Do You Enjoy True Peace?

Would you pray with me?

Oh, Father, satisfy us before the day has passed us by.

Cause us to find all that our hearts desire and long for and seek after

fulfilled in you from Jesus Christ and for his sake alone we ask.

Amen.

Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

do you enjoy true peace?

God's word holds up for us.

Shalom.

True peace.

Shalom means completeness.

It means wholeness of relationship.

And on the last verse of Psalm 4,

he says,

I will lay down in peace.

I will lay down in shalom.

The verse right before that,

he says,

it's God who has put gladness in my heart.

And I simply want you to examine yourself and reflect on that question.

Do you know what David's talking about?

Do you enjoy true peace?

Charles Spurgeon calls Psalm 4 another choice flower from the garden of David's afflictions.

There's the life of David full of affliction.

Not a good life,

a miserable life.

And yet from that affliction,

from those tribulations and from those temptations,

from that anger,

those accusations,

the spirit ministered to this man,

the sin saver,

saved sinner.

Sorry.

And in Psalm 4,

I don't think David is put up to us necessarily as a type of Christ in this Psalm.

You know,

the Psalms are the songbook of Jesus,

and he prayed them throughout his ministry from the cross.

But I think Psalm 4,

it's a Psalm where David is simply made low.

He's made low as a common man,

a common foot soldier,

a sinner who has been saved by grace.

So it puts words now inspired by the spirit for us who are believers,

who are saved sinners in that same way.

In Psalm 1,

we saw there are two ways to live.

Do you remember that?

Now in Psalm 4,

we see there are two ways to lay down at the end of the day.

You can lay down in stress and anxiety and fear,

or you can lay down in peace.

In Psalm 3,

the emphasis was on how David laid down,

but he woke again.

And as he wakes,

he calls on God to rise up.

And in Psalm 4,

the emphasis is less on waking up.

It's more on being still in the quiet of your own bed

and having peace with God in your conscience.

In Psalm 3,

David declared that salvation is of the Lord alone.

Do you remember that?

And in Psalm 4,

David bears witness.

It's possible to enjoy true peace in a hostile world.

That's what he confesses in Psalm 4.

He says,

I will lay down and sleep in peace.

You know,

in the New Testament,

death is always referred to as sleep for the believer.

When the believer dies,

it's referred to as you fell asleep.

And so Psalm 4,

in that sense,

talks about one day in the life of a believer in a hostile world.

But that one day is really a picture of one life lived in a hostile world.

And when you will go to sleep that last day,

will you be in peace?

Every night when you lie down,

you have the opportunity to practice for the day of your death.

You get to prepare for death once every single day,

at least.

You get to prepare for death seven times every week.

When you lay down at night and all is dark.

365 times a year.

We are practicing for the day when our soul will leave our body.

The body will sleep and the soul will face eternal destiny.

Are you at peace?

Do you enjoy true peace?

Have you tasted that gladness that David talks about now in preparation for that eternal gladness with Christ?

At the end of your day,

do you enjoy true peace?

At the end of your life,

will you enjoy true peace with God?

That's what you need to figure out from Psalm 4.

So my one main point is this.

If you trust in God as your righteousness,

he leads you to enjoy true peace.

First observation.

God's enemies hate the Prince of Peace and they hunt down God's people.

The language of Psalm 2 is that the nations rage against God.

And they hate the Son of God, we're told.

Well, David, he has said,

that's my God.

He's aligned himself with the kingdom of heaven

more than any other kingdom on earth.

In verse 1 and verse 3 of Psalm 4, look there.

David feels rightly accused by Satan.

He says,

you don't rightly belong in the congregation of God's people.

If you're praying to God,

what makes you think God should hear you?

You're a sinner, David.

Do you hear the accusation?

But David defends it and he calls out,

God, hear me when I pray.

But in Psalm 4, David is accused by Satan.

In verse 2 and verse 6,

David feels pressure, distress,

persecuted from the outside,

from worldly men.

And the King James,

he preaches to them.

He says,

you sons of men,

you're not from the line of God of heaven.

You're sons of men.

You're earthly, worldly men.

