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Abundant, abundant love God has given to me. And joy, such joy throughout eternity. Pray, pray for salvation free. These are the gifts that God has given to you and me.

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[ Music ] [MUSIC - "SWEET PEACE"] Sweet peace when confusion is near. And faith, such faith, such faith in my Jesus, he fills.

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To my soul I love him because of the gift he has given. These are the gifts God has given. These are the gifts God has given. These are the gifts God has given to me.

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Amen. Amen. Hear this word recorded in Psalm 34, verses 1 through 3. I will bless the Lord at all times.

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His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together.

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Boasting in the Lord, boasting in the Lord. Boasting is something people do because they enjoy a sense of pride in achievement. reaction to success that in which we take profound delight. It is said that Texans like to brag. There are many stories concerning the bragging of Texas.

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It is said to be attributed to Texas vast size and potential resources. Texas boasts of being bigger and better. A friend was asked how can you tell when a Texan is telling the truth? Well if he's waving his arms that that's not a sign. Well if his head is shaking so that's not the sign. But you look very closely and if his lips are working and his mouth is

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moving so that's the sign that he's not telling the truth. Well there are many stories about bragging. The psalmist here has something to boast about. It's not an idle boast. It's not a wild assertion. Neither is it an unreliable speculation. Most of the boasting with which we are familiar is a kind of ego trip, the result of an

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exaggerated opinion an individual has of himself. This is reflected by the pronounced use of the pronouns me, myself, and I. There are those who need never worry about their horn being tooted because they see to that by doing all of the tooting themselves. But there is something that we abhor about the person

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who is constantly boasting, who lets people know how proud he or she is of accomplishments that may be theirs. We like for people to be humble, to be low key to be modest. There's a story told of a man who saved seven people in the Jamestown flood. Everywhere he went he said I'm the man who saved seven people

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in the Jamestown flood. Wherever he traveled far and near every person he met he would say I'm the man who saved seven people in the Jamestown flood. Well, he died and went on to heaven. As he walked the streets of glory,

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those he met, he stopped them to tell them, "I'm the man who saved seven people in the Jamestown flood." He saw a very tall angel, one of the tallest angels,

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and he went up to this angel and he said, "I'm the man who saved seven people in the Jamestown flood, just who might you be?" And the man said rather quietly, "I'm Noah. I saved the world and made it possible for the future population of eternity." But he

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wasn't saying a word about it. So there's a feeling we have about boasting, but the psalmist here dares to boast. He is not boasting of himself, he is boasting in the Lord. And he not only boasts in the Lord, but he invites others to join with him in boasting. Psalm 34 you see is a didactic psalm. It's as a kind of

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classroom setting. It's designed for teaching. It was possibly used for instructional purposes. It's neatly arranged alphabetically. It's called an an acrostic psalm. It has the form of a dialogue with one person speaking and another answers. Then the third person speaks, after which the teacher interrupts. Two others join in and

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making a chorus that gives the closing word. There is boasting which is acceptable. There is boasting which is considered wise, boasting which may contribute to the good life. That kind of boasting is what the psalmist lifts up for us in this particular passage

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when he speaks of boasting in the Lord. Boast in the Lord, he says. And the reason we ought to boast in the Lord is because God is good. What do we have to boast about?

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Well this particular psalm is ascribed to David. It fits into that period of David's life when he was a mercenary soldier in the Philistine city of Gath. Now David knew something about boasting.

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Surely he remembered how Goliath, that popular Philistine giant who championed the cause of his people before the armies of Israel. Goliath boasted of his military might.

