Lord, I ask that as we look at this passage
that you would give us courage.
Give me courage, Lord, for it's with some trepidation
that we look at this theme of unbelief, Lord,
knowing that there are many among us
who have experienced a kind of pain
that I have yet to experience, Lord,
a pain that might cause doubt or unbelief,
of questioning you.
And so, Lord, would you encourage us all through your word?
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, O Lord.
Would you, Lord, please forgive the sin
of the one delivering this message?
And Lord Jesus, we would see you most of all.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
We're continuing this morning our study of Psalm 119.
It's what can be called an historical psalm.
The psalm writer is one of the many Israelites
in exile in Babylon after Judah,
the southern kingdom, had been conquered by Babylon
and its inhabitants sent off into exile
to the kingdom of Babylon.
The psalm recounts many of Israel's failures
for two reasons.
The psalmist wants to warn the exiles
against the failures of their ancestors
and more importantly,
to tell of God's faithfulness and patience
despite his people's failures.
Now, so far we've heard through studying Psalm 106
about the Israelites grumbling,
about their jealousy,
and about their idolatry.
And this morning we're going to learn about her unbelief.
Unbelief is a very relevant topic for us.
I think most of us have heard some kind of polling
about the number of evangelicals
leaving the evangelical church.
Not that we need the polling.
I think all of us here know somebody
or are close to a person
who has left the faith that we once shared together.
You've seen it happen in the life of a sibling,
and a spouse,
a roommate,
a close friend,
or one of your children.
And for some of you,
it's happening in your life right now.
You're experiencing
unbelief
to some degree.
And I would suggest
that all of us,
all of us are to some degree
in danger of unbelief,
or else there wouldn't be such
stark warnings against unbelief
in all of Scripture.
We're going to look at what Numbers 14
and Psalm 106
have to say about unbelief.
We're going to learn about God's character.
So, what is unbelief?
Who is God?
But first I'd like to descend
into the setting of Numbers 14.
This is a very pivotal story
in the whole drama of Scripture.
So, let's descend
into the desert
of Kadesh
in Paran.
You're standing with all the other
Israelites
in the middle of this settlement.
Kadesh lies at the very edge
of the promised land,
the land that was promised to you,
your countrymen.
And this same border
would exist 3,500 years later
between Egypt
Egypt and Israel.
It's been roughly
a year and a half
since you and the Israelites
were rescued by God
from Egypt
passing through
the Red Sea.
And it's been 40 days
since the 12 spies
had been sent out
to spy out
the promised land.
And they've just
returned.
And they're holding
a single cluster
of grapes.
But the cluster
is so big
that they need to
suspend it
from a pole
carried by
two spies.
And from their sacks,
the spies also pull out
pomegranates
and figs.
You can hear
the reports
that the spies
are giving to Moses.
They say it's a land
flowing with milk
and honey.
In other words,
it's not an agricultural
wonderland
like the Nile River Basin,
but it's perfect land
for cattle
and for goats
and for growing sweet things
like dates
and grapes.
This marks
a strong contrast
to the barrenness
and desolation
of the desert
that you find yourself
in right now.
It's hot,
it's dusty,
and dry.
There's one big problem
though
that the spies report.
Unless there's people there,
they're not going to want
to give up their land
so easily.
The spies report
that they live
in fortified cities,
some with walls
that are 24 feet thick.
And the people themselves
are huge.
The spies believe them
to be
what are called
Nephilim.
These were
mythic giants
right from the pages
of your holy
and sacred history.
And the spies say
that the land
devours everyone in it.
That means
that the tribes there
are accustomed
to war.
So they have both
the experience
and the gear
to defend themselves.
And you look around,
you look at yourself,
you look at all
the Israelites around you
and you think,
man,
we are really short.
We're super skinny.
What's going to happen?
It makes sense
why the spies said
that they felt like
grasshoppers
in comparison to them.
So here's what's facing you.
You're on the very doorstep
of the vast land
promised to you
and your countrymen
and you and everyone
around you
are convinced
it's a death trap.
