WEBVTT 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:13.039 We'll pick up where we left off. Verse 12. We're 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.500 not going to finish the psalm tonight. We're 00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:19.480 going to do a few more verses though. Psalm 102. 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:27.260 We'll start in verse 12. We don't really know 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:31.140 exactly who wrote this psalm. It would seem as 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:34.060 though perhaps it was written. Maybe when God's 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:37.020 people were in captivity, perhaps the Babylonian 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.520 captivity. We see that in the language that we're 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:43.340 going to read in these verses tonight. But what 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:45.700 we saw in the first few verses of this psalm 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:50.039 is it's a person who is struggling, who is suffering, 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:53.500 who is experiencing some great affliction. And 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.840 they are crying out to the Lord in the midst 00:00:56.840 --> 00:00:59.759 of their struggle. And I suspect that every one 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.670 of us... can relate to that because life is hard. 00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:06.310 It's hard. Our jobs are hard. Family life is 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:09.650 hard. Sometimes church is hard. School is hard. 00:01:10.409 --> 00:01:14.590 We lose people we love. We have sickness in our 00:01:14.590 --> 00:01:17.829 life or in the lives of people around us. We 00:01:17.829 --> 00:01:21.129 just hear of evils all over the world, all in 00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:25.390 this country. And so life is full of struggle. 00:01:25.510 --> 00:01:29.430 It's full of affliction. Now, praise the Lord, 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:32.170 we come here tonight and we know where to go 00:01:32.170 --> 00:01:34.730 to. Maybe you're here tonight and you don't know 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:36.370 where to go to, or maybe you're listening online. 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:40.530 Well, where you go to is to the Lord. And that's 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:43.989 what we see in Psalm 102. We see this psalmist 00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:46.870 crying out to the Lord that the Lord would hear 00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:50.230 his prayer in his time of affliction. And that's 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:53.129 what we see in the first section that we looked 00:01:53.129 --> 00:01:55.530 at last week, the first 11 verses. So we'll pray, 00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:59.340 and then we'll look at the next few. God, we 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.640 come to you and we thank you for being good to 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:06.459 us and hearing us on our good days and especially 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:09.620 on our bad days, dear Lord. Perhaps there are 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.159 some tonight that are afflicted, that are struggling, 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.039 dear Lord, that life has just been hard for them. 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:19.819 I pray, God, that tonight they would cast their 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:22.719 burden upon Jesus Christ who wants to carry that 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.969 for them. I pray, God, that we would seek you 00:02:25.969 --> 00:02:29.090 and pray to you as the psalmist did, and that 00:02:29.090 --> 00:02:31.189 we would rejoice in you, dear Lord, knowing your 00:02:31.189 --> 00:02:34.870 power and your strength, that we would look forward 00:02:34.870 --> 00:02:38.449 with hope to the day of our deliverance. And 00:02:38.449 --> 00:02:42.770 I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Verse 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:49.889 12. But you, Lord, are enthroned forever. Now, 00:02:49.949 --> 00:02:52.740 he had finished up in verse 11. He said, my days 00:02:52.740 --> 00:02:56.039 are like lengthening shadows and I wither away 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:59.780 like grass. And so he ends this first section 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:03.280 on this really down note. I am withering away. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:09.580 My life is so horrible. But, he says, but you, 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:14.139 Lord, are enthroned forever. Your name endures 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:17.740 to all generations. You will rise up and have 00:03:17.740 --> 00:03:21.699 compassion on Zion. For it is time to show favor 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:26.080 to her. The appointed time has come. For your 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.900 servants take delight in its stones and favor 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:33.330 its dust. Now, in the context here, he's talking 00:03:33.330 --> 00:03:36.430 about Zion. He's talking about Jerusalem. And 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:38.909 God's people are talking about, the psalmist 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:40.490 here is talking about God's people experiencing 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.629 some deliverance, returning to Jerusalem, that 00:03:43.629 --> 00:03:46.349 God's going to deliver them. Now, that's probably 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:48.969 the context in which it's being written. That's 00:03:48.969 --> 00:03:52.009 not our context. Our deliverance is not necessarily 00:03:52.009 --> 00:03:54.949 from an enemy that we can go back to Jerusalem 00:03:54.949 --> 00:03:58.270 and to the walls of Jerusalem. But our deliverance 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.930 needs to come from whatever our... life situation 00:04:00.930 --> 00:04:03.629 is. What's your struggle? What's your pain? What's 00:04:03.629 --> 00:04:07.949 your sorrow? Whatever it is, that's what