WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:27.839 Good morning. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:34.140 My name is August Verne, and I am one of your deacons with a nice little orange name tag. 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:39.060 Today we have two scripture readings, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. 00:00:39.619 --> 00:00:44.939 Today's scripture reading is Psalm 92 and Hebrews 4, verses 9 and 10, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:49.600 A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. 00:00:50.420 --> 00:00:54.760 It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 00:00:54.759 --> 00:01:02.519 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night to the music of the tin-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 00:01:03.460 --> 00:01:05.640 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.679 I sing for joy at what your hands have done. 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:11.120 How great are your works, Lord! 00:01:11.259 --> 00:01:12.759 How profound your thoughts! 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:16.060 Since those people do not know, fools do not understand, 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:22.740 that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.980 But you, Lord, are forever exalted. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.379 For surely your enemies, Lord, surely your enemies will perish. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:32.420 All evildoers will be scattered. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:36.320 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox. 00:01:36.740 --> 00:01:38.680 Fine oils have been poured on me. 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.100 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries. 00:01:42.580 --> 00:01:45.100 My ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. 00:01:45.960 --> 00:01:48.340 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:50.920 They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. 00:01:51.580 --> 00:01:55.660 Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:58.860 They will still bear fruit in old age. 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.560 They will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:03.040 The Lord is upright. 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:06.300 He is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him. 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:09.379 The grass withers and the flowers fall. 00:02:09.859 --> 00:02:12.460 But the word of our God stands forever. 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:15.699 The New Testament lesson. 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:19.079 A reading from the letter to the Hebrews. 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:24.300 There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:30.539 For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:32.800 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:34.539 Thanks be to God. 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.980 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:43.680 I would like to begin today with a simple question. 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:46.700 And the simple question is this. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:48.320 What is good? 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:51.840 What is good? 00:02:52.880 --> 00:03:00.660 We all want something good, but ideas of what is good vary widely, do they not? 00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:09.120 Many think that it would be good to gain wealth and possessions, what we often call goods, after all. 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:15.000 Some seek good in fitness and in health, and others in exotic travel. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:22.759 For some, all the good that they want is bound up in the care and enjoyment of family. 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:28.879 Others concentrate on the good of education or the acquisition of some useful skill. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:31.780 Some pursue the good in the arts. 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:40.239 Others find good in the excitement of watching sports, especially if you're a Dodgers fan right now, for example. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:54.840 Some think it good to award themselves with a really good time by indulging, overindulging, binging on alcohol or something harmful like Netflix, for example. 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:59.680 There are so many different views of what is good. 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:01.599 So what do you think? 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:11.400 Here we are, this election, right, is eight days away, and the polls indicate that half of the nation thinks that this blue option is good. 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:15.860 And the other half of the nation thinks that this red option is good. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:25.120 And how the opposition's vision of the good affects us is quite intense right now. 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:26.000 Some of us are anxious. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.360 Some of us are depressed and cynical. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:30.280 Some of us are exhausted. 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:37.519 And by the way, the church's mission is going to be the same the day after the election as it is right now, right? 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:45.779 Jesus is still going to be calling us to be the salt of the earth that resists decay, the light of the world that penetrates the darkness. 00:04:47.159 --> 00:04:52.359 But coming back to Psalm 92, it is good to blank. 00:04:53.479 --> 00:04:55.219 How will that sentence continue? 00:04:55.339 --> 00:04:56.979 How will we fill in that blank? 00:04:58.139 --> 00:05:02.659 Psalm 92 commends as really, really good something we haven't even mentioned yet. 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.339 It is good to what? 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:08.939 It is good to praise the Lord. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:15.339 And praising the Lord is good all the time, but it's good especially on the Sabbath day. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:16.599 Notice that superscript. 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:20.139 It says a psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. 00:05:20.219 --> 00:05:23.620 This is the only reference to the Sabbath day in the whole Psalter. 00:05:24.479 --> 00:05:32.179 And that Hebrew word Sabbath, it simply means stop, quit, take a break, rest. 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:35.879 To us, that word rest conveys inactivity. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.340 It conveys vegging out in our sweatpants on the couch. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:47.300 But the main way that the biblical Sabbath day renews our strength and our joy is through the highest of all goods, 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:50.720 which is worship and praising the Lord. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:57.140 The command to keep the Sabbath, it's actually one of the most repeated of all of God's commands in the scriptures. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:01.180 And yet it's also one of the most ignored in our culture. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:07.379 And part of the reason I think that there's so much exhaustion and so much burnout right now in our culture 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:16.180 is that when we love and when we serve and when we praise anything more than God as if it were a greater good than God, 00:06:16.280 --> 00:06:20.960 it becomes an idol that then saps our energy and our strength and our vitality. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:21.959 Right? 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:23.979 Because idols are never satisfied. 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:27.739 The idol of career and status and success and relationships. 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:29.799 The idols of money and sex and power. 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:31.759 They promise more than they deliver. 00:06:31.919 --> 00:06:34.259 They take more than they give. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:46.979 And this Sabbath song of Psalm 92, it holds before us this conviction that it is good to praise the Lord and to praise the Lord alone. 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:51.620 It's good to worship the true God of perfect love. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:58.980 This is the only good that actually holds the power to restore us and to reinvigorate us. 00:06:59.700 --> 00:07:03.960 And so today we're continuing to talk about these holy habits of grace. 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:06.819 And I want to talk about this holy habit of the Sabbath. 