Psalms - Songs for the Journey: Psalm 19 - Who Knows Best? | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Good morning. Would you

please join me in prayer? Lord, the heavens declare

the glory of God. That is what your word says,

and I ask you that today you will teach us, guide

us in such a way that we are in awe of you, more

and more deeply loving you. Use me, I ask, in

the power of your spirit and in your grace. In

Jesus' name, amen. We've been studying a series

of studies that we call Songs for the Journey

because they're based on the book of Psalms.

And the book of Psalms in the Bible is a collection

of songs. We have only the lyrics. We don't have

the music to it. But the lyrics are profound

enough because most of them are prayers to God.

And at different moments, we learn different

things depending on what stage of life you're

in. We are inclined to a specific psalm because

we can identify with the words. And today, I'm

going to be studying with you Psalm 19. And if

I had to put a title to this song, it would be,

who knows best? Before this psalm was written,

if you rewind history, It's the time of Abraham.

Abraham was following God, and he's known as

the father of faith. And he found himself at

a place that I call the crossroads. All of us

find ourselves at one point or another at that

location, the crossroads, where in following

God, you find yourself in moments in which you

have to make decisions of which direction you

are going to go. and God seems to be indicating

something, but other people tell you other things,

your feelings tell you other things, and now

you're at the crossroads. What are you going

to do? And at the crossroads, even though the

direction that you're going to take matters,

what matters most is not the direction you take,

but which voice you are following. In other words,

the most important question at the crossroads

is, who knows best? They, me, God. And Abraham

is in this place of crossroads where he is growing

discouraged because he was following God. He

left his family. He moved out of their home country.

Now he's in this place. This is the sky before

him. Beautiful night sky. But he's thinking about

his future. God had promised him a son. The son

has never come. He's getting older. His wife

is getting much older. And now it's like the

hope of this ever happening is just fading. So

he's fearful about the future. He needs that

space of all the what ifs that you cannot sleep

at night. Thinking, what if this? What if that?

And it's in that moment that God encounters Abraham.

And says, Abraham, don't be afraid. Come on,

get up. Let's go outside. So they go outside

and God shows him the sky. And he says, Abraham,

look up into the sky and count the stars if you

can. That's how many descendants you will have.

Now it's very hard to get this view here from

Bangkok because in any city you're in, you have

light pollution. So to really see the sky. And

the stars, you have to go to these darker places.

And Abraham was in a time in which there was

no light invented yet, like electric light, like

we have it today. So his view was amazing. And

he's hearing God telling him, Abraham, can you

count the stars? You get my point. That's how

numerous your descendants will be. Did you believe

me? So at that moment, we are told that Abraham

really believed the Lord. And Abraham believed

the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous

because of his faith. This is the foundation

of the doctrine, by the way, of justification

by faith that the Apostle Paul will develop in

Romans later. That justification, this salvation,

being considered righteous before God is not

based on your works, but it's based on your response

of faith to God. And this is what Abraham experienced.

And years passed, and indeed God was right. He

knew what he was doing. He was trustworthy. And

the descendants of Abraham became a nation known

as the nation of Israel, which by God's power

and his grace still stands till today, despite

of all the things that have come against her.

But at this time in history, one of the kings,

most beloved kings of the nation of Israel, his

name was David. He was under the same sky and

many times as a shepherd, he would look at the

sky and see the same stars that God had invited

Abraham to watch and see and consider. And at

many moments, King David himself... Was exposed

to these moments of crossroads. About his career.

About taking the kingdom. About fleeing for his

life under persecution. About where to flee.

He became a refugee. About military tactics.

About many things. That he faced in life. In

which he had to ask. Who knows best? They? Me?

God? What am I going to do? And he was able to

live in different locations because of the persecution

he experienced in his life. So he lived as a

refugee in a pagan culture for many years. He

was able to see firsthand how many people looked

at the sky and they worshipped the stars. Other

people worshipped the sun and the moon. And they

looked at the sky and they thought. That they

needed to pray to these things to seek direction

for their lives. And he looks at the sky and

he says, oh no. No, the sky reveals something

completely different. And now he writes the song

of Psalm 19. And this is what he says. First

section. The heavens. Proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after

day they continue to speak. Night after night

they make him known. They speak without a sound

or word. Their voice is never heard. Yet their

message has gone throughout the earth. And their

words to all the world. God has made a home in

the heavens for the sun. My God is the one that

created the sun. The sun is not a God to be worshipped.

