WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:02.000 I'm going to invite you to the Book of Psalms today. 00:00:02.100 --> 00:00:04.470 Psalm 27 is where we're going to be. 00:00:04.840 --> 00:00:08.260 We're going to spend the month of July looking through the Book of Psalms. 00:00:08.260 --> 00:00:10.290 I have a goal in my life before I die. 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:12.730 I want to teach every chapter out of the book of Psalms. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:20.080 And so traditionally here as a church, we have taken, I think, out of a special last few years, taken a month out of the summer to focus on 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:21.000 the Book of Psalms. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:24.020 We usually take about 4 or 5 weeks to look at the Book of Psalms. 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:24.700 In the month of July. 00:00:24.840 --> 00:00:27.930 We're going to spend five weeks in July going through the Book of Psalms together. 00:00:28.360 --> 00:00:32.140 If you want to know preemptively where we're going to be today, we're in Psalm 27. 00:00:32.400 --> 00:00:39.340 Next week we're going to be in Psalm 63, which talks about Thirsting for God, Psalm 73, which deals with finding strength in the Lord. 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:42.940 We're going to look at Psalm 51, which deals with guilt and shame. 00:00:43.180 --> 00:00:50.180 And with that and then we're going to end in Psalm 19, which talks about the glory of God revealed the revelation of the Lord made known to 00:00:50.180 --> 00:00:50.580 us. 00:00:50.580 --> 00:00:53.690 And so a beautiful place of worship, the book of Psalms. 00:00:53.860 --> 00:00:55.720 It spans about a thousand years. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:58.220 It took to write specifically Psalm 27. 00:00:58.220 --> 00:00:58.900 We're going to look at it today. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:00.560 It's 3000 years old. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.980 We're going to be reading from this ancient text from David. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:10.040 When you study the Psalms, one of the things that is unique about the Book of Psalms, it's the biggest, biggest book in the Bible. 00:01:10.160 --> 00:01:15.860 But out of all the books of the Bible, the uniqueness of Psalms is that the book of Psalms is man's response to God. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.540 You read the other 65 books of the Bible or manuscripts of the Bible. 00:01:20.660 --> 00:01:23.580 It generally is God speaking to man. 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:28.040 But when you come to the Book of Psalms, it's man replying back to God. 00:01:28.100 --> 00:01:33.060 It's a beautiful book that teaches us really how to worship and engage the Lord. 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:40.140 And when you read through the book of Psalms, you'll see that Psalms covers a gamut of human experience, very raw in its in 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:41.140 its description. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.060 In fact, some people read the Book of Psalms. 00:01:43.320 --> 00:01:48.240 David wrote the majority of the Psalms, or about half of the Psalms at least, are attributed to David. 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:50.310 There are some authorships that are unknown. 00:01:50.660 --> 00:01:54.770 Some assume it's David, but for the most part, David wrote at least half of these Psalms. 00:01:55.380 --> 00:02:02.440 And when people read the Book of Psalms and the story of David's life, some people think that David struggled with some chemical 00:02:02.440 --> 00:02:03.380 imbalance. 00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:10.840 Some some people think that he might have had some bipolar disorders or some sort of struggle in his life where David was very high 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:11.700 and very low. 00:02:11.700 --> 00:02:15.200 I mean, he had a lot on his shoulders that probably played a part of it. 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:21.310 But the Book of Psalms and that struggle shows the life of David, how he engaged the Lord in his relationship. 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:25.510 And David is called a man after God's own heart and the Bible. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.460 And so he was one that pursued God in the struggles of life. 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:34.470 And through His Psalms, he teaches us how to the Lord and the challenges that we go through. 00:02:34.600 --> 00:02:42.010 If you look at Psalms, you'll see that they cover a gamut of topics like there's psalms of praise, Psalms of Thanksgiving, 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:50.060 there's Psalms of lament, there's Psalms for Coronation, there's Psalms for holidays, There's all types of psalms 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:52.940 that you can read depending on where you are in life. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:57.900 Even for regular gatherings, there are psalms that Israel would go through. 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:04.750 And in Psalm 27 today, we're going to look at what it means to have faith in the Lord in the midst of fear. 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:12.760 And David, as he goes through this psalm, really the first three verses of this psalm lays out for us the struggle that David 00:03:12.760 --> 00:03:13.830 is experiencing. 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:19.820 And Psalm chapter 27, verse one, it says this The Lord is the light and my salvation. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.170 Whom shall I fear? 00:03:21.200 --> 00:03:23.080 The Lord is the stronghold of my life. 00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:24.950 Of whom shall I be afraid? 00:03:25.160 --> 00:03:32.380 So you see in this story, David, he's talking about there's certainly a fear there, but he's reminding himself of what he has in 00:03:32.380 --> 00:03:33.040 the Lord. 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:40.380 Because in verse two and verse three, he then starts to describe the adversity He's experiencing in the midst of his position 00:03:40.380 --> 00:03:41.000 in the Lord. 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:48.100 He says, When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and 00:03:48.100 --> 00:03:48.900 fall. 00:03:48.980 --> 00:03:51.580 Though an army encamp against me. 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:55.540 My heart shall not fear though war rise against me. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:03.000 Yet I will be confident Sometimes when you study the Psalms, you have the privilege 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:08.340 of looking at the historical context of what led to the writing of the Psalms. 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:15.860 And in Psalms 27, some people speculate as to what might be taking place in the life of David that led him to write this psalm. 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:23.560 But truth be told, the way that David describes his situation in this Psalm, this could have happened at any time during David's adult life. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:31.340 This psalm could have been taken place during any part of his leading of Israel or even as he was 00:04:31.340 --> 00:04:38.880 as he was anointed as king of Israel when Saul hunted David down anytime during David's 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:39.840 adult life. 00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:47.420 This could have been a part of his story, which really for all of us becomes relevant because what David 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:54.840 is describing here is the hardship that happens to all of us, the bad things that take place, the gamut of human concern 00:04:54.840 --> 00:04:58.220 and experience, the evil and terror in life. 00:04:58.460 --> 00:04:59.920 And he really leaves us in his first. 00:05:00.280 --> 00:05:07.320 Three verses asking the question, what do we do when we think about the 00:05:07.320 --> 00:05:07.980 Lord? 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.280 And the concerns of what we go through in life. 00:05:15.640 --> 00:05:16.420 How do we respond? 00:05:18.280 --> 00:05:23.840 And in fact, we're going to talk about it through the Psalms, through through three questions, really. 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:25.180 David answers for us. 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:31.060 He's very honest with his adversity that he faces, and he teaches us three things within the context of this psalm. 00:05:31.080 --> 00:05:33.800 Number one, he's going to talk about what do we do? 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:37.660 Number two, he's going to talk about why do we do it? 00:05:38.520 --> 00:05:40.720 And then number three, he's going to answer for us. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:41.220 How? 00:05:42.200 --> 00:05:43.000 How do we do it? 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.540 Because it's one thing to know what. 00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:53.840 But more important than that is how what's the process look like in our lives in order to live out this Psalm and define 00:05:53.840 --> 00:05:59.200 the Lord as the light and my salvation and the stronghold of my life, whom shall I be afraid? 00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:04.760 And we think in terms of the difficulty we go through in life and we know that reality. 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:06.440 What do we do? 00:06:06.440 --> 00:06:08.680 How do we work through that becomes important for us. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:13.660 And in verse four, David brings the struggle of his life down to one idea. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:20.720 In fact, verse four, that's exactly where he starts out of all the things that he's going through, out of all the challenges that he faces in life, he brings 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:25.580 it down to the solitude of thought in his identity in the Lord. 00:06:25.580 --> 00:06:29.280 He says this one thing, one thing. 00:06:29.280 --> 00:06:34.480 Out of all the challenges, all the gamut of the human experience that I go through in life, one thing. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.160 Have I asked to the Lord? 00:06:38.340 --> 00:06:39.290 That will I seek. 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:46.560 After that, I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.120 the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:55.520 Now we're going to talk about how this all plays out in our life in just a moment. 00:06:55.520 --> 00:07:01.640 But to simply look at what David says, he brings all of this experience that he's enduring and going through down to this one. 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:09.120 One thought one thing and it's amazing with all the adversity David is facing that he can bring it down to this singular 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:09.820 place. 00:07:10.020 --> 00:07:17.140 And when David gives a response and when he talks about this one thing that I want from the Lord, I can think about when I'm going through 00:07:17.140 --> 00:07:24.240 difficulty like this, or I might have an army encamped around me or people that are adversaries towards me and 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.300 they want my demise and destruction. 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:28.350 They're not for me, but they're against me. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.190 And I come to God with one request. 00:07:30.820 --> 00:07:33.000 What that request might look like, right? 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:34.420 God, remove the fear. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:42.040 Or God, stop the adversity that I'm going through or destroy this army. 00:07:44.140 --> 00:07:49.940 But rather than simply replacing this bad thing. 00:07:51.200 --> 00:07:54.720 Or removing the adversity he's going through in life. 00:07:54.760 --> 00:08:01.940 David is seeking something more because David knows God, if you take away this fear or 00:08:01.940 --> 00:08:05.430 God, you just I just simply ask you to take away this difficulty. 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:09.120 Reality is something else will replace it. 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:16.140 Another fear will come along and another obstacle will be placed before me. 00:08:17.080 --> 00:08:24.710 I need something that transcends the circumstance because life is full of obstacles and life is full of challenges, 00:08:25.200 --> 00:08:27.440 and life certainly has its fears. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:35.460 And so rather than just simply ask God to remove those from him, David rather looks at something that transcends 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:39.140 all of them for which brings him hope in this life. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:45.020 And when David talks about this one thing, he's not simply ignoring the trouble that he faces. 00:08:45.060 --> 00:08:48.160 Some beliefs might teach you to do that, right? 00:08:48.380 --> 00:08:55.400 You go through the trouble in life and you want to you want to just come above the reality of that experience by just simply trying to 00:08:55.400 --> 00:08:57.380 ignore that it exists. 00:08:58.540 --> 00:09:02.060 And that's not the way David is confronting his circumstances at all. 00:09:02.660 --> 00:09:09.740 In fact, he's stepping straight into the struggle and he wants something that transcends beyond the struggle, though, being very 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:11.680 honest with where he is in life. 00:09:16.300 --> 00:09:18.000 What does David do? 00:09:20.060 --> 00:09:20.540 One thing. 00:09:22.380 --> 00:09:24.480 He focuses on the Lord. 00:09:26.300 --> 00:09:33.340 Now, I don't think it's wrong to necessarily ask God to remove trouble, struggle, fear from your 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:33.600 life. 00:09:34.880 --> 00:09:42.100 And when you think about the Lord's Prayer, certainly a part of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew six, it focuses 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:47.520 on verse 13 on the idea of God, remove me from this. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:52.160 Lead me not into temptation, it says, but deliver me from evil. 00:09:53.380 --> 00:09:54.400 But you know what's interesting? 00:09:54.920 --> 00:10:01.920 While in the Lord's Prayer, God, God certainly says it's not wrong to ask God to take you from a circumstance that is 00:10:01.920 --> 00:10:03.680 presented adversity to you. 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:10.980 But before you even get to a statement like that lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil long before 00:10:10.980 --> 00:10:13.920 that, do you know what God teaches us to focus on? 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.400 Jesus teaches his disciples in prayer to focus on. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.180 The greatness of God in the midst of all of it. 00:10:21.260 --> 00:10:24.620 Far before you get to the place where he asks for that deliverance. 