WEBVTT 00:00:07.380 --> 00:00:15.380 Psalm 102. We're not going to do the whole thing. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.339 We're going to do the first little bit of it, 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.300 and Lord willing, we'll do the last little bit 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:26.920 of it next week. We don't really know who wrote 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:32.140 this psalm, but it's a psalm that's not so unsimilar 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:34.990 from some of the others that we see. I think 00:00:34.990 --> 00:00:37.869 it's a psalm that probably everybody can relate 00:00:37.869 --> 00:00:44.329 to at some point in their life. Psalm 102. Let's 00:00:44.329 --> 00:00:48.509 pray and we'll get started. God, we come to you 00:00:48.509 --> 00:00:50.310 and we thank you that we have freedom to come 00:00:50.310 --> 00:00:52.750 into your house tonight and sing these songs 00:00:52.750 --> 00:00:56.170 and just love on one another and look at your 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:59.509 word. And I pray, God, that you would just help 00:00:59.509 --> 00:01:02.679 us tonight if maybe we're one of these. like 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:04.760 this passage talks about, dear Lord. There are 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:07.959 times in our life where we feel afflicted, where 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:11.340 we just feel like everything is just falling 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:15.060 apart, dear Lord. And I pray, God, that tonight 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:17.599 we would feel your presence, that we would know 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.400 that you are nearby, that maybe even tonight 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.260 if we're having a good day, dear Lord, that we 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:25.019 just took this passage away and remember it when 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:28.319 our time of affliction comes. I pray that your 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.159 Holy Spirit will be with us, that you would help 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.599 me to preach and teach. Your words that you would 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.379 hide me behind the cross. You'd free us from 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:39.099 distractions. And all for your glory. In Jesus' 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:44.840 name I ask it. Amen. The superscription for this 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:49.420 psalm reads, A prayer of an afflicted person 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:54.359 who is weak and pours out his lament before the 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.299 Lord. Now, I like that superscription because 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:01.430 I think that sums up. how we all feel at some 00:02:01.430 --> 00:02:04.569 point. There are all times in our life for every 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:08.090 one of us that we feel that kind of affliction 00:02:08.090 --> 00:02:11.729 or we feel depression or we feel just overwhelmed 00:02:11.729 --> 00:02:16.849 or we want to give up. And that's what this language 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:20.110 in this psalm talks about. It talks about a person 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:23.449 going through hard times, a person who is weak, 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:27.770 a person who is calling out to the Lord. And 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:30.270 that's exactly what we need to do. On the times 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:32.889 that we feel afflicted, on the times that we 00:02:32.889 --> 00:02:35.610 feel overwhelmed, on the times that we want to 00:02:35.610 --> 00:02:40.009 give up, we have to call out to the Lord in our 00:02:40.009 --> 00:02:45.469 weakness and seek His strength. Verse 1, Lord, 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:49.250 hear my prayer. That's a good place to start 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:52.270 in our life. We probably all know we should pray, 00:02:52.409 --> 00:02:55.590 and we probably all do pray, and maybe prayer 00:02:55.590 --> 00:02:58.469 is the first thing we do when situations arise 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:02.030 in our life, or maybe it's not. Maybe this is 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:05.090 a good reminder for us to know where to start 00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:08.189 when we have to make decisions, when we have 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:10.990 troubles in our life, when we have worries in 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.650 our life. Perhaps the first thing we need to 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:18.960 do is pray. Lord, hear my prayer. Hear my prayer. 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:22.259 God knows our situations. He knows what we go 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:25.240 through, but he still wants us to come to him. 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.460 And there's a lot of strength that comes from 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:29.479 that. We don't want to fall into the habit of 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:31.479 saying, well, God knows what I need before I 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:33.900 even ask it. Well, he does, but he still wants 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.879 us to ask. He still wants us to call out to him. 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:39.680 There's strength in that when we seek him, when 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.020 we humble ourselves, when we recognize our weakness. 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.039 And we know that we need help from the Lord. 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.719 And the psalmist did here. Lord, hear my prayer. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:56.099 Let my cry for help come before you. Do not hide 00:03:56.099 --> 00:04:00.580 your face from me in the day of trouble. Listen 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:05.479 closely to me. Answer me quickly when I call. 