WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.799 Well, this evening we're going to be continuing with our series on the Psalms this summer. 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:13.040 And you may have noticed when I was reading Psalm 40 that this Psalm, how the Psalmist 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:17.760 book ends the Psalm, how he starts and how he ends the Psalm if you have your Bibles 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:18.760 open and look at it. 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.920 The first and last verse are about waiting. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:28.039 If you look at the first and last verse, the first verse reads, I waited patiently for 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:29.879 the Lord. 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:32.679 And the last line is a prayer, almost a cry. 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:36.840 It says, do not delay, oh my God. 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:42.320 And even in the middle, in verse 13, the Psalmist cries out, deliver me and make haste to help 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:45.439 me. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:49.599 And if you look in the middle of the Psalm, you'll see why the Psalmist is crying out, 00:00:49.599 --> 00:00:52.159 why he's so urgently waiting. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.439 And it's because he's sinking. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:59.280 If you look at the language that's used, he uses the language of being encompassed, of 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:05.799 being overtaken, of not being able to see, of even his heart failing him as he's waiting. 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:10.480 And these are the cries not just of a sinking man, but of a drowning man is the language 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.479 that he's using. 00:01:12.479 --> 00:01:14.560 And the question is why, why is he drowning here? 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.359 Why does he feel like he's drowning in this Psalm? 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:24.359 And the answer is in verse 12, if you look at verse 12, it says, my iniquities, my iniquities 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:26.400 have overtaken me. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.039 He's drowning because of sin. 00:01:30.039 --> 00:01:35.120 His sins are catching up with him, overtaking him to the point where he feels like he's 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:37.519 drowning. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:42.439 And when he feels like he can't see a way out, when he's confused and perplexed and 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.760 his heart is failing him, what does he do? 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:46.760 What do we do? 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:48.039 What does he do when we get to that place? 00:01:48.039 --> 00:01:49.640 Because we've all been there before. 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:54.960 He says to his own heart, I've been here before. 00:01:54.960 --> 00:01:55.960 He says, I've been here. 00:01:55.960 --> 00:01:56.960 I've been in this place. 00:01:56.960 --> 00:01:59.599 I've had this feeling before. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:04.400 And if you look back in verse one, look at the past tense verbs that he's using there. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:10.560 If verse 12 is where he is, if he is drowning in verse 12, then verse one is him reminding 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.400 himself of what happened last time he was here. 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:18.479 Last time he had this same feeling of guilt. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.879 When he's sinking, he says, you know, I've been here before. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:22.319 I know this pit well. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.799 I've been in this place before. 00:02:24.799 --> 00:02:30.639 And he says, remember what you did last time you found yourself in this pit. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.519 And that's the first heading is last time for this sermon. 00:02:33.519 --> 00:02:39.359 And verse one, he tells himself the story again at the last time that he was here. 00:02:39.359 --> 00:02:41.000 And he says, I've been in this pit before. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.280 I know this pit. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.120 And if you think about it, if you just stop, the Bible is actually filled with pits. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.520 Ropes brothers and Genesis cast him into one and the prophet Jeremiah was lowered into 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:54.520 one by ropes. 00:02:54.520 --> 00:03:01.640 And it says in Jeremiah chapter 38, it says, Jeremiah sank down into the mud of the cistern, 00:03:01.640 --> 00:03:07.560 left to die of hunger, or to drown in the mud in the water. 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:10.599 But unlike these, David's pit wasn't a physical pit. 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.599 I think we all know that when we read this. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:14.599 But it's a feeling. 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:15.680 It's a feeling of the pit. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:16.960 It's a feeling of sinking. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:23.040 It's a feeling of being trapped, of dirtiness, of mud, of mire, of being alone, of a loss 00:03:23.040 --> 00:03:25.360 of hope. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:31.560 And the best way he could describe where he found himself was the pit. 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:39.000 There's this sort of ironic reality in biblical scholarship that seems to happen where commentators 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.240 and writers obsess over figuring out all the little things that the Bible doesn't tell 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:45.240 you. 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:47.800 The most concerned about it seems sometimes. 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:49.960 For example, Paul's thorn in the flesh. 