(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Let's look at Psalm 34 and look at verse number 20. Psalm 34 verse number 20, this is the most famous verse in the entire Psalm. And if you know your New Testament, you know that this is speaking about Jesus Christ, His crucifixion on the cross and His legs were not broken. So we get this prophecy of Christ in Psalm 34 verse 20, He keepeth all His bones, not one of them is broken. So I like that, He keepeth all His bones, not one of them is broken. But of course, even though Jesus Christ's bones were not broken on the cross, His body was broken for us. Not His bones, but His body was broken. He did go through great suffering for us, His blood was shed. And so the title for the sermon tonight is broken, but not broken. Broken, but not broken. So as we go through this Psalm, hopefully it makes a lot more sense why I'm saying that. Broken, but not broken. So let's start there in Psalm 34. Now, many Bibles have a title. This Psalm has a specific title for this Psalm. And it gives us the timeframe as to when this Psalm was written by David. So if we look at just the title there, before the verse it says, A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed. So it gives us the timing of this Psalm. And I think it's important that we go back and look at the story. Why did David write this Psalm? There's a place in his life that caused him to pen down these words, of course, by the moving of the Holy Ghost. But there was something he went through that is being recorded here for us as a title to the Psalm. So I want you to keep your finger there in Psalm 34 and please turn to 1 Samuel 21. Turn to 1 Samuel 21 and we're going to the time period of David, before he was king, where King Saul was trying to kill David. He was hunting him down and King David was fleeing from King Saul, I should say, was fleeing from King Saul. So he was fearful for his life. And this is the story where King David finds himself with his men, his faithful men. They're without food and he needs to go and find some food and he decides to go to the temple of the Lord and grab some bread to feed himself and his troops. So there in 1 Samuel 21, we're not going to read the whole chapter, but I want you to just get a sense of where David is mentally, spiritually, emotionally, in order that causes him to eventually write Psalm 34. So 1 Samuel 21 verse 1 reads, Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David and said unto him, Why art thou alone and no man with thee? Let me just pause that. I think I just said he goes to the temple. Of course, the temple of God was not built yet. It was built by his son Solomon. So my misunderstanding. I didn't mean to say that. But he goes to see one of the priests. And of course, he's going to the place where the house of God was and where they were offering up sacrifices. And again, King Solomon is seeking to kill David here. And so he's fleeing from Saul. Look at verse number 2. And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. All right, so what we see here, he goes to the priest Ahimelech. Now if you remember back in your psalm, it said that he changed his behavior before Abimelech. So let me not confuse anyone here. Abimelech and Ahimelech is the same guy. Many times in the Bible, the names are just spelt, written in different ways. Now what we find here, David is saying to the priest that he's on a mission from the king, from King Saul. That King Saul has sent him, and basically he's lying to the priest. So again, think about yourself, put yourself in David's shoes. He's fleeing for his life. He goes to the priest, who's supposed to be the man of God, and he lies to the priest and says, Look, I'm on this special mission from King Saul, and I need some assistance here. Now let's just drop down to verse number 6. It says, So the only bread that the priest had available to him was the showbread, was the hallowed, or the holy bread, which was meant to be eaten by only the priests. But the priest decided, Well, David, you're hungry. In fact, Jesus Christ speaks about this situation in the New Testament. He gives David this bread, the showbread. So not only is David fleeing for his life, not only is he lying to the priest because he's afraid, now we learn that he's hungry, that he and his troops, they're without food. He's got nothing for himself and his men to eat. Drop down to verse number 7. So King Saul has a chiefess of the herdmen, the chief of his pastors that he's got there, that look after the sheep, the shepherds, right? And you've got Doak here, who's witnessing David come to the priest, and later on, we don't have time to go through the story, but in the next chapter, Doak acts like a spy and accuses Ahimelek, ends up killing Ahimelek before King Saul for being a traitor and helping David. So not only is David hungry, not only is he fleeing, not only is he lying to the priest, but now he's got one of King Saul's spies right there witnessing him speaking to the priest there. So think about King David, right? He's got the spies of his enemy there just watching him and ready to bring a report against what he's done. Let's keep going to verse number 8. For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. Again, he's lying, he continues to lie. I'm here about the king's business, but instead I forgot my sword. Do you have a spear? Do you have a sword? So