WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:01.520 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.400 So that was a song, quite a quite a song, right? 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.200 We don't quite sing songs like that too much anymore. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.359 But that was their song. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.480 So I was even looking at this sermon last night. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.399 I was in my study and I was reviewing the sermon sermon, kind of going through it. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:24.800 And at some point in it, I just felt like, and preachers feel like this, like this just isn't, this, this just isn't that good. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.039 You know, I don't know if you might not know that feeling. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.800 Maybe you've had a presentation before something, and right before you're like, it's just not that good. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:32.640 I just, and that's how I was feeling. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.439 I was like, okay, well, why do I feel like it's not that good? 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:41.920 And I think what the reason why I feel like it's not quite that good is because it is so connected to last week. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:51.679 Like, really, maybe I should have preached for 45 minutes last week, you would have hated me, but that would have been the better scenario because this is so much part two of last week. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:59.920 Last week was about these people crossing through the Red Sea and they get out on the other side and they erupt, they erupt into a song. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.439 And so this week I'm talking about this song, but it's totally connected to everything that they've been through. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:26.959 All right, so I I've had a few uh kind of turning point revelation explosions in my life when it comes to uh theology and spirituality, and I was thinking back through them this week, and for me, that maybe the first one was, and it was sometime in high school, and it was the it was the revelation that I can know God. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:28.480 That was huge for me. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:33.280 That was personal, that I had up until that point, maybe just kind of attending church here and there. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:51.280 But there became a point where I realized, wow, like I can know him, and like he wants to know me, and then there's all these things I can do to know him, like I can pray and I can study scripture, and they have these things called devotional books, and and I was discovering all these different things that I can do to know him. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.040 Huge revelation for me. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:54.239 Huge, right? 00:01:54.400 --> 00:02:00.319 And if you know this, maybe you're like so basic, buddy, that's real basic, but at some point it was a revelation to you as well. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.439 Second for me was uh worship. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:15.439 That worship was more than us gathering at the Baptist church, although it can be at the Baptist church, nothing against the Baptist church, but my experience was at the Baptist church where other people were worshiping. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:16.479 I was bored. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:17.919 That was just me there. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.240 Other people, they were having a great worshipful experience. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:27.120 I was bored to death, and that was my experience of worship. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:35.919 And then I had this revelation, this you know, this breakthrough that, well, okay, so like God's called me to be a worshiper. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.000 Maybe it doesn't look like the boredom that I was having there, but maybe something else. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:49.680 And that bigger than that, it's not just worship and a gathering and Sunday morning and the one-hour worship service, but it was that it's life and that it can be where I'm in my car. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.879 I remember the first worship CD I got because there were there was a time before, like worship albums. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:56.319 I don't know if you realize that. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:03:14.879 And it was it came off of the campus where I was in college, and and it was uh it was the CD was called Frost because that was the chapel on the campus, and I wore this CD out in my car because it was a breakthrough for me that I could be in my car driving, worshiping, and that this counted, right? 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:21.680 Like it wasn't Sunday morning, like this was actually worship, probably counted more, and that it was that was a huge revelation for me. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.680 It was huge, and then thirdly, was about maybe five years ago or so. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.599 We talk a lot about this here in our church, and that's where I came into the wholeness of the gospel. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:37.039 Up until that point, even these things I just mentioned, like to know God and to worship. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:41.280 But for me, the gospel meant I was forgiven of my sin. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:48.639 Now go and do these things so that your standing with God can be secured by what you do. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:04:00.240 And so this worship and these disciplines and all of this, it was me manufacturing and trying to feel secure on a daily basis of my approval and my acceptance before God. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.879 And then I was exhausted as a pastor. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:10.000 You know, I was just putting out more and more challenging to my challenges to my people, exhausting them to do the same thing. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:21.759 And I came into the wholeness of the gospel to realize, oh my gosh, so Christ died for my sin, but he also died to give me his righteousness, and that I'm forever secure and beloved in his sight. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:26.160 And that redefines those other revelations and explosions I had in my life. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:34.800 So the disciplines and the worship, all of that gets redefined by the fact that none of that has to get used for me to feel accepted. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:39.360 All of it gets used because I'm already accepted, and this was huge for me. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.879 And I mention all of that because it has everything to do with Exodus 15. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:50.720 Because what Exodus 15 is about is there's been this great victory. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:57.040 And the victory is done, and the victory has been given, and the people are responding. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:04.000 They're not responding, they're not singing to get the victory, they're singing because of the victory. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.959 And like I said, this week is so connected to what we've been looking at the past couple months. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:22.079 And what's been going on the last couple of months is these the people of God, the Israelites, they've been in slavery for about 400 years, and just day after day after day of making bricks for Pharaoh under enslavement. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:23.360 They've had quotas. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:25.600 If you don't make the bricks, you're out in the hot sun. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:35.600 If you don't make your quota, you get beat, and you do it again and again and again, brick after brick after brick, day after day after day. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:37.920 And we can imagine it for a day. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:43.759 Maybe we can imagine it for a couple days, but that it would never stop. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:46.720 That's enslavement. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:59.439 And for us, it's a picture of what the enslavement of sin does when we're being defined by our sin and we're being defined by condemnation and shame and fear. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.639 And so these people they've been crying out to God, just come rest, get us out of this, rescue us from this. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.399 And finally, God moves and he gets Moses. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:14.639 Moses had been out in Midian and he pulls him back, and Moses complains, he thinks he can't do it, and they go back and forth for a while. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.360 And finally, the people of Israel come out. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:24.639 Last week we talked about they thought they were gonna go the way of the land, the easier route to Canaan, and that wasn't the route because they ended up going the way of the wilderness. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.199 They get down there, their backs are against the Red Sea. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:31.040 The Egyptians and all the forces are coming at them, and they think this is the end. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:33.839 And so, of course, this is how humanity responds. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.079 They plead back to Moses, you should have left us back in our enslavement. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.079 We were better off back there. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.560 You shouldn't have bothered us, you shouldn't have rescued us. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:43.519 None of this should have happened. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:07:08.399 We were better in our slavery than this fearful position that we're gonna die, and then God moves and God acts and God gives victory, and they cross through, and then their enemy, that force that had been defining them for so long, that voice, that thing, was drowned. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:15.279 And so last week we talked about, you know, that voice of condemnation or shame, it doesn't go away. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.639 We still hear it, right? 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:22.160 That penalty of sin, we we we still feel some of the penalty of sin. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.079 We won't feel it for eternity. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:32.319 We feel some repercussions and the voices of condemnation and shame, we still hear them, but they don't have defining power over you anymore. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.560 God's victory for you is the defining power. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:43.519 So they come out on the other side and they erupt and worship, they erupt singing. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:46.800 Because there's just no other way to respond. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:57.600 There's just no other way to respond than when you've been rescued out of slavery, you've been being chased, or you're afraid, and your back's against the Red Sea, and you think this is it, and then God moves and you get victory, and you walk through. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:58.720 And they just sing. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.480 It's the only response. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.360 When you're connected to that story, that's the response. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.639 That's what it says, Exodus 15:1. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:14.079 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.160 Maybe you've had this moment. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:29.680 You've had that stress and that heartache, maybe you've had that voice of condemnation and shame and fear, and all of a sudden you had some breakthrough, all of a sudden you realize, oh my gosh, I'm I'm I'm forever accepted by God. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:37.519 He's always with me, no matter my emotional state, no matter my moral failure, that I'm accepted to the blood of Jesus. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.519 Maybe you've maybe you've come to this revelation and it's just freedom to sing. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:50.000 Those pieces finally fell in place that were stressing you out. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:56.960 That relief finally came, that insight finally came that you so desperately needed. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:59.759 And then you sang. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:12.159 We were at the funeral for our friend who I talked last week, or our friend died last week, one of Christie's good friends and one of my good friends, and she died tragically and suddenly last week. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:13.759 And so Monday was the funeral. 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.399 I was given uh like a little five-minute eulogy. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:26.480 Um, some friends of mine were officiating the service, and so I got down there early since I was part of it, and uh I'm sitting on the front row, sitting on that front row, and sort of trying to get my mind around this. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.399 And it's a weird thing when you participate. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:40.240 Maybe you've participated in a funeral before, because most of the time you get to go to a funeral to grieve, but when you participate in the funeral, your mind's thinking about what you need to do, so you're not really grieving, you're kind of operating, and so I'm in operation mode. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:48.639 And so just sitting there, and then uh I was sitting next to a a girl who was reading, and then they're seating the family, and like the place was packed out. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:59.440 I mean, uh maybe a thousand people or so showed up for this funeral, just slam-packed, and they bring the family in, and there's just family kept coming and coming like wow, big family just kept on coming. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:10.240 They reproduce well in this family, and they just kept coming in, and uh finally we're kind of looking around, like they're running out of rows, like you could have fit the family in this church, like in this building. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:32.080 And so finally, me and this other girl, we we we walk up and we sit in the choir loft up on the stage because they just needed the seats, and so I'm sitting up there, and now I can look back and I see my friend Tommy, and I see his five kids just thinking about it, and I've been reading this story living and this Exodus story, and just going, man, like this is where they're at. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.120 Like their back is against the Red Sea. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:42.080 I mean, they they are gonna hear such voices of fear and doubt. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.159 He will, those kids will. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:56.399 Thursday night, I was with a group of men from the church that they go to, and they asked me to come and would you come and speak on grief. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:07.519 Um, if you've been here a while, about a year and a half ago or so, we had a tragic death in our church, and we had to figure our way through that when we were a church of maybe 40 adults at the time. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.559 I said, Can you come and talk about y'all's experience? 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:20.559 And so sat with 30 guys in a room and talked about this tragic death, and talked about the death in their church, and we just talked. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:27.200 And and so much of the concern goes toward Tommy and the kids, right? 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:28.639 Like over and over again. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.320 That's what kept coming up. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.200 And then we had a prayer time, and man, I don't know. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:36.080 Like this one guy who prayed, I'm like, you should be like a professional prayer. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:36.799 I mean, he prayed. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:38.000 I was like, that's fantastic. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:38.960 Like, where do you look? 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:46.080 I mean, he bows his head, he's like, God, forgive us for our hard hearts and our callous hearts and our lack of understanding, our doubt of your sovereignty. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:47.759 And I'm like, this is incredible. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:56.639 I'm like taking notes, this guy's prayer, and just us praying, God, would you give them a song? 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.919 Would they come out on the other side? 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:14.960 Like, haven't we all needed this to come out on the other side when it just looked like I'm not gonna get through this depression, I'm not gonna get through this job loss, I'm not gonna get through this condemnation, I'm not gonna get through this addiction. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:24.720 And you're just going, man, I don't have a song right now to sing, but I want to come out on the other side and I want to have a song to sing. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:34.879 What's clear in this passage is that the song comes out of an understanding of the victory that's already been given. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:40.960 And this is why we talk about God's victory on the cross every week, right? 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.320 You're like, hey, can you move on? 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:43.440 Can you move on to something else? 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.200 No, we can't move on. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.559 We can't. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:53.039 Because the thing that defines all the spiritual disciplines and the worship is the victory. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:57.679 It's the thing that gives us the fuel, it's the thing that forms it. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:07.840 Knowing the victory, abiding in the victory, resting in the victory, it's the thing that inspires us to want to sing because it's it becomes the core of our identity. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:25.679 And what gets to happen is you get freedom because all the self-justifying works that just push you into legalism or they push you into escapism, all of those works can be quieted because your heart is quieted by the grace of God. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:39.919 And then you're in bed or you're in your car, you're sitting in class, or you're on the way to class, or you're wherever you're at, and you're just you're overwhelmed by how much he loves you and what he did for you and how he can define you. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.799 See, for these Israelites, there's this Red Sea moment. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:45.600 That was their victory. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:57.440 But what we understand having the entire scriptures and having the New Testament is that this is a this is a foreshadowing, this is a picture for us of the victory that God would do on the cross. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:05.440 Incarnate love coming into the mess of humanity and taking on our sin and giving us his righteousness. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.279 See, listen, listen, listen. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:18.000 If you've shifted faith from all of your self-justifying works to what his work was for you, you are always accepted. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:21.200 Always. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:28.399 Wow, now now I have something to sing for. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.440 Like when it's sort of up to me, I don't have a lot to sing for. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:40.480 In fact, I'll probably use my singing to try to justify and feel like I'm accepted by God rather than the singing being a response to the victory that's already been given. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:46.080 See, worship is this reaction to what He has done for you. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.399 It's not an act for us to become more accepted. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:53.919 I mean, for so long, that's what worship was to me. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:59.679 It's like, if I can get emotionally aroused enough, then God will think I'm really spiritual. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.240 It's like, no, no, no, no. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.279 It's just a response to the victory that's already been given to you. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.679 Maybe it's emotional one day, and maybe there's no emotion the next day, but we can still sing. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.039 So, our text, finally, get to our text, halfway through second pages. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.000 Okay, we're gonna get there. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.759 So, Exodus 15. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:21.039 The song erupts out of the people. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.200 And here's five points, and I'm not gonna take long on each one, don't worry. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:31.039 Five points, quick points, uh about this song, about praise. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:41.840 And it's this the praise is about God's covenant, it's about God's character, it's about God's name, it's about God's work, and it's about God's purpose. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.639 Number one, the praise is about God's covenant. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:45.600 Verses one and two. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:54.320 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:58.399 The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:06.879 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:13.279 This is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.399 What I love about these two verses is what we see here is what we've talked about in the past few weeks. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.240 So entertain me if you've been around. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:24.080 But what we see here is this combination of the personal and the covenantal. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:24.799 Right? 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.639 So we've talked about how for years, at least for me, it was all personal, personal relationship with God. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:32.000 Do you have a personal relationship with God? 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:32.960 Do you have a personal relationship? 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:33.679 Do you have a personal relationship? 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.080 I got the first time I got asked, I was on a beach in Panama City. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:37.600 Didn't know, but it was like a ministry. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:42.879 They walk around with these note cards and they witness, and so they asked me that at the time, meaningful question. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.759 I needed the question. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.120 The answer to that was no. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.440 That question meant everything. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.679 I needed a personal relationship with God. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.519 I still need a personal relationship with God, but I need something even deeper. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:02.720 And it's here in this text because there's covenantal relationship here also, and that's this that He has become my salvation. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:07.279 So we see the personal, my strength, my song, I will exalt him, my Father's God. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:12.640 Like all of it is personal to us, but there's something underneath it, and that's the covenantal. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:24.720 And here's what covenantal means it's God saying to us, I will be what I should be, whether you are what you should be or not. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.759 Do you hear the security in that for us? 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:38.160 I will be what I should be for you, even if you're not what you should be. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.759 That's covenantal. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.880 That he has covenanted with us. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:56.240 And now our personal relationship that some days is so fantastic, and we're so spiritual, and we've done our Beth Moore study or our John MacArthur study, and we're feeling really good. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:06.400 And then there's some days where you like you just maybe you just cracked the Bible and read one verse, or maybe you didn't even get to that, and you're just feeling like I'm not quite cutting it. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.799 And God's covenant is speaking over you. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.960 I will be what I should be for you, even if you're not what you should be. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.000 See, that's the very thing that draws you back. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.920 That's the very thing that draws you back. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.400 That's the relief of the gospel, that He is my salvation. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:33.039 He's all the rescue, all the justification, he's all the relief from the shame and the condemnation. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:33.920 So that's that's it. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:36.960 The praise is about God's covenant. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.240 It's about God's character. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.599 Number two, verse 11. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.839 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.200 Who is like you? 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:45.359 Who is this good? 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:50.640 He's who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:52.799 And this fuels what he does. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:53.839 Verse 13. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:58.799 You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:02.559 You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:03.920 So it's about God's character. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.119 Number three, the praise is about God's name. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:12.880 Verse 11, the Lord, verse 3, the Lord is a man of war. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:15.200 The Lord is his name. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.720 Do you remember back to chapter 6? 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:31.599 We talked something about names of God, and there was an interplay there about the different names of God, and we saw this name El Shaddai, this name of God, and this name meant there's a name for God that reveals that God is sufficient for people who have personal inadequacies. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:34.240 Anyone just like you like love that name, right? 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:37.039 Tattoo it just all over because I need that. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:42.720 God is sufficient for those who have personal inadequacies. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.519 And then this name here, Lord is Jehovah. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.400 It's this rich name, this name meaning self-existent, one true God. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.759 And you go, well, that's no big deal. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:56.319 It means everything to these people because they just came out of Egypt where there's a God for everything. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:02.400 There's a false God created for everything, and people give their lives for these false gods. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:09.920 They toil, they sacrifice, they put themselves to work for something they created. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:16.400 And now they're coming into this knowledge about the one true God that gives them the victory. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.960 So they're saying, the Lord is your name, Jehovah is your name. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.799 Number four, the praise is about God's work. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.480 That's it, verses four through ten. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.880 It's just praise about everything he's done for them. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.799 You read back through it again later. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:32.720 Everything that he's done for them. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.799 It's just sort of a narrative, a timeline. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.319 They are overwhelmed. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.720 Finally, they're out of the slavery, finally they're free from their enemies. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:41.839 Right? 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:52.480 That place, that voice, that sorrow, that enslavement, that thing that would never end. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:56.880 Brick after brick after brick. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:00.240 Finally, victory. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:04.720 That's where we get that verse 11. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:05.920 Who's like you? 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.359 Who's like you? 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:15.039 That can pull the power away from this force that's been dominating me. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.480 Number five, the praises about God's purpose. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.200 We see in verse 17 and 18, you will bring them in, talking about his people. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:36.720 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, oh Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.599 The Lord will reign forever and ever. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:45.680 So so clearly, praise is about God's purpose for his people, but for his glory. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:53.519 And these people are finally starting to see something that God is doing something. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:22:02.720 A few weeks ago, Mount Parents School, they they contacted us and they said, uh, hey, we have this really Really big picture of Jesus. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:04.079 Would you like it? 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.519 A really big picture of Jesus. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:10.640 And they was got it with a text and going, okay, big, like really big picture of Jesus. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.079 Well, I really mean really big picture. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:16.960 There was a man standing next to the picture of Jesus and is like normal man. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.000 And then like Jesus was way above him. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:26.799 And we're looking at it, and you know, we're about to start construction on a building and hopefully be moving into that building around February. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.680 And so we're going, Well, this man, this could work out for us. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.519 Like, let's figure out a way to get this. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.200 And so I'm communicating with them. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:38.559 So finally, finally, Rob and I go on uh this week and we go to pick up this picture of Jesus. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:43.839 We've we've been finally, I finally have been just calling it Big Jesus because I didn't you know what do we call it? 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:44.960 It's Big Jesus. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:51.200 And so I show up into the little lobby and I just say, Hey, I'm here to pick up the Big Jesus painting. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:53.359 Apparently they've been calling him Big Jesus also. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.759 I think there's not there's nothing else to call him. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:56.799 I mean, he's huge. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:58.880 And she's like, Oh, you're picking up Big Jesus. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.039 We haven't known what to do with him for so long. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.119 And I'm like, Well, you know, thank you for sharing Jesus with us. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.279 We will take your G we will take Jesus from you. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.000 And so it doesn't take long in the lobby. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:14.799 People are walking through and they're like, oh, this is the Big Jesus guy. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:16.240 I'm like, yeah, I'm the Big Jesus guy. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:17.440 You're taking Big Jesus. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.759 You know, everybody knows about Big Jesus. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.920 And they're all saying, He's really big, he's really big. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.279 And I hadn't seen him in person yet. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:24.960 I hadn't seen Jesus in person yet. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:31.039 And so I walk in this back hallway, down the hallway, and we get down there, and he's big. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.319 Like he's big. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.680 He's eight foot nine by eight foot nine squared. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:37.119 Big Jesus. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:41.599 And everybody's responses to Jesus is the same. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:43.839 All these people in this lobby. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.799 Um Rob finally gets there, he walks down. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:53.359 Same response I had, and you just go, wow, he's big, big Jesus. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.039 Like, wow, really, really big, really big. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:09.039 So we start wrapping Big Jesus up, blankets and tarps and taping him up, you know, probably not supposed to tape Jesus up, but we're taping him up, bounding him, limiting him in our lives. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.680 And so I put him on the back of our truck. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:18.240 We put Jesus on the back of this little truck I borrowed, little Toyota little truck, and he's sticking out on both sides. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.599 It looks ridiculous. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:21.839 And Rob's driving a truck behind me. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:29.359 And so we're cruising down Stilesborough quite slowly because Jesus is sticking out about two feet on each side. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:38.480 And I don't know laws, you know, a lot of laws about driving and hauling things, not a big hauler of materials. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:44.079 And so driving out Stylesborough, and there's a cop up ahead, and he's like there had been a little fender bender. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:50.960 And I'm I'm starting to get a little nervous because I'm not sure, like do you like tie the little red streamers? 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.720 You know, sometimes you see the red streamers on things, I'll have red streamers. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:00.720 And so I'm like, he might like just ask me to stop and ask me something. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:09.440 And then there's this thought, I was like, yeah, but I get to say, well, you know, it's it is Big Jesus. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:15.200 Like there was this part of me that I was hoping he would stop me just so I could say it. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:16.400 But he didn't stop me. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.359 He waved me through. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:24.559 And also at the same time, it's dawning on me that this Jesus is not going through any double doors. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:32.480 So about driving, I'm starting the place I was going to go, just quickly I realized he he won't fit. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:36.799 Jesus will not fit in that place through those doors. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.559 Like he needs a garage door, is the size of Jesus. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.359 It's through a garage door, and so he's coming to my house. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.799 Jesus is coming to my house. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.839 He's gonna live in my garage for a while. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:52.640 And so we get him in there, Rob and I, and we put them against the wall and we tie them down. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.799 So Jesus is tied up against the wall of my garage right now. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.839 So here's the point. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:06.000 Um, even later, I think I took some pictures and sent it to some people, like, you know, look how huge Jesus is. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:08.640 And everybody's response is the same thing. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.279 Like, whoa, like he's so big. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.279 Like that's like why? 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:15.599 Like, why is this picture this big? 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:20.240 Like, it's not a normal thing that you would have a picture this big of Jesus. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.160 See, and here's the point, funny story. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:23.119 Here's the point. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:42.079 When we s when we see his goodness, when we see his love, when when you see how big his acceptance is of you, well, first off, it it's not gonna push you into apathy and laziness and rebellion. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:43.519 That's not what it does. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:58.319 Because what it does is it relieves your heart of self-justification, of legalism and escapism, and so it pulls you into himself, and you see how big his victory is for you. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:04.480 And you go, wow, he's so big for me. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:20.319 That defining power of slavery, that defining power of the need of approval, or that defining power of condemnation, like all of that's been swallowed up by his victory for me. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:33.519 And it creates a new song in us because that's proclaimed over us all the time, never ending. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:45.839 This week for me, I think I think I've realized in some regard at an early age, I learned how to not feel to a certain degree. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:47.839 Like I learned how to operate. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.920 And I think because this last week with our friend dying, you know, I just went in operation mode. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:52.960 Like, what do I need to do? 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:53.680 How can I help? 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:54.480 What do I need to say? 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:02.799 Like, plan that, do this, like, and just this last night, this morning, just started to realize like, man, I still do that. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:08.799 There's so much in me that I can just pretend my singing is what I can do. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.640 I can just pretend it. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:13.200 I did it for a while. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:19.839 And I'm starting to learn that like it's okay, it's probably it's actually healthy to feel. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:26.880 It's healthy to grieve, it's healthy to be at the place with your back against the Red Sea and to be honest about it. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:34.400 The only way, the only way you're gonna get through the Red Sea and understand the victory is to understand where you've been and the enslavement that you've had. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:40.400 See, if you're not real about your brokenness and about your sin, then you can't understand the victory and you'll never sing because of it. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.319 It just won't be that big of a deal to you. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.119 The grace won't be that big of a deal to you. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:50.000 I say that to say maybe you're here, you're hurting in some way. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:52.880 And we want to pray for you. 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:56.720 Because you you hear all that and you go, I don't want to sing. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.440 Like you gave me five things to sing about God, I you just think not me, not now. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:03.200 That's fine. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:04.000 Feel that. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:05.680 It's okay to feel that. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:08.559 But I uh we want to pray for you. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:12.240 And so as we bow in prayer, I welcome you. 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:29.359 If you you don't have to try to create more faith or anything, you can just, as we bow in prayer, go ahead and bow in prayer, as we bow in prayer, that you just just would open the palms of your hands, you would just open your hands, just just as a posture of humility. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:36.240 If you're here, you'd say, I'm I'm hurting, I have no song, I'm doubting. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:42.160 I still hear the voices of condemnation, I still let them define me. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:45.279 I still let shame define me. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:57.519 I still let that thing, that sin, that mistake, I still let it define me that you would just open the palms of your hands. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:00.559 And God, we come before you. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:17.839 And we are needy beggars because we are frail, we are insecure, we have fallen short of what you have asked of us, we are imperfect, we are broken. 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:38.079 God, would you help us with the thing, the voice, the thing that we give power over to to define us, rather than letting your victory for us define us? 00:30:38.799 --> 00:31:07.519 Would you increase our faith in the cross where you have taken all of this, all of this brokenness and sin, that you have taken all of it, and you have paid all the price, there's nothing left for us to pay, and you have given to us, help us to help us to receive that you have given to us your righteousness, that we are forever accepted, we are always accepted. 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:13.279 And would you create in us a new song? 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:19.759 My brothers and sisters, may you see him and the greatness of his victory for us on the cross. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:25.039 May your heart be drawn deeper and may you sing a new song. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:26.960 Amen.