Shane Idleman emphasizes the importance of honest communication with God during times of despair, as reflected in Psalms 60 and 61. He encourages believers to express their feelings of hopelessness and confusion, reminding them that God desires transparency in prayer. The psalmist's cry for restoration serves as a powerful reminder that God can rebuild and renew our spirits, even when we feel broken. Idleman highlights the necessity of faith and holiness in our relationship with God, asserting that true strength comes from seeking Him amidst life's challenges. Ultimately, he calls for a return to God, urging the congregation to trust in His protection and guidance.

Tonight, we're in Psalm 60 and 61. And the Psalms have been a great encouragement, I know, for me and many of you, because it's that time when we're hopeless and desperate. Have you ever been there? Where you look at the news and you don't realize what country you even live in anymore. And the shenanigans and the deception. And it's really easy to lose heart in these difficult times. And so we'll open with chapter 60, verse 1. The psalmist says, Oh God, You have cast us off. Have you ever felt like that? We can relate. And what the psalmist is doing, I believe it's David, we don't have the introduction there. He is acknowledging how you feel before God. And sometimes people read that and they say, you know, he shouldn't say that. But it's okay to be honest with God. It's okay to tell Him how you're feeling. Lord, I'm not feeling it right now. I'm not hearing Your prayers or seeing Your prayers being answered. This is going on. And Lord, I can't see You working. Why have You cast us off? Honest prayers are the best type of prayers. Honest prayers are the best type of prayers when you're honest and open with God. Because what it does, at least it helps me internalize those feelings and let them come out. And you know how when you talk to someone, at least you feel better? Even though maybe you haven't resolved too much, you at least feel better. And that's what being honest with God is. To just open up and say, Lord, I'm maybe in Your marriage, maybe with a certain struggle, maybe with a dilemma or a challenge or a healing issue. Have you ever prayed for healing in your body? And what is going on? I'm still sick. I'm still dealing with this. And we take it to the Lord. And as we do that, He begins to work in our heart. The more we confess it, the more we ask Him to just help us understand in this area, it's like a good ear that listens. And you feel better even after sharing your heart. And after you do that, you begin to apologize almost. Like, Lord, I'm sorry. Help me. My attitude's wrong. I need to be more thankful. And sometimes it's really good because it gets that out of us. And then He goes on to say, you have broken us down. So it's like they feel cast off, away from God, and broken us down. But thank God for brokenness. Thank God when God breaks you, here's the thing you have to remember, when He breaks you down, it's always going to be to build you back up. What do you do in arithmetic? You fraction it down. What would they call that? To its lowest common denominator. They would break it down to its lowest common denominator. Then they could start rebuilding. And He said, Lord, You have been displeased with us. You've been displeased with us. And so there's this yearning or a transparency. God, You've cast us off. You've broken us down. Basically, I'm at my wit's end. Have you ever been there too? I'm broken down. I can't continue. And then He goes on to say, You have been displeased. And then the final cry. I love this one. Oh, restore us again. And that's what we do. Rend the heavens after, right? Oh, God, would You rend the heavens? And I don't think they just put that word O in there to fill in a gap. It's showing the emotion. It's this woe unto You when the prophets would say, and it's the heart cry, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And so we see He turned this complaining into now a petition, a thankfulness. Oh, God, restore us again that we may rejoice in You. Give us that hope again. And so if you can turn your complaining into thankfulness, it's a very good thing. And the sooner you do that, the better. Oh, let me tell you about my week. Maybe I won't. But it's hard when life has just beat you up. Complaints, criticism, things going wrong, haywire, financial challenges, other issues. It's just, Lord, where are You? Where are You? I don't understand what I'm going through. But if I stay there, if I stay in that bitter, thankless, bad spot, I'm not very productive. And it's okay to be there, recognize it, and then come out of it. Oh, God, restore me. Restore my hope. Restore my energy again. Give me that spiritual life. But the enemy wants you to stay in that area of unthankfulness and bitter because it's like when he's got you in that spot, he's got his foot on your neck. Have you ever done anything noteworthy for God when you're bitter and angry and upset and unforgiving? No, that's how he distracts us and takes us