YP Address—G. Hayhoe
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We ask the Lord, turn with me this afternoon to a well known little Psalm, the 27th Psalm, Psalm 27.
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And the first verse The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Thorn host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war should rise against me. In this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple, or in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion.
In the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me? He shall set me up upon a rock, and now shall mine head be lifted up above mine, enemies round about me. Therefore will Ioffer him his Tabernacle. Sacrifices of joy I will sing. Yeah, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me.
And answer me, when thou saidest seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek I not, thy face far from me? Put not Thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord.
And lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over under the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breed out cruelty. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.
You also turn over to the 84th Psalm, and I'd just like to read a couple of verses there. Psalm 84.
The last three verses.
For a day and thy courts is better than 1000. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Oh Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Well, in connection with this beautiful little song, the 27th Psalm, I think of it as how it brings before us that we have everything in the Lord. Every one of us like to have a friend. Sometimes we have a friend and we find certain things in that friend that are very pleasing, but we also find certain things that are lacking. This is often quite disappointing because there are many things that are very pleasing, very helpful.
But we just feel there's something lacking. But order your young people, we want to speak about a friend who is an all around friend, who's one who one who is sufficient for every situation of life, who understands us through and through, who loves us perfectly.
And whose love will never change, absolutely unaffected by anything that we have done or would do, because this is the one who is spoken of in God's precious word is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so I just like to speak a little from this Psalm of something of what we have in himself. I could never exhaust it. I could never tell you all that you have in the Lord, because that would take all eternity.
Even John, who wrote so lovingly about the Lord at the end of his gospel, had to say.
He said that these things that he had written were that we might believe. But he said, if all the things that Jesus did were written, I suppose even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. And so do young people. I could never exhaust the praises of this wonderful person.
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About whom I want to talk to you this afternoon. But I do say that those of us who know him have found him as a wonderful and a sure resource. And more than this, we have also found that the better we know him, the more we find of what we have in him. And this you'll find, if you go on in your Christian life, that a better acquaintance with him is only to trust him more, to love him more, to praise him more.
But sometimes said, it's not an intelligent prayer to ask the Lord to increase our faith. Now, of course our faith can grow, but the way it grows is in a better acquaintance with Him. If you know someone and you've only had a little acquaintance with them, you may feel you can trust them. But if you knew them for 10 years and they always were worthy of your confidence, your faith in them would grow. And so faith grows by.
Going on in life.
In the company of the Lord Jesus. And so in this Psalm I say, we have a few of those things that we have in him.
Let us notice how it begins. The Lord is my light and my salvation. First of all, the Lord is my light. Or is there anyone here this afternoon that's still in your sins? Then when I begin to speak in this way, it makes you feel uncomfortable. When the Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam fell uncomfortable because he realized that the one who was walking, the one who was calling, knew about him.
And oh, it's a serious thing. If you're not saved, there's one who knows all about you.
He has stepped your secret sins in the light of his countenance. You can't hide anything from Him. You can't hide one single thing. But isn't it wonderful that knowing it all, He still loves you knowing it all. He went to the cross to die for you knowing it all.
He made full atonement. He glorified God about the whole question of sin. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sins. Sometimes we have friends and we're just afraid to tell them all about ourselves. Because if we did, we wonder if they'd still like us. We wonder if they'd still love us. But this friend knows all about us. We can never hide anything from him, I say.
Not a thought, not a word, not a deed, That light that lightens up and shows everything, the very secrets of our hearts shines in and reveals what we are. But that lovely verse in first John one and seven says, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin, that is all the light of His holy presence.
That discovers all that we are, will never find one spot upon the One who has been cleansed in the precious blood of Christ. Oh, how glorious this is. How blessed to have such a standing before Him. And so, dear young people, you can talk to him with confidence, I say. You might hold back from some friends, you might tremble to tell some friend all about yourself. But isn't it lovely that the One who is the best friend of all?
The one who will be our friend forever is the One that knows all about us. He's my light. He has revealed totally while I am, and He has become my salvation now. That is, He went to the cross, and there upon the cross of Calvary, sin was settled, not according to my knowledge of it. Because, you know, with lowering standards today, we might think that things were not too serious.
