Psalm 22

[0:00] that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

[0:18] For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

[0:40] For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. This is God's word. I chose this next song before the sermon just because it has a critical and humbling doctrine from our faith, that we are not worthy of our salvation.

[1:01] And these are the words I'm thinking of when I say that. The song says, Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.

[1:12] It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. It was my sin that he had to suffer to become my brother. So, after David's played the intro, the song is on number 988 in the Mission Praise Hymnal, How Deep the Father's Love.

[1:30] After David's played the intro, if you would one more time, stand with me and we'll sing this last hymn before the sermon. How deep the Father's love for us, How vast beyond all measure, That he should give his only Son, To make a wretch his treasure.

[2:14] How great the pain of searing loss, The Father turns his face away, As wounds which mar the chosen one, Bring many sons to glory.

[2:46] Behold the man upon a cross, My sins upon his shoulders, Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.

[3:08] It was my sin that held him there, Until it was accomplished.

[3:20] His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished.

[3:39] I will not boast in anything, No gifts, no power, no wisdom, But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.

[4:01] Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.

[4:23] Thank you. Please take your seats. Well, oftentimes, I find in myself, And I think you might agree, That our lack of zeal for the things of God, God comes from an unwillingness to just stop, Pause life for a second, And then reflect on our life in light of God's word, Just to slow down and think about life, In light of what God says about it.

[5:09] We have distractions, And busyness, And responsibilities that just keep coming and coming. Once we become adults, It seems that that never stops, And we just start mindlessly reacting to all of the pressures that life's putting on us.

[5:24] Eventually, Fears, And worries, And doubts, And tragedies, Start following all of those pressures and busyness, And we just try to deal with those in the most convenient or expedient way as possible.

[5:37] Let's just try to keep life as easy as we can. We don't stop to just think more deeply about what's the cause of this trial in my soul.

[5:48] What's agitating my soul? We don't stop to do that. And since we miss the deep source of our soul's sorrows, We also miss the gritty glory of God's salvation.

[6:02] How it actually meets us in the midst of that sorrow. Living our whole life feeling like the Christian life is being called to live. Your entire life in praise for God.

[6:13] Ends up just feeling kind of like another demand on your weekly schedule. One more thing that you have to try to keep up with. Tonight, Our sermon is from Psalm 22.

[6:27] And this psalm Has incredible depths of sorrow And then soaring heights of praise in one psalm. And sometimes when I read it, I feel like, Man, David was on a different planet.

[6:43] How is his life this dramatic? How can he feel such depth of emotion? And such negative and positive emotion? And then write that. My weeks, My life, My daily life often just feels like I'm living with some moderately annoying circumstances That I'm just trying to keep off long enough to the weekend.

[7:03] And then once I get to the weekend, I take a breath And then try to go back into just maintaining these Little annoyances. But I hope that If we humble ourselves Before the truth in this psalm tonight By slowing down and reflecting deeply on life, It will lead us on the same path To a life filled with praise.

[7:24] The same path David's on. So in order to start that, We have to join David where he starts. He begins this psalm by crying out to God Because he feels forsaken And unworthy of God's attention.

[7:37] This is clearest in verse 6 Where David expresses how he views himself. Look what he says in verse 6. But I am a worm And not a man.

[7:50] I think this whole psalm Revolves around that perspective. And so I've titled this sermon God hears the cries of worms. Since it's such a long psalm, I'm not going to read it all at once tonight.

[8:05] I think it will actually hold our attention better If I only read the verses That belong to each point of my sermon. So these are the three points. They're in the form of questions That we're going to ask As we move through this psalm tonight.

[8:17] Can the worm trust God? Can the worm be saved? And then finally, Can the worm keep silent?

[8:29] So let me first pray for God Just to be near us during the sermon And then we'll begin looking at the first point In verses 1 through 10 Father in heaven, We ask for you to be Especially present with us right now.

