WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:22.780 Let's just bow our heads in prayer. Father, in your Word, you tell us that your Word is like a sword 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:27.820 that can go right into the very center, a knife that can go right into the very center and depths 00:01:27.820 --> 00:01:35.340 of who we are and can sort of pull things apart and reveal what's there. And Father, we don't always 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:42.180 like that process, but we are grateful that your Word is a way for us to not only understand who you 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:49.900 are and the wonder of the gospel, but also to see who we really are, who we really are, the person, 00:01:50.100 --> 00:01:56.440 the man and the woman that Jesus died for. So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do many 00:01:56.440 --> 00:02:04.740 mighty works in our lives this morning, and that your Holy Spirit would allow, help us to allow your Word, 00:02:04.739 --> 00:02:12.639 that your Holy Spirit would help us to allow your Word to reveal to ourselves what we're really like, 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:19.680 and in doing so, that we might know the gospel better and have greater hope. And we ask these 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:24.680 things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:40.800 Amen. This is a psalm written 3,000 years ago that talks about deconversion and talks about 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.300 deconstruction of faith. Some of you might know that that's like a very big topic in Christian circles, 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:51.500 deconversion and the deconstruction of the Christian faith. Some of you might be quietly, 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:57.659 privately, doubting the Christian faith and feeling yourself on the way out. Some of you might be 00:02:57.659 --> 00:03:05.159 like me, who had, I don't know, four or five, six in the first 15 years or so of my Christian faith, 00:03:05.219 --> 00:03:12.039 had four or five, six times where I came close to walking away from the Christian faith. But this is a 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:21.699 psalm about it. And it's really about not only, it's all about how the person who wrote the psalm, 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:30.899 Asaph, began a journey of walking away from the faith, came right to the brink of leaving the faith, 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:38.280 and how he came back to re-embrace the faith. And that's what the psalm is all about. It's a very, 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:44.460 very profound psalm. It's unsettling. But let's look and see why it's unsettling and why it's 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:50.539 profound. If you would turn your Bibles to Psalm 73, that would be great. We always have the words 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:54.500 of the text up on the screen, but I just want to encourage you, there's something about bringing 00:03:54.500 --> 00:03:59.539 your own Bible, especially a paper Bible, to be able to look at these things yourselves 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:05.819 and just see what it's saying. Partly, I like you to bring your own Bibles because I want you to be 00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:09.900 Bereans. I want you to say, oh, the church, take that out of context. There's, you know, 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.579 something else going on. And it's just, I just want to encourage you, but the words are on the screen. 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:18.379 And here's how it goes. It begins with a postscript, which I don't think is on the screen, 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:23.199 a psalm of Asaph. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly because I never hear anybody pronounce 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:31.060 his name. So this is significant. Asaph was one of the people designated by David to lead the 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:37.379 praises of God in people of the, in the people of God in praising. So it would be sort of a 00:04:37.379 --> 00:04:45.860 combination of Deborah, Josiah, and me, all sort of rolled up into one. Deborah's our worship leader. 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:50.300 So today it would be like Emma, Josiah, and me, sort of rolled all up into one, and Monique as well, 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:55.319 all rolled up into one. And that's who he was. And here's how it begins then. Verse one, we'll read. 00:04:55.379 --> 00:05:00.399 Actually, I sort of gave little titles to each of these sections. Verses one to three could be called 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:06.039 The Big Picture. The Big Picture. And here's what it says. 00:05:06.659 --> 00:05:13.979 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. 00:05:14.719 --> 00:05:21.879 My steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 00:05:23.479 --> 00:05:28.659 Now, just a couple of things here about that. The first thing is the word here, the very first thing 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:32.340 where it says, truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:40.640 For those of us reading this text today, what we should do is we should see, when we see the word 00:05:40.640 --> 00:05:47.800 Israel, we should see God's covenant people. The people that God has called to himself that are in 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:53.280 an intimate covenant with him. If you don't know this about the Christian faith, that's a very important 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:57.739 part of the Christian faith, is we don't just, Christians don't just sort of believe in God in 00:05:57.739 --> 00:06:03.019 general, or religion, or spirituality in general. And we don't believe that all views of God are the 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:08.439 same. We believe that there is a real, true God. And just as real, true human beings have certain 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:14.859 characteristics and characters, etc., God is real. And he's triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:20.500 three persons, one God. And this God has created all things, and he's created human beings, and he 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:26.980 desires human beings to be in a relationship with him, an intimate relationship of love and affection, 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:32.939 where we come to know his goodness, truth, and beauty, and we come to delight in it. And that's 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:39.480 what he desires. So when we see Israel, what we see here is God's covenant people. And then another way 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:42.939 to look at it as well, and this is sort of important because people don't always get it, 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:47.040 just because you go to church or connected to a church doesn't mean you're a Christian. 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:52.160 And it's the same thing, one of the things which is developed all the way through what we now call 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:57.899 the Old Testament, and our Jewish friends call the Tanakh, is that there is physical, literal Israel, 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:04.120 but what God wants, and that's like the visible church, those who go to churches, but then within 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:10.360 that is what God really wants, which is people who actually have emptied into a relationship of love 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:16.639 with him in a covenant relationship, acknowledging him as Savior and Lord. And that's described here 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:25.540 as pure in heart. Another way to understand it is we are growing in loyalty, exclusive loyalty, 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:32.620 in mind and heart and body, imagination to him. And then it described verse 2 how, you know, 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:39.220 basically what it's saying here is that he begins now by saying where he stands right now. And by the 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:44.620 way, one of the things which is really neat about this is, in a sense, what happened to the psalmist is 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:50.580 he's entered into a second childhood. And what I mean is that is, you know, many of us are very 00:07:50.580 --> 00:07:57.260 impressed with the simple childhood faith of a young child. And then what happens to this man is he 00:07:57.260 --> 00:08:04.480 obviously had that. He starts to lose it. But what happens at the end of the process when he comes back 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:11.580 to faith is, in a sense, a new childhood, a new trusting faith. But it's a different type of faith 00:08:11.580 --> 00:08:16.860 of a child because it's a faith that's been beaten up and battered and bruised and has been tested. 00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:22.259 So that's his height. But he says, listen, I went right to the brink of walking away from God. And then, 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:29.780 now this next verse, I might lose people right here. So I don't know if some of you right now are 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:35.199 struggling with doubt. Maybe you're on the edge of deconstructing your faith, walking away from the 00:08:35.199 --> 00:08:40.899 faith. I don't know about some of those who are watching if that describes you. This next line is a 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:48.699 very, very tough line. And all week I have thought about it as to whether this described me in my, 00:08:48.819 --> 00:08:53.500 whatever it was, five or six times when I almost walked from the Christian faith. And all I want to 00:08:53.500 --> 00:09:01.940 say is this, I'm not making any judgment on you, but it's uncomfortably true. That's what I can say 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:06.799 to the best that I can remember, looking back on my life. It's uncomfortably true. Verse three. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.299 Because here's what it says. Why did he almost walk away from the faith? Why was he going through 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:18.700 deconversion and deconstruction? Verse three, for I was envious of the arrogant 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:27.800 when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Now I can tell you when I was going through it, I would 00:09:27.800 --> 00:09:32.420 have thought that I was engaged in an intellectual quest, that I was a seeker after truth, and 00:09:32.420 --> 00:09:37.740 obviously that was true to an extent. But this is a very, very different type of claim that's being 00:09:37.740 --> 00:09:44.900 made. And I have to be honest, if I was here at church reading this psalm when I was going through 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:50.679 one of these texts, and I saw that text, I don't know if I, I might, it might get me mad. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:56.199 So all I want to say if it's making you mad is just spend some time with the rest of the psalm. I 00:09:56.199 --> 00:10:02.740 hope you don't tune out. I was talking to a very wise man by the name of Byron Wheaton this week, just, 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:09.319 or last week, by, just by coincidence, or God's providence, I should say. And he had spent a lot of time 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:15.480 learning about mentoring. And what he said is that the literature around a good mentor is a good 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:21.480 mentor has three characteristics. The first characteristic is that they have a brain that's 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:27.440 worth being picked that can be picked. So you don't want to have a mentor who's an idiot, 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:33.120 or a fool. You know, if you can find somebody who actually really knows what they're talking about, 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:37.180 and they're willing to let you pick their brain, that's the one of the main things about a mentor. 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:44.339 The second thing is a mentor should be a shoulder that you can cry on as you're dealing with your 00:10:44.339 --> 00:10:48.699 upsetness and heartbreak about not getting promotions or other things not going right. And the third thing 00:10:48.699 --> 00:10:56.879 he said is that a mentor should be able to kick your butt. And then he said, of course, obviously not 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:00.859 all mentors can do all three of those things. Some of them are a bit weak at maybe the shoulder, 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:06.939 some a bit weak at the butt kicking. So I guess if you're a bit uncomfortable with verse 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:12.760 three, for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, consider Asaph a 00:11:12.760 --> 00:11:23.280 mentor who's allowing you to pick his brain. And God is a shoulder to cry on. And God can't be God 00:11:23.280 --> 00:11:26.840 if he never kicks your butt. Do I have an amen? 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:35.259 I know that doesn't sound very Anglican, and there should be some pregnant pause. But 00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:42.399 it's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord, send me the prayer, let me tell you. I need to have my butt kicked. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:51.019 So that's the big picture. The second section is verses four to 14. And I guess we could call this 00:11:51.019 --> 00:12:02.379 what he saw as he was walking away. What he saw as he was walking away. And one of the things which 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:08.559 we're going to see about this, and at first it bothered me when I was reading it, but then it made 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:15.579 me realize, you know, a lot of times what we think of as thinking isn't thinking. What we really are 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:21.660 talking about is that we get insights, or we think we understand something that's going on. And it's 00:12:21.660 --> 00:12:29.000 like, and, and, and, but it's not really thinking. There was this one particular fellow, I almost said 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:35.860 his name, I blurted it out by accident at eight. I don't see him anymore because he moved. And he was 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:40.300 a big fan of Christopher Hitchens and Dawkins, and he found out I was a Christian, he'd like to attack me. 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:46.579 And in fact, he'd like to say things loudly that in, in the, in the coffee shop to embarrass me. 00:12:47.319 --> 00:12:52.459 You know, like in a loud voice, so, so you believe in hell, like that's really popular in a coffee shop, 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:56.500 right? And I'd get all like red in the face. But anyway, one of the things really what he'd always 00:12:56.500 --> 00:13:04.419 do is he'd say things to me like, there's thousands of religions worshiping hundreds of thousands of 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:26.860 gods. Okay. That's true. But, and I say to him, he'd get really bad. I said, but that, like, so, like, what, like that, just because you say that, like, what am I supposed to say? Like, that's not an argument, right? That's just a statement. But for him, it was an insight. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:44.220 Anyway, we'd go into it. So what, what we see here is that this fellow saw certain things, but remember, he's going to come to the conclusion that he wasn't, that these things that he saw were all seen through the lens of envy. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:52.019 An undiagnosed envy that he had in his heart. I'll talk a little bit about when ND is in a moment. 00:13:53.139 --> 00:14:00.779 I have to be careful because we could, you know, you could go on a retreat and you could spend a long time on these, on this list of things. I have to be careful because of my time. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:14.200 I don't, but, but you can go and spend some time after. And, and by the way, this is a section, verses 4 to 14, that if you have something like YouVersion, it's very helpful to look at this and then look at the NIV and then look at the 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:26.660 New Living Translation and maybe look at the Net Bible, Holman Study Bible, or the King James Version. And, and all of them are pretty good because there's just obviously words in the Hebrew that are a bit hard to communicate. 00:14:26.780 --> 00:14:36.060 And, and if you look at all of them, it'll really give you some good insight about what's being talked about here. But the first, the first couple of things is, well, look at it. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:41.220 Verse 4, for they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:47.879 So just, you have to all learn, 3,000 years ago, being fat was a sign of great beauty. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:53.320 It meant you didn't have to do hard physical work and it meant you had lots of food. It meant you were rich. 00:14:53.560 --> 00:15:00.600 It meant you were healthy. It was viewed as very beautiful. So it, you know, their body, in other words, these are really, really good looking people. 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:05.420 They're prosperous. They have money. They're not getting, they're not getting sick. 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:14.819 No pangs until death. That means a pang is like a sharp blow, a sharp pain, either to the body or to your soul or your emotions. 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.579 That's what a pang is. Verse 5, this is where he seems to look. 00:15:18.599 --> 00:15:26.259 He looks around and he sees that the wicked, people who are far from God, and, and they don't seem to have these things that jab them, 00:15:26.319 --> 00:15:30.799 that cause them pain, all the way up until the very moment that they die. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:39.699 Even if you just think about that for a second, does it make any sense to say that he died healthy? 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.799 Well, I mean, on one level it does, but you died. 00:15:45.859 --> 00:15:47.120 Obviously, the end, you died. 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:53.039 Anyway, their bodies are, you know, so they're good looking. Verse 5, they're not in trouble as others are. 00:15:53.199 --> 00:15:58.819 They're not stricken like the rest of mankind. People don't, they just don't seem to have these problems that other people have. 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:06.900 One of the things you have to understand about the word arrogant, arrogant here, he's talking about a person who boasts, 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:12.600 who's, who's not only boasting, but they, they're growing in their boasting. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:21.060 And like a lot of us, our boasting goes on between our ears, on the other side of our eyeballs, in our head. 00:16:21.900 --> 00:16:24.720 Although people can tell that we're boastful people. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:30.560 In fact, you know, one of the things that many of us have, it's one of the things that helps to show us that we have an issue with pride, 00:16:31.060 --> 00:16:40.480 is if we see somebody else and we can tell from them that they think they're, like, they boast that they think they're really something, 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:52.940 and we look down our nose at them and despise them, partially that's our pride and our boasting, picking up another person's boasting. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.360 And we say to ourselves, well, they're idiots. 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:01.480 Like, they have no right to boast compared to me. 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:12.900 So they, they're boasting is, is, is now something, and their pride, and their thinking they're better about something, 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:17.720 is not something that they hide, but something that they actually are quite, quite proud of. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.940 It's, it's, and, and, and violence covers them as a garment. 