WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.900 Psalm 69 at verse 9. We're looking really at verse 5 through to verse 12 together this evening. 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:10.200 But verse 9 we can take together just now. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:18.440 For seal for your house has consumed me and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 00:00:19.580 --> 00:00:28.980 The psalm we just sang, Psalm 44, is again an experience of the psalmist going through so many different trials in this experience. 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:42.020 When you see words like crying out, awake, O Lord, arise from sleep, it gives us an indication that for the psalmist, God feels very far away in his affliction. 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:47.659 And Psalm 69 is another psalm that shows us that kind of experience as well. 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:54.040 As you see at the beginning of the psalm, the psalmist is feeling overwhelmed in so many ways. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:01:00.039 He feels the waters have come up to his neck. He is sinking in the deep mire where there is no foothold. 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.479 He's being overwhelmed by it all. 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:11.879 And so how in the midst of these kinds of experiences do people keep a seal for the Lord? 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:19.200 How would we be able to say for seal for your house has consumed me even in the midst of great trials? 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:27.219 Well, it's really what we are doing together this evening and what we do by ourselves as we worship God, 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:29.719 when we come together to worship God. 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:37.640 It's by focusing on his word and how precious his word is, how many promises we find in his word 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.040 that helps us through all our different experiences. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:48.300 Last time as we began to look at this psalm, we saw David in this grim situation. 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:54.460 There's enemies all around him and they're hounding him, they're slandering him. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:58.460 But his greatest concern is that they're dishonouring God, 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:02.760 that everything that they are doing is bringing dishonour to God. 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:07.040 And we noted in the psalm that this is a prayer of David. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.819 He's crying out to the Lord in this situation. 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:16.640 And at the beginning of the psalm, you think it's a prayer that's just a little chaotic. 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:21.580 It seems to be all over the place, disorganised in so many ways. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.780 He's jumping around in all different kinds of ways. 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:31.060 In many ways, it's maybe a prayer that doesn't seem to make sense at times. 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:37.680 And yet, when we think of our own prayer life, how often are we praying in that same way? 00:02:38.379 --> 00:02:41.319 We're praying maybe where our minds are just so distracted. 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:44.219 We're jumping from one thing to another. 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.680 We're just not settled depending on our situation. 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:52.199 It's wonderful to come and be still before God 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:57.159 and come with a sense of calmness and peace in our experience. 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:00.740 But as we often know, it's not always the case. 00:03:01.799 --> 00:03:05.659 But that doesn't mean we don't come to God in prayer. 00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:11.840 It's at these times that we maybe more often should come to God in prayer. 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:18.479 So what do we see in this psalm that can help us in our experience? 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.879 The psalm is one of the most quoted in the New Testament. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:30.039 And in the New Testament, it's always pointing us towards the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:03:30.579 --> 00:03:35.120 what he has done for us and how we can trust in him. 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:37.719 And as we continue to go through this psalm, 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:42.560 we see how important prayer is in our own experience, 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:48.639 how important it is to focus on ourselves in prayer, 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:53.359 not just looking around as David could so easily do here 00:03:53.359 --> 00:03:56.579 and seeing all the enemies and praying against them. 00:03:57.139 --> 00:04:00.379 But David begins this prayer by looking to himself. 00:04:01.219 --> 00:04:04.979 He begins with a confession in his own heart 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:08.599 that he knows his sin. 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:12.579 He knows he's not always right with God. 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:16.419 But what his prayer is, it's a wonderful prayer. 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:19.780 He says, even in this experience where I know I'm not right, 00:04:20.340 --> 00:04:22.240 he says to God in verse 5, 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:24.520 O God, you know my folly. 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:28.220 The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:31.360 He's confessing this before God. 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:32.720 Then he says in verse 6, 00:04:32.900 --> 00:04:37.639 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me. 