WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.679 Well, folks, with that passage open in front of you, Psalm 119, I wonder if you've heard the joke about the man who went for a job interview. 00:00:08.040 --> 00:00:13.419 And after the pleasantries were over, one of the panel opened with this question. 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:15.740 They said, this is a high stress job. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:19.679 Attention to detail and maximum concentration are required at all times. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.280 So first question to you. 00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:24.060 How are you at performing under pressure? 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:28.679 And the man paused and thought about it for a moment before replying. 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:30.539 Replying, I'm okay, I guess. 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:34.420 But in all honesty, I'm better at performing Bohemian Rhapsody. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.880 And listen, I love that joke for two reasons. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.679 Number one is that it separates those who know their queen from those who don't. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.299 But reason number two is that the man at the center of the joke clearly isn't all that good under pressure. 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:57.780 And this Psalm is, this portion of it, it's all about pressure. 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:05.760 And you might be here today and pressure may well be the slogan that you'd put over your life. 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:08.760 Someone around the pew asks you in that break, how are you doing? 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:10.219 If you had one word to sum it up. 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:12.400 Perhaps it's pressure. 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:14.680 There's all sorts of reasons that you're feeling pressure. 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:17.579 Your health isn't what it used to be. 00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:21.939 Your future feels so uncertain. 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:24.579 The kids are a handful. 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:26.500 You're not getting enough sleep. 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:29.599 Family relations are chaotic. 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:34.799 The world news, every time you look at it, it just causes your heart to sink. 00:01:36.539 --> 00:01:39.959 And maybe add to that the fact that you're here today and you follow Jesus. 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:47.299 Maybe your friends think because of that that you're an absolute space cadet for your faith. 00:01:47.299 --> 00:02:00.539 Maybe you're here and in all honesty, your sin and guilt and shame, it all feels like a sumo wrestler is sitting on you and you cannot find any room to breathe. 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:06.019 And you don't know where to turn or where to run. 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:07.319 You under pressure? 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.539 Friends, I think that's why we need to listen to what these verses are telling us. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:23.659 Because the advice that the psalmist is going to give us here is that the word of the Lord proved to be the most precious thing to him. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:27.199 Because it was there that he encountered the Lord of the word. 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:38.560 Here's Martin Nimler, German pastor imprisoned for eight years in a Nazi concentration camp for his opposition to the Nazi state control of the churches. 00:02:38.739 --> 00:02:40.819 And he said this reflecting on his time there. 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:41.319 Get this. 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:42.699 He said this of the Bible. 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:46.519 The word of God was simply everything to me. 00:02:47.459 --> 00:02:58.439 Comfort and strength, guidance and hope, master of my days and companion for my nights, the bread which kept me from starvation, and the water of life that refreshed my soul. 00:02:59.019 --> 00:02:59.780 And get this line. 00:03:00.799 --> 00:03:06.079 And even more, solitary confinement ceased to be solitary. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:12.940 And so as we take this in today, there's two big things that we're going to learn about our gods. 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:18.960 Number one, he is the God, in the words of Francis Schaeffer, he is the God who is there. 00:03:19.980 --> 00:03:21.780 It was in Rachel's prayer, wasn't it, at the start? 00:03:21.820 --> 00:03:23.020 He's the God who is there. 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:39.439 Meaning that God has revealed himself sufficiently in creation, fully in the person of his son Jesus, but maybe for our purposes this morning, perfectly in the pages of the Bible. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:47.719 That's why Psalm 119, this psalm, has been one of the most treasured parts of the Bible for believers down through the ages. 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:51.460 Because it's here that we see the beauty of God's words. 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:53.859 And we began last week. 00:03:53.939 --> 00:04:01.280 Ian took us through it with the psalmist having constructed this most beautiful and intricate piece of poetry. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:09.060 Almost in kaleidoscopic fashion, he's talked about God's word and the beauty of it. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.599 He's coming at it from so many different angles. 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:15.139 We thought about those eight words that he's going to keep repeating. 00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:18.540 To talk about the different angles of God's word. 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:21.399 His laws, his precepts, his judgments. 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:23.100 And on and on it goes. 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:34.120 And what he's doing is he's inviting us to read on and to come and to share in this celebration of the God who has revealed himself. 