But in God's sight, their horrible sins and if we just set our standards by.
The current day and public opinion. Why? Certainly we might have a very wrong opinion of what sin is.
About the one who is our salvation is the one who has settled sin according to the standard of God's glory. And knowing all about us, that precious Savior took our place, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and so home blessed that we can rest. And He's not just our salvation up to the moment we're saved. Oh no, He's an all the way home Savior.
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He has become the author of eternal salvation. The Scripture tells us that He is having accomplished that work on the cross. He has undertaken our case, undertaken to carry His home, and the salvation that He purchased for us will not be complete until we have the salvation of our bodies.
And then we'll be with him and like him. And so I just desire to begin this afternoon by saying, do you know the Lord is your light and your salvation? Have you allowed the light of his presence to reveal all that you are? And have you rested upon his finished work and can say this afternoon that all at the light of his presence has shown up, his precious blood has cleansed you from.
Then you can add the rest.
It says, Whom shall I fear? Just like it says in the eighth of Romans, it is God to justify us. Who is he that condemn us? You're not afraid of a charge being laid. You're not afraid of something being brought up against you that hasn't been settled, because they've all been settled and settled once for all.
By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So if there's one here who is a doubting soul, may the Lord grant that this afternoon you will rest upon this lovely passage. Here the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
Of course we know this was written long before the cross, but God always had the work of Calvary and View, and now the work has been finished. The one who accomplished it is glorified at God's right hand, and He is mighty to save. So we have them. He is our light and our salvation. But then we have life before us. How can we live the Christian life? Perhaps I hear some of you young people say.
But I'm sure I'm saved. But all you don't know what the world is like today.
You don't know hard how hard it is to say no to your friends sometimes. You don't know the pressures that are brought to bear upon us in these days. Well, I'm sure I don't, dear young people, but the Lord does. And when He says that, He is your strength.
Why He knows all it is against you. It tells us in first John chapter 4, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And when Satan comes up with all his big guns, with all his attacks, and he knows just how to attack us, isn't it blessed to be able to say he's my light and he saw my salvation and he is the strength of my life? One person some years ago said.
He would like to be saved, but he was afraid he couldn't live the Christian life. But all this is good news, isn't it? The one who becomes our salvation also becomes the strength of our life. And I would never be able to stand before you this afternoon as one who has known the Lord for a good many years, if it wasn't that the Lord is the strength of my life. I'm not one bit better than any of you. How about I have proved, in some measure at least, that the Lord supplies the strength that you need.
For the Christian life, it's not of ourselves when it was read to us this morning about.
The king and when that great host came against him, why he told the Lord that they didn't have any might against this great company. I believe it was over a million army that had come against him. He said we don't have any might against this army, but our our strength is in the they look to the Lord and the Lord gave a complete victory. And dear young people, when you're faced with a temptation, I don't look in and say well.
I wonder if I have a strong enough character to meet this situation. Look up to the Lord.
Look up to Him, He can give you the strength that you need. Depend upon him. Of course I would say this, that if we put ourselves in a place where we shouldn't be, maybe his first answer is for us to get out of that wrong place. Maybe we shouldn't be in the situation at all.
Peter fell, but why did he fall when he should never have been in the place he was? So he first got into the wrong place, and then he trusted himself when he was in the wrong place. So the thing was, it was a sort of a, shall I say, a chain reaction of events. He first followed the Lord afar off, then he warmed himself at the world's fire, and then he denied his Lord. But it all began because.
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He was self confident, he had confidence in himself. So let's remember this, the Lord is the strength of my life. The beloved Apostle Paul who endured so much for the Lord, he said I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.
Yes, that's the only way that we can ever meet the temptations of life. The devil is more than a match for anyone of us, and he knows just exactly what our weak points are. He knows this exactly how to get us. But isn't this a wonderful resource? Oh, I say again, dear young people, you have a grand friend. You have a friend who loves you and who wants to help you. The Lord is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid? Never be afraid to act in obedience to God, because when you step out to act in obedience, why He is there to strengthen you. He's there to give you the power that you need. Sometimes we think it's an easier path to be disobedient, but that's just where we prove our weakness. But in the path of obedience, counting upon the Lord, while there is strength, there is His strength.
