WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.220 So Psalm 71, Matt preached on Psalm 70 last week, and it's very likely that Psalm 71 was 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:15.820 originally a continuation of Psalm 70. 00:00:16.240 --> 00:00:25.400 There's a lot of parallel words and themes, and that might explain also why Psalm 71 doesn't 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:26.960 have a title like psalms usually do. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.960 Probably because it's the title of Psalm 70, it's what was supposed to attach to it, so 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.820 it's to the choir master of David for the memorial offering. 00:00:34.620 --> 00:00:41.899 So it's probably also a Davidic psalm, someone that David wrote, or possibly it's about David 00:00:41.899 --> 00:00:42.820 and part of his life. 00:00:44.540 --> 00:00:50.760 Both psalms talk about, it's a prayer to God that God hastened to help him, to rescue him, 00:00:51.100 --> 00:00:53.200 deliver him, to save him. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:59.020 And then both prayers include a prayer that God would put the psalmist's enemies to shame, 00:00:59.859 --> 00:01:07.439 those enemies who delight and seek the hurt, the pain of the psalmist, and seek his life. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:14.879 So this kind of, the psalmist really is facing a mortal threat, and these psalms are about 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:15.859 seeking God's salvation. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.340 So let me read it out loud. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:20.540 Psalm 71. 00:01:20.540 --> 00:01:25.180 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:26.980 Let me never be put to shame. 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.420 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me. 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:32.620 Incline your ear to me and save me. 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:37.040 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.300 You have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 00:01:42.440 --> 00:01:47.400 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:52.020 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.620 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth. 00:01:56.360 --> 00:01:58.700 You are he who took me from my mother's womb. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.900 My praise is continually of you. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:06.140 I have been as important to many, but you are my strong refuge. 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:10.280 My mouth is filled with your praise and with your glory all the day. 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.219 Do not cast me off in the time of old age. 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:15.439 Forsake me not when my strength is spent. 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:17.560 For my enemies speak concerning me. 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:20.599 Those who watch for my life consult together and say, 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:22.280 God has forsaken him. 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:23.479 Pursue him. 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:24.199 Seize him. 00:02:24.460 --> 00:02:26.199 For there is none to deliver him. 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.759 O God, be not far from me. 00:02:29.239 --> 00:02:30.879 O my God, make haste to help me. 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:33.839 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed. 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:37.359 With scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. 00:02:38.019 --> 00:02:42.280 But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:47.280 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day. 00:02:47.519 --> 00:02:49.280 For their number is past my knowledge. 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.139 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come. 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:54.539 I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.900 O God, from my youth you have taught me. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.659 And I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:05.099 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me. 00:03:05.459 --> 00:03:10.060 Until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.719 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. 00:03:13.959 --> 00:03:16.639 You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:21.840 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.860 From the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.020 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.900 I will also praise you with the heart for your faithfulness, O my God. 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:35.800 I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O holy one of Israel. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.900 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you. 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.500 My soul also, which you have redeemed. 00:03:43.140 --> 00:03:46.300 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long. 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:51.420 For they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt. 00:03:53.980 --> 00:03:59.500 Living for God in a godless world is trying and difficult. 00:03:59.980 --> 00:04:02.920 As we have all experienced to varying degrees. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.720 Seeking righteousness in a world of unrighteousness is also trying and difficult. 00:04:08.200 --> 00:04:10.840 And sometimes we let doubt creep in. 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:13.800 And we begin to wonder, is this really worth it? 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:16.240 Does God really care for me? 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:19.319 So why are all these things happening to me? 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:21.020 Is God really with me? 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.900 And this is a familiar struggle that the psalmist knows well. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:35.639 And in Psalm 71, he teaches us that we should continually hope in the righteous God who saves his people and shames his enemies. 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:41.680 And he takes us through this psalm in the progression of first prayer in verses 1 to 4. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.399 And then perseverance in verses 5 to 18. 00:04:44.599 --> 00:04:47.159 And then praise in verses 19 to 24. 00:04:48.139 --> 00:04:51.759 David begins with his prayer to God in verses 1 to 4. 00:04:52.479 --> 00:04:53.500 This is Psalm 71. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:05:20.279 So he is here being pursued by the wicked, by unjust and cruel men. 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:23.359 And he cries out to God to deliver him and rescue him. 