WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.560 I'd like us to turn back together to Psalm 25. We're going to look at the whole of 00:00:04.560 --> 00:00:10.599 this Psalm today, but we can read again these verses, these words in verse 14. 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:16.440 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him and He makes known to them 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:22.199 His covenant. For many of us across the country over the past few days we've 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:29.039 had some snow. I don't know about you but I absolutely love snow and one of my 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:35.519 favorite things to do is to go skiing. Now this year of course ski trips are 00:00:35.519 --> 00:00:40.560 off but normally for me and maybe for many of you one of the absolute 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.359 highlights of the year is to go skiing and there's lots of cool things about 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:53.039 skiing but I think one of the most amazing things about it is when you 00:00:53.039 --> 00:01:01.960 take a chairlift right to the top of a mountain and you step outside under a 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:11.960 cloudless sky and all around you the view is utterly amazing. I've got a photo 00:01:11.960 --> 00:01:15.359 here just to try and give you the idea if you've never been to the mountains 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.879 before that gives you just a tiny glimpse as to what it might be like and for 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.399 those of you who have gone skiing I'm sure you can I'm sure you're well aware 00:01:23.399 --> 00:01:32.119 that even the best photo doesn't actually do it justice. For me personally 00:01:32.119 --> 00:01:39.560 snow-covered mountains like that is probably the place where the majesty of 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:46.959 God's creation is seen most clearly. None of us will be doing that this winter 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:53.199 but I want you to imagine that you are standing at the top of a mountain. 00:01:53.199 --> 00:02:05.599 In front of you is majestic vastness and breathtaking beauty. So imagine 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:12.680 that you're there but I want you to also imagine that you're taking a selfie so 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:19.040 you've got your phone you're holding it out and you're taking a picture. In that 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:29.840 selfie what you can see on the screen is stunning beauty and majesty but you can 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:38.280 also see yourself and the reason that I want you to think of that is because 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:42.520 that's exactly what it's like to read the Psalms. In the book of Psalms we are 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:48.000 taken to the very mountain tops where we see the extraordinary glory and beauty 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:56.760 of God but at the very same time when we look at the Psalms we see ourselves. 00:02:56.760 --> 00:03:04.040 That's true of every Psalm it's definitely true of Psalm 25 and in this 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:12.560 Psalm as we read through it we see a very average person and a very awesome God. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:18.479 And these are two headings today. So a very average person one of the many 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:23.159 reasons why we love the Psalms is because they're so honest. These poems 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:27.959 express the joys and sorrows the highs and lows of life which is brilliant 00:03:27.959 --> 00:03:32.439 because it's reminding us that the Bible is not giving us mystical fairytale 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:39.599 wishy-washy nonsense. It's speaking to us in a way that is honest and real. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:44.800 Psalm 25 is a great example of that and it's actually written in the context of 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:51.159 trouble but if we look more closely we'll see that there's actually two layers of 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:59.520 trouble that David experienced as he wrote these words. The first layer is 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.800 external opposition and you see that at the beginning and at the end of the 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:12.160 Psalm verse 2 talks about enemies verse 19 at the end talks about many foes. 00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:18.759 And David experienced that many times in his life. David lived about a thousand 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:23.439 years before Jesus around a thousand BC and he was king of Israel in fact he was 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.800 their greatest king but throughout his public life he faced several opponents. 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:36.319 So before he took the throne the incumbent king Saul despite initially 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:40.759 being friendly towards David ended up with an almost insane jealousy and 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:46.720 hatred of him and then after David became king he faced numerous threats both 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.560 from foreign enemies but also from within his own nation even from within 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:58.800 his own family and tragically his son Absalon led a failed rebellion against 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:07.000 him. David was no stranger to having other people oppose him and you and I 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.480 don't really have the same national status as David and thankfully we don't 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:18.279 have an opponent seeking to kill us in the way that he often did yet in 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:24.919 spiritual terms it is unquestionably true that the devil wants our destruction 00:05:24.919 --> 00:05:30.639 and even on a day-to-day level I'm sure that all of us have experienced times 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:35.879 when people external to us other people are jealous of us or cruel towards us 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:44.039 or difficult or undermining or cold that might be at work in your family maybe 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:49.800 even at school so although few of us I think would say that we have numerous 