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:45.400 He's got this longing that God will be glorified even despite his sin. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:50.799 And let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:51.620 It's like he's saying, 00:04:52.179 --> 00:04:56.560 Don't let those who are already yours be put off because of me. 00:04:57.099 --> 00:05:02.500 And don't let anyone who is seeking you be put off because of me. 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:06.079 So he has this wonderful confession. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:08.839 But there's also, as we see this evening, 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:14.039 we're going to look at three other lessons we can take from the psalm in verse 5 00:05:14.039 --> 00:05:15.839 through to verse 12. 00:05:16.619 --> 00:05:21.839 Lessons for ourselves as we go on on our own journey. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.000 And there's three things. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:28.719 And these three things I want us to take this evening are David's recognition of God. 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:33.199 How he recognises God in his experience here. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:39.099 And then secondly, we see his reproach because of his faith in God. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:45.300 And then thirdly, we'll see his seal for the Lord, his God. 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.039 So the first thing we see that in his prayer, 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:52.459 there is this recognition of God. 00:05:53.459 --> 00:05:57.199 The psalm doesn't introduce us to what the problem is immediately. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:03.279 We don't just know exactly what the troubles that are in David's life. 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:06.360 But we know that there are enemies all around him. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:08.819 And how this is leaving him feeling. 00:06:09.219 --> 00:06:11.560 And a feeling of being overwhelmed. 00:06:13.039 --> 00:06:15.659 And so he comes to God in prayer. 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:17.399 His prayer is not polished. 00:06:17.599 --> 00:06:18.779 It's not perfect. 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:23.599 But the key is that he's drawing near to God. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.839 He is praying to God. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:33.560 And it's as we pray to God that we are led to this nearness with God. 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:38.319 That we come to experience and know who God is more. 00:06:38.979 --> 00:06:42.459 We experience what he can do for us in prayer. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.659 How he is able to change. 00:06:45.139 --> 00:06:46.579 Maybe not the situation. 00:06:47.419 --> 00:06:49.680 Maybe not always the way we would want it. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:55.680 But the way he's able to give us a calm and a peace in the midst of a situation. 00:06:55.840 --> 00:06:59.220 To know the nearness of God. 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:05.139 And so we see this kind of change coming over David in this psalm. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.980 From a feeling of being overwhelmed, 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.800 we see where he's turning to. 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:13.280 And who he is turning to. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:17.500 And his recognition is of God as his only hope. 00:07:18.559 --> 00:07:20.259 In verse 5 you see there, 00:07:21.059 --> 00:07:22.699 Oh God, he's crying out, 00:07:22.779 --> 00:07:25.699 Oh God, you know my folly. 00:07:26.559 --> 00:07:29.719 He recognizes there's nothing hidden from God. 00:07:29.799 --> 00:07:34.979 And therefore he must come to him as the God who knows all things. 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.460 There is this recognition of God. 00:07:37.900 --> 00:07:38.879 You know everything. 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:40.819 Nothing is hidden. 00:07:42.200 --> 00:07:43.460 And then as it goes on, 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.520 you see in verse 6 how he describes God further. 00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:48.020 He says, 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:50.360 Oh Lord God of hosts. 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:51.960 He says, 00:07:52.140 --> 00:07:54.100 Oh God of Israel. 00:07:54.819 --> 00:07:58.080 And he has this way of describing God. 00:07:58.140 --> 00:08:00.180 As you go through this psalm, 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:06.900 His recognition is always towards God and who he is. 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:10.259 It may just seem like a few words when he's saying, 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:11.459 Oh God, 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:13.420 Oh God of hosts. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:15.000 Or Oh God of Israel. 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:18.460 But there's so much behind these words. 00:08:19.340 --> 00:08:20.139 He is God, 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:21.699 the living God. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:23.759 He is the one who hears prayer. 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.240 He is the Lord of hosts. 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:32.799 He is the one who has made and created all things. 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:37.620 He is the one who sustains this world and all its people. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:38.720 He is, 00:08:39.019 --> 00:08:40.240 Oh God of Israel. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.700 He is talking here about God's promise, 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:47.159 His covenant relationship with His people, 00:08:47.259 --> 00:08:49.659 that He will never leave His people. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.519 He's crying out to God in this way of recognition, 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:57.919 calling to the living God. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.299 And the shorter catechism reminds us of this very thing as we pray. 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:08.419 The question is asked in the shorter catechism, 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:09.980 What is prayer? 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:11.500 And the answer is, 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:15.179 Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:18.539 for things agreeable to His will. 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:19.980 In the name of Christ, 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.319 with confession of our sins 00:09:22.319 --> 00:09:26.240 and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.099 That is the way David is praying here, 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:34.059 in recognition of God in all of these things, 00:09:34.179 --> 00:09:36.379 that God's will be done, 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:38.159 that there is confession, 00:09:38.339 --> 00:09:41.500 that there is thankful acknowledgement of His mercies, 00:09:41.959 --> 00:09:45.839 that He is the God who is able to save. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:47.980 It used to be, 00:09:48.060 --> 00:09:49.220 and it's not so much now, 00:09:49.340 --> 00:09:52.399 that you would hear in times of grief and tragedy, 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.340 that they are in our thoughts and prayers. 00:09:56.780 --> 00:09:57.879 And more so now, 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:00.680 all you hear is that they are in our thoughts. 00:10:01.420 --> 00:10:04.220 Even the word prayer isn't added on now. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:08.040 And perhaps it's maybe just a swell 00:10:08.040 --> 00:10:10.000 when people who know nothing of God 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.180 say you're in our thoughts and prayers. 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:14.820 Because who are they praying to? 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.560 We hope that people would cry out to the God of David, 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.840 the God of hosts, 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:22.960 the God of Israel. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:26.740 But so often it's just a token gesture. 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:30.480 But for the Christian, it's so different. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:33.660 If you are saying to anyone, 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:34.940 you are in our thoughts, 00:10:35.180 --> 00:10:36.540 and more so it is, 00:10:36.920 --> 00:10:38.080 you are in our prayers. 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.960 We are committing you and ourselves 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:43.360 to the living God. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:48.639 And so we should never fail to pray. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.899 We should never fail to confess our sin. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.620 But we should never fail to remember 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:59.960 who it is that we are praying to. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.700 Recognizing God for who he is. 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:08.980 That is the God who David is crying out to here 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:10.780 in the midst of his trouble, 00:11:10.860 --> 00:11:12.280 in the midst of his affliction. 00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:15.980 That is the God we cry out here to this evening 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:17.900 for others and for ourselves, 00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:20.160 to the living God, 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:23.540 the one who can do so much for us, 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.220 so much more than we ask or imagine. 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.220 We don't forget God. 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:29.899 We don't forget God. 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:33.279 Even in the midst of our most difficult experiences, 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:36.620 we acknowledge to whom else can we go. 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:38.660 There is no one. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:43.120 We come to God through Christ our Lord, 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:47.440 the one who has the words of eternal life. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:51.800 And so we come first in recognition. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:57.520 Recognizing who he is and trusting in this God. 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.860 The second thing we see here is the reproach 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:05.960 that David experiences in his life. 00:12:07.180 --> 00:12:09.600 In verse 9 and 10, 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:11.440 he speaks about this reproach. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.740 The reproach is of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:19.900 And when I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.820 it became my reproach. 00:12:22.880 --> 00:12:26.660 So we're seeing a little more of what the turmoil 00:12:26.660 --> 00:12:30.100 of his life experiences is here. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.440 It's suffering reproach. 00:12:34.220 --> 00:12:36.380 But what is reproach? 00:12:37.180 --> 00:12:40.880 You maybe hear the phrase when someone is above reproach. 00:12:42.040 --> 00:12:45.280 They're said they don't deserve blame or criticism 00:12:45.280 --> 00:12:46.800 in what they have done. 00:12:46.880 --> 00:12:48.600 They're above reproach. 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:52.680 But what about when someone is under reproach? 00:12:53.660 --> 00:12:56.480 I have been reproached, David is seeing here. 00:12:57.400 --> 00:13:00.780 The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:05.480 So he's feeling this sense of burden, of reproach. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:06.980 But what is it? 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:12.519 Well, we see it in so many different ways throughout the scripture, 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:14.019 just what reproach is. 00:13:14.180 --> 00:13:15.240 It's criticism. 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:16.240 It's taunting. 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:17.920 It's ridicule. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.259 It's all of these things. 00:13:19.420 --> 00:13:22.220 But it's not just something light. 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:27.019 It's not like we see today when people are so easily offended 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:28.360 by something you say. 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:31.759 There's so much more venom behind this reproach. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.419 It's a reproach of many. 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:37.159 The reproach of all around him. 00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:42.360 There's this just attack that David is experiencing. 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:46.159 It's coming at him from all kinds of different directions. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:50.319 Why is David hated so much? 00:13:50.439 --> 00:13:54.299 Well, we see here in verse 7, why? 00:13:55.339 --> 00:13:59.860 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.279 The dishonor has covered my face. 00:14:04.299 --> 00:14:10.120 The very reason that they hate him is because he is identifying himself with this living God. 00:14:10.699 --> 00:14:13.959 He's crying out in recognition of who God is. 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.580 And this love for God has brought reproach. 00:14:18.660 --> 00:14:20.040 Is it justified? 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:20.580 No. 00:14:21.280 --> 00:14:22.220 Is it deserved? 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:22.980 No. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:25.240 But it's there. 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:28.780 And what does reproach look like? 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:33.200 We see it in another psalm, in Psalm 42. 00:14:34.160 --> 00:14:36.480 The psalmist there says in verse 10, 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:43.320 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me or reproach me. 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:45.100 It's a word used there. 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:50.480 While they say to me all the day long, where is your God? 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.980 That is the reproach the psalmist was feeling there. 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:57.460 This cry, where is your God? 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.080 This taunting, this reproach that they were under. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:04.940 And it's a taunt, it's a reproach we see so often today. 00:15:06.060 --> 00:15:10.420 We may not get it directly spoken to us, but I'm sure many of us do. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.500 Ridicule for believing in God. 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:18.000 Where is this God of yours when there's so many things happening in this world? 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.920 So many cruelties, so much sadness, so much sorrow. 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:24.000 Where is your God? 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.200 You see it in the media so often. 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:33.580 You see more and more nowadays people are so willing to put themselves up there and say, 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:35.320 There is no God. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.799 Ridicule from those who are in famous positions. 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:47.639 I've seen over the last few years people like Stephen Fry, Ricky Gervais, even Lorraine Kelly, 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.980 taunting, reproaching God's people saying, 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:52.759 Your God's not real. 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:55.819 Where is your God in a mocking way? 00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:00.360 And we should feel that pain when we see other Christians suffering. 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:04.439 And when we hear these reproaches, these taunts being spoken. 00:16:05.439 --> 00:16:06.580 It should hurt us. 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:10.679 But we should not be cast down. 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.919 Because in Psalm 42, this question is asked, 00:16:15.019 --> 00:16:16.899 Where is your God? 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:17.939 There's this mocking. 00:16:18.319 --> 00:16:19.620 The psalmist says, 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:22.000 Why are you cast down, O my soul? 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.440 And why are you in turmoil within me? 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:25.919 Hope in God. 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:28.740 For I shall again praise him. 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:30.879 My salvation and my God. 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:32.820 There is this confidence. 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:42.279 And this confidence we see coming through more and more as we go through Psalm 69 as well. 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:46.220 Well, we haven't come to this evening, but in verse 13 it says, 00:16:46.339 --> 00:16:50.519 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. 00:16:50.519 --> 00:17:00.039 At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me in your saving faithfulness. 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:03.399 There's this confidence in God. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.619 Yes, there is reproach. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:10.980 But what does it remind us of? 