November 6, 2024 • 72 mins
Unlock the secrets of a heart that truly trusts in God as we journey through scripture, revealing what it means to possess the heart of the righteous. How does one maintain faith and patience amidst life's trials? Our episode explores this profound question by drawing inspiration from Psalm 25 and other biblical texts, illustrating the spiritual significance of consistently seeking God's presence for renewal and strength. We reflect on the humble and teachable nature of the righteous, emphasizing the blessings of prioritizing God's wisdom over worldly pursuits.
Through the inspiring stories of David and Job, we share how the righteous navigate life's challenges by placing unwavering trust in God's justice and deliverance. Discover how waiting on the Lord and embracing His correction can lead to spiritual growth and fulfillment. Our podcast delves into the importance of drawing near to God, much like the Levites who cherished God as their ultimate inheritance, even against the backdrop of life's distractions and desires for worldly greatness.
Concluding with a focus on seeking a heavenly homeland, we discuss the transformative power of prioritizing spiritual fulfillment over earthly concerns. By referencing teachings from Matthew, Hebrews, and James, we highlight how true righteousness is rooted in seeking God's kingdom first. This episode invites you to reflect on your own spiritual journey, encouraging you to open your heart to divine guidance and correction, trusting in the eternal hope promised to those who maintain their faith. Join us as we align our hearts with the characteristics of the righteous, embracing the joy and satisfaction found in God’s presence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (00:03):
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are spent,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose.
(00:26):
It's good to be with you againtoday.
It's always a pleasure.
It's always a privilege to bein the midst of you and in front
of you and that God wouldchoose me and allow me to
minister to you.
I consider it an honor, and soI pray that your hearts are open
, not to the things,particularly that I say, but
(00:47):
basically the word of God.
I want you to be open to theword of God.
I want you to even hear theLord as I speak, when he's
speaking to you directly andit's not through my voice.
That's the most important thingthat we need to have as these
latter days come to an end isthat we can hear his voice, that
we can clearly discern what itis that he is saying for our
(01:09):
particular season in life, forthe people that are around us.
So today's focus is the heartof the righteous.
I don't want to feel like I'mjust going to machine gun
through this and I kind of feellike it might, but I'm going to
have a lot to say in the midstof it.
(01:31):
But I want to read through thescriptures and treat it like it
is a mirror.
I want it to see.
Does it reflect us when we readthrough these scriptures when
we focus on this aspect of whatis the heart of the righteous,
(01:52):
and if we, and if it doesreflect what is in our lives,
then praise God, we are on theright track.
But if it does not, then let'sask the Lord to deal with us in
these areas, to strengthen andfortify us, because it is the
heart of the righteous that theLord is after.
(02:13):
And so I'm going to start in aPsalm of David.
It's going to be chapter 25.
And, like I said, we're goingto read through a lot of
scriptures and I might skip oversome, and I'm not trying to
minimize the importance of otherscriptures, but I'm trying to
stay focused.
It's almost like a word studythe righteous.
(02:33):
I want to see what does theLord say the righteous is, or
who the righteous are, what aretheir characteristics, what are
their attributes, what makesthem righteous in God's sight?
And so I start with David, whosaid in Psalm 25, to you, o Lord
, I lift up my soul, oh, my God.
(02:56):
And I think these next fourwords is the foundation of the
righteous.
I trust in you.
Within the heart of therighteous there is a foundation.
Most assuredly it is JesusChrist, but it is because you
(03:18):
trust in Jesus that it makes youand your heart righteous in his
sight.
It's a very basic element ofthe righteous.
I trust in you.
He goes on to say let me not beashamed, let my enemies triumph
(03:39):
over me, let no one who waitson you be ashamed.
I'm pulling out, I'm trying topull out attributes to you.
The righteous have a heart thattrusts in him.
The righteous have a heart towait.
Yes, the enemy is around me.
(04:00):
Yes, the enemy is persecutingme, but they have a heart to
wait, not to retaliate, not totake vengeance, but to wait on
the Lord, because they know deepdown inside that those who wait
on the Lord will never beashamed.
Let those who be ashamed todeal treacherously without cause
(04:24):
.
This is another aspect.
Right here is the next heart ofthe righteous.
In verse 4, show me your ways,o Lord.
Teach me your path, lead me inyour truth and teach me, for you
are the God of my salvation.
The heart of the righteous hasa heart to be taught.
(04:48):
It has a heart to be led.
It's not one who has a heartinitially to want to teach
everybody what they need to door want to lead everybody where
they need to go.
The initial heart of therighteous is to be taught of the
Lord, is to be led of the Lordin truth.
So it is a heart that is readyto be taught, to be corrected,
(05:11):
to be led.
And again he says on you, Iwait all the day.
That's a humble heart.
The heart of the righteous ishumble, wanting to be taught,
wanting to learn, wanting to beled.
These are the things that theheart of the righteous desires.
(05:32):
Another thing that the righteousseem to do is that they
remember the things that God hasdone for them.
Not only do they remember thethings that God has done for
them, they remember the thingsthat God has done for others in
the faith, their ancestors inthe faith, not just in the word,
(05:52):
but also in their families.
It says remember, o Lord, yourtender mercies, your loving
kindness, for they are from old.
It is a description of arighteous man who remembers all
of the things from even the oldtimes that the Lord has done in
mercy and in loving kindness.
(06:13):
He doesn't forget those thingsbecause, remember, even the
Israelites in the wildernessforgot all of the mighty works
that their God did them.
Forgot how he opened the RedSea, forgot how there was a
pillar of fire separating theenemy for them.
Forgot all the 10 plagues thatdid not touch one of them.
They forgot these things.
(06:34):
But the righteous don't.
The righteous remember, and theywant the Lord to remember all
of the righteous deeds and askfor them, and they trust that he
will do so again.
He says very clearly don'tremember the sins of my youth,
forget him, forget him.
He wants the Lord to forget thesins of his youth.
Don't remember mytransgressions.
(06:56):
But he relies and he trusts onthe Lord's mercies.
According to your mercy,remember me.
Mercies According to your mercy, remember me For your goodness
sake.
He's depending upon the Lord'sgoodness to judge him.
He's depending upon the Lord'sgoodness to take care of him,
and so he trusts.
(07:16):
You see, these elements, theseaspects of I trust in you, good
and upright, is of the Lord.
Therefore, he teaches sinnersin the way and here's where I
said the humble he guides injustice.
The heart of the righteous is ahumble heart and the Lord is
(07:37):
throughout the earth, to and froseeking the righteous, He's
seeking those of a humble heart.
He's seeking those of a brokenand contrite heart.
He will not despise, no, heseeks after them.
And the humble He teaches Hisway.
Why?
Because the humble have a heartto be taught.
(07:59):
They have a heart to be led.
They have a heart that they'renot speaking all the time.
They're actually quietlylistening, waiting silently.
Lord, what does the Lord say?
What is the Lord leading me?
All of the paths of the LORDare mercy and truth.
He recognizes that the Lord'sway is the only way.
(08:23):
It is the only way ofrighteousness, it is the only
way of truth, it is the only wayof godliness, of holiness.
It is the only acceptable way.
And he remembers that.
He keeps his covenant and hekeeps his testimony to the
righteous.
Again, he's always remembering,he does not forget the goodness
(08:47):
of the Lord.
He goes on to say to pardon myiniquity.
But in verse 12 he says who isthe man that fears the Lord?
Him shall he teach in the wayhe chooses?
The heart of the righteous arethose that fear the Lord.
And those that fear the Lord iswhom God teaches.
(09:10):
Because the heart of therighteous is to be taught, is to
be led, it says.
It goes on to say that thosewho fear the Lord shall dwell in
prosperity.
Their descendants shall inheritthe earth.
The secret, the secrets, thenuggets of truth, the mysteries
(09:31):
are with those that fear him andhe will show them his covenant.
Those that fear him are theheart of the righteous, it says
in verse 15,.
This is another aspect of theheart of the righteous.
My eyes are ever toward theLord, no matter what is going on
(09:53):
in life.
And we've sung of so many songsdirecting our hearts, directing
our minds, directing ourthoughts unto the Lord.
And some of us come here with alot of baggage and in the midst
of it, the heart of therighteous.
Their eyes are ever toward theLord, their eyes are ever
looking up to their salvation.
(10:13):
It says in verse 20, for I putmy trust in you.
He says in verse 21,.
I wait for you.
Redeem me, o Israel, out of allof their troubles.
So he's waiting on God todeliver, on God to rescue.
(10:39):
In verse 32, another Psalm ofDavid saying Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven,whose sin is covered.
Yes, blessed is the man to whomthe Lord does not impute
iniquity and whose spirit thereis no deceit.
(10:59):
This is whom the Lord blesses.
When I kept silent.
My bones grew old through mygroaning all the day long, for
day and night.
Your hand was heavy upon me.
My vitality was turned into thedrought of summer.
Why would David be talking likethis?
David had the heart of therighteous, but if you know
(11:25):
David's life, he fell.
And in the midst of his despairhe's saying that, lord, your
hand was heavy upon me, therewas a weight on me.
I know that the man is blessedif his sins are forgiven, but
(11:45):
see, in that moment David wasdealing with his sins and the
weight became unbearable.
He was guilty and he knew it.
And in the midst of that, thisis what the heart of the
righteous does.
He doesn't wallow in self-pity.
He doesn't make excuses.
(12:06):
He doesn't blame anybody elsefor the guilt of his own sins.
He turns to the Lord and hesays I acknowledge my sin to you
and my iniquity I hide no more.
And my iniquity I hide no more.
I said I will confess mytransgressions to the Lord.
(12:33):
This is what the heart of therighteous do.
They don't run away from Godwhen they sin, but they turn to
him in brokenness, incontriteness of heart, and they
confess and acknowledge thatwhat they've done is wrong in
his sight.
And what does God do when theheart of the righteous turns to
him?
When they fall in, God forgivesthe iniquity, God forgives the
(12:58):
sin.
Continuing in verse sixeveryone who is godly, it says,
shall pray Another aspect of theheart of the righteous they
pray.
They continue to pray, theycontinue to seek after him,
because their eyes are evertoward the Lord, no matter
(13:22):
whether they're blessed withwealth and riches, no matter
whether they've been strippedall from him, their eyes are
ever toward the Lord.
It is as if they have aninternal radar that is beeping,
beeping, beeping, beeping.
For where is the Lord?
Where is the Lord?
I continue to seek after him.
The righteous says you, notwealth, not riches, not this
(13:48):
roof, not my car, not myemployment.
He says you are my hiding place.
You shall preserve me fromtrouble.
Not the money I need to get outof my financial fix, Not the
employment, not my prowess, notmy warrior-like capabilities.
(14:12):
But you, oh Lord, deliver meout of my trouble and you
surround me with songs ofdeliverance.
I continually sing unto you,because what is the basis?
I trust in you, and so Icontinue to sing songs of
(14:33):
deliverance.
Yes, oh Lord, you will deliverme from my situation, from my
calamity.
Whether it be my doing, oryou've brought it upon me.
You will deliver me.
And what does the Lord say inresponse to all that that David
is just crying out to him about?
He says I will instruct you, Iwill teach you in the way that
(14:54):
you should go.
I will guide you with my eye.
This is what I will do for therighteous heart.
But he says don't be like thehorse, don't be like the mule.
They don't have understanding.
They have to be harnessed witha bitten bridle.
Don't be like that.
But he who trusts in the Lord,my mercy shall blanket him,
(15:21):
shall surround him.
He will not be touched.
Any weapon formed against him,I will not be touched.
Any weapon formed against him.
I will not allow to prosper.
So be glad in him, rejoice inhim.
You righteous, shout for joy.
All you, upright in heart.
(15:42):
The righteous says in this, inthe heart, in Psalm 73, verse 25
.
Who have I in heaven but you?
There is none upon the earththat I desire besides you.
Deep in the heart of therighteous is a longing, a
(16:10):
yearning, an intense desire thatcan only be satisfied by the
Lord.
And they direct all of theirefforts after him, recognizing
that there's nothing he can haveon this earth that will satisfy
Him.
It is only the Lord.
Who am I in heaven, but you?
There's nothing on this earththat I desire, not the academics
(16:31):
, not the knowledge, not thewisdom, not the fame, not the
wealth, not the material things,nothing on this earth that I
desire, you.
My flesh, my heart.
They fail, but God, you are thestrength of my inner man, you
(16:52):
are the strength of my heart,you are my inheritance, my
portion forever, becauseanything I have in this world is
temporal.
But if I have you, I have youforever.
You are my inheritance forever.
The Levites didn't know howgood they had it when all they
(17:15):
had to do was serve him.
He was their inheritanceforever.
