305: Brian Adams – Exhortation: The Lord IS

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Welcome to good Chris Selfian
talks.

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I’m Levi.
I’m Chris.

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I’m Jason.
And I’m Brian, thank you for

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joining us this week.
On this podcast, we select one

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talk a week to help us get the
Bible in our Daily News feed.

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Each week we post a talk that we
previewed from suggestions sent

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in by listeners from around the
world.

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Then we record a short intro
beforehand as a personalized

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recommendation to you on why we
are sharing the talk.

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And now let’s talk more about
this week’s talk.

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Welcome to the good
Christadelphian Talks podcast.

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This is brother Brian.
This week’s talk is one of my

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own by request of the July 300
episode format that we’re doing.

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So this is an expectation that I
gave earlier this year called

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The Lord Is.
I had multiple people suggest

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that it eventually be uploaded
on the podcast if and when we

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ever put up our own.
So it was a top pick among a

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handful that I’m actually very
fond of.

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But what stands out to me was
how personally impactful it was.

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At the time that I gave it, I
was a week away from doing

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classes for a young people’s
weekend, and common logic would

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be just test run one of those
talks.

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But this content just kind of
bubbled up out of nowhere.

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It came from a very vulnerable
place and it was based on a lot

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of tough conversations with
friends in the truth who

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struggle with mental health
stemming from both real life

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trauma as well as perceived
hopelessness.

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So the simple premise is
countering all of the what ifs

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of what could go wrong in our
life with a reminder of who and

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what God is and how His presence
is both everlasting and

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unchanging.
Hopefully the comfort this can

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give us can help to strengthen
our resolve to fight our

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battles, both real and
perceived, and to go into the

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furnace like Daniel’s friends or
suffer tremendously like Job and

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be able to say, even if, even if
this trial never leaves me, I

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will not let this break my
faith.

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I will not lose sight of who God
is.

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So as always, we hope this
strengthens your faith and

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brightens your day.
Brother Bryan Adams the Lord is.

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Your undivided attention is what
he said.

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Thank you.
Good morning, Morristown.

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What if I get cancer?
It’s a question I’m worried

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about.
What if I lose my job?

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What if we lose a child?
What if we’re unable to have

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children?
What if my car is stolen?

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What if all my investments tank?
What if my parents find out?

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What if I need surgery and we
can’t afford it?

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What if my plan for college
doesn’t pan out and I’m stuck?

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What if I’m doing the exact same
thing 10 years from now, wishing

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that I made a change, wishing
I’d done something different?

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They’ll bury you.
The what ifs, worrying about the

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unknown, having anxiety over
what could go wrong, the

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dwelling on the worst case
scenarios and uncertainty.

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This can be wrapped up in
depression.

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This can be the side effects of
anxiety disorder.

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This can be a direct result of
trauma that we faced, and this

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is all very real for the human
experience.

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And I’m aware that some of these
questions would hit home with

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those of us in the room.
They are real fears.

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These are real possibilities,
and there’s plenty worse ones

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that I don’t want to say out
loud, and especially not from

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the podium.
But there are worse what ifs.

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There is plenty of evil in the
world.

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The wicked, who certainly do
plot against the righteous as we

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read the wicked draw the sword
and bend their bows to bring

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down the poor and needy, to slay
those whose way is upright.

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But what do we have to counter
these fears, as irrational as

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they may be?
Hope and trust in the Lord and

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His Word and His plan and His
son.

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And the theme that I’d like to
address this morning is the

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concept of countering the what
if with what is, or perhaps a

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better way to express it, the
even ifs.

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And if this sounds familiar,
it’s because it is.

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The main thrust of my exhort
this morning is going to be very

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similar to Brother Eric’s last
week.

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Thank you for delivering those
words on Romans 8.

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As soon as you began and I
picked up on the direction

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you’re going, I was pumped
because I knew I was going to

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address a lot of the same
points.

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So thank you, Brother Eric, for
giving us that encouragement

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last week.
I hope that this will only just

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reinforce what we’ve been
reminded about, that every

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little thing will be all right.
That even if things go wrong and

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we don’t know how, we don’t know
how or if they will get better,

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they will.
I was looking at the readings

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ahead of time, and I had noted
that there was a pattern.

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These are not all on the same
date, but there’s a common

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thread that I thought we could
take advantage of marking up in

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our Bibles.
So we’re going to look at

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Genesis 37, Psalm 37, and then
Matthew 22.

