1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,360 Alright, thank you and good evening. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:13,960 Are you still grinning after all the picking this morning? 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,520 Please remember to pray for those who are in family camp. 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,400 About 100 people are there at Camp Forest Springs. 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,520 They'll be coming back in a couple of days. 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,000 Let's pray that God will bless them and enrich their lives. 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,280 I think we're supposed to get some rain the next couple of days. 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,440 So it could be a challenging experience to be at family camp. 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:39,640 Let's pray that God will make it a rich time though in their hearts. 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,960 I was excited recently to read that there have been some more scrolls discovered in 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:53,560 Israel that may be compared, they think, to the Dead Sea Scrolls in terms of their antiquity 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,520 and content. 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,360 I suppose it'll be sometime within the next year that we'll begin finding out what those 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:05,200 scrolls have recorded for us. 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:11,780 I did not realize until rather recently that the Dead Sea Scrolls contained what has been 16 00:01:11,780 --> 00:01:16,880 called the 151st Psalm. 17 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,880 Have you ever heard that? 18 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:25,920 Some of you aren't hearing anything even right now. 19 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:34,360 Psalm 151, obviously it's not a part of the inspired Word of God, but it is attributed 20 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,360 to David. 21 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,960 And I thought I would bring a copy of it and read it to you tonight. 22 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:50,360 Oh, hallelujah of David, the son of Jesse, Smaller was I than my brothers, And the youngest 23 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,320 of the sons of my father. 24 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:59,980 So he made me shepherd of his flock, And ruler of his kids. 25 00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:04,800 My hands have made an instrument, And my fingers a lyre, 26 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:11,280 And so have I rendered glory to the Lord, Thought I within my soul. 27 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:16,160 The mountains do not witness to him, Nor do the hills proclaim. 28 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:21,360 The trees have cherished my words, And the flock my works. 29 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:28,040 For who can proclaim, and who can bespeak, And who can recount the deeds of the Lord? 30 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,160 Everything has he heard, and he has heeded. 31 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,500 He sent his prophet to anoint me, Samuel, to make me great. 32 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:38,760 My brothers went out to meet him. 33 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:44,000 Handsome of figure and appearance, Though they were all tall of stature and handsome 34 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,760 by their hair, The Lord God chose not them. 35 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:55,760 But he sent and took me from behind the flock, And anointed me with holy oil, 36 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:01,360 And he made me leader of his people, And ruler over the sons of his covenant. 37 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,160 I thought that was interesting. 38 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:09,320 Again I say it can't be proven, I suppose, that it belongs to David, to David Salter, 39 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:16,600 but it is interesting to hear those kinds of things from literature that is considered 40 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,700 non-canonical, not a part of scripture. 41 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:24,200 But we are going to look at a psalm tonight, not by David. 42 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:29,320 Psalm 66, and I invite you to open your Bible there. 43 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:35,400 This may be called a psalm of victory and celebration. 44 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:41,560 It is celebrating some great deliverance of the people of God from their enemies. 45 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:48,040 It's impossible to go back and to place the historical context behind this psalm. 46 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:54,960 Nonetheless, we share with the psalmist great joy over the victory that God gave his people. 47 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:04,160 It seems to be a psalm or a psalm that was used for public worship at the temple of God. 48 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:10,680 Verses 1 through 12 seem to form the first stanza, so to speak, of this psalm. 49 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:20,440 It is a stanza that involves corporate worship, the people of God together worshiping him. 50 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:26,280 In verse 13, and through the end of the book, it's more personal in its nature. 51 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,240 It's personal worship, not corporate worship. 52 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:35,420 Some people think for that reason that perhaps originally these were two different expressions 53 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:40,720 that have been united together, and that may or may not be the case. 54 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:45,720 But you notice he begins to speak in the first person in verse 13, I shall come to thy house 55 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,560 with burnt offerings. 56 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,760 That gives you an idea of how the psalm breaks down. 57 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:57,680 You notice the last part of it, verses 13 through 15, speaks to God. 58 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,760 And then verses 16 through 20, the end of the chapter, speaks to the nation about how 59 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,800 God has answered prayer. 60 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,560 Let's go back to the beginning. 61 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:13,240 The psalmist says, shout, sing, and say. 62 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:19,220 He's interested in a public testimony, a public declaration of what God has done. 63 00:05:19,220 --> 00:05:27,640 First he says, shout, and the word means to split the ears, means to raise noise. 64 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:36,000 It means to let a mighty shout be raised in the temple, in joy to God. 65 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:43,640 It's wonderful to be joyful to God, to let our emotions fill our expressions. 