No Good Thing
Key Passage: Psalm 84:11
Date: August 25, 2025
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 84. Psalm chapter number 84. It is a wonderful chapter. It starts off talking about the tabernacle of the Lord. I think it is more than just a physical place. I think the chapter really centers around being in the presence of God and the joy and the peace, the benefits of dwelling in the presence of God.
We are going to skip down to verse number 11, and we are going to read verse number 11 and verse number 12, and then really we will just try to focus on one phrase from verse number 11, Psalm 84, verse number 11 in God’s Word this morning. And if you are there, would you say amen? Good. Would you please stand if you are able? Show the Word of God respect. Praise the Lord that we have the Bible. We have something rock solid to stand on. Everything is changing, but the Word of God does not change. I am thankful I have a never-changing God, and I have a never-changing Word. And what a blessing that is. Psalm 84. We are going to start in verse number 11 there. And the Bible says, “For the Lord…”
God is a sun and shield. Now we are not going to focus on it, but let me just say a brief word as kind of getting started a bit. He is the sun. He is the sun. That brings warmth to your life. It really brings life to creation. It gives direction. When it is daytime, you can see where you are going. The Lord God is a sun. He is a sun.
Not only that, he is a shield. He protects. You do not have to live in fear. If the Lord is your Savior, he is a sun and shield. He is your protector. You say, well, everybody dies. Yes, but that is all right. I will be all right in heaven for a long, long time, friend. He is a sun and shield. Then he says he will give grace and glory. Our theme this year is “By Grace,” by grace, and he has all the grace you need for every minute of every day of your life. He knew in advance what you need—his grace. And a little coffee, somebody wants to say amen right there.
I believe that really just talked about your lifetime now. He will give grace. He is a gracious God. I am so thankful for that. But then it says, “and glory.” It can be speaking of things here, but I think more speaking of an eternity. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18.
And I think really there, speaking of in the future eternity, the Lord will give grace and glory. Here is the phrase we really want to focus on, all right? He says, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Last verse: “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” Would you say that phrase starting in the last part of verse number 11 where it starts “no good thing” and just finish that verse, all right? Verse number 11. Would you say that out loud with me? Here we go, please: “No good thing will he withhold from them?” Boy, it is a great, great phrase. So much there.
We are going to take just four words out of that phrase. It is amazing what all God can say with just a few words. It is amazing how many words it takes a preacher to say those few words. But God can say so much with just a few words. That phrase is just packed and so powerful. We are going to focus on that phrase, four words out of that phrase there. Would you say it out loud with me one more time? Here we go: “No good thing.”
What a great phrase. Let us pray that God would speak to all of us, to your heart particularly about that phrase in His Word. Father, would you make it real to us? Thank you for saying it. It is amazing, Lord. Forgive me; sometimes I ignore it, forget about it. I do not have faith in it. Forgive me, Lord. Make it real. Lord, apply it to every single individual. And, Lord, help us to live our lives depending and resting in this promise. And, Lord, we will thank you for what you do. It is in Jesus that we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
The first word—four words in that little phrase—the first word we want to talk about for just a minute there. He says, “No good thing.” We want to talk about that word: good. Good.
“No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” That word “good” right there. How many of you know Mike Curley, Pastor Mike Curley over in Crossville, Tennessee? How many of you know him? He is the preacher when he comes, typically—not what is inside the church, but typically if you find him somewhere outside the church, he has a cowboy hat on. Brother Curley, just a good, good man, pastor there for over 30 years at Cornerstone Baptist Church, Crossville, Tennessee. Brother Phil Ramsey got saved over there at that church; God worked in his life. A great, great preacher.
But Mike Curley, on October 14, 2005, was in a Kmart parking lot—you can tell this is back of the day, Kmart, you know. How many of these young folks, be honest with me, have never heard of a Kmart? Have you really heard of one now? You have. Okay.
He was in a Kmart parking lot, and someone was there in a van—a church member who had been sick, whatnot. He saw him, and he was talking to this individual who was inside the van. He was talking through the window. The wife sees it; the husband is driving, the wife sees it, and she yells, “Stop! There is a man!” But it was too late. It did not run him over, but it did pin him beside that van, specifically his left knee. When he realized, “I just hit a man,” he stopped, of course, and then he pulled forward.
