WEBVTT 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:19.519 Good morning. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.160 This morning's reading is Psalm eighty-six. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.760 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.640 Preserve my life, for I am godly. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.479 Save your servant who trusts in you, you are my God. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:41.600 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you, for to you do I cry all the day. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.719 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:53.039 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abunding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.200 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.840 Listen to my plea for grace. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:02.560 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.840 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:13.680 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.319 For you are great and do wondrous things. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.760 You alone are God. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.959 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.439 Unite my heart to fear your name. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:29.840 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name for ever. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.640 For great is your steadfast love towards me. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.439 You have delivered my soul from the depths of Shoal. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.359 O God, insolent men have risen up against me. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.840 A band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:51.120 But you, O Lord, are a God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:53.439 Turn to me and be gracious to me. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.680 Give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:05.920 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:07.200 So reads God word. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.680 Welcome to you if you joined us while we were singing. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.680 My name's Mark, I'm the Lee Pastor here at City, and you're very welcome. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:15.680 Uh, I've been off for uh uh a few weeks. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.879 This is my first week uh back after some holiday time. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:25.039 And so if you've kind of joined in the last three or four weeks, I'd love you to come and say hello because I haven't met you. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:29.280 And if you're one of these people that has been here for six months and I haven't met you, come and say hello too. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:33.280 Um and forgive me if I'm like, oh, is this is this your first week in your no? 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:34.479 I've been here for a year. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:40.639 Um we are in uh Psalms in the summer, so I'd invite you to turn up Psalm 86. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:47.039 Uh, either you have uh one of these old school paper bibles or you can look it up on your phone. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:03:03.360 Um I was thinking increasingly, it might be good actually, I know it's dark in the room, but to prioritize bringing one just because it means that there's a deliberate thought of we're here to uh to be in the word together. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:10.719 I know there's the convenience of having it on our phone, but I think there's something about kind of bringing our Bibles to church uh and actually studying it together. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.199 So just a just a thought uh that I was thinking while while I was off. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:20.159 But Psalm 86, and if you're looking it up on your phone, don't be ashamed, it's okay. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.199 Um but if you brought a Bible, well done you. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:27.439 Uh uh that's what we're going to be looking at. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:34.319 Uh when was the uh when was the last time you prayed a panic prayer? 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:36.159 You know the panic prayers? 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.159 So you're about to go into the job interview, they've just called your name. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.879 It's like, Lord, I need you now, help me. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:43.439 Amen. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:45.120 In, right? 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.759 Panic prayers happen uh on the way to accident and emergency. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:55.919 So you need to go to A E, your child's sick or injured, and so you're driving along there and you fire up the panic prayer. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.120 Lord, just pray that we get seen really quickly and that everything will be okay. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:03:59.919 Amen. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:05.759 Or uh if there's bad news, we pray the panic prayer. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.439 When was your last God help me now? 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.400 Amen. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:12.000 Panic prayer. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.599 It's like pulling the uh pulling the ripcord, isn't it? 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.399 Uh for the parachute to open. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:20.160 Just need you right now. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.160 When was your last panic prayer? 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:24.240 Panic prayers are normal, right? 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:40.240 They're a they're a little human reminder uh that we don't control all circumstances, and a little reminder that we need uh something or someone outside of ourselves to intervene and to help us. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:48.000 It's a a natural reflex, or rather, I would say it's a supernatural reflex that God has has left there. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:54.720 Uh I don't know if you've noticed, but maybe you're not somebody who quite believes in God yet. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:55.759 You're still working it out. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:56.959 We're really glad that you're here. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:09.759 But what you'll notice either in your own life or even just for people that um that don't follow God, what tends to happen is uh imagine they're in a swimming pool and uh they've got a beach bowl. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.879 I'm just back from France, so I remember swimming pools and beach bowls, right? 