out. And we deal with a lot of things at the church. Obviously, myself, Pastor Abram, and others, and we're not by any stretch of the imagination perfect whatsoever will be the first to admit that. But most people that are upset, let's say at the church or different things, you come to find out they're disgruntled at themselves. They're unthankful. They're critical. They're negative. They're Debbie Downers. They're naysayers. They're always picking apart things. And that's where the enemy wants you to stay. I could have just focused maybe on that whole point because I know a lot of Christians can get stuck into that unthankfulness mode. And remember what should have took the children of Israel 11 days to the promised land ended up taking them 40 years because of grumbling and complaining. And God said, I'm actually going to wipe out the whole generation of complainers and I'm just going to let Caleb and Joshua go in to the promised land. Caleb and Joshua we know of, but can any of you name the 10 spies that had a negative report? No, nobody can. I put them up there before in a sermon and nobody knew who the names were because we don't know the names of the grumblers and complainers. But see, He doesn't just keep grumbling and complaining, woe is me, life stinks. He says, okay, restore us, God, restore us again. You have made the earth tremble. In other words, you can do whatever you want to do. You can shake the earth off its axis. You can make nations listen to you. You can shake the whole situation. Have you ever been to court or another situation where God moves on your behalf on the back end of things? Or you go into the county office or you go into the legislation or the things that seem absolutely impossible, it's not going to happen, but God shakes that area. And it's a matter of getting our heart on fire again for God because without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. So we want to, Lord, how can I please You? How can I get my prayers answered? Well, it begins a lot of times with faith, believing who God said He is. See, faith and doubt can't coexist. Faith and unthankfulness, not going to work too well. And so He's praying, Lord, please, restore us again. You've made the earth tremble. You have broken it. Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. Come in and do a healing work. And you know when the breaches, breaches are kind of what holds the water back. I don't remember where it was back when that hurricane went through and just went over those breaches and began to just flood the whole city. And that's what He's talking about here, these breaches. God, You have broken them. Heal these breaches. Heal what has been broken and shattered in our lives. You have shown Your people hard things. I don't like this part. God often shows His people hard things. We see things that are unimaginable, especially what we've been seeing in the news and the different movies coming out and just the depravity. You have shown us hard things. And I don't like that because it's difficult. You have made us drink the wine of confusion. Man, we can relate to these guys. 3,000 years later. I did something last night I probably shouldn't have done because it speaks to this verse, but I listened to a testimony of a Marine who was in Afghanistan when we pulled out. And what he saw with the Taliban just shooting citizens, anybody that was running to the airport, it was just a massacre. Massacre. And I got so mad at the way things were handled. Leaving people there to die. Breaking promises. I'm very confused. Very confused. Unless you realize it's light and darkness, kingdoms are colliding. And you're making us see hard things about the people just wanting to flee. He talked about the babies being trampled. They were there when the people get on those airplanes and actually on the wheels and hold on and jump off. The airport, he talked about how chaotic it was. It was almost like we did things on purpose to sabotage things. And then watching more interviews with Tim Ballard. This is so relevant to us. Lord, You're showing us hard things and we're drinking of the cup of confusion. I get confused. Like what is going on, Lord? What is happening? This is very confusing. It's perplexing. You have given a banner to those who what? Fear You. Now, he's not handing them off a banner. The Lord is our banner, meaning the Lord goes to battle. He goes to war for His people. He goes to war for those who fear Him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding those who fear the Lord will dwell in His holy place. And that's what we try to do even in this church is get the fear of God back. Not a fear where you're worried about the lightning bolts coming through the roof and walking around on eggshells with God. No, respect and awe and reverence in the house of God and being in awe of who He is. And because I fear Him, I want to live accordingly, not out of obligation, but out of relationship. And He's a banner. Basically, He's a protection to those who fear Him. If you want God's protection, you must fear Him. And again, it's not like you would fear a bully. It's hard to explain. Over the years, I've given a lot of different examples. But it's like if you're leaving here and you saw a rattlesnake out by your car. That's a good fear, right? You're not going to let your 4-year-old go grab it. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Come here. Get over here. Get a shovel. Just to move it, right? In case you want to believe in not killing rattlesnakes. But that fear helps us. The fear of not crossing that double line on the freeway or a highway. That fear of not leaving the gas on your stove. You know, there's that type of fear if it changes the course for the better it's a very good thing. So the Lord is a banner. He is a protection. He is a military covering for those who fear Him. And that's why we have such a desire for our nation. I know it's going to always be fractured, always be broken, people always fighting internally, but if we could get our military, some in the military fearing God again, even at the top levels, the generals or even politicians, those running for office in all areas of life, those who fear God, that's where our safety and our protection comes from. The Lord will raise up a banner. Just like it said, when the Spirit of the Lord is, or when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a banner, will raise up a standard against the enemy. And it's so profound and powerful how fearing the Lord can open incredible doors also. Those who do not fear God and do not take Him seriously, I wonder if He takes us seriously. Because often, I've noticed, what you give God is what you receive. The more you seek Him, the more you find Him. The more you obey Scripture and apply it to your life, the more you receive the power of the Word of God. And it's an incredible, incredible truth there. You've given a banner to those who fear you that it may be displayed because of the truth. Oh, this is so rich. So, the banner that is given, the covering, the shelter, the protection, it's going to be displayed. The world will see that this is a God you don't mess with. And it's because of the truth. Because of the truth. Whoa, we need to get back to the truth, right? Get the truth into your life. As I often say, times change. Truth does not. You can't conform truth. You can't compromise it. You can't bend it. It's not flexible. It doesn't give. It's unyielding. It's the truth. It stands. It stands. It cannot be moved. That your beloved may be delivered. Those who love God will be delivered. Save with your right hand and hear me. Now, God doesn't have a right hand. Obviously, He is Spirit. Those who worship Him in Spirit worship Him in Spirit and in truth because He is not a person like us. That right hand is just an imagery of that strength. The strength and the power of God on the side of those who fear and love Him. And God has spoken in His holiness. God has spoken in His holiness. Guys, if you need direction in your life, focus on holiness. Holiness will lead you down the right path. Now, this is not a holiness where you're weird about it. Okay, you follow these rules and you don't do this and you don't do that and I'm so holy, I'm so spiritual, but really, you're arrogant. You're a better Christian than other people. Holiness, the concept I've said many times before, it's coming out from among the world and being separate. You're different. The music you listen to, the people you associate with, how you conduct yourself, everything is different because you're holy. You're set apart. God says, here's a vessel I can use. You're holy. And in the temple, He had holy utensils. Can you imagine a holy fork? Or a holy spoon? Or the plate? Or what they would call the, where they would put the incense and the different area, the showbread, and all these things were set apart. And it's a picture of how Christians are set apart to be used by God. The fork can't be used by God if it's dirty with manure on it. And so He calls believers. Again, not to be perfect. I really want to get this point across so people don't leave here beating themselves up. Oh, Pastor Shane said we've got to be holy and perfect. I've never put those two words together. Holy is, Lord, I want to live this way. I want to honor You. I want to make choices to honor You, and sometimes I fall, but Lord, help me stay on the right path. And God has spoken in His holiness. It's profound because, Lord, what is Your will for me in this area? Are You holy in walking that course? Many people want to know God's will, but they're not willing to be holy and set apart. So many people, Lord, what's Your will? And I need a financial breakthrough, but they're not giving. They're not tithing. They're not budgeting their money. They're not spending wisely and they're not living in holiness. And so we're praying for things that we might not see because we're missing that element of holiness. Young couples, right? You've heard me say this before. Marrying or dating. Should we get married? Well, are you walking in holiness? It's going to be really hard to get direction