WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.679 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:11.679 --> 00:01:13.920 Standing, let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:22.560 Father, sometimes your Word completely shocks us. It doesn't say things that we think it should say, 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:29.280 and not only does it shock us, Father, but sometimes it confuses us. And Father, if we're honest, 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:36.000 sometimes it's a bit of a blow and makes us wonder about the whole Christian thing and knowing you. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:41.760 So Father, we ask that we thank you for your Word. We know that everything you wrote, you wrote because 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:48.480 you love us and you want us to know you better and to follow you and to walk in truth and goodness 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:54.400 and beauty. We ask that your Holy Spirit would fall with gentle power, quiet our minds, and help us to 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:59.200 receive all that you desire to give us this morning through your Word. And we ask this in the name of 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:03.439 Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:13.920 So, you still see some of these things in the local news, but my wife and I live in one of those parts 00:02:13.920 --> 00:02:20.879 of Ottawa that had all the Canada Day floods. We, in fact, had a six, seven, eight inches in, 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:26.400 in, we live in a semi-detail, a split level. And so the bottom level, we had, I don't know, six, seven, 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:35.039 eight inches of water in our basement. And boy, at the time, it felt really hard. And we, you know, 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.840 I, turns out it happened to all sorts of, all of our neighbors throughout the neighborhood. And 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:44.639 Louise and I now really think that God was very kind to us in terms of the limited amount of damage 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:53.839 that we had. But I think it was the day after I decided to look at my insurance policy to see if 00:02:53.839 --> 00:03:02.399 the flood was covered. Good Lord, I think that was written by a lawyer to confuse you so you couldn't 00:03:02.399 --> 00:03:07.759 understand it. I have the vaguest, I have, I have the vaguest idea in the world whether I would have 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:13.519 been covered for anything that happened to me. Now, as it turns out, we didn't need it. But I mention all 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:18.240 of this because one of the things about our church is that I want to be a church where there's never 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:22.960 buyer's regret. So, you know, if I thought that I had some money coming because of my insurance 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:28.640 and it turns out I had none, there'd be some regret about it. And I want us to be a, I believe 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:33.760 Christianity is true. I think it's good. I think it's beautiful. I think Jesus really did rise from 00:03:33.760 --> 00:03:40.480 the dead. I think he died on the cross because he loves you. And I think he is calling you to be his 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:45.679 child and to follow him and that God desires you to be not only in union with Christ but 00:03:45.679 --> 00:03:51.919 to be in union with him and to grow in beatitude. And I believe all of those things. And so I don't 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:58.239 want there to be things that come up. Some of you might, if you have friends who are ex-evangelicals 00:03:58.239 --> 00:04:04.000 or skeptics, they might throw this text at you. And so that's why we're looking at it. When I, 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.120 in our summer psalm series this year, all of the speakers were to choose between 120 and 150. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:15.439 And I chose last. And I always look through those psalms just to make sure there's some balance to 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:20.319 what people pick. But if there's a psalm which is really problematic, I make sure that I'm going to 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:26.399 preach on it because it's partly how I help you as the congregation to read the Bible and to have a 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:30.879 confidence in it. So that's why we're looking at this psalm. There might be a couple of other times 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:36.879 in this sermon where it's a bit gruesome. I'm not going to apologize for it, but I am going to let 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:41.040 you know there's some things in there that might be a little bit gruesome to you. I mean, we already 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:50.800 got it, right? So what we're going to do, by the way, like as I, you know, as I like worked on this 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:58.399 psalm this week, like I realize how important this psalm is and how important the hard bits of the Bible are 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:04.239 for Christians if we want to grow and know more about ourselves and more about God. But I'll show 00:05:04.239 --> 00:05:10.479 you what I mean. So get out your Bibles. It's helpful to me and helpful to you. If you're going to learn 00:05:10.479 --> 00:05:15.279 how to read the Bible for yourselves, it's helpful if you have a Bible with you. Just let you know that 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:22.319 if you can't read your phone without being distracted by Facebook or TikTok or Instagram, there's this weird 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:29.839 invention called paper books. And what you should do is bring one of a paper book with you on Sunday. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:36.240 If you can look at it online, but, and without being distracted, then that's fine. But I invite you to 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.199 take your Bible so you can read for yourself and see if I'm skipping things or twisting things or 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:46.079 anything like that. And it's Psalm 137. And what we're going to do is I'm going to read the whole psalm 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:50.319 again. We're going to look and spend a couple of minutes in that really hard part at the end. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.560 And then I'm going to read this whole psalm again, but go a bit slower and explain 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:59.920 some of the language and the imagery to you. What I can tell you right now, though, is that 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:06.240 I do spend time looking in commentaries to look in the original languages. This is a well-translated psalm. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.120 It's not going to be one of those cases that I say, oh, well, if you actually read in the original 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.240 language, it doesn't mean this. No, no, no. This is a very well-translated psalm. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.480 So it says what it says. So let's hear it together. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:30.160 By the waters of Babylon there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:38.800 we hung up our leers, for there our captors were quiet of the songs and our tormentors, mirth, saying, 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:47.680 sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:54.079 O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. If I do not 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:01.920 remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy." Now just sort of pause here. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:10.000 Even without necessarily knowing what the symbolism is and historical context, you can really, I think, 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:15.839 hopefully capture the first part of the psalm in particular has been well beloved by Christians. It 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:26.319 captures deep emotion and longings and yearnings and there's just something heart-tugging about that part. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:35.279 And then it takes this sudden turn. You have this profoundly emotional, sad, and yet longing psalm, and then this 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:44.159 dark turn. Look at verse 7. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites, the day of Jerusalem, how they said, 00:07:44.159 --> 00:07:51.279 lay it bare, lay it bare down to its foundations, O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:57.919 Blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us. Blessed shall he be who takes your 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:05.040 little ones and dashes them against the rocks. And as I said, that's well translated. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:18.319 So, like, whoa, right? Whoa. Not, not whoa is in terms of whoa is me, but whoa, like, what on earth is going on here? I could well imagine 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:24.480 people hearing this for the first time. I think of some of the people I share about Christianity with, 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.640 who know that I'm a Christian, they probably would say, I could never accept a book from God that would 00:08:30.640 --> 00:08:36.240 have something like that. And I could never, if you say that God wrote that and he wrote it as something 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:41.039 for us that we can pray, I could never worship a God that would say something like that. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.960 And, in fact, I might even say, George, this is barbaric. Like, do you pray like this? 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.879 Is that what you actually do? 00:08:51.920 --> 00:08:56.400 So, what's going on? So, one of the things, one of the ways, not the only way, but one of the ways to 00:08:56.400 --> 00:09:03.600 understand what the Bible is, is it's ultimately a word from God. Every word is, every individual word 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:09.040 in the sentence and the paragraphs, the whole bit, it's all God's word. And part of what the Bible is, 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:15.919 is both a mirror to help us understand ourselves and a window to help us understand who God is 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:21.519 and what he's done in Christ and what he's calling us to. That's one way to understand what the Bible is. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:28.079 Not the only way, but it's an important way. It's a mirror and a window. And so, when we read this again, 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:29.920 here's the problem. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:38.000 Almost every single Canadian agrees with verse 9. 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:45.440 They say, no, no, George. Bashing babies' heads against, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, George. 00:09:45.520 --> 00:09:50.580 Like, virtually no Canadian agrees with that. And I say that almost every Canadians agree with this. 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:54.740 It wouldn't matter if I'm in the hippest, trendiest coffee shop, which I couldn't tell you what it is 00:09:54.740 --> 00:10:00.180 because I'm closer to hip replacement than hip. And I have no idea what that would really be, 00:10:00.180 --> 00:10:04.980 unless one somebody told me. But whether it's a Tim Hortons, like the one just down the street with 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:09.460 lots of street people, Canadians agree with this. They say, no, they don't. Yes, they do. 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:15.480 What's one of the most popular types of YouTube videos? Instant karma. You know what that is? 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:20.720 Instant karma is where you maybe have somebody having road rage and they're exploding in anger. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:25.040 And then the next thing you see is that there's a cop car behind them. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:29.399 And the person having road rage is arrested. And it's called instant karma. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:34.240 But what is it that most Canadians would agree as a fundamental moral principle? 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.480 What goes around? 