Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
If you are new or visiting with us, welcome.
We are glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying
to fill seats but because we're following after Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good
that they don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it.
Which means that God has something to say to everyone in his word and so that's why we come
to this portion of our service.
We take a look at what God has to say to us in the Bible.
We're convinced and we believe that he has something to say to people who have been Christians
their entire lives.
He has something to say to people who have been Christians only for a short amount of
time and he has something to say to people who would not consider themselves Christians,
people who have doubts and questions and objections to Christianity.
God looks at all of those things in his word and so that's why we come to it today, this
morning together.
You know that we're in the book of Psalms this summer and I say this summer because I've
gotten a few questions about how long we're going to be in the book of Psalms.
I started at Psalm 1 and then I've just been going one after the other.
And if you know the book of Psalms well, you know that if I kept doing that, we'd be here
for over three years.
Now that wouldn't be bad news, but I do want to let you know that we are going to be going
to the book of 1 Peter come fall.
So it's great to do Psalms during the summer because they are one once-off units.
Makes it helpful if you have a guest preacher coming in.
It's helpful to take small bites out of the Psalms from time to time.
So we took a bite out of the Psalms in December.
We're taking a bite out of the Psalms now and there may be some point in the future I'll
reserve the right to take the bite out of the Psalms again.
But fear not, we won't be here for three years.
However, I hope that many of you will be here three years from now.
That being said, I've given you guys a lot of different images of ways to think about
the Psalms.
It is the hymn book, the prayer book of God's people in the Old Testament.
It was what people in the Old Testament used to worship God and it's continued in the New
Testament.
The book of Psalms is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book.
And it's hard to summarize because it talks about so many different things as any hymn
book or prayer book would.
So it's the standard operating procedure for the Christian life.
It's something that makes complicated things simple since it's poetry.
I've talked a couple times about the ways that it's sort of like an Impressionist painting
by Monet where there's differences between each painting but also things that are the same.
And I'm going to give you a new category this morning and it's this.
The Psalms are not just all of those things but the Psalms also teach us how to pray.
If you've noticed, all the Psalms that we've studied except for Psalm 1 and 2, which were
introductions, were actually prayers, at least in part.
Now part of this Psalm is a prayer, part of it's not a prayer.
But if we want to learn how to pray, the Psalms perhaps teach us more than any other book
because they give us different situations and then they show us, okay, in this specific
situation, this is how you should pray.
So for example, we saw last week we had an imprecatory Psalm, which is a fancy way of saying
a Psalm that asks for God's justice and His judgment.
And that Psalm models for us how do we pray when we face evil in the world and we need
God to bring justice.
Psalms 3 and 4 were Psalms of lament.
So how do we pray when we come up against difficult situations in life?
How do we have hope in those situations?
And now with this Psalm, we're going to be in Psalm 6.
We have a new category.
And that is a penitential Psalm.
And that's a fancy way of saying this is a Psalm that asks God for forgiveness for sins.
It's a Psalm that asks God for His forgiveness for sins.
It's also a lament Psalm.
So sometimes these Psalm categories overlap because the Psalmist is asking for God's help
because he finds himself in a bad situation.
However, this bad situation, unlike the other bad situations, seemed to involve the Psalmist's
personal sin.
In Psalms 2 and 3, the Psalmist had enemies who were coming up against him.
He wasn't talking about his personal sin.
In Psalm 6, he is.
Now it's unclear if he's talking about sin that has led him into a bad situation or whether
he's in a bad situation and it reminds him of his sin.
So it could be either one of those and I'll explain.
So if it's situation number one, if it's a situation where it's a result of sin, it could
be this is someone who has worked seven days and never rested, as we've talked about in
the past, and his body is broken as a result.
It could be someone whose marriage falls apart because they neglected it.
Because instead of loving their spouse, they hated their spouse.
It could be someone who faces bankruptcy because of financial recklessness.
Or it could be someone who has lied so much that no one in their family trusts them anymore
and all their relationships have fallen apart.
