Faith Series: Stability of Faith

Faith Series: Stability of Faith

Let's take our Bibles, turning them together to Psalm 112, please. Psalm 112 is our text for this evening. Psalm 112. Let's look on together as we begin the reading in verse 1. 1. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth forever. 2. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteous. 3. A good man showeth favor and lendeth. He will guide his affairs with discretion. 4. Surely he shall not be moved forever. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 5. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. He shall not be afraid until he seeth his desire upon his enemies. 6. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor. His righteousness endureth forever. His horn shall be exalted with honor. 7. The wicked shall see it, and be greegy.

And our prayer tonight is that the Lord would bless his word to our hearts as we've now read it. So I want to speak on the subject of the stability of faith. We could say a fixed faith, trusting in the Lord. There are some very important principles given to us in this passage tonight that will help us to have a stability of faith in our lives. There are some very important principles that are given to us here that are applicable to us no matter what age, whether we're man, woman, boy or girl, that will help us. And so let's look at them this evening.

And as we do, I just wanted to mention that word stable. The word stable, it has the idea, it came from the, in our English, it came from the idea of, from the old French meaning to be constant, steadfast or unchanging. And ultimately from the Latin, firm, steadfast, stable, fixed. Speaks of something unwavering, something that's able to stand. To stand and not topple. And that's what kind of faith we need.

You know, when you have winds, when you have motion, I think about we're driving in the car, we have, we have dishes and things. If we're going, like we were going over to eat at lunch today, you want something that is, is stable. So it doesn't tip over, you know, you want something that's stable. And that's, that's the picture of what our faith should be like. We, God wants us. We want us to have a faith that is stable, a faith that is able to stand even against the wiles of the devil, even against the attacks that may come, even against the changes that happen around us.

So here we see the man that feareth, blessed, truly happy is the man that feareth the Lord. In verse one, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. But we see this man fears the Lord. What is the tendency? The tendency is to fear man, right? The tendency. That brings instability is the fear of man. The fear of man. Why, why do we tend to fear man instead of God? What, what is it? Why is it a natural tendency to be afraid of what man thinks, what he says and what he'll do to us?

Well, it's because we can see him. We can see men. We can hear men. And the tendency is to fear man's disapproval because that's immediate, right? The disapproval of men is, is immediate. You can disobey God and may be able to. You can be able to get along for a little time before consequences come to you for not fearing God. But, but when we live in the fear of man, the Bible tells us it brings a snare, doesn't it? It brings a snare to us ultimately.

Look, look with me briefly. Hold your finger in our text, but look over at Proverbs 29. We, I am sure we know that passage well, but let's read it again. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Proverbs 29 and verse number 25. It's there. Verse 25. We read it. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

Didn't we just mention that this morning in the prelude, in the preliminaries? That I will lay me down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. There's the idea of safety. If we believe safety is in the Lord, then we're going to put our weight down on Him. If we put our weight down on Him, that's hand in glove with fearing the Lord. I trust the Lord. I fear the Lord. I trust the Lord. Both of those are true here. I'm fearing the Lord and I'm trusting the Lord. I'm putting my weight down. I'm putting my weight down on the Lord.

And so, on the other hand, we see that in Proverbs 14, 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain. It says there, Proverbs 14, verse 27. Proverbs 14 and verse number 27 says the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. So, if the fear of man brings a snare, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. The fear of the Lord delivers us from the snare. It delivers us from the snares of trusting or fearing man.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as we well know. The Lord will guide those who fear Him. He'll guide their steps. We're going to see that in just a few moments. His mercy is on them, we read, that fear Him from generation to generation, right? He will fulfill them. Fulfill the desire of those that fear Him. There's so many blessings. No wonder it says here, blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. There's many blessings. It's a fountain of life. Deliverance from snares. Wisdom. There is the promise of His guidance, His mercy, His fulfillment of our desires when we commit our way to Him, trusting Him, fearing the Lord instead of man.

