Psalms of Ascent - Psalm 124-125

[0:00] great thank you emmy you josh ben and all else for singing and joining in the worship of the saints this morning my name is eric i'm one of the pastors here and i have the pleasure of opening the lord's word with us this morning so i'm gonna i'm gonna just reorient us back to psalm 124 to start this morning but also we are going to be covering psalm 125 as well we only have so many weeks to get through all the psalms of ascent and these two psalms go hand in hand they work together in many many ways so we're going to be doing both 124 and 125 this morning but i have a question for us as we jump into the word what are the things that you truly believe you can do all by yourself i can do this all by myself it's the eternal cry of the individual that i don't need help it's all me what are those things well some things in my life where i really believe i got this i don't need help i don't need brooke i don't need even my church i can do this but where it really comes out is especially this last week is in the words of the self-assured growing toddler and here are the words no dad i can do it by myself and this happened this week it happens many many times throughout the week but this week was a memorable one my two-year-old sadie very independent spirit much more so than bryn my oldest and sadie was out on the swing set and she's trying to climb into our big green saucer and in order to get into that thing you have to put your legs on and then if you're not careful it'll swing out from underneath you and you'll go straight down she's done that many times so i'm trying to teach her to put her leg up and to do it you can put your leg up here get leverage on it you know it's like no i can do it by myself okay so i let her do it and you're probably expecting well she biffed it no she actually nailed it she but she had taken things i'd learned or taught her and she put her leg up and then she rolled into it and the joy on her face i did it by myself now doing things by ourself to prove that we can do them to show the strength of our resolve and our spirit is actually a good thing in relation to growth we should be teaching our children to learn to do things by themselves we show them we we hands on and we take hands off and we watch and we encourage them to do things because we need to teach our children to be independent and to stand for themselves eventually right good for growth good for the body good for the mind but here's where we're going this morning the refrain i can do it by myself is horrifically bad for the soul horrifically bad devastatingly bad for our souls and this morning we're going to look at two psalms 124 and 125 we're going to work through them quickly together in a minute we're going to see that the lord himself oversees our entire life but especially our salvation and in this truth we find comfort or at least i hope we find comfort this morning because if you're anything like me the resilient independent spirit that says i don't need help i got

[4:00] this it creeps into our heart and if we're not careful we entrust ourselves and ourselves alone for the the salvation of our very soul so i'm going to give us an overview of both these psalms 124 and 125 and we'll work through them together if there's any central theme of psalm 124 it is deliverance god's role in saving his people from literal death and even spiritual death in a sense if there's any central theme of 125 it is security and god's role in making his people secure with eternal life these are the two things you're going to see as a general theme in both of these psalms and then we're going to take both psalms after we work through them and seeing those two propositions are true we're going to take both those and and and and just reduce them down to something we can really take away this morning so we'll get there wait on that one but for now let's deal with those first two premises that psalm 124 is about god's deliverance his role in saving his people from death let's read 124 once more thank you emmy will read it again if it had not been the lord who was on our side let israel now say if it had not been the lord who was on our side when people rose up against us then they would have swallowed us up alive when their anger was kindled against us and the flood would have swept us away the torrent would have gone over us then over us would have gone the raging waters blessed be the lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth we have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken and we have escaped our help is in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth this is a beautiful psalm i want you to note it was written by david it's one of those few psalms that are written by him of the psalms of sin but the proclamation here in psalm 124 israel is saying we have been delivered from death and the background of this psalm is actually fascinating because it's there's a lot of skepticism on what is the background of the psalm there's a lot of what seem to be specific instances here that israel's crying out about so there's there's nations that have surrounded us that to swallow us up alive they were angry at us there's floods there's torrents there's raging waters that are that would have drowned us i mean it's very interesting the images here and some people think well there's references definitely to the philistines when they were surrounding israel and david lord used david to overcome them other people think man maybe some of the torrenting or the rain has to do with some of god's natural um his his natural means of of water in the bible there's a lot of floods a lot of things going on maybe that they're pulling from that imagery at the end of the day here's what we need to know the psalm is oriented around one idea that there was danger to us and the lord delivered us from it and the way it starts is fascinating i want you to notice this it starts off with a a line if it had not been the lord who was on our side and then there's a pause let israel now say and then again if it had not been the lord who was on our side very interesting way to start this and now here's what i'm gonna offer to us i think this is actually david i if i could offer i think david is actually the person in verse one as the worship leader he intended this for the worship leader to look to the congregation and say hey listen i'm gonna speak real quick if it had not been the lord who's on our side let the body let the congregation of israel say together and then everyone would say it with him again if it was not the lord who's on our side that's how i think this was written david was calling for a response from the people we're all going to say this together i want us to be aware we do this on sunday morning hopefully you've seen i think pastor josh does a fantastic job at this

