SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Our scripture reading this morning is Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Kelsey Meyer, and I serve in Herber Kids, and it is my joy and privilege to read this morning's scripture with you.
SPEAKER_00: Again, the scripture is Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_00: In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
SPEAKER_00: Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips from a deceitful tongue.
SPEAKER_00: What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
SPEAKER_00: O warriors, sharp arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree.
SPEAKER_00: Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kidar.
SPEAKER_00: Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
SPEAKER_00: I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: All right, good morning, church.
SPEAKER_01: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
SPEAKER_01: It's baptism Sunday, all right?
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, all right.
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, uh, my name is Ryan, as Trevor said, and I have a privilege of serving as one of our pastors here, and it's a joy every Sunday that we just get to open up God's word together.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, before we jump in too far, I just want to say, as one of your pastors, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Seriously, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of hands uh to just pull off Sunday mornings, people brewing coffee, people setting up chairs, people hauling baptism tanks on the back of their trucks, turning a middle school into a church.
SPEAKER_01: I just want you to know not only are your pastors thankful that the Lord is delighted in you, but also you're not just like checking a box to serve.
SPEAKER_01: You're actually like doing discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: Serving is discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm just really grateful uh that you've chosen to help be a part of the church in that way.
SPEAKER_01: Well, before we uh dive in, let's do what Psalm 120 actually just encourages us to do and pray to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Will you join me as we pray?
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your people, and we thank you for your spirit who illuminates your word and applies it to our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, right now we ask that you would open our eyes, open our hearts to receive your truth.
SPEAKER_01: And I should confess, uh, and ask for those who are just feeling a little bit tired this morning that you wake us up.
SPEAKER_01: For those who struggle to focus, or even maybe even resistant to being here.
SPEAKER_01: Meet us, soften us, focus us, make us hungry and holy.
SPEAKER_01: Would your kingdom come and your will be done?
SPEAKER_01: Even as I preach this sermon.
SPEAKER_01: Let me get my own way and let your spirit take over.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: When was the last time somebody lied about you?
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe ask let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: When was the last time you told a lie?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was somebody sold you something that you didn't understand or wasn't true.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe somebody promised something that they actually never intended to make do on.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you manipulated or changed some facts.
SPEAKER_01: Again, maybe maybe somebody lied about you, not just to you.
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time somebody misrepresented your character or affected your reputation or spread a rumor?
SPEAKER_01: See, there's something painful about that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like money can be paid back, or a broken bone can be healed, but words have a way of actually like kind of like unsettling us or lodging deep into the soul.
SPEAKER_01: They stay with us.
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, it's exhausting.
SPEAKER_01: Not just being lied about, but living in a world full of lies.
SPEAKER_01: False promises, half-truths, manipulation, like you name it, marketing spin, political spin, social media advertising.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody seems to have an angle or a narrative.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone seems to be trying to like make a quick buck or sell you something or a version of the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And if we're not careful, that can actually make us like cynical or weary or even suspicious.
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly where Psalm 120 is.
SPEAKER_01: This summer we're walking through the songs of ascent.
SPEAKER_01: It's Psalms 120 through 134.
SPEAKER_01: And these were songs that God's people actually sung on their way up the mountain to Jerusalem for their three annual feasts: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
SPEAKER_01: So just like you, probably on a long road trip, have a favorite playlist, they too were accompanied by a playlist of songs for the journey.
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite questions always to ask people, whether new or old friends, is just like, man, if you had one playlist, one album from one year, who is it?
SPEAKER_01: And the reason I love that question is because that usually reveals something about you, uh, your past, or maybe even the season you're in.
SPEAKER_01: Like maybe you're in a season where you need some motivation, or you just want to celebrate.
SPEAKER_01: Or how many of you have heard a song on the radio and you're like, that just names exactly what I feel.
SPEAKER_01: See, that's part of why God gave you the Psalter.
SPEAKER_01: It's right like Matt smack in the middle of your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: 150 songs for you to be able to pray to the Lord, to name what you need named.
SPEAKER_01: Think of these songs as a playlist for your life towards heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is what's fascinating.
