Crown Him Lord Of All!

Good morning again.

It's my privilege this morning to preach and to bring the word this morning, which is what our hearts need, right?

! We need the word of God. It's food for us. And so this morning we start our series in the Psalms and we start with Psalm 21 this morning.

So if you would, if you would locate Psalm 21, and if you're able, I would ask you in honor of God's word to stand as we read Psalm 21.

So stand with me.

It's the Psalm of David.

O Lord, in your strength the King rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exalts.

You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

For you meet him with rich blessings.

You set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

He asked life of you.

You gave it to him, length of days, forever and ever.

His glory is great through your salvation.

Splendor and majesty you bestow on him.

For you make him most blessed forever.

You make him glad with the joy of your presence.

For the King trusts in the Lord.

And through the steadfast love of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

Your hand will find out all your enemies.

Your right hand will find out those who hate you.

You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath.

And fire will consume them.

You will destroy their descendants from the earth and their offspring from among the children of man.

Though they plan evil against you.

Though they devise mischief.

They will not succeed.

For you will put them to flight.

You will aim at their faces with your bows.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength.

We will sing and praise your power.

Let's pray.

Father, we marvel at your greatness.

God, we see it here echoed in the words of David as he worships you.

As he declares who you are.

As your character shines forth.

God, we this morning are grateful to be called by your name.

We're grateful for your blessings.

And God, we ask this morning as your word is preached that you would speak to our hearts.

God, we ask that you would resonate.

Your word would resonate in our hearts.

God, and we would be more drawn to you.

And we praise you this morning in Christ's name.

Amen.

Y'all can have a seat.

Well, it's believed by many that this psalm was written in response to the coronation of David.

And as I was preparing and studying for this psalm, it was a blessing to me to remember some truths about David.

And what I want to do is I want to share some of those truths.

It was just a quick summary of some of the things that David experienced leading up to this moment in time when he was crowned king.

There's a lot we can see in the scriptures about David.

And certainly don't want to hit all of those truths, but we want to hit a few.

You know, when David was young, we'd learn in the scriptures that he was tending the sheep.

It's always been odd to me to think that David would tend the sheep.

In my mind in that day, that was the role of a servant.

And yet he is a son.

He was the youngest of eight sons of his father.

The other sons were trained in war and battle.

And yet David, for some reason, was sent into the wilderness with all the sheep to take care of the sheep.

Now, God had a plan, but honestly, I don't know what his father thought.

I don't know if there was some friction between him and his father.

I don't know what they thought of David.

He was certainly young still.

And yet I believe that when he was in the quietness of the wilderness with the sheep and pretty much alone,

he would play songs.

He would sing songs.

He would worship God.

I can only imagine looking up and seeing the starry sky and just being in awe of God.

We learn from David as he talks about that time that in keeping the sheep,

on occasion there would be animals, a bear, a lion, he speaks of both,

that would come and attack the flock.

And we're told in the scriptures that David would pursue the sheep that got taken.

And David shares that on more than one occasion, God gave him extraordinary strength

and incredible courage to go after those sheep.

And he saw the powerful hand of God in those moments deliver the sheep through him.

And we see as we continue to walk toward the time when he is confronting Goliath,

we see that incredible courage displayed there as well.

Well, so David seemed to have friction between himself and his brothers.

He was asked by his father to take food to the battlefield when they were encamped against the Philistine army.

And he went in honor of his father to take the food.

And the brothers were like, what are you doing here?

Why are you even here?

You're just a shepherd.

You don't deserve to be here.

What gives you the right to come?

Well, Dad asked me to bring this to you.

Oh, okay.

Go home.

There seemed to be some odds between he and his brother.

What we see in the encounter with Goliath is amazing to me.

And I think we've all been amazed that a boy could have that courage.

When no other warrior in the camp of Israel had courage to stand against Goliath,

David had experienced the powerful presence of God,

had experienced the powerful hand of God through him as he fought against the lions,

as he fought against the bears, as he protected the flock.

And he makes a statement about that time.

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that would dare defy God?

Who would dishonor him and God's people?

And there is a boldness that rises up within David.

We see a character in David that has been changed by God.

You know, I believe that's what happens with us.

The more we're in the presence of God, the more we're changed.

And I think David was one that was familiar with worship,

and he was familiar with the presence of God.

And so with that courage, he says,

Who are you?

This day I will feed you to the birds of the air.

Where does that courage come from if it's not from God?

