WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.540 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:10.620 Join us. 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:18.699 These are the words of the psalm we just sang, Psalm 130. 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.519 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 00:00:23.859 --> 00:00:25.519 O Lord, hear my voice. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:29.560 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:34.939 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.560 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.560 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:51.240 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 00:00:51.900 --> 00:00:59.560 O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.299 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:08.159 Thus far, God's holy word. 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:12.819 May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his word. 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:21.299 If you've ever traveled to a country where you didn't speak the native language of that country, 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:24.979 you know how difficult and awkward that can be. 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.059 How disconcerting it can be for you. 00:01:28.139 --> 00:01:30.839 To try to have even the most basic conversation. 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:36.439 Or to find the simplest place you're trying to go when you can't read the words on the signs, 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:40.859 and you don't know what words to use to ask for what you're looking for. 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:43.420 I love languages. 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:48.920 And I love being in other countries and trying to learn how to communicate without actually knowing the language. 00:01:49.039 --> 00:01:50.359 It's embarrassing if you're with me. 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:52.479 But I really enjoy it. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:02:01.939 Even for someone who enjoys that setting, I can tell I'm missing some of the richness of life, 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:05.640 the relationships that would be there because of that language barrier. 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:10.280 It feels even worse if you don't like and enjoy that dynamic. 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:16.360 I think that feeling is true for many of us with the language of lament. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:24.039 The language of the psalm that we just read and sang that cries out of the depths. 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:30.599 The language of lament is not, for most of us, our native tongue. 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:37.860 And it's not our native tongue largely because we haven't spent a lot of time in the depths. 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:45.960 I define the depths as an experiential or felt distance from God. 00:02:46.600 --> 00:02:52.420 A time or a place where we seem desperate and He seems far away. 00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:58.340 For most of us, we've lived with most of our needs met and more. 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:01.860 We've grown up with churches on every corner. 00:03:02.820 --> 00:03:06.700 We've heard it's more spiritual to smile than to frown. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:09.739 We're just not that familiar with the depths. 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:11.939 It doesn't seem right to us. 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:13.939 God seems to be nearby. 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:16.179 At least, we should act like it. 00:03:17.239 --> 00:03:24.659 In fact, I think to put the first three verses of this psalm into the native tongue of most middle class American Christians, 00:03:25.519 --> 00:03:27.339 they would sound more like this. 00:03:27.399 --> 00:03:29.699 And I don't mean this in a blasphemous way, 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.179 just to help us notice some of the differences. 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:35.060 We might say something like, 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:40.080 in the midst of life's inconveniences and frustrations, 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.480 I complain to you, O Lord. 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:45.159 O Lord, hear my gripes. 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:49.860 Listen and do something about my discomfort. 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:53.540 If you, O Lord, kept track of sins, 00:03:53.660 --> 00:03:55.780 well, no one's perfect. 00:03:57.480 --> 00:04:01.760 That may be most of what we could put into words. 00:04:01.880 --> 00:04:05.580 In our language, we're not used to speaking the language of this psalm. 00:04:05.760 --> 00:04:07.900 And it's not just this psalm. 00:04:08.320 --> 00:04:12.260 The lament is the most common type of psalm in the entire psalter. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:14.900 The hymn book of God's people. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.680 The words God has written to be put in the mouths of His people. 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.639 The language He tells them they ought to speak 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.879 and that He teaches them to speak. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:29.720 Lament is a primary dialect in the language of the psalms. 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:33.500 The psalmist speaks often of feeling distant from God. 00:04:33.840 --> 00:04:35.699 Of being in the depths. 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:41.199 So we as God's people must learn the language of lament. 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:43.139 The language of the depths. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.120 Why, I want to ask tonight, 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.519 why particularly is that so important for us? 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:55.420 Three brief reasons that we see here as we look at Psalm 130. 00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:59.660 The first reason is our universal human condition. 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:04.959 The depths are where we experience or feel distance from God. 