WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.700 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.240 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.660 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:10.820 --> 00:00:13.640 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:15.779 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.300 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:21.820 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.519 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:31.079 sermon. God bless. I pray Lord for this Psalm 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:38.679 and for our hearts. No doubt many of us are experiencing 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:42.000 and no doubt nearly all of us at least have experienced 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:47.079 the dynamics of this Psalm. Pray Lord that in 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:49.479 that alone we would find a degree of comfort 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:54.399 that your word gives voice to the deep experiences 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:59.219 of our lives. We got to pray that today you would 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:03.380 speak to us and The love that you have for us 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:07.620 in Christ Would grow that we would see just how 00:01:07.620 --> 00:01:12.640 wondrous the cross is Pray this in Jesus name 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:21.400 amen So have this question that we're going to 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:23.239 kind of address and I'm going to address it in 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:25.379 a roundabout way and it's a big question that 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:28.480 we have in life. It's the question of what do 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.920 we do with our suffering? What do we do with 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.819 it? I want to put this a different way. What 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:38.700 do we do with the crosses, with our crosses, 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.200 which is to say the places where brokenness and 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:50.739 sin seem to bring our own suffering, where the 00:01:50.739 --> 00:01:52.739 effects of living in a world that is full of 00:01:52.739 --> 00:01:56.079 sin and brokenness actually cause us to have 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:01.219 to bear part of their weight, the sin, the effects 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:06.079 of sin, our crosses. Right at the very beginning 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:14.240 of this psalm, in the very first verse, it says, 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:18.139 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to 00:02:18.139 --> 00:02:25.680 my neck. Verse two tells us, I sink in deep Meyer 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.599 Where there's no foothold I've come in a deep 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:41.259 waters and the floods sweep over me and My guess 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:44.199 is that for all of us as we're cognizant of the 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:48.479 events in our own country over the last ten days 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:52.500 Have a hard time reading those words I will say 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:56.370 that this was a text that You know, I read a 00:02:56.370 --> 00:02:59.550 few weeks ago, and as the floods in Texas happened, 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:02.189 I was kind of, in a way, dreading this sermon 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:04.509 because it feels too raw and too real, kind of, 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:09.030 you know? I read yesterday, wanting to just kind 00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:11.770 of know the current statistics, that 170 people 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:13.949 are still missing from those floods in central 00:03:13.949 --> 00:03:21.189 Texas. That 129 have been confirmed dead. Melisse, 00:03:21.250 --> 00:03:23.979 my wife's own cousin's daughters, were at Camp 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:28.199 Mystic the week before the flood. Her other cousin's 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:30.259 son was going to go to camp right down the road 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:34.319 this week. One of our friends who's in our wedding 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.039 attended one of the other camps and had a few 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:40.240 people that she knows dearly pass away through 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.400 this flood. Lisa's cousin had nine families that 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:52.219 she knows lose somebody. So that we so we're 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:54.419 faced with this question that all of us actually 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:56.039 have to deal with in something Which is what 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:59.080 do you do with your suffering? Because at times 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:06.180 it's too much And we talked a couple weeks ago 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:11.280 Some of you remember this of the create the reality 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.879 that creation itself is groaning for the redemption 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:18.839 of the world we talked about that that it desires 00:04:21.469 --> 00:04:24.009 redemption and in doing that we also talked about 00:04:24.009 --> 00:04:26.610 how creation itself