00:10:25.420 --> 00:10:32.520 The Lord teaches us to focus on the greatness of who God is, to not make our minds saturated and just the 00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:36.470 small battles of life, but the greatness of God who is victorious over it all. 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.400 I mean, you know how the Lord's Prayer goes, right? 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:46.880 Our Father, who is in heaven, sacred or hallowed, is your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done on 00:10:46.880 --> 00:10:48.530 earth as it is in heaven. 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:55.340 Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:59.560 And then he says, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:10:59.900 --> 00:11:03.420 For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:03.980 Amen. 00:11:05.300 --> 00:11:09.600 The focus of the of that prayer is on the greatness of God. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:16.680 Because Jesus knows as David has taught us in the Psalms and Christ certainly knows because he's the creator of it all, 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:18.890 that in life we're going to have adversity. 00:11:20.680 --> 00:11:24.130 But beyond adversity, we have one who transcends. 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:26.710 So what does David do? 00:11:26.800 --> 00:11:26.980 He. 00:11:27.160 --> 00:11:28.560 He seeks the Lord. 00:11:32.410 --> 00:11:34.550 Leaving me with this question for you. 00:11:36.580 --> 00:11:38.980 What is your go to in your trouble? 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:48.620 When you experience adversity, where does your heart immediately draw what you often find in 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:49.400 the lives of people? 00:11:49.400 --> 00:11:52.700 We typically do one of two responses that lack faith. 00:11:52.760 --> 00:11:58.310 One is we respond in anger because we want to control the situation or we feel out of control. 00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:05.420 And we clam up and we hide and we go to a place of fear and we don't respond at 00:12:05.420 --> 00:12:05.960 all. 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:07.270 We become passive. 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:16.190 But David, in this moment, he's being honest with the struggle and he's also responding with the faith for one who transcends the circumstance. 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:17.700 That's what David does. 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:19.700 But the question then is why does he do it? 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:26.220 And he goes on and he shows a little bit further, verse five, for he will not he will hide me in the shelter in the day of trouble. 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.280 He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:31.890 He will lift me high up on a rock. 00:12:32.180 --> 00:12:36.620 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. 00:12:37.040 --> 00:12:40.490 I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:43.640 I will sing and make melody to the Lord. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:53.240 And David, in this passage in verse five and six, he's acknowledging again, this circumstance isn't 00:12:53.240 --> 00:13:00.180 something that has happened to him, but rather is going on in the middle of him seeking after the Lord. 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:07.340 In verse five, he refers to this moment as in the day of trouble, not He's being taken from the day of trouble or simply this 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:08.720 was something in his past. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.420 But this is active in the moment. 00:13:10.420 --> 00:13:12.420 He finds himself in the day of trouble. 00:13:12.420 --> 00:13:16.960 And then in verse six, he says this, that the enemies are actively surrounding me. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:18.080 Right? 00:13:18.140 --> 00:13:20.340 These enemies are at his doorstep in this moment. 00:13:20.380 --> 00:13:23.780 He goes on in verse ten and in verse 12, he describes more adversity. 00:13:23.780 --> 00:13:29.140 In verse ten, he talks about his family, even if his mother and father abandon him. 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:30.740 So. 00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:34.980 So David is being honest with the reality of where he finds himself. 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:42.620 But also in verse six, at the very beginning, he says this, Now my head shall be lifted up. 00:13:45.300 --> 00:13:52.520 What David is using in this phrase is this idiom that reminds him in Christ, though the world may come against him, 00:13:52.540 --> 00:13:59.240 though people may try to shame him in the Lord, there is no reason to ever be ashamed. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.940 He can always lift his high head high because he will have no regrets. 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:08.420 There is no reason to be ashamed because God will never disappoint him. 00:14:09.300 --> 00:14:16.480 And so David is reminding himself of being faithful to the Lord in the midst of his challenges, because he knows he serves a God that will never disappoint, 00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:18.090 that will always fulfill his promises. 00:14:18.700 --> 00:14:24.060 And he wants his mind to be fixated on the reality of that truth though adversity be around him. 00:14:26.280 --> 00:14:30.640 In fact, throughout Scripture, we're reminded of this again and again. 00:14:31.640 --> 00:14:38.520 In Luke chapter 21, dealing with the end of days, Jesus describes our circumstances like this. 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:45.860 He says, People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world for the powers of the heavens 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:51.980 will be shaken, and then they will see the son of man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. 00:14:52.880 --> 00:14:59.920 What God is describing as those that know the Lord and those that oppose the Lord and God coming with 00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:05.080 His second coming, Jesus returning triumphantly, the son of man coming in the clouds. 00:15:05.160 --> 00:15:08.750 That's the image of deity and his return and his great glory. 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:12.100 Now, when these things begin to take place, look what he says for believers. 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:16.900 Straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:26.200 When we think about the end of days and the second coming of Christ, which was a theology, Jesus taught more than any other, that he came as a suffering 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:32.200 servant and he will return as a triumphant king in his Second Coming when he returns to the triumphant king. 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:36.940 Sometimes I hear Christians talk about the Second Coming like a doomsday event. 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:44.020 But when you see Jesus describing it for the life of believers, the son of man's return, he describes it for us in a way that 00:15:44.020 --> 00:15:45.950 tells us, no, lift up your heads. 00:15:47.520 --> 00:15:54.300 This is not something to be afraid of or to turn away from, but to recognize this is where your hope has been. 00:15:54.300 --> 00:15:59.800 And as you have pursued Christ, this is a moment to celebrate in your life that you will not be ashamed. 