WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:00.700 Jesus' name, amen. 00:01.540 --> 00:02.060 Amen. 00:03.460 --> 00:04.920 Verse number four, the Bible says, 00:05.300 --> 00:06.700 rejoice in the Lord all way. 00:06.960 --> 00:08.420 And again, I say rejoice. 00:09.200 --> 00:12.620 Probably, you know, up there in terms of 00:12.620 --> 00:15.000 some of the more famous verses in the Bible. 00:15.660 --> 00:16.900 It's a very simple verse. 00:17.520 --> 00:19.200 It's obviously the verse of this week. 00:19.980 --> 00:22.720 You know, it's a verse that's even been turned into a song. 00:23.260 --> 00:25.080 But yet this small little verse 00:25.080 --> 00:27.480 holds a lot of deep truths. 00:28.020 --> 00:29.800 Some things that we can really understand 00:29.800 --> 00:31.240 and take away from the Bible 00:31.240 --> 00:33.040 and become better Christians 00:33.520 --> 00:36.740 by applying this simple truth to our life. 00:37.180 --> 00:38.620 You know, I'm not expecting this sermon 00:38.620 --> 00:42.840 to necessarily be flashy or wow you with all this knowledge. 00:43.280 --> 00:45.200 A lot of the things I'm gonna preach to you this evening 00:45.200 --> 00:46.940 are gonna be things that you probably already know. 00:47.400 --> 00:48.580 But you know, here's the thing is 00:48.580 --> 00:50.460 the reality is when it comes to the basics, 00:50.960 --> 00:53.720 when it comes to these basic truths, 00:54.160 --> 00:56.440 we need to be constantly reminded of these things. 00:56.900 --> 00:58.300 Go back to chapter number three. 00:58.400 --> 01:00.180 Notice what the Bible says in verse number one. 01:00.820 --> 01:02.600 The Bible says, finally, my brethren, 01:03.420 --> 01:04.580 rejoice in the Lord. 01:05.120 --> 01:06.980 To write the same things to you, to me, 01:07.100 --> 01:10.660 indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 01:11.440 --> 01:14.300 Understanding that we should rejoice all way 01:14.300 --> 01:17.180 and again is something that's going to preserve us. 01:17.200 --> 01:19.460 It's gonna help us to be a better Christian. 01:19.560 --> 01:22.420 It's gonna help us glorify God more in our life. 01:22.740 --> 01:23.480 It's very important. 01:23.480 --> 01:26.020 And I know we use this verse often 01:26.380 --> 01:28.240 to relate it to the next verse, right? 01:28.340 --> 01:29.720 And that's very true, right? 01:29.820 --> 01:31.040 We should be warned constantly. 01:31.180 --> 01:34.180 There are wolves, there are wicked evil doers, right? 01:34.280 --> 01:36.500 In this world that want to destroy us. 01:36.840 --> 01:39.480 But you know, it's not just limited to that either, really. 01:40.200 --> 01:43.240 Paul, he's bringing up lots of things 01:43.240 --> 01:45.580 that we should constantly be put in 01:45.580 --> 01:47.440 to remembrance things that we should constantly 01:47.440 --> 01:49.780 be dwelling on, things that we should constantly 01:49.780 --> 01:51.580 be hearing from the Word of God. 01:51.580 --> 01:55.760 And when you study this book, the book to Philippi, 01:56.500 --> 01:59.420 the really one of the major themes of this book is rejoicing. 01:59.960 --> 02:01.120 I mean, if you just slow down 02:01.120 --> 02:03.140 and pay attention to what the book is saying, 02:04.260 --> 02:08.940 he's highlighting just this concept of rejoicing in the Lord. 02:09.520 --> 02:11.600 And you know, it's interesting in verse four, 02:11.720 --> 02:14.820 it's like rejoicing the Lord all way and again. 02:15.120 --> 02:16.840 As if all way wasn't enough 02:17.280 --> 02:19.220 for us to understand that we should do this a lot. 02:19.460 --> 02:21.280 It's like he says, oh, well, you need to do it again 02:21.280 --> 02:21.680 as well. 02:22.320 --> 02:25.920 You know, I think that's an important aspect of rejoicing 02:25.920 --> 02:27.480 that we need to take to heart 02:27.480 --> 02:30.080 is that this is something that we should be doing 02:30.080 --> 02:31.880 on a consistent basis in our life. 02:32.080 --> 02:36.600 We should be rejoicing in the Lord all way and again. 02:37.180 --> 02:38.540 Now, what does rejoicing mean? 02:39.480 --> 02:43.440 Now, I just looked up a basic definition of rejoicing 02:44.000 --> 02:47.900 and it means to express great joy or happiness. 02:49.240 --> 02:52.920 Rejoicing is how joy is expressed, right? 02:53.020 --> 02:54.620 And that's important for us as Christians 02:54.620 --> 02:57.060 if we want to be pleasing in the sight of God. 02:57.120 --> 02:57.280 Why? 02:57.400 --> 03:01.240 Because we should be producing the fruits of the Spirit. 03:01.740 --> 03:04.480 And one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. 03:05.080 --> 03:07.300 And you know, we could turn to Galatians. 03:07.380 --> 03:10.760 I know many of you guys are familiar with that passage. 03:10.920 --> 03:12.740 The Bible says, but the fruit of the Spirit 03:12.740 --> 03:16.440 is love, joy, peace, long suffering, right? 03:16.440 --> 03:19.140 So one of the things that we are supposed to produce 03:19.140 --> 03:22.600 in our life, a fruit that should be evident in our life 03:22.600 --> 03:23.200 is joy. 03:23.640 --> 03:26.260 How do you produce joy through rejoicing? 03:27.000 --> 03:30.940 It's the means in which joy is evident, right? 03:31.040 --> 03:34.420 It's how you express joy is through rejoicing. 03:34.940 --> 03:37.580 And rejoicing can look like a lot of different things, 03:38.620 --> 03:40.600 but primarily in our life, 03:40.760 --> 03:44.100 we should be producing this fruit of the Spirit 03:44.100 --> 03:48.260 which is joy and of course it comes through rejoicing. 03:48.400 --> 03:49.680 Go to Philippians chapter number one. 03:49.780 --> 03:51.120 Just flip forward a couple of chapters. 03:55.380 --> 03:57.280 Notice what the Bible says in verse 11. 03:57.920 --> 04:00.540 It says, being filled with the fruits of righteousness 04:01.060 --> 04:04.520 which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory 04:04.520 --> 04:05.980 and praise of God. 04:07.140 --> 04:11.540 So our ability to produce the fruits of the Spirit, 04:11.940 --> 04:14.220 they come by Jesus Christ. 04:14.900 --> 04:18.240 Notice it didn't say rejoice when things are going good. 04:18.900 --> 04:21.180 Rejoice because of your life circumstances. 04:22.120 --> 04:24.620 Now the object of our rejoicing, 04:24.800 --> 04:29.060 the object of our joy is the Lord Jesus Christ. 04:29.740 --> 04:32.300 That is where rejoicing is going to come from. 04:32.700 --> 04:33.360 It's in him. 04:33.780 --> 04:36.240 And the Philippians, when you read through this, 04:36.800 --> 04:39.160 they didn't really have a whole lot to rejoice about, 04:39.480 --> 04:40.380 carnally speaking. 04:41.240 --> 04:42.760 The Bible seems to indicate 04:42.760 --> 04:44.440 they didn't really have a whole lot of money. 04:44.840 --> 04:46.480 They didn't have a whole lot of an abundance. 04:47.260 --> 04:50.020 But what's interesting about the Philippians, 04:50.120 --> 04:52.320 the Bible says that they were the first ones 04:53.060 --> 04:56.060 to offer Paul some assistance, some help. 04:56.460 --> 05:00.040 They're willing to give of their lack even unto him. 05:00.740 --> 05:04.020 And so the Philippians from their own perspective, 05:04.400 --> 05:05.640 from like a carnal means, 05:05.940 --> 05:08.120 from looking at them from a worldly perspective, 05:08.900 --> 05:11.740 on the outside didn't really have a whole lot 05:12.240 --> 05:13.860 to be rejoicing about necessarily. 05:15.060 --> 05:18.180 And maybe that's why Paul is bringing this up a lot. 05:18.280 --> 05:19.660 Maybe he's trying to remind them. 05:19.780 --> 05:21.580 Maybe he's trying to help them 05:21.580 --> 05:24.900 to kind of focus on this area of their life. 05:26.140 --> 05:29.500 And I think it's important that us as Christians, 05:29.780 --> 05:31.780 living in a lot of the situations 05:31.780 --> 05:33.940 we have to deal with in this life, 05:34.120 --> 05:35.520 it's important that we remember 05:35.520 --> 05:37.140 to rejoice in the Lord all the way. 05:38.780 --> 05:39.800 I agree. 05:39.940 --> 05:41.600 I think you could look at this world 05:41.600 --> 05:43.360 and get really black-pilled 05:43.360 --> 05:45.540 on all the things that are going on in this world. 05:45.720 --> 05:48.440 There's a lot of things to be down about. 05:48.940 --> 05:52.580 And if you're lacking in joy in your life, 05:52.940 --> 05:55.040 the problem is is most likely 05:55.040 --> 05:57.200 that you're dwelling on a lot of these things 05:57.900 --> 05:59.680 that are going wrong in the world. 05:59.760 --> 06:01.320 It seems like nothing is going well 06:01.320 --> 06:04.120 or you just have judices and backstabbers. 06:04.460 --> 06:05.700 You have the enemies of the Lord 06:05.700 --> 06:09.220 constantly fighting against good churches. 06:09.680 --> 06:12.260 You have all these negative things that are taking place 06:12.260 --> 06:14.260 and you find yourself not having a whole lot of joy 06:14.260 --> 06:14.840 in your life. 06:15.020 --> 06:16.600 It's probably because you're focusing more 06:16.600 --> 06:17.500 on the carnal things 06:17.500 --> 06:19.140 and all the things that are going on in your life, 06:19.240 --> 06:20.140 your life's circumstances, 06:20.700 --> 06:23.420 rather than just rejoicing in the Lord 06:23.420 --> 06:25.660 in His goodness and in His greatness. 06:27.480 --> 06:30.020 That's how you find joy in your life 06:30.520 --> 06:32.520 is rejoicing in the Lord. 06:32.860 --> 06:34.500 Because honestly, many times 06:34.500 --> 06:36.880 there's not a whole lot to rejoice about in this world. 06:37.300 --> 06:38.740 There's not a whole lot of things, 06:38.880 --> 06:41.380 carnally speaking, to be rejoicing in. 06:42.540 --> 06:44.780 Many of us have all kinds of struggles, 06:45.140 --> 06:48.220 all kinds of issues that come up in our life. 06:48.960 --> 06:50.600 And so it's really important 06:51.220 --> 06:55.360 that we focus each day on rejoicing 06:55.360 --> 06:57.220 in the things that the Lord has done for us, 06:57.460 --> 06:58.900 dwelling on those things. 06:59.300 --> 07:00.900 And you're gonna be a joyful person. 07:02.640 --> 07:03.940 I like that meme. 07:03.940 --> 07:06.240 It's like the background, everything's on fire. 07:06.820 --> 07:07.960 And he's like, this is fine. 07:08.660 --> 07:10.780 And that's how we should be as Christians in a way. 07:11.660 --> 07:13.640 Not that we should ignore issues 07:13.640 --> 07:16.660 or that we shouldn't be affected by issues. 07:16.940 --> 07:17.820 That's not what I'm saying. 07:17.920 --> 07:19.080 I don't want you to miss what I'm saying. 07:19.200 --> 07:20.280 We're gonna look at some passages 07:20.800 --> 07:22.420 that'll kind of help us to understand this. 07:23.420 --> 07:25.920 But in reality, even though all the world 07:25.920 --> 07:27.580 might be burning down around us, 07:28.040 --> 07:30.120 we should be saying, hey, this is fine. 07:30.760 --> 07:31.260 This is fine. 07:31.260 --> 07:34.260 Why? Because your joy is coming from the Lord. 07:34.400 --> 07:37.360 You're rejoicing in the Lord on a consistent basis. 07:39.020 --> 07:40.160 Turn in your Bibles. 07:44.300 --> 07:46.820 Turn your Bibles, you're already in chapter number one, 07:46.880 --> 07:47.080 aren't you? 07:47.180 --> 07:49.700 Go back to chapter number one, Philippians chapter number one. 07:52.200 --> 07:55.740 We cannot rely on circumstances or live circumstances 07:55.740 --> 07:58.780 to produce joy in our life. 07:59.320 --> 08:02.460 You know, whether it's good times or bad times. 