WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.640 Amen. Father, I ask that you would gently but deeply pour out the Holy Spirit upon us 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:13.500 as we reflect upon your word. Help us, Father, to hear not so much that it's a word for other 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:19.600 people, but that it's a word from your heart and your lips to each of us at the very depths of our 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.980 heart. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:34.859 Amen. It's a long time ago, oh, I better start my timer. It's a long time ago, right close to the 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:40.700 start of my ministry, that I was preaching. In fact, I think the rector of the church was on holidays, 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:49.740 and I got to preach that Sunday. And in the course of my sermon, I made a reference to, 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:57.120 you know, sort of like losing your heart. And I, you know, I just went and did it. Afterwards, 00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:04.799 an older woman came up to me where I was changing out of my robes. In that church, I wore robes. 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:11.939 And she just lay a strip into me because she said, didn't you know that that couple that was sitting 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:16.620 right there, that their daughter is waiting for a heart transplant, and if she doesn't get it, 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:23.579 she's going to die. And she just ripped a strip off me, and I just sat there gobsmacked, 00:01:23.820 --> 00:01:31.240 stood there gobsmacked. And I was, you know, so thankful that there was a very old minister who'd 00:01:31.240 --> 00:01:36.240 been assisting me that morning, and he gave me some words of comfort. Amongst other things, 00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:41.420 is I didn't know that. How would I know that? The psalm that we're going to talk about today 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:47.460 does something which is very, very, very countercultural. And it might be upsetting to 00:01:47.460 --> 00:01:51.840 some of you here. Maybe you've gotten some type of a terrible diagnosis that I don't know of, and I'm 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:56.519 not here to trigger anything or anything like that. But the psalm here today is going to talk about 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:01.939 something which is profoundly countercultural in Canada. The psalm wants you and me to think about 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:09.879 death. And not just death in general, but your death. The text wants me to think about my death. 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:18.680 Death. And as we all know, that's very, very countercultural. Maybe, it's interesting, I was in a 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:24.340 coffee shop this morning, and the guy ahead of me in the lineup was covered in tattoos. And all of the 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:31.419 tattoos had death, like skulls, and obviously dead hands. So maybe he thinks about death all the time. I 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:35.919 don't know. But from what I understand, generally, in most places, if you were to go up to somebody in 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.919 a party and say, what do you think you're going to die? And what's it going to be like when you die? 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:42.299 Like, do you think about dying very much? That wouldn't be the way that you get into a good 00:02:42.299 --> 00:02:47.399 conversation with people, probably not in most situations in Canada. But that's what the psalm 00:02:47.399 --> 00:02:53.579 wants us to do. So let's look at it. It begins sort of in a, in a, actually it begins in a way which is 00:02:53.579 --> 00:03:01.919 very interesting. Look how it begins. First chapter, Psalm 49, the superscript or the subscript is to the 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:08.719 choir master. In other words, originally this was something that you could sing, a psalm of the 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:18.579 sons of Korah. And it begins sort of in a very cheery way. It says, hear this all peoples, give 00:03:18.579 --> 00:03:26.599 ear all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom, 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:34.859 the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my 00:03:34.859 --> 00:03:42.379 riddle to the music of the lyre. And so basically it's saying, the psalmist is saying, I think there's 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:47.859 something that everybody needs to think about. It doesn't matter what country you're in. It doesn't 00:03:47.859 --> 00:03:53.819 matter how educated you are, uneducated you are. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. It doesn't 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:57.819 matter if you have lots of power, very little power. It doesn't matter if you're young and old. 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:02.319 I think there's something that we all need to think about. And that's how the psalm begins. I 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.019 think there's something we all need to think about. And he's really saying as well that if you want to 00:04:07.019 --> 00:04:13.039 be wise, this is something that you need to, and if you want to be wise and understanding, this is 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:18.259 something you need to consider. And here, of course, he's talking about something which Canadians can relate 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:23.219 to because, as we all know, that if you're to tell somebody that they're not wise, they're foolish, 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:28.320 or that they don't understand something, that's a way to insult Canadians. Canadians don't like to 00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:33.420 think of them being, we don't like to think that we're not wise. We don't like to think that we lack 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:38.340 understanding. So on one level, this is a, you know, fair enough. Maybe it's true. Maybe it's not. 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:44.060 There's something the psalmist thinks everybody should think about. And if they want to be wise and 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:49.280 understanding, they need to think about it. And it's interesting. It's also very Canadian because he 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:56.919 says, and I'm not going to use cold logic, and I'm not going to use sociology or psychology or political 00:04:56.919 --> 00:05:03.699 science or statistics. I'm not going to use anything like that. I'm going to use music, riddles, 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:13.139 and proverbs. And proverbs in particular are, well, they're sort of little insights into how life is and 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:18.959 what life is like. And that's how we're going to examine this question. So what is the question? 