WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.459 Let's pray as we come to hear God speak to us. 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:08.740 Father God, thank you that as we hear your word 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:11.439 read and preached, as we sing and pray together, 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:15.720 we are hearing you speak to us. Thank you that 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:18.399 your words to us are always words that come to 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:22.460 us in the power of the Holy Spirit and through 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:25.440 your Son, the Lord Jesus. And so, Father God, 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:28.179 work in our hearts by your Spirit so we might 00:00:28.179 --> 00:00:31.300 see and know more of your Son. To his glory and 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:36.719 our blessing. Amen. Now, I wonder when the last 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.460 time was when you got a song really stuck in 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:45.060 your head. It kind of depends maybe on different 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:48.039 stages of life. So for a big chunk of my life. 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.179 The theme song for Bob the Builder just went 00:00:51.179 --> 00:00:53.259 round and round and round. It's one of those 00:00:53.259 --> 00:00:56.460 songs that doesn't move from A to B. Every chorus 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:59.020 brings you to the verse, to the chorus, to the 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:02.259 verse, never seems to naturally land and come 00:01:02.259 --> 00:01:04.099 to an end. I've now moved into a, I've moved 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:08.000 through the baby shark phase. I've got a tweenager, 00:01:08.099 --> 00:01:12.140 so I'm firmly in the opalite. and um barbie girl 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:14.159 face but you have those different songs that 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:16.920 kind of go round and round in your head and and 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:18.859 they you kind of can't get them out one of the 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:20.780 difficult things about having a song in your 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.120 head is when you have one song in your head it's 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.500 almost impossible to listen to another song have 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:29.040 you ever done that you know like this song on 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:30.260 the radio and you're trying to think what is 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:32.200 it what is it what is it then the other song 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:34.939 comes on and you're like i can't now hold those 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:39.890 two songs in my head um And I think that experience 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:43.230 that we have with one song stuck in our head, 00:01:43.290 --> 00:01:45.930 sort of squeezing out any space for any other 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:50.170 song. Well, that can sometimes be what our experience 00:01:50.170 --> 00:01:52.250 can be like as Christians. It can be what our 00:01:52.250 --> 00:01:54.950 experience is like as we gather here this morning 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:57.370 as students at Oak Hill. We could ask ourselves, 00:01:57.549 --> 00:02:00.849 what is the song that's got stuck in my head? 00:02:00.909 --> 00:02:04.290 What is the song that's taken hold of my heart? 00:02:04.430 --> 00:02:08.330 What is the song that kind of smothers? and doesn't 00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:11.069 really leave space for any of the others. Sometimes 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:14.210 it's the song of the gospel. I mean, it could 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:16.930 be after a lecture, after some reading you've 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:18.710 done, just some time you've had in God's word, 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:22.069 or maybe like the prayer time in those prayer 00:02:22.069 --> 00:02:24.889 stations that we had yesterday. You can have 00:02:24.889 --> 00:02:27.830 those moments when the volume of that song of 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:31.270 the gospel kind of is heard more loudly in your 00:02:31.270 --> 00:02:35.599 heart, but pretty soon... Other songs begin to 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.879 sound louder and louder. I don't know what those 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:40.879 songs might be for you, those songs that just 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.240 get stuck in your head. It could be you're coming 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:44.639 to the end of your time here at Oak Hill and 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.580 the song is, will I get a job? Will I get a job? 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:48.699 Will I get a job? It could be that you do have 00:02:48.699 --> 00:02:50.759 a job lined up and you're thinking, am I up to 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:52.919 the task? Am I up to the task? Am I up to the 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.539 task? It could be that study is hard, there's 00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:57.680 work to do. Study is hard, there's work to do. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.659 Home is hard. I feel pressures around. And it 00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:03.580 could be that even as you went from chapel yesterday, 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:08.560 having heard that song of the gospel, very quickly 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.840 the other songs came in and smothered it. Well, 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.979 this psalm, Psalm 96, is here for us this afternoon 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:21.439 to sing for us of Jesus, to get this song kind 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.099 of stuck in our hearts. This psalm sings to us 00:03:25.099 --> 00:03:28.419 of Jesus. Jesus, the creator and the king who's 00:03:28.419 --> 00:03:31.419 coming again. And it calls us to give our lives 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:34.080 to that song, to live our lives, as it were, 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:40.539 to that tune. And it sort of slowly, steadily 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:43.020 over each of the sections turns up the volume. 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:46.379 It begins by singing us to the Lord Jesus and 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:49.500 singing and inviting us to join in and sing to 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:53.460 the Lord God who is the creator. And verses one 00:03:53.460 --> 00:03:55.099 to three, I wonder if you kind of caught that 00:03:55.099 --> 00:04:00.000 as TJ was reading. Sings to us, turns to us as 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.900 the people of God. You sing to the Lord a new 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:05.800 song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:08.539 the Lord, praise his name. Verse three, declare 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:13.419 his glory among the nations. Sing of Jesus, share 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:18.300 about Jesus. Why? Well, we hear the answers in 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.930 verses four to six. Sing of Jesus because. Well, 00:04:21.949 --> 00:04:26.790 look, verse 4, he is the only true God because, 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:32.029 verse 5, he's the only creator God. And so, verse 00:04:32.029 --> 00:04:35.990 6, he's the only one who deserves that celebration 00:04:35.990 --> 00:04:41.430 and praise. He's the only true God. Verse 4, 00:04:41.529 --> 00:04:46.189 he is to be feared above all gods. Verse 5, because 00:04:46.189 --> 00:04:48.850 none of the others are gods at all because he 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:51.350 is the one. who made the heavens and so, verse 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:56.009 6, splendor and majesty are before him. The psalm 00:04:56.009 --> 00:04:59.329 calls us to proclaim the Lord Jesus in all the 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:01.790 world because the Lord Jesus is the one who made 00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:06.009 the world. The psalm invites us to bring this 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:08.689 song in our hearts and our heads wherever we 00:05:08.689 --> 00:05:12.529 are because wherever we are is a place that has 00:05:12.529 --> 00:05:17.589 been made by the Lord Jesus. And so if we're 00:05:17.589 --> 00:05:20.540 going to sing, The song of verses 1 to 3. If 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:22.339 we're going to have the song of verses 1 to 3 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:24.800 stuck in our head and our hearts, then we need 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:29.199 to know the truth of verses 4 to 6. The truth 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:32.360 that Jesus is the creator God. And that truth 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:36.420 can give us confidence. The kind of confidence 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:41.540 that can melt any of the insecurity and any of 00:05:41.540 --> 00:05:44.819 the uncertainty that would keep us from joining 00:05:44.819 --> 00:05:49.300 in with this song. I mean, it feels like the 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:52.160 people who first heard this psalm felt that tension 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:56.319 and that sort of clash of tunes. Which one am 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.300 I going to listen to? Which one am I going to 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:01.240 live for? And just glance up to Psalm 95. Psalm 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:04.740 95 begins inviting the people to join in singing, 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.779 inviting the people to sing to this God. And 00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:11.040 then halfway through, the psalm has to stop and 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.399 say and moves from this invitation to song to 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.379 a warning. to say, well, don't let other songs 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:20.839 drown out this one. Don't harden your hearts. 