Thank you very much. All righty, amen. Praise the Lord. Get me back in the house of God and everything. And we do have now, we got four of our kids married, but one's not. So I'm trying to find him a mate, amen. He's probably watching right now, so I'll probably get in trouble after church, but that's all right, amen. But it's good to be back in the house of God. Good to see you all here. Open your Bibles, if you would, please, to Psalms 62, please. Psalms 62. We're asking the Lord to bless us and give us a good service tonight. It's good to be here with a pastor. I forgot that Ms. Lori's birthday was yesterday, or is it Valentine's Day, you said, right? That's a blessing on that. She was, are you 29, Ms. Lori? There you go, 29 and holy, see? That's a good pastor right there, amen. If you got your place in the Bible, could you all stand, please? We're gonna read out of Psalms 62, and we just had our eighth grandchild born right here in the local area, and I call her Ray-Ray, but her name is Raelyn, and so forth, so that's a blessing on that, and I told my kids, keep on having them, amen, you know? Scott's what, 25 now you got, Scott? 15, I know, that's teasing. Psalm 62 verse number one the Bible says truly my soul waiteth upon God from him cometh my salvation He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain, all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down. From His Excellency, they delight in lies, they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly, see lie. My soul waiteth thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. And God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, you people. pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us, Selah. Well, that's a good verse right there, verse number eight, isn't it? Man, it's a good verse. Verse number nine. Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, setting out your heart upon them. God has spoken once, twice, have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. I wish all us remember that, that's where power belongs, amen. Verse number 12, also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his work. I'm gonna preach out of this thought here in Psalm 62, is God an option for you or is God your only? Is God an option, or is God your only? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do want to thank you now for this time that we're reading thy word, and we'll be asking that you'll bless the service tonight. Pray with the church there in unity. I pray you watch over the priests down there as well, too, and pray for our military all over the world. Now keep them safe out of harm's way. We ask this now in Jesus' name, Lord, and amen. You may be seated, please, and thank you for standing for the reading of God's word. As you come here to Psalm 62 in the Bible, as you begin to read this psalm, it's the psalm of David, and from what I understand from my studying here and just reading and comparing scripture with scripture, this time in his life, this time in his life, David was fleeing the palace because his son Absalom was trying to take the throne from his daddy. Absalom was the third son of King David, and he was trying to take the throne from him and so forth. And after David's sin with Bathsheba, there were a lot of things that happened because of that and so forth. And we see here that in Psalm 62, David here, he comes back to the place where we all should come back. When we are going through problems, and what the pastor mentioned, all those folks with with cancer and problems and trials in people's lives and so forth. You know, when your life unravels like David's was at this time, we're going to see in this psalm the night before us how many times he comes back to God, amen? And God was not an option, not one of many options for David. God was his only trust. And a lot of times we, if we're not careful as God's people, we, well, you know, we got this, we can call this person, we got this person, or we got this money in the bank, or we got this kind of a job, or we got this kind of a house, and we got so many options out there, that those options sometimes get us away from the really true strength and true mercy that comes from God. So we're going to preach tonight, is God an option? or is he your only? Okay, first of all, I want you to see here in verse number one, David's deliverance. Look here in verse number one, he says here, Now at this time, he was running from the palace. He was running, everyone was fleeing. the palace because Absalom and so forth and what was going on in his life. And so he was leaving here and we see here in verse number one, truly, my soul waited upon God. And throughout this song, the word truly, the word surely and the word only there, mostly interchangeably. And it's interesting to know that when you think about this, David says, you know what? I'm thankful I can depend upon God even when my life is unraveling, even when my life is at stake and so forth. I'm thankful that I can go back to God at this juncture in my life and say, you know what? God is my refuge. He is my high tower. He's my strength. I can depend upon God I tell you what we need that in our day and time that when we go through problems in our lives God should not be one of your many options. He should be like David's He should be the only one you turn to okay because only true power and only true mercy comes from him Okay, and that's where we get our ability to stand and and to cope through life and so forth I tell you I As I go through struggles in my life and problems in my life and you