WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.740 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:05.820 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:08.359 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:10.759 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.759 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.059 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:18.399 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.940 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.640 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:30.280 sermon. God bless. Let me pray again. Lord God 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.100 we thank you again for your word Lord. We thank 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:35.299 you for the beauty of it and the depth of it 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:40.619 and How it speaks to so many different experiences 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:43.320 of our lives, but we thank you especially for 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:49.359 the Psalms this This insight into our hearts 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.799 I think of the great John Calvin saying that 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.240 it spans the whole gamut of emotions that all 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.579 of them can be found here in this this song book 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.200 that we have in your word. Oh God, I pray that 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.319 as we turn to it this morning, that we would 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.579 see its beauty, but more than that, your beauty. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:16.480 Pray in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so when Melissa 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:23.299 and I first went out on a date, I'm not going 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:24.959 to tell you all about it. It's so good. You all 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:27.439 have heard stories, I'm sure. Hopefully. It's 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.459 worth telling for another day. When we first 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:32.739 went on a date, she told her parents that she 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:35.599 went on a date with Peter Rowan. This guy, Peter 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:40.340 Rowan. So as wise parents do, they got on the 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:43.920 computer and googled, who is this Peter Rowan? 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:47.159 And we were living in Richmond at the time, so 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.079 they googled Peter Rowan, Richmond, or something 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:59.329 like that. His picture popped up Born in 1942 00:01:59.329 --> 00:02:03.510 Recently inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of 00:02:03.510 --> 00:02:09.409 Fame You know of famed Actually, he does a lot 00:02:09.409 --> 00:02:11.770 of Hawaiian folk too. I hope you all know who 00:02:11.770 --> 00:02:13.770 Peter Rowan is He's one of the greatest bluegrass 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:23.919 guitar players, and he's not me Some of you may 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:28.800 know this, there's a little boy whose picture 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.460 is on the front of two of U2's first albums, 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:36.199 actually the first and the third album. The first 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:41.099 album is the album Boy, and the third album of 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:45.699 U2 was the album War. Interestingly, that boy 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:48.900 actually made a, there was an EP that came out 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:52.879 before their first album. in 1979 and he was 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:57.300 also on the front cover of that. That little 00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:59.860 boy's brother was good friends with Bono. That 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:02.659 little boy's brother fronted a punk band out 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:06.240 of Dublin called the Virgin Prunes. And that 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.680 little boy and his brother were neighbors with 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:12.669 Bono growing up. And so they asked this six -year 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:15.189 -old little boy, can we take your picture for 00:03:15.189 --> 00:03:17.870 our album? And according to the article that 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:19.469 I read, he was like, I didn't even really know 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:21.949 what was going on. It was fine with me. And now 00:03:21.949 --> 00:03:26.009 he's famous. That little boy's name is Peter 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:30.590 Rowan. And I have been asked if I was bound for 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:33.909 musical fame. You all know the answer already. 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:39.830 The answer's no. The interesting thing, as I 00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:41.530 think about that story with Melissa's parents, 00:03:41.849 --> 00:03:45.030 is that confusion around rather simple things 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:49.689 can be sort of easy, and yet there's also a clarity. 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:53.150 There can be a simplicity and a clarity to things. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.159 One of the greatest, one of my favorite songs 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:01.139 by U2, and I think actually it may be Chris Gazy's 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:02.560 favorite song, he's not here this morning so 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:04.860 I can't hear or see a nod from him, but we've 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:08.599 talked about this before, is U2's song 40, which 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:11.039 is on that third album, War, where Peter Rowan 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.280 is on the front cover with the little helmet. 