Brother Curley’s left knee—he realized this thing is not right. He could not feel it. He could not move it, and he could not stand on it. Someone called 911, and ambulances and police came. About the time they got there, he started getting feeling back in his left knee. He could move it. By the time they got there, he was like, “You know, I am all right.” Brother Curley likes to be one of those tough guys. Is your husband like that? Does not want to go to the doctor? Brother Johannah, you are all right because let me finish the story. He ends up going in, you know. But he said, “I gritted and bore it; I am all right.” He signed the waiver that he is okay and all that good stuff. Everybody left, and he went on and did what he needed to do. He came out. That knee went right. Finally, he did what Bill Johansen Sr. did in the first place: that knee was messed up. It had torn the ACL.
While they were running scans and tests trying to find out what was going on with the left knee—before that, it had problems, and he had been to doctor after doctor trying to figure it out. He was only eating one meal a day, and he was still gaining weight. Anybody else have that problem? The last specialist he went to had said, because they could not find it, “Something is not right. I have no energy. I am only eating one meal a day, and I still gain weight.” The last specialist he went to said, “Well, I think you are just… you have a phobia.” What do they call that when you are always sick? The doctor said you are a hypochondriac, and there is nothing wrong with you. That made him mad because he is not like Bill Senior; he is a tough guy. He was out shooting shotguns yesterday.
They had said, “Nothing is wrong with you,” and it bothered him. He said, “Forget the doctors. I am not going back to a doctor.” Even though things were not right, after that last specialist said that, he said, “Foo on all the doctors. I am just never going back.” That type of attitude. They cannot figure it out, and they say I am a hypochondriac, so foo on them.
But he had to do something about that knee—ACL. ACLU? That is a communist network. We do not want that. That is worse than ACL. When he went through all the scans and tests on that knee, they found out he had cancer. Major cancer.
Here is what I am getting at and telling that story: Friend, you and I, we do not always know what is good. That was horrible that the guy ran into him and messed up his knee, but it saved his life. Sometimes we finite beings do not really know what is good for us.
You know, like that little boy; he wants that pack of bubble gum so bad. And you know what that little boy does? Like every little boy does, he gets that pack, and he puts the whole pack in his mouth at one time. Come on. You ladies did the same thing back in the day. I am saying that to say: God knows what is good much better than I know what is good. I think I know, and I want something so bad. God says, “Paul, you are a finite being stuck in 2005. I am in eternity. I see eternity past. I see eternity future. I know you. I made you. I know what makes you tick. I know you better than you know yourself. I know what is good for you,” just like a mom and a dad knows what that child needs so often. He is our heavenly Father.
He says, “No good thing.” You know, church history shows the church has typically grown under persecution. When the church has to go underground, the streams that come up through the ground are purified coming up. It purifies the church, and the church often grows under persecution. I am simply saying, God knows what is good a whole lot better than you and I know what is good.
“God, I have to have this money. I need more money, money, money, money, money.” The wisest man, Solomon, besides Jesus Christ, said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.” Sometimes we want more, more, more, more, more money and things and things. If we are not careful, we will become very materialistic.
Church in Laodicea, Revelation 3: “Rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” That is what they said. They just had so much. By the way, our generation has more than any other generation has ever had. If we are not careful, all we want is a little bit more, and that is never going to make us happy. God said about that church in a letter, “If you make me want to throw up, spit you out of my mouth.” What God said: You do not realize you are poor, wretched, and miserable.
I am simply saying, we do not know what is good for us. That more money and that house and that car and all the rest of that might be one of the worst things that ever happened to us. So you have all that money and all that pleasure and all that luxury, and you go to heaven because of the blood of Jesus and have no rewards. It might be better off to not have as much and yet keep my bearings straight. I want to live for the Lord in eternity. Money is not wrong. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Praise the Lord for people that can have money and yet keep their bearings right about it. Hey, it is not about down here; this is a drop in the bucket. It is about living for the Lord. God is the one that knows the truth of all. He said, “No good thing.” He knows what is good a whole lot better than I know what is good. Good. “No good thing.” Pretty amazing.