But it is good for me to drawnear to God.
The heart of the righteousconstantly desires to draw near
to God, and I know it's hard inthis day and age, but it was
(17:36):
just as hard in their day andage.
They had enough things in thisworld to distract them, to
dissuade them.
I want to be the best.
What's that thing calledSlingshot?
And I'm sure they battled witheach other on who be the best.
And I'm sure when the archerscame around, they battled for
(17:57):
who's the best, who's the bestswordsman, who's the best
fighter, who's the best runner.
And they fought for all ofthese things.
But the righteous, when theyconsidered all of the things of
this world, they come to realizethat only the Lord satisfies me
.
There's always somebody better.
You just haven't run into himyet.
(18:18):
They say Michael Jordan was thebest.
There's always somebody better,maybe not in his life, but
there's always somebody betterto come.
So the heart of the righteousdraws near to God, because again
I have put my trust in the Lord.
(18:38):
God, it says in Psalm 140, therighteous shall give thanks to
your name.
In verse 13, the upright shalldwell to your name and verse 13,
the upright shall dwell in yourpresence.
In Psalm 141, david says Lord,I cry out to you Make haste to
(19:02):
give me or make haste to me.
I'm crying out to you.
This is how I draw near to you,because if I don't cry out to
you, what am I doing?
I'm neglecting you, I'mignoring you.
I cry out to you because I'mdrawing to you.
Now, make haste, come to me.
Come to me, give ear to myvoice, give ear to my cry, let
(19:24):
my prayer, even my prayer.
The heart of the righteous ispraying and he desires that his
prayer be a fragrant incense, anaroma, lifted up into the
throne room of God, lifting uphis hands as an evening
sacrifice.
Now, these are just some generaldescriptions and attributes of
(19:46):
the heart of the righteous.
I've given several.
Maybe you're writing them down.
If you'd like, I'll send youall the scriptures.
You can find them yourself.
Figure out what are theattributes that make the heart
of the righteous righteous andthen ask yourself do I have this
in my life?
Is this working in my liferight now?
Am I constantly seeking afterhim?
(20:08):
Am I constantly crying out tohim?
Do I draw near to him whenthings start creating a turmoil
around me?
Is he the first that I turn to,or do I immediately try to go
fix the situations on my own?
Do I immediately go, try tohelp from a friend, or am I
turning to him, asking him leadme, teach me, guide me?
(20:29):
What do I do?
Where do I go?
How do I take care of this?
Because I know that, in the end, you are the one that delivers
me out of my troubles.
I come to find out, as I dothis study, that the righteous
go willingly.
That's the key.
They go willingly through thegate.
What gate do I refer to?
(20:51):
In Psalm 118, verses 18?
It says the Lord chastened meseverely, but he has not given
me over to death.
If you didn't know.
The righteous are chastened.
The righteous are corrected.
They have a heart to becorrected.
And then look what it says theheart of the righteous responds
(21:15):
to the chastening, responds tothe correction, with open to me
the gates of righteousness, Iwill go through them.
It is a heart to do what'sright.
He has a heart to walk in theways of righteousness, asking
open up the gates.
Where is it?
Where is it?
(21:35):
Where is the righteousness?
Show me the way and I will gothrough it.
And then it says this is thegate of the Lord.
The way of righteousness is thegate of the Lord, and the
righteous shall enter.
He goes on to say I will praiseyou, for you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
There, if you haven't noticed,there seems to be a dialogue
(21:58):
going on between the righteousand their God.
They're crying out, they'reasking for things and God is
answering.
I will do this.
I will teach you the way.
I will show you the way.
I will open up the gates.
I will show you salvation.
I am your salvation.
I come to find out also that therighteous, they wait for God
(22:23):
alone.
They're not waiting for theirnext paycheck.
They're not waiting for thenext increase in pay.
They're not waiting for thenext better job.
They're not waiting for thenext thing that they can bring
into their house the better TV,the better cable, the better
(22:46):
internet.
They're not waiting for any ofthat.
They wait for God alone.
It says in Psalm 62, verse 5, mysoul waits silently for God
alone.
My expectation is from Him.
Everything that I expect,everything that I desire, I
(23:13):
expect to get it from him, notfrom anything else, because my
eyes are ever toward the Lord.
There's nothing in this worldthat satisfies me.
There's nothing in this worldthat I desire, but you.
I'm showing you the parallelthoughts of these verses in
(23:35):
different places in thescriptures.
The righteous confess he aloneis my rock.
The righteous say he alone ismy salvation, he alone is my
defense.
I shall not be moved.
I will not move from this place.
I will not move from my faithin him.
(23:57):
I will trust in you.
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation, in Godis my glory, in God is the rock
of my strength, my refuge.
Everything that I need is inGod alone.
And it says in verse 8, I trustin him at all times, come what
(24:20):
may I lose my job, I lose myhouse, I lose my children, I
lose my friends, I lose myposition, I lose my car, I lose
family.
I trust in him at all times.
It doesn't matter what happens.
I will not be moved, says therighteous.
(24:41):
So pour out your heart beforehim.
God is a refuge for us.
It says in Psalm 37, the Lordloves justice.
He does not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever.
The descendants of the wickedshall be cut off.
The righteous will inherit theland and dwell in it forever.
(25:09):
But what comes out of the mouthof the righteous is wisdom.
The mouth of the righteousspeak wisdom and his tongue
talks of justice.
Why?
Because he said from the verybeginning.
I said he wants to be taught,he wants to be led in truth, he
wants to be guided by him.
And so what happens in verse 31.
(25:33):
The law of God is in his heart.
It is the law of God that is abedrock in his heart, and the
law of God is none other thanhis word.
The law of God, the word of Godis in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
(25:53):
The wicked may seek to slay therighteous, but the Lord will
not leave him in his hand.
He will not condemn him, hewill not judge him.
And it says again, to reiteratewait on the Lord and keep his
way.
Wait on him and don't move.
If you're walking inrighteousness, don't move.
I'm coming to deliver you.
I'm coming to take care of yoursituation.
(26:16):
Don't move from it.
Stay in the way ofrighteousness.
I opened the gate ofrighteousness to you.
You willingly walked in.
Now don't leave, don't movefrom there.
I'm coming, I'm coming, saysthe Lord.
(26:36):
It says in Psalm 123 that thepsalmist lifts up his eyes Again
.
His eyes are ever toward theLord.
He lifts up his eyes.
He looks to the one who dwellsin the heavens Like a servant
looks up at his master's handlike a maid looks up at the hand
of his mistress, to receivewhat Direction?
Blessing, honor, instruction.
(27:00):
This is the way that our eyesneed to look up to the Lord, our
God, and you continue to lookup to the Lord, your God.
And you continue to look up tothe Lord, your God, until he
bestows his mercy on you, themercy of deliverance, the mercy
of provision, the mercy ofblessing.
(27:22):
Because you realize, the heartof righteous realizes that he
must so trust in the Lord andhis mercy and his goodness and
his loving kindness, because herealizes I am not worthy.
There's nothing I could do tosay to the Lord.
I deserve this.
Look at what happened to Job.
(27:42):
All through the 30, some oddchapters of Job, I want to sit
down with the Lord and I want tohave a conversation with him,
because I think he made amistake.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Why did I lose my children?
Why did I lose my belongings?
Why am I suffering boils offfrom head to toe?
Why, why, why, Lord, you made amistake.
(28:04):
No, the heart of the righteousrealizes and Job got this later
on he realizes I'm not worthy.
And so the heart of therighteous just buries his nose,
his mouth, his face into thedust of the earth and says Lord,
have mercy on me.
Because, no matter what I do,I'm not worthy of your blessings
(28:27):
.
So I rely upon you, my God,upon your mercies and your
loving kindness, to extend yourmercy to me.
So our eyes look to the Lord,our God, until he has mercy on
us.
In verse 3, have mercy on us, oLord, have mercy on us.
It says again Another thingthat the righteous does they
(28:54):
seek his face.
They seek his face, his glory.
They seek him, Not what he cando for them.
They seek Him.
In Psalm 27, verse 4,.
One thing I have desired of theLord, that one thing I will
(29:17):
seek that I may dwell in thehouse of the Lord all the days
of my life.
To what?
To behold?
His beauty.
There's something in the heartof the righteous that is
satisfying in beholding thebeauty of his God.
To inquire where, in his temple, in his presence, in the midst
(29:40):
of his assembly For in the timeof trouble, he shall hide me.
In his pavilion, in the secretplace of his tabernacle, he
shall hide me, he shall set mehigh upon the rock and my head
shall be lifted up above mineenemies all around me.
Therefore, I will offersacrifices of joy.
Where, in His tabernacle, inHis presence, I will sing, yes,
(30:04):
I will sing praises to the Lord.
He is worthy, I recognize it, Irealize it.
These are the things that Iwill do.
The heart of the righteous saysHear, o Lord.
Like David said, hear, hear,hear when I cry with my voice.
Have mercy also upon me andanswer me.
(30:25):
Even God answering him, herealizes, is through his mercy,
because the Lord is notobligated to answer anyone.
So he relies, he trusts in himand his mercy to be extended to
him.
And God says in verse 8, andGod says in verse 8, seek my
(30:49):
face.
And how does the righteousrespond?
Your face, o Lord, will I seek.
The heart of the righteous isready and willing to do whatever
God says.
Show me the way, lead me, teachme.
And when he speaks, he doesSeek my face.
(31:12):
Lord, I will seek your face.
Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant awayin anger.
You have been my help.
Do not leave me.
Do not forsake me, o God, in mysalvation, because you know
what, when my mother and myfather forsook me, then the Lord
took care of me, and so many ofus have had one or the other
(31:33):
forsake us through divorce,through abandonment, through
neglect, through ignorance.
And it was the Lord that waswith us all the while, taking
care of us and preserving us,that we could be here today to
have a healthy relationship withhim, amongst the midst of the
(31:54):
assembly, and praise him andgive him thanks for all that he
has done, because it could havebeen a lot worse.
I could have been out in thestreets, I could have been
dealing in drugs.
I could have been killingpeople.
I could have been in afornication relationship.
I could have had a bunch ofkids.
Think about where your familycame from and all the bad things
they did.
(32:14):
That was your destiny too, ifthe devil had his way.
But God had mercy on you.
God rescued you from thatdestiny because he had a plan
for you.
He had a plan to harm you I'mspeaking of the devil and if
your family relatives all wentthrough that plan there was a
generational curse on the familyto bring you there too.
(32:34):
I could have been on sectioneight.
I could have been living in theprojects, like much of my
family still is Dibbling anddabbling in drugs.
Yeah, it's in my family too.
I may not look like it rightnow to you, but it was there,
just like I know it's been in alot of your families.
(32:55):
The heart of the righteous saysteach me your way, o Lord, and
lead me in the smooth path, inverse 11.
Don't deliver me to myadversaries, don't put me in
their hands, oh Lord, becausethere are many false witnesses
that rise up against me.
I would have lost heart unlessI had believed that I would see
(33:19):
the goodness of the Lord.
There is that underlyingprinciple.
I trust in you.
I trust in you.
14, wait on the Lord.
There it is again.
Wait on the Lord.
Be of good courage.
He sees building up his faith.
Be of good courage and he shallstrengthen your heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
(33:41):
We sing that song in thisfellowship.
Psalm 105 again, it's aboutseeking him.
In verse four it says Seek theLord and his strength, seek his
face evermore.
Seek the Lord and his strength,seek his face evermore.
(34:06):
Here's that remembrance again,remembering his marvelous works
which he has done.
The righteous remember thethings that he has done.
How marvelous he was, hiswonders, his judgments out of
his mouth.
The righteous are the chosenones.
(34:27):
The righteous remember hiscovenant forever.
They remember that his word isforever.
They remember that the covenantthat he made with Israel is an
everlasting covenant and theyremember that it applies to them
as well, because the covenantwas made with Abraham and to his
(34:48):
seed, and his seed was JesusChrist.
And if we have become bornagain in Christ, then those
promises are for us.
So we would do well, if we arerighteous, to find out what was
his covenant, what were thethings that he agreed to with
Israel.
What are the promises that hemade with them, israel?
(35:09):
What are the promises that hemade with them, because they are
yours Now?
remember them.
You see, the righteous seekafter him, his face, forever.
But if you contrast that withsome ideas that were brought out
in the new covenant, you wouldsee that it's in direct conflict
(35:30):
with what the world seeks after.
And the world, I'll say, isdivided into two types the Jews
and the Gentiles.
It says in 1 Corinthians 1.22,.
The Jews seek after a sign, nothis face, a sign.
You know what the Greeks or theGentiles seek after Wisdom,
(35:53):
philosophy, science.