And David confronts Goliath, and sure enough, we know the story how Goliath is slain.

He cuts his head off and brings the head back into the camp,

and it gives courage to all of Israel.

You know, in those days, Saul, the king, had turned away from honoring God,

and he tried to build his own kingdom.

He honored himself and not God, and so God took the kingdom from the hand of Saul,

and God sent Samuel to David to anoint him as the next king.

And so he goes to David's father's house, Jesse, and he says,

Where are your sons?

The Lord has sent me here.

And he calls his sons, and guess who's left out?

Again, there's something there.

It's hard to understand exactly.

The scriptures don't really give us enough fact to understand what's going on there.

But he was not even called when this honored guest, the spiritual leader of the nation,

showed up at their front door, so to speak.

And yet he looks, and God says, Not him, not him, not him, not him, not him, not him.

Do you have any other sons?

Well, yeah, I do, but he's just a shepherd.

He's out in the field.

He's not a warrior.

I mean, surely you can't.

We will not sit down until you go get him.

And he goes and gets him.

David arrives.

And what does he do?

He said, God says to him, That's the one.

That's the one.

Anoint him as king.

Let me ask this.

What did y'all do?

What were y'all doing 10 years ago?

12 years ago?

Y'all remember?

Isn't it interesting that Samuel anoints him as king, and yet he doesn't experience a coronation

for years and years and years?

Do you think he was puzzled?

Samuel, did you make a mistake?

I mean, Saul's the king.

Why did you anoint me?

Why didn't you wait till after Saul?

There's probably a lot of questions, but you don't question Samuel.

My point is this.

Surely David struggled to understand, Wait a minute.

What happened here?

Am I to be king, and why am I not king now?

And then Saul begins to attack David.

Saul throws a spear at him twice to kill him, and he avoids the spear, and he heads out.

David leaves the presence of Saul, and he goes out away from Saul to get some space.

And what does Saul do?

He takes the army and chases David to kill him, because he heard that David had been anointed

by Samuel.

And so David had the chance more than once to kill Saul.

You remember the story that they were hiding in the cave when Saul and his army came, and

Saul walks into the cave to relieve himself.

And what does David do?

The guys are, Get him!

Get him!

You got a chance!

Get him now!

Now, and David takes his knife and cuts the robe and holds the piece in his hand.

Saul walks outside.

David walks out of the cave and says, Saul, king, Lord, why do you chase after me to kill

me?

And he holds up the piece of the garment that he cut off, and he says, look, this is from

your garment.

God delivered you into my hand.

But I will not raise my hand against you, because you are the Lord's anointed.

How many years did this go on?

How many years did Saul pursue him?

We know the other time that God caused a hard sleep to fall on all of the army of Israel,

and David and his chief go right into the camp.

They take the spear and the water jug, I think it was, from the head of the king.

It was sitting on the ground, and they go up the hill, and they begin to call to him,

Lord, Saul, why do you come after me?

I'm just a dog.

And he holds it up, and he said, see, God delivered you again into my hand, but I will

not do harm to God's anointed.

All that time, he waited and waited and waited and waited for God's timing.

He did not push his own timing to try to make himself king, though he knew that he had been

anointed, and he knew that the Spirit of God had come upon him, which is what the Scripture

declares.

And here we are in Psalm 21, and I believe this is the moment of the coronation of David.

This would mean that Saul is no longer on the scene.

He was killed in battle.

And then David comes to be crowned as king.

You know, the psalm, the women sang a song at one point when Saul was still alive and said,

Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

David was a warrior.

God had made him a warrior to fight against the enemies of God, the enemies of the people.

And here we are in the first, well, I would say this, the psalm has three different sections

this morning, and we're going to look at all three.

And so really, there's three main points that we want to see this morning.

The first section is verses one through seven.

And the point I want you to see is that the king is blessed by God.

The king is blessed by God.

Let's read this section again, one through seven.

I'll read it if you have your scriptures open, which I hope you do.

Why don't you read along as I share here.

Oh, Lord, in your strength, the king rejoices.

Can you hear David?

At this moment, he's worshiping God.

He's waited a long time for the moment when God would actually place him as king of the nation.

And here he says, oh, Lord, in your strength, the king rejoices.

And in your salvation, how greatly he exalts.

What is it to rejoice?

What is rejoicing?

Rejoicing is an overflow of joy.

I want you to notice what David says here.

It says, my joy is because of what you've done.

