WEBVTT 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.480 So I have a question for you. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:07.440 Do you talk to yourself? 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:11.359 A lot of this. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:13.359 I talk to myself. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:14.800 I'm not afraid to admit it. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.000 I've been talking to myself uh for a long time. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:24.559 And if you don't like I I like to talk, okay, so uh if nobody else will listen, I'll talk to myself. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:31.359 I I found that I talk to myself a lot when I am like really focused in on something, right? 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.560 So like right now, we're in annual budgeting season. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:36.240 It's a lot of spreadsheets, right, Karen? 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.560 We're looking at them and I'm like, okay, this cell edited this one two times this, all this. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.759 And I'm talking out the formulas for Excel as I'm working through it and where things go. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.079 Or I do it a lot with yard work, right? 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:53.200 Y'all, um, I'm convinced I'm gonna reclaim the title of yard of the month at some point. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:54.719 I'm gonna do it. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:00.479 And uh, and so I'm I'm doing a lot of work out there, and uh Becky and the kids, they were away the other day. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:06.000 I was in the yard and I'm there, and we we have some palmetto trees in our yard and everything like that. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:12.560 And I've said before, I did not realize how much maintenance those things were gonna be uh when we first got in for them to keep looking good. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.519 And so I'm up there, got a new eight-foot ladder, right? 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.200 My four foot wasn't cutting it anymore. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:24.239 And so I'm up there and I have my pole chainsaw, and I'm just like, okay, just get it up over that one, all right, over here, there. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:25.359 Okay, all right, that hurts. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:26.079 We're going down. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:28.640 You know, it's like I'm talking through, right? 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.719 I'm talking to myself. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:33.439 And we all talk to ourselves at different points. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:39.120 For me, it's sometimes when I'm focused, other times it's when I'm frustrated, like, calm down, Blake. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.400 It's not a big deal. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:41.359 Calm down. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:42.560 It's gonna be okay. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:44.400 We're gonna be able to make through this, right? 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:52.879 And it's something that's come up a lot more and more here recently, right, with the positive self-talk as opposed to the negative self-talk. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.400 Like, I've Googled it before, y'all. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:55.760 Is it okay if I talk to myself? 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:56.879 Don't worry, we're fine. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:57.280 Okay? 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:58.640 Google says we're fine. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:00.480 And so we can talk to ourselves. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:08.400 But I love it whenever science or psychology catches up to the ancient wisdom found in God's word. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:37.599 And like when we go here to Psalm 42, we're able to see that this group of singers and songwriters, the sons of Korah, were able to show us God so divinely inspired them to give to God's people, the nation of Israel, there, and for it to be recorded for us in the Bible, for us to see what do we do in times when tears are our food day and night? 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:41.120 How do we live life? 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.560 How do we keep moving forward? 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:58.159 And so this morning, we're going to see from God's word, we probably need to stop listening to ourselves so much and start talking to ourselves just a little bit more. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:03.039 As we go to Psalm 42, would you join me as we pray? 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:10.879 Gracious Heavenly Father, as we come to your word this morning, God, we pray that you give us eyes to see. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:12.960 God, that you give us ears to hear. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.639 And God, we pray that you would speak. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:20.400 For we your servants are listening. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.039 It's through Christ we pray. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:24.159 Amen. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:36.560 The first truth that I want you to see from this psalm this morning is this followers of God can still suffer from despair. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.039 Followers of God. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:42.639 We're able to see this. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.680 The sons of Korah who wrote this psalm, like they're they're not far from God. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:53.039 They're not being rebellious against God, they're not in a wandering season. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:04:02.960 No, but they desire God more than anything else, and things are still not going great in their life. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:14.000 It says in verse 1, as a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.839 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.120 When shall I come and appear before God? 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.360 This psalm was written by those who loved and followed and desired God. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:35.839 People that recognize that their souls can thirst, and their souls can only be satisfied when they have drunk deeply from God. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.759 And there are some today that say this can't happen to followers of God. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:42.560 And you know, they're flat wrong. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:50.879 You don't have to put a mask on, you don't have to slap a fake smile on, you don't have to pretend like everything is all right and fine all the time. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.360 This psalm, I love how real it is. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.879 Even when Trudy was beautifully reading it for us here just a moment ago. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:03.120 I don't know if you saw the kind of like the peaks and the valleys, the I'm hoping God my soul is downcast within me. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.680 Yet I will hope everybody's surrounding me. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.480 And it's back and forth, but that's like our lives, right? 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.959 That's in our hearts, that's in our minds. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:11.680 We feel it. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.879 This psalm is real, and the psalm recognizes that we are whole people. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:18.480 We have a soul and a body. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:22.000 Our bodies thirst, our souls thirst. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.480 And just because we follow God doesn't mean that we're exempt from despair. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.959 And there are a lot of different sources of despair here in this life. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.639 And the psalmist highlights a few of those. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:41.839 A source of despair could just be dryness, spiritual dryness in your life. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:06:09.519 That you're thirsty, that you know what it's like to be working in the yard or walking Disney World or something else like that, and you feel like all of the moisture has left your body, and your mouth is dry and sticking to your tongue is sticking to the roof of your mouth, and you are breathing heavy, and you need a cold drink to satisfy your thirst. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.920 And the same thing can happen to us spiritually. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:16.000 This will happen. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.199 If it hasn't happened to you yet, just wait. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:20.560 It's coming. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:26.399 And some, when they go through this, will become overly discouraged and think that they're doing something wrong. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:38.240 And yes, sometimes God feeling distant, God feeling far away, your soul feeling thirsty can be the result of you living in sin, of you being wayward, of you neglecting God. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:45.600 It could be the consequences of choices that you've made, but this can even happen to those who are faithfully following and seeking God. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.279 But we're instructed what to do in these times. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:58.800 Don't run away from God, but run all the harder towards God. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:03.680 Grow in your desire for God more and more. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.000 The question: when shall I come and appear before God? 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:15.199 The desire not to get as far away from Him as possible, but the desire to be in His presence. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:24.639 And this, this despair that we can sometimes feel, that's there are internal components to it, but there are also external components as well. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:27.199 The despair can be compounded when we look to the outside. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:29.920 The second place would be taunts from the enemy. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.600 Taunts from the enemy. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:44.000 Verse 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, where is your God? 00:07:47.360 --> 00:08:01.680 The psalmist are feeling this internally, and not only are they having these questions or doubts or this dryness that's bubbling up from within, but no, they are getting assaulted from the outside with these taunts and these jeers and these questions. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.000 Where is your God? 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:14.319 And this can come from family members, this can come from co-workers and friends, this can come from people that you're sharing the gospel with. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:20.720 And they'll pelt you with questions and questions, and so much so that you begin to ask them yourself. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:22.399 Well, God, where are you? 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:25.439 Where is my God? 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.680 Another source of despair would be from thinking that your best days are behind you and not ahead of you. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.320 Look at verse 4. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:48.480 These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I would go with the throng and lead them in the procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude-keeping festival. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:09:02.639 The psalmist is remembering times in the past when there would be worshiping and praising and rejoicing together, and we don't know why the psalmists have been removed from this setting right now. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:13.840 We don't know if it's exile, we don't know if they're on the run from trouble, but the psalmist is pouring out their souls and they're remembering worshiping God with the congregation. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:20.000 That there had been a lack of meeting together for corporate worship, and it had been felt. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:26.080 They had felt the oppression of the enemy, and they had felt the isolation from worshiping with others. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:38.799 Y'all, I remember there was a time I was uh serving at a church in Georgia, and we were on a mission trip with some college students where we went up to Toronto, uh, up in Canada. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:45.039 And Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:48.159 I mean, it is a huge melting pot. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:53.039 And while we were up there, we were gonna be working with uh some local missionaries. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:10:04.159 Uh, they had some of our North American Mission Board missionaries, but they also had some of our international mission board missionaries there because of the number of countries that are represented in that metropolitan area. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:26.960 In the beginning of our time there, before we started going on college campuses and doing spiritual surveys and sharing the gospel with people, the missionaries there took us to different houses of worship so that we could not participate in but observe some of what was taking place in the kind of folks that we would be sharing the gospel with. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:31.200 And that was an eye-opening experience for me. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:38.720 Because over the course of one day, they had organized all of these trips and to meet with these religious leaders at these different houses of worship. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:45.440 We went to a Muslim mosque, a Sikh gudwara, and we went to a Hindu temple. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:54.000 And as we went to each of these places, we in the Muslim mosque were separated, men and women. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:11:02.240 In the Sikh Gudwara, we were going around to different rooms and seeing and smelling all of the different things that were going on. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:32.639 And then we go to the Hindu temple where we are seeing them wake up their gods and opening the cabinets, and we see small children pouring out glasses of milk onto metallic snakes, and we could feel the heaviness, we could feel the spiritual darkness, and it was deeply troubling for a lot of our college students. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:42.960 And as I'm over there and trying to shepherd them and lead them through this, and we're processing this and praying through it, and y'all, it was beautiful the way the missionaries had designed it. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:53.759 Because that night we were going to Wednesday night church with this Pakistani Christian fellowship that was there. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:03.519 And we were worshiping with brothers and sisters, the whole service was in Punjabi, did not understand a word. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.840 But my goodness, what we felt in that moment. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:21.039 The unity, the shared love and devotion for the one true God, and I didn't have to understand what was going on. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.720 And I could hum along to the tunes of the songs that I knew. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:29.360 I could sing the ones in English in my heart and in my in our pew. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:44.240 But in those moments, I was remembering, like being back and worshiping with my church family, and but then like how dark and how isolating and how oppressive it was in certain areas. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:46.240 And we longed to be back. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.960 We longed for this to be the case. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.679 A lot of us experienced this through COVID, right? 00:12:51.919 --> 00:13:00.320 It seems like forever ago, but my goodness, months where we were not able to gather together. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:08.080 I still remember that first Sunday back at the church that I was serving in Alabama, the first Sunday back when we all came together. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.120 It's like you don't know what you got until it's gone, right? 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:18.639 And to feel all of that taken away and just the singing that took place on that first Sunday back. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:23.519 The fellowship, the joy for us to be able to regather together. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:30.240 That we know what it's like for feeling isolated and that God is far away. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:34.480 The internal and the external oppression. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:41.440 But for us to remember, like our best days are not behind us but are ahead. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:51.039 Truly, God has gifted us the body, and one day, as Spencer read for us early on, the dwelling place of God will be with man. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:58.159 And we will be with him as our God, and we will be with him as his people. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:04.000 And so for us, we need to identify some of these sources of despair. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.840 And it can feel like a lot. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:07.200 Look at verse 7. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:12.559 This constant barrage of troubles, deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.600 All your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:20.879 I mean, does it feel sometimes just like trouble after trouble is pelting you? 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:36.080 Where it's like a constant, like as constant as the waves are coming up against the seashore, that it feels like sometimes in seasons, trouble after trouble is just washing up, breaking against crashing into your life. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:43.840 And then there are those moments where it feels like God is not acting, but there's a lot of action from our enemies around us. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:45.759 Look at verses 9 and 10. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:50.559 I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.240 Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:01.919 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taught me while they say to me all the day long, again, where is your God? 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:09.759 These verses right here, verses 9 and 10, it's mingled faith and questions. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:14.000 I say to God, my rock, like that's a declaration, right? 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:26.000 That God, you are my rock, you are my anchor, you are what is firm and sure in what I am standing on, what is immovable, but I'm asking you, God, as my rock, why have you forgotten me? 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:30.080 Why aren't you acting? 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.399 And I love this. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.000 You can ask God questions. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.360 There is a difference between questioning God and asking God questions. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:56.159 When you're questioning God, you're assuming a position of authority, kind of like uh if if you were to put God in the witness stand and you're asking him questions, cross-examination, right? 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:02.559 But when we ask God questions, it's more like a child coming to a parent, seeking to understand. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:11.519 And we can ask God these questions, the questions that penetrate down to bone level. 