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:30.119 And in his prayer, he repeatedly turns to this imagery of God as the rock, refuge and fortress. 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:32.739 It's like in war zone, right? 00:05:33.219 --> 00:05:36.339 In the initial world, the spears are being hurled in our direction. 00:05:36.599 --> 00:05:38.359 And arrows are being fired in our direction. 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:40.879 And we have no respite. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.519 But then we finally arrive at a fortress. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.879 And there we find relief and rest and protection. 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.100 And that's the kind of image that he is. 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:53.019 And so he prays to God, be to me a rock, a refuge to which I may continually come. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:55.360 And so that's his prayer. 00:05:55.540 --> 00:06:01.899 And then after his prayer, David expresses his ongoing hope and trust in God by recounting his perseverance of faith. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.620 And so in verses 5 to 6, he says, 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:29.340 So the psalmist was privileged, like many of us, to have had a relationship with God from his youth. 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:34.079 And he says that since his youth, he has been trusting God and hoping in him. 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:39.959 And in fact, he knows that even before his birth, really he was dependent on God. 00:06:40.139 --> 00:06:41.399 It was contingent on God's plan. 00:06:41.719 --> 00:06:42.799 So he says, 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.000 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.779 You are he who took me from my mother's womb. 00:06:48.239 --> 00:06:53.759 Even before he was born, even in his mother's womb, he knows that God has been caring for him and protecting him. 00:06:54.219 --> 00:06:56.819 And he has not lost his faith, the faith of his youth. 00:06:56.819 --> 00:06:59.099 And so his praise is continually of God. 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:02.000 He continues in verse 7 to 8, 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:05.899 I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 00:07:06.919 --> 00:07:13.759 The word portent is a little bit ambiguous because it could mean something negative, like an ominous sign, 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:21.099 like a warning sign toward people who see him about, so maybe his struggles and God's judgment seems to be upon him. 00:07:21.299 --> 00:07:23.239 So he could be saying that. 00:07:23.739 --> 00:07:25.319 Or it could be a positive sign. 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:29.579 It could be an example of God's power, a display of God's might and wondering. 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:33.819 So the ESV translates it as a negative sign. 00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:37.719 But NIV and NASB take it as a positive sign. 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:45.000 I think it's intended to be a positive sign because the psalmist is here talking about his continued faith and hoping God sends his youth. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.560 So this is a time of prosperity and blessing in his life. 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.860 And the NASB puts it this way. 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:50.060 It says, 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:54.040 I have become a marvel to many, for you are my strong refuge. 00:07:54.100 --> 00:08:00.800 Because of God's blessing on him since his youth, he has become a sign of God's favor and wonder and blessing. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:02.379 And for that reason, he says, 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:05.540 My mouth is filled with your praise and with your glory all the day. 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:15.720 But as David's getting older, and his fortunes have changed somewhat, and he pleads with God in verses 9 to 12. 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:16.280 He says, 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:45.039 As he gets older and his strength and vigor are waning, his enemies are growing in confidence. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.779 And they are even saying that the psalmist has been forsaken by God. 00:08:49.599 --> 00:08:52.639 And so the psalmist prays again in 12 to 13, 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:54.159 God, be not far from me. 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:55.759 God, haste to help me. 00:08:56.219 --> 00:08:59.419 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed with scorn and disgrace. 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:01.039 May they be covered who seek my hurt. 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:05.379 But even in his decline, David hasn't lost his faith. 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:09.159 So he reasserts confidently in verses 14 to 18. 00:09:09.319 --> 00:09:09.899 Read that with me. 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:39.879 He says, 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:49.519 So even though his enemies are boasting that David has been abandoned by God, 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:51.199 David perseveres in his faith. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:54.699 Even though circumstances seem otherwise, he perseveres in his faith and says, 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:58.779 I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:03.639 And that word continually, I've been emphasizing as I read it, occurs three times. 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:05.059 It's repeated in this psalm. 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:08.819 And he talks about how he will continually come to God in verse 3. 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:11.740 And his praise is continually of God in verse 6. 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:12.539 And now he says, 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:16.240 He will hope continually and praise God yet more and more. 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:18.759 And this is encouraging to you. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:23.059 But when you are beset with trials and disappointments in your life, 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:28.519 when you can still continue to hope in God and praise Him, 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:29.220 like the psalmist, 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:34.480 when your circumstances seem hopeless and God appears unworthy of your praise, 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:38.340 you can still hope in Him and still praise Him. 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:41.040 And that's really the meaning of faith. 00:10:41.560 --> 00:10:43.000 That's the meaning of hope. 