WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.020 Okay, for just a few moments this morning, we're going to look at Psalm 4, which Cori 00:00:06.020 --> 00:00:08.419 read to us and which was up on the screens. 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:11.599 It's a prayer, really a prayer of David. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:18.719 We don't know the exact circumstances that triggered this inspired prayer, but it's a 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:19.719 good one. 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:23.760 It's a good one because it speaks amid all the different aspects of it. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:29.519 It speaks about joy and it speaks about prosperity. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.119 And these are good themes for the new year. 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:36.200 There'll be lots of people who have been, would have been raising their glasses last 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:44.679 night to a prosperous new year and would have been reveling in much joy and laughter 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:50.799 over the course of these last few days and last night and maybe into the morning and 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:55.840 maybe some of them have very sore heads this morning as a result of that. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:07.079 But what we're looking at is the source of deeper, more long lasting, permanent prosperity 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:12.560 and joy that we were created for, that all of these things are a shadow of. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.280 They do point towards it. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:19.439 They do speak about what really are the longings of our hearts and people are looking for it 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:26.399 all the time, but looking for it very often and tragically away from Jesus. 00:01:26.399 --> 00:01:29.879 And that's a reminder to us of our mission, our calling. 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:36.959 Our calling is to be Christians of who understand true prosperity and also who are joyful because 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:41.359 the word that we're given in Psalm 4 towards the end there, you have put more joy in my 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:45.120 heart than they when they're grain and wine abound. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.560 It is just gladness. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:47.560 It's celebration. 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:54.879 It's deep seated joy and that is to be a great focus for us as we move forward because we're 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:55.879 all looking for... 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:56.879 We all want that. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:57.879 None of us want misery. 00:01:57.879 --> 00:01:59.480 We all want joy. 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:04.280 We all want prosperity, whatever we think of prosperity or whatever we think prosperity 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:05.280 is. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:14.240 But we're to look and find it primarily in relationship with God because this is a prayer 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.280 and prayer is the great call. 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:22.520 Isn't it for the New Year? 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:23.520 It's prayer. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.600 That's what we've got to be. 00:02:25.600 --> 00:02:31.080 We've got to be people who are in that relationship of prayer, that relation, living relationship 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:36.040 with God because that's where our joy and that's where our prosperity comes from. 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:40.879 And that, I will not one for New Year's resolutions really. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:44.639 This may be going out of favour a wee bit, I don't hear so much about New Year resolutions 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.680 as you used to, the old days. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:54.359 But if we're making New Year's resolutions, surely prayer has got to be for us, the refocus 00:02:54.359 --> 00:02:55.879 of our lives. 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:06.919 And that will require from us spiritual, mental and deliberate intentionality. 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:11.439 That will require that from us to develop that life of prayer because everything else 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:15.479 will come easily to us in life that is not prayer. 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:19.279 We'll find it very easy to connect with other people on social media. 00:03:19.279 --> 00:03:24.199 We'll find it very easy to scroll for many hours and to read other things and to watch 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:31.479 other things and to do other things and to be busy and to be disconnected from the living 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:32.479 God. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:42.079 And that will take intentionality from us in 2024, 2024 to pray, to be in that relationship 00:03:42.079 --> 00:03:43.079 with God. 00:03:43.079 --> 00:03:49.519 That is, remember we always used to look at discipleship or the picture of the tree from 00:03:49.519 --> 00:04:01.199 Jeremiah 17 as the key to understanding discipleship as the roots of our lives being fed in the 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.959 living water that we've just been singing about in a relationship with the living God 00:04:05.959 --> 00:04:06.959 with Christ. 00:04:06.959 --> 00:04:11.560 And that's because that's where we will bear His fruit. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.039 And one of the fruit of the Spirit, of course, is joy. 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.159 They're all linked together like a cluster. 00:04:17.159 --> 00:04:19.959 We have joy, we'll get the rest as well. 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:24.879 But it's in that relationship with God through the power of the Spirit that we will know 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:25.879 this great joy. 