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:54.080 enemies and foes in the language that we have in Psalm 25 yet at the same time 00:05:54.080 --> 00:05:58.439 I'm sure that every single one of us can think of times when we've been hurt or 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:05.439 badly teetered by others. It's all different manifestations of the same 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:12.520 thing the fact that sin has ruined the peace and togetherness that should 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:21.319 characterize humanity. External opposition is very real so anyone who 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:29.079 experiences it is actually a very average person but in between the 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:33.879 mentions of external opposition at the beginning and at the end of the Psalm 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:40.000 there's another layer of trouble this layer runs right through the Psalm and 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:46.920 instead of referring to external threats it's a description of inward 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:54.639 anguish and distress and in these middle verses we see so many of the 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:00.920 experiences that average people like you and me experience and have to deal 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:04.560 with. I'm just gonna pick out six there's probably more things that we could 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.600 look at but I'm gonna briefly look at six examples. First the fear of 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:19.000 shame. David mentions that in verses 2 and 3. He was afraid that that his 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:24.960 opponents weren't just going to cause him physical harm he was also afraid of 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:32.800 the humiliation that he would face. Now the fear of shame was a huge part of Old 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.360 Testament culture and indeed I think it was I think it's been part of almost 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:44.879 every culture until around a hundred years ago in the West. If David failed 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:51.000 as king it would bring a huge embarrassment because he wouldn't 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.319 have fulfilled his role others would have been able to gloat and sneer over 00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:04.879 him and we might not be kings and we might not use the word shame in 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:11.199 that sense but we definitely feel the same threat. We just tend to use the 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:17.680 phrase letting people down or letting ourselves down but it's basically the 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:22.319 same thing we think if we muck up at work if we can't cope with the pressure 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:27.639 that we face if we can't display kind of constant unflinching togetherness if we 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:33.639 if we show our weakness to others we feel that we'll be an embarrassment to 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:41.960 ourselves and to those around us. Two we see uncertainty here David gives a 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:47.080 beautiful prayer asking for guidance but of course the background to a prayer 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:52.519 like that is someone who doesn't know what to do so he's appealing to God to 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:57.600 teach him and to lead him and when he says I wait for you all the day long 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:02.080 that might mean that he's patiently willing to wait all day if he needs to 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:08.040 or it might mean that he has been waiting all day and nothing's happened 00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:14.840 either way he's facing uncertainty he needs God's guidance but he has to keep 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:21.920 waiting and so often we're the same and that's especially true in our current 00:09:21.920 --> 00:09:28.400 circumstances just now but throughout life we face choices sometimes we hit 00:09:28.400 --> 00:09:31.400 dead end sometimes we can be really confident going down a path thinking 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:36.519 yeah this is right and then it doesn't work out the way that we expect it's a 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:43.679 common experience in the Christian life to think Lord I don't have a clue what 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:50.759 to do I really need you to guide me and often the answer to that prayer doesn't 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:58.159 necessarily come straight away. The third thing we see is regret David looks 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:04.360 back on his life especially his youth as you can see there in verse 7 and he 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:11.319 asks for mercy and that's another regular experience for very average people 00:10:11.319 --> 00:10:17.679 I'm sure that all of us can look back on the past week or the past year or just 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:24.439 our lives in general and think oh I wish I hadn't done that. 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:31.280 Fourth we see guilt alongside the regret David is conscious of his guilt and as 00:10:31.280 --> 00:10:36.360 he says in this verse he's aware that his guilt is great and I think that's 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.320 very interesting because remember we said a moment ago that that David's 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:45.480 facing external threats so at first glance he's the victim not the villain 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:52.200 but despite that he knows that he is not innocent either he's aware that he's 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:56.000 probably done things he shouldn't have or maybe he's not done things that he 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:04.160 should have he is part of the problem as well and often that can be an even worse 00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:08.320 feeling than the feeling of being oppressed when we realize that we've 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:13.920 mucked things up badly ourselves so oppression hurts but we can feel 00:11:13.920 --> 00:11:19.680 comforted when we know that we're doing the right thing guilt just crushes us 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:25.679 because we feel like we deserve everything that we get. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:34.239 Fifth we have isolation David speaks about being lonely and afflicted in the 00:11:34.239 --> 00:11:40.919 midst of these struggles he feels very alone and so often it's like that and 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:47.559 and you can even feel like that when you're surrounded by people because when 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.559 we struggle often we can think we're the only ones who are like this everyone 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:55.039 else is different everyone else seems to be so much more together and other 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.079 people don't seem to be having these struggles or insecurities that I have 00:11:58.079 --> 00:12:01.919 and that of course makes us think that we can't speak to others about it and 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:10.879 that just increases our sense of isolation and then lastly we see anxiety 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:16.599 David says the troubles of my heart are enlarged and so often that's exactly 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:23.080 what happens things become really big don't they that's especially the case 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:27.800 at night where we could be lying in the comfiest bed in the coziest room safe 00:12:27.800 --> 00:12:37.560 warm and secure and yet our thoughts are plaguing us. These are some of the 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:48.759 commonest experiences of humanity this Sam is very honest and real but that 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:56.439 means that if you feel any or all of these things today it does not mean that 00:12:56.439 --> 00:13:01.879 you are a freak or that you're abnormal or that you're the odd one out it means 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:08.320 that you are actually very average. Now by average I don't mean in the sense of 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.439 playing it down to say well it's average and not difficult I don't mean it in 00:13:11.439 --> 00:13:17.799 that sense what I mean is that at many points in their lives this is what we 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:25.600 are all like. Looking at David in this Sam you see an external layer of trouble 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:32.600 but with that is another layer of internal anguish and turmoil and this 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:38.800 internal external mix is why diagnosing our struggles is always complicated it's 00:13:38.800 --> 00:13:45.639 why quick fixes rarely work and it's why recovery can take a long time and the 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:50.840 Bible explains all that to us in a very helpful way all the trouble that we face 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:57.160 and all these things that that we experience both internally and externally 00:13:57.160 --> 00:14:05.720 are all a result of sin and theologians use a very helpful term to describe the 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:12.519 effect that sin has had on the world it's the term total depravity. Now at 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:16.160 first glance that can sound like a bit of a harsh term and you might think well 00:14:16.160 --> 00:14:20.560 is that saying that everybody is wicked that sounds pretty extreme well that's 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:27.799 not what it means at all. What this term is saying is that sin has affected 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:35.079 every area of life so it's total in terms of its scope not in terms of its 00:14:35.079 --> 00:14:41.479 degree every part of creation every human being and every part of our 00:14:41.479 --> 00:14:48.079 humanity has been affected by sin. In other words there's brokenness inside us 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:54.360 and all around us and it shows itself both in our hostility towards God and 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:03.000 towards others and in our experience of trouble and anguish ourselves but what I 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:06.879 want to say is that I think total depravity is actually a really helpful 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:16.160 term for two reasons at least one because the totality of the scope helps us see 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:24.559 that struggle, struggling is something that we all experience. The person in 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:33.199 Psalm 25 is a very average person and two because it's reminding us that in 00:15:33.199 --> 00:15:41.360 every area of our lives there is the potential for things to be rubbish in 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.000 our jobs in our relationships in our families in school even in our own 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:51.279 thoughts there's always the potential for things to be hard. Now you might be 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:56.039 saying well that sounds really depressing Thomas I hope it's not I hope 00:15:56.039 --> 00:16:02.399 it's actually comforting because it's telling you that if your life doesn't 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:10.159 conform to the kind of fairytale Hollywood movie myth that you have to have 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.879 the perfect love life and the perfect job and and this life where all your 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:19.199 dreams come through that if you don't have that then you're a hopeless failure 00:16:19.199 --> 00:16:28.959 actually you're just normal. The potential for rubbishness is there in any 00:16:28.959 --> 00:16:36.919 area of life and it's to be expected and I think it's important to remember that 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:42.679 in many ways the other side of the coin to total depravity is total 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:49.240 vulnerability. Every part of life is vulnerable to the damage that sin has 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:55.319 caused and just like David in this Psalm we can't separate the two we can't 00:16:55.319 --> 00:17:00.319 separate the fact that there's brokenness outside of us from the fact that 00:17:00.319 --> 00:17:05.519 there's brokenness inside of us so we are part of the problem in that we're 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.039 sinners and we make mistakes but we are also caught up in the problem because 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:16.519 