00:05:19.539 --> 00:05:25.039 Well, at first, in fact, I have to confess that I, when I first saw the question, I puzzled over it 00:05:25.039 --> 00:05:31.219 most of the week. Because it didn't really seem, I'll be very honest, I didn't see it at first as 00:05:31.219 --> 00:05:35.899 something that applied to me per se, at least right now. Maybe sometimes it's applied to me, but 00:05:35.899 --> 00:05:41.959 like not right now. And then I realized that it actually does apply to me. But here's how it is. 00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:48.659 It's a bit misleading at first, I think, to a lot of our ears, at least in Canada. Verse five, 00:05:49.179 --> 00:05:57.459 why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me or deceive me, 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:04.819 surround me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:18.060 Now, we in Ottawa are very blessed. We don't meet today. No Christians in Pakistan, if they're 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:24.799 meeting, they have to worry about whether there's a mob that will come and attack them. If you're 00:06:24.799 --> 00:06:30.539 meeting in northern Nigeria, you worry about whether there's a mob that will attack you. If you're 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:36.400 Christians potentially meeting in places, some places in China, you'd worry about whether the 00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:43.140 police are going to break in and arrest you. And then there's other places of the world that are 00:06:43.140 --> 00:06:49.660 involved in wars or have just violent gangs. It's not so much persecution as just the war might engulf 00:06:49.660 --> 00:06:55.040 you. So for many Christians in the world, this is going to be a text which they'll instantly see 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:58.379 applying to themselves. But for us, maybe not so much until I thought of this. 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:06.900 So I'm not on social media. I don't watch, I don't really, I'm not, I mean, technically I'm, 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:11.379 I have a Facebook account and Instagram. And if you've sent me a friend request and I haven't 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:16.879 responded, don't take it personally. I had a ministry intern that told me I should get an Instagram 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:21.700 account and he wanted to run it for a little while. And he actually, like in no time at all, 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:25.939 got me up to a thousand, almost a thousand followers, but then he moved on and I don't 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:31.120 post anything. And I had to be on a committee that wanted everybody to be on Facebook until some people 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:36.899 said no, but I registered for it. So I don't take any friend requests. I'm virtually never on them. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:42.079 But I do glance at Instagram sometimes, especially probably when I'm procrastinating and I should be 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.959 doing something more practical, but I do look at it and I'm aware of lots of others who do. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:55.039 I probably wouldn't want to post my holidays on Instagram because from an Instagram world, 00:07:55.560 --> 00:08:04.719 my holidays were lame. What did I do during most of my holidays? Sat around in my at-home shorts, 00:08:04.979 --> 00:08:15.539 in my at-home t-shirt, which are ugly, right? They're comfortable and old and ugly. And I read books. 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:23.160 That's not going to really make it very much on Instagram. Now, you know, I also saw lots of 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:28.920 grandkids and let me tell you, you know, if in Instagram people show you their designer house, 00:08:29.400 --> 00:08:37.519 let me tell you, after you've had my three grandsons, three, five, and seven, who, they're sort of like, 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:42.639 I really love them to bits. They're sort of like squirrels that have just consumed a lot of chocolate 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:50.240 and Red Bull. And they're able to demolish a tidy house in a matter of seconds. And then you add some 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:57.740 other grandchildren in. That's not very Instagram worthy. Okay. And, you know, maybe when I was young, 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:02.379 you know, maybe there was a time when I was very buff and I want to, you know, show my beach body or 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:07.919 something like that. That's not something I would want to do today. And so, you know what I mean? So, 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:14.059 why is it that on one hand, a lot of us would want to be afraid to post certain things on Instagram 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:20.679 and Facebook, you know, because in fact, you know, some of you might say, George, you could post that 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:25.379 on Instagram. I'm like, you actually read a book. All I did was sit around in my pajamas, scratching my 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:32.179 stomach, binging on Netflix. Or, you know, at least you have grandkids. Like, you know, you could take a 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:35.259 few pictures of them. I don't even have grandkids. Like, you know what I mean? Like, George, you're sort of, 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:39.600 for some of us, you're sort of boasting saying about those types of things. But we all get it, 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:45.379 right? And this is actually, so why is it, and this is especially true when we're feeling a bit down. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:51.360 And if that, what happens with the social media is we'll feel even more down. So you go and look 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:59.939 on Facebook and, oh, they just climbed a mountain. Oh, they're in Bangkok. Oh, they're lining up for a 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:07.940 play in Manhattan. Oh, they're showing off their beach body. Oh, and we like those things. And we 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:15.620 think about our own body or our own finances or our own things, and we feel anxious. That's a type 00:10:15.620 --> 00:10:23.020 of fear, anxiety. We feel anxious. We feel intimidated by them. And we feel that we couldn't post anything 00:10:23.019 --> 00:10:29.340 about our own lame life. And so on one hand, things like Instagram and Facebook often make us feel more 00:10:29.340 --> 00:10:34.779 fearful and anxious, and they definitely would make us feel more fearful and anxious if we wanted to 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:41.259 try to start posting on it. Now, I'm sure you folks are all way more successful and hip and 00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:46.720 beach body ready than I am, but so maybe that's just something only I can relate to and you can't, 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:53.220 you know. But, you know, here's the thing. It's very interesting. If you go back and look at verse 00:10:53.220 --> 00:10:59.759 six of the, you know, verse, so here, why, and the question is, why am I anxious? Why am I fearful 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:07.620 when I'm in trouble? Like, and then the word iniquity here, and then the word deceiving in the next part, 00:11:07.620 --> 00:11:18.899 it's, well, here's the thing. You know, most of us know two things when we watch Instagram. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:25.820 We know that probably the people are exaggerating and lying a bit. Not any of you folks, by the way. 