WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 You can turn your Bibles, please, to Psalm 31. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.259 Psalm number 31. 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:16.800 I believe that one of God's greatest gifts to his church is good hymn writers, good songwriters. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:27.060 ! A good songwriter can do in just a few stanzas what takes even the best preachers to accomplish in half an hour. 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:34.060 That's not at all to diminish the supremacy of preaching in our gathered worship services. 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:37.280 Of course, we understand that's how God has chosen to work. 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:39.239 That's how he uses his word. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.840 That's how he accomplishes his work in our hearts. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.759 I don't mean to diminish that in any way. 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:52.399 I only mean to say that God has a unique purpose for music in the life of his people, 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:56.920 a unique purpose for songs of the Lord. 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:00.000 I want you to think about your life. 00:01:00.120 --> 00:01:04.079 How many sermons have you heard in the course of your Christian life? 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:10.540 Some of you, perhaps thousands of sermons you've listened to over the course of your Christian life. 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:13.079 And I wonder how many of them you actually remember. 00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:16.520 Do you remember even last Sunday, right? 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:19.460 Can anybody remember where we were last Sunday? 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:26.019 Can you remember the outline of the text and the key emphasis of where we were there in 1 Peter 5? 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.979 I preached it and I can't hardly remember it. 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:35.879 And yet, we understand that through that, God nourishes us, doesn't he? 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:37.679 He shapes us. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:43.820 I dare say you probably don't remember the vast majority of the meals you've eaten in your life. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.100 And yet, those meals do what? 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:51.020 They nourish you and they feed you and they strengthen you and they form you. 00:01:51.320 --> 00:01:52.600 That's what preaching does, isn't it? 00:01:52.660 --> 00:01:57.060 But we don't typically remember preaching except in really unique circumstances. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.460 That's not the case with good songs, with good songs of the Lord, is it? 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:03.459 We remember them. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:11.579 We can go to the deathbed of people we love who have been Christians for a long time. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.859 They probably don't have many sermons or statements from preachers on their minds in those moments. 00:02:16.859 --> 00:02:29.659 But even those whose minds have deteriorated at the end of life might recall a hymn that they've sung and carried with them through their lives. 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:33.900 They may not even remember the people in their room with them. 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:36.379 But they'll remember that song. 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:37.340 Why? 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.000 Because God has created music to work that way. 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:45.400 He's created for the songs of the Lord to play a significant role in our worship. 00:02:45.819 --> 00:02:49.759 And he has chosen to use them for our good. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:57.780 And that becomes especially clear in the book of Psalms, which is where we're going to spend our time this summer. 00:02:57.780 --> 00:03:01.580 The Psalms aren't merely songs, of course. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:03.479 They are inspired scripture. 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:17.479 They're part of God's revelation of himself and of his salvation, voiced through the actual personalities and the actual experiences of the men he chose to write them. 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:26.240 They are deeply theological, teaching us about the nature and the character of God. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:29.800 They're uniquely Christological. 00:03:30.700 --> 00:03:37.180 Meaning that they point us forward to the person and the work of Jesus Christ. 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:45.800 And yet, despite being deeply theological and uniquely Christological, they are still immensely practical. 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:52.620 They teach us what it looks like to truly praise God from the heart. 00:03:52.820 --> 00:03:56.020 To pour out our hearts to God in adoration. 00:03:56.580 --> 00:03:57.880 They teach us to do that. 00:03:58.420 --> 00:04:06.380 They teach us what it looks like to truly confess our sins to the Lord and cling to his mercy in the midst of our iniquities. 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:08.460 As Andy read just a few moments ago, 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:12.040 Oh Lord, if you should count iniquity, who could stand before you? 00:04:12.420 --> 00:04:14.080 What is that Psalm teaching us to do? 00:04:14.540 --> 00:04:20.620 It's teaching us to recognize how humble we are to appear before the Lord. 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:25.060 How we are to confess our sins and cling to his steadfast love. 00:04:25.060 --> 00:04:28.339 They teach us how to grieve. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:32.360 How to voice our sorrows to God. 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:38.519 How to lament them and bring them to him while still remaining faithful. 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.100 They teach us how to seek God's blessings in prayer. 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:45.060 And all the Psalms do this. 00:04:45.340 --> 00:04:50.100 They do all of this with an unparalleled beauty. 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:52.800 It's a glorious book. 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:54.460 A unique book. 00:04:54.920 --> 00:05:00.620 And one that I think will be helpful for us as we've done the last few summers to spend our time in this summer. 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:03.280 And we're going to kick off here with Psalm 31. 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:04.100 Let's read it together. 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:08.300 To the choir master, a Psalm of David. 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:13.520 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:15.879 Let me never be put to shame. 00:05:16.580 --> 00:05:18.980 In your righteousness, deliver me. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:22.100 Incline your ear to me. 00:05:22.280 --> 00:05:23.600 Rescue me speedily. 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:26.620 Be a rock of refuge for me. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:30.080 O strong fortress to save me. 00:05:31.340 --> 00:05:33.840 For you are my rock and my fortress. 00:05:34.780 --> 00:05:37.900 And for your namesake, you lead me and guide me. 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.000 You take me out of the net they have hidden for me. 00:05:42.140 --> 00:05:43.920 For you are my refuge. 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:47.620 Into your hand I commit my spirit. 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:51.199 You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:55.740 I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:58.280 But I trust in the Lord. 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:02.959 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love. 00:06:03.139 --> 00:06:05.139 Because you have seen my affliction. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.500 You have known the distress of my soul. 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:12.459 And you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.759 You have set my feet instead in a broad place. 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:19.420 Be gracious to me, O Lord. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.240 For I am in distress. 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.139 My eye is wasted from grief. 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:27.519 My soul and my body also. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:30.819 For my life is spent with sorrow. 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:33.199 And my years with sighing. 00:06:34.099 --> 00:06:37.000 My strength fails because of my iniquity. 00:06:37.099 --> 00:06:38.579 And my bones waste away. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:44.180 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:45.839 Especially to my neighbors. 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.599 And an object of dread to my acquaintances. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.020 Those who see me in the street flee from me. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:58.000 I've been forgotten like one who is dead. 00:06:58.960 --> 00:07:00.920 I've become like a broken vessel. 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:04.400 For I hear the whispering of many. 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:06.580 Terror is on every side. 00:07:07.460 --> 00:07:09.600 As they scheme together against me. 00:07:09.640 --> 00:07:11.740 As they plot to take my life. 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:15.460 But I trust in you, O Lord. 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:18.300 I say, you are my God. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:21.259 My times are in your hand. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.160 Rescue me from the hand of my enemies. 00:07:25.340 --> 00:07:26.740 And from my persecutors. 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:30.259 Make your face shine on your servant. 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:32.660 Save me in your steadfast love. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.180 O Lord, let me not be put to shame. 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:37.720 For I call upon you. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:40.639 Let the wicked be put to shame. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.699 Let them go silently to Sheol. 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.899 Let the lying lips be mute. 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:49.879 Which speak insolently against the righteous. 00:07:50.159 --> 00:07:51.300 And pride and contempt. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.300 O how abundant is your goodness. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.120 Which you have stored up for those who fear you. 00:07:59.599 --> 00:08:02.300 And worked for those who take refuge in you. 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:04.539 In the sight of the children of mankind. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:08.519 In the cover of your presence you hide them. 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:10.079 From the plots of men. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.180 You store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:16.839 Blessed be the Lord. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.539 For he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me. 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:22.659 When I was in a besieged city. 00:08:23.620 --> 00:08:26.819 I had said in my alarm, I'm cut off from your sight. 00:08:26.979 --> 00:08:29.620 But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:31.620 When I cried to you for help. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.960 Love the Lord, all you his saints. 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:38.879 The Lord preserves the faithful. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.840 But abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:44.460 Be strong. 00:08:45.300 --> 00:08:46.759 Let your heart take courage. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.840 All you who wait for the Lord. 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:51.019 Amen. 00:08:52.800 --> 00:08:55.080 As we meditate on this psalm. 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:57.639 There's a couple of things we need to be careful of. 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:03.120 We need to be careful that we don't approach it as a spectator. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:12.019 Spectator almost voyeuristically just kind of peeping in on the emotional struggle of another person. 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:18.340 This isn't a secret entry from David's personal diary. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:19.699 That's not what this is. 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:26.340 He wrote the psalm and he sends it, we see in the superscription, to the choir master. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:33.699 So that all of God's people might employ it in personal and in corporate worship. 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:38.340 We're not meant to read it simply as David's prayer. 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:40.500 We're meant to pray it as our own. 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.960 So our approach then is not as a spectator. 00:09:44.379 --> 00:09:55.000 Our approach then is that of a worshiper seeking to express our faith to our God, especially in the midst of our distresses. 00:09:55.940 --> 00:10:01.860 Now that it is a psalm of David is always of special interest to us as well. 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:08.580 David, the king of Israel, writes not only as the representative of God's people, 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:16.879 but as the one whose life in particular foreshadows Jesus, the greater David. 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:23.580 If we were to borrow Paul's language to the church in Colossae, we would say, 00:10:24.040 --> 00:10:29.720 David is the shadow of which Jesus Christ is the substance. 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.620 His life is given to us. 00:10:32.680 --> 00:10:38.899 And what is given to us about his life is meant to point us forward to the Lord Jesus. 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:43.480 So Psalm 31 is truly David's prayer. 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:49.300 It's his true lament and his praise based on his real experiences. 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:57.279 And yet it is fulfilled in its fullness in the person and work of Jesus. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:00.699 You say, well, how can you actually tell that? 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.339 Wasn't this like hundreds of years before Jesus ever came? 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:05.179 And yeah, that's true. 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:09.620 But Jesus himself taught us to read the Psalms this way in Luke 24. 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:15.000 And to make it even easier for us in Psalm 31, we find a phrase here. 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:22.659 Jesus is quoting this Psalm from the cross just before he takes his final breath. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:29.039 Now, is Jesus in that moment just relating to the Psalm in some way? 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:29.879 Maybe. 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:31.679 But I think it's more than that. 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.240 And I think Jesus teaches us to think of it as more than that. 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:44.840 He is voicing this Psalm from the cross as the fulfillment, finally, of what the Psalm is all about. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:52.700 Now, all of that is to say that the fullest understanding of Psalm 31 and many Psalms that are like it 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:56.899 will only come as we see its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus. 