00:04:34.320 --> 00:04:38.060 The God who speaks through that which he has spoken. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:40.560 Our God has made himself known. 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:45.920 And wonder of wonders, not just known, but knowable. 00:04:47.460 --> 00:04:51.400 And this is the words of Amy R. Ewing, Christian apologist down in Oxford. 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:52.180 She says this. 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:59.780 At the heart of the Christian faith is the revelation of a personal God who can be known and related to. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:00.900 So there's the first thing. 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.120 Our God has made himself known. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:10.120 But number two reality, I think this tells us, is that just because you believe in him and follow Jesus, 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:13.240 doesn't mean that life is going to be easy. 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:18.920 But the surprising thing here, we're going to come to the sources of pressure in just a minute. 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:25.120 The surprising thing here is that the psalmist doesn't ask God to remove those pressures. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.259 Take it away, Lord. 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:32.500 And it's a real challenge to the things that we pray for, isn't it? 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.860 We so often pray, God, would you make things disappear? 00:05:37.060 --> 00:05:38.920 Would you make life a little bit easier? 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.779 And of course, there's no harm in praying those things. 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:51.879 But in stark contrast, the psalmist here is praying that God would help him stand firm through the pressures. 00:05:51.879 --> 00:06:02.040 And he's telling us, the witness here is that he came to find new delights, new contours of praise, 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.079 not despite and around those pressures, 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:10.879 but through and because of those pressures. 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.360 And so here's the two sources of pressure, and this will be real quick. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.840 Number one is pressure from without. 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:23.600 A pressure from a world that feels hostile. 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:26.180 So come with me to the text, verse 21, 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.160 where the psalmist is telling us about the arrogant. 00:06:32.340 --> 00:06:32.819 Do you see it? 00:06:34.400 --> 00:06:35.800 He elaborates on that. 00:06:35.900 --> 00:06:37.780 Those who stray from your command. 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:42.240 So here is a world that the psalmist sees that mocks God and his ways. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:43.080 You're wasting your time. 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:44.460 What are you doing? 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:48.399 And because they mock God, verse 23, 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.439 they turn that mocking to mocking God, never going to mock you. 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:54.899 See how he talks about it there? 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.159 They slander him. 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:57.359 Verse 42. 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:00.459 I know we're going through this quick, but stay with me. 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:01.479 They taunt him. 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:04.759 Now, we don't know exactly what he was facing, 00:07:04.919 --> 00:07:06.699 but we're beginning to build up a picture 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:10.479 that if you're believing here today, if you're following Jesus, 00:07:10.479 --> 00:07:13.799 a picture that is beginning to sound familiar. 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:17.659 And I was watching, you guys know I'm into my comedians. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.479 I was watching a Scottish comedian called Daniel Sloss. 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:25.719 I give it a month and his posters will be all over the city 00:07:25.719 --> 00:07:27.740 because he'll be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:32.379 One of his great jokes in his latest pieces, he's mocking. 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:35.800 Well, he's talking about how thanking God for a medical miracle 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:41.220 was the same thing as a child thanking Santa Claus for presents on Christmas morning. 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:49.620 And I felt, as I'm watching this short, I'm feeling the hostility as the audience is in hysterics. 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:59.220 So, as you see, the psalmist here, he's feeling a pressure from without, from a world that feels hostile. 00:08:00.340 --> 00:08:04.120 And number two, and I think this is maybe the one that's going to relate more to us today. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:06.819 He's feeling a pressure from within. 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:11.399 A pressure that's coming from a heart that feels heavy. 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:21.739 So, verse 25, and hear the emotion in his voice as he recounts how he was laid low in the dust. 00:08:21.919 --> 00:08:22.379 Do you see that? 00:08:22.479 --> 00:08:27.560 Verse 28, he talks about how his soul was weary with sorrow. 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:32.340 And all of a sudden, you realize as we enter the Psalms, we're not reading Paul. 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:33.579 Right? 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.399 This is not A plus B equals C. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:40.399 And you think, oh, I get it, because in the West, we kind of think like that logically. 00:08:40.959 --> 00:08:42.779 No, the Psalms are full of emotion. 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:43.919 Right? 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:45.919 Lord, I feel like this. 