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:16.819 Maybe you know it, it's actually from Psalm 40, 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:19.540 it's the first three verses of Psalm 40. I waited 00:04:19.540 --> 00:04:21.740 patiently for the Lord, he inclined and heard 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:25.379 my cry. He lifted me up out of the pit, out of 00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:30.319 the miry clay. I will sing, right, sing a new 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:35.620 song. And it keeps going. I will sing, sing a 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:40.779 new song. How long to sing this song. And it 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:44.420 keeps going. It's a beautiful song, recounting 00:04:44.420 --> 00:04:48.019 those first few verses of Psalm 40. And it says 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:50.339 this again and again throughout the song. I will 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:54.319 sing, sing a new song. How long. And in some 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.100 ways I want to say that this refrain there is 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:01.699 basic to the idea of Christian faith. That God 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:09.180 meets us in our waiting, hasten oh Lord, don't 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:13.100 tarry. He saves us in our calling out to him 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:17.540 and he gives us new life and a new song. He puts 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:22.040 a new song on our lips and our mouths. You could 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.439 also say this is a fundamental human cry, and 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:25.680 actually this is what I'd like to suggest to 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.199 you, if you're not a Christian this morning, 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.579 that this sort of Christian cry of save us O 00:05:29.579 --> 00:05:33.379 Lord is actually a fundamental human cry. How 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:36.939 long will life be like this? Would something 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:42.240 please change? How long? Please put a new song 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.259 in my mouth. It's a fundamental human cry, it's 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:50.139 a fundamental religious cry. It's part of the 00:05:50.139 --> 00:05:54.019 way. sort of human existence, religious existence. 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:59.480 I know, because I've existed in the church all 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.180 my life, that there are different thoughts and 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:06.079 feelings about songs that repeat themselves a 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:12.220 lot. I don't remember when I first heard this 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.139 phrase, but it's not gonna be lost on any of 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:17.980 you, that there are songs that you can... term, 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:20.860 and this is most often used dismissively, unfortunately, 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.920 as 7 -11 songs. Y 'all know this? These songs 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.560 have seven words and you sing them 11 times. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.740 They're 7 -11 songs. But here's what I want to 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:33.920 tell you also is that there's something deeply, 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:39.040 deeply powerful about these songs that we sing 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:43.199 again and again. They shape us and they give 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.220 expression to what's happening deep within us. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:53.420 You know, I will sing, sing a new song. How long 00:06:53.420 --> 00:07:00.240 to sing this song? How long? That repetitiveness 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.379 in a way and that repeating that same idea is 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:05.959 getting at something. Why, you know, this is 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.319 so fundamental to our hearts cry and our human 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:15.790 desires. So today we're in Psalm 70. And Psalm 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:23.750 70 is nearly an exact quote from Psalm 40 verses 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:29.910 13 to 17. It's almost exact. Both are of David. 00:07:31.689 --> 00:07:34.670 And it's sort of as though David is looking at 00:07:34.670 --> 00:07:36.790 Psalm 40 and he's thinking that's a great song. 00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:40.009 And you know what? This part right here needs 00:07:40.009 --> 00:07:47.459 to be sung by itself again and again. He's saying, 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:56.600 sing it again. Don't rush past this. Don't speed 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:04.000 through it. Let it sink in. Sing it again. It's 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.860 as though David's actually hearing you two sing. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.779 How long to sing this song? And he says, well, 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.819 a little bit longer. Keep going. So what's this 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:20.939 song that's in Psalm 70 that's a repetition of 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:24.600 the last verses of Psalm 40? What I wanna suggest 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:26.959 to you is in some ways that this song is just 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:32.159 this very fundamental human cry for help. And 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.500 it's saying that this fundamental human cry that 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:36.580 we all have for the world to be right, for us 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:43.769 to be helped is only met in the Lord. Okay, so 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:46.289 the human cry for help. Look with me there at 00:08:46.289 --> 00:08:55.269 the first few verses. Make haste, O God, to deliver 00:08:55.269 --> 00:08:58.850 