now, what else did we learn about David? He's defenceless, he doesn't have his weapons, he's without his security, right? He needs a weapon. And so this guy, you know, David is in a bad shape. He's obviously in a very bad shape, he's got no security here. Verse number 9. And the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ethod. If thou wilt take it, take it, for there is none other save that here. And David said, there is none like that, give it me. So he takes Goliath's sword, remember he killed Goliath the giant, and now he takes the sword of Goliath, it's the only weapon he's got. So he takes it to defend himself as he's fleeing from King Saul. Verse number 10. And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. So, who's Gath? I mean, what place is Gath? Remember, Goliath was from Gath. So these are the Philistines, these are the enemies of Israel. But David is so fearful of Saul that he'll take his life, he decides to run to Gath where the enemies are, where the Philistines are. I guess he thinks if we have a common enemy, which is Saul, then they'll receive me. I don't know, he's got a bad judgment right now, right? He starts going toward the Philistines, to King Achish, and then verse number 11, it says, And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? And they not sing one to another, the hymn in dance, saying, Saul have slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. So as he's coming, and he approaches Gath, the servants of Achish, they recognize David. I mean, it shouldn't surprise that they recognize David. He did kill Goliath, right? Anyway, they recognize him, and now David realizes, man, I've made a big mistake, I can't just hide here in the city. Everyone knows that I'm, you know, of Israel. Everyone knows that I'm the enemy of the Philistines, okay? It says in verse number 12, And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. So he fled to the king of Gath because he was fearful of Saul, and now he realizes, man, everyone knows who I am, and now he's afraid of King Achish, right? So he's in a horrible place, King David. There's nothing positive about him in this chapter. He makes mistake after mistake after mistake. Verse number 13, it says, And he changed his behavior before them. Now that is what's written in the title of the psalm. Let me just read it again, Psalm 34. It says, So now we're up to that part in verse number 13 in 1 Samuel 21, 13, which says, And he changed his behavior before them, okay? So he starts to act, he starts to pretend, and you'll soon see that he pretends to be insane. He pretends to be crazy, okay? It says in verse number 13, And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard, okay? So this is a tactic that some people take when they've been arrested by the police, and they don't want to face the full brunt of the law, and they pretend to be crazy. They pretend to be insane, right? What does David do? He's scrabbled on the doors of the gate, so he just starts writing all kinds of nonsense on the gate of the city, right? He let spittle fall down upon his saliva, his spit just starts falling upon his beard, right? So he acts mentally insane, this King David, okay? Or David, right? He's not a king yet. Verse number 14, Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad, wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Because why'd you bring this guy? He's mad, he's insane, he's crazy. Verse number 15, Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? Now let's just go to the next chapter, verse number one, First Samuel 22, verse one. David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adulan, and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. So he gets out of it, okay? King Achish says, man, this guy's insane, this guy's crazy, he believes the lie of David. I mean, David, he's just constantly lying, he's constantly pretending to be something that he's not, right? He pretends to be on the king's mission when he's fleeing David, he pretends to be insane when he's afraid of King Achish, right? He's lying to the priest, he's got no food, he's got no weapons, he's in a bad place. Thankfully, it ends up well for him at the end of it all, he ends up going and hiding himself into that cave, and now he's got food and he's got a weapon, he's got the sword of Goliath with him. So he actually ends up in a better place at the end of the chapter than where he was when he started the chapter, but listen, he didn't do himself, you know, he didn't carry himself with a lot of integrity, let's just put it that way. Now normally King David, we think of King David as a great man of God, of course he's a great man of God, but you know what, even great men can make mistakes, okay? Even great men can go through times where they struggle with their faith, okay? So in summary, when we look at that chapter, as I said, he's fleeing from King Saul, he's got no food, no sword, he lies to the priest Abimelek, okay? Saul's chief shepherd is watching him, so he's got a spy on his back, okay? Out of fear he goes to Achish, the king of Gath, and then he recognises his error and fakes insanity, okay? So that's a summary of that chapter. So now when we go back to Psalm 34, which is our main passage of course, now you can kind of understand, well now that he's gone through that, why he would write this Psalm, okay? Because of course, even though he faked it a lot, even though he lied, he still was delivered, okay? He still was able to get through that time of difficulty, and he actually turns around and thanks God for that, okay? So let's start there in verse number one, Psalm 34 verse number one, the Bible reads, I will bless the Lord at all times. 