Never Forsaken Part 2
Key Passage: Psalm 37
Date: June 7, 2024
I said, well, we need to get it listed somewhere. I talked to Brother Glenn; he was good with it. Brother John Casey had forwarded an email over to him. And I said, “Hey, brother, what do you think?” We were texting. It’s amazing God’s timing. The exact time his text came in saying, “Hey, let’s list it,” we were all in agreement over that. The same time his text came in, a text came in from that developer. He said, “If you haven’t listed that, please wait because those people have called back and they want to meet Monday about potentially buying that two acres.” And praise the Lord for that. Let’s pray, pray, pray on Monday. I don’t know a certain time; it did not give me that. It may be—now, this is going to be a dirty word. You want to hold your ears, all right? It may be the Lord leads you to fast over that thing a little bit. But let’s just pray and ask that God will do a work.
It’s special, just in a unique way God puts His fingerprints on it, and God would bless, and we’d be able to continue on toward that new building. When God sells that, that would be such a blessing. Good to have the Guthries back with us today. Praise the Lord for that. Brother Jimmy, Ms. Cookie. Ms. Cookie has a thank you card. It says, “Thank you for the prayers, phone calls, visits from Pastor Paul with a pot of roses from the church. Also, thanks for all the soup and delicious food from the church members. I really appreciate all this love shown to me. Love and blessings, Cookie.”
Praise the Lord for Brother Jim and Ms. Cookie. Just great, great people. Keep praying for her. Her knee is better, but she still has a blood clot she’s trying to get rid of. So pray for her lungs, if you would. She’s on blood thinners for that. Praise the Lord, she’s here today. A lot to pray about, amen. A lot of good things, exciting things. Pray about the mission conference coming up, and the two acres to sell, and God working in the lives. I’m just thrilled every person’s here today. It’s good to see some folk we haven’t seen in a while. We’re thrilled to have you be involved in it all. What a blessing it is.
This is the second time David has been an usher—I believe it’s maybe a third time. First time I got him to pray. I told him today, I said, “Pastor would never call on you again,” you know, or something like that, I’d say. But Pastor would do that.
I like the young people getting involved in the work of God. That’s a good thing. Many of them were out yesterday passing out door hangers at the new church, and that was a blessing. Praise the Lord for it. Would you lead us in the word of prayer, David? Please. Amen.
Let’s take our hymn books and stand. We’re going to turn to page number 78, “Higher Ground.” Page number 78, “Higher Ground.” Page number 78 in your hymn books. We’ll stand and we’ll just sing the first, second, and last verses there. Page 78, “Higher Ground.”
First: I’m pressing on the upward way, new heights I’m gaining every day. Still praying as I’m onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand, my faith on heaven’s stable land, a higher plane. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
My heart has no desire to say where doubts arise and fears dismay. Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand, my faith on heaven’s stable land, a higher plain that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
On the last verse: I want to scale the utmost side and get a gleam of glory bright. But faith, I’ll pray till heaven I’ve found. Lord, lead me on to higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand, my faith on heaven’s stable land, a higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
Miss Michelle, I appreciate the great message. I hope you got that message and song. You did a great job of the song. What a great, great message, and I appreciate the life behind it. If you know the morning, they appreciate it very much. Turn the Bible to Psalm chapter number 37, Psalm chapter number 37, in God’s Word this morning.
I’m excited about the mission conference coming. I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to you being part of it all. Be involved in it all; it’ll do something to you. But before we get to that, we want God to speak to us this morning, and we need to hear from the Lord today. I believe the Lord kind of directed a little later in my schedule to this first year, this subject: Psalm 37.
By the way, it’s a great chapter. Any of you ever get to the point where it just looks like wickedness is winning and it bothers you? Put both my hands up on that one, you know, especially right now. If you are at that kind of point in your life, Psalm 37 is a chapter to read. It’s just a great chapter if that’s the point in life you’re at. It will do something that will help you—the whole chapter. In fact, Brother Bruce Ippel—Bruce and Tina moved away—texted me last night. It was just a very kind text, and he said, “I think my favorite chapter is Psalm 37.” And I hope—praise the Lord—it’s a wonderful one, and you’ll like it. We want to look at just a couple of verses in it all. We won’t preach the whole chapter.
