WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.400 A sermon text reading for today is Psalm 112. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:10.720 You can find this passage in the Sanctuary Bible on page eight hundred and ninety-four. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.880 Please listen as I read God's Word. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:17.519 Praise the Lord. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:23.440 Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.640 Their children will be mighty in the land. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.399 The generation of the upright will be blessed. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:37.280 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:41.600 Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.560 For those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:53.600 Goodwill will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.600 Surely the righteous will never be shaken. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.159 They will be remembered forever. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:02.960 They will have no fear or bad news. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.879 Their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:08.879 Their hearts are secure. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:10.959 They will have no fear. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.400 In the end, they will look in triumph on their foes. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.959 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.840 Their righteousness endures forever. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.200 Their horn will be lifted high in honor. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.719 The wicked will see and be vexed. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.640 They will gnash their teeth and waste away. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.079 The longings of the wicked will come to nothing. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:37.920 Here ends the reading. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:40.239 All right. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.159 Good morning, Elmwood Church. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.560 I know many of you don't know me. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:45.840 I'm guest preacher. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:52.159 If you didn't know, I'm usually not the guy here, but I'm happy to be able to come and deliver God's word to you. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:53.599 My name is Brian Lair. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.599 I am the uh founding and senior pastor of Trinity City Church. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:01.280 If you're not familiar with where that is, uh we're just in St. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.760 Paul, very close to where uh St. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.200 Thomas University, McAllister College, that area is in St. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:07.920 Paul. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:17.599 Uh our church is just a little over 15 years old, uh, and we uh own a building uh that we purchased uh several years ago now from a uh Methodist church. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:25.039 It's an old school uh church building that was built in 1913, and we just love being able to do ministry uh from there. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:27.680 And uh it's just been such a joy to be a pastor there. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.120 I believe one of our other pastors did preach here um I don't know, several weeks ago at this point. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.199 Pastor Bryce is my associate pastor. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.240 He's also on staff at Trinity City Church. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:43.759 I also serve as a board member for the North Central District of our denomination, the Evangelical Free Church. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:50.879 Uh, and uh I also get to lead a pastor's fellowship of urban pastors that we meet about once a month for prayer and encouragement. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.639 And there's uh a pastor you may have heard of, Pastor John from Elmwood. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:03:00.560 He goes that, and we get to hang out uh a little bit at that uh prayer and pastors fellowship. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:04.719 Uh, I've been married uh for 22 years to Tracy, my wife. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.639 Uh I met her while I was at a student, uh, a student at Northwestern in St. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:09.199 Paul. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:13.120 Uh, she currently works at Northwestern as well in the student life department. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:19.039 Uh we have four kids, three daughters and one son, ranging in ages from 12 to 18. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:24.000 In fact, one of my oldest daughters is about to head out into uh college. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:35.680 Uh so we're hitting that just the edge of that uh transition of stage of life where we're starting to march towards empty nest that uh used to feel far away, and now it's feeling very, very much closer. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:40.639 I also have a dog named Aidy after a comedian named Aidie Bryant from SNL. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.280 She doesn't work there anymore, but that's what she's named after. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.919 She's a burnadoodle, and we're okay together. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:47.599 Like we get along fine. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:52.080 Uh that's probably the most friction in my family is between me and that dog. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.879 Uh so that's Aidy, and that's the other family member at uh my house. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:08.000 Uh, for most of my ministry in the Twin Cities, I've known your pastor, Pastor John, and count him as a close colleague in the gospel and a dear friend as well. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.199 Uh, I could tell you many stories about your beloved pastor. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:20.319 I'll highlight one from our time a couple summers ago, hiking the Tour Mount Blanc in Europe with a dozen other North Central District pastors. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.360 Uh, in many ways, I wouldn't be here today. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:35.439 I'd be still on that mountain if it wasn't for John, because I, about halfway through that hike, developed some tendinitis in my knees and really couldn't descend uh these very, very large mountains very well. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.680 And um, this probably tells you a little bit about the difference between him and I, but he's a very prepared person. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:49.839 And he had extra knee pads and tape, and he would he literally took one off of his knee, gave it to me so I could hobble down the mountain a little bit better. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:59.759 Uh I also uh didn't always think through the the meals I would have on lunch when we ate on the trail, so he always thought I think my meals were pathetic and that I was gonna waste away. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:06.480 Uh so he would give me some of his prepared meals and feed me on the side of that mountain as well. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:15.360 Um and so that just gives you kind of a great uh picture of why I picture uh why I appreciate Pastor John so well. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:21.120 Uh uh there's no one I'd rather go hiking with or do ministry alongside of than him. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:26.959 He's the type of colleague in the gospel who will help a person get to the end of a hike through ministry. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:28.720 And I appreciate you, brother. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:33.120 And I'm so happy that you had a time of rest uh during your sabbatical. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.079 Uh maybe you'll need to help me get off the stage. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:38.959 We'll see how my knees are doing at the end of the sermon, all right? 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:56.319 We are in the middle, or probably at the end at this point, of a sermon series on the heart where different pastors, guest preachers have been sharing different passages uh that has been on their heart and the theology behind uh God's word and why it's been on their heart. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:03.759 And I will make clear in the introduction of the sermon after we pray why uh Psalm 112 especially has been on my heart. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.000 So let's go ahead and pray to prepare our hearts for the Lord and to hear his word. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:20.160 God of mercy, you promised to us never to break your promises to us. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.000 Amid all the changing words of our generation. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:29.839 Speak right now your eternal word that does not change. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:41.600 Enable us, this congregation, to respond to your gracious promises with faithful and reverent lives through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:42.879 Amen. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:56.319 A major thing that's been on my heart the last couple months is uh recently experiencing uh my father-in-law Lyle passing away after many years of battling Parkinson's disease. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:07.839 These final moments with somebody are always sacred, and I got to spend very uh a lot of time uh with Lyle as he was passing from this life into the next. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:18.800 The one thing that you start to reflect on in these final conversations with uh this man was just the impact that one person can have on others. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:23.839 How in the ordinary life that he lived, how he made an extraordinary impact on others. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:33.120 The funeral was filled with both grief at the loss and gratitude for who he was, a man who feared God and delighted in the commands of Christ. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:47.600 And like any Christian man, Lyle was not perfect, but he was saved by grace through faith, and God's grace transformed him into a selfless person who delighted in life and serving others. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:53.120 I remember meeting Lyle for the first time because I had interest in his daughter. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:57.519 I got lost trying to find his house in Austin, Minnesota. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:04.480 So the four of us instead uh changed plans and met at the local AW restaurant instead. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:15.279 And even though I have direction difficulties even to this day, uh Lyle was patient enough to eventually allow me to find my way into marrying his daughter. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:17.040 He had a great sense of humor. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.279 It was legendary, it was an absolute joy. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:25.199 Some of the best jokes came when he and I would walk into a public restroom together. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:28.720 And if this wasn't church, I would share some of those jokes with you. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.240 Uh you might have to ask me a little bit more off the record. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.879 And I remember, I mean, everybody would laugh at Lyle, but uh he would laugh harder than anyone else at his own jokes. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.519 That was just kind of the joy that he had. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:54.159 What these finals, these final days with him showed me is that uh how much a life can uh be impactful, especially in the ordinary days of life leading up to those final moments. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:09.919 When you listen to Psalm 112, especially starting with verse 1, you find not only a description, I would say, of my father-in-law Lyle, but a description of what we all would want to be said of us when we pass from this life into life everlasting. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:16.320 Uh Psalm 112, verse 1 says, Praise the Lord. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:23.679 Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:30.000 The word blessed here, which is used throughout Scripture, means one who is happy or joyous. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:43.360 This is a person who has received blessings, which are the desirable and delightful things that lead to a good life that come from the hand of God and his grace as a gift from his gracious gift. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:53.679 This blessed life is one that includes conduct and attitudes that reflect that a person truly fears God and delights in the Lord's commands. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:59.039 Fear in this passage is not being terrified of God. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:12.240 It's reverence, it's a heaviness in our soul because we know that our God is glorious and that our God is good and deserves a life that reflects that glory and goodness to others. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:18.159 It's a healthy respect and honor due to the one who is awesome and powerful. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:25.120 So this psalm reflects on the life of those who are blessed because of the fear of the Lord. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:31.759 And it raises the question I want to ask: what are the marks of someone who fears God? 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:36.720 And this psalm will give us five marks on those who fear God. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:42.480 The first mark of those who fear the Lord is that they have mighty children. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.799 Look at verse two in your Bibles. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:49.360 Their children will be mighty in the land. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.840 The generation of the upright will be blessed. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.399 If you're like me, I'm a parent. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:00.320 What parent wouldn't want their children to be called mighty, right? 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.480 That's a great description of your children. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:03.919 Mighty children. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:05.440 What does that mean? 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:17.360 In this verse, the term is also uh this this word that's in the verse, that uh if you see that word elsewhere, it's also used in a military context to speak about power and influence. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:30.799 So in this context, this psalm is celebrating that the one who fears the Lord, that delights in God's commands, is the one who passes that on to their children and on to the next generation. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.360 The fear of the Lord, in other words, is a generational blessing. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:42.559 Whereas rejecting the love, mercy, and justice of God brings generational struggle. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:48.240 It's a reminder that our decisions shape more than our own lives, but also the next generation. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:12:00.000 Often I think the work of pastoral counseling that I've had over the years is unpacking the bad decisions of previous generations and how that impacts the people of today. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.879 Maybe that's something that you can relate to. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:07.360 Parents understandably feel the weight of these things. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:17.919 And we should feel the weight of passing on the fear of the Lord to the next generation, but often I think we overburden ourselves on that vocation. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:23.279 First, this psalm is giving us wisdom, not a guaranteed result. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:33.600 This psalm functions like Proverbs 22, 6, which says, train up a child on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:41.440 The point of that wisdom is not that if you do certain things, you are guaranteed a child who doesn't depart from the Lord. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:43.200 That's not what it's saying. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:55.279 The point of wisdom is that training a child in the fear and ways of the Lord is wise because it means in most cases they will grow up in the ways of love and life grounded in the gospel. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:20.559 Even if you have this experience, even if you have a child that became prodigal, that departed from the faith, the imprint that you have on the gospel, on that person's soul, their baptism, taking the Lord's Supper, learning about the ways of the Christian faith, if that is what they've been immersed in and have left it, they will be haunted by that in a good way the rest of their lives. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.600 And we always pray that the Lord would use that to bring those prodigals back. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:37.600 Second, it also means that some of the ordinary and normal things that young and tired families are doing are indeed passing on the faith to the next generation. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:49.039 Parents often think that faith must function like a sports club or an AAU club, that if I invest in the best programs, then my child will be a mighty generation. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.000 But programs do not pass on the faith. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:59.840 Ministries and the fellowship of the church help and empower parents to pass on the faith. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:10.559 The most impactful things that you can do as a parent for your children are gather with your local church, let your child hear you sing and worship the Lord. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:17.039 To serve an ordinary ministry with your kids looking on as you minister to others. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:26.000 Develop deep friendships with other Christian families and invite your children into that fellowship, that intergenerational fellowship of the church. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:32.159 And that you pause and pray with your child at night when your little ones are sharing an anxious thought. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:39.519 Or maybe your older ones are sharing an anxious thought with a phone call from wherever they're living. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:45.039 The second mark of those who fear the Lord is an enduring household. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:46.399 Look at verse 3. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:52.960 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:03.120 Maybe this verse makes you think about what's called the prosperity gospel, that if you have enough faith, uh then you will be wealthy, that you'll have riches in your house. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:21.200 If you just fear the Lord enough, then that will mark your life, and then it will translate into the size of your home being bigger, the lavishness of the room renovations that you can afford will be better, the frequency of your vocations will be more as a reward for one's faith. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:26.720 This is where sometimes even reading a footnote in a simple study Bible can help clarify things. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:32.799 This is from one study Bible that makes uh clear what this verse is actually getting at. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:57.759 Not that faith will be rewarded with riches, but rather, here's the quote: in a culture like ancient Israel, based on subsistence art agriculture, wealth means good crops, a well-fed family, and a stable farm to pass on one's to one's children, rather than the luxurious wealth a modern reader may think of. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:14.639 Further, in the book of Proverbs, has a clear set of priorities in which wisdom is far better than wealth, and righteousness with few possessions is better than wealth without knowing the Lord and without walking in his righteousness. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:15.840 End quote. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:28.159 So going back to verse three in this psalm isn't this desire for modern day wealth, but rather it's this blessing of bringing stability to one's household. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:33.600 A person who fears the Lord is diligent about the work of providing for others. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.559 The goal isn't necessarily to become a millionaire. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:47.279 The goal is to wake up, to put your hand to a task to provide for others, often giving the fruit of your labor to those under your care, to your ministry, and to the most vulnerable. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:17:01.759 It's also a reminder as we think about what the scriptures talk about as a real blessed life in the Lord, that a truly blessed life is not filled with expensive things, but the enjoyment of ordinary things. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:27.359 If you want to live like a king and you want to see if your life is living like a king or a queen, well, if you have evenings where you're hanging out with friends on your back porch, that you get to enjoy uh fellowship with old friends with half-priced apps, that you have rich laughter surrounded by those you love, that means you are living like an absolute king or queen. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:38.720 And it's also about cultivating an enduring faith that impacts not only your kids but your neighbors, your coworkers, and your brothers and sisters in Christ at your local church. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:49.680 A person can work their whole life to accumulate what others will eventually divide, or you fear the Lord and leave something that can never be lost. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:58.240 What you cannot buy is life in Christ, and that is the treasure worth passing on because Christ had already bought it. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:07.359 Prosperity in the scriptures isn't defined by earthly wealth, but by passing on the treasure of heaven to others in the next generation. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:14.319 Number three, a mark of those who fear the Lord is that they are a righteous light. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:15.759 Look at verse 4. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:25.440 Even in darkness, light draw dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:31.440 Here is a reminder that the fear of God doesn't result in an easy life. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:38.160 Life has days that are really dark, and we are sometimes deep in the valley of life. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:55.359 Life certainly includes those joyful days with your family and friends around the dinner table, but they also include those times of grieving loss, bearing the weight of a burden that is crushing you, and experiencing a season full of tears instead of smiles. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:05.039 For those who fear God, expressed in a gracious and compassionate and righteous life, they receive God's light in these moments of darkness. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:17.440 Hope in God's promises and faith in his presence often leads us not around the time of darkness or the valley, but through it with God's presence with us. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:30.880 And how we can get through it is often with our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially the older generations that have already experienced walking with the Lord through these difficult times. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:39.200 It's, for example, the older woman who lost a child praying with the young woman, struggling with infertility. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:48.160 It's the cancer survivor sharing God's word with one another, who with another person who has received a crushing health diagnosis. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:59.759 The person who has been sober for several years, now walking alongside someone who is just entering the recovery community, showing the power of hope in something bigger than yourself. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:09.839 I recently heard it said that life isn't so much struggling with this reality that bad things happen to good people, it's realizing that bad things happen to all people. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:23.119 And those that walk in fear of the Lord respond to those bad things with a life of righteousness and goodness, following those ahead of us with the scars that have overcome it by God's grace. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.079 The fourth mark of those who fear the Lord is generous justice. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:29.440 Look at verse five. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:41.039 God will come to the uh good rather will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:46.799 This fourth mark is someone who conducts their affairs with justice. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:53.039 This verse is saying that generosity is an expression of justice. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:57.359 And the specific example it's giving is lending freely. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.519 Of course, this means more than avoiding a loan with high interest. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:07.680 It means generosity that doesn't attempt to profit from others. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:12.720 It's not giving with strings attached, whether of your possessions or your time. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:18.799 If you go on to verse 9, it also says that they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:23.039 That is generosity of time and money to those who are the most vulnerable. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.759 It is helping a neighbor with a house project who cannot afford to hire it done. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.680 It's donating or volunteering with Christian ministries who help those on the fringes of society. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:39.119 It's helping the single parent by allowing her to drop her kids off at your house. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:48.480 It is giving to your local church that then reaches the poor in spirit through the gospel that some may inherit the kingdom of God. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:54.240 The one who fears the Lord gives without calculating the return. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:59.599 Generosity that keeps score is not generosity that. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.359 That's leverage. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:06.880 The one who fears the Lord gives freely and cheerfully. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:10.640 And that is a mark of those who fear the Lord. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:14.319 And then there's the final mark, the fifth mark of those who fear the Lord. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:17.119 It takes four verses to unpack. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:19.519 Let's look at verses six through nine. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.039 Surely the righteous will never be shaken. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:25.440 They will be remembered forever. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.319 They will have no fear of bad news. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.400 Their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.400 Their hearts are secure. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.319 They will have no fear. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.160 In the end, they will look in triumph on their foes. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.799 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.200 Their righteousness endures forever. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:48.960 Their horn will be lifted high in honor. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.680 So now we come to that fifth and final mark. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.759 Of those who fear the Lord, they have a secure heart. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:05.359 These verses remind us that the fear of God and the delight in his commands, again, don't prevent tough things from happening to us in our life. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:12.640 But it does, it does change the impact that they have on our souls and on our life. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:14.480 Isn't this true? 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:19.440 Our world is just filled with bad news to fear. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:21.200 Just filled with it. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:36.640 Today we have the technology and the access to read bad news the entire day and find new stories that bring anxiety to our souls and not even get through all the news that we have access to. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:46.240 There is an endless supply of bad news and a never-ending list for things for us to fear if we want to consume it. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:47.440 It is there. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:58.240 But there's a difference between being an informed and active citizen and a person who constantly consumes cynical media. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:07.119 The fear of God doesn't make the bad news go away, but it gives us the power to face them and to walk through them. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:25.680 Fear of God and faith in his word makes a person who cannot be shaken, who hears about the bad news but doesn't respond with fear, who sees a world where the wicked and unjust seem to get away with anything, but yet does not stop fearing the Lord or being generous and just. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:30.400 The Psalm sings that their horn will be lifted up in honor. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:36.960 The horn here is likely an animal horn that would symbolize power and triumph. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:44.240 Here you have someone who have met may have been brought low, yet knows God will lift them up in time. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:50.160 It is someone who has been knocked back by the hard realities of life but did not fall. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:54.480 Instead of shrinking back in fear of this world, this person fears God. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:58.480 Instead of fearing life, they grab life by the horns. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:04.880 Verse 10 continues on that the wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:08.559 The longings of the wicked will come to nothing. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:10.799 What that verse is saying? 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:14.640 That the wicked are, as the kids say, they're crashing out. 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:19.039 That's what that verse is saying, if I'm going to translate it into a modern language. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:21.359 The wicked are crashing out. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:30.799 In contrast to those who have secure hearts, and those who fear God, the wicked with no fear are, quote, coming to nothing. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.799 That is, they are melting away. 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.920 Their courage and hope is evaporating. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:45.519 They are sinking down, they are wasting way because in the end they did not fear God and build their life upon the rock of Christ. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:51.920 A friend of mine, he's a contractor, and he was once uh working with someone who bought a plot of land in St. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:52.960 Paul, in a St. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:54.160 Paul neighborhood. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:26:00.079 And before they started to lay the foundation for the home, they discovered that the soil was filled with peat. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:07.519 This is this organic soil that doesn't do a great job of burying a weighty structure like a house. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:19.200 And if you drill down and you find this on a plot of land that you have uh bought, you have a problem, specifically an expensive and complicated problem. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:25.839 Because if you leave it alone and you put your structure there, it will shift and crack and sink over time. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:36.799 Or you can do what's called a soil correction, which entails evacuating the bad soil and replacing it with something that's more stable. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:42.960 And it's costly, but it's the only way to have a house that holds and stays steady. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:46.240 What is true about buildings is true about life. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.200 What you build on absolutely matters. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:53.200 What you place your faith in absolutely matters. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:27:01.759 After teaching about the blessed life in the Sermon of the Mount, the Lord Jesus concludes with these words in Matthew 7, 24 through 27. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:10.480 Therefore, who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:21.119 The rain came, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:29.200 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:39.519 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:57.279 Let me remind you of the gospel of Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters, that the Lord Jesus came down from heaven for us and for our salvation, that he was truly God and truly man, that he died for our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, where he lives and reigns to this day. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:27:59.599 This is the reality. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:12.240 There is no foundation more sturdy to put your faith in and to ground your life in than the resurrected King of all, Jesus Christ. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:15.759 There is no foundation more stable. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:24.160 He calls us to turn from our sins, to place our faith in him, to be baptized in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:30.960 He is calling you to build your life on the only ground that holds. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:44.799 To fear the one who defeated sin and death, to delight in the commands of who him who calls us to love God and to love neighbor is to be both blessed in this life and the life that is to come. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:47.680 This psalm preaches the good news to us. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:53.680 Blessed is the one who fears and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:55.119 Let's pray. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:08.880 And Lord, as we now prepare our hearts to open them up to confession to you, to respond with being reminded of your broken body and your shed blood. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:19.680 We pray that your heart, your word would dwell in our hearts, would transform us, would bring us back in repentance and faith to your grace and your love. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:36.160 To confess those to you, Lord, and to build our house, build our life on the foundation of your Son. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.920 He is our sure foundation. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:42.400 And it's in his name we pray for you. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:43.119 Amen. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:49.599 Thank you, Brian. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:56.640 Each week our family comes together and we acknowledge our need to fear God above all else. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:00.960 We take the communion as a reminder of our constant need for him. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:05.200 The only one who's worthy of our awe and respect. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:11.839 It's a chance for us to declare with our actions that Jesus is our Savior and our Lord. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:18.240 It's a public declaration of our private and communal trust in Jesus. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:26.160 And each week we lament that we haven't arrived at the perfect God-fearing lives that we want to have. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:42.559 And so this week, as we prepare to come to the communion table, please let's just take a few moments of silent confession and reflection to consider the ways that God is still working on us to bring about the fear of God in our lives.