WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.399 So we're gonna be in Proverbs chapter 1 and 2, 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:06.500 mainly, although I want to use quite a lot of different texts 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:08.000 if you like tonight. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.000 This is a topic in one sense, topical sermon, 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.500 and so we seek to cover this topic 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:16.000 by looking at different parts of scripture as well. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.000 I want to start by saying this. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Depending on the newspaper you read 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.000 or the media that you engage with, 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.000 whatever you read or watch or look at out there, 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.000 you may be aware that there is a new humanity under construction. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 I don't know how much a part of this new humanity you feel, 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.000 or whether you're even aware of it, 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.000 but it's a new humanity that is being built 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.000 by our newly liberated society 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.000 that is free from the shackles of the old restraints, 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:55.000 the old ways, the old religion, the old conformity, if you like. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:00.000 And it means that we get to make of ourselves what we will. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And it's expressed in many different ways throughout our society, 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.000 quite subtly or very overtly. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.000 And it's something that a lot of people are very happy about. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.000 It's expressed, I think, in one line by an actress, Emma Watson, 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.000 who I want to just quote for a minute. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.000 She was picking up an award for a gender neutral... 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000 She'd want to film an award, it was a gender neutral award. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.000 And I don't mention her to pick on her at all, whatever. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.000 But she's a public figure who makes public pronouncements, 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:33.000 so we're just engaging with what she says at that level. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.000 And she says something very interesting. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.000 She said this, accepting her award and saying thank you very much, very politely. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.000 She said, the first acting award in history 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.000 that doesn't separate nominees based on their sex 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.000 says something about how we perceive the human experience. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.000 And as that last few words says something about 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.000 how we perceive the human experience, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.000 and that's the point. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:03.000 That's where people are happy to get to nowadays, 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:06.000 is that we get to perceive what it means to be human. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.000 You and I, as part of society, 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.000 get to say what we feel about our own identity. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:17.000 We get to construct our own image however we see fit. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.000 And of course that plays out in many different ways, 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.000 and I'm sure you're aware of the ways in which that plays out in our society, 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:27.000 but it's a, it's a, it feels like a classic outworking 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 of a life dilemma, an existential dilemma, which is this. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.000 Do we first of all come into being and then get to decide who we are? 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:42.000 Or is who we are set, first of all? 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.000 And the point is that many folk nowadays would say, 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.000 well, we just come into being and then it's up to us 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.000 to decide exactly who we are, how we want to be referred to, 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.000 how we want to identify, and how we want to conduct ourselves. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.000 Okay? 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:00.000 Now, with that as the background, you may feel 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.000 that's something that you're kind of wrestling through at the moment. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.000 It impacts you quite a lot, a lot of your friends talk about this. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.000 You may feel like, what's this guy talking about? 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.000 I don't have anything to do with that. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Not interesting, but I think you can at least identify 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.000 with the point that lies underneath this new expression if you like, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.000 this desire to create a newly liberated humanity. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.000 And that is that we get to determine who we are. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.000 It's autonomy, freedom as humans to decide who we are, 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.000 how we get to behave, no thank you God. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.000 That's the point. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.000 It's been expressed in many, many different ways 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.000 over many, many different years, 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.000 and we're seeing one particular expression of it nowadays. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.000 But why I mention all that is because then you come to God's word 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:47.000 and you open it up in Proverbs, and you read these words. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:51.000 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.000 Now, if you've been here for the last little while, 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:56.000 we've been thinking about wisdom and folly 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.000 and how these things play out as the way to live, 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.000 the way to find what is the good life, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:07.000 the way to follow God's ways and to know true knowledge and wisdom. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.000 And so in other words, what the Bible says is 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 the starting point for that, for the best way of life, 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.000 is the fear of the Lord. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Now, that's like a heresy in certain circles, 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:23.000 in this new humanity, if you like, 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.000 to talk about the fear of the Lord is an archaic term. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 It's something that we've done away with. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 We don't need that anymore, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.000 and frankly, we'd rather not go back there again. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 And maybe it's something that you feel tonight. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 We start talking about the fear of the Lord. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.000 No thank you very much. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000 This is no God that I want to have anything to do 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.000 if I have to fear Him. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 So all I want to do tonight is just to look at two things. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.000 First of all, what is the fear of the Lord? 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.000 What is it? 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.000 The Bible speaks about the fear of the Lord. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000 What does it mean? 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.000 And then secondly, to come to focus as we finish 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.000 on the Lord that we fear. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 Who is God and what is it about Him that we should fear Him? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Okay, so those two things. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 And as we go through, I want to refer, as I said, to this passage, 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 to other passages, but also often to be bringing in 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000 what the New Testament says, because I think as well, 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:19.000 a lot of people feel or fear that this is an Old Testament concept. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.000 To speak about fear in any way is something that was from an old time. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:27.000 Nowadays, Jesus certainly wouldn't be keen to talk about this, 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.000 and the way in the church shouldn't be either. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.000 So I want to see what the New Testament has to say about this also. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.000 Okay, first thing then. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.000 What is the fear of the Lord? 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.000 What does the Bible mean when we read? 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.000 What does Proverbs mean when it speaks about the fear of the Lord? 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.000 Well, I read one writer who summarized it helpfully, 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.000 and I'm just going to use his definition. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.000 He says this, okay? 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.000 So the fear of the Lord, what do we mean? 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.000 We don't just mean an emotion. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.000 So, you know, the fear of the Lord means that Christians are frequently found 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:02.000 cowering in corners, sweating fear of terror, 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.000 because something might happen to them. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 He says the fear of the Lord in its fullness is expressed 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:14.000 in living in submissive obedience to the revealed ethics and authority 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.000 of God the Creator. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.000 So there's a lot in that, isn't there? 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.000 It recognizes, first of all, that there is a God who is the Creator. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 So our society says, no, thank you. We've done away with God. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.000 We say, no, we maintain that there is a God who is the Creator 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.000 who is revealed in the pages of the Bible, 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.000 and he is our starting point, if you like. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.000 He's our reference point. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:38.000 And he has revealed to us ways in which he wants us to live as our Creator. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.000 And the fear of the Lord is to recognize his authority 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:47.000 and so to live out our lives with that as our primary reference point. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:53.000 So, again, those words may give you the shivers, 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:57.000 submissive obedience to the will of God. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.000 But that's what we're talking about tonight. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:04.000 The Lord says that to submissively obey, to seek to live out your lives 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.000 under the Lordship, under the authority of God, 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.000 is your calling as a human being. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.000 And it is the best thing for you also. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.000 So I want to recognize those two things as we go through tonight. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.000 You see that, the verses that we've read, okay? 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.000 So we see this now. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Obviously there's a lot of personification going on here 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.000 in terms of wisdom and folly, 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 but we pick up on this kind of language. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.000 So we go to verse 23. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.000 Verse 22, the simple ones have been called out, if you like, 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:36.000 and the word to them there is, 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 well, how long are you going to go on being simple, shunning God's ways? 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.000 And then we get in verse 23, 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.000 if you turn my reproof, my correction, 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.000 if you turn at my reproof. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:56.000 So the thing about reproof is it exists where transgression exists. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.000 So in other words, there's no reproof 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.000 without somebody needing corrected. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 And correction or transgression occurs where boundaries exist. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.000 That's kind of self-evident, isn't it? 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Nobody has any right to say you should change your ways 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.000 if there are no set boundaries to how we should live. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.000 So Proverbs is operating within the context of set boundaries 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.000 for how that we should live. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.000 If you turn at my reproof, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:30.000 and lay your hand if I was to go back down to verse 29, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.000 speaks to those who haven't listened because they hated knowledge 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.000 and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:42.000 would have none of my counsel and despise all my reproof. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.000 So there again, people are being addressed, 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 who's chosen in their lives to ignore correction, 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.000 to ignore the ways of God. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.000 And again, they're called out. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 They're spoken to very clearly. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.000 And there's no mistaking here the way that they're spoken to. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.000 So correction. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:03.000 There is a way that you should live, 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.000 and it is outlined very clearly in this passage. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.000 Wisdom, then, the fear of the Lord 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.000 is identifying a correct starting point 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 for the way that we are to live our lives. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.000 It's recognizing, first of all, how should I, 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.000 if you like, set my compass? 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.000 Well, it's to recognize, first of all, 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.000 that there is one who has made me, 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.000 who has clearly explained to me how he wants me to live, 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.000 and that is the framework in which I operate. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:36.000 So think about highway code. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 So if you drive, or if you cycle, actually, 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 you need to know how you should behave when you drive 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 or when you cycle. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.000 If you decided to start driving 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.000 by just getting in a car and going for it, 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 you might have fun. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 You probably won't have fun. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.000 Probably everybody else on the road won't have fun. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.000 And you may well get into trouble with the law. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.000 You can't just get into a car and go, can you? 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.000 You need the starting point. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:05.000 You need to know that there are certain ways 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:08.000 in which you're to operate so that you can navigate the road safely. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.000 But here's the thing about that as a starting point. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.000 You don't learn the highway code. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.000 Pass your test and say, 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.000 fantastic, I am now liberated from the highway code 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.000 because I know everything. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000 So you can just carry on however you feel like 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.000 you take the starting point with you in theory. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.000 So you take that code with you as you drive 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 all the days of your life, of course, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.000 so that you drive safely. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.000 And so it is with the fear of the Lord. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 It is that starting point where you recognize 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 who he is, his authority, and majesty. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And you take that with you in every decision, 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.000 in every aspect of who you are as a created being, 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.000 in your morality and in your ethics, 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.000 in the cultural awareness that you have, 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:55.000 in your conversations, everything. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:57.000 The fear of the Lord is to recognize his primacy 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.000 and to operate accordingly. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:03.000 I want to give you an example from Job. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:08.000 Job is a very clear example of somebody who feared the Lord. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.000 He's often spoken of as a righteous man, 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.000 somebody whose life he's not described as a perfect man, 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.000 because nobody except the Lord Jesus was that, 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:21.000 but he's somebody who oriented his life around as much, 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.000 often as we read as much as possible, 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:25.000 around following God's will. 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.000 So Job's introduced to us in chapter one of that book, 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:32.000 and I'm just going to read a few verses. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.000 It talks about his sons. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 So he had some boys, and they were fond of having a good time. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 So his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:43.000 of each one on his day, and they would send 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.000 and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 And when the days of the feast had run their course, 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:50.000 Job would send and consecrate them, 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.000 and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.000 according to the number of them all. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:56.000 For Job said, 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.000 it may be that my children have sinned 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.000 and cursed God in their hearts. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.000 Thus Job did continually. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 You see what Job is doing there? 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.000 He lived in very different times to you and I, 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.000 the way he expressed. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.000 If you like, his faith was different in the sense 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.000 that he would go and offer burnt offerings, 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.000 but he was deeply concerned that he and his family 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.000 lived within the orbit, if you like, of the will of God. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.000 It was his abiding passion 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.000 that he and his family would live within the will of God. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.000 It was something that was his starting point, 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.000 and it went with him into all of his life. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.000 So the fear of the Lord is to recognize his ways 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.000 and to live accordingly. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.000 Let's say a few things about that 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.000 just as we start to work it through and apply it. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.000 And the first is this, I've referenced this already. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.000 I think many people hear this kind of thing 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.000 and think, well, this sounds like, 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.000 you're talking about works, salvation by works, 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.000 and I think we're beyond all of this kind of stuff now, 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.000 talking about behavior, ethics, how we should live. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.000 These are the days of grace. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.000 Jesus is my Savior, and I am free. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.000 So we maintain, absolutely, 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:15.000 that we are saved only by grace and not by works. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.000 And we live in the age of grace 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.000 where we know the grace of the gospel 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.000 and the work of God towards us. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.000 And yet that gospel, that salvation that we have 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.000 because of the work of Jesus Christ 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.000 and only because of the work of Jesus Christ 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:34.000 then motivates us to new life, 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:39.000 to a new appreciation of the wonder of living for God 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.000 and of following out His commands. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.000 So let me give a new testament illustration of this. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.000 Just briefly, I'm going to turn, I apologize, 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.000 I should have had these verses on the screen, 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.000 but I didn't. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.000 Ephesians chapter 5, 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:55.000 speaking to Christians 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.000 who know the wonder of the gospel of Jesus, 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:02.000 and these words are impressed upon them. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.000 And these words are impressed upon you and I 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.000 as a Christian community tonight. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.000 At one time you were darkness, 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.000 now you are light in the Lord. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.000 Walk as children of light, 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.000 for the fruit of light is found in all that is good 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.000 and right and true, 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.000 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.000 You hear that? 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.000 So discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:34.000 And what hope did all those years ago? 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.000 You get up each day and you say, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.000 God, help me to live as you would have me live, 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:42.000 and help me to find delight in living 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.000 in the way that you would have me live, 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.000 because I remember your grace towards me 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.000 in your son Jesus Christ. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.000 Second thing I want to say about this, 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.000 it remains a key thing for you and I 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:00.000 that we seek to follow and to live out God's ethic, if you like. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.000 Second thing is because it is the best. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.000 It's the best way to live. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.000 God's words to us, God's commands, 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.000 is for our good. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.000 He is not just trying to kind of control us, 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.000 manipulate us, move us in certain directions 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.000 because it amuses him. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 He's not trying to spoil our fun. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.000 That's a temptation that you and I can fall into at times 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:25.000 when his will crosses our will. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:27.000 He is the good God. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:30.000 He is Father, Son, Spirit who's existed from all time 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.000 in perfect harmony, 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.000 and he knows how to live. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.000 And so the ethic of God is the best ethic, 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:44.000 and sometimes I think, I, and you, need to recapture that. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.000 And remember again, the beauty 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:52.000 and the joy of living God's way, living God's ethic. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.000 If I could move, we read into chapter 2 in Proverbs, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.000 so if I can just move into chapter 2 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:00.000 and bring out a few words that show us that. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.000 Let me just read through these verses again with you. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.000 Let's just see what they say about the beauty, 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.000 the goodness of living under the feet of the Lord, 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.000 living out this wisdom. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 These things are so interrelated, aren't they, 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.000 as we go through this book. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.000 So from chapter 2, verse 6, 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:22.000 for the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.000 and understanding, he stores up sound to wisdom 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000 for the upright, he is a shield to those 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:32.000 who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.000 and watching over the way of his saints. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:39.000 Then you will understand righteousness and justice. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 So that's something that he says to you, 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.000 if you walk in my ways, you will understand 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.000 righteousness and justice, 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:48.000 something that we often struggle to attain 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.000 from within ourselves, don't we, 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.000 and we have a sense of rightness and justice. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.000 And equity, every good path for wisdom will come into your heart 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.000 and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.000 Discretion will watch over you. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.000 That word discretion there is so important. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.000 The mark of interesting character, 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.000 we often say now is a sense of carefree-ness 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:13.000 or just going with the flow. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.000 This speaks about discretion, watching your ways 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000 and matching what you do according to the will of God. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.000 That's so much what the book of Proverbs is about. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.000 Take careful thought to how you live. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.000 And so these things are promised to you 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:31.000 as you walk in the ways of God, as you fear the Lord 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.000 and live that out, then this is the fruit 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.000 that you will see in your life. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.000 Now, of course, as we live, spirit indwelt 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:43.000 as he enables us, counsels us and teaches us, 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:47.000 leading us into a fuller knowledge of Jesus 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.000 and the way that we should live. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.000 So it's the best, if you like. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.000 It's the best way. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.000 It's sweet. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:58.000 One more New Testament reference 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:05.000 just to emphasize this in Philippians chapter 4. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.000 Just as Paul is concluding his letter, 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:08.000 he says these words, 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:13.000 finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.000 whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.000 whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:21.000 if there's anything worthy of praise, 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.000 think about these things. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:25.000 You see that? 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:26.000 You see what he's saying? 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:32.000 Spend your lives meditating on God and God's ways 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.000 and all that is good. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000 All of these things are good. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.000 They are wholesome, if you like, 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:42.000 so that I think sometimes that word gets degraded 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.000 by us a little bit. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:48.000 It's kind of boring to be wholesome, not very edgy. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:53.000 And God says, there's a really naive way to approach your life. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.000 See the fullness of what it means 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.000 and the beauty of what it means to live out the ethic of God 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.000 in this age of grace. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.000 And the thing just to close this section, I want to say, 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:07.000 is just to pick up on another verse from Proverbs, 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.000 a few chapters later. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:13.000 So this encouragement to live out the feet of the Lord, 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:17.000 this ethic, remains primary for you and I 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.000 to give honor to God and to be pleasing to him. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.000 It's the best way to live, 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.000 and that is expressed, I would say, finally, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:28.000 in a verse from Proverbs, chapter 14. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.000 So let me quote one more verse. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:35.000 Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 14 says this, 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:41.000 the backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.000 and the good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:50.000 It's one of these wonderful verses that sort of seems to take two situations 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:51.000 and say the same thing. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:55.000 So the backslider, the person who's starting to ignore God 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.000 and saying, no, thank you, let me replace you with something else. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.000 Well, that person will be filled with the fruit of his or her ways. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.000 What does that mean? 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.000 Well, it means they'll get what they're after. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.000 It means that if you and I start to replace God with something else, 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.000 no thank you, God, I don't like your wisdom, 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.000 no thank you, God, I don't like your authority. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.000 Let me find my own identity and live out my identity, 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 however I feel, well, that's what you'll get. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:23.000 But that's all you'll get. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:28.000 And you'll not know the way of the Lord. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000 Unless you don't get that, of course, and that's the problem, isn't it? 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.000 So often people are tempted to go off on another path 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:37.000 because they see something that looks better, 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.000 but it's unattainable and it's out of our grasp 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:45.000 because you and I don't have the capacity within ourselves to get it. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.000 We're not able to, or it's not for us. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:51.000 It eludes us. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:54.000 And then we feel only a sense of disappointment 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.000 with the way that life is turning out. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.000 But then the verse, of course, says, 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.000 a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.000 Now, just think about that for a minute. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.000 The good man, the righteous man, the way the person that is personified here, 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:11.000 the one who seeks the Lord will be filled with the fruit of his ways. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000 What does that mean? Will he be filled with the righteousness? 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.000 We are, of course, gifted righteousness in Jesus Christ, 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.000 but we'll be filled and filled again with a sense of God's goodness 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:28.000 and what it means to live for him and will be filled with God himself. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.000 That is what you get as it were, go after God. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.000 Again, be reminded of that. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.000 Be reminded of what it means to seek the Lord. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.000 You get the Lord. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.000 You come into fellowship with him. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.000 What could be better than that? 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:51.000 So if we start to lose a sense of the goodness of that, 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.000 then we know, I think, that we've gone off the path at some point, 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.000 or at least we're starting to go off the path, 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.000 and we need to go back to the Lord and say, 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:02.000 Lord, help me to see again the goodness of your ways 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.000 and help me to see again your goodness. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:07.000 May I desire you. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.000 That's the call so often of the Psalms, isn't it, Lord? 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:13.000 Help me to desire you, to see you for who you are. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:20.000 Okay, so this is something about what it means to live out the fear of the Lord. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.000 What is it to fear the Lord? 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.000 It's to continue to live, recognizing him as the one who is the authority, 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:33.000 and who provides the best ethic, the best way for us to live. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:37.000 But secondly, I just want to ask, can I reverse the question if you like? 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:40.000 Who is the Lord that you fear? 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.000 Let's turn the focus for a minute and focus on the Lord himself. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.000 Why should we fear him? 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Who is he that we should fear him? 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.000 What does it look like to fear him? 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:58.000 Proverbs is very helpful because it reminds us, as do the whole Scriptures, 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:03.000 that the God who we are to fear, the God who gives wisdom and who is wisdom, 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:06.000 is personal. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Now, you think, okay, tell me something I don't know. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.000 But think about the alternative to that. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.000 Think about the alternative to that, that we just exist in a universe with no God 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:24.000 or a force, a blind force that we can't fathom. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.000 But Proverbs says we have a God who reveals himself 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:32.000 and who makes it clear to us how he would have us live. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.000 He has spoken. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:37.000 He has revealed himself. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:39.000 He has come near, if you like. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.000 So we have a God who is personal. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.000 Donald MacLeod says this, it's only because the wrath, 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:48.000 if you like the judgment of God, is personal 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.000 that mercy and forgiveness are possible. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.000 He goes on to say, if he corrects his children, it's for their own good. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:58.000 If he judges it is inequity. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.000 His anger, like all his dealings with men, is covenantal. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:05.000 In other words, it's according to the promise that he has laid down. 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.000 It's not random. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.000 It doesn't depend on the day of the week. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:14.000 He's made his stipulations plain and left men and women in no doubt 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.000 as to the consequences of defiance. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:18.000 That's really important. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:19.000 God is personal. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:23.000 He has come near and he's made it clear to us how we should live. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:31.000 And the first way in which we see him is as the holy, other, transcendent, 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:34.000 perfect God who will judge. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.000 He is the God who will judge the living and the dead. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:41.000 All people will one day face a reckoning, if you like. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.000 And we never depart from that reality. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.000 We never depart from that truth. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.000 And so we see that. 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:52.000 We've read these verses already, but at the end of verse, the end of chapter 1, 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.000 those who despise the fear of the Lord, what happens? 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.000 They'll eat the fruit of their way, have their fill of their own devices, 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.000 for the simple are killed by their turning away, 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.000 and the complacency of fools destroys them. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:12.000 Proverbs speaks clearly about the fate of those who reject the wisdom of God. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.000 God is the holy God. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:17.000 He is the judge who will judge all people. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:24.000 Now you think, again, that this is an inappropriate talk in today's day, 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.000 and Jesus would have nothing to do with this. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.000 Hear these words that Jesus spoke. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:33.000 Jesus says, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:40.000 Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body and hell. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.000 So Jesus says, get that very clear. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:47.000 Be very aware of the fact that the Lord is the one who will judge, 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:50.000 who knows all people's hearts, 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.000 and who will hold all people accountable for the way that they will live. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:58.000 That's the reality that we read consistently throughout the Bible about God, 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:02.000 that he is the one, he is holy. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.000 He is the one who will judge. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:09.000 We devalue that, again, sometimes, don't we? 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.000 Or we want to put it away. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.000 We want to think of God in other terms. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.000 Sometimes you may have watched films where you have a character, 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.000 a kind of Godfather kind of character who's scary. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.000 Everybody's scared of him or her. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.000 And everybody tiptoes around this character, 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.000 and they have this kind of brusque exterior. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:38.000 Except, maybe like their granddaughter or somebody. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.000 You know somebody who they've got a soft spot for? 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.000 And that granddaughter can do no wrong. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:50.000 The granddaughter can kind of monkey around doing whatever she or he or grandson feels like. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.000 And this kind of terrifying individual who everybody's scared of 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:58.000 just kind of turns a blind eye because that child is the apple of their eye. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:01.000 And like I said, they can do no wrong. 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:05.000 Please don't think about God in kind of those terms. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.000 Well, I'm a Christian. He loves me. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:10.000 So he'll just turn a blind eye, you know? 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.000 However I do, whatever I get up to, 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.000 I'm sure he'll not mind too much. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:19.000 When we think about God in these kind of terms, 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.000 we really devalue who he is because what we say is that, 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.000 well, he likes us because of what we've done, 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:27.000 because of some characteristic within ourselves. 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:34.000 We also devalue the fact that God took sin so seriously 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.000 that he sent his son, who paid the penalty, for our sin 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:43.000 so that we may know him and no relationship with him again. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:49.000 And so we have a very, we live with a very clear sense of the reality of the holiness of God, 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:56.000 the fact that he will judge and that he has already dealt with sin for us in his son Jesus. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.000 And so there's an awesomeness to God. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:04.000 There's an awesomeness when we continue to remember what he has done 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.000 and what his son has done when he paid the penalty for our sins. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:11.000 But what that does, when we understand this side of it also, 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.000 is we understand the incredible mercy of God. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:17.000 Who is the Lord that we should fear him? 