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, all right? So he's thankful that he's been delivered from the situation there that we read about in 1 Samuel, okay? But what I like about David here, he doesn't boast about his behavior. Like he doesn't say, man, I fooled my enemies. I lied myself out of that situation. I pretended to be insane. I outsmarted them all, and I got myself out of that tough spot. He doesn't do that, right? He blesses the Lord. He thanks the Lord, right? Verse number two, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. He boasts of the Lord, right? So he doesn't take the view that I succeeded. I got myself out of the hands of the enemy because of my lies, but rather God is still able to deliver David despite his errors, despite his lying, despite his pretending to be insane. He's still able to recognize it was God that allowed him to be delivered, okay? Because at the end of the day, God could have just very well allowed David to fall into the hands of his enemies, whether it's the enemies in Israel or whether it's his enemies with the Philistines. You know what? God could have allowed that, but God, you know, through his hands of providence, was able to help David, even though David did not carry himself with a lot of integrity. And you know what? That gives me a lot of relief, okay? It gives me a lot of relief. Now, obviously, the more we behave, you know, in a biblical Christian-like manner, the more the Lord's going to be there to protect us, to help us through times of difficulties. But I'm thankful because we're not always perfect. We make mistakes, don't we? You know, we're not always faithful to the Lord. And yet, even though when we're not faithful, you know what? The Lord still delivers us. The Lord is still there protecting his children, which we should be very, very thankful for, okay? We should not be people that boast of how smart we are, if we got ourselves in a very difficult situation, okay? Always remember that if you find yourself in a place of safety, you thank the Lord, okay? He was the one that allowed you to be delivered out of the tough situation. Verse number three. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. This is why church is so wonderful, okay? Because we can come together, right? And I know I'm preaching online here. Hey, but we're still in unity. We're still together. And the great thing about church is we get together and, you know, thank the Lord, magnify the name of the Lord together. And that's something that we're called to do. You know, be blessed, brethren. Be thankful that you're not like Sydney right now, where we're going through lockdowns. I just heard today that the lockdown situation is going to be extended for another two months. So it's going to continue at least to the end of this month. And I'm stuck in my local Fairfield, local government area. I can't get out of it. I can, but I'd need to go and do a COVID test every three days if I wanted to get out of the area. Thank God that, you know, the church, where I can come and work on my sermons and preach, thank God it's in the same local area where my house is so I don't have to worry about that, okay? So no matter how difficult things can be, let's find those, the positives, let's find the places where we can be thankful toward the Lord and, you know, magnify the Lord with King David. Let's keep going to verse number four. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Okay, so that's something that we don't really pick up there in 1 Samuel, is that during all this time when he was fearful, he actually sought the Lord and the Lord heard him. So, you know, even though we don't read about him he's definitely been doing that, you know, while he was going through those difficulties. Verse number five, they looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed, okay? So when we look to the Lord for help it says that we're going to be lightened. So the idea there is that when you're in trouble you're being burdened, you're under heavy burdens. If you're heavy, right, it's too hard for you to bear but when you look upon the Lord for help He lightens that weight. Why? Because He carries it for us, amen? Just like in 1 Peter 5.7 which says, casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you. Casting some of your care, no, all your care upon Him for He careth for you. And I know I've preached about this many times but I think it's a great analogy. It's something that I learnt from one of my old pastors. He said, you know, that we need to remember that when we go to the Lord in prayer and we've got all our heavy burdens and we give it to the Lord while we're praying not to pick them up once again when we're done praying. He says there are too many Christians that give all their care to the Lord, all their burdens and then we're finished in Jesus' name, amen. They pick the burdens back up from the Lord. Oh Lord, I can have that back, put it back on their shoulders and walk away. No, we ought not to be like that. We have to put our cares and our burdens, the things that we