08:02.600 --> 08:03.960 And honestly, I would even say, 08:04.040 --> 08:05.180 even when it's bad times, 08:05.240 --> 08:06.620 it's even that much more important 08:06.620 --> 08:07.820 that we rejoice in the Lord. 08:08.360 --> 08:11.680 That we spend time dwelling on the goodness of the Lord. 08:14.680 --> 08:16.140 Philippians chapter number one, 08:17.100 --> 08:19.180 notice what the Bible says in verse number 12, 08:19.660 --> 08:23.560 says, but I would, you should understand, brethren, 08:24.140 --> 08:25.940 that the things which happened unto me 08:25.940 --> 08:27.400 have fallen out rather 08:27.400 --> 08:29.340 unto the furtherance of the gospel. 08:29.940 --> 08:33.840 So that my bonds in Christ are manifested in all the palace 08:34.360 --> 08:36.040 and in all other places. 08:36.780 --> 08:39.280 And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident 08:39.280 --> 08:41.580 by my bonds are much more bold 08:41.580 --> 08:43.100 to speak the word without fear. 08:43.680 --> 08:47.020 Now, the reason I bring up this verse is, 08:47.920 --> 08:50.760 you know, even though bad things could be happening, 08:50.760 --> 08:52.720 we could have some bad life circumstances. 08:53.320 --> 08:55.160 We could have issues that are come up. 08:55.680 --> 08:57.920 Just all, you know, you fill in the blank 08:57.920 --> 08:59.860 of things that you could be dealing with, 09:00.020 --> 09:02.100 things that you might be currently dealing with. 09:03.340 --> 09:06.320 The reality is that all things work together for good 09:06.320 --> 09:07.400 to them that love God, 09:07.580 --> 09:09.960 to them that are called according to his purpose, right? 09:10.100 --> 09:12.040 And that's why I'm highlighting this verse is, 09:12.440 --> 09:14.780 you know, Paul, he's really emphasized and rejoicing 09:14.780 --> 09:15.920 in the book of Philippians. 09:16.440 --> 09:17.580 And in the New Testament, 09:17.880 --> 09:20.160 it comes up more in the book of Philippians 09:20.160 --> 09:21.200 than most other books. 09:21.980 --> 09:25.900 And he's bringing up this concept, you know, 09:25.980 --> 09:28.720 that very next verse, we read verse 11, right? 09:28.860 --> 09:30.980 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness. 09:31.700 --> 09:34.020 Verse number 12, he's bringing up the fact that 09:34.020 --> 09:35.620 even though he's in bonds, 09:35.800 --> 09:38.380 even though he's going through a difficult season, 09:38.700 --> 09:41.600 now I've never been in jail, I've never been imprisoned, 09:41.860 --> 09:43.900 let alone imprisoned for doing what's right, 09:44.200 --> 09:45.780 what's righteous, right? 09:46.300 --> 09:50.840 So I can imagine the amount of, you know, 09:50.840 --> 09:53.420 uncertainty, the amount of distress, 09:54.480 --> 09:58.180 the amount of anxiety that Paul probably experienced 09:58.180 --> 10:01.740 throughout his life, his experience in going through, 10:01.880 --> 10:04.020 you know, persecutions and trials, 10:04.400 --> 10:07.280 and then being held off to jail, prison. 10:07.900 --> 10:10.120 You know, he wanted to go to Rome, 10:10.160 --> 10:11.760 but he got there a different way, right? 10:12.280 --> 10:13.520 And he ended up in prison. 10:13.920 --> 10:16.320 And it seems to indicate that he never really got out. 10:17.080 --> 10:18.680 You know, when you're reading in 2 Timothy, 10:19.420 --> 10:21.820 you know, he's writing from prison. 10:22.140 --> 10:25.560 In 2 Timothy, it seems like a conclusion 10:25.560 --> 10:26.940 to his ministry in a way. 10:27.360 --> 10:30.160 How he's talking about finishing his course, 10:30.860 --> 10:35.720 his life here on this earth, being faithful to God, right? 10:35.900 --> 10:36.620 Not wavering. 10:37.280 --> 10:41.860 And so, you know, Paul, he's in a really bad situation. 10:42.800 --> 10:45.180 All these things negative are happening in his life. 10:45.420 --> 10:46.760 But what is he focusing on? 10:47.360 --> 10:50.080 He's focusing on the fact that, hey, 10:50.380 --> 10:52.460 even when bad things are happening, hey, this is fine. 10:53.260 --> 10:55.120 Good things can still happen from this. 10:55.520 --> 10:56.620 Notice what the Bible says. 10:56.780 --> 10:59.660 It says that the things which happened unto me 10:59.660 --> 11:02.220 have fallen out rather unto the further and so the gospel. 11:02.880 --> 11:07.160 So even though Paul was put in prison, he's locked up. 11:07.240 --> 11:09.780 He has no ability necessarily to go freely 11:10.380 --> 11:12.740 as he had in prior years in his ministry. 11:13.620 --> 11:15.240 The Bible seems to indicate 11:15.240 --> 11:17.860 that the gospel is even going further into the world, 11:18.080 --> 11:20.260 that the gospel is being preached even further, 11:20.360 --> 11:23.420 that more people are getting saved by his bonds. 11:24.040 --> 11:25.440 You say, well, how is that even possible? 11:25.820 --> 11:27.900 Well, it caused others to be more bold. 11:28.260 --> 11:31.740 It caused others to look at Paul's situation 11:31.740 --> 11:35.020 and say, wow, if Paul can go through all these things, 11:35.060 --> 11:38.240 if Paul can endure this kind of persecution 11:38.240 --> 11:40.640 and tribulations and trials in his life, 11:40.760 --> 11:41.920 how much more can I? 11:42.800 --> 11:44.620 Why can't I do those things? 11:44.620 --> 11:47.960 Why can't I go on and continue the work that he was doing? 11:48.340 --> 11:49.520 Notice in verse 13, it says, 11:49.720 --> 11:52.600 so that my bonds in Christ are manifested 11:52.600 --> 11:54.780 in all the palace and in all other places. 11:55.760 --> 11:58.100 And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing, 11:58.120 --> 12:01.020 confident by my bonds are much more bold 12:01.020 --> 12:02.780 to speak the word without fear. 12:03.980 --> 12:06.720 So even though from Paul's perspective, 12:07.160 --> 12:09.680 currently speaking, things aren't going well. 12:11.420 --> 12:14.080 His life circumstance isn't ideal, 12:14.680 --> 12:17.380 but yet all things work together for good. 12:18.360 --> 12:20.720 And this is something that I think many of us 12:20.720 --> 12:22.320 we probably struggle with. 12:22.440 --> 12:23.520 I know I struggle with this. 12:24.060 --> 12:27.000 It's like, how do you find the good in backstabbers? 12:27.520 --> 12:32.320 How do you find the good in struggling to make ends meet? 12:32.760 --> 12:36.060 How do you find the good in difficult situations? 12:36.720 --> 12:39.020 Those are all real scenarios 12:39.020 --> 12:40.460 that people have to deal with. 12:41.100 --> 12:43.340 And what we have to understand is that, 12:43.960 --> 12:45.460 God is still on his throne. 12:46.200 --> 12:47.600 God is still in control. 12:47.900 --> 12:51.680 And that gives us a reason to rejoice in the Lord all the way. 12:52.820 --> 12:56.080 And this is what I think is really important about this 12:56.080 --> 12:59.500 is it's easy to rejoice when things are going good 12:59.500 --> 13:00.980 in your life, isn't it? 13:01.480 --> 13:03.180 Like you get a new promotion at job, 13:03.900 --> 13:06.280 at your job, hey, praise God, right? 13:06.380 --> 13:07.140 You acknowledge God. 13:07.760 --> 13:10.580 You have a child, hey, praise God. 13:11.300 --> 13:14.620 You know, whatever, anything good that's going on in life, 13:14.800 --> 13:17.400 it seems like most people are really easily able 13:17.400 --> 13:18.440 to rejoice in the Lord. 13:18.960 --> 13:23.760 But really, where the rubber meets the road for a Christian 13:23.760 --> 13:26.300 is that they're rejoicing even when things aren't going good. 13:26.720 --> 13:30.220 Even when the situation seems dire. 13:31.580 --> 13:34.560 Even the worst possible scenario 13:34.560 --> 13:35.480 you could be going through. 13:36.740 --> 13:38.680 Somebody who's producing fruits of the Spirit, 13:38.780 --> 13:41.020 whether they're gonna do, they're gonna rejoice in the Lord. 13:41.100 --> 13:42.180 They're gonna be filled with joy 13:42.180 --> 13:44.180 even though they're going through terrible circumstances. 13:44.540 --> 13:47.200 And one of the motivating factors in doing that 13:47.200 --> 13:49.780 is just understanding, hey, all things work together 13:49.780 --> 13:50.100 for good. 13:50.340 --> 13:52.000 I may not be able to understand it. 13:52.260 --> 13:55.800 I may not be able to see the forest through the trees. 13:56.480 --> 13:58.620 But I know that God is true 13:58.620 --> 14:00.660 and every man is a liar, right? 14:00.980 --> 14:02.900 And I could put my confidence in things 14:02.900 --> 14:04.160 that do not move. 14:04.160 --> 14:05.740 And I think that's really important 14:06.300 --> 14:08.340 if you're going to rejoice in the Lord always 14:08.340 --> 14:11.180 is realizing that you're not rejoicing, 14:11.360 --> 14:14.080 your joy, the foundation of your joy, 14:14.220 --> 14:15.740 where your joy comes from 14:15.740 --> 14:18.120 is not in something that's movable. 14:18.680 --> 14:20.600 It's not in something that's changing, 14:21.420 --> 14:22.380 that's ever moving. 14:22.600 --> 14:25.080 Because our life and the things that happen in our life, 14:25.300 --> 14:27.080 that's something that's constantly moving. 14:27.680 --> 14:29.340 One week it might be a good week, 14:29.480 --> 14:31.360 the next week it might be the worst week of your life. 14:31.420 --> 14:32.860 You have no clue, right? 14:32.860 --> 14:36.740 There's all kinds of ups and downs in the Christian life. 14:37.160 --> 14:39.760 But you know, one thing that's constant, it's the Lord. 14:40.500 --> 14:42.820 And so how do you rejoice in the Lord always? 14:43.700 --> 14:46.640 Because of his unchangeability, right? 14:46.960 --> 14:48.320 Because of his immutability. 14:48.880 --> 14:50.700 The fact that God doesn't change. 14:51.160 --> 14:52.980 The fact that God is always faithful. 14:53.400 --> 14:56.280 The fact that God is always gonna be on his throne. 14:56.340 --> 14:57.620 He's always in control. 14:58.100 --> 15:00.140 And so that should drive us, 15:00.140 --> 15:03.660 that should cause us to want to rejoice in the Lord 15:04.180 --> 15:06.280 all the way and again in our life. 15:09.800 --> 15:12.680 How do you rejoice in times of uncertainty and upheaval? 15:12.820 --> 15:15.100 Because this is gonna be, again, something very difficult. 15:15.260 --> 15:16.740 Go to 1 Peter chapter number one. 15:20.360 --> 15:22.180 1 Peter chapter number one. 15:33.130 --> 15:36.110 How can you rejoicing in times of uncertainty, 15:39.230 --> 15:41.270 upheaval, distress, perplexity? 15:42.030 --> 15:43.870 How can you be faithful to do that? 15:44.770 --> 15:47.510 Well, it's when you're putting your trust 15:47.510 --> 15:49.010 in something that doesn't change. 15:49.470 --> 15:52.630 It's when your joy is rooted in the Lord. 15:53.290 --> 15:54.990 1 Peter chapter number one. 15:55.670 --> 15:57.310 Notice what the Bible says in verse number three. 15:58.070 --> 16:01.510 Says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 16:01.510 --> 16:03.250 which according to his abundant mercy 16:03.730 --> 16:06.830 hath begotten us again unto a lively hope 16:07.210 --> 16:08.870 by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 16:08.970 --> 16:10.090 Notice there's not a dead hope. 16:10.650 --> 16:11.850 It's a lively hope. 16:12.070 --> 16:13.410 It's something that's alive. 16:14.390 --> 16:15.090 It's existing. 