Lesson 8

Alright, so in Psalm 101 we are learning a psalm of David, and by hearing David express his desires and his intents as the servant of God, we learn what our hearts should be like and what our lives should be like. You know, we spend a great deal of time in the Genesis to Jesus class teaching about sin and teaching about how God saves us from that sin by His grace. Not by our work, not by our effort, not by anything we can do but by what Jesus has done for us. And we're consistent because the Bible's consistent on that all throughout the scripture from Genesis to Revelation. And we're also in the building on Jesus. We've taught you about no wreck and yield. We've learned that our salvation is eternal. We've learned that you don't finish your salvation by your works. From start to finish it's all Christ. But there is a practical side to being a Christian. There are responsibilities. There are obligations that we have. You know, as a son to my mother and father when I was growing up, I didn't always behave as I should have behaved. But they were still my parents and I was still their child and nothing I could do could change that relationship I had with them or change their love for me. At the same time, even though I was their child by birth, just as we're God's child by the new birth, I still had obligations in that home. My dad still gave me responsibilities. He still gave me chores. Unlike kids like Jonathan who got to play all day when I was growing up. I had to work. My dad owned a business and as soon as I was old enough to push a broom, my dad was taking me to work. So when all the kids were playing on Saturdays, old Richard was going to work. And if I did not do those things, then I would be held accountable. I would have to answer to him and there would be judgment. There would be punishment. It didn't mean he would kick me out of the house. It didn't mean that I would no longer be his child. But it did mean there would be repercussions and it was good for me to follow my father's instructions and my mother's instructions. It was better for my life. They were wiser than me because they were older than me and God gave them to me for my good. It's the same way with being a Christian. Yes, by God's grace we've been born into the kingdom of God. We've been born into God's family. But there's obligations we have as a child of God and even if we don't meet up with those obligations, yes, we're still God's child. Yes, we're still going to heaven. Yes, he still loves us. But it's good for us to follow what God tells us to do. It's good for us to know what God tells us to do. Because every parent wants a child they can be proud of. And a lot of times children don't live up to the standard they should live. They don't make their parents proud. They bring shame to their parents. They bring dishonor to their parents. I told all my children when they grew up, I said, "My dad passed a good name down to me in the community. I'm passing a good name down to you. Now what you do with it is up to you. But don't shame me in my name." That hadn't always happened. But that's the way they should do. And we don't always bring glory to God's name by our behavior, but that's what we should do. And so looking here in Psalm 1011, I want you to look here now at the Psalm of David. David said, "I will sing." I will sing. Let's stop right there just a moment. Music is a powerful medium. Very powerful. How many of y'all have never had a song stuck in your head? Raise your hand. Nobody. Songs get stuck in our head. That's why they're advertising people. They love jingles. They used to be much better at them than they are today. But songs are powerful. You go down the highway. You get at a red light. You look over to your right or to your left. And you may happen to see someone going, "Ahh." And they're imagining that they're in that music video and that what they're singing about, the man or the woman they're singing to, that they're living that out. Or they imagine that they're on the stage and everyone's listening to them. Music is something that God gave us. It's something that He created in our brain. Did you know that music, that musical part of our brain, is one of the last things to go? I was watching a documentary on that a while back and they were treating Alzheimer's patients with music therapy. And when they started playing music back when they were kids, that suddenly it would unlock memories because they were stimulating that part of the brain. God made music to be powerful. And David says, "I will sing." But here's the thing about music. Music was given to us as an expression of worship to God. That's what music was given to us. And the devil hijacks that powerful medium in our mind. Wouldn't it be great if we had a song about God stuck in our mind? Rather than some stupid song, there's a tear in my beer stuck in our head. Something silly you hear in Walmart when you're walking through shopping. That's why God made music so powerful. So we could have stuck in our mind the praises of God and the truth of God. We could with great emotions sing unto the Lord. Look, he says, "I will sing." What is he going to be singing about? "Of mercy and judgment unto thee, O Lord, will I sing." What's he singing about? God's mercy. How good he's been to him. God's judgment. How wise he is and how God directs him. Who's he singing to? "Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing." Now what the devil does, the strongest relationship, the strongest relationship that man has is the relationship between him and God. My wife says that she's my number