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:25.519 Uh and our what we do throughout our lives as non-Christians, people who aren't following Jesus, is we push the truth about God under the water. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.319 We don't want to see it and we don't want to interact with it. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:39.439 But what happens in those emergency circumstances, when our reflex is to pray the panic prayer, it's the truth about reality actually pops right back up to the surface. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.600 Like when you push the ball under the water, what happens? 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:46.000 You can keep it under there for maybe a few seconds, and then it pops back up suddenly. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.480 So in those reflex moments, what's happening? 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:55.519 Well, actually, the truth about reality, the fact that you don't control all circumstances, the fact that there is a God there, is popping back up. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.279 And so you rip the cord, you pray the panic prayer. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:13.600 Of course, God wants us to run to him in times of trouble, and that's what David is doing in Psalm 86, and not for the first time, if you've read any of the Psalms of David. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:21.600 And yet, what is that saying about our relationship with God, if that's the extent? 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:34.000 If God is simply the ripcord god that we pull in case of emergencies, that he's just a kind of a parachute, a safety net there. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:44.879 If you're, I guess, a pilot, if you fly jets, I imagine that you don't spend an awful lot of time thinking about the parachute. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:56.160 Or if you fly yourself, I don't imagine, unless you're somebody who's fearful of flying, that you spend all of the time of the flight thinking about the fact that the uh life vest is under your seat. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.519 You would only think about it if something was going wrong. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:16.000 So if our relationship with God is in case of emergency break glass sort of a relationship, then there's a whole bunch of other times when we're not really thinking about him, interacting with him. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.639 He's just there as a safety net. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:29.120 David's prayer goes beyond ripcord rescue. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:37.600 If you think that God is just there for emergencies like a parachute, then of course, why would you think about him? 00:07:38.879 --> 00:08:03.920 But what David is pointing us to is something far richer, something much more beautiful, something much more soul satisfying, than more than ripcord religion, but a deep and enriching relationship with the God who rescues and the God who transforms. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.680 Why wouldn't you want that? 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:09.839 You're here kind of maybe think, well, what is my relationship with God? 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:11.920 Is it mostly ripcord? 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.000 He's just there for emergencies. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:22.800 I mean, he came to you and said, actually, you can have something that's far more meaningful, far more enriching, far more transformative to your life. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:24.720 Why why wouldn't you want that? 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.199 Why wouldn't you want more than just a safety net? 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.320 That's what David's found in this, Sam. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.840 He's found not just the God who rescues, but the God who reshapes. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.480 Both the God who rescues and the God who reshapes. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:50.000 So since this is my first week back, I'm gonna ease you in with two points this morning. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:50.720 Right? 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.000 No subpoints, just two points. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:55.759 Here we go. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.600 Grace rescues us. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:01.840 Grace rescues us. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.960 God's grace rescues. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.759 Like many of the Psalms of David, David's in distress or trouble. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:15.360 I don't know what he did with his life, but apparently he was getting himself into scrapes all uh all the time. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.519 And there are people who are attacking, seeking him. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:24.159 He's spent, he's exhausted, he's in the emergency room. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:31.840 He's where everybody wants to pull the ripcord, where everybody would do that, and he cries out to God for help. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.559 Now, looking at the Psalm as a whole, this is why it's good to kind of have your Bible open. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:41.759 The Bible or the Psalm, Psalm 86, folds into three main sections, right? 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:49.039 You've got one to seven, you've got eight to thirteen, and then fourteen. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:57.200 Now, section one and section three are kind of like brackets around the Psalm. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:02.639 And those two sections focus on God's grace to rescue. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:08.559 And then they both point into the middle section about how God transforms us, right? 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:16.320 So we're dealing with those outer brackets, the first two sections, one to seven and fourteen to seventeen, okay? 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.200 And then the second point we'll come to that in the middle bit. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:23.279 Okay, this is how this is how Hebrew poetry often worked. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.639 That the point, as it were, was in the middle. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:33.200 Uh the Hebrews were terrible, the Israelites were terrible joke tellers, because the punchline was in the middle, right? 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.200 Uh so the punchline is in the middle. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.480 I think the punchline actually is verse 11, but we'll get there in a second. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:52.799 So we're dealing with these outside parts of the structure of the Psalm, 1 to 7 and 14 to 17, because that's where David is focusing on calling upon God's grace to deliver. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.639 That's the focus of his prayers on the grace of God. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:57.600 Let's look at it. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:05.200 Uh, he points it out in verse 3, in verse 6, be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you I cry all the day. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.480 Verse 6, give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.600 Listen to my plea for grace. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.639 Verse 15, which is over the page to me. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:21.600 Verse 15, but you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:26.799 Verse 16, turn and be gracious to me. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:32.720 So his plea for rescue is rooted in what? 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:35.039 In the grace of God. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:40.879 How is it that he knows that he will be delivered, that he will be rescued? 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:43.279 Because God is kind. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.919 He is merciful, he is gracious. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:56.399 Grace is not just something that God has, it is something that God is. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.440 He is the gracious God. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.360 So the ripcord is an inanimate object. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:08.000 It simply performs its function. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:14.639 But David is saying, no, no, when I run to you, I'm running to a God who has a particular set of characteristics. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:16.799 He has a nature. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:19.759 There's a way about him that we can know. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:20.720 And what is that way? 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:21.519 What is he like? 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:23.919 Well, he's gracious. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.000 Why would you run to God on the way to A and E? 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.240 Why would you run to God in the hospital room? 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:35.759 Why would you run to God before you get called in for the interview or you're facing suffering or a trial? 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.600 Because his nature is to be gracious to you. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.120 He is the gracious and compassionate God. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:57.679 Verse 15 is picking up on a very famous verse from the book of Exodus, where Moses asks God to show himself. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.919 And God says, Well, bit of a problem there, Bocco. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:03.679 You can't see me and live. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:10.799 So what I'll do is I'll basically allow you to see the tail end of me and I'll declare to you what I'm like. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:22.720 And so he hides Moses round the back of a rock, and he causes what the book what the book of Exodus says is all of God's goodness, it's a lovely way of putting it, passes by. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:29.519 And Moses kind of peeks out and sees the tail end, the shadow, the trail-off of God's goodness. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.080 And as God is passing by, he declares to Moses what he's like. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:44.080 And he says, The Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate God, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:46.720 That is what he is like. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.759 And David's saying, You are still the same. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.080 You're still the gracious and compassionate God. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:56.799 And that is why I am able to run to you for rescue. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:03.039 He shows his kindness to those who don't deserve it. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.799 That's what grace is. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:06.559 Do you know? 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.120 Have you benefited from the grace of God? 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:15.440 The undeserved kindness of God towards you. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.399 We run to God because he is gracious. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.159 He hears us. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.240 But David gives us another reason for running to God. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:41.360 We run to God because of his gracious character, but David also speaks about his relationship with God as a reason why he can run to him in times of trouble. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:52.080 If you think that God is just a ripcord to pull, well, you're not really in a, you have no relationship to the to the ripcord. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:57.200 It's just there in case of emergencies. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:04.240 But David says that he has a relationship with God. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:05.440 Verse 2. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:06.480 Let me read it to you. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:10.480 He says, Preserve my life, for I am godly. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.279 Save your servant who trusts in you, you are my God. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.039 Preserve my life, for I am godly. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:35.759 Because what it sounds like, David is saying, is save me because I earn it. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:36.720 I've merited it. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:37.840 I've warranted it. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.039 I deserve it. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:40.320 I am godly. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.480 I've done godly things. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.960 Therefore, please save me. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:54.159 Let me read the verse again with more of what the actual sense is and see how it changes. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:02.639 Preserve my life, for I am of you, God. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:05.759 It's different, isn't it? 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:17.840 It places not the it shifts the focus from David and David's character and places the focus rather on his relationship with God. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.080 I am of you. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.080 I am part of your family. 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.200 I am in relationship with you. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.480 I am your child. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:41.759 The child who's had a bad dream knows exactly who to call out to to chase the monsters away. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.559 And before they know it, Daddy is there by their side. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.840 David knows that he can run to God because he has a relation. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.000 He is saying, I am your child. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:57.519 You are my father. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.360 I am of you. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:03.440 Again, because of your grace. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.920 See how it changes it? 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:12.079 It's David, needy and fragile and frail, saying, I need you, father. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:21.839 Not because I've earned it or because I deserve it, but because I am your son and you are gracious. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:37.200 In fact, another reason why I don't think that this is based on David's merit is because of one of the other things that he says about God in uh in verse 5. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:47.279 He says, For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon it. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:52.160 Why does David here recount that God is a forgiving God? 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:59.599 Not just that he has the power to save, the power to rescue, but also the power to forgive. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:08.160 Well, I think it's maybe because David realizes that he has his own stuff to deal with. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.160 I think that's so important. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:31.839 Because have you ever thought, you know, you've been in a concerns are weighing heavy on your heart, or things aren't going particularly well, and the rap chords right there, and you want to pull it, you want to run to God, but what's keeping you back? 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:34.240 Your shame. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:37.839 You feel ashamed to run to God. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.680 You've got sin, you've got guilt. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:45.039 You think, I can't, I can't go down. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.799 And so you're free falling, and you don't feel like you can rip the cord. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.720 Because you don't feel like you're deserving enough to do that. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.519 You have this image in your mind that God might say, Oh, you want me now? 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.640 You looking for my house? 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.000 Oh, of course you are. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.359 That's why this verse is here. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:14.559 Could you imagine if the ripcord only worked on a parachute if you'd been good that day leading up to the crash? 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.279 That'd be terrifying. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:29.920 We run to God, cast ourselves upon his grace, ask for his rescue, even though we're messed up ourselves. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:34.480 We have our own sin that needs to be forgiven. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:43.200 Our own shame that needs to be cleansed, our own guilt that needs to be taken away. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:20:02.319 Perhaps there's another reason why it's important to remember that God is not just gracious but forgiving, is that it's a subtle reminder that people aren't black or white. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:03.440 Have you noticed that? 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:05.200 Have you noticed that about yourself? 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.319 That all of us are shades of grey. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:09.920 David's in a sticky spot. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.240 There are definitely people who are up against him. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.799 And they're in the wrong, and he's in the right. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:22.799 And yet he's recognizing that he's got his own stuff to deal with, too. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:32.319 It's a very godly, humble, mature place to find yourself in. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.480 Yes, I've been wronged. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:41.599 Yes, there are things that have unjustly happened towards me. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.359 But I'm not just a victim. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.119 There's stuff that I need to work on myself. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.240 There are things that I need to have forgiven. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:04.240 The rescue that David needs, therefore, is not just from his circumstances, but from himself, from his own sin. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:10.240 Do you see how God is so much more than the ripcord god of our panicked prayers? 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:15.279 He's the gracious, rescuing and forgiving God. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:17.839 That's who we run to. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:20.799 That's who we invite you to run to this morning. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:34.559 And in the end, in the second or the third section, rather, David knows that God is so gracious that he even asks God for a sign. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.359 Let me remind you. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.359 Verse 17, last verse. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:46.720 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:48.880 He asks for a sign of God's favor. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:57.839 Not as a test of God, but as a plea for reassurance. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:12.559 There was a there's a season at the start of the year where ministry life for for me outside of City was pretty tough. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.799 I and a few others were were dealing with some uh some difficult circumstances. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.079 Again, outside of City, so if you're if you're sitting here, you're like, oh, what's going on? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:22.640 Nothing. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:23.680 It's fine. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.440 And I'm I'm okay. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:27.599 Uh I'm very glad of my three weeks off. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:40.400 Um and it was about late January, early February, and it was just right on the on the very coal face of of that season. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:23:01.200 And there was one evening, a friend of mine who I hadn't yet spoken to about any of what was going on, another pastor, he sent me a message, WhatsApp pings, and he says, Um, don't know why, but I've just been moved to pray for you. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.880 I hope that you're okay. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:03.920 I love you. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:05.440 That was it. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:09.039 Show me a sign of your favor. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:13.680 Not as a test, but just as a reassurance. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:23.599 It's a kindness of God when He does those little moments. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:37.200 Maybe you can think in your own life of just those little those little things that even as you look back at them, you didn't recognize it at the time, but as you look back, you kind of you see his divine fingerprints and go, oh yeah. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.279 You were kind to me in that way. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.279 I didn't I didn't see it, but yes. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:45.759 You show me a little sign of your favor to just to reassure me. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:49.359 And I I didn't know it at the time, but I I see it now. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:55.599 Run to him, praise him, thank him, the gracious God. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:02.160 You might say, God's never done that for me. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:07.599 He hasn't given me any sign of his grace or his favor. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:10.799 Ah, but he has. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:12.240 He has. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:19.599 The gracious and compassionate God, abounding in steadfast love, has lived among us. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:26.640 He knew that we needed forgiveness, just as David did. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.640 And so the Lord Jesus died that we might be forgiven. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.039 He died that we might live. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:47.920 And so now the Lord Jesus invites us to run to him in repentance, turning from our sin and placing our trust in him by faith, casting ourselves and our cares and our burdens upon him. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:50.640 What is our sign? 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:53.680 The cross. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:59.359 And the tomb that now stands empty in history. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:05.759 They reassure us that our enemies do not have the last word. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:12.079 They reassure us that our sin does not keep us from the mercy of God. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:21.279 They reassure us that there is hope beyond whatever darkness we are in. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:27.839 They reassure us that we are his and he is ours forever. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:30.000 Has God shown you a sign? 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:32.079 Yes, he has. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.519 Behold the man upon the cross, my sin upon his shoulders. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:46.240 Are you weary? 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:48.319 Heavy laden? 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.400 Come to him. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.319 Come to him now. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.960 He is gracious and forgiving. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.400 Is God your last resort or your first refuge? 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.480 It's a bit of both, isn't it? 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.000 It's hard. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:17.039 If your heart is saying, I want it to be first refuge, I wanted to be first refuge more. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.839 Come to him, ask him, pray that prayer. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.240 He is gracious and far more precious than the ripcord. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:31.279 Second point. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.599 I didn't say that the points were going to be short. 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:38.000 But this is the last catch for anything. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.440 This is the last one. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:46.799 David is not simply content to be rescued, he wants to be reshaped. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.720 He wants to live differently, he wants to be transformed. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:58.880 And so the second point is if grace rescues us, God's greatness reshapes us. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:02.799 God's greatness reshapes us. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:11.440 When God is the ripcord rescuer, we don't need him through the rest of life. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:19.039 You go through your transatlantic flight never having seen the life jacket that's below your vest. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:24.720 And if you do have to see it, something's gone terribly wrong. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:30.960 We run to him in an emergency, and once the emergency has passed, well, we get on with the rest of our lives. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:33.680 Thanks, I've got the ball again. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:35.119 Off we go. 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:41.839 But in the very center of this Psalm is a plea, not just for rescue, but for growth. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:43.920 Have a look at verse 11. 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:53.599 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:58.480 Unite my heart to fear your name. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:10.000 See, if this psalm is just about, I just need you to deliver and rescue me, verse 11 wouldn't be here. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:15.440 But David knows that God invites him into and offers way more than just rescue. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:19.920 And so David prays, don't just rescue me, Lord, teach me. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:23.599 Help me to learn, help me to grow, unite my heart. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:24.319 What does that mean? 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.759 We're gonna look at it. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:31.759 If a child cries out to a parent for help, of course the parent steps in and rescues. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:36.559 But a good parent also teaches, guides. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:39.279 He does a little review, okay? 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:40.559 What went wrong? 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:42.000 Why did it go wrong? 