Let's open our Bibles to the book that
has the most chapters of any book in
the Bible.
Let's go to the book of Psalms and
let's go to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37.
How many know the longest chapter in the
Bible?
Psalm what?
119.
You don't want to have to read that
one before you fall off to sleep at
night.
You go through to the morning.
The name of this message is An Old
Doctor's Spiritual Prescription.
An Old Doctor's Spiritual Prescription.
Let's read in Psalm 37 just three verses
because that's the prescription.
Do not fret because of evil men, or
be envious of those who do wrong.
For like the grass, they will soon wither.
Like green plants, they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Notice the famous verses that are in this
Psalm.
Look at verse four.
That's a famous verse.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will
give you what?
Then the next one.
Commit your way to the Lord, right?
And trust in Him.
He will do this.
Look at verse seven.
Be still before the Lord.
Wait patiently for Him.
Now look at verse 25 so I can
show you why I said An Old Doctor's
Spiritual Prescription.
Verse 25.
I was young and now I am what?
Look up here please.
This is Dr. David, the psalmist, the king,
but also the spiritual doctor, at the end
of his life, giving us a spiritual prescription.
You know what's so wonderful about the Bible
is the Bible has doctors in it under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Doctors of the soul.
Doctors of the spirit.
Doctors of the heart.
And also things to help your body and
your mind.
And you can get to them all the
time.
All you have to do is open your
Bible and you can get some very good
spiritual prescriptions for what's ailing you.
I hope you all try to read the
Bible every day.
Do you?
Always do that.
Bible every day keeps the devil away, right?
Or at least gives us strength to fight
him.
Now, some doctors you can't get to see.
You ever try to get a doctor?
I had some oral surgeries some weeks ago
and I had to go to another different
kind of doctor.
So I, oh no that was from my
annual checkup.
They wanted me to undergo some more tests.
So I called the doctor's office that my
doctor gave me for this test or exam
of some kind.
And it was early May.
And they said, well the first date we
can give you is June 28th.
I went June 28th.
They say that's a sign that the doctor's
good if you can't get to see him
right away, right?
You heard about those guys arguing about who
had the best doctor and one guy said,
you know my doctor you have to wait
at least three months before you can see
him.
And the other guy said, that's nothing.
My doctor's better.
You can't see him for nine months.
The third guy said, no, no, no, my
doctor's the best.
No one's ever seen him.
You can't even get to him.
There's no way to get to him.
That's how good he is.
He never sees anybody.
Well, Dr. David is available for us.
And he has a prescription for what ails
us.
We want to listen now to him because
he's an old man.
He's full of wisdom.
He's experienced.
He's got godly counsel.
He's lived.
He's fought battles.
He knows what it is to fail.
He knows what it is to get up.
He's learned many things.
He's made mistakes.
And now he's sharing under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, making up scripture, the secret
of a happy and a godly blessed life.
You want to know the secret of a
happy, blessed, godly life?
I'm going to give it to you this
morning in its shortest form.
This is especially good for us because of
the mention of worry and fretting and anxiety
ever since 9-11.
And now with all these terror threats shutting
down the Brooklyn Bridge, India and Pakistan have
one million soldiers facing each other up near
the border of Kashmir, northern part of India.
And Pakistan, to show its machismo, just exploded
a test missile.
It has a nuclear weapon.
India, it has nuclear weapons.
India has nuclear weapons.
They both seem to hate each other for
decades, Hindus, Muslims.
Gandhi, the great pacifist and leader, he was
killed because of that hatred and lack of
dialogue between Hindus and Muslims over there.
And now our leaders in government are saying,
listen, there's no way to stop terrorist threats.
And there's no way to stop every terrorist
attempt.
Israel has tremendous security, maybe the best for
a country its size probably in the world.
But who can stop?
Look at all the pain Israel's going through.
And now they're talking about the fact that
nuclear devices probably are going to get one
day in the hands of people bent on
evil.
And now they're talking about the possibility of
suicide bombers in our country blowing themselves up.
What are you going to do when you
read all that stuff?
People are getting mad.
I heard on the radio commentators saying, what's
with this?
Why can't our leaders, what do you mean
we can't do anything about it?
Why can't our leaders stop all of this?
But how can you stop people from blowing
themselves up?
How can you know every secret conversation going
on?
We live in a world filled with tension.