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.319 And joy is a great thing. 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:30.519 It's a celebratory thing. 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.879 Our relationship with Jesus Christ is a celebratory relationship. 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.759 It's one that should bring mirth and joy and gladness into our lives. 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:43.719 It's a crucial part of life, isn't it? 00:04:43.719 --> 00:04:45.680 Joy is a really important part of life. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.599 I don't know why or where it came from that Christians are kill joys. 00:04:50.599 --> 00:04:53.159 We were doing something wrong if that were the case. 00:04:53.159 --> 00:04:54.159 We've been living a wrong life. 00:04:54.159 --> 00:04:55.639 We've got in with a sour face. 00:04:55.639 --> 00:05:01.519 If we go around moping and sort of woe is me all the time, then we've misunderstood the 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:02.519 gospel. 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:07.159 There is a woe is me, but it moves forward from that into joy, as we'll see. 00:05:07.159 --> 00:05:11.159 Because joy is this crucial and important aspect of our life. 00:05:11.159 --> 00:05:15.719 Gladness, that's why many of us love this time of year because there's a lot of gladness. 00:05:15.719 --> 00:05:17.839 Sometimes we're looking for it in the wrong places. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:22.000 But we enjoy joy and joyfulness. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.279 It's a crucial part of life. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.399 And we know that the evil one mimics it in our lives. 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:31.959 He'll throw lots of different things towards us and say, that'll give you joy. 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:34.359 That'll make you happy. 00:05:34.359 --> 00:05:35.359 Do that. 00:05:35.359 --> 00:05:37.239 Involve that in your life. 00:05:37.239 --> 00:05:40.000 And he mimics God's good joy, doesn't he? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.119 In his, that's what he's done all the time. 00:05:43.119 --> 00:05:45.679 He doesn't invent something else. 00:05:45.679 --> 00:05:47.039 He knows the scripture better than us. 00:05:47.039 --> 00:05:48.519 He knows God better than us. 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:53.560 And he mimics all that God wants for us without God. 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:55.000 And he says, that's where you'll get it. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:00.439 You'll get your joy without God if you do this and if you celebrate in this way and 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.120 if you live in this way. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:11.639 Or if he doesn't mimic it, he will eliminate it from our lives. 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:16.639 Either way, his intention is to separate you from the living God, to misunderstand the 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:17.639 living God. 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:21.719 Or to have a wrong understanding of who he is. 00:06:21.719 --> 00:06:22.719 That's his lie. 00:06:22.719 --> 00:06:25.079 That's what he's always done. 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.639 So gladness, mirth, joy. 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:31.560 That's what this psalm's about, ultimately. 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.000 And that's briefly what we're going to look at. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.240 Because David's, and we find that in his, he finds that in his relationship with God. 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:40.240 It's a great prayer. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.199 It's a wonderful prayer. 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:44.120 And so we find that David starts off. 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:49.800 He's, as he starts off, he's struggling, he's going through a difficult time, he's being 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:52.399 opposed. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.600 We don't know the situation exactly, but those who were supposed to be God's people around 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:01.040 him had turned away from God, obviously, as we'll see. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:07.040 And we're maybe persuading him to do so, or we're mocking him for his remaining in faith 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:08.040 to God. 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:09.560 And so he's desperate. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:13.120 And he's crying out to God in distress, pleading for God's mercy and help. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:17.079 Answer me, answer me, Lord, when I call. 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:18.560 God of my righteousness. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.120 You know, he knows that God is his God. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:25.399 His righteousness has come from God, and he trusts in God's mercy. 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:28.920 And he says, I know you've answered my prayers in the past. 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:29.920 You've been there. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.840 You've given me relief when I was in distress. 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:33.480 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:38.840 It's a real cry from someone who has a real relationship with a living God that he trusts 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.399 in, who has answered his prayers in the past, and he goes to that place of prayer. 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:47.199 There's a great intensity, a great passion in his prayer. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:52.039 Now, just think back to the last prayer that you prayed. 00:07:52.039 --> 00:07:54.959 How passionate was it? 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:59.279 How real was it? 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.719 Did we find ourselves ticking off boxes as we prayed? 00:08:02.719 --> 00:08:04.559 I'm thankful for this. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:11.280 I'm going through the motions, just tripping off our tongues in a kind of casual way, even 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:14.480 a bored way, even a disinterested way. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:16.800 But here's someone who has a real living relationship. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:22.639 There's a fire in his belly, and he's praying because he knows he desperately needs God's 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:28.800 answer and he needs God to come into his heart and help him in the situation he finds himself 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:29.800 in. 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:32.200 There's something very real about this prayer. 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:41.080 And it's a great model for us in our prayers that we have that same intensity. 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:45.480 It's never always going to be of that intensity because we'll speak to him at different times 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:46.720 and in different ways. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:54.040 But there's certainly a deep reality here because his own life and faith is being questioned. 00:08:54.040 --> 00:09:01.360 We don't know the situation, but it may have been at the time of Absalom, his son, who 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:09.600 is, you know, trying to rebel against him, or it may have been a time of idolatry in the 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:10.600 land. 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:16.720 We don't know, but anyway, the people around him were dishonouring him and were shaming 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.879 him for being God's King and God's representative. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.560 Oh, men, he said, and he speaks to them as it were, as he prays. 00:09:22.560 --> 00:09:25.279 He's speaking to those outside who are rebellious. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.600 Oh, men, how long shall my honour be turned into sin? 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.279 How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.360 They were listening to lies. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.559 They were looking for their joy and celebration in different places, right at the end, even 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:42.439 when their grain and wine abounded, when things were really prosperous for them. 00:09:42.439 --> 00:09:44.079 They were looking in the wrong places. 00:09:44.079 --> 00:09:47.839 They were listening to the lies, and he knows that. 00:09:47.839 --> 00:09:49.879 And it was a challenge to him. 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:51.319 He found it difficult. 00:09:51.319 --> 00:09:54.159 He was calling out to God because he felt opposed. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:03.039 He felt that he had enemies almost from within who were seeking to bring him down. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:06.399 And maybe you go into this new year and your own faith has been challenged. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.399 Maybe not like this. 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:10.039 None of us are kings of an Old Testament nation. 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:11.879 None of us are that important. 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:18.879 But we're important to the evil one, if we're Christians, because he wants to bring us down. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:23.319 And we're important to God because he sent his Son to die for us. 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:27.200 But maybe your faith has been challenged as you go into a new year. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:33.360 And maybe it's from those around you who are inviting you or encouraging you to find your 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.080 joy and celebration away from God. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.840 Maybe you say, there's a better way of living. 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:42.080 Maybe you're a young person and the people around you are saying, you don't need to do 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:43.080 that. 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:44.080 You don't need to be a Christian. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.160 You don't need to pray. 00:10:45.160 --> 00:10:46.360 You don't need to follow. 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:48.840 We've moved beyond that. 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:54.840 And they're listening to lies and you're being influenced by that and challenged by that. 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:56.920 Maybe in the workplace, maybe in the home. 00:10:56.920 --> 00:10:57.920 Pray less. 00:10:57.920 --> 00:10:58.920 Do you want me to pray now? 00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:01.160 There's no point in praying. 00:11:01.160 --> 00:11:02.160 You can just live your life. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:04.960 And maybe towards the end you can think about God. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:06.680 There's lots of things. 00:11:06.680 --> 00:11:10.720 And maybe sometimes it comes from those who should know better, fellow believers, those 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:18.320 close to us who have drifted from the Lord and who are encouraging us even subtly to 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:25.080 do the same by their lifestyle, by their thinking. 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:28.600 The very opposite of what we were talking about yesterday, Barnabas, instead of being 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:36.920 encouragers for one another in the faith, we can be discouragers by drawing our fellow 00:11:36.920 --> 00:11:42.120 Christians away from Jesus and say, you find your joy and satisfaction and prosperity in 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:44.600 other places and in other ways. 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:45.960 It may be that. 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:47.960 His face was being questioned. 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:54.400 But then we see that as He speaks, He speaks to them and He speaks to us. 00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:57.680 And He speaks to Himself in many ways. 00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:00.879 He says to Himself, but know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.040 The Lord hears when I call to Him. 