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:08.340 And that, by the very nature of who we are, 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:09.959 is what humans experience. 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:14.719 There is a huge gap between creator and creature. 00:05:15.359 --> 00:05:19.579 We are in many ways very different from God. 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:21.459 We're not like Him. 00:05:21.539 --> 00:05:23.959 His thoughts are higher than ours. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:25.779 His ways are higher than ours. 00:05:25.919 --> 00:05:28.699 He is limitless while we are by nature. 00:05:29.179 --> 00:05:31.479 And as He created us, very limited. 00:05:32.159 --> 00:05:36.979 So the feeling of distance from God is a common human experience. 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.000 He is crying out and saying, 00:05:39.140 --> 00:05:40.439 God, where are you? 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:42.040 You seem far away. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.720 That's why the psalmist speaks so regularly of it. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.200 You could think of many other biblical characters 00:05:49.200 --> 00:05:52.080 who experience the depths in this sense. 00:05:52.840 --> 00:05:55.939 Perhaps Daniel felt it in the lion's den. 00:05:56.819 --> 00:06:00.259 Joseph maybe in the bottom of a pit or in prison. 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:03.259 Certainly Jonah in the belly of the whale 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:06.659 cries out from what he says is the depths of Sheol 00:06:06.659 --> 00:06:10.860 as far away as he could possibly be from the presence of God. 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:17.539 As people, we suffer and feel God far off in all sorts of ways. 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:21.659 The grief of losing a loved one. 00:06:22.659 --> 00:06:25.839 The trauma of a surprise diagnosis. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.899 The horror of natural disaster or the devastation of war. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.699 All sorts of suffering around us that we see, 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.419 at least in others' lives, day in and day out. 00:06:37.479 --> 00:06:39.879 They may make us feel the distance from God. 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:42.620 The depths of sorrow and anguish. 00:06:44.659 --> 00:06:46.000 You've read the news. 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.739 Those who love God are martyred. 00:06:48.740 --> 00:06:54.500 Lord, their families certainly would weep and cry out, 00:06:55.060 --> 00:06:57.800 God, from the depths, where are you? 00:06:58.139 --> 00:06:59.019 Hear me. 00:07:01.780 --> 00:07:04.939 When we read these first two verses of the psalm, 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:06.819 Oh Lord, hear my voice. 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:10.439 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:13.139 All of us can imagine in different ways 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:15.639 feeling the need to cry out for mercy, can't we? 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:20.300 We need the language of lament to cry from the depths. 00:07:22.419 --> 00:07:26.019 But why else do we need to learn the language of lament? 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.779 I think secondly, it's the undeniable reality of sin. 00:07:31.659 --> 00:07:32.599 Look at verse 3. 00:07:34.099 --> 00:07:36.779 If you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:39.300 oh Lord, who could stand? 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:43.879 It's in this verse that we see the particular situation 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:46.480 that called for this psalm of lament. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.180 It was the psalmist experiencing the depths 00:07:50.180 --> 00:07:53.120 and the sense of seeing the reality of his own sin. 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:56.939 He realizes that if God kept records of sins 00:07:56.939 --> 00:07:58.720 and used them against us, 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.199 none of us would stand before Him. 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:02.819 In fact, God's Word says, 00:08:03.080 --> 00:08:03.960 far from standing, 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:08.579 we fall before His glorious and perfect standard. 00:08:08.659 --> 00:08:09.339 All of us. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:12.759 But the psalmist's vision of his own sin 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.919 has made him desperate, hasn't it? 00:08:15.739 --> 00:08:18.740 That's what it is that caused him to cry out 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:21.779 from the depths where he feels overwhelmed 00:08:21.779 --> 00:08:24.519 by the distance that needs to be bridged 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:29.060 to reunite a sinful psalmist with His holy Creator. 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:32.259 He's pleading for mercy 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:33.960 because he knows there's no way 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:36.220 that he deserves to be near God. 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:38.960 He's not just less than perfect. 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:41.360 He's desperately wicked. 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:45.480 He's slowed down to examine his heart and his life 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.279 and he's disgusted and distressed by what he finds. 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.700 Romans describes no one as righteous. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.480 Instead, it says our tongues are deceiving. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:58.759 Our mouths are cursing 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.279 and venomous to wound others. 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:03.799 Our feet are rushing to violence, 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.480 leaving destruction in our wake. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:09.620 And those are harsh words, 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:11.259 but that happens in our homes, 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:14.080 in our relationships every day, doesn't it? 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:15.399 But we say, 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:17.100 well, I just had a bad day. 