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Goliath boasted of his devastating power. He defied the armies of Israel. Little David accepted the challenge and went against the giant Goliath with only a sling and five smooth stones. When Goliath confronts David he renews his

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both saying, "Come to me and I will give your flesh to the fowl of the air and the beasts of the field. David said to the giant, "You come to me boasting of your power. You come to me with sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord." David defeats the giant. He does not claim the victory for himself, but he

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claims the victory for the Lord. Goliath you see is a symbol of human boasting. Human beings are born selfish and self-centered. It's easy for us to boast when we have a little success. It's only through divine wisdom, it's only through the Spirit of God that we are led to boast in the Lord. Later in David's

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career when Saul seeks to take his life, it is then that he becomes a mercenary soldier. He hires himself to the Philistines. He joins the Philistine army to fight against Israel, to fight against his own brethren. Saul leaves him alone when he joins the Philistines and he's numbered now with the enemy. He's a

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mercenary soldier there. And when the time comes for the Philistines to confront the Israelite armies, the Philistines consider the fact that David is with them and one of the leaders, or rather several of the leaders, say look we can't trust this fellow to fight against his brothers and David is

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dismissed. David is delivered from the giant Goliath, he's delivered from the hand of Saul, he's delivered from the Philistines, he's elevated to the position of king. The very person who seeks to take his life, David occupies that position because God has a way of delivering us from every kind of

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condition or circumstance when we trust in him. David is delivered miraculously so, and it's out of this experience that we have the word, "My soul shall trust in the Lord. I will brag on God. I will boast about what the Lord has done for me. I will boast about how he has delivered me from the very jaws of death. I will boast

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in the Lord. I'll brag about how good God is. And that's a wonderful thing for us to do today as we look at our lives. Every one of us as we come together here, we come to celebrate the goodness of God. And no matter what anybody else says, some of us may be able to be quiet about it, some may be subdued about it, but

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every one of us ought to be able to say, "Well, I will boast in the Lord that God has been good to me." And as some people would put it, "He's been much better to me than I've been to myself. I'll boast in the Lord." I will not just boast on Sunday. Some people boast on Sunday. When we come together in the worship service and when

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they find themselves on Monday on their jobs they act like they don't know the Lord. But he said I'll boast not only when I'm in the temple, not only when I'm gathered together for the ritualistic services of the temple, but I'll boast continually at all times wherever I am. I'll boast in the Lord. It's a wonderful word for us today. I will boast in the Lord and I'll boast in

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such a way that the humble will hear it and be glad. This is the kind of boasting that people love to hear and they'll be glad about it. We are well acquainted with the kind of boasting people don't want to hear. You know Muhammad Ali as he embarked upon his boxing career he boasted. He boasted

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about how he was gonna do this and he was gonna do that and many people didn't like that. They didn't like to hear Muhammad Ali boasting about how good he was. He's the prettiest and all of that. He didn't like that and many people came out to his fights hoping that he would be defeated because he had boasted so.

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And so he revived boxing really and the sport became far more successful than it had been for some time through his boasts. They didn't like his boasting but his boasting did revive the sport. But here's the kind of boasting that people like because it's a boast in goodness, it's a boast in justice, it's a boast in truth,

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it's a boast in faith, it's a boast in the eternal, those values that will last always, to boast in being identified with the Lord. But it's boasting of not only how good God is, but what God has done. You know you can't boast about your knowledge. Some people do. They boast about what they know, but if you keep

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living you forget a lot of what you once knew. So you really can't boast about your knowledge and if you keep on living that which was the thing, the end thing at one period is outdated in another period. So you have to keep getting new books. You have to get a revised edition. The knowledge changes. So you really can't

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boast in the knowledge, the schools you attend, the degrees that you have. As wonderful as those things are, that these are not the things in which to boast because when we find ourselves boasting in these, we sort of take a kind of elitist attitude and we sort of look down on others because they didn't have

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the same advantage or opportunities or use those same things in the way that I may have used them or you may have used. So we really don't need to boast about our knowledge. Some boast about their class, the class to which they belong. economically what we have, houses and lands, bank accounts and the like.