me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be 00:08:58.850 --> 00:09:01.370 put to shame and confusion who seek my life. 00:09:01.669 --> 00:09:04.190 Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:07.809 who delight in my hurt. Let them turn back because 00:09:07.809 --> 00:09:13.090 of their shame who say, aha, aha. What I'm suggesting 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:15.029 is that this is a very fundamental idea, not 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:16.970 necessarily that you're crying out to the true 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:19.370 God who brings true salvation, but there's a 00:09:19.370 --> 00:09:23.690 fundamental thing that says, help. The world's 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:28.049 not right, help. Near the beginning of most of 00:09:28.049 --> 00:09:32.289 the great traditions of Christian prayer, right 00:09:32.289 --> 00:09:34.330 at the beginning of morning prayer, the minister 00:09:34.330 --> 00:09:37.490 leads the people with what I led you this morning. 00:09:38.830 --> 00:09:44.669 Oh Lord, open our lips. And the people say, yeah, 00:09:44.710 --> 00:09:46.549 yeah, a few of you got it. I took you off guard. 00:09:46.970 --> 00:09:48.429 You can turn with me to the beginning now. Let's 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:54.350 just do it again together quickly. Oh Lord, open 00:09:54.350 --> 00:10:03.289 our lips. That is from Psalm 51. Those two lines 00:10:03.289 --> 00:10:05.950 are from Psalm 51. And then the next part is 00:10:05.950 --> 00:10:12.509 this. Oh God, make speed to save us. Yeah, that 00:10:12.509 --> 00:10:18.309 is from Psalm 40 and Psalm 70 fundamental beginning 00:10:18.309 --> 00:10:24.610 Christian prayers Said again and again day in 00:10:24.610 --> 00:10:28.149 day out hour out hour in hour out and I want 00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:30.490 to suggest to you that was in the wisdom of the 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:34.429 great prayer tradition because this is a Fundamental 00:10:34.429 --> 00:10:37.330 human cry something that is on our lips constantly 00:10:37.330 --> 00:10:41.269 a refrain that keeps coming up Most of our days 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:44.169 and hours and minutes most of our energy is actually 00:10:44.169 --> 00:10:48.409 spent in the cry for deliverance And that's not 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:50.710 I don't think that's hard to think about why 00:10:50.710 --> 00:10:55.149 that's the case It's not hard to kind of look 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:59.529 out in the world and say things are not right 00:10:59.529 --> 00:11:05.409 Things are not as they should be Elise and I 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:08.399 and the kids We're talking with a woman this 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.879 week who had worked downtown for years at Nocturnal 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:15.960 as a bartender and she was telling us why she 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:18.000 left and how much she wanted to leave though 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.500 she had worked there for years. She told us some 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:24.600 crazy stories about what had been happening out 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:27.539 on Second Street between two and five in the 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:32.600 morning. Some sad stories and some honestly sort 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:36.590 of scary stories. But here's the thing, we know 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:39.870 that it's not just late night, right? Not just 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:42.029 late at night, but we look out at the world and 00:11:42.029 --> 00:11:47.409 we say the world is not right. God, deliver us. 00:11:49.090 --> 00:11:54.629 Make things right. When we hear verse two, let 00:11:54.629 --> 00:11:57.590 them be put to shame and confusion who seek my 00:11:57.590 --> 00:12:02.090 life. We might think of things like downtown 00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:07.029 at two a .m., second street at two a .m. Or we 00:12:07.029 --> 00:12:10.590 might think of, I don't know, politicians that 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:12.490 we can't stand, or you know, you have kind of 00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:17.429 your vague others. But often I think we think 00:12:17.429 --> 00:12:22.389 of actually closer relationships. We can actually 00:12:22.389 --> 00:12:26.590 think often of how sometimes marriages fall apart 00:12:26.590 --> 00:12:29.730 because it seems as though the spouse is the 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:32.850 one who's seeking your life, engaging with the 00:12:32.850 --> 00:12:37.100 other as though they are the enemy. to be put 00:12:37.100 --> 00:12:41.039 in their place. The other is out for their harm. 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:45.759 Sometimes they're using life and using you for 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.080 their own ends. And you just can't live in that 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:54.639 kind of space. That's true often, sadly. Another 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.679 thing that is true is that spouses sometimes 00:12:57.679 --> 00:12:59.580 often engage with one another as though they're 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:04.379 supposed to be the savior. They're there to make 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:07.460 the money, to provide for children, to provide 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:11.059 someone with children, to meet all of the emotional 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.019 needs. And when they don't, right? When they 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:17.620 don't, let them be put to shame and confusion. 