actually it seems as though 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:30.529 the creation itself is affected by the reality 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:33.389 of our rejection of God and our rebelliousness 00:04:33.389 --> 00:04:35.850 from the Lord. The thorns themselves are part 00:04:35.850 --> 00:04:38.949 of the effects of our rejection of God and so 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:42.250 our embrace of the Lord and the reality of our 00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:44.290 adoptions of the sons and daughters is actually 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:49.069 for creation itself's joy. But what I'm suggesting 00:04:49.069 --> 00:04:52.850 to you in part in that is that the created world 00:04:52.850 --> 00:04:58.209 is broken through sin. And actually, we experience 00:04:58.209 --> 00:05:03.410 some of that. I think we can sort of properly 00:05:03.410 --> 00:05:07.430 extrapolate from the thorns that things like 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:09.750 malaria and the Zika virus and the mosquitoes 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:13.410 that bear that is an effect of living in a sinful 00:05:13.410 --> 00:05:18.990 and broken world that has rejected God. And also 00:05:18.990 --> 00:05:21.389 we can say that they're actually natural disasters 00:05:21.389 --> 00:05:24.269 that take lives are not the way the world's supposed 00:05:24.269 --> 00:05:28.610 to be The creation actually desires to live in 00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:31.009 such a way that brings life and flourishing which 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:37.709 is how God made it to work And I think there's 00:05:37.709 --> 00:05:40.990 there's an aspect in which that idea I think 00:05:40.990 --> 00:05:43.189 does sort of help us with some of the pain and 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:45.430 suffering that we experience in this world and 00:05:45.430 --> 00:05:48.800 The problems that come out of suffering But I 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.000 don't want to say that it helps completely because 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.379 actually The reality of suffering and the problem 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:55.139 of evil in the world is something that we will 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:57.680 always in some ways live with until The new heavens 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:02.180 and the new earth when all is put to right But 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:04.560 it's interesting to me that the Psalms do not 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:10.519 tell us just shrug it off The Bible never does 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:16.680 that Just bear it it is your cross at the time 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:23.439 Just bear it. Your groaning at night under the 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:27.500 weight of such sadness is accompanied by creation 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:35.040 itself. There's something so right in the deep 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:40.319 sorrow that we experience. Don't shrug off the 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.220 sadness. Crosses the ugly reality of the world 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:46.480 not right with God and therefore not right with 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:49.259 itself What I want to suggest to you crosses 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:53.839 in a way are everywhere The effect of sin and 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.319 brokenness in this world are everywhere. They're 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:00.220 pervasive injustice is everywhere sorrow fills 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:05.379 the heart and no heart is exempt from it I Guarantee 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:09.019 that each one of you if you have lived not too 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:13.060 long Have had sorrows that fill your heart so 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:15.120 deeply that you actually simply don't know what 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.480 to do with it You just want to lay down and cover 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:22.839 your head with your pillow and wheat I've met 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:28.819 no one Or I should say I've not met anyone Certainly 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:31.459 not anyone with any amount of years behind them 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:34.420 that has not had that experience Okay, the question 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:36.860 of suffering being so deep that you're not sure 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:38.959 what to do with it. What I'm saying is that crosses 00:07:39.310 --> 00:07:42.310 which are these signposts that speak to just 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:45.209 simply how awful and broken the world is, are 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:50.550 all around us. They are. Some of you bear some 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:53.269 of the crosses that are in this text, crosses 00:07:53.269 --> 00:07:57.470 of betrayal. Friends who actually once loved 00:07:57.470 --> 00:07:59.629 you and embraced you, and they actually told 00:07:59.629 --> 00:08:02.209 you, maybe even to your face, I don't want anything 00:08:02.209 --> 00:08:05.509 to do with you anymore. Some of you have experienced 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:09.540 that. Some of you have... Born the cross of insults. 