Montreal Conference: 1972, The Will of God (4:35)
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
I'd like to turn to some scriptures today, dear young people, in connection with the will of God. And so if you just turn with me, first of all to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand, or say, What doest thou? And now you turn over with me too, to John's Gospel, Chapter 1. John's Gospel chapter 1 and verse. 11. Verse 12 I should say, But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Daniel, if you'll turn to John, Chapter 7. And verse 17. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. And Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and verse one. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that she presents your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I'd like to read a couple of Psalms also. 16. Psalm 16. Verse 1 Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. All my soul thou hast said unto the Lord. Thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God Their drink. Offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One, to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Now in Psalm 73. Verse one truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But As for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth, and therefore his people return. Hit her, and waters of a full cup are run out to them. And they say, How doth God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches.
Verily I have cleansed. My heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all a day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, Behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children, when I thought to know this. It was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places, Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors? Has a dream when one awaketh. So Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. And thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reigns, so foolish was I, an ignorant I was as a beast before Thee. Nevertheless I am continually with Thee. Thou hast Holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh in my heart, faileth. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And for LO, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a ******* from thee, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all his works. While I've read these scriptures and dear young people, because I believe they bring before us the will of God. And it's a wonderful thing to know that we have the privilege here in this world of knowing the will of God and in walking in the good of it. We know that when God created Adam, he created him as an intelligent being. He didn't make him like the Lord creation who had certain instincts and followed those instincts, but God made man an intelligent being who could commune with him. And so he gave him a command that was for his own good. And for his happiness there in the garden, because God was finding his delight in man. It tells us that when the foundations of the earth were laid, his delights for with the sons of men. And I want to first of all give you to realize this, dear young people, that God is looking down with delight upon this room, and he wants to bless. It's His very joy to bless. That Garden of Eden where God placed man was intended to be a proof to. That God desired his blessing. Imagine the whole creation, and then God, shall I say, taking the trouble to specially plant a garden in order to put the pair whom He wanted to see enjoy all that he had provided for them. But what did they do? Well, they chose their own will instead of His will. Now, dear friends, it didn't change God's will because they chose their own, but it did hinder them from enjoying that which the will of God would have brought to them. And that's the whole point that I have upon my heart this afternoon, is that God's will is steadfast. It's the same. But how sad it is that man should depart from that will. That would bring blessing to him. Indeed, I have even thought that God is so willing to bless that everyone who does not resist His will will be brought into that fullness of blessing in a coming day. So all the babies who die in infancy, all the little ones who die before they come to the age of responsibility, because they haven't yet been able to express their own will in opposition to the will of God. Will be brought into blessing. That heaven is going to be filled. There will be some from every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and there will be those who recognize that the will of God and the heart of God are the source of all their blessing. Isn't it a terrible thing to think that the age of responsibility is actually the time when we set our wills in opposition to the will of God? When we actually say. Well, I want my own way, as it says in the 53rd of Isaiah. We have turned everyone to his own way and that's what the natural heart likes, likes to have its own way.
