A World of Wickedness, The God of Wonder

[0:00] The sermon text for today is Psalm 36. At the conclusion of the reading, I will declare this is the word of the Lord. And the church, in joyful response to his revelation given to us, will together say, Thanks be to God.

[0:15] Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

[0:26] The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit. He has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He does not reject evil.

[0:40] Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like the great deep. Man and beast you save, O Lord.

[0:51] How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

[1:03] For with you is the fountain of life. In your light we see light. O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart.

[1:14] Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen. They are thrust down, unable to rise. This is the word of the Lord.

[1:26] Thank you, Colleen. Good morning, everyone. My name is Jim Gancars. I'm one of the members here at Shoreline, and I'm excited to share with you from the awesome book of Psalms as we do this summer series in Psalms of Psalm 36.

[1:43] This is a really cool psalm, one that I say that a lot about pretty much every book we get to read, but this is a special, powerful psalm where we see this contrast, where we see the depravity of man and the greatness of God all in 12 small verses that pack so much power.

[2:00] So let's pray, and then we'll dive into this. Heavenly Father, we pray that your word would be illuminated. Would it jump off the page, God? Would we leave this morning changed, and would we repent of our sins and turn in a desire to worship and glorify you, to know you better, to have a deeper and richer relationship with you, God?

[2:21] Father, thank you for your word that stands eternal, that cannot shake and wither and fall and fade, and stands true throughout generations. When we read this and study this this morning, God, we want to cling to it like our daily bread, Lord, like our sustenance, for that is exactly what it is, God.

[2:39] We live and have our being and move in you and you alone, God. Would this sermon be directed by your Holy Spirit, and would our ears be inclined to hear your word and to do it?

[2:50] We pray this in the perfect name of Jesus Christ. Amen. So I want to start off with a question. Then, we're going to get a little meta, as the kids say. We're going to think about thinking, one of those deals.

[3:02] Have you thought about how you view the word of God? Have you thought, you know, when I approach the scriptures, what am I thinking of it as, right? There's some distorted views, for sure. Some could be looking at it as an instruction manual, like a burden.

[3:16] I've heard the acronym before, Bible stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. As a Christian man, what is basic about dying for my wife as Christ loved the church? It's simple, right?

[3:27] And maybe it's a fun little thing to remember, but it ultimately is so much more than that, is it not? Perhaps some have thought of it as a list of rules and regulations, kind of like, you know, a legalist would look at that.

[3:38] Well, according to Article 5, Chapter 2, I'm going to have to love my brother. Dang it. Others may look at it as a collection of short stories, right? Or nice fictional things, like Grimm's Fairy Tales, or Dwight Schrute's Family List of Rules.

[3:51] Brad knows what I'm talking about. But there are rightful ways to be looking at the scripture, obviously. And some of that includes looking at it and knowing that it is the divinely inspired, inerrant word of God. And that's refreshing, like a water in the desert, is it not?

[4:06] In a world where we live in, where a lot of things are lies and twisted and perverted, to know that I can go to God's word and know that this is perfect. And this is written and stood forever and still applies to us thousands and thousands of years later.

[4:18] In fact, the psalm that we're going to look at this morning was written in 1000 BC, so a thousand years before Christ was even born. Another way of looking at it, which is how we're going to look at this psalm and how this psalm is almost built, is we can get perspectives from God's word, meaning viewpoints, and we can get reflections from God's word.

[4:37] That's me. That's me. I sinned. I was a mocker. I was one who has schemes that we can see ourselves, we can also see around us. And so in that way, we can look at Psalm 36 and much of the scripture like a mirror and like a window.

[4:51] Now, when I think of something that has those two things combined, I think of a two-way mirror. Okay? You don't have any experience of two-way mirrors. Well, I got a dumb one. Okay? I remember I was about eight years old, and my father was returning some electronics to this old defunct store, sorry, called Tweeter, if anyone remembers Tweeter.

[5:06] They were like, ah, my brother remembers that. It was like Circuit City. It's old. It's gone. It's been gone since like 2000-something. And I remember going there. My dad's bringing something up there, and I'm walking with him, and I look, and there's a mirror. And as all dumb eight-year-olds, I'm looking at it going like, oh, look at big faces.

[5:19] And oh, yeah. Look at the gun show. And I'm doing all this goofy stuff. I probably picked my nose. I don't know. I'm doing all this silly stuff in the window. And meanwhile, I hear the guy behind the counter laughing going, you know, there's ladies behind there, and your son's doing all this goofy stuff.