[8:47] We need you to be here Because we asked earlier We want our hearts broken And if that's going to happen It's going to be right now When your word is being made clear to us And Father, we need you here Because whether we feel it or not We are surrounded by enemies That are too great for us And we need a savior that's great And so Father, we pray that you'd be Close to us right now And use your word To have a powerful effect in our lives We ask for that in Jesus' name Amen So, Psalm 22 begins With David's inner turmoil There's trouble in his soul It does hint at some horrific circumstances That he's facing But the beginning focuses more On a struggle inside of David It's almost like David's bipolar In these first ten verses He's violently wrestling back and forth

[9:48] Between trust in God And doubting God Back and forth When I read it I want you to watch for that Back and forth fighting inside David Because that battle Shows us both the intense misery That God's people can feel at times But also the unshakable anchor For our trust in God There will be four back and forths That you can watch for David's going to begin with his doubt And then when he says the word yet You'll notice that he's fighting back With the truth So it's going to go Doubt, trust Doubt, trust So just watch for that While I'm reading it He's wrestling for an answer To this question Can the worm trust God?

[10:35] You can follow along While I read it To the choir master According to the dough of the dawn A psalm of David My God My God Why have you forsaken me?

[10:54] Why are you so far from saving me? From the words of my groaning? Oh my God I cry by day But you do not answer And by night But I find no rest Yet You are holy Enthroned on the praises of Israel In you our fathers trusted They trusted And you delivered them To you they cried And were rescued In you they trusted And were not put to shame But I Am a worm And not a man Scorned by mankind And despised by the people All who see me Mock me They make mouths at me They wag their heads He trusts in the Lord Let him deliver him Let him rescue him For he delights in him Yet

[11:56] You are he Who took me From the womb You made me trust you At my mother's breasts On you Was I cast From my birth And from my mother's womb You Have been My God Did you feel The back and forth Struggle there?

[12:19] If this section is asking Can the worm Trust God? Then the Correct theological answer Is yes But David is facing A trial He's facing A pressure in life That has stolen His confidence In that correct Theological answer And as the Psalms So often are This passage is less Concerned With our mere knowledge Of the correct answer And deeply concerned With our honest Confidence in it Are we confident?

[12:53] Do we actually Believe it? Does it Does it actually Address our deepest fears Head on And fill us with hope? One of the reasons That we don't Live An entire life Enthusiastically Praising God Is that We try to fix Our fears And our doubts Too quickly Just superficially We don't Stop to think And wrestle To the bottom Of our doubts And fears And I think it's Because we're afraid If we go there We won't find God there But David Goes deep In these verses And he does Find God there In the depths Of his doubt In a very dark Place David finds His God Infinitely deeper So there's Essentially two Truths about God That David finds That are answering His question Can the worm Trust God?

[13:54] The first one Deals with God Himself David's internal Battle in verses 1 through 4 Is a fight To determine Who is my God? It teaches us That the worm Can trust God Because God Has always been Faithful to his Chosen people So you see Verses 1 and 2 That shows David is in Immense misery He's using Really strong Emotional language Here He says that God has Forsaken him That God is Far From his groans That God has Ignored his crying And then it Leaves him Restless You can tell This isn't David just Issuing a Formal complaint Against God For breaking A contract This is a Very personal Heartbroken Intimate cry He feels Betrayed By someone Close He's let Down by a Friend when He was in His greatest Need We rarely Get to this Place in our Own prayers

[14:54] Because we Have so little Trust in God We pray once About something That's causing Us sorrow And if God Doesn't fix it Right away Then we're Just going to Go figure out How to fix It on our Own We'll deal With those Stresses in Our own Little ways Try to Live life On just A comfortable Manage my Own stress This turmoil That David Feels Is so Painful Because he Still trusts God He's not Willing to Go back And trust Himself David Still Look David Addresses God Three times Here My God My God You are My God You have Not become A God You are Still My God David's Crushed Because he Refuses to Stop trusting His God Even when it Feels like God has Forsaken Him But David Knows That that's Not who His God Is His God Does not Forsake His people In verses Three

[15:54] Through Five David Defends God's Faithful Character To his Own Soul And how Does he Do that It's by Remembering The stories Of God's Faithfulness To his Chosen People In the Bible Notice It is Israel Whose praises He's Enthroned On in Verse Three And it's Our Fathers Who Trust him In Verse Four These Are titles For God's Chosen People And David Reminds Himself That God's Chosen People Can Trust him He He mentions Trust Five Times In the Next Several Verses God's Chosen People Trusted David's God And he Delivered Him He Rescued Them He Actually Came Through The Stories Of Scripture Are Giving Him Hard Evidence To David That His Doubts Cannot Be Due To A Failure In God's Character It's Not That God's Not Who He Says He Is God Has Always Been Faithful To His Chosen People But There Is A Second Struggle For David In Verses 6

