SPEAKER_01: Okay, so summertime, and we are in this series.
SPEAKER_01: You can see it behind me.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's what I call music.
SPEAKER_01: And we are spending the entire summer going through Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: Even at the end of this month, June 28th, I'm gonna come out and we are going to have, as a church conversation, a mid-year update on June 28th.
SPEAKER_01: We have a very big announcement that day as well.
SPEAKER_01: That is one of those we're going to be sending emails and text messages about to remind everybody.
SPEAKER_01: That is a big day, would encourage everybody to be here for.
SPEAKER_01: But even on that day, we are still going to be looking at the Psalms because the Psalms is this behemoth collection of creative art, uh, specifically poetry.
SPEAKER_01: Are you guys familiar?
SPEAKER_01: We say now that's what I call music.
SPEAKER_01: How many people know the reference there?
SPEAKER_01: Do you did you ever buy one of those CDs that said now that's what I call music?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah, a lot of us did.
SPEAKER_01: In case you don't, you would buy these compilation albums.
SPEAKER_01: So uh before you could just go on Apple Music or Spotify or Pandora or whatever it is that you uh, you know, go to to listen to music nowadays, you would have to buy an album from an artist, and then hope that the two songs you heard on the radio were not the only good songs from that artist.
SPEAKER_01: And so you'd go home or you'd get in a car, you'd put it in your car, and you'd listen to it, or you'd go home, put it in your stereo, and you'd listen to it.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh whoever came up with the idea decided, let's make a compilation album of kind of the best songs for that particular year or that particular season.
SPEAKER_01: And they decided to call it now that's what I call music.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, the first uh the first now that's what I call music, volume one.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many volumes there are now, but you can actually buy volume one on eBay right now in case you wanted to do that.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are like, I'm doing it now.
SPEAKER_01: I love this.
SPEAKER_01: Volume one had artists like Lenny Kravitz, Everclear, one of my favorites, Brian McKnight.
SPEAKER_01: That got a few yeses, which whoever, whoever that was, I love you.
SPEAKER_01: I love you.
SPEAKER_01: You know what else was on the very first volume of Now That's What I Call Music?
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna sing it and see if you get it.
SPEAKER_01: Mmm, bop, badoob, bop, doo, bop.
SPEAKER_01: Four people knew that.
SPEAKER_01: Hansen, you don't know your teeny bop boy bands?
SPEAKER_01: What's wrong with y'all?
SPEAKER_01: You know what else was on there?
SPEAKER_01: Artists like Casey and Jojo, Tonic, the Backstreet Boys, and the song Barbie Girl was on the very first volume of Now That's What I Call Music.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, that is not what I call music.
SPEAKER_01: Some of that is just not.
SPEAKER_01: I am not a fan.
SPEAKER_01: But the whole the whole idea there is that it was a compilation of songs.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Psalms is.
SPEAKER_01: It is the perhaps the greatest uh collection of poetic creative art that we have, especially in ancient literature, as we understand the Bible is the most influential collection of books in literary form in the history of the world.
SPEAKER_01: The Psalms are arguably, as this behemoth of creative arts, it is not only one of the oldest compilations, but arguably the most influential compilation of poetry on all of Western culture.
SPEAKER_01: It's permeated everywhere, and it is indeed a compilation.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Psalms, as it was originally written that title, the Hebrew word for psalms is a word tehelim.
SPEAKER_01: Tehelim just means, in quotes, praises.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason we call it psalms is because as it would be translated into Greek, they would come up with this word psalmos, which as we understand it means songs.
SPEAKER_01: And it is this compilation of art, and it has permeated.
SPEAKER_01: It's in multiple styles.
SPEAKER_01: There are, as scholars call it, five categories of psalms.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna see some that are uh uh just lofting praise.
SPEAKER_01: There are going to be some laments, there are different styles of poetry, just like there are different styles or genres of music.
