From the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us today as we spend time around the Word of God, preaching Christ in all his fullness to men and women in all their need. By our Father's voice, tender, strong, and free! ♪ Till then I'll be gone ♪ We'll keep our strength with thee in the glorious day. ♪ For the year before us, O Lord, which shall rise ♪ ♪ For the current year, in which we shall rise ♪ ♪ For the faith that made the earth extremely proud ♪ ♪ He will never fail us ♪ ♪ He will come forsake ♪ ♪ His eternal covenant ♪ ♪ He will never break ♪ ♪ Blessing on His promise ♪ ♪ What have we to give ♪ ♪ For the coming year ♪ ♪ God's word made that we're the children of the day ♪ ♪ For his word shall never fail ♪ We would like to take this opportunity to bid you welcome to our service. We're glad that you've been able to join with us. We're going to come before the throne of grace and prayer and ask the Lord for his help and his blessing as we're gathered together. Let's pray. Dear Lord and most gracious Heavenly Father, We come before you this evening in and through the name of our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for another opportunity to gather together around your Word, another opportunity to sing your praises. But Lord, as we are gathered together, we pray that we would know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit moving in this place. We pray especially for the Reverend Nelson, as he will bring your word. Lord, we pray that you would fill him with power from on high. Lord, that he would know your hand. Lord, we pray that you would speak through him. Lord, that you would be a blessing to each one gathered in this place. Lord, we ask now that you would shut us in with yourself, and may your name be glorified and Christ-exalted, for it's in Jesus' name we ask these things. Amen. We're going to turn in the Scriptures to 1 Chronicles 16, verse 7 to 24. And the Word of God says, Then on that day David delivered this first psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him. Sing psalms unto him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. O ye seed of Israel his servants, ye children of Jacob his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, even of the covenant which he made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac. And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. saying, unto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance. When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it, and when they went forth from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people, he suffered no man to do them wrong, yea, he reproved kings for their sakes. Saying, touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Show forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen, his marvelous works among all nations. Amen. And we do know that the Lord will bless the public reading of his own inerrant words. We're now going to turn in our hymn books to hymn number 692, Jesus Loves Me, This I Know. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loved me. Yes, Jesus loved me. The Bible tells me so. I want to thank the Reverend Morrow for leading the service for us thus far. We appreciate that so much. And we come this evening, as he has read the scriptures to us, to 1 Chronicles 16. And in chapter 16, we see that the Ark of the Covenant has been returned to the city of David. As a result, then, in chapter 16, really from the verses 7 through to verse 36, we see David praises the Lord. This is the context of David's praise, the return of the Ark of the Covenant to the city of David. And David's soul is thrilled. He praises the Lord. And we have here in this chapter 16 a psalm a song of praise unto the Lord. And as you read down through the verses, you will see that David charts the goodness of God to Israel. He rejoices in the Lord. We turn our attention today, especially to that verse 11 of 1 Chronicles and the chapter 16. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. And as we come together on this day, we want to consider some simple truths for a new year. Some simple truths for a new year. And there are some very straightforward, some very simple, some very basic thoughts I want to leave with you from this verse 11 of 1 Chronicles 16. Firstly, we see we are weak. That's the first thought I leave with you today. We are weak. Verse 11 says, seek the Lord and his strength. And here is a great reality that so many in the world do not like to admit, do not want to admit, that mankind is weak. You look at this world and you will see that mankind is filled with pride. Mankind likes to present himself as strong, as independent. Many take pride in presenting themselves as self-reliant. They don't need others. They don't need the help of family or friends. They don't need any sort of help. And they present themselves as very strong. And this kind of strong, independent thinking has rubbed off on many who profess to be Christians. And we see Christians with this kind of attitude. I am a strong individual. I don't need the help of anyone. So individual are some Christians that they don't even want to fellowship with other believers. Worse still, they forget that they are completely reliant upon the Lord. And certainly when you speak with some Christians, that is very much their attitude. That is the way they talk. That is the way they behave. They are self-reliant. They think themselves to be strong. But here's the reality of the