WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.200 Amen. Now, let's turn together in our Bibles to Psalm 33. Again, if you have a Bible, it'd be 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:21.179 really helpful to have that open as we spend time together in Psalm 33. Again, the words will be 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:27.320 up on the screen for us. So again, let's hear God's Word. 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:32.859 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous. It is fitting for the upright to praise Him. 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:39.420 Praise the Lord with the harp. Make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song. 00:00:39.980 --> 00:00:47.179 Play skillfully and shout for joy. For the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:55.100 He does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of His unfailing love. By the 00:00:55.100 --> 00:01:00.980 word of the Lord, the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He gathers 00:01:00.980 --> 00:01:07.400 the waters of the sea into jars. He puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:14.200 Let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:21.040 firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations. He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:28.180 of the Lord stand firm forever. The purposes of His heart through all generations. Blessed is the 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:34.280 nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:40.380 and sees all mankind. From His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth. He who forms the 00:01:40.380 --> 00:01:46.540 hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of His army. 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:54.360 No warrior escapes by His great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance. Despite all its 00:01:54.360 --> 00:02:00.820 strength, it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in 00:02:00.820 --> 00:02:09.780 His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord. 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:19.819 He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:30.439 unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Amen. So we're going to continue 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:35.680 looking at some Psalms over the summer, and this time we're in Psalm 33. And our question for the 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:46.800 morning is this one, is your worship, is my worship properly directed? Now, we're all here in Edinburgh, 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:51.620 and whether we've been here for a long time or a short time, we know there are many great reasons 00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:58.780 for coming to this wonderful city that many of us call home. But we probably know, if we've been here 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:06.000 for any length of time, that driving is not one of those reasons. Between the complicated road systems, 00:03:06.140 --> 00:03:12.439 but especially the number of potholes and speed bumps you find, it generally seems like it's bad 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:21.939 news for cars, and especially bad news for tyres. I imagine that our car, or our car in the past, is not 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:28.979 alone in that problem of having wheels that were misaligned, hitting one too many potholes, and all 00:03:28.979 --> 00:03:36.560 of a sudden you find your car starts drifting or pulling. It can be dangerous. And what we need to do 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:41.659 when we discover that is to go to the garage, get it on the machine, and get them all tracked up, 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:49.879 balanced, and aligned properly. Hold that in your thought as we think about the theme of worship. 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:59.819 As people, we were made for worship. Now let's just think for a moment, what is worship? This worship that we 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:05.780 talk about and that we want to express. We can use four words beginning with the letter H, perhaps, to help us. 00:04:06.740 --> 00:04:15.719 Worship is where we direct our honour. Who or what is it that gets most honour in our life? 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:26.980 We can think about our hearts. What do we truly love and cherish? We can think about the word hope. 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:36.819 What is it that we place our hope in for the present and for our future? And we can think about the word 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:45.180 help. When trouble comes, who or what do we look to to give us help and salvation? 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:55.480 Now, God's design for us from creation is that we would worship Him through Jesus. That's the proper 00:04:55.480 --> 00:05:07.000 direction for our worship. But the problem in every human heart, because of sin, is that we will tend to 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:17.339 drift from that to worship other things, to worship other people even, rather than the Lord God. 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:28.019 We will still be worshipping. It's just our worship will not be properly lined up. And again, the Bible 00:05:28.019 --> 00:05:36.620 would say that's danger for us. So, the purpose of Psalm 33, which is this pure hymn of praise, 00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:46.199 is for us today a call to direct or to redirect our praise and our worship to where it truly belongs. 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:52.439 So, let's get into our text. And we'll notice, first of all, in the first three verses, there is this call 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:59.120 to worship God. Three truths that we can see. First of all, worshipping God is appropriate. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:07.639 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous. It is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Worship is 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:13.300 fitting. So, Psalm 33 is going to argue the case for that, and we'll see it on the basis of who God is 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:20.300 and what God does. Because God is our Creator King, and because He is our Savior, then it's appropriate to 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:28.699 worship Him. Even in our introduction, we discover God is called the Lord. Lord in capitals, reminding us, 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:33.699 we're speaking about the personal covenant name of God, the God who speaks, the God who saves, 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:40.420 the God who is committed to His people, the God who desires to dwell with His people. 00:06:41.539 --> 00:06:48.000 Because He is the Lord, He deserves our worship. And notice at the middle of verse 3, sing to Him 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:55.980 a new song. It's a reminder that the people of God, we have a new song to sing. We have new mercies 00:06:55.980 --> 00:07:03.280 from God every morning. We have the acts of salvation that God does in His Word that climax in the 00:07:03.280 --> 00:07:10.040 sending of Jesus to be our Savior. That's our new song to sing. So, worshipping God is appropriate. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:18.240 It's also important to recognize that worshipping God is commanded. One of the things this Psalm, 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.420 and so many of the Psalms, and indeed so much of the Bible emphasizes, is that distinction between God 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:32.560 as creator and us as creatures, that should lead us towards humility and to worship. This Psalm emphasizes 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:40.540 that God is King, therefore we should be subject to Him. He should have our loyalty. And so, we need to 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:48.020 understand that worship is commanded, and if we refuse to worship, then the Bible is saying, well, both we are 00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:59.399 then in rebellion against our maker and our king. We're standing under His judgment, but also we will miss 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:05.879 out on our true identity. We are most ourselves when we are in a right relationship with God, and we are 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:12.839 worshipping Him. So, to not worship is to be less than ourselves, less than what God made us to be. 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:18.679 So, worshipping God is a command, but it's also, and it's so important for us to recognize this, 00:08:19.159 --> 00:08:25.039 especially as God's people, worshipping God is an invitation. Notice this is addressed to, verse 1, 00:08:25.099 --> 00:08:33.100 the righteous and the upright, those who have that right standing with God by God's grace. And for us, 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.079 worship is a duty. Yes, it is. It's always a duty, but it's also a joy. 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:44.259 When we know God's love and grace extended to us in the sending of Jesus, that's a cause for the 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:52.600 deepest joy. It's not a hardship to worship this God. As we discover that in light of the gospel, 00:08:53.060 --> 00:08:55.840 love and loyalty, then, is the right response. 00:08:58.920 --> 00:09:02.520 So, right from the beginning, the psalm is reminding us that the direction of our worship, 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:12.139 it matters. And we can say more than that, church matters. God has appointed this one day where we 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:20.159 can worship together, and that worship serves to retune our hearts and our lives. We're called to 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:25.299 sing joyfully, and that's a corporate, that's a together thing. And of course, we know that the 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:31.100 inability to sing has been one of the huge losses to our church life. So, it's a wonderful 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:38.600 opportunity as of next week to begin to sing again. Because as we sing, not only are we worshiping 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:44.540 God, we're also reminding one another of great truths and encouraging one another, pointing each 00:09:44.540 --> 00:09:51.920 other towards our God and our Savior. So, there's the call to worship. But then most of the psalm, 00:09:51.919 --> 00:10:02.919 from verse 4 to 19, the psalmist lays out the reasons to worship God. Notice our verse 4 begins 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:10.919 with the word for. In other words, he's not just going to state and assume that we are to worship 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:19.159 God. Rather, Psalm 33 wants to demonstrate to us, wants to persuade us with reasons why God is worthy, 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:28.899 reasons why God deserves our praise. And this is important because we know in our lives that there 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:35.659 is this battle constantly going on for our hearts and our minds. There are temptations that come to us 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:46.319 from many sources to, for example, honor a certain person, a certain organization over the one true God. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:56.140 There is that temptation to give our heart, to live for a sports team or a company and a responsibility 00:10:56.140 --> 00:11:04.300 or a person and a family more than we give our hearts to Jesus, our Savior. We can so easily be 00:11:04.300 --> 00:11:14.400 tempted to fix our hope in our money or technology or our skill rather than our God. And when trouble 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:22.939 comes, we can look to ourselves and our own resources for help rather than running to God, our rock, our refuge, 00:11:23.079 --> 00:11:31.600 Jesus, our Savior. So, the challenge to consider, and the psalmist wants us to think and he wants to 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:41.939 show and demonstrate, is why worship and fear God? Why trust Jesus for those things that our hearts want 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:51.360 most of us to be? So, it's an invitation to compare and to contrast, as it were, to place God on the scales 00:11:51.360 --> 00:12:01.220 against all rivals. And to think about our own lives and to ask ourselves, when it comes down to who or what 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:10.180 gets my worship, we need to think about that, but also who deserves that worship? Where should it really be 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:18.719 directed? So, there are three reasons our psalmist gives why he believes, why the Bible teaches that 00:12:18.719 --> 00:12:25.659 God deserves praise and worship. And the first one is about God's Word. So, verses 4 to 9 is all about 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:32.399 God's Word. Two aspects. We can look at verse 4 and 5, we see the character of God's Word, and then verse 6 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:38.699 9, the creative power of God's Word. So, let's begin. Verse 4 and 5, we read, 00:12:39.439 --> 00:12:47.319 For the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness 00:12:47.319 --> 00:12:57.679 and justice. The earth is full of his unfailing love. Notice the integrity of God's Word. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:05.839 The psalmist is saying there is no disconnect between God's character, God's actions, and God's 00:13:05.839 --> 00:13:14.939 words. We will never find our God being guilty of hypocrisy. We will never find Jesus saying one 00:13:14.939 --> 00:13:23.679 thing and doing something else. But we can contrast that, can't we, with the headlines that we read all 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:30.919 too often, of politicians and business leaders and even church leaders caught in hypocrisy and corruption. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:42.500 The Bible teaches God and His Word are perfect and they can be trusted. These values are good. 00:13:42.839 --> 00:13:48.559 These are things that we admire, right, true, righteousness, justice, unfailing love, and God is 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:55.000 dedicated to these values. He is enthusiastic about these values. Indeed, we love them because we are 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:03.639 made in His image. We love justice because we are made in the image of a God of justice. We value truth 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:12.319 because our God is truth. So, God's Word is marked by integrity. But also, as we look at these descriptors, 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:20.620 we see that these are all covenant words. That's really significant for us to see because here is 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:29.760 an announcement that this is a God who is committed to His people, committed to rescuing a people for 00:14:29.760 --> 00:14:37.060 Himself in order to bless, to show His goodness to a people, to be with and for His people, having dealt 00:14:37.059 --> 00:14:47.959 with sin, having dealt with shame, having released from slavery. The best evidence for us that God's Word 00:14:47.959 --> 00:14:57.759 can be trusted is Jesus Himself, isn't it? Jesus, the Word who was with God, the Word who, the one who is 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:05.199 God, the Word who became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:18.700 one and only, full of grace and truth. We are called to trust Jesus, the Word of God, the Word who is God. 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:27.940 So, God's Word reflects God's character, but it also reveals His creative power. That's what we see in verses 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:38.660 6 to 9. Let me read verse 6. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, their starry host, 00:15:39.400 --> 00:15:46.020 by the breath of His mouth. And then verse 9, for He spoke and it came to be, He commanded, and it stood 00:15:46.020 --> 00:15:55.140 firm. Two ideas to think about that are emphasized here. One, God's control. This is God who speaks the 00:15:55.139 --> 00:16:02.779 universe into existence, and God's Word doesn't just create, it also gives stability to the world. 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:13.439 And that stands against chaos that's represented in the waters. Verse 7, He gathers the waters of the sea 00:16:13.439 --> 00:16:22.639 into jars. He puts the deep into storehouses. For Old Testament Israel, water, often a source of fear, 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:29.779 an image of chaotic forces. But our God, what does the psalm say? Our God holds them back. 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:37.220 It's as easy for God to control the waters as it would be for us to pour water into a jug. 00:16:40.939 --> 00:16:47.480 That's striking. We've seen evidence of, haven't we, the chaotic force of water. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:56.279 Some of us were in Edinburgh two Sundays ago, when that mad rain came down all of a sudden. And we 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:04.400 were down south, but we were seeing the news images of roads that became rivers. And then we've seen 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:15.180 the devastation in Germany, Belgium, Holland, and still continuing. The waters as powerful and sometimes 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:22.140 chaotic. With the best of modern intelligence, we cannot control some things. We cannot predict 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:32.580 the weather. But our psalm says God stands above. And God typically holds them back so that we can enjoy 00:17:32.580 --> 00:17:38.480 this world, so that we can know and enjoy our Creator. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:46.640 Look at verse 8 for the response that that should bring. Verse 8, 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:54.339 Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the people of the world revere Him. All people, 00:17:55.400 --> 00:18:01.160 regardless of wherever we are, regardless of culture, should fear and revere. Now, let me again 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:07.039 give a plug to Michael Reeve's excellent book, Rejoice and Tremble, all about what does the fear of God 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:14.119 mean and not mean in the Bible. In essence, when it talks about people should fear the Lord, there's 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:26.039 that sense of being overwhelmed at God's goodness, at God's power, yes, but also His love. It's that 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:34.139 right sense of awe and wonder when we see the God who is, and we see His love and His goodness. 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:41.380 Now, some thoughts on God's Word before we move on. We have, of course, been having a wonderful week 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:48.540 of weather. So, let's think about creation for a moment. Over the summer holidays, we may have 00:18:48.540 --> 00:18:55.300 unique opportunities to enjoy the sun in the sky. We may even have the chance to go camping and enjoy 00:18:55.300 --> 00:19:02.000 the night sky and sleep under the stars. Or we may go to the coast and enjoy the big blue and the depths. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:12.519 Well, when we do that, let's not stop simply enjoying the gift. Let's look to praise the giver. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:24.779 Let's think, too, about the Bible. The Bible, which is the Word of God. Why do we read the Bible? 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:33.839 That we read it so that we can see and know our Creator and our Savior, that to read with the help 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:40.920 of the Spirit, that's how we are encouraged and led to worship. So, again, over the summer, let's 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:49.460 not take a break from Bible reading, but rather let's use it to increase our worship and our joy in our God. 00:19:49.460 --> 00:20:02.120 And let me encourage us towards trust. We live in the age of suspicion. We live in the day of fake news. 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:10.220 We live in the post-truth world. But here is good news of a Word that we can trust, 00:20:10.940 --> 00:20:18.140 character that we can trust in God and His Word, and especially Jesus as God's final Word. 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:28.600 His Word to us of salvation. Let's consider Him. Especially if you're not a Christian, 00:20:29.120 --> 00:20:35.560 we encourage you to consider Jesus. Examine His life and His claims, 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:44.300 that you might believe in Jesus, the Word of God. So, that's the first reason for praise, 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:52.359 God's words. But secondly, a second reason to praise God is God's plans. So, this is in verses 10 to 12, 00:20:52.419 --> 00:20:58.099 and in a sense, it's God's plans as opposed to the plans of the nations. So, verses 10 and 11 read, 00:20:58.099 --> 00:21:06.219 the Lord foils the plans of the nations. He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the 00:21:06.219 --> 00:21:15.539 Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations. Sticking with the summer 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:24.919 holiday theme, the great summer holiday picture of plans that are foiled, it surely must be those 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:32.580 sandcastles that we spend hours constructing on the beach. Think about those sandcastles on the beach. 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:37.360 It doesn't matter how many towers and turrets, it doesn't matter how many shells and feathers, 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:42.740 no matter how impressive, even though it's the biggest sandcastle in the world, like the one they 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:53.820 built in Denmark, the tide always, always wins. The theme of verses 10 to 12 is that, on the one hand, 00:21:53.819 --> 00:22:03.159 the plans of the nations and of peoples collapse. There is an irony implied in this. We've just read 00:22:03.159 --> 00:22:14.980 that nature obeys its creator, but the nations typically don't. Read the storyline of the Bible, 00:22:15.159 --> 00:22:19.700 look at the storyline of human history, what do we see? We see people by and large standing in 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:26.860 opposition to God and His plans. And we see it really clearly, for example, in the life of Pharaoh, 00:22:27.360 --> 00:22:33.700 who refused to let the Israelite slaves go, who deliberately resisted God's will. We see it really 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:40.059 clearly in Pilate, Herod, and the religious leaders getting together to try and destroy God's son and God's 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:46.480 king. And the outcome for them and the outcome for anyone who stands in opposition to God is that the 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:55.799 tide of God's judgment will sweep in. All our rebellion, then, is like castles in the sand. 00:22:57.620 --> 00:23:03.779 It's a reminder that no matter how impressive a life, a life without God always ends in defeat, 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:13.680 always ends with judgment. But by contrast, verse 11, the plans of the Lord stand firm forever. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:20.680 It's a reminder that our creator is not some absentee landlord, makes the world and is distant 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:27.080 and disconnected. Rather, we have a powerful and loving king working out his plans for the good of 00:23:27.080 --> 00:23:35.900 his people and for the sake of his glory. Verse 11 talks about the purposes of his heart. What are the 00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:40.680 purposes of God's heart? What's the plan of God? What's the mission of God? What do we see in the Bible? 