16:16.150 --> 16:18.470 It's a lively hope, the Bible says, 16:18.790 --> 16:20.750 by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 16:21.130 --> 16:24.910 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled 16:24.910 --> 16:28.370 and that faded not away reserved in heaven for you 16:29.110 --> 16:31.170 who are kept by the power of God 16:31.640 --> 16:34.590 through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed 16:34.590 --> 16:35.470 in the last time. 16:36.270 --> 16:40.090 Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season 16:40.090 --> 16:43.470 if need be you are in heaviness through manifold temptation. 16:43.690 --> 16:46.310 So I wanna just kind of pause and highlight the fact 16:46.310 --> 16:48.270 that what is being said here is that 16:48.270 --> 16:52.430 they're rejoicing greatly because of the Lord's salvation 16:52.900 --> 16:56.090 because of putting your trust in Jesus for salvation. 16:56.490 --> 16:58.030 That's something that doesn't change. 16:59.090 --> 17:01.830 And there's kind of this truth here 17:03.370 --> 17:05.470 in rejoicing in the Lord and that commandment 17:05.470 --> 17:06.370 that God is giving us 17:06.370 --> 17:08.910 because God's not gonna command us, 17:09.350 --> 17:12.150 a just God isn't gonna command us to rejoice in Him always 17:12.650 --> 17:15.170 if it were possible for us to lose our salvation. 17:15.950 --> 17:17.170 Because if you think about it, 17:17.290 --> 17:19.390 it's like the reason why we can rejoice 17:20.010 --> 17:22.390 through difficult seasons, through difficult times 17:22.830 --> 17:25.190 is just knowing the fact that, hey, I'm going to heaven. 17:26.390 --> 17:28.130 There's nothing gonna change about that. 17:28.450 --> 17:30.630 There's nothing that's going to move that. 17:31.110 --> 17:33.850 And notice the Bible says that why is that true? 17:33.950 --> 17:35.410 Because we're kept by the power of God 17:35.410 --> 17:37.770 through faith unto salvation, right? 17:37.910 --> 17:40.770 It's the Lord that we can rejoice in knowing that, 17:40.910 --> 17:42.470 hey, we're never gonna lose our salvation. 17:42.910 --> 17:44.470 No matter how bad things get, 17:44.590 --> 17:46.230 no matter how much we screw up, 17:46.490 --> 17:48.010 if we believed on Jesus Christ, 17:48.490 --> 17:50.150 hey, nothing's gonna change that fact. 17:50.390 --> 17:53.590 We can rejoice in the Lord all the way 17:53.590 --> 17:55.830 and again, simply because of salvation. 17:57.070 --> 17:59.930 I mean, that fact alone should cause you to rejoice 18:00.590 --> 18:01.910 on a consistent basis. 18:02.610 --> 18:04.970 But notice here, and this is what I wanna highlight too, 18:05.130 --> 18:08.270 is I'm not discrediting or I'm not saying that, 18:08.650 --> 18:11.450 oh, well because you rejoice in Lord all the way and again, 18:12.070 --> 18:14.050 that you can't have times of, 18:15.510 --> 18:19.410 you can't have heaviness as the Bible puts it, right? 18:19.550 --> 18:20.810 Where times where you're feeling down, 18:20.810 --> 18:21.570 you're feeling depressed, 18:21.890 --> 18:24.050 you're going through the wringer, right? 18:24.190 --> 18:26.670 You've got all these issues going on in your life 18:26.670 --> 18:30.270 and you're feeling the heaviness of that, 18:30.450 --> 18:31.310 the burden of that. 18:31.690 --> 18:33.390 Because notice what the Bible says in verse six. 18:34.250 --> 18:36.170 It says, wherein ye greatly rejoice, 18:37.190 --> 18:38.690 though now for a season, 18:39.450 --> 18:41.930 if need be, you're in heaviness 18:41.930 --> 18:43.370 through manifold temptations. 18:44.290 --> 18:45.930 That word manifold just means many. 18:47.230 --> 18:50.550 You know, again, let's just stop on that fact 18:50.550 --> 18:52.350 is living the Christian life 18:52.910 --> 18:56.570 is about going through many temptations, many trials, 18:57.270 --> 18:58.650 many issues in our life. 18:59.130 --> 19:00.450 That is the Christian life. 19:04.310 --> 19:08.070 So it's not that you can't greatly rejoice in the Lord 19:08.610 --> 19:10.950 and still be going through a difficult season in your life 19:11.330 --> 19:14.270 and still have a heaviness in your heart. 19:16.210 --> 19:19.190 By the trial that's there to try you, 19:19.190 --> 19:20.710 notice what the Bible says in verse seven. 19:22.230 --> 19:23.690 It says that the trial of your faith 19:24.290 --> 19:27.830 being much more precious than of gold, that parisheth, 19:28.370 --> 19:29.630 though it be tried with fire, 19:30.250 --> 19:33.290 might be found unto praise and honor and glory 19:33.290 --> 19:35.370 at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 19:36.290 --> 19:38.430 Whom having not seen ye love, 19:39.150 --> 19:42.550 in whom though now ye see him not yet believing, 19:43.330 --> 19:45.850 ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 19:47.430 --> 19:50.250 And so what the Bible is saying is that even though 19:50.870 --> 19:53.570 you might be going through difficult seasons in your life, 19:53.610 --> 19:54.850 you might be going through trials. 19:55.590 --> 20:01.470 And the whole reason for a trial is to purify you in a way. 20:01.790 --> 20:03.070 Right, it's there to make you better. 20:03.390 --> 20:05.070 You're gonna get something out of that 20:05.580 --> 20:06.770 when your faith is tried. 20:07.670 --> 20:09.090 But at the end of the day, 20:10.310 --> 20:12.530 we have salvation to rejoice in. 20:13.150 --> 20:15.410 We have so many things that we can rejoice in. 20:15.830 --> 20:17.370 And it's kind of interesting. 20:17.570 --> 20:22.390 It's like Thomas, he believed because he saw the Lord. 20:23.630 --> 20:26.410 He had faith because he saw the Lord Jesus resurrected. 20:27.030 --> 20:28.690 He handled him, he touched him. 20:29.110 --> 20:30.950 But we love Jesus. 20:31.810 --> 20:33.090 We worship him. 20:33.270 --> 20:35.910 We serve him without ever having seen him. 20:37.090 --> 20:40.090 And the Bible indicates that that's something 20:40.090 --> 20:42.250 that takes a great amount of faith, right? 20:42.850 --> 20:45.910 Now obviously our faith starts just by believing 20:45.910 --> 20:48.570 on Jesus for salvation, but that doesn't mean 20:48.570 --> 20:50.910 we stop just having faith in our life. 20:51.110 --> 20:52.550 Faith should be evident in our life 20:52.550 --> 20:54.050 throughout our Christian life. 20:55.570 --> 20:59.310 Trusting in the Lord's salvation in this world, right? 20:59.430 --> 21:01.550 Just through different circumstances, issues, 21:01.810 --> 21:06.730 health issues, our faith is gonna be tried in many ways. 21:07.690 --> 21:10.370 Whether or not we're going to continue to serve God. 21:11.010 --> 21:13.230 And the reality is some people, 21:14.210 --> 21:16.050 they'll go through those trials and tribulations, 21:16.270 --> 21:17.290 they'll just quit on God. 21:17.530 --> 21:18.810 They won't remain steadfast. 21:19.670 --> 21:21.330 And you say, well, why does that happen? 21:21.730 --> 21:23.110 Probably because they didn't have 21:23.110 --> 21:24.270 a whole lot of joy in their life. 21:24.630 --> 21:26.710 Why did they not have a whole lot of joy in their life? 21:26.890 --> 21:28.810 Because they weren't rejoicing in the Lord all the way. 21:29.690 --> 21:32.350 You find yourself in a difficult season in life. 21:32.610 --> 21:35.270 You're going through difficulties, issues. 21:36.730 --> 21:39.910 It's important that that's when you really rejoice 21:39.910 --> 21:42.290 in the Lord even more so, right? 21:42.410 --> 21:43.830 Not just when things are going good, 21:44.190 --> 21:46.050 not when everything's hunky-dory, 21:46.700 --> 21:48.530 but rather when things are difficult. 21:49.070 --> 21:52.730 That's when your focus should be to rejoice in him, 21:53.050 --> 21:55.470 in his salvation, the many great things he has done 21:55.470 --> 21:55.870 for us. 21:57.790 --> 22:00.170 Go back to Philippians chapter number one. 22:00.290 --> 22:01.850 Go back to Philippians chapter number one. 22:03.330 --> 22:05.990 The fact that we can rejoice in bad times 22:05.990 --> 22:10.250 is evidence of the fact that we have 22:10.250 --> 22:13.530 that eternal security of salvation. 22:14.430 --> 22:16.030 When you're going through difficult seasons, 22:16.710 --> 22:20.170 that's how you can express or demonstrate, if you will, 22:20.810 --> 22:22.690 the fact that you're never gonna lose your salvation, 22:22.850 --> 22:24.850 just not even just to yourself, but to others. 22:25.910 --> 22:28.730 Because think about the world loves to rejoice 22:28.730 --> 22:31.810 when things are going great, but it's unique 22:31.810 --> 22:34.810 for somebody to rejoice when things are bad, right? 22:35.330 --> 22:37.230 That's what distinguishes a Christian 22:37.230 --> 22:38.290 from the rest of this world, 22:38.870 --> 22:40.850 is rejoicing when things are going bad 22:41.390 --> 22:43.310 rather than just when everything's great. 22:45.390 --> 22:47.510 Philippians chapter number one, let me get there as well. 22:50.970 --> 22:53.190 Philippians chapter number one, verse number 28, 22:58.570 --> 22:59.410 the Bible says, 23:00.110 --> 23:02.430 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries 23:03.130 --> 23:05.830 which is to them an evident token of perdition, 23:06.010 --> 23:08.290 but to you of salvation and that of God. 23:08.940 --> 23:11.290 Front to you it is given in the behalf of Christ, 23:11.930 --> 23:14.850 not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. 23:15.610 --> 23:17.070 The Bible says, yeah, and all that will live 23:17.070 --> 23:21.230 godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 23:22.130 --> 23:25.770 The Bible indicates and brings up the fact 23:25.770 --> 23:27.810 that the Christian life is filled, 23:27.990 --> 23:30.410 it's manifold temptations, many trials, 23:30.750 --> 23:32.490 many trials of your faith. 23:34.490 --> 23:36.970 And when you go through those trials, 23:37.670 --> 23:40.030 rejoicing in the Lord, when you're able to go through it 23:40.030 --> 23:42.610 and still produce fruits of the spirit, 23:43.470 --> 23:45.550 it's two things are evident from that. 23:45.730 --> 23:48.310 One is that those that are your adversary, 23:48.530 --> 23:49.710 those that are attacking you, 23:49.810 --> 23:51.830 those that are trying to persecute you, 23:52.150 --> 23:54.810 it's an evident token of their damnation, right? 23:55.310 --> 23:56.130 Of their perdition. 23:56.830 --> 23:59.810 You know, and if they're a brother and you know, 24:00.330 --> 24:02.290 if a brother's attacking you, it's possible. 24:03.110 --> 24:05.310 Yeah, there may be their consequences 24:05.310 --> 24:07.270 not gonna be damnation in terms of hell, 24:07.690 --> 24:09.730 but they're still gonna have judgment from God. 24:10.010 --> 24:12.430 God is still gonna judge even a brother 24:12.430 --> 24:14.930 that's persecuting a brother, 24:15.330 --> 24:18.450 but how much even more so the unsaved, right? 24:18.930 --> 24:21.230 So the fact that you can go through difficulties, 24:21.570 --> 24:24.010 go through persecution, go through 24:24.610 --> 24:26.210 difficult situations in your life, 24:26.750 --> 24:31.030 not being afraid, you know, rejoicing in the Lord, 24:31.750 --> 24:33.110 in the face of adversity. 24:33.890 --> 24:36.510 It's to them an evident token of their damnation, 24:36.910 --> 24:38.270 their perdition, the Bible says, 24:38.910 --> 24:41.750 but it's also the flip side of that coin, 24:41.950 --> 24:43.110 the flip side of that token, 24:44.230 --> 24:48.930 is that it's an evident token of salvation for you. 24:49.250 --> 24:51.650 Knowing that, you know, I can rejoice in the Lord 24:51.650 --> 24:54.050 going through difficult seasons, difficult times, 24:54.390 --> 24:56.530 because hey, at the end of the day, I'm going to heaven. 