66 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,680 Some of God's people give you the impression in a worship service that they're weaned on 67 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,040 prune juice or pickle juice or something. 68 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:56,040 They just seem to be sour and unmovable and without expression. 69 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:01,840 How different the worship of the Bible, where he talks about shouting in the presence of 70 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,200 God, shouting in church joyfully to God. 71 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,480 And he invites all of the earth to join. 72 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,480 Sing the glory of his name. 73 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:16,480 When we see God's name mentioned, it reminds us that God is in the business of revealing 74 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:18,280 himself. 75 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,760 That's what his names were all about. 76 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:25,380 His names tell us who he is and what he is like. 77 00:06:25,380 --> 00:06:31,720 And so the psalmist is saying that in this great act of deliverance, whatever this historical 78 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:39,000 event was, whatever it entailed, God was revealing himself to his people. 79 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,000 And so he says, sing the glory of the Lord. 80 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,360 Make his praise glorious. 81 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:52,420 The word praise is a Hebrew word for him, H-Y-M-N. 82 00:06:52,420 --> 00:06:54,200 Make his praise glorious. 83 00:06:54,200 --> 00:07:00,640 The idea of glory in the Hebrew language is that of weight. 84 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:05,080 It means to give weight to something or to someone. 85 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,980 To esteem them, to give honor to them. 86 00:07:08,980 --> 00:07:10,600 And so that's what he is saying. 87 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,440 Sing the glory of his name. 88 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:13,920 Make his praise glorious. 89 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,040 Give God weight for who he is. 90 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:18,840 Esteem him highly. 91 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:25,560 And what he has done for his people, and give proper weight to that in your minds. 92 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,000 Don't forget it. 93 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,680 Say to God, how awesome are thy works. 94 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:36,760 Boy, there's a word that is caught on in recent vocabulary. 95 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:37,760 Awesome. 96 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:38,760 Awesome. 97 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,120 Well, it's not a bad word at all. 98 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:48,240 It is a word, however, that in Scripture is used frequently of God when it's used. 99 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:52,200 Son of man, how awesome are thy works. 100 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:58,120 You see again in verse 5, who is awesome in his deeds toward the Son of man. 101 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:07,060 In the previous Psalm, verse 5, by awesome deeds thou dost answer us in righteousness. 102 00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:13,520 These words are related to a verb found down in verse 16 where he invites us to come and 103 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,940 hear all who fear God. 104 00:08:17,940 --> 00:08:20,160 That verb means to hold in awe. 105 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:29,420 So the idea behind awesome is that of one who brings fear. 106 00:08:29,420 --> 00:08:33,600 One who brings terror or dread. 107 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:40,120 Not in a negative sense, but in a very positive sense. 108 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:47,460 Someone who is positively terrible because his presence brings terror. 109 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:53,880 Someone who is positively dreadful because his mighty acts, his glory is so great that 110 00:08:53,880 --> 00:09:00,440 it creates within our human hearts that response of reverence before him. 111 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:08,440 So God's acts, his works are said to be awesome because of the greatness of thy power. 112 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,520 Thine enemies will give feigned obedience to thee. 113 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,120 Does anybody know what feigned means? 114 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,440 What's that? 115 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,440 Pretended not genuine obedience. 116 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:31,120 The idea seems to be that God's great power is so awesome that his enemies will bow before 117 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,840 him even if it is not genuine. 118 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:40,480 Doesn't that kind of tie together with what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 that every 119 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:47,120 knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is what? 120 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,400 Is Lord. 121 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,080 To the glory of God the Father. 122 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:57,120 Whether it be things in the heavens, around the earth, or under the earth, every knee, 123 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,520 every tongue will be involved. 124 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:04,440 And for that matter, during the millennial reign of Christ when he comes back to reign 125 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:09,680 upon the earth, there will be those who will give feigned obedience to him. 126 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:14,320 In other words, outwardly they will go along with his kingdom reign. 127 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,840 But in their hearts, they will not be obedient to him. 128 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,880 They will not serve him. 129 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:25,180 And that's why at the end of that thousand year period, Satan is loose for a period of 130 00:10:25,180 --> 00:10:31,800 time in order for those who have given feigned obedience to be exposed and revealed because 131 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:38,080 there will be those who will follow him at the end of the thousand years and go to their 132 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,280 judgment. 133 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:47,000 So the psalmist is saying here that God's great power is such that his enemies, if not 134 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:53,400 genuine obedience, will at least give a feigned obedience to him. 135 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:59,160 When it says they will give feigned obedience, I think that the NIV says cringe before thee. 136 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:01,720 Is that what your NIV says? 137 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,960 You will cringe before thee. 138 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,120 But the same idea. 139 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,840 All the earth, he says, will worship. 