These are the things that theyseek after.
But the righteous seek afterhis face, his glory.
The Pharisees came to Jesus andthey were seeking from him a
sign from heaven Prove yourselfunto us.
God is not here to provehimself to anybody.
(36:16):
Above and beyond whatever hewas called to do, he came, he
healed the sick, he deliveredpeople from demons, he blessed
and he provided food, and that'swhat he was required to do.
And the Pharisees, after seeingall that, Jesus, we seek a sign
.
No, Jesus said no, no signshall be given to you, no sign
(36:40):
shall be given to thisgeneration.
No, I say.
But you see, after, in Matthew12, they came back to him again
and they said teacher, we wantto see a sign from you again,
and he, an adulterous generation, seeks after a sign, and no
sign will be given to it, exceptthe sign of the prophet Jonah.
(37:01):
Jonah was in the belly of thefish for three days and three
nights, and so I will be in thebelly of the earth three days
and three nights, and then youwill know.
But even then many of themstill did not receive, and there
were some that actually soughtafter him.
Puts a little twist to it inJohn 6, verse 25.
(37:21):
It says there's someone seekingafter him.
It says when they found him onthe other side of the sea,
sounds like a good thing thatwe're seeking him.
They said, rabbi, when did youcome here?
And Jesus answered them andsaid most assuredly I say to you
, you seek me.
They were seeking him, but nowremember that the word is
(37:42):
sharper than any two-edged sworddividing between the soul and
the spirit, the joints and themarrow, and Jesus, being the
word, judges the intent of theirheart.
He says you seek me.
Outwardly, it looks good, youseek me.
But what are you seeking me for?
Because I fed you the other day.
(38:04):
So the motivation of yourseeking him is critical.
Are you seeking him to be yoursugar daddy?
Are you seeking him for what hecan be for you or what he can
get you or give you?
Or are you seeking him justbecause you realize who he is?
(38:25):
To realize who God is, to justseek him.
He's that valuable, he is thatimportant, he is that worthy.
The Gentiles seek after wisdom.
Yes, but it also says that theGentiles worry.
They worry about what they'regoing to eat, they worry about
what they're going to drink,they worry about what they're
(38:46):
going to wear.
And it says in Matthew 66,verse 31, after these things,
all the Gentiles seek, alwaysworried about where they're
going to get the things thatthey supposedly need or want and
desire.
But you know what your heavenlyfather already knows the things
that you need.
So seek first the kingdom ofGod and his righteousness.
(39:10):
The heart of the righteous isready and willing to say Lord,
open up to me the gates ofrighteousness, I will go through
them and the rest will be addedunto you when you do that.
Paul says to the Colossiansrighteous people, if you were
(39:31):
raised with Christ, seek thethings which are above, seek the
things that are spiritual.
Remember the righteous in theold covenant.
Their eyes are ever toward theLord.
Above, not carnal, not earthly,above, that's all that
satisfies them.
Christ is seated at the righthand of God, above all.
(39:55):
Principality powers, rulers ofthe darkness, wicked spirits in
high places.
Their eyes are not on the earth, their eyes are above.
That's what Jesus is.
Set your mind on things above.
Is that what we're doing?
That's the mirror.
Is that what we're doing?
Or are we constantly worriedabout things on the earth?
(40:19):
You see, in Hebrews it describesthe righteous, it says those of
the faith, hebrews 11, right,they all died in the faith, it
says, and they didn't receivethe promises of God.
But you know what?
They saw the promises afar offon the horizon, in the distance,
and they were assured that whatGod said was true.
(40:41):
They embraced it in faithbecause they never grabbed hold
onto the promise in the days oftheir flesh and they recognized
this earthly plane in existenceis a throughway, it's a pit stop
(41:06):
.
I'm nothing but a pilgrim, I'mnothing but a sojourner, I'm
just passing through.
I'm not worried about thethings of this world or
obtaining the things of thisworld.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
For those things who say suchthings declare plainly that
they're seeking a homeland,they're seeking something else,
and it's not here, it's not onearth what they seek, because if
(41:30):
it was, they would have turnedaround and gone back to their
country.
Everyone just would have turnedaround and said no, no, no, I
don't know I'm going back, buthe didn't.
And he realized that at the endof his life, even though he had
been given a promise and all ofthese beautiful things, he
realized oh, my promise is notfound here.
It says that all those thatdied in faith desire something
(41:57):
better than what's here.
It says they desire somethingheavenly, in other words,
something above, something notseen in the earth, only seen
through the eyes of faith, onlyseen from a distance.
Distance.
(42:24):
Then, god, when they respondedthat way and just said I don't
care about the things of theworld, I'll forsake them.
I want what your word said Isee it from a distance.
My God, he turns to therighteous and he smiles, and he
is not ashamed to be calledtheir God.
That's awesome.
You so forsook the world for methat I am not ashamed to be
(42:49):
called your God.
I am not ashamed to rise up indefense for you.
I am not ashamed to preserveyou in the midst of all of your
enemies.
I am not ashamed to be your God.
Oh, yes, I am not ashamed.
And so he prepared a city forthem, and so he maintains his
faithfulness to the word that hegave them.
(43:10):
Yes, I have a city for you.
It says in Hebrews 13 that therighteous, the faithful.
They realize they don't have acontinuing city.
They don't have a city in theearth that just continues to
exist and to perpetuate.
And this is where our pride andnationalistic pride is.
(43:30):
But the world does, sectionedoff.
Americans have their Americanpride, russians have their
Russian pride, germans havetheir German pride, and they're
all prideful about somethingthat's in the earth, but the
righteous.
That's not their deal.
They forsake it Because theyknow that there's no continuing
city here.
They realize that they'rewaiting for the city, which has
(43:55):
a foundation whose builder andmaker is God, and God did not do
it in the earth, although hecalled it in the earth First,
from heaven.
But that new Jerusalem, that newcity, is coming from heaven.
It's something that he is doingin the spirit above, in the
heavenly.
It's just being manifested inthe earth, but it's not in the
(44:15):
earth.
In the heavenly is just beingmanifested in the earth, but
it's not in the earth.
The righteous have a heart tosubmit to God.
It says in James 4 that hegives more grace.
It says God resists the proud,but he gives grace to who?
(44:38):
The humble.
That's an attribute of therighteous and we've described it
in different words.
I've said humble maybe once ortwice.
But all these descriptions andattributes that are given you
are attributes of the humble andtherefore they submit to God,
they surrender and ready, likewe read in the Old Testament
(45:00):
scripture teach me your way, oLord, lead me in the path, show
me the truth and I will walk init.
And it says resist the deviland he will flee from you.
But they draw near to God, andwhen they draw near to God, god
draws near to them.
He's not ashamed to be calledtheir God, and when they draw
near to God, god draws near tothem.
He's not ashamed to be calledtheir God.
(45:20):
He's not ashamed to be close tothem.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners,and purify your hearts, you
double-minded.
I skip to verse 10.
Humble yourselves in the sightof the Lord, and God responds.
He will lift you up.
He will lift you up.
(45:41):
It is in God that you find yourdeliverance.
It is in God that you findrighteousness righteousness not
of your own, but you find hisrighteousness, and nothing can
compare to his righteousness.
It says in Job the righteoushold to his way.
(46:02):
We saw that in another scripture.
They shall not be moved fromthe way that the Lord has taught
them to go.
It says in Proverbs 10, thewise in heart will receive
commandments.
In other words, they'reteachable.
They hear it and receive it.
(46:27):
They don't argue with it, theydon't wrestle with it.
They simply receive thecommandments as it's spoken in.
Following line and followingsuit, it says in 1 John 2, 1 and
3, regarding the children ofJesus Christ, the righteous, who
was the propitiation for theirsins we know him because we keep
his commandments.
That's the heart of therighteous.
The righteous have a heart tobe corrected In Ezekiel 3, verse
(46:54):
21,.
It says to the prophet if youwarn the righteous man so that
he doesn't sin.
And he then?
He doesn't sin, he shall surelylive because he was warned.
So, righteous men, when they'rewarned about something that may
befall them because maybethey're walking in a certain way
, listen.
They listen to the warning andthey end up not sinning and they
(47:19):
end up living.
But that's the attribute of therighteous, that's what they do.
It says it in another way inPsalm 141, verse three through
five.
Set a guard, lord, over mymouth.
Keep watch over the door of mylips.
Do not incline my heart to doany evil thing, to practice
(47:42):
wicked works with men who workiniquity, and do not let me eat
of their delicacies, verse 5.
He so has a heart forcorrection that he would rather
the righteous strike him.
Let the righteous strike me, itshall be kindness.
(48:03):
Let the righteous rebuke me.
Don't do that.
Be careful where you're going.
He wants that.
He'd rather be smitten in thecheek.
He'd rather be rebuked publiclyfor what he may go through if
he doesn't listen to the Lord.
He says, it'll be as excellentoil upon me.
(48:25):
Let not my head refuse it.
That's how far the righteouswill go so that they remain
right in his sight.
Do we have that heart that, nomatter what Lord.
Correct me, let my elder smackme across the head, knock some
sense into me.
(48:45):
I'll receive it as oil Glad.
I'll be glad to receive it.
Is that our heart, or do we bowup?
How are you going to say thatto me?
Look at all this good stuffI've done here.
Look at how faithful I am here.
(49:06):
God tests the righteous.
It says in Psalm 7, verse 9,for the righteous.
God tests the hearts and theminds.
He says in Psalm 11, verse 5,the Lord tests the righteous.
(49:27):
He says in verse 7 of the samechapter, 11, for the Lord is
righteous, he lovesrighteousness, his countenance
beholds the upright.
I didn't quite understand why.
I mean, I could make up stuff,make it sound biblical, but this
is what the Lord showed me,what these kind of verses meant.
(49:50):
He said think of it like this,son, when you were a father and
you were teaching Lydia JohnDaniel or Deborah how to walk,
they weren't supposed to bewalking and crawling on all
fours.
They're supposed to walkupright.
But they didn't know that.
(50:11):
They didn't realize that.
So what did you do?
You propped them up and youstood them up and you tested
them, didn't you?
Not for your sake, because youwanted to show them what they're
able to do.
You wanted to show them howthey're able to walk upright.
(50:34):
And what happened?
When they started taking theirfirst steps and falling, you
helped them back up to help themrealize you have no idea what
you're capable of.
Get up.
And then they did it again.
And they did it again.
And what happened?
With your joy?
You joyed over them, didn't you?
Yes, you were clapping oh, yay,you're walking, yay.
(50:56):
And everybody got excited.
That's how I am with you.
I'm propping you up.
I'm propping you up so you cansee what I've called for you.
You do not know what you'recapable of, and so I'm propping
you up.
I'm so joyous over you beingrighteous.
I have more for you.
My countenance shines upon you.
I be with exceeding joy whenyou walk upright.
(51:19):
You have no idea.
You have no idea.
But there's a glimpse when youwere father helping him to walk,
or maybe helping him torollerblade, or maybe helping
him to ride a bike, and theydidn't realize, and they were so
fearful and they were gonnafall to the left or the right.
No, no, don't worry, I got you.
I got you.
And you're there holding them inthe back and running around
with them and then they realizethey can do it.
(51:41):
And that's the joy that he hasover you.
When you walk in righteousness,you have no idea what you're
capable of.
That's what he showed me.
That's how I understood thesescriptures.
That's why he tests you.
He's not testing you to causeyou to fail.
He's testing you to help yourealize what you're capable of.
(52:05):
The Lord's eyes.
The Lord eyes the righteous.
The eyes of the Lord are on therighteous, in Psalm 34, verse
15.
His eyes are on the righteous,his In Psalm 34, verse 15,.
His eyes are on the righteous.
His ears are open to their cry.
The righteous cry out, they cryout.
(52:27):
They're constantly crying out.
Because the righteous understandthey're weak and feeble and
without God's help helping me up, I might never walk.
I may end up crawling all thetime the Lord hears.
He delivers out of all of theirtroubles.
The Lord is near to who?
The broken heart, verse 18.
(52:51):
The Lord is near to those whohave a broken heart.
Who else is he near?
The contrite spirit, and hesaves those such as have a
contrite spirit, and many arethe afflictions of the righteous
, but the Lord delivers them outof them all.
It is the Lord that bringsdeliverance.
It says in verse 22, the Lordredeems the souls, or the soul
(53:18):
of his servants and none ofthose who trust in him.
Again, it's that foundationblock.
Trust in you Shall not becondemned.
None of those who trust in themshall be condemned.
In Psalm 1, 6, it says for theLord knows the way of the
righteous, why he taught them.
(53:38):
If the righteous have a heartto be taught, to be led, to be
corrected, then their ways arerighteous, and so the Lord knows
their ways.