can't manage, brethren, upon the Lord and let Him take that burden upon Himself and to help us to lighten the stress and the worries that we have in life. Verse number six. The poor man cried, oh this poor man, so he's referring to himself, this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and deliver of them. This is amazing. King David is able to recognise that he had an angel of the Lord. Now I know sometimes in the Bible the angel of the Lord can refer to Christ, but in this case I do believe it's just referring to one of the Lord's heavenly hosts. The Lord had an angel there watching out for David, that he would not be captured, that he would not fall in the hands of the enemy and as David is penning these words by the inspiration of God, he's able to recognise there was an angel of the Lord that encamped himself around David, that protected him and so what I want you to do, keep your finger there and go to Matthew 26. Go to Matthew 26 please. Matthew 26 and I don't know if you've ever heard about the concept of guardian angels, the idea that everybody has an angel of the Lord that looks out for them and I think we can definitely see that concept in the Bible. We don't have a lot of verses about this. We do have a lot of verses where God will send his angels to protect, but I do believe there are sort of guardian angels there that watch over us and if we look at Matthew 26 verse number 52, these are the words of Jesus Christ and of course this is when Jesus Christ would be arrested and it says in Matthew 26 verse 52, Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? So we see the context of these legion of angels is in the context of the sword, right? And so God has angels in heaven that are prepared for warfare. You know, many times God uses angels for a messenger, to be used as a messenger, but other times God uses angels in the act of war, okay? And Christ says that he could easily pray to the Father and have twelve legions of angels appear right there and there and defend him from being arrested, okay? Now of course Christ did not do that, he allowed himself to be arrested and ultimately crucified for sinners, but we do see that God does have angels out there protecting, you know, we can't see them in this physical realm, they're spiritual creatures, but who knows how many times God's angels has protected us from difficulties, okay? Now go to Matthew 18, go to Matthew 18 verse number 10, Matthew 18 verse number 10, there's another interesting passage in the Bible, which, well let's read it together, Matthew 18 verse 10, it says, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. So Christ is speaking about little children, okay? And he says that don't despise the little ones, okay? When we're in church and we have children, maybe little babies that'll cry and make a bit of noise, don't despise the children, okay? Why? Because they've got angels, they're in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father. So we have angels in heaven that are there in the presence of God the Father and those angels belong to those children. It's amazing that God has these sort of guardian angels for little children. Now hopefully when they become adults they're still around, I don't know, but one thing that is clear that the little ones have these guardian angels protecting them. I think it's wonderful to think about it like that. And so when we go back to the Psalm, back to Psalm 34, you know, King David or David, you know, recognizes that the Lord has an angel there protecting him from the hands of his enemies. Let's look at verse number eight. It says, Now that's what we do when we're preaching the gospel to somebody. You know, we're begging them, right? We're asking them, hey, taste and see that the Lord is good. You know, just receive the gospel message, believe on Jesus Christ, because it says blessed is the man that trusteth in him. That's ultimately what we're trying to cause people to do, to trust in the Lord, to taste of that precious salvation. And what a wonderful taste it is, brethren, okay? To never, you know, have to worry about where we're going to end up in eternity, to never worry about what does, you know, how will I present myself before God on Judgment Day because I know I'm going to have the righteousness of Christ before me. God's going to see me in perfect righteousness. Praise God, I know that whatever happens to me, even after this service, if I were to get hit by a car and pass away, I know exactly where I'm going to be. I'm going to be in heaven, praise God, okay? And so tasting of the Lord and his salvation is good, okay? It's wonderful. You don't have to worry about the stresses about what's going to happen to me in the afterlife, you know? The Lord not only gives us salvation, hey, but he gives us angels to protect us from our enemies as well. Praise God. Let's keep going. It says in verse number nine, So what I was saying here, if we fear the Lord, there is no wants. There's nothing that we would desire if we were to just fear the Lord, that he's going to take care of our needs. He keeps going, verse number 10, So what I was saying here, young lions, okay, lions, they do suffer hunger. They do go through times when they're starving and they're not receiving the needs that they would need, okay? Now when you think about the lion, we often give the lion the title the king of the jungle, all