Regardless of what it is, it could be someone who, because of their own sin, has come to
a situation that is terrible.
In this specific situation in Psalm 6, it seems to be a health issue.
However, they also talk about their soul being troubled.
So it seems to be this holistic sorrow and grief.
However, because the psalm is not clear about whether that's the result or the cause of
this lament, it could also be that the psalmist has found himself in a difficult situation
that is not a result of his sin, but has caused him to realize his sin.
In other words, I know and many of you know people who have come back to God and come back
to the church not because they have done something wrong, but because they've met suffering in
their lives and it's reminded them of their need for God's grace.
It's reminded them of the presence of sin in the world.
So I'm not saying that returning to church is the point.
I'm saying that suffering sometimes reorients us to reality.
Some of you have experienced this.
Maybe things were going well in life.
You didn't feel like you had any need for God and then suddenly you lost your job.
I know someone who was in a situation similar to that and one of the first things they did
was they went back to church.
Because that loss of that job, that suffering in their life helped them remember and realize
the reality of sin in the world, the fact that they needed God and his grace.
This happens often for people with severe sickness.
So sometimes you'll have sickness in your life like the psalmist does here.
It's not a result of your specific sin, but it still reminds you of the reality of death.
And that reminder of the reality of death reminds you of the reality of sin.
And so it helps you remember your need for God's grace, the fact that your sin deserves
God's punishment.
And yet he's offered his son as a sacrifice to pay the penalty.
So there's all kinds of situations that bring us to this psalm.
Whether it's someone who is in sin and their sin has brought them to suffering, or whether
it's someone who's suffering and their suffering has helped them realize sin, what we know is
that this psalm talks about a situation that seems to be life-threatening.
The psalmist is afraid for his life.
Things are that bad.
And regardless of how he got there, it returns him to talk to God about his sin.
He is facing severe suffering that reminds him of death and brings him face to face with
the reality of his sin and his need for God's grace.
And so that's the situation that we're coming up against with this psalm.
And so with that in mind, we're going to read together Psalm 6.
You'll find it printed in your worship guide.
You'll also find it probably on your phone or maybe on your Bible.
So I invite you to turn there with me.
And as we come, remember that this is God's word.
And God's word, God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest
gold.
And he also tells us that it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from
the honeycomb.
And so because of that, we read it now.
I invite you to follow along with me, starting at verse 1.
Oh, Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
Be gracious to me, oh, Lord, for I am languishing.
Heal me, oh, Lord, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, oh, Lord, how long?
Verse 4.
Turn, oh, Lord, deliver my life.
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of you.
In Sheol, who will give you praise?
Verse 6.
I am weary with my moaning.
Every night I flood my bed with tears.
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief.
It grows weak because of all my foes.
Verse 8.
Depart from me, all you workers of evil.
For the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled.
They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Father in heaven, we thank you that you're not surprised.
You are not surprised by the situations that we face.
You're not surprised by the suffering that enters our lives.
You don't forget about us even when we may have forgotten about you.
And you don't walk away from us even when we walk away from you.
So we thank you for the reminder that these psalms are of your faithfulness and your compassion.
We ask that you would help us this morning to see what you have for us in your word.
That you would show us our desperate need for your grace and your forgiveness.
And you would also show us how you meet us at that very same point of need.
How you come and help us when we're suffering but we cry out to you.
We ask these things not because we have earned them, but because Jesus has earned them for us.
And so we ask them in his name.
Amen.
I have mentioned to you all before that while I grew up on the East Coast, I was born in Texas.
And the reason I was born in Texas is because at the time that I was born, my parents were teaching at a university there.
They had a relatively short stint as college professors, after which we moved to the East Coast.
But during that time, they got to learn a little bit about the game of teaching college and the game of being a student in college.
And so when we, their sons, went off to college, they gave us the talk.
And the talk was the talk of how you interact with college professors.
Speaking from their experience, having been on the other side, they knew how to guide us in the right way.