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:20.639 It seems like they're seeking my life, or they're 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.539 not giving me the life that I want. The world 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:26.419 is simply not quite right. We often look to one 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:30.559 another as though others are out to seek our 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.659 life or our harm. or they're supposed to be our 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:35.500 saviors and when they're not we act as though 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:39.720 we are out to get them. Maybe it's not marriage 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.799 relationships that come to your mind. Maybe it's 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:47.519 your neighbor relationship. It's not easy to 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.440 share a wall with others. We have some of those 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:53.100 relationships. It's also not always easy to share 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:55.980 a lawn that abuts with another or just a property 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.669 line. My parents grew up on three and a half 00:13:59.669 --> 00:14:03.330 acres and the cops were called on us a lot Probably 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:05.049 because our neighbor was schizophrenic and claiming 00:14:05.049 --> 00:14:07.090 that we were naked in bed or naked out on her 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:08.730 front porch when we were asleep In bed and weird 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:10.570 stuff like that, but you know that's what I'm 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:12.649 saying like there's just like what what's happening 00:14:12.649 --> 00:14:15.090 the world's not right Now you want to hear that 00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:18.629 story. It's for another time You know, maybe 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:21.009 it's the boss who somehow and you genuinely don't 00:14:21.009 --> 00:14:23.950 know how you got put on their bad list. It's 00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:26.230 just not that hard to look out in the world and 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:28.529 say like, this is not how it's supposed to be. 00:14:29.129 --> 00:14:35.870 God, save, make haste, come to our aid. I think 00:14:35.870 --> 00:14:39.250 about this next line, okay, verse three here. 00:14:40.289 --> 00:14:43.830 Well, actually, the second half of verse two. 00:14:43.970 --> 00:14:45.730 Okay, let them be turned back and brought to 00:14:45.730 --> 00:14:51.259 dishonor, who delight in my hurt. Delight in 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:55.299 my hurt. Last week we were looking at Psalm 69 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:59.399 and we talked about how the hurt actually in 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:02.580 Psalm 69 seems to be coming from those with inside 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:05.700 the community of faith. It's like those who are 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:15.120 in church with David. There is a lot of hurt 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.240 that happens in the Christian church. Some of 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:25.779 it's really, really serious hurt. Physical abuse 00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:30.279 and sexual abuse. Spiritual abuse seems to run 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:35.179 rampant. There's too much harm in the church, 00:15:35.259 --> 00:15:40.399 that's for certain. I recently learned of a pastor 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.620 that I know, a friend of mine, somebody I've 00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:46.820 traveled with. who was deposed because he embezzled 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:51.539 a lot of money from his church. It's just common. 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:57.279 It's painful. And what does that do to the person 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:01.220 in the pew, right? Horrendous things for one's 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:10.379 faith. Hurt should never be diminished. There's 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:13.549 crazy stories of hurt. But you know, there's 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:15.470 those extreme examples. Then there's just like 00:16:15.470 --> 00:16:17.429 the normal kind of thing that happens in a lot 00:16:17.429 --> 00:16:20.129 of churches where people stop talking to each 00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:21.570 other and stop really engaging with one another 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:26.309 because they parent differently. Or you send 00:16:26.309 --> 00:16:30.730 your kid to that school. You send them to a Christian 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:32.509 school. You send them to a public school. You 00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:35.230 homeschool your kids. And there's just this distance 00:16:35.230 --> 00:16:40.690 that's created who delight and hurt. They bring 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:45.980 shame on others. People that delight in their 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:48.980 own gain, the misfortune of others, maybe all 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.960 the delight and gain that they receive is just 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:56.080 simply parental superiority. That's so common. 00:16:56.580 --> 00:16:59.179 Parental superiority is just unbelievably rampant. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.340 It's common in the church. These are a lot of 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:04.960 things that David is crying out against in Psalm 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.309 69. But then, last week we considered a little 00:17:10.309 --> 00:17:13.630 while, for a little bit, the end of David's complaint 00:17:13.630 --> 00:17:17.309 and his wish of misfortune on the others who 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:20.109 were doing these things to him. And I got a few 00:17:20.109 --> 00:17:21.710 questions about this last week, so I sorta wanna 00:17:21.710 --> 00:17:23.630 talk about it a little bit in this sermon, and 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:26.029 I also think it kinda makes some sense here in 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:29.549 Psalm 70. And that's this, what do we make of 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:32.609 David writing things like this? Let them be blotted 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:36.789 out of the Book of the Living. And I know I got 00:17:36.789 --> 00:17:39.869 a number of comments saying, people saying, did 00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:42.250 you use a swear word last week in your sermon? 00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:46.309 I did, but if you listen, it was used appropriately. 