00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:29.940 And what, what's going on here, and this is a bit harder to get at, is that, you know, when you're talking to them and you come around them, 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:36.640 that they, they're very good at using their power to get their own way, even if it hurts. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.900 And it's something that if you notice it with somebody you don't like, you don't like it, 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:48.200 but you might not notice it around your own circle, so you're with your friends all around having some lemonade on a hot day, 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:53.640 and, and your friend starts to, to boast and say how, you know, there's this job at work, 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:57.960 and, you know, I, I, I put this word in here, and put this word in here, 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.319 and this word in here made me look better than I really was, and this word in over a year, 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:03.960 I was allowed to, I was able to take credit for something, 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:08.420 and this word over here was something that made the other people all look down their nose at this person, 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:09.580 and I was able to get the job. 00:18:10.860 --> 00:18:15.360 And they'll tell it in such a way that there's lots of laughs and high fives, like, way to go, Bob. 00:18:15.620 --> 00:18:16.480 Like, way to go, Sue. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:21.180 Right? But what they just did is they, they, they stole credit from others, 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:27.140 they put people down, they lied about themselves, they, they did all of these things, 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:28.960 and they're really, in a sense, acts of aggression. 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:32.140 And they're proud of it. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.700 And their friends give them high fives because of it. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:43.400 And then when it says, verse 7, their eyes swell out through fatness, 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.160 their hearts overflow with follies. 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:49.980 What this is trying to get at is, well, actually, I'll keep, is, is, 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.840 that basically, you know, it's as if I have my lane, 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:59.180 and there's sort of these natural limits that sort of go along with my life, 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:04.759 and, and, and, but my, my boasting, and my desire for more, 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:07.540 and my desire to be viewed as more, 00:19:07.539 --> 00:19:11.000 and all of these things, they keep overflowing the banks of my life. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:15.000 And, and I don't see this as a bad thing, but a good thing. 00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:17.799 And then there's new banks, but they keep on overflowing like that. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.539 Like, it gives you this picture of a person whose, whose appetite and desire for, 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:27.920 for being recognized, for being thought of as smart, for being thought of as beautiful, 00:19:28.139 --> 00:19:30.680 for having money, for all of these types of things, 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.160 that they keep breaking the limits to have more, and more, and more. 00:19:34.259 --> 00:19:37.380 And even if it's just something in their mind that they fantasize about, 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:40.320 and they boast about, and they have fantasies in their mind, 00:19:40.360 --> 00:19:43.799 and how much it comes out, but there's something going on between the ears, 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:48.480 and, and, and, and, and, and seen in the body, and seen in their actions, 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:50.480 and, and this is the desire of their heart. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.900 And the point about this is, he looks around the world. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.360 Asaph is looking, and he sees that, this is what he thinks he sees. 00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:01.599 He sees people who are far from God, and, and, and, and they're, they're prosperous, 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.860 and they're good-looking, and they make these boasts, and they, and people, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.480 and, and they seem to be successful, and they just seem to be getting bigger, 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:09.759 and they seem to be getting bigger. 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.220 And verse 8, they scoff and speak with malice. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.039 Loftily, they threaten oppression. 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:18.599 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues struck through the earth. 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:23.000 I mean, I just think for a second, but he said it in a very, very calm way. 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:25.299 I, I know I'm a bit obsessed with this conversation. 00:20:25.399 --> 00:20:28.919 Not obsessed, but I, there's, you know, I've watched now different accounts 00:20:28.919 --> 00:20:33.699 and different parts of the conversation between Christopher Dawkins and Ayaan Hershey-Eli 00:20:33.699 --> 00:20:35.459 in New York. 00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:41.679 The first time the two of them had talked in public about her rejecting atheism 00:20:41.679 --> 00:20:42.699 to become a Christian. 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:48.399 And there's just this cultured English way that he would actually just, like, 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.680 lean forward and say to her, well, it's all right that you like to go to church, 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:54.280 but what about what the vicar says? 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:58.380 It's all nonsense, and I can't put that Oxbridge accent on. 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:00.740 It's completely and utterly ridiculous. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.000 The born of a virgin miracles, it's completely ridiculous. 00:21:06.780 --> 00:21:08.660 And he says it with great aplomb. 00:21:08.740 --> 00:21:09.620 He says it with smile. 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:13.640 He says it with unbelievable confidence, and he says it with an Oxbridge accent. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:16.040 Like, who am I to say anything against him? 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:19.139 I'm just a rube in Ottawa compared to him. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:20.920 Right? 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:25.139 But verse 9, they set their mouths against the heavens, 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:26.619 and their tongues stretched to the earth. 00:21:27.899 --> 00:21:29.700 And Asaph admires him. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.200 He says, God, like, I wish I had that aplomb. 00:21:35.379 --> 00:21:36.599 I wish I had that accent. 00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:37.980 I wish I had that confidence. 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:42.799 I wish I just wore that so effortlessly. 00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:47.380 Verse 10, and so therefore his people, that's the wicked, 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:49.799 turn back to them and find no fault in them. 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:51.240 And some of them talk about drinking water, 00:21:51.339 --> 00:21:52.880 but basically people lap it up. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:54.039 They lap it up. 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:56.299 And then everybody says, how can God know? 00:21:56.360 --> 00:21:57.799 Is there knowledge in the most high? 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:58.500 Ha, ha, ha. 00:21:59.339 --> 00:22:01.360 Verse 12, behold, these are the wicked. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:03.779 Always at ease, they increase in riches. 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:07.920 That's sort of the summary. 00:22:10.059 --> 00:22:13.539 And then we have a bit of psychological insight as this, 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:17.480 as Asaph is going to bring, remember I called this section, 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:19.920 what he saw as he was walking away. 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:23.220 Verse 13 and 14, all in vain. 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:29.559 Vain means it's like, just like an illusion. 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:34.339 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:38.299 For all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 00:22:38.399 --> 00:22:40.359 My life just sucks compares to theirs. 00:22:41.399 --> 00:22:44.419 That's how Asaph is understanding his life. 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:46.059 Now here's a couple of things about envy. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.859 Envy is looking at somebody else and wanting what they have. 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:55.960 But it's not a good thing. 00:22:56.740 --> 00:22:58.339 It's not aspiration. 00:22:58.339 --> 00:22:58.500 Aspiration. 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:01.939 Aspiration is a good thing. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:05.480 But you look at what people have, and on one hand you want it, 00:23:05.879 --> 00:23:09.359 but it also bothers you that they have it and you don't. 00:23:09.419 --> 00:23:13.079 And you want to know one of the ways you can recognize when there is envy? 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:16.099 I'll use a minister's example. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.039 Some of you are familiar with a man by the name of Mark Driscoll, 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:23.039 who pastored a church in Seattle, planted it from nothing, 00:23:23.159 --> 00:23:24.740 grew to thousands and thousands of people. 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.299 He wrote lots of books, spoke in all sorts of conferences. 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:29.659 And then he had a massive fall. 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:34.819 And the church fell apart, and they've done documentaries on the fall of Mars Hill. 00:23:34.919 --> 00:23:38.379 That's all about this particular pastor, Mark Driscoll. 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:45.240 If you're a minister or a Christian, and you first heard the news reports of his fall, 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.420 and you were happy, 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:53.220 then you have the sin of envy. 00:23:53.220 --> 00:24:00.220 You have the sin of envy. 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:06.819 See, that's one of the signs. 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:17.119 I mean, there's a whole lot of other aspects of it. 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:22.819 But people who are happy that Trump almost got assassinated last night, 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:27.200 you have the sin of envy, amongst other sins. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:31.640 That's your sin. 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:31.660 That's your sin. 00:24:40.340 --> 00:24:41.700 You see, aspiration, 00:24:43.340 --> 00:24:46.140 using a minister's example, 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:48.120 would be, 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:50.700 gosh, I'd love to be able to preach 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:53.500 even a half as well as Tim Keller could preach. 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:56.720 And I read some books, 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:57.640 and I go to conferences, 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.119 and I maybe get some feedback, 00:24:59.299 --> 00:25:01.599 because, gosh, I'd love to be able to preach like that. 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:03.900 You see, envy is always competitive. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:05.759 It always makes you unhappy. 00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:08.920 You, on one hand, want to have that position, 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.180 but if you realize it, 00:25:10.619 --> 00:25:12.039 like, you know, in a sense, 00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:13.180 if I have the sin of envy, 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:14.839 and let's say as a pastor, 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:16.940 it wouldn't actually make me happy 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:18.960 that I could just be the co-pastor 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:20.380 of Mark Driscoll's church, 00:25:20.840 --> 00:25:21.840 because at the end of the day, 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:24.200 I would actually want to be over Mark Driscoll. 00:25:25.340 --> 00:25:25.980 That's envy. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:30.019 Aspiration is not competitive. 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:33.079 It's not zero-sum. 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:35.680 It's just recognizing excellence in the world 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:37.299 and saying, gosh, I'd like to be like that. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:39.620 You know, if you have the gift of hospitality, 00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:41.620 and maybe you read Rosaria Butterfield's book 00:25:41.620 --> 00:25:43.720 on Faith Comes with a House Key, 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:45.440 and you say, gosh, I wish I could have 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.440 that type of hospitality and open-handedness. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:49.860 You read about somebody who's very, very generous 00:25:49.860 --> 00:25:52.640 financially, sacrificially generous, 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:55.720 and you say, gosh, I wish I could be generous like them, 00:25:56.259 --> 00:25:57.700 and you don't rejoice in their fall. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:01.400 And so you see here in verses 13 and 14 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:03.900 that this, what's going on with the envy, 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:05.920 the envy has only made this man 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:07.580 completely and utterly unhappy, 00:26:07.580 --> 00:26:10.200 and it's actually made him dissatisfied with his life. 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:13.840 And it makes him think that God somehow owes him, 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:17.819 that God owes Asaph to have these types of positions 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:19.559 and all this success and the fatness 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:20.599 and all of those other things. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:24.459 And don't take this from this that Asaph's life sucked, 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:28.099 because if you go back, Asaph's life didn't suck. 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:32.139 He had a very high position in David's kingdom. 00:26:33.379 --> 00:26:34.939 I'll use an example once again. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:36.279 I haven't used it for a couple of months. 00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:38.619 A couple, you know, quite a few years ago 00:26:38.619 --> 00:26:40.179 in my first church where I was the rector, 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:42.440 and there were two women in that congregation, 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.060 and one woman had grown up very well. 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:47.460 She had one of the nicest houses in Eganville. 00:26:47.660 --> 00:26:49.380 I would go in to bring her communion, 00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:51.160 and she was in good health. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:52.640 She was blessed with marriage. 00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:54.480 She had lots of financial resources, 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:57.140 and she had two daughters who loved her 00:26:57.140 --> 00:26:59.299 that came and visited her and called on her all the time. 00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:00.880 She had grandchildren that loved her. 00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:05.100 But all I heard every time I visited her was complaints, 00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:10.500 because she couldn't play that bleepity-bleep piano 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:11.719 the way she wanted to. 00:27:13.419 --> 00:27:15.419 And I would sometimes, on the very same day, 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:17.679 bring in communion, go to visit this other woman. 00:27:17.879 --> 00:27:20.679 And this other woman had only had menial 00:27:20.679 --> 00:27:23.159 housekeeping-type jobs her entire life. 00:27:23.619 --> 00:27:26.179 She had some physical and mental handicaps. 00:27:26.299 --> 00:27:27.779 She had never been able to marry. 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:30.779 And she lived in... 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.399 She would have been one of the poorest people in Eganville, 00:27:33.879 --> 00:27:36.379 and every time I saw her, 00:27:36.619 --> 00:27:38.819 she had the world's biggest smile. 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.339 Only one of them could sing it as well with my soul. 00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:50.779 So don't take Asaph to mean that his life... 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:54.799 You see, one of the things that the devil does with envy 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.419 is he makes you unhappy amidst your blessings. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:05.240 He makes you unhappy in the midst of your blessings. 00:28:08.919 --> 00:28:10.480 So how does this turn around? 00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:13.819 We've now reached the bottom point of Asaph's life. 00:28:14.339 --> 00:28:17.059 Remember, he's describing what he saw. 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.599 The next section, I guess, if I was to give it a title, 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:21.599 would be Insights on the Way Back. 00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:24.659 So the first thing is what he saw as he was leaving. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.240 On the Way Back, it's Insights. 00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:29.700 It has a bit of a preamble or a prelude. 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:30.700 Look at verse 15. 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:32.019 It's a very interesting thing. 00:28:32.419 --> 00:28:32.759 He says, 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:34.579 If I had said, I will speak thus, 00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:36.659 like all these things, 00:28:36.919 --> 00:28:39.539 I would have betrayed the generation of your children. 00:28:39.639 --> 00:28:40.980 And what it's really saying is that 00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:44.740 Asaph was having his periods of doubt privately. 00:28:45.859 --> 00:28:49.619 But what held him back from taking a final step, 00:28:49.659 --> 00:28:52.440 and what held him back from talking about this publicly, 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:56.960 was that he worried how it would hurt the faith of others. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.059 That was true of me. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:07.960 That held me back. 00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:11.940 And then the next bit is a bit of a surprising thing, 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.240 because if I look back at my own periods, 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:17.779 I tried to do what 16 said doesn't work. 00:29:17.860 --> 00:29:19.140 Look at what 16 says. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:21.579 But when I thought how to understand this, 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:25.579 the whole God and deconversion, 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:27.519 it seemed to me a wearisome task. 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:29.680 In other words, it didn't work. 00:29:30.100 --> 00:29:32.360 Now, this isn't an anti-intellectual text. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:33.120 Okay? 00:29:33.199 --> 00:29:34.299 It's not saying don't think. 00:29:34.399 --> 00:29:35.379 In fact, if you look at it, 00:29:35.419 --> 00:29:39.259 this is actually a profoundly thoughtful text. 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:42.459 And he has captured, 00:29:42.659 --> 00:29:43.079 as I said, 00:29:43.139 --> 00:29:45.259 you could go off on a men's or a woman's retreat 00:29:45.259 --> 00:29:46.279 or a youth retreat, 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:49.619 and you could take that analysis of envy, 00:29:49.739 --> 00:29:51.299 and you could look at each of these verses, 00:29:51.419 --> 00:29:53.039 and it opens up a profound world. 00:29:53.159 --> 00:29:53.739 Like you could do, 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:55.419 if you want to go on a personal retreat 00:29:55.419 --> 00:29:57.819 to do an examination of conscience, 00:29:57.899 --> 00:29:59.319 you could take this psalm with you 00:29:59.319 --> 00:29:59.579 and say, 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:00.939 God could help me to understand 00:30:00.939 --> 00:30:02.399 how this is working in my life, 00:30:02.579 --> 00:30:03.460 not the lives of others, 00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:04.319 but in my own life. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:06.119 And then, 00:30:06.399 --> 00:30:07.899 and this is the surprising thing, 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:08.579 verse 17. 00:30:08.659 --> 00:30:09.980 That's why I called this section 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:11.480 Insights on the Way Back, 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.179 because you see, 00:30:13.639 --> 00:30:15.319 sometimes we just get insights. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:19.699 He says in verse 17, 00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:22.039 until I went into the sanctuary of God, 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:26.019 then I discerned their end. 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:26.980 I had an insight. 00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:27.460 Now, 00:30:29.339 --> 00:30:30.299 in some of the times 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:31.839 when I was having my doubts, 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:33.640 and I did go to ask 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:34.960 some other people about it, 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:35.779 in my very early, 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:37.559 the first couple of bouts of doubt, 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:39.319 the people that I talked to 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:39.740 just said, 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:40.240 oh, George, 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:41.539 you just got to pray more 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:43.079 and sing more praise songs, 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:44.759 and it was profoundly unhelpful. 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:47.740 And this text isn't just saying, 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:48.180 oh, you see, 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.059 those people were right. 00:30:49.140 --> 00:30:50.460 You just got to sing more praise songs. 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:51.700 You just got to sing more hymns. 00:30:51.740 --> 00:30:52.460 You just got to pray more. 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:53.299 No, 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:54.880 it's not that. 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:55.360 It's, 00:30:55.800 --> 00:30:56.300 it's, 00:30:56.700 --> 00:30:57.120 and this, 00:30:57.420 --> 00:30:58.120 for some of us, 00:30:58.320 --> 00:30:59.180 I'm sure many of you, 00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:00.780 all of you probably have this experience. 00:31:01.260 --> 00:31:03.080 Some of the biggest insights in my life 00:31:03.080 --> 00:31:03.420 came, 00:31:03.640 --> 00:31:05.820 come about just as I'm doing some normal duties. 00:31:05.820 --> 00:31:06.040 Like, 00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:07.300 the insight I had 00:31:07.300 --> 00:31:08.780 that God had called me to be ordained 00:31:08.780 --> 00:31:10.260 happened when I stopped 00:31:10.260 --> 00:31:11.600 and I went to get coffee. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:16.279 And as I'm getting the coffee, 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:17.139 I have this insight. 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:20.319 I used to be extremely left-wing. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:21.839 I guess nowadays you'd call me woke. 00:31:22.939 --> 00:31:23.599 And the, 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:25.939 I had one day on a bike ride 00:31:25.939 --> 00:31:28.399 to go pick up some bread. 00:31:28.719 --> 00:31:30.459 I had a series of insights 00:31:30.459 --> 00:31:32.119 that turned my life around. 00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:35.239 Like, 00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:36.019 in heaven I'll find out 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:36.899 that some little old lady 00:31:36.899 --> 00:31:37.899 was praying for me, 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:38.299 right? 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:39.279 Or my grandmother 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:40.419 was still alive at that time. 00:31:40.479 --> 00:31:41.979 That my granny was praying for me 00:31:41.979 --> 00:31:42.839 or something like that, 00:31:42.899 --> 00:31:43.159 you know? 00:31:43.939 --> 00:31:45.319 And in this particular case, 00:31:45.339 --> 00:31:46.679 he just goes to have public worship. 00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:47.719 And in the midst of that, 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:48.379 boom, 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:49.799 he has this insight. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:51.639 And then, 00:31:51.819 --> 00:31:53.299 and he starts to give you 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:54.839 what some of these insights are. 00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:57.879 Look at verse 18. 00:31:58.039 --> 00:31:58.939 Truly you set them 00:31:58.939 --> 00:32:00.059 in slippery places. 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:01.659 You make them fall to ruin. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:04.259 How they are destroyed in a moment, 00:32:04.419 --> 00:32:06.339 swept away utterly by terrors. 00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:08.059 Like, 00:32:08.139 --> 00:32:09.259 it might all of a sudden 00:32:09.259 --> 00:32:10.319 just make you realize, 00:32:10.419 --> 00:32:10.579 like, 00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:10.960 you know, 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:12.279 you can think of that whole thing 00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:13.460 that Johnny Depp went through. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:14.700 I can't remember the name of the woman. 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:15.659 There's all those, 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:17.879 like those terrible trials. 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:19.799 You know, 00:32:19.879 --> 00:32:21.440 as one commentator said, 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:23.419 their lives are a complete 00:32:23.419 --> 00:32:25.539 and utter disaster and mess. 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:27.359 Why does anybody 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:29.679 look at somebody like that 00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:31.039 and admire them 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:32.200 and want to be like them? 00:32:33.100 --> 00:32:33.519 And it was, 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:33.799 you know, 00:32:33.860 --> 00:32:34.720 but so maybe it was just 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:35.660 an insight about that. 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:35.920 You know, 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:36.700 rather than just always 00:32:36.700 --> 00:32:37.460 thinking of the moment, 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:38.840 you don't think of Harvey Weinstein. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.000 You don't think of all these people 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:41.680 whose lives come crumbling down 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:43.060 as they get revealed 00:32:43.060 --> 00:32:44.060 or something like that. 00:32:44.120 --> 00:32:45.299 But all of a sudden, 00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:46.519 amongst other things, 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:47.400 and this is, 00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:47.620 you know, 00:32:47.620 --> 00:32:48.860 this is one of the hardest things 00:32:48.860 --> 00:32:50.259 about trying to help people think 00:32:50.259 --> 00:32:51.299 in 2024 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:53.140 is that people don't want 00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:54.120 to think about death. 00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:56.000 But if you don't think about death, 00:32:56.139 --> 00:32:57.199 you can't think. 00:32:59.659 --> 00:33:01.359 If you don't want to think about death, 00:33:01.419 --> 00:33:02.279 you can't think. 