My God created the sun. And the sun bursts forth

like a radiant bridegroom. After his wedding,

he rejoices like a great athlete, eager to run

the race. But nothing else is not a God to be

worshipped. It's just a star created by God.

The sun rises at one end of the heavens. And

follow its course to the other end. And nothing

can hide from its heat. Because that's the only

thing it produces. It's not a God that has presence.

But my God is the creator of all these things.

And the heavens declare his glory. Section 2.

The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving

the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple. The commandments of the

Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The

commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight

for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure. Lasting

forever. The laws of the Lord are true. Each

one of them is fair. They are more desirable

than gold. Even the finest gold. They are sweeter

than honey. Even honey dripping from the comb.

They are a warning to your servant. A great reward

to those who obey them. Section 3. How can I

know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse

me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant

from deliberate sins. Don't let them control

me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent

of great sin. And last section of the song. May

the words of my mouth and the meditation of my

heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and

my redeemer. Beautiful song that King David writes

for us to remember what to do when we are at

the crossroads. What voice are we following?

Who is influencing our decisions? And what he

wants to make sure is that we get it right. And

he starts by saying, look, when you are at the

crossroads, look up. Because when you look up,

you will see God's creation. And when you see

how amazing it is, then you will realize how

amazing God is. So he says that at the very beginning

of the psalm. The heavens proclaim the glory

of God. The sky displays his craftsmanship. Day

after day they continue to speak. Night after

night they make him known. This is something

that he designed, that he created, that he made.

And once you understand that, your perspective

on God and who he is changes. And your ability

to trust him increases. Because he is awesome.

Now we have the privilege that King David or

Abraham didn't have. Perhaps we don't have the

clear skies here in the city that they had, but

we have pictures and videos that they could never

have seen. 35 years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope

was sent to orbit. And for 35 years, we've been

collecting pictures. Three and a half years,

another space telescope was released in orbit.

This was a different type of technology, higher

than the previous one, but both of them have

been generating images and our understanding

of the universe that astronomers are just so

excited about. There's never been a better time

to be an astronomer because the quality of these

images. And some of them are just so amazing

that it's hard to describe how beautiful this

universe is and as you saw it at the beginning

video this is vast it's so huge that we are just

starting to understand a little bit more about

it now i'm limited because i can only see pictures

of it but there are people called astronauts

that have actually gone into space and there's

a particular one His name, Jeffrey Williams.

Jeffrey Williams was going to several missions

into space. But one particular mission lasted

a long time. He was there for almost six months.

And he tells us in his interviews that he was

just going around the earth, complete circle

around the earth, every 90 minutes. So imagine

every 90 minutes going around the earth for six

months. He got to see the best views and he had

a very nice camera. He's just like me. He loves

photography. So you know how many pictures he

took? More than 3 ,000 pictures. And I understand

I would have taken a million pictures. It's just

like another one, another one. You know, a sunset,

another sunset. How many sunsets can you capture,

you know? Each one, beautiful. So he published

a book called The Work of His Hands with his

best photography of these 3 ,000 pictures. What

was interesting is that as he was there orbiting

the earth and seeing the universe and experiencing

it, he says, I experienced God. And when you

see the magnitude and the beauty of the earth

like that, to look out at this kind of creation

and not believe in God is to me impossible. I

can simply echo what God had already said. Not

only David is telling us, hey, look up, look

at the sky, it reveals God's glory, his craftsmanship.

God himself had to tell through the prophets

that, hey, I am the one that created all this

stuff. Because people started abandoning him

and they started believing myths. They started

believing that they needed to worship the stars

and the moon and the sun. So through prophet

Isaiah, God tells them, for this is what the

Lord says. He who created the heavens. He is

God. He who fashioned and made the earth. He

founded it. And when He designed it and when

He created it, He did not create it to be empty,

but formed it to be inhabited. And He says, I

am the Lord and there is no other. Whatever other

belief you have of how this creation came to

be is a myth. Because I am the one who created

it and I am the Lord and there's no other. And

remember this, I created it so that it will be

inhabited. We'll get to that. We'll get back

to that in a minute. But even though there are

people like astronaut Jeffrey Williams that have

shown us the pictures and told us his story,

not everybody that looks up sees the same thing.

