1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 Our reading this morning comes from Psalm 13. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,320 Psalm 13, for the director of music, a Psalm of David. 3 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,820 How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? 4 00:00:20,820 --> 00:00:23,160 How long will you hide your face from me? 5 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:26,560 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,160 and day after day have sorrow in my heart? 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,640 How long will my enemy triumph over me? 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,500 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. 9 00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,580 Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death 10 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:43,920 and my enemy will say, I have overcome him 11 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,120 and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,560 But I trust in your unfailing love, 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,600 my heart rejoices in your salvation. 14 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,040 I will sing the Lord's praise for he has been good to me. 15 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:02,000 Morning again, church. 16 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,200 If you want to, it would be good to keep your Bible 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:08,560 open in front of you this morning 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,920 as we'll be in our text quite a bit. 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,680 You know, I'd say it would come as no surprise to you 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,120 if I was to announce from the pulpit 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,320 that life is unpredictable. 22 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,480 That's because there's ups and downs 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,760 in this pilgrimage that we're on, right? 24 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,760 We can be going so smoothly for a season. 25 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,320 Your job is satisfying, your friends and family 26 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:41,400 are enjoyable, your goals, your finances, health, 27 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,480 your outlook, it all seems so bright. 28 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,480 But then all of a sudden, life throws a curve ball at you. 29 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,960 Someone you know gets sick or they die, 30 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:59,960 you lose your job, a friend or family member betrays you. 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,640 The things you felt so secure in 32 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,200 suddenly feel so uncertain 33 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,680 and because of these external things, 34 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,280 whatever they might be, you then feel far from God 35 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,120 or completely abandoned altogether. 36 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,720 And so the question becomes, how do you, 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,600 how do we, the people of God, trust God 38 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,360 in the midst of these circumstances? 39 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,160 How do we trust him when we don't understand 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:36,160 what's happening, when you can't see the end in sight? 41 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,160 How do we trust God when you feel like 42 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,280 he's nowhere to be found? 43 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:46,280 These are valid questions and this morning in this Psalm, 44 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,720 we're gonna see the Psalmist, David, 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,360 question these things as well. 46 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,560 However, in the midst of his feelings, 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,480 he learned so wonderfully to navigate through it all, 48 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,760 leaving us a powerful lesson. 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,680 But before we get into our passage this morning, 50 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,440 I might invite you to join with me in prayer 51 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,640 and we'll ask our Father to help us understand 52 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:15,360 these words that we're looking at this morning. 53 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,600 Would you please join me in prayer? 54 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,640 Father God, we come to you in the midst 55 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:25,840 of all sorts of things happening in our lives. 56 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,720 We are so desperate to hear from you this morning. 57 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:35,080 We ask that you would hold our Lord Jesus Christ 58 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,280 high among us and that your spirit would lead us to him. 59 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,040 That our ears would be opened, our hearts softened 60 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:47,040 by the work that you, we beg of you this morning, 61 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:48,720 would do among us. 62 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,960 We ask for this for the sake of Christ 63 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,800 and in his name, amen. 64 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:00,080 You may have noticed as Sam read this passage out this morning, 65 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:05,080 it starts with the words, how long, Lord? 66 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:10,080 Lord, in fact, this isn't the only time David questions 67 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,440 God's seeming absence in this Psalm. 68 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,680 You may have noticed it was read out that phrase, 69 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:22,680 how long, four times in just two verses, 70 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,360 which tells us something as to the nature 71 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,400 of what's going on in David's heart here. 72 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,280 And it's this, for whatever reason, we're not really told, 73 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,120 David feels abandoned by God. 74 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,200 And not just for a short moment, it seems, 75 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,240 but for long enough for him to be questioning 76 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:49,240 if God was ever going to be seen in his life again. 77 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,880 That's why he asks in the rest of verse one, 78 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,400 will you forget me forever? 