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But no matter what these may be, the psalmist does not encourage us to boast in these because you see the standard changes. Inflation eats up a great deal of what you have and as you live in the world I have seen people who had fortunes, fortunes, but they were glad to get out with just their lives. In Israel

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there were people driving cabs who had been wealthy in Germany, but when Hitler came along they lost all of that and they were just glad to get out just with their lives being saved. So really, really, really the Psalmist says is what we ought to boast about is not any of these things, not our knowledge, not the economic class to which we belong, whether it's

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the upper class, the middle class, or the underclass. Don't boast in any of these things, but boast in the goodness of God. Goodness of God. Because you see what we really need to avoid is boasting in the flesh. You can't boast of our youth, we We can't boast of our strength.

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We can't boast really meaningfully and in a lasting way of any of these things that are identified with the flesh. Don't boast in the flesh. You know, take a certain pride about how we look because soon time will put wrinkles in

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our face and we find ourselves going back to what Shakespeare calls second childishness. So we can't boast in the flesh and yet many times people do. We boast in the flesh. Paul listened to people boasting, boasting about their nationality, boasting about their social status, boasting about their degrees,

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boasting about their work, boasting about their success. And so when he writes he says, "Who are these people anyhow? Who are they? These people who are boasting in the flesh. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Hebrews? Well, so am I. Are they children of Abraham? Yes, well so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. Well, he said I have abundant labors to my credit. If you want to talk about an honor roll, if you really want to talk about

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boasting, he said I think I would stand high on any honor roll, any role of outstanding achievements, I certainly would be entitled to a Medal of Honor. I would be included in the Hall of Fame if you would consider my credentials. Look at my credentials. I've been in prison many times. I face death often. I've

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received the regulation stripes of 39 for some five times. I've been beaten with rods. I've been stoned three times. I've been shipwrecked. I've spent a night and a day at sea. I've been in danger of robbers. I've been in danger of heathen. I've been in danger in the city, I've been in danger in the wilderness, I've been in danger of false

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brethren, I've been weary many times, I've suffered painfulness, I have endured hunger and thirst, cold, nakedness, I've endured all of these things, but if I would boast, not would I boast in these things, But if I would boast, yes, I will boast in Christ. I'll give to him the glory.

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I'll glory in Jesus Christ. I'll glory in what God has done for me. I'll glory not in how strong I am, but I'll glory in how strong God is.

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Because when I'm weak, then God makes me strong. God is glory says to me time and time again that my grace is sufficient for you. So if I would glory, let me glory in God, not in my strength, but in the sufferings that I endure for him.

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For what almighty God, what almighty God we serve. my brothers and sisters, we ought to boast today. We ought to rejoice and be glad and thank God that he has delivered us because he has delivered every one of us. He's delivered us. Oh there have been times when he's delivered us from

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sickness, there have been times when he's delivered us from disappointment, there's been times when he delivered us from defeat. And God just doesn't do it once in a while. As we look back we can say that he has delivered us in the past, but you can say he's delivering us right now. When we got up this morning, when we

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woke up with the right use of our minds, God had delivered us again and permitted us to see a new day. Not only can we talk about what God has done, but we can talk about what God is doing and we can talk about what God will do and we can boast in him and join with the psalmist as he invites us to do right here this morning

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and say I'm going to boast in the Lord so let's join together say and sing I will trust in the Lord [ Music ] [ Singing ]

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I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray.

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I will watch, fight and pray. I will trust in the Lord till I die. I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord.

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I will trust in the Lord till I die. I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray.

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Till I die. I will watch, fight and pray. Oh, I will watch, fight and pray. I will watch, fight and pray.

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I'm going to stay on the battlefield. I'm going to stay on the battlefield. I'm going to stay on the battlefield. I'm going to stay on the battlefield until I die.

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I'm going to stay on the battlefield. I'm going to stay on the battlefield. I'm going to stay on the battlefield until I die. I will trust in the Lord.

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I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord until I die. I will trust. Oh, I will trust in you, trust in the Lord till I die.

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