WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:28.820 Good morning. 00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:34.439 Our Old Testament lesson for today is a reading from the Psalms. 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:35.980 Hi, my name is Brian. 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.259 I am a member of the Alameda Community Group. 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:40.920 Psalm 42. 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:46.460 For the director of music, a mascal of the sons of Korah. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:53.960 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:58.019 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:00.760 When can I go and meet with God? 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:05.060 My tears have been my food day and night. 00:01:05.460 --> 00:01:09.359 While people say to me all day long, where is your God? 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:14.000 These things I remember as I pour out my soul. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:23.019 How I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the mighty one, with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:26.979 Why, my soul, are you downcast? 00:01:26.979 --> 00:01:28.939 Why so disturbed within me? 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:36.280 Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:40.900 My soul is downcast within me. 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:48.200 Therefore, I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:53.120 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.780 All your waves and breakers have swept over me. 00:01:57.600 --> 00:02:00.280 By day, the Lord directs his love. 00:02:01.240 --> 00:02:03.520 At night, his song is with me. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.020 A prayer to the God of my life. 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:10.400 I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:14.259 Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:21.679 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, where is your God? 00:02:22.859 --> 00:02:24.979 Why, my soul, are you downcast? 00:02:25.519 --> 00:02:27.219 Why so disturbed within me? 00:02:28.019 --> 00:02:33.939 Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.599 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:44.400 Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.620 You are God, my stronghold. 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:49.400 Why have you rejected me? 00:02:49.799 --> 00:02:52.639 Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:56.639 Send me your light and your faithful care. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.079 Let them lead me. 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:02.259 Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:06.039 Then I will go to the altar of God. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:08.919 To God, my joy and my delight. 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:12.359 I will praise you with a liar, O God, my God. 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:15.839 Why, my soul, are you downcast? 00:03:15.959 --> 00:03:17.599 Why so disturbed within me? 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:24.219 Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 00:03:24.959 --> 00:03:27.539 The grass withers and the flowers fail. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.439 But the word of our God stands forever. 00:03:31.459 --> 00:03:33.099 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:03:33.179 --> 00:03:34.619 If you're new with us, my name is Jonathan. 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:35.859 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:42.000 And we are now on our third Sunday as we've begun this new sermon series. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:49.800 Just looking at the book of Psalms and just meditating on this hymn book of the people of God. 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:50.960 This hymn book of Israel. 00:03:51.820 --> 00:03:54.380 These sacred songs of King David. 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:56.780 And as you read here, the sons of Korah and others. 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:05.340 And really these powerful prayers of Jesus and the apostles and the church throughout the past 2,000 years. 00:04:06.219 --> 00:04:07.659 And it might feel kind of strange. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:15.420 It might feel a little bit provocative to be focusing on this book given everything that we're reading on a daily basis in the headlines. 00:04:15.419 --> 00:04:17.879 Both nationally and internationally. 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:20.339 You all are informed citizens. 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:23.759 You don't need me to enumerate all the things that are going on. 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:27.719 All the chaos and craziness that are going on in our world. 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:32.199 But given those things, I want to think about a little bit closer to home. 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:37.819 I know some of us are in a prolonged season of singleness. 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:40.779 You know, where we'd like to be married. 00:04:41.300 --> 00:04:43.839 And that season just goes on and on. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.300 And it's increasingly hard to bear. 00:04:47.219 --> 00:04:50.120 Others of us, I know, are in a prolonged season of marriage. 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.319 And perhaps you would like to be single again. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.240 Some of us have long-term struggles with infertility. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.079 Some of us have had the blessing of having kids. 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.279 And now sleep is incredibly hard to come by. 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.739 You feel like you're just in this valley of the shadow of diapers. 00:05:10.299 --> 00:05:12.159 And it's never going to end. 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:15.439 Some of you have made it through those times. 00:05:15.619 --> 00:05:18.479 You got through that veil of tears with young kids. 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:24.099 And now you're this family of five with one bathroom at home. 00:05:24.679 --> 00:05:25.679 And three adolescents. 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:28.299 And they're just bleeding you of all of your cash. 00:05:30.059 --> 00:05:33.119 I know at least two of us can relate to that in the room today. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:39.459 More seriously, we carry some pretty heavy burdens. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.860 Things that really are too heavy even to name with words. 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:45.319 Burdens about our health. 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:46.579 About our finances. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.379 About our housing. 