WEBVTT 00:00:09.130 --> 00:00:13.810 Well, good morning, church family. It is so good 00:00:13.810 --> 00:00:18.149 to hear God's people fellowshipping and spending 00:00:18.149 --> 00:00:19.789 time together. Happy Fourth of July. I think 00:00:19.789 --> 00:00:22.510 Zach already said that. Fourth of July weekend, 00:00:22.730 --> 00:00:25.890 we're a little bit thinner than usual, but if 00:00:25.890 --> 00:00:29.010 you are, as Chris said, if you are new, I want 00:00:29.010 --> 00:00:30.809 to welcome you. My name is Rob Bunch. I'm on 00:00:30.809 --> 00:00:34.060 staff here as the Discipleship Coordinator. and 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:36.539 someone hopefully has found you already, maybe 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:39.640 many someones, and welcomed you, but if not, 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.259 please stop by the desk, either just out the 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:44.759 door or right there, and give us a chance to 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:46.859 say hi and pray for you, answer any questions 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:49.939 you might have. In addition to that, over the 00:00:49.939 --> 00:00:52.640 summer, we change our rhythms a little bit. We've 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.000 been going through the Gospel of Mark starting 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.179 back in March. We do expository preaching. We 00:00:57.179 --> 00:00:58.759 start at the beginning of a book, and we keep 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.240 going until we run out of verses. Over the summer, 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:04.349 we... Do something. We take a break and do something 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:06.049 different. This summer, it happens to be the 00:01:06.049 --> 00:01:09.090 Psalms. And we have three more Psalms after today. 00:01:09.430 --> 00:01:11.510 In addition to that, our normal preaching pastor, 00:01:11.609 --> 00:01:14.250 Pastor Joe, is on sabbatical. He happens to be 00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:16.629 worshiping with us this morning. But please treat 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:19.870 him as just a member that you can catch up with. 00:01:20.090 --> 00:01:23.150 Don't pastor him. If you need to pastor someone, 00:01:23.430 --> 00:01:27.670 Tony, Zach, and Tyler are all here. But for a 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:29.569 much -needed rest, we're so thankful that they're 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:32.299 able to do that. But that means that I'm the 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:34.840 not normal guy doing the not normal thing. We 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:37.859 trust that the Lord will bless you today with 00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:40.620 his word. I have just one brief announcement. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.799 As the discipleship coordinator, I do help out 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.540 with the community groups. And in a couple weeks, 00:01:47.659 --> 00:01:49.439 you will get, the whole church I'll send this 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.000 out to, there'll be a registration form. And 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:53.859 it will have all of the community groups that 00:01:53.859 --> 00:01:55.719 we have. And we've got two new starting. The 00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:57.219 Browns are going to start one and the Stegals 00:01:57.219 --> 00:02:00.150 will start one. They will all be empty. Which 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:03.709 means you need to register for a group. And that 00:02:03.709 --> 00:02:05.849 might mean you want to register for the group 00:02:05.849 --> 00:02:07.689 you're already in. That is totally fine. You're 00:02:07.689 --> 00:02:09.509 in the right place with the right people. It 00:02:09.509 --> 00:02:11.389 might be that you want to register for a new 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:13.009 group. You're at a different place in life. Your 00:02:13.009 --> 00:02:15.210 kids are older. You need a different night. You 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:16.750 want to meet some new people. Whatever it is, 00:02:16.909 --> 00:02:19.889 it's kind of like a reset or open enrollment 00:02:19.889 --> 00:02:23.069 or whatever. Whichever group you fall into, we 00:02:23.069 --> 00:02:25.810 are asking for a two -year commitment. We don't 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:27.509 want musical chairs. We don't want people... 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:30.400 I did this. I was in three community groups at 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.860 once, and I just kind of went to the one that 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:35.180 I was able to go to. So we've all done it. At 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:38.659 least I've done it. But we want to avoid that 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:41.060 because it takes time to get to know the people 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:43.460 in the groups, to pray together, to confess together, 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:46.340 just to feel comfortable. So please pray over 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:47.979 that. Think about that. If you've got questions, 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:50.319 ask me. Ask your community group leader. Like 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.599 I said, if you just want to reaffirm you're in 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:55.770 the right place, join your group. If you want 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:57.770 to go someplace new, you can chat with me or 00:02:57.770 --> 00:02:59.889 with the community group leaders. It's never 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:03.810 going to be easier to change groups if you need 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:07.110 to. Okay? Thank you so much for giving me a few 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:10.250 minutes there. If you would please turn to Psalm 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:13.530 chapter 42. It will be up on the screen here. 00:03:17.229 --> 00:03:19.969 I love to hear pages of the Bible turning, even 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:21.370 though we've got it on the screen and most of 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:23.189 you are looking up here. So while you're doing 00:03:23.189 --> 00:03:25.449 that, those of you who have paper Bibles, Psalm 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:28.169 43 goes with this. I'm not going to read Psalm 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:30.930 43, but if you want to, just briefly pass through 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:34.270 it. It is probably the same psalm. It echoes 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:37.289 everything that happens in Psalm 42. Starting 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:47.659 in verse 1. So pants my soul for you, O God. 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:50.300 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:03:50.580 --> 00:03:54.020 When shall I come and appear before God? My tears 00:03:54.020 --> 00:03:56.500 have been my food day and night. While they say 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:58.960 to me all day long, where is your God? These 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:01.379 things I remember as I pour out my soul. How 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:03.080 it would go with the throng and lead them in 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:05.659 procession to the house of God. With glad shouts 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:08.639 and songs of praise. A multitude keeping festival. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:12.199 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:14.900 you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.339 shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:21.079 My soul is cast down within me. Therefore, I 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.899 remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:26.600 Mount Miser, who deep calls to deep at the roar 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:29.500 of your waterfalls. All your breakers and your 00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:32.939 waves have gone over me. By day the Lord commands 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.399 His steadfast love, and at night His song is 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:38.279 with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:41.670 to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why 00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:43.430 do I go on mourning? Because of the oppression 00:04:43.430 --> 00:04:45.769 of the enemy. As with a deadly wound in my bones, 00:04:45.810 --> 00:04:47.990 my adversaries taught me, while they say to me 00:04:47.990 --> 00:04:50.350 all day long, where is your God? Why are you 00:04:50.350 --> 00:04:53.189 cast down, O my soul? And why are you in turmoil 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:56.509 within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise 00:04:56.509 --> 00:04:59.490 him, my salvation and my God. This is the word 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:04.410 of the Lord. It is an intimidating task to try 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:07.589 and preach this particular psalm. In one case, 00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:12.310 the funny part, he doesn't really give any kind 00:05:12.310 --> 00:05:13.970 of structure that I like. And so as I'm trying 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:16.829 to prepare, he just kind of emotionally vomits. 