00:07:06.960 --> 00:07:09.080 And I want to ask these three questions. 00:07:09.960 --> 00:07:11.360 Why did God give us the Sabbath? 00:07:12.580 --> 00:07:14.400 How do we celebrate the Sabbath? 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:18.319 And what does God do in us through the Sabbath? 00:07:18.599 --> 00:07:19.939 Why did God give us the Sabbath? 00:07:20.599 --> 00:07:22.019 How do we celebrate the Sabbath? 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:24.979 And what does God do in us through the Sabbath? 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.579 First of all, why did God give us the Sabbath? 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.299 Verse 1 says, it is good to praise the Lord. 00:07:32.359 --> 00:07:35.979 And then verse 4 says, you make me glad by your deeds, Lord. 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:45.860 So the Sabbath is about the goodness and the gladness of a life that is centered on the Lord, on who he is and what he has done. 00:07:46.900 --> 00:07:48.400 Why did God give us the Sabbath day? 00:07:48.580 --> 00:07:52.300 So that we could experience his goodness and his gladness. 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:57.180 And this takes us all the way back really to pages 1 and 2 of the Bible. 00:07:57.300 --> 00:08:01.020 There in Genesis 1, it says that God said, let there be light. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.840 And bang, there was light. 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:09.720 And then there's this poetic image of God as a worker laboring for six days to build his creation. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:12.100 And then what does he do on that seventh day? 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:17.760 Genesis chapter 2 says this, thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.320 And by the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing. 00:08:21.460 --> 00:08:24.060 So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. 00:08:24.320 --> 00:08:28.980 And then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:33.820 Because on it, he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 00:08:35.060 --> 00:08:37.360 You see, the Sabbath day was created in the beginning. 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:39.920 Before sin came into the world. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.259 It was created when Adam and Eve were without sin in the Garden of Eden. 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:48.819 And why did God rest on that seventh day of creation? 00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:51.860 Well, it wasn't because God needed rest. 00:08:52.459 --> 00:08:53.539 God is God. 00:08:55.219 --> 00:08:58.419 God has eternal, unceasing life in himself. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:08:59.719 God does not get tired. 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:00.860 He does not get exhausted. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.639 He does not get overworked and burned out. 00:09:04.579 --> 00:09:07.179 God did not take a Sabbath because he needed rest. 00:09:07.179 --> 00:09:09.399 He took a Sabbath because we needed rest. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:16.139 And this is why Jesus says three times in the Gospels that the Sabbath was made for people. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.879 The Sabbath was made for people. 00:09:19.719 --> 00:09:22.719 Again, that Hebrew word Shabbat, it means to stop. 00:09:23.339 --> 00:09:25.659 But it also has this sense of delight. 00:09:25.659 --> 00:09:36.279 If this 24-hour, one-day-and-seven Sabbath was created for Adam and Eve to experience not only rest, 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:41.819 but also delight and refreshment in the presence of God before sin came into the world, 00:09:42.139 --> 00:09:44.439 how much more do we need the Sabbath? 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:55.960 Why did Jesus, the Son of God, build into his life this rhythm of an entire day to stop and delight in God once a week? 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.700 It's because God built the Sabbath into the grain of the universe. 00:10:03.060 --> 00:10:06.100 And if you go against the grain of the universe, guess what's going to happen? 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:08.060 You're going to get splinters. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.620 Jesus read Genesis 1 and 2. 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:18.080 And when he read Genesis 1 and 2, he saw that God blessed three spheres of his creation. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:21.100 First of all, he saw that God blessed the animal kingdom and said, 00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:23.100 Be fruitful and multiply. 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:26.320 And then God blessed the human family and said, 00:10:26.680 --> 00:10:28.279 Be fruitful and multiply. 00:10:29.040 --> 00:10:30.279 And then what did he bless next? 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:36.899 He blessed the Sabbath day and he meant it as something to be fruitful and to give us life. 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:42.059 God means the Sabbath to fill up his world with more and more of his life. 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:48.740 He not only blessed the Sabbath day, Genesis says, but he made the Sabbath day holy, 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:50.279 which means he set it apart. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:58.659 He consecrated it as a time for us to linger with him and luxuriate in his holy presence 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:04.699 so that we are saturated with him and that we're saturated with his vision of life. 00:11:04.819 --> 00:11:10.120 We're saturated with a sense of his holy will for our lives and for his world. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:12.500 So why did Jesus himself practice the Sabbath? 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:16.679 Because he saw it as a gift of God that's both blessed and holy. 00:11:18.139 --> 00:11:18.639 You with me? 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:23.779 More than that, the Sabbath is one of God's ten commandments. 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:29.980 You know, in Exodus 20, Israel, they've been liberated from their soul-crushing bondage in Egypt. 00:11:30.939 --> 00:11:36.139 And therefore, God gives them this manifesto of how to live as free people. 00:11:36.199 --> 00:11:41.559 And he gives it to them on tablets of stone, right, written with the very finger of God, 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:42.860 like kind of a big deal. 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:46.980 And the Sabbath command that comes in all these ten commands, 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.079 it's way longer than all the rest of the commands. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.379 If you took all the ten commandments and you put them in a pie chart, 00:11:53.520 --> 00:11:57.420 the Sabbath command would take up about 30% of that pie chart. 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:04.200 If this is God's priority list, the Sabbath ranks two commands before thou shalt not murder. 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:06.639 It's kind of important. 00:12:08.020 --> 00:12:09.980 And here's what it says in Exodus 20. 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.600 Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy. 00:12:13.400 --> 00:12:16.420 The seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:20.059 And to the Lord your God means that it's a day of worship. 00:12:20.939 --> 00:12:24.419 It's a day of whole life orientation toward God. 00:12:25.179 --> 00:12:31.319 It's a day to experience what Psalm 92 calls the goodness and the gladness of God. 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:37.819 You know, 40 years later, 40 years after Mount Sinai, Exodus 20, 00:12:38.839 --> 00:12:42.399 Moses reissues the ten commandments for the next generation 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:45.099 before they're about to enter into the promised land. 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:47.360 And it says this in Deuteronomy 5. 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:47.659 It says, 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:50.480 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:51.580 And then it says this, 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:54.220 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:58.000 and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.519 and an outstretched arm. 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:04.360 So in Exodus, the Sabbath command is grounded in the creation story 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:07.860 and the rhythm that the Creator God built not only into the universe 00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:09.259 but into our very bodies. 