invite you to turn with me to the very first Psalm, Psalm 1. Most people, at least the people I talk to, most people love stories that have a happy ending. I know that when my daughters were very young and they were at home in Ohio, I wish they were back home again, but they're gone. But when they were young, we would read stories, and they always loved the end when we would read, and they lived happily ever after. Oh, they loved it. In fact, it got to the point that if we did not say happily ever after, then the story's not over. Happily Ever After marks the end of the story. And there are times where we would make up stories. And one time I made up a story, and I forgot to close it with Happily Ever After. And one of my daughters at that time, very young, said, did they live happily ever after, Daddy? Did they? Because you see, the story's not over until they hear that they lived happily ever after. We all want those kind of lives, don't we? Where we live, quote, happily ever after. That's why we're drawn to those stories. And this is the reason why many of your movies and TV programs end with that kind of a story plot, where they lived happily together. However, we find that real life isn't like that. Life's too complex, right? And there are too many problems. We are a nation that boasts in our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's everything that we want. That's what people come to America for. It's the American dream to have that happy life. And so people come to strive to achieve that life, that happiness. However, for the most part, We are a people who have come way short of that happy life that we so desperately want. Many try to find happiness in different ways. They try to find it in love and marriage, but the innumerable struggling marriages today indicate that we've come short of that. Couples hope that having a family will bring them happiness, but often the very children that they have cause them the deepest sorrow. Others try to find happiness in a career or in recreational activity. Maybe I'll go play nine holes and it'll make me feel better. Many try to deaden their pain with alcohol or drugs. But very, very, very few would claim that they have found lasting happiness. We should not be surprised that this is true in the world. It's what we should expect from people in the world who reject Jesus Christ. But sadly, this lack of happiness is found in the lives of the majority of Christians. And yet, of all the people in the world, it is the genuine followers of Jesus Christ who should be living this happily ever after life in light of who we are in Christ, what He's accomplished, and who is sovereign over all of life. We're the ones who should be the most ecstatic in life. We should be the ones declaring this. And I believe that biblically we as genuine Christians not only can live this life, but I believe we should live this life continually. Now, when I talk about happiness here, I am not indicating that we should live a life without sorrow or pain or without tears. We live in a world of sin. We will have pain. We will have sorrow. But the happiness I'm referring to is the contentment, the joy, the satisfaction we can have regardless of the circumstances we come across. It's what Paul talks about in Philippians chapter 4, verses 11 and 12. He said, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, mark that, in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. And then in verse 13, he says, it's all found in Christ. So it's not the circumstances that should determine our contentment and our joy, our happiness. And so this is the happily ever after, the contentment and satisfaction life that I'm talking about. That all Christians, all those who genuinely follow Jesus Christ should live the happily ever after life, regardless of circumstances. And so this evening as we look at this Psalm, Psalm 1, Because I believe this is probably one of the greatest passages in scripture to talk about this happily ever after life. And in this psalm we are introduced to the doctrine of the two ways to live in this world. It's a very common concept in scripture, but here we are introduced to it for the first time in scripture. And Jesus used this doctrine of two ways in his Sermon on the Mount. In fact, that's how he closed his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 through 7. The very last section of the sermon lists a series of contrasts between the choices that are to be made. There's two gates. There's two roads. Two trees and there are two types of fruits. Two houses and two foundations. And so this two ways, two roads is introduced to us here in Psalm 1. And I believe it is the clearest declaration of the two ways in which we can choose to live. That's found in Scripture. And we also see not only here in Psalm 1, but throughout Scripture, when it comes to these two ways, we need to understand that both ways will lead to a certain destination. It's unavoidable. There are two destinies. One will lead to life and life eternal. The other will lead to judgment, judgment eternal. And so it's important that we understand these two ways and the way that we choose to live. Now, one very important note that I want to make here is that this Psalm, Psalm 1, forms an introduction to the whole book of Psalms. It sets the stage for the entire book. It's like the preface, if you will. And the rest of the psalms, the next 149 psalms are an exposition of what the psalmist tells us here in Psalm 1. So Psalm 1 is the foundation to all of the psalms. And so since this psalm introduces us to the way in which we may find happiness and fulfillment in