WEBVTT 00:00:06.199 --> 00:00:10.560 Psalm 102, we will start in verse number 23. 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:19.420 Let's pray, and then we'll get started. God, 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:21.219 we thank you that we can come into your house 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:25.059 tonight, and I pray that whatever burdens or 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:29.460 stress or anxiety or just struggles or anger 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.200 or whatever it is in our heart that we might 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.549 have brought in with us tonight, I pray. that 00:00:35.549 --> 00:00:37.810 we would just seek you in these few moments. 00:00:37.890 --> 00:00:41.649 I thank you for the love that you have for us, 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:43.729 the love that you put into this place. I thank 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:46.549 you for all the folks that are so dedicated to 00:00:46.549 --> 00:00:49.210 come and to participate in ministries just like 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:52.030 we were working on before. And we thank you for 00:00:52.030 --> 00:00:54.030 the freedom we have to come in here tonight. 00:00:54.189 --> 00:00:58.729 And I pray that your word would help us to seek 00:00:58.729 --> 00:01:02.229 you and know that you are eternal and you are 00:01:02.229 --> 00:01:05.159 in control. And I ask these things in Jesus' 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:10.000 name. Amen. Just a brief recap. You may recall 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.239 that the very first part of this psalm, the psalmist 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.519 was crying out to the Lord in his day of distress, 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:20.680 in his time of struggle. And regardless of what 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.180 the psalmist's struggle was, we all have days 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:26.519 of distress. We all have days of struggle. We 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.120 have days where we may have enemies that are 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.340 coming against us like the psalmist. Or just 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:35.530 life, just life in itself is just... It's tough 00:01:35.530 --> 00:01:38.349 just making it through a normal day. It's just 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:40.689 always something, it seems like. Things could 00:01:40.689 --> 00:01:43.989 work just as easy as they don't, but nine times 00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:46.549 out of ten, it just seems like things don't work. 00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:49.329 If you ever got a 50 -50 shot of getting it right, 00:01:49.469 --> 00:01:51.329 it seems like for me, I always get it wrong. 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:54.409 I was looking for something today through a big 00:01:54.409 --> 00:01:57.269 stack of papers, and I said to myself, after 00:01:57.269 --> 00:01:59.010 I got halfway through the stack, I said, you 00:01:59.010 --> 00:02:00.530 know what I'm looking for is going to be at the 00:02:00.530 --> 00:02:03.819 bottom of the stack. And so I started going through 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:05.799 the bottom first. And sure enough, I came across 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:10.219 it really quick. Sometimes things in life, they 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:12.439 just don't work as easy as we think they should. 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.879 And life is hard. And so we can relate to the 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:17.960 psalmist crying out to the Lord. So the first 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.479 few verses, he cries out to the Lord. Things 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.939 are really bad. He feels like everything is just 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:27.840 crumbling around him. But we see in verse 12, 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:30.860 but. he begins to praise the Lord and he began 00:02:30.860 --> 00:02:33.020 to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord. And 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:35.639 he began to talk about the work of the Lord and 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:39.060 future generations praising the Lord and rejoicing 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:42.060 in the Lord. And then right here at the end of 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:45.400 the Psalm, for a second, he kind of goes back 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.759 to that old attitude, that old mindset. And we 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:53.879 see that in verse 23. He says, he has broken 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.800 my strength in mid course. He has shortened. 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:03.919 My days. That is, or verse 24, excuse me. I say, 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:07.840 my God, do not take from me in the middle of 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:12.800 my life. Your years continue through all generations. 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:16.960 So however how old the psalmist is here, he doesn't 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.560 appear to be very old. He says, in the middle 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:23.259 of his life. He's a young man, but yet life has 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:26.719 become very difficult to him. And what does he 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.740 say? He has broken my strength. In mid -course, 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.139 I'm in the middle of my race. I'm in the middle 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:35.960 of my life. I'm still a young man, and it just 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.219 doesn't seem like anything is going right. The 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:41.539 stress and the pain and the struggles of life 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:46.659 were heavy upon him. But what does he say? My 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:50.500 God, do not take me in the middle of my life. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.199 God, bear with me. God, don't give up on me. 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:56.560 God, don't let this be the end. God, I want to 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.800 keep going, but life is too tough. So, God, I 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:04.319 need you to help me right now. And maybe that's 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.500 our prayer sometimes. Maybe every day. Maybe 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:10.379 some of you are younger. Maybe some of you are 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:12.840 older. Maybe some of you are just getting started 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:14.919 in your race. Maybe some of us are in the middle 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.120 of our race. Maybe some of you have been running 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.319 for a long time. And it doesn't really matter 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:22.819 where in your journey in life you are. There 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:25.720 are days that... We probably pray this prayer, 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:30.120 and if we don't, we probably need to. God, don't 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:34.680 abandon me. Don't leave me. Don't let this struggle 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:39.100 get the best of me. Don't take me, he says, in 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.699 the middle of my life. Now, he acknowledges that 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:45.620 his life is finite. There's a limit to it. And 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:49.139 the Scripture says that our life is short and 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:51.120 full of struggle, is what the Scripture says. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:53.879 And we would all... Agree with that. We understand 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:57.019 that truth. But in the midst of his struggle, 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:59.519 he says, look, God, I know that I am finite. 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:02.980 I know that my strength is weak. I know that 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:06.819 I can't make it, God, on my own. But he also 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.180 realizes another truth that's very important. 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:12.620 And that is that even though we are temporal 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:17.279 in this world, God is eternal. And that's what 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.930 he says. My God, do not take me in the middle 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:23.509 of my life. Your years continue through all generations. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.220 God, you are eternal. God, you have always been 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:30.399 and you will always be. You have seen generations 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.060 come and you have seen generations go and you 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:35.579 have shown your power and deliverance to those 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:37.879 who have come before me and you'll show your 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:40.699 power to those who have come after me. God, you 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:43.279 are eternal. But right here and right now, I'm 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.139 living in this time and I am weak and I can't 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:49.240 make it in my distress and in my struggle. So, 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:54.759 God of all eternity, I need you to help me. right 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.199 now. And then he continues back to that idea 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.379 of praise. He stops for a second and says, look, 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.620 God, my strength is broken. I'm in the middle 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:08.060 of my journey and I'm broken, but I'm still going 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:10.259 to praise you. So we see that same theme kind 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:14.819 of going back and forth in Psalm 102. He says 00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:19.019 in verse 25, long ago you established the earth 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:22.019 and the heavens are the works of your hands. 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:26.500 They will perish, but you will endure. All of 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:29.660 them will wear out like clothing. You will change 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:33.199 them like a garment, and they will pass away. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:38.740 But you are the same, and your years never end. 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:44.040 What a great reminder there that God is eternal. 00:06:44.339 --> 00:06:49.399 God is all -powerful, and God is able to hold 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.290 together everything or everyone, No matter what 00:06:53.290 --> 00:06:57.490 goes on, God has the power to share eternity 00:06:57.490 --> 00:07:00.870 with us through Jesus Christ. That we don't just 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:03.310 have to live in this struggle and fight through 00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:06.470 this struggle and die, but that we serve an eternal 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:10.029 God, and if we trust in Jesus Christ, His Son, 00:07:10.069 --> 00:07:13.129 who died on the cross, then God promises to give 00:07:13.129 --> 00:07:17.569 us eternal life. And so the psalmist calls out 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:20.410 to an eternal God, knowing that whatever happens 00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:23.209 in this life, that there's something bigger and 00:07:23.209 --> 00:07:26.810 something better that is in control of the God 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:30.769 of the universe. And so even if this earth should 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:33.230 pass away, even if the heaven should pass away, 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:37.350 God will still remain in control. And those who 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:40.930 trust in God will be protected by God and saved 00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:43.990 by God and live for eternity in the presence 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:47.870 of God. a verse here that's quoted several times 00:07:47.870 --> 00:07:50.910 in the New Testament in verse 26, talking about 00:07:50.910 --> 00:07:53.269 the heavens and the earth. He says, They will 00:07:53.269 --> 00:07:55.589 perish, but you will endure. All of them will 00:07:55.589 --> 00:07:58.230 wear out like clothing. You will change them 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:01.050 like a garment, and they will pass away. We see 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:04.310 this reference sometimes. That is that things 00:08:04.310 --> 00:08:08.470 that we see will not always be. that heaven and 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:11.009 earth shall pass away, and they will pass away 00:08:11.009 --> 00:08:14.009 one day, and God will create a new heavens and 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:16.290 a new earth. That's what he says. God, you will 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:19.209 change them like clothing, like worn -out clothing 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:22.649 is changed. Now, it doesn't take us long to get 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:24.810 up in the morning, and we take our pajamas off, 00:08:24.850 --> 00:08:27.790 and we put our clothes on. It's almost instantaneous, 00:08:27.970 --> 00:08:30.370 only a few seconds for us to make that change. 00:08:30.870 --> 00:08:34.129 We take off the old, and we put on the new. And 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:36.210 that's what the psalmist says here. God, you 00:08:36.210 --> 00:08:38.529 are in control of everything, and everything 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:42.309 is going to pass away. It's going to change. 00:08:42.690 --> 00:08:45.610 It's going to be changed like a garment. But 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:48.610 God, you are still in control. So even if this 00:08:48.610 --> 00:08:51.389 world full of struggles is bad, I know, God, 00:08:51.429 --> 00:08:53.409 that I don't trust in this world full of struggles. 