Thank you, Olivia.
It's not often you get your daughter to pray for you
before you start to speak.
So that is a bit of a new one for me.
I just want to say just a few things about
the relationship the church has here with Brunsfield.
I was thinking how far it went back.
Many, many years ago, just after we were married,
and we've been married for 35 years,
we entertained Archie Naismith for a full day.
It's not things that young couples do nowadays in church
because you kind of get them off their Xbox
until they're about 40.
But we entertained Archie for a full day.
And then at night time, an elder said to me,
can you give Archie a run to the station?
And the rain was coming down.
It was dark.
I said, you can't ask Archie to go on the train
and go back to Edinburgh.
So I said, Archie, I'll take you back to Edinburgh.
I said, on the one proviso,
I need to be back pretty sharp.
So Archie held on with grim fear and death
all the way to Edinburgh.
And I obviously noticed it was his son here.
So if I made any impact on his life
by my driving across here and back,
then I apologise.
We have a connection with the church here,
really on a few fronts.
I was introduced to Graham through my son.
My son went to Christians in Sport.
And that's where he met Graham.
I then met Graham at a place I was going to see
under our eyes, met across the table,
but that wouldn't sound too good.
But I was introduced to Graham.
And then I contacted Graham about coming to speak
at the church.
Graham then said, well, we have actually a team
of young men who would like to maybe try out
and use their gifting coming to speak.
And so I think we're about to approach
our third session now,
about 12 individuals coming to preach to us
at Liberty.
We're a small church in Bellsill
in quite a difficult socioeconomic area.
We are about 35, 40.
We'd meet on a Sunday.
So it has been good just to have different speakers
coming from Edinburgh.
And now we've drafted in Chalmers Church as well
with some of their speakers to come and speak to us.
So it has been good.
And I've got to know some of the guys.
I see Stuart there.
And hopefully they have felt the benefit
of coming through and speaking to us.
That's just a wee bit about that.
Psalm 118.
I don't know if when you were at school
you had a favourite subject.
Mine was pretty obvious what my favourite subject was.
I love PE.
But a close second,
a close second was English.
And one of the things I loved about English was,
and maybe you can empathise with me,
is sometimes when you read a passage
you thought to yourself,
what is that all about?
Not that noise,
but what is that passage all about?
The poem, the Shakespeare.
What does Shakespeare mean when it says,
oh, that this tutu, solid flesh,
would melt thorn,
resolve itself into a Jew,
et cetera, et cetera.
And I'd be like,
what is that all about?
And I used to love it when the English teacher
would take their time
and explain it
and go through it
and bring what is going on in the text.
And in some ways,
if you read Psalm 118,
as I read it after Graham said,
would you speak on Psalm 118?
It was one of these ones,
I accepted the challenge before I read the passage.
That's a mistake.
And I'm normally a three-point alliteration man
from the New Testament,
but Psalm 118 is different.
And it took me time to go through it
and to read it and to study it.
It comes at the end of a series
that you are working through.
It is rich in so many areas.
It was a favourite of Martin Luther.
If you know him,
who was the great reformer,
he had etched on the wall of the castle
that he had been kidnapped and kept safe in.
I will not die, verse 17.
I will not die, but live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.
He has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
And he held on to that.
And you might have read
some of the verses there today
and thought to yourself,
I can empathise with that.
I can hold on to that.
And thank Fiona for the songs that you picked.
You'd obviously read the passage
and picked the songs in relation to that.
It's part of the series of Psalms
from 113 through to 118.
It's a long psalm.
It took quite a wee bit of reading there,
but it's not as long as the next one,
which is particularly long.
I was thinking if I had that,
I would have just been able to read it through
and sit down.
But Psalm 118 is a rich, rich passage.
It's a liturgical psalm.
We don't do liturgy much in church.
You know, when you say,
what do I mean by that?
Well, there's a response here.
There's a presenter presenting
and there's a response from the individuals
or from the congregation.
And the clue is very often in the first part,
there's a colon and there's inverted commas.
And that's our response.
And I'm going to try and develop that
as we go through the passage.