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:01.760 This God is faithful. 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:09.440 In fact, in Luke 23, it talks about those that have turned from Christ, that have opposed God, that have never given their faith to him. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:13.490 It says, rather than repent in those moments and turn to the Lord, this is what they do. 00:16:13.660 --> 00:16:17.960 They will say to the mountains, fall on us and to the hills, cover us. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:23.610 Even at the return of Jesus, rather than bow, they would they would rather die than give their life to Christ. 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:27.870 And God is acknowledging in this passage. 00:16:30.040 --> 00:16:35.020 The importance of your position in Jesus and the authority it brings to you. 00:16:36.760 --> 00:16:39.820 The wildlife brings struggle for those in Christ. 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:41.230 There is there is no reason. 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:45.950 To lower your head and shame because God is faithful. 00:16:47.280 --> 00:16:49.300 No doubt in life you will go through battles. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:54.620 And sometimes those battles may feel like a temporary defeat. 00:16:55.800 --> 00:16:59.220 And maybe in life you feel like you've lost more battles than you've won. 00:17:00.140 --> 00:17:06.780 But what he's reminding us is in the end, it's the final victory that gets to state its authority over all things. 00:17:06.780 --> 00:17:09.560 And in Christ, you have that ultimate victory. 00:17:10.020 --> 00:17:15.880 So therefore, in Jesus, you should not lose hope because God will not disappoint. 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:18.500 He will reconcile all wrong in your life. 00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:22.650 And give you a place to lift your head in Christ. 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:29.340 And so therefore, David says in this psalm, we will sacrifice with joy. 00:17:30.760 --> 00:17:35.060 With shouts of joy because we know where our deliverance comes from. 00:17:36.060 --> 00:17:42.470 We have this joy because we know the source of the person through which we trust in the amidst of our adversity. 00:17:42.820 --> 00:17:44.110 And we know that he is faithful. 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:47.280 And we need to talk about then how. 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:50.290 So you see here in this passage what David does. 00:17:50.560 --> 00:17:55.640 One thing he's seeing this passage why David does it in the midst of adversity. 00:17:55.640 --> 00:18:02.760 He knows the hope that he has in Christ, and that far outweighs everything for him, so that he can still come with joy in 00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:07.000 the midst of his sacrifices because he knows the one whom he has believed so. 00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:12.340 So the question the most important question in all of it is how do we do it? 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.670 But how do we move into this, as David is described in Psalm 27? 00:18:19.580 --> 00:18:22.510 To experience the truth of this passage. 00:18:22.760 --> 00:18:26.950 And so David says in verse 27, verse four, again, I want to review this one more time. 00:18:27.340 --> 00:18:29.300 One thing have I asked the Lord. 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:31.390 That will I seek. 00:18:31.540 --> 00:18:38.720 After that, I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.120 beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. 00:18:43.580 --> 00:18:45.940 Really, David, I want to talk about the dwelling in the house in a minute. 00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:53.240 But David, David brings down this singular thought to this one idea that the last part of verse seven, that he may gaze 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:58.540 upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, to dwell in his house, to inquire in his temple. 00:18:58.560 --> 00:18:58.780 So. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:18:59.880 So what does that mean? 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:01.110 How do we do that as believers? 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:03.720 This is where David has found his singular hope. 00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:10.800 This one thing in the midst of the challenges that he's going through, that he would gaze on the beauty of the Lord and that he would inquire 00:19:10.800 --> 00:19:15.060 in his temple How does that look in the life of a believer? 00:19:15.060 --> 00:19:21.830 How does my life become about that in the midst of the challenges that I may go through in this world? 00:19:22.060 --> 00:19:28.940 And this for us is the most practical part, I think, of the application for us to understand in this passage. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:36.080 And so in terms of beauty, when we talk about beauty, there are there are many Hebrew words that describe the idea of beauty. 00:19:36.080 --> 00:19:43.200 But in this passage, this word for beauty is something that is that is excellent, that is attractive. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.820 It demands your attention, and in fact, it brings satisfaction to your soul. 00:19:50.520 --> 00:19:52.860 This is more than just simply it looks pretty. 00:19:54.360 --> 00:20:01.100 But rather you find your soul not only drawn into it, but completely filled up by it. 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:08.440 And David is saying this is this is what my life has become, to be saturated in the beauty of Christ and for all of us, 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:11.080 we love to be captivated by beauty. 00:20:12.340 --> 00:20:19.520 In fact, I would say our senses as human beings are five senses are motivated and captured by 00:20:19.520 --> 00:20:20.880 the reality of beauty. 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:28.140 You think about your sense of smell or sight or touch or taste or sound. 00:20:28.280 --> 00:20:30.740 All of those things are motivated by beauty. 00:20:31.020 --> 00:20:38.930 It's why when we gather as a church and we start our services with singing before the Lord the beauty of melody. 00:20:39.300 --> 00:20:46.780 It speaks to our soul and inspires the heart to seek after God that someone could artistically take sound notes 00:20:46.780 --> 00:20:53.540 and put that together in such a way that it creates a melody that brings joy to the heart. 00:20:53.540 --> 00:20:56.520 As you express worship to God. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:03.760 I mean, you know what it is in life if you go through a difficult experience and you might have a certain song that will bring you back to a place 00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:10.780 that you enjoy, or maybe, maybe in your own relationship, in a marriage, you have a battle 00:21:10.780 --> 00:21:17.020 with your spouse over something that was a little bit meaningless and all of a sudden your favorite song comes on, right? 00:21:17.140 --> 00:21:23.000 And it just changes the mood of the room because that song takes you to a place and attaches itself to this memory. 00:21:23.120 --> 00:21:24.940 And through that sound, you experience joy. 00:21:27.300 --> 00:21:34.300 Or maybe you've gone through a difficult time at work and you just need to get away and you drive up to the mountains and the side of God's creation brings 00:21:34.300 --> 00:21:36.380 rest to your soul. 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:38.820 I The sense of smell. 00:21:38.840 --> 00:21:40.360 There's power in smell. 