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:15.480 And then in Deuteronomy, the Sabbath command is grounded in the redemption story. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:19.299 It's grounded in Israel's liberation from slavery 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:24.860 into a freedom that they now have to worship their gracious Redeemer God. 00:13:24.939 --> 00:13:29.519 So here's a once-a-week celebration of all that is good in God, 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.039 our Creator and Redeemer. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:39.199 Fast forward, after Jesus' resurrection from the dead on Sunday morning, 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:43.120 the early church moved their day of worship to the first day of the week 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.539 and they started to call it the Lord's Day. 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:48.819 And so if you read the New Testament, you read the book of Acts, 00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:50.039 the letters of the New Testament, 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:54.339 every time the resurrected Jesus meets with His disciples 00:13:54.339 --> 00:13:56.360 as they are publicly assembled, 00:13:56.819 --> 00:13:57.839 guess what day it is? 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:59.639 It's Sunday. 00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:02.320 It's the day of resurrection. 00:14:03.420 --> 00:14:06.360 So from that first Sabbath day in the Garden of Eden 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:09.519 all the way to the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday, 00:14:09.660 --> 00:14:13.720 all the way to that day when Jesus finally returns in His glory, 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:17.280 God has always intended His people to stop, 00:14:18.420 --> 00:14:19.660 to rest, 00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:22.840 to breathe, 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.000 to delight, 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:26.980 to celebrate, 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.360 to worship our Creator, 00:14:29.560 --> 00:14:31.240 to praise our Redeemer, 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:35.740 and to allow this 24-hour period, 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.940 one day a week, 00:14:38.060 --> 00:14:41.960 to fill us with His eternal and abundant life. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.860 And this is why Psalm 92 says, 00:14:45.060 --> 00:14:47.480 it is good to praise the Lord, 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:49.980 especially on the Sabbath day. 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.360 Do you share in this conviction? 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:55.539 And more than that, 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.340 does your calendar line up with this conviction? 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.740 Might this holy habit of grace be just what our exhausted bodies 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:07.159 and our burned-out souls really need here 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:10.080 as we come to the end of 2024? 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:13.800 Why did God give us the Sabbath? 00:15:13.800 --> 00:15:15.860 But here's the next question. 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:17.879 How do we celebrate the Sabbath? 00:15:19.180 --> 00:15:21.160 How do we celebrate the Sabbath? 00:15:22.160 --> 00:15:25.540 That opening word, good, in verse 1, 00:15:26.300 --> 00:15:29.040 is rich in meaning. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.319 It means beautiful. 00:15:32.439 --> 00:15:33.639 It means desirable. 00:15:34.599 --> 00:15:36.740 It means pleasing and life-giving. 00:15:37.959 --> 00:15:39.240 So this psalm opens, 00:15:39.339 --> 00:15:40.079 and it doesn't say, 00:15:40.599 --> 00:15:42.379 you are commanded to praise the Lord. 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:44.480 It does not say, 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:45.819 you should praise the Lord. 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:47.199 You ought to praise the Lord. 00:15:47.319 --> 00:15:48.759 You must praise the Lord. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:49.379 What does it say? 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:52.399 It is good to praise the Lord. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.059 The public gatherings of God's people for worship, 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:56.220 one day in seven, 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:58.959 are a sheer delight to the psalmist. 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:02.360 It's not just a regularly ingrained habit 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:03.480 or a faithful duty. 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.879 No, he positively delights in it 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:08.159 and takes pleasure in it. 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:09.299 He longs for it. 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:10.779 He looks forward to it. 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.439 It is so, so, so good. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.000 As we heard in Psalm 122 last week, 00:16:17.059 --> 00:16:19.139 I rejoiced when they said to me, 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:21.720 let us go to the house of the Lord. 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:24.840 He brings with him to the Sabbath day 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.220 a certain attitude, 00:16:26.420 --> 00:16:28.879 a certain cast of mind and spirit, 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:30.600 and it's one of delight, 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:32.940 and it's one of rejoicing. 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:34.820 It's one of celebration. 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.720 And what are the features of this Sabbath worship? 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:40.680 Well, look with me at verse one. 00:16:40.779 --> 00:16:41.000 It says, 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.860 it is good to praise the Lord 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:45.560 and to make music to your name, O Most High, 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:48.500 proclaiming your love in the morning 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:49.700 and your faithfulness at night 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:51.519 to the music of the tin-stringed lyre 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.079 and the melody of the harp. 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.199 What this tells us is that Sabbath worship, 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:58.600 it's not an individual thing. 00:16:59.579 --> 00:17:01.379 It's a collective, corporate, 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:03.419 gathered assembly of people, 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.139 and it's also not a passive thing. 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:08.039 It's not a passive audience 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:09.379 coming to watch a performance. 00:17:09.619 --> 00:17:11.440 It's rather an active congregation 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.359 of engaged participants. 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:14.980 And what are they doing? 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:17.339 With the help of some instruments, 00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:19.079 the people of God are making music. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:21.279 They're keeping time. 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:23.980 They're singing melodies of praise. 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.439 And it's not just one in four people singing. 00:17:27.259 --> 00:17:29.079 It's all the people proclaiming 00:17:29.879 --> 00:17:31.939 to God and to each other 00:17:31.939 --> 00:17:33.339 through psalms and hymns 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:34.459 and spiritual songs 00:17:34.459 --> 00:17:36.000 who God is. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:38.199 And who is God? 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.039 God is the Most High. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.039 God is sovereign and supreme. 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:48.140 God is glorious and praiseworthy. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.460 God's name is above every other name. 00:17:51.600 --> 00:17:54.039 And so Sabbath worship is about praising God 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:57.180 as higher and greater and lovelier 00:17:57.180 --> 00:18:00.279 than anything and anyone else. 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.759 And what is the focus then of our praise 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.480 and our proclamation on the Sabbath day? 