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:00.000 So what then is the Psalm ultimately about? 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:08.539 Psalm 31 represents the prayer of the weary soul who is yet strong in faith. 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:25.700 It's a weary soul beaten down in great distress and yet simultaneously with a strength of faith that is somewhat unrivaled, isn't it? 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:34.080 The aim of the Psalm is to show us how we might trust and obey God in the midst of terrible distress. 00:12:35.660 --> 00:12:48.620 It calls us to be strong in faith, particularly as we await God's salvation and God's ultimate deliverance of our lives. 00:12:49.160 --> 00:12:52.820 And the question then becomes as we get into it is, are you weary? 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:59.640 I don't just mean do you have a newborn that didn't sleep well last night and you're a little tired today, right? 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:01.560 I mean a weariness of soul. 00:13:05.560 --> 00:13:06.900 Are you in distress? 00:13:10.900 --> 00:13:14.720 Are you desperate for God's intervention in your life? 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.500 Not just for menial things. 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:23.860 But there's a depth of darkness and struggle in your soul. 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:27.820 You're desperate for God to intervene in some way. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:29.940 Well, this Psalm is for you. 00:13:31.460 --> 00:13:38.259 God teaches us how to pray to Him when we are in the midst of that kind of trouble. 00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:42.139 And I just have a simple way of approaching it. 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:50.500 Maybe three different movements that we find in the Psalm that will help us understand how to pray when we have this deep darkness of the soul. 00:13:50.819 --> 00:13:57.279 First, in the first eight verses, we see we are to express our confidence in God alone. 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.759 Express your confidence in God alone. 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:03.759 Let's just look at it again. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:33.740 Verse 1. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:39.200 Into your hand I commit my spirit because you have redeemed me, O Lord. 00:14:39.319 --> 00:14:41.159 You are the faithful God. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:49.840 I reject entirely those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:57.120 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love because you've seen my affliction. 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.500 You've known the distress of my soul. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:07.820 You've not delivered me into the hand of the enemy, but have set my feet in a stable place and in a broad place. 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:08.840 What is this? 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:13.419 It's an expression of confidence in the Lord, his God. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:18.820 Now that the context of the prayer is imminent danger is clear from the very beginning, isn't it? 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:25.840 David's pleas for God to, quote, deliver me and rescue me speedily and save me. 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:27.660 They come immediately in the first two verses. 00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:31.240 We understand right away this is a form of lament. 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:33.240 David has a complaint. 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:34.200 He has a distress. 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:36.860 He's bringing his problems before the Lord. 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:43.039 And yet the emphasis in the first eight verses is not on the details of David's troubles. 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:44.460 That's not where he begins. 00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:48.300 It's clear that's where he's going, but it's not where he begins. 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:56.899 The emphasis is on his singular trust in the Lord as the source of his salvation. 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.620 Just consider the opening line once again. 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:02.220 How does he begin the prayer? 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:03.800 He burst at the very beginning. 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:06.500 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:09.000 That's an expression of faith. 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:14.379 Before he ever brings us trouble, you are my refuge, Lord. 00:16:14.839 --> 00:16:18.359 And I am coming to you as the refuge of my soul. 00:16:19.099 --> 00:16:20.779 Let me never be put to shame. 00:16:21.339 --> 00:16:24.519 In your righteousness, deliver me. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:29.939 Emphasis not on deliver me, but emphasis is on God's righteousness, 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:35.500 forgiveness, his faithfulness to follow through with his people. 00:16:37.400 --> 00:16:44.000 It's an expression of deep faith, a declaration that David knows God to be his only hope. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:53.580 In this context, shame is to be publicly shown to have relied on a false basis for hope. 00:16:54.419 --> 00:17:00.299 When David says, let me not be put to shame, what he has in mind there is not emotional embarrassment. 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:07.500 What he has in mind there is to put all of his eggs in the basket of the Lord, 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:12.279 only to find at the end that there was nothing there. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:15.740 That he put his hope in the wrong place. 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:19.440 That's what it means to be put to shame in this context. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:27.799 But David roots this hope in the righteousness of God to fulfill his promises to his people. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.779 He's not actually concerned about being ashamed. 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:34.900 He doesn't pray this because he thinks God isn't going to come through. 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:37.980 He's praying this as an expression of his trust. 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:40.680 In you, I find my refuge. 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:44.440 My hope is in your righteousness to deliver your people. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.680 Therefore, let me never be put to shame. 00:17:46.840 --> 00:17:50.380 I will not be put to shame because God will be faithful. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:53.180 That's how he begins. 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:58.720 From the very beginning, he's expressing full confidence in the Lord. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:07.920 And he prays in such a way as to lay hold on the promises in his heart that he knows to be true in his mind. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.420 He understands who God is. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.740 And now as he prays, he's laying hold on that in faith. 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:20.660 The prayer of the faithful is nothing less than confidence in God's righteousness. 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:33.279 It is hope in God's promises and that God will be faithful to those promises no matter how bleak the circumstances of our lives become. 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.800 And this expression of faith, it doesn't end with verse 1. 00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:40.580 It actually continues all the way through verse 8. 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:50.039 Perhaps in some reflection on God's faithfulness in the past, David declares that God is his rock and fortress. 