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.920 Don't disobey. Don't ignore. Don't let your doubts, 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.819 don't let your disobedience, don't let your discouragement 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:32.860 drown out this song. And so Psalm 96 picks up 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:39.170 where Psalm 95 left off. To hear this song. To 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:41.170 join in with this song, we are going to need 00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:44.750 to know that the God of whom we sing is the creator 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:48.790 God. I remember, forgive me if I've told this 00:06:48.790 --> 00:06:51.810 story before. I only have a set number of anecdotes 00:06:51.810 --> 00:06:56.290 from our time at Chile. But when I first moved 00:06:56.290 --> 00:06:57.569 to Chile, it was amazing. I lived in a block 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:00.889 of flats. And actually, unusually for Chile, 00:07:00.930 --> 00:07:02.269 there was like an old building in front of us. 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:04.310 So we didn't have another building kind of blocking 00:07:04.310 --> 00:07:06.230 our view. And so we could see out from floor 00:07:06.230 --> 00:07:09.560 15. and look out over the city and the mountains 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:11.939 that surrounded it. And initially it was beautiful, 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.699 but pretty soon it became really unsettling because 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.519 there I was in this place and just looking out 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:20.459 the window made me feel really far from home, 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:24.139 made me feel really, really small, made the ministry 00:07:24.139 --> 00:07:28.300 seem so fragile and slightly ridiculous to think 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.939 what we're doing, I can literally see over a 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.560 million people as I look out my window. How can 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.899 anything that we could do make any kind of difference 00:07:35.899 --> 00:07:39.040 there? And you feel that uncertainty, you feel 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.680 that fragility, and you begin to feel that doubt. 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:46.540 Well, a couple of months after that, we had the 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:49.779 full chilling experience because there was a 00:07:49.779 --> 00:07:52.699 earthquake, a good solid seven point something 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:56.860 earthquake. And up on the 15th floor, you really 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:59.579 feel it. And it's this extraordinary moment that 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:02.379 as you're kind of looking around, you feel that 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:05.740 earth around you move. But the precious truth 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:09.639 was that those mountains that looked so imposing, 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.240 it was this extraordinary reality that actually 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.319 those mountains themselves aren't stable. Those 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:22.100 mountains themselves will shake. That the mountains 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:26.600 shake, but the Lord cannot be moved. That the 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.980 creator who made those mountains is Lord over 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:34.830 those millions that I can see. That the creator 00:08:34.830 --> 00:08:39.450 who made those mountains, who shakes the earth, 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:44.629 is a stronger refuge than any home that I might 00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:50.789 have to leave or look for. And that's what this 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:53.409 psalm speaks to us. And that's what this psalm 00:08:53.409 --> 00:08:57.549 offers to us. In some ways, it's as if the psalm 00:08:57.549 --> 00:09:02.289 offers to us a loving shake, a loving earthquake. 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:08.399 The Lord Jesus is the one who made the whole 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:12.139 world. And so we can entrust ourselves to him 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:16.200 as he leads us to serve him in the whole world. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.879 I mean, it might be this morning that you are 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.419 feeling that same kind of fragility, that same 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:24.879 sort of doubt and insecurity that I felt looking 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.620 out over Santiago. It could be that you look 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:31.500 ahead to ministry in the future. It could be 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.759 that you look around to the study and the challenges 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:38.360 that you face here and now. You might feel weak 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:41.860 and tired. You might struggle with temptation 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:47.059 and doubt. But this psalm is to be that kind 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:52.139 of loving earthquake. We can trust the truth 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:56.840 of the creator. We can trust the care of the 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:01.360 creator as we give our lives. and the lives of 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.879 our families into the hands of this Lord, we 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.399 are giving our lives and the lives of our families 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:12.139 into the hands of the one who created and cares 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:15.720 for the world. The Lord Jesus is the creator. 