You Will Not Abandon My Soul (Psalm 16)

Announcements

This Saturday at 10:30am, we need some help with door-to-door canvassing of the Chester Hill area. If you’re willing and able to help with this, please talk to Natalie for more details.

On Sunday, February 13th, at 6:30pm, we’re going to open up the church building for a Superbowl Viewing Party. It’s really just a time of fellowship with the big game on in the auditorium. We’ll have free wings, pizza, and drinks for anyone who wants to join us.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you with your giving, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) in-person giving can be done through the offering box in the front of the room; credit, debit, and ACH transfers can be done either by texting the number 84321 with your [$ amount] or by visiting us online at www.gapb.church and selecting giving in the menu-bar. Everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Repentance and Adoration

Sermon

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you, please turn it to Psalm 16.

While you’re turning there, let me give you some background information as we jump into our series on the book of psalms. As you know, we’ve been working through the psalms one-by-one, verse-by-verse, and line-by-line. We’ve been doing this intentionally so that we not only gain a deeper understanding of the psalm itself, but so that we can apply it properly to our lives today. Many of our psalms so far have been written by David and this evening’s psalm is no different, Psalm 16 is written by David, but just like many of the previous psalms that we’ve studied from him, we have no clue when exactly he wrote it or the situations that surrounded the writing of the psalm.

But what is clear in the text itself, is that David is celebrating his relationship with the LORD in such a way that regardless of what’s happening, he knows that God is trustworthy despite whatever he might be facing. Let’s read Psalm 16 together:

Psalm 16 ESV

A Miktam of David. 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

As we study this psalm together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Vss. 1-8, God is his Portion, starts this passage with David with David describing the relationship that he has with God and sort of reviewing how he had come to know and trust in God. (2) Vss. 9-11, God will Preserve Him then focuses the end of the psalm with David expressing assurance of God’s protection, which causes him to praise the Lord. Again, this is a psalm in which we aren’t sure on when David wrote it, but because it isn’t specific to one time period, it’s very easy for us to be able to relate to it and apply it to our lives today. Hopefully, regardless of what we’re going through today, we can say what David says in Psalm 16 and be assured of our God’s protection of us as his people.

Prayer for Illumination

God is his Portion (1-8)

Psalm 16 starts with two sentences that can really be seen as a purpose statement for all of Psalm 16. Psalm 16:1-2 “1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.””

David starts this psalm by asking God to preserve him, which gives us a bit of a hint at what might be happening around him.

Fairly often in David’s life, he faced tremendous opposition and in many of those times in which he faced opposition, the threat of the loss of his life was imminent—people were trying to kill him.

Think of when he opposed Goliath as a child, or when Saul tried to take his life, or when Absalom tried to take his life.

Asking God to preserve him indicates that this psalm might have one of those scenarios in mind—David is crying out to God in the face of opposition and he’s asking God to preserve him.

We don’t usually use the term preserve in this sort of context today, but let me just briefly give you an idea of what that means—to preserve in the context of Psalm 16 means to protect, to guard, to keep one safe. David is asking God to keep him safe, why?

Because David seeks refuge in God. Now, we’ve spoken numerous times now about what it means to take refuge in something or someone—a few weeks ago, I mentioned that we take refuge from the rain inside buildings; when storms become more dangerous, we take refuge in stronger buildings.

David is making the claim that he takes refuge in God himself—his safety is in God, which again, points to him facing some sort of grave scenario in his life that causes him to think of God as a refuge.

David says, “preserve me,” “keep me safe,” or “protect me” and he’s asking God himself to do this preserving or protecting.

And there’s something of note here, that God is his only source of protection or preservation—David doesn’t rely on anything other than God’s ability to protect him.

He doesn’t rely on friends or family, he doesn’t rely on the government or his own staff; he relies fully on God to preserve him as his refuge.