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:47.959 Full of emotion. 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:51.019 And he's saying, my soul was weary with sorrow. 00:08:52.579 --> 00:08:55.559 And this is one of the reasons that Christians down the years have loved the Psalms. 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:01.399 And I was listening to an interview with a Scottish footballer called Billy Gilmore. 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:06.340 He was supposed to be on the plane to America going to the World Cup last Saturday, I think it was. 00:09:06.420 --> 00:09:07.220 We're playing in a friendly. 00:09:07.420 --> 00:09:07.840 Sorry, we. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:09.519 We're playing in a friendly. 00:09:10.180 --> 00:09:11.460 And a guy gets a knee injury. 00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:12.300 His dream is over. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.680 He's not going on that plane that leaves the next day. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:15.920 And he's being interviewed afterwards. 00:09:16.060 --> 00:09:22.300 I hate it when interviewers right after the game, when the motions are high, stick a camera in front of people and say, how are you feeling? 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:23.320 But anyway, he's going for it. 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:24.240 How are you feeling? 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:28.240 And he says, I don't have words to describe how I'm feeling. 00:09:29.660 --> 00:09:31.400 And we kind of get that, don't we, in our world. 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:38.179 Sometimes there are occasions in life when we are flat on the face, flat on our faces, and we think, I do not have the words. 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:52.779 But the wonderful thing about the Psalms, and I think why they continue to be so cherished and have been down the generations by believers, is that here God gives us words. 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:56.519 He gives us words. 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:05.000 It's as if not only is God saying, here is permission for you and I to feel what we feel. 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:14.620 But here are words inviting you to come to me with your emotions. 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:16.220 Right? 00:10:16.339 --> 00:10:21.019 It's not, it's almost as if the Psalms, it's like God giving us sheet music. 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:26.159 And he's saying, I want you to sing it back to me. 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:35.319 One of the great functions of the Psalms, I think, is to shape our emotions and desires and our feelings. 00:10:35.779 --> 00:10:36.620 But isn't it wonderful? 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:42.120 That's why the book of Psalms has been called the songbook of the soul, down the generations for Christian believers. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:45.120 Because it's here God gives us words. 00:10:45.319 --> 00:10:47.360 Now, the Psalmist is struggling emotionally. 00:10:47.579 --> 00:10:47.919 Why? 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:48.939 He doesn't tell us. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:52.479 But having hung out with this guy for the past few weeks, can I have a guess? 00:10:54.719 --> 00:10:55.979 Look at verse 39. 00:10:57.479 --> 00:11:02.819 Where he's talking about the disgrace that I dread. 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:04.539 Now, can I read between the lines a little bit? 00:11:06.719 --> 00:11:08.519 That could well be his confession. 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:12.179 God, you know what? 00:11:12.199 --> 00:11:13.500 I've royally messed it up. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:23.559 And the weight of his sin and mistakes and that guilt has him in the dust. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.439 But there's another connected admission in the text here as he hits rock bottom. 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:33.100 Do you see verse 36 and verse 37? 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:37.720 Where was he tempted to run? 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:40.920 What was he tempted to look for? 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:44.240 Do you see him described there? 00:11:45.180 --> 00:11:47.159 Take my eyes off of what? 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:48.639 Paraphrasing that a little bit. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.740 Off of worthless things. 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:51.340 Do you see it? 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:53.320 Worthless things. 00:11:53.420 --> 00:11:54.580 So where was he tempted to run? 00:11:55.139 --> 00:11:55.659 What he knows. 00:11:55.740 --> 00:11:59.100 He's tempted to run towards worthless things. 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:04.800 And this question from the text asks us, dear friends, where are we tempted to run when we're at rock bottom? 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.279 Now for some of us, let's be honest. 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:10.700 For some of us in here, it'll be all sorts of different things. 00:12:10.920 --> 00:12:12.560 For some of us, it will be the bottle. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.360 For some of us, it will be the telly. 00:12:16.040 --> 00:12:17.779 For some of us, it will be our bed. 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:19.720 For some of us, it will be comfort eating. 00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:21.740 For some of us, it will be doom scrolling. 00:12:22.180 --> 00:12:25.060 For some of us, it will be shop till you drop on Amazon. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:26.820 For some of us, it will be porn. 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:29.080 For some of us, it will be online betting. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.000 But do you feel the emotion here? 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:32.980 He's saying, in my darkest moment, 00:12:33.060 --> 00:12:35.760 I was tempted to run towards worthless things. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.460 And I was reading an article a few years back 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:43.700 written by a person who was investigating the sharp rise 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:47.379 in the number of stand-up comedians in Ukraine. 