SPEAKER_01: These Psalms taught God's people how to think, how to pray, and actually how to be shaped by God's word.
SPEAKER_01: And what's fascinating, what I found about what I find fascinating about this, this is our first song of ascent, Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but like when I get in the car with me for a long road trip, I probably want some hype or some encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Not a song of lament.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't celebration or victory.
SPEAKER_01: It honestly just begins like that.
SPEAKER_01: Honest.
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's intentional.
SPEAKER_01: Because before God teaches his people to celebrate, he's got to teach them to lament.
SPEAKER_01: Before he teaches them how to rejoice, he needs to teach them how to be honest.
SPEAKER_01: The very first song of a sense is filled with distress.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist is like tired of just being surrounded by people that are full of deceit or full of hostility or feeling out of step with those around him.
SPEAKER_01: And he longs for something better.
SPEAKER_01: You could almost say he just longs for home.
SPEAKER_01: And it shows us that the lies of this world actually make us long for home.
SPEAKER_01: That's our big idea this morning.
SPEAKER_01: The lies of this world make us long for home.
SPEAKER_01: And so when the lies of this world distress you, I want to look at it in three ways.
SPEAKER_01: We need to first call out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We need to trust God's justice, and then we need to pursue God's peace.
SPEAKER_01: So, first, let's look at call out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 1 in Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_01: In my distress, I called to the Lord and he answered me.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I love the honesty of this Psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Like he is distressed, but he's not despairing.
SPEAKER_01: He's overwhelmed, but he hasn't given up.
SPEAKER_01: Notice his first response is prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Notice what he doesn't do.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't retaliate, he doesn't spiral, he doesn't numb out.
SPEAKER_01: He calls out.
SPEAKER_01: The word distressed here carries the idea of like an animal being like trapped in a cage, squeezed, trapped in a tight space.
SPEAKER_01: Many of us know that feeling, like being misunderstood or misrepresented, watching lies spread about.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe even just carrying the stress of difficult relationships or health concerns or maybe prolonged uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: Trying to navigate where trust just feels harder and harder to come by.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, the psalmist says, In my distress, I called out to the Lord and he answered me.
SPEAKER_01: Like God has answered his prayer before.
SPEAKER_01: In the original language, this is past tense.
SPEAKER_01: He's already answered the prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And so what it says is like past faithfulness actually fuels present trust.
SPEAKER_01: Past faithfulness fuels present trust.
SPEAKER_01: So, church, can we just pause and ask like an honest question?
SPEAKER_01: Like, do you actually believe God answers prayer?
SPEAKER_01: Not just because we're in church this morning, not because we're quote unquote Christians theologically or just on paper.
SPEAKER_01: Do you actually believe God answers prayer?
SPEAKER_01: Or rather, like, maybe a better question is like, do you know how to know when God answers prayer?
SPEAKER_01: Like only when you get the outcome that you actually pray for, or when circumstances actually change?
SPEAKER_01: Is it possible that God actually sometimes has answered prayer, but maybe it's not the exact circumstances you thought?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I think God actually answers, but like we actually give credit somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we're too distracted or even just too hurried to notice, or maybe just too eager to force a solution, or we've already decided what the answer should have been.
SPEAKER_01: But the pilgrim here trusts that God hears.
SPEAKER_01: And because he trusts that God hears, he just keeps on praying.
SPEAKER_01: I was really convicted by that this week.
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know about you, but that's not my first reaction, even as a preacher.
SPEAKER_01: Uh my first reaction is often to just like to vent to somebody else.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes who's closest, so watch out.
SPEAKER_01: Uh sometimes my most likely my wife.
SPEAKER_01: Or it's just like to research or to scroll or like over-analyze or to overthink and almost replay the situation, trying to figure out what the next step is going to be.
SPEAKER_01: But the pilgrim here does something very different.
SPEAKER_01: He goes upward, he cries out, he calls out.
SPEAKER_01: See, maybe that's exactly what some of us need this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are exhausted from relational complexity, bitter conflict, and like maybe difficult people.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have stopped asking God for help because you don't really believe he cares.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have slowly numbed out, maybe just binging another Netflix or scrolling just because you used to be in your Bible, but now you don't think it's actually relevant.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 120 invites you back, back into honest prayer, back into dependence, back into communion with your Father.