He taught it to them.
It says in 1 Peter, in the NewTestament, the New Covenant,
quoting from the Old turn awayfrom evil and do good.
(54:01):
Let him seek peace and pursueit.
In 1 Peter 3, verse 11, for theeyes of the Lord are on the
righteous, his ears are open totheir prayers.
Again, the righteous isconstantly crying out,
constantly praying, but the faceof the Lord is against those
who do evil.
It says in verse 15, this isanother aspect of the heart of
(54:27):
the righteous that we need toconsider.
But sanctify the Lord, god, inyour hearts.
Some of us don't understand theword sanctify.
We've got to go in our littledictionary and say well, what
exactly does that mean Set apart?
But set apart the Lord, god inyour hearts.
(54:51):
I was teaching with our kidssome devotional recently and
this is the way I explained it.
Like you have a bunch ofpictures in your living room or
we have a bunch of pictures onour fireplace and they're all
there and none of them reallystands out.
You know, there's just a bunchof pictures and stuff.
But what if I took this one andI placed it higher, placed it
(55:12):
at the top?
Now it's set apart.
Now, when anybody walks in ourliving room, they're not just
going to see a bunch of pictures, what are they going to be
drawn to?
The one that's set apart, theone that stands out, the one
that's highlighted?
Well, when you set apart theLord in your heart, you put him
in a preeminent position aboveall other things, because there
are other things, but you placehim apart.
(55:35):
He's special, he's beyondspecial, he's set apart in a
preeminent position and theneverything else falls in line
under it and all the otherpictures fall in line under that
one picture that you set apart,which is him.
And we're always ready to givea defense to everyone who asks
you a reason for the hope thatis in you with meekness and in
(55:57):
fear.
I see another aspect of therighteous they are generous.
The righteous are generous.
It says in Proverbs 21, 26,.
The righteous giveth andspareth not.
They just give and spare not.
And what gets me is thatthey're ignorant.
(56:20):
When they do this, they don'trealize their generosity.
It's very mysterious, but I'mgoing to show this to you and
I'm going to say it in a minute.
In Matthew 25, you remember theparable of the goats and the
sheeps?
And he said the goats on theleft and the sheeps on the right
.
Do you remember that?
(56:40):
It was really the great whitethrone judgment?
It says the king set them onthe right.
He said come, you, blessed ofmy father, inherit the kingdom
I've prepared for you from thefoundation of the world.
Jesus said.
For I was hungered in Matthew 25, 35,.
And you gave me meat.
I was thirsty and you gave medrink.
I was a stranger and you tookme in naked and you clothed me.
(57:02):
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you cameunto me and the righteous
answered him and said Lord, whendid I do that?
They're ignorant to theirgenerosity.
They had no idea.
When they did that to theirgenerosity.
They had no idea when they didthat.
And then he explains it to themand the king answered and said
(57:25):
when you've done it to the leastof these, my brethren, you did
it to me.
So every kind remark you maketo your brethren, every time you
do something small, maybesomething big, maybe give them a
ride, maybe help them outfinancially, maybe give them a
ride, maybe help them outfinancially, maybe give them
some clothes, maybe give themsome food, maybe do whatever.
That's the kindness and thegenerosity of the righteous.
(57:47):
Develop that Because thatshould be in the righteous.
They give and spare, not whenthere's a need.
In the Proverbs, just going togo through some scriptures here,
the Proverbs just describessome elements of the righteous.
(58:08):
Proverbs 10, 11, the mouth of arighteous man is a well of life
.
In Proverbs 10, 16, and 17, thework of the righteous, the
labor of the righteous, tendethto life.
He is in the way of life.
That keepeth instruction.
(58:29):
Again, the righteous walk inthe way because they're
instructed and they receive thatinstruction.
It says in chapter 10, verse 32,the lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable.
It says in chapter 11, verse23,.
The desire of the righteousremember it's only God alone.
(58:52):
There's nothing in this worldthat I desire but you.
The desire of the righteous isonly good.
1130.
The fruit of the righteous is atree of life.
The righteous bear forth fruitand it should be a tree of life
to the world.
It should be a tree of life toothers.
(59:13):
In Proverbs 12 5.
The thoughts of the righteousare right.
In 12 12.
The thoughts of the righteousare right In 12, 12,.
The root of the righteousyields fruit.
It's deep down in the heart ofthe righteous that causes it to
bring forth good fruit, becauseit's got a good, solid
(59:35):
foundation of trust in him.
Because it's got a good, solidfoundation of trust in him.
In Proverbs 14, 32,.
It says the righteous don't feardeath.
Why they have hope.
He resurrected from the deadand his word says he will also
resurrect me.
So they, in contrast to others,they have hope.
In Proverbs 15, 28,.
(59:56):
The heart of the righteous Ilove this one the heart of the
righteous, studieth to answer.
It's not so quick to answer.
No, let me go be a Berean.
Let me go back and study this.
Let me go find out if thethings that are being told to me
are true.
Let me go back right into theword.
I'm going to study to have ananswer when somebody asked me
(01:00:18):
for the hope that I have in him.
In verse 29, he heareth theprayer of the righteous In
Proverbs 18, 10,.
The name of the Lord is a strongtower and what do the righteous
do?
Run into it.
They don't walk, they don'tlollygag.
They run Because that's whothey desire.
(01:00:39):
Do you understand?
It's such an intense desire toknow and have God.
Proverbs 21, 12.
The righteous man wiselyconsiders the house of the
wicked.
It's not that he doesn't knowwhat's going on in the house of
the wicked, it's not that hedoesn't know what's going on in
the wicked in the world.
(01:01:00):
He just considered and saidthat's not worth it.
My God is so much more worththan that.
I know what they do, I know howthey get there.
That's not for me.
So let me summarize here inclosing Psalm 92, 12 through 15.
Let's just let the scripturesspeak for themselves.
(01:01:22):
I think these scriptures willhighlight many, if not all, of
the elements that I tried tohighlight with you now regarding
the righteous Psalm 92, 12.
The righteous shall flourish.
They will be blessed.
They will be producing fruit.
They will be multiplying Like apalm tree, he shall grow like a
(01:01:42):
cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted where?
In the house of the Lord.
That's where the righteous isfound.
In the house of the Lord, theyshall flourish in the courts of
our God.
That's where you'll find them.
In the courts of our God.
They shall bear fruit in oldage, in their latter days, they
(01:02:04):
will be bearing fruit and theyshall be fresh.
They shall be flourishing sothat they can declare, even in
their latter days, that the Lord, after all of their experiences
, after all of his testimonies,after all the judgments and the
wonders and the miracles thathe's done in all their existence
, at the end of their days theywant to declare he is upright,
(01:02:26):
he is truth, he is the rock andthere is no unrighteousness in
him.
To all the youngins that don'tknow him.
In Hebrews 13, 15 through 17, Ibelieve that the righteous
continually offer the sacrificeof praise that is the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks to hisname.
(01:02:47):
The righteous do not forget todo good, they don't forget to
share.
These are the sacrifice thatGod is pleased with and they
want to please God.
That is the heart of therighteous, and it says that they
will obey those that rule overthem and they will be submissive
Because that's their heart,that is the heart of the
(01:03:11):
righteous.
I know it's talking aboutelders, but the elders are the
righteous.
In Psalm 112, one through nine,praise the Lord.
Blessed is the man who fearsthe Lord, who delights greatly
in his commandments.
(01:03:34):
I remember when the Lord wasshaking my world and grabbing a
hold of me.
My mother passed away when Iwas 20.
And for about a year, year anda half, I was searching for the
faith that I thought I had.
And this scripture reminds methat in those early days I
(01:03:57):
remember just delighting ingetting in his word and I
believe that that really set afoundation in me.
That even continued years afterwhen I met my wife, which
happened to be three or fouryears down the line.
It was a continued delightingin his word and all that I
delighted and became the realfoundation, because I've been
(01:04:18):
this Christian schools all mylife.
I had known the word byrecognition, by some
memorization, but I had notknown the word intimately, I had
not known Jesus, and thoseyears were spent just digging
and getting into the word andgetting things out of my life
that didn't need to be, and itwas that very reason why I stand
(01:04:42):
where I am today, not becauseof what I did.
It's because God got such ahold of me and I fell so in love
with him that I just delightedin his word.
It was not a chore for me toget in his word, I just loved it
(01:05:08):
, even though I didn'tunderstand it.
I remember just reading throughI don't understand what that is
, I don't understand what thatis, I don't understand this.
And now I just keep on goingand I would read, you know, two
chapters in the new and threechapters in the old, and
somewhere around the day I wouldread Psalms and that was my
thing and I did it.
I can't remember how long.
I know it was just a continualgetting in his word even though
I didn't understand it, and Iwould just get it, and that
(01:05:30):
became the bedrock of my faith.
So the question is and it'ssomething that was brought up,
it's kind of where this wholeteaching was coming from,
something that was brought up inthe men's fellowship how do you
impart the importance of thatvery thing to young people that
you actually delight in his word?
I don't know, because no onetaught it to me.
(01:05:51):
It's almost like you falling inlove with someone.
You can't help but want to bewith them.
I mean that's what you desire.
No one taught you to love thatperson so that you would have
this longing and this yearningand desire.
No one taught you to long andyearn and desire for the person
that you were interested in.
(01:06:11):
I don't know what it was, butthere was something deep down in
your heart that made you dothat, that motivated you to do
that, and so you sought him.
I don't know if that's happenedto you.
That's what happened to me andI can guarantee you, because I
stand here today, that was thebest thing I ever did in my life
(01:06:32):
.
The best thing I ever did in mylife.
It says the generation of theupright will be blessed.
His righteousness enduresforever.
In verse 3.
Verse 5, a good man dealsgraciously and lends.
He will guide his affairs withdiscretion.
(01:06:54):
He will never be shaken, andfor some of us here, I think
that's how we feel.
Oh, I'm never going to beshaken from this, no way.
I am leaving God.
The righteous will be aneverlasting remembrance.
I will always remember what theLord has done for me.
(01:07:15):
He will not be afraid of eviltidings.
The righteous heart issteadfast, trusting in the Lord,
his heart is established.
He will not be moved, he is notshaken, he will not be afraid,
because he knows that hisrighteousness endures forever.
And so I end with this.
(01:07:41):
I could have started with thisand this could have been the
whole lesson, but I wanted to gothrough those scriptures to
sort of highlight it to you.
But I believe Proverbs 2, 1through 11 describes the
righteous man.
God says my son, if you receivemy words and treasure my
(01:08:01):
commands within you, there hasto be something in the heart
that, when they hear the word,they treasure it and they hide
it within themselves, notbecause they don't want anybody
(01:08:22):
else to have it, but becauseit's just so precious, it's just
so valuable that they wouldtrade it for nothing in the
world.
It says if you incline your earto wisdom, if you apply your
heart to understand, if you cryout for discernment and you lift
(01:08:43):
your voice for understanding,if you seek her as silver and
search for her as a hiddentreasure, all of these ifs have
got to be there.
This is something that only youcan do, and you can ask the
Lord to bite me with the lovebug so that I love you like
(01:09:05):
nothing else in this world.
In verse 5 it says then youwill understand the fear of the
Lord.
Then you will find the knowledgeof God, because God is storing
up wisdom for you.
(01:09:26):
He's storing up wisdom for therighteous, the upright, and he's
a shield to the upright.
He defends for you, he protectsyou, he guards the path of
justice, he preserves the way ofhis saints.
Then you will understandrighteousness, justice and
(01:09:53):
equity and every good path.
When, when you receive my words, when, when you treasure my
commands within you, when, whenyou incline your ear to wisdom,
when, when you apply your heartto understanding, when, when you
cry out for discernment, when,when you lift up your voice for
(01:10:17):
understanding, when, when youseek her as silver, as a
treasure, that's when thesethings will happen, not any
other way.
This is the way, this is theway of righteousness.
It says in verse 10, when wisdomenters your heart and knowledge
(01:10:40):
is pleasant to your soul.
That means when God speaks,whether it's in his word,
whether it's audible, whetherit's through the instructions of
others.
That are the saints, and youtreasure the words of God and
you want it all and you can'teven be satiated.
You just want more and more andmore.
It's at this point thatdiscretion will preserve you and
understanding will keep you.
(01:11:04):
These are the attributes of theheart of the righteous that I
pray that, as you read these,you will allow the word to move
you, to treasure the preciousrichness that is found when he
speaks to you, when he commandsyou.
To treasure the preciousrichness that is found when he
speaks to you, when he commandsyou, when he teaches you, when
he leads you, and you desire himabove nothing else.
(01:11:27):
Nothing else can be compared tohim.