00:18:51.099 --> 00:18:56.679 It's a picture there of a flood and a high place where he's able to seek refuge from the flood. 00:18:57.639 --> 00:19:06.379 And he says that the only refuge that I have, my rock in the midst of this distress, in the midst of this flood, is the Lord God, Yahweh. 00:19:06.380 --> 00:19:10.300 He trusts God's wisdom. 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:15.520 He has to be led by it so that God's name would be glorified in his life. 00:19:16.760 --> 00:19:21.380 He speaks of rescue due to God's faithfulness, the faithful God. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:27.340 He speaks of gladness and rejoicing in the steadfast love and mercy of the Lord. 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:38.339 He rejoices in the fact that he knows God sees him and knows the distress of his soul and will not abandon him ultimately to the enemy. 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:40.399 Gives him stability. 00:19:41.639 --> 00:19:46.740 And for all of these reasons, because of his total confidence in God's righteousness, 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.779 David is then able to proclaim in verse 5, 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.839 Into your hand I commit my soul. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:20:00.159 Into your hand I commit my life and my spirit. 00:20:01.439 --> 00:20:05.039 And you may be sitting there and thinking, you know, I think I've heard that before. 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:06.559 And you have. 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.659 These very words are on the lips of our Savior. 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:17.659 Just before he breathes his final breath on the cross, he quotes this psalm. 00:20:17.660 --> 00:20:21.660 Into your hands I commit my spirit. 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:26.700 And he breathes his last, Luke tells us in that moment. 00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:38.720 Such was Jesus' confidence in the Father that even in death, he trusted his soul entirely to God's plan. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:48.620 And indeed, God was faithful to deliver him, raising him up on the third day so that our hope might rest in him. 00:20:49.019 --> 00:20:49.480 Do you see? 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.720 Jesus is the fulfillment of the psalm. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.140 Who suffers the fullness of this distress. 00:20:58.539 --> 00:21:05.440 And yet at the same time, fully entrusts his soul to the faithfulness of God the Father. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:09.740 And God's faithfulness is proven in resurrection. 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:16.960 Therefore, we can look not only to David, but as we look to David, David says now, look to Jesus. 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:22.779 And we might know God is our refuge because he's proven himself to be the refuge of Christ. 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:29.080 He will be faithful to us because he's been faithful before. 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:36.359 And the world says that to be strong in our distress means you're going to have to really believe in yourself. 00:21:37.899 --> 00:21:39.699 You know that's a lie. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:46.619 If your trust is in yourself, you're only going to have more distress. 00:21:49.639 --> 00:21:57.599 To be strong in distress is actually to set your confidence in the one who is truly reliable. 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:11.319 It's to set your hope on God alone, rooting your confidence in his divine character, in his righteousness, in his faithfulness, in his steadfast love. 00:22:11.939 --> 00:22:17.799 And this expression of hope is central to the prayer of those who are strong in faith. 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:29.539 So in all your prayers of lament, in your troubles that you bring to the Lord, and you do need to bring them to the Lord, 00:22:30.539 --> 00:22:34.839 maybe don't begin with the trouble. 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:47.419 But begin by voicing your singular hope in God as the sole source of life and salvation. 00:22:48.639 --> 00:22:55.859 And do it not only as a means of worship to the Lord, maybe supremely as a means of worship, but not only. 00:22:55.859 --> 00:23:04.219 Do it also in order that you might remind your own soul of where your hope truly lies. 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.619 Isn't that the wonderful thing that God does in our prayers to him? 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:16.019 It's a supernatural work of the Spirit, I think, that we can come and fall before the Lord in prayer, 00:23:16.699 --> 00:23:22.859 pour out our hearts to him, and get up from that prayer, having nothing in our lives that have actually changed. 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:29.139 And yet, our souls can be full, and our faith can be strengthened, and our trust can be stable. 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:30.000 Why? 00:23:30.639 --> 00:23:33.759 Because this is how God works in our prayer. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.460 So maybe don't begin with the trouble. 00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:40.759 Maybe begin by just reminding yourself of where your hope really is. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:42.039 It's in the Lord God. 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:44.379 But it's not the only thing that David does. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:50.460 The second thing we see here is we see we are to submit our distress to God's sovereign care. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:57.799 We are to submit our distress to God's sovereign care. 00:23:57.819 --> 00:24:00.359 And we get this in verses 9 through 18. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:06.159 Now, contrary to what those in the prosperity movement would have you believe, 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:13.319 fully trusting God will not exempt you from terrible distress. 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:15.059 Are you surprised? 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:16.740 Of course you're not. 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:18.959 You know this, don't you? 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:28.559 If anything, trusting God may actually be a cause of your earthly troubles. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:32.700 Isn't that what we just spent the last several months studying in 1 Peter? 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:39.480 James Johnston says this prayer is wonderful because it's realistic. 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:47.220 You can pray in faith and still dissolve in a flood of tears. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.539 Have you ever been there? 00:24:48.539 --> 00:25:01.099 Your heart is steadfastly trusting in the Lord and yet you can't help but weep and grieve over your experience. 00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:08.299 The intensity of David's distress is seen in verses 9 and 10. 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:09.879 Just look at it. 00:25:09.919 --> 00:25:11.839 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I'm in distress. 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:14.259 My eye is wasted from grief. 00:25:14.379 --> 00:25:16.079 My soul and my body also. 00:25:16.919 --> 00:25:21.079 For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:27.419 My strength fails because of the iniquity of my iniquity and my bones waste away. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:29.039 It's intense, isn't it? 00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:34.720 He asks for God's gracious intervention because he feels he's reached the end of his rope. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:52.319 His grief is so great and has continued for so long that his whole being, body and soul is exhausted, wasted, spent. 00:25:53.420 --> 00:25:57.000 My eye is wasted with grief but it's not just my eyes, Lord. 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:01.400 My soul, my body, I've got nothing left. 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:04.140 The tank is empty. 