I like that. Amen. Well if you have your Bibles here tonight we turn to Psalms chapter 69. If you want to read tonight you're sure welcome to do that. So we'll again read out loud and public reading of God's word. It used to be done a long time ago, but it's not done much anymore, but we're glad tonight that it is here, amen? Psalm 69. All right, so we have four? All right, sister, why don't you read the first nine? And then we'll just do nine after that until 36. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried. Mine eyes fail. while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs on mine head. They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty when I restored that which I took not away. O God, Thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from Thee. Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek Thee be confounded for my sake. O God of Israel, because for Thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren. and alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment, and I became a proverb to them. They that sat in the gates speak against me, and I was the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving kindness is good. Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it. Deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. Mine adversaries are all before thee. Thank you. reproach hath broken mine heart, and I am full of heaviness, and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness." Thank you, brother. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that had horns and hooves. The humble shall see this and be glad, and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Amen. The Song of Solomon here tonight, chapter two. Song of Solomon, chapter two, as we continue on through preaching through this wonderful book called The Songs tonight, the greatest song that's ever been sung. We find in chapter two, in verse 15, is where we left off, or chapter, verse 14, we left off last time. We'll begin here in verse 15, read down to chapter three to verse five. Verse 15 of chapter 2, take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine and I am his, he feedeth among the lilies. Until the daybreak and the shadows flee away, turn my beloved, be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountain of Bither. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now and go about the city and the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. The watchman that goeth about the city found me, to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Father, we come to you in Jesus' name. Lord, we humbly come to you tonight, God, asking for the help of the Lord. Father, as we bring the message tonight that you laid on our hearts, you know that I need it. And I know, God, everybody in this room may need it, and I pray, Father, that we would hear it. God, I ask you now, Lord, to lend God this service. I pray that you'd anoint me with your spirit. Pray to anoint the hearers as well. Pray that Jesus Christ may be glorified and exalted tonight on a Wednesday night. I know we're tired. I know we've been busy. I know, God, that our days are long. And I know, Lord, that it seems we're getting weaker by the day. And I just pray somehow, someway, Lord, for just a few moments, you'll give us the great attention we need for the word of God. God, that we might see you and we might have time with you. We might fellowship with you, Lord, here tonight. And God, we may worship the Lord Jesus. God, give us the privilege tonight to come in thy presence. And Jesus, we beg you tonight in his name, I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. The title of the message tonight or the thought that we'd like to bring is In the Days of Darkness. the days of darkness, we find two things here tonight. We find that these passages that we've read is talking about the night. We see that in verse 17, it says, until the daybreak. In other words, he's saying what she's saying is, is the daybreak is coming. The sun's coming up. And it's about to come. So right now it's in the dark. We find that chapter 3 verse 1 by night on my bed. And so we see that it's a night situation. It's a night ordeal. That's why I kind of titled it in the days of darkness. And tonight, also, I want you to notice that she is still, the Shulamite girl is still talking to these daughters of Jerusalem. There in chapter 2, verse 7, says, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. Then in chapter 3, in verse 5, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. She's still in the conversation. She's still in the mix of these daughters of Jerusalem. She's still under the eye of Solomon, the king. And so she hasn't left that. She's still there. And here tonight we find her in a darkness. We find her in a place of darkness. Now what would that mean to you and I tonight? Well, it could mean, and you could say it like this, you ever been in a valley? You ever been in the valley? You know, on the mountaintop tonight as a Christian is a time of blessedness, time of joy, a time of laughter, a time of times that are great, times that are wonderful. But you know and I know that in the Christian walk, in the Christian life, you can't stay on the mountaintop. The mountaintop experiences are something you need to remember, and you need to expect, and you need to look forward to. But we are a lot of times in the valley. Amen? And so that would be like in the darkness. Also, we could term it this way. We could say, have you ever been in a storm? In a storm. And so that's another time of difficulty of life, another time of troublesome in life. It's a storm of life. And boy, we like it when the seas are glass, and we like it when the boat is just flowing. We like it when all things seem to be good. But when the storm comes in life, boy, them are rough. That's difficult days, and we find her right in midst of that. Or we can say it like this, not only when you're in the valley or in your storm, but when you're in the dark. When you're in darkness, amen, in Christian life, you're gonna find that some days seem dark. Some weeks seem dark, and even much today. It could mean that, man, we're just having some troublesome time. In this dark or this storm or in this valley tonight, we'll find a place of uncomfortableness. And sometimes, as a Christian, we find ourselves in uncomfortableness. It might be a situation. It might be a circumstance. It might be a person. It might be something at work. It might be at home. It might be parenting. It might be as being a wife or as a husband. It might be in finances. It might be in health. You're just uncomfortable. That's a time of darkness. That time of darkness also would bring a