00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:50.509 I hope you didn't have to have some hard conversations 00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:52.210 with your children about that, you might have. 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:54.950 Anyway, let them be blotted out of the living, 00:17:55.289 --> 00:17:57.970 as though, dismiss them, do away with them entirely, 00:17:58.210 --> 00:18:00.890 and in terms of their salvation. And then also 00:18:00.890 --> 00:18:03.970 we know in 2 Peter chapter three that we say 00:18:03.970 --> 00:18:06.980 the Lord does not desire that any should perish. 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:11.400 So what do we do? And I think we can say a few 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:13.019 very important things, and I wanna say these 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.099 things here, okay? I think we can say some important 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:16.940 things about this. The first thing that I want 00:18:16.940 --> 00:18:18.920 you to hear is that the Lord, this is one of 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:20.420 the things that we learn in the Psalms. The Lord 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:26.640 wants your unvarnished self. Okay? God wants 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.279 you raw. Meaning he doesn't want you to hold 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:34.859 back anything from him. He wants you to come 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:38.240 to Him even in your deepest indignation, even 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:42.799 in your deepest places of rage. And in His perfect 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:45.819 love, He will cast out fear. Perfect love that 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:48.160 casts out fear invites you to be present in who 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.079 you are completely. And that's part of what the 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.859 Psalms are telling us. Bring all of you to Me. 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.779 Even the places of your deep rage. Come and share 00:18:58.779 --> 00:19:04.589 to Me that experience. Don't hide anything. But 00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:06.650 we can also say, and this is part of what I was 00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:07.970 saying a little bit last week, but I wanna say 00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:09.130 this again this week, because I think it does 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:13.230 tie in a little bit here. While God wants us 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:16.210 raw, and why he wants our unvarnished selves, 00:19:16.529 --> 00:19:21.069 he does not want to leave us that way. You get 00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:24.910 that? He doesn't want you to sit in that kind 00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:28.349 of anger that says to another, you should have 00:19:28.349 --> 00:19:32.980 your name removed from the book of life. Let 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:35.180 them be blotted out of the book of the living. 00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:38.599 And partly why he doesn't want to leave us that 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.940 way is because it's not good for us. It's not 00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:46.119 good for us if we dwell in that place. Proverbs 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:50.079 11, 17 says this, a man who is kind benefits 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:57.359 himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. It's 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.170 like Thomas Chalmers saying, unforgiveness is 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:06.450 the poison you drink, hoping another will die. 00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:12.170 Proverbs 25, 28 says, a man without self -control 00:20:12.170 --> 00:20:15.990 is like a city broken into and left without walls. 00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:18.670 That doesn't want to leave us in those places. 00:20:19.910 --> 00:20:22.430 And I bring all this up because here's the thing. 00:20:22.769 --> 00:20:26.630 Sometimes it's easy to say the world is not right. 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:29.220 and look at the havoc that comes about because 00:20:29.220 --> 00:20:31.240 of it. And you look at the big picture and you 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:32.940 look out there and you say, ah, second street 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:35.500 at 2 a .m. Or you look at sort of just your spouse 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:37.680 or you look at the other people around. And one 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.859 of the things that the Bible says very clearly 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:43.799 is that often you have to actually say, Lord, 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:53.500 save me from myself. God wants you, all of you, 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:57.420 real and raw, you. But often we're the ones that 00:20:57.420 --> 00:21:02.180 are saying, aha, aha, to our own detriment, to 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:09.559 our own harm. So what do we do with all of this 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:15.180 need for saving? Well, of course I'm gonna say 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:18.160 that the Christian life says, go to the Lord. 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:23.720 Cry out to him. And when you do so, you will 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:31.460 say, oh, great is our God. But I suggested that 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:33.119 we often, you know, we look out in the world 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.960 and we see what's wrong and we see what's wrong 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:38.819 in our spouses and we see what's wrong with our 00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:40.500 neighbors. And sometimes we see what's wrong 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:42.799 with ourselves. And what we're doing is we're 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.180 seeing this need for something to change, for 00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:48.680 salvation to come. And what I wanna suggest to 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:50.440 you is that that's just a human experience. That's 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.240 not a Christian experience. That's not unique 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.240 to somebody that says Jesus is Lord and great 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.779 is God. Everybody actually has that experience. 