Pat 3-16-24 "Wisdom from Psalms"

The speaker begins by reading a scripture from Psalms and discussing the importance of praying before speaking. They then mention their intention to speak on wisdom from Psalms and introduce the person who will be contributing to the discussion. They highlight the significance and various aspects of Psalms, including its role as a prayer book, hymn book, historic book, and prophetic book. The speaker expresses their intention to focus on the first 23 Psalms, emphasizing the repentant spirit of David. They also mention the importance of trust in the Lord and read selected verses from the Psalms to illustrate their points. All right, before Pat speaks, we're going to do the scripture reading, which is found in Psalms 19, verse 14. So that's Psalms 19, verse 14. And the Bible says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer, amen. Good afternoon. Happy Sabbath, everyone. You know, when you get an opportunity to speak, I don't know about you, but when I do, I always say, Lord, what do you want me to say? I mean, what do you want me to say? Because you can talk about anything, right? And of course, we want to talk about something that the Lord would want us to talk about. So that's the first thing you always do is pray. And I usually wait a day or two for an answer, you know. But I would say, OK, I'm going to do wisdom, wisdom from the Lord. All right. So where do you go in the Bible for wisdom from the Lord? Ecclesiastes, anywhere, Proverbs, Psalms, OK, the easiest answer is Proverbs, right? It's just chock full with all sorts of wisdom, right? It's a book of wisdom. But I thought, you know what? I think I did that not too long ago. So I said, no, let's do something different. So I said, what about what we're studying in Sabbath school, wisdom from Psalms? So I don't know who said wisdom from Psalms, but there is a lot of wisdom in Psalms. And it makes sense, because who wrote most of the Psalms? David. He was the father of Solomon, who wrote Proverbs, right? So we're going to go to a little closer source, OK? So it's going to be the wisdom of Psalms. And you know, I want to read to you, because if you've never read this, you should. Every time you get the quarterly, read the first page or two, because it is the principal contributor of this quarterly, and the person that wrote most of it, probably all of it. And they give you a little highlight of what they're going to talk about, OK? So let me read some stuff, because she did a real good job. And let me just tell you this right now. Her name is Dragoslava Santrak, and she's got a PhD in Old Testament, and she's the Managing Editor of the Encyclopedia of the Seventh-day Adventist at the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist World Headquarters. And she has authored the volume on Psalms 76 through 150, there's 150 Psalms, OK? And for the Seventh-day Adventist International Bible Commentary. So I would say she knows what she's talking about. She's researched it, right? And probably prayerfully researched it. So let me just say a few things that she said about Psalms, just to start out with, OK? There's 150 chapters in Psalms, and David wrote at least half of them. And it's interesting that she starts from where David left off, because David wrote like the first 80, and then other people wrote them. Solomon wrote two or three, Ezra wrote some. There are other authors, but there's about five or six authors of Psalms, OK? But David is the psalmist. He's known as the psalmist. He wrote most of the book of Psalms. And here's what she says. She says, the Psalms is where God and people meet heart to heart. I like that. I like that. And then she says, the Psalms are prayers and hymns of the Bible. We all know that, right? They're prayers and hymns of the Bible. And Psalms has served as a prayer book and a hymn book to a generation of believers for 3,000 years or more, because Moses wrote some of the Psalms. Who knew that, right? But not only is the Psalms a prayer book and a hymn book, it's also a historic book. There's a lot of history in Psalms, and it's a prophetic book. There's a lot of prophecy in Psalms. A lot of the prophecies, 24 of them to be exact, are about the Messiah to come, all right? So Psalms is a pretty loaded book when you think about it. And I would advise maybe just go through and read some Psalms from time to time. Here's another thing she says. The Psalms bear witness to a spiritual journey that is common to many of God's children. That's us. These stories are common to us, all right? Our desire and prayer are that the Psalms strengthen us on our journey. And through them, we get to meet God daily, heart to heart, until the day when we see Jesus Christ face to face. OK, so that's kind of a background on Psalms. And what I'm going to do today is, you know, I might speak for half an hour. But I'm going to speak of the, so you can turn to Psalms if you want, the book of Psalms, because I'm just going to go through the first 23 Psalms. And I'm not going to do all of them, of course. I'm just going to glance through them. But I'm going to start with one and go through 23. And there's a reason why I will end at 23, OK? You know, the psalmist, Jesus said that David was a man after his own heart, didn't he? He said that the psalmist was a man after his own heart. But yet, we know David's life. And it's not all good, is it? It's not all good. He had a man killed. He tried to cover up his infidelities with a woman. You know, trust me, he's probably no different than us, OK? And I just want to say, when Jesus said that, he was looking