place of unjoyfulness. You know, you don't always have a smile on your face. I mean, you come to church that-a-way, and we think your whole life is just full of joy. But you know, we know, we all know that we all just don't have joy all the time. I mean, we just don't smile all the time. We just are not happy all the time. Are you that-a-way, or maybe it's just me tonight, that you just sometimes find yourself in a place of being disgruntled, a place of being frustrated, a place of being aggravated, a place where if you do smile, you got to make yourself smile. At time, whenever, but a place of darkness tonight, you can just say it's a place of uncomfortableness, it's a place of unjoyfulness, it's a place of unpeacefulness. There's just no peace in the dark. There's no peace in the valley, and there's no peace in the storm. Unpeacefulness. You just don't find rest. And there's days of Christianity that you just kind of find yourself in the way of peace, and you can just sit back and relax and say, you know, God is good, the Lord is coming, and my family is doing well, and all things seem to be good. But then sometimes in the darkness, in the valley, in the storm, there's just no peace. We find also in the Christian life, as she has found here, it's a place of unrestfulness. You're just antsy. You're just nervous. You're just worrisome. Am I talking about Christians tonight? If this don't apply to you tonight, then the Word of God tonight ain't going to help you at all. But you are in some of these places we're speaking of tonight. It might be a help to us, and I pray that it is. It's also a place of unhopefulness. Unhopefulness. You ever been in situations it seems that there's just no hope? You ever been in places where it just seems like, man, there's nothing going to change? There's nothing going to be different. It's always going to be just like it is, and it's unhopefulness. That's a time of darkness, a time of the storm, a time tonight that we can consider to be a time in the valley. Now I want to talk about number one tonight, the cause of darkness. What would bring on this valley or this storm or what would cause it for her as the Shulamite girl here, the Shulamite woman here? We see that in chapter 2 and verse 15. I want you to notice as we get to the cause of the darkness, I want you to notice number one, I want you to notice the fruit. The fruit because this is important The Bible says in verse 15 take us to foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines and our vines have tender grapes Our vines have tender grapes tonight. If you turn your Bibles to John with me John chapter 15 I want to bring a correlation here to what those vines or that vine may mean to you and I and also the fruit and John 15 look verse 1 tonight don't keep your hand there and saw me right back to that the Bible says I am the true vine and my father is the husband Jesus is saying I'm the vine Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purchased it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing tonight. So we go back to the Song of Solomon and she is in the darkness and she's at night here and she's in a troubled place, she's in a situation she says to the Lord she's talking to her shepherd here this is the the Shulamite woman is talking to her shepherd and she says to her shepherd take us the foxes the little foxes that's for the vines for our vines have tender grapes she's saying that Jesus you're the vine and the church is the is the very branches amen And the fruit that is on the vine, that's on the branches, she called it a very tender grapes tonight. We're going to call it fruit tonight, but together there's bearing of fruit. You got to have the branches, you got to have the vine in order to have the fruit, right? And so we got to have Christ and Christ got to have us tonight in order for this fruit to be produced. Now turn to Galatians with me, chapter 5, and let's talk about this fruit in which you and I can relate to here today or tonight. And so, as she's talking about the darkness, she's talking about a difficult time, that her shepherd is away from her for some reason, and she's not as happy as she could be. It's a dark time for her. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. As we look at the scripture, There we all know that it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. So if we make application to the Song of Solomon, we as the church, as the Shulamite was the church, we would say to our Lord Jesus Christ tonight, we would say, you're the vine and we're the branches. And because of you, we're going to bear fruit. We're not going to just bear a little fruit, we're going to bear much fruit. What kind of fruit will you and I bear with Jesus? Well, number one, we bear love. Right? We find that we love God, and we'll love people, and we'll love enemies tonight. Amen? And so we'll bear that love. Also, in Christ, we would bear joy. We would have, tonight, gladness. We would have cheerfulness. We would have delight. We'd be a people of joy. In Christ, tonight, we find we bear a peace. That means rest, and calm, and tranquility. In Christ, tonight, we bear longsuffering. That means patience, and forbearance, and fortitude. Also, we bear tonight in Christ gentleness. That means kindness and excellence and morality. We find in Christ that we bear goodness. Goodness means benefit, and it means well. The Bible says that we also in Christ bear faith. That means reliance and conviction and assurance. The Bible says we also in Christ bear meekness. That means humility and mildness. The Bible says in Christ we also bear temperance, which means self-control. It means self-reliance. It means strong. And so we find tonight that she is saying, back in the Song of Solomon, she's saying unto the Lord, she's saying unto her shepherd, if you read that passage as it's mentioned, she says, for our vines. That means me and you, Lord, our vines. I'm the vine, you're the vine, I'm the branches, and what we have blossomed, what we have produced have been tender grapes. We have got some fruit, amen? You and I, Lord, we have produced fruit. Isn't that good in your Christian life tonight? That you can look to the Lord and say, Lord, you and I done bear some fruit. Without you, I can't bear anything. And tonight, because you saved me and I am the branch and you are the vine. Our God is the husbandman tonight that we have some tender grapes tonight We've got some fruit that we can look at love and joy and peace and so forth and so on tonight But she says I don't want you only look at the fruit tonight. I want you to look at the foxes the foxes That's already tonight scary You know, when you get a look at a fox and you see a fox and