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:13.920 Some insults can be so petty, right? About your 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.339 hair, about your clothes, just these like superficial 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:18.360 things. But then actually we all know that those 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.139 still hurt, the petty insults still hurt. And 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:22.899 then there's some that actually just wound so 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:26.959 deeply. Being called a fraud and phony and an 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.360 imposter, whatever. There's words that just sting. 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:37.129 Cut deep. So if you have born the cross, zeal 00:08:37.129 --> 00:08:39.529 for God's name and God's house, which is part 00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:43.509 of the theme of this psalm. You've borne this 00:08:43.509 --> 00:08:47.769 zeal only to be ridiculed and actually to be 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:52.049 ridiculed by people that claim God. Why do you 00:08:52.049 --> 00:08:59.509 take all this stuff so seriously? Fanatic, you 00:08:59.509 --> 00:09:03.330 know, laughed at, mocked. Because you believe 00:09:03.330 --> 00:09:08.539 that the key to life And a man who was truly 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:11.179 God who died on a Roman cross and rose from the 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:16.399 dead people think how ridiculous You've born 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.259 those crosses some of you born the crosses in 00:09:20.259 --> 00:09:25.019 your body Some of it's just the reality of the 00:09:25.019 --> 00:09:29.480 aches that come along with deaths encroachment 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:33.519 Chronic illnesses and miscarriages and degenerative 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.419 diseases abuse from another's hand another's 00:09:37.419 --> 00:09:45.559 body All of us bear crosses in our hearts as 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:49.340 signs that the world is not right and In a way 00:09:49.340 --> 00:09:52.179 that we are actually not right because we know 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:56.820 when we sit with our own hearts That our own 00:09:56.820 --> 00:09:59.200 desires can be so twisted and self -centered 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:04.889 and at times just unbelievably ugly we do the 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:07.509 very things that we don't want to do and we don't 00:10:07.509 --> 00:10:10.370 do the very things that we do do and What our 00:10:10.370 --> 00:10:12.750 confession of sin said was sometimes we look 00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:16.230 at ourselves and we rightly say There's no health 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:23.509 in us Messed up in all kinds of ways ways that 00:10:23.509 --> 00:10:27.830 harm us ways that harm those that we love Sometimes 00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:30.610 the sadness of the world is utterly overwhelming 00:10:32.629 --> 00:10:36.710 like the floods Like the floods in this text 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:41.350 like the floods down in Texas the suffering that 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:42.909 others are experiencing we don't know what to 00:10:42.909 --> 00:10:44.649 do with the suffering that we are experiencing 00:10:44.649 --> 00:10:45.889 we don't know what to do with the suffering that 00:10:45.889 --> 00:10:51.690 we caused upon others we Don't know if that Sometimes 00:10:51.690 --> 00:10:55.649 the weight of the world is just too heavy I mean 00:10:55.649 --> 00:10:59.840 think of No matter what your stances on our country's 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.519 need for immigration reform or border stuff, 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:05.600 if you watch some of the videos of people being 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.899 taken away from their families, you can't help 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:11.159 but say there is something deeply wrong with 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:16.159 the world, how it functions, how it works. People 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.799 moving across the world to find employment, being 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:21.899 taken away from loved ones. There's no way that 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:24.299 you can't in some ways say things are not right. 00:11:25.750 --> 00:11:28.149 Suffering the world is too much the heartache 00:11:28.149 --> 00:11:37.529 we bear So verse 3 By the way, there's 35 verses 00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:40.710 and I'm not going to go this slow but verse 3 00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:46.269 says this I'm weary with my crying out My throat 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:51.210 is parched my eyes grow dim with waiting for 00:11:51.210 --> 00:11:57.840 my God That David doesn't have a problem saying 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:03.480 I'm just too exhausted Exhausted waiting for 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:08.799 all this to change I'm weary with crying out 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:13.820 my throat is parched my eyes grow dim If you 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:15.559 look actually at the next little section if you 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:17.980 have the psalm open psalm 69 what you'll notice 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:21.629 in verses 4 through 12 What you'll see is that 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:24.289 David is is weary, you know with his crying out 00:12:24.289 --> 00:12:26.789 his throat is parched His eyes are growing dim. 00:12:26.909 --> 00:12:30.450 He's waiting for God For these kinds of reasons. 