Content in Christ

Join us as we read through Psalm 131, we see David showing us a picture of what contentment in Christ looks like, how it is achieved, and ultimately what it produces. 

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If you have God's word with you this morning, you can flip to Psalm 131. I'm going to start a little bit differently this morning in a way that normally we walk through an introduction to read the text, but before we even put it on the screen, maybe even before you even flip there, I want to read this text over us because my desire as we read it is to begin already examining ourselves in light of it. Asking ourselves, is this something that personifies me? Or does my life look differently? In Psalm 131, David writes, O Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul. Like a weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Friends, we live in a world that is simply restless. Every spare moment that we have is filled. We wake up to notifications. We scroll while we eat. We listen to podcasts while we drive. Any ounce that we could have of silence, we often fill with noise of some sort. Even whenever we're physically alone, we rarely are mentally still. But it's not just our phones that are noisy, it's our souls in a lot of ways. We're constantly wondering: am I doing enough? Am I falling behind? What if something goes wrong? Why does everyone else's life seem to be working out better than mine? So we cut things and we work and we we manipulate and we fold, we we look at these Instagram accounts or these social media accounts that seek to life hack our lives. Not saying if you use hairspray, it gets ink out of your pants, but more so if you if you do these things, you can add another hour to your day. If you wake up early or if you go to bed late, if you do this workout program or this three-step thing, then you have maximized your life. We've become experts in calming our environment while remaining completely unable to calm our hearts. And I think the problem is that we often think that that's a problem out there, but oftentimes it's just as much as a problem in here. That we who find ourselves in church on a Sunday morning, we love Jesus, but we're anxious. We trust God, but we can't stop worrying. We believe He's in control, but yet we still try to control everything ourselves. Even some of us in this room this morning can't go a 75-minute service without checking what's happening in the outside world around us. Being constantly drawn our attentions from notifications or alerts or things going on out there. And then we come to Psalm 131. Psalm that's only three verses long. You'll see quickly how much we can squeeze out of three verses. But one that, even as we've read, probably feels very unfamiliar to us. One that in a lot of ways seems like something that can't be grasped, or it's foreign. Because it gives us a picture of a man with a quiet soul. A man who is content. The title of our sermon this morning is Content in Christ. And as we read through Psalm 131, we see David showing us a picture of what contentment in Christ looks like, how it's achieved, and ultimately what that contentment produces. And friends, this morning, what I want to do is I want to read through our psalm together. I want to walk through it and see those aspects of things. So now, this time on the screens, would you read our chapter with us? God's word says this, O Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I've quieted and calmed my soul. Like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131 finds itself in the middle of 15 Psalms that are titled the Psalms of Ascent. So these Psalms were specifically picked out and gathered together, and they were used for Jewish festivals. So as Jews from across the nation and even from across the world gathered together for their specific religious festivals, normally it was three times a year that they were required to come to the city of Jerusalem. And as they came together, Jerusalem was set up on a hill. So a lot of times we hear contradictions shown to us in the New Testament of one of the which is normally as people are headed south to Jerusalem, God's word will always say they're going up to Jerusalem. And people will say, well, see, that God's word isn't correct. It doesn't depict it in the right way because they're going south, but it says they're going up. But Jerusalem sat itself upon a hill. So no matter what angle you came from it, you traveled up to Jerusalem as you traveled up the hill. The Psalms of Ascent or songs that the nation of Israel would sing as they climbed the hill of Jerusalem. As they climbed into the city for whatever the festival may be. So imagine this pilgrimage. It's a lot of what the Psalms of Ascent show us. It's this journey from one place into the city of peace that is Jerusalem. Even this morning, as you probably have already experienced the need for pilgrimage shown to us in this psalm. This need of being taken from one place to another. A place of restlessness to a place of contentment. A place of noise to a place of quiet and calm. As we work through this psalm, really it builds on itself, as we've already talked about. It shows us what contentment looks like, but how we get there and ultimately what it produces. It's this journey, it's this pilgrimage, and it shows us ultimately the person of Christ, the perfect manifestation of this psalm. So that's what I want to do. I want to look at how does this psalm show us contentment that is offered to us in Christ. Starting in verse 1, we'll read it again. O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, and my eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. The