00:12:50.400 --> 00:12:53.140 And the article concluded the number one reason. 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:53.920 What do you think? 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:59.399 It was to escape the reality of the war. 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:00.699 Of course, that's where the whole idea 00:13:00.699 --> 00:13:03.019 of the king's court jester came from, wasn't it? 00:13:03.019 --> 00:13:05.319 When life gets hard, the king wanted to just escape 00:13:05.319 --> 00:13:06.860 what's happening outside of the palace. 00:13:07.079 --> 00:13:09.299 He just gets the jester to come in to perform. 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:11.599 Would you take my mind off of it? 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.599 But what this is telling us is that quick fixes 00:13:14.599 --> 00:13:18.779 that offer us immediate security and comfort 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:23.599 are in the end nothing but salt water for the soul. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.939 Take my eyes off of worthless things. 00:13:29.339 --> 00:13:32.240 Because those things will leave us even more parched 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.360 in the desert of our experience. 00:13:34.599 --> 00:13:36.339 But see, when you bring all of this together, 00:13:36.479 --> 00:13:39.099 see the psalmist, he's feeling a pressure from without. 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:41.519 He's feeling pressure from within. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.059 Where does he go? 00:13:46.199 --> 00:13:50.840 There's a story told of the famous Welsh pastor 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:52.779 and preacher Martin Lloyd-Jones 00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:56.480 and how he was speaking to a member of his congregation 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.519 one evening and he's been listening for a good few hours 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:03.579 and he's hearing about the difficulties that this man is facing, 00:14:03.699 --> 00:14:05.460 his sin and his shame in particular. 00:14:05.579 --> 00:14:07.639 And having listened for a long, long time, 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.699 he turns to the man and he says, 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:17.060 Have you not realized that so much of the unhappiness in your life 00:14:17.060 --> 00:14:19.360 is because you are listening to yourself 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.640 instead of talking to yourself? 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:27.220 And that's what the psalmist is doing, I think, at verse 18. 00:14:27.319 --> 00:14:28.100 If you want to come there, 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.559 I don't realize we're jumping all over the place, 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:31.840 but I think this is how the emotion of this works. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.819 Verse 18, and Erica prayed this at the start. 00:14:37.819 --> 00:14:39.360 Open my eyes, Lord. 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:44.939 Open my eyes that I would see wonderful things in your law. 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:46.240 Now, what does that presume? 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.019 It presumes that he's saying, 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.679 Lord, I can't do it on my own. 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:53.220 I'm so low. 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:55.120 Help me see it. 00:14:55.199 --> 00:14:56.259 I want to see it. 00:14:56.319 --> 00:14:57.360 I don't see it. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:57.879 But you know what? 00:14:57.899 --> 00:14:58.919 I need to see it. 00:14:58.980 --> 00:14:59.840 And so he prays, 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:03.539 Open my eyes that I'd see wonderful things in your law. 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:04.600 So the question is, 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:06.879 what did he find in the Bible 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:08.840 that strengthened his weary soul 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:09.960 during his time of pressures? 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:13.439 Now, these are five really quick things. 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:15.600 They all begin with S 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:16.980 because I'm like Ian last week. 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:18.600 I like alliteration too. 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:21.159 I want us to see really quickly 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.439 these five sources of solace 00:15:23.439 --> 00:15:24.980 that he found 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:27.079 as he turned to the Bible. 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:28.539 And then I want us to think really quickly 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:31.120 about how we can sing this song even more 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.539 with gusto because of Jesus. 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:33.139 You with me? 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:34.539 Here's the first one. 00:15:34.579 --> 00:15:35.079 The first one, 00:15:35.079 --> 00:15:36.079 what did he find in the Bible? 00:15:36.719 --> 00:15:40.120 The sound of his name. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:41.480 By his name, 00:15:41.579 --> 00:15:42.819 his being God there. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:43.659 The sound of his name. 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:45.699 Who is he pouring out his soul to? 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:47.539 Who's on the other end of the phone, 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:48.219 if you like, 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:51.039 as he prays as an Old Testament believer? 00:15:51.819 --> 00:15:52.519 Scan your eyes. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:53.360 Verse 31, 00:15:53.719 --> 00:15:54.740 verse 33, 00:15:55.459 --> 00:15:56.339 verse 41. 00:15:57.099 --> 00:15:58.879 It is the Lord. 00:15:59.079 --> 00:15:59.679 Do you see it? 00:16:00.099 --> 00:16:00.919 Capital L, 00:16:01.199 --> 00:16:02.099 capital O, 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.279 capital R, 00:16:03.459 --> 00:16:04.319 capital D. 