SPEAKER_01: Look with me at verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's worn out by deceit.
SPEAKER_01: He's tired of all these false words and these marketing campaigns.
SPEAKER_01: He's worn out by not knowing who he can actually trust.
SPEAKER_01: He longs for peace.
SPEAKER_01: He longs for truth.
SPEAKER_01: He longs for home.
SPEAKER_01: And don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: When he asks God to deliver him from the lies, he's not just talking about the lies out there.
SPEAKER_01: He's also talking about the lies in here.
SPEAKER_01: Not just around him, but maybe the lies that are actually surfacing inside of him.
SPEAKER_01: Because when we're sinned against, our temptation is to respond sinfully.
SPEAKER_01: Bitterness, resentment, cynicism, anger, maybe writing people off.
SPEAKER_01: And the psalmist here, like he knows if he doesn't bring it to the Lord, it will slowly erode his joy and like generate animosity in his own heart.
SPEAKER_01: It will rob him of peace.
SPEAKER_01: And so before he deals with them, he deals with God.
SPEAKER_01: Church, where are you tempted to respond sinfully because you've been sinned against?
SPEAKER_01: Who have you written off recently?
SPEAKER_01: Where's resentment started taking root for you?
SPEAKER_01: In what situations are you tempted to lash out or numb out rather than call out?
SPEAKER_01: This psalm is simple.
SPEAKER_01: As pilgrims longing for a better home, we cry out, we call out to our Father, we bring him our distress.
SPEAKER_01: Because the God who answered yesterday is still the God who answers today.
SPEAKER_01: God hears us when we call out, but that doesn't mean like the hostilities and the lies, they stop, does it?
SPEAKER_01: There's still a problem.
SPEAKER_01: What about justice?
SPEAKER_01: What about accountability?
SPEAKER_01: What about all the wrong that's actually been done around me or to me?
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly where verses three and four are going to take us.
SPEAKER_01: Pilgrims don't just call out to the Lord, they trust God's justice.
SPEAKER_01: Look with me at verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: What shall be given to you?
SPEAKER_01: And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
SPEAKER_01: A warrior's sharp arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many broom trees you got in your neighborhood, but I don't have any of mine that I know about.
SPEAKER_01: Man, like feel this.
SPEAKER_01: This is judgment language.
SPEAKER_01: Feel the intensity here.
SPEAKER_01: This is fierceness.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about flaming arrows being shot at people.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I hope you feel the emotion here.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist isn't writing like casual poetry here.
SPEAKER_01: He's wounded, he's frustrated, he's exhausted.
SPEAKER_01: And he's reminding them that God takes lies seriously.
SPEAKER_01: The imagery would have landed so much better back then, uh, with like tremendous force on the original audience.
SPEAKER_01: That broom tree wasn't just like your normal firewood.
SPEAKER_01: It produced some of the hottest and longest burning charcoal in the ancient world.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't like the cute charcoal or the ending uh coals at the campfire where you're warming your hands.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't the charcoal you pick up on the uh at the gas station on your way home from work.
SPEAKER_01: This is like the good lump charcoal that your buddy with the green egg like swears by and won't shut up about.
SPEAKER_01: Like, it literally burns hotter, it burns longer.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the point.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist is describing a judgment that is not light, it's not temporary, it's not casual.
SPEAKER_01: God takes deceit and lies seriously, and that's important.
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's just be honest, our world tends to minimize sin, to minimize evil, constantly trying to minimize it.
SPEAKER_01: Like the world wants to soften it, or maybe even just turn a blind eye or rename it, or maybe explain it.
SPEAKER_01: But scripture repeatedly calls evil evil.
SPEAKER_01: It actually calls it evil not to call sin evil.
SPEAKER_01: See, lies and deceit and manipulation are not just unfortunate or unhelpful or poor communication.
SPEAKER_01: God calls it evil.
SPEAKER_01: Guys, like, don't you see the devil, uh, your flesh, the world, wants nothing else than to actually just dole your senses to evil and to sin.