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The theme that we’ll notice is
the possibility of getting stuck

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in the unknown as compared to
focusing on what is and what

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will not change.
So I advise you, let’s pull up

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Genesis 37 first.
You might have some of this

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already marked up.
This is the familiar story of

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Joseph being put in the pit by
his own brothers and then after

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that sold into slavery, which
continues with his false

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imprisonment, and then
languishing in prison for two

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more years after that.
And through it all, he could

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have reasonably been thinking,
what if my brothers kill me?

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What if I never see my family
again?

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What if the Egyptians kill me
for this false charge?

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What if I never get out of this
pit?

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What if I never get out of this
prison?

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What if this is my life?
Or as I’ve alluded to in a

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previous exhortation, we can
feel sometimes stuck in those

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pits, stuck in those quiet
corners, stuck in the wilderness

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and wonder, is this really where
God wants me to be?

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How am I supposed to be able to
give Him glory if I feel like no

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one can see my light?
How am I supposed to be faithful

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if I feel like I’ve been
forgotten?

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But through it all, we are told
that God, the Lord was with

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Joseph.
It says in verse 30 or sorry,

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not verse 39.
If you come over to chapter 39,

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you’ll note multiple times it
says the Lord was with him, the

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Lord was with them.
The Lord blessed his efforts in

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verses 2 and verses 3 and verses
5, you come down to verse 21.

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The Lord was with Joseph in
prison, showed him steadfast

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love.
It repeats that point again.

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The Lord was with him in prison.
In your trials, do you feel that

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the Lord is with you?
I would suggest that He trusted

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you to have those trials in the
1st place.

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And I’ll repeat that phrase
again.

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The Lord trusted you to have the
trial that you do because He

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believes in your ability to bear
that burden through Him.

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For Joseph, there were parts of
his life that would not go back

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to the way they were.
But Joseph is a prime example of

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God being able to benefit others
by his faith, by his

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steadfastness.
Even if, even if I am stuck in

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this prison, I will glorify the
Lord.

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Joseph even said as much later
in chapter 45 when he’s

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comforting his brothers and
chapter 45, verses 7 and eight,

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he tells them, God sent me
before you to preserve for you a

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remnant on the earth and to keep
alive for you many survivors.

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So it was not you who sent me
here, but God.

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In David, we as well have
another example of a highly

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faithful disciple whose life
took all kinds of crazy turns.

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I mean, there could be a whole
slew of what ifs that he could

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ask many heartbreaking things.
But thanks to his eloquent

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conviction throughout the
Psalms, we have some of the

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greatest reminders of instead
what is.

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Or as I’ll explain at the end,
the Lord is David was willing to

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be LED through the valley of the
shadow of death because he

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believed first and foremost that
the Lord is my shepherd.

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So where he leads me, I will
find green pastures and still

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waters.
So in we’re in chapter 37 of the

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Psalms, which I had read for us
this morning, there’s two

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phrases that stood out to me,
and one of them stood out

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because it doesn’t come up very
often.

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Our opening phrase, Fred, not
yourself.

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And only of course, four times
in Scripture.

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And three of those four are
right here in this Psalm.

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This is the Psalm that tells us
fret not yourself.

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Do not worry.
Don’t be stuck in the what ifs.

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Fret not yourself over the
wicked.

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Fret not yourself over the evil
doers, those who seem like

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they’re going to capture you and
said focus on what is and the

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other phrase you’ll see quite
often mark this up occurs 456

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times.
The righteous shall inherit the

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land.
Those who wait on the Lord shall

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inherit the land shall inherit
the land.

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The meek shall inherit the land.
They shall inherit the land they

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shall dwell in the land that
will happen.

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The Lord will act.
Don’t be stuck in the what if,

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because soon they will fade,
they will perish like grass,

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they will float away like the
bitter herb, but in trust in the

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Lord do good and dwell in the
land and befriend faithfulness.

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Why you see this?
Why you see the wicked and are

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told for the Terry?
Why you’re told to fret not

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yourself because of them is
because they’re present just as

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the wicked, or present in every
verse or just about every verse.

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That’s our reality just about
every day.

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We are beset by evil.
We’ll beset by trials.

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We’re beset by our flesh itself.
All the worst possible things

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that could happen certainly do
give us anxiety.

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But again, our mindset should
not be Get Me Out of here.

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I’ve said this before, I want to
emphasize it again.

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I don’t believe that we should
have an escape pod mentality

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about the Kingdom.
Lord Get Me Out of here.