[5:32] They're cracking up back there, you know. And of course, I look in and go, oh, my gosh, there's two service people right behind the window. But in that way, it was both a mirror and a window. And that's exactly, believe it or not, not like a two-way mirror, but that is exactly what this passage is.

[5:45] It is a mirror that reveals what's, and a mirror, what does it do? It reveals what's around us and about us. Right? We look in the mirror. We see, oh, my hair's unkempt. And we also use mirrors like when we're driving, right?

[5:55] We, oh, hey, there's a car over there. Please use a directional, by the way. That's a PSA. So don't turn into that lane because I used my mirror to notice there was a vehicle there, right? We learn a lot about our blind spots and perhaps what's been behind us and a rear view.

[6:08] Also about us. We see through a mirror our blemishes, right? We see our distortions. We see in self-awareness, and think of that in spiritual terms, that would look like fruit inspection.

[6:18] Is my life for Christ growing the fruit that I am called to grow? And how's my heart doing? How's my heart check look like? So that's how, in a way, God's word is much like a mirror.

[6:29] It can reveal a lot to us and around us. And ultimately, which is so much more important, it is also a window where we get to look and see the glorious, mighty God of our salvation and of our creation and how he stands in victory.

[6:43] We see what's outside of us with a window, right? We look out and we see what's beyond us and around us. And so that's how we can see who God is, what he says, and what he does. And ultimately, he is a holy God, is he not?

[6:56] He's a God who is so much other. I remember learning that definition of holiness being other. And that's kind of cool. That's cool to think of this. God is so other. He is so set apart. He is not like man.

[7:06] And we see his attributes on display, which is what we're going to absolutely see in this particular psalm of his love, his faithfulness, his righteousness, and his justice. And with that, I pray as we read through this word, and this is much an aim of all of scripture, that we would come to know God in a deeper way.

[7:27] Knowing God is actually a key element of this psalm. We're going to see it. It's kind of implicit, but it's in here a lot about knowledge of God, which I think we could probably translate to, as Christians, a saving faith.

[7:38] Because it's one to know facts. It's one to know scripture citations. It's another to have a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen? Now, check out what God has to say about knowing him.

[7:49] This is from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 9, verses 23 through 24. And this is what Jeremiah says, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might.

[8:01] Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts, boast in this. That he understands and knows me. That's what God's saying. That he understands and knows me.

[8:12] That I am the Lord who practices, oh man, check it out, steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Well, if that's like not straight out from Psalm 36, I don't know what it is.

[8:25] So, let's look into this psalm. Let's get a little background history of what this is. It's written by David, approximately around 10th century B.C. We're not sure specifically when he wrote this.

[8:36] What was going on? You know, is this during, you know, absolute, you know, we don't know. But we know it's during David's lifetime. And look how he opens it. He says, To the choir master of David, the servant of the Lord.

[8:46] This is a title of humility, but also glory that David uses a few times throughout Psalms. That he revels in being a servant of God. I pray we'd feel that same way. In Shoreline, when you read our constitution, you see that it exercises servant leadership.

[9:02] The idea of serving others and ultimately serving God, the Father, and not ourselves, right? It's not self-serving. But also, to the choir master, this is something to be sung. So, we're going to circle back to that at the end, thanks to our music team.

[9:15] But this is meant to be sung. And so, how does David start off this song? He starts off with the first four verses of looking at, like a mirror, a reflection of how far apart mankind is from God.

[9:27] Now, in verse 1, this is kind of interesting. I almost feel like I'm tripping out of the gate. Verse 1 can be translated quite a few different ways, depending on how you read it. But the ultimate message of the text, sorry, Carl, where's my brother?

[9:38] Oh, he's not here. Of God's word. That was a joke. Ben got it. Is that David's conclusion is that the wicked man does not fear God. That is the ultimate conclusion.

[9:48] Now, what am I talking about different translations? So, the NIV would say that this message from God, in my heart, regarding the sinful of the wicked. So, I'll get to the ESV in a second.

[9:59] That's what one version is, is that it's coming from God to David's heart regarding the sinfulness of the wicked. So, the outside. The KJV would say that sin speaks of the wicked in my heart.

[10:11] Okay. All right. So, we got sin outside. It's speaking inside my heart about the wicked. Okay. And then finally, and this is obviously the translation that we use, the ESV, as well as the NASB and NRSV.

[10:22] They talk about how the sin speaks to the wicked in their heart. So, let's read that verse. His transgression speaks to the wicked deep inside his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes.

