SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right. Well, as Micah said, uh, my name's Phil, came from East Lanting, Michigan, went to Michigan State University, Go Green. I'm very pleased with that, hearing all the go whites. Let's go. Um now I do have to preface something, being somebody who's teaching on stage at Saul Company, a ministry of Ambassador Church. Um, if you can't tell from my stature, I am not a professional basketball player. Um if you missed a couple, if you missed just a couple weeks ago, we actually had AJ Green come in and teach on Psalm 23. He did a fantastic job. You guys can go back and listen to that if you'd like. But as for me, I'm just a regular dude. Um my wife and I, Abby, we moved from Michigan about a year ago just to help get Ambassador Church off the ground. And it's just been incredible seeing what God has done here. And really, we've just been loving Wisconsin. Uh we love the cheese. We just we've been enjoying it, we've been loving life here. Um, but Michigan will and is always going to be home. And now I specify like Michigan, but really when I think of like home in Michigan, a big part of that is the northern part of like, you know, the lower Michigan, the lower peninsula. Because growing up, I spent a lot of time up there. Whether it was in the summers, we'd be out on the lake with all my extended family, or in the winter, I'd spend my winter weekends skiing with my family and friends. Now, show of hands here, who thinks winter absolutely sucks? Okay, you guys can put your hands down. I'm gonna disagree with you, and I'm gonna tell you one thing you can do to make winter way better. You guys gotta go skiing. Like, skiing is amazing. It has transformed my winter weekends. In fact, this past year was like the one winter where I only got to ski like a couple times. And now I understand like why people hate winter because it was just miserable. It's just stayed inside the entire time. It stunk. And for those of you who've been skiing before, you guys know what a chairlift is. For those of you who haven't, I just want you to picture a bench that's hanging from a cable about 30 to 40 feet off the ground. You get on it at the bottom of the hill and it takes you up to the top of the hill. It loops around and it does that all day. Now, typically it's about 30, 40 feet in the air. And when I was eight years old, this particular winter, we just didn't have a lot of snow to start our season. But I remember one weekend, early January, a new part of the hill had opened up, and with that, a new chairlift had opened up for the first time that year, and I was pumped. I was ready to go down, ski down this one run. It was gonna be great. But I'm getting ready to go. My dad's like, Phil, we're gonna go to a different side of the hill soon. Like, it's not worth it. What are you doing? But I was like, eh, it's one run, I'll be done in 10 minutes. So I go up to the chairlift, I get on, you know, go sit down, start going up the chairlift, and I'm not even a quarter of the way up, I'm about 30 feet off the ground, and the chairlift just shuts off. Now, if you've been skiing, you know that's pretty typical. Maybe somebody struggled to get on the chairlift, so they had to slow it down, or somebody lost, you know, a ski pole or something, so they just shut it off to hand it to them. But this chairlift stayed off for you know one minute, two minutes. Pretty soon we're at 10 minutes here, and I'm like, this thing ain't going anywhere. And so it was at this point that it became pretty apparent with me that I was gonna need to be evacuated off of this ski lift as an eight-year-old. And so after about an hour or so of waiting, ski patrol comes and I see them, you know, they shoot this little thing up. It's literally they shoot a cable up, they attach a chair to it, you sit on the chair and they like lower you to the ground. It's a whole thing. And so I see them do that, and I'm like, well, why aren't they coming to me? And so I realized, oh, they gotta go to from the top of the hill to the bottom. So that was an hour in. So about two hours later, I finally get lowered from the chairlift, and I was free to do whatever I want for the rest of the day. It was great, it was terrifying at the same time. We'll always remember up. Now, I highly doubt there's anybody else in this room who's ever had to be evacuated off of a chairlift. But have you ever needed rescue? Maybe in your mind you're thinking of a physical, urgent rescue, like getting out of a car wreck or being stranded in a dangerous situation. And maybe that doesn't describe any of those. Like maybe you've never been in one of those, but I can guarantee you we've all had that time where a friend has rescued us from that awkward social situation. Come on, shout out to that friend, whoever they are. Or maybe you got bailed out of doing your chores at home. Come on. But no matter how big or small that moment of rescue is, don't you feel comfortable and relieved once it's all over? Like yeah, you what you just went through, it's gonna cross your mind. You're still thinking about it, it still wasn't a good time, but now you're free. And so, Salt Company, my prayer tonight as we wrap up the Psalms of Summer, is that you guys get to experience the freedom and comfort that comes from being rescued. And so, with that, we're gonna open up our Bibles to Psalm 34. Now, as you as we get into Psalm 34, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you some of the background to this text, then I'm gonna read the whole thing to you, and then I'm gonna break it down into chunks and kind of go through what is being taught here. Does that make sense? Alright. If you got it, say got it. Sweet. Alright. So if we're at the top of Psalm 34, it's like a little italicized text, maybe just a little note in your Bible, and that's called a superscript. And not every psalm has one, but this psalm has a particularly long one, and it says, concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed. Alright, there's a lot there. Who the heck is