WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:15.160 I'm going to invite you to Psalm 39 in 00:00:15.160 --> 00:03:19.570 the time 00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:42.570 that we 00:06:44.930 --> 00:06:45.170 have remaining. 00:07:35.180 --> 00:08:07.580 Psalm 39, we're 00:10:43.900 --> 00:22:29.370 at together 00:30:45.470 --> 00:30:58.590 today and 00:30:58.590 --> 00:31:05.430 during the summer months. 00:33:38.630 --> 00:33:56.910 One of 00:33:58.070 --> 00:34:05.990 the traditions that 00:34:22.070 --> 00:36:14.720 we have 00:36:14.720 --> 00:38:05.400 here at ABC, one 00:38:05.400 --> 00:39:18.410 of the things 00:39:31.210 --> 00:39:55.930 that we 00:39:55.930 --> 00:40:08.050 love to take some time to do is spend some time in the 00:40:08.050 --> 00:40:08.050 Psalms. 00:40:08.050 --> 00:40:10.170 One of the reasons is just logistically, it makes sense with where we are in the summer as a church. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 And then there's a more spiritual reason than that. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 I'll give you logistically, here's the reason why it makes sense: during the summer months, people are very transient. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 Got a lot of plans and a lot of activities. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 Sometimes on Sundays people are just coming in and going out and, and because of that, we really don't want to start a series that strings together, but rather we look for places in the Bible that we can go where we can just do some one off messages that help us understand our own faith journey and what it means to grow in Jesus. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 And the book of Psalms is that beautiful place. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.170 If you are familiar with the Bible, you'll know that there's 66 books that make up the Bible. 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:10.730 27 New Testament books, 39 Old Testament books, and 65 of those 66 books are primarily seen as God speaking to us. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 But what makes the Book of Psalms unique is this book is man's response back to the Lord. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 It's teaching us how to engage the Lord in light of who he is, what it means to really worship him. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And not only that, it really helps us learn to walk with the Lord in every season of life. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 No matter what you might be going through, there is a psalm that speaks to it, and it helps us put words to what we're experientially going through to engage God in worship in every season that we're facing, whether we're on the mountaintop or we're despairing in the valley. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 The Book of Psalms is a worship song book of songs that inspires God's people as they learn to relate to the Lord in light of who he is. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And some have looked at the book of Psalms and they've acknowledged that it's a grand literary work that really gives us the storyline of the Bible and teaches us how to experience God's presence wherever we are. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And a lot of the Psalms are seen as worship psalms, and when Israel had gathered together, they would sing many of these psalms collectively as God's people. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 But some of them are also personal psalms for personal prayer and worship and your individual engagement of your walk with the Lord. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 As we look at these Psalms, 150 chapters, this grand book we call the Book of Psalms, one of the things that's important to know is that this larger book is actually broken down into five smaller books. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And in each one of these five smaller books, it ends with these benedictions. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And the way it breaks down is Psalm 3 to Psalm 41 makes up the first book of the Book of Psalms, and Psalm 42 to 72 make up the second book, and Psalm 73 to 89 make up the third book, and 90 to 106 make up the fourth book, and 107 to really 145 make up the fifth book, and the first two Psalms as an introduction, the last five Psalms as a conclusion. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 When you engage the book, you'll find, if you take time today, for example, to read the first two chapters of the Book of Psalms, that the first chapter is very much an Edenic type psalm, meaning it goes back to the Garden of Eden, and it reflects on what a relationship with the Lord should really look like. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And it compares our walk with the Lord to that of a tree of flourishing, much like the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, that we're designed to be connected to God. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And when we are, there is life in that. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And then Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm representing to us the King who ultimately rules, who will restore all things in his authority. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And so it's mindful of really who Christ is in our life. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And so that becomes the introduction. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And then in the first two books of the Book of Psalms, those chapters 3 all the way to chapter 72, it's helping us recognize what it's like to live in the kingdom of this king, reflective of King David, who's ultimately ruling during a lot of when the Psalms were written. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 But the true Messiah would come through a Davidic lineage. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And so what it should look like in Jesus's kingdom as we come to know him, as it reflects on King David and his life. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 But then in Psalm 73 to 89, it recognizes that the Davidic kingdom is falling and failing. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 And so we become mindful in those Psalms of the brokenness of this world. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:10.730 But then in Psalm 90 to the very end, it becomes reflective of a king who desires to restore all things in him. 00:40:10.730 --> 00:40:11.250 And so as you look at these Psalms, it's telling us the biblical narrative encapsulated within these 150 chapters — that we were made to know God, the brokenness of sin has destroyed that relationship, but Jesus reconciles all things in him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So these Psalms walk us through that worshipful experience. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And then when we come to this particular section, Psalm 39, scholars will say that this particular psalm should be recognized within the collection of Psalms around it, because Psalm 38 is dealing with an individual who's repentant in his heart over things that he's done that has strayed his life from the Lord. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And then in Psalm 39, he walks with us in reflection of where he is in that place as he's become repentant — what it means then, in reflection of his sinfulness, looking to the goodness of who God is. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And then in Psalm 40, he's talking about a life restored in him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What does it mean when, in the midst of our sin, being forgiven by the Lord, to really be restored and delivered by the grace of God? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Now, one of the things that I think is important for us to highlight in this Psalm is really the very last verse in what David communicates to us, because everything that I just represented in the Psalms, and learning what it means to walk with Jesus, I think in verse 13, David sounds very contrary to that fact. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Psalm 39, verse 13, he says this to God. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 He says, look away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 If you remember last week, we introduced the Psalms our first week in the Psalms with Psalm 15. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And in Psalm 15, it begins this way where it cries out to the Lord, what does it look like to dwell in your presence? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And the whole theme of the Book of Psalms was really how to walk in close proximity to the Lord, how to have a beautiful relationship in Christ. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What does it mean for you and for me to draw near to Jesus? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And we acknowledged this fact last week that when you become a believer, when you're saved by Christ and you belong to him, that you belong to him forever. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In Romans chapter 8, it tells you you were adopted into God's family, and therefore you're called his. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 You're a child of the Lord. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Not everyone is born a child of the Lord. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But in John chapter 1 and verse 12, it tells us to those who received him, he gave the right to become the children of the Lord. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So you're adopted into God's family. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Nothing can change that. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 However, just because you belong to the Lord doesn't always mean you walk in close relationship with him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so what does it mean to have that intimate relationship with the Lord? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 That was the cry of Psalm 15. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And now all of a sudden you get to Psalm 39 and it seems like David has lost his mind. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Here he is in Psalm 15 wanting to be near the Lord. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But then when you read verse 13, it's like now he's asking God to go away. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And the question we should ask in reading this is, David, which is it? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Do you want to be near God or do you not? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And I think this is indicative of often what a relationship with the Lord can feel like, that there are times of our life where we want nothing more than to be close to him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And then there are other times in life where we're struggling with the joy of that relationship. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And David in Psalm 39, he's walking us through that, but he's teaching us, in the challenges we experience in this world, what it means to know God and walk with him in every season of life. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And he's helping us find permission to bring to God any of those emotions that we might go through in our faith journey — the difficulty and the sorrow and the confusion and adversity and anger, or even the joy and happiness of knowing him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What it means to bring to God the circumstances in which I find myself, and growing in my relationship with him so that ultimately he becomes the anchor of my hope. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In Psalm 39, David is doing this in the frailty of life. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In fact, that's what we're going to talk about — when life feels fragile, what do we do? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And maybe this morning you feel like you're right in that spot where you are, barely holding it together. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Or maybe everything's going well for you and you don't even recognize how frail you are as a human being. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But don't worry, Psalm 39 is going to help us all feel that way. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What does it mean to know the Lord in the brokenness of our humanity? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And how do I learn to walk with the Lord in it? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Well, Psalm 39 starts off this way, where David presents to us the avenues that he's pursued and how he's found them unsatisfying to his soul. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And he does it through two categories. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And I want to read it together. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I'll give you what those categories are. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But in verse one, he says it like this. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I will guard my mouth with a muzzle. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So long as the wicked are in my presence. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I was mute and silent. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I held my peace to no avail. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And my distress grew worse. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 My heart became hot within me as I mused. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 The fire burned. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Then I spoke with my tongue. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 David is saying, I'm experiencing these challenges and I've tried to process through this through a couple of avenues, and I've discovered that this has not fulfilled me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And I would say those two avenues that David has tried to pursue — one is a secular avenue, and the other I would say is more of a religious sense, and I'm going to categorize it that way today because I feel like it's going to help us think through this. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So there's this secular sense and there's this religious sense that he's trying to process through the circumstance that he found himself. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And he's saying, this is not helpful. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So he needs to discover another way. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And this is what he helps us find in Psalm 39. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so those two avenues — that secular sense I would describe more as an emotional center. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In a secular sense, the highest achievement in a worldly mentality is yourself. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 The focus of life is yourself. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And life is all about your happiness and whatever you want. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 That's most important because, well, life is about you. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so we have this tendency in a secular sense to elevate ourselves. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And what often dictates what we do is our emotional desires. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What's driving me, what I'm passionate about — we kind of live in that moment. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 That's what we want. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 That's what we go after. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And David's saying, I've tried that, I've pursued that, and I've just let my emotions go. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And what I've found in this is that all it really became was fodder for my enemies to use against me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I walked the path of my emotions and just letting my emotions lead. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And it didn't help me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In fact, it turned against me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So then I chose this religious path, that second path, and the way that I worked it out is I try to just bottle it up. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I said things to myself like, God's ultimately in control and I should be joyful in the Lord because the Bible says so. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And I just stuffed it down there, and I just pretended like things were okay when they weren't. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And neither of those things worked for me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And truth be told, neither of those things ultimately work for us because we were designed to find our hope in something greater. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so David then uses this psalm to teach us — not how we find ourselves satisfied in a secular sense or in a religious sense, but rather, how should we come to the Lord? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 In times of anger, in times of frustration and bewilderment and brokenness, in times of joy or happiness, how do I bring that to the Lord? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 David helps us learn what that means. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And reflecting on this Psalm this week, one of the things that I feel like the Lord made me mindful of is especially in terms of frustration or anger, how do we engage God that way? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Because I think this is primarily where David finds himself in this passage. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 His expectations aren't being met. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 His experiences are weighing upon him, and he wants to know God in the midst of this. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So what does it look like? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 If I'm being honest, I think there's oftentimes what I hear in the life of Christians — and we'll say, don't worry, it's nobody here, you guys are great, you do things wonderfully, so we're talking about other people — but when we think about our walk with the Lord, sometimes I'll hear people say things like this: it's okay for you to be angry at God because God can take your anger. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And in one sense, I think there's some truthfulness to it, because I think you should bring your emotions to the Lord, and even anger, because God takes those emotions and he helps us learn how to meet him in it, and he turns them into trust. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 He transforms it and turns it into trust with him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But I do think it's worth making a distinction between being angry with God and being angry at God. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Because when we're being angry with God, we're saying, God, I don't understand, and I know you're in control. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Lord, can you help me? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Being angry at God runs the risk of coming to the Lord with such arrogance that you are assuming you know better than him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And in so doing, that's dangerous ground to walk on. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Because what we might be saying by being angry at God is, I know better than God, or God owes me something. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And that is the lie of the enemy from the beginning of the Bible. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 If you remember with Adam and Eve — Adam and Eve had very clear instruction from the Lord, but they felt they knew better than God. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so they took it to a different place. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Now, I think it is important to learn to bring your emotions to the Lord, and even anger, because when we bring our anger to the Lord rather than against the Lord, we're not making God an enemy as opposed to me, but rather a friend who cares about me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so, Jesus, help me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Help me shape my life in this. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 You know, sometimes I'll meet people that will say to me, I don't believe in God. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And you'll ask the question, why don't you believe in God? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And sometimes they'll take it to a difficult circumstance in life. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And they'll say, because this happened to me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And they'll say, so if God was good, then he isn't sovereign and couldn't stop it, and therefore I don't want to follow him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But if he is sovereign and he didn't stop it, then he's not good, and I'm not going to follow him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And I would just suggest to us that perhaps in the middle of that, we've taken a position of judgment above God, and we fail to see the truth of who he is. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Because one thing we've got to acknowledge in the midst of the gospel is the gospel screams at us the goodness of who God is, to the point that God on his throne was willing to become the servant of servants by taking on flesh and giving his life for you and for me, so that we be forgiven and freed in him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So this is very much not a God who is in opposition to you, but a God who is pursuing you so that you can find your life free in him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So that when we find adversity in our lives, rather than look at God as the enemy against me, to understand what it means to come to him in the brokenness and just say, God, I'm feeling angry, and God, I don't fully understand. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But here's one thing I know about who you are — you care about me in every season of life, to the point that I can see it in its physical self, because you became flesh and gave your life for me. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So teach me, in the frailty of who I am, what it means to discover you in the brokenness of this world, knowing that you are my anchor and my hope. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And so David, in the challenges of his own life — and let me just say this, the circumstance he finds himself in Psalm 39 is due to what he has done in his own life, meaning David says, I'm repentant of my own actions. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So the place of frustration and challenge that David finds himself is because of his own doing. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And even still, God doesn't give up on him. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 So Psalm 39 becomes critical for us to discover that as God's people — what does it mean for you and for me to walk with the Lord in that? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 I love the way that Peter says in First Peter chapter 5, many of us are probably familiar with this, but one of the things I love about this verse is that Peter was a fisherman and he chooses the phrase cast. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And it's important to learn to cast whatever challenge you might face. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 He says, cast all your anxieties — I mean, you can fit anything in there: your fear, your anger, whatever battle you might be going through — learn to cast that. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 And the reason Peter says that is because if you don't learn to cast it, you're going to end up carrying it. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 What does it look like for me to do that? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Even Job said in Job 13 verse 15, though you slay me, yet I will hope in him, because Job knows the ultimate hope in life. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 The ultimate answer is not simply God answering my challenges. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 Do you recognize that when you go through adversity in life, we tend to ask that question about ourselves — God, why does this happen? 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 — wanting an explanation. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 But even if you get an explanation, it doesn't give you an ultimate hope. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 The greatest answer that you should pursue isn't a response in itself explaining why. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.250 The greatest answer that you can pursue is God himself, because he's the ultimate answer to all things — the reconciliation of everything that's broken. 00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:11.690 We may not understand in this temporal world the specific reason why something challenging might have happened in the moment, but one day you will be with the answer face to face, Christ himself, and all will be made known. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So it's important for us to not just seek an answer, but the answer — the one who sustains me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And so David is inviting us into that. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So what does that look like for us to do that? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Number one is this: allow the brevity of life to give me perspective. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Allow the brevity of life to give me perspective. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 This is where David starts. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Because we have this tendency of living so much in the temporal that we wake up each day and we just simply live for what temporarily satisfies. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I want to live for the moment. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And David is saying there is wisdom in just taking a step back and asking yourself the question, what is this all leading to? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Because if you don't take that opportunity to do that, you're going to live for temporal things in this world, and ultimately every one of those things will pass away and your soul will be left with nothing. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Even when it comes to Alpine Bible Church — get this, if you've been a part of ABC from the beginning, which we didn't start with very many people, so that can't be very many people in this room, that's wonderful. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And if you're one of those people that were here early on and you're a part of ABC the rest of your life, or wherever you came to ABC, this is your church. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Maybe this is the only biblically based church you've ever been a part of, and you are part of this community for all of your days. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 That's great. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But can I just tell you, one day everyone will leave this church? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You have to, because everyone in this room will expire. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You think about the uniqueness of a gathering like this — I will just go out on a limb, if I had all the money in the world to bet on this, which I'm a pastor so I don't, but we could just acknowledge how precious this gathering is. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 This specific one this morning, because this is likely the only time everyone that is present in this room will be present in a room together again. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And so whatever Jesus has given us in this moment, we want to live it for his glory. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But we also want to take a step back and just put it into perspective. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And David does this in the psalm. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He says in verse 4, O Lord, make me know my end. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And what is the measure of my days? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Let me know how fleeting I am. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths and my lifetime is as nothing before you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Selah. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Surely a man goes about as a shadow. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Surely for nothing they are in turmoil. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Saying we will live so much for the temporal, collecting all these things, and we don't ever take a step back and realize this doesn't belong to me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 All of it. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I found my identity and my worth and my satisfaction in all of it, and all of it is just circumstantial. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 All of it will pass away. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And if I truly want to discover something greater, I've got to look beyond myself. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And this is where David's at. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I've got to tell you, if you take time to do this, the first place your soul finds is despair, because you get to the spot where you realize, oh, this is all coming to an end and I better have something I'm clinging to that outlives me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Something of longevity that invites me into an eternal perspective for which I can long and live for, rather than just get fixated on what's in front of me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Just to take a step back and consider the totality of what life is about. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Can I tell you, in my own trajectory of coming to know the Lord, my own faith journey in life, that it was this thought that became the primary catalyst for me in finding Jesus. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I remember at Marshall University my first semester. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I'm in that state of life where you're considering what are you going to do for the rest of your life? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I didn't have a clue. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I remember staying up late at night just tossing and turning, thinking about it, kind of getting into my philosophical state of like, why am I even here? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 If I could figure out why I'm here, then I can figure out what to do. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And if I am going to figure out why I'm here, there must be someone who put me here for a reason, because life seems to have order. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And so if I could just discover what that is, then perhaps I could live the purpose for which I was created. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Ultimately, that path led me to Jesus and the truth of who he was. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And there was this moment in my life where I was wrestling on the inside, saying, but I really want to live for myself. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But then I looked at the truth of who Christ was, and I gave myself over to it, recognizing the fragility of what life is. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I was made for a greater purpose. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And David is saying to us, it's taking the moment in your life — that's what that word means at the end of verse 5. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 It's just saying, look, it does the soul good to pause here, to be mindful of these thoughts. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Just say in your own soul, what am I doing? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Is my life really living for more? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Or am I just chasing the rat race of what humanity says should be important, forsaking God or only treating God like an afterthought? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 What does it look like to put him at the center of my being? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Richard Baxter — he was an Anglican minister who was eventually kicked out of the Anglican Church, and he continued the rest of his days preaching God's Word and writing several books. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But he wrote this poem towards the end of his life when his health was failing. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He said this: 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Lord, it belongs not to my care whether I die or live. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 To love and serve thee is my share, and this thy grace must give. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 If life be long, it will be glad that I may long obey. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 If short, yet why should I be sad to welcome endless days? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Christ leads me through no darker rooms than he went through before. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He that unto God's kingdom comes must enter by this door. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet thy blessed face to see. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 For if thy work on earth be sweet, what will thy glory be? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Then shall I end my sad complaints and weary sinful days, and join with the triumphant saints the singing of Jehovah's praise. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 My knowledge of that life is small. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 The eye of faith is dim. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But it's enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And Richard Baxter certainly familiar with the significance of having the Lord in our life. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 God, teach me the brevity of life that I may gain perspective. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So point number two is this: I can anchor my heart in a greater hope. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 God, help me discover the end of me so I can plunge the depth of you, to know you and to enjoy you all of my days. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And in verse 7 he says, and now, O Lord, for what do I await? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 My hope is in you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Deliver me from all my transgressions. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I am mute. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Remove your stroke from me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I am spent by the hostility of your hand. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Surely all mankind is a mere breath. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You certainly see in this passage, especially in verse 11, David saying, I'm being disciplined under the hand of the Lord because of my own pursuits in life that were contrary to him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But he comes to this idea in verse 7. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He recognizes that that was a false hope for his life and a sinful pursuit to give himself to. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And so he says this phrase, my hope is in you — a beautiful thought. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You think about the circumstances of your own life. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 When life is going well, this becomes something we might say as Christians with just nice platitudes. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You know, God, my hope is in you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You might say, yeah, Jesus, my hope is in you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But it's when life has rocked you and you realize how frail you are as a human being, how nothing outside of Christ is truly promised to you, that you start to look for something to cling to, the bedrock of your life. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And it's in that state that those words come to life: my hope is in you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And we begin to realize, out of the things that God allows us to experience in this world, that it is critical for all of us not to find our identity in those things. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Because at any moment, those things can be taken away from us. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And my life was made to belong to Christ. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I was made for relationship with the Lord. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And this God pursued me by giving his own life. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And it's not until I find my identity in him that I will remove myself from feeling bankrupt from the things of the world that are taken from me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I realize what I have in God can never be robbed of me, because I have the richness in Jesus forever. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So if my goal in life is just to simply have a long life, or my goal in life is to simply be earthly successful, or to have a lot of wealth, or to fulfill my worldly dreams — to take that in that moment and put it to the Lord and realize that no matter how much I might pursue that with all of my being, none of it will fully satisfy, because my life wasn't created for those things. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 In fact, he recognizes at the end of this passage, he says in verse 11, when you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume me like a moth. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 What is dear to him? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Surely all mankind is merely a breath. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I heard this illustration once by a man named Randy Alcorn, which I'm reluctant to use him as an example because he's still alive today. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I like picking dead guys because they can't disappoint you anymore. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But Randy Alcorn's not dead. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So if he messes up after this, please don't hold that against me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But he wrote a book once on Heaven, and he used an example of money. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I just pulled out a dollar bill because nobody cares about this. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You don't have to worry about it. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Nobody's going to take this at the end of the service. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So here it is. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 We have a dollar bill. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And Randy Alcorn said it like this. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He said, you know, people have probably told you in life that you can't take this with you, which in some ways is true. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But Randy Alcorn went on to say, but actually, I think you can. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And let me just say this — I want to elaborate on his example, because money is something, but it's not the only thing. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I think it's worth just using this dollar and saying, let this dollar represent any resource, talent, or ability the Lord has given you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 The Lord has allowed many things to pass through your hands in life. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And Randy Alcorn went on to encourage — he said, but I want you to know, out of all the resources God has given you, the talents and abilities, that you actually can take it with you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And the way that you take it with you is to send it before you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And what he means is this: truth be told, you don't really own anything, but rather all things created belong to the Lord. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 We simply become the stewards of the things which God has given us. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And being stewards, we have the opportunity to use it for his glory. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And that's what Randy was saying — in sending it before you, that when we use it for his glory, it not only glorifies the Lord, but it becomes a blessing to those around us. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Lord, teach me to see my life in light of who you are, and to use that life to steward the things which you have given me, to honor you and bless those around me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Jesus, help me to see what's important, not in the temporal things of life, but an eternal perspective in light of who you are. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Not only teach me the brevity of who I am, but anchor my hope in you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And sometimes in the losing of things of this world, that's where we're reminded of it. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Because when we start to cling to things as if they are ours and our identity is wrapped up in them, when you lose those things, you lose yourself. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 My identity is my job, and then you lose your job — what happens? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Or maybe you're a parent and your identity is your children, and your children go out and make terrible choices. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 What does that mean for you as a parent? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And we steward these things to the glory of God, knowing that we're not ultimately in control. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But there is one who is. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I want to glorify him with my life as I walk with him in every season, learning what it means to take that experience and bring it to God. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Not to just be angry at God, but to bring my anger to God and say, God, this is where I'm at. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But Lord, I know you're for me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So teach me to cling to the hope that is you rather than the things of this world. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And in the joy of life and the creature comforts we might go through, God, in all the good things I might experience, Lord, let my life not lose sight that you are the giver of all of these good things, and cause my soul to worship in thanks because of you as my King. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You are my hope. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So that we could get to point three, which gives me like three minutes: seek God's presence above all else. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And this is what David does. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Verse 12. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Hold not your peace at my tears. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 For I am a sojourner with you, as all my fathers were. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Look away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Now, this is interesting. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 It's like two different Davids talking here. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 In one sense he's like, God, listen to me, God, go away from me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And what David's saying in verse 12 is, God, let me walk in the beauty of your grace. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And God, verse 13, remove the hand of your discipline — saying, Lord, I've learned my lesson. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So Jesus, help me walk in the sweetness of your presence. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 David is desiring to enjoy the Lord. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And David's hope is to experience the richness of Christ through happy circumstances rather than the adversity he's brought on his own self through poor decisions. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He's saying, Lord, let me just know your sweetness in all things. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So David is teaching us, even when we're the ones that mess up, even when our circumstances might be our fault, that God is still good, that God loves us and cares about us more than anything. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 What the Lord desires is for you to draw near to him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And guys, can I tell you, the reason we can do that so confidently is because of what Jesus has done for you. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 No matter how dark the day may be. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And I think for us, one of the most beautiful passages that highlights that is in Matthew 27, when Jesus is hanging on the cross and he says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 We're going to look at this chapter next week, because Jesus is quoting Psalm 22, which is a psalm that David writes, and it's a messianic psalm of what Jesus would ultimately do for us. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And Jesus is quoting this psalm reflective of the father abandoning him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I literally say, when Jesus is hanging on the cross, he's experiencing hell on earth. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And the reason I say that is because what makes hell hell is the absence of God's grace. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And when Jesus goes to the cross, what he bore on the cross is your sins and mine. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And in bearing our sins, the father turns his back on the son. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 The beautiful relationship between father and son is now severed for the first time in history. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 It bewilders theologians. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But Jesus on the cross is literally facing hell on earth for you and for me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But I want you to see in the darkest of days in all of history, that this wasn't the end. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 It's the greatest of light that is to come through the resurrection of Jesus, that Jesus overcame it all for you and I. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Jesus overcomes the grave, and he's declaring to us that no matter how difficult our lives may be, no matter how difficult the circumstances we might find ourselves in, there's always a greater hope and a brighter future in Jesus. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Because Jesus overcame the darkest of days in all of history, that we could have life in him. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And knowing that should endear our hearts to the sweetness of who God is. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You love me in every season, whether I walk in obedience or disobedience. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You're a God who does not turn his back on me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You're a God whose mercies are new every morning. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 You're a God who opens the door of opportunity for me to return to you and experience the joy of your presence. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And therefore, it invites our hearts to just lay ourselves down. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I'll end with this. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 One of the most beautiful passages of Scripture — and I've got to share this quickly — is 1 Kings 19. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 This is right after Elijah faces the prophets of Baal and despairs into a deep depression, and God brings him out and tells him there are more people following after me. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Elijah, don't give up. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And he encourages Elijah to go and find Elisha. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And when Elisha is chosen to follow Elijah, Elijah takes his oxen and he sacrifices them to the Lord. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And when you read in this particular passage, it tells you in verse 19 that there were 12 yoke of oxen. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 A yoke of oxen — when they're plowing, two oxen are yoked together. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And therefore having 12 yoked oxen, it's saying there are 24 oxen. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 What it's really telling you about Elisha is Elisha is a wealthy man, because only one man can steer this plow. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 And if there's 12 yoke of oxen, there are 12 plows tilling this land, which means he would have several employees and he'd have a lot of animals, a lot of things to care for. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He has a lot of things. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But what does he do when the Lord calls him? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He sacrifices it all. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 He takes it all and he gives it to the Lord. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Now why does Elisha do that? 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 I would propose this: he burns the ships because for him there is no turning back. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 Elisha didn't want the temptation of anything that this world would throw at him when things got hard, because he knew more than anything that the Lord alone was worth it. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 So in his life, he lays it all down to see the richness of God. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 There are lots of paths in this world that we can follow that are broken. 00:40:11.690 --> 00:40:11.690 But when we understand the brevity of who we are as people, the ultimate hope which we have in Jesus, and we surrender it all before him as our King, the beauty of a relationship with God is made known.