[10:33] So, we are talking about that sin is internal and is deep-seated. That word there for speaks deep within his heart is his innermost parts. And the conclusion that David comes to, again, that's the ultimate part that matters here, is that by God, he comes to this conclusion, that the wicked man does not fear God.

[10:52] Now, there's an interesting part here about the word fear. Fear. I think probably the verse that's come into many of our minds is like the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Right? And so, that fear, that particular word, is often used to describe a reverence and an awe and a respect, an understanding of God's authority.

[11:11] And that's going to apply with this word too, but it's different. Believe it or not, this word fear is used in the form of dread or terror. So, this is literally that man is not afraid or scared in terror of God.

[11:24] Why is David using that? Well, we learn that from the rest of the verses here. It's because of his held sin. The sin that these wicked people, which by the way, remember we're looking at a mirror here, this is us apart from Christ.

[11:39] He conceals his sin. His heart is hardened. He has no accountability towards God. And this leads to a lack of disrespect, a lack of understanding of reverence, and a lack of authority of God.

[11:50] So, for sure, that other definition is applicable here. But this is literally the opposite of wisdom. They have no fear that they will ever be called out and judged.

[12:01] All right? You know, the wicked man and maybe yourselves in our sinful walk have thought, I could pick up that 20, pocket it. I know that guy just dropped it. I saw him in line, but I could pocket it.

[12:11] No one would see it. God wouldn't see it. It's kind of what the wicked say. And in many ways, we, in a distorted fashion, can do that. Where we can think that our sin is only internal.

[12:22] And it affects, it's not seen by God. Because I don't see him. So, I can't see him, he can't see me, it's all good. And that's what the wicked do here. It says he flatters himself in his own eyes.

[12:34] Basically, that word flatter, too, means like a smoothness. So, I think this is like the first time, like way before the 80s, where smooth operator is used. All right? A lame joke, but kind of true. Right?

[12:44] He's operating smoothly like, hey, no one can see me. I've done this before. I know how to steal, how to look good on the outside, but on the inside, I'm rotten to the core. Paul quotes this line, by the way, of that verse 1.

[12:58] There is no fear of God before his eyes in Romans, right? And he's talking about that no one, not one, is righteous. Because they do not fear God. So, in the absence of understanding the authority and the judgment and the just element of God, mankind in their wickedness are unrighteous and believe they are clean.

[13:17] Now, through verses 1 through 4, we see a growth from inside to outside of the behavior and effect of sin. This is a lot like what Paul talks about with, you know, temptation beginning sin and sin beginning death, right?

[13:32] Or James, excuse me. So, here, first we see it starts in the heart. Sin is whispering in his heart, much like a temptation. And what does that lead to? It leads to him flattering himself, still internal, right?

[13:43] It's still internal. My sin can't be found out. It leads to, in verse 3, the words of his mouth are trouble and deceit. So, now it's coming outward and external, isn't it? It's gone from inside the wicked person's heart and soul to now coming out of his behavior.

[14:00] And so, it says he speaks trouble and deceit. That reflects his character. And finally, his actions. It says he ceases to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed.

[14:13] He sets himself in a way that's not good. And he does not reject evil. So, now, not only is he speaking evil and trouble and deceitful words, but he's acting that way, too. Jesus had something to say about this, didn't he?

[14:26] About our actions and about what comes out of the man. Matthew 15 reads, Do you not see whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth and proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles a man.

[14:40] For out of the heart comes evil thoughts. There's the internal coming out of the mouth. Murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. There are the actions. There becomes now the person's posture and behavior has been transformed from inside to outside.

[14:55] These are what defile a person, Jesus says. I got to be honest. You read these first four verses, and if I was to end here, you'd be like, Man, that's a depressing psalm. Like, this is pretty, almost say, ecclesiastical.

[15:07] I can see where Solomon, he got it from his dad. Okay, geez. You know, it's a little philosophical, too, isn't it? About, like, this is what, you know, sin is spoken to the heart.

[15:19] Conclusion? Man is wicked, and man does not have a fear of God. They do not recognize him as a just king on the throne. But it is also, it's a reflection in that way.

[15:31] A reflection, like of a mirror, of how the wicked and fallen behave. We, apart from God, are that person, are we not? Apart from the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus, we are that wicked.

[15:46] So I pray that when we read these verses, not that we, you know, self-whip ourselves, but we would realize, my gosh, my gosh, you know, my Lord, this is my behavior. Think to yourself, and I ask this rhetorically, obviously, have you thought of sinful behavior in the middle of the night on your bed?