00:05:17.850 --> 00:05:22.610 It's like he's in agony. And sometimes he's got 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:24.370 a couple powerful verses in there of hope, and 00:05:24.370 --> 00:05:28.069 he's got a couple that are awful. And so I guess 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:31.089 I give him a pass for not thinking about my sermon 00:05:31.089 --> 00:05:34.610 structure 3 ,000 years in the future. But in 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.589 the second case, it is intimidating to preach 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:41.560 because... I cannot possibly tell you how precious 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:45.720 this psalm is to my soul. It's a fantastic irony 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:48.319 because I'm a theology guy, a wannabe scholar 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:52.199 at one point. And I've had a tendency to think 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:55.199 the psalms are just fluff. It's praises and prayers 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.660 and confessions. I can do that. I do that every 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:01.339 week at men's group or community group. Why do 00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:04.779 I need the psalms? If I ask you what's your favorite 00:06:04.779 --> 00:06:07.439 book or what are some of your favorite verses, 00:06:08.089 --> 00:06:10.589 and you go to the Psalms, maybe I would say out 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:12.610 loud, oh, that's great, there's a lot of power 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:14.889 in the Psalms. But underneath, maybe I'm thinking, 00:06:15.050 --> 00:06:16.889 oh, you obviously don't know anything about the 00:06:16.889 --> 00:06:20.230 Bible. Right? You should have said Romans, or 00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:21.610 you should have said Hebrews, you should have 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:24.110 said Genesis. But you say Psalms because it's 00:06:24.110 --> 00:06:28.490 easy. And that incredibly naive attitude is true 00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:38.540 until it's not. Last week we had corporate prayer, 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:41.339 and at the top of the handout was a quote by 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:45.779 Athanasius. Athanasius was one of the early church 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:48.040 fathers. He has a really profound and powerful 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:52.120 exposition of the Psalms. Athanasius said, most 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.540 of Scripture speaks to us, but the Psalm speaks 00:06:55.540 --> 00:06:59.279 for us. And this Psalm speaks for me. And when 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.319 you run into one, the weight and the power of 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.790 that Psalm becomes so very real. And this is 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:08.750 an honest warning. I have spent a significant 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:11.670 portion of my adult life where this guy is at, 00:07:11.769 --> 00:07:13.829 or at least where I think he's at, saying the 00:07:13.829 --> 00:07:16.230 things that he has said, feeling the things I 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:18.949 think that he has felt. And I want to be honest 00:07:18.949 --> 00:07:22.470 as I go through and set a good example like what 00:07:22.470 --> 00:07:29.300 he has. I hope it is so encouraging. This might 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:31.540 be the type of message where you have no idea 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:33.579 what I'm talking about. You've never been here. 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:37.360 Life is really good. It might resonate in a profoundly 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:41.600 powerful way. Whatever it is, when the darkness 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.480 and when despair finds you, and it will. Jesus 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.399 said, in this world you will have trouble. Job 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.220 said, as surely as sparks fly upward, man is 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:52.279 born to trouble. You will have troubling days. 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.170 I hope they're short. And in my case, for a variety 00:07:56.170 --> 00:07:58.990 of reasons, it's been very long, and hopefully 00:07:58.990 --> 00:08:01.550 it's not as intense as what this guy is experiencing, 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:05.709 but if it is, you will have your marching orders. 00:08:05.990 --> 00:08:08.589 You will know where to go. You'll have Psalm 00:08:08.589 --> 00:08:12.709 42 to fall back on and to find a place of hope 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:15.509 where you can find, as I have, there's been times 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:17.829 when I've tried to pray at night. I'm literally 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:21.050 by myself in my bedroom. It's just me and God, 00:08:21.069 --> 00:08:24.230 and I can't finish a prayer. It's such a blessing 00:08:24.230 --> 00:08:28.269 to know I can go to Psalm 42 and see a man inspired 00:08:28.269 --> 00:08:31.430 by the Holy Spirit who is suffering and fighting 00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:35.149 for joy and know that someone else has been there. 00:08:35.370 --> 00:08:37.750 If there was ever a guy preaching a sermon to 00:08:37.750 --> 00:08:38.970 himself and a whole bunch of people happened 00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:43.009 to be in the room, this is it. Let's pray. Father, 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:46.250 would you please help your people to learn today 00:08:46.250 --> 00:08:50.740 how to suffer well when we must suffer. and how 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:53.860 to fight for joy when we face despair and grief. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.700 Teach us how to cling to your Son even when we 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:00.580 are broken and afraid and feel alone, even when 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:03.080 we cannot find joy or finish a prayer when the 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:05.919 world doesn't make sense and you seem far and 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.460 we are downcast. May we testify to the love you 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:12.620 have for us in those most horrible moments and 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:15.559 so shine the radiant love of Christ. In Jesus' 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:20.429 name, amen. I live on a farm. Don't make the 00:09:20.429 --> 00:09:23.470 mistake of thinking I'm a farmer. I am a pretend 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:25.470 farmer, or the right word may actually be fool. 00:09:26.590 --> 00:09:28.669 I spend a lot of money and time farming, and 00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:31.169 I make no money. So I don't know what that makes 00:09:31.169 --> 00:09:35.610 me, perhaps fool. But this past Tuesday, we have 00:09:35.610 --> 00:09:38.570 cows. My mom, my sister, and I, we bought the 00:09:38.570 --> 00:09:42.190 farm during COVID. We all have a house, and the 00:09:42.190 --> 00:09:45.789 previous owner left some cows. We didn't want 00:09:45.789 --> 00:09:47.789 to be cow farmers, or cattle farmers, I guess. 00:09:47.809 --> 00:09:49.950 We didn't want to do beef, but we suddenly have 00:09:49.950 --> 00:09:51.289 cows, and we have to do something with them. 00:09:51.330 --> 00:09:53.490 And I didn't know anything about them. Whatever 00:09:53.490 --> 00:09:56.409 you know now is at least as much as I knew then. 00:09:56.750 --> 00:09:59.590 And I've had to learn fast. But this past Tuesday, 00:09:59.850 --> 00:10:03.330 we lost one. Her name is Annie. Yes, I know, 00:10:03.389 --> 00:10:06.690 you're not supposed to name them. A few weeks 00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:09.529 ago, I noticed Annie had a growth on her eye. 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:12.370 and I called the vet. We sent some pictures, 00:10:12.509 --> 00:10:16.309 and the vet came out on Tuesday, and she had 00:10:16.309 --> 00:10:18.370 to do surgery. She had to remove some stuff. 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:21.090 Without getting into detail, we have a tunnel 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:23.210 that the cow goes into, and then we have these 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:25.809 two big iron clamps that kind of lock around 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:28.269 just in front of her shoulders so that she can't 00:10:28.269 --> 00:10:31.210 move so the vet can do the surgery. And I turn 00:10:31.210 --> 00:10:33.529 around. I was in the barn just close enough, 00:10:33.590 --> 00:10:35.549 but I didn't really want to watch. I turn around, 00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:38.929 and Annie is on the ground. And I walked over, 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.909 and the vet said it went really well. She didn't 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:43.529 lose too much blood, but she collapsed, and we 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:45.330 need to get her up. And that's something I have 00:10:45.330 --> 00:10:47.730 learned about cows, is if they go down, you need 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:50.350 to get them up fast, because chances decrease 00:10:50.350 --> 00:10:53.389 dramatically as time passes. And so she and I 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:56.490 are fighting to get this cow up, Annie up. My 00:10:56.490 --> 00:10:58.330 mom, my sister, my brother -in -law all joined 00:10:58.330 --> 00:11:00.990 in. There were five adults for 45 minutes desperately 00:11:00.990 --> 00:11:04.250 trying to get Annie on her feet. And eventually, 00:11:04.429 --> 00:11:07.480 the vet... with a couple minutes left, said, 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:10.340 yes, I think she wants to die. And eventually 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:13.960 she rolled on her side and passed away. It was 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.940 very, very horrible. There was a study. This 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:20.100 happens to people too. Annie just gave up the 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:22.759 fight for life. The trauma and the difficulty 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:24.919 and the pain was so great, she just stopped. 