know, and then you know people I got a lady in our church. She got a phone call She's got a big cyst in the back of her brain and everything not sure what's going to happen and so forth she doesn't know what's going on and everything and I I said, sister, I said, I can't go what you're going through. But I said, I know you can talk to the Lord. And even though you don't know the results yet, you can still have that calm and that peace that only God can give. Amen. And so David was able to do that. He says, truly, my soul waited. And that word waited gives the idea trust submissively and confidently as a servant. So even though he was fleeing his his trust, his waiting upon God, was never a question. He knew. God had brought him through so much in his life and so forth that David knew that God was able to be there for him. So it says here, my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. And that word salvation, it gives the idea of deliverance, not only from spiritual things, but also from physical things. And I tell you, I can't tell you how many times God has delivered me. Not only he saved me, he delivered me from my sin, but he still delivers me in so many other ways in my life. And David said here, he has the idea in verse number one, he says here, from him cometh my salvation. Primarily from external dangers, however, with added spiritual idea as well, okay? David didn't trust in his position as king. David didn't trust in all of his wealth and all of his possessions and all the things that he had acquired and all the things that he had. His trust, his dependence came upon God Almighty, amen, you know? And by the way, when it's all said and done, hey, when it's time for you to meet the Lord, hey, all the things you have in this world ain't gonna help you a bit, amen? That's why you've got to depend upon him, OK? And the older I get, I mean, if you're like me, some of you are, I'm pushing 60 now. Anthony Keough told me he's 85 or 90. I don't know how old he said he was, but he's old. He told me that before the church. And I was looking at him. I said, what's in your ear? And so he told me something. I said, oh, so he's a security guy. What a guy to have on security, 85-year-old man at security, you know? So anyhow. Tell you you know, we we think about our life what we're going through sometimes and I'm thankful that God's Bank is this inflation going on and I was telling the pastor and brother Thomas a minute ago I got a phone call about four or five weeks ago from a lady never met her before and she said pastor she said I got about 35 or 40 chickens and I got too many eggs and And she said, can you use eggs? I said, sure, I can use eggs. So for the last four or five weeks, Brother Kerry, she's brought me four dozen of brown eggs, amen? And these are Red Road Island eggs, amen? And boy, they are good, amen? And then my wife went to the store the other day. She said, do you want me to buy eggs? I said, no, don't buy no eggs, amen? The egg lady's coming, so I pray for her every week, Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. They come on Thursday, amen, you know? And so this past week, I finally got to meet the lady. Never met her before. And she said, preacher, she said, I want to come to your church. I said, well, this coming Sunday is I Love My Church Sunday, and we'd love to have you. She said, but I ain't got nothing to wear. She said, oh, I can wear it. She said, I ain't got no dresses. I said, we don't care. I said, what are you going to wear? She said, I'm going to wear pants. I said, well, I'm wearing pants too, so we're good, amen? So whatever, and so anyways, but you know what? People still think that when you come to church, whatever, I don't care the outwards, not the issue anymore. It's the inward that you gotta worry about. Anyhow, so David's deliverance, he realized who it came from, okay? All right, not only that here, I wanna say, look at verse number two. of verse number, he only is my rock, okay? Look down there in verse number five. My soul waiteth thou only upon God. And look at verse number six. He only is my rock. Now David used that word only, and he said, that's who I depend upon. Now I tell you what, when I was thinking this talk here about only, okay, so many claims here in our day and time, so many claims to believe in the inspiration of the scriptures and their value as a rule of faith, but not in the scriptures alone. I'm a Biblicist, amen, you know? And I know that my faith and my strength comes from the Word of God, amen, you know? And I believe it from Genesis to Revelation, we got the complete and the full revelation of God, amen? You know, I thank God for that, okay? So, I think it's important when it comes down to trusting the Scriptures alone. This is our practice, faith of practice, rule of practice. Not only that here, so many claim to believe in the intercession of Christ and his ability to preserve, protect, and to perpetuate for our sins, but not in Christ alone. There are people out here in our world, they want to add to what Jesus did. You don't have to add to what he did, man. It's Christ and him alone. It's plus nothing and minus nothing. It's all Jesus Christ, amen? Thank God. So David had it that. He said, he's my only, amen, you know? He's only who I trust in. And I'm glad that we can go through this year as he was fleeing for his life and fleeing from the palace. Not only that, it wasn't his enemy that was coming after him. It was his own son that was coming after him. You know, Absalom. And so he said, my deliverance comes from God, amen? And if we're