140 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:17,800 This word, worship, means to bow down, to lie prostrate before God. 141 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,040 All the earth will worship thee, sing praises to thee. 142 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,320 They will sing praises to thy name. 143 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,680 And so there is this rousing chorus. 144 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:33,280 You can almost hear it accompanied by banjos and guitars and dobros and fiddles. 145 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:42,640 I mean, they are pulling out the stops here in singing praise to God and then pause, seal. 146 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:43,640 Think about that. 147 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:44,640 Think about it. 148 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,960 Think about what you have just sung. 149 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,680 And then the invitation, come. 150 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:57,880 Come and see the works of God who is awesome in his deeds toward the sons of men. 151 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,680 Now he is going to give us some examples. 152 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:06,640 He turned the sea into dry land. 153 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,920 What a simple statement. 154 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:10,920 Just a few words. 155 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,440 What an amazing act of God. 156 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:21,560 This is the most significant act of God in all of the Psalms. 157 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,960 Over and over again it is pointed to as the power of God. 158 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:31,280 And of course he is talking about the time when Moses stretched out his arms, holding 159 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:39,080 the rod of God over the sea as God told him to and the sea parted. 160 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,740 God said, Moses, this is what you are to do. 161 00:12:41,740 --> 00:12:43,720 As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians. 162 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,120 You are not going to see them anymore. 163 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:47,120 They are gone. 164 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:48,120 They are out of here. 165 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,480 They are not going to bother you any longer. 166 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,140 And so Moses held out his arms. 167 00:12:53,140 --> 00:12:54,140 That was his part. 168 00:12:54,140 --> 00:12:58,520 God caused that water to separate. 169 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,600 Would you like to have been there? 170 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:08,440 You have seen Charlton Heston do it, haven't you? 171 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:14,720 Compared to today's movies, to go back and see what was done in 1956, it doesn't quite 172 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,600 make it, does it? 173 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,600 But would you like to have seen the real thing? 174 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:25,680 Well, there are people who have explained that by wind that came. 175 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,960 And perhaps there was a great wind. 176 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:35,440 Take a mighty powerful wind apart an ocean, apart a sea. 177 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,480 God by His power demonstrated what He could do. 178 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:39,040 It is holding the water back. 179 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,720 And the bed was dried out. 180 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,200 And the people of Israel walked across it, whatever the distance. 181 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,240 Most likely a good distance. 182 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,040 And then when they had gotten across, the waters covered the Egyptians. 183 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,560 What an amazing, awesome deed. 184 00:13:55,560 --> 00:14:02,880 And it caused another song, didn't it, in Exodus 15, as the people of Israel danced 185 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,240 and sang on what God had done for them. 186 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:12,840 Well then in verse 6, the psalmist goes on to say, they passed through the river on foot. 187 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:18,040 Well, this river he's talking about is the Jordan, isn't it? 188 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:19,960 Before it was the Exodus. 189 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,960 Here it's the conquest of the land. 190 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,760 Then the people of Israel being encamped on the east side of the Jordan needed to cross 191 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:33,560 over in order to begin the conquest of Canaan. 192 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,520 And God prescribed how were they to do it. 193 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:42,880 And the priests began to step into the water and the Jordan River parted. 194 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,200 Now that was an amazing thing. 195 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,960 See, it was not quite like a sea, no? 196 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:50,520 That's true. 197 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:55,160 So think here is water, fresh water running down from Mount Hermon through the Sea of 198 00:14:55,160 --> 00:15:02,160 Galilee down into the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, rushing on its way to its stillness 199 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:04,960 and evaporation. 200 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:12,880 And apparently in flood stage, as the Israelites were prepared to go over it, it is a small 201 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:19,760 river in the dry season, but it can in the flood season leave its banks, be a powerful 202 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,320 current. 203 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,000 And here God stopped the water. 204 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:24,640 Who knows what happened upstream? 205 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:26,640 We're not told. 206 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:31,640 If the water backed up as it was coming down, how that was handled by God, but God stopped 207 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,720 the water and His people were able to pass over the river on foot. 208 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,200 How awesome. 