life, then all the psalms expound to this. You can go to any psalm and you can connect it back to Psalm 1. Because Psalm 1 is that introduction, it is that foundation, it is that preface. And as we look at these two ways in this psalm, I pray you can determine which life you are living, or maybe better, which way you want to live. These two ways are in contrast to each other. And here in Psalm 1, the psalmist lays out three contrasts to help us understand these two different ways in which we can live. And we will see that one way results in frustration, discontentment, and the other results in what I call this happy ever after life, discontentment and joy, even though we may experience sorrow and difficulty. Now, as we look at Psalm 1, I want you to notice before we get into any of this, this is very important. Before we look at these contrasts, I want you to look at the very first word in verse 1. I want to draw your attention there because it's the word blessed. Blessed. This word in the Hebrew here is emphatic. It expresses the superlative, if you will, the way it's written. And so a good way to translate it is, oh how very happy, how very ecstatic is the person. And I want to bring that up because too often we see this word blessed and it's just Not that big of a deal. Oh, how blessed. No, the way it's written in the Hebrews. Oh, how very, very happy. How ecstatic is the person who lives this way. So it's emphatic here. And that this word begins the Psalter, the book of Psalms is important because it indicates then that all of the Psalms, and I would like to add all of Scripture, all of the Psalms have been given to us by God to do us good, that we would live this happily ever after life. this life of joy and contentment in Christ. So as we come to this psalm, we have to see that our happiness both now and in eternity depends upon the choice we make of the way that we're going to live in this world. So let's look at these contrasts. And the first contrast of the two ways is found in verses 1 and 2. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. And so what you have here, the first contrast, is the contrast of associations. The contrast of associations. The three verbs in verse 1 speak of a person's lifestyle associates. The reality is this, and we have to understand this. We are affected by the people we associate with. I know we've probably heard this and we think about it, but too often we don't take it seriously. But we must understand the people we associate with does affect the way we live. And so our associations then do affect our happiness. And we see this in the very first verse. You know what he does here? We see true happiness is not found in a life that associates with God deniers. Those who reject God don't have this happy ever after life. And if we associate with them, then we won't find it neither. We'll find life very frustrating. And so this happiness comes only by way of a relationship with the Lord. And apart from Him, that joyful life is impossible. And so the relationship that you have with the Lord now will determine the depth of blessedness that you experience in life. In fact, you can determine a person's relationship with the Lord by looking at their lives and determining how they are living as far as joy and contentment. If a person is lacking that joy, if that person is lacking that satisfaction in Christ, then you could see that there's a problem there in their relationship with the Lord. happiness or contentment in anything other than the Lord is neverlasting. It will always, always come to an end. And I want you to notice that this happiness in verse 1 is first pictured in terms of negatives, right? What a person will not do. In other words, a person can be happy by not associating with the wicked. The three lines taken together there in verse 1 provide a full picture of what is to be avoided. What makes this very strange is that the psalmist here begins to describe the blessed life by first describing the wicked. And the reason for this is that the psalmist begins where we are, right? None of us automatically starts out being righteous. We all start out being sinners. And if we do eventually enter by the narrow road, that leads to life. It is by God's grace. There is no other way. Now he's going to present the positive side of godliness, but he deals with the negative first. See, in order to say what the way of the godly is, he wants us to know what it is not first. If we don't know what it is not, then we won't know what it is. And so he lays out what it is not first, so we'd have that understanding. Very important. So know what it is not. True happiness does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. That's the first thing. It does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. This means that this is the worldview that places man at the center of the universe. And it entices him to live by his own standards of morality. That he should find his pleasure as he deems fit. He's at the center of the world, the universe. The wicked person doesn't take God seriously. And thus he disregards God's word. To walk in the counsel of the wicked then means to allow their evil ways, to allow their advice to impact and determine our behavior, how we respond to things in life. It is to follow them rather than the guidance that God gives us in His Word. That's the counsel of the wicked. And ours is a time in which those who have no room for God in their lives are ever ready and very eager to offer advice to those of us who are living for God. The advice of the godless is all around us. It crops up in personal conversations, maybe at