WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.640 Verse 6, Psalm 69, at the beginning of the psalm, the psalm of David, where he cries, 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.700 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:17.260 I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:22.980 I have come into deep waters and the flood sweeps over me. 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:30.160 So we're going to look at the first six verses of this psalm together this evening. 00:00:30.880 --> 00:00:37.420 And God willing, over a period of time we'll go through the whole of the psalm, probably in four different sections. 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:43.140 Do you ever feel a little perplexed in life? 00:00:43.620 --> 00:00:46.859 Do you ever feel like you're a poor witness for the Lord? 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:52.799 Maybe your behaviour among others leaves you feeling that you've let the Lord down. 00:00:53.979 --> 00:00:58.299 Do you ever feel guilty about how you've prayed to God? 00:00:58.419 --> 00:01:06.239 Maybe you've prayed abruptly or in haste, maybe thinking you've used the wrong words. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:12.539 I'm sure these kinds of situations are situations where we've all found ourselves. 00:01:12.679 --> 00:01:18.039 But perhaps we feel at the time like the only one who has ever done it. 00:01:18.699 --> 00:01:22.500 We feel like we are the only ones to suffer this kind of guilt. 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:26.560 We are the only ones to feel a failure in that way. 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:35.439 And it's in that situation so often that the devil comes in and has a field day with us to make us feel even more of a failure. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.500 Convincing us that we are a failure. 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:40.219 That we're not right with God. 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:46.840 Maybe turning to Psalm 69 doesn't seem like the answer to that situation. 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:54.380 A Psalm that as you read through it, as we've read the first 15 verses, you can get a sense of where David is at. 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:59.659 And you almost maybe think to yourself, what help is there in this for me? 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:03.239 David is in a grim situation. 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:05.879 There are enemies all around him. 00:02:06.119 --> 00:02:07.060 They're hounding him. 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:08.159 They're slandering him. 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:09.620 They're mocking him. 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:13.800 He himself feels overwhelmed by it all. 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:15.639 Like he says in the opening verses, 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:21.599 As the waters have come up to my neck, I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:25.019 It seems like everything is overwhelming him. 00:02:25.019 --> 00:02:32.699 And in the midst of this, he's feeling a sense of guilt in his witness before others. 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:38.539 David feels like he's dishonoring God. 00:02:39.859 --> 00:02:42.780 How does he respond in this situation? 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:46.799 How should we respond in this situation ourselves? 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:51.539 Well, there's many lessons for us as we come to look at this Psalm together. 00:02:51.739 --> 00:02:53.060 Psalm 69. 00:02:53.459 --> 00:02:59.019 Because the Psalm reminds us of the reality of living in a world that's full of sin. 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:06.140 Where we see the sins of others so much, we see and realize our own sin. 00:03:07.160 --> 00:03:14.700 But also as we see in this Psalm, we see the greatness of God and the hope that that gives. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:21.860 Psalm 69 is one of the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament. 00:03:22.100 --> 00:03:24.000 Second only to Psalm 22. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.780 Psalm 22. 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:30.000 We heard it preached on at our recent communion by the Reverend Ewan Dodds. 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:39.580 And perhaps you've heard it mentioned in the way it's quoted in the New Testament so often as we think of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:45.060 And hearing Psalm 69 as the second most quoted Psalm might be a... 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:47.900 You wonder, well, how come we don't hear much about it? 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:57.819 Or how realize that so much of it is in the New Testament and so much of it is pointing us to the life of Christ and the suffering of Christ. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:08.000 If Psalm 22 speaks about the death of Christ, here in Psalm 69 we see so much of the life of Christ leading up to that point. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:37.980 It reminds us of the suffering of Christ. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.600 You know, how low do you meet the angels who have hated me with Jesus Christ. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.660 What you see in Psalm 76, he has hated me with me with me with me with me with me with you with you? 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:45.379 He's in Christ wanting me with me with you with me with me with me with you with me with me with you. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:47.860 V.J. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:48.220 He's now with me with me with me with you. 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:49.379 And the Lord i még i mehr is here with you in the あり..! 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:50.379 So, his Imocelyn am I in place of Christ! 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:51.379 I really dont know, if you have sin we won't hear in Your moves! 00:04:51.379 --> 00:04:53.139 But the Lord has regrets, this而ic jer 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:55.139 lalbert of Christ, there will be me with you with me with you with a cause." 00:04:55.139 --> 00:05:02.479 And that's the very situation that David is in here. 00:05:02.539 --> 00:05:06.039 He feels the world has hated him. 