We won’t be able to have a memorial service that too, so we’re going to restrict. Look at verse number 23, if you will. He’s talked about the wicked a lot, but it kind of changes gears a little bit, and he starts talking about a good man. I want us to notice a couple things about a good man. The title this morning would be “Never Forsaken.” That’ll be the title of it today. “Never Forsaken.” Let’s stand, if you would please. Psalm 37, verse number 23 of God’s Word. Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he directeth his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord…”
…upholdeth him with his saying. I have been young, now I’m old, for something that means more than others. It’s amazing how old changes the older you get. Fifty-one was real old when I was young. It’s real young.
He says, “I have been young, now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful and lindeth; His seed is blessed.” Mother Martin, maybe could you give me just a touch more volume, if you would, please, sir? You know, the Bible says if we’re hungry, He’ll fill us.
And would you maybe just whisper a prayer as I pray and say, “I need something today, and He’ll fill it”? Would you tell Him that as I pray also? Lord, I do pray only You could do what You can, that You would give every individual here this morning what they need. We’re hungry; we’re needy people, and we need You. Would You give every individual the unique need—would You meet it? Lord, well, thank You for what You do. You do the work, please. Thank You for letting me be a little tool. We love You, Lord. It’s in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. Go back, if you would, to verse number 23, verse number 23.
I want you to notice that I’ve already kind of alluded to it. He says, “The steps of a…” What’s the next two words? Not talking about it. He’s talking about a good man. He’s talking about probably a saved person, probably someone that would be in church on a Sunday morning, like you’re in church today—good people. “The steps of a good man.” You could put yourself there. You’re in church on a Sunday morning, and others. Young people, he’s not talking about the wicked at this point in your school. “The steps of a good man, all ordered by the Lord.” It’s very interesting what he says in the last part of that verse. He says, “And he delighteth in his way.”
So much could be said about that, but his way. Isn’t it interesting how God weaves and works our paths? I think about Brother Jimmy back there. Brother Jimmy, would you raise your hand for just a second? Brother Jimmy back there, yeah. He loves model trains. He’s in a group that goes around and they set up trains and malls and all over birthday parties. They have these trains that go all over the place. Brother Jimmy and his friends are into that. They can direct that track all different ways. Man, he delights. I’ve been in his garage before. We had a train that went all over that garage, all over the place, you know. He says they got too much junk in there to do that right now. Amen, Brother Jimmy? But kind of like that, the Lord says, “I delight.” The good man in his way. He oversees it, He watches, He directs, He delights in it—the good man.
But then I want you to notice this. Look at the next verse here. Subject is a good man, verse number 24. Are you with me this morning, verse number 24? Subject is who? A good man. Good, good. All right, verse number 24. Here we go. “Though he…” Who’s he? The good man. Watch this: “Though he fall.” Fall. Now pause, because good people fall. And we fall. Every person here falls. How many has prayed as much as you ought to pray in the last week? Anybody? I’m not going to put my hand up, baby. The Lord says “she did.” Lord, we’re going to check that. Everybody falls. The good man. He’s a good man, but he falls. “Though he falls.”
Friend, if you have to be perfect to get saved, nobody’s perfect, nobody’s saved. In fact, you get saved when you give up on your righteousness. You say, “My righteousness is not going to get very far because it’s filthy. I’m not going to depend on my righteousness; I’m going to depend on His righteousness.” That’s how you get saved: by putting your faith, your belief—you trust in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Listen, it’s not actually biblical, but it illustrates the truth in the Bible. They said a man went up to heaven standing outside the gates, and the Lord was standing there and said, “Why should I let you in?” The man said, “Well, I’m a kind, whole man. I’ve never hurt anybody. I don’t even squash a bug.” If it’s a mosquito, I think that’s on a bad mark against you, maybe, and you need to squash him, you know. But, uh…
And he’s talking about how good and good to his neighbor and all that—never hurt anybody. And God said, “Uh-uh. Uh-uh.” The next fellow came along, and he said, “Why should I let you in?” He said, “Lord, I’ve always paid every bill. I’m a just man. I treat my neighbor like I want to be treated. I went to church. I went to church for years and years. In fact, I taught a Sunday school class.” Lord said, “Uh-uh.”
