DO 23654/82

VERSES 1-5!

1. Amen, Lord, bless the reading of Thy Word, in Jesus' name, & make it a blessing to us all. Help the children to listen & be quiet while they hear Thy Word read from Thy Book, the Bible, in Jesus' name, amen. TYL!

2. (Verse 1:) "O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure." Do Mommy or Daddy ever get angry with you sometimes?—Or your teachers? Sometimes a little bit, huh? But we hardly ever get angry with you because you're so good. You're unusually good so it's hard to be angry with you, but once or twice I had to smack you a long time ago.

3. (To Techi, 3 years old:) You're so good I don't ever have to spank you! But maybe someday! I hope you won't ever be bad, but if you ever get bad, I'll probably have to smack you. (Techi: If I ever squirt water out of the bowl!)—Yes! I might give you what Paddy gave the drum if you keep on doing it. Do you remember what Paddy gave the drum?—A beating! Not if you just do it one time accidentally, or maybe even accidentally a second time, but third time's the charm! That's when you get the spanking, if you keep doing it when you're told not to! (Techi: If you see it.) That's right, if I catch you! Ha! Pretty smart! She's got it all figured out!

4. Well, sometimes even the big folks are naughty & God gets angry with them, & He feels like spankin'm! (Techi: Then you spank them!) Well, I spank'm with my tongue! But David said, "O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger‚ neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure." Chasten means spank! He said, "Lord, don't bawl me out in anger! Don't scold me too much‚ & don't spank me hard!" That's what David is saying to the Lord.

5. (Verse 2:) "Have mercy upon me‚ O Lord!" He's saying‚ "Have mercy, be patient with me, forgive me!" "For I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed." He said, "Lord‚ please heal me because I'm sick. My bones just don't act right, they just misbehave sometimes."

6. (Verse 3:) "My soul is also sore vexed." Vexed means to be upset‚ to be troubled. "But Thou, O Lord, how long?" What does he mean by that? Does the Lord get vexed with us sometimes too? Yes‚ of course. But look how long the Lord's patient!

7. (Verse 4:) "Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: Oh save me for Thy mercies' sake." For what sake?—Because I'm so good or you're so good or so righteous? Because we go to church so much? Is that why He saves us? What does He save us for? (David: Our sins.) He saves us from our sins, but what does it say here? "Save me for..." (David: "Thy mercies' sake.") What is mercy? (David: Forgiveness.) (Family: Grace.) Grace, forgiveness, & that's all a part of what? (Family: Love.)—Love! In other words, he's saying, "Save me because of Your Love."

8. (To Techi:) Oops! Careful! Now see, if you hadn't been fooling around, you wouldn't have accidentally hit your mouth on the Bible. The Lord wants you to eat His Words, but not that way! He wants you to chew upon them, but not with your mouth, just with your heart & your mind! (See Jer.15:16.)

9. (Verse 5:) "For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" Well, how come? What does he mean by that? (Family: The unsaved?) That's for sure! It won't do them any good to think about the Lord then, will it? They might remember Him, but it's too late. Well‚ I think He'll have mercy on'm later if they weren't too bad. "In the grave who shall give Thee thanks?"

10. The only people who give thanks in death are Christians who love the Lord! They're thankful it's over. In fact, they never even really see death like the sinners. We'll never know what it is to die like the sinners, thank the Lord, because Jesus already did that for us. How do we know that? Right over George Washington's tomb is carved one great big verse, a beautiful verse: "I am the Resurrection & the Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth & believeth in Me shall never die!"—Jn.11:25,26.

11. We will never know what death is like because we love Jesus! We will never die like the sinners, we'll just pass on into the arms of Jesus! Isn't that wonderful? We'll pass on in one of those beautiful after-death experiences that you've read about people having, only ours will be for sure & better than any of them, because we don't really die, we just keep on living & go straight into the presence of the Lord! How do I know that? I've got a Scripture for it, Paul said it. What did he say?

12. (Family: "O death, where is thy sting?") Well, that's one of them: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin."—1Cor.15:55,56. But since our sins are forgiven, we'll never have the sting of death & the grave will never have victory over us.

13. In fact‚ in some places where this word "grave" is used, it's not just talking about a hole in the ground, it's talking about Hell! You have to look it up in the original to find out what it's talking about‚ & nearly all the places where it talks of the grave (or "Sheol"), it's speaking of the Unseen State‚ the Spirit World, which is also sometimes translated as "Hell." The New Testament also uses the term "Hades" for the Spirit World. In the New Testament‚ "Gehenna" is talking about Hell.