00:33:03.639 --> 00:33:04.819 Because you're going to die. 00:33:07.939 --> 00:33:09.519 And everything you had 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:10.559 is gone. 00:33:10.679 --> 00:33:11.939 As Flannery O'Connor said, 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.159 it looks like there's a really interesting 00:33:13.159 --> 00:33:14.699 Flannery O'Connor movie coming out. 00:33:15.339 --> 00:33:15.799 She said, 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:17.739 you can't be any poorer than dead. 00:33:17.740 --> 00:33:23.960 Very true. 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:26.839 But whether it's the slippery places, 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:27.819 they're falling to ruin, 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:28.620 they're destroying a moment, 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.460 ultimately they're going to die. 00:33:30.539 --> 00:33:31.720 And then he thinks in verse 20, 00:33:31.799 --> 00:33:31.880 you know, 00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:32.500 at the end of the day, 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:33.319 look at verse 20, 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:34.559 like a dream when one awakes, 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:34.900 O Lord, 00:33:34.940 --> 00:33:35.900 when you arouse yourself, 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:37.700 you despise them as phantoms. 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:38.240 In other words, 00:33:38.539 --> 00:33:39.480 like you think about it, 00:33:39.559 --> 00:33:40.420 God, you know, 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:41.359 a human being, 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:42.799 I was born at a certain point in time, 00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:44.160 I'm going to die at a certain point in time. 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:45.519 Every human being is like that. 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:46.660 They're a long, 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:47.700 you know, 00:33:48.099 --> 00:33:48.920 thousands of years, 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:49.660 they didn't exist. 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:51.620 And if Jesus doesn't come back for a while, 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:53.200 thousands of years after you live, 00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:54.220 you don't exist. 00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:55.480 You're just here for a moment 00:33:55.480 --> 00:33:57.599 and God endures unchanging on. 00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:00.180 He exists unchanging on. 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:02.120 And every human being, 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:03.279 even the most powerful, 00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:05.120 it's like nothing to God. 00:34:06.339 --> 00:34:08.340 Why did I not think about that? 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:09.579 And then look at this, 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:11.760 he comes to this insight, 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:14.199 is about the fact that envy, 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:14.559 you see, 00:34:14.780 --> 00:34:17.260 envy always makes you unhappy. 00:34:17.260 --> 00:34:20.000 Look at verse 21 and 22. 00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:21.360 He says, 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:22.780 when my soul was embittered, 00:34:22.820 --> 00:34:23.920 when I was pricked in heart, 00:34:23.980 --> 00:34:25.000 I was brutish and ignorant, 00:34:25.100 --> 00:34:26.600 I was like a beast toward you. 00:34:28.600 --> 00:34:31.060 What was informing my thinking, 00:34:31.180 --> 00:34:32.360 my seeing before, 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:34.800 was my heart, 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:35.620 my soul, 00:34:35.620 --> 00:34:36.440 my mind, 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:37.700 my mind was embittered. 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:41.019 My heart was in pain. 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:43.800 Seeing these other people 00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:45.380 and wishing I could be like them, 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:46.440 but at the same time, 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:47.460 resenting them 00:34:47.460 --> 00:34:51.360 and admiring them, 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.880 but it only made my life sour 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:54.980 and embittered 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:56.099 and painful. 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:59.480 And rather than me thinking clearly, 00:35:00.200 --> 00:35:02.420 I couldn't even think like a dog. 00:35:04.500 --> 00:35:05.140 See, 00:35:05.340 --> 00:35:06.780 this ancient psalm 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:09.980 studies in-depth psychology 00:35:09.980 --> 00:35:11.420 and social, 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:14.000 the sociology of knowledge, 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.139 those things all come 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.980 almost 3,000 years downstream 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:21.099 from what the psalmist, 00:35:21.219 --> 00:35:22.360 what Asaph already knew. 00:35:23.179 --> 00:35:24.719 If I'm filled with envy, 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:26.019 I can't think straight. 00:35:28.300 --> 00:35:30.400 Doesn't matter if I have an IQ 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.000 through the rafters. 00:35:32.179 --> 00:35:33.719 Doesn't matter if I have seven PhDs. 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:37.239 If my heart is filled with envy 00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:38.259 and bitter, 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:39.559 I can't think straight. 00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:43.659 That's profoundly humbling. 00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:53.059 I call the next section, 00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:55.459 drawing to a close, 00:35:56.399 --> 00:35:59.599 hope and sanity re-embraced. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:02.159 Verses 23 to 26, 00:36:02.279 --> 00:36:03.699 hope and sanity re-embraced. 00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:05.619 Verses 23 to 26. 00:36:06.779 --> 00:36:07.419 Nevertheless, 00:36:08.339 --> 00:36:11.799 I am continually with you. 00:36:11.859 --> 00:36:12.519 Verse 23, 00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:14.799 you hold my right hand. 00:36:15.759 --> 00:36:17.659 You guide me with your counsel. 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:19.379 And afterward, 00:36:19.579 --> 00:36:21.000 you will receive me to glory. 00:36:21.819 --> 00:36:24.679 Whom have I in heaven but you? 00:36:25.819 --> 00:36:27.699 And there is nothing on earth 00:36:27.699 --> 00:36:30.779 that I desire besides you. 00:36:31.379 --> 00:36:32.399 My flesh, 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:34.340 my heart, 00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:34.360 my heart, 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:34.380 my heart, 00:36:34.380 --> 00:36:34.400 my heart, 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:35.380 my heart, 00:36:35.380 --> 00:36:36.160 may fail, 00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:37.360 means he will fail, 00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:39.160 but God, 00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:41.460 the triune God, 00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:43.119 the God of the covenant, 00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.099 the real God that truly exists, 00:36:45.240 --> 00:36:47.019 he is the strength of my heart 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:48.840 and my portion forever. 00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:53.800 just a couple of things about this. 00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:58.820 The first thing is that there's a riddle within this text. 00:36:58.820 --> 00:37:02.920 And it can be seen if you look at all of the Psalms. 00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:05.800 is that for any of us who've had an insight, 00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:07.460 for any of us who've come to faith, 00:37:07.539 --> 00:37:09.420 if I look back about how I came to faith, 00:37:10.680 --> 00:37:10.880 I mean, 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:11.300 on one level, 00:37:11.300 --> 00:37:13.119 I can talk about the things that I did and all, 00:37:13.200 --> 00:37:14.099 but at the end of the day, 00:37:14.240 --> 00:37:17.539 there felt like there was a hand that was present. 00:37:17.539 --> 00:37:21.920 It felt like I was being pushed into a particular direction. 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:23.519 It felt like I was being carried. 00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:27.039 And so even within all of this, 00:37:27.099 --> 00:37:28.900 when he's acknowledging God as being God, 00:37:29.059 --> 00:37:29.440 there's a, 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:30.259 on one hand, 00:37:30.300 --> 00:37:34.139 there's a bit of a sense that obviously he knows his heart can't be completely pure, 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.719 and that his desire for these things isn't perfect. 00:37:37.719 --> 00:37:40.599 So he knows that in the midst of all of that, 00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:42.919 there has to be some type of grace. 00:37:43.379 --> 00:37:43.619 You see, 00:37:43.679 --> 00:37:45.000 that's where you read the Old Testament. 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:45.959 It's setting a riddle. 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:47.739 It's setting a stage for Jesus. 00:37:48.419 --> 00:37:52.259 Because only Jesus is going to be able to make clear what's sort of implied 00:37:52.259 --> 00:37:54.459 and is there as a riddle in the text. 00:37:55.019 --> 00:37:57.879 And you can see one of the things which is so profound 00:37:57.879 --> 00:38:00.579 about why Jesus can be the only Savior. 