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:47.160 We see him acting to foil evil opposition so that he might save his people, that his people might live 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:54.140 with him, live for his glory, to enjoy him and to draw others to know that love and the God who is 00:23:54.140 --> 00:24:01.299 love for themselves. That's the point of verse 12. God's plans are for the good of his chosen people. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:07.299 So verse 12 says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:11.200 Now, in the Old Testament, that was Israel, the people of God. In the New Testament, that's the church. 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:19.980 God makes his plans for the good of his church. And nothing can separate us from God's love, 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:30.440 as we're reminded in Romans 8. So Psalm 33, again, is an invitation. It's an invitation to be on the Lord's 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:40.660 side. An invitation to turn from sin and to trust in Jesus, to have Jesus for us, not against us. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.360 God's plans stand. Where's the clearest place, again, that we see that? We can see it most clearly 00:24:48.360 --> 00:24:54.299 in the cross of the Lord Jesus. There we have the plans of the nations, all the opposition, those evil 00:24:54.299 --> 00:25:02.700 forces, that conspiracy of evil. But God foiled that plan. It was part of God's eternal plan to show his 00:25:02.700 --> 00:25:10.379 holy justice against sin by Jesus, his perfect son, taking that sin, taking the punishment for his people. 00:25:11.399 --> 00:25:18.599 And the cross demonstrates God's great saving love as Jesus willingly became that substitute we needed, 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:25.459 that once-for-all sacrifice for sins that we needed, so that by faith in Jesus, you and I might be 00:25:25.459 --> 00:25:34.259 saved, we might know blessing, we might be adopted into the people of God, the family of God. 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:43.500 Jesus taught that a life built on anything other than him and his words 00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:47.779 are as fragile as those sandcastles on the beach. 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:56.699 There is that serious warning that that life will be swept away by the tide of God's judgment. 00:25:57.799 --> 00:26:07.299 But to be built on Jesus is to have a life built on solid rock, to have that solid hope of eternal life. 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:20.139 Our third reason that the psalm gives for praising God is about God's eyes in verses 13 to 19. 00:26:20.140 --> 00:26:29.180 I guess most of us probably saw in the news recently of Richard Branson's latest venture, 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:37.980 taking that Virgin Galactic space flight, getting all excited about the chance of a lifetime to see 90 kilometers 00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:46.440 above the earth. Maybe you heard his radio transmission, getting all excited about what he could see, 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:50.100 the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, and the States, and he could pick out mountains. 00:26:50.259 --> 00:26:58.279 And then his desire that for just 180,000 pounds, we could enjoy such a view ourselves. 00:26:58.840 --> 00:27:03.220 An amazing view, though, wouldn't it be to see the world like that, to have the panorama? 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:10.680 But our Bible reminds us that there's nothing compared to God's view, the God's eye view of the world. 00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:14.200 It isn't just wide-angle panorama. 00:27:15.600 --> 00:27:23.799 Jesus, God does see everything, but it's also a view that sees the hearts, the minds, the lives of everyone. 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:29.619 So we're told, verses 13 to 15, that God sees everything perfectly. 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:34.639 Listen to how many times the word all or everything is used in these verses. 00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:38.099 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind. 00:27:38.899 --> 00:27:41.579 From his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth. 00:27:42.159 --> 00:27:47.119 He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 00:27:47.180 --> 00:27:47.899 What's the point? 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:56.480 Whereas our perspectives on anything are always partial and limited and should bring with that a level of humility, 00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:59.400 God sees and knows it all. 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:00.800 And he knows it perfectly. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:04.560 Again, in the age of uncertainty that we find ourselves in, 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:10.800 we're invited to trust this God of perfect, absolute wisdom. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:17.600 But not only does God see everything, there is a particular emphasis. 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:21.660 That God sees and saves. 00:28:23.560 --> 00:28:26.100 What's the point of verse 16 and 17 when it says, 00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:28.380 No king is saved by the size of his army. 00:28:28.900 --> 00:28:33.060 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance despite all its great strength. 00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:34.000 It cannot save. 00:28:35.860 --> 00:28:38.200 The point is that when trouble comes, 00:28:38.800 --> 00:28:40.660 so what's the trouble here in Psalm 33? 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:42.420 It's the trouble of a foreign invasion. 00:28:43.080 --> 00:28:46.560 When trouble comes, we need to find the right source of help and salvation. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:47.919 And Psalm 33 is saying, 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.619 The right source of salvation in that moment is absolutely not an army. 