Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Loving God Our Ultimate Response Msg 622 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Loving God Our Ultimate Response Msg 622 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: There are too many people who encourage us in our
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  Speaker 1: growth in Christ. As a matter of fact, I find
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  Speaker 1: many more people somehow have a way of discouraging our
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  Speaker 1: walk and our responding to God in obedience. John Powell,
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  Speaker 1: in his wonderful little book, Fully Human, Fully Alive, tells
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful story of what happened to one of his
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  Speaker 1: friends who was vacationing down in the Bahamas. If you'll
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  Speaker 1: allow me, I'll read part of that story. Upon investigation
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  Speaker 1: of the restless crowd gathered on the pier, my friend
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  Speaker 1: discovered that the object of all the attention was a
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  Speaker 1: young man making the last-minute preparations for a solo journey
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  Speaker 1: around the world in a homemade boat. Without exception, everyone
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  Speaker 1: on the pier was pessimistic. all were actively volunteering to
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  Speaker 1: tell the ambitious sailor all the things that could possibly
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  Speaker 1: go wrong. The sun will broil you, said one. You
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  Speaker 1: won't have enough food, said another. That boat of yours
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  Speaker 1: won't withstand the waves and a storm. And another, you'll
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  Speaker 1: never make it. When my friend heard all these discouraging
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  Speaker 1: warnings to the adventurous young man, he felt an irresistible
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  Speaker 1: desire to offer some optimism and encouragement. As the little
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  Speaker 1: craft began drifting away from the pier toward the horizon,
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  Speaker 1: my friend went to the end of the pier, waving
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  Speaker 1: both arms wildly like semaphores spelling confidence. He kept shouting,
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  Speaker 1: Bon voyage! Bon voyage! You're really something! We're with you!
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  Speaker 1: We're proud of you! Can't you picture that? Everybody on
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  Speaker 1: the pier saying, you'll never make it. Your boat will
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  Speaker 1: never make it. And here's this one fellow standing there
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  Speaker 1: waving his arm saying, go for it. You can do it.
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  Speaker 1: We believe in you. That is a wonderful illustration of
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  Speaker 1: people on this earth. And you and I are in
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  Speaker 1: the little boat. And that little boat has put out
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  Speaker 1: to sea And it is on its journey toward knowing
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  Speaker 1: God and responding to God in obedience. Have you noticed
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  Speaker 1: how few there are who stand on that pier as
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  Speaker 1: we push out into the sea saying, Good for you.
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  Speaker 1: Go for it. You can make it. That's the right
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  Speaker 1: way to go. God be with you. I feel like
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  Speaker 1: this day is spent doing that. And I'm glad. I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad to be one of those people standing on the
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  Speaker 1: pier cheering you on because I believe in your journey.
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  Speaker 1: And I believe if you have chosen to know God
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  Speaker 1: fully and to walk with Him obediently, and as we
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  Speaker 1: shall see in these few minutes we're together, love Him consistently,
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  Speaker 1: He will honor that decision. Tucked away in the fifth
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  Speaker 1: book of the Bible is a wonderful statement and a
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  Speaker 1: wonderful command. I want you to see both statement and
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  Speaker 1: command together in Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5. The
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  Speaker 1: command is preceded by the statement. Let's look, therefore, first
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  Speaker 1: at the statement which talks about knowing God. And then
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  Speaker 1: let's observe the command, which addresses the importance of loving God.
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  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy 6.4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is one. You can't see it in the English,
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  Speaker 1: but in the Hebrew, that word one conveys the idea
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  Speaker 1: of one in multiple. As you would say, cluster or group.
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  Speaker 1: Echad is the word and it's the idea of one
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  Speaker 1: as in a cluster of grapes. Hear, O Israel, the
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  Speaker 1: Lord our God is one. One in Father, one in Son,
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  Speaker 1: one in Spirit. Hear, O Israel, and come to know
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  Speaker 1: Him as your only God. Walk only with Him. The
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  Speaker 1: next verse. And you shall love, this is now a command,
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  Speaker 1: you shall love the Lord your God with all your
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  Speaker 1: heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
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  Speaker 1: Now how important was this? Keep reading. These words which
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  Speaker 1: I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.
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  Speaker 1: But don't stop there. Don't just leave them on your heart.
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  Speaker 1: You shall teach them diligently to your sons. And shall
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  Speaker 1: talk of them when you sit in your house. And
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  Speaker 1: when you walk by the way. When you lie down.