we want 00:04:07.949 --> 00:04:10.430 deliverance from. That's why we cry out to the 00:04:10.430 --> 00:04:13.590 Lord. That's why we seek him. And so it doesn't 00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:16.850 matter what your situation is. The same God that 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:20.370 heard the psalmist here hears us. And what did 00:04:20.370 --> 00:04:23.870 he say in verse 12? But you, Lord, are enthroned 00:04:23.870 --> 00:04:27.230 forever. Now there's a good reminder there for 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:31.310 us that whatever we are going through, God is 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:33.670 on the throne. Brother Ernie used to say that 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.149 all the time. God is on the throne. Maybe he 00:04:36.149 --> 00:04:38.529 got it from this verse. I'm not sure which verse 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:40.930 in particular. But that was something I remembered 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:44.310 him saying all the time. And what does that mean 00:04:44.310 --> 00:04:46.629 to us that God is on the throne? It means that 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:50.170 God is in control. The one who is on the throne 00:04:50.170 --> 00:04:54.459 is the one who is in control. And so praise the 00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:56.920 Lord that he is in control. There's nothing that 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.980 occurs in this life that is unknown to God, that 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:03.839 is beyond God and beyond his power and beyond 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:07.259 his control. And that's difficult for us because 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:09.899 we see things in this world that aren't good. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:13.639 We see really evil things and really tough things 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:16.459 that we go through. And it begs the question, 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:19.139 why does God allow these things? If God is on 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:22.560 the throne, if God is in control, then why do 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.540 bad things occur? Well, I don't know a good answer 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:31.120 for that. God knows. God sees the big picture. 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:33.819 He knows what pieces need to fall into place 00:05:33.819 --> 00:05:36.699 to accomplish his will for his kingdom, that 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:39.160 as many as possible would come to know Jesus 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:43.699 Christ. But we don't always understand God's 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:48.170 will. In God's way. Because God's ways are higher 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:50.029 than our ways. And God's thoughts are higher 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:53.829 than our thoughts. But the psalmist knew who 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:56.529 to trust in. He knew that in the midst of his 00:05:56.529 --> 00:05:58.269 affliction. In the midst of his pain. In the 00:05:58.269 --> 00:06:01.730 midst of his struggle. He knew this truth. And 00:06:01.730 --> 00:06:05.009 that is that God is in control. We need to remember 00:06:05.009 --> 00:06:07.829 that in our struggles. That God is still on the 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:10.970 throne today. He was when the psalmist wrote 00:06:10.970 --> 00:06:14.660 this psalm. Hundreds of years ago. And the same 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:18.899 God is still in control today. And he is the 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:21.240 one that gives us strength to get through the 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:26.019 hard times. Continuing on in verse 15. Then the 00:06:26.019 --> 00:06:30.279 nations will fear the name of Yahweh and all 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:33.720 the kings of the earth your glory. For the Lord 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:37.879 will rebuild Zion. He will appear in his glory. 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.740 He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute. 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:47.800 and will not despise their prayer. So everyone 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.720 knows when God shows up. Obviously, there are 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:53.759 enemies of the psalmist here. But when God shows 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.939 onto the scene, even the enemies have to acknowledge 00:06:56.939 --> 00:07:00.079 the power of God. Now, there are plenty of people 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.300 in our world today that deny God, that reject 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.129 God. There are lots of people that would mock 00:07:05.129 --> 00:07:07.470 and make fun of Christians, make fun of us tonight 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:10.610 for coming and singing songs and reading these 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:13.709 words and saying that God is enthroned. There 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:15.829 are a lot of people that would scoff at that 00:07:15.829 --> 00:07:20.250 very idea. But the psalmist knows that when God 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:24.290 shows up onto the scene, That even those who 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:26.769 would scoff at him, even those who are our enemies, 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:30.069 even those nations, even all those people will 00:07:30.069 --> 00:07:32.949 know that God is on the throne. And what did 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:35.889 he say at the end of that part of the passage 00:07:35.889 --> 00:07:38.649 in verse 17? He will pay attention to the prayer 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:41.829 of the destitute and not despise their prayer. 