So he's tempted by the men of the world

and accused by them,

just as Satan is bringing tribulation on his life.

But it's not only Satan,

it's not only the world,

it's also within David,

inside of himself,

his own flesh.

In verse 4,

David feels anger.

The phrase,

stand with trembling and anger,

stand in awe,

or in your anger,

don't sin.

But the temptation to sin

comes from inside of David as well,

when he's all alone in his room.

So he is tempted by Satan,

he is tempted by the world,

and he is tempted by his own flesh.

And look at the result

of this kind of temptation.

He's in his own bed.

He's up and down.

He's unable to sleep

until the very end of the psalm.

David's experiencing what

the novelist Charlotte Bronte described.

She said,

a ruffled mind

makes a restless pillow.

You've had those nights.

You look at the clock.

If I could fall asleep now,

I'll get six hours of sleep.

It doesn't happen.

If I could fall asleep now,

I'll at least get four hours of sleep.

That's one REM cycle.

It doesn't happen.

Man,

in 40 minutes,

my alarm is going to go off.

If I could just close my eyes

and snooze,

then I'll wake up

and I'll feel better.

And it doesn't happen.

You've had those sleepless nights.

So God's enemies,

they hate the Prince of Peace

and they hunt down his people.

If you're a Christian,

Jesus said,

in this world,

you will have tribulation.

1 John 2.16

tells us that God has enemies

and those enemies come after God's people.

They hunt you in the same way.

From that,

the church has gotten the three enemies.

Historically,

it's the world,

the flesh,

and the devil.

You see all three right here

in Psalm 4,

don't you?

David says he's been swarmed

by lies and vanity

in verse 2.

He says,

there are many.

I look around

and I see most people.

They have no hope in God.

They look to anything else

to give them a kind of blessing.

David says his soul

has been empty

of any kind of gladness.

He can't come up with joy

on his own.

He's depressed.

He needs it to come

from outside of himself.

And in this state,

David is tempted to sin.

He feels like he can't bear this

any longer.

And he says in verse 2,

how long?

And that phrase,

how long,

is normally used as a lament.

And it's usually taken

to the throne of God

and declared,

God,

how much longer

until you will step in?

Well,

notice though here,

David in verse 2,

he turns this lament

into preaching

at the nation.

And the word of encouragement

is this,

that God does lead his people

to enjoy true peace

in this world

that rages against God.

And God gives his people

fitting weapons

for this battle.

My first point

comes from the superscription

of Psalm 4.

Look at that.

The superscription

is that little description

at the top of the psalm.

It says the context

and how it's to be sung.

So you see in your Bible,

mine reads,

to the chief musician,

on Niganath,

a psalm of David.

That's the superscription.

And I want to try to argue

that God gives us,

his people,

fitting weapons

for this battle

that we are all in,

one of which

is congregational singing.

See, Satan,

he knows that your flesh

wants to believe

happiness is possible

without God.

And Psalm 4

attacks that lie.

You will not find happiness

without God.

Satan knows that

he can cut you off

from God's family.

And if he can cut you off

from God's family,

God's army,

God's church,

he will shut you up.

Now the Spirit says,

no,

no one can clutch you

out of my hands.

But Satan tries.

He tries to cut you off

of God's people.

And Satan knows

that isolation

leads to depression.

Depression leads to sin.

Sin leads to guilt.

Guilt leads to you

feeling like your fellowship

with God is broken.

When you feel that way,

you don't enjoy peace.

You have no joy.

You see the battle

that's going on

for your soul?

But notice David says,

take up the stringed instruments.

And he gives orders

as the king

to the chief musician.

What's the weapon?

What's the weapon

that the Spirit

is calling the church to use?

It's congregational singing.

There's musicians.

There are instruments.

There's the army gathered.

The army is the choir.

We're going to sing Scripture.

We're going to do this

because God put this

in our hands

as a weapon

against his enemies.

Here's the importance

of congregational singing.

It's not only

for our own good.

It's also for the glory

of God.

Look at Psalm 4, verse 2.

Psalms 4:2

David said,

the enemies of God

have turned my glory

into shame.

I know it's been a few weeks,

but flip back to Psalm 3.