The next man came to the Lord, and the Lord said, “Why should I let you in?” He looked up and he said, “Lord, I really have no hope on my own. My only hope is Jesus.” And God said, “You’re the one that gets in here.” When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, not yourself and your righteousness, you believe in what He did. Matthew 7 illustrates it. So wait a second. If I got saved…
I wasn’t perfect. Who thinks you’re going to get perfect when you get saved? Now, the more you grow, the closer you’re going to get to it, but you’re not going to arrive, friend. And I’m going to say, “Oh, that’s so true. Preacher, people can’t be perfect to be saved?” And you’re right, because nobody would be saved. But can’t I just say a word or two? Why do we expect others to be perfect? Good people are all… This is a good man, and he failed, didn’t he?
Oh, friend, be so careful. You know, every time you point at somebody, at least through your fingers, I point back at you.
It’s a sad day when God’s people get really judgmental, looking at everybody else’s problems. It’s a sad day. It’s interesting over there—a very horrible sin, as we would say, over in 1 Corinthians—incest. And God wants you to do something about it. You know, the first thing He told that church over in 1 Corinthians 5: He said, “You got puffed up; you got proud, looking down your nose at everybody else who has fallen, and you’re not rather mourning.” Not to break your heart. Not saying, “Well, look at so-and-so what they’re doing,” and your mind being critical. No, no, no, no. Good people fall. You do; I do. This is a good man, but though they fall, everybody falls.
Friend, it’s such a key thing when Christians say, if you will, “We let live and let live and let God take care of things.” There’s always a mistake. You know what Satan does? He comes along and he says, “Well, you’re the pastor,” and so let me put the badge on you so you can please everybody. Oh, let’s make… Whatever your position is—I’m a church member now—and Satan will always come along and try to put a badge on you where you kind of regulate and watch everybody what they’re doing. No, no, no, no. We all fall. Good people fall. It was a good day when a pastor, a friend of mine—I cannot remember what I was getting advice about, an older man—but I told him, and he said, “Paul,” he said, “Christians can be mean people sometimes.” And he wasn’t trying to be, you know. Christians are the best people in all the world. I believe that; I mean that. But they’re people. And he said, “Though this good man, he fall.” If we didn’t get saved by being perfect, and we don’t stay saved by being perfect, why do I expect anybody else to be perfect? You don’t stay saved by being perfect.
Here’s an interesting thing. Let’s keep reading in this verse, verse number 24. Look over there, if you will. Verse number 24: “Though he fall,” watch what He says, “he shall not be utterly cast down.” What does that mean? Well, one thing it means is he doesn’t lose his salvation. And praise the Lord. “He that comes unto Me, I will in no wise cast him out,” He says (John 6:37). “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Never. Is that pretty clear? Never. That’s what He says. I give it to them. He didn’t earn it; I give it unto them. They shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father has given Me them, and He is greater than all, and no man shall pluck them out of My Father’s hand. Friend, you don’t stay saved by being good enough. You weren’t saved good enough to be saved; you’re not good enough to stay saved. You stay saved by Jesus Christ. Same thing that saved you.
He says, “Not utterly cast down.” Well, I’m glad when I fall, the Lord holds me up, not utterly cast down. You know, one of the things about Peter—remember old Peter there? God said, “Hey, come on out on the water.” We were teasing—just teased me, Brother Anthony, yesterday. We were out, and there’s a pretty good-sized ditch, and water was flowing in there. Brother Anthony said, “Come on, preach, you’re going to be like Peter walking on water.” And I said, “Man, he hadn’t bid me walk on water. Amen, I’m not going to do it either.” But Jesus—hey—He bid him come out on the water. And what happened? Peter came out there on the water, boom. And Peter said, “Oh, I grace you, heavenly Father, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.” No, he had drowned by then. He just said a three-word prayer: “Lord, save me.” Praise the Lord. “Lord, save me.” Aren’t you glad when we fall? The Lord’s the best friend you’ve got when you fall. It’s crazy when we fall, we turn away from the Lord. That’s the man, the God you need at that moment.