SPEAKER_01: We know a certain amount of authors, some are unknown, some were written as prayers, some were written to be put to melodies so that they would be sung in whether it was the temple or just outside of that.
SPEAKER_01: There's a unique aspect to the Psalms here that include this compilation of poetic styles.
SPEAKER_01: So as we spend the summer going through it, we are going to encounter several of those styles.
SPEAKER_01: And just to encourage you, Psalms, it's a long book.
SPEAKER_01: It is a large collection.
SPEAKER_01: But if you read just two Psalms every day, you will read the entire book of Psalms, this entire collection, by the end of the summer.
SPEAKER_01: It'll only take you about two and a half months if you, no days off, just read two psalms every day.
SPEAKER_01: I would encourage you to do that because the Psalms are indeed the most influential collection of poetic art in Western culture.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard the psalms in modern songs, you have uh encountered them in modern, not just music, but even in movies, psychologists, wellness advocates will use the psalms.
SPEAKER_01: You will find lyrics from the psalms, from the Tehelim, the Tehelim, the praises that are listed in this uh literary collection of poetry will be found in Jay-Z songs, in Eminem songs.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone who is over the age of 40 will know this reference.
SPEAKER_01: The Psalms can be found in Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise.
SPEAKER_01: It's there.
SPEAKER_01: You will find it.
SPEAKER_01: I knew, I was like, anybody who's over 40 will know that one.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else is gonna be like, no, we got a bunch of students in the second service, they're gonna say, Who's Coolio?
SPEAKER_01: It's found in movies like the Titanic, Foot Loose.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't know that, did you?
SPEAKER_01: Footloose, Psalms and Foot Loose, it's everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Yesterday I was watching Saving Private Ryan, and Psalms is in there.
SPEAKER_01: It's in the Shaw Shank Redemption.
SPEAKER_01: The Psalms have permeated.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because I believe the Psalms paint a picture for us of human emotion that won't be encountered like it is anywhere outside of the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: The Psalms will paint a picture for us of who God is and what we wrestle with, perhaps more than any other book in your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Because the Psalms are vast, they are personal, and as it is a now that's what I call music style compilation, we have access to so much in the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: And they are beautiful in their literary style, but they are powerful in what they can teach us.
SPEAKER_01: And this morning, as we continue our series, we are going to look at Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 3, so as you find your way there in your Bible or you scroll there in your phone or your tablet, don't worry, we'll have it on screen for you, like we always do.
SPEAKER_01: But Psalm 3 is gonna give us a picture of something very unique that we all will deal with.
SPEAKER_01: And as you find your way there, I want to give you a question as we prepare to study Psalm 3 together.
SPEAKER_01: I want to give you this question.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn to when things get hard?
SPEAKER_01: Where or who do you go to when life whoops you?
SPEAKER_01: When things are difficult, when you're scared, when you're angry, when you're frustrated, when things don't go your way.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn to?
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bible, if you found it, I want you to be in Psalm 3, and we're gonna read the entire Psalm together.
SPEAKER_01: It's not very long.
SPEAKER_01: You can follow along on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: It is a Psalm written by David.
SPEAKER_01: You've heard of him, David and Goliath, very same David.
SPEAKER_01: And he writes this in Psalm 3 O Lord, I have so many enemies.
SPEAKER_01: So many are against me.
SPEAKER_01: So many are saying, God will never rescue him.
SPEAKER_01: But you, O Lord, are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_01: You are my glory and the one who holds my head high.
SPEAKER_01: I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.
SPEAKER_01: I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.
SPEAKER_01: Arise, O Lord, rescue me, my God, slap all my enemies in the face.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, did the Bible just talk about slapping people in the face?
SPEAKER_01: You're like, what kind of translation is this?
SPEAKER_01: Shatter the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's visceral, it's personal.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna understand why when we unpack it.
SPEAKER_01: And David concludes this psalm with these words Victory comes from you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: May you bless your people.
