WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.560 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:10.620 Join us. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.599 What an amazingly honest song. 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:27.120 I hope you followed the words of that incredible lyric, because it really does show us the 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.500 wonder of what it means to be in this room today. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:40.920 The healthiest Christians I know, the healthiest churches I get to experience and be a part 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:49.079 of are marked by two equally important realities, desperation and delight. 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.480 One without the other simply is not the gospel. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:03.579 Both together represent what it means to know the kiss of God for us in Jesus. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:11.679 And we get to see what that looks like today through an extraordinary song from the Bible. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:20.860 Long before Andrew Peterson began crafting his amazing music, there was a great songwriter, 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:30.360 equally honest, equally desperate, equally filled with delight as Andrew, and many like him. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.000 Would you turn your Bibles with me or look on the screen? 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:43.060 We're going to walk through an amazing part of the Word of God found right in the center of the Word of God, Psalm 73. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:46.460 And it's a great gift to us. 00:01:46.460 --> 00:01:52.939 You'll see in your bulletin or maybe somewhere you've noticed that I'm simply titling this conversation, 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:59.240 Made for Wonder, but Prone to Wander. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.079 We've already sung that tremendous hymn that's one of my favorite. 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:05.659 Prone to wander. 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:08.020 Lord, I feel it. 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:10.259 Prone to leave the God I love. 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:12.740 Do you see the desperation? 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.340 Do you see the delight in that? 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:19.659 Now, we need to know that's not spin. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.000 That's not immature Christian. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:24.780 That's not simply a bad hair day. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.500 It's an honest heart day for all of us in this room. 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:35.620 I don't know what you feel like when you leave the parking lot to come into this context. 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:39.919 If there's a part of you, like there's been a part of me a lot of my life, 00:02:39.979 --> 00:02:42.939 that feels the need to pose or pretend. 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:46.620 What's your Southwood Prez pose? 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:53.759 One day I saw a horrible church marquee out front of a big Baptist church, 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:58.099 and that's no slam on the Baptist, so don't email me or talk to me after the service. 00:02:58.099 --> 00:03:00.419 It's just they have big marquees sometimes. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:08.379 And it said, leave your problems in the parking lot and come enjoy Jesus with us for an hour and a half. 00:03:09.419 --> 00:03:11.579 Folks, you know what the early church called that? 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:13.259 Gnosticism. 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:23.519 Separating your true self from what you assume it means for us to be about when we gather as the people of God. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:25.699 We don't have to pretend. 00:03:25.699 --> 00:03:28.259 We don't have to pose. 00:03:28.739 --> 00:03:34.119 We can remember today and learn today afresh that the hymn we sang earlier, 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:40.179 Just As I Am, was not just made historic at Billy Graham Crusades 00:03:40.179 --> 00:03:43.519 for people that were not Christians that might become Christians. 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:50.439 Which, by the way, I responded to that hymn at a Billy Graham movie 50 years ago this March. 00:03:50.439 --> 00:04:03.819 I walked the aisle as George Beverly Shea sang Just As I Am after Billy Graham preached the gospel in an old Billy Graham movie in 1968 called The Restless Ones. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:10.280 So, for many years associated, that's a song you sing to get people to the altar. 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:15.740 Brothers and sisters, that's a song we sing every day of our lives. 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:17.199 Brothers and sisters, that's a song we sing to the altar. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.560 Did you notice the quote when you came in the room on the screen? 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:27.000 Maybe it shocked you when you looked at the name, John Calvin, whatever your association is with John Calvin. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:30.579 But it says, we need to hear about the grace of God. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:39.699 We need to have the grace of God preached to us every day so that we might truly find our hope and refuge in Him. 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.219 Now, what does that look like? 00:04:42.719 --> 00:04:46.319 Let's walk through this amazing Psalm 73. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.379 Let me invite you to consider what a gift it is. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:53.180 It's an honest psalm. 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.839 Oh, that churches were as honest as this psalm. 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:02.279 And let's remember the psalms were written for the corporate worship of the people of God. 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:11.919 So, we know that God intended this psalm, like all psalms, to be cherished by the people of God and utilized, enjoyed. 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:14.500 It's an honest psalm. 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:19.259 It says, we are a mess and God is a merciful God. 00:05:19.619 --> 00:05:20.099 Hallelujah. 00:05:21.559 --> 00:05:24.879 It's a gospel psalm, like all of the psalms. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:32.579 You remember when in Luke chapter 24, after the resurrection, Jesus was walking with some men on the road to Emmaus. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:41.360 He camouflaged himself until he could really engage their hearts and around a mill, let them know that he was a resurrected Jesus. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:50.600 And then he said this, beginning with Moses and all the prophets and the psalms, he showed him all things concerning himself. 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:56.400 Jesus is to be found in all Scripture, or that Scripture is not well understood. 00:05:56.900 --> 00:06:04.620 We want to consider today how this psalm will lead us to Jesus as believers. 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:16.400 Pray that we will enjoy the good news and utilize the good news that the gospel is just as much for Christians as it is non-Christians. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.699 It's not the beginning of the Christian life. 00:06:19.799 --> 00:06:21.659 It's the entire Christian life. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.159 Now, how do we see this in this psalm? 00:06:24.219 --> 00:06:34.639 Just a couple of thoughts about the psalm writer, and then we're going to walk through the psalm and the time we have to really to engage from our head and our hearts. 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:37.399 Who was Asaph? 00:06:37.979 --> 00:06:40.579 Well, Asaph was kind of y'all's version of James. 00:06:40.979 --> 00:06:44.439 Asaph was a great musician in the temple. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:49.579 And a very gifted psalmist, very gifted writer of Scripture. 00:06:49.719 --> 00:07:02.360 If you take all 12 psalms that are attributed to Asaph, it means he ended up writing more of the Bible than several of the minor prophets and several of the New Testament writers. 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:04.360 12 psalms. 00:07:05.159 --> 00:07:06.399 It's a follow-up to this day. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:08.600 You can Google his name. 00:07:09.159 --> 00:07:11.000 Didn't think I would say that 10 years ago. 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:12.060 Google his name. 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:14.819 But you'll find all 12 psalms. 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:20.420 And he had a long ministry as a musician, as a worship leader. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:26.180 He served both under King David and under Solomon. 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:27.759 Now, think about that for a minute. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:35.340 That meant that he was alive through the transition from Solomon into David, right? 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:38.299 Now, think about Solomon and David for a moment or two. 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:44.959 What might that mean that this worship leader, this believer, what he got exposed to? 00:07:46.919 --> 00:07:47.659 That's right. 00:07:47.739 --> 00:07:48.879 A lot of crazy. 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:54.079 The end of Solomon's life was not very pretty. 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:56.039 The one that built the temple. 00:07:56.579 --> 00:07:57.459 David's life. 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:03.539 We know him as the king from whom the greater king Jesus would come. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:06.479 David wanted to build the temple. 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:08.299 It was for his son Solomon. 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.319 Asaph saw crazy among the people of God. 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:22.500 Hold on to that thought because as we walk through this picture today, we're going to see a hurting man, an angry man, a confused man. 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:30.279 A man that throws back the curtains on a season of his life that we don't know how long a season was. 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:31.339 Was it weeks? 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:34.159 Was it days? 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:42.940 Was it years in which he found himself disconnected from the God that he loved? 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:49.960 But we also get to see that in his wandering days, he returned to true wonder. 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:51.320 What does that look like? 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.000 Let's walk through these words together. 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:56.140 Verse 1, Psalm 73. 00:08:56.560 --> 00:08:59.520 Surely God is good to Israel. 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:09.780 To those who are pure in heart, Psalm begins with a great affirmation letting us know that this will be a story Psalm. 00:09:09.920 --> 00:09:15.580 He's looking back on the season of life and as he writes these words, he's in a good fresh place. 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:27.620 There's been some running back to the home and heart that is God and yet he's not going to minimize what he went through. 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:28.620 That's for our benefit. 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:49.700 Please know whatever battle you're fighting this morning, whether it's one of anger, sadness, depression, disconnect, whether you, like Asaph, experience more pain in the family of God than by any pagan you ever worked with, lived with, or played with. 00:09:49.700 --> 00:09:51.700 He now shows us what that. 00:09:51.700 --> 00:09:54.320 He now shows us what that looks like and what we do with it. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:56.160 Look at verse 2. 00:09:56.780 --> 00:10:00.360 Here's his wandering self. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:05.419 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped. 00:10:07.180 --> 00:10:14.759 I had nearly lost my foothold for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.220 They have no struggles. 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:21.039 Their bodies are healthy and strong. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.219 They are free from the burdens common to man. 00:10:25.339 --> 00:10:27.719 They are not plagued by human ills. 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:30.000 Therefore, pride is their necklace. 00:10:30.939 --> 00:10:33.219 They clothe themselves with violence. 00:10:33.339 --> 00:10:35.259 From their callous hearts comes iniquity. 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:39.719 The evil conceits of their minds know no limits. 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:42.579 They scoff and speak with malice. 00:10:42.699 --> 00:10:44.839 In their arrogance, they threaten oppression. 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:50.139 Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth. 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:54.659 Therefore, their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:59.279 They say, how can God know? 00:10:59.379 --> 00:11:01.419 Does the Most High have knowledge? 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:05.199 This is what the wicked are like. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:08.259 Always carefree. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.960 They increase in wealth. 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:12.100 Stop for a moment. 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:14.399 What do you hear in this scripture? 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:20.419 Again, a hymn Israel sang. 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:29.860 What you see is an honest confession of a worship leader, of a leader among the people of God. 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:38.720 Many times, those of us that have this vocational calling of preaching and teaching and leading the people of God, 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:41.080 we feel in two minds. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.800 We feel the pressure to be better than any of you guys. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:12:02.419 And we know the reality of the fact that sometimes we feel so clueless, so worthless, such a contradiction to what we want you to believe when sometimes we're struggling to believe it for ourselves. 00:12:02.579 --> 00:12:03.299 What a gift! 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:07.299 I wish I had seen that earlier as a follower of Christ. 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:09.639 I wish I had seen that earlier as a pastor. 00:12:11.319 --> 00:12:13.199 We went through a very difficult season. 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:18.439 What does Asaph say in the first parts of this psalm that help us connect? 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:31.659 Well, it's obvious that he was in a season of life that felt horrible in comparison to other people that did not seem to care about God like he cared about God. 