But it's the source of all trouble and all sorrow. It's going to lead, may I say solemnly, to the eternal damnation of all those who resist the well that would have brought them such untold blessing and would have blessed them eternally, founded upon that glorious work of Calvary's cross. And so I say again that God wants to bless, but our wills are so often the hindrance. And so God didn't make man as a being like the Lord creation that would just do things without being able to intelligently do the will of God. But God communed with man. He talked to him of all the trees of the garden Alma is freely eat but one tree that would only hinder his blessing. That would be the expression of his own will. In contrast to the will of God would be the hindrance to His blessing. But what did he do? Well, he chose his own will instead of the will of God, and sorrow and misery came into this world. But I say again, the will of God is still to bless. And the reason I read that verse in Daniel chapter 4 is that God's will is going to prevail. It says He doeth according to his will and the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say, what doest thou now God's will is going to prevail. But you and I can be something like Saul of Tarsus when he was on the road to Damascus. What was he doing? Well, he was kicking against the ******. He was fighting against the will of God to his own sorrow and to his own loss. But man in his natural state has no desire to do the will of God. Now, the thing that the natural heart likes most, and if we're honest with ourselves, as natural men, there's nothing we like better than our own way. And yet that has brought us all the trouble and all the sorrow that has ever come into this poor world. We want our own way. So what has God done after man had ruined this world by exercising his own will in opposition to God? And then God acts in grace. And that's why I read in John chapter 1 it says. Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That is, It was God's will that came into this human race and picked out a family, those who would become the children of God, to share in all this that was in the heart of God. Yeah, in a fuller way, even a low sin had spoiled the first creation. I like to think of it this way. When man spoiled this creation, a God said, well, I'm not going to be frustrated. So I'll bring in a new creation better than what man spoiled, and I'll provide a way that man can enter that creation and enjoy it in fullness forever. This is my portion forever. Isn't that wonderful? If your child was given something and it spoiled it, would you give it something better? But that's what. God has done all, dear friends, I can't express the wonders of the heart of God. I can't express the love that's in his heart. Surely it's just like the hymn says, O Lord, thy Love's unbounded. And that's what I want to bring before you because. Satan create lie has always been to make man think that he's going to get something good through his own will. That's Satan's lie to you. It's Satan's lie before we're saved to hinder us from coming to Christ, and it's Satan's lie after we're saved to hinder us from following Christ. Yes, and Satan has a will. And the Bible tells us about those who are led captive by Satan. At his will, Yes, He has a will. And are you? Are you going to bow your will to His and allow yourself to be LED captive in that path that will only bring sorrow and misery to you? Well then have we read also in John Chapter 7, And it says there, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
You know, there's a sort of feeling in the minds of some that God doesn't really want us to know his will, and that he sort of tries to hide it from us. That's not true, dear young people. God wants you to know his wealth. He has given us this precious book. His word, because He is revealing in it His will, and as Peter tells us, His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Well, it might be that you say, Well, there are many times that sincerely I desire to do His will, and I can't seem to discover it. Well, that's because very often our eye is not single. The scripture says if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. If thine eye be single, what does it mean to have the single eye? Well, to really and truly desire to do His will. But I think one of our mistakes is this, that when some new problem arises in our life, we sincerely want to know His will. But just in that one thing particularly, and perhaps we could look over other areas of our life and we really are not doing His will in those things. We single out some particular problem that comes and say, well, I really want to do the will of God. If we were to look over our life in general, we would find that there are quite a few corners in our hearts, quite a few spheres in our life now that we cannot say honestly, we really desire to do His will. But it says, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. And I speak this to myself as well as to you, dear young people. Are we willing to seek His will from His word and by walking in nearness to Him? Now He's given us a life that delights in doing His will, and He has given us His precious word to direct us. And in His word he has given us light. He has given us principles to govern our whole pathway. But perhaps I could say that there are some things in life that he hasn't given us a direct answer, but he has given us certain principles. But we need to be near to him in order to discern his mind. And I think this is very lovely. Perhaps those who are parents here will understand this, that there are certain things that our children know displease us. We have told them very definitely. That certain things are displeasing to us. They know that if they do them, they are contrary to our will because we have told them. But there are other things that we haven't particularly expressed our will, but just somehow they're close enough to us and they've watched us, and they discover, without us saying a word, what is pleasing to us and what is not. Now, dear young people, the Lord wants us to walk so. Closely to him that in some of those areas where we do not have an expressed command, that we would be near enough to discern his will, that we would be near enough. And it's his promise. It doesn't say if any man will know his will, he shall know. But if any man will do his will, any man will do his will. Because I've often heard people say, well, I'd like to know, but. Are we thoroughly yielded so that we would like to do his will? Well, He wants us to know it. And why does he want to know us? Us to know it? Does he want to rob us of anything? Oh no. When God's will was supreme before sin entered, wasn't that a happy pair in that garden? And when we enter heaven, whose will is going to be supreme? How are we going to have a little corner in heaven where we can practice our own will? Oh no, the will of God is going to be supreme, and the result is going to be it's going to be a supremely happy place because of God's will is the source of all that happiness and blessing. And so in Romans chapter 12 and verse one, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye presents your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or intelligent service. I like that word as it's translated in the New Translation Intelligence Service.