[8:02] calling us to respond calling us to sing together that's what a good worship leader does david does this josh does this well but at the end of the day what does this teach us it teaches us that corporately when we come before the lord we should sing with one voice i even remember there was a song is he worthy and i remember talking to josh about this being really moved by his theology of this song the song is actually a call and response format the singer sings the first part and the response comes from the body but i remember josh he was convicted by it and he came and he said you know what we're going to sing every line of the song together as one voice and i remember just the theology of that that that's what we do together we sing together as one voice and i think this psalm is conveying that david is leading them in let's say it together so we have this idea that we're together in this we're one body but then there's this interesting line at the beginning if it had not been the lord who was on our side let's break that down what does it mean when the language is used that god is on our side is god on anyone's real side he stands alone he is god sovereign over the universe but what's being conveyed here is that the lord is with those who meet certain qualifications he will fight on their behalf he will defend them he will protect them he will deliver them is the idea here and i want us to note that the people of israel recognize we are israel who's israel god's chosen people back in deuteronomy chapter 7 what did the lord say what were the what were the merits of choosing his people the lord says i did not choose you because you were mighty in number i chose you because i love you so what is it that makes god's people god's people the love the object of god's affection that god loves them and israel knows this that is the condition by which the lord says okay i will defend you and yes you may say together with one voice i am on your side because of my love for you but then in verse 6 to 8 we see all of these tumultuous things that happen and they are rescued continually by god and they know this notice in verse 6 to 8 it says this blessed be the lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth we have escaped like the bird from the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken and we have escaped our help is in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth the people remember two things first verses 3 to 7 what they have been saved from and then in verse 8 who saved them we have two specific sets of of memory glasses going on here we remember the individual ways even poetic ways in which the lord has delivered us from a death that was impending but not only that we're going to choose to finish our song with the collective refrain we know who did it which is far more important and it's god so what is psalm 124 about it is about the deliverance from death that god gives to his people so let's jump real quick to psalm 125 we're going to read this one together and this is you'll see a lot of similar themes here and if you some build on one another but psalm 125 we'll read this it says those who trust the lord are like mount zion which cannot be moved but abides forever as the mountains surround jerusalem so the lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong to do good oh lord to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts but those who turn aside to their crooked ways the lord will lead away with