right? The lion is on top of the food chain, okay? I mean, basically, the lion's got power, it's got strength, it's got speed. Basically, anything that's in the jungle, it's on the menu for the lion, okay? And even then, we're still better than the lion, okay? We don't have to go through that time of hunger. We don't have to go through a time of wants, okay? So long as we fear the Lord, as long as we walk in accordance to his ways, brethren, then you're never going to go without your needs met, okay? The lion's going to make sure he takes care of that for you. Can you please keep your finger there and go to Psalm 37, go to Psalm 37, verse 25. Go to Psalm 37, verse number 25. This is one of my favorite verses. It's one of my favorite verses because I've got a lot of kids. You don't have to have a lot of kids for this, but if you're a parent, one of your greatest concerns is making sure that not only are you taken care of, mostly that your kids have been taken care of, right? You would rather go hungry than for your kids to go hungry. You would rather go suffering once, you know, rather than your kids going without once. You want to make sure that your kids are fed, that they're clothed, that they have everything they need, that they're being educated, right? That they're growing in love and in knowledge for the Lord. That's the greatest desire that a parent could have. And the Bible says in Psalm 37, 25, I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Boy, if I just, you know, take this promise, then what the Bible's telling me here is that my seed, my children, will never beg for bread. They will never get to the point of poverty where they are starving, they are without, because I'm one of those righteous. You know, I've believed on Christ, I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I've not only seen that, I've seen that he provides all my needs. Now that doesn't mean that I can just, you know, live a life without working, without an income, and well, the Lord's going to take care of it. No, because the Lord commands that the man goes and works, provides for his family, and as long as you do that faithfully, you do it in the fear of the Lord, the Lord's going to take care of your needs and take care of your seed. God's not going to forsake you, and your seed will never beg for bread. Let's keep going, verse number 11, Psalm 34 that is, Psalm 34, verse number 11. Now the next words are very important, as I said, you know, we love our children, it says here in verse number 11, Come ye children, and by the way children, if you're listening to this, this is the verse for you specifically, okay? Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Children, there's something that you need to learn in life, while you're young, okay? You need to learn the fear of the Lord. You need to learn how to fear, and you say, what does it mean to fear the Lord? I'm glad you asked. Keep your finger there, and go to Psalm 111. Go to Psalm 111, please. Psalm 111, verse number 10. Psalm 111, verse number 10 reads, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever. So brethren, what is this fear of God? Well basically, if you have this fear of God, okay, you realize that he's all powerful, you realize that he knows everything about you, even when you go and you sin, and maybe you've even gotten away with it, so-called, maybe your parents did not see it, God saw it. You ought to have a healthy fear of God. You ought to tremble, thinking about the God that we worship, the God of this universe, the God that created you. He created you that you would love, worship, and serve him. And brethren, the beginning, or children I should say, the beginning of that fear, of course, is realizing that you too are a sinner, you too need salvation if you've not already been saved, and that that fear of being cast into hellfire, to understand the free gift of salvation presented to us through Jesus Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection, if you were to trust that, yeah, if you were to taste and see that the Lord is good, you were to receive that salvation by faith alone, then you can be saved, okay? That fear drives us to salvation, but that fear also drives us to keep his commandments. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments. If you're someone that's struggling to do the commandments of God, children, it's because you've got a lack of fear. And if you are someone that walks in his ways, that walks in God's words, do the commandments of God, that tells me that you've got a good, healthy fear of God. You know, it is my job as your pastor, and it is the job of your parents to teach you, to guide you into the fear of the Lord. And I'm very thankful that Brother Sam has been preaching just in the last few Sundays, right, major mistakes that young people make. I mean, that's a great series. I don't know if he's got a part three or not, I think he's done, but yeah, major mistakes that young people make. You know, children, your parents, your pastor has made a lot of mistakes. You know, David makes a lot of mistakes, as we read in the Bible. We want to teach you, all right, as the pastor, your parents, as these men that have penned down these words of God, we want to teach you so you don't make the same mistakes. We want to teach you the fear of God, that you walk in accordance to his ways, and that you hate