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.879 Well, verse two says this. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:08.119 It says, 00:18:08.259 --> 00:18:09.879 We proclaim your love in the morning 00:18:09.879 --> 00:18:12.160 and your faithfulness at night. 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:15.440 This is what we're meant to give our time 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.399 and attention to 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:18.240 from the beginning of the day 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.480 to the very end of the day 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.119 is to focus on God's character 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:23.639 and on His attributes. 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:27.099 And this isn't the general love 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:28.680 of the Creator God for His creatures. 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:30.560 That's not the love that's being talked about here. 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:34.759 This is the special and particular love 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:36.640 that the Redeemer God has 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.180 for His chosen people. 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:41.279 This is His covenant love. 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:42.680 This is His sworn loyalty 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:44.779 to be our God 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:46.960 to the point ultimately 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:48.100 of shedding His blood 00:18:48.100 --> 00:18:49.160 and giving His life. 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:51.299 That's how much He loves us. 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:53.660 Listen to verse four. 00:18:55.060 --> 00:18:55.500 It says, 00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:57.380 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord. 00:18:57.380 --> 00:18:58.500 I sing for joy 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:01.060 at what your hands have done. 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:05.720 Now, a less tame translation says this. 00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:08.360 I shout cries of joy 00:19:08.360 --> 00:19:10.300 for the works of your hands. 00:19:12.100 --> 00:19:13.940 And my mentor, Bruce Walkie, 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:15.180 comments on this verse. 00:19:15.280 --> 00:19:15.500 He says, 00:19:15.580 --> 00:19:17.500 It's like shouting for a sports hero 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:18.280 in a stadium. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:19.860 Right? 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.080 Like Freddie Freeman's 00:19:21.080 --> 00:19:23.160 walk-off Grand Slam the other night. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:24.920 It's like shouting like that. 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:27.019 Any of you spontaneously rejoice 00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:28.740 when you saw Steph Curry 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:30.380 in the Olympic finals this summer? 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.400 I mean, wasn't that unbelievable? 00:19:34.019 --> 00:19:35.140 And the psalmist would say, 00:19:35.300 --> 00:19:35.500 You know, 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:37.420 what if we had more joy 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:38.460 and more awe 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:40.900 at what the Lord's hands have done 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:44.000 than what Steph Curry's hands can do? 00:19:44.660 --> 00:19:47.160 Or what any human hands can accomplish? 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:50.759 See, why do we rejoice 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.420 with shouts of joy on the Sabbath? 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:54.580 Or why do some churches 00:19:54.580 --> 00:19:56.000 rejoice with shouts of joy 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.640 on the Sabbath? 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:00.620 Verse 4, 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:01.540 For you make me glad 00:20:01.540 --> 00:20:02.740 by your deeds, Lord. 00:20:02.820 --> 00:20:03.660 I sing for joy 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:05.200 at what your hands have done. 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:06.820 How great are your works, Lord. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.880 How profound your thoughts. 00:20:10.580 --> 00:20:12.040 The psalmist has in mind 00:20:12.040 --> 00:20:13.500 the saving deeds 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:14.740 of the Lord in the Exodus, 00:20:14.740 --> 00:20:16.559 the wonderful works of redemption 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.579 from bondage in Egypt 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:20.759 to freedom in the promised land. 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:21.120 And friends, 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:22.720 we have so much more 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:23.839 to rejoice over 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:24.940 because we've seen 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:26.400 the saving deeds 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:27.660 and the wonderful works 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:28.359 of the Lord 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.339 in His Son, Jesus Christ. 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:31.460 How He's taken us 00:20:31.460 --> 00:20:33.759 out of our bondage 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.559 and He's given us 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:36.839 His freedom. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:39.440 We've seen how the Father 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:40.359 sent His Son 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:41.740 from heaven to earth. 00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:43.599 We've seen how Jesus 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.259 took on human nature 00:20:45.259 --> 00:20:47.140 so He could represent us. 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:49.039 We saw how Jesus 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:50.640 embodied and demonstrated 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.599 the Father's covenant love 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:53.799 and His sworn loyalty 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.180 by volunteering His hands 00:20:57.180 --> 00:20:59.660 for the nails of that cross. 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:01.539 We saw how Jesus 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:02.640 put Himself there 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:03.359 in our place 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:05.000 to be punished for our sins 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.000 and to die our death. 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:09.120 And we saw how He was raised 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.759 to life 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:11.719 so that He could give us 00:21:11.719 --> 00:21:12.839 new life. 00:21:13.699 --> 00:21:14.719 And when we see 00:21:14.719 --> 00:21:15.759 the costly love 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.199 of Jesus on His cross, 00:21:17.239 --> 00:21:18.839 we can't help but cry out, 00:21:19.179 --> 00:21:20.079 You make me glad 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.139 by Your deeds, Lord. 00:21:21.199 --> 00:21:23.619 I shout with cries of joy 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:25.519 at what Your nail-pierced hands 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:27.079 have done for me. 00:21:29.479 --> 00:21:30.419 You with me? 00:21:31.679 --> 00:21:33.759 So, I just want to give 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.839 a little bit of practical, 00:21:35.699 --> 00:21:36.500 down-to-earth, 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:38.660 nitty-gritty pastoral application 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:40.559 and some guidance 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:41.180 to help you put 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:42.119 this holy practice, 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:43.940 this holy habit of grace 00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:44.599 into practice 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:45.200 on a weekly 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:48.059 and not every other weekly 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:49.500 or monthly basis. 00:21:50.299 --> 00:21:51.920 You ready for some guidance? 