WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.339 All right, Psalm 114. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.700 At the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, then the flint into a spring of water. 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:40.780 So I love watermelons. 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:41.880 I know a lot of people do. 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:51.920 Holds a special place in my heart because when I played football in high school, we had practices two times a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and you would eat lunch in between. 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:53.320 It'd be rough, right? 00:00:53.900 --> 00:00:57.480 And because of the workouts, I had trouble keeping my food down. 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.259 So I couldn't really have a real lunch. 00:01:00.739 --> 00:01:05.319 So instead, I just ate a bunch of watermelon, which was technically food, but it's mostly just water, right? 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:10.299 So it'd fill me up, it'd hydrate me, and it'd take me through the practices, which is what I needed. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:15.319 So I was super excited at the Kennedy Longfellow Spring Fling. 00:01:15.759 --> 00:01:22.799 Sean was there when this happened, when I got the slice of watermelon, and it was Caladrio's first bite, right? 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:23.799 So I gave it to her. 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:25.099 I raised it to her mouth, and she did it. 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:26.379 I was so excited. 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:26.679 I was so excited. 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:29.000 And I was super excited. 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:34.140 I said to Carolyn, like, oh, this Caladrio's first bite of watermelon, right? 00:01:34.759 --> 00:01:35.679 And she was not excited. 00:01:35.759 --> 00:01:36.259 She was not impressed. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.140 She was like, no, it's not. 00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:39.699 She's already had it. 00:01:39.699 --> 00:01:40.420 You've had it to her already. 00:01:41.399 --> 00:01:45.799 And so that's just an example of my forgetfulness, right? 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.679 I can be very forgetful, have a bad memory. 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:54.860 And when it comes to spiritual things, I think we all struggle with chronic forgetfulness. 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:56.760 We tend to forget who God is. 00:01:56.940 --> 00:02:01.580 We tend to forget how he's been faithful to us, forget how he's been good to us. 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:10.460 And so our passage today is a relatively short recounting of God's rescue of his people Israel from their slavery in Egypt. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:15.219 So we primarily see that God has moved powerfully in creation for the good of his people. 00:02:15.219 --> 00:02:24.879 And we can take away from the psalm for us that we, too, must remember who God is and what he's done for us so that we're strengthened for our daily life of faith. 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:32.520 So first, let's talk about the Exodus, the recounting of their escape from slavery. 00:02:33.079 --> 00:02:36.900 So verse 3 talks about the sea fleeing and the Jordan turning back. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:38.659 So the sea here refers to the Red Sea. 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:43.639 And that's when the Israelites left Egypt and God parted the Red Sea for them to leave. 00:02:44.359 --> 00:02:46.259 And Pharaoh and his armies got wiped out. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.859 And the Jordan refers to the Jordan River. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:52.500 So that's the river before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:03:00.340 So here it's encompassing the entirety of Israel's journey from beginning to end and through the wilderness into the Promised Land. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:05.680 Verse 4 speaks of the mountains and hills skipping like rams and lambs. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:13.520 So the mountains may refer to Mount Sinai where God met the Israelites and confirmed his covenant promises to them. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:22.319 So in Exodus 19, verse 18, it says that when God descended on it with fire, the whole mountain trembled violently. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:33.879 And the hills here may refer to the hill country of Syria and Palestine, the area where the Israelites first went in and took settlements for the Promised Land. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:38.019 Verse 8 talks about the rock and the flint turning into water. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:44.439 So multiple times through the wilderness journey, the Israelites cried out in thirst and God provided for them. 00:03:45.019 --> 00:03:52.859 And so like in Exodus 17, God commands Moses to strike the rock and he does and water comes out of the rock for the people of the dream. 00:03:53.359 --> 00:03:56.079 So God did these amazing acts in history. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:06.300 But it's not some long ago arbitrary event like if we read like in a history book or Wikipedia about Roman history, right? 00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:12.680 Here the point is that God did this for his very own people, his beloved people, the Israelites. 00:04:13.220 --> 00:04:18.340 It says in verse 7 that God is the God of Jacob. 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:23.879 Verse 2, Judah became his sanctuary or sanctuaries can also be translated holy place. 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:28.240 It's a, there are people who are devoted to God, set apart for God, special to him. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:31.259 Verse 2 also says Israel is his dominion. 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:34.680 So it's God's realm of rule and reign. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:36.719 That's where God has authority. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:47.540 And so Psalm 14, 114 therefore applies to the Israelites who lived after the Exodus in the Promised Land, right? 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:48.399 Very directly. 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.219 But it also applies to us in a spiritual sense. 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:55.140 In Christ we've inherited God's mighty acts. 00:04:55.400 --> 00:04:58.180 God has saved us from the land of slavery to sin. 00:04:58.880 --> 00:05:04.680 God has passed over us in forgiveness because of Jesus, our Passover lamb, who was slain on our behalf. 