And one of the things they told us over and over again was this.
If you ever get in trouble, if you're ever struggling in a class, if you're ever afraid that you're not going to pass,
there is one thing that you have to do.
You have to go and talk to the professor.
Because if you go and talk to a professor, they might be willing to help you.
They might be willing to work with you.
They might see your interest in the class.
They might understand that you're really trying the best that you can.
And they might try to help you and they might show mercy to you.
If you never talk to the professor and then you're failing quizzes and you're failing exams,
they will have no mercy for you.
And so you should not be surprised if at the end of the semester you end up with an F,
if you end up failing.
You end up with a D minus or a C or whatever that grade is that you don't want.
So you show up, you ask for help.
And if there's office hours, you use them.
And if there's study sessions, you go to them.
Because my parents understood as former college professors how important this was.
That they knew from their own experience that when they had students who were struggling,
the students who didn't tell them, who didn't come and ask for help,
those students they assumed often, maybe they didn't care, maybe they weren't trying.
But for whatever reason, there was no opportunity for them to show them mercy.
And so we knew this going.
I used this at one point.
My brothers, at least one of my brothers, used this advice at one point.
And it ended up being very helpful.
And so there's a principle here that we see in this psalm as well,
which is that mercy comes through relationships,
and it comes to people who ask for it.
Mercy comes through relationships,
and it comes to people who ask for it.
And in addition to that, mercy is only available to people who ask for it.
Mercy is only available to people who ask for it.
The psalmist in this psalm,
understanding the severity of the situation that he's in,
the very first thing he does is he talks to God.
We see this all the way in verses 1 through 4.
The very first part of this psalm is in address,
O Lord.
Verse 2, O Lord.
Verse 3, O Lord.
Verse 4, you guessed it, O Lord.
The psalmist finds himself in this very challenging situation,
and the first thing he does is he comes and he speaks to God in prayer.
He's asking here at the very beginning for mercy.
Rebuke me not, nor discipline me.
Be gracious to me.
Heal me.
Turn, O Lord.
Verse 4, deliver my life.
And so at the very beginning,
if we find ourselves,
when we find ourselves face-to-face with the reality of sin,
whether it's in the world,
and it causes us to realize the sin in our lives,
or it's sin in our lives that causes us to realize the consequences
and the seriousness of it,
the very first thing God does is he calls us to talk to him and ask for mercy.
The psalms teach us how to pray.
Now, I had a meeting with someone outside of our church recently,
and they were asking me some questions
because they knew that I was a pastor,
and so they thought,
well, I have a pastor here,
so I'm going to just tell them what's on my mind and see what they say.
And so the question that they had was,
first of all, does prayer change things?
And second of all, if prayer changes things,
why in the world is that okay?
The first answer is easy.
Yes, prayer changes things.
Their objection about why it was okay was essentially,
why is it that if God knows everything,
why do I have to pray to him?
Why do I need to talk to him
since God is the omniscient, all-powerful one?
And if my talking changes things,
how is that fair in any sense?
So I explained it this way.
God is not just some abstract being.
If you believe in the Christian God,
you believe in a person.
You believe in a person,
and sin is not just a problem of justice,
although it is,
but it's also a relational problem
that we are alienated from God,
that our problems in this world
are problems of broken relationships.
Some people break it into four different quadrants.
We have a broken relationship with ourselves.
We have a broken relationship with God.
We have a broken relationship with the world.
And then we have a broken relationship with others.
And so does prayer change things?
And if it does,
how is that okay?
And the answer is this.
We should not be surprised
when our relationship with God
functions like any other relationship.
God's a person,
and so we should never be surprised
when our relationship with God
functions like any other relationship.
relationship.
This is only what makes sense
in any other situation.
You would never think about your friend,
or maybe you do,
and if you do, you'd be wrong.
This person understands the situation,
therefore, they should act.
And I don't have to go and talk to them.
I don't need to go explain it to them.
I don't need to say anything about it.