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:45.310 You can smell certain things that will take you back to memories as a child. 00:21:45.980 --> 00:21:50.700 Or even you can buy candles today with scents from regions in the United States. 00:21:50.780 --> 00:21:53.200 If you were if you were maybe even in the world, I don't know. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:00.420 But if you were born in a certain place and you want the certain memories of home to come back to you light a candle and it just saturates the air 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:02.260 with the aroma of where you grew up. 00:22:02.260 --> 00:22:09.540 Or maybe you walk through a grocery store and you pass by someone and they're wearing a certain fragrance that takes you back to a 00:22:09.540 --> 00:22:13.540 friendship that you had with someone that you lost and all of a sudden you're flooded. 00:22:14.100 --> 00:22:18.380 Your soul is flooded with the attachment of those memories because of that smell. 00:22:20.360 --> 00:22:26.940 We are captivated by beauty, of which we experience through those senses in our life. 00:22:27.020 --> 00:22:30.240 And this is exactly what David is saying about the Lord. 00:22:30.280 --> 00:22:33.600 To gaze on the beauty of God. 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:42.400 You know, as we go through life and we experience the beauty of creation and the things God has given us through the senses 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:44.800 that he has designed and even our feelings. 00:22:48.300 --> 00:22:52.180 We find that over time, beauty fades. 00:22:54.560 --> 00:22:56.060 Memories diminish. 00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:05.140 Things fall apart, that what captivates us and we will we will pay thousands of dollars for experiences of 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:05.840 beauty, won't we? 00:23:06.360 --> 00:23:13.480 I mean, we'll go on vacations to see new things to go on sensory overload of life's beauty 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.140 that we have not experienced. 00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:18.220 But the reality is they fade. 00:23:19.840 --> 00:23:27.460 And you think about even in your own life, as you look in the mirror as days go by from a child 00:23:27.460 --> 00:23:34.620 to a youth and now into adulthood where your smile used to be, now you might be afraid because a wrinkle has replaced 00:23:34.620 --> 00:23:35.540 it, right? 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:40.480 Some some gray grows in the hair and things start to fade over time. 00:23:40.560 --> 00:23:47.720 I mean, even the glory of the mountains are diminishing as days go by because the wear and 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.720 tear of life just shrinks their height. 00:23:52.320 --> 00:23:53.600 All things fade. 00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:56.240 Except for. 00:23:57.480 --> 00:23:58.480 The beauty of the Lord. 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.890 All the beauty of life is but a hint. 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:08.460 To the beauty of which God possesses. 00:24:09.820 --> 00:24:17.100 And when you read a phrase like this in Scripture that David says, to gaze upon the 00:24:17.120 --> 00:24:18.260 beauty of the Lord. 00:24:19.580 --> 00:24:26.720 One of the things that I just I recognize as a pastor trying to communicate a passage like this that just to simply describe 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:27.540 beauty. 00:24:30.080 --> 00:24:33.940 You can't fully capture it in a in a description. 00:24:35.660 --> 00:24:37.870 Beauty is not intended to simply be described. 00:24:38.120 --> 00:24:40.000 It's intended to be experienced. 00:24:41.900 --> 00:24:45.620 Because it's in the experience of the beauty that you begin to understand the full gamut. 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:53.240 It's why you don't just settle for a postcard, but you really you can't just look at a picture of the Grand Canyon and appreciate the Grand Canyon. 00:24:54.300 --> 00:24:55.600 You've got to see it with your eyes. 00:24:57.060 --> 00:25:01.820 It's the same thing with the beauty that David is describing in this passage, the beauty of the Lord. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.360 He's not just simply writing words on the page that we intellectually understand. 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:12.560 Oh yeah, God is beautiful, but to inspire the heart to seek after the beauty in the midst of struggle, because he knows 00:25:12.560 --> 00:25:15.340 the greatness of God surpasses it all. 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:23.180 Which is why David chooses to not just simply say the beauty of the Lord, but rather he encourages the soul to gaze upon the 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:23.880 beauty of the Lord. 00:25:24.760 --> 00:25:30.920 Which means it's not just simply to know about, but rather to experientially know the goodness of this God. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:35.740 What David is really describing for us is the idea of meditation in Scripture. 00:25:35.760 --> 00:25:42.920 When we talk about meditation, he's not it's not just saying you sit in the lotus position and you hum until all things are of escaped, 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:43.340 right? 00:25:43.340 --> 00:25:45.540 That's not biblical meditation at all. 00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:50.000 Eastern meditation is really meditating to the point of nothingness. 00:25:50.040 --> 00:25:54.240 Biblical meditation is filling the soul with goodness. 00:25:54.300 --> 00:25:58.920 It's taking the goodness of God and letting your heart be saturated and filled with that. 00:25:59.080 --> 00:26:06.600 Meditation and scripture is churning over and over the truth of who God is, that it becomes not just something, but something 00:26:06.600 --> 00:26:08.530 that's a part of you. 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:13.720 And David is saying, in the midst of my challenges, this is what I want my life to be about. 00:26:15.020 --> 00:26:16.200 How do I do it in my life? 00:26:16.220 --> 00:26:23.380 I meditate on the goodness of God so that who God is doesn't just simply be something that I know about, but it's something I experience in 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:23.720 my life. 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:28.420 It becomes a part of who I am because the greatness of God revealed to me. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:35.300 I may know Christ to gaze upon him. 00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:37.880 Can I just ask? 00:26:40.540 --> 00:26:42.640 When's the last time you felt like? 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:46.740 You've really gazed on the beauty of the Lord. 00:26:49.420 --> 00:26:50.960 Gazing on the beauty. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:57.220 There's something about this, I think that sets apart God's people from religious people. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:02.540 The religious people pursue God in order to get something. 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:10.620 Religious people pursue God as if God is a tool to serve a purpose that they have in and of themselves, apart 00:27:10.620 --> 00:27:16.950 from God, meaning God is simply just a leverage point to push them forward, to go wherever it is they desire to be. 00:27:18.280 --> 00:27:25.360 But in the life of a true believer in the Lord, we understand that God is not just simply something that we come to in 00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:29.140 order to get to a better place in life, But God Himself, He is the prize of life. 00:27:30.300 --> 00:27:35.220 There is nothing greater than God, which is why all other beauty fades except in His presence. 