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:06.120 When you see that name in the Bible, 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.599 that is the covenant name of God. 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:12.720 So it's a name that is jam-packed with meaning 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.259 all the way through the Old Testament. 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:15.920 So this word Lord 00:16:15.920 --> 00:16:18.580 hyperlinks all over the place. 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:19.500 This is, 00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:20.720 the psalmist is saying, 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:21.500 you are the Lord. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.960 You are the God of all grace. 00:16:23.659 --> 00:16:25.120 You are the unchanging one. 00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:26.639 You are the rescuing God. 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:28.019 You're the providing God. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:29.120 You're the God who leads. 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:30.399 You're the God who protects. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.100 You're the loving God. 00:16:32.680 --> 00:16:34.220 You're the promise-keeping God. 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:37.279 And you're the God who has said to your people 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.720 that you will be our God 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:41.019 and we will be your people. 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:42.500 So that's who he's praying to, 00:16:42.579 --> 00:16:43.120 the Lord. 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:46.139 And the covenant is the wallpaper 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:48.819 that's all over the background of this psalm. 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:51.399 It only makes sense that way. 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:55.699 Grace is all over through this psalm. 00:16:55.939 --> 00:16:57.259 So the psalmist is saying, 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:59.980 when I was down and when I was nearly out, 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.339 I remember, Lord, 00:17:03.439 --> 00:17:06.180 that this is not first and foremost 00:17:06.180 --> 00:17:08.019 about my grip on you. 00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:12.840 This is about your grip on me. 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:17.360 This is about your love, 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:18.779 about who you are, 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.660 way before it's about me. 00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:24.000 But that is a wonderful source of strength, 00:17:24.120 --> 00:17:24.600 the Lord. 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:26.539 Here's the second thing. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:27.779 Firstly, sound of his name. 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:28.480 Secondly, 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:32.519 he's strengthened by the sum of his deeds. 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:33.200 What will he do? 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:34.140 Verse 27. 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:34.220 Verse 27. 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:38.460 He will meditate. 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:41.500 Now, Ian helped us think about that word last week 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:45.039 and about how the biblical idea of meditating 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.620 stands in complete contrast to Eastern spirituality. 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:53.920 So this isn't about emptying our minds out. 00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:56.320 When the Bible talks about meditation, 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.060 this is about filling our minds up. 00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:01.440 That Hebrew word, 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.700 it means to chew something over. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:09.899 So think less doing what you do with a tablet you got from the doctors 00:18:09.899 --> 00:18:14.599 and think more doing what you do with a gobstopper that you brought from the news agent. 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:15.539 That's this word. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:16.240 Chew it. 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:17.359 Not swallow it. 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:17.980 Chew it. 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.619 And the psalmist is taking God's words. 00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:21.919 He's chewing it. 00:18:22.159 --> 00:18:23.240 He's savouring it. 00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:24.279 He's swallowing it. 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:25.679 He's chewing it. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.460 He's savouring it. 00:18:26.460 --> 00:18:27.320 He's swallowing it. 00:18:27.360 --> 00:18:30.840 And he's doing this whole process on repeat. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:32.680 And what is he meditating on? 00:18:33.600 --> 00:18:36.279 The Lord's wonderful deeds. 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:41.120 And that is not so much a reference to the God who's revealed himself in creation. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:44.380 Well, you could spend ages meditating about that. 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:50.240 Oh, Lord, my God, when I am awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hand hath made. 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:54.400 This is specifically about God's acts of rescue. 00:18:56.300 --> 00:18:58.240 And that's how he's revealed himself. 00:18:59.060 --> 00:19:02.400 He's the God who rescues. 00:19:03.100 --> 00:19:08.880 And so he's meditating on God's track record of coming through for his people. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:16.460 I always love how the late Pastor J.I. Packer, the thing he always used to say to people, 00:19:17.540 --> 00:19:20.400 and I've tried to carry this through my experience as a Christian, 00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:26.220 he always used to say, live slowly enough to think deeply about God. 