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:19.679 The psalm goes on in the next couple of verses 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.059 to turn up the volume that Jesus isn't just the 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:24.799 creator. Jesus is, well, because he's the creator, 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:30.570 he's the king. And in verses 1 to 6, it was like 00:10:30.570 --> 00:10:34.090 we were being invited to join in the song. And 00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:36.950 now, verses 7 to 10, address the whole nations 00:10:36.950 --> 00:10:41.830 of the world. In verses 7 to 9, Jesus is to be 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:45.529 worshipped in the whole world because, verse 00:10:45.529 --> 00:10:52.750 10, he is the king over the whole world. Ascribe 00:10:52.750 --> 00:10:55.289 to the Lord, verse 7, all you families and nations. 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:58.730 Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Verse 00:10:58.730 --> 00:11:01.629 10, say among the nations or let it be said among 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:05.269 the nations that the Lord reigns. The world is 00:11:05.269 --> 00:11:08.289 firmly established. It cannot be moved. He will 00:11:08.289 --> 00:11:13.929 judge the peoples with equity. Jesus is the king. 00:11:15.850 --> 00:11:20.850 Our horizons for mission and our horizons for 00:11:20.850 --> 00:11:25.080 ministry will be set by the borders. that we 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:29.759 place around Jesus' kingdom. And these verses 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.419 show us the borders of that kingdom, that there 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:34.399 are no borders of that kingdom, that that kingdom 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.059 is a kingdom over all nations, all places, over 00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:39.740 the whole earth. So let it be said in the whole 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:44.279 earth that the Lord reigns. And I think sometimes 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:47.779 our struggle to join in with that, as we look 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:50.100 ahead to ministry, as we think about our situations 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:53.850 now, I wonder if one of our issues is... that 00:11:53.850 --> 00:11:55.929 we think that living the Christian life, or we 00:11:55.929 --> 00:12:00.029 think that living in Christian ministry is like 00:12:00.029 --> 00:12:03.470 playing an instrument when it's actually like 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:07.750 singing a song. Okay, so I think when we think 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:09.690 about ministry like playing an instrument, I 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:12.529 look at the people who do this, and it's like 00:12:12.529 --> 00:12:15.419 a superpower to me. It's like, it's baffling. 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:17.940 I do not understand it. They move their hands, 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:19.500 they do different things with different parts 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:22.379 of their body at the same time and make it sound 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:24.980 nice. And you look at that and I think we can 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.279 have that view of Christian ministry. That we're 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:31.299 here learning techniques that we need to practice 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:35.419 to do this thing that maybe only certain people 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:39.029 can do. I don't know if you have that sense of 00:12:39.029 --> 00:12:41.730 kind of distance from what the people here do. 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:43.509 And you could have that sense of discouragement. 00:12:43.690 --> 00:12:46.289 I'll never learn that. I could never do that. 00:12:46.389 --> 00:12:48.250 Or it would take me so long and it would almost 00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:51.309 be a little bit pointless if I tried. You could 00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:53.809 feel discouragement. You could feel pride. Like, 00:12:53.850 --> 00:12:55.850 I'm one of those people he's describing. I have 00:12:55.850 --> 00:12:58.190 the techniques. I can master it. I can make it 00:12:58.190 --> 00:13:00.870 play my tune. I think we sometimes think the 00:13:00.870 --> 00:13:02.649 Christian life and Christian ministry is like 00:13:02.649 --> 00:13:04.830 playing a musical instrument. It's just for some 00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:07.419 people. Or if it is for me, I'll do it in a pretty 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:09.659 clumsy way. Whereas actually it's not like playing 00:13:09.659 --> 00:13:13.159 a musical instrument. Instead, what we're seeking 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:18.159 to do is to sing a song. All of us sing. We just 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.759 need the right occasion. We just need the right 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.200 motivation. And that's what these verses give 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.419 to us. They hold up Jesus before us. They hold 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:32.370 