Now, I know that and I canteach it to you, but you won't
get that until you have arevelation of him.
That's know that and I canteach it to you, but you won't
get that until you have arevelation of him.
That's all I can say.
And that revelation comes byyou seeking him.
You must seek him with all yourheart, with all your soul, with
(01:11:49):
all your mind, with all yourstrength, and love him, and that
is the heart of the righteousAmen.
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(01:12:33):
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May God bless you and make youprosperous in Him as you listen
and obey His voice.
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are spent,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose.
(00:26):
It's good to be with you againtoday.
It's always a pleasure.
It's always a privilege to bein the midst of you and in front
of you and that God wouldchoose me and allow me to
minister to you.
I consider it an honor, and soI pray that your hearts are open
, not to the things,particularly that I say, but
(00:47):
basically the word of God.
I want you to be open to theword of God.
I want you to even hear theLord as I speak, when he's
speaking to you directly andit's not through my voice.
That's the most important thingthat we need to have as these
latter days come to an end isthat we can hear his voice, that
we can clearly discern what itis that he is saying for our
(01:09):
particular season in life, forthe people that are around us.
So today's focus is the heartof the righteous.
I don't want to feel like I'mjust going to machine gun
through this and I kind of feellike it might, but I'm going to
have a lot to say in the midstof it.
(01:31):
But I want to read through thescriptures and treat it like it
is a mirror.
I want it to see.
Does it reflect us when we readthrough these scriptures when
we focus on this aspect of whatis the heart of the righteous,
(01:52):
and if we, and if it doesreflect what is in our lives,
then praise God, we are on theright track.
But if it does not, then let'sask the Lord to deal with us in
these areas, to strengthen andfortify us, because it is the
heart of the righteous that theLord is after.
(02:13):
And so I'm going to start in aPsalm of David.
It's going to be chapter 25.
And, like I said, we're goingto read through a lot of
scriptures and I might skip oversome, and I'm not trying to
minimize the importance of otherscriptures, but I'm trying to
stay focused.
It's almost like a word studythe righteous.
(02:33):
I want to see what does theLord say the righteous is, or
who the righteous are, what aretheir characteristics, what are
their attributes, what makesthem righteous in God's sight?
And so I start with David, whosaid in Psalm 25, to you, o Lord
, I lift up my soul, oh, my God.
(02:56):
And I think these next fourwords is the foundation of the
righteous.
I trust in you.
Within the heart of therighteous there is a foundation.
Most assuredly it is JesusChrist, but it is because you
(03:18):
trust in Jesus that it makes youand your heart righteous in his
sight.
It's a very basic element ofthe righteous.
I trust in you.
He goes on to say let me not beashamed, let my enemies triumph
(03:39):
over me, let no one who waitson you be ashamed.
I'm pulling out, I'm trying topull out attributes to you.
The righteous have a heart thattrusts in him.
The righteous have a heart towait.
Yes, the enemy is around me.
(04:00):
Yes, the enemy is persecutingme, but they have a heart to
wait, not to retaliate, not totake vengeance, but to wait on
the Lord, because they know deepdown inside that those who wait
on the Lord will never beashamed.
Let those who be ashamed todeal treacherously without cause
(04:24):
.
This is another aspect.
Right here is the next heart ofthe righteous.
In verse 4, show me your ways,o Lord.
Teach me your path, lead me inyour truth and teach me, for you
are the God of my salvation.
The heart of the righteous hasa heart to be taught.
(04:48):
It has a heart to be led.
It's not one who has a heartinitially to want to teach
everybody what they need to door want to lead everybody where
they need to go.
The initial heart of therighteous is to be taught of the
Lord, is to be led of the Lordin truth.
So it is a heart that is readyto be taught, to be corrected,
(05:11):
to be led.
And again he says on you, Iwait all the day.
That's a humble heart.
The heart of the righteous ishumble, wanting to be taught,
wanting to learn, wanting to beled.
These are the things that theheart of the righteous desires.
(05:32):
Another thing that the righteousseem to do is that they
remember the things that God hasdone for them.
Not only do they remember thethings that God has done for
them, they remember the thingsthat God has done for others in
the faith, their ancestors inthe faith, not just in the word,
(05:52):
but also in their families.
It says remember, o Lord, yourtender mercies, your loving
kindness, for they are from old.
It is a description of arighteous man who remembers all
of the things from even the oldtimes that the Lord has done in
mercy and in loving kindness.
(06:13):
He doesn't forget those thingsbecause, remember, even the
Israelites in the wildernessforgot all of the mighty works
that their God did them.
Forgot how he opened the RedSea, forgot how there was a
pillar of fire separating theenemy for them.
Forgot all the 10 plagues thatdid not touch one of them.
They forgot these things.
(06:34):
But the righteous don't.
The righteous remember, and theywant the Lord to remember all
of the righteous deeds and askfor them, and they trust that he
will do so again.
He says very clearly don'tremember the sins of my youth,
forget him, forget him.
He wants the Lord to forget thesins of his youth.
Don't remember mytransgressions.
(06:56):
But he relies and he trusts onthe Lord's mercies.
According to your mercy,remember me.
Mercies According to your mercy, remember me For your goodness
sake.
He's depending upon the Lord'sgoodness to judge him.
He's depending upon the Lord'sgoodness to take care of him,
and so he trusts.
(07:16):
You see, these elements, theseaspects of I trust in you, good
and upright, is of the Lord.
Therefore, he teaches sinnersin the way and here's where I
said the humble he guides injustice.
The heart of the righteous is ahumble heart and the Lord is
(07:37):
throughout the earth, to and froseeking the righteous, He's
seeking those of a humble heart.
He's seeking those of a brokenand contrite heart.
He will not despise, no, heseeks after them.
And the humble He teaches Hisway.
Why?
Because the humble have a heartto be taught.
(07:59):
They have a heart to be led.
They have a heart that they'renot speaking all the time.
They're actually quietlylistening, waiting silently.
Lord, what does the Lord say?
What is the Lord leading me?
All of the paths of the LORDare mercy and truth.
He recognizes that the Lord'sway is the only way.
(08:23):
It is the only way ofrighteousness, it is the only
way of truth, it is the only wayof godliness, of holiness.
It is the only acceptable way.
And he remembers that.
He keeps his covenant and hekeeps his testimony to the
righteous.
Again, he's always remembering,he does not forget the goodness
(08:47):
of the Lord.
He goes on to say to pardon myiniquity.
But in verse 12 he says who isthe man that fears the Lord?
Him shall he teach in the wayhe chooses?
The heart of the righteous arethose that fear the Lord.
And those that fear the Lord iswhom God teaches.
(09:10):
Because the heart of therighteous is to be taught, is to
be led, it says.
It goes on to say that thosewho fear the Lord shall dwell in
prosperity.
Their descendants shall inheritthe earth.
The secret, the secrets, thenuggets of truth, the mysteries
(09:31):
are with those that fear him andhe will show them his covenant.
Those that fear him are theheart of the righteous, it says
in verse 15,.
This is another aspect of theheart of the righteous.
My eyes are ever toward theLord, no matter what is going on
(09:53):
in life.
And we've sung of so many songsdirecting our hearts, directing
our minds, directing ourthoughts unto the Lord.
And some of us come here with alot of baggage and in the midst
of it, the heart of therighteous.
Their eyes are ever toward theLord, their eyes are ever
looking up to their salvation.
(10:13):
It says in verse 20, for I putmy trust in you.
He says in verse 21,.
I wait for you.
Redeem me, o Israel, out of allof their troubles.
So he's waiting on God todeliver, on God to rescue.
(10:39):
In verse 32, another Psalm ofDavid saying Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven,whose sin is covered.
Yes, blessed is the man to whomthe Lord does not impute
iniquity and whose spirit thereis no deceit.
(10:59):
This is whom the Lord blesses.
When I kept silent.
My bones grew old through mygroaning all the day long, for
day and night.
Your hand was heavy upon me.
My vitality was turned into thedrought of summer.
Why would David be talking likethis?
David had the heart of therighteous, but if you know
(11:25):
David's life, he fell.
And in the midst of his despairhe's saying that, lord, your
hand was heavy upon me, therewas a weight on me.
I know that the man is blessedif his sins are forgiven, but
(11:45):
see, in that moment David wasdealing with his sins and the
weight became unbearable.
He was guilty and he knew it.
And in the midst of that, thisis what the heart of the
righteous does.
He doesn't wallow in self-pity.
He doesn't make excuses.
(12:06):
He doesn't blame anybody elsefor the guilt of his own sins.
He turns to the Lord and hesays I acknowledge my sin to you
and my iniquity I hide no more.
And my iniquity I hide no more.
I said I will confess mytransgressions to the Lord.
(12:33):
This is what the heart of therighteous do.
They don't run away from Godwhen they sin, but they turn to
him in brokenness, incontriteness of heart, and they
confess and acknowledge thatwhat they've done is wrong in
his sight.
And what does God do when theheart of the righteous turns to
him?
When they fall in, God forgivesthe iniquity, God forgives the
(12:58):
sin.
Continuing in verse sixeveryone who is godly, it says,
shall pray Another aspect of theheart of the righteous they
pray.
They continue to pray, theycontinue to seek after him,
because their eyes are evertoward the Lord, no matter
(13:22):
whether they're blessed withwealth and riches, no matter
whether they've been strippedall from him, their eyes are
ever toward the Lord.
It is as if they have aninternal radar that is beeping,
beeping, beeping, beeping.
For where is the Lord?
Where is the Lord?
I continue to seek after him.
The righteous says you, notwealth, not riches, not this
(13:48):
roof, not my car, not myemployment.
He says you are my hiding place.
You shall preserve me fromtrouble.
Not the money I need to get outof my financial fix, Not the
employment, not my prowess, notmy warrior-like capabilities.
(14:12):
But you, oh Lord, deliver meout of my trouble and you
surround me with songs ofdeliverance.
I continually sing unto you,because what is the basis?
I trust in you, and so Icontinue to sing songs of
(14:33):
deliverance.
Yes, oh Lord, you will deliverme from my situation, from my
calamity.
Whether it be my doing, oryou've brought it upon me.
You will deliver me.
And what does the Lord say inresponse to all that that David
is just crying out to him about?
He says I will instruct you, Iwill teach you in the way that
(14:54):
you should go.
I will guide you with my eye.
This is what I will do for therighteous heart.
But he says don't be like thehorse, don't be like the mule.
They don't have understanding.
They have to be harnessed witha bitten bridle.
Don't be like that.
But he who trusts in the Lord,my mercy shall blanket him,
(15:21):
shall surround him.
He will not be touched.
Any weapon formed against him,I will not be touched.
Any weapon formed against him.
I will not allow to prosper.
So be glad in him, rejoice inhim.
You righteous, shout for joy.
All you, upright in heart.
(15:42):
The righteous says in this, inthe heart, in Psalm 73, verse 25
.
Who have I in heaven but you?
There is none upon the earththat I desire besides you.
Deep in the heart of therighteous is a longing, a
(16:10):
yearning, an intense desire thatcan only be satisfied by the
Lord.
And they direct all of theirefforts after him, recognizing
that there's nothing he can haveon this earth that will satisfy
Him.
It is only the Lord.
Who am I in heaven, but you?
There's nothing on this earththat I desire, not the academics
(16:31):
, not the knowledge, not thewisdom, not the fame, not the
wealth, not the material things,nothing on this earth that I
desire, you.
My flesh, my heart.
They fail, but God, you are thestrength of my inner man, you
(16:52):
are the strength of my heart,you are my inheritance, my
portion forever, becauseanything I have in this world is
temporal.
But if I have you, I have youforever.
You are my inheritance forever.
The Levites didn't know howgood they had it when all they
(17:15):
had to do was serve him.
He was their inheritanceforever.
But it is good for me to drawnear to God.
The heart of the righteousconstantly desires to draw near
to God, and I know it's hard inthis day and age, but it was
(17:36):
just as hard in their day andage.
They had enough things in thisworld to distract them, to
dissuade them.
I want to be the best.
What's that thing calledSlingshot?
And I'm sure they battled witheach other on who be the best.
And I'm sure when the archerscame around, they battled for
(17:57):
who's the best, who's the bestswordsman, who's the best
fighter, who's the best runner.
And they fought for all ofthese things.
But the righteous, when theyconsidered all of the things of
this world, they come to realizethat only the Lord satisfies me
.
There's always somebody better.
You just haven't run into himyet.
(18:18):
They say Michael Jordan was thebest.
There's always somebody better,maybe not in his life, but
there's always somebody betterto come.
So the heart of the righteousdraws near to God, because again
I have put my trust in the Lord.