In my lifetime there's never been a time
like this, probably in your lifetime.
Because it's not even like with Pearl Harbor
and World War II or the Korean War
or the Vietnam War.
That was, the Gulf War, that was over
there, those are the bad guys, these are
the good guys, here's who's fighting.
But not now.
You don't know what's going on.
So people's hearts are failing them because of
fear.
There's a lot of worry.
People are seeing psychiatrists at an all-time
rate and people are also taking medication for
their nerves at an all-time rate.
And even though there's a lot of economic
factors saying that the country's turning around and
getting good, a lot of people are leery
in the market.
What's really going to happen?
New York City is operating under a huge
deficit.
Mayor Bloomberg is going to have to cut
the budget.
We don't know what's going to happen.
And David, good Dr. David, tells us something.
He tells us, do not fret because of
evil men.
Don't worry and don't show annoyance.
That word in the Hebrew actually means, don't
inwardly burn with vexation.
Because of the successful evil plots of evil
men, their power, their threats, their audacity, their
seeming invulnerability, don't worry, God says.
Don't worry, David says.
I've been young and I've been old and
I've learned a lot of things.
Now listen, he's telling us, don't worry, don't
fret.
Psalm 37, 7 says, don't fret when men,
same Psalm, don't fret when men succeed in
their ways and when they carry out wicked
schemes.
I mean, how in the world can you
not worry?
How can you not fret?
Here are men saying evil things, audacious things,
bold things, horrible things.
How can you not worry?
And yet David says, don't worry.
The first secret of a happy life is,
you'll never be happy in God if you're
worried.
Did you know that worry is a terrible
thing?
It's bad for you emotionally, it's bad for
you physically.
You know how much some of us would
be feeling better if we just stopped worrying?
You can work out all day and pump
iron and take vitamins, but if you live
with worry, your body's going to break down.
And God here gives us a command.
The same God who said, don't kill and
don't commit adultery and don't do that, it's
harmful, it's wrong.
God says here, don't fret, don't worry.
You remember what the New Testament says in
this context?
Philippians 4, 6, be anxious for what?
For nothing.
Don't worry about one single thing.
Don't fret because of notice, evil men.
I hear people everywhere.
In dental offices, I hear talking with folks
in my neighborhood, listening to call-in shows
on the radio.
Everybody is getting worked up and frustrated and
vexation.
Their hearts are burning them because of, what
are we going to do?
What can we do?
Somebody do something.
How can these people get away with this?
And the corporation, white-collar crime, Enron, Merrill
Lynch just settled something for a hundred million
dollars.
So where are you going to find an
honest man?
And if they're all crooked, people are saying,
what am I going to do?
And Dr. David says, listen, I've been around
a long time.
Let me tell you something.
Don't worry and fret because of evil men.
And on top of that, don't be envious
of those who do wrong.
If you're not worrying, sometimes you begin to
get envious because of their wealth, their possessions,
their easy life, their proud display, their vanity,
their ability to get their way, to always
be on top.
You ever notice that?
You're serving God, you're doing the best you
can, and people are cursing God every day
and are getting ahead.
I didn't get an amen, but that's worth
an amen.
That's the truth.
Come on, how many have ever been looked
at that and said, what's up with this?
Here we're serving God, here we're reading our
Bibles, trusting in Jesus and everything, and people,
look at what he has, look at that
new car he has.
My car's old and it's breaking down and
this guy curses God he's got a new
car.
Doesn't seem fair.
And if you're not careful, you begin to
get envious.
How about all these people who curse God
every day and they're not only millionaires, they're
billionaires.
That's why the whole prosperity theology is so
silly.
I mean, if money was a sign that
God was pleased with you, then how come
all these people who curse God have all
the money?
So, the psalmist is saying to us, young
people, don't worry.
I don't care how bad things look, never
worry.
When you're worrying, you're out of God's will.
And don't be envious of people who are
doing evil even though they seem to be
doing so well along with their evil.
Don't be jealous of people who aren't serving
God.
Well, how in the world, may I ask
you, everybody this morning, how can you not
worry?
Now, the Bible's very strong about this.
Don't worry, don't be envious, even though it's
a natural tendency.
Do you bite your nails?
You shouldn't be.
You lay awake at night losing sleep because
you're worried about something that's out of your
control anyway?
