WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:07.040 You know, this is rather simplistic, but it's true that you've never seen the world through someone else's eyes. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.839 You realize that you've never seen the world through someone else's eyes. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.720 You only see them through your own eyes. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:25.839 And this is rather convenient because it keeps us from being utterly confused, and it probably keeps us from being in complete chaos as a society. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:33.679 But it does give us a little bit of perspective, realizing that you've never seen the world through anyone else's eyes, but only yours. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.479 Just one vantage point is all that you have. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:45.679 And it's not that you see things completely inaccurately, per se, but it should give you pause in trusting your own sight. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.640 It should give you pause in relying on your own view. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:01:00.079 What you see might not necessarily be what is, and what is might be beyond your sight. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.239 In Psalm 13, David's heart is in despair. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.359 The threats around him are too much to handle. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:12.879 And he begins to question where is God? 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:20.959 In this Psalm, we see that David, his condition is overwhelming. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:27.599 His cry is a humble one, and that his consolation is clear. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:00.159 How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.400 How long will you hide your face from me? 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:13.520 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have my have sorrow in my heart all the day? 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:20.479 How long shall my enemies, my enemy, be exalted over me? 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:24.960 And you can hear the despair in David's words. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:30.560 This psalm begins in a very heavy, in a very dark place. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.080 Have you forgotten me? 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.000 Why are you hiding your face from me? 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:44.159 I'm filled with sorrow and feel abandoned. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.240 My enemies, they're exalting over me. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:03:06.080 Few feelings are as raw and significant and harsh as this feeling of abandonment, rejected, without reason, without any reason given. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.319 David's heart here is overwhelmed. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:13.039 This is David. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:14.560 This is King David. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.719 David was special. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.120 In 1 Samuel 13, it says that David was a man after God's own heart. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:26.400 David had been anointed to be the king. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:33.120 God had provided for David again and again and delivered him. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:45.840 But now, David, King David, anointed David, feels forgotten, abandoned, left to take counsel with himself. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:54.960 Left tossing and turning and grabbing in his own mind, in his own soul, for the answers to what's going on. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:01.919 And for David, having his enemies exalt over him was not just a personal matter. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:10.719 Because God had made a covenant with David and his household that from him would come the Messiah. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.960 And how would this happen if David was killed of his enemies? 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:16.560 Defeated him. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.959 David is overwhelmed. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:33.439 A passage like this really brings to bear into mind our theology on suffering, our mindset on suffering. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:49.279 In Romans, the book of Romans, chapter five, verses three through five says, Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:05:05.600 And endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.360 Rejoicing and suffering? 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:11.920 Why? 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.480 Because it produces endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.360 It does not bring shame. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:20.240 Why? 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:30.639 Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us as new covenant believers. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:40.399 We can read David's cries in verses 1 and 2, his questions that he's asking God, and can it relate to those things? 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.560 How long, O Lord, will I suffer? 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:44.639 How long will I have this chronic illness? 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.519 How long will my children walk away from the Lord? 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.279 How long will my marriage be in shambles? 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.120 How long will I indulge this sin? 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:58.800 How long, O Lord? 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:08.160 I think as Christians, this is a cry of our heart because we understand that this is not how it is supposed to be. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:12.480 We understand that the world is broken. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:21.360 That the relationship that we're supposed to have with God as his creatures, as he's created us, has been broken. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.639 Things are not as they should be. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.639 So we feel this suffering. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.319 We ask the question, how long have you forgotten? 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.399 Will you hide your face from me? 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.160 Will my enemies actually overcome me? 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:51.279 A mindset of suffering is one that brings us, brings us, makes us aware, excuse me, makes us aware of what God is doing in the midst. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.879 We see, we can open Psalm 13 and we see how it begins. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:00.480 And we just look to the end and we see how it concludes. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.000 David praising the Lord, trusting the Lord, it's all good. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:12.879 And so we can impose onto that our own thinking, like, well, we know it's bad, but we know it to be good, and so no big deal. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:24.160 We forget what it's like to be living in verse 1 and verse 2, feeling forgotten, feeling abandoned. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:33.279 So we might kind of bring out and trot out our robust theology of suffering, which is good and right, and we should have it. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.839 And we as Christians are going to suffer. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.279 We're called to suffer, as Romans tells us. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:43.680 But we know that we're not made to suffer. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.000 We're created for this. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.720 Sin has brought this on to us. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:08:02.319 So we remember when you're living in this overwhelming feeling, this abandonment from the Lord, to keep pressing on. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.079 When you come out of that season, you look back and you see that suffering is refining. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:10.879 It refines our faith. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:17.360 It cuts away the fat, if you will, of our faith, the things that don't really matter, the things that we get caught up in. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:23.600 When there's tragedy and suffering, you in some ways you see things so clearly. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:32.720 It might be confusing or blurry as far as why that suffering is happening, but it does refine your thinking. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.759 What really matters, what is important. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:37.919 It's clarifying. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.360 And suffering is temporary. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.039 This is why, as Christians, we have this great hope. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:58.720 Just because we're suffering, we're not hopeless, because we know it builds endurance and character, produces this hope that Christ has come and he's going to take us with him into eternity and set all things right. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:07.919 Part of our theology of suffering is that it is refining and it's clarifying and that is it is temporary. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:16.960 You've spent time suffering and seasons of suffering, or you've been with those who have. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:24.960 The truth that this is just temporary isn't always a helpful truth. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:25.919 It's true. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.399 It's not always helpful in the moment. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:38.639 David is overwhelmed by his condition, but he makes this humble cry. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:47.039 Consider, this is verse 3, consider and answer me, O Lord, my God. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:53.759 Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:59.279 Lest my eye my enemies say I have prevailed over him. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:05.840 Lest my foes rejoice, because I am shaken. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:12.559 And when you read verse 3, you might think that David is kind of being childish. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.039 Consider me, Lord. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.200 Come on, look at what's going on, answer me. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:22.639 Like he's demanding this from the Lord, like a child would demand something from a parent. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:34.000 Rather, as a child cries desperately for help to their parents, so David is crying to God the Father for help. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:45.120 This is a cry from a man who knows for him salvation, deliverance can come from no other place. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:57.519 We talked last week about David and his suffering, his hardship, his boldness, right? 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:07.919 Just trusting the Lord and being bold in his faith, not listening to counselors who are saying, go flee to the mountain, but saying, trusting the Lord. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.679 And here in verse 13, or chapter 13, we have this kind of flip. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:13.840 Now David is desperate. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.720 He makes this cry of desperation. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:21.360 He's not crying to his soldiers or to his friends. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:27.279 He's crying to the only place that can bring true salvation. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:31.919 His only hope at this point is the Lord. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.279 And look again at verse 13. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.840 Lest I sleep, the sleep of death. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.679 Is David saying, Lord, unless you come, I am going to die. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:52.960 Unless you act, I am going to die. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.480 There's this interesting phrase here in the middle of verse 3. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:02.480 O Lord my God, light up my eyes. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.360 What a prayer in the midst of all these things. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.600 He's asking, Lord, how long? 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:12.799 Have you forgotten me? 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:13.840 Have you abandoned me? 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:14.639 What are you doing? 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.039 What if the enemy comes and defeats me? 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:21.679 And he says, Consider me, O Lord, and light up my eyes. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:29.120 Give life to me and help me to see what's really going on. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:37.440 Jesus uses similar language in Matthew 20, or Matthew 6, verses 22. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.759 He says, The eye is the lamp of the body. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:47.600 So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:52.240 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:58.159 If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:06.720 David is crying to the Lord that he might have light in his eyes. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:13.759 There is a darkness, or another way of saying this, is a lack of light for David. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:17.919 His cry isn't just, Lord, get me out of this. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.679 Lord, rescue me. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:26.240 But Lord, help me to see clearly. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:40.559 Lord, give me sight again, that I might see that in times of suffering and loneliness and feelings of despair, that I might see, that I might see clearly what's really going on. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:50.879 If you haven't experienced suffering in your life and trials and despair, most likely, Christian, they will come. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:14:02.559 And your cry to the Lord will be one of deliverance, that the Lord would change things, that he would heal those who are sick around you, or bring someone who's passed back to life, and all those things. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:04.799 These might be the prayers that you're praying. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:10.000 The prayer that we also need to pray is, Lord, grant me light that I might see. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:13.519 That I can see clearly what is going on. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:20.159 I might see the threats around me for what they are. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:27.200 His foes that are surrounding him, that are besieging him. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:30.720 They're lying to him as well. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:49.840 If there is a feeling or a thinking in David's mind that somehow the threats out there are going to be more powerful than the covenant-keeping God, and David's being lied to, and he's believing that lie. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:54.480 And how quickly we believe the enemy's lies. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:15:00.559 How quickly we feel like the enemy is rejoicing over us because we've been shaken. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:06.159 How quickly the enemy speaks words of condemnation over us. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.440 And he's tricky because Satan can do this really one of two ways. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:13.759 He can lie to us about who God is. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:16.399 God's not good. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:17.519 He doesn't love. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:22.080 He's judgmental. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:23.360 He's angry. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:35.679 And I think in our culture, and probably most of us, a lie that we're more tempted to believe is the lies that the enemy says about us. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:39.120 Those whom Christ has redeemed. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:46.799 Lies to us about who we are in Christ, what the Lord has done for us. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:51.279 The Lord hasn't truly saved you. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:53.120 You're still sinning. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.840 The Lord hasn't delivered you. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.799 Or why will you still be struggling with these things? 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:01.840 The Lord doesn't love you. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.639 You have so much sin in your life. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.799 You've made so many mistakes. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:11.840 God has other people that he would rather spend his time with. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:21.600 These lies of the enemy, these hours of desperations, times of suffering, these lies begin to creep in. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:27.519 We're not careful, they begin to find a place in our heart, and they begin to grow. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.000 And they grow and they grow. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:35.759 To the point where we no longer believe in the Lord. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.600 We no longer believe the truths of the word. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.519 So we must defend ourselves against these lies. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.279 And that's what David is doing when he's saying, Lord, give me sight. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:03.039 Give me eyes to see that no matter what the threat is around me, no matter the enemy, no matter the situation, the enemy will not prevail over God. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.000 Sure, your life might be taken from you. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.200 Death might come, it's going to come for everyone eventually. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.880 Sure, they might be able to attack things that you love. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:18.240 But God always keeps his promises. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.000 He always keeps his promises. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:28.880 So David is praying that the Lord would light up his eyes, that he would see things for how they really are. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.400 So that he would see things clearly. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.559 This is what David begins, this consolation that David has. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:40.720 Look at verse 5. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.319 But I have trusted in your steadfast love. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.920 My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:55.119 I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully, bountifully with me. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:01.279 It feels like verse 5 begins with this just massive shift. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.359 It's a substantial shift. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.000 I was talking with some guys in the men's group that I'm a part of on Thursday morning. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:17.359 We were talking about this passage and we were just dialoguing like, what happened here? 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:22.160 We begin in verse 1 and 2 with this, all these questions. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:28.319 Like the tone of David's questions are like almost an accusation to God. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:30.880 But have you forgotten me? 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:32.240 Where are you? 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.000 Have you abandoned me? 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:40.640 And just a few verses later, but I've trusted in your steadfast love. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:43.920 My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:48.160 I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:19:02.319 Now it very well could be, it very well could be that as David is crying out to the Lord, he's crying, he's lamenting, he's airing all of his emotions. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.000 He's saying, Lord, I can't even take counsel with you. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.319 I don't even, you feel like you're not even here. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:14.240 I'm just left on my own to think and twist and toss around in my mind. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:15.200 What's going on? 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.119 Where are you, God? 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.240 And then he prays this prayer. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:26.319 The Lord would give him light, his eyes, that he would not sleep and die. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.000 And so the Lord grants that prayer. 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:37.599 The Lord grants him this complete shifting of emotions, the shifting of feelings. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:40.960 And I do very much think that happens. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:43.599 Something I've experienced multiple times. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:57.680 I think where you're in a situation where you're either in despair or you're suffering, or sometimes it's just your own sin, and you just feel glum, you feel sad, you feel discouraged. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:13.519 And you go to the Lord and you open the word and you pray and you read and you pray and you sing, and the Lord begins to change your heart, and he changes your attitude, he changes your mindset, and you kind of come away from that time rejoicing and praising the Lord. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.559 And those times are so encouraging. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:22.160 And they're so edifying to our faith, giving us confidence in the Lord. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:41.920 But there's also times, and this also may be the case here in Psalm 13, there are also times where, regardless of your feelings, regardless of how you feel and your emotions, you begin to preach the truth to yourself. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:51.920 You begin to say, all these things that are discouraging you and breaking your heart and weighing you down and making you feel despair. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.519 But then you preach the truth to yourself. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.880 But I have trusted in your steadfast love. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:03.039 My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.160 You have dealt bountifully with me. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:18.160 You begin to speak the truth of God's word to yourself and to the lies of the enemy, declaring what is true. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.480 Verse 1, verse 2, verse 3, verse 4. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.359 David is declaring. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.400 These are my fears. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:33.440 This is how I feel. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:35.039 This is my situation. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:36.319 This is my perception. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.000 This is how I see things. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.279 And it's not like David is completely inaccurate either. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:45.200 And David's not wrong for having the feelings he's having. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:53.200 We say this a lot that feelings are a gauge. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.680 They're not your guide. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 They tell you where you're at, but they don't. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.480 Guide you. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.680 They should not be guiding you. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.039 As Christians should not be guided by our feelings. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.039 But they're real. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:10.559 I'm 34 years old. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.440 I've never figured out how to turn off my feelings. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.240 And I would assume that you can't either. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:17.839 You don't just turn them off. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:18.720 They're there. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:19.839 They're real. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:22.000 They're feelings, though. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:22.640 Right? 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:23.519 They're feelings. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.599 They're not ultimate reality. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.559 So David is saying, this is how I feel, this is how I'm feeling, this is what I'm thinking. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:35.039 And again, these are legitimate sorrows, danger, things around him. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:36.480 But then comes verse 5. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.319 And he says, But what am I going to do? 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.119 I'm going to preach the truth to myself. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:44.880 I'm going to remind myself who God is. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:49.119 His love steadfast. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:52.319 His salvation real. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.839 To the point of rejoicing, it's real. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.680 How has he dealt with me? 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.279 Bountifully. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:02.480 Bountifully. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:06.480 What a testimony David gives here. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:08.559 What a declaration. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:14.559 He's not rebuking his other two, his other feelings or those emotions. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:19.200 He's just fully saying, but this is who God is. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:26.319 David is speaking, I think, partially from experience. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.319 Partially from experience. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:30.880 This is the Lord has done these things for him. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:32.559 He has dealt bountifully. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.960 His salvation has been wonderful. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.119 His love has been steadfast. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:46.240 But I think David is also speaking as someone who stands back and sees all that God has done. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.960 Look at what God has done for Adam and Eve after they were banned from the garden. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:55.039 He still provided for them. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:58.480 Look what God did for Noah and the righteous and his family. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:02.000 Look what God did for the slaves in Egypt and through Moses. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.359 Look again and again and again what the Lord has done. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:19.599 So not only in my own life, but looking out at all of the works of God, I can say definitively that he is steadfast in his love, his salvation is worth rejoicing in, and he has dealt bountifully with his people. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.279 The Lord is faithful. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:40.079 May these things be said of us that in the midst of suffering and difficulty, we didn't just put on a happy face and get right back to work, because that's not real. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:43.359 We didn't just have doubts. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:48.640 We didn't feel anger, frustration. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.839 All those things can be true. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.240 You can feel all those things. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:56.880 But our hope? 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.359 Where do we turn? 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.279 What's our consolation? 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.680 It's in the steadfast love of the Lord. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.519 Where else would it be? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.079 Where else would we go? 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:17.039 And so when we focus on these things, it takes a heart that is spiraling in despair. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.480 That he is true and that he is good. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.000 That he is to be trusted. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:39.599 It's easy for us to give too much credence to our emotions and our feelings. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:48.400 I think sometimes in certain Christian circles, it's it's easy for us to kind of look down on feelings and emotions. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.119 As if they're bad things. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:55.279 Or if we were perfect, we wouldn't have emotions or feelings. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:58.480 We're always just suspicious of them. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:00.880 No, that they're real. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:04.720 But what's true is who God is. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:06.880 Our emotions again aren't true. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:14.319 And David is declaring and rehearsing to himself steadfast love of the Lord. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.720 Sometimes this is the beauty of belonging to the church. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:32.960 When you're in suffering and you're in despair, a brother or sister can come and they can remind you of God's steadfast love. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:38.880 And they can testify to you how the Lord has been steadfast for them. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:50.079 And how if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you've you belong to him, he has made a promise, a covenant with you that he will not forsake you. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:57.119 I love the songs that we sing purposefully here. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:00.960 The song we sang this morning, I sought the Lord and he answered me. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:03.039 What did he do? 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.359 He delivered me from every fear. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:08.799 Those who look on him are radiant. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.799 They'll never be ashamed. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:15.599 Sounds like Romans 5. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:23.359 There is no shame for those who are suffering, because we look to the Lord, our hope, and our salvation. 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:31.599 We sing, I will not fear when darkness falls. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:35.680 His strength will help me scale these walls. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.240 I'll see the dawn of the rising sun. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:41.279 The Lord is my salvation. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:43.680 Who is like the Lord our God? 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.720 Strong to save, faithful in love. 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.680 My debt is paid and victory won. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.799 The Lord is my salvation. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:57.920 Church, is that your hope? 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:02.319 Brother and sister, are you reminded of that? 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.160 Be reminded of that. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.799 And remind one another of this truth. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:10.240 That the Lord is our salvation. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:23.279 When the lies of the enemy come, whispering things that are untrue about the Lord or about ourselves, my debt is paid. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:25.519 And the victory won. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.319 The Lord is my salvation. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:39.839 When the realities and the threats of life come at us, the dangers and toil that wears us out and threats of our own life being taken from us. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:44.960 The reality of tragedy strikes. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:01.279 When you are struggling with your own sin, and you feel you just want to give up. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:08.400 You're just so tired of fighting the flesh, fighting sin in your life. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.039 Hear me, Christian. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:15.200 The Lord is your salvation. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:22.400 Your salvation is in nothing else but the Lord. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:33.519 If you are not a Christian, you have not put your hope and your faith and surrendered your life to Christ, where is your hope? 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:35.119 To where will you turn? 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.039 To whom do you cry? 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.720 Because for you, the Lord is not your salvation. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.440 The Lord is your judge. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:50.319 And he will condemn you for your sin. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:56.000 But there is hope in Christ. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:00.240 For you have yet, you have today where you can repent. 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:03.279 Surrender your life to Jesus. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:15.759 Church David's situation is not unique in Psalm 13. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:20.640 So many of you can identify with this passage. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.799 You've been through seasons of tremendous hardship and struggle, or brief ones. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:31.440 And sometimes this whole cycle for you happens in a day. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:35.200 There's despair, deep despair. 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:39.599 The Lord delivers and he reminds and he changes your heart. 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:44.880 Or you focus yourself and your attention on what's true about God. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:52.880 For others or other seasons in your life, this is a long season, days of despair. 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.240 Feeling and questioning where is God. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:02.240 The prayers that the Lord would light, give light to your eyes that you might see. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:07.039 The Lord is always faithful. 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:17.200 One thing I love about the Psalms is, in a sense, they're just the same situation being told over and over and over again. 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:31.680 That our salvation, our hope, our deliverance, our confidence, our joy, our satisfaction, it's all in God. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:33.920 It's all in him. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:42.319 Everything in the world that we look to for satisfaction or for stability or deliverance will fail. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:43.839 But not Christ. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:45.119 He never will. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:47.519 He never has, and he never will. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:59.039 And so David is right to boldly declare, regardless of the situation, that God has dealt bountifully with him. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:03.279 God has dealt bountifully with you. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:07.759 If you are a Christian, God has dealt bountifully with you. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:17.680 And if you are not a believer, God has given you this day, he's given you the grace of this day to repent of your sin and trust in him. 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:27.279 Church, let's be a place where we faithfully declare God's praises and put our hope in him. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:28.559 Let's pray.