on the next step if you're not obeying back here on this step. You're off already. And even in all areas of life, Lord, do You want me to take this job? Do You want me to move? Do You want me to start this ministry? You fill in the blank. Holiness has got to be that standard we shoot for. Because what it is, it's obeying God's Word, and as you obey God's Word, you're walking down the right path. So God is leading you. He's spoken to you in His holiness. He's leading you through His Word, through the practical application, and this is how you make the right choice in the will of God. But you get away from that and you start to go for the exit. I'm out of God's will. What's going on? How do you get back in God's will? Oh, repent. Change of mind. Change of action, right? So holiness leads us in the right direction. Without that, it's really hard to know God's will. And I think that's the number one question on the minds of many people is, Lord, what is Your will for me? Have you ever asked that? A thousand times? And that's probably the number one question. Well, it's up there in the top five for sure. Questions for Christians. And in the prayer room, we hear that a lot. I just need to know God's will in this area. And the areas range from you name it. Whatever the question is, it has to do with God's will. And if you're not walking in holiness and applying the Word of God, and at least getting back on track, it's going to be hard to discern it. And that's why many people trying to find out God's will are confused. It's really not confusing. Now, is it hard because sometimes you have to be patient and wait? Yeah, but it's really not confusing because it's already laid out for you. And we make it confusing when we allow other things to get in the way of that and begin to pull us away. And that's what the enemy wants to do. He wants to pull you away from holiness, pull you away from the application of God's Word. You get off track, and you're confused, and now you're not doing anything for God. So it's a good reminder here. He's spoken through holiness. And because of that, I will rejoice. I will rejoice. And this part here appears again I think in Psalm 108 or so. But he talks about I will divide Shechem. I will measure out the valley of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. Basically, he's saying the land of Israel is mine. The twelve tribes and all the land I've given Abram. Ephraim also is the helmet for my head. Judah is my lawgiver. And Moab is my washpot. Moab, Moabitess, the Moabites. God washes His dishes in them. It's just funny the language they use. That's not really a good thing to be a washpot. And he's saying basically, I will do whatever I want to do. I will build a king up and I will pull a king down. Who can stand against God Almighty? See, the key is, and that's why we get passionate, we get frustrated. Come on guys, we've got to get on God's side. The military, Sacramento, D.C., Hollywood. We've got to get more on God's side and fear Him again. We want His blessing. And even if they don't listen, that's okay. God listens to the remnant. God hears the cries of His people calling them back to Him. And God will revive His work. Moab is my washpot. Over Edom, I will cast my shoe. Philistia, shout and triumph because of Me. Who will bring Me to the strong city? Who will lead Me to Edom? Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? Lord, You need to bring me to the strong city. You need to bring me to my destination. You've cast us off. You can bring us back. Nothing is beyond Your sovereign control, Lord. And He's really working through His emotions here. I can relate to this. And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies, could be referencing back to where the armies... did you know the armies used to go out in the name of God and get defeated? They always won when they sought God. And they're on God's side. Always won when they're on God's side. There's examples, they would go out and they would lose, and Joshua would come back. What's going on? There's sin in the camp. There's sin in the camp. Find out who it is. I remember reading a while back, Moses rebuked the people because they were too afraid to go into the promised land. And their unthankfulness, their critical spirit came out, and God said forget it. Forget it. I've had enough of these people. And they said, oh, we're sorry, we're sorry. We'll go up and we'll fight right now. And they got slaughtered. God's timing. His way. When God's on your side, you can go in and you can conquer and do what He's called you to do. But when we rush ahead, when we don't ask Him for advice and counsel, that's what He's probably referring to. You didn't go out with our armies. Look at all the armies that David would conquer when God was with him. Goliath, the Philistines, the armies of Israel, David would conquer them. Solomon would conquer them. And even the kings, if you go through the kings and when it's divided up to northern and southern kingdoms, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and you get to the