When you step foot
in this land,
those of you
who can hold a sword
are going to get
hacked to pieces
by giants.
And those
who don't hold swords
are going to be taken
as plunder.
You know,
life was pretty hard
in Egypt
but at least
your family
could stick together.
No one was smashing
your skull in
with a giant hammer.
Of course,
you seem to have pushed
out of your memory
a whole generation
of baby boys
being murdered
by the Egyptians.
But you're going
to ignore
that inconvenient truth
at the moment.
Anything
to justify
turning around.
Of course,
you know,
it's Moses and Aaron
that got us
into this mess
so let's get rid
of them
and let's choose
another leader
who will do
what we want.
And everyone around you
is thinking
the same thing.
And people start
to get really
freaked out
and angry
and you feel like
something's
about to happen.
People's murmuring
has led to loud
talking,
has led to shouting,
there's people
sobbing.
And you're feeling
something too
like you are
feeling so desperate
that with the right
provocation
you would do
something violent
to save your life
and the lives
of your family members.
All you can think about,
all that's fixated
in your mind's eye
is a giant.
An angry,
bloodthirsty man
with a bloody sword
bringing it down
on your head.
and you join
the chorus.
These are the words
you hear
coming from your mouth.
You scream,
if only we had died
in Egypt
or in this wilderness.
Why is the Lord
bringing us
to this land
only to let us
fall by the sword?
Our wives
and children
will be taken
as plunder.
Wouldn't it be better
for us to go
back to Egypt?
Something curious
happens
during this frenzy
which gets
everyone's attention.
Moses and Aaron
who have led you
into this death trap,
they lie down
on their stomachs,
faces to the ground
and you're not sure
why.
You assume it's because
they're feeling
really angry
or maybe
they're expecting
the Lord
to show up
which would not be good.
And then Caleb
and Joshua,
they tear their clothes.
Okay,
that has your attention.
so it gets quiet.
So quiet
you can hear
a pin drop
on the dusty rocks
of this desert
that you're standing on.
And Joshua
and Caleb say,
the land
we passed through
and explored
is exceedingly good.
If the Lord
is pleased
with us,
He will lead us
into that land,
a land flowing
with milk
and honey.
and He'll give it
to us.
Only do not
rebel against
the Lord
and do not be afraid
of the people
of the land
because we will
devour them.
Their protection
is gone.
But the Lord
is with us.
Do not be afraid
of them.
Well,
you don't buy it.
And you've heard enough.
The dam has burst.
People are losing
their minds
and now they're
picking up stones.
It seems to you
and to those around you
that Caleb and Joshua
are breaking
one of the Ten Commandments.
Ten spies,
good men,
all share
the same eyewitness account.
Ten.
Ten witnesses.
Caleb and Joshua
are bearing false witness
against them.
That's clear to you.
In such a way
as to lead you
all to your,
as to lead us,
excuse me,
as to lead you
all to your deaths.
So you think,
let's bring about
the Lord's judgment
on them.
Let's pick up
these stones
and stone them.
Let's pause the narrative.
Let's pause the narrative
and consider a few things.
First,
let's consider
Caleb's response.
It's interesting to me
that he does not agree.
Excuse me,
he doesn't disagree.
He does not disagree,
which means he agrees.
He does not disagree
with the Ten Spies
as to the giants,
okay?
Yes,
Caleb is saying,
we agree.
They are very big people.
And yes,
the cities are big
and fortified.
We have found
some remains,
actually,
3,500 years later.
24 feet thick
these walls are.
Caleb doesn't deny
any of that.
To deny it
would be like
gaslighting,
right?
Well,
you know,
if he were to deny it,
it would be like saying this,
you know,
what you saw,
you didn't actually see.
You must have had
some kind of anxiety
or heat stroke,
which is making you
exaggerate in your mind
what really isn't
that big of a deal.
It's important to note this
because, like,
we face giants,
too.
We face giants,
too.
And perhaps someone
has tried to convince you
otherwise,
that the giant you're facing
isn't really a giant.