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  Speaker 1: And when you rise up. You shall bind them as
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  Speaker 1: a sign on your hand. And they shall be as
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  Speaker 1: frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them, if
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  Speaker 1: you can believe this, you shall write these words on
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  Speaker 1: the doorposts of your house and on your gates. I
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  Speaker 1: would say God is serious about that. This is something
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  Speaker 1: I want you to put on your heart, men and women.
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  Speaker 1: And then as God brings children into your family, these
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  Speaker 1: are the things I want you to teach them, not
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  Speaker 1: simply as an intellectual catechism kind of teachings, but I
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  Speaker 1: want it to be in the warp and woof of life.
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  Speaker 1: I want it to take place when you lie down
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  Speaker 1: and when you get up, when you walk, when you
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  Speaker 1: take your rest, when you play, when you work. I
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  Speaker 1: want it to be your lifestyle. In other words, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to model knowing me and loving me with
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  Speaker 1: all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.
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  Speaker 1: And I want your children to capture that. so that
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  Speaker 1: they will have that impression when you're gone. Every once
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  Speaker 1: in a while, my wife and I talk about how
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  Speaker 1: life will be in our family when one or the
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  Speaker 1: other or both of us is gone. I'm sure you
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  Speaker 1: who are parents have talked the same. Cynthia and I
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  Speaker 1: are in agreement. We are in great hopes that our
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  Speaker 1: children will have learned by our model that there is
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  Speaker 1: nothing more important to their mother and dad than knowing
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  Speaker 1: God and loving Him with all their heart and soul
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  Speaker 1: and might. If they will have gotten that, whether they
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  Speaker 1: walk in it or not, if they will have gotten
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  Speaker 1: that impression, we will have done our job. We will
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  Speaker 1: have done it. You see, children don't automatically know to
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  Speaker 1: know God and to love Him. They need it modeled.
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  Speaker 1: How important was it for these people? Oh, you've got
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  Speaker 1: to know the history. Just a little brief history lesson.
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  Speaker 1: They're right on the verge of the land of Canaan.
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  Speaker 1: The land that flows with milk and honey. The promised land.
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  Speaker 1: But what you don't remember, probably, is that it's crawling
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  Speaker 1: with idolaters. There is an idolatrous mentality permeating the place
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  Speaker 1: where they will live. And it's just in front of them.
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  Speaker 1: Moses will die. He won't go into the land. And
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  Speaker 1: these people have only the words of Moses ringing in
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  Speaker 1: their ears when they conquer the land and take over
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  Speaker 1: Canaan and begin to rear their family. In homes they
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  Speaker 1: didn't build, eating from vineyards they didn't plant, drinking from
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  Speaker 1: cisterns they didn't dig. It'll sort of be instant affluence.
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  Speaker 1: And Moses is concerned that those people will move into
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  Speaker 1: the land and the impact of affluence will diminish their
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  Speaker 1: love for God. So he says, put this on the
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  Speaker 1: doorpost of your house. Write it on your hands. Make
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  Speaker 1: it the mark of your life that you are people
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  Speaker 1: who know and love your God. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: verse 24 gives us the people's response. He brought us
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  Speaker 1: out from there in order to bring us in. He
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  Speaker 1: brought us out of Egypt to bring us into Canaan,
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  Speaker 1: to give us the land which he has sworn to
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  Speaker 1: our fathers. So the Lord commanded us, watch this, to
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  Speaker 1: observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God
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  Speaker 1: for our good and for our survival. I've underlined those
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  Speaker 1: last two prepositional phrases in red. For our good. For
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  Speaker 1: our survival. For our good. For our survival. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how many people live under the false impression that
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  Speaker 1: when God makes a command, he's trying to take away
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  Speaker 1: our funds. On the contrary. When God gives us a command,
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  Speaker 1: it's for our good. And it's often for our survival.
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  Speaker 1: If you want to do what is good, and if
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  Speaker 1: you want to do what will help you survive, then
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  Speaker 1: know God and love him with all your heart and
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  Speaker 1: soul and mind. Now you'll observe in my previous message
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  Speaker 1: I didn't give you six steps on how to know God.
