Be Strong - Week 2

[00:00:01] Well, good morning, Christ Church. Good morning. [00:00:04] We made quite a mess up here, but for good reason. Amen. Yes. [00:00:11] So thankful for your. For just your prayers and, man, your willingness to go on this adventure. So keep praying. [00:00:19] A lot is ahead of us, but what an awesome thing God is doing in our church. Amen. And I am thankful for it. And it's good to see you today. If you are a guest with us and we haven't had the chance to meet, my name's Chet, and I'd love to meet you. And so glad you're here today. And we are gonna continue a sermon series about being strong, how God wants to strengthen each of us and strengthen our souls. And we're looking at what that looks like and what that means. But just before we get into that, would you pray with me? [00:00:53] Father, thank you so much for all that you are doing in our church. We give you thanks and we give you glory. [00:01:00] We pray that you would be with us, that you would bless every step of this journey that we're on, and you'd be glorified in it. [00:01:08] Bless us today as we look at Psalm 27. [00:01:13] I pray it could speak powerfully to each of our hearts as we need to hear from you, God. We can't do this life without you, and we're here because we don't want to. [00:01:25] So guide us, teach us, strengthen us. [00:01:28] Show us your good way. We ask all this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. [00:01:33] Amen. [00:01:36] Well, a long time ago, my sister and I went to California to visit some family, and my cousin had this idea that we should all go skydiving together. [00:01:51] Yeah, I mean, in theory, it's a good idea, but I was like, I don't like heights, and I'm a little nervous about it, you know? And you're like, no, it's no big deal. It's like tandem, you know, where you're, like, attached to a pro. So they got it all figured out. So, you know, he was trying to sell us on this idea, and I was a little cautious. And at that time, you know, I had, like, just kind of had my first little tweak in my back. And so I was like, all right, so when you come to the ground, like, how hard do you hit? You know? And I asked my cousin this. Now, keep in mind, he's never done this before. [00:02:31] You know, I don't know why I was asking him, but, you know, it was his idea. So I was like. I asked. And he said to me, he's like, well, one of my buddies is, like, a Serious skydiver. And he said, when you hit the ground, it's like jumping off, you know, from 15 or 20ft and hitting the ground. [00:02:51] I'm like, dude, I'm not doing this. [00:02:54] That's like jumping off my roof. [00:02:57] Like, I'm not gonna make it. [00:03:00] I don't want to do this. And, you know, then him and my sister ganged up on me and started to talk about how scared I was and all of this. [00:03:11] And at that time in my life, my ego was big enough that I was like, fine, then I'm doing it. [00:03:18] And, you know, because ladies, young guys can have egos like that. And aren't you glad your husband has grown beyond that? [00:03:28] Amen. Aren't you glad he's. [00:03:32] That he would never do anything that would risk his body for the sake of. [00:03:37] No. [00:03:39] Yeah. I don't know that we ever grow out of that. [00:03:42] So, anyway, so the whole time, you know, now I'm thinking, like, oh, great, I'm gonna come. I'm gonna slam into the ground. [00:03:51] I'm gonna. My back's gonna be all messed up. This is gonna be terrible. And for all the time before, I'm just sweating bullets. [00:04:00] That's all I can think about. Have you ever been consumed by fear in your life? [00:04:04] Have you ever been like, you know, you're anticipating something negatively, and you can't even think, like, another coherent thought other than that? And you know how miserable that is and draining and joyless and frustrated, and that's where I was at. [00:04:23] Well, thankfully, we finally get it. Of course, I'm the first one to go, so I'm like, yeah, let's just get this over with. [00:04:31] Lord, you know, here I come. [00:04:36] And I jumped. You know, we jumped out there, and the guy did all the hard work, and, man, we landed. And it could not have been a more gentle landing. [00:04:49] It was smooth. It was like butter church. [00:04:52] I mean, my feet just kind of slitted and went to the ground and all good. And here I am. [00:04:57] Yeah, I made it. [00:05:02] And all that fear was for nothing. So what I was thinking is we could do a church skydiving. [00:05:09] What do you think? [00:05:11] We'll talk about that another time. [00:05:15] But I was like, you ever then get on the other side of something? You're like, why was I so afraid? [00:05:21] And you're like, what was I? Why did I waste that time? Why did I waste that energy? [00:05:26] Why did I just not allow myself to enjoy anything? Cause I was so consumed with fear. I think if we're honest, we all have been there. Maybe we're even there today. [00:05:37] Maybe our heart's just really afraid. Cause fear has a way of