24:56.970 --> 24:58.330 You can't take that away from me. 24:58.910 --> 25:02.030 And that alone is something to rejoice in. 25:03.110 --> 25:04.610 Go to Psalm chapter number 42. 25:05.430 --> 25:07.010 Psalm chapter number 42. 25:08.870 --> 25:11.610 So we can always rejoice in salvation. 25:13.810 --> 25:17.330 And that can get us through a lot of bad situations. 25:18.270 --> 25:21.410 Just realizing, hey, this life is but a vapor, 25:22.570 --> 25:25.150 that the trials, the temptations we go through, 25:25.250 --> 25:27.130 their temporary, it's not downplaying 25:27.130 --> 25:28.270 the severity of them. 25:28.890 --> 25:31.090 I mean, we can all go through some difficult seasons 25:31.090 --> 25:33.510 in our life and it's not to say that, 25:33.510 --> 25:37.270 oh, well, you shouldn't have moments in your life 25:37.270 --> 25:40.930 where you are depressed or moments in your life 25:40.930 --> 25:44.390 where you're looking at all the things around you 25:44.390 --> 25:47.810 and just the weight of that is a heaviness to you. 25:48.250 --> 25:52.270 But also during those times, we should be rejoicing 25:52.270 --> 25:55.810 in the Lord just for the simple fact that we're safe, 25:56.150 --> 25:58.110 that we have eternal life, that we're gonna go to heaven 25:58.110 --> 25:58.790 no matter what. 26:00.250 --> 26:07.050 Psalm 42, and this is another thing is joy, 26:07.330 --> 26:10.110 producing joy in your life, it's not just 26:10.110 --> 26:11.370 something that happens. 26:12.090 --> 26:13.870 It's something that you have to do. 26:15.030 --> 26:17.090 The Bible says to walk in the spirit. 26:17.570 --> 26:19.650 So it's something that you have to actively do. 26:20.330 --> 26:22.150 And again, this kind of goes back to 26:22.150 --> 26:24.910 a lot of people really easily can rejoice 26:24.910 --> 26:27.350 when things are good, when things are bad, 26:27.350 --> 26:28.270 it takes effort. 26:29.110 --> 26:31.630 And sometimes you gotta just give yourself a pep talk. 26:32.290 --> 26:34.230 Sometimes you just have to tell yourself, 26:34.550 --> 26:36.090 hey, rejoice in the Lord. 26:36.610 --> 26:38.070 Hey, quit feeling sorry for yourself. 26:38.470 --> 26:41.030 Hey, I know this is a difficult time, 26:41.470 --> 26:44.410 but what about all the things that the Lord has done for you? 26:45.470 --> 26:48.530 And sometimes you just gotta give yourself that pep talk. 26:49.270 --> 26:51.570 And I don't know, maybe I'm the only weird one here 26:51.970 --> 26:53.410 that talks to myself sometimes, 26:53.570 --> 26:56.710 but the Psalmists are about to read a verse 26:56.710 --> 26:58.330 and I really relate to this verse 26:58.330 --> 27:00.150 because I find myself doing this a lot, 27:00.710 --> 27:02.450 giving myself a pep talk, right? 27:03.110 --> 27:05.130 But notice what the Bible says in Psalm 42. 27:06.890 --> 27:08.450 And we're gonna read the whole Psalm 27:08.950 --> 27:11.190 just because I think there's just so many great things here. 27:12.550 --> 27:13.830 The Bible says in verse one, 27:14.010 --> 27:16.410 as the heart panteth after the water, Brooks, 27:16.990 --> 27:19.150 so panteth my soul after thee, oh God, 27:19.850 --> 27:23.330 my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, 27:23.900 --> 27:26.010 when shall I come and appear before God? 27:26.730 --> 27:29.950 My tears have been my meat day and night, 27:30.290 --> 27:34.390 while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? 27:35.350 --> 27:36.710 So obviously the Psalmist here 27:36.710 --> 27:38.330 is going through a difficult time in his life. 27:38.890 --> 27:42.410 He's being persecuted by the workers of iniquities, 27:42.430 --> 27:45.530 being persecuted by people that are against him, 27:46.570 --> 27:50.030 that don't want him to proceed, 27:50.170 --> 27:51.530 don't want him to prosper, 27:51.530 --> 27:54.550 don't want him to have success in his life. 27:54.890 --> 27:56.870 Who knows the reason, we don't really get that. 27:57.290 --> 27:58.830 But obviously the Psalmist is upset. 27:59.190 --> 28:02.550 I mean, he's saying that his tears have been his meat. 28:03.230 --> 28:04.510 And meat is just in the Bible, 28:04.590 --> 28:09.210 it's not necessarily referring to like beef or pork 28:09.210 --> 28:11.190 or anything like we would typically think of. 28:11.590 --> 28:13.130 Meat often in the Bible just means food. 28:13.670 --> 28:17.550 So what he's saying is that he's been lamenting, 28:17.550 --> 28:21.570 he's been weeping and that's been his sustenance. 28:22.070 --> 28:23.190 That has been his food. 28:23.550 --> 28:25.370 He's been eating his own tears. 28:25.770 --> 28:26.590 He say, well, why? 28:26.770 --> 28:30.550 The reason why is because of the scoffing, 28:30.690 --> 28:32.250 the mocking of his adversaries. 28:32.830 --> 28:33.430 What do they say? 28:33.890 --> 28:35.050 Where is thy God? 28:36.530 --> 28:39.390 And evil people, workers of iniquity, 28:39.510 --> 28:42.090 this is something that's just common with many of them 28:42.630 --> 28:44.810 is they look at the judgment of God, 28:45.250 --> 28:47.710 they hear, oh, well, God's gonna take care of you. 28:47.790 --> 28:49.030 God's gonna have vengeance on you. 28:49.050 --> 28:49.490 What do they do? 28:49.590 --> 28:52.790 They mock, they scoff these pieces of trash. 28:53.210 --> 28:55.750 They say, hey, where is thy God? 28:57.150 --> 29:00.150 But the reality is that, hey, God's on his own timeline. 29:00.810 --> 29:02.890 God's gonna produce his judgment. 29:03.030 --> 29:04.990 He's gonna execute his judgment on the wicked. 29:05.330 --> 29:06.090 It will happen. 29:06.190 --> 29:07.330 We're gonna look at some other verses 29:07.330 --> 29:09.070 to reassure us of those things. 29:11.010 --> 29:14.590 But I kind of think God allows these wicked people 29:14.590 --> 29:17.990 to just heap up even more damnation upon themselves. 29:18.670 --> 29:20.810 Just allow their mouths to keep running 29:20.810 --> 29:24.250 these pieces of trash who just wanna mock God, 29:24.810 --> 29:27.430 mock his judgments, mock his word. 29:28.810 --> 29:30.370 And you know, it's upsetting. 29:30.970 --> 29:32.750 It can be a difficult time to go through 29:33.770 --> 29:36.610 having to deal with that kind of persecution. 29:37.730 --> 29:39.330 Notice what the Bible says in verse four. 29:39.770 --> 29:41.790 It says, when I remember these things, 29:42.370 --> 29:44.710 I pour out my soul in me, 29:44.850 --> 29:46.830 for I had gone with the multitude. 29:47.570 --> 29:49.870 I went with them to the house of God 29:49.870 --> 29:52.950 with the voice of joy and praise 29:53.370 --> 29:56.150 with the multitude that kept holy day. 29:56.670 --> 30:00.810 Notice, he's going through a difficult season. 30:01.010 --> 30:03.790 He's going through just this severe persecution in his life. 30:05.010 --> 30:07.290 And it says, when he remembered these things, 30:07.390 --> 30:07.970 what did he do? 30:08.410 --> 30:09.910 He went to the house of God. 30:10.650 --> 30:12.890 And I like the way the Bible words this. 30:13.070 --> 30:13.730 It's kind of poetic. 30:13.930 --> 30:15.570 It says, with the voice of joy. 30:15.950 --> 30:17.170 What is the voice of joy? 30:18.130 --> 30:18.630 It's rejoicing. 30:19.650 --> 30:21.170 You know, in the Bible rejoicing 30:21.170 --> 30:23.030 can be synonymous with singing. 30:24.630 --> 30:28.750 If you look up the passage and I believe it's some, 30:29.570 --> 30:32.430 I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Isaiah 54. 30:32.590 --> 30:36.230 Isaiah 54 is a prophecy of the Gentiles 30:36.730 --> 30:38.270 who are going to basically be, 30:38.670 --> 30:41.110 it refers to them as a barren woman 30:41.110 --> 30:43.390 that brings forth the child. 30:43.950 --> 30:44.950 And it says rejoice. 30:46.110 --> 30:48.570 Oh, I'm sorry, in Isaiah it says sing, oh, barren woman. 30:49.130 --> 30:50.330 In Galatians, it's quoted. 30:50.850 --> 30:52.130 And in Galatians chapter four, 30:52.270 --> 30:54.270 it says rejoice, oh, barren woman. 30:54.890 --> 30:57.210 So rejoicing and singing, these are synonymous things. 30:57.510 --> 30:59.310 So one way that we can rejoice 30:59.810 --> 31:01.610 is just to sing in church. 31:03.030 --> 31:06.430 You know, and I know this is true 31:06.430 --> 31:08.330 because not just here, 31:08.550 --> 31:10.990 most, you know, every church I've ever really been a part of, 31:11.330 --> 31:13.610 there's always people who just don't like singing. 31:14.290 --> 31:17.890 You know, and the question I would ask myself is, 31:18.030 --> 31:19.110 well, if you don't like singing, 31:19.230 --> 31:20.610 do you just not like joy in your life? 31:21.710 --> 31:23.450 Why, because the songs that we're singing, 31:23.610 --> 31:24.170 what are they doing? 31:24.590 --> 31:26.190 They're helping us dwell on the Lord. 31:26.570 --> 31:28.870 The great things that the Lord has done for us. 31:29.150 --> 31:30.830 I mean, if you just read the hymns, 31:30.950 --> 31:34.850 many of them are just highlighting rejoicing in the Lord. 31:34.850 --> 31:37.630 Right, just acknowledging all the great things 31:37.630 --> 31:38.690 God has done for us. 31:39.270 --> 31:40.930 His provision, just, you know, 31:41.190 --> 31:44.050 all these things that He does for us on a daily basis 31:44.050 --> 31:47.190 that we oftentimes take advantage of or we take granted, 31:47.610 --> 31:48.690 take those things for granted. 31:49.150 --> 31:53.250 So just one easy way to just be rejoicing in the Lord 31:53.250 --> 31:56.990 all the way and again, is to come to church 31:56.990 --> 32:00.990 and speaking the words of joy, right? 32:01.490 --> 32:03.510 Rejoicing through song. 32:04.110 --> 32:05.730 And it's really important, you know, 32:05.830 --> 32:07.110 if you're lacking joy in your life, 32:07.190 --> 32:08.030 hey, sing some songs. 32:08.230 --> 32:10.830 Ask my family, you know, I'm not a great singer, 32:10.830 --> 32:13.790 but, you know, when we're driving, it's karaoke time. 32:14.230 --> 32:16.910 You know, I like singing the hymns 32:16.910 --> 32:19.770 and I'll definitely belt them out more in the van 32:19.770 --> 32:21.230 because, you know, I'm not ashamed. 32:22.590 --> 32:23.630 Who's gonna laugh at me? 32:23.750 --> 32:24.530 I'll just whoop them, right? 32:26.970 --> 32:28.570 No, it's a joke, right? 32:29.850 --> 32:32.110 But, you know, we should be rejoicing in the Lord 32:32.110 --> 32:34.950 through song in many instances in our life. 32:35.030 --> 32:36.570 That's one of the easiest ways to do it. 32:37.050 --> 32:38.250 And, you know, if you find yourself 32:38.250 --> 32:39.790 in a difficult season in life, 32:39.930 --> 32:42.670 you're going through a trial, you're going through difficulties. 32:43.210 --> 32:46.850 Hey, one of the best ways to help uplift your spirit, 32:47.030 --> 32:49.290 your soul, is to just turn on some hymns 32:49.290 --> 32:50.590 and start singing some hymns. 32:51.350 --> 32:53.710 You know, you say, how did Paul 32:54.270 --> 32:55.650 get through all these difficulties? 32:56.150 --> 32:57.570 Well, in Acts 16, what did it say? 32:57.750 --> 33:01.010 That him and Silas, they prayed and sang songs. 33:01.490 --> 33:03.730 They sang hymns, right? 33:03.890 --> 33:07.850 And that caused them to have joy in the Lord. 33:08.210 --> 33:10.030 They're rejoicing in the Lord 33:10.030 --> 33:12.070 even through difficult times in their life. 33:12.630 --> 33:14.690 So, I don't wanna skip over that verse there 33:15.190 --> 33:16.930 that this is what the psalmist is looking at. 33:16.990 --> 33:17.790 This is what he's remembering. 