Moses could, or Noah could have. He would have feared man, and he wouldn't have built the ark. He would have had the temporary favor of men if he feared men, but he would have ultimately been brought into a snare and would have cried out, how have I hated wisdom and refused instruction? How I have greatly erred in leaving off the fear of the Lord. How I have greatly erred in leaving off the fear of the Lord. How I have greatly rebelled against God, but it would have been too late. Thank God he did fear the Lord. He did fear.

Well, we see also that this man, this blessed, is the man that delights greatly in God's commandments, right? He takes great pleasure. He takes great joy. Psalm 1. He's meditating in God's Word day and night. In His law. He delights in that law, right? He delights in it, and He feeds on that Word. He, kind of like, as we've said before, the cow ruminates. He processes, and through those stomachs that the cow has, He meditates on, He muses on, He really gets the full benefit of what God's. God's Word says by meditating, by delighting on it, delighting in it.

You can tell when you talk with someone who has the Word of God dwelling in them richly. You can tell by their conversation. You can tell by just, even in conversation, the Holy Spirit will, He won't draw on a vacuum, but if you've been meditating in God's Word and you've hid God's Word in your heart, the Holy Spirit's going to bring those things back. You're going to have your remembrance. Didn't we talk about that after we started memorizing James, the book of James? I noticed, I think several of you mentioned how the Lord could even more readily pull upon those passages that we've memorized from James. Not that I can stand here and quote the whole book to you right now, but, you know, and we're working on 1 John. Even my wife mentioned, you know, even though we don't have it perfectly memorized, it just flows off your lips more readily, even as you're reading it, you know. It's just… It's more ingrained in your heart and mind.

So this man that's blessed is meditating on, he's walking in, delighting in the law of the Lord. You know, there's things in the Bible, we read many things in the Bible, we read about, you know, marking those that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine. We're to try the spirits, whether they be of God, we are to, you know, we're to separate from certain things. Things that are not in accordance to sound doctrine. Well, how do we know, how are we going to know the counterfeits unless we meditate in the truth, right? We'll more readily discern that which contradicts truth if we are familiarizing ourselves and delighting in and meditating on what is true. We'll not so easily be tossed about with every wind of doctrine and the cunning craftiness whereby men… Lie and wait to deceive if we know, not just for our brains, for our minds, but we will hide God's word in our hearts that we might not sin against him. We delight in that word and that will bring a greater stability in our lives and in our faith.

And so it's very important. We need to eat God's words. We need to meditate on them. We need to muse on them. And then it says here, his seed, verse two in our text, his seed shall be mighty upon the earth. Whose seed? The man that fears the Lord and meditates and are rather delights greatly in this commandments. This man's seed shall be mighty upon the earth. My sister-in-law, Sarah, was talking about some folks in their church, a family, young family, that they are really getting their children memorizing a lot of scripture. And she said, you know, it's a blessing and even a conviction to how they're just really wanting their children to be saturated with the word of God. That's a good thing.

And the man that delights in God's word and is naturally going to share that with his children, she's going to share it with her children, the mother, and the children will be, the children, as it says here, will be mighty upon the earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. They're going to be not simply physically strong or known for their great riches, but they'll be known for their spiritual stability and strength in the Lord. It's better to have a good name than to have great riches, the scripture says. A good name is rather to be chosen than great. Riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold.

We read about men like Moses. Moses was a man mighty in word and deeds. Think about Moses' mother. Think about Samuel. Think about his mother and the legacy that was passed on there. Think about, if you think about really most of the time when you look at mighty men and women that were used of God in different ways in the Bible, look at their parents. We don't know. We don't always know everything about their parents. Look at John the Baptist, what kind of a man he was, but look at his parents. Look at the parents of John the Baptist.

Now, it tells us here that verse three, that wealth and riches shall be in his house and his righteousness endureth forever. Riches. Yes, this, we see many, we see a number of righteous people in the Bible who did have great possessions. We had, we saw Job. We saw Abraham. We saw different ones. The Lord blessed them monetarily, materially, although that was not the purpose and aim and goal of their lives. But we see that they, they committed those things to the Lord. The Lord even took everything Job had away from him. But here it says wealth and riches shall be in his house.