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:55.200 The number of pages that have been written over what exactly Paul's thorn in the flesh 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:56.640 is just unbelievable. 00:03:56.640 --> 00:03:57.640 It's shocking. 00:03:57.640 --> 00:04:03.200 And the beautiful reality is, is that the letter of Corinthians won't ever, ever tell 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:05.280 a single one of them. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.240 History has locked that mystery away forever. 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:18.040 And the answers won't ever get better or more sophisticated than we are not sure. 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.120 But the text tells you what it wants you to know. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:23.400 The Bible tells you what you need to know about a certain thing. 00:04:23.400 --> 00:04:25.079 It's the thorn was a thing. 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:30.840 Paul's thorn was a thing that nod at him, that he wanted to go away and that just wouldn't 00:04:30.840 --> 00:04:32.920 leave him alone. 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:36.879 And it was a thing that God said, no, no, I know you're praying for this to go away, 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:41.279 but this is staying because it's actually keeping you humble. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.719 And so when we come to a verse like that, we can actually all say, I have that thorn 00:04:45.719 --> 00:04:46.719 too. 00:04:46.719 --> 00:04:47.719 I know that feeling. 00:04:47.719 --> 00:04:48.719 I know that thorn. 00:04:48.719 --> 00:04:49.719 It's in my life too. 00:04:49.719 --> 00:04:54.519 Because if it got more specific, it would actually lose some of its power in our lives. 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:59.439 And in the same way, we can come to this and try to figure out what sin put David in this 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.879 pit. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:07.959 What was it that he exactly did that left him in this pit, but we'll never know. 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:08.959 It's locked away. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:10.399 You'll never know. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:17.360 He just tells you how he feels, encompassed, overtaken, brokenhearted. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.759 And I think we can all, as the gathering of God's people together, say together, we've 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:24.240 been there too. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.120 We know that feeling. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:32.399 My guess is that hopefully you have never fallen into a cistern or a well or had your 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:37.399 siblings throw you into one, but my guess is your sin has lowered you into one somewhere 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:39.360 in your life. 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:45.120 You found yourself at one time or another like we all have, distressed, perplexed, burdened, 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.600 afraid, alone, and sinking, stuck. 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:54.160 Your feet can't seem to move forward out of the mire that you found yourself in because 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.079 of sin. 00:05:57.079 --> 00:06:04.399 And the beautiful reality is that God isn't surprised that this is our anthem as the corporate 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:05.599 people of God. 00:06:05.599 --> 00:06:07.399 Actually, it's quite the opposite. 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:13.159 He said, here's a song for you, my people, to sing when you feel that way. 00:06:13.159 --> 00:06:16.000 Sing this together when you're sinking, when you have that feeling. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.919 He's not surprised. 00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:24.279 The only thing probably worse than being in a pit is having to wait stuck in a pit for 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:26.399 a long period of time. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:30.399 And David says, if you look at the first verse, he says, I waited patiently in the 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.599 myery bog. 00:06:32.599 --> 00:06:37.239 And the word patiently there is probably a little bit too reserved, a little bit too 00:06:37.239 --> 00:06:39.560 mellow for how he was feeling at the time. 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:42.839 It's literally waiting, I waited. 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:44.759 In other words, even as I waited, I waited. 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.359 And when I got tired of waiting, I was still waiting. 00:06:47.359 --> 00:06:51.079 And to take a break from waiting, I waited. 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.519 As one commentator put it, I did nothing but wait. 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:57.959 That's all I did to get out of this pit. 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:02.199 And he was waiting because he knew there was only one way out of this pit that he had found 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:03.199 himself in. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.799 And it had nothing that he could do. 00:07:06.799 --> 00:07:07.799 Look at the Psalm again. 00:07:07.799 --> 00:07:10.560 He was waiting for someone. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.560 Look at verse one. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.799 He bent down to me. 00:07:13.799 --> 00:07:16.399 He heard my cry. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:17.399 Look at verse two. 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:19.759 He drew me up. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:23.279 He set my feet upon a rock. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:26.000 God is the subject of all of those verbs. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:32.479 You see, for Jeremiah to get out of a cistern, 30 men had to come and get him out of the 00:07:32.479 --> 00:07:34.959 cistern that he fell into. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:39.639 And for Joseph to get out, his brothers had to drag him out of the pit that they had put 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:41.919 him in. 00:07:41.919 --> 00:07:44.479 And for David, he writes, he inclined to me. 00:07:44.479 --> 00:07:46.719 He drew me up. 00:07:46.719 --> 00:07:52.479 And the word inclined is probably more like reached down, bent low, got on hands and knees 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:55.600 to bring him out of the pit. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:00.400 The pit of sin is too deep and too myery, too sticky for any human to get out. 00:08:00.400 --> 00:08:06.400 You need Yahweh himself to come down and get you out of this pit. 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:12.240 But it's all very nice and poetic to speak of pits and sinking and sending down ropes 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:13.240 this evening. 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.840 But what does that actually mean to us as we sit here? 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:23.279 There are people here who because I can say for certain because of this broken world who 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:29.719 are struggling with sin, with depression, who are perplexed, brokenhearted, wondering 00:08:29.719 --> 00:08:31.000 about God himself. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Is he good? 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.559 Is there a God here? 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:40.319 And just can't see straight how to move forward, how to move out. 00:08:40.319 --> 00:08:45.199 And whenever we find ourselves in that pit, one way or another, usually the last thing 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.920 we think we need is theology. 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:50.640 But actually theology is what we need when we're in the pit. 00:08:50.640 --> 00:08:53.240 That's what the psalmist would say. 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:57.840 We need to ask, what does it actually mean for God to come and get me out of where I've 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.200 put myself? 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.560 And with questions like that, always… 00:09:02.560 --> 00:09:03.560 Oh. 00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:10.120 All right, put hands in the pockets from now on. 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:16.480 With questions like that, it's always helpful to ask, did anyone around Jesus have the same 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.759 problem that I'm having right now? 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.200 And how did Jesus respond to them in that situation? 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:28.720 Well, I can think of two people who fell into the pit right next to Jesus. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:30.919 One fell in because of a simple sin, really. 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:35.039 It wasn't premeditated, it wasn't birth in a callous, festering heart. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:41.879 It was the crumble, the indecision of a moment that made him sin. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:43.240 The other was much deeper. 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.559 It was a slow, methodical process. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:51.719 It was planned, calculated, hardened, even almost insidious. 00:09:51.719 --> 00:09:57.079 And the two men, after they sinned, they were broken by the reality of what they were capable 00:09:57.079 --> 00:09:58.079 of. 00:09:58.079 --> 00:10:00.319 They felt guilty, condemned, afraid. 00:10:00.319 --> 00:10:02.199 They cried. 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:06.000 In short, they both found themselves in this pit. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.680 Y'all know who I'm talking about, Peter and Judas. 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:15.480 Two men right next to Jesus on the same night, both in the pit. 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:18.960 And if you would have run into Peter or Judas on that night, you would have seen two men 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:24.920 who both could have truly sung the words, evils have encompassed me beyond number. 00:10:24.920 --> 00:10:27.520 My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see. 00:10:27.520 --> 00:10:30.600 My heart fails me. 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:35.320 And yet one got out of the pit, and one didn't. 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:39.159 One will forever be labeled as the one who betrayed Jesus. 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:45.040 And one went on to be a crucial figure in the church and is assuredly sitting with Jesus 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:46.040 now. 00:10:46.040 --> 00:10:47.040 Why? 00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:50.379 What was the difference between these two men? 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:51.960 And Jesus actually tells us. 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:55.160 Jesus tells you why Peter got out. 00:10:55.160 --> 00:10:59.560 Do you remember what he said? 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:04.039 He said, Peter, I prayed for you. 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:10.279 He said, he told him, Peter, I prayed for your faith that it wouldn't fail. 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:14.519 And he said to him, when you have turned again or when you have repented, strengthen your 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:15.519 brothers. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:19.479 It's almost exactly the conversation he has with them after. 00:11:19.479 --> 00:11:20.799 What was the difference? 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.639 Jesus prayed for Peter. 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:28.799 He bent down on his hands and his knees, and he let down his rope. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.399 And he said, grab onto my hand out of that pit. 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.479 I'm praying for you. 00:11:35.479 --> 00:11:38.799 What do you, I just wonder what you think, what do I think when we find ourselves in 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.359 the pits of life? 00:11:41.359 --> 00:11:45.399 Do we say, do I say, if I have enough faith, then I'll get out of this? 