verse that we're finding here. In verse 11, mankind is weak. Man is weak. Believer, child of God, in and of ourselves, we are weak and we need the Lord. And we must never forget that basic truth. Here in this verse 11, David highlights the fact that in and of ourselves, as believers, we are indeed weak. He says in verse 11, seek the Lord and his strength. The psalmist is making it very clear that whatever strength we think that we have as believers, it is not enough. Rather, we must go to the Lord. We need his strength because we are weak. And David the Psalmist highlights this truth elsewhere as well. I think of Psalm 40 and the closing verse of that Psalm, verse 17, but I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God." And there we have the psalmist there, a man who has indeed been afflicted, a man who has been through times of poverty. There were times when the psalmist was despised, times of great weakness. And in those times, what did he do? He looked to the Lord. He recognized that he was weak. And I wonder, child of God, do we need to examine our hearts? We look at the year that has gone into eternity, and we have to acknowledge that seasons during that past year, we have been attempting to walk life's journey in our own strength. It's almost as if we've forgotten that we are weak. It's as if we've forgotten that we need the Lord. And then days have become so difficult, they've become so burdensome. We've become perhaps overwhelmed and downcast. Why? Because we're relying on our own strength. We're forgotten that we're weak and that we need to continually look to the Lord. And here's the truth that's being underlined for us in verse 11, that we are weak And friends, it's only when we see our weakness that we will seek God's help. Isn't that the case? Whatever our complaint is in life, if we need help, it's only when we acknowledge that we need that help that we can receive the help. The child that's struggling in the classroom cannot be helped by the teacher until that child is willing to acknowledge, I need help. And so child of God, we need to acknowledge day and daily, we are weak. We are weak in and of ourselves, even as believers, we are weak. And that's a very basic and a very straightforward truth that the believer, the child of God, is entirely dependent upon the Lord. The grace that we need for every day, the strength that we need for every day, it comes from the Savior. In John 15 and the verse 5, the Savior says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. There, the weakness of man, even believers, is underlined for us. Without the Lord, we can do nothing. The image is there, the branch and the vine, and when the branch is separated from the vine, the branch will wither and die. It will bear no fruit. And Christ is the vine and we are the branches. We need him. Our strength comes from him. Why? Because we're weak. A very basic truth is presented to us in verse 11, we are weak. But another very straightforward and a very simple truth that's presented to us here in verse 11 is that God is strong. God is strong. We're following the pattern of that little hymn we so often associate with the boys and girls, Jesus loves me. It says of the children, they are weak, but he, the Lord, is strong. He is strong. And our text tonight clearly highlights the strength that is the Lord's. Seek the Lord and His strength. And we could point out numerous texts of scripture that highlight for us the strength of the Lord. Zephaniah 3, 17, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. You turn to the Psalms and you see repeatedly there, David the Psalmist, he makes reference to the Lord's strength over and over again. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 27, the opening verse, it says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? And over and over again, you see the psalmist brings forth that truth in the book of Psalms, that God is strong. We go to him for refuge. We go to him for strength. And so there's a logical progression here in this, our text, 1 Chronicles 16 and 11. We're acknowledging that man is weak. Even as believers, we are weak in and of ourselves, but then we remember that God is strong and we're reminded then that we go to God for strength. We seek him out for strength. That is the instruction that we're gleaning from verse 11. We go to the Lord for the strength that we need every day as believers. Think of that verse in Philippians 4, and the verse 13, we so often quote, we remind ourselves, oh, if I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. And in the previous verses, Paul there has been highlighting in Philippians chapter four, the different circumstances he has found himself in during the course of his life. And yes, he has spoken of times of contentment, but he's also spoken of times when he was abased, when he was in want. Other times when he was abounding. And in that context, of all of those different experiences in Paul's life, he says, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. What does he mean? He means whatever trial I'm called to bear, wherever I find myself, whatever duty the Lord has laid upon me, whatever persecution or difficulty I face, Paul says I can get through it. Why? How? Because the Lord Jesus Christ gives that strength that is necessary. Christ gives the strength that we need. And Paul can face all of these trials because of Christ and the strength that Christ gives. Not because of Paul's own strength, for Paul knew he was