It's a psalm that was probably written by David
at the top of normally the psalms,
it would say written by the sons of Korah,
written by Asaph, written by David.
But there is none here.
But most clever people say that it's been written
by David.
And I want to kind of take up that theme
that was written by David.
If you're writing a psalm like this
and the words that come out,
what you see is what is in the man.
And by the man's experience
and the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
the words are written down.
I love old songs.
One of my favourites.
The winner takes it all.
We play it when you lose at sport.
But it's obviously a song that is written
from someone's heartache.
And you can feel the heartache
as you listen to it.
But when David writes,
he writes richly from his own experience.
He writes from what has happened to him.
And through God,
and through God's Holy Spirit,
the truth of that comes out
to minister to us today.
I thought of just an old,
not an old hymn,
I knew hymn actually.
Normally I think of old hymns.
But I thought of,
just as I was reading it this week,
I thought of a modern hymn.
And over this,
Psalm 118,
the words that came to me were,
I love you,
I love you, Lord.
Your mercy never fails.
All my days have been held in your hands.
From the moment that I wake up
until I lay my head,
I will sing of the goodness of God.
And it's a summary.
That's a summary.
And that's what Psalm 118 is like.
That's the outline for today.
I'm going to just spend a wee bit more on intro,
because intro is quite important
in this passage.
I've started in my old age to read a book.
The book is called
The Inner Game of Golf,
believe it or not.
It's not a deep book,
but it's called The Inner Game of Golf.
And it says,
how do you understand this game?
I've been struggling about it for years,
but how do you get to the nub of it?
And it tries to simplify it.
Not too complicated,
not technical,
but tries to simplify it.
And that's what I thought,
as I'm looking at this,
and I'm looking at the life of David,
and how he could write this.
I started to read.
I thought, as background reading,
I thought,
I am going to read about the life of David.
Because if you're going to write this in Psalm 118,
what made you write it?
And I want to look at that a wee bit today.
What made him write it?
And I took an old Bible that I had,
and I were on holiday,
and as I came to a key phrase,
I underlined it.
And I realized there was a pattern.
There was a pattern to David's life
that had never struck me before.
And I'm going to just tell you some of the texts.
1 Samuel 23, verse 2,
says,
David inquired of the Lord,
saying,
Shall I go and attack?
1 Samuel 23, verse 4.
Once again David inquired of the Lord,
and the Lord answered him.
1 Samuel 30,
And David inquired of the Lord,
Shall I pursue this raiding party?
Pursue them,
he answered.
And so it goes on,
through David's life.
2 Samuel 2,
In the course of time,
David inquired of the Lord,
Shall I go up to the towns of Judah?
2 Samuel 5, 19,
So David inquired of the Lord.
2 Samuel 5, 23,
So David inquired of the Lord.
You got any idea?
David spent his time,
and before he made a decision,
inquired of the Lord.
He kept doing it.
He kept repeating it.
He had a relationship with the Lord
that was a close relationship.
We hear about David in 1 Samuel 13,
as well,
where Samuel says,
Saul, you're no longer chosen.
But,
this is what Samuel says to Saul,
But now your kingdom will not endure.
The Lord has sought a man out
after his own heart,
and be appointed a ruler of his people.
David's not dipping in and out
with the relationship of God.
He's not appearing one Sunday,
disappearing for,
going to his caravan the next week,
disappearing for a holiday,
then appearing again in week 4 and 5.
He's not missing coming together for communion.
He's not missing the prayer meeting.
He's not missing any of that.
Why?
Because he had a close relationship with God.
He was a man after God's own heart.
So the summary of David is this.
He was a man after God's own heart.
He dedicated himself to the relationship with God.
It also tells us that the spirit of the Lord was on him.
And also,
he was very gifted.
I missed that bit out,
but my wife in her Bible
has underlined,
and David was ruddy and handsome
in appearance,
but he had the genes as well.
And when God is a man like that,
it is incredible what he can do.
And he uses David to be able to do this.
Verse 1,
Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good.
His love endures forever.
It starts with that.
It finishes with that.
Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good.
His love endures forever.
You could spend an eternity
on those verses alone.