Notice in Psalm 3,

Psalms 3:3

verse 3.

What is David's glory?

Or better,

who does David say

is his glory?

He prays that to God.

God, you are the lifter

of my head.

You are my glory.

And now the very next Psalm,

he says,

they've turned my glory.

They've turned my God

into shame.

So let's take up

our singing.

Let's take up instruments

and let's declare

the true glory

of our God,

which has come under attack.

And as we bring

God glory

to his name

through congregational singing,

he protects our souls

for our good as well.

Isn't that a blessing?

God calls you

to sing regularly

with his people.

I know that's so simple,

but that's a call

from King Jesus

on your life.

You are the musicians.

You are adding your voices,

even if it's off tune,

you're adding your voices

to the stringed instruments.

In Revelation,

heaven is described

as having an army

of harp players,

stringed instruments.

Our guitar players would say

those are probably guitars.

They're using a prophetic idiom

to describe heaven

full of instruments,

full of congregational singing.

And as simple as we be,

no matter how bad you sound,

when you add your voice

to the congregation

of God's people

to declare his glory

and sing scripture,

you are singing

as a soldier

in his army.

This is one of the weapons

he has given us to use.

God's army is not silent.

The army is a choir.

And we sing God's word

back to him.

That's what we try to do

every week, isn't it?

The spirit-breathed word

in Psalm 4

and through all the Psalms,

it calls us to sing to God

for his glory,

for our good.

Remember, this is David

who would play the harp

in the court of King Saul,

who was wicked.

And even King Saul,

the wicked king,

who didn't know

the glory of God,

even he found

peace and comfort.

How much more

if you have the Holy Spirit

in you

and it's God helping you

to declare his glory.

Martin Luther,

when he's portrayed

in the late Renaissance,

you know,

with the different reformers,

usually next to Luther

is a lute,

a little stringed instrument

like a mini guitar.

Luther in the lute.

And Luther said,

when my heart was sick

and weary,

it has often been solaced

and refreshed by music.

When Luther would give

his little table talks,

he would have the young men

that were wanting

to get biblical training

and discipleship

into his home.

They would sing using the lute

and they would lift

their praises to God

even though they were exiled

from their countries,

from their families.

So picture King Jesus

on his throne.

Picture him singing

over his people

like Song of Solomon's

describes him.

And picture all of the congregation

responding

and adding our voices

to that soaring melody

of King Jesus

from his throne.

And that's a taste,

a small little sample

that we get now

of the peace

and the joy

and the music

that fills heaven.

God loves music.

Read your Bible.

You'll see that.

God loves music.

Heaven's joy

spills onto the church

through his word,

through congregational singing.

That's one of the ways

God gives us fitting weapons

for this battle

against our soul.

Well, how else

does God lead his people

to enjoy true peace

in a world

that rages against him?

As God's people

sing gospel truths together,

look at what happens

to David.

God reforms

your thinking.

And when you have

right thinking,

be transformed

by the renewing

of your minds,

Romans 12.

As your thinking

gets reformed,

you enjoy the peace

of being right

within the world

God created.

So,

look at verse 1.

First,

David declares

and applies

God's truth

to himself.

That's our application.

David says,

hear me,

answer me

when I call,

O God

of my righteousness.

He declares,

God is my righteousness.

Jehovah Sidkenu.

Sidkenu.

He declares it

and he applies it

to myself.

Therefore,

hear me.

Don't hear me

because of my righteousness.

You are my righteousness.

Therefore,

by your righteousness,

hear me,

one who you've taken in.

1 Corinthians 1.30

declares that

Christ

is

our

righteousness.

And since

God is my righteousness,

I know

he hears me.

That's a simple syllogism.

If God

is your righteousness,

through Christ,

then God

hears you.

So,

cry out to him.

Number two,

David remembers

God's past

faithfulness.

We should do the same.

Look back on your life.

Have you ever seen

God be faithful to you?

Were you ever

hard pressed

and cornered

and God showed himself

faithful

and true?

Well,

remember those times.

Draw them back up

to your mind.

Remember God's

past faithfulness.