He doesn’t even rely on himself for refuge, in fact, he says something in vs. 2 that shows us to what extent David relies on God rather than himself or anyone else. Vs. 2, “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’”

There’s something unique happening in the first two phrases of vs. 2, when David says, “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord.’”

It might just sound repetitive, but he’s actually doing something in the words that he’s using—remember that anytime you see the word lord in all capital letters in the Bible, it’s translating a specific word and that word is Yahweh. In the Hebrew Old Testament, anytime you see the word Lord without all capital letters, it’s translated the word adonai.

David makes this statement, “I say to Yahweh, ‘You are my adonai,” which when translated with that in mind means Yahweh, you are my master or my God. David says this as a statement of submission to Yahweh.

David makes it abundantly clear who he is and who God is; and by submitting to Yahweh as his master, he makes it clear who he thinks he is in view of Yahweh.

Taken together with vs. 1, it’s clear then that he’s asking God for protection and he’s seeking refuge in God because in his mind and in his life, Yahweh is his master. Who better to turn to than the one who you’ve placed yourself in submission to?

But not only that, David says that apart from God, he has no good. And while this is true in a moralistic sense, that isn’t the way that David is referring to goodness in vs 2.

It is true to say that there is no moralistic good in us apart from God—Psalm 14 makes that clear, “there is none righteous, no not one.”

But the goodness that David is referring to in Psalm 16:2, isn’t moralistic good, but good things or pleasant things.

Apart from God, what seems like good things aren’t really good things. And that’s the point that David is using to drive the rest of the text. Apart from God, there is no goodness.

Now, I said that vss. 1-2 are almost like a purpose statement for the remaining psalm, so let me explain that. Everything else that David says in this psalm sort of builds from this point. And if you just take a quick look through the remaining text, you can see what I’m talking about.

He asks God to protect him, he makes it abundantly clear that Yahweh is his master, and he makes the statement that apart from Yahweh, he isn’t just not good, but he has no good apart from God.

He contrasts the good that God is and the good that God offers to that of the sorrows faced by those who follow other God.

And then he spends quite a bit of time showing how his following of God has given him all the good that he has experienced, a beautiful inheritance, pleasant places, counsel from God, stability in life, and perseverance.

David is taking the idea of there being no good thing apart from God and he’s expounding on it through the remaining text.

He starts by looking at people themselves and he differentiates between two different types of people in vss. 3-4, Psalm 16:3-4 “3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.”

According to David, there are two different types of people, the saints who he calls excellent and his delight, and those who run after other gods (what we would call pagans or unbelievers).

The word translated as saints can also be translated as holy ones, which I think gives a clearer picture in what David is saying—he’s making the argument that these are people who are described as godly. They’re genuine believers in Yahweh that are seeking to live according to God’s law.

David calls them excellent and he says that he delights in them—the idea meaning that he enjoys being in their company. This is whom David spends his time; David is drawn to them.

The pagan unbelievers (David says) will have sorrows that multiply; they will face difficulties in life. David’s statement “their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips” refer to both their false worship and David’s unwillingness to even name their false gods.

Vss. 3-4 essentially show us David’s loyalty and wherein that loyalty lies—David has rejected false worship and has rejected false gods to the extent that he doesn’t enjoy being in the company of those that have accepted false worship of false gods. He’d rather spend his days with those who believe than those who don’t.

Which honestly, ought to be convicting for us today—how many of us are so loyal to our worship of Yahweh that we’re willing to give up friends and even family?

How many of us are so loyal to God that all else is just as David says in vs. 2, that all else simply isn’t good apart from God?

And I want to be clear that David isn’t saying that there aren’t good things to enjoy in life, but rather he’s saying, that to enjoy these good things and not have God, would be pointless—that what makes them good is God himself.

In fact, David continues in vss. 5-8 by celebrating and praising God for all that God had given him and all that God had done for him. Psalm 16:5-6 “5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

David is directly addressing God and he points first and foremost to Yahweh being his chosen portion and cup. This is an Ancient Near East concept of an inheritance.