33:18.790 --> 33:21.890 And, you know, he's going into the house of the Lord. 33:22.370 --> 33:27.010 He's vocalizing his joy through rejoicing, 33:27.170 --> 33:27.730 through praise. 33:28.710 --> 33:29.870 Notice in verse number five, 33:29.870 --> 33:32.470 it says, why art thou cast down, O my soul? 33:33.150 --> 33:35.430 And why art thou disquieted in me? 33:35.830 --> 33:37.150 Now, this is what I was talking about, 33:38.130 --> 33:39.750 is the psalmist is what? 33:39.870 --> 33:41.130 He's talking to himself here. 33:41.950 --> 33:44.990 Notice this, why art thou cast down, O my soul? 33:46.610 --> 33:48.050 He's going through a difficult season. 33:48.230 --> 33:49.590 He's like, dude, what's wrong with you? 33:52.590 --> 33:55.130 Why are you so down in the dumps? 33:55.970 --> 33:57.370 Have you forgotten all the things 33:57.370 --> 33:58.490 that God has done for you? 33:59.870 --> 34:01.930 And, you know, I find myself having a lot 34:01.930 --> 34:03.790 of these conversations with my own soul. 34:04.930 --> 34:08.110 You know, and I think it's good for us sometimes to do this. 34:08.710 --> 34:09.730 You know, and it's not weird. 34:10.370 --> 34:12.050 The psalmist is doing it, so I know it's not weird. 34:12.910 --> 34:15.330 You might say I'm weird, but listen, 34:15.950 --> 34:17.030 this is what the Bible says. 34:17.610 --> 34:19.290 Is the psalmist is really just, 34:19.870 --> 34:21.510 he's looking inside himself. 34:22.830 --> 34:24.790 The attitude he's having, you know, 34:25.610 --> 34:28.810 that just, you know, how he's burning down 34:28.810 --> 34:30.490 with this heaviness of the persecution. 34:31.790 --> 34:33.650 And he's given himself a pep talk. 34:33.770 --> 34:35.830 Notice this, why art thou cast down, O my soul? 34:36.210 --> 34:37.830 And why art thou disquieted in me? 34:38.230 --> 34:39.930 Hope thou in God. 34:41.110 --> 34:42.590 He's given himself a pep talk. 34:43.510 --> 34:47.290 He's like, hey, quit, you know, getting upset. 34:48.130 --> 34:52.290 Quit being cast down, being down in the dumps. 34:52.470 --> 34:53.790 Hope in the Lord. 34:54.230 --> 34:56.870 Hope in thy God, he says. 34:57.330 --> 35:00.810 For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. 35:01.150 --> 35:03.730 O my God, my soul is cast down within me. 35:04.270 --> 35:06.970 Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan 35:06.970 --> 35:10.550 and of the hermonites from the hill Mizar. 35:11.450 --> 35:14.670 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts, 35:15.230 --> 35:17.350 all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 35:17.990 --> 35:20.470 Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness 35:20.890 --> 35:24.570 in the daytime, and in the night his song 35:24.570 --> 35:27.650 shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. 35:27.970 --> 35:29.990 You know what the psalmist is deciding to do? 35:30.450 --> 35:32.250 Rejoice in the Lord all way and again. 35:33.610 --> 35:37.450 Morning, evening, he's dwelling on the goodness of the Lord, 35:37.530 --> 35:39.850 the things that God has done in his life. 35:41.210 --> 35:44.350 It says in verse number nine, I will say unto God, my rock, 35:45.550 --> 35:47.110 why hast thou forgotten me? 35:47.750 --> 35:51.130 Why go I am mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 35:51.690 --> 35:53.490 As with the sword in my bones, 35:53.870 --> 35:57.430 mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, 35:57.810 --> 35:59.330 where is thy God? 36:00.390 --> 36:02.510 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 36:02.930 --> 36:04.710 And why art thou disquited within me? 36:05.110 --> 36:07.990 Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him 36:07.990 --> 36:10.430 who is the health of my countenance and my God. 36:11.470 --> 36:14.350 Sometimes we just need to give ourselves a little pep talk. 36:15.390 --> 36:17.490 You know, when we're feeling like, you know, 36:17.550 --> 36:18.850 life is not going our way, 36:19.270 --> 36:21.350 we're going through all kinds of issues. 36:21.990 --> 36:23.750 Hey, sometimes you just need to tell yourself, 36:23.850 --> 36:25.530 soul, why are you disquited within you? 36:26.770 --> 36:28.870 You've got a lot to be thankful for. 36:29.470 --> 36:31.170 You have a lot that you can dwell on, 36:32.550 --> 36:34.790 you know, when it comes to the goodness of God. 36:35.450 --> 36:36.250 Go to Psalm 103. 36:39.450 --> 36:40.430 Go to Psalm 103. 36:40.970 --> 36:42.530 I'm gonna spend some time in the Psalms 36:42.530 --> 36:44.630 because there's so much great verses. 36:45.530 --> 36:46.710 So many great truths here. 36:47.830 --> 36:49.390 So hopefully you don't mind the Bible. 36:51.470 --> 36:54.950 But you say, you know, I'm struggling with rejoicing. 36:55.190 --> 37:00.150 I'm struggling with seeing the good in situations. 37:01.690 --> 37:03.250 You know, what are some of the difficulties 37:03.250 --> 37:04.470 that we could be going through? 37:04.990 --> 37:06.310 I don't know, how about higher taxes? 37:07.570 --> 37:09.670 Property taxes in Texas, man, they're real. 37:10.110 --> 37:11.410 That's a real issue. 37:12.570 --> 37:13.630 Higher interest rates. 37:14.450 --> 37:17.490 I mean, you know, the banks just, you know, 37:17.530 --> 37:20.330 because they love usury and because this world's wicked. 37:20.730 --> 37:22.950 And interest rates are just killing people right now. 37:23.610 --> 37:25.470 You know, it's hard to even find a house. 37:26.130 --> 37:29.390 If you can afford a house, it's like you're, you know, 37:29.710 --> 37:31.370 you don't even wanna know how much of your money 37:31.370 --> 37:34.310 is going to the Jew through interest. 37:35.070 --> 37:35.590 It's terrible. 37:36.510 --> 37:40.210 The slow economy, slow economy can, you know, 37:40.250 --> 37:41.830 only further issues, right? 37:41.890 --> 37:43.850 Because slow economy means slow business, 37:43.970 --> 37:47.290 slow business means slow work, hard to find work, right? 37:48.510 --> 37:49.670 Less disposable income. 37:50.210 --> 37:52.870 Because of inflation, you have less money to go around, 37:52.990 --> 37:55.830 less ability to, you know, provide for the things 37:55.830 --> 37:56.350 that you have. 37:57.870 --> 38:00.310 You know, guys, I know plenty of guys in here 38:00.310 --> 38:02.250 that are working 50, 60 hours a week. 38:03.290 --> 38:05.890 You know, just to have a little bit extra on the side 38:05.890 --> 38:07.430 in case of emergency, you know, 38:07.550 --> 38:09.590 issues that are gonna come up in life. 38:10.570 --> 38:12.110 Just grinding out there, you know? 38:12.350 --> 38:13.750 And it can be tiresome. 38:13.930 --> 38:16.090 It can feel defeating a lot of times. 38:16.090 --> 38:17.250 Like you can never get ahead. 38:17.990 --> 38:20.870 Housing costs, food costs, utility costs, gas, 38:21.370 --> 38:23.650 all these things just seem to constantly be rising. 38:24.250 --> 38:24.770 Health issues. 38:26.090 --> 38:28.550 I mean, health issues just, you know, they're inevitable. 38:28.810 --> 38:30.130 Everybody's gonna have health issues 38:30.130 --> 38:33.010 at some point in their life, no matter how hard you try. 38:33.370 --> 38:35.630 And then when you talk about the cost associated 38:35.630 --> 38:38.170 with health issues, political uncertainty. 38:38.770 --> 38:40.910 There's no certainty in politics right now. 38:41.190 --> 38:43.710 You cannot trust in any politic. 38:43.710 --> 38:45.210 If you haven't figured that out yet, 38:46.070 --> 38:47.430 I mean, I don't know where you've been. 38:47.570 --> 38:48.770 You had your head in the sand. 38:49.410 --> 38:51.770 There's no political certainty whatsoever. 38:52.690 --> 38:54.190 You know, Trump is not your savior. 38:54.530 --> 38:55.730 He never was your savior. 38:55.870 --> 38:56.830 He's never gonna be your savior. 38:58.630 --> 38:59.890 How about world war? 39:00.810 --> 39:03.010 I mean, that's a legitimate concern for people. 39:03.750 --> 39:05.070 You know, that can keep people up at night 39:05.070 --> 39:08.670 because there's a lot of psychopaths at the helm, right? 39:09.750 --> 39:11.950 Controlling what happens in our foreign policy 39:12.690 --> 39:13.350 decision-making. 39:13.730 --> 39:15.730 I mean, that can be scary. 39:17.150 --> 39:19.990 Literal psychopaths, literal reprobates running, you know, 39:20.150 --> 39:22.330 with the red little button on their desk. 39:24.290 --> 39:28.190 You know, and of course, if there were a world war, 39:28.870 --> 39:30.970 there's all kinds of other consequences 39:30.970 --> 39:31.970 that come with that. 39:33.610 --> 39:35.730 Famine, pestilence, you know, 39:36.730 --> 39:38.770 you think the economy is bad now, 39:38.930 --> 39:41.190 it would only get worse, right? 39:42.550 --> 39:43.230 Identity theft. 39:43.670 --> 39:46.630 Man, I've been getting just bombarded 39:46.630 --> 39:50.550 with all kinds of identity theft schemes lately. 39:50.830 --> 39:52.570 I don't know if it was maybe just me, I don't know. 39:52.690 --> 39:54.510 Maybe my info got leaked or something. 39:54.650 --> 39:57.070 I don't know, but man, I just feel like it's just constant. 39:57.490 --> 40:00.970 And you know, that's just a hassle to deal with, right? 40:01.670 --> 40:02.630 Issues like that. 40:04.950 --> 40:07.970 Immigration of false religions, you know, 40:07.970 --> 40:12.050 our governor is basically having an open door, 40:12.750 --> 40:14.090 you know, to all the Hindus, 40:14.570 --> 40:16.110 all the Muslims it seems like. 40:17.230 --> 40:19.790 You know, and listen, I don't have any problem 40:20.240 --> 40:22.750 with some Middle Eastern or some guy from India 40:22.750 --> 40:25.250 coming to America, if he's a Christian. 40:26.290 --> 40:27.430 Hey, praise God for that. 40:28.250 --> 40:30.250 But listen, I don't want a bunch of false religion 40:30.250 --> 40:32.910 coming to this state, a bunch of Hinduism, 40:33.250 --> 40:34.910 a bunch of disgusting Hindus. 40:35.190 --> 40:37.110 That's gross, man, I don't want that. 40:41.370 --> 40:43.890 How about anxiety, depression, loneliness, 40:44.590 --> 40:47.650 all things that can be a result of just dwelling 40:47.650 --> 40:49.290 on all these issues for too long. 40:49.710 --> 40:52.010 It's like feeling like, oh, well, there's no hope. 40:52.990 --> 40:54.890 There's no end in sight. 40:55.830 --> 40:58.530 I personally don't think we're ever gonna go back 40:58.530 --> 41:01.770 to the greatness of America personally. 41:02.110 --> 41:03.710 I really don't think that's ever gonna happen. 41:04.450 --> 41:06.210 You know, the Lord will come back 41:06.210 --> 41:09.130 or we'll get overthrown by some other government. 41:09.650 --> 41:11.410 That's my opinion, you know, 41:11.510 --> 41:13.890 but I just find it really hard to believe 41:13.890 --> 41:17.810 that America's gonna be this just champion of the Bible 41:17.810 --> 41:21.410 and God's word and implementing his commandments 41:22.070 --> 41:23.110 in our government again. 41:23.710 --> 41:27.010 Now, hey, listen, I'm all for the preaching of those things. 41:27.150 --> 41:29.010 We should want to preach those things 41:29.010 --> 41:30.650 and sound those things from the rooftop 41:30.650 --> 41:32.530 and be champions of those things. 