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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] We're going to have everyone find their seats and grab their song books and turn to page number 310. We're going to start the service off singing Footprints of Jesus. Find your seats and grab your song books and turn to page number 310, Footprints of Jesus. That's page number 310. Page number 310, Footprints of Jesus. Let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse. See, Lord, how we heard Thee calling, come calling, sing And we'll see where Thy footprints falling Lead us to be The footprints of Jesus that make the path we go We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go You guys are singing good. Make them sing a little bit better. This is a song and it's a little peppy, so make sure you sing it out. Make sure you sing it out with some excitement. Page 310 on the second. Though they wait o'er the cool, dark mountain sea They will shear For of all Thy slow and spount intense Help we now exhale in The footprints of Jesus that make the path we go We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go Please pretend on the third. If they wait o'er the temple We preach in the world For in the hands of the poor and lowly We'll make a home For the footprints of Jesus that make the path we go We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go Let's finish it out on the last page. 310 on the last. Then at last when on high He sees us while our journey dies We will rest where the steps of Jesus then and is come For the footprints of Jesus that make the path we go We will follow the steps of Jesus where they go Amen. Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church in the Wednesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this church, Lord. Thank you for these people who will come out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you. I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord, and I pray that you would bless the service and the preaching to come. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, turn in your song books. Page number 246. We're going to sing another big song, Redeemed. Page 246. Redeemed. That's page 246. And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first verse. We do not have to proclaim Every day by the blood of the lamb Redeem theinger with mercy His child and whoever I am Redeem, redeem Redeem by the blood of the lamb Redeem, redeem His child and whoever I am Page 246. 246 let's sing it out on the second Redeem This job and forever I am I think of my blessed Redeemer I think of him all the day long I sing for I did not leave silent His love is the theme of my song Redeem, redeem Redeem by the power of the Lamb Redeem, redeem His child and forever I am Let's sing it out on the last page 246 on the last I know I shall see in his beauty The King in whose light he might The King before him I could sing And give open songs in the night Sing it out Redeem, redeem Redeem by the power of the Lamb Redeem, redeem His child and forever I am Amen, great singing Amen, and we want to welcome you to the midweek service here at Verde Baptist Church. We're so glad that you are with us. Let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, you can raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Acts 20 35, I've showed you all things, how that's so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And that's a good verse there. We'd like to hear from you. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. And we do invite you to be with us for church on Sunday morning on the Lord's day. Of course, we have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And we're glad that you are here for the Wednesday evening Bible study. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday morning is at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m. So you're of course invited to come to any of those and all of those. If you look at our Bible study, you'll see that we have a lot of and So there's our Bible study this Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.. And we do invite you to be with us for church on Sunday morning on the Lord's day. Of course, we have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And we're glad that you are here for the Wednesday evening Bible study. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday morning is at 10 a.m. then we have additional zoning times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m. so you're of course invited to come to any of those and all of those if you look at the announcements and upcoming events of course this Sunday is our vision offering and we hope that you'll be you'll be in prayer and that you have been thinking about the vision offering you should have one of these inserts there in your bulletin and of course it lists the different things that we're raising money for to support our missions work in the Philippines for the work on the church property and financial goals and then of course your opportunities to be able to bring a one-time gift or make a commitment in one of the three months of April May and June so we hope that you'll just be thinking about this and be ready to participate on Sunday for the vision offering and then there's other announcements here we want you to just be aware of there's a bowling youth activity on Friday March 28 that's for the teenagers and that is at 3 p.m. and that is not this Friday but next Friday the information is there all the teens will be paid for not including siblings and including one parent so just be aware of that and then also we have a family fun night coming up on Sunday March 30th it's not this Sunday but next Sunday and one of my kids that the memory verse is Ephesians 6 verses 1 & 2 and then we had the biblical leadership institute last night that went well and choir practice there's practice at 5 p.m. on Sunday and they're practicing for Easter and then also tomorrow is PE for the homeschool group so just make a note of that at 10 a.m. and then there's other things there of course for you to look at if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March this week we had miss a Gianna's birthday on March 16th Noah Mendoza had a birthday on March 16th Caleb would quiz I had a birthday on March 17th and today is Madison Madison Pendleton's birthday March 19th and Valentina Zuniga's birthday March 19th so happy birthday to both of them and then praise report money matters all of those things are there for you to look at and I do have a baptism certificate to hand out so let me go ahead and read this quickly this evening this certificate of baptism is awarded to Caleb or Quiza in recognition of his baptism on the 16th day of March of the year 2025 presented by Verity Baptist Church and has the verse Roman 6-4 therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we should walk in units of life and we have pictures here for Caleb to remember the day of his baptism and let's go ahead and give Caleb a round of applause amen and we actually have a baptism lined up tonight as well so I have a baptism after the preaching service as well I think that's it for all the announcements so let's go