up in verse 10. They show us. Jesus who reigns 00:13:32.370 --> 00:13:34.490 and they invite us to look around us to see this 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:37.389 whole world over which Jesus reigns. Everywhere 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:41.230 we stand, everywhere we are is a place over which 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:47.870 and in which Jesus reigns. And sing, look at 00:13:47.870 --> 00:13:52.149 who he is, look at where you are, join in and 00:13:52.149 --> 00:13:53.950 call others to join in that song. It's a bit 00:13:53.950 --> 00:13:57.490 like if you're at a birthday party, you see the 00:13:57.490 --> 00:14:00.149 person in front of you. you look at the party 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:03.330 around you, you don't really worry about whether 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:06.429 you're hitting the right pitch. Or at a sports 00:14:06.429 --> 00:14:11.149 event, you know, as your team is winning or needing 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:13.450 encouragement when it's struggling, you look 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:15.389 at the team, you see yourself around in that 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:17.769 stadium, and you don't think twice about joining 00:14:17.769 --> 00:14:20.830 in and calling others to join you as well. Or 00:14:20.830 --> 00:14:23.730 if you're at a concert, when the music starts, 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:26.610 the lights go up, the music starts. You think 00:14:26.610 --> 00:14:28.450 nothing of kind of rushing forward and joining 00:14:28.450 --> 00:14:30.029 in. They don't like you doing that at classical 00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:34.769 concerts. Okay? Apparently. But, you know, when 00:14:34.769 --> 00:14:37.409 you're at a concert, you think nothing. No one's 00:14:37.409 --> 00:14:39.990 turning to anybody else and asking them about 00:14:39.990 --> 00:14:43.269 their perfect pitch. You see them there. You 00:14:43.269 --> 00:14:45.870 look around you. It's the right occasion. It's 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:48.470 the right motivation. You join in and you call 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:53.370 others to get involved as well. So we are here. 00:14:53.980 --> 00:14:56.399 At Oak Hill, we are studying and giving ourselves 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:00.879 to this process of study, not in order to learn 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.259 how to master an instrument, techniques for mastering 00:15:05.259 --> 00:15:10.240 an instrument. Instead, we are seeking to see 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:15.480 Jesus more clearly so that we can join in with 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:20.460 this song. To know that motivation so that we 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.779 can see every occasion. as an occasion to sing 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:28.279 of Jesus as the king. We see Jesus before us. 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:34.320 We see the world around us. And so with the psalm, 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.159 we know that Jesus is to be worshipped in the 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:41.559 whole world because he is the reigning king over 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:48.259 the whole world. So the psalm has been turning 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:51.850 up the volume on that gospel song. Looking amongst 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:55.250 God's people can hear it in verses 1 to 6. The 00:15:55.250 --> 00:15:59.870 nations hear it there in 7 and 10. And then as 00:15:59.870 --> 00:16:02.710 the psalm comes to an end, this song breaks out 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:06.250 and is heard in verses 11 to 13 in the whole 00:16:06.250 --> 00:16:11.289 of creation. Jesus is the creator. Jesus is the 00:16:11.289 --> 00:16:18.960 king. And he is coming again. As we look at verses 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.360 11 to 13, we listen from heaven to earth, from 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.320 sea and fields and forests and everything that 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.460 might be in between. The whole earth, the whole 00:16:29.460 --> 00:16:32.899 of creation is called to join in to this joyful 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:35.460 song. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:37.919 glad. Let the sea resound and all that's in it, 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:40.679 the fields and everything in them. Let all the 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.870 trees of the forest sing for joy. let all creation 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:48.049 rejoice. The whole of creation is invited to 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:51.809 sing for joy in verses 11 and 12 because the 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:56.450 Lord is coming to judge in verse 13. Let all 00:16:56.450 --> 00:16:59.610 creation rejoice for he comes. He comes to judge 00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:02.370 the earth. He will judge the earth in righteousness 00:17:02.370 --> 00:17:06.650 and the peoples in faithfulness. Jesus is coming 00:17:06.650 --> 00:17:09.730 to fix. the brokenness of the world. Jesus is 00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:13.309 coming to heal every hurt. Jesus is coming to 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:17.769 bring comfort to every pain. All who belong to 00:17:17.769 --> 00:17:21.390 King Jesus will be brought home by King Jesus. 