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:08.960 That's one of the scariest things when we pray. 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:13.810 And perhaps we wonder if the Lord's there. Maybe 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:16.129 we don't always feel His presence. Sometimes 00:04:16.129 --> 00:04:18.389 we do. Sometimes we feel the Lord's presence 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:21.069 and we feel the joy of the Lord and the peace 00:04:21.069 --> 00:04:23.889 of the Lord. But maybe there are other seasons 00:04:23.889 --> 00:04:26.009 in our life where we're going through affliction 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:30.050 and hardships and we don't feel the Lord's presence 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:33.769 in the same way. And maybe we wonder if He's 00:04:33.769 --> 00:04:36.750 there or we wonder if He cares or we wonder if 00:04:36.750 --> 00:04:39.290 this is the time that we've sinned too much or 00:04:39.290 --> 00:04:44.819 is God... even listening to me anymore. And what 00:04:44.819 --> 00:04:47.839 does the psalmist say? God, don't hide your face 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.600 from me. We know that we need the Lord's presence. 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:55.980 We know that when things get as bad as we think 00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:58.779 they can possibly get, that the only hope that 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.540 we have comes from the Lord. And the psalmist 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:05.019 recognized that. Lord, hear my prayer. God, don't 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.439 be far from me. Don't hide your face from me 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:11.350 because God, I cannot keep going. If you don't 00:05:11.350 --> 00:05:14.189 give me the strength to keep going. Now, I suspect 00:05:14.189 --> 00:05:16.910 that we've probably all felt that way in our 00:05:16.910 --> 00:05:18.689 life. There have probably been times that we 00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:20.550 said, I don't know how I'm going to make it another 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:22.790 day. I don't know how I'm going to get through 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:25.689 this situation with family. I don't know how 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:27.230 I'm going to get through this health situation. 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:30.250 I don't know how I can spend another day at that 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:32.829 job. I don't know how this marriage is going 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:34.689 to get any better. I don't know how I'm going 00:05:34.689 --> 00:05:37.100 to break this addiction. I mean, there are things 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:39.220 that we just, we come up against them in our 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:42.920 life, and we do not know how we are going to 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.360 get through it. And the sad part about that is, 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:49.680 is that there are a lot of people in our world 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.339 that don't know how they're going to get through 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:55.839 it, and they've never read the Word of God, and 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.180 they don't know of Jesus Christ, and they don't 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:02.790 know of a God who loves them. Because I would 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:04.949 venture to guess that probably for all of us 00:06:04.949 --> 00:06:08.689 in this room, hopefully, that when we come to 00:06:08.689 --> 00:06:12.170 those situations where we don't know how we're 00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:15.089 going to make it another day, we probably do 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:17.689 exactly what the psalmist did. We say, Lord, 00:06:17.949 --> 00:06:23.329 hear my prayer. God, I cannot take another step 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:27.290 if you are not with me. God, I cannot go into 00:06:27.290 --> 00:06:30.420 that office one more time. God, I cannot go for 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:33.819 another treatment. God, I cannot deal with whatever 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:37.279 it may be. God, I do not have the strength. God, 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:43.500 if you are not with me, I cannot go. And we call 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:47.120 out to the Lord in our weakness and he becomes 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.439 our strength. And praise God that we have the 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:52.439 word of God and we have scriptures like this 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:56.600 to remind us of that. Because so many people 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.870 in our world are in despair, and they do not 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:06.129 have hope. But those who are in Christ do not 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:08.470 give in to despair because we know what hope 00:07:08.470 --> 00:07:11.829 is. And whatever the psalmist's affliction was 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:15.449 here, he knew where his help came from, and it's 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:18.290 the same for you and I. Whatever your affliction 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:21.449 is tonight, or whatever it may be a year from 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:25.269 now or ten years from now, may God recall these 00:07:25.269 --> 00:07:28.579 words, His words. to your mind and to your heart, 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:33.339 that we would cry out to the Lord. Listen closely 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:36.759 to me. Answer me quickly when I call. Now, that's 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.800 what we want, right? We want God to answer quickly, 00:07:39.860 --> 00:07:43.379 and perhaps sometimes he does. But at least it's 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:45.740 been my experience in life that God does not 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:47.899 work as quick as I would like him to. Now, he 00:07:47.899 --> 00:07:49.980 could. He could work as quick as he wanted to. 