capturing you, doesn't it? [00:05:43] And it captures you and it holds you down and it beats you up and it shames you for it. It just does all these things. And it robs us so much of the life that God has for us. [00:05:57] And what I am excited to share with you today is that God has a better way. [00:06:03] Now, sometimes in life there are things that are really scary, right? And there are things that are dangerous and difficult. [00:06:10] But even in those, there is a strength that God gives us if we're open to it. And that's what I wanna talk to you about today. Because part of the way God strengthens our souls is by changing our relationship with fear. [00:06:29] And part of the way that God changes our life is by bringing his presence near to us in a way that it begins to minimize the power of fear in unhealthy ways. Now, there can be a healthy sense of fear, but I'm talking about unhealthy sense of fear. Are you with me on this? Now, one of the New Testament writers, John, in first John, he says it so eloquently and clearly. He says, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. [00:07:09] Is that a beautiful line or what? [00:07:12] For fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. [00:07:20] Now, this is a very eloquent way of saying that part of what God wants to do in my soul and your soul is so fill us with his love. [00:07:31] That fear begins to minimize that. We have so much strength and confidence in God's love for us that it begins to diminish the things that might capture our hearts in fear and pull us in the wrong direction. You with me on this. And so today we're gonna talk about what that looks like. And I'm gonna read to you Psalm 27. [00:07:56] And that's gonna be what we look to through this. So we're gonna. We're gonna go through this whole psalm, but I wanna break it up to you. And here's how it begins. It says this. The Lord is my light and my salvation. [00:08:11] Whom shall I fear? Do you see the theme there? God is my light, God is my salvation. Whom shall I fear? He goes on, the Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? [00:08:30] Now, right off the bat here, the psalmist is really setting up this whole psalm, everything he's gonna teach us. [00:08:39] And he's basically saying this. He's saying, all right, how does fear get driven out of our lives. [00:08:47] How does it happen? And the psalmist says, basically the way that it happens is that I connect to God as my light, as my salvation and as my stronghold. [00:09:00] And as I understand God as those three things, as my light, as my salvation and as my stronghold, then I look at life and I say, all right, relax. [00:09:11] Whom shall I fear? All right, you can take a deep breath, all right, you can have courage, you can have strength, you can have well being. As I understand God as my light, my salvation and my stronghold, fear will begin to not have such a strong place in my life. And so this psalm is then showing us, well, what does it mean for God to be those things? [00:09:39] How do I experience God as light, as salvation, as my stronghold? And he's gonna answer these questions. He goes on, verse two, he says, when evildoers assail me, to eat up my flesh. [00:09:56] Boy, that's an ugly picture, isn't it? I mean, he's not pulling any punches here. He's saying, look, in really ugly circumstances where people are acting in evil ways, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall, it's them who are gonna have the problem. He goes on, verse three, though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. [00:10:28] Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. [00:10:33] And again, I just wanna point out what the psalmist is saying here is he's saying, look, I'm not talking about denial. [00:10:43] Approaching fear through denial is not the right way. Just be like, okay, I'm going to pretend there aren't difficult things in this world. I'm going to pretend that there aren't challenges. I'm going to pretend that there isn't evil. The psalmist is saying, no, no, I'm not saying that I'm not afraid because I'm living in denial. He's saying, I acknowledge that there can be evidence, great things against me. There can be dangerous and difficult and scary things. But he says, but God's presence has shaped me to still have a sense of confidence even in the midst of that. [00:11:24] And isn't that something that we all want in our lives? [00:11:27] Don't you want like this inner strength that can weather the real challenges of our lives in this world without being captured by fear? I think we all want that. And this is what David's saying. David's saying, I'm not just giving you nice religious words, you know, you ever like, been really just overwhelmed and someone's like, it's gonna be fine, don't worry. And you're like, that just made me more mad. Anybody, you know when someone, they're well meaning and they say something that they think is gonna help you, but you're like, you're just sort of throwing empty words my way. And what David is showing