(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Now I belong to Jesus. Let's sing it out with some passion. Okay, it's a beautiful song. Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever. Song number 248, let's sing it out on the first. Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever. From hip to cow, the evil can sever. He gave his life to ransom my soul. Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. Song number 248 on the second. Once I was lost in sin's degradation. Jesus began to bring me salvation, lifting me up from sorrow and shame. Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. Joy was my soul for Jesus to save me. He didn't spend that long to save me. It's precious what he gave to me. Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. Amen. Good singing this evening. We're glad that you're with us, of course, for the midweek service. Let's take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can 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, Psalm 37, four, delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m. And we, of course, invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church. We have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. and we're glad that you're here for the midweek service. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m. So if you'd like to go soul winning, there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that on tomorrow at 2 p.m. And of course, we'd love for you to join us for the big soul winning time on Saturday morning. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, just several things we'd like you to be aware of. First of all, we have the Lord's Supper service coming up on Wednesday, April 16th. So that's this coming Wednesday. And just make a note of that, that we'll have a special service that Wednesday night and we'll be partaking of the Lord's Supper. And then that weekend we have Easter Sunday, of course, on Sunday, April 20th. So several things going on with that. First of all, you should have these cards there in your bulletin. And we'd love for you to just help us pass these out, invite people to Easter service. And people are looking for a church to go to and people will normally go to whatever church they get invited to. So use these cards, invite someone, especially if you've been thinking about a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, then this is a great opportunity to do that. And then of course, we're going to have a big soul winning push on the week of Easter. So just make a note of that. On Thursday, April 17th at 6 p.m., we're going to have a special soul winning time Friday at 6 p.m. on the 18th and then Saturday at 10 a.m. So we'd love you to join us for one or two or all of those times. That would be a great thing to do. We'd appreciate your help with that. And then of course, we have the ladies' tea coming up. And we invite all the ladies to come out for an elegant afternoon tea in honor of Mother's Day. There's going to be a gift basket that will be given away. You can sign up on your communication card and please sign up. Let us know that you're coming so that my wife can prepare for that, of course. And then there are also some volunteer opportunities for the ladies if you'd like to help with washing tea cups, decorating, serving tea, cleaning up afterwards. There are some sign-up sheets in the foyer, so please make sure you go by there. And for men, we have an opportunity for the men as well if you can help us with putting things away after the event. We've got to put all the tables away. We've got to put all the chairs back. We're having church the next day. Then you can sign up on your communication card. And if you could be here at 5.30, we would really appreciate your help with that. Choir, they've got practice at 5 p.m. And then children's choir started last week. And that is at 5.15 p.m. They're meeting in the playroom. Children are practicing for Mother's Day. Choir, of course, for Easter. And then if you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of April this week, we had Ms. Brittany Lauterman's birthday on the 6th and also Brother Warren and Ms. Brittany had their anniversary on the 6th. And Ms. Tan Stuckey had her birthday on April 7th. Brother Luke and Ms. Angel Vincent had their anniversary on April 7th. And then later this week, we have Ms. Emily Ritchie and Ms. Julia Gessler have their birthdays on April 12th. And also Daniel Santos has his birthday on April 12th. So happy birthday and happy anniversary to all of those. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all the announcements. So let's go ahead and take our songbooks and we're going to go to page number 303. Page number 303. And we're going to sing My Faith Looks Up To Thee as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. Page number 303. Sing it out on the first. My faith looks up to thee Now I'm aware of the worry Stay with me now Now hear me call and pray Take all my guilt away Oh, let me God this day be holy We have been praising it out on the second. My faith, my grace, raised in part Strange in thy raging heart Rising in strife As loud as I can be I pray my love to thee Your moment, Jesus, be lovely, be bright My life's dark, please, I pray Then, please, allow me strength Be thou my light In God this time today My sorrows, tears away Oh, let me ever scream of fear As I sing When there's not yet a dream When there's no solid dream Shall you be alone? As if you are then begun Even if it's just you Oh, there we sing of God God has done so well Amen. Good singing. Before the guys come up, just a quick reminder that we, of course, have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating, so if you need to use those, if you have a child that's been distracting, please, you're welcome to use those. And, of course, please don't forget to turn your cell phones off. Replace them on silent during the service so that there won't be a distraction to anybody. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift and the giver. We ask that you would meet with us as we take time to pray and then, of course, as we take time for the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, well, let's go into our prayer sheets tonight. If you did not receive a prayer sheet on your way in, you can 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. Just a quick reminder that, of course, the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card. On the back of the card you can write down a prayer request to make sure you mark whether it's private or public. And we add them if you mark them as public. If they're private, only I will see them. And then, of course, they are added in the order that they're received. They're removed after a couple of weeks. If you'd like it to be there longer, then you'll have to fill out another communication card. And let's go and take these requests, Lord. I'm going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask you to pray in your mind and your heart. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family, Lord, and we begin with these requests regarding health. And we pray for Brother Warren, who's praying for the health of his siblings. Also, Ms. Brittany, praying for healing for her coworker's mom's brain disease, and also health for her aunt's student. And Brother Ron, praying for his health and the swelling in his leg to heal, also for his upcoming surgery to be successful. And Jerry and Gina, praying for their daughter's health. And Brother Jose, praying for his nephew, Johnny Torres, and that he would recover from his coma and the brain injury that he suffered. And Lord, we're also praying for Ms. Christine for her health, for the Salvador for his health, Ms. Docma for her pain, and Brother Edgar and Ms. Elena for Uretzi and Jonathan to continue to be healthy and stay healthy. And Lord, we pray for our missionary's wife, Ms. Angel, and as she's undergoing treatment for breast cancer. And Lord, we pray for all of these individuals. And Lord, we pray that you would help them and be with them, that you would heal them. We pray that you would give them wisdom with decisions that they have to make and decisions that doctors and nurses have to make. Lord, we pray that you would put your healing hand over these individuals and help them to recover and get better. Lord, we ask that your will would be done in their lives. And we also pray for these that have physical needs and financial needs for the war and praying for his siblings' finances as well. And also, Ms. Christine and Brother Salvador for finances for work. Ms. Rebecca Garcia, praying for her husband Danny's board date in September and the preparation that goes into that and that it would go well. And Lord, we're praying that your will be done with all these things. Lord, that you would open doors as you see fit and that you would help these individuals. And Lord, we also pray for these that have requests for salvation. Brother Warren, praying for the salvation of his co-workers. And Ms. Gina, praying for the salvation of Diane, who's grieving the loss of her father David. And Ms. Natalie, praying for her husband's salvation. And Trey Coughlin, praying for his dad's salvation. Ms. Christine for her family's salvation. Ms. Maria for Roma and Skylar's salvation. And Ms. Docma for her daughter and her family's salvation. Lord, we just pray for all these individuals. We pray that you would be with them and that you would help them. Lord, we pray that you would send a soul winner to clearly communicate the gospel to these individuals. We pray that your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their minds to bring them to the place where they'd be willing to hear the gospel. And Lord, we pray that these individuals might be saved. We also pray for Douglas Piper, who's praying for the Lord's wisdom and guidance in his life. And also praying for Ms. Christine, for their faith and their walk with you. Lord, we pray that you would help them and be with them. We pray for Ms. Gina, who's praying for Diane, just during a time of grief as she grieves the loss of her father. And also Barbara, praying for continued strength for herself and her family since the passing of her mom. Last year and just helping them through this time. Lord, we pray that you would comfort these individuals and help these individuals be with them. And we also pray, Lord, for these that are requesting for friends and family. Jerry and Gina praying for their family. Barbara praying for her brother David to be able to come home this year. And also for the Salvador, praying for his family. Lord, we just ask that you would be with these individuals, help these individuals and bless them, Lord. And then we acknowledge the praise report from Brother Nate for Abigail's dental procedure. It went well and we just always want to acknowledge answered prayer. And Lord, we thank you for that. And then we pray for safe travels for Ms. Docma as she's traveling. Give her traveling mercies. And then, Lord, we just pray for all of these that have unspoken requests. Ms. Brittany, my dad, Brother Felix, and Ms. Emily, and Brother Salvador, and Ms. Docma all having unspoken requests. And you know what their petitions are. You know what they're asking for. Lord, we pray that you would answer according to your will. And then, Lord, we just pray for our church and our ministry here. We pray for our missions work in the Philippines, for our missionary Dave Cabantala and his family and the work going on there in Cebu. We pray for Pastor Stuckey and his family and the churches in Manila and Pampanga and Bicuol. Lord, we pray that you would bless these locations. We ask for our church. We pray for this coming Easter Sunday and all the preparation that goes into that and the soul winning. Lord, I pray that you'd bless all of that and help us have a great Easter. We pray that you'd meet with us tonight as we take another psalm and look at it together. Lord, we pray that you would speak to us and help us. And, Lord, we pray that you would minister to our hearts through your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please open up to Psalm 33. Psalm 33, if you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and I'm not sure you can read your Bible. Psalm 33. Psalm 33, begin in verse number one. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. For praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp. Sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song. Play skillfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as in heath. He lathe up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake and it was done. He commanded it and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom we have chosen for his own inheritance. The Lord looketh from heaven. He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike. He considerth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of host. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. And a horse is the main thing for safety. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him. Upon them that hope in his mercy. To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word. I ask you to please meet with us tonight. Give us all tender hearts in the message. And I ask you to be their pastor. Please strengthen him and fill him with your spirit. We love you. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, we're there in Psalm 33. And, of course, on Wednesday nights we've been making our way through the Book of Psalms. We've been studying the Psalms together. And we're taking one Psalm a week. And we are here in Psalm 33. It's a little bit of a longer Psalm. Not long in comparison to other. There's Psalms that are much longer. But a little longer than the Psalms that we've been used to up to this point. It's got 22 verses. Of course, there's Psalms that are much longer than that. But a lot of the Psalms that we saw at the beginning were like 8 verses, 10 verses, 12 verses. So this is Psalm 33 with 22 verses. And we're going to try to move through it quickly, as quickly as we can. And I outlined the Psalm under four different headings. And I'll give you the headings as we move along. And hopefully that will help you if you're taking notes. And, of course, I always encourage you to take notes. But we'll just jump right into it. And I want you to notice here in verse number 1, Psalm 33 and verse 1, there's a phrase that you might find familiar. And it's this. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord is how the Psalm begins. And this is, of course, a phrase that is quoted throughout the Bible. It's used throughout the Bible. It's found here in Psalm 33, 1. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. But this is not the only place that this phrase is found. That statement, rejoice in the Lord, is also found in Psalm 97, verse 12. Isaiah 41, 16. Isaiah 61, 10. Joel 2, 3. Habakkuk 3, 18. Zechariah 10, 7. Philippians 3, 1. And then, of course, most notably, and the one that you're probably most familiar with, Philippians 4, 4, where the Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 33 and he says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And, again, I say rejoice. So just want to highlight that statement there. And it's an important statement in the Bible. A command that we are given to rejoice in the Lord. And it's within the context of this idea of praise. Notice there it says, O ye righteous. He says, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. And what we begin, and if you're taking notes and you want to jot down the first point or heading, is we see in the first five verses here is the praise of the Lord. The praise of the Lord. And this is how the psalm begins. It begins with this idea of praising God. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely. And this teaches us a little bit about the importance of praise. The word comely is an older word that we don't use a lot today. But the word comely means fitting or appropriate. It means suitable or proper. But it also means beautiful or attractive. When someone in the Bible is described as being comely, the idea is that they're an attractive person. It's just interesting to me that the Bible says here, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. What it's teaching is this, that this is something that God likes to see. It's something that God likes to see in us. In fact, if I could say it this way, it's something that makes us attractive to God. And obviously, you know, within the context of the relationship of our Heavenly Father, we want God to look down on us and to be pleased with us and to like us. And here He says that praise is comely. There are things that can make you more attractive to God, that can make God like you more. For example, we've talked about this recently, but one thing that's highlighted all over the Bible is humility. God loves to see humility in a person. Well, here we see that God also loves to see praise. Praise is comely for the upright. So this is where the psalm begins with this idea of the praise of the Lord. And it's important because it's comely to God. It's something that's beautiful to God. When God sees it, He likes it. It pleases Him. It's attractive to Him. Now notice in verses 2 and 3, the psalmist explains to us how to praise. He explains to us how it is that we are to praise the Lord because we're told to praise, we're told that it's comely, and then he tells us how to praise. Notice verse 2. He says praise the Lord, and he's going to tell us how to do it. He says here's how to do it with harp. So he's telling us to use instruments. Praise the Lord with harp. It's interesting to me. There are actually religions out there and even quote-unquote Christian religions that are against using instruments. And they think that it's wrong or ungodly to use instruments. But the Psalms, I mean all of the Bible, but especially the Psalms, is not only telling us, not only highlighting that in the Old Testament they did this, but we're actually being commanded here to praise the Lord with harp. Sing unto Him with the salt tree. That's an instrument. And notice an instrument of ten strings. Verse 3. Sing unto Him a new song. Play skillfully. That's the idea of playing an instrument. He says with a loud noise. So we're being told here in verse 1 that we ought to rejoice in the Lord. We ought to praise the Lord because praise is comely unto Him. And then in verses 2 and 3 we're told how to praise God. How should we praise God? We should praise God with instruments. He says with harp, with the salt tree, instruments of ten strings. Play skillfully. And you know I would say to you tonight that if you are here and you know how to play an instrument that you should use that talent for the Lord. In fact God wants you to use it and God says that it would be comely to Him. He would enjoy it. He would like to see it. So we see that we are to praise Him with instruments. And that's why we love using instruments here at Verity Baptist Church. You know and we of course have the piano and we've got the orchestra. And the orchestra started off as Sunday morning only. They were just a Sunday morning only crowd. You know the orchestra at first. But then they got right with God and started playing on Sunday nights. I'm joking of course. But then they started playing on Sunday night and on Wednesday night. I think that's great. That's a good idea. Why? Because we ought to sing with harp. We ought to praise the Lord with harp and with psaltery and with instruments. God wants to see people use their talents for the Lord. He wants them to play skillfully. So we see that we should praise with instrument. But then also it's not just that. Because if you're listening to me tonight and you're like well I'm off the hook. I don't play an instrument. I don't have the ability to play an instrument. That's not the only way that God says we ought to praise Him. He says that we should praise Him with harp and with psaltery and with an instrument of ten strings. And we ought to play skillfully. But He also says, look at verse two, praise the Lord with harp. And then He says this, sing unto Him. Sing unto Him. Notice verse three, He says sing unto Him a new song. So I want you to notice that God wants us to praise Him not only with instruments. And He also wants you to praise Him with your voice. He wants you to sing. And notice He doesn't say here if you're good at it. He doesn't say if you have talent. He just wants you to open your mouth and the Lord, the Bible says that it's comely to Him when He sees and when He hears His people sing unto Him. And I'm thankful for the music ministry here at Verity Baptist Church. In fact, I would say this, that the music ministry right now at Verity Baptist Church is the best that it's ever been. And I'm thankful for it. I mean the musicians, the instrumentalists and the song leaders and everybody's doing a wonderful job. In fact, I'm of the opinion that the greatest thing we've got going for us right now here at Verity Baptist Church is the music ministry. And I thank God for it. And you know, you ought to get excited about the music ministry. You understand that the singing service is not just something we do just to give you time to get here before the preaching begins. You understand that? It's not just something we do. You say, why do we sing? Because you can't show up on time so we've got to sing a few songs before the preaching begins. That's not true. The reason that we sing, the reason that we have instruments, the reason that we have music is because all of that is meant to be used in praise and worship of God. And it's meant to prepare your heart for the preaching of God's word. For that reason, you ought to take the singing service seriously and be here ready to sing. And when you're here, sing. Sing unto the Lord. It's a spiritual work. Ephesians 5, you don't have to turn here, but the Bible says in Ephesians 5, Paul said, And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And I want you to notice the connection here between being filled with the Spirit. In verse 19 he says, Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. The Bible teaches that there is a connection between singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and being filled with the Spirit of God. And you might find that you actually start getting something out of the preaching of God's word when you prepare your heart by being in church and you sing and you're ready to sing and you engage and you use your talents, if it's instruments, to praise the Lord. If you open your mouth and sing unto the Lord, God wants you to praise him and God looks down and he says, That is very attractive to me. That is very beautiful to me. It's very comely to me when I see my people sing and play instruments and praise the Lord. So we see that we ought to praise God and how do we do it? Here we're told with instruments and with singing. But I want you to notice, just highlight something for you in verse number 3. I want you to notice this word. He says, Sing unto him a new song. You know what God wants? God wants a new song. So what does that mean? Well, I don't think it means necessarily that he wants you to write a new song. Although if you're able to do that, you know, praise God for that. But I think the idea is that God doesn't want you as a Christian listening to and singing with the old song. You say, what old song? The old songs of the old life. The old songs of the old man. You know what the Bible says? You know, the Word of God says that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. He says, behold, all things are become new. And he says, when you got saved, you became a new creature and he wants everything in your life to become new. And that would include your music. So he says, sing unto him with a new song. God doesn't want you listening to that old, the old music of the old man. You say, what old music? I'm talking about the rock and roll music. I'm talking about the rap and the hip hop and the country western and the jazz and the blues. What all that old stuff God says, no, no, I want you to come and now that you're a new man, I want you to have a new song. The psalmist said, he had put a new song in my mouth, yea, even praise unto our God. I want you to sing a new song. A song that you didn't sing before. The hymns of Zion, the songs of Zion. They are spiritual songs and