I think the true riches are the things that will never, ever fade away. You know, the riches of this world will grow themselves wings and fly away, won't they? But I think of that hymn we sing, solid joys and lasting treasures. None but Zion's children know we are rich in Christ. I don't want to diminish the fact that the Lord can, can bless us monetarily, but I'm not about to stand here and preach a prosperity gospel. Because we have so much of that health, wealth, and all of that and prosperity. Whereas sometimes God points for some believers to suffer need, at least for seasons of their life where they, where they may go without, but never will we be without the Lord's riches if we trust in him.

Well, this man is righteous and his righteousness. In endureth forever, we read here, wealth and riches shall be in his house and his righteousness endureth forever. These, this righteousness is the true, is really the true riches, right? Look in Proverbs 11, verse four, Proverbs 11, verse number four. It says there in verse number four, riches profit not in the day. Of wrath, you certainly can't pay off the judge, can you? But, but righteousness delivereth from death. Thank God. Thank God we, no matter what our bank account looks like, we, we have, if we have the righteousness of Christ, we are rich. We are blessed beyond measure.

And it says here to this righteous man, to this upright individual. There ariseth, verse four, light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteous. So let's take these one at a time. He's, he's this righteous man whose righteousness endureth forever. He knows what it means to truly be rich in the Lord. And there is going to arise for him. This man who meditates. In God's law, who fears God, who, who, who, who puts God first in his life. This individual, it says that when in days of darkness, there will be light to arise for him. Light will arise for this man in darkness.

Well, what does that mean? We certainly know that we're called to shine as lights in this world, but we also have in this law. In this law that we are to meditate in day and night, we have in this a lamp for our feet. We have in this a more sure, a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto we do well that we take heed as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn, until we see the Lord face to face, we do well to take heed unto this light that is to guide our steps, to order our steps. So. It will be, it will be as we meditate in God's law and not, and not falling into the snare of the fearing man, but fearing God like Noah did and, and being moved with fear to prepare an ark according to God's commandment. As we seek to build our lives by the light of this word, God will give us the light we need. He won't, he won't necessarily tell us what we're going to be doing next week or next year. At this time, but he will show us each step of the way. He will give us light to say, this is what you need to do. This is, this is the way, walk in it. Here is the, here are the steps you need to take down. It will be plain to the believer. It will be plain to the one who meditates in God's law. It'll also be plain where we're not to go, right? Don't go over there. God's word is not leading. It's not leading us in that direction. God's word is leading us. God, through his word, by the Holy Spirit, leading us in this way to go in this way.

This man who delights in God's law, who fears God and delights in his commandments is also gracious. He's gracious. He's gracious because his speech is seasoned with grace because he's, the word is dwelling in him richly and all wisdom. And his, he's gracious in his spirit. We just talked about the sins of the spirit recently. This, this is not a bitter man. This is not an envious man. This is not an angry man. This is not a proud man. This is a man whose spirit, he recognizes his body and his spirit belong to the Lord. And in his spirit, he's gracious. He's gracious. And because he's gracious and his, he is filled with grace. He, he is full of compassion on others. He's not, he's not unmerciful. He's not, he's not harsh, bitter. He's gracious. He's gracious and full of compassion, full of compassion.

Our natural tendency is to fear man. Yes, we said that. Our natural, our natural tendency is to take care of, is also to take care of me. And don't worry about anybody else. Fend for yourself. Take care of yourself. You know, hope you make it, kind of thing. I'll take care of me and mine. And I'm not worried about anybody else. But no, the man, the man who fears God, the man who delights in God's word is going to be full of compassion toward others. Why? Because he himself has received compassion from God. He shows mercy as he's been shown. He shows mercy as he's been shown mercy. He, he is, he is compassionate because he knows that if it was not for God's mercies and God's compassion upon his life, he wouldn't even be here. For mercy is so great, what return can I make? For mercy is so constant and sure.