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  Speaker 1: That was on purpose. It isn't like that. It isn't
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  Speaker 1: a mechanical step-by-step process. It's a lifetime pursuit. What it
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  Speaker 1: really requires is a day-by-day commitment in one's head that says,
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  Speaker 1: today I'm going to know God better. Today I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to love God more. I'm going to make this a regular,
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  Speaker 1: major pursuit of my life. And piece by piece, little
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  Speaker 1: by little, day by day, it will begin to permeate
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  Speaker 1: your whole frame of reference. That's what Moses wants for them,
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  Speaker 1: and that's what God wants for us. Now, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to leave Deuteronomy, and we're going to spend the rest
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  Speaker 1: of our time, let's see, 400 years later, during the
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  Speaker 1: reign of David Turn to the Psalms. Psalm number 31.
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  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy looked ahead. The Psalms looked back. Moses anticipated. And
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  Speaker 1: then David responded by recording a number of events that
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  Speaker 1: took place. And he put them in the music of
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  Speaker 1: that day called the Psalter or the Psalms. Now, for
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes, I want us just to sort of
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  Speaker 1: graze through several psalms, and I want you to see
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  Speaker 1: God at work as he, for the people's good and
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  Speaker 1: for their survival, came to their rescue. And then I
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  Speaker 1: want us to focus on the man himself, David. And
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  Speaker 1: I want us to see him in personal situations where
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  Speaker 1: God brought him through and how he responded in love
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  Speaker 1: to God. And I hope in these few moments we're
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  Speaker 1: going to have in the psalms, you will have your
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  Speaker 1: appetite whetted to trust God as you've never trusted him before.
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  Speaker 1: What will stand out in all of these Psalms is
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  Speaker 1: that in every case, the people had no other one
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  Speaker 1: to lean on but God. They had no bank account.
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  Speaker 1: They had no armory. They had no arsenal. They had
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  Speaker 1: no flag to fly. They had no defense. All they
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  Speaker 1: had was God. And the psalmist talks about how he
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  Speaker 1: came through again and again and again. They had no
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  Speaker 1: other substitute and therefore they trusted in their God. Now
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 31 is the place to start. Look at the
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  Speaker 1: protection of God in the first four verses. In thee,
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  Speaker 1: O Lord, I have taken refuge. Let me never be ashamed.
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  Speaker 1: In thy righteousness deliver me. Incline thine ear to me.
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  Speaker 1: Rescue me quickly. Be thou to me a rock of strength.
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  Speaker 1: a stronghold to save me. For thou art my rock
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  Speaker 1: and thou art my fortress. For thy namesake thou will
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  Speaker 1: lead me and guide me. Thou will pull me out
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  Speaker 1: of the net which they have secretly laid for me.
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  Speaker 1: For thou art my strength. Notice, there is no other strength.
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  Speaker 1: There is no other source of encouragement. There is no
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  Speaker 1: other protection. Only the Lord is And the writer says,
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  Speaker 1: it's you, Lord, I turn to. I drop down to
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  Speaker 1: verse 9, same psalm. Be gracious to me, O Lord,
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  Speaker 1: for I am in distress. My eye is wasted away
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  Speaker 1: from grief and my soul and my body also. For
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  Speaker 1: my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing.
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  Speaker 1: My strength has failed because of iniquity and my body
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  Speaker 1: has wasted away. Because of all my adversaries, I become
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  Speaker 1: a reproach. Ever had this happen? Ever had this experience?
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  Speaker 1: Just read on and you'll feel it with him. I
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  Speaker 1: become a reproach, especially to my neighbors. And an object
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  Speaker 1: of dread to my acquaintances. Those who see me in
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  Speaker 1: the street go to the other side. They flee from me.
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  Speaker 1: I'm forgotten as a dead man, out of mind. I'm
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  Speaker 1: like a broken vessel. I have heard the slander of many.
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  Speaker 1: Terror is on every side. While they took counsel together
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  Speaker 1: against me, they schemed to take away my life. Look
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  Speaker 1: at the man. Lord, I am at your mercy. I
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  Speaker 1: have no defense. I'm outnumbered. I'm surrounded. And in myself,
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  Speaker 1: I'm intimidated, oh God. But the point is, I know you.
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  Speaker 1: I trust you. To get me through this, the next
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  Speaker 1: two verses. As for me, I trust in thee, O Lord.