we find ourselves suffering as well and the fact that sin has mucked everything 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:23.759 up the fact that the depravity and the vulnerability are total that means that 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:29.960 the Bible is giving us a clear logical and consistent explanation for why life 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:34.359 is sometimes really hard and I think it's very important to recognize that 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:39.919 because the world around us will often present two alternative explanations 00:17:39.919 --> 00:17:48.319 for why life is hard. One is blame culture the other is karma so blame 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:52.959 culture is basically saying that your struggles are everyone else's fault 00:17:52.959 --> 00:17:59.799 you're the victim they're the problem karma is basically saying well your 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:05.119 struggles are entirely your own fault you're the problem you are getting what 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:11.279 you deserve and I think that this is where we see that that in terms of the 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:19.799 doctrines that try to explain suffering total depravity is not the harsh one 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:27.559 it's telling us that we are all a bit of a mess the world around us is a mess and 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:36.559 we're all tangled up in it together the crucial question is what do we do about 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:42.559 it well sometimes we just battle on sometimes we try and distract ourselves 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:49.679 sometimes we find a way of numbing our pain sometimes we just harden but if Sam 00:18:49.679 --> 00:18:56.000 25 is the voice of an average human then I think it is true that our struggles 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:00.440 and our difficulties will eventually take us to the place where we have 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:11.640 nothing left to say other than oh God I need you and the brilliant thing that Sam 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:23.279 25 tells us is that the God we cry out to is a very awesome God if you imagine 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:27.879 that you're back on that mountaintop again the scenery is stunning everywhere 00:19:27.879 --> 00:19:32.519 you turn there is something amazing to see that's definitely what this Sam is 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:37.039 like when it comes to showing us the nature and character of God you go 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:41.559 through this Sam and it's remarkable that alongside all the struggles and 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:46.879 difficulties that that that average humans face you also have this panorama of 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:54.520 God's glorious attributes if you just read through the Sam you can see words 00:19:54.520 --> 00:20:01.640 jumping out words like truth salvation mercy steadfast love goodness good and 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:06.760 upright instructs leads teaches faithfulness friendship covenant these 00:20:06.760 --> 00:20:13.160 are very very cool words and there's so much that we could say about them but I 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:18.759 just want to summarize what this Sam says about God under under four kind of 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:26.200 more general points first is that the Sam tells us that God is good and upright 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:30.880 as you can see in verse 8 that's the kind of phrase that's very easy to whiz 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:38.240 past because it seems obvious but this tiny phrase is telling us two utterly 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:46.039 awesome things about God it's telling us that God is good now often we'll use 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:50.519 that phrase to give God credit when something nice happens so we get an 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:56.440 essay in on time or we get get some to get the finances that we need for our 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.960 job or whatever or we recover from a health scare and we'll say God is good 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:05.880 and that's absolutely true that's a really good thing to say but we don't 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.720 want it to be the case that we only think of God's goodness when things go 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:21.840 well because the truth is God is good at every single moment and in every single 00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:31.760 thing he does God is infinitely and eternally good so if you can draw God 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:35.960 which I know you can't draw but if I just draw a big circle and please just 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:40.079 forgive me the fact that that forgive me for the fact that obviously that's a 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:48.160 hopelessly inadequate diagram but if we just use a circle to represent God 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:56.799 what I want us to to recognize is that every square millimeter that every 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:08.720 square nanometer of that circle is good in other words there is never ever any 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:16.159 badness in God so think of stuff that's bad deceit manipulation exploitation 00:22:16.159 --> 00:22:21.879 betrayal discrimination injustice selfishness cruelty there is not one 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:31.360 speck of any of that in God in fact it's impossible for God to be those things 00:22:31.360 --> 00:22:37.600 God is the very definition of goodness itself and he's the source of all other 00:22:37.600 --> 00:22:45.280 goodness it's a metaphysical impossibility for God to ever be bad and 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:52.000 that's why alongside being good he is also upright and that basically means 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.759 he is dead straight in other words he's never crooked never twisted he never 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:03.399 does anything other than that which is right true and fair in every square 00:23:03.399 --> 00:23:10.240 millimeter of God he is upright and so that means that no matter how far you 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:15.039 search into the