us, he's saying, I'm not throwing empty words your way. [00:12:12] I'm not just giving you a nice religious platitude. What I'm saying to you is real and it works in this real world, and it's powerful. And now he's gonna explain it to us, starting at verse four. He says this. [00:12:29] One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. [00:12:51] Now, these verses are fascinating to me. [00:12:54] Number one, they're fascinating. Cause hear what David's saying. He's saying, you know what the problem with church is? The sermon's not long enough. [00:13:03] And all God's people said, amen. Yeah, that felt a little forced. But do you hear what David said? He's saying, I want to dwell in God's house. And notice this. I want to gaze up on the beauty of the Lord. [00:13:21] Now, what do these verses mean? Here's what I would say. [00:13:25] This is what it means for God to be my light. [00:13:30] David says, I want to see all of life through the presence of God. [00:13:37] I want the presence of God to be the central focus of my life. I wanna gaze on the beauty of God. [00:13:48] Now, this is a wonderful desire. [00:13:52] And David says that the way God becomes my light is when I desire to experience the beauty of God himself. [00:14:05] Now just think about this for a second because this is really, really profound. [00:14:10] If we're not careful, we can not really be after God, but we can be after the things we can get out of God. You with me? See, if God were to honestly. And we just have to look honestly in our hearts for a minute, If God were to come up to us today and say, all right, what is the one thing you want most today? [00:14:36] You just name it and I will give it to you. [00:14:40] And if we were honest, and I just want us to ask ourselves this question for a second, what would we ask for? If God's just saying one thing, you ask for it today and I will give it to you. [00:14:53] And it might be like, will God make my body healthy? Maybe there's a disease or something we're suffering from. We might ask for that. We might say, well, God would You make someone I love healthy might ask for that. [00:15:07] We might say, God, would you give me some financial relief and give me some more money and help me get this squared away? We might ask for something like that. We might say, God, would you heal this broken relationship in my life? [00:15:23] We might ask for that. We might say, God, would you send the right person in my life to be in a relationship? [00:15:30] We might ask for all of those things. And all of those things are not bad things to ask for you with me. But notice what David says. He says, but the thing that I want most in my life is more of God, is God himself, not his gifts. Yes, I'll take his gifts, and I'm thankful for his gifts, and I need his gifts. But ultimately, the desire of my heart is, I want God. I enjoy God. I delight in God. [00:16:08] Now, what I think this means for us today is if you're like me, I need to challenge my heart on this a lot. [00:16:18] I need to remember that the greatest thing I can get is an experience of God, is to see his beauty, is to know him, not just get stuff from him, but to know Him. You with me. And my heart needs challenge on this a lot. I think about it this way. My kids, I do. I love my kids. [00:16:42] They were on spring break this week. I don't know what the break is called, but they were on break for this week. So summer. Well, no, they have to go back for two more weeks. Isn't that terrible? [00:16:54] I don't know. What's with these evil schools? No, I'm just kidding. [00:16:58] They go to a Christian school, but they're sinning by keeping it going this long anyway. [00:17:08] But, you know, when they're home and they're out of their rhythm. Church. I know your kids. [00:17:14] Those of you who have younger kids, I know yours are perfect. But you know, ours were. They were little terrors this week. Or maybe I had less patience. I like to blame it on them. Not me, I'm not sure. [00:17:28] But I really enjoy, you know, each of them have such a different personality, and I enjoy, like, the uniqueness of each of their personalities. I really do. But when I'm just in the midst of the day, I forget that you got me. I'm like, I'm losing my mind. They're asking me for a million things. [00:17:49] You know, I just kinda wanna say, like, don't talk to me for the next four hours. [00:17:55] Now. I know you're like, I need to pray for this guy. And you do. You absolutely do. I'm just being honest with. I Get to that, and I forget. I forget that, no, this is a time in life to enjoy them, right? I'm gonna look back and I'm gonna regret my impatience. I'm gonna regret letting it pass by. [00:18:13] I get that. But I need reminded of that all the time. You with me on this and our relationship with God is the same way. I need reminded that God is my joy, that God himself is what fulfills my heart. But, yes, I want God's good gifts, and he wants to give them. But the gifts are just meant to make you fall more in