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  Speaker 1: I say thou art my God. My times are in
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  Speaker 1: thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
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  Speaker 1: and from those who persecute me. Haven't you experienced in
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  Speaker 1: your life holding on to things, gripping things, keeping them near,
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  Speaker 1: protecting them, not wanting God to take them, important things
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  Speaker 1: to you, things you've leaned on for strength, almost as
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  Speaker 1: if they were idols. And piece by piece, little by little,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord pried your fingers loose and you had to
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  Speaker 1: let go. I love how Corrie Ten Boom used to
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  Speaker 1: put it. She said, I've learned to hold everything loosely.
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  Speaker 1: Because it hurts when God pries my fingers and takes
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  Speaker 1: them from me. The poet wrote, one by one, God
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  Speaker 1: took them from me, all the things I valued most,
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  Speaker 1: till I was empty handed. Every glittering toy was lost.
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  Speaker 1: And I walked earth's highways, grieving in my rags and poverty,
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  Speaker 1: till I heard his voice inviting, lift those empty hands
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  Speaker 1: to me. And I turned my hands toward heaven. And
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  Speaker 1: he filled them with a store of his own transcendent
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  Speaker 1: riches till they could contain no more. And at last
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  Speaker 1: I comprehended with my stupid mind and dull that God
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  Speaker 1: could not pour his riches into hands already full. Let
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  Speaker 1: it go. Trust him. Love him. Come to know that
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  Speaker 1: he's trustworthy. He won't hang you out to dry. Let
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  Speaker 1: them slander. Let them say those things against you. He
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  Speaker 1: knows you have integrity. Release. Release your defense. Trust him.
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  Speaker 1: That's the message of this psalm. No substitutes, no other refuge,
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  Speaker 1: no other source but the living God. Another one is
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 37. And who doesn't have Psalm 37 as one
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  Speaker 1: of their favorites? Look at the inner strength, the peace
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  Speaker 1: that he alone gives. Verses 1 to 11. Fret not
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  Speaker 1: yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For
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  Speaker 1: they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like
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  Speaker 1: the green herb. Ever find yourself envious of the evildoers?
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  Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing how those who do wrong get away
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  Speaker 1: with it? And you and I who do right... We
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  Speaker 1: can't even get away with taking a dime out of
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  Speaker 1: the phone booth. Isn't it amazing? Somehow God zaps you.
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  Speaker 1: You have to go back and put the dime back
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  Speaker 1: in the slot because you can't live with yourself. Trust
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  Speaker 1: in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land
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  Speaker 1: and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself. Where? In the Lord. And
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  Speaker 1: he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit
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  Speaker 1: your way to the Lord and what? Trust also in him.
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  Speaker 1: He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness
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  Speaker 1: as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest
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  Speaker 1: in the Lord. Wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself
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  Speaker 1: because of him who prospers in his way. Because of
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  Speaker 1: the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger.
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  Speaker 1: Forsake wrath. You see, he knows us so well. When
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  Speaker 1: you begin to fret yourself because of one who prospers
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  Speaker 1: in wickedness, when you begin to do that, then you
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  Speaker 1: begin to get angry and your anger turns to wrath
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  Speaker 1: and your wrath begins to consume you. So he says again,
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  Speaker 1: fret not yourself. It only leads to evil doing. That's
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  Speaker 1: this license plate. I don't get mad. I get even.
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  Speaker 1: You seen that license plate? I'm seeing more and more
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  Speaker 1: of those license plates. They scare me. I get even.
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  Speaker 1: This guy's in a big car. He's driving fast. He's
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  Speaker 1: getting even. The psalmist says, don't get even. Don't even
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  Speaker 1: fret yourself with a plan to get even. God never
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  Speaker 1: tried to get even lay down your arms verse 9
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  Speaker 1: evil doers will be cut off but those who wait
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  Speaker 1: for the Lord will inherit the land verse 35 I've
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  Speaker 1: seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant
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  Speaker 1: tree in its native soil. Can't you picture it? I've
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  Speaker 1: seen this big hulk of a man, evil in his ways,
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  Speaker 1: and as it were, blood dripping from his fingers, doing wrong,
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  Speaker 1: doing wrong, growing larger, more powerful, more intimidating. And what
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  Speaker 1: happened to him? Next verse. Then he passed away. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: he was no more. I sought for him, but he
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  Speaker 1: could not be found. Mark the blameless man and behold
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  Speaker 1: the upright, for the man of peace will have a posterity.