Hezekiahs and the Osses and the Josiahs and the different kings, and you would see the kings that would go out that would call on the name of the Lord. They would ask, even if they weren't quite walking with Him well, that they would at least ask, Lord, what is Your guidance? He would still guide them to victory. Those who put Him first. Give us help from our trouble, O Lord, for the help of man is useless. Praise God on that one. Man, the help of man is absolutely useless. Only God can truly guide and truly direct us. That's why it's good to ask in every situation. Every situation. Financial decision, ask God. Because you might get an investor who misses it. Anybody go to a doctor? Surgery? Medication? The counsel of man is useless, but when you seek God, He will show you things. He will begin to give you wisdom on certain situations. He will lead you. He will guide you. And sometimes it doesn't go with what popular opinion is or what other people are telling you to do. Now I don't think we should just throw caution to the wind and ignore counsel. God gives us counsel for a reason in all areas of life, but when we go and we trust in them and ignore seeking God, that's where the disaster comes. That's where things really begin to fall apart. Give us help from the trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God, we will do valiantly. Valiantly is great things. We will overcome. We will be conquerors. Through God and only through God, we will succeed at ministry. Anybody that comes up to this pulpit can tell you if it was not for the grace of God, I would not be up here. Anything we do for God, A.W. Tozer said anything I've ever done for God has always been done through the work and the power of the Holy Spirit in my heart and in my life. God will do great things for those who surrender. Through God, we will do great things, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies. And this is what just, I don't know if you're a student of American history, I've read a lot of the books on the presidents from Lincoln and George Washington. I finished one last year on Lee or Grant. I think it was Grant who fought for slavery. Lee surrendered. He became president. The books are incredible. And how many of these men feared God? Even Churchill, fighting against Germany. They feared God. Lord, You're going to tread down our enemies. And if you go back and you look at when George Washington fought Great Britain, and you look at the journals, how even the weather changed. The river that they were going across. The darkness and how they should have never won, but they defeated because they trust in God. And now we get to 2023 and we don't even mention God. We don't even mention God. We mock God by putting our military, dressing up as women if they are men, and allowing that and thinking that's really going to scare China and Russia. Boy, now they're intimidated. Give me a break. There's no calling on God. It's calling on man. Self-exaltation. Promoting self. Look at our military strength. Look at our economy. And it's all useless and fruitless unless God is guiding. Can you imagine if a great portion of America would turn back to God and begin to cry out to Him? And even if He doesn't, the remnant, if the remnant would wake up and get serious about seeking God with all their heart, with all their strength, with all their might. I know a lot of people say, Shane, we are serious. And I know, a lot of people are serious, but when is the last time you ever just fasted for the day and prayed? Take time off and fast and pray or stay up later. Get up in the morning and you begin to seek God like never before. Normally, we do things that are comfortable. As long as it's kind of comfortable and fits my lifestyle. But often, God calls us out of that comfortable Christianity into the deeper life. And it's not until I'm straining in the deeper life that I begin to understand God more profoundly and powerfully. It's breaking out of that comfort zone. And listen, nobody likes a comfort zone more than me. I think I was born to eat and sleep and watch TV. But it will kill your spiritual life. It will drain you of spiritual energy. There's something unique that happens when you starve the flesh and seek God like never before and begin to put Him in His right spot. For it is He who treads down our enemies. Next verse. Okay, we'll pop to v. 61. There we go. So now, and here's what's interesting. There's no chapter and verses in the Bible, but we do know that the Psalms were broken up. And we don't know exactly the order when they were written. This one actually seems to flow pretty well. And he goes on to say, Hear my cry, O God. And this is a great model for you for your prayer life. Okay, go into your prayer closet tonight or tomorrow morning, and it's okay to tell God how you really feel. I do. Tell Him how you really feel. And then after a few minutes of wrestling and knowing that He's heard your cry, then you can say, Lord, hear my cry. O God, attend to my prayer. That means go to that need that I have, that prayer that I have. Attend