WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.560 Thank you very much, Fiona and Van, for leading our worship so helpfully this morning. 00:00:06.140 --> 00:00:09.599 Two weeks ago, my wife Bridget and I were up on the Isle of Lewis 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:12.540 visiting our daughter-in-law Kirstein's parents. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.039 And while we were there, we went along with them to Locke's Free Church. 00:00:17.740 --> 00:00:19.359 If you went to a free church in Edinburgh, 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:23.460 you might well find that the music wasn't very different from what we have here. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.640 But up in Lewis, they still sing the Psalms exclusively with a presenter. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:32.560 And as I was thinking about this psalm we're looking at this morning, 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:38.899 I thought it was a good reminder to me that the psalms were intended to be sung as originally written. 00:00:39.260 --> 00:00:41.620 Nothing wrong with reading the verses or studying them. 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:43.100 We're going to be doing that later on. 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:45.700 But originally, they were written to be sung. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.640 So for our scripture reading this morning, I thought we'd do something a little bit different. 00:00:49.820 --> 00:00:52.780 We're going to listen to someone singing Psalm 95. 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:54.640 The words will come up on the screen as well. 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:57.100 The words are very faithful to the text. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.539 If you want to follow them along, one or two verses repeated, 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.120 but very faithful to the text. 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:03.800 So it will tell us what Psalm 95 is about. 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:07.799 And be a good reminder to us that we're looking at Israel's songbook 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.219 at the way in which the people then used to praise God. 00:01:11.299 --> 00:01:12.620 So let's watch this now. 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:18.480 And whether sung or spoken, that is God's word. 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.420 And we pray that you'll bless it to us as we think about it this morning. 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:28.260 While we were up in Lewis, we also went into Stornoway and spent a day there. 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:32.620 And while we were walking around the streets, we came across a converted shop 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:34.480 that had been changed into a church. 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:36.219 It was called the New Wine Church. 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:38.900 Now, I don't know much about the New Wine Church, 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:41.480 but I would guess that their worship, their style of worship, 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.240 is very different from the free church. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:45.980 And in the window, they had guitars. 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:48.680 But again, a quote from the Psalms, 00:01:49.020 --> 00:01:53.340 I will sing a new song to the Lord on the ten-stringed lyre. 00:01:53.880 --> 00:01:56.180 And again, that was a reminder to me of the Psalms, 00:01:56.320 --> 00:01:58.820 of the variety that we have in them. 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.320 There are times in the Psalms when we want to come exuberantly 00:02:02.320 --> 00:02:07.620 and with lively music as we sing praise to God and rejoice in him. 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:11.780 And there are times also when we want, as would be normal in the free church, 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:16.080 to be more reverent and reflective in our worship. 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:18.460 And different people respond to different kinds of worship. 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.319 But good for all of us to have that variety. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:25.680 And when we're in the Psalms, very often we find that even in one Psalm, 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.219 there is that variety of worship. 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.379 I don't know if you noticed, it went through Psalm 95. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.159 It is a classic example of it. 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:38.340 It starts off as a really Psalm of praise, of excitement to God, 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:43.140 or encouraging people to sing and to shout to him and to worship God. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.580 And then in the middle of verse 7, suddenly it changes completely. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:52.099 And it changes into a warning not to harden our hearts, 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:56.319 not to lose the rest that God has promised to us. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:02.099 And you might wonder, well, why does the Psalm change so dramatically halfway through? 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:09.060 Why does it start off with such joy in the Lord and then end with such a strong warning? 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:15.120 Well, let me paint a little picture of what I think might be the background to this Psalm. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.099 The Israelites, during the course of the year, they had many festivals. 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:25.979 Now, their festivals weren't great extravaganzas of music and of drama and dance and so on, 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:29.219 like we'll be having in Edinburgh over the next month. 00:03:29.219 --> 00:03:34.580 Rather, the festivals were celebrations of what God had done for his people 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:40.800 and coming to give him thanks and to offer sacrifices to him for them. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:45.620 And it might have been the festival here was the Feast of Tabernacles. 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:50.319 Feast of Tabernacles was kind of a harvest Thanksgiving period, 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:56.979 but also a time of remembering that God led the Israelites for 40 years through the wilderness 00:03:56.979 --> 00:04:01.159 and that he took them safe into the promised land. 00:04:01.299 --> 00:04:05.879 Indeed, in the Feast of Tabernacles, the people sometimes lived in little tents or booths 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:10.120 as a reminder to themselves of what it had been like in the wilderness. 00:04:10.959 --> 00:04:12.879 So let's imagine it's the Feast of Tabernacles, 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:16.420 and we've got the pilgrims who are coming to the feast. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.039 And they're really excited about it. 00:04:19.099 --> 00:04:21.879 This is one of the highlights of their year. 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:25.339 And as they're walking through the streets, they're saying to people, 00:04:25.659 --> 00:04:27.620 come on, let's worship God together. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:34.019 Let's sing and shout for joy to the Lord and remember what a great God he is. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.659 And that is, I think, the first half of the psalm. 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:41.540 Then they arrive at the temple and the priest is standing there. 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:47.860 And he says, come in, but remember you're coming to worship the God who's our maker 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.180 and who is our shepherd. 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:54.860 And he's not just someone that we want to sing and shout praise to. 00:04:55.340 --> 00:04:59.840 Our God, our great God, is someone we need to bow down before 00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:03.040 and to recognize his greatness. 00:05:04.400 --> 00:05:09.080 And let's make sure as we come before God that we don't come with hard hearts, 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:13.740 with wrong attitudes, that even though on the surface we appear to be praising God, 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:15.699 actually inside, we're wrong. 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:20.480 As your ancestors, speaking to Jews, as your ancestors going through the wilderness, 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.400 they hardened their hearts for all God's goodness to them. 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:30.220 They lost out on the blessing that God had planned for them because they didn't obey him. 00:05:30.900 --> 00:05:34.699 I think that might be an explanation of the two halves of the psalm. 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:39.100 In the one half, you've got the call to worship and to praise God together. 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:44.520 And then in the second half, you have the call to come reverently before God 00:05:44.520 --> 00:05:49.379 and to examine your hearts and then to worship him. 00:05:50.700 --> 00:05:54.900 So I'll just give a brief outline of what I think the two halves are made up of 00:05:54.900 --> 00:05:57.480 and then we'll go through them in a little bit more detail. 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:01.840 So the first half is about acclaiming God's greatness. 00:06:02.580 --> 00:06:03.379 I'll divide that in two. 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:05.980 The first two verses are about irrepressible praise. 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:08.980 They're the ones that talk about shouting and singing and so on. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.740 And then verses three to five talk to us about God's incomparable power, 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:19.620 that he is the God who is in control of everything on our earth. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:24.460 And the second half of the psalm, I've said, is about accepting God's grace. 00:06:25.140 --> 00:06:28.680 And then in verses six and seven, there's the call to sincere worship. 00:06:29.340 --> 00:06:32.920 And that's followed then by the solemn warning that I talked about. 