you have any type, anybody have any issues with foxes tonight? Any dealings with foxes? You have a fox for a pet? You have a fox for a guard dog or anything like that tonight? Anybody ever had a fox? Anybody ever touched a fox? Anybody ever had anything to do with a fox? Anybody ever killed a fox? Y'all are foxless. Amen, so whatever I'm gonna tell you about Fox tonight It ain't even gonna matter cuz you don't even know a man I didn't even know that about foxes either But let me just say this if you ever see I ever seen a picture of a fox All right, they look cute Don't they I mean they're little bitty things and got them little tails got the ear sticking up and you look at you just want to cuddle I mean, you just want to grab them and you think they're cute, man. They're very clever little animals, amen? And so you look at a fox, you say, there can't be no harm with a fox. There can't be anything wrong with a fox. I mean, look at it. It's a little bitty fox. And it's this, it's that. And it's so huggable. It's so lovable. And I tell you, I wish I just had one for my pet, had one in my garage, had one in my yard. And tonight we find that this fox tonight, what they are, they are robbers. They're robbers. They'll come out there to your field and they'll steal your fruit. That's right. They'll come out there and they'll steal all of your vegetables. They'll steal all of the fruit. They'll get into your garden and, boy, they'll come in and they'll just come through that thing and ravish it. You know what they're doing? They're taking from you. They're robbers tonight. I'll tell you something else. They are the destroyers. They will destroy your fruit. They will destroy your grapes. They will destroy everything and anything that they can get their hands on or their mouth on. Their teeth are very sharp. Their claws are very sharp. And man, they just go into something and they get it and they just go fast as they can. And they will destroy those fruits. They'll destroy anything that's before them. It was vegetables tonight. They like little animals. They can't handle big animals, but they do kill little animals. And boy, they're ferocious. They're vicious tonight. And we find that these are not only robbers and there are destroyers tonight, but foxes are killers. They kill. That's what they do. And tonight, she's saying to the shepherd, she's saying to the shepherd, shepherd, she said, me and you together, we have some tender grapes, but we got some foxes. And I'm worried. I'm worried because, see, we got some big foxes, she said in verse 15, she says, take us the foxes, that's the big foxes. So what are the foxes in our lives tonight that would Just damage, destroy, and rob us from our fruit. What is it tonight that a fox can take your joy? Huh? Take your peace. Take your goodness and your gentleness. How about take your temperance and your meekness? How about take your faith? What is it tonight of a fox? What could do that? A big fox. Well, I'm not going to name everything and all things. I'm just going to throw out three tonight. But there's many and there's hundreds of them. But tonight, the mind that I want you to see is this, is she's in the dark. And while she's in the dark tonight, she has an understanding that her and her shepherd has this grapes, they're tender grapes, this fruit that's very, very good and very profitable and beneficial, but she has some foxes too. And these foxes want to come and destroy the fruit. And so she's saying that this big fox that they have is a fox, and we could say tonight that a fox could be to us as big as a temptation. Temptation, amen? I mean, temptation comes into our lives. It comes into our lives by the way of the TV. It comes in the way tonight of our phones. Temptation comes in the way of magazines or comes in the way of others or people. It comes in the way of many, many things tonight. And temptations tonight, temptations to buy, temptations to sell, temptations to look, temptations to taste, temptations to listen to, temptations to touch, temptations to walk, temptations to say yes, temptations to say no, And this big fox's tonight will take your fruit tonight and damage it and destroy it. It will rob you of the fruit in which you have made with Christ. How about this fox? The fox not only of temptation but the fox tonight of lust. The lust. The lust of things, the lust of money, the lust of sex, the lust of work, the lust of the things that you and I tonight don't have and the things that we do have tonight. The lust of power, the lust of prestige, the lust of opportunity, the lust of future, the lust of past, the lust. Another fox tonight to come and rob us and steal us tonight from the fruit that Christ and you have made. I lust and we find tonight in the big fox but pride. Pride when we think that we are somebody and we think that we've done something and we think that we have achieved and we think we've arrived and we think that we'll never go back and we'll never do wrong and we think that we can't fall and we think tonight that we are spiritual and we have come to the place of heights and we are equal to a theologian and we have All that we need to do. We're the best husband and the best wife and the best father and the best mother. We're the best church member. We're the best that Christ could have. And you and I tonight can be full of pride tonight. And we find that big fox is going to just steal from us that fruit. What is described to you is the world and Satan in the flesh. The world tonight is lust. Satan is temptations and the flesh is pride. our three enemies that we have. We find that she was not only concerned about the big foxes, but she was concerned about the little foxes. The little foxes, or the small ones, the little five or six pounders, and that the Bible says that spoil the vines. And we find that the little foxes tonight, that in our spiritual life, will rob us and steal from us our fruit. Tonight, like, for example, Attitude. You know, we fight against temptation, and we fight against lust, and we fight against pride, and we're aware of those things, and we really work hard not to do those things, but you can cop an attitude up in a minute. You can have a real attitude. You can get up in the morning, friend, and it's like you got up on the other side of the bed. You went to bed kissing me, but you woke up hating me. You went to work, friend, angry, but when you come home, you're loving. What is wrong with you? Attitude. Anything could just set you off. Anything could get you just to going. Anything could get you in the place of wrath. It'll get you to a place of you being different and you being the place where you just ignore and shut off and tell off, amen? And