WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.240 I'm going to read Psalm 22, just from verse 1 to 21. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:15.500 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:21.059 Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groanings? 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:25.060 Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:28.280 And by night, but I find no rest. 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:34.179 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:36.560 In you our fathers trusted. 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:39.039 They trusted and you delivered them. 00:00:39.820 --> 00:00:41.740 To you they cried and were rescued. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.480 In you they trusted and were not put to shame. 00:00:46.900 --> 00:00:50.260 But I am a worm and not a man. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.880 Scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.320 All who see me, they mock me. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:58.340 They make mouths at me. 00:00:58.439 --> 00:00:59.439 They wag their heads. 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:01.200 He trusts in the Lord. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:02.719 Let him deliver him. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:05.920 Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. 00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:09.680 Yet you are he who took me from the womb. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.659 You made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:15.620 On you was I cast from birth. 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:19.000 And from my mother's wombs you have been my God. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.480 Be not far from me. 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:23.359 The trouble is near. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:25.739 And there is none to help. 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:29.659 Many balls encompass me. 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:31.920 Strong balls of bashan surround me. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.640 They open wide their mouths at me. 00:01:35.019 --> 00:01:36.740 Like a ravening and roaring lion. 00:01:37.740 --> 00:01:40.120 I am poured out like water. 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:42.680 And all my bones are out of joint. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:45.240 My heart is like wax. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:47.620 It is melted within my breast. 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:51.220 My strength is dried up like a posh hard. 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:53.860 And my tongue sticks to my jaws. 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:56.840 You lay me in the dust of death. 00:01:58.220 --> 00:01:59.640 For dogs encompass me. 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:02.460 A company of evildoers encircle me. 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:05.759 They have pierced my hands and feet. 00:02:06.399 --> 00:02:08.299 I can count all my bones. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.159 They stare and gloat over me. 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:13.579 They divide my garments among them. 00:02:14.019 --> 00:02:16.079 And for my clothing they cast lots. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.900 But you, O Lord, do not be far away. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:24.000 O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:26.740 Deliver my soul from the sword. 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:29.919 My precious life from the power of the dog. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.679 Save me from the mouth of the lion. 00:02:33.539 --> 00:02:37.839 You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. 00:02:42.839 --> 00:02:43.979 All right, good morning. 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:48.939 Okay, today is Easter Sunday. 00:02:49.579 --> 00:02:57.179 This is the traditional day when Christians traditionally move from the somber tone of Good Friday to celebration. 00:02:57.180 --> 00:03:03.640 Or when we move from the fasting of Lent, if you've observed Lent and you're from that Christian tradition. 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:05.000 You observe that. 00:03:05.260 --> 00:03:10.580 To the feasting on chocolate and other things of all shapes and sizes. 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:16.960 So, if that's the case, if this is a day of celebration, why such a mournful psalm? 00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:20.460 And we only read the first half of it, which is like the most mournful bit. 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:28.040 The second half of it, if you go on and read later, you'll discover it is all about celebrating the truth of the first half being fulfilled. 00:03:29.220 --> 00:03:30.700 It is a mournful psalm. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.700 It's actually called a lament psalm. 00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:34.280 Now, we don't kind of use that word these days. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.479 We kind of use the word blues, don't we, when we talk about songs. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:39.000 But it is. 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:39.599 That's what it is. 00:03:39.640 --> 00:03:42.460 It's like an ancient Near Eastern version of the blues. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:44.300 You know the story. 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:45.620 My car broke down. 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:46.479 I lost my job. 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:47.500 The cat got run over. 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:48.800 I'm sick in hospital. 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:50.699 And my best friend's mum just died. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.599 You know, all of those kinds of things roll into one story. 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:56.300 Well, that's the kind of thing that we're looking at here. 00:03:56.300 --> 00:04:02.120 We're looking at a lament psalm because that is what real life is like. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.500 And it's because it totally describes the first Easter. 00:04:08.100 --> 00:04:13.240 Lament psalms, or blues psalms if you prefer, describe life as it really is. 00:04:13.980 --> 00:04:18.360 Life isn't a TV commercial or a rom-com, sitcom or any other sort. 00:04:18.780 --> 00:04:25.980 Things just don't work out perfectly or smoothly or painlessly or easily. 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:30.579 I remember watching a movie called Princess Bride when I was a teenager. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:32.199 I don't know if any of you have seen that movie. 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:33.860 Princess Bride is a great movie. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.540 And there's a line in it in which the lead character, Wesley, 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:41.400 although he's actually in the mode of the dread pirate Prince Robert at the time, 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:42.040 he says, 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:43.879 Life is pain, princess. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:48.540 Anyone who says different is selling something. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:51.699 Life is pain. 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:58.920 Even as a teenager, I instinctively knew the truth of what he was saying. 00:05:01.099 --> 00:05:03.159 And I also remember another time when it really struck home to me. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:06.259 And that was the first time I saw the painting called The Scream. 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:07.539 And it's only colloquially called this. 00:05:07.599 --> 00:05:09.599 It wasn't called this by the painter. 00:05:10.419 --> 00:05:11.079 The Scream. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.699 It was painted by a man called Edvard Munch around 1895. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:16.300 He's done four of them. 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:19.439 And this is just the one of them, the one of them I find most disturbing really. 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:22.520 And it's haunting. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:25.280 I'm just checking it was up there. 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:26.879 It's haunting, isn't it? 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:35.139 He describes his experience in the form of a painting of being suddenly caught up 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:38.759 in the tortured pain that he saw nature being in. 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:41.139 It was screaming. 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:43.620 And he was drawn into it. 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:46.759 It became the cry of his tortured soul. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.639 And even as we look at it now, over 100 years later, it still disturbs us. 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:56.939 But something in it resonates too. 00:05:59.039 --> 00:06:00.740 Life is pain. 00:06:02.300 --> 00:06:03.899 Maybe not 24-7. 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:08.240 But an endless cycle of moving through painful events. 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:10.759 Until we die. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.120 Something is not quite right about the world. 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:16.740 Life is bent out of shape. 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:18.079 It feels wrong. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.379 Death feels absolutely wrong. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:27.019 Psalm 22 speaks about that kind of world. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.339 It addresses real life, warts and all. 00:06:32.039 --> 00:06:35.060 But it doesn't promise just to leave us there. 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:41.720 It gives us a real and rock-solid hope for celebration. 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:48.400 If you haven't got a Bible, and I am going to be working through this passage. 00:06:49.140 --> 00:06:52.720 So if you haven't got a Bible, then there's these hardback black ones up the back there. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:54.420 So feel free to grab one of those. 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.320 And if you do have one of those, we're on page 457. 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:02.899 If you've got screaming fast internet, download the Crossway Bible app. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.279 And that's got a free, ad-free version of the Bible. 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:08.120 So look up Psalm 22 in that. 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.300 The first thing I want to say about this Psalm, though, is it falls into two parts. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.459 It has kind of two functions. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.019 One is to kind of teach us how to actually approach God when we suffer. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:22.620 What do we do when we suffer? 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:25.360 Where is God when we suffer? 00:07:27.340 --> 00:07:32.800 And then the other side of it is to show how God actually answers the cry of our hearts. 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:34.300 Where are you when we're suffering? 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:37.959 And gives us a reason for celebration. 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:40.620 So let's have a look at this. 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:42.220 Part one, where is God in suffering? 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.899 Okay, the first part of Psalm 2 goes from verses 1 to 21. 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:49.740 They're the small numbers in the Bible if you're not used to Bibles. 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:56.180 And it's written by a king called King David, as we've already been introduced, by Rod. 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:01.579 And it's about his own personal experience of suffering. 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:05.720 It's raw and it's real and it covers a lot of what we feel when we suffer. 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:13.420 But as we go through the Psalm, look at how, not only how David talks to God, but how David speaks to himself as well. 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:15.379 There's a bit of a cycle that goes on here. 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:18.379 First, he starts off with his cry of abandonment. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.939 King David begins with a desperate cry in verse 1. 00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:25.939 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:29.819 You see the repetition of God here. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.799 It emphasizes his desperation, but the use of the word God, El, explains why. 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:39.360 The Hebrew word for God that's used here means mighty one. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:46.919 In other words, God has the power to save, so why isn't he? 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:50.800 Now, many of us will know this feeling. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.860 Someone once said there are no atheists in the trenches. 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:56.680 And it's kind of true, isn't it? 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:58.680 When we're in trouble, we pray. 