WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.300 It's lovely to be here. 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:03.720 So encouraging to see all the people I don't know. 00:00:04.339 --> 00:00:08.660 Don't read into that, that it's discouraging to see all the people that I do know. 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:15.200 And it's great to be here with you and to have this psalm open in front of us. 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:20.640 Let me pray, and then we'll think about this wonderful, wonderful song. 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:26.699 Merciful Father, nourish us with your holy word, we pray. 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:33.000 Grant us listening ears, attentive minds, open hearts, malleable wills and humble attitudes. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.939 We are conscious that in Scotland, in our day, there is a famine of your word. 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:42.200 So we are thankful to be here together this morning. 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:49.200 May Jesus be glorified as we think together and may we be transformed. 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:54.539 Please send your spirit so that these words on this page might be alive in us. 00:00:54.539 --> 00:00:57.939 Merciful Father, nourish us with your word, we pray. 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:04.900 In Jesus' supremely exalted and ever-satisfying name, we bring these requests before you, our Father. 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:06.099 Amen. 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:12.759 Eight years ago, I moved to South London, to Bermondsey, to work for the Proclamation Trust. 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:20.340 And as an act of self-preservation, I decided to become a Millwall football supporter. 00:01:22.020 --> 00:01:26.660 Now, Millwall, if you don't know, are the most unpopular team in the whole world. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.900 In fact, their theme song is, No One Likes Us, No One Likes Us, We Don't Care. 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:32.219 We are Millwall. 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.100 It was a great company to be amongst. 00:01:35.099 --> 00:01:42.919 And the very first time I went to the Millwall football stadium, the New Den, they were playing Barnsley in the third round of the FA Cup. 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:45.819 Stadium was full. 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:48.599 Everyone was truly buoyant. 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.840 Until, after 12 minutes, Barnsley took the lead. 00:01:53.679 --> 00:01:56.899 And in their thick Yorkshire accents, they sung the song, 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:03.379 Everywhere We Go, Everywhere We Go, We're the Barnsley Boys Making All the Noise Everywhere We Go. 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:07.379 Their tune had radically changed by halftime. 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:12.699 Because Millwall had had a real resurgence and were winning 4-1. 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:16.039 And as the second half kicked off, 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:19.379 my newfound Millwall brethren, 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.500 with one voice, all sung that inimitable football chant. 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:27.500 You're not singing anymore. 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:30.300 You're not singing anymore. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:31.340 You're not singing. 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:32.180 You're not singing. 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:34.099 You're not singing anymore. 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:39.599 That amazing taunt to ridicule the opposition. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:45.860 And not only were they singing in unison and totally deriding the Barnsley fans, 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.760 they were also making a profound theological point. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:03:03.280 Because it is demonstrably true that we sing when we're winning and we don't when we're not. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.860 And we don't when we're not. 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:11.300 You don't have much singing in the midst of chronic illness in the world. 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:14.599 There's not much singing on the oncology ward. 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:18.900 There's not much singing in the household of a fracturing marriage. 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:22.319 There's not much singing in the depths of depression. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:29.140 There's not much singing when you're overwhelmed and overcome by stress. 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:36.219 The world out there is completely convinced that you sing when you're winning and you don't when you're not. 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:41.199 And I want to tell you this morning that Christians need to be the exception that proves the rule. 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:52.379 That because of the Lord Jesus Christ, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension to the right hand side of the Father, 00:03:52.379 --> 00:04:02.519 his soon return to remake the world, that Christians of all people have reason to sing even on the darkest days. 00:04:03.519 --> 00:04:11.000 And let me tell you, if you can learn to sing a gospel song about Jesus even on the darkest days, 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:21.860 it will massage hope into your hearts and be a provocative witness as the world watches on. 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:27.420 We sing when we're winning and we don't when we're not, except for all of you guys, 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:32.100 that because of Jesus, you're to sing all of the time. 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:38.899 And I want to say Psalm 130 is a wonderful song to sing even on the darkest of days. 