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:42.639 And he saw people, and probably a lot of them were those that showed up to worship in the temple where he was leading worship. 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:53.639 He probably observed people out in the culture that did not give a flying Houdini about God and Torah, but he also saw believers. 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:55.360 And what he saw was this. 00:12:56.459 --> 00:12:59.059 They have prestige I don't have. 00:12:59.159 --> 00:12:59.659 They have power. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:01.559 They have hell. 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:01.719 They have wealth. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.419 They have wealth. 00:13:03.959 --> 00:13:06.279 They have the good life. 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:08.399 And look at what I have. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:19.319 Now, we don't know everything that was going on in his life, but it's fair to assume it was a season of just hardship for him. 00:13:19.459 --> 00:13:20.879 Again, how long we don't know. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.399 Maybe everything that was going on in the Bible, but it was going on in the Bible. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:31.720 Maybe everything felt broken to Asaph, and it was highlighted by looking at people that seemed to have it so much better than himself. 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:39.300 Comparison kills the same. 00:13:39.300 --> 00:13:39.379 Comparison is a burden. 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:45.460 Comparison is a burden too heavy for us to bear. 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:52.200 And we see that in a godly man that went through an incredible season of bitterness. 00:13:53.280 --> 00:13:54.940 What do you do when you're bitter? 00:13:54.940 --> 00:14:04.840 What do you do when you're feeling that God is treating a lot of other people a lot better than you, and you deserve better? 00:14:05.060 --> 00:14:06.940 Did Asaph think he deserved better? 00:14:07.520 --> 00:14:08.240 You betcha. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:09.940 Look at verse 13. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.840 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:21.159 In vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.340 All day long I have been plagued. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.720 I have been punished every morning. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.019 Do you know the phrase pity party? 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:45.000 Pity party is probably the best biblical example of a pity party with self-imposed confetti flying up in the sky, blowing your own kazoo, looking in the mirror, feeling really bad about you. 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:48.679 Now, I'm not disparaging his pity party. 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:56.279 I know what that looks like, and I know when I'm having one of those emotionally, but I'm pretending. 00:14:58.360 --> 00:14:59.220 How are you doing? 00:14:59.319 --> 00:14:59.919 Oh, great. 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:00.559 Great. 00:15:00.659 --> 00:15:01.399 Made a good week. 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:03.000 How can I pray for you? 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:07.659 You know, the duplicity of heart. 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:17.399 Brennan Manning, a follower of Jesus that came from the Roman Catholic tradition that discovered a lot of grace before he died as a recovering alcoholic, 00:15:18.079 --> 00:15:27.439 he used to say, too many people that know Jesus and love Jesus end up should-ding all over themselves. 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:30.220 I shouldn't oughta. 00:15:30.439 --> 00:15:31.379 I should oughta. 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:38.139 Living under the burden of truly Christians don't think, feel, or choose like I do. 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:39.600 The heck they don't. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.120 Look at the leader of Israel's worship. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:47.659 I don't know this morning in this season of life. 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:56.019 What you're envying, what envy looks like, you know, who is it that seems to have a better marriage or a marriage? 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:57.019 Better kids or no kids. 00:15:57.019 --> 00:15:57.480 Better kids or no kids. 00:15:57.480 --> 00:15:59.419 It's amazing. 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:00.980 40 years of ordained ministry. 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:06.199 I've met with single people that so wish they were married and married people that so wish they were single. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:15.299 I've met with parents that wish they had your parents and parents that had no kids that just wonder why they've been infertile. 00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:16.759 I mean, you know, we're longing. 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:19.899 I mean, you know, we're longing, and that's not a bad thing. 00:16:19.979 --> 00:16:21.500 It's what we do with our longings. 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:24.919 Not wrong to long at all. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.240 God gave us incredible longings, and they're not to be denied. 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:31.120 They are to be stewarded. 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:42.860 Here we find a very honest worship leader, a believer, coming to the point that really, verses 13 and 14, this is what life felt like to him. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:51.899 And I'm thankful for that because, you know, as the brothers that met with me yesterday from 9 to 4 heard, 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:58.620 a lot of my life was right there, but I just really faked it in the plate. 00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:09.660 I just kind of put on this pose, even as a pastor in downtown Franklin, preached a lot of grace that was very helpful to a lot of people, 00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:18.440 not understanding how much I needed that grace for parts of my heart and story. 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.180 And I kind of played this silly game of trading off life. 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:23.860 Life. 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:31.279 Looking at my list, well, God, you know, this is what's really broken about me, but you know what? 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:35.799 It's trumped by the fact that I'm being useful to you over here. 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:48.160 So we play these silly games to try to keep an equilibrium until, fortunately, the pretending just becomes too heavy to carry. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:48.460 Hallelujah. 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:50.500 Hallelujah. 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:59.800 This should be the easiest room in your week where you can be authentic and honest. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.300 All morning long, what have we been? 00:18:03.580 --> 00:18:09.040 A people crying out to God for mercy who promises daily mercy. 00:18:09.840 --> 00:18:14.540 We've been confessing not only our sin, but God's Christ. 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:24.539 We have so many on-ramps to be congruent, but we just don't know what to do with our own heart disconnect. 00:18:24.879 --> 00:18:33.059 Again, we're made for wonder, knowing, loving, delighting in the God of all grace, the God of all hope, 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:37.220 the God who made us, who's redeeming us and restoring us, 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:42.379 and yet that default mode of wandering is everywhere. 