SPEAKER_01: Like to convince you, like it's not a big deal.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist, though, refuses to do that.
SPEAKER_01: He names it, he calls it what it is, and there is actually freedom in doing that.
SPEAKER_01: Some Christians think like uh maturity means pretending then that like things don't hurt.
SPEAKER_01: That's not biblical maturity.
SPEAKER_01: Like biblical maturity is honestly calling evil evil, but then not becoming actually evil yourself.
SPEAKER_01: See, some of us spend so much time pretending something doesn't hurt that we actually never honestly bring it to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And the psalmist does.
SPEAKER_01: He acknowledges the wound, he acknowledges the injustice and the evil.
SPEAKER_01: But then he does something incredibly important.
SPEAKER_01: He leaves it with God.
SPEAKER_01: See, this is what scholars call an imprecatory prayer or an imprecatory part of the psalm.
SPEAKER_01: He's calling upon God to deal with the evil.
SPEAKER_01: But notice what he's not doing.
SPEAKER_01: He's not taking revenge, he's not planning retaliation, he's not becoming judge, jury, or executioner.
SPEAKER_01: He's entrusting justice to God.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, Lord, you deal with it.
SPEAKER_01: Which is exactly what like the apostle Paul later in the book of Romans is gonna tell us.
SPEAKER_01: He says this in Romans 12.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist is doing exactly that.
SPEAKER_01: He's leaving judgment in God's hands.
SPEAKER_01: And that's harder than it sounds, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because when we're sinned against, what do we want to do?
SPEAKER_01: What do we want?
SPEAKER_01: We want justice now, we want vindication, we want people exposed, we want our reputation restored, we want everybody to know our side of the story.
SPEAKER_01: And those desires aren't necessarily wrong.
SPEAKER_01: But the problem comes when they actually consume us.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are carrying burdens you were never meant to carry.
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to be the investigator, the prosecutor, the jury, and the executioner.
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to replay conversations and rehearsing arguments and imagining vindication and planning your defense, and maybe even like preparing your closing statement.
SPEAKER_01: And all the while you're sitting in a seat that God never asked you to occupy.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, you're not the ultimate judge.
SPEAKER_01: You're not responsible for carrying out ultimate justice.
SPEAKER_01: That's just a weight you aren't meant to carry.
SPEAKER_01: Trusting God's justice means believing that like God sees.
SPEAKER_01: That betrayal that no one else saw, God saw.
SPEAKER_01: Trusting God's justice means believing God knows.
SPEAKER_01: That lie that nobody else knows about, God knows.
SPEAKER_01: Trusting God's justice means believing like God remembers that wound that you've carried for years.
SPEAKER_01: God remembers.
SPEAKER_01: And one day, God is going to judge rightly.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe not on this side of glory, but one day.
SPEAKER_01: See, Revelation tells us that one day he's gonna wipe away every tear from every eye, and that death shall be no more, and that he is and will make all things new.
SPEAKER_01: One day everything that is hidden will be exposed.
SPEAKER_01: One day every lie will be accounted for, one day every wrong will be made right, one day every knee will bow before King Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: See, Jesus came the first time to bear the penalty of sin by dying on the cross for us.
SPEAKER_01: But see, he's coming again to remove the presence of sin forever.
SPEAKER_01: And on that day, those who have trusted Christ for salvation will enter into the kingdom of glory.
SPEAKER_01: And there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more lies.
SPEAKER_01: But those who have not followed Christ will actually face the just condemnation for their sins.
SPEAKER_01: That's not hurtful, that's biblical.
SPEAKER_01: That's not wishful thinking, that's biblical hope.
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, some of us just need that like fresh reminder.
SPEAKER_01: Like I said it a few minutes ago, but like I feel like I need to say it again, like, because not only do we need deliverance from the sins around us, we need deliverance from the sins or the lies around us and in us.
SPEAKER_01: One temptation we're always going to have is to become what wounds us.
SPEAKER_01: To fight lies with lies, harshness with harshness, resentment with resentment.
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite uh Proverbs, uh, and I say favorite because I just need it the most and I'm humbled by it the most.
