WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:05.679 I had a seminary professor some years ago who told this funny story. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:16.239 He said he and his kids were in the yard doing yard work in the backyard, and you know, multiple kids, you know, from very small to older, and they were all kind of running around. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:28.239 One of the older kids had a rake and he was, you know, helping his dad in the backyard, and at some point he turned around and inadvertently smacked his toddler brother in the head with the rake, and the you know, bam, goes right down to the ground. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.679 There's blood, head wounds are very bloody. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.640 Uh the kids are all screaming and running around, it's chaos. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:48.240 Uh my professor, you know, runs up to his toddler child to see if he's okay, and uh, surprisingly, his the this toddler is is serene, just completely fine, just laying there on the ground bleeding. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:55.600 And he overhears his the this uh little child say, I'm just so happy my daddy is a doctor. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:05.040 Now, it's true his daddy was a doctor, but he was a PhD doctor, not an MD doctor. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:16.000 Uh and it's a funny story uh just in and of itself, but it's also a powerful story about the lenses we view our lives through that give us hope and peace. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:16.480 Right? 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:24.159 Now, we would tell say that this kid may have been placing his hope and peace in a wrong, misinterpreted piece of data. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:35.840 Uh, and yet what you can see is the power of that view of his life allowed him to have peace while everyone around him was kind of running around chaotically. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.159 This month through July, we've been preaching through a series called The Fruit of the Kingdom. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:55.200 We've been talking about the fact that we live in a world that was created good, God created the world very good, and yet through sin and the fall, it has become broken, it has become full of sin, it's become chaotic at times and truly dangerous. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:00.640 This world is and can be a dangerous place. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:19.039 And we, in particular, are living in a time when stoking fear and uh antagonizing grievance have become a tool to manipulate and control the masses, you might say, or just our own hearts. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:33.919 This morning, as we close out this sermon series, we're coming once again to this idea that Scripture calls us to live in this world, to walk in this world, viewing everything through a particular lens. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.879 And we're calling that lens the kingdom of God. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:46.240 And if we will walk as Christians, viewing life, ourselves, the world, and God through this lens, it will give us a variety of fruit. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.000 I mean, really the fruit of the Spirit. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:55.120 But this month we've looked at peace, humility, love, and today the fruit of hope. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:01.680 And uh, as we talk about this, we're gonna use Psalm 46 that we read earlier as our template. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:05.919 So let's look again at verses one through three. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:13.120 The psalmist writes, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:25.520 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.599 The psalmist begins with this incredible declaration of faith. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.039 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.080 And then he describes his situation. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:45.919 He says, We will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, the waters roar and foam. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:47.759 What is happening? 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.159 The psalmist's world is falling apart. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:58.719 The very earth under his feet seems to be giving way like six uh quicksand or an earthquake. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.800 The sea is raging, the mountains are crumbling. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:09.360 Any Bible nerds out there see any connections to other passages of Scripture? 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:09.840 Anyone? 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:10.800 Anyone? 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.400 Genesis 1 talks about creation. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:22.720 And the way it describes creation is that the waters part and the dry land rises up from the water. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:28.240 But here we're seeing the earth and the mountains themselves falling into the sea. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:34.399 This biblically literate psalmist is saying that this is an act of uncreation. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.639 Everything is literally and utterly falling apart. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.879 But mountains and seas can also be references to great powers in the world. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:49.360 Kingdoms and kings are often relayed as mountains. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:58.079 And the sea is this kind of dangerous, chaotic force that's ever present in the world. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:02.879 And so again, what we see is that the psalmist world is in upheaval. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:08.639 We don't know the specifics necessarily, but we can tell that things are falling apart. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.839 And so it begs the question for us. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:16.079 When was the last time you felt your world was falling apart? 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.199 Maybe even this morning. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.079 You've come here with a bit of a sense of desperation. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:26.639 There are things going on in your life that you can't control that feel out of control. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:29.839 Maybe a death in your family. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:37.839 Redeemer, for the church this size, we've had a fair amount of death in the last year or two. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:45.360 Maybe it's the loss of a job, prolonged unemployment, or just prolonged suffering in your life. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:50.560 Maybe the loss of a relationship that's left you feeling isolated and alone. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:53.199 Maybe it's financial, right? 00:05:53.600 --> 00:06:01.279 We're uh all feeling the pinch of inflation, and um you know, maybe you have a lot of financial anxieties. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:07.439 Maybe it's what's going on in the broader world of our country or the world, right? 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.720 I'm I apologize for bringing up all this stuff to make you feel anxious. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:18.639 Maybe you came in feeling very serene yourself, but right, we live in a very polarized time, right? 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.759 Everyone seems to be polarized. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.959 We were I was talking with someone last night, a single person in there. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:32.399 They were talking about how the polarization in our country is affecting uh the dating world and how difficult it is to meet people. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.040 There's rumors of civil war in our country. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:41.600 People are talking about World War III because of the wars going on in our world today. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:54.480 We've had one presidential candidate just recently barely uh avoid an assassination attempt, and the other presidential candidate dropped out of the race at a very late hour. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.360 There are plenty of things on the horizon and in our own lives that threaten our sense of hope and peace at a heart level. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.399 But here's the danger, and here's why we're talking about it this morning. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:18.879 When we face, we are faced with the loss of stability and our hope for the future, it threaten uh when our hope for the future is threatened, we tend to reach for whatever is closest to us that promises refuge and strength. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:26.560 And this is why so many of us put our hope in politicians and an election outcome. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:32.160 This is why so many of us overwork and pay constant attention to the stock market. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:37.040 This is why so many of us enter into relationships that we know we shouldn't. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.600 So, what is shaping your hope these days? 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:52.240 Now we want to ask the question how is the psalmist able to say, in the midst of his world falling upside down, we will not be afraid. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:53.360 That brings us to point. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:55.680 Oh, let's look at verses four through seven. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:02.000 There's a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.959 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.759 God will help her when morning dawns. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.040 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.399 He utters his voice, the earth melts. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:19.439 The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:24.959 Now, in verse 4, the psalmist says something curious if you know anything about the city of God. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.240 He says, There's a river whose streams make glad the city of God. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.480 The city of God, of course, at this time is Jerusalem. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.399 But there is no such river running through Jerusalem. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:47.120 What the author is alluding to is he's making an allusion to another biblical place through which a river runs, and that is the Garden of Eden. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:09:15.519 What the psalmist is calling us and all of his hearers to remember is that no matter what our situation that we're in, God is able, can, and will bring refreshing, life-giving blessings into our lives, like rivers of living water, making our sin-cursed world and present situation feel like a restored garden of Eden. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:23.679 I had lunch with uh someone this week, and over lunch they were telling me uh about a particular situation going on in their life. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:31.519 It had it's been ongoing, it's been uh a situation of anxiety, of heartache, of longing. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:48.879 But then as they were telling the story, they paused and they began to tear up, and then they said, But whatever happens, I know that God is good, and that the ending of the story will be good. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:58.240 In that moment, in a very simple yet beautiful way, they were doing what this psalmist in Psalm 46 is doing. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:09.600 First, they honestly and accurately named what was going on in their lives painful, difficult, begging them to anxiety. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:19.279 But then, too, they placed that story, their own story and situation, within the larger story of the one that God is telling. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.080 And it became a balm to his soul. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.600 Listen to how the psalmist does the same thing. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:39.840 He affirms that God has promised to dwell in the midst of his people, just as in Christ, God has promised to dwell in us, those who have put our faith in Christ through his Holy Spirit. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:45.840 And because God is in her midst, the psalmist says, She shall not be moved. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.039 Why? 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:52.240 Well, he tells us again in verse 6 the nations rage, the kingdoms totter. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:56.960 He, God, utters his voice, the earth melts. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:10.879 Imagine this is an individual, one solitary person who's looking out at his world and he's seeing everything fall apart, nations raging against nation, kingdoms tottering on the brink of destruction. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.759 It's easy in that perspective to feel utterly helpless and afraid. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:27.679 And yet for him, he pulls back the focus until he says, but when God speaks, the earth melts. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:36.559 The very earth itself in which all of these huge and powerful nations dwell are nothing compared to the God of the universe. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:40.000 But he's not just the God of the universe, he is our God. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:49.519 He's the God who has come to us, the God who has loved us, the God who has come to dwell inside of us. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:59.759 Like my professor's toddler, child, the lens through which the psalmist sees the world and invites us to see the world makes all the difference. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:01.919 So, how do we get there? 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.240 He tells us in verses 10 through 11. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:05.279 Let's look there. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:09.360 Be still, know that I am God. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.360 I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:18.639 The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.879 In verse 10, the Lord Himself speaks, right? 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.080 All the other verses are the psalmist writing. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:33.600 Now the Lord speaks and he tells us how to find rest and hope in the midst of this chaotic world, and he says, Be still. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:35.840 Know that I am God. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.159 So let's break that down. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.000 Be still. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.080 What does it mean to be still? 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:44.960 Well, it means to stop the frenzy of activity. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:50.480 The frenzy activity in your mind, the frenzy activity of your body. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:59.519 The constant doing, the never-ending stream of news and entertainment, of distractions. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:13.120 That's one of the great uh delusions of our age is I don't want to think about all these things that are giving me anxiety, so let me distract myself with Netflix or funny things or a crossword puzzle or a podcast. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:19.039 And yet by distracting ourselves, the anxiety of our heart continues. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:22.159 It simply runs under the water like the feet of a duck. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:31.279 Blaise Pascal, famous French philosopher, inventor, uh theologian, he said this. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:38.000 He said, all of a person's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:42.000 Why won't we sit in a quiet room alone? 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:43.519 Because we're afraid. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:48.799 We're afraid of what we won't hear. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.399 And so we create a constant noise. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:02.799 Having the TV on at all times, kind of maybe having a podcast going at every moment of the day, having the game on in the background. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:09.440 Beloved, I encourage you to become aware of what you take into your mind and heart on a daily basis. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:19.600 It's not a bad thing to pay attention to the news or to social media, but there is an absolute limit to what is healthy and helpful for you. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:41.200 And so the Lord Himself invites us to shut out the world for a time, each and every day, to sit at Jesus' feet, to listen to his voice through the scriptures, to pour out our hearts to him, to place our anxieties in his hands, and to wait. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.879 Well, not only are we to be still in his presence, but we are to know that he is God. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:59.200 We're to fill our mind and our hearts with the truth and the promises that God has given us, so many promises, to be with us even to the end of the age. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:06.159 He tells us to set ourselves, our lives, our situation within this larger story that God is telling. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:12.240 So we remind ourselves of the story that God is telling. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:19.360 And as hard as it is at times, depending on what's going on in your life, it's vital to remember the faithfulness of God. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.759 We've been singing about it even this morning. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.639 The faithfulness of God in your own life. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:27.039 Where has God been faithful? 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:31.679 Where has he shown himself true in your own story? 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:42.320 But even in the broader context of all of history, right, we have the scriptures that show the people of God time and time again in desperate, deadly situations. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:46.720 And yet the Lord is present and faithful. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:53.519 Not only to rescue, but to die for us as his people. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:59.679 I love the scene in the Gospels where Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:04.559 And Pilate, in a way, he's he's trying to get Jesus to talk. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.879 He doesn't think Jesus is this guilty criminal. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:17.039 And so he says to Jesus, Don't you know that I have the power of life and death over you? 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.120 Why won't you speak? 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:27.679 And so Jesus does speak and he says to him, You have no power over me at all, except for that which is given to you from above. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:41.120 See, Jesus, moments from his death, from his unjust punishment, never stopped placing his story within the larger story that God was telling. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:47.120 And so in that moment, he had peace and he had hope of the resurrection. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.039 If you are in Christ, then you are the beloved of God. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:17:03.840 And God has made incredible promises to provide for you, to be with you, and also to work in your life through hardship to bring about the true fruits of the kingdom. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.200 He will never leave us, never forsake us. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:13.759 And if you're in a time in your life where it is very hard to believe that promise, that's okay. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:17.680 Let the community come around you and have that faith for you. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:23.759 Those who have walked through the valley of the shadow of death before you can be an incredible comfort. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:25.519 Listen to their stories. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.400 Cling in faith to the truth. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.759 Now, where is this story going? 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:39.359 The psalmist tells us that the Lord is our refuge and our strength in the midst of great trouble, and that is absolutely true today. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.039 But God did not withhold the end of the story from us. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:45.440 He tells us the end of the story. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:49.359 Listen to where our story, God's story, is going. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.119 Then I saw a new heavens and a new earth. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:18:01.039 For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the chaotic, the dangerous sea was no more. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:10.160 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:16.480 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.400 He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:24.400 God himself will be with them as their God. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:29.279 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:36.640 Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:47.359 Beloved, is that not an incredible promise, prophecy, revelation of what is to come and it will come? 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:57.920 The Father, our Father in heaven, is offering us a hope, a lens through which to view our lives so that we have a sure hope. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:04.880 And that when we need to reach out for that strength, for that refuge, we will reach out to Him. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:16.000 Beloved, don't put your hope in princes, in chariots, or in horses, but rest in the hope of the Lord your God who loves you and gave himself up for you. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:17.440 Let's pray. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.920 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:30.000 Lord, in the midst of a world that feels often like it is falling apart, Lord, we struggle to have hope. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:35.279 And we struggle to have hope in the places you tell us to have hope. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.839 And so, Father, we ask for your help. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:39.680 We thank you for your faithfulness. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:41.119 We thank you for your promises. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.480 We thank you for Jesus. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:50.880 We thank you for his death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection from the dead and his seating at your right hand. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:55.839 Lord, may your larger story shape our smaller stories. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.839 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:58.319 Amen.