We're returning to the book of Psalms tonight, the Psalm 107. I want to read a number of verses here. And so we'll begin at the opening verse off the Psalms. So we're in Psalm 107. Do follow along. In the Word of God, if you have a copy of the Scriptures, and if you don't, you just follow on as you listen to the Word of God being read. So let's follow the Word of God. Psalm 107, and the verse number one. This is the Word of God. It says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, He delivered them out of their distresses. He led them forth by the right way, that they may go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness, such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God. and contemned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was none to help. Then they cried on to the Lord in their trouble. He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and break their bands and sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. for his wonderful works to the children of men, for he hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron and sunder. Fools, because of their transgression and because of their inequities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them. and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of man. and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifted up the waves thereof, they mount up to the heaven And they go down again to the depths, their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, staggering like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry on to the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distress, as he maketh the storm a-calm, so that the way is their offer still. Then are they glad because they be quiet, so he bringeth them into their desired haven. that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. We'll conclude at the verse number 31, our Bible reading. Could we engage just in prayer again? Just seek the Lord for a few moments. And if you're a believer, you pray that God will very much be with us as we preach the Word of God. Loving Father, we now commit, Lord, now this Time around thy word, the preaching of the gospel. We desire, Lord, that thy name and thy name alone be glorified. We pray, Lord, that thou will therefore fill this preacher with the Spirit of God. We thank thee for his Sabbath, the Lord's day well spent. We thank thee, Lord, for prayer meetings and, Lord, for worship services. Sunday school and Bible class. Now as we close out the day, Lord, we say, tarry with us. Lord, tarry with us. Draw near to us, we pray. At the setting of the sun, may the Lord himself draw very particularly near in this meeting, dealing with hearts. We thank you for the God of providence, who in his sovereign purpose has found each and every individual in this place. We believe that God has preordained and preplanned all that has fallen out, dear God, and the message that will be preached. And Lord, we pray that at the end of this meeting that we would do as we are encouraged to do, that we would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. We thank You for the great work of redemption, and we pray, Lord, that Thou will come now and minister to hearts and lives. Now come and fill me with Thy Spirit, I pray. I offer prayer in and through the Savior's great precious and holy name. Amen and amen. If you go to St. Martin's Place today in central London you'll find located on that road the National Portrait Gallery. That gallery was founded in the year 1856 with the aim of collecting portraits of the most eminent persons in British history. From small beginnings of a single oil painting, with regard to the Bard, William Shakespeare, today that gallery's collection consists of 220,000 portraits, ranging in age from the 8th century right up to the present day. When you stand and look at a particular portrait, we come to see displayed in that work of art the likeness, the personality, and even at times the mood of the person who appears in that particular painting. The Scriptures, the Word of God, at times are like a canvas. upon which the inspired writers come to sketch and they come to paint portraits of certain individuals. By our sanctified imagination, I'm sure we can picture in our minds and the details that are presented in the historical narratives what Moses must have looked like when he found himself before the burning bush. Whenever he went in before Pharaoh, and demanded the release of the children of Israel. Or when, with lifted rod, he saw to the parting of the Red Sea. We can imagine in our mind's eye how David would have appeared when he rushed forth to meet that giant from Gath, Goliath, with sling in hand. Or we can imagine how David would have appeared as he fled over hill and dale, trying to escape the murderous intentions of King Saul. In tonight's reading, in Psalm 107, it appears that the inspired pen man takes both pen and paintbrush in hand and sketches for us on the canvas of Holy Scripture four portraits of the sinner. He does so in order that it might aid our understanding as to our true state before God when we find ourselves still in our sin as well as to what God can do for the sinner in salvation. And so tonight we want to visit a portrait gallery. The Portrait Gallery is Psalm 107. And as we make our way into that Portrait Gallery, we want to view four portraits that are hanging on the wall of that particular gallery. I trust that by doing so, that all who know Jesus Christ as their Savior, as we consider these things, that we'll leave this meeting once again amazed at grace. We need to always be amazed at the grace of God. And whenever we come to view