and take our song books and we're gonna go to page number 73 as we prepare to receive the offering evening page number 73 we're gonna sing some golden daybreak receive the offering page number 73 sing now Oh page number 73 singing out on the second Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Amen good singing before the guys come up just a quick reminder to please make sure you turn your cell phones off replace them on silent during the service that they're not a distraction to anybody and we'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time let's go ahead in our heads and have a word of prayer and we father Lord we do love you we thank you for lying us together together tonight Lord we pray that you bless the offering to give from the giver we ask that you would bless the time set aside for prayer and the time to decide for preaching and Lord we pray that you would meet with us tonight in Jesus name we pray amen you you you you you you you amen all right well that's going to take our prayer sheets tonight we'll go through our prayer list if you did not receive a prayer sheet on your way in please raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you if you need a prayer sheet just put your hand up and we will get one for you of course want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card there's a place for you to write down a request make sure you mark whether it's private or public if it's private only I will see it if it's public we'll put on the prayer ship you don't market and we'll do our best to figure it out we usually don't add those we do add them in the order that they are received and they are removed after a couple of weeks so if you'd like for it to be there longer you have to fill out another communication card and we're gonna get to take these requests to Lord I'm gonna pray out loud I'm gonna ask that you would bow your head and pray with me and pray in your heart in your mind let's pray together Heavenly Father Lord we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family and we begin with these requests regarding help Lord we pray for Alex Rosales who's praying for his niece asked me that she would have a successful surgery also miss Amy Hill praying for her son's caregiver for the health of her son's caregiver and also miss Tamara praying for the health of Ruben Gonzalez miss Midori praying that she can get carpal tunnel surgery for her wrist pain and brother Warren praying for the health of the siblings brother Mike DiPasquale also praying for his lifelong friend who's in hospice and doesn't have very much time to live and praying that you would heal there Lord and that you would be with the family we pray miss Kate also praying for complete healing and Anthony and Rita praying for their infant son Virgil as he receives treatment for complications due to premature birth miss Christine Ortiz praying for her health for the Salvador praying for his health miss Maria Kudalima praying for successful surgery on her spine on April 2nd miss Docma praying for relief for her pain for the agribus Selena continuing to pray for your at seeing Jonathan and we continue to pray for our missionary Dave couple Talas wife miss angel as she is being treated for breast cancer and Lord we pray for all of these individuals we ask Lord that you would give them strength and health we pray Lord that you would heal them if it's your will Lord we ask that you give wisdom to the doctors the nurses dealing with them we also pray Lord for the ladies in our church that are expecting miss Antonina miss Katie miss Adriana miss Masha miss Mars miss melody miss Ariel asking that you give them all healthy pregnancies and healthy deliveries with no issues no no complications or do we pray that you'd be with them and then Lord we also pray for these that have requests regarding their walk with you Julie Gerber praying for Lord's wisdom and guidance and her life brother one praying not only for siblings health but also for their walk with the Lord Luz Tarikas praying for a walk with the Lord and miss Christine praying for her faith and Salvador for his faith walk with you as well Lord we pray that you'd strengthen these individuals spiritually that you'd help them you give them wisdom that you'd help them to walk with you we also pray Lord for these that have physical needs financial needs miss tomorrow praying for her husband's new job prospects and Evan Smith praying for his work schedule to improve so that I can make it to more church services for the Warren praying for his siblings finances as well brother Ryan Gibbs praying for potential neighbors to move into the house next door that is for sale and that they'd be good neighbors and friendly and safe and miss Christine praying for finances for Salvador for finances and work as well Lord we pray that you would answer these prayer requests we pray that you'd be with these individuals and that you open these doors then Lord we pray for these that are praying for salvation as well brother Warren praying for the salvation of his co-workers and Anthony excuse me miss Christine praying for her family salvation and miss Maria praying for Roma and Schuyler salvation the staff were praying for her daughter and her family's salvation and again Lord we pray that your Holy Spirit would work in the lives of these individuals Lord we pray that you would soften their hearts and that you would allow soul water to communicate the gospel clearly to these people that they might be saved and then Lord we also just want to acknowledge a praise report not only is brother Mike praying for his friend who's in hospice but we also want to celebrate the fact that brother Mike was able to go there and get him saved last night and Lord we thank you for that and we understand his time is short and he might pass soon but we at least have the confidence and comfort that he is saved now Lord and we thank you for that we thank you for the mic being willing to give it also to his friend Lord and we thank you for all that worked out we pray Lord that you just continue to work on the family and help them Lord during this time use this time to draw them closer to you then Lord we pray for those that have requests regarding their families brother Salvador having a request for his family and what we prayed bless and help with that and we pray for these that have unspoken requests miss Michelle Scott brother Luis Mendoza miss Brittany my dad brother Felix brother Nate all having unspoken requests miss Kate having an unspoken request for the Salvador miss dogma having unspoken requests the Lord you know what their petitions are you know what they're asking for Lord we pray that you would answer according to your will that you would help them then Lord we pray for our church here in Sacramento we pray for the work that's being done here and abroad we pray for the missions work in the Philippines for our missionary Dave Kabuntala and his family in Cebu for pastor Stuckey and his family in Manila and Pampanga and be cool at locations there Lord we pray that you would bless these locations we asked for the upcoming vision offering this Sunday Lord that you would bless that you would work through us Lord