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:07.939 But I think it's also accurate to say that there are no atheists, but not everyone is happy with God in the trenches either. 00:09:10.079 --> 00:09:13.159 Some of us pray to God because we suffer and we hope for relief. 00:09:14.099 --> 00:09:15.759 Some of us rage at God. 00:09:15.839 --> 00:09:17.679 We hate him because we suffer. 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:21.879 We hate him because we feel abandoned. 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:29.860 So David's cry echoes our own feeling of abandonment in our own personal suffering. 00:09:30.580 --> 00:09:33.139 When we suffer, we suffer alone. 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:39.320 If we acknowledge there is a God, then there's a time we feel forsaken by him. 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:42.179 He feels so far from us. 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:47.480 It's a sentiment that David repeats in verses 8, 11, and 19 in this passage. 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:52.800 We cry out, but God doesn't answer. 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:58.220 David captures that feeling of abandonment, of alonement in suffering. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:05.779 And then he goes on to explain why he's so upset with God in the first place. 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:09.960 God, where are you? 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:13.379 You should be trustworthy. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:15.460 He says in verse 3, 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:19.220 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:25.340 David knows God can help. 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:30.860 He knows God has helped countless times in miraculous ways. 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:37.680 There's so much history to God's faithfulness that he describes God as enthroned on the praises of Israel. 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:42.300 Their overwhelming experience of God is that he is praiseworthy. 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:47.519 Time and time again, God's people have called out, and God has rescued them. 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:48.939 They trusted. 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:50.279 God delivered. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.059 Like a good parent, or the fire brigade, or the police, the ambulance. 00:10:55.839 --> 00:10:57.159 They come when you call. 00:10:58.120 --> 00:10:59.079 They're our heroes. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.580 So where is this hero God now? 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:04.360 Is what David is asking. 00:11:07.400 --> 00:11:13.440 David just hangs in this intense experience of suffering, and he wonders, why isn't God showing up for me? 00:11:13.620 --> 00:11:15.060 He feels like an outcast. 00:11:15.160 --> 00:11:19.259 He feels ashamed of where he's at. 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:22.319 And that's the next thing that David talks about here. 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:23.039 It's called shame. 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:29.960 We don't always recognize the shame in suffering, but here's two ways that it plays out, just to maybe help you get a sense of how it works. 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:34.259 You see, there's the shame of suffering itself, to be despised. 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.059 David says, I am a worm, not a man. 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:39.939 This is how people view him. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:40.259 He's an outcast. 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:43.819 If you've suffered, then you know this. 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:46.900 Some examples. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.020 I was a physiotherapist. 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:48.860 I worked in hospitals. 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:52.120 There are doctors here who can give you more gruesome stories than I can. 00:11:52.420 --> 00:11:56.780 There are nurses here who have absolutely no filters when they tell you things about what they've experienced and seen. 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:00.300 But some examples. 00:12:01.920 --> 00:12:10.040 It took very special people to work in the burns unit of the hospital that I did my student placement in. 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:19.719 It took very special people to get alongside those who were in screaming agony and looked an absolute mess. 00:12:23.339 --> 00:12:25.459 Then there was the vascular ward that I worked on. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.039 That's where all the amputations happened. 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:29.899 The sickly smell of gangrene. 00:12:30.079 --> 00:12:32.159 You know, you don't want me to talk anymore, do you? 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:33.139 You don't want me to give examples. 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:38.759 You don't want me to describe the different procedures and things that they used to treat people in those circumstances. 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:45.759 And then there's the seemingly scarless experience of mental illness. 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:55.319 Some of us just don't know how to sit alongside someone with depression or anxiety. 00:12:57.719 --> 00:12:58.779 Suffering inwardly. 00:13:00.319 --> 00:13:03.399 There's a revulsion in us that causes us to physically withdraw. 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.579 I'm not talking about fear of contagion here. 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:10.199 I'm talking about how people react to us when we suffer. 00:13:12.659 --> 00:13:15.659 The shame of suffering itself in being despised. 00:13:17.179 --> 00:13:20.439 But then there's also the shame of misplaced trust in suffering. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:23.159 And that's one of the things that David relates here. 00:13:24.439 --> 00:13:26.879 Suffering exposes the foundations of my life. 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:29.199 Who or what do I trust in? 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:34.540 And for my friends who don't trust in God, this is a real sticking point. 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:38.740 If God is so good, they say, if he loves me so much, then why does he let me suffer? 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:41.300 Why is there so much suffering in the world? 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.360 Why is there any suffering in the world? 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:49.259 Is it a fault in me that I don't deserve to be helped? 00:13:50.540 --> 00:13:52.379 That I actually deserve this? 