When the spies went up to look at the land of Canaan, they looked at that good land. They said, truly, it is a good land. But they said the people living there are giants. The walls are high right up to heaven. And it's certainly a good land, but we can never possess it. Well, Caleb and Joshua saw the same things. They saw the good land. They also saw the fruit of that good land. They saw the giants. They saw the high walls.
But what was the difference? Well, they compared those those giants to the Lord, and the others compare the giants to themselves. And they said we felt like grasshoppers beside those giants. But when Caleb thought about those giants, he compared the giants to the Lord.
Dance where the grasshoppers, They were the small ones because they were compared with the Lord. The walls looked high, but heaven was higher still. And somehow wonderful it is. We don't underestimate the giants, the high walls. We don't underestimate what life is in a world like this. But we know that there's one who is able. And so when Caleb and Joshua entered the land, they proved that God was as good as his word, and they possessed it. And Caleb asked for the very part of the land where the giants dwelt.
To show that God was sufficient and able to help him to overcome and give him possession of that very part of the good land.
But then we find the next thing here in the third verse. The own host should encamp against me. My heart shall not fear, though war should rise against me. In this will I be confident. What was his confidence? Well, as we remarked, Peter had confidence. He had a tremendous amount of confidence. Perhaps there are some young people here this afternoon, and you have a tremendous amount of confidence too.
There are things that you say, well, I know how far to go, and I wouldn't do this and I wouldn't do that. Oh dear, young people. When Peter said that he wouldn't deny the Lord, he was thoroughly sincere. That wasn't just an idle bolt. He really knew it from the bottom of his heart.
And he loved the Lord very much and he didn't want to deny the Lord, but the confidence was in the wrong place. It was self-confidence. And the scripture says he that trusted in his own heart is a fool or a member that you and I, if we trust in our own hearts, our lives will fall into some things and that'll be very dishonouring to the Lord and very sad for ourselves as I look at you, to your young people.
I think of many others into whose faces I have looked through the years, promising young people, promising young boys and girls, but they trusted their own hearts. And we can't dare to trust it, because if we do, there's no telling what we might do and all how often. One careless act in a Christian's life can spoil his life. It doesn't mean that he can be lost, but it surely can spoil his life.
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And testimony and here young people, your life and testimony to can be spoiled. If you go and step aside from the path of obedience, you get away from the Lord, you can spoil your life and testimony. And so it says here in this will I be confident? Are you going to be confident in yourself?
In the Lord, if you're confident in the Lord, by then you'll prove that he's able to sustain you. And so here the psalmist says in this shall I be confident in what? That the Lord is the strength of my life. And all I say to you again, I don't be confident in yourself.
It has been said that prayer is the expression of two things, dependence and confidence. And so when we pray, we're actually telling the Lord that we're not able for the situations ourselves. And then how lovely this is that we're also telling him that we believe that he is able for the situation that he is sufficient for them. So in this will I be confident now that the fourth verse one thing have I desired of the Lord.
And will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life?
To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Quite often in the Scripture we find these two words. One thing we read about a man who was a very fine person, but he lacked one thing. Jesus said about him. One thing. Now like us, he was a very fine, good, living young man, but he lacked salvation. And then we read about Paul and he said.
This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus. He had a desire in his life. He was running a race. The prize was in view. And the prize wasn't to have the best homes or the nicest car. The prize wasn't to have the finest reputation. The prize was Christ. And dear young person, the prize in the Christian life is Christ. We're going to see him another day.
And to have his well done to know that he approved of the way we sought to live our lives is well worthwhile. And Paul had that before him. So he said that that was the one thing in his life. That's what he went after. And then there was another and the Lord said of her one thing is needful. And what was that all to take time to set a Jesus feet. And I just want to ask you, dear young people.
Life is very busy today.
School studies are difficult. There's so many things going on constantly. Have you found time for this one thing to sit at Jesus feet? You know it's in youth that we get an edge of God's word. Many of the verses that I can recall as I stand and speak to you are because I learned them when I was a boy. I'm glad I did and it says in that passage in Luke chapter 10.