Or in other words, David is seeing God as part of his own personal heritage, that he received God as part of his own inheritance, which sounds peculiar, but let’s clarify it. David is not saying that his belief in God and receipt of God was due to his parents believing or obeying God.

In a sense, David is saying that he grew up being taught of God, which resulted in his genuine believe in God—and since David genuinely believes in God, he considers his belief in God as part of his inheritance.

In fact, as David continues into vs. 5, it’s clear that the way that he thinks of God and all that God had given him was that all these things were given to him by God as blessings. “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

David praises God for all the blessings that God had given him—the Lord had given him a wonderfully full life.

This song of praise from David concerning God’s blessings is a song that we can sing as well—when we consider all that God has blessed us with, it ought to compel us to worship and praise as well.

But even if we weren’t blessed with many things and great materials, we can still praise and worship God for the first part of vs. 5, “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup.” As believers, we can rightly say that we have God and we have a developing relationship with God.

Thus, we can sing the same praise that David does and we can say the same statement that David says. I have God and God has blessed me tremendously.

Because God has blessed David, he then says in Psalm 16:7-8 “7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”

Because God has blessed him, David praises the Lord, which frankly should be the response of every single believer. Because God has blessed you, praise the Lord.

And of course, David has in mind some of the previous statement that he has made in this psalm—that God has given him pleasant places and has provided him goodness, but he doesn’t stop with what he has already said, he gives a few more examples of how God has blessed him in vss. 7-8.

God gives him counsel and stability, but don’t think of the counsel and stability as a result of David praising God and submitting to the LORD.

God gives him counsel and stability and David praises and submits to him because of all the good that God had given David including the counsel and stability.

Allen Ross, “As a result of all this bounty, David praised the Lord because He counseling him at night (as well as in the daytime) and because He guided him safely. Because of this David knew that he would not be shaken from his walk of integrity and enjoyment of the blessings he had in the Lord.”

Likewise, God has given us good and great things and even if at this very moment you can’t think of anything, God has still given you good and great things.

If we’re thinking spiritually, we can think of our salvation as a good and great thing that God has done for us through Jesus Christ; our progressive sanctification is good and great; what Jesus has promised us for the future is good and great—our glorification, the place that he’s prepared for us, and the ability that we have to be with him for eternity are all good and great.

If you’re thinking from a purely physical or earthly standpoint—it is God who provides every breath that you breathe, which is a good and great thing. It is God who provides your home, your food, and everything that you need to survive. In addition, God is the Creator God, he created all things and he has surrounded you with his creation.

There are a lot of blessings that we are absolutely surrounded with and most of us take it completely for granted when we should really do the same thing that David does, give praise and worship God for what he has done for us. Quite frankly, if we properly understood the blessings that God has already given us, it would cause us to respond differently to problems in our lives. Remember that while we don’t know all the details of what David is facing in Psalm 16, we do know that David is facing something substantial in which there is a great deal of difficulty due to opposition in his life.

So, in the midst of this opposition, David thinks on what blessings God has already give him and he praises God for those blessings, but he doesn’t stop at praising and worshiping God. In the last three verses, David expresses assurance for God’s preserving of him. Or in other words, David started this psalm praising and worshiping God for what God has done for him and now he’s transitioning to proclaiming assurance in God because of the blessings that God has already provided for him. Let’s read Psalm 16:9-11 together:

God will Preserve Him (9-11)

Psalm 16:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

David starts this section with, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” The therefore tells us that everything he is about to say is a result of everything that he has already said in vss. 1-8.

So, thinking back to what he has already said in vss. 1-8, we see this:

That David is asking God to preserve him—to protect him, to care for him as the one that he seeks refuge in. (1)

We see David submitting to God and we see him going as far as saying that there is no good apart from God. (2)

David expresses delight in spending time with those who are genuine believers and rejection of those who reject God (3-4)

And then we see him praising God for all that God has given him and all that God has done for him (5-8)

Because of all of this, David says “my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” Let’s take a moment to look at those two ideas:

“My heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices,” though there seems to be two different ideas there, it’s really one idea that’s being emphasized with repetition.