You know, that’s not utterly cast down. The good man—a good man—he’ll fall, but he’s not utterly cast down. Notice why. Look at the rest of that verse, number 24 there. Look at the rest of that verse. He said, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.”
Friend, the reason why we’re not utterly cast down is not because we’re all that—because we’re not all that—it’s because of the Lord. The Lord holds him up. Friend, if you’ve been serving God over the long haul, praise the Lord for that, but it’s no credit to you; it’s a credit to the Lord. He’s the one to hold you up. If I’m not utterly cast down, it’s all because of the Lord. It’s wonderful. Watch the Lord gently pick us up when we’re down. He will if you let Him. Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” He’s so good about that. He restores. We fall. You’re going to fall for Him. Everybody falls.
By the way, if you get to the point you think you’re never going to fall—you’re always going to read your Bible, or all the mountains, you’re always going to witness like you ought to—you’re never going to say something to someone you ought not to say, friend. When you do that, and you will do that, you’re going to be devastated. But if you realize, “I’m not utterly cast down because of me, but because of Him,” you’ll be all right, because He doesn’t change. And it’s wonderful. It’s because of the Lord. It’s wonderful to watch sometimes how God so gently, when we are cast down, He restores us.
I try to be wise about illustrations I use. I don’t think anyone besides my wife will know who I’m talking about. They do not live in this state. Great people; we still love them. We still contact each other. Years ago, a sweet lady, she graduated from a Bible college, married a quote-unquote preacher. How many of you know Tennessee Temple? It used to be Tennessee Temple University. She went there.
She married a man that was a quote-unquote preacher, but just a very mean man. Very mean, and very mean to his wife. Shame on that preacher. A preacher ought to be a good Christian anywhere; he ought to be at home. And he beat his wife and so on. She left him. He said, “Fully on that.” She divorced. She got remarried. She got out of church, been out of church for years and years and years. She did hair sometimes on the side, doing an older lady’s hair—a sweet lady, a good, godly lady. That older lady said, “You ought to come to church with me.” She said, “Where do you go to church?” She said, “Well, I go to this little storefront church over there.” By the way, that lady—God so gently knew what she needed. She didn’t need a big church; she’d been in big church. She knew what it was to have all the politics and all that. She’d been in the ministry. She just needed a little bit of storefront startup church. She said, “Yeah, you ought to come to church with me.” And so that lady said, “Well, okay, maybe I will.” And that lady came to church, and God really just did a work in that lady’s heart. I remember seeing her many times come down the invitation just with tears. God was just tenderly drawing her back to Him after years. She had fallen. God said, “I’m not going to let you be utterly cast down.” After years later, God just began to pull her back to Him. And she’d say, “Preacher, man, I want to join the church. I want to get involved. And I want to join the church without my husband. I want my husband to join with me.” He’s the same man in the old church. That’s always tough to answer, you know. And she felt sure the Lord was leading her that way. And just an interesting way the Lord got her husband to come to their church—I won’t tell all of it. They came to church, a little storefront, just a little storefront. It’s interesting, the Lord had led; the title of that message actually had that man’s name in it. Only God could do that. God began to work in his heart. I’ll never forget. It was so unique—Dr. Lee Robertson. How many know who Dr. Lee Robertson is? He was in his 80s. He had no idea about the store that was going on and whatnot. And we were in a little storefront over there—it’s in La Verne; it’s the vape shop now, unfortunately. All right. He was in that building. Dr. Robertson preached from just a little bitty platform, very small, so you could kind of go from the pulpit to this chair over here in about two steps. He had preached and sat down, and we were given an invitation, and he had no idea about the story. See, she had gone to his Bible college years before. You know the story now. And that couple came down. God was working on the heart. God was so gently pulling them back to Him.