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:58.799 Or is it a fault in God that he isn't trustworthy after all? 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:03.759 People look at David and they mock him. 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:05.639 In verse 8, they say, 00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:06.899 He trusts in the Lord. 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:07.879 Let him deliver him. 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:10.659 Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:15.980 These sentiments are so real to us in times of suffering. 00:14:15.980 --> 00:14:21.159 What are we actually relying on as we suffer? 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.019 And if it's God, how can we? 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:29.080 But again, David turns to what he knows of God. 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:30.899 It's like he's preaching the truth to himself. 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:35.580 Again, David returns to history for answers and the refrain, 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:37.639 But you are trustworthy, comes through. 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:40.039 In verses 9 to 10, we read the words. 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:44.180 This is from David's own personal life experience. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.579 Yet you are he who took me from the womb. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.120 You made me trust you at my mother's breast. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:52.819 On you I was cast from my birth and from my mother's womb. 00:14:53.219 --> 00:14:54.559 You have been my God. 00:14:56.779 --> 00:15:00.399 All his life, right from the very beginning, 00:15:01.219 --> 00:15:03.000 is evidence of God's care. 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.339 He carries with him a personal, lifelong experience 00:15:07.339 --> 00:15:08.559 of God's faithfulness. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:09.979 If God is real, 00:15:10.979 --> 00:15:15.519 then he is responsible for leaving me in my suffering. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:21.219 But he's responsible for all the goodness in my life too. 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:22.579 We can't just have one or the other. 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:29.239 And then another wave crashes over him. 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.819 And he describes the experience of feeling crushed. 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:37.960 The trouble we face is real. 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:40.480 Real enemies. 00:15:41.160 --> 00:15:42.000 Acute pain. 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:43.240 Deep fears. 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:44.680 Uncontrollable panic. 00:15:46.400 --> 00:15:49.680 There are times when the weight of these things crush us. 00:15:52.060 --> 00:15:55.200 And David describes this kind of experience quite graphically 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:56.600 in verses 12 to 18. 00:15:57.260 --> 00:15:59.000 He talks about being surrounded. 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:01.900 He's trapped in his circumstances. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:03.140 There is no way out for him. 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:05.899 Pull yourself together just doesn't help 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:08.480 when you're in this kind of situation. 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:12.480 He describes himself as being poured out. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:15.100 He is beyond his capacity to endure. 00:16:15.500 --> 00:16:17.500 Mentally, physically, emotionally. 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:19.799 There is nothing left in the tank. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:22.980 He is broken by his experience. 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:29.700 They divide my garments, he says. 00:16:29.700 --> 00:16:34.580 As he approaches death, he sees the vultures circling. 00:16:36.280 --> 00:16:39.820 There are those who want to benefit from his circumstances. 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:47.780 There's such a stark and honest appraisal of what it feels like to be in the depths of suffering, 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.379 to be deeply and hopelessly lost in it. 00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:54.360 What can possibly lift someone out of this pit? 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.539 But you are trustworthy, his thoughts return. 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:07.079 Because yet, even as he realizes the depth of the pit that he's in, 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:09.779 his perspective begins to change. 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:14.700 In verse 19, it's not too obvious at initial reading, 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:22.139 but in verse 19, David's prayer moves from the perspective of forsaken by God to faithful. 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:26.420 He says, in verse 19, 00:17:26.520 --> 00:17:29.540 But you, O Lord, notice the Lord is in capitals there. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.460 You, O Lord, do not be far off. 00:17:32.540 --> 00:17:35.120 O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.360 For the first time in this whole psalm, 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:43.380 David uses the personal name of God. 00:17:43.560 --> 00:17:45.100 When Lord is in capital letters like that, 00:17:45.300 --> 00:17:46.280 it means Yahweh, 00:17:46.980 --> 00:17:50.300 the God who promised to his people to be faithful. 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:54.200 Before David prayed to El, the mighty one. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.859 Now David is praying to Yahweh, the faithful one. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:02.399 His personal promise-keeping God. 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:07.279 And when he does pray, he says, 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:08.759 Do not be far off. 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:14.059 David is beginning to recognize that God is always there. 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:17.119 The feeling of abandonment is not fact. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:21.599 God is present, and this is the answer to his cry for help. 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:24.119 When I suffer, I am not alone. 00:18:25.379 --> 00:18:29.219 The mighty one who can rescue me from everything is there, 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:30.859 because he is the faithful one. 00:18:32.459 --> 00:18:35.599 And because he's the faithful one, he will rescue me. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:41.779 Now the answer to the question, where is God in suffering, 00:18:41.899 --> 00:18:44.219 is that God is there in suffering. 