They know I'm just going to leave it to them.
Now, some of you do do that
in your relationships.
relationships.
You can't blame someone
for not acting on something
you didn't tell them.
And you can't blame someone
for not knowing something
you didn't tell them.
And so this psalm,
first of all,
shows us that if we find ourselves,
if we come up against
the reality of sin and suffering,
we have to talk to God.
We have to pray to Him.
That is what prayer is.
And that is part of why
the psalms are so important.
That's part of why
we're spending a summer in the psalms.
Not three years, but a summer.
It's because it's a critical book,
perhaps the most critical book,
for us to understand
what it's like to talk to God.
When we went through the psalms
in December,
I told you several times
that the psalms are models
of what it looks like
for us to talk to God.
God's a person.
Our relationship with Him
functions like any other relationship.
And so we follow the model
of the psalmist here
by talking to Him.
This psalm, however,
does not just show us
our need to talk to God.
It doesn't just show us
our need to ask Him.
It also shows us
how and what we ask Him for.
It shows us
how and what we ask Him for,
especially,
and specifically,
in this psalm,
when we're tempted to despair.
When we're tempted to despair,
facing the reality
of sin and evil
in the world.
And it sounds like,
in this psalm,
the sound of reality
and evil in the psalmist's life.
He tells us in verse 2,
I'm languishing,
my bones are troubled,
he's experiencing physical symptoms.
Verse 3,
my soul is also troubled,
he's experiencing psychological,
emotional symptoms.
Verses 6 and 7,
I'm weary with my moaning,
every night I flood my bed with tears.
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief,
it goes weak because of all my foes.
So how do we talk to God
when we feel like that?
When we feel like verses 6 and 7?
When we understand
the reality of sin
and our need for God's grace.
Well, the first thing the psalmist does
is he appeals to God's mercy.
Verse 4,
Turn, O Lord,
deliver my life,
save me for the sake
of your steadfast love.
And this steadfast love
is the same word
that we saw last summer,
actually this time.
It was this time last year
that we were in the book of Ruth
and we talked about God's
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever love.
And if you recall,
that's the Jesus Storybook Bible's
translation of the Hebrew word hesed.
And so the psalmist appeals
to God's unbreaking,
unfailing,
never giving up love.
And he appeals to it in verse 4
because of verse 1.
He appeals to God's love,
who I would refer to
as the good news of the gospel,
because of the bad news of the gospel.
Verse 1,
Rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
For the psalmist to understand
the seriousness of sin in the world,
it means that he understands
that God has anger and wrath.
And he knows that what he's experiencing
is the effect of God's anger and wrath.
And he also knows that God's anger
and his wrath is something
that is directed at him.
And so he appeals to God's mercy here.
Now we talked about God's anger
and his wrath last Sunday
with Psalm 5,
the psalm asking for God's judgment
and his justice.
And still,
God's anger and wrath
is something that's troubling
for many people in this culture,
in our culture.
And so I'll just say a couple things.
If you struggle with the God of wrath
and anger,
what would you think
of a ruler or a king
who refused
to punish the wicked?
What would you think
of a ruler or a king
who refused
to punish the wicked?
Would you consider that
to be a good ruler
or a bad ruler?
It's a rhetorical question.
Last week in Psalm 5,
I believe it was verse 5,
it said,
God hates all evildoers.
Let's look at it
from the other side.
Would you want a ruler
who did not hate evil?
Do you want the governor,
the mayor of Colorado Springs,
the governor of Colorado
to be someone
who loves evil,
who doesn't hate it,
and who turns a blind eye
to the wicked and the unjust?
Just like our relationship
with God
is like any other relationship.
Now, there are things
that are different
about our relationship
with God,
but in terms of the relational
aspects of it,
we should not expect
it to be different.
God as king
is no different
from any other good king.
And so like any good king,
any good ruler,
his job is to hate evil
and to bring justice.
What's offensive
about the gospel,
what's hard about Christianity
is all of us agree
that we want evil
to be done away
within this world.