My joy is because I stand in your strength.

My joy is because of your salvation.

Do you see the two phrases there in the first verse?

In your strength, in your salvation, these are the things that bring me joy.

Lord, I rest in you.

Do you think that he's lived that over the last several years prior to this time?

As he's watched time and time again, God deliver him from the hand of Saul and from other enemies.

He sees and he knows that his strength is found not in himself, but in God.

It's a gift of God.

And so he worships, oh, Lord, in your strength, the king rejoices.

And in your salvation, how greatly he exalts.

Incredible joy.

We'll talk more about that in a minute.

You have given him his heart's desire.

You know what was said of David, and we could probably all share this.

It was said of David that he's a man after God's own heart.

Here David says, you have given me, or you've given the king, his heart's desire.

Put those two things together, and what's the truth that rises out of this?

You know, the heart's desire of David is that he would know and honor and love and be in the presence of God.

A man after God's own heart.

If he truly is a man after God's own heart, what is it that brings him joy?

What is it that fulfills him and satisfies him?

It's God.

When he knows and understands and experiences God, then his great satisfaction.

And he relays that here.

You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

You see the blessings of God that David has received?

And he goes on and on and on and on.

So I ask this, what blessings, as David shares this psalm with the people, what blessings of God do we see?

What blessings are attributed to God?

And what blessings does he attribute to himself and his own actions?

You know, in this psalm, it's all about what God does.

Do you see it?

Verse 1, O Lord, I'm full of joy because of your strength and your salvation.

You have given, verse 2.

You meet him with rich blessings, verse 3.

You set a crown, a fine goal upon the king's head.

He asked life of you and you gave life.

You gave the king life.

Do you see what he's doing?

He's worshiping and he's praising the God who has blessed him beyond measure.

Do you think when he was a boy that he ever dreamed that there would be a day when the crown would be placed on his head?

Do you think his dad ever thought that?

Do you think his brothers ever thought that?

In his wildest imagination, he could have never thought that.

And yet, here he is by the power and the plan of God.

He's experiencing this moment and he's full of rejoicing.

He's full of joy.

He's full of encouragement on what God has done.

If we look at verse 5,

His glory is great through your salvation.

Do you see that he's not saying, look what I've done?

Look how great I am.

Look at how I've defeated my enemies.

He doesn't say anything to that.

You know what he says to the people?

People, do you realize this is all God?

This has nothing to do with me.

It has all to do with God.

And look what he's done, don't you?

Aren't you amazed at what God has done that he would so do this in my life?

It goes on to say,

Splendor and majesty you've bestowed upon him.

You know, it is, there is a measure of splendor and majesty when an Israelite is crowned the king.

The protector and provider of the people.

And certainly he's experiencing that, but he's not letting that grab his heart like Saul did.

You know, if we read the scriptures, we come to understand that Saul desperately clung to the kingship.

And he longed for his children to be on the throne after him, Jonathan specifically.

And it didn't happen.

And here's David not saying, I'm going to protect what I've gained.

I'm going to protect this position.

You know what he's saying?

God, we worship you.

We stand amazed at how you bless.

Verse 6,

You, God, you make him most blessed forever.

You, God, make him glad and with joy, the joy of your presence.

Isn't it interesting that God weaves a path for all of us?

And for all of his children, the path that he weaves is what?

It's this path of intimacy.

It's this path that leads us to his presence.

And it's this path that helps us experience who he is.

I'm amazed at what God did in David's life when he was young.

No matter the friction between him and his father,

no matter the friction between him and his brother,

God set that in motion with a plan in his life.

God knew that one day David would be the king.

And God had to prepare him for that moment.

And here he is in humility, giving God this praise.

And notice in verse 7,

The king trusts in the Lord,

and through the steadfast love of the Most High,

he shall not be moved.

It's not through his own ability.

It's not through his own capability of being a warrior.

The thing that's going to allow David and the nation to stand is the steadfast love of the Lord.

Do you believe that's true in your life?

Let me ask this.

When times are tough and difficult,

you know that David walked those difficult times?

The king of the nation is pursuing him to kill him?

When times are tough for you,

do you find yourself trusting in God?

Do you find yourself trying to take ownership of the results to control the outcomes?

Or do you find yourself like David says,

God, I'm in your hands.

You do whatever you want.

If you desire for me to be king,

God, I will not press it.

I give myself to you at the proper time.

You place me where you desire to place me.

Do we live like that?