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.500 You know, what you do is going to happen to you. 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:44.879 Isn't that what most Canadians think? 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.019 That's what most Canadians think. 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:51.939 So look at verse 8 and 9 again more slowly. 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:56.259 Why is it that the psalmist prays verse 9? 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:57.539 Look at verse 8. 00:10:57.539 --> 00:11:02.360 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:05.659 blessed shall he be who repays you 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:13.059 with what you have done to us. 00:11:13.059 --> 00:11:16.939 What did the Babylonians do to them? 00:11:18.079 --> 00:11:21.539 They took their babies and smashed their heads against the rocks. 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:29.959 And what the psalmist is praying is what goes around comes around. 00:11:32.339 --> 00:11:37.299 Now, I think like most people, we're a bit shocked with this. 00:11:37.299 --> 00:11:41.939 You see, often what happens is that we miss the opportunity for the Bible 00:11:41.939 --> 00:11:45.779 to be a mirror to help us to understand what we actually say 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:46.979 and what we actually think. 00:11:47.719 --> 00:11:49.620 And I think most of us would want to sputter 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:51.539 and try to make some exceptions about it. 00:11:51.579 --> 00:11:55.679 But what the Bible does here is vastly better and vastly wiser. 00:11:58.479 --> 00:12:00.459 Vastly better and vastly better. 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:03.980 In fact, what often happens is because we get caught up with the problem 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.580 and don't have any self-awareness, 00:12:08.379 --> 00:12:10.740 we miss the opportunity of the psalm. 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:14.000 So now let's go back and read the psalm from the beginning. 00:12:14.660 --> 00:12:16.180 But if we read it from the beginning, 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.259 I think maybe the way it was designed was that we go, 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:19.780 whoa, what's that last line? 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:21.680 Let me read this over again. 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:24.320 And now if we read it over again in light of the last line 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:25.639 and the line just before that, 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:30.340 now there's an opportunity for us to have a profound empathy. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.100 See, one of the functions of literature in general, 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.419 whether it's poetry or like books, stories, 00:12:35.699 --> 00:12:38.779 is that it allows us, when it's well done, 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.220 to enter into the lived experience of other people, 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:43.439 that's empathy, and then have compassion on them. 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:47.199 So let's now take this opportunity and reread the psalm 00:12:47.199 --> 00:12:51.299 in light of what has happened to the person who's written the psalm. 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:53.480 Go back to verse 1. 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:58.639 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.480 when we remembered Zion. 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.480 Now, Babylon's... 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.080 So what's partially happened here is... 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:08.539 It's not partially. 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:11.820 What's happened is that in 586 B.C., 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:14.759 Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.899 has destroyed Jerusalem and conquered the nation of Israel. 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:20.659 And the nation of Israel will not be a nation again. 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:24.620 In fact, they won't fundamentally be a nation for centuries and centuries 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:26.319 and centuries and centuries and centuries, 00:13:26.439 --> 00:13:27.199 but they're destroyed. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:28.319 Jerusalem is destroyed. 00:13:28.939 --> 00:13:31.339 And many of the people from Israel, 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:33.600 who haven't died in the conquest, 00:13:33.839 --> 00:13:35.159 have been taken back to Babylon. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.759 It's an attempt to completely cut off their ties 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:41.079 to that original land. 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:43.740 And that historically happened. 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:45.759 And what happened, though, 00:13:46.520 --> 00:13:47.700 bits and pieces like this, 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:49.639 is that Babylon ended up becoming 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:52.000 what I would call a synecdoche, 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.259 which is a really, really weird, rare word 00:13:55.259 --> 00:13:56.879 that virtually nobody ever uses, 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:58.420 a synecdoche. 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:00.520 I'm probably not pronouncing it really correctly. 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:02.740 And what that is, 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.299 is, like, if I say Wall Street, 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:06.639 you all know that I'm not actually 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.799 talking about a street in New York City. 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:11.120 I'm talking about capitalism. 00:14:11.439 --> 00:14:14.779 I'm talking about America and economic might. 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:15.679 If I say Hollywood, 00:14:15.819 --> 00:14:17.600 I'm not just talking about a little neighborhood 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.399 in the greater Los Angeles area. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:21.899 I'm talking about movies 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:24.059 and all of that type of thing, right? 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:25.500 Bay Street, the same type of thing. 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:26.240 You know, Parliament, 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.159 you're talking about government 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.279 and all of those types of things. 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:32.000 And Babylon ends up becoming in the Bible. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:33.659 After this time, 00:14:33.719 --> 00:14:35.139 if you read the Old Testament prophets, 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:36.240 you read the New Testament, 00:14:36.819 --> 00:14:38.120 even in the Old Testament, 00:14:38.319 --> 00:14:40.039 who shows up in the Old Testament 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:42.559 is the whore of Babylon. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.759 And it becomes a symbol. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.179 So that to say it, 00:14:46.219 --> 00:14:47.399 you're not just thinking of something 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.120 that happened in history once 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.939 and a place on the planet. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.500 Babylon represents and is a short form 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:57.220 for concentrated human 00:14:57.220 --> 00:14:58.740 and demonic power, 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.040 organized, active, 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:04.440 against, and hostile to the Lord 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:05.480 and to his people. 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:06.860 That's what Babylon is. 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:09.040 Babylon is a concentration 00:15:09.040 --> 00:15:11.480 of human and demonic power 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.560 that's hostile to the triune God 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:17.320 and is active against the triune God, 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:18.379 not just sort of sitting there 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:19.460 passive-aggressive, 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:21.000 but active-aggressive 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.160 against the triune God 00:15:22.160 --> 00:15:23.080 and his people. 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:24.259 And that's what Babylon 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:25.320 ends up representing. 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.300 It is in a... 00:15:27.300 --> 00:15:29.240 And so that's partially how 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:30.300 when we now read it, 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:31.100 I mean, obviously, 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:32.340 the person writing this psalm 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:33.600 wouldn't know that that was God 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.980 was setting the stage for Babylon. 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:38.020 It's part of the wisdom of God 00:15:38.020 --> 00:15:39.340 causing Scripture to be written 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.120 that this word that is, 00:15:41.400 --> 00:15:41.720 for him, 00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:43.500 a specific historical event. 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:44.480 He is... 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.379 In fact, it's so moving. 00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:48.640 If you realize that what's happened 00:15:48.640 --> 00:15:49.480 is the person 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:51.420 and the group of people singing this, 00:15:51.419 --> 00:15:54.819 they are sitting in the center 00:15:54.819 --> 00:15:56.019 of the people 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:57.419 who have conquered them. 00:15:58.439 --> 00:16:00.179 And they are in a place of beauty. 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:02.319 I mean, many of us on our holidays, 00:16:02.439 --> 00:16:03.519 we want to go to water 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.019 because there's something restful 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:06.679 and beautiful about water, 00:16:06.819 --> 00:16:08.679 about beautiful waterways 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:09.740 and rivers 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:11.419 and all of the flourishing 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:12.240 that goes with it, 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.740 irrigating of land for flowers 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.299 and trees and fruit and beauty 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.419 and birds and bees. 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:20.719 We're going to the ocean 00:16:20.719 --> 00:16:21.839 and there they are 00:16:21.839 --> 00:16:24.459 in a place of profound beauty 00:16:24.459 --> 00:16:26.579 where the Babylonian people 00:16:26.579 --> 00:16:27.839 would think it was an honor 00:16:27.839 --> 00:16:28.579 that they could go 00:16:28.579 --> 00:16:30.259 and wander amongst that 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:31.019 and see it. 00:16:31.179 --> 00:16:33.879 And they are sitting there weeping 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:36.719 because they remember Zion. 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:37.740 Now, I'm going to explain 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:39.120 Zion imagery in a moment. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.319 You'll explain why 00:16:41.319 --> 00:16:42.679 that's an important word. 00:16:42.939 --> 00:16:43.919 But they're there weeping. 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:46.120 And then, so what do they do? 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:47.740 And the problem isn't that they're, 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:48.940 they can't, 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.779 the point of the psalm isn't, 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:51.519 listen, stop, 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:53.080 don't remember Zion. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:54.899 It only makes you sad. 00:16:55.379 --> 00:16:58.080 Forget Zion and be happy. 00:16:58.200 --> 00:16:59.460 No, no, part of this is 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:01.460 sometimes we need to remember 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:03.299 even when it makes us sad 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.640 because as we'll see in a moment, 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:06.440 that remember, 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:08.119 this particular remembering 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:09.900 is really important 00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:11.740 in terms of them 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:13.579 turning their complete life around. 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:15.160 Look what happens 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:16.720 in verse 2 and 3 first, though. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.060 On the willows there 00:17:19.060 --> 00:17:20.480 we hung up our leers, 00:17:20.560 --> 00:17:22.440 like a type of guitar slash harp. 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:24.080 On the willows there 00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:25.300 we hung up our leers, 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:26.980 for there are captors 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:29.500 required of us songs 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:31.640 and our tormentors mirth, 00:17:31.860 --> 00:17:32.259 saying, 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:34.840 sing us one of the songs of Zion. 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:41.019 I'm going to say it. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:45.480 All week as I've been working 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:46.240 on this psalm, 00:17:46.659 --> 00:17:48.579 I've just been back 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:50.220 thinking of the video footage 00:17:50.220 --> 00:17:50.879 that came out 00:17:50.879 --> 00:17:53.199 after that horrendous attack 00:17:53.199 --> 00:17:54.879 on Israel on October 7, 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:55.980 2023. 00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:59.419 And part of what was so horrendous 00:17:59.419 --> 00:18:00.459 about that 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:02.539 was not only what they did, 00:18:03.100 --> 00:18:04.319 but the fact that 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.140 they were so proud of it, 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:08.480 so gleeful about it. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.539 And the video footage 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:12.319 of them bringing women 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:13.519 who'd been raped 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.380 and murdered 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:17.860 in the backs of trucks, 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:21.199 and they howl with delight 00:18:21.199 --> 00:18:23.039 and old men 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:24.079 and old women 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:25.719 and young children 00:18:25.719 --> 00:18:29.079 and young men and women 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:30.240 all clapping 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:31.019 and cheering 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:31.879 and laughing 00:18:31.879 --> 00:18:33.019 of what has happened. 00:18:33.699 --> 00:18:36.179 It is so horrific. 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:39.359 And so how do we read 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.959 these verses 2 and 3? 00:18:41.939 --> 00:18:44.559 They've had their babies 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.559 heads bashed in. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.440 And they are in the place 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:50.980 where even if the people 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:52.159 around them 00:18:52.159 --> 00:18:53.220 hadn't done it, 00:18:53.779 --> 00:18:55.440 they have no shame. 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:57.200 They have no guilt. 00:18:57.779 --> 00:18:59.379 They have no embarrassment. 00:18:59.879 --> 00:19:01.240 They are proud of it. 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:03.839 They are gleeful about it. 00:19:04.179 --> 00:19:05.279 And they want to rub 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.779 their noses in it. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:07.720 You see, 00:19:07.859 --> 00:19:08.700 if you understand 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:09.359 what's happened 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.559 at the end of the psalm, 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:11.919 it opens the door 00:19:11.919 --> 00:19:12.799 for you to enter 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:13.799 into it emotionally. 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:14.559 And that's why 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:15.859 you can't read this psalm. 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:16.240 For me, 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:16.819 I couldn't read it 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:17.299 without thinking 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:17.819 of what happened 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:19.240 on October 7, 2023 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.059 to the Jewish people. 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:24.500 So they're there. 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:26.000 They're surrounded by people. 00:19:26.139 --> 00:19:27.159 And it's actually 00:19:27.159 --> 00:19:27.779 very interesting. 00:19:27.919 --> 00:19:29.279 The word tormentors there. 00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:30.579 You see the word tormentors 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:34.159 in verse 3? 00:19:34.959 --> 00:19:35.679 I can't remember 00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:36.219 the name of it. 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:37.639 There's a literary term for it. 00:19:37.659 --> 00:19:38.740 But it's the only place 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:39.579 in the Old Testament, 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:41.039 and I think the only place 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:42.399 in ancient Jewish literature 00:19:42.399 --> 00:19:43.619 where this word appears. 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:45.359 So that's why you'll see 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:46.159 some translations 00:19:46.159 --> 00:19:47.740 translated a little bit differently. 00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:50.000 But where the word comes from, 00:19:50.159 --> 00:19:50.940 part of the image 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:52.039 behind the word 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:55.139 is literally 00:19:55.139 --> 00:19:56.779 just like seeing those scenes 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:58.099 in Gaza 00:19:58.099 --> 00:19:59.279 where the people 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:00.559 are cheering and whooping. 00:20:02.779 --> 00:20:03.680 I'm not recommending 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:04.440 you see this movie, 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:05.399 but there was a movie 00:20:05.399 --> 00:20:05.879 that came out 00:20:05.879 --> 00:20:06.519 a little while ago 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:07.899 starring Charlize Theron 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:09.580 about a kayaker 00:20:09.580 --> 00:20:10.800 and she ends up being chased 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:12.500 by this really, really crazy guy. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:13.600 And there's a scene in there, 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:14.680 a crazy evil guy 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.040 who wants to kill her. 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:17.580 And there's a scene in there 00:20:17.580 --> 00:20:18.300 regularly 00:20:18.300 --> 00:20:19.600 where he's howling. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:21.040 Howling. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:21.840 And that's the word 00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:23.580 tormentor there. 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:24.660 It has added this idea 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:25.640 of howling. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.880 Think of Western movies 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.000 where you have the bad, 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:29.940 the terrible, 00:20:30.340 --> 00:20:31.519 the evil rancher 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:33.940 coming to an innocent homesteader 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:34.600 and they've just burned 00:20:34.600 --> 00:20:35.140 the house down 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:36.060 and killed the dad 00:20:36.060 --> 00:20:36.660 and all of that. 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:37.620 And the cowboys 00:20:37.619 --> 00:20:38.059 are running around 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:40.059 howling in glee 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:41.059 and excitement 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:42.059 about the evil 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:42.959 that they're inflicting. 00:20:43.159 --> 00:20:44.159 And that's the root 00:20:44.159 --> 00:20:45.299 of the word tormentor. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:50.019 This psalm, 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:51.959 once you realize 00:20:51.959 --> 00:20:53.139 what the ending is 00:20:53.139 --> 00:20:54.299 and these people 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:55.119 are sitting there 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:58.539 and they are surrounded 00:20:58.539 --> 00:20:59.699 by people continuing 00:20:59.699 --> 00:21:01.379 to howlingly, 00:21:01.899 --> 00:21:04.039 laughingly mock them. 00:21:04.879 --> 00:21:06.059 Sing us one of the songs 00:21:06.059 --> 00:21:06.639 of Zion. 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:09.479 And you also actually see 00:21:09.479 --> 00:21:11.019 there part of the importance 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:12.579 of the word remember. 00:21:13.159 --> 00:21:14.259 You see there 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:15.379 the beginning of their 00:21:15.379 --> 00:21:16.599 internal freedom 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:17.679 and defiance. 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:19.419 Because what did they do? 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:22.119 Hung up their harps. 00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:25.099 Not going to do it. 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:27.739 What are you going to do us? 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:29.719 Bash my kids' heads in 00:21:29.719 --> 00:21:30.299 against rocks? 00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:31.479 You've already done that to me. 00:21:32.139 --> 00:21:33.079 Not going to do it. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.879 And then it turns 00:21:36.879 --> 00:21:37.619 into this thing 00:21:37.619 --> 00:21:39.139 of longing and yearning. 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:40.220 Look at verses 00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:41.119 the next section. 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:43.759 The psalm is three triplets. 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:45.059 One to three, 00:21:45.199 --> 00:21:45.819 four to six, 00:21:45.899 --> 00:21:46.679 and then seven to nine. 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:48.699 Each one two lines. 00:21:49.159 --> 00:21:49.839 And look what happens. 00:21:49.899 --> 00:21:50.619 Look how it moves 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:51.179 into something 00:21:51.179 --> 00:21:51.779 that ends up 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:52.679 into longing. 