friend, attitude. We say that's a little thing, right? I mean, drinking and cussing and pornography and abortion, homosexuality, and all these things we want to mention tonight are big and huge, but attitude is on the really low. But can I tell you tonight, them small foxes, they spoil the vines. That little attitude you got, you'll destroy a home. A marriage. You destroy a church. You destroy your parenting. You destroy your attitude. You destroy your testimony. You destroy your reputation. Just because of an attitude. Straighten your attitude up. It'll take all the fruit from you. The foxes, little foxes. How about knowing attitude? But you think, okay, what else, brother? And again, there's a million of these things. I don't have time tonight to go through each one of them. I'm just kind of throwing you things out there so you can get it. How about the tongue? The Bible says in James, it's a little member. Just little. Yours is about the same length. Just a little member. That little tongue right there, friend, you know, that's a small fox. But it spoiled the vine. You're with your little tongue, your little sarcasm, your little lie. Your little rudeness, your little crudeness, your voice that arises and the yelling and the screaming and all that you have put forth, even the evil communication that proceedeth out of your mouth in the way of cursing and even gossiping or backstabbing. We could go on and on and on with the tongue, the tongue, the tongue. But we find that Brother Charles, the other night in Bible study, did a great job in talking about the tongue. And so tonight we find that's a little fox. Just a little tongue. Then we find tonight that the tongue is a little fox and it could destroy the fruit of what you and I or what Christ and I have done. We find little anger, little white lie. Amen? These little foxes. We can't throw them off to the side. We'll say, oh, that's just a little white lie. That don't really mean nothing. I mean, I told her I was going to the store, but I went by the friend's house to say hello to him, to show him my gun or show him or show her, you know, my new dress or something. And he asked me, why did it took you so long? Well, the traffic was bad. Well, the traffic might have been bad, but you didn't tell him you went by the friend's house, but you did go to the store. So basically, you did tell the truth, but you didn't tell the whole truth. That was just a little lie. So we just kind of throw that under the rug. That spoils the vines. She's worried tonight. She's worried tonight because she's in the midst tonight of Solomon. She's in the midst of the daughters of Jerusalem. And she's in the midst of herself. And she's all, no doubt, no doubt tonight that she's in the midst of foxes. Some big foxes and some little foxes. And by the way, the foxes are known to be able to see in the dark. Foxes have great visionaries in dark. Can I say number three tonight? Not only the fruit, but I want you to notice the foxes, but I want you to notice the fear. She is so afraid that the vines are going to be spoiled. She has fear tonight that those tender grapes are going to be destroyed. That there's going to be a damage and a detachment of the fruit. But she'll allow a fox to get into her heart. She'll allow a little fox to get in her mind. She'll allow some things in her life tonight, a big fox or a little fox, and she'll find herself being unloving. Are you concerned about that? Are you concerned tonight that you would be so concerned that tonight you could make admission that I am concerned about the foxes in my life? That I have the fruit me and Jesus has blossomed in love, But I'm afraid tonight, I'm scared tonight that I might find myself, because of the foxes, unloving. You might find yourself tonight unhappy. You might find yourself unsettled. You might find yourself impatient. You might find yourself mean, just mean. You might find yourself unprofitable. You might find yourself unbelieving. And you might find yourself selfish, and you might find yourself out of control. Well, that describes you the fruit that I spoke to a while ago, that you had with Christ. You may, sometime in your life, or sometime in your week, or sometime in your day, find yourself that you've allowed a fox to come into your life, whether it's big or little, and now He has destroyed, damaged, and detached the fruit that you and Jesus have blossomed with. That's where she's at. Can I notice here, fourthly tonight, with this point? Notice the fight. This is a fight. She says to her shepherd, take. Us the foxes. The church tonight, the Shulamite is telling her beloved, telling her shepherd, as we the church would tell our Lord, Lord, would you seize the foxes? That word take means seize. Lord, would you, in my heart and in my life and in my walk tonight, would you come? And every time a big fox would apply or would come or a little fox would come, would you take it away? Would you seize it? That's what it means. Lord, I can't do nothing about it. I can't stop the foxes, whether they're big foxes or little foxes. I can't. On a daily basis, it's a fight, my Lord. It's a fight, my shepherd. It's a fight, my beloved. But I'm asking you tonight, would you come and take it and seize it out of here? I don't want no foxes in my life. And I know what foxes will do. And only you, my shepherd, can seize them. That word means possess tonight. The word take does. And she's asking her shepherd to come and possess the foxes. Would you take possession of them? Would you take my fox of anger? My fox of temptation? My fox tonight of just a lust of my selfishness tonight? Of my tongue tonight? Would you possess it, my fox? my shepherd, my beloved tonight. I don't want our fruit to be damaged. I don't want our fruit to be detached. I don't want our fruit to be destroyed. Lord, I want the fruit of the Spirit to abound in my life, but I know there's foxes that are coming, and they're coming at night. Lord, would you possess them? Would you seize them? Lord, would you get a hold of them? Would you handle them? That word take means handle. Would you handle them, Lord? Because she knows and we know tonight that we can't fight the foxes. But Jesus can fight the foxes. Jesus can handle the foxes. Jesus can take care of the foxes. Because the foxes want to damage the fruit and Jesus can handle it. But Jesus is waiting on us to call out, to say, take care of these foxes. For if you'd seize them and possess them and handle them, Lord, then me and your fruit would be just as tender grapes. Are you interested tonight to be the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit? I'm not. I'm not willing to pay that price. Are you? Are you willing tonight to be unloving when