ourselves, because these are self-portraits, these are what we wear whenever we were found in our sin, then I believe we'll be again amazed at grace and thrilled to consider what God has done for me in salvation. And then for those who know not yet Christ, I pray that it would cause you to abandon your sinful way of living and be reconciled to God. And so tonight my message is entitled Four Portraits of the Sinner in Psalm 107. Four Portraits of the Sinner in Psalm 107. The first portrait of the sinner that we find hanging in Psalm 107 is the portrait of a sinner as a lost traveler. A portrait of a sinner depicted as a lost traveler. writing of the former condition of those who were now redeemed, the psalmist comes to inform us in the verse number four that they wandered, they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. We're also told that they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. What a picture is painted here of the sinner. A true likeness of all who are yet still in their sin. I want to view this painting a little closer. So let's draw up, as it were, let's draw a little closer. Let's draw nearer to the canvas of Scripture. And let's view the brush strokes of the inspired painter here. Note how the sinner is said, first of all, to have no direction in life. The sinner has no direction in life. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. It appears that those of whom the psalmist speaks of here, they're individuals that really lack any real direction in their lives. They move from one place to the next, really not knowing where they are going. Is that not a picture? Is that not like the ungodly? Is that not like the sinner? People who continually are moving, moving from one job to the next, from one relationship to the next, from one pleasure to the next, from one country to the next, only to find that after years of living in such a way that their lives really lack any purposeful direction whatsoever. Note where they wander, we're told that they wandered in the wilderness. The wilderness is that barren place, that parched place, that place that knows no growth. It is the dry place, it is the desolate place. The desert, the wilderness is a picture of the world. It's a picture of the world and its sin. What a parts place it is, what a desolate, what a dreary place this world is, what a barren place this world is, what an empty place this world is. The psalmist goes on to speak of these individuals walking in a solitary way. Here where lonely travelers making their way through this world. Oh, how many a sinner is like that, a lonely soul. A lonely soul who lives under the radar of the general public. Nobody really knows them. No one knows their name. No one cares for them. No one loves them. No one is concerned about them. And here we have the picture of the ungodly. Here we have the picture of the unconverted, the unredeemed of God. These were individuals. These are individuals that wander in the wilderness in a solitary way. And maybe I'm describing you tonight. a directionless soul, a lost soul, a wandering soul, a lonely soul. making your way through this dreary, sinful world. A young man, a young woman who has no direction in their lives, no purpose in living. Someone who just aimlessly drifts through life and along in life, wandering from day to day and from week to week and from month to month and from year to year, not really knowing where you're actually going in your life. A lonely individual, a solitary person, how lonely and how desolate the soul is. without Jesus Christ. And that's what you are. You're a soul without Christ. And so you're pictured here. This is your portrait. If you know not Christ as Savior, you're really looking at yourself as you stand, looking at this gallery, and in this gallery, looking upon this particular portrait of the lost traveler, because this pictures you. You're an individual who wanders in this world in a solitary way. And so they had no direction in life, these individuals. Secondly, these individuals, they had no dwelling place in life. We go on to read in the verse, this verse of what we're speaking of there, we find in verse four, we read that they found no city to dwell in. As restless souls, these people found no place in the world that they could call home. They looked long. Undoubtedly, they looked long and they looked hard for such a place, but it always seemed to evade them. Nowhere that they could really settle down and call their home. Oh, they would have had their houses to live in, but really it just didn't feel like home. There's something missing. What a picture this is again of the sinner. The one who never comes to find home. The one who never finds the rest of home. or the peace of home, or the joy of home, or the fellowship of home, the comfort of home, that a home would provide for such an individual. And again, is this not an apt illustration of the ungodly? Is it not the case, sinner, that you find no spiritual home for your soul? Or you find a home in this world. There's a place where you live. You've got a bed to lie on. You've got a table to eat at, a seat to sit on, but really you've got no home for the soul. Now the soul continues to wander. There is no place of rest. There is no place of joy. There is no place of fellowship. There is no place of peace for the soul. Oh, you thought that you would find a home for your soul at the pub, didn't you? You thought you would find a home for your soul at the public house. You thought you would find a home for your soul at the bookies. You thought you would find a home for your soul at your place of employment, or at university, or college, or at your place of education. But