00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:03.639 If one of the deep problems of the human heart 00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:07.299 is my envy of the proud and the wicked, 00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:10.579 and that is something which is within me, 00:38:10.980 --> 00:38:12.959 then in a sense what you can see 00:38:12.959 --> 00:38:18.019 is that there needs to be something that completely undoes that. 00:38:18.119 --> 00:38:20.359 And then you think of who Jesus is. 00:38:20.419 --> 00:38:22.500 And this is the wonder of the gospel. 00:38:22.659 --> 00:38:26.219 This is why only he can be the gospel that can save us. 00:38:26.219 --> 00:38:28.980 Because God, Jesus, God the Son of God, 00:38:29.059 --> 00:38:31.980 is the complete opposite of pride and envy. 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:35.379 Philippians 2, 5 through 11, go and read it. 00:38:35.380 --> 00:38:41.640 God the Son of God has all the splendor and glory and majesty of heaven, 00:38:41.640 --> 00:38:43.720 and he sets all of that aside. 00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:46.180 He doesn't cling to it. 00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:49.700 And remaining fully God, he sets it all aside, 00:38:49.700 --> 00:38:53.039 and he descends to take into himself our human nature. 00:38:53.539 --> 00:38:56.660 God the Son of God dwelling in the throne of heaven, 00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:00.380 contained as a zygote within the womb of Mary. 00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:04.619 That is a complete unwinding of pride. 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:08.820 And he so unwinds pride that he shares our human experience, 00:39:09.140 --> 00:39:10.740 and ultimately on the cross, 00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:14.140 he takes onto himself our shame and our sin, 00:39:14.360 --> 00:39:15.920 and then he enters into death. 00:39:16.140 --> 00:39:17.800 You can't be poorer than dead, 00:39:18.059 --> 00:39:20.180 and taste all there is to taste of death. 00:39:20.380 --> 00:39:23.680 There is a complete and utter unwinding of pride 00:39:23.680 --> 00:39:27.079 and of envy to the very, very depths. 00:39:27.079 --> 00:39:30.759 And when I put my faith and trust in Jesus, 00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:33.179 when I have put my faith and trust with him, 00:39:33.259 --> 00:39:34.819 I have union with Christ, 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:38.500 only he can unwind my pride and my envy. 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:43.019 And what we receive when we give our lives to Christ 00:39:43.019 --> 00:39:46.500 is both a clothing of what he has done for us, 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:49.380 because we can't do it for ourselves, 00:39:50.059 --> 00:39:52.519 and clothed with what he has done. 00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:54.099 He says, 00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:55.000 George, 00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:57.739 I give you a quest. 00:40:00.980 --> 00:40:02.280 What is your quest? 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:03.099 Your quest 00:40:03.099 --> 00:40:08.360 is to begin to undo the pride and envy of your life 00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:11.360 in confidence of what I have done for you on the cross. 00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:13.360 That is my quest. 00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:17.860 That solves the riddle of the psalm. 00:40:17.860 --> 00:40:21.920 Just in closing, 00:40:22.200 --> 00:40:23.079 a couple of things. 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:26.240 One of the things that we can take away from this psalm, 00:40:26.760 --> 00:40:27.380 verse 3, 00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:28.780 meditate upon verse 3, 00:40:28.860 --> 00:40:29.760 and ask the Father, 00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:31.320 God, 00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:33.920 how big a role is envy playing in my life? 00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:37.579 Then the devil will start to say to you, 00:40:37.680 --> 00:40:37.920 oh, 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:40.300 think about the envy that your wife has, 00:40:40.420 --> 00:40:42.860 or your pastor has, 00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:43.660 or your boss. 00:40:43.700 --> 00:40:44.160 No, no, no. 00:40:44.579 --> 00:40:45.320 Just say to the devil, 00:40:45.460 --> 00:40:45.820 shut up. 00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:47.140 God, 00:40:47.380 --> 00:40:48.240 talking about me. 00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:53.539 Don't reveal to me other people's envy. 00:40:54.620 --> 00:40:55.120 It's me, 00:40:55.160 --> 00:40:55.400 it's me, 00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:55.680 it's me, 00:40:55.700 --> 00:40:55.900 oh Lord, 00:40:55.980 --> 00:40:56.660 sending me to the prayer. 00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:59.740 Second thing that you can do to take this home is, 00:40:59.940 --> 00:41:03.800 a very helpful thing would be to take this thing of hope and sanity re-embraced, 00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:05.740 verses 23 to 26, 00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:07.559 in your devotions, 00:41:07.640 --> 00:41:08.920 is to pray it for yourself, 00:41:09.019 --> 00:41:09.680 that it be true, 00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:10.820 and to say something like, 00:41:11.380 --> 00:41:12.140 23, 00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:13.900 nevertheless I am continually with me. 00:41:13.900 --> 00:41:14.180 Father, 00:41:14.300 --> 00:41:16.200 help me to know that I am continually with you. 00:41:17.579 --> 00:41:18.760 You hold my right hand. 00:41:18.860 --> 00:41:19.079 Father, 00:41:19.200 --> 00:41:21.039 help me to know that you hold my right hand, 00:41:21.099 --> 00:41:22.039 that you never let me go. 00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:24.220 Verse 24, 00:41:24.300 --> 00:41:25.639 you guide me with your counsel. 00:41:26.460 --> 00:41:26.780 Father, 00:41:26.940 --> 00:41:29.079 help me to hear your counsel, 00:41:29.200 --> 00:41:29.700 and to heed it, 00:41:29.720 --> 00:41:30.840 and allow it to guide my life. 00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:31.840 See how you can pray that? 00:41:32.260 --> 00:41:33.599 That's a beautiful prayer to pray. 00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:36.980 And then the other thing which you need to pray is, 00:41:37.059 --> 00:41:39.880 is the very stark way that the prayer ends, 00:41:40.179 --> 00:41:42.659 which is the heartbeat of evangelism. 00:41:44.420 --> 00:41:44.819 See, 00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:45.920 one of the things I want to say is, 00:41:46.019 --> 00:41:46.779 if you've been struggling, 00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:47.239 deconference, 00:41:47.319 --> 00:41:48.699 I hope you hear this text, 00:41:48.819 --> 00:41:49.159 and it's, 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:51.799 God kicks you in the butt, 00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:54.380 so you will come to him. 00:41:55.799 --> 00:41:58.079 He wants to be in a covenant with you. 00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:00.539 He wants you to know his saving power. 00:42:00.539 --> 00:42:01.179 He, 00:42:01.380 --> 00:42:02.980 that's what he wants for you. 00:42:03.759 --> 00:42:05.019 He takes no delight 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:07.779 in you falling from him, 00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:08.300 kicking you. 00:42:08.380 --> 00:42:09.239 He takes no delight. 00:42:09.639 --> 00:42:11.320 Look at the very stark way it ends. 00:42:11.420 --> 00:42:14.320 It's a very important thing to pray verses 27 and 28. 00:42:14.420 --> 00:42:15.820 It's the heartbeat of why 00:42:15.820 --> 00:42:20.679 I pray that people will come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. 00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:22.340 Let's close with just looking at it. 00:42:22.340 --> 00:42:23.320 Verse 27 and 8, 00:42:24.099 --> 00:42:24.679 for behold, 00:42:24.820 --> 00:42:25.779 those who are, 00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:26.000 there's, 00:42:26.079 --> 00:42:27.239 what I could call it as the way, 00:42:27.340 --> 00:42:28.320 is that there's the two ways. 00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:29.079 Verse 27, 00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:29.940 for behold, 00:42:29.940 --> 00:42:31.960 those who are far from you shall perish. 00:42:33.639 --> 00:42:37.099 You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:37.559 That's, 00:42:38.139 --> 00:42:39.079 all human beings, 00:42:39.220 --> 00:42:41.179 there's ultimately only two destinations. 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:43.500 One of them is verse 27, 00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:44.119 for behold, 00:42:44.220 --> 00:42:45.880 those who are far from you shall perish. 00:42:46.519 --> 00:42:48.920 You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:50.240 Verse 28, 00:42:51.139 --> 00:42:53.039 but for me it is good to be near God. 00:42:53.920 --> 00:42:56.260 I have made the Lord God my refuge, 00:42:56.260 --> 00:42:58.460 that I may tell of all your works. 00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:00.520 And that is a profound prayer to pray. 00:43:01.560 --> 00:43:04.520 But to pray 27 and 28 is to give you a heart 00:43:04.520 --> 00:43:08.080 to pray for those whom you know who are far from God. 00:43:09.700 --> 00:43:11.780 And pray that he will give you an opportunity 00:43:11.780 --> 00:43:13.580 to tell them about Jesus. 00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:15.360 Could you please stand? 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:15.460 Thank you. 00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:23.900 Let's just bow our heads in prayer. 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:28.519 Father, 00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:31.199 as I spent time with this psalm this week, 00:43:31.340 --> 00:43:34.240 I kept knowing that it was, 00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:38.460 I should be saying in the words of that old spiritual, 00:43:38.460 --> 00:43:39.280 spiritual, 00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:39.940 it's me, 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:40.380 it's me, 00:43:40.420 --> 00:43:40.800 it's me, 00:43:40.840 --> 00:43:41.159 oh Lord, 00:43:41.300 --> 00:43:42.400 standing in the need of prayer. 