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:54.519 How shall we sing 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:55.339 the Lord's song 00:21:55.339 --> 00:21:56.139 in a foreign land? 00:21:56.220 --> 00:21:56.519 Now just, 00:21:56.679 --> 00:21:57.279 I'm going to talk about 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:57.859 this more in a moment, 00:21:57.939 --> 00:21:58.699 but notice the end 00:21:58.699 --> 00:21:59.240 of verse three. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:00.199 Sing us one of the songs 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:00.740 of Zion. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:01.840 Verse four, 00:22:01.900 --> 00:22:02.519 how shall we sing 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:03.180 the Lord's song 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:03.900 in a foreign land? 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:05.059 To sing a song of Zion 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:06.180 and to sing the Lord's song 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:07.740 is to sing the same thing. 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:09.720 But partly how we start 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:10.240 to understand 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.140 what's going on here. 00:22:12.140 --> 00:22:13.180 If I forget you, 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:13.920 O Jerusalem, 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:16.380 let my right hand 00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:17.360 forget its skill. 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:18.279 Let my tongue 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:19.360 stick to the roof 00:22:19.360 --> 00:22:19.980 of my mouth. 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:21.600 If I do not remember you, 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:23.299 if I do not set Jerusalem 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:24.819 above my highest joy. 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:28.579 You know, 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:29.980 when you tell people, 00:22:30.159 --> 00:22:30.299 you know, 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:30.939 forget about it. 00:22:31.019 --> 00:22:31.919 Stop thinking about that 00:22:31.919 --> 00:22:32.519 and move on. 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:34.159 You ask them to forget about it 00:22:34.159 --> 00:22:34.720 because you ask them 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.500 to do something. 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:36.559 If you ask people 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:37.480 to remember something, 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:38.539 like remember who you are, 00:22:38.639 --> 00:22:39.299 remember what you're called, 00:22:39.399 --> 00:22:39.980 remember the mission, 00:22:40.179 --> 00:22:41.039 it's you remember 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:42.099 to do something. 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:43.119 And that's the same thing 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.159 which is going on here. 00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:45.619 And they're saying 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:46.419 that they want, 00:22:46.419 --> 00:22:49.539 and so what's going on here 00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:51.259 is Zion and Jerusalem 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:52.279 and the Lord. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:55.220 It's in this particular context, 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.339 it's another synoptic. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.539 It's on one hand, 00:23:01.619 --> 00:23:01.879 of course, 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:02.980 Zion is a mountain. 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:04.399 On the other, 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:04.960 and one hand, 00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:07.019 Jerusalem is a particular place. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:09.539 But in this particular case, 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:11.099 it connected with the Lord. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:13.480 It's a bigger reality. 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.680 It's referring to 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:18.000 that place 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.059 where God is personally present, 00:23:21.059 --> 00:23:23.139 His loyal love 00:23:23.139 --> 00:23:24.200 is experienced, 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:26.599 His rule and affection 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:27.440 for you 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:28.480 is experienced 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:29.980 under His sovereign rule, 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:30.940 and that's what's being 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:31.940 represented here 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:32.619 by the words 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:33.980 Jerusalem and Zion. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:35.339 And that's why 00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:36.299 if you look at verse 6 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:36.859 when it says, 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:38.539 if I do not set Jerusalem 00:23:38.539 --> 00:23:39.720 above my highest joy, 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:41.440 that's why it's not blasphemy. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:42.359 You see, 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:43.579 for an Orthodox Jew 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:45.159 and for us as a Christian, 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:45.980 if we were to say 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:46.519 that Jerusalem 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:47.779 should be our highest joy, 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:49.379 no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:50.680 The Lord should be 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:51.540 our highest joy. 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:52.760 So that's why 00:23:52.760 --> 00:23:54.560 the Jerusalem, Zion, 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:55.120 the Lord, 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:56.760 they're all intertwined here 00:23:56.760 --> 00:23:59.120 and it's a synecdoche 00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:01.880 and it's depicting 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:06.480 something very, very, very profound. 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:08.260 And it's something 00:24:08.260 --> 00:24:09.120 which I've noticed 00:24:09.120 --> 00:24:09.840 has been happening 00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:10.700 in small ways 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:11.460 in our culture. 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:12.880 I've had, 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:14.980 I know of people 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:16.220 who have become Christians 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:16.920 over the last 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:17.779 seven or eight years 00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:18.700 and part of the reason 00:24:18.700 --> 00:24:19.779 they have become Christians 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:21.100 is because 00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:23.000 there is so much 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.340 evil going on 00:24:24.340 --> 00:24:25.240 in our world 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:27.259 and rather than evil 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:28.079 making them think 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.279 that God doesn't exist, 00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:30.559 it leads them to think 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.279 God has to exist. 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:36.799 Evil can't be 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.039 the ultimate thing. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:42.259 And these people 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:42.960 have experienced 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.960 something completely horrendous. 00:24:45.339 --> 00:24:46.599 They've seen their friends 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:47.599 and neighbors killed, 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:49.159 they've seen their children killed 00:24:49.159 --> 00:24:50.720 in a very, very cruel way. 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:52.420 They are in captivity, 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:53.859 they are being tormented 00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:55.639 and this experience 00:24:55.639 --> 00:24:57.440 of profound evil 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.019 is said, 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.319 above the evil, 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.119 above the fog, 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:05.839 above the clouds, 00:25:06.259 --> 00:25:07.619 there must be the sun. 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.219 there must be God. 00:25:12.699 --> 00:25:14.179 There has to be God. 00:25:17.239 --> 00:25:17.839 And I mean, 00:25:17.879 --> 00:25:18.339 on one level 00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:18.819 we can say 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:19.779 that the highest joy 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:20.539 for every person 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:21.500 is an empirical thing, 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:22.159 we could figure out 00:25:22.159 --> 00:25:23.579 what anybody's highest joy is, 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:24.619 but we all understand 00:25:24.619 --> 00:25:25.919 and this is something 00:25:25.919 --> 00:25:28.000 that's hard for Canadians. 00:25:28.159 --> 00:25:29.119 Canadians on one hand, 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:30.159 I think the average 00:25:30.159 --> 00:25:31.059 secular Canadian 00:25:31.059 --> 00:25:31.719 doesn't believe 00:25:31.719 --> 00:25:32.519 there is really 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:33.839 anything transcendent, 00:25:33.899 --> 00:25:34.419 but on the other hand 00:25:34.419 --> 00:25:35.059 they also wish 00:25:35.059 --> 00:25:35.839 that there was. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:38.480 that there was 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:39.519 a highest joy 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:40.639 that really deserves 00:25:40.639 --> 00:25:42.339 to be our highest joy. 00:25:42.699 --> 00:25:43.240 And what a way 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:43.899 to describe 00:25:43.899 --> 00:25:45.379 the true and living God, 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:45.819 the good, 00:25:45.919 --> 00:25:46.139 the true, 00:25:46.179 --> 00:25:46.699 and the beautiful, 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:48.179 who is God 00:25:48.179 --> 00:25:51.619 where my highest joy is. 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:54.339 What is it partially about 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:55.339 to become a Christian? 00:25:55.919 --> 00:25:56.799 Partly what it means 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:57.619 to be a Christian 00:25:57.619 --> 00:25:59.779 is to be so trained 00:25:59.779 --> 00:26:01.159 by the word 00:26:01.159 --> 00:26:02.159 and so encouraged 00:26:02.879 --> 00:26:04.199 by the Christian community 00:26:04.199 --> 00:26:05.659 and so gripped 00:26:05.659 --> 00:26:06.279 with their memory 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:07.059 of the gospel 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:08.919 that God begins 00:26:08.919 --> 00:26:10.479 to grow within you 00:26:10.479 --> 00:26:12.199 an ever deeper longing 00:26:12.199 --> 00:26:13.059 and yearning 00:26:13.059 --> 00:26:16.379 for the highest joy. 00:26:17.679 --> 00:26:19.419 To make our realization 00:26:19.419 --> 00:26:21.199 that any joy is good, 00:26:22.019 --> 00:26:23.659 but beyond the joy 00:26:23.659 --> 00:26:24.959 of joy of joys 00:26:24.959 --> 00:26:25.759 of joys 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:27.079 is the highest joy 00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:28.619 of joy. 00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:30.379 It's not just something 00:26:30.379 --> 00:26:31.479 completely irrelevant 00:26:31.479 --> 00:26:36.019 because above the pain, 00:26:36.179 --> 00:26:37.199 above the evil, 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:38.419 above the devil, 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:39.619 above Babylon, 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:42.359 the true and living God exists 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:44.179 and in his presence 00:26:44.179 --> 00:26:45.259 is the fullness 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:47.419 of joy. 