first thing we see, contentment in Christ one, displays the demeanor of humility. Displays the demeanor of humility. Right off the bat, in verse one, we see something that is incredibly hard for us to wrap our minds around, let alone to do. Because this is so far from the spirit of the world and the culture that is around us. David's writing a song telling us of a power that has done a mighty work in his life, that it's allowed him to do this and note great change. He says, My heart is not lifted up, meaning that I have removed pride from my life. My eyes are not raised, meaning that arrogance has left me. I do not occupy myself with great greater things than me, meaning I've removed my godlike self-perception that tells me that I can do all things and know all things. There's a book that we've read as a staff a few years back, and it's one that I recommend to a lot of people who walk into ministry. It's a book called Zeal Without Burnout. It's written by a man named Christopher Ash, who experienced burnout in ministry. And it's something that sadly is very normal for my profession. Very normal for people who work in the church to labor so hard to burn themselves out. And he writes, it's because we have a pride problem. And oftentimes I don't think we see it that way. See, because what's easy for me to do is to see the spiritual weight of my job. To read God's word and to know God's word being true, as I've set myself in a place of authority over his church, I will be held to a higher standard. And to let that burden me that I'm the one that ultimately has to do the work here. That's by the manipulation of my sermons or the creating of my content or however I bring the gospel to you all, that it's my job ultimately to help you see your need in Christ and be the one that saves you. And it's burdensome and it's heavy. And as people disagree, or as people say that things should be done differently, it's blow after blow because it's not just it's not just things happening here and now, but things that affect eternity. And it's easy for a person who works in Christ, even though we only work one day a week, to think, to think that I ought to be doing more. See, the thesis of Christopher Ash's book is basically this you are made from dust, and one day you'll return to the dust. It's very uplifting from chapter one. But it helps us see ourselves rightly that for this brief moment we've we've got God's life breathed within us, but ultimately we must understand our own limitations. Friends, do you realize that this is a plague that not only attacks pastors, people who work in the church, but oftentimes even people that find ourselves within it? That we think whenever we come to the Lord, we're offering him some godlike creature. That we're offering him some divine being, that we're giving him another version of himself, and it's our pride that wells up in us, and it's our natural inclination to be tempted by seeing ourselves in this way. This is what Satan at the beginning tempts God's people with. In Genesis 3, starting in verse 4, the serpent said to the woman, You'll surely not die. Speaking of the tree of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. But what does he say? For God knows that whenever you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. See, that was the thing that she longed for. That I can make myself like him, that I can be like him, that I can be divine like he is. See, the life described even in verse 1 isn't natural. And rather, our world cultivates the opposite. Because our culture pushes us to have a radically high view of ourselves. Sometimes not in a wrong way, sometimes lifting us up because we do have worth. I mean, we we fight for this in this, in the least of these, saying that every person has an intrinsic value because the Lord has put his stamp on us. But often we we manipulate or we push it too far, saying that we deserve so much more, that we deserve all good things. And whenever God doesn't give all good things to us, then he is unworthy of our worship. I think this is often why the gospel is found so often offensive in our world, because the gospel at its core is saying you are broken, that you are not good enough, that you have a sickness that you can do nothing to heal yourself from. The gospel shows us our need and our want. And see, the reality is the truth of this entire psalm paints pretty much an opposite picture of what the psalm of our world is trying to say to us. As I was studying this week, I came across a pastor, and for the life of me, I couldn't find it to give him credit. But I wrote down, thankfully, what he wrote as what he personified as the anti-Psalm 131. And as I read it to you, I want you to ask, which one is more telling of your life? The anti-Psalm 131 says this my heart is proud, and I am absorbed in myself. My eyes are lifted high and I look down on those around me. I obsess over things too great and too difficult to me. I am noisy and restless inside, like a hungry infant fussing on its mother's lap. Like a noisy infant, I am restless with my demands and worries, and I scatter my hopes on anything and everybody all the time. See, while it's easy for us to say this sounds more like our world, I think a lot of times I see myself more in this psalm than the true one. I see myself as one who's just to be so self-absorbed or so just ignorant to my own limitations, as I whine, as I wail, as I set my hope after things that ultimately cannot satisfy me. See, our world pushes us to pride, arrogance, and a godlike self-perception. And yet this verse says the opposite. It says that contentment is found whenever we take on a demeanor of