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:35.360 So we're going to go through the psalm under these headings 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:39.060 and just see what God has to say to us through it. 00:06:39.100 --> 00:06:42.680 So first, irrepressible praise. 00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:46.140 So let's read more conventionally this time what the psalm says here. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:46.439 It says, 00:06:46.439 --> 00:07:08.079 Psalm 95 is one of a string of psalms through the Psalm 90s, which we're looking at the moment, 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:12.839 where there is a great command to come and to praise God. 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:18.680 There are psalms that celebrate God as our king, as the one who is in control of everything, 00:07:19.219 --> 00:07:21.959 as the one who deserves our praise. 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:30.039 And many of them do talk about praising God with singing, with musical instruments, with real joy. 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:38.160 Not holding back, not coming half-heartedly in worship, but rather as we come to God, 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:44.860 really letting go and letting him understand and know how much we appreciate him, 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:49.320 and letting everyone else, too, know about the greatness of our God. 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:53.480 If this was, as I was imagining, people walking through the streets of Jerusalem singing, 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:58.460 they were letting everyone else know how great God is. 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:02.960 And it's good, isn't it, when we can come together, and in that sense, we can let go. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:04.420 We can come with real joy. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.759 Some of the songs we've been singing this morning, which tell us about God's goodness, 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:13.500 and rejoice in all that he is, and all that he has done for us. 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:18.060 And we should come with hearts that are full of thankfulness and full of joy, 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.100 because we have such a great God. 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:25.800 He's called, in this verse, the rock of our salvation. 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:30.860 Now, when we think of God as the rock, we probably would immediately think of the rock 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:34.000 as being something solid and something you can build on, 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.639 like the story of the two builders Jesus told in the New Testament. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.659 The one who built on the rock, their house was secure. 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:42.399 The one on the sand, it wasn't. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:45.779 Psalms also talk about being hidden in the rock. 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:47.799 So the rock talks about security. 00:08:48.819 --> 00:08:50.779 But I think particularly in the context of this psalm, 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:53.259 there's a second significance to the rock, 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:55.500 because as we'll see a bit later on, 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.939 one of the events that the psalmist is looking back to 00:08:58.939 --> 00:09:02.500 is when Moses struck the rock with his rod, 00:09:02.819 --> 00:09:05.100 and there was water came from it. 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:07.399 And that water was vitally needed by the Israelites, 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:12.299 who were really in danger of dying if they didn't get water. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.100 And it speaks of God's salvation, 00:09:15.699 --> 00:09:20.039 of him being able to save us from the worst things in life. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:25.000 Looking forward, it looks to the salvation that we have through Jesus. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:27.519 So we're looking to the one who is our rock. 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:28.980 We're praising him. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.139 We're excited about him. 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.720 And we want to give him all the glory. 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:36.379 Good if we can come with that attitude. 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:39.799 I know people going through difficult times might be difficult to do that. 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:43.019 But if we're able to come and to praise God 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:47.299 and to sing our worship to him with real joy. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:48.939 And why do we do that? 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:53.720 Well, says the psalmist, it's because of his incomparable power. 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:55.200 So verses 3 to 5. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.960 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.320 In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:10.580 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:18.720 So in this part of the psalm, the psalmist is particularly concentrating on God as the all-powerful one. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:26.000 The one who is the creator, and the one who keeps things moving everywhere on the earth. 00:10:26.420 --> 00:10:30.000 He is, says the psalmist, the great God. 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:33.279 And he says he's the great King above all gods. 00:10:33.540 --> 00:10:37.519 Now the psalmist is not thinking that the other gods that people around about the Israelites would worship 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:40.700 were in any sense real, in that they existed. 00:10:41.160 --> 00:10:45.519 But they were real in the sense that people worshipped them and thought that they existed. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:54.319 And the psalmist is saying, our God is incomparable with these false gods that other nations worship. 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:59.259 And it's possible as he goes through the list in verses 4 and 5, 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:06.360 he's thinking particularly about some of the gods, with small g, of the nations round about Israel. 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:09.539 So there was the god Baal or Baal. 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:16.279 Now the thing about Baal was he was a god where everything had to be seen and visible. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:22.439 Remember when Elijah was up against the prophets of Baal in the book of 1 Kings, 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:26.399 that it was on the mountaintop, on Mount Carmel, 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:31.980 that they had this big sacrifice to see which God could answer with fire. 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:36.519 And that was very much taking Baal on on his own territory. 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.519 He was the god of the mountaintop. 00:11:40.199 --> 00:11:42.799 So when the psalmist says the mountain peaks belonged to him, 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:49.299 may have been thinking about that false god of the nations round about Israel. 00:11:49.819 --> 00:11:53.019 The god where things had to be seen. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.399 And the idea was that you went up to the top of the mountain, 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.500 and you acted something out, and Baal would see it, and he would bless you. 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:05.320 Whether it was sacrifices you were making, or there were sexual orges, 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:07.580 and all sorts of things, you were supposed to give messages to Baal. 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:12.159 The idea was he saw them, and when he saw them, things happened. 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:18.080 And we don't worship gods like that in that sense in our day. 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.639 But for many people, it's perhaps not that different. 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:26.279 It's wanting to be seen, and to be visible, 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:29.600 and to look at the material things round about us. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:31.639 Because all these sacrifices to Baal and so on, 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.799 they were really just to win his favor, 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:38.039 so that he would bless the people, so they would have good crops, 00:12:38.439 --> 00:12:42.539 and that the nation would be prosperous. 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:45.259 And certainly, we think of it in that kind of sense. 00:12:45.579 --> 00:12:49.079 A lot of people today, their big aim is that they, 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:52.600 that people round about should be prosperous. 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.899 The markets, getting the markets right, 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:59.259 getting more money for myself, getting a better job, and so on. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:04.200 And that maybe is the modern equivalent of the worship of Baal. 00:13:05.180 --> 00:13:06.759 And the psalmist says to us, 00:13:07.540 --> 00:13:10.879 much more important than that is that we worship, 00:13:11.040 --> 00:13:15.379 that we praise God, that we get our priorities right. 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:20.180 Second God was called Molech. 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:23.299 Now, Molech was almost the opposite of Baal. 00:13:23.739 --> 00:13:26.059 Rather than being the god of everything being seen, 00:13:26.459 --> 00:13:29.019 he was the god of everything that was hidden. 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:31.699 So it was all the kind of a coat stuff, 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:34.859 and things that were hidden away that weren't on the surface. 00:13:35.219 --> 00:13:37.899 It was kind of almost a secret society type stuff. 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:40.839 The Molech dwelt in the underworld, 00:13:41.319 --> 00:13:45.179 and he could have a very malevolent force on people. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.459 And again, don't have a direct equivalent perhaps today, 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:53.360 but there's an awful lot of stuff today that's done in secret 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.440 that people don't want others to find out about. 