two and she loves being my number two. Did you know that I could not love my wife the way I do if I did not love God? And I could not love God the way I do if God did not first love me. So God loves me. In return, I'm thankful and I love him back. Then God loves me and he gives me my wife. I then am thankful and I love God back and praise for giving me my wife. And then God loving her uses me as an instrument and God loves her through me. And then God loves me through her. And then we both send that praise back to God. That's the way it's supposed to work. So you have a marriage made in heaven and you have a holy union. Now here's what happens. The strongest relationship is between the creature and the creator. I pray to God. I think about God. I learn about God. I teach about God. This morning we'll be singing about God. But if you don't have a relationship with God, the carnal man does not understand the love relationship between someone that God has redeemed and someone that can say, "Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so rich and free." They don't know how to sing anything like that because they've never experienced being saved by God before. They don't know what it's like to have a relationship with God. And so what the carnal man does, he takes the next strongest relationship and what's the next strongest relationship other than God and man? What's the next strongest relationship? Man and wife. Man and wife or man and woman. And then God's out of it. And that's modern music. You see what happened? That is modern music. That's secular music. Almost every secular song is about a relationship that takes God out and sings praise and worship about the relationship of man and woman or laments the relationship of man and woman. Never with God's music do you ever lament a relationship with man and God. But here they praise the relationship of man and woman. Even they've just met each other in a bar. Or they lament the relationship of man and woman, how she just ran off but he'll find somebody else, whatever. But that's secular music. You say, "Oh, well, there's some music, Brother Richard, that's patriotic. And I've heard on the Country Channel people singing about, you know, country, about the love for their country." Well, you see, with the way God designed it, we would be singing praise about God's kingdom. But when you've taken God out of the equation, you have to sing about a man's country. You see the difference? You see how that works? And so what happened is you have all this passion and all this music. Being the age that most of us are in here, you'll understand. I was watching a video yesterday of a man named, he was a rapper, fat man, somebody, some famous rapper. And he was up on stage last week. Did anyone see that video? Huh? Yeah, he's up on stage. He says, "Oh, y'all come here. They're going to come party and all that." And he's up there and they're all listening and got this big crowd. And he says, "Let's make some noise." He's dead, just like that. He falls out. That man's dead. And so some people are back there working on him and looking at him. The other people are like, "Well, the show must go on." So they try to get people to make noise and start partying. "Well, this guy's dead back here." And at that moment, this man that had made his living off the music industry of making noise and celebrating a relationship that takes God out of the equation, suddenly noise doesn't mean anything anymore. Suddenly he's gone and everything he rapped about and sung about and partied about and worshipped and celebrated and everyone hooping and hollering about, suddenly it means absolutely nothing. Well, you know the truth is it meant nothing when he was here. Because when you take this out, you're left with man, woman, country. The country is going away, the woman's going away, and the man's going away because of sin will surely die. And all this is going to perish. So why celebrate and worship something that takes God out of the equation. See, what the devil will do, he uses music to put ideas, to put themes in a person's head that block God out of it. And he'll have you meditating on those things, singing about those things, and in a sense worshipping those things because the music sounds good. Music is like fine china. It's beautiful. But what matters is the food on the plate. You see, how many times have you ever said, "Well, I don't pay attention to words, I just enjoy the music." How many of you have ever said that? A lot of us in here have. What you're really saying is, "I don't care what food I'm eating, I don't like care about the kind of plate it's on." That's stupid. I've been guilty of it though when I was a kid. I was guilty of that because all of the tune and all that stuff. But it's the food on the plate, and the devil's smart in having us concentrating on ungodly, secular things and having that in our mind. And as a Christian, we don't need to be listening to the music that takes God out of it because then you're worshipping these things. You need to be listening to the music that has God first, things about God, relationship with man and his kingdom that's on its way. And so because of that, I don't listen. For years, I haven't listened to anything but Christian music. I don't listen to secular music anymore. Believe it or not, when I was a kid, I had my own rock band when I was in high school. I could sing back then. My voice wasn't torqued back then. I could sing like my mother and my brother and my sister. God gave me a voice to sing. And so I used it to sing the songs that were popular in my