[16:03] Because, let's be honest, the time at night is often the times of some of the most difficult thoughts, are they not? Right, as a Christian, when you're worrying and anxious about your next day, it's that evening, isn't it? Right, oh my gosh, I got the Sunday scaries, as they call it, right?

[16:15] I'm looking into Monday, and I'm anxious as I lay in my bed. And perhaps what I can do is I can, you know, I can call out. Oh, sorry, I'm so sick. Like, that's a simple example, right? But that is an example, perhaps, of plotting in the middle of the night on our bed, on our most, you know, personal area, is where the actions and the wickedness is present.

[16:35] Now, thankfully, with the Holy Spirit, he can convict us of these things, right? And with his Holy Word, he can illuminate these areas of our life. Lord, we invite that so that we can be led to repentance and forgiveness of sins.

[16:48] Hallelujah. Amen? Amen? All right, so this is now where the juxtaposition begins. Because think about it, David has been focusing and honing in on the wickedness of man, and we're about to see a contrast through the form of a window.

[17:03] And that is now where the loving Lord of life and light comes into scene here. He shifts his mind, which I think is very, very Paul-like, right? Whatever, think of things above, not things below, right?

[17:14] Whatever is good, trust, pure, good, think of those things. And so that's what he does. He starts this verse, your steadfast love. He goes from talking about man, pivoting to the Lord. His eyes are looking up.

[17:25] He lifts his eyes and heart to the heaven, and in this poetic beauty, talks about these characteristics of God. Look at the first one. Your steadfast love, which can also translate to mercy. Your love and mercy extend to the heavens.

[17:39] Your faithfulness to the clouds. These are huge. These are big. And as a Christian, I'm sure you can sit and think about times, where has his love extended and covered your sin, or covered or protected you or loved you?

[17:53] We can relate to this, that God's love. It's not just a statement of fact. It's a recalling of his work. Now, there's a neat use of word here, that word Lord that he uses.

[18:03] Typically, we'd read that, and it'd be like Lord of hosts, right? God of angel armies. But in this translation, it's actually Yahweh, covenantal love. That's God's name as his covenant, his relationship with man, is what David uses here.

[18:18] God's love is boundless and infinite. It is exalted and majestic, higher than man can reach. We can't reach the heavens on our own. We tried, and the Tower of Babel fell, right?

[18:29] And we were expelled throughout the world. And our languages are all messed up. And it's unchanging. That's what David is expressing here, is that his steadfast love is unchanging.

[18:42] It's steadfast. And his faithfulness, it says, extends to the clouds. It's high. It's great. It's true.

[18:53] It's unchanging. Unfailing is what God's faithfulness is. Have you stopped to think about how God has been faithful to you? Perhaps in your marriage, with your children, with your daily bread.

[19:07] Our God is an amazing, loving God who is faithful through all generations. When it says clouds, I thought this was a neat observation, that clouds cover all of the earth.

[19:17] Do they not? So, one way we could look at this is that God's faithfulness is all-encompassing. All-encompassing. He covers over all things. What does Psalm 139 say?

[19:28] It says, where shall I go from your spirit, Lord? Or where shall I flee from your presence? Rhetorical. We can't. And that's a good thing. It's a good thing that God's faithfulness and his love are all-encompassing over us.

[19:40] David is essentially re-declaring what Moses says in Exodus 34. I'm going to read that. This is after the glory of the Lord had passed. And Moses says, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

[19:59] So, David would have known this in his growth as a Jewish man who loved and served God, a man who had his heart after God. He would know from the learning of the scriptures and from personal experience what God's steadfast love and his faithfulness truly look like.

[20:14] That they are all-encompassing, high and untouchable. So, David has shifted his mind from the wickedness of man himself as well. He's looking towards God. He's recognizing these beautiful attributes of God. And he continues and he goes deeper.

[20:25] Look at the path this is leading down. Steadfast love and mercy. Faithfulness. The righteousness. Your righteousness, God, is like the mighty mountains or mountains of God.

[20:37] Mountains of God. That phrase also does translate into mighty mountains. It speaks like a superlative. That there is no other mountain bigger than these mountains, than this mountain of God. His is the biggest.

[20:48] It's tall. It's imposing. Again, majestic would be a word we would use here. David is reveling in the righteousness of God. It's also visible. Right?