00:21:56.900 --> 00:21:58.440 Everybody has the experience of saying something 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.920 needs to change. And sometimes they say, I need 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:07.220 to change. The world is not right. And sometimes 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:11.059 when we see that, when we know our need for salvation 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:13.759 and our need for God to be present, to do something, 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:17.819 Sometimes we move to places that we should move 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:20.339 to, human relationships that can bring a degree 00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:22.660 of healing. That's true. Human relationships 00:22:22.660 --> 00:22:24.799 can be amazingly healing and helpful. God made 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:30.440 us for community, that's true. Sometimes though 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:34.660 that healing and that help grow in us to the 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:36.680 temptation to think that we can kind of figure 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:43.559 it out. We can do it just each other. Sometimes 00:22:44.509 --> 00:22:47.029 Sometimes we go to salvation towards others and 00:22:47.029 --> 00:22:48.750 we end up looking just for their own approval. 00:22:48.750 --> 00:22:51.349 Think of the girl in middle school who's just 00:22:51.349 --> 00:22:52.910 desiring that somebody else say, hey, you look 00:22:52.910 --> 00:22:56.069 good today. Or other classmates, primarily. That 00:22:56.069 --> 00:22:58.690 would be their salvation for the day. And that 00:22:58.690 --> 00:23:00.849 salvation is fleeting. Do they think I'm all 00:23:00.849 --> 00:23:06.210 right? The nagging communal question. We look 00:23:06.210 --> 00:23:08.490 to our children to validate our adult selves, 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:12.170 don't we, parents? With words like this inside, 00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:15.000 at least. I'm a good enough parent that my kids 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:21.359 still talk to me. And those words sort of bring 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:24.259 this sense of maybe something at least somewhat 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:30.160 is right. But our human relationships can't be 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:36.480 our saviors. So what we often do is we seek control, 00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:41.539 don't we? We do this either through just organizing 00:23:41.539 --> 00:23:44.220 everything, making sure everybody says the right 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:48.279 thing is on time and external control. Oftentimes 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:50.519 we do this by simply being stingy and not giving 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:55.079 away too much. Stingy with our emotions and our 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:59.700 time and our energy. We've been hurt too much. 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.279 So if you know Lewis saying, what you do often 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.140 is you put yourself in a casket and what happens 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:11.680 is you become hardened. in that kind of scenario, 00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:15.660 which adds only to the brokenness and the need 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:19.259 for salvation. Sometimes we seek control by power, 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:24.240 right? Salvation by legislation. Man, that is 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.799 a popular one. And I don't care what side of 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.019 the aisle you are on, you are tempted to think 00:24:30.019 --> 00:24:31.700 that that is what will bring your salvation. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:37.859 What often we do with our need to be saved where 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:40.920 we often go with this need to be saved is actually 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:45.859 sort of throwing up our hands and Saying I can't 00:24:45.859 --> 00:24:47.940 do anything and I don't know who can do anything 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:51.619 and so what I just need to do is just be sedated 00:24:51.619 --> 00:24:55.759 We can't take all that is wrong in the world 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.279 we can't bear it we can't sort of deal with it 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:02.359 we don't know what to do with it and so like 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.859 Dave Matthews sings in the song, Too Much. And 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:06.440 yes, I did have this thought as I was listening 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.059 to him this week. I eat too much. I drink too 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:13.359 much. I want too much. Too much. And we just 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:17.119 do it again and again and again. And of course, 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:20.140 we can admit that shopping therapy gives us a 00:25:20.140 --> 00:25:25.019 little boost, a little bit, right? I felt good. 00:25:26.339 --> 00:25:30.710 Ah, that food met some of my need. but often 00:25:30.710 --> 00:25:35.630 those become our sort of sedatives or distractions, 00:25:38.009 --> 00:25:41.690 things that numb us from the incessant need for 00:25:41.690 --> 00:25:44.190 salvation from all that is wrong in the world. 