gonna be able to handle problems in our lives, and I know, you're like me, you've been saved, I've been saved in 1976, and I've been through a lot of issues and problems in lives and everything, but I wanna tell you something, when it comes down to it, you know, there have been some good friends of mine that turned their back on me. I don't even know why they would do that. I'm a nice guy, amen, you know? But you know what I'm talking about. But you know what? There's one person that's never turned his back on me, amen. And that's the Lord, amen. And my wife, I thank God for that, amen. I don't want to ever, I don't mind getting some people mad at me, but I don't want to get her mad at me, amen. She feeds me, she clothes me, she picks my clothes and everything. I mean, hey, happy wife is a... Happy life, amen, you know? And now she would tell you differently. She said, Mike, you know I do what you tell me. I said, I know, Tonda, but you pray for her. She's not feeling well tonight. That's why she's not here tonight. But anyhow, and because she's not here, I got more liberty, amen, you know? You know what I mean by that, don't you, Pastor? I mean, you know, on the way home, I mean, whatever, if you're in the same car, I mean, anyways, okay. Now, David's deliverance. We see here, number two, look at David's defense, verse number two. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. You know, God was his high tower. David was saying, because God is my defense, this is great here, my defense, I will be unattainable and inaccessible unless God allows it. Because God was his defense. Absalom and all of his armies could not touch him unless God allowed it, amen. He was inaccessible and unattainable because of that, okay? And so, you go back to the life of Job and see how God allowed that to happen and so forth, you know? And what a... What a great character in the Bible is Job. Amen. What a blessing he was. But David said, hey, my defense is that OK, you know, and notice here, too. I want to say we still we see a progression as he was running from the palace and running from Absalom and everyone was fleeing from that situation and so forth when he was doing all that. I want you to see here. As he was going through this psalm, his confidence and his calmness, it grew. Look down there in verse number two again. It says here, okay, you shall be my, I shall not be greatly moved, he says in verse number two. Then look down there in verse number six, I shall not be moved. It goes from greatly moved, he said, no, I will not be moved. And the more you have your defense, your reliance, your strength from God, the more you do that, the more you pray to Him, and the more you trust in Him, the more calmness and confidence He will give you. Okay? sometimes how do people go through problems they do and and somehow do they handle situations because as they Put their faith and their trust and God God Continues to give them that calmness and that confidence that only comes from God. I mean, you know what a blessing, you know What a blessing it is. Okay, and we see that in Philippians chapter 4, you know as we pray to God Okay, he gives us that peace at what? Passes all understanding and sometimes that happens. So we see David here his Progression goes deeper in that. Okay, we see a progression of confidence and calmness Okay, and by the way, that should happen to each and every one of us as well, too As we're going through struggles and problems and trials in our lives Okay, you talk to God you depend upon God about that You should realize too that as David dependent his defense was that you will not be able to be attained or anybody bother you unless God allows it and And because of that, you have that calmness. You have that. I tell you, my son called me the other day. He went to Walmart, and eggs were $4.89 a dozen, he said. $4.89, OK? That's crazy, isn't it? But he was just telling me. And I said, but you know what? He said, Dad, I'm so thankful I got a job, and I'm able to go on down the road and buy them eggs. And then I saw somebody. My wife was telling me something. Somebody proposed to a girl the other day. And they had a ring, and they put a hard-boiled egg on top of it. That's dumb as a stick, isn't it? But hey, eggs are expensive nowadays, amen? Eggs are like gold, aren't they? So anyhow, it's kind of funny. I thought it was kind of funny, how far that goes. So David's deliverance, verse number one, his defense. And verse number two, OK? When you got problems in your life, do you do what David did? Is God your only in your life, okay? Or is He just an option in your life? Do you turn to God and you do that? And we see David here, his calmness and his confidence, it grew, okay? One man said this here about this psalm. This psalm is weightless warriors and the rock of refuge that secured him. You know, and when it comes down to it, we're going to see in verse three and four that whatever Absalom had, it was nothing compared to what David had. Yes, David was gone from the kingdom. Amen. He was gone from the palace. Amen. But God didn't leave David. Amen. And that's the whole thing is your dependence and your reliance upon Him, okay? All right? There's a calmness and a serenity that comes as we trust the Lord and Him alone, just as you see in David. Verse 3 and 4, it says here, How long will I imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain, all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth. but they curse inwardly. We see here not only David's deliverance and his defense, but now we see his de-factors, how these