David? Who's this David guy? And even if you're new to the Bible, you might recognize David as David and Goliath from that story. See, David was this small little shepherd boy, and God had chosen him to be king of Israel one day. He's gonna have to wait his turn, but in the meantime, David confronts this large man, this giant Philistine man named Goliath out on the battlefield. And so this small little shepherd boy comes out on top just using a sling and a stone. Crazy story. It's after killing Goliath, though, that David is entrusted by the king at that time, Saul, to command men in the army. And David started gaining a good reputation. He was a great leader of men. In fact, so much so that the Israelites started to sing a song about David. Saul has killed his thousands, but David has tens of thousands. Now that's that's crazy. Like, yeah, the king is pretty cool, he's killed a bunch of people, but this David dude, oh my gosh, he's going everywhere. And so Saul begins to grow in jealousy over David, so much to the point that Saul attempts to kill him multiple times. Knowing this, David he flees Israel, and where does he flee? Well, he goes to the city called Gath. And Gath happens to be the capital city of the Philistines and the hometown of Goliath. Now, not only is David going there, but he's got a weapon with him. He's got a sword on his back. It's Goliath's sword. So just think about this. Like, David walks into Goliath's hometown with Goliath's sword, the guy that he killed. Like, one, that's a crazy flex. Like, hey, you guys love this Goliath guy. I got his sword, I killed him. But if you think about it too, it's also insanely stupid. Like, it's the worst thing that David could have done. Instead of just going and hiding somewhere safe from Saul, no, he goes and hides it amongst his enemies. So, real quick, we actually have in the text here what the Philistines thought of this. Um, it's in 1 Samuel. David fled that day from Saul's presence and went to King Akish, or in other words, another king for the king of um, another term for the king of the Philistines was Abimelech. So he went to Abimelech of Gath. But Akish's servants said to him, Isn't this David, the king of the land? Don't they sing about him during their dances? Saul has killed his thousands, but David has tens of thousands. And so David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Akish of Gath, as he should be, and so he pretended to be insane in their presence. It's a bold strategy. And so he acted like a madman around them, scribbling on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Look, and see the man is crazy, Achish said to his servants. Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house? And so David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adulum. So David, he survived Saul's murder attempts, and he escapes the city of Gath. And then he goes and he hides in a cave. And in this moment, many of you guys are probably not on somebody's hit list, but we've all had those life moments where it just feels like the world is against us, a test against the world. And we just need to retreat. We need to go and hide. But it's in this moment, one of the worst moments in David's life, that David writes this song. And so with that, we're going to read Psalm 34. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord. The humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the Lord's greatness with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and rescued me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him. You who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear him lack nothing. Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord redeems the life of his servants, and all who take refuge in him will not be punished. So David here, at his lowest moment, doesn't open his psalm with anger, but with a call to worship God. David wrote that he would bless the Lord, he would boast in the Lord, and proclaim the Lord's greatness. Is this how you feel when you guys are stuck on the chairlift or life just stinks? Like, what is your mindset? Do you immediately go to joy or do you just go into despair? Now I gotta admit something here. I tend to be a serial complainer, and what I mean by that is it's very easy for me to complain about just about anything. And also for those of you who don't know, I currently work at Chick-fil-A. Um fun fact, I actually was the cow today for roughly four hours. Um I had a lot of fun, dare I say, it was my pleasure. And honestly, like it's a good time. Yes, it was hot, but honestly, not too bad. Um working there, it's not what I want to do long term. Um, it does help to pay the bills right now while I'm getting my master's degree. But while I'm at work, I feel like I always have something to complain about. Whether it's other people not taking orders right, or being sick of making the same drinks over and over and over. Let's be real here. Guys, we all have stuff that we complain about. Whether we're complaining about homework, money, or even the 95-degree weather. David, though, instead of opening his psalm with, God, I am sick of everyone trying to kill me, life sucks, I'm miserable. Instead, David writes, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord, the humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the Lord's greatness with me. Let us exalt his name together together. So let me ask, what is your response to the rough seasons of life? Do you look to your dissatisfaction, everything you hate in the world around you, everything you hate that's happening in your life right now, or do you look to be satisfied in God? So, David, he continues on in Psalm 34 as he writes, I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and he rescued me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant with joy, their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him. When your life is in shambles and you are in need of rescue, who do you look to? Maybe when that tough moment, you call your parents, mom and dad tend to have pretty good advice. Or