that will help you be filled with the spirit of God. So we see that we are to praise the Lord. How do we praise him? With instruments and with singing. But hey, make sure it's a new song. He wants it to be a new song. Then I want you to notice in verses 4 and 5, he tells us why to praise. Which is why should we praise God? Maybe you need to be motivated to know why it is that you should praise God. And he gives us some reasons here. Notice verse 4. He says for, he says because the word of the Lord is right. You say why should you praise God? Why should you sing unto him? One reason to sing unto the Lord is because the word of the Lord is right. Aren't you thankful for our King James Bible? Aren't you thankful for the fact that God gave you his word and God revealed himself through his word? Hey, let me tell you something. If you're saved tonight, it's because God revealed that message through his word. And one reason to praise the Lord is that the Lord did not just create us and leave us here, but he gave us a book and he gave us a Bible and it guides us and it teaches us. It's a light unto my path. And he says you ought to praise him for that. For the word of the Lord is right. That's why we like the hymns and the hymn books. Have you ever noticed that a lot of the hymns and the hymn books, they have quotes and they have themes that are taken straight out of the word of God. For the word of the Lord is right. That's why you should praise God. Not only that, but also, and all his works are done in truth. Why should you praise the Lord? Not only for his word, but also for his work. His works are done in truth. Why should you praise the Lord? There's another reason in verse 5. He loveth righteousness and judgment. Why should you praise the Lord? There's another reason there at the end of verse 5. He says the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. I'm here to tell you tonight that God is worthy of your praise. Why? Because of his word. Why? Because of his work. Why? Because of his love. Why? Because of his goodness. Look, if you're saved tonight, aren't all those things true? Haven't all those things been a blessing in your life? The word of God and the work that Jesus did on the cross to save you and his love and his goodness and that's worth you praising him. That's worth you opening up a hymn book and singing. Look, that's a spiritual application. The singing service is a time to prepare our hearts to receive the preaching of the word of God and it's also a time for us to show our love towards God so you ought to participate and sing or participate and play if you're able to do that. But we see here in these five verses the praise of the Lord. We see how to praise and we see why to praise. But then I want you to notice in verses six through nine, excuse me, verses six through eleven, we see the power of the Lord. In verses one through five, we saw the praise of the Lord. But in verses six through eleven, we see the power of the Lord. If you're taking notes, if you want a heading for that. I want you to notice that there's two emphasis here with regards to the power of the Lord. And whenever we talk about the power of the Lord, we always have to begin with this. Notice verse six, by the word. The Bible says that his word is powerful. It's quick and powerful. We cannot speak of God's power without speaking of God's word. And here we begin to see the power of the Lord. And the psalmist wants to speak to us about the power of God and he begins by talking about God's creation. Look at it through his word. And this is more of a doctrinal application, but I think it's something that we should be reminded of from time to time. And it is this, that God, number one, is the creator and God created through his word. Look at verse six. He says, by the word of the Lord, notice what he says, were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. So it's talking about his spoken word. God spoke, breath came out of his mouth as he spoke and the heavens were made, the Bible says. And all the host of them. So everything that's in heaven and everything that's held by heaven was made by the word of the Lord by the breath of his mouth. Look at verse seven. He gathered the waters of the sea together as in heap. He laid up the depths in the storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord and all that happens in the world. Notice the words here. Stand in awe of him. We ought to stand in awe of God from time to time. We ought to stop and consider that by the word of God were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He says there in verse nine, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. This is a doctrine taught in scripture which is that God created through his word. If you go back to Genesis one, you don't have to go there, but if you go to Genesis one and you look at the creation story, you know what's repeated over and over again in that first chapter as God is moving through that first week of creation is the fact that God spoke creation into existence. Genesis one says things like this. And God said, let there be light and there was light. And God said, let there be a firmament. And God said, let the waters be gathered together and the dry land appear. And God said, let the earth bring forth grass. And God said, let there be lights and the firmament. And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly. And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creatures. And God said, let us make man in our image. See, when God created the world and the universe, he spoke it into existence. That's what the Bible teaches. And we need to understand this as Bible-believing Christians. We need to have this doctrinal foundation that God created through his word. Hebrews 11, 3 says this, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. 2 Peter 3, 5 says this, For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. See, today this was rejected. Today this was rejected by the world. And people will act like we're foolish or we're uneducated because we believe that God spoke and it was so. That God said, let there be light and there was light. We believe that by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, that he spake and it was done. And they'll say, that's foolish. But is it really any more foolish? I mean, I don't think it's foolish at all. I think it's doctrinal. They'll say, well, that's foolish. Well, they believe that nothing spoke, nothing happened and it just turned into existence. It just came into being. We believe that there is a creator and that his word is powerful and that he created through his word. So we see the power of God. And the psalmist, what he's doing is he wants to highlight for us the power of God and he begins, I think, with the obvious. You want to talk about the power of God? Let's talk about this. That God created all things by his word, by the word of the Lord were the heavens made. And he spake it and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. So we see God's power through God's creation through his word. Then I want you to notice in verse 10, he begins to explain to us God's power not through God's creation through his word but through God's counsel through his work. Now these are closely tied together but I want you to notice what he says in verse 10. He says, the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. So he begins by talking about the counsel of the heathen. Now these are words that maybe you aren't familiar with or we don't use a lot or at least we don't use them in this context. But notice what he says, verse 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel. The word counsel here in our King James Bible means advice. That's usually how you and I would use it. But it's not just advice. It's also plans or purposes, plots, schemes. And notice what he says. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. Again, the word naught is a word that we probably don't use a lot today. But that phrase to naught means to cancel it, to nullify it, to make it invalid, to bring it to nothing. That would be the modern way of saying it. To naught means to bring it to nothing. Here's what he says. He says the Lord brings the plots. The Lord brings the schemes. The Lord brings the plans of the heathen to nothing. He maketh the devices. What's the word device or devices? Again, it's just another word that means plans, schemes, plots. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. He causes them to fail. He renders them inoperable. The counsel of the heathen is destroyed, is diminished by the counsel of the Lord. And again, look, I think that if you ever actually started living New Testament Christianity, both the New Testament and the Old Testament might come alive to you. If you actually began to live the Christian life the way it was meant to be lived, you might not just read Psalm 33 and think, oh, that's just a verse there and it's using words I don't really understand. I mean, it sounds beautiful. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. You might just read that and not think anything of it until you start realizing that in the real Christian life, when you're living the Christian life and you're living godly in Christ Jesus and you're suffering persecution, do you understand that our church, even right now, even as I speak, there are people plotting and scheming and planning to try to destroy our church. And the psalmist here says, hey, take refuge in this that the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. He may give the devices of the people of none effect. So let them sue us. Let them attack us. Let them slander us. Let them scheme and plot and plan. God says that he can protect you. Look, the same God that created you can protect you. So he talks about the counsel of the heathen. But then, why don't you notice in verse 11, there's a contrast to the counsel of the Lord. Look at verse 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. So the contrast is this, that God brings the counsel of the heathen to naught. He makes the devices of the people of none effect, but his counsel standeth forever the thoughts of his heart to all generations. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 21, in verse 30 it says, there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. And here's what these two verses, I think they're interesting verses if you actually just stop to think about them. What he's saying is this, that there's the counsel of the heathen, the planning of the heathen, the purposes of the heathen, and God brings those to naught, he destroys them, he renders them inoperable, he brings them to nothing. And then he says there's the counsel of the Lord, and he says that counsel standeth forever. So here's what he says, he destroys the counsel of the heathen, but the counsel of God, the plans of God, the purposes of God, nobody can stop. This is similar to what you read in the book of Acts, if you remember in the book of Acts when they were talking about the early church, and they were saying, look, if it's of God, you cannot fight against it. They said if it's of men, it'll come to naught, but if it's of God, you cannot fight against it. And the idea is this, that God's counsel will not be stopped. Look, God's plan will not be stopped. Do you understand that you and I can do nothing? Look, we're not Calvinists here, we understand that we all have free will, and we all make decisions, and our choices will make an effect in our lives, and all things can work together for good, and we see that in the Bible, that God can take even the bad decisions, and the wrong decisions, and the attacks, and he can turn them, but let me tell you something, when God has it in his mind to do something, you and I are not going to stop him. God's plans will stand forever. You know, when I think of those verses, when I think of just a story to kind of highlight that is the Tower of Babel. Remember the Tower of Babel? I won't have you turn there, but in Genesis 11, if you remember, remember the people said, let us build us a city and a tower, and let us make us a name? What did God say in the very first chapter of the Bible? He said, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. He said, I want you to have children, and I want you to spread all throughout the earth. That was God's counsel. What was man's counsel? Let's not replenish the earth, let's all stay in this one city, the tower, let's build this Tower of Babel, and of course, it's what human beings have wanted to do from the beginning. They wanted a one world government, the city of Babylon. They wanted a one world religion, the tower that reaches up to heaven. That was their counsel. That was their plan. That was their scheme. That was their plot. Do you know what God did? God brought it to naught. He confounded the languages. The Bible says that from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the faces of all the earth. So you know what God did? He confounded them. He brought their counsel to naught, and then His counsel stood because He wanted them to replenish the whole earth. You know what they did after He confounded all the languages? They spread throughout the earth. That's an example of the heathen, but it's true of Christians as well. What did Jesus say to the disciples right before His ascension? He said, go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel. He said, ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. That was His counsel. What did the disciples want to do? They wanted to stay in Jerusalem. Just all huddled together, and us four, no more type mentality. In Acts 1-8, God says, Jesus says, go unto all the world. He says, unto the uttermost part of the earth. In Acts 8-1, I just think it's interesting, He sends persecution that scatters them. Because you know, the counsel of man, if it goes against God, will always be diminished, and the counsel of God will always stand. So don't fight against God. Don't try to fight against the Lord. If God wants it done, it'll happen. You and I don't need to worry about that. Now let me just give you one doctrinal application here. I gave you a spiritual application. The spiritual application is this, that you should sing. To be filled with the Spirit, you ought to sing unto the Lord. To prepare your heart for the preaching of His word. To become attractive unto the Lord. To be comely unto the Lord, you ought to sing. Here's a doctrinal application for you. Go with me just real quickly to John chapter 1. I know you know this, but I think it's good sometimes to be reminded of these things. John chapter 1. John chapter 1 and verse 1. If you remember, we saw already, and I read some verses to you, that say that by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made. God, the creation came through His breath. So it was actually His spoken word. He spoke, let there be light, and there was light. But there's also this connection with this idea. That Jesus is the word. His spoken, we have the spoken word of God. Of course, we have our Bible, which is the written word of God. There's also the living word of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the word was the catalyst for creation, not just in a practical sense where God spoke and it was so, but in the sense that, in a positional sense, that you say, well which member of the Godhead was it? Well it was the word of God. Look at John 1. In the beginning was, look at the words that are used here. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and the word was God. First John identifies the word as the second member of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ. The same was in the beginning with God, look at verse 3. Notice the connection to creation. All things were made by Him. All things were made by who? By the word. And without Him was not anything made that was made. Look at verse 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father. That's the Lord Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth. So we see that it's not just the spoken word that created, but it's the person, the word, who created. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. You say, why is that important? It's important because the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Creator, which means that He's God. So we don't believe that Jesus, look there are religions out there that will teach that Jesus was just a good man, that Jesus was just a prophet. There's even some religions that will say Jesus was the Son of God, but He's not God, He's the Son of God. Well listen to me, He's the Word, He's the Word of God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. But He was God in the flesh, why? Because all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. So it's a doctrinal application. God's living Word, Jesus Christ, was the catalyst of creation. Let me give you another verse, just real quickly on that. Go to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, you're there in John, go past Acts, Romans, 1, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. I'm not going to go through the whole context of Colossians 1, you can do that on your own. It's pretty easy to see that in verse 16, when it says, for by Him, that Him there is the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says, for by Him, look at what it says, were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. Look at verse 17. And He is before all things. Now I want to point that out to you, that little phrase there, He's before all things. Because in Revelation it talks about Jesus being both the root and the offspring of David, which that proves His deity as well, because He's the son of David, the offspring, but He's also the root of David, He's the source of David. Why? Because He's the creator. But in Revelation there's this little phrase where it'll say that He's the beginning, it'll call Him the beginning of the creation of God. And the Jehovah's Witnesses like to key in on that because they want to disprove the deity of Christ, and they'll say, see, He's not the creator, He's the beginning of the creation of God. But I want you to understand that that phrase, the beginning, first of all, we've already seen clear statements that show that Jesus is the creator. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. That's pretty clear. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. That's clear. That's clear. But then you have this statement where it says, and He is before all things, and then Revelation says that He's the beginning of the creation of God. You say, what does that mean? Well, that's exactly what Jesus said when He testified to His own deity. Remember they asked Him about who He was, and He said, before Abraham was, I am. And they said, you're not even 50 years old. Has I seen Abraham? And He says, look, what He was saying was this, that He is before all things. When it says that He's the beginning of the creation of God, what that means is that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He's the beginning. He's in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So it's good for us to be reminded of these things. I know it's the Wednesday night crowd, and you're smart and you know these things, but it's good for us to be reminded of these doctrinal applications. God's living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Creator. You say, well, what's the Creator? The Word of God, in all sense, in every sense. His spoken Word, His living Word is the Creator. So we have the doctrinal application that Jesus Christ is God, He's the Creator. We have the spiritual application that you ought to sing to Him. You ought to praise Him with your voice. Go back to Psalm, Psalm 33, if you have your place there. Let me give you the third heading. So we saw the praise of God, verses 1 through 5. We saw the power, excuse me, the praise of the Lord, verses 1 through 5. The power of the Lord, verses 6 through 11. Then I want you to notice, in verses 12 through 15, we see the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord. And we see this highlighted in two different ways. In verse 12, we see God's presence nationally. Notice in Psalm 33, 12, the Bible says this. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom He has chosen for His inheritance. Listen to me. God's blessing upon this nation is connected to our identifying and acknowledging of the true God. Notice, I like how it says here, whose God is the Lord. Doesn't say who just has a God. Lowercase G. Any God. No, no, no. It's the Lord. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And we see that God's presence nationally. God blesses. You say, why has America been blessed, I believe, over the years and over history, why was it blessed? I think because of the fact that in this country, throughout history, there has been a major demographic of Bible-believing Christians. I'm not saying that everyone that lived here was a Christian. I'm definitely not saying that all the founding fathers were Christians. But I will say this, that there have been believers, Bible-believing Christians, in bigger numbers in this country. And for that reason, you know, we sing God bless America. Let me tell you why God blessed America. Because blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. But that demographic of true believers is getting smaller and smaller every day. And let us not forget that just because there's a song called God Bless America that God is required to bless this country. God blesses the nations who honor Him. God blesses the nations who acknowledge Him. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Not only that, but in Proverbs 14, if you don't mind just real quickly, just flipping over to Proverbs, just the next book over. In Proverbs 14 and verse 34, notice we find another national type verse here. Proverbs 14, 34, notice this phrase. We saw in Psalm 33, 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. In Proverbs 14, 34, the Bible says, righteousness exalteth a nation. Please don't miss that. It says righteousness, not Republicans. Righteousness exalteth a nation. But sin is a reproach to any people. Look, our focus needs to be on getting people saved, getting people right with God, discipling people to grow. That's what will bless this nation, not the person inhabiting the White House. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Righteousness exalteth a nation, the Bible says. So we see God's presence nationally. Then I want you to notice, if you make your way back to Psalm 33, we see God's presence personally. Look at verse 13. Psalm 33, verse 13. The Lord looketh from heaven. He beholdeth all the sons of men. Again, this is a doctrinal. We're talking about the omniscience of God. God looks from heaven. He beholdeth all the sons of men. The phrase sons of men there is just talking about humanity, all human beings. Look at verse 14. From the place of his habitation, which is heaven, he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. So we see here the omniscience of God. He fashioned their hearts alike. He created us. And he considerth all their works. It's a sobering thought to consider that the Lord looketh from heaven. That God is up in heaven. And of course he's omniscient. We understand that. He sees everything. He knows everything. But here there's an image being drawn for us or spoken. This word picture. And the idea is that, I don't know, when I read those words, what I think of is that up in heaven there's some sort of a balcony or a banister and that God is looking down from that banister. And the Bible says that the Lord looketh from heaven and he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation, he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioned their hearts. He created us. He fashioned their hearts alike. He considerth all their works. There's a couple of things here. And again, this is maybe a little more doctrinal. But there's this idea that God is not this God that's far away. God is interested in us. There's a lot of deists out there, I mean I don't know how many deists there are now, but over history there have been deists who had this philosophy that yes, God created us and God made us, but once God kind of got this globe spinning and going, he just kind of let it go. And God's far away. He doesn't care. He's not interested in us and we're just kind of out here on our own. And there may not