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:52.840 Why did Jesus go to the cross? 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:56.019 For the joy set before him 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:57.500 in obedience to God, 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:00.220 the joy that he desires you and me 00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:01.480 to enter into 00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:03.560 in union with him. 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:07.180 But meanwhile, 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:08.240 there is the weeping, 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.539 but their weeping 00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:11.299 has turned 00:27:11.299 --> 00:27:12.099 to longing. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:19.180 Now we look 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:20.039 at just a couple of 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.000 lessons from that final part, 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:22.819 the hard part. 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:25.759 It takes a very, 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:26.519 as I said, 00:27:26.579 --> 00:27:27.279 dark turn. 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:28.220 It's interesting, 00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:29.039 this psalm, 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:32.579 but, you know, 00:27:32.619 --> 00:27:33.119 by the way, 00:27:33.159 --> 00:27:34.339 one of the byproducts 00:27:34.339 --> 00:27:35.420 of this psalm for us 00:27:35.420 --> 00:27:36.180 is that, 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:39.099 especially with lots 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:40.019 of new Canadians 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:41.200 coming amongst us, 00:27:41.259 --> 00:27:41.980 but it doesn't even have 00:27:41.980 --> 00:27:42.779 to be new Canadians. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:43.619 It could be that 00:27:43.619 --> 00:27:44.659 we might know people 00:27:44.659 --> 00:27:45.819 and not realize that, 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:46.960 you know, 00:27:47.019 --> 00:27:48.539 that seemingly well 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:49.339 put together woman 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:50.099 or maybe a woman 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:50.759 who doesn't seem 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:51.440 to be very well 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:51.899 put together, 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:52.420 a man, 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:54.240 that they endured 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.359 decades of sexual abuse 00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:57.479 or some other type of abuse 00:27:57.479 --> 00:27:58.339 when they were younger 00:27:58.339 --> 00:27:59.659 and endured 00:27:59.659 --> 00:28:01.019 some horrendous pain, 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:01.799 which is just, 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:02.799 thank be to God, 00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:04.219 I never had to endure. 00:28:05.779 --> 00:28:06.959 But we can have people 00:28:06.959 --> 00:28:07.899 coming from 00:28:07.899 --> 00:28:09.459 northern Nigeria 00:28:09.459 --> 00:28:10.719 or other parts 00:28:10.719 --> 00:28:11.219 of the world 00:28:11.219 --> 00:28:12.119 who have endured 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:14.879 horrendous evil. 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:18.619 And this psalm 00:28:18.619 --> 00:28:19.919 is partially a call 00:28:19.919 --> 00:28:20.639 for us 00:28:20.639 --> 00:28:21.899 to be aware 00:28:21.899 --> 00:28:22.459 of the fact 00:28:22.459 --> 00:28:23.279 that this is really 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:23.919 in the world 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.220 and to pray 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:26.800 that God 00:28:26.800 --> 00:28:27.460 would make us 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:28.720 the type of person 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:31.240 that that person 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:32.120 who just needs 00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:32.640 to be able 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:33.180 to share 00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:33.960 with somebody 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:34.720 who isn't going 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:35.220 to give them 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:36.180 a glib answer 00:28:36.180 --> 00:28:37.080 but is willing 00:28:37.080 --> 00:28:39.279 to just hold 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:39.960 their hand 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:43.060 and let them weep 00:28:43.060 --> 00:28:45.220 while you pray 00:28:45.220 --> 00:28:45.759 for them 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:47.460 in your mind. 00:28:49.300 --> 00:28:50.140 That's the type 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:50.560 of people 00:28:50.560 --> 00:28:51.340 God wants us 00:28:51.340 --> 00:28:52.140 to be in Christ. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:58.340 Because there are 00:28:58.340 --> 00:28:59.160 people in the world 00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:00.620 who have experienced 00:29:00.620 --> 00:29:03.840 shocking evil. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:07.019 One of the things 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:07.900 that this psalm does 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:08.380 as we go into 00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:09.380 these last three verses, 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:10.140 I'll just read it 00:29:10.140 --> 00:29:10.580 and I'm going to say 00:29:10.580 --> 00:29:11.220 a few more things. 00:29:11.340 --> 00:29:11.600 Remember, 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:11.900 Lord, 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:12.779 against the Edomites. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:13.539 Who are the Edomites? 00:29:13.640 --> 00:29:14.440 The Edomites are like 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:15.560 a code word in the Bible 00:29:15.560 --> 00:29:17.220 for people who 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:19.600 they're the fellow 00:29:19.600 --> 00:29:21.039 travelers of Babylon. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.960 They have a historic 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:25.279 hatred of God's people. 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:26.180 Remember, 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:26.639 O Lord, 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:27.500 against the Edomites 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:28.299 the day of Jerusalem 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:28.899 how they said, 00:29:29.180 --> 00:29:30.019 lay it bare, 00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:30.539 lay it bare, 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:31.139 tear it down 00:29:31.139 --> 00:29:31.960 to its foundations. 00:29:32.099 --> 00:29:32.960 O daughter of Babylon 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:34.119 doomed to be destroyed, 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:35.339 blessed shall he be 00:29:35.339 --> 00:29:36.759 who repays you 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:37.440 with what you have 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:38.220 done to us. 00:29:39.379 --> 00:29:40.319 Blessed shall he be 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:41.500 who takes your little ones 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:42.200 and dashes them 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:43.019 against the rock. 00:29:43.019 --> 00:29:49.740 This is a constant testimony 00:29:49.740 --> 00:29:51.259 against the glib 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:54.079 podcasters 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:55.400 and commentators 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:56.400 who try to act 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:58.000 as if there is not 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.160 real deep, 00:29:59.559 --> 00:30:01.420 deep horrific evil 00:30:01.420 --> 00:30:02.339 in the world. 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:06.519 Verse 9 is prayed 00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:08.160 because that verse 8 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.200 reveals what the Babylonians 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:11.319 have done to the person 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:11.759 praying. 00:30:13.019 --> 00:30:16.920 You know, 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.220 so there's several things 00:30:19.220 --> 00:30:19.940 sort of in closing 00:30:19.940 --> 00:30:20.639 about this. 00:30:21.059 --> 00:30:21.879 One of the things 00:30:21.879 --> 00:30:23.019 that we have problems with, 00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:23.599 remember I said 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:24.039 at the beginning, 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:25.259 I think if I was to share 00:30:25.259 --> 00:30:26.359 this scripture text 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:27.139 with some of the people 00:30:27.139 --> 00:30:27.680 that I feel 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.559 that are comfortable 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:29.379 enough with me, 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:30.299 I know of, 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:31.119 you know, 00:30:31.139 --> 00:30:31.819 one or two people 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:32.440 in particular 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:33.059 who I think 00:30:33.059 --> 00:30:34.079 would maybe ask me 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:35.000 if I read that psalm 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:35.220 to them, 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:35.460 George, 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:36.279 is that what you pray, 00:30:36.379 --> 00:30:36.819 verse 9, 00:30:36.879 --> 00:30:37.720 before you could explain 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:38.500 what was going on? 00:30:38.879 --> 00:30:39.480 Because I think 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:40.379 a lot of people think 00:30:40.379 --> 00:30:41.200 that the normal way 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:42.039 you should respond 00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:43.299 to the Bible 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:44.700 is to say, 00:30:45.099 --> 00:30:46.339 therefore go and do this. 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:48.399 That's not the normal way 00:30:48.399 --> 00:30:49.019 that you respond 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:49.579 to the Bible. 00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:51.279 You do this 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:52.180 when there's a command, 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:53.059 but there's a lot 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:53.579 of other things 00:30:53.579 --> 00:30:54.379 going on in the Bible, 00:30:54.659 --> 00:30:56.659 but the more telling thing 00:30:56.659 --> 00:30:57.500 about it 00:30:57.500 --> 00:30:58.960 when we read the Bible 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:00.539 is to ask this question, 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:02.740 is it I, 00:31:03.139 --> 00:31:03.319 Lord? 