Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Good morning. Would you
please join me in prayer? Lord, the heavens declare
the glory of God. That is what your word says,
and I ask you that today you will teach us, guide
us in such a way that we are in awe of you, more
and more deeply loving you. Use me, I ask, in
the power of your spirit and in your grace. In
Jesus' name, amen. We've been studying a series
of studies that we call Songs for the Journey
because they're based on the book of Psalms.
And the book of Psalms in the Bible is a collection
of songs. We have only the lyrics. We don't have
the music to it. But the lyrics are profound
enough because most of them are prayers to God.
And at different moments, we learn different
things depending on what stage of life you're
in. We are inclined to a specific psalm because
we can identify with the words. And today, I'm
going to be studying with you Psalm 19. And if
I had to put a title to this song, it would be,
who knows best? Before this psalm was written,
if you rewind history, It's the time of Abraham.
Abraham was following God, and he's known as
the father of faith. And he found himself at
a place that I call the crossroads. All of us
find ourselves at one point or another at that
location, the crossroads, where in following
God, you find yourself in moments in which you
have to make decisions of which direction you
are going to go. and God seems to be indicating
something, but other people tell you other things,
your feelings tell you other things, and now
you're at the crossroads. What are you going
to do? And at the crossroads, even though the
direction that you're going to take matters,
what matters most is not the direction you take,
but which voice you are following. In other words,
the most important question at the crossroads
is, who knows best? They, me, God. And Abraham
is in this place of crossroads where he is growing
discouraged because he was following God. He
left his family. He moved out of their home country.
Now he's in this place. This is the sky before
him. Beautiful night sky. But he's thinking about
his future. God had promised him a son. The son
has never come. He's getting older. His wife
is getting much older. And now it's like the
hope of this ever happening is just fading. So
he's fearful about the future. He needs that
space of all the what ifs that you cannot sleep
at night. Thinking, what if this? What if that?
And it's in that moment that God encounters Abraham.
And says, Abraham, don't be afraid. Come on,
get up. Let's go outside. So they go outside
and God shows him the sky. And he says, Abraham,
look up into the sky and count the stars if you
can. That's how many descendants you will have.
Now it's very hard to get this view here from
Bangkok because in any city you're in, you have
light pollution. So to really see the sky. And
the stars, you have to go to these darker places.
And Abraham was in a time in which there was
no light invented yet, like electric light, like
we have it today. So his view was amazing. And
he's hearing God telling him, Abraham, can you
count the stars? You get my point. That's how
numerous your descendants will be. Did you believe
me? So at that moment, we are told that Abraham
really believed the Lord. And Abraham believed
the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous
because of his faith. This is the foundation
of the doctrine, by the way, of justification
by faith that the Apostle Paul will develop in
Romans later. That justification, this salvation,
being considered righteous before God is not
based on your works, but it's based on your response
of faith to God. And this is what Abraham experienced.
And years passed, and indeed God was right. He
knew what he was doing. He was trustworthy. And
the descendants of Abraham became a nation known
as the nation of Israel, which by God's power
and his grace still stands till today, despite
of all the things that have come against her.
But at this time in history, one of the kings,
most beloved kings of the nation of Israel, his
name was David. He was under the same sky and
many times as a shepherd, he would look at the
sky and see the same stars that God had invited
Abraham to watch and see and consider. And at
many moments, King David himself... Was exposed
to these moments of crossroads. About his career.
About taking the kingdom. About fleeing for his
life under persecution. About where to flee.
He became a refugee. About military tactics.
About many things. That he faced in life. In
which he had to ask. Who knows best? They? Me?
God? What am I going to do? And he was able to
live in different locations because of the persecution
he experienced in his life. So he lived as a
refugee in a pagan culture for many years. He
was able to see firsthand how many people looked
at the sky and they worshipped the stars. Other
people worshipped the sun and the moon. And they
looked at the sky and they thought. That they
needed to pray to these things to seek direction
for their lives. And he looks at the sky and
he says, oh no. No, the sky reveals something
completely different. And now he writes the song
of Psalm 19. And this is what he says. First
section. The heavens. Proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after
day they continue to speak. Night after night
they make him known. They speak without a sound
or word. Their voice is never heard. Yet their
message has gone throughout the earth. And their
words to all the world. God has made a home in
the heavens for the sun. My God is the one that
created the sun. The sun is not a God to be worshipped.