[16:55] Through 11 There's Another Surge Of Doubt That Floods His Mind From A New Source Here It's Not God He Doubts It's Himself Here's The Lurking Fear Deep In His Heart God May Always Be Faithful To His Chosen People But What If I Am Not One Of Them What If David Is Worthy Of Being Chosen For God's Faithful Covenant Love You Can Almost Feel His Heartbroken Despair In Verse Six When He Then Realizes Wait What If I'm Not One Of Them He Says But I Am A Worm And Not A Man David's Come To The Black Root Of His Doubt It's His Own Unworthiness I Don't Deserve To Be One Of His People Here's The Fear That's Driving All Of His Doubt It's Not God It's Me

[17:55] I Am Not Worthy Of The Holy God's Attention I Have No Claim On His Attention Apparently This Is Being Aggravated By The People Around David You See The Rest of Verse Six David Is Scorned By Mankind And Despised By The People The People Around Him Are Treating Him Like A Worm And They're Specifically Mocking Him For Being A Presumptuous Worm A Worm That Arrogantly Thinks He Is Worthy Of God's Attention Look Look At Verse Eight This Is The People Around Him What They're Saying He Trusts In The Lord Let Him Deliver Him Let Him Rescue Him For He Delights In Him The Lie That Satan Has Shot Like Is This You Are A Worm How Can You Think That God Is Faithful To Worms You Squirming Filth How Dare You Believe That You Are The

[18:55] Object Of God's Delight How Presumptuous And Arrogant Satan Explains God's Absence By Convincing David That Worms Cannot Trust God But When David Gets Down In That Darkness And Despair When He Hits Rock Bottom Thinking He's Farther From God Than He Has Ever Been That's Where David Finds His God Before We Look At What He Discovers About God I Want Us To Notice Something First Of All I Want Us To Notice What Verses 9 Through 11 Don't Say David Does Not Try To Reinforce His Self Worth Our Culture Is Obsessed With Self Esteem And Self Pity Modern Therapy The way That we Try to Deal With These Negative Feelings Ourselves Is By Seeing Self Doubt And Self Loathing As The Root Of All Evils So A

[19:55] Counselor A Modern Counselor Might Hear David's Words I'm A Worm And Not A Man And Say No David You're A Handsome Healthy Man You Are Valuable You Deserve To Be Heard That is Just Another Variety Of Satan's Lies That is Not What David Does Here And The Chief Reason David Doesn't Do That Is Because David's Self Estimation Is Spot On He Says He's A Worm Because He Is A Worm Before The Holy God We Are All That Insignificant We Are All Unworthy None Of Us Deserve To Be Heard No One The Question Of This Section Is Can The Worm Trust God Because It Is Precisely A Worm That We Are Dealing With This Is How God Uses It In Isaiah 41 14 This Is What God

[20:55] Says Fear Not You Worm Jacob You Men Of Israel God Himself Calls His Chosen People A Worm In The Depths Of Our Doubts There Is No Comfort In Restoring Our Self Worth Because We Have No Worth Worms Must Find A Reason Outside Of Their Unworthiness To Trust God And That's Exactly What David Does In Verses 9 And 10 We Find That The Worm Can Trust God Because God Chooses Worms He Starts Again With His Fighting Word Here In Verse 9 Yet He Means Even Though I Am A Worm I Have A Reason To Trust You What Is That Reason It Is God's Sovereign Choice Of Worms In Verses 9 And 10

[21:55] David Talks About When He Was Chosen When The God Became My God He Says It Was From The Womb At His Mother's Breasts From Birth He's Not Saying Here That He Lived Worthily Of God's Choice Since Birth Look Closely At These Verses David Is Completely Passive Here God Is The Only One He Was In Becoming One Of God's Chosen People While He Was In The Womb Before He Had Come Out And Proven Himself To Be A Worm God Chose Him Our First And Deepest Reason To Trust God Is That He Chooses Worms Like Us Doesn't Say God Chose What Is Foolish In The World

[22:56] To Shame The Wise God Chose What Is Weak In The World To Shame The Strong That's Why We Cry Out Like The Prodigal Son Covered In Pig Filth I'm Not Worthy To Be Called Your Son That's Why David I'm Not David The Apostle Paul Tells Us To Adopt This Saying Christ Jesus Came Into The World To Save Sinners Of Whom I Am The Foremost It Is Only This Humble Self Appraisal That Opens Up The Most Mysterious But Also Gracious Aspect Of God To Us It Is Only As A Worm Relying On God's Undeserved Goodness That He Welcomes Us To Trust Him You And I Can Trust God Because God Has Always Been Faithful To His Chosen People And Because He Chooses Worms Like Us So Now David