be a lot of people that say they believe that today, but there's a lot of Christians that live that way. Isn't that true? We often forget that God is interested in us. He says that he fashioned their hearts alike. He considerth all their works. It's interesting to consider the fact that God not only created us, but that God considers us. He thinks about us. He considerth all their works. He's paying attention to us. And I like to hear how he says he fashioned their hearts alike. And the truth of the matter is that you and I are not very different. There's really not much difference. There's not a lot of difference between you and I. Now we ought to be careful about getting too prideful about the things we think make us special. You're just a hunk of flesh and I'm just a hunk of flesh and we're just sinners and we deserve hell. That's really the end of it. He fashioned their hearts alike. There's no new thing under the sun. Here in Proverbs 15, you don't have to turn there, but in Proverbs the Bible says this, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. So we have a practical application here. We had a spiritual application that you ought to sing unto the Lord. And we had a doctrinal application that God created through his word, both the spoken word and the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have a practical application and the practical application is this, that we must learn to live in light of God's presence. Because he's always with us. Aren't you thankful for that? We like to claim that one, right? I mean, when things aren't going well, we want to claim he's always with us. But listen, let us not forget, if he's always with us, that means that he's always watching. And the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. And I think that something that we need to do is we need to learn to live in the light of God's presence. Remembering that God is always with us, he's watching us, he created us, but he's also considering us. Consider the Bible says all their works. So we see the praise of the Lord, verses 1 through 5. And we see the power of the Lord, verses 6 through 11. We see the presence of the Lord, verses 12 through 15. And then the last heading here, we see the protection of the Lord, verses 16 through 22. The psalmist here begins this portion by talking first about the protection offered by man. Notice what he says in verse 16. He says, there is no king saved by the multitude of in-hosts. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. And what we're being told here is this, that military power, right, because that's what he's talking about. He's talking about a king that has a multitude of in-hosts. What's an host? It's an army. And here's what the psalmist is trying to teach us and remind us, that there is no king saved by the multitude of in-hosts. There is no mighty man that is, he says, a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. He says military power and personal strength are not enough to guarantee deliverance. So let us remember the psalm earlier, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. You say, well America has the largest, greatest, most powerful military in the world. I remind you that there is no king saved by the multitude of in-hosts. And a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. You need to get away from this idea that there is any sort of protection that is offered by man. There's no protection offered by man. Military power, personal strength are not enough to guarantee deliverance. I don't care how much money you have in the bank. Look, you and I need to understand this. You understand that God could just, tomorrow, he could destroy the economy and all those digits you see on your apps that give you so much pride can just go away. And if that happened tomorrow, there would be a lot of people throwing themselves out of buildings because their pride and their strength and their confidence was in man. There is no king saved by the multitude of in-hosts. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. He says in verse 17, he says, an horse. Now, you need to understand this because you and I maybe don't think this way, but in the ancient world and in ancient warfare, the horse represented the pinnacle of military power. I mean, for us, it would be like a nuclear bomb, right? Aircraft carriers, submarines. He says a horse is a vain thing. Vain means empty. A horse is a vain thing, look at it, for safety. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. The horse, you say, well, the horse is stronger than I am. The horse is not going to deliver you by his great strength. The horse is a vain thing for safety. And this is echoed throughout the word of God. Go to Psalm 20 just real quickly. Psalm 20, look at verse 7. Psalm 20, we already looked at Psalm 20 about 13 weeks ago, but I'm sure you don't remember it, so look at it again. Psalm 20, verse 7. Psalm 20, verse 7 says this, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. See, while others are trusting in chariots and trusting in horses, we should remember that righteousness exalted the nation. We should remember that blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Proverbs 21 and verse 31, if you'd like to go there just real quickly, the next book over, Proverbs 21. Verse 31 says this, The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Look, the idea is this, that the protection offered by man guarantees nothing. You can go ahead and prepare a horse for battle. And I'm not even saying, I don't think the proverb here is telling us that that's a bad thing to do. You've got a horse, go ahead and prepare it for battle. You've got a gun, put bullets in it. I mean, you're saying, look, go ahead and prepare, but at the end of the day, remember that safety is of the Lord. And it doesn't matter if you're in a war and you're driving in a tank and you've got a helmet and you've got everything that could protect you. Do you understand this? If God wants you dead, buy flowers. Because the horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. So while some trust in chariots and some in horses, we should remember the name of the Lord our God. That's how a Christian should think. Go to 2 Chronicles just real quickly, 2 Chronicles 32. If you find the one and two books that are all clustered together, 1 Samuel, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles. While you turn there, go to 2 Chronicles 32 if you don't mind. Let me read to you from Isaiah 31. You go to 2 Chronicles 32, I'll read to you from Isaiah 31 and verse 1. Isaiah 31 says, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. He says, be careful about staying on horses, trusting in chariots, looking at the horsemen and seeing how strong they are, but not looking unto the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 32, we actually find a story that's the opposite of that. If you remember, this is King Hezekiah, the king of Judah. And you have Sennacherib, king of Assyria, coming to fight against him. Sennacherib has a great army, many horses, lots of things that are impressive. 2 Chronicles 32, I want you to notice what Hezekiah, the king, says when opposed with this great army. The Bible says, and he set captains of war over the people and gathered them together to him in the streets of the gate of the city and spake comfortably unto them saying, I want you to notice what Hezekiah says. Look at verse 7, here's what he says to God's people. Be strong and courageous. You've got to understand the context. He's speaking to his army. The Bible says that he set captains of war over the people and gathered them together. He's got his military, he's got his commanders, he's got his officers, he's got his enlisted personnel, he's got all, his army, whatever size that is, he's got them all together. And this is that, you know, that speech, that let's go get them, you know, speech right before battle. But he knows and they know that they are outmatched and they are outgunned. They've got more men, they've got more horses, they've got more chariots. I mean, they're just a bigger and greater military. But these are God's people. What would you say if you found yourself as the king in this situation? Here's what Hezekiah said. Here's this big, rousing speech. He says, be strong and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed. For the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. Look at these words. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The hymn says, stand up, stand up for Jesus. But don't miss this. Stand in His strength alone. Say why? The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. He says, with Him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God. So you see the protection offered by man, it's unreliable. It cannot guarantee deliverance. And I want you to notice, go back to Psalm 33, let's finish this thing up. Look at verse 18. In verse 18, he begins to talk about the protection offered by God. In verse 16, he talks about the protection offered by man. He says, there's no king saved by the multitude of an host. The mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is the main thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. In verse 18, he begins to talk about the protection offered by God. That's what he says. He says, behold, the eyes of the Lord is upon them that fear Him. Now that sounds a lot like what we read in the presence of the Lord section, right? The banister where God's looking down. The Lord from heaven looking down upon the sons of men. The Lord from His palace is looking down. But notice, here there's a difference. Earlier in the Psalm, he's talking about the fact that God sees everything, everyone, all human beings. In reference to his omniscience, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Here, it's similar, but it's different. Verse 18, he says, behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him. And the idea is this, that though, yes, God's omniscience causes Him to see everyone, His attention, He is purposely watching over His own. The eyes of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy. Why is He watching His own? Here's why, verse 19, to deliver their soul from death. That's spiritual deliverance and to keep them alive in famine. That's physical deliverance. Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall, notice how the Psalm ends, it ends the way it began, rejoice in Him. It began with rejoicing the Lord. And look, here's the idea. The idea is this, that if God's not for you, remember, the counsel of the Lord, the counsel of the heathen, He's going to bring it to naught. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. If God's not for you, no one can help you. It doesn't matter. But if God is for you, no one can hurt you. It doesn't matter. If God's not for you, it doesn't matter who is for you. And if God is for you, it doesn't matter who's against you. That's what He says. He says that the eyes, behold verse 18, the eyes of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we hope in Thee. You say they're plotting and they're scheming. They're planning and they're organizing. They're orchestrating against us. Well, here's the thing. God knows who are His. God knows who's doing right. If God's not for you, it doesn't really matter who is for you. It doesn't matter how many people are on your side. And if God is for you, it does not matter who's against you. Here's how Paul said it in the New Testament. He said, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? So we see that we'd rather put our faith, our hope on the protection offered by God and not the protection offered by man. So the psalmist ends in verse 22. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we hope in Thee. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. We thank you for this great psalm and just the truths that are in this psalm. And Lord, help us to remember these applications. Help us to remember the fact that you want us to praise you. You want us to sing. You want us to play with instruments. And singing is a spiritual act. It allows us to be filled with the Spirit of God. It prepares our hearts for the preaching of your word and it's comely to you. And Lord, I pray you would help us to remember the doctrinal application. That you spoke existence. You spoke and it was so. And your word, the Lord Jesus Christ is the creator. Help us to remember the physical application. That you're with us and you're watching. You're not just our creator but you're also considering us and help us to live in light of your presence. And then Lord, I pray that you'd help us to remember this practical application. This application that teaches us that if God's for us, that's all we need. And Lord, I pray you'd help us to put our hope in you. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Andrew come up and lead you in a final song. I think he's going to give you an opportunity to praise the Lord. So I hope you'll take an opportunity to do that. Just a quick reminder though, that if you'd like to help with the ladies' tea. Ladies, there are sign-up sheets in the back and you can help with different things for the ladies' tea. So if you wouldn't mind, we'd love for you to go back there and volunteer to help in some capacity. And then men, you can also help with the ladies' tea. Not back there but on your communication card. If you could commit to being here on Saturday at 5.30 after the ladies' tea, we've got to get all those tables down. We've got to put all the chairs back up. We've got to get ready for church the next day and we would appreciate your help. If you could do that, please sign up on your communication card or just let me or Brother Oliver or somebody know. And we'll get you signed up for that. We'd appreciate your help with that. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know. Thank you for being here tonight. We'll have Brother Andrew come up and lead us in a final song. All right. Well, after that sermon, are you ready to sing? Song number 202. We're going to give you a good opportunity to sing with a wonderful song, okay? Song number 202. Song number 202. My Redeemer, join me, okay? Let's sing it out on that first, okay? I will sing of my Redeemer, and his wondrous love to me. On that moon the whole class has suffered, from the curse to set me free. Sing, oh sing of my Redeemer, and if his body urges me, on the cross he's too adored. May the dead have made me free. That was a pretty good start, okay? But we're going to sing out as much as we can tonight, okay? Join me on the second, okay? I challenge you, even if you normally don't sing, I encourage you to sing and see what it does to your heart, okay? Song number 202, sing it out on the second. Join me on that second. I will tell the wondrous story, now my loss will stay to stay. When it has bound this common mercy, be the ransom free. Sing, oh sing of my Redeemer, and if his body urges me, on the cross he's too adored. May the dead have made me free. I will pray for my dear believer, his triumphant power unto hell. Come a bit to me again, for sin and death will tell. Sing, oh sing of my Redeemer, and if his body urges me, on the cross he's too adored. May the dead have made me free. That was pretty good. Okay, well we're going to give it all we've got on this fourth. Okay, I don't know if you know this, but we picked the songs in a certain order. The songs before the service prepare you for the preaching of the word of God, and the songs at the end of the service prepare you for the rest of your week. So if you want to have a good week, let's sing it out, okay? Join me on this last. I will sing my Redeemer. I will sing of my Redeemer, and if heaven were to be, who would that true bride have brought me, son of God with him to be. Come on, sing it out. Sing, oh sing of my Redeemer, with his blood he purges me, on the cross he's sealed my pardon. May the dead have made me free. Amen. Let's give you one more. Thank you so much for joining us this Wednesday evening. And of course, if you have any questions about church membership, salvation, or baptism, pastor will be at the door in the back, and we'd love to answer those questions for you. Brother RJ, would you mind dismissing us with a word of prayer? Amen. Amen.