79 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,440 How long will you hide your face from me? 80 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,160 Notice that he feels abandoned. 81 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:08,160 That's why his prayer has such intense emotion to it 82 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,080 because we can presume that he's writing these words 83 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,400 off the back of an extended period of time 84 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,720 of feeling isolated from God. 85 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:20,600 That's what he means by saying, 86 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,600 how long will you hide your face from me? 87 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,800 It's language of isolation, 88 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,320 which for David has already lasted way too long, 89 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,240 meaning this season that he's in 90 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:39,000 doesn't seem to just be a little dip in the road kind of thing. 91 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,960 No, it seems to be a long-term stretch. 92 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,960 And our psalmist is feeling the weight of a sense of absence, 93 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,200 causing intense anguish in his heart. 94 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:57,200 He desires God so desperately, 95 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,200 but as David perceives it, God is nowhere to be found. 96 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,520 So he cries, how long Lord? 97 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:10,520 How long, how long, how long will it be like this? 98 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,080 Now what we're seeing here in the psalm 99 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,920 is so important for us to understand church 100 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,320 because what David is modeling for us 101 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,320 is no way a heartless exercise. 102 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,160 Now David isn't saying a prayer that he had learnt 103 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,080 to repeat as to get God's attention 104 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,200 because he knows that going to God like that 105 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:39,200 with vain repetitions, with heartless, rote, learnt words 106 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:40,760 will do nothing. 107 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:47,080 David knows that he has no sense of God in his life. 108 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:50,160 It's killing him. 109 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,400 He knows something is drastically not right. 110 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,040 So he doesn't ignore it or try to occupy himself 111 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:57,880 with other things. 112 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,040 No, he cries from the depths of his heart. 113 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,600 He howls, if you will, with a deep lament of honesty. 114 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:09,080 Saying, where are you? 115 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,320 How long is it going to be like this? 116 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,500 Are you really gone forever, God? 117 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:20,560 Have you ever felt like that? 118 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,280 Have you ever walked through an event, 119 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:30,280 gone through a dark valley and felt the crushing weight 120 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,480 of isolation from God? 121 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,320 Have you perceived to have been abandoned and cried out, 122 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,760 where are you in this, God? 123 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:43,040 What are you doing? 124 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,880 How long will it be like this? 125 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,680 How long will you let this happen to me? 126 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,800 And felt like your prayers were going nowhere, 127 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,880 like you were just speaking to the ceiling. 128 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:00,840 If you can say yes to that this morning, 129 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,960 if you can think of those times, 130 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,160 you may even be feeling like you're in one of those times 131 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,360 right now, then you're not alone. 132 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,040 Let me assure you of that. 133 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,840 In fact, that's exactly what we are seeing in this, 134 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,720 this morning, for whatever reason, 135 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,680 God's chosen man, the king of Israel, 136 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,560 a man that was said to be after God's own heart 137 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:30,320 has no sense of God working in, through, 138 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,200 or around his life. 139 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:38,080 No, he has a sense of abandonment and it's crushing him. 140 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,360 It's weighing heavy on him because he feels 141 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,320 like his creator has forgotten him. 142 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:49,160 Yet what's going to become apparent to us this morning, 143 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,400 church, is that his perception of things, 144 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,400 our perception of things, well, it isn't always 145 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,040 so very accurate because what David feels here, 146 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,160 what he presumes to be the case, 147 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,520 isn't really the case at all. 148 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,120 Now, in saying that, that doesn't change the fact 149 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,800 that he feels abandoned, we can all feel isolated 150 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,200 from God from time to time, no doubt. 151 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:22,360 That's not being downplayed here this morning, not at all. 152 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,040 But as we'll see, the way God's people feel 153 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:31,040 in times of despair doesn't change what is true of God 154 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,760 or his love towards his people. 