that you would open our hearts to be willing to give and participate Lord we pray for the Easter services coming up that you would bless that weekend as well Lord we ask that you'd meet with us tonight as we take a portion of scripture instead of the Bible together Lord I pray that you would help us help us to learn help us to apply things to our lives in Jesus name we pray amen please open up to Psalm 31 Psalm 31 if you need a Bible please raise your hand and unless you're bringing a Bible Psalm 31 just keep your hand up bless you all come by Psalm 31 Psalm 31 being a verse number one in thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be ashamed deliver me and I righteousness bow down that ear to me deliver me speedily be that my strong rock for an house of defense to save me for thou art my rock in my fortress therefore thy name's sake lead me and guide me pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me for thou art my strength into thine hand I commit my spirit now to redeem me Oh Lord God of truth I've hated them that were that regard lying vanities but I trust in the Lord I'll be glad to rejoice in thy mercy for that was considered my trouble now it's known my soul and adversities it has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy now set my feet in a large room have mercy upon me Oh Lord prime in trouble when I is consumed with grief he my soul and my belly for my life is spent with grief and my years with sign my strength faithless because of mine iniquity and my bones are consumed I was our approach among all mine enemies but especially among my neighbors and a fear to mine acquaintance they that did see me without without fled from me and forgotten as a dead man out of mind I am like a broken vessel I have heard the slander of many fear was on every side while they took counsel together against me they devised to take away my life but I trusted in thee Oh Lord I said thou art my God my times are in thy hand deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them to persecute me make thy face to shine upon thy servant save me for thy mercy's sake let me not be ashamed Oh Lord for I have called upon thee let the wicked be ashamed and let them be silent in the grave but the lying lips be put to silence which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous Oh how great is thy goodness which thou has laid up for them that fear thee which thou has wrought for them to trust in thee before the sons of men thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men thou shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues blessed be the Lord for he had showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city for I said in my haste I am cut off from before then and before then eyes nevertheless though the hurt is the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee Oh love the Lord all you saints the Lord preserveth the faithful and plenty is for what plentiful he rewarded the proud doer be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart all ye that hope in the Lord let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for this evening God I thank you for our church and for your word as you please give us all a tender heart to the message tonight and ask me their pastor please strengthen him and fill him with your spirit we love you in Jesus name pray amen amen all right we're there in Psalm 31 and of course on Wednesday nights we've been making our way through the book of Psalms and we find ourselves tonight the 31st week in Psalm and Psalm 31 and it's a little bit of a longer Psalm than what we've been used to it's 24 verses and I'll go ahead and tell you up front for those of you that take notes and of course I always encourage you to take notes that we're gonna look at the Psalm under two headings tonight and I'll give you the headings up front if you'd like to jot them down the first section of this psalm I've titled or outlined the reality of David's trouble the reality of David's trouble and we'll see that in verses 1 through 13 and then in verses 14 through 24 we'll see the response of David's trust the response of David's trust and if you want to jot that down for your notes you're welcome to do that the reality of David's troubles verses 1 through 13 the response of David's trust verses 14 through 24 and we'll begin there in verse number one and what we'll find is something that I think is gonna be familiar to you what we find is David under attack of his enemies again and I emphasize the word again there because this is a recurring theme in the Psalms notice it there in verse number 31 Psalm 31 in verse 1 the Bible says the chief musician a psalm of David in thee O Lord do I put my trust I want you to notice the emphasis because it is the emphasis in this psalm notice what David says he says he says let me never be ashamed and the word ashamed there means confounded or astonished it means to be let down or disappointed and he says let me never be disappointed let me never be let down and the idea is by God he says let me never be ashamed he says deliver me in thy righteousness bow down thine ear to me deliver me speedily be thou my strong rock for in house of defense to save me for thou art my rock and my fortress therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me I want you notice in verse 40 the emphasis that David gives in the psalm he says pull me out of the net that they have laid privately for me he's talking about his enemies and he's referring using a word image here he's already in this net he's talking about the fact that his enemies have laid privately laid secretly this trap before him and he's asking God he said in verse 2 bow down thine ear to me deliver me speedily he says in verse 4 pull me out of the net that they have laid privately for me for thou art my strength into thine hand I commit my spirit that should sound familiar to you we'll come back to that thou has redeemed me O Lord God of truth but again notice the emphasis verse 6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities but I trust in the Lord I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy notice again the emphasis of David here for thou has considered my trouble thou has known my soul and adversity he says God you you understand you've thought about you considered my trouble he says you've known my soul in adversity notice verse 8 again the emphasis and has not shut me up into the hands of the enemy he keeps bringing up these enemies bow down thine ear to me deliver me speedily lever he says never let me be ashamed he says pull me out of the net that they have laid privately here he says in verse 8 and has shut has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy thou has set my feet in a large room notice verse 9 have mercy upon me O Lord and again the emphasis for I am in trouble he says I'm in trouble my nigh is consumed with grief yea my soul and my belly that statement there my soul and my belly belly is a reference to the flesh and he says both soul and flesh are consumed with grief he says I am in trouble that's where we find David again in trouble why because of his enemies attacks of his enemies verse 10 he says for my life is spent if you