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:17.120 And so we can see a follower of God is experiencing all of this despair. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:26.639 We are not exempt from trouble in this life, but we can be honest with God in the midst of our troubles in this life, and God gave us Psalm 42. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:30.639 God can handle your despair. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:37.360 God is strong enough for you to be able to pour out your heart to Him. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.879 So when times of despair come, where will you run? 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:47.759 Are you gonna run away from God or straight to God? 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.720 So followers of God can experience despair in this life. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:00.960 But the second truth this morning is this followers of God can still hope in God during despair. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:13.039 I want to give you a series from this psalm of ways that you can set your hope on God. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.319 The first thing I need you to remember is this do not forsake your source of life. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.000 Do not forsake your source of life. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.720 Look at verse five. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.599 Why are you cast down, O my soul? 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.680 And why are you in turmoil within me? 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:41.680 Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:50.079 And you might be tempted in those moments of despair to think that following God doesn't work. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:56.720 Because again, it's working from a faulty assumption that if you follow God, everything should be going right in your life. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.920 But in these moments, the psalmist feels far from God but doesn't go looking for other sources of fulfillment. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:10.720 And the psalmist, they write about hope, not hope in the circumstances changing, but hope in God. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:21.680 It's possible that a source of despair in your life is you believing God for promises that he never made to you. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:40.640 Holding God to words that he never said, or banking everything on the outcome being different, or the words coming out of the mouth of the doctor, or the judge being different. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.680 But our hope is not in our circumstances changing. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:56.720 Our hope is in God, and He is the one, you can write it in, that we pour out our souls to. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:59.920 Pour out your soul. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:02.319 Look at verse 4. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.920 These things I remember as I pour out my soul. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.720 Be honest with God. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:13.920 Don't hold back. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:16.960 You can let God know what you're feeling. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.359 He already knows it anyway. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:22.480 Y'all, I still remember. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.079 I I shared it during my first year here with you all. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.799 We were preaching through the book of Philippians together, that New Testament letter with the Apostle Paul. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:37.680 And that first half of that year was a true low point for me in my life. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:43.359 Not because of you, not because of the church, but because of something that was happening inside of me. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.480 I I don't know if some of you remember, but I shared as a part of that week, that year. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:20:00.400 Every Saturday night after dinner, I would get a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I would dread the next morning. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.079 It was difficult for me to sleep Saturday night. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:10.559 And when I did fall asleep and I woke up that next morning, that sinking feeling was there again. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:11.680 Why? 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:25.359 Because I kept having all of these thoughts of sitting right there in that seat in that pew and thinking about what would happen right now if I just went in the bathroom stall and locked myself in there and didn't come out. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:33.680 What if something happened to me and I wasn't able to stand up and to deliver a sermon? 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.759 What if I stand up and say something wrong? 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.079 What if I stand up and I am just royally messing up? 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:51.200 And feeling like everything was riding on me, feeling the weight of the world pressing down against me and wondering, what if I just moved my family here and it was a mistake? 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.279 What if my this is my livelihood? 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.480 I've been public speaking for 10 years at that point. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.880 I had never felt a hint of this before. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:06.400 But it got to the point where I would start to get tunnel vision, the cold sweats, and praise God, it would lift as I was walking up the stairs here. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:13.279 But I remember in that season pouring out my soul to God. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:14.799 God, why? 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:17.759 Why is there no joy in this? 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.559 Why is there only despair in this? 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.480 Why do I not like this? 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.720 Was the the one thing I feel like if I'm good at that I could do for you. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:33.359 And I feel like it's being taken away, and I am pouring out my heart to Him and asking, why? 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:44.640 Please fix this and realizing that in those moments and in the weeks to come, the Lord wasn't needing to fix some circumstances. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:46.160 He was needing to fix me. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.000 And I learned through that season, that difficult season. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.359 I wish I didn't have to go through that season. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:52.960 Praise God, that season ended. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.519 But I needed to realize it doesn't always rise or fall on me. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:08.000 If I If I can't stand up, if I uh, you know, start to have chest pains or whatever there in the pew and I need to step to the back, the Lord will provide. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:09.039 Someone else. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:10.000 So get ready. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.519 I don't know where you are. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:19.039 But if I'm unable to go, the word will be preached. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.319 And his word won't return void. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:26.240 It doesn't all rise or fall on us. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.160 And we can pour out our souls. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:39.440 And don't be surprised when you pour out your soul that God pours back into your soul and replaces what was there before with something even better, and that is his peace. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:53.200 It wasn't instantaneous, it wasn't overnight, it was long and drawn out, it required a lot of vulnerability and just letting my guard down and pouring out my soul to God continually. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.559 You might need to pour out your soul to him. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:02.960 We hope in God, for we shall again praise him our salvation and our God. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:04.720 The next would be this. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:05.920 You can write it in. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:09.200 Remember times when God was near. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.119 Remember those times. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:18.480 Those significant spiritual mile markers in your life. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:30.160 Verse 4, the psalmist would say, How I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude-keeping festival. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:36.799 That there are going to be those times when you're filled with despair, those times when you are running on empty, those times when God feels far away. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:41.519 And I would encourage you, remember those times when God was near. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.880 I loved hearing it through Tim Keller years ago. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:50.880 If there are those moments where it feels like God is far away, that's just letting you know there have been times when you felt he was near. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:54.720 You know what it's like to feel his presence. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:59.440 And to maybe feel his hand being removed, it lets you know that his hand was there in the first place. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:05.279 And so go back and try to remember those times when God was near. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.359 It was that way for me this past week. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:16.319 We have a lot of our uh kids that came back from Kids Salt this year, and they're wearing some of our chaperones too, wearing our t-shirts, wearing t-shirts here. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:17.839 And I mean, it was an incredible week. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:19.519 I got to go down on Tuesday. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:20.799 I absolutely love camp. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.599 I got to go with our students to Somersault the week before that. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:24.799 Love camp. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:34.240 And I can remember those different camp experiences that I had growing up and coming back home. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:40.880 How God uses it like sanctification is a process, right, of becoming holy, becoming more and more like Jesus. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:50.000 And it can take years and years, and there are some times where God does a sanctifying work in your heart, and it's just like a lightning bolt instantaneous all at once for a big chunk, right? 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:57.920 And God, He sees fit to use these times that we carve out to retreat together to be able to hear from Him. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:04.160 And to see our students worshiping, to see our kids worshiping and sitting under God's word. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:06.640 I've said it before to some of you here gathered. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.960 Like, I don't know why we thought after we graduate from college we need to stop retreating to hear from God. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:24.160 I don't know why we thought maybe we've we've gotten too advanced for us to spend regular time with Him and with others, worshiping, learning, serving. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:25.759 So get ready. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.720 I'm thinking about what that looks like for our whole church family. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.039 So preview of coming attractions. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:40.720 But for us, like, I was driving back on 26, about 9 o'clock this past Tuesday night. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:55.759 And I'm sitting there, I'm listening to a podcast in the car, and I just have to turn it off because I was just feeling so dry. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:03.279 And I got a little drink when I was there with our kids worshiping. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:08.160 And I was like, God, I want more of that. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.119 I want more of you. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.240 Full confession, and I need to repent this morning. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:22.960 I've been operating largely out of my own strength and my experiences and conversations with other people. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:38.319 And I need to return, like we need to return again and again to be filled with God's Spirit and to serve with the strength that He provides, not that we have in and of ourselves. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:44.079 And so for us to come to God and to say, we want more of you. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:52.480 My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:03.599 I remember these times that I met with you, that I worshiped you, that I learned about you, that I felt the transforming work of the Spirit happen in a concentrated and heightened way. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.559 And God, I'm asking for you to do that again. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:10.240 I'm needing an experience with you. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:12.720 I don't want to just go through the motions. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:18.319 I don't want to overcomplicate things, but God, I want you, and I want what you want. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:23.759 God, please fill us again. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:30.079 Worshipfully remember times when God was near and ask for him to do it again. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:33.920 Ask for God to move. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:39.519 For him to uphold you, to strengthen you, and to lead you through this season. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:47.359 I would also counsel you, remember that you are a whole person. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:57.119 The psalmist says that tears have been my food day and night. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.079 There's crying going on right here. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:04.400 There's weeping. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:11.839 And if we were to deduce some things from this, if tears have been his food day and night, well, he's not eating. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:12.880 He doesn't have an appetite. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:14.240 He's eating tears. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:17.200 He's not sleeping. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:19.599 He's crying through the night. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:29.599 That we have right here some signs of deep depression. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:37.440 And there are a multitude of ways to be able to address this right here. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:48.559 And I would want to counsel you, like I've counseled others, that sometimes there are deep and painful things that will take years and years to be able to work through. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:29:00.720 And then there are other things that are coming up that not to minimize what it is that you're going through, but sometimes you need a nap and a snack. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:05.519 Amen. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:06.559 That's right. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:12.880 We see that with the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:15.359 Do you remember Elijah? 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:19.680 He had just gotten done going toe-to-toe with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:21.759 Right, where he does some trash talking. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:23.359 That's a fun sermon, but not for today. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:26.640 And like it is like he is going high point. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.839 Well, then Jezebel hears about it, right? 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:31.119 Queen Jezebel. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:36.079 And she is bullseye on Elijah. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:43.039 And Elijah, he retreats, he runs away, and he is asking God to take his life. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:54.799 And then it says in 1 Kings 19 that Elijah, he went to sleep, he ate some food, and he regained his strength. 00:29:55.519 --> 00:30:00.079 That there is sometimes, it takes a lot in a multitude of ways to be able to address this. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:02.880 Sometimes you're tired and you're hungry. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:10.720 And I think it's helpful for us to remember that we are whole people, that there are physical and spiritual components of things that we need to look at. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:15.119 And so, I mean, for us, there's a book, I forgot to bring it up here. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.440 I think, Thomas, is it right there in my stack, right? 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:18.799 It's called Spiritual Depression. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.200 I'm gonna break the fourth wall real quick and come down here, okay? 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.079 All right. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:26.960 This book is called Spiritual Depression by Martin Lloyd Jones. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.400 Its causes and its cure. 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:35.039 This is an entire book on Psalm 42, the psalm that we're looking at this morning. 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:44.240 Martin Lloyd Jones was a physician in England during the 20th century that God called him to preach, and he became one of the best preachers of the 20th century. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:54.400 And this book is a series of Sunday morning sermons that he preached on Psalm 42 because after going from the medical field and coming into the church, he realized that there was a lot of spiritual depression. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:03.359 And so he had a lady in his church to take down notes from his sermons and then he edited them on the back end and they compiled them together in this book. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:14.400 And one of the things that he talks about in this book, in spiritual depression, is that yes, you need to pray more, you need to seek God, and you also need to take care of your body. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.799 Hugely, huge conviction for me. 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:24.559 I need to take great care with what I eat and how physically active I am in addition to these things. 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:31.279 And so one of the things that we've started doing after supper time, we go for a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:32.480 I love it. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:34.240 There are times I don't want to do it. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:36.559 I'd rather just go sit or lay down. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:40.559 But I'm always so glad when I did and came back on the other end. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:43.279 That we need to not only be thinking about, right? 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:46.079 Because it's what God, He sees us as whole people. 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:49.440 And we're to live all of our lives with all of what we are before him. 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:54.880 To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:57.839 Every part of who we are. 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:02.640 And God can look at, address all of us. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:04.480 All that we are. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:06.400 And so I would encourage you this morning. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:08.160 Yes, call out to God. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:08.880 Pray. 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:10.400 Seek His face. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:14.559 Take great care with what you're eating and putting in your body. 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:18.319 Be physically active as much as you are able. 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:21.839 Pray and take your medicine. 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:25.119 See a counselor. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:37.200 Talk with someone that is more qualified than me to be able to talk through what it is, all of the layers of what has happened in your life and what is happening to you right now. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:39.839 We are whole people. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:47.920 So we can do this to the glory of God, hoping in him, for I shall again praise him my salvation and my God. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:55.200 Next, don't just listen to yourself, talk to yourself. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:09.440 There are multiple times in Psalm 42, and if you take Psalm 43 with Psalm 42, three times, where the sons of Korah say, Why are you cast down, O my soul? 00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:18.079 Not talking to God in prayer, not talking to others in exhortation, but the psalmist talking to themselves. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:21.759 Why are you cast down, oh my soul? 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.440 It's from this book, Spiritual Depression. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:33.680 There's this quote that I read years ago that has been used to great effect in my life, and it'll be on the screen, and I hope it's a blessing to you. 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:45.200 Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:50.160 Take those thoughts that come to you the moment that you wake up in the morning. 00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:54.000 You have not originated them, but they start talking to you. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:56.960 They bring back the problems of yesterday. 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:58.240 Somebody is talking. 00:33:58.319 --> 00:33:59.119 Who is talking to you? 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.440 Yourself is talking to you. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:10.239 Now, this man's treatment in Psalm 42 is this instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:13.760 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:14.719 He asks. 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:27.840 Hope in God. 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:35.679 For I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:48.639 For us, if we were to heed the counsel of the reformer Martin Luther, to preach the gospel to yourself multiple times daily. 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:56.159 For us to remind ourselves of the truth and wrestling it deep into our bones. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:05.039 And don't just listen to the things that naturally arise up out of our feelings or the things that are coming to us from the outside, but for us to talk to ourselves and what do we say? 00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:07.360 We say, hope in God. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:11.679 I shall yet praise Him. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:14.880 My salvation and my God. 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.360 Next, you can write it in hold fast to truth. 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:25.360 By day, verse 8, the Lord commands his steadfast love. 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:28.079 And at night, his song is with me. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:31.360 A prayer to the God of my life. 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:36.960 But there's the truth of God's love even when it doesn't feel like it. 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.039 And do you notice what it says right here? 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:48.239 Songs in the night, where tears had been the diet, now the songs of God are the soundtrack. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:52.079 And the songs are prayers to God. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:36:00.159 That often in what we sing together, directed towards God, can be a prayer of your heart, maybe when the words have run out. 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:08.000 And when we don't have anything else that we feel like we can say, we can just say God's words back to him. 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:16.639 And when we need to tell the truth to ourselves, when we need to speak to ourselves, what better thing could we speak to ourselves than the words of God? 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:26.480 That's why I love like with our family right now, what we're doing is whenever we're in the car together, we're listening to incredible music that sets Scripture to song. 00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:51.039 As we're trying to memorize and sneak and hide God's truth into the ears, minds, and hearts of our children, that as we're trying to memorize this so that, I had a professor years ago talk about with children's ministry and teaching memory verses, whether it's at camp or BBS or with your parents, he talked about it. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:37:01.280 He had a period of wandering, he was wayward in college, but after the death of his mother, God used that to draw him back into the fold. 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:30.159 And he said, I didn't realize it at the time, but all growing up, my parents, my pastors, were planting through God's word little gospel bombs in my soul that the Holy Spirit would detonate, cracking the hardness of our stone-hard hearts, and replacing, as Ezekiel would say, the hearts of stone with a heart of flesh. 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:35.119 And so for us, we want to hold fast to the truth. 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:39.840 And lastly, we want to hope in Jesus. 00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:51.760 We can have even more confidence in God than the psalmists did when they were in the midst of despair. 00:37:52.559 --> 00:38:00.480 Because what they knew looking forward in faith, we now know looking backward by name. 00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:04.159 Jesus of Nazareth. 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:11.360 That we can look to Jesus and we can trust that God did not abandon us. 00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:14.079 He is not going to abandon us. 00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:17.280