When Martha was finding fault with her sister, she said Carrots saw not that my sister hath left me to serve alone. And I want you to notice those two things. Those two words left me. I believe that this shows that they were both busy when the Lord came to the house. And when the Lord entered the house, I believe that Mary said all this is an opportunity that can't be missed.
Let the work go. I'm going to sit down and hear what the Lord Jesus had has to say. But Martha said all that there's things that have to be done and we must do these things. And she said to the Lord, let's Mary help me to do those things. But the Lord said no, Mary had chosen the good part. She had a purpose. She had time to set at Jesus feet. And I've often said, and I repeated again, you'll never have time to sit at Jesus feet until they leave something.
There is always something you want to do when the time comes to sit at Jesus feet. Some of your farmers, you had to leave something to be here today. You couldn't be here if you hadn't left something. I know those things were very pressing and you wanted to do them, but you left them. Perhaps there were other business things. When Homer comes too, you say, well, I don't think I have time for the reading tonight because I've got to get out this You'll never have time to sit at Jesus feet unless you leave something.
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Mary got the good part. Mary learns that there was one thing was important and she said that she was going to sit at Jesus feet and what a blessing she got. Trace her life through and you'll see that blessing carried through her life. She was at Jesus feet in her trouble when her brother died. She knew where to go. She wasn't she wasn't overcome by the difficulty. She had learned that Jesus faith that he was her resource.
And she comes to him and pours out her whole grief to Him. When it was worshipped, she was at Jesus feet as a worshiper. She had learned something. Order, young people, you can have many objects, but there's one thing that's important. And here it says one thing that I desired of the Lord that will I seek after notice. It requires diligence. You have to seek after it. And what was the one thing he desired? That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life.
Now we all are well acquainted with that verse in Psalm 23 that says, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. And no doubt we often speak of that glorious time, or we're going to be there in the Father's house. We're going to be there forever. We're going to enjoy His love and His company forever.
Verse is something a little different, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life.
Is it possible? But we're still here in this world to dwell in the House of the Lord.
Well, I believe, Simply put, it means how that we desire to walk through life in his company. I remember a dear brother many years ago, and when the Thursday morning meeting came to an end, he quite often in his closing prayer would say this.
Lord help us to remember that where thy gathered Saints seven days in the week. I thought that was a nice little request. That was something like saying we want to dwell in the House of the Lord forever. We don't just want it to be one hour on Lords day, but we want to live in his presence.
Through the Week 2 That's what David desires. That's what this Psalm says, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord. Because you know he'll become increasingly precious to you if you walk in his company. Sometimes you make an acquaintance with somebody, you think they're pretty nice. As you get to know them better, you think they're a great deal nicer than when you first met them. Well, that's the way it is.
You know, the more acquaintance we have with the Lord Jesus, the more we value his company. And is that him? Writer said he's speaking about heaven. He said when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, there's no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Is it just because it's a ritual? The thing is, praise in heaven? No, because He becomes increasingly precious.
Through the ages of eternity, another hymn writer said, eternity is too short to utter all. I praise all dear young people, Let's learn something of it here. And then you say with I have requests. I have a lot of problems in my life. Well, you know, if you walk in the company of the Lord, then you can inquire from him. There are some people that I feel I can go and talk to. I feel that they're close enough to me and understand me well enough.
That I can sort of pour out my heart to them and I can talk to them as someone who understands and who thinks that I desire what is right and and what is pleasing. What isn't it lovely? And when you and I walk in the company of the Lord, then there's just an intimacy and we can inquire of Him.
We can talk to him as his dear friend. It sounds about Abraham that he was called the friend of God. Says about Enoch that he walked with God for 300 years. Oh, no wonder these men were able to inquire of the Lord. And dear young people form the habit of walking in the company of the Lord so much that as soon as something arises, you can just say, Lord, what should I do? Lord, what should I do? He may not always give the answer at once, but there's a lovely feeling of intimacy in this. And we find Nehemiah enjoyed something of this.