[23:56] Moves From His Inner Turmoil To To The External Troubles He Faces He Trusts His God Now To Hear The Cries Of A Worm But Now The Question Is Can The Worm Be Saved It's One Thing To Ask Whether God Will Listen To His Requests It's Another Thing To Ask Whether God Is Able To Answer His Requests What Are The Worms Troubles And How Can God Help Him That's What Verses 11 Through 21 Answer So Please Follow Along While I Read Those Verses Be Not Far From Me For Trouble Is Near And There Is None To Help Many Bulls Encompass Me Strong Bulls Of Bashan Surround Me They Open Wide Their Mouths At Me Like A Ravening And Roaring Lion I'm Poured Out Like Water And All My Bones Are Out Of Joint My Heart Is Like Wax It Is Melted Within My Breast My Strength Is Dried Up Like

[24:56] A Pot Shirt And My Tongue Sticks To My Jaws You Lay Me In The Dust Of Death For Dogs Encompass Me A Company Of Evildoers Encircles I Can Count All My Bones They Stare And Gloat Over Me They Divide My Garments Among Them And For My Clothing They Cast Lots But You Oh Lord Do Not Be Far Off Oh You My Help Come Quickly To My Aid Deliver My Soul From The Sword My Precious Life From The Power Of The Dog Save Me From The Mouth Of The Lion You Have Rescued Me Of The Wild Oxen Well This Is Similar To The First Section We Looked At It Has Two Movements In It And And Both Movements In This Passage Begin With The Same Request See Verse 11 It Says Be Not Far From Me And

[25:57] Then The Second Movement Starts In Verse 19 But You Oh Lord Do Not Be Far Off Verses 11 Through 18 Are Going To Give The Details Of Why The Worm Needs Saved And Then Verses 19 Through 21 Will Show How The Worm Is Saved So First The Worm Needs Saved Because He's Helpless Against Mighty Enemies David's Troubles Are A Growing Band Of Enemies Who Are Progressively Closing In On Him He Uses Largely Poetic Symbols To Describe Them You See Verses 12 And 13 Describe Bulls And Lions David Is Helpless Before Their Strength Because He's Weak You See That In Verses 14 And 15 He Says I'm Poured Out Like Water He Uses Imagery To Show That Both The Strength Of His Body And The Strength Of His Will Are Gone It's Dried Up He Sees Himself As Being Laid Limp

[26:57] In The Dust Of Death By God And He's Just Laying There Waiting For His Dogs And Evil Doers These Are Not As Powerful Of Enemies But Notice That They Don't Give Him A Mortal Wound They Just Pierce His Hands And Feet Presumably With A Sword They're Here To Torture And Shame Him Before He Dies And As Before He's Helpless Verse 17 Says I Can Count All My Bones This Probably Doesn't Just Reveal That He's Mal Nourished But Also His Nakedness That Seems To Be The Bigger Point Here Because It Continues Like This They Stare And Gloat Over Me They Divide My Garments Among Them And For My Clothing They Cast Lots David's Been Stripped Naked And They're Playing Games With His Clothes To Mock How Helpless He Is And These Enemies Are Steadily Closing In Upon Him He Uses Words Like Being Encompassed

[28:04] Waiting For Them To Strike When They Want To Strike And He Can't Do Anything About It He Needs Saved Because He's Helpless Against The Power Of His Enemies Now At First Glance I Think Few Of Us Might Be Willing To Say We Sympathize With What David's Feeling Right There Just Because Most Of Us Don't Feel We've Been Threatened In Such Dangerous And Spiteful Ways And Try To Think About Life In The Light Of God's Word We Will Often Fail To Appreciate Just How Practical And Glorious God's Salvation Is To Us Historically We Don't Know What Enemy David Was Facing Here Because He's Using Symbolic Language But Theologically We Can Know What The Ultimate Enemy Behind These Bulls And Lions And Dogs And Evil Doers Is What What Is All