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:49.120 Our school. 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:49.840 Our work. 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:52.000 Our losses and our griefs. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.540 And so what can the book of Psalms say to us? 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:57.459 How can this book help us? 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:05.279 It's difficult enough to survive life with those challenges and many more that I haven't named that are in this room. 00:06:05.979 --> 00:06:11.279 But there's also this cultural dynamic in North America that makes all of this much, much harder. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:19.339 And that is this subtle voice, this pervasive voice that says you have to face all of this alone. 00:06:20.659 --> 00:06:25.199 You have to face all of this alone and there is no God to help you. 00:06:26.659 --> 00:06:28.519 There's a philosopher named Charles Taylor. 00:06:28.679 --> 00:06:30.979 He was a professor at McGill University. 00:06:31.139 --> 00:06:34.939 And he published a book in 2007 called A Secular Age. 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:44.560 And the thesis of this book, A Secular Age, is that we're living in this cultural moment that has this dominant paradigm that there's nothing transcendent. 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:46.480 There's nothing divine. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:55.680 There's nothing eternal or enchanted or spiritual within or above the natural order. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:05.540 And that we must simply just account for our lives and account for our meaning and our significance purely in human terms without any appeal to God. 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:08.120 That I am the master of my fate. 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:09.920 I am the captain of my soul. 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:13.019 And that is really all I have to rely on. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:21.899 And yet I found over 19 years of being a pastor here in Berkeley that most people in the secular age have within themselves, 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:23.100 that they're honest with themselves, 00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:26.500 they find within this indefinable thirst. 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.620 This indefinable thirst where they say, 00:07:29.820 --> 00:07:32.860 I know, I know that I was made for more. 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:44.780 And I'm longing somewhere deep within for these deep, hidden spiritual springs of living and refreshing water that I can drink to the full. 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:54.219 And so what I'd like to suggest is that this book of Psalms is actually for secular age people that feel dry, 00:07:55.119 --> 00:07:59.639 that feel thirsty, that feel dehydrated and starved for water. 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:05.019 Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 was originally written as one psalm. 00:08:05.739 --> 00:08:08.419 And basically the psalm gives us a map. 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:16.400 It's a map for how to find these bubbling streams and these fresh springs in this secular age, 00:08:16.460 --> 00:08:19.980 this dry and weary land where there seems to be no water. 00:08:21.140 --> 00:08:25.280 And what we find in the psalm is we find a soul. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.740 And this soul I want to suggest is a desperate soul. 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:32.899 It's a dialoguing soul. 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:35.879 And it's ultimately a defiant soul. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:38.240 And I want to just look at all three of those. 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:42.720 A desperate soul, a dialoguing soul, and a defiant soul. 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:47.360 Look at verse 1 as we talk about a desperate soul. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:52.879 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:55.279 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.659 When can I go and meet with God? 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:05.019 Now, what does it mean to see yourself as a deer as opposed to like a bear or a lion? 00:09:06.800 --> 00:09:08.480 A deer is vulnerable. 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:16.399 A deer is likely to be prey to a powerful carnivore that's hunting him or her in swift pursuit. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.560 And what does it mean to see yourself not only as a deer, 00:09:20.680 --> 00:09:25.000 but to see yourself as a deer who's panting and who's dying of thirst? 00:09:25.899 --> 00:09:26.340 Right? 00:09:26.419 --> 00:09:30.539 That you've come to this stream bed in the middle of the desert in the heat of the day. 00:09:30.800 --> 00:09:34.860 You've come to assuage your thirst with these cool waters, 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.060 but you find it dry because there's a drought. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:39.500 What does that mean? 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:47.060 To be this dazed and dying creature just wandering desperately across this withered landscape, 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:53.819 straining upward in agony to catch the scent of running water that could give you life. 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:55.699 The psalmist says, 00:09:56.219 --> 00:10:01.239 that describes me and my relationship with God. 00:10:02.599 --> 00:10:08.159 And I don't know if you've ever experienced the intense demand of dehydrating, unslaked thirst. 00:10:08.259 --> 00:10:09.939 Anybody ever had that experience? 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:13.640 Of just feeling this sense of desperate desire? 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.900 It's a powerful image for longing for God. 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:19.700 And the psalmist says, 00:10:20.040 --> 00:10:22.680 Like my physical body cannot survive without water, 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:27.020 my spiritual soul cannot survive without God. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:29.160 Verse 2, he says, 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:30.899 He says, 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.139 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:10:33.199 --> 00:10:35.919 When can I go and meet with God? 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:38.019 Literally, he says there, 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.959 When can I see the face of God? 00:10:40.819 --> 00:10:43.799 He's longing for God's life-giving presence. 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:48.519 He's panting to be revived by this experience of God's face, 00:10:48.579 --> 00:10:49.719 his gracious smile, 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:51.379 his loving eyes. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.100 But you see, there's this gap. 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:59.939 There's this gap that he has between his expectations of God and his experience of God. 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:01.279 Right? 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.700 He's, on the one hand, he's expecting God's presence. 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:08.720 But on the other hand, he's experiencing God's absence. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:10.879 And that hurts. 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:14.259 It hurts to be panting for living water, 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.960 the living water of God's presence, 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:19.700 but to find that that stream bed is completely dried up. 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:22.540 It's disappointing. 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:27.360 It's discouraging when God seems like he's absent and that he's hiding his face, 00:11:28.040 --> 00:11:32.500 or when God feels like he's keeping his distance and withholding his love. 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:35.820 I know some of you feel this way. 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:43.340 And what I want to tell you is that you don't have to have a PhD in spirituality 00:11:43.340 --> 00:11:46.220 to begin talking to God about it. 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:49.560 All you have to do, Psalm 42 says, 00:11:49.660 --> 00:11:50.600 is to say to God, 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.259 I'm so thirsty for you. 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:56.639 God, when are you going to show up? 00:11:56.740 --> 00:12:01.040 God, what is it going to take for me to see your face? 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:03.519 He says in verse 3, 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.199 My tears have been my food day and night, 00:12:07.079 --> 00:12:09.079 while people say to me all day long, 00:12:09.439 --> 00:12:10.699 where is your God? 00:12:11.699 --> 00:12:14.699 Have any of you ever eaten tears for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.600 You ever been in a season where that's just the way it is? 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:19.679 The psalmist says, 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:24.819 God, I miss you so much that all I can eat is a steady diet of salty tears. 00:12:24.939 --> 00:12:28.879 My heart is breaking because I've been made by you, 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.539 and I've been made for you, 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.439 and yet I feel so very far away from you. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.659 And this question in verse 2 is so poignant. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:38.120 He says, 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.659 When can I go and meet with God? 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:44.820 Which tells us that this spiritual drought has been going on for a while. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.779 He's been living for far too long in this sense of dryness. 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.679 And this question in verse 3, 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:53.319 Where is your God? 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:57.480 Indicates that he's living in a social context 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.339 where he's surrounded by people who ignore God, 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:01.839 who neglect God, 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.319 who could not give a flying flip about God. 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:07.720 And it's making him that much more thirsty, 00:13:08.299 --> 00:13:11.519 and dehydrated, and desperate for God. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.299 And what does he do with this terrible, terrible thirst? 00:13:17.199 --> 00:13:18.459 He says in verse 4, 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:35.019 You see what he's doing here is he's contrasting his present with his past. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:36.580 And he's saying, 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.379 I haven't always been this dry spiritually. 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:41.620 There have actually been times in the past 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:46.220 where God felt so real, and so near, and so powerful. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.879 It's as if he were personally escorting me into his presence. 00:13:51.019 --> 00:13:51.820 And then I would get there, 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.100 and I would join in with all the people of God, 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:56.320 and their shouts of joy, 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:57.700 and their songs of praise, 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:59.120 and they were raising their hands, 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.240 and stomping their feet, 00:14:00.540 --> 00:14:01.620 and saying amen. 00:14:02.800 --> 00:14:03.379 And by the way, 00:14:03.420 --> 00:14:04.860 this is just a little bit of an aside. 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:09.120 Verse 4 is instructive for us in our worship at Christ Church. 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:09.779 Right? 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:12.120 We could probably loosen up a little bit. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:13.319 Just a little, 00:14:13.379 --> 00:14:14.100 just a skosh. 00:14:16.199 --> 00:14:16.819 But you see, 00:14:16.899 --> 00:14:19.139 the psalmist has not lost his belief in God, 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.600 but what's happened is his experience of meeting with the living God 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:23.500 has been disrupted, 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.459 and his sense of the reality of God, 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:27.879 the nearness of God, 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:29.319 the presence of God, 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:30.679 and the love of God 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:32.279 has dried up. 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:35.559 And I wonder if you know what that's about. 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:39.419 If you've ever felt the agony of spiritual drought, 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:42.860 of living in this withered spiritual landscape, 00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:48.279 of being this dazed creature that's just dying for cool streams 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:50.899 that simply cannot be found. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.559 Do you ever feel like your soul without God is downcast? 