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:34.710 He's been hated without a cause He's been attacked 00:12:34.710 --> 00:12:40.230 with lies. Maybe you noticed that What I did 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:43.870 not steal must I now restore Somebody's blaming 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:45.950 him for doing something. He didn't do you took 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:48.690 that I didn't you know, he's being falsely accused 00:12:52.309 --> 00:12:56.950 He's born the reproach of his zeal for God. This 00:12:56.950 --> 00:12:59.610 is something that's said a couple times. He's 00:12:59.610 --> 00:13:01.649 been estranged. He's been rejected by his very 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:04.429 family. A lot of commentators think that what 00:13:04.429 --> 00:13:06.549 he's talking about is the family of God. This 00:13:06.549 --> 00:13:08.389 is actually a religious dynamic that's at play. 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:10.590 The brothers and sisters within the church are 00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:11.990 like, I don't want anything to do with you anymore. 00:13:13.070 --> 00:13:15.029 But it's very possible also that it's actually 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:17.509 just his siblings, actually. He's being rejected 00:13:17.509 --> 00:13:23.159 by those who were seriously close to him. All 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:26.039 of this, verse 11 tells us, has made him sit 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:29.200 in sackcloth and suffering and sadness. And then 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.220 verse 12 tells us that this has meant that he 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:36.200 has been made the talk of the town. And I kind 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:40.379 of love this little detail because it says, verse 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:45.799 12, and the drunkards make songs about me. It's 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:50.700 like, country music at its finest. They're like, 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:55.000 my buddy's truck broke down, his dog died, and 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.100 his girlfriend left him all at once. They're 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:04.100 just singing songs about this guy. He's experienced 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:08.519 it all. The suffering and the heartache that 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:14.159 we bear can be utterly overwhelming, but it can 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.720 be aggravated By the way that others engage with 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:23.820 us, right? Insisting you move on or actually 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:27.379 doing stuff to us. That's just simply not true 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:34.200 Abandoning us in our sorrow So again this question, 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:38.519 what do we do with it we do at this level of 00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:45.240 stuff David sort of gives us two options. Okay 00:14:47.729 --> 00:14:50.450 And the first one he does sort of in in verses 00:14:50.450 --> 00:14:53.610 22 to 28 so I'm going to read that again for 00:14:53.610 --> 00:14:56.090 you and Then we'll kind of talk about that and 00:14:56.090 --> 00:14:57.629 then we'll talk about the next option. Okay, 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:04.269 so here's verses 22 to 28 You can look down there 00:15:04.269 --> 00:15:08.210 Let their own table before them become a snare 00:15:09.470 --> 00:15:12.110 And when they are at peace, let it become a trap. 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:14.350 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot 00:15:14.350 --> 00:15:17.250 see, and make their loins tremble continually. 00:15:18.669 --> 00:15:20.330 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let 00:15:20.330 --> 00:15:24.509 your burning anger overtake them. May their camp 00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:27.289 be a desolation. Let no one dwell in their tents. 00:15:28.990 --> 00:15:31.690 They persecute him whom you've struck down, and 00:15:31.690 --> 00:15:34.850 they recount the pain of those you have wounded. 00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:38.279 And to them, punishment upon punishment. May 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.440 they have no acquittal from you. Let them be 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:44.039 blotted out in the book of the living. Let them 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:53.320 not be enrolled among the righteous. So let's 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:59.120 just blow it all up. Curse it all. Melissa and 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.299 I, last night, later than we should have, we 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:03.960 were finishing up the latest season of The Bear. 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.080 Want to highly recommend to you with all of the 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:11.659 caveats that it's needed, okay? And I fell asleep 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:13.659 right away and she came back into the room and 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:15.460 she said what are they gonna do and I was like 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:21.559 D What It somehow I had fallen asleep within 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:25.340 like 10 seconds and I was dreaming about the 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:28.980 little game battleship and so I was just thinking 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:33.879 of how do you destroy the the tank of the you 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:37.340 know the boat And I was like, it's D4. I don't 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:39.600 even know. But I was just thinking, destroy it. 