What we don't agree about
is our role in that evil.
To become a Christian,
to turn away from sin
in repentance
is to acknowledge
that we play a part
in the evil in this world.
That it's not just people
out there
who deserve God's judgment
and his justice,
but it's also us.
And so that's why
the psalmist knows
and understands
the bad news
of the gospel
in verse 1.
Rebuke me not in your anger
nor discipline me
in your wrath.
But he also understands
the good news
of the gospel.
He knows that God
is not just a God
of justice,
but he's also
a God of love.
And so that's why
in verse 4,
he appeals to God's
steadfast love.
In other words,
he understands
that he doesn't deserve
God's favor.
And he doesn't deserve
God's deliverance,
and so that's why
it's called mercy.
That's why he asks God
in verse 2
to be gracious to him.
deliver my life.
Save me for not,
don't save me
for the sake
of everything
that I've done.
Don't save me
because I'm a good person.
Don't save me
because I've done
a wonderful job
raising my children.
Don't save me
because I'm
an excellent employee.
Don't save me
because I care
about the right causes.
Don't save me
because I donate
to the right organizations.
No, save me
for the sake
of your steadfast love.
This is why
as Christians,
we pray,
when we end our prayers,
we say,
we ask these things
in Jesus' name.
Whenever we pray
and ask things
in Jesus' name,
we are confessing
that the things
that we need
that we're asking
from God
are things
that we don't deserve.
Instead,
verse 1,
we deserve God's anger
and his wrath,
but because of Jesus,
God offers us
his steadfast love.
In other words,
everyone who has
faith in Jesus,
who has knowledge
about the fact
that Jesus came
and died
and paid the penalty
for our sins,
who believes that,
has belief,
not just knowledge,
but knows that it's true,
and then has trust,
lives their life
as if it's true,
that person
has God's steadfast love.
And so just like
it would not be
a good strategy
to go to your college professor
and tell them
you're a terrible professor,
the reason I'm not
passing this class
is because you can't teach.
I'm an excellent student.
I've made A's
in every other class.
I can't understand
why you can't give me an A.
Although there are
college students
who do that.
No, the right approach
is to say,
I am struggling
and I need help.
What I have and do
is not enough,
and that's what the psalmist
is doing in this psalm.
So if we are talking to God,
the first thing we do
is we appeal
to his mercy.
We understand
the bad news
of the gospel.
We also know
the good news
of the gospel.
The psalmist
doesn't just appeal
to God's mercy,
though he also appeals
to God's mission
in verse 5.
For in death
there is no remembrance
of you.
In shale,
who will give you praise?
In other words,
if you do not deliver me,
if I do not experience
your steadfast love,
our relationship
is going to end.
I am going to be
cut off from you.
When I die,
I will be cut off from you.
And I will no longer
be able to give you praise.
As we looked at
in December,
the very end
of the psalter
ends with multiple
psalms of praise
because that is the end
of the Christian life.
And you may remember
we talked about
the modern forms
of praise,
one of which
is the Amazon.com review,
where you extol
the benefits
of the things
that you love.
And so in this verse,
verse 5,
we're not talking about
some boring activity
in life,
but we are talking about
when we talk about praise,
understanding
and living out
and praising God
for everything
that he is
and has done
and has created
in this world.
It's enjoying
all the goodness
that God's given us
and then giving him
the credit for it.
It's enjoying
all the good things
that God has given us
and giving him
the credit for it.
That's God's,
one of the pieces
of God's mission
in the world.
We talked about this
in Nehemiah
that he gave
the Israelites
to the ancient
Near Eastern world
that they would be
a light to the nations
that everyone
would know
and see
what it's like
when God's people
walk in God's ways.
And so the psalmist
here doesn't just appeal
to God's mercy
but God's mission.
He says,
this is what you want
for the world.
You want people
who praise you.
And so I appeal
to your love
and your faithfulness
on the one hand.
I appeal to what you love
on the other hand.