David says

in verse 1,

God,

you enlarged me.

You gave me relief

when I

was in distress.

David was,

he was cornered

and trapped.

He was in distress

like an animal

that was

being preyed upon,

about to be devoured.

And even though

physically he was,

he was distressed

and entrapped,

he says God

enlarged him.

Even if his outward

circumstances

didn't change,

his soul

found

an expansion

and space

and room

to breathe.

He was no longer

suffocating.

God gave him

what his soul

needed

to survive.

And because God

has been faithful

in the past,

he appeals to that

past faithfulness

and applies it now,

Lord.

You will be merciful

to me

again.

He appeals to

God's gracious

nature.

See,

he says God,

you are

gracious.

Have mercy upon me

again in verse 1.

Be gracious to me

and hear my prayer.

Because you are

my righteousness,

because you have

been faithful,

because you are

gracious,

hear me now.

What a great prayer

for us

as well.

Reform your thoughts

about who you

are in God.

Trust what God

says through

his word about

you.

Trust that it's

true.

See,

David goes after

the mind.

Look at verse 3.

He says,

know,

know in your mind.

Be reformed

in your thinking.

Know that the

Lord has set

apart the godly

for himself.

Know it.

Believe this

in your mind.

This is what God

says in scripture.

Know that this

is true for you.

We know this

from Ephesians 1.

Before the foundation

of the world,

you are chosen

in Christ.

He has set

you apart

for himself.

Know that this

is true.

It's what God

has declared.

This is what Paul

says in Ephesians 6.

To know

is to cover

your head

with this truth.

He calls this

the helmet

of your salvation.

You're under attack.

Put on the helmet

on your head.

Know in your mind

who you are.

You are saved

because you are

set apart

for God's purposes.

Now you're set

apart not because

of your good works.

John Gale

clarifies this

very helpfully.

Godliness

and good works

are the fruits

of God's election,

not the causes

of it.

But if God

has set you apart,

it will show up

as gospel fruit.

And so you add

your voice to the

choir with these

truths as well.

You testify in song.

I am set apart

for Christ,

my righteousness.

I cannot

be condemned.

Christ is

my righteousness.

God hears me

because I belong

to him.

Christ has covered

me like a helmet.

I know in my mind

I belong to him.

Therefore,

he hears my cry

and he leads me

to enjoy

his true peace.

Make that your

prayer today.

Call out to God

with confidence

that he hears you.

Well, David's

not done.

How else

does God put

true peace

and heavenly

gladness

inside the hearts

of his people

in this world?

As you rehearse

gospel truths

with God's people,

we see in

psalm 4 that

God not only

renews your mind,

makes you know

this,

he also

transforms your

heart and

your life.

See, the light

of the gospel

through the mind,

God causes you

to grasp

and behold

how glorious

he is,

then it works

its way into

your heart

and from your

heart it works

its way out

in your life.

Look at verse 4.

Stand in awe.

Be dismayed.

Stand with

angry trembling

is the Hebrew

poetry,

but do not

sin.

The world

and the enemies

of God

come hard

after your soul

and we need

to withdraw,

we need to

retreat

into stillness

and solitude.

How often,

one commentator

pointed out

that man

reverses this,

we sin,

yet we don't

tremble at God.

David says,

tremble,

tremble in fear

and anger,

but don't sin.

Commune

with your own

heart,

ponder in your

own heart

upon your beds

in your private

retreat where

you've turned

the TV off,

you've left

the phone

in another room,

it's you

alone with

your maker.

You are

preparing your

soul for

eternity with

God.

Your soul

is being

prepared for

heaven.

You're preparing

yourself for

your day

of your

death.

In that

moment,

let God

get real

with you.

Tremble,

tremble at

what lies

ahead of

you.

You be

silent.

Let the

truth of

God's

word sweep

over you.

See,

many have

given up

on true

peace and

that temptation

is there

for every

single one

of us,

as long

as we're

in the

flesh,

as long

as we're

in this

world,

and as

long as

Satan

is

roaming

about

like a

lion,

seeking

whom he

can

devour.

Your

conscience

accuses

you,

the flesh

and Satan

and the

world say,

well then

sear your

conscience.