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:52.120 We could ask for something right now, and he 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:53.899 could grant it in an instant. In the blink of 00:07:53.899 --> 00:07:57.029 an eye, God could do what we ask. God could bring 00:07:57.029 --> 00:07:59.689 healing right now, or he could provide this thing 00:07:59.689 --> 00:08:01.949 that we need right now, or he could help our 00:08:01.949 --> 00:08:04.430 attitudes right now, or whatever it is that we're 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:08.290 praying for. And maybe God does answer those 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:11.990 things quickly sometimes, but sometimes he does 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:15.730 not. But even in that, I believe God knows what 00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:19.629 he's doing. He's using those experiences to strengthen 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:24.379 us. He's testing our faith. And the more we go 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:26.560 through those trials and day after day we continue 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.160 to have our affliction, but we continue to pray 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.519 to Him, it builds our trust in Him. It builds 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.600 our faith in Him. And when we get through that 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.580 trial, man, our faith is strong. And we say, 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:41.899 man, I don't know how I'm going to get through 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:43.919 this or that, these things that are before us. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:46.860 And the way that we get through the thing that 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:50.139 is before us now is because God has built us 00:08:50.139 --> 00:08:51.720 up in the thing that we went through before. 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:54.950 And every time in our life when we call out to 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:57.850 God and pray to Him and seek Him, it strengthens 00:08:57.850 --> 00:09:00.649 our faith that much more. And then we get to 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:02.830 that next mountain. And we say, I don't know 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:04.669 how I'm going to get through it. We're going 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:05.970 to get through it the same way we got through 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:08.309 the last one. We're going to pray to the Lord. 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:10.070 And we're going to get through it and we're going 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:12.750 to look back. And after years and years of those 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:15.110 experiences, we're going to be able to say, I've 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:18.610 seen God work in my life. I'm up against this 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:21.409 situation, and it's scary, and it's hard, and 00:09:21.409 --> 00:09:23.690 I don't know what the future holds, but I know 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:26.450 who my God is. And I know that I have called 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.149 to Him, and it has not always been easy, but 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:31.529 He has always been there. And He may not have 00:09:31.529 --> 00:09:33.750 always answered my prayers in the way that I 00:09:33.750 --> 00:09:36.090 have asked, but I know that He is a good God, 00:09:36.210 --> 00:09:38.370 and He has given me the strength in my weakness. 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:41.769 And every time we call out to him in our time 00:09:41.769 --> 00:09:46.990 of affliction, it draws us closer to him and 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.429 builds our strength in him. And that's what the 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:52.889 psalmist is doing here. And that's what you and 00:09:52.889 --> 00:09:58.990 I need to do. Verse 3. For my days vanish like 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:05.129 smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart 00:10:05.129 --> 00:10:10.820 is afflicted. withered like grass. I even forget 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:15.500 to eat my food because of the sound of my groaning. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:21.039 My flesh sticks to my bones. Now, he's using 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:23.179 all these illustrations, burning like a furnace, 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:26.480 withered like grass, flesh sticking to his bones. 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:30.720 He just feels bad, like he's in such affliction 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.840 that it affects the way he feels. It affects 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:38.669 everything about him. And some of you have probably 00:10:38.669 --> 00:10:41.710 felt that before. Maybe all of you. You've been 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:45.669 in such great turmoil and trouble and stress 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:49.710 and just pain and suffering that you feel it 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:52.529 to your bones. You feel it to your core. It just 00:10:52.529 --> 00:10:57.429 weighs heavy on you. And those are not good times. 00:10:58.409 --> 00:11:01.830 The psalmist recognized that. He uses this language. 