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:10.599 And yet it's pointing us towards Jesus. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:16.959 Jesus who was without sin, yet hated by the world. 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:25.060 And we too, as we put our trust in the Lord, so often we'll find ourselves in that situation. 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:27.759 Where the world will hate us. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:30.959 And what does David do in that situation? 00:05:31.099 --> 00:05:32.919 What are we to do in that situation? 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.879 We are to cry to God in our need. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:46.719 When you read a book, when you start reading a book, the temptation is so often just to flick to the end and see what the ending is. 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:54.560 Perhaps you're reading through a book and again and again you're tempted to flick to the end and just see what happens at the end of the story. 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:59.079 But you try and just read through the story until you get to the end. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:05.459 But I think it's worth us just reaching the end of this psalm before we go into it. 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:09.500 Because the beginning of the psalm, it seems the situation is hopeless. 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.959 But if we always take the end of the psalm with us as we go through each section of this psalm, 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:19.680 it helps us to realise that there is hope in the midst of despair. 00:06:20.339 --> 00:06:22.979 So let's read the end of the psalm, verse 33. 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:31.420 For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 00:06:32.200 --> 00:06:36.560 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:41.560 For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah. 00:06:41.960 --> 00:06:44.700 And people shall dwell there and possess it. 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:48.500 The offspring of his servants shall inherit it. 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:53.360 And those who love his name shall dwell in it. 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:57.599 The end of the psalm shows us the end for David. 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:04.439 The end for the Lord's people is that security, that assurance that there is in Christ. 00:07:04.599 --> 00:07:07.860 Those who love his name shall dwell in it. 00:07:07.899 --> 00:07:10.419 The city that the Lord prepares. 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:16.759 So I think it's good for us to know the end of the psalm as we go into the beginning and work our way through it. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:23.980 And the first three things I want us to take from this psalm is first to see the situation that David is in. 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.319 Secondly, to see how he pours himself out to the Lord. 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:35.060 And then thirdly, just to see the kind of prayer that he has in this psalm. 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:43.620 Now what we see first of all in the situation in the psalm is that David doesn't immediately tell us what the difficulty is. 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:46.939 He doesn't tell us what the situation is immediately. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:49.360 He doesn't get into that straight away. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:54.139 We're first of all introduced into how David himself is feeling. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.699 And he's feeling overwhelmed. 00:07:57.699 --> 00:08:04.699 And as you read these opening verses, things seem chaotic, things seem disorganized. 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:09.819 What he's saying is not the way you would want to approach God. 00:08:10.539 --> 00:08:14.000 And yet this is how David is approaching him. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:16.779 And this is what helps us. 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:24.219 When we are feeling perplexed and overwhelmed and we feel we're a failure for the Lord, 00:08:24.220 --> 00:08:28.960 it helps us to come to the psalm or to the psalms. 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:35.120 As Gordon prayed before, he mentioned in the psalms we so often see everything, warts and all. 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:37.700 We see the reality of life. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:39.879 We see the difficulties of life. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:48.139 We see how we're not always perfectly coming before God in beautifully formed prayers that seem to just flow eloquently. 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:53.519 How often have you prayed and you just say, that seemed all over the place. 00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:57.360 I just didn't have any structure there as I was praying. 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.440 I just, my mind was going from one thing to another. 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.440 I just felt overwhelmed by it all. 00:09:04.779 --> 00:09:11.860 Well, here's a reminder to us that even David himself had situations, many situations as you read through the psalms, 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:16.279 where you find that his prayer wasn't polished and perfect. 00:09:16.800 --> 00:09:19.980 And yet he's bringing everything to God. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.840 David here is saying exactly how he feels. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.420 He doesn't gloss over things. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.740 And the language is so strong. 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:31.639 It's so powerful. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.139 He's baffled by what's going on. 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:36.160 He's baffled by what he's going through. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:41.120 And yet still he brings it all to God in prayer. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:46.860 And it's good for us to do likewise. 