Just give

yourself to

those temptations

and sear it

so it stops

hurting.

Or numb

your conscience,

numb that

guilt,

self-medicate,

alcohol,

drugs.

you won't

have peace

with that

kind of

a conscience.

That's the

temptation of

the world

and the

flesh and

the devil.

And that

temptation is

real for

every single

one of

us.

David

confesses

in that

anger,

in that

powerful

temptation,

you need

to look

at verse

five,

you need

to offer

up the

sacrifice

of

righteousness

and put

your trust

in the

Lord.

God has

set you

apart for

himself.

You are

not enslaved

to sin.

You have

no reason

to fear

any longer.

You can

know true

peace and

you must

practice.

You must

practice living

out who

you are

in Christ.

George

Swinock,

Puritan,

said,

commune

with your

own self.

Think about

that phrase,

commune

with your

own self.

You're

asking your

soul these

questions.

Where are

you from?

Well,

God made

me.

For what

end were

you made?

For God's

glory,

to know

him and

enjoy him

forever.

How are

you living

this life?

I need

more of

Christ.

How is

it going

for you?

When I

don't trust

Christ,

it goes

bad.

Do you

have true

joy?

When I'm

in Christ,

I do.

What's

your tomorrow?

When you

wake up,

what's your

future?

God has

to guide

me every

step.

I need

to trust

him more.

Do you

know

true

peace?

in the

quiet,

in the

silence,

offer

your

sacrifice

of

righteousness.

He

declared

already,

verse 1,

God is

my

righteousness.

Now he's

saying,

that righteousness

that God

gave and

put over

me,

it works

itself out

in my

life.

It does.

Slowly,

through

stumbling,

but it

works itself

out.

That's the

conclusion Paul

comes to in

Romans 12.

offer up

your bodies

as living

sacrifices.

You belong

to God.

What a joy

that you

belong to

him.

You don't

want to

belong to

yourself.

So you

offer your

body,

not as

your own

substitutionary

sacrifice to

be made

right with

God,

but because

you have

put your

trust in

the Lord

as your

righteousness,

you offer

yourself as

a living

sacrifice because

this is

your reasonable

act of

service.

You obey

because you

are grateful

to be made

right by

him,

by grace

alone.

You ponder,

Benjamin

Keech said,

how from

Christ flow

to you the

assurance of

God's love,

peace of

conscience,

joy in the

Holy Spirit,

increasing

grace,

perseverance

to the

end.

You ponder

this glorious

gospel,

all the

blessings flowing

from the hand

of Christ,

your mediator,

your righteousness

for the rest

of your life

in increasing

measure until

that final day

where you get

him physically

and consummately.

This joyful

gospel melody,

it reigns in,

it gives peace

to our wild

emotions.

You can talk

to a music

therapist,

they'll see a

little child

with their

emotions going

wild,

and the

soothing sound

of a melody,

it helps to

settle them

and that melody

draws those

wild emotions

and it starts

to teach them

a rhythm

and a cadence

and settles

them in.

The melody

wins over

the emotions.

In the silence

before God,

you need a

mediator,

you need Jesus

Christ alone

and when you

hear the melody

of his gospel,

he brings you

into alignment

by the work

of his spirit

and he changes

you.

He draws in

your wild

emotions and

he brings you

joy, the joy

of heaven and

the peace that

passes understanding.

It works its way

out from your

mind into your

heart, into every

aspect of your

life slowly, but

for a lifetime

without fail.

The good work

that God begins,

he always sees

through to the

end and that is

true for your

life.

love.

I want to draw

your attention

next to verse

six because God

transforms from

the inside your

love.

God transforms

what his people

love.

So you love

something different

than you used

to love and

then God

satisfies what

you most desire.

Verse six,

seven, and

eight are the

glorious verses

of this psalm.

In verse six,

David says,

there are many

who say who

will show us

some good.

There's the

contrast, the

way that

perishes versus

those who are

set apart for

God.

In verse two,

he had said

there are many

who love vain

words.

He's looking at

their hearts,

their desires,

what they seek.

He says they

seek after lies.