00:27:35.260 --> 00:27:37.140 Because his beauty is forevermore. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:44.340 And if you get God, you have the prize of what life is about and all good things flow from it. 00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:51.880 And so David is acknowledging here, rather than just simply a thing, rather than just replace adversity, rather than just take away the fear. 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:54.930 God, I want the greatest prize in all things, which is you. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:28:02.440 Which is why when David is talking about this, he says that he wants to go to the to the temple of the Lord. 00:28:03.580 --> 00:28:10.110 And to experience God, because in David's day, the temple was the place where God's presence dwelt. 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:15.830 In fact, in Psalm 1611, it says in your presence is the fullness of joy. 00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:19.520 It literally translates as it's the joy, joy, the greatness of all. 00:28:19.620 --> 00:28:24.950 Joy is in your presence and in David's mind, in order to get to the presence of God, he wanted to go where God dwelled. 00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:28.020 And in David's day, the presence of God dwelt in the temple. 00:28:28.040 --> 00:28:35.120 And so what David is saying is, Lord, I just want to I want to be in your presence all of my days, because I know in that beauty all other things pass 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:35.720 away. 00:28:37.320 --> 00:28:38.980 Because what I have in you. 00:28:40.260 --> 00:28:41.200 Is secure. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:49.560 In terms of Temple in David's day, I think it's important to remind ourselves what Temple represents. 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:50.580 It's not to say. 00:28:50.840 --> 00:28:58.000 And now you as a Christian, should go to the temple to experience these things, but to rather understand the idea of what David 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:02.300 is saying in Temple, because the picture of Temple is has certainly changed. 00:29:02.600 --> 00:29:09.440 But when David went to the temple and the presence of God, the idea of temple was about relationship with God. 00:29:10.840 --> 00:29:13.240 Through the redemption that God brought to us. 00:29:14.860 --> 00:29:18.080 I'm a relationship with God through the redemption that God brought to us. 00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:25.340 I mean, when you went to the temple, the presence of God rested in one room, and for someone to go into that room, only one person 00:29:25.340 --> 00:29:29.090 could go into that room one day a year, and they had to do it by sacrifice. 00:29:30.860 --> 00:29:33.920 Shedding of blood on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 17. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.970 Because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. 00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:45.760 And they would go into this temple, and this temple represented the presence of God with this sacrifice that birthed redemption and new life for 00:29:45.760 --> 00:29:48.750 us because of the forgiveness that God gave, because of sacrifice. 00:29:48.860 --> 00:29:53.160 It was an ultimate picture of what Jesus would do for all of us. 00:29:54.660 --> 00:29:57.740 And David is saying, I just want to be near that God. 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:03.220 I want to be near him and experience the fullness of joy, the joy, joy. 00:30:03.360 --> 00:30:05.590 Because in your presence is joy forevermore. 00:30:08.300 --> 00:30:15.460 In John chapter four and verse 23, if you remember this story in Scripture, this is where Jesus encountered the woman at 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:16.010 the well. 00:30:17.280 --> 00:30:21.950 And yes, Jesus, a very pointed question about thinking he was a prophet. 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:24.420 She asked him a very pointed question about temples. 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:29.860 If you remember if you know anything about Israel's history, Israel built a temple in Jerusalem. 00:30:29.860 --> 00:30:31.740 Israel only ever had one temple. 00:30:31.740 --> 00:30:34.180 That's all God told his people to build was one temple. 00:30:34.280 --> 00:30:39.340 That temple had two rooms for worship and Israel rejected the Samaritans. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:44.550 The Samaritans had a connection to Judaism, but the Jews rejected them. 00:30:44.800 --> 00:30:47.270 And so they decided to build their own temple in Samaria. 00:30:47.560 --> 00:30:48.750 And now there are two temples. 00:30:49.120 --> 00:30:53.160 And so she asked the question of Jesus, which temples right to worship in. 00:30:54.140 --> 00:31:00.000 And Jesus doesn't deny the idea of a temple, but rather he responds in the New Testament in a different way. 00:31:01.080 --> 00:31:07.360 He doesn't encourage us to go to the temple anymore, but rather he says the time is coming and now is. 00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:11.340 And those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:17.160 Meaning what Jesus says in John 423 is God's going to do something new with his people. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:18.810 It's not about going to the temple. 00:31:20.060 --> 00:31:23.080 It's about understanding that God has created you to be a temple. 00:31:23.780 --> 00:31:29.240 The presence of God dwelling in his people that you can meet with God wherever you are. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:37.620 I know as a church we gather here on Sunday and some of us we describe coming to this building as going to the church, which you're 00:31:37.620 --> 00:31:39.240 not entirely wrong. 00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:41.220 We're going to a building where the church is certainly. 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:48.740 And some people, when you step into this room, I know traditionally some people have been taught to say this is the sanctuary, Right. 00:31:49.260 --> 00:31:50.800 Let's gather in the sanctuary. 00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:54.130 You will find me never using that word to refer to this room. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:59.160 I always call this room the auditorium, because I don't want to lose perspective of what God has made you. 00:32:00.800 --> 00:32:04.210 What God has made all of us in him is walking sanctuaries. 00:32:06.360 --> 00:32:09.180 Wherever you go, the presence of God goes with you. 00:32:09.180 --> 00:32:11.000 Spirit And in truth. 00:32:11.020 --> 00:32:18.040 Hopefully you understand the truth of who God is and by the Spirit of God that indwells you can connect to God wherever you 00:32:18.040 --> 00:32:20.540 are that you may know Him. 00:32:21.600 --> 00:32:28.620 So while David is thinking about going to the temple to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, to be near to God, the gift for you in the New Testament, because of what 00:32:28.620 --> 00:32:35.620 Christ has done, is that you always have the privilege of being near to the Lord in Him because of what he's done 00:32:35.620 --> 00:32:40.570 for you, which gives you further opportunity to gaze into the beauty of who God is. 00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:44.960 In fact, in verse eight, he says this You have said, Seek my face. 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:48.640 My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. 