SPEAKER_01: So you need to have some context here because this on its own might sound uh to some of us funny because he's asking God to slap all of his enemies in the face, which is an interesting prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Don't raise your hand if you've prayed a prayer like that before.
SPEAKER_01: Don't nudge the person next to you.
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord, I have so many enemies.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever had one of those prayer moments with God?
SPEAKER_01: God, it's all stacked against us.
SPEAKER_01: I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I just can't.
SPEAKER_01: You ever had just those words?
SPEAKER_01: It's just a two-word, two words with the conjunction, cannot, right?
SPEAKER_01: I can't.
SPEAKER_01: God, I can't.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody ever had one of those?
SPEAKER_01: This is so, this is so personal, but you don't understand the power behind the words unless you understand what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to give you some context as to what's going on when David wrote this.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever, uh, back in the day, VH1 used to have this series called Behind the Music, and they would interview artists, and they would they would basically chronicle the uh story of how they wrote a certain song.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you, you have that favorite song, the one that always comes up and and takes you back, and maybe you know the story behind why the song was written.
SPEAKER_01: And for us, it will help us learn more from this compilation of poetic works that we call Psalms, this Tehilim.
SPEAKER_01: It will help us understand them better if we understand why the song was written.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what's going on for context.
SPEAKER_01: When David pens these words, he is on the run from his own son.
SPEAKER_01: You need to understand, here's what's what's going on here.
SPEAKER_01: David had an interesting story.
SPEAKER_01: He is a shepherd boy, kind of a shepherd assistant, right?
SPEAKER_01: He gets pegged to come uh take some food to his brothers.
SPEAKER_01: They were fighting a battle against a people group called the Philistines.
SPEAKER_01: And what happens?
SPEAKER_01: David shows up.
SPEAKER_01: There's a giant, his name's Goliath.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they just came out with a movie.
SPEAKER_01: We saw it at the end of the year.
SPEAKER_01: It's David, I think it's on streaming services.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a plug, but it is a plug.
SPEAKER_01: It's a great movie.
SPEAKER_01: You should see it.
SPEAKER_01: And you've seen this moment.
SPEAKER_01: David shows up, you've seen it on maybe a Veggie Tales or some type of story or the Bible series, or whatever it is, you go and you find this, and you know what happens.
SPEAKER_01: Here's Goliath, he calls out the army, no one will face him.
SPEAKER_01: David does what?
SPEAKER_01: Introduces kind of the first uh implementation or example of special warfare, utilizing skills, tactics, agility, and weapons that were not commonplace.
SPEAKER_01: And with a sling and stone, he slays the giant.
SPEAKER_01: And then what happens?
SPEAKER_01: Of course, David's star rises.
SPEAKER_01: And as David's star rises, he does what most people would do as a young man who has gained fame and acclaim and power.
SPEAKER_01: He starts making decisions.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of these decisions were great.
SPEAKER_01: He celebrated with his people, he praised God for every good thing.
SPEAKER_01: But David was imperfect, just like every other human being who has ever lived.
SPEAKER_01: And so, what does David do?
SPEAKER_01: In a lapse of character, in a particular season, in a moment, David makes a decision to be with a woman who was not his wife, but the wife of another man.
SPEAKER_01: He has that man slain to cover his tracks, to cover his own sin.
SPEAKER_01: And David, even as he confesses before the Lord, is approached by a prophet, and that prophet in the book of Samuel, 2 Samuel, David is told, as a result of your choices, there will be consequences.
SPEAKER_01: And he's told in a moment, the sword will never leave his family.
SPEAKER_01: He is told by a prophet, he is told by a man that as a result of his choices, the consequences are going to be your family will always have struggles.
SPEAKER_01: Your family will always be fighting.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to say something about this real quick because I think it's important to understand, because if you're in a church, you're thinking, oh man, where are we going here?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what you need to understand about God and his grace.
SPEAKER_01: That God would still call David a man after his own heart, knowing what he would do as God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, because God is all things and understands all things.