you talk to your closest friends, sometimes they have pretty good advice. I'm also worried about some of you in your moments of desperation have gone to Chat GPT with your problems. I don't know what to do with my work. ChatGPT, please help me. But maybe you aren't letting be rescued. Maybe instead you just try to numb yourself from the mess around you. You try to drink, smoke, and doom scroll your way to forgetting about your life problems. But they're still right there when you come right back to them. David didn't place his trust in the things of the world, but rather he sought God and cried out to him. He knew that God would rescue him from his circumstances. Have you called on God to rescue you in the midst of your fears and troubles? Like, have you been willing to get on your knees and say, God, you are all that I have. Help me. God is a rescuer, and when you look to him, he will hear your cry and he will save you. Let's pick back up. Verse 8 again. David wrote, Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him. Now, was anybody here a picky eater growing up? I know this is kind of going somewhere with this. Was anybody here a picky eater growing up? Okay, who still kind of feels like they're a little bit of a picky eater? Be honest here. Come on. Now, I certainly still feel like I fall under both categories, and I'm thankful for my lovely wife because she has helped me with this. Um, and so over the past couple years, I've actually started to try a lot of the foods that I was afraid of trying growing up. And so, full disclosure, one of the foods I just never tried was meatloaf. Um and in fact, I actually didn't have meatloaf until about a year ago. Last year, actually, not even a year ago, like late last year. And it almost disgusted me like why would anyone want to eat like a loaf of meat? Like that that just does not sound appetizing from the name. And so last year I finally was forced to try meatloaf. Guys, meatloaf is delicious. I love meatloaf. Come on. Um like why was I so hesitant to have meatloaf in the first place? In fact, right before I came over here, I kind of looked up, I was like, just so I can confirm it for myself, like, what's in meatloaf? And it's like all my favorite stuff, like meat, obviously. I love meat. There's um breadcrumbs in it, garlic, like I love all that stuff. That stuff's the best. Why didn't I want this before? Guys, just like I haven't turned, I just turned a meatloaf and found meatloaf to be delicious. Have you guys tasted and seen that the Lord is good? So many of us run to other things for rescue. Yet when the Lord says he will rescue us, when we have his word, when we have the testimony of believers who have lives transformed by Jesus, we can look at this offer like how I used to view meatloaf. It's disgusting. It does not sound appetizing. Why would I want that? We ask, why would I go to God when I'm okay with how I am right now? Even a Christian in the room, we know what God has done for us, yet we still depend on our actions and ourselves for rescue. But guys, here's the truth. If you're a follower of Jesus, what you do, like your growth as a follower of Jesus, is not measured by growing in independence, it's growing on dependence in God. What God is offering us is better than what you can imagine. So, how does one taste and see the Lord's goodness? How do you truly get to experience the rescue that He has offered us? It's through the fear of the Lord. But what does that even mean? The fear of the Lord. And thankfully, David actually tells us what this means. In verse 9, you who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear him lack nothing. Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is someone who desires life? Loving a long life to enjoy what is good. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. So, guys, the idea of fearing the Lord doesn't mean that you're just simply, you know, afraid of God. Yes, that's part of it, but it's not coming from a, oh my gosh, God is going to destroy me instantly. No, it rather comes from knowing who he is and respecting who he is. That God is holy and just. He hates evil. Guys, that's a good thing that God hates evil. And fearing God means that you know he will punish evil and calls everyone to a righteous and holy standard. We are called to turn away from evil and do what is good. As the face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil. God punishing evil and rescuing the righteous is good news. Yet how can we celebrate this? How can one become righteous? I don't have to convince anybody in this room that you're not perfect. I know that myself. Shoot, I almost caught myself complaining about something at work again today. It happens. How do we become holy? And this is how David wraps up his psalm. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord redeems the life of his servants, and all who take refuge in him will not be punished. There's a verse in there, and it sounds kind of out of place, and it's verse 20, where David writes, He protects all his bones. Not one of them is broken. See, this psalm is not just speaking about David's current circumstances and his current need for rescue and how the Lord has responded to that. But it's talking about someone who was coming to rescue him. Someone who is going to come over half a millennia later. And that's Jesus, who lived a perfect life, holy and righteous. Jesus was Israel's long-awaited Savior. And so it was during the time of Jesus, the Jews believed that Jesus would overthrow the Roman Empire and re-establish the kingdom of Israel. And that Jesus would actually be their king, their earthly king. And so as Jesus entered Jerusalem in the last week of his life, the people actually shouted out, it's actually another psalm. They shouted out, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. That word Hosanna, it was a plea to God to save them, desperate plea, to save us now. Save us now. Israel was crying out to God and specifically Jesus for their rescue from Rome. What they thought they needed rescue