love with the giver and not to just be satisfied with those. You with me on this. And when my heart is tracking that or when I'm trying to push on my heart to be at that place, that's what it means for God to be my light. [00:18:57] Then my whole life is illuminated by a much different desire. Now, the second thing I'll say about these verses is that it's a really interesting transition. [00:19:11] So if you just look at, you know, David, he's writing a psalm. So it's poetic. There's imagery that is trying to help us to understand and communicate certain ideas. And in the psalm, David went from an army being encamped against him. [00:19:28] So a battlefield scene to then a scene of, I want to be in the temple gazing on the beauty of the Lord, right? It's like I'm on the battlefield at one point, and now I'm sitting in church. [00:19:42] That's a pretty strong contrast, isn't it? [00:19:45] You wouldn't put those together, right? [00:19:49] And yet David transitions very sharply from one to the other. And here's just what I think it is showing us. [00:19:57] It's showing us that God can give us the gift of himself in very unusual ways in this life. [00:20:08] What I mean is that sometimes the things that we fear and the things that are before us and the things that are hard, sometimes those are gateways to experience God in a more real way. Sometimes those are the paths that God gives him the gift of himself. You with me on this? [00:20:31] See, when everything's going great, I find myself praying less. [00:20:36] When life is smooth, I'm kind of. I can start to distance myself from God. But when there are obstacles and challenges, I tend to draw near. I don't know about you, and I tend to experience them more. I love the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon. He says, kiss the waves that throw you upon the Rock of Ages. [00:21:03] Kiss the wave that throws you upon the Rock of Ages. The battlefield might bring you to the temple. Are you with me. And Spurgeon says, well, then you kiss that wave because it brings you to the Rock of Ages. See, life, we can't always figure it out as we're living it. But here's what I can tell you. God has a purpose. And all the twists and turns, all the challenges, all the circumstances that we're bringing into this room, and we can trust his wisdom in all of it. And so David says, God is my light. And then he goes on verse five, he says, but God is my salvation, for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the COVID of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. Now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Now, see this image here that David's using now? It's like David is being picked up and he's being carried to a very high place to, you know, like some mountainous area where nothing can get at him. And he's like, I was down in this dangerous place, in this vulnerable place, in this pit, and God picked me up and he put me in this safe place where I'm totally safe. And he says, and so now in this safe place, what I'm doing is I am giving thanks to God. [00:22:44] I am giving gratitude, I'm worshiping him, I'm praising him. And what David says is, he's saying, God is my salvation. [00:22:56] See, the word salvation, it just means to rescue. [00:23:00] And what David's saying is, I expect God to rescue me out of difficult and. And dangerous and trying experiences in this life. I'm counting on it. [00:23:15] I'm trusting that. And I've seen it again and again. [00:23:22] If you have been a follower of Jesus for some time, I want you just to think about your life for a second, and I want you just to honestly think about how many ditches has God helped you to avoid in your life? [00:23:39] And maybe you didn't even know it at the time, but now you see it. Amen. [00:23:46] How many times were you just. You were done. You didn't know where to go, what to do, and yet God somehow led you to a different place. [00:23:59] I think if many of us are honest, we could say that there's a lot. And the more that I think about it, the more that come to mind. [00:24:07] And what David says is, he said, I've seen God do that again and again, and I trust that he always will. My son Teddy is too. [00:24:19] And, you know when we're in a parking lot, my wife's like, teddy, hold my hand. [00:24:25] He never wants to, you know. No. [00:24:29] Like, do we gotta fight about all this? You know, I'm like, no, Teddy, come on. And, you know, we kind of eventually get to it, but when we're walking through, there's many times he's not paying attention. I'm like, you know, pulling him closer, like, okay, there's a car coming. It's going to beat you. You know, don't try to face it or, you know, step over this. [00:24:52] And he's not always aware, and he's not always a willing participant. You with me? [00:24:59] But I'm still acting to protect him. [00:25:02] And in your life and my life, we're not always aware, and we're not always a willing participant. [00:25:09] But God is still acting to protect us. You with me on