work or at school. It's on the internet and books and e-books and movies and television shows, the news and countless other ways. The godless advice is bombarding us everywhere we look. And all of these join their voices in this incessant pounding cry, live like this, it's fun, you'll love it, do it. That's the counsel of the wicked. And we need to be on guard because the counsel of the wicked has also flooded our churches today. There's much today that's being passed off as Christian that is anything but that. They will preach certain sermons, say certain things, add a few Bible verses in there so it sounds good. And before you know it, people are buying into it and falling into it headlong. We must be careful. Because when we leave God out, we will never, ever find that true joy. So you'll not find that lasting joy by associating with the wicked. Second, true happiness does not stand in the path of sinners. You see that in the second line. Sinners refers to those who deviate from the accepted standard set by God's Word. And so thus, to stand in the path of sinners is to share their way of life. It's to be involved with them and their sinful behavior. If we run, if we hang out, if we associate with worldly people in a godless way of life, we will be influenced by them. We think that we can overcome it. But they eventually will rub off on us. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15.33, do not be deceived. Bad company does what? Corrupts good morals. Paul said that. Bad company corrupts. It doesn't say it blesses, it helps. Bad company will corrupt good morals. Our interaction with sinners should have the ultimate motive to share the gospel with them and nothing else. Take note, how truly happy is the person who does not stand in the path of sinners. They're not influenced by their ungodly behaviors. Third, true happiness does not sit in the seat of scoffers. A scoffer is a person who mocks or treats someone with contempt. They use derision. They seek to justify themselves by openly deriding another person that they've rejected. And so many times in our world that we see scoffers, they think they know more than God. They're arrogant fools in my book. They're self-sufficient, haughty, and they're very forward in what they say. They don't want God interfering in their sinful lifestyles. And to sit in the assembly of such people means to identify with them and their proud, sinful behavior. The godly person always feels out of place, at least they should feel out of place, feel unhappy around those who make sport of God. We should never feel comfortable around people who are mocking God's Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, anything that pertains to Him. If you're feeling comfortable, then you need to search your heart. Let me ask you this. Have you ever thought that maybe sitting to watch certain movies is like sitting at the seat of the scoffers, especially when the movie is an affront to God? See, they are trying to influence and they will use anything they can, including movies and even children's programs. Parents, be careful of what your children watch. Take note how truly happy is the person who does not sit in the seat of scoffers. And don't miss the progression here of those who start down the way of sinners. First they walk, then they stand, and then they sit. What begins as a casual visit ends as a permanent residence. It's a progressively downward spiral which ends with us sitting or having fellowship among the ungodly. And please understand, don't think this is beyond you. I know people personally that have gone this way. I could give a whole list of people. One in particular was a worship leader. For years, leading worship, being involved in prayer meetings, Today this man is married to his boyfriend in Boston. He began to walk, then he stood, and then he sat. And there he is, rejecting Christ. Don't think it cannot happen to us. It can. That's why this is a warning. Let's move on. The negative is not enough in and of itself to produce true happiness. The psalmist goes on to show positively that true happiness is found in a life that associates with God and His Word. There in verse 2. See this person delights in and meditates on God's Word continually. This phrase, the law of the Lord, is brought forward in the Hebrew. It's emphatic. Very important. It is a reference to the whole Word of God. And so he says we are to delight in it. We are to relish God's Word. Delight means to find pleasure and satisfaction in. Instead of finding pleasure in what this world tells us to find pleasure in, we need to find pleasure in what God has to say in His Word. Meditating on His Word. See, the point here is that when you experience the Word of God like this, when you delight and you're satisfied with it, it captures your mind and it captures your heart. When you experience the Word of God like this, you will know and understand what the blessed life really is. And amazingly, when I say this to people, they think, wow, that's a little bit too radical. What, day and night? All the time? It's a little bit too radical. And I said, why? Considering who Jesus Christ is, considering what the Word of God is, what's really radical in a negative way is that you don't think on God's Word throughout the day. So it's not too radical. No, it should be what we do because of who we are, where we live, the danger that's out there. We should. Meditate day and night on the Word of God. Find great delight in that Word. And the word delight is used in the Old Testament many times of a man delighting in a woman. I remember as a young man when I met my wife, for the