Because God doesn't just guide us as He guides, say, the fish with certain instincts or birds with certain instincts. Men can't understand why birds and why fish and so on have certain habits. They just are instincts that they carry out and men can't fully enter into them. Those instincts are given of God, but they don't know why they do them. But God hasn't made us that way. He wants to commune with us. That eternal life that He has given to us is a life by which we can enter into the thoughts of God, we can commune with Him, we can find our delight in His will. And when it says be not conformed to this world, it doesn't exactly mean certain things that I might say. I'm going to put my finger on this and say, well, that's conformity to the world, and that is conformity to the world because you might stop doing it and be just as much conformed to the world as before. Why? Well, you didn't do it for the Lord, You just did it to please someone else. And so it wasn't really for the Lord. That you did it. And what is? And what does it mean? Be not conformed to the world. Well, the world is a vast system of things, as our brother brought before us yesterday, this present evil world where man's will is supreme, where he finds a place where he can do things according to his own will. And you and I. Can live that kind of a life that what we do is just done according to our own. Well, without reference to the will of God, you can have your clothes in a certain way, and you can just have it because it's the style. Or you can do what you do because you want to please the Lord. Your desire is to please Him. And the conformity to the world, I say, is a certain principle. It's a system of things where man's will is the center of action. But when we are. Into the family of God we get a new life, and the will of God becomes the spring and source of every action where we have yielded ourselves to the Lord. There is no such thing as having a certain corner in our life where we can practice our own will if we're fully yielded to the will of God. And so I'd like you to get hold of this, dear young people, because. From the moment you get up in the morning. Till you go to bed at night and even through your sleeping hours, God has a definite will for you. He is concerned about everything in your life. He is concerned about the school you go to. He is concerned about your friends. He's concerned about. Your conduct, he's concerned about the Christians with whom you have fellowship, and you will find in his word direction for every part of your life. It isn't that the one hour perhaps that we sit down and read His word together is given to the Lord and the rest of the time we can sort of do our own wills. No, when the young man wanted to follow the Lord, the Lord said, are you? You're willing to sell all that you have and follow me. And I don't take that to mean that the man was to go onto the open market and sell everything that he had. But here was the whole trouble before all that he had. He said that's my house, that's my car, that's my money, that's my my clothes. That's my way of doing things. And the Lord said, if you come to me, it'll all be changed. It won't be my house, it'll be a house. That the Lord has given me to use for him. It'll be a car that the Lord has given me to use for him. It'll be clothed that He has given me to wear for him. He's concerned about all those things. He clothed the lilies of the field so beautifully. He's concerned about the clothes that you wear. He doesn't say that they have to be drawn, but He has given us instruction about many of these things. Oh dear young people, I want you to realize. That God's will enters into every bit of your life, and it's not to rob you of anything, it's to give you something.
It's to give you a peace and a joy of knowing that the One who is at God's right hand is your counselor. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Don't be afraid, then, to present your body a living sacrifice to Him, because when you do, He's just going to direct your life for His glory and for your happiness. He's going to fill your life full of all of that. He is. Interested in For Your Good? I think it's so lovely when the Lord was talking about claws that he talked about the lilies of the field. He could have talked about something that didn't look very beautiful, But when he talked about clothes, he talked about the lilies of the field. When he talked about feeding his people, he said he feeds the Ravens. One of the Ravens, well, they're an unclean bird. And you say, well, I'm not worthy. But he feeds even the unclean birds. Oh, how gracious to enter into these thoughts of God. And so he says, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. And then in that path, what do we prove? Well, it says that we prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? That is, I can stand here and tell you. But as another has said, there are joys. In the path of faith only known to those who walk in it. I could tell you about a certain rod that would take you to, we'll say, Toronto, and I could describe it to you and how nice it was and how beautiful the scenery was. And have you told anybody? You would say, well, Gordon said it was a good road and that the scenery was beautiful along that road, but you wouldn't have experienced it yourself. But then you make the trip, you go over it, and now you talk about it as something you have experienced. And until you yield yourself to the Lord, you can say, well, the Bible says this, but I haven't tried it. But when you yield yourself to the Lord, you prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? And you'll never meet a Christian who has walked in that path who