209 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,400 God's deeds toward the sons of men. 210 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,280 He says, there let us rejoice in Him. 211 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:47,280 I don't know about you. 212 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,320 I've never seen water part in the sea. 213 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:54,560 I've never seen a river stop so I could cross over. 214 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:59,080 But hasn't God done some awesome deeds in your life and in mine? 215 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:04,280 It may not be quite in the same category as this. 216 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:09,800 Have you seen God answer a prayer on your behalf? 217 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,160 Have you seen Him deliver you from the attack of the enemy? 218 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:15,560 Preserve your life? 219 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,960 Bring healing to you? 220 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,320 How awesome are the deeds of God toward the sons of men. 221 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,080 Let's rejoice in Him. 222 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:30,640 For He rules by His might, says the psalmist, forever. 223 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:48,320 Look at Psalm 145 and verse 11. 224 00:16:48,320 --> 00:17:01,960 Similar to how God revealed Himself to Moses when He revealed Himself so graciously to 225 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:02,960 him. 226 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:30,000 It is 227 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:42,760 good for us to remember that nations and governments, administrations and congresses come and go. 228 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:51,880 Documents guaranteeing liberties are exalted by one generation, undermined by the next. 229 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:57,080 But there is one administration that is over all of them and is over all of time. 230 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,920 It began here at the very beginning, it continues right now, and it will be forever. 231 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,840 That is the kingdom of God. 232 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:11,880 That kingdom has been expressed in different ways to men. 233 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,580 Now it is invisible. 234 00:18:13,580 --> 00:18:19,720 Now it is in the hearts of His people that the Lord reigns and expresses His rule. 235 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:25,840 But one day, as we indicated earlier, and as you know, the Lord is going to express 236 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:32,280 that rule differently, He is going to visibly rule upon the earth. 237 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:37,840 And that kingdom that will last for a thousand years will not end, it will go on and on and 238 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:40,440 on into eternity. 239 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:46,060 His is an eternal kingdom, as even the psalmist agrees. 240 00:18:46,060 --> 00:18:51,360 God rules by His might forever. 241 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:57,540 He sits on a throne that is above every other throne. 242 00:18:57,540 --> 00:19:05,320 God is above the Oval Office, no matter who sits there. 243 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:15,460 And it says in verse 7, going back to Psalm 66, His eyes keep watch on the nations. 244 00:19:15,460 --> 00:19:19,160 His eyes keep watch on the nations. 245 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:25,200 Here's another Psalm that says something similar, Psalm 11. 246 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:35,560 Verses, beginning in verse 4 I think it is, Psalm 11, yeah. 247 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,440 The Lord is in His holy temple. 248 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,760 The Lord's throne is in heaven. 249 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:47,520 Notice the mixture of the temple image with the throne. 250 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,440 God has no problem mixing church and state. 251 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:54,520 Did you know that? 252 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:58,280 God's reign is a theocratic reign, which means He directly rules over men. 253 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,040 He is in His temple, that's where His throne is. 254 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,340 I'm not saying that we ought to follow that here in the United States, but I think we've 255 00:20:07,340 --> 00:20:11,040 gone the other direction a little too far. 256 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,040 The God has no problem. 257 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:20,520 He's in His temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven, His eyes behold, His eyelids test 258 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,000 the sons of men. 259 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,700 God is watching always. 260 00:20:25,700 --> 00:20:27,200 Now does God have eyes? 261 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:33,020 Well the Bible says He does, but that's an expression isn't it? 262 00:20:33,020 --> 00:20:34,020 God is spirit. 263 00:20:34,020 --> 00:20:36,360 He doesn't have a body like you and I have. 264 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:37,480 God is different than we are. 265 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,480 He is above us. 266 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:39,480 He is holy. 267 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:45,680 When it says He has His eyes see, it means that He does see. 268 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:47,560 He is aware. 269 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,280 Nothing passes Him. 270 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,840 Did your mother ever say to you, or your children ever say to you, you must have eyes in the 271 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,120 back of your head? 272 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:58,720 Mothers know, don't they? 273 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,600 Oh yes, they know. 274 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,240 They know. 275 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,920 Imperfectly but they know. 276 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:16,240 So God knows perfectly and it says that His eyelids test the sons of men, which may mean 277 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:26,960 that God's eyes are pictured as squinting, looking hard, so as not to miss a single thing 278 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,540 and God doesn't. 279 00:21:29,540 --> 00:21:33,800 His eyes keep watch on the nations, it says in Psalm 66. 280 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,840 I'm glad God keeps eye on the nations, aren't you? 281 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,700 I'm glad He keeps watch on the nations. 282 00:21:40,700 --> 00:21:49,880 God knows what's going on in Bosnia, in Croatia, Serbia. 283 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,480 God knows what is happening in every part of the earth. 284 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:53,480 There is nothing. 285 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,760 God knows what's going to happen in Peking. 