people here, they come against him and they try to tear him down and take him away from all these things. And notice here what David says. He said, they're like a bowing fence. I don't know if y'all ever saw a bowing fence before, but a bowing fence is ready to give way any moment, okay? So even though David was fleeing and doing this, he was running from the palace and everything, Absalom didn't have all that he thought. You see, Absalom, he did not have, he had charm. He was a very good looking young man and so forth, you know, but he did not have what his dad had. You see, Absalom, he had shallows, but David, he had substance. because he knew whose God was, okay? Knew whose God was, okay? So David come through a dreadful period of sin and sickness and sorrow. The affairs of the kingdom had taken second place. During this time, Absalom had been busy, and the Bible says he was stealing the hearts. of God's people, okay? He was saying, oh, I wish I was king, oh, I wish was that, and so forth. He was saying all these different things, and people began to turn to him and come to him, and so forth. And the mutiny was strong, and that's why David had to flee and get out of the palace and everything. So here we see about Absalom, okay? And I don't have a lot of time to elaborate on Absalom who was the third son of David He was a man lacking capacity who made up for it by his charm his rebellion against David his father Such a heartless deed carries with it one of the most solemn lessons and the whole Bible listen to this let us be where our chief glory can become our cause of our greatest shame and because Absalom dependent upon the physical abilities and his charm and his Good looks and so forth that end up being his downfall. In fact, do you know how he got killed? His long hair, amen? Bottom line is, don't have long hair. But his hair got caught in the, you'll see in the tree, he got caught in the trees, and Job came over there and stabbed him three times with the darts in his heart and everything. You can see there, Absalom, that he put so much stuff on the physical outside, but with God, it's not the physical ability, it's the inward reality. Do you have Jesus Christ in your, we see here that David, he had that, okay? And not only that, I wanna mention this real quick here as well, too, not only Did Absalom have issues? But guess who joined Absalom? Ahithophel. Ahithophel was the granddaddy of Bathsheba. and so forth, and he joined that conspiracy and trying to get rid of David and so forth, whatever on that. And both those men, their downfall came swift. And Isabel actually went and killed himself. And so we see here that David, in verse number three and four, when you see here these people that came against him and all these different things, they did not have what it took. And I'm thankful that as you and I do what David did, And we realize our deliverance and our defense is God, that we can see through this mist and these fogs of problems that come through our life and everything, and say, you know what? Hey, be careful. Don't believe everything you hear and don't believe everything you see, you know? You know, we as Christians, we walk by faith and not by sight, okay? And the longer I live and the more I believe, I thank God for the Bible, the word of God. It gives me hope. It gives me it gives me peace and assurance throughout. No matter what happens, I'm glad I got the word of God. Amen. You know, and David had that calmness and he had that confidence to give it during the strength. And you and I can have the same thing that David had. Amen. Because the same God that he prayed to is the same God that we pray to. Amen. You know. What a blessing, amen? Aren't you glad that God don't change? I thank God for the non-moral attributes of God, amen? The non-moral, those things that God doesn't, He's omniscient, He's omnipotent, amen? Omnipresent, He's immutable. All those things are so important that I hold on to the grasp during these unchanging times, okay? No matter what goes on, David had the calmness and the confidence Even though his life was unraveling and you and I can have the same calmness and confidence if we'll do what he did God was not an option for him. God was his only amen number four look at verse number five and six My soul wait thou only upon god for my expectation is from him He only is my rock verse six of my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not Be moved. Okay now we see here david's desire. Amen david's expectation Okay, what a blessing and that that word expectation it gives the idea of having a optimistic outlook and that all came from god because he was so Involved and so entwined with God. Okay. He gave him an optimistic outlook by the way, I by nature I'm Optimistic. Okay. I'm optimistic. All right by nature. My wife is a realist. Okay. All right, and But I tell you something though. I'm thankful that that what David was going through in the midst of all these problems he was going through, his own son, Ahithophel was coming again, all these things happened to him, he still had a good outlook on life, because why? It came from God. And you too can, too. You know, tomorrow you get a phone call, your test results came back. Oh, by the way, the other day I was so excited, so excited the other day. I get my blood work done every now and then, and my numbers were so good. So good, I went to Cracker Barrel and celebrated, amen. I got me three big pancakes with blueberry syrup. You know, what a blessing it was. Man, you know, that's the only way to do it, amen, you know. And one lady