first time I saw her, I thought, she's way out of my league, way beyond me. And then when she said hi to me, my heart stopped and I thought, did she just say hi to me? And then we started talking. And I tell you what, I delighted in her, big time. I couldn't stop thinking about her. When I was at work, I worked as hard as I could to get out of my job as quickly as possible because I had one thing in mind. I wanted to go spend time with this woman. And I want to tell you, I did that not because I had to. Okay, when I saw my wife, I didn't look at her and say, man, I had to come. No, it was something I delighted in. I wanted to do it. I looked forward to it. I thought about it throughout the day. And I enjoyed her presence when I was with her. At night when I went home, I hated to have to say goodnight. That's the way it should be with each of us in God's Word. It should not be something we have to do. So here's the question. Do you delight in God's Word in that sense? Do you make time to spend in the Word because you delight in it, or is it something that you feel like you have to do? See, it's very easy to fall into the duty mentality toward the Word. The old saying, a chapter a day keeps the devil away type of thing. I read and check that off on the list. I did my reading for the day. And so you grind through another chapter, and the next day you grind through another chapter, But you really have not spent time with God. It should be no more of a duty to spend time in God's Word than it is for a young man to spend time with the woman he loves. We should look forward to it. We should be excited for it. Set aside that time and look towards that throughout the day. And so the way to true happiness is to delight in God's Word. And so if we delight on it, we will meditate on it. I know when I first met my wife, I couldn't stop thinking about her throughout the day. Meditation is to reading what digesting is to eating, chewing on it, letting it sink in, let it become a part of you. Let it become a part of what you speak. And you do this continually, day and night. Let God's word be your company. Let God's word be at the forefront of your mind. And thus the Word of God is never far away from the godly person who meditates on it day and night. The mind is the first bastion that we must defend. That's where we are attacked the most. And the best way to defend it is by God's Word. It's not by watching. It's not by hanging out with the immoral. God's Word is our good company night and day. It's never away from the godly person. The mind is the first bastion, let's defend it. And the only way for a person to reject the counsel of the ungodly which bombards us from every side, especially when we see what's going on in the news and what they're trying to pass and all of these things, the only way we can do this is by chewing on the Word of God in our minds night and day, day and night. Without it, we will not be able to withstand the onslaught of what's going on. So we see here that in the two ways to live, there's a contrast of associations. Let's move on. To find true happiness, you must associate with God and His Word. Secondly, there's a second contrast. There's a contrast of stability in verses 3 and 4. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away." So notice here that the psalmist uses two images to show the result of these two ways. The first is a fruitful tree and the second image is that of chaff that is blown away. So we see then first that those who associate with God have a fruitful and prosperous life. They have a fruitful and prosperous life. There's no greater stability in life And so here in this verse, this person is described as a tree firmly planted. And agricultural metaphors were very powerful for farmers and herders back then. A tree may flourish or fade depending upon its location and the access it has to water. The phrase streams of water speaks of an elaborate irrigation system. The land about might be quite dry and barren. The winds might be hot. But if the tree is planted by these streams, it will flourish. It will prosper. It is solid and able to withstand drought or storms. And for a desert community, the fruitful tree was a symbol of strength, a symbol of prosperity. And so the psalmist describes the godly person this way. He applies it with these words, and whatever he does, he prospers. This person will have a continual source of life, which in turn produces stability. It produces uninterrupted prosperity. Now please understand, prosperity here does not mean financial prosperity. Let's get that straight, right? Health and wealth preaching is false. Health and wealth preaching is evil, because it's very misguiding and very misleading. Prosperity here that the psalmist is talking about is not financial prosperity. Biblical prosperity needs to be strong and effective to be of use by God for the kingdom. That's prosperity. And we bear that kind of fruit. So God's servants may be poor in this world's goods and afflicted by many trials and many difficulties, but they are rich towards God. That's true prosperity. That's what he's talking about here. That's where we find long-lasting contentment and joy. And these type of people are refreshing to be around, aren't they? You talk with them, and it's just a joy, it's refreshing. I love to talk with people that way, that love to talk about God's Word. You go away from them fed, strengthened. You go away from them with your taste for spiritual things awakened, desiring more. So being around them, I like to say it's like having a meal, a spiritual meal. And so the happiness of this person is durable, it's