from. But they would not be rescued from the Romans that week. Instead, Jesus would be put on trial and die a criminal's death on a cross. I don't need to get into the whole details of crucifixion, but what you need to know is that when a person's hanging on a cross like that, they can't breathe. In fact, it does something to the lungs that just makes them incapable of breathing when they're just hanging there. And so in order to breathe, they'd actually have to lift themselves up by whatever strength they have left to breathe. And so most the worst part of crucifixion is people would die of like not being able to breathe, not having air in their lungs. But what you need to know is if they needed to hurry up the death of somebody on the cross, they would break their legs just so that they would eventually die of not having air, and it would hasten the crucifixion. And when they went to go break Jesus' legs, when they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs, since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. He who saw this has testified so that you may also believe. For these things happen so that the scripture would be fulfilled. Not one of his bones will be broken. And so this is our rescue. Jesus, who is truly righteous, did not stay dead. Instead, three days after his crucifixion, he rose from the dead, so that those who look to him can take refuge in him and will not be punished for their sins, but instead receive the righteousness that Jesus had. We are set free from our sin because God himself came in the flesh to rescue us from it, so that when you call on the name of Jesus, he will rescue you. He doesn't ask you where you've gone wrong, how much you've screwed up. He does not care how far you've strayed. When you call in the name of Jesus, he will come to you and he will save you. So how are we to respond to this? To this good news. Well, if you haven't cried out to God, and you do not call Jesus your Savior, you need to cry out to God. Jesus came to rescue you from your sin, your fear, your troubles, all of it. But more than that, he is come to redeem you so that you can have a relationship with God. If you haven't cried out to him, what are you waiting for? He has what nothing in this world can offer you. All you have to do is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. Once you have placed your faith and called on Jesus to rescue you, or if you've been following Jesus for a long time, what you need to remember to do is you need to depend on God's provision. I said this earlier, but growth as a follower of Jesus is not measured by becoming more independent, but by becoming more dependent on God in all that we do. In this life, trouble will come. And Jesus actually guarantees that. But in the same breath, Jesus reminds his disciples to be courageous, because Jesus has conquered the world. If you're with Jesus, he will provide for you in that. Because the solution to your problems, it wasn't in you before you came to faith. Why would it be after? It is God who is the one who will still be your rescue. David in this psalm reminds us that those who fear God will lack nothing. So depend on God to provide for you when trouble comes. Don't be scared, but be courageous. He has overcome the world. Finally, we have to look to the coming kingdom. Because one day there will be no more suffering, there will be no more trouble or tears, there will be nothing to be afraid of. One day, our rescue will be completed when Jesus returns. Just as Israel cried out, Hosanna, Lord, save us now upon Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. It should be our cry now, today, as we wait for Jesus' return and for Christ to reign forever and ever. And so as we close, I want to get back to me being stuck on that chairlift. It was, you know, about 10 minutes after this chairlift had stopped. I was like, shoot, this chairlift isn't going anywhere. Like, what am I gonna do? And I remembered my parents, just so we could be out on the hill, it was a small ski hill, um, but they were like, hey, we're gonna give you kids walkie-talkies. And so I pulled out my walkie-talkie, and my walkie-talkie was almost dead. So I knew I had to say something quick. So I get on the walkie-talkie, and I'm just like, hey, dad, like, this chair list stuck. Like, come, I don't know what to do. And so it was not long after, maybe about five minutes later, that my dad he walked up that little bit of hill, and he came and he sat with me for the full two hours until I got lowered from the chair lift. Now, I'm confident in this present moment, no one needs to be rescued off of a ski lift. But I know everyone in here has something they need to be rescued from. Today, whether it be a sin struggle or a situation, or you've never cried out to God before in your life, and you need him to enter in now. Right now, you have a walkie-talkie teal that you can call out to God in prayer and you can ask for him to rescue you. My dad responded to my cry for help that day. But how much more will your heavenly father do for you in your time of need when you call out to him? So, with that, let's let's close in prayer.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Lord, how great you are, how worthy you are, how holy you are, that we get to experience who you are.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Lord, Lord, if we seek you, and Lord, we know you would respond. Would we trust in you with all that we are? Lord, would we trust in you for our rescue, whether it be in the big things in life or to get us through the day to day? Lord, you are worthy of it all. God, would we trust in you? Would we cry out to you? For not a bone was broken, Lord, for you are righteous, you are holy, you stepped in to rescue us when we did not deserve it. You died for us, and you chose to redeem us. Would we rest in that truth today? And would above all else would we use our lives to glorify you? Would we look to the coming kingdom, shouting, Hosanna, Lord, save us now and wait for your return? It's in your name we pray. Amen.