00:13:58.440 --> 00:13:59.920 I'm sure you've noticed over the last few months 00:13:59.920 --> 00:14:02.879 the amount of things that have come out that have been secret, 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:07.780 the sexual improprieties of lots of celebrities in the past, 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.500 and some shocking abuse that's been revealed. 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:18.000 Or the kind of secret mining of data and using it in ways that it was never intended to be used, 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:19.980 the Facebook thing and so on. 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:23.679 Lots of these things that are kind of hidden away in secret, 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:26.039 that aren't meant to be revealed, 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:32.179 and yet which are very much against the way that people should be behaving. 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:36.620 And perhaps that again is a lesson for us, 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:39.500 that we need to be very careful that we are open, 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:40.699 that we are transparent, 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.439 that we've not got lots of things that are hidden away, 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:46.039 that our life is open before God, 00:14:46.359 --> 00:14:51.000 and that our worship for him is true and is sincere. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:52.799 One more example, 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:56.179 the god of the sea was called Timat. 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:02.559 And he was a god who was characterized by great strength and force. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:06.679 The force of the sea as their waves crash against the land 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.639 or against the boat, if you're out in it. 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:16.379 And Timat represented the importance of power and of influence. 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:18.679 And again, in our day, many people, 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.359 the thing that they really want, 00:15:20.459 --> 00:15:22.019 the thing that's important to them, 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:25.059 is to have power and to have influence 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:28.159 and to be seen to be important. 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:30.659 And again, we need to say, 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:34.099 let's bow down, let's worship our great God. 00:15:35.099 --> 00:15:36.579 Beside him, we're insignificant. 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.019 Any power we have, 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:41.559 any power that gods of our day, 00:15:42.599 --> 00:15:45.659 not that we imagine they're gods in the sense they did in the past, 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:47.679 but actually in reality, very much similar. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:52.620 Nothing that they have can compare to our God. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:54.299 And because he is so great, 00:15:54.739 --> 00:15:56.639 because he is so wonderful, 00:15:57.199 --> 00:15:59.039 then we should praise him 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:03.379 and we should be letting other people know how good our God is. 00:16:03.939 --> 00:16:06.019 And particularly in the way the psalmist never could, 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.959 to talk about how God sent his son into the world 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:11.900 to be our saviour, 00:16:11.900 --> 00:16:14.379 how God came as one of us 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:16.320 and lived our life 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:20.680 and died our death on the cross at Calvary. 00:16:20.920 --> 00:16:23.000 And much of our singing this morning has been praising 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.280 God and the Lord Jesus for that great sacrifice. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.560 So we need to be praising God. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:35.279 We need to be coming before him with joyful hearts. 00:16:36.219 --> 00:16:40.079 As I said, there's then a bit of a change in the psalm. 00:16:40.819 --> 00:16:45.399 And instead of looking at the importance of praising God 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.459 with great joy and with singing and with shouting, 00:16:48.460 --> 00:16:50.480 the psalmist now says, 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.460 actually, when you come to God, 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:55.000 another appropriate way to come 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.139 is with an attitude of worship 00:16:57.139 --> 00:16:59.400 and to bow down before him 00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:03.280 and just be awestruck by how great our God is 00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:06.900 and then to go away and to obey him. 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.160 And that's what the second half of the psalm is about. 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:12.259 I've imagined it's the priest saying that to the people. 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:13.700 Might have been, might not. 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:16.080 But it certainly is trying to get home to us. 00:17:16.340 --> 00:17:18.539 It's not all about being on the mountaintop 00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:21.319 and singing and being excited all the time. 00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:24.779 We need to come to our God with reverence 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:28.420 and with respect and with real awe 00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:32.460 and to recognize that everything we are comes from him 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.720 and that we owe him our allegiance. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:36.900 So verse six, he says, 00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:38.660 come, let us bow down in worship. 00:17:39.360 --> 00:17:41.680 Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.660 for he is our God 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:46.140 and we are the people of his pasture, 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:49.759 the flock under his care. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.620 Now you notice the psalmist has moved here 00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:54.400 from the general to the specific. 00:17:55.080 --> 00:17:56.100 So in the early verses, 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:57.840 he's talking generally about God, 00:17:57.940 --> 00:17:58.860 the God of creation, 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:00.299 the God of the mountaintops 00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:02.500 and of the sea and so on. 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.720 Now he's talking about our God. 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.080 The God who is not just the all-powerful one, 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:13.659 but the God who cares for you and who cares for me. 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:18.119 And he says, as we come to God and reflect on that, 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.779 the right way to come is bowing down 00:18:21.779 --> 00:18:25.179 and symbolically in thought at least, 00:18:25.639 --> 00:18:28.000 kneeling before the Lord. 00:18:28.659 --> 00:18:29.679 He is our maker. 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:31.699 He is our God. 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:35.039 And he is our shepherd. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:36.960 We're talking earlier to the children, 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:37.900 but Psalm 23, 00:18:38.080 --> 00:18:39.680 there are a way looking at it just now. 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:42.640 And there's a bit of an echo of that in verse seven here. 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:45.420 We are the people of his pasture, 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.120 the flock under his care. 00:18:50.860 --> 00:18:54.000 Shepherd's job is to look after the sheep. 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:57.640 The sheep's job is to follow the shepherd 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:02.300 shepherd and to trust him and to do as he tells them. 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.620 Now in the olden days in the land of Israel, 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:07.520 at the time the psalmist was writing, 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.640 you wouldn't have a shepherd going out with a sheep dog 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.360 and using the dog to round them up. 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.460 Rather, the shepherd would do it all with his voice. 00:19:15.020 --> 00:19:16.380 He would call his sheep, 00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:18.480 his sheep would know his voice, 00:19:18.840 --> 00:19:20.620 and his sheep would respond. 00:19:20.620 --> 00:19:22.740 That's the picture the Lord Jesus picks up on 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:23.980 in John chapter 10, 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:27.960 when he talks about himself as the good shepherd. 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:30.620 And so the psalmist now says, 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.279 we have this God who's great, 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:35.259 who's the master of the universe, 00:19:35.360 --> 00:19:36.360 who's in charge of everything. 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:38.759 He's also our God, 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:40.620 and he cares for us, 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:42.240 and he loves us. 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:45.299 But our responsibility then 00:19:45.299 --> 00:19:48.000 is to bow down and to worship 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.680 and to obey him. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:52.740 The psalmist says, 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:56.259 I know that very often people come before God 00:19:56.259 --> 00:19:58.880 or come into church or temple or whatever in those days, 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:01.079 and that's not the way they are. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:02.359 And he says, 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:05.380 remember what happened in the wilderness. 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:07.859 So let's read the remaining verses of the chapter 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:09.620 that are called A Solemn Warning. 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.620 And this is God speaking here. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.519 Today, if you would only hear his voice, 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:17.819 do not harden your hearts, 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.319 as you did at Meribah, 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:21.920 as you did at that day at Massah in the wilderness. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.660 Where your ancestors tested me, 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:26.300 they tried me, 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:28.779 though they had seen what I did. 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:30.220 For 40 years, 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:31.779 I was angry with that generation. 00:20:31.940 --> 00:20:32.259 I said, 00:20:32.360 --> 00:20:34.680 there are people whose hearts go astray, 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:37.060 and they have not known my ways. 00:20:37.560 --> 00:20:40.420 So I declared on oath in my anger, 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:44.440 they shall never enter my rest. 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.259 The Sabbath is looking back, 00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:48.580 particularly at two instances 00:20:48.580 --> 00:20:49.680 that happened to the Israelites 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.640 as they went through the wilderness. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.160 Remember, 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:53.160 the Israelites, 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:54.299 under Moses, 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:56.480 eventually got free from Pharaoh 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:57.120 and the Egyptians 00:20:57.120 --> 00:20:58.420 after the 10 plagues. 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:00.860 And then there were 40 years 00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:02.180 wandering around the wilderness 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:04.340 before they got to the promised land 00:21:04.340 --> 00:21:06.480 where they would eventually settle. 00:21:07.080 --> 00:21:08.480 Didn't need to be 40 years. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:09.299 There were 40 years 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:10.919 because they were so disobedient 00:21:10.919 --> 00:21:14.339 and so mistrusting of God. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.279 And there were two instances in particular, 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:17.440 one near the start 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.180 of when they set out, 00:21:19.419 --> 00:21:20.919 and one a bit further on 00:21:20.919 --> 00:21:22.919 that the psalmist talks about here. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.339 First one after the start, 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:27.519 the Israelites have come out of Egypt. 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:30.299 They've got stuck in front of the Red Sea 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.440 with the Egyptians charging up behind them, 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.059 and God miraculously passed the Red Sea 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:36.539 and the Israelites were able to get over 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:39.799 and the Egyptians are all drowned in it. 00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:43.220 And there were then three incidents 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:45.220 where the Israelites felt 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:47.559 they had a great need of God. 00:21:48.080 --> 00:21:49.640 First was they came to some water 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:51.940 and discovered the water was undrinkable. 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:53.940 The water was very bitter. 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:57.900 And God, through Moses, 00:21:58.220 --> 00:21:59.660 made that water drinkable, 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:01.080 made it sweet. 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:03.439 They then went on a bit 00:22:03.439 --> 00:22:04.799 and they were grumbling 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.539 because they were really hungry. 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:07.659 They were saying, 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:09.079 why have you brought us, Moses, 00:22:09.199 --> 00:22:10.039 out of Egypt 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:11.519 just to die here 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:13.220 in this wilderness? 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:16.899 And God graciously provided for them 00:22:16.899 --> 00:22:19.099 manna that they would get every day 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:20.240 or six days a week 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:20.980 and the seventh day 00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:21.399 there'd be enough 00:22:21.399 --> 00:22:22.460 on the sixth day to do 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:24.539 throughout their time in the wilderness. 00:22:24.699 --> 00:22:26.220 He also provided that time quail. 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:28.980 So God provided what they needed. 00:22:29.879 --> 00:22:30.740 They went on a bit 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:32.440 and they got thirsty. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:34.900 Now you think at this point, 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:36.220 the Israelites would realize, 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:38.420 well, God can look after us. 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:40.079 He got us out of Egypt. 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:41.940 He got us across the Red Sea. 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:43.720 He made that water drinkable. 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:45.440 He's given us food to eat. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:46.880 But no, 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.640 they grumble against Moses. 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:49.400 Moses worried 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.220 they're going to actually kill him 00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:52.799 that they're so angry with him 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.000 because they haven't believed 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:58.079 in what God is doing for them. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:22:59.980 And that's what the reference here 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:01.639 to Mereba and Massa is. 00:23:01.699 --> 00:23:02.599 It's the same place 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:04.199 and there are two names for it 00:23:04.199 --> 00:23:05.879 given in the passage 00:23:05.879 --> 00:23:07.819 in Exodus chapter 17. 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:10.000 And Moses, 00:23:10.399 --> 00:23:12.199 it was so exasperated 00:23:12.199 --> 00:23:13.359 with Israel at that point, 00:23:13.439 --> 00:23:14.159 quite rightly, 00:23:14.699 --> 00:23:16.639 and God too is exasperated 00:23:16.639 --> 00:23:18.599 because they've hardened their hearts, 00:23:18.659 --> 00:23:20.059 they've seen his goodness, 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:22.200 and rather than seeing 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:23.519 the lack of water 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:24.919 as being God testing them 00:23:24.919 --> 00:23:26.179 and an example for them 00:23:26.179 --> 00:23:28.200 to show the faith they had in God, 00:23:28.659 --> 00:23:30.879 rather they made it a test of God. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:32.119 Well, if he's the real God, 00:23:32.379 --> 00:23:34.659 can he do something for us? 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:36.259 They ignored the good 00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:37.579 that God had done for them 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:41.500 and they tried to get him to do more. 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:43.179 That's incident number one, 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:44.119 as I say, 00:23:44.179 --> 00:23:45.740 near the start of the wanderings. 00:23:46.639 --> 00:23:47.419 Incident number two 00:23:47.419 --> 00:23:48.720 in the second part of it 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:49.940 is in some ways 00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:50.960 the culmination 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.220 of a great period 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:54.920 of unbelief by the Israelites. 00:23:55.120 --> 00:23:55.940 Again and again, 00:23:56.039 --> 00:23:57.120 the Israelites experienced 00:23:57.120 --> 00:23:58.039 God's grace 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:00.240 and they throw it back in his face 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.220 and they still won't believe. 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:04.640 So Moses sent some spies out 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:06.480 to spy out the land of Canaan 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:08.299 where they were going to settle. 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:10.180 And the spies came back 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:10.660 and they said, 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:12.019 it's a wonderful land. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:14.299 It's flowing with milk and honey. 00:24:14.600 --> 00:24:15.400 It's everything 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:17.440 we could possibly want. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.620 But they said, 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:21.019 the people there 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:22.200 are really strong. 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:24.080 There are giants among them. 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:25.420 They're much bigger than us. 