I got news from you from the old
song.
He's got the whole world in his hand.
How many are happy God's got the whole
world in his hand?
We don't understand everything the way we see
it now, but God says, don't worry and
don't fret and don't be anxious and don't
inwardly burn.
It's a very interesting word.
It actually means to burn inside.
Have you ever felt that feeling coming on
because you get so frustrated with people?
Somebody cursing a name that is precious to
you and there's no lightning striking them?
Some of us, you know, we wish a
lightning maybe would come down, but no.
God says, no, you don't worry and you're
not envious.
But how?
How can we avoid it?
Well, the first thing Dr. David says, it's
a two point cure.
Listen.
The first one is, David says, stop and
consider their end.
Look down the road and see how these
people will end up.
Listen.
For like the grass they will soon wither
and like green plants they will soon die
away.
That word means wither or fade.
David is saying, listen.
Listen to me.
I've been around.
I've walked with God.
I've made my own mistakes.
Don't worry about evil men and don't be
jealous of them, but stop and stop looking
at just today and look down the road
and look at how horrible their end is
going to be.
People who look like they're doing good today,
some of them are in for a terrible
awakening in the days to come.
The Bible says in this same chapter, they're
here today, they're gone tomorrow, but he that
does the will of God shall abide, what?
Forever and ever.
Verse 9, evil men will be cut off.
Verse 10, a little while and they will
be no more.
Though you look for them, they will not
be found.
Listen to this verse.
Verse 13, the Lord laughs at the wicked
for he knows their day is coming.
In other words, today, let's not just live
and think that today is everything and material
things are everything because then you're going to
worry and you're going to fret and you're
going to be anxious and you're going to
start to be tempted to be jealous, but
David says, now would you please stop and
look down the road?
Today is not everything.
There's an eternity waiting and in eternity they
are losers if they're evil, but those that
do the will of God will live forever
and ever and ever and ever.
Come on, let's put our hands together and
thank God that we have an eternal blessing.
So the psalmist is very practically says, consider
their end.
You know they're here today and gone tomorrow.
Some of those, you know, every year shrubs
come up.
They look so beautiful.
The grass comes up.
What a beautiful grass.
Just stay there for a while.
It'll be gone.
It's mowed down, withers.
No more grass.
And the psalmist says, that's the way the
wicked are.
Those ungodly who curse God, turn their back
on God, do evil things, practice wickedness.
They're going to be cut off.
And it says that even when they're making
their threats, God laughs at them, because He
knows their day is coming.
Their day is coming.
See, everyone has a day.
We who are trusting in Jesus Christ, how
many know we have a day coming when
we're going to be with the Lord?
But the wicked, they have a day coming
too.
So David says, don't just look at time.
Look down the road.
Because even though God pauses and waits, in
His wisdom, which we don't understand, He takes
care of business in the end.
He's taking care of everybody.
If you're here today, and you're trusting and
holding on to God, and you don't know
what to do, hold on.
Keep holding on, because God's going to come.
He's going to reward you.
He's going to bless you.
So cure number one for worry in the
days that we live, is to consider the
end of things, not just the moment.
See, sin is like that, brothers and sisters.
Sin just says this, what do you feel
like doing now?
Do it.
Say it.
Sleep with her.
Lie.
Let it all out, and let go of
that anger.
But God says, no.
It's not about just today.
You've got to look down the road.
You've got to invest for eternity.
You've got to keep your mind on the
prize, the high calling that we have in
Jesus Christ.
Now cure number two is even better than
cure number one.
And it says this, trust in the Lord
and do good.
Everybody here, starting with the kids behind me,
and all the way to the top of
this balcony, everybody in this building, you're either
going to trust God, or you're going to
worry.
Those are the only two options you have.
If you're not trusting in God and relying
on Him, your heart will tend toward worry
and anxiety.
Even if you get some money, and even
if you get a nice possession, you're worried
that you'll lose it.
You're worried that you'll die.
You're worried that it could be stolen.
You know, the Bible talks about people who
amass wealth, and they don't even know who
will spend it after they're gone.
Imagine some people, they work themselves to the
bone, are tighter than a crab, won't share
with anybody, and then when they die, they
don't take a cent with them.
They leave everything behind.
But we don't live like that.
Our reward is waiting for us.
Our reward is in heaven, waiting for us.