[12:03] evil doers peace be upon israel so if 124 is about the deliverance from death that the lord offers his people psalm 125 is about the security he brings for those who he has delivered not just delivered from death but made secure in eternal life forever both of these concepts give us a picture of salvation that the salvation that god offers to his people is not one of just deliverance it's not one of just making secure for eternal life it's both and and they work together and that is god's collective salvation he pulls us out of death and danger and he sets us firm on his holy foundation which will never be shaken so what is that image the image is mount zion what is mount zion mount zion is the holy eternal mountain of god it's a poetic image some people believe it's going to be a literal mountain right but in the very least in this psalm at this time it's a poetic image that the god of the universe who is himself invisible sits atop a high grand mountain that makes everest look like a pebble and on this mountain the mountain traverses the entire universe it covers all the galaxies all the far distant places in space even our very earth and on top of it sits one who is qualified holy eternal eternal omnipotent and this god is the one that is seated on the highest mountain so it's height god is high the symbol is here is god is high and exalted in character and resplendence there's nothing like god in the entire universe he is higher than all its breadth or its width or its size god's sovereignty over all created things that's the picture there that this giant magnificent cosmic mountain that the lord sits upon the image here it's conveying that his his reign and his rule is over everything it covers all but then it's permanence unable to be moved destroyed or shaken notice verse 20 verse 1 of 125 those who trust in the lord are like mount zion which cannot be moved but abides forever hey israel imagine yourselves like the great grand holy cosmic mountain of the lord that will never be moved not a millimeter this mountain is fixed permanently the picture of the steadfast character of the lord you are like that mountain you will never be moved but then also mount zion symbolizes holiness this place hosts the eternal presence of god and just as the lord dwelled on mount sinai in the old testament in the book of deuteronomy we're told that the lord's consecrated mount sinai to himself he goes on top and when the lord presence comes upon an earthly mountain what happens thunder this is revelation song right peals of thunder it's the same images it's covered in this incredible shroud there's roaring sounds there's lightning flashes the lord's holiness has just come upon a literal mountain and what he says to israel is basically this please make a boundary and make sure no one touches the mountain because the second they touch the mountain they will die that's how holy i am i just made an entire mountain holy only certain consecrated people could go up that is the same god that dwells on mount zion this mountain is only for holy beings but then we see in verse two as the mountains surround jerusalem so the lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore yay israel you're like mount zion

[16:04] you'll never be moved but also if that wasn't enough i want you to also take a picture of mountains that you're surrounded by mountains and that nothing will ever traverse those mountains the lord has raised them up that you would be protected now i grew up in a place called medford it's the southern oregon we call it the southern oregon the valley and literally where i grew up i love this about where i grew up on a clear day you can look in any direction and you will see mountain ridges literally i grew up in a valley like a giant bowl there was a flood it would fill right up to the brim and it would just stay right there only mountains everywhere i look where i grew up and as i was reading this i just kept thinking of my hometown and thinking how puny are these mountains relative to the what the lord is clearly intending here an invading army could easily come over the southern oregon mountains can an invading army traverse the mountains that the lord is going to set up to protect his people never here's what's so amazing this wall of protection for israel is meant to be all inclusive not just physical harm but it's also a picture of permanence which is why 125 the the general concept of this psalm is that the lord makes his people secure with eternal life forevermore that's why you see words like it cannot be moved abides forever surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore continually you see this language of universal ultimate language that nothing will happen ever forever eternally secure in the god of israel yahweh i want you to imagine this picture of the the mountains and the permanence of god's protection is african elephants now we went to africa i went there when i was in high school we went on a safari we saw these giant elephants and i'd seen asian elephants before and i saw the african elephants and i'm like wow one of the most majestic creatures you'll ever see on earth is an african elephant big gray giant ears big tusks and i remember the guy telling us yep um don't mess with elephants first of all they're one of the smartest animals in the world and they are the most protective animal in the world is what he told us if there is even a remote threat to one of their young all of the elephants in their giant pack will take all the young put them in the middle and they will all back up back to back in a giant circle like like a roman army trying to hold off in a circle and they will stand as fixtures of permanence and any attacker that tried to come in and grab those young it's a death sentence they will fight to the death can you imagine trying to go into the middle of a circle of gray elephants surrounded now take that picture and multiply it by a million that is the lord's picture of protection over us and then it finishes in verse four do good oh lord to those who are good to those who are upright in their hearts but those who turn aside to the crooked ways the lord will lead away with evildoers peace be upon israel and you have this great picture we know that we are permanent in the lord we know that he has us we know that our eternal security is forever more but then the dichotomy becomes apparent that if that is the case there's a there's almost a immediate juxtaposition between two groups of people that happens on behalf of israel and they say you know what there's a land that the righteous should dwell in and then there's a place where the wicked should dwell in lord do good to us because we are your upright people but those who are wicked cast them away this psalm is telling us that there is an eternal reality in this earth and beyond that there's a place of life secure in god forever eternally safe and there's a place of death that the lord will lead away the wicked into