April 10th, 2010. Can you believe it? 2010. All those years ago, a wonderful man of our church, a man named Brother Duane Dauph, a good, good man. He had all kinds of health issues, but cancer at 40 years old ended up taking him. A good man. I had the funeral. We went to the graveside, and at the graveside, my wife passed out. After that, we had some tests scheduled, and she went to those and came home after the tests. But that night, she just was not right. I had to take her to the hospital that night. From that, we found out she had cancer, and she had surgery, chemo, and it seemed like the worst thing in the world. Our son was 15, our daughter was 13. I was like, “What in the world? This is horrible. Two teenagers, and Mom cannot do it.”
But all these years later—2010 to 2025—I run out of fingers. Fifteen years later, I asked my wife again, “Just let me know I am going to use you a little bit today.” I said, “Do you think cancer was a good thing?” And she says, “Yes, I do.” It has changed the way we see the world, really. Some details I cannot share publicly, but just so many things about it have changed so much about us. And by the way, I ultimately think it was good for my kids. You say a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl? Yes, I am telling you, I do not know what is good for me half the time. God knows 10,000 times more than I ever know. And he said, “No good thing.” Good. Be so careful. We are good. I do not know about you, but I can be such a know-it-all. I know for sure what is good, right?
“No good thing.” God knows. He knows. Now we have one word. We have three more words. You said, “My goodness, is every word going to take this long?” Let us try to speed it up here. Help me out. What is the phrase? Help me out. It is verse number 11 right there. Let us read that phrase again, verse number 11. We are starting with the word “no good.” That little phrase there. Here we go. Are y’all ready to say it? Here we go. If you can say it without looking, let us do it without looking if you can. All right. Here we go: “No good thing will he withhold from…” Good, good, good.
Now, we have the word “good.” Let us get another word in here. Notice what it says there. He says, “No good thing will he withhold.” That is an interesting word. It could say “no good thing will he… give or not give it”—but he uses this word “withhold.” The Hebrew word is mana. Sometimes it is translated in the King James Bible as “deny” or “keep,” as far as keep back, refrain, restrain, withhold.
When my kids were little, and some of you probably did the same thing, you get a quarter or a nickel or a dime or a piece of candy, whatever it is, and you have it in your hand, and you let them come, and they try to pry your hand open. Anybody ever do those crazy little games with your kids? Yes. Here is the thing: It is all right when they are two or three. But when they get about five and they get both hands on one finger and then they get their leg on you, and they are primed—stinking kid!—but it was just the game we would do.
“No good thing will he withhold.” Here is what I am getting at, and I think here is what God is getting at about that: You have to go to God, actually using this thing called prayer. That is the avenue God has given us to get things from him. Look over, if you will, in Matthew chapter number seven. Look over Matthew 7. This whole passage is where it talks about ask, seek, and knock. It is an amazing passage, but it culminates in verse number 11. Matthew 7, verse number 11, in God’s Word, all right? Matthew 7, verse number 11. He says right there, he says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts…” That is very interesting. He is actually talking about our Father which is in heaven here. He said, just like you know what is good for your kids, I know what is good for my kids. “Look, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to all his children.” What does it say? He says, “Give good things to them that what?” Ask him.
If you build a parallel scripture from over here, Psalm 84:11, he will not withhold. He says, but here he says, he gives good things to them that ask him. God said, “I do not just throw it out there. You have to come, and I will let you.” God Almighty has omnipresence, has all the power in the world. He measures the oceans, the waters of the world, in the palm of his hand, the Bible says. He measures out the heaven with his span. He is all-powerful, is what I am trying to say. But God says, “Hey, I will not withhold. I will allow you in prayer to come, and I will allow you to take my fingers, and I will allow good things.” I want you to come. I want to spend time with my children. I love you, and I want you to come and get good things from me. That is what he is saying. “No good thing will he withhold.” You are going to have to come to him. You are going to ask. He said he gives good things to them that ask him. Let me ask you something: How much have you been asking? That is what he is saying: I will not withhold it. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He likes to give his children good things. Amazing.