00:14:56.839 --> 00:14:59.939 Do you ever feel like your soul is experiencing the absence of God, 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.340 and therefore it's disturbed within you? 00:15:03.380 --> 00:15:04.320 If that's you, 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.140 the psalms is your book. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:07.820 The psalms are for you. 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:09.620 Many people, 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:10.580 as Melisa said, 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:12.100 they think they can only come to God 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:13.460 when they have it all together, 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:15.380 when they're feeling great, 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:16.880 when they're full of praise. 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:17.560 But this, 00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:18.920 and so many of the psalms, 00:15:19.040 --> 00:15:20.260 two-thirds of the psalms, 00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:22.000 about disorientation 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.380 and the sense of desperation, 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.080 tell us that that's simply not true. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:26.560 Friends, 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.139 we must pray who we are 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:32.520 and not who we think we should be. 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:34.900 I'll say that again. 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.000 We must pray who we are 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.440 and not who we think we should be. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:41.480 The psalmist says, 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.220 I'm feeling the absence of God, 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:45.920 but I'm talking to God about my desire for his presence. 00:15:47.060 --> 00:15:47.500 He says, 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:50.660 I'm not feeling connected from God, 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:53.780 but I'm talking to God about my disconnection from him. 00:15:53.779 --> 00:15:55.519 He says, 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.199 I'm asking questions of God. 00:15:57.319 --> 00:16:00.259 I'm telling God how much his presence is killing me, 00:16:00.839 --> 00:16:04.120 how much it hurts to feel cut off from God, 00:16:04.319 --> 00:16:06.439 to no longer be experiencing the joy 00:16:06.439 --> 00:16:08.799 of feeling close to God. 00:16:10.439 --> 00:16:11.399 See, in the coming weeks, 00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:12.579 we're talking about, 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.000 this series is all about holy habits of grace, 00:16:15.079 --> 00:16:16.199 and we're gonna be talking about 00:16:16.199 --> 00:16:19.759 these classic and ancient spiritual practices, 00:16:19.959 --> 00:16:22.399 these spiritual disciplines of the Christian life, 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.139 but one of the starting points 00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:25.860 before we get into all those things 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:28.159 is just to admit that I'm not okay. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:30.480 I'm not okay, 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:32.319 and I'm not okay on my own. 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:33.819 My soul is thirsty, 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:35.360 and my soul is dry, 00:16:35.620 --> 00:16:37.980 and unless the living God gives me something 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:39.319 other than his absence, 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:42.000 and other than these salty tears to drink, 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:44.039 then I'm in deep, deep trouble. 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:49.219 See, desperation is the starting point 00:16:49.219 --> 00:16:50.919 of the Christian life, 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:52.459 that this is the prerequisite 00:16:52.459 --> 00:16:55.000 for knowing and experiencing God. 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:57.679 And so I'd like to just encourage you 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.620 by way of application, 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:01.019 maybe the beginning point of your day, 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.139 when you start your mornings this whole week, 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:05.460 maybe you just start there with verse one. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:07.180 Right? 00:17:07.259 --> 00:17:07.799 Verse one, 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.419 and just say to God, 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:13.139 as the deer pants for streams of water, 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:15.180 so my soul pants for you, 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:16.500 my God. 00:17:18.139 --> 00:17:19.000 Try that. 00:17:19.639 --> 00:17:19.899 Okay? 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:22.099 This is a desperate soul, 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:25.559 but it's also a dialoguing soul. 00:17:26.639 --> 00:17:29.079 We find in this psalm a dialoguing soul, 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.460 and I'll just read verse five to you. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.819 We've heard it several times, 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:34.299 but it's, 00:17:35.019 --> 00:17:36.379 verse five says this, 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:39.319 why my soul are you downcast? 00:17:39.399 --> 00:17:40.899 Why so disturbed within me? 00:17:41.679 --> 00:17:42.700 Put your hope in God, 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:43.759 for I will yet praise him, 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:45.399 my Savior and my God. 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:50.159 Three times we hear this repeated refrain 00:17:50.159 --> 00:17:52.859 with strong Hebrew language. 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:58.039 This word downcast means my soul is collapsed. 00:17:58.399 --> 00:17:59.819 My soul is crumpled. 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:02.419 And this word disturbed, 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:06.899 it means my soul is churning with extreme sorrow. 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:12.480 My soul is despondent and despairing in the darkness. 00:18:12.659 --> 00:18:14.559 I'm not just a little blue. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:15.839 I'm done. 00:18:16.879 --> 00:18:17.819 I'm dissolved. 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:19.839 I'm decimated. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:21.879 I'm deeply unsatisfied. 00:18:23.399 --> 00:18:26.220 How refreshingly honest is that language? 