Well, you know, we're, we're, we're now to be a channel of God's blessing. We're not just to be a reservoir and a receptacle of his blessing. But we're to be a channel of his blessings. So showing mercy, having compassion, a good man show a favor. It says in verse five, a good man, a good man. Well, who is a good man? A good man is one whose steps are ordered by the Lord. We're not naturally good. Our heart's not good. Our heart is actually deceitful and desperately wicked. But the man whose steps are ordered by God's word is good. And it's this man shows favor. He shows favor. It says, and he lends, he lendeth. He, he shows favor toward others. He treats others as he would want to be treated. He doesn't just do to others as they do to him, but he shows favor. He shows compassion. He shows graciousness. He's not stingy. He's not a man who he's an individual. He or she is an individual that has a giving heart lending to others. Not, not a, not a strings attached sort of person. Well, what's in it for me? Always. No. What, what would the Lord have me to do?

And it says this individual, verse number five here, he will a guy, he will guide his affairs with discretion. He exercises wisdom and discretion in his dealings. He'll guide his affairs with discretion. Instead of leaning to his own understanding, he seeks the Lord's understanding of matters. He doesn't let his emotions run ahead of steps ordered by faith. You know, we can walk by our emotions. We can walk by our sight. This looks like the right way. This feels good to me. No, this person doesn't do that. He's, he's stable. He's walking circumspectly. He's walking, he's stepping in the light. He's stepping in the light of God's word as God gives him light, even in a dark place.

And he says, he says, I'm going to guide my affairs with discretion. The only place I can get discretion is from God. I can't get discretion from what my peers tell me, what my feelings tell me, you know, money talks, all those kinds of things. No, I, I need to make sure because I'm going to stand up. I'm going to stand before the Lord one day. I'm going to give an account for how I have ordered my life, the things I've done, the things I've said, how have I handled myself. I'm not going to give it. I'm not going to give an answer to my, to those I love. I'm not going to give the answer to my enemies. I'm not going to give an answer to anybody else but the Lord.

And so it says this man, verse six, surely he shall not be moved forever. That sounds like, like stability. He has a stable life. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. This man even leaves a legacy, doesn't he? Not, not really a legacy about himself, but leaves a legacy of faith. And this is a big part of why it says in verse two, that his seed shall be mighty in the earth. Verse two says his seed shall be mighty in the earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. This man's life is, this woman's life has not been about them. It's been about the Lord. And therefore they, they will not be moved forever. They're, they're not on shifting sand. And even the ones that follow in their steps will remember them.

Well, certainly the Lord, the Lord will remember them, but they, their legacy, their legacy will not be forgotten because their life like John, hopefully like John the Baptist pointed to the Lord. That's what we're to be, right? We're to point to the Lord. Our lives are to point to the Lord. The only way we can point to the Lord is by faith. We can't point to the Lord by saying, well, I'm just going to do whatever I feel like. I can't point to the Lord by just saying, well, you know, I'm just going to follow the, go with the flow. That's not how we point to the Lord. Sometimes pointing to the Lord means you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, oftentimes it means you're going against, going against the flow, right? You're going against the grain of, of, of, of your peers and, and society.

What does it say in first Corinthians 15? Let's look over there in verse 57, first Corinthians 15, 57, first Corinthians 15, 57 says these familiar words, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, it's not a waste. It's not a waste, but it, if you will be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, and the only way you can do that work is by faith, trusting and obeying, right?

This, this, this word steadfast has the idea of, it comes from, it comes from the word actually in the Greek, meaning a seat, a seat. Um, it's, it's kind of hard to knock somebody over if they're sitting down. It's kind of hard to fall if you're sitting down. this has the idea of sitting or firmness, putting, we talked about, putting our full weight down on the Lord, didn't we? We talked about putting our full weight down on the Lord. That's what faith is. And when we are resting in the Lord, then we are going to be steadfast, steadfast. It's going to be hard to move. If we're, if we're putting our weight on the Lord, planting ourselves, and then unmovable, it says not moved away, not soon shaken in your faith, unmovable, unmovable. I'm, I'm camping out here in the realm of faith in the Lord.