When the psalmist writes heart, he has in mind all his inner being, which I know might sound unusual because the ESV translates the second phrase with “my whole being rejoices,” but let me explain that the word translated heart here does imply the inner being.

What’s translated as whole being in the ESV could be better translated as glory, which it is in the NASB and KJV.

Now, we could take quite some time trying to discern the difference between inner being and glory, but to do so misses the point of the text.

The point of the text is that every part of him is glad and rejoices. What God has done for him has caused David to shout out in praise.

The second idea that’s presented in vs. 9 “my flesh also dwells secure” then shows this idea of confidence or assurance that David has in God and that assurance is based on the fact that God has already blessed him significantly.

Considering the opposition that David had already voiced, the fact that he can still make the statement that “[his] flesh also dwells secure” shows us that he has complete confidence in God.

Despite the wrongdoings of those that he calls pagan and false-god-worshiping, David still expresses confidence that God will protect him, which ties this back to the very first verse, Psalm 16:1 “1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.”

Why does David trust in God for his protection? Why does David praise and worship God?

Because God has blessed him in more ways than he can even count.

God has protected him even in the midst of grave danger.

In fact, David is so confident in God for this protection that his assurance in God extends to not only his flesh in vs. 9, but to his very soul in vs. 10, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol”

The word sheol speaks of the underworld, sometimes its translated simply as the grave. It’s the same idea that we see in the New Testament concerning hades. I believe the NIV translates this word as the realm of the dead.

The idea here is simply that even in a situation in which David faces death, God will not allow him to remain in the grave.

To a genuine believer, death really isn’t a threat because what comes after death is so much greater. It’s as Paul says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

David isn’t concerned with the grave because he knows that God has promised something better and that God will not abandon him and leave him in the grave.

David isn’t concerned with death because he knows that God will not “let [his] holy one see corruption.” Again, emphasizing that God will not allow his people to remain in the grave.

Now, it is worth noting that this passage is quoted in the New Testament by Peter as a prophecy of Jesus—you’ll find this quotation in Acts 2 in the sermon that Peter preaches on Pentecost.

In Jesus, this statement is most assuredly true, that Jesus didn’t remain in the grave; he was resurrected, but when David wrote this he wasn’t thinking necessarily of a Messiah, he was thinking of himself.

That as a genuine believer in the Old Testament, he knew that God would not allow him to remain in the grave, but that he would experience genuine fellowship with the Father after death.

Both statements are absolutely true that this applies to both David and Jesus, but be aware that David didn’t realize that this was going to be true of the Messiah as well. He wrote this about himself and his confidence that he would not remain in the grave forever, but that God would save him from the grave.

The basis of this confidence and assurance in God’s protection and perseverance of him is on God himself and what God has done for him already.

David is assured of God’s protection of him because God has done amazing things for him before and God continues to do amazing things for him.

David is confident in God’s perseverance of him because God is his Lord and there is no good apart from God.

And this assurance and confidence in God causes David to praise and worship God even more—isn’t it interesting that even in the midst of great calamity, opposition, and even the threat of death, David can’t help but to reflect on the great blessings that God has given him?

Isn’t it interesting that despite what is going on in David’s life, he can’t help but to worship and praise God?

So much so, that the last verse ends this psalm with a beautiful sentiment of praise and worship of God. "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Despite what David might be facing in life, he’s confident in God because God teaches the way to live, there is joy in his presence, and there is pleasure that is satisfactory when one submits to him.

This is in contrast to those that David mentions in vs. 4 in which there are multiplied sorrows to those who run after false gods. This is in contrast to those who have rejected God and worship the creation rather than the Creator.

This is contrasted with those who David specifically says that he doesn’t delight in being with.

To those that genuinely believe and follow God—God teaches how to live, he provides genuine joy, and there is pleasure.