SPEAKER_01: That God would still coin David with that expression, man after his heart, and still actually bless David.
SPEAKER_01: There's something for us to consider that our choices are not enough to jump over the grace of God.
SPEAKER_01: Your mistakes are not as powerful as God's grace.
SPEAKER_01: However, grace is not the absence of consequences.
SPEAKER_01: The choices we make in life will still have consequences.
SPEAKER_01: But we appreciate that grace when we experience in light of those consequences and those choices.
SPEAKER_01: And David is an example of that.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what happens tension and fighting and trials start to plague David and his family.
SPEAKER_01: And as David, you know, carries the weight of now this blended family that he lives with, one of his sons has an encounter with another one of his sons, as they were half-brothers.
SPEAKER_01: One of the brothers assaults their sister.
SPEAKER_01: And when this one brother goes to his dad, David, and says, We need to avenge my sister, your daughter, David doesn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't do anything by way of the justice, the one brother whose name is Absalom.
SPEAKER_01: He is the brother or uh the brother and David's son who David's on the run from in Psalm 3 when he pens this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You're not doing things the way I want you to do things.
SPEAKER_01: I want this type of justice.
SPEAKER_01: And David does not give it to his son.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what happens this son, Absalom, waits two years.
SPEAKER_01: And he schemes and he waits, and he schemes and he waits.
SPEAKER_01: And he eventually lures this half-brother into a situation where he kills him.
SPEAKER_01: And in his mind, he has avenged his sister.
SPEAKER_01: Well, as a result, there's consequences for his choices, and Absalom, the son of David, goes on the run.
SPEAKER_01: And he is exiled, and he is running from his own father.
SPEAKER_01: And four years later, after being on exile, he returns, and instead of patching things up with his dad, Absalom essentially starts posturing himself as kind of a Robin Hood figure almost, a person of the people.
SPEAKER_01: And he starts doing what he can politically to win hearts and minds.
SPEAKER_01: And as a result, years go by, and Absalom ends up essentially embarking on this coup, overtaking things.
SPEAKER_01: And now his dad, David, has to go on the run because Absalom is taking people to come after David to kill his own father.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if that doesn't sound like some crazy Netflix documentary that you know who you are, you watch these kind of things, I don't know what does.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible is not PG.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible is incredibly ripe with stories that, if you dig into it, will make Scripture come alive.
SPEAKER_01: So what you have in this moment when David pens these words in this song is a father who is on the run from his son who is after him to kill him, whose other son was killed by this son, and whose daughter was assaulted by the son who was killed.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine the pain?
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine the feelings that David would be going through as he pens these words?
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's it's so difficult for us, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, we're modern parents.
SPEAKER_01: You know, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles in the room.
SPEAKER_01: Look, let's have some real talk.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is a this is a special case.
SPEAKER_01: For most of it, it's because, you know, our frustration with our kids goes as far as they weren't ready to leave the house when they were supposed to.
SPEAKER_01: Or, like yesterday, uh, I was helping some friends move, and they have a little one.
SPEAKER_01: He's uh, you know, about yay high, and uh we're moving, and I walk by the garage, and he's standing by his dad's car, and it's a nicer car, and he's standing by it, and he's got a marker in his hand.
SPEAKER_01: And I just kind of walk by and I'm like, hey man, what you doing?
SPEAKER_01: And look, the temptation for me was just stop and see what's he gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: But then I thought, no, no, no, sure on the other foot.
SPEAKER_01: I would want to know.
SPEAKER_01: My kid was not about to just go, you know, creative arts project on my forerunner, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like I would want to know.
SPEAKER_01: That's not good.
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, hey, bud, what you doing with that marker?
SPEAKER_01: And his words, I could hear, I mean, he's a little dude, but I can still understand.
SPEAKER_01: Daddy's car.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh, I know where this is going, man.
SPEAKER_01: I've got a couple of you, and I remember when they were that.
SPEAKER_01: I know where this is going.