(18:38):
God, it says in Psalm 140, therighteous shall give thanks to
your name.
In verse 13, the upright shalldwell to your name and verse 13,
the upright shall dwell in yourpresence.
In Psalm 141, david says Lord,I cry out to you Make haste to
(19:02):
give me or make haste to me.
I'm crying out to you.
This is how I draw near to you,because if I don't cry out to
you, what am I doing?
I'm neglecting you, I'mignoring you.
I cry out to you because I'mdrawing to you.
Now, make haste, come to me.
Come to me, give ear to myvoice, give ear to my cry, let
(19:24):
my prayer, even my prayer.
The heart of the righteous ispraying and he desires that his
prayer be a fragrant incense, anaroma, lifted up into the
throne room of God, lifting uphis hands as an evening
sacrifice.
Now, these are just some generaldescriptions and attributes of
(19:46):
the heart of the righteous.
I've given several.
Maybe you're writing them down.
If you'd like, I'll send youall the scriptures.
You can find them yourself.
Figure out what are theattributes that make the heart
of the righteous righteous andthen ask yourself do I have this
in my life?
Is this working in my liferight now?
Am I constantly seeking afterhim?
(20:08):
Am I constantly crying out tohim?
Do I draw near to him whenthings start creating a turmoil
around me?
Is he the first that I turn to,or do I immediately try to go
fix the situations on my own?
Do I immediately go, try tohelp from a friend, or am I
turning to him, asking him leadme, teach me, guide me?
(20:29):
What do I do?
Where do I go?
How do I take care of this?
Because I know that, in the end, you are the one that delivers
me out of my troubles.
I come to find out, as I dothis study, that the righteous
go willingly.
That's the key.
They go willingly through thegate.
What gate do I refer to?
(20:51):
In Psalm 118, verses 18?
It says the Lord chastened meseverely, but he has not given
me over to death.
If you didn't know.
The righteous are chastened.
The righteous are corrected.
They have a heart to becorrected.
And then look what it says theheart of the righteous responds
(21:15):
to the chastening, responds tothe correction, with open to me
the gates of righteousness, Iwill go through them.
It is a heart to do what'sright.
He has a heart to walk in theways of righteousness, asking
open up the gates.
Where is it?
Where is it?
(21:35):
Where is the righteousness?
Show me the way and I will gothrough it.
And then it says this is thegate of the Lord.
The way of righteousness is thegate of the Lord, and the
righteous shall enter.
He goes on to say I will praiseyou, for you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
There, if you haven't noticed,there seems to be a dialogue
(21:58):
going on between the righteousand their God.
They're crying out, they'reasking for things and God is
answering.
I will do this.
I will teach you the way.
I will show you the way.
I will open up the gates.
I will show you salvation.
I am your salvation.
I come to find out also that therighteous, they wait for God
(22:23):
alone.
They're not waiting for theirnext paycheck.
They're not waiting for thenext increase in pay.
They're not waiting for thenext better job.
They're not waiting for thenext thing that they can bring
into their house the better TV,the better cable, the better
(22:46):
internet.
They're not waiting for any ofthat.
They wait for God alone.
It says in Psalm 62, verse 5, mysoul waits silently for God
alone.
My expectation is from Him.
Everything that I expect,everything that I desire, I
(23:13):
expect to get it from him, notfrom anything else, because my
eyes are ever toward the Lord.
There's nothing in this worldthat satisfies me.
There's nothing in this worldthat I desire, but you.
I'm showing you the parallelthoughts of these verses in
(23:35):
different places in thescriptures.
The righteous confess he aloneis my rock.
The righteous say he alone ismy salvation, he alone is my
defense.
I shall not be moved.
I will not move from this place.
I will not move from my faithin him.
(23:57):
I will trust in you.
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation, in Godis my glory, in God is the rock
of my strength, my refuge.
Everything that I need is inGod alone.
And it says in verse 8, I trustin him at all times, come what
(24:20):
may I lose my job, I lose myhouse, I lose my children, I
lose my friends, I lose myposition, I lose my car, I lose
family.
I trust in him at all times.
It doesn't matter what happens.
I will not be moved, says therighteous.
(24:41):
So pour out your heart beforehim.
God is a refuge for us.
It says in Psalm 37, the Lordloves justice.
He does not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever.
The descendants of the wickedshall be cut off.
The righteous will inherit theland and dwell in it forever.
(25:09):
But what comes out of the mouthof the righteous is wisdom.
The mouth of the righteousspeak wisdom and his tongue
talks of justice.
Why?
Because he said from the verybeginning.
I said he wants to be taught,he wants to be led in truth, he
wants to be guided by him.
And so what happens in verse 31.
(25:33):
The law of God is in his heart.
It is the law of God that is abedrock in his heart, and the
law of God is none other thanhis word.
The law of God, the word of Godis in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
(25:53):
The wicked may seek to slay therighteous, but the Lord will
not leave him in his hand.
He will not condemn him, hewill not judge him.
And it says again, to reiteratewait on the Lord and keep his
way.
Wait on him and don't move.
If you're walking inrighteousness, don't move.
I'm coming to deliver you.
I'm coming to take care of yoursituation.
(26:16):
Don't move from it.
Stay in the way ofrighteousness.
I opened the gate ofrighteousness to you.
You willingly walked in.
Now don't leave, don't movefrom there.
I'm coming, I'm coming, saysthe Lord.
(26:36):
It says in Psalm 123 that thepsalmist lifts up his eyes Again
.
His eyes are ever toward theLord.
He lifts up his eyes.
He looks to the one who dwellsin the heavens Like a servant
looks up at his master's handlike a maid looks up at the hand
of his mistress, to receivewhat Direction?
Blessing, honor, instruction.
(27:00):
This is the way that our eyesneed to look up to the Lord, our
God, and you continue to lookup to the Lord, your God.
And you continue to look up tothe Lord, your God, until he
bestows his mercy on you, themercy of deliverance, the mercy
of provision, the mercy ofblessing.
(27:22):
Because you realize, the heartof righteous realizes that he
must so trust in the Lord andhis mercy and his goodness and
his loving kindness, because herealizes I am not worthy.
There's nothing I could do tosay to the Lord.
I deserve this.
Look at what happened to Job.
(27:42):
All through the 30, some oddchapters of Job, I want to sit
down with the Lord and I want tohave a conversation with him,
because I think he made amistake.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Why did I lose my children?
Why did I lose my belongings?
Why am I suffering boils offfrom head to toe?
Why, why, why, Lord, you made amistake.
(28:04):
No, the heart of the righteousrealizes and Job got this later
on he realizes I'm not worthy.
And so the heart of therighteous just buries his nose,
his mouth, his face into thedust of the earth and says Lord,
have mercy on me.
Because, no matter what I do,I'm not worthy of your blessings
(28:27):
.
So I rely upon you, my God,upon your mercies and your
loving kindness, to extend yourmercy to me.
So our eyes look to the Lord,our God, until he has mercy on
us.
In verse 3, have mercy on us, oLord, have mercy on us.
It says again Another thingthat the righteous does they
(28:54):
seek his face.
They seek his face, his glory.
They seek him, Not what he cando for them.
They seek Him.
In Psalm 27, verse 4,.
One thing I have desired of theLord, that one thing I will
(29:17):
seek that I may dwell in thehouse of the Lord all the days
of my life.
To what?
To behold?
His beauty.
There's something in the heartof the righteous that is
satisfying in beholding thebeauty of his God.
To inquire where, in his temple, in his presence, in the midst
(29:40):
of his assembly For in the timeof trouble, he shall hide me.
In his pavilion, in the secretplace of his tabernacle, he
shall hide me, he shall set mehigh upon the rock and my head
shall be lifted up above mineenemies all around me.
Therefore, I will offersacrifices of joy.
Where, in His tabernacle, inHis presence, I will sing, yes,
(30:04):
I will sing praises to the Lord.
He is worthy, I recognize it, Irealize it.
These are the things that Iwill do.
The heart of the righteous saysHear, o Lord.
Like David said, hear, hear,hear when I cry with my voice.
Have mercy also upon me andanswer me.
(30:25):
Even God answering him, herealizes, is through his mercy,
because the Lord is notobligated to answer anyone.
So he relies, he trusts in himand his mercy to be extended to
him.
And God says in verse 8, andGod says in verse 8, seek my
(30:49):
face.
And how does the righteousrespond?
Your face, o Lord, will I seek.
The heart of the righteous isready and willing to do whatever
God says.
Show me the way, lead me, teachme.
And when he speaks, he doesSeek my face.
(31:12):
Lord, I will seek your face.
Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant awayin anger.
You have been my help.
Do not leave me.
Do not forsake me, o God, in mysalvation, because you know
what, when my mother and myfather forsook me, then the Lord
took care of me, and so many ofus have had one or the other
(31:33):
forsake us through divorce,through abandonment, through
neglect, through ignorance.
And it was the Lord that waswith us all the while, taking
care of us and preserving us,that we could be here today to
have a healthy relationship withhim, amongst the midst of the
(31:54):
assembly, and praise him andgive him thanks for all that he
has done, because it could havebeen a lot worse.
I could have been out in thestreets, I could have been
dealing in drugs.
I could have been killingpeople.
I could have been in afornication relationship.
I could have had a bunch ofkids.
Think about where your familycame from and all the bad things
they did.
(32:14):
That was your destiny too, ifthe devil had his way.
But God had mercy on you.
God rescued you from thatdestiny because he had a plan
for you.
He had a plan to harm you I'mspeaking of the devil and if
your family relatives all wentthrough that plan there was a
generational curse on the familyto bring you there too.
(32:34):
I could have been on sectioneight.
I could have been living in theprojects, like much of my
family still is Dibbling anddabbling in drugs.
Yeah, it's in my family too.
I may not look like it rightnow to you, but it was there,
just like I know it's been in alot of your families.
(32:55):
The heart of the righteous saysteach me your way, o Lord, and
lead me in the smooth path, inverse 11.
Don't deliver me to myadversaries, don't put me in
their hands, oh Lord, becausethere are many false witnesses
that rise up against me.
I would have lost heart unlessI had believed that I would see
(33:19):
the goodness of the Lord.
There is that underlyingprinciple.
I trust in you.
I trust in you.
14, wait on the Lord.
There it is again.
Wait on the Lord.
Be of good courage.
He sees building up his faith.
Be of good courage and he shallstrengthen your heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
(33:41):
We sing that song in thisfellowship.
Psalm 105 again, it's aboutseeking him.
In verse four it says Seek theLord and his strength, seek his
face evermore.
Seek the Lord and his strength,seek his face evermore.
(34:06):
Here's that remembrance again,remembering his marvelous works
which he has done.
The righteous remember thethings that he has done.
How marvelous he was, hiswonders, his judgments out of
his mouth.
The righteous are the chosenones.
(34:27):
The righteous remember hiscovenant forever.
They remember that his word isforever.
They remember that the covenantthat he made with Israel is an
everlasting covenant and theyremember that it applies to them
as well, because the covenantwas made with Abraham and to his
(34:48):
seed, and his seed was JesusChrist.
And if we have become bornagain in Christ, then those
promises are for us.
So we would do well, if we arerighteous, to find out what was
his covenant, what were thethings that he agreed to with
Israel.
What are the promises that hemade with them, israel?
(35:09):
What are the promises that hemade with them, because they are
yours Now?
remember them.
You see, the righteous seekafter him, his face, forever.
But if you contrast that withsome ideas that were brought out
in the new covenant, you wouldsee that it's in direct conflict
(35:30):
with what the world seeks after.
And the world, I'll say, isdivided into two types the Jews
and the Gentiles.
It says in 1 Corinthians 1.22,.
The Jews seek after a sign, nothis face, a sign.
You know what the Greeks or theGentiles seek after Wisdom,
(35:53):
philosophy, science.
These are the things that theyseek after.
But the righteous seek afterhis face, his glory.
The Pharisees came to Jesus andthey were seeking from him a
sign from heaven Prove yourselfunto us.
God is not here to provehimself to anybody.
(36:16):
Above and beyond whatever hewas called to do, he came, he
healed the sick, he deliveredpeople from demons, he blessed
and he provided food, and that'swhat he was required to do.
And the Pharisees, after seeingall that, Jesus, we seek a sign
.
No, Jesus said no, no signshall be given to you, no sign
(36:40):
shall be given to thisgeneration.
No, I say.
But you see, after, in Matthew12, they came back to him again
and they said teacher, we wantto see a sign from you again,
and he, an adulterous generation, seeks after a sign, and no
sign will be given to it, exceptthe sign of the prophet Jonah.
(37:01):
Jonah was in the belly of thefish for three days and three
nights, and so I will be in thebelly of the earth three days
and three nights, and then youwill know.