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Because it is US who are planted
as the strong rooted tree that

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will not be blown over.
We are meant to be the lights

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that shine in the darkness, the
ambassadors for Christ, that

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even through the schemes of the
wicked, even through the trials

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that we bear, even through
investments dropping out, even

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through cancer, we’re told to
stand firm and wait patiently on

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the Lord.
We will inherit the land.

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Our question in the face of
burden should not be how will I

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ever handle this, but instead
how does God have a hand in

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this?
Where have I seen this before?

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What does this remind me of?
Even if this gets worse, what

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can I hope ultimately put my
hope in?

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Says that those who wait for the
Lord shall inherit the land.

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He delivers them.
He delivers them from the wicked

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for those who take refuge in
him.

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And if you flipped over a page
or two to Psalm 40, there’s a

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verse that I’ve always loved
because it reminds me so much of

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Joseph, David’s own thoughts.
That could be Joseph himself.

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In verse one and two of Psalm
40I waited patiently for the

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Lord.
He inclined to me and heard my

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cry.
He drew me up from the pit of

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destruction out of the miry bog
and set my feet upon a rock,

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making my steps secure.
One moment we can feel depressed

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and under siege, and soon after
the Lord can change our

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circumstances so swiftly that it
feels that we’re living a

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completely different life,
planted securely on the rock.

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So what I’m trying to emphasize
is that the danger of the what

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ifs, it’s burning your energy on
things that haven’t happened,

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things that might never happen,
things that are beyond our

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control.
Sometimes I do focus on the

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worst case scenario, things that
I fear.

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If I encounter that scenario in
my life, I don’t know if I could

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bear it.
And that reveals, I think,

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sometimes our truest fears, our
our weaknesses and anxiety and

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worry is a major problem for
some people.

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I’ve had a lot of really tough
conversations with family,

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friends, brothers and sisters.
It is a plague in and of itself

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that some people need constant
reinforcement to hold back that

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00:18:25,760 –> 00:18:29,360
worry, that fear.
And we’re told, you know, very

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clearly in first Peter 5, to
cast all of our cares and

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anxieties on him because he
cares for us.

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But that’s a lot easier said
than done.

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It’s a shame to be living in
fear of what could go wrong

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because we can get so caught up
in the lies that our mind tells

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us.
It can shake our confidence in

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God.
It can deprive us of the peace

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that we should have.
There is a a quote that I love

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and I need to keep reminding
myself of why I love it so much.

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The quote is comparison is the
thief of all joy.

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You know, me worrying about what
someone else has and what I

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00:19:17,880 –> 00:19:20,840
don’t have can rob me of the joy
of what I do have.

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But I think there’s another add
on that you can take with that,

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which is that worry and doubt
are the thieves of peace.

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We’re supposed to be able to
have peace of God that

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00:19:36,360 –> 00:19:38,080
transcends all that we think
about.

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So that’s why I suggest we try
to consider the even if Isaiah

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43, when you pass through the
waters, I will be with you.

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When you pass through the
rivers, they will not sweep you

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00:19:59,320 –> 00:20:03,880
over.
When you walk through the fire,

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00:20:04,080 –> 00:20:08,680
you will not be burned.
The flames will not set you

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00:20:08,680 –> 00:20:12,560
ablaze.
Who did that speak to?

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00:20:13,080 –> 00:20:19,160
Let’s go to Daniel 3 and Daniel
3 verse 16 and 18.

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We have Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego who replied to King

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00:20:25,400 –> 00:20:31,080
Nebuchadnezzar.
We do not need to defend

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00:20:31,080 –> 00:20:33,800
ourselves before you in this
matter.

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If we are thrown into the
blazing furnace, the God we

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00:20:39,280 –> 00:20:45,800
serve is able to deliver us from
it, and He will deliver us from

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00:20:45,800 –> 00:20:53,960
Your Majesty’s hand.
But even if he does not, we want

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00:20:53,960 –> 00:20:58,840
you to know that your Majesty,
we will not serve your gods or

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00:20:58,840 –> 00:21:00,560
worship the idols that you’ve
set up.

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00:21:03,000 –> 00:21:07,080
Even if this is it, we’re still
going to have faith.

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Sadly, it is true that sometimes
the worst case scenario does

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00:21:18,360 –> 00:21:22,800
play out.
We lose.

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00:21:22,800 –> 00:21:25,360
The ones that we love.
Had an unfair time.

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00:21:29,240 –> 00:21:32,360
We hurt each other in anger and
desperation.