SPEAKER_01: Uh any of you got those?
SPEAKER_01: It's not the one I put on the coffee cup, it's the one that I like tuck down in my heart and I don't share with anybody else.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's Proverbs 51, and it says a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
SPEAKER_01: I pray this probably 30 times a day because I'm I know I'm so prone just to respond sinfully to being sinned against.
SPEAKER_01: But you ever notice like a harsh response never helps or heals anything?
SPEAKER_01: All it does is actually usually heighten the situation.
SPEAKER_01: But see, the only way you can actually respond softly is if you've actually entrusted justice to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: See, otherwise you're gonna constantly feel the need to like justify or defend yourself, to prove yourself, to retaliate.
SPEAKER_01: And church, like that's exactly what Jesus did for you.
SPEAKER_01: See, Peter says in 1 Peter 2, he says, When Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return.
SPEAKER_01: When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
SPEAKER_01: This is Psalm 120, lived out perfectly through Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Like Jesus was lied about, false witnesses testified against him, his motives were questioned, his character was attacked, and yet he entrusted himself to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: He entrusted himself to God's justice.
SPEAKER_01: I love this picture that the psalmist is painting for you.
SPEAKER_01: Like when the world or people that are opposing you for following Jesus are literally shooting flaming arrows against you.
SPEAKER_01: They're not just shooting arrows against you, they're shooting arrows against one who belongs to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Like they're attacking somebody that belongs to the Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Think about that.
SPEAKER_01: It actually reminds me of a scene in Lion King.
SPEAKER_01: Trust me, trust, go with me, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Scene in Lion King.
SPEAKER_01: Remember when Simba gets like cornered by all the hyenas and they're loud and bold and fearless and they're kind of like narrowing in on them?
SPEAKER_01: Until what happens?
SPEAKER_01: Mufasa shows up.
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: Everything changes when father enters the scene.
SPEAKER_01: You guys aren't as quick with Bible references.
SPEAKER_01: What's up with that?
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
SPEAKER_01: Like everything changes when the father enters the scene.
SPEAKER_01: See, church, that's the confidence of Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist knows he belongs to the king.
SPEAKER_01: And see, when you know your father is in heaven, when you know you're the father's, you can actually trust his justice.
SPEAKER_01: But see, trusting his justice does not mean you become passive.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean you start pretending evil doesn't exist or even matter.
SPEAKER_01: It actually means that God is a better judge than you.
SPEAKER_01: And because God will deal justly with evil, you're finally free to become something else.
SPEAKER_01: What you were created to be.
SPEAKER_01: A peacemaker.
SPEAKER_01: Which is exactly where this Psalm takes us next.
SPEAKER_01: Look with me at verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar.
SPEAKER_01: Kedar, Kedar.
SPEAKER_01: Me and my wife were going back and forth all throughout the week.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully you don't just remember Kedar or Kedar will remember other things.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why I'm telling you that, but just so you know, it's fun to read your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Meshech, you need to know, was far to the north.
SPEAKER_01: And it was like modern-day Turkey.
SPEAKER_01: And Kedar was like kind of like South in the Arabian.
SPEAKER_01: Think of like Saudi Arabia.
SPEAKER_01: Or just to give you some spacing, think of like Canada all the way to like South America.
SPEAKER_01: They're far apart regions.
SPEAKER_01: But the psalmist isn't talking about literally locating both places.
SPEAKER_01: He's using dramatic language to actually describe how he feels.
SPEAKER_01: Everything around him feels foreign, hostile, exile.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing feels like the Midwest, home, right?
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist isn't complaining about geography here, though.
SPEAKER_01: He's lamenting spirituality.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the language.
SPEAKER_01: I sojourn.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, I live among people who don't love what God loves.
SPEAKER_01: And they don't love what God wants or want what God wants.
SPEAKER_01: That's why he feels like a sojourner.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody who feels like, I don't belong here.
SPEAKER_01: This world is not my own.
SPEAKER_01: It's not my home.
SPEAKER_01: This is one of the central realities of the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: Peter picks up this exact language again in the New Testament in 1 Peter.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 11, he says, Beloved, I urge you.