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.320 That was in my mind. It needs to be destroyed. 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:45.840 Don't ask me how that happened. I don't even 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:50.440 know. But in some ways, that's what David's first 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:52.120 doing here, right? He's like, curse it, I'll 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:55.440 destroy it. It all just needs to be obliterated. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.960 Some of you are driven by this deep heart for 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:04.880 justice, which is good and right. for wrongdoing 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:08.359 to be put to right. And there is something just 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.240 deeply good about that, okay? There's something 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.119 really good about that. You might know, this 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.180 is a lament Psalm. Lament is the largest category 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:21.140 of Psalms. Most Psalms are inviting us to say, 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:23.619 the world is not right and I need to voice it 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:28.440 to God. Something good about that. There's something 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:32.980 good in wishing that the eyes Those who are doing 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:36.440 wrong will be darkened as it says so they can't 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:38.900 cease they can't continue on and doing what they're 00:17:38.900 --> 00:17:46.140 doing right D4 destroy There's something good 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:49.420 even in wishing that the loins would tremble 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.519 did you catch that part? Maybe that they would 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.920 just be so full of nervousness when they're about 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:55.980 to do something that they can't follow through 00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:03.269 That's that's good There's a holy fear that people 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:06.529 should have that we should have when we are participating 00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:10.990 in wrongdoing, right? Trembling loins might be 00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:14.869 a good thing at times We could also say that 00:18:14.869 --> 00:18:17.190 David's desire for the camp of those who have 00:18:17.190 --> 00:18:23.250 done wrong or doing wrong be desolate You would 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:25.349 all people just flee who are part of this crew 00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:27.170 that are doing something that is so wrong in 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:34.849 the world God Bring an end to that camp. Lay 00:18:34.849 --> 00:18:41.049 it to nothing. We should desire the gangs of 00:18:41.049 --> 00:18:43.569 our city to be no more. That's a good prayer. 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:51.190 We should desire corporate fraud to not exist 00:18:51.190 --> 00:18:54.410 and to do that which we can for that camp to 00:18:54.410 --> 00:18:58.529 be no more. We should decry bullying in middle 00:18:58.529 --> 00:19:02.069 schools. We should do all in our power to curb 00:19:02.069 --> 00:19:04.849 the devastation that comes from natural disasters. 00:19:06.269 --> 00:19:10.529 In some ways, this curse of saying destroy this 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:15.390 is right. There's something absolutely right 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:21.730 in what David is saying here. May evil be diminished. 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:26.730 We can also say that there is a zeal for the 00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:34.720 things of God. that may mean that our curses 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.539 are warranted, right? That's part of what I'm 00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:40.900 saying. There's a level in which cursing here 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:46.180 may be warranted. What seems right is that much 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:48.420 of the wrongdoing in this Psalm is done by other 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:52.259 followers of God upon David and his crew. It 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:53.680 seems like they're part of the family of God 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.880 and they're doing this awful stuff to each other. 00:19:57.169 --> 00:19:59.029 And one of the things that we know in the Bible 00:19:59.029 --> 00:20:00.690 that's said quite a bit, it's said specifically 00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:02.769 of teachers and pastors, is that those who are 00:20:02.769 --> 00:20:05.009 part of the family of faith and that have the 00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:06.730 reality of the scriptures that have been taught 00:20:06.730 --> 00:20:09.529 are going to be judged at a higher standard. 00:20:10.170 --> 00:20:12.369 What we learn is that if you come to the table 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:14.390 with the bread and the wine and you do so unworthily, 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:16.329 you actually eat judgment upon yourself, right? 