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:06.400 And again He moves away from Himself. 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:08.480 He says, be angry and do not sin. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.200 Ponder in your hearts, on your beds and be silent. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.920 Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:20.839 He encourages those in His prayer here, which presumably became public, those who were against 00:12:20.839 --> 00:12:24.399 Him to put their trust in the Lord and to be honest before the Lord. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.240 And I'm not quite sure what it means be angry and do not sin. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:34.719 And you know that thing, you go to the commentaries for that, the difficult bits they never answer 00:12:34.719 --> 00:12:35.719 either. 00:12:35.719 --> 00:12:37.199 They always skim over them. 00:12:37.199 --> 00:12:42.639 So you go to the commentaries, the deep-seated intellects, biblical scholars. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.240 But these difficult passages, they never give you the answers to these difficult bits. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.000 And that's the bits you want answers to. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:50.000 And the rest of it is easy. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.199 But this is the hard bit. 00:12:51.199 --> 00:12:54.360 Be angry and do not sin. 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:56.840 As it says there, be agitated. 00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:04.319 It's almost as saying, look to those who are living this way, it says, in all your frustration 00:13:04.319 --> 00:13:09.639 and anger and agitation against the God who I serve and the God who I'm trying to follow. 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:13.519 And that, it says, don't sin with that. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:14.840 Don't stay away from God. 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:16.919 Don't continue to be angry and agitated. 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:17.919 But go to Him. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:22.120 He's giving them advice here and saying, ponder in your hearts and in your beds. 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.759 Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:30.919 He's invoking them to come back to the Lord and to put their trust, to deal with their 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:31.919 emotions before them. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.279 Now that is not a great thing. 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.840 Sometimes we're angry with God. 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:38.960 We're frustrated with God. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.879 We're frustrated with living the Christian life. 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:46.000 And David can speak into it, or the Holy Spirit through David can speak into us at that point 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.200 and say, well, that's the case, that's okay, but take it to God. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.639 It's a bit like what we're saying to the children. 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:55.720 When we do wrong, take it back to God. 00:13:55.720 --> 00:14:00.200 Don't sin and don't keep being angry and being away from God and shaking our fists towards 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:01.200 Him. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.720 Take our shaking fists to Him and pray to Him and deal with Him. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:11.879 And you know that whole idea on your beds, be silent and offer right sacrifices. 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.000 It's that place, isn't it? 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:22.040 It's that place where we, in our beds, whether we're sharing a bed or not, it's a place where 00:14:22.040 --> 00:14:26.759 there's you're alone with your thoughts very often. 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:27.759 Place in darkness. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:37.039 And it's a place where your thoughts become very real and sometimes become, the perspective 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.319 all goes awry with your thoughts. 00:14:40.319 --> 00:14:45.559 And he says, but in that place, look, that's where you sometimes in your bed, you sense 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:47.720 your heart most, isn't it? 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:53.639 You sense who you are most when you're lying in the darkness of the night. 00:14:53.639 --> 00:15:01.639 And he says, in that time, seek the Lord and take the very reality of who you are into 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:05.240 His presence and put your trust in Him. 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:09.639 Offer the sacrifices of a repentant and a confessional heart. 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:16.000 It's great advice, and that's what I was talking about, intentionality. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:21.919 It's a very intentional reality we need to exercise in 2024. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:25.919 If we're going to know joy and prosperity spiritually and real joy and real prosperity 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:41.159 in life, it will take that meditative intentionality of moving beyond a quick, and I can't think 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:51.079 of the word I'm looking for, throw away prayer that sometimes we offer to God as a 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:52.080 sump. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.960 I say, well, I'm a Christian and I throw away a prayer to Him because that's what I'm supposed 00:15:55.960 --> 00:16:01.080 to do in the morning, and that will make my day almost like a good luck charm. 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:06.840 But it will take intentionality to move beyond that into a deep-seated relationship with 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:16.240 Him because He goes on to explain where His true prosperity lies and He knows, because 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:21.279 they are asking the question again, again He speaks almost to them or about them, and 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:25.720 He says in verse 7, there are many who say, who will show us some good? 