286 00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:00,320 He's watching that very carefully. 287 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,560 God knows what's happening in Washington in the next year. 288 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:08,080 He keeps watch over the nations and remember, He rules over it all. 289 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:09,080 He's sovereign. 290 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:10,080 He's sovereign. 291 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:18,320 So it says, let not the rebellious exalt themselves, because that's what they tend to do. 292 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:23,680 Those who are rebellious are those who are in revolt, those who are stubborn. 293 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:29,240 We might say those who are apostate, who have fallen away. 294 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:34,040 In what sense have the nations, the pagan nations, fallen away? 295 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:39,960 We could understand more easily perhaps if it said Israel fell away. 296 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:45,520 But He says here that the nations have fallen away. 297 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:46,960 Interesting. 298 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:54,880 It seems to me He's giving us a summary of Romans chapter 1 where He says that all men 299 00:22:54,880 --> 00:23:04,120 have knowledge of the true God originally and then turned from that willfully, suppressing 300 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:05,320 the knowledge of God. 301 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,520 They didn't want to deal with God. 302 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:13,740 They worshiped the creature, not the creator, became fools. 303 00:23:13,740 --> 00:23:17,220 The pagan nations have apostatized. 304 00:23:17,220 --> 00:23:23,320 They have fallen away from the knowledge of God. 305 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:31,400 We have been deeply involved in the ministry of the Linettes in Taliabu. 306 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:37,160 Most of you will recall the story that these Taliabu people in their traditions passed 307 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:45,720 down from generation to generation believed in a creator God whom they called Yoh. 308 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:47,720 Remember that? 309 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,040 Yoh. 310 00:23:49,040 --> 00:24:01,720 How interesting to hear that sound and to realize it's similar to the name Yah, Yahweh. 311 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:07,680 And their traditions tell how their ancestors did something wrong, something bad. 312 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,240 They don't know what it was. 313 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:19,960 But because of what their ancestors did, Yoh cut them off from life and they die now. 314 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,040 They experience death. 315 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:29,280 And throughout these dozens, maybe hundreds of generations of people on Taliabu, they 316 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:42,320 have died wondering how they can get around this blockage to life that Yoh put there. 317 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:47,200 And it's a marvelous story, which I don't have time to recount the whole thing tonight. 318 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:58,160 But they believed that some of their ancestors were able to get away from Taliabu, or did 319 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:03,920 get away from Taliabu before other ancestors disobeyed Yoh. 320 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:12,680 And that these ancestors who had sailed away on the sea didn't die. 321 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:19,360 And so they decided to send a message to their relatives across the sea believing that if 322 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:24,240 those people across the sea knew that they on Taliabu were dying, and after all Taliabu 323 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:31,120 was the center of the universe, if they knew that the Taliabu people were dying, they would 324 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:34,840 send help. 325 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:42,680 And so there was a time many, many decades ago, in 1985, a man was still living on the 326 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:53,660 island, who when he was a little boy saw the elders of the tribe build a raft. 327 00:25:53,660 --> 00:25:59,360 And on that raft they laid a dead body, one of their people. 328 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:04,720 And they put twigs and leaves and anything they could think of that would identify this 329 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:08,320 raft as being from Taliabu, all around it. 330 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,160 And then they did a rain dance. 331 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:13,820 And rain came. 332 00:26:13,820 --> 00:26:19,120 And rain washed that raft down the river into the sea. 333 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:26,400 And for decades, no response, no response. 334 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:34,680 And then in the 1960s a witch doctor, a shaman, gave a prophecy to his people. 335 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:35,960 And he said several things. 336 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:44,940 He said, there will come a time when all of the seasons of fruit on this island, instead 337 00:26:44,940 --> 00:26:51,040 of happening sequentially, will come together and the fruit will all be harvested at once. 338 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:58,000 And he said, there will come a time when there will be yellow pigs that will root up the 339 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,960 jungle, destroy it. 340 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:13,440 And he said, there will come to you someone from over the sea who will tell you how to 341 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,640 have life. 342 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:23,520 And that was the thing, their ancestors, and they had longed for all of these years. 343 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:30,440 And you know the story that our missionaries, the Lennetis, arrived on the island. 344 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:38,520 And when they arrived they found that indeed the seasons of harvest had changed. 345 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,040 Lumber companies had come to the island with their yellow caterpillar bulldozers, began 346 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,840 bulldozing the jungle up. 347 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:50,080 And the people were watching this and remembering. 348 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:54,720 And then the person from the coast came with the Lennetis up the river to where the Taliabu 349 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,360 people were. 350 00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:58,560 He was not a Christian. 351 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,680 He did not know the traditions of the people. 