[20:07] we call this place hell because the bible calls it hell heaven and hell hell and heaven whatever we can use those terms even though they're not used here but at the end of the day what defines these places is what we should talk about from 125 in hell the definition here is this or the implication of the definition is this that the wicked those who turn aside to their crooked ways will go together as one collective group of evildoers and what does it say the lord will do he will lead them away from where we're actually not told where he leads them away from we have to imply here away from the place where he secures and establishes his holy people there's two places and the lord leads them away away from not just his people but also we know from the rest of the council of scripture that the place where the holy people dwell is god's own light where the face of jesus will be our light forevermore revolution tells us so psalm 125 is teaching israel that she is secure only in christ in the lord and his favor okay okay so when you take psalm 124 which talks about how israel has been delivered from death and psalm 125 which talks about how israel has been secured forever in eternal life with god you take these two pictures and you put them together here's what these psalms this one big collective idea is teaching us yes you could just sum it up by the lord delivers us from death and he secures us for eternal life which is definitely true but for us this morning here's what i want us to take away salvation is a work of god not of man salvation is a work of god not of man the man drowning in the middle of the ocean cannot save himself the boat that rescues him is his savior the woman trapped in a burning building cannot save herself the rescuing fireman is her savior we contribute as much to our salvation as a drowning man climbing into the rescue boat or a trapped woman taking the hand of a fireman it is the total and complete work of god to rescue a hell-bound sinner it is the total and complete work of god to take his people and deliver them out of imminent death it is the total and complete work of god to take those delivered people and set them in a place in this psalm the mount of the lord zion to set them in a place where nothing will ever touch them again brothers and sisters we have no power to do any of this on our own to deliver ourselves from death even if we were to manage to do that to somehow set ourselves in a place where we will never experience danger again imagine that a lot of us live our lives me included many phases of my life i've lived my life with the number one objective just don't fall into trouble don't let danger touch you do everything you can to live very safe i've lived seasons in my life that way and every time i try to do that it becomes very apparent it's a foolish task because danger is all around salvation is a work of god not of man let's look back at 124 again i want you to notice the psalm seems to be yes about the lord's hand in delivering from death but i want you to notice how incredibly and intentionally repetitive this idea is look at verse 2 if it had not been the lord who was on our side when people rose up against us why do enemies rise up against their enemies to eliminate them

[24:07] verse 3a what does swallow up convey literal consumption the latter part of verse 3 what does unconstrained anger give way to murder jesus says it's murder when you're angry what happens when we are swept away by a raging flood or a torrent in verses 4 and 5 we drown what happens to the antelope when it's caught by the lioness look at verse 6 it says this blessed be the lord who has not given us this prey to their teeth the image is a lion pouncing grabbing an antelope what happens at that point well that was fun we'll play tag later no mauling eating feasting and then finally again look at the repetition it's the same the same thing over and over again verse 7 what happens to the bird that gets caught in the net well in this culture especially we got shane in here maybe she would capture it and love on it but in this culture they didn't capture fowlers didn't capture birds so they could keep them and study them and love on them they captured them to kill them and that's what the psalm is saying in other words psalm 124 is about being delivered from death by the lord like we talked about and I want us to recognize an internal spiritual reality here 1 Peter 5 tells us that the devil prowls around like a lion looking for prey to devour if I could encourage this today psalm 124 is like a poetic

