Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,
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sermon. God bless. I pray Lord for this Psalm
and for our hearts. No doubt many of us are experiencing
and no doubt nearly all of us at least have experienced
the dynamics of this Psalm. Pray Lord that in
that alone we would find a degree of comfort
that your word gives voice to the deep experiences
of our lives. We got to pray that today you would
speak to us and The love that you have for us
in Christ Would grow that we would see just how
wondrous the cross is Pray this in Jesus name
amen So have this question that we're going to
kind of address and I'm going to address it in
a roundabout way and it's a big question that
we have in life. It's the question of what do
we do with our suffering? What do we do with
it? I want to put this a different way. What
do we do with the crosses, with our crosses,
which is to say the places where brokenness and
sin seem to bring our own suffering, where the
effects of living in a world that is full of
sin and brokenness actually cause us to have
to bear part of their weight, the sin, the effects
of sin, our crosses. Right at the very beginning
of this psalm, in the very first verse, it says,
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to
my neck. Verse two tells us, I sink in deep Meyer
Where there's no foothold I've come in a deep
waters and the floods sweep over me and My guess
is that for all of us as we're cognizant of the
events in our own country over the last ten days
Have a hard time reading those words I will say
that this was a text that You know, I read a
few weeks ago, and as the floods in Texas happened,
I was kind of, in a way, dreading this sermon
because it feels too raw and too real, kind of,
you know? I read yesterday, wanting to just kind
of know the current statistics, that 170 people
are still missing from those floods in central
Texas. That 129 have been confirmed dead. Melisse,
my wife's own cousin's daughters, were at Camp
Mystic the week before the flood. Her other cousin's
son was going to go to camp right down the road
this week. One of our friends who's in our wedding
attended one of the other camps and had a few
people that she knows dearly pass away through
this flood. Lisa's cousin had nine families that
she knows lose somebody. So that we so we're
faced with this question that all of us actually
have to deal with in something Which is what
do you do with your suffering? Because at times
it's too much And we talked a couple weeks ago
Some of you remember this of the create the reality
that creation itself is groaning for the redemption
of the world we talked about that that it desires
redemption and in doing that we also talked about
how creation itself actually it seems as though
the creation itself is affected by the reality
of our rejection of God and our rebelliousness
from the Lord. The thorns themselves are part
of the effects of our rejection of God and so
our embrace of the Lord and the reality of our
adoptions of the sons and daughters is actually
for creation itself's joy. But what I'm suggesting
to you in part in that is that the created world
is broken through sin. And actually, we experience
some of that. I think we can sort of properly
extrapolate from the thorns that things like
malaria and the Zika virus and the mosquitoes
that bear that is an effect of living in a sinful
and broken world that has rejected God. And also
we can say that they're actually natural disasters
that take lives are not the way the world's supposed
to be The creation actually desires to live in
such a way that brings life and flourishing which
is how God made it to work And I think there's
there's an aspect in which that idea I think
does sort of help us with some of the pain and
suffering that we experience in this world and
The problems that come out of suffering But I
don't want to say that it helps completely because
actually The reality of suffering and the problem
of evil in the world is something that we will
always in some ways live with until The new heavens
and the new earth when all is put to right But
it's interesting to me that the Psalms do not
tell us just shrug it off The Bible never does
that Just bear it it is your cross at the time
Just bear it. Your groaning at night under the
weight of such sadness is accompanied by creation
itself. There's something so right in the deep
sorrow that we experience. Don't shrug off the
sadness. Crosses the ugly reality of the world
not right with God and therefore not right with
itself What I want to suggest to you crosses
in a way are everywhere The effect of sin and
brokenness in this world are everywhere. They're
pervasive injustice is everywhere sorrow fills
the heart and no heart is exempt from it I Guarantee
that each one of you if you have lived not too
long Have had sorrows that fill your heart so
deeply that you actually simply don't know what
to do with it You just want to lay down and cover
your head with your pillow and wheat I've met
no one Or I should say I've not met anyone Certainly
not anyone with any amount of years behind them
that has not had that experience Okay, the question
of suffering being so deep that you're not sure
what to do with it. What I'm saying is that crosses
which are these signposts that speak to just
simply how awful and broken the world is, are
all around us. They are. Some of you bear some
of the crosses that are in this text, crosses
of betrayal. Friends who actually once loved
you and embraced you, and they actually told
you, maybe even to your face, I don't want anything
to do with you anymore. Some of you have experienced
that. Some of you have... Born the cross of insults.
Some insults can be so petty, right? About your
hair, about your clothes, just these like superficial
things. But then actually we all know that those
still hurt, the petty insults still hurt. And
then there's some that actually just wound so
deeply. Being called a fraud and phony and an
imposter, whatever. There's words that just sting.