He was in the presence of the king. He wasn't in the temple, that is the physical temple, but in his soul he was in it. And so when a problem came up and the king asked him a question, and it was a question that he knew had to be answered wisely, he said the wrong thing. He might lose his life. And it says so I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king.
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Between the time the king asked the question and he gave his answer, there was a swift little prayer went up. There was a man who was able to inquire in his temple. Dear young people, cultivate this habit in your life. It'll be a blessing to you, and it'll be a help to you all through your life. So then we find the Lord is the one from whom we can inquire. Now the fifth verse. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion.
He shall in the secret of, in the secret of his Tabernacle. Shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. Does God promise that just because you're seeking to please him that you're not going to have any trouble? No. I suppose if we looked at Jacob's twelve sons, we would say without hesitation that the one who wanted to please in the most was Joseph.
I really believe that Joseph wanted to please in the most, but I think we could also say that Joseph perhaps had the most trouble. I believe Joseph had more trouble. And you know, it seemed so unfair the way things happen, didn't it? He he was sent of his father and his brother, his brothers took and sold them to the Midianites. And perhaps when he got down to Egypt, he thought, well, I tried to please the Lord and now he's going to undertake for me. But when he got hired by.
Potiphar Potiphar's wife falsely accused him and he was thrown into prison.
I just looked as if the Lord had failed and didn't it. And then when he got in prison, he showed kindness to the Butler and he thought, well, the butter old show, he'll help me out. The Lord will use the Butler. But the Lord didn't use the Butler that time, and he stayed two years in prison.
What the boy that wanted to please the Lord the most, get into all his trouble and treated so unforley, had the Lord failed him? No, he hadn't failed him. That was part of God's schooling for Jacob, for Joseph. He was fitting him for something that he was to be used in a wonderful way later on. But that was part of God's school. And dear young people, have you had some disappointments in life? Have you had some things that were hard to understand?
You say the Lord could have helped me out, but he just didn't. I don't know why. Yes, he just didn't help Joseph either. He just didn't deliver him. And perhaps he doesn't with you. But remember, he's faithful. And so it tells us here in the time of trouble, he will hide me in his pavilion. Doesn't say he'll take us out of the trouble here, does it? It just says he'll hide me in his pavilion. For there's no more dangerous time in our Christian lives.
When we get in trouble and the Lord doesn't seem to take us out of it, that's the most dangerous time. That's why it says in first Peter chapter 5, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. And the next verse says be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil as a rolling lion, walk at the boat, seeking whom he may devour. And that is if we don't learn to cast our cares upon the Lord.
The devil takes advantage of us, and he gets us discouraged. He finds us with the shield of faith down.
And he gets in his fiery darts. And so, dear young people, in the time of trouble may approve that alone. The Lord may not take you out of it, that he'll hide you in his pavilion. Now, of course, there are times when troubles come on us through His government, but there are also times when He passes us through things in his schooling. And may the Lord give you grace to your young people. I've seen some fine young people, and some very frustrating things have taken place in their lives, some very disappointing things. Somebody did something mean and unkind.
And Saul, they got so discouraged that they they wouldn't listen when you tried to encourage them. You couldn't seem to help them fly. Well, they didn't cast the care on the Lord. They didn't let the Lord hide them in his pavilion in the time of trouble. And so the enemy got the advantage.
I want to say to any of you young people who are going through such a time in your life, don't let the devil find you with a shield of faith down.
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He's got his darts there already, and he's going to throw them if he finds the shield of faith down. But if it's up, he'll throw them. But the shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. I say again, the Lord the best friend, the devil is not your friend.
And discouragement is straight from him. And may the Lord give us them to realize at these times of trouble, maybe times of great danger, but they're intended to be times of great blessing. So what's the next verse? Is it a time of really giving up, praising the Lord because of everything going wrong, You say, Well, there was a time when I really felt I could praise the Lord. I really felt so happy. I was just bubbling over. But it's not like that now.
The only time in this chapter that we have singing is after the verse with trouble. Yes, that's the only time. Notice the next verse.
And now shall mine hand be lifted up above mine, enemies round about me. Therefore will Ioffer in his Tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing. Yeah, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Isn't this beautiful? All this is a triumphant phase. This is the way we can sing.