And if you're like me,
more than likely,
you're good at
gaslighting yourself,
all on your own.
And you've questioned
your own sanity
and your own perception.
And I think what Caleb
is saying is,
yes,
the giants
are real.
pain,
trauma,
injustice,
death,
sickness,
abuse,
abandonment,
suffering,
doubts.
Whatever it is
that looms
largest in your view,
the act of trusting
in God
doesn't call for you
to deny the reality
of those giants.
It's a matter
of attention.
The giants are big,
but the Lord
is bigger.
The giants are big,
but the Lord
is bigger.
People took up
a lot of interesting
things during COVID.
One of my sons and I
we took up
adventure racing.
We watched
Eco Challenge
on Netflix.
And we thought,
oh,
let's do something
like that.
So we started
training for
one of these races
which involved
running,
orienteering,
paddling,
and mountain biking.
And in learning
mountain biking,
I have had to
painfully relearn
what I learned
when I was 15.
And that was when
I learned how to
drive a car.
The lesson is this.
Whatever you focus
on,
that's where you go.
Whatever you focus
on,
that's where you go.
So if I'm
mountain biking,
and if there's a
tight turn to
avoid a tree,
I better focus
on the path
where I'm supposed
to go.
Okay?
But it's human
nature when one
sees a giant tree
coming at you
very fast,
like an
full of wrath.
To keep looking
at it,
that's what we're
born to do.
Like,
that's how we
stay out of danger
is to look at the
thing that's causing
us danger.
But when you're
mountain biking,
or when you're
driving,
when you're
mountain biking
and you look
at the danger,
you're going to
collide with the
tree.
So you have to
train your eyes
and you have to
train your mind
to be continually
looking at where
you want to go.
Or else you
collide with the
tree,
which I perhaps
have painfully
learned,
you go exactly
where your
attention is
focused.
You go exactly
where your
attention is
focused.
Caleb gets
that.
Okay?
Hear what
Caleb says.
The land we
promised,
excuse me,
the land we
passed through
and explored
is exceedingly
good.
Okay?
He's focused
on the Lord's
promise.
God's promises
reflect his
character,
who he is.
He's good,
merciful,
wise,
just.
And Caleb
says,
if the Lord
is pleased
with us,
he will lead
us into
that land.
The Lord
is with us.
Again,
Caleb is
focused on
the Lord
and his
love and
his faithfulness
to his
people,
whom he has
pledged
himself to.
Unbelief
is born,
I think this
is what this
is saying,
unbelief is
born when we
have our
attention fixed
on something
else.
Unbelief
has an
object.
It's not
like belief
has an object
and unbelief
does not.
I don't
think.
Each has
their own
object.
Unbelief
has an
object like
crashing my
mountain bike
has an
object.
It's the
tree.
Belief is
nurtured
when our
attention is
focused on
God and
his character,
revealed in
his promises
and in
his acts
on behalf
of his
people.
So how
is God
revealed in
Numbers
chapter 14?
Well,
he's revealed
as both
just and
merciful.
The Lord
descends and
appears at the
tent of meeting
and he says
to Moses,
how long
will this
people despise
me and how
long will they
not believe
in me?
In spite of
all the signs
that I've
done among
them,
I will
strike them
with the
pestilence
and disinherit
them and I
will make you,
Moses,
a nation
greater and
mightier than
they.
Israel had
turned their
backs on God.
They wanted
to return to
Egypt.
They wanted
to reverse
the exodus.
They wanted
to reverse
the foundational
event in
their identity
as a people.
It would be
just then for
God to turn
his back on
them.
It would be
perfectly just.
He didn't owe
them anything.
But Moses
appeals to God.
He prays to God
and he appeals
to two things.
First, he appeals
to God's honor
and power.
Lord, what
would Egypt
say?
Well, Lord,
Egypt would say
you weren't able
to do what you
said you were
going to do.
And then Moses
appeals to
something else.
He appeals to
God's mercy.