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:53.680 You're not ready. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:55.000 I can tell. 00:21:55.339 --> 00:21:56.019 I can tell. 00:21:57.299 --> 00:21:58.440 Here's the first thing. 00:21:58.539 --> 00:21:59.559 Prepare for the Sabbath 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:01.019 on Saturday morning 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:01.640 and afternoon. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:03.940 Get your laundry washed, 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:04.819 your bills paid, 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:06.180 wrap up that work project, 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:07.200 finish your homework, 00:22:07.860 --> 00:22:09.100 do the grocery shopping, 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:10.320 work through your to-do list. 00:22:11.100 --> 00:22:12.100 Our Friday newsletter 00:22:12.100 --> 00:22:13.440 that we send out every week 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.680 has a link at the very bottom. 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:15.000 It says, 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.539 Songs for this Sunday. 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:18.039 It takes you to a YouTube 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:19.580 or a Spotify playlist 00:22:19.580 --> 00:22:21.120 and you can listen to that 00:22:21.120 --> 00:22:22.120 while you work 00:22:22.120 --> 00:22:22.940 so that you can know 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:24.039 the songs we're going to sing 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:25.539 here on Sunday morning. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:26.080 Secondly, 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:28.120 begin your Sabbath 00:22:28.120 --> 00:22:30.080 on Saturday at sundown 00:22:30.080 --> 00:22:31.200 and mark the moment. 00:22:32.320 --> 00:22:32.980 Light a candle. 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:36.180 Pray a psalm. 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:38.120 Ask the Holy Spirit 00:22:38.120 --> 00:22:39.220 to come and fill you 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:40.559 and fill that time. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:43.200 Enjoy dinner with your family 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.059 and your friends. 00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:45.039 Go on a walk. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:45.779 Have dessert. 00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:46.860 Drink tea. 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:49.680 Stop. 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:51.720 Number three, 00:22:51.900 --> 00:22:53.160 take a 24-hour break 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:54.059 from your technology. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:55.500 Ooh. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:57.799 Turn off your screens. 00:22:58.440 --> 00:22:59.960 Power down your devices. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.240 Put them in a box 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.680 and stow them in a closet. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.319 Create an out-of-office message 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:05.759 that says, 00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:07.120 I will respond to emails 00:23:07.120 --> 00:23:08.840 on Sunday night 00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:10.059 and just drink deeply 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.180 of an unplugged human life. 00:23:13.840 --> 00:23:14.039 Amen? 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:15.779 Number four, 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:16.860 prepare for worship. 00:23:17.120 --> 00:23:17.299 So, 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.259 after you've put yourself to bed 00:23:19.259 --> 00:23:20.480 early on Saturday night 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:21.360 and given yourself 00:23:21.360 --> 00:23:21.980 the opportunity 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:23.140 to get really good sleep 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:23.860 and woken up 00:23:23.860 --> 00:23:25.160 and had that delicious 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:26.600 and big breakfast 00:23:26.600 --> 00:23:28.019 to last you through 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:29.440 about 1 o'clock 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:30.079 or 1.30 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:31.099 on Sunday afternoon, 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:33.619 I want you just to pray 00:23:33.619 --> 00:23:34.500 on Sunday morning, 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:36.119 whether that's at home 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:38.039 or here in our boiler room 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:39.500 because how many of us 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:40.639 go and work out 00:23:40.639 --> 00:23:41.579 without warming up? 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:43.279 What happens 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:43.859 when we work out 00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:44.639 without warming up? 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:46.940 Bad things happen. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:48.400 Bad things. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:50.119 Your Achilles starts to act up 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:50.519 and you've got to go 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:51.559 to physical therapy, right? 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:52.779 So, 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.799 why wouldn't we warm up 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:54.339 for worship? 00:23:55.639 --> 00:23:56.339 Number five, 00:23:56.339 --> 00:23:57.299 arrive early 00:23:57.299 --> 00:23:58.319 and stay late 00:23:58.319 --> 00:23:59.079 and here's the deal. 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:01.679 If you come 15 minutes earlier 00:24:01.679 --> 00:24:02.779 than you normally do, 00:24:03.439 --> 00:24:04.500 you will be here, 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:05.480 some of you will be here 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:06.500 to welcome the newcomers 00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:07.439 who get here at 10.15 00:24:07.439 --> 00:24:08.980 and some of you 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:09.980 will be here at 10.30 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:10.919 when we start. 00:24:12.439 --> 00:24:13.279 Every week. 00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:16.379 Our coffee hour afterwards, 00:24:16.639 --> 00:24:17.579 our monthly lunches, 00:24:17.619 --> 00:24:18.139 those are times 00:24:18.139 --> 00:24:19.299 to build up the joints 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:20.079 and the ligaments 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:21.259 and the connective tissues 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:22.359 of the body of Christ. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.319 Our classes are times 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.379 for us to have shared vision 00:24:26.379 --> 00:24:27.019 and values, 00:24:27.179 --> 00:24:28.700 shared life and language, 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:30.220 so pack a lunch 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:30.919 if you need to. 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:32.720 Number six, 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:34.659 pursue one another's good. 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:35.579 The Gospels tell us 00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:37.039 that Jesus fed people 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.099 and he healed people 00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:39.379 on the Sabbath day. 00:24:40.399 --> 00:24:40.819 So, 00:24:40.879 --> 00:24:42.039 invite someone to lunch 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:43.859 and allow God 00:24:43.859 --> 00:24:45.220 to minister through you 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:46.000 to their loneliness 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:46.960 and to their burdens 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.279 that you have no idea 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:49.799 they're carrying 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:50.679 into this place. 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:52.660 Number seven, 00:24:52.840 --> 00:24:53.660 this is really important, 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:54.900 take a nap. 00:24:56.220 --> 00:24:57.320 Go on a walk. 00:24:58.700 --> 00:24:59.660 Enjoy the fact 00:24:59.660 --> 00:25:00.480 that salvation 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.580 has been finished 00:25:01.580 --> 00:25:02.259 in Jesus Christ. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.080 Enjoy the fact 00:25:03.080 --> 00:25:04.039 that the Holy Spirit 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:05.360 has set you free. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:07.759 Here's number eight. 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:09.440 Make a plan 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:10.420 for Sunday evening 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:11.539 because the Psalm says 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:12.539 we proclaim your love 00:25:12.539 --> 00:25:12.980 in the morning 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:13.980 and your faithfulness 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:15.640 at night. 00:25:16.820 --> 00:25:17.860 The whole day 00:25:17.860 --> 00:25:18.640 belongs to God. 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:19.779 It's not Sabbath morning 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:20.720 and then the rest of the day 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:21.879 you just do whatever you like. 00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:24.079 It's not the Lord's hour, 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:26.039 it's the Lord's day. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:27.480 So, 00:25:27.639 --> 00:25:28.480 I think all of us 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:29.139 would do well 00:25:29.139 --> 00:25:30.339 to ask this question, 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.259 how can I live 00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:32.220 on the Sabbath day 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:33.639 the way that I want 00:25:33.639 --> 00:25:34.700 to live all the other 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:35.700 six days of the week 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:36.759 from morning to night? 00:25:38.139 --> 00:25:38.899 And maybe for you 00:25:38.899 --> 00:25:39.740 that's just sitting down 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:40.539 at the dinner table 00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:41.879 and opening the Bible, 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:43.980 maybe reviewing 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:45.460 what you heard about 00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:46.000 in the sermon 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.019 of the lesson that day. 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:48.779 Sing a hymn, 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:50.779 pray about the week ahead, 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:51.799 pray for all the people 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:52.279 you're going to have 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:53.119 conversations with, 00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:53.700 pray that God 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:54.539 would give you guidance 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:55.639 that through you 00:25:55.639 --> 00:25:56.819 God's blessing would flow 00:25:56.819 --> 00:25:57.980 into the lives 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:58.559 of other people. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:00.940 Psalm 92 says 00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:01.480 that the Sabbath 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:02.460 is a whole day 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:03.180 for the goodness 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:04.160 of praising the Lord 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:04.920 and the gladness 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:06.480 of His saving deeds. 00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:09.000 Some of you complain 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:10.940 that I'm not practical enough 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:13.019 and I'm trying to remedy 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:14.000 that in this series 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:14.839 by just getting 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:16.359 super down to earth 00:26:16.359 --> 00:26:17.059 and I hope that's 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:17.899 helpful for you. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:19.619 Why did God 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:20.279 give us the Sabbath? 00:26:20.379 --> 00:26:21.619 How do we actually 00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:22.719 celebrate the Sabbath? 00:26:23.719 --> 00:26:24.439 But then the last thing 00:26:24.439 --> 00:26:25.119 I want to look at 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:26.799 is what does God do 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.119 in us through the Sabbath? 00:26:29.219 --> 00:26:30.259 What does God do 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:31.539 in us through the Sabbath? 00:26:31.679 --> 00:26:33.119 And here's verse 6. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:49.239 See what the Sabbath day 00:26:49.239 --> 00:26:50.379 does is it enables us 00:26:50.379 --> 00:26:51.799 to gain perspective. 00:26:53.139 --> 00:26:53.979 The Sabbath day 00:26:53.979 --> 00:26:55.500 enables us to rise above 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:56.679 the mess and the muddle 00:26:56.679 --> 00:26:57.319 of our week. 00:26:57.819 --> 00:26:59.059 It enables us to rise above 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:00.079 all those limited, 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:01.919 finite, fallible, 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:03.680 and temporary perspectives 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:04.539 of all the people 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:05.140 around us 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:05.860 in order to come 00:27:05.860 --> 00:27:07.860 and gain God's perspective 00:27:07.860 --> 00:27:09.019 on human life 00:27:09.019 --> 00:27:09.759 and human history. 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:11.980 The psalmist says, 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:12.700 left to ourselves, 00:27:12.840 --> 00:27:13.500 we are senseless 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:14.100 and foolish. 00:27:14.300 --> 00:27:14.880 Left to ourselves, 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:16.220 we just don't know 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:17.920 and we don't have understanding. 00:27:18.060 --> 00:27:19.460 Understanding about what? 00:27:19.580 --> 00:27:20.120 Well, he says, 00:27:20.600 --> 00:27:24.039 think about the seasons. 00:27:25.300 --> 00:27:26.460 The climate in Israel 00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:27.960 is basically like the climate 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:28.740 in Northern California. 00:27:28.860 --> 00:27:29.200 And he says, 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:29.900 you know, 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:31.320 think about those winter rains. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:33.759 Think about how the hills 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:34.480 spring up 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:35.120 and they flourish 00:27:35.120 --> 00:27:37.539 with lush green grass. 00:27:39.340 --> 00:27:40.779 And remember that God 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:44.700 allows that to happen. 00:27:44.820 --> 00:27:46.519 He allows people to flourish 00:27:46.519 --> 00:27:47.960 who actually are centering 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:49.400 their lives on themselves. 00:27:50.660 --> 00:27:52.000 People who are centering 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:53.980 their whole life, 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:55.539 organizing all their time 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:56.680 around their desires 00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:57.759 and their agendas. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:00.140 God is so kind 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:01.079 and he's so patient 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:02.660 that he allows people 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:03.599 who neglect him 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:04.460 and who ignore him. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:05.279 He allows people 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:06.940 who live apart from him. 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:07.619 He allows people 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:08.539 who think to themselves, 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.759 it is good to do 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:10.619 almost anything 00:28:10.619 --> 00:28:11.980 but praise the Lord. 