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:22.000 Well, he's the Holy One, he's the righteous One who will judge the world, 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.000 and he's the merciful one, a bounding in love. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:28.000 Psalm 103, we've sung a couple of times in the Psalms already tonight, 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:32.000 and I hope you recognize that while we sang these Psalms. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.000 Let me read from Psalm 133. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.000 As a father shows compassion to his children, 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.000 so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:48.000 So to live in the fear of the Lord is to know him in his holiness 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:52.000 and to know him according to his covenant love, 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:57.000 where he says, if you abide in the way that I would have you abide, 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:02.000 and as we approach him nowadays according to his terms, through his son Jesus, 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:07.000 then we are welcomed with open arms into a relationship with him 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:12.000 where we know his forgiveness and his grace and his presence, 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.000 and we're promised that for all eternity. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Because of his great love, he desired to call a people to himself, 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 that he may know them, he may know you, and that you may know him, 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:29.000 in his mercy and in his goodness, in his perfection. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:31.000 And you know something of the love of God. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:36.000 And so then we understand that God's love again as a person isn't the kind of... 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:46.000 Sorry, God's mercy and his wrath or sin isn't the kind of wrath that is random. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:50.000 It isn't that he delights in inflicting pain on people. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:57.000 And so we don't fear him by just cowering in a corner in case something happens to us. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.000 People will often use this kind of description of somebody, 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000 a kind of psychopathic person who loves to inflict pain. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:10.000 That's, I think, where somebody like Stephen Fry gets God very wrong 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:18.000 because he sees God as an unreasonable character who just randomly inflicts bad things on people. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.000 But God deals with this according to the ways of his covenant. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:23.000 He lays down how he would have us live. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.000 He calls us to follow him. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.000 He calls us into relationship with him by Jesus Christ. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:36.000 And then he showers his grace and his love and his mercy on you as you know him 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.000 and as you live for him. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:41.000 So let's finish. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:47.000 Many would say that to talk about the fear of the Lord is a retrogressive step 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.000 and we should go nowhere near it. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Let's be done with this kind of talk. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 We're far too enlightened for this kind of stuff. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:04.000 Rather, let's see the fear of the Lord, the consistent picture of what the Bible says about the fear of the Lord. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:09.000 And let's recapture that sense of what it means to have a view of the awesomeness of God 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:16.000 and the holiness of God and the beauty, the wonder and the goodness of being called by God 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:23.000 into a life living under his wisdom and his guidance and his rule 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:29.000 and the blessedness, the goodness of what that looks like. 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:31.000 The goodness of what that looks like. 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:35.000 As you and I live that out individually and in our family units 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:40.000 and in our church unit encouraging one another and building one another up 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:47.000 so that we can be supported in living out this life, life of fearing the Lord. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:48.000 And it's hard, isn't it? 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.000 We find it hard and we're challenged by this. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:56.000 So I'm going to finish by just reading a few verses from another Psalm, Psalm 119. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:04.000 And as I read this, just listen to the way in which the psalmist speaks about his desire to cherish the ways of God. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:09.000 If we can finish with these words, let's make these words our prayer. 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000 So Psalm 119, I'm going to read from verse 33. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:19.000 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes and I'll keep it to the end. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:24.000 Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:28.000 Lead me in the path of your commandments for I delight in it. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:32.000 Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.000 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:37.000 Give me life in your ways. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:41.000 Confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:46.000 Turn away the reproach that I dread for your rules are good. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:49.000 Behold, I long for your precepts. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:52.000 In your righteousness give me life. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:57.000 Let me pray. 00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:03.000 Holy God, we plead with you that you would give us, by your spirit of working us, 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:08.000 a renewed sense of vision of who you are. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:12.000 You are the mighty one, the holy one, the eternal one. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:17.000 You are consistent and you have consistently revealed yourself to us. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:23.000 You deal with us consistently according to the ways in which you have revealed that we should live. 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:29.000 And yet you have also dealt with us in great mercy. 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:32.000 We thank you for the righteousness of Jesus. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.000 We thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:38.000 We thank you that we can come to you in those terms. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:42.000 That you have saved us when it wasn't possible for us to save ourselves. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:50.000 But we pray that seeing that Lord, we would then love and delight to live according to your ways. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:57.000 Give us as a church a picture of what it looks like to be a community of changed people, 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:06.000 glorifying God, living out the gospel and living out your ethic, your ways for us. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:10.000 Help us with this. We find it so difficult so very often. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:15.000 And may your spirit be at work amongst us to confirm these things to us 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.000 and to support us as we seek to do this. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:43.000 Amen.