41:32.570 --> 41:33.670 And I'm thankful for our church, 41:33.950 --> 41:36.970 but I just don't see that actually happening, you know? 41:37.530 --> 41:39.850 There's just a lot of fake Christians out there 41:39.850 --> 41:43.310 that are willing to accept all kinds of perversion, 41:43.790 --> 41:45.610 all kinds of false religions, 41:46.090 --> 41:49.230 all kinds of just very apathetic to anything 41:50.750 --> 41:54.030 that the Lord is very strong against, right? 41:55.910 --> 41:57.030 Privacy and surveillance. 41:57.370 --> 41:59.970 I mean, you know, there's all kinds of issues with that. 42:00.130 --> 42:01.730 Yeah, I've given up hope on that as well. 42:02.150 --> 42:04.270 Like I'm telling you, the black pill is real. 42:04.830 --> 42:06.570 I used to be, and we were talking about this, 42:07.270 --> 42:09.450 you know, I used to be this guy that would not like, 42:09.570 --> 42:11.730 I didn't, you know, everything was in cash 42:11.730 --> 42:14.510 or tried my most, my hardest to just, you know, 42:14.590 --> 42:15.550 deal only in cash. 42:16.310 --> 42:18.410 I didn't do anything on my phone 42:18.410 --> 42:20.130 that was giving it any of my information. 42:20.730 --> 42:22.890 You know, I'm like trying to withhold all these things. 42:23.230 --> 42:25.850 And just like in the last two years, three years, 42:26.010 --> 42:27.590 I was like, you know what, screw it. 42:28.770 --> 42:30.290 They're gonna get this stuff anyways. 42:31.170 --> 42:32.090 They're having it. 42:32.670 --> 42:34.610 I might as well just make my life a little bit easier 42:35.430 --> 42:36.990 and embrace some of these things 42:37.590 --> 42:40.750 and just rejoice in the Lord all the way, you know, 42:40.790 --> 42:43.550 because there's not a whole lot in this world to rejoice on. 42:44.230 --> 42:46.150 How about just information overload? 42:46.950 --> 42:48.710 You know, this is something that's really been bothering me 42:48.710 --> 42:53.290 a lot lately is just the amount of misinformation. 42:54.370 --> 42:57.490 And then with AI, it's only getting worse, right? 42:57.710 --> 42:59.690 Deep fakes, it's only gonna get harder 42:59.690 --> 43:01.230 to tell what's real and what's fake. 43:02.290 --> 43:07.050 There's just all kinds of misinformation, fake news. 43:08.330 --> 43:10.850 You know, you can't really trust any institution 43:11.450 --> 43:14.210 in our country today, whether it's the media, 43:14.590 --> 43:17.130 the government, the education system. 43:17.530 --> 43:18.770 I mean, there's no institution 43:18.770 --> 43:20.370 you can really put any trust in. 43:22.850 --> 43:25.270 You know, and because of information overload, 43:25.870 --> 43:27.690 it produces a lot of echo chambers, right? 43:27.770 --> 43:28.730 So you have a lot of idiots 43:28.730 --> 43:30.750 that get stuck in their little echo chamber 43:31.690 --> 43:34.570 and, you know, they just repeat a lot of things 43:34.570 --> 43:37.050 that they hear, not having any actual knowledge 43:37.050 --> 43:38.390 or information themselves. 43:39.110 --> 43:40.750 You know, you say, who's that? 43:40.890 --> 43:42.870 Well, a lot of the orthoboat boys are like that. 43:43.890 --> 43:46.850 You know, a lot of these people who follow, you know, 43:47.890 --> 43:53.190 the Tate brothers, Nick Fuentes, people like this. 43:54.090 --> 43:57.810 So I mean, that really lifted up your spirits, didn't you? 43:58.430 --> 43:59.110 Or didn't it? 43:59.610 --> 44:02.810 There's a lot of things that we can be disappointed in, 44:03.230 --> 44:04.750 disgruntled in, but you know what? 44:05.270 --> 44:09.050 The reality is that we can still have great joy. 44:09.250 --> 44:12.690 We can rejoice greatly in the Lord, even in 2026. 44:14.210 --> 44:16.390 Look at what the Bible says in Psalm 103. 44:18.550 --> 44:20.550 It says, bless the Lord, oh my soul. 44:20.670 --> 44:24.890 Now, I just, I like that little phrase there, 44:25.050 --> 44:26.390 bless the Lord, oh my soul. 44:26.390 --> 44:29.070 He's basically like just commanding himself. 44:29.670 --> 44:31.710 Hey, bless the Lord, right? 44:31.990 --> 44:35.650 And again, because it's so difficult, you know, 44:35.750 --> 44:38.530 to do this in difficult times and, you know, 44:38.590 --> 44:40.370 when persecution or issues arise, 44:41.550 --> 44:43.430 but sometimes you just have to force yourself. 44:43.570 --> 44:46.990 You just have to tell your soul, bless the Lord, right? 44:47.370 --> 44:48.590 Bless the Lord, oh my soul. 44:49.230 --> 44:53.470 And here's just a list of reasons to bless the Lord, 44:53.670 --> 44:55.010 to rejoice in his name. 44:55.370 --> 44:57.490 The Bible says, all that is within me, 44:57.550 --> 45:00.570 bless his holy name, bless the Lord, oh my soul, 45:00.810 --> 45:02.710 and forget not all his benefits, 45:03.410 --> 45:05.630 who forgiveth all thine iniquities, 45:06.130 --> 45:07.850 who healeth all thy diseases, 45:08.870 --> 45:10.710 who redeemeth thy life from destruction, 45:11.730 --> 45:15.250 who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. 45:16.090 --> 45:17.790 This is a big one for me, 45:18.090 --> 45:20.190 who satisfied thy mouth with good things. 45:21.630 --> 45:22.830 Man, brisket? 45:22.830 --> 45:26.410 You know, as funny as we went to Fiji and they, 45:26.750 --> 45:28.790 there's this restaurant advertising brisket. 45:29.110 --> 45:30.570 So I'm like, get all excited, you know, 45:30.630 --> 45:31.570 I'm like, all right, you know, 45:31.630 --> 45:33.310 let's go try some Fiji brisket. 45:34.650 --> 45:35.930 It was terrible. 45:36.550 --> 45:38.910 Listen, there's nothing like Texas brisket, guys. 45:39.690 --> 45:41.730 I mean, that is a benefit from God. 45:42.550 --> 45:44.950 Hey, that alone is a reason to rejoice in the Lord all way. 45:45.890 --> 45:48.670 You know, some beef, some steak, 45:49.990 --> 45:52.230 you know, whatever the Lord blesses you with, 45:52.230 --> 45:54.770 hey, you should be thankful for the food 45:54.770 --> 45:55.850 that God is giving you. 45:56.410 --> 45:59.690 Man, there's so many good food options out there 46:00.020 --> 46:02.450 to be thankful for, to be rejoicing in. 46:03.730 --> 46:06.050 So that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. 46:06.510 --> 46:08.770 The Lord executed righteousness and judgment 46:08.770 --> 46:09.990 for all that are oppressed. 46:10.770 --> 46:13.570 He may know his ways unto Moses, 46:14.330 --> 46:15.970 his accent to the children of Israel. 46:16.390 --> 46:17.790 The Lord is merciful and gracious, 46:18.030 --> 46:19.850 slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. 46:20.410 --> 46:21.930 He will not always try, 46:22.110 --> 46:24.050 neither will he keep his anger forever. 46:24.610 --> 46:27.290 He have not dealt with us after our sins, 46:27.830 --> 46:30.090 nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 46:30.450 --> 46:32.250 You know, that's something to rejoice in the Lord about 46:32.870 --> 46:35.170 is the fact that we don't get punished, 46:35.430 --> 46:37.910 we don't receive the judgment 46:37.910 --> 46:40.730 that we often need sometimes in our life 46:40.730 --> 46:44.110 or that, you know, that would be merited, 46:44.270 --> 46:45.210 I should say, right? 46:45.630 --> 46:49.610 We deserve, you know, a lot of, you know, 46:49.670 --> 46:51.190 punishment for all the sins that we do, 46:51.230 --> 46:53.870 because we do them on a consistent basis all the time. 46:54.390 --> 46:56.230 You know, we're constantly thinking things 46:56.230 --> 46:58.530 that we shouldn't, our mind is constantly 46:58.530 --> 47:01.330 not doing the things that we wanted to 47:01.330 --> 47:03.990 or, you know, we're not fulfilling all the things 47:03.990 --> 47:05.030 that God wants us to. 47:05.450 --> 47:07.410 We're not as consistent as we should be. 47:07.710 --> 47:09.530 We're not as faithful as we should be. 47:10.470 --> 47:12.470 You know, and I'm, that's a reason to rejoice 47:12.470 --> 47:14.710 in the Lord all the way and that fact alone 47:14.710 --> 47:17.150 is that he's not dealing with us 47:17.150 --> 47:18.570 after all of our iniquities. 47:19.010 --> 47:21.230 Now obviously he does deal with us after our iniquities, 47:21.530 --> 47:23.830 you know, when we deserve it, when it's merited, 47:23.830 --> 47:27.810 when he, you know, when he makes that decision. 47:28.210 --> 47:31.670 And I kinda look at it as like a father with his children, 47:32.350 --> 47:32.630 right? 47:33.270 --> 47:35.070 My children disobey my rules, 47:35.290 --> 47:39.190 but they're not always getting the harshest punishment 47:39.190 --> 47:41.730 or a punishment every time they do that. 47:42.310 --> 47:44.570 You know, there's mercy that is shown. 47:45.070 --> 47:47.510 And so, you know, that's something that the Lord does 47:47.510 --> 47:50.190 for us and that's a reason to rejoice in the Lord all the way. 47:50.590 --> 47:51.690 Notice in verse 11, it says, 47:51.930 --> 47:53.690 for as the heaven is high above the earth, 47:54.130 --> 47:56.270 so great is this mercy toward them that fear him. 47:57.190 --> 47:58.770 As far as the east is from the west, 47:58.950 --> 48:01.590 so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 48:02.190 --> 48:04.010 You know, and ultimately we're never gonna have to pay 48:04.630 --> 48:06.970 the true penalty for us in which as hell. 48:07.770 --> 48:09.130 You know, that's a reason 48:09.590 --> 48:11.610 to rejoice in the Lord's mercy. 48:12.330 --> 48:15.490 He didn't have to save us, but he did, he chose to. 48:16.510 --> 48:17.770 Verse number 13, the Bible says, 48:17.970 --> 48:19.710 like as a father pityeth his children, 48:20.230 --> 48:23.330 so the Lord pityeth them that fear him. 48:23.510 --> 48:25.250 And you know, when a father understands that verse, 48:26.130 --> 48:27.710 you know, because your children do wrong 48:28.330 --> 48:31.070 and you can tell when they're truly sorry 48:31.070 --> 48:34.230 and when they're, you know, 48:35.250 --> 48:37.590 they're upset that they screwed up, 48:37.590 --> 48:39.370 that they're upset that they did something wrong. 48:39.830 --> 48:43.010 And just as a father pity's his children 48:43.400 --> 48:44.710 and has mercy on his children, 48:45.050 --> 48:47.010 how much more so does God for us? 48:48.130 --> 48:50.510 You know, and to me, that, you know, 48:50.570 --> 48:51.490 that definitely rings true. 48:51.870 --> 48:53.950 And that's a reason to rejoice in the Lord all the way. 48:54.390 --> 48:56.230 Just for all the things that he does for us. 48:57.470 --> 49:00.130 Skip down to verse number, I'm sorry, Psalm 104. 49:00.610 --> 49:01.990 Let's go to the next chapter. 49:02.170 --> 49:03.390 I wanna highlight a couple of things. 49:04.770 --> 49:06.850 It says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, 49:06.850 --> 49:09.550 oh Lord my God, thou art very great, 49:10.390 --> 49:12.270 thou art clothed with honor and majesty, 49:12.730 --> 49:16.290 who covers thyself with light as with a garment, 49:16.550 --> 49:18.510 who stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain, 49:19.190 --> 49:21.890 who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, 49:22.430 --> 49:24.290 who maketh the clouds his chariot, 49:24.670 --> 49:26.910 who walketh upon the wings of the wind, 49:27.810 --> 49:29.990 who maketh his angels spirits, 49:30.310 --> 49:32.890 his ministers a flaming fire, 49:33.550 --> 49:35.270 who laid the foundations of the earth 49:35.270 --> 49:37.350 that it should not be removed forever. 