It’s interesting, they came down; they kneeled right here, shedding tears at the altar right there. Dr. Robertson, he was at the point he couldn’t remember it all, but that was one of his old members, college students from his college. It sticks out in my head about Dr. Robertson. He was so happy to see God working in his life in his 80s. He literally—and I mean this literally—dropped to his name to the platform. Just dropped his back… about somebody coming forward just a little bit of platform, but he dropped his knees and he crawled over there to that couple, and he started dealing with them. He had no idea that that lady years ago went to his Bible college and married a quote-unquote preacher, and all the old story, but God did.
God so gently, He didn’t let them be utterly cast down; He put their lives back together. They became great church vendors, great people. I’m a little bitter at them—they moved away, amen. Great people. Watch all the years when all of us fall.
Come on now. Instant in season, out of season. That was written to a preacher. Even preachers have out of seasons. Yeah. And God, so just gently, He says, “No, I’m not going to let you be utterly cast down.” And He pulls you back. Now, I want you to notice this phrase. This is really where God led me. Look at the phrase here. We’re back over here in verse number 24: “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord…” Notice who gets your glory: “For the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” “I have been young, now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Verse 20).
I’ve always kind of associated that verse with God’s provision. But I’ll be honest, this week, I was trying to text Brother Patterson. The Lord said, “I want you to send that verse.” And why? I sat on the verse: “I have been young, now I am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor seed begging bread.” That little phrase stuck in my mind. The Lord spoke to my heart about it.
I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken. David here is one that God used, and he said, “All these years I’ve watched so many people, and I’ve been over so much, and he said, I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken.” It reminds me of Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He said, “Hey, all these years I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken.” Even when you fall, He doesn’t forsake you. Even when you’re not the Christian you ought to be, even when you’re down, even when you’re bitter over something, even when you’re battling issues, He doesn’t forsake you. Now, yes, there may be something between you and Him when you pray if you won’t forgive someone, but He holds you up; He doesn’t let you utterly get cast down.
He’s so gentle, so gentle. He’s so faithful. I thought about Brother Richard. I asked him if I could use just a brief little testimony. Brother Richard, when he was young, he went to church riding on the bus. He heard about Jesus Christ. He asked the Lord to save him and got saved and got in a good church, got involved as a young person riding in a church bus—Jordan Baptist Church, eventually. Unfortunately, sometimes, as young people will do, he got a little older, he got a church, and he drifted from the Lord. He ended up in the military and ended up, I believe, in Iraq, where he would see a lot of people a lot of times. You just imagine what all that is, and he could tell you more than me; I’ll get the story mixed up—but involved in combat and all those things. And yet, in the midst of that, God was really pulling him back. He wouldn’t let him utterly fall. And in Iraq, God kept reminding him of that little church, Jordan Baptist Church, in the suburbs of Chicago, and he kept thinking about it. So he—you know, they could—it wasn’t cell phones quite like we have, but I guess they could go and make a phone call here or there and whatnot. He was able to make a phone call, and he found out the number to Jordan Baptist Church. That little church he used to ride the bus and go to. He called that church. He’s in Iraq in a war over there, and yet God was pulling him. He wouldn’t let him utterly fall.
And so he called that church. He said it was around church time; he was trying to do it that way. He said he could—somebody answered the church’s office—and he asked for Brother Ron, an old bus worker and soul. He said he could hear the hymns and the piano playing in the background, and he thought, “Praise the Lord, they’re still the same as an old-fashioned Baptist church.” Even though he was halfway around the world, God was still just gently pulling him, and He wouldn’t let him utterly fall. It was the Lord that does it to us all.
He talked to him briefly and just had a wonderful conversation, but still he didn’t get back to where he wanted to be—and to Smyrna, Tennessee. His two little girls started riding the church bus. Boy, can you imagine the memories that brought back when he saw a church bus? God’s so gentle. David says in one place, he said, “Thy gentleness has made me great.” God’s a gentle God. He knows how to judge. I don’t want you to be utterly cast down; He holds on to you. We’re all there because of God.
His girls started right for—I don’t know—a couple of years. I found Brother Richard. “Well, I’ll try that church.” Pray, Lord. He came to church, and God… God just pulled Brother Richard beside Him. And praise the Lord, he runs one of our buses to make sure those kids get picked up, so faithful there. I’m amazed at all the things that Brother Richard does for the Lord. He carries a lot of weight for Him. It takes a strong man to do that.