SPEAKER_01: He names them.
SPEAKER_01: He calls them sojourners and exiles.
SPEAKER_01: That's how Peter describes the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: Not citizens at home, but pilgrims on a journey, exiles longing for a better country.
SPEAKER_01: Which means Psalm 120 is not just Israel's story, it's our story.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it means to follow Jesus, learning to live faithfully in a world that is not our home.
SPEAKER_01: Let that sink in.
SPEAKER_01: This is not our home.
SPEAKER_01: See, sometimes Christians act surprised when the culture doesn't share our values or when the world actually opposes truth.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we get so consumed with trying to like make everyone around us think like Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Now, don't misunderstand me.
SPEAKER_01: Like we should absolutely, absolutely pursue righteousness, share the good news thoughtfully and winsomely about Jesus, and seek the overall welfare and good of our communities.
SPEAKER_01: We should be grateful, I mean, for the freedoms we have and been given.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's 250 years of America, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like we should be thankful for that.
SPEAKER_01: But our ultimate hope is and has never been found in cultural influence or political freedom or power or social acceptance.
SPEAKER_01: Our hope has always been in actually a coming kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what the psalmist feels.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, verse five.
SPEAKER_01: Like, look with me, it's a lament.
SPEAKER_01: The first words are woe to me.
SPEAKER_01: Lament is simply just complaining with confidence.
SPEAKER_01: It's bringing your pain honestly before God while refusing to let go of God.
SPEAKER_01: And notice where this lament actually leads.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse six.
SPEAKER_01: Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
SPEAKER_01: Can you hear the exhaustion?
SPEAKER_01: Too long.
SPEAKER_01: Too much conflict, too much deceit, too much hostility, too much war.
SPEAKER_01: He's done.
SPEAKER_01: He's fed up.
SPEAKER_01: And truthfully, that's not always a bad thing.
SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes holy change becomes or needs holy discontentment.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes holy change begins with holy discontentment.
SPEAKER_01: Until you're dissatisfied with where you are, you'll never move toward where God is actually calling you.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 120 is actually meant to deepen and make us aware of our homesickness.
SPEAKER_01: It's supposed to loosen our grip on this world and it's supposed to remind us that we were made for another kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And what you're gonna find is actually the more faithfully you're following Jesus, the more you feel that tension.
SPEAKER_01: Like the more you actually feel that this is not my home, but it should be producing in you one thing, a response.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you see this.
SPEAKER_01: When he pursues peace, what's he get?
SPEAKER_01: Pushback.
SPEAKER_01: That is one way you know you are pursuing peace.
SPEAKER_01: True Christians should expect opposition.
SPEAKER_01: Not because we're like argumentative or obnoxious, not because we're trying to win culture wars.
SPEAKER_01: Just humbly, because like truth and peace, they they expose darkness, they expose evil.
SPEAKER_01: Think about when a light comes onto a room, it shatters darkness, bugs scatter.
SPEAKER_01: Literally, the words here in Hebrew say, I am peace.
SPEAKER_01: That's fascinating.
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
SPEAKER_01: Because the psalmist refuses to become what is surrounds him.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't simply ignore it either, though.
SPEAKER_01: Because the pilgrim knows actually the danger isn't just in like fighting the lies.
SPEAKER_01: The danger is actually in like absorbing them or becoming callous to them or accustomed to them.
SPEAKER_01: Listening to the subtle whispers, just kind of going around in your head.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, man, everybody does it.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy's strategy has always been the same from the Garden of Eden.
SPEAKER_01: Normalize what God calls evil and make it just kind of feel like mundane and ordinary.
SPEAKER_01: The first sin in the garden began with a lie, a twisted word, a subtle distortion of truth.
SPEAKER_01: And ever since, Satan has been running this same play over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: It was like back when the option worked in the 90s for the Huskers.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are like, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are like, I don't even know what that is, so that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: But ever since then, Satan has been running the same play over and over and over, calling evil good and good evil.
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to make God's people comfortable in exile.
SPEAKER_01: But the psalmist isn't comfortable.
SPEAKER_01: He refuses to normalize what God forbids, and he refuses to celebrate what God condemns.