One of my pet hates,
and my wife will tell you,
is this.
Someone on Facebook
is in their holiday in Mauritius,
and they put,
God is good.
They have a new car,
and they write,
God is good.
That's taking his name in vain.
We border on prosperity,
gospel,
when we associate these things.
God is good,
whatever your circumstances.
Whatever you've been blessed with
or not blessed with,
that doesn't determine
if God is good.
Despite our circumstances,
God is always good,
and his love endures forever.
Another hymn says,
Blessed be your name
in the land
that is plentiful,
where your streams of abundance flow.
Blessed be your name.
Blessed be your name
when I'm found
in the desert place,
though I'm walking
through the wilderness.
Blessed be your name.
Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good.
His love endures forever.
And then verses 2 to 4,
don't worry,
I'll take some big chunks
that time it says,
Let Israel say,
His love endures forever.
Let the house of Aaron
say,
His love endures forever.
Let those who fear the Lord
say,
His love endures forever.
Let those of Brunsfield
say,
He does.
And when you look
at the individuals
who are saying this,
let Israel say,
Israel,
the nation,
had been promised
a covenant relationship
with God.
They failed,
came back,
were restored.
They failed,
came back,
were restored.
They failed,
came back,
restored.
God takes them back
time and time and time
again.
Let me tell you,
you will sing,
His love
endures forever.
Let the house of Aaron
say,
His love endures forever.
That was the priesthood.
They went in and out.
They understood God's
great love,
God's great forgiveness.
But as individuals,
I'm going to refer back
to a story in David's life.
David had to go
to the priesthood
and he had to ask
them for bread.
And he asked them
for bread.
They had only the showbread
that was there
to be used in worship.
And they gave him
the showbread.
That meant their death.
Because Saul heard
about it
and he came
with one of his hitmen
and his hitmen
killed all the prophets.
They killed everyone
in the town.
They killed all children,
wives,
cattle,
everyone.
Now David is on the throne
and they remember
what happened to them.
And they can sing,
His love
endures
forever.
Those who fear the Lord
say His love
endures
forever.
And then
we consider
maybe the next section
which is in verse 5
through
to verse 9.
When we look at it
we realise
that we move
from the love of God
to anguish.
I thought that's
a strange step,
isn't it?
To move from
the love of God
to the anguish
in your life.
Verse 5,
in anguish
I cried to the Lord.
He answered me
by setting me free
or bringing me
to a broad
or a spacious
place.
David has been chased
all over the place.
He's been chased
into caves.
He actually stays
with the enemy.
He's been chased
by his son.
All sorts of things.
He's chased
all over the place
and he has been
confined to so many
places.
But he then says
I cried to the Lord
and he answered me
by bringing me
to a spacious
place.
A few years ago
I suffered with
claustrophobia
because of a thyroid issue.
And we were in a caravan
in St Andrews
and let me tell you
that was tough.
It was small.
It was tough.
But then
to get outside
to be along
the east of the
west sands
with the wind
in my hair
which I had then
it was a great
feeling
to be brought
to a spacious
place.
To be walking
on the beach
to be walking
in the glen
when you've been
tied up
in small spaces.
David says
he's brought me
to a spacious
place.
You can also say
the Lord is with me.
The Lord is my helper.
The Lord
is my refuge.
I will not
be afraid.
I thought
how wonderful
that must have been
for people like
Gideon and Moses
and David
to know
when they go into
battle
as well
they know
that the Lord
is with them.
That's a message
that came out
in the songs.
The Lord
is with me.
The Lord
is with me.
The Lord
is with me.
And I come up
with this myself.
When we walk
with the Lord
when we walk
with the Lord
in times of trouble
we run to the Lord.
The two things
go together.
When we walk
with the Lord
in times of trouble
we will run
to the Lord
and he knew
this.
the Lord
was with him
through the good
times
through the bad
times
when he had
to take refuge
when he was
on the run
always there
and he knew
that he was
going to win.
Wouldn't that
be incredible?
Anything you do
you know
you're going
to win.
It's a great
feeling
to know
you're going
to win.
I remember
it being a primary
school.