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:14.539 God allows them 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:15.019 to flourish 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:16.279 like the green grass. 00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:18.759 But of course, 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:19.960 that's not the whole story, 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:20.900 is it? 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:23.059 Because the green grass 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:23.960 grows from 00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:25.779 about November to May. 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:27.480 and then what starts 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:27.879 to happen? 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:29.980 And then the sun 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:31.440 starts to scorch the grass 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:32.399 and wither the grass. 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:33.639 It turns the grass golden 00:28:33.639 --> 00:28:34.639 and brown 00:28:34.639 --> 00:28:35.799 and lifeless. 00:28:37.099 --> 00:28:37.480 And you see, 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:38.160 the Sabbath day 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.559 gives us God's perspective 00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:40.779 of how to distinguish 00:28:40.779 --> 00:28:42.980 between flourishing now 00:28:42.980 --> 00:28:44.639 and ruin later. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:47.940 How does the psalmist 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:49.100 describe this for us? 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:50.460 He says in verse 8, 00:28:50.560 --> 00:28:51.340 but you, Lord, 00:28:51.420 --> 00:28:52.580 are forever exalted 00:28:52.580 --> 00:28:54.100 for surely your enemies, Lord, 00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:55.040 surely your enemies 00:28:55.040 --> 00:28:55.700 will perish. 00:28:56.259 --> 00:28:57.140 All evildoers 00:28:57.140 --> 00:28:58.480 will be scattered. 00:29:00.560 --> 00:29:00.820 You see, 00:29:00.860 --> 00:29:01.360 if the Lord 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:02.660 is the exalted one, 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:03.759 if he's the most high, 00:29:03.840 --> 00:29:05.000 if he's sovereign 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:05.520 and supreme, 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:06.800 if he's utterly just 00:29:06.800 --> 00:29:07.520 and righteous, 00:29:07.860 --> 00:29:09.640 and if people 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:10.840 neglect him 00:29:10.840 --> 00:29:11.560 and ignore him, 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:13.520 if people live apart 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:14.359 from him 00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:15.579 as if they're their own makers 00:29:15.579 --> 00:29:16.619 and their own judges 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:18.240 and their own lords. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:21.599 That green grass 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:22.960 that God is allowing 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:23.839 to flourish now, 00:29:23.879 --> 00:29:24.740 it's very soon 00:29:24.740 --> 00:29:25.940 going to face the reality 00:29:25.940 --> 00:29:28.139 that without a relationship 00:29:28.139 --> 00:29:29.500 with the living God, 00:29:30.639 --> 00:29:32.039 without his divine life, 00:29:32.139 --> 00:29:33.420 without his eternal life 00:29:33.420 --> 00:29:34.180 in you, 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:35.299 you just can't stay 00:29:35.299 --> 00:29:36.139 green forever. 00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:38.960 You're going to dry up. 00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:40.579 You're going to wither. 00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:41.619 You're going to become lifeless. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:42.400 You're going to become 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:43.500 like chaff 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:45.500 that the wind blows away. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:47.500 And you see, 00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:48.839 it's only as we give ourselves 00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:50.140 to the Sabbath worship 00:29:50.140 --> 00:29:50.720 of God 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:51.740 that he enables us 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:52.400 to see 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.980 that temporary prosperity 00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:56.759 is very often 00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:57.660 just a prelude 00:29:57.660 --> 00:29:58.420 to perishing, 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:00.180 but that it's 00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:01.380 eternal flourishing 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:03.359 that ultimately matters 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:04.599 in the end. 00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:06.299 And what is it 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:07.160 that brings about 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:09.319 eternal flourishing? 00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:11.519 Well, in verse 8, 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.980 there's this very subtle shift 00:30:12.980 --> 00:30:13.660 in the speaker. 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:16.559 And we kind of have 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:17.039 to ask ourselves, 00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:18.360 like, who is speaking here? 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:20.440 And who it is, 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:20.960 this is actually 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:22.480 God's anointed king, 00:30:22.620 --> 00:30:23.259 and he's speaking 00:30:23.259 --> 00:30:24.480 to the Lord, 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:25.660 and the anointed king 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:27.039 is saying to the Lord, 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:27.360 he says, 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:28.640 Lord, you are forever exalted. 00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:30.220 Lord, your enemies 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:30.920 are going to perish. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:31.599 And then what does 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:32.360 the king declare? 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:33.400 He says in verse 10, 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:35.280 you have exalted my horn 00:30:35.280 --> 00:30:37.700 like that of a wild ox. 00:30:38.780 --> 00:30:39.860 Fine oils have been 00:30:39.860 --> 00:30:40.540 poured on me. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:41.540 My eyes have seen 00:30:41.540 --> 00:30:43.040 the defeat of my adversaries. 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:43.980 My ears have heard 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:46.560 the rout of my wicked foes. 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:48.740 This is a king 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:51.180 who's talking enthusiastically 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:52.120 about the victory 00:30:52.120 --> 00:30:53.940 that God has given him. 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:56.200 The ox is a symbol 00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:57.360 of fierce strength. 00:30:57.460 --> 00:30:57.940 The horn, 00:30:58.120 --> 00:30:59.800 a symbol of power 00:30:59.800 --> 00:31:00.340 and honor. 00:31:00.419 --> 00:31:00.859 The oil, 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:02.119 a symbol of anointing. 00:31:02.179 --> 00:31:03.319 All of these are signs 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:05.319 of a royal victory. 00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:07.299 And of course, 00:31:07.399 --> 00:31:08.939 Christians can't help 00:31:08.939 --> 00:31:10.659 but hear in this 00:31:10.659 --> 00:31:12.039 the voice of our king, 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:12.619 Jesus, 00:31:12.939 --> 00:31:14.899 speaking to the Lord 00:31:14.899 --> 00:31:16.599 about his victory 00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:17.859 over sin and death, 00:31:18.959 --> 00:31:20.199 about the defeat 00:31:20.199 --> 00:31:21.819 of his great adversary, 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:22.740 the devil, 00:31:23.899 --> 00:31:24.819 about the rout 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:26.459 of his wicked foes, 00:31:26.539 --> 00:31:27.539 those dark powers 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:28.419 and principalities 00:31:28.419 --> 00:31:29.399 that seek to steal 00:31:29.399 --> 00:31:29.919 and kill 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:30.600 and destroy 00:31:30.600 --> 00:31:31.920 human beings. 