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:28.200 Yeah? 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.880 Live slowly enough to think deeply about God. 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:35.820 The psalmist is strengthened by the sum of his deeds. 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:39.599 Thirdly, he's strengthened by the shape of the path. 00:19:42.159 --> 00:19:44.399 Verse 19, again, pouring out his soul. 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:46.839 What does it feel like in amongst this hostility? 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:47.960 What does he feel like? 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:50.919 He feels like a stranger. 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:52.519 Do you see that? 00:19:52.659 --> 00:19:54.819 Or maybe your translation is a souljourner. 00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:58.240 In other words, that feeling is he feels the hostility. 00:19:58.399 --> 00:20:01.919 That feeling that I don't belong here. 00:20:03.639 --> 00:20:05.259 I don't fit in here. 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:08.960 I feel different from everyone else. 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:14.240 And not only that, I feel like my life is not just about something else. 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:17.960 Actually, my life is headed somewhere else. 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:26.420 And it's almost as if God has used this hostility as the psalmist walks the narrow path to remind him 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:30.440 that that's exactly what he is. 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:36.039 The shape of the path. 00:20:36.360 --> 00:20:37.240 This is not your home. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:38.779 You're passing through. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:41.640 The shape of the path. 00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:43.900 Fourthly, he's strengthened by the scale of his needs. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.340 Do you see how he doesn't have the answer to two great things? 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:48.340 Verse 24. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:50.640 Guidance. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.320 Verse 24. 00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:56.320 Your statutes are my delight. 00:20:56.500 --> 00:20:59.100 They are my counselors. 00:21:00.100 --> 00:21:02.240 Like a sherpa leading me up the mountain. 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:04.040 I've got not a scooby where I'm going. 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:06.600 But I'm trusting that you know this mountain. 00:21:06.840 --> 00:21:09.680 Every square inch of this mountain way better than I ever will. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:10.620 And so I'm going to follow you. 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:14.079 Is that not a wonderful admission? 00:21:16.439 --> 00:21:19.500 Your word is my counselors. 00:21:20.139 --> 00:21:21.659 Your words are my counselors. 00:21:21.899 --> 00:21:26.839 You know, the more I go on in life, and there'll be way more stronger testimonies to this than I have. 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:32.639 The more I go on in life, I realize how much of my life I actually have zero control over. 00:21:35.459 --> 00:21:38.019 And how little of the big picture I actually see. 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:41.939 And that's what the psalmist is saying here. 00:21:42.059 --> 00:21:43.019 I need your word. 00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:44.019 I don't know where to go. 00:21:44.159 --> 00:21:44.959 I don't know where I'm headed. 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:46.219 I don't know what tomorrow holds. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:49.379 Have you ever had that experience of driving through a new housing estate? 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:53.599 And your sat-nav hasn't quite updated it yet. 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:56.099 And it's telling you to turn right and turn left. 00:21:56.159 --> 00:21:59.219 And you're looking at your map thinking, no, this isn't what I see. 00:21:59.679 --> 00:22:01.839 There's a disconnect between here and here. 00:22:03.379 --> 00:22:05.000 And that's what the psalmist is saying. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.939 Your word, Lord, your word is the only reliable map of the world that I have. 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:10.500 And I know. 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:14.180 Friends, the Bible makes sense of us. 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:19.519 It makes better sense of us than we can make of ourselves. 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:23.799 And that's why he says, verse 29, keep me. 00:22:24.360 --> 00:22:25.019 Keep me. 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:28.320 He knows his propensity to wander. 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:30.140 Verse 33, teach me. 00:22:30.340 --> 00:22:32.059 Verse 35, direct me. 00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:34.900 Verse 36 and 37, turn me. 00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:38.880 Because he doesn't rate his own ability to navigate his way through life. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:40.380 What a wonderful lesson that is. 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:47.300 And because God has answered that prayer, verse 32, he says, your word has broadened my understanding. 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:50.920 Verse 45, I walk about in freedom. 00:22:50.920 --> 00:23:00.920 And the wonder of this psalm is that he says, I'm experiencing those things as I come to your word, as I meditate on who you are, Lord. 00:23:01.620 --> 00:23:06.519 At the same time as the hostility from without and within continues to rage on. 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:08.360 Is that a paradox? 00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:09.360 How does that work? 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:11.259 The world outside is raging. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:12.800 In my heart, I'm all over the place. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:16.500 But I'm settled because I know who you are, Lord. 00:23:19.639 --> 00:23:21.579 Doesn't have an answer to his guidance problem. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.599 He doesn't have an answer to his sin problem. 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:24.839 Do you see verse 39? 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:27.619 Take away the shame I dread. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:33.720 And he's pleading there that God would be faithful to his promise to act. 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:37.799 To fully and finally atone for my sin. 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:43.200 And that leads him fifthly to celebrate. 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:45.079 And lastly, the sweetness of his words. 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:46.279 Do you see verse 24? 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:47.440 This will be real quick. 00:23:48.419 --> 00:23:50.220 Your statutes are my delight. 00:23:50.399 --> 00:23:54.460 Verse 47, I delight in your commands because I love them. 00:23:56.259 --> 00:24:01.960 So do you see in his time of pressure, he doesn't run away to worthless things. 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:06.980 He doesn't sit there and try and work out this puzzle of what I do. 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:09.659 But he runs to the Lord. 00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:13.899 He comes to God's word. 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:18.079 And he meets there, a God who is an utter delight to know. 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:22.599 You know, just as we close, I went to visit a dear friend the other day. 00:24:22.819 --> 00:24:25.480 And my friend's going through a really difficult time. 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:31.079 And something of what they said really struck me. 00:24:32.159 --> 00:24:33.599 They came out with this line. 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:37.359 That I've no idea what tomorrow's going to bring. 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:45.579 The only thing I'm trying to do right now with each day is stick real close to the one who does. 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:49.480 It's not a wonderful admission. 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:52.500 We feel pressure from without pressure within. 00:24:52.659 --> 00:24:53.179 Where do we go? 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:56.919 We stick real close with the one who does. 00:24:57.019 --> 00:24:58.899 Friends, what do we find as we come to the Bible? 00:25:00.899 --> 00:25:06.359 What do we find fully that the psalmist didn't quite fully know yet? 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:08.399 And yet I take it has trust in. 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:11.539 Who do we find as we come to the Bible? 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:18.240 How much more can we sing this because of Christ, who is the Psalm 119, ultimate man. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:19.759 We can talk about that afterwards if you want. 00:25:20.479 --> 00:25:21.879 But we find Christ. 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:33.820 Where do we find solace in the sound of his name, the sum of his deeds, the shape of the path, the scale of our need, and the sweetness of his word. 00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:42.700 The call here as New Testament believers is to come here and be reminded about his heart. 00:25:42.700 --> 00:25:50.559 And come and meet Jesus and be reminded of his wonderful deeds of rescue. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:58.140 To come here to meet him and be reminded that he paid the full price of our sin on the cross. 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:06.299 To come here and be reminded that you are forgiven and a blood-bought child of the living God. 00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:11.620 Come here and be reminded that our home is in heaven, not on earth. 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:12.819 We're just passing through. 00:26:13.259 --> 00:26:19.019 Come here and be reminded that he alone has the words of eternal life. 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:22.779 How often we're tempted to run to worthless things. 00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:28.779 When we come to the Gospels and we meet an all-sufficient Christ. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:33.019 Friends, why don't we just pray? 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:37.399 And I'm going to read the words from John chapter 6 to us. 00:26:38.959 --> 00:26:41.099 And hopefully this will lead us really well. 00:26:42.179 --> 00:26:44.919 Into the next part of our service, which is communion. 00:26:46.179 --> 00:26:48.199 Why don't we just be quiet before I read these. 00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:53.599 And let's just bring our own prayers and requests and confessions to God. 00:26:53.679 --> 00:26:57.379 Knowing that he hears and that in Christ we have a fully sufficient Savior. 00:26:57.380 --> 00:27:07.340 After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:11.880 So Jesus said to the twelve, do you want to go away as well? 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:17.480 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? 00:27:18.520 --> 00:27:29.280 You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:36.440 And so Father, it's our simple prayer this morning as we hold here, hold our Bibles in our hands. 00:27:37.619 --> 00:27:41.160 Lord, thank you that we have your word in our language. 00:27:41.379 --> 00:27:41.960 We have it in English. 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:43.240 We have it in all sorts of different languages. 00:27:43.299 --> 00:27:44.920 We can pick it up and read and understand. 00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:50.240 But Father, thank you here that we meet an all-sufficient Jesus. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:57.079 Lord, would you help us in our own individual ways run away from worthless things. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:00.660 And instead find our all in all. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.620 Not in how together we have it. 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:08.819 But in how wonderful and sufficient and brilliant a Savior Jesus is. 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:14.640 So Father, we pray all of these things in his precious and in his wonderful name. 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:16.140 Amen.