you have the fruit of the Spirit of love? Well, we better begin to call out to our Father. We better begin to call out to our God. We better begin to call out to our shepherd and say, shepherd, please, would you come by? We got fruit, I've got fear, and we're in a fight because we got some foxes. Oh, tonight the calls of the darkness, and that's what caused it. And tonight we find number two, the confession in darkness. We find in verse 16, yet these things of these foxes are taking place and happening. She says in a way of confession though, she says we are in union. She says my beloved is mine and I am his, regardless of the foxes, regardless of the fruit. I am his and he is mine. Regardless if I allow a little fox to come into my life and take that and cause me to be unloving and unjoyful tonight, unpeaceful tonight. We and you are still one tonight even though I might be wrong. We're still one. So we see a union here tonight. The foxes may destroy the fruit. The foxes may damage the vine. The foxes can do nothing with the root. Amen? I mean we have that fruit and he could come and eat it all up. He could take that vine and he could damage it by the way of eating the fruit. But there's one thing that that fox can't do. He cannot, cannot touch the root. And that's our relationship with Christ. Amen, hallelujah, glory to God. She's saying, yes, me and you have a union tonight. And no matter how much the foxes destroy, I am his and he is mine. No matter how much the foxes tonight damage, I am his and he is mine. Nor do we have a union, but we got communion. The Bible says here in verse 15, because he destroyed the fruit, I might be wrong and I might be weak and I might be wayward tonight, but I can say this, he is mine and I am his. Because of the darkness tonight, he's away. He's away from this period here because of the foxes, little and big. Because of the darkness, he's not in darkness, he's not darkness at all. He's the one who dispenses darkness. We find ourselves in darkness tonight because His presence has been gone. She says in verse 17 that He has a young heart upon the mountains of Bethar. Bethar means separation. And she's saying that he's going to come back from the time of separation, for something has happened in her life, something has went down in her walk with God. Her relationship with Jesus Christ is sure, but her fellowship is broken. But she says, I am his and he is mine. Come take care of these foxes. She said, because of the day, verse 17, under the daybreak, And the shadows flee away, turn my beloved. She is saying that it will shine again one day. Right now I might be dark. Right now I might have some trouble. Right now I might be not having joy and peace and long-suffering. And I might not have gentleness and goodness right now. I might not be meek right now. I might have temperance right now. Because I've allowed the foxes in my life. Oh, let us know that when the day breaks, When it comes day again, it will shine again upon me, and we'll have that fellowship once again. Amen. I just know. Verse 17, it will shine again. Oh yeah, darkness won't last forever. Darkness won't go home forever. And friend, we find it will shine again, but she says he will come again. He'll come out of the mountains of separation. and He'll come to where I'm at and we'll have sweet fellowship we'll have communion once again me and Him tonight and friend I say to you tonight you may have some foxes in your life you may have lost some little foxes in your life oh tonight call out to Him and let Him take them away and restore that fellowship to have that communion once again for you've never lost the union but you might have lost the communion amen oh we find tonight the very Cause of this darkness the very confession in darkness and can I say number three? the conquering before darkness How do we conquer this how does she conquer this well we read tonight Their darkness would mean as we see in verse 1 of chapter 3 by night on my bed So she's talking about in the dark. It's dark time. It's nighttime We find darkness tonight would mean three things to us. It'd mean fear. Darkness is fear. Number two, darkness is ignorance. You ever been in the dark? You say, I'm in the dark. I don't know what to do. You ever been like that? I don't even know where to go. I don't know what to say. I'm in the dark. So there's ignorance in dark. I didn't say stupidity. I said ignorance. So we find that there's fear in dark. There's ignorance in dark, but then there's despair in dark. In darkness, friend, you fell as if there is despair. So what we do tonight when we find ourselves in darkness, we find ourselves in the day of darkness, in the day of a valley, in the day of a storm, when things are just rocky and things are just rough and difficult, and man, we've allowed some little foxes to come and destroy and damage our fruit. What do we do? Well, the first thing we do, number one, is we draw from our soul. We draw from our soul. He says in verse one, or she says in verse one, she says, him whom my soul loveth. She says in verse two, him whom my soul loveth. She says in verse three, Him or him whom my soul loveth and verse 4. She says him whom my soul loveth That just kind of makes it clear. Don't it? That where she's coming from here tonight in the midst of her darkness is from her soul She is drawing from her soul What she's saying is I love Jesus with my very breath That word soul there means breath. She says, to you and I tonight, my soul loveth. In other words, I love Jesus with breath. The very breath that I have tonight. Now when you and I lose our breath, we lose life. What she's saying, what we must say tonight in the midst of our storm, in the midst of our valley, in the midst of our darkness, and friend, when we find ourselves in a place like this, we have to look up to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm running on soul energy. Right? And my soul, that means the very breath, that means the very life that I have, the life that's within me tonight, I love Jesus. Not with my mind, and not with my body, and not with my thought process, and not with all that I do and say and act and behave. I love Him down deep in the soul. I love Him down deep so far that where my breath is breathing. I love Jesus. But nor do I love Him with my breath, but I love Him with my being. That word soul means being. Whoever I am tonight, that's who I love Jesus with. You can go down to the bottom of my feet tonight, and there'll be a love of Jesus. You can go down to the tip of my fingers tonight, the love of Jesus. You can get to the bottom of my heart tonight, the love of Jesus. That's what she's saying. She's saying, oh, I know I'm in darkness and I know I'm