00:26:06.360 --> 00:26:14.320 He's immersed in sorrow that has gone on for years and he's desperate, desperate for divine help. 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:18.800 And perhaps you know that kind of darkness of soul. 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:21.340 You're not alone in it. 00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:23.340 David helps us here. 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:26.380 Now, what are the causes of his distress? 00:26:27.280 --> 00:26:29.080 Those are explored in 10 to 13. 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:34.000 On the one hand, there is sorrow that results from personal sin. 00:26:34.919 --> 00:26:38.599 We'll get that specifically in Psalm 32. 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:41.159 But for now, he doesn't say what the sin is. 00:26:41.199 --> 00:26:42.399 He doesn't say much else about it. 00:26:42.399 --> 00:26:49.359 He just says that there is a part of this suffering that he feels, this wasting away that is the result of his own iniquity. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:55.799 The deceitfulness of sin is such that it offers far more than it can ever deliver on. 00:26:56.599 --> 00:27:02.699 And when we forsake God's laws, when we forsake God's wisdom, we face the consequences of that. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:04.899 And that includes deep sorrow. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:11.559 Sorrow that comes from the condition that we find ourselves in beyond our sin. 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:15.599 Verses 11 to 13, they continue it on. 00:27:15.679 --> 00:27:17.339 They show another cause of distress. 00:27:18.619 --> 00:27:22.480 Perhaps it's even best to understand this backwards. 00:27:22.700 --> 00:27:23.919 Reading it backwards. 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:27.019 13 then to 12 and 11. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:32.599 David is surrounded by enemies who are intent to take his life. 00:27:32.679 --> 00:27:33.319 That's 13. 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:34.720 I hear the whispering of many. 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:36.179 There's terror on every side. 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:39.700 They're scheming together against me so that they might kill me. 00:27:39.840 --> 00:27:41.519 They plot to take my life. 00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:49.900 And that has led to him being forsaken even by those who were supposed to love him and be there for him. 00:27:49.900 --> 00:28:00.360 In verses 11 and 12, because of my adversaries, because of all of these enemies that have surrounded me that seek to take my life, 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:02.700 I've become an approach even to my neighbors. 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:06.559 I'm an object of dread to acquaintances. 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:09.740 They see me come down the street and they cross to the other side. 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:11.740 They don't want to have anything to do with me. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.080 They've forgotten me like someone who's dead. 00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:19.160 I've become like a broken vessel, which is useless and good for nothing. 00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:20.620 It just gets tossed in the trash. 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:23.799 David says, that's how I've become as a result of this. 00:28:25.900 --> 00:28:31.180 Of course, we understand true friendship to be born in adversity. 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:40.360 But when David's enemies were multiplied in strength and he felt abandoned, forsaken, forgotten. 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:43.940 Have you ever been there? 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:50.660 There are those who you love and who you think will love you. 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:54.380 And so long as things are good in your life, they're there with you. 00:28:54.440 --> 00:29:04.279 But as soon as something becomes difficult or controversial or you begin to, there begins to be a stigma around you that they're afraid might pass on to them. 00:29:04.980 --> 00:29:05.880 What do they do? 00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:08.100 Distance themselves. 00:29:09.299 --> 00:29:10.440 They back away. 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:12.220 Feel forgotten. 00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:20.640 Now, interestingly, when we read this and we read the stories of David's life, we understand the feeling of abandonment. 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:25.120 But we also understand that he was never ultimately fully abandoned, was he? 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:31.279 In every scenario, and he had tremendously difficult scenarios in his life. 00:29:31.400 --> 00:29:35.460 But in all of them, there were some who stuck very closely to David's side. 00:29:35.460 --> 00:29:36.880 He had his mighty men. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:45.400 He had those who served him faithfully, even as his own son is driving him out of the kingdom, taking advantage of him, seeking his own life. 00:29:47.120 --> 00:29:53.440 But there is one who knew this kind of forsakenness in its fullest. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:56.019 It wasn't David. 00:29:56.680 --> 00:29:57.740 And it won't be you. 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:00.680 It was the Lord Jesus, wasn't it? 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:09.460 Those who at one time wanted to make him a king eventually cried out for him to be put to death. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:21.940 In his hour of greatest need, his closest friends, all of them, forsook him. 00:30:22.819 --> 00:30:23.440 They ran. 00:30:24.140 --> 00:30:24.480 Why? 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:30.100 Because he had become a reproach, and they needed to save their own skin. 00:30:31.299 --> 00:30:32.299 Isn't that why they ran? 00:30:32.299 --> 00:30:35.519 They were afraid to be associated. 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:49.940 The nature of what his atonement on the cross accomplished led him to cry out a quote from another psalm. 00:30:50.879 --> 00:30:54.799 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:30:54.799 --> 00:31:06.139 It was necessary that Jesus be forsaken so that we could truly be received. 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:09.859 He experiences this in its fullness. 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:17.819 And yet notice what David and therefore Jesus does after detailing the nature of his distress. 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:24.939 He submits it all to the sovereign plan and purposes of God. 00:31:25.919 --> 00:31:28.399 Notice the next verse, 14. 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:32.319 But I trust in you, O Lord. 00:31:32.419 --> 00:31:34.460 Here's all my problems, and they're bad. 00:31:35.179 --> 00:31:37.079 But my trust is in you. 00:31:37.980 --> 00:31:39.099 Here's what I say. 00:31:39.919 --> 00:31:41.720 You are my God. 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:46.379 And therefore, my times are in your hand. 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:48.660 My life is in your hand. 00:31:49.420 --> 00:31:53.200 I submit my distresses to you, David says. 00:31:54.500 --> 00:32:02.720 Yeah, those who trust in God are not free from trouble, but they do submit all of their troubles to God's sovereign care. 00:32:03.800 --> 00:32:05.260 Do you see what David means here? 00:32:05.560 --> 00:32:13.640 He means, yes, there's all these enemies, but even what the enemies are doing are within the sovereign purposes and plan of the God that I trust. 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:21.020 He not only is allowing the suffering in my life, he is bringing the suffering in my life. 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:26.140 And I just choose to trust him, David says. 00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:30.020 Now, we need to understand this rightly. 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:35.500 And I want you to see what David is doing in verse 15 in particular. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.139 Notice the declaration of trust. 00:32:38.619 --> 00:32:40.359 My times are in your hand. 00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:41.900 My life is in your hand. 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.299 You are sovereign over every detail of my life, God. 00:32:45.379 --> 00:32:47.660 And then he still turns around and asks something of God. 00:32:47.740 --> 00:32:48.839 It seems backward, doesn't it? 00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:54.119 He says that and then he says, but rescue me from the hand of my enemies, from my persecutors. 00:32:54.439 --> 00:32:57.139 Make your face shine upon me. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:32:59.799 Save me in your steadfast love. 00:33:00.199 --> 00:33:01.679 Don't let me be put to shame. 00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:03.480 Let the wicked be put to shame. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:07.759 Let the lying lips be muted and those who speak against me in pride and contempt. 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:09.079 Judge them, Lord. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:10.899 You know, what's happening here? 00:33:10.900 --> 00:33:17.660 How are we to understand this juxtaposition of trust, of recognition that God is sovereign over it all, 00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:22.920 and then still asking God to do something as if we have some kind of control over what he's decided? 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:25.580 How are we to understand this? 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:31.940 Well, trusting God doesn't mean we become indifferent to grief. 00:33:34.060 --> 00:33:39.880 Neither does it mean that a trusting God's sovereignty is fatalistic. 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:46.100 It doesn't say God is going to do what God's going to do, 00:33:46.380 --> 00:33:49.680 so my prayers and actions are ultimately irrelevant. 00:33:51.140 --> 00:33:53.220 No, that's not what this means. 00:33:53.300 --> 00:33:56.360 That's not what we're to understand here. 00:33:57.820 --> 00:34:05.680 We trust that the God who ordains the ends also ordains the means to that end. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:12.700 And insofar as it's consistent with God's character and God's truth and God's nature and God's word, 00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:16.480 we then are to submit our troubles to God, 00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:22.360 and then we act and we pray and we pursue deliverance from those troubles. 00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:25.180 Here's what this looks like. 00:34:25.179 --> 00:34:30.339 God, I trust you to provide for my hunger, 00:34:30.659 --> 00:34:35.460 and now I'm going to go to the kitchen and find something to eat. 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:40.460 It doesn't say, God, I trust you to feed me, 00:34:40.500 --> 00:34:44.179 and then you sit on the couch and just hope that magically your stomach gets full, right? 00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:46.759 No, that's not what this is. 00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:48.359 What is David doing? 00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:50.119 He's saying, I'm in all of this trouble. 00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:51.980 Lord, I submit it to you. 00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:53.239 I know you're in control. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:55.239 My life is in your hand. 00:34:55.339 --> 00:34:57.579 I trust my life to your purposes. 00:34:58.019 --> 00:35:00.759 But now I'm going to pray that you would do some specific things, 00:35:00.779 --> 00:35:02.799 if you'd be willing, if it would be part of your plan, 00:35:02.859 --> 00:35:04.659 if it would be good and glorifying to you, 00:35:04.799 --> 00:35:07.000 that you would do this for me, 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.940 and you would provide this for me. 00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:11.799 That's what he's doing. 00:35:12.359 --> 00:35:15.779 That's what it means to submit our distresses and our troubles 00:35:15.779 --> 00:35:17.799 to the sovereignty of God. 00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:23.980 Submitting our distress to the Lord is ultimately the fruit of the faith 00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:26.780 that was expressed in the first eight verses. 00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:31.580 It's trusting that even in death itself, 00:35:32.100 --> 00:35:34.260 God is faithful, 00:35:35.120 --> 00:35:40.220 and his providence is for our good and his glory, 00:35:41.220 --> 00:35:44.180 and he will not let us be shamed. 00:35:44.600 --> 00:35:47.019 Remember what I told you the context of shame is here. 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:49.820 Do you see that's part of David's prayer? 00:35:50.240 --> 00:35:52.600 Verse 17, let me not be put to shame. 00:35:53.300 --> 00:35:54.140 What is he saying? 00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:55.720 Lord, I know you're faithful, 00:35:56.460 --> 00:35:59.740 and I'm going to pray in accordance with that faithfulness 00:35:59.740 --> 00:36:01.420 that you'll come through, 00:36:02.120 --> 00:36:05.480 that you'll prove yourself like I know you will. 00:36:07.060 --> 00:36:11.360 This trust, it pours out its heart to God, 00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:12.280 and then it says, 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:14.840 my life is in your hands. 00:36:16.460 --> 00:36:18.800 It follows the pattern of the Lord Jesus, 00:36:19.740 --> 00:36:22.320 who in the garden of Gethsemane said, 00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:25.300 Father, if it be possible, 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:28.800 let the cup pass from me, 00:36:29.800 --> 00:36:31.140 but not my will. 00:36:32.220 --> 00:36:33.360 Your will be done. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:39.000 So we see we are to express our confidence 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:40.260 in the Lord God alone. 00:36:41.120 --> 00:36:43.260 We are to submit our distresses 00:36:43.260 --> 00:36:44.620 to God's sovereign providence 00:36:44.620 --> 00:36:46.360 and to his sovereign care. 00:36:47.680 --> 00:36:49.480 And then thirdly, this third movement, 00:36:49.680 --> 00:36:52.099 we see we are to praise God 00:36:52.099 --> 00:36:54.760 for his goodness and his steadfast love. 00:36:56.120 --> 00:36:58.059 Praise him for his goodness 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:00.519 and his steadfast love. 00:37:01.619 --> 00:37:02.259 Verse 19, 00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.139 oh, how abundant is your goodness. 00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:07.880 It seems out of place, doesn't it? 00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:09.099 Is this supposed to be another psalm 00:37:09.099 --> 00:37:10.559 and it just got numbered the wrong way? 00:37:11.779 --> 00:37:15.500 He just said that his life has so hard 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:17.480 and it's been so hard for so long 00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:19.199 that he doesn't know if he can carry on anymore. 00:37:19.299 --> 00:37:20.779 He's wasted away with grief. 00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:24.019 And at the same time, he's able to say, 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:26.119 oh, Lord, you've been so good to me. 00:37:26.119 --> 00:37:28.239 Is that possible? 00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:30.679 Is that foolish? 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:37.440 You've stored up this goodness 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:39.119 for those who fear you, he says. 00:37:39.539 --> 00:37:41.759 You've worked for those who take refuge in you 00:37:41.759 --> 00:37:43.739 in the sight of the children of mankind. 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:45.159 In the cover of your presence, 00:37:45.279 --> 00:37:47.420 you hide them from the plots of men. 00:37:47.799 --> 00:37:49.279 You store them in your shelter 00:37:49.279 --> 00:37:50.639 from the strife of tongues. 