[20:58] When you see a mountain. We're all on the east coast, man. Anyone ever been to the west coast and actually seen some mountains? I'll say the Parkers know. Yeah. In Alaska. Heck yeah. That's right. Those are huge. Those are real mountains.

[21:09] And this is not talking about like a couple hills and mountains. We're talking about the mountain of God. It is big. It is tall. It is imposing. And it might even be encouraging and inspiring to be reminded of. I serve a mighty, righteous, perfect God.

[21:24] I am called to be his follower. I am called to come under his authority. And I'm called to a different holiness. To act and behave and to work in a way that is honoring to him. And that may even represent him to a lost and dying world.

[21:37] As Christians, that term means little Christ. Right? We are called to be, in his word, it says the aroma of Christ. The scent of Christ. Well, I don't want our God, and I don't think we do either, to look like a little hill.

[21:47] A little east coast hill. Right? We ought to be reminded that he is a straight up Rocky Mountain High, Mount Everest baby. Like, he is good. I know it's not in the Rocky Mountains. Okay. But the point is to know how mighty and imposing our Lord God is.

[22:02] And his righteousness is that big, David says. And then check this out. David now goes to, and your judgments are like the great deep. Interesting. He's juxtaposing judgment with what was said in the previous verses.

[22:15] Because, wait a minute, did the wicked man think that he could be judged? No. Right? The wicked man didn't believe that he could be caught, that he could be found out. The smooth operator said, I can get away with this, man.

[22:25] I've done it before. I'll do it again. But David knows much better that the judgments of God, who is the right and just judge, are like the great deep. Now, what does that mean?

[22:36] What does it mean by the great deep? Obviously, he's speaking of like the ocean, the depth of the ocean. What do we know about the ocean? What are some characteristics that he is implying here about God's justice? Well, that it's certainly much like his love.

[22:48] It's unfathomable. Fathomable. There's a word. By man. Right? We have still, it's 2025, man. We still have not gone to the depths of the ocean. It's that deep. Which is kind of crazy, right?

[22:58] It's crazy to think about like, really? We still don't know what's on our rock? We can't get there physically, but we also don't know what's down there. We haven't used, you know, okay. That's much like God's judgments. They are deep.

[23:09] And they're ununderstandable by man. They are vast. They are mysterious and hidden. Think of what God says. He goes, my ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.

[23:20] God is so other that his justice looks radically different than we would want and that we would expect. We've talked about this before in many New Testament sermons about how if we truly wanted justice, we would be slain.

[23:36] Right? For our actions, our behavior, and our thoughts. And yet God doesn't do that. He's patient with us. He has this steadfast mercy for us. That's a judgment that I and you, we can't understand.

[23:48] But by his grace and glory, it is to our benefit. And thank you, Lord. Thank you for your patience, for your every loving kindness. We get a gospel glimpse here, too, where he says, Your judgments are like the great deep.

[24:02] Man and beast you save, O Lord. Man and beast. His love goes beyond just mankind, but to his creation, both big and small.

[24:14] I'm praying that the recollection is coming to mind, a gospel glimpse of Jesus talking about being anxious and worrying. Does not God care for the sparrow, the small bird?

[24:24] Lord. And that's what David's saying here is that the Lord, his judgments, his righteousness, his love, his care, extends beyond mankind, but also to his very creation. And he cares for them. So how much more would he care for you?

[24:36] May that be an encouragement to you this morning, to be reminded that we serve a God who loves us intimately and personally. He is big and mighty and apart and separate, yet he sent Christ Jesus to die for each of us individually.

[24:47] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He knows your thoughts and concerns. He knows the hairs on your head. He was there when you were knit in the womb. And he loves you. And through David, he's conveying that here. Now, David pivots slightly here in verse 7, where he's been talking about God and his grandeur.

[25:04] He's still talking about God, but now he's going to include mankind. And he's going to do so by using five figures of God's steadfast love. Figures, you know, like examples.

[25:15] And he first says, how precious is your steadfast love, O God? That's a cool word, that word precious. In the original language, it speaks specifically of like precious, valuable stones.

[25:27] So God, your love is so valuable to me personally, God, that it is like diamonds and rubies and riches. Have you thought about God's love like that before?

[25:37] Have you thought about, again, in awe and might, sure. I think we've thought that. But if you thought about it being precious and something that you are so grateful to have, you would protect that.

[25:48] You would treasure that in your heart. So God treasures us. We would treasure him. David knows God, as we started off talking about knowing. The sinful man does not know God, right? The wicked man, he rejects him.