will ever say that there wasn't peace and joy in that path, because there is. There is. But many people are only doing things because somebody else told them. And they're just like the person repeating what the road is like because they heard it from someone else. And it's just like a parrot. But you know when you walk. At yourself, then there's something very precious about it, something very real, because you never have to walk in it alone. The Lord Jesus said, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. Now let us turn to these two psalms, because I'd like to look at them as two different examples of what we've been speaking about. I think most of us know that the 16th Psalm prophetically refers to the pathway of the Lord Jesus as a dependent man through this world. And that's why I think it's so beautiful, because it traces his pathway. And yet if we look at his pathway, he was the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. As a brother remarked yesterday, only one instance in his whole life do we read about him rejoicing in spirit. And yet this 16 Psalm describes to us the path in which the Lord walked. Was his path a sad one himself? Now He was the Man of Sorrows because he shared the sorrows of others, but in his heart there was a joy set before him that sustained him in his whole path. Before him and that sustained him because he was the homeless stranger here there was a peace because he accepted every circumstance from his father. And there was a giving out to others because he was giving freely. That which the heart of God delighted to bestow. And so his pathway was a blessed pathway. And that's set before us in the 16th Psalm. In the 73rd Psalm we have a man looking out, trying to understand why it is that others seem to prosper when they do What's wrong? And so he became puzzled Why?
Well, he was trying to look at things from a natural viewpoint. He was looking at things externally and he saw some people seeming to prosper in a wrong path and he was absolutely puzzled and he found the only way was to get into the sanctuary of God. And then in the end of the 73rd Psalm, we find the psalmist entering into something of that which is set before us about the Lord Jesus himself. Now, that is, he had learned to commit. His whole pathway to the Lord. And so I'd like to contrast these two songs as looking at the first one, the perfect path of dependence and obedience and of faith, and the second one, a man who at the beginning was thoroughly disturbed and upset, so that his foot well nigh slipped. But then at the end he came to find out the blessedness and happiness of walking in the company of the Lord. So let us notice a few points about this 16 Psalm. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. I just like to speak here for a moment to anyone who's not saved. Is there anyone in this room this afternoon? And you never put your trust in the Lord. If so, I know that you don't see anything but this world worth living for, and in fact, it's the only pleasure you'll ever have for all eternity. If you die in your sins, there will be no pleasures beyond this life, I confess. And the Bible tells us there are pleasures in sin. And if that's what you're seeking after the pleasures of sin their first season, you may enjoy them to a certain extent. You may be like the one described in the 73rd Psalm. Just having a good time and nothing seems to go wrong. And so you're deceived into thinking it's going to be always that way. But oh friend, if you die in your sins, how awful the end of such a path. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes. But know thou that for all these things. God shall bring me into judgment. Yes, you can have your good time here at all if you die without Christ. How terrible the end of such a path. But here is one who has learned confidence in Jehovah God. He says, preserve me and all. I wish to say this to every young person. There are so many pitfalls and snares in life and you and I don't have the wisdom for this pathway of life in ourselves. And I hope that each one of us pray this prayer every day of our lives. Preserve me, O God, for in. See, do I put my trust? You've trusted your eternal welfare to that blessed Savior who died for you. You have seen Him as the one taking your place and bearing your judgment. And now can you look to Him and ask Him to preserve you? O dear young people, it makes me sad as I look into your faces and think over a good many years that I have attended conferences like this and I've seen young people. Dear young people. What I really loved and they have got into paths of carelessness and sin and that they've ruined their lives. They've ruined their lives because they walked in their own will instead of in the will of God and all. I often say the most important decisions are made in youth you make before you're 25 years of age as a general thing. You you make the most important decisions of your whole life. You choose usually you choose the place where you're going to live. You, you choose the education that you're going to follow. You choose a certain circle of friends, you identify yourself with a certain company of Christians. And most of these decisions are made in youth. And all how important it is that these decisions should be made aright, because if you make wrong decisions, it's true. Lord restores, it's true, He can bring you back, but oh, what's sorrow? David made a wrong mistake in his life. He took a he took a wrong step. And although he was restored, although he was happy in his soul, he had to reap it for the rest of his life. Oh, I beseech you, dear young people, pray this prayer. Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.
