If you'd like to find your place in Psalms, chapter 103. Psalms, chapter 103. Here's the passage that we used all year long as our theme for the year of 2024. And the title of today's message is Happy New Year. Happy New Year. You're gonna hear that a lot over the next few days. No matter if you walk into a store, grocery store, or go to a gas station, or around co-workers, family, friends, you're going to hear a lot of well-wishing and a lot of wishing other people Happy New Year. But when we come to the end of a year, we come to a crossroad in our life. If you think about it, when you come up to a crossroad, you've got road that's behind you, but then you have options as to where you'll go next. and what you're going to do from that point forward. And many people next year will be looking for better opportunities and many people will be wishing for better health in the new year. But at the end of a year, it's a great opportunity for every person to look back on their life and to look back where they are spiritually speaking with the Lord and to build upon what God has already done in their life in the previous year. During our Sunday school session, we looked at the year-end review video to remind us all that God had done in us for us and through us and surely we can bless the Lord this morning for all that he has done. Our theme verse for 2024 is found in verse 1 of Psalms 103. It's been in our bulletin every Sunday to remind us of what we should have been doing all year long and that's blessing the Lord, oh my soul. Next week, we're going to have a new verse and a new theme for 2025 and seeking God's wisdom and God's will for our life in the new year. In Psalms 103 in verse one, it says, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all, and underline that little word all there, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all. But again, underline this little word all. all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." All. I tell you, do you see the importance there of that little word, all? Hey, the first thing you need to take note of here in verse 1, it says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Did God have all of you in 2024? Can I ask you, did you do more for God in 2024 than you did in 2023? Did you give more in 2024 of your time and more of your talents and more of your treasures to the Lord in 2024 than you did the previous year? Let me ask you this, did you witness more in 2024? Did you give out more tracts in 2024? Did you give more to God's work in 2024? Did you bless Him more in 2024 than you did the previous year? Because if you didn't, If you didn't accomplish any of these things, you can look back over your life and say, well, hey, my bank account's bigger than it was, and I've got nicer things, or I did this, I did that, I got to go through my bucket list here and accomplish all these things, but if you didn't do anything for the Lord, and if you didn't do more for the Lord in 2024 than you did in 2023, then this year's been a failure for you. In the eyes of God, it's a failure. If you didn't do more for him, if you didn't bless him more, if you didn't try to be better for the Lord in 2024, can I just ask you a question? Why? Why did you not? But there's another question. We can't change the past. So what are you going to do more for God in 2025? Boy, look at those benefits that are mentioned in verses 2 through 5. the benefits that are mentioned in verse 2 through 5. Do you want all of God's benefits? Do you want all that God has for you? Well, what about giving Him all of yourself in return? Did we bless Him more because of His forgiveness? Did we bless Him more for the help that we have for God's goodness to us? Did we thank Him this year for the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus? Did we bless him more for his loving kindness and his tender mercies? Did we bless his holy name because of the fact that he satisfies us in every way? As you come to the end of a year, you come to a crossroads, and it's a time to look ahead, sure, but it's also a time to look back. You may not be satisfied with how your school year went if you're a young person, or maybe how your income went as an adult, a working adult, or how your plans either came together or didn't come together. But let me ask you this, did you bless his holy name for the fact that you were satisfied with all the good things that God has provided you. I tell you one of the good things God has provided us is a good church. I thank God for this church. I thank God for putting me and my family here and allowing us to work together with God right here in Myrtle Beach. Did you bless him more with your praise? Did you bless him more with your availability to worship him? Did you worship him more? in 2024 than you did in 2023? How about your tithes and offerings? Did they go up or did they go down? How about your giving to missions? Did it increase or is it went down? How about your witnessing? Have you witnessed more? Have you been more of a soul winner this year than the year before? What about your prayer life? Did you pray more in 2024? Did you walk close to God in 2024? Did you walk with Him? Did you bless the Lord by fearing him and keeping his commandments, which by the way is the whole duty of man? Were you more faithful to attend church in 2024 or less than in 2023? Are you closer to God? Do you know more about the Bible right here at the end of this year than you did in 2023? Look over to Psalms 134 with me. Psalms 134. Psalms 134 is the last of the Psalms of degrees. As the pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem, they would sing Psalms verses, Psalms chapter 120 through 133, and that would prepare them and they would prepare themselves for worship and to honor the Lord as they made their way to the temple. But when you get to Psalms 134, These ceremonial days and these feast days and these worship days have come to an end. And the pilgrims are now going back to their house. They built up their time to come and be before the Lord and observe the feast days and the ceremonial days These days of worship and singing Psalms 120 through Psalms 133, but now they find themselves in a place where they have to go home. We can see a start of something, but we also see an end of something. They're leaving to go to the house. We've come to the end of a year and we're looking forward to next year. But we can take a look back at all that God has done. And we can encourage ourselves to serve the Lord in 2025 because the same God that brought us through 2024 and helped us and sustained us and kept us is the same God we're gonna serve in 2025. Can you just picture this scene in your mind if you would? As these pilgrims are leaving Jerusalem, here's the song that they are only gonna sing once. As they're leaving Jerusalem, maybe even before the break of dawn, they look back toward the temple and they see the guards and they see the lights coming from the temple and they begin to sing This psalm, it's only a three verse