My God created the sun. And the sun bursts forth
like a radiant bridegroom. After his wedding,
he rejoices like a great athlete, eager to run
the race. But nothing else is not a God to be
worshipped. It's just a star created by God.
The sun rises at one end of the heavens. And
follow its course to the other end. And nothing
can hide from its heat. Because that's the only
thing it produces. It's not a God that has presence.
But my God is the creator of all these things.
And the heavens declare his glory. Section 2.
The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving
the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple. The commandments of the
Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The
commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight
for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure. Lasting
forever. The laws of the Lord are true. Each
one of them is fair. They are more desirable
than gold. Even the finest gold. They are sweeter
than honey. Even honey dripping from the comb.
They are a warning to your servant. A great reward
to those who obey them. Section 3. How can I
know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse
me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant
from deliberate sins. Don't let them control
me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent
of great sin. And last section of the song. May
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and
my redeemer. Beautiful song that King David writes
for us to remember what to do when we are at
the crossroads. What voice are we following?
Who is influencing our decisions? And what he
wants to make sure is that we get it right. And
he starts by saying, look, when you are at the
crossroads, look up. Because when you look up,
you will see God's creation. And when you see
how amazing it is, then you will realize how
amazing God is. So he says that at the very beginning
of the psalm. The heavens proclaim the glory
of God. The sky displays his craftsmanship. Day
after day they continue to speak. Night after
night they make him known. This is something
that he designed, that he created, that he made.
And once you understand that, your perspective
on God and who he is changes. And your ability
to trust him increases. Because he is awesome.
Now we have the privilege that King David or
Abraham didn't have. Perhaps we don't have the
clear skies here in the city that they had, but
we have pictures and videos that they could never
have seen. 35 years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope
was sent to orbit. And for 35 years, we've been
collecting pictures. Three and a half years,
another space telescope was released in orbit.
This was a different type of technology, higher
than the previous one, but both of them have
been generating images and our understanding
of the universe that astronomers are just so
excited about. There's never been a better time
to be an astronomer because the quality of these
images. And some of them are just so amazing
that it's hard to describe how beautiful this
universe is and as you saw it at the beginning
video this is vast it's so huge that we are just
starting to understand a little bit more about
it now i'm limited because i can only see pictures
of it but there are people called astronauts
that have actually gone into space and there's
a particular one His name, Jeffrey Williams.
Jeffrey Williams was going to several missions
into space. But one particular mission lasted
a long time. He was there for almost six months.
And he tells us in his interviews that he was
just going around the earth, complete circle
around the earth, every 90 minutes. So imagine
every 90 minutes going around the earth for six
months. He got to see the best views and he had
a very nice camera. He's just like me. He loves
photography. So you know how many pictures he
took? More than 3 ,000 pictures. And I understand
I would have taken a million pictures. It's just
like another one, another one. You know, a sunset,
another sunset. How many sunsets can you capture,
you know? Each one, beautiful. So he published
a book called The Work of His Hands with his
best photography of these 3 ,000 pictures. What
was interesting is that as he was there orbiting
the earth and seeing the universe and experiencing
it, he says, I experienced God. And when you
see the magnitude and the beauty of the earth
like that, to look out at this kind of creation
and not believe in God is to me impossible. I
can simply echo what God had already said. Not
only David is telling us, hey, look up, look
at the sky, it reveals God's glory, his craftsmanship.
God himself had to tell through the prophets
that, hey, I am the one that created all this
stuff. Because people started abandoning him
and they started believing myths. They started
believing that they needed to worship the stars
and the moon and the sun. So through prophet
Isaiah, God tells them, for this is what the
Lord says. He who created the heavens. He is
God. He who fashioned and made the earth. He
founded it. And when He designed it and when
He created it, He did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited. And He says, I
am the Lord and there is no other. Whatever other
belief you have of how this creation came to
be is a myth. Because I am the one who created
it and I am the Lord and there's no other. And
remember this, I created it so that it will be
inhabited. We'll get to that. We'll get back
to that in a minute. But even though there are
people like astronaut Jeffrey Williams that have
shown us the pictures and told us his story,
not everybody that looks up sees the same thing.