00:18:46.219 --> 00:18:47.119 But how? 00:18:48.659 --> 00:18:50.019 What does it look like? 00:18:52.019 --> 00:18:55.259 I mean, a fully a third of psalms are lament psalms, 00:18:55.459 --> 00:18:56.480 or blues psalms. 00:18:56.659 --> 00:18:59.379 That means there was a lot of suffering going around at the time. 00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:04.160 I received a present from the government. 00:19:04.280 --> 00:19:05.200 I turned 50 this year, 00:19:05.260 --> 00:19:07.060 and I received a present from the government 00:19:07.060 --> 00:19:08.800 that kindly reminded me that I'm getting older, 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:10.060 and I'm falling apart. 00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:13.040 It was a bowel cancer test kit. 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:17.500 I'm not getting any younger. 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:20.140 These cycles are taking their toll on me. 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:21.300 I am wearing out. 00:19:21.299 --> 00:19:26.659 So how will God rescue me? 00:19:27.919 --> 00:19:30.259 Is this just some hopeful thought? 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:32.460 You know, the kind of thing you put on a fridge magnet, 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:35.539 but really no more substantial 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:37.440 than any other false promise out there. 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:42.399 What can I take home that will be of any real 00:19:42.399 --> 00:19:43.960 and lasting comfort to me? 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:51.279 Well, the reality is that David's cry was answered. 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:54.720 But he didn't fully experience that answer. 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:56.839 Not the fullness of the answer. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:00.519 By that I mean the answer we long for, 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:02.259 the end to all suffering. 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:06.619 He didn't experience that. 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.339 But he got an experience of where God was going with his plan. 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:12.879 This is a lament psalm, as I've already said, 00:20:12.919 --> 00:20:14.639 but it's also a prophetic psalm. 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:17.559 And this, again, is something that Rod brought out 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:19.319 really helpfully in the kids' talk. 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:25.259 It represents the very real experience of suffering in David's life. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:25.980 Don't get me wrong. 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:29.859 It represents the very real experience of suffering in David's life. 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:33.700 But it doesn't describe the actual events of David's life. 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.240 It describes the events of another person's life. 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.900 This psalm points to Jesus. 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:44.980 Jesus is the one who was crushed. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:49.240 He was surrounded by people who attacked him mercilessly. 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:52.079 They physically broke him. 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:54.799 Historical accounts, that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.460 amongst some of the other secular accounts of the time 00:20:58.460 --> 00:20:59.779 that actually refer to these events. 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:04.319 The historical accounts tell us that Jesus was brutally beaten. 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:07.099 He was whipped to within an inch of his life. 00:21:07.879 --> 00:21:11.019 His hands and feet were pierced, as David describes in this psalm, 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:13.059 and he was hung to die on a cross. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:14.440 Crucifixion. 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:17.839 Jesus' life was poured out. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.480 He was taken beyond his capacity to endure. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:23.160 And while Jesus was dying, 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:25.680 they cast lots for his clothes. 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.120 You can read about this in Matthew 27, for example. 00:21:30.040 --> 00:21:32.620 Just as David described, though, in Psalm 22. 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:37.340 He was crushed. 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:40.180 And Jesus was mocked. 00:21:40.820 --> 00:21:43.180 While on the cross, they gathered around to mock him. 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:45.540 In his account, Matthew records their words. 00:21:45.540 --> 00:21:48.820 In chapter 27, verse 43 of his gospel, 00:21:49.940 --> 00:21:51.240 the mockers say these words. 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:52.960 He trusts in God. 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:56.100 Let God rescue him if he wants him. 00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:58.420 Familiar words? 00:22:01.259 --> 00:22:03.120 Friends, if you've seen The Passion by Mel Gibson, 00:22:03.580 --> 00:22:04.580 I don't know if you've seen that movie, 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:08.259 then I hear that you've seen an approximation 00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:10.440 of what crucifixion looks like. 00:22:11.660 --> 00:22:12.680 And to a certain extent, 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:14.840 the power of the movie is able to draw you in 00:22:14.840 --> 00:22:16.900 to the experience. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.840 But it doesn't allow you to experience 00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:21.460 what it felt like for Jesus. 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:25.420 Jesus would have been so badly messed up 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:26.940 that he would have looked inhuman, 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:29.519 like a worm, not a man, as David describes. 00:22:30.620 --> 00:22:33.160 People would have recoiled from the sight of him. 00:22:34.620 --> 00:22:36.759 He was hung outside the city as an outcast. 00:22:37.019 --> 00:22:38.740 It was the most shameful way to die. 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:43.240 Just as David described in this psalm. 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.180 And Jesus was forsaken. 