And so this is what Paul prays for. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that if you're trusting in the Lord, that's not in vain. If you're trusting in the Lord and letting and doing things his way, not, not your, according to your wisdom, but according to his wisdom, according to his word, fearing him, meditating in his law. Then we noticed that, that he says that the victory will come through. My faith in him, the victory will come through our Lord Jesus Christ, my faith in him.

And so we see here that, that this is a stable life. It's stable. A state. It comes from stable thinking, right? I'm thinking of the Lord. I'm meditating on him. I am purposely fearing him, not fearing man. And this is a pathway of blessing in verse eight in our texts. He says, uh, well, let's go back. Actually, in verse number seven, he shall not be afraid of evil. As we just read evil tidings, his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. That's, that's not, that's why he's not afraid of men and afraid of circumstances and afraid of the news cycle. He's, he's, he's stressing the Lord and his heart is established. He shall not be afraid until he see his desire upon his enemies.

Something about when you, when you put your confidence in the Lord, that things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest. As it, as we sing closed and everlasting arms, pillowed on the loving breast old to lie forever here, doubt and fear and self resign while he whispers in my ear, I am his and he is mine resting in my savior as my all in all standing on the promises of God, putting my weight down on him. That's the only way you can be saved. That's the only way you can be stable. You can't be stable in yourself. It's kind of like the difference between being, um, you know, strapped in, in a roller coaster or just hanging on. You know, I, I need to, I need to be, I need to be, well, I don't even want to be on a roller coaster in the first place, but, but I, uh, I want to be grounded. If you're, if you're in a storm and the winds are blowing, um, I want to be, I want to be seated in my seat with my seatbelt on. I want to be, I want to be flopping all over the place, blowing around in the wind.

Well, this man is not afraid of bad news because his heart is fixed on one thing, meditating in God's word day and night, meditating. He'll be like a tree, right? He'll be, he'll be planted by the, the rivers of water, typical of in the very presence and blessing of the Lord. And he's going to grow fruit, even in a dry season, even in a, in adverse circumstances. Jeremiah 17 talks about that bringing forth, not being careful in the year of drought. That's the kind of stability we can see that here recently, you know, there's, there's, um, certain places where the, where plants just dried up, even in the, in the amount of drought we've had so far, we're not even in the summertime yet, but you know that those kinds of things, uh, are, you begin to see, you begin to see the plants failing, but if you've got a good water source there, the plant still makes it no matter, even if it's, uh, even if it has been very dry, but it says he shall see his desire upon his enemies.

Verse nine, he hath, he hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor. We see it again. He's charitable. He lends right. As we saw earlier in this passage, his righteousness endureth forever. His horn shall be exalted with, exalted with honor. So this man is certainly not about himself. He's about the Lord and he's also about others. He's, um, he has dispersed. He, he is a giving individual, giving to the poor. Uh, he, he is not hoarding. He's not keeping it all for himself. He makes friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Uh, he, he gives with the work of the Lord in mind, with the salvation of souls in mind, with, with the good of others in mind.

And it says the wicked shall see it. His, his horn is exalted in honor. This horn speaks of his, of power. This man is not abusing power, but he's been honorable with all that God has blessed him with. And therefore God, uh, uh, and even those whom he has been kind to will rise up and we'll, we'll speak honorably of him. We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll bless his memory. Uh, and we know that there's none good in our, in and of themselves, but the righteous will be remembered. Uh, the righteous will be remembered for what, not the goodness in them, but, you know, there's a sweet savor to the righteous. There's a sweet, there's a sweet fragrance. There's a, there's a, there is a, um, a memory of those who have lived a life that a faith that we look back at and we say, thank God for that life. Thank God for that sweet smelling savor that was offered up to the Lord. Thank God for that testimony. Thank God for how they pointed me to the Lord. It wasn't even really them. It was, it was that they submitted their life to the Lord and they pointed us. It may be, we think of him writers, we think of preachers, but then we just think of common everyday folk that didn't have any, maybe great position or, or, or leadership position or someplace where they look, they were, they were a profuse writer or they, they, they had a lot of artistic works, whatever it may be, but they brighten the corner where they were.