Some people say, well, Pastor Pablo, I look at
the stars all the time. I read my horoscope every
single week because I am hoping, and can you
please... Pray to help me a little bit that the
stars will align with my plans and my future
so I'll get lucky. And you live looking at the
horoscope. And for you it's not a joke. This
is your life. And when you have to make decisions
whether you dated that guy or not, you ask him
for his horoscope information to see if he was
compatible or not. And God says, No. I created
the stars. You need to follow me. The stars have
no power to dictate your future and to tell you
what is right or best. It's me. Follow me. And
other people say, well, you know, I don't believe
in the horoscope. But, hey, I look up into the
universe and I meditate often. To try to become
one with the universe. And you know you find
so much peace when you are in that place of meditation.
And you are one with the universe. Pastor Pablo
if I could just tell you how special that is.
No. God says I created the universe. You cannot
be one with the universe. Just like you cannot
be one with that tree or that rock. I created
the universe. I want you to be in intimate relationship
with me. Not with the universe. I want you to
be reconciled to me. You want to know peace?
Wait until you know me. Then you will know true
peace. And there are other people that say, Pastor
Pablo, that's myths. Horoscope. Becoming what
with the universe? I'm a rational being. I believe
in science. So when I look at the sky, I realize
how lucky we are to even exist. Because, you
know, evolution has brought us all of this life.
And you know how everything began. And just to
imagine that from that accident, billions of
years ago, all this showed up. And you know,
scientists tell us that the universe is so vast
that it's just a matter of time before we find
extraterrestrial life. Because the odds for us
to exist through evolution, of course, it must
be somewhere else too. So yeah, I spent a lot
of time wondering when we're going to find extraterrestrial
life in other planets. And God says. No. I am
the one that created the heavens and the earth.
I am the craftsman behind all of this. I designed
it. And I want you to know me. Because when you
realize that I am that person. Then you can start
trusting me. Because you realize. Not how lucky
you are, but how powerful I am. Sometimes I think
of it like, if you were to invite me to have
dinner at your home, and you are a great cook,
everybody knows that when you cook the meal,
it's going to be better than the restaurant.
So you say, Pastor Paolo, I kind of like you,
so I want to invite you to have dinner with us.
Will you come home? I say, sure. So we show up,
and you set the table, and you bring the food,
and we start eating it. And I go, mmm, mmm, this
is nice. This is really good. You know, the chicken
is not too overcooked. It's just right. You got
lucky. You know, it's just right. And it's not
too salty. It's just right. It's the balance
of the flavors. You got lucky. You know how hard
it is? The chances that all this would happen?
At that moment, you would look at me and you
would say, what do you mean? I got lucky. Yeah,
you know, I mean. To put all these different
ingredients together to create this symphony
of flavors that are all in harmony with each
other. That's just amazing that happened. And
how do you even manage to do something like this?
You are really lucky. And at that moment you
will say, Pastor Pablo, can you just leave? I
will never invite you again, never show up to
a CV again. Because of course you will be offended.
It's like you are the cook. You made this thing.
You know how to get the chicken right. You know
how to balance all the flavors. You know the
recipe. And yet, people like Dr. Michael Gulen
grew up believing that we were just lucky. And
he would look at the sky and say, how lucky we
are. And he had no idea. That it was not luck.
But there was a cook that was an expert cook
who had designed all of this and brought it all
together. And he had created this planet to be
inhabited. So Michael Goleman believed all of
this stuff. He was a scientist. Very well accomplished.
As a physicist and astrophysicist. He has studied
all these things. He says, I knew the universe
like the palm of my hand. All the theory, all
the physics, all the math, everything. And no
joke, he was a famous professor of physics at
Harvard University for several years. And not
only that, but he was also a science editor for
ABC News in the U .S. A very well accomplished
man. But he was an atheist. And he had believed
the whole theory of the whole thing that everything
was a big accident and that we are lucky that
we even exist. But the more he started studying
it, the more he realized that the scientific
evidence, as much as he loved science, was limited.