day. And those songs I knew were very powerful. It seemed like I couldn't work without having my radio on. I had to carry my music around with me wherever I went. And you get addicted to it. But as I became a believer, I thought, "You know, I need to change what's in my head. I need to cut it off." You know, in country people say, "Well, I don't listen to rock and roll. That's bad. I listen to country." Yeah, it still is right here. I know the words the country sings. I've heard them. And so David says, "I want to sing of mercy and judgment. I want to sing to you, Lord." Look here in verse 2. "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way." I want to conduct myself wisely in life. I'm not going to make foolish decisions. I want to follow your word. And he says, "Oh, when will thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." David wanted God to visit with him. David wanted his companionship. He wanted his fellowship. We need to live each and every day seeking the companionship of God. Listen to what David said. He said, "I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." Now, I'm going to walk outside in front of people with a perfect heart. I'm going to walk in my house with a perfect heart. Do you know what it means to walk in your house with a perfect heart? It means when you're all by yourself and nobody can see you, that's when you're listening to God's music. When nobody can see you, that's when you're guided by what you turn on the television. When nobody can see you, that is when with a perfect heart you surf the internet. That is true integrity. I was taught as a new Christian that you have to make your mind up before you go out of town if you're going to serve God. I used to travel out of town all the time when I worked for the state and I'd be in a hotel room by myself and I'd be out of town where people didn't know me. A lot of people, a lot of legislators, and a lot of people I worked with, they go down to Austin for state business. Man, when they're off work at night they go down to Sixth Street and get a prostitute or go to some club and get it run off with some woman and cheat on their wife. Man, I knew you did that. Two men I knew did that. At least two men I knew. But here he says, "I'll walk within my house with a perfect heart. When nobody else sees me, when the public eye is not on me, when I'm in the hotel room by myself or I'm at home by myself, that's when I'm going to serve you, Lord. When it's just me and you, I'm not going to be a hypocrite." Verse 3, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes." Do you know what hurts a Christian? Not just the music in their head, but the the visions before their eyes. Right now, I mean, when I was growing up we had a pornography that was available but you had to go to someone in some cheap gas station and the pornography was back behind them on a counter, protected, and had a wrap around us. Nobody could see it. And then you had to ask for it in front of whoever is in there and they sell it and you walk out with it. Now, within 60 seconds I could have it all right here. And nobody but me and God would know. Nobody but you and God would know. But you know what David said to God? "I'll set no wicked thing before my eyes." And that's a good verse of scripture for us to memorize. Whether it's that, whether it's whatever, it didn't have to be pornography. Don't put wicked things before your eyes. I know we go out into the world, we see wicked things all the time, but what David is talking about is setting them intentionally before his eyes so he can look at them, so he can enjoy them. You know, he did that once with Bathsheba and it got him in trouble. But we need to have that heart. "God, I'm not going to put anything wicked before my eyes." Man, we've gotten so used to television shows that have filthy language in them, half-naked women or naked women or naked men, we've gotten so used to the smut that we don't notice it anymore. We say, "Well, this is what's on television. It's not this." You know, it's, you know, it could get worse. Now, don't say it. If it's wicked, don't set it before your eyes. That's why my wife and I, we don't watch anything after 1950s. Because as you get into the 60s, you got cursing in it. You got more vileness in it. And so we just don't. Unless, you know, it's something that, you know, is a Christian movie or something like that, or a documentary, you know, you don't have that filth. He says, "I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me." You see that in Psalm 101.3? "I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me." Verse 4, "A forward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person." You see what David's saying? I'm not going to keep company within godly people. The company we keep, it will reflect on our lives. The company we keep is strong influence. As Indians, you say, strong medicine. And when you hang around people like that, then you're going to start behaving like it. You're going to start thinking like it. I remember one time I was, we were at the firing range when I worked for the state. None of the people in my service that I worked with used bad language. I never remember any of them using bad language. They were classy men. But one day we had some folks come in to do a special class at the firing range. And when they came in, they were of a different caliber of men. They were from the narcotic service. They liked dressing and growing their hair out like narcotics people. And they just enjoyed that filthy life. And they came in, and when they came in, they started