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:28.759 He says, 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.740 I need God spiritually as much as I need water physically, 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:33.259 and if I don't have God, 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:34.920 I'm never going to be satisfied. 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.380 I'm always going to be downcast and disturbed. 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.039 But notice that he doesn't just lay down and die. 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:44.539 He begins to pour out his soul to God, 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:46.460 even when he doesn't feel like it. 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:47.600 And that is so key. 00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:50.279 He begins pouring out his soul to God, 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:51.740 even when he doesn't feel like it. 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:58.799 And part of pouring out his soul to God involves dialoguing with his soul about God. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.880 And it means urging his soul not to give up on God. 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:06.120 And basically what he says is, 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:07.559 when I listen to my heart, 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:09.180 it tells me, 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:09.460 yeah, 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.200 you're dry and you're thirsty. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:12.319 When I listen to my heart, 00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:12.720 it tells me, 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:12.900 yeah, 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:13.180 you know, 00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:15.140 you're down and you're disturbed. 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:16.579 But if that's all I do, 00:19:16.620 --> 00:19:19.319 if all I do is listen to my heart and I stop there, 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:20.319 I'm in trouble. 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:22.000 He says, 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:24.639 I'm not just going to listen to my struggling heart, 00:19:24.679 --> 00:19:25.159 which is so, 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:25.859 so important. 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:29.500 But I'm going to talk to my struggling heart. 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:34.599 And I'm going to actively exercise my faith by taking my soul in hand, 00:19:34.659 --> 00:19:35.039 as it were, 00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:35.460 and saying, 00:19:35.659 --> 00:19:36.079 soul, 00:19:37.399 --> 00:19:40.159 examine your hopes. 00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:41.220 Soul, 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.240 reorder your hopes. 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:46.259 And when he does that, 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:48.000 he's not denying his feelings. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.400 He's not suppressing his emotions in some unhealthy way. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:58.859 What he's doing is he's talking to himself about his feelings that are rooted in and arising from his hopes. 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:02.819 And our hopes are simply what we rest upon for our happiness. 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:09.279 Our hopes are what we were relying upon for our sense of significance and security and self-worth. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:09.900 And he says, 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:10.259 listen, 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:10.799 self, 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:15.099 what are you hoping in other than God? 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:15.659 Self, 00:20:15.659 --> 00:20:16.819 self, 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:21.059 why is that thing so important to you? 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:22.719 Hey, 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:23.199 self, 00:20:23.679 --> 00:20:28.480 why do you feel like you can't experience life fully without that thing? 00:20:30.879 --> 00:20:31.740 And self, 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:36.980 why do you think God is not going to be enough for you? 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:39.120 You see, 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:45.120 you've got to tell your soul how foolish it is to hope in lesser hopes than God. 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:49.160 And you've got to reassure your soul that this spiritual dryness, 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:50.220 it's not going to last, 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:51.420 that your thirst will be quenched. 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:52.299 And that's why he says, 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:54.539 I will yet praise him, 00:20:54.620 --> 00:20:56.440 my savior and my God. 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:01.180 And what happens when he tells his soul to hope in God? 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:01.460 Well, 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:06.140 he begins to get more personal and more direct and more honest with God. 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:06.940 Look at verse six. 00:21:07.060 --> 00:21:07.380 He says, 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:10.080 my soul is downcast within me. 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:10.360 Therefore, 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:12.720 I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:14.820 the heights of Hermon from Mount Mizar. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.580 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls, 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.640 all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:22.860 Now, 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:23.900 just for some context, 00:21:24.060 --> 00:21:30.100 somehow the person who's praying this has been exiled from their home in southern Israel, 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:30.699 and Jerusalem. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:35.000 And now they're here on the northern border of Israel. 00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:37.779 They're at the headwaters of the Jordan River. 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:40.139 They're here in enemy territory, 00:21:40.139 --> 00:21:42.099 which is why two times in the psalm, 00:21:42.179 --> 00:21:45.959 we hear him talking about this enemy that's oppressing him, 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:46.899 right? 