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:28.360 A University of Portsmouth study done in 2018 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:30.559 studied people. It's called a psychogenic death, 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:34.440 where you suffer some, like you hit a wall. something 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.779 horrible happens. You lose a loved one, a massive 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:41.460 injury, rape, or whatever it happens to be, some 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:46.039 dramatic trauma, and you shut down. And you give 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.399 up the fight for life. And if at any point you 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:51.879 were to stand up, Annie had the strength. She 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.200 didn't lose too much blood. She could have stood 00:11:54.200 --> 00:12:00.080 up, but she didn't. And slowly you die just from 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.740 giving up on that fight. I think that happens 00:12:03.740 --> 00:12:06.639 spiritually to Christians. That as Christians, 00:12:06.779 --> 00:12:09.919 we run into those same things. You're going through 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.419 a horrible divorce. You witness something horrible. 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.620 You're treated in a horrible way. Whatever form 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:17.899 it takes. Eventually, you get to a place where 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:20.659 you say, I could never serve a God who... Fill 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:22.519 in the blank. There's a zillion things you can 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.299 put in there. I have done it. I'm sure most of 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:26.580 you have done it, at least if you're honest. 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:32.470 In that moment... If you don't choose to fight 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:35.750 back, you will shrivel up. Your soul will shrivel 00:12:35.750 --> 00:12:37.549 up and you will die a spiritual, psychogenic 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:43.669 death. That is exactly why Psalm 42 is in the 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:47.929 Bible. It is our marching orders when you are 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:49.549 in that place. And maybe you don't know what 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:52.690 I'm talking about. And praise God that you have 00:12:52.690 --> 00:12:55.610 been spared. But when you are in the place where 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:59.240 you have no answers, you cannot find God. There 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.120 is nothing but darkness around you. You know 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:07.039 how to fight and where to go. Okay? The point 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:10.000 of the message is this. When we are crushed, 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:15.059 we are called to fight. The word fight for hope. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.000 Okay? And there are three examples that we get 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.480 in Psalm 42 how we are called to fight. First 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.620 of all, we need to acknowledge. Acknowledge where 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.059 we are at. The psalmist puts forth an incredible 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:31.460 example. Secondly, we need to remember who God 00:13:31.460 --> 00:13:35.740 is. And third, sometimes those two are not enough. 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:38.159 Like in the case here with the son of Korah, 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.080 we have to preach to ourself. Okay? Let's get 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.759 back to the text here. At the very top of Psalm 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.659 42, just a couple things before we start in on 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:50.200 acknowledge. It says book two. What does that 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.100 mean? Well, there's a book one, right? Book 1 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.320 is the first 41 chapters of Psalms, and they 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:59.159 are exclusively Davidic. There's only Davidic 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.379 Psalms with four exceptions. They're anonymous. 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:03.600 There's no author. But David is the only one. 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.340 Book 2, there's a big change in the tone, and 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:07.659 I would love to go over it, but we don't have 00:14:07.659 --> 00:14:12.460 time. Book 2 starts with this psalm, and it introduces 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:14.500 the sons of Korah. There's a psalm by Solomon. 00:14:15.019 --> 00:14:17.340 Asaph has some psalms. David has some more. There's 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:19.279 some more anonymous. But the sons of Korah have 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.740 seven. Nathan did one last week, Psalm 84. Okay, 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:25.519 so next question. It says, to the choir master, 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.100 a maskeel of the sons of Korah. To the choir 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:30.580 master, what does that mean? This was meant to 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:34.220 be sung, right? This is a hymn, like what we 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:36.320 have. It just happens to be inspired by the Holy 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:38.580 Spirit. As much as I love great is thy faithfulness, 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:40.580 it was written, it wasn't inspired, although 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:43.139 I would say certainly inspirational. This was 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:45.940 a hymn that is in our scripture that was meant 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:49.480 to be sung. A maskeel, you can check your study 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:51.769 notes. We don't know what it means. For a long 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:53.990 time, it was translated a psalm of instruction. 00:14:54.929 --> 00:14:58.070 It might have been some kind of musical term. 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:00.549 It sounds like the Hebrew word to teach or to 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:02.789 instruct, but they stopped translating it and 00:15:02.789 --> 00:15:05.149 just started spelling a Hebrew word with English 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:06.669 letters because we don't know what it means. 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:10.110 Okay? We get to the next part, and this is more 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:12.769 interesting, the sons of Korah. If there's sons 00:15:12.769 --> 00:15:16.149 of Korah, there must be a Korah, right? In number 00:15:16.149 --> 00:15:19.000 16, if you don't remember this story, Korah is 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.519 a Levite, and he gets 250 of the leaders of Israel 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:24.120 together. So these aren't just, this is not a 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:26.399 ragtag group of people. These are, this is a 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.720 significant group of leaders within the people 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:32.320 of Israel. He gets them together, and he goes 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.120 and confronts Moses and Aaron. All three of these 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.440 men are Levites. Aaron is a Levite, Moses and 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:41.500 Korah. Aaron, though, is the priestly line. So 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:43.220 all priests are Levites because they're sons 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:45.700 of Aaron. But not all Levites are priests, and 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:47.659 that's where Korah falls. Moses is in charge. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.639 And Korah says, hey, this isn't fair. Why do 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:51.320 you guys get to be, why do you get to have these 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.700 great jobs? We should get to have some too. And 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:56.500 God doesn't take this as rebellion against Moses 00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:59.259 and Aaron. He takes it as rebellion against himself. 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:01.919 And the next day Moses says, if these people 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.620 die in a normal way, I'm not from God. But if 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:06.860 they die in a special way, a way you've never 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.740 seen before, then I'm from God. And sure enough, 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:15.259 the earth opens up and swallows them. Okay, that's 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:19.220 Korah. So the sons of Korah are that man's, one 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:22.279 of the most infamous rebels in Israel's history. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.740 But if we hop forward in the story into Numbers 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:30.139 chapter 26, we have a funny little verse. I'm 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:33.539 going to start in verse 9. There's a genealogy 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:36.559 here. It lists off the sons of the other rebels. 