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  Speaker 1: I think my words are falling on ears that are
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  Speaker 1: understanding what I'm saying. You don't walk very long or
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  Speaker 1: very close to God before you become the face on
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  Speaker 1: someone's dartboard, the object of someone's resistance and even wrath,
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  Speaker 1: even though you really did no wrong to that person.
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  Speaker 1: For all the right reasons and the purest of motives,
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  Speaker 1: You did what you did and you have been misunderstood.
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  Speaker 1: That's a very tender place to be. Your knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: God and your love for God will be on display
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  Speaker 1: in how you respond to his or her treatment. Just another,
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  Speaker 1: there are so many, but first four verses. Psalm 46
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  Speaker 1: is one I can't dodge. 46.
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  Speaker 2: 46.
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  Speaker 1: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
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  Speaker 1: in trouble. My favorite word is present. Very present help
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  Speaker 1: right now. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth
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  Speaker 1: should change, though the mountains slip into the heart of
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  Speaker 1: the sea. Is that relevant or what? Though the waters
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  Speaker 1: roar and foam. Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. Pause.
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  Speaker 1: Let that sink in. Pause. Drink that in. Drink what in?
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  Speaker 1: That God is my refuge. God is my strength. A
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  Speaker 1: very present help in trouble. My sister was for many
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  Speaker 1: years a field representative for the school from which she graduated. Well,
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  Speaker 1: for a few years. Not many, but a few years.
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  Speaker 1: And while she was traveling around the Southwest, reaching different
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  Speaker 1: potential students, she, of course, had a number of experiences
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  Speaker 1: traveling as a single woman. On one occasion, she noticed
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  Speaker 1: that she was being followed by a vehicle, and it
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  Speaker 1: was getting dark, and she was alone, and became increasingly
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  Speaker 1: more uneasy. She decided she would... turned in for the night,
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  Speaker 1: and so she pulled into this rather small town and
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  Speaker 1: noticed that the car behind her did the same. And
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  Speaker 1: she made several obvious turns that were strange, and the
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  Speaker 1: car followed. So she knew she was being followed. She
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  Speaker 1: quickly found the nearest motel and got out and registered
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  Speaker 1: and noticed the lights in the car still on down
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  Speaker 1: the way, waiting, and her heart was beating in her throat.
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  Speaker 1: And she... quickly signed the register and got the key
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  Speaker 1: and jumped in her car and drove around and got
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  Speaker 1: in the room and locked every possible lock there was
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  Speaker 1: on the door and breathed a sigh of relief. She
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  Speaker 1: prepared herself for bed, was going to take a shower
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  Speaker 1: and while she was stepping out of the shower she
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: noticed that the Venetian blind was up a little on
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: one and she suddenly had this horrible sense Of fear.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: That she was being watched. That this person was right
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: outside the window. And Lucy. Said. To me. Later she
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: told me. I didn't know what to do. I was defenseless.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I was all alone. If he had broken in. I
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: couldn't have protected myself. She said I looked down. And
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: someone had slipped under the glass on top of this
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: chest of drawers. Come unto me, all you who are
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: find rest in your soul. She said when she saw
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: that verse, there was just this enormous sense of relief
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: that surged over her. She walked over, yanked that Venetian
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: blind down, turned the lights off, got in bed, went
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: right to sleep. Not a thing happened. There is something remarkable,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: remarkable about the Word of God when it's taken literally
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: and applied to your situation. It works, friends. It works.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: It isn't voodoo. It isn't magic. It isn't some kind
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: of divine omen you place on someone else. It is
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: the living and abiding word of God. It is his
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: testimony of his strength in your life. And he says,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: take it, believe it, apply it, love me for it.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: And it works. It works. Stories like that could be
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: multiplied all over the family of God. When we make
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord alone our single source of protection, our solitary refuge,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: He shows Himself strong, doesn't He? And then who gets
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the glory? Doesn't it work right? When He comes through,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: all you can do is say, praise be to the Lord.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: He did it again. Now, The best part of the whole,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: I hate to call it a formula, but the best
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: part of the whole process is as he proves himself strong,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: the God who comes through when we need him, the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: response on our part is love. Oh, how I love
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: this one who sees me through. Now, I want to
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: show you from this grateful man's life some examples. And
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: no need to take a lot of time in each
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: one of the Psalms, but you'll see some circumstances and
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: you'll see David's response. Psalm 18. He has been delivered
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: from the hands of his enemies. He has been delivered
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: from Saul's pursuit again. He is now safe in some place.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I don't know if he's in the wilderness or back
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: in the back home or where, but he is safe.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: And once safe, he has to write a song. He