The only time in the life of the Lord Jesus that we read about Him rejoice things was at a time when he was rejected. He looked around the cities where his mighty works were done, and he saw that these nations had rejected these cities, had rejected his testimony. And it says at that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit. How could he rejoice? Well, he said, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Perfect submission to his Father's will. And I say again, that's the only instance in the life of the Lord where you read about him rejoicing. And you say, well, I thought you were happy when everything went well. Well, it's nice to be happy then. But Christianity, that brings to us a happiness.
Now that that proves itself when things go wrong, the time that we find Paul and Silas singing, and the only time I know that's recorded, they did sing was when they were in prison. When they were in prison, and there they were, it says at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God. I think if I'd have been there, I would have been saying, Lord, I thought, I thought I got a vision to come over here.
And I thought there was a man I was going to be able to help. But what good am I doing? Here is my back bleeding in prison, with my feet fast in the stock. But there was submission. And so they prayed and sang praises to God, and then thought a testimony. The prisoners heard them. The jail keeper got saved. Because as another has said, our testimony to the world is our joy in the Lord. The world can be happy when things go well.
The world can be happy when they pass all their years exams and get along very well. The world can be happy when their friends are nice to them. But the Christian has an inner joy. As Jesus said, your joy no man taketh from you.
Oh dear young people, how may the Lord give us to know something of this triumph in the midst of difficulty?
May He help us to raise our voice to Him in songs, even when things seem to go wrong.
And seemed to be against us. Let us not neglect the meetings because somebody did something unkind, somebody did something mean, somebody said something they shouldn't have said then. Or is the Lord going to lose because of what they did? Or wasn't this nice here?
That when He was in this time of trouble, he said his head was lifted off above his enemies, because He had a resource in the midst of this. And it says, I will offer in His Tabernacle sacrifices of joy also. We can see now that there is a triumph, there is a singing, as it says in everything. Give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
And so here we find then that the Lord is the object of our songs. The world has its songs. But this is another little point I'd like to bring before you, and that is the the opportunity you have when you're young of acquainting yourself with good hymns and good scriptural songs, you know?
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We have a lot of lovely hymns and it's nice to know these.
I don't like to speak of myself, but some of the hymns I particularly enjoyed I took the trouble to memorize, and I'm glad I did because it's a great blessing to have these songs. I'm sure Paul and Silas in the prison didn't have a hymn book, but they sang, and I'm sure they had hymns that had been committed to memory. And it's a good thing to have these songs because they're not only praised to the Lord, but it says speaking to yourself cells in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So there's a lot of light songs in the world, some that have nothing to do with the Lord. Then there are others that perhaps the Lord is brought in, but they're sort of without too much meaning. But then we have some real helpful songs that set forth truth that really can be a blessing to us. And I would encourage you to memorize some of these songs until you know them well.
And they will come to you in times of need and in times of trouble.
Goes on here.
In the eighth verse, when thou settest, seek ye my face.
My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Dear young people, it's not the response we make with our lips, it's the response that make we make with our hearts. My father used to have a little saying, perhaps some of the older ones remembered, and he used to say we can have as much of Christ as we want, and our lives show how much we want. This is true. Dear young people, our lives show how much we want, and I'm not going to ask you what your lips say.
We often say things to please our friends, perhaps to please our brethren. We know the kind of answers that we should give, and the kind of answers they like to hear. And it's very easy to just give, shall I say, an ascend which we know would be pleasing to those that we love about? Isn't it nice? My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek? And let's ask our own hearts, What are they saying right now?
What is your heart saying? What is my heart saying? Is it saying thy face? Lord will I seek? He wants us to seek His face. He didn't just die to save us from hell, Dear young people, He died because He wanted our company. He wants our company. He's not going to be satisfied with anything less. Heaven is going to be heaven, not because of the street of Gold and the gates of Pearl, but because we're going to enjoy the company of the Lord Jesus.
And above all, he's going to enjoy our company. So it says here, when those set us. Seek ye my faith, my heart said unto thee, Thy faith, Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me, but not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God, of my salvation. Now this verse perhaps might be a little difficult to understand, but I call your attention again to the fact.