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.960 But we know we're not getting the whole story. Like, nobody after they've posted their pictures then 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:39.460 post their bank balances and credit rating or their debts and how long it takes them to get 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:45.040 themselves out of debt after they've had their glorious holiday or shows you that immediately 00:11:45.040 --> 00:11:50.139 after their picture with their friends, they got into a big fight and now you're not even seeing 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:55.600 your friends. Like, people, we know that there's some deception going on there, a type of cheating, 00:11:55.720 --> 00:12:01.620 because the word can be translated as cheating or deception. There's not that everything which, 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:07.700 is shown in there is sinful and, like, it's not like they show you, you know, here I am going to, 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:13.159 you know, here I am going to, you know, kill people or something like that. But a lot of it is actually 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:23.340 sins of omission. It's, you know, by showing our conspicuous consumption, 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:31.560 like we're feeding our vanity, we're feeding our pride, we're intentionally trying to make people 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.819 other, intentionally or unintentionally trying to make other people feel jealous of us. 00:12:37.239 --> 00:12:45.879 We're, you know, we can afford this particular holiday because we actually didn't give any 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:52.299 money to support the work of the church or help the poor. And that's why we have the money to do this. 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:59.279 But, but you see, here's the other thing about the text. You know, when I was talking about all 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:05.019 this thing, the beach body, et cetera, the word wealth in verse six, and the word riches, 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:10.099 word riches mean riches, by the way. It means the fact that you have a big bank balance and, 00:13:10.099 --> 00:13:15.459 and a great stock portfolio and all of that type of stuff. But the word wealth is very general. 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:22.060 It means anything which is socially advantageous. So it literally means it would cover the word wealth 00:13:22.060 --> 00:13:28.300 would, would cover the fact that some people are just very, very attractive, or very, very fit, 00:13:28.400 --> 00:13:35.519 or have very, very high IQs, or are, you have a very, very good career, or have a very high position 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:43.100 in business or government or entertainment, or are very, very popular, or anything like that. So it's not 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:48.680 just talking about wealth. It's talking about any other type of advantageous thing that we have, that 00:13:48.680 --> 00:13:54.879 we trust in, that we, we trust in our looks, we trust in our wit, we trust in our, our, our high IQ, 00:13:54.980 --> 00:14:01.580 we trust in those things. And what this psalm is saying is he's asking himself a rhetorical question. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:10.360 When I'm, you know, having a bad time, why am I anxious? Why is it that when I think about 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:15.800 the people who surround me, and even though I sort of know that they're deceiving me, and, and they, 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:20.820 but they, they trust in their wealth, and, and all of their abilities, and all of their accomplishments, 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:25.580 and all of their abundance, and, and, and when I, why, why is it that I'm anxious? 00:14:26.740 --> 00:14:32.340 Why is it that I'm anxious and fearful at times like this? That's the question. 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:41.080 That's the question that he, the psalmist, says everybody should think about. Why are we anxious? 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:49.300 Why are we fearful? Now, his answer is going to take us in the direction of his profoundly 00:14:49.300 --> 00:14:58.259 un-Canadian. His answer is, we need to start thinking about our death. Look what he says in verse 7. 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:05.039 And he says something more, more telling. Verse 7. Truly no man or woman can ransom another 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:12.059 or give to God the price of his or her life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:21.200 suffice that he or she should live on forever and never see the pit. So, actually, it's not just, 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.659 because, you see, you could go to a party and say, you know, I don't, have you ever think about death? And 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:29.079 we get in a bit of a discussion. Well, I don't know about death. You know, it's like this, or I think 00:15:29.079 --> 00:15:33.539 it's like that. And, and then somebody can talk about the stages of grieving, and you can talk about 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:39.539 some psychology and, and all of that type of stuff. But, but the, the point is the, the psalmist isn't 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:44.259 just saying that you need to think about death in some type of generic way. The psalmist is saying, 00:15:44.339 --> 00:15:50.899 George, you need to think about your death. George, think about your death. In a sense, it's saying, 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:56.720 any one of us, if we want to try to start to feel through this anxiety and have some type of a wisdom 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:03.360 in face of the anxiety, while we, others and, and their accomplishments and their, and, and their, 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:10.279 just their accomplishments and their success and how it makes us feel. So, part of what you need to do, 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:12.759 George, in a sense, is go and look at the mirror and say, George, 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:20.419 you're going to die. Now, that's not something that normally Canadians would give us advice to do. 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:26.039 And he's going to help us to think about three things about death, more than three, but three 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:34.480 things at first. The first thing is this, that nobody, no matter how rich they are, can pay off 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:41.860 God so they won't die. I don't know how many billions of dollars Bill Gates is worth right now. I don't even 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:47.039 know if he's the richest guy. I think he's way north of 50 billion, but who knows, maybe 50 billion 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:51.500 doesn't even make you in the top 10 anymore for the richest people in the world. But if we were to, 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:57.639 if, if, if, if Bill Gates was to announce on social media that he, in fact, had arranged a deal with 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:04.860 God, and he's giving 50 billion of his dollars away, and he's not going to die. Well, like nobody, 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:10.660 we'd think it was a hoax, we'd think it was a joke. If he really was insistent upon it, we'd think he'd 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:17.220 been, he was deluded, maybe early stages of Alzheimer's, and some con man or con woman had 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:21.640 ripped him out of 50 billion dollars, and we'd all just know that Bill Gates is still going to die. 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:26.240 And so, in a sense, if you remember that you're going to die, I need to remember I'm going to die, 00:17:26.360 --> 00:17:32.800 and the first thing I need to remember about my own death is no matter how rich I am, no matter how 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:42.319 wealthy I am, I can't pay God so that I won't die. And, and then the second thing is, is a, another type 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:50.000 of thing that we tend to value. Look at verse 10, for he sees, that's a person who's thinking about it, 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:59.759 if you think about it, that even the wise die. The fool and the stupid alike must perish. The literal 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:06.079 word is brutish, uh, and I, they've used stupid, uh, because I guess a lot of people know, down days 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.940 wouldn't know what brutish meant. And, and that's just saying this as well, that, you know, George, 00:18:11.980 --> 00:18:17.160 doesn't matter how wise you are, it doesn't matter, not that people with PhDs are necessarily wise. 