352 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,960 Of course the Lennetis had never heard them and did not know what had happened until years 353 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:05,960 later. 354 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,200 But when the man introduced them, he said, these people have come from across the waters 355 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,080 to tell you how to have life. 356 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:20,600 And the people's eyes got as big as saucers because they recognized that very language 357 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,880 had been used by this witch doctor. 358 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,420 I don't understand that, but it happened. 359 00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:31,540 You see now these people in Taliabu, where did they come up with this idea of a creator? 360 00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:37,560 Where did they get up this name God in life and death and these concepts? 361 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,000 They're pagans, they're the nations. 362 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:47,440 Well they are the nations, among the nations, as our ancestors as well, who knew but fell 363 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,080 away, apostatized from God. 364 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:58,600 They were rebellious and exalted themselves over God and for that were judged. 365 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:05,680 Bless our God, O peoples, and sound his praise abroad. 366 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:12,120 Who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip. 367 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,880 To keep us means to establish us. 368 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:22,440 It's the same word as make back in verse 2 where he says make his praise glorious. 369 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:30,720 Here he is one who makes us in life, who establishes us in life and does not allow our feet to 370 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,380 slip. 371 00:29:32,380 --> 00:29:39,800 This is not an uncommon expression in the Psalter, but we find a similar phrase in Jude, 372 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,720 the 24th verse, when it says that he will keep you from stumbling. 373 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:49,300 God knows how to do that and will present you faultless before the presence of his glory 374 00:29:49,300 --> 00:29:51,680 with exceeding joy. 375 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,760 God is able to keep us from stumbling. 376 00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:02,000 To stumble is not merely to trip, it is to place oneself into danger. 377 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,920 This last week Dave Bly and I drove over to the Word of Life Church in the inner city 378 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:08,920 of Minneapolis. 379 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,640 They were having a food distribution and we went over to get some. 380 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,560 No, not really. 381 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:22,880 We went over to observe it and to talk with Pastor Mark Jefferson, this wonderful fellow. 382 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:30,360 Pastor Mark is an unusual guy and one of his ministries is to work with motorcycle gangs, 383 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,280 bikers. 384 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:41,040 He and some others from a gang here in Minnesota called the Sons of Thunder, a Christian group, 385 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:47,080 went to Sturgis, South Dakota a couple of weeks ago to minister to the, are you ready 386 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:54,700 for this, 700,000 bikers who showed up. 387 00:30:54,700 --> 00:30:59,640 It is Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. 388 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:03,920 If I lived in Sturgis the rest of the year I would leave for that week. 389 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:15,920 He told about how they would minister to these bikers, drunk on drugs and lewd and how God 390 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,480 preserved them. 391 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:25,800 He said that on the way back they were at Wall, South Dakota. 392 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,120 Anybody ever heard of Wall, South Dakota? 393 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:29,840 Who hasn't, right? 394 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,320 They stopped at Wall, South Dakota. 395 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:38,240 They were not riding their bikes, they were pulling them on trailers. 396 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,680 They pulled in to guess and guess and once they had stopped they realized there were 397 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:49,760 other bikers who were there and they were from another gang which is a criminal gang, 398 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,840 the Sons of Silence I think is their name. 399 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:58,640 They are very angry that the Sons of Thunder have chosen that name and they have told them 400 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,920 change your name or we are going to kill you. 401 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,520 And now they pulled right into this gas station, they are surrounded by the Sons of Silence 402 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,520 who recognized them as the Sons of Thunder. 403 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:19,160 And one of the men in his group, one of the men of Pastor Mark's group began to be circled 404 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:28,960 and these guys were walking around him, taunting him and just waiting for something to happen 405 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:35,880 and Mark said to him, some of the other Sons of Thunder then came and stood with him and 406 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:41,360 they decided not to confront because they were outnumbered and the whole scene was not 407 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:47,980 one they wanted to be involved in and so they began to back away and Mark said to the guy, 408 00:32:47,980 --> 00:32:56,440 he said, keep your feet, don't stumble. 409 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,400 And then he went on to explain to us, to Dave and I, he said if you fall down in one of 410 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:07,000 those situations they begin to kick you and to beat you and as long as you are standing 411 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:13,200 on your feet you have got a chance but if you fall down, if you stumble you are in big, 412 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,200 big trouble, you can't get back up and they will come close to killing you if not kill 413 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,280 you by beating you. 414 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:23,000 Well you see that's what the psalmist is talking about. 415 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,400 It's not just slipping on the steps. 