Some people say, well, Pastor Pablo, I look at

the stars all the time. I read my horoscope every

single week because I am hoping, and can you

please... Pray to help me a little bit that the

stars will align with my plans and my future

so I'll get lucky. And you live looking at the

horoscope. And for you it's not a joke. This

is your life. And when you have to make decisions

whether you dated that guy or not, you ask him

for his horoscope information to see if he was

compatible or not. And God says, No. I created

the stars. You need to follow me. The stars have

no power to dictate your future and to tell you

what is right or best. It's me. Follow me. And

other people say, well, you know, I don't believe

in the horoscope. But, hey, I look up into the

universe and I meditate often. To try to become

one with the universe. And you know you find

so much peace when you are in that place of meditation.

And you are one with the universe. Pastor Pablo

if I could just tell you how special that is.

No. God says I created the universe. You cannot

be one with the universe. Just like you cannot

be one with that tree or that rock. I created

the universe. I want you to be in intimate relationship

with me. Not with the universe. I want you to

be reconciled to me. You want to know peace?

Wait until you know me. Then you will know true

peace. And there are other people that say, Pastor

Pablo, that's myths. Horoscope. Becoming what

with the universe? I'm a rational being. I believe

in science. So when I look at the sky, I realize

how lucky we are to even exist. Because, you

know, evolution has brought us all of this life.

And you know how everything began. And just to

imagine that from that accident, billions of

years ago, all this showed up. And you know,

scientists tell us that the universe is so vast

that it's just a matter of time before we find

extraterrestrial life. Because the odds for us

to exist through evolution, of course, it must

be somewhere else too. So yeah, I spent a lot

of time wondering when we're going to find extraterrestrial

life in other planets. And God says. No. I am

the one that created the heavens and the earth.

I am the craftsman behind all of this. I designed

it. And I want you to know me. Because when you

realize that I am that person. Then you can start

trusting me. Because you realize. Not how lucky

you are, but how powerful I am. Sometimes I think

of it like, if you were to invite me to have

dinner at your home, and you are a great cook,

everybody knows that when you cook the meal,

it's going to be better than the restaurant.

So you say, Pastor Paolo, I kind of like you,

so I want to invite you to have dinner with us.

Will you come home? I say, sure. So we show up,

and you set the table, and you bring the food,

and we start eating it. And I go, mmm, mmm, this

is nice. This is really good. You know, the chicken

is not too overcooked. It's just right. You got

lucky. You know, it's just right. And it's not

too salty. It's just right. It's the balance

of the flavors. You got lucky. You know how hard

it is? The chances that all this would happen?

At that moment, you would look at me and you

would say, what do you mean? I got lucky. Yeah,

you know, I mean. To put all these different

ingredients together to create this symphony

of flavors that are all in harmony with each

other. That's just amazing that happened. And

how do you even manage to do something like this?

You are really lucky. And at that moment you

will say, Pastor Pablo, can you just leave? I

will never invite you again, never show up to

a CV again. Because of course you will be offended.

It's like you are the cook. You made this thing.

You know how to get the chicken right. You know

how to balance all the flavors. You know the

recipe. And yet, people like Dr. Michael Gulen

grew up believing that we were just lucky. And

he would look at the sky and say, how lucky we

are. And he had no idea. That it was not luck.

But there was a cook that was an expert cook

who had designed all of this and brought it all

together. And he had created this planet to be

inhabited. So Michael Goleman believed all of

this stuff. He was a scientist. Very well accomplished.

As a physicist and astrophysicist. He has studied

all these things. He says, I knew the universe

like the palm of my hand. All the theory, all

the physics, all the math, everything. And no

joke, he was a famous professor of physics at

Harvard University for several years. And not

only that, but he was also a science editor for

ABC News in the U .S. A very well accomplished

man. But he was an atheist. And he had believed

the whole theory of the whole thing that everything

was a big accident and that we are lucky that

we even exist. But the more he started studying

it, the more he realized that the scientific

evidence, as much as he loved science, was limited.