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:25.720 In fact, I increasingly think I'd probably rather be ruled in this country by, you know, the next, 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:31.440 just a random selection of 300 working class people than the people who are being ruled by now. 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:35.819 I'd probably be ruled better if you just picked the bakers and the mechanics of the world to, 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:39.160 to run the country. But anyway, but you know what I mean? Like, if I look in the mirror, 00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:44.460 I, I can become as wise and as understanding, as educated I possibly can, and the fact is, 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:51.440 I'm still going to die. And, and then he goes to a third thing, a very popular thing of rich and, 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:57.100 and, and successful people. Uh, it look at verse 11, their graves are their homes forever, 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.180 their dwelling place to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:06.500 So it doesn't matter if, if, uh, you know, I'm, I'm so completely and utterly brilliant that they 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:12.420 name a school of theology after me, or if, if one of you is such a brilliant social scientist that they 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:17.340 name their school of sociology or political science after you. It doesn't matter if one of you is so 00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:23.500 particularly rich that you can donate a big whack of cash to the university of Ottawa. So they name 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:29.759 a building after you and put a statue in front of you, you're still going to die. And in fact, 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:34.019 we in Canadians right now, we definitely know that it doesn't matter if you're the founding prime 00:19:34.019 --> 00:19:38.759 minister of Canada, they're going to get rid of your statue and they're going to rename the streets 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:43.679 that were named after you and get rid of you that you don't even last. Even in memory, 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:50.360 you're all going to die. You're going to die. And then he sums it all up very powerfully in verse 12, 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:58.720 man or woman in his pomp will not remain. He is like the beasts that perish. 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:08.600 It's very, very powerful. Um, when I look at this room, every one of you is going to die. When you look 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:14.099 at me, I know as a Christian, we can say maybe Jesus will come back before we die, but just take 00:20:14.099 --> 00:20:19.779 that out of the equation for a second. That's going to come up in a sense in a moment, but I'm going to 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:28.859 die. And, and all of the things that intimidate me about not wanting to post on Instagram, all of those 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:42.500 things in the face of death are irrelevant. And then it says, verse 13, uh, the path of those who 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:49.559 pursue all of these things and, and the path of those who don't want to even think about death 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:58.700 is, is this verse 13. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence yet after them, people 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:03.859 approve of their boasts. So what, what's this saying? It's actually really, it's, it's almost as if, 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:10.299 um, you know, if you were to talk to the average Canadian about, uh, say we, you know, have you 00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:15.519 thought about your own death? And, uh, the average Canadian, if they didn't just sort of smack you down, 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.839 would just say, listen, don't think about your death. That's going to get you nowhere. Listen, 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:27.279 what you need to do is you need to seize life by the lapels. You need to get on life and you need 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:32.720 to ride life as hard as you can. You need to suck everything you can out of life for as long as you 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:38.000 can. That's what you should be thinking about, how you can be powerful, how you can be successful, 00:21:38.259 --> 00:21:43.920 how you can just really grab hold of life and let life grab hold of you. And you got to ride that 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:50.880 baby as long as you can and don't think about dying. And in a sense, I got this out of order. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:59.120 Verse 13 anticipates that. It anticipates that. It's, it's really saying people who think this way, 00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:04.900 it's a foolish type of confidence, even though that's in fact what people trust in. That's what 00:22:04.900 --> 00:22:08.720 boasts means, what you trust in, because you're still going to die. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:24.079 And then the psalmist, verses 14 and 15, it sort of goes A, B, A, B. It gives you two different 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:30.960 types of paths or destinies, but it gives you one, then another, then one, then the first one, 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:38.640 then the second one, sort of in a more intensified way. Look, look what it says, like sheep. And the 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:45.920 first one is sort of like would something that would come from, who's that guy that he does a lot of 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:54.160 horror type things or very dark type things, Del Toro, Guillemero Del Toro. It's sort of like what a Tim 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:59.660 Burton might do if he was really unleashed. It's something like what Stephen King would write. 00:23:00.040 --> 00:23:10.900 He gives this very macabre image. Verse 14, like sheep, they are appointed for Sheol. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:19.100 Death shall be their shepherd. So in other words, for you and I who say, listen, don't think about your 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:24.419 death. Don't think about anything like that. Just think about life. Just think about grabbing life, 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:29.599 sucking as much life as you can, as long as you can. It's all you think about. Just, you know, 00:23:30.019 --> 00:23:35.659 grab life, ride life. Don't think about your death. But, you know, and the psalmist is saying, 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:40.799 the fact of the matter is, they're going to die, you're going to die, and death will be your shepherd. 00:23:42.939 --> 00:23:48.939 Death will lead you around. And then it says, and the upright shall rule over them in the 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:55.700 morning of triumph. And that's the ABAB part. And I'll talk about that in a moment. But look at the 00:23:55.700 --> 00:24:02.500 next thing it says about those who died. It's the last part of verse 14. Their form shall be consumed 00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:11.940 in Sheol with no place to dwell. So here's the Tim Burton, Guillemero Del Toro, Stephen King image. 