SPEAKER_01: So I did what any good friend would do.
SPEAKER_01: I walk in, I'm like, hey man, just FYI, little guy, he's out there, got a marker, just figured I'd let you know.
SPEAKER_01: So dad remedied that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Now that's silly, but some of our frustrations go that far, right?
SPEAKER_01: Our kid drew on our car.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, though, we go through deep, deep stuff with our kids.
SPEAKER_01: And we feel it.
SPEAKER_01: When your kid is hurting, there aren't words to express that.
SPEAKER_01: You want to take it for them?
SPEAKER_01: You wanna you want to assume that position?
SPEAKER_01: When your kid is rebelling, you want so badly for them to come back.
SPEAKER_01: And it feels like all you can do is pray behind a glass wall that separates you.
SPEAKER_01: I remember my mother would tell me there was a season of life where I would leave the house, and she stopped asking me what I was doing and where I was going.
SPEAKER_01: And instead, she would just look at me and just say, I'll be here praying.
SPEAKER_01: And she would sit in that living room on her knees.
SPEAKER_01: And some of us as parents, we've been there.
SPEAKER_01: God, help my son, help my daughter.
SPEAKER_01: We've been there, and there are real feelings.
SPEAKER_01: So here is David on the run, who his son was after his own life.
SPEAKER_01: But consider this David still loved his son.
SPEAKER_01: The dynamics of emotion here, the interpersonal elements of family and love and pain and grief and sorrow and fear are just all over Psalm 3 when he says, Oh Lord, I have so many enemies.
SPEAKER_01: So many are against me.
SPEAKER_01: They're saying, God will never rescue Him, but you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_01: You are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
SPEAKER_01: I cried out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And he answered me from his holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: And then not only that, he says, Victory comes from you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: May you bless your people.
SPEAKER_01: It is hard to put yourself in the shoes of David in this situation because this story is so intense.
SPEAKER_01: And I can even feel it because I think most of us we came into church today and we looked at Psalm 3 and I read it and we didn't know exactly what was going on.
SPEAKER_01: We didn't know the behind the music.
SPEAKER_01: We hadn't seen the VH1 episode yet of David in Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_01: And now we do, and we realize oh my goodness, that's what this man was going through when he penned these words.
SPEAKER_01: It is so, so heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And Psalms is full of feelings, especially this one.
SPEAKER_01: David is hurting because his son wanted to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: He's hurting because he loved his son.
SPEAKER_01: He's hurting because his family was fractured.
SPEAKER_01: How would you respond to that?
SPEAKER_01: Where do we go when life does this kind of thing to us?
SPEAKER_01: And families, I want to say this for you.
SPEAKER_01: And this is kind of an aside, but this might help us.
SPEAKER_01: This might help in your practical day-to-day.
SPEAKER_01: Because some of us are like, great, this is heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And I love the Bible learning and stuff, but okay, how do I lace up my shoes with this and do something with this?
SPEAKER_01: So there's a family dynamic here that we need to kind of understand.
SPEAKER_01: And we won't unless we understand the context here in Psalm 3 and what's going on in David's family.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what's going on his son rebelled, his son was exiled, he came back, there was a coup, he wanted to take over, he wanted to lead, he wanted to be in charge.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you what I've learned in my 21 years of being married, and as we have our family, and I see it in other families because obviously I talk to people for a living and interact with these things, and you've seen it too, and you've probably experienced it, but you're not aware of it, or you don't know how to articulate it.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to give everybody something to help.
SPEAKER_01: And it's grandparents, aunts, uncles, moms, dads, it's all families.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to realize something that we see from this story, and it's something that you've probably experienced.
SPEAKER_01: Your family will never be healthy.
SPEAKER_01: Your family will never have harmony if everyone wants to sit on the throne.
SPEAKER_01: If everyone in your family wants things to be done their way, you won't have peace.
SPEAKER_01: Moms, dads, if you have to get what you want all the time, does that ever work out?