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:43.159 It is a song we're going to have to learn to sing in the good times, 00:04:43.159 --> 00:04:48.219 so it massages gospel hope into our hearts in the bad times. 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:53.680 It is a wonderful song that God has given us in his word to sing back to him. 00:04:54.640 --> 00:04:59.100 And I'm sure many of you know on the darkest days, it's very hard to think of words to say. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:04.640 And God has graciously given us words so that in the depths of sorrow, 00:05:05.260 --> 00:05:11.220 when we're overwhelmed by misery, when we're drowning in work, when we're sinking in stress, 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:17.560 Psalm 130 will be a wonderful tonic in the midst of all of that. 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:22.500 Psalm 130 is one of the 15 Psalms of Ascent, 00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:28.500 a sort of psalter within the psalter in Book 5 of the Psalms, 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:34.300 a collection of psalms to help orientate post-exilic Israel hearts, 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:37.980 to focus on God and to hope in him, 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.780 especially as they make their three times a year pilgrimage to Jerusalem 00:05:42.780 --> 00:05:47.240 for the yearly festivals that he prescribed in his word. 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:53.660 So let me read Psalm 130 again, and then we'll dig in. 00:05:53.660 --> 00:06:23.640 Psalm 13. 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:30.320 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 00:06:31.460 --> 00:06:39.680 O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:45.120 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. 00:06:46.580 --> 00:06:50.900 It's a song in four verses, and I want to look at them each in turn. 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:54.319 And notice number one, verses one and two. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.779 We see the psalm is pleading from the depths. 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:00.599 He's pleading. 00:07:01.299 --> 00:07:04.099 Pleading from the metaphorical depths. 00:07:04.299 --> 00:07:07.579 And let's be clear, that metaphor is incredibly apt. 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:10.459 That feeling of drowning. 00:07:11.479 --> 00:07:13.139 That feeling of sinking. 00:07:14.159 --> 00:07:17.459 That feeling of the surface being a long way off. 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:24.479 That in the midst of suffering and sorrow and sin and tragedy, isn't that how it feels? 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:27.159 It feels dark. 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.779 And it feels cold. 00:07:30.659 --> 00:07:32.539 And it feels lonely. 00:07:33.659 --> 00:07:35.479 And it is deathly quiet. 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:41.560 And so when the psalmist says, out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:49.080 We have a real sufferer singing in his situation. 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:52.800 And it's a desperate cry. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:55.480 He cries to the Lord. 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:56.920 Hear my voice. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.920 Let your ears be attentive to my voice. 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:01.520 God, hear me. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:03.560 I am here. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.120 I'm alone. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.659 And you are my only hope. 00:08:08.859 --> 00:08:15.279 It is the desperate cry of a drowning pilgrim directed to his covenant gods. 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.439 And what is his plea as he's sinking? 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.299 Well, into verse two, his plea is for mercy. 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:28.319 He is crying to God that God would intervene. 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:39.299 And in crying for mercy, he's confessing that he is right where he deserves to be on account of being a sinner in a fallen world. 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:41.480 And let's be clear. 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:48.560 The result of all suffering, the result of all tragedy, the result of all sorrow and misery is sin. 00:08:49.379 --> 00:08:51.659 Not proportional sin. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:53.679 That's what Job tells us, isn't it? 00:08:53.699 --> 00:08:57.379 You aren't suffering because of what you've done necessarily. 00:08:58.439 --> 00:09:05.399 But the result of being fallen people in a fallen world is that there is sorrow and sinking and difficulty. 00:09:06.199 --> 00:09:08.500 That the world doesn't work. 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:11.319 That the world has gone wrong. 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:25.600 And so sin and misery and death and tragedy and dysfunction and loneliness are just an indelible stain on a perfect creation inflicted by human sin. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:33.740 And therefore, all of us, no matter what situation we're in, when we're sinking, our need is mercy. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.019 God to be kinder to us than we deserve. 00:09:38.920 --> 00:09:45.960 God to intervene to rescue us from the situation that sin has brought us to. 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.680 God, would you be merciful to me? 00:09:51.800 --> 00:10:01.720 There's that incredible story, isn't there, of the defecting general who went AWOL on the battlefield and is brought before Alexander the Great. 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:15.660 And just as Alexander the Great is about to declare sentence, which would be death, his mother runs it and says, my emperor, my son deserves mercy. 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:25.679 And Alexander the Great says, my dear lady, if he deserved mercy, it wouldn't be mercy because mercy is completely open handed all of the time. 00:10:27.319 --> 00:10:29.860 He's treating people better than they deserve. 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:32.219 And this is what this man is crying. 00:10:33.579 --> 00:10:35.019 I'm in the depths. 