Psalm 73: Refocusing in the Sanctuary — Peter Ramsay

I would just like to share a little meditation with you from Psalm 73. And I've entitled it, When the Singer Loses His Song, Refocusing in the Sanctuary. But before we proceed further, let's just ask the Lord for help.

Our Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we come this Lord's Day with thankful hearts for every blessing that is ours. We're thankful for the grace of God in our lives. We're thankful, Father, for that lovely man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many of us have been appreciating him throughout this day and sharing thoughts with each other online as we think about the beautiful person of our Savior. Father, we just pray for everyone of the people of God who are going through a difficult time now.

There's certainly unusual circumstances that we're in and all the circumstances are fully known to thee. And we can come to one who is touched with our feelings and our infirmities and our worries and our anxieties.

We're thankful that we have an audience with the highest. So, Father, as we proceed, help us as the Word of God is opened and minister by the power of the Spirit of God to each of our hearts, we pray, in the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

I just need to acknowledge that we are living in pretty unusual times. COVID -19, that's enveloping the world. Here in our own country of Canada, you may not be aware if you're not from Canada, but just a week ago, we had 22 innocent lives that were tragically taken out by a gunman.

And so not just the province of Nova Scotia, but our entire country has been mourning their loss over the past week. But you know, there are some that are listening just now and your greatest trial is not the pandemic.

That's there for sure. And it's not the lives that have been lost through the virus and the accompanying sorrow. That may not be your biggest trial right now. You may not be among the millions who are suffering financial hardship and the economic fallout from the pandemic.

You may not be in that number. Your overarching circumstance may not be what Canada experienced over this past week. You may be wrestling with something right now and you have joined the refuge session, hoping that the Holy Spirit will pick you up and help you to walk again for the Lord.

Losing the Song in Seasons of Discouragement

Maybe you have lost your song. Of the others who are listening, maybe they're still singing with gusto, but you may be the only one listening to this message and you know in your heart of hearts that you have lost your song.

You thought if you were faithful to the Lord and if you tried to be a good Christian, you wouldn't be in the situation that you are in today. You probably loved to sing, even though you probably didn't consider yourself a great vocalist, maybe you are, but when we sing, Lord Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine, my rock, my fortress, my surety divine, you love to sing that.

My Redeemer, oh, what beauties in that lovely name appears, none but Jesus in his glory shall the honored title wear, and then you get to the next stanza, sunk in ruin, sin and misery, bound by Satan's captive chains, and those songs touched your heart and you sang them from your heart.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were, and now remember that one, we sing see from his head, his hands, his feet, the assembly that I was privileged to grow up in, my uncle was a hymn raiser, and when we got to that see from his head, his hands, his feet, he always went softer, and then when we got, were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my, and the crescendo, demands my heart, my life, my all, but enjoying those songs now seems like maybe just a memory to you.

You've lost your song. Thank God you're with us for this session. Take a moment while we open our Bibles to Psalm 73, you personally take a moment, just breathe out a prayer to the Lord to give you something, something from his word to soothe, to help, to sweeten, to lift you up this Lord's day.

Asaph’s Psalm and the Crisis of Envy

So we're going to read Psalm 73. We're not going to read it in its entirety. Verse one, Psalm 73, and so this is the first Psalm in the book three of the Psalms. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Who was Asaph? He was a Levite. He led one of Israel's choirs.

Asaph, Heman, and Ethan were Levite musicians in David's day. You can read about them, First Chronicles 15, that's one chapter. And it was that particular chapter, it was a very significant event for David.

They were bringing back the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed-Edom, and they were bringing it to its new location in Jerusalem. And it was a great celebration. It wasn't just a mere convoy of transporting a box.

No, there were 862 Levites from six different families. They had been summoned and selected by David to be in this procession. Musicians were appointed. It seems that Asaph was skilled at the bronze cymbals.

So other places, it seemed like he was a singer. So he's a multi-talented singer and a percussionist. And it was a great celebration in Jerusalem. And then it seems, maybe if you read First Chronicles 16, David then appointed Asaph to be in charge of the Ark of the Covenant in its new location and to offer up praise.