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:20.220 You know, really, that's just not like me. 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:21.519 I slipped up. 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:25.799 We minimize and gloss over our sin. 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.979 We fail to appreciate the depth of our depravity. 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:32.420 And we need the language of lament to speak about it appropriately, 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:34.779 the way God sees it. 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:40.819 And I think finally we need to learn the language of lament 00:09:40.819 --> 00:09:45.159 because of the unparalleled riches of God's forgiveness. 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:51.059 not just so we can voice our universal human distance from God, 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:54.199 not just so we can accurately account for our sin, 00:09:54.819 --> 00:09:59.379 but also so we can rightly appreciate God's incredible grace. 00:09:59.939 --> 00:10:03.379 That's what the rest of this psalm speaks of the last several verses. 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:04.860 Look at verse 4. 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:07.519 No one can stand. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:08.700 We're full of sin. 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:10.120 And then, but. 00:10:10.939 --> 00:10:11.480 But. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:12.600 There's something else. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:13.919 There's more to the story. 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:16.019 With you, there is forgiveness. 00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:17.620 Verse 7. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:22.220 With the Lord is steadfast love and plentiful redemption. 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:26.620 He'll redeem us from all our iniquities. 00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:27.580 Verse 8. 00:10:28.059 --> 00:10:30.279 Those same iniquities that were the ones 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:33.379 that made us not able to stand before Him. 00:10:34.959 --> 00:10:38.480 Isn't that glorious once you've faced the depths of your sin? 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.439 Once you've despaired over your separation from God, 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.899 then you hear plentiful redemption 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:46.459 and you're desperate for it. 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:48.699 Those become beautiful words. 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:50.439 Plentiful redemption. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.179 Oh, there is hope. 00:10:53.819 --> 00:10:56.339 But until we really see our sin rightly, 00:10:56.339 --> 00:10:58.620 that plentiful redemption will seem 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:00.639 merely like a nice gesture 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:04.519 rather than our only hope for life. 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:08.179 It's the difference between a refill on your drink 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:09.980 during lunch at a restaurant 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:13.980 and a stream of water that you lap up desperately 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:16.480 after days of walking in the desert 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.879 and your mouth is parched. 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:22.120 Is God's forgiveness merely a refill to you? 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.519 Nice to have because you weren't quite perfect? 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:28.399 Or have you really seen your sin 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.559 and gotten desperate for a drink? 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:32.799 Longed for hope somewhere? 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.000 Ask God over the next few minutes 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:38.699 and the next few weeks 00:11:38.699 --> 00:11:40.779 in this season of Lent 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:43.240 to show you the depths of your sin. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.419 Because you won't be stuck there. 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:50.139 If He pulls the curtain back for you, 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:52.779 He'll not only show you a little bit of your sin, 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:53.980 He'll be there too. 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:55.720 Full of forgiveness. 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:58.079 If you let Him expose you, 00:11:58.079 --> 00:12:00.319 it will make your joy even greater 00:12:00.319 --> 00:12:03.339 because your desperation for His deliverance 00:12:03.339 --> 00:12:04.459 will be so strong. 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:07.279 Spurgeon said this psalm teaches us 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:09.959 that he that cries out of the depths 00:12:09.959 --> 00:12:12.879 shall soon sing in the heights. 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:16.019 You have to get there to the depths 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:17.939 if you really want to enjoy the song 00:12:17.939 --> 00:12:19.740 at the end of it. 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.600 I love this other line from Spurgeon. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:24.840 I'll put it in context a little. 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:25.899 He said, 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:28.340 Deep places beget deep devotion. 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:31.159 Depths of earnestness are stirred 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.120 by depths of tribulation. 00:12:34.060 --> 00:12:36.500 Diamonds sparkle most amid the darkness. 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:38.000 And here's the line I love. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.659 Prayer de profundis, 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:42.320 which is from the depths, 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:46.240 gives to God gloria in excelsis. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:47.200 You know those words. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.020 Prayer from the depths 00:12:50.020 --> 00:12:52.980 gives God glory in the highest. 00:12:53.340 --> 00:12:55.060 Those who learn the language of lament 00:12:55.060 --> 00:12:57.020 also learn to sing with the angels, 00:12:57.220 --> 00:12:57.660 don't they? 00:12:58.420 --> 00:13:00.860 They're overjoyed at God's provision. 00:13:01.560 --> 00:13:04.440 They rejoice the way God has said we should. 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:05.680 It's natural. 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:06.980 We don't have to pretend. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.820 So how do you learn the language of lament? 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.420 Boy, you can't order that online, can you? 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:18.979 How do you learn the language of lament? 00:13:19.459 --> 00:13:21.319 I think it's similar to the best way 00:13:21.319 --> 00:13:22.500 to learn another language 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:23.879 that's not your native tongue. 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:24.979 What's the best way? 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:27.639 It's immersion in the culture, right? 00:13:28.479 --> 00:13:28.919 Go. 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:32.019 Live with those who speak the language. 00:13:32.199 --> 00:13:32.899 Live around it. 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:36.759 Just a few ideas for this particular language 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:38.199 I'd offer you tonight. 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.080 Listen without judgment 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.060 to those who have suffered deeply. 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.820 Don't criticize them for not smiling 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:51.420 or sounding spiritual 00:13:51.420 --> 00:13:53.400 to you in the moment 00:13:53.400 --> 00:13:55.800 when they're sharing their deep pain. 00:13:56.060 --> 00:13:57.640 Listen to them. 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:00.940 Learn without pride 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:04.060 from those under severe persecution. 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:07.099 Don't look down on other cultures 00:14:07.099 --> 00:14:09.199 but learn from brothers and sisters 00:14:09.199 --> 00:14:10.199 around the world. 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.839 Read a blog or a news report 00:14:13.839 --> 00:14:15.119 or an interview with someone 00:14:15.119 --> 00:14:17.219 who's had a family member martyred 00:14:17.219 --> 00:14:19.099 and don't think of how you're better 00:14:19.099 --> 00:14:19.699 than they are. 00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:22.359 Learn from what they've gone through. 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:27.339 Say look without excuse 00:14:27.339 --> 00:14:29.500 at the sin in your own heart. 00:14:30.079 --> 00:14:31.459 Don't downplay it. 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:33.960 Really take this season 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:35.620 and ask God to show you 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:37.060 what you often miss. 00:14:37.180 --> 00:14:38.460 Take an honest look 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:40.139 and ask that God would reveal 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:41.720 your sin to you. 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:46.500 And then perhaps easiest 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:47.680 but most important, 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:50.440 lament without editing 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:51.680 from God's Word. 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:53.560 Don't be too creative. 00:14:54.900 --> 00:14:56.040 Read the Psalms. 00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:58.180 Learn how God's people 00:14:58.180 --> 00:14:59.379 are to cry out to Him. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:00.879 You can't flip more than a couple 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:02.279 without hitting a Psalm of Lament. 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:03.860 You can get a list of them anywhere. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:06.340 Read the Psalms of Lament. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.240 See the words that God puts 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:09.559 in the mouths of His people 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.179 to speak to Him, 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.019 to cry out from the depths to Him. 00:15:15.820 --> 00:15:17.519 When you begin to learn a new language, 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.639 you get through some of the discomfort 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.200 and you find a richness of life 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.120 and relationship on the other side. 00:15:24.439 --> 00:15:25.960 It's a painful process. 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:28.299 Difficult often. 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:30.679 But you find that you connect 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.439 in new ways with the people 00:15:32.439 --> 00:15:33.539 all around you. 00:15:33.579 --> 00:15:35.199 The ones who speak that tongue 00:15:35.199 --> 00:15:36.319 naturally. 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:38.379 I hope we're starting 00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:40.179 some of that together tonight. 00:15:40.839 --> 00:15:42.339 During this season of Lent 00:15:42.339 --> 00:15:43.259 that we have together. 00:15:43.439 --> 00:15:45.240 We must learn this language 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.899 so that we can fully enjoy 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:48.279 the richness of life 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:50.419 together in God's kingdom. 00:15:50.699 --> 00:15:52.479 Because it's full of this. 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:55.219 It may not be your native language tonight, 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:56.879 but it's the one that someone 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:58.220 sitting next to you needs. 