Do you live like that?

Do you trust in such a way that when life is throwing you obstacles,

when circumstances are incredibly difficult,

do you find yourself saying,

God, I'm in your hands.

I trust you.

You're sovereign.

You've got a plan.

You're working this in my life for my good.

I can't see it right now because the level of pain is tough.

But God, I trust you.

I rely on you.

And I worship you and I praise you.

You know what else he knows?

Let me just read.

This is David again in another Psalm.

You don't have to turn,

but I'm turning back to Psalm 16 and verse 11.

Listen to what David says.

He says,

He says,

He's speaking to God.

In your presence,

there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Let me read that again.

And I wonder if that resonates with you.

In your presence,

there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

You know,

David in this Psalm,

he is saying,

here's my joy.

My joy

and my satisfaction

are directly tied

to the Lord.

Do you know that

when we seek joy in this world,

we seek joy in things,

we seek joy in success,

we seek joy in any other way

besides Him,

that is God.

You know what doesn't satisfy?

And it doesn't bring us lasting joy.

David

treasures something greater

than the kingship.

You know what he treasures?

God Himself.

And it's my hope, church,

that this is true for you and me.

is that we treasure

the presence of God.

And as it's said over here,

in your presence,

there is fullness of joy.

If you want to experience joy,

unspeakable joy,

abundant joy,

you know where it's found?

It's in the presence of God.

Have you sought His presence

like David sought His presence?

Have you experienced His deliverance

the way David experienced His deliverance?

Have you worshipped Him

the way David is worshipping Him?

As the one who's worthy of worship?

You know, David had a lot of enemies.

And if we look at this next section,

section 2,

here's the truth

and the main point of section 2.

So this is point number 2.

Point number 1 is

God has blessed the king.

And I would say this,

if He's blessed the king,

guess what?

He's blessed the kingdom as well.

He blessed the king

and as a result,

He also blessed the kingdom.

That is the people

under the charge of David.

And section 2,

or number 2 is this,

no enemy can hide

from God's judgment.

No enemy.

David had a lot of enemies,

but none can hide

from the judgment of God.

You know God can't be mocked?

Some people will look in the face of God

and say,

who do you think you are?

I'm not worried about you.

I can do anything I want.

I'm my own God.

I could care less about you.

Yeah, they say you created the world.

There's all kind of gods.

I don't care.

I'm living life the way

I want to live life.

You just get out of my way.

You know there's a lot of people

that live like that

and believe that?

The way it's described

in verse 11,

these people,

it says,

though they plan evil against you,

that is against God,

though they devise mischief

as if they can control

the ultimate outcome,

they will not succeed.

And in verse 8,

if you will,

I'm going to read through here too.

It says,

your hand will find out

all your enemies.

Isn't it interesting?

He says your hand.

God, your hand.

That is the strength.

Your strength.

Your hand.

That is action.

Not just you will know about it, God,

but your hand

will be against

all your enemies.

Your right hand

will find out those who hate you.

Do you think that anyone

can hide from God?

There's some who think they can.

The word of God declares they can't.

Notice what it says here.

So I ask the question,

what is he talking about?

Here's what he's talking about.

The coming righteous judgment of God

on all the enemies of God

and God's people.

Again,

it's the coming righteous judgment of God

against all the enemies of God.

David is declaring this

on this coronation day

as he protects the people,

as he declares,

God,

I've seen your hand

against your enemies

and I trust you.

And he makes this declaration.

He said,

you will make them

as a blazing oven

when you appear.

What is he talking about?

When you appear.

What do you think?

It's when he appears,

when Christ returns.

It's the second coming of Christ.

And at the second coming of Christ,

what happens for those

who are his children

who trust him?

Christians,

those whose names are written

in the book of life.

What happens then?

They're caught up with him

and will ever,

forever be with them.

But what happens

to the enemies of God

when Christ returns?

You know what happens?

This is what happens.

Look at verse 9.

It's a blazing oven.

The scripture says of hell

where a worm does not die

and the fire is not quenched.

There is no escape.

The enemies of God

will be eternally separated

from God.

And David declares

it's like a blazing oven.

And then also he says

it will swallow them up.

Like a flood,

it will swallow all of them up.

fire will consume them.

They will be destroyed.

Do you hear judgment

in this section?

As David declares,

God, you're good.

You know what I see

in this psalm?

I see the character of God.

You know what the character of God,

how the character of God

responds to those

that worship him

and serve him?