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:05.039 Is it me? 00:31:08.159 --> 00:31:09.579 So for some of us, 00:31:10.139 --> 00:31:11.379 because we all know 00:31:11.379 --> 00:31:12.359 that part of the problem 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:13.039 is that, 00:31:13.740 --> 00:31:14.019 I mean, 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.240 I know this very personally 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:16.460 in terms of my own family, 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:20.180 is that churches 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:21.039 can be a place 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.279 where there is horrific evil 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:26.200 done by pastors 00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:27.539 or Sunday school teachers 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:29.200 or people in the church 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.980 in terms of sexual abuse 00:31:30.980 --> 00:31:32.440 and to hear this psalm, 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:35.099 it's an opportunity 00:31:35.099 --> 00:31:35.879 from God 00:31:35.879 --> 00:31:36.460 for us to say, 00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:36.960 is it I, 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:37.240 Lord? 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:40.180 And if it is, 00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:41.440 if I'm that tormentor, 00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:42.599 if I have a problem 00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:43.299 with mocking, 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:44.879 maybe not as extreme as this, 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:45.879 but of really mocking, 00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:46.420 is it I, 00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:46.720 Lord? 00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:47.659 And then if it is, 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:48.759 if the Holy Spirit 00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:49.359 convicts you, 00:31:49.399 --> 00:31:49.740 it is, 00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:50.740 to call out to him, 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:51.839 to pause in the service 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:52.639 and to call out to him, 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:52.819 Lord, 00:31:52.819 --> 00:31:53.919 have mercy upon me. 00:31:55.419 --> 00:31:56.099 Please help me 00:31:56.099 --> 00:31:57.720 to put this to death in me. 00:31:58.639 --> 00:32:00.279 Help me to repent of it. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:02.059 Help me to make 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:03.279 an amendment of life 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:04.359 as much as I can 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:05.919 and turn and talk 00:32:05.919 --> 00:32:07.059 and live a different way. 00:32:07.740 --> 00:32:09.099 Am I the one consumed 00:32:09.099 --> 00:32:09.960 with such hatred? 00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:16.779 The other thing 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:19.179 is that 00:32:19.179 --> 00:32:20.159 if you're the one 00:32:20.159 --> 00:32:21.399 who's been really broken, 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:25.680 by this horrendous evil, 00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:27.400 to realize that 00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:28.900 this psalm 00:32:28.900 --> 00:32:30.360 is a message to you 00:32:30.360 --> 00:32:31.519 that God knows 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:32.340 your pain 00:32:32.340 --> 00:32:35.660 and he's encouraging you 00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:36.720 to call out to him 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:37.240 in prayer 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:38.700 without holding back 00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:39.680 and without filtering. 00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:41.000 See, 00:32:41.080 --> 00:32:42.259 God's a big God. 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:43.740 If you say things 00:32:43.740 --> 00:32:45.400 that aren't theologically correct 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:45.980 or aren't really 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:47.200 the right way to do it 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:48.180 or too bold 00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:48.519 or, 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:49.280 you know, 00:32:49.320 --> 00:32:50.120 too plain, 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:51.479 he's not like talking 00:32:51.479 --> 00:32:52.339 to a human being 00:32:52.339 --> 00:32:53.339 who might get offended. 00:32:53.699 --> 00:32:54.359 He hears. 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:55.519 He processes. 00:32:56.399 --> 00:32:56.559 He, 00:32:56.619 --> 00:32:56.939 he, 00:32:57.859 --> 00:32:58.119 I mean, 00:32:58.139 --> 00:32:58.779 he'll just say no 00:32:58.779 --> 00:32:59.899 to some of the things. 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:01.479 But you, 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:02.459 you have permission 00:33:02.459 --> 00:33:03.539 to pray 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:04.959 and you have permission 00:33:04.959 --> 00:33:07.019 to ask the Lord 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:08.199 to show you people 00:33:08.199 --> 00:33:09.319 in the body of Christ 00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:10.619 that you can maybe reveal 00:33:10.619 --> 00:33:11.399 a little bit 00:33:11.399 --> 00:33:12.199 about the horror 00:33:12.199 --> 00:33:13.419 that you experienced 00:33:13.419 --> 00:33:14.899 so that you can sit 00:33:14.899 --> 00:33:15.779 with them and weep. 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:18.299 see, 00:33:18.359 --> 00:33:19.160 that's why churches 00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:20.299 that do this psalm 00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:20.799 and never do 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.720 the last two verses 00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:23.279 are not helping 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:24.460 the congregation 00:33:24.460 --> 00:33:25.119 at all. 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:28.220 It's in the hard bits 00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:29.019 that you really get 00:33:29.019 --> 00:33:29.700 the hard bits 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:30.079 that you need 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:30.839 about yourself. 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:32.940 The other thing 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:33.879 about this psalm 00:33:33.879 --> 00:33:34.619 is that it, 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:34.899 it, 00:33:35.099 --> 00:33:35.619 it's a, 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:36.500 there's another way 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:37.000 that it's a bit 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:37.960 of a mirror to us. 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:38.759 I have to be careful 00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:39.480 here of my time. 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:39.720 I'm, 00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:40.000 I'm, 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:40.940 I'm moving on, 00:33:40.940 --> 00:33:41.200 but, 00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:42.240 you know, 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:43.680 we could look at this 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:44.279 and say, 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:45.519 so, 00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:46.039 so part of the, 00:33:46.100 --> 00:33:47.039 here's part of the problem 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:47.960 when we pray. 00:33:48.360 --> 00:33:49.600 So we should pray, 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:50.259 for instance, 00:33:50.420 --> 00:33:51.620 there's horrific things 00:33:51.620 --> 00:33:52.960 going on in northern Nigeria, 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:54.600 absolutely horrific things. 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:57.400 Islamist warlords 00:33:57.400 --> 00:33:59.340 going after Christians, 00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:00.259 killing, 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:01.019 burning, 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:01.940 raping, 00:34:02.220 --> 00:34:02.779 kidnapping, 00:34:03.960 --> 00:34:04.820 all that horrific, 00:34:05.080 --> 00:34:05.680 horrific thing. 00:34:06.100 --> 00:34:07.180 We should pray 00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:08.380 that that is brought 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:09.340 to an end. 00:34:10.940 --> 00:34:11.960 But we don't realize 00:34:11.960 --> 00:34:12.559 is praying 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:13.119 that it's brought 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:13.679 to an end 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:14.500 might mean 00:34:14.500 --> 00:34:15.420 that Nigerian 00:34:15.420 --> 00:34:16.380 special forces 00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:17.380 go and kill them. 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:20.500 We go, 00:34:20.659 --> 00:34:20.920 oh, 00:34:21.700 --> 00:34:22.480 and part of what 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:23.240 this psalm does 00:34:23.240 --> 00:34:24.039 is it makes you realize 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:24.579 what you're actually 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:25.240 praying for. 00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:27.900 You know, 00:34:28.619 --> 00:34:29.360 if you pray 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:30.539 that people, 00:34:30.980 --> 00:34:31.139 you know, 00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:32.000 in the Pakistan 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.440 intelligence services 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:34.720 who hunt down Christians 00:34:34.720 --> 00:34:35.900 and then do horrific 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:36.720 things to them, 00:34:36.740 --> 00:34:37.619 if you pray for them 00:34:37.619 --> 00:34:37.860 to, 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:38.159 to, 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:39.500 to stop 00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:40.240 and to be converted, 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.079 you're actually 00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:42.679 praying that they 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:44.059 will turn their heart, 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:44.919 but when they turn 00:34:44.919 --> 00:34:45.299 their heart 00:34:45.299 --> 00:34:46.139 and become a Christian, 00:34:46.259 --> 00:34:46.699 they'll end up 00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:47.979 being killed themselves. 00:34:48.319 --> 00:34:48.339 Like, 00:34:49.459 --> 00:34:49.639 but, 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:50.699 but Bible's not saying, 00:34:50.839 --> 00:34:51.859 it just brings out 00:34:51.859 --> 00:34:52.459 more clearly 00:34:52.459 --> 00:34:53.279 what we're praying for, 00:34:53.319 --> 00:34:53.919 but it doesn't tell us 00:34:53.919 --> 00:34:54.579 to stop praying. 00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:55.319 We always pray 00:34:55.319 --> 00:34:55.979 for justice. 00:34:56.259 --> 00:34:56.979 We always pray 00:34:56.979 --> 00:34:57.759 for deliverance. 00:34:57.819 --> 00:34:58.399 That's what we pray. 00:34:58.959 --> 00:35:00.199 This is just being 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:01.439 a little bit more specific 00:35:01.439 --> 00:35:02.379 about what it means 00:35:02.379 --> 00:35:02.879 that they get 00:35:02.879 --> 00:35:03.599 what they deserve 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:04.519 without us really 00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:05.839 fully thinking about it. 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:06.000 it, 00:35:06.420 --> 00:35:06.640 it, 00:35:06.640 --> 00:35:06.840 it, 00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:06.920 it, 00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:07.480 it helps us 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:08.200 to think about it, 00:35:08.240 --> 00:35:08.539 but not, 00:35:08.640 --> 00:35:09.180 not in a way 00:35:09.180 --> 00:35:09.900 that's depressing, 00:35:10.100 --> 00:35:10.559 but connected 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:11.220 to longings 00:35:11.220 --> 00:35:12.000 and yearnings. 