And there were things that didn't add up. And
he started asking questions he hadn't asked before,
which led him to start seeking religion after
religion after religion until he came to read
the Bible and he encountered the God who said,
I created the heavens and the earth. And he started
finding compelling evidence that what the Bible
was telling him aligned with what he knew to
be true in science. And he was so amazed that
this ancient book will say all of these things,
that little by little, he started falling in
love with this creator. And he started looking
back at the things that he had believed 100 %
with all of his heart, only to start realizing
that many of the things that he thought were
facts, were actually not facts at all. They were
theories. That he had accepted as truth. And
now his eyes became open to things he hadn't
seen before. One of them for instance. He realizes
in the history of astronomy and the perspective
of our understanding of the universe. Just as
in the 1920s until now it has changed so much.
From the time of Einstein. He himself believed
what was the common truth. stated and believed
in the science sector during that time that the
universe was eternal, no beginning, no end. That
was believed for about 200 years. So as smart
and as accomplished as Albert Einstein was, he
believed that the universe was eternal. And it
was a common thing accepted among atheist scientists
because it's convenient, right? If it's eternal,
it means there's no beginning. And if there's
no beginning, there's no creation. So they believed
that for many centuries. But one day, this physicist
from a... I forgot what country he was from.
But he was a Catholic priest. Belgium. That's
where he was from. And he started doing some
studies and he noticed that there were certain
changes that didn't just align with the idea
of a... Universe that was static. And this evidence
implied that there was movement. And then another
physicist realized that the galaxies that were
in the distance were actually moving away from
us. So these two guys were seeing evidence that
was implying that if there was movement like
that, it means that if you rewind, At some point,
everything must have had a beginning. And as
they are coming with these different theories
that the universe is not eternal, but it had
a beginning, this physicist from Belgium says,
look, my theory... Proposes that at the very
beginning there was something like, what can
I call it, like a cosmic egg. That suddenly exploded
and all these parts and all these things created
the whole thing. And it's like the first atom.
And as he was debating these ideas on radio in
England. Another of the scientists who really
believed the universe was eternal like everybody
else had believed for centuries. He looks at
him and he says, come on. You really want me
to believe that everything started with a big
bang. Like that. As a way of just being sarcastic.
And that little phrase stuck. And this theory
became known eventually as the big bang theory.
But they all believed that even though there
was movement and there was a beginning of something.
That they could theorize maybe was this. atom
at the beginning the point of singularity as
they call it today they still believe that the
movement of expansion was consistent but now
another physicist another scientist says look
i just discovered that the universe is not expanding
at a steady space speed it's actually accelerating
and if it is accelerating It means that there's
something that is causing that acceleration.
What is that? We don't know. Why don't we call
it dark energy? Yeah, that sounds good. Let's
call it dark energy. So dark energy, what is
it? We do not know. Can you see it? No, we don't
see it. But something is causing that expansion.
Okay, and as they study more, they realize that
there were all these points of gravity, you know,
these black holes and all these things, and there
was so much that they could not see. They say,
you know, why don't we call it dark matter? Okay,
that's good. Dark matter, dark energy. Can you
see it? No. Can you tell me what it is? No, we
don't know what it is. But wait. Michael Gillan
says, we discover that this dark energy and dark
matter involves 95 % of the universe. Which means
that we can only see... 5 % and all of our theories
about the beginning of the earth and the calculations
of the age of the universe, all of that is theory
after theory of only a 5 % of the visible universe,
which means that there's 95 % that we have to
accept by faith. And at that moment, all of his
solidity of his convictions as an atheist scientist,
start becoming shaky but the one thing that really
like hit it was his understanding of the earth
because he realized that the more they studied
the earth this physicist started realizing that
there were certain constants mathematical formulas
that started revealing certain things that they
eventually called this the fine -tuning of the
universe. In the idea of evolution, that everything
started with a point of singularity and exploded
and it created all this chaos, in that idea,
the earth was just a big rock. It was all these
rocks flying everywhere. Imagine an explosion.
And suddenly this big rock called earth got hit
by another big rock. And that big rock, as it
hit the earth, then a piece of this earth came
out of it, you know, and it became the moon.
And that's why the Chinese scientists today that
have been in the moon have brought samples. And
now we know that some of the minerals of the
earth and the age of these things are similar.
And they were surprised by it. So all of that
idea that came is built on the idea that it's
an accident. And that we just got lucky. But
when they started studying all the factors required
for life, everything was revolutionized in his
understanding. Because he says, you know, Paolo,
we discovered that all the factors for life to
exist are so precise that there's no way that
life could exist unless this was precisely tuned.