Perhaps, you say, Well, I think I'm smart enough to know. How to look after myself? I can paddle my own canoe. Oh, but here is the one who was the Son of God in this world, and he walked as the perfect dependent man. Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, Thou hast sent unto the Lord. Thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the Saints that are in the earth. And the excellent in whom? Is all my delight. Just putting it briefly, it's like this now that as the Lord Jesus walked through this world, he didn't go about proclaiming His own goodness, perfect though he was. He went about seeking the blessing and the good of others. He went about seeking that others might be blessed in. All His interests were in those who would be among the ones who would share that coming glory. Oh, isn't it nice for us to choose? Friends like that. That is when you meet somebody and you know that person is going to be with Christ in glory. He's dear to Christ, and he's dear to you too. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. Oh, you say, but sometimes the Saints don't act very much like Saints. Well, I don't think that the disciples acted the way they should all the time either. I think they acted very shamefully, and I'm afraid we all have to hang our heads and acknowledge that we too have often failed. But it's a great thing for us to look at the children of God as those who have been chosen by the Lord Himself. To be among that company, who will be? In those eternal courts of glory. And so we find the precious Savior in that home of Bethany. We see Him at Sychar as well. We see him among publicans and sinners. Why? Well, He was here to do his Father's will, and he was here for the blessing of poor sinners, that they might be drawn to God. And now in the fourth verse, there sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. There drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Now that is, there were those who had other interests, there were those who hastened after other gods, and he didn't follow along with that crowd. And, you know, there are many ambitions in life. We can sort of get caught in the current of going after things, and then we find that we're in the wrong company. We're in the company of those who have no love for our Savior. How often a young person has started out, he's perhaps been very fond of some particular sphere in sports or something. And the first thing you know, he has become involved. He's got into certain companionships and these things have. Him away. Well, think of the Lord Jesus and His pathway. He was ever seeking to do his Father's will. He was seeking the good of the excellent of the earth, the Saints in whom was all God's delight. And then the Lord says here, I won't take up their names into my lips. No, there are many people who have made their mark in this world. They're very important people in this world. And you can become sort of involved in the course and current of this world. And occupied with that kind of thing and it just leads away from the Lord. So there's a little warning, I believe, in this fourth verse. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. That is, it wasn't just that heaven is our home, but the Lord Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance. So God doesn't give us a great deal of description about heaven, but rather of the person who is there. Because the person who is there is going to make the place he has all power. He loves us perfectly. And so the Lord Jesus in his pathway could say Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance. That is, it was a person. And I like the way the little ham expresses it. Speaking of heaven, God and the Lamb, tis well I know that source divine of light and love. No tongue can tell, yet know that all is mine.