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: has to testify of his gratitude in song. And he
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: says in verse 1, I love thee, O Lord, my strength.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I love you, Lord. Verse 4, the cords of death
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: encompassed me. The torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: of death surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: to my God for help. And he heard my voice
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: out of the temple. And my cry for help before
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: him came into his ears. Verse 46, the response, the
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Lord lives and blessed be my rock. and exalted be
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the God of my salvation. He executes vengeance for me
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: and subdues peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Surely thou dost lift me above those who rise up
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: against me. Thou dost rescue me from the violent man. Therefore,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: I am grateful. He said at the beginning, I love you, Lord.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: He says at the ending, I give thanks to you
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: among the nations. I sing praises to to your name.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Now the scene isn't always that objective. Sometime we will
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: do wrong. Sometime our situation is deserved. Sometime we will fail.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: We will stumble. David stumbled terribly. When I mention the
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: name David, unfortunately many people first think of his failure
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: and it's a glaring one. At the height of his career,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: he stumbled into lust and The lust turned into open adultery.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: The adultery led to murder. The murder led to deception.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: In fact, almost a year of lying to his people.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Don't you know the word spread in his kingdom? Don't
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: you know that they whispered of him in the alleys
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: and in the homes around his palace? It was obvious
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: he had married this woman and It was obvious as
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: they counted back over the months that she had had
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the baby. Not enough months since they had married. It
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: was clear to the people and he slumped into an
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: enormous depression. When he came out on the other side,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: he wrote a song. Song number 32. He has compromised
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: his walk with the Lord. He has given in to
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: deception and lust and murder. The misery of the man
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: we can scarcely imagine. Verse 3, when I kept silent
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: about my sin, my body wasted away. Ever had that happen?
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Ever been so stubborn in your iniquity that you refused
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to confess it and you began to suffer physically for it?
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: How many illnesses really can be traced to sin? Not all,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: certainly not all, but how many in God's family? Through
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: my groaning all day long, this body of mine began
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: to waste away. Day and night, your hand was heavy
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: upon me. My vitality was drained away as with the
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to thee.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I couldn't wait any longer. My iniquity I didn't hide.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: and thou dost forgive the guilt of my sin. Now
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: look back at verse 1 and verse 2. This is
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: the response of a forgiven man. How blessed is he
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: is the man to whom the Lord does not impute
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: iniquity or credit it to his account, in whose spirit
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: there is no Deceit. How blessed I am. How forgiven.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: How clean. You know what's happened? He's claimed God's cleansing.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: He's claimed God's forgiveness. And as a result, his love
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: is expressed in gratitude. I see my wrong. I accept it.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: As wrong. And I lay it before you. And God
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: took away the guilt as well as the sin. Just
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: one more, Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: says David, and he inclined to me and heard my cry.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: out of the miry clay. Now, ladies and gentlemen, this
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: pit of destruction can mean many things. It may mean
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: a depression for you. It may mean a period of
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: time where you wandered. It may be a period of
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: unexplainable sorrow in your life. It may be a series
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: of griefs and losses. It may be the loss of health.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: It may be a terminal illness. Whatever the pit, you
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: put your pit in this situation. You put it right
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: here in this passage. Whatever it was for David, it
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: is left undefined. He brought me up out of that
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: pit of destruction. He pulled me out of the miry
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: clay and set my feet on a rock, making my
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: footsteps firm, and I have written a new song. He
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: put a new song in my mouth, a song of
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: praise to our God. Many will see and fear and
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: trust in the Lord. How happy is the man who
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: has made the Lord his. His trust. Reminds me a
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: little of the song. Guide me oh thou great Jehovah.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak but thou
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: art mighty. Hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Bread of heaven. Feed me till I want no more.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: The last part of the stanza. The third verse says.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: Songs of praises. Songs of praises. I will ever give
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: to thee. The heart that loves God is a heart
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: that bursts forth in songs of praise. It is marvelous.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: It is wonderful to have your heart so in love
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: with your Lord that the only way to express it
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: is to sing it. Songs of praises I will ever
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: give to thee. Now, as I close, I want to
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: say two or three things to you who truly love God. First,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: I want to say this. You who truly love the
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Lord have experienced His power to deliver. So you're not
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: fearful people. You have experienced His power to deliver. You
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: could write your own story You could keep us all