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:39.919 It says, these are the people who contended against 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.460 Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah. when 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:44.519 they contended against the Lord, and the earth 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:46.220 opened its mouth and swallowed them up together 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.919 with Korah, when the company died, when the fire 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.059 devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:56.940 Verse 11. Maybe I didn't give that to you. Verse 00:16:56.940 --> 00:17:02.460 11. But the sons of Korah did not die. Isn't 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:06.470 that strange? Everybody else did. 250 men were 00:17:06.470 --> 00:17:08.990 devoured, their sons and so on. Their lines are 00:17:08.990 --> 00:17:11.390 wiped out, but the sons of Korah were not. We 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:15.650 hop forward to 1 Chronicles 6. This is David 00:17:15.650 --> 00:17:17.930 in verse 31. There's another long genealogy. 00:17:18.009 --> 00:17:19.990 It says, These are the men whom David put in 00:17:19.990 --> 00:17:22.329 charge of the service of song in the house of 00:17:22.329 --> 00:17:25.450 the Lord after the ark rested there. They ministered 00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:28.029 with song before the tabernacle of the tent of 00:17:28.029 --> 00:17:29.990 meeting until Solomon built the house of the 00:17:29.990 --> 00:17:32.109 Lord. And they performed their service according 00:17:32.109 --> 00:17:35.089 to his order. These are the men who served and 00:17:35.089 --> 00:17:41.529 their sons, the Korahites. So David took these 00:17:41.529 --> 00:17:45.930 people, the sons of one of the most, if not the 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:48.470 most, notorious rebel in Israel's history, and 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:51.430 put them in charge of the worship in the tent 00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:53.390 of meeting until there was a temple, and then 00:17:53.390 --> 00:17:55.490 they were in charge there. Skipping ahead one 00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:59.730 more time into 2 Chronicles. This is in chapter 00:17:59.730 --> 00:18:02.569 20. There's a war coming. Jehoshaphat and the 00:18:02.569 --> 00:18:05.250 people are scared. There's a prophecy, and it 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:08.430 says, then Jehoshaphat, chapter 20, verse 18, 00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:11.210 Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:13.589 ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:16.009 Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping 00:18:16.009 --> 00:18:19.569 the Lord. See, the whole people have bowed. Verse 00:18:19.569 --> 00:18:31.119 19, and the Levites... Can you imagine this? 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:34.740 There is a huge army coming, and you're just 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:36.779 told God is going to fight for you. You won't 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:39.059 have to do anything. The entire nation of Israel 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:42.220 bows down, and you have this group of men who, 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:45.000 again, are descended from this horrible rebel 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:46.859 that was swallowed up by the earth, and they 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:50.650 let up this massive song of praise to God. That 00:18:50.650 --> 00:18:54.490 is who is writing this song. A man who has every 00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:57.769 reason based on his heritage to not serve God. 00:18:57.950 --> 00:19:02.509 God in his infinite mercy has spared these men 00:19:02.509 --> 00:19:05.029 and not only spared them but elevated them to 00:19:05.029 --> 00:19:07.529 this place where they are in charge of worship. 00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:10.789 Keep that in mind as we go through because the 00:19:10.789 --> 00:19:13.950 context here makes everything so much more powerful. 00:19:15.089 --> 00:19:19.809 Okay? Point one is acknowledging where we are. 00:19:20.109 --> 00:19:22.289 In verse one, most of you probably know this. 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:25.210 It says, as the deer pants for the flowing stream, 00:19:25.289 --> 00:19:27.809 so pants my soul for you, oh God. When I was 00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:30.109 growing up, growing up I guess I was in high 00:19:30.109 --> 00:19:31.910 school, but in the mid -90s, I shouldn't have 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:35.329 said that. In the 90s, a song we sang was called 00:19:35.329 --> 00:19:37.529 As the Deer. It's literally straight out of this 00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:40.349 verse. And I always had the impression, I always 00:19:40.349 --> 00:19:43.349 imagined when we sang that song, of a deer that 00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:46.640 is walking up to a stream. Or is already drinking 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.720 from the stream. And his thirst is being quenched. 00:19:50.859 --> 00:19:54.220 It's just this beautiful image of how much the 00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:56.759 psalmist here is desperate for God. Just like 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.200 this deer is drinking the water. But that is 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:01.980 not the picture that he is painting for us. He 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:04.359 doesn't say as the deer drinks the flowing stream. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.579 He says as the deer pants. You don't pant when 00:20:08.579 --> 00:20:10.339 you're drinking. And you don't pant when your 00:20:10.339 --> 00:20:13.539 thirst is quenched. This is a picture of a deer 00:20:13.539 --> 00:20:15.880 that's in the wilderness and is going to die 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.460 if it doesn't find water soon. That's where this 00:20:18.460 --> 00:20:22.220 guy is at. He is in a horrible dark place. He 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:24.940 wants God badly. I'm thirsty, Lord, and I'm going 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:29.000 to die pretty soon. Verse 2, my soul thirsts 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:30.539 for God. Again, there it is, thirst for God. 00:20:30.660 --> 00:20:33.519 You don't thirst when you're satisfied. For the 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.680 living God, when shall I come and appear before 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.440 God? He's not, conclusion, right? He's not before 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:43.579 God. He wants to be. I'm thirsty, but I'm not 00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:45.380 before God. That's where I want to be. Verse 00:20:45.380 --> 00:20:48.960 three, my tears have been my food day and night. 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:52.339 This man is on the verge of tears all the time. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.500 Ever been there? Have you ever been there where 00:20:55.500 --> 00:21:00.299 one of your children says an innocuous request, 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.220 but it's phrased just the wrong way, and you 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:05.059 lose it, right? You start screaming, or you start 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:08.700 bawling. Or you bend over and you're trying to 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:10.119 get everything together. You're trying to mellow 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:12.039 out and you stand up and you hit the bottom of 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:13.299 your head or you hit the top of your head on 00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:15.740 the bottom of a cabinet door and you just lose 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:18.579 it. You just have no margin. You're just broken 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:23.059 everywhere. That's where this man is at. He is 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:27.339 crying literally all the time. The second half 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:29.380 of verse three, while they say to me all day 00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:32.559 long, where is your God? Conclusion? God's not 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:35.000 with him. Or at least the people around him look 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:37.779 and, where's your God? Why don't you find somebody 00:21:37.779 --> 00:21:40.700 else? Because this God of yours clearly isn't 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:43.200 making you happy. You're awful. We don't like 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.079 being around you. Or maybe they're prodding him 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.579 and poking him. We keep going. We skip verse 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:52.400 5. Verse 7. We'll come back to verse 6 as well. 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:54.700 Verse 7. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:57.220 waterfalls. All your breakers and your waves 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:58.859 have gone over me. Have you ever been there? 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:02.660 You're trying to swim. There's a wicked current 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:04.319 in the ocean. You're trying to swim back to the 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.599 beach. You're almost there, and then, bam, a 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.619 wave just knocks you back out to sea. And who's 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.259 sending the waves? It says the devil's waves. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.420 It doesn't say that. Nature's waves. It doesn't 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:21.599 say that. It says your waves. I'm swimming in, 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.779 Lord, and you're knocking me back out to sea. 