00:43:43.500 --> 00:43:44.400 And so Father, 00:43:44.500 --> 00:43:45.360 I ask that you, 00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:46.300 in your kindness, 00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:47.980 would help each of us to see, 00:43:48.260 --> 00:43:49.960 we all don't have the same sins. 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.079 Some people don't struggle with the sin of envy. 00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:55.800 Those of us who don't have that struggle, 00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:58.699 they have a different sin to struggle with, 00:43:58.960 --> 00:43:59.840 or a group of sins. 00:43:59.940 --> 00:44:00.539 But Father, 00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:01.400 for those of us, 00:44:01.659 --> 00:44:04.280 we might be blind to how envy is making us unhappy 00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:05.619 and embittered. 00:44:05.619 --> 00:44:06.659 And so we ask, 00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:07.059 Father, 00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:08.739 that you bring that to our attention 00:44:08.739 --> 00:44:10.239 so that we can bring it to you 00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:11.380 and ask for healing 00:44:11.380 --> 00:44:12.519 and replace envy, 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:13.380 Father, 00:44:13.500 --> 00:44:15.659 with an aspiration to get better 00:44:15.659 --> 00:44:17.699 and a praying for blessing of others, 00:44:18.199 --> 00:44:18.460 Father. 00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:19.699 And Father, 00:44:19.779 --> 00:44:22.619 we ask that you help us to bring this word home to us 00:44:22.619 --> 00:44:25.039 and to just to know your goodness and your guidance. 00:44:25.839 --> 00:44:26.299 Lord, 00:44:26.599 --> 00:44:28.440 help us to grow in a humble, 00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:28.980 trusting, 00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:29.460 walking, 00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:31.659 knowing that you are our refuge 00:44:31.659 --> 00:44:34.679 and fan into flame within us 00:44:34.679 --> 00:44:36.419 and ever deeper desire 00:44:36.419 --> 00:44:40.679 that we know you as our chief delight 00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:43.219 above all other delights, 00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:44.960 that you alone are the one 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:48.079 that in union with you through Christ by faith 00:44:48.079 --> 00:44:49.539 in the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:44:50.039 --> 00:44:51.599 that we will survive, 00:44:51.940 --> 00:44:53.440 not just survive death, 00:44:53.539 --> 00:44:56.500 but enter into the fullness of your kingdom and joy. 00:44:56.919 --> 00:44:57.139 Father, 00:44:57.279 --> 00:44:58.119 grow that within us 00:44:58.119 --> 00:44:59.519 and we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:01.179 And all God's people said, 00:45:01.379 --> 00:45:02.159 Amen. 00:45:02.159 --> 00:45:02.359 Amen. 00:45:03.759 --> 00:45:04.639 Please be seated. 00:45:05.099 --> 00:45:07.259 Monique is going to come up to lead us in intercessions, 00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:10.739 but I'd like to do one intercession before she comes up. 00:45:10.799 --> 00:45:11.819 You can come stand beside me. 00:45:11.839 --> 00:45:12.259 That's fine. 00:45:12.319 --> 00:45:12.839 I don't bite. 00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:15.000 And I, 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:15.839 you know, 00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:18.199 I love to hear the prayers of people 00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:19.420 and I love the prayers of the people, 00:45:19.539 --> 00:45:22.159 but I think it's important that you hear me pray 00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:24.299 for what just happened in the United States last night 00:45:24.299 --> 00:45:27.940 with the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. 00:45:27.940 --> 00:45:30.720 And I'm going to ask you to stand in a moment. 00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:33.460 I wanted to make a separation from the gospel to now. 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:36.400 Monique is going to lead us in a longer time of intercessions, 00:45:36.500 --> 00:45:39.519 but I think it's good for you to hear me pray into that situation. 00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:43.099 And it's an important situation that Christians pray into. 00:45:43.260 --> 00:45:44.240 So if you would stand, 00:45:44.720 --> 00:45:47.119 I'd like to pray for the American people. 00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:50.360 Let's pray. 00:45:50.360 --> 00:45:50.680 Father, 00:45:51.680 --> 00:45:52.720 Father, 00:45:52.820 --> 00:45:55.860 we give you thanks and praise that in your, 00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:56.660 sorry, 00:45:56.760 --> 00:45:57.880 just before I pray any further, 00:45:58.559 --> 00:45:59.860 this isn't a political prayer. 00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:01.420 If it had been Biden, 00:46:01.720 --> 00:46:03.000 I would be doing the same thing. 00:46:03.720 --> 00:46:05.559 I don't want anybody to walk away thinking, 00:46:05.780 --> 00:46:05.800 oh, 00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:06.660 George loves Trump. 00:46:06.820 --> 00:46:07.519 That's why he's doing it. 00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:07.740 No, 00:46:07.780 --> 00:46:07.860 no, 00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:08.000 no, 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:08.140 no. 00:46:08.500 --> 00:46:09.380 If this had been Biden, 00:46:09.559 --> 00:46:11.539 I would be doing the exact same thing this morning. 00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:12.720 That's, 00:46:12.820 --> 00:46:14.720 that's what Christians do. 00:46:16.220 --> 00:46:16.620 Okay. 00:46:16.800 --> 00:46:18.099 That's what Christians do. 00:46:18.500 --> 00:46:18.980 Let's pray. 00:46:18.980 --> 00:46:19.900 Father, 00:46:19.960 --> 00:46:23.280 we thank you last night that you spared the life of Donald Trump. 00:46:25.780 --> 00:46:26.260 Father, 00:46:26.760 --> 00:46:33.460 we ask for your comfort and peace for the loved ones, 00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:34.860 the two, 00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:38.820 the loved ones of the two people who got killed in the assassination attempt. 00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:40.679 And for the, 00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:42.539 for the one who got wounded, 00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:44.480 at least before this service began, 00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:45.400 who's still alive, 00:46:45.480 --> 00:46:47.400 we ask that you would keep them alive, 00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:48.440 that they would survive. 00:46:48.980 --> 00:46:53.139 And for all who saw it and witnessed it and were traumatized by it, 00:46:53.240 --> 00:46:53.400 Father, 00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:55.219 we ask for your comfort and your peace. 00:46:56.360 --> 00:46:57.119 And Father, 00:46:57.199 --> 00:46:58.920 we ask for the American people. 00:47:00.260 --> 00:47:01.039 We ask, 00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:01.440 Father, 00:47:01.539 --> 00:47:12.019 that you would use this in your mercy to calm the hateful and violent passions that seem to be growing in that nation. 00:47:12.019 --> 00:47:13.019 And Father, 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:13.039 and Father, 00:47:13.039 --> 00:47:13.739 to be honest, 00:47:13.739 --> 00:47:14.800 are growing in ours. 00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:16.340 And we ask for Canada as well. 00:47:17.780 --> 00:47:18.480 We ask, 00:47:18.639 --> 00:47:18.820 Father, 00:47:18.880 --> 00:47:22.259 that you would quiet the violent rhetoric, 00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:29.860 that you would turn people's hearts so they do not believe that voting for the other party is a vote for Satan. 00:47:29.860 --> 00:47:35.340 That people would just be quieter and calmer. 00:47:35.980 --> 00:47:40.320 That we would learn to talk passionately about things but agree to disagree. 00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:40.920 And we ask, 00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:41.200 Father, 00:47:41.200 --> 00:47:51.760 that you would use this event and this incident to bring a calming of the American people and a calming of those of us who are in Canada and call this our home. 00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:54.120 And we ask as well, 00:47:54.220 --> 00:47:54.460 Father, 00:47:54.600 --> 00:47:58.480 that you would use this event in Donald Trump's life. 00:47:58.540 --> 00:48:00.180 We don't know if he is a Christian or not. 00:48:00.220 --> 00:48:00.840 If he isn't, 00:48:00.900 --> 00:48:06.700 that you would make him realize that he was spared by you and that you would turn his heart. 00:48:07.700 --> 00:48:07.960 And Father, 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:11.480 we don't know where Biden is or any key person running in any of these things. 00:48:11.540 --> 00:48:15.240 And that is our prayer for all of our politicians in the United States and in Canada, 00:48:15.380 --> 00:48:18.880 for Pierre and for Justin and for Jagmeet, 00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:21.700 that if they do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord, 00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:23.360 you would turn their hearts to him, 00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:25.660 that they would come to a saving faith in him. 00:48:27.060 --> 00:48:27.440 And so, 00:48:27.560 --> 00:48:27.640 Father, 00:48:27.700 --> 00:48:34.220 we ask at this time for this comfort to the American people and a work of grace and mercy to them. 00:48:34.620 --> 00:48:36.480 And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, 00:48:36.620 --> 00:48:37.620 your Son and our Savior. 00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:38.840 Amen. 00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:38.980 Amen.