This morning to the eighty-fourth Psalm. Psalm eighty-four. Our precious to read the word of God again and find from the pages of the book of Psalms the message for our hearts and for our consciences in the past below. Psalm eighty-four, reading it through from the beginning to the end, and hearing the Psalm is saying, How amiable and lovely are thy tabernacle, O Lord of hosts. Might so longeth, yea, even fainter, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh, cryeth out for the living God. Yea, the sparroweth found in house, and the swallower nest for herself. where she may lay her young, even thine altars. O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are happy are they that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising thee, Selah. Blessed are happy is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of bacon make it a well? The rain also filleth a poose. They go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give here, O God of Jacob, Silah. Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed and happy, is the man that trusts in thee. May God bless the reading of his word, and we pray earnestly that it will be the Spirit of God who will give the message from the word as we meditate upon the psalm. The psalm is divided into three sections. The divisions are indicated by the word Selah. After the first four verses you have the word Selah. At the end of the eighth verse you have it again. And it brings before us a threefold division of this wonderful Psalm of David. I would like to speak to you about each of these divisions and giving you these thoughts concerning the divisions of the Psalm in this threefold way. The first section telling us how to find God. The second section telling us how to follow God. And the last declaring how to fellowship with God. I'm sure these are three important considerations. How to find God. How important this is. How to follow God when we have found him. How great and important that is. And then greater still, how to fellowship with God and then join him as we go on through this scene to the home of glory above. First of all, how to find God. I wonder if every one of us here present have found God. The prophet Isaiah wrote, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, called upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man is thought, and let him return unto our God, who will have mercy and will abundantly pardon. The most important discovery in any person's life is to find God, A servant of God prayed on one occasion as he registered at a hotel in New York City that the Lord would lead him to someone who desired to find God. Going down the street of the city, he noticed in a store window an article that he desired to purchase. Entering the store, he was approached by a salesman who said to him, Sir, what can I do for you? He answered, You have a prayer book in the window that I would like to purchase. The man looked at him in astonishment and said, Sir, but you're mistaken. We don't sell prayer books. Jesse said, You've got a prayer book in the window that I want to purchase. And the astonished salesman again perplexingly said, Sir, we don't sell prayer books. And the servant of God said, Come and let me show you. And so to the window they went together, and the servant of God said to the salesman, do you see that notebook that you have in the window? He said, I want to use and buy it for a prayer book. He said, when I pray, I put down on one side my prayer requests that I make to God. And then on the other side of the page, I put down the date that he answers my prayers. The strange man looked at him in astonishment and said, Sir, can you tell me how I could find God? What an important responsibility for every man and woman, boy and girl, to find God. Have you found God? Note what the psalmist declares in the first four verses. For he tells how to find God so very clearly. First of all, he recognizes in the opening verse how lovely it would be to find him and be with him. How amiable and lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. One thing you must confess when you read the song, the psalmist seems to have had dim light. to be in the presence of God and longing to be in his tabernacle. Psalm twenty seven and verse four the psalmist wrote, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. May I say, my beloved, if you are not saved, No lovelier experience can come to your soul and into your life and when you find God. For his tabernacles are lovely. But then, would you also know, when any person desires to find God, they must long for him. For David says, My soul longeth. There must be a longing to know God. There must be created by the Spirit of God's convicting grace, the longing to find God. And know what follows, that certainly would indicate why the longing is so great. For he goes on to say, Yea, my soul even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. And the meaning of that Hebrew word fainteth, as is translated in our language, fainteth. The meaning is, if I don't find Him, I shall perish. I wonder if you've ever come to the experience in your soul's history, where you recognize, if I do not find God, I shall perish. For that's the truth. When God saved my soul, it was many, many months before that wonderful moment. I was in the knowledge and under the conviction. John, you're on the way to hell. John, if you die without Christ, you'll be in hell. John, if you die in your sins, you never can be in heaven. And there was the consciousness, I would perish. I would perish. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. but have everlasting life. And the psalmist indicates not only the longing to know God, but the danger of never finding Him. My soul fainted, for if I never find Him, I shall perish, was the knowledge of the psalmist. And then you know the rest of verse two. You see his old being longing for God. He cries out, My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God. Man, it's a wonderful thing when a person anxiously and completely wants to know God. I wish I could find a few like that. Could you tell me where I might find them? Oh my beloved, how the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit is so needful to bring conviction that men and women may realize their longing as well as their danger if they never find God, but that they may find him as he certainly considers that he is available for all to find him if they will. Beloved do you want to know him? Now you know verse three. And here we have an object lesson that certainly indicates very definitely the way to find God. We may believe, and I'm sure it must be true, that in the days of David as a shepherd, as he wandered over the hillsides of Judea, carrying to the flock of his father, David noticed many things in life. Amongst those experiences he observed the sparrow and the swallow. Has he noticed the sparrow and the swallow? Note what he declares. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. Now what David noticed was around the land and all the land of Israel were many altars. The patriarchs and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and others had built many altars around the land of Israel. And those altars had been neglected, become unused, and they were overgrown. But in the overgrowth and the vegetation of those altars that covered them, the sparrow and the swallow found a house and made a nest for the raising of their families. The object lesson was not lost upon the psalmist, as he observed this. And there as he saw the sparrow, perhaps the most worthless of birds, and the swallow, perhaps the most restless of birds, finding a nest and a home in the altars of Israel that were overgrown, he thought, perhaps I can find my home and resting place in God. Now, wherever you read in the Old Testament, as well as in you, wherever you read the mention of an altar, you have that which reminds the heart of God, as well as the hearts of all, of the death of his beloved Son. The only approach to God must be an end by the death and the sacrifice of his beloved Son upon the cross of Calvary. One wrote the lovely hymn saying, I must need go home by the way of the cross. There's no other way but this. I shall never dwell in that home of light if the way of the cross I miss. And how true that is. The way of the cross leaves home. And the death of the Lord Jesus is the only ground of approach. for a poor guilty sinner to find God. And as David noticed the altar, as he saw the worthless sparrow and the restless swallow, he could say of himself, and you and I must do the same, I know I'm a worthless sinner. I know that I am a restless sinner. But there in the death of Christ and through the virtue of its sacrificial work on Calvary, my soul can find its resting place in God. The poet wrote those lovely words. I heard the voice of Jesus saying, Come unto me and rest. Lay down thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breath. I came to Jesus as I was, weary, warm and sad. I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad. My beloved, the Lord Jesus alone himself, and through the work of his redeeming power of the cross, can bring you and me to God. The Savior said when he was upon the earth those lovely words of John fourteen six, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Would you find the way to God? Christ only is the way. And through him you may come, if you only will, to God today. And when you find him, you will indeed be able to say, as David concludes the third verse, He's my king and he's my God. My king, my God. And what a lesson. to know that as a worthless sparrow and a restless swallow could make a home and a nest in the altars unused in Israel, yet ever speaking of the sacrificial work of God's Son to the heart of the Father above and to the need of the sinner below. That's the way to God. Have you found the way to God? Do not ever dare to approach God without the virtue of Christ and his blessed death. He alone will bring you to God. There will be an eternal fruitfulness. For the psalmist declares, Blessed are happy are they that dwell in thy house. they will be still or they will be continually praising me. For happy is that man and woman, boy or girl, who has found God and can rejoice in knowing, happy is, are they because they will forever in the house of the Lord above be praising him. What a portion. One gratefully acknowledges the joy of heart in having found God through the Lord Jesus Christ and his blessed redeeming word. May I ask again, have you found God? May it be your joy to say this morning, yes, thank God through the Lord Jesus and his death, I found my way to God. Note the second division of the Psalm. How to follow God. For when one finds him, how important it is to follow him. One of the earliest recollections of spiritual impressions carries my mind and heart back to my boyhood days in the old country of England. where a godly brother was quite interested in young men as well as young boys. And he had a boy's Bible class. And one of the favorite hymns of this dear brother whose name was Sam Walker was one he taught to us again and again. Down in the valley with my Savior I would go, or that hymn that says I will follow Jesus. And again and again we would sing the words of the chorus, Follow, follow. I will follow Jesus anywhere, everywhere. I will follow on. Follow, follow. I will follow Jesus. Everywhere he leads me, I will follow on. My beloved, when you find God, it is important to follow him. May I say, I do it very earnestly and lovingly. But it is a sad commentary upon the truth that we have too many half-hearted Christians and not sufficient whole-hearted Christians who are following wholly the blessed one they found. But how to follow God is important. We shall know him better. Isaiah the prophet wrote, then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. And the importance of following him must be emphasized. And the Psalmist reveals it. How to follow God. Now look at the section very carefully. There are important truths telling how to follow him. First of all, in the opening of verse five, Blessed or happy is the man whose strength is in thee. The first important lesson is to recognize we do not follow him in our own strength. Our strength is in him. Said Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheth me. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. The joy of realizing when a believer finds the Lord today, there is given to that believer enabling strength to follow him. I remember a dear old saint who was saved. to the Lord in the old country of England by the ministry of one of England's noblemen by the name of Lord Ratcliffe. And Lord Ratcliffe had the privilege of ministering the word of God in many places of Europe, in the capitals and among the nobility of the land. And wherever he went he was a faithful believer to give the gospel to these people who very infrequently heard it. On one occasion he was ministering in a certain drawing room, in a certain palace, in one of the European countries, and he presented the gospel to the company gathered. Following the message and the close of the session, one of the noble men of that land came to him and said, Lord Radcliffe, if you only realize the temptations, the difficulties, the circumstances that surround us in our society of life, you would never tell us that we could live a Christian life. As you have been preaching, we should come to Christ and follow him. The Englishman looked at the man and said, Sir, if you will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, There will enter your heart and soul immediately, a divine power that will enable you to live for his glory, regardless as to your circumstances. And he left the man. Months later he was ministering again in another part of Europe and doing the same thing, preaching the gospel to some of the nobility of that place. Following his message, a man came to him and said, Sir, Lord Blacksmith, do you remember me? The Englishman looked and said, no, I don't think I do. Well, he said, do you recall being in such a place, and he named it, and speaking to a man who said it was an impossibility to live a Christian life in our environment, and you told him, if he would trust the Savior, there would immediately enter into his soul and heart and life, a power divine that would enable him, to live for God? Oh yes, the Englishman said, I remember that. The man said, let me take your hands. He said, I'm the man that you spoke to. And he said, I want to tell you, I proved it. Hallelujah. No matter who we are, where we are, the moment we are saved, There is the divine presence of the indwelling Spirit of God, dwelling in the heart, abiding within, for divine enablement. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. Hallelujah. I do not have to live my Christian life in my own strength. Praise the Lord. Still note the next words. They're very significant. In whose heart, and the translation is unfortunately unclear, but in whose heart are the highways? May I put it this way, in whose heart are the highways of God? For the moment you find Him as your Savior, the Spirit of God plants into that soul, into that heart, the highways of God. I never wanted to follow God until Christ was my Savior. I never wished to follow the Lord Jesus until that night I took him for my own. And within my soul was planted the highways of God. God Himself to follow. Then may I point out something precious. He gave me a guidebook. When you want to go anywhere in this world, or if you want to make a trip in this country, you get a route map. You map out and chart your path. Well, bless your heart. God's given us a book to guide us through the highways of life. Hallelujah. I hope you look at it every day. and follow the guiding of the scriptures. We sing that old hymn, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak with thou art mighty. Guide me with thy faithful hand. And the guidebook is the word of God. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eyes. wrote the psalmist in chapter thirty-two in verse eight. And the precious thing he plants into the heart his highways. Now let me remind you of what the psalmist said in Psalm one nineteen. Verse eleven. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. My beloved, how to follow God? First, in the strength of the indwelling spirit. Second, through the guidance of the Word of God. Hallelujah. Then may I point out the significant fact in verse six where it leads. When I was saved, I recall when I went home with that night across the city, saying to myself, Three things in which I was wrong. I said some things to my soul which I knew was right. I know I said, Johnny, you're not going to hell. You're going to heaven now. But I said also, Johnny, this world is going to be a path of roses. That was a mistake. I said, Johnny, the devil will never bother you. Not at all anymore. That was another mistake. Johnny, You'll never sin again. You'll go on, you'll be the best boy that ever lived. And there was a third mistake. When you and I follow God, would you know what the psalmist says? Who passing through the valley of Baker? When you and I follow God, and as I learned subsequently, The words of the Lord Jesus were true in John sixteen thirty-three. In the world ye shall have tribulation. Trouble. But be of good cheer, he added. I've overcome the world. When you follow God, never forget you follow him in a world that despises him. and it leads through the valley of Baker. Now Baker has never been proved to be a specific place on any biblical map. I've seen but one map that ever noted it, and the question marks after it. But it is the valley of trial. It is the valley of weeping. It is the valley of casting. and my beloved you know and I do who have been going on for the Lord there are testings and trials in the past when we follow God and it leads through the valley of testing the psalmist said in Psalm twenty three verse four yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I'll fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me And it is a valley with its shadows ever upon and around us. And we pass through it. But one sure thing we know, we're going through. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And that valley is one of testing. But look what the psalmist indicates as we follow on. Who passing through the valley of Baikon make it a well or a fountain? The rain also filleth the pools. Now may I give you a lovely thought that has blessed my soul and astonished me when I found it, not many months ago. I found the expression at the end of verse six, the rain also filleth the pools was a Hebrew word. the derivation of a Hebrew word that you find in Second Chronicles chapter twenty, where you may remember Jehoshaphat as he prayed with Judah and Jerusalem to be delivered from the Ammonites and the Moabites, and God delivered them, the enemy was overthrown, and on the third day as they marched toward the wilderness, Jehoshaphat and all of Judah and Jerusalem that were with him, they came to the valley of Barakah, meaning the valley of blessing. The valley of blessing. And the expression, the Hebrew idiom, the rain also filleth the pools, is a derivation of that Hebrew word Barakah. Now couple the verse with the beginning and the end of it, and you have this truth. Who passing through the valley of trial, make it a fountain, and comes to the valley of blessing? For your trouble can be the greatest source of blessing in your life. Make it a fountain, and bringing you to the valley of blessing. Oh, can we quote the words of Hebrews twelve, eleven? Now therefore no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, rather grievous. But afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. Oh, my beloved, The valley of trial that you and I pass through in this world as a believer is the very place that will lead us to the valley of blessing. I remember dear old sister Abigail said, John, your darkest trial can become your greatest spiritual blessing. How true that is. How to follow God? It leads through the valley of testing. But in that valley it becomes a fountain of blessing as He brings us to the Barakas. And then you know, they go from strength to strength. The strength increases. The experiences of trouble will give you more spiritual strength than anything else. I have never known prosperity to give spiritual strength. But I have known adversity and trouble to increase spiritual strength. The soul grows in the midst of adversity. The soul grows in the midst of trouble. Did you ever notice those words in Psalm one hundred and seven, where the mariner is on the sea, and the ship goes to the crest of the waves and down into the trough and their soul is melted because of trouble. Oh my beloved, let me say this. There's nothing like having a melted soul. I remember a story I once read. Some of you old country folks may recall we had a character in English history whose name was Oliver Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell was called the defender of the Commonwealth. He led the people of England against the crown and the impositions that were placed upon the common people in that day. He led them to fight against the crown and the state to bring better conditions about. But he had to fortify his army and provide his army in many particular different ways. One thing he did He ransacked the cathedrals and state churches of their treasures wherever he could to provide for his army. One day he was out of funds, out of provisions, out of supplies, and he sent a detachment of soldiers to a nearby cathedral with the command to bring back anything and everything of value. They returned to the commander and they were empty. They said there was nothing there and they reported nothing could be found in that place of value. He roared at them. He said, what? Nothing at all? Well, one man spoke up and said, Sir, the only thing that we could see was the statues, the silver statues of the saints. And he roared back, then take the saint down. Melt them and put them in circulation. And you know, beloved, if you really want to be in circulation for the Lord, you've got to be mounted first. And God uses trouble to mount you. And I conclude I'd rather be a mounted saint than a cold statue. Take your choice. For its strength. and they go from strength to strength with the assurance every one of them will appear before God. Hallelujah. It's the way home. It's the way home as you go through this valley of trial. It leads home. The way of the cross leads home. And thank God as we pass through the testings of life. Hallelujah. This is the way the Savior went from sufferings to glory. and the servant is not greater than his Lord. Oh my beloved, may I emphasize this is what the psalmist declares, how to follow God, how to follow God through thick and thin. Job said, yes, though he slain me, yet will I trust him. And Job, one of the greatest joys is to keep on following. Timothy was told by Paul, Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and have been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Keep on, Timothy! Keep on! Keep on! Keep going on! And may God give to you and me the grace of his children to go on till he comes. One of our Indian brethren back home, as he told me of his conversion, bless his soul, He joined himself to the little company of believers in that old school house where I've often preached and it was so cold to preach in that place in winter time. And he said, you know brother grandma, I told my brethren after I was saved, they ought to get a stone. And they all agreed. They needed a stove in the building. They had a little trash burner that didn't mean anything much. And he said, brother grandma, I found I had to buy the stove. So I bought the stove. Then he said, Brother Bramwell, I found I had to buy the coal. Then he said, Brother Bramwell, I found I had to light the fire. Then he said, Brother Bramwell, if it's only me and Jesus, I'm going to light the fire till he comes. I said, praise the Lord, John, and that's the spirit that brother still has. Thank God it pays