So the psalmist says this, trust in the
Lord and do good.
Now either we're going to be men and
women of faith, or we're going to start
to worry.
Now let's just face that.
It's faith or worry.
Say that with me.
It's faith or worry.
Say it again.
It's faith or worry.
Whether you're with the sound company, or working
the monitors, or you're at Usher, or you're
visiting here for the first time.
This is the way life is.
Take it from God.
You're either going to grow in trust and
faith, or you're going to grow in worry.
And you know, all the Christians who are
walking around like a nervous wreck.
Christians, who have all these promises, all these
things.
Don't fret about anything.
Don't fret because of evil doers.
Be anxious for nothing.
And they're walking around frustrated because they're not
trusting in God.
So the thing first, this antidote is this.
Trust in the Lord.
Now don't have faith in faith.
Have faith in God.
There's a cult going around now that you
hear on the afternoon talk shows and kind
of foolish philosophy of this world, which is,
just believe.
Well believe in what?
Doesn't matter.
Just believe.
How many have ever heard that?
People say, you've got to have faith.
Well faith in what?
No, don't be authoritative.
Don't give me those absolute truths.
Don't mention God.
Just believe.
You've got to believe.
You know that's the logo for the Mets.
It used to be for the New York
baseball team.
You've got to believe.
Believe in what?
No, you've just got to believe.
Listen, you've got to believe, but you've got
to believe in God.
How many are with me?
Say amen.
You've got to believe.
Listen, in His promise, His power, His love,
His mercy, His goodness.
While you were sleeping last night, He was
watching over you.
He was watching over you.
You know the only reason you're here today?
If it wasn't for God, some of us
would not even be here today.
Well none of us would be here in
church.
Some of us wouldn't even be alive.
See these guys working with the sound and
the people who have done all this work
in this building, the only thing keeping them
alive is God's watching over them every day
for one reason or another.
Either He's trying to get to their hearts
or He's in their hearts now watching over
us as His children.
Trust in the Lord, in His power, in
His promises.
Read the Bible and when God makes a
promise, hold on to it and remember, that's
my father talking to me.
This promise is for me.
God, I claim this promise.
I believe this is for me, Lord.
I'm trusting in You.
But you gotta remember that as you trust,
you have to trust, and here's the hard
part of faith, you have to wait.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently
for Him.
There's a verse in the latter part of
this psalm that says, wait for the Lord
and keep His way.
You know what the hard part of faith
is in avoiding worry?
It's not only to believe, it's to wait
for God's timing.
God has a timing for everything.
And if you try to rush Him, you'll
start to worry.
You gotta only trust God.
You gotta say, God I know You're gonna
take care of this and You're gonna do
it in Your time.
I'm not only trusting You to do it,
You're gonna do it at the perfect moment
and I'm gonna wait.
Isn't that the hardest part of faith?
How many have trouble waiting?
Come on, wave your hand if you're like
me.
Oh, to go in a store and see
a long line, it's like, oh, do I
have to do this?
That's why sale days are good in stores,
but then when you see the lines, you
say, oh, I'll buy at regular price because
who can go through those lines?
So the Bible says that we not only
have to have faith, we have to wait.
Yeah, but what's gonna happen to those evil
men?
Wait.
Yeah, but that guy, he's just getting over.
Wait.
There's a day coming.
You not only gotta trust, you have to
wait.
Some of us get worked up, I'm gonna
trust God and then after two days, it's
like, what, God, You didn't do it already?
What's wrong, God?
How many want today to start trusting and
waiting like never before?
God, I'm not gonna worry, I'm gonna trust
and in my trust, I'm gonna wait for
You.
Because when you wait for the Lord, you're
never disappointed.
He will come through.
If you have a wayward son and a
wayward daughter and you've committed them to the
Lord, you not only have to trust, sometimes
when you start to pray and trust, they
get worse before they get better.
But if you just wait, wait for the
Lord, wait for the Lord, like people wait
on a station for a train.
Someone says, why are you waiting here?
Because it's coming in.
I got the schedule, it's coming.
How do you know?
No, listen, this train's coming in.
And with God, we're even more sure.
Not just to trust, but to trust and
to wait.
But while we're waiting, you know another important
thing to avoid this worry business?
Is trust and wait and young people do
good.
Notice, trust in the Lord and do good.