And so we can do that as well.
If we're appealing
for God's mercy,
we're appealing
not just for him
to save us from sin
and the consequences
of evil,
we're also praying
that he would give us
over to
all the good things
that he has for us
in this world.
He would give us to,
and so we're appealing
to what God loves.
It would be as if
you go to someone
and you're trying
to get them
to enlist
in your cause.
Well, you need to figure out
why they care
about your cause.
If I told you
I want you to come
and I want you
to give me
$500,
well, you would want
to know,
well, why do you
want $500?
And why do I care
about the thing
that I'm giving
$500 to?
I'd have to convince you
this is for something
that you love.
Let me think.
This is in Colorado Springs
and that's the city
that you live in
and there's this problem
that you're experiencing
and these $500
are going to help
alleviate that problem.
I'm appealing
to something that you love.
I'm appealing
to your mission.
That's what the psalmist
does in verse 5.
Who will give you praise?
You're a God
who wants this world
to be filled
with your praise.
your salvation of me
is going to give
your mission.
And so we can do
the same thing
when we pray to God
as well.
In fact,
it's a helpful paradigm.
If I'm praying
for something,
how does it relate
to what God loves
in the world?
Am I praying
for something
that is in line
with what God wants
with his mission?
That's what the psalmist
does here.
He talks to God.
He talks to God
because our relationship
with God
is like any other
relationship.
When he talks to God,
he appeals to God's mercy
because he knows
that's the only footing
he has.
That outside of God's mercy,
all that awaits him
is anger and wrath.
And he also appeals
to God's mission
because he goes
that God's mission
is connected
with his steadfast love.
That his mission
is to save this world.
To do away
with evil
fully and finally.
And for this world
to be filled
with the praise
and enjoyment
of God.
And I mentioned
at the beginning
that the psalms
teach us how to pray
but they're not
all prayers
or they're not
entirely prayers.
And the psalmist's prayer
ends here
in verse 5.
His prayer is finished.
Which raises the question,
what happens
after we pray?
What happens
when we pray?
What happens here
for the psalmist?
Well, after he prays,
the psalmist
has two realities.
First reality,
verses 6 and 7.
He is still
in a challenging situation.
He's still weary
with his moaning.
He's still flooding
his bed with tears.
His eyes still
waste away
because of grief.
The psalmist's prayer
does not immediately
solve his situation.
In fact,
probably many of you
have experienced this.
It is rare
that you would pray,
Lord, I need your help
in this particular situation.
And then,
three seconds later,
the situation is solved.
Often,
you are still left
in verses 6 and 7.
You're still weary
with your moaning.
However,
that's not the only reality
for the psalmist.
That's the first reality.
He's still in his situation.
There is a second reality,
verse 9
and verse 8.
The Lord has heard
the sound of my weeping.
So on the one hand,
I'm still weeping.
On the other hand,
God has heard it.
Verse 9,
the Lord has heard my plea.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
And so the psalmist
has both of these realities
in his hand.
He has the continuing effects
of the suffering
that he's experiencing.
And he also has confidence
that God has heard him
because he's prayed.
Like any other person
or any other relationship
of someone we go to
and talk to,
he knows that God
now also knows
and understands
his concern.
Now,
there are enemies here
in this psalm.
I'm not going to talk
a ton about this.
It's not the focus
of the psalm.
Our best guess
is that these enemies
are people who are
maybe gloating
or delighting
in the fact
that the psalmist is down.
Whatever situation he's in,
they find pleasure in it.
It's not exactly clear.
It does not seem
that these workers of evil
are the ones
who've caused the situation.
There are many other psalms
for that.
In fact,
we saw one of them
in Psalm 3.
However,
he does have the confidence
now,
also in verse 8,
to say,
depart from me,
all you workers of evil.
And so,
his situation too,
his confidence in God,
his knowledge that God
has heard him
and he can trust God
for deliverance,
also allows him
to have a different
perspective on his enemies.