See, if you

stay on that way

that perishes,

if your loves,

if your heart

are never

transformed by

God, you

will never

find joy.

You will

never have

peace with

God unless

he changes

what you

love.

And there

are many,

there are many

who are chasing

after peace

and chasing

after joy

that will

never find

it.

They trust

in man,

they will be

disappointed.

They trust

in their own

good works

or some

other man-centered

method,

they will be

disappointed.

Buddhism says

kill your

desires.

many people

are swept

into these

eastern

false religions

and it says

just don't

desire anything.

Don't love

anything,

don't be

attached to

it and that

way you

won't experience

pain.

That's not

how God

works.

God gives

you a deeper

desire,

an overcoming

love and

the love for

God and for

what God

loves sweeps

over and it

transforms your

loves and your

desires.

It doesn't

kill off

passion,

it replaces

fleshly

passion with

a greater

love,

a greater

desire for

Christ and

his kingdom

alone.

Jesus said

seek first

my kingdom

and my

righteousness.

Jesus came

to satisfy

the deepest

longings of

our soul.

Look what

David exclaims

in verse 6.

He says,

Lord lift up

the light of

thy countenance,

the light of

your face upon

us, O Lord.

That's what he

loves now.

That's what he

desires.

He wants to

know nothing

else except

the face of

God, the

fellowship of

God, the

peace of

knowing I am

right with

God.

Let your

face shine

upon me.

This is

language from

the Aaronic

blessing, the

brother of

Moses, Aaron,

the high

priest, who

is a picture

of Christ and

he would bless

the people.

May the face

of God shine

upon you, his

people.

And that's

only possible by

the work of

God on

your behalf.

God

transforms

your love.

And then he

satisfies that

new desire.

Look at the

glorious declaration

in verse 7.

God, thou

hast put

gladness in

my heart.

Who put the

gladness in

David's heart?

God himself

put gladness in

his heart.

And how did

David get

gladness inside

his heart?

God put it

in him.

He couldn't

fabricate it

for himself.

And he

says, what

kind of

gladness is

this?

The best

way he can

describe it

is it is

more joy

than they

have at

harvest time.

At harvest

time is when

their grain

abounds.

It's when

they're collecting

all the

grapes and

pressing them

into wine.

There's

abundance.

They are

happy because

of temporal,

worldly things.

And he

sees their

gladness.

But the

gladness that

God put in

his heart when

he's all

alone, empty

without anything

of this world,

it surpasses

that by far.

It's a

gladness that's

otherworldly.

It's the

gladness and

joy from

heaven put in

his heart by

God.

And that's

why we can

believe what

1 Peter 4

teaches us,

that the

spirit of

God's

glory,

the shining

face of

God,

it rests

upon you

too,

church,

through the

work of

Christ Jesus.

Watson points

out this

contrast for

the Christian,

there is

more difference

between heavenly

gladness than

earthly gladness

than there is

between eating

the finest

banquet and

looking at a

mere painting

of one.

In verse

8, David

says,

I will

both lay

down in

peace and

sleep.

He says,

in peace,

I will both

lay down and

I will,

when I'm

putting my

pajamas on,

I will know

that when I

lay down,

I'm going to

be asleep.

The reason I

can lay down

and sleep is

because you,

Lord only,

you alone,

God, make me

dwell in

safety.

one pastor

pointed out,

they sleep

most soundly

whom faith

rocks to

sleep.

No prayer

so soft

as God's

promise,

no cover

so warm

as assurance

in Christ.

Ask God

to put his

gladness in

your heart,

to rock you

to sleep

with that

gift of

faith,

that warm

blanket of

assurance of

knowing you

belong to

God and

he alone

makes you

dwell safely

in his

arms this

night and

when you

take your

final sleep

at the end

of your

life.

When you

think of

heavenly

things,

Proverbs

says,

Proverbs

321,

that you

will sleep

more sweetly.

When you

think of

God as

you go to

bed,

Proverbs

622

says,

your head

will be

fuller of

good thoughts.

There's a

great hymn I

heard for the

first time

with the

church that

we visited

overseas a

couple weeks

ago.