to that prodigal son. Attend to that wayward daughter, Lord, and draw them back to You. From the end of the earth, I will cry out to You. Basically, no matter where I go, no matter where I go, I will cry out to You. And it reminds me of what David wrote. He said, where can I go? Where can I go to flee the presence of God? Where can I go? If I go up to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in hell, You are there. If I go to the uttermost parts of the entire world, even You are there. To what? To mock me? To scold me? No, to guide me. To guide me and to encourage me. No matter where I go, to where I will cry out to You. When my heart is so overwhelmed, oh, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Lord, when I feel so overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. And I know sometimes in our language we might not understand it, but throughout the Bible they would, and sometimes, have you ever seen the picture of the rock of Gibraltar or Yosemite? Have you ever driven Yosemite? You know, that half dome and those things. Now that's a rock. And they're not thinking of a little pebble. They're thinking this magic, magnificent mountain. Take me to, You're higher than that. Lord, You are the rock of my salvation. Whoever builds his house on the rock, it will not fall. I am the rock. My Word is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. And it's that rock is always used throughout the Bible as strength. And He's saying that here. From the end of the earth, I cry out. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. To something better than me. On that note, have you ever seen that guy climb half dome with no ropes or anything? Watch it on YouTube. I get, you know when you're up high and you get those feelings if you look over? I get that just watching him. 3,000 feet, no ropes, nothing, just climbing up the rock. It's just insane. At first, I wouldn't even think of that. I wouldn't even think of getting six feet. And it's just amazing. Lead me to that rock that's higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me. See, now he's reminding himself. See, that's the power of prayer. You gotta go in reminding yourself. You go in negative, but you gotta come out positive. Like David said, I will strengthen myself in the Lord. I will not let man cast me down. Oh, my soul is cast down. Oh, soul, rise up. So I'm coming out of the prayer closet. See, I went in broken and hurt. Now I'm coming out empowered to do things for God. That's what the prayer closet does. It breaks you, it shapes you, it reinforces and encourages you to get back up and fight again. That's what he's saying here. You have been a shelter for me. A strong tower from the enemy. Look at all these words he's using. Rock, strong tower, shelter. That's what they call, Jesus is my buckler, He's my higher, He's my sword, He's my Sabbath rest. And they give all these names for God and for Jesus, actually. They run it, what do they do with a strong tower? They go into this tower and they hide from their enemies. Or they would climb up the tower and what would they do? Shoot down at the enemy. And you're positioning yourself to fight the enemy by running into God's tower. Listen, God can change incredible situations into your favor. He can orchestrate things you never even dreamed possibly. Let Him fight your enemy. Oh, let me preach on that one for a minute. I've lived that one. Let Him fight your enemy. Let Him come against them. You run into the strong tower, which is Christ. And let God fight your battle. I will abide in your tabernacle forever. It's a commitment to keep worshiping God, to keep getting in that place of worship. That tabernacle back then, as you know, had the inner court, the outer court, the holies of holies, the porch area, and they would go into the tabernacle as their time to worship God. This is the place they would meet God. And I will do that forever. What can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, Paul would say? Neither height nor depth nor principalities nor powers nor things to come nor any created thing shall ever be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. I will seek Him all the days of my life. And that's what he's saying here. I will abide in that tabernacle. I will abide in that position of authority in God's sovereignty forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Oh, when God covers you, there's nothing else to worry about. You have to remind yourself of that financially. If you're waiting on a job, you're waiting on a financial situation, health issues, family dynamics, relational issues, God's timing, maybe you thought you'd be in a different spot in your life and you're not, always remember, you are underneath the wings and the coverings of God. But always remember, always remember the doctrine of Balaam. Remember when I taught about that? The doctrine of Balaam says you cannot curse what God has blessed. Oh, I can say hallelujah on that one. What can man do to me? What can the enemy do to me if God has blessed? They can't curse me. But