You know how
they used to
pick teams
if you're
playing football.
I knew
if I got
a chap called
Adam Gibson
in my team
I would not
lose ever.
Why?
Because he was
a star.
He was
incredible.
Any side he
played in
he never
lost.
David knew
the secret
of the victory
that would
come
because he
had the Lord
on his side.
Then we have
the victory
of the Lord.
There's a pattern
to it.
I'm going to
read it.
You can hear
the liturgy
of the response.
All the nations
surrounded me.
Listen to this.
But in the name
of the Lord
I cut them off.
They surrounded
me on every side
but in the name
of the Lord
I cut them off.
They swarmed
around me
like bees.
They died out
as quickly
as burning
thorns
but in the name
of the Lord
I cut them off.
You see the secret?
The secret is
the name
of the Lord.
The name
of the Lord.
And that's not
if you read
the Bible
and you read
particularly
the Old Testament
it's more than
just having
the name
in your shirt.
It's more than
going out there
and saying
I'm a member
of Brunsfield
or handing out
your tracks
or whatever you do.
It's more
than that.
The name
of the Lord
means something
immense.
When you read
about someone's
name
in the Old Testament
you'll read
the name
Benjamin
means son
of my right hand.
You read
Eve
as the mother
of all living.
You read
Methuselah
when he's gone
at his scent.
When you read
about Joseph
naming his sons
God has made
me forget
my despair.
It means
something.
Your name
in the Old Testament
means something.
And when you
come
and you use
and David
uses the name
of the Lord
it means
something.
something bigger
than just saying
in Jesus'
name.
Something bigger
than all these
things.
Because in the Old Testament
we realize that
God explains
his character.
God explains
his name
time and time
again.
He explains it
to Moses
and Moses
comes time and time
again and God
says to him
in a particular
instance
God's name
means.
And then
again in
Exodus 34
God's name
is more
than just
appearing
with the
name
on your
shirt.
We're told
to worship
it.
We're told
to praise
it.
We're told
to fear
it.
And when we
read the Old
Testament
we read
that he is
God Almighty
he is Elohim
he is the
creator
he is a
provider
he is Jehovah
Jireh
he is Jehovah
Nessie
he is the
Lord is my
banner
he is Jehovah
Rafa
the Lord
who restores
it's a study
on its own
and when David
comes for the
victory
he knows
that when he
is done
he is inquired
he knows the
Lord is with
him and he
goes out in
the name
of the Lord.
There's a
particular instance
in David's
life
and you know
the instance
David stands
before Goliath
it's a bit
like the two
boxers
do you know
I'm not really
a boxing fan
but the thing
about boxing
I like
I like the
beginning
I like the
end
I like it
pre-fight
you know
the pre-fight
thing
when they all
walk up
and they go
like that
you know
I don't know
what that's
about
but that's
what they
do
and then
they tell
one another
what they're
going to do
to each
other
well David
was in
that situation
with Goliath
Goliath says
when David
goes out to
fight him
I am a dog
that you come
to me with
sticks
and the
Philistine
cursed David
come here
he said
and I will
give your
flesh to the
birds of
the air
then it's
David's
turn
it's his
turn
so he puffs
out his
chest
and he says
David said
you come
against me
with a sword
and spear
and javelin
but I come
against you
in the name
of the Lord
Almighty
the God
of the armies
whom you
have defied
and then he
tells him
what he's
going to do
with him
after he
has killed
him
that's
confidence
but he's
not there
on his
own
David knew
that the name
of the Lord
was more than
just going
and saying
oh this is
God speaking
it is the
weight
of God's
character
the weight
of who he
is
the weight
of his
power
and it
says I
cut
them off
victory