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00:21:34,760 –> 00:21:38,600
Sometimes things really don’t
get better and that hurts,

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00:21:40,120 –> 00:21:43,520
hurts.
In this life there is a

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00:21:43,600 –> 00:21:49,360
tremendous amount of suffering
and that’s a such a distinct

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00:21:49,360 –> 00:21:52,040
need for the return of our Lord
Jesus Christ.

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Our prayer is for that relief to
come, but until then we have

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00:22:03,120 –> 00:22:08,800
each other to speak words of
comfort and to wait patiently on

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00:22:08,800 –> 00:22:10,880
the Lord and help carry what
burdens we can.

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00:22:16,000 –> 00:22:18,840
There’s a sister in the room
that I’ve had a conversation

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00:22:18,840 –> 00:22:23,560
with that reminded me that
sometimes there isn’t much more

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00:22:23,560 –> 00:22:30,200
you can do than just be present.
Be present for someone who is

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00:22:30,200 –> 00:22:37,400
hurting, to pray often for them,
and to reflect on the promise

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00:22:37,400 –> 00:22:39,920
that one day we will see all
things restored.

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00:22:42,960 –> 00:22:48,040
So I’ll take you now to our last
example of the what if.

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00:22:48,040 –> 00:22:50,440
First, what is?
And this comes from Matthew 22.

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00:22:58,360 –> 00:23:01,400
This is the hypothetical
question that was given to

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00:23:01,440 –> 00:23:03,120
Jesus.
This is kind of what caught my

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00:23:03,120 –> 00:23:11,960
attention.
You have in verse 24, this crazy

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00:23:11,960 –> 00:23:17,080
scenario tucked into a number of
testing questions that the

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00:23:17,080 –> 00:23:20,280
Pharisees and Sadducees put
before Jesus in order to trick

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00:23:20,280 –> 00:23:26,960
him.
And although the phrase is not

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00:23:27,440 –> 00:23:31,800
present, this story has the same
connotation as a what if

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00:23:33,760 –> 00:23:37,280
exploring an unnecessary
possibility just for the sake of

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00:23:37,280 –> 00:23:40,320
stirring up trouble.
What if?

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00:23:41,200 –> 00:23:47,240
Let’s just say, what if a woman
is married to an entire slew of

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00:23:47,240 –> 00:23:50,120
brothers, one after the other,
and they all are not able to

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00:23:50,120 –> 00:23:56,320
give her children?
Talk about that family reunion.

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00:23:58,160 –> 00:24:04,200
It’s a preposterous suggestion,
and part of the tone of Jesus’s

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00:24:04,200 –> 00:24:10,640
response is a lesson for us.
There is no value in trying to

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00:24:10,640 –> 00:24:15,560
imagine where the line gets
crossed in a worst case

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00:24:15,560 –> 00:24:17,240
scenario.
There’s no value in trying to

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00:24:17,240 –> 00:24:20,360
find the exception to the rule
or the loophole that somehow

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00:24:20,520 –> 00:24:25,120
shows that something won’t work.
Jesus answered them.

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00:24:25,160 –> 00:24:28,600
You’re wrong.
You’re wrong because you know

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00:24:28,600 –> 00:24:30,800
neither the Scriptures nor the
power of God.

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00:24:31,480 –> 00:24:35,040
He then gives us this incredible
exposition in the resurrection.

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00:24:35,360 –> 00:24:38,200
They neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but they’re like

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00:24:38,200 –> 00:24:42,200
the angels of heaven.
And As for the resurrection of

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00:24:42,200 –> 00:24:44,720
the dead, have you not read what
was said to you by God?

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00:24:45,000 –> 00:24:49,040
I am the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

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00:24:49,600 –> 00:24:51,600
He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living.

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00:24:53,640 –> 00:25:01,440
Our take away from this we have
to allow buffer room in what we

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00:25:01,440 –> 00:25:04,120
either cannot control or cannot
understand about the way that

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00:25:04,120 –> 00:25:09,240
God works.
Getting tripped up on

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00:25:09,240 –> 00:25:11,880
hypotheticals is not going to
strengthen your faith.

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00:25:17,680 –> 00:25:22,200
So the lesson for us through
this expectation is to

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00:25:22,200 –> 00:25:27,080
neutralize the what ifs by
letting that scenario play out

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00:25:27,680 –> 00:25:35,120
even to its worst extent and
saying, well, even then, like

302
00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:45,200
Job, even if I lose everything,
even if it all goes, SI will not

303
00:25:45,200 –> 00:25:48,040
let this separate me from the
love of God.