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:29.200 In verse 9, skip verse 8, verse 9, I say to God, 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.079 my rock, why have you forgotten me? That's, again, 00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:35.000 everybody has said that, even if only in your 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.960 heart. We will come back to this one in a second, 00:22:38.019 --> 00:22:41.380 but such a potent, horrible thing for this man 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.319 to say. In verse 10, there's more mocking. This 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.059 time it's straight taunting. My adversaries taunt 00:22:48.059 --> 00:22:51.059 me. Where's your God? They're having fun with 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:54.779 him, fun at his expense. He's miserable. We have 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:59.109 a God. Right? Where's yours at? And then the 00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:02.569 two stanzas, verse 5 and verse 11. It's also, 00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:05.150 as I said, in chapter 43, verse 5, we have the 00:23:05.150 --> 00:23:08.829 same stanza. He says three times in this chapter, 00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:14.670 my soul is cast down. Twice he says, my soul 00:23:14.670 --> 00:23:19.440 is in turmoil. And twice he says again. Cast 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.539 down, what does it mean? It doesn't mean anything 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:23.660 other than exactly what it sounds like. Sometimes 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:25.940 it's nice when the words mean just what they 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.460 say. He is in despair. What does turmoil mean? 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:34.799 It means he is afraid and anxious. He says, I 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.640 shall praise him again. That means, right conclusion, 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:41.619 he's not praising him right now. Someday I will. 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:45.900 I want to be praising him, but I'm not. I'm in 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:50.309 turmoil. I'm downcast. I'm broken. End of Psalm. 00:23:51.329 --> 00:23:53.829 Right? That's how the Psalm ends. Why are you 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:55.569 cast down, O my soul? Why are you in turmoil? 00:23:55.670 --> 00:23:58.069 Within me hope and God, for I shall again praise 00:23:58.069 --> 00:24:00.529 Him, my salvation and my God. It ends on a note 00:24:00.529 --> 00:24:03.490 of hope, but it isn't resolved. God doesn't take 00:24:03.490 --> 00:24:06.450 away His despair that we know of. He doesn't 00:24:06.450 --> 00:24:10.309 remove these taunting enemies. It's just, I'm 00:24:10.309 --> 00:24:11.849 going to have hope. I will praise again, but 00:24:11.849 --> 00:24:14.109 I'm not right now. End of Psalm. That's not how 00:24:14.109 --> 00:24:17.009 it's supposed to be in the Bible. Right? We have 00:24:17.009 --> 00:24:20.170 a hard beginning and then something really good 00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:23.029 happens, right? Jesus comes or God comes in a 00:24:23.029 --> 00:24:25.690 profound way and we get good resolution. Not 00:24:25.690 --> 00:24:28.970 for this guy. Right? That's not how the psalm 00:24:28.970 --> 00:24:36.049 ends. It is so important as Christians to acknowledge 00:24:36.049 --> 00:24:39.910 where we are at. We can and we do experience 00:24:39.910 --> 00:24:41.930 depression. If you haven't experienced it in 00:24:41.930 --> 00:24:44.440 a profound way, at some point... It will find 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.420 you. Again, I hope for just a short period of 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.319 time, even though we are saved, we experience 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:53.039 these things. This is a valiant man of God. He 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.259 is fighting. He wants to praise. He wants to 00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:58.819 hope, and he doesn't have it. We do experience 00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:01.539 that, and you need to be able to acknowledge 00:25:01.539 --> 00:25:05.359 it because you can't heal until you do. Pretending, 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.880 right? God doesn't look at me in my bedroom. 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:11.640 and I'm miserable, but I'm pretending that I'm 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:14.400 not. And he looks down and says, Rob, well done. 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:17.160 You're unhappy, and you're pretending you're 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:20.839 not, and that's a mark for holiness. That's not 00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:24.240 a thing. There's a ditch on both sides of the 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:27.839 road. You can't live in misery and just acknowledge 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.259 all the time and be a huge dark cloud. That's 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:33.559 not godly. But it's not godly to pretend that 00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:35.900 everything is always good, and that when you 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:38.640 sing Great is Thy Faithfulness every time, You 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.619 feel that God is faithful. Sometimes we don't. 00:25:41.619 --> 00:25:44.099 And this man gives us an example. It is okay 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:50.440 to say that. Okay? The psalm is here so that 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:53.339 you have a place to go when you are broken and 00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:56.519 downcast, when God seems far, when you're swimming 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:59.559 in and a wave just knocks you back out to sea. 00:26:01.059 --> 00:26:03.920 As I said, I cannot tell you how many times I 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:07.420 have been there in my own bedroom. with no one 00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:10.099 around but me and my God, and I just read scripture, 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:14.279 and I try and pray, and I say, Father, I know 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:17.460 that you love me, but I, and nothing else comes 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:21.779 out. And I feel horrible. I feel ashamed, and 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:24.180 I feel guilty. I went to seminary. I've been 00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:26.220 in ministry. I work for the church, right? Whatever 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:28.299 it is, Christians aren't supposed to be like 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:32.880 that. And this valiant, valiant man, of course, 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:37.700 shows us it is okay. to struggle with God. He 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:41.740 is not afraid of you. He is bigger than your 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:47.279 despair. It is so encouraging to be able to come 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.579 here and see someone who has struggled. Remember 00:26:49.579 --> 00:26:54.480 that most of Scripture speaks to us. The Psalms 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:58.220 speak for us. An important note of application. 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.140 For those of you who haven't been there, and 00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:03.509 a good reminder for those of you who have, In 00:27:03.509 --> 00:27:07.009 verse 9, he says, I say to God, my rock, why 00:27:07.009 --> 00:27:09.829 have you forgotten me? That's blasphemy, isn't 00:27:09.829 --> 00:27:13.349 it? You can't say that. You can't say, why have 00:27:13.349 --> 00:27:15.470 you forgotten me? I give you a slew of verses 00:27:15.470 --> 00:27:19.769 that show that God hasn't forgotten you. Why 00:27:19.769 --> 00:27:22.809 does he say it if it's not true? This is inspired 00:27:22.809 --> 00:27:25.650 scripture. It's in here. How can he get away 00:27:25.650 --> 00:27:28.430 with that? Why doesn't God strike him down? He 00:27:28.430 --> 00:27:31.410 knows God hasn't forgotten him. He just said 00:27:31.410 --> 00:27:34.509 it in verse 8. Verse 80 says, by day the Lord 00:27:34.509 --> 00:27:36.789 commands his steadfast love, and at night his 00:27:36.789 --> 00:27:38.430 song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 00:27:38.529 --> 00:27:42.109 And then he immediately says, I say to God, my 00:27:42.109 --> 00:27:44.990 rock, why have you forgotten me? Why would he 00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:48.450 say that? Because he doesn't feel God being close. 00:27:48.769 --> 00:27:52.730 What's the application? The truth matters, but 00:27:52.730 --> 00:27:55.569 grace matters too. It's okay when you're with 00:27:55.569 --> 00:27:58.690 someone who is suffering and wounded and hurt 00:27:58.690 --> 00:28:02.710 to let it go. Watch their life. Let their life 00:28:02.710 --> 00:28:06.549 dictate where they are at. If we go to Job chapter 00:28:06.549 --> 00:28:10.269 6, I wish we could spend more time in Job. But 00:28:10.269 --> 00:28:12.730 in Job, his friends have come to him and they 00:28:12.730 --> 00:28:15.890 are beating him up. They are just ruthless and 00:28:15.890 --> 00:28:18.890 preaching at him and picking apart his words. 00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:23.970 And this is in chapter 6, verses 25 through 27. 00:28:24.410 --> 00:28:26.990 He says, how forceful are your upright words. 00:28:27.049 --> 00:28:28.230 He's saying this to his friends who are beating 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:33.119 him up. but what does your reproof from you reprove? 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:35.960 Do you think that you can reprove words when 00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:38.980 the speech of a despairing man is wind? What 00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:42.940 does that mean? He's not, don't lecture me, please. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.759 I'm hurt, and I'm crying out. I'm trying hard 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.920 to find God. This isn't a theological debate. 00:28:51.099 --> 00:28:55.319 Cry with me. Hurt with me. And these are the 00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:57.519 type of people who in the next verse, Job says, 00:28:57.849 --> 00:28:59.390 You're the type of people who would bargain for 00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:01.750 your own friend. You'd go and find orphans and 00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:03.829 you'd sell their stuff. I'll make an example 00:29:03.829 --> 00:29:07.509 of myself here. In my mid -late 20s, I was a 00:29:07.509 --> 00:29:09.730 young, reformed doofus with everything to prove. 