sin, okay? Can you please send to another passage? Go to Proverbs chapter 8. Go to Proverbs chapter 8, verse number 13. Proverbs chapter 8 and verse number 13. And children, you're allowed to hate, okay? There are certain things that I, as your pastor, I want you to hate, okay? Proverbs chapter 8, verse number 13 reads, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate? Ah, pastor, are there things that you hate? Yes. Are there things that my parents hate? Yes. Are there things that God hates? Yes. You know what we ought to hate? Pride and arrogance. You know, children, when your parents tell you to do something, and you turn around and you think, I don't want to do that. Why should I do that? What do my parents know? Children, that's pride and arrogance. See, that's not the fear of the Lord, okay? The fear of the Lord is not just walking in God's ways and doing his commandments. The fear of the Lord is also to hate evil. Boy, there's nothing more that I would want as a parent for my children to hate evil, to take down their pride, to take down their arrogance, because it's going to destroy you. You know, if you live as a prideful person, you don't learn how to take down that ego, that pride, that arrogance, you're going to be unsuccessful in this world. Everyone's going to despise you. You're not going to do well in the job. You're not going to do well with relationships, okay? Because your pride is going to keep getting in the way. You're not going to do well as a servant for God, okay? So, children, hate evil. That's the fear of the Lord. And walk in accordance to his commandments. Go back to Psalm 34, please. Psalm 34 and verse number 12. Psalm 34, verse number 12. And by the way, children, I know your parents come to church. I know they bring you to church, but they bring you. It's not just for them. It's not just to tick some box. They want you to learn, okay? They want you to listen to God's word and apply it, okay? You need to grow up and remind yourself that my parents aren't always going to be here. I can't always rely on my parents to teach me God's ways. I need to start absorbing this information. I better start having a close walk in fellowship with God. Hey, I've got to be someone that confesses my sins to the Lord. I've got to make sure that I pick up my Bible because it interests me. I don't pick up my Bible and read it because my parents ask me to do it. You know, you've got to learn how to pick up your Bible because you have a love for God. You have a fear of God. That's something that we want to develop in your life. Verse number 15. It says, sorry, verse number 12. Verse number 12. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good? You know, do you desire life? Do you want a good life? Do you want an abundant life and see many days, live a long life? I do, you know. Even though this world is wicked, I still want to live a long and happy life. I want to see my children live a long and happy life. Well, what do we have to do? Verse number 13. Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Apart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. Okay? So this is the same idea as fearing the Lord because what was the fear of the Lord? It was the beginning of knowledge. It's walking in His ways and also to hate evil. Okay? So this lines up very well. You know what? If we just do that, if we have a fear of God and we behave and live a life that is godly, that is biblical, God says He's going to prosper our life. He's going to help us to live long and happy lives. That's the best way. There's no other way that there's, you know, this world is constantly looking for pleasure in life. It's constantly looking as to, you know, what can make men happy. You know what? There's nothing, there's no more joy. There's no greater joy than knowing the Lord God. There's no greater joy than living in accordance to His commandments. He's going to keep you from trouble. Okay? And like verse number 15 and 16, you know, you can either choose to have the eyes of the Lord upon the righteous or you can choose to have the face of the Lord against them that do evil. You know, I don't want God's face against me. We don't want God's face against us. We want the eyes of the Lord upon us. We want the eyes of the Lord looking out for our best, you know, looking out when our enemies, you know, surround us and, you know, the Lord sends His angels to fight our battles. And so many battles we don't even know how many times the Lord has delivered us from the hands of our enemies. Verse number 17. Now, I want to just pause on that, okay? And deliver them out of what? All their troubles. There's no trouble that God will not deliver you from. You say, but I'm still suffering with this. Well, maybe it's the Lord's desire that you suffer with that. Okay? But you know what? Whatever trouble there is, God is able to deliver you from that trouble. Okay? And has delivered you countless times from your troubles. It's not just some. It's all your troubles. You say, but I'm still in that trouble. Yeah, but Brevin, that trouble might be there to lead you to the Lord. Okay? That trouble might be there to help you grow and mature. The Lord has His uses for tribulation, for difficulties, for persecution. God can use that to make you better, to make you a more faithful Christian. Okay? To make you someone that relies on the Lord more. And that is the ultimate deliverance. When we're able to turn around and rely wholeheartedly upon the Lord and increase in our faith. Let's keep going to verse number 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saith of such as be of a contrite spirit. As I said, the title for the sermon this evening was broken, but not broken. Okay? Broken, but not broken. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. You know, we all suffer from broken heartiness. You know? There are different things in our life that have broken up, right? Let's keep going to verse number 19. Look at this. Okay, so just because you're saved doesn't mean you won't suffer affliction. In fact, you're going to suffer many afflictions. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Look at this. Boy. Reverend, I don't know what difficulties you're going through, okay? But you know what? The Lord can deliver you out of that. Okay? The Lord can lift you. The Lord can heal your broken heart. It says in verse number 20, Wow, hold on. So we've got a broken heart, but the bones aren't broken. Okay? Now, as I said to you, verse number 20 is speaking prophetically of Jesus Christ, the most famous verse in this psalm, okay? But I want you to understand that, you know what? God allows us to go through difficulties where our hearts are broken, right? I mean, that could be broken relationships, right? That could be broken, yeah, relationships where that could be friends or family. That could be finances that are broken. Don't people say when they have no finances, they can't pay the bills, they say, I'm broke? Yeah, because they're broken financially, okay? And yeah, there can be many things in life that we feel have broken apart, you know? And we need to remind ourselves that the Lord is there, and He's going to deliver us from them all. He keepeth all His bones, not one of them is broken. He's not going to allow you to be broken to the point where you cannot be healed, where you cannot be repaired, okay? Now, let's look at the passage there in verse number 20, which is found in John chapter 19, so keep your finger there in Psalm 34, and please go to verse number 20, sorry, John chapter 19. Go to John chapter 19 and verse number 31, John 19 and 31. As I said, this is speaking about prophetically of Jesus Christ. Verse number 31 says, So what I've heard taught about this is you have Jesus Christ on the cross, of course, and the two thieves on either side of Him. And because the Passover celebrations were coming up, they didn't want to leave these bodies just hanging there, okay, during this time of, you know, supposed to be celebrations, a festival and celebrations. They didn't want to leave these dead bodies up there. So they made a decision to break the legs of the people, you know, all three of them on the cross. And the idea there is, of course, if you're on the cross, you know, they would use their legs to lift themselves up to breathe. So the idea was like to take a breath on the cross, they would have to go to breathe in and breathe out. They would use the strength of their legs to breathe in and breathe out. Now, if they broke the legs, they wouldn't be able to lift themselves up to take a breath. They'd be sagging down. They would cause suffocation and then they would die from the lack of oxygen. So that's why they made the decision to break the legs before the Passover celebrations began. Let's keep going. Verse number 32, But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. They wouldn't need to break his legs because Jesus Christ has already passed away. Verse number 34, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. So you can see the fulfillment there. Christ had already died. They did not break his legs. That was the fulfillment there of Psalm 34. Now, one thing that you need to remember, though, of course, is as David, through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, is penning these words, this is true for him as well. You know, he says that I've got a broken heart. I've had these enemies. I've had these afflictions. I've had these problems, but my bones weren't broken, meaning that he wasn't completely destroyed, okay? And, of course, as I said, the primary application here, the fulfillment of this was Christ on the cross. Now, there is another passage that I want to read to you. You don't need to turn there. It's in 1 Corinthians 11, 24, and this is about Christ on the crucifixion. These are the words of Christ. It says, So when we break that bread, remembering the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, that's remembering that he broke his body for us, okay? So how do we understand these things? Well, we know that his bones weren't broken, but his body was broken, okay? He was whipped. He was beat. He had the crown of thorns upon him. You know, he was placed on that cross, and he bled. You know, he suffered. He suffered. He suffered greatly for us. You know, his body was that offering for us, and so his body was broken, but his bones were not broken. As I said, the title for the sermon this evening was broken but not broken, and the idea there, brethren, is that God will allow us to be broken, to suffer with a broken heart, to go through hardships, okay? But we're not going to be completely broken. God will always allow us to recover. He will always be there to heal us. He'll always give us an opportunity to