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:19.500 It says, George, when you go to the place of the dead, death will be your shepherd. 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:27.340 And you know how right now on earth, if you go and see sheep, the shepherd taking the sheep and the 00:24:27.340 --> 00:24:33.539 sheep breeding the grass, and as the sheep eat the grass, they get more plump. Well, in death, 00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:46.440 death is your shepherd. And the shepherd death takes you out like a sheep to the pasture. As you are in 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:59.740 the grass, the grass eats you. The grass eats you. And you wither. You become less and less and less 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:05.299 as the grass consumes you. Like I said, a very type of macabre image. 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:14.740 Now, here's where we would expect, you know, like that bit just before this about the upright 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:18.900 triumphant thing, and this is now where you'd think in the world of religion and our normal 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:24.519 religious imagination, that the psalmist would say, you know, but it's different for us because, 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:31.420 why? Well, it's because we go to church, because we are good people. Why? Because, you know, we're 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:36.940 sexually faithful. Why? Well, because we are generous and we tithe. Why? Because, well, we, you know, in 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:42.740 another culture, it's different for us. Why? Well, because we do yoga. Why? Well, because, you know, we 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:49.480 learn how to chant. Why? Well, because we've made our trek to Mecca. Why? Well, because, you know, we say the 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:56.200 rosary, and we'd come up with a religious type of answer, but the psalmist surprises us, and one of 00:25:56.200 --> 00:26:03.360 the commentators that I read said, this is one of the Everest moments in the entire Old Testament 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:13.240 in terms of hope. Look what it says in verse 15. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:20.759 for He will receive me. What is my hope in the face of my death? 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:29.220 It's not that I'm a good person, not that I'm a nice person, not that I ever had a beach body, 00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:35.079 not that I ever had lots of money, not that I've been married, not that I've had kids, not that I've 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:40.160 had any type of worldly accomplishment, not because maybe if I was to die suddenly, tragically, right now, 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:45.120 maybe you'd have to have the Met for my funeral. I don't know. Like, not for any of those. My only hope, 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.800 my only hope is that God will ransom me, 00:26:50.940 --> 00:27:00.400 that God will deliver me, that God will atone, do the atoning work for me, that He will rescue me. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.120 That's my only hope. I have no other hope. I have no other hope. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:06.839 You see, 00:27:07.959 --> 00:27:12.059 in a sense, the religious imagination 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:16.039 is the same thing as that, just another form of the wealth imagination, 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:20.419 that somehow it's because I do the rosary so many times, 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:24.000 it's because I go to church so many times, that's my type of wealth, 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.959 and so therefore I have this hope, 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:29.400 but the psalm has undercut that as a whole possibility for me. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:30.980 And 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:33.900 it's removed 00:27:33.900 --> 00:27:36.220 all type of pride and presumption 00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:37.000 from me 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:40.140 of my religious accomplishments 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.100 or spiritual accomplishments, as opposed 00:27:42.100 --> 00:27:44.019 to material accomplishments, because all 00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:46.160 of that accomplishments are types of wealth 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:47.319 and none of them work. 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:49.319 That's what the psalmist is saying, 00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:52.039 is that your only hope, George, 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:54.360 in the face of death, is that God will ransom you. 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:55.559 It's your only hope. 00:27:57.479 --> 00:27:59.399 Otherwise, death will be your shepherd, 00:28:00.399 --> 00:28:02.539 and when he takes you out to graze, 00:28:02.639 --> 00:28:05.259 when death, he or she, death, takes you out to graze, 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:09.719 that environment will only consume you and make you less. 00:28:11.199 --> 00:28:14.519 You see, Spurgeon once famously said that 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:17.679 the Christian life is not about pride and presumption. 00:28:17.879 --> 00:28:21.979 It is one beggar telling another beggar where to find free bread. 00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:25.859 And that's my message for you 00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:27.279 and anybody who's watching, 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.299 is your only hope in life and death 00:28:29.299 --> 00:28:31.119 is if God ransoms you. 00:28:36.399 --> 00:28:38.179 Now we're going to circle back. 00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:39.859 Let's just sort of finish the psalm. 00:28:39.859 --> 00:28:42.939 The rest of the psalm sort of emphasizes this truth 00:28:42.939 --> 00:28:45.459 and goes back to the original question. 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:47.379 Verse 16, 00:28:47.479 --> 00:28:49.719 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich 00:28:49.719 --> 00:28:50.859 or a woman becomes rich 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:52.379 when the glory of their house increases. 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:54.399 That goes back to the question of verse 5, 00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:56.179 like why am I in fact so anxious 00:28:56.179 --> 00:28:59.619 at the success of others relative to my own success? 00:29:00.099 --> 00:29:00.539 And it says, 00:29:00.639 --> 00:29:02.759 Be not afraid when people become rich 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:04.359 when the glory of their house increases, 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:05.199 for when they die, 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.419 they will carry nothing away. 00:29:06.420 --> 00:29:10.100 Their glory will not go down after them, 00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:11.259 for though while he lives, 00:29:11.340 --> 00:29:12.580 he counts himself blessed, 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:14.060 and though you get praise 00:29:14.060 --> 00:29:15.360 when you do well for yourself, 00:29:15.860 --> 00:29:18.340 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:20.779 and he will never again see the light. 00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:23.660 And then it ends, 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:24.640 Man and his pomp, 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.920 yet without understanding, 00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:27.300 that's this understanding, 00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:29.460 that you need God to ransom you. 