49:38.030 --> 49:41.670 Thou coverseth it with the deep as with a garment, 49:42.450 --> 49:44.090 the waters stood above the mountains, 49:44.630 --> 49:47.750 at thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder 49:47.750 --> 49:48.870 they hasted away. 49:49.330 --> 49:50.870 They go up by the mountains, 49:51.090 --> 49:53.210 they go down by the valleys unto the place 49:53.590 --> 49:55.350 which thou hast founded for them. 49:55.750 --> 49:58.090 Thou hast set abound that they might not pass over, 49:58.450 --> 50:00.350 that they turn not again to cover the earth. 50:00.670 --> 50:02.510 He sendeth the springs into the valleys 50:02.510 --> 50:03.890 which run among the hills. 50:03.890 --> 50:06.530 They give drink to every beast of the field. 50:07.210 --> 50:08.990 The wild asses quench their thirst. 50:09.770 --> 50:11.310 By them shall the fowls of the heaven 50:11.310 --> 50:14.090 have their habitation which sing among the branches. 50:14.570 --> 50:16.270 He watereth the hills from his chambers. 50:16.770 --> 50:20.310 The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. 50:20.810 --> 50:23.130 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle 50:23.130 --> 50:25.030 and herb for the service of man, 50:25.410 --> 50:27.550 that he may bring forth food out of the earth, 50:27.950 --> 50:30.110 and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, 50:30.610 --> 50:33.350 and oil that to make his face to shine 50:33.350 --> 50:36.610 and bread which strengtheneth man's hearts. 50:37.710 --> 50:39.630 You know, the Psalmist he's just really highlighting 50:39.630 --> 50:42.150 just all the things to be thankful to God about. 50:43.250 --> 50:46.830 Just the earth, the beauty that God has created, 50:47.070 --> 50:48.150 you know, his creation. 50:48.870 --> 50:51.530 The fact that God provides for not just us, 50:51.790 --> 50:55.230 but every beast of the field, every fowl of the air. 50:55.930 --> 50:58.390 He's got this perfect creation 50:58.390 --> 51:00.590 where it's just a cyclical creation 51:01.050 --> 51:05.110 where, you know, you have the water system, right? 51:05.730 --> 51:08.390 Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. 51:09.410 --> 51:12.190 Just that fact alone is something to rejoice in the Lord on. 51:13.150 --> 51:15.050 You know, rain is a blessing from God. 51:16.290 --> 51:18.670 I mean, he's bringing up the fact that rain 51:18.670 --> 51:21.130 produces all these great things that we're gonna enjoy. 51:22.630 --> 51:24.290 I mean, there are so many things 51:24.290 --> 51:26.110 that we can rejoice in the Lord about. 51:27.670 --> 51:29.530 And yet sadly, you know, 51:29.530 --> 51:31.410 most of us, we really struggle with that, don't we? 51:32.170 --> 51:35.270 We don't always have the right mentality. 51:35.750 --> 51:37.350 We're not always producing the joy 51:38.990 --> 51:41.310 that, you know, we should be producing. 51:41.970 --> 51:43.870 We're not giving God the glory that he deserves. 51:44.630 --> 51:45.890 Let's skip down to verse number 31. 51:46.090 --> 51:49.170 The Bible says, the glory of the Lord shall endure forever. 51:49.330 --> 51:51.590 The Lord shall rejoice in his works. 51:52.190 --> 51:53.850 He looketh on the earth and it tremble 51:53.850 --> 51:55.910 if he toucheth the hills and they smoke. 51:56.090 --> 51:58.310 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. 51:58.310 --> 52:02.930 I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 52:03.550 --> 52:06.130 My meditation of him shall be sweet. 52:06.570 --> 52:07.890 I will be glad in the Lord. 52:07.990 --> 52:11.390 Notice this, let the sinners be consumed out of the earth 52:11.860 --> 52:13.370 and let the wicked be no more. 52:14.090 --> 52:16.230 Blessed are the Lord, O my soul, praise ye the Lord. 52:16.850 --> 52:19.570 You know, the Psalmist, he's dwelling 52:19.570 --> 52:21.270 and he's thinking and he's rejoicing 52:21.270 --> 52:22.970 in all the greatness of the Lord 52:22.970 --> 52:24.170 and all the great thing he's done, 52:25.470 --> 52:27.830 even though he's going through a difficult time. 52:28.390 --> 52:30.230 He's being persecuted by sinners. 52:31.490 --> 52:34.610 You know, and this kind of brings me to another point here 52:35.370 --> 52:38.270 that, you know, another reason to rejoice in the Lord 52:38.750 --> 52:43.270 is to rejoice for, you know, the vengeance of the Lord. 52:43.570 --> 52:48.110 Right, when the Lord basically comes to our defense, 52:48.670 --> 52:51.490 when he executes his judgment upon those 52:52.030 --> 52:53.910 that have risen up against us, 52:54.870 --> 52:57.610 that is a reason to rejoice in the Lord. 52:58.550 --> 52:59.910 Go to Psalm 58. 53:00.530 --> 53:02.930 Go back in your Bible just a few chapters, Psalm 58. 53:10.360 --> 53:12.640 And of course, this is a, you know, a Psalm 53:12.640 --> 53:16.260 we put the music and a lot of people don't like this. 53:16.640 --> 53:19.320 You know, a lot of people, you know, the holier than thou 53:19.320 --> 53:20.620 is they scoff at rejoicing 53:20.620 --> 53:23.640 when the enemies of God are judged. 53:24.200 --> 53:28.400 You know, they scoff when you rejoice at your enemy, 53:29.040 --> 53:31.700 when they, you know, when you're able to see 53:31.700 --> 53:33.480 vengeance taking place in their life. 53:33.940 --> 53:36.080 But listen, this is a godly attribute. 53:36.300 --> 53:38.520 This is what God has commanded us to do. 53:38.600 --> 53:40.100 We're gonna look at a couple of verses on this. 53:40.540 --> 53:43.180 And it's really important that we understand 53:43.180 --> 53:46.320 that God's vengeance is always just. 53:46.700 --> 53:47.960 It's always right. 53:48.600 --> 53:50.160 And that's something to rejoice in. 53:50.700 --> 53:51.800 You know, that's the reason why 53:51.800 --> 53:54.000 we should rejoice in the Lord's vengeance. 53:54.860 --> 53:57.660 It's not necessarily so we can, yeah, of course, 53:57.820 --> 53:59.540 sometimes it is just nice to see people 53:59.540 --> 54:00.600 get what's coming to them. 54:01.260 --> 54:04.420 But the main point, focal point of our rejoicing 54:04.420 --> 54:08.420 in that situation is just on the fact that God is just. 54:09.580 --> 54:13.640 You know, that alone should cause us to rejoice in him. 54:14.320 --> 54:16.760 The fact that God is just, he's true, 54:17.200 --> 54:19.000 he's righteous in doing these things. 54:19.400 --> 54:21.020 Notice what the Bible says in verse number 10. 54:21.020 --> 54:23.080 It says, the righteous shall rejoice 54:23.750 --> 54:25.220 when he seeeth the vengeance, 54:25.800 --> 54:27.880 he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked 54:28.430 --> 54:29.700 so that a man shall say, 54:29.900 --> 54:32.040 verily there is a reward for the righteous. 54:32.760 --> 54:35.960 Verily he is a God that judges in the earth. 54:36.780 --> 54:38.820 You know, the Bible is bringing up the fact 54:38.820 --> 54:42.700 that the Lord will give vengeance to the righteous. 54:43.280 --> 54:47.720 He's going to recompense those that are persecuting them, 54:48.700 --> 54:50.900 causing evil to happen in their life. 54:52.440 --> 54:54.580 Go to Revelation chapter number 18. 54:55.280 --> 54:57.120 Go to Revelation chapter number 18. 54:57.900 --> 55:02.260 We see kind of a culmination of just Christian persecution 55:02.660 --> 55:05.700 in the Bible with Babylon being destroyed. 55:09.260 --> 55:11.640 Revelation chapter number 18. 55:15.300 --> 55:17.320 The Bible says in verse number 20. 55:20.270 --> 55:22.860 It says, rejoice over her thou heaven 55:22.860 --> 55:26.020 and ye holy apostles and prophets 55:26.020 --> 55:29.800 for God hath avenged you on her. 55:30.120 --> 55:33.700 Notice the Bible is saying that this is a commandment 55:33.700 --> 55:35.940 that we are to rejoice over Babylon. 55:36.180 --> 55:37.660 And in that time, when that happens, 55:37.880 --> 55:39.320 we're going to be rejoiced 55:39.320 --> 55:40.720 and we're going to be commanded to rejoice. 55:41.700 --> 55:44.120 And you notice it's bringing up the fact 55:44.620 --> 55:47.800 that it's not just those on earth, 55:47.940 --> 55:49.020 it's those in heaven as well. 55:49.640 --> 55:52.660 And when you go back to Revelation chapter number six, 55:52.760 --> 55:55.280 I believe, and it's talking about the fifth seal, 55:55.760 --> 55:57.980 the fifth seal is all the martyrs of Christ 55:57.980 --> 56:01.140 under the altar, crying unto God, how long, oh Lord, 56:01.460 --> 56:04.160 holy and true, without a vengeance, right? 56:04.720 --> 56:06.360 So they're longing for this. 56:06.360 --> 56:11.740 And so we get to this point where God is basically 56:11.740 --> 56:14.260 pouring out his vengeance on this city 56:14.730 --> 56:18.420 that has caused many to send Babylon. 56:20.580 --> 56:24.360 And the commandment is that they're to rejoice over her, right? 56:24.720 --> 56:26.440 Even though there's people dying, 56:26.960 --> 56:29.880 there's all kinds of carnage taking place on the earth, 56:30.820 --> 56:32.680 for those in heaven, that's going to be a time 56:32.680 --> 56:35.920 of rejoicing because the Lord is just in doing that. 56:35.920 --> 56:38.840 The Lord is right in executing that vengeance 56:38.840 --> 56:40.780 upon those that deserve it. 56:40.780 --> 56:42.880 Skip over to Revelation chapter number 19. 56:44.500 --> 56:46.300 Revelation chapter number 19. 56:49.190 --> 56:50.500 It says in verse number one, 56:51.040 --> 56:53.060 and after these things I heard a great voice 56:53.060 --> 56:54.600 of much people in heaven saying, 56:54.700 --> 56:57.800 alleluia, salvation and glory and honor 56:57.800 --> 56:59.460 and power unto the Lord our God, 56:59.940 --> 57:02.020 for true and righteous are his judgments, 57:02.660 --> 57:04.160 for he had judged the great whore 57:04.160 --> 57:06.640 which to corrupt the earth with her fornication 57:06.640 --> 57:09.520 at the binge of the blood of his servants at her hand. 57:09.760 --> 57:12.600 Notice they're rejoicing through song, 57:12.700 --> 57:15.280 they're saying alleluia, and they're highlighting what? 57:15.500 --> 57:16.480 Why are they rejoicing? 57:16.720 --> 57:19.200 Because of the true and righteous judgments of the Lord. 57:21.640 --> 57:25.640 This wicked city, Babylon, what did it do? 57:25.760 --> 57:28.940 It persecuted the saints, caused them to be put to death. 57:29.660 --> 57:31.820 You have, at this time, the Antichrist 57:31.820 --> 57:33.500 is literally beheading Christians. 57:34.340 --> 57:36.280 You have many being slaughtered, 57:36.280 --> 57:41.400 but in a totalitarian sense, 57:42.200 --> 57:44.660 when you're looking at the whole of this vengeance, 57:45.020 --> 57:50.100 it's not even just for those that are martyred at this time. 57:50.480 --> 57:52.260 It's really just for all the saints 57:52.260 --> 57:53.340 that were ever martyred. 57:53.920 --> 57:57.100 They're gonna be rejoicing in the fact that the devil, 57:57.680 --> 57:59.260 the Antichrist is gonna be defeated. 58:00.100 --> 58:02.960 They're preparing for the marriage supper of the Lamb. 58:03.980 --> 58:07.500 And so it's all of heaven is going to be rejoicing. 58:07.700 --> 58:10.140 All of heaven is gonna be saying alleluia 58:10.140 --> 58:14.900 and praising God and rejoicing in his mighty works 58:14.900 --> 58:17.320 that he's doing here, his wonderful works 58:17.320 --> 58:18.880 to destroy the wicked. 58:19.660 --> 58:20.660 Go to Psalm 92. 58:21.200 --> 58:22.920 Psalm 92, we're gonna end there. 58:30.480 --> 58:43.070 Psalm 92, the Bible says in verse number one, 58:43.790 --> 58:46.670 it says, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord 58:47.050 --> 58:49.350 and to sing praises unto thy name, 58:49.750 --> 58:52.410 almost high, to show forth thy loving kindness 58:52.410 --> 58:55.290 in the morning and thy faithfulness every night. 