00:32:50.120 --> 00:32:56.820 In terms of seeking God's face, this is David again, reflecting on the on the idea of being in the presence of the Lord. 00:32:56.840 --> 00:33:01.110 This phrase seek his face is another idiom in Scripture. 00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:07.340 It's important for you to know if anyone ever tells you they have seen the face of God, the Father, and they mean that literally. 00:33:08.040 --> 00:33:08.450 They are wrong. 00:33:09.260 --> 00:33:09.920 It's not biblical. 00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:11.800 It's not right, and it can't happen. 00:33:12.620 --> 00:33:13.600 It's not true. 00:33:13.660 --> 00:33:15.350 In fact, if you want a few verses first. 00:33:15.780 --> 00:33:22.940 Timothy 616 Colossians Chapter one, verse 15, it says this about Jesus in Jesus, the fullness of 00:33:22.940 --> 00:33:25.440 deity in Him. 00:33:25.700 --> 00:33:27.290 No, I'm messing it up. 00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:28.380 He is the image. 00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:28.760 There it is. 00:33:29.060 --> 00:33:29.680 He is the image. 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:33.320 I was quoting Colossians two nine and Colossians 115. 00:33:33.320 --> 00:33:34.640 He is the image. 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:37.420 Jesus is the image of the invisible God. 00:33:38.820 --> 00:33:41.980 Jesus is the image of the invisible God. 00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:42.820 You know what it says about God? 00:33:42.820 --> 00:33:43.340 The Father. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:44.660 He is invisible. 00:33:45.260 --> 00:33:45.780 Right. 00:33:45.820 --> 00:33:47.380 In first Timothy 616. 00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:49.360 It says No one has ever seen God. 00:33:49.460 --> 00:33:50.820 No one will ever see God. 00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:52.380 It is an impossibility. 00:33:54.040 --> 00:33:59.120 So when David is saying seek his face in this passage, he's not literally saying, God, the Father has a face. 00:33:59.120 --> 00:34:06.380 I want to see his face, but rather what he's what he's acknowledging for us is there is a way we connect soul 00:34:06.380 --> 00:34:06.880 to soul. 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:11.630 If you want to have a conversation with someone and you want to make it personal. 00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:16.480 What you do is you get in front of them and you talk face to face. 00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:21.600 I think as a father, sometimes when I need to discipline my kids to make sure they understand. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:27.280 One of the things I want to do to make sure they understand what I'm saying is I want to lock eyes to eyes. 00:34:27.300 --> 00:34:29.750 Like when your kid's in trouble, a lot of times they're looking down. 00:34:29.960 --> 00:34:34.739 As a parent, you just want to turn that chin around and look up for just a minute and make sure you are connected. 00:34:35.120 --> 00:34:35.420 Right. 00:34:35.580 --> 00:34:37.320 Do you understand what I'm telling you? 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:40.100 Face to face communication. 00:34:41.480 --> 00:34:43.010 And this is what David's saying in the story. 00:34:45.020 --> 00:34:47.320 God, I want to connect to you intimately. 00:34:49.080 --> 00:34:54.900 To know you in this way and to never leave the presence of what this is. 00:34:55.159 --> 00:35:02.380 To gaze on your beauty all the days of my life and not lose perspective in light of the things that are going around 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:02.700 me. 00:35:04.180 --> 00:35:11.360 It goes on and says it like this in verse seven, and we talk about how I think he just continues to show the beauty of 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:14.200 connecting our soul to this, to experience the gazing of God. 00:35:14.240 --> 00:35:19.710 He says, Hear O Lord, when I, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me. 00:35:19.860 --> 00:35:21.780 Hide not your face from me. 00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:23.830 Turn not your servant away in anger. 00:35:24.200 --> 00:35:25.980 O you who have been my help. 00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:27.830 I love this. 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:34.390 As David has acknowledged, God is beautiful and I want to gaze in his presence. 00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:37.700 What he's also saying is, God, don't reject me. 00:35:38.640 --> 00:35:39.020 Don't. 00:35:39.100 --> 00:35:40.400 Don't see me as ugly. 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:45.640 Don't turn, turn me away as not beautiful, but rather I want to be embraced by you as I see you. 00:35:45.680 --> 00:35:45.940 Beautiful. 00:35:45.940 --> 00:35:48.540 God, I want you to embrace me and. 00:35:48.640 --> 00:35:51.380 And where I am because I need you. 00:35:51.460 --> 00:35:51.860 Right. 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:53.420 That's what David is saying in this passage. 00:35:53.720 --> 00:35:59.560 And so when you think in terms of how do I understand this, how do I capture this in my life? 00:35:59.600 --> 00:36:01.530 How do I gaze on the beauty of God? 00:36:01.600 --> 00:36:09.060 Well, in Isaiah 53, what's interesting, while Psalm 27 talks about the beauty of God, 00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:16.940 Isaiah 53 is that passage of Scripture that prophetically speaks about Jesus coming in the New Testament and 00:36:16.940 --> 00:36:17.940 dying on the cross. 00:36:17.940 --> 00:36:23.710 So you have an Old Testament passage here, Isaiah 53, hundreds of years before Jesus is crucified. 00:36:25.220 --> 00:36:29.000 Talking about Jesus coming, the Messiah coming and giving his life for us. 00:36:30.020 --> 00:36:31.080 And look what it says in this passage. 00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:34.480 He had no form or majesty. 00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:35.540 Beautiful. 00:36:35.540 --> 00:36:36.100 God. 00:36:37.520 --> 00:36:38.300 Comes flush. 00:36:40.020 --> 00:36:45.790 And he takes on no form or majesty that we should look at him and look at this and no beauty. 00:36:47.160 --> 00:36:48.480 That we should desire him. 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:56.080 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces. 00:36:56.100 --> 00:36:56.630 He was despised. 00:36:57.320 --> 00:36:58.750 And we esteemed him night. 00:36:58.900 --> 00:36:59.480 And why? 00:36:59.600 --> 00:37:01.640 So verse four goes on to tell us. 00:37:01.660 --> 00:37:05.800 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 00:37:06.120 --> 00:37:09.300 Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:10.750 But he was pierced for our transgressions. 00:37:11.500 --> 00:37:13.470 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:37:13.800 --> 00:37:17.080 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:37:17.300 --> 00:37:19.400 And by his wounds, we are healed. 00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:24.680 See, David knows God has reason to reject him. 00:37:25.700 --> 00:37:26.760 Because David has sin. 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:30.020 Who can come before the presence of a holy God. 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:36.640 But what we also discover in Isaiah 53 that while God is beautiful, what does God desire to do? 00:37:36.640 --> 00:37:37.500 Or what does God do? 00:37:38.560 --> 00:37:40.040 He takes on no beauty. 00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:46.840 God takes on no beauty in order that he can make us beautiful in Him. 00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:50.370 That's what he says at the end of Isaiah 53 that we read in verse five. 00:37:50.700 --> 00:37:52.160 And by his wounds, we are healed. 