[29:04] Of Us And Slowly But Unstoppably Coming For Us The Bible Tells Us That Death Death Is The Enemy Death Is The Irresistible Mocking Enemy For All Of Us So Think I want You To Think Deeply For A Moment Of The Pressures We Face In Life All The Different Things That Feel Like Enemies Surrounding Us That We're Trying To Hold At Bay Are They Not All In Some Way Fear Of Our Inevitable Death So Think About It Like This We Face We face A Pressure To Live Life To The Fullest We We We We Perfectionism Workaholism Hedonism Trying To Maximize Pleasure In My Life For Substances Or Relationships Or Achievements Why Ultimately Because Of This Mocking Fear One Day

[30:04] You Will Die Life Will Be Over So You Better Get As Much As You Can Before It's Gone We Face Pressures To Live Longer Lives Fitness And Diet Looking Young And Beautiful Or Just Trying To Leave A Legacy Leave Happy Families Behind Why Because Every Year The Bulls Get Closer The Lion Roars Louder Death Is Inescapably Getting Closer And Closer Death Is The Enemy From Which All Other Enemies Get Their Power If Death Were Not In The Picture The Bulls Lions Dogs And Evildoers Would Have No Power Over David He Wouldn't Be Afraid Of Them If We Stop I Think And Think Deeply Death Is The Enemy That Drives All Of Our Anxieties All Of Our Fears Our Sorrows And Tragedies In Life Hebrews 2 15 Actually Teaches This

[31:05] I Read That A Minute Ago It Says That The Devil Simply Through Fear Of Death Not Any Other Fear Fear Of Death Subjects All Of Us To Lifelong Slavery All Of All Of Our Enemies Are Boiled Down To One Final Beast It Is Simply The Fear Of Death Which The Devil Us To Enslave Us And Just Like David We Are Helpless Against Its Power In In Verses 19 21 We See How God Saves The Worm God Saves His Worm By Drawing Near To His Trouble Do You See That's What David Actually Asks For He Says It Twice Do Not Be Far From Me David's Troubles Are Drawing Closer And So He's Asking God To Draw Even Closer To Him He's Getting Surrounded

[32:05] And Pressed In And He Wants God To Come Right In The Middle Of His Troubles Draw Near To Me In My Troubles God That's What He's Saying He Wants The Holy God To Step Into The Troubles Of A Worm He's Even Urgent In His Final Seconds It Seems Like This Pressure Must Look Like I Don't Have Any Time Left He Says In Verse 19 But You Oh Lord Do Not Be Far Off Oh You My Help Come Quickly To My Aid And In Verses 20 And 21 God Does That God Comes Swiftly To His Aid David Begins Asking For God To Draw Near Before He Has Time To Finish That Prayer God Has Showed Up God Comes See It By The End Of Verse 21 The Verb Changes From A Request To A Triumphant Past Tense You Have Rescued Me I Didn't Even Have Time To Finish My Prayer And You Showed Up And Saved Me From The Horns Of The Bull These Powerful Mocking

[33:06] Enemies That David Faced Were Thwarted At The Very Last Second God Dove Into David's Troubles And Then Overthrew His Enemies So What What Comfort Is That To Us How Does God Draw Near To Our Trouble Well The Main Reason That I Focused On Our Ultimate Enemy The Reason I Focused On Death Is Because That's What This Whole Psalm Ultimately Is Pointing To We Don't Know Historically What David Was Facing There But The Purpose Of This Psalm In The Bible Is Pointing To The Greatest Enemy Death And Here's How I Know This This Psalm Would Later Be Used At A Far Grimmer Event By Another Of God's Kings Later In The Bible My God My God Why Have You Forsaken

[34:06] Me That's Jesus' Christ's Words On The Cross Isn't It He's He's Quoting This Psalm He's The One Who Faced The Mocking And Wagging Of Heads From Verse Seven It Was Christ's Enemies Who Quote Verse Eight In Matthew 27 43 It Was Jesus' Hands And Feet That Were Pierced Like Verse 16 Says And It Was His Clothes In Verse 18 That They Cast Lots For These Details Are Included In The Gospels Because The Authors Realized Through The Holy Spirit's Inspiration That Jesus On The Cross Is The Ultimate Explanation Of How God Drew Near To Our Troubles The Cross Is How The Worm Is Saved In Its Ultimate And Clearest Sense Jesus Had To Be Laid Down In The Dust Of Death And Forsaken There