I think of, uh, the gift of different individuals. Some have the gift of poetry. Some have the gift of, of, um, of helps ministering in different ways. We think of those in our church. I was just looking back through, through notes. I thought I was looking back through the funeral notes for, uh, Emily Gay the other day. And I thought about the testimony she had, how she cared for her son, Kent, uh, who is still with us, thank the Lord, but cared for him for so many years and, and faithfully did that. Um, and, and we, we think of her, think of so many others that, that, that are a testimony and being dead, they yet speak right there. Their testimony, uh, lives on. Uh, but the wicked shall see it. It says in verse 10 and be grieved. Uh, and be grieved. He shall Nash with his teeth and melt away. This is the opposite of the memory of the righteous, isn't it? The opposite of the memory of the righteous, because the righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance. But the, the wicked shall melt away and the desire of the wicked shall perish. The heritage of the righteous will live on in great honor and blessing. But quite the opposite for the, the unrighteous.

I want us to, I want us to just think back over these things. I know I've been recapping as I've gone, but what are we, what are we, what are we talking about? We, as the Psalmist says here tonight, we need to pray, God, help us to have a fixed heart, trusting in the Lord. Lord, help us to have a fixed heart, trusting in the Lord. Lord, help us to have a fixed heart, trusting in the Lord. Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, saying this moody and doubting stability of trusting in the Lord. We're not stable, but the Lord is. And as the song, as the scripture, but as the song we sing says, stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding as he promised perfect peace and rest.

Well, how do we get a life like that? How do we live a life like that? We have the life, we just got to live it. We got to reckon ourselves, reckon it to be so as the Lord has promised us. We just got to lay hold of, you know, living a life that he's already given to us. Well, what is it? Fear God. Fear God. Don't be afraid of what men think of you, will say to you, or say about you, or do to you. Fear God. Like Noah did. Delight in his words. That means every day, meditate on it. Study it. Read it. Meditate on it. Talk of all his wondrous works even, but meditate on God's word. And then walk in the light of that word. As he gives you light, even in difficult and dark circumstances, walk in the light of it. Lord, thank you for what you've shown me today. Help me now to step in the light. Walk in the light as you're in the light. Have fellowship with you as I walk in this light. What you've showed me in your word. Help me to walk with discretion as the passage tells me. To walk with discretion. Order my steps in your word.

And then, as you're giving to me and you're showing me wonderful things out of your law, help me now to give to others. Help me to give, certainly, the gospel. Help me to give of my increase to help the work of the Lord, but also to give to the poor. To lend. Help me to not have a taking mentality. What? What can I get? No, the Lord has already given us the riches of heaven. They're mine. Help me to give. Help me to see some way that I can give to someone else today. To give of my time, talents, and treasures. And then, show compassion as I've been shown compassion. Be gracious as I've received grace. Ultimately, a stable life has to be one that is exercising and giving. It's faith, right? A stable life can't just be, I got all this information in my mind. No, Lord, guide my steps. I fear you. Not man. I delight in you and your word. Guide my steps. Give me the wisdom to walk uprightly. Give me the grace to be gracious to others. Show compassion to them. And Lord, most of all, what I want is nothing between my soul and you. Nothing preventing the least of your favor. I've got to keep the way clear. I can't say, Lord, bless me. And I'm not actually living out the blessings that he's already given me. They're just stagnating. You know, I've got to walk in those blessings. I've got to live out those things.

So, the things we've seen today. The things we'll see in our Bible study. Our devotional, reading the devotional, you know, whatever. Our meditations. Help me to live day to day. Day to day in the fear of the Lord and delighting in his commandments. And that is going to produce a stability in our lives that can be passed on to the next generation. The things the Lord will do in and through us will affect those that come after us. So, may God help us to be stable, steadfast in the faith.

Heavenly Father, thank you for these thoughts we have from your word tonight. Help us to be, help it, may it be said of us that our heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. And may our walk, our words, our actions, may they reflect that reality. We pray these things now. We pray these things now, asking your blessing on this final hymn. And your blessing upon us as we go out into this week. In Jesus' name, amen.