to follow him. They go from strength to strength. and the assurance we shall appear before God. O Lord God of hosts, the psalmist says, Hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob. Do my brother and sister keep following. Follow him. And may we follow him faithfully through the valley. For one thing we're sure, just as dear Samuel Rutherford said, I know not what storms may meet my frail bar between here and glory, but I know I shall reach the desired haven. Praise the Lord. Can I give you this assurance? Whatever you go through, you're going through. Sure, you'll come out the other end. Praise the Lord. You can't help it. Look who's taking you through. follow him through thick and thin. Last of all, how to fellowship with God. All of these three things are important. First, basically how to find him. Then, second, how to follow him. And third, how to fellowship with him. Oh, how important it is to enjoy God. No greater joy can you and I have than be in the joy of having the presence of God and the fellowship of God as our experience. And the psalmist mentions it very carefully. How to enjoy him. How to fellowship with God. Notice the verse nine. Behold, O Lord, O God, our shield. Look upon the face of thine anointers. Now I want you to notice something. The psalmist indicates this fact. Keep your faith in the sunshine of his love. Look upon the face of thine anointed. I think someone once wrote asking a question of dear old brother Darby and said, Mr. Darby, if I turn my back on God, will he love me? And the servant of God answered, yes. He'll love you, but his love will be shining on your back. No, my beloved, keep your face. Keep yourself in the sunshine of his love, where his face can shine upon his anointed. Keep your face toward that blessed one. Remember the Hebrew writer said, looking unto Jesus. What better object or whatever better occupation could you be doing than looking unto Jesus? What better direction could you be looking then unto Jesus? What better object could you be looking upon than Jesus? That his face may shine upon his anointed. Oh, beloved. You remember the Psalmist said, They looked unto him and their faces were lifted or enlightened. And if you want your faith lifted, know where to look. Look under Jesus. Look under Jesus. Stay in the sunshine of his love and of his faith. And say, Oh God, our shield, look upon the face of thine anointed. Oh, thank God that his love shines in the face. And my beloved, don't ever turn your back to it. You cannot enjoy fellowship with God by so doing. Stay in the sunshine of his own face. Oh, that blessed, blessed benediction of Moses. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and be gracious unto thee and give thee peace. What a benediction. My beloved, keep yourself in the sunshine of his face. Second, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. And the second thing is this. staying in the glory of his presence. Or do we could practice what one has said, practicing the presence of God. I'd rather be on the threshold of the house of my God than to be dwelling in tents of wickedness. And the joy of realizing I can enjoy his presence wherever I am. practice in the presence of God. For it's better to be there than spending a thousand days elsewhere and have just a day in his presence is far greater. And I'd rather be there than be dwelling in the tents of wickedness. Stay in the sunshine of his face. Stay in the glory of his presence. And third, note the last verse in verse eleven. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. May I point out these three principles. First, enjoy the sunshine of his face. Second, stay in his holy presence. Practice in the presence of God. Third, walk uprightly. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Stay in the path of obedience. And beloved, fellowship with him will be unbroken and it will be blessed. For happy or blessed, the Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts within thee. All the joy of knowing we can enjoy God. if we only will may I recapitulate this precious song three things how to find God my friend if you've never found him seek ye the Lord today while he may be found come as a poor guilty sinner acknowledge him receive him into your soul confess the precious work of his cross the only ground of coming to God and be saved today and then follow him wherever it may lead it leads homeward but through the valley of baker it will bring you to the valley of blessing even on the way home and then someday we shall be in that home forever but on the way home we can also fellowship with him and we shall be with him in that glory to fellowship forevermore with our God nevermore to leave his presence may God bless these truths how to find God how to follow God how to fellowship with God may God make every one of us know we have found him and every one of us to follow him and every one of us to fellowship with him for his namesake shall we pray oh blessed god how great thou art that thou shalt ever desire the children of men who have wandered in disobedience away from thee to be brought back to thee We thank thee, Father, that it was the shepherd who was sent from heaven above, who sought the lost sheep. And when he had found him, he placed that sheep upon his shoulders, carrying it home, rejoicing. We thank thee for every one the shepherd has found. We pray for those in our gatherings who are not yet found. Oh, that they will be concerned to find thee, Lord Jesus, and this moment trust thee as their Savior. We pray for each one who found thee, teach us to follow, help us to be faithful, following through thick and thin, faithful to thee, Lord. It brings blessings the world could never give, and give strength spiritually we could never find in ourselves nor from this earthly seed. And then, Father, help us to enjoy what is even greater, a life of fellowship with thee until we step into that glory at the coming again of our Savior when we shall be forever with the Lord. Sanctify these truths in the name of our Lord Jesus.