00:37:51.659 --> 00:37:52.579 Blessed be the Lord, 00:37:52.839 --> 00:37:54.359 for he has wondrously shown 00:37:54.359 --> 00:37:55.719 his steadfast love to me 00:37:55.719 --> 00:37:57.139 when I was in a besieged city. 00:37:58.139 --> 00:37:59.519 I said in my alarm, 00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:01.239 I'm cut off from your sight, 00:38:01.339 --> 00:38:03.839 but you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy 00:38:03.839 --> 00:38:06.259 when I cried to you for help. 00:38:06.739 --> 00:38:07.759 It's all praise. 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:10.919 He asked nothing of God here in these verses. 00:38:11.839 --> 00:38:13.599 It is unrestrained praise 00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:16.079 for God's goodness and steadfast love. 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:19.199 Don't ever think for a moment 00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:21.539 that deep grief 00:38:21.539 --> 00:38:23.840 and great sorrow 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:27.679 preclude joyful praise. 00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:30.500 Make impossible joyful praise. 00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:31.579 It doesn't. 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:33.960 Remember, this is a prayer song. 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:35.659 It's written to be voiced to God 00:38:35.659 --> 00:38:37.019 all at once. 00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:41.579 We're not cutting out a verse here of this hymn. 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:43.420 We're singing all of them, 00:38:43.820 --> 00:38:45.920 which includes an expression of trust, 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:48.360 an enumeration of distress, 00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:51.539 and then an abundance of praise. 00:38:51.539 --> 00:38:53.360 We're doing it all at one time. 00:38:53.860 --> 00:38:54.820 And most of our prayers, 00:38:54.980 --> 00:38:56.440 most of our experiences in life, 00:38:56.539 --> 00:38:58.519 they have this kind of layering to them, 00:38:58.559 --> 00:38:59.059 don't they? 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:01.700 And we go wrong 00:39:01.700 --> 00:39:03.680 when we don't work 00:39:03.680 --> 00:39:05.360 to pair our laments 00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:06.860 with our praise. 00:39:09.120 --> 00:39:10.300 David's praise is, 00:39:10.579 --> 00:39:11.640 I actually hear less 00:39:11.640 --> 00:39:12.960 about a particular moment 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:13.880 than it is about 00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:15.620 God's proven faithfulness. 00:39:15.619 --> 00:39:18.420 He's witnessed 00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.139 how God has stored up goodness 00:39:21.139 --> 00:39:23.819 for those who take refuge in Him. 00:39:24.980 --> 00:39:27.119 He protects His people from the enemy, 00:39:27.299 --> 00:39:28.339 and then David says, 00:39:28.659 --> 00:39:29.859 storing them, 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:31.539 that is storing His people 00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:32.719 in His shelter. 00:39:33.940 --> 00:39:36.119 It sounds remarkably like Peter, 00:39:36.219 --> 00:39:36.699 doesn't it? 00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:37.519 Who said, 00:39:37.819 --> 00:39:39.400 God stores up an inheritance 00:39:39.400 --> 00:39:42.159 for His people beyond this life 00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:43.519 while at the same time 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:45.119 securing His people 00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:46.400 in order that they might 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:48.239 receive that inheritance 00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:49.119 in their future? 00:39:51.019 --> 00:39:52.359 It's almost as if Peter 00:39:52.359 --> 00:39:54.480 was reading Psalm 31 00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:55.759 when he wrote his letter. 00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:56.359 In fact, 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:57.639 he quotes it at one point, 00:39:57.699 --> 00:39:58.500 if you remember that 00:39:58.500 --> 00:39:59.259 a few weeks ago. 00:40:00.980 --> 00:40:02.599 David continues his praise 00:40:02.599 --> 00:40:03.119 for God 00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:04.779 who hears our prayers 00:40:04.779 --> 00:40:06.199 and comes to our aid. 00:40:07.359 --> 00:40:08.079 He says, 00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:08.859 there are times 00:40:08.859 --> 00:40:09.579 that our distress 00:40:09.579 --> 00:40:10.659 leaves us feeling 00:40:10.659 --> 00:40:12.799 as if we're a besieged city. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:14.160 We're totally cut off 00:40:14.160 --> 00:40:15.560 from God 00:40:15.560 --> 00:40:16.560 and from God's goodness 00:40:16.560 --> 00:40:17.800 and from God's blessing, 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:19.220 and yet even there, 00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:21.680 God sees us 00:40:21.680 --> 00:40:22.680 and He hears us 00:40:22.680 --> 00:40:24.660 and He works His good for us. 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:26.320 In the moment, 00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:27.840 that's hard 00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:29.539 if it's not impossible to see, 00:40:29.680 --> 00:40:30.560 and yet we know 00:40:30.560 --> 00:40:32.620 in our own experience of life 00:40:32.620 --> 00:40:33.980 that in those moments 00:40:33.980 --> 00:40:35.080 we can look back 00:40:35.080 --> 00:40:35.640 and we know 00:40:35.640 --> 00:40:37.580 God actually did hear me 00:40:37.580 --> 00:40:38.880 and He did see me 00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:39.780 and He was working 00:40:39.780 --> 00:40:40.780 for my good. 00:40:42.099 --> 00:40:42.640 And therefore, 00:40:43.260 --> 00:40:44.160 we praise Him 00:40:44.160 --> 00:40:44.820 in our distress 00:40:44.820 --> 00:40:45.820 because we know 00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:46.840 how He works 00:40:46.840 --> 00:40:47.400 for our good 00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:48.180 and for His glory. 00:40:49.700 --> 00:40:50.660 The point is that 00:40:50.660 --> 00:40:51.800 we need to persist 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:53.019 in praise 00:40:53.019 --> 00:40:54.320 even in great distress. 00:40:56.760 --> 00:40:57.900 The point is that 00:40:57.900 --> 00:40:59.599 worship is not rooted 00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:01.280 in the emotions 00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:03.019 of any given moment. 00:41:04.900 --> 00:41:06.099 Worship is rooted 00:41:06.099 --> 00:41:07.579 in the reality 00:41:07.579 --> 00:41:08.880 of who God is 00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:10.480 at all times. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:12.159 Now, 00:41:12.219 --> 00:41:13.139 can we just let that 00:41:13.139 --> 00:41:14.380 marinate for a second? 00:41:16.259 --> 00:41:16.799 Worship 00:41:16.799 --> 00:41:18.759 is not rooted 00:41:18.759 --> 00:41:20.799 in the emotions 00:41:20.799 --> 00:41:22.519 of any given moment, 00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:24.559 whether that's a bad moment 00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:26.639 or a great moment. 00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:29.000 That's not where our worship 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:30.119 is ultimately rooted, 00:41:30.259 --> 00:41:31.299 and we need to be careful 00:41:31.299 --> 00:41:32.719 not to attach 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:35.039 true worship 00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:37.039 to a particular feeling, 00:41:37.179 --> 00:41:37.959 even though 00:41:37.959 --> 00:41:39.339 we understand feeling, 00:41:39.579 --> 00:41:41.379 to be significantly important 00:41:41.379 --> 00:41:42.000 to our worship. 00:41:43.879 --> 00:41:44.959 Where is it rooted? 