He pours abundant blessings

on their life.

Extravagant blessings.

If you read what David just said

about what God has done

in his life

and how he's been blessed,

did you pick up what he said?

Strength and salvation,

you satisfy my heart's desire.

You bless me richly.

You set a crown on my head.

You give me life,

true life,

spiritual life,

glory,

splendor,

majesty,

gladness,

joy.

All of those are gifts from God.

Does he just give us a little?

You know what John says

in the book,

in his gospel?

He says he desires

to lavishly pour joy upon us,

that our cup would overflow,

like Psalm 23 says.

God, in his character,

blesses his children.

children.

We are going to receive

a gift that we can't possibly imagine.

We think about it,

read about it,

we have hope of it,

but we don't know how great it's going to be

when we step into the eternal kingdom of God.

But to his enemies,

a blazing oven,

fire,

consume.

When will it happen?

The second coming.

You know,

David waited a long time before he's the king.

In our life,

when Satan

and his servants

and those who are used by him

to attack us,

you know,

sometimes we

feel like this isn't fair,

God.

When is this going in?

I can't take anymore,

God.

Would you please deliver me?

You know,

God,

for his own purpose,

for our blessing,

he allows that to go on and on and on at times.

And yet,

this is true.

For sure it's coming.

There's a day coming

when the vengeance

that God will exact

towards his enemies

will happen.

It will happen.

We read about it in Revelation 6.

Listen to the coming judgment

that's spoken of in this psalm

in Revelation 6.

If we were to study deeply

this section of Revelation,

we would realize

that this is speaking

of the second coming of Christ.

And here's what Revelation says,

just three verses.

Then the kings of the earth

and the great ones

and the generals

and the rich

and the powerful

and everyone slave and free

hid themselves in the caves

and among the rocks

of the mountains,

calling to the mountains

and the rocks,

fall on us

and hide us

from the face

from the face of him

who is seated on the throne

and from the wrath

of the Lamb.

For the great day

of their wrath

has come

and who can stand?

Isn't it interesting

to view Christ

in that way?

that as mankind

has dishonored God

and has shunned him

and turned their back

on God

and been arrogant

toward God

and not bowed

the knee to God

and chose not to serve him,

not to worship him,

which is right,

we should.

He deserves worship.

And yet they said,

no way,

I don't want anything

to do with it.

Revelation 19

pictures Christ

riding on a white horse,

white horse,

the horse of purity.

There's a statement here

about the purity of Christ

and it says,

a white horse,

the one sitting on it

is called faithful and true.

Who would that be?

It's obviously Jesus.

And in righteousness

he judges and makes war.

He is clothed in a robe

dipped in blood

and the name by which

he is called

is the word of God.

He will tread

the winepress

of the fury

of the wrath

of God Almighty.

There is coming a time

when judgment

will be handed

to all

who chose

to push God away.

And who is going to be

leading

the army,

if you want to call it that,

it's really not an army,

it's Christ alone.

Christ,

the scripture talks about

he's going to judge

with a sword

from his mouth.

It's the word

that's going to convict.

It's the word

that's going to reveal.

It's the word

that's going to judge.

And Christ

is pictured here

as the one

that's doing that.

Part three,

section three,

verse 13.

So David,

in this moment

of coronation,

is remembering

all the blessings

of God

that he's been given.

He's also remembering,

reminding himself

that no enemy

can hide

from the hand

and the judgment

of God.

And then third,

God is worthy

of worship.

Do you agree?

Amen.

He's worthy

of worship.

Do you find yourself

often worshiping?

Do you find yourself

mostly worshiping

when we sing songs here?

Or do you find yourself

worshiping often

when you're in your car

or in your house

or in your yard

or you're just

going about your day?

Do you find yourself

worshiping the one

who's worthy

to be worshiped?

Do you remind yourself

of the sovereign,

powerful hand of God?

Does it bring joy

to your heart

and your spirit

when you remember

these things?

Look what he says.

Be exalted,

O Lord,

in your strength.

We will sing

and praise

your power.

It's as if he's

thinking about

the omnipotence

of God.

There's no one

that can thwart

the plan

and the power

of God.

The same God

that would bless

David

and place him

on the throne

of the nation

of Israel,

the most unlikely

of people.

The same God

who's promised

a day of judgment,

vengeance is God's,

he will repay

all of his enemies

with judgment

and he worships God.

He's worthy

of worship,

amen?