00:05:05.380 --> 00:05:12.540 Like the wandering Israelites in the wilderness, we look longingly into the promised land of heaven beyond death. 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:12.920 Right? 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:17.600 So I'm reminded of lines from the hymn on Jordan's stormy banks. 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:18.800 If you guys are familiar with that. 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:20.360 A few lines, it goes, 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:27.420 On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie. 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:32.879 All over those wild, those wide extended plains shines one eternal day. 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:37.540 There God the sun forever reigns and scatters night away. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.000 I am bound. 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:39.600 I am bound. 00:05:39.780 --> 00:05:40.960 I am bound for promised land. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:46.319 So there's a spiritual nourishment in the content of this psalm for us today. 00:05:47.599 --> 00:05:55.839 Additionally, we can benefit from this psalm not just from the content but by applying the principle of what's happening here. 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:57.319 The principle of remembrance. 00:05:58.219 --> 00:06:02.639 God has done amazing things for you, for me, to save us through Christ Jesus. 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:07.659 And so we need to remind ourselves and preach to ourselves what is true. 00:06:07.660 --> 00:06:12.640 Remember that God brought us out of sin into faith in Christ. 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:15.840 So we became his dearly loved children. 00:06:16.580 --> 00:06:18.700 So 1 John 3, verse 1 says, 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:22.880 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:24.940 Ephesians 5, verse 1 says, 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:28.040 Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:29.340 We belong to him. 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:33.819 Remember that we are holy and set apart to God. 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:35.959 1 Corinthians 6 says, 00:06:36.479 --> 00:06:38.000 Flee from sexual immorality. 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.319 Every other sin a person commits, it's outside the body. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:44.120 But the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 00:06:44.659 --> 00:06:48.939 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? 00:06:49.419 --> 00:06:50.639 You are not your own. 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:52.559 You are bought with a price. 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:54.779 So glorify God in your body. 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:58.259 Remember that Jesus is king. 00:06:59.059 --> 00:07:02.639 Just like God makes the mountains tremble and parts seas, 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:07.799 at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 00:07:08.359 --> 00:07:10.299 He rebukes and casts out demons. 00:07:10.479 --> 00:07:11.799 He makes them cry out and beg. 00:07:12.659 --> 00:07:18.859 Jesus has defeated death for us so that we're not looking ahead to a fearful end, 00:07:18.859 --> 00:07:24.139 but to a hopeful beginning into life that is truly life for us. 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:26.239 1 Corinthians 15 says, 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:28.159 Death is swallowed up in victory. 00:07:28.799 --> 00:07:29.899 O death, where is your sting? 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:30.859 O victory. 00:07:31.239 --> 00:07:31.399 Sorry. 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:32.819 O death, where is your victory? 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:33.839 O death, where is your sting? 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:38.799 Remember that God provides us with everything that we need, 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.859 even water from a rock if he wants to, if he chooses to. 00:07:43.619 --> 00:07:48.319 2 Peter 1, verse 3 says, 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.939 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life, 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:56.500 through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness, 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:57.980 everything that we need. 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:00.339 Philippians 4, 19 says, 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:05.420 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:07.659 In Romans 8, 32, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.300 He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, 00:08:11.779 --> 00:08:14.819 how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:15.300 Right? 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:20.939 So we can remember all of these promises and truths in scripture, 00:08:21.259 --> 00:08:23.779 as well as all the ways that God has delivered us, 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:31.279 whether it's from a specific sin or providing us with a wife or children, 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:33.159 providing us with a job. 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:37.819 There are so many things that we can look back and remember God's faithfulness for us. 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:41.060 So in terms of application, 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.080 is there anything that's troubling you tonight? 00:08:44.900 --> 00:08:49.440 Are there burdens and worries that are heavy on your heart, heavy on your mind? 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.320 So remember who God is and what he's done for you. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.200 This God, he's the same, right? 00:08:57.280 --> 00:09:00.660 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 00:09:00.659 --> 00:09:04.000 So the God who did these amazing things, 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:06.620 who overthrew Pharaoh's army and part of the waters, 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.339 who sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:14.139 he's the same God today who sustains us with faith, 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:16.539 who empowers us by his Holy Spirit, 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:18.039 gives us everything that we need. 00:09:18.740 --> 00:09:21.559 And he's the same God who, going forward, 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:23.579 will help us to persevere in faith, 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.360 who will carry us through death into eternal life, 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:27.659 will give us everything that we need. 00:09:27.659 --> 00:09:34.659 So with that, let's dive into...