away. I know he's away. I know the foxes and I know the little foxes and I know the vines can be spoiled tonight. And I know, I know, I know, I know, but I'll tell you right now, I'm reaching down deep into my soul tonight with my breath and my being. I'm going down to the bottom of my heart and I'm saying, Lord, I love you. Can you say that? Or do you say it shallowly? Or do you say it tonight kind of hypocritically? Or can you say that tonight, when you say it, it comes not from your throat or from your mouth, it comes down from the diaphragm. When you speak it and say, I love you, Jesus, it comes from here. Amen! I'm talking tonight real Christianity. Friend, we're going to find ourselves in darkness from time to time. How do we get out of it? Well, we draw from our soul. If you're going to draw from anything else tonight, it will be disproportionate and it'll be weak and anemic. You won't make it through. Number two, tonight not only is he draw from your soul, but I noticed in verse two, she's driven by her soul. Verse 2, the Bible says, I will, well verse 1 says, By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him but I found him not. I will arise now and go about the city and the streets and the broad ways. I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him but I found him not. I notice she's driven by her soul. For if she's been driven by her flesh, she would quit. If she would have been driven by maybe her time or her experience or maybe her convenience, she would have been done. But the Bible says that she said, I sought him in verse 1, but didn't find him. In verse 2, she says, I sought him and I didn't find him. Matter of fact, I will seek him, in verse 2 she says, whom my soul loveth. That word seek or sought is the same word. It means to strive after. And that takes a driven within some people. You have to be driven from your soul in order to find yourself in a darkness that you will come to where he's at. Because you're always asking, Lord, come to me. Lord, you know where I'm at. Lord, you know I've been here. Where are you at, Lord? I haven't heard from you. I haven't seen you. I haven't felt you. I haven't been around you. And he said, you and I. He said, well, come look for me. Come find me. That soul must be, that driven must come from the soul. Because, friend, any flesh would give up. Any mindset would give up. Any emotion would give up. Any feeling would give up. It has to be completely down deep where that breath and being in the bottom of your heart is at. And it's driven. It's driven. I will sought Him. I will strive after Him. I will seek after Him. I will look for Him. I will do whatever it takes to get to Him. I'm driven to find Him. And tonight, that has to be in our soul tonight. That when we find foxes in our lives, and our fruit has been damaged, and we find ourselves in the valley, and we find ourselves in the storm, in the darkness tonight, we've got to have a driven in our hearts tonight to find Jesus! I know, wherever He's at. Number two, or number three, drive. in your soul, and there's a draw of your soul, but there's a determination with your soul. The Bible says in verse 1 and 2 as well, she said, I will arise now and go about the city and the streets and in the broad ways. I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him not. She said, I found him not twice. Verse 1 and verse 2. But let me tell you three things that she did. After she didn't find them, she didn't quit. And many of us just quit. See, we get in darkness, we get in depression, we get in desolation and devastation. We find ourselves in a place of distress. We find ourselves in a place, dear God, where the Lord, it seems like, has abandoned us and He's no longer with us and His presence is not with us. We find ourselves that we allow the foxes to take our joy and our peace and take our patience and take our meekness and humility. And we say, okay, Lord, I need help. And you even go to the preacher and say, hey, preacher, pray for me, I need help. And then you even go to some friends that you know and you say, hey, friends, pray for me. You even get on the text and say, hey, pray for me. You get on the Facebook, pray for me. You get on the phone, you get on Twitter, you get on all kinds of social medias and pray for me. He ain't what he said to do. He said to go. And she went out and found them, and she went out and tried to find them. Twice she didn't find them. So the Bible says what she did was she arose, she arose from discouragement. That's what she arose from. Twice she didn't find them, but that didn't stop her because it's from her soul. And she arose, she arisen from discouragement. She said, I'll not let this discourage me. I'll not let these foxes, I'll not let this darkness, I'll not let this storm, I'll not let this valley discourage me. I would get up on my do nothing and I'd get up on my feet and I'd go out about in the streets and I'd go out there in the night I'd go out there and look around into the hedges and the byways and I'd look around at all the places I'm looking for Jesus I'm looking for the Lord I'm going wherever I can I'm going whenever I can and I'm going to places I've never been before I'm going to places I don't want to go no more probably but I'm going to find Him because I'm going to rise with discouragement I'm not going to allow discouragement to control my life. I'm not going to allow discouragement to keep me down. I'm not going to allow depression to put me in a corner. I'm not going to allow depression to put me in the dark. I'm not going to allow depression to put me in a place where I can't function as a husband, and as a wife, and I can't function as an individual, as a worker. And friend, I know how that. I'll rise up with my feet, with my soul driven, and my heart damaged, and say, I will find the Savior. That's what I'll do. I'll rise with discouragement. Number two, she said, what I'll do is I will arrive in determination. So she arose from discouragement and she arrived with determination. She said, I'll go about the city in the streets. I don't care how dangerous it is. I don't care who's there and who's not there. It's midnight. It's dark. Nobody's out right now. I'm out there though. And I'm out there in amongst the streets. And I'm out there looking for Jesus. Because I've got to get a hold of Him. I've got to find Him. I'm in darkness. I'm in trouble. I need something. And so she arrives in determination. And then she arises from discouragement. And thirdly, I notice she has action with desire. She's unconcerned about anything else in her life. You know what she's looking for? She's looking for Jesus. She's unconcerned about the world around her. She's unconcerned