at his good attributes. His good attributes, not the bad ones. Of course not. He was looking at his repentant spirit. Because David had a repentant spirit like nobody. I mean, he was a very repentant man. And Jesus said, now that's a man after my own heart. And don't we need to be repentant? I think so. You know, Kevin and I have talked about this all week. It keeps coming up. The sins of the father go to the third and fourth generation. Well, some of us don't even know our great grandfathers. Or even our grandfathers. All right? And it comes from both sides, too. Our mom and our dad. So if you think you're without sin, you better go look in the mirror and have a talk with God. OK? Because we're not without sin. We don't want to sin. We don't want to sin. But trust me, it happens. Pick yourself up, repent, and move on. That's what God wants us to do. He doesn't want us to give up. So let me just start. Oh, and I want to mention a little fact about Psalms. They were written. Moses lived around 1450 B.C. And Ezra also wrote some. And he lived about 450 B.C. So they were written over a thousand years. Over a thousand years. Most of them by David. OK? Let's look at Psalm 1, 1, 2, and 6. Now, you know, before I get into this, I hope this does this for you. Because it does it for me. When I read stuff like this, like the Psalms, it's just like water flowing over me. It really is. These words are just beautiful words. And we know all this stuff, I hope. But to hear it again, and again, and again. It's just like you're taking a shower with it. OK? That's the way I like to look at it. So, hopefully, that's going to happen to you right now. OK. Psalm 1, 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. Day and night. And then drop down to 6. For the Lord knows the ways, the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Shall perish. 2. Let's just keep going. 2.12. 2.12. Kiss the sun. Not the sun in the sky. The sun, Jesus Christ. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. You know what? I think the whole Bible tells you to put your trust in the Lord. It does, doesn't it? When you read the Bible, the bottom line is, put your trust in the Lord. Put your trust in the Lord. And you know what? Psalms does this a lot. A lot. The bottom line is always, put your trust in the Lord. Not in a man. Not in the world. Not in all these ideas that you figured out, geniusly, or so you think. Put your trust in the Lord. So that's what he's saying here. Let's just keep going. 3.6. 3.6. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around, if God be for you, who can be against you? Right. Who's worried about the ten thousands all around you? I mean, yeah, you can worry about it, but don't. Don't. Put your trust in the Lord. And if God be for you, who can be against you? Pretty simple, right? Okay. 3.8. 3.8. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing, God's blessing, is upon your people. You know what? It says that many times in the Bible. It says it one time in Daniel 12, when they're talking about that 1335 day prophecy. It's saying, wait for the blessing. Okay? The blessing that's about to come upon us. Right? Now, the blessing can come upon us right now, but oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Are we ever going to be blessed when we get out of here? I mean, eye has not seen, ear has not heard. We don't even know what's in store for us. But we know it's good. Right? We know it's good. It's something to look forward to. How about Psalm 4.4? 4.4. Be angry and do not sin. Oh boy. Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Okay? Don't let your anger get out of hand, folks. We all can be angry. Jesus was angry. Right? But, but, he wasn't out of control. And he was angry for a reason. Okay? So meditate on that before you go off the deep end. And being a man of action myself, I tend to make mistakes in that area and then regret it. And then regret it. And I say, I have to say, Lord, I'm sorry, Lord. Help me. Strengthen my faith, my trust in you. Okay, let's keep going. 6. Psalm 6. I'm going to read 2 through 5. Okay? Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. I don't know about you, but I think I said that three times this week. I did. I just cried out. I didn't know what else to do. I was just at wit's end. So have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me. O save me for your mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave, who will give you thanks? You know, when I read that, I think of all sorts of places in the Bible that says the dead know nothing. You know, when you're dead, you're done. So whatever you need to do, you need to do it now. Now. And if you're going to live for the Lord, you need to do it now. Because who knows when our last breath is? We really don't know. I think of Ecclesiastes 9.10. For the dead know nothing. The dead know nothing. Okay? So now is the time to act for the Lord. Now is the time to act for the Lord. Okay, what about this one? 7.17. 