this? [00:25:14] And David says, I've seen that. I had a professor from school. He had our class over one night for, like, desserts and, you know, a little lecture. And he was talking about this practice that him and his wife have. And they had this jar of rocks. [00:25:33] They were like, nice rocks, and they had numbers on them. And he said, what we do is we pull out a rock and it'll have, like a number five on it. And then they have this journal that has five. And it's a prayer request that God answered. [00:25:49] But they've been doing this for a long time. So it's like a lot of rocks and a big journal. And so he said, they'll take a rock, they'll look at it and they'll read what the journal said. It might be like, you know, we were praying for our daughters that went on a missionary trip to have a great time and come back safe. And they'll have a date by it. And he said, they'll. Every day they'll just pull out a rock and read an entry and give thanks to God. [00:26:15] And I was just like, I love that practice. I haven't done it yet, but I love it. You know, I'm still trying to find a rock guy. I don't know if you know anybody, but I was like, what a cool thing. And I just can't imagine how over time, like, how does that then make you look at life where every day you're being reminded, oh, yeah, I asked God, and he did this. [00:26:39] Man, we were worried sick about this. And look what God did. [00:26:44] And every day you're being reminded of that. [00:26:47] How does that change your relationship with fear? [00:26:52] I have to think it changes it. This is what David is talking about. He's saying, God, I see him work, and I acknowledge it, and I give him thanks, and I celebrate it. He is my salvation. And lastly, he is my stronghold. [00:27:07] Verse 7. He says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me. [00:27:18] You have said, seek my face. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. [00:27:26] Hide not your face from me. [00:27:28] Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off. [00:27:34] Forsake me not, O God, of my salvation, for my father and my mother have forsaken me. But the Lord will take me in. [00:27:45] Teach me your way, O Lord. Lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me. They breathe out violence. Now, there's a lot in these verses, but here's what David is doing. He is experiencing God as his stronghold. [00:28:05] And here's how he's doing it. He's going to God in prayer. [00:28:09] And I just want you to notice, like, the tone of his prayer. He's saying, God, be gracious to me. [00:28:15] What gracious means is, God, treat me better than I deserve. [00:28:21] Saying, God, you're my stronghold. [00:28:24] I don't have any authority over you. [00:28:27] I'm not here to demand anything. I'm here to ask for grace. [00:28:33] Treat me better than I deserve church. Believe it or not, that's the right way to pray, to go to God with that humble confidence. [00:28:43] He says, hide not your face from me. He said, seek my face, but hide not your face from me. And it's sort of this little conundrum that he's saying, and here's what it means. Sometimes when I go to God, and when I'm drawing near to God, sometimes I really feel it. [00:29:02] And sometimes it seems like things are happening and God is moving and my prayers are being heard. And then sometimes it feels like my prayer isn't going above the ceiling. Anybody been there? [00:29:17] It feels like I'm showing up to church and nothing's happening in my soul. [00:29:24] But what David says is, no matter whether I feel it or not, I'm gonna keep coming back to you. [00:29:33] See, part of a healthy spiritual journey is seeking God when it's easy and seeking him when you don't feel like it. [00:29:41] You just keep showing up. [00:29:43] You just keep praying. You just keep coming to church. You just keep trying to take the next step. Not every day is confetti all over the place. You know, some days it just feels. It feels Hollow and empty. But David says, but God, you are my stronghold. And I'm gonna keep coming back again and again. He says, and God, have mercy on me. Don't cast me off. In other words, what David is saying. He's saying, God, you and I both know I'm not perfect. [00:30:17] Any imperfect people here. [00:30:20] He's looking to God. He's saying, lord, you and I both know you could cast me off. [00:30:26] You and I both know I've given you a million reasons to be angry with me and to close the door. [00:30:35] And I resonate with David on this. He says, but, God, I'm asking for your mercy and your help because. [00:30:43] Cause I believe that's who you are. [00:30:46] And I'm gonna keep coming back and church. I think that's such a wise approach. And then look at how this whole Psalm ends. Verse 13. He says this. [00:30:57] Now David is kind of talking to himself or talking to us. Now he's not talking to God anymore. Now we're at a transition. He says this. [00:31:12] I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. [00:31:21] I love that