00:11:01.889 --> 00:11:05.309 His heart is afflicted. So afflicted, he forgets 00:11:05.309 --> 00:11:07.750 to eat. He doesn't even want to eat. He doesn't 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:11.009 even eat. We've been there before. There are 00:11:11.009 --> 00:11:13.289 days you just don't feel like eating. You're 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:16.309 just overwhelmed with your stress and your affliction 00:11:16.309 --> 00:11:18.769 and your pain and your sickness and all of these 00:11:18.769 --> 00:11:23.669 things that it is just so heavy on you. That 00:11:23.669 --> 00:11:28.929 is a tough place to be. But praise the Lord in 00:11:28.929 --> 00:11:31.769 the midst of all of that burden that we're under, 00:11:31.909 --> 00:11:34.990 that Jesus Christ says to us, Come to me, you 00:11:34.990 --> 00:11:37.190 who are weary and burdened, and I will give you 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:41.889 rest. Praise God that we know that word. If you 00:11:41.889 --> 00:11:43.389 don't know that scripture, you need to learn 00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:45.870 that scripture. Man, that's a good scripture. 00:11:46.649 --> 00:11:50.769 And so many people in this world, they get crushed 00:11:50.769 --> 00:11:55.210 under the burden because they do not know that 00:11:55.210 --> 00:11:59.850 Jesus is there to lift. The burden. We need to 00:11:59.850 --> 00:12:02.169 know that tonight. Those who are listening online 00:12:02.169 --> 00:12:06.210 need to know that if your burden is heavy, that 00:12:06.210 --> 00:12:09.649 Jesus can lift that burden for you. That if you 00:12:09.649 --> 00:12:12.549 are being crushed tonight, you do not have to 00:12:12.549 --> 00:12:17.649 be crushed. Jesus will free you from that. He'll 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:21.289 take that burden from you. If your heart is afflicted, 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:25.190 if your body is suffering, Our only hope tonight 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:32.389 comes through Jesus Christ. Verse 6. I am like 00:12:32.389 --> 00:12:36.429 a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. Now 00:12:36.429 --> 00:12:40.230 I'm not sure exactly what the... what the point 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:42.149 is he's trying to make with this illustration 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:44.590 of a desert owl. The first thing that came to 00:12:44.590 --> 00:12:48.029 my mind is an owl is perhaps on the prowl at 00:12:48.029 --> 00:12:51.309 night looking for something to sustain him, like 00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:53.809 an owl among the ruins, like an owl that's just 00:12:53.809 --> 00:12:56.710 looking for everything's destroyed around. There's 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:58.970 nothing to eat on. There's nothing to sustain 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:01.830 it, but yet he's looking. He's constantly trying 00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:04.450 to find that thing that's going to sustain him. 00:13:04.470 --> 00:13:06.789 Now, I don't know if that's the heart in which... 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:10.509 The psalmist wrote this, but it's true nonetheless. 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:14.929 It's true that in the midst of our struggles 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:17.950 and our afflictions, we look for that thing that's 00:13:17.950 --> 00:13:21.929 going to sustain us. And sometimes, even if we 00:13:21.929 --> 00:13:25.250 know God and we know the Word of God, sometimes 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:31.029 we look to be sustained by other things. Maybe 00:13:31.029 --> 00:13:33.690 by our fame or maybe by our wealth or maybe by 00:13:33.690 --> 00:13:37.200 some addiction that we have. Whatever it may 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.759 be, there are some times in our life that we 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:43.740 look at our life and we see that it's in ruins. 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:47.399 That everything around us is crumbled and collapsed. 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:50.679 And we're trying to dig through the rubble to 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.419 find something to sustain us. But there's nothing 00:13:54.419 --> 00:13:56.659 that we can find in the rubble to sustain us. 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:01.200 Because it's only Jesus Christ. It's only when 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.149 we call out to the Lord. I stay awake. I am like 00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:10.470 a solitary bird on a roof. Can't sleep. That's 00:14:10.470 --> 00:14:14.190 what happens when we are in these seasons of 00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:17.590 affliction and worry and hardship. It's hard 00:14:17.590 --> 00:14:21.070 to sleep good at night. You can't go to sleep 00:14:21.070 --> 00:14:24.769 because it's running through your mind. How am 00:14:24.769 --> 00:14:27.230 I going to make it through this? And then when 00:14:27.230 --> 00:14:29.450 you go to sleep, you wake up thinking about it. 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:32.690 You just wake up instantly and that burden is 00:14:32.690 --> 00:14:36.120 right there. There's no rest for you. He says, 00:14:36.220 --> 00:14:39.360 I'm like a solitary bird on a roof. I'm all alone. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.480 And sometimes that's how we feel, probably most 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.340 of the time. In the midst of our affliction, 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:51.000 we feel like we are all alone. Nobody understands. 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:58.480 Nobody cares. Nobody can relate to me. But God 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:03.820 cares. God understands. And God can relate to 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:07.500 you. And even if everyone else has abandoned 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:11.340 you, and even if you feel alone, God is still 00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:14.259 there. And maybe some of you just need to be 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.100 reminded of that right now. I don't know what 00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:19.740 anybody's going through in their life. But maybe 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.100 you just need to know that truth tonight. God 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:28.220 is still there. You are not alone today. Maybe 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.399 you just need to take this psalm and you need 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:33.580 to go home and you just need to meditate on it 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:37.879 and maybe this needs to be your prayer. To just 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:42.100 know that God does hear you. That you are not 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:50.679 alone tonight. Verse 8. My enemies taunt me all 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:55.320 day long. They ridicule and curse me. I eat ashes 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:58.480 like bread. And mingle my drinks with tears. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.000 Because of your indignation and wrath. For you 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.940 have picked me up. And thrown me aside. Now I 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:09.500 don't know what his enemies were. But boy that 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:12.500 adds insult to injury. Whatever we go through. 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:17.740 Whatever. However hard it may be. Whatever his 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:21.340 situation was. It's getting from bad to worse. 00:16:21.419 --> 00:16:23.059 He's already in the midst of affliction. And 00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:26.169 now his enemies are coming against him. And he 00:16:26.169 --> 00:16:30.629 says, I eat ashes like bread and mingle my drinks 00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:33.809 with tears. Now, we see in the Old Testament 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:36.289 that a lot of time when people are in mourning 00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:38.769 and going through difficult times, they'll dress 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:41.110 themselves in sackcloth and they'll cover themselves 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:43.690 with ashes. That's probably the reference here 00:16:43.690 --> 00:16:47.389 where he says, I ate ashes for bread. Perhaps 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:49.950 in a real literal sense, maybe he is so covered 00:16:49.950 --> 00:16:53.990 in ashes that it covers his food. Or maybe he's 00:16:53.990 --> 00:16:56.570 saying he just... in the midst of this mourning 00:16:56.570 --> 00:16:59.049 and lamenting that he's doing, he's putting so 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:02.049 much ash on him that it's just in his mouth. 00:17:02.090 --> 00:17:04.650 It's part of his diet, so to speak. What he's 00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:09.269 saying is, I spend so much time lamenting and 00:17:09.269 --> 00:17:12.309 calling out to the Lord that I spend time covered 00:17:12.309 --> 00:17:15.930 in ashes and I spend time crying that my tears 00:17:15.930 --> 00:17:18.809 are mingled with my drink. This is a man who 00:17:18.809 --> 00:17:22.259 is broken because of his situation. Now, whether 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:24.279 it's of his doing or whether it's his enemies 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.000 or whether it's just some just normal life situation 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:31.019 that happens, he is afflicted and he is broken 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:34.420 and he is mourning and he is calling out before 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:40.619 the Lord to help him. And he says, because of 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:43.799 your indignation and wrath, for you have picked 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.579 me up and thrown me aside now. That's pretty 00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:51.029 scary. Now, some would say that. that God really 00:17:51.029 --> 00:17:53.670 hasn't picked him up and thrown him to the side, 00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:56.410 but he just feels that way. And that's certainly 00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:58.509 possible. Perhaps there are times that we do 00:17:58.509 --> 00:18:02.430 feel that way. But maybe there's some literal 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:06.789 truth to this. Maybe his situation is some result 00:18:06.789 --> 00:18:09.849 of something he did. I mean, we see plenty of 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:12.849 times throughout the Old Testament that God's 00:18:12.849 --> 00:18:15.849 people are disobedient and God brings punishment 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:19.940 on them and the people have to suffer. Praise 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:22.480 the Lord. A lot of times they call right back 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.079 out to the Lord and they say, Oh God, we need 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.599 you. And God is gracious to them. And then what 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:29.740 do they do? They go back and they do some boneheaded 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:32.819 thing and then God brings something on them again. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:37.420 And so it's possible that whatever this psalmist 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:41.059 is writing about, maybe there is something that 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.940 he's done. Now I say that very carefully. We 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:46.579 don't want to think that every time something 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:49.259 bad happens to us, it's God punishing us for 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:52.400 something we've done. Maybe there are some times 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.119 that the things that are happening to us are 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:58.940 a consequence, a result of something that we've 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:02.039 done. That certainly is the case sometimes. But 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.839 we have to be careful not to fall into the trap 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:07.500 that everything bad happens in our life that 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:09.480 we begin to stress in such a way that we say, 00:19:09.619 --> 00:19:13.440 Oh God, what have I done? Is God punishing me? 