Moses prayed,
please pardon
the iniquity
of this people
according to
the greatness
of your
steadfast love.
So the Lord
relents,
but not without
consequences for
Israel.
The generation
of adults that
turned their
backs on the
promised land
would not be
able to cross
over, but
their children
would.
The ten spies
who gave the
bad report
would not be
able to cross
over, but
the two spies
who did,
Joshua and
Caleb, they
would.
Justice would
have the Lord
visiting the
iniquity of
the fathers
on the
children to
the third
and fourth
generation we
read elsewhere
in Scripture,
but God
restricts his
discipline just
to this
generation and
is showing
them mercy,
showing mercy
to his people
to whom he
has pledged
himself.
There's
another goal
of the
psalmist
in writing
Psalm 106.
You remember
the first
one was
don't make
the mistakes
that your
ancestors made,
so don't
fall into
unbelief.
Don't despise
the Lord
and his
promises.
The second
thing the
psalmist
wants to
do is
in spite
of everything,
the Lord
remains faithful
to us.
The Lord
remains patient
with us,
constantly
extending his
mercy to
us, even
when we
fail, even
when we
mess up, even
when we divert
our attention
from him and
everything he's
done for us.
So the
psalmist gives
us the
warning.
How then can
we avoid
unbelief?
Well, it's
actually in
some ways
rather simple
and yet it
takes a
lifetime of
constant
vigilance.
We avoid
unbelief
through
remembrance.
We avoid
unbelief
through
remembrance.
We avoid
unbelief
through
remembering.
Through
paying attention
to God,
paying attention
to his
character,
his deeds
on behalf
of his
people,
I'd like to
offer you
three ways.
There's a lot
of ways we
can remember
God and
remember him
and his
works.
I'm going
to offer
you three
ways.
The first
one has been
really important
to me.
It's my
family.
It's what we
call the
daily
examine.
The daily
examine.
E-X-A-M-E-M.
At the core
of the daily
examine is
reviewing the
emotions we've
had throughout
the course of
the day.
We pray out
of those.
What we
notice when
we reflect
on our
day is that
we experience
both
consolation
and
desolation.
Consolation,
desolation.
A person
dwells in a
state of
consolation when
he or she
is moving
towards God's
active presence
in the world.
And we know
we are moving
in this way
when we sense
the growth
of love
or faith
or hope
in us.
A person
dwells in a
state of
desolation
when she
or he
is moving
away from
God's active
presence in
the world.
And we know
we are moving
in this way
when we sense
the growth
of resentment
and gratitude,
selfishness,
doubt,
fear,
and so
on.
The way
we practice
this in
my family
is to talk
about
consolation
and desolation
as a
paradox.
I've told
you this
before.
It was
seven years
ago,
you remember?
So let me
tell you
again.
A paradox,
right?
We can go
through a
day being
pulled towards
God and being
pulled away
from him,
experiencing
consolation and
desolation.
It's a
paradox,
which sounds
like a
pair of
ducks.
So we
as family
talk about
two ducks,
the yay
duck and
the yuck
duck.
And the
yay duck
is this
bright,
gleaming,
shiny duck.
Smells
good,
fluffy.
And there's
the yuck
duck,
smelly,
dirty,
gross,
noisy,
repellent.
So yay
ducks and
yuck ducks.
And so at
the end of
the day,
we say,
what are
your yay
ducks and
your yuck
ducks?
We also
did this a
few weeks
ago.
I took two
of my
sons and
five of
their friends
to a
summer camp
for a
week.
And every
night we
would do
yay ducks
and yuck
ducks.
And there
was a
kid who
was the
most homesick
I've ever
seen anybody
in my life.
It was
really sad.
I just
cried for
like three
or four
hours straight.
But by the
end of the
first day,
he was
saying,
this is the
greatest camp
in the
world.
So that
was great.
So at
the end
of the
day,
we said,
what are
your yuck
ducks?
And he
volunteered,
like,
well,
I felt
really
homesick
and I
missed
my
family.