00:09:47.799 --> 00:10:00.779 It's great when we're able to still ourselves before God, to prepare ourselves quietly to come to him in prayer and spend that close time with God in prayer. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:16.539 But just because we don't feel prepared, just because we're feeling harassed in life, just because our mind is so cluttered with anxieties and fears, isn't a reason not to come to prayer. 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:20.719 Imagine if David had said that. 00:10:21.719 --> 00:10:23.500 We wouldn't have this psalm. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:30.559 We wouldn't have so many of the other psalms where we see the reality of his prayers and the reality of life. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:34.779 So it's great for us that that is what we see. 00:10:35.619 --> 00:10:41.659 Because in verse 1 to 3 here we see the situation is just overwhelming him. 00:10:42.719 --> 00:10:45.679 Save me, O God, is his cry. 00:10:46.719 --> 00:10:49.059 For the waters have come up to my neck. 00:10:49.119 --> 00:10:51.359 I sink in deep mire. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.820 It's similar to Psalm 65, verse 3. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.460 In the book of Psalms it says, I'm not sure it's a sing psalm of the Scottish soul, but it says, 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.019 When we were overwhelmed by sin. 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:06.220 When we were overwhelmed by sin. 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:10.259 It's the same kind of idea that we have here in Psalm 69. 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:17.960 Because overwhelmed by sin there, it's when equities prevail against me, it says in the ESV here. 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:22.720 The idea there is of a flood coming over the person. 00:11:23.400 --> 00:11:26.900 A flood of sin just carrying that person away. 00:11:28.420 --> 00:11:34.019 We're seeing and we've heard in prayer as well the power of the storms that come our way. 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:35.980 We've heard the rain tonight. 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:41.259 And we know that in other parts of the country we're getting it worse and there'll be flooding in different parts. 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:44.660 They'll be overwhelmed by the floods that pour down. 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:47.320 And the damage, the destruction it causes. 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:50.540 Well, this is a situation of sin as well. 00:11:51.020 --> 00:11:54.520 It brings nothing but devastation and destruction. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:58.180 And here David is knowing it in a personal way. 00:11:58.280 --> 00:12:00.180 The waters have come up to my neck. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.580 I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:06.760 I have come into deep waters. 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:10.700 The situation is overwhelming. 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:16.600 And again, we so often find ourselves in that. 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:19.780 In that situation, he says in verse 3, 00:12:19.780 --> 00:12:22.300 I am weary with my crying out. 00:12:22.400 --> 00:12:24.259 My throat is parched. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.240 My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:35.240 It's almost like he's pouring himself out in an abrupt manner before God. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.860 It's not the way we would want to come to God. 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:41.279 But it's the way we often do. 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:45.320 And we can come to God in this way. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.379 Because God knows our every need. 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:54.320 So we're not introduced to the difficulty of the situation. 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:58.120 Immediately, it's more his feeling in it and how he's feeling overwhelmed. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.419 But in verse 4, then he shows us what the situation is. 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:08.960 More in number than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without cause. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:16.040 This is now coming into the situation of what's going on around him. 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:25.660 But David is saying, don't be afraid to bring your troubles before God, whatever they are. 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:32.940 And that's the assurance for us to take everything to God in prayer, 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.240 no matter what situation we're in. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.080 Because that's the second thing we see here is his outpouring. 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:48.120 In a situation that he finds himself in, we see his outpouring. 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:54.580 And in verse 7, which we'll come to again on another occasion, but see what it says there. 00:13:54.580 --> 00:14:02.379 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. 00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:06.180 What is the reason that he has been hated? 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.519 It is for your sake, he says. 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:12.820 It is for God's sake. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:17.500 They hate him because of his identification with God. 00:14:19.139 --> 00:14:21.740 That he is one who loves God. 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.279 That he is one who worships God. 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:25.879 Who lives for God. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:27.080 They mock him. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.240 They slander him. 00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:31.060 They hate him for this. 00:14:31.059 --> 00:14:34.500 Verse 4. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:38.019 Those who hate me without cause. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:45.779 And as Jesus himself said, they will hate you because they have hated me before. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.539 The world hates the Christian. 