deep, it does not depend on which way the wind is blowing. It gets its life from an absolutely changeless source, God and His Word. Years ago, there was a couple who had gone to China as missionaries, and they used this image to describe their life after the communists had taken over China after the Second World War. Their name was Matthews, and they were the last missionaries of the China Inland Mission to escape from that country. They were under communism for two years, during which time they lived with their young daughter in a very small, small room. Their only furniture was a stool. They couldn't contact any other Christian friends because it would get them into trouble. Except for the smallest trickle, their fronts were cut off by the government. And so heat came from a small stove, which they lit once a day to boil their rice for dinner. The only fuel they had was dried animal refuse that Art Matthews, the father, collected from the streets. They were some of the driest and most difficult times. But afterwards, when this family wrote their testimony to God's grace, They called their book, Green Leaf in Drought Times. Green Leaf in Drought Times. And they did this because they found that those who delight in the Word of God do not wither, but instead produce the fruit of the Spirit. And that's what they did. The most difficult conditions, they maintained their happily ever after attitude, because they found it in God's Word. But you may think, why does it appear that so many people who reject God today prosper so much in this world? That's a good question, and I believe the psalmist addresses that in verse 4. Those who associate with God deniers are weak and worthless. Notice, they are weak and worthless. The contrast of the tree firmly planted is the chaff that is useless and felt stability which the wind blows away. That's what the wicked are like. That's what people who don't know God are like. They're like dried up plant that has no root system and it's blown away by the wind. So the contrast here is strong. The wicked here are not at all like the previous description of stability and strength of that tree. They're chaff. And the part of the grain known as chaff was discarded as worthless. It had no value. In fact, they would not only brush it off to the side to make a big pile and burn it up so that it was all gone. That's all that chaff was worth. It was worthless. And so the wicked then that the psalmist is talking about are empty, they're void, futile, shallow. And in the end, they're only worth to be burned up in judgment in hell. That's all that they have. It's a drastic picture of futility when life produces nothing more than that which is useless and is to be blown away, forgotten, burned. And this is the ultimate fate of all of those who live apart from God. So it may appear from the view of the physical eyes that the wicked are prospering. It may look like the evil are getting ahead in life. They have everything that they want. It may look like they're doing great. But the eyes of faith see that they are worthless and their life is empty without any permanence. Think about it. In a thousand years, who's gonna remember it anyway? So though it appears that they are prospering, the wicked in reality are perishing. They are worthless and they will burn up, just like chaff. So do not follow the world when it tries to draw you from righteous living by their falsehoods, by their deception saying that this is the way to live. Don't fall into it. So we've seen two contrasts and two ways to live. There's the contrast of associations, then there's the contrast of stability. Verse 5 and 6 offers another contrast in the two ways, but it also forms the conclusion of this psalm. And this is the result of the two ways. Verse 5, Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. So there's a contrast of eternal destination. The contrast of eternal destination. When you talk about the two ways, there is a destination for each way. And it is permanent and it is eternal. And by the way, the destinations cannot be avoided. Whatever destination or whatever way you take, there is a permanent destination that cannot be avoided. The first way is the way of the wicked, which leads to eternal destruction. It is real and it is true. So in verse 5, we see the ultimate destiny of this wicked way. They will not be able to stand in the judgment. They will not be able to stand their ground when judgment comes forth. How many times I've heard evil, rejecters of God say, yeah, when God, when I stand before God, I'll give him a piece of my mind. I'll tell him what I really think. That's how they think. But the text is clear. When they're before God, they will be in utter fear. And they will be burned up. That's the way of the wicked. They will not be able to stand their ground when the judgment comes. They will receive their eternal judgment and destination. They will not be able to present their case. Yeah, but God. Yeah, but God, if only. It's not open at that point. They will not be able to stand in the assembly of the righteous. Please understand, they will not be in heaven, where those who have been made righteous through faith in Christ will be assembled. They will be eternally separated. And as the Gospel of Mark tells us, where the worm does not die. In other words, they will be permanently, eternally in suffering forever. That's the judgment. That's what they have to look forward to. Proverbs 14, 12 says, there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. That's the unrighteous. This is the result in the final end of the wicked. They have no substance whatsoever. They