But even then many of themstill did not receive, and there
were some that actually soughtafter him.
Puts a little twist to it inJohn 6, verse 25.
(37:21):
It says there's someone seekingafter him.
It says when they found him onthe other side of the sea,
sounds like a good thing thatwe're seeking him.
They said, rabbi, when did youcome here?
And Jesus answered them andsaid most assuredly I say to you
, you seek me.
They were seeking him, but nowremember that the word is
(37:42):
sharper than any two-edged sworddividing between the soul and
the spirit, the joints and themarrow, and Jesus, being the
word, judges the intent of theirheart.
He says you seek me.
Outwardly, it looks good, youseek me.
But what are you seeking me for?
Because I fed you the other day.
(38:04):
So the motivation of yourseeking him is critical.
Are you seeking him to be yoursugar daddy?
Are you seeking him for what hecan be for you or what he can
get you or give you?
Or are you seeking him justbecause you realize who he is?
(38:25):
To realize who God is, to justseek him.
He's that valuable, he is thatimportant, he is that worthy.
The Gentiles seek after wisdom.
Yes, but it also says that theGentiles worry.
They worry about what they'regoing to eat, they worry about
what they're going to drink,they worry about what they're
(38:46):
going to wear.
And it says in Matthew 66,verse 31, after these things,
all the Gentiles seek, alwaysworried about where they're
going to get the things thatthey supposedly need or want and
desire.
But you know what your heavenlyfather already knows the things
that you need.
So seek first the kingdom ofGod and his righteousness.
(39:10):
The heart of the righteous isready and willing to say Lord,
open up to me the gates ofrighteousness, I will go through
them and the rest will be addedunto you when you do that.
Paul says to the Colossiansrighteous people, if you were
(39:31):
raised with Christ, seek thethings which are above, seek the
things that are spiritual.
Remember the righteous in theold covenant.
Their eyes are ever toward theLord.
Above, not carnal, not earthly,above, that's all that
satisfies them.
Christ is seated at the righthand of God, above all.
(39:55):
Principality powers, rulers ofthe darkness, wicked spirits in
high places.
Their eyes are not on the earth, their eyes are above.
That's what Jesus is.
Set your mind on things above.
Is that what we're doing?
That's the mirror.
Is that what we're doing?
Or are we constantly worriedabout things on the earth?
(40:19):
You see, in Hebrews it describesthe righteous, it says those of
the faith, hebrews 11, right,they all died in the faith, it
says, and they didn't receivethe promises of God.
But you know what?
They saw the promises afar offon the horizon, in the distance,
and they were assured that whatGod said was true.
(40:41):
They embraced it in faithbecause they never grabbed hold
onto the promise in the days oftheir flesh and they recognized
this earthly plane in existenceis a throughway, it's a pit stop
(41:06):
.
I'm nothing but a pilgrim, I'mnothing but a sojourner, I'm
just passing through.
I'm not worried about thethings of this world or
obtaining the things of thisworld.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
For those things who say suchthings declare plainly that
they're seeking a homeland,they're seeking something else,
and it's not here, it's not onearth what they seek, because if
(41:30):
it was, they would have turnedaround and gone back to their
country.
Everyone just would have turnedaround and said no, no, no, I
don't know I'm going back, buthe didn't.
And he realized that at the endof his life, even though he had
been given a promise and all ofthese beautiful things, he
realized oh, my promise is notfound here.
It says that all those thatdied in faith desire something
(41:57):
better than what's here.
It says they desire somethingheavenly, in other words,
something above, something notseen in the earth, only seen
through the eyes of faith, onlyseen from a distance.
Distance.
(42:24):
Then, god, when they respondedthat way and just said I don't
care about the things of theworld, I'll forsake them.
I want what your word said Isee it from a distance.
My God, he turns to therighteous and he smiles, and he
is not ashamed to be calledtheir God.
That's awesome.
You so forsook the world for methat I am not ashamed to be
(42:49):
called your God.
I am not ashamed to rise up indefense for you.
I am not ashamed to preserveyou in the midst of all of your
enemies.
I am not ashamed to be your God.
Oh, yes, I am not ashamed.
And so he prepared a city forthem, and so he maintains his
faithfulness to the word that hegave them.
(43:10):
Yes, I have a city for you.
It says in Hebrews 13 that therighteous, the faithful.
They realize they don't have acontinuing city.
They don't have a city in theearth that just continues to
exist and to perpetuate.
And this is where our pride andnationalistic pride is.
(43:30):
But the world does, sectionedoff.
Americans have their Americanpride, russians have their
Russian pride, germans havetheir German pride, and they're
all prideful about somethingthat's in the earth, but the
righteous.
That's not their deal.
They forsake it Because theyknow that there's no continuing
city here.
They realize that they'rewaiting for the city, which has
(43:55):
a foundation whose builder andmaker is God, and God did not do
it in the earth, although hecalled it in the earth First,
from heaven.
But that new Jerusalem, that newcity, is coming from heaven.
It's something that he is doingin the spirit above, in the
heavenly.
It's just being manifested inthe earth, but it's not in the
(44:15):
earth.
In the heavenly is just beingmanifested in the earth, but
it's not in the earth.
The righteous have a heart tosubmit to God.
It says in James 4 that hegives more grace.
It says God resists the proud,but he gives grace to who?
(44:38):
The humble.
That's an attribute of therighteous and we've described it
in different words.
I've said humble maybe once ortwice.
But all these descriptions andattributes that are given you
are attributes of the humble andtherefore they submit to God,
they surrender and ready, likewe read in the Old Testament
(45:00):
scripture teach me your way, oLord, lead me in the path, show
me the truth and I will walk init.
And it says resist the deviland he will flee from you.
But they draw near to God, andwhen they draw near to God, god
draws near to them.
He's not ashamed to be calledtheir God, and when they draw
near to God, god draws near tothem.
He's not ashamed to be calledtheir God.
(45:20):
He's not ashamed to be close tothem.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners,and purify your hearts, you
double-minded.
I skip to verse 10.
Humble yourselves in the sightof the Lord, and God responds.
He will lift you up.
He will lift you up.
(45:41):
It is in God that you find yourdeliverance.
It is in God that you findrighteousness righteousness not
of your own, but you find hisrighteousness, and nothing can
compare to his righteousness.
It says in Job the righteoushold to his way.
(46:02):
We saw that in another scripture.
They shall not be moved fromthe way that the Lord has taught
them to go.
It says in Proverbs 10, thewise in heart will receive
commandments.
In other words, they'reteachable.
They hear it and receive it.
(46:27):
They don't argue with it, theydon't wrestle with it.
They simply receive thecommandments as it's spoken in.
Following line and followingsuit, it says in 1 John 2, 1 and
3, regarding the children ofJesus Christ, the righteous, who
was the propitiation for theirsins we know him because we keep
his commandments.
That's the heart of therighteous.
The righteous have a heart tobe corrected In Ezekiel 3, verse
(46:54):
21,.
It says to the prophet if youwarn the righteous man so that
he doesn't sin.
And he then?
He doesn't sin, he shall surelylive because he was warned.
So, righteous men, when they'rewarned about something that may
befall them because maybethey're walking in a certain way
, listen.
They listen to the warning andthey end up not sinning and they
(47:19):
end up living.
But that's the attribute of therighteous, that's what they do.
It says it in another way inPsalm 141, verse three through
five.
Set a guard, lord, over mymouth.
Keep watch over the door of mylips.
Do not incline my heart to doany evil thing, to practice
(47:42):
wicked works with men who workiniquity, and do not let me eat
of their delicacies, verse 5.
He so has a heart forcorrection that he would rather
the righteous strike him.
Let the righteous strike me, itshall be kindness.
(48:03):
Let the righteous rebuke me.
Don't do that.
Be careful where you're going.
He wants that.
He'd rather be smitten in thecheek.
He'd rather be rebuked publiclyfor what he may go through if
he doesn't listen to the Lord.
He says, it'll be as excellentoil upon me.
(48:25):
Let not my head refuse it.
That's how far the righteouswill go so that they remain
right in his sight.
Do we have that heart that, nomatter what Lord.
Correct me, let my elder smackme across the head, knock some
sense into me.
(48:45):
I'll receive it as oil Glad.
I'll be glad to receive it.
Is that our heart, or do we bowup?
How are you going to say thatto me?
Look at all this good stuffI've done here.
Look at how faithful I am here.
(49:06):
God tests the righteous.
It says in Psalm 7, verse 9,for the righteous.
God tests the hearts and theminds.
He says in Psalm 11, verse 5,the Lord tests the righteous.
(49:27):
He says in verse 7 of the samechapter, 11, for the Lord is
righteous, he lovesrighteousness, his countenance
beholds the upright.
I didn't quite understand why.
I mean, I could make up stuff,make it sound biblical, but this
is what the Lord showed me,what these kind of verses meant.
(49:50):
He said think of it like this,son, when you were a father and
you were teaching Lydia JohnDaniel or Deborah how to walk,
they weren't supposed to bewalking and crawling on all
fours.
They're supposed to walkupright.
But they didn't know that.
(50:11):
They didn't realize that.
So what did you do?
You propped them up and youstood them up and you tested
them, didn't you?
Not for your sake, because youwanted to show them what they're
able to do.
You wanted to show them howthey're able to walk upright.
(50:34):
And what happened?
When they started taking theirfirst steps and falling, you
helped them back up to help themrealize you have no idea what
you're capable of.
Get up.
And then they did it again.
And they did it again.
And what happened?
With your joy?
You joyed over them, didn't you?
Yes, you were clapping oh, yay,you're walking, yay.
(50:56):
And everybody got excited.
That's how I am with you.
I'm propping you up.
I'm propping you up so you cansee what I've called for you.
You do not know what you'recapable of, and so I'm propping
you up.
I'm so joyous over you beingrighteous.
I have more for you.
My countenance shines upon you.
I be with exceeding joy whenyou walk upright.
(51:19):
You have no idea.
You have no idea.
But there's a glimpse when youwere father helping him to walk,
or maybe helping him torollerblade, or maybe helping
him to ride a bike, and theydidn't realize, and they were so
fearful and they were gonnafall to the left or the right.
No, no, don't worry, I got you.
I got you.
And you're there holding them inthe back and running around
with them and then they realizethey can do it.
(51:41):
And that's the joy that he hasover you.
When you walk in righteousness,you have no idea what you're
capable of.
That's what he showed me.
That's how I understood thesescriptures.
That's why he tests you.
He's not testing you to causeyou to fail.
He's testing you to help yourealize what you're capable of.
(52:05):
The Lord's eyes.
The Lord eyes the righteous.
The eyes of the Lord are on therighteous, in Psalm 34, verse
15.
His eyes are on the righteous,his In Psalm 34, verse 15,.
His eyes are on the righteous.
His ears are open to their cry.
The righteous cry out, they cryout.
(52:27):
They're constantly crying out.
Because the righteous understandthey're weak and feeble and
without God's help helping me up, I might never walk.
I may end up crawling all thetime the Lord hears.
He delivers out of all of theirtroubles.
The Lord is near to who?
The broken heart, verse 18.
(52:51):
The Lord is near to those whohave a broken heart.
Who else is he near?
The contrite spirit, and hesaves those such as have a
contrite spirit, and many arethe afflictions of the righteous
, but the Lord delivers them outof them all.
It is the Lord that bringsdeliverance.
It says in verse 22, the Lordredeems the souls, or the soul
(53:18):
of his servants and none ofthose who trust in him.
Again, it's that foundationblock.
Trust in you Shall not becondemned.
None of those who trust in themshall be condemned.
In Psalm 1, 6, it says for theLord knows the way of the
righteous, why he taught them.
(53:38):
If the righteous have a heartto be taught, to be led, to be
corrected, then their ways arerighteous, and so the Lord knows
their ways.
He taught it to them.
It says in 1 Peter, in the NewTestament, the New Covenant,
quoting from the Old turn awayfrom evil and do good.
(54:01):
Let him seek peace and pursueit.
In 1 Peter 3, verse 11, for theeyes of the Lord are on the
righteous, his ears are open totheir prayers.
Again, the righteous isconstantly crying out,
constantly praying, but the faceof the Lord is against those
who do evil.
It says in verse 15, this isanother aspect of the heart of
(54:27):
the righteous that we need toconsider.
But sanctify the Lord, god, inyour hearts.
Some of us don't understand theword sanctify.
We've got to go in our littledictionary and say well, what
exactly does that mean Set apart?
But set apart the Lord, god inyour hearts.
(54:51):
I was teaching with our kidssome devotional recently and
this is the way I explained it.
Like you have a bunch ofpictures in your living room or
we have a bunch of pictures onour fireplace and they're all
there and none of them reallystands out.