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: for another hour as we listen to the song of praise.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: You who truly love the Lord have seen him show
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: his power as he delivers you, and you're not a
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: fearful person. Second, you who truly love God have received
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: his peace and forgiveness, so you don't operate under guilt.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: You have done wrong and you will do wrong again,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: but the wonderful truth is that you have claimed his
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: forgiveness and your guilt has been relieved. You don't spend
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: your days washing around in how wrong or how bad
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: or how failing you have been. You have claimed his mercy.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: You're free of guilt. Finally, you who have felt his
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: presence through affliction are the ones who love God. You've
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: gone through affliction and your faith has been strengthened as
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: you felt his presence. You're stronger now. You know what's
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: happened in the process? You and your Lord have become close. Close.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: It's so close it can't really be explained in human terms.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: You have linked yourself with the Almighty. And you and
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: him are in league together. You're walking together. And nothing
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: breaks that fellowship. That's the way it is with God.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: He's on that basis with his children. I started with
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: one kind of story. I end with another. Playwright Moss
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Hart said, once recalled a childhood Christmas when his father
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: took him shopping, hoping to buy the boy a present
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: he would like. The two walked the New York streets
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: inspecting the merchandise displayed on scores of push carts. Hart's
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: eyes as a little boy were drawn to chemistry sets
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: and to printing presses, but the father, a very poor man,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: had less expensive things in mind. Each time they would
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: find something the boy wanted, the father would ask the
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: vendor's price shake his head, and move on. Occasionally, he
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: would pick up a smaller, less expensive toy and try
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: to attract his son's attention. But there was no meeting
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: of the minds. Eventually, they came to the end of
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: the line of push carts without a purchase. Hart writes,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: I heard my father jingle some coins in his pocket
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: in a flash. I knew it all. He had gotten
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: together about 75 cents to buy me a Christmas present,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: and he hadn't dared say so in case there was
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: nothing to be had for so small a sum. As
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: I looked up at him, I saw a look of
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: despair and disappointment in his eyes that brought me closer
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: to him than I had ever been in my life.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: I wanted to throw my arms around him and say,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, I understand. This is better than a
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: printing press. I love you, Daddy. But instead, we stood
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: shivering beside each other for a moment, then turned away
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: from the last two push carts and started silently back
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: home I didn't even take his hand on the way
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: home nor did he take mine we were not on
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: that basis nor did I ever tell him how close
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: I felt that night that for a little while The
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: concrete wall between father and son had crumbled, and I
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: knew that we were two lonely people struggling to reach
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: each other. I want you to know God is on
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: that basis. God wants your arms around him. God wants
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: you to say, I love you, Dad. I love you, Father.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: I trust you. Whatever you want to give me, I accept.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: I need you. I cling to you. I walk with you.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I adore you. The better you get to know your God,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: the more comfortable you will be with that kind of response.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: And as you gain comfort in that kind of response,
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: express it. Sing your songs. Lay your burdens on him.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Trust him with all your heart and might. He'll be
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: honored as you do that. I'd like us to bow together.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Possible you've drifted a little from a walk like this.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Maybe you'd like to have it again. Maybe you don't
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: even know the Lord as your Father and this is
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: the first time in all your life you've ever really
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: come face to face with that void that's there. And
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: I invite you to just turn your life over to
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: God's Son, Jesus Christ. who is your refuge and strength,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: waits to be your savior as you believe in him.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Our Father, we do thank you for the closeness that
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: there can be with you. It's unusual for many of
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: us who hear this message today to think of you
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: as being willing to be close. After all, you are
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: our maker. You are the creator of all things. And
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: yet it is true. There can be an intimacy with
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: you as there is really with no one else. And
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: so I pray today that that might occur. That we
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: might realize what a loving God you are and how approachable,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: how available, how accessible. Today we give you our thanks
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: for the oneness there can be with you through faith
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: in Christ. May that be a reality, not simply a
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: hope or a dream on the part of all of
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: us today who have participated in this time together around
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: your word. I ask this in the name of Christ,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: who is our Lord, our Savior, and our intimate God. Amen.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Loving God, Our Ultimate Response, was copyrighted
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: in 1985 1986, 1987, 2005, and 2011. And the sound
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.