humility. This verse is pushing in front of us what ultimately is contentment in Christ seeking to do for us? What is it seeking to produce within us? See, each of these verses gives us a verb that's used in the perfect tense. If you're an English buff, you probably already know what this means. If you're normal like me, you have no idea. But as David writes, all of these things, he's saying, This is something that I have done and now I must continually do. I've not set my heart high, I've not lifted up my heart, meaning I intentionally lowered at one point, and now regularly, this is practiced on my life. My eyes are not raised too high, meaning I've set them lower. I've seen myself rightly and others rightly, and now regularly I must make this a discipline in my life. I do not occupy myself with things too great for me. Meaning at one point I did, and now I choose not to, and regularly I have to remind myself of my own limitations. See, there's an act of choice to do these things, but it's in this that we begin this pilgrimage to contentment. A humble heart. This is what removes pride. To finally stop thinking of ourselves so highly and to see our own need and brokenness. Humble eyes, to finally stop juxtaposing ourselves beside others, constantly putting our words and deeds and intentions around the people in our lives so that we can elevate ourselves as opposed to them. Humble ambition. Not a complete ignorance or a complete lack of ambition, but one that is set rightly and the true desire for us, which is God's will for our lives. Understanding that my greatest need isn't the promotion or the status or the wealth that this world has to offer, but rather to be in oneness with my Lord. See, I think what's hard, especially even in a spiritual sense, is that this whole cancer hides plainly behind our lives in the form of perfectionism. That if I'm just perfect, then I can obtain these things. If I just have this desire to continue to work and grind to make myself worthy. But oftentimes the people that spew the most hate are also the ones that hate themselves the most. Because they can't live to the standard that they've created. Rather, they see themselves and they just constantly fall under the standard that they've set. This happens to me spiritually, regularly. But as I said, as I feel the burden or the weight of whatever it may be, I don't even feel worthy to come to the Lord because I obviously can't do it right. Obviously, he won't accept me. So why should I come to him in Bible study? Why should I come to him in prayer whenever he doesn't even want to look at me because of my own inadequacy and failure? Friends, that's a pride problem. Because I think that I should be able to astain something more than I really can. But rather, whenever I set myself in a humble demeanor, I see myself rightly. Christopher Ash, the same guy who wrote the book, actually writes a commentary on this passage. And he says this whenever people reach up for things too great and too marvelous, things beyond their own understanding and power, the result is always anxiety. They inevitably become aware of their own inadequacy, and this crushes us. And I don't mean to, I guess I can't say that. I do mean to start this in such a sad way. It's in my notes. But I don't mean for us to keep there, but I want us to see ourselves rightly. Because what if there was a different example? What if there was a better personification? What if this ultimately isn't just a picture of David understanding these things, but a greater David that had come? What if there was one who deserved all glory yet fully embraced humility? What if there was one that had all authority yet willingly served others? What if there was one who had all of the marvelous and all of the great things at his fingertips and disposal and yet he took the form of an infant, giving them all of away? Friends, do we realize that in Jesus this verse is embodied? And if we ever want this life, then we must see this life is found in him. If we ever want the rest that he offers, if we ever want the contentment that this brings, as we ever want to say we can calm and quiet our souls, we realize that it must be done through him. Because we must lay aside our pride to realize that he is the one that we ultimately need. Because pride is what is keeping us there. Because often in my life, in my line of work with college students, it's not just one more fact that they need to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. It's not just another defense as to why the Bible can be trusted. It's not just all of these things, but rather it's the fact that they aren't good enough to get there, that the pleasures of this world aren't ultimately what satisfies. That people who have grown up in the church, that too often we see Jesus as an elementary principle, or the fact that he is what we need ultimately above all else, that I'm past that. That seeing and finding myself in Christ, that's step one, I'm on step ten, and I'm gonna jump there because I've got the brain power, I've got the equity and the knowledge to be able to go there. I don't need this first step. It's pride that so often keeps us from our Lord. It's pride that tells us in Matthew 7, Lord, Lord, did I not? It's pride that gives us the picture of a man in John 3 where he stands before Jesus saying, I've known all of these things, but Jesus says it's something else radical, it's new birth. And it's pride that even sits some of us in this room this morning thinking, I've got this down. I know what it means to be here. It's where you've turned me off from the second I began. It's pride that is the cancer that keeps us from our Lord. And it's