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:27.120 There's no way 00:24:27.120 --> 00:24:28.140 we can go in 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:30.360 and conquer that land. 00:24:31.080 --> 00:24:32.299 And of the 12 spies 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:32.740 that went, 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.320 10 of them gave that message. 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:35.160 Two of them, 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:36.000 Joshua and Caleb, 00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:36.880 came back and said, 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:38.059 yes, with God's help, 00:24:38.320 --> 00:24:39.820 we can do it. 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:41.299 But the 10 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:43.019 who were unbelieving, 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:44.660 they won over the people 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:46.279 and the people 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:47.359 were terrified 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:49.319 of going forward. 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:51.299 They didn't believe 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:51.839 the God 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:53.319 who had led them out of Egypt, 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:55.160 who had done so much for them, 00:24:55.379 --> 00:24:56.680 was able to take them 00:24:56.680 --> 00:24:57.920 into the promised land. 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:00.579 They didn't really understand God 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:02.160 because their hearts 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:03.379 were hard. 00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:05.259 And the consequence of that 00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:06.480 was out of the Adai 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:07.500 to left Egypt, 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:08.880 only two, 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:10.299 Joshua and Caleb, 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:12.400 made it into the land 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:13.220 at the end, 00:25:13.259 --> 00:25:14.180 which is referenced there 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:15.980 to entering my rest. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.519 Only two of those 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:18.420 who left Egypt 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:19.099 as adults 00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:20.519 went into Canaan 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:21.160 at the end 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:22.619 because everyone else 00:25:22.619 --> 00:25:25.319 refused to believe God. 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:27.740 So this is about 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:28.740 hard hearts. 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:30.140 Hard hearts 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:31.579 and not believing God, 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.079 not taking up his word 00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:34.559 and not believing 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:36.019 that he can continue 00:25:36.019 --> 00:25:36.940 to be with us 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:38.279 as he has been 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:39.500 in the past. 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:40.860 Now these are 00:25:40.860 --> 00:25:42.059 very important verses. 00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:44.200 The verses are sometimes 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:45.160 missed when 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:46.440 this psalm is used 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:47.360 as a call to worship 00:25:47.360 --> 00:25:48.660 as it is in some traditions, 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:50.000 but they're verses 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:50.779 that are picked up 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:51.820 in the book of Hebrews 00:25:51.820 --> 00:25:53.480 and for two chapters 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.220 the writer to the Hebrews 00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:56.820 comments on the significance 00:25:56.820 --> 00:25:58.039 of these psalms 00:25:58.039 --> 00:25:59.580 to us today, 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:00.400 of these verses 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.200 to us today. 00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:02.559 So it's not just 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.360 about the Israelites 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:04.420 back in the wilderness, 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:05.820 back under Moses. 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:07.319 It's not just 00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:08.119 about the immediate 00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:08.859 audience 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:10.059 that the writer 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:11.659 is addressing this to 00:26:11.659 --> 00:26:12.259 and the Israelites 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:13.700 as they sing the psalm. 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:15.200 It is very relevant 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:16.220 for us today 00:26:16.220 --> 00:26:17.720 as Christians. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:19.700 And the message is 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:21.240 we must not 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:21.939 harden 00:26:21.939 --> 00:26:23.619 our hearts. 00:26:24.159 --> 00:26:25.759 It is so easy 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:26.939 for us to be 00:26:26.939 --> 00:26:27.679 led astray 00:26:27.679 --> 00:26:28.439 by the things 00:26:28.439 --> 00:26:29.220 of this world 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:30.859 and for our hearts 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:32.259 to become hard 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:33.259 before God. 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:34.099 Now what does a hard 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:35.039 heart mean 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:36.500 in this context? 00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:37.879 Well I suppose 00:26:37.879 --> 00:26:38.519 the first thing 00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:39.039 it means 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:40.519 is that we forget 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:41.440 all that God 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:42.039 has done 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:42.940 for us. 00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:44.079 That was the 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:44.779 great sin 00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:45.299 of the Israelites 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:46.099 wasn't it? 00:26:46.339 --> 00:26:47.220 They'd seen everything 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:48.200 that God had done 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:49.160 and they didn't 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:49.900 pay any attention 00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:50.440 to it. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:51.460 All they could see 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:52.400 was the problems 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:53.839 and the difficulties 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:55.220 they were facing 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:55.980 then. 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:57.359 They forgot 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.359 what God 00:26:58.359 --> 00:26:59.180 had done 00:26:59.180 --> 00:27:00.200 for them. 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.100 And we need 00:27:02.100 --> 00:27:03.039 to be very careful 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:04.200 if we know God 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:05.559 if we have put 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:06.100 our trust 00:27:06.100 --> 00:27:07.059 in the Lord Jesus 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:08.700 that we don't 00:27:08.700 --> 00:27:09.279 forget 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:10.480 all that he has 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:10.860 done 00:27:10.860 --> 00:27:11.960 for us. 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:13.360 Because if we do 00:27:13.360 --> 00:27:14.080 forget what he's 00:27:14.080 --> 00:27:14.840 done for us 00:27:14.840 --> 00:27:16.039 then as we look 00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:16.460 forward 00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:17.460 we won't be able 00:27:17.460 --> 00:27:18.059 to exercise 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:19.160 the faith in him 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:21.000 that we need to. 00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:22.720 We have a God 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:23.519 who loved us 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.160 so much 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:25.100 that he sent 00:27:25.100 --> 00:27:25.580 his son 00:27:25.580 --> 00:27:26.460 into the world 00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:27.700 to die for us 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:28.440 on the cross 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.680 and to forgive us 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:30.799 for all the wrong 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:31.960 that we've done 00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:33.180 and to bring us 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:34.059 into a relationship 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:34.700 with him 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:35.799 where we can come 00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:36.500 before him 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:37.940 and we can call him 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:39.500 our father. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:41.380 And we need to look 00:27:41.380 --> 00:27:42.160 back and say 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.660 God has been good 00:27:43.660 --> 00:27:44.700 to me. 00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:46.539 We also need to look 00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:47.600 back over our lives 00:27:47.600 --> 00:27:48.140 and to see 00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:49.080 times when 00:27:49.080 --> 00:27:50.240 we have needed 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:50.799 God 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.000 and he has been 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:52.440 there 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:53.980 and he has helped us. 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:54.799 Now I can't 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:56.240 say what these times 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:57.059 have been for you 00:27:57.059 --> 00:27:57.960 but there have been 00:27:57.960 --> 00:27:58.440 times where 00:27:58.440 --> 00:27:59.599 I'm sure all of us 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:00.619 who know the Lord Jesus 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:01.399 when we have 00:28:01.399 --> 00:28:02.039 struggled 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:03.879 and God has been there 00:28:03.879 --> 00:28:05.039 and he has 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:05.700 helped us 00:28:05.700 --> 00:28:06.259 as he helped 00:28:06.259 --> 00:28:06.779 the Israelites 00:28:06.779 --> 00:28:07.879 as they went 00:28:07.879 --> 00:28:09.079 through the desert. 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:10.679 And we need to 00:28:10.679 --> 00:28:11.200 remember 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.159 what God 00:28:12.159 --> 00:28:12.619 has done 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:13.399 for us 00:28:13.399 --> 00:28:14.539 and that needs 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:15.099 to be the thing 00:28:15.099 --> 00:28:15.740 which gives us 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:16.200 faith 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:17.139 to know that 00:28:17.139 --> 00:28:17.539 the God 00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:17.960 who has been 00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:18.339 with us 00:28:18.339 --> 00:28:19.079 in the past 00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:20.159 will also be 00:28:20.159 --> 00:28:20.539 with us 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:21.279 in the future 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.599 whatever we may 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:23.059 face 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:24.759 in this life. 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:26.559 Hard hearts 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:27.220 forget 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:28.200 all that 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:28.599 God 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:29.480 has done 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:30.480 for them. 00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:32.039 Second thing 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:32.519 I suggest 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:33.000 that would be 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:33.720 characteristic 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:34.839 of hard hearts 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:35.759 is not 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:36.359 believing 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:37.159 what God 00:28:37.159 --> 00:28:37.980 has promised 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:38.980 to us. 00:28:39.859 --> 00:28:40.159 So God 00:28:40.159 --> 00:28:40.639 had promised 00:28:40.639 --> 00:28:41.200 to the Israelites 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:41.859 he'd lead them 00:28:41.859 --> 00:28:42.539 out of Egypt 00:28:42.539 --> 00:28:43.240 and he would 00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:43.639 take them 00:28:43.639 --> 00:28:44.200 to the land 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:44.599 that had been 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:45.319 promised many 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:46.339 centuries before 00:28:46.339 --> 00:28:47.299 to Abraham. 00:28:48.399 --> 00:28:48.819 And the people 00:28:48.819 --> 00:28:49.940 knew God's word 00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:51.099 and yet they 00:28:51.099 --> 00:28:52.200 clearly didn't 00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:53.179 believe it. 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:54.200 They spent 00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:54.819 an awful lot of 00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:55.279 time going 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:55.839 through the wilderness 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:56.859 saying I wish 00:28:56.859 --> 00:28:57.359 we could go 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:58.279 back to Egypt. 00:28:58.679 --> 00:28:59.319 We'd be much 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:00.399 better off in Egypt 00:29:00.399 --> 00:29:01.240 than we are now. 00:29:01.299 --> 00:29:02.039 It was rubbish. 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:03.259 They were slaves 00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:03.659 in Egypt. 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:04.159 They were under 00:29:04.159 --> 00:29:04.839 oppressors. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:05.500 They were in a 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:06.599 terrible situation 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:07.899 and yet they 00:29:07.899 --> 00:29:08.879 couldn't understand 00:29:08.879 --> 00:29:09.819 that they needed 00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:10.839 to follow God's 00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:12.039 plan and they 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:13.259 needed to believe 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:14.379 God's word 00:29:14.379 --> 00:29:15.259 to them. 00:29:16.419 --> 00:29:17.359 Important for us 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:18.759 too that as we 00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:19.859 come to look 00:29:19.859 --> 00:29:20.740 at life and look 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:21.539 at his problems 00:29:21.539 --> 00:29:22.939 that we do it 00:29:22.939 --> 00:29:23.879 believing that 00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:24.720 God's word 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.740 is absolutely 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:27.400 true and it 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:27.900 can be the 00:29:27.900 --> 00:29:28.380 thing that 00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:29.080 gives us the 00:29:29.080 --> 00:29:29.920 strength to 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:30.600 keep going 00:29:30.600 --> 00:29:31.920 as we trust 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:32.900 in him. 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:34.560 If we in any 00:29:34.560 --> 00:29:35.340 way start to 00:29:35.340 --> 00:29:36.040 doubt God's 00:29:36.040 --> 00:29:36.720 word then our 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:37.520 faith is failing, 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:38.480 our hearts 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:39.500 are becoming 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:40.540 hard. 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:42.340 Then the third 00:29:42.340 --> 00:29:42.780 thing I think 00:29:42.780 --> 00:29:43.600 that characterizes 00:29:43.600 --> 00:29:44.440 hard hearts 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:45.400 is very much 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:46.440 a focus on 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:47.360 myself 00:29:47.360 --> 00:29:48.820 rather than 00:29:48.820 --> 00:29:49.240 looking 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:50.020 outward. 00:29:50.900 --> 00:29:51.480 So the Israelites 00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:52.280 were totally 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:53.500 focused on them 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:54.319 and on their 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:55.200 situation and 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:55.819 their worries 00:29:55.819 --> 00:29:56.180 and their 00:29:56.180 --> 00:29:57.619 anxieties and 00:29:57.619 --> 00:29:58.160 they weren't 00:29:58.160 --> 00:29:59.319 really interested 00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:00.319 in anyone else 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:01.940 or in what God 00:30:01.940 --> 00:30:03.379 was doing for 00:30:03.379 --> 00:30:03.680 them. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.160 Very easy for us 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:07.420 too to have 00:30:07.420 --> 00:30:08.779 hard hearts and 00:30:08.779 --> 00:30:09.799 to become very 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:11.399 self-centered. 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:13.539 Not focusing on 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:14.700 God and on 00:30:14.700 --> 00:30:16.259 his greatness and 00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:17.139 not focusing either 00:30:17.139 --> 00:30:17.720 on others and 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:18.680 seeing their needs 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:19.819 and thinking well 00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:21.319 how can I help to 00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:22.599 meet that need. 00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:24.419 If we just come 00:30:24.419 --> 00:30:24.899 along on a 00:30:24.899 --> 00:30:25.480 Sunday morning 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:26.079 looking for 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:26.740 something for 00:30:26.740 --> 00:30:28.299 ourselves and 00:30:28.299 --> 00:30:28.779 not really 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:29.480 concerned about 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:30.319 anyone else, 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:31.500 if we have no 00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:32.500 interest in other 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:33.200 Christians during 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:33.879 the week we just 00:30:33.879 --> 00:30:34.579 want to get what's 00:30:34.579 --> 00:30:35.339 best for us, 00:30:35.740 --> 00:30:36.619 then that is a 00:30:36.619 --> 00:30:37.839 sign perhaps that 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:38.579 our hearts are 00:30:38.579 --> 00:30:39.899 becoming hard. 