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:17.099 Well, it reminds us of the one who has borne all our reproaches. 00:17:17.099 --> 00:17:29.959 Paul takes this psalm in Romans chapter 15, where he's speaking to the people about bearing with each other's weaknesses. 00:17:30.879 --> 00:17:32.939 And he says there in verse 3, 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:47.660 Quoting this psalm, applying it to Christ. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:56.340 Christ our Lord, the one who was innocent, the one who bore our reproach on himself, 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:59.000 who took our sin on himself. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:06.099 The spotless lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:11.240 The one who was innocent and yet condemned for us. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:18.000 And it's a wonder how you see this psalm again and again in the New Testament context, 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:22.460 always pointing us towards Christ. 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:29.440 Teaching us about him and our need to rest and abide in him. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:35.440 We suffer reproach, but he has suffered all our reproaches. 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:38.440 They've all fallen on him. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:46.640 And so the third thing, the final thing that we see in this psalm is the seal then that David has. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.080 And the seal that we should have. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:52.960 In verse 9 it says, 00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:57.480 For seal for your house has consumed me. 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:03.320 Although the day was hard, although the attacks on the enemy, they were many. 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:08.900 We see David with a great seal for God and for his house. 00:19:09.540 --> 00:19:10.580 And look at the way he says it. 00:19:10.580 --> 00:19:14.340 The seal for your house has consumed me. 00:19:14.339 --> 00:19:17.619 It is everything to me. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.579 You, Lord, are everything to me. 00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:24.019 I love your house. 00:19:24.139 --> 00:19:25.939 I love your worship. 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:27.279 I love your kingdom. 00:19:27.639 --> 00:19:29.399 I love your people. 00:19:29.639 --> 00:19:32.579 Seal for your house has consumed me. 00:19:32.639 --> 00:19:35.159 Even in the midst of my sufferings. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:36.519 Therefore you're sick. 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.359 Because I love you with all my heart. 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:48.359 As we read in the Gospel of John, we see there how it picks up these very words. 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:53.399 In the context of Christ's cleansing of the temple. 00:19:54.199 --> 00:19:58.879 When he sees his father's house becoming a den of robbers. 00:19:59.419 --> 00:20:02.779 My father's house, a house of trade. 00:20:03.179 --> 00:20:08.779 It says, as he turns over all the tables, his disciples remembered that it was written, 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.479 Seal for your house will consume me. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:18.220 And how our Lord served his father. 00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:25.700 Seal for his house consumed him in every way when he saw the sin of this world. 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:31.480 He not just cleansed the temple in that sense. 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:39.039 But as he went on to speak in that passage, he said, destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.839 How he was speaking about his body. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:47.379 How he would lay down his life for his people. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.940 How he was consumed with a love for his people. 00:20:54.659 --> 00:20:59.920 Jesus came not to be popular in this world or to be friends with all. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:06.799 He came to serve his father and seal for his house consumed him. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:12.700 And it's the disciples remembering that it was written, that it was written. 00:21:13.139 --> 00:21:15.139 These words in Psalm 69. 00:21:15.659 --> 00:21:18.119 For seal for your house has consumed me. 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:22.139 And we ask ourselves, is that how we live? 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.299 Is that the seal that we have? 00:21:25.379 --> 00:21:27.079 Is it for God's house? 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:28.399 For God's people? 00:21:28.779 --> 00:21:30.579 And for God's cause? 00:21:30.579 --> 00:21:38.019 Are we trusting in our God in this way where seal and love for him consumes us? 00:21:38.679 --> 00:21:44.439 And it shows in us that we have a passion for Christ. 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.399 We have a passion for his word. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.259 We have a passion for his cause. 00:21:50.539 --> 00:21:54.679 Are we consumed by seal for him? 00:21:54.680 --> 00:22:00.200 There's a story told of a famous English actor. 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:02.799 And he met a well-known preacher. 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:05.980 And the two of them struck up a conversation. 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:10.860 And the preacher, he said to the actor, I wish you would explain to me something. 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:12.640 And what is it? 00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:13.320 Asked the actor. 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:15.180 I don't know what I could explain. 00:22:15.580 --> 00:22:17.600 How I could explain anything to a preacher. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:23.299 And the preacher said, what is the reason for the difference between you and me? 00:22:25.219 --> 00:22:30.480 He went on to say, you are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction. 