Maybe 40 or so years later, it's quite possible that Asaph led the choir or the orchestra at the inauguration of Solomon's Temple. You can read about that in First Chronicles 25, Second Chronicles 5. And then there are some who've studied this more than I have.

They feel that Asaph headed the music school to train the next generation of singers and musicians. And there are 12 Psalms that are attributed to Asaph, Psalm 50, and then Psalm 73 to Psalm 83. But where we read here, verse one, two, and three, this is a Psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Now, either he was stating that up front as a truism, a truth that he held intellectually, but he had lost the joy of it in his heart, or perhaps it was a summary of his musings in the sanctuary and he heads it off with, in his personal experience, truly God is good.

But verse two says, as for me, my feet were almost gone. As for me, it's a very personal reflection. You can almost sense the pathos as Asaph reflects on how very close he came to losing his psalm. You ever lost your psalm?

Ever come close to losing your psalm? This is Asaph's story, but I have a story and I'm quite certain you have a story too. Days or a period in your life and you lost your psalm and Asaph said, I was envious at the foolish.

Oh, as you read those verses, the power of envy and self-pity, just like demonic tentacles wrapped around Asaph until the joy was completely squeezed out of his heart. Ever been there? Someone has said that the power of envy is such that it made even the Garden of Eden feel like it was not enough envy.

It's one of those blue days for Asaph, a valley experience. It can happen to the choicest of saints. Don't forget who Asaph was. He was one of the holy men of God that Peter wrote about in 2 Peter 1, verse 21, that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

He was one of them. He wrote portions of the word of God, but here he is, lost his psalm. The singer lost his psalm. And if you read the entire psalm, how things become so exaggerated in his mind. And that happens, that happens.

It just seemed like things start to snowball. In our thinking, it's bigger and bigger. Dear John the Baptist, I mean, look at his past. Thousands flocked to the wilderness, to the Jordan, to hear John preach.

He boldly declared the message of God. It was John the Baptist who confidently announced, behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He even had the distinction of baptizing Jesus.

But now, not because of the pandemic, he is isolated in a cell, and his circumstances have done a 180. I wonder when the question arose in his mind, the Messiah, yes, he would go about doing good, but wouldn't he also exercise swift judgment on all the evil and all the injustices of society?

Blessing and judgment, and the doubts intensify. Have you been there, dear child of God? For John the Baptist, as the days turned into weeks and time drags on, he called a couple of his men and said, Luke chapter seven, here's what he asked them.

Said, go ask Jesus this question. Are you the one? Are you the one who is to come? Or shall we look for another? You can almost see his hands gesturing his doubts. You can see the face of a dark thinking, disillusioned young prophet.

He's only in his early 30s. And he wonders, he's off track, how different were those circumstances that he was in now, the lonely prison cell. Now, so he sent his people to meet the Lord Jesus. They tell him the question, they give him the question.

What do you think Jesus did? Do you think that Jesus dismissed right out of hand John's doubts? Did Jesus ignore them? Or did he write a scathing email back to John saying, how dare you? No, he immediately sent him words of reassurance.

You know, dear child of God, when you have doubts, go to the same person that John sent his men to, go to the Lord Jesus. Jesus has a sensitive, sympathetic heart. When you go to him, he'll respond. He said, take this message back to John in the cell.

The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor at the gospel preach to them. I am the one, John, keep focused on me. Don't lose heart despite your circumstances.

Imagine John, imagine his eyes going wide and his smile breaking out on his face and his shoulders relaxing when he got the message. I think we all know that doubt is different than unbelief. Doubt comes from a struggling mind, whereas unbelief is a product of a mind that will not yield and a heart that will not surrender to God, so there's a big difference.

Doubt, Unbelief, and the Object of Trust

You don't have to be embarrassed, dear child of God, if you're struggling with doubts today. I asked a brother, Caleb, earlier today if there was some way, if there are people who are struggling with doubts or if you know someone else who is struggling with doubts, if you could leave your email addresses with Caleb.

And a few years ago, I wrote a little document about doubts and people in the Bible who had doubts and some of the reasons why we have doubts and how we can, from the word of God, be reassured and overcome those doubts.