would have asked David what is your life like because obviously we read about David and we read the stories about David we read about David and Goliath and all of the great things that David did but if you would've asked David and he tells us here in verse 10 about his own life and here's what he says he says for my life is spent with grief and my years with sign my strength because of mine iniquity and my bones are consumed and what I say to you is what I've already said is that we find David in a very familiar place that we find him in the book of Psalms and it is this under stress under pressure under attack some of it for his own sin like he says there in verse 10 because of mine iniquity some of it because of his enemies he says that have laid net for him privately that have tried to kill him that have tried to destroy him and what we find is David under attack again David in trouble again David dealing with his enemies again and at this point in our study in the book of Psalms if you've been with us all 30 weeks or 31 weeks now then you might find that some of these things begin to sound very repetitive and we've heard this before in fact this creates quite attention for me and if I can say this and I hope you don't take this the wrong way I don't mean this in any sort of disrespect but in some ways every week that I'm in the book of Psalms I want it to be my last week in the book of Psalms and maybe soon it will be my last week in the book of Psalms and the reason is because I find myself looking at these Psalms and this recurring theme comes up over and over and over again and as David talking about his trouble talking about his enemies talking about their attacks and it's this tension for me because it's one thing to read the Psalms it's one thing to study the Psalms it's one thing to read it and study it dissect it to look at it as it is the Word of God and to just understand it it's another thing to stand up and teach it and preach it and oftentimes over the last 30 weeks as we've made our way through the book of Psalms I've sighed from time to time because I feel like the average Christian the average American Christian this just doesn't resonate with them and when David brings it up again when David talks about it again I think to myself David I get it but why are you bringing this up again I find myself arguing with David and telling David this is not something that our church people connect with this is not something that resonates with them this is not something that resonates with many people which is probably the reason why very few churches have ever even taken the time to preach through the book of Psalms I'm not saying that we're the only ones there's many that have but I would say that the majority have not because a lot of these Psalms seem to not connect with the average Christian you look at this Psalm 31 and he's just talking about his trouble he's talking about the nets he's talking about the enemies he's talking about the anguish he's talking about all of these things and for the average person they just kind of look at it and they're just like okay there's a reason why we highlight certain Psalms right Psalm 1 Psalm 23 Psalm 119 there's certain Psalms that stick out to us because they just kind of resonate with everyone but a lot of the Psalms just don't in fact it seems to me as I study the Psalms that the theme of Psalms I'm not saying it's the main theme but it definitely seems to be a theme is this idea of enemies in the Christian life I mean I don't know if you've noticed it but it just comes up over and over and over again in fact I'd like to just show you how this theme comes up over and over you don't have to turn here unless you want to I'll just read this list for you quickly but just in case you haven't noticed it I mean it all started in Psalm 3 remember in Psalm 3 David said Lord how are they increase that trouble me many are they that rise up against me he said that in verse 1 he says in verse 2 many say of my soul there is no help for him in God that's Psalm 3 here's Psalm 5 David says lead me oh Lord in thy righteousness because of my enemies verse 8 there is no faithfulness in their mouth their throat is an open Sepulchre verse 9 destroy destroy thou them Oh God let them fall by their own counsels verse 10 in Psalm 6 he says my eye is consumed because of grief does that song sound like Psalm 31 because of all mine enemies in verse 7 let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vex he says in verse 10 in Psalm 7 in verse 1 he says save me from all them that persecute me he says in verse 2 lest he tear my soul like a lion he says in verse 6 arise Oh Lord in thine anger lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies in Psalm 9 he says when mine enemies are turned back they shall fall and perish verse 3 Oh thou enemy destructions are come to a perpetual end he says in verse 6 consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me he says in verse 13 in Psalm 10 he says the wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor verse 2 his mouth is full of cursing and deceit verse 7 he sit it in the looking places verse 8 in the secret places that they murder the innocent verse 8 he lieth and wait to catch the poor verse 9 in Psalm 13 he says how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me verse 2 lest mine enemies say I've prevailed against him and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved verse 4 in Psalm 17 he says for my deadly enemies who compass me about verse 9 they have compass to us in our steps verse 11 like as a lion that is greedy of his prey verse 12 arise Oh Lord disappoint him cast him down verse 13 in Psalm 18 he says I will call upon the Lord so shall I be saved from mine enemies verse 3 the sorrows of death compass me and the floods of ungodly man made me afraid verse 4 he delivered me for my strong enemy and from them which hated me for they were too strong for me verse 17 in Psalm 22 the prophetic psalm of the cross David says all they that see me laughed me to score in verse 7 many bulls have compass to me verse 12 they gaped upon me with their mouths verse 13 the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me they pierced my hands on my feet verse 16 they stare upon me verse 17 they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vest for verse 18 in Psalm 25 he says let not mine enemy let not mine enemies triumph over me verse 2 consider mine enemies for they are many and they hate me with cruel hatred verse 19 in Psalm 27 he says when the wicked even mine enemies and my foes come upon me they stumbled and fell verse 2 though in host should encamp against me my heart shall not fear verse 3 deliver me not unto the will of mine enemies for false witnesses are risen up against me verse 12 in Psalm 30 he said oh Lord thou has not made my foes to rejoice over me verse 1 and then in Psalm 31 we just read the first 10 verses and that's not all of it he brings up the net he brings up the anguish he brings up the trouble this is a recurring theme in Psalms I don't know if you've noticed it but he was bringing it up over and over and over again and it creates a problem for me as a teacher because I think to myself