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:54.399 It's not your great military strength. 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:56.559 It's not your proud warhorses. 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:00.119 The right source of help and salvation in trouble is always and only God. 00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:06.139 Now, of course, our trouble looks different to their trouble, doesn't it? 00:29:07.139 --> 00:29:09.039 What does our trouble look like? 00:29:10.199 --> 00:29:11.839 Well, we can go wide angle. 00:29:11.919 --> 00:29:13.199 We can think about global trouble. 00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:16.500 It looks like, still looks like dealing with the pandemic, doesn't it? 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:22.839 And we're reminded of those environmental concerns that we face globally. 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:25.619 What's trouble nationally? 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:28.960 Well, that might look like difficulties with a political system. 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:31.660 It might look like a financial collapse. 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:36.560 And what about personally, when it hits home harder? 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.800 Maybe trouble for us is financial. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:43.980 It could be to do with our health. 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:48.120 It could be trouble to do with our work or our lack of work. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:50.860 It may be problems in our family. 00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:54.700 It could be any number of those things and many, many more. 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:57.720 And the question is, where do we turn in those moments? 00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:02.579 Where is the right source of help for us in those moments? 00:30:02.620 --> 00:30:07.079 And what Psalm 33 wants to do for us is he wants to point us out and up, 00:30:07.120 --> 00:30:12.720 away from ourself and to our Creator God, who is also our loving Savior. 00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:16.680 He is the only one with no limits. 00:30:16.940 --> 00:30:23.660 And so, it is wise to express humble dependence before this God, 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:26.540 especially as we see this character. 00:30:27.540 --> 00:30:30.300 Look at verse 18 and 19. 00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:32.100 It says, 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:35.600 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, 00:30:36.060 --> 00:30:39.519 on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:44.519 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 00:30:45.800 --> 00:30:47.279 How is God pictured? 00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:49.040 How are God's eyes pictured here? 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:53.460 Doesn't this sound a lot like a loving, protective Father? 00:30:54.580 --> 00:30:57.500 God, our Father in heaven, who sees His children, 00:30:57.640 --> 00:30:59.540 those who fear Him, those who hope in Him, 00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:01.060 and who promises what? 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:04.900 He promises to deliver from death and to give life. 00:31:05.860 --> 00:31:08.820 That's the ultimate hope that we find in God's Word, in the Bible. 00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:12.800 A God who can deliver from death and to give life. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:15.460 And often we might think, well, that sounds too good to be true. 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:19.940 But the proof of that stands in the Son of God and His resurrection. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:23.340 Jesus, who died and three days later, rose again. 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:27.160 And we have that promise that everyone whose faith is in Jesus, 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:30.340 that we too die to sin and we rise to new life, 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:35.140 that we have a death-proof hope in Jesus. 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:38.680 Don't we need that as people? 00:31:39.500 --> 00:31:41.360 Don't we need that kind of hope? 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:42.679 Don't we need that right, verse 1. 00:31:42.679 --> 00:31:43.699 Don't we need that right, verse 1. 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:49.359 So those are just three reasons why Psalm 33 gives us to praise God. 00:31:49.439 --> 00:31:54.479 And does it for the purpose of giving us that spiritual tune-up. 00:31:56.459 --> 00:31:58.139 Hopefully leading us to ask the question, 00:31:58.140 --> 00:32:03.860 is my worship going in the right direction? Typically, am I heading in the right way? Am I 00:32:03.860 --> 00:32:14.440 properly aligned? Is God the one who receives my honor? Does he have my heart? Do I hope in him? 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:22.900 Do I look for help to him? In light of God's glory that we've seen here, as we see it in Jesus, 00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:29.620 the Son, is our life, is our worship on track according to God's Word. Just as we close, 00:32:29.740 --> 00:32:34.740 let's use these last three verses, wonderful verses talking about the nature of worship, 00:32:35.120 --> 00:32:40.259 let's use them as diagnostic questions. You know, you have your problem with your car, 00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:45.259 you drive it up to the garage, and nowadays they put it on the computer system and they do their 00:32:45.259 --> 00:32:51.860 diagnostic checks. Well, let's use this as a way to diagnose our own hearts and our worship. 00:32:52.900 --> 00:33:01.500 Verse 20 says, we wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. 