humility, it's a proper self-view that shows us how do we lay this aside, how do we actually do this, which is where David leads to in verse 2. He says, but rather I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Because first, we see that contentment in Christ displays the demeanor of humility, but secondly, it demonstrates dependence on our Lord. This is how we get there. See, there is something we have to do. We have to participate, we have to lean in. As David begins this verse with what a lot of translations say, but some of your translations maybe say, instead. I like a I like a way of putting this in, but rather. Instead of elevating the view of myself, but rather, what am I doing? He says, I've quieted and calmed my soul. I've chosen something different. See, oftentimes we lessen the Christian life to something just of a mental acceptance. If I accept that Jesus was a real person, if I accept that Jesus really did die, if I accept that he rose from the grave, if I accept all of these facts, then ultimately that's what brings the hope and the Peace and the life that is found in these verses. But what the problem is, is so often, whenever we're just mentally accepting these things, nothing's really changing. See, Jesus' call from the beginning wasn't just a believing him, no, rather, what did he tell his disciples? Not just believe that I'm the Son of God, no, but to follow me. A response. A seeing of oneself rightly that ultimately leads us to a response of choosing of something different, a choosing of allowing him to work. A call to a pilgrimage, a call to an example to follow, a call to the life of a disciple. So there's an action that is shown to us here, the action of calming and quieting one's soul. Whenever I was studying this week, I underlined this and wrote, circled it and wrote on the side, can I do this? Because I'm gonna be honest, I don't feel like I can. Do I really know what it looks like to calm and to quiet my soul? I've already told you about the anxieties that often overwhelm me. How do I get there? Like, I promise you, if I if I could figure this out, I would write another three-step process of how to have a calm and quiet soul. All it left me as I studied and as I looked, it just left me helpless and it left me needy of God. What do you mean this is something that I get to act on doing, that I choose on doing? God, I don't feel like I can. And thankfully, this is the picture in which David portrays for us because it brings us to a picture of utter helplessness, of utter need, which again is shown to us in verse 2. Like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. See, I think neediness and helplessness is the point. Because it's whenever we get here that we can ultimately be satisfied. For any parent in the room, you know what it's like to be met with a child that desires to be fed. And the frustrating oftentimes cries that they give of, I just don't know what you want right now. My mom's a monster. She says she loves a baby's cry. I haven't gotten there. Maybe in you know, 30 years, whenever I'm her age, I'll enjoy it. I think if we listen hard enough right now, we can probably hear my sons cry and give me a little bit of anxiety. Especially as a dad, whenever I'm holding a newborn infant, and I think, I don't have what you want. See, because an infant wails for something that it ultimately thinks that no one is going to give it. It cries. And in an infant's cry, we see the culmination. We see the culmination of what happens so often to us in a day all at once. Anger, confusion, discontentment, disappointment, jealousy, desire, everything coming to a head in a scream that is often overwhelming. But think often, think also whenever a child that has just been fed. Think of the joy of the bliss of a child that has been satisfied. As they have a stupor of being filled. That's a baby that I want to hold. Give the other one to the wife. Whenever its belly is full and it just rests in the arms of the one who loves it. As it dozes because it knows that it's cared for. And I think that too plays into this picture. Thankfully, neither of my children now scream because they don't think I'm going to feed it. They both ask for food constantly, but that's a different story. They're not yelling at me, just constantly pestering. But it's because they trust ultimately that I'm not going to abandon it to starvation, but rather they've learned that even whenever they're hungry, I will fulfill the promise of feeding them. See, this is something that we've tried to teach Abigail time and time again that whenever mom or dad says they're going to do something, they're actually going to do it. See, this is the joy of what a wean child with its mother is. It no longer comes to mom just because it's in a place of need, but it comes to mom desiring relationship. I've been satisfied. I want to sit in your lap. See, that's the way we are. How do we get there? It's to actually trust in the Lord like this, to believe that he will do what he says that we'll do. A good New Testament picture of this is one that we've plastered all over our building, yet so often it's hard for me to understand and to really admit to. In John 15, as Jesus says himself, Abide in me and I in you, as the branches cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Jumping down to verse 7, he says, If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. See what a branch doesn't do, it doesn't toil, it doesn't labor. What a branch doesn't do is it doesn't constantly white knuckle on how it can produce fruit itself. No, what a branch does is it stays connected to the vine, trusting that it will give its the nutrients that it needs. See