about what other people think. She's unconcerned about what the family might think. She's unconcerned about her money. She's unconcerned about the job. She's unconcerned about the relationships of anyone. She's unconcerned about what's taking place in the government, what's taking place down the street, what's taking place across the street. She don't care. All she cares about is finding Jesus. Because I got to talk to Him. I need Him to seize these foxes. I need Him to bring the light into my darkness. Whoo! I'm going to look for Him. She's unconcerned. I tell you what, she's uncontrolled. Ain't nobody in the world can stop her. Ain't nobody in the world going to say, oh, listen, settle down. You're getting way too emotional. Listen, it's okay. Listen, tomorrow will be a better day. Don't go out there. Don't you know that the city has people that are bad? Don't you know that in the darkness of the night bad things happen? Don't you know that you can't just go out there as a woman in the middle of the city? She says, uncontrolled. You know what I want? I'm going to find them. And tonight, if we would have the tenacity, if tonight we would have the intent and the motive for Jesus as she did, we would turn this world upside down. We would change our marriages. Our parenting would be different. Our church would be exploding. The walls would have to be busted out. Your maids will see the height, the pinnacle. if you had such a desire to find Jesus. We find tonight uncontrolled, unconcerned. We find as she goes out into the city, as she goes out amongst the people, she's unconvinced that He's not there. You can't convince her that He's not there. She's going there regardless of anyone or everyone. Can I notice here, fourthly, tonight, not only she arrived from discouragement, she arrived in determination, she had action with desire, but then she had approached with the man. She was approached with the man. The Bible says in verse 3, the watchman that go about the city found me. To whom I said, saw ye him whom my soul loveth? This is almost humorous. The Bible says that this watchman, which means a guard. If you study it out, you'll find a guard. It means some other things. We'll talk about that in a moment. But it means a guard at this point, like a policeman. The Bible says that this guard, this watchman, found her. So evidently, they were looking for this woman. Evidently, they were searching out for this woman. For she was about the city. She was about the broadways. And she was going anywhere and everywhere. And it seemed like she had an agenda in her heart. She seemed like she was in a phase. She was in a zone. And finally these watchmen finally caught up with her and finally found her. And as the watchmen would say to her, I'm probably like, hey ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, let me ask you a question. What is your name? I mean, there ain't nobody else out here in the city with broadways and here you are by yourself, ma'am. What is your name? What in the world are you doing out here? And number three, where in the world are you going? I mean, we've had calls all over the city about a woman roaming around. Just roaming around, looking. Looking at everything. Look up and down, in and out. Just going everywhere. Going a thousand miles an hour. She was uncontrolled. She was unconcerned. She was unchanged in any way. And boy, ma'am, we just need to talk to you for a moment. You know what her answer was? This is what her answer was. Did you see Him whom my soul loveth? What? How would they know? How would the watchman know who her soul loveth? That's like you and I going out there right now and some cop stops up and says, what are you doing? And you say, have you saw that one whom my soul loveth? They'd probably lock us up and throw us in Austin. I mean, that was the very demand for her one demand of these watchmen was, have you saw him? That's all I care. I don't care what you think about me. I don't care what you want to think about me. I don't care what you're going to do with me. I don't care anything, everything, all things. All I care is, did you see Him? Who am I looking for, ma'am? Him that I love. Well, how do we know that you love Him, whoever Him is? By my life. That's how you know. and your children tonight, and your spouse tonight, and your family, and your friends, and your co-workers tonight, they ought to know whom your soul loveth. And if you go to them tomorrow, tonight, and say, have you saw him whom my soul loveth? They would know exactly who that would be. Jesus. Amen. Oh, we find tonight, She was determined to find him. Can I say here, fourthly, she was directed by her soul. Directed by her soul. She said in verse four of chapter three, last verse, let's see what time it is. Wow. It was but a little that I passed from them. Let me give you a thought tonight, spiritually speaking, and we'll close. The word watchman here also represents preacher. You'll find in Ezekiel 3, verse 17, The Son of Man made thee a watchman under the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. The watchman would give them warning about God. The Bible says in Hebrews 13, 17, Obey them that have the rule over thee. And submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls. In the New Testament, the pastor is the one who watches for your soul. In the Old Testament, the watchman watches for the Israelites. What she's saying here in a spiritual sense tonight, we'll close with this thought. It was but a little that I passed from them. Who's them? The watchman. She finally found Him when they passed by them. She found Jesus. Let me say it like this tonight. You might be hearing preaching, but that don't mean tonight you're in fellowship with Jesus. That doesn't mean you found Him. You're going to have to go past Him. What I'm saying tonight, you might hear preaching from this pulpit, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and you might enjoy it, and you might thank God for it, and you might say amen to it, and you might say hallelujah for it, and that's good, amen and all that, but tonight, in the preaching of God's word, it's more than just the preaching. You gotta find Him. Him. Amen? I'll tell you something, number two, You might hear praying, but friend, you don't have fellowship with Him because you hear praying. You got to find Him in the praying. That's fellowship with Him. You say, well, that's a wonderful prayer. Oh, that's a sorry prayer. You say, all right, that guy can't pray. That girl can't pray. And a lot of y'all don't pray out loud publicly because you're worried about what you sound like. That's a shame. How can we find Jesus when you won't even pray out loud? And tonight we find that we, in