00:17:21.569 --> 00:17:25.309 What a beautiful message to share. What a glorious 00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:29.970 hope to be able to offer. What a precious perspective 00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:35.730 in which to place our lives. See, this is the 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:38.089 glorious. truth that we can glimpse in these 00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:40.990 verses because we're sat here this morning and 00:17:40.990 --> 00:17:43.690 we might be wondering about the decisions that 00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:47.690 led us to come and be sat here. We might be wondering 00:17:47.690 --> 00:17:50.869 about the decisions ahead that will lead us into 00:17:50.869 --> 00:17:54.569 the future. Might be thinking about the choices 00:17:54.569 --> 00:17:57.529 that face us as we count the cost of serving 00:17:57.529 --> 00:18:03.609 Jesus. But this psalm calls us to follow Jesus, 00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:10.759 not By telling us to leave home. But by encouraging 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:17.599 us that we are heading home. As Christians, home 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.559 is never somewhere we leave. Because our home 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:26.839 always lies ahead. And this psalm calls us to 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.079 look ahead and live for that glorious heavenly 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:35.000 home. The home for which all creation. strains 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.299 and longs to see. I don't know about you, call 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:41.759 me superficial, but last Wednesday's sunshine 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:45.160 completely lifted my mood, like changed everything. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.039 It was like, oh, being out on the front, sunshine, 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:52.900 it was like, oh, spring is coming. Now today 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:56.079 is a bit more cloudy, but I can face that cloudiness 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:00.119 with a little less grumpiness because I had that 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:03.390 taste of spring. on Wednesday and into the weekend. 00:19:03.430 --> 00:19:06.009 I'm sure you guys aren't affected nearly that 00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:09.589 much. But you feel that. In Chile, one of the 00:19:09.589 --> 00:19:11.269 great things was that you were never more than 00:19:11.269 --> 00:19:13.769 about two weeks away from a sunny day and 20 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:16.569 degrees. So you see, you always had that taste. 00:19:16.630 --> 00:19:18.970 You always knew that that sunshine, even in the 00:19:18.970 --> 00:19:20.650 depths of winter when it would get quite cold, 00:19:20.670 --> 00:19:25.650 you knew that that sunshine was coming. Well, 00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:28.569 in some ways, these last verses, verses 11 to 00:19:28.569 --> 00:19:33.829 13 of this psalm, Well, they long for the light, 00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:38.069 the sunlight of that future day to flood into 00:19:38.069 --> 00:19:41.809 our lives today. They want to give us the taste 00:19:41.809 --> 00:19:44.170 of that sunshine. They want that sunshine to 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:48.170 begin to burn away the fog that can confuse and 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:52.430 disorientate and discourage us. This psalm shows 00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:57.230 us the certainty of spring. When all of creation 00:19:57.230 --> 00:20:00.269 will blossom in the beauty of the glory of the 00:20:00.269 --> 00:20:04.740 Lord Jesus. That future home when Jesus returns. 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:09.380 We will only be willing to let go and leave home 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:15.579 if we are looking ahead and heading home. The 00:20:15.579 --> 00:20:18.839 home to which all of creation is straining and 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:24.759 longing to see. Jesus, the creator, is king and 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:29.180 will one day come again. So let's live our lives 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:34.660 looking for that day. longing for that loving 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:39.619 home. So the question we started with, when was 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:42.180 the last time you had a song stuck in your head? 00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:47.839 Let's pray that this psalm would help us to hear 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:52.599 the gospel in all its clarity and beauty so that 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:58.920 we might live our lives to that tune. Let me 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:04.930 pray. Father God, we pray that our hearts now 00:21:04.930 --> 00:21:10.650 might begin to join with this song of Jesus' 00:21:10.829 --> 00:21:14.750 glory and Jesus' goodness. Would our hearts be 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:18.210 a place where we begin to get a taste of that 00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:22.069 day when all of creation will rejoice before 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:24.670 the Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.