00:29:10.490 --> 00:29:14.829 Right? My sister was trying to have a baby. Infertility 00:29:14.829 --> 00:29:18.829 was plaguing. It was a long, long fight. And 00:29:18.829 --> 00:29:22.690 she was crying one night. And I did exactly the 00:29:22.690 --> 00:29:25.230 right thing. I went and I said, Jamie, it's okay. 00:29:26.549 --> 00:29:30.009 Romans 8, 28. It says, all good things work for 00:29:30.009 --> 00:29:31.109 the good of those who love him and call according 00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:34.069 to his purpose. That was the wrong thing to say. 00:29:35.690 --> 00:29:39.769 It was true. It still is true. But it was the 00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:46.210 wrong thing to say. Give me the C .S. Lewis quote 00:29:46.210 --> 00:29:47.990 from The Problem of Pain. The Problem of Pain. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.920 is C .S. Lewis' intellectual dealing with pain. 00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:54.960 So he tries to solve intellectually how pain 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:58.420 and suffering can exist. But he says, I'm not 00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:00.900 so fool as to try and help you suffer through 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:04.640 pain. He says, when pain is to be born, a little 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:07.500 courage helps more than much knowledge, a little 00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:10.019 human sympathy more than much courage, and the 00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:12.160 least tincture of the love of God more than all. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.250 Knowledge is at the bottom of that list. I'm 00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:17.950 not saying it's not valuable. It's one of the 00:30:17.950 --> 00:30:20.950 things I... Wisdom is one of my most precious 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:26.049 gifts. But when pain is to be borne, right, from 00:30:26.049 --> 00:30:28.369 the top down, at least tincture of the love of 00:30:28.369 --> 00:30:32.109 God, and then a little human sympathy, and then 00:30:32.109 --> 00:30:35.150 much courage, and then a little bit of knowledge. 00:30:35.690 --> 00:30:39.730 Jesus loves sinners. He is patient with sinners. 00:30:40.710 --> 00:30:44.500 Suffer with... With your brothers. We'll come 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:46.059 to the verse in a minute. It's why it's so important 00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:50.740 to be in a church where people can fight alongside 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:53.180 you. Point number two, remembering who God is. 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.740 You have to acknowledge first. You can't use 00:30:57.740 --> 00:30:59.980 the knowledge of God unless you've acknowledged 00:30:59.980 --> 00:31:04.000 where you are at. But that's an awful place to 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.240 end. To just say I'm sad and do nothing about 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:10.680 it is not godly. And atheists can do that. Lots 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:13.230 of atheists do that. Lots of people like to complain, 00:31:13.369 --> 00:31:15.750 but don't ever move forward. Let's go back to 00:31:15.750 --> 00:31:17.890 the same verses and see how the psalmist frames 00:31:17.890 --> 00:31:20.910 everything. He frames that same despair, but 00:31:20.910 --> 00:31:24.970 he frames it in a very, very special way. Verse 00:31:24.970 --> 00:31:27.890 1, right? As the deer pants, right? I'm thirsty, 00:31:28.069 --> 00:31:31.849 but I'm thirsty for God. He's not abandoning. 00:31:32.049 --> 00:31:34.190 He could go find something else. It would make 00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:36.490 a lot of sense. I'm really unhappy. I should 00:31:36.490 --> 00:31:38.549 go find something that makes me happy, right? 00:31:38.750 --> 00:31:41.829 Alcohol, drugs. sex, whatever it happens to be, 00:31:41.910 --> 00:31:44.170 go pursue something else. He hasn't done that. 00:31:45.250 --> 00:31:49.130 He's still after God. Verse 2, and Tony will 00:31:49.130 --> 00:31:52.170 go over Psalm 63 next week. In verse 2, he's 00:31:52.170 --> 00:31:53.990 not just wondering when he'll be able to come 00:31:53.990 --> 00:31:57.029 before God because he's sad. He wants to be happy, 00:31:57.049 --> 00:31:59.210 and he knows when he's in God's presence, he 00:31:59.210 --> 00:32:03.970 will be. Why not find happiness somewhere else 00:32:03.970 --> 00:32:06.470 if God can't provide it? Psalm 63, 1. Again, 00:32:06.509 --> 00:32:09.190 Tony will have this next week. My soul thirsts 00:32:09.190 --> 00:32:10.890 for you in a dry and weary land where there is 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:13.329 no water. Why don't you go somewhere else, son 00:32:13.329 --> 00:32:18.369 of Korah? In verse 4, he says, These things I, 00:32:18.549 --> 00:32:21.910 there's our word, remember as I pour out my soul. 00:32:22.769 --> 00:32:25.970 And what does he remember? He remembers going 00:32:25.970 --> 00:32:29.670 with the throng. He remembers leading the procession. 00:32:29.690 --> 00:32:31.950 This is a son of Korah. He was leading the people 00:32:31.950 --> 00:32:33.470 into the house of God so that it would sing. 00:32:34.089 --> 00:32:37.250 Glad shouts, songs of praise. Multitude keeping 00:32:37.250 --> 00:32:39.869 festival. He remembers the good times and he 00:32:39.869 --> 00:32:43.029 knows God was there and he can find him again. 00:32:48.369 --> 00:32:50.529 Nathan's psalm hit on this a lot last week, Psalm 00:32:50.529 --> 00:32:53.150 84. The temple of the Lord was a big deal. It's 00:32:53.150 --> 00:32:54.869 where God was present. It's where the people 00:32:54.869 --> 00:32:57.670 of God were present. He's not there, but he knows 00:32:57.670 --> 00:32:59.109 if he can get back there, that's where he'll 00:32:59.109 --> 00:33:01.869 find God. It's so important to be among God's 00:33:01.869 --> 00:33:06.309 people so you have somebody to fight with. And 00:33:06.309 --> 00:33:10.529 on that note, even this morning, but there have 00:33:10.529 --> 00:33:12.809 been so many mornings when I have shown up and 00:33:12.809 --> 00:33:15.549 I am downcast. Yesterday I struggled with God. 00:33:16.049 --> 00:33:19.710 I can't seem to pray or whatever it happens to 00:33:19.710 --> 00:33:24.269 be. And I come in and you guys are singing. And 00:33:24.269 --> 00:33:28.150 maybe you're struggling too. Right? Maybe you 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:33.269 sound awful. But you're here. You're here for 00:33:33.269 --> 00:33:38.720 me. God, I always think that the reinforcements 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.519 to help me fight it is this huge, huge army of 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:45.500 like Viking angels. They're 20 feet tall. But 00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:51.720 you, sorry lot, are my army. I'm yours. I wish 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:54.279 I was better. I'm sorry. But you're all I have. 00:33:54.660 --> 00:33:58.500 You're who God commissioned. And I come here 00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:02.339 and you're singing about God. And there's hope. 00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:07.460 God's good. Great is his faithfulness. I don't 00:34:07.460 --> 00:34:12.400 think so, but Joe's singing, right? And Shane's 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:16.840 singing. And Heather's singing. There's hope 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:19.860 among the people of God, and God is here with 00:34:19.860 --> 00:34:27.980 us. In verse 5 and verse 11, he calls God his 00:34:27.980 --> 00:34:32.650 salvation. Can you say that in good times? Because 00:34:32.650 --> 00:34:34.329 if you can't say it in the good times, you definitely 00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:36.889 won't be able to say it in the bad times. Why 00:34:36.889 --> 00:34:39.449 are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you in 00:34:39.449 --> 00:34:41.909 turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again 00:34:41.909 --> 00:34:45.469 praise him, my salvation and my God. You have 00:34:45.469 --> 00:34:48.070 to be able to reinforce yourself when you're 00:34:48.070 --> 00:34:50.710 in the right place so that you can remember that 00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:55.409 when you're not. When you're crushed. Verse 6, 00:34:55.510 --> 00:34:57.550 he pouring out his soul. I hope you noticed this 00:34:57.550 --> 00:35:00.559 word in verse 6. It says, and my God, my soul 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:06.980 is downcast within me. Therefore. What is it 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:09.239 doing there? Right? What is therefore, therefore? 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:12.980 My soul is downcast within me, so I'm going to 00:35:12.980 --> 00:35:14.940 do something, and the thing I'm going to do is 00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:19.460 remember you. Right? That's such a funny thing 00:35:19.460 --> 00:35:22.780 to say. In a minute he's about to say, God forgotten 00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:25.460 me, but right here he's saying, my soul is downcast 00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:28.460 within me, therefore. I'm going to remember you. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:33.880 And then we go to verse 8. Skipping over the 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:37.579 breakers. By day the Lord commands me his steadfast 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:39.539 love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer 00:35:39.539 --> 00:35:42.480 to the God of my life. What is this verse doing 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:45.460 here? We talked about it already, but in verse 00:35:45.460 --> 00:35:48.980 7, he just said, your waves are sending me out 00:35:48.980 --> 00:35:51.699 to sea. I'm swimming in and you're sending me 00:35:51.699 --> 00:35:54.360 back out. Verse 9, why have you forgotten me? 00:35:54.440 --> 00:35:56.320 Right in the middle, he has this goofy verse. 