00:21:46.939 --> 00:21:48.039 This unfaithful nation, 00:21:48.179 --> 00:21:49.519 this wicked and deceitful king, 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:51.819 these people who are taunting him with this question, 00:21:52.199 --> 00:21:53.079 where is your God? 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:54.339 Where is your God? 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:56.740 And basically here he says, 00:21:56.879 --> 00:21:57.079 you know, 00:21:57.079 --> 00:21:59.059 in this place of exile, 00:21:59.199 --> 00:22:00.740 in the pain of my exile, 00:22:01.699 --> 00:22:04.659 I will remember you. 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:09.639 He's starting to talk not just about God, 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:10.579 but to God. 00:22:10.679 --> 00:22:11.579 In the second person, 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.000 I will remember you. 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:16.019 Verse seven, 00:22:16.099 --> 00:22:16.359 he says, 00:22:16.419 --> 00:22:19.439 deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls, 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:23.299 all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:25.399 You see, 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:25.960 in the exile, 00:22:26.139 --> 00:22:28.519 he sees these waters of the Jordan River, 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:29.279 and he sees them, 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:33.139 they're rushing among the boulders and over these falls, 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:37.059 and he can hear these waters booming and hissing and roaring, 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:37.659 and he says, 00:22:38.019 --> 00:22:41.720 that is the picture of all that's overwhelming my soul. 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:42.099 You know, 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:44.500 I feel like my footing is gone. 00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:45.639 I've lost my foothold. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.460 Wave after wave is submerging me. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.859 These waters of death are drowning me, 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:51.500 and he says, 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:52.059 God, 00:22:52.139 --> 00:22:55.419 that is how I'm feeling in my relationship with you. 00:22:56.979 --> 00:22:58.059 On the one hand, 00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:01.740 I thirst for you like I'm dying for water, 00:23:02.979 --> 00:23:04.240 and yet on the other hand, 00:23:04.699 --> 00:23:07.939 your painful absence feels to me like your waterfalls, 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:09.459 and your waves, 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:13.339 and your breakers that are relentlessly crushing me. 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:18.319 And this is the holy habit I want us to grab hold of today. 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:24.859 It's just this real, raw, authentic, vulnerable honesty with God. 00:23:27.159 --> 00:23:29.879 How many of us would dare to be so honest with God? 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:32.159 God, 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:36.899 the psalms tell us that God is not interested in our pious BS. 00:23:38.879 --> 00:23:39.119 Right? 00:23:39.179 --> 00:23:43.019 He doesn't want us to come with him with a mask on. 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:43.939 And pretend. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:49.659 He wants us to pay attention to our thirst and our desperation. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:52.359 He wants us to be honest with him, 00:23:52.879 --> 00:23:54.819 that we're feeling hurt by his absence. 00:23:55.899 --> 00:23:58.599 He wants us to open up that vault of our heart, 00:23:58.679 --> 00:24:00.699 and all the things that we've been hiding, 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:02.559 maybe even from ourselves, 00:24:02.659 --> 00:24:04.459 and just to pour out our pain 00:24:04.459 --> 00:24:06.799 about your waterfalls, 00:24:06.899 --> 00:24:07.679 and your waves, 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:10.500 and your breakers that are sweeping over me. 00:24:10.500 --> 00:24:13.220 God can handle that. 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:14.079 God is God. 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:19.480 And look where that kind of honesty leads the psalmist spiritually. 00:24:19.619 --> 00:24:20.400 He says in verse 8, 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:20.819 he says, 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:23.480 By day the Lord directs his love, 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.440 and at night his song is with me, 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:27.579 a prayer to the God of my life. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:29.279 He says, 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:29.720 Oh God, 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:32.480 remember how those tears have been my food day and night? 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:32.839 Well, 00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:35.680 here's something I'd rather have day and night instead. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.400 He says, 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:37.920 By day, 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:38.200 Lord, 00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:39.960 direct your love to me, 00:24:40.660 --> 00:24:41.740 and at night, 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:42.000 Lord, 00:24:42.100 --> 00:24:43.259 give your song to me. 00:24:43.299 --> 00:24:43.940 This is amazing, 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.960 because this is the first time in this prayer 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.539 that this word, 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:49.120 Lord, 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:49.880 has showed up. 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:51.580 Lord is God's covenant name. 00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:54.640 It's the name that he revealed to Moses at the burning bush. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:56.360 I am who I am. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:58.460 I will be who I will be. 00:24:58.519 --> 00:24:58.880 And he says, 00:24:59.019 --> 00:24:59.320 Lord, 00:24:59.660 --> 00:25:01.380 send your love. 00:25:01.380 --> 00:25:04.220 Send your stubbornly loyal, 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:08.120 self-giving love that delivers people who cannot help themselves. 00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:09.100 Lord, 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:10.980 let your covenant love, 00:25:11.080 --> 00:25:15.660 let your committed love be directed to me during the day, 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:18.360 so that even in the darkness of night, 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:20.720 I can sing your song. 00:25:23.080 --> 00:25:23.760 You see, 00:25:23.860 --> 00:25:28.200 there is no easing of the psalmist's downcast and disturbed soul at this point. 