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:01.899 It's the one that they can't find 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:03.320 to voice what's going on 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:03.980 in their hearts. 00:16:04.560 --> 00:16:05.680 It's one that soon 00:16:05.680 --> 00:16:07.019 you'll be longing for 00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:08.000 and reaching for. 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:09.879 We must learn it together 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.080 so that we can share 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:13.259 the fullness and the richness 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:15.660 of the life that God intends for us. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:16.820 The good news is 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:18.779 God's committed to teaching it to us. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:21.759 Puritan Archibald Simpson 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:22.500 once wrote, 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:24.639 When we are in prosperity, 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:26.700 our prayers come from our lips. 00:16:27.700 --> 00:16:28.240 And therefore, 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.320 the Lord is forced 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:30.840 to cast us down 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:33.059 that our prayers may come 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:34.200 from our hearts 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:35.840 and that our senses 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:36.879 may be wakened 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:37.899 from the security 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:39.299 in which they are lying. 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:43.139 That can't be a pleasant process, 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:44.220 I don't imagine. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:45.659 But I look forward 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:46.659 to learning together 00:16:46.659 --> 00:16:48.080 more of what it looks like 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.159 to pray from our hearts. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:53.399 I suspect in the next few days, 00:16:54.219 --> 00:16:55.620 in the next few decades, 00:16:56.199 --> 00:16:58.279 of living as God's people, 00:16:58.620 --> 00:16:59.699 that won't be easy 00:16:59.699 --> 00:17:01.259 or pain-free, 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:02.860 even in Huntsville. 00:17:03.819 --> 00:17:06.079 But as we experience the depths, 00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:08.099 He will meet us there. 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:10.000 And one day, someday, 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:12.079 we will also sing together 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:13.339 in the heights. 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:14.039 Amen? 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:14.139 Amen. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:16.000 Amen. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:24.259 In response to God's grace, 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:25.800 in the knowledge 00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:27.100 that there is indeed 00:17:27.100 --> 00:17:28.740 plentiful redemption 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:30.140 to be found 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:31.600 when we cry out to Him, 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:33.940 let us therefore embrace 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:36.160 a season of self-examination 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:36.860 and repentance 00:17:36.860 --> 00:17:38.600 by prayer, 00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:40.000 fasting, 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:41.000 and self-denial, 00:17:41.800 --> 00:17:43.180 and by reading and meditating 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:44.480 on God's Holy Word, 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:46.840 and to make a right beginning 00:17:46.840 --> 00:17:47.540 of repentance, 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:48.500 and as a mark 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.000 of our mortal nature, 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:51.460 let us now silently 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:52.680 confess our sins 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:53.500 and shortcomings 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:54.440 before the Lord, 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:56.099 our Maker and Redeemer. 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:04.619 Let's pray. 00:18:05.379 --> 00:18:06.440 Almighty God, 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:08.000 You have created us 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:08.920 out of the dust 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:09.539 of the earth. 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:12.039 Grant that these ashes 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:13.099 may be to us 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:14.619 a sign of our mortality 00:18:14.619 --> 00:18:15.659 and repentance. 00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:17.580 We are created 00:18:17.580 --> 00:18:18.360 from the dust 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:18.980 of the earth. 00:18:19.100 --> 00:18:19.560 To dust 00:18:19.560 --> 00:18:20.900 shall our bodies return. 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:22.920 Grant that we may remember 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:24.540 without Your gracious gift 00:18:24.540 --> 00:18:25.900 of everlasting life, 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:27.860 we would be nothing more. 00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:29.779 Through Jesus Christ, 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:30.440 our Savior. 00:18:31.340 --> 00:18:31.700 Amen. 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:36.900 For more information, 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.200 visit us online 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.500 at southwood.org. 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:39.580 Southwood.org. 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:46.960 Amen. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:13.660 Amen.