00:10:36.219 --> 00:10:40.319 And my only hope is that you are merciful to me. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:48.900 Pleading to God that he wouldn't be treated as his sin deserves, not leave him in the depths where sin has led him. 00:10:50.680 --> 00:10:55.900 But as he cries in the second stanza, he has a light bulb moment. 00:10:57.100 --> 00:11:03.500 As he's there alone in the quiet, in the suffering, in the sadness, in the silence. 00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:07.460 He thinks about all that he knows about God. 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:18.180 And it's as he reflects on God himself that he starts to realize that the depths won't be his final resting place. 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:25.000 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:28.440 He asks a rhetorical question. 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:30.940 He does a thought experiment. 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:42.400 Lord, if every time I did what I shouldn't or didn't do what I should, you made a note on my record that I was a sinner. 00:11:43.420 --> 00:11:50.940 Lord, if every time I said what I shouldn't or didn't say what I should, you made a note and it was on my record forever. 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:58.160 Lord, if every time I thought what I shouldn't or didn't think what I should, you made a note. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:08.140 Lord, what if every second of my life I didn't love you with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength as you deserve, you made a note. 00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:15.280 Lord, if you made a note of all of that, then humanity has no hope. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:20.360 Because the record even for a day would condemn us. 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:24.500 A record even for a day would mean that the depths, that's it. 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:26.220 That's the best you can hope for. 00:12:26.579 --> 00:12:28.120 That's the most you can deserve. 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:32.259 I am 42 years old. 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.480 It's been a very hard life, as you can see. 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:43.080 If I only sinned once a day for those 42 years, which let me tell you is a ridiculously low estimate, 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.639 then I would have committed already 15,000 acts of treason, 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:53.360 which them in and of themselves would be carrying a sentence of death. 00:12:53.420 --> 00:13:01.259 They are all capital offenses and I have, let me tell you, insurmountably more than 15,000 capital offenses on my records. 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:11.299 And as the drowning pilgrim thinks, a ray of light shines in to the depths. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:17.059 Verse 4, but with you, there is forgiveness. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:22.319 That actually God in and of himself is merciful. 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:24.480 He is kind. 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:25.399 He is loving. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:27.559 He is not condemnatory. 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:30.379 His natural reflex is to forgive. 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:38.120 That penitent people who come before him and say, hear me, have mercy on me, I'm sorry. 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:44.340 His default reflex is forgiveness. 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:47.279 But with you, there is forgiveness. 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:50.120 That you may be feared. 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:56.179 And do you see that because God in and of himself is forgiving, sinners drowning in the depths have hope. 00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:59.599 The hope is found in the very character of God himself. 00:14:00.939 --> 00:14:03.279 That he is merciful and kind and gracious. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:08.079 And therefore, the cries of desperate sinners drowning will always be heard. 00:14:08.939 --> 00:14:16.179 Because God's ears are always attentive to the cries of penitent people drowning in the depths. 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:20.239 But do you see how verse 4 works? 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:26.759 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand. 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:33.519 But with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.259 With you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:39.600 I would not run the world like that. 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:45.039 If I was in church, I would flip it completely the other way around. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:50.000 I would say, you start fearing me. 00:14:50.199 --> 00:14:52.339 You start relating to me rightly. 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:56.599 You start doing the things that I want and making less of a mess of your life. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.199 You start putting those bits in place. 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:03.980 Then we'll talk about forgiveness once your record looks slightly better than it is already. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.279 That's not how grace works. 00:15:09.620 --> 00:15:12.399 God forgives us that we might fear him. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:13.939 We might relate to him rightly. 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.279 God lifts us out of the depths. 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.919 So out of the depths, we might honour him and love him and serve him. 00:15:21.339 --> 00:15:23.379 And yes, we'll be stuttering and stumbling. 00:15:23.939 --> 00:15:26.439 Yes, there'll be one step forward and two steps back. 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:28.259 But this God forgives. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.899 And as those that know what forgiveness is, 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:36.539 it is incumbent upon us to fear him and honour him and love him 00:15:36.539 --> 00:15:40.399 and serve him to the absolute best of our ability. 