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:51.380 The words that Jesus cried out on the cross, 00:22:52.120 --> 00:22:54.180 my God, my God, 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:56.620 why have you forsaken me? 00:22:56.619 --> 00:23:01.039 As he cries those words, 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:02.699 he identifies himself 00:23:02.699 --> 00:23:05.279 and his experience on the cross with this psalm. 00:23:07.219 --> 00:23:08.839 This was the point of Jesus' death. 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:11.959 We think we suffer alone. 00:23:13.179 --> 00:23:15.259 Jesus suffered in our place. 00:23:16.139 --> 00:23:17.359 And separation from God 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:19.439 is the ultimate experience of suffering. 00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:22.799 This wasn't a clean and dignified death. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:23.859 You need to understand that. 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:25.439 The witnesses, Matthew and Mark, 00:23:25.479 --> 00:23:28.139 record that Jesus died screaming in agony. 00:23:30.339 --> 00:23:32.139 It's not the way we picture it, is it, 00:23:32.139 --> 00:23:32.839 in our minds? 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:36.679 He died screaming in agony. 00:23:38.939 --> 00:23:41.459 Jesus is the one who was abandoned, 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:43.779 shamed, crushed. 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:49.220 Jesus is the one who fulfilled our heart's cry 00:23:49.220 --> 00:23:50.680 when we suffer. 00:23:51.059 --> 00:23:52.259 He is our help. 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:55.960 Amanda, to fully understand this, 00:23:56.019 --> 00:23:58.180 we need to understand the cause of suffering in the world. 00:23:58.700 --> 00:23:59.940 And I'm aware that some of us here 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:00.960 will be in the middle of suffering, 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:03.960 so I'm quite cautious about saying these things. 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:05.160 The words I say now, 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:06.539 they'll help you to understand, 00:24:06.639 --> 00:24:07.960 but they may be very hard to hear. 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:09.500 And I apologise for that 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.000 if I'm speaking into a part of your life 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.840 where you're really struggling to hear these things. 00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:15.880 By all means, come on and speak to me after the service 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:17.180 if it is the case. 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:19.579 But here's how the Bible explains things. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.400 The Bible explains creation of the world 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.500 as an act of goodness. 00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:25.319 It was meant to be a place 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:26.660 where we enjoyed God's goodness 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:27.519 in God's presence. 00:24:29.100 --> 00:24:30.220 There was no suffering, 00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:31.180 only blessing. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:33.900 But humanity, 00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:35.500 we read in Genesis 3, 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:37.119 we chose to doubt God's goodness 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.680 and chose to find a different way 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:41.259 to rebel against God. 00:24:41.339 --> 00:24:44.960 We made enemies of this good God. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:48.859 We call this sin. 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:50.519 That's another way of describing sin. 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:53.619 And the effect 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:57.039 was that God withdrew his presence from us 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:00.279 and he withdrew his blessing from the world. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:03.559 Suffering 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:05.599 is because of our sin. 00:25:06.379 --> 00:25:07.639 It's the effect 00:25:07.639 --> 00:25:08.599 of our separation 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:09.179 from God 00:25:09.179 --> 00:25:10.240 and his goodness. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:16.259 That's really interesting to note 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:17.500 that when Jesus 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:19.039 walked the earth, 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:20.339 that 00:25:20.339 --> 00:25:21.480 that suffering 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:22.599 was pushed back. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.099 Wherever he went, 00:25:24.179 --> 00:25:25.220 whoever touched him, 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.599 whatever disease they had, 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:28.980 whatever they suffered from, 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:30.179 it ceased 00:25:30.179 --> 00:25:31.259 to exist 00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:31.859 in their bodies. 00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:33.839 He brought people back to life. 00:25:34.179 --> 00:25:35.759 He pushed back the curse 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:37.319 in his life. 00:25:40.439 --> 00:25:42.240 But to defeat the curse 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:43.000 of suffering, 00:25:43.679 --> 00:25:45.479 he had to choose 00:25:45.479 --> 00:25:47.099 to suffer in our place. 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:50.199 And by enduring 00:25:50.199 --> 00:25:51.539 what he endured on the cross, 00:25:52.479 --> 00:25:54.259 he repaired the broken relationship 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:55.240 between us and God. 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.440 and he became the means 00:25:58.440 --> 00:25:59.220 of restoring 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:00.960 God's presence 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:02.640 and God's blessing. 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:07.519 So where does that leave us now? 00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:08.819 And what does it have to do with Easter? 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:09.200 I mean, 00:26:09.640 --> 00:26:10.339 you could be forgiven 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:11.279 for thinking that Easter 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:12.400 is all about chocolate 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:13.480 Easter eggs 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:13.980 and bunnies 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:14.859 and hot cross buns 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:16.039 and we're going to have some 00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:17.039 hot cross buns later. 