weak, but through the strength that Christ gives. And because of that strength, Paul is enabled to bear the cold, the fatigue, the hunger, He's unable to stand against temptation. He's unable to stand when he is suffering persecution. And whatever we face, child of God, what a wonderful thought to remember that Christ upholds us. We go to him for the strength that we need. And what a blessed thought for the year that lies ahead. Whatever it is in God's will that we would meet in this year, whether it be sorrow or whether it be joy, whether it be blessing or whether it be hardship, whether in prosperity or whether not, whatever it is we face as Christians, we go to the Lord for the strength that we need. What a blessing to be reminded of that. And we look at this little text in 1 Chronicles 16 and the verse 11, we see that we are weak. Then we see that God is strong and logically that brings us to the final thought. We are to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Twice within this verse we are commanded to seek the Lord. Three times if you include the verse 10 as well. Seek the Lord. That's the exhortation here. Now you ask the question, well how do I seek the Lord? We do so in a number of ways. We come to His Word. We can seek the Lord through His Word. We pray over His Word. We ask the Lord to speak to us through His Word, to reveal Himself and His will to us through His Word. We can seek the Lord even in joining together with other believers and coming and worshiping together. And as we come corporately to worship the Lord, if we can do that, then we're enabled to seek the Lord. as a body of God's people. But of course, logically, the most obvious way that we seek the Lord is through prayer. Crying to Him. In our prayers, we call upon His name. We can praise Him. We can seek that forgiveness that we need in our lives. We can seek that restoration that is so important, that spiritual reviving we need as Christians, day and daily. We can seek a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God. Seek the Lord. I ask you, this believer, are you heartfelt and earnest in your prayers? Are you seeking the Lord? Are you laying hold upon the Savior? Are you seeking His face? Are you seeking His blessing? We head into another year. And as we do so, as Christians, we must be seeking the Lord. As God's people, we want to grow. We want to advance. We want the cause of Christ to go forward. We need to be praying to that end. We need to be seeking the Lord. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Are we seeking the Lord? Because that's the exhortation in this verse. More than that, we are to seek the Lord continually. Do we do that? Is that the way we live our lives? Constantly speaking with the Lord in the place of prayer, beginning our days with prayer, ending our days with prayer, saturating our entire days with prayer. When those difficult circumstances arises, it may be in the workplace, maybe in the home, whatever the case would be, are we shooting up those arrows of prayer to heaven, crying to the Lord? Are we seeking Him? Are we living a life in the attitude of prayer? And friends, I can't speak for anyone else, but I look at my own heart and I see that there needs to be so much improvement there. We must be seeking the Lord continually. That's the plain command. In Luke 18, the Lord Jesus gives a parable and he says that men are always to pray and not to faint. Don't faint, that's what the Savior says. What does he mean by that? He means don't give up, keep on in prayer. Keep persisting in prayer. That's what the Savior says to his people. Keep praying, maybe you've prayed for something for years, pray on. Don't faint. And so, Christian brothers and sisters, we stand at the outset of another year, and we recognize that we are weak, and that we are needy, and that we have no strength for ourselves. But then we see that the Lord is strong. He changes not. He is powerful. He is sovereign. And this little verse reminds us then, as weak Christians, to look to that strong God and to seek Him. And that is what we must do as we begin another year in God's service. The hymn writer says, the arm of flesh will fail you, you dare not trust your own. How true that is. We look to the Lord for strength. Let's rededicate ourselves to the Lord in this another year. Let's seek him at the outset of this year. Let's seek his blessing in our own lives. and in the work of God generally. And may this attitude of seeking the Lord remain with us in the entirety of the year that stretches out before us. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Amen, and may the Lord bless his precious word to our hearts together. Let's bow in a moment's prayer. Our loving God in heaven, we thank thee for the plea and for the simple exhortation that we find here in this verse of scripture, that we as weak children of God find our strength not in ourselves, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore we look to the Lord day and daily. Help us in this year that stretches out ahead of us to be those that will seek thee In everything that we do, in every challenge we face, may we always be men and women who seek the Lord, bless us, and bless thy word to our hearts. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Thank you for spending some time with us today around the word of God. For further information visit our website at ltbs.tv. We look forward to joining with you next time as we seek to let the Bible speak once again.