overcome the difficulties that we go through. Just another passage that I want to read to you in 1 Corinthians 10, 13. It says, So God will never allow us to be overwhelmed. Now, I know people get overwhelmed. I know Christians get overwhelmed. I know Christians can suffer mental breakdowns. I've seen, I've heard of Christians who suffer mental breakdowns because they're struggling with too many things in life, okay? But what do we learn? That when we're struggling with these things, we need to take those cares and give it to the Lord, okay? We need to allow Him to take those burdens from us and allow God to carry them for us. So the illustration we have of Christ, He suffered a great many things, but His bones were not broken. You know, for us, we're going to suffer a great many things. We're going to see brokenness in our life, but He's never going to break us to the point that we're completely broken, right? He's always, He helps us. He gives us those opportunities to have that contrite heart, to have that broken heart that we can draw close to the Lord and draw upon His strength. And Brevin, just like David, as we saw the story in 1 Samuel, we can make a lot of mistakes. When we're feeling overwhelmed and we're feeling stressed, we can maybe lie. We can maybe pretend to be insane or something, right? We might just be a complete fool. We might find ourselves in a position where we're struggling to find food to eat, hey, but God provided. We might find ourselves in a situation where we feel threatened, where David did not have a sword. You know what? By God saw him through, okay? And we need to remind ourselves of that, that no matter how difficult life can get, God is there to protect us, to deliver us from all our trials, okay? He's not going to completely hurt us and completely destroy us. He allows us to go through hardships for our benefit, for our profit, that we can learn, that we can have a fear of God, okay? And brethren, I know that many of the difficulties that I've faced were for my good, okay? They don't feel good when you go through them, and sometimes it's chastisement, but sometimes it's just God pruning that branch, pruning that vine, that you can be more fruitful for Him, okay? But again, the Lord is there. He's near to us, so we can draw upon Him. Okay, let's go to verse number 21. It says, So the righteous will not be desolate, but the wicked, they, that they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The word desolate means deserted or abandoned, okay? You know, the wicked seemingly get away with a lot of wickedness, okay? But as I said there in verse number 21, evil shall slay the wicked, okay? They're going to go through their own difficulties and hardships, and they're going to be utterly destroyed. They're going to be left desolate. They're going to be left without any profit, okay? Ultimately, they'll end up in a lake of fire. You know, if they were to live out their life and reject Jesus Christ and not trust upon Him for salvation, they will be cast into the lake of fire. They'll be left desolate, okay? But brethren, the Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, okay? Again, we all go through different types of hardships, different kinds of stress, and we just need to remind ourselves, God has allowed me to go through this, okay? And He's not going to break me to the point that I can't handle this. He's not going to allow me to be tempted above what I can handle, and you're going to need to look for that way of escape. Of course, that way of escape is to draw upon the Lord, okay? Now, I do want you to turn to one more passage. Please go to Luke chapter 4, just in conclusion. Go to Luke chapter 4. And so the conclusion of the matter, brethren, is that even though David was suffering, okay, this entire time that we looked at, even though he operated out of a lack of faith and a lack of integrity, the Lord was there delivering him out of the hands of the enemy, okay? So look at Luke chapter 4 and verse number 18. Luke chapter 4, verse number 18, these are the words of Christ. He says, So, brethren, what is the job of Jesus Christ when He came to this earth? He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Now, brethren, if you are brokenhearted today, if you are going through some level of suffering, my question is, have you gone to the Lord? I mean, have you honestly gone to the Lord? Have you cried to the Lord? You know, are you seeking the Lord's help? Do you realize that, you know, man is not able to help you in your time of difficulties, okay? Do you realize that, you know, your doctors and your physicians and these people ultimately cannot help you out of difficulties? It must come from the hand of the Lord. Now, the Lord may use men, the Lord may use resources that are out there to help you, but you must first seek the Lord. You must first have a fear of God. Are you walking in accordance to His ways? As I said, brethren, many are the afflictions of the righteous. We are all going to be afflicted. We all suffer. But, brethren, God has given us a way of escape, okay? If you're brokenhearted tonight, Jesus Christ is there to heal you. Why don't you turn to Him? Why don't you go in prayer before the Lord and ask for His deliverance? Because He promises you. This is from the Word of God. He promises you that He's going to deliver you from all your difficulties. Okay, let's pray.