most people don't connect with this most people just kind of read this and it's just words on a page they don't really understand what it feels like to have a net set before you privately they don't really understand what it means like for people to conspire against you to want to try to destroy you it doesn't make any sense to them it doesn't connect so it's difficult to go through it and keep you engaged on a weekly basis because it's not something that resonates with the average Christian or maybe I should say it this way with the average American Christian but the thing is this that this resonates with someone because this song Psalm 31 is highly referenced and quoted all throughout Scripture in fact we usually when we think of amazing may a song that emphasizes the Messiah and is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ especially on the cross we think of Psalm 22 but Psalm 31 was also quoted by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and this Psalm is referenced all throughout let me quickly just highlight some of those for you the author of Psalm 71 you have to turn there I'll just give this to you the author of Psalm 71 we don't know who the author of Psalm 71 is it might be David himself whoever he is the author of Psalm 71 paraphrases the first three verses of Psalm 31 in the first three verses of Psalm 71 look it up yourself you'll find that to be true Jonah if you remember in the whale's belly referenced Psalm 31 6 in Jonah 2 8 Jeremiah echoed Psalm 31 13 in Jeremiah 6 25 20 verse 10 and 49 chapter 49 verse 29 and most significantly which I think you should have noticed in Psalm 31 in verse 5 where David says into thine hand I commit my spirit most significantly that is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ as his final words on the cross and that is documented in Luke 23 in verse 45 finally Stephen the first martyr of the church seems to allude to Psalm 31 5 when he's dying in Act 759 the same quote that the Lord Jesus Christ quoted in Psalm 31 5 so though most Christians maybe look at these Psalms look at Psalm 31 and look at all these Psalms that I've referenced for you already and think to themselves okay next when is there a Psalm 23 again when is there something that's going to lift me up and make me feel goosebumps and help me feel nice again though most Christians don't connect with this I want you to understand that through the ages there have been people that have connected with this and even today there are people that connect with this this Psalm resonates with somebody because it is a Psalm that is highly referenced and quoted throughout Scripture by Jonah by Jeremiah by other psalmist by the Apostle Paul by Stephen and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself so where we have this tension how do you take a Psalm that's all about people conspiring to kill you and teach it in a way that is practical and engaging and if I could say entertaining for people that spend much of their time being entertained by Facebook and YouTube and social media this tension that says how do you explain this to people how do you give this to people to people who look at this and it's a different world to them and they don't understand it it's not something that connects you know what I realized recently actually realized that in the middle of the night I was laying in bed in the middle of night couldn't sleep just my eyes wide open my wife couldn't sleep either and she said something to me and I've been thinking about the sermon and I thought to myself well since you're up let me go ahead and get up and write down some notes because I've been thinking about my sermon and what I realized is that this tension this frustration I'm like okay God there's a Psalm okay David there's a Psalm you've explained it there's a Psalm about the enemies and the attacks and the persecution and the spiritual warfare there's a Psalm I get it but you bring it up and you bring it up and you bring it up in Psalm 3 and Psalm 5 and Psalm 7 and Psalm 8 and Psalm 18 and and all these songs you keep bringing it up and here we are in Psalm 31 and we've got 150 of these and I'm sure it's going to continue to come up and you keep bringing it up to people that don't care and I realized that instead of avoiding the tension what we should be doing is entering into the tension because what you need to realize when I need to realize and what American Christianity needs to realize is this and even if you cannot connect or resonate with what David is saying believers through the ages and believe it or not even believers living today do resonate with this and you maybe have never liked David experienced this but David has and he really wants you to know it David has and he doesn't think you've got it yet he doesn't think I've got it one of the things about teaching and preaching and communicating publicly is that you repeat yourself over and over because people don't grasp things and people aren't always listening and even now some of you aren't listening and that's fine you don't have to listen but you say things over and over you repeat yourself over and over why because you're gonna catch people at different times and even when you catch them they've gotta hear multiple times before it finally clicks and I feel like this is what David is doing he's bringing it up over and over and over and over again to the point where we get frustrated with David and we say again you're gonna talk about it again but I think that's the point that David wants us to notice something that maybe you and I wouldn't notice David really wants you to notice what he's going through some of you're like I still don't get it well let's get real practical maybe you've never liked David experienced some of these things but I want you to notice that David is bringing this up over and over because he really wants you to see it are you ready to see it look at verse 11 notice what David says David says I was a reproach the word reproach means to be publicly shamed to be publicly humiliated to be publicly scorned publicly dishonored it's not something that's done privately a sentiment in a public setting David says I was a reproach among all my enemies now you and I might say well what's new wouldn't you expect that from your enemies he says I was a reproach among all my enemies he says but the thing is that though you have enemies and sometimes you can have someone that's your enemy and you might say well they're on the opposite side and they're on a different side and though I don't agree with them in fact they're actually my enemy at least have some respect for them or I'm going to treat them with some respect David says I did not get that from my enemies he says I was a reproach among all my enemies but that's not the worst of it he says I was a reproach among all my enemies he says but that reproach among all my enemies he says the worst of it was this but especially you see the word especially there he's emphasizing something for us he says but especially among my neighbors and the idea of a neighbor there it's not just someone who lives night next to you you remember Jesus taught who is your neighbor and the idea is the people that are