WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:06.719 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:10.960 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:15.199 Today, embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:18.640 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.679 Glad you're here this morning. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:26.399 It's awesome. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:35.359 We are in Psalm 22, and as you know, we're doing a summer in the Psalms, and in the fall, I'm feeling like we're going to move into Romans, the book of Romans. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.960 And I think it's going to be really, really fun to do. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:49.920 Probably Psalm 22 is one of the more complex Psalms in the sense that David is really suffering in Psalm 22. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:54.399 He's going through some major hurt, major pain. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:04.719 He's being maligned by people, maybe those even that have loved him in the past, I think he feels ripped off. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:06.879 It's really, really tough for him. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:16.560 But simultaneously, what he doesn't realize is he's actually writing a prophetic psalm that will be used of the Messiah Jesus. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:23.439 Jesus will actually quote Psalm 22 while expiring on the cross. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.519 And so there's a picture kind of of a of a living hell. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:30.159 And it's really powerful in that regard. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:42.560 And so Psalm 22 is like many prophetic passages in the Bible, where in most cases I think the writer did not even know they were prophesying of the Messiah. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.599 They didn't even know they were prophesying of the end times. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:52.719 They were just under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writing stuff that the Spirit gave them. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:19.039 And just so you know, inspiration of Scripture, God breathes Scripture, the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture does not mean that it was dictated by God, like they just heard something and just wrote it like word for word, but it was a, it's that inspirational aspect of how God works in our lives sometimes when he speaks to us, except it was more deliberate. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:25.919 They could sense, those writers could sense that something different was happening here as they wrote a letter. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:32.560 Or something was different as they wrote that sermon like Jeremiah would or Isaiah would, and many of the Old Testament prophets. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:40.879 So David is before the Lord, I would imagine, and he might even be in a cave somewhere, because I don't know where this was. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.360 Could be that he's in his palace at this point. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:54.800 And as he writes, Jesus is gonna go to the cross and he's gonna quote this psalm in his most desperate hour. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:59.680 And I believe that as we read this, you will come to understand in a greater way. 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.639 I hope so, that sometimes you go through times that feel like a living hell. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:07.439 That you go through times of deep suffering. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:13.520 That every one of us in this room has gone through times where you feel like you're separated from God. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.560 Like, where is He in this dilemma? 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:35.120 Maybe it's a death of a loved one, maybe it's a heart attack, maybe it's cancer, maybe it's just people attacking you, and you want to justify yourself so much, but it's not gonna work. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.319 They're not gonna listen, and you feel trapped. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:44.800 So may Psalm 22 be inspirational to all of us that there is a way out. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:52.879 And the way out is not necessarily the change of your circumstances, but the change of your heart. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.240 It's a it's a change of the direction of your heart. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:05.680 Are you gonna continue to just look at your circumstances or just look at what people are saying, or just look at what the doctor's diagnosis is? 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:13.680 Or will you change direction and look up and choose to praise him and thank him? 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:21.519 And in no way let God off the hook in the sense of crying out to him. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:26.720 Because we're gonna see David does not let the Lord of heaven and earth off the hook. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.800 He he really goes after it in his prayer. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:40.800 Probably one of the greatest, most humble, most stark, real prayers in all of the Bible is in Psalm 22. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:41.439 So let's begin. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:42.800 Psalm 22. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.319 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.560 Why are you so far from helping me? 00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:00.480 And from the words of my groaning, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.519 And in the night season, and I'm not silent. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:22.480 So David is crying out, these are the words of Jesus on the cross as he cried out to God in some mystical, mysterious way, as Christ expired on the cross, the sins of the world came upon him. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.040 All of the sins of the world came upon him. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:31.680 The death that you could not die, Christ died on your behalf. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.399 So that you could live a life that you cannot live except through his power. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:45.040 And so, in that expression of Jesus' heart, he turns to Psalm 22. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:56.079 And you could do a lot worse in your own life when you're going through suffering to go and read and pray Psalm 22. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.360 You could do a lot worse. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:09.519 I mean, Psalm 22 captures what I would consider, because there's really a hell on earth and there's a hell or literal hell in the heavenly realm. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.920 Some believe it's actually below us. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:13.439 We don't know. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:25.120 But whether hell is below us, like some of the descriptions we see in Scripture, it's actually below us in some way, and the heavens are above us, there is a hell on earth. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:26.800 And some of you have been through that. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.560 Some of you are going through that right now. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:37.839 Hell is the desperation of separation from God on earth and into eternity. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:39.040 Let me say it again. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:45.920 Hell is the desperation of separation from God on earth and into eternity. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:52.160 So, in some mysterious way, God the Father is turning his head away from his son. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:59.600 For the first time in Jesus' life, his relationship with his father is broken. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.000 And he's crying out, why have you forsaken him? 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:09.680 God has to forsake him because he's taken on your sins and my sins upon his body, soul, and spirit. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:12.959 And he's gonna descend into hell. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:17.759 Now, let me just say, when I talk about that from the apostles' creed, descending into hell. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:20.959 The church fathers, historical Christianity believes that. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:24.560 We do not believe he suffered for sin in hell, but he did go to hell. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:25.920 And I've talked about that. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.600 If you were at the Good Friday service, you heard my summation of those three days and what happened there. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.000 But he did not suffer in hell, but he went to hell. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.120 I believe he announced his victory in hell to set the captives free. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:08:00.959 And that's why, right after Jesus dies, and he says to the he says to the thief, You will be with me today in paradise, that he went down, Lazarus the rich man being a very beautiful picture, the parable of a real place of torments and a place of paradise being in the same location and there being a big separation between the two. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:09.040 So he comes and he announces that, and that's why, as soon as Christ died, many of the saints of old were resurrected. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:16.319 Because you could have faith in the Messiah, faith in Christ distant, even in the Old Testament, too. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.199 It's always by faith that we are saved. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:26.000 Suffering and loneliness haunts all of us, it's the culture of this world. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.959 So we're always going to go through suffering and loneliness. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:38.240 There's nobody in their right mind who can't admit that you've been through suffering and loneliness, and that actually that's part and parcel with being on this earth. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.879 And if you're going through that right now, Psalm 22 is for you. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:47.919 Because there's a lesson to be learned here that could set you free in a new way. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:58.559 And I know many of you in this room already do this because I'm around you and you share stuff with us, you know, from time to time, and I see praise on your lips, and you really are authentic. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:03.200 It's coming from your heart in the midst of tremendous suffering. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.720 That's one of the greatest signs of maturity. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:14.159 One of the great signs of Christian maturity is what you do with loneliness and suffering. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.519 If you move to blaming God, you got a lot of work to do. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:18.480 And we all do it. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:19.679 We all do it sometimes. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:23.440 So I'm not saying you ever are completely free from that. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:30.559 But I believe it has so much to say about how you view God. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:35.120 And for many of us, our God is too small. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.559 Our God is too small. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:43.759 Our God, because of the theology that we've kind of grown up with, is kind of, I should always be healthy. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.720 I should always be moving forward in my wealth. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.639 I should have lots of friends. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.519 The church should never ever do anything really bad. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.799 We're all just a really good thing because it's Jesus' church. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.240 It's a Christian church. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.679 And we don't, we can't handle suffering. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:06.000 I'm going to challenge you that suffering and loneliness is a part and parcel with this world. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:09.360 Satan is really alive and well, he's really working. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:11.840 And so this is the test of our lives. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:17.679 That's why Peter would write, we count it all joy when we go through trials. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:18.879 Because what does he say? 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:25.919 The testing of your faith is producing endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result that you might be perfect, lacking in nothing. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:32.000 So, really, suffering, loneliness, those struggles, that's actually the anvil. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:38.799 That's the anvil that's chiseling out Christ-likeness in our life. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:39.759 Now, look what happens. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.679 There's a shift in verse 3, but it's only brief, by the way. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.080 It's just, it's almost like he's making a theological statement in verse 3. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:57.600 He says, But you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:04.320 Now the two most important words in the Bible are but you, capital Y, or but God. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:09.120 But God is the foundation of the miraculous. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:17.200 When we can say, okay, this is how I feel, this is what I'm going through, but God. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.600 I mean, that's the beginning of the miraculous. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.440 Because most people will not do that. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:32.080 They'll just continue to blame God or they'll continue to be mad at people or whatever it is. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:45.039 But that transition, if we can make that paradigm shift, a theological paradigm shift to but you, but God, is the beginning of miracles starting to happen in your life. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:12:00.639 Because you're opening up your heart, you're opening up your mind to the possibility that God's gonna actually move in the midst of your suffering, your loneliness, your struggles, and the battle of your life. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.440 But he says, but you are holy. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:09.519 I think what David is saying is what I've learned is that God, your sovereign. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.200 All things are working together for good. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.480 I'm gonna trust you. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.639 You are holy. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:22.480 And like we talked about last week, one of the secret places of God is praise. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:30.320 That when we praise Him in some powerful way, He manifests Himself in your praise. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:35.679 Not just in congregational praise, like we're going through right now here as we finish the sermon. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:37.440 We go into congregational praise. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:45.039 God's presence and his enthroned, manifest power is with us. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.120 That happens in your own life too. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:53.600 That happens in your individual life also, that as you begin to thank him and love him and bless him, he comes. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:54.720 He loves that. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.480 It's his living room in heaven, Revelation 4 and 5. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:10.559 And I mean, Jesus could do anything, God the Father can do anything, the Holy Spirit can do anything to create a heavenly place of the fellowship of the triune God, and he chose to make heaven a place of praise and worship. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:13.679 Isn't that interesting? 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:17.440 I mean, I find that really theologically and practically interesting. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.080 That's very interesting to me. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:26.240 That he could do anything, and he creates praise and worship as his living room. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:35.120 So when we enter into praise and worship as a church and we really get into it and you really focus, you're lining yourselves up with the kingdom of God. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.679 You're lining yourselves up with the living room of God. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:46.159 So you come to my house, and our living room, our great room, is designed the way Liz likes it. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.279 I've had very little say in that, by the way. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.360 But we know kind of where we sit and stuff like that. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:57.360 And so when you come in, it speaks of something about who we are, right? 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:59.279 And in your house is the same way. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:08.320 Some of you are more modern, some of you are more traditional, some of you like antiques, some of you like uh the cheapest thing you can find. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:09.600 I mean, it doesn't matter. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:14.240 It says something about you, and you're comfortable there. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:15.360 That's great. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:16.399 It's your living room. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:17.440 You're supposed to be that way. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.519 You're supposed to design it that way. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.519 Well, God's designed heaven where he's the most comfortable. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:26.960 And he's most comfortable with people who praise him. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:31.759 So somehow, in some way, when we praise him, we get God's attention. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.519 It gets God's attention. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.919 It's one of the secret places of God. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:42.000 So David, I believe, here, is making a theological statement, but he's not there yet. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:43.279 Look at verse 4. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:48.639 Our fathers trusted in you, they trusted, and you delivered them. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:56.240 They cried to you and were delivered, they trusted in you and were not ashamed. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:03.279 So he's looking back to remember what has happened in the past. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:08.480 He's, I think what he's trying to do is David is really trying to pick up his spirit. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:10.480 He's trying to pick up, he's not there yet. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:11.679 So he's now looking back. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:16.559 Look, look, God, look what you've done in the past. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:18.000 I want to praise you for that. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:19.840 I want to thank you for that. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.440 This is one of the beautiful things about biographies. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:31.360 In reading biographies, and I was preparing for this man, I'm trying to think how many biographies have I read, how many biographies do I have? 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:37.679 I have about 50 biographies, both secular and Christian, and I've probably read twice that many. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.440 I love biographies. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.519 I'm always reading a biography. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:56.559 And uh, and what's fun about reading biographies, if you have particular people in history that you've come to appreciate, um, after you've read a few, you kind of know the, you sort of know the mantra, you kind of know what they did with their life, and so you can read them quickly. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.879 But, you know, I love stuff on Teddy Roosevelt, I love stuff on Winston Churchill. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:07.919 I've read almost everything on those two guys that's out there that's worth its salt, you know, from the early days to the later lives of their lives. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:10.559 And Jay Hudson Taylor, because I was a missionary. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:16.799 I wanted to, I just saturated myself with Jay Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, and C.T. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.720 Studd and David Livingston, and I could go on and on. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:39.039 And so something about biographies is it takes you out of our little reality, which is so limited in view, into the great exploits of people exactly like us who made choices to do great things. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:57.600 And the price they paid, and the sacrifice that they had to endure, and even the persecution they went through to do what they did takes us out, and we go, wow, it puts us in perspective, kind of gives you perspective to our lives, but also kind of lights your heart on fire for more. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:02.159 So that's what I believe David is doing here. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:04.160 Well, then he continues. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.079 So this is why I tell you he's not there yet. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.079 But I am a worm. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.519 That's where David that David called himself a worm. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:22.480 Now that's like any psychologist, almost any church today would say, You're not a worm. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:29.039 You're a king, you're a priest of the most high God. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.680 How dare you call yourself a worm? 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.240 Well, David calls himself a worm right here. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.000 I am a worm. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.680 I'm not even a man. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.680 A reproach of men, despised by people. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.960 All those who seek me ridicule me. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:48.079 They shoot out the lip. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.000 They shake the head. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:51.839 This is before there were memes. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:54.480 He talks about shooting out the lip, man. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:56.400 He trusted in the Lord. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:01.279 Let him rescue him, let him deliver him, since he delights in him. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:03.680 Alright. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.680 Anybody ever feel that way? 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:07.039 Be honest. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.200 Raise your hand if you've ever felt that way. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:10.000 All right. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:21.440 And if your kids come to you and they're having a hard time at school and it's really tough and people are bullying them and all that stuff, you know, you just have to say, you know, David, the guy who killed Goliath, felt that way too. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:22.319 It's okay, son. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:23.759 It's okay, my daughter. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:24.640 You're gonna make it. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.079 You're gonna be okay. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.640 You know, Psalm 22 says that. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:32.400 Well, this is the accuser of the brethren. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.880 I believe demons, and I'm gonna explain in just a second why I think this. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:42.720 I think demons are messing with David's head and heart right now. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:45.680 He is really, really going low. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:19:04.240 And um Revelation 12 says, now salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren who accuses them before God day and night has been cast down. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.240 Well, guess where he's been cast down to? 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:07.119 Here. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:13.759 The accuser of the brethren is here, and he's gonna accuse you. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:33.920 I don't care how spiritual you are, how godly you are, there's gonna be times where thoughts are gonna come your way, where you consider yourself a worm, where you consider yourself defeated, where you feel like you're never gonna get there, that you don't have what it takes, and you're gonna look around and you're gonna compare yourself to others, and you're gonna feel like a loser. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:38.160 And so that is the way demons work. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:44.640 Let me give you a little kind of a fun exercise to start trying if that's where you're at. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.720 Send Satan to the cross. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:51.839 So look, you can say this. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.880 Okay, I don't know, Satan, demon, whatever you are, I'm not a loser. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.200 I'm not a worm. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:00.400 I send you to the cross. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:05.119 If you want to make accusations, go to the cross of Christ and tell him about it. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.079 Tell him about it, and let's see how you do up there. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.480 So go take care of that, Jesus, for me. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:12.240 I'm sending Satan to the cross. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.680 I'm not gonna listen to the accusations of the enemy anymore. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:27.680 Now you will because you're normal and you'll do it again, but if we start making that our exercise, it becomes quicker and quicker to get out of depression, to get out of anxiety. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.039 Depression, anxiety, oftentimes, some of it's chemical. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:35.839 Some of it is chemical, and we've got so many ways to deal with that. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:47.440 But a lot of times the chemical is an expression of the spiritual, and when we start spiritually taking care of it, God begins to heal us in a mighty and powerful way. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:57.039 Now, in verse 9 to 21 is the most humble, most authentic, and real prayer in the Bible. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.680 This is my opinion, but let's read it. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.960 This is what David then prays. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.599 So he's really trying to get out of the funk, man. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:06.720 He's trying to get out of it. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:11.680 He says, But you are he who took me out of the womb. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.599 You made me trust while on my mother's breast. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:20.319 I was cast upon you from my birth, from my mother's womb. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:21.839 You have been my God. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:30.319 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there's nobody to help. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:32.319 There's nobody's helping me. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.720 And now look at some of the word pictures he has here. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:41.200 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:42.319 Look at verse 12. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.319 Many bulls I've circled. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.720 Bulls have surrounded me. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.920 Strong bulls of Bacian have encircled me. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:58.480 They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.279 A bull. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.920 Batian bulls. 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:07.759 That's one of the beautiful grazing grassy areas east of the Sea of Galilee. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:09.119 It was beautiful up there. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:13.599 When I think of Bacian, I think of my grandfather's ranch. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:19.440 I mean, when you come into South Carolina where my granddaddy's ranch was, it's just green everywhere. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:22.559 You know, thousands of acres, and that where he'd have his cattle. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.200 But he's talking about bulls of Bation. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:32.000 Anyone here ever been attacked or had to run from a raging bull? 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.440 Anyone in here? 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:35.839 All right, just a few hands go up. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:39.359 I mean, that was my lot in life when I was a kid. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:48.720 Because we lived on this cabin on my granddaddy's ranch for a while, and I was always hunting and I was always fishing, and I had to pass through this pasture. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:50.160 There was no way around it. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:55.119 And I was always looking for the bulls, and he always had a few. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.880 And every time they chased me, I mean, I tried everything. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:00.559 I went like this, you know. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.000 I try to go like that to see if I he would think I'm one of them. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:09.599 And they would come and I'm like, and I'm running with a shotgun or a fishing pole, you know, and the bull would come. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.119 And it's really scary. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.880 And I remember one time diving under a barbed wire fence and just ripping this really cool hunting vest that I had. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.359 But anyway, that's the picture. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:29.200 I think David, either he had experienced it, or he knew others who had experienced a raging bull or a roaring lion. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.480 I'm poured out like water, verse 14. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.640 And all my bones are out of joint. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.640 My heart is like wax. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:40.079 I mean, this is not a guy who's standing strong. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.160 This is a guy who feels incredibly weak. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:45.920 It has melted. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:48.640 My heart has melted within me. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:52.000 My strength is dried up like a pot sherd. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.400 My tongue clings to my jaws. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:57.200 You have brought me to the dust of death. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:58.720 Doesn't even know what to say. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:00.000 Now here's another image. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:00.799 Dogs. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.759 Dogs are always seen as negative in the Bible. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:05.920 For dogs have surrounded me. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:08.880 The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:10.799 They pierced my hands and my feet. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:18.000 Again, we're moving into that prophetic part toward the Messiah Jesus and his crucifixion. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:20.079 They pierced my hands and my feet. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.640 I can count it all, I can count all my bones. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.160 They look and stare at me. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:28.000 They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.480 So he moves into that prophetic nature. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:35.119 But you, O Lord, do not be not far from me. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:44.319 O my strength, and hasten to help me, deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:50.079 Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:53.200 So David is just, he's just crying out. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:58.799 He feels, I think he feels exhausted about whatever this, whatever's happening here. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.839 He feels like he can't win for losing. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:08.079 And then there's a shift in verse 21. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:14.559 And this is where the psalm teaches us the greatest lessons of praise and worship in our lives. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.960 He says here, you have answered me. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:19.839 Look at that. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.240 In verse 21B, you have answered me. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:26.640 Again, but God, He's shifting. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:27.759 There's a shift here. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:30.000 So here's what I think we can learn from this. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.240 And we'll go through the whole thing in just a second. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:42.559 But one thing we can learn is I think God is okay with you sharing your heart with Him about how you feel. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:44.559 God can handle it. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:51.839 Now He's not a glorified psychologist, but there's something powerful about vulnerability. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.279 Vulnerability breaks the power of shame. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:59.279 Vulnerability has the potential to break the power of depression. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.160 It's who you share it with you have to be careful with. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:07.440 If you're sharing with everybody and their mother, then you're probably not going to get the greatest advice. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:18.160 But if you share it with the Lord, if you share it with the Lord and you pronounce it as a prayer up to him, if there then becomes this shift, a miracle can happen. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.319 So he says, You've answered me. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.160 And then he says this. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:24.720 I will declare. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:26.559 So here he is, he makes his prayer. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:28.319 Now he's going to make a declaration. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:36.640 He's going to declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly, I will what? 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.480 Praise you. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:40.640 He's going to start praising God. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.640 He's going to quit looking out and he's going to start looking up. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.079 You who fear. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:49.279 Now he's preaching. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:54.720 So first he declares it to the assembly, to others, and now he begins to preach. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:56.559 You who fear the Lord, praise him. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:57.839 Exclamation point. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:26:59.759 You need to praise him too. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:06.960 All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him, fear him, all you offsprings of Israel. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:08.319 I want to give you a phrase. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.160 When I was working on this, I kept thinking, what's going on here? 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:16.640 I was grappling with the passage, and I want to call it faith praise. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:20.000 What if we called it faith praise? 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:25.920 Where you praise him by faith even when you don't have a feeling or desire to praise him. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:34.640 Faith praise is lifting up the name of Christ even when we don't feel like it, even when we feel defeated and beaten down. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:41.920 He cries out to God with this faith, praise, and then he, David's the consummate preacher. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:44.319 He just starts to preach it to everybody else. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:45.839 You need to praise God. 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:49.920 You don't have half the problems that I have. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.039 Let me tell you what I've been through, but you need to praise him. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:57.680 Learn to glorify him with your life if you fear the Lord. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:59.920 That's pretty good stuff, right? 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:06.559 Verse 25 My praise shall be of you in the great assembly. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.000 I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:14.799 The poor shall eat and be satisfied. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:17.839 Those who seek him will praise the Lord. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.920 Let your heart live forever. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:27.279 Now, this next part, I believe, is the purpose of the cross of Calvary. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:28.640 So isn't it interesting? 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:42.799 Go back, you know, if you just if you have your Bible and you look back at verses 1 and 2, that's the pronouncement of separation by the Son from the Father in the midst of the sins of the world falling upon him. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:49.759 It talks about his hands and his feet being pierced in this prayer of David. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:54.319 Now, I think 27 and 28 is the purpose of the cross. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:58.880 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:08.160 And all the families of the nations shall worship before you, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:10.240 That's where the cross is going, folks. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:12.160 That's where the resurrection is going. 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.799 All the ends of the earth will worship him. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:22.799 Every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth through the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.240 The goal of the cross is verses 27 and 28. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:29.279 You should circle it, underline it, highlight it. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.359 Verse 27 and 28 is where this is going. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:32.799 David doesn't have any clue. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:35.359 I'm convinced he doesn't even know what he's doing. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:37.200 He's just worshiping the Lord. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:44.799 He's turning from all his despair and suffering to praise, and God is prophetically telling us this is what the cross is all about. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.279 This is why we're here. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.200 This is why you're here. 00:29:54.559 --> 00:30:03.519 It's because for 2,000 years in historical, biblical Christianity, men and women have shared Christ with their neighbor. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.880 Men and women have raised their kids and discipled their kids in this book. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.480 They have raised them up. 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:17.039 And as a result of that, we have young people, we have folks that are retired, we have many that are in middle age. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:27.839 You are here because of the faithfulness of all the saints that have gone before us to say that we're gonna bring the kingdom. 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:30.640 We're being used by God to bring the kingdom. 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:36.640 Verse 29 All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:40.319 All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.119 Even he who cannot keep himself alive. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:45.519 A posterity shall serve him. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:50.640 It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:57.519 It will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:30:59.519 Four generations are mentioned here. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:09.599 David, sons and daughters, those that are coming up as even grandchildren is mentioned here, and then even those that haven't been born yet. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:12.799 That's Christianity. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.359 That's the message of Psalm 20. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:19.039 No matter what you're going through, no matter how hard it is, praise him. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:25.279 Thank him, worship, know that he's gonna work all things out together for good. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:29.200 Even in America, with what we're going through. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:32.960 We are under the judgment of God. 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:38.400