That in the Psalms they were written before redemption had been accomplished, before the Holy Spirit of God had come to earth as a divine person. And those in the Old Testament, as we have been considering in our chapter, while they had faith and while they trusted the Lord, they didn't have the knowledge of salvation as you and I possess it now. They couldn't say our sins have all been put away in the blood of Christ. They look forward to that.
So there wasn't the same confidence that we have. We can have a confidence that He's never going to leave us nor forsake us. But nevertheless, I believe that there is a lesson, shall I say a more or lesson that we can draw from this ninth verse that is very important. And that is that we should never get in the position where we can't feel that there's something between US and the Lord that when we go to look at Him, it's just as if there was a cloud between.
We feel that when we turn to look at him, there's just something that's between and we don't see him as we should. For it says we always unveiled faith, beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image. Now that is, the psalmist didn't want anything to come between him and the face of the Lord. You and I desire this, you know, it's a great pleasure.
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When there's someone that you love, when there's some little event comes up, some little matter, and you just turn to the person that you love and you just get a little smile, a little encouragement, as if they were saying I understand. And there's just something about that that means a great deal.
Doesn't, perhaps there's not a word that's said, but there's approval, there's love, there's help and dear young people, you and I can walk in the company of the Lord Jesus just like that so that we can just look without a cloud between and what will happen? All the result will be as that verse says now that his likeness will then be seen in us because as we look at his face, we reflect something of it when Moses was in the presence of the Lord.
Reflected us so when he came back his face was shining and so this verse hello it in the starting here in the Old Testament there was an uncertainty but with you and I as Christians it brings before us this moral lesson that we should be careful not to allow a cloud to be between and I want to say if there's any young person and there is a cloud. There's something in your life that's not right something you've been allowing Mr. Hindrance when you're going to look at the Lord. It's just as if there was a cloud.
All get before him and confess it. Own it to him, and if somebody else is involved, own up to the other person.
You will never be sorry that you got it settled. If we confess our sin via faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If something has happened between another, go and speak to that person so that there would not be that cloud between. Oh how lovely it is to go on fellowship with the Lord and with one another. Now the tenth verse shows us that even relationships may fail. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. I'm conscious this afternoon that I'm talking to some young people that are brought up in Christian homes.
But I'm also just talking to some that were not brought up in Christian homes, and your father and mother aren't at all glad that you're at this meeting this afternoon.
They wish you were somewhere else because they don't like the idea of you getting so taken up with the Bible and with things like that. Well, the Lord will take you up. The Lord won't fail you. Father and Mother might. But isn't it lovely when our earthly relationships fail? When all others, even those that we love, fail to understand? Isn't it lesson the Lord always understands and never fails us?
So this verse is a special comfort to anyone in such a position. Now the 11Th verse, Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.
Here we find the Lord as the Teacher, the one who teaches us the way.
Surely life is made-up of decisions. Life is made-up of constant things that we have to decide.
We're going to take a job, we're going to choose a friend. Decisions are made right at conferences like this. We sit in the meeting, we consider things and friends, jobs, where we're going to live. All these things come before you, as you said in the meeting, I'm quite sure.
And those things continually come across your mind as you sit in the meetings. Well, we have one who knows the way. It says that the Lord knows the way through this great and terrible wilderness. He's able to direct you. And he doesn't want to make life so complicated as though you said, well, I just think I can never get directions from him. Life seems so complicated. It seems so mixed up.
I just don't know what I should do. Isn't this lovely? Perhaps David felt that way and saw he looked up and he said teach me thy way, oh Lord. But then he didn't stop there. He said leave me in a plain path. No, I've often used little illustration that'll help you to understand what the thought that I get from this verse. Sometimes when I'm traveling and I don't know the way, I stop and ask in a gas station perhaps and ask the way to a such a such and such a street.
And a person will say, well, now you go down here two blocks, and then you make a turn to the left. And you go one block, and you make a turn to the right, and you go three blocks. And then you make another turn. And my head begins to spin. And I afraid I can't remember all those turns. It's just a little too complicated. I asked him to repeat it, but I'm still not sure about it. And then it sometimes happens and that the man will say, well.