using very foul language as they were talking, like it made them tough when they spoke that way. And within a few minutes, men that I'd been working with for years that I'd never heard say a bad word, within a few minutes they were cursing just like them. They wanted to be accepted by them. They wanted, and that influence rubbed off so quickly. And so David said, "I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. I'm not going to let what the world does affect what I do." They have social media influencers. I'd hate to be so weak and pathetic that somebody with a camera in front of their face can influence how I think and behave. We don't need to be that way. We need to be influenced by God's Word, how to think and how to behave. And David said, "I'm not going to let that rub off on me when he says it shall not cleave to me." That's basically what he's saying. "I'm not going to let it rub off on me." He said, "A forward heart shall depart from me. I'm going to put them away. I will not know a wicked person." A while back, there was a distant family member of my wife that she had not seen in a long, long time. And he stopped by the house on his way through Texas to another place down in South Texas. And he stopped by the house and didn't stay too long. But when he was there, he started cursing. "Well, nobody curses in my house. We just don't do that." He started cursing, and I just cringe. I thought, "All right, Richard, you know, do you make a scene here? Do you embarrass him? He's not going to be here long. You know what I mean? You start thinking about it. Do we want to hurt this person?" Well, when he left, I told my wife. I said, "He's not welcome back." She said, "I know. I know." So we're not inviting him back. And if he says he's coming back, then we'll have to have a long talk before he ever comes back. And I'll have to say, "Hey, I've got rules for my home and, you know, but just not going to let it get around me. I don't want it around me." Then so, it'll have to depart from me. I'm not hanging around those people. Verse five, "Who so privily slandereth his neighbor? Him will I cut off. Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will I not suffer." In other words, whoever privily slander his neighbor, that's someone that comes up to you and says, "Hey, let me tell you what I heard about so-and-so." And they start slandering their neighbor. They just start spilling gossip. It's not needful gossip. It's just slander. It's just running somebody down. It's hurting that person's reputation and character. David says, "I'm not going to take part in that." That's another responsibility that we have. We're not about running people down. We should be about lifting people up. And so, when you slander someone, then he says, "I'm not, you know, I'm not going to take part in those kind of conversations. Let's stay out of that. Him will I cut off. Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer." Someone who goes around boasting and bragging all the time and they have this... I'm not going to hang around people like that. Verse five, I'm sorry, verse six, "Might I shall be upon the faithful of the land." That's who I'm going to consider. That's who I want to be around. That's who I want to model my life after, the faithful of the land. Miss Hensley, before she passed away, I'd look at someone like her, this frail little woman. She didn't have big muscles. She wasn't popular. She wasn't on television. She wasn't an influencer on social media. Little old Dorothy Hensley, hardly anybody knew her, except for the people around here. But that woman was a woman of God, always thinking about what God wanted and how she could help somebody, especially somebody come to know the Lord. And I remember in my life thinking, "I want to be more like Dorothy Hensley." I remember thinking that. I want to be more like that woman. There's a 96 year old man I talked to last week. He's flat on his back, bedridden with terrible arthritis. Can't get out of the house and go to church. And I called him up. I thought he was in heaven already. I didn't know he was still living. 96, 40 years my senior. And I could not get that man to quit praising God while I was on the phone with him. He was having the best time talking about the Lord. He said, "God's taught me so many things flat on my back." Because all he has time for is to read the Bible. And he just praising God. That's the kind of people I want to be like. That's the kind of people I want to model my life after. Do you know what he told me? He said, "Brother Richard, never depart from God's Word. You stick with that Scripture and you teach all of it." That was so important to him to convey that to me before he died. So important. That's the kind of people I want to be like. My nigh shall be upon the faithful of the land. Who are we modeling our lives after? Who are we pinning up before our eyes and saying, "That's what I want to be like right there." That they may dwell with me. That's who I want to hang around. That's who I want to follow on social media. Not some woman with her body hanging out. Not some man that walks around trying to be cool. That guy thought he was cool before he died. That rapper did. Oh, he was up there big and proud and bold. Let's make some noise. Boom, he's dead. So he says, "My nigh shall be upon the faith of the land that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me." Now David was king. And what he was saying is, "I'm going to employ people. I want to hire people who follow the Lord." That's who I want to have in my employment. That's who I want to join