304
00:25:48,040 –> 00:25:51,680
I will not let this be the thing
that causes my light to stop

305
00:25:51,680 –> 00:25:54,480
shining.
Even through this, I will

306
00:25:54,480 –> 00:25:59,360
magnify his name, and I
recognize that that’s a lot

307
00:25:59,360 –> 00:26:03,400
easier said than done to have
that kind of boldness towards

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00:26:03,440 –> 00:26:12,600
any circumstance.
As I said, trials will surely

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00:26:12,600 –> 00:26:18,280
come, but we should not fear the
damage that they may do.

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00:26:20,400 –> 00:26:23,080
But we can have comfort that
they are a sign of God trusting

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00:26:23,080 –> 00:26:28,000
our ability to be able to bear
them again.

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00:26:28,120 –> 00:26:33,600
What we perceive as burdens are
a sign from God that he fully

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00:26:33,600 –> 00:26:36,000
trusts us to bear it without
breaking.

314
00:26:36,600 –> 00:26:40,120
Just like Matt, one of these
days you’re going to give Olivia

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00:26:40,120 –> 00:26:43,680
a hot, heavy dish to carry to
the table.

316
00:26:44,920 –> 00:26:47,320
And you know that, you know, she
might bobble it this way or that

317
00:26:47,320 –> 00:26:51,680
way, but you’re allowing her to
bear that with the trust that

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00:26:51,680 –> 00:26:53,360
she will be able to deliver it
to the table.

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00:26:53,920 –> 00:26:56,880
I know it’s a silly analogy, but
in a way, I think that that’s

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00:26:56,880 –> 00:26:59,920
how God really does work with
us.

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00:27:04,400 –> 00:27:08,600
That as Brother Eric said, even
when we are beset on every side,

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00:27:10,800 –> 00:27:20,560
everything will be all right.
So to conclude, when you’re

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00:27:20,560 –> 00:27:33,720
faced with your next bout of
anxiety and what ifs, ask

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00:27:33,720 –> 00:27:35,480
yourself a different set of
questions.

325
00:27:38,680 –> 00:27:43,360
Who is the Lord?
What is He like?

326
00:27:46,800 –> 00:27:48,560
How has He proven himself
trustworthy?

327
00:27:49,960 –> 00:27:55,840
What do I know about Him?
The Lord is a stronghold for the

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00:27:55,840 –> 00:28:00,080
oppressed, a stronghold in times
of trouble.

329
00:28:02,880 –> 00:28:06,640
The Lord is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer, and

330
00:28:06,640 –> 00:28:12,160
whom I take refuge.
The Lord is my light and my

331
00:28:12,160 –> 00:28:15,000
salvation.
Whom shall I fear?

332
00:28:19,520 –> 00:28:23,560
The Lord is my strength and my
shield, the upholder of my life.

333
00:28:27,720 –> 00:28:29,640
The Lord is the strength of His
people.

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00:28:30,800 –> 00:28:32,920
He is the saving refuge of His
anointed.

335
00:28:36,440 –> 00:28:39,800
The Lord is near to the broken
hearted and saves the crushed.

336
00:28:39,800 –> 00:28:46,600
In spirit.
The Lord is good, His steadfast

337
00:28:46,600 –> 00:28:49,680
love endorsed forever and His
faithfulness to all generations.

338
00:28:53,120 –> 00:28:55,840
The Lord is merciful and
gracious, slow to anger and

339
00:28:55,840 –> 00:29:03,520
abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is on my side.

340
00:29:05,480 –> 00:29:07,680
I shall not fear.
What can man do to me?

341
00:29:11,080 –> 00:29:13,880
The Lord is good to all, and His
mercy is over all that He has

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00:29:13,880 –> 00:29:19,800
made.
The Lord is faithful in all of

343
00:29:19,800 –> 00:29:22,440
His words and kind in all of His
works.

344
00:29:26,440 –> 00:29:29,720
The Lord is righteous in all of
His ways and a rewarder of those

345
00:29:29,720 –> 00:29:38,880
who diligently seek Him.
The Lord is near to all who call

346
00:29:38,880 –> 00:29:41,840
upon Him, who call upon Him in
truth.

347
00:29:46,680 –> 00:29:51,600
The Lord is God and He has made
His light to shine upon us.

348
00:29:54,080 –> 00:29:58,720
The Lord is my shepherd.
The Lord is.

349
00:30:21,120 –> 00:30:23,200
Thank you for listening to the
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00:30:23,200 –> 00:30:25,800
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00:30:25,800 –> 00:30:27,320
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