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I'm going that way and he jumps in his car. He says just follow me. Well, it's very simple them I just have to follow him. There's just as many turns, but there's somebody that's going before and I just have to follow. Dear young people, the Lord doesn't just show you the way. He goes before it says he calls his own sheep by name and he goes before them and the sheep follow him.
For they know his voice and when we get ahead of him, then there's a nice verse that says, and thou shalt hear a voice behind these saying this is the way. Walkie in it. When he turned to the right-handed to the left. Maybe you ran ahead of the Lord. I've done that. And then there was a voice behind that said you made the wrong turns. He listened to that voice. Do you listen to it? Oh, isn't this lovely? Teach me thy way.
Lead me in a plain path. Why? Well, because there's others going to try to pull you into the wrong path.
So the Lord is the one to teach us the way. And then it says here in the end of this.
In the 13th verse I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.
In the land of the living, that is.
Unless you and I have a vision of what's ahead of us, we will faint with the difficulties of the way.
Now that is, we've got to have a vision of the coming glory before us so that the Lord is sufficient for our pathway, but he also sets before us the glorious end. And there we're going to be. This is the land of the dying, but we're going to the land of the living. We're going to the place where there be no more sickness, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. And if you and I believe to see that, if you're looking forward to that, if that's the happy anticipation of your soul.
And you won't faint along the way because you know where the journey ends. You know that at the end of the journey we're going to see the face of our precious Savior. And when there are times when we don't know just what to do, he says, well, just wait, don't lose courage, don't lose courage. It says, wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Those waiting times are very difficult, those waiting times in life.
When we don't know just what to do, they're very hard. But all your young people.
Don't be discouraged at such a time. Be of good courage. If he asked you to wait, it isn't because he wanted you to follow your own path. It's perhaps to test our faith, and it needs to be tested. And it's in order that we might have increased confidence in him that, as it says in the eighth of Proverbs, blessed is the man that waiteth at the post of my door to wait on the Lord. And so when I read to you in that 84th Psalm, I just want to notice it in closing here.
Psalm E4.
The 10th verse for the day in my courts is better than 1000. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
This little expression here, I'd rather be a doorkeeper or another translation. I believe the margin here says I would choose rather to sit at the thresholds of them, to dwell in the tense of wickedness. For what is the threshold? Well, it's a little bit outside, isn't it? And perhaps I hear some young person saying, well, Brother Hale, I feel left out sometimes I feel left out. That's the threshold. Do you feel left out?
Don't go to the world, he said. I'd rather be a doorkeeper. I'd rather sit on the threshold of the House of my God.
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. And dear young people. Sometimes we do get left out. Sometimes it just seems that the other young people do things and they leave us out. And we feel, feel it pretty keenly. We feel badly. But the devil says, Oh well, the world's got plenty of entertainment. You don't need to worry. If they don't want you in a meeting, you can go. Oh no, he says, I'd rather sit in the threshold of the House of the Lord. I'd rather be left out.
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Because it's the place where the Lord is than to go to the world. Dear young people, when you feel that way, don't turn to the world. Don't turn to the world. Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. The Lord will give grace and glory. A grace is what the undeserved favor of God, and glory is what comes at the end. He's a son at the light, and he's a shield. That's protection.
I say to you again, all that you need is to be found in Christ. These are All in all. May the Lord grant that you may learn something of this even now while you're young. And as you grow older, this blessed friend will become more dear to you, more precious to you. And when those times of testing comes and the enemy says, oh, it's too difficult, the path is too hard, remember where it ends. Remember that it ends in his presence. And remember.
That he understands, that he cares, that he's still your friend, and He's able to put a song in your mouth even in the times of trouble. May the Lord encourage us, each one.
To follow Him. Those were about the last words the Lord spoke to His disciples. He just said those two words just before He went away. Follow me.
Shall we sing just one verse of #16 in the appendix #16 in the appendix?
Perhaps we could sing the first verse in the last verse #16 verse one and verse six in the appendix.
Oh, Jesus.