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:28.960 They're looking, you know, they're listening to lies, they're wanting prosperity, they're 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.120 looking for joy, and yet they really can't find it. 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:34.240 Who's going to show us any good? 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:39.000 Where are we going to get goodness from and joy and celebration? 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:43.120 And then David on their behalf prays for himself and for all of them says, lift up the light 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.680 of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:52.239 You put more joy, and He gives His own testimony, you put more joy in my heart than for them, 00:16:52.239 --> 00:16:54.159 even when they're grain and wine abound. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:17:00.559 So they're looking for prosperity in material things, in celebration with their wine and 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.200 in material prosperity with their grain. 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:08.799 And He says, that's not where true prosperity lies. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.759 They're searching for prosperity, and sometimes we do that as well, don't we? 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:22.680 We're looking for joy, for gladness, for celebration and happiness and prosperity in the wrong places, 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:28.640 because we can be looking in the darkness away from the light of God's face. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:32.960 And if we're not facing God, we're always going to be in the dark, however prosperous 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:39.559 from a human level, and however glad and joyful we appear of the world, if we're not facing 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:42.599 God, it's in spiritual darkness. 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.359 We can't find peace and safety there. 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.799 We can't find true satisfaction there. 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:53.199 We will, there is satisfaction in it. 00:17:53.199 --> 00:17:55.519 The devil makes sure that's the case. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.919 There will be satisfaction, but it's not lasting. 00:17:58.919 --> 00:18:01.119 It's always temporary. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:09.959 It will not be a foundation for your life, and it will end. 00:18:09.959 --> 00:18:10.959 That's the reality. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.000 We can't find satisfaction in material things. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:19.680 I know we have lots of new things over Christmas, and they're good, and we thank God for them. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:27.240 But like I said to the children yesterday, the socks will get holes in them. 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:32.519 And the things that we buy will be dull next year, and we'll need something more, because 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:36.360 we can't find our prosperity in material things. 00:18:36.360 --> 00:18:40.240 We give thanks to God for them, and we recognize why we have them. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:44.240 There's many people in the world that don't have what we have, and we give thanks humbly 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:48.279 for them, and we don't become excessive in any of these things. 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:55.240 But we don't find satisfaction, peace and joy in any of these things. 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:58.640 But we realize that's the world we live in. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:03.160 Thinking missionally, that's the world we live in. 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:09.960 You ask 99.8% of people that you meet outside of the church context, outside the Christian 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:14.160 context, where are you looking for your joy? 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.600 Where are you looking for your prosperity? 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:22.680 You ask that question, and you know what the answers will be. 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.039 They're not looking for it. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:29.079 The last thing they're looking for is joy and prosperity, and they're relationship with 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:30.079 God. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:38.360 They're living their lives, and the engine of their lives is to give them joy and prosperity. 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:42.079 However they can get that away from God. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:45.639 And David, through the Spirit, is teaching us a different way. 00:19:45.639 --> 00:19:53.079 The gospel for us, and with this I close, offers real prosperity in the light of Christ. 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:57.399 Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:19:57.399 --> 00:20:02.359 Jesus, John 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:04.199 I am the light of the world. 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:09.240 And He brings light into the darkness of the world, into the darkness of our own souls, 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:15.640 and in the darkness of our misguided and misappropriated desires and longings. 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:22.039 He brings His light through His finished work on the cross, giving us meaning, direction, 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:24.600 identity, and hope. 00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:31.160 That's why on the cross He was plunged into darkness, the light of the world. 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:32.960 It wasn't just a physical thing. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:36.279 It wasn't just for everyone to go, oh, look at the darkness. 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:42.120 It was a spiritual truth that was being declared in that physical reality. 