00:41:45.739 --> 00:41:47.419 It's rooted in the reality 00:41:47.419 --> 00:41:48.739 of who God is 00:41:48.739 --> 00:41:51.219 and who He is 00:41:51.219 --> 00:41:52.099 all the time. 00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:54.219 Therefore, 00:41:54.439 --> 00:41:56.059 we can praise God 00:41:56.059 --> 00:41:57.299 in distress 00:41:57.299 --> 00:41:58.899 and in blessing, 00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:00.799 in life 00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:02.420 and in death, 00:42:03.200 --> 00:42:03.900 because though 00:42:03.900 --> 00:42:05.360 our circumstances change 00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:06.640 and our feelings change, 00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:08.019 He does not, 00:42:08.740 --> 00:42:10.240 and He is always worthy 00:42:10.240 --> 00:42:12.160 of abundant praise. 00:42:13.240 --> 00:42:14.660 Though He lead us 00:42:14.660 --> 00:42:15.760 through dark trials, 00:42:15.900 --> 00:42:16.460 His goodness 00:42:16.460 --> 00:42:18.019 and mercy 00:42:18.019 --> 00:42:18.180 remain. 00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:21.600 William Cooper 00:42:21.600 --> 00:42:23.400 wrote about that 00:42:23.400 --> 00:42:24.100 this way 00:42:24.100 --> 00:42:26.780 in a classic hymn, 00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:28.340 God Moves in a Mysterious Way. 00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:29.360 Here's what he wrote, 00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:30.599 Ye fearful saints, 00:42:31.539 --> 00:42:33.099 fresh courage take. 00:42:34.019 --> 00:42:34.700 The clouds 00:42:34.700 --> 00:42:36.120 you so much dread 00:42:36.120 --> 00:42:38.660 are big with mercy 00:42:38.660 --> 00:42:40.800 and shall break 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:41.620 with blessings 00:42:41.620 --> 00:42:42.660 on your head. 00:42:43.940 --> 00:42:45.260 Judge not the Lord 00:42:45.260 --> 00:42:46.720 by feeble sense, 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:48.120 but trust Him 00:42:48.120 --> 00:42:49.260 for His grace. 00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:51.480 Behind 00:42:51.480 --> 00:42:53.860 a frowning providence, 00:42:54.640 --> 00:42:55.800 He hides 00:42:55.800 --> 00:42:58.240 a smiling face. 00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:00.579 You can praise Him 00:43:00.579 --> 00:43:01.420 in your distress 00:43:01.420 --> 00:43:03.099 because He is 00:43:03.099 --> 00:43:03.820 just as good 00:43:03.820 --> 00:43:04.400 in your distress 00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:04.980 as He is 00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:05.559 in your blessing. 00:43:07.620 --> 00:43:08.300 We get to 00:43:08.300 --> 00:43:09.940 verses 23 and 24 00:43:09.940 --> 00:43:10.760 and we see 00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:11.740 how David 00:43:11.740 --> 00:43:12.260 concludes. 00:43:12.620 --> 00:43:13.620 He turns 00:43:13.620 --> 00:43:14.599 his address 00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:15.620 to the worshiper 00:43:15.620 --> 00:43:16.200 himself. 00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:17.620 Love the Lord, 00:43:17.700 --> 00:43:18.840 all you His saints. 00:43:19.900 --> 00:43:20.500 The Lord 00:43:20.500 --> 00:43:21.079 preserves 00:43:21.079 --> 00:43:21.740 the faithful, 00:43:22.579 --> 00:43:23.380 but abundantly 00:43:23.380 --> 00:43:24.019 repays 00:43:24.019 --> 00:43:24.460 the one 00:43:24.460 --> 00:43:24.960 who acts 00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:25.519 in pride. 00:43:26.519 --> 00:43:27.620 Be strong. 00:43:27.619 --> 00:43:29.359 Let your heart 00:43:29.359 --> 00:43:30.279 take courage, 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:31.819 all you 00:43:31.819 --> 00:43:33.119 who wait 00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:33.719 for the Lord. 00:43:35.019 --> 00:43:35.960 And herein 00:43:35.960 --> 00:43:37.039 lies the simple 00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:38.159 purpose of the psalm. 00:43:39.420 --> 00:43:40.559 It calls us 00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:41.420 to love the Lord 00:43:41.420 --> 00:43:42.599 in all our distresses 00:43:42.599 --> 00:43:43.500 because God 00:43:43.500 --> 00:43:44.759 preserves 00:43:44.759 --> 00:43:45.960 those 00:43:45.960 --> 00:43:47.699 who trust 00:43:47.699 --> 00:43:48.139 in Him, 00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:51.099 which necessarily 00:43:51.099 --> 00:43:51.759 means 00:43:51.759 --> 00:43:52.579 that He 00:43:52.579 --> 00:43:53.079 judges 00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:53.819 those 00:43:53.819 --> 00:43:55.159 who do not. 00:43:55.159 --> 00:43:57.879 and that's 00:43:57.879 --> 00:43:58.299 where all of 00:43:58.299 --> 00:43:58.859 this ends up, 00:43:58.920 --> 00:43:59.259 isn't it? 00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:01.399 It all ends 00:44:01.399 --> 00:44:02.179 up in a final 00:44:02.179 --> 00:44:02.599 judgment 00:44:02.599 --> 00:44:05.039 and at that 00:44:05.039 --> 00:44:05.500 time, 00:44:06.399 --> 00:44:06.980 the faithful 00:44:06.980 --> 00:44:07.699 will not be 00:44:07.699 --> 00:44:08.379 put to shame. 00:44:09.259 --> 00:44:09.940 God will prove 00:44:09.940 --> 00:44:11.039 Himself faithful 00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:13.199 in our salvation 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:14.000 and deliverance 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:14.500 ultimately. 00:44:15.699 --> 00:44:16.599 But those 00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:17.079 who trust 00:44:17.079 --> 00:44:17.759 in themselves 00:44:17.759 --> 00:44:18.519 or as David 00:44:18.519 --> 00:44:19.099 says, 00:44:19.179 --> 00:44:19.719 in worthless 00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:20.319 idols, 00:44:20.899 --> 00:44:21.460 in some 00:44:21.460 --> 00:44:22.579 other thing 00:44:22.579 --> 00:44:23.659 indifferent to 00:44:23.659 --> 00:44:24.059 God 00:44:24.059 --> 00:44:25.000 or an enemy 00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:25.799 of God 00:44:25.799 --> 00:44:27.819 will stand 00:44:27.819 --> 00:44:28.460 before Him 00:44:28.460 --> 00:44:28.980 in judgment. 00:44:29.279 --> 00:44:29.719 They are the 00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:30.259 ones 00:44:30.259 --> 00:44:31.239 who will be 00:44:31.239 --> 00:44:31.759 ashamed, 00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:33.659 will not 00:44:33.659 --> 00:44:34.420 receive God's 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:34.799 blessing. 00:44:35.879 --> 00:44:36.599 They will 00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:37.179 receive His 00:44:37.179 --> 00:44:37.579 judgment. 00:44:38.679 --> 00:44:39.000 Well, 00:44:39.019 --> 00:44:39.339 what does that 00:44:39.339 --> 00:44:40.199 mean for us? 00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:41.779 Well, 00:44:41.799 --> 00:44:42.440 it means that 00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:43.339 for those of you 00:44:43.339 --> 00:44:43.980 who are in 00:44:43.980 --> 00:44:44.460 Christ, 00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:44.799 who know 00:44:44.799 --> 00:44:45.279 the Lord, 00:44:46.619 --> 00:44:47.319 in your 00:44:47.319 --> 00:44:47.779 current 00:44:47.779 --> 00:44:48.359 trouble, 00:44:49.559 --> 00:44:50.739 be strong, 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:53.139 strong of 00:44:53.139 --> 00:44:53.519 heart, 00:44:53.659 --> 00:44:55.899 take courage, 00:44:57.219 --> 00:44:57.799 wait for 00:44:57.799 --> 00:44:58.299 the Lord. 00:45:00.019 --> 00:45:00.539 What do you 00:45:00.539 --> 00:45:00.980 mean wait? 00:45:01.059 --> 00:45:01.659 Wait for His 00:45:01.659 --> 00:45:02.279 salvation. 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:04.799 He gives us 00:45:04.799 --> 00:45:05.599 a taste of it 00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:05.899 in our 00:45:05.899 --> 00:45:07.019 experiences now. 00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:07.940 But we 00:45:07.940 --> 00:45:08.699 understand ultimately 00:45:08.699 --> 00:45:09.279 we're waiting 00:45:09.279 --> 00:45:09.659 for that, 00:45:09.739 --> 00:45:10.139 not here, 00:45:10.219 --> 00:45:10.619 we're waiting 00:45:10.619 --> 00:45:11.699 for it beyond 00:45:11.699 --> 00:45:12.399 this life. 00:45:13.659 --> 00:45:14.559 Wait for Him. 00:45:15.619 --> 00:45:16.559 Be faithful to 00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:16.719 Him. 00:45:16.839 --> 00:45:17.599 Take courage, 00:45:17.719 --> 00:45:18.500 be strong. 00:45:18.500 --> 00:45:21.059 because truly 00:45:21.059 --> 00:45:22.420 your life 00:45:22.420 --> 00:45:22.900 is in 00:45:22.900 --> 00:45:24.099 His hands. 00:45:24.099 --> 00:45:25.900 Be faithful to 00:45:25.900 --> 00:45:26.179 His hands.