58:56.010 --> 58:57.650 Upon an instrument of 10 strings 58:57.650 --> 58:59.410 and upon the sultry, upon the harp, 58:59.770 --> 59:01.770 upon us with a solemn sound, 59:02.270 --> 59:05.230 for thou, Lord, has made me glad through thy work. 59:05.810 --> 59:08.250 I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 59:08.790 --> 59:10.810 O Lord, how great are thy works 59:10.810 --> 59:13.170 and thy thoughts are very deep. 59:13.730 --> 59:16.430 A brutish man, knoweth not, neither doth the fool 59:16.430 --> 59:19.530 understand this, when the wicked spring as the grass 59:19.880 --> 59:22.130 and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, 59:22.710 --> 59:25.370 it is that they shall be destroyed forever. 59:25.830 --> 59:28.170 Notice the Psalmist, he's rejoicing 59:28.170 --> 59:31.330 and it's something that's taking place day and night. 59:31.670 --> 59:33.230 It's something that's good unto him, 59:33.510 --> 59:34.590 something that's pleasing 59:35.480 --> 59:38.550 and he's acknowledging just the great works 59:38.550 --> 59:40.610 that God has done in his life. 59:41.130 --> 59:43.430 So it's kind of like a synopsis 59:43.430 --> 59:44.770 of how to rejoice in the Lord. 59:45.090 --> 59:47.030 But he brings up this fact in verse seven, 59:47.110 --> 59:49.510 he says, the wicked spring as the grass. 59:49.750 --> 59:51.030 And I kind of read this verse, 59:51.150 --> 59:53.050 I'm thinking like of a weed, right? 59:53.410 --> 59:54.530 You know what happens to a weed? 59:54.630 --> 59:57.590 A weed springs up really quickly, right? 59:58.890 --> 01:00:01.350 But then it gets plucked, right? 01:00:01.510 --> 01:00:04.370 It gets rooted out, it gets ripped up, 01:00:04.490 --> 01:00:06.670 it gets destroyed, if you will. 01:00:07.570 --> 01:00:09.230 So the wicked, they're like a weed. 01:00:09.610 --> 01:00:11.790 And you know, there is a time where they're flourishing, 01:00:12.110 --> 01:00:15.050 where it seems like they're having prosperity, 01:00:15.410 --> 01:00:16.110 like they're winning. 01:00:17.950 --> 01:00:19.910 But what's the end of the Psalm? 01:00:20.110 --> 01:00:21.410 How does this thing end? 01:00:21.710 --> 01:00:23.350 It says that they're destroyed forever. 01:00:25.150 --> 01:00:27.730 And that's something to rejoice in the Lord about, 01:00:28.390 --> 01:00:32.370 is knowing that God is going to take care of these people. 01:00:32.670 --> 01:00:34.870 He's gonna take care of all the people 01:00:34.870 --> 01:00:38.150 who are persecuting our church, persecuting our friends, 01:00:39.390 --> 01:00:41.170 persecuting our brothers in Christ, 01:00:41.490 --> 01:00:42.510 the people we care about. 01:00:43.830 --> 01:00:48.190 We can have solace, we can have joy in our life 01:00:48.570 --> 01:00:49.950 going through difficult seasons, 01:00:50.230 --> 01:00:53.290 because we know that their flourishing 01:00:53.290 --> 01:00:54.230 is only for a moment. 01:00:56.950 --> 01:01:01.890 Don't be surprised when they seem to be on the winning, 01:01:02.030 --> 01:01:03.170 or not be on the winning side, 01:01:03.170 --> 01:01:05.470 but when they seem to be winning, right? 01:01:05.730 --> 01:01:08.230 When it seems like God's not taking care of it, 01:01:08.650 --> 01:01:13.430 God's not, you know, dealing with them. 01:01:14.470 --> 01:01:16.770 God allows them to flourish for a moment, 01:01:17.190 --> 01:01:19.910 but then he roots them out, he plucks them up. 01:01:20.030 --> 01:01:20.930 Notice in verse eight, it says, 01:01:21.470 --> 01:01:23.310 But thou, Lord, art most high forever, 01:01:23.870 --> 01:01:25.390 for lo thine enemies, O Lord, 01:01:25.810 --> 01:01:27.470 for lo thine enemies shall perish, 01:01:28.290 --> 01:01:30.670 all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered, 01:01:31.430 --> 01:01:33.990 but my horn shall thou exalt, 01:01:34.150 --> 01:01:35.310 like the horn of a unicorn. 01:01:35.730 --> 01:01:37.810 I shall be anointed with fresh oil. 01:01:38.390 --> 01:01:42.230 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, 01:01:42.670 --> 01:01:45.150 and mine ears shall hear my desire 01:01:45.150 --> 01:01:46.750 of the wicked that rise up against me. 01:01:47.130 --> 01:01:49.230 That is something to rejoice in the Lord about, 01:01:49.850 --> 01:01:51.970 knowing that, hey, even though they might flourish 01:01:51.970 --> 01:01:55.910 for a moment, hey, mine eye is gonna see 01:01:55.910 --> 01:01:57.470 the desire of my heart, 01:01:57.650 --> 01:01:59.790 that they get what's coming to them. 01:02:00.750 --> 01:02:04.030 They're gonna get that vengeance from the Lord. 01:02:04.590 --> 01:02:05.710 It says in verse 12, 01:02:05.870 --> 01:02:08.350 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, 01:02:08.550 --> 01:02:09.970 he shall grow like the seed or lemon. 01:02:10.170 --> 01:02:11.970 Notice the difference here, the contrast. 01:02:12.870 --> 01:02:15.470 You have the wicked, the workers of iniquity, 01:02:16.010 --> 01:02:17.910 the evil doers, the backstabbers, 01:02:18.250 --> 01:02:20.470 they're like the weed, they're like the grass. 01:02:20.750 --> 01:02:23.630 They flourish for a moment, but then they're destroyed. 01:02:24.170 --> 01:02:26.790 But the righteous, those that serve God, 01:02:27.470 --> 01:02:29.510 those that come to the house of God 01:02:29.510 --> 01:02:31.410 that are planted in the house of God, 01:02:31.790 --> 01:02:33.730 the Bible says they flourish like the palm tree. 01:02:34.210 --> 01:02:36.290 They flourish like the seeders of Lebanon. 01:02:36.810 --> 01:02:38.470 And if you read in the Old Testament, 01:02:38.690 --> 01:02:39.510 the seeders of Lebanon, 01:02:39.790 --> 01:02:44.230 they were like the choice of wood for building, right? 01:02:44.450 --> 01:02:47.010 They're strong, they're tall, 01:02:47.550 --> 01:02:51.150 so they do well for building a house to dwell in. 01:02:52.610 --> 01:02:54.230 And that's kind of the idea, 01:02:54.310 --> 01:02:55.890 that's the picture that you're seeing here, 01:02:56.190 --> 01:02:58.770 is that the righteous or the wicked, 01:02:58.770 --> 01:03:00.950 they're going to be destroyed there. 01:03:01.410 --> 01:03:02.930 Even though they might flourish for a moment, 01:03:03.110 --> 01:03:04.890 their day of reckoning is coming. 01:03:05.210 --> 01:03:06.990 We're going to be able to see the desire 01:03:06.990 --> 01:03:08.450 of our enemies upon them, 01:03:08.950 --> 01:03:11.210 but we are going to flourish like the palm tree. 01:03:11.410 --> 01:03:13.910 We're going to flourish like the seeder of Lebanon. 01:03:14.450 --> 01:03:15.550 Notice this in verse 13, 01:03:15.770 --> 01:03:17.650 those that be planted in the house of the Lord 01:03:17.650 --> 01:03:20.610 shall flourish in the courts of our God. 01:03:21.150 --> 01:03:23.830 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. 01:03:24.250 --> 01:03:26.270 They shall be fat and flourishing 01:03:26.870 --> 01:03:29.150 to show that the Lord is upright. 01:03:30.510 --> 01:03:33.850 He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 01:03:33.990 --> 01:03:35.270 You know all the wicked people 01:03:35.270 --> 01:03:37.770 that want to destroy our church and our friends' churches, 01:03:38.510 --> 01:03:38.950 you know what? 01:03:39.450 --> 01:03:42.090 We are going to be still producing fruit in old age. 01:03:42.410 --> 01:03:44.190 We're going to be fat and flourishing 01:03:44.670 --> 01:03:45.790 and they're going to be destroyed. 01:03:47.050 --> 01:03:48.770 We will see it with our own eyes 01:03:49.230 --> 01:03:49.950 and you know what? 01:03:50.830 --> 01:03:52.690 We'll just move on to the next trial, 01:03:53.150 --> 01:03:54.230 the next temptation, 01:03:54.590 --> 01:03:56.170 the next trying of our faith. 01:03:56.950 --> 01:03:58.130 You know and this is something 01:03:58.130 --> 01:03:59.990 that we can rejoice in the Lord about 01:04:00.470 --> 01:04:02.750 knowing that hey, this is a promise from God 01:04:02.750 --> 01:04:05.650 that we shall see these things happen. 01:04:06.850 --> 01:04:09.070 You know and I want to encourage you 01:04:09.070 --> 01:04:10.150 even though it seems like man, 01:04:11.710 --> 01:04:13.990 everything's negative, everything's bad. 01:04:14.130 --> 01:04:15.430 I've taken that black pill. 01:04:16.230 --> 01:04:18.410 It's settled in in my heart. 01:04:18.830 --> 01:04:20.710 Listen, I want to encourage you to rejoice in the Lord 01:04:20.710 --> 01:04:23.370 all the way and again, right? 01:04:23.810 --> 01:04:25.650 Remember all the mighty works, 01:04:25.850 --> 01:04:27.090 the great works of the Lord. 01:04:27.930 --> 01:04:30.510 You know we have so much to rejoice in the Lord about. 01:04:31.610 --> 01:04:34.130 You know and when that wicked is destroyed, 01:04:34.690 --> 01:04:38.830 when those that you know sought evil against our church, 01:04:39.490 --> 01:04:43.590 against our friends and faithful Word Baptist church 01:04:43.590 --> 01:04:45.490 or church foundation first work. 01:04:45.750 --> 01:04:46.890 I mean all of our friends, 01:04:47.110 --> 01:04:48.470 those that are attacking them, 01:04:49.050 --> 01:04:50.430 that want to harm them, 01:04:50.990 --> 01:04:52.310 that want to destroy them. 01:04:52.530 --> 01:04:53.890 I want to destroy good men, 01:04:54.430 --> 01:04:56.130 destroy godly men, men of God. 01:04:56.710 --> 01:04:58.810 Listen, we can rejoice in the Lord 01:04:58.810 --> 01:05:01.390 knowing that we're going to see their destruction 01:05:02.170 --> 01:05:03.930 and when they're long gone, 01:05:04.290 --> 01:05:05.510 we're going to be fat and flourishing. 01:05:05.850 --> 01:05:08.490 We're going to be producing fruit in old age. 01:05:08.830 --> 01:05:10.270 I want to encourage you to, 01:05:10.390 --> 01:05:12.130 you know dwell on the things 01:05:12.130 --> 01:05:13.470 that God has done in your life. 01:05:13.690 --> 01:05:16.110 You know don't dwell on all the negative things. 01:05:16.270 --> 01:05:16.730 I get it. 01:05:16.730 --> 01:05:19.970 You're going to have seasons where that's going to happen. 01:05:20.810 --> 01:05:22.090 Bad things are going to happen. 01:05:22.790 --> 01:05:24.030 You know and I'm not saying 01:05:24.530 --> 01:05:27.230 you can't be in heaviness during those times 01:05:27.230 --> 01:05:31.070 but just know that the way to produce joy 01:05:31.070 --> 01:05:33.490 in those moments is through rejoicing in the Lord. 01:05:33.930 --> 01:05:34.230 Let's pray. 01:05:34.390 --> 01:05:35.090 Dear Heavenly Father, Lord. 01:05:37.090 --> 01:05:39.490 Thank you for just so many great truths that we have 01:05:39.490 --> 01:05:41.390 that we can be encouraged by. 01:05:41.810 --> 01:05:44.270 God I pray that we would just apply these things 01:05:44.270 --> 01:05:45.010 to our heart Lord. 01:05:45.010 --> 01:05:46.610 I know I needed this message. 01:05:46.770 --> 01:05:50.550 I needed to just study your word on this topic 01:05:51.790 --> 01:05:54.630 and to just get some joy back in my own life. 01:05:54.950 --> 01:05:59.170 Just knowing that you're still on your throne Lord, 01:05:59.310 --> 01:06:01.430 that you're still in control 01:06:01.430 --> 01:06:03.430 and that all things work together for good. 01:06:03.930 --> 01:06:06.510 I pray Lord that we would have that type of attitude 01:06:06.510 --> 01:06:10.230 where we would want to produce joy in our lives. 01:06:10.370 --> 01:06:12.350 We would want to rejoice in all that you've done 01:06:13.530 --> 01:06:14.630 all way and again. 01:06:14.630 --> 01:06:16.090 We pray these things in your son's name. 01:06:16.350 --> 01:06:16.490 Amen.