00:20:42.120 --> 00:20:48.079 He went and plunged into darkness so that we might know in our darkness His light, His 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:56.759 forgiveness, His reconciliation, His hope, and joy, and prosperity. 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:59.680 2024. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.120 This living face to face with Him. 00:21:03.120 --> 00:21:07.960 It's interesting it talks about being in your bed, and then it talks about the light 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:09.120 of His face. 00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:12.440 Is that just that? 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:17.400 Whatever it speaks of, it definitely speaks of intimacy. 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:23.720 When you look someone eyeball to eyeball, face to face, there's... 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:25.720 You can't do that really to a stranger. 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.600 It's a bit weird and creepy. 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:34.519 If you went really close eyeball to eyeball with a stranger, but someone you love, someone 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:40.399 that you're close to, there's an intimacy there, there's an honesty, there's an openness. 00:21:40.399 --> 00:21:44.559 If you get something against one another, it's very difficult to look eyeball to eyeball 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:45.559 with one another. 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:51.199 If you're holding something against someone, very difficult to look at them in the face. 00:21:51.199 --> 00:21:53.639 That's why we run. 00:21:53.639 --> 00:21:55.279 That's why we hide. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:56.439 Very difficult. 00:21:56.440 --> 00:22:02.880 And yet here we've been told for the prayer is that God would lift the light of His face 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:03.880 upon us. 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:05.759 That's a remarkable statement. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:12.720 The living God who is the light of the world is willing and able and longs to look as face 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:13.720 to face. 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:21.000 His light with all the honesty of an innocence of God, He's willing to be in that relationship 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:22.000 with us. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:28.599 He's willing to call Father to be in relationship with His children who have run from Him. 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:30.359 And that's what prayer will do for us. 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:32.640 And that's what we need to be doing in prayer. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:41.200 Our prayer needs to ask for God, God's light and the light of His, the beauty of His face 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.799 to shine upon us. 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:50.240 And that can only come if we are honest with Him and confess our failings and our darkness. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:55.799 And then we know and reflect His light just as Moses did when he saw God. 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.000 He reflected the light. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.480 It radiated from. 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:05.440 That's what we're looking for in 2024, that our lives, our actions, our responses, our 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:11.120 words, our worship radiate with the love and the light of Jesus Christ because we're in 00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:12.960 relationship with honest relationship. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:17.039 And maybe it's like yesterday, we talked about Barnabas. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:20.039 It's not a council of perfection. 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:22.079 Jesus wasn't steps above all of us. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:23.720 He failed, He made mistakes. 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:26.359 He backslid, He walked away. 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:30.920 He was divided from His fellow believers. 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:33.519 He was legalistic at some points. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:34.519 And we'll make mistakes. 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:40.079 It's not a council of perfection, but it's taking our failings to the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.440 to the light of His beautiful face and to be forgiven and rejoiced. 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:50.320 And from there comes heart joy and prosperity. 00:23:50.320 --> 00:23:59.039 It's the joy that is much greater than material prosperity, which will keep us going for a 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:00.799 while. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:06.920 Even when the grain and the wine abound in our lives, it's much deeper than that. 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:12.840 And He finishes again with this whole idea of lying down, bed. 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:18.359 So there's the idea of knowing yourself very much when you, in bed, it's where your heart 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:20.119 is kind of exposed in the darkness. 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:27.079 But it's also a place of rest, or ideally we look for it to be a place of rest. 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:31.279 In peace, I will both lay down and sleep. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.559 For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:35.519 There's a great confidence. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:42.039 It goes to sleep, not with fears of tomorrow, of what He's going to wake up to, of what 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:43.559 the future holds. 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.960 But there's the sleep of His beloved. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.079 And again, it's not, I'm not necessarily speaking about physical sleep because some 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:52.440 of us battle with physical sleep. 