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's lying on a resume, borrowing your neighbor's answers in school, maybe patting an insurance estimate to cover your deductible, cheating on your taxes because everybody does it.
SPEAKER_01: Can I keep going?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe treating gender, sexuality, or maybe even crude joking casually because that's the culture.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not naming that to expose you, I'm naming that to help you and in my own soul.
SPEAKER_01: There's a hundred ways we just baptize compromise in our culture.
SPEAKER_01: But chill children, pilgrims, we choose a different path.
SPEAKER_01: We pursue peace, which means our call is actually to be peacemakers.
SPEAKER_01: Not peacekeepers, peacemakers.
SPEAKER_01: There's a difference.
SPEAKER_01: See, a lot of people hear this idea of like pursue peace.
SPEAKER_01: And that just means, like, sometimes in our head, like, avoid conflict.
SPEAKER_01: That's not biblical peace.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I want to say this really gently, but honestly, like, some of you are not peacemakers.
SPEAKER_01: You're peacekeepers.
SPEAKER_01: You avoid hard conversations, you don't tell the truth, you don't address the issue, you stuff it down, you smile.
SPEAKER_01: But underneath there's like subtle resentment.
SPEAKER_01: Underneath there's frustration, there's distance.
SPEAKER_01: That's not peace, that's avoidance.
SPEAKER_01: See, peacekeepers value comfort and convenience.
SPEAKER_01: They ignore hard conversation, they do what's best for themselves in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: Peacemakers pursue reconciliation, they address problems, they enter into even hard.
SPEAKER_01: And like, can we just name it?
SPEAKER_01: They're hard and awkward conversations, but they do what's best for others at the expense of their own comfort, at the expense of their themselves.
SPEAKER_01: See, Romans tells us again, in Romans 12, it says, if possible, so as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
SPEAKER_01: That's our calling.
SPEAKER_01: Live peaceably among all, to tell the truth, to pursue reconciliation, to refuse bitterness, to seek peace.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I've just simply learned like, peacemakers, they're just truth tellers.
SPEAKER_01: They're truth tellers.
SPEAKER_01: Like they're they tell the truth kindly, they tell the truth clearly, and they tell the truth courageously.
SPEAKER_01: Because peace isn't built on pretending, peace is built on trust.
SPEAKER_01: One of the family values we have, we have these family values.
SPEAKER_01: There's eight of them on like this beautiful my wife made it beautiful, this beautiful picture frame in our kitchen.
SPEAKER_01: We go through it every uh morning, one value a week.
SPEAKER_01: My kids are probably sick in the head of how often we talk about it.
SPEAKER_01: It's mainly for me, but one of those values is honesty, and we talk about it over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, we just say this like we tell the truth, the whole truth, all the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Like, even when it's hard or awkward, even when it costs us, even when it means it actually like it's probably gonna get you in trouble.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe even if it like embarrasses you or others.
SPEAKER_01: Because every healthy relationship is built on trust, and trust is built on truth.
SPEAKER_01: So, like every single time one of my kids lies, yeah, my kids lie.
SPEAKER_01: Like, all kids lie, just so you know, if you haven't known that, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Every single time one of my kids lies, the main conversation isn't about punishment.
SPEAKER_01: The conversation is about relationship.
SPEAKER_01: The conversation's about trust.
SPEAKER_01: I ask them, like, hey, what's our family built on?
SPEAKER_01: And they probably just they just know it as a lingo, and one day I'm just hoping the spirit drops it into their heart.
SPEAKER_01: Our family's built on what?
SPEAKER_01: Our family's built on trust.
SPEAKER_01: Church family.
SPEAKER_01: That's true of us too.
SPEAKER_01: Like when people encounter God's people, they should encounter something that feels like home.
SPEAKER_01: People who tell the truth, people who keep their word, people who pursue peace, people who reflect the kingdom that they're headed toward.
SPEAKER_01: What if Harbor became known as an honest church?
SPEAKER_01: Like not a perfect church, but an honest church.
SPEAKER_01: Like a church where people don't posture or pretend or perform.
SPEAKER_01: A church where like harbor groups feel like little outposts of home.