155 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,760 Now, in saying that, David knows what we know 156 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,200 and it's this, God never abandons his people 157 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,320 no matter how they might feel. 158 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,320 We saw this just a few weeks ago when we explored Psalm 22, 159 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,720 where this very same David penned the beautiful lyrics 160 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,720 in response to how he was feeling in the moment. 161 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,560 You might remember it, he started by asking, 162 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:07,560 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 163 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:13,040 Only to go on to remind himself that God saves those 164 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,720 who trust in him, which led David to end the whole Psalm 165 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:22,720 in praise and adoration of God's faithfulness. 166 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,400 You might remember it, in Psalm 22, 167 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,400 we saw that the Lord never leaves nor forsakes his people. 168 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:35,400 Not because we are deserving of this, 169 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:40,120 but because of his grace alone. 170 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,240 That's why we are never abandoned 171 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,520 because of God's unmerited favor, 172 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,440 because of his unmerited love alone. 173 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,280 Yet it seems that this message is something 174 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,480 that God has to continually remind his people of, 175 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:02,480 over and over and over and over again, 176 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,440 especially when hard times hit us. 177 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,920 For example, in the book of Isaiah, 178 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,200 while speaking to Israel, 179 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,920 Isaiah in the 49th chapter of his book, 180 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,920 he reports that God's people were lamenting, 181 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,720 and in their prayers they were saying, 182 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:25,720 the Lord has forsaken us, the Lord has forgotten us. 183 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,080 Why were they saying that? 184 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,960 Well, hard times had come. 185 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,240 That was a context of their prayer. 186 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,720 They were in exile, they had been taken out of Israel, 187 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:38,160 they were in Babylon, 188 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,720 and while they weren't in their home country, 189 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,360 they felt abandoned of God. 190 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,800 And so they cried out to him, 191 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,800 the Lord has forsaken us, the Lord has forgotten us. 192 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,480 I think this tells us something. 193 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,440 It tells us that the people of God 194 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,720 in the journey of following God, 195 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,600 of being his people, of being his children, 196 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,440 well, sometimes we're not always going to feel 197 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,520 so close to him in this pilgrimage, 198 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,160 especially in the dips and the valleys of this life. 199 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:22,120 We're not always going to have the warm and fuzzies. 200 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,400 So when those times hit, not if, 201 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,640 but when, when those hard times come, 202 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,240 then we mustn't be surprised by the temptation 203 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,840 to erroneously like David, like Israel, cry out, 204 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,840 the Lord has forsaken me, the Lord, he's forgotten me. 205 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,640 And I say this is erroneous because if you continue 206 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,560 to read on in Isaiah, especially verse 15, 207 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,920 the word of the Lord comes to his people. 208 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:58,440 And through Isaiah, he says, 209 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,360 can a mother forget the baby at her breast 210 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:06,360 and have no compassion for the child that she is born? 211 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:11,240 Though she may forget, I will never forget you. 212 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:16,040 See, I have you engraved on the palms of my hands. 213 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,680 That's a beautiful picture that the Lord gives his people here. 214 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:24,120 He's saying in effect, no, 215 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:29,120 though you may not feel like it right now, you're mine. 216 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,560 How could I ever forget you? 217 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:34,240 You're my children. 218 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,800 And more than that, I have each one of your names 219 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,080 essentially tattooed on my hands. 220 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,760 What an incredible picture that we have here, church. 221 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,760 The Lord is like a loving parent who adores his children. 222 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,320 So much so that our very names are written 223 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,400 on the palms of his hands. 224 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,240 Yet how quickly we forget this 225 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,840 when we don't see or feel him in our lives. 226 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,160 Now, I see this already in my own children. 227 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,480 I absolutely adore them. 228 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,000 They know that, but sometimes for whatever reason, 229 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,440 they have to go to their rooms. 230 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,080 Sometimes, you know, daddy has to close the door. 231 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,040 Sometimes daddy has to be in the next room 232 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:31,040 and they can't see me or feel me and they cry. 233 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,680 I have heard them verbatim say, 234 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,320 you don't love me anymore, daddy. 