[35:06] His Cry Was Not Answered In The Last Second Christ Faced The Full Fury Of Our Enemies On Our behalf Shattering The Sword On His Indestructible Life Scattering The Dogs Silencing The Lion's Roar And Exhausting The Bull's Strength I alluded To Hebrews 2 15 A Minute Ago Here The Full Context Of That Verse Again Jesus Christ Through Death Destroyed The One Who Has The Power Of Death That Is The Devil And Delivered All Those Who Through Fear Of Death Were Subject To Lifelong Slavery Unworthy Worms Are Saved Because Jesus Christ Drew Near To Their Greatest Enemy Exhausted All Of Its Strength And Shame And Then Destroyed It First Corinthians 15 55

[36:07] Oh Death Where Is Your Victory Oh Death Where Is Your Sting We Unworthy Worms Helpless Before Death And All Of Its Minions That Drive All The Pressures And Tragedies In Our Lives Have Been Saved Because Our God Drew Near To Our Death For Us On The Cross He Opened Away As An Old Hymn Says He Opened The Life Gate That We May Go In So Tonight If You're Not A Christian And You're Curious What This Should Mean For You Your Response Is Simple You Have To Come To Jesus As A Worm And Ask For His Salvation You Have To Ask Him To Forgive Your Sins And Draw Near To You In Your Greatest Trouble Believe In Your Heart That He Was Raised To Eternal Life And You'll Be Saved If

[37:08] You'll Do That You Can Take The Same Comfort From This Psalm That Christians Take From It Death Has No More Power For Those Who Trust In This King And What He Did On The Cross If You're Already A Christian There Is A Response For You As Well It's Actually What The Rest Of This Psalm Teaches In Verses 22 Through 31 One Of The Reasons My Attention Was Drawn To Hebrews 2 While I Was Preparing This Psalm Or This Sermon Is Because It's One Of The New Testament Passages That Quotes This Psalm Hebrews 2 12 Says That Jesus Spoke Verse 22 Of This Psalm That Verse Says I Will Tell Of Your Name To My Brothers In The Midst Of The Worms From Death Through The Resurrection Jesus Then Led Us His Brothers And Sisters Our Siblings In A New Family He Led Us In Praise So In The Last Point Of This Sermon

[38:08] King David And King Jesus Call All Peoples To A Life Of Praise And So My Last And I Promise Brief Point Is Can The Worm Keep Silent Let's Read Verses 22 Through 31 Now I Will Tell Of Your Name To My Brothers In The Midst Of The Congregation I Will Praise You You Who Fear The Lord Praise Him All You Offspring Of Jacob Glorify Him And Stand In All Of Him All You Offspring Of Israel For He Has Not Despised Or Abhor The Affliction Of The Afflicted And He Has Not Hidden His Face From Him But Has Heard When He Cried To Him From You Comes My Praise In The Great Congregation My Vows I Will Perform Before Those Who Fear Him The Afflicted Shall Shall Shall Shall Shall Shall Eat And

[39:09] Be May Your Hearts Live Forever All The Ends Of The Earth Shall Remember And Turn To The Lord And All The Families Of The Nations Shall Worship Before You For Kingship Belongs To The Lord And He Rules Over The Nations All The Prosperous Of The Earth Eat And Worship Before Him Shall Bow All Who Go Down To The Dust Even The One Who Could Not Keep Himself Alive Posterity Shall Serve Him It Shall Be Told Of The Lord To The Coming Generation They Shall Come And Proclaim His Righteousness To A People Yet Unborn That He Has Done It What A Transformation Right From Where David Was Again I Was Saying The Depths Of Sorrow And The Heights Of Praise Here At The Beginning David Feels Forsaken He Is Being Led By The Opinions Of Others To Believe That God Wouldn't Deliver Him And Now Here He Is Boldly

[40:09] And Confidently Leading Others To Praise God Come With Me To Praise This God There Is A Glorious Self Forgetful Confidence When A Worm Is Delivered By God David Unashamedly Says I I'm Going To Command Everyone To Praise You God's Salvation Leads Him To Sire Two Things Here Personal Praise And Worldwide Praise The Worm Cannot Keep Silent So First The Worm Has To Praise God He Must Praise God That's In Verses 22 Through 25 David Says I Will Tell Of Your Name I Will Praise You My Vows I Will Perform He Urges The Rest Of God's Chosen Worms He Calls Them The Offspring Of Jacob To Glorify God With Him And Verse 24 Summarizes The Reason God Heard When The Worm Cried To All Of David's