00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:54.850 God who is beautiful. 00:37:56.120 --> 00:37:57.200 Take on no beauty. 00:37:58.080 --> 00:38:04.350 That we could become beautiful in Christ so that God would welcome us into his presence. 00:38:05.480 --> 00:38:09.480 When we talk about gazing on the beauty of God, this is the kind of thing that Scripture is acknowledging. 00:38:09.880 --> 00:38:15.660 For our soul to be refreshed and to understand what God has done for us so that we can connect to Him. 00:38:15.780 --> 00:38:22.880 God takes us in our ugliness to give us the beauty of Christ so that when God looks at us, he sees the beauty of Jesus and embraces 00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:28.530 us in His presence that we can delight before the Lord full of joy, joy all the days of our lives. 00:38:31.040 --> 00:38:33.220 To know him and to walk in him. 00:38:33.220 --> 00:38:40.320 And you know what's incredible about a passage like this, to think about God becomes not beautiful so that we can become beautiful in him is that 00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:42.640 this story makes God more beautiful. 00:38:43.180 --> 00:38:44.160 You think about this. 00:38:44.160 --> 00:38:45.840 Who has done this for you in life? 00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:53.000 Who has ever sacrificed to such an extent as God giving up himself so that you can find freedom in Him and you become beautiful because Christ took 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:55.100 on no beauty so that you could be set free. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:58.300 What a glorious God. 00:38:59.560 --> 00:39:02.320 To know him and to walk with him. 00:39:02.420 --> 00:39:04.360 And then he goes on and says this in verse nine. 00:39:04.780 --> 00:39:09.480 Cast me not off, forsake me not O God of my salvation. 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:17.800 And again, when you gaze on the beauty of God and you understand what Jesus has done for you, God has every reason in the world to forsake us, His 00:39:17.800 --> 00:39:17.900 people. 00:39:18.320 --> 00:39:18.900 We're sinful. 00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:19.560 He's holy. 00:39:20.740 --> 00:39:27.980 But yet in the New Testament, what do you find in the life of Jesus and Matthew 27, verse 46, As Jesus hung on the cross, 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:28.470 it says this. 00:39:28.680 --> 00:39:33.540 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli Lama sabachthani. 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:37.900 That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:41.450 David begs not to be forsaken. 00:39:43.580 --> 00:39:47.140 And yet what we find in the New Testament is that Jesus was the one forsaken. 00:39:48.600 --> 00:39:50.200 So that you wouldn't have to be. 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:53.360 How does this work? 00:39:54.600 --> 00:39:55.780 Why does this work? 00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:00.680 God will never turn his back on you. 00:40:02.100 --> 00:40:09.920 Because the father at the cross turned his back on Christ so that in Jesus, God would never leave you. 00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:13.170 He was forsaken. 00:40:15.240 --> 00:40:16.880 So that you would never have to be. 00:40:18.700 --> 00:40:26.240 Gazing on The beauty of who Christ is to let your soul meditate in 00:40:26.240 --> 00:40:33.400 the story of the gospel, because it delivers us freedom and identity and purpose and meaning 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:40.720 and hope that transcends beyond our circumstances, because we find a God who would be faithful to us no 00:40:40.720 --> 00:40:46.540 matter how many times you fail over and over again, God will be faithful to you. 00:40:46.560 --> 00:40:50.900 And the reason we know is because He was forsaken so that you could find freedom. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.080 God paid the extent of the price of all of your sin. 00:40:56.920 --> 00:40:58.410 So that you can know Christ. 00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:04.730 And so in verse 11, Teach me your ways, O Lord, and lead me not a level path because of my enemies. 00:41:05.080 --> 00:41:11.480 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence. 00:41:11.480 --> 00:41:14.030 David is saying, Lord, lead me down this path. 00:41:14.220 --> 00:41:19.520 Let me as I think about the pressures in life that can tug me in either direction, Lord, let this be my hope. 00:41:19.520 --> 00:41:22.660 Let me learn and meditate and refresh and renew. 00:41:22.840 --> 00:41:24.580 And the reality of this truth. 00:41:24.580 --> 00:41:30.300 And he goes on verse 13, I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:41:31.080 --> 00:41:32.140 And then he says, Wait for the Lord. 00:41:32.260 --> 00:41:34.020 Be strong and let your heart take courage. 00:41:34.100 --> 00:41:35.120 Wait for the Lord. 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:39.860 Wait for the Lord. 00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:43.860 Let God lead you in this. 00:41:43.860 --> 00:41:44.480 I know. 00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:48.460 And the difficulty of moments and the urgency of difficult circumstances. 00:41:48.500 --> 00:41:51.840 Sometimes we feel we feel the pressure to respond in the flesh. 00:41:53.080 --> 00:42:00.100 To run from God rather than let our hearts be saturated in the goodness of God and to follow after him. 00:42:00.120 --> 00:42:02.430 Which is why I'll close with this Arthur Pierson. 00:42:03.440 --> 00:42:10.440 He was a he was a pastor in the 1800s into the early 1900s, very influential, was a pastor, but he 00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:12.310 was also a prolific writer. 00:42:13.180 --> 00:42:16.540 And he ended up writing the biography of George Mueller. 00:42:17.500 --> 00:42:24.560 And on one time in his spending time with George Mueller before he passed, he wrote of a moment where he was in George Mueller's 00:42:24.560 --> 00:42:28.600 study and he saw George Mueller's Bible and he decided to thumb through it. 00:42:29.620 --> 00:42:36.940 And he and he came to a passage in Psalm 37 and verse 23, and it said this, The steps of a good man are 00:42:36.940 --> 00:42:38.160 ordered by the Lord. 00:42:38.900 --> 00:42:43.820 And he noted in the margin Mueller had also written, and so are the stops. 00:42:46.060 --> 00:42:49.080 The steps of a good man are ordered in the Lord. 00:42:49.120 --> 00:42:50.040 And George Mueller had written. 00:42:51.200 --> 00:42:53.270 And so are his stops. 00:42:54.820 --> 00:42:59.500 You think about Psalm 27, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord. 00:42:59.520 --> 00:43:00.530 And can I just ask you. 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:06.140 Where is God leading your heart to go in Him? 00:43:08.380 --> 00:43:13.640 Where is your God leading your heart to connect to him, to know him more? 00:43:14.560 --> 00:43:20.820 Where have you refrained from doing what God has called you to and leading you in his heart in this world? 00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:23.300 Or maybe I could ask the other way. 00:43:23.320 --> 00:43:27.200 Just as George Mueller noted, Where is God calling you to stop? 00:43:29.420 --> 00:43:36.340 To stop what you're doing or where you're going and let your heart be captivated by the beauty of who Christ is. 00:43:37.460 --> 00:43:42.660 To let that hope fill your life because of what he has done for you. 00:43:43.540 --> 00:43:50.220 That you could think beyond any circumstance that you are facing in this world of what you ultimately have in Christ.