at my church up there, she killed a big old hog up there, amen. And big old hog, she said. And she said, preacher, she said, I put all of the good meat in this sausage. I said, what do you mean? She said, yeah, I put the whole hog in that sausage. You need to try this. And boy, I tell you, it was the best hog I've ever had in my life, amen? It was a good hog, amen? Good hog, amen? So, you know, anyways, you know, my soul waited up on God. So David, he had a great desire here, OK? And by the way, I want to say something. As you go through the psalm here, just look at how many times he uses the word my in this psalm. And over a dozen times he uses the word my, because he, my rock, my defense, my refuge, my salvation, all these things. And you know what? And I'm thankful that those my's can be my my's, amen? They can be your my's, amen? You can depend upon that. You can put your name in those minds. OK, you can do that. You can do and see. And that's why I want to make the Bible become more real to me. I want to be able to be able to kind of walk in the shoes right now of David and how he was running for his life and his family and all those people were leaving the palace because the mutiny was strong and Absalom was coming after him and all these things happened to him. He's still able to have His calmness in his confidence, you know, what a blessing it is Okay, and by the way that only comes from God by the way there. Okay, you can't manufacture that. Okay, you can't buy that Okay, and I don't care you may I mean you may only have nine Twitter followers. Amen You know nowadays people get all upset about how many followers they have. I mean, you know as long as he's I got God and I got my wife, you know, I'm gonna day my my before Kaylee had this baby and I was gonna I was gonna tweet it out and say hey Katie's expecting the baby and my wife said that's not your news to tell I said well she wouldn't even be here wasn't for me amen I can tell if I want to amen you know all this stuff going on okay you know you know don't say you know and so And so Kay said, well, Dad, you are my daddy. I said, well, praise God, amen. Tell your mama about that, you know? All these restrictions your daughter-in-laws give on you, all this stuff, you know? Just let me be free, amen, you know? I only got nine followers on Twitter, amen. Who else is going to know about it, amen, you know? So it's crazy, you know anyways and I ain't part of the mess, but you had to get it out of here Okay, you know so we see here David's desire. Okay now here verse number five and six. He says here in verse number Five and six here my soul waited upon God for my expectations from him. He only is my rock and my salvation He is my defense I shall not be moved verse seven in God is my salvation and my glory the rock of my strength and those here and and my refuge. Now, That word refuge is really an interesting word that gives a lot of meaning there. It gives the idea of shelter and protects from danger, distress, and calamity. A stronghold which protects by its strength. And by the way, there is nothing stronger than God, amen? He can protect us like nothing else, okay? And that's what I'm trying to say is, is that when David was going through these problems, he realized right off the bat that God was not just an option to him. God was his only. And that strength and that confidence And that calmness came because he relied upon God. And you and I can have that same thing as we go through struggles in life, okay? We go through problems, okay? And so, my son Johnny was home for a couple weeks and I found this, I know I was preaching somewhere, preacher, and I found this girl for Johnny. And, oh my, he said, Daddy, I said, well, I was preaching at this church, and me and my four boys, we got together for Joel's 30th birthday, and we got together for a weekend, and I didn't tell Johnny about it yet. So I went to this church on Sunday morning, and I said, hey, Johnny, I got a girl I want you to meet. And I told the girl, I knew her, I said, I got a guy I want you to meet, amen? Oh my, so at the church, the showdown happened, amen? And boy, boy, amen, she was real nice and sweet, but we got in the van going home and Johnny said, Dad! That's all I'll say, amen, that's all I'll say, amen, you know? And hey, I just want, I want more grandkids before I get older, amen? That's what I want, you know? I had five kids, I want to just get it on, amen, you know? And anyway, okay, where was I at? All right, verse number seven, refuge. And my refuge is in God. I want to tell you something. Isn't that a blessing? And notice here, this idea it gives here, when it comes down to him being my refuge, and David, his thought was any place is inaccessible to an enemy. When you think about God being your refuge, that's any place inaccessible to the enemy. That enemy can't bother you, all right? There's no one stronger than God. And because of that, he can hold you, okay? It doesn't mean you won't go through problems. It doesn't mean, I mean, I had to have surgery in Japan. Talking about problems right there, that was a big problem, you know? Japanese hospital, everything's small over there in Japan, you know? And it was pretty bad. And I was going in there, and I'll just tell you one thing. The anesthesiologist came in and she said, I have never seen such a big man in me, amen? That's what she said, amen, you know? And now I was 80 pounds higher than that, okay? I've lost about 80 pounds and everything, you know, but then I was a big, big man. I was all man, you know what I'm saying, you know? She had a hard time getting me under the knife so I could get out of it. I hate pain, amen? I hate pain. If I go for surgery, just numb me up, knock me out or whatever. I just hate it all, amen? You know? And so, God, and by the way, aren't you glad in heaven only gonna be two genders? Amen? That's all I gotta say about that. I'll leave it go, okay? If you ain't got that, pick it up tomorrow, amen? All right? Verse number eight and nine. Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge, there it is, for us, Selah. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Notice it says here in verse number eight, trust, trust in him at what times? Hey, trust in Him at all times, okay? Always trust in God. You know, good times, great times, sad times, discouraging times. Did I say trust in God at all times, amen? That's what the Bible says, trust in Him at all times. During COVID times, during inflation times, high gas prices times, you just trust in the Lord at all times, you know? And what a blessing it is. We see here that trust gives the idea to be confident, to inspire confidence, calls to rely. David had every reason to trust and rely upon God. God delivered him from the bear and the lion. God delivered him from Goliath. And God delivered him from Absalom as well, too. David had his strength and his trust and his confidence had grown. And by the way, you use a child of God, the longer you're saved, you ought to grow with God too, amen? You ought to be able to pretend to be God more, okay? And so that's what David was doing here. And then we see also too in verse number 10, trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. And by the way, we got a lot of people trusting in riches. Now, by the way, I thank God for rich people, amen? I love rich people, I love them. God does too, amen? But the rich people shouldn't trust their riches, amen? Their trust should be in the Lord, amen? My son called me the other day, he said, Dad, this inflation, my 401k took a big hit, amen? He told me, a big hit, like 18% hit, it took a big... I said, how old are you, son? He said, I'm 28. He said, you got a long way to go, amen. Don't worry about it. It'll be fine. You keep on putting money in there. It'll be all right. Just keep on putting money in there, you know. What I'm trying to say is that the older I get, I want to be like David. His life was unraveling. Absalom was coming after him. He fled the kingdom. And we see here all the way through this psalm, he said, God was not my option. God was my only. And the last thing I want to mention here real quick here, look at verse number 11 and 12. God has spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. First I want to let you know, power belongs to God, amen? That's true power, okay? True power belongs to God. And by the way, Absalom thought he had power, but Absalom didn't really have no power, amen? God had the power, amen? You know what I'm saying, you know? And by the way, do you know, you remember when... When David was fleeing, Shimei came out and said some things, and threw some rocks and dirt at King David and everything, doing all these things. And David didn't say anything or do anything to him. Let him go, okay? What I'm trying to say is, is that when you know where the true power comes from, when you're connected to the Lord that way as David was, when you have your calmness and you have your confidence as David did, you realize that true power belongs to God, amen? That's where it all comes from. And that's where your power, you know, I can do all things, what? through Christ which strengtheneth me, okay? So we see here, lastly here, David's time here, David's declaration here, verse 11 and 12. First of all, true power comes from God. Verse number 12, Wow, I don't know about you. What a combination here in this psalm. At the end of this psalm, as David was doing all these things, he comes back to power and he comes back to mercy. And that word mercy gives compassion for the miserable. And I don't know about you, sometimes I feel miserable and I'm glad that God owns it all on mercy, amen? And God can give me mercy, God can give you mercy, okay? And by the way, when God gives me mercy, then God helps me to give others mercy. By the way, I don't deserve mercy, and when you give mercy to somebody else, they don't deserve it, but hey, it comes from God, and God helps me, then God helps me to help them, amen? It all comes from God. True mercy comes from God. Okay. Power and mercy comes from God. Okay. And we all need this tonight when it comes down to it. You know, Jesus Christ needs to be not just an option. Yeah. Okay. Thank God. He's your Savior. But He's a whole lot more than your Savior, amen? He wants to be your Lord. He wants to be your... He doesn't want to be your co-pilot. He wants to be your pilot, amen? He wants to make the decisions in your life, okay? And we see here that when it comes down to it, David had this thought, He's my only, this and no other. This above all others. He had no other. He above all others. He above everything else. I am so thankful that David said, God is not my option. God is my only. And I want to walk away tonight saying, if you're a child of God, don't let God just be your option. Let him be your only, okay? But rely upon him, trust in him, and the more you do that, as David showed us in this psalm here, as we go through this psalm, he had calmness and confidence that came from God. And as he went through this psalm, what a blessing it is. It's all standing up, please everybody get bowed, every eye closed, no one looking around.