That's the tandem.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Just, if you really trust, you gotta be
doing good at the same time.
You know one of the best ways out
of worry and depression is to do something
good for somebody.
Listen to me, listen to Dr. Cimbala.
I told you about Dr. David and now
listen to my prescription.
One of the best ways that I have
found to get out of a funk and
to get out of a depression and to
get out of, you know, thoughts of depression
or worry is to not just trust in
the Lord, but to do good.
To keep His way, not to give up
because this is the terrible thing about fretting.
Listen to it.
The Bible says, don't fret, it only leads
to evil.
That's in this Psalm.
Fret not, it only leads to evil.
Do you know how sin gets us entangled
sometimes?
It's because it starts with worry.
If you're worried, you start to talk wrong
words, wrong sentences.
When you're agitated inside, there's the temptation to,
what's the sense of living for God?
Ah, everybody's just getting over and there's no
justice in the world.
I'm going to let it all hang out
and do what I've been tempted to do.
Now listen, this is why worry is such
a horrible thing and I want to keep
you from it today and I want God
to keep me from it.
It says, don't worry, it only leads to
evil.
Worry is like opening the door to Satan.
Worry is like opening the door to new
temptations.
Don't worry, it only leads to evil.
Trust in the Lord, wait for His timing,
and do good while you're waiting.
Don't give in to the devil who says
to us, you've been waiting and you've been
trusting.
What do you have to show for it?
Come on, what do you have to show
for it?
Stop doing good.
Stop serving God.
Stop trying to help others.
Stop living for Christ.
It's not getting you anywhere.
Look at these people who don't live like
you.
They're getting ahead.
That's a lie from the devil.
Trust in the Lord, do good, and keep
waiting.
But while you're waiting, be doing good.
Oh, call somebody and pray for them.
Say a kind word to somebody.
Pray, intercede for some need that you know.
Open up the Bible.
Love somebody.
Trust in the Lord.
Wait for Him and do good.
And what happens?
And you will possess the land.
What?
The promised land.
When you say land in the Old Testament,
it means the promised land.
What does that mean?
God's saying this to us today.
Don't worry because it only leads to evil.
Don't fret.
You'll just stir yourself up into a bigger
mess.
And that's true.
Physically, mentally, and emotionally, and spiritually.
It's bad, worry.
No.
Trust in the Lord.
Go over here and trust in the Lord.
And do good.
And wait for Him.
And while you're waiting, be doing good.
And when you do that, God will give
you the desires of your heart.
He will let you possess His promises.
The hard part is waiting for it.
The hard part is holding on to God
and not giving in to worry.
And we've all been through that battle.
We're worried about one thing or another.
And Satan uses that pressure to try to
squeeze us into his mold.
To get us to break out away from
God.
But here Dr. David tells us, wait for
the Lord.
Keep His way.
Do good while you wait God's timing.
God's going to settle everything.
Brothers and sisters, one thing I can tell
you for sure today.
God's going to settle everything in the end.
How many know that without a shadow of
a doubt, say Amen.
God is going to settle everything.
Alright, let me close.
Remember now, don't fret.
It leads only to evil.
Verse 8.
In other words, there's a danger that worry
poses to our own spiritual welfare.
I've learned that.
When I worry, it opens me up to
some very nasty things.
Have any of you ever found the same
thing?
You don't have to say Amen out loud.
But how many have found that when you
worry, it's like, it's a hunting ground for
Satan.
Well, you might say to me, Pastor Symbol,
listen.
I like what you're saying, but I have
so little strength.
And I have so little of this world's
goods.
And I feel so impotent.
And here these other people have so much.
Listen to verse 16.
Better the little that the righteous have than
the wealth of many wicked.
Listen.
Better the little that the righteous have than
the wealth of many wicked.
It's better to have a little and have
God in your heart than to have all
the money and have no peace and no
joy and have a day coming.
Imagine, that's why you're not allowed to talk.
It's not politically correct to talk about dying
with people.
You don't bring up death.
But to a Christian, you can talk about
death because that means we're going home.
But to an unbeliever, they don't talk about
dying.
Why?
Because the only thing they have is right
here on earth.
But God tells us, it's better to have
a little and have His peace and His
joy.
You know, when you're in love with Jesus
and you're serving Jesus, you don't need much.
Just a roof over your head, a little
roti, rice and beans, a little something to
eat, right?