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:50.319 If I start reading my Bible plan again, if I catch up, I'll do three a day until I get 00:11:50.319 --> 00:11:53.319 right back on track, then I'll get out of this. 00:11:53.319 --> 00:11:55.719 That'll sort it all out. 00:11:55.719 --> 00:11:57.559 If I start to say no to more things. 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:02.000 I'll read a self-health book, cut some things out of my life, then right out of the pit, 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.000 ramp we go. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:09.559 And all of those are probably good things, but none of them will get you out of the pit. 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:12.839 The psalmist would say, you cannot get out that way. 00:12:12.839 --> 00:12:14.559 The mud is too deep. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.119 The walls are too high. 00:12:16.119 --> 00:12:22.439 The only way out is if someone comes and lowers a rope and gets you out of there. 00:12:22.439 --> 00:12:27.479 What if instead when we find ourselves in there, what if I, what if you say to yourself, 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:33.759 say to your heart, Jesus is praying for me right now. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.080 Would that change the way you lived? 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:41.120 If when you struggled, you said, not what can I do, but Jesus is praying for me right 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:42.360 now. 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:45.200 What if I wait for him? 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.200 He came last time. 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:47.639 I've been here before. 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:49.519 I'll remember how he came last time. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.519 He'll come again. 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:56.960 So as David finds himself sinking yet again in this psalm, he says to himself, I've been 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.120 here before. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:00.879 Remember how he came last time. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.759 He'll come again. 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:07.600 I think if you were to put the cry of David into one sentence in this sermon, it might 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.400 be God, you saved me before. 00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:13.759 Don't abandon me now. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.080 But the question we have to ask is how do you know if Jesus is praying for you? 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.240 How do you know that Jesus is praying for you? 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:25.160 How would Peter and Judas have known if Jesus, if Jesus was praying for them? 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:27.959 Were their signs? 00:13:27.959 --> 00:13:32.719 And I've heard many people say that would compare themselves most to Peter. 00:13:32.719 --> 00:13:36.719 If they think of like a biblical figure that say, I'm the most like Peter, because Peter 00:13:36.719 --> 00:13:38.120 always puts his foot in his mouth. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.439 He always says the wrong thing. 00:13:39.439 --> 00:13:41.719 He's always wrong. 00:13:41.719 --> 00:13:43.600 And there might be some truth to that. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.000 He wasn't always right. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:50.000 But say whatever you want about what Peter said, about how many questions he got wrong. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.079 Peter couldn't stop talking to Jesus. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.200 It's like every page of the gospel, Peter is talking to Jesus in some way. 00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:01.040 And I'd really like to ask those people who compare themselves most to Peter, are you 00:14:01.040 --> 00:14:02.560 always talking to Jesus? 00:14:02.560 --> 00:14:07.120 Can you just not get enough of talking to Jesus? 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.520 Peter wasn't defined by saying silly things. 00:14:09.520 --> 00:14:14.000 He was defined by a life spent talking to Jesus. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.240 On the other hand, the only time that I can find Judas talking to Jesus is one time where 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:24.560 he challenges Jesus about the grace that he's showing to a sinful woman. 00:14:24.560 --> 00:14:29.720 Other than that, as far as I can see, Judas doesn't say a word to Jesus. 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:32.840 How do you know if Jesus is praying for you in heaven? 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:34.799 Well, do I talk to Jesus? 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:37.600 Am I always talking to Jesus? 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.799 And if your life is spent always talking to him, no matter how silly your prayers might 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:46.879 be, no matter how repetitive, no matter how wrong some of the things you might get, you 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:54.159 can rest assured that Jesus is talking to the Father about you. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.639 After all, what does it mean for Jesus to intercede? 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.919 It means that he's holding your faith fast before the Father. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.840 And isn't that what the psalmist says? 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:06.480 What does Jesus do to the one who he draws from the pit? 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:12.120 Verse three, if you look again at the psalm, it says he puts a song in his mouth. 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.919 And that song, as verse three says, is to God. 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:18.000 He puts a song to God in his mouth. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.879 And the word there for song is just the word in your Bible that you have titled over this 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:23.959 book, psalm. 00:15:23.959 --> 00:15:27.879 It's the very title of this book, of this series. 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:32.199 It describes all of these songwriters who cried out to God when they were trapped in 00:15:32.199 --> 00:15:36.439 sin and alone and happy and victorious and suffering loss and angry. 