14. It's like the one worker said to the other worker when they were angry & fussing & having a big argument: "Go to Hell!" And the boss got very angry with him for saying that & he said, "Now you go back & apologise to him & tell him you're sorry." That was a naughty thing to say to somebody, to go to Hell, unless they really deserve it. So do you know what he did? He went back to the guy & he said, "Hey‚ Buddy, you remember that place I told you to go?" He said, "Yeah?" "Well, you don't have to go there!" Ha! That was his way of apologising. That wasn't a very good apology, was it?

15. Well‚ in most of these places where it says "grave," you'll find that the original says "Sheol," meaning some form of life hereafter in the Spirit World, which is not Heaven. And that's the kind of death he's talking about here too. He's not talking about the kind of death we all die‚ in a kind of a hole in the ground they put all of our bodies in, but he's talking about the death of the sinner & the hereafter, the Hell of the sinner. This is what he's talking about here, & we don't have to go there. PTL? So in a way that came true, because we were all sentenced to Hell, but Jesus came along & said, "Hey, Buddy, remember that place you had to go? Now you don't have to go there!" Isn't that wonderful?

16. Well, that's a good place to stop tonight & we'll go on with poor King David & his groanings in another one! Poor David, he had lots of troubles just like us sometimes & he had his groanings. I was always comforted by the Psalms‚ because when I have my hard times & troubles & my groanings that poor Maria has to go through with me sometimes, I can remember, "Well, dear King David had the same problem sometimes!"

17. Sometimes he was sure he was finished! Once he said, "Some day I shall surely die at the hand of Saul!"—1Sam.27:1. That was really not much faith, was it? He thought he was surely going to get killed by his enemies. But he didn't, did he? He died in peace at a ripe old age when he was clear up in his 80's. He never got killed by his enemies, & all of his worries about his enemies killing him never happened. So he might as well have not done all his worrying, just like I shouldn't worry. And Maria tells me so & she comforts me & encourages me, "Though I water my couch with my tears." PTL! (Prays:)

18. Thank You Lord for this wonderful day we've had & the wonderful experience we just had, Lord, with this precious little waitress we met whom Your hand is upon & You're working with. We ask You to help her to really see Thy Truth as she reads that card & its truths, Lord, & to somehow learn that You really love her.—Not only that we love her, but that You love her, Lord, & that Thy Love, the true God & Thy Son Jesus are the real Ones Who can really make her happy & love her & save her!

19. Bring her clear through, Lord! You can do it, Lord. We're plowing now & sowing the Seed & watering, but it may be some time before the increase comes, Lord. It may be somewhere else when she finally really seeks Thee & finds Thee. So Thy Will be done, in Jesus' name. Thank You for the wonderful time we had tonight, how wonderfully everything worked out & how she loved her little gift, Lord. We weren't even sure she'd like it, but she said she had always wanted one! TYJ! PTL! Hallelujah!

20. Amen, as we pray together our little goodnight prayer: (Prays: "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.") And give everybody a good night's rest & safekeeping & strength for tomorrow! (Prays Psalm 19:14, Num.6:24-26.) Amen! Amen! Amen! PTL! TYL! Amen. Goodnight! God bless you all! WLY!

VERSE 6-10!

21. (Verse 6:) "I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears." Poor David, he had his problems & troubles & sorrows & times of discouragement sometimes, right? That's why he was always such an encouragement to me. I figured if King David could have so many troubles & afflictions & problems & discouragements & still survive, & even have so many sins & still be called a man after God's Own heart & do as many great things as he did, there must be some hope for me! Amen?

22. (Verse 7:) "Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies." Oh my, all his life he was having to fight enemies. He says they make you old‚ they give you grey hairs!

23. (Verse 8:) "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping." That's the nice thing about all David's Psalms & all of his time that he gets down in the dumps & he weeps & groans & cries & laments, he never stays there. Did you ever notice that? He always pops back up again! He always comes up & winds up with a positive note. PTL? I think the Lord probably let him have all these problems & troubles so he'd write about'm & show how you can pull out of'm by looking to the Lord, amen?

24. So at the end of verse 7 where it sounds like he's ready to give up‚ does he give up? (Family: No!) What does he do? It sounds to me like he goes on the attack! He says, "Depart from me‚ all ye workers of iniquity!" Now he's getting his spunk & his fire & his fight up! He's tired of having them give him trouble, & now he's going to "attack, attack" & tell'm to go! "For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping."—"You guys beat it, for God's heard my prayers!" Was that time watering his couch with his tears wasted?—No! Because the Lord saw & had compassion on him, heard his prayers & answered.

25. (Verses 9‚ 10:) "The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed & sore vexed."—Not me! "Let them return & be ashamed suddenly." I guess He meant "right now‚" huh? Suddenly! Right away! Amen? GBY!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family