[26:01] But David knows him. He knows him so much that he recognizes his love as something worth preserving and protecting and finding precious and value. A lot of my friends, I know you guys, y'all are engineers.

[26:13] Value added is a phrase we hear a lot, right? Is there value added in what we do? Does that add value? No, that's just moving from, you know, box A to box B. No value there. True value is found when we look at the Lord.

[26:23] True value is found when we find that his love and mercy extends past generations, right? And his judgments are good and not the way we do things. But they're the way that he would do things. And that is good because he is good.

[26:35] May we treasure those things and know him in an intimate way more than we would our own worldly desires and aspirations. So what are some of those five elements and figures that God uses, or excuse me, that David uses?

[26:50] Well, the first one here, it says, The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. So we get this image of a mother bird and a fledgling extending wings over her babies, over her baby chicks.

[27:03] We see here a picture of protection and care. Now, brother, dude, thanks, man, for my brother, Brad, for having us read through other psalms.

[27:13] Because some of those psalms, did you notice, they talked about refuge like a fortress. That's a mighty warrior type of image, right? In the middle of a battle, perhaps. But what we have here is something much more softer and a nearness.

[27:26] Imagery of protection but love. Imagery of closeness and nurturing. And that's that of a mother bird. That's the first image. It's a place of ultimate safety and care.

[27:37] It's like I said, like a fortress, but there's tenderness here. And that's what David recognizes, that those who are upright, those who would follow the Lord, those who do fear him, they find shelter in his wings.

[27:50] The next is that they feast on the abundance of your house. And that you give them drink from the river of your delights. There's a lot to unpack here. One of them is that God is now displayed as the perfect host.

[28:02] The perfect provider and host. We feast on the abundance of your house. As a 90s, 2000s kid, the first thing that came to my mind was Audio Adrenaline's Big House. Anyone remember that song, right?

[28:13] It's a big, big house, lots and lots of room. Yeah, you know. Come on. And if you don't, go look it up. Come on. No excuse. It's the internet age. No, I'm kidding. But really cool song, all right, that just declares it in a silly kind of way of how big and vast the Lord's house is.

[28:26] Well, I think there's certainly an element of that. But also, David's talking about, like, the temple. So for them at that time, it would be the gathering as well of the believers in God who would come together that there is an abundance in your house.

[28:41] Notice he actually didn't. They feast. That is the verb, eating. But I think there's more here than just the physical eating, right? There's the spiritual nourishment. Now, brothers and sisters, do we not get spiritual nourishment?

[28:53] Man, I can't talk. Do we not feel, like, when we're here worshiping God on Sundays with our brothers and sisters, do we not feel eating at the feast, especially, I know today's not a communion.

[29:04] But when we do that, that is a great representation of our feasting together as a body of believers. And so that's kind of what we get here, a feasting meaning that they would be together at the table eating of the abundance of God.

[29:17] And so I like to, I think we should also view that not just of his food and his courses of meals, but his very word, that we would eat from his daily bread that he gives us.

[29:30] And it says that you give them drink. What a great host. He gives us drink. You ever been to a house where someone doesn't give you a drink? Let me tell you. Not the best host. Sorry. Anyways, that was dumb and unnecessary.

[29:42] But it says you give them drink. Again, what a good host. From the rivers of your delights. Now this is cool, because I'll be honest, I read this and I was like, man, river of delight, God? What does that mean? I like, you know, swimming and canoeing, but I've never been like, hi, delight in the Batonkill River.

[29:57] Well, there's actually some depth here, as there always is. That word delight is the word Eden, where we get Garden of Eden. So what David's saying here is you give them drink from the river in which, from the place in which there was communion with God and man.

[30:14] Perfect union. Perfect union. Before the fall. This was a relationship. This is like, given like, hey man, I'm giving you water. You know where this is from, brother. This is from where you and I had a perfect relationship.

[30:25] I'm the Yahweh. I'm the covenant-making God. And I'm giving you this drink to remind you of the perfect union we had. And guess what? I'm sending someone. We're going to get that perfect union back. I'm sending someone. He's coming.

[30:35] You don't have to wait a thousand years, bro, but he's coming. And thankfully, we get to reap of that reward here today. But that's a little glimpse there of heaven also. Revelation, it talks about this river running through the new heaven and the new earth.

[30:48] And I would think that would be that same, that unbroken fellowship with God type of river. That they drink from that and they would be reminded of the close relationship they have with the Lord as followers of the Lord.