00:15:41.339 --> 00:15:43.719 And therefore, because God is gracious, 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.060 because his reflex is to forgive. 00:15:47.060 --> 00:15:49.220 Know that there are no depths too deep, 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.879 no sin too grave, 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:52.399 no chasm too wide, 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:54.420 no rap sheet too long, 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.120 not to be scaled and surpassed 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.139 by the infinite depths of the mercy of God. 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:04.379 I don't know many of you. 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.039 I don't know your situation. 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:14.219 But know that you cannot sink to a depth so low that God's mercy 00:16:14.219 --> 00:16:18.139 is not highly efficacious in your situation. 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:21.120 If you turn to him 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.700 and say, God, you're a forgiving God, 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:25.600 I have messed up. 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:26.879 My rap sheet is awful. 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:31.299 I have no hope of standing before you. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.460 Then he is a God who forgives. 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:35.899 And therefore, there's hope. 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:38.039 And that is why even on the darkest day, 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:39.480 this is a great song to sing. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.519 This is a song we can sing any and every day 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:49.240 that reminds us that no matter how badly we mess up, 00:16:49.899 --> 00:16:53.659 God is bigger and greater than the mess that we've made. 00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:57.799 And so from the depths that he started, 00:16:57.939 --> 00:17:02.039 a glimmer of hope starts to invade his mind. 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.220 And then see the third stanza. 00:17:08.420 --> 00:17:10.980 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:12.500 and in his word I hope. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.299 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchman for the morning, 00:17:16.399 --> 00:17:17.579 more than watchman for the morning. 00:17:18.659 --> 00:17:20.500 See, this isn't a quick fix. 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:24.240 This isn't a get out of depths free card 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.720 that you can just play any moment 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:27.779 and suddenly you bob up to the surface 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:28.839 and everything's fine. 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:33.559 That this is future hope secured by God himself. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.500 That this is the reality that will be true in your life 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:40.740 when Jesus returns and makes all things new. 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.680 Some people will continue to reap the whirlwind 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.079 for the sin that they've sown. 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:51.439 Some people will continue to suffer the consequences 00:17:51.439 --> 00:17:54.419 of the sin of others in their lives. 00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:59.960 But this psalm, and this verse in particular, 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:03.759 says that on the strength of God himself, 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.980 the depths that you feel will not be your permanent residence. 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:12.659 The worst day of your life won't be the final word over your life. 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:18.300 The final word over your life is forgiven in Jesus Christ. 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:20.920 And that is the best news. 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:24.100 But there might be waiting. 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:27.600 A lot of waiting. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.120 Look at the metaphor, more than watchman for the morning. 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:34.680 The psalmist is really pleased with it 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:36.140 because he repeats it twice. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.100 He thinks that's a good line. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:39.480 We should probably put that one again. 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:41.120 More than watchman for the morning. 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:42.940 More than watchman for the morning. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:46.759 I may not look like it, but I am a hopeless romantic. 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:51.079 And a few years ago, I took Aileen glamping 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:54.880 on the Isle of Skye in a yurt in March. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:02.560 It was horrendous. 00:19:03.520 --> 00:19:04.780 We booked three nights. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:06.900 We stayed one night and we came home early. 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:07.760 And this is why. 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:11.080 We had a beautiful yurt with a waterbed. 00:19:11.620 --> 00:19:15.460 We had an open fire in every sort of hot water bottle you could imagine. 00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:19.680 And so, kitted up, wearing every bit of clothing we had 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.240 with all of the duvets and all of the hot water bottles, 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.100 we settled down for the night at 11 o'clock. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.100 I could see my own breath as I slept. 