Allen Ross

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 16:9–11

Death posed no threat to David because he enjoyed great blessing and fellowship with the Lord. God would not permit death and the grave to interrupt that marvelous fellowship. So in a fuller sense this is true of believers today, who having the full revelation about the doctrine of resurrection, can say that even when they die, God will not let death destroy that full fellowship they enjoy with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). This expression of faith is possible because Christ conquered death (Luke 24:6) and rose to become the firstfruits of all who sleep (1 Cor. 15:20).

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this evening’s message, there is a lot in Psalm 16 that we can relate to. That’s one of the beauties of this psalm being more general than specific. And it’s this general nature of the psalm that makes it highly applicable to any difficulty or opposition that we might face in our world today. David responds to his opposition in a way that we can respond to opposition today. Because of the nature of this psalm, I think it would be beneficial for us to take the psalm as a whole for our application rather than splitting it into two. I want us to look at this psalm in a general sense, how can we apply it to our lives today, but then I want to look at it in a specific sense as well, how do we pray this?

Application

What we see in Psalm 16 is David both reflecting on everything that God has done and continues to do as good in his life. He’s so firm on this that he outrightly says that apart from God there is no good. He talks of God as if God has given him a great inheritance with pleasant places and in all these good things that God has done for David, he simply praises God and worships him. Now, in the midst of all these statements that David makes concerning God’s goodness and all the good that God has given and done for him, it’s clear that there’s something else going on in David’s life—there is some sort of opposition against him or there’s some sort of enemy warring against him; at the very least, there’s an acute awareness that there are people against him. Nevertheless, David still praises God, he still worships him, and he still trusts in him.

Let’s start with some general application points:

What we see as we read through Psalm 16 is David making a series of statements concerning the good things that God has done for him—we see David praise and we see David worship. In the midst of these good statements David makes a few statements concerning the negative issues that are occuring in his life—he mentions that he needs to take refuge, that the godless are worshiping their false gods. In a few places, we can see in his positive statements some negative things that might be occuring around him—he mentions that because God is leading him, he won’t be shaken. He mentions that he isn’t fearful of death because God won’t abandon him in the grave.

So there are clear issues in his life and I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that David thought his life was difficult at this time—there were clear problems.

I think this is probably the most relatable part of this text—that life is difficult and it’s hard. We might not face the same difficulties and opposition that David faced during his life, but we all have faced difficulties and hardship in life.

We probably can’t relate to David facing Goliath and we probably can’t relate to David’s son stealing his throne and trying to kill him. We more than likely can’t relate to someone chasing us in the desert and yet, anyone who is honest in life will admit that their life has difficulties in it.

A student might complain about the difficulty of a class that they’re taking; or they might think that their teacher has it out for them.

Someone who works in an office might think that their co-workers are talking trash behind their backs and that their boss tries to overwork them every week.

Perhaps your home life isn’t as stress-free as you make it appear to other people.

There are any number of issues in life that could cause us to complain about the hardships in life.

In that sense, we can relate to David.

Knowing that we can relate to David should help us to put ourselves in the same position that David is.

Life is difficult, life is hard; what should I do? Well, what does David do?

David starts this psalm by crying out to God for help. “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.”

He then puts himself into submission of God, “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord.”

Then through the end of vs 2 to the end of the psalm, he recounts all the blessings that God has give him, which causes him to worship and praise God.

In his time of trouble, he calls out to God and then he reminds himself of why he has trust in God. Despite the opposition that David faces, he relies on God and worships him.

Now, apply that to your own life, we’ll use the same examples I used a few minutes ago:

A student thinks that his class is too difficult and that their teacher has it out for them—what is typically their first response? Typically, the first response is to get frustrated and angry, then they go and complain about it to their friends. Usually, that’s about as far as it goes. With Psalm 16 in mind, what should their response be? This student should run to God and cry out to him. He should put himself into submission of God. He should remind himself of all the blessings that God has given him and he should worship God.