verse 13
to 17
very simply
David gives
the credit
to God
all the time
it's God
who's given
him the
victory
it's not him
and when you
read in verse
13 to 17
it says
but the Lord
helped me
the Lord
has become
my salvation
the Lord's
right hand
has done
mighty things
the Lord's
right hand
is lifted
high
the Lord's
right hand
has done
mighty
things
this is
where my
mind goes
way off
the boxing
thing comes
back
I love it
when the
referee raises
the hand
of the winning
boxer
and David
says
I am raising
the hand
of the winning
boxer
and the winning
boxer is God's
right hand
the right hand
that was
classed as
coordination
power
strength
magnificence
and he says
the Lord
has
done it
David knew
as well
talks about
anguish
in one of
those other
verses as you
read down
but the anguish
that has come
about being
chastised
severely
but has not
given me over
to death
David knew
what it was
like
he knew
what it was
like
to be
chased
by Saul
he knew
what it was
like
for Nathan
the prophet
to come to him
and say
you are the man
that has been
caught in adultery
he knew
what it was
like
to have
his son
taken from
him
because of
his sin
he was
chastised
he knew
what it was
like
to be
chased by
his other
son
Absalom
but he knew
what it was
like to
feel the
pain
of Absalom's
death
and he
knew
that God
was
chastening
him
he wasn't
perfect
but he knew
there was
always a way
back
Psalm 51
have mercy
on me
according
to your
unfailing
love
there's
always a
way back
no matter
where you've
gone to
and David
knew it
and then you
have the
bursting of
praise
you're going
to see
brilliant
verse 19
right the way
through to
29
the bursting
of praise
it's like
David is
going through
this celebration
and he's
getting up
to the
temple
and finishes
and give
thanks to
the Lord
for he
is good
I don't
know if
you've
seen this
on Facebook
or something
like it
you might
see a
couple of
girls there
or you
might see
the face
of a
man
sometimes
you can't
see it
and you
need to
screw up
your eyes
just to be
able to
see it
but it's
a picture
of two
things
but you
can see
the picture
of a
man
can you
just flick
on to
the next
one
depends on
how you
look at
this one
you might
not see
it
you might
see it
you might
see the
word
Jesus
you might
not see
it
depends
your
angle
depends
as you
see in
Glasgow
if your
eyes are
scaly
or they're
not scaly
but you
can see
it
right
and it
would be
wrong to
move on
from Psalm
118
not to
see
Jesus
it tells
us
that in
Matthew
26
that when
Jesus had
finished the
institution
of the
Lord's
Supper
when he
had
finished
the
Passover
feast
it says
they
sung
a hymn
out to
the
Mount
of
Olives
Jesus
is
singing
this hymn
before he
goes to
the cross
this is
probably
the last
song
Jesus
sang
before
he went
to the
cross
Jesus
quotes
from this
psalm
himself
Matthew
21
Jesus
says
have you
read
the
scriptures
the
stone
the
builders
rejected
has
become
the
corner
stone
the
Lord
has
done
marvellous
things
in
our
eyes
that's
verse
22
Jesus
quotes
again
in
Mark
12
quotes
again
in
Luke
20
Peter
quotes
it
in
Acts
4
Paul
alludes
to it
in
Ephesians
2
Peter
speaks
of it
in
1st
Peter
it
is
the
most
quoted
text
in
the
New
Testament
that
he
has
become
their
corner
stone
he
was
rejected
by
the
builders
he
was
rejected
because
they
didn't
approve
of his
origin
they
didn't
approve
of his
education
they
didn't
approve
his
rejection
of
traditions
or
they
didn't
approve
of his
friends
but
Jesus
says
it
that
he
has
become
the
corner
stone
the
thing
which
in
a
building
is
the
foundation
which
lines
are
drawn
from
and
everything
is
built
on
he
has
become
the
corner
stone
building
together
Jew
and
Gentile
God
and
man
time
and
eternity
earth
and
heaven
he
has
done
he
is
the
corner
stone
verse
19
you can
also
you have
pictures
of
Palm
