My Heart Is Steadfast
Ps 57:7-11
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. 10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. NKJV
Introduction
In this Psalm David is fleeing from Saul who is trying to kill him. In the midst of this difficulty he reported his heart was steadfast. To day I simply want to relate about what my heart is steadfast
1. My Heart Is Fixed Related To the Word of God.
Bibliographical Evidences
Internal Harmony
Biblical Prophecies.
Lord’s View
External Evidences.
B iblilographical Evidences
Number of Manuscripts. Time Lapse from Original.
New Test. _5,356_ Fragments from 125 BC
Old Test. _10,000__ Dead Sea Scrolls _1,000 yrs. Earlier – 6 word difference
I nternal Harmony
40 Writers 2,000 years.
In the entire New Testament, only 400 words are in question (.5%). The variants for these words are so slight that no doctrine of Christianity is affected.
B iblical Prophecies.
333 in Messiah alone 1 to 1017 See book More Than A Carpenter.
L ord’s View Emmaus Disciples
E xternal Evidences.
65 Facts confirmed. Town uncovered they thought were not real.
No Finding Contradicts what the Bible says.
A. My Heart Is Fixed Related To Creation. Ge. 1:1, 31 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 2:1 The Garden of Eden Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. NKJV
Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Mk 13:19 For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. NKJV
The Bible Says It
3 Statements. One not necessary. That we believe it. If God said it it is settled.
I Believe It
That Settles It
B. My Heart Is Fixed Related To God’s Plan Of Finances.
Lev 27:30-31 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's. It is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. NKJV
Mal 3:8-10 Do Not Rob God "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. NKJV
Heb 7:6-9 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, NKJV
C. My Heart Is Fixed Related To Witnessing.
Ac 1:8 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." NKJV
Mt 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them,
saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. NKJV
Illustration
A few years ago I went to Springfield to see several people who were in the hospital. I asked a nurse where PICU was located.
She was a big woman see looked right at me eye to eye and said, “what does this pin” stand for as she punched it. The pin is two question marks and is the graduation pin for passing the Evangelism Explosion Course. It stands for two questions; one, “Have you reached a place in your life that you know for certain when you die you will go to heaven.” She just starred at me, it sort of stunned me to have a woman bigger than me stare at me eyeball to eyeball. She didn’t answer me but said, “what’s the second one.” I kind of stammered to say, What if God asked, “Why should I let you into my heaven, What would you say? She said, “I got work to do I don’t have time for this. So I said, :where is PICU.”
I started to leave her a tract and realized I only had one and wanted to share it with a man from Mtn. View. So I left after she reluctantly told me about the PICU.
I went on and made several visits and got to see my man in ICU, as well as the little girl in PICU, and some others. As I was walking out of the hospital a nurse stopped me and asked, “are you the man who shared his faith up on the forth floor?” I asked, “do you mean to that big nurse.” Yes said, “ yes!” and I want to thank you.” I have been trying to witness to her for months and she would not let me share.
But after you asked her those questions she came over by me and sat down and said, “how would you answer those questions.” I got to share with her my testimony and she promised to talk again.
You never know how a witness may end up. Let me share what happened yesterday. Christa had a doctors appointment in Cape. She filled out the forms for this doctor and it asked about her occupation and mine. The doctor asked “what kind of church does you husband pastor.” Of course she said Baptist. Later he asked me if I was the kind of Baptist that Al Molher was. I said, Yes. Then I asked what do you know about Al Mohler, and he told this story. He was a surgeon in the Navy and a sailor had some serious surgery but then needed to get a leave to go home on personal matters. On the plane going home he sat next to Al Mohler who witnessed to him and kept the conversation going for most of the flight. When the man got home on the next day a pastor and deacon knocked on his door. They got he and his wife to go to church the next day and they both got saved and were baptized. The story greatly impressed the doctor.
What can one witness do in affecting another? Acts 1:8
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." NKJV
D. My Heart Is Fixed Related To Eternity. Mt13:41-43
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! NKJV
Mt 25:40-41 40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand,'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: NKJV
Illustration
When I was in Seminary down in Ft. Worth Texas I went out to Ohio as part of revival teams called Pioneer Penetration. I went to The Barry’s Ridge Baptist Church in McDonaldsville Ohio.
A man in the church and his family gave me a place to stay for the week. He managed a research farm for the State of Ohio. He was a Marine in Korea and told me of his Sargent who he admired veery much. He told of him being a man’s man and very tough. One day the sarge was leading a fight trying to conquer a hill and got severely wounded. Several men got to him to try to help and some how one man got to thinking he was afraid of dying. The Sargent said, “I am not afraid of dying, but I am going to hell.”
The Sargent screamed until he died, “I’m going to hell.”
“I’m going to hell.” “I’m going to hell.”
My host said, preacher I was not prepared enough to help my Sargent come to the Lord. I vowed to the Lord to get prepared to help others and I have never failed again.
There Is A Heaven To Gain and a Hell to Shun. I urge you to come to Jesus Today.
My heart is steadfast on the Word Of God.