the soul has found no home in any of these places because you see the soul only finds its home in the one who created the soul. Your soul finds a home when it finds itself in God. That's the home of the soul. And so they find no dwelling place, nowhere to call home. But then the sinner is also said to be one who has no delights in life, no direction in life, no dwelling place in life. Yes, and no dwelling place in eternity. Think of that sinner before we go on to this third point. No dwelling place in eternity, nowhere to call home. Your home, your dwelling place will be hell. If you die in your sin and die as you are, that will be your place of residency, but it'll never feel like home, for the soul was never meant for such a place. But if you die in your sin, that's where your soul will go. Your soul then will be reunited at the general resurrection and body and soul will be cast into hell. And for countless ages and for eons, for eons and eternity, you'll say, there is nowhere for my soul to find a home. The sinner finds no direction there, directionless. The sinner is one who finds no dwelling place. Thirdly, the sinner is the one who finds no delights in life. Hungry and thirsty, the verses go on to say, verse number 5, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. You see, nothing in this sinful world truly satisfies the soul. Nothing. In fact, all that this world has to offer the sinner leaves them hungry and thirsty. And we know that to be the case, because why? Because the sinner has to continually go after that. continue to go after time and time again to return to their sin, hoping that on every return that they will be satisfied, only to find, only to find the elusive satisfaction that they long for. It never materializes. And so here you are, maybe tonight, a hungry and thirsty soul. Not hungry physically, not thirsty physically, but hungry and thirsty within a longing A longing to know God, a longing to know the reality of God, and to know what it is to be pardoned and be forgiven. And here you are, you're hungry, you're famished, you're thirsty. Oh, let me remind you that Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Jesus Christ can satisfy the soul. John 6, verse 35. The Savior said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. None but Christ can satisfy, none other name for me. There's love, life, and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in thee. And so what a pitiful sight we come to behold as we stand Beneath this portrait, and we view it, there's a lost traveler, wandering aimlessly, no direction in life, no dwelling place for time or for eternity, no delight within the soul, no delights in life, dissatisfied with life. There they are, wandering in the wilderness. But then notice what the sinner does. In the verses 6 and 7, and then what God does in response to that. Here they are, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted. And then, then they cried on to the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them out of their distresses. He led them forth by the right way that they may go to the city of habitation. In verse number 9, it goes on to say, For he satisfieth the longing soul, and he filleth the hungry soul with goodness. to the one who seeks God, to the one who cries to God for salvation. God meets them at the point of their need. Do you not notice how particular it is? Do you not see the need of the sinner? We've already said it out in the message. And then how God comes and he meets that need specifically. So the one who has no direction in life, and according to the verse number eight, it tells us that God led them forth by the right way. And to the one who had no dwelling place in life, in verse 8, it tells us that God, he brought them to the city of habitation, a city of habitation, somewhere to call their home. And to the person who had no delights in life, according to verse 9, we're told that God satisfieth the longing soul. He filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Oh, why not cry to God tonight, sinner? Why not call upon the Lord to deliver you out of your troubles and out of your distresses? He's well able to save you even from such tonight. He's promised that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so wandering one and wasting one and weary one, come to Christ tonight and be saved. The second portrait of the sinner that's found hanging in the gallery of Psalm 107 is a portrait of the sinner as an incarcerated prisoner. We stand before this particular portrait, we come to view a guilty criminal languishing in a prison cell. Verse number 10, we're told that they sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore, he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was none to help. A number of things that I see from this portrait. The first thing I see in these words is the cause of their incarceration. How have they come to be found in iron? How have they come to be fettered? How have they come to be bound and chained? What is the cause of this incarceration? Verse 11 tells us, they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the Most High. In other words, they speak of the sinner's deliberate defiance of God. Their deliberate rejection of His will and of His way, rebellion against God's words, and their contempt for the counsel of the Most High has resulted to their imprisonment, to their captivity, and to their bondage. They're just like their first father, Adam, for he was a rebel. He, he himself, He himself was one who condemned the counsel of the Most High. He was one who himself rebelled against the words of God. God had said to him, thou shalt not. And Adam