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:31.759 It's like the beasts that perish. 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:36.599 So here's a couple of things. 00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:39.400 You know, 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:40.859 one of the reasons I think, 00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:41.839 well here, 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:43.299 if you go put up the first point, 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:44.019 Claire, 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:45.000 that would be very helpful. 00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:47.359 There's this wonderful line 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:49.400 in The Lord of the Rings, 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.420 and I don't want to spoil it for you 00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:53.940 if you're going to read it one day, 00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:55.700 but there's a character 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:57.420 who you're not sure 00:29:57.420 --> 00:29:58.619 whether they die or not, 00:29:58.619 --> 00:30:00.859 but this character wakes up in a bed 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:02.139 a little bit later. 00:30:02.239 --> 00:30:03.299 He's been asleep for a while 00:30:03.299 --> 00:30:04.399 because he's been very sick, 00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:07.299 and before this had happened to the character, 00:30:07.419 --> 00:30:08.679 he believed that one of his very, 00:30:08.739 --> 00:30:11.739 very, very, very best friends had died, 00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:13.739 and he wakes up in this room 00:30:13.739 --> 00:30:15.119 and is filled with light, 00:30:15.239 --> 00:30:16.739 and he's in wonderful sheets, 00:30:16.779 --> 00:30:18.079 not at all where he was 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:19.459 when he thought he was about to die, 00:30:19.979 --> 00:30:21.939 and to his huge delight, 00:30:22.059 --> 00:30:26.259 he sees his best friend there smiling at him, 00:30:26.259 --> 00:30:28.839 and he asks his best friend if he's dead, 00:30:29.619 --> 00:30:30.740 and his best friend says, 00:30:30.819 --> 00:30:31.519 no, you're alive, 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:34.299 and they have this very powerful scene 00:30:34.299 --> 00:30:35.240 where they just breaks out, 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:37.579 they just both break out in laughter and joy, 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:39.740 and the character says, 00:30:39.879 --> 00:30:40.740 I feel, 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:42.220 as he hears about all the things 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:42.720 that have happened, 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:44.640 I feel as if everything sad 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.319 has become untrue, 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:50.379 and in a sense, 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:52.439 what this text is telling us about 00:30:52.439 --> 00:30:53.500 is that in Christ, 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:55.220 everything sad, 00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:56.599 that's in Christ, 00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.740 everything sad 00:30:58.740 --> 00:31:00.819 will become untrue. 00:31:03.220 --> 00:31:04.759 There's a hymn that says, 00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:07.299 a contemporary worship song that says, 00:31:08.419 --> 00:31:10.599 earth has no sorrow 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:12.980 that heaven can't heal, 00:31:12.980 --> 00:31:16.059 and that's a very good line. 00:31:17.740 --> 00:31:18.660 In Christ, 00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:19.680 everything sad 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:20.960 will become untrue. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:22.759 Out of Christ, 00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:24.980 or outside of Christ, 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:26.839 everything glad 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:28.720 will become untrue. 00:31:35.620 --> 00:31:36.200 You see, 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:37.079 I think for many people 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:37.700 in our culture, 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:38.519 it's like this. 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:39.640 Why do you not want 00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:40.539 to think about death? 00:31:40.539 --> 00:31:42.740 I don't want to think 00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:43.579 about death, George, 00:31:43.639 --> 00:31:45.740 because there is no light 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:46.500 at the end of the tunnel. 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:48.879 When I look down the line, 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:50.420 there's only darkness, 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:54.000 and if you were to get, 00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:55.099 I think a lot of people 00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:55.740 in our culture 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:57.019 to talk very honestly 00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:57.899 about themselves, 00:31:58.039 --> 00:31:59.700 maybe the type of honesty 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:00.339 you only get 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:01.399 when alcohol is loose 00:32:01.399 --> 00:32:02.059 in their tongue, 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:04.159 and it's late at night, 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:05.799 and they'll say, 00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:06.700 you know, George, 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:07.700 the problem with life 00:32:07.700 --> 00:32:08.859 is that there is no light 00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:09.599 at the end of the tunnel. 00:32:09.700 --> 00:32:10.480 There's only darkness, 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:11.399 when I look down, 00:32:11.859 --> 00:32:12.559 if you were to ask me 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:13.319 to think of my death, 00:32:13.339 --> 00:32:14.319 all I see is darkness, 00:32:14.879 --> 00:32:16.079 and I want to be very honest 00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:16.819 with you, George. 00:32:16.879 --> 00:32:18.200 Not only is there only darkness 00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:19.059 at the end of the tunnel, 00:32:19.139 --> 00:32:20.180 but while I'm in the tunnel, 00:32:20.579 --> 00:32:22.960 I just have this tiny little flashlight 00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:24.619 that doesn't illumine very much, 00:32:25.579 --> 00:32:26.379 and all around me 00:32:26.379 --> 00:32:26.899 in the tunnel, 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:28.139 the end is dark, 00:32:28.399 --> 00:32:29.279 everything around me 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:29.899 is dark, 00:32:30.899 --> 00:32:32.279 and the darkness 00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:33.559 has a type of weight, 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:34.619 and a substance, 00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:36.119 and a creepiness to it, 00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:38.899 so all I want to do 00:32:38.899 --> 00:32:39.939 is just grab hold 00:32:39.939 --> 00:32:41.139 of my little flashlight 00:32:41.139 --> 00:32:42.359 and hope it lasts 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:43.559 as long as it can 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:44.479 before the darkness 00:32:44.479 --> 00:32:45.319 swallows me. 00:32:48.619 --> 00:32:49.619 I'm just going to hold 00:32:49.619 --> 00:32:50.419 that flashlight. 