God in the midst. 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:56.240 Praising God when the storm is raging around him, yet he praises God. His voice is raised in praise of 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:02.319 God, even though nothing has changed. You say, well, when God works for me, then I'll praise him. Well, 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:09.000 that's a wonderful thing, but that's not sufficient. Well, when I see God answer prayer, I'll praise him, 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:15.779 and we should. I agree entirely. When we hear, when we see God answer prayer, that is very praiseworthy. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:22.779 That is something we should lift up in praise to God. But we should always praise God before he answers 00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:27.799 prayer, before the afflictions are gone, because sometimes the afflictions don't go away. 00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:37.920 There are two stories about swarms in the New Testament. The first story is Jesus and his 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:44.420 disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Storm comes up. Jesus is sleeping in the back of the ship. 00:29:44.779 --> 00:29:53.180 The disciples, the apostles, are just frantic. Master, cares thou not that we perish? And what's Jesus do? 00:29:54.360 --> 00:29:59.860 Gets up, rebukes them for their lack of faith, speaks to the storm, says, peace, be still. 00:30:00.860 --> 00:30:07.120 And the storm is gone. And sometimes a storm enters our life, and that's what God does for us, isn't it? 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:13.160 And praise God for that. In the book of Acts, though, you read about the Apostle Paul. 00:30:14.140 --> 00:30:19.840 The Apostle Paul is stuck in a storm, and it is a raging storm. It is a storm that went on for many, 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:27.880 many days, till all hope that they should survive was taken away. I mean, the experienced sailors, 00:30:28.060 --> 00:30:33.779 everybody on the boat just gave up. They had not seen the sun nor stars for many days. They had thrown 00:30:33.779 --> 00:30:39.720 everything they could throw out of the ship to lighten the load to keep on going. God came to 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:44.960 Paul, and he said, and he reassured him that he would be delivered from that, and not only he himself, 00:30:45.139 --> 00:30:50.000 but everyone on the ship. But you remember how, if you're familiar with the story, you remember how he 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:57.000 was saved. It was not the fact that the storm went away. It was the fact that the ship broke to pieces, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:06.279 and they swam to shore on pieces of the boat. The storm was not taken away. Sometimes God 00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:11.660 takes away the storm. Sometimes God brings you through the storm. 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:17.700 Sometimes the affliction is not going to go away, and if you wait to praise God till the time the 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:24.640 affliction goes away, you're not going to praise God. Sometimes. So that's a downer, Brother Scott. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:28.080 No, that's a wonderful thing, because in the midst of the storm, God is with us. In the midst of that 00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:34.060 storm that Paul was in, God appeared to him, spoke to him, comforted him, strengthened him. That is a 00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:39.759 wonderful thing to know. In the midst of our storms, Jesus is there with us. I will never leave thee 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:46.599 nor forsake thee. It's not just for the sun's shiny days. It's not just for the times we see prayer 00:31:46.599 --> 00:31:51.940 answered. I will never leave thee or forsake thee. It's a tremendous thing to cling to when the storm 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:57.059 clouds are dark, and the wind is blowing, and the lightning is flashing. That's a tremendous promise. 00:31:57.460 --> 00:32:03.079 Not only is our heart to be fixed to pray, and our heart is fixed to praise, but our heart should be 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:09.500 fixed to prevail. Notice in verse number three, he shall send from heaven and save me. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:15.480 From the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. That means stop and think about that for a 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:24.279 while. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. David stood firm in the fact that he was 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:30.480 going to be delivered, that he, that God was going to work to David's good. You say, well, Brother Scott, 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:35.440 you just told me that not every storm God takes away, that sometimes he brings you through. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:42.279 is not bringing through deliverance the same as taking away? Is not strengthening you to be able 00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:52.640 to stand it deliverance? Is not God's grace sufficient regardless? Is not, is it not the fact that God is 00:32:52.640 --> 00:33:00.860 with us? Is that not sufficient? God will deliver us. Say, well, Brother Scott, I've been sick for a long 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:05.919 time. I've been hurting for a long time. Brother Scott, I know people who were sick and then they 00:33:05.919 --> 00:33:15.839 passed away. Yes, you're right. God didn't deliver them. If they were a Christian, you're wrong. 00:33:17.419 --> 00:33:24.819 You know, we, we call, we call it healing when we get up and we walk out of the hospital, don't we? 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:32.599 We call it healing when we get a good report from the doctor, don't we? And we praise God for it and 00:33:32.599 --> 00:33:37.879 we should, and it is healing and we should praise God for that. But when God finally looks at us and 00:33:37.879 --> 00:33:43.200 says, okay, it's enough. Come on home. You know, I've been with you this whole time and now I want you 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:56.580 with me. Even at the best, this body hurts. On the best day, I ache. On the best day, I have to pop 00:33:56.580 --> 00:34:05.680 pills. And I don't mean non-prescription. I mean the ones the doctor gives me. If your hair is the same 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:11.440 color as my beard, you understand what I'm talking about. And there's going to come a day where my 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:26.240 redeemed soul is in a redeemed body. No more pain, no more aches, no more pills, no more afflictions. 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:32.679 And I don't know what a doctor is going to do for the millennium and eternity. They are just going 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:39.579 to be out of jobs and it's going to be wonderful. When he calls a Christian home, is that not healing? 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:50.360 Is that not deliverance? Is that not in the midst of our sorrow? And we should be sorry. We should 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:57.460 grieve. It's okay. But in the midst of that, is that not something to praise God for when a Christian 00:34:57.460 --> 00:35:07.079 goes home? Oh, my friend, our hearts should be fixed on God. Our hearts should be fixed on His love for us. 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:15.079 Our hearts should be fixed on His return for us. Our hearts should be fixed on our going to be with Him. 00:35:16.199 --> 00:35:22.119 Always our hearts should be fixed on God so that we can get through the affliction, so that we can face 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:29.920 down the adversary, so that we can answer the accusations and we will praise and pray and prevail 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:48.680 in Him. But our hearts must be fixed. My heart is fixed. Oh, God, my heart is fixed. Is your heart fixed on God this morning? 00:35:48.679 --> 00:36:05.019 Let's pray together this morning. Every head bowed. Every eye closed. No one looking around. If you're able this morning, would you join me in standing to your feet, please? Just a couple questions and then we'll have a time of invitation. 00:36:05.019 --> 00:36:10.420 Is there anyone here would say, Brother Scott, you spoke to start this whole thing off. You spoke about 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:15.079 God saving you and changing you, how the Lord worked in your life, 00:36:15.579 --> 00:36:20.920 how He saved you. Brother Scott, I don't know for sure that I'm saved. 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:25.739 I do not know for sure if something was to happen to me today, I'd be going to heaven. 00:36:26.059 --> 00:36:30.940 But I sure would like to. Please pray for me. If that's you this morning, would you just hold up your hand right now? 00:36:30.940 --> 00:36:37.500 Everybody's heads bowed and eyes closed except mine. I promise I won't come rushing down to you and I will not call you out. 00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:41.700 But if you're here like that this morning, if you raise your hand, I promise I will pray for you. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:46.559 Is there anyone like that here this morning? All right. Second question. And for this, you don't need to raise your hand. 00:36:47.619 --> 00:36:51.940 Did the Holy Spirit speak to you this morning through the preaching of God's word? If he did, 00:36:52.619 --> 00:36:57.420 I'm going to pray. And after I pray, the music will begin to play and we'll have a time of invitation. 00:36:57.420 --> 00:37:03.380 If you want to come forward and kneel at the altar, if you want to make an altar out of where you're standing or at your seat, that's fine. 00:37:03.619 --> 00:37:09.619 But if God is dealing with you, now is the time to respond. Not to push him away, certainly not to tell him no. 00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:11.900 But now is the time to respond. 00:37:11.900 --> 00:37:29.039 We'll see you next time.