Cut deep. So if you have born the cross, zeal
for God's name and God's house, which is part
of the theme of this psalm. You've borne this
zeal only to be ridiculed and actually to be
ridiculed by people that claim God. Why do you
take all this stuff so seriously? Fanatic, you
know, laughed at, mocked. Because you believe
that the key to life And a man who was truly
God who died on a Roman cross and rose from the
dead people think how ridiculous You've born
those crosses some of you born the crosses in
your body Some of it's just the reality of the
aches that come along with deaths encroachment
Chronic illnesses and miscarriages and degenerative
diseases abuse from another's hand another's
body All of us bear crosses in our hearts as
signs that the world is not right and In a way
that we are actually not right because we know
when we sit with our own hearts That our own
desires can be so twisted and self -centered
and at times just unbelievably ugly we do the
very things that we don't want to do and we don't
do the very things that we do do and What our
confession of sin said was sometimes we look
at ourselves and we rightly say There's no health
in us Messed up in all kinds of ways ways that
harm us ways that harm those that we love Sometimes
the sadness of the world is utterly overwhelming
like the floods Like the floods in this text
like the floods down in Texas the suffering that
others are experiencing we don't know what to
do with the suffering that we are experiencing
we don't know what to do with the suffering that
we caused upon others we Don't know if that Sometimes
the weight of the world is just too heavy I mean
think of No matter what your stances on our country's
need for immigration reform or border stuff,
if you watch some of the videos of people being
taken away from their families, you can't help
but say there is something deeply wrong with
the world, how it functions, how it works. People
moving across the world to find employment, being
taken away from loved ones. There's no way that
you can't in some ways say things are not right.
Suffering the world is too much the heartache
we bear So verse 3 By the way, there's 35 verses
and I'm not going to go this slow but verse 3
says this I'm weary with my crying out My throat
is parched my eyes grow dim with waiting for
my God That David doesn't have a problem saying
I'm just too exhausted Exhausted waiting for
all this to change I'm weary with crying out
my throat is parched my eyes grow dim If you
look actually at the next little section if you
have the psalm open psalm 69 what you'll notice
in verses 4 through 12 What you'll see is that
David is is weary, you know with his crying out
his throat is parched His eyes are growing dim.
He's waiting for God For these kinds of reasons.
He's been hated without a cause He's been attacked
with lies. Maybe you noticed that What I did
not steal must I now restore Somebody's blaming
him for doing something. He didn't do you took
that I didn't you know, he's being falsely accused
He's born the reproach of his zeal for God. This
is something that's said a couple times. He's
been estranged. He's been rejected by his very
family. A lot of commentators think that what
he's talking about is the family of God. This
is actually a religious dynamic that's at play.
The brothers and sisters within the church are
like, I don't want anything to do with you anymore.
But it's very possible also that it's actually
just his siblings, actually. He's being rejected
by those who were seriously close to him. All
of this, verse 11 tells us, has made him sit
in sackcloth and suffering and sadness. And then
verse 12 tells us that this has meant that he
has been made the talk of the town. And I kind
of love this little detail because it says, verse
12, and the drunkards make songs about me. It's
like, country music at its finest. They're like,
my buddy's truck broke down, his dog died, and
his girlfriend left him all at once. They're
just singing songs about this guy. He's experienced
it all. The suffering and the heartache that
we bear can be utterly overwhelming, but it can
be aggravated By the way that others engage with
us, right? Insisting you move on or actually
doing stuff to us. That's just simply not true
Abandoning us in our sorrow So again this question,
what do we do with it we do at this level of
stuff David sort of gives us two options. Okay
And the first one he does sort of in in verses
22 to 28 so I'm going to read that again for
you and Then we'll kind of talk about that and
then we'll talk about the next option. Okay,
so here's verses 22 to 28 You can look down there
Let their own table before them become a snare
And when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot
see, and make their loins tremble continually.
Pour out your indignation upon them, and let
your burning anger overtake them. May their camp
be a desolation. Let no one dwell in their tents.
They persecute him whom you've struck down, and
they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
And to them, punishment upon punishment. May
they have no acquittal from you. Let them be
blotted out in the book of the living. Let them
not be enrolled among the righteous. So let's
just blow it all up. Curse it all. Melissa and
I, last night, later than we should have, we
were finishing up the latest season of The Bear.
Want to highly recommend to you with all of the
caveats that it's needed, okay? And I fell asleep
right away and she came back into the room and
she said what are they gonna do and I was like
D What It somehow I had fallen asleep within
like 10 seconds and I was dreaming about the
little game battleship and so I was just thinking
of how do you destroy the the tank of the you
know the boat And I was like, it's D4. I don't
even know. But I was just thinking, destroy it.
That was in my mind. It needs to be destroyed.
Don't ask me how that happened. I don't even
know. But in some ways, that's what David's first
doing here, right? He's like, curse it, I'll
destroy it. It all just needs to be obliterated.