And notice the two things, the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. That is, it's not only the future that awaits us, but the cup is the present enjoyment of it. Just like if you go down and dip your cup in the lake and you take up a cupful, well, there's the whole lake. You've just taken a cup out of it for your present enjoyment. And so you and I. Can say, like the psalmist, my cup runneth over. We can have a present enjoyment of the Lord. And then thou maintainest my lot. We hear an expression Well, if you don't stand up for yourself, nobody else will. Oh dear young people, there's one who's standing up for you. There's one who's there at the right hand of God on your behalf, who cares far more about you than anybody else on earth cares for you. He's going to maintain your lot. It's a wonderful thing when difficulties arise to be able to go to the Lord and just commit it to him and be able to say I've got a good person to look after. My interests thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. You know, I think of this in connection with the Lord's pathway was His pathway through this world an easy one known, as we remarked before, He was the Man of Sorrows. He was laughed to scorn, He was spit upon His disciples forsook him and fled. What was the pleasant place that it's talking about here? The lines are falling unto me in pleasant places, while I like to think of it in this way, that no matter how difficult the pathway, when the word of God comes home to your soul in power, it turns it into a pleasant place. I've sometimes said, I'd like to say to Daniel, and when I meet him in heaven, tell me, what was the most pleasant place that you ever experienced? On earth. And I wouldn't be surprised if he'd say the den of lions. That den of lions. What? The den of lions was the most pleasant place you ever had on earth. Oh yes, He said. The Lord was there. He shut the lion's mouth. He was dearer to me. He was nearer to me there than any other place that I ever was on earth. If you ask Seedrack me, she can have Edna go. They'd perhaps tell you the fiery furnace. All, dear young people, are you drawing back from the path of following Christ? Are you drawing back from a He'll turn it into a pleasant place. When Paul and Silas were in prison, we readed them praying and singing praises to God, and I don't recall another instance in their whole life where we read of them singing. I don't recall a single instance in their whole life where we hear them singing, except in jail. Strange place to sing, wasn't it? It was a pleasant place. The Lord was there. Are you in a? Are you in a difficult spot? You say I just Can't Sing. The lines are falling unto me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who have given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons. The Lord gives counsel too. For our pathway. We often say, I don't know what to do. Well, the Lord gives counsel. His name is wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, He'll give you the best counsel. And the Lord Jesus was the one whoever did his Father's will, and who never took one step independent of the will of his Father. He said I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And then the eighth verse, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. How we hear the expression, well, I don't like to be pushed around. Well, I'm glad you don't. It's not a good thing to find people that are pushed around and you won't be pushed around if you're seeking to follow the Lord. Here is the Lord Jesus saying, I have set the Lord all the way before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. That confidence of knowing. That we have His word for our pathway is true confidence. And that's what gives us peace and quietness in our lives. And we don't become men pleasers. We become pleasers of the one who is worthy to be pleased because he's done everything for us. And so it says, I shall not be moved.
Then it says, Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth, My flesh also shall rest in hope. I believe at this point perhaps we could think of the Lord Jesus approaching the time when He must go to that cross, and yet He could say, therefore my heart is glad. And why, while He looked beyond the cross to the result of that work that He had come to do, He looked beyond it. And sometimes when we face difficulties, we have to look beyond this life. We have to look beyond this life. God doesn't always vindicate His people in this life. He doesn't always promise to set things right in this life. But you and I can look beyond this life. Many people get themselves into great distress by trying to understand things that are too high for us, things that are beyond us. And there are situations that come up in people's lives and in assemblies that I acknowledge that I. I just can't understand all together why the Lord allows them. But we can look on and know that there is a day of manifestation coming and everything is going to be set right. Then everything will be set right. And so here we find the Lord Jesus. He says Therefore my heart is glad He was right as it were going to go to the cross. He was going to be slain by wicked men, but he looked beyond it. And this 12, the 11TH verse brings us to resurrection. That Thou wilt show me the path of life in Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Where was the fruit of all that perfect life? The fruit of it was in resurrection. The present joy was that the Lord Jesus walked to please His Father. All through His life. He met every situation according to the will of His Father, and His vindication is that He has now seated at. The right hand of God and will someday have the fruit of all that work around Himself. And that's what we have to do too. We have to look beyond this life sometimes. We have to look on to the time when all will be set right in His glorious presence. Now I'd just like to turn over again to this 73rd Psalm. And make a few comments about this. Here was a man who was looking out on life, and he said I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And I suppose that every young person has done this. I have to confess I have done it. I look out and have seen people prospering in an evil way, and it seems so difficult to understand. Why is it you say why? They go on, they do all kinds of things and are so proud. And nothing seems to happen to them. Have you ever said that? Perhaps you have? Nothing seems to happen to them. And I try to please the Lord, and everything seems to go wrong in my life. Everything seems to go different from the way I expected it should. And why is it? And so here was the psalmist, as he looked out and considered the prosperity of the wicked, instead of his eye being on the Lord. Was looking around and trying to reconcile things. They saw them here in this world and he just became more and more discouraged. And he said in the. He said in the 13th verse, Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency, for all day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. What does he mean here? Well, perhaps I could put it in a very simple way like this, he said. Well, that's the way I feel. I feel that everything goes wrong in my life and everything seems to go all right for people that are going on in ways that are wrong. And he said, if I if I say it, other Christians would be offended about me talking that way. But that's the way I feel and I just can't understand it. Perhaps you've had a very experience, he said. If I say thus, I should offend against the generation of thy children. And then he said. Said I had to go into the sanctuary of God and if there's a young person here and you're discouraged, you say I have tried to please the Lord, but I can't understand why things have turned this way.