nature and character of God you will never find any hidden 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:22.839 badness or concealed deceit and when when we look at the world around us and 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:29.240 especially maybe when we look at leaders and across the world pick one and 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:37.159 ask if I searched every square millimeter of that person would I say that 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:46.960 they are flawlessly good and upright second thing that that we see about 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:51.160 God's awesomeness is that God teaches the truth you see that emphasize in verse 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:59.440 20 in verse 5 and in verse 9 God does not confine his goodness and uprightness 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:06.200 to himself he reveals it to us and he does that in order to teach us and lead 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:10.200 us in the way he wants us to go indeed the great purpose of humanity is to 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:18.039 bear God's image to reflect and display his goodness so God teaches us and 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:24.319 everything he teaches us is true he teaches us that the world around us is 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:29.720 valuable that life has a purpose that bad stuff is actually wrong that people 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:35.680 are incredibly precious and that we are all made by him and for him God does not 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:39.759 conceal the truth from us he doesn't abandon us to our own conclusions or 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:44.160 laugh at us in the kind of fog of vague guesswork that we often find 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:49.560 ourselves and no God comes to us and he speaks to us and he teaches us what is 00:24:49.560 --> 00:24:55.759 actually true so he's told us that there is order in the universe and on the 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:00.759 basis of that truth humanity has made all sorts of amazing discoveries in 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:07.279 science and technology he has told us that morality is real which is why we 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.279 need law and order in our society because certain things like murder theft 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:18.559 and exploitation these things are always wrong he has told us that community is 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:24.039 essential that's why every human needs family friendship and company he's 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:30.319 told us that death is an enemy that's why it causes so much pain and fear but 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:41.039 the most fundamental truth that God wants you to know is that he loves you and 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.439 that brings us to the third awesome thing the Sam tells us that God is full 00:25:44.439 --> 00:25:50.359 of mercy faithfulness and steadfast love we see that referred to in verse 6 and 00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:58.159 10 these terms speak of God's compassion his commitment and his unfailing 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:06.320 unstoppable love so God is merciful that means that no matter how broken you 00:26:06.320 --> 00:26:20.080 think you are God can say to you it's okay I can heal you I can fix you God is 00:26:20.080 --> 00:26:27.200 faithful that means that every promise he makes to you is rock solid he will 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:34.640 never let you down and God steadfast love means that his commitment to you is 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:40.680 absolute he wants to be in a relationship with you he'll do everything it takes to 00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:45.840 make it happen he'll carry every cost that's required if you go back in your 00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:49.319 mind to that mountaintop imagine that you're there and you know you think of 00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:54.160 that beautiful view and we think well yes that that beauty and and and 00:26:54.160 --> 00:27:00.519 splendor in front of us that's an image of God's love and it is God's steadfast 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:09.000 love is so spectacular and beautiful but now imagine there's a storm imagine 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:16.960 that the wind picks up darkness falls a blizzard comes in you are absolutely 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:25.160 freezing cold you can't see a thing and you don't know where to go and now 00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:33.640 imagine a big st. Bernard dog bounding up that hill driving onwards through the 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:39.840 snow up and up and up never stopping always looking always running always 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:47.439 searching and eventually it finds you and you are rescued that is what God 00:27:47.439 --> 00:27:56.240 steadfast love is like and then fourthly the psalm is telling us that God 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:01.639 provides salvation security and friendship we see that expressed so 00:28:01.639 --> 00:28:05.399 beautifully in these verses his soul shall abide and well-being and his 00:28:05.399 --> 00:28:09.799 offspring shall inherit the land the friendship of the Lord is for those 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:16.480 who fear him and he makes known to them his covenant so what does the God of all 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:24.359 goodness and uprightness and truth want to do with you he wants to rescue you he 00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:32.359 wants to make you safe forever and he wants you as his friend and this is 00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:41.719 where we see that all the awesomeness of God meets all the needs of very average 00:28:41.719 --> 00:28:48.119 people so if you're anxious God is saying I will look after you if you're 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:53.000 isolated God is saying I will be your friend and I will never leave you if you 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:58.319 feel guilty God is saying I can pardon you if you're full of regret God says I 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:04.399 have more than enough mercy if you are uncertain God is saying I will teach you 00:29:04.399 --> 00:29:08.480 and if you are afraid