says, but I will. And as a result, what's the old saying? The apple never falls far from the tree. And such is the case with regard to every descendant of Adam. We are all rebels by nature. We're all rebels by nature because like father, like son. We're just like our first father. And I would say to you tonight, sinner, that your sin, your persistent and your willful violation of God's righteous law has brought you into sin's bondage. Your actions have led to your own captivity. Your rebellion has sought to your own bondage. We have no one else. blame but ourselves. Our incarceration in sin's prison house is self-inflicted. I trust that you understand that. Trust you understand that you have rebelled against the words of God and you must then face the consequences of that rebellion. The cause of their incarceration. Secondly, think about the conditions of their incarceration. These people are said to sit in darkness, bound, in affliction and iron. The psalmist goes on to say that their hearts they were brought down with labor. I say this is no holiday camp. This is no holiday camp like prisons are today with televisions and pool tables and football pitches and libraries on site. No, rather this is a place of darkness. This is a place of affliction, a place of bondage, a place of hard labor, a place of toil. And that's where sin has brought every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. Sin has brought you into sin's prison house. The prison house of sin. Maybe that's where you are tonight. Maybe tonight finds you in sin's prison. Tonight finds you in the darkness of your sin, bound and fettered by sin's chains, afflicted by sin, downcast and depressed because of your sin. The heart has been brought down with hard labor and hard rigor that sin is. May God deliver you from such conditions and deliver you from such a place. The third thing I see from these notes is the conclusion to their incarnation. The cause of this incarnation is their rebellion. And then we think about the conditions. We thought about them. What about the conclusion of their incarceration? In verse number 10, we're told that these people, they sit in the shadow of death. Here were a people who find themselves on death row. They're found on death row. Death's shadow is looming large over their lives. These people, they're headed for certain death. Certain death. As it were, the executioner's axe head, the shadow of it, as it were, it's looming large over them. The shadow of it appears across their pathway. They sit in the shadow of death and they find themselves as those who are headed to death. Is this any different than you as a sinner? You're headed for death. Well, presently you're spiritually dead. There's going to come a time whenever you will physically die. And sadly, if you die without Christ, there will be a time that you will eternally die. Soul will be lost. You'll face eternal death and you'll face eternal hell. This is the conclusion of the one who sits in such a place. What a dark, what a depressing, what a desperate picture the psalmist comes to paint here. But against this dark and against this gloomy backdrop, there shines a ray of hope. See them as a languishing sin's prison house, as they sit in the darkness of that house, and now a ray of light, it now appears. Because in verse 13 and 14, we read then, they cried on to the Lord in their trouble. And he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness. And of the shadow of death, and he break their bands asunder. Note the means of deliverance. Well, verse 12 tells us that there was none to help, none to help among men, no one to help them out of their situation. We find that whenever they cry to God, that they find that there was one who could help them. one who could help them in Christ, in God Himself. They found that there was one who could bring them out of their darkness and out of the shadow of death and out of their bondage. There was one, one, only one who could break the chains of sin, who could break their chains in pieces and their fetters. Tonight there's only one who can break the chains of sin. There's only one who can deliver you from your trouble and from your distresses, and that one is Jesus Christ. Why can he do that? He can do that because he lived and died and rose again in our place and in our state. He died the death that we should have died. He satisfied divine justice. Oh, may tonight you come believing in the one who suffered and bled and died. the cross and rose again from the dead. May this moment, may this moment, may he walk into sin's prison house and may he walk right up to your cell this evening and may he break the brass gates and may he cut the bars of iron asunder and may he set you free. He can break every chain and he can set you free. The third portrait that we come to view hanging here in the gallery of Psalm 107 is a portrait of a sinner as a sick patient, as a sick patient. In this section of the psalm, in which we now find ourselves from the verse number 17 onwards, we find that the psalmist, he transports us into the ICU of his day. That intensive ward, care ward, where patients' lives hang by a thread. I was there this week by myself in the causeway, ICU unit, by myself in intensive care, patients whose lives were hanging by a mere thread. Verse number 18 and 19, we read, Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, And they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. Verse 17, it says, because of their iniquities, the fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. With appetite now gone, they're of soul, abhorring all manner of meat. These individuals, they are said to draw near unto the