We all go into the sanctuary of God. You'll never understand it by looking around and trying to see things as they are here. But you need to do what we noticed in the 16th Psalm. The Lord Jesus was a path of obedience to His Father's will, but He was the Man of sorrows. He was despised, He was rejected. The people that he came to bless cried away with Him. His disciples forsook him and fled. Where was the result? Of that wonderful, blessed life, the results were all in resurrection and now to young people. You will never go on in a quiet, peaceful, happy life unless you learn that submission to the will of God in your life. And it isn't whether everything works out, it isn't how much you accomplish. It isn't whether you seem to be doing a great work. The important thing in your life and mine is to do the will of God. We were just noticing the other day. About what it tells us in Colossians chapter 3. Here was a poor slave in Colossae. He had been brought to know the Lord. But he had an unconverted master, and his unconverted master made life very difficult for him, and he might say, I can't do anything to the Lord. My life is just a lost life because I'm a slave to a heathen master. Look at the position that I'm in. Perhaps he would say, why doesn't God Take Me Out of this possession? And I think it's so lovely. But the apostle Paul writes by the Spirit, he said, why? You can do your service for your master as the servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. That heathen slave could do the will of God and could be doing just as much the will of God as the great apostle Paul when he was preaching the gospel and going from place to place and seeing Saul saved. And they were both doing the will of God. One was doing the will of God just as much as the other. And the important point for each one to learn was. Submission to the will of God in the pathway. In what she has called us now, dear young person, if your pathway seems a little hard to understand and difficult. Maybe God has put you in those very circumstances to show how you can. Glorify God in adverse circumstances. You remember what Satan said about Job? He said, well, Job fears God because everything goes well in his life, but his things didn't go right. Then he'd curse God. So what did God do? Well, he allowed Satan to take away all those things that Job had. And what did Job do? Did he curse God? No, he humbled himself in the presence of God, and he got the blessing. But sometimes you might think, well, if everything was taken away, then I could glorify God. No, God has people who can glorify him as slaves. He can. They can glorify him when things go wrong in their life. And there's nothing sweeter in life than to be doing the will of God, whether it's something that's easy or something that's difficult. And now I want you to notice what happened when he went into the sanctuary of God. Notice what he says. The 23rd verse. Nevertheless, I am continually with Thee. Thou hast Holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. Can it be it's the same person talking in these 23rd, 4th, and 5th verses as was talking in the beginning and said. When I beheld the prosperity, the wicked, my foot well and I slept, yes, it's the same person. What has made the difference? Well, he got into the sanctuary of God and when he got into the sanctuary of God, then his whole outlook was changed. He had an entirely different outlook and he said I am continually with thee. He said I'm in good company. He said I've got somebody holding my hand. I'd rather have somebody holding my hand that I love. Fraud than to be going over a smooth Rd. along. He said let it be a rough Rd. There's somebody that's hauling my hand. There's somebody that's always with me and he said, well I don't know what to do. I've got someone to guide me. Thou will guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me the glory. He said, whom I have I in heaven but thee. And now he looked at all these rich people prospering. He looked at all these other people that he couldn't understand.
And he said, but I've got the Lord, I've got the Lord. There is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. Oh dear young people, He had the answer, didn't he? And you can have the answer. Maybe you've done, and I've done just what this man did in the 73rd Psalm. But oh, what a difference. When we get into the presence of the Lord, when we see that he is seeking our blessing, He is seeking our good. He does guide us by. His counsel. And now, just as I close, I'd like you to read one verse in the 86th Psalm. And I'd like you to just take this little verse as your prayer, and my prayer too. Psalm 86 and verse 11. Teach me Thy way, O Lord, I will walk in Thy truth. Unite my heart to fear Thy name.