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:20.609 There's a way in which there's a right judgment, 00:20:20.730 --> 00:20:22.849 there's a right curse that takes place specifically 00:20:22.849 --> 00:20:24.549 for the people of God who know the things of 00:20:24.549 --> 00:20:27.079 God and yet abuse. that knowledge and disregard 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:31.220 that knowledge. But there's also part of this 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:35.579 passage, and this is kind of interesting, that 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:38.359 just seems so intense and it kind of ratchets 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:41.160 up a few levels. So I'm going to read again verses 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:44.839 27 -28. This is what it says, Add to them punishment 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:49.480 upon punishment. May they have no acquittal from 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:53.180 you. Let them be blotted out of the book of the 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:57.650 living. Let them not be enrolled among the righteous 00:20:57.650 --> 00:21:06.269 What what if they would sing Let them go to hell 00:21:06.269 --> 00:21:20.740 You kind of pull back from that I do We certainly 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:22.940 we wonder at that at least what in the world 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:30.079 is that doing there? You know in Luke our Lord 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:32.779 says that the greatest joy is to have your name 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:38.559 written in the Lamb's book of light And the worst 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.420 thing you can hear is of the people of God that 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:45.640 were supposed to doing things in Jesus name Depart 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:53.089 from me. I never knew you What I want to suggest 00:21:53.089 --> 00:21:58.170 to you though is that There actually is I think 00:21:58.170 --> 00:22:00.369 for those who are following Jesus There's an 00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:03.410 invitation here towards the cursing and there's 00:22:03.410 --> 00:22:06.829 actually an unbelievable warning It is right 00:22:06.829 --> 00:22:10.269 for us desire the evil of the world to come to 00:22:10.269 --> 00:22:14.950 an end and to stop I Think that there is something 00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:17.950 also else going on here that David is giving 00:22:17.950 --> 00:22:23.220 voice to the emotions that he is feeling. But 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.140 I think it's actually right to say, in a way, 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.500 he has actually gone too far. And if we follow 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:31.440 him in this, we're actually going too far. Here's 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:38.000 why. Our Lord Jesus tells us, love your enemies. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:44.240 Pray for those who curse you. Do good and not 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.920 harm. What is the cross itself? But the Lord 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:54.859 loving those who hated him Caring for those who 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:58.920 despised him moving towards those who rejected 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:04.240 him Seeking to heal where there was just harm 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:10.099 What I'm saying is that there is an option to 00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:12.420 the suffering of the world that just says curse 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:14.980 it all Whether that's not just the hardness of 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:17.329 our hearts, right? Maybe we just don't want to 00:23:17.329 --> 00:23:21.390 deal with it, or we just want to say, god damn 00:23:21.390 --> 00:23:25.990 those people. Put those to hell. I want to dismiss 00:23:25.990 --> 00:23:34.569 them entirely. That is an option. And yet, I 00:23:34.569 --> 00:23:39.390 don't think our Lord will allow that. The Old 00:23:39.390 --> 00:23:41.210 Testament scholar, some of you may know this 00:23:41.210 --> 00:23:42.809 name, David Kidner. He's really one of the great 00:23:42.809 --> 00:23:44.549 Old Testament scholars, and his work on the Psalms 00:23:44.549 --> 00:23:47.900 is. one of my go -tos. He says David's anger 00:23:47.900 --> 00:23:53.599 was fanned by his zeal for justice, which is 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.740 good. Good desire for justice. But he says then, 00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:02.019 but Christ came to crown justice with atonement. 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:06.579 Christ comes to crown justice with atonement. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.680 James Boyce, in his work on this psalm specifically, 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:12.680 he quotes Alexander McLaren and he says, It is 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:16.480 impossible to bring such utterances into harmony 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.339 with teachings of Jesus. And the attempt to vindicate 00:24:20.339 --> 00:24:24.380 them ignores plain facts and does violence to 00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:30.059 plain words. He says there's a disconnect here 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:34.740 with our Lord's teaching. So what do we do? What 00:24:34.740 --> 00:24:37.920 do we do with suffering? Because I'm pretty certain 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:44.660 that our impulse is this first part. curse it 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:52.660 all D for destroy Let me read to you a few other 00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:55.319 verses that are in this text that Derek Kidner 00:24:55.319 --> 00:25:01.359 points out in another kind of way verse 4 More 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:04.740 