psalm. And Psalms 134 in verse one, it says, behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. Verse three, the Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. As these pilgrims begin their journey back home, they start singing this blessing of encouragement to those who have the charge of the temple. And then in verse three, those that are in the temple are gonna sing back to those that are singing to them. And their response is gonna be seen there in verse three. As we leave 2024 and we enter into 2025, can I encourage you the same way these pilgrims encourage those who stayed in the temple? Well, I like what it says there in verse one. It says, behold, That word behold means consider this. That word behold means you need to anticipate something. That word behold means to see to it. That word behold means to make it a matter of priority. As these pilgrims look back and they grab the attention of the guards, they grab the attention of those that are still in the temple working, that are going to stay there and serve the Lord, they said, Behold, you need to consider this thing that we're about to say. And then it goes on to say, Bless ye the Lord. They had one duty. One duty was to bless the Lord. One duty was to serve God. That's the only duty that you and I have. You may have responsibilities towards your family. You may have responsibilities at work. If you go to school, you've got responsibilities to study, to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. But you also have a great responsibility before the Lord, and that's to bless the Lord. That's to bless the Lord with all your soul, with all your heart. And these pilgrims said, behold, consider this, anticipate you blessing the Lord. Why? Because we need to come back here. We're going to be coming back. And we need to find things the same way they were when we left. Then it goes on to say, behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord. Hey, what's your goal for 2025? I trust your goal is to be a servant unto the Lord. It's to serve Him with all your heart, with all your might, with all your soul, with all your being. God desires that you serve Him in 2025, that you make yourself available to be used of him. It said they sing out and holler out to him, behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. It said that word stand means to be vigilant, to be on duty, to be ready at all sometimes to just serve the Lord and to stand by night. That word by night gives me the definition here, by night, that speaks to me about being steadfast. It says stand by night. Don't let the darkness keep you from standing in the house of the Lord, even as those are making their way away from the temple. There are those who are going away, and even if there's those that turn away in 2025 from serving God, and there's those that said, hey, I'm going to take a road of apostasy, and I'm going to go my own way and do my own thing. It says you better stay fast. Even if it's dark out there. Even if others are not going to stand. He says, you better take a stand. And you better stand by night. You stand in the darkness and God will reward you in the light. You keep standing. You keep standing so others will have a place to come to. They'll have a place to come back to when they return. Oh, be steadfast, stand by night. You know how hard it is to work a night shift, especially around four or five o'clock in the morning, when it seems like you can barely keep your eyes open? They said, you just keep standing. Don't give up, don't get weary, don't let up in your service, you just keep serving God. You just keep everything the same. In 1 Corinthians 15, 58, we too are encouraged by the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as he says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain. Galatians 6, 9, it says, let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. If you quit, there'll be no reaping. You got to stand. In Isaiah 40 and verse 31 it says, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint. What are you going to do in 2025? You better wait on the Lord. And I don't mean to sit around twiddling your thumbs or sitting around doing nothing. That means you need to be busy standing and serving God with your heart as we wait for Christ's soon return. We need to be busy. 2025 could be the year that we see Jesus come back and claim his own. Number six, he says to be ready. Be ready to praise and bless the Lord for all that he's done. They say right here to lift up your hands. Those that are gonna stand in the night, it says lift up your hands. That word lift, that's an action word. There's a purpose here. There's some intent that has to be made. There's a choice that has to be made. Somebody's going to have to keep the lights on. Somebody's going to have to keep the fire burning. Somebody is going to have to keep his heart in tune with God. While everybody else is making their way away. While everybody else is walking away from the light. They're walking away from the service of God. They're walking away from true worship with God. Somebody has got to stand for what's right. Why is this so important? I'm going to tell you why it's important. Because so goes the church, so goes the community. So goes the home, so goes the church. If you don't keep your home right, then the church ain't gonna be no better than your home. And by the way, the church is not the pastor. The church is the membership. It's real easy just to throw everything on the pastor and say, hey, you pull the rope and you do the work and you do all everything. No, my job is to encourage you to do the work, encourage you to stand fast, encourage you to keep going for the Lord, to challenge you and to correct you, to comfort you at times, to keep you going for the Lord. It's the membership, it's the homes that make up the church. And if those homes are not in tune with God, then our community will have no hope. Number seven, we need to be a blessing to others. In verse three, you've got the response of those that are still in the temple. They're responding back to the challenge that has been given to them by those that are leaving. And here we see, it says, and be a blessing to others. I think that's very noteworthy here. To encourage others, to point others to the Lord, to remind them of God's presence and God's promise and Jesus' soon return. And John 9, verse 4 says, I must work the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. We've come to another crossroad in our life. 2024 has come to an end and 2025 is before us. So what should we purpose to do? Well, for one thing, we better bless the Lord. We better stand. We better serve. We better lift up our hands in the sanctuary. That means we better get to work. There's coming a time where we won't be able to work. We need to do all we can for the Lord and serve him in 2025. And then we need to encourage others to do the same. And encourage others to look to the Lord. The Lord, in verse three, that made heaven and earth, bless thee out of Zion.