So that's something that Caleb might be able to do for you. But there is a big difference between doubt and unbelief. What's a distinguishing mark of a Christian's faith? It isn't the absence of doubt.

Someone said it's not the absence of doubt that distinguishes us. It's the object of our trust. Doubts nearly overwhelmed Asaph. Someone said Asaph had nearly slipped from the rock of faith into the abyss of skepticism.

Asaph, do a reality check. Do you really think they are living a problem-free, pain-free, peaceful, prosperous, plentiful life? Asaph, what planet did you come from? In our down times, we overestimate the benefits of others and we underestimate our own blessings and perhaps even exaggerate, at times, our own problems in times of discouragement.

It could be just a one-mountain crisis that you are in. It's very real and it's huge. A one-mountain crisis that's blocking the sunlight. But at that time, every single molehill becomes a mountain. Every pebble becomes a boulder.

Every grasshopper becomes a towering giant. That's the way discouragement works. Asaph, the ungodly don't have it quite as good as you are imagining. But discouragement leads to distortion. Verse four, he says, one rendering says, they have no struggles.

Really? How do you know? Have you been alone with them in their house? Their bodies are healthy and strong. How do you know that they don't have muscle aches, heart difficulties? They are free from common burdens.

How do you know that beneath their carefree, outward appearance, there's not a struggle going on within? Then he says, they're not plagued by human ills. Really? Now, let's face it. Some of them had sailed pretty big yachts and live in pretty major mansions and some of them have a blast on the weekends.

But are their Mondays always the greatest? When we are wrestling with things that we can't seem to reconcile, hold on to what you already know. Don't let it all drift away from you. There are some things that you know, you've experienced it, you know.

So when we're wrestling with other things that we can't seem to reconcile, hold on to what you know. There's a little saying that goes like this. Never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light.

Asaph is plagued with the age old dilemma. Why should the people who oppose God be better off than those who trust him? Verse 13, verse 14, he almost seems to be questioning the value of his salvation.

Why did I embrace all this in the first place? Look at me now, I'd be better off without it. Asaph needs to learn what Job learned. We don't serve God because of what we get out of it. We serve him because he is worthy of our worship and he is worthy of our service regardless of what he allows to happen.

In our lives. And I have said that from my prepared notes. I don't always feel that way. Many of us have to confess that we try harder to please God at times to better position ourselves for him then to please us.

So often when we have to confess that we don't love God as much as the good things we'd love to get from God. See the unconverted worldview is always about payback. I will do it. I will do it provided I like what I get out of it.

So verse 14 says, for all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. I think that's a very interesting and significant verse.

If I say, maybe it's a little difficult to understand in the King James. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children but it's not difficult to understand at all.

Godly Asaph, he knew that to share his struggles publicly would be very unsettling to the people. He's sensitive to that, that I'm in a position of leadership. I lead that vast choir. I'm not only a singer, I am a seer and on it goes.

If leaders share their doubts with their followers, it could very easily undermine the faith of those who are following. So we need to be very sensitive to that. Others are watching. Yes, we need to be authentic but we need to very wisely measure our words when it comes to some things that we share publicly.

So Asaph is wrestling with this, with whom can I share my struggle and my doubts? I'm leading this choir but my heart is empty. The worship seems hollow. We worship the old God but I don't feel like worshiping.

I wonder, should I resign? You ever feel like resigning, dear child of God? Maybe you're a Sunday school teacher, maybe you're a youth worker, maybe you're an elder, maybe you're one of those much sought after multifaceted helpers or a committed worker in the things of God and you wonder if you can continue on.

Asaph almost lost it. Almost lost his footing. Almost fell. What a tragedy it would have been. What a tragedy it would be if you fell. Where can I go with such bitterness of heart? With such bitterness of soul?

You know where you can go? The psalmist said in Psalm 62, trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us, Selah. This is a refuge series. God is a refuge for us.

Entering the Sanctuary and Seeing Eternity

Verse 16, Asaph says, when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Or when I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end.