00:33:03.360 --> 00:33:15.200 Today, do you, do I wait with hope on Jesus? Am I trusting in his Word? Am I trusting in his work 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:30.900 on the cross? Am I looking forward to his return? Verse 21, in him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 00:33:32.500 --> 00:33:42.980 Do I find my deepest joy in Jesus? Am I trusting in his perfect goodness? 00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:53.920 Verse 22, may your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. 00:33:55.539 --> 00:34:02.720 Am I receiving, resting in Jesus and his love? 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:12.039 Well, may God help each one of us to respond so that our worship would be properly lined up. 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:19.699 Can we stand together in order to give thanks to God for his Word? Let's stand together. 00:34:19.699 --> 00:34:30.619 Lord, in light of what we have just read, we want to give you thanks for your Word, 00:34:31.339 --> 00:34:36.619 that it reveals your character, your goodness, your love, your justice, your truth. 00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:44.519 And we praise you as our great Creator for that control that you have, sustaining this universe 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:53.599 that you have made. Lord, we thank you that because you are ultimate, that your plans always succeed. 00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:58.500 And we thank you that the purposes of your heart are towards the salvation of your people, 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:05.579 that you, before you even made the world, planned to send Jesus, your Son, to be our Savior. 00:35:07.019 --> 00:35:13.500 We thank you for your eyes that see everything perfectly. You see each one of our hearts. 00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:14.500 We thank you for your hearts. We thank you for your hearts. 00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:20.920 We thank you that you see in order that you might save. Lord, for those of us who are trusting in you, 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:28.599 may we live lives marked by genuine worship, joyful worship, because of these truths. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:35.840 Lord, for those here today, for those listening in who are not yet Christians, may you enable them 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:45.559 to see why you are the proper place that our worship should go to. Help repentance and faith 00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:52.579 to come in people's hearts and lives, so they too might have the joy of worshiping, following, 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:56.100 knowing Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen. 00:35:56.099 --> 00:36:06.400 Please have a seat, and again, we will sing in our hearts, folks at home, sing with your mouths, 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:10.920 the hymn, Christ, our hope in life and death. 00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:22.920 What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone. 00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:25.920 What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone. 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:36.220 What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone. 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:45.980 What is our only confidence? That our souls to him belong. 00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:55.980 Who holds our days within his hand? What comes apart from his command? 00:36:55.980 --> 00:37:06.119 And what will keep us to the end? The love of Christ in which we stand? 00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:14.119 Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, 00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:30.359 our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:46.599 What truth can come, the troubled soul? God is good. God is good. 00:37:46.599 --> 00:37:56.220 Where is his grace and goodness known? In our great Redeemer's blood. 00:37:56.219 --> 00:38:26.199 Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal. 00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:37.359 Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 00:38:44.439 --> 00:38:48.980 Unto the grave, what shall we say? 00:38:49.699 --> 00:38:54.079 Christ, he lives, Christ, he lives. 00:38:54.079 --> 00:39:02.860 And what we want will heaven bring, everlasting life within. 00:39:03.980 --> 00:39:12.960 There we will rise to meet the Lord, and sin and death will be destroyed. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:23.400 And we will feast with endless joy, when Christ is ours forevermore. 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:34.059 Oh, sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal. 00:39:34.059 --> 00:39:46.420 Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 00:39:46.420 --> 00:39:55.079 Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 00:39:55.079 --> 00:40:13.500 Now we stand together to receive the benediction that comes from Numbers chapter 6. 00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:17.239 The Lord bless you and keep you. 00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:21.619 The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. 00:40:22.139 --> 00:40:26.380 The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. 00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:27.420 Amen. 00:40:27.420 --> 00:40:28.480 Amen. 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:30.599 Amen. 00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:32.740 Amen. 00:40:32.740 --> 00:40:34.539 Amen. 00:40:36.500 --> 00:40:38.240 Amen. 00:40:38.240 --> 00:40:39.039 Amen. 00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:39.599 Amen. 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:40.579 Amen. 00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:41.599 Amen. 00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:42.460 Amen. 00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:45.380 Amen. 00:40:45.380 --> 00:40:47.420 Amen. 00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:48.460 Amen. 00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:52.900 Amen.