prayer time and prayer meetings and prayer, people that are praying tonight, we listen to the prayer and as far as it goes. But if you got, you got passed by that, and you got to find Jesus in the prayer for fellowship. Lastly, you might be hearing the praising, the singing and all that going on, but you can't have fellowship with him just because you hear the singing or because you hear the praising. You got to find Him in the praising. You might get all jittery and you might get all emotional and you might get all excited and do this and do that and do all kind of junk whenever you hear this song about Jesus and stuff and you get all full of feelings and full of this, full of all that. Listen, that don't mean you have fellowship with Him. Just because you have a feeling in preaching, a feeling in praying, a feeling in singing tonight, praising tonight, all those things mean nothing tonight if you don't find Him. See, she had to walk past the watchman, the preacher, And then soon as she walked past them, guess what? She found them. Tonight, this church, you and I, have to stop being such a preacher, a preaching, a praying, and a praising, and start beginning a founding. In every message, find Jesus. In every prayer, find Jesus. In every song, find Jesus. That's how we restore this fellowship. That's how we overcome this darkness. How many times have you come in here in darkness, and you heard preaching, you heard singing, you heard praying, and you left right out? And you're still in darkness. Amen? You're still in a valley. You're still in a storm. You're still hard. You're still hopeless. You're still restless. You're still joyful, have no joy. You're still in that condition. You cannot be in that condition if you find Jesus. So our challenge tonight is every time we come to the house of God, we're here preaching, we're here praying, and we're here praising. But we've got to find Jesus so that He can get us out of that darkness. Amen? Let's stand to our feet, our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Thank you, my Lord. She found Him, and I'll just give you the rest. She held Him. She shared Him. She took Him home. She took Him to the church. And that's what you'll do when you find Him. You'll just seize on Him and you'll share Him. That's when you find Jesus. Did you find Jesus tonight? Did you find Him? Get a hold of Him. Get a hold of Him tonight. And then when you get to the house, you share Him. Share them with your wife, your family, your children. Share them with somebody at work tomorrow. If you get a hold of them, share them. That's what she did. Boy, I tell you what, she found, she found victory. Anybody like to come tonight? Just come lay out before the Lord? So God, help me to recognize that these foxes can really, really, really damage my fruit and destroy my fruit that you and I have built. I ask you to not come and seize those foxes. Would you come to the altar tonight and cry out to God and say, Oh God, Lord, I'm in storms. I'm in valleys and darkness. I mean, I need help. I know that it's you. I'm looking for you. I'm going to do whatever I can to find you, Lord. I'm not going to quit. I'm going to go all over the city. I'm going to go into the highways. I'm going to go to the broadways. I don't care. I'm going to find you. I'm determined. I've decided. I've decided. I'm not quitting. And I'm going to find Jesus in every song and every message and every prayer. I'm going to worship him because he's the answer to my soul. Him whom my soul loveth. Do you love him tonight? Is it down deep? Is it down deep? I pray that it is. As these are praying, as these are seeking the Lord, as these are crying out to God. And I tell you, I needed the message tonight that God has given us. I needed it bad. I feel like tonight that I can begin and go on in my Christian walk. I feel like I have some victory in my heart tonight. I feel like tonight that it's going to get better as the night closes and the sunshine comes up in the morning. Yeah. Oh, listen. He's the light that will remove the darkness. He's the one that can kill the fox. He's the one tonight that can take that little fox and remove it. You have attitude problems. You have anger problems. You've got tongue problems. You've got temptation problems, lust problems you have tonight, sin problems. Oh, listen. Don't stay there. That's a miserable way of life. Let God do something tonight. Run to Jesus. Find Him. Seek for Him. Don't let nobody get in your way. Don't be concerned about nothing. Don't let nobody control you. You just find Jesus. You find them every day, every day. Oh, God, please. God, have mercy tonight. Have mercy. We thank you for your precious word. We thank you, Lord, for Jesus. My, how much he loves us more than we love him. We can't even come close to the love that Jesus has for us. What a Lord, what a Savior. What a song of Solomon tonight. Thank you for the book that you've given us. The richness of this romance with Christ. God, thank you, Lord, for the truth that penetrates our heart, that moves into our lives. All because of Jesus tonight, we can have fruit. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your name. Hallowed be thy name. Oh, how we need you, Lord. Worthy. Worthy to be praised. Worthy tonight to be honored. Lift your name up tonight. Blessed be your name. Worthy. Worship Him tonight in spirit and truth. Just brag on Him a little while. I think many a times tonight we always come to Him and ask Him things for Him to do. Boy, tonight if we can just lift Him up, praise Him. Just exalt Him tonight. Don't ask Him nothing. Just tell Him how great He is. How wonderful. Just tell Him what a great, wonderful, precious God He is. That's what God wants tonight. He wants praise. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your name. He's worthy tonight. He's worthy. He's worthy. Amen. Any prayer request here tonight? ♪ Be still, my soul ♪ ♪ The Lord is on thy side ♪ ♪ Bear patiently ♪ ♪ The cross of grief or pain ♪ ♪ Lead to thy God ♪ ♪ To order end ♪ In every change, ye faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend. ♪ Whose glory waves, leads to a joyful end. ♪ ♪ Be still, my soul, thy God doth undertake. ♪ To guide the future as he has the past. I hold thy confidence, let nothing change. All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul, the waves and winds still blow. His voice to rule them while he dwelt below. Be still, my soul, the hour is hastening on. ♪ When we shall be forever with the Lord ♪ ♪ When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone ♪ ♪ Sorrow for God is gone ♪ Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past. All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Yeah.