00:24:52.440 --> 00:25:01.480 But it's a picture of spiritual contentment and joy and rest and shalom and peace in Him, 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:11.759 of being loved, forgiven, being safe in absolute terms, despite and sometimes our circumstances. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.480 So we're called in 2024. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.599 Whoever you will face, whatever I will face, we don't know what we face. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:19.039 God knows what we will face. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.039 We don't. 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:22.839 Thank God for that, that we don't know what we face. 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:25.480 Some of us might not make it to the end of 2024. 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:31.119 But whatever we face, we can, whether it's good times or bad days, whether it's prosperity 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:37.079 or whether it's loss, whatever level. 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:42.720 In the battle, as David was in here, David was, you know, he's no theoretical believer 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:43.720 here. 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:49.919 He was going through the difficult times, really difficult, opposed by those who he thought 00:25:49.919 --> 00:25:51.759 loved him. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:56.039 In whatever circumstances, we can be celebratory Christians. 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:58.679 We can be joyful Christians. 00:25:58.679 --> 00:26:01.159 But it's not something we can work up in ourselves. 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:09.360 It is the reflection of the light of the face of the living God as we are in relationship 00:26:09.360 --> 00:26:11.160 with Him in prayer. 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:12.920 That's the fruit of the Spirit. 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:17.600 And that will be the foundation for our mission of lives in 2024. 00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:20.279 It will not be techniques. 00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:27.240 It will not be saying the right words, although these are maybe both important. 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:33.480 It will be that we are face to face with the living God and reflect the light of His face 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:38.319 in our lives, in our joy, in our celebration. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:42.000 Because that will provoke questions from people to say, why? 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:50.359 Why don't you find your joy and satisfaction in wine and in grain, material things? 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:55.720 Why don't you find it in the lies that are believed all around us? 00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:00.519 Because we have a living relationship with Jesus Christ, peace and safety. 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:06.559 Number one, for 2024, it's your prayer life. 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:08.559 Let's pray. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:14.799 Father God, we ask and pray that you would teach us about prayer. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:23.079 And sometimes I'm sure it must seem like a stuck record to be talking about prayer in 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:24.960 church. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:28.120 But it can never be that. 00:27:28.120 --> 00:27:34.960 Because if we all know our own hearts and we all know our temptation not to pray or to 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:42.920 go through the motions in prayer or to rush prayer or to ignore prayer or not to develop 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:47.480 a relationship with God or to find you boring or to find you ordinary or dull. 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:54.120 And we don't see the priority of praying together and we don't see the priority of praying alone. 00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:57.879 Give us, heavenly Father, we confess that before you. 00:27:57.879 --> 00:28:02.199 And we thank you for the example of David in all his mistakes and all his failings. 00:28:02.199 --> 00:28:08.799 And we know and understand from Scripture how his life went terribly wrong when he stopped 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:15.799 praying, when he backslid from you, when he looked for his joy and celebratory life and 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:19.279 his prosperity away from you. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:24.200 Great King David, how easy it is for us Lord. 00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:28.559 And yet we give thanks that you've given us these examples in Scripture, for giving us 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:32.039 in hope and renewed joy and prosperity. 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:37.639 Lord, give us the intentionality this year through the power of the Holy Spirit and the 00:28:37.639 --> 00:28:44.079 work of him in our conscience to be prayerful and to see the adventure that that takes us 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:49.919 on as we joy and no prosperity in him. 00:28:49.919 --> 00:28:55.639 Help us to be wise to the lies of the evil one and protect us we pray from Satan and 00:28:55.639 --> 00:29:04.960 from the dark forces of evil that stand against those who are citizens of the kingdom of God, 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.639 who are saved by grace. 00:29:06.639 --> 00:29:11.039 And Lord, may this year be a year when many people come to know Jesus through our lives 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:16.319 and witness, but more importantly through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:20.119 Fill these pews, these seats upstairs, the pews. 00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:25.639 Fill them so that with people who come to know Jesus for the first time here and in 00:29:25.639 --> 00:29:32.359 leaf and in every church in the city and beyond in all the neighbouring towns and villages 00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:37.240 of Scotland and throughout the world we pray for your kingdom to come. 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.240 In Jesus' name, Amen.