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:41.960 So hard hearts, 00:30:42.339 --> 00:30:42.919 you forget what 00:30:42.919 --> 00:30:43.579 God's done, 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:44.960 you don't trust 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:45.720 God's word, 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:47.500 and you only care 00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:48.919 about yourself. 00:30:49.619 --> 00:30:50.159 That's where the 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:50.940 Israelites were, 00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:51.900 and the 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:52.540 psalmist and 00:30:52.540 --> 00:30:53.060 the writer to 00:30:53.060 --> 00:30:53.800 the Hebrews says 00:30:53.800 --> 00:30:54.500 there's a real 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:55.860 danger that that 00:30:55.860 --> 00:30:57.019 is where we 00:30:57.019 --> 00:30:59.000 get to as well. 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:00.500 And yet we 00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:01.000 shouldn't. 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:02.580 We need to 00:31:02.580 --> 00:31:03.960 remember that the 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:04.759 God who didn't 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:05.580 spare his own 00:31:05.580 --> 00:31:06.759 son but gave 00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:07.620 him up for us 00:31:07.620 --> 00:31:08.880 all, he will 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.100 also freely with 00:31:10.100 --> 00:31:11.300 him give us 00:31:11.300 --> 00:31:12.700 all things. 00:31:12.820 --> 00:31:13.259 In other words, 00:31:13.300 --> 00:31:13.960 we remember what 00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:14.700 God has done in 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:16.000 giving his son and 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:17.340 we recognize that 00:31:17.340 --> 00:31:18.380 he will give us 00:31:18.380 --> 00:31:19.580 all things. 00:31:20.080 --> 00:31:20.620 We need to 00:31:20.620 --> 00:31:21.300 recognize, as 00:31:21.300 --> 00:31:21.680 the writer of the 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:22.280 Hebrews does, 00:31:22.360 --> 00:31:23.320 the word of God 00:31:23.320 --> 00:31:25.580 is living and 00:31:25.580 --> 00:31:26.400 active and 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:26.900 sharp and 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:27.600 any two-edged 00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:28.000 sword. 00:31:28.460 --> 00:31:29.240 And when we 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:30.040 hear the word of 00:31:30.040 --> 00:31:30.840 God, we need to 00:31:30.840 --> 00:31:31.640 let him speak to 00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:32.660 us and to 00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:33.780 change our life, 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:34.560 to change our 00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:35.680 hearts, to bring 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:37.160 us closer to 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:37.560 Jesus. 00:31:38.800 --> 00:31:39.340 And we need to 00:31:39.340 --> 00:31:40.100 remember that if 00:31:40.100 --> 00:31:40.860 we are going to 00:31:40.860 --> 00:31:41.900 reflect the love 00:31:41.900 --> 00:31:42.960 that Jesus had, 00:31:43.280 --> 00:31:43.960 then we need to 00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:44.520 be outward 00:31:44.520 --> 00:31:45.380 thinking, we need 00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:46.120 to be concerned 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:47.599 about others, not 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.439 to have hard 00:31:48.439 --> 00:31:49.759 hearts and to 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:51.759 be self-centered. 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:53.879 And why is this 00:31:53.879 --> 00:31:54.439 important? 00:31:55.299 --> 00:31:55.939 Well, says the 00:31:55.939 --> 00:31:57.279 psalmist, it's so 00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:57.919 that you can 00:31:57.919 --> 00:31:59.079 enter God's 00:31:59.079 --> 00:31:59.939 rest. 00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:01.079 His race in 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:02.059 this desert never 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:02.739 got to enter 00:32:02.739 --> 00:32:03.539 God's rest, in 00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:04.559 that case, the 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:05.399 promised land. 00:32:06.159 --> 00:32:06.659 Writer of the 00:32:06.659 --> 00:32:07.479 Hebrews says, 00:32:07.579 --> 00:32:08.239 picking up this 00:32:08.239 --> 00:32:09.479 psalm, be careful 00:32:09.479 --> 00:32:10.219 that you don't 00:32:10.219 --> 00:32:11.000 miss out on 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:12.899 God's rest as 00:32:12.899 --> 00:32:13.139 well. 00:32:13.199 --> 00:32:13.639 And I think there 00:32:13.639 --> 00:32:14.179 are two aspects 00:32:14.179 --> 00:32:15.099 to God's rest. 00:32:15.099 --> 00:32:16.379 One of it is 00:32:16.379 --> 00:32:16.899 the kind of 00:32:16.899 --> 00:32:18.379 present day, that 00:32:18.379 --> 00:32:19.819 as we experience 00:32:19.819 --> 00:32:20.740 God's rest, it is 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:22.639 a peace, it's an 00:32:22.639 --> 00:32:23.759 awareness of God's 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:25.039 presence, it is 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.500 not being too 00:32:26.500 --> 00:32:27.279 taken up with 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:27.939 events that we 00:32:27.939 --> 00:32:29.139 can't see, that 00:32:29.139 --> 00:32:30.240 God is there and 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:31.139 God will help us 00:32:31.139 --> 00:32:31.699 through it. 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:32.899 So it is being 00:32:32.899 --> 00:32:33.959 able to rest in 00:32:33.959 --> 00:32:35.199 God and know 00:32:35.199 --> 00:32:36.099 he has done for 00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:36.439 us. 00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:37.539 And then there's 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:38.299 the forward-looking 00:32:38.299 --> 00:32:39.439 aspect, that 00:32:39.439 --> 00:32:40.279 those who know 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:41.419 and who love the 00:32:41.419 --> 00:32:42.219 Lord Jesus, there 00:32:42.219 --> 00:32:42.759 is an ultimate 00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:43.919 rest for them when 00:32:43.919 --> 00:32:44.759 work is over, 00:32:45.099 --> 00:32:45.839 when this life 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:46.859 is behind us 00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:47.779 and we go to 00:32:47.779 --> 00:32:48.339 be with the 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:49.639 Lord Jesus and 00:32:49.639 --> 00:32:50.599 to be with him 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:51.419 forever. 00:32:51.879 --> 00:32:52.279 And that in a 00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:52.759 sense is what 00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:53.619 is symbolized in 00:32:53.619 --> 00:32:54.059 Israel, it's 00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:54.579 going to the 00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:56.219 promised land, it 00:32:56.219 --> 00:32:57.359 is us if we 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:58.259 know and trust the 00:32:58.259 --> 00:32:59.740 Lord Jesus entering 00:32:59.740 --> 00:33:01.740 into his rest at 00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:03.019 the end of our 00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:03.480 lives. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:04.779 The psalmist says 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:06.359 make sure that you 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:07.379 get that rest. 00:33:08.099 --> 00:33:08.539 And one other 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:09.419 thing he says, 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:10.359 today. 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:11.839 And the writer 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:12.579 of Hebrews again 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:13.139 picks it up, he 00:33:13.140 --> 00:33:14.700 says today, if 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:15.240 you would only 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:16.800 hear his voice. 00:33:17.180 --> 00:33:18.140 Forty years the 00:33:18.140 --> 00:33:18.880 Israelites wandered 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:19.300 through the 00:33:19.300 --> 00:33:19.640 wilderness. 00:33:20.540 --> 00:33:21.460 Forty years they 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:22.700 had opportunities to 00:33:22.700 --> 00:33:24.300 believe God and to 00:33:24.300 --> 00:33:25.900 obey him and to 00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:27.280 have the assurance of 00:33:27.280 --> 00:33:28.640 his rest. 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:30.580 Again and again as 00:33:30.580 --> 00:33:32.200 they failed him, God 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:33.280 was willing to 00:33:33.280 --> 00:33:34.900 overlook that and to 00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:36.080 continue to bless 00:33:36.080 --> 00:33:37.520 them despite the 00:33:37.520 --> 00:33:38.500 fact that they 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:39.800 didn't trust him. 00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:41.680 but in the end 00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:43.019 it was too late 00:33:43.019 --> 00:33:44.220 for them and 00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:45.079 they didn't get 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:46.399 into the 00:33:46.399 --> 00:33:47.119 promised land. 00:33:47.220 --> 00:33:47.819 And this I think 00:33:47.819 --> 00:33:48.839 is designed to 00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:49.579 bring a sense of 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:51.039 real urgency to 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:51.399 us. 00:33:51.980 --> 00:33:52.720 Getting myself 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:53.759 right with God 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:54.279 whether that's 00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:54.980 trusting the Lord 00:33:54.980 --> 00:33:55.599 Jesus for the 00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:56.899 first time or 00:33:56.899 --> 00:33:57.740 coming back to 00:33:57.740 --> 00:33:58.980 him and 00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:00.480 confessing the 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:01.180 hardness has 00:34:01.180 --> 00:34:01.779 come into my 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:02.180 heart. 