Where was it? I don't know. Was it a special tent that David had constructed in Jerusalem? You can figure that one out yourself. Sanctuary just means a hallowed, sacred location set apart from the restless world and the distractions of daily living.

Think of a sanctuary in 2020 as wherever you experience the presence of God. It may be in the corner of your living room on that easy chair. It may be with your Bible, with your head leaning forward on your desk.

Wherever it is, we know that Hebrews teaches the true sanctuary is in heaven, the throne of God, Hebrews 9, Hebrews 6. We don't have to walk down the streets and the lanes to get to the sanctuary in some tent or in some temple, some elaborate building in Jerusalem or in your town.

Right where you are, self-isolated, quarantined maybe, keeping your physical distance, you can spend as much time in the sanctuary as you want to. Stay in place, stay at home orders. They don't keep you out of the sanctuary.

In fact, you should have more time right now and so should I. And fewer distractions too, to intentionally increase your alone time with the Lord, intentionally, oh God, I have an extra hour today. Rather than spend it this way, I want to spend it in the sanctuary.

Oh, we could look back in the spring of 2020 as life-changing when our intimacy with Christ deepened, when our heart was enthralled with this lovely person and we got to know him better than we ever knew him before.

Picture Asaph walking to the sanctuary, footsteps so heavy, shoulders sagging down, neck so tense he needs someone to massage it, burdened, vocal cords apparently brittle, seized up, a furrowed brow, and a heart so heavy it could break.

You think I'm being dramatic here? When have you last read Psalm 73? This was a crisis for him. Let's just pause and ask, how are you spending that extra alone time this spring? Have you wondered how things unfolded in the sanctuary for dear Asaph?

What was the sequencing that led to the transformation of a heavy-hearted doubter? What led it, what were the steps that brought him to be revitalized in the Lord and a restored worshiper, exulting in the Lord?

I wonder how Asaph started the conversation with his God, or did he just sit there in silence and allow the awe of a majestic presence just to massage and to permeate his troubled heart? Did he start off with confession, or did he just pour out all his dark thoughts first?

At what point did he envision people perishing in their sins and being abandoned by God in a place of eternal torment forever? Oh yes, for 30 or 40 years, they seemed to live the good life, the one that people envy and they breathe their last.

What's their portion after that? And Asaph starts to let his mind go there. He said, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Peter asked, what shall the end be of them who obey not the gospel?

Before I continue to talk to all the other Christians here, I wanna talk to just you. Most watching are saved. And when Christ returns, we're gonna be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.

That's our future. But what about your future? What shall the end be of them who obey not the gospel of God? That's what Asaph was thinking about. I wondered at a tear run down his face in the sanctuary when he thought of their portion in eternity.

You know, Peter didn't ask the question, what shall the life be of those who reject the gospel? Oh, their life may be a bed of roses for the most part. He said, what shall the end be? Now let's get back to Asaph.

We can almost see him shaking his head and as he thinks of the end of those who know not God. Look at verse 22. It's like he's saying how foolish I was to let my mind run wild. Whatever could I have been thinking about?

Look what is mine in my God. Look at what I have now. God is my portion. Look what my future is. Have you ever been terrified in a dream? And you wake up and your heart is pounding and you're out of breath.

And then you lay wondering, how could you have sunk in your slumber to such a state? It's only a dream. The reality is so different. When Asaph discovered that the reality is so different and he refocused in the sanctuary.

God’s Presence, Protection, Counsel, and Future Glory

Look at verse 23. He said, nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shall guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee?

There is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh, my heart feeleth, but God is a strength. God is a rock of my heart. My portion forever. Look at verse 28. But it is good for me to draw near to God.

I have put my trust in the Lord God or I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may declare all thy works. Oh, don't rush through your readings. Let the word of God saturate your souls. Soak it up, meditate on it, ruminate, contemplate.

Just let's break down verse 23. I, Asaph, I am continually with thee. Think of that as the constant presence. Captain, look who I have for company. The Lord himself, not just on special occasions. I continually have him.