[41:09] Praise All David's Life Revolves Around That One Action Of God In Fact He's So Driven To Praise God That His Voice Alone Is Not Enough And In Fact The Congregation Of Israel Their Voices Are Not Enough David Yearns For More This God Is So Great I Need More People To Worship Him For This Salvation And So Secondly The World Must Praise God That's In Verses 26 Through 31 Where David Is Compelling Every Possible Person He Can Think Of To Praise God For His Act Of Salvation Verse 26 Mentions The Afflicted I Think He's Talking About Those At The Bottom Of Society Verse 27 Includes All The Ends Of The Earth God Is So Worthy Of Worship That It Must Extend Beyond Israel To All The Families Of The Nations At The Beginning Of Verse 29 He Includes The Top

[42:09] Of Society He Calls Them The Prosperous The End Of Verse 29 Just Like So Much Of This Psalm Sounds Prophetic Somehow David Suspects That Even Those Who Could Not Keep Themselves Alive He Says The Ones Who Gone Down To The Dust People Who Have Died They Will Have A Reason To Praise God For His Salvation And Of Course That's Clear To Us After The Resurrection We Know What That Means Even Those Who Have Died In Christ Will Rise Again And Praise Him And Finally David Turns To The Future He Mentioned Posterity The Coming Generation He Says That They Will Come And They Will Proclaim God's Righteousness To The People Who Have Not Yet Been Born There There Is Just No Limit In David's Mind To Who Should Be Praising God For What He Done So You See I Think If We Stop And Think Deeply About Life And Are Guided By God's Word It Will Lead

[43:10] Us To A Life That Is Obsessed With Praising God In Our Actions In Our Words In Our Thoughts In Our Decisions We Can't Let The The Internal Fears That We Have Keep Us From Crying Out To Our God And Trust David Didn't Let It Happen To Him We Can't Do That Either We Need To Be Willing To Sink To Our Deepest Doubts With God And Find Him There Do You Ever Feel Like A Squirming Unworthy Worm In God's Presence That's Good Because God Chooses Worms Like Us Likewise We Can't The pressures That Are Surrounding Us Distract Us From The One Powerful Enemy That's Lurking Behind Them We Need To See That When Jesus Made A Way Through Death Into Everlasting Life He Delivered Us From All Of Satan's Power If We Can Be

[44:10] Genuinely Led To See These Realities And Actually Believe Them Can The Worm Really Keep Silent Can A Worm That's Been Delivered From That Kind Of Enemy Be Bored By His Salvation Be Ashamed Of His Salvation Can A Life Of Praise Really Just Be Another Pressure On My Weekly Schedule No The Cross Redeemed Us From The Enemy That Reached Into Every Details Of Our Lives So Just As Every Moment Was Once Enslaved To The Fear Of Death Now Every Moment Is Enslaved To The Fear Of Christ Our Savior In Fact His Victory Is So Glorious That Even If He Had Not Given Us The Church I Mean Even If He Had Not Given The Church The Great Commission The Command To Make Disciples We Should Have The Same Passionate Heart Driving Us That David Has Here To Bring All Others To Praise Him Look At What He Did

[45:10] He Saved The Word Why Live A Life Of Praise Why Bring Others To Praise Him Because God Hears The Cries Of Worms Let's Pray to Him Now Father In Heaven We Don't Even Deserve To Pray To You Right Now We Bring So Much Unworthiness And Filth With Us Every Time We Come Into Your Presence That's All We Contribute When We Come Into Your Presence So We Praise You For Dressing Us In The Righteous Robes Of Christ So That We Are Worthy Because He Is Worthy To Come Into Your Presence Thank You For Your Word Father We Do Ask That You Help Us To Live In The Power Of A Life That's Been Set Free From The Power Of Death We Are No Longer

[46:10] Enslaved To Its Fear Those That Surrounding Enemy Is An Empty Enemy Those Are Cardboard Bowls Father Those Are Not Dangers That We Face Or Fear Anymore And Father What We Want To Happen From That Is To Lead To A Life Of Praise Father You Are So Worthy And We You Are So Unworthy Please Help Each One Of Us Live Tomorrow Just Tomorrow Even One More Degree Of Glory Closer To What You Deserve From Us Because Of What We Heard Tonight Father We Ask For That Jesus Name Amen We're Going To Sing A Song Just To Express What's On Our Hearts After Hearing God's Word And I Love I Think I Picked This Song Several Times