WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:07.799 Let me, um, Psalm 14, yes. Yes, I have those, uh, those moments just like before I come 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:12.500 here and it's like, is it Psalm 14? Like, is that the one we did last week? And I, I 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.440 don't know, I also know I'm like on it again and Sean will be like, don't you remember 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:26.800 me talking about that? I'll be like, no. I, yeah, I did. So I'm doing Psalm 14 and I 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:37.679 thought I heard 17, so I was like, wait. Uh, let me read that, that for us now. The 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:42.579 fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They do abdominal deeds. 00:00:42.900 --> 00:00:48.200 There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:53.140 see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside. 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:59.320 Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. Have 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:05.219 they no knowledge? All the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:12.939 not call upon the Lord. They, there, there, there they are in great terror for God is 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:17.740 with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:24.000 Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:30.119 restores the fortune of his people. Let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be glad. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:39.439 As we, um, look at this, uh, Psalm this evening, uh, the, the style of looking at it is a bit 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.840 of a devotional, um, approach. So it's, uh, maybe not quite a traditional, like, sermon 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:50.640 style type thing, but, um, hopefully as we look at it, uh, we can come with some, uh, challenges, 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:56.520 uh, for us as we, um, look into the world and as, as we, uh, live our lives in a way of, 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:03.079 of trying to honor God. One of the first things I want us to see is the, the description that 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:11.019 is put forth here of the, um, children of man as they are called in verse two. And there, um, 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:16.699 for the next, uh, few verses that come, there is a description that is put forth. Um, and among 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:22.479 the, the things that these children of man, um, also later called evildoers, and, um, there in 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.239 verse one actually called the fool, uh, they are described as this, um, they are described as, 00:02:28.239 --> 00:02:36.739 in verse one, corrupt. In verse two, um, they, uh, do abdominal deeds. Verse three, they are none 00:02:36.739 --> 00:02:42.899 who does good. Um, actually, sorry, verse three, now begin in verse three. They, they've turned, um, 00:02:42.899 --> 00:02:48.539 aside from God. We see, um, that they have become corrupt together. Uh, we're told once again that 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:54.879 none who does good, not even one. Uh, we see in verse four that they, um, consume people like 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:01.759 bread. And we also see they do not call upon the Lord and that they shame the plans of the poor. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:10.519 Uh, this description here of these children of man, these evildoers or this fool, um, all emerges 00:03:10.519 --> 00:03:17.799 from a root cause. Um, the root cause that is listed there in verse one. Uh, that is that, um, 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:25.060 they say in their heart, there is no God. So this idea, this belief that they have, um, 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:31.960 that there is no God is, is the cause. And these other things are all the symptoms that 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:39.060 result from that cause. These are the effects that come, uh, from that cause. Um, and one 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:44.380 of the things, um, that we sometimes encounter as we, as we look at this kind of cause and effect 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:49.879 type thing with, with people is that, um, we look at the effects, um, but we don't see 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:56.120 the cause. Um, so we may look at, um, someone who takes advantage of the poor as, as it's 00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:01.719 described here. And we say, wow, what, what a horrific person who would take advantage of 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:08.699 the poor. Um, but really the, the root cause of that is that, um, they, they say there is 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:14.799 no God. And if someone says there is no God, these descriptions that are put forth here, 00:04:14.859 --> 00:04:19.240 that they've turned aside from God, that they do not do good, um, that they consume people 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.560 like bread, they do not call upon the Lord, they shame the plants of the poor. These are, 00:04:22.620 --> 00:04:28.899 these are all expected things I would say from people who would say there, there is no God. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:37.639 So as we think of this idea of this, um, this cause and, um, um, and this root cause and then 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:45.199 these effects, um, one of the things that I want you to think of is that as Jesus looks upon people, 00:04:45.419 --> 00:04:52.399 I'm more inclined to say that Jesus sees people according to their, their root cause and not 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:56.899 according to their effects. Not that he's, he's unaware of the effects, but when he looks upon 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:02.459 people, he's reminded of their root cause. He's reminded that the problem with people is I say, 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:09.599 there is no God. And when someone says there is no God, they act like someone who believes that. 