00:19:30.180 --> 00:19:32.900 And I looked at my watch after two hours. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.880 And I realized I'd only been in bed for 10 minutes. 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:38.900 It was that excruciating. 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:43.860 And 11 o'clock came and midnight came and one in the morning came. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:47.140 And I thought, I'm going to die. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:50.000 People are just going to find me. 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:53.900 I think I'd been dead for years because of the rigor mortis from the colds. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:56.480 Two o'clock came. 00:19:56.620 --> 00:19:57.480 Three o'clock came. 00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:58.460 Four o'clock came. 00:19:58.600 --> 00:19:59.580 Five o'clock came. 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:01.360 Six o'clock came. 00:20:02.280 --> 00:20:03.540 Seven o'clock came. 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:05.880 Seven thirty-four in the morning. 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.600 The first ray of sunshine broke over the cooling hills, 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:12.840 hit our tent, and I was euphoric because I thought, I'm going to live. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.740 I am going to live. 00:20:16.780 --> 00:20:21.100 This will not be my last day on earth in this cold. 00:20:22.360 --> 00:20:24.440 This is the hope of the psalmist. 00:20:24.860 --> 00:20:26.840 That he is cold and alone. 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:28.780 He has hope in God's word. 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:33.580 And he knows that the dawn of all things new will soon break over the hills 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:36.839 and it will not be his final resting place, the depths. 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:43.699 The agony of not thinking you're going to survive, 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:47.179 but this says sunrise is coming. 00:20:48.179 --> 00:20:48.819 Hold on. 00:20:49.539 --> 00:20:50.579 Keep hoping. 00:20:51.179 --> 00:20:53.899 And what is he ultimately hoping in verse four? 00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:57.880 And in his word, I hope. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.440 In his word, I hope. 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:03.860 I don't know what you think about that. 00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:05.700 That sounds a bit flimsy, doesn't it? 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:09.460 We're in the middle of teaching my little son Isaac about promises. 00:21:09.620 --> 00:21:11.680 He loves promising things that he never delivers. 00:21:12.800 --> 00:21:13.960 And we all know that, don't we? 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.700 Human promises, people make great claims that they don't follow through on. 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:21.440 How do we know that this God is not like that? 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:29.819 How does he know that this isn't some sort of flimsy word that he's been given to help him get through? 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:36.900 Well, there is a wonderful, wonderful thing hidden in this psalm that's hidden in our translations. 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:44.680 Do you see that in these three stanzas, there's couplets of the word, the Lord? 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:52.420 And do you see the first one is always capital L-O-R-D, translating the Hebrew word Yahweh. 00:21:53.100 --> 00:21:56.240 The covenant name of God from Exodus chapter three. 00:21:56.600 --> 00:21:59.900 The God who says, I am what I am and I will be what I will be. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.500 He is the permanent one. 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:03.779 He is the one who never changes. 00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:09.940 And do you see the second Lord is L-O-R-D, O-R-D in small letters, 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:12.460 translating the Hebrew word Adonai. 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:14.759 The all-powerful God. 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.360 God most high, you could say. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:23.960 And do you see that those two together are a wonderful combination that gives us incredible confidence 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:27.640 that God's word is absolutely steadfast and sure. 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:31.579 It has always enormous cash value. 00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:36.319 Because the God who is making it is the God who does not change 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:39.359 and the God who cannot be thwarted. 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:45.519 The God who says, I am what I am and I am the all-powerful one. 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:49.259 Therefore, whatever he says, he has the ability to deliver. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.539 What he promises, he has the capacity to provide. 00:22:54.539 --> 00:23:00.059 And therefore, when you trust in this word and hope in this word and cling to this word 00:23:00.059 --> 00:23:06.599 and take this word into your life, it has absolute cash value. 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:10.980 It will pay an eternal dividend. 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:13.680 Yes, there might be waiting. 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:20.460 But on the day that the sun shines, it will pay an eternal dividend. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:22.720 What a thing. 00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:29.519 And so our little drowning psalmist, he comes into land with preaching. 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:33.240 O Israel, hope in the Lord. 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:43.460 In the space of six verses, he's gone from being completely overwhelmed to being completely overjoyed. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:49.880 He's turned from feeling alone in the depths to now proclaiming the goodness of God 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:52.960 and the steadfastness of God to everybody around. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:58.620 O Israel, hope in the Lord. 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:03.439 For with the Lord, there is steadfast love. 00:24:04.859 --> 00:24:07.099 4K, four-dimensional love. 00:24:07.179 --> 00:24:10.539 Love that's on top, underneath, all around forever. 00:24:13.719 --> 00:24:14.559 Steadfast love. 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:16.159 Love that's not going anywhere. 00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:21.299 And with him, there is plentiful redemption. 00:24:22.459 --> 00:24:24.059 How much redemption is that? 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:26.559 More than you will ever need. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:32.779 Do you see that it is a wonderful cocktail of characteristics in God himself 00:24:32.779 --> 00:24:35.819 that perfectly meets drowning sinners? 00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:37.960 What is God like? 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:38.859 Well, he's forgiving. 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:41.839 And he's steadfastly loving. 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:45.500 And he has plentiful redemption. 00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:47.659 Be clear, friends. 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.000 No matter where you are, what you've done, what life is like, 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.900 in this God there is always hope. 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:00.880 Because he is more wonderful than you can ever, ever imagine. 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:05.920 Just as we come into land, let's think about the Lord Jesus. 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:10.339 Think about him in Saturday school in Nazareth. 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:13.339 And they're singing their choruses. 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:16.179 And one of the choruses they're singing is Psalm 130. 00:25:17.379 --> 00:25:19.899 And they come to that line in verse 3. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:24.819 If you, O Lord, should mark transgressions, who could stand? 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:31.159 And the Lord Jesus himself, without a shadow of hypocrisy, 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:33.460 could put his hand up and say, I can. 00:25:34.679 --> 00:25:37.159 I have a perfect sinless record. 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:40.799 I have an immaculate rap sheet. 00:25:42.179 --> 00:25:46.659 If God marked my transgressions, I could still stand because I do not have any. 00:25:46.660 --> 00:25:52.600 And then think about the scene 25 years later. 00:25:53.340 --> 00:25:56.100 The Lord Jesus hanging on the cross. 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:03.540 The Lord Jesus plunged into the depths of God's rightful judgment on account of human sin. 00:26:05.040 --> 00:26:07.860 And think of him sinking all the way to the bottom. 00:26:09.340 --> 00:26:14.519 Think of him taking all of that punishment, all of the depths crowding in on him. 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:18.680 Think of him doing that for you. 00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:24.000 So that this God can be forgiving to you because of his son Jesus, 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:29.039 who sunk to the depths so you won't have the depths as your permanent resting place. 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:32.619 And then think of him now. 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:36.759 The one who says, with me there is forgiveness. 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:40.359 Turn to me that you may be saved. 00:26:41.139 --> 00:26:43.900 Come to me, all who are weary. 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:52.660 Confess with your mouth that I am the Lord, that you will be saved from the depths that you have sunk to. 00:26:54.680 --> 00:27:01.559 Do you see that Psalm 130 for Old Testament Israel was a great song they could always sing? 00:27:02.259 --> 00:27:05.539 But do you see this side of the cross in our Lord Jesus, 00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:13.339 we have every excuse to turn it up to 11, no matter what we're facing or how we feel? 00:27:15.399 --> 00:27:17.119 Because Jesus says, 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:24.119 that word in which you hope is even more steadfast and sure. 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:29.859 Because this day I am at the right hand of the Father preparing a place for your eternal dwelling. 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:32.739 That is a wonderful thing, friends. 00:27:32.859 --> 00:27:33.819 Psalm 130. 00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:41.700 Jesus who gives us reason to sing on any day, in any situation, no matter what. 00:27:42.460 --> 00:27:43.919 Jesus who is forgiven. 00:27:44.879 --> 00:27:48.859 Who is steadfastly loving, loving you to death. 00:27:48.859 --> 00:27:56.639 And with him will be proven that there is plentiful, abundant redemption. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:59.879 So with those thoughts in our hearts, why don't I pray? 00:28:03.139 --> 00:28:06.479 Father God, we thank you so much for our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:24.759 God, we thank you so much for our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:32.500 Jesus who willingly descended into our depths and suffered for us. 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:38.519 so that all of us and any of us and each of us who find ourselves in the depths 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:45.339 can have the certain hope of reaching the eternal surface of his glorious forever kingdom. 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:49.480 And therefore, Lord, teach us to sing this song well. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.400 Teach us to sing this song loud. 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:55.599 And teach us to sing this song always. 00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:59.779 And we pray this in the name of our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:00.720 Amen.