Sometimes we will do anything to get ahead or get that other thing. We are not praying. Look over in James. You will know this passage. Look over in James chapter four. You will know this passage. We use a little phrase in it a lot, but it is kind of amazing how God leads up to it. James four, verse number two. James 4:2. I notice our phrase: “No good thing will he withhold.” Withhold. James 4:2, he says over there, he says, “Ye lust, and have not. Ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war.” Interesting: fighting—two individuals fight one another; war—groups of individuals. He finishes it off; he said, “Ye have not, because what?” Because ye ask not.
That is God, your heavenly Father, your born-again Christian God, saying, “Hey, I will give it to you, but I do not just throw it out in your life. I want you to come and spend some time with your Dad. I will let your puny little fingers probably open my fingers. I will not withhold it from you.” So you have to ask. Asking. God wants his children. That is the avenue God has given us to get things from him—to ask.
I am a little fearful because it is not like it is my great prayer life. It is not. But I feel like God has me to share this. It is not because—and I want to emphasize that, it is so true—I get a little proud, and well, I will fall flat on my face. But Jimmy Tedder down in Shelbyville, Victor Baptist Church. How many know Brother Tedder? Brother Tedder, some of you do. How many know Victor Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Tennessee? Brother Tedder pastored there for over 50 years, maybe 60 years. I cannot remember. Someone else started the church just briefly, and he was just a young teenage man and on fire for the Lord. The pastor that started it left, and someone said, “Brother Tedder, you can fill in.” He said, “Well, I have about six or seven matches. I can fill in for six or seven weeks, and then we will have a pastor by then.” He filled in for over 50 years there. A dear man. He never went to Bible college, but boy, he knew God. I love Brother Tedder.
I went to Brother Tedder one time years ago, and I said, “Brother Tedder, your location is just amazing.” How many know exactly where Victor Baptist Church is located at? Right on 231 as you are coming in the main drag. It is maybe the best location you can have. Before Walmart was there and all, it is a great location. I said, “Brother Tedder, how did you get that?” He said, “Paul, I used to pray. I prayed, ‘God, I like to give my bride, my wife, the best I can give her,’ and the church is your bride. It seems like you would want to give your bride the best location. I want to give my wife the best I can give her.” How much do you do? My wife said amen right there.
And that caused me—I did not do it—and again, I do not want to act like I prayed a great prayer. But I used to tell the Lord, “Your bride. To me, that is about the best location from where we are at here, that is the best location you can find, man. It is your bride.” The Lord gave us that property. God did that. But he gives it to those that ask.
What is the word? Four words, the phrase. Say the phrase with me. All right. Do you look at it? Look at it. Psalm 84. Let me look right there. If you know it now, say it out loud with me. Here we go: “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Withhold. We talked about “good.” We talked about “withhold.” He does not just throw it out there for you. He says, “No, come on over here. Spend some time with your Dad. I will not withhold.” He will give it to you. He gives good things to them that ask.
Next word, we are going to move along a little bit quicker. Somebody say amen. Here is the third word. We talked about “good.” Then what is the next word we talked about? Withhold. Here is the third word we would look at: “No good thing will he withhold from them that…” What is the next word? Walk. You know, the Bible says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” You know, it does not say that is setting down doing nothing of a good man—the steps.
It is hard to steer a ship that is not moving. The Bible emphasizes walking. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk.” Can I just put it this way for sake of time? Too many Christians are sitting on the sideline, letting someone else play the ball game, or that is the preacher’s job to be in the ball game, and they are sitting on the sideline. When it is high time, when all God’s people say, “I am getting off the sideline. I am going to get involved in the fight for the Lord Jesus Christ.” Walking—they are doing something. I want to be active, involved for the Lord Jesus Christ. This individual is walking. They are doing something, however God leads them, whether it be in the prayer closet, whether it be on Sunday morning, whether it be at the workplace, whether they have a Bible study, wherever it may be, that they are walking for the Lord. That is important.
Years ago, we had a man—of course, we did not know him—he lived a mile or two from here. It was during the time when the Supreme Court shamefully recognized, legalized, same-sex marriage. By the way, God is the one that created marriage, and God never legalized same-sex marriage. He was sitting in his house, and he saw that. He was born again but had not been in church in years, just got caught up with life and carried away. He was sitting over there, and he said, “What in the world am I doing? My country is going down the drain, and I am not even active in the church for the Lord, and I am sitting on the sidelines, and there is a battle going on, and I want to get involved in the fight.”