Let me tell you some of them. If the position
of the earth was a little bit closer to the sun,
or a little bit farther from it, there would
not be life. If the position of the moon would
change, the gravitational system in the earth
will change, and the seasons will not be there.
If from all the spectrum of light, we didn't
have just the right particular spectrum that
causes photosynthesis to... then there wouldn't
be plants. If the earth did not have the right
electromagnetic field that protects the earth
from all the energy that is coming to it, then
there would not be life on earth. It would be
uninhabitable. If the gravitational constant
that keeps all of these things would change a
little bit, there wouldn't be life. And if the
strong nuclear force that keeps the nucleus in
the atom together and brings all the electrons
and protons together and causes the connection
between all of these atoms to be able to create
cells and life, if that changed a little, there
wouldn't be cells, there wouldn't be life. All
of these things have to add up for life on earth
to exist. And the chances that any of these factors
will all align together somewhere else in the
universe is almost impossible. He says, look,
just to put it this way, we're not talking about
changing maybe 1%, no, no. Changing these values
0 .1%, no, no. I'm talking about a level of precision
that if you were to change any of these constants,
a 0 .0000000001%, that little, there wouldn't
be life. And as they started discovering these
things in astrophysicists, There were some of
them that do not believe in God. Some are agnostics
or atheists as well. But there was one particular
guy from Cambridge who was an astrophysicist
when they were discovering all this fine -tuning.
He says, you know, according to all my mathematical
calculations, it's the same probability. Just
to give you an idea of what we're talking about
here. Imagine a tornado passing through a junkyard.
And then producing a Boeing 747. That is the
odds that we are talking about. For the universe
to produce life on earth. It has to be designed
for life. There is no other explanation. And
God says. Okay. Finally you are getting it. I
already told you. I created. The earth. To be
inhabited. When are you going to start giving
me the credit. For who I am. When are you going
to start seeing me. For the amazing God I am.
So you can trust me. At your crossroads. And
I love. I'm reading this book. Right now from.
Dr. Gillen. It's called Amazing Truths. If you're
a scientist, you will love the book. If you are
someone like me who is not a scientist but loves
science, you will love the book. He just goes
through different things now as a Christian that
knows the Lord. And how the Bible and science
are just speaking the same language. Beautiful.
Fascinating stuff. Who knows best? David says,
look up. If you want to know the kind of God
you have, look up. Because the stars and the
sky reveals His glory. And when you know the
kind of God you're following, you will be more
quick to trust Him than any other expert that
is telling you to disagree with God. The second
part of the song tells us to look down. Because
God who created the world and has made it to
be inhabited and has placed you here. Because
he has a vision and a plan for you. Has also
given you the word to guide you. So that you
have content. So that you have understanding.
And that's why he says. In this section. About
how reliable the word of God is. But now let's
do this together. What if you read the section
that is underlined. And I'll mention the section
that is highlighted in blue. Let's do it like
that. The instructions of the Lord are. Yes.
They can revive your soul. The decrees of the
Lord are. Exactly. They can make you wise. The
commandments of the Lord are? Yeah. And they
will bring so much joy in your heart. The commands
of the Lord are? Not confusing at all. They will
give you insight for living. Reverence for the
Lord is? Yeah. And it lasts forever. Not like
the opinions of the experts that change every
other year. The laws of the Lord are true. Not
an opinion. And they are fair. Each one of them.
And then he says, they are a warning to your
servant. They are a great reward to those who?
Look down. At the crossroads, look down. Look
at the word of God. Because God gave it to you
so that you can indeed have clarity about where
to go. Whether turn right or whether turn left.
What is right? What is wrong? What is pleasing
to God? What is not pleasing to God? What is
going to go against you? And what is going to
build you up? The word of God is trustworthy.
You can count on it. But not everybody looks
at the word of God and sees the same thing. Some
people look at the word of God and sees an old
book that is just another myth, like many of
those ancient myths of Mesopotamia. Plus, it's
so irrelevant to modern life. There was a woman,
her name was Rosaria. Her parents paid for private
school for her since she was young, so they sent
her to Catholic school. Great education she was
having. But she remembers that her father, often
whenever he would say goodbye to her in the morning,
would say, Rosaria, do everything the nuns tell
you, but don't believe a word of what they teach
you. When the father would say that to her, he
was sending that message of, you know, that's
a good education, lots of discipline, good stuff.