It's my hope

that all of us

would grow

in this area

of our life

that we would

grow in worship.

You know,

I believe this

is the more

we see

the character

of God,

you know what

happens?

The more we worship.

The more we're

in the word of God

and we read

the word of God,

we see the character

of God

and we worship.

The more we experience

the blessing of God,

the more we experience

the presence of God,

you know what?

We worship.

You know what we need?

We need a glimpse

of the glory of God.

You know what happens

when we get that glimpse

of the glory of God?

We worship.

He's called us

to live a life

of worship.

What a privilege

that we get to worship

that he's made himself

known to you and me

for those of us

who are in the kingdom

that are believers.

He's made himself known.

Let me ask this question.

Do you see Christ

in this psalm?

Do you see Jesus?

Do you know

the word of God

declares that he's

king of kings?

He is the great king.

Boy, as I read this,

it's just so obvious

this seems to be

more about Jesus

than it is about David.

Why do I say that?

Look at verse 4.

He, the king,

asked life of you, God,

and you gave it to him,

length of days,

forever and ever.

Did David die?

Yes, he was God's son,

and yes, he will be

in the heavenly kingdom,

but earthly speaking,

bodily speaking,

he died.

He's in the grave.

And yet he speaks

of this king

as if he will have

length of days

forever and ever,

and his kingdom

will not end.

Who does that sound like?

You know,

David was a man

after God's own heart,

but David had some

compromises, right?

Notice verse 7,

it says this,

it's for,

the king trusts in the Lord

and through this steadfast,

unfailing love

of the Most High,

he shall not be moved.

Let me just say this,

David was moved.

He was moved

by the lust for Bathsheba,

he was moved

by the desire

for her so much

that he would cause

her husband

to be executed

in battle,

placed on the front lines

and all the protection

removed so that he would die,

so that he could go

chase after that.

He had wives many.

David was not pure,

though he was a man

after God's own heart.

Do you find it to be true

that we tend to stumble

and we tend to sin often?

Is that true for you and me?

I know it is for me.

But what I read here

in the purest sense

of what's being said

that David

in receiving the kingship

is a foreshadowing

or a pointing

to the true king.

The king that truly

will always stand

in honor of God

who will never be moved,

who will never give in

to the temptation

that Satan tried

to trap him in,

who will never give in

to sin, ever.

He defeated sin,

he defeated death

through his perfect life.

I believe this

is a picture

of the coming Messiah.

I believe that's

what this really

is talking about.

It's telling us

before it ever happened,

there's one coming

who's pure

in every way,

and God is going to

lavish his blessings

on this one.

God is going to use him

to destroy all the enemies

of God

because of his incredible

desire for God's worship.

Those who choose

not to worship

will be judged.

Let me ask you

this morning,

which one of these

are you?

Are you one

that honors God

and serves God

and loves God

and chases God

and pursues his presence?

You know,

the character of God

is such that he's

going to lavish

on you

gifts and blessings

that we only

can wonder about

right now.

The blessing

is going to be

so great.

That is the character

of God.

And I hope

all of you

are in his kingdom.

I hope all of you

serve and honor

and chase after him

and desire

to worship him.

But you know

the ones who don't,

the ones who say,

no, I don't want

anything to do with you,

there's a day coming.

It's judgment day.

Will there be

eternal separation

from the presence

of all the goodness

and all the greatness

and all the love

of God.

And I encourage you,

if you're not sure

you're in the kingdom,

and if God's speaking

to your heart

this morning,

would you consider

what Christ has done

through his perfect life,

his sacrificial life,

for those who would

trust in him,

those who by faith

would receive the gift

that Christ is,

that God sent

his only son

to come live

a perfect life

and die a cruel death

in our place

that we might know him.

Today,

you can know him

if you don't already.

let's pray.

Father,

we're grateful

for your word

and Father,

you are worthy

of worship.

Would you draw us

into a deeper walk

with you?

Would you fill

our hearts

with praise

for you?

Would you show us

your glory,

God,

that we might

worship you

appropriately?

God,

you're worthy

of worship,

you've created us

and you're

the source

of all things

that are good.

God,

you have given us

the beautiful picture

of what's to come,

just this lavish feast,

this wedding supper

of the Lamb

when his bride,

the church,

and our Lord

and Savior,

Jesus,

are going to be

united forever

to spend eternity

together

in worship of you.

God,

thank you for this

morning,

thank you for your word

and I praise you

in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.