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:44.820 Paul writes in Romans 8.24, 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:46.480 In this hope we were saved. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.120 Now hope that is seen is not hope. 00:10:49.560 --> 00:10:51.060 For who hopes for what he sees? 00:10:53.800 --> 00:10:55.360 This came to mind as I was preparing. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:58.320 I don't know if you guys have seen The Last Jedi, the Star Wars movie, 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.800 but I didn't actually enjoy the movie that much. 00:11:01.040 --> 00:11:03.180 But there's a quote by Princess Leah. 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:04.179 And she says, 00:11:04.719 --> 00:11:06.079 Hope is like the sun. 00:11:06.699 --> 00:11:08.539 If you only believe it when you see it, 00:11:08.579 --> 00:11:10.000 you will never make it through the night. 00:11:12.839 --> 00:11:15.199 It's kind of modeled after the Bible verse probably. 00:11:15.359 --> 00:11:18.120 But to believe in spite of the odds, right? 00:11:18.839 --> 00:11:22.699 To hope without sight, really, that's true hope. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.419 And that's what the psalmist is calling us to. 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:29.539 We should continually hope in the righteousness of God, 00:11:29.579 --> 00:11:32.179 in the righteous God who saves His people and shames His enemies. 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:35.159 And the psalmist's hope is not without substance. 00:11:35.359 --> 00:11:35.639 He says, 00:11:36.099 --> 00:11:38.339 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:39.939 of your deeds of salvation all the day, 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:41.939 for their number is past my knowledge. 00:11:42.699 --> 00:11:44.719 And with the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come. 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:46.219 I will remind them of your righteousness, 00:11:46.459 --> 00:11:47.259 yours alone, O God. 00:11:47.339 --> 00:11:48.679 From my youth you have taught me, 00:11:48.719 --> 00:11:50.439 and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.979 And it's because the psalmist has known God since his youth, 00:11:55.439 --> 00:11:59.559 and because he has numberless accounts of God's righteous acts 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:01.419 to remember and recount, 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:04.539 he's seen many deeds of God's faithfulness. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.439 And because he has had a relationship with God for a long time, 00:12:08.479 --> 00:12:09.039 like he was saying, 00:12:09.479 --> 00:12:11.459 and this is really insightful 00:12:11.459 --> 00:12:14.259 because that's really one of the benefits of aging, right? 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:18.959 Of being in a relationship with God for a long time, 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:23.159 is that I look forward to that, right? 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.219 I've been a believer for a while now, 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:26.319 but I'm still young, 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:27.879 and I have a lot of time left, 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:28.860 hopefully, Lord willing, 00:12:28.939 --> 00:12:30.299 if he wants me to live for that long. 00:12:31.079 --> 00:12:33.339 And if I get to grow old, 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:34.339 and the older I get, 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:37.899 I will have more memories of God's deliverance in my life. 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:39.779 And the longer I live, 00:12:39.839 --> 00:12:41.539 and the longer I have this relationship with the Lord, 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.480 the more stories of his faithfulness I'll have to be able to share. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:54.779 And that shared history with God is going to ground my trust in him more deeply and firmly. 00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:00.080 And that's the source of David's confidence. 00:13:00.300 --> 00:13:04.200 His perseverance up to this point strengthens his ongoing hope. 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:09.920 And he wants to be around to pass on the accounts of God's righteous acts to the next generation. 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.879 So that even to old age and gray hairs, 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.900 O God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation, 00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:18.400 your power to all those to come. 00:13:19.040 --> 00:13:21.640 The psalmist is not like a lot of modern people nowadays 00:13:21.640 --> 00:13:25.020 who just wants to live a long life so they could enjoy things about life, right? 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.120 So they'd enjoy a long life, a wonderful life. 00:13:27.560 --> 00:13:30.020 He wants to live long, not for his own sake, 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.800 but so that he can pass on this legacy of praise. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.979 So that he can proclaim God's power, 00:13:36.199 --> 00:13:39.240 not merely to his own generation, but to the generation to come. 00:13:39.439 --> 00:13:41.679 Because God deserves to be worshipped and praised 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.559 generation after generation after generation. 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:49.359 Let's let that prospect sustain us into our old age, right? 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:54.199 Let's be people who long for that deepening of knowledge and relationship with God 00:13:54.199 --> 00:13:59.099 so that we could have unwavering hope, no matter what circumstance. 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:03.320 And so that's the second longest point, perseverance. 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:09.040 And then in verses 19 to 24, the psalmist expects that God will hear an answer. 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:12.779 And in anticipation of God's deliverance, he vows to praise God. 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:15.279 So he says in 19 to 24, read with me. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.980 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:22.360 You who have done great things, O God, who is like you. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:27.259 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:31.299 From the depths of the earth, you will bring me up again. 00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:34.559 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.299 I will also praise you with the heart for your faithfulness, O my God. 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:43.179 I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O holy one of Israel. 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:46.759 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you. 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:48.899 My soul also which you have redeemed. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.759 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long. 00:14:53.099 --> 00:14:56.799 For they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt. 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:01.099 And note that God actually hasn't answered David's prayer yet, right? 00:15:01.719 --> 00:15:05.699 He's still in that same situation from which he, out of desperation, prayed to God. 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:09.520 But even though he hasn't been delivered yet, he anticipates his deliverance. 00:15:09.820 --> 00:15:15.860 And he says, as if it's already happened, my tongue will take of your righteous help all the day long. 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.820 For they, the enemies, they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt. 00:15:21.040 --> 00:15:21.840 That's assurance. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:23.640 That's faith, right? 00:15:23.660 --> 00:15:25.320 Assurance of deliverance and salvation. 00:15:25.780 --> 00:15:29.160 He trusts that God will come through for him and deliver him. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.420 And there will come a day for us as well when our faith will turn to sight. 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:37.919 But there will come a day for us when our prayers will turn to praise. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.879 And do you live for that day? 00:15:41.099 --> 00:15:42.539 Because that day is definitely coming. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.179 And we can count on that day because of God's righteousness. 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:51.199 Five times throughout this psalm, David appeals to God's righteousness. 00:15:51.479 --> 00:15:53.939 That's the reason why David has confidence and hope. 00:15:53.940 --> 00:16:05.220 And because it's the righteousness of God refers to the commitment of God to justice, to do right, to fulfill his promises. 00:16:05.920 --> 00:16:09.120 And it's that righteousness of God that's the ground of Christian hope. 00:16:09.640 --> 00:16:11.680 The wicked will not prevail in the end. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.780 The righteous will be vindicated in the end because God is righteous. 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:26.919 And even though not all of us have had the length of life behind us like the psalmist, who has had countless experiences of God's righteous deeds to remember, 00:16:27.319 --> 00:16:29.579 but all of us have experienced God's righteousness. 00:16:30.079 --> 00:16:32.759 And that should fill us with unwavering hope. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.279 And the ultimate righteousness that we experience is demonstrated in Christ. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.279 In Romans 3, 23, 26, it says, 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:45.179 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift. 00:16:45.699 --> 00:16:51.919 Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. 00:16:52.439 --> 00:16:58.500 This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 00:16:58.959 --> 00:17:06.599 It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:16.099 Christ's death on the cross demonstrated God's righteousness and justice because it was unjust of God to spare the wicked as he has done in generations past, 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:21.139 which included even God's people who did wrong and sinned against God. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.759 It was unjust of God to pass over their sins. 00:17:24.219 --> 00:17:29.879 So when finally God's justice was meted out in its fullness on God's Son, Jesus Christ, 00:17:30.219 --> 00:17:34.699 God showed that his mercy on the one hand and his justice on the other can coexist. 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:39.100 The cross shows us that God will on the one hand not turn a blind eye to sin, 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:43.440 but then it also shows us that God will be merciful to sinners who turn to him, 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:48.120 that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:52.819 So that's why the cross of Jesus Christ reveals God's righteousness in the supreme way. 00:17:53.539 --> 00:17:55.819 And that's why as those who have put our faith in Christ, 00:17:56.259 --> 00:18:01.180 we can continually hope in the righteous God who saves people and shames his enemies. 00:18:01.180 --> 00:18:06.440 And finally, in verse 20, it's kind of a climax of the psalm, 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:12.140 where David expresses his faith in God's deliverance in terms of, in the language of death and resurrection. 00:18:12.560 --> 00:18:12.880 He says, 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:18.240 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. 00:18:18.820 --> 00:18:22.860 From the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:23.219 Right. 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:28.599 This figurative language of death and being raised from the depths of the earth 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:31.119 is, was literally fulfilled in Christ. 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:31.519 Right. 00:18:31.639 --> 00:18:36.839 Who died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life because he was the sinless son of God 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:38.299 that death had the power over. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:43.319 And as those people, as Christians who have put our faith in Jesus for our salvation, 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.819 we are united to Christ's death and resurrection by faith. 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:49.819 And that's the substance of our faith. 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:53.899 And love how it says again and again in these verses, 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.480 God will revive me again. 00:18:55.659 --> 00:18:56.879 God will bring me up again. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.039 When you feel, you face disappointment after disappointment, 00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:01.359 trouble after trouble. 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.679 When you feel like you're swamped in sin, 00:19:04.819 --> 00:19:06.879 you're drowning in your own unrighteousness. 00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:09.559 In all of those struggles, in all of those difficulties, 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:12.019 you can remember that God will revive you again. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:13.879 That God will bring you up again. 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:17.380 Because he will ultimately raise us from the dead, 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:20.120 like he raised Christ for ultimate salvation, union with him. 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:22.520 And that's the substance of our hope. 00:19:26.040 --> 00:19:31.340 So with that, let's sing a song in response and pray together.