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:19.479 And, um, one of the things, um, I think that we see with Jesus is there is a, a certain pity 00:05:19.479 --> 00:05:29.959 that he shows for people who do not have a belief in God. People who, who are by the world standards 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:38.000 far from God, who do things very ungodly. He has a certain pity for them. And, um, that's one of the 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:43.919 challenges that he and the religious leaders of the day encounter is because they look upon Jesus 00:05:43.919 --> 00:05:50.299 and they say, look at these terrible people that, that you associate yourself with. And, um, uh, 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:56.039 Jesus would say, yeah, yeah. You know, Jesus never diminishes the sins that the people commit, 00:05:56.040 --> 00:06:02.879 but he always has this compassion for them. As he looks upon them, I would say one of the reasons 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:10.379 that that compassion is there is because he says, they don't believe in a God. Um, we, we see Jesus 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:16.960 reflect upon this idea out of a passage out of, out of Luke, um, uh, in chapter five, beginning in 00:06:16.960 --> 00:06:22.840 verse 30. Let me just read that for us. Uh, the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled at his 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:29.379 disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, 00:06:29.739 --> 00:06:35.339 those who are well have no need of a situation, but those who are sick, I have not come to call 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:42.239 the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I find Jesus saying, I look upon these people and I see 00:06:42.239 --> 00:06:50.059 them as sinners, sinners, and I'm calling them to repentance. And the challenge I would put for you, 00:06:50.060 --> 00:07:00.500 before you is that when we look out and we see the evil doers of the world is that we, we don't dwell 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:07.879 entirely upon the things that they do. That when we look out and see these horrific things that, 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:14.120 that people are doing, we say, what's the cause of that? What's ultimately the cause of that? 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:18.920 The cause of that is when they say there is no God. And in their heart, they're saying there is no God. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:26.420 And when you think of a person and they would say in their heart, there is no God. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.680 I, I would hope that gives us at least a measure of pity, regardless of what they have done, 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:39.480 regardless of the perhaps atrocities they've committed, we would have a measure of pity for them. 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:45.259 Because, wow, what a, what a terrible existence to, to live with the belief there is no God. 00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:54.480 One of the other things I want us to see is that, um, in this passage, there is a longing that takes 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:02.620 place for Zion. And there in verse seven, we see the psalmist saying, oh, that salvation for Israel 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:10.800 would come out of Zion. So as the, the psalmist has reflected upon these, um, uh, atrocities that are committed, 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.879 um, by these evildoers, um, the psalmist looks and says, 00:08:15.019 --> 00:08:19.600 I'm looking towards Zion. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:24.980 So what is Zion? Uh, Zion, uh, is originally a city that is captured by David. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:33.320 And then, uh, the term, uh, begins to refer to the temple area in Jerusalem. And then it, uh, begins to refer 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:42.320 to Jerusalem itself. And in, in this context, as, as the, the term, um, continues to, to evolve, 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:48.420 it, um, really becomes, uh, um, almost synonymous with the, the establishment of God's kingdom. 00:08:48.420 --> 00:08:54.480 That's this idea of Jerusalem, this new kingdom, um, that is going to be, um, developed. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:00.320 And so we see the psalmist here as he, as he looks for salvation for Israel to come out of Zion. 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:06.820 That the, the psalmist is looking towards God's kingdom. So the psalmist says, 00:09:07.180 --> 00:09:13.019 God will establish a kingdom that will wipe away the evil that he sees. He sees the terrible evil 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:20.700 around him. He says, God will establish a kingdom that will, that will correct that wrong. And as he 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:27.940 does so, one of the things I want us to see is how disheartened the psalmist is as he looks upon the 00:09:27.940 --> 00:09:35.580 sin of the world. As he looks upon the evil in the world, his heart just yearns for God to come in 00:09:35.580 --> 00:09:45.740 and to rule over that, to establish righteousness and the place of evil. And so the, uh, the, the, 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:49.779 the challenge I would put before you, uh, the challenge I put before myself is how do we view 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:58.340 the sins of the world? How do we view them? Um, are, do they bother us? Are we disheartened by them? 00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:04.240 Do we long for the establishment of God's kingdom when we see the terrible things that are going on 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:11.759 around us? When we see people being taken advantage of, when you, when you look at that next news story 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:17.419 and read of, um, just the, the terrible things that one person could do to another, right? Do we look 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:24.879 to that and say, wow, I'm looking for God's kingdom? Right? Sometimes, uh, uh, we can almost begin to 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:32.419 ignore the evil around us and just kind of let it gloss over and, and we don't focus on it. We just 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:39.480 kind of forget it's there. We live in our own little world, um, but the evil still exists. Um, sometimes, 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:45.120 and perhaps more troubling is that, um, we see the evil of the world and it doesn't really bother us 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:53.879 anymore. We, we see it and we're like, hmm, it's just kind of the way it is. Or, or perhaps, um, it, uh, 00:10:54.060 --> 00:10:59.399 it's gotten to the point where we look at and we, we say, wow, we kind of just think like the people 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:07.120 of the world think. And, um, we, we think, um, uh, just like, um, uh, those around us who, who have no 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:14.940 belief in God. We don't, we don't have a hope, um, that God has truly offered us. And so, um, my, 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:22.000 my challenge for you today is that, um, that as you reflect upon the sins of the world, um, that 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:32.460 let it, let it bother you. Let it, let it pierce at your very heart. And in doing so, recognize there is a, 00:11:32.460 --> 00:11:39.259 a Zion that's coming. There's an establishment of God's kingdom, uh, that is