of shame or if you feel useless or if you think that your 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:15.599 life is a mess God is saying actually none of that matters because I love you 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:28.000 and I'll never stop Psalm 25 is telling us that God is a very awesome God 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:35.599 but as we conclude there's just a final point that I want I want us to make sure 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:42.160 we remember when we think of our averageness and God's awesomeness we 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:47.559 can very quickly feel that we're kind of very much down here and he is very much 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:53.799 way up there a bit like that and the mess and muddle of our experience can 00:29:53.799 --> 00:30:00.839 feel like a long way from the goodness and uprightness and awesomeness of God 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:06.599 and that's true we are nowhere near God's level he alone is God his holiness 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:14.000 his power his glory are utterly beyond what we can take in and we kind of look 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:19.319 at that thing well we're just below a kind of line of rubbishness where where 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:25.359 our lives are just so often so far from what we want them to be and because of 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.799 that we can often find ourselves thinking that well the only way that I can 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:37.159 have a relationship with a God as awesome as this is if I have some awesome 00:30:37.159 --> 00:30:44.879 experience myself so we think that we need to kind of reach up to God and 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:49.680 that might be through some kind of amazing experience like a really dramatic 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:56.040 answer to prayer or it may be a time in our lives where we feel like we're on 00:30:56.040 --> 00:31:00.600 fire spiritually or a moment when we really know God's presence and power 00:31:00.600 --> 00:31:05.600 some extraordinary experience that that we can hold on to where where we're just 00:31:05.600 --> 00:31:13.000 for that moment we reached up closer to the level that we're supposed to be 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:18.759 we can think to ourselves that if I just have that extraordinary experience then 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:23.599 we can be sure that we have really entered a relationship with God and 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:27.559 often we can find ourselves looking at people who seem to have had those 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:35.279 experiences and we think they must be the ones that God really likes often we 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:42.400 can conclude that the more awesome our experience is the more awesome we are 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:54.360 the closer to God will be that is complete and utter nonsense because in 00:31:54.360 --> 00:32:05.519 terms of humanity's relationship with God the only awesome one is him but the 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:12.200 amazing truth is that his awesomeness is so great that that is not that he's 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:22.080 way above us his awesomeness is so great that he comes right down to meet us we 00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:31.000 think that that amazing experiences will propel us up to the awesomeness of God 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:39.720 the truth is the awesomeness of God will come down to reach you even when your 00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:49.880 experience is rubbish that's what this Psalm is telling us the awesome God 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:56.120 described here is big enough and strong enough and loving enough to come and 00:32:56.120 --> 00:33:01.079 reach you and when he comes and reaches you the line of rubbishness just becomes 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:09.360 irrelevant because no matter how low you feel you are he can reach you the 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:16.519 awesomeness of God is big enough no matter how average you feel that's what 00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:20.000 Psalm 25 is telling us but it's not just the message of this Psalm it's the 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:25.479 message of the whole Bible that's the whole reason that Jesus has come he came 00:33:25.479 --> 00:33:30.439 because the awesome God of the Bible is not saying to you come on come on see if 00:33:30.439 --> 00:33:36.359 you can reach me the awesome God of the Bible is saying to you I'm coming for you 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:43.319 I'm coming alongside you and that's exactly why Jesus came to meet us in all 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:49.000 about averageness to come alongside us in our struggles to rescue us from our 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:55.079 sin and to restore us into a relationship with the God who is so so awesome 00:33:55.079 --> 00:34:03.199 and if you think that God can't reach you then your circle is not big enough 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:12.079 because you you don't realize yet how awesome God actually is Christianity is 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:18.679 revealing to us the incredible awesomeness of God and it is offering all 00:34:18.679 --> 00:34:27.800 that awesomeness to you no matter how average you think you are in the Gospel 00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:37.360 we have a very awesome God for very average people and that is one of the 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:43.600 many reasons why being a Christian is just blooming brilliant 00:34:43.600 --> 00:34:47.519 Amen let us pray 00:34:47.519 --> 00:35:00.239 Dear God our Father we thank you so much for your goodness your uprightness your 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:05.759 truth your mercy and your love and we stand before you and recognize that you 00:35:05.759 --> 00:35:11.759 are awesome but we thank you that that awesomeness is so great that you've come 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:20.000 to rescue average people like us how we thank you for your grace and mercy and 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:25.600 we pray that just every day of our lives we just keep looking to you we need you 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:44.159 so much to you all Lord we lift our souls Amen