SPEAKER_01: If your kids have to get what they want all the time, does that ever work out?
SPEAKER_01: Of course not.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't.
SPEAKER_01: Because a family will never be healthy, a family will never have harmony the way we want.
SPEAKER_01: If everyone is fighting for the throne.
SPEAKER_01: If our pride tells us that we have to be right all the time, no matter what, we will not have harmony in our house.
SPEAKER_01: If we demand respect and never give it, we will never have harmony in our house.
SPEAKER_01: If we want obedience, but we never give compassion and love and we never serve, we will never have harmony in our house.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know the path to peace in any family?
SPEAKER_01: It's one word.
SPEAKER_01: You ready?
SPEAKER_01: Humility.
SPEAKER_01: It's humility.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not thinking less of yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is reality.
SPEAKER_01: It's trusting God and others with the real us and acknowledging who God is and who we are and responding accordingly.
SPEAKER_01: You want to know how to have harmony in your house?
SPEAKER_01: Serve each other.
SPEAKER_01: It's a practical takeaway from Psalm 3 that you'll miss if we don't know the context.
SPEAKER_01: But if you catch it here, no one in David's family is putting Christ at the center of their life and serving it out of a response.
SPEAKER_01: But when you do, that is the path to peace.
SPEAKER_01: But think about what David's going through here.
SPEAKER_01: His son.
SPEAKER_01: This is beyond estranged.
SPEAKER_01: This is beyond a fractured relationship.
SPEAKER_01: This is the type of relationship you just don't know that you can come back from.
SPEAKER_01: And you start to spend those nights staying up, asking God, is this my life now?
SPEAKER_01: Have I lost him now?
SPEAKER_01: I lost the other one.
SPEAKER_01: Have I lost him?
SPEAKER_01: Is this just okay?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Is it my fault?
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine the guilt that David would have been feeling here?
SPEAKER_01: Because he can remember the conversation.
SPEAKER_01: He can remember the conversation when the prophet approaches him and says, The sword will never leave your house.
SPEAKER_01: And David sits there and probably rehashes it.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what shame wants to do to us sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: When things go wrong, what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: Our shame wants to dig up old sins, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Does that ever happen to you?
SPEAKER_01: Your shame ever try to dig up old sins in your life?
SPEAKER_01: Things that you know God has forgiven you for, things that you have confessed, things that you have put real effort into moving past.
SPEAKER_01: But what happens?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes things come up, and what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: Our human mind, it does this thing, it tells us things, it's powerful, and shame just crawls right up on our shoulder and starts recounting old sins.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_01: There's David, he's probably in this moment and he's seeing his family ripped apart, and he's thinking, This is because of that thing I did.
SPEAKER_01: The guilt, the fear for his own life, and then what happens to the others?
SPEAKER_01: His fear for his son.
SPEAKER_01: God, where's my son's heart?
SPEAKER_01: My son's heart is hurting.
SPEAKER_01: Can you reclaim his heart?
SPEAKER_01: That would crush most of us.
SPEAKER_01: It has to be one of the most difficult things to go through as a parent, as a man, as a husband, as a dad, as a leader.
SPEAKER_01: He had real emotions to deal with here.
SPEAKER_01: And many of them he puts, he puts in, I mean, he puts them into words, rescue me, slap all my enemies in the face, shatter the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: David also probably asks, God, I know how my son was raised.
SPEAKER_01: Who's in his life?
SPEAKER_01: Who's speaking into his life?
SPEAKER_01: Surround him with better God.
SPEAKER_01: Protect all of us, protect those who I serve.
SPEAKER_01: Help us.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to see something very, very powerful here.
SPEAKER_01: And it is perhaps the greatest takeaway for all of us.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe for some of us it was the family dynamic thing, and we know that today we need to start serving those in our family like we haven't before.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's practical and it's tactical there for us, and that's great.
SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you the one that's gonna hit all of us.