He started looking for a church. I will be honest; we did not have much time. He went to church, and he said, “I was expecting some preacher to get up there and preach on that sin.” He said, “No, nobody said anything about sin.” So pretty soon he said, “Well, I will go to that church.” He went to the Rutherford County Baptist Church. But he said, “I wanted the church that would stand against sin.” And he became a good man of our church. He is in heaven now; I preached his funeral. But he said, basically, “I am sitting down doing nothing. I want to start walking for the Lord.”
That is what he is saying right there. He says, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk…” All right. Now I am going to give the next word. Help me out. What was the first word we talked about today? No what? Good thing. Then he said, will he what? What? What is the next word? Uprightly. Does it mean you are perfect? That would exempt us all. But you are upright. You are not trying to hide. You are not trying to dodge. You are honest. You are far from where you ought to be, but you are honest about it. You are sincerely trying to serve the Lord. You are not playing games. You are not lying about your bills. You are just trying to be an upright, honest man or lady of integrity. You are not saying one thing over here and another thing over here. You are not making a bunch of bills and never paying for them. You are just doing the best you can. You are trying to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. You mess up, you confess it. You are not trying to justify it and blame everybody else. You just confess it. But you are upright. You are not perfect. You are honestly, sincerely trying to live with the Lord.
God said those individuals right there—those right there, I will not withhold. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Now one last thing: we have the four words. You said four words, preacher, you got the four words in. I am adding a verse, not another word. Look at the last verse. We read it. Look at verse number 12. Verse number 12, would you please? Are y’all still with me out there?
Look at it. Psalm 84, look in verse number 12. Verse number 12, he says, “O Lord of hosts.” He sees it all. He is over the whole host. “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that what?” Trusteth. By the way, “blessed” there has to do with happy. More than that, I think it has to do with someone who is growing. “Who so trusteth in the Lord happy is he.” Psalm 16:20. Trusting.
I am trying to do right. I am sincerely asking. I am over there at my Father’s hands, and I am trying to get these good things, and I am walking. By the way, you are in church on Sunday morning. Praise the Lord, that is some walking right there. You are not perfect, but you are upright. You are honest about the situation. You are not a hypocrite, an outright hypocrite. You are trying to honestly live for the Lord. When it is all said and done, I am going to trust him. I did not get that. I did not get this, but I did get a lot of growth. We see the world totally different. I can help individuals like I have never been able to help people before. But you just trust him. All right, Lord, I am trying to walk with you, living upright. I am asking. I am going to trust you. There is a peace, there is a blessedness, there is a joy, happiness, growing that comes from there.
There was a family. They did not have much money. They were fairly poor, but the dad was a good, honest, hardworking man trying to provide for his family. They did not have much, but they always had what they needed. They had a boy that was just a little bit worrisome. When things got tight around that house, that little boy would just start worrying and worrying and worrying and worrying. Finally, the dad went to the boy and said, “Son,” he said, “do not you worry about providing for this house. That is my job. You just worry about being a good boy.” Sometimes God comes to me and says, “Paul, stop worrying about all that. You just worry about living for me.” You can wrap it up in one word: trust. Trust.
Now let us go back to Mike Curley. Remember that? Mike Curley, Crossville, Tennessee, Cornerstone Baptist Church, cowboy hat guy, station wagon, Kmart. He wrote a little pamphlet about the whole incident and whatnot. On the last page of his pamphlet talking about that situation, he says this: He said, “I would not change it. I would not change it. If I could redo it, I do not want to go through it because I can see so much good for his honor, his glory,” I think he says. That is what you call trust. Thanks, pretty happy fellow.