But when it comes to the Bible and spiritual
things, don't believe any of that. It's a myth.
So Rosaria grew up, graduated from Catholic school.
But thought that the Bible was an ancient myth.
And she became a person who loved English. She
got her doctorate. She became a professor at
a famous university in the U .S. And then as
she is just living her life in the academia.
She starts pursuing her. committed relationship
with her partner, and then she starts becoming
an outspoken person for lesbian rights and becomes
an activist for the LGBT community. And as she
is living that life, she's getting annoyed by
all these Christians that believe in that Bible.
And she calls them the Christians of the far
right. And she says, you know what, I need to
write a book about them. I need to write a book
about what is the mindset that these people have.
Why are they so against us? And some of them
are very mean. And they keep talking about that
old myth, the Bible. So she decides that she's
going to publish a book to be able to point these
people to truth. So as Rosaria is in this place,
researching all of these things, she realized
that if she's going to be academically, you know,
have academic integrity, she cannot just talk
about them. She has to understand the book. So
she's going to have to read the Bible. Yeah.
That ancient, myth, irrelevant book. Yeah. So
she started reading it. And as she started reading
it and doing her research, this lasted years.
She started experiencing something that I have
heard before. When you read the Bible, you're
not just reading the Bible, but the Bible is
reading you. And that's what happened to her.
She started becoming convicted. Even though there
were all these other voices, all these experts,
all these people telling her, this is the truth.
You can do anything that you want with your body.
It's your body. No one has a say in what you
do with your sexuality. Do what makes you happy.
Suddenly, she encountered a God. And she started
feeling convicted and wrestling with that because
it's like, why would I trust an ancient book
full of mythology with my sexual life? It makes
no sense. Until eventually it did. And page after
page, encounter after encounter, God started
drawing her to him. And she became a follower
of Jesus. And in that process, she became convicted
that the lifestyle that she had been pursuing
was no longer the lifestyle that God had called
her to pursue. And all of these things, she says,
The lesbian lifestyle was part of my biography,
but it's not part of my identity. She went through
all this journey and she had to make a decision
at her crossroads. Who knows best? This ancient
book, could it be that it's really the word of
God? And he gave me this book to give me insight
for living? She wrote her biography in this book.
If you want to know more about her story, that's
where you will find it. But when you find yourself
at these crossroads, where the Word of God is
telling you one thing, everybody else is telling
you these other things, what are you going to
do? Who knows best? Maybe you are dating your
boyfriend. He keeps insisting you having sex
with him and you do not know how to say no. So
you keep having sex with him. But now you're
following Jesus. And as you're following Jesus,
now you're feeling convicted because it's like,
what should I do? What should I do? And the Holy
Spirit is telling you what you should do. And
the Word of God is telling you what you should
do. And you realize what you should do. The Bible
calls this sexual immorality. And you feel the
guilt and you feel the struggle within. But everybody
does it. And my friend tells me. Who knows best?
May I ask you? God's word? Or your boyfriend?
Who knows best? At the crossroads of life. You
will have to decide whether you look up and trust
the God. Who created you and trust the word.
That he gave you. Or not. But then. He continues
to the next part of the song. And he says you
need to look inside. But not in the way that
you are thinking. Because you have heard it said
before. Hey, if you want to be happy, follow
your heart. Just follow your heart. Because if
you follow your heart, you will be happy. Be
true to yourself. Don't deny it. True to who
you are. You were born with these feelings. You
were born this way. Just pursue your feelings.
Follow your heart. And David says that's precisely
what I want to warn you about. Don't follow your
heart. Look inside. But not to follow your heart.
Because Jeremiah told us about your heart. The
heart is deceitful about all things beyond cure.
Who can understand it? Your feelings fluctuate.
What you're feeling today may change tomorrow.
So yes, that's why I write this part of my song.
I say to God, God, how can I know the sins lurking
in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Because I know that my heart is corrupt. I know
I have desires that are shameful. I know I have
things within me that I don't want to pursue.
So God, keep me from this. Please, keep me from
following my heart so I can follow you instead.
Because that is where true peace is found. So
he writes here at the end, the warning of not
following your heart because your heart is corrupt.