416 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,600 He's talking about keeping your feet for safety. 417 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,400 He does not allow our feet to slip. 418 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:41,680 He says for thou hast tried us O God, thou hast refined us as silver is refined. 419 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:48,080 God has brought us into the net. 420 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:49,400 Does somebody have the NIV? 421 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:55,440 What does it say there on that verse 11? 422 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:56,440 What is it? 423 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,800 That has brought us into prison. 424 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:01,880 This is an interesting word. 425 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,360 I was doing some research on this yesterday and not having studied Hebrew. 426 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:15,440 It's a little tough for me and yet the word means a mountain stronghold or a prison and 427 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:22,080 the Hebrew word is the word Masada. 428 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,680 Some of us have walked on Masada in Israel. 429 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,640 It means a mountain fortress. 430 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:37,640 Here it is used as a metaphor for a place of stress or a place of alienation being cut 431 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,120 off. 432 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,640 If you're in a mountain fortress you're up there. 433 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:42,640 You're away. 434 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,240 You're cut off. 435 00:34:44,240 --> 00:34:50,600 What he says is that God has in a sense cut them off, brought them into a place of distress. 436 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,680 Thou didst lay an oppressive burden upon our loins. 437 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,840 Thou didst make men ride over our heads. 438 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,720 We went through fire and through water. 439 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:08,000 So he expresses in these picture words what it was like in whatever event this was he's 440 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,200 talking about when the nation was in deep trouble. 441 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:20,320 Yet, thou didst bring us out into a place of abundance, a spacious place. 442 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:26,240 Wherever they were tight, pressed, and God delivered them and it was like being able 443 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:31,440 to breathe again. 444 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:36,480 He says I shall come and now he begins this personal worship. 445 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:42,520 He says I shall come into thy house with burnt offerings. 446 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:51,000 A burnt offering is that which goes up in smoke and it signifies the total consuming 447 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,320 of whatever is offered. 448 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:57,380 I will come into thy house with a burnt offering. 449 00:35:57,380 --> 00:36:05,880 I shall pay thee my vows which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress. 450 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,080 You might call this a foxhole vow. 451 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:10,080 He was in distress. 452 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:16,280 Oh God, get me out of this and I will. 453 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,080 He says God I will do it. 454 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:20,400 I will pay my vows. 455 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,800 I shall offer to thee burnt offerings of fat beasts with the smoke of rams. 456 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,760 I will make an offering of bulls and male goats. 457 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:36,520 So he expresses here what offerings he will bring to God which will all be consumed. 458 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:41,640 He says come and hear all you who fear God, who hold God in awe, who know his awesome 459 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:42,640 deeds. 460 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,560 I will tell of what he has done for my soul. 461 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,080 It's good for us to do that. 462 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,440 It's good for us to tell others what God has done for our souls. 463 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,280 I cried to him with my mouth. 464 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:59,640 He was extolled with my tongue. 465 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:04,120 If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 466 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,320 But certainly God has heard. 467 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:14,920 He tells us here that if we cherish or treasure, if we look upon wickedness with enjoyment 468 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,980 in our hearts, he says God is not obligated to hear us. 469 00:37:17,980 --> 00:37:20,680 God will not hear our prayers. 470 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,440 But he goes on to say that was not true with him. 471 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:24,440 That was not his case. 472 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,960 He says God has heard. 473 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:29,960 He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. 474 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,560 He says God has pricked up his ears. 475 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:34,760 God has listened. 476 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:35,760 God heard me. 477 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:42,680 And then he says blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer nor his loving kindness 478 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,200 from me. 479 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:50,320 This word loving kindness as you know, we've looked at that several times this summer. 480 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:55,360 It is somewhat equivalent to God's grace. 481 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,800 It is God's love acting in mercy toward us. 482 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,680 It is his covenant faithfulness looking after us. 483 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:13,640 Ultimately it is God's unchanging goodwill toward his people that motivates him to do 484 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,800 what he does. 485 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,960 Ultimately that's the case. 486 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:25,320 But also the psalmist tells us God responded to his prayer. 487 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,040 God responded to his prayer. 488 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,640 And so we have here a psalm of celebration. 489 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:36,960 God delivered his people but it was because the psalmist prayed in one sense. 