That last verse: “O Lord of hosts, you see it all, Lord.” He does not just see your life. He sees your kids’ and your grandkids’ lives. He sees your neighbors, the co-workers, someone down the road that is going to need your help. “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” Help me out. Say it with me one more time. Here we go: “No good thing.” Y’all ready? Everybody going to say it? Everybody? They got it. Here we go. Can you do it without looking now? All right. Here we go: “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Heads bowed, eyes closed. Maybe you hear this morning—I am going to ask a couple questions. Be honest with yourself with the Holy Ghost. You hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, I believe the Lord has spoken to me about trusting him. I need to just trust him. I need to just realize he knows what is good for me more than I know what is good for me.” Preacher, God spoke to my heart about this thing of trusting in the Lord. God spoke to me about that. If that is you, with heads bowed and eyes closed, you lift your hand. I want to trust him about this thing. God bless you. God bless you. I am going to trust him. I need to trust him. I am going to keep going to ask him. Amen. God bless you. That is so good. That is so good. That is so good. By the way, you ask until either he gives you what you are asking for or he changes your heart. Paul went and said, “Lord, you have to take that away.” He said, “No, no.” God said, “My grace is sufficient for me; my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities. God changed the heart of Paul. So you pray until God answers, or he changes your heart. But in the meantime, you just trust him.
Number two question: You say, “Preacher, I need to go to God for good things. I realize it is for them that ask.” Withhold. He does not just throw it out there. I have to go to him. He is my Dad. He wants you. He is looking for you to come. He loves it. But I have to start praying. I have to start asking. God spoke to my heart about that right there. That is you this morning. God spoke to me about praying. When you lift your hand to preach, that is me. I need to be praying. Oh, so very, very important. I think we lack and miss so much in the kingdom of God—me too—because we are not asking. Anybody else, “I need to pray more”? God spoke from the heart about this thing I pray. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Wonderful. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down.
Two more questions, and we are done. You say, “I need to be living for him.” By that, I mean I need to be walking. I am on the sidelines. I want to realize—get back in there. I am not going to be perfect, but I want to walk uprightly the best I can. But I need to get back walking. I am sitting on the sidelines for whatever reason. I need to get back walking. God spoke to my heart about that. If that is you this morning, God—you slip your head up. That is me. That is me. God bless you. God bless you. It is good. Oh, it is important. God bless you. That is so very, very key, oh my friend. God is able, but he uses people. Boy, we need every soldier of the Lord in the fight. God bless you. Many, many hands. Thank you so very much. You put your hands down.
Last question, and we will move forward. Maybe here this morning you said, “Preacher, I need to get saved. I do not have a time when I went to Jesus Christ for my salvation. I need to get that settled.” Friend, God loves you. There is a heaven he wants to take you to. Friend, there is also a hell he has prepared for the devil and his angels, and God did not want you there. He gave his Son Jesus to die on the cross, shed his blood, so you do not have to go to hell; you can go to heaven. He wants you to be saved. He wants you to be saved. He wants to give that to you. He loves you. He wants you to be saved. I have never settled it. I have never gone to Jesus for my salvation. I have never been saved. I need to get that settled. With heads bowed and eyes closed, if that is you this morning, just lift your hand up. Anybody like that? I need to get saved. Anybody like that? Just slip it up. Just slip it up. I am not going to call your name, not going to embarrass anybody there. I need to get your name. I need to settle that.
Hey Christian, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Would you please stand? If you raised your hand, God is speaking to your heart, you need to come to an old-fashioned altar. Would you do that? Let us spend some time with him. He loves you. He is waiting. He is your Dad. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Let us go to him this morning.
Father, thank you for your Word. Amazing. Your book is just wonderful. Lord, would you take your Word and just burn like a fire, like you said, burn the dross? And, Lord, would you break the rocks in pieces? You have your will and your way. Bless your people in Jesus’ name. We pray. Amen.
Many who came, you need to come. Would you come? Just come. “No good thing.” He knows what is good. Lord, I am going to trust you.
Withhold—are we asking? How much time do you spend asking? But that financial thing—you are just working, working, working. Have you spent time asking? Withhold from them that walk—am I walking? Am I busy for the Lord? Upright—am I honest about things? And then trust him. All right, Lord, I am going to trust you.
Help me out. Help me out. We are trying to get this thing ingrained in your brain. We are trying to get this ingrained in you. All right. But here we go. Here we go. Say it out loud with me. Here we go: “No good thing.”