forces with. People who follow God. And those who don't, I'm not going to to meddle with them. Verse 7, "He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight." I don't want some deceitful person. I don't want a liar. I'm not going to hang around liars. I'm not going to hang around people who do unscrupulous business practices. I'm not going to hang around people like that. People that tell lies, they're not going to hang around me. They'll be telling lies on others. Next thing you know, they'll be telling lies on you. Next thing you know, you'll be believing lies. Verse 8, "As king," David says, "I will early destroy all the wicked out of the land." You know what that means? Well, as king, any wicked in the land, he was going to destroy them, but he destroyed them early. You got a murderer? No problem. We'll take care of that. We're not going to feed and clothe them for 50 years and let them come up for parole every 10 years. We're going to kill them. We're going to stone them or cut his head off or whatever, but he says, "I'll do it early." That means I'm not going to tolerate it. Y'all see that in Colorado where that Venezuelan gang took over an apartment complex? It is sad. That wouldn't happen with old King David running the show. No, I don't think so either, but that wouldn't happen with old King David running the show. And we say, "Man, it'd be right to drive those people out there and give that property back to its rightful owners." Well, the same way we feel about that and the same way we look at David and say, "Well, we're not king like David," the attitude that David had about destroying wickedness in his land early, that was land that God gave him dominion over. And so we take that idea and we apply it to what God has given us dominion over. You may not have dominion over anything but your bedroom. You may not have dominion over anything but your house or your car or your family. You may have a small dominion, but whatever dominion God has given you, destroy early all the wicked out of the land. You got wicked people coming into your television? Flip it off! You got wicked music coming in your ears? Turn it off! You got wicked people coming into your home? Cut it out! You got wickedness going on in your house that you as a parent or a grandparent can control? Stop it. Don't tolerate it. Stop it and stop it early. Say, "No, this isn't happening in my home. Not going to tolerate it. That's your land and you rule it righteously because God's put in your control." If Adam would have done that in the Garden of Eden, that serpent would have been gone. Instead of eating the fruit, Adam would have said, "Get a hold, Eve. You know, I mean, we'll take care of the serpent now." I will destroy all the wicked out of the land that I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. God's city. What a great attitude to have. Used to when there would be revivals at churches, people would say, "I'm going to get rid of all wicked things out of my life." Do you know what they'd do back in the day? They'd bring ungodly music records and other things to the church. They'd burn them. They'd burn them at the church. You ever seen that before? No one's seen that before? You have? I did. In fact, when I was going to youth group many, many years ago, I brought all my sicker music up there. Yeah, how about that? Y'all didn't roast weenies over that stuff because that'd be very bad for them. Yeah, okay. But I'll cut it off. All the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. That's the attitude we need to have about our own lives. And sometimes we're the wicked doers. And we just need to have a clearing of ourselves. You know what, Lord? I want to do right. I want to have this attitude that David had. This would be a good psalm for you to put to memory, for you to meditate on, and then when something comes your way and you're tempted to compromise, just remember, "Oh, David, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes." Remember, David, unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. Remember, David, I will early destroy all the wicked out of the land. With that, I think we'll close and turn you guys back over to Brother Shepherd Sunday School. When you go back into Sunday School now, as you do when you go to church, you hear things. We have a better foundation to work off of now. Y'all pray for the next class coming up. Pray that we'll have... I know there's a man that expressed interest in the class that is not in church. I am going to contact him and see if he'll come. I kind of don't expect him to, but a lot of people talk and they never show up. Or if they do, they come one time, they stop. But just pray that in God's time, we'll have people come in, that we can take God's word and share with them the things that you've learned. All right. That will go ahead and close in prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. Thank you for the months that we've spent together in these classes. Thank you for the faithfulness of this class, Lord. I think this is probably the most faithful, if not the most faithful class I've had that's been faithful to come. And I'm grateful for that, Lord. God bless them for their perseverance. And God, I pray for Brother Eddie and Sister Anna Marie, even though they're not here in person, they're with us online. And I pray for them as well. And I pray you'll bless these people for their time, that they devoted to studying your word, Lord. Grow them in grace in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and be with our service next door in Jesus' precious name. Amen.