Sunday
they
are
save us
or grant
us
success
Hosanna
blessed
is he
who comes
in the
name
of the
Lord
verse
25
26
we
hear
it
we
see
it
we
can
see
the
picture
of
Jesus
but
as
Jesus
sang
these
words
I
just
wondered
how
he
felt
this
holy
ground
how
did
he
feel
the
Lord
is on
my
help
the
Lord
is
on
my
side
to
help
me
I
shall
look
in
triumph
on
those
who
hate
me
as
Jesus
picked
his
trial
imagine
singing
it is
better
take
refuge
in
the
Lord
than
to
put
your
trust
in
man
knowing
that
all
his
disciples
would
desert
him
consider
him
singing
all
nations
have
surrounded
me
but in
the
name
of
the
Lord
I
cut
them
off
they
swarmed
around
me
like
bees
would
the
bees
do
bees
sting
Christ
would
have
the
stinging
whip
on
his
back
he
would
have
the
gouging
out
of
his
flesh
the
crown
of
thorns
would
be
stinging
his
brow
this
was
like
a
swarm
of
bees
that
Jesus
would
be
feeling
the
sting
on
his
body
old
time
says
what
he
endured
no
tongue
can
tell
to
save
our
souls
from
death
and
hell
can you
imagine
Jesus
singing
I was
about
to fall
as he
carries
his cross
can you
imagine
him in the
upper room
singing
the Lord
is my
strength
he has
become
my
salvation
can you
hear
him
singing
the
Lord
has
chastened
me
severely
but he
has
not
given
me
over
to
death
can
you
imagine
him
singing
this
is
the
day
that
the
Lord
has
made
when
he
knows
what
is
going
to
happen
to
happen
to
him
but
he
could
still
say
give
thanks
to
the
Lord
for
he
is
good
his
love
endures
forever
because
he
would
then
say
father
into
your
hands
I
commend
my
spirit
so
the
challenge
for us
today
it's
easy
to look
at a
passage
like
this
and
see
it
as
intellectual
see
it
as
the
life
of
David
and
his
experience
see
it
as
the
life
of
Jesus
and
his
immense
experience
both
trusting
God
both
coming
down
and saying
God
is
on
my
side
God
is
my
refuge
God
is
my
strength
and
through
their
lives
but
the
psalms
are
personal
and
this
is
where
the
message
comes
home
to
us
to
say
is
it
going
to
work
from
my
ears
to
my
head
to
my
heart
and
how
I
live
that's
the
challenge
of
the
Bible
how
can
I
make
it
live
out
in
my
life
I
don't
know
where
you
are
today
I
don't
know
if
you
feel
battered
and
bruised
but
I
do
know
when
you
go
to
his
word
if
you
have
a
relationship
with
him
you
can
realize
that
he
is
with
you
I
leave
with
one
challenge
and
it's
the
challenge
of
this
verse
here
verse
14
the
Lord
is
my
strength
and
my
song
he
has
become
my
salvation
future
it's a
future
tense
as David
speaks
he has
become
my
salvation
you
know
the word
of
salvation
the
word
is
Yeshua
do you
know
what
Jesus
name
is
Yeshua
when
we
go
to
the
New
Testament
Jesus
you
shall
call
his
name
Jesus
because
he
will
save
his
people
from
the
sin
and
the
challenge
today
for
us
is
we
can
have
the
same
relationship
that
David
had
we
can
have
the
same
trust
if
we
make
him
our
salvation
the
Lord
is
my
strength
the
Lord
is
my
song
he
has
become
my
salvation
he
has
become
my
Jesus
the
love
of the
Lord
endures
forever
give
thanks
to
the
Lord
for
he
is
good
his
love
endures
forever
our
father
we
thank
you
for
your
word
we
thank
you
for
the
fact
that
it
speaks
into
our
lives
it's
not
to
be
kept
on
a
distant
shelf
but
it's
to
come
home
it's
personal
help
us
father
to
lean
heavily
on
your
word
to
lean
heavily
on
you
to
realize
the
Lord
is
a
refuge
and
our
strength
and
our
salvation
father
I
thank
you
for
that
I
thank
you
for
being
my
salvation
for
dealing
with
my
sin
to
make
me
stand
before
you
perfect
because
of
what
Christ
has
done
I
thank
you
for
our
lovely
Lord
Jesus
I
just
pray
that
today
we
would
realize
the
sacrifice
that
he
made
understand
it
in
some
small
way
a bit
more
but
help
this
word
to
change
our
lives
help
it
to
change
my
lives
for
I
pray
in
his
name
in
the
strong
name
and
the
precious
name
Amen