in your close proximity of life David says I was a reproach among all my enemies but especially among my neighbors and a fear to mine acquaintances he says they that did see me without fled from me he says I was a reproach I was publicly shamed I was publicly humiliated by all my enemies to the extent that it even had an effect on the people that I was most close with my neighbors that I had in the closest proximity to me he said to the point where if I was walking down the street and I happened to see my neighbor he says they did see me without fled from me they would look away and avoid me they would not they would flee from me they would forsake me and here's what I'm saying to you maybe you have never like David been so slandered by your enemies that even your neighbors even the people that are closest to you in proximity and life believe it and instead of coming to you and asking you about it they forsake you and like David said they just flee from you maybe that doesn't resonate with you but it resonates with some people you may have never experienced that and I hope you don't I don't say that you say I've never felt that I've never had a neighbor avoid their eyes from me and not talk to me you may have never experienced that good for you and I don't mean that in any sort of cynical or sarcastic way I mean good for you god bless you I hope you never experienced that David wants you to know that that is his experience he says his life is full of grief it's difficult some you maybe you like David have never been so slandered by your enemies that even the people closest to you instead of coming to you and saying hey can I talk to you they just flee from you and avoid you believe the slander forsake you maybe you've never felt that but there's people that have look at verse 12 I want you to see what David wants you to see because David keeps bringing this up he wants to talk about it and I feel like we should tell David David tell us tell us about your experience tell us what you're feeling and verse 12 he says I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind I am like a broken vessel you say what does that mean well if you have to ask the question what does that mean you've never experienced it because if you've experienced it you would look at it and say yeah David I get it I am forgotten as a dead man out of mine I'm like a broken vessel and you say well I must not get it and that's great good for you maybe you have never like David felt what it feels like to be discarded to feel useless to feel like after you spent so much time and energy and and and love and patience on individuals to have him throw you away like a broken piece of pottery that's what he's saying I am forgotten as a day it's like you're dead to them out of mind I'm like a broken vessel like you're just a useless piece of garbage maybe you've never felt that maybe you read these verses and they don't resonate with you and you're just kind of like ah there goes David again but David wants you to know that this is the experience of his Christian life maybe you've never liked David felt discarded and used maybe you've never felt used and discarded and thrown away like a broken vessel David house David wants you to know that that's how he feels about it look at verse 13 he says for I have heard the slander of many you know what slander is slander is when people go and try to destroy your reputation slander can be flat-out lies about you and that happens I used to think that most people who lied lied about people would try to find some truth and and that is the case that happens a lot but I have learned that people just flat-out lie I mean things that just never happen things that you never said things that you never did it's slander when people flat-out lie but that's not the only type of slander I think we all connect with that people just flat-out lie about you that's letter you know it's also slander when people insinuate you did something that you didn't do well I didn't actually say the word yeah but you said enough to have someone's mind go down that road you know that it's also slander when someone tells a story about you but they leave out key details or misrepresent key parts in order to make you look in the worst possible light you know that that's slander and David says for I have heard the slander of many is that I've heard the slander that has caused even my neighbors to forsake even the people that I've lived with that I've had in my life that I've had in close proximity he said that they've forgotten me they've thrown me away like a broken vessel and I say to you tonight maybe you have never liked David had your enemies spread so much slander about you that it stirred organized efforts to destroy you maybe you've never felt that good for you and again I don't mean that I don't say that in any sort of sarcastic way I mean good for you and I hope you never feel that David wants you to know that the experience of your Christian life is different than his notice what he says there in verse 13 excuse me he says I've heard the slander of many fear was on every side while they took look at the words counsel together against me they devised to take away my life you said well I've had enemies good I guess good for you I don't you know whatever I mean your own rewards in heaven so that's good but David says it's more than just having somebody mad at me he said they have organized themselves against me he says they have served so much hatred towards me that they've actually organized efforts to destroy me and I say to you maybe you have never liked David had people to conspire had people conspire I mean people that didn't even like each other before people that talked crap about each other before you know there's no new thing under the Sun Deacon Oliver recently said this to me I thought it was interesting it's it's like the Lord Jesus Christ when Pilate and Herod who were enemies they become friends when they find a common enemy maybe you have never had people conspire to destroy your life's work your ministry your family maybe you've never experienced multiple lawsuits maybe no one's ever tried to weaponize government agencies against you maybe no one's ever tried to cancel your insurance maybe no one's ever tried to shut down your banking services maybe no one's ever tried to blackball you from social media maybe no one has ever called around slandering you telling lies about you and when you defend yourself then you're not winning because if you have to defend yourself then there must have done something wrong and if you don't defend yourself that people are mad at you because you're not saying something and maybe you've never experienced that and if you haven't honestly I say to you good for you I mean if you read Psalm 31 and you think yourself when do we get to Psalm 23 again but for people who this doesn't resonate with for people who read this and there's just no emotional connection there's no there's no like yeah David yeah I see what you're saying yeah that for people who read Psalm 1 and it's exciting in Psalm 2 and it's exciting and then some three years gone like and some four you're just like and some six and seven and 18 and 25 and