235 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,520 We have to explain to them, have we for a moment 236 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,400 stopped adoring you? 237 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,720 Have I for a second stopped knowing exactly where you are? 238 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,920 Have I stopped caring for your wellbeing? 239 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:57,000 Have you at any moment stopped being 240 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,000 my awesome little child? 241 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:04,680 Absolutely not. 242 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:06,720 No way. 243 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,040 17th century pastor, John Owen, 244 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,520 explains this very thing so well. 245 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,800 He says, God's love for his children is like the sun. 246 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,720 It's consistent. 247 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,600 Even though clouds might obscure it for a time, 248 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,160 it doesn't mean the sun isn't there. 249 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,440 No, it's always there. 250 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:28,120 And that's the thing. 251 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,600 The sun doesn't just disappear from existence 252 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,320 when it's overcast or raining. 253 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,440 It doesn't even vanish during thunderstorms. 254 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,800 That's right there the whole time behind those big, 255 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:47,400 big frightening clouds. 256 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,320 Yeah, for some reason, I don't know about you, 257 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:55,320 but my mind, it loves to concentrate on the clouds. 258 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,240 I love to meditate on the thunder and the lightning. 259 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,720 And in the process, I think we forget about the warmth 260 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,000 of the sun that we enjoyed just moments before. 261 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,480 And that's what we're seeing in our text 262 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,040 for us this morning, church. 263 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:18,320 David's mind isn't on what he knows to be true 264 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,920 about God's love for his children. 265 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:26,920 No, his mind is on what he sees and feels around him. 266 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,760 His mind is squarely fixed on the so-called clouds. 267 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,520 And as he feels the weather, as he has no comfort, 268 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:37,040 as he has no warmth, 269 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:41,680 he starts to feel forgotten and forsaken. 270 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,440 And he wrestles with his own thoughts of abandonment, 271 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,840 going on to say there in verse two, 272 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,160 how long must I wrestle with my thoughts? 273 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,400 And day after day have sorrow in my heart. 274 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,960 How long will my enemy triumph over me? 275 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,960 Brothers and sisters, this is so very raw, 276 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:14,040 so honest what David is bringing to his God, 277 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,080 his creator, our God. 278 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,480 David is saying in effect that because he isn't feeling 279 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,920 a closeness with God, because he can't see him doing 280 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,280 anything in his life because this enemy, 281 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,480 whatever or whoever it might be, 282 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,920 he is left with his own dark thoughts, 283 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,040 his own dark thinking, his own planning 284 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,560 with what to do next. 285 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,720 And it's causing him serious distress. 286 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,440 And because he can't stop meditating on those thoughts 287 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,120 of abandonment on these what ifs and what next, 288 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:54,600 it's causing him to spiral. 289 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,600 And here for just a moment, I wanna pause 290 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,640 and acknowledge that some of us in this room 291 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,000 are more prone to this than others. 292 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:11,080 To meditate on the what ifs and the what nexts of this life. 293 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:15,760 And it's a consistent battle with your mind 294 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:20,760 to keep yourself from absolutely spiraling out of control. 295 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,720 As a pastor, as I get to meet different personalities, 296 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,320 I'm continually amazed by some people 297 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,200 how they're able to compartmentalize things 298 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:33,680 that are going on around their life. 299 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,400 While others are like, what about this? 300 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:37,240 What about that? 301 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,480 Haven't you thought of this? 302 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,840 All of us in this room have different personalities 303 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,360 and battles that come. 304 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:50,800 And with those differences, we have to deal with them. 305 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,080 But we do it in community. 306 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,120 And we learn to understand and love 307 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:58,960 and serve one another in the midst of those things. 308 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,960 I know of people that when they become fixated on a problem 309 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,160 when there's something going on 310 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:10,160 that they're tempted to isolate themselves from community. 311 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,840 And though that seems like the most natural thing 312 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,040 in the world to do to deal with that stress, 313 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,120 it actually causes them to spiral even more. 314 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:24,440 So they've had to learn to fight against isolating themselves. 