One of the

verses goes

like this,

the day you

gave us,

Lord,

is ended.

The darkness

falls at

your request.

To you

are morning

hymns

ascended.

Your praise

shall sanctify

our rest.

If you

can fall

asleep with

the praise

of God

on your

lips,

the thoughts

of God

on your

mind,

isn't that

a glorious

thought that

even as

you're sleeping,

the Holy

Spirit is

sanctifying you,

you rest

in safety.

So to bring

it together,

I've tried to

show you from

Psalm 4 how

God leads

His people.

I want to

remind you,

God leads

all of His

people to

enjoy true

peace, both

in life and

in death.

This is just

as true for

you as it

is for our

brothers and

sisters in

South India.

And they

don't know for

sure what

they're going to

feed their

family tomorrow,

but they have

the peace that

passes understanding.

They have the

joy of heaven.

The church

around the

world each

night can

pray Psalm

4.8,

In peace

I will

sleep.

For Thou

Lord only

and You

alone, O

Lord, make

me and my

loved ones

dwell in

safety.

That hymn

that I

mentioned a

moment ago,

it goes on

to describe

this glorious

truth of the

church falling

asleep throughout

all the

different parts

of the

world.

Picture the

prayer lifted

up by the

church throughout

the day and

then the sun

sets, but a

new part of

the world

receives the

light and

their new

day begin

and their

praises go

up.

The English

used to say

the sun never

sets on the

British Empire.

Well, this is

way more true of

the church of

God through all

centuries.

The sun never

sets on the

praises going

up to heaven.

And as one

part of the

church falls

asleep, the

other parts

are waking

so that 24-7,

even on earth

as it is in

heaven, God

is being glorified

through singing,

through praise.

The hymn

says, we

thank you that

your church

unsleeping

while earth

rolls onward

into light,

through all

the world

her watch

is keeping

and never

rests by

day or

night.

As over

continent and

island each

dawn leads

to another

day, the

voice of

prayer is

never silent,

nor do thy

praises die

away.

I've been

so humbled

in the last

few weeks,

I've got to

rub shoulders

and just

encourage

brothers and

sisters from

around the

world.

And I think

of Leonardo

in the

Philippines and

his study of

Romans 8.

I'm so

encouraged by

what he's

doing.

I think

of Singhi

in Nepal

working with

children who

don't have

access to

good education

and they're

bringing them

Christian

education at

great peril to

their families.

I think of

Paulus in

South India

who signed

up officially

with the

government as

being a

Christian,

knowing that

it would

eliminate job

opportunities for

him and his

family.

I think of

Arted in

Latvia, the

church planting

that's going on

in Eastern

Europe, former

Soviet countries,

and I'm so

encouraged by

their zeal for

the Lord.

I think of

Sam who we

heard from last

week in North

Africa, the

work that God

has put on their

heart to do to

take the gospel to

this people who

would never hear

otherwise.

I think of

Clint in

Calgary,

Canada, and

the Lord planted

their church I

think 17 years

ago, and

now he's

seeing many

more come to

the faith and

a church being

planted by

God's grace.

You see, as we

move over the

continents all the

way around the

world, God is

at work.

In that hymn, the

last verse says,

God promised of

Christ's glorious

day in Isaiah 51

11, that the

ransomed of the

Lord shall return

with singing.

Sorrow and

sighing shall flee

away.

Everlasting joy

shall be upon our

heads, and we

shall obtain

gladness and

joy.

Picture Christ on

that last glorious

day when we will

see his face

shining upon us,

and he will

see the great

harvest.

More than when

any earthly

fields abound in

harvest, here

comes the harvest

of King Jesus,

the harvest of

souls who he

purchased with his

precious blood.

And that same

joy, Jesus Christ

puts in you while

you are yet in this

world.

When your days on

earth have

ripened and the

end has come for

your soul, as

someone put it, to

enter Christ's

heavenly rest.

The harvest of

your soul is

coming.

There is a rest

that's yet to

come, Hebrews

tells us.

So as you

prepare each

night, you say

Psalm 4a, I

will both lay

me down in

peace and sleep

for thou Lord

only maketh me

dwell in safety

today and for