00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:44.520 This is such good news for us. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:51.300 Let me tell you right now this morning, if you're a struggler, if you're having a hard time concentrating on anything, 00:18:51.520 --> 00:18:57.500 this Tar Hill redneck accent is communicating with you, you are so welcome here. 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:04.120 Your salvation is not bound up with your understanding and following everything I'm saying. 00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:08.780 Your salvation is bound up with a God that's pursuing you this morning. 00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:11.259 As believers and non-believers. 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:14.639 What did Asaph do? 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:18.660 Let's just follow along because he's not giving us a formula. 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:21.019 He's giving us beauty. 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:27.480 He's giving us a picture of what does a gospel-shaped lifestyle look like. 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.940 He did not begin the psalm with the veritable, 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:35.600 I'm on the front cover of Guidepost magazine now. 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:38.120 I'm so glad I'm over any of this. 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:45.059 The beauty of the Christian life is we're not primarily called to get over stuff, 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.400 but to grow through all things. 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:51.420 Some of your deepest hurts and wounds and pains 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:57.620 are going to make you a conduit of grace and mercy and kindness. 00:19:57.619 --> 00:20:06.879 Life in Jesus is not primarily about relief, but a changing heart, 00:20:07.399 --> 00:20:13.000 which oddly enough proves to be the greatest relief. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:15.399 So what did that look like? 00:20:16.539 --> 00:20:21.679 Verse 15 and 17 begin to show us the transition. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:26.799 Again, the storyboard time-wise, we don't know. 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:29.299 When we're in heaven, we can ask Asaph, 00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:32.279 so Asaph, can you give me some backstory here? 00:20:32.360 --> 00:20:34.060 And we'll have that joy. 00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:36.980 But we have enough of his story right now. 00:20:37.080 --> 00:20:38.580 Notice a couple of things. 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:40.259 One, notice that in verse 15, 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:44.759 we'll see that he has not become so bitter, 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:52.059 so over the edge, so off the radar screen that he's just simply spewed. 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:56.200 No, there's still a part of him that shows the tetheredness 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.420 to the God that with kindness binds us to himself. 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:01.359 Look at verse 15. 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:04.900 If I had said, I will speak thus, 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:09.400 I would have betrayed this generation of your children. 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:11.099 What does that mean? 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:13.399 Well, it means Asaph understood, 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.419 God, I was a horrible contradiction. 00:21:16.659 --> 00:21:21.219 It was so hard to be with your people in your word and leading them 00:21:21.219 --> 00:21:26.439 because I knew on the inside that I envied, I was angry, 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:28.459 I knew you to be an unfair God. 00:21:28.639 --> 00:21:34.319 I felt, perhaps he felt very much like the elder brother in Luke 15, 00:21:34.500 --> 00:21:37.079 so smug, so self-righteous, 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:41.619 on the premises but a stranger to Abba's promises. 00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:48.839 He hadn't quite, Asaph, got to the point that he just threw it all away. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:51.539 But what did he do? 00:21:52.639 --> 00:21:53.539 Look at verse 16. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.059 This is kind of where we think about this morning 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:01.119 and maybe this next season. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:06.500 For us individually, again, those of you just beginning to look over the fence 00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:11.399 at who Jesus is, trying to figure out, 00:22:11.879 --> 00:22:13.099 can I trust anybody? 00:22:13.239 --> 00:22:14.500 What's this God stuff? 00:22:15.479 --> 00:22:20.279 Or whether you are absolutely elders in this church or pastors. 00:22:21.139 --> 00:22:21.959 What do we do? 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:22.679 Where do we go? 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:28.759 When I tried, verse 16, to understand all this, 00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:31.060 it was oppressive to me. 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:32.360 I mean, what a great declaration. 00:22:32.580 --> 00:22:35.799 Lord, finally it weighed me down. 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:39.100 See, that's a part of my story as I shared with the men yesterday. 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:43.019 One of the greatest gifts God gave me as a pastor 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:45.519 was a burnout in the year 2000. 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.060 I'd just turned 50 years old. 00:22:47.059 --> 00:22:51.480 And finally, a lot of that internal contradiction 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:54.619 and a lot of what I did not understand, 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:58.599 the anger, just so much stuff, 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.179 it finally just wore me out. 00:23:03.879 --> 00:23:04.399 Hallelujah. 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:08.119 It's what the Bible means by a broken and contrite heart. 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:09.599 God will not despise. 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:15.859 I personally needed to cry uncle that I might cry Abba. 00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:19.419 I had to come to the end of myself as a pastor of a church 00:23:19.419 --> 00:23:22.619 that was just growing out the wazoo. 00:23:23.639 --> 00:23:27.559 Finally got to the point that the pastoral cocaine 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.000 of a big growing church was not enough. 00:23:32.979 --> 00:23:33.919 Thank God. 00:23:35.959 --> 00:23:37.919 Asaph says, it was too much till, 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.439 and I love this, it's such a unique picture, 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:43.259 till I entered the sanctuary of God. 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:45.799 Now, what would that have meant for Asaph? 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:49.299 It did not mean, of course, that he got in his chariot 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:53.799 and drove down the block to Solomon's temple. 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:55.920 He worked there all day long. 00:23:56.099 --> 00:23:57.879 He did not need a building. 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:00.359 He needed God. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:05.000 See, the first sanctuary was the Garden of Eden, 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:07.079 and it wasn't a building. 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.859 It was the thick presence of the God who does not shame. 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:18.779 And Asaph knew, I need, in our terms, 00:24:18.919 --> 00:24:20.539 a come-to-Jesus meeting. 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:23.599 I don't need to be religious. 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:25.919 I don't need to rededicate my rededications. 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:29.319 I don't need to man up, woman up, believer up. 00:24:29.379 --> 00:24:31.480 I need to collapse on God. 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:34.240 I don't even have the strength to throw myself on God. 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:38.839 I entered the sanctuary. 00:24:39.120 --> 00:24:40.460 That's just the presence of God. 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:43.620 Where do we find the presence of God? 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:46.539 In the gospel of his grace. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:47.880 We'll come to that in a minute. 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:51.799 Second part of verse 17 needs to be understood 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:53.140 as these next several verses. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.799 Till I entered the sanctuary of God, 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:58.759 then I understood their final destiny. 00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:00.279 Now, let me explain this to you. 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:01.359 Asaph saying, 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:03.660 God, when I finally got quiet, 00:25:03.899 --> 00:25:05.839 when I really owned my bitterness, 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:09.240 my anger, my anguish before your face, 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:11.920 rather than pretending like that wasn't who I was, 00:25:12.379 --> 00:25:13.720 when I got quiet, 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:15.839 when I heard you say to me, 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:16.899 be still, 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:20.779 I know that I am God. 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:23.500 I could hear you say, 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:26.000 be still and know that I am good. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.240 When he says, 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:30.380 I understood their destiny, 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:33.000 he's not now beginning to relish his thought 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.480 that all these bad guys are going to get their end. 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:39.240 This is not now a self-righteous man 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:41.279 becoming even more self-righteous. 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:41.859 He's saying, 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:42.279 Lord, 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.700 when my heart began to drift, 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.000 I started envying, 00:25:46.380 --> 00:25:46.940 coveting, 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:47.619 wanting, 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:49.500 and all that internal stuff. 00:25:49.500 --> 00:25:50.539 Now, 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.559 as I spent time with you, 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:54.339 I understood 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:57.640 that if you gave me what I was demanding, 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.160 it would have killed me. 00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:03.299 That's what these next verses look like. 00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:04.859 Verse 18, 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:05.720 18 through 20, 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.480 describe an understanding of where 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.980 if you throw your heart into cruise control 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:13.019 and simply live out the demands 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:14.740 of what you think you deserve or need, 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:16.319 here's where it will take you. 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.519 Surely you place them on slippery ground. 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:21.000 You cast them down to ruin. 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:22.839 How suddenly are they destroyed, 00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:25.740 completely swept away by terrors 00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:27.559 as a dream when one awakes. 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:29.319 So when you arise, 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:29.700 oh Lord, 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:31.779 you will despise them as fantasies. 00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:33.880 He's seeing himself 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:35.460 in the company of those 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:38.539 who try to live as though there is no God 00:26:38.539 --> 00:26:40.240 or Jesus is not enough. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:44.099 This is not Asaph now condemning others. 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:45.620 How do we know that? 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:47.599 Look at where he goes next 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.859 and talk about honesty. 00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:50.400 Verses 21 and 22. 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:54.400 When my heart was grieved 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:58.240 and my spirit embittered, 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:03.140 I was senseless and ignorant. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.819 I was a brute beast before you. 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:10.019 I never heard a pastor talking like that 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:10.859 growing up. 00:27:13.879 --> 00:27:15.980 Thank God I began to see 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:18.220 as a seminarian in 1975 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:21.160 a man named Jack Miller 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:23.700 that began to be that authentic and honest. 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:28.000 A man that went on to be my spiritual father 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.059 for 21 years. 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:33.779 A man who had been successful professor, 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:34.720 church planter, 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:36.180 but finally in his own words 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:37.480 became disgusted 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:39.060 with his disconnected heart 00:27:39.060 --> 00:27:40.240 and self-righteousness. 00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:45.880 Maybe that's a gift to you today. 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:46.460 You're thinking, 00:27:46.860 --> 00:27:47.960 wait a minute, 00:27:48.080 --> 00:27:49.460 a writer of the Bible 00:27:49.460 --> 00:27:50.820 serving God 00:27:50.820 --> 00:27:53.420 felt this kind of grief, 00:27:53.539 --> 00:27:54.700 this kind of embitterness 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:56.560 to the point that he even knew 00:27:56.560 --> 00:27:57.519 that his actions, 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:58.100 thoughts, 00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.240 choices were beginning 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:01.200 rather to be rather beastly. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:05.480 I am so thankful for that. 00:28:08.840 --> 00:28:10.460 Because where does that take you 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:14.220 when we own our brokenness? 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:19.160 It takes us into the beauty of our God. 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:23.779 It takes us again and again and again 00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:25.160 back to gospel sanity. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.080 I'm a carrier of wounds. 00:28:31.660 --> 00:28:33.200 An eight-year-old little boy 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:34.800 sexually abused by a neighbor. 00:28:35.840 --> 00:28:37.460 The carrier of a huge heart wound 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:38.660 called the death of my mom 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:39.620 when I was 11. 00:28:40.860 --> 00:28:42.519 Went through a head-on car crash. 00:28:42.560 --> 00:28:43.660 She was taken from us 00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:45.100 and my dad was so depressed 00:28:45.100 --> 00:28:46.860 he didn't speak her name for 40 years. 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:49.500 I've had deep wounds 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:50.159 that have needed 00:28:50.159 --> 00:28:51.779 to be understood and named. 00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:54.579 I also have had deep wounds 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:55.459 as a pastor 00:28:55.459 --> 00:28:57.679 and I've been betrayed 00:28:57.679 --> 00:29:03.919 and I've been used. 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:07.979 Don't pity me. 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:10.500 Grandmothers, don't come hug me. 00:29:11.419 --> 00:29:14.079 Follow me into the God 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:14.819 who says, 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:15.759 I understand. 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:19.500 And I will heal your heart 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:21.500 and I will sustain your bitterness 00:29:21.500 --> 00:29:24.619 and I will take all of that 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:26.659 which you don't understand. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:30.379 Lastly, let's see what that looks like. 00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:32.299 Verse 23. 00:29:32.459 --> 00:29:33.539 Here's where we wind down. 00:29:34.719 --> 00:29:35.199 Yet, 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:37.519 and this is a picture of 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:38.639 when we enter the sanctuary, 00:29:38.979 --> 00:29:40.879 when we ourselves 00:29:40.879 --> 00:29:43.119 have a come-to-Jesus meeting 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.239 just exactly as we are, 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:45.759 not making promises 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:47.159 to do more, 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:47.799 try harder, 00:29:47.919 --> 00:29:49.339 but being and owning 00:29:49.339 --> 00:29:50.159 the emotions, 00:29:50.399 --> 00:29:50.899 the feelings, 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:51.739 the confusion, 00:29:51.919 --> 00:29:52.519 the sin, 00:29:52.659 --> 00:29:53.659 all this stuff. 00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:55.199 Here's what we discover 00:29:55.199 --> 00:29:56.079 again and again. 00:29:56.399 --> 00:29:56.679 Yet, 00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:58.839 I am always with you. 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:02.259 You hold me 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:03.399 by your right hand. 00:30:04.199 --> 00:30:05.559 You guide me 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:06.459 with your counsel. 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:08.259 and afterward, 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:09.299 you will take me 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:10.140 into glory. 00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:11.600 Do you see in verses 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:13.340 23 and 24, 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.559 as we center 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:17.600 in sanctuary, 00:30:18.120 --> 00:30:19.299 how we come to understand, 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:19.640 God, 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:20.819 you've got my past. 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:23.480 You've grasped me. 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.720 So, 00:30:25.819 --> 00:30:27.339 many years as a pastor 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:28.180 before I understood 00:30:28.180 --> 00:30:30.019 it was God's grasp 00:30:30.019 --> 00:30:31.360 of me with His grace, 00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:33.279 not my grasp of Him 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:34.099 that mattered. 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:35.640 Lord Jesus, 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:37.039 you laid hold of me. 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:38.779 You got a hold of me. 00:30:40.039 --> 00:30:41.220 I didn't invite you 00:30:41.220 --> 00:30:42.039 into my life. 00:30:42.120 --> 00:30:43.259 You gave me a new heart. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:45.680 You grasped me. 00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:46.880 We forget that. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:48.160 We feel so alone, 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:49.120 so orphan-like. 00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:50.339 You grasped me. 00:30:50.579 --> 00:30:52.059 My past is covered. 00:30:52.059 --> 00:30:53.259 My present 00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:54.480 is in your hands. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:56.379 You guide me. 00:30:57.500 --> 00:30:58.579 You hold me 00:30:58.579 --> 00:30:59.559 by my right hand. 00:30:59.679 --> 00:31:00.440 You guide me 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:01.279 with your counsel. 00:31:01.980 --> 00:31:03.419 Jesus is a good shepherd 00:31:03.419 --> 00:31:04.099 right now 00:31:04.099 --> 00:31:04.940 whether you are 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:05.839 ignoring Him 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:06.480 or not. 00:31:09.579 --> 00:31:10.079 Asaph, 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:11.399 like his mentor David, 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:12.179 needed to learn 00:31:12.179 --> 00:31:14.000 about still waters 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.220 and green pastures 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:17.559 rather than just assuming 00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:18.899 the grass is always greener 00:31:18.899 --> 00:31:19.819 on the other side. 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:22.720 What would it mean 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:23.740 for you in this season 00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:24.399 right now 00:31:24.399 --> 00:31:25.779 the nest that you are 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:27.899 with no clear 00:31:27.899 --> 00:31:29.259 predictable outcome 00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:30.639 to be taken 00:31:30.639 --> 00:31:31.960 by the hand of Jesus 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:33.579 into His 00:31:33.579 --> 00:31:35.079 right now 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:35.579 pastor 00:31:35.579 --> 00:31:36.460 of grace for you 00:31:36.460 --> 00:31:38.519 and the future, 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:39.000 past, 00:31:39.139 --> 00:31:39.359 present, 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:39.759 future, 00:31:39.899 --> 00:31:40.799 and after would you 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:42.059 will take me 00:31:42.059 --> 00:31:43.059 into glory. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:44.779 See, 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:45.639 sometimes when you're 00:31:45.639 --> 00:31:46.299 really hurting, 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:47.099 really angry, 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:47.899 really sad, 00:31:48.059 --> 00:31:48.899 really disconnected, 00:31:49.099 --> 00:31:51.180 you don't think at all 00:31:51.180 --> 00:31:52.220 about the end 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:52.799 of the story. 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:53.960 All you do, 00:31:54.059 --> 00:31:54.659 all I do, 00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.119 is marinate in 00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:56.779 our own 00:31:56.779 --> 00:31:59.039 self-righteous muse. 00:32:00.740 --> 00:32:01.859 And we need to know 00:32:01.859 --> 00:32:03.039 the Father will complete 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:04.039 the good work you began. 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:05.879 None of you 00:32:05.879 --> 00:32:06.879 are beyond 00:32:06.879 --> 00:32:07.879 the reach or need 00:32:07.879 --> 00:32:09.059 of God's grace today 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:11.519 and neither am I. 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:14.720 Finally, 00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:16.039 what does that look like 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:17.480 as we realize 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:18.119 the fulfillment 00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:18.980 of this psalm? 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:21.000 Who alone 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:21.980 could bring 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:23.099 to bear 00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:23.859 in reality 00:32:23.859 --> 00:32:24.879 for Asaph 00:32:24.879 --> 00:32:25.819 and all of us 00:32:25.819 --> 00:32:27.099 the beauty 00:32:27.099 --> 00:32:28.779 of being this honest, 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:29.779 this desperate? 00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:32.059 If we're this desperate, 00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:33.480 where would the delight be? 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:37.079 Whom have I 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:38.379 in heaven 00:32:38.379 --> 00:32:38.960 but you? 00:32:40.879 --> 00:32:42.339 And being with you, 00:32:42.379 --> 00:32:43.480 I desire nothing 00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:44.220 on earth. 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:45.359 My flesh 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:46.399 and my heart 00:32:46.399 --> 00:32:48.980 may fail. 00:32:49.299 --> 00:32:49.960 Do you see 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:50.899 the honesty in that? 00:32:51.899 --> 00:32:52.839 Asaph assumed 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:53.759 pragmatically 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:55.079 if he did it right, 00:32:55.399 --> 00:32:56.559 he would always have 00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:57.420 good health 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:58.339 and plenty of wealth. 00:32:58.579 --> 00:32:59.539 Look at the honesty. 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:00.059 God, 00:33:00.139 --> 00:33:01.740 the point is no longer 00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:04.620 you baptizing 00:33:04.620 --> 00:33:05.960 what I think 00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:06.720 I deserve 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:07.559 or have to have. 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:07.799 Lord, 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:09.339 I may lose my health. 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:11.680 I may lose 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:12.480 a lot of stuff 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:13.120 that actually 00:33:13.120 --> 00:33:14.440 were more my treasure 00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:15.120 and trust 00:33:15.120 --> 00:33:15.559 than you 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:16.539 but you know what? 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:17.079 Oh God, 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:18.559 now I see, 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:19.559 I believe, 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:20.500 I understand, 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:21.819 I taste, 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:23.000 I realize 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.559 you are enough. 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.079 Being with you, 00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:28.000 I desire nothing 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:28.640 on earth. 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:33.160 God is the strength 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:33.819 of my heart 00:33:33.819 --> 00:33:35.880 and my portion 00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:36.420 forever. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:38.400 Those who are far 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:39.440 from you 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:40.200 will perish, 00:33:40.359 --> 00:33:41.259 you destroy all 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:42.160 who are unfaithful 00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:42.539 to you 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:43.700 but as for me, 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:44.480 it is good 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:47.000 to be near God. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:49.599 I have made 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:50.579 the sovereign Lord 00:33:50.579 --> 00:33:51.539 my refuge, 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:52.740 I will tell 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:54.299 of all your deeds. 00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:56.380 In completion, 00:33:56.539 --> 00:33:57.180 how do we see 00:33:57.180 --> 00:33:57.980 Jesus taking that 00:33:57.980 --> 00:33:58.660 on for us? 00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:00.779 You know why 00:34:00.779 --> 00:34:02.700 we will not 00:34:02.700 --> 00:34:03.340 be destroyed 00:34:03.340 --> 00:34:04.240 for our sin? 00:34:05.640 --> 00:34:06.799 Because in time, 00:34:07.019 --> 00:34:07.660 this Father, 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:08.539 this God, 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:09.700 sent His Son 00:34:09.700 --> 00:34:10.680 to be crushed 00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:12.240 under the weight 00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:12.900 of the judgment 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:13.519 we deserve 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:14.599 that we might say 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:15.099 today, 00:34:15.619 --> 00:34:16.340 oh God, 00:34:16.680 --> 00:34:17.599 thank you for not 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:18.280 giving me 00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:19.900 a second chance 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:21.220 but the second Adam. 