315 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,680 And they have been so helped by different brothers 316 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,920 and sisters in the church who they've sat with 317 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,080 and maybe verbal processed with. 318 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,200 They've been helped by people in the church 319 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,800 that have walked a similar path 320 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:44,240 and might be a little further down the road. 321 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:48,280 I've heard of reports of people being so encouraged 322 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,360 because not only have they sat with people 323 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,160 that have listened to them, but more than that, 324 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,440 they have prayed with them. 325 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:57,600 They've encouraged them. 326 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,160 They've sat with them as they've gone with their anxieties 327 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,360 before the Lord and prayed with them. 328 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:06,480 And that's the thing, church. 329 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,800 God has designed us to be in community, 330 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:15,400 to be in a community of loving, serving, praying people. 331 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,080 And we're to encourage one another to keep going to God 332 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,560 with our various anxieties, 333 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,000 meaning none of you in this room need to go through 334 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,440 what you are going through alone. 335 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:34,600 No, you're among brothers and sisters, but more than that, 336 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,920 more than having a loving, serving, praying community 337 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:45,520 around you, you have a faithful savior who loves you more 338 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,200 than you could possibly ever hope to imagine. 339 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,600 We heard it in that beautiful prayer this morning from Tim. 340 00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:01,280 Christ has given his life for you. 341 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,800 I want you to hear this this morning. 342 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,640 If you are here, if you're feeling isolated, abandoned, 343 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:13,960 if you feel hopeless, if you're feeling defeated, 344 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,760 and don't keep those emotions bottled up. 345 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:24,600 Don't seek to keep that to yourself any longer. 346 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:32,360 Brother, sister, God is not ignorant to you 347 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:39,280 or frustrated by your struggles or pain or depression. 348 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,960 He cares about you, and you can trust him 349 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,520 with what you're going through. 350 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,960 That's why what we're told in the book of Hebrews 351 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,160 is so wonderful, so powerful for the people of God. 352 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,720 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who 353 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,800 has ascended into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, 354 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,000 they're told firmly to the faith we profess. 355 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,800 We don't have a high priest who's 356 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:11,120 unable to empathize with our weaknesses, 357 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,080 but we have one who has been tempted in every way, 358 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,800 just as we are, yet he didn't sin. 359 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:22,440 Let us then approach God's throne. 360 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,480 Let us approach his throne of grace with confidence 361 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,600 so that we may receive mercy and find grace 362 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:36,640 to help us in our time of need. 363 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,200 Brothers and sisters, when we're down, 364 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,720 when we're obsessing over things in our lives, 365 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:48,320 when we're spiraling with the what ifs and the what nexts, 366 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,680 we all know that change is needed. 367 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,040 And grace comes when we go before the one who 368 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:03,320 offers himself to us freely. 369 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:08,960 And so the cry that we see in this Psalm, on one level, 370 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:14,080 it's an invitation, an invitation to honestly see 371 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,880 and name the thing that you're experiencing 372 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,800 and go to God with it. 373 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,760 And here this morning, this is God's invitation. 374 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,080 This isn't something that I'm making up this morning. 375 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,520 This is something we see in our text. 376 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,080 This is God's invitation to his throne of grace. 377 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:37,160 This is his invitation to his people. 378 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,440 This is God's heart towards those that trust in him. 379 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,320 This is what the laments which make up so much of the Psalms 380 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:46,400 are all about. 381 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:53,160 God says to his people, as a father to a child, come to me. 382 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,560 Come and bring every part of yourself, 383 00:23:55,560 --> 00:24:02,640 even in the most desolate, most desperate places, come to me. 384 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,600 Let's be encouraged by that this morning. 385 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:10,120 Let's be honest with God in our prayers, which brings us 386 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,880 to the second part of our Psalm. 387 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:14,040 It's David's plea. 388 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,760 We see this in verses 3 and 4. 