SPEAKER_01: A place where people feel freedom to ask for help, to like name and confess sin or to speak the truth in love to one another and keep their word and pursue reconciliation and just a place where people like commit to pursuing peace together.
SPEAKER_01: And just in case you're sitting there being like, this feels heavy, like I could never do this.
SPEAKER_01: You're right.
SPEAKER_01: In part.
SPEAKER_01: You can't do this on your own.
SPEAKER_01: Left to ourselves, we don't naturally pursue peace.
SPEAKER_01: That's why the good news of Christianity isn't like try harder, buckle up, you got it, white knuckle it.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's Christ in you.
SPEAKER_01: See, in a few moments, we're gonna sing a song, and it's called Yet Not I, but Christ in me.
SPEAKER_01: That's the hope of Psalm 120.
SPEAKER_01: Not merely our effort, not our strength, but Christ at work in his people.
SPEAKER_01: See, because ultimately, Psalm 120 is fulfilled and points us to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because no one experienced Psalm 120 more fully than Christ.
SPEAKER_01: No one was lied about more, no one was slandered more, no one was more misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: False witnesses testified against him, his motives were questioned, his words were twisted, his character was attacked.
SPEAKER_01: And yet I love Isaiah 53.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 53 says, There was no deceit in his mouth, perfect truth, perfect righteousness, perfect peace.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he was treated like a liar.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So that liars like you and me could actually be set free, could be forgiven, be redeemed, we could come home.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you see that Jesus actually left his home, entered our exile, he experienced our hostility, he bore our judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews says, I love this passage, it says, we have a high priest who's able to empathize and sympathize with every one of our temptations and weaknesses.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus knows exactly what it feels like to be lied against, to be challenged, to be in a swirl, to be worn out by false promises and false assurances, to be betrayed, to be falsely accused.
SPEAKER_01: It's exhausted.
SPEAKER_01: He knows it.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus fully entrusted himself to the Father.
SPEAKER_01: He called out, he trusted God's justice, and he pursued God's peace.
SPEAKER_01: He lived Psalm 120 perfectly.
SPEAKER_01: And because he did, we can be forgiven when we don't, but also empowered to live here as we await our future home.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's why Psalm 120 comes first in the album.
SPEAKER_01: Because God teaches pilgrims how to celebrate before he teaches them how to long.
SPEAKER_01: Or before he teaches them how to celebrate, he teaches them how to long.
SPEAKER_01: To ache.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what I've learned.
SPEAKER_01: People who stop longing, stop walking.
SPEAKER_01: People who stop longing stop walking.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you, let's just name it.
SPEAKER_01: You're tired this morning.
SPEAKER_01: A tired that like coffee can't fix, or a better diet can't fix.
SPEAKER_01: You're tired of the lies, the conflict, maybe in your own soul or even a done among you, the false assurances and the empty promises of this world.
SPEAKER_01: But Psalm 120 reminds us that the reason those things bother us so deeply is because you were made for another world.
SPEAKER_01: A world where truth reigns, a world where peace never ends, a peace that surpasses all understanding, a world where no one manipulates a home, your home, where no one deceives, no one slanders, no one wars, no more decision fatigue, no more grudges, no more broken promises.
SPEAKER_01: But home.
SPEAKER_01: Just the presence of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And until then, call out to the Lord, trust his justice, and pursue his peace.
SPEAKER_01: Because the lives of this world make you long for your true home.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we love you.
SPEAKER_01: We're thankful that in Jesus we can not only uh be saved and be transformed, but also we can be heard.
SPEAKER_01: That you love to hear from sinners and saints, that you love to hear honestly from us.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm also thankful that you actually don't reluctantly enforce your justice.
SPEAKER_01: You delight to save those who are yours, to protect.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Father, I pray that you just free us to name evil in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: This would be an honest place.
SPEAKER_01: We'd be honest people.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us are hiding things, some of us are worn out.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that today we would walk out with nothing else hidden, knowing that we're hidden in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, we pray that you would continue this work, that you'd apply the work of Christ to our hearts, and that you would help us to pursue peace in ourselves but also amongst us.
SPEAKER_01: So come, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.