[30:59] So those are two more, right? The abundance of your house, the river of your delights, and there's two left. And my goodness, if these are not New Testament pointing. Verse 9.

[31:10] For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. We as 21st century Christians are able to read this and rejoice in our heart that Jesus Christ is that living water.

[31:23] Is he not? He is that fountain, the one that gives life. He said to the woman at the well, do you thirst? First, I can give you water that make you thirst no more. For I am the well, I am the good light.

[31:35] I am the light that gives light. Jesus declared that I am the light of the world. I am the light that shines in the darkness and darkness shall not overcome it, God's word says. We get these cool glimpses, you guys, in this psalm written a thousand years before Jesus' birth.

[31:49] Of who fulfill these? For with you, God, is what David is saying, is the fountain of life. And we find that in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And in your light do we see light. In heaven it says that the lamb will be giving light and there will be no need for other light.

[32:04] He would manifest that light. And so we get those cool gospel glimpses and glimpses in heaven. Well, finally we conclude with the end of this psalm where David gives up a petition of prayer.

[32:19] He says, oh God, would you continue your steadfast love to those who love you. Continue your love and mercy. One that extends from the heaven.

[32:34] One that is precious and valuable. To those who know you. Remember we talked about knowing God. That that knowledge is important because that is how one has a relationship with God. He said, continue your righteousness to the upright of heart.

[32:47] This is a personal plea as well. That the foot of arrogance would not come upon him.

[33:01] And that in humility, David's humility, that he would not do this in his own strength, right? This is a, excuse me. He prays against the hand of the wicked.

[33:13] They would not overpower him. And that he would not be driven away. That he would find the place of safety in God's presence. It would not be driven away from God's presence.

[33:25] This is a God-fearing man who knows God, who knows the Lord. And he's calling upon him who provides the salvation and the refuge and the deliverance. And this is very, this is a big contrast compared to those first four verses.

[33:39] This is an example of a man who does not, who does fear God. Excuse me. And recognizes where his help and his power comes from. Not from himself, not from his own strength.

[33:50] But from the work and person of God. Whose love is outstanding. All-encompassing. Whose righteousness is bold and stands like a mighty mountain.

[34:02] And whose judgments are un-understandable. But they will happen. And how do we know that? Check out that last verse. Verse 12. He says, There the evildoers lie fallen.

[34:13] They are thrust down and unable to rise. See, the judgment of earth is indeed coming. Is it not, brothers and sisters? And so the question is whether or not we will bow now in humility to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[34:27] And to our God who is so good and righteous and true. Or will we reject him? And we will bow when he comes and returns. That's a question to ask yourself in a heart check.

[34:39] Again, in a reflection. But this is a great opportunity to look at the contrast of the upright of heart and those who are wicked. To know God is to know that he is just and righteous.

[34:54] To know God is to know that he is merciful at the same time. And he cares for you. I pray that these verses would be an encouragement to all of us. That Christ is going to return and judge the living and the dead.

[35:05] And David was so sure of it a thousand years before Jesus. That he said, there, where is that? The presence away from God. Is where the evildoers will lie. Fallen. Prostrate.

[35:16] On their face is what this is referring to. And they are unable to rise. Meaning the capability to stand up before God. Like the song we sung today. We cannot stand before his presence.

[35:28] That is what this is going to look like. I pray, brothers and sisters, that we would grow in a way to truly know him by his character. By looking through the window here in this psalm of who God is.

[35:42] That he is faithful and loving and righteous. That we would hear and follow David's example. Look at, again, a metaphor. Look at the way that this psalm flows.

[35:53] He goes from a place of thinking of the wickedness of man. And to get out of that rather true, but dark, pessimistic, melancholy area.

[36:05] He turns his eyes up to the Lord. May we do the same thing. My encouragement to y'all is when you're battling anxiety. That's something I battle, y'all.

[36:16] I battle a little right now, to be honest with you. Let me tell you. There's no better place to go than to put your mind on things above. To know that our God is righteous and good. That if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them.

[36:29] Having those swords in your spiritual armory to pull out and to combat that. That is exactly what David is doing here. He pulls out the spiritual swords and arms knowing that, hold on, our God, though, is steadfast.

[36:41] Man may be wicked, but our God is not. I pray that we would also know that he has continued his steadfast love and mercy throughout generations. And the ultimate way of that is the form of Jesus Christ.

[36:55] Where on the cross, he died for sinners like you and me, who are unworthy and undeserving of his matchless love. He exemplified that in Jesus and said, Now go and do as I have done.