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:31.620 All the difficult circumstances, 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:35.340 all the difficult emotions give no sign of abating. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:44.059 But there is this growing reliance on these strong and unshakable convictions about who God is 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:45.960 and about what God does. 00:25:46.080 --> 00:25:48.600 That he's pouring out his soul to God. 00:25:49.620 --> 00:25:51.880 He's telling his heart to hope in God. 00:25:51.960 --> 00:25:53.880 He's talking directly to God. 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:55.400 He's clinging to this real, 00:25:55.780 --> 00:25:56.280 personal, 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.300 honest relationship with God. 00:25:58.340 --> 00:26:01.800 And he's refusing to act like God doesn't care. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.560 And he's refusing to act like God cannot save. 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:08.520 He says, 00:26:08.600 --> 00:26:08.760 God, 00:26:08.820 --> 00:26:13.100 I know that even in this terrible experience of exile and enemies, 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.520 even in this horrible experience of drought and dryness, 00:26:18.860 --> 00:26:21.160 that you are somehow with me. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:22.980 And I know you can hear me. 00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:26.779 And I know that you can direct your love to me. 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:29.539 And that you can give your song to me. 00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:38.039 And so that's the application is that just to have a dialoguing soul with yourself and with God. 00:26:39.460 --> 00:26:41.420 And maybe that means for you this week, 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:45.640 just pausing at your lunch break and engaging with verse five and saying, 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:46.000 soul, 00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:47.940 what's going on? 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:50.620 Why are you downcast? 00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:51.180 Why are you disturbed? 00:26:51.180 --> 00:26:53.080 What are you hoping in right now? 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:59.220 Or maybe it's that transition between leading work and going home. 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:01.279 And you just engage with verse eight. 00:27:01.340 --> 00:27:01.600 And you say, 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:01.900 Lord, 00:27:02.900 --> 00:27:03.580 by day, 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:05.440 would you direct your love to me? 00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:08.799 So that tonight I can sing your song. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.720 As I said, 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:16.139 this is a desperate soul and this is a dialoguing soul. 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:17.980 But finally, 00:27:18.139 --> 00:27:19.359 it's a defiant soul. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:20.319 And we'll close, 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:21.899 we'll close here. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:24.319 Three times, 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:25.480 the psalmist 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:28.359 dialogues with his soul, 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.319 which tells us like, 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:31.740 don't try to pray once and then say that didn't work. 00:27:32.259 --> 00:27:32.519 Right? 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:34.960 Three times he dialogues with his soul. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:36.379 He asks questions of his soul. 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:38.879 He examines the hopes of his soul. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:41.440 He tells his soul to hope in God. 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.720 He reminds his soul that his savior is nothing and nobody other than God. 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:51.319 He reassures his soul that a time is coming when he will yet praise God again. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:55.339 And what we see in the psalm is that his soul is beginning to open up. 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:56.660 His soul is transforming. 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:58.600 His faith is rising. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.340 And his hope is increasing. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:07.820 And I think it's important to say here that we don't know how long it took for that change to happen. 00:28:08.019 --> 00:28:11.220 We don't know how much time elapsed for him to get to this point. 00:28:11.320 --> 00:28:18.100 Maybe it was days or weeks or months or years before he was able to write the entirety of this psalm. 00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:20.060 But by the end, 00:28:20.059 --> 00:28:27.819 he's basically exploding with this fervent, resilient, resolute plea to God. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:33.279 He's got this growing confidence that kind of climaxes in the shout of joy. 00:28:33.379 --> 00:28:35.539 Listen to it in verse 1 of chapter 43. 00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:35.879 He says, 00:28:35.879 --> 00:28:40.480 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. 00:28:40.639 --> 00:28:43.319 Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. 00:28:43.639 --> 00:28:46.019 For you, God, are my stronghold. 00:28:46.879 --> 00:28:48.139 Why have you rejected me? 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:50.580 Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.320 Send me your light and your faithful care. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:54.640 Let them lead me. 00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:58.800 Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:05.860 You see, he's had this terrible ordeal of darkness and insecurity. 00:29:06.020 --> 00:29:07.700 But in the midst of that, he says, 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:12.700 God, let your light come and penetrate my darkness. 00:29:12.700 --> 00:29:19.460 Send out your faithful care to come and dispel all of my insecurities. 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:26.779 Lead me out of this place of exile, back home with you. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:32.860 Give me such a homecoming back in your very presence where I can sense your nearness again. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:35.860 And he says in verse 4, 00:29:35.859 --> 00:29:47.139 Outwardly, nothing has changed. 00:29:48.379 --> 00:29:52.259 But inwardly and spiritually, he's won through. 