SPEAKER_01: No matter who you are, where you come from, what age or stage of life you're in, whatever your background is, whatever your job is, wherever you land on any form of tax bracket, it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what you've done, or what's been done to you, you're going to be faced with something in life that's going to be tough, and you are going to ask yourself this question.
SPEAKER_01: Where do I go for help?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you go when life gets hard?
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: When we're angry, frustrated, scared, confused, life has not gone our way.
SPEAKER_01: We are hurting, we are grieving, we have lost.
SPEAKER_01: We go places because we want help.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a lot of fool's gold help out there.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people go.
SPEAKER_01: And we look in all the wrong places for help, but we don't get the help we need.
SPEAKER_01: And we've done this, and we do it on simple things.
SPEAKER_01: Let's be silly for a moment and we'll build a little bit, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Some of us, it's a hard day at work.
SPEAKER_01: It's a hard day.
SPEAKER_01: And you say, you know what sounds good?
SPEAKER_01: Not going home and eating the food we bought at the grocery store.
SPEAKER_01: You know what sounds good?
SPEAKER_01: Taco Bell.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds good.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us are like, and we have that moment.
SPEAKER_01: I've earned it.
SPEAKER_01: Today was tough, and I need a chalupa.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us have done that, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's silly.
SPEAKER_01: But we do this because it's in a way there's comforting.
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it probably reminds us as a kid, when we were younger, when we were in college, and we could eat stuff and it not affect us.
SPEAKER_01: And we love that and we want to hold on to that.
SPEAKER_01: And so it gives us maybe a feeling.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe for some of us, it's man, I had a hard day.
SPEAKER_01: It's been a hard week.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go home.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna listen to that song.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna watch that movie, I'm gonna watch that show, I'm gonna read that book, I'm gonna call that friend.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it progresses.
SPEAKER_01: For some of us, it's I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna have that drink.
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna turn into two drinks, it's gonna turn into three drinks, because I'm trying to forget what I'm going through.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm turning somewhere for help.
SPEAKER_01: Or I'm gonna go and I'm gonna pull up my phone or I'm gonna pull up my computer and I'm gonna look at that thing.
SPEAKER_01: And as long as no one's around to see me look at that thing, it's not gonna hurt them, but it's gonna help me because I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get some type of comfort from it.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm going, I'm I'm turning, I need some help.
SPEAKER_01: I need some help.
SPEAKER_01: Life's tough right now.
SPEAKER_01: I need an escape from it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna drive by that one place and get that stuff that's gonna help me relax and escape from it.
SPEAKER_01: All of us turn to something or someone when life gets tough.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn to?
SPEAKER_01: Who do you turn to?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm scared, so I'm gonna listen to my favorite podcast, and they're gonna be an echo chamber of my views, and so I'm gonna forget that the world's a broken place, and that I need to be a beacon of gospel light as a Christian, and I need to show God's love.
SPEAKER_01: I don't need to show God's love.
SPEAKER_01: I just need to listen and support these particular pundits, and they'll they'll just argue everybody into being morally okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's not on me to live the Christian life as a Jesus follower and hope that the gospel, which is the only eligible thing that can redeem anyone through the love, salvation, grace work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: I won't I won't live that out.
SPEAKER_01: That's not necessary for me to live out.
SPEAKER_01: Because where I turn to makes me feel better about people sharing the very same opinion as me.
SPEAKER_01: And as long as we can all share that opinion, the world will be fixed.
SPEAKER_01: So we sit there in our car, scarfing down that jalupa that we hope no one knows about, that we don't want our wife to know about because we come home and what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: We we take the trash and we put it in the trash can on the outside of the house before we walk in.
SPEAKER_01: And you walk in and you think I got away with it, and then she looks at you and she's like, You smell like mild sauce from Taco Bell, and you're busted.
SPEAKER_01: Seriously, where do you turn to when life gets tough?
SPEAKER_01: Do you turn to your anger?
SPEAKER_01: Do you turn to your fear?