00:34:02.379 --> 00:34:03.220 That is something 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:04.240 that can't keep 00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:05.279 getting put off. 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:06.099 It will 00:34:06.099 --> 00:34:07.099 ultimately be 00:34:07.099 --> 00:34:07.960 too late. 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:09.679 Today is the 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:11.440 day of salvation. 00:34:11.639 --> 00:34:12.740 Today is the 00:34:12.740 --> 00:34:13.800 time when we 00:34:13.800 --> 00:34:14.360 need to get 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:15.220 ourselves right 00:34:15.220 --> 00:34:16.480 before God. 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:18.820 So as I said 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:19.480 a psalm of two 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:19.900 halves. 00:34:20.539 --> 00:34:21.559 One half which 00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:23.340 is joyful and 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:25.039 celebratory and 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.000 another half which 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:26.679 is really quite 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:28.280 solemn and is 00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:29.000 designed to make 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:30.260 us think and 00:34:30.260 --> 00:34:31.440 examine ourselves 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:32.760 before God. 00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:34.059 And let's all of 00:34:34.059 --> 00:34:34.860 us today, let's 00:34:34.860 --> 00:34:35.599 rejoice in what 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:36.420 God has done for 00:34:36.420 --> 00:34:37.599 us but let's 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:39.019 also examine 00:34:39.019 --> 00:34:40.319 our hearts. 00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:42.360 Heart disease is 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:43.119 one of the 00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:44.019 biggest killers 00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:45.400 in our country 00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:45.900 and in the 00:34:45.900 --> 00:34:46.799 world today. 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:47.539 And most heart 00:34:47.539 --> 00:34:49.579 disease is 00:34:49.579 --> 00:34:50.579 caused largely 00:34:50.579 --> 00:34:52.259 by lifestyle, 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:53.400 by what we 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:54.239 eat, by not 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:54.699 getting enough 00:34:54.699 --> 00:34:56.519 exercise and 00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:57.059 so on. 00:34:57.900 --> 00:34:58.500 And perhaps that 00:34:58.500 --> 00:34:59.299 is one thing that 00:34:59.299 --> 00:34:59.940 I can leave with 00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:00.719 you as a practical 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:01.500 thing to think 00:35:01.500 --> 00:35:03.019 about as we 00:35:03.019 --> 00:35:03.739 take this psalm 00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:04.039 away. 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.460 how can I 00:35:05.460 --> 00:35:06.300 have a healthy 00:35:06.300 --> 00:35:07.599 heart before 00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:08.039 God? 00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:08.679 Well it's partly 00:35:08.679 --> 00:35:09.599 about taking in 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:10.539 the right things, 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:11.679 it is about 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:12.639 reading God's 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:13.900 word and 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:14.920 meditating on it. 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:15.300 And can I 00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:16.000 challenge everyone 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.000 this week to 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:18.099 spend time before 00:35:18.099 --> 00:35:19.480 God reading and 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:20.840 meditating on 00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:21.880 his word. 00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:23.579 And it's also 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:24.259 about what I 00:35:24.259 --> 00:35:24.679 do. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:26.279 It's about the 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:27.219 exercise we like 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:28.079 when we're talking 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:28.380 about our 00:35:28.380 --> 00:35:29.179 physical hearts. 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:30.639 And this week, 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:31.779 let's go out 00:35:31.779 --> 00:35:32.339 with hearts 00:35:32.339 --> 00:35:33.139 that are soft 00:35:33.139 --> 00:35:34.599 and that are 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:35.199 willing to 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:36.159 serve God 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:37.119 and to serve 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:38.219 others and to 00:35:38.219 --> 00:35:38.799 show other 00:35:38.799 --> 00:35:39.799 people the love 00:35:39.799 --> 00:35:40.739 of the Lord 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:42.259 Jesus for us. 00:35:42.759 --> 00:35:43.440 Let's not be 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:43.960 those with 00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:44.579 hard hearts, 00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:45.440 let's be those 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:46.639 who go and 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:47.940 who listen and 00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:49.279 who obey and 00:35:49.279 --> 00:35:49.859 who then can 00:35:49.859 --> 00:35:50.739 rejoice in our 00:35:50.739 --> 00:35:51.960 great God and 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:52.659 in all that he 00:35:52.659 --> 00:35:53.679 has done for 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:54.039 us. 00:35:54.619 --> 00:35:55.099 Let's pray 00:35:55.099 --> 00:35:55.500 together. 00:35:57.539 --> 00:35:58.199 Our Father, 00:35:58.259 --> 00:35:58.579 we thank you 00:35:58.579 --> 00:35:59.179 for your word, 00:35:59.279 --> 00:35:59.779 we thank you 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:02.120 for the joy 00:36:02.120 --> 00:36:02.560 that is in 00:36:02.560 --> 00:36:03.080 the psalm 00:36:03.080 --> 00:36:03.760 and yet the 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:04.640 solemnity. 00:36:05.140 --> 00:36:05.440 And we pray 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:05.760 that you will 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:06.380 give us that 00:36:06.380 --> 00:36:07.120 joy as we 00:36:07.120 --> 00:36:07.580 think about 00:36:07.580 --> 00:36:08.100 all that you 00:36:08.100 --> 00:36:08.440 have done 00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:09.040 for us. 00:36:09.700 --> 00:36:10.200 But we pray 00:36:10.200 --> 00:36:10.900 also that you 00:36:10.900 --> 00:36:11.440 will soften 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:12.160 our hearts, 00:36:12.640 --> 00:36:13.260 that you will 00:36:13.260 --> 00:36:14.740 remove indifference 00:36:14.740 --> 00:36:15.400 from us, 00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:16.500 that you will 00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:17.280 make us wholly 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:18.420 committed to 00:36:18.420 --> 00:36:18.760 you, 00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:20.180 that we will 00:36:20.180 --> 00:36:21.120 listen to your 00:36:21.120 --> 00:36:22.440 word and that 00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:23.160 we will believe 00:36:23.160 --> 00:36:24.360 it and that 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:25.440 we will obey 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:25.820 it. 00:36:26.240 --> 00:36:26.680 For some, 00:36:26.780 --> 00:36:27.300 that might be 00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:27.980 for the first 00:36:27.980 --> 00:36:28.760 time believing 00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:29.700 that Jesus 00:36:29.700 --> 00:36:30.440 came and 00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:31.180 died for 00:36:31.180 --> 00:36:31.800 their sins 00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:32.180 and putting 00:36:32.180 --> 00:36:32.740 their trust 00:36:32.740 --> 00:36:33.160 in him. 00:36:34.100 --> 00:36:34.580 And for some 00:36:34.580 --> 00:36:35.020 of us it 00:36:35.020 --> 00:36:35.520 might be a 00:36:35.520 --> 00:36:36.220 returning to 00:36:36.220 --> 00:36:37.340 you, a 00:36:37.340 --> 00:36:37.940 softening of 00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:38.580 our hearts as 00:36:38.580 --> 00:36:39.180 we recognise 00:36:39.180 --> 00:36:40.080 how far we've 00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:40.680 gone from 00:36:40.680 --> 00:36:41.740 you and how 00:36:41.740 --> 00:36:42.400 much we need 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:43.600 to change to 00:36:43.600 --> 00:36:44.320 get back to 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:45.400 the rest and 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:46.420 the joy that 00:36:46.420 --> 00:36:46.980 you promised 00:36:46.980 --> 00:36:47.380 to us. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.020 Help us to 00:36:48.020 --> 00:36:48.860 examine ourselves 00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:50.440 today and to 00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:51.540 respond appropriately, 00:36:52.120 --> 00:36:52.640 that we may 00:36:52.640 --> 00:36:53.440 have a joy in 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:53.880 the Lord, 00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:54.880 that we may 00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:55.540 have a real 00:36:55.540 --> 00:36:56.900 rest in him. 00:36:56.900 --> 00:36:57.720 We give you 00:36:57.720 --> 00:36:58.300 thanks and we 00:36:58.300 --> 00:36:58.880 commit ourselves 00:36:58.880 --> 00:36:59.340 to you. 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:00.099 In the name 00:37:00.099 --> 00:37:00.539 of the Lord 00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:00.860 Jesus. 00:37:01.820 --> 00:37:02.079 Amen.