00:15:36.439 --> 00:15:37.439 That's what they did. 00:15:37.439 --> 00:15:39.719 They sang these psalms to God. 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:45.080 It's a book of talking to Jesus about all of the details and worries and victories of life. 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:47.399 So what's the mark that he's come for you? 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.600 That he won't let you stay in the pit that he's praying for you? 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.639 It's that you talk the ear off of Jesus, that you're always seeking communion with them, 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:59.480 that you always want to talk to him and sing to him, and he's put a song in your mouth. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:04.440 So the next heading would be the song. 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.800 What is this new song of the delivered? 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:18.319 It's, if you look at verse four, it's first, a song to yourself. 00:16:18.319 --> 00:16:22.559 When you found your way out of the pit, you remind yourself, blessed is the man who makes 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.000 the Lord his trust. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.120 That's what you sing to yourself. 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:31.759 And blessed, it's just the idea that's in the first chapter of the Psalms, blessed 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:32.759 is the man. 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:38.519 It's the idea of deep soul peace, of deep soul happiness that you found. 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:43.559 It is the exact opposite of the pit. 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:47.159 And you sing to yourself, the truly peaceful man does two things. 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:49.000 This is what you remind yourself. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:55.600 He one, he makes the Lord his trust, and two, he refuses to turn to the proud. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:00.279 He makes the Lord his trust, and he refuses to turn to the proud. 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.959 And the word there for proud is actually the word that's used as a slang for the Egyptians 00:17:03.959 --> 00:17:06.079 all throughout the Bible. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:10.519 In the Bible, Israel has always been enticed by Egypt. 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:15.359 Israel was always drawn to Egypt's wealth and luxury and power and safety. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:20.680 Moses, according to the book of Hebrews, had to fight to choose the riches of Christ over 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.879 Egypt's fleeting and ticing pleasures. 00:17:23.879 --> 00:17:29.079 The Israelites dreamed of the pleasures of Egypt from the desert. 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:31.960 And what does this Psalm call all that Egypt offered them? 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:34.639 All that was offered to them. 00:17:34.639 --> 00:17:36.960 Verse four, it calls it a lie. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:40.519 It's just chasing after a lie. 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:46.559 And instead, verse five, you say, the Lord is thinking of me. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:48.960 The Lord hasn't forgotten. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.359 His thoughts of me are multiplying day after day. 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:54.039 He's thinking of me. 00:17:54.039 --> 00:18:02.319 And in verse 17, David says, when I am poor and needy, the Lord takes thought of me. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.960 In this song that David sings, there are a lot of different notes, but the melody for 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:11.720 David is that God thinks of him. 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:13.480 Is that the melody of your life? 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:17.680 Is that the melody of your thoughts, of how you think about God? 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:21.879 Do you preach to yourself that God takes thought over you? 00:18:21.879 --> 00:18:23.319 How would that change? 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:28.279 The way you lived, if you actually thought, Jesus is praying for me and God takes thought 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:31.480 over my life. 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:36.720 If when I was dating Whitney, I thought her thoughts of me were multiplying from one a 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:41.119 week to maybe two, that would have changed the way I lived my life. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:45.599 I would have lived like a confident, much more confident man. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.240 Jesus thinks of you. 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.759 His thoughts are multiplying toward you. 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:55.559 Jesus prayed for you in the pit, and he's thinking of you even now. 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:59.319 It's not that Jesus saves you from the pit and then he leaves you alone. 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:04.160 To figure it out until next time you fall on the pit like a truck that comes and pulls 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.240 you back out. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:10.279 His prayers hoist you out, and then his prayers set your feet upon the rock, and then his 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:16.279 prayers teach your heart to not go back to Egypt, to not want Egypt anymore, and then 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:21.000 his thoughts and prayers teach you what it truly means to be peaceful and content, to 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.559 be blessed. 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:28.440 And then that's the reality we have to teach ourselves, that I will be more peaceful and 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:36.960 more content in ways that I could ever imagine if I actually just don't chase Egypt anymore. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:41.119 If I don't chase the lies anymore, I'll be more peaceful and content than I could ever 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.000 imagine. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.279 If I make the Lord, as he says, my trust. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:51.039 And the psalmist says, you can trust the Lord because he's thought through your life, and 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.480 he knows what's best for you. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.920 And when you know, and this next heading would be the sacrifice, this next heading would 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:03.759 be the sacrifice, and when you know that God thinks of you and holds you up, then you begin 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:09.200 to love him so much that you ask him, God, what do you want from me? 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.000 What do you actually delight in, Lord? 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.759 What can I give you that you would delight in? 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:21.079 And verses six through eight make it clear that it was never about animal sacrifices 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:22.640 if you read your Old Testament. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:25.960 It was never about animal sacrifices. 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:31.279 And this at first probably seems strange because God commanded animal sacrifices, so why would 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:36.559 he not delight in animal sacrifices if that's what he told them to do? 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:41.480 And if you actually were to go back into Leviticus and Numbers for pleasure reading sometime, 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:48.240 you would notice that not all sins could be absolutely atoned for by sacrifices. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:55.360 Actually it was more specific, unintentional sins that could be atoned for, but deeper, 00:20:55.360 --> 00:20:59.799 higher-handed sins resulted in being cut off, separated from the people of God and from 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:03.480 God himself, even death. 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:08.839 Plenty of sins in the Old Testament were left with no prescribed sacrifice, sins of thought 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.319 and words of pride and self-promotion. 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:12.759 What do you do with those things? 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:16.240 What do you do with those sins? 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:22.359 So you have the true Israelites, not ever fully content with the sacrificial system because 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:27.039 they feel how inadequate it is to deal with their guilt. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:31.919 And so they reach behind the altar and they reach for the mercy of God saying, be merciful 00:21:31.919 --> 00:21:37.839 to me because I have sins that this lamb never will fully deal with. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:43.919 And they pleaded with the character of God himself to do more than that lamb could. 00:21:43.919 --> 00:21:49.919 And as verse six says, God gave them open ears. 00:21:49.919 --> 00:21:55.279 The picture is that he like chiseled a hole in their ear, he dug a hole in their hardened 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:56.279 ears. 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:02.039 And he said, what this all about is, what this whole system is about is that I want to be 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:05.240 your God and I want you to be my people. 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:10.480 I want you and I want my words to be within you. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:15.519 And it's always been about the God wants a heart that says my delight is to please you. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:23.120 I've internalized your words into my soul, into my guts as the Hebrew word would say. 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:28.240 I still remember the very place I stood when Whitney agreed to go out in our first date 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:29.240 with me. 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:31.960 I remember the first text message I received from her. 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:34.079 Those things are ingrained into my mind. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:38.639 They've been pushed down into my guts because they matter to me. 00:22:38.639 --> 00:22:44.559 And in verse eight, when it says your law is within my heart, it means guts. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.759 It's found its way all the way down within you, deep, deep down. 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:52.480 And it only gets the guts because you can feel his words. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.519 You need them to get you out of the pit. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.480 And you can only feel them because you've decided that you love them more than anything 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:00.480 else. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:06.640 You've been more than all the Egypt has to offer you. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:13.000 And the New Testament will tell you a crazy reality about verses six through eight. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.120 You probably know. 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:18.920 It says that these are the words of Jesus himself. 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:23.200 Hebrews 10 tells you that shocking reality. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.599 It says that Jesus sang these words to himself. 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:33.319 In other words, there was a moment when Jesus's heart failed him and he felt encompassed by 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:34.599 evils all around him. 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:41.039 When people were pursuing him, when he became sin itself and felt it to the very core of 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:42.039 his being. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:48.799 And in that moment, he said, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.839 But deep down, he also knew this psalm. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:56.279 Somewhere deep down, his soul sang the words, I'm waiting for the Lord because I know that 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.079 he listens to me. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:23:59.720 I know he's coming for me. 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:04.079 I know he won't leave me in the pit. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.000 And when Satan tempted him to trust in lies, he said, no, no, the Lord is my trust. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.119 I trust in the Lord. 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.119 I've internalized his word into me. 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.519 I would never go against the Lord. 00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:19.839 And as he grew up and learned the Old Testament, God gave him ears to hear that the temple 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:26.079 was only a shadow of himself, that the Lamb was a shadow of himself. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:32.079 Because it says, the entire scroll of the book was written of me. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:37.079 And we can only think maybe he sang to himself on the way to the cross. 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:43.399 As all the lambs were slaughtered on that same day, that's not what truly pleases you, 00:24:43.399 --> 00:24:44.399 Lord. 00:24:44.399 --> 00:24:49.079 So maybe he sang quietly, behold, I have come. 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:55.199 I am fulfilling the law to the deepest parts of me, with the deepest parts of me. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:00.880 And we see the reality that this ultimately is Jesus' song. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:02.039 And so what? 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:05.240 Is this just a cool wow moment of turning the Psalm on its head? 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:06.240 What do we do with that? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.120 How does that help us? 00:25:08.120 --> 00:25:11.319 How does this help you that Jesus sang this song? 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.840 Well, this is a song about guilt. 00:25:14.840 --> 00:25:18.960 This is a song about sinking, about drowning. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:24.680 And if you're in the pit here this evening, however you got there, wherever you are, you 00:25:24.680 --> 00:25:29.440 need to realize that for thousands of years, the people of God collectively sang verse 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:34.279 one, we waited patiently for the Lord. 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:39.080 And then just like God did for the Israelites when they were in Egypt, God, as verse one, 00:25:39.080 --> 00:25:41.920 says, he heard their cry. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:48.080 And God stooped down, got in his hands and his knees and entered into a manger. 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:52.560 And he said, behold, I have come. 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:56.519 And what you've been reaching out for behind the sacrificial system, what this sacrificial 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:03.039 system couldn't solve in you, the very mercy of God to every corner of your being, that's 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:06.119 what I've come to accomplish. 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:11.119 So that very thing that the sacrificial system couldn't resolve the guilt of so many sins 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:18.639 and thoughts, of the sins that you committed willingly and knowingly and subtly, Jesus 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:24.240 said, verse 11, the Lord will not restrain his mercy from any corner of your life or 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:28.240 your mind or your heart or your being. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.440 And that means, the reason that's important is it means that you need to feel the weight 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:38.080 of the life and death of Christ on your conscience as you read this. 00:26:38.080 --> 00:26:41.600 Paul says in Romans six, he says, you died with Christ on the cross. 00:26:41.600 --> 00:26:46.680 That's just, if we just dwelt on that. 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:52.360 In other words, you've been so united to Christ that what is true of him is now true of you. 00:26:52.360 --> 00:26:55.920 When he obeyed, it's as if you obeyed in him. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:58.640 When he died to sin, so did you. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:03.700 So you have to, when you find yourself in the pit, you have to tell your guilty conscience. 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:09.120 When I think of my past, instead of thinking about what I did last week or last year, think 00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:13.120 of the life of Christ. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:17.239 And let your conscience begin to feel that righteousness has now been accomplished for 00:27:17.239 --> 00:27:22.239 you and imputed to you and it's yours. 00:27:22.239 --> 00:27:25.119 And again, how would you do that? 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:29.439 Practically, how do you do that in your life? 00:27:29.439 --> 00:27:36.279 There's a helpful technique I heard recently on handling sin in your life. 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:40.439 Whatever the sin is plaguing you, you give it a name. 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:44.160 I heard this from Sinclair Ferguson, give it a name. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:48.519 And it doesn't mean name your sin Timothy or Jack, don't name it that. 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:53.759 I mean, call it what it is, name it lust, anger, gossip, etc. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:28:00.000 Give it a name and then write that name down and look at it and actually write it down 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.519 and look at it. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:02.519 But you don't stop there. 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:07.480 That's where we too often stop with sin is we identify it and then just like scratching 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:08.480 and itch. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:14.599 Scratch and scratch and scratch and it never actually gets better, it only gets worse. 00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:19.240 Then go from there, then write down what the polar biblical opposite of that sin is. 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:23.759 If you wrote down lust, write down thankfulness right next to it. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:29.759 If you wrote down greed, write down generosity next to it. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:35.120 And then you begin to pray more for the positive than you do for the negative. 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:37.680 And that's where that technique ends most of the time. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:40.759 But I think this Psalm would nudge us one step further. 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:45.680 It would push us to go one step further. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.279 If you wrote down lust and the opposite you wrote down is thankfulness, this Psalm would 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:53.400 say look at how Jesus was thankful in your stead for you. 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:57.799 Look how Jesus accomplished that for you already. 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:01.480 And you can see it right here in this Psalm, verse 16, he loves the way of righteousness 00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:05.480 and sings about how greatly the Lord deals with him. 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:09.519 And if you wrote down fear and next to it you wrote down trust, instead of just, I'm 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:13.440 just going to trust more. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:16.920 Look at Jesus say, I've put all my trust in the Lord's plan for you. 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.279 I've done it in your stead. 00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:24.720 And then the reality of how united you are to Christ, that you're already dead to sin 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:28.400 because you are in Christ, should begin to hit you and should begin to hit the way you 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:32.920 view your sins and the way you view your days. 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.800 Jesus sang and lived this song for you. 00:29:36.800 --> 00:29:42.000 So that means when you find yourself in the pit, Jesus doesn't just pray for you, but 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.200 he put himself in the pit for you. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:47.800 He screamed, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:52.519 So you would never have to say that. 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:57.080 In conclusion, many of you probably have seen that eerie scene from the movie Titanic or 00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:03.960 at least heard of it, where the ship is going down and the band of violinists or the group 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:05.639 of violinists is on the deck. 00:30:05.639 --> 00:30:11.839 And as the ship is sinking into the icy water, they continue playing their violins. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:18.439 And it's actually well-attested to by survivors that that actually happened. 00:30:18.439 --> 00:30:22.279 And survivors even remembered what the band played that night. 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:28.480 They played the 19th century hymn near my God to the, that's what they played. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:31.680 That was their sinking song. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:34.200 Do you have a sinking song? 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.680 Jesus did, Psalm 40, this was it. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:41.799 And so in the most beautiful way, Jesus tells us, sing my words from the pit. 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:42.799 I've given you these. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:46.240 I sang these myself because this was my song. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:50.680 Let me pray for us. 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:59.480 Lord, thank you that you don't leave us. 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:02.519 Lord, you haven't left us, but that you pray for us. 00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:04.960 Lord, you come and you get us. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:10.480 And I pray for all of us here this evening, those who are perplexed and distressed and 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:11.920 guilt ridden. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:17.279 Lord, that they would look up, that they would look to you, that they would realize there's 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.400 no way out of the pit on their own. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:25.880 That someone needs to come and get them, that you need to come and get them. 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:30.519 I pray that they would realize that you care for them, that you think of them, that you've 00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:34.120 gotten your hands and knees and entered a manger for them. 00:31:34.120 --> 00:31:38.840 You pulled them up, that you pray for them, that you set their feet on steady ground, Lord. 00:31:38.840 --> 00:31:43.080 And you came yourself and you walked out those steps in front of us. 00:31:43.080 --> 00:31:48.280 I pray that those realities would sink in, that it would change the way we view sin. 00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:51.960 Lord, the change the way we view ourselves and the world around us. 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:59.039 Lord, and for any here who are wondering about if God even exists or is God good, I pray 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:03.359 that those realities would draw them. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:08.359 They would realize that they can't find their way out of the pit on their own. 00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:10.759 We love you, Lord, and pray this all in Christ's name. 00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:18.759 Amen.