what they will do is they'll get me out of the blessed place. They'll draw me away from God. So these wings, this is all just incredible language if you break it up and you cross-reference, because they're under the wings, the shelter, you come underneath that shelter, but like a little bird, you can look underneath the wing and start walking out and then the coyote gets you. Or the snake gets you or the eagle gets you. So you have to stand under the wings. You have to stand under the wings for God's covering and protection. For you, O God, have heard My vows. In other words, this person committed to God. Have you ever done that? Lord, if You get me out of this one. Lord, please, don't let this happen. Or it could be You've heard My vows. Lord, I promise to seek You. I want to keep that relationship. Whatever that could be, Lord, You have heard the vows I've made to You. You have given Me the heritage of those who fear Your name. You've given Me that heritage of those who fear Your name. You will prolong the king's life, his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. And a lot of these can be, they would say, messianic prophecies where some things, like the millennial reign of Christ, things like that, it's because we see a lot of Scriptures that aren't yet quite fulfilled yet. Because you can look at this and say, oh, no, there's no more kings on the throne. Israel lost it. They lost their nation. But we know that Jesus is coming to rule and reign again from the line of David, from the lineages of the kings He's talking about, to rule and reign forever. All these little nuances are incredible. Oh, prepare mercy and truth which may preserve Him. So He's saying, Lord, prepare mercy and truth. Give that person mercy. Do you ever need mercy from God? Grace is unmerited favor. You don't deserve it, but God's pouring out His grace on you. Mercy is I deserve punishment, but God is not punishing me. Thank God for mercy and grace. Unmerited favor and not going to... He gives you mercy. Mercy because of what Jesus did. After He's exhausted by that prayer, life exhausted me. He said, so I will sing praise to Your name forever. Guys, you've got to get that in your heart right now. There is no plan B. There is not going to go fall away from God. Nothing is going to sidetrack you. Nothing is going to knock you off track. God will hold you. God will preserve you. This is the fight for our life. This is to the day we die buried six feet under, we will serve God Almighty no matter what He chooses to do. And like Job, we must say, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. And we can agree with Him here. I will sing praises to Your name forever that I may daily perform my vows. Now, it's so interesting, back then, especially back then, a man's word meant a lot. So when he said, I will daily perform that which I committed to, I think it's a wonderful word of encouragement to us today that we have to remember that God really wants us to honor our words. I mean, honor our words that we're given. Now, I explained to you probably a few months ago, my dad used to make deals all the time in construction. Never signed a contract. Always shook hands. That's it. I'll be there until we started working with the city of Palmdale doing storm drains. I remember the big contract. And of course, there's a reason for that. I'm not against him necessarily, but a man's word. We've got to get back to that. Especially the younger kids now, it's like, oh, I was just joking. Oh, I don't really mean that. I didn't say that. That is so important. If you don't have your word, you have nothing. If I can't trust what you tell me, I can't trust you. And so, it's just a great reminder. I will daily perform those things that I committed to. Whatever you've committed to, whether it's your work, whether it's ministry, being that godly husband, being that godly spouse, that wife, whatever you've committed to, Lord, I'm going to be in the Word. I'm going to be in prayer. I'm going to catch myself when I become critical. Whatever those things are that you've committed to, those vows you've made to God, things you want to work on, keep the course. Keep the course even if you fall off the train track. Get back up. Keep that course. And I don't know, is there another verse after that? Or is it keep? 61 is a short chapter. So, oh, restore us again. Oh, restore us again is probably the key thing I took from 60 and 61. Looking at this heart of frustration, maybe in the midst of failure, defeat, anxiety, and he prayed, oh, Lord, restore us again. So he went into the prayer closet, beat up and discouraged, and he came out singing the praises of God. And so maybe some of you need to do that this evening. We're going to open the prayer room. I'll be next door with you. Next door, a few people on the prayer team. You guys can go over there as well. And we'd love to pray for you. Specific needs, certain things in your life, maybe vows you've broken that you need to recommit to. Maybe struggles that you're having. It doesn't matter. We'd love to pray with you.