here you are in 31 you're like oh what's he gonna say about this one for people like that if none of this resonates with you instead of pulling away from the tension and saying here David goes again maybe what you should do is actually step into the tension maybe what you should do is actually read Psalm 31 carefully and consider that number one you ought to praise God that none of this resonates with you and number two maybe you should consider that there are people who it does resonate with and before you become a bleeding heart for everyone who attacks people who this does resonate with before you go side with and believe every story and everything you're told about people who this does resonate with maybe you should consider that David keeps bringing this up over and over and over maybe before you go and befriend all the people that are attacking people who this does resonate with maybe you ought to consider the fact that David is almost nauseatingly bringing this up over and over and over again because he's trying to make a point to you that your lived Christian experience as a comfortable American in 2024 might be a little different than other people so you know what we see in verses 1 through 14 is the reality of David's trouble and it may not be a reality to you and if it's not a reality to you God bless you I mean praise God and I don't mean that in a cynical way I don't mean that in any sort of sarcastic way I mean that I hope for the rest of your life you read Psalm 31 and no emotion rises in your heart as a result of it no connection but you should consider that some people do connect with David wants you to hear him David wants you to step into his experience and before you believe the slander against him before you turn against him before you jump on the bandwagon against David he says for one more song can I tell you about the grief and pain I'm going through so we see the reality of David's trouble then I want you to notice secondly tonight not only do we see the reality of David's trouble but we see the response of David's trust and for those of you with whom maybe this does resonate to some extent and I say to some extent because obviously none of us have lived the life of David I don't think that any of us should ever compare ourselves to characters in the body these characters these people are bigger than life larger than life and like David and Moses and Elijah and Paul but you understand that these words are written for our admonition they're there as an example for us there is an application and there are some people with whom this does resonate to some level to some extent they can agree with David and say David I understand for a little bit what you're going through you understand that sometimes people connecting with your experience as a comfort aren't you thankful that we have in high priests which not be touched with our feelings the feelings of our infirmities he is touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are the differences the major differences yet without sin for those with whom this does resonate to some extent you say what is the application for you well David gives us the application once you look at it verse 14 he says but I trust it in the Oh Lord after all that after the net being laid in front of me and he said I'm already in the net and I need you to pull me out he said after after the conspiracy against me and the slander against me and and I'm like a broken vessel and I've been thrown away my neighbors avoid with their eyes and they won't even look at me and they won't talk to me and people that have no people that I was close to people that were in my life and were approximately have fled from me and forsake he said after all that David said there is a response to David's trust yes there's the reality of David's trouble but the response of his trust is this but I trusted in me Oh Lord I said thou art my God you say well that's just preacher talk maybe I didn't write the psalm David did but I want you to notice that he gives us two specific ways to trust in God so it's not just trust in the Lord I mean trust the Lord is good it's good enough I want you to notice the two specific ways he tells us to trust in the Lord he tells us in verse 14 place your trust in God look and if this doesn't resonate with you that's fine just David wants you to hear him and maybe you should consider when somebody gets sued they didn't always do something wrong well I've never been sued so since I've never been sued then I just assumed that everyone that gets sued must have done something what okay I'm just saying David wants you to hear him that maybe your lived-out experience is a little different than his and for those of you that this does resonate with you've been hurt you've been betrayed you've had people that were supposed to love you hurt you say this resonates what am I supposed to do you're supposed to trust God what does that mean well in a practical sense it means two things verse 15 I love this little statement in fact this is the title of the sermon he says my times are in thy hand he says but I trust in thee O Lord I said thou art my God my times are in thy hand you say what does that mean here's what it means it means God I understand that you are in control you're in control of my life my times are in thy hand deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me see what it means when we say trust in God what does that mean what it will just trust the Lord what does that what does that even mean here's what it means it means that you need to trust that God is in control my times are in thy hand job when he was going through a difficult time in his life he said it this way he said but he knoweth the way that I take but he know it the way that I take when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold job said I don't know if you remember we studied job job said I go before me and I can't feel God I look to the side I look to the right I look to the left I look behind me I can't see God I can't feel God I don't understand God I don't know what God is doing I don't know what God is doing but here's what I know that he know it's the way that I take he says I may not know where God is but I know that God knows where I am it's the same thing that David is saying my times are in thy hand and what I say to you is this if this resonates with you in any level you should trust God you say what does that mean it means trust that God is in control and it means this that God is good look at verse 16 make thy face to shine upon thy servant this is David stealing from and referencing back to the ironic blessing remember that ironic blessing the blessing that Aaron gave on the children of Israel where he asked the Lord to shine his face upon the people and to give his favor and blessing upon the people here David says I make thy face to shine upon thy servant save me for thy notice the words here mercy's sake David said if there's one thing that I can trust is this that God is good if there's one thing that I can trust is this that God is merciful he says let me not be ashamed don't let me be humiliated he says don't let don't let me be disappointed don't don't let me down God let