And there were things that didn't add up. And

he started asking questions he hadn't asked before,

which led him to start seeking religion after

religion after religion until he came to read

the Bible and he encountered the God who said,

I created the heavens and the earth. And he started

finding compelling evidence that what the Bible

was telling him aligned with what he knew to

be true in science. And he was so amazed that

this ancient book will say all of these things,

that little by little, he started falling in

love with this creator. And he started looking

back at the things that he had believed 100 %

with all of his heart, only to start realizing

that many of the things that he thought were

facts, were actually not facts at all. They were

theories. That he had accepted as truth. And

now his eyes became open to things he hadn't

seen before. One of them for instance. He realizes

in the history of astronomy and the perspective

of our understanding of the universe. Just as

in the 1920s until now it has changed so much.

From the time of Einstein. He himself believed

what was the common truth. stated and believed

in the science sector during that time that the

universe was eternal, no beginning, no end. That

was believed for about 200 years. So as smart

and as accomplished as Albert Einstein was, he

believed that the universe was eternal. And it

was a common thing accepted among atheist scientists

because it's convenient, right? If it's eternal,

it means there's no beginning. And if there's

no beginning, there's no creation. So they believed

that for many centuries. But one day, this physicist

from a... I forgot what country he was from.

But he was a Catholic priest. Belgium. That's

where he was from. And he started doing some

studies and he noticed that there were certain

changes that didn't just align with the idea

of a... Universe that was static. And this evidence

implied that there was movement. And then another

physicist realized that the galaxies that were

in the distance were actually moving away from

us. So these two guys were seeing evidence that

was implying that if there was movement like

that, it means that if you rewind, At some point,

everything must have had a beginning. And as

they are coming with these different theories

that the universe is not eternal, but it had

a beginning, this physicist from Belgium says,

look, my theory... Proposes that at the very

beginning there was something like, what can

I call it, like a cosmic egg. That suddenly exploded

and all these parts and all these things created

the whole thing. And it's like the first atom.

And as he was debating these ideas on radio in

England. Another of the scientists who really

believed the universe was eternal like everybody

else had believed for centuries. He looks at

him and he says, come on. You really want me

to believe that everything started with a big

bang. Like that. As a way of just being sarcastic.

And that little phrase stuck. And this theory

became known eventually as the big bang theory.

But they all believed that even though there

was movement and there was a beginning of something.

That they could theorize maybe was this. atom

at the beginning the point of singularity as

they call it today they still believe that the

movement of expansion was consistent but now

another physicist another scientist says look

i just discovered that the universe is not expanding

at a steady space speed it's actually accelerating

and if it is accelerating It means that there's

something that is causing that acceleration.

What is that? We don't know. Why don't we call

it dark energy? Yeah, that sounds good. Let's

call it dark energy. So dark energy, what is

it? We do not know. Can you see it? No, we don't

see it. But something is causing that expansion.

Okay, and as they study more, they realize that

there were all these points of gravity, you know,

these black holes and all these things, and there

was so much that they could not see. They say,

you know, why don't we call it dark matter? Okay,

that's good. Dark matter, dark energy. Can you

see it? No. Can you tell me what it is? No, we

don't know what it is. But wait. Michael Gillan

says, we discover that this dark energy and dark

matter involves 95 % of the universe. Which means

that we can only see... 5 % and all of our theories

about the beginning of the earth and the calculations

of the age of the universe, all of that is theory

after theory of only a 5 % of the visible universe,

which means that there's 95 % that we have to

accept by faith. And at that moment, all of his

solidity of his convictions as an atheist scientist,

start becoming shaky but the one thing that really

like hit it was his understanding of the earth

because he realized that the more they studied

the earth this physicist started realizing that

there were certain constants mathematical formulas

that started revealing certain things that they

eventually called this the fine -tuning of the

universe. In the idea of evolution, that everything

started with a point of singularity and exploded

and it created all this chaos, in that idea,

the earth was just a big rock. It was all these

rocks flying everywhere. Imagine an explosion.

And suddenly this big rock called earth got hit

by another big rock. And that big rock, as it

hit the earth, then a piece of this earth came

out of it, you know, and it became the moon.

And that's why the Chinese scientists today that

have been in the moon have brought samples. And

now we know that some of the minerals of the

earth and the age of these things are similar.

And they were surprised by it. So all of that

idea that came is built on the idea that it's

an accident. And that we just got lucky. But

when they started studying all the factors required

for life, everything was revolutionized in his

understanding. Because he says, you know, Paolo,

we discovered that all the factors for life to

exist are so precise that there's no way that

life could exist unless this was precisely tuned.