Come on, how many have ever had very
little but just been full of the joy
of the Lord, right?
Come on, lift up your hand with me.
Right?
We know what that feeling is, to have
very little but to say, all right, I
don't have a lot, but I have Jesus.
I have the Lord.
I have peace.
I'll tell you what, I'm very happy to
be here today and I'm very happy for
you that God has helped us get to
this next stage and I hope the building
you enjoy and I hope you're happy with
it.
It's your church.
But you know what?
I'm no happier today than I was when
I was on Atlantic Avenue with my wife
and I, with 15, 18 people, with a
run-down little building.
I'll be very straight with you.
It's because, you know, whether you have a
little or a lot, the building is small,
the building is big, you get used to
whatever you have, but the thing that gives
you peace is Jesus in your heart.
Rejoice.
Let's put our hands together and thank God
that we can rejoice in Him.
You know, as Carol plays, Jonathan plays.
Carol, are you down there somewhere?
She's over there somewhere.
Listen, can I tell you about the best
meal we ever, one of the best meals
we ever ate in our life?
Now, I've been taken, someone took me to
the formerly Windows on the World at the
World Trade Center years ago, took me to
eat one day and tipped the maitre d',
$20 so that we could sit.
This is a high roller type of guy.
He tipped him $20 so Carol and I
could sit with he and his wife on
the window.
But that building used to be so high
that we were in a cloud.
We paid $20 to see nothing.
We were right in the middle of a
cloud, right?
And they had a chocolate dessert there.
It was called Death by Chocolate.
That was the name of the dessert.
And this was years ago.
I think it cost, the piece of the
cake cost like, this was years ago.
This was in the 70s.
Late 70s?
Yeah.
And I think the piece of cake cost
$12.
Imagine now with the price, the way things
are going.
So the meal was nice.
Windows on the World, you know, $12 piece
of chocolate.
It was so sweet.
It's like, and we all got so hyper.
We didn't know where to go.
We were all just like, they just started
talking funny and everything, getting all souped up
from sugar.
It was like an upper for $12 is
what we actually got.
So we were in the Dominican Republic and
preaching in the 70s.
And the people we were with who were
taking us from town to town took us
to a little shack of a house where
a pastor was in a town.
The electricity running into his house, it was
run off the main line.
There were wires coming off this main line
that was out in the street.
There was only a little table, a dirt
floor, this little table, a couple broken down
little chairs.
And they were so happy that we were
visiting and they wanted us to stay for
dinner.
He went out and he caught some fish
in a lake or a river.
And that was the dinner.
I found out he caught them that day.
And they were so nervous and they were
so self-conscious a little bit because of
their lack of wealth, money.
And she took one potato.
All she had was one potato.
And she cut that potato, I think, six
ways because there were six of us at
the table.
And that was the meal.
A sixth of a potato, a sixth of
a potato, and this fish that he had
caught.
And in this house that had very little,
he had a blender.
I'll never forget that.
The wife had a blender.
And she made some papaya with a little
milk and made a drink.
And we said grace.
And ate one sixth of a potato, a
little piece of fish.
And it was the best meal we ever
had because Jesus was there.
Listen, it was better than the windows on
the world because when you have peace, it's
better to have little and have Jesus than
have everything and be a nervous wreck.
I've eaten in some very wealthy restaurants, rich,
expensive restaurants that people have taken me to.
I'm not impressed at all.
It's not what you put in your mouth
that makes you happy.
It's what's in your soul that makes you
happy.
Now listen, you might say, Pastor Cimbala, I
know, but I want to trust the Lord.
And I know you're right.
I know what you're preaching is right.
But I stumble.
And I fall.
And sometimes I give in.
And I get envious.
And I blow up.
And I start to worry.
And I start to fret about one thing
or another.
And I feel so weak.
But listen to this, my last verse, same
chap, same psalm, verse 23, 24.
If the Lord delights in a man or
a woman's way, He will make their steps
firm.
Though that man stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord will uphold him with His
own hand.
You know what one translation has it?
The man may stumble, but he won't fall
headlong.
Oh, listen.
God is a God who loves us so
much and is so kind that even when
we trip and go, oh, I fell.
Instead of saying, what's wrong with you?
Didn't I tell you not to worry?
What are you fretting for?