00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:57.369 I want to say again that this Psalm is a fitting 00:25:57.369 --> 00:26:02.279 refrain for the church. It makes sense that the 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:05.859 beginning of this Psalm is that beginning prayer 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:09.480 of Christian communal prayer, right? Oh Lord, 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:17.359 make speed to save us. Lord, hasten to us. Because 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:19.740 what Christians say is that it's true, we're 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:21.359 tempted to go in all these other directions, 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.799 and we do this so often too, right? It's partly 00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:27.559 why we have times like confession. What do we 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:31.200 do with our sin, with the sin of others, with 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:35.099 the massive need of salvation? Well, we Christians 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:36.940 do this thing. We try to control other people. 00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:40.680 We try to use other people. Maybe their affirmation, 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:44.240 their words can make us feel better about the 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.720 world and ourselves. Maybe we can just, we sedate. 00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:51.279 And yet we need to say again and again, the Lord 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:58.369 alone is our salvation. He alone comes to us 00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.690 properly in our aid or in our need and comes 00:27:01.690 --> 00:27:06.049 to our aid. So John Cassian, maybe you read through 00:27:06.049 --> 00:27:07.809 the meditation quote, but I'm gonna read parts 00:27:07.809 --> 00:27:09.930 of it. He's writing in the early fifth century 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:12.650 and he says, meditate constantly on this verse. 00:27:13.049 --> 00:27:15.809 By the way, this verse is Psalm 70 verse one. 00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:18.470 Make haste to God to deliver me. Oh Lord, make 00:27:18.470 --> 00:27:21.279 haste to help me. Meditate constantly on that 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:24.660 verse in your heart. You should not stop repeating 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:28.579 it when you're doing any kind of work or performing 00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:33.299 some service or on a journey. Meditate on it 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:35.880 while sleeping and eating and attending to the 00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:41.380 least needs of nature. This is all the time. 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:46.960 because the temptation of our hearts is to look 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:49.900 elsewhere for salvation and it cannot be found 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:55.380 anywhere else. He says this, it contains an invocation 00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:58.759 of God against every danger. It contains humble 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:02.920 and pious confession that we cannot do. It contains 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.799 the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear. 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:09.720 It contains the thought of one's own weakness, 00:28:10.579 --> 00:28:13.680 confidence in the answer. and the assurance of 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:19.980 a present and ever ready help. What I'm suggesting 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:23.460 to you is this psalm that David in his great 00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:25.880 wisdom being led by the Holy Spirit took out 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:28.619 of this other psalm in a way and said we need 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:34.200 to sing it again is the psalm, the song, the 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:41.109 cry of life. God save me. God help me. And the 00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:44.650 response is that God does. He comes to us in 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:49.630 our need. He always meets this cry. In his perfect 00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:53.789 timing, you think of Mary and Martha, if only 00:28:53.789 --> 00:28:58.890 you were here, Lord, brother went to die. God 00:28:58.890 --> 00:29:02.430 comes to us always in our need in his timing. 00:29:05.430 --> 00:29:08.329 Friends, here is the song, the song of our lives, 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:12.480 this cry for salvation. I suggested that kind 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.640 of all religions in some ways are based on this 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.920 idea, the world is not right, something needs 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.039 to be done about it. And that's because this 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:23.000 is simply a human response to wrongdoing in the 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:24.700 world, a human response to our own wrongdoing, 00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:28.500 the ways that we've been sinned against. This 00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:32.900 is a human thing, a cry for salvation. The cry 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:37.519 for salvation will not go away. And that's of 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:39.759 course why we see it all over the world still 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:43.180 today. Some people have written rather recently 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:45.240 about the diminishment of religious practices 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:49.019 in the United States has actually been, it's 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:51.779 corresponded to the increase of engaging with 00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:55.200 politics as your religion. And so the religious 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:58.559 fervor actually just transfers to political fervor 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:03.799 because it's a human thing. We long for salvation, 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:07.910 for the world to be put to right. The heart that 00:30:07.910 --> 00:30:10.349 seeks salvation is not changing. This is also 00:30:10.349 --> 00:30:12.829 why David Foster Wallace says, there is no such 00:30:12.829 --> 00:30:16.250 thing as atheism. There's no such thing as not 00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:24.309 worshiping. But for Christians, we have the same 00:30:24.309 --> 00:30:26.950 cry as everybody else, but it's directed God 00:30:26.950 --> 00:30:29.769 word. It's directed towards the true and the 00:30:29.769 --> 00:30:33.210 living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ. 