Uninterrupted togetherness through the storm. Can you think of any verses in the Bible that assure you of his constant presence? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Thou art with me. Matthew 28, verse 20. Jesus said, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Hebrews 13, verse five. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Lonely, yeah, but not alone. Asaph discovered that in the sanctuary.

Many centuries ago, weary, frightened disciples blindsided by a storm on the lake. They sensed they were all alone. He wasn't in the boat this time. But were they alone, really? Maybe you sense you're all alone.

Where is he? From the mountain, he was watching them struggle in the dead of night, in a turbulent storm. He wasn't negligent in his care for them. The stormy ways of the sea actually became the pavement, the venue he used to display his greatness, his power, and his constant care for them.

So in the sanctuary, Asaph grasped this fact. I have his constant presence, continually. Then he appreciated his comforting protection. Thou hast holden or grasped me by my right hand. You got that? What's in your right hand?

Just take it now while I'm speaking. You don't have to put an X on it. But this is what Asaph enjoyed. You have taken hold of my right hand. Yes, this hand, this hand, through the storms, through the tears, even when I can't sense it, he's holding, he's grasped me by the right hand.

Oh, not I'm grasping his. In this verse, he has grasped my very right hand. Isaiah 41, verse 13 says, I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying unto you, fear not, I will help you. Again, in Isaiah 42, verse six, I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand and will keep you.

That's the thought. How is my right hand today? Is it free for him to hold or is it too cluttered with the debris of life? Am I clinging to something? Ah, today would be a great Sunday if we opened up our hand and let it all go and just let him grasp our right hand.

Verse 24, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel. You guide me with your counsel. That's amazing. We live in a very small province of Canada, Prince Edward Island. It's not very big at all and it's not very populated.

157 ,000 people is all that lives on Prince Edward Island. I was listening to our premier who's charting a course through the pandemic and trying to mitigate the risk to islanders. And he said this week, as the premier of our province, as a leader, he said, one of the perks that goes with being the premier of this province, I have 157 ,000 personal consultants.

Well said, Mr. Premier. Consultants, counselors. ASAP discovered one counselor that meant everything to him. You guide me with your counsel. Counsel. That's our counselor, dear child of God. All we may need for clinical reasons, other counselors, but spiritually we have a counselor and a person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We love to sing, I found a friend. Oh, such a friend. So kind, so true and tender. So wise, a counselor and guide. So mighty a defender. From him who loves me now so well, what power my soul can sever?

Shall life, shall death, shall earth or hell? No, I am his forever. We're not left to flounder on our own or to live an undirected, scattered Christian life. Paul makes it clear that the sufferings that the Lord allows to intersect, to cross our paths are not pointless sufferings, but rather purposeful sufferings in that God will ensure there is a positive outcome in view.

That's what Romans 5 says. We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. And so there's a purpose. He provides counsel to us.

He guides us, he leads us. One rendering of Philippians 2 verse 13 goes like this. God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him, God's will. What a counselor we have.

So we're assured, Asaph was assured of his constant presence, his comforting protection and his controlling purposes. The counselor could whisper in his ear in the sanctuary, Asaph, I have got it all under control, controlling purposes.

And then I want you to think of the last part of verse 24. Afterward, receive me to glory, celestial peace. Afterward, you will take me into glory. Never forget that, dear child of God. There is an afterwards in this life and beyond this life.

After COVID -19, after the family loss, after the personal financial devastation, after the heartbreak, after the tears, there is an afterwards. Asaph discovered that while musing, while communing alone with God.

The crushed disciples devastated on the road to Emmaus. They discovered in their kitchen. Maybe you'll be in your bedroom when you discover this or in your car or truck. It was in their kitchen in Emmaus at the table that they discovered that there was an afterwards.

Even when the pain comes as a form of discipline from our heavenly father, even then there's an afterwards to those who learn. That's what Hebrews 12 teaches us. There is an afterwards. Assuming that Asaph was thinking about the culminating apex of his life sailing into heaven's port, his heart must have almost burst out in song at the thought afterwards, fix your eyes upon Jesus.

Fixing the Eyes on Jesus Through Scripture

Overwhelming trials and difficult situations, they can drive us to despair. The problem doesn't go away. There are no satisfactory answers. Christians tell us they're praying for us, that's nice. But I have to admit, and I'm sure you've experienced this sometimes, even that seems hollow.