But if you have Jesus. If you are a follower
of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in you. And
the Holy Spirit now in you will guide you at
the crossroads. Will give you peace. Will give
you insight. Corroborate things in your heart,
in your mind, from outside and inside. Follow
the guide of the Holy Spirit. What is sad is
that not everybody understands this. And the
only thing they look inside is their feelings.
And now they have to make a decision. Who knows
best? And that is what happened to Walt. Because
Walt was one of these engineers that was working
at NASA for one of the Apollo missions. He was
part of the big team making the mission possible
and sending people to the moon. This was a guy
that could look at the stars, but he didn't believe
in God. So he couldn't see God. Therefore, he
didn't believe in the word either. So the only
thing he would do was look inside. And what he
saw inside was all these feelings that nobody
knew he had. You see, on the outward side of
things, he was a successful engineer, married
with children, a good family. But inside... He
was working on all these things and having his
family. He was struggling with these feelings
that he should have been a woman. And since a
very young age, he remembers struggling with
these feelings. He wanted to be a girl, not a
boy. But what would he do with those feelings?
Well, he decided to pay more attention to the
feelings. He worked with experts that could tell
him what to do with the feelings. And he got
the same message. Follow your heart. Those feelings
are telling you the way you should go. So Walt,
what you really need is to become a woman. Go
through the surgery. Go through the hormonal
treatment. Do the whole thing. Change your legal
name. So he did. And he became Laura. For eight
years he lived as Laura. And he was for all legal
purposes a woman. But inside the peace that he
thought he was going to get. He didn't get. Now
his feelings were fluctuating back and forth.
And he had no peace. And it's in that space that
God encountered him. It's in that space that
he heard about Jesus. And he. Gave his life to
Christ. Once he believed in Jesus. Now he had
the Holy Spirit in him. And the Holy Spirit started
guiding Walt. And it was the Holy Spirit. Prompting.
That Brad healing. And caused him to make the
decision. That he was no longer going to remain
Laura. But that he was going to embrace. The
man that God had created him to be. And he writes
his biography. In this book called A Transgender
Faith. Amazing story. But even he says, look.
What I want you to remember. The most important
thing I'd like you to remember. Is the awesome
truth that Jesus heals. No matter what the issue.
Or how badly broken your life is. It is possible.
Who knows best? God says, I know best. Therefore,
do not follow your feelings. That's why David
concludes the psalm with this last verse. God,
I want to look up and be in awe of you and trust
you because you're smarter than I am. I want
to look down and look at your word and trust
it and obey it because there's reward in obeying
your word, in having the fear of God in me. But
when I look inside, Lord, Don't let me be trapped
by my feelings. Instead, may the words of my
mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing
to you. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Let
my feelings and my desires be aligned with your
desires. Let it be that I'm growing in so much
intimacy with you. Not with the universe or the
stars. But with you, that the words I speak reflect
what you say. That the meditation I have in my
heart resembles what you say. Because now I realize,
God, after all the crossroads in my life, that
you are the rock. You are not a theory that will
change by a new discovery. You are a rock. Your
truth is steady. But also Lord, all the years
that I lost because of sin. All the years behind
me of deception where I did not know you. They
are not wasted. Because what the enemy stole
from me, you will restore. Because you are my
redeemer. This is who you are. And because you
are my creator, you are my rock, and you are
my redeemer, Lord, I'm going to trust you at
any crossroads in my life. Who knows best? It's
the primary question you will have to answer
at these crossroads you're in. And what David
wants you to understand is that God knows best,
period. And if you get that, you will be okay.
It may seem like it's impossible to have the
child and have the descendants that God promised,
but trust me, it is possible. God knows best.
So if you are in a moment in your life in which
you are wrestling with these insecurities and
these fears about the future, and you are tempted,
really tempted, to go in a direction that you
know is opposite to what God says, I want you
to bring those fears to the Lord. Put them up
to Him. And listen to these words. From God himself.
This is what God the Lord says. The creator of
the heavens. Who stretches them out. Who spreads
out the earth. With all that springs from it.
He who gives breath to its people. And life to
those who walk on it. I. The Lord. I have called
you. In righteousness. You can trust me. I will
take hold of your hand. I will take hold of your
hand. You're going to be okay. Trust me, I know
best. And this is the song for the journey. Psalm
19. If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.