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:44.480 What do you think you might do differently next time? 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:50.000 And then the next time comes and they do exactly the same thing. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:52.960 And you have the conversation again. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:57.039 We're all slow learners, and God is patient as well as gracious with us. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:04.960 But we teach our children in order to help them to avoid getting into the difficulty in the first place. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:14.240 David doesn't just talk about issues out there with the people who are opposed to him. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:20.480 He identifies an issue within himself, an issue in all of us. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:23.039 What is the issue that David has? 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:29.200 Well, verse 11 seems to say it's that his heart is divided. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:35.440 If his heart wasn't divided, why would he pray, Unite my heart? 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:43.279 There are disparate parts of my inner being, my heart, that need to come together. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.519 Feel divided, I feel torn. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:48.319 It's a bit like that question that I asked at the end of the first point. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:52.400 You are you, uh is God last resort or first refuge? 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:56.079 If you're a Christian, you're probably like, it's both. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.200 But I wanted to be more of the second one. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:01.200 But your heart's divided, isn't it? 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.240 You're divided between that kind of last resort. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:11.119 I can do this, the old person is just like, no, I've got to kind of go after my own strength, my own understanding. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:20.640 And then there's the new man, the new woman that's being made up in the image of Jesus that's like, no, I want to I want to cast myself on the mercy of God. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:22.960 Our hearts are divided. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.400 Pulled between this and that. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:32.640 And that very division is what can lead us sometimes into emergency situations. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:38.559 How can our hearts be divided? 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:41.359 Here's a few ways. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:44.400 Maybe one of them particularly resonates with you. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:54.000 Our hearts can be divided between love for God and idolatry. 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:55.759 What's an idol? 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:03.359 Well, an idol is when we love something or someone more than God. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:12.880 And we use that thing to give us meaning, identity, a sense of place and purpose in the world. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:15.440 And so we can have a divided heart. 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:20.240 We can say, Oh, I love God, and you can mean it. 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:29.039 But there's also things that you don't want to give up, you don't want to repent of, you don't want to move on from. 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:34.400 And so you say, well, I love Jesus. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:46.799 But I know that there's part of me that needs to be successful, that needs to be recognized as successful in order to feel like I am someone. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:48.480 What's going on there? 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:50.640 Your heart's divided. 00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:55.680 Unite my heart, O God, that I may fear your name. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:04.480 Our hearts can be divided by fear and faith. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:16.559 We do trust God, and yet we still find ourselves given to worry and anxiety. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:19.119 It still overwhelms. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:22.480 Our hearts are divided. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:28.240 Our hearts can be divided between cynicism and hope. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:40.799 You imagine the person who offers hope to others, speaks richly about the promises of God and his goodness. 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:47.119 And yet inwardly they're cynical, angry, bitter. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:51.359 Hearts are divided. 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:57.599 Our hearts can be divided between devotion and apathy. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:14.720 We trust Jesus, we love God, and yet we just know that we're just stuck in a rut, disengaged, drifting, looking for comfort and convenience rather than courageous faith. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.799 Our hearts are divided. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:22.319 Our hearts can be divided between guilt and grace. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:25.200 We know that we're forgiven. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:28.160 We tell others that they can be forgiven. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.880 And yet we still carry shame. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:33.200 We still carry guilt. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.400 Say, yes, God can forgive me. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.960 He has forgiven me. 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:41.920 But I don't think he likes me very much. 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:46.319 I think lots of people think that about God. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:48.960 Where does that come from? 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.200 Divided heart. 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:53.759 Where's your heart divided? 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:26.159 If God is your emergency go-to, then you're missing the depth of his care for you and how much his desire is to reshape and reform you by uniting your heart, making you single-minded, single-hearted in pursuit of him. 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.360 How does God do that? 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:32.400 Well, that's what the rest of this middle section is about. 00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:40.719 He does that by showing you his greatness. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:44.559 How will your heart be transformed? 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:47.360 How will your heart be united? 00:34:48.320 --> 00:35:02.000