So the
point of
talking about
your yuck
ducks is
to pray
out of
that.
Like,
well,
what happened
because of
your
homesickness?
And he
started to
observe that
all of his
friends,
his six
other friends,
it was
beautiful,
guys.
All six
of these
boys rallied
around this
one boy,
cheering him
up.
Doing
things with
him,
it was
awesome.
And he
also found
courage,
a courage
that he
had never
really sought
for,
a kind
that he
never knew
he had.
So we
were able
to pray
out of
that,
Lord,
thank you
for the
courage
you gave
me in
light of
my really
missing
my family,
thank you
for my
friends.
And so
can you
imagine
doing this
every day?
So every
day is full
of consolations
and desolations
and praying
out of
your
desolations
and finding,
oh God,
you were
present there.
You were
working there.
You were
working on
my behalf.
You were
loving me,
showing me
grace.
So when
we consider
both our
consolations
and desolations,
we discover
and remember
how God
has been
showing us
goodness
and faithfulness
to us.
So the
first is
the daily
examine.
Yay ducks
and yuck ducks.
The second
way is to
surround
yourself
the second
way is to
remember
Hebrews
chapter 3.
Okay?
So in
Hebrews
chapter 3,
the writer
of Hebrews
is referencing
Numbers 14
and warning
his readers
about
unbelief.
He writes,
take care,
brothers,
lest there
be in
any of
you an
evil,
unbelieving
heart,
leading you
to fall
away from
the living
God.
But exhort
one another
every day
as long
as it
is called
today.
That none
of you
may be
hardened
by the
deceitfulness
of sin.
In other
words,
if you
want to
safeguard
yourself
against
unbelief,
surround
yourself
with a
bunch
of
Caleb's,
right?
Surround
yourself
with a
bunch
of
people
who are
going to
tell you,
yes,
the giants
are big,
but the
Lord is
with you.
And the
Lord has
taken away
its
protection,
and he's
going to
conquer these
giants.
The Lord
loves you.
We do
this by
attending
worship on
Sundays.
You can be a
part of a
core group.
Sign-ups happen
soon.
They meet in the
fall and the
spring.
You can meet
with believers
who will pray
for you and
encourage you
and point you
to Jesus when
your giants are
taking up all
your mind space.
to
a third way
to remember
the way
Jesus told
us to
remember.
Excuse me,
the third
way to
remember
is the
way
Jesus told
us to
remember,
and that's
to regularly
sit at this
table,
eating this
meal,
with God's
family,
doing this
in remembrance
of me.
In Numbers
chapter 14,
we see both
mercy and
justice,
but their
intention,
their intention,
and it's
unclear from
Numbers 14
how that
tension is
resolved.
But at this
table, we see
it clearly.
On the
cross,
Christ has
absorbed all
the consequences
of our
unbelief.
He dies
outside the
gates of the
holy city,
absorbing all
that God's
justice requires
that we might
enter into it
and enjoy the
fulfillment of
all of God's
promises,
including,
and especially,
eternal life
with him.
Eternal life
with him
after he
has vanquished
every giant.
Pain,
trauma,
sickness,
abuse,
abandonment,
suffering,
and doubt.
He will once
and forever
destroy.
The giants
are big.
The Lord is
bigger.
So as we come
to this table,
let us fix our
eyes on Jesus,
the pioneer
and perfecter
of our faith.
For the joy
set before him,
he endured the
cross,
scorning its
shame,
and sat down
at the right
hand of the
throne of God.
Consider him
who endured
such opposition
from sinners
so that you
will not grow
weary
and lose
heart.
In the name
of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy
Spirit,
Amen.
Let's pray.
Lord,
we ask
that as we
remember you
at this table,
you would
encourage us.
Lord,
thank you
for not just
leaving us
teachings,
but you
leave us
yourself,
you leave us
your Holy
Spirit,
and you
leave us
this meal
with which
we're going
to be fed.
So encourage
us and
strengthen us.
Lord,
we believe.
Help our
unbelief.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.