Look, it only leads to evil.
Look, you got tripped up.
How many are happy we don't have a
God like that?
But we have a God who says, oh,
you tripped.
Come on.
Get up.
Come on.
Walk with me.
Come on.
I'm going to teach you.
You might have tripped.
But listen, you didn't fall down completely.
Because God says, I'm going to lift you
up.
And I'm going to hold you.
How many know when the Lord lifts you
up and holds you, you're going to be
held by God?
One more time.
Let's put our hands together and affirm God's
Word.
So, trust in the Lord and do good.
Wait for Him.
And He will work.
He will work.
His time.
But at the end of the day, you'll
say, the Lord does all things well.
Now, simple, do you understand everything happening in
the world today?
I don't have a clue.
But I know one thing.
God does everything perfectly.
And when we get to heaven, we're going
to understand why He let that go on
and why that happened.
And then for billions and billions and billions
of years, we're going to enjoy His presence
and the blessing of the Lord.
And you know how expensive it is up
in heaven, how beautiful it is?
The streets are made of gold.
Gold is so cheap that just let the
people walk on it.
It's not worth anything.
Let them just walk on it.
Because the real joy is coming from God's
presence.
Even if you've never done it before, would
you lift up your hands with me right
now?
Let's just pray for a second.
Come on.
God, we thank You today for Your Word.
We're not going to worry, Lord.
Everything's going crazy in the newspapers around us.
But we're not going to worry.
We're going to trust in the Lord and
do good.
And we're going to wait for You, Lord.
We're going to wait.
We don't know exactly what You're cooking up
and working out.
But we're going to wait for You.
Blessed is the man or woman who trusts
in the Lord.
They'll never be ashamed.
They'll never be disappointed.
Help my brothers and sisters to trust and
not worry.
Don't let them be envious.
Let them put their faith in You.
You may put your hands down.
Close your eyes with me, please.
Maybe there's some folks sitting here today who
would say, Pastor Semble, how in the world
would you know what I've been going through?
I've been in a dither.
Been just all frustrated inside.
Can't make head nor tail of my life.
Don't know why what's going down is going
down.
Confused.
But Pastor Semble, if God's word hit me
today, I'm going to trust in the Lord.
I'm going to do good.
I'm going to wait for Him.
And as I do that, God's going to
work on my behalf.
But today, I want to draw a line
in the sand and tell God, God, I'm
not going to run around and get worried
anymore.
I'm not going to be fretting.
I'm not going to be getting agitated inside.
It's for nothing.
It only leads to evil.
No, I'm going to trust in the Lord.
I'm going to do good.
God's going to keep me.
And even if I slip, He'll pick me
up again.
Blessed be His name forever.
The minister talking to you today, he slipped
a lot of times, but the Lord keeps
picking him up.
Blessed be His name.
If you're here today and say, Pastor Semble,
as you close this first service at 17
Smith Street, your new church, our new church,
pray for me because today I'm starting a
new life of trust.
I'm going to feed on God's faithfulness.
I'm going to let Him shepherd me, take
care of me.
I'm going to let His Word get in
me now.
I'm going to stop living the way I'm
living because this is not, it's going to
only lead to evil.
My fretting, my worry, my anxiety.
I'm not going to be a victim.
I'm not going to make myself a victim
like, oh, nobody understands.
No, I'm going to take control of this
situation under God and say, I'm not going
to fret.
I'm not going to worry anymore.
I'm going to rejoice in God.
I'm going to delight myself in Him.
If you're here today and would like me
to pray for you in closing, would you
just stand up wherever you are?
I haven't done this here before, but I
want to just want you to respond to
the Holy Spirit.
I don't care if you're a Christian 20
years or 20 days.
You stand up and say, Pastor Semble, wherever
you might be, Pastor Semble, pray for me.
I'm going to start trusting God by His
help today.
I'm going to trust Him.
These burdens that I've been carrying, I'm going
to cast them upon the Lord.
Come on, if you're carrying burdens that are
weighing you down, just stand up where you
are and say, I'm giving them to the
Lord today.
I'm walking out of this building different than
the way I came in.
You just stand wherever you are.
People in the balcony, don't move.
You just keep standing, all of you.
I appreciate that.
Everybody here downstairs, come quickly out of your
seat.
Everyone in the lower auditorium, come quickly and
just stand here.