Can someone say it by themselves? Someone brave enough to do it by themselves? Anybody? Good, good. Good job, good job, good job. Brother Patterson, this is the last one. You had your hand up, Brother Patterson, I think you did. Amen, amen, amen.
Brother Garrett has come forward, and Brother Garrett has been in our church for several years now, and we had the privilege of talking the other day just about what does it mean to be called to preach. I think the best biblical definition of that word is it is an inner desire that will come and go, but it never leaves you. When you are not as close to the Lord as you ought to be, it is not very strong, but it is even still there. Then you get back close to the Lord, it is stronger than ever. It just never leaves you.
Philippians says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will”—that is the desire—“to do,” that is the getting it done, “of his good pleasure.” Okay. So, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will”—that is the desire. I just won’t leave. Now, the call to preach is a little bit broad. Call to preach—maybe you preach in the nursing homes. Maybe you preach; you are a youth director. Maybe you preach in a group here or there, but maybe you are a missionary or a pastor. As you follow that call, God begins to narrow that and show you specifically what that means. I was a youth director in Alabama before I realized, “Okay, God wants me to be a pastor,” but I had followed that call, and God shone more light on it.
So this morning, Brother Garrett is publicly making it known that he is surrendering to the call to preach God in his life. It is kind of like one of those things that has been there and back and forth all those years, but it just won’t leave. That is a good sign. It is from the Lord. We are thrilled about that. Praise the Lord. If you are excited about Brother Garrett following that call, would you say amen? Amen. We need that in our country, and we need many of those. Praise the Lord for that.
I want to do a couple things. I want you to pray for him. It is very important that you kind of set your sights there because the devil is going to try to pull you here and there. Brother Garrett, you are publicly saying, “All right, this is it,” and it just won’t leave. Sorry, this is from the Lord, and I am surrendering to it. But you know the next thing that is going to happen: Old smutty face. So I want you to pray for him. Pray for God’s clear leading. He is looking at doing Bible College online. We will see what all God does there. That is what he is looking at—Bible College first. But never surrender to the call to preach. I want you to pray for him and pray that God just gives him a very clear leading and guiding. God would bless his Word. Call to preach is a call to prepare, and you start preparing for what all God has for you in the future.
I am going to get Brother Garrett—Brother Garrett, if you come up here—and I want you to preach a five-minute… No, I am joking. He can do it. He can do it, man. He can do it. And tell you what, we have Brother Goforth. Brother Goforth, pastor for 21-plus years, and he has been preaching for a long time. Brother Goforth, would you dismiss us and pray for Brother Garrett? Would you please just ask for God’s hand to be on him? He has been down this road; he knows what all this means, and it is not a light thing. Brother Goforth, if you would—Brother Goforth, you want to come on up here that way everybody just hears you as you pray. I wanted to pray, and not just him praying. He is going to lead all of us to pray. Once he has finished leading us in prayer, I want us to come out as a church family, shake his hands. I will be praying for you, and I want you to do it. We are going to go this way and just come by and shake his hand, let him know we will be praying for him. Brother Goforth is going to lead us in prayer.
Let us pray. Father, we approach your throne. Brother Garrett settled this with you, and now he has settled it with the church. To be called to the ministry—what an honor, what a privilege, what a responsibility that is. Lord, I just ask your blessing upon him. Keep your hands upon him. I know the devil is going to attack him in a mighty way now. I know he is going to get discouraged by many things that people might even say to him. But I pray that we as a church will be an encouragement to him and lift him up in prayer. Maybe just by sitting down and talking with him a little bit about what he is about to enter into and realizing that he must, as the preacher just said, trust in the Lord. Lord, what a blessing it is to trust in you, to put our total trust in the one that controls everything and guides and directs. You never call anyone that you will not equip them, so you will equip him with what he needs to preach the Word. Thank you for his submission to it. Thank you for his willingness to step out and do this. He is a young man; he has got many years ahead of him. I pray, Lord, just watch over him, and Lord, let us again—let us encourage him in a mighty, mighty way and help him in every way we can. We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday AM ＂4 Words from Psalms 84： 11＂ 08⧸17⧸2025 [1sFoQ2UmA0A]