389 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,320 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. 390 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,560 Give light to my eyes or I'll sleep in death. 391 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,000 And my enemy will say, I've overcome him and my foes 392 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,440 will rejoice when I fall. 393 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,960 You may notice it, it's so raw, isn't it? 394 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:39,080 It's this son calling out to a father while in danger. 395 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,480 And he's so desperate for God to do something 396 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,560 about what's going on in his life. 397 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,920 And I want to point that out to you. 398 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,960 He's desperate for God to do something in his life, 399 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,560 meaning his prayer isn't just to the universe 400 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:01,400 in the off chance that maybe someone out there will hear him, 401 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,680 but it's directed to God himself. 402 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,960 He says, look on me, answer me, Lord my God. 403 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,960 Again, this is what the Psalm is directing all God's people 404 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,320 to do. 405 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,640 It's directing us to not bottle up our emotions 406 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,560 and to not swallow what's going on in our lives 407 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:27,280 and say, she'll be right, mate, sra, sra. 408 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,880 I'm sorry, I sounded like someone from Queensland then. 409 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,280 This Psalm is directing us to take everything before God, 410 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,160 to pour our hearts out before him, 411 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,720 to be raw and honest with what's going on. 412 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:47,480 And this tells us something about how God wants us 413 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:49,600 to interact with him. 414 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,120 First, David knows that God is personal, 415 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,200 that he's intimate with his people, 416 00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:00,520 because people can go, God's people can go to him in such a way. 417 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,080 Second, in the midst of this raw emotion and fear, 418 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:07,400 David knows that God is faithful because he 419 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:12,760 is a covenant making and keeping God. 420 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:19,120 And I say that because David uses the covenant name Lord 421 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:22,960 to address God in this Psalm. 422 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:24,560 Now, you might be here this morning 423 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,240 and you've never heard that word before. 424 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,800 And I would love to spend lots of time on it, 425 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,320 but for time's sake, I'll give you a simple kind of thing 426 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:34,800 to it. 427 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:40,360 A covenant and a contract are not the same thing. 428 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:44,120 That's because a contract is usually between equals 429 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,560 and is made by an agreement. 430 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,560 And terms and conditions are made. 431 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:53,720 And if it's broken, then the contract is over. 432 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,120 A covenant, on the other hand, at least in the way 433 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:01,360 the Bible presents it, is between a greater and lesser 434 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:02,760 party. 435 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,960 And a covenant, as God makes it throughout the Bible 436 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,240 with his people, is unconditional, 437 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,640 meaning that when God makes a promise, 438 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:16,800 its fulfillment doesn't rely on who he makes it with. 439 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:22,360 No, its fulfillment relies on his grace to accomplish it, 440 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:29,040 on his unfailing love to bring that promise to come to pass. 441 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:30,560 Why am I telling you this? 442 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:35,080 Because the title, the Lord, is wrapped up 443 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,000 in this covenantal language. 444 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,440 The Lord is God's covenant making and keeping name 445 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,680 that he revealed to Israel. 446 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,160 And that's what I want you to notice here in our text. 447 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:54,120 David is praying the covenantal name of God 448 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:55,920 all throughout this prayer. 449 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,000 And that's important to note, because he's 450 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,800 bringing his sadness, his honesty, 451 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,360 before the face of God. 452 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,680 And he's praying, I'm pleading with you, 453 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,280 to act in accordance with your name, 454 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,520 to act in accordance with your character, 455 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,080 to act in accordance with your promises and to your grace. 456 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,000 And this is where arguably the most important word 457 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,200 in the Psalm comes into play, because it reveals the trust 458 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,280 that David has in God's character. 459 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:36,720 It's a small word, but it's a word right there in verse 5. 460 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:43,800 It's the word, but why is this word so important? 461 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:48,920 How does that reveal David's trust in the Lord? 462 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,960 Because this is what's known for you English geeks out there, 463 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:57,480 a contrasting conjunction, meaning that everything 464 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,440 that has been said before is about to be strikingly 465 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,240 different with what comes next. 466 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,280 You may have noticed as we've worked our way through this Psalm 467 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,560 this morning, there's a structure. 