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:17.839 But 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.079 can I just say, 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:20.700 just for the record, 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:21.920 you can Google 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:23.340 why we eat these things 00:26:23.340 --> 00:26:24.800 and 00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:25.820 you will find 00:26:25.820 --> 00:26:26.960 all kinds of explanations. 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:29.519 The reality is, 00:26:30.019 --> 00:26:31.340 this is a spiritual explanation 00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:32.160 from a pastor, 00:26:32.580 --> 00:26:34.039 the reason why we eat 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:35.000 chocolate Easter eggs 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:36.000 at Christmas 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.519 is because Christians 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:38.460 like chocolate. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:39.500 That's it, 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:39.880 alright? 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:40.539 That's all. 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:44.400 You come up with something 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.080 better tasting 00:26:45.080 --> 00:26:45.800 and we'll eat that 00:26:45.800 --> 00:26:46.220 at Easter. 00:26:48.380 --> 00:26:48.980 We'll eat that 00:26:48.980 --> 00:26:49.840 at Christmas as well. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:55.139 The kind of celebration 00:26:55.139 --> 00:26:56.500 that David described 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:57.179 in his psalm 00:26:57.179 --> 00:26:57.879 is a psalm, 00:26:58.419 --> 00:26:59.639 is a celebration 00:26:59.639 --> 00:27:00.379 of feasting 00:27:00.379 --> 00:27:01.539 where all the best things 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:01.919 in the world 00:27:01.919 --> 00:27:02.720 are brought in together 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.740 and laid out on the table 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:05.599 for everyone to eat. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.139 It's a banquet. 00:27:08.339 --> 00:27:09.079 It's a description 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:09.699 of a banquet. 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:13.139 Feasting for everyone. 00:27:13.919 --> 00:27:14.799 God has heard 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:15.619 our cry for help. 00:27:15.899 --> 00:27:17.099 He has not pulled back 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:17.539 from us. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:18.959 He has come so close 00:27:18.959 --> 00:27:19.519 to us that he got 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:20.299 in between us 00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:20.960 and our suffering 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.500 and he's taken it for us. 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:25.940 So now we can enjoy 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:26.619 God's presence 00:27:26.619 --> 00:27:27.200 and goodness 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.259 like never before 00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:31.099 and yet still 00:27:31.099 --> 00:27:33.359 it's not quite there, 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:33.740 is it? 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:36.019 It's not quite 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:37.480 like we expect it to be. 00:27:37.539 --> 00:27:38.559 We still suffer 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:39.480 in our bodies. 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:41.680 We still expect to die. 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:44.079 I've told you before, 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:44.759 I did one of those 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:46.000 life expectancy apps 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.400 and applications 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:48.180 on the internet 00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:49.600 and the first one 00:27:49.600 --> 00:27:50.019 I did said 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:51.600 I would live 00:27:51.600 --> 00:27:52.300 until I was 82. 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:53.500 I wasn't satisfied 00:27:53.500 --> 00:27:53.780 with that 00:27:53.780 --> 00:27:54.700 so I found three more 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:55.740 applications on the internet 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:56.519 and did them 00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:57.280 until I got to 00:27:57.280 --> 00:27:58.600 a life expectancy 00:27:58.600 --> 00:27:59.259 of 93. 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:00.400 I was happier with that 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:01.259 but it still means 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:01.900 I'm going to die. 00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:03.700 These things happen. 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:09.340 So how is this an answer? 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:10.539 How is Jesus an answer? 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:13.480 Well let me suggest this. 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:14.779 This psalm functions 00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:15.519 on two levels. 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:16.200 It teaches us how 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:17.380 to respond to suffering, 00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:18.680 to communicate with God 00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:19.740 openly and honestly 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:20.380 and repeatedly 00:28:20.380 --> 00:28:23.400 and it reminds, 00:28:23.840 --> 00:28:24.340 it teaches us 00:28:24.340 --> 00:28:25.480 to remind ourselves, 00:28:25.620 --> 00:28:26.840 to preach to ourselves 00:28:26.840 --> 00:28:28.220 that God is present 00:28:28.220 --> 00:28:28.840 in suffering. 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:30.600 So it teaches us 00:28:30.600 --> 00:28:31.700 how to respond to suffering 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:32.819 at one point 00:28:32.819 --> 00:28:35.120 but it shows us 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:37.740 God's far greater 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:38.980 plan for suffering 00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:40.900 to show that 00:28:40.900 --> 00:28:42.180 God himself 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:43.319 suffered in our place 00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:44.279 to end suffering 00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:45.880 and to remind us 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:46.960 that there is a future, 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:49.640 there is a future coming 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:51.240 without suffering. 