The Weight of Glory

Enjoy and glory.

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

For I know the plans I have for you.

Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

Plans to give you hope and a future.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.

I bore your griefs, and I carried your sorrows.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

For I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

In the world you have trouble and suffering.

But take courage.

I have overcome the world.

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.

So fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, I will help you, and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Be still and know that I am God.

Oh Lord, you've searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up.

You understand my thought from afar.

Scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways, even before there is a word on my tongue.

Behold, O Lord, you know it all.

You enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me.

Where can I go from your spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will lay hold of me.

If I say, surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night.

But even the darkness is not dark to you.

And the night is as bright as the day.

But now my soul is poured out within me.

Days of affliction have seized me.

The churning inside me never stops.

I'm dying from grief.

My years are shortened by sadness.

Misery has strained my strength, and I am wasting away from it within.

Save me, O God.

For the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold.

I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.

I am weary with my crying out, my throat is parched, and my eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

Deep calls to deep, that the roar of your waterfalls and all your breakers and your waves have swept over me.

I say to God, My rock, why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go on mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

As with the deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me while they say to me all day long, Where is your God?

My soul is greatly troubled.

But oh Lord, how long?

Why is life given to someone whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

For sighing has become my daily food.

And my groans pour out like water.

What I feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.

I have no peace, no quietness, no rest, only turmoil.

He has driven me and made me to walk in darkness and not in light.

Surely against me he has turned his hand repeatedly all day long.

He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

In dark places he has made me dwell.

Like those who have long been dead.

Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what happiness is.

Why did I not perish at birth and die as I came forth from the womb?

In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord.

All night long I prayed with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul refused to be comforted.

When I remember God, I moan.

And when I meditate, my spirit faints.

You hold my eyelids open, and I am so troubled I cannot speak.

My strength is perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.

From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call out as my heart grows faint.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Turn your ear to me.

Come quickly to my rescue.

Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Whom do I have in heaven but you?

For you have taken account of my wanderings and put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book?

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress, for my days pass away like smoke.

My bones burn like a furnace, and my heart is poured out within me.

Look upon my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins.

Be gracious to me, O God.

Be gracious to me.

For my soul takes refuge in you, and in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.

Why are you downcast on my soul?

Why so desert within me?

Put your hope in God.

And my God.

The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen or cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord.

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone.

My hope comes from Him.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

For you are with me.

Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Sustain me according to your word that I may live, and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

For the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those hearts who are fully committed to Him.

Make your face shine upon your servant.

Save me in your steadfast love.

Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.

For his anger is but for a moment.

His favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may last for the night.

But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

I waited patiently for the Lord.

And he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire.

He set my feet on a rock.

He gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

For God's way is perfect, and all of the Lord's promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

For who is God but the Lord?

And who is a rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

He makes me as sure-footed as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.

For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, his ears are open to their cry.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

The Lord redeems the soul of his servants, and none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

For those who live in the shelter of the Most High shall find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord.

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety.

He is my rock, and I trust him.

For he will rescue you from every trap and deliver you from deadly disease.

He will cover you with his feathers and shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.

Do not dread the disease that stalks the darkness.

Nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

For the Lord will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

And those who know your name will put their trust in you.

For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Amen.

A mighty one who will save.

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.

How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

Come and listen.

All you who fear God, and let me tell you what he has done for me.

All day long I will proclaim his saving power.

For the waves of death swirled about me.

Floods of destruction swept over me.

The grave wrapped its ropes around me, and death laid a trap in my path.

But in my distress I called upon the Lord.

Yes, I cried out to my God, and from his temple he heard my voice, and my cry for help came to his ears.

He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

And when you lie down, you will not be afraid.

And when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

For you, O Lord, have saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would have soon lived in the land of silence.

When I thought my foot is slipping, your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many, your comfort delights my soul.

As for me, I will sing about your power.

Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

I will rejoice and be glad in your loving-kindness, for you have seen my affliction and you have known the trouble of my soul.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, for he delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and he opens their ears by adversity.

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teacher will not hide himself anymore.

But your eyes shall see your teacher, and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.

Yes, he knows the way I take, and when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.

Bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of his benefits.

Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your strength is renewed like the eagle's.

Be strong and let your heart take courage.

All you hope in the Lord, for He will bestow on us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

We shall be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water.

It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.

And its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought.

And it never fails to bear fruit.

And so, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you.

Suppose some strange thing were happening to you, which comes upon you for your testing.

But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ.

So that when his glory is revealed, you may also rejoice and be glad.

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

And endurance, a proven character.

And hope does not disappoint.

Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

And this hope we have as an anchor of the soul.

A hope, both sure and steadfast.

So let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

For he who promised is faithful.

And let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, knowing that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, shall be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword no?

And all these things were more than conquerors to him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And his name shall be the hope of all the world.

For we know that God causes all things to work together for good.

To those who love God and to those that are called according to his purpose.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

And Jesus has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.

For power is perfected in weakness.

So that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore, I'm well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with the persecutions, and the difficulties for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I'm strong.

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

And I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.

And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable.

That is through the living and the enduring word of God.

Now to him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or think, according to the power and work within us.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.

Jesus said to his disciples on one occasion he comes to Peter to wash his feet, and Peter says, Not just my feet, but my head and my whole body.

And Jesus says, This almost feels like a throwaway statement.

Jesus says, You're already clean because of the word that I spoke to you.

You ain't got to take a bath, Peter.

Some of you took a shower this morning.

You just got another one.

Tim just got to wash you with the word.

Let me say a couple of things.

Number one, the Bible says, no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, or mind has conceived what God has in store for those that love Him.

So what I want you to do this morning is I want you just to take some time and think about what you saw.

What you saw, first of all.

There's something about creation that we don't, we don't we see in creation things we don't see anywhere else.

I've got a friend of mine, it's a redneck.

He's like, I gotta go to my deer stand and just watch the sun come up, get the sand out of my filter.

He didn't take a gun, takes a can of skull, and that's about it.

And it just calibrates it.

The Bible says it like this: it says, what may be known about God is obvious because God has made it obvious.

Being seen in what has been made so that men are without excuse.

In other words, none of us can say, Well, I didn't know there was a God.

Because you see creation.

And you cannot have creation without a creator.

God builds a case against humanity by what he creates.

We don't worship it, we appreciate it.

But even more true today, we see God in it.

So ask yourself, what did my eyes see?

Secondly, ask yourself, what did your ear hear?

Everything you heard was scripture.

There wasn't a word of tempt.

Someone stopped me this morning and said, Hey man, you ever gonna preach again?

I said, You won't feel that way after you go in there.

And I saw him after the service and he went, See you next week.

What did your ear hear?

And finally, what did your mind conceive?

Life begins at conception.

And so, why do I say that?

Because life, the life that God calls us to, begins when our mind begins to conceive, when we begin to get our head around all that God says it has in store for us.

The Bible says that it's so good you can't fathom it.

So, regardless of where you are, what you think, what you believe, you're safe here.

I want you just to ask yourself, what did I see?

What did I hear?

And what did my mind conceive today?

Let's think about that just for a second.

Last thing I'll remind you, the Bible says that Jesus and his disciples were gathered together on one occasion, and when they got done, the Bible just says, and they sung a hymn and departed into the night.

And so we'll think a little bit, and then Clyde will lead us in singing a modern hymn.

The words will come up, and we'll sing some of that, and then I'll come and dismiss you.

But right now, let's just ask, what did I see?

What did I hear?

And what did my mind conceive as a result of what I experienced this morning?

Stay standing for a second.

Sometimes we say things in the church in a way that it's we don't want to make it hard to understand, but like this is a great example.

It's a great old hymn that uh uh says some incredible things, like when it says, Perish every fond ambition, what we're really saying is, God, I don't have a plan B.

I'm all in.

If this isn't true, I don't have a plan B.

Maybe for some of you in this room, the problem is you have a plan, but it's not God's plan.

Maybe today you'll just submit your plan to God's plan.

Another line it says, it says, Think that Jesus died to win thee.

What does that mean?

That means God sent his son into the world to save wretches like me and like you.

And when Jesus walked around on this earth, what he said to people was, Red Rover, Red Rover, let John come over.

John chapter 3, a guy named Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and has a conversation with him.

John 3 · chapter mention

And what Jesus says to Nicodemus is so thought-provoking that when Jesus dies, some three years later, Nicodemus was one of the two men that came to get his body off the cross.

And so maybe today he's just saying to you, Red Rover, Red Rover, let Susie come over.

Let Trent come over.

Maybe God's just kind of ringing a bell you can't unring.

That last verse had a line in there that said, From prayer, prayer to praise.

There's gonna come a day when all the things you prayed for, you're gonna thank God for because you're gonna see them in the fullness that God intended them.

No eye has seen, nor mind, our ear has heard, our mind has conceived, but God has in store for those that love them.

Hold out your hands, let me speak a blessing over you.

Your all-knowing, sovereign God knows every stupid thing you've ever done.

Who you did it with, why you did it, and why you did it again.

Come out, come out wherever you are.

Into the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.