00:32:50.420 --> 00:32:54.560 I'll sacrifice everything 00:32:54.560 --> 00:32:55.940 to hold onto that flashlight, 00:32:55.940 --> 00:33:01.279 and we all know 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:01.560 that, 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.120 you know, 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:06.539 if it's only darkness 00:33:06.539 --> 00:33:07.140 at the end 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:08.160 and all the gladness 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:09.160 that I've had in this life, 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:10.180 it really becomes 00:33:10.180 --> 00:33:11.700 not really that glad, 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:14.299 because it just ends 00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:15.019 in darkness, 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:18.539 and the psalm 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:19.620 wants me to understand 00:33:19.620 --> 00:33:20.960 that there's this possibility 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:22.620 that God will redeem you, 00:33:23.080 --> 00:33:24.620 that he will ransom you, 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:27.880 and I didn't talk about it, 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:28.519 but in that line 00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:30.059 in verse 15 00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:31.000 where it says, 00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:32.920 where it says, 00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.779 but God will ransom my soul 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:36.259 from the power of Sheol 00:33:36.259 --> 00:33:38.620 for he will receive me, 00:33:38.700 --> 00:33:39.900 that he will receive me 00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:40.759 is very powerful, 00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:41.740 it means that 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:43.079 God doesn't sort of 00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:44.519 save you or ransom you 00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:45.480 as a result of some 00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:46.980 impersonal algorithm, 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:49.379 but he will receive me 00:33:49.379 --> 00:33:51.339 is that this ransoming 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:53.740 is something profoundly personal, 00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:56.619 it is a face-to-face encounter, 00:33:57.339 --> 00:33:59.619 and that it's a face-to-face encounter 00:33:59.619 --> 00:34:01.839 for him to ransom you, 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:03.660 and it implies 00:34:03.660 --> 00:34:05.039 that when he ransoms you, 00:34:05.299 --> 00:34:07.160 he receives you, 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:08.940 he receives me, 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:10.639 and so it is 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:12.139 that even there are times 00:34:12.139 --> 00:34:12.820 in my life 00:34:12.820 --> 00:34:14.300 when I will feel very sad, 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:15.000 and I might feel 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.159 very, very depressed, 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:17.519 and life might feel 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:18.700 very, very happy, 00:34:19.139 --> 00:34:20.260 I mean very, very heavy, 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:21.260 and I'm not conscious 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:21.840 of the fact 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:23.539 that Jesus is beside me, 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:25.820 is that when the end comes 00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:26.559 and I die, 00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:28.380 when I close my eyes 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:29.000 in death, 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:29.880 that is the moment 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:31.159 that my eyes, in fact, 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:31.940 become open 00:34:31.940 --> 00:34:33.059 for the first time, 00:34:33.059 --> 00:34:35.199 and what I see 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:36.400 is not just the light, 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:38.219 I see him 00:34:38.219 --> 00:34:39.639 looking at me 00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:40.420 with a smile 00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:41.099 and welcome, 00:34:42.219 --> 00:34:43.860 and in that bigger 00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:45.139 and greater world 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:45.880 of the new heaven 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:46.579 and the new earth, 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:48.320 I will also begin 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:49.759 to learn how he has been 00:34:49.759 --> 00:34:51.079 with me at every moment 00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:51.719 in my life, 00:34:51.779 --> 00:34:52.619 even those times 00:34:52.619 --> 00:34:53.380 in my life 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:54.759 when I have been 00:34:54.759 --> 00:34:55.519 most sad, 00:34:55.659 --> 00:34:56.279 most frightened, 00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:57.279 most depressed, 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.539 feeling most alone, 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:00.420 most abandoned, 00:35:00.420 --> 00:35:03.119 because when he ransoms me, 00:35:03.240 --> 00:35:04.420 he receives me 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:05.340 and he will not 00:35:05.340 --> 00:35:06.099 let me go. 00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:09.800 So in Christ, 00:35:10.200 --> 00:35:11.280 everything sad 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:12.400 will become untrue, 00:35:12.579 --> 00:35:13.260 out of Christ, 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:14.079 everything glad 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:15.519 will become true. 00:35:15.659 --> 00:35:16.700 Why is this the case? 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:17.400 Because you see, 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:18.500 the end of the story 00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:19.659 changes the story. 00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:26.680 This is another way 00:35:26.680 --> 00:35:27.059 of saying, 00:35:27.180 --> 00:35:27.579 there's a great, 00:35:27.659 --> 00:35:28.039 if you could wrap 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:28.700 the second point, 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:29.619 this is just a quote 00:35:29.619 --> 00:35:30.400 from Jim Elliot, 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:31.460 it's a great quote, 00:35:32.240 --> 00:35:33.300 it's not the Bible, 00:35:33.420 --> 00:35:34.440 but it's a great quote, 00:35:35.220 --> 00:35:36.639 he is no fool 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:39.360 who gives what he cannot keep 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:42.340 to gain what he cannot lose. 00:35:42.900 --> 00:35:43.659 See, that's what comes 00:35:43.659 --> 00:35:44.360 when you give your life 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:44.820 to Christ. 00:35:45.220 --> 00:35:46.000 Why should you give 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:46.519 your life to Christ? 