00:07:41.910 --> 00:07:45.269 That's good news for us because sometimes that's 00:07:45.269 --> 00:07:48.399 our life. Sometimes that's how we feel. So we 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:50.680 can relate to this psalmist. And he reminds us 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:54.120 here that God will hear our prayer. It doesn't 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:56.639 always seem like it. There are things that we 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.500 have prayed for many times and still praying 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.279 for some of us that God has not answered, that 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:05.519 he's not removed that thorn from our flesh yet. 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.199 But what did he tell Paul? When Paul prayed three 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.560 times that God would remove the thorn from his 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:13.779 flesh, whatever that may have been, a physical 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:17.240 thorn, probably symbolic language there, whatever 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:19.779 his struggle was, he had prayed that God would 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:23.180 remove it. And God told Paul, he said, look, 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:27.779 my grace is sufficient for power is perfected 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:30.600 in weakness. He didn't remove the thorn, but 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:32.240 he said, I'm going to give you the grace to get 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.440 through what you're going through. And it would 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:36.679 be great if God would instantly end all of our 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.659 struggles. And sometimes he does. Sometimes he 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.919 answers quickly. Sometimes he solves our problems 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.440 and delivers us quickly. And other times he does 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:50.019 not. But even when he does not, it does not mean 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:52.840 that he does not hear our prayer. He does hear 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.940 our prayer. And even if he doesn't end our suffering 00:08:55.940 --> 00:08:59.720 instantly, he does give us the grace to get through 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:06.279 it. Verse 18. This will be written for a later 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.340 generation, and a newly created people will praise 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:12.940 the Lord. He looked down from his holy heights. 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:17.820 The Lord gazed out from heaven to earth to hear 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:21.159 a prisoner's groaning, to see those condemned 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:25.419 to die, so that they might declare the name of 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:29.000 Yahweh and Zion in his praise in Jerusalem, when 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:32.179 peoples and kingdoms are assembled to serve. 00:09:33.669 --> 00:09:36.289 This will be written for what it says? It says 00:09:36.289 --> 00:09:40.649 for later generations and newly created people. 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:43.070 Isn't it beautiful that we can look at the words 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:45.830 of Scripture both in this psalm and all the stories 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.789 of Scripture and guess what? We are later generations. 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:52.110 We are rejoicing in the work that God did through 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.730 those who have come before us. We are rejoicing 00:09:54.730 --> 00:09:57.409 in the miracles. We are rejoicing in the deliverance. 00:09:57.529 --> 00:10:00.750 We are rejoicing in all of the ways in which 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:03.970 God has worked. And as a result, guess what? 00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:07.409 Christianity is still thriving today. And it 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:09.870 will continue to thrive. So long as there are 00:10:09.870 --> 00:10:13.029 people on this earth, there will be later generations 00:10:13.029 --> 00:10:16.549 that will come after us. That will rejoice in 00:10:16.549 --> 00:10:18.990 this same scripture. That will make it through 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:21.710 their struggles because they are trusting in 00:10:21.710 --> 00:10:24.730 the Lord. And because they know that God hears 00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:27.470 the prayers of those who are groaning. He says 00:10:27.470 --> 00:10:30.710 to hear a prisoner's groaning. To set those free 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:34.850 condemned. To die. Now that may be in a very 00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:37.669 literal sense there. He may literally and probably 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:40.809 is literally talking about prisoners condemned 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:45.090 to literally die. But nonetheless, we are sometimes 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:48.889 prisoners to our sin. Sometimes in our struggles, 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:52.870 in our situation, we think this is going to, 00:10:52.870 --> 00:10:55.669 I can't do it anymore. I'm going to die in this 00:10:55.669 --> 00:10:57.470 situation. I'm going to die in this struggle 00:10:57.470 --> 00:11:01.549 and it's never going to get better. But the psalmist 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:04.370 reminds us that the Lord hears those prayers. 00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:09.669 He hears our prayers when we groan. He pays attention 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:13.289 to us. And he may not always answer in the way 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:17.450 in which we desire, but he will answer according 00:11:17.450 --> 00:11:20.250 to his will. And he will give us grace to get 00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:23.870 through whatever is before us. He'll deliver 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:27.129 them so that, in verse 21, they might declare 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:32.820 the name of Yahweh in Zion. And his praise in 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:36.460 Jerusalem. So what does he say? The one who has 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:41.480 been delivered is to praise the Lord. Do we do 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.080 that? Do we praise the Lord? Maybe you've been 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:47.000 delivered from something in the past. Have you 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.620 praised the Lord? You should praise the Lord. 