00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:54.120 This time we experience now 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:56.140 with the indwelling presence 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:56.940 of the Holy Spirit, 00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:58.140 God within us, 00:28:58.860 --> 00:29:01.000 this time we experience now 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:02.279 is a time 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:03.940 when we get to share 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:04.920 the good news. 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:07.359 We get to celebrate now 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:08.500 and draw other people 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:09.640 into this celebration 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:10.740 to tell them 00:29:10.740 --> 00:29:11.680 who Jesus is, 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:13.299 to proclaim his goodness. 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:17.539 God has shown us 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:18.720 decisively 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:19.500 that he is trustworthy. 00:29:21.259 --> 00:29:22.579 So we come to God 00:29:22.579 --> 00:29:23.160 in suffering 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:25.599 and we celebrate 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:26.700 his victory 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:28.039 over suffering. 00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:31.980 this is why 00:29:31.980 --> 00:29:32.539 we celebrate 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:33.480 on Easter. 00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:39.259 So, 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:40.559 we are going to continue 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:42.099 by doing just that. 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:43.240 We are going to continue 00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:44.299 celebrating in song. 00:29:45.180 --> 00:29:45.839 Someone is going to pray 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:46.240 for us 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:46.740 and thank God 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:47.799 for all that he has done 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:48.339 for us 00:29:48.339 --> 00:29:50.740 and we are going to 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:51.059 celebrate 00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:51.980 biting hot cross buns 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:52.299 together 00:29:52.299 --> 00:29:52.859 and no doubt 00:29:52.859 --> 00:29:53.440 you will go home 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:54.019 and have something 00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:55.259 even more substantial 00:29:55.259 --> 00:29:55.740 to eat 00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:57.660 when you get home. 00:29:58.180 --> 00:29:58.879 I actually meant 00:29:58.879 --> 00:29:59.400 lunch, 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:00.859 not the chocolate Easter eggs 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:01.539 that I know are waiting 00:30:01.539 --> 00:30:01.920 at home. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:03.960 But let's just pray, 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:04.940 let's pause and pray now 00:30:04.940 --> 00:30:05.779 before we do sing 00:30:05.779 --> 00:30:06.940 and thank God 00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:08.240 for his goodness. 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:12.019 Father God, 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:12.500 we acknowledge 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:13.559 that life 00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:15.700 is challenging 00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:17.440 to say the least. 00:30:18.619 --> 00:30:19.660 There are so many 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:20.359 different ways 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:20.859 that suffering 00:30:20.859 --> 00:30:21.819 touches our life, 00:30:21.819 --> 00:30:23.339 whether it be 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:24.679 the physical pain, 00:30:24.779 --> 00:30:25.259 the emotional, 00:30:25.419 --> 00:30:26.119 mental pain 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:27.700 of loss, 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:30.899 of our own 00:30:30.899 --> 00:30:31.740 impending death. 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:35.480 There are so many ways 00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:36.319 and there's such 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:37.559 wrongness 00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:38.539 to how it feels. 00:30:40.740 --> 00:30:41.299 But Lord, 00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:41.759 we thank you 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:42.759 for not abandoning us 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:43.179 in this. 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:45.220 We thank you 00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:46.500 for going 00:30:46.500 --> 00:30:48.639 completely other extreme 00:30:48.639 --> 00:30:49.200 and actually 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:50.419 taking on 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:52.120 this experience 00:30:52.120 --> 00:30:52.840 for us, 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:54.620 for dealing 00:30:54.620 --> 00:30:55.960 with what we deserve 00:30:55.960 --> 00:30:56.620 for our rebellion 00:30:56.620 --> 00:30:57.320 against you 00:30:57.320 --> 00:30:59.580 and for lifting us 00:30:59.580 --> 00:31:00.039 out of it 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:00.759 and showing us 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:01.300 your goodness 00:31:01.300 --> 00:31:03.300 and for giving us 00:31:03.300 --> 00:31:03.980 the promise 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:05.200 of that goodness 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:05.840 being showered 00:31:05.840 --> 00:31:06.700 on us for eternity 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:08.519 because of the work 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:09.060 of your son. 00:31:10.080 --> 00:31:10.700 We thank you 00:31:10.700 --> 00:31:11.180 and praise you 00:31:11.180 --> 00:31:11.700 for these things, 00:31:11.820 --> 00:31:11.940 Lord. 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:12.860 Amen.