00:35:46.619 --> 00:35:46.980 Well, you're not going 00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:47.860 to keep your life anyway. 00:35:49.220 --> 00:35:49.800 Are you? 00:35:50.200 --> 00:35:51.340 Like, you can't keep it. 00:35:52.200 --> 00:35:52.980 Like, if you don't give 00:35:52.980 --> 00:35:53.860 your life to Christ, 00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:55.220 if you keep it for yourself, 00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:56.920 death will be your shepherd 00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:58.119 and the grass 00:35:58.119 --> 00:35:59.180 will consume you. 00:35:59.179 --> 00:36:01.039 But if you give your life 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:01.679 to Christ, 00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:04.839 well, he gives you 00:36:04.839 --> 00:36:05.460 this new life 00:36:05.460 --> 00:36:05.980 that you cannot 00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:07.559 ever possibly lose. 00:36:09.619 --> 00:36:10.719 He is no fool 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:11.219 who gives 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:12.460 what he cannot keep 00:36:12.460 --> 00:36:14.659 to gain in Christ 00:36:14.659 --> 00:36:15.639 what he cannot lose. 00:36:17.059 --> 00:36:18.879 And just in the final point, 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:19.839 here's sort of 00:36:19.839 --> 00:36:21.219 a takeaway prayer. 00:36:22.759 --> 00:36:23.139 And I, 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:23.399 I, 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:24.659 now if I could go back 00:36:24.659 --> 00:36:25.259 and rewrite it, 00:36:25.259 --> 00:36:26.159 I'd say not just, 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:27.379 I wouldn't say give me, 00:36:27.460 --> 00:36:28.460 I'd say grow in me. 00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:29.759 Father, please grow 00:36:29.759 --> 00:36:30.879 in me 00:36:30.879 --> 00:36:32.559 a humble, 00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:33.679 walking, 00:36:34.139 --> 00:36:34.559 trusting, 00:36:35.019 --> 00:36:35.379 knowing 00:36:35.379 --> 00:36:37.179 that I have been 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:38.539 ransomed by Christ, 00:36:39.500 --> 00:36:41.079 that I am never alone, 00:36:41.940 --> 00:36:43.480 and that my death 00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:44.299 is an entrance 00:36:44.299 --> 00:36:45.519 into full life 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:46.099 with you 00:36:46.099 --> 00:36:46.799 and your people 00:36:46.799 --> 00:36:47.539 and your world. 00:36:47.539 --> 00:36:49.820 that's, 00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:50.960 that's what the text 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:51.860 is reminding us. 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:52.079 It's, 00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:52.619 in a sense, 00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:53.119 it's saying, 00:36:53.779 --> 00:36:54.059 you know, 00:36:54.139 --> 00:36:54.779 the troubles, 00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:55.380 you're going to have 00:36:55.380 --> 00:36:56.199 troubles in your life. 00:36:56.259 --> 00:36:56.619 You're going to have 00:36:56.619 --> 00:36:57.300 times which are 00:36:57.300 --> 00:36:57.519 very, 00:36:57.619 --> 00:36:58.059 very hard. 00:36:58.119 --> 00:36:58.639 You're going to have 00:36:58.639 --> 00:36:58.920 those. 00:36:58.920 --> 00:36:59.940 The psalm isn't saying 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:01.659 just trust in God 00:37:01.659 --> 00:37:02.199 and you will never 00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:03.259 have hard times, 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:03.820 that you will never 00:37:03.820 --> 00:37:04.719 have a heavy heart, 00:37:04.860 --> 00:37:05.420 that you will never 00:37:05.420 --> 00:37:06.039 feel afraid. 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:07.699 The psalm isn't saying 00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:08.000 that. 00:37:08.099 --> 00:37:08.739 The psalm is saying, 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:09.000 listen, 00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:10.059 you're going to have 00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:10.699 heavy hearts. 00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:11.579 You're going to have 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:12.039 troubles. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:13.039 You're going to have 00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:13.800 hard times. 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:14.820 And one of the things 00:37:14.820 --> 00:37:15.659 that you desperately 00:37:15.659 --> 00:37:21.239 need is to understand how the things that everybody else is putting their confidence in, 00:37:21.299 --> 00:37:25.899 they're all just going to fail them. And there's only one thing that will not fail you, and that 00:37:25.899 --> 00:37:32.399 is that if you allow him, God will ransom you. He will redeem you. He will atone you. He will do it 00:37:32.399 --> 00:37:39.359 personally. He will receive you. He will never let you go. And the end of your story will be to wake 00:37:39.359 --> 00:37:44.279 up finally at that moment of your greatest defeat and the loss of all things, which is death, 00:37:44.280 --> 00:37:49.300 and you will discover that in your case, because you have allowed him to ransom you, it is not 00:37:49.300 --> 00:37:59.640 the loss of all things, that the sadness is becoming untrue. And you see his face, and you're in the 00:37:59.640 --> 00:38:05.900 light, and you're in his world, and it's a really big world, and you can go farther up and higher up 00:38:05.900 --> 00:38:12.860 and farther in for all eternity. Father, please grow in me a humble, walking, trusting, knowing that I 00:38:12.860 --> 00:38:20.480 have been ransomed by Christ, that I am never alone, that my death is an entrance into full life with 00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:27.059 you and your people in your world. And knowing the end of the story, and knowing who walks with me, 00:38:27.059 --> 00:38:38.460 let us face our troubles. And let us face our anxieties. And let us interrogate our anxieties. 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:43.320 And ask the Father to grow such a hope within us. I invite you to stand. 00:38:43.320 --> 00:39:01.720 Father, your word isn't pop psychology. It challenges us with truth. It challenges us where we really are. 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:06.680 It challenges us with the things that we don't want to think about. And Father, we confess before you 00:39:06.680 --> 00:39:12.080 that your word is true, that your word is truer than the best wisdom that Canada has to offer, 00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:19.960 that your word is true. And Father, we ask that you grow within us. 00:39:20.860 --> 00:39:29.139 Grow within us a humble, trusting, walking, knowing that each of us has been ransomed by Christ, 00:39:30.099 --> 00:39:33.059 and that he is always with us, so we are never alone. 00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:39.099 And at the very end of the end of the end of the end is really the true beginning, 00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:42.619 because our death is but a waking up to see you face to face, 00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:46.799 and entering into your new heaven and your new earth with you and your people 00:39:46.799 --> 00:39:49.279 forever. 00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:52.539 So Father, make us more heavenly minded 00:39:52.539 --> 00:39:55.819 as we face the challenges of each day. 00:39:56.319 --> 00:39:59.079 And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. 00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:00.000 Amen. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:00.079 Amen. 00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:01.179 Peace.