And so,
the point is this.
The psalmist
still lives
in the first reality.
He's prayed to God.
The situation
is still ongoing.
So,
he doesn't leave
the first reality,
but he lives
in the second reality.
He hasn't left
the first reality,
but he lives
in the second reality.
He's still weeping,
but the Lord
has heard his plea.
He is still
filled with grief,
but the Lord
has accepted his prayer.
And so,
what he's doing now
here is he's trusting.
He's trusting that
God has heard
his prayer
and that everything
God has promised
he will do,
he will do.
I was talking
to someone recently
and they told me,
you know,
the psalms are
kind of like a sitcom.
Everything gets solved
in one episode.
I'm here to tell you
this psalm
is not like a sitcom.
Everything is not solved
in this episode.
The psalmist prays
and at the end
of this psalm
he is still waiting
for God to act.
At the end
of this psalm
he is still waiting
for God's deliverance.
And so,
in some ways
this is less like a sitcom,
it's more like a Netflix show.
We've seen the first episode.
We're going to have
cliffhangers
to the very end.
And then we're going
to have a final cliffhanger
to get us to go
to the second episode
or the second season.
So,
the psalmist
doesn't leave
the first reality,
he lives in the second reality.
He does not know
the end of the story,
but he knows
that God is faithful.
He knows
that God is faithful
and he's promised
to hear his prayer.
And so,
while the situation
is not solved,
one thing is.
The psalmist knows
that he will not
ultimately face death
because of God's
steadfast love.
The psalmist knows
that he will not
ultimately face death
because of God's
steadfast love.
This is a penitential psalm,
it's a psalm
of repentance.
The psalmist knows
that God's steadfast love,
his forgiveness
is for everyone
who turns away
from their sin
in repentance
and turns back to God.
And so,
while he doesn't leave
the first situation,
he lives knowing
that God's
steadfast faithfulness
is for him.
And so,
whatever happens,
even when our mind
and our body
are failing us,
like the psalmist
is here,
we know that God's
faithfulness
is more true.
When verses 6 and 7
are true
in our lives,
we know that verses 8 and 10
are more true.
So,
we don't deny reality,
we don't have
pie-in-the-sky hope,
we don't pretend,
but we also know
that God's
steadfast love
is greater
than what the psalmist
is facing.
And so,
what does the psalmist
have because of his prayers?
Right now,
as we're in the midst
of his story
that we don't know
the end of,
we know that he has
confidence
and faith
and hope
and trust in God.
And he has
confidence
and faith
and hope
and trust in God
because he knows
God's steadfast love,
he knows his
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever love.
And that's the confidence
that we have as well
when we come to God
in prayer
as a person
with whom we have
a relationship with
and we ask him
to deliver us,
to have forgiveness
for us,
to forgive us
of our sins,
to deliver us
from his anger
and his wrath,
knowing that God
forgives and saves
anyone and everyone
who comes to him
in repentance.
And so while we
don't necessarily
exit the situation
that we're in
at the moment,
we also live
knowing that Jesus
died so that we
could live.
We live in that faith
and that hope
and that trust
and that confidence.
Not as a magical
experience
or experiment
but because we've
prayed
and spoken
to a person
with whom we
have a relationship.
I invite you
to pray with me
now and speak
to that very
same person.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
we thank you again
for your word
which gives us hope.
We ask that
if we do know you,
you would grow us up,
that we would
cry out to you
and talk to you
and speak to you
more and more,
that we would
understand your care
and your concern
and your love for us.
If we don't know you,
we ask that you
would help us
to understand
the reality
of your wrath
and your discipline
but also the even
greater reality
of your forgiveness
that you offer
to us in Jesus.
I ask for everyone
here that you
would challenge us
with the truth
of your word
and you'd also
encourage us
with it.
That as you show us
our need for your grace,
you'd also show us
how you meet
and more than meet
that need
through Jesus.
We have not earned
these things
but Jesus has
and so we ask them
in his name.
Amen.