7.17. I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness. And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. You know what? We could do this all day. Because the Lord has given us everything. He really has. Everything that is good that the Lord has given us. And maybe in heaven we will be able to do this all day. You know? Because now we're so distracted by life. I don't know about you, but I'm distracted by life. Just trying to prepare this sermon. And do my lesson. And do whatever else. I was distracted so many times by people in my house. And I had to stop and say, Okay, I'll be back. You know, I might not get back to the next day. But I had to go down and take care of whatever. Whatever. And I'm not saying that's all bad. That's not. It's not all bad. We need to strive with other people. Okay? We need to help other people. We need to do for others and not just for ourselves. Right? And besides, didn't Jesus say, In this world, you will have trials and tribulations. There's a big but. But, be of good cheer, Jesus said, For I have overcome the world. For I have overcome the world. And you know what else? It sharpens you. It's getting you ready to meet the Lord when He comes. When you have trials and tribulations, When you have problems, There's good in it. You may not see it, But there is good in it. Right. Thank you. Okay, let's look at this. Psalm 8, 4 and 5. Psalm 8, 4 and 5. What is man that you are mindful of him, And the son of man that you visit him? For you, God, have made him a little lower than the angels, And you have crowned him with glory and honor. You know what? This is one of those things. I've said this. A lot of things I say in Sabbath school, I don't think I say them all from up here. So, if I'm repeating myself, just bear with me. But, you know, When I was young, And I was young in this faith, I was reading Ellen White, And she said that. She said that. That we were made a little lower than the angels. And I said, Oh, come on. Where do you get that? How did you make that up? Right? Because I hadn't read it, obviously. I hadn't read it word for word in Psalms yet. Right? And I was a doubter of Ellen White. Shame on me. Shame on me. I don't doubt anymore. I haven't for a long time. Because when I was young, I used to doubt. I used to think, Oh, come on. How does she know all this stuff? Well, a month, six months, a year later, I'm still thinking about this. We're made a little lower than the angels? What? Word for word. What she said is word for word in the Bible. And I just go, Wow. I need to stop doubting. I have not done this once. I've not done this twice. I've done this three or four times with Ellen White's writings, where I went, I've read the Bible. I've never seen that. Where do you get this? I'm not that smart, obviously, because she got it word for word in the Scriptures. And I was glad to be reproved. I was glad to say, Wow. Because I don't know so much, do I? So anyway, there it is. We're made a little lower than the angels. Let me read what she says, by the way. This is where I read this from. Well, let me read it. Kevin, what's MH? Ministry of Healing. Thank you. She says, A little lower than the angels. Next to the angelic beings, the human family formed in the image of God are the noblest of His created works. Wow. I feel pretty blessed, folks. She doesn't stop there. God desires them to become all that He has made it possible for them to be and to do their very best with the powers He has given them. So, you see, we're supposed to live up to our potential. Right? We are here for a purpose. Always remember that. No one's an accident. We are here for a purpose. We're here for a purpose. God has given us His plan for our life, and He desires us to reach the highest standard of development. Amen. Amen. Okay. Let's go to 9. Psalm 9, 8 through 10. Let's skip it. Let's skip it. Just because I'm looking at the clock and stuff. They're all good. I can go on and on and on. Let me spare you a little bit. Let's go to 10, 3, and 4. 10, 3, and 4. For the wicked boast of his heart's desire, he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked, He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked, in his proud countenance, does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. Wow, do we see a lot of that today? Yeah. People don't care about God. He's in none of their thoughts. That's why when you mention something, they look at you like you have three heads. You know, it's not easy witnessing. It's not easy because you have to be ready for maybe a little ridicule, right? Don't worry about it. The Lord's with you. How about 11, 5, and 6? No, let's skip that one. Let's go to 13, 3. 13, 3. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Enlighten my eyes. You see that? Enlighten my brain. Feed me, lest I sleep the sleep of death. So, yes, at some point, we have to wake up and realize who we serve. Who we serve and what our role is. And I always say that because I'm talking to myself. I'm talking to myself. You can take whatever you want from it. I'm talking to myself. Wake up, Pat. Wake up. Time is short. And you know what? If we sleep, not the sleep of death, but if we sleep, fall asleep, die before the Lord comes, the next thing we know is we'll be meeting Him in the air with our loved ones, with our loved ones. I don't think you can ask for a whole lot more than that. All right, 14.1. 14.1. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Anyone? Got their eyes open? That's what the Lord is doing often. Anyone? You know, I don't know about you, but I want understanding. I want understanding. That's why I read this book. That's why I read Ellen White's books. Because I want understanding. Ellen White is real good at filling in the gray areas that may come with this. Okay? Because there are some gray areas. I'll read something and I'll go, oh, but what about this? And what about that? And then Ellen comes down, and she's just telling you all about it. And I'm like, wow. This is exciting. Always. Always, always. But you know what? I think you need to make a point to take this information in and pray, and the Lord will put it upon your heart. The Lord will put it upon your heart. How about 18.6? Let's go to 18.6. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry came before him, even to his ears. Now, this is interesting. This was written 1,000 years before Jesus came on the scene. Right? So was God hearing the children of Israel from heaven? And is Jesus hearing us from here? Same thing now, right? Same thing. Okay? That's my point I want to make by reading that. Same thing. So cry out to the Lord. Cry out to the Lord. I'm serious. Just do it. You know, the Bible even says, you know, sometimes I think a prayer. I think a prayer in my head. Whoever does that. You just think a prayer in your head? Okay. And that's okay. That's okay, because he knows our thoughts. But the Bible says speak with your mouth and your tongue. Speak. He wants to hear it from you. Speak with your. Cry out to the Lord. Okay, let's try this. Do you know that Jesus is the rock? Jesus is the rock. Right. 1831. For who is God except the Lord, and who is a rock except our God? Now let's go to 46. 1846. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let the God of my salvation be exalted. Jesus is the rock that will roll your blues away. Okay. Jesus will roll your blues away. Trust in him. Trust in him. Okay, we're getting close. Psalm 19. Psalm 19.1. I love this because I've always loved looking at God's glory in nature. Okay. I mean, you know when there's beautiful sunrises, beautiful sunsets, storms rolling in, a rainbow, a double rainbow, a triple rainbow. I mean, when I see all these, I think of this right here. 19.1. The heavens, right above us, declare the glory of God. And the firmament, that's the firmament, shows his handiwork. See, we see God's work in nature all the time. All the time. I always say, listen, if you're not getting into the sermon, just stare outside. Something's going to happen. And I'll tell you, one time I was staring outside, and I saw this eagle flying up here. Maybe you guys saw it that day. There was an eagle that kept flying back and forth. And I said, wow, look at that. Look at that, Lord. Thank you. And I was paying attention. And I still saw the eagle, right? We have a front row seat to nature. All right. 19.7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Here we go. 19.7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. That's me. I'm simple-minded. I'm very simple-minded. There's nothing deep about me. Okay? I'm very simple-minded. I'm a simple man. But you know what? His word makes me wise. It makes me wise. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. One more. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Let's just take the Ten Commandments. Okay? The law of the Lord. Let's just take the Ten Commandments. Is keeping them, is there great reward in keeping them? Yes. Yes. And what else did it say? Moreover, by them your servant is, are you not warned by them? Yes. Paul said looking into the commandments is like looking in a mirror and seeing the dirt on your face. I'm paraphrasing a little bit. To see in your need of God. Okay? So this is, this is, this is so true. It's so true. It just jumps off the page at me. Okay, and then what Nick read, 1914. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. That's everything right there. Thank you for saying amen because that's everything right there. Right? That's, that's what we want. That's what our, my desire is. All right. Now, I have to do this because you always have to tell a story from up here. Okay? I believe. Psalm 22. You familiar with it? It's Jesus suffering on the cross. But it was written a thousand years before he suffered on the cross. Okay? Now, I've told this story twice in Sabbath school. But a lot of you people weren't there. So I'm going to tell you again. So the ones who've heard it, just bear with me. I was camping 15 years ago with my small children. My two older ones were gone. I was with my small children and a couple of their friends. And we were up in the White Mountains in a tent on a, on a lake. We had our kayaks. It was a beautiful, going to be a beautiful time. And it was. It was. And I'm going over to the bathroom Sabbath morning, you know, to start my day. And who do I see? A whole group of Orthodox Jews. I found out later they came up from Boston. All right? Of course all Jews live in the city, right? I'm just kidding. Just kidding. But anyway, I see all this group of Jewish people and I thought, hmm, interesting. And then I see their father, the rabbi, off away from them doing his morning prayers. And two things came to mind. One, I thought, that's weird. Why isn't he doing the morning prayers with this whole family? They're all just mulling around. And he's over here by himself. And I knew what he was doing because I've read the scriptures. He's doing his morning prayers. Right? And he had his phylactery on. He had his prayer shawl on. He had his little beanie on. He had his Bible. And he's going through all this tradition. He was doing this number. Okay? I don't know what all that means. It's tradition. Right? But I said to myself, I want to talk to that guy. Yeah, what do you think I want to talk to him about? Jesus. Jesus. Okay? Because they're still looking for the Messiah. Right? And he's orthodox. He's a rabbi. So I'm over there brushing my teeth. I'm praying, Lord, I want to talk to that guy. Open up a way where I can talk to that man. Sure enough, I'm coming back and my prayer was answered. He's done. He's finishing. He's taken his phylactery off. He's taken his prayer shawl off. He's kissing his Bible, bowing. He's going through this ritual of finishing his morning prayers. I thought, oh, good. So I didn't