You know, there's just a bunchof pictures and stuff.
But what if I took this one andI placed it higher, placed it
(55:12):
at the top?
Now it's set apart.
Now, when anybody walks in ourliving room, they're not just
going to see a bunch of pictures, what are they going to be
drawn to?
The one that's set apart, theone that stands out, the one
that's highlighted?
Well, when you set apart theLord in your heart, you put him
in a preeminent position aboveall other things, because there
are other things, but you placehim apart.
(55:35):
He's special, he's beyondspecial, he's set apart in a
preeminent position and theneverything else falls in line
under it and all the otherpictures fall in line under that
one picture that you set apart,which is him.
And we're always ready to givea defense to everyone who asks
you a reason for the hope thatis in you with meekness and in
(55:57):
fear.
I see another aspect of therighteous they are generous.
The righteous are generous.
It says in Proverbs 21, 26,.
The righteous giveth andspareth not.
They just give and spare not.
And what gets me is thatthey're ignorant.
(56:20):
When they do this, they don'trealize their generosity.
It's very mysterious, but I'mgoing to show this to you and
I'm going to say it in a minute.
In Matthew 25, you remember theparable of the goats and the
sheeps?
And he said the goats on theleft and the sheeps on the right
.
Do you remember that?
(56:40):
It was really the great whitethrone judgment?
It says the king set them onthe right.
He said come, you, blessed ofmy father, inherit the kingdom
I've prepared for you from thefoundation of the world.
Jesus said.
For I was hungered in Matthew 25, 35,.
And you gave me meat.
I was thirsty and you gave medrink.
I was a stranger and you tookme in naked and you clothed me.
(57:02):
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you cameunto me and the righteous
answered him and said Lord, whendid I do that?
They're ignorant to theirgenerosity.
They had no idea.
When they did that to theirgenerosity.
They had no idea when they didthat.
And then he explains it to themand the king answered and said
(57:25):
when you've done it to the leastof these, my brethren, you did
it to me.
So every kind remark you maketo your brethren, every time you
do something small, maybesomething big, maybe give them a
ride, maybe help them outfinancially, maybe give them a
ride, maybe help them outfinancially, maybe give them
some clothes, maybe give themsome food, maybe do whatever.
That's the kindness and thegenerosity of the righteous.
(57:47):
Develop that Because thatshould be in the righteous.
They give and spare, not whenthere's a need.
In the Proverbs, just going togo through some scriptures here,
the Proverbs just describessome elements of the righteous.
(58:08):
Proverbs 10, 11, the mouth of arighteous man is a well of life
.
In Proverbs 10, 16, and 17, thework of the righteous, the
labor of the righteous, tendethto life.
He is in the way of life.
That keepeth instruction.
(58:29):
Again, the righteous walk inthe way because they're
instructed and they receive thatinstruction.
It says in chapter 10, verse 32,the lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable.
It says in chapter 11, verse23,.
The desire of the righteousremember it's only God alone.
(58:52):
There's nothing in this worldthat I desire but you.
The desire of the righteous isonly good.
1130.
The fruit of the righteous is atree of life.
The righteous bear forth fruitand it should be a tree of life
to the world.
It should be a tree of life toothers.
(59:13):
In Proverbs 12 5.
The thoughts of the righteousare right.
In 12 12.
The thoughts of the righteousare right In 12, 12,.
The root of the righteousyields fruit.
It's deep down in the heart ofthe righteous that causes it to
bring forth good fruit, becauseit's got a good, solid
(59:35):
foundation of trust in him.
Because it's got a good, solidfoundation of trust in him.
In Proverbs 14, 32,.
It says the righteous don't feardeath.
Why they have hope.
He resurrected from the deadand his word says he will also
resurrect me.
So they, in contrast to others,they have hope.
In Proverbs 15, 28,.
(59:56):
The heart of the righteous Ilove this one the heart of the
righteous, studieth to answer.
It's not so quick to answer.
No, let me go be a Berean.
Let me go back and study this.
Let me go find out if thethings that are being told to me
are true.
Let me go back right into theword.
I'm going to study to have ananswer when somebody asked me
(01:00:18):
for the hope that I have in him.
In verse 29, he heareth theprayer of the righteous In
Proverbs 18, 10,.
The name of the Lord is a strongtower and what do the righteous
do?
Run into it.
They don't walk, they don'tlollygag.
They run Because that's whothey desire.
(01:00:39):
Do you understand?
It's such an intense desire toknow and have God.
Proverbs 21, 12.
The righteous man wiselyconsiders the house of the
wicked.
It's not that he doesn't knowwhat's going on in the house of
the wicked, it's not that hedoesn't know what's going on in
the wicked in the world.
(01:01:00):
He just considered and saidthat's not worth it.
My God is so much more worththan that.
I know what they do, I know howthey get there.
That's not for me.
So let me summarize here inclosing Psalm 92, 12 through 15.
Let's just let the scripturesspeak for themselves.
(01:01:22):
I think these scriptures willhighlight many, if not all, of
the elements that I tried tohighlight with you now regarding
the righteous Psalm 92, 12.
The righteous shall flourish.
They will be blessed.
They will be producing fruit.
They will be multiplying Like apalm tree, he shall grow like a
(01:01:42):
cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted where?
In the house of the Lord.
That's where the righteous isfound.
In the house of the Lord, theyshall flourish in the courts of
our God.
That's where you'll find them.
In the courts of our God.
They shall bear fruit in oldage, in their latter days, they
(01:02:04):
will be bearing fruit and theyshall be fresh.
They shall be flourishing sothat they can declare, even in
their latter days, that the Lord, after all of their experiences
, after all of his testimonies,after all the judgments and the
wonders and the miracles thathe's done in all their existence
, at the end of their days theywant to declare he is upright,
(01:02:26):
he is truth, he is the rock andthere is no unrighteousness in
him.
To all the youngins that don'tknow him.
In Hebrews 13, 15 through 17, Ibelieve that the righteous
continually offer the sacrificeof praise that is the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks to hisname.
(01:02:47):
The righteous do not forget todo good, they don't forget to
share.
These are the sacrifice thatGod is pleased with and they
want to please God.
That is the heart of therighteous, and it says that they
will obey those that rule overthem and they will be submissive
Because that's their heart,that is the heart of the
(01:03:11):
righteous.
I know it's talking aboutelders, but the elders are the
righteous.
In Psalm 112, one through nine,praise the Lord.
Blessed is the man who fearsthe Lord, who delights greatly
in his commandments.
(01:03:34):
I remember when the Lord wasshaking my world and grabbing a
hold of me.
My mother passed away when Iwas 20.
And for about a year, year anda half, I was searching for the
faith that I thought I had.
And this scripture reminds methat in those early days I
(01:03:57):
remember just delighting ingetting in his word and I
believe that that really set afoundation in me.
That even continued years afterwhen I met my wife, which
happened to be three or fouryears down the line.
It was a continued delightingin his word and all that I
delighted and became the realfoundation, because I've been
(01:04:18):
this Christian schools all mylife.
I had known the word byrecognition, by some
memorization, but I had notknown the word intimately, I had
not known Jesus, and thoseyears were spent just digging
and getting into the word andgetting things out of my life
that didn't need to be, and itwas that very reason why I stand
(01:04:42):
where I am today, not becauseof what I did.
It's because God got such ahold of me and I fell so in love
with him that I just delightedin his word.
It was not a chore for me toget in his word, I just loved it
(01:05:08):
, even though I didn'tunderstand it.
I remember just reading throughI don't understand what that is
, I don't understand what thatis, I don't understand this.
And now I just keep on goingand I would read, you know, two
chapters in the new and threechapters in the old, and
somewhere around the day I wouldread Psalms and that was my
thing and I did it.
I can't remember how long.
I know it was just a continualgetting in his word even though
I didn't understand it, and Iwould just get it, and that
(01:05:30):
became the bedrock of my faith.
So the question is and it'ssomething that was brought up,
it's kind of where this wholeteaching was coming from,
something that was brought up inthe men's fellowship how do you
impart the importance of thatvery thing to young people that
you actually delight in his word?
I don't know, because no onetaught it to me.
(01:05:51):
It's almost like you falling inlove with someone.
You can't help but want to bewith them.
I mean that's what you desire.
No one taught you to love thatperson so that you would have
this longing and this yearningand desire.
No one taught you to long andyearn and desire for the person
that you were interested in.
(01:06:11):
I don't know what it was, butthere was something deep down in
your heart that made you dothat, that motivated you to do
that, and so you sought him.
I don't know if that's happenedto you.
That's what happened to me andI can guarantee you, because I
stand here today, that was thebest thing I ever did in my life
(01:06:32):
.
The best thing I ever did in mylife.
It says the generation of theupright will be blessed.
His righteousness enduresforever.
In verse 3.
Verse 5, a good man dealsgraciously and lends.
He will guide his affairs withdiscretion.
(01:06:54):
He will never be shaken, andfor some of us here, I think
that's how we feel.
Oh, I'm never going to beshaken from this, no way.
I am leaving God.
The righteous will be aneverlasting remembrance.
I will always remember what theLord has done for me.
(01:07:15):
He will not be afraid of eviltidings.
The righteous heart issteadfast, trusting in the Lord,
his heart is established.
He will not be moved, he is notshaken, he will not be afraid,
because he knows that hisrighteousness endures forever.
And so I end with this.
(01:07:41):
I could have started with thisand this could have been the
whole lesson, but I wanted to gothrough those scriptures to
sort of highlight it to you.
But I believe Proverbs 2, 1through 11 describes the
righteous man.
God says my son, if you receivemy words and treasure my
(01:08:01):
commands within you, there hasto be something in the heart
that, when they hear the word,they treasure it and they hide
it within themselves, notbecause they don't want anybody
(01:08:22):
else to have it, but becauseit's just so precious, it's just
so valuable that they wouldtrade it for nothing in the
world.
It says if you incline your earto wisdom, if you apply your
heart to understand, if you cryout for discernment and you lift
(01:08:43):
your voice for understanding,if you seek her as silver and
search for her as a hiddentreasure, all of these ifs have
got to be there.
This is something that only youcan do, and you can ask the
Lord to bite me with the lovebug so that I love you like
(01:09:05):
nothing else in this world.
In verse 5 it says then youwill understand the fear of the
Lord.
Then you will find the knowledgeof God, because God is storing
up wisdom for you.
(01:09:26):
He's storing up wisdom for therighteous, the upright, and he's
a shield to the upright.
He defends for you, he protectsyou, he guards the path of
justice, he preserves the way ofhis saints.
Then you will understandrighteousness, justice and
(01:09:53):
equity and every good path.
When, when you receive my words, when, when you treasure my
commands within you, when, whenyou incline your ear to wisdom,
when, when you apply your heartto understanding, when, when you
cry out for discernment, when,when you lift up your voice for
(01:10:17):
understanding, when, when youseek her as silver, as a
treasure, that's when thesethings will happen, not any
other way.
This is the way, this is theway of righteousness.
It says in verse 10, when wisdomenters your heart and knowledge
(01:10:40):
is pleasant to your soul.
That means when God speaks,whether it's in his word,
whether it's audible, whetherit's through the instructions of
others.
That are the saints, and youtreasure the words of God and
you want it all and you can'teven be satiated.
You just want more and more andmore.
It's at this point thatdiscretion will preserve you and
understanding will keep you.
(01:11:04):
These are the attributes of theheart of the righteous that I
pray that, as you read these,you will allow the word to move
you, to treasure the preciousrichness that is found when he
speaks to you, when he commandsyou.
To treasure the preciousrichness that is found when he
speaks to you, when he commandsyou, when he teaches you, when
he leads you, and you desire himabove nothing else.
(01:11:27):
Nothing else can be compared tohim.
Now, I know that and I canteach it to you, but you won't
get that until you have arevelation of him.
That's know that and I canteach it to you, but you won't
get that until you have arevelation of him.
That's all I can say.
And that revelation comes byyou seeking him.
You must seek him with all yourheart, with all your soul, with
(01:11:49):
all your mind, with all yourstrength, and love him, and that
is the heart of the righteousAmen.
If you were blessed andappreciate listening to this
podcast and you would like tosupport us in our efforts,
consider lifting us up in prayerfirst.
Then remember these four socialmedia buzzwords Share, like,
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subscribe or follow.
Share this podcast link withsomeone else by text, email or
word of mouth in the hopes thatthey might be uplifted, as you
were Like by leaving a positiverating or review with whomever
you listen to our podcast.
With Subscribe to support theshow monetarily with the link in
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(01:12:33):
platforms.
May God bless you and make youprosperous in Him as you listen
and obey His voice.
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