may be great before men here on this earth, but before God, they will be blown away like chaff in final judgment. That's their eternal destination. But note the contrast. The way of the righteous leads to eternal life, permanent life. In this phrase, the Lord knows does not refer to simple knowing something about something, but it's knowing it in an intimate way, in a very personal way. When it says that he knows the way of the righteous, when he knows us, it's a very personal, involved way that he knows us. He's involved in our lives. It points to God's care for the existence of the righteous. And so God regards with favor the course of the righteous person's life. And such favor on God's part is no empty thing. It's what we should strive for. It's what gives us joy and contentment and happiness. And so God will go with such a person throughout their life. When we go this way, when we follow this way, God is with us every moment of every day. And He brings us that joy, that contentment that Paul talked about in Philippians. So the ultimate end, of course, is eternal life in the presence of God. A life that begins with joy unimaginable and it increases for all eternity and it gets better and better and better. In heaven, there's always an increase of joy. Think about it. In heaven, there is always an increase of joy. It never gets boring. It never dries up because God is infinite. How long does an infinite God take to reveal himself? All eternity. And so for all eternity, God will be revealing himself to us. And every moment we're there, we'll be shouting, whoa, wow, that's heaven. That's heaven. But hell is the exact opposite way. In hell there will be regrets, but that regret will get greater and greater and greater. So you have one of two ways, one of two ways. Which way will you choose? All people on the face of this earth are of two kinds, and it is determined by the way that they take. They may be righteous, if so God protects them. but they may be unrighteous and they find their final destiny is doom. Remember that true happiness is affected by your associations. Who do you associate with? Association with God and his word for a happy ever after life. Paying close attention to the word of God, making it your daily delight, make it the subject of your study every moment throughout the day. A happy ever after life gives you incredible stability and is seen through the fruitfulness of your life. And ultimately the eternal destination of this happily ever after life is with God forever. Now every person, as I bring it to a close, every person has to ask these soul searching questions. And I pray that you would ask this question of yourself. What path in life am I traveling? Have I entered through the narrow gate that leads to the path of the godly? The happily ever after life? Have I chosen that life? or am I traveling the broad road that leads to destruction? And if you claim that you're taking the road to life, then you must ask yourself another question. If I am taking this road to life, is there fruitfulness and stability in my life to show that I am going the righteous way? Anybody can claim that I'm following that way, but when you look at their life, Does it bear the fruit that the Word of God says it's going to bear? Is there that joy and that contentment that the Word of God says is going to be there? So you may say that you have chosen that life, and that's great if you have, but you have to press on and ask, is there evidence in my life that shows that I am going down that narrow way? Because see, there's only one other option. If you're not going down that one way, you only have one other option. It's not a pleasant option. So we need to ask ourselves these questions, and I pray, I pray that you would take these questions seriously. They're important, diagnostic questions. We have to ask ourselves, what way am I taking? God, show me, illuminate my eyes, help me to see. Cry out to God for this. Your eternal destiny depends upon it. And I hope and pray that through the power of the Spirit, you can see which way you are on. And my prayer would be that it would be the way of the righteous, the way that leads to eternal life. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, we thank you for this passage. We thank you for your word that tells us and it warns us about these two ways. But oh God, how I pray for each of us here today that you would direct our hearts, give us understanding, illuminate our eyes, and help us to take a good, long, serious look at our lives. Lord, show us where we are and what we need to do. We thank You that You have given us these two ways, and we thank You for giving your son on the cross so that we may have this opportunity to walk after you. And we thank you for the promise that is made to those who walk after you, that eternal life. But God, if there's anyone here who may be fooling themselves, or if there's anyone listening who may be thinking about this seriously, Lord, I pray that today you would illuminate their eyes, open the eyes of their hearts, that they may see the reality, that they would give their lives to Jesus Christ. and walk the path of the righteous, and find that stability, that joy, that happily ever after life that you desire us to have. God, I thank you for the privilege of presenting your word today, but oh God, more than anything, I desire that fruit would be born, that people's lives would be changed and transformed and become more like Jesus Christ, for in the end, that's all that matters. So we pray all of these things for the sake of your great name, In the magnificent name of Jesus Christ, amen.