[25:38] Old Testament picture of 1 Peter 5 death is creeping and crawling and looking to just devour but here's the reality we're told in Romans 6 23 that the wages of sin is death so while Israel maybe have been concerned primarily with physically materially not dying literally not dying as they should be and we should be too today I want us to see a greater reality here that death on earth is not the worst thing that could happen eternal death that is wrought in us through sin is the worst thing that could happen for in that place where the evildoers go God's mercy grace love is not present it is a place where his wrath is eternally poured out on those who have chosen to reject him on those who have seen the danger and said

[26:56] I got this I don't need help I don't need help getting on the green saucer I can do this on my own dad thank you when we take that posture in our soul and in our spirit we leave only one option for salvation ourselves but here's the problem Ephesians 2 tells us that we were dead in our trespasses and sin in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all lived in the passion of our flesh carrying up the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind this is a stark definition you were dead in your trespasses and sins that means our spiritual condition like let's go back to the drowning man in the ocean he's not fighting for life he's floating he's already dead that's the spiritual condition that we once lived in all of this builds up to again salvation is a work of God not of man so let's talk about depravity what is the depravity of man

[28:11] Romans 3 23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God what does this mean it means that every single person is not immune to the power of sin we have all chosen to reject God and instead trust in our own hearts and our own minds to guide us and direct us in life and to willingly rebel against the one that created us I love the term here we have all sinned and fallen short the term fallen short here means lacking does not possess what the glory of God remember the God that is on top of Mount Zion and all of his resplendence and majesty that's the glory the same glory that if you touch the mountain you die unless you are glorious like he is that's the glory all of us are found lacking we don't have it so because of this the depravity of man is basically this that the fall when Adam and Eve rejected they symbolize for us and institute for us once and for all in that garden a rebellion from God and it affects our entire being total depravity speaks to the all encompassing effects of corruption in us because of sin we are selfish prideful hateful self-glorifying creatures

[29:32] Jeremiah 17 9 says it this way the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick our minds because of sin we do not love truth we have an appetite for lies and for the tickling of the ears we are easily deceived and deceive others our hearts we do not desire what God desires selfishly and foolishly running after temporal vain pursuits on earth our strength we do not submit ourselves to creator God we pridefully seek our own salvation by our own power all of this leading to the idea again salvation is a work of God not of man for in Psalm 124 we see a very clear picture death is on the doorstep Israel is helpless the water would have drowned them out the enemies would have conquered them the snare would have captured them the prey would have prounced on them and yet the Lord keeps pulling them and pulling them and pulling them out of danger it's his work within this depravity of man there is a foundation depravity of man is the foundation for the insufficiency of man and the insufficiency of man

[30:51] I think is spoken to in verse 1 and 2 of 21 24 look again if it had not been the Lord it's a declaration of communal insufficiency all of us agree right if the Lord had not rescued us from death we were helpless that's the declaration in Psalm 124 so what is the insufficiency of man because of that depraved nature that we all possess we are totally incapable of achieving salvation which is why Ephesians 2 a couple verses later in that passage I just read it says this for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is listen to this not from yourselves it is a gift of God not by works so that no one can boast try with all of your might try with all of your intelligence the strength of your arm the will that is strong in the heart do everything you can to ensure that you will be saved on the day of judgment what is

[32:12] Ephesians Psalm 124 and even Psalm 125 telling us you will be unsuccessful which teaches us insufficiency we are not enough the problem is not outside of us as the world preaches that other people are the problem you just need to live your truth that's not the issue the problem is within us brothers and sisters we need someone who is untouched by depravity we need someone who is outside of us to save our depraved selves if the problem is not outside of us but inside of us our hearts our wicked hearts then the solution can't be within us because we know our hearts are wicked the solution must be out of us so who is it who is untouched by depravity who is it that could possibly bring salvation to a people that is depraved someone who was able to walk in total holiness someone who followed the very heart of god the father the one who in all ways was tempted tried and tested and never gave way to sin psalm 24 which is considered a messianic psalm says this who shall ascend the hill of the lord who shall stand in his holy place mount zion he who has clean hands and a pure heart he who does not lift up his soul to what is false he who does not swear deceitfully he will receive the blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation who is that if you were in here today and you heard that description clean hands pure heart not lifting the soul to what's false not swearing deceitfully if you heard that and you said man