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:52.940 Maybe even now in the midst of our struggle and 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:57.700 our suffering, we're so focused on all that negative 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:02.139 and all that. and hardship in our life that we 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:04.539 just fail to realize that God is still good, 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:07.720 that he still has blessed us in so many ways, 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.080 that he still cares for us, that maybe life's 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:14.519 not as bad as it looks. And maybe even in the 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:17.340 midst of the struggle, there needs to be a praise. 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:19.940 In the midst of our struggle, there needs to 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:23.299 be a hallelujah. And certainly when God delivers 00:12:23.299 --> 00:12:26.620 us, we are quick to go to God when trouble strikes. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:30.299 And that's great. God desires for us to do that. 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:33.259 He wants us to come when our hardships are upon 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:36.460 us. But are we just as quick to go to God and 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:39.539 praise Him when God delivers us, or do we forget? 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:43.539 Do we just pray with expectancy that God's just 00:12:43.539 --> 00:12:45.139 supposed to do what we ask, and then He does 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.679 it, and, okay, I'm through this spell. I'll go 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.059 on about my life, and I'll call on you again, 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:52.299 God, when I need you. Do we ever just stop and 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:55.379 say, God? You have been so good to me and you 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:59.379 have delivered me in so many ways. God, I just 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:01.700 want to thank you and I want to praise you for 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.460 what you've done in my life or my loved one's 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:09.659 life or my church people or whatever goes on 00:13:09.659 --> 00:13:12.580 here. There are so many things that God has blessed 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:16.919 us with and we need to praise him for it. So 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:18.740 if we're one of those who is in affliction and 00:13:18.740 --> 00:13:21.700 suffering tonight, we need to know that God is 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:25.159 still on the throne. He hears our prayers, and 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:28.299 we need to praise him for listening and for caring 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:31.639 and for being there with us. Let's pray. God, 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:34.620 we thank you for your good word. I pray that 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:36.320 you would help us to be a people who would seek 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:38.419 you and who would trust you tonight. I pray that 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:42.000 you would help us not to be overwhelmed by our 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.220 afflictions and our burdens, but I pray that 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:46.899 we would lay them at the foot of the cross, that 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:49.860 we would repent of our sins, we would just lay 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:52.179 our burdens before you, we would lay our worries 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:55.860 before you and our stresses before you, that 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:57.519 you would just give us some deliverance, that 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:59.100 you'd give us some peace, that you'd give us 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:03.360 some grace, dear Lord. There are times in our 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:05.720 life, dear Lord, and maybe some now that are 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:09.379 just in the midst of some really intense circumstance, 00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:12.299 and God, we don't want to stay there, we don't 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:14.620 want to be in those things, but sometimes we 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:17.730 are for a while. And so I pray, God, for any 00:14:17.730 --> 00:14:19.850 who are in the middle of anything right now, 00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:22.850 that you just give them grace. God, if it's not 00:14:22.850 --> 00:14:25.309 your will to deliver them, that you give them 00:14:25.309 --> 00:14:28.289 grace and you give them strength to get through 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:31.070 it. I pray, dear Lord, tonight that we would 00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:34.370 reflect on the many ways that you have been good 00:14:34.370 --> 00:14:36.789 to us, that we would rejoice in you and praise 00:14:36.789 --> 00:14:39.789 you tonight, that we would praise you for the 00:14:39.789 --> 00:14:41.389 deliverance, that we would praise you for the 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:43.990 strength, and God, that we would long for the 00:14:43.990 --> 00:14:47.279 day. that you get us through our current afflictions. 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:50.879 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.