00:35:12.539 --> 00:35:12.980 But, 00:35:13.180 --> 00:35:14.380 we could wonder 00:35:14.380 --> 00:35:15.019 how is it 00:35:15.019 --> 00:35:15.860 that a person 00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:16.340 could go 00:35:16.340 --> 00:35:17.140 from such deep 00:35:17.140 --> 00:35:17.620 longings 00:35:17.620 --> 00:35:18.140 and yearnings 00:35:18.140 --> 00:35:19.200 to the highest joy 00:35:19.200 --> 00:35:20.900 to praying 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:22.000 in such a dark manner? 00:35:23.600 --> 00:35:24.019 Well, 00:35:24.220 --> 00:35:25.519 I can tell you 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:26.320 how to find 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:27.320 a person like that 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:28.059 very easily 00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:30.019 so you can actually 00:35:30.019 --> 00:35:30.860 talk to them 00:35:30.860 --> 00:35:31.660 about why it is 00:35:31.660 --> 00:35:32.100 that somebody 00:35:32.100 --> 00:35:32.600 can go from 00:35:32.600 --> 00:35:33.480 such high thoughts 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:34.440 to such dark thoughts 00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:34.940 in a moment. 00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:37.519 When you leave here, 00:35:38.019 --> 00:35:38.820 go home 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:39.940 and look in a mirror 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:44.200 and you'll meet 00:35:44.200 --> 00:35:44.860 that person. 00:35:45.260 --> 00:35:45.659 Say, 00:35:45.740 --> 00:35:45.840 no, 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:46.059 no, 00:35:46.300 --> 00:35:46.440 yeah, 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:46.559 yeah, 00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:46.700 yeah, 00:35:46.700 --> 00:35:46.860 yeah, 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:47.639 think about it. 00:35:48.200 --> 00:35:49.059 How is it 00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:49.760 that we can go 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:50.320 from listening 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:51.400 to praise music 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:52.380 and just 00:35:52.380 --> 00:35:52.800 we're, 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:53.740 you know, 00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:54.340 maybe when 00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:55.740 my wife's here 00:35:55.740 --> 00:35:57.079 but if she's not home 00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:58.519 and I'm hearing 00:35:58.519 --> 00:35:59.139 some certain 00:35:59.139 --> 00:36:00.240 happy praise music 00:36:00.240 --> 00:36:00.659 I'm doing 00:36:00.659 --> 00:36:01.059 a little bit 00:36:01.059 --> 00:36:01.720 of a dance. 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:03.440 Really embarrassing, 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:04.679 terrible dancing 00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:05.320 by the way. 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:06.179 I would get 00:36:06.179 --> 00:36:07.039 so red 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:07.480 if anybody 00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:08.139 saw me. 00:36:09.139 --> 00:36:09.820 How is it 00:36:09.820 --> 00:36:10.200 I could go 00:36:10.200 --> 00:36:10.659 from something 00:36:10.659 --> 00:36:11.000 like that 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:11.280 to saying 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:12.000 something cutting 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:12.820 ten minutes later? 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:15.700 Why is it 00:36:15.700 --> 00:36:16.079 that that's where 00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:16.519 how is it 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:17.260 that human beings 00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:17.880 can go from 00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:18.460 maybe sitting 00:36:18.460 --> 00:36:18.860 and seeing 00:36:18.860 --> 00:36:19.139 the most 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:20.280 spectacular sunset 00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:20.840 coming out 00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:21.760 over the Rockies 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:23.300 and then 15 minutes 00:36:23.300 --> 00:36:23.740 later having 00:36:23.740 --> 00:36:24.659 a terrible fight 00:36:24.659 --> 00:36:25.440 with another person? 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:25.960 What is it 00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:26.780 about a human being 00:36:26.780 --> 00:36:27.260 that there's 00:36:27.260 --> 00:36:27.820 such a riddle? 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:29.579 And the Bible 00:36:29.579 --> 00:36:30.300 describes it 00:36:30.300 --> 00:36:30.860 human beings 00:36:30.860 --> 00:36:31.480 on one hand 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:32.119 because we were 00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:32.960 made for God 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:33.699 we have a longing 00:36:33.699 --> 00:36:34.139 and yearning 00:36:34.139 --> 00:36:34.679 for God 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:35.639 but at the same 00:36:35.639 --> 00:36:36.659 time we want 00:36:36.659 --> 00:36:37.639 to do evil things 00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:38.300 at the same time 00:36:38.300 --> 00:36:38.960 we want to hide 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:39.360 from him 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:40.079 and in some ways 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:40.740 this psalm 00:36:40.740 --> 00:36:41.980 is also describing 00:36:41.980 --> 00:36:42.559 the riddle 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:43.179 of what it means 00:36:43.179 --> 00:36:43.900 to be human 00:36:43.900 --> 00:36:46.079 and it also 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:46.900 then ultimately 00:36:46.900 --> 00:36:47.960 shows us something 00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:48.860 about the need 00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:49.719 that we have 00:36:49.719 --> 00:36:51.300 how can somebody 00:36:51.300 --> 00:36:52.719 who has such a mystery 00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:53.699 and so odd 00:36:53.699 --> 00:36:54.920 and so riddled 00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:55.900 in a sense 00:36:55.900 --> 00:36:57.119 ever be saved? 00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:58.820 Well that's the beauty 00:36:58.820 --> 00:36:59.960 of who Christ is. 00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:01.099 This psalm 00:37:01.099 --> 00:37:01.679 is sitting up 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:02.579 before us 00:37:02.579 --> 00:37:03.220 the riddle 00:37:03.220 --> 00:37:03.780 of what it means 00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:04.380 to be human 00:37:04.380 --> 00:37:05.400 the riddle 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:06.840 of profound evil 00:37:06.840 --> 00:37:08.019 and we realize 00:37:08.019 --> 00:37:09.059 that some evil 00:37:09.059 --> 00:37:10.740 the just result 00:37:10.740 --> 00:37:11.920 the just punishment 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:12.820 for that evil 00:37:12.820 --> 00:37:14.159 should be death 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:17.420 and we might not think 00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:18.300 our just evil 00:37:18.300 --> 00:37:18.880 that we've done 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:19.619 deserves death 00:37:19.619 --> 00:37:20.440 but maybe we've never 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:21.300 looked at the cumulative 00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:22.260 effect of it 00:37:22.260 --> 00:37:23.320 or listened to all 00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:23.800 of the people 00:37:23.800 --> 00:37:24.740 whom we were hurt. 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:27.440 If you live to be 00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:27.880 as long 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:28.940 as old as I am 00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:29.639 and if God was 00:37:29.639 --> 00:37:30.360 to list all 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:30.860 of the people 00:37:30.860 --> 00:37:31.579 over the years 00:37:31.579 --> 00:37:32.240 even though they've 00:37:32.240 --> 00:37:32.760 forgiven me 00:37:32.760 --> 00:37:33.740 the hurt that I've done 00:37:33.740 --> 00:37:34.920 maybe you would say 00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:35.760 that something like 00:37:35.760 --> 00:37:36.440 death George 00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:37.200 maybe that does 00:37:37.200 --> 00:37:37.880 right for you. 00:37:39.860 --> 00:37:41.740 Jesus is the only one 00:37:41.740 --> 00:37:43.559 he is God's son 00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:45.039 he can stand for all 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:46.360 he is the new Adam 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:47.800 he is the only one 00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:48.679 whose longing 00:37:48.679 --> 00:37:49.400 and yearning 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:50.000 for God 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:50.920 as the highest joy 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:51.820 never faltered 00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:54.700 and he is the only one 00:37:54.700 --> 00:37:55.280 whose life 00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:56.620 never took a dark turn 00:37:56.620 --> 00:37:58.600 he is the only one 00:37:58.600 --> 00:37:59.500 who could possibly 00:37:59.500 --> 00:38:01.140 stand in our place 00:38:01.140 --> 00:38:03.200 and when the Bible 00:38:03.200 --> 00:38:04.039 says that he's been 00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:04.880 tempted in every way 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:06.080 as we are without sin 00:38:06.080 --> 00:38:07.000 he understands 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:08.260 the power 00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:09.620 of those desires 00:38:09.620 --> 00:38:11.400 to pray for vengeance 00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:12.760 and he never 00:38:12.760 --> 00:38:14.080 succumbed to it 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:17.500 and so it's only 00:38:17.500 --> 00:38:18.599 in union with him 00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:19.619 that I can really 00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:20.719 have the punishment 00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:22.139 that I deserve 00:38:22.139 --> 00:38:22.960 dealt with 00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:24.099 only in him 00:38:24.099 --> 00:38:25.759 and that leads 00:38:25.759 --> 00:38:27.019 to my very final point 00:38:27.019 --> 00:38:28.500 if this psalm 00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:29.759 was the only psalm 00:38:29.759 --> 00:38:31.039 the only passage 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:32.219 in the entire Bible 00:38:32.219 --> 00:38:33.059 that talked about 00:38:33.059 --> 00:38:33.900 things like this 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:34.480 then that's how 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:35.159 we should pray 00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:36.719 verses 8 and 9 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:38.360 but it's not 00:38:38.360 --> 00:38:39.139 the only one 00:38:39.139 --> 00:38:41.559 the resurrection 00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:42.699 the death and resurrection 00:38:42.699 --> 00:38:44.159 of Jesus changes everything 00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:45.899 so you should always 00:38:45.899 --> 00:38:46.879 pray for justice 00:38:46.879 --> 00:38:48.799 you know you should pray 00:38:48.799 --> 00:38:50.159 not only that those 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:51.119 forces of evil 00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:51.759 and wickedness 00:38:51.759 --> 00:38:52.919 in northern Nigeria 00:38:52.919 --> 00:38:54.259 that they stop 00:38:54.259 --> 00:38:55.019 you should pray 00:38:55.019 --> 00:38:55.799 we should pray 00:38:55.799 --> 00:38:56.739 that they are defeated 00:38:56.739 --> 00:38:59.759 and are no more 00:38:59.759 --> 00:39:00.899 that is a good thing 00:39:00.899 --> 00:39:02.119 for Christians to pray 00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:05.179 but because of Christ 00:39:05.179 --> 00:39:06.379 there is another part 00:39:06.379 --> 00:39:07.339 that they don't know 00:39:07.339 --> 00:39:08.179 in this psalm 00:39:08.179 --> 00:39:08.980 but we know 00:39:08.980 --> 00:39:11.339 is that we should