00:14:50.219 --> 00:14:52.199 The world hates God. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.700 And that's the situation that David is in here. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:59.460 And that's the situation that he's pouring himself out in. 00:15:00.060 --> 00:15:01.360 He loves the Lord. 00:15:02.140 --> 00:15:04.240 But this is the situation that he's in. 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:05.660 He's surrounded by trouble. 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:08.140 He's surrounded by enemies. 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:15.480 But David doesn't cry out first of all, Lord, look how evil these people are. 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:18.680 He doesn't cry out immediately, deal with them. 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:22.639 Instead, he says of himself. 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:24.360 As you see in verse 5. 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:26.220 He looks in his own heart. 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:29.800 Oh God, you know my folly. 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:35.379 The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:44.179 In this situation, it's easy for David to blame others and to look to others and say, God, deal with them. 00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:47.559 And it's easy for ourselves to do that as well. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.899 To look on those who hate God and to say, Lord, deal with them. 00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:54.779 Have justice on them. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.799 But David starts here looking to himself. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:03.679 And there's a great reminder to us here for ourselves too. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.219 We look first to ourselves. 00:16:07.339 --> 00:16:14.779 Because remember what this psalm is ultimately looking to is the suffering and the hatred that Jesus knew. 00:16:15.939 --> 00:16:19.219 And that's so often what keeps us right. 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:30.279 And what David is almost praying here is, Lord, don't let me fail you in the midst of everything that's going on. 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:34.279 David confesses his own wrongs. 00:16:35.939 --> 00:16:40.779 How thoughtless he is in his life and the way he sins. 00:16:40.899 --> 00:16:43.019 How deliberate he is in his sins. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:44.240 You know my folly. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.459 The wrongs I have done, they are not hidden from you. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.079 He may be being falsely accused of many things. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:57.440 But he knows that they could come and accuse him of something that he has done wrong. 00:16:59.379 --> 00:17:00.860 And don't we all know that? 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.980 We may be falsely accused ourselves in different ways. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:10.360 But when we look at our hearts, we know too that there are things that people could say about us. 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:11.700 And we've got no defense. 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:14.579 Because we are all sinners. 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:18.599 We all sin in different ways. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.579 So we too are the same. 00:17:25.379 --> 00:17:28.439 We can pour out our hearts to God in this way. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:30.839 To God you know my folly. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:33.259 You know the wrongs I have done. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:36.299 Because they are not hidden from you. 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:43.159 But that is what brings us close to God. 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:53.139 Because we recognize that when we come to God, he is the one who is able to forgive us our sins. 00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:56.659 Again, you look back in Psalm 65 verse 3. 00:17:56.659 --> 00:18:04.259 When the sins that overwhelmed me, it speaks to you atone for our transgressions. 00:18:04.259 --> 00:18:07.299 You forgive our sins. 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:11.220 When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave us. 00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:14.940 And that's the focus of David here. 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.619 He's pouring out his heart to God and saying, 00:18:18.879 --> 00:18:23.819 Don't let me fail you in the midst of everything that's going on here. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:29.740 And as you think of this Psalm applying it to Jesus, 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:34.220 He didn't have to confess sin. 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:36.859 Because he never sinned. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:39.400 He was without sin. 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:41.579 We are not. 00:18:42.620 --> 00:18:46.240 But what he did was bear our sins. 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:49.160 And that's where we start. 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:51.620 Not looking at others. 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:53.799 But first of all, looking at ourselves. 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:55.220 The folly of our hearts. 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:56.420 The wrongs we have done. 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:58.240 They're not hidden from you. 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:03.180 But we bring them to God knowing that he is able to forgive. 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:08.180 John in 1 John chapter 1 verse 9 says, 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:17.300 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:22.659 So David is starting there, confessing his sin. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:27.700 And knowing that he is able to forgive our sin. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.519 And so there is what we are to do as well. 00:19:31.899 --> 00:19:34.559 To pour out our heart to God. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.940 To look at ourselves and know the sin in our heart. 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:41.099 But know where we go with it. 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:44.139 To the one who was hated first. 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:46.580 They hated the Lord. 00:19:47.060 --> 00:19:48.320 They despised him. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:49.420 They rejected him. 00:19:50.080 --> 00:19:53.080 But he bore our sin on the cross. 00:19:54.060 --> 00:19:55.380 He was sinless. 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:58.580 But he came to bear our sin. 00:19:59.520 --> 00:20:02.380 And we thank God for that. 00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:09.500 And then you see, just thirdly and finally, the prayer that he is offering. 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:12.400 The way he pours himself out to God. 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:16.120 But then we just look, just for a moment, at the prayer that he is offering. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.800 He doesn't play down how deeply discouraged he is. 00:20:19.820 --> 00:20:23.020 How baffled he is by everything that's going on. 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:29.299 But as we said, what he does is, he brings it to God. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:33.839 He is waiting on the Lord. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:37.059 Maybe impatiently, as we'll see as we go through the psalm. 00:20:37.619 --> 00:20:39.079 But in verse 3, he says, 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.960 My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:43.960 He's crying out. 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:45.680 He's waiting for an answer. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:46.720 But he's praying. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:51.319 And just look at how he prays. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.200 You see it more powerfully in verse 6. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:03.079 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts. 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:11.079 Let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. 00:21:14.860 --> 00:21:16.339 His prayer is this. 00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:19.559 Lord, you know what I'm going through. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:21.879 You know my enemies. 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:23.439 How they're mocking me. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:25.159 How they're accusing me falsely. 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:27.099 But his prayer is, 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:31.439 Lord, don't let me dishonor you. 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:39.799 Don't let me keep anyone from coming to you because of the way I behave. 00:21:40.959 --> 00:21:44.879 And when you look at verse 6, you see that he's asking that this will be the case 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:50.500 for those who are already hoping in the Lord and those who are seeking the Lord. 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:56.299 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me. 00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:59.639 Don't let the way I act. 00:21:59.639 --> 00:22:01.200 Don't let the way I speak. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:02.940 Don't let the way I deal with this situation. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.759 Don't let it put other believers away from you. 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:11.079 Don't let them lose hope through me and my actions. 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:15.220 And that is a great prayer for us. 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:20.860 Lord, don't let whatever I do in my life, whatever I say in my life, 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.319 be any harm to any other Christian brother or sister. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:30.200 Guard me and help me to live my way in a way that that will not be. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:33.600 But it's also this. 00:22:34.100 --> 00:22:39.059 Let not those who seek you be brought dishonor through me. 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:45.200 And again, there's the harsh reality for us there when others are living in this town 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.940 and around us and they see us and they think, 00:22:50.080 --> 00:22:53.539 well, if that's a Christian, I want nothing to do with it. 00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:57.140 What a challenge for us there. 00:22:57.140 --> 00:23:03.000 Let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.020 As witness to those who are seeking the Lord, 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.960 Lord, don't let them turn away because of my actions, 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:13.700 because of my behavior. 00:23:16.020 --> 00:23:18.840 It's an unselfish prayer. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.020 It's looking to the concern for the people of God 00:23:24.020 --> 00:23:26.100 and to those who are seeking God 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:28.959 that they would not be discouraged through him. 00:23:30.679 --> 00:23:33.539 And it's a prayer that we should have every day. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.519 Every day we wake up 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.179 and before we go out into the world, 00:23:39.899 --> 00:23:44.639 Lord, let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me. 00:23:45.639 --> 00:23:50.480 Let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:57.720 Help me that my steps, my words, my actions would bring honor to you, 00:23:58.360 --> 00:24:01.839 would show others the grace of God. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:07.740 And when I do fail, may it be that in my failures, 00:24:08.159 --> 00:24:09.799 I remember your mercy 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:13.720 and continue to pray that people will still see 00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:16.599 their need of Christ through me. 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.619 It's a powerful prayer. 