[34:18] I I think I could do that I just need to work really hard and this is for you you can't I couldn't I tried I exhausted many years of my life trying to be that person and it took God breaking me down showing me my fault and like Israel in Psalm 124 showing that only I can rescue from danger and death who can complete this divine task of ascending to where God is in all holiness it's only Jesus Christ salvation is a work of God not of man to double down on this look with me in Psalm 125 we see another picture here in verse three for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong the picture being that

[35:22] God's people are holy and he will not let them associate with the wicked but then you have verse four do good oh lord here's the appeal from the people do good oh lord to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts it is true that the Lord does make it so that we can choose holy things good things upright things no question and Israel is called to that standard but we are here today at this side of the cross and we know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus alone is righteous that Jesus alone is upright in heart so I think both of these psalms are conveying to us clearly and passionately that salvation is a work of God not of man God's salvation is once and for all Psalm 124 deliverance from death once I have been saved by his grace his mercy he pulled me out from the fangs of death but also for all security the picture in 125 nothing will touch you ever again because the

[36:35] Lord has already claimed you and those who the Lord has claimed he will never unclaim they're his forever more through Jesus work deliverance from death is a direct benefit of the gospel security into eternal life is a direct benefit of the gospel I want to share a quick story we were kids my mom was a massive animal fan not just animal fan she loved to rescue animals and mostly farm animals she'd go to the co-ops she'd go to all of the granges and she'd go and she'd grab farm animals and bring them back to our suburban home my dad would say why are you doing this at sure was against our HOA or whatever we had but here's what my mom she loved animals so she went in one time and there was just a massive amount of ducklings and they were basically just like giving them away I think they were paying people to take them like they had so many that spring and my mom sees these two little ducklings that were left in one box she's like oh we don't have any of this stuff to take care of ducklings to take a massive amount of water and work and an appropriate place but I can take them so she took them she brings them home all those little kids

[37:49] I was probably six she said look guys we have ducklings we get to raise she rescued them and brought them home she delivered them okay but here's what happened three older boys boys would you just like to name them yes what did we pick Donald and Daisy okay so we have two little ducklings Donald and Daisy we play with them all the time and we're playing in the backyard and the ducklings are on the grass and the boys get in a fight or who knows what we're doing we're playing basketball and we leave the ducklings here's what happened this is going to break some of your heart the neighbor cat saw an opportunity jumped the fence full spree across the lawn and my oldest bud looks and says no does one of these swipes up Daisy carries her in her mouth over the fence gone we never saw her again Donald is in a panic running all of us boys crying three of us crying grab Donald take him inside and explain to mom what happened she was not happy but she was kind here's what happened my mom said you know what maybe this wasn't the greatest idea and we're going to take

[39:08] Donald we're going to take him to the duck pond there's a duck pond nearby and we're going to see if we can find someone to take him and or release him to the pond maybe you can find a family and we're like what it doesn't make sense so I remember this like it was yesterday we go to the duck pond all three of us boys and mom and we go to the pond and we have Donald and there's ducks everywhere I don't know what was going on that year ducks everywhere even ducklings and they're all following literally like the cartoons like four of them following after mom here left and right and we take Donald and we're like man I don't know what's going to happen so my mom just lets him go and he immediately runs into the pond finds a family gets in the back of the line this is like a cartoon gets in the back of the line and they swim off across the pond into the sunset the true story and all of us boys went from crying to like that was amazing we just rehomed him into nature okay but here's why I share this story we may have delivered those ducks from danger who knows what was going to happen if no one had taken all the ducks but we didn't secure them to life we were incapable of that it's one thing to rescue someone from danger