gates of death. The sin that has brought them to this place, their transgressions, their iniquities have saw to them being afflicted and nearing death. You know there are people in our land tonight and they've inflicted upon their bodies the most horrific illnesses and sicknesses because of their sin. Whenever you fill your body with alcohol and you fill your body with drugs and you fill your body with cigarette smoke, you're going to make yourself sick. You're going to make yourself ill. There are those who pursue a life of immorality that leads to all kind of horrible diseases. And therefore man through his sin brings upon himself physical and mental and emotional and spiritual sickness. Each day he is being drawn nearer and nearer to the gates of death. And the Bible is very clear that the sinner is an individual who is terminally ill. Isaiah, he comes to paint that most vivid portrait of the sickly state of the sinner. In Isaiah 1, verses 5 and 6, What a ghastly, ghastly picture we have of the sin-sick soul. There's nothing sound, there's nothing healthy about the sinner. They're a mass of corruption. Sin, like a cancer, eats its way at the sinner until they are brought to death. Eternal death. Oh, I trust, sinner, that you see your condition here tonight pictured in this particular portrait. See how serious your condition is. You know, sinner, you're not found on some general ward of a hospital waiting for the green light for the doctor to see to your discharging from that general ward. Sinner, you are in ICU, and your life hangs by a thread. Your soul hangs by a thread over God's hell. The family, as it were, have been called. That's what happens when you find yourself in ICU. It's as if the family has been called. The doctors have told the family that there is nothing more that they can do for you. It's just a matter of time before your life is gone. That's where you are, sinner. That's where you are. What if just now, in spiritual terms, the monitors connected to that soul of yours, what if those monitors went flatline? You know what it is for a thing to go flatline? You hear that beep, and then that prolonged beep, there's that beep, beep, beep, and then it's beep, life gone. What if the monitors connected to that soul of yours went flatline? Let me ask you, where would your soul be in eternity? Where would your soul be one minute after you die? Where will it be after one second after you die? Tell me, would your soul be among the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven? Or would your soul be found in the blackness and darkness and the fire of hell? As we stand, as it were, around then the deathbed of the sinner in this psalm, how glad then we are to read the words of the verse 19 and 20. Are you noticing? Are you noticing the reoccurring theme in the chapter? The sinner is brought low. They cry to God. And God saves them. God saves them out of their distresses. That's all they do. They cry to God and God delivers them. God saves them. God works and God deals with the situation. Can I say, sinner, you don't have to jump through hoops to become a Christian. You don't have to embark upon some religious pilgrimage. You don't have to pay money into this church or any other church to become a Christian. All that you have to do is to call upon the Lord. Call upon the Lord where you are. And what does God do for these individuals? Well, he meets them at the point of their need. For we're told that he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them. That's what the sin-sick soul needs. It needs healing. It needs a word from God. He speaks the word and it's done. He speaks the word and it's done. Just a word from God and healing flows. Oh my God, then speak this saving word, this healing word, this curing word into your sin sick soul tonight. Cry to God for spiritual healing sinner. Christ the great physician can heal the soul. This final portrait that we're drawing to you, and with this I close. The final portrait that we come to view on this gallery of Psalm 107 is a portrait of a sinner as a storm tossed sailor. Verse 23, it says, The condition of the sinner who finds themselves still in their sin is likened to be like a ship on the stormy sea. The sinner rises and falls. They reel to and fro. They stagger like a drunkard on life's stormy sea. The storms of life batter life's vessel at times and causes the soul of that individual, the sinner, to melt. You know, many can cope Man, they can't cope with life's troubles. They can't cope and they can't deal with life's trials. They can't handle life's storms. And so they buckle. They buckle under and crumble under the pressure. And sometimes they resort to a can or to a bottle, some to a box of tablets, some to syringe to escape reality. And so they're brought to this place of what the psalmist speaks of. They're brought to their wit's end. In other words, they don't know where to turn and they don't know who to turn to. And maybe that's you tonight. You don't know where to turn and you don't know who to turn to. Can I point you in the direction of the Savior? Can I point you to Him tonight? Can I point you to His cross, to His sacrifice? to the blood that he shed, to the fountain that's open for sin and for uncleanness? Does tonight find you at wit's end? Has life's stormy sea tossed you to and fro, that you feel that you're about to go under? Because every form of escapism that you've tried, has it failed to bring the peace and the tranquility and the calm that you're dearly longing for within your soul? Sinner, is it not the case that you're like this vessel, tossed with tempest on the sea of life, headed for eternity's shore? What if you made shipwreck? What if you made shipwreck before you trusted in Christ for salvation? It's hardly worth thinking of. You'd be eternally lost. And I certainly don't want that for you, and I know that deep down inside you don't want that for yourself either. And so what am I to do, preacher? Here I am. I'm like this one, tossed to and fro. And my life, it just rises and falls. I find myself on many occasions at my wit's end. What am I to do, preacher? Listen, you should know by now what to do. We've already said it three times already. Three times already in this message, I've told you what to do. And the counsel that was given to the lost traveler, in verse 6, to the incarcerated prisoner, in verse 13, to the sick patient, in the verse number 19, is the exact same counsel that is given to the storm-tossed sailor. Verse 28. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. Call upon the Lord. Call upon Him tonight. Call upon Him for salvation. This is the means of salvation, a calling upon the Lord. This is the way in which an individual comes to faith in Jesus Christ. There is a parting with sin and there is a calling upon the Lord. And what does the Lord do for such a person? Well, notice what it says in the verse 29. He maketh the storm a calm. so that the waves are all for still. They are quiet. Sorry, then are they glad because they be quiet, so he bringeth them into their desired haven. God will calm the storm. God will speak peace into your soul, and he'll bring you to your desired haven. What is that haven? Is that not heaven itself? He'll bring you safely to glory. He'll bring you into heaven itself. What a blessed prospect that is for those who have called upon the Lord. He'll bring you into your desired haven. But for you who have not called upon God for salvation, you will find yourself everlastingly tossed to and fro in the ways of divine wrath. in the stormy waters of the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, rising and falling on the ways of divine wrath for all of God's eternity and no calm, no calm. May it never be your end, sinner. May it never be your portion in eternity. Tonight we have walked through this gallery very quickly. We've come to view four portraits hanging on its walls. In light of all that we have observed in the gallery, then, I believe that the counsel given at the very conclusion of this psalm is worth taking to heart if you're an unsaved person in this house tonight. Because in Psalm 107 and in the final verse, the verse number 43, we read these words, "'Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.'" to the one who comes to understand their true spiritual condition, to the one who recognizes that only God can deliver them from sin's distresses, and to the one who calls upon the Lord for salvation is the one who comes to experience the loving kindness of God in the gospel. In loving kindness, Jesus came. my soul in mercy to reclaim, and from the depths of sin and shame through grace he lifted me. Would you not want to know the loving kindness of God tonight offered in the gospel? Then do what these individuals did. Do what the lost traveler did. Do what the sin-sick soul did. Do what the incarcerated prisoner did. Do what the storm-tossed sailor did. Then, then cried they on to the Lord in their trouble. And he saveth them out of their distresses. May God save you tonight, save you out of sin's distress, and draw you even to the Christ. We trust that will be the case. Let's bow our heads together in prayer together. Let's seek the Lord. If I can help you in any way this evening, I'll be at the door, there to shake your hand on the way out. Maybe you want to remain in your place, in your pew. You do that, we'll come back in again and speak to you about these matters. I wonder have you saw your own portrait hanging on this gallery? Can you view yourself? Can you say, preacher, at least one of these portraits is a very apt picture of who I am and where I am. And tonight I need the Savior. Call upon him. Seek him. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. The wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return on to the Lord, for he will have mercy, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. May God turn you to himself, and may that cry ascend from your heart tonight, Lord, save me. Save me out of my distress. Our loving Father, our gracious God, we don't desire to prolong this meeting any longer. We desire simply to throw and to cast all that has been said upon thee, praying, that it will have been of God, that it be used by the Spirit to convict of sin, Lord, to bring the sinner out of their distresses, out of, Lord, their illness, out of their sickness, out of, O God, their prison, out of, dear Father, Lord, out of their loneliness and wanderings, Lord, their dissatisfied life, Lord, bringing them out, O God, of the stormy sea of life upon which their vessel now bobs up and down on. And Lord, with no anchor for the soul, we pray that Thou would use Thy word to the salvation of sinners, to the restoring off the fallen, and to the encouragement of Thy saints, as we consider all that God did for us when we called upon Him for salvation. He healed us, Aye, he calmed the stormy seas of life. Yes, he brought us out of the prison house. Thank God he came and he satisfied the hungry soul. And we're glad, Lord, that thou hast redeemed us from the hand of the enemy, and thou hast gathered us from the north, the south, and from the east and the west. Gather to thyself more of thy ones, thy people, we pray, and bring them in, Lord, to Christ. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's great and precious and lovely name. Amen.