me not be ashamed Oh Lord if I have called upon thee let the wicked be ashamed and let them I want you to notice this because you know people say oh you're too negative I want you to notice that David is speaking by the Holy Spirit here and he gets a little negative he says and let them be silent in the grave it's not very positive he says let them be silent in the grave he's talking about death verse 18 let the lying lips be put to silence which speak grievous proud and contemptuous Lee against the righteous he says let them be silent in the grave then he says let the lying lips be put to silence what is he saying he says I want you to silence them Lord how do you want me to silence them like put tape over their mouth no like kill them let them be silent in the grave let the lying be put to silence I didn't say it David said this is what's called an imprecatory prayer you might spend more time praying if you find out that there's imprecatory prayers in the Bible he says which speak grievous things that's hurtful malicious harmful things proudly and contemptuous Lee that's arrogantly disrespectfully looking down on others used to be pastor now you're just Roger against the righteous verse 19 oh how great is thy goodness which thou has laid up for them that fear thee which thou has wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man thou shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues blessed be the Lord for he hath showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city and I say to you whether this resonates with you or not if it resonates with you then let this help you and if it doesn't resonate with you if you read this and you think well David must have done something wrong because this never happens to me then just tuck this away file this away for the day when someone does hurt you when someone does stab you in the back when someone does lie about you and they actually lie no they told the true story but they left out key parts that make you look horrible they embellished and exaggerated certain things to make themselves look better and make you look bad if these psalms ever resonate with you you need to remember this that God is good and that God is in control he know with the way that I take God is not an impersonal force I really don't know how unsaved people go through this I don't know how I want to say people go through times of heartache in times of trial in times of difficulty I don't know how they do it but when you realize that there's a God in heaven and that God knows you and that God loves you and that God cares about you and that God is a good God and he's a God that's in control then what that tells you is this that I'm not trapped in a cage called fate I'm not adrift on a boat marked chance this is not just something that's happening this is all within the plan and purpose of God and wherever we find ourselves whenever we find ourselves we can know this that God is good and that God is in control there's a second thing I'd like you to notice quickly he says it in verse 22 he says for I said in my haste David says I spoke too quickly I said in my haste I am cut off from before thine eyes he gave up on God because he thought that God had given up on him and what we learned of David's response based off his trust is this that you should place your trust in God because God is good and God is in control and that you should not give up on God don't ever give up on God you might give up on certain things here and there you might have to adjust and pivot in life don't ever quit on God for I said in my haste I'm cut off from before thine eyes nevertheless thou heard is the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee O love the Lord he ends all ye Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewarded the proud doer be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart all ye that hope in the Lord so I was thinking about this in the middle of the night I couldn't sleep my wife couldn't sleep you say I sleep like a baby well good for you honestly and I don't mean that in any I mean I don't I I I don't mean that any sort of cynical or whatever like praise the Lord nothing's ever kept you at night up at night if this doesn't resonate with you you ought to consider that it resonates with some maybe you should try to see things from their perspective because I feel like David's just not gonna drop this to you and I get it that your lived out Christian experience might be a little different than his and if this does resonate with you and remember what David is trying to tell you that God is good and that God is in control and my times are in his hands remember what Job said he knoweth the way that I go and I'm not trapped in a cage marked fate I'm not a drift on a boat marked chance I'm sailing with the captain of the Lord of hosts and he's got a plan and he's got a purpose for me it's power heads in our world of prayer Heavenly Father Lord we do love you and Lord we pray that you'd help us I think sometimes we look at these songs and we think again here he goes again about the lion and the snares and the traps instead of avoid the tension help us to walk into it I think there might be some people that need to go home and carefully read Psalm 31 and maybe understand that they don't understand what David is saying Lord I pray you'd help us to learn these truths in the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen all right we're gonna have brother Moses come up and lead us in the final song we do have a baptism at this time so we're gonna go ahead and prepare for the baptism so if you will not mind check for that and we'll get that going now all right turn in your song books to page number four hundred and forty page number four hundred and forty we're gonna sing thanks to God you know this song sing it out if you're not too familiar with it follow along page four hundred and forty thanks to God and let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse Oh me Oh all right well we have Oliver Gonzalez a second coming for baptism this evening and of course this is all of them is melody son our deacon here and we're excited for him to get baptized Oliver have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal Savior all right by your profession of faith I baptized you my brother in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost buried in the likeness of his death raised to walk okay well thank you very much for being here tonight yeah we want to of course invite you to be with us for soul winning we have sold it on Thursday we have soul winning on Saturday morning we'd love you to be part of our big soul winning rally and then of course the big thing is Sunday is our vision offering and we just ask that you be in prayer about what the Lord would have you do there's anything that we can do for you please let us know I'm gonna ask whether Moses to dismiss us with a word of prayer let's pray Heavenly Father Lord thank you for this church and thank you for pastor and the sermons that he preaches for us I pray that you bless us as we depart and then I pray that you bless us when we meet again and bless the next services that come in Jesus in Jesus name I pray amen