in number than the hairs of my head are those 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:07.460 who hate me without cause mighty are those who 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:10.720 would destroy me Those who attack me with lies 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.829 verse 9 For zeal for your house has consumed 00:25:15.829 --> 00:25:19.609 me and their approaches of those who reproach 00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:26.630 you have fallen on me verse 19 You know my reproach 00:25:26.630 --> 00:25:33.130 and my shame and my dishonor My foes are all 00:25:33.130 --> 00:25:38.910 known to you verse 21 They gave me poison for 00:25:38.910 --> 00:25:44.049 food and for my thirst They gave me sour wine 00:25:44.049 --> 00:25:51.210 to drink. Cursing is a possible answer to the 00:25:51.210 --> 00:25:56.829 suffering of the world. Hang it all up. Hardness 00:25:56.829 --> 00:26:02.849 of our hearts calcifying, right? The crosses 00:26:02.849 --> 00:26:05.990 of this world, the places where sin and its effects 00:26:05.990 --> 00:26:11.109 touch us so deeply, so painfully, that is a response. 00:26:12.329 --> 00:26:14.869 But these verses and this is Kidner's point these 00:26:14.869 --> 00:26:17.569 these verses that are sort of scattered throughout 00:26:17.569 --> 00:26:21.609 this psalm are Directing our attention to the 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:25.390 heart of the Christian faith Which is Christ 00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:32.130 on the cross? Christ on the cross he is the one 00:26:32.130 --> 00:26:38.410 who is ultimately hated without cause Think of 00:26:38.410 --> 00:26:41.890 verse four. He's the one who has perfect zeal 00:26:41.890 --> 00:26:44.430 for his father's house, and yet that zeal led 00:26:44.430 --> 00:26:51.210 to his pain. He's the one who was reproached 00:26:51.210 --> 00:26:55.690 by the religious leaders of his day. He's the 00:26:55.690 --> 00:26:59.170 one who was given sour wine to drink, as we heard 00:26:59.170 --> 00:27:03.130 in our gospel reading, there on the cross, bearing 00:27:03.130 --> 00:27:07.529 the reality of suffering in his own body. Which 00:27:07.529 --> 00:27:10.950 is to say that the crosses that we bear the ugly 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:14.430 Crosses that we bear which are real the things 00:27:14.430 --> 00:27:18.630 that are done to us They put us into the pit 00:27:18.630 --> 00:27:21.009 of despair and sorrow and the things that we 00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:23.809 do to contribute to this reality of pain and 00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:28.809 suffering in this world These crosses are not 00:27:28.809 --> 00:27:33.529 dismissed by God He does not just say ah, whatever 00:27:35.710 --> 00:27:44.029 Don't think much of it Your heartache is not 00:27:44.029 --> 00:27:48.950 laughed off by our Lord your sorrows never brushed 00:27:48.950 --> 00:27:53.609 aside and Neither is the pain you've caused others 00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:56.730 None of it is none of it is in Christianity. 00:27:57.589 --> 00:28:00.829 I Mean here here. I don't think actually this 00:28:00.829 --> 00:28:06.700 is this might seem strange I don't think the 00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:08.400 Bible totally gives us the answer to the problem 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.559 of evil and suffering. And certainly not in an 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:12.799 existentially satisfying way all the time. It 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.400 kind of makes us all just go, oh, I understand. 00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:19.559 I feel at peace all the time. But there is no 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:21.680 other system of thought. There's no other religion. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:25.759 There really is none other, none, no system that 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.359 I think has at least a better answer than Christianity 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:31.000 to the idea of suffering, which everybody has 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:32.720 to deal with, because everybody's touched by 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.950 it. Which is to say that the God of Christian 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:41.950 faith says I will go to that place I Will know 00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:44.390 it intimately the the rebuke that you experience 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:48.990 is the rebuke that I experience The suffering 00:28:48.990 --> 00:28:55.710 you experience I will bear myself And I'm going 00:28:55.710 --> 00:28:58.390 to bring you through it just like I was raised 00:28:58.390 --> 00:29:01.970 from the dead it does not have the final say 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:05.960 It may be a great big question, but Christianity 00:29:05.960 --> 00:29:09.759 says God enters it, and He doesn't leave it as 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:18.779 it is. God Himself, Christ Jesus Himself, bears 00:29:18.779 --> 00:29:26.039 the cross for you, but also with you. We don't 00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:30.319 worship a distant God. We don't worship a God 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:35.700 who's immune from suffering. We don't see a God 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.259 who just wants to disregard the pain and not 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:44.920 look upon it Stand far off from it We could say 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:54.440 this the floods of sin took our Lord That he 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:59.759 knew sorrow that intimately That your pain invited 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.039 his pain he knows that your pain is an effective 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:09.160 sin in this world He doesn't dismiss it. Your 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:11.799 sin and the sin that was done to you and is done 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:18.319 to you is born upon His cross. What's the answer? 