what a branch does is believe that whatever I ask of the Lord, he will ultimately give me in the way that he sees fit. See what a believer in Christ does is one who trusts in the Lord, God the Father, who ultimately is the one that cares for us more than we can ever imagine. The one whom the lap we can sit in and know that we can be satisfied because he has done the need. He has met the needs that we have, he has done the things to where we can be satisfied in him. He is the one that will cultivate the fruit in our life, he is the one that will bring us into rest as we sit with him. See, Jesus knew plainly that we need this rest in him. It's why he offers it to us in Matthew 11, 28, as he says, Come all to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Friends, do we actually believe this? Because I think too often we allow the anxieties of this world to preach to us another truth and we believe it. Or do we sit in his lap, maybe hungry, yes, but quiet because we know that he is going to care and sustain us. See, the way this happens is what Jesus moves to next in verse 29. He says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lonely in heart, and you will find rest in your souls. You see what he's inviting us to? A relationship with him, a life with him, a living with him, as we put on the yoke with him. The picture of this is two oxen bound with one another, as the stronger ox was put next to a leader, a lighter one and a weaker one, so that it could guide it and show it in the way in which it was meant to work. The same way for us as we come to the Lord saying, Lord, I want to live with you, the one who is stronger, the one who can bear the weight that I cannot bear, the one who desires to walk alongside me and lead me into rest. And as we are abiding in him, as we are resting in him, we are ultimately finding satisfaction in him. See, friends, this is the grand need of our lives. This is ultimately what David is trying to show his people of where life can be found. And as he even brings to the end of the Psalm, he invites them into something more. In verse 3, he says, O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Because contentment in Christ also declares hope in the Lord. David has now moved past just a personal action, but has now brought it to a corporate level. See, the Psalms of Ascent weren't written ultimately so that Jews could sing them as they run up to the mountain. No, rather they were gathered because they preached and they sang true truths of their belief system. David writes this for his people by a way of inviting them into the life that he has found in Christ. David, who probably won more so than many more, could say, I know what it looks like to look to the outside world for satisfaction. I know what it looks like for pride and for arrogance and a godlike self-perception to just permeate in my life, to bring a cancer to my life. David knows what it looks like to be humbled, to be repentant, and to fall on his knees, realizing that it's only in the Lord can his soul find rest. He's experienced a rest of the Lord, and as one who cares for his people, he invites them too to experience this rest. As he calls them to hope in the Lord as he has. See, church, do we realize that we now are the Israel of Christ? Galatians 6 tells us as much that as we read, O Israel, we can now say, O church, and we should be inviting one another in to the joy of finding this rest. Because remember what the anti-Psalm does, what our natural inclination is to do, to set our hope on anything or anyone to satisfy us. But friends, we who believe in Christ ought to be something different. And we who believe in Christ ought to be ones who invite people in to realizing the false narrative of what these other things may seek to satisfy. David, as he's telling his people that you cannot find satisfaction, reminding them of God's goodness, reminding his people that God cares and loves and seeks to satisfy you, ought to be the same thing that we remind one another as. Because David knew all too well what the opposite led to. And friends, we in the church ought to know all too well and ought to share all too often our own shortcomings of how we've ran to opposite things. Of how I've ran to a life where if I just had a relationship or if I just had a spouse, then ultimately I'll be satisfied because I'd finally had someone who cared for me always. Or the lie that if I just had kids, then ultimately I would find purpose in this world through parenting them, through raising them up. Like that is the need that I have in my life above all others. The lie that if I create this career for myself, if I just gain this status, if I just get this promotion, if I just build this platform, if I just get this thing, then ultimately I can finally find rest. Friends, we have more at our fingertips than our grandparents could ever imagine, but yet the anxiety that we experience in today is tenfold. See, the issue isn't that we're seeking to grab something. The issue is that we're not coming to someone. And church, we ought to be the forefront of telling people about this within our walls first. As we bear burdens with one another, not dismissing hardship, not dismissing real realities of pain and loneliness, but reminding one another in gentle care that in Christ, even if we have nothing else, we have all that we need. But being the mouthpiece for a world that wants nothing more than rest. And a world that is pushing everyone else to run and to grind and to labor so that you can finally make a name for themselves because we know that the truth is not there. Collectively, we ought to be a people proclaiming the name of the one who has