00:35:57.320 --> 00:35:59.519 By day, the Lord commands a steadfast love. At 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:05.260 night, his song is with me. Miscarriage is something 00:36:05.260 --> 00:36:06.880 that most of us have had to live with in some 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.320 form or another. At least two couples I know 00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:12.000 went through this book. It's called The Moon 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:14.760 is Always Round. And if you haven't read it and 00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:18.579 you end up there, this book will wreck you. But 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:21.730 it is written by a seminary professor. and it 00:36:21.730 --> 00:36:24.550 follows a little boy asks his dad. It is literally 00:36:24.550 --> 00:36:26.329 a children's book. This will be in the library. 00:36:26.570 --> 00:36:28.789 I got it at the Resource Center if you need it. 00:36:29.409 --> 00:36:32.190 It is not complicated. It is very simple. Children's 00:36:32.190 --> 00:36:34.690 book. And this little boy asks his dad, why does 00:36:34.690 --> 00:36:38.690 the moon always change shape? And it follows 00:36:38.690 --> 00:36:42.030 his mother's pregnancy. It's a little slice today. 00:36:42.710 --> 00:36:45.670 It looks like a shriveled up orange today. And 00:36:45.670 --> 00:36:47.610 his father, every time he says that, his dad 00:36:47.610 --> 00:36:52.039 says, no, the moon is always round. And at the 00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:55.780 end of the book, again, it will wreck you in 00:36:55.780 --> 00:36:58.059 the right moment, but at the end of the book, 00:36:58.099 --> 00:37:03.880 there's this scene. And if you can't see it, 00:37:03.900 --> 00:37:09.179 it's a funeral. The birth was a death, and she's 00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:16.619 stillborn. And the father says to his son, what 00:37:16.619 --> 00:37:20.610 shape is the moon, son? And his son says, It's 00:37:20.610 --> 00:37:24.769 always round. I hope you can see the metaphor 00:37:24.769 --> 00:37:29.650 here. The God is always good. The reason the 00:37:29.650 --> 00:37:31.489 moon looks like it changes shape is because the 00:37:31.489 --> 00:37:34.690 sun hits it with a different amount of light. 00:37:34.849 --> 00:37:37.210 Sometimes you can't see it at all. Sometimes 00:37:37.210 --> 00:37:40.849 it's a tiny sliver. Sometimes it's big and beautiful 00:37:40.849 --> 00:37:43.550 and round, but it is always round. That's what 00:37:43.550 --> 00:37:46.690 verse 8, the psalmist is saying the moon is always 00:37:46.690 --> 00:37:49.030 round. Right before it, he said your breakers 00:37:49.030 --> 00:37:51.739 and your waves. They are crushing me. Verse 9, 00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:54.539 he says, my God, why have you forgotten me? Right 00:37:54.539 --> 00:37:58.099 in between, he says, remember, the moon is always 00:37:58.099 --> 00:38:02.980 round. And I don't know if that means anything 00:38:02.980 --> 00:38:06.320 to you, if you find yourself in despair, but 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:16.059 say it anyway. The God is always good. Don't 00:38:16.059 --> 00:38:19.329 take that verse out of context. It is so much 00:38:19.329 --> 00:38:21.789 more beautiful with verse 7 and verse 9 around 00:38:21.789 --> 00:38:24.750 it. If I hop to Lamentations, this is such a 00:38:24.750 --> 00:38:27.110 dreadful book to read. It's Jeremiah writing 00:38:27.110 --> 00:38:30.849 about the despair of the people of God. He says 00:38:30.849 --> 00:38:34.429 some awful things. He says, God is a bear lying 00:38:34.429 --> 00:38:38.250 in wait for me. He says, God has bent his bow 00:38:38.250 --> 00:38:42.090 and sent me as a target for his arrow. He drove 00:38:42.090 --> 00:38:44.590 into my kidneys the arrow of his quiver. These 00:38:44.590 --> 00:38:47.500 are awful things to say and to hear. And then 00:38:47.500 --> 00:38:51.219 verse 21, out of nowhere, he says, but this I 00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:54.059 call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The 00:38:54.059 --> 00:38:56.900 steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His 00:38:56.900 --> 00:39:00.280 mercies never come to an end. The moon is always 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:10.780 round. In verse 9, he says, I say to God, my 00:39:10.780 --> 00:39:14.340 rock, why have you forgotten me? The one, why 00:39:14.340 --> 00:39:17.119 does he say rock, right? Do you know a story 00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:21.480 about a rock? I say to God, my rock, why have 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:23.960 you forgotten me? To who? The one I built my 00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:28.539 house on. The one who doesn't shake. He knows 00:39:28.539 --> 00:39:35.199 God hasn't forgotten him. I'm so sorry this man 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:40.039 suffered so badly. But I'm so glad he did. So 00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:42.579 he would be moved to write this incredible song. 00:39:43.340 --> 00:39:45.579 So that the Holy Spirit inspired these haunting 00:39:45.579 --> 00:39:51.400 words so that we can remember who God is. William 00:39:51.400 --> 00:39:53.320 Cowper, we'll sing one of his songs in a minute. 00:39:53.860 --> 00:39:56.260 I'd give you more detail, but we're running low 00:39:56.260 --> 00:39:59.780 on time. He was an Englishman. He was trained 00:39:59.780 --> 00:40:02.679 as an attorney. He tried to commit suicide four 00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:05.820 times. He believed he was out of God's reach, 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:09.599 out of the reach of God's mercy. And he constantly 00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:13.579 struggled with... overwhelming depression, believing 00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:19.239 he was eternally damned. That man, not too far 00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:21.579 off from this son of Korah, wrote these words. 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:26.039 From God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Ye fearful 00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:30.619 saints, fresh courage take. The clouds ye so 00:40:30.619 --> 00:40:34.739 much dread are big with mercy and shall break 00:40:34.739 --> 00:40:38.219 in blessings on your head. The clouds you're 00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:41.809 so afraid of. Joe mentioned this a couple weeks 00:40:41.809 --> 00:40:44.809 ago, a quote from C .H. Spurgeon. I have another 00:40:44.809 --> 00:40:47.250 book of his called Spurgeon's Sorrows. This will 00:40:47.250 --> 00:40:49.909 be in the library too if you need this. But God 00:40:49.909 --> 00:40:52.670 sends us the best love letters have black singed 00:40:52.670 --> 00:40:54.690 envelopes. Those clouds you're so afraid of, 00:40:54.809 --> 00:40:57.869 those are big with mercy and they will break. 00:40:57.989 --> 00:41:00.309 And when they do, it will be blessings on your 00:41:00.309 --> 00:41:02.929 head. He wrote this. This is the song we'll sing 00:41:02.929 --> 00:41:07.710 for communion. Eres since by faith I saw the 00:41:07.710 --> 00:41:11.750 stream. Thy flowing wounds supply. Redeeming 00:41:11.750 --> 00:41:15.429 love has been my theme and shall be till I die. 00:41:16.150 --> 00:41:19.929 I'm so sorry that William Cooper suffered so 00:41:19.929 --> 00:41:23.889 badly, but I'm so thankful that he did. To write 00:41:23.889 --> 00:41:25.849 something like that, that we can sing centuries 00:41:25.849 --> 00:41:30.670 later and see depression does not disqualify 00:41:30.670 --> 00:41:33.730 from faith, but you have to remember, you have 00:41:33.730 --> 00:41:37.539 to be that voice. God can bring forth praise 00:41:37.539 --> 00:41:40.300 from affliction. Even people who feel abandoned 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:45.099 can still be used to declare his mercy. Right? 00:41:45.139 --> 00:41:48.340 William Cooper tried to commit suicide four times 00:41:48.340 --> 00:41:50.880 and still to the day he died struggled with whether 00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:53.420 he was saved. Wrote, redeeming love has been 00:41:53.420 --> 00:41:57.239 my theme and shall be till I die. Third point, 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:00.519 we have to preach to ourselves. Sometimes it's 00:42:00.519 --> 00:42:03.079 simply not enough to sing great is thy faithfulness. 00:42:03.980 --> 00:42:05.840 Sometimes it's not enough to quote scripture 00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:10.239 to yourself. For this guy, it's not. So we have 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:13.460 number three. We have to preach to ourselves. 00:42:14.460 --> 00:42:16.579 You have to acknowledge before you can remember. 00:42:17.900 --> 00:42:20.320 Remembering is what matters. Sometimes remembering 00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:22.820 who God is and what he's done isn't enough. And 00:42:22.820 --> 00:42:25.500 you have to preach. You have to fight for yourself. 00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:30.280 He's not winning. He's not winning yet. But he 00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:34.500 is not going to die a psychogenic death. He says 00:42:34.500 --> 00:42:37.579 in verse 5, why are you cast down on my soul? 00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:40.880 And why are you in turmoil within me? Here's 00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:46.000 the preaching part. Hope in God's soul, for I 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:48.300 will praise him again, my salvation and my God. 00:42:49.099 --> 00:42:51.820 The most formidable book on Psalm 42. If you 00:42:51.820 --> 00:42:54.360 look around for an exegesis or an exposition 00:42:54.360 --> 00:42:56.860 or something on Psalm 42, you will run into this 00:42:56.860 --> 00:42:59.519 book, Spiritual Depression by D. Martin Lloyd 00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:03.250 -Jones. This is in the library too. And at the 00:43:03.250 --> 00:43:07.469 beginning of the book, the moon is always round 00:43:07.469 --> 00:43:09.789 is simple and potent. That book, if you need 00:43:09.789 --> 00:43:13.210 more substance, is really powerful. At the very 00:43:13.210 --> 00:43:16.690 beginning of the book, he writes this. Self, 00:43:16.829 --> 00:43:23.110 can you give me the first quote, Joe? He says, 00:43:23.269 --> 00:43:26.710 have you realized that most of your unhappiness 00:43:26.710 --> 00:43:29.610 in life is due to the fact that you are listening 00:43:29.610 --> 00:43:32.510 to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take 00:43:32.510 --> 00:43:34.690 those thoughts that come to you the moment you 00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:37.389 wake up in the morning. Somebody's talking. Who 00:43:37.389 --> 00:43:40.710 is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. 