WEBVTT 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.280 The reading this morning is from Psalm sixty-nine. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.160 If anyone needs Bibles, they're down along the side on the white little stool. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:29.839 And as Ben said, it is a big one. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.399 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.079 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.320 I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.719 I am weary with my crying out. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.640 My throat is parched. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:51.439 My eyes grow dim with waiting for my Lord, with waiting for my God. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.840 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:02.479 Mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:05.439 What I did not steal must I now restore. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.519 O God, you know my folly. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.560 The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:14.640 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:26.400 O Lord God of hosts, let not those who seek you be brought to dishonour through me, O God of Israel, for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:28.879 That dishonor has covered my face. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:34.640 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:41.359 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:48.640 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:53.519 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:59.359 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:03.439 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:10.719 At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me in your saving faithfulness. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.360 Deliver me from sinking in the mire. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.360 Let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:23.520 Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:27.280 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.400 According to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:34.639 Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:36.639 Make haste to answer me. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:42.879 Draw near to my soul, redeem me, ransom me because of my enemies. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:49.520 You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor, my foes are all known to you. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.919 Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.840 I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:05.680 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:12.319 Let their own table before them become a snare, and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.840 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:24.960 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:36.240 May their camp be a desolation, let no one dwell in their tents, for they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:41.759 Add to them punishment upon punishment, may they have no acquittal from you. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:48.159 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, let them not be enrolled among the righteous. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.759 But I am afflicted and in pain. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.960 Let your salvation, O God, set me on high. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:59.840 I will praise the name of God with a song, I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:04.800 This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.360 When the humble see it they will be glad. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.960 You who seek God, let your hearts revive. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:16.480 For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:21.680 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:29.680 For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:35.120 The offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:36.480 And so reads God's word. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.920 Psalm 69 is a long psalm, and there's a lot of things in it. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:09.600 But uh in order to fully get into this, because it is our summer psalm series, we're gonna go slightly more cinematic this morning. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.560 I hope that's okay, because we need a good movie movie poster to get us into this psalm. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:17.279 All right. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:23.600 Now, I want to take a moment just to get us into the mindset of an action hero. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:24.000 Okay? 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:25.519 We've all seen action movies, right? 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:26.800 We all know what these are about. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:32.560 We all know what it's like uh to watch an action movie and to and to see the action hero in action. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.079 I will describe a scene to you. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.000 I'm not gonna tell you what movie it's from. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.879 Answers on a postcard if you if you want to make your guess. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.800 But uh this is this is a scene from an action movie not that long ago. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:50.480 Uh not a particularly uh you know satirical, not uh not a parody, not anything like that. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.879 But when you when you start to describe it, it sounds a little funny. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:58.800 But let me let me let me just go through it with you here because uh it'll help us as we approach this psalm. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.160 I promise it comes around. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.519 Um so our hero, our action hero, finds himself on a commercial airplane, right? 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.199 And he's flying from point A to point B, as all of us have done, I'm sure. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.360 He's flying coach because he's an everyman. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:20.639 But uh but he's there and he's he's on some mission, he's doing some thing there, and he and he comes to realize that on this plane there are some baddies. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.240 There's some bad guys on the plane. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:29.600 Not only are there bad guys, they're not just random bad guys engaged in random badness, but they are here to take care of him. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.240 So he's he's he's finding himself in a spot of danger. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:35.600 And so what does he do? 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.279 Well, I'll tell you what he does. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:38.879 He waits for one of the two guys. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:39.600 There's two of them. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.199 One of them goes off to the lavatory, which is a very bad guy thing to do. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.680 You've got to imagine he's not even gonna wash his hands. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:54.240 But um, but while the one guy's in the lavatory, our hero just gets up out of his seat, walks straight up the aisle of the plane, and sits down next to the other guy. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.360 Just sits down next to him. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:00.160 Guy's kind of taken aback because this is who he's supposed to be watching and who he's supposed to be taking out, or whatever he's doing. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:02.000 Contract killer kind of thing. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:12.639 And um he sits down next to this guy and he and he's he delivers a line, a one-liner that's so punchy and so pithy and just communicates defiance. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.600 And then pretty effortlessly, you know, one or two punches maybe, and takes this guy out. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:22.720 Doesn't even cause a stir on the aircraft, just knocks this guy down for the for the count. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:28.079 And then as soon as he's done with that, he's getting up and the other guy's coming out of the lab and he takes him out too. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:32.000 And that's how action heroes deal with their problems, right? 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:41.040 Well, I'm here to tell you, friends, and I don't know if this is gonna be new information to some of you, but life is not an action movie. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.959 Okay, if that if that shatters anybody's illusions, I'm sorry. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.120 I'll give you a moment to process that. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.519 But uh but life is not an action movie. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:53.839 And King David, David wrote this Psalm, Psalm 69 here. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.000 King David was more like an action hero than probably any of us will ever be. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.959 But David recognized that life is not like an action movie. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:13.759 We don't have stunt coordinators, and we don't have script armor, and we don't have, you know, a guarantee that things aren't really going to get tough until we get into the third act. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.439 That that that particular sequence that I just described to you, that was earlier in the film. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.600 So of course he dealt with them easily. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:21.120 But we don't have that in life. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.000 Life is messy, life is unpredictable. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.800 And so we have to find solutions that work in the real world. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.080 Because the solutions of an action movie won't necessarily work. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:38.639 If we were to if we were to break down that uh that scene there, we'd see what the action hero is supposed to be, and it they all start with S. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:40.159 So, you know, you're welcome. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.720 But uh an action hero is supposed to be all three of these things, supposed to be stoic. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.960 And what I mean by that is completely unfazed when things don't go his way. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:58.240 When our when our hero found his found his life in danger on the airplane, you didn't see any sign that he was scared or that he was concerned about it. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.039 He didn't try to hide away and avoid the problem. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.200 He didn't try to get anybody's help with it. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:04.480 He just leapt into action. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:05.360 He was stoic. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.320 Yes, gonna face my problems head on, unfaced. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.559 Action hero has to be smooth, right? 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:16.320 He delivers this line, and the line is really, really the centerpiece of the scene. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.360 You know, it wouldn't have been the same scene if he'd just gone up to the guy and punched him. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:21.360 He had to deliver this really clever line. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.759 And he delivers the line in a way that he's not just, you know, going to him and his voice cracks in the middle of it. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.559 It's not something where he stumbles over his words. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.840 It's not one of those lines where it sounds really good in your head and then you say it, and it's like, I kind of kind of sounded stupid. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.240 No, he was extremely smooth, right? 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.720 And of course, all of this comes from the fact that our action hero is self-assured. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:47.120 He knows he's gonna be able to get through this and he will be okay. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:50.559 But again, life isn't an action movie. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:59.759 And so instead of these rules, we're gonna see what uh what the playbook of King David, the real life action hero, perhaps, what uh his playbook includes. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:03.360 And I'm gonna tell you it doesn't include those three S's, has three other S's. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.039 You'll get to those in a minute here. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:14.399 But uh, if you can keep that psalm open in front of you, if you have it on a on an app on your phone, or if you have a paper Bible, if you want to grab a Bible from over there, I'm gonna pray in just a minute. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.039 That'd be perfect time for you to come down and get it here. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:27.440 But um, but we'll we'll refer back to this psalm and and and pick some ideas out of it to really see what we can glean from this and how it can impact our lives. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:33.840 All right, well, instead of being stoic, what can we be here? 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:40.320 If we look at the first kind of 15 verses of this psalm, I won't read them all because Irina did such a good job on that already. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:52.559 But to but to to sum up those ones there, those those first verses there, we can see instead of being stoic, it's okay in stressful situations to be stressed. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:57.360 Okay, I know it sounds simple, but take a look at how David opens up the psalm. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:01.120 What are his first words here in Psalm 69? 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:03.759 Save me, O God. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:06.559 Those are not exactly the words of an action hero. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:10.159 Those are not acts, and those are not smooth, you know, calculated words. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.840 This is a desperate man crying out to God. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:25.279 And we see that he goes on and he's got this this imagery going throughout about water and feeling overwhelmed, feeling like he's gonna drown. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:29.039 I don't know about you, but there are times in life where we feel this way, right? 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.559 We we definitely definitely have these experiences. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:44.960 And he goes on about it, you know, there's there's, you know, stuck in the deep mire and there's no foothold and come into deep waters where the where the flood sweeps over me, weary from crying out, throat is parched. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:47.600 All of these things going on for him. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:51.600 So he's he's he's being he's he's acknowledging his stress. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.519 He's he's engaging in his stressed condition there. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:02.000 You take a look here, uh, one that's maybe more near and dear to my heart than it should be, verse four. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.720 He says, more in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:08.879 We have to assume David had a full head of hair. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.320 But uh what is he doing here? 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:17.279 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:22.879 In case you haven't counted for yourself, the human head has about a hundred thousand hairs on it. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:27.919 So if you've made that people, that's like Croke Park full of capacity, a hundred thousand people. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:37.519 I couldn't even think of a hundred thousand people that I've met in my life, let alone a hundred thousand people who hate me, let alone a hundred thousand people who hate me without cause. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.799 Probably some of the people who hate me, there's it's well earned. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.440 But what's David doing here? 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:44.559 He's pouring it out here. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.639 And you could look at this and you could say, oh, this is just this is this is poetic license, right? 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:50.399 This is this is hyperbolic language. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:53.600 He's he's given hyperbole, so he's just trying to illustrate his point. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:55.679 And I don't think that's what he's doing. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.120 I think David is speaking out of his experience. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.879 He's speaking out of how it feels, what he's going through. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:10.480 And he's being real, not to be literally saying, you know, there's a hundred thousand people out there who hate me without cause, but this is what it feels like. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.360 This is what I'm going through, this is what I'm feeling. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:28.159 And you can go through all of these, all of these verses here in this kind of top 15 of the psalm here, and there's there's just a continuation of this idea that I am in distress, I'm struggling, I am not doing well here. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:33.759 David is engaging in this and he is taking it on board, and he's not afraid to say, you know what he's not doing? 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.600 He's not sitting around going, gosh, if I say that, people will people will think I'm being a bit dramatic. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:47.840 You know, if if if if I use this kind of language here, you know, people will think I'm I'm I'm making a big deal out of nothing. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:51.679 Because you figure David is is is writing this out. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:53.200 This is a prayer, obviously. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:54.240 He's he's praying to God. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.399 His first words there, save me, O God. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:05.919 But it's also, if you look in the superscription, the the heading of the psalm there, that's part of the original text there where it says, To the choir master, to the choir master. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.399 This is for the choir to sing. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.519 This is a song that the choir was going to sing here. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:14.159 So this is something that would have been shared publicly. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:19.919 This is something that's not just between David and God, but it's between David and the entire assembly as well. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:27.279 And he's not sitting there going, gosh, I don't want people to think that I'm, you know, being a drama, drama queen here or anything like that. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.320 He's not worried about that because he's engaging in it. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.120 You know, in in stressful situations, that's where I go. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:33.919 That's where I go. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.759 You could ask me, I could be going through something really, really difficult and really hard. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.000 And if you came up to me and said, you know, how are you doing? 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.559 I'd be like, ah, you know, I've been I've been better, but I'm okay. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:43.440 You know what I mean? 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.919 Kind of deflect with that, kind of downplay it, minimize it. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.039 Try to be that action hero myself. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:53.120 But it doesn't work. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:54.320 It's not a good thing. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:08.000 And I and I pray that if if we get nothing else from this psalm, then we get the sense that we we should do better as a community because we're called to be in each other's lives, we're called to bear one another's burdens. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:18.960 And the fact of the matter is that holding back and worrying what other people might think when we're going through hard times, it doesn't get us the help that we need. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:25.279 Cher from the uh book of 2 Corinthians here, this is one of my favorite passages here. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.080 I just take this on board for what it is here. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.279 This is, you know, a thousand years after David wrote this. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:32.559 This is in the New Testament. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:34.240 These are the words of the Apostle Paul. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:34.960 But what does he do? 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:54.639 This is at the top of his letter to the Corinthian church, and he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:56.399 So you think about that. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:01.039 When we face trials, when we face troubles in life, we find God's comfort, right? 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:02.159 And that's a beautiful thing. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:06.000 God doesn't say we won't go through difficult times, but he says he'll be with us. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.159 And so he is the God of all comfort. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:16.960 But the the second half of that is so interesting and so beautiful to think about when we think about the church and when we think about Christian community. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:28.799 Because we see that it's not just for ourselves that we get God's comfort, but when we go through something hard, maybe a few months down the road we find somebody else who's going through the same thing. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:35.759 And we can help them to experience God's comfort, not only from God directly, but through our relationship with them. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:37.759 You know, hey, I hear you're going through this. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:38.960 I've been there. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:43.679 Let's meet up, let's pray together, let's, let's, let's see if we can encourage each other. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:44.639 Right? 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:57.840 So if we are not willing to engage, if we're not willing to admit that we are going through hard times, if we're not willing to be stressed in time of stress, then how are we going to do either of these things? 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:01.759 How are we going to take comfort from those who've already gone through it? 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:08.000 How are we going to be able to provide comfort, the comfort of the Lord to those who are going through it? 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:21.119 So that that's my that's my first point there, and that's that's the the first rule that uh King David gives us for facing difficult times, is that, you know, in stressful times, it's okay to be stressed. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.119 All right. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:29.359 So the second thing here, instead of being stressed, or instead of being smooth, it's okay to be sincere. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:35.519 You see, David jump into the next little bit here, kind of starting in verse 16. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:41.200 And he's got some stuff going on here that's not very smooth. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.640 He's not delivering a practiced, polished one-liner. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.480 He's not coming forward with a strong voice and and and defiance and all of this thing here. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.240 He says, Answer me, O God, for your steadfast love is good. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.799 Answer me out of out of your abundant mercy. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:57.599 Turn to me. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:06.000 There's a whole section here where it seems like David is asking God to do the things that God has already promised to do. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:14.000 And it seems like God is David is asking God not to do the things that God has promised not to do. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.279 Right? 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.519 So, you know, God promises to be with his people. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.440 God promises to be near his people. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.839 If you look at verses 17 and 18, you'll see this in here. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:33.119 But this is this is David just crying out in the midst of his of his uh of his trial here, of his difficulty. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.720 And it we have to ask ourselves, is this is this David nagging God? 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.039 You know, it's like you think you think of a small child. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.480 It's like, are we are we gonna go to the are we gonna go to the park today? 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.200 Yes, we're gonna go to the park, and then five minutes later the child comes back. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.559 Are we gonna go to the park today? 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:55.200 Yes, we're gonna go to the park today, and then five minutes later, child, child isn't, you know, necessarily doubting what you're saying, but the child wants to see this happen. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.279 And I think this is what David is saying here. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.599 David knows that God will be near to him. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:05.359 David knows that God will be with him, but he wants to see it, he wants to feel it, he wants to experience it. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:14.079 And I think this is just another example and another way that David is speaking out of his own experience, relaying his own feelings. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:19.519 He's not being smooth about it, but he is being real about it. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.359 We get to this section. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:36.400 The section that starts with verse 22, and it's kind of the longest and most coherent part of this psalm where David stays on a thought the longest, and it's the part where he starts to pray for the destruction of his enemies. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:41.440 And I look at that and I go, ooh, that doesn't that doesn't sit right with me. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.039 That doesn't that doesn't seem like the right thing. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:54.400 Well, there must be some value in it, there must be some purpose in it because it's in scripture, it's inspired, it's it's it's part of God's God's word to us. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:20:00.000 So we need to give this some thought and figure out why, why is this here and what does this teach us? 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.920 How does this help us out? 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:04.319 Because there's some pretty hard words in there. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.519 I don't know if you picked up on them when when Arena was reading them through. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:19.680 Of course, they sounded very sweet and kind coming from Arena's mouth, but but you know, when we have things here coming out, like, you know, let their own table before them become a snare, let their place of comfort be something that trips them up, right? 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:24.160 When they're at peace, let it be a trap, let their eyes be darkened so they can't see. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.119 Make their loins tremble continually. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:27.759 Right? 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.759 These are not these are not soft and cuddly words here, right? 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:37.359 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:37.920 Right? 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.160 You skip down to verse 28. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.799 It says, Let them be blotted out of the book of the living. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.000 Let them not be enrolled among the righteous. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.680 Cast them out, Lord. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.839 Bring them to the grave. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:57.599 Now you look at this and you think, gosh, this sounds pretty harsh, pretty rough. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:08.319 But I've got a few ideas on perhaps why this is in here and how this helps us to view our suffering and our difficulties in a godly way. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:15.680 Number one, we know David himself, action hero, man of action. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:21.440 David was more than able to deal with his enemies in very practical and physical ways. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:29.680 We can we can read stories both of good and bad times when David uh was responsible for killing. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:38.799 And uh, you know, so it's not something that he's needing to hide behind God or, you know, he could he could easily go and take his own action here. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.160 But instead, he's inviting God into the matter. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.839 He's inviting God into it. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.319 Anytime we ask God for something, think about this. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:50.799 Anytime we ask God for something, we're saying, I'm gonna leave this with you. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:54.000 I'm gonna trust you to deal with this, Lord. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.759 And even though what he's asking for is probably not the right thing or the best thing or the good thing. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:08.000 He's bringing it to God, which tells us a lot about how we can pray, about how we can bring things to the Lord. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:13.920 We don't have to have all of our theology sorted out before we take something to the Lord. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:20.960 We don't have to sit and get everything straight in our minds before we can come to the Lord. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.480 We don't have to do that. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:23.359 Okay? 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:29.599 By bringing something to the Lord, it's also an act of dependence. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.799 It's an act of worship. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:39.839 And you know what's interesting is by bringing God into the discussion, God can then make changes in us. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.960 We open ourselves up, we invite him to make those changes. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.960 I can think of an example in my own life. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:46.720 I was not praying for somebody to be killed. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:48.079 I promise you that. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:56.319 But I can think, I can think of times in my own life where I have just been at my wit's end and I have asked God for his help with things. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:04.480 I can think of a time where I had a close friend and I did not understand why this man was my close friend. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.720 And I struggled with him and I had a hard time. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:08.400 And I was just praying to God. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.119 I was saying, Lord, why is this man my friend? 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:12.880 Why are we even in life together? 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.240 Makes me crazy. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.240 What are you trying to teach me here, Lord? 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:20.000 Can you just teach me the lesson and then I can move on from this relationship? 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:31.759 And as God does in his mercy and kindness and gentleness sometimes, he answered me in real time, friends, and it was not a warm and fuzzy feeling. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:35.920 It was like a smack in the back of the head saying, It's not about you. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:37.839 Quit making this about you. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.480 Just be friends with the people that I've given you. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:41.680 So I was like, okay. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:43.200 So God can do that too. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:44.000 He can open it. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:47.119 But I I didn't come to that decision on myself. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:49.359 It wasn't my own idea there. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:24:07.039 And so as we as we pray things, even as we pray things that might be selfish, might be, you know, not quite in line with who we are as people of God, he can use that time to draw us nearer to him and to and to change our thinking even in real time. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:13.200 Now, if we think about this in our in our modern day and our modern time, I don't know about you. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:18.000 I don't spend a lot of time praying for the physical destruction of people who I don't like. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:22.000 Maybe you do, and God love you if you do. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:27.200 But are there other ways that we can wish harm on people? 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.839 Are there other ways that we can bring harm to people? 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:35.039 I think about, you know, can we can we hurt people uh reputationally? 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:37.359 Can we hurt people socially? 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:38.880 Can we embarrass people? 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.519 Can we can we bring them down in other ways? 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:43.519 Can we slay them in those ways? 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:45.359 Yeah, absolutely we can. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:25:00.960 And I think that this this passage here, these you know, kind of nine verses here where David is praying for the destruction of his enemies, helps us to see that differently rather than taking action against people who've done me wrong or who deserve something. 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:05.119 Can I step back and say, Lord, I'm gonna leave this in your hands? 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:10.880 Can I step back and say, I'm not gonna take this action, but Lord, it'd be really cool if you did. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:17.279 And God is not like some genie that we rub the lamp and we make our wish and he does whatever we say. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:24.640 God acts out of his wisdom and out of his mercy, and he brings it together the way that he wants. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:27.680 And at the same time, he's making the changes in us. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:29.839 So it's it's a beautiful thing. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:38.559 So we don't have to be smooth, we don't have to have everything planned out and polished and looking good and sounding good all the time. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:45.519 Now, if you want to be defiant in the Lord, you know, go read Daniel chapter three. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.640 Because you got uh some guys there who are facing some really difficult opposition. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.400 And the king says, Who do you think you are that your God would save you? 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.359 And they said, Our God is able to save us. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:03.200 And even if he doesn't, we're still not going to comply with what you're asking us to do because it violates his stuff. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:09.759 So that's uh not not really a one-liner, not really smooth, but it just gives us a model for it. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:17.680 So that's the second thing that we see in here that our times of struggle, it's okay to be sincere. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.599 We don't have to be smooth. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.079 And the third one starts with S also, seeking God's resolution. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:25.759 We don't have to be self-assured. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:31.519 I really should have said, we don't have to be self-assured, we should be God assured, but that doesn't start with us. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:38.400 So, but really, this gives us a great sense of how this pays off here. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:45.839 You get down to about verse 29, and it's almost like David's run out of words, right? 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:51.920 Have you ever been in one of these things where you're on a rant and you're on a roll and you're like, and now I'm done? 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.160 And it's like David takes a breath here. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:02.960 Maybe it's like God's intervening in David's thinking in real time, because he says, But I am afflicted and in pain. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.319 Let your salvation, oh God, set me on high. 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:11.200 He's been spending all of his time and all of his energy focused on his problem. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:16.240 And it's right that he has, because it's occupying his thoughts and it's occupying his heart. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.799 But it's like here he is, he's come to the come to the end of that rant. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:22.960 It's just like, okay. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:31.759 And it's like, you know, the old, the old uh Christian adage there that says, don't tell God how big your problems are, tell tell your problems how big God is, that kind of thing. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.079 But I think there's something to it here. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:39.039 Because he's he's spent now 28 verses going through everything that's going on with him. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:44.079 He's been, you know, stressed and he's been sincere in what's happening with him. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:47.039 And it's almost like here we are now, Lord. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.480 I'm in pain, I'm suffering, but what do I see? 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:53.200 What do I know? 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.400 Let me rehearse some truth that I know. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:58.160 All right. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:08.720 Uh maybe, maybe this is God uh intervening in his thoughts in real time, like I said, but but this is this is David recognizing that God is with him now and that his future is solid. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:22.000 The stuff, the kind of things that he was praying and crying out to God to help him with in that second session, now he's taking those on board and and declaring them as truth. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:25.519 So, can we do this? 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:35.680 Can we can we bring all of our stuff to God, but trust and rest that he is at work in all of these circumstances in our lives? 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.640 In an action film, you have something called plot armor. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:39.920 I don't know if you're familiar with this. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.359 I wish Andrew Woodmartin was here because he's our resident movie critic. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:54.880 But uh, you know, plot armor says, you know, you the the the hero couldn't possibly die, you know, 20 minutes into the movie, even if he's in a very difficult situation, because you know, the plot demands it. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.559 You know, you gotta still have this guy around for the for the end of the movie. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:00.160 We don't have that. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.000 We have something better. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:13.200 We have a God who loves us, we have a God who cares for us, and who uses all the circumstances of our lives, good and bad, for his purposes. 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:14.799 It's like the verse that I read at the beginning. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:20.079 God works all things together for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:23.119 So let's not be self-assured. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:32.880 Let's not let's not put that on ourselves because let's face it, there's too often in life that we have no call to be self-assured, but let's be God assured because we can trust in him. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:34.079 We can rest in him. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:40.400 We can recognize that in all of these circumstances, he is at work and he is getting it done. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:42.799 Just a lot of great stuff in here. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:45.599 I love this, I love this uh verse 34. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:56.079 It says, Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in him, for God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and the people shall dwell there and possess it. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:00.160 It's like David is looking beyond his immediate circumstance. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:05.839 He's looking beyond what's happening in his life and seeing, you know, God's still on his throne. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.319 God's not taken surprise by this. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:16.720 I may be drowning in deep waters, I may be struggling my way through this, and I may be facing enemies that I'm praying their destruction. 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:21.440 But God's still on his throne, and God's gonna make good out of all of this. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.400 So, how does this change our view? 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:30.160 How does this change what we think and how we see our own trials and tribulations? 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:39.839 I think if we lean into that, I think if we if we spend our time in prayer uh digging through this, it's it's really helpful to us in difficult times. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.519 Now, the fourth thing that I want to point out to us is that this psalm points us to the Lord Jesus. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:53.200 All Psalms, all Psalms, one way or another, point to Jesus, some of them more explicitly than others. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:31:04.559 But all this Psalm here points us to Jesus, and we see that that David is just a shadow, a shadow of Jesus, a prediction of Jesus. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:12.000 And he's bringing out ideas imperfectly that Jesus will later come along and complete and perfect. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:14.960 First of all, we've got this theme. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:20.799 David is presenting himself here in the Psalm as the sinless sufferer, right? 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:26.880 Well, not really sinless, because in verse 5 and in verse 19, he says, you know, I'm not perfect here. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:29.200 I've done my share of bad stuff here. 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:32.480 He's more like, I'm I'm disproportionately suffering here. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:34.799 I'm suffering more than I deserve. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:43.039 But we know that when we read the gospels, when we read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the stories of the life of Jesus, Jesus was the sinless sufferer. 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:47.680 He did go through life without without sinning, without doing any of this stuff wrong. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:49.920 And he still suffered and died from it. 00:31:50.079 --> 00:31:54.799