Let me tell you some of them. If the position

of the earth was a little bit closer to the sun,

or a little bit farther from it, there would

not be life. If the position of the moon would

change, the gravitational system in the earth

will change, and the seasons will not be there.

If from all the spectrum of light, we didn't

have just the right particular spectrum that

causes photosynthesis to... then there wouldn't

be plants. If the earth did not have the right

electromagnetic field that protects the earth

from all the energy that is coming to it, then

there would not be life on earth. It would be

uninhabitable. If the gravitational constant

that keeps all of these things would change a

little bit, there wouldn't be life. And if the

strong nuclear force that keeps the nucleus in

the atom together and brings all the electrons

and protons together and causes the connection

between all of these atoms to be able to create

cells and life, if that changed a little, there

wouldn't be cells, there wouldn't be life. All

of these things have to add up for life on earth

to exist. And the chances that any of these factors

will all align together somewhere else in the

universe is almost impossible. He says, look,

just to put it this way, we're not talking about

changing maybe 1%, no, no. Changing these values

0 .1%, no, no. I'm talking about a level of precision

that if you were to change any of these constants,

a 0 .0000000001%, that little, there wouldn't

be life. And as they started discovering these

things in astrophysicists, There were some of

them that do not believe in God. Some are agnostics

or atheists as well. But there was one particular

guy from Cambridge who was an astrophysicist

when they were discovering all this fine -tuning.

He says, you know, according to all my mathematical

calculations, it's the same probability. Just

to give you an idea of what we're talking about

here. Imagine a tornado passing through a junkyard.

And then producing a Boeing 747. That is the

odds that we are talking about. For the universe

to produce life on earth. It has to be designed

for life. There is no other explanation. And

God says. Okay. Finally you are getting it. I

already told you. I created. The earth. To be

inhabited. When are you going to start giving

me the credit. For who I am. When are you going

to start seeing me. For the amazing God I am.

So you can trust me. At your crossroads. And

I love. I'm reading this book. Right now from.

Dr. Gillen. It's called Amazing Truths. If you're

a scientist, you will love the book. If you are

someone like me who is not a scientist but loves

science, you will love the book. He just goes

through different things now as a Christian that

knows the Lord. And how the Bible and science

are just speaking the same language. Beautiful.

Fascinating stuff. Who knows best? David says,

look up. If you want to know the kind of God

you have, look up. Because the stars and the

sky reveals His glory. And when you know the

kind of God you're following, you will be more

quick to trust Him than any other expert that

is telling you to disagree with God. The second

part of the song tells us to look down. Because

God who created the world and has made it to

be inhabited and has placed you here. Because

he has a vision and a plan for you. Has also

given you the word to guide you. So that you

have content. So that you have understanding.

And that's why he says. In this section. About

how reliable the word of God is. But now let's

do this together. What if you read the section

that is underlined. And I'll mention the section

that is highlighted in blue. Let's do it like

that. The instructions of the Lord are. Yes.

They can revive your soul. The decrees of the

Lord are. Exactly. They can make you wise. The

commandments of the Lord are? Yeah. And they

will bring so much joy in your heart. The commands

of the Lord are? Not confusing at all. They will

give you insight for living. Reverence for the

Lord is? Yeah. And it lasts forever. Not like

the opinions of the experts that change every

other year. The laws of the Lord are true. Not

an opinion. And they are fair. Each one of them.

And then he says, they are a warning to your

servant. They are a great reward to those who?

Look down. At the crossroads, look down. Look

at the word of God. Because God gave it to you

so that you can indeed have clarity about where

to go. Whether turn right or whether turn left.

What is right? What is wrong? What is pleasing

to God? What is not pleasing to God? What is

going to go against you? And what is going to

build you up? The word of God is trustworthy.

You can count on it. But not everybody looks

at the word of God and sees the same thing. Some

people look at the word of God and sees an old

book that is just another myth, like many of

those ancient myths of Mesopotamia. Plus, it's

so irrelevant to modern life. There was a woman,

her name was Rosaria. Her parents paid for private

school for her since she was young, so they sent

her to Catholic school. Great education she was

having. But she remembers that her father, often

whenever he would say goodbye to her in the morning,

would say, Rosaria, do everything the nuns tell

you, but don't believe a word of what they teach

you. When the father would say that to her, he

was sending that message of, you know, that's

a good education, lots of discipline, good stuff.