coming. Uh, one last 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:47.879 thing I want us to look at is, um, the, um, the, the targets here of these evils, evildoers. Um, 00:11:48.060 --> 00:11:54.400 so we find that the, the evildoers are, uh, taking advantage. There in verse five, we're told that they 00:11:54.400 --> 00:12:00.320 take advantage of, of the righteous. And then, uh, verse six, we see that they take advantage of the 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:09.260 poor. So, uh, the righteous and the poor, uh, can be vulnerable targets. They're easy to take 00:12:09.260 --> 00:12:17.220 advantage of. If you, if you have, have your heart set upon, uh, using any means necessary for your own 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:23.379 advantage to your own gain, the righteous and the poor should be pretty easy people, um, to advance 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:29.540 your own personal agenda. One of the things that we can, um, uh, be sure of is that God protects the 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:34.399 poor and the now and the very now. Uh, we see in verse six that the Lord is his refuge. 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:39.639 And, um, and then we also see it just as we were talking a moment ago with the idea of Zion is that 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:44.279 God protects the poor and the righteous into the future establishment of Zion, establishment of 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:55.000 God's, God's kingdom. And, um, the, the thing that, um, I would put before you, um, is like, do you, 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.940 do you believe that, um, that God protects the poor and the now and that God protects the poor 00:12:59.940 --> 00:13:04.799 and the righteous in the future? And that's kind of an easy question, right? You'd see what we just 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:11.000 talked about it and you'd be like, yeah, I, I believe that. I believe that. Um, and, uh, so with, with, 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:17.879 with that, um, thought in mind, like that the belief, um, that God protects the poor and the righteous, 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:26.159 um, would you be willing to intentionally put yourself in the place of the poor? Would you be 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:30.960 willing to intentionally put yourself in the place of the righteous knowing that you could be exploited 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:37.340 by evildoers? You know, and so often we think of, um, this exploitation as something that just happens 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:42.840 to us. Like if, if you, if you're righteous, it'll just happen to you. If you're poor, it will just 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:51.379 happen, which is true. Um, but if we truly believe in God's provision, uh, then we also, um, have 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:56.759 within us, if we truly believe the shirts that we, we could take step towards that. We could take steps 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:02.639 towards being vulnerable. We could take steps towards being righteous in such a way that we know that the 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:08.740 evildoers could exploit us. But we said, you know what? I am an easy target, 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:18.740 but that's okay because my, my God, my God will provide for me. And that's not how the world thinks. 00:14:19.680 --> 00:14:25.600 Like if you were trying to explain that to your friend who was not following Jesus, they would say 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:33.299 that's crazy. And in a sense, they would be right. That we would willingly make ourselves vulnerable 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:41.899 targets, but do so with the assurance of God's provision. Recognizing that that provision doesn't 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:49.000 mean that it all turns out all happy in the end, but it does mean that whatever happens to us, 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:55.939 we believe that, that God will provide for our needs, right? And certainly our greatest need would be 00:14:55.940 --> 00:15:01.900 the, uh, the, the, the salvation of our soul, regardless of whatever the world may throw at us. 00:15:01.900 --> 00:15:06.040 We know that we, we know that God has, has the salvation of our soul in his hand. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:13.540 And so as, as we become and we see these evildoers who would exploit the righteous, exploit the poor, 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:19.600 I would put that challenge before you. Would, would you be willing to be righteous and poor and be 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:24.900 vulnerable? Wow. Think of what God could do if we were willing to be vulnerable 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:32.199 to the evil of this world. Um, as, as you think of that idea, I just pointed towards, um, Matthew 10, 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:36.379 and we're not going to read through that, but if you want to see an idea of what that might look like, 00:15:36.699 --> 00:15:41.259 Matthew 10 would be a great chapter to read. And that's the chapter where Jesus, uh, sends out the 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:47.319 12. And as he's sending them out, he provides a lot of, um, uh, encouragement to them, a lot of 00:15:47.319 --> 00:15:53.120 explanation of what will happen. And he, he's sending them out, uh, they are going to be vulnerable. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:16:00.620 But he's telling them, I've got you. Don't worry. I've got you. And, um, uh, he, he describes sending 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:06.120 them out, uh, there in Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:12.360 midst of wolves. That's how God wants us to go out as sheep in the midst of wolves. 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:20.680 And, um, and when we do that, great things can be done through us. Great and powerful things can 00:16:20.680 --> 00:16:24.919 be done through us. God did great and powerful things for the disciples, and God can do that 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.560 through us as well. Let me pray for us. 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:35.740 God, we're thankful that, um, uh, that you have a great love for us. 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:42.259 God, um, we're, we're thankful that you do provide for those who are vulnerable in this world, 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:47.139 not only in, in this age, but, um, in the one to come as well. 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:53.539 God, um, we pray that we would be people who advance your kingdom, 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:59.639 God, people who are used by you to make your kingdom go forth. We ask all this in your name. Amen. 00:16:59.639 --> 00:16:59.720 Amen.