00:43:41.789 --> 00:43:44.650 Now this man's treatment in Psalm 42 was this. 00:43:44.710 --> 00:43:47.170 Instead of allowing this self to talk to him, 00:43:47.289 --> 00:43:49.909 he starts talking to himself. How very strange. 00:43:51.030 --> 00:43:54.690 Why art thou downcast, O my soul, he asks. His 00:43:54.690 --> 00:43:57.289 soul had been addressing him, crushing him, so 00:43:57.289 --> 00:43:59.989 he stands up and says, Self, listen for a moment, 00:44:00.050 --> 00:44:03.150 and I'll speak to you. What does that look like? 00:44:05.329 --> 00:44:08.730 Right? You wake up. Or you're driving your car. 00:44:09.409 --> 00:44:12.510 Or you're watching a baseball game. You're in 00:44:12.510 --> 00:44:13.929 line at the grocery store. You're reading your 00:44:13.929 --> 00:44:16.949 Bible. You're sitting in church. And self comes 00:44:16.949 --> 00:44:20.650 to you and says, Rob, God doesn't love me. I 00:44:20.650 --> 00:44:24.690 don't think God loves me. He's forgotten me. 00:44:25.650 --> 00:44:31.000 What will you do? Will you do what Annie did 00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:34.179 and just sink and give up? Will you die a psychogenic 00:44:34.179 --> 00:44:39.619 death and just accept it? It's slow. Or will 00:44:39.619 --> 00:44:42.019 you say, that's not true, self. Right? Just like 00:44:42.019 --> 00:44:44.539 in the quote, self, that's not true. Look here. 00:44:44.900 --> 00:44:48.840 It's in 1 John 3. It's in Zephaniah 3. And self 00:44:48.840 --> 00:44:51.099 comes back and says, all the evidence is to the 00:44:51.099 --> 00:44:53.719 contrary. God wouldn't let this happen to me. 00:44:56.340 --> 00:45:00.130 Right? Look how I care for this silly cow. Why 00:45:00.130 --> 00:45:02.150 can't God care for me as much as I care for this 00:45:02.150 --> 00:45:04.610 silly cow? That's not true, self. It doesn't 00:45:04.610 --> 00:45:07.369 matter what you think. Look here, Isaiah 43. 00:45:08.269 --> 00:45:11.309 Look here at Romans 5. And sometimes that's still 00:45:11.309 --> 00:45:14.309 not enough. And self comes back one more time. 00:45:14.710 --> 00:45:20.110 And you have to grab self and say, no. I will 00:45:20.110 --> 00:45:23.309 hope in God. You will hope in God, self. You 00:45:23.309 --> 00:45:27.010 will praise him again. Maybe not today. And maybe 00:45:27.010 --> 00:45:29.460 it's weeks. Maybe it's months. God help us, maybe 00:45:29.460 --> 00:45:33.880 it's decades. But you will hope in God. You will 00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:38.260 listen to meself. I will not listen to you. That's 00:45:38.260 --> 00:45:39.840 the way you live the Christian life, when you're 00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:44.179 crushed. That's what God is asking us to do here 00:45:44.179 --> 00:45:48.460 in Psalm 42. This valiant, brave man fighting 00:45:48.460 --> 00:45:53.340 for hope. Last quote, Joe, I suggest. From the 00:45:53.340 --> 00:45:56.599 same book. He says, I suggest that the main trouble 00:45:56.599 --> 00:45:58.400 in this whole matter of spiritual depression 00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:03.079 is this. We allow ourself to talk to us instead 00:46:03.079 --> 00:46:05.599 of talking to ourself. The main art in the matter 00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:08.039 of spiritual living is to know how to handle 00:46:08.039 --> 00:46:13.860 yourself. You have to take yourself in hand gently. 00:46:14.519 --> 00:46:16.519 You have to address yourself, preach to yourself, 00:46:16.639 --> 00:46:19.159 question yourself. You need to say to your soul, 00:46:19.239 --> 00:46:21.420 why are you downcast? What business have you 00:46:21.420 --> 00:46:25.800 to be disquieted? And then, You need to go and 00:46:25.800 --> 00:46:28.699 remind yourself of God, who he is, what he is, 00:46:28.739 --> 00:46:31.619 what he's done, what God has pledged to do. Then 00:46:31.619 --> 00:46:34.699 having done that, end on this great note. Defy 00:46:34.699 --> 00:46:38.260 yourself. Defy other people. Defy the devil and 00:46:38.260 --> 00:46:41.699 the whole world and say with this man, hope in 00:46:41.699 --> 00:46:45.699 God. I will praise him again. My salvation and 00:46:45.699 --> 00:46:52.519 my God. That is a God glorifying, God praising. 00:46:53.019 --> 00:46:57.980 God -focused man or woman. And I'm not saying 00:46:57.980 --> 00:47:00.360 it's easy, and I'm not saying I succeed very 00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:05.460 often. But that is how you fight for your hope. 00:47:10.920 --> 00:47:16.159 Lee Strobel was a journalist. Ben, you can start 00:47:16.159 --> 00:47:19.679 making your way up. He wrote a book called Case 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:24.039 for Faith. And in it, he interviews a guy named 00:47:24.039 --> 00:47:26.039 Chuck Templeton, Charles Templeton. He was an 00:47:26.039 --> 00:47:29.860 evangelist. He was good friends with Billy Graham. 00:47:30.019 --> 00:47:32.719 He toured around, was a big deal, and eventually 00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:36.599 lost his way, did a 180, and became an atheist 00:47:36.599 --> 00:47:42.320 or an agnostic. I can't remember. And Lee Strobel 00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:44.039 was interviewing him, and he's just railing on 00:47:44.039 --> 00:47:47.360 God. He hates God, right? He could never serve 00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:49.480 a God who allows so much suffering and pain and 00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:52.389 misery in the world. And he's just going on and 00:47:52.389 --> 00:47:55.429 on and on. And eventually Lee Strobel interrupts 00:47:55.429 --> 00:48:00.510 him and he says, Chuck, what about Jesus? And 00:48:00.510 --> 00:48:03.610 Templeton broke down weeping and said, I miss 00:48:03.610 --> 00:48:11.849 him so much. In these quiet, dark moments, at 00:48:11.849 --> 00:48:16.349 least for me, the thing I want to do, just like 00:48:16.349 --> 00:48:18.989 this son of Korah here, I want to wrap my arms 00:48:18.989 --> 00:48:22.269 around the father. I'm afraid and I'm alone and 00:48:22.269 --> 00:48:25.889 I need something to grab onto. But the Father's 00:48:25.889 --> 00:48:28.090 big, big, big, right? In Isaiah 6, he's holy, 00:48:28.210 --> 00:48:32.010 holy, holy. And I'm small, small, small. My tiny 00:48:32.010 --> 00:48:35.070 arms can't get around him. He's unsearchable. 00:48:35.130 --> 00:48:39.449 He's transcendent. He's unknowable. And as awful 00:48:39.449 --> 00:48:43.550 as this sentiment sounds, can the Father really 00:48:43.550 --> 00:48:48.309 help me in my despair? And that statement would 00:48:48.309 --> 00:48:50.530 be... The answer to that statement would be no. 00:48:52.230 --> 00:49:00.750 Except for John 1 .14. The Word became flesh. 00:49:04.190 --> 00:49:06.969 I can't wrap my arms around the Father in those 00:49:06.969 --> 00:49:10.449 most horrible of moments. You can't either. This 00:49:10.449 --> 00:49:13.949 man, this son of Korah, he can't either. He was 00:49:13.949 --> 00:49:18.760 looking forward. We look back. Jesus wore your 00:49:18.760 --> 00:49:23.159 clothes. He ate our food. He bled our blood. 00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:29.400 He is the knowable God. You can wrap your arms 00:49:29.400 --> 00:49:32.900 around him. Right? He was forgotten so you're 00:49:32.900 --> 00:49:35.699 not forgotten. He was abandoned so you're not 00:49:35.699 --> 00:49:38.280 abandoned. He won the fight so you don't have 00:49:38.280 --> 00:49:42.840 to win the fight. And the point there, you might 00:49:42.840 --> 00:49:45.099 not be able to appreciate that in that moment. 00:49:45.630 --> 00:49:47.969 But make no mistake, you're not saved and you 00:49:47.969 --> 00:49:50.690 don't have hope because God just forgave you. 00:49:50.750 --> 00:49:55.289 You have hope because God condescended. Because 00:49:55.289 --> 00:49:58.329 Jesus came down and became knowable and we can 00:49:58.329 --> 00:50:02.349 wrap our arms around the Son. And He is eternally 00:50:02.349 --> 00:50:07.429 attached to the Father. And you have come to 00:50:07.429 --> 00:50:09.789 the place where God desires for you. The Father 00:50:09.789 --> 00:50:12.900 has infinite love for us. He sent the Son. He 00:50:12.900 --> 00:50:15.559 saw in eternity, I've lost my people and I want 00:50:15.559 --> 00:50:18.119 them back. Son, go and get them back for me. 00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:22.179 But Jesus said in John 14, 6, you won't be able 00:50:22.179 --> 00:50:30.920 to come to him except through me. So whether 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:34.579 you're just putting this sermon or this psalm 00:50:34.579 --> 00:50:36.860 in your back pocket for the day when this finds 00:50:36.860 --> 00:50:38.960 you or whether you're in the lowest moment right 00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:47.920 now. Remember at least this. It is not your responsibility 00:50:47.920 --> 00:50:52.199 to win your fight against your despair. Jesus 00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:57.019 has already won. Your job is to stay in the fight. 00:50:57.880 --> 00:51:02.360 Do not surrender. Preach to yourself. Hope in 00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:05.500 God. I will praise him again no matter what today 00:51:05.500 --> 00:51:09.400 looks like. This psalm has no teeth without Jesus. 00:51:09.699 --> 00:51:12.980 But because he has won the victory. you can have 00:51:12.980 --> 00:51:15.579 hope. Let me read briefly in response to this 00:51:15.579 --> 00:51:18.099 psalm. This is the end of chapter 27. This is 00:51:18.099 --> 00:51:22.340 of David. He says, I believe that I shall look 00:51:22.340 --> 00:51:24.840 upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of 00:51:24.840 --> 00:51:29.000 the living on this side of eternity. Wait for 00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:32.639 the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. 00:51:33.019 --> 00:51:38.480 Wait for the Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank 00:51:38.480 --> 00:51:40.500 you that I can come to you. We can come to you 00:51:40.500 --> 00:51:45.300 because of what Jesus has done. You are approachable 00:51:45.300 --> 00:51:48.139 through your Son. And I pray that you will help 00:51:48.139 --> 00:51:51.059 us to be crushed well when we must be crushed, 00:51:51.219 --> 00:51:55.219 that we will fight for hope in you when we are 00:51:55.219 --> 00:51:59.199 empty, that you will give us Psalm 42 as a shield 00:51:59.199 --> 00:52:03.260 to remember we will praise you again, that you 00:52:03.260 --> 00:52:07.760 will fill us up, that we are not forgotten because 00:52:07.760 --> 00:52:10.820 you were forgotten. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.