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:21.839 What do we do with the crosses that we bear in 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.220 this life, the ways, the places where brokenness 00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:27.160 and sin in this present world hurt us the most? 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:31.160 And I would say the only answer is the reality 00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:38.450 that God Himself bears the cross. God suffers 00:30:38.450 --> 00:30:41.890 And Christianity says that he actually conquers 00:30:41.890 --> 00:30:45.269 Satan's sin and death in his resurrection That 00:30:45.269 --> 00:30:48.410 the suffering of this world will not have the 00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:54.589 final say Let me end with this short quote Thomas 00:30:54.589 --> 00:30:56.650 the campus wrote in his masterpiece the imitation 00:30:56.650 --> 00:31:02.109 of Christ this the cross therefore is always 00:31:02.109 --> 00:31:12.210 ready The cross awaits you everywhere. Let me 00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:20.690 pray. Lord, pray your comfort over those in this 00:31:20.690 --> 00:31:22.970 room who are suffering in an acute way right 00:31:22.970 --> 00:31:25.509 now, maybe just the ridicule and scorn. Maybe 00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:28.289 it's their bodies that are aching in an unbelievable 00:31:28.289 --> 00:31:35.299 way that they don't know what to do with. God 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:38.039 maybe they're living in the reality of sinful 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:40.339 patterns of their own life that have caused deep 00:31:40.339 --> 00:31:45.579 destruction and an unbelievable ache God we pray 00:31:45.579 --> 00:31:51.319 for those Who are being taken from families family 00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:56.319 members out through floods or through Deportations 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.059 whatever Lord there's different ways that people 00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:02.039 are suffering with aches that are beyond us God 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:04.740 I pray that even Psalms like this that can be 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:08.339 so difficult for us might bring comfort to them 00:32:08.339 --> 00:32:12.900 And even might move in us that we might act in 00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:17.720 ways that we are able To bring your peace and 00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:21.440 your comfort God we thank you most of all for 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:25.440 the cross Something that is laughed at and scorned 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:31.099 and despised where you were rejected and scorned 00:32:31.369 --> 00:32:35.630 Isaiah says you weren't nice to look upon hanging 00:32:35.630 --> 00:32:43.190 there But where we find our hope in the midst 00:32:43.190 --> 00:32:50.809 of our suffering At least the greatest answer 00:32:50.809 --> 00:32:54.369 that God himself who made this world will make 00:32:54.369 --> 00:33:00.039 it right God at least that the aches in our hearts 00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:03.319 that are there because things are so wrong Can't 00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:05.299 just be dismissed as this is just the way the 00:33:05.299 --> 00:33:08.299 world is. It's just the this the system that 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:10.920 the world exists within God No, but you say that 00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:13.160 this is not right. You're doing something about 00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:19.779 it. You've done something about it And God I 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:23.000 pray that we hear today who are in particularly 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:26.000 maybe a place of doubt because we we've been 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:29.240 engaging with how awful things are at times and 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.440 we have been thrown off. God, would you meet 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:35.619 us in wherever we are and draw us to yourself 00:33:35.619 --> 00:33:42.200 please? Would your suffering there where you 00:33:42.200 --> 00:33:46.619 drank the sour wine, where you declared it's 00:33:46.619 --> 00:33:50.579 finished, where you went to the place of ultimate 00:33:50.579 --> 00:33:52.619 suffering for us, would that bring comfort to 00:33:52.619 --> 00:34:01.650 those in doubt right now? God take your word 00:34:01.650 --> 00:34:05.130 this word from psalm 69 and plant it and would 00:34:05.130 --> 00:34:09.849 it be planted in the receptive soil of our hearts 00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:14.630 and Would you somehow in your kind providence? 00:34:15.130 --> 00:34:19.670 bear much fruit Through us because of this difficult 00:34:19.670 --> 00:34:25.280 psalm we pray in Jesus name amen Thank you for 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.000 listening to Second City Sermons podcast. We 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:29.900 hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:32.820 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:35.199 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:38.380 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:41.699 find us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on 00:34:41.699 --> 00:34:44.280 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:45.780 for listening. God bless.