What do we do with our minds then? The thought in Hebrews 3, verse one is, consider or fix your thoughts on Jesus. Then you get over to Hebrews 12, verse two. The thought is, let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

Helen Lemel wrote that beautiful hymn. Oh soul, are you weary and troubled? You can read the background of her very broken and sad life that most of us would consider a deep tragedy. And it never turned around in this life for her.

She died at 98, living in poverty, after enjoying riches and enjoying eyesight. You can read the tragic aspect of her life. But it was in her blindness at life's lowest ebb that she wrote that hymn. Oh soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see. There's light at the look at the Savior. Life more abundant and free. And then she wrote, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full into his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter four, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inner inward man is being renewed day by day. And then he wrote for our light affliction.

Really, Paul? I read the catalog of trials that you encountered in life. He said, ah, even our light affliction, which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to glory.

We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. The things which are seen are temporary, temporal, passing, fleeting. But the things which are not seen are eternal. Asaph had succumbed to using the world's metric to evaluate his life secularly, faithlessly, but in the sanctuary alone with God, the singer recovered his song and his eyes had been elevated beyond the immediate, the near, the temporal, to see from the eternal perspective.

And then he wrote, God is a strength or the rock of my heart. He is my portion forever. The ultimate benefit, verse 25, whom have I in heaven but thee? There is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

As much as we may crave to see our loved ones again in heaven, what makes heaven heaven is to be with Christ. Asaph was appreciating that about heaven. And the psalm concludes, I may declare all thy works.

I will declare, I will enumerate, I will celebrate all your works. Is it too much to, is it too big of a stretch to detect evangelistic zeal in Asaph? Recovered here were the perishing sinners that he had envied in the past.

He thought that they had a great portion in this life. When he thought of his incredible eternal portion and the darkness that they face forever, would he sing the gospel of his great God with greater gusto and joy that would cause sinners to crave the peace and the joy that was his, that he recovered where?

In the sanctuary. Now, I'm concluding, but dear child of God, how are you going to fix your eyes on Jesus? How are you going to look at things eternal? You take off your spectacles, your glasses, you have to get high powered things and strain your eyes and look up into the heavens and the sky and try to refocus on things that are eternal.

Is that what the Bible is talking about? Fix your eyes on Jesus. How do you get a sight of that which is eternal? The word of God, the word of God. This is where you see the Lord Jesus in all his beauties.

This is where you have your perspective changed. This is where you enjoy God in the sanctuary. Early morning, through the day, late at night. Get alone with him. Recover your song. You know, with this little personal anecdote, I'm going to end.

A Personal Witness to Hope Beyond Death

My dear father-in-law, Floyd Stewart, he died when he was 58. He went home to heaven. He went home to heaven from his bedroom at home after battling cancer. For quite a time. My last little visit just hours before he went to be with Christ, I went into his little room and I held his hand and I sang, when my life's work is ended and I cross a swelling tide, when the bright and glorious morning I shall see, I shall know my redeemer when I reach the other side.

Oh, dear child of God, there is an afterwards and his smile will be the first to welcome me. And then I tried to sing, I shall know him. And Mr. Stewart, just hours before he died, he gripped my hand firmly and I continue to sing, I shall know him, I shall know him.

And redeemed by his side, I shall stand. I shall know him, I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hands. And Mr. Stewart said, oh, he's beautiful. Dear child of God, with a broken, heavy heart, you may have lost your song.

Go into the sanctuary, get alone with him and fix your eyes on him, refocus. Your song will be restored to you and you will be able to say, oh, he is beautiful. How did I ever have those thoughts to race and raid through my mind?

How did I become so distracted? May the Lord help all of us and help you in particular, dear child of God. And if you're in your sins, Christians have tears, you've seen Christians cry, but their portion is Christ.

If you're in your sins this Lord's day, flee, run with speed and haste to the embrace of a welcoming, loving savior who shed his blood. Why would you resist him today? Come to Christ right now, trust him as your savior.