also 00:39:11.339 --> 00:39:12.539 pray for their conversion 00:39:12.539 --> 00:39:17.119 if we remember 00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:17.880 before God 00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:19.159 the persecuted church 00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:21.360 we should pray 00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:23.699 that their tormentors 00:39:23.699 --> 00:39:24.440 will stop 00:39:24.440 --> 00:39:25.199 will turn 00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:26.679 but we should also 00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:28.739 and we should feel free 00:39:28.739 --> 00:39:29.619 to pray that they get 00:39:29.619 --> 00:39:30.320 what they deserve 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:31.320 but we should also pray 00:39:31.320 --> 00:39:31.800 that they get 00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:32.639 what they don't deserve 00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:33.500 what no human being 00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:33.900 deserves 00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:34.679 which is grace 00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:36.659 and receiving grace 00:39:36.659 --> 00:39:37.480 doesn't mean that you 00:39:37.480 --> 00:39:38.019 still don't get 00:39:38.019 --> 00:39:38.719 what you deserve 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.779 I think I have you 00:39:41.779 --> 00:39:42.039 with me 00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:42.459 I'm going to give you 00:39:42.459 --> 00:39:43.299 two or three more minutes 00:39:43.299 --> 00:39:43.980 so there's a very 00:39:43.980 --> 00:39:44.759 interesting fellow 00:39:44.759 --> 00:39:46.159 by the name of David Woods 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:48.079 who he's the fellow 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:49.779 who was used by God 00:39:49.779 --> 00:39:50.980 to bring Nabeel Qureshi 00:39:50.980 --> 00:39:51.579 to Christ 00:39:51.579 --> 00:39:52.719 if you haven't read 00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:53.919 the spectacular book 00:39:53.919 --> 00:39:54.519 Seeking Allah 00:39:54.519 --> 00:39:55.339 Finding Jesus 00:39:55.339 --> 00:39:56.679 by Nabeel Qureshi 00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:57.839 you should read that book 00:39:57.839 --> 00:39:59.659 very very very good book 00:39:59.659 --> 00:40:00.319 and David Woods 00:40:00.319 --> 00:40:00.759 was a guy 00:40:00.759 --> 00:40:01.799 who was used by God 00:40:01.799 --> 00:40:03.079 to have Nabeel 00:40:03.079 --> 00:40:03.859 come to Christ 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:05.620 from a devout Muslim family 00:40:05.620 --> 00:40:07.260 but how David Woods 00:40:07.260 --> 00:40:08.180 became a Christian 00:40:08.180 --> 00:40:10.420 is amongst other things 00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:11.640 is he was in jail 00:40:11.640 --> 00:40:12.620 because he attempted 00:40:12.620 --> 00:40:13.920 to kill his stepfather 00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:16.480 and while he's in jail 00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:17.320 and he's an atheist 00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:18.400 and he thinks Christians 00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:19.400 are the biggest morons 00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:20.039 in the world 00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:21.260 in jail 00:40:21.260 --> 00:40:22.519 he ends up 00:40:22.519 --> 00:40:23.059 being 00:40:23.059 --> 00:40:23.700 becoming 00:40:23.700 --> 00:40:24.640 like a cellmate 00:40:24.640 --> 00:40:25.220 and a friend 00:40:25.220 --> 00:40:25.960 with this fellow 00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:26.940 who had committed 00:40:26.940 --> 00:40:27.960 a whole pile of crimes 00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:28.860 gotten away from 00:40:28.860 --> 00:40:30.380 gotten away with all of them 00:40:30.380 --> 00:40:31.340 became a Christian 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:33.840 and then realized 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:34.820 that he had to go 00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:35.720 to the police 00:40:35.720 --> 00:40:37.480 and he turned himself in 00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:38.360 and pled guilty 00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:40.620 and David Woods 00:40:40.620 --> 00:40:41.280 thought this guy 00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:42.519 was the biggest moron 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:43.240 in the world 00:40:43.240 --> 00:40:45.079 and so he delighted 00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:46.220 that he would try 00:40:46.220 --> 00:40:47.480 to defeat that guy 00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:48.500 from being a Christian 00:40:48.500 --> 00:40:50.519 now as it turned out 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:50.920 it ended up 00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:51.880 that God used that guy 00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:52.519 that David Woods 00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:53.280 became a Christian 00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:54.539 but the point is this 00:40:54.539 --> 00:40:56.960 if we had a death row 00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:57.559 in Canada 00:40:57.559 --> 00:40:59.660 it's completely appropriate 00:40:59.659 --> 00:41:01.339 for me to go and visit 00:41:01.339 --> 00:41:02.399 somebody on death row 00:41:02.399 --> 00:41:03.460 and hope and pray 00:41:03.460 --> 00:41:04.139 that they would become 00:41:04.139 --> 00:41:04.659 a Christian 00:41:04.659 --> 00:41:06.319 but because they become 00:41:06.319 --> 00:41:06.839 a Christian 00:41:06.839 --> 00:41:07.699 doesn't mean 00:41:07.699 --> 00:41:08.920 they don't suffer 00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:09.839 the consequences 00:41:09.839 --> 00:41:10.719 of what they've done 00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:11.480 on this side 00:41:11.480 --> 00:41:12.399 of the grave 00:41:12.399 --> 00:41:14.359 and so it is 00:41:14.359 --> 00:41:15.219 how do we pray 00:41:15.219 --> 00:41:17.319 Father for those 00:41:17.319 --> 00:41:18.500 in northern Nigeria 00:41:18.500 --> 00:41:19.460 who are hounding 00:41:19.460 --> 00:41:20.519 our brothers and sisters 00:41:20.519 --> 00:41:21.099 in Christ 00:41:21.099 --> 00:41:22.019 and not just our brothers 00:41:22.019 --> 00:41:23.119 and sisters in Christ 00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:23.779 but others 00:41:23.779 --> 00:41:25.179 and urging 00:41:25.179 --> 00:41:26.500 and killing them 00:41:26.500 --> 00:41:27.339 and doing horrific 00:41:27.339 --> 00:41:28.039 things to them 00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:28.860 Father we pray 00:41:28.860 --> 00:41:29.960 that they will be defeated 00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:32.559 we pray that they will stop 00:41:32.559 --> 00:41:34.599 we pray that they will 00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:35.900 and we also pray 00:41:35.900 --> 00:41:36.980 that they will come 00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:37.519 to Christ 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:38.659 that's how we pray 00:41:38.659 --> 00:41:42.219 because we read 00:41:42.219 --> 00:41:43.440 Psalm 137 00:41:43.440 --> 00:41:44.820 as followers of Jesus 00:41:44.820 --> 00:41:46.599 I invite you to stand 00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:55.139 bow our heads in prayer 00:41:55.139 --> 00:42:00.059 Father this is 00:42:00.059 --> 00:42:01.000 this is on one hand 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:02.079 a very hard word 00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:02.920 but a word we need 00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:03.339 to know 00:42:03.339 --> 00:42:05.879 and so Father 00:42:05.879 --> 00:42:06.659 we ask that 00:42:06.659 --> 00:42:07.759 when we come across 00:42:07.759 --> 00:42:08.900 those parts of your word 00:42:08.900 --> 00:42:10.079 that really are hard 00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:11.500 help us Father 00:42:11.500 --> 00:42:12.679 just to remember Jesus 00:42:12.679 --> 00:42:14.339 and his resurrection 00:42:14.339 --> 00:42:15.859 and his death for us 00:42:15.859 --> 00:42:16.719 and his love for us 00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:17.400 and trust that 00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:19.940 even though it seems 00:42:19.940 --> 00:42:20.539 hard at first 00:42:20.539 --> 00:42:21.519 this is a good word 00:42:21.519 --> 00:42:21.940 for us 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:22.879 that we need to hear 00:42:22.879 --> 00:42:23.900 and we need to learn 00:42:23.900 --> 00:42:26.059 and help us Father 00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:26.900 even when we're reading 00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:27.920 some of the worst parts 00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:28.440 of the Bible 00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:30.000 Father may we be open 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:30.900 to your Holy Spirit 00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:32.099 convicting us of sin 00:42:32.099 --> 00:42:33.519 for us to say 00:42:33.519 --> 00:42:34.420 is it I Lord 00:42:34.420 --> 00:42:36.099 have I done this 00:42:36.099 --> 00:42:38.000 and Father 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:38.800 we give you thanks 00:42:38.800 --> 00:42:39.360 and praise 00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:40.160 that the gospel 00:42:40.160 --> 00:42:41.240 that knowing Jesus 00:42:41.240 --> 00:42:42.200 died for us 00:42:42.200 --> 00:42:42.880 that everything 00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:44.180 that we've ever done wrong 00:42:44.180 --> 00:42:45.180 has been dealt with 00:42:45.180 --> 00:42:46.720 in him 00:42:46.720 --> 00:42:47.740 that he paid 00:42:47.740 --> 00:42:48.980 the penalty for that 00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:49.880 and when we're in union 00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:50.599 with him Father 00:42:50.599 --> 00:42:52.139 that we are completely 00:42:52.139 --> 00:42:53.279 and utterly forgiven 00:42:53.279 --> 00:42:53.920 and the price 00:42:53.920 --> 00:42:54.839 is completely paid 00:42:54.839 --> 00:42:55.079 Father 00:42:55.079 --> 00:42:56.480 that is such a profound truth 00:42:56.480 --> 00:42:58.819 such an undeserved gift 00:42:58.819 --> 00:42:59.960 and make the gospel 00:42:59.960 --> 00:43:01.480 so real to us Father 00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:04.400 that we are emotionally 00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:05.319 and intellectually 00:43:05.319 --> 00:43:07.579 able to start to look 00:43:07.579 --> 00:43:08.179 at those things 00:43:08.179 --> 00:43:08.799 in our lives 00:43:08.799 --> 00:43:10.159 for which we need to repent 00:43:10.159 --> 00:43:11.219 and amend our lives 00:43:11.219 --> 00:43:12.799 and help us Father 00:43:12.799 --> 00:43:13.500 in your mercy 00:43:13.500 --> 00:43:14.319 and in your kindness 00:43:14.319 --> 00:43:14.900 in the power 00:43:14.900 --> 00:43:15.779 of the Holy Spirit 00:43:15.779 --> 00:43:17.139 as your word 00:43:17.139 --> 00:43:18.319 has more hole on us 00:43:18.319 --> 00:43:18.920 as the gospel 00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:19.859 becomes more real 00:43:19.859 --> 00:43:20.599 Father help us 00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:21.719 to amend our lives 00:43:21.719 --> 00:43:24.339 help us to make amends 00:43:24.339 --> 00:43:25.679 help us to repent 00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:28.199 and fill our hearts 00:43:28.199 --> 00:43:28.639 Father 00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:30.219 with an ever deeper 00:43:30.219 --> 00:43:31.480 longing and yearning 00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:32.559 to be in your presence 00:43:32.559 --> 00:43:33.139 where there is 00:43:33.139 --> 00:43:34.199 a fullness of joy 00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:36.000 and we thank you Father 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:36.819 that in Christ 00:43:36.819 --> 00:43:38.019 that fullness of joy 00:43:38.019 --> 00:43:38.900 is the final word 00:43:38.900 --> 00:43:39.440 about us 00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:41.239 and we ask these things 00:43:41.239 --> 00:43:42.380 and pray these things 00:43:42.380 --> 00:43:43.360 in the name of Jesus 00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:44.539 your Son 00:43:44.539 --> 00:43:45.239 and our Savior 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:47.019 and all God's people said 00:43:47.019 --> 00:43:48.139 Amen 00:43:50.599 --> 00:44:04.839 may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may