468 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,520 David's prayer pretty much goes like this, God, where are you? 469 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,360 How long is it going to be like this? 470 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:18,520 What's happening here? 471 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:19,280 Answer me. 472 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:20,960 I'm dying. 473 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,440 Help me. 474 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,080 I don't know what to do. 475 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:30,160 But his prayer goes from God, I'm in a mess. 476 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,920 But Lord, I'm scared. 477 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,440 But God, I don't know what's happening here. 478 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,960 But what, David? 479 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,600 But I trust in your unfailing love. 480 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,080 See that church? 481 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,840 David's saying, I see all of this. 482 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:02,360 I feel all of this, but I trust you in it all. 483 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,120 This is what makes verses five and six so amazing, 484 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:06,920 is that there's nothing in this Psalm 485 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,880 to indicate to us any change in David's circumstances. 486 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,760 It seems like nothing has changed 487 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:20,680 except our Psalmist perspective on things. 488 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,600 How did this perspective change? 489 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,320 Well, it seemed to change because David 490 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,280 takes his focus off the so-called clouds, 491 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,960 off his own thoughts of abandonment, 492 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:39,160 and he starts to remind himself of God's covenantal character. 493 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:44,200 He starts to remind himself of the Lord's unfailing love. 494 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,000 David took his focus off his emotions, 495 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000 off what he perceived to be the case, 496 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,000 and he placed it on God's covenantal character 497 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,480 on his unfailing love. 498 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,400 In other words, he took his very real emotions 499 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,040 of feeling abandoned and those thoughts of God 500 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,040 casting him off and never coming back, 501 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:07,880 and he held them up to God 502 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,880 and what he had revealed about himself. 503 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,480 He had revealed about himself, 504 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:20,880 and he found his own thoughts and feelings wanting. 505 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:26,080 What a beautiful lesson we see here for ourselves, church. 506 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,600 The feelings that you have in your heart, 507 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,200 absolutely they are real. 508 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:36,880 Yes, our emotions shouldn't be pushed away or ignored, 509 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,720 but our perception of things. 510 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,240 It's not always so accurate in light of God's character 511 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,000 as revealed in his word. 512 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,760 So we have a choice, my dear brothers and sisters, 513 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,400 we can be ruled by our emotions, 514 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,320 ignoring what God has revealed about himself 515 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,840 and continue to spiral or through it all. 516 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,080 We can lay it all before him, 517 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,560 but in the doing, trust his character 518 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:12,480 in his unfailing love for his people. 519 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,480 As far as we know, we don't see it in our text this morning, 520 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,000 David had more questions than answers, 521 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,040 but he was able to say, 522 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,160 I'm an absolute pickle, 523 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,960 but I'm going back to what I know. 524 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,960 And so David, he holds onto God's character 525 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,040 in the midst of it all, 526 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,160 onto what he had revealed of himself. 527 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,400 That's what he clings to here. 528 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,960 He's holding onto the truth and he's saying, 529 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,360 there is a God who knows everything about me, 530 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,400 everything that is going on in my life, 531 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,520 every mistake, every fear, every dashed hope, 532 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,440 every joyless moment. 533 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,760 He knows everything that I'm going through, 534 00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:58,560 but he's still with me. 535 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,800 I trust that he's committed. 536 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,800 I trust that he's not leaving me 537 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,640 because of his grace alone, 538 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,360 and I will rejoice in his salvation. 539 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:16,760 And it's as he did this, 540 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,640 as our psalmist renews his mind on God's character, 541 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,720 on what he knows to be true, 542 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,680 it leads him to worship our God as we see there 543 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,400 in verses five and six. 544 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,520 God fulfills his promises to his people. 