Some of you are driven by this deep heart for
justice, which is good and right. for wrongdoing
to be put to right. And there is something just
deeply good about that, okay? There's something
really good about that. You might know, this
is a lament Psalm. Lament is the largest category
of Psalms. Most Psalms are inviting us to say,
the world is not right and I need to voice it
to God. Something good about that. There's something
good in wishing that the eyes Those who are doing
wrong will be darkened as it says so they can't
cease they can't continue on and doing what they're
doing right D4 destroy There's something good
even in wishing that the loins would tremble
did you catch that part? Maybe that they would
just be so full of nervousness when they're about
to do something that they can't follow through
That's that's good There's a holy fear that people
should have that we should have when we are participating
in wrongdoing, right? Trembling loins might be
a good thing at times We could also say that
David's desire for the camp of those who have
done wrong or doing wrong be desolate You would
all people just flee who are part of this crew
that are doing something that is so wrong in
the world God Bring an end to that camp. Lay
it to nothing. We should desire the gangs of
our city to be no more. That's a good prayer.
We should desire corporate fraud to not exist
and to do that which we can for that camp to
be no more. We should decry bullying in middle
schools. We should do all in our power to curb
the devastation that comes from natural disasters.
In some ways, this curse of saying destroy this
is right. There's something absolutely right
in what David is saying here. May evil be diminished.
We can also say that there is a zeal for the
things of God. that may mean that our curses
are warranted, right? That's part of what I'm
saying. There's a level in which cursing here
may be warranted. What seems right is that much
of the wrongdoing in this Psalm is done by other
followers of God upon David and his crew. It
seems like they're part of the family of God
and they're doing this awful stuff to each other.
And one of the things that we know in the Bible
that's said quite a bit, it's said specifically
of teachers and pastors, is that those who are
part of the family of faith and that have the
reality of the scriptures that have been taught
are going to be judged at a higher standard.
What we learn is that if you come to the table
with the bread and the wine and you do so unworthily,
you actually eat judgment upon yourself, right?
There's a way in which there's a right judgment,
there's a right curse that takes place specifically
for the people of God who know the things of
God and yet abuse. that knowledge and disregard
that knowledge. But there's also part of this
passage, and this is kind of interesting, that
just seems so intense and it kind of ratchets
up a few levels. So I'm going to read again verses
27 -28. This is what it says, Add to them punishment
upon punishment. May they have no acquittal from
you. Let them be blotted out of the book of the
living. Let them not be enrolled among the righteous
What what if they would sing Let them go to hell
You kind of pull back from that I do We certainly
we wonder at that at least what in the world
is that doing there? You know in Luke our Lord
says that the greatest joy is to have your name
written in the Lamb's book of light And the worst
thing you can hear is of the people of God that
were supposed to doing things in Jesus name Depart
from me. I never knew you What I want to suggest
to you though is that There actually is I think
for those who are following Jesus There's an
invitation here towards the cursing and there's
actually an unbelievable warning It is right
for us desire the evil of the world to come to
an end and to stop I Think that there is something
also else going on here that David is giving
voice to the emotions that he is feeling. But
I think it's actually right to say, in a way,
he has actually gone too far. And if we follow
him in this, we're actually going too far. Here's
why. Our Lord Jesus tells us, love your enemies.
Pray for those who curse you. Do good and not
harm. What is the cross itself? But the Lord
loving those who hated him Caring for those who
despised him moving towards those who rejected
him Seeking to heal where there was just harm
What I'm saying is that there is an option to
the suffering of the world that just says curse
it all Whether that's not just the hardness of
our hearts, right? Maybe we just don't want to
deal with it, or we just want to say, god damn
those people. Put those to hell. I want to dismiss
them entirely. That is an option. And yet, I
don't think our Lord will allow that. The Old
Testament scholar, some of you may know this
name, David Kidner. He's really one of the great
Old Testament scholars, and his work on the Psalms
is. one of my go -tos. He says David's anger
was fanned by his zeal for justice, which is
good. Good desire for justice. But he says then,
but Christ came to crown justice with atonement.
Christ comes to crown justice with atonement.
James Boyce, in his work on this psalm specifically,
he quotes Alexander McLaren and he says, It is
impossible to bring such utterances into harmony
with teachings of Jesus. And the attempt to vindicate
them ignores plain facts and does violence to
plain words. He says there's a disconnect here
with our Lord's teaching. So what do we do? What
do we do with suffering? Because I'm pretty certain
that our impulse is this first part. curse it
all D for destroy Let me read to you a few other
verses that are in this text that Derek Kidner
points out in another kind of way verse 4 More
in number than the hairs of my head are those
who hate me without cause mighty are those who
would destroy me Those who attack me with lies
verse 9 For zeal for your house has consumed
me and their approaches of those who reproach
you have fallen on me verse 19 You know my reproach
and my shame and my dishonor My foes are all
known to you verse 21 They gave me poison for
food and for my thirst They gave me sour wine
to drink. Cursing is a possible answer to the
suffering of the world. Hang it all up. Hardness
of our hearts calcifying, right? The crosses
of this world, the places where sin and its effects
touch us so deeply, so painfully, that is a response.