line. Wait for the Lord, be strong. [00:31:26] There's our phrase. [00:31:27] And let your heart take courage. [00:31:30] Wait for the Lord. [00:31:33] So here's what happened. David experienced God as his light, as his salvation, and as his stronghold. [00:31:43] And guess what it gave him? It gave him a new attitude. [00:31:46] It gave him a new expectation. Says, I believe I will look on the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Now, I just want to talk about that for a second. Many times, if you're a follower of Jesus, we talk about this idea of eternal hope. Hope. [00:32:07] And we say things like this. We're like, hey, life is hard, but God makes up for it in the reality of eternity. And that is true. [00:32:19] But David says, my hope is not only far off, but it's also near. [00:32:27] I don't believe I'll just see the goodness of God sometime in eternity. I. I believe I'll see the goodness of God in the land of the living. [00:32:36] I believe I'll see it before I die. [00:32:39] I'll see it while I'm walking around this earth. [00:32:43] I might see it this week. [00:32:45] I will see God's goodness in a real way in my life now. I love that. Cause I don't know about you, but I have this really bad problem where, like, when good things happen, there's something in my heart that's like, all right, when's the shoe gonna drop? [00:33:01] Anybody? [00:33:03] I don't know how I've become so Paranoid. But I'm there. [00:33:08] And there's a part of me that if I'm not careful, I can live life with this really fearful expectation all the time. Am I the only messed up one here? Do I got any other broken people? Thank you. Two. I got two. [00:33:25] The Lord can say by many or by few, but here's what David says. He says, listen, the more I experience God, the more I am just waiting. [00:33:38] I'm waiting. [00:33:40] It's hard to wait. [00:33:42] Anybody like waiting? [00:33:44] It's the worst. [00:33:45] But David says, I can do it, and I can do it. I can be strong in doing it. [00:33:51] You know, there's two ways you can wait. You can wait and be wigging out. [00:33:55] You know, you're like. But it's like, you okay? You're like, yeah, I'm fine. Why? [00:33:59] Good. Yeah. [00:34:00] Or you can wait with a peaceful demeanor. You can wait and be strong. You can wait and say, look, I'm gonna see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I just like saying that line. [00:34:17] And I'm waiting. I'm being strong. [00:34:20] God's going to show up. [00:34:23] The more I experience, God is my light. God is my salvation. God is my stronghold. The more that mindset makes sense to me, the more that mindset will overtake some of the unhealthy ones, and the more strength I can bring. [00:34:40] My daughters watch some detective show at some point, and so they play this detective game. [00:34:48] They get out little notepads and pens, and they go looking for clues, and they write some things down. [00:34:57] Abby can't really write at all, and Emmy can write a few words. So I don't know what they're actually writing, but they're busy at work. [00:35:05] And they'll go, and they even have this, like, little magnifying glass, and they'll let go, and they'll be like, we're looking for clues, and they'll run around the house. And it's a fun game, and it's super cute. And, you know, from how much I see their hands moving. They find a lot of clues. [00:35:23] Apparently, there's a lot that I'm missing, but they're seeing and it's there. [00:35:30] And what I want to encourage you this week is what if this week we tried to look for the goodness of the God in the land of the living? [00:35:40] I believe it's there. [00:35:43] I believe God is these things that David is talking about. I believe he is these things to you. He is these things to me. [00:35:52] I think that maybe sometimes it's a vision issue, sometimes it's a focus issue. [00:36:01] And sometimes a simple change can go a long way. [00:36:05] And I want you, and I want to do this in my own heart, too, is I want us to say, I am going to intentionally look for the goodness of God in the land of the living this week. [00:36:20] I'm going to look and I'm going to try and see where God is moving. I'm going to acknowledge it. [00:36:26] I'm gonna thank him for it. [00:36:29] I'm gonna be made strong by it. Church here's what I believe. [00:36:33] We will find it, we will be surprised by it, and we will be encouraged by it. Let's pray. [00:36:42] Father. I thank you that, Lord, you are our light, you are our salvation. [00:36:52] You are our stronghold. [00:36:56] I pray today, Lord, we could just experience it like David experienced it in a very real way. [00:37:04] I pray you would be the desire of our heart that Lord, we would be like David and just man. The one thing I want to gaze on the beauty of the Lord all the days of my life. Lord, give us that heart's desire. [00:37:22] Help us to trust in you, to walk with you, to wait on you and to be strong. [00:37:28] And I ask all this in the great name of Jesus. Amen.