But friend, he said, “Hey, though he fall, you’re going to fall, and others are going to fall.” God doesn’t point His finger and kick them when they’re down and start criticizing them. God said, “Hey, I’m going to hold you up with My hand.” Yes, you’re weak, but it’s My strength that keeps you from being utterly cast down. He brings you up. Friend, we’ve got a wonderful God.
He’s always here pulling you up. Now, notice this, and we’re going to be done. Notice what it says in verse number 26, verse number 26. He’s been talking about this good man. He falls, but he’s not forsaken, and the Lord won’t let him be utterly cast down. Now, verse number 26: “He”—that “he” there is not speaking of the Lord; He’s speaking of the good man—“is ever merciful.” Now let me just stop and say a word here. See, that guy says, “Man, I fell about ten million times, and it’s the Lord that always picks me up. He doesn’t go around being so harsh.”
Mean and snapping at everybody. He said, “God’s been so merciful; I want to be ever merciful.” He’s a passionate Christian, a loving Christian. He’s your Christian. If you feel like you did him wrong, that guy’s always merciful. He’s a man or a lady; if you’re down, some people, when you’re down, you don’t want to see them. Man, you go the other way. They’re going to get me; they’re going to cut me up. Not a man like that. He’s ever merciful. If you’re down, that’s a person you like to see right there. See, that’s what the end product is: He is ever merciful. He’s a merciful man.
Let’s keep going. He’s ever merciful and lindeth. He’s a giving man. Whether it be his joy, whether it be his happiness, whether it be his tenderness, whether it be his money—but he’s just ever, he’s giving, lending. Because he said, “God’s been so good to me. I fell about a million times, and God’s the one that keeps me going.” Sometimes I’ll do it to somebody else. That’s what a godly, godly…
Notice godly. That’s the end product. Watch this, watch this—what’s the last part there? “And his seed,” his children, if you will—children and more, but at least his children—“is blessed.” By the way, children that have parents like that, they’re blessed. Because there’s not a perfect child out there. But when you get a parent who realizes, “Hey, I’m not a perfect parent, and I fell about a million times, God’s came along, He won’t let me be utterly cast down,” and with His hand, He pulls me up, then that parent becomes ever merciful and lindeth, and their seeds are blessed because they got a merciful and giving parent. He ended up with a sweet Christian. Oh, shame when we—and I’ve been there, and shame on me—but become judgmental and hypocritical and always look at everybody’s bad.
What a shame. God’s been so good to us—ever merciful and lindeth. One last story. We’re done. We’ve got a busy day today, but I want you to stick with me just for a few more minutes here. A tribe of Native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday, he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the midst of thick woods. He had to stay there all night by himself. Every time a quig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he had a wolf leaping out of the darkness on him. Every time the wind blew, he would jerk around to wonder what it was.
And after what—same like an eternity. Don’t trust and test it in eternity.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight lightened the interior of the forest. Looked around. The boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he saw the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy’s father, who had been there all night long.
Likewise, God is always present with us in our trials. His presence is unseen, but is more real than life itself. He said, “Hey, I’ve been young, now old, [and] you have never seen the righteous forsaken.” He’ll always be there, even when you fall. He’ll always be there. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?