SPEAKER_01: Do you turn to things that gratify you, satiate that want in the moment?
SPEAKER_01: Because all of those things will help you temporarily.
SPEAKER_01: But they're never going to give you what you ultimately need, which is rest for your soul.
SPEAKER_01: And it's hope.
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn to?
SPEAKER_01: David's life was as upside down as anybody's could be.
SPEAKER_01: God, I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I have so many enemies.
SPEAKER_01: There are so many things working against me.
SPEAKER_01: But you, O Lord, are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_01: You are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
SPEAKER_01: I cried out to the Lord and he answered me from his holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord is watching over me.
SPEAKER_01: Some real talk is that when we go to God when things get tough, God doesn't always change our circumstances, does he?
SPEAKER_01: And that's real.
SPEAKER_01: God, I'm hurting, I'm scared.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to fix this.
SPEAKER_01: And God doesn't always fix things the way we want to or in the time frame we want him to.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say it like this when you go to God, he may not change your circumstances, but he will grow your character.
SPEAKER_01: And he will teach you to trust him in all seasons.
SPEAKER_01: If you notice here, David ends his psalm with a request, a supplication, as you would hear as a Bible word.
SPEAKER_01: But before he does that, what precedes his supplication is something remarkable.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll miss it if we're not careful.
SPEAKER_01: And it's the reason we turn to God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not simply that these temporary things provide temporary help or relief.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens, the more temporary relief you receive, the more temporary relief you have to seek.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're gonna have to keep filling that cup instead of resting in who God is.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what David does right here.
SPEAKER_01: Why am I telling you to turn to God in all seasons and all situations?
SPEAKER_01: Because of these words.
SPEAKER_01: Victory comes from you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what David's doing here?
SPEAKER_01: David is exercising the discipline of declaring the goodness and greatness of God in every situation, even when he doesn't feel like it.
SPEAKER_01: Praise is a discipline.
SPEAKER_01: And it is oftentimes, in seasons of hardship, something we don't want to do.
SPEAKER_01: How many of us do that?
SPEAKER_01: Life's real right now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna go to church because I don't want to sing.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna go to church because I don't want to see those people and I'm upset right now, I'm angry, I'm scared right now, and I don't want people to see me like that, and I don't feel, I don't want to come just be be honest, you know, and and and and what are we doing?
SPEAKER_01: What are we doing?
SPEAKER_01: We are lacking the discipline to go to God in all seasons and all situations because we have not practiced the discipline of praising God in all seasons and all situations.
SPEAKER_01: The more you practice praise, the better you get at turning to God when life gets hard.
SPEAKER_01: So, who do you turn to?
SPEAKER_01: And what are you doing today that will prompt you to turn to God when the next day is harder than this day?
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray, and then we'll linger in the lobby in between services as we always do.
SPEAKER_01: As a reminder, too, on our website, you can request prayer anytime you want to.
SPEAKER_01: We would be happy to pray for you with a team of people that those get sent out to.
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget sunrise.net slash events if you want to know what's coming up this summer or a refresher.
SPEAKER_01: But I hope you get to connect with somebody today as we kick off the summer together.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you again for another day.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that your word is what's heard and it is what guides us.
SPEAKER_01: That we don't leave it here, but we take it with us.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for all that you are doing in and through the life of your church, and I pray that your word takes each and every one of us and shapes us as we submit to you and we follow your way, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That we would turn to you in all seasons and all situations.
SPEAKER_01: So in your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us today at Sunrise Church.
SPEAKER_00: We hope this message encouraged you and blessed you.
SPEAKER_00: If one of the ways that you choose to worship with us here at Sunrise is by giving online, there's a link right here that you can follow and it'll take you to that payment portal.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that you donate helps not only go towards reaching people in the greater San Diego area, but also all around the world through our ministry partner.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to get further connected, whether in person or online, you can email this email right here, and either myself or some one of our team members will be there to answer it and help you get connected in any way that you need.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you next week.