[37:08] Love your wife like I love the church. Love and serve others like I have served you disciples. And I pray also as a mirror, we would see from this psalm and be led to a place of repentance.

[37:23] That apart from God, we are wicked. We think evil thoughts perhaps in our soul, right? Into our deeper innermost parts, which then may come out of our speech if we don't bridle the tongue.

[37:35] Right? I'm guilty as any of y'all are as well. When I don't bridle my tongue, I can say some nasty things. And I do not say that in pride. I say it in embarrassment. And in repentance, Lord, forgive my tongue.

[37:47] Lord, help me bridle it so that it would be as a rudder of a ship, guide to good places, directions of above, not places down here and below in muck and mire. And then if we allow our tongue to do such, our body follows, does it not?

[38:00] And so in a mirror of looking at that reflection of what a wicked man, the wickedness looks like, of plotting and not acting wisely, we have an opportunity this morning to confess this sin and to turn rightly.

[38:15] I think we also have a beautiful picture here in a mirror when we read those verses about the abundance of our house. Know that that is that fellowship with one another as well. Fellowship in his house, God's house.

[38:26] We are in God's house. Right? Someone may say, well, y'all meet in a holiday inn. Church ain't the building, is it? Church is the body, baby. Church is the people. Y'all are the church.

[38:37] We are the church. Let's go bring that church out. Amen? Let's go bring it out there and let's recall that fellowship, the abundance of feasting with each other. Whether that's on the pickleball courts or it's having a picnic, recall and rejoice together that, hey man, the only reason I know you and your children and your wife is because of the love and work and person of Jesus Christ.

[38:56] Let's go tell someone about that. May that be our heart and posture this morning. And may we glean that from here that we are feasting in his house and we drink from the river of delight. That is that Eden-centric fellowship with God.

[39:10] We are, because of Christ, we have been redeemed and we have a fellowship with him that is so different than that of the world's fellowship with each other, is it not? We have a special relationship.

[39:21] And finally, I pray that we would feast on his word. As we go through this rest of the summer and look through these psalms, I pray, use that model or example per se of a mirror and a window and look and see where am I, where is there a reflection of what's around me or perhaps myself?

[39:37] May I do a heart check, God? May I do a fruit inspection? What ways do I need to prune and cut out that are not prosperous to the kingdom or to the gospel or to the advancement of the gospel or to our body?

[39:50] And where instead can I walk rightly and justly and put my mind on things above, not on things here below? And then finally, as a window, may we always read through God's word with looking at, what have I learned about God?

[40:03] God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He's there, man. We got to be diligent in looking for him. Amen? So I'm going to close this in prayer as we wrap up this beautiful psalm, again, of a contrast.

[40:17] But we're going to have a unique opportunity. I said this before, that this psalm was written to be a song. All psalms were, right? Especially this one. It's to the choir master. So our choir master, the Allens, are going to lead us in a response to God's word by getting to sing these words.

[40:31] I'll be honest, full transparency, man. I picked this song because it's beautiful, and the song by third day, your love, O Lord, constantly comes to my heart and mind. Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, stretches to the skies.

[40:43] Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains. Yeah. We get to sing that this morning. I pray that that would be kind of cool. When you sing these words, would you use that window and mirror to realize what we're singing?

[40:56] We're not just singing empty words. We're not giving lip service to God. We're not doing the last five minutes of our service, but we are truly honoring God and following his word and standing alongside. Think about that.

[41:07] We're here on this side of heaven, but we are standing alongside David, singing his words as well, back to our God. That's pretty special. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your mighty word.

[41:19] It is eternal. It is true. You are eternal. You are true. You are merciful. You are righteous and just. Your many ways, Lord, we desire to have of our own, Lord.

[41:36] We desire your discipline. We desire your teaching. We desire our hearts to be made new. And we trust, as it says in the end of this psalm, that the wicked will fall and will not prevail and they will not rise.

[41:49] God, in Revelation 7, it says in the new heaven and the new earth, you will be the light. You will bring forth a feast of abundance with the river of delights running through it.

[42:02] And there will be no more tears. There will be no more pain or suffering, God. Sin will be no more. Because Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, became sin and died and rose from death.

[42:18] And so that we can say, Lord, death, where is your sting? Oh, how mighty and great you are, God. We pray to you, Lord Jesus, as you are seated at the right hand of the Father, you would hear our worship and praise of you.

[42:36] That we love you. We pray this in the perfect name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.