00:22:31.379 --> 00:22:34.240 And the crowds come wherever you go. 00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:40.139 The preacher went on saying, I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:43.399 And I am not getting a crowd at all. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:50.759 The actor, he thought about it for a minute and he said, well, the answer is quite simple. 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:54.259 I can tell you the difference between us. 00:22:55.380 --> 00:22:58.900 I present my fiction as though it were true. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:04.240 But you present your truth as though it was fiction. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:08.400 There was no seal for the word. 00:23:09.300 --> 00:23:12.120 There was no seal that this was truth. 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:14.179 That it was essential truth. 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:16.299 That everyone needed to hear. 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:24.500 And what should mark every Christian is with a zealous seal for the truth of God. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:29.079 That we are trusting in the precious word of God. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:33.479 That we are trusting in a saviour who came for his people. 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:36.419 That we are trusting that he is going to come again. 00:23:36.419 --> 00:23:41.719 That we are trusting that everything that is said in the word of God is true. 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:46.879 When you look down through the generations of God's people. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:51.420 What stands out is the seal of God's people. 00:23:52.120 --> 00:23:59.960 Whether you think of Stephen as he was stoned by those around him and a seal for the people. 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:05.080 When you think of Paul and his own experiences throughout the New Testament. 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:08.900 When you think of people throughout our own history in our land here. 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:09.880 The Covenanters. 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:15.000 When you think of preachers like Spurgeon or Martin Lloyd-Jones or many others. 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:16.840 You can think of famous people. 00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:22.620 But it's also marked in faithful Christians in every walk of life. 00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:26.460 Seal for the Lord consumes them. 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:33.660 And it's all because they see in Christ the seal that he had for them. 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:38.120 And that is how we are to be ourselves as well. 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:43.779 How Christ came to take away the sins of this world. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:48.759 Seal for your house has consumed me. 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:51.660 Can that be said of us? 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:53.660 Can that be said of you? 00:24:53.660 --> 00:24:54.800 Can it be said of me? 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.660 A seal for the Lord is what consumes us. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:01.180 It is what's keeping us going. 00:25:01.600 --> 00:25:04.940 As we think of the recognition we give to God. 00:25:05.320 --> 00:25:06.300 Who he is. 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:08.500 As we think of the reproach. 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:11.120 The taunts that his people suffer. 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:12.860 You and I included. 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:16.720 As we think it's our seal for him. 00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:19.440 Who bore our reproach. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.500 And it was consumed by seal for his people. 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:28.539 May this word go with us day by day. 00:25:29.080 --> 00:25:31.620 Reminding us of who we worship. 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:33.279 Who we pray to. 00:25:33.700 --> 00:25:35.480 What he has done for us. 00:25:36.039 --> 00:25:38.620 The seal that he has for his people. 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:42.680 And the seal that we should have for him. 00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:43.940 Let us pray. 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:47.759 Lord our gracious God. 00:25:47.840 --> 00:25:49.559 We thank you for your word. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:53.640 We thank you how it directs us in the paths of life. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.019 How it is a life giving word. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.120 How it reminds us that no matter our troubles in this world. 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.140 That we have one who has borne our grief. 00:26:03.259 --> 00:26:07.640 We have one who has taken away the sin of this world. 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:09.259 As we put our trust in him. 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:14.980 And we pray Lord that as he speaks of seal that consumed him. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:18.619 That we too would have a seal for the house of the Lord. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:20.279 And for the Lord's people. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:22.759 And for his cause in every way. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.500 We pray Lord that you will continue to bless us. 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:27.940 And to guide us as we ask all these things. 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.180 Asking the forgiveness of our sin. 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:31.200 In Jesus name. 00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:32.059 Amen. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:35.640 We're going to.