[40:19] Daisy and Donald and it's another to make them secure from future danger and failure to do either leads to death but here's the great thing us in our danger and through his grace and his mercy and through the person and work of Jesus Christ the one that came from the father to rescue sinners from death he rescues us he dies on that cross he pays the penalty of sin which is death and when he does that he offers free newness of life there is massive glorious grace unmerited free nothing required to do to obtain it and all here's what the Lord asks that we would repent of our sin that we would come to God with a spirit and a heart that is decided once and for all salvation cannot be found with me that's a very basic way to describe repentance

[41:32] I finally understand I am not good enough I cannot live holy enough I cannot please the father with some of my good works in light of all that I've done repentance says Lord I am a sinner and I recognize that just like the psalm says only through you can we find help and be delivered from death so here's where a biblical understanding of the trinity can be helpful for us the goodness of God in salvation comes to us through the different persons of the trinity and their unified roles and responsibilities the father initiates our salvation he chooses us through his love the son accomplishes our salvation through his atoning work and the spirit secures our salvation through his indwelling presence God is working for us to save us not just now but for an eternity with him never to be touched by danger that is the key of psalm 124 and 125

[42:41] God is the savior and he those whom he saves he secures and church that is us only through the work of Jesus Christ so finishing I want to encourage us that we to take psalm 124 and 125 and apply them what does this mean for me how do I live in light of this I believe that these two psalms are teaching us the church today to glory in our savior glory in our savior glorying in our savior means two things first that we delight in the insufficiency of ourselves we say that one more time that is a staggering statement in today's world we delight in the insufficiency of ourselves we don't look and say I can't save myself oh that's terrible how can I figure out how to save no we delight in that here's why because if salvation was up to us we are hopeless so here's what

[43:42] I want to encourage you to do church in glorying repentance is a sweet comfort to the soul it reorients us into the place of the rescued our appropriate place and frees us from filling the place of savior so we delight in our insufficiency but secondly we delight in the sufficiency of Christ I am overwhelmed Lord that Jesus is all I need this is what repentance and belief means to see oneself the way that we really are hopeless broken depraved and headed towards destruction unable to save but also believing trust faith means that we delight in a savior outside of us and that's Jesus Christ so recapitulate your testimony to yourself and to others preach the gospel daily when you see sinners being sinners in the world turning aside to their own ways like psalm 125 says a great definition of depravity remember your former unsaved self and remember that line from psalm 124 if it had not been the

[44:59] Lord you see how this is teaching us salvation is not from us it's from the Lord and we cannot save ourselves let's glory in that when you worship in song let the redemptive words of the courage that the God of your salvation is and has already surrounded you glory in your Savior by meeting with your Savior this would be my heart for us that just like psalm 125 says those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion cannot be moved that we would be a church that can honestly say we do trust in the Lord that the culture of this people is a culture that recognizes our insufficiency and delights in that because of the sufficiency of Jesus salvation is the work of

[46:01] God not of man let's pray Lord I pray that in the spirit of these two psalms Lord that we see your deliverance from death we see your security offered to those whom you delivered God I pray that when we read the Bible individually or corporately that we would put ourselves in these rhythms of continually seeing our need and our depravity and your glorious grace for us God God I pray that this would be a church that would not shy away from our former selves and remembering who we used to be so that we can glory all the more in who we are in Jesus God I pray that this church us as your brothers or your children and as brothers and sisters we would follow after the pattern of our Savior that we would remember that living in sin is no longer our identity that because you have gone before us

[47:05] Jesus and purchased our lives from death itself through your blood that we now have all that we need to live upright lives we have you Jesus so show us the way give us your grace daily and help us to continue to be in patterns of repentance and trust that would not just be the one prayer we say help us to trust in you our Lord our rock our redeemer let me pray amen