490 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:43,600 And so I'd like for us to conclude by just gleaning from this psalm some thoughts about 491 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:44,600 prayer. 492 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:50,400 In the first place to whom is prayer directed? 493 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:52,160 To God. 494 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,040 To the God who does what? 495 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,560 Who reveals himself by what he does. 496 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:01,560 The God who rules over the nations of the earth. 497 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,720 The God who keeps watch. 498 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:07,280 That's who we pray to. 499 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:13,240 We are not praying to a God who is ignorant and unaware of our circumstances. 500 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:14,800 A God who does not know. 501 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,940 God fully knows exactly what is taking place. 502 00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:23,080 And it is to him that we direct our prayers. 503 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:30,880 Secondly, prayer gains God's attention and secures his action. 504 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:37,920 He says I lifted my voice to God and he pricked up his ears and he heard me. 505 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,300 And God intervened. 506 00:39:39,300 --> 00:39:43,000 God did something on my behalf. 507 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:48,280 What a wonderful, wonderful God we serve to do this. 508 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:53,480 Thirdly, I noticed that prayer can be thwarted by sin. 509 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:54,760 There's sin in our lives. 510 00:39:54,760 --> 00:40:02,520 If we are cherishing sin in our hearts, he says the Lord will not hear. 511 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:09,320 So we need to be careful of sin and realize what it does to us and how it hinders God 512 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:14,360 from working in our lives in answer to prayer. 513 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:20,400 And he says in this Psalm that prayer is intended to reveal God. 514 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,320 That's what God is doing when he answers prayer. 515 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:28,200 He's not acting on a whim. 516 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:29,720 God is revealing himself. 517 00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:36,600 God wants to make himself known to you and to me in our experience, in our lives. 518 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,320 He wants to make himself known to others. 519 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,640 And so prayer is intended to reveal God. 520 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:47,160 And finally, prayer is a cause or an occasion for witness to others. 521 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:48,160 Come and hear, he says. 522 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:49,160 Come and see. 523 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,560 Bless our God, ye peoples. 524 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:57,400 And so we ought to use our prayer life as one of our means of testifying to others, 525 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:02,920 to let them know we're praying and to tell them when God answers and how God answers 526 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:10,200 and give him glory because in that way his name is made known to others. 527 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:16,840 A Psalm of deliverance, celebrating God's victory. 528 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:24,520 And may we reflect this Psalm, reflect it in our own lives as we experience God in our 529 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,560 goings in and coming out. 530 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,560 Let's pray. 531 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:41,480 It's a good time for us to examine our prayer lives, isn't it, as we look at this Psalm? 532 00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:50,800 Because while ultimately it is God's loving kindness, it is God's nature, God's name 533 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:58,520 that provokes him to intervene, to do what he would do, to act in history. 534 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:05,440 God also on a human level responds to our prayers. 535 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:13,080 It is good for us to examine ourselves to see if our prayers are what they ought to 536 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,080 be. 537 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:24,960 Father, I suppose there's no way to humble any of us more quickly than to begin talking 538 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:35,760 about prayer, not what we know about it, but what we're doing with it. 539 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:39,560 I pray that you will encourage us in our prayer lives. 540 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:45,600 Lord, if there is sin that is hindering, we pray that you will bring us under conviction, 541 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:55,000 make us aware of what the issue is, bring us to the point of repentance. 542 00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:02,640 I pray, Father, that we will be quick, as was the psalmist, to cry to you. 543 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:09,280 We thank you that in the midst of our lonely times, when we seem shut up in a prison or 544 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:17,560 in a pit, but when we are heavily pressed, that you know our circumstances. 545 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:27,080 For if you watch over the nations, how much more so do you know our circumstances? 546 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:33,120 It amazes us, Father, that you delight for us to come and talk to you about them, that 547 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:36,000 you truly care. 548 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:42,340 The part of what you're doing in the midst of that is trying us, refining us as your 549 00:43:42,340 --> 00:43:45,040 precious people. 550 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:53,000 Father, some of my brothers and sisters here tonight, I myself, we're in trial. 551 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,400 We're in the furnace. 552 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:01,080 What we pray is that you will do the refining that you see is good for us. 553 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:08,160 Oh, Lord, in your time intervene and answer. 554 00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:17,040 And do it in such a way that we will see your name revealed and bring glory to you and shout 555 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:27,000 and sing and say to others, this is what God has done for my soul. 556 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,680 We pray these things in Jesus' name. 557 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:31,680 Amen.