00:30:34.089 --> 00:30:37.839 The Christian song is a cry for help. that is 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.099 met with the cross and the resurrection of Christ 00:30:41.099 --> 00:30:46.759 Jesus. What we have in Christ is that God answers 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:51.720 this prayer, this deep human longing with his 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:59.740 very self. And this is unique. Other places that 00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:03.259 you go to for salvation, they'll eat you alive. 00:31:04.159 --> 00:31:05.859 Wallace says, the Apostle Wallace says, they 00:31:05.859 --> 00:31:09.759 eat you alive. But the Christian God says, I 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:12.240 will give you life where there was once death. 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:14.619 When other forms of salvation say, you know, 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.000 give me this, give me this, give me this, Christianity 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.299 says, I'm gonna give you up myself completely. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.680 This Psalm is the refrain of the Christian life. 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:31.589 Here's the interesting thing. that in a way, 00:31:31.890 --> 00:31:34.369 this song is gonna be sung again and again and 00:31:34.369 --> 00:31:36.990 again, not as the present need for help, but 00:31:36.990 --> 00:31:41.329 the fact that God has helped. In the new heavens 00:31:41.329 --> 00:31:43.109 and the new earth, in the little glimpse that 00:31:43.109 --> 00:31:46.190 we have in Revelation, we have this song being 00:31:46.190 --> 00:31:48.410 sung by the multitudes of heaven saying, worthy 00:31:48.410 --> 00:31:52.410 is the lamb who was slain. Worthy is the lamb 00:31:52.410 --> 00:31:55.329 who was slain. Which is say, worthy is the God 00:31:55.329 --> 00:31:59.869 who heard our cries for help and gave his life. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:06.019 that we might have life. Let me circle back for 00:32:06.019 --> 00:32:08.079 a minute, then I'll close to Peter Rowan, not 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:11.559 me. The one whose name is spelt wrong, R -O -W 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:14.839 -E -N, which is the one that's on the U2 albums. 00:32:15.339 --> 00:32:20.099 So I was reading about him this week, and he's 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:24.170 a photographer. He was six years old. He was 00:32:24.170 --> 00:32:25.670 asked to be on the front of these covers and 00:32:25.670 --> 00:32:27.250 he says I don't really even remember it that 00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:29.049 much You know, it's just like my brother's buddy 00:32:29.049 --> 00:32:31.329 who's starting a band and nobody knew about you 00:32:31.329 --> 00:32:33.089 two anyway And you know, we were just I was just 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:35.849 taking pictures, but he said that that beginning 00:32:35.849 --> 00:32:38.490 thing Actually, this is the interesting. He's 00:32:38.490 --> 00:32:42.009 he he still takes pictures for bands One of his 00:32:42.009 --> 00:32:44.549 main things is being a photographer for musicians 00:32:44.549 --> 00:32:46.869 But here's here's here's the interesting thing. 00:32:46.869 --> 00:32:49.910 I want to leave you with this that thing which 00:32:49.910 --> 00:32:53.000 started the his life in a way early on just a 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:56.980 six -year -old is still in a way defining him 00:32:56.980 --> 00:33:01.220 it's still orienting his life and friends that 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:04.559 is this song this is the beginning of the christian 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:08.480 life lord help me and god says amen i'll help 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:11.940 you that's what this psalm is lord i need you 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:14.599 make haste to help me god's this song saying 00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.400 god's going to come to you this is the beginning 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:19.920 of the christian life This is the way of the 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:22.339 Christian life. This is the end of the Christian 00:33:22.339 --> 00:33:25.779 life. Oh Lord, make haste to help me. And God 00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:32.839 comes. Let me pray. Lord, thank you for the Psalms. 00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:36.220 Thank you for Psalm 70. Lord, thank you that 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:38.680 in your perfect providence through the working 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:41.759 of your spirit, David took those other verses 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:45.339 and said, give your attention to this. God, thank 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:49.480 you for the refrains of Christian singing. Thank 00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:52.779 you for the repetition of you two's song, How 00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:56.220 Long, How Long, How Long, that helps us to ache 00:33:56.220 --> 00:33:58.299 a little bit more because we've sung it again. 00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:04.799 And God thank you that in this song is our life 00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.420 and how you meet us in our need in our Lord Jesus 00:34:08.420 --> 00:34:16.920 Christ. So in his name we pray, amen. Thank you 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:19.219 for listening to Second City Sermons podcast. 00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:21.699 We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:24.619 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:27.000 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.199 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:33.480 find us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on 00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.079 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:37.579 for listening. God bless.