00:31:33.120 --> 00:31:34.200 And this is a song 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:35.440 for us about the victory 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:37.300 of this anointed king 00:31:37.300 --> 00:31:40.019 who paradoxically wins 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:41.420 by being defeated. 00:31:42.460 --> 00:31:43.340 But more than that, 00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:44.360 this song is not just 00:31:44.360 --> 00:31:45.380 about the victory 00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:46.120 of the anointed king, 00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:48.100 it's about what his victory 00:31:48.100 --> 00:31:49.519 means for us 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.080 and for our lives. 00:31:52.180 --> 00:31:53.019 And here it is 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:53.720 in verse 12. 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:56.240 The righteous will flourish 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:57.180 like a palm tree. 00:31:57.960 --> 00:31:58.799 They will grow 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:00.039 like a cedar of Lebanon. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:01.980 Planted in the house 00:32:01.980 --> 00:32:02.420 of the Lord, 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:03.140 they will flourish 00:32:03.140 --> 00:32:04.319 in the courts of our God. 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:05.579 They will still bear fruit 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:06.740 in old age. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:07.779 They will stay fresh 00:32:07.779 --> 00:32:08.680 and green, 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:09.259 proclaiming, 00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:10.259 the Lord is upright. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:11.640 He is my rock 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:13.120 and there is no wickedness 00:32:13.120 --> 00:32:13.920 in him. 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:15.980 You see, 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:17.900 the victory of King Jesus 00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:19.100 means that instead 00:32:19.099 --> 00:32:21.859 of our lives 00:32:21.859 --> 00:32:23.219 being like green grass 00:32:23.219 --> 00:32:24.819 that just flourishes today 00:32:24.819 --> 00:32:27.059 and perishes tomorrow, 00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:29.939 we, by God's grace, 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:31.000 can be these palms 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:31.759 and these cedars, 00:32:31.899 --> 00:32:33.119 these evergreen trees 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:35.019 in the presence of God. 00:32:36.139 --> 00:32:37.240 The picture here 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:39.459 is of a new garden of Eden. 00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:41.740 The picture here 00:32:41.740 --> 00:32:42.740 is of an orchard 00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:44.000 of evergreen trees 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.279 who find their nourishment 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:46.699 in the abundant 00:32:46.699 --> 00:32:47.819 and never-ending source 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:48.639 of God himself. 00:32:49.879 --> 00:32:50.759 Those who find 00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:51.439 their nourishment 00:32:51.439 --> 00:32:52.459 in God 00:32:52.459 --> 00:32:54.699 humbly draw their strength, 00:32:54.819 --> 00:32:55.939 their spiritual energy 00:32:55.939 --> 00:32:56.539 from him, 00:32:56.599 --> 00:32:57.339 they're going to flourish 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:58.339 like that tall 00:32:58.339 --> 00:33:00.139 and graceful palm tree, 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:00.659 it says. 00:33:01.539 --> 00:33:02.399 They're going to flourish 00:33:02.399 --> 00:33:03.219 like that mighty 00:33:03.219 --> 00:33:04.779 and beautiful cedar tree, 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:05.559 it says. 00:33:06.439 --> 00:33:07.719 Those who say to God, 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:09.299 you are my rock 00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:09.879 and no other. 00:33:11.019 --> 00:33:12.519 You are my reliable refuge. 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:14.339 You are my never-failing shelter 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:15.740 and my savior 00:33:15.740 --> 00:33:17.719 will be like these rooted 00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:19.039 and stable 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:20.600 and long-lasting 00:33:20.600 --> 00:33:22.539 evergreen trees 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:25.299 whose leaves 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:26.900 never wither. 00:33:28.600 --> 00:33:29.400 Those who look 00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:30.500 to the resurrected Jesus 00:33:30.500 --> 00:33:31.360 as their rock, 00:33:32.360 --> 00:33:33.559 those who look to Jesus 00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:33.940 and say, 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:34.779 you are upright 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:36.259 and there is no wickedness 00:33:36.259 --> 00:33:36.799 in you, 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:38.680 they're going to be 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:39.500 full of sap 00:33:39.500 --> 00:33:41.160 and they're going to be 00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:42.819 laden with rich foliage, 00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:44.539 not only in their old age, 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:46.660 but they're going to have 00:33:46.660 --> 00:33:47.900 endless vitality 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.099 in Jesus' new creation. 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:52.880 Friends, 00:33:52.940 --> 00:33:55.359 that is the eternal perspective 00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:58.500 that God wants to put into us 00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:00.220 on his Sabbath day 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:02.700 and that is the coming reality, 00:34:02.839 --> 00:34:03.980 that is the coming hope 00:34:03.980 --> 00:34:05.600 that we celebrate 00:34:05.600 --> 00:34:06.940 on the Sabbath. 00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:09.079 And so, 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:09.820 I want to just end 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:10.720 with these words 00:34:10.720 --> 00:34:14.240 from the prophet Isaiah. 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:18.019 The prophet Isaiah 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:19.460 says this in Isaiah 58, 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:23.099 if you keep your feet 00:34:23.099 --> 00:34:25.179 from breaking the Sabbath 00:34:25.179 --> 00:34:27.360 and from doing 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.440 as you please 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:30.320 on my holy day, 00:34:31.220 --> 00:34:32.900 if you call the Sabbath 00:34:32.900 --> 00:34:33.619 a delight 00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:36.420 and the Lord's holy day 00:34:36.420 --> 00:34:37.099 honorable, 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:39.400 and if you honor it 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:40.980 by not going your own way 00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:42.639 and not doing 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:43.380 as you please 00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:44.740 or speaking idle words, 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:47.840 then you will find 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:50.740 your joy in the Lord. 00:34:52.180 --> 00:34:53.780 Then I will cause you 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:55.680 to ride in triumph 00:34:55.680 --> 00:34:57.200 on the heights of the land. 00:34:58.400 --> 00:34:59.539 And then you will feast 00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:01.120 on the inheritance 00:35:01.120 --> 00:35:03.120 of your father Jacob, 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.260 for the mouth of the Lord 00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:06.559 has spoken. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:08.400 In the name of the Father, 00:35:08.539 --> 00:35:09.340 Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:35:10.120 --> 00:35:10.400 Amen.