Heads bowed, eyes closed. You said, “Preacher…” In some area of my life, some area—maybe big, maybe a little—but in some area of my life, I’ve fallen. I’m not the Christian man, the Christian lady, the Christian teenager I ought to be. In this area, I’ve fallen. I just want to say, “Hey, Lord, thank You that You hold me up, keep me from being utterly cast down, and I want to get right with You.” God, You’re so patient with me. There’s some area I’ve fallen; I’m not what I ought to be. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up: “Preacher, that’s me, that’s me.” God bless you. All of us, all of us are there from time to time. Me too. God bless you. Many, many hands. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much. Thank you so much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you’re here this morning, you say, “Unfortunately, I’ve become a little judgmental, critical, and I need to go back and just remember what all God’s done for me. I want to become that Christian that’s ever merciful and lindeth, saints blessed.” God spoke to my heart. I don’t want to be a hard-hearted, if you will, Christian. God spoke to my heart; sometimes I’m tempted to go that way, and God spoke to my heart about that this morning. That’s you this morning—you slip your hand up. All of us, myself included, we’re there from time to time. God bless you. God bless you. Me too. Me too. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Work in your heart. Thank you so much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you’re here this morning, you say, “I just want to thank God for holding me up. I look back and I don’t want to praise myself and act like I’m all that. I want to look back and say God’s been so good. Every time I’ve fallen, it’s not been me; it’s been Him. He keeps me from utterly being cast down. He’s the one by His hand that holds me up, and I just want to thank God.” God spoke to my heart about praising Him for His goodness over the years. If that’s you this morning, slip your hand up. “Preacher, God spoke my heart about that.” Oh, God bless you. Me too. All of us who serve God long—it’s not us; it’s Him. Always, it’s Him. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe here this morning, one last question. You say, “I’ve never been saved. I’ve never given up on my righteousness and put my faith in His righteousness. I’ve never been born again, child of God. I don’t know for sure I’m saved.” Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I need to get saved this morning. I need to get saved this morning. If that’s you, “Preacher, I need to get saved this morning.” He loves you. He loves to save souls. It’s when you stop depending on what you can do; you depend on what He did. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Would there be anybody? God bless you. Would you stand? Would you stand? Would you stand? Would you stand? Would you this morning?
Oh, but I think it would be a great morning to come down to an old-fashioned altar and say, “Thank You, God, You’ve been so good.” Maybe come down an old-fashioned altar, say, “Lord, I’ve fallen. I want to get back in the book. I want to get back my prayer life, whatever may be. I don’t want to be sharp-tongued, critical, judgmental. I want to be ever merciful and lending.” God spoke to my heart. Whatever the need, would you just come, say, “Praise it, Lord, You’ve been so good. You’ve been so good. Now I want to thank You for…” It would be a great time to do that in invitation time. Let’s pray. Would you be obedient to the Lord?
Father, thank You. You call us good; really, our only goodness is from You. And then, Lord, we fall, and yet You hold us up so we’re not utterly, permanently cast down. Thank You for our salvation. Thank You for our security. Thank You for You being our Shepherd, restoring us. Father, would You adjust and change our hearts for You during the invitation? Lord, we thank You for what You do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Would you come as we sing? Don’t wait for anybody else. You step out. You come. Let’s just come thank You and praise Him for His goodness to us. Would you do that? A great time just to praise the Lord—You’ve been so good. Thank You, Lord. You’re so wonderful. Did you let Him know that?
When we get that outlook—“Hey, it’s not been me; it’s been the Lord”—He’s been so gracious and merciful over the years. He picks me up every time I fall. It gives us such a sweeter, sweeter spirit. People are attracted; they’re drawn to that. If we’ve got an error about us, we get everything together, we’re perfect—people are repelled from that. “Oh, God’s been so good to me; I don’t deserve it.” People say, “Wow, what a sweet spirit.” I want to take notice of that. God uses a Christian like that. It’s a wonderful place. Wonderful how He uses us when we’re there. Just kind of get in tune with these verses. David and God speak through David. Let’s get in tune with that spirit. Would you do so?
I told my wife this morning as she was preaching the message to me—you know, she preaches, I preach it back to you—but I did tell her this part. I said, “I hope the people catch the spirit of the message.” And some messages, it’s, you know, “We worship Him in spirit and truth.” And the truth, yes, but the spirit also. It brings such a sweet spirit when we have that same attitude that David had through this Holy Spirit: “I’ve fallen a million times, but He picks me up every time, and He’s so good.” And that leads us: ever merciful and lindeth, and seeds blessed. Glad you’re here this morning, and we got to get out of here. It’s going to be just less than two hours, and it’ll be a sweet, sweet service. Two o’clock, grab you back to eat. Get your nap before you come back because you can’t get a nap later on in here. All right, and we’ll have a good time honoring Brother Lara. What a great man he was. I’m excited about it. Praise the Lord, for he was a blessing, Brother Tom Kent.
Original File: Never forsaken- Part 2 - Sunday AM Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday am - 3721