satisfied us, the one who has our ultimate hope. See, this hope is a song that we're meant to sing and a name we're meant to proclaim from now and forevermore. It's a song that Paul writes about as he invites all people into in Romans 15, starting in verse 8, he says, This, for I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promise given to the patriarchs. Jesus has done the work ultimately to bring us the promise that was given to us. In verse 9, he says, in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, therefore I will praise your name amongst the Gentiles and sing to your name. Again it says, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. And again he says, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, let all the people extol him. And again, Isaiah says, the root of jealous will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope. Saying this hope isn't just for the people of a certain blood lineage, a certain belief system, but ultimately for all people to find hope in his name. And he concludes saying, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and all peace in believing, so that the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in this hope. Friends, we ought to be the mouthpiece to show and to care enough to tell all people that they can find rest in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ. That we understand that it's their desperate need of every person around us, and we invite them into it. Do you see that that's the movement that this psalm is trying to lead us to? That the proud heart becomes humble, that humility empties this heart of pride, that dependence fills this heart with peace, and that hope ultimately overwhelms and overflows from this heart to give to others. This is what relationship with Christ, contentment in Christ should be leading us to. This is what the gospel tells us. That through the gospel of Christ, as we look to Christ, a proud heart can become humble. An ancient heart can become peaceful, a hopeless heart can become hopeful because the gospel knows better than to just give us better behavior, but rather to give us a new heart. To give us new life. See, this is what Ezekiel tells us as he looks forward, as he tells us what God is going to do in Ezekiel 36. He says, I will give you a new heart. Not just clean it up, not just form it in some way, but something completely new. A new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Friends, do we believe the promise that he gives? That he wants nothing more than to lead us into rest, to guide us by his spirit. Friends, this morning I know there are people who sit in this room restless. Will you please see that a place of restlessness is where we all need to get to ultimately find rest in our Lord and Savior? As you sit in this room, maybe physically quiet, you sit here emotionally and spiritually loud, wailing like an infant. Will you see that your father has done the work to bring you into rest? And will you depend on him? See, some of you in this room are lost. And the only world you ever known is one of restlessness. Maybe it's restlessness in a secular sense where you're running to another person, to another thing to satisfy you, and yet you're always left wanting. Maybe it's a restlessness in a spiritual sense where if I can just do enough, maybe finally I can attain Christ. Friends, for 18 years I lived a life where I thought I could make myself holy enough, and all I felt was separation. And it's pride that told me that I knew under that I understand these things. It was pride that told me that ultimately I had more than I really had. And friend, let me let me please be the first to tell you I understand what it feels like to be tired. To be exhausted. I know how draining it is to live a life that we are not meant to live. So will you realize your own shortcoming? Set aside your pride and trust in Christ to save you. Believers, we too too often let the outside world add to the noise of our life. I let the outside world add to the noise of my life, thinking that if I just gained one more thing, then I could finally find peace. I often wail like an infant in his father's arm, ignorant to just turn to the one who desires to feed me. And that the needs that we sit in here with this morning, He desires to meet in a way that He knows will ultimately satisfy. And church, where we see that our mission is now to invite the world into the hope that the Lord has given to us. We have the answer to what everyone is searching for. It's out of ignorance and selfishness that we keep our mouth shut. Ultimately, Jesus is the answer for what our heart needs. So if your heart is proud today, look to Christ. If your soul is anxious today, look to Christ. If your hope is fading today, look to Christ. Because contentment isn't found in having every answer. Contentment is found whenever we have a proper view of our Savior. Would you bow with me? As the man rejoins me on stage, and as they prepare to lead us in a song of response. And allow him to meet you there. Repenting and turning from a life where you are in control, giving it to a one who desires to bring you into rest. To the believer, even in the midst of need, who finds yourself wailing because you believe the lie that the Lord does not care for you, will you repent? Will you see the love that our God, our Father, has for us, that our Lord has for us? He desires to satisfy us. Will we be a people who invite others into the rest that we have found? Seeing people in the midst of their need. Your mouth of the hope that we have it. Jesus, we love you. We know that only because you first loved us. Lord, please help us to respond rightly.