00:29:53.059 --> 00:29:55.579 He's praising God, my joy and my delight. 00:29:55.659 --> 00:29:56.339 Or in the Hebrew, it says, 00:29:56.339 --> 00:29:57.939 God, my exceeding joy. 00:29:58.059 --> 00:30:00.500 God, of my joyful rejoicing. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.919 His desperation has been transformed into hope in God. 00:30:08.699 --> 00:30:09.759 And yours can too. 00:30:10.959 --> 00:30:13.740 His darkness has been filled with the light of God. 00:30:13.939 --> 00:30:15.439 And yours can too. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:16.279 Right? 00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:18.839 By the end of the psalm, he's praying not in the minor key. 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:20.180 He's praying in the major key. 00:30:20.599 --> 00:30:24.420 I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 00:30:26.579 --> 00:30:27.899 That's a defiant faith. 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:31.980 And how do we experience this defiant faith? 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:37.319 Well, to close, we've just got to learn how to pray these psalms. 00:30:37.379 --> 00:30:38.720 We've got to learn how to pray like this. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:43.259 And we've got to learn how to pray with the one to whom these psalms are pointing. 00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:50.359 You know, in God the Father's Purpose, he did direct his love and his song to us. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:54.619 But he directed his love and his song to us in his son, Jesus. 00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:56.299 Right? 00:30:56.339 --> 00:31:00.559 He did send his light and his faithful care to us. 00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:06.299 But he did it by embodying it in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. 00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:10.819 The living God who feels so absent in this psalm, 00:31:10.819 --> 00:31:17.559 he became present to us in the flesh through Jesus, our Savior and our God. 00:31:18.919 --> 00:31:23.419 And it was in God's purpose that it was necessary not only for our Lord to come, 00:31:23.659 --> 00:31:29.799 but for Jesus to become like this deer who's dying of thirst and crying out for water. 00:31:30.859 --> 00:31:34.579 It was God's purpose for Jesus to come and be like this one 00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:39.659 who feels battered by the waterfalls and waves and breakers of death. 00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:45.099 And we know that in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before Jesus' cross, 00:31:45.199 --> 00:31:46.059 he said this, he said, 00:31:46.220 --> 00:31:51.519 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.339 And at the end of the Gospel of John, we read this, 00:31:55.679 --> 00:31:59.779 Knowing that everything had now been finished and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:01.700 Jesus said on the cross, 00:32:02.379 --> 00:32:04.460 I am thirsty. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:09.740 He said as he was hanging on that cross, he said, 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.119 I am thirsty. 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:15.019 This is the one who said, 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:19.000 Whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:24.700 And he's hanging there, utterly humiliated, saying, 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.059 I am thirsty. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:29.920 And we know, of course that's physical thirst, 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:31.680 but it's way more than that. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.640 Jesus has come and he's taken our place. 00:32:34.740 --> 00:32:41.400 He's taken all that horrible, cosmic, existential thirst for God that we feel into himself, 00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:45.579 and he became in that place, utterly cut off from God, 00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:47.759 the fountain of living water. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:50.720 And why did he do it? 00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:52.960 Why did Jesus, 00:32:54.019 --> 00:32:57.019 who was the highest and the happiest person in the universe, 00:32:57.220 --> 00:33:03.700 why did he allow himself to become the most downcast and the most disturbed person that's ever walked on this planet? 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:05.160 Why did he do that? 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:10.660 He did it so that he, after he was resurrected from the dead, 00:33:10.660 --> 00:33:12.259 he could lead us home. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.160 He could lead us to that place where God dwells. 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:20.600 He could lead us into the very presence of God, our joy and our delight. 00:33:20.980 --> 00:33:22.880 God, the joy of my rejoicing. 00:33:24.540 --> 00:33:30.160 Friends, this is the only place where your thirst will be quenched. 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:35.019 And Jesus is the only person who can take you there. 00:33:35.019 --> 00:33:42.759 He is God's love and his song. 00:33:42.879 --> 00:33:44.920 He is God's light and his faithful care. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:48.940 And he has been sent to bring you to that place. 00:33:48.940 --> 00:33:49.740 In verse 3, 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:54.220 Send me your light and your faithful care. 00:33:54.299 --> 00:33:55.160 Let them lead me. 00:33:55.339 --> 00:33:57.160 Let them bring me to your holy mountain, 00:33:57.420 --> 00:33:59.319 to the place where you dwell. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:01.259 Then I will go to the altar of God, 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:03.000 to God my joy and my delight. 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:05.359 And I will praise you with the lyre. 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:06.079 Oh God, 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:07.440 my God. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:11.059 I guess my simple question is, 00:34:11.639 --> 00:34:17.900 as we launch into this series on learning these holy habits of drinking from the well of living water, 00:34:18.539 --> 00:34:19.619 is that what you want? 00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:22.539 Is that what you want to be able to say? 00:34:23.720 --> 00:34:24.460 And if so, 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:25.800 God the Father, 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:27.720 having sent his Son, 00:34:27.820 --> 00:34:29.820 he can pour out his Holy Spirit on you 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:32.420 and let you drink deeply 00:34:32.420 --> 00:34:34.140 and to the full. 00:34:35.660 --> 00:34:36.660 In the name of the Father, 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:36.920 Son, 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:37.580 and Holy Spirit. 00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:38.700 Amen.