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:17.119 Well, the psalmist felt that way. Whether it 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.599 was accurate or not, he felt that way. And perhaps 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:24.740 sometimes we feel that way too. But nevertheless, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.940 the psalmist knew what to do. He called out to 00:19:27.940 --> 00:19:34.599 the Lord. Verse 11. My days are like a lengthening 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:40.339 shadow, and I wither away like grass. Shadows 00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:43.480 eventually go away. You could see a shadow outside 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.700 a couple hours ago, but not now. The sun has 00:19:46.700 --> 00:19:51.279 set. It has gotten dark outside. The shadow is 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:57.619 gone. And he says, I wither away. His affliction 00:19:57.619 --> 00:20:00.539 has gotten the best of him. Physically he is 00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:04.079 worn out. Emotionally he is worn out. He doesn't 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.680 know if God hears him anymore. He doesn't know 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.740 if God's there. Is God punishing him for something? 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.500 All these things are going through his mind, 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:18.900 but what does he do? The very first verse, Lord, 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:23.500 hear my prayer. Let my cry for help come before 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:26.799 you. Even though all these things that he just 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:31.019 mentioned are on his heart and on his mind, he 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:34.660 knew where to go for help. Even though sleep 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:39.660 escaped him, he knew where to go for rest. Even 00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:41.880 though his burden was heavy, he knew where to 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:47.539 go for his burden to be lifted from him. What 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:50.859 about you tonight? Are you afflicted tonight? 00:20:51.940 --> 00:20:56.400 Do you feel crushed by the burden of sin, of 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:03.660 life, of sickness, of bad relationships? If we 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:05.660 feel the pressure of those things, if we feel 00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:09.559 the burden of those things, And Jesus can free 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:12.539 us of that. If we would just call out to him 00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:15.660 and seek him tonight. If we would just ask for 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:17.640 forgiveness of our sin. If we would just ask 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:21.319 for strength in our struggles. Jesus Christ will 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:24.660 do that for us. If we would only cry out to him. 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:30.259 And ask him for help. Let's pray. God we thank 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:33.680 you for this good word. Because God we are an 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:37.859 afflicted people. And maybe not tonight. But 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:39.779 there's probably been times in our life that 00:21:39.779 --> 00:21:43.819 we have been, and no doubt will be times in our 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:47.500 life that we will be in the future. So I pray, 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:50.480 God, that you would help us to be a people that 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.339 would seek you, not just on the bad days, but 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:57.160 on the good days, and that we would recall this 00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:00.299 scripture, dear Lord. Maybe there are some tonight 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:03.799 that are burdened down, that they read these 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:06.670 words of this psalmist, and they... can relate 00:22:06.670 --> 00:22:10.309 far too well. And they have felt the burden of 00:22:10.309 --> 00:22:12.869 that mentally and emotionally and physically, 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:16.509 dear Lord. And they feel crushed on every side 00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:20.289 today. I pray that they would call out to Jesus. 00:22:21.130 --> 00:22:23.509 I pray, dear Lord, that this psalm would be their 00:22:23.509 --> 00:22:27.769 prayer, that you would hear their voice, that 00:22:27.769 --> 00:22:30.789 you would come to them quickly, dear Lord, that 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:32.470 you would meet their need, that you would give 00:22:32.470 --> 00:22:35.390 them rest, that you would give them deliverance. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:39.359 God, I pray that we would not leave this place 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:43.359 in despair, but that we would leave with hope, 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:47.119 dear Lord. That those who are here and those 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.039 who are listening online will know that there 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:53.079 is hope, God. There is hope in the midst of our 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.579 affliction, in the midst of our troubles. And 00:22:55.579 --> 00:22:59.019 that hope is found in nothing less than Jesus' 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:02.259 blood and righteousness. So God, I pray that 00:23:02.259 --> 00:23:05.099 we would trust in that tonight. And I ask these 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:07.339 things in Jesus' name. Amen.