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:22.680 Thank you, 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:23.240 Lord Jesus, 00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:24.119 for coming 00:34:24.119 --> 00:34:25.519 to die 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:26.300 for all 00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:27.060 of my sins, 00:34:27.220 --> 00:34:27.560 past, 00:34:27.700 --> 00:34:27.980 present, 00:34:28.060 --> 00:34:28.539 and future, 00:34:28.660 --> 00:34:29.900 not just the few 00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:30.960 that I'm aware of. 00:34:31.600 --> 00:34:32.560 Thank you now 00:34:32.560 --> 00:34:33.380 that through your 00:34:33.380 --> 00:34:34.360 perfect life 00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:35.080 of obedience, 00:34:36.140 --> 00:34:37.420 your death, 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:39.300 absorbing my judgment, 00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:40.480 your resurrection 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:41.560 for my justification, 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:42.580 your ascension 00:34:42.580 --> 00:34:43.280 to the right hand 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:43.880 of the Father, 00:34:44.240 --> 00:34:45.280 I can dare 00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:45.860 to believe 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:46.560 and risk 00:34:46.560 --> 00:34:48.680 that just as I am, 00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:50.060 you welcome me, 00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:51.400 you envelop me, 00:34:51.700 --> 00:34:52.880 you receive me, 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:56.460 and what you want 00:34:56.460 --> 00:34:57.220 to give me 00:34:57.220 --> 00:34:58.340 is a merry heart 00:34:58.340 --> 00:34:59.400 and a Martha world. 00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:00.820 It's not about me 00:35:00.820 --> 00:35:01.800 trying harder now, 00:35:02.660 --> 00:35:04.079 it's about me 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:07.300 believing in your love 00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:07.840 afresh. 00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:09.180 Let me pray for us, 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:10.039 let's just pray 00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:10.980 that God would apply 00:35:10.980 --> 00:35:12.140 this word to His heart, 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:13.119 all of our hearts, 00:35:13.260 --> 00:35:13.800 my heart. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:14.200 Father, 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:16.300 it's been a gift to me 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:16.960 to be back 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:17.940 at Southwood Press 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:18.460 this weekend. 00:35:18.760 --> 00:35:19.519 Thank you for those 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:20.679 precious brothers 00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:22.780 that engaged 00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:24.039 in a very long, 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:24.840 full day. 00:35:26.259 --> 00:35:27.659 Thank you for their welcome, 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:28.360 thank you, Lord, 00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:30.019 when I felt shame 00:35:30.019 --> 00:35:31.059 in recounting parts 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:31.860 of my story, 00:35:32.039 --> 00:35:32.880 they gave me 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:33.659 their tears, 00:35:33.980 --> 00:35:34.679 their attention, 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:35.440 their hearts. 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:37.380 I thank you, Lord, 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:38.159 for this morning. 00:35:39.219 --> 00:35:39.840 I thank you 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:41.000 just sitting over there 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.239 watching my brother, 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:43.659 Will, 00:35:43.759 --> 00:35:44.940 with such kindness 00:35:44.940 --> 00:35:45.719 and gentleness 00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:46.579 lead your people. 00:35:46.699 --> 00:35:47.380 Lord, thank you 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:48.900 that it is your kindness 00:35:48.900 --> 00:35:49.539 that leads us 00:35:49.539 --> 00:35:50.119 to repentance. 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:52.880 Thank you, Jesus, 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:53.599 that you say, 00:35:53.740 --> 00:35:54.420 come to me, 00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:55.660 all you are weary 00:35:55.660 --> 00:35:56.660 and heavy laden, 00:35:56.720 --> 00:36:00.599 and you will find rest. 00:36:01.720 --> 00:36:03.039 Rest for the bitterness. 00:36:03.700 --> 00:36:05.139 Rest from the beastly 00:36:05.139 --> 00:36:05.940 acting out. 00:36:07.139 --> 00:36:08.700 Rest, peace, 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:10.700 my peace I give you, 00:36:10.780 --> 00:36:11.980 not as the world gives. 00:36:13.160 --> 00:36:15.019 Jesus, come and be our peace. 00:36:15.160 --> 00:36:15.619 Come, Lord, 00:36:15.680 --> 00:36:16.960 and apply this word 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:19.179 to us individually 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:20.579 and corporately 00:36:20.579 --> 00:36:21.220 as a people. 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:22.159 We pray 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:23.960 with thanksgiving 00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:24.800 and anticipation, 00:36:25.220 --> 00:36:25.440 Jesus, 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:26.280 in your name. 00:36:26.720 --> 00:36:27.119 Hallelujah, 00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:28.199 what a Savior. 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:29.720 Hallelujah, 00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:30.720 what a salvation. 00:36:31.720 --> 00:36:32.000 Amen. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:37.159 For more information, 00:36:37.539 --> 00:36:38.460 visit us online 00:36:38.460 --> 00:36:39.760 at southwood.org. 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:42.460 God bless you. 00:36:43.240 --> 00:36:43.720 Amen. 00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:44.720 Wolf, 00:36:44.860 --> 00:36:45.560 amen. 00:36:45.660 --> 00:36:46.060 Amen. 00:36:46.420 --> 00:36:46.620 Amen. 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:46.900 Amen. 00:36:46.900 --> 00:36:47.060 Amen. 00:36:47.600 --> 00:36:47.780 Amen. 00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:48.600 Amen. 00:36:48.600 --> 00:36:48.840 Amen. 00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:49.060 Amen. 00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:49.140 Amen. 00:36:49.160 --> 00:36:49.880 Amen. 00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:50.300 Amen. 00:36:50.300 --> 00:36:50.440 Amen. 00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:50.940 Amen. 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:51.800 Amen. 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:52.300 Amen. 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:52.460 Amen. 00:36:52.460 --> 00:36:52.580 Amen. 00:36:52.600 --> 00:36:53.080 Amen. 00:36:53.080 --> 00:36:54.760 Amen. 00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:56.040 Amen. 00:36:56.080 --> 00:36:56.960 Amen. 00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:57.280 Amen. 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:00.040 Amen. 00:37:08.100 --> 00:37:09.480 Amen. 00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:09.700 Amen.