But when it comes to the Bible and spiritual

things, don't believe any of that. It's a myth.

So Rosaria grew up, graduated from Catholic school.

But thought that the Bible was an ancient myth.

And she became a person who loved English. She

got her doctorate. She became a professor at

a famous university in the U .S. And then as

she is just living her life in the academia.

She starts pursuing her. committed relationship

with her partner, and then she starts becoming

an outspoken person for lesbian rights and becomes

an activist for the LGBT community. And as she

is living that life, she's getting annoyed by

all these Christians that believe in that Bible.

And she calls them the Christians of the far

right. And she says, you know what, I need to

write a book about them. I need to write a book

about what is the mindset that these people have.

Why are they so against us? And some of them

are very mean. And they keep talking about that

old myth, the Bible. So she decides that she's

going to publish a book to be able to point these

people to truth. So as Rosaria is in this place,

researching all of these things, she realized

that if she's going to be academically, you know,

have academic integrity, she cannot just talk

about them. She has to understand the book. So

she's going to have to read the Bible. Yeah.

That ancient, myth, irrelevant book. Yeah. So

she started reading it. And as she started reading

it and doing her research, this lasted years.

She started experiencing something that I have

heard before. When you read the Bible, you're

not just reading the Bible, but the Bible is

reading you. And that's what happened to her.

She started becoming convicted. Even though there

were all these other voices, all these experts,

all these people telling her, this is the truth.

You can do anything that you want with your body.

It's your body. No one has a say in what you

do with your sexuality. Do what makes you happy.

Suddenly, she encountered a God. And she started

feeling convicted and wrestling with that because

it's like, why would I trust an ancient book

full of mythology with my sexual life? It makes

no sense. Until eventually it did. And page after

page, encounter after encounter, God started

drawing her to him. And she became a follower

of Jesus. And in that process, she became convicted

that the lifestyle that she had been pursuing

was no longer the lifestyle that God had called

her to pursue. And all of these things, she says,

The lesbian lifestyle was part of my biography,

but it's not part of my identity. She went through

all this journey and she had to make a decision

at her crossroads. Who knows best? This ancient

book, could it be that it's really the word of

God? And he gave me this book to give me insight

for living? She wrote her biography in this book.

If you want to know more about her story, that's

where you will find it. But when you find yourself

at these crossroads, where the Word of God is

telling you one thing, everybody else is telling

you these other things, what are you going to

do? Who knows best? Maybe you are dating your

boyfriend. He keeps insisting you having sex

with him and you do not know how to say no. So

you keep having sex with him. But now you're

following Jesus. And as you're following Jesus,

now you're feeling convicted because it's like,

what should I do? What should I do? And the Holy

Spirit is telling you what you should do. And

the Word of God is telling you what you should

do. And you realize what you should do. The Bible

calls this sexual immorality. And you feel the

guilt and you feel the struggle within. But everybody

does it. And my friend tells me. Who knows best?

May I ask you? God's word? Or your boyfriend?

Who knows best? At the crossroads of life. You

will have to decide whether you look up and trust

the God. Who created you and trust the word.

That he gave you. Or not. But then. He continues

to the next part of the song. And he says you

need to look inside. But not in the way that

you are thinking. Because you have heard it said

before. Hey, if you want to be happy, follow

your heart. Just follow your heart. Because if

you follow your heart, you will be happy. Be

true to yourself. Don't deny it. True to who

you are. You were born with these feelings. You

were born this way. Just pursue your feelings.

Follow your heart. And David says that's precisely

what I want to warn you about. Don't follow your

heart. Look inside. But not to follow your heart.

Because Jeremiah told us about your heart. The

heart is deceitful about all things beyond cure.

Who can understand it? Your feelings fluctuate.

What you're feeling today may change tomorrow.

So yes, that's why I write this part of my song.

I say to God, God, how can I know the sins lurking

in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.

Because I know that my heart is corrupt. I know

I have desires that are shameful. I know I have

things within me that I don't want to pursue.

So God, keep me from this. Please, keep me from

following my heart so I can follow you instead.

Because that is where true peace is found. So

he writes here at the end, the warning of not

following your heart because your heart is corrupt.