An office worker thinks that his co-workers oppose him and he hears them talking trash about him. His boss overworks him—what is his typical first response? Typically, the first response is to get frustrated and angry, they might start talking trash about their co-workers, they might start slacking off at work and that’s about as far as it goes. With Psalm 16 in mind, what should their response be? This worker should run to God and cry out to him. He should put himself into submission of God. He should remind himself of all the blessings that God has given him and he should worship God.

These truths of how one should respond in hardships in their lives remain the same despite any type of hardship you might face. Whereas your typical response is usually that of sin, you need to run to God, you need to cry out to him, you need to submit to God, you need to remember what God has already done for you, you need to worship God.

So, what is our first application?

Don’t be afraid to admit that life is hard and difficult, I regularly remind us during church that life is hard. We have a culture in which we’re typically taught to suppress our emotions and pretend like life isn’t hard; and all that does is cause us to dwell on those emotions and not deal with issues.

Life is hard; life is difficult. Admit it.

Once you’ve admitted it, then here’s what you need to do to deal with the difficulties of life. You need to cry out to God, you need to run to him, you need to submit to God, you need to remember what he has already done for you, and you need to worship him.

Life is hard; it is difficult, but God is trustworthy, he is your refuge, he cares for you. How do we know that he is trustworthy, that he is your refuge, that he cares for you?

What has he already done for you? If you’re a believer, he has saved you, he has redeemed you, he is conforming you into the image of Jesus.

What will he do for you? If you’re a believer, he has sealed you until the day of redemption with the Holy Spirit, he has promised a place for you to spend eternity with him, he will one day bring you to glorification.

You can trust him as your refuge, you can know that he cares for you because of all that he has done for you up to this point and all that he has promised to do for you.

When life is hard: run to Jesus, submit to him, and remember what he has done for you.

Now, I mentioned that I wanted to look at specific application concerning this passage as well in that I wanted to show this to you as a passage to pray through. Remembering that David has faced some sort of opposition in which his life is threatened, we can look at the hardships he faced and his prayer in Psalm 16 as one that we can emulate.

What does this look like? When life is difficult: run to Jesus, submit to him, and remember what he has done for you. Do this through prayer:

Heavenly Father, my life is hard and it is difficult just to get through today. I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel as if people are opposing me and talking trash about me; I feel like my teacher is purposefully making this class harder than it needs to be; it seems that my spouse doesn’t care for me the way I thought they did. But I know that you are sovereign and that you are in control of all things, I know that you care for me and that you’re going to use all things to make me more like your Son, so I trust you and I submit to your authority. I know that you are good because you have shown me your goodness through saving me, through loving me, through leading me through life. You are good and gracious, please continually remind me of this truth. I love you.

You can take a psalm like Psalm 16 and use it as a pattern for your own prayer—God, protect me; thank you for all that you’ve done for me. I praise you for leading me and directing my life. I rejoice in all that you’ve done. Thank you for who you are. Amen.

Your prayer life will grow if you utilize David’s prayers as models for your own prayer life, learn to do so through studying his psalms.

Put simply, what Psalm 16 teaches us is that when life is difficult or when we face opposition (1) run to God through Jesus and cry out to him, (2) submit to him as your Lord and Savior, and (3) constantly remind yourself of what he has done for you. Doing so, will keep you following him and it will remind you that he is worth trusting and having faith in.

When life is hard, run to Jesus, submit to him, and reflect on the good that you have because of him.

Prayer Requests

Here are this week’s prayer requests:

Caleb Miller - Medical Issues

Alan Wisor - Medical Issues

Deane Herbst is home from the hospital. He’s still recovering from the affects of COVID, so please continue to pray for him.

Pray for the remaining renovation work—we’re currently $4,800 short of completing all the projects. Continue praying for the LORD’s provision for these projects. I’ve heard from a church and an organization that may be willing to pay for everything that we still need to finish; we essentially just have to wait and see.