But these verses and this is Kidner's point these
these verses that are sort of scattered throughout
this psalm are Directing our attention to the
heart of the Christian faith Which is Christ
on the cross? Christ on the cross he is the one
who is ultimately hated without cause Think of
verse four. He's the one who has perfect zeal
for his father's house, and yet that zeal led
to his pain. He's the one who was reproached
by the religious leaders of his day. He's the
one who was given sour wine to drink, as we heard
in our gospel reading, there on the cross, bearing
the reality of suffering in his own body. Which
is to say that the crosses that we bear the ugly
Crosses that we bear which are real the things
that are done to us They put us into the pit
of despair and sorrow and the things that we
do to contribute to this reality of pain and
suffering in this world These crosses are not
dismissed by God He does not just say ah, whatever
Don't think much of it Your heartache is not
laughed off by our Lord your sorrows never brushed
aside and Neither is the pain you've caused others
None of it is none of it is in Christianity.
I Mean here here. I don't think actually this
is this might seem strange I don't think the
Bible totally gives us the answer to the problem
of evil and suffering. And certainly not in an
existentially satisfying way all the time. It
kind of makes us all just go, oh, I understand.
I feel at peace all the time. But there is no
other system of thought. There's no other religion.
There really is none other, none, no system that
I think has at least a better answer than Christianity
to the idea of suffering, which everybody has
to deal with, because everybody's touched by
it. Which is to say that the God of Christian
faith says I will go to that place I Will know
it intimately the the rebuke that you experience
is the rebuke that I experience The suffering
you experience I will bear myself And I'm going
to bring you through it just like I was raised
from the dead it does not have the final say
It may be a great big question, but Christianity
says God enters it, and He doesn't leave it as
it is. God Himself, Christ Jesus Himself, bears
the cross for you, but also with you. We don't
worship a distant God. We don't worship a God
who's immune from suffering. We don't see a God
who just wants to disregard the pain and not
look upon it Stand far off from it We could say
this the floods of sin took our Lord That he
knew sorrow that intimately That your pain invited
his pain he knows that your pain is an effective
sin in this world He doesn't dismiss it. Your
sin and the sin that was done to you and is done
to you is born upon His cross. What's the answer?
What do we do with the crosses that we bear in
this life, the ways, the places where brokenness
and sin in this present world hurt us the most?
And I would say the only answer is the reality
that God Himself bears the cross. God suffers
And Christianity says that he actually conquers
Satan's sin and death in his resurrection That
the suffering of this world will not have the
final say Let me end with this short quote Thomas
the campus wrote in his masterpiece the imitation
of Christ this the cross therefore is always
ready The cross awaits you everywhere. Let me
pray. Lord, pray your comfort over those in this
room who are suffering in an acute way right
now, maybe just the ridicule and scorn. Maybe
it's their bodies that are aching in an unbelievable
way that they don't know what to do with. God
maybe they're living in the reality of sinful
patterns of their own life that have caused deep
destruction and an unbelievable ache God we pray
for those Who are being taken from families family
members out through floods or through Deportations
whatever Lord there's different ways that people
are suffering with aches that are beyond us God
I pray that even Psalms like this that can be
so difficult for us might bring comfort to them
And even might move in us that we might act in
ways that we are able To bring your peace and
your comfort God we thank you most of all for
the cross Something that is laughed at and scorned
and despised where you were rejected and scorned
Isaiah says you weren't nice to look upon hanging
there But where we find our hope in the midst
of our suffering At least the greatest answer
that God himself who made this world will make
it right God at least that the aches in our hearts
that are there because things are so wrong Can't
just be dismissed as this is just the way the
world is. It's just the this the system that
the world exists within God No, but you say that
this is not right. You're doing something about
it. You've done something about it And God I
pray that we hear today who are in particularly
maybe a place of doubt because we we've been
engaging with how awful things are at times and
we have been thrown off. God, would you meet
us in wherever we are and draw us to yourself
please? Would your suffering there where you
drank the sour wine, where you declared it's
finished, where you went to the place of ultimate
suffering for us, would that bring comfort to
those in doubt right now? God take your word
this word from psalm 69 and plant it and would
it be planted in the receptive soil of our hearts
and Would you somehow in your kind providence?
bear much fruit Through us because of this difficult
psalm we pray in Jesus name amen Thank you for
listening to Second City Sermons podcast. We
hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship
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