But if you have Jesus. If you are a follower

of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in you. And

the Holy Spirit now in you will guide you at

the crossroads. Will give you peace. Will give

you insight. Corroborate things in your heart,

in your mind, from outside and inside. Follow

the guide of the Holy Spirit. What is sad is

that not everybody understands this. And the

only thing they look inside is their feelings.

And now they have to make a decision. Who knows

best? And that is what happened to Walt. Because

Walt was one of these engineers that was working

at NASA for one of the Apollo missions. He was

part of the big team making the mission possible

and sending people to the moon. This was a guy

that could look at the stars, but he didn't believe

in God. So he couldn't see God. Therefore, he

didn't believe in the word either. So the only

thing he would do was look inside. And what he

saw inside was all these feelings that nobody

knew he had. You see, on the outward side of

things, he was a successful engineer, married

with children, a good family. But inside... He

was working on all these things and having his

family. He was struggling with these feelings

that he should have been a woman. And since a

very young age, he remembers struggling with

these feelings. He wanted to be a girl, not a

boy. But what would he do with those feelings?

Well, he decided to pay more attention to the

feelings. He worked with experts that could tell

him what to do with the feelings. And he got

the same message. Follow your heart. Those feelings

are telling you the way you should go. So Walt,

what you really need is to become a woman. Go

through the surgery. Go through the hormonal

treatment. Do the whole thing. Change your legal

name. So he did. And he became Laura. For eight

years he lived as Laura. And he was for all legal

purposes a woman. But inside the peace that he

thought he was going to get. He didn't get. Now

his feelings were fluctuating back and forth.

And he had no peace. And it's in that space that

God encountered him. It's in that space that

he heard about Jesus. And he. Gave his life to

Christ. Once he believed in Jesus. Now he had

the Holy Spirit in him. And the Holy Spirit started

guiding Walt. And it was the Holy Spirit. Prompting.

That Brad healing. And caused him to make the

decision. That he was no longer going to remain

Laura. But that he was going to embrace. The

man that God had created him to be. And he writes

his biography. In this book called A Transgender

Faith. Amazing story. But even he says, look.

What I want you to remember. The most important

thing I'd like you to remember. Is the awesome

truth that Jesus heals. No matter what the issue.

Or how badly broken your life is. It is possible.

Who knows best? God says, I know best. Therefore,

do not follow your feelings. That's why David

concludes the psalm with this last verse. God,

I want to look up and be in awe of you and trust

you because you're smarter than I am. I want

to look down and look at your word and trust

it and obey it because there's reward in obeying

your word, in having the fear of God in me. But

when I look inside, Lord, Don't let me be trapped

by my feelings. Instead, may the words of my

mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing

to you. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Let

my feelings and my desires be aligned with your

desires. Let it be that I'm growing in so much

intimacy with you. Not with the universe or the

stars. But with you, that the words I speak reflect

what you say. That the meditation I have in my

heart resembles what you say. Because now I realize,

God, after all the crossroads in my life, that

you are the rock. You are not a theory that will

change by a new discovery. You are a rock. Your

truth is steady. But also Lord, all the years

that I lost because of sin. All the years behind

me of deception where I did not know you. They

are not wasted. Because what the enemy stole

from me, you will restore. Because you are my

redeemer. This is who you are. And because you

are my creator, you are my rock, and you are

my redeemer, Lord, I'm going to trust you at

any crossroads in my life. Who knows best? It's

the primary question you will have to answer

at these crossroads you're in. And what David

wants you to understand is that God knows best,

period. And if you get that, you will be okay.

It may seem like it's impossible to have the

child and have the descendants that God promised,

but trust me, it is possible. God knows best.

So if you are in a moment in your life in which

you are wrestling with these insecurities and

these fears about the future, and you are tempted,

really tempted, to go in a direction that you

know is opposite to what God says, I want you

to bring those fears to the Lord. Put them up

to Him. And listen to these words. From God himself.

This is what God the Lord says. The creator of

the heavens. Who stretches them out. Who spreads

out the earth. With all that springs from it.

He who gives breath to its people. And life to

those who walk on it. I. The Lord. I have called

you. In righteousness. You can trust me. I will

take hold of your hand. I will take hold of your

hand. You're going to be okay. Trust me, I know

best. And this is the song for the journey. Psalm

19. If God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.