545 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,520 That's why David, though he doesn't feel it in the moment, 546 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:42,520 he can say, my heart rejoices in your salvation. 547 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,320 I will sing the Lord's praise for he has been good to me. 548 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:50,920 You know, it's just a few weeks ago 549 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,920 when Tony did the Christmas talk, 550 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,320 that we learned the word salvation, 551 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,120 it's actually found in the name Jesus. 552 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:00,320 That's what Jesus means. 553 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:05,320 It means salvation of the Lord or the Lord saves. 554 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,920 And in the big picture of the Bible, 555 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,520 the Lord, he came to us in the person of Jesus. 556 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,520 And it's this Jesus who had no sin 557 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,440 that chose to die on a cross 558 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,640 and to endure judgment that we deserve for our sin. 559 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:28,800 But then we know he rose from the dead in victory over sin. 560 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,640 The Bible says that anyone from anywhere 561 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,640 who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. 562 00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:41,760 David knew enough to know that you can count on God's salvation 563 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:42,920 in this fallen world. 564 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,320 And he knew that you can count on God's character 565 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,520 and his unfailing love. 566 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,440 That is the whole point of this psalm. 567 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,800 It's to honestly come before our God 568 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,800 with your hurts to cry out to him in your worries 569 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,080 and to look to the one who loves you, 570 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,520 to the one who has ultimately saved you 571 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:10,320 in the Lord Jesus Christ. 572 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,160 And brothers and sisters, as we do this, 573 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,560 as we honestly come before our God, 574 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,360 as we meditate on the gospel, 575 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:24,840 it will lead us to praise and worship him. 576 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:26,760 It's what we're gonna do now. 577 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,000 Each and every single one of us in this room 578 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,960 has a version of Psalm 13. 579 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:36,400 What's yours? 580 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:38,960 What's your sadness? 581 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,080 What's your lament? 582 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,600 Whatever it is, God invites you, dear one, 583 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:46,880 to bring it to him, 584 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,880 to come to him, to be honest and raw with him, 585 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,600 to cry out in your desperation, to plead with him. 586 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,640 The good news is this, and we have to remember it. 587 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,160 We don't mourn like those who have no hope. 588 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,800 No, it's because of what the Lord Jesus Christ 589 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,240 did for his people that we are able 590 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:16,880 to go to the throne of grace and know 591 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,440 that beyond a shadow of a doubt, 592 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:23,080 because of the sake of Christ, we are heard, 593 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,280 even when we don't feel it in the moment. 594 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,480 That's what I want us to do as a church this morning, 595 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:31,920 as a community. 596 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,960 We're gonna stand and reflect on what we've heard this morning, 597 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:39,240 and then after, we're gonna come to the Lord's table, 598 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:43,440 and we're gonna be reminded of why we can rejoice 599 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:45,880 in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. 600 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:48,120 Would we do that together? 601 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:49,600 Let's pray, then we'll sing, 602 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,480 and then we'll come to the Lord's table. 603 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,880 Would you please pray with me? 604 00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,400 Father God, we are so thankful for the gospel. 605 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,600 We are so thankful that we can come to you this morning 606 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,280 and know that we are heard. 607 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,600 That like sheep that are in the darkest of valleys, 608 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,280 we can know that you're rod and your staff, 609 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,080 that they comfort us. 610 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,880 Father, we are so thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ 611 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,960 that we can come before the throne of grace, 612 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:26,160 that you've put us in a community of people 613 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,520 that love you and are seeking you. 614 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:33,320 We ask, Lord, that wherever we are this morning, 615 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:37,320 in our own minds, with our own understanding of things, 616 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,240 that you would help us by your spirit 617 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:43,000 to know the gospel, to love Jesus, 618 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,480 that we would turn our eyes upon him. 619 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,040 And Lord, please make us into a community 620 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,200 that deeply care and love for one another, 621 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,840 have love for one another, genuine love for one another. 622 00:37:55,840 --> 00:38:09,160 We ask for this in Jesus' name, amen.