want to interrupt him before. So I thought, perfect time to talk to him. I go up to him. I said, Shabbat shalom. Oh, he turns around. He was excited. He thought another Jewish person was there. And he says, you're Jewish too? And I said, no, I'm a Christian. Immediately, he put his head down. He went like this. Like, I don't want to talk to you. I'm sorry, folks, but this is what happened. He's a rabbi. He put his head down. And this same thing has happened to me three times with a rabbi. Not once. Not twice. And I'm not cutting down these people. I'm just telling you as an example. Because when Jesus was on the earth, who dogged him? The teachers of the law. The ones who should have known better. And here this guy is acting no different than them. And so I said, no, I think we have a lot in common, though. He said, we have nothing in common. I mean, he's just downcast and ugly to me. There's no reason for that, is there? I don't think so. Jesus doesn't want us to be that way. No. No. So I said, no, I think we have a lot in common. He said, like what? I said, well, we're looking, we serve the same God. And I said, and we love the Messiah, right? And I said, he said, well, like what do we have in common? I said, well, let's look at, I didn't have a Bible on me. I said, look up Isaiah 53. Going for the juggler, right? If you know Isaiah 53, I'm going for the juggler. Okay, because I know I'm not going to see him again. So I'm going for the juggler. And if you know Isaiah 53, trust me, if you don't, read it today. All right? And any Jewish person that reads Isaiah 53 can't say, I don't know what you're talking about. Okay. So he said, I, that's not my Bible. I was shocked. I didn't know. I thought Isaiah, a major prophet. It's not in your Bible. He said, no. I said, well, what's in your Bible? He said, the Torah. I said, that's it. I said, okay, what about Psalms? He said, yeah, Psalms is in there too. Of course, because, you know, they love, they love David. Right. But anyway, so I said, Psalm 22. He said, okay, Psalm 22. So he starts reading it. Let me read it to you. Just a few. Okay. Psalm 22, 1. 22, 1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Did not Jesus Christ say those exact words on the cross? He said, Eli, Eli, lama sabbathani, which means the same thing. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This is Jesus crying out on the cross. This is pointing toward that. So they would know who their Messiah was, right? Okay, now let me spare you the rest. Go to 16. Go to 16. For dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. When Jesus was on the cross, they were mocking him. Come down off that cross if you're truly the son of God. Right? Among other things. They mocked him. The dogs have surrounded me, it says. Okay, let's keep going. The wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. Jesus was pierced in his hands and his feet, and not one bone was broken. It's what it just said. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. All this was fulfilled in Jesus Christ on the cross. It was all fulfilled word for word. And it's there for a reason. So they would know who their Messiah was when he came. Okay? So I'm going through all this, and he said, That's not talking about... Well, first, here's what he did. I said, That's talking about... And he said, Yeah, so what? So what? He read the whole thing. And I said, That's talking about Jesus Christ. He spit on the ground. He couldn't believe those words just came out of my mouth. It angered him. He spit on the ground. And I thought, Wow, what am I dealing with here? What am I dealing with? We don't wrestle with flesh and blood, right? It's higher than that. So anyway, and I said, That's Jesus Christ. He said, That's not Jesus. That's David talking about himself. And I just thought, Wow, we don't have anything in common. I should have listened to him, right? We don't have anything in common, maybe. Or he wasn't seeing it. But I want to tell you that story because I want you to know that, you know, if you're going to witness the Jewish people, you better be prepared. You better be prepared because they are adamant against Jesus Christ because they're still thinking that their Messiah is coming. Okay? All right, I'm going to finish right here. You know what the last verse of 22 says? Here's what it says. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this. In other words, that's us, a people to be born. They will spread his righteousness. That's the Gospels, the story of Jesus Christ. Beautiful. 22, it's beautiful. And let me end right here. You probably are familiar with this. Psalm 23. Psalm 23, beautifully written. Only six verses. Let's see if I can get through it because it always gets me. I kind of choke up. It's really, really profound. It's profound and it's poetic. You ready? Psalm 23. The Lord, the shepherd of his people. Jesus is the good shepherd. Not just any shepherd. He's the good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He gives me everything. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Amen. You know, I choose to be led by the good shepherd. I'm sure we all do. And let's not ever forget that. Who that is and why we serve him. So, let's pray. Lord, I just thank you for your word. I thank you for your psalms. I thank you for all the blessings you've given us, Lord. And Lord, yes. Yes, Lord. I want to follow you, Lord. Help me to do that. Not only for me, for my sake, but for others who I may come in contact with that I can lead them to the foot of your path, Lord. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.