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:24.779 And what David is showing us here is the importance 00:24:24.779 --> 00:24:28.879 of being near to God day after day, 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:32.359 knowing the grace of God growing us, 00:24:32.639 --> 00:24:36.139 drawing us closer to himself day by day. 00:24:36.919 --> 00:24:38.279 Even in the difficulties, 00:24:38.939 --> 00:24:40.059 even in our trials, 00:24:40.199 --> 00:24:41.619 even when we're feeling perplexed, 00:24:42.439 --> 00:24:45.919 baffled by what's going on around us or in us, 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.860 that we'll be able to bring it all to God 00:24:49.860 --> 00:24:52.880 and know that he is with us. 00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:56.360 Jim Packer in his book, 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:57.720 Your Father Loves You, 00:24:58.220 --> 00:24:59.340 he says this, 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:03.720 this is the ultimate reason from our standpoint 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.960 why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:10.160 of one sort or another. 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:15.320 It is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast, 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:19.500 the reason why the Bible spends so much of its time 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:22.480 reiterating that God is a strong rock, 00:25:22.940 --> 00:25:25.240 a firm defense and a sure refuge 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:26.920 and a help for the weak 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:30.380 is that God spends so much of his time 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:32.720 showing us that we are weak, 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:35.440 both mentally and morally 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:38.100 and dare not trust ourselves 00:25:38.100 --> 00:25:41.080 to find or follow the right road. 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:45.080 And he goes on to explain it in this way. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.600 When we walk along a clear road, 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:49.900 feeling fine, 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:53.160 and someone takes our arm to help us, 00:25:53.800 --> 00:25:56.580 likely we would impatiently shake him off. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:02.539 But when we are caught in rough country in the dark, 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:06.160 with a storm brewing and our strength spent, 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:09.560 and someone takes our arm to help us, 00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:12.600 we would thankfully lean on him. 00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:16.040 And God wants us to feel 00:26:16.040 --> 00:26:18.240 that our way through life, 00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:20.940 though rough and perplexing, 00:26:21.540 --> 00:26:26.060 is that we may learn to lean on him thankfully. 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:29.019 David is asking, 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.019 what is the purpose 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:34.079 in all of these things that are going on? 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:37.119 What is the purpose when I feel overwhelmed 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:38.720 by the waters? 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:41.519 I feel I'm sinking in the mire. 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:44.039 What is the purpose in it all? 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:49.019 that I might be brought closer to you. 00:26:49.700 --> 00:26:52.200 That I may rely on you. 00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:54.180 That I would be able to show 00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:56.259 your honor to others 00:26:56.259 --> 00:27:00.700 in faithfully walking close to you. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:07.500 Jesus was hated without cause. 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:12.120 And yet, as he went to the cross, 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.420 it says at one point, 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:17.480 he set his face towards Jerusalem. 00:27:18.620 --> 00:27:21.940 He had that focus in what he was doing. 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:24.000 As he was on the cross, 00:27:24.860 --> 00:27:25.360 he cried, 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:26.779 Father, forgive them, 00:27:27.299 --> 00:27:29.380 for they know not what they do. 00:27:29.380 --> 00:27:33.120 They hated him without a cause. 00:27:33.820 --> 00:27:36.180 And yet he bore our sins. 00:27:37.620 --> 00:27:38.640 So for us, 00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:41.760 this psalm reminds us of the difficulties, 00:27:42.280 --> 00:27:43.980 the perplexities in life. 00:27:44.340 --> 00:27:49.420 But it assures us of the confidence we have in Christ. 00:27:50.300 --> 00:27:52.900 That he was hated before us. 00:27:53.300 --> 00:27:56.300 That he bore reproach for us. 00:27:56.299 --> 00:28:00.399 And that we can lean and trust on him 00:28:00.399 --> 00:28:03.039 in every situation. 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:06.019 God willing, we'll see more of this 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:07.419 as we go through the psalm 00:28:07.419 --> 00:28:08.960 over the coming weeks. 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:11.139 But we pray that as we go on, 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:12.839 even for the rest of this week, 00:28:12.919 --> 00:28:14.779 that that would be our prayer. 00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:18.359 Lord, let not those who hope in you 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:20.539 be put to shame through me. 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:22.839 Let not those who seek you 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:25.720 be brought to dishonor through me. 00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:28.119 That we would live close to 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:30.539 and leaning upon the Lord. 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.299 We'll conclude our time of worship now 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:36.680 by singing to God's praise and singing.