00:08:53.490 --> 00:08:56.450 I trust in you. And even the struggles will one 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.720 day pass away, but God, you will not. So God, 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:02.259 I trust in you that you will deliver me from 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:05.879 my struggles in this life and for all of eternity. 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:09.139 And that's the hope of the psalmist, is that 00:09:09.139 --> 00:09:12.320 he knows that this world is not the final say. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.100 Now that's good news for us tonight. We need 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:17.559 to be reminded of that. Because you go home and 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:19.460 you watch the news or you listen to the news 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:21.860 and you see all the evils and the struggles and 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:24.440 the pains that you're struggling, that you're 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:26.620 struggling with in your life and you see what 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:29.019 other people are struggling with around the world 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.600 and all the things that are going on, but we 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:33.559 have to remember what the psalmist remembered. 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.080 Okay, God, I'm weak right now in the midst of 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:40.019 the struggle, but when I'm weak, you are strong. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.360 So, God, I know that you are eternal and I'm 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.899 going to trust in you. To know that one day this 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.500 struggle will end. But God, if I trust in you, 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.320 I'll have an eternity in your presence. Where 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:53.840 there will be no more struggle. There will be 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.320 no more crime. There will be no more worries. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:59.259 There will be no more sin. All of that will come 00:09:59.259 --> 00:10:03.259 to an end in the presence of an eternal God. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:10.480 Verse 27. But you are the same and your years 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.769 will never end. Your servants' children. will 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:18.230 dwell securely and their offspring will be established 00:10:18.230 --> 00:10:22.529 before you. He's continuing to remember those 00:10:22.529 --> 00:10:26.169 who are going to come after him. That the God 00:10:26.169 --> 00:10:29.129 of the people who came before him is the same 00:10:29.129 --> 00:10:31.750 God that he's calling out to now. And he's the 00:10:31.750 --> 00:10:34.610 same God who's going to be for generations to 00:10:34.610 --> 00:10:38.210 come. Because generations will come and generations 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:41.350 will go. Good people will come and good people 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:44.279 will go. Bad people will come, bad people will 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.200 go. Good times will come, bad times will go. 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:52.100 This is the way that life is. Nothing in this 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:55.460 world is constant. There is only one thing that 00:10:55.460 --> 00:10:59.120 is constant, one person that is constant, and 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:02.360 that is God, who has always been and who will 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.860 always be. So anything we trust in other than 00:11:06.860 --> 00:11:09.600 God, we're in trouble because anything we trust 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.529 in is going to be destroyed. Anything we trust 00:11:12.529 --> 00:11:15.330 in is going to be gone. And anything we trust 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:17.929 in that's not God, when it is gone, we will be 00:11:17.929 --> 00:11:23.929 gone with it. But if we trust in the Lord, as 00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:25.830 the things of the world come and as the things 00:11:25.830 --> 00:11:28.669 of the world go, as the very heavens and the 00:11:28.669 --> 00:11:32.190 very earth shall pass away, we serve an eternal 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:34.750 God who will make a new heavens and a new earth. 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:37.750 And through Jesus Christ desires to spend an 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:42.620 eternity with us in that heaven. So God promises 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:46.399 us an eternity through Jesus Christ. May that 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.500 be where our hope is tonight, that we're not 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:53.200 overcome by what is seen, but we have faith in 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.460 what is not seen. We have faith in an eternity 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:00.740 where our struggle will come to an end. The psalmist 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:04.700 knew that truth, and he cried out to God, God, 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:08.720 I'm weak in my struggle, but I trust you. May 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:11.360 that be our prayer tonight. Let's pray. God, 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:13.220 we come to you. We thank you for this good word. 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:16.440 And it's a word we can relate to because we've 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.279 got those struggles and those pains and those 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:21.419 difficulties. But God, I pray that you would 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:25.600 help us to realize that you are bigger than the 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.500 things that we see. The things that we see are 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:32.320 only temporary. But God, you are eternal. So 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:33.860 I pray that we would see that truth, that we 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.059 would rejoice in that truth, that we would rejoice 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:40.990 in the way you've worked. and those who have 00:12:40.990 --> 00:12:43.889 come before us, that we would rejoice in the 00:12:43.889 --> 00:12:45.870 way that you work in our life, dear Lord, and 00:12:45.870 --> 00:12:50.330 that we would rejoice in the way that you'd work 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:52.149 in the lives of those who come after us, dear 00:12:52.149 --> 00:12:53.830 Lord, that they would know the same truth that 00:12:53.830 --> 00:12:56.429 we know, that the gospel has continued to be 00:12:56.429 --> 00:12:59.769 spread, that Jesus Christ and his love and his 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:02.309 death and his resurrection, dear Lord, are spread 00:13:02.309 --> 00:13:06.100 to a lost and dying world. that they would look 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:08.240 to the cross of Jesus, that they would look past 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:11.500 the things that are passing away, and they would 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:14.360 look to the eternal Savior of the world. And 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.980 I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.