WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:13.359 Well church, um I don't know if this tells you how old I am, but almost almost half of my life now, I have had um a cell phone. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:17.199 So not quite half my life, but almost half my life now I've had a cell phone. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:19.120 It's kind of a kind of a weird thought. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:36.079 Um and when I first had a cell phone for a while, and I'll use my mother as an illustration since I just prayed for her, um she would call, and if we didn't take the call, if we didn't answer the phone, she would leave the same voicemail for all the kids and she'd say, This is your mother. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:39.039 Why do you have a phone if you're not gonna answer it? 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:40.240 Right? 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.600 To which the irony is it goes both ways. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.520 So I call my mom a lot and she doesn't answer her phone now, but I don't leave the voicemail, although I probably should. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:57.119 But with cell phones, in the day and age we have cell phones, there's just this assumption that some you can get a hold of someone. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.320 That we can call and they're gonna answer. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:02.000 Why wouldn't you answer? 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:04.560 We know that you actually have your phone with you all the time. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.840 So why aren't you picking up my call or why aren't you responding to my text message? 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:17.120 And if we're not careful, we can sometimes think the opposite about our relationship with God. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.680 I'll call, but he's probably not going to answer. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:26.319 I'll call, but he's probably got other things going on. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:37.200 Now, as people who study the word and we are seeking to be faithful to the Lord, we know that God is all powerful, he's omniscient, he knows everything. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:44.000 Like he's not out of capacity, he's not out of uh time on his hands, he's not too busy. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:55.200 But yet, if we're not careful, we enter into our relationship with the Lord with this tendency to not call, to just kind of wait it out. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.680 Well, let's just see what's gonna happen. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.120 No, someone else in the situation says, hey, we should pray about it. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.159 They're like, oh yeah, of course, of course, we should we should pray. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:10.479 But sometimes we're reserved, we're we keep from calling to the Lord and just sharing our heart. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:19.599 Sometimes people call one another, family, friends, and it's not that I want to share that I need you to do something for me. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.319 I need a favor done or I have a question for you. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.080 Sometimes we call just to share how we're doing, to unburden our heart a little bit. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.919 Sometimes it's to vent about someone else in your life. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:39.680 It's good to have at least someone in your life that you can share your feelings with, just unguarded, open, honest feelings. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:45.599 But sometimes we just call to share how we're doing, what's going on, what's burdening us. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.680 And I think about that with the Lord. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.000 How often do we approach Him? 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:59.439 Not to say, Lord, uh, there's a big thing going on, and you just show up for this, or Lord, can you tell me why this isn't going on or why this isn't happening the way I think it should? 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.520 But how often do we go to the Lord and just share our heart? 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:09.360 Unburden our soul, knowing that he cares for us. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:18.319 Not only does he care for us, he is more intimately involved with anything in our life than we are. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:24.000 He is more intimately involved with anything in our life than we are. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.520 He cares supremely for us. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:34.960 Here in Psalm chapter 4, this psalm is one of lament and confidence. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.159 It follows Psalm chapter 3 and David's confidence in the Lord in the midst of him fleeing for his life. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:48.400 Now, Psalm chapter 4 tells us in the scripture this is to the choir master. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:50.639 This is a song of David. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:58.560 It's about his faith in God when people are complaining and defecting against him. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.360 So God, so David turns to God looking for deliverance. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.240 I said this before, I'll say it again. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.000 I think the Psalms are primarily actually about Jesus. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:21.040 David was aware of God's promise to bring a king who would rule God's people with perfect justice and perfect righteousness. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.480 He knew that God was going to deliver his people. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:40.800 David, in his lament to the Lord, in his crying out to the Lord, is also having his hope put on the Messiah to come. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.759 David's hope is in a God who hears him. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:53.439 Not a distant God, not an absent God, but a God who genuinely, literally hears him. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:05:00.879 And this isn't because of David's worthiness, because David was just a great man and he did great things. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:06.639 God hears David because of Christ's worthiness. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:12.879 God listens to David because of Christ's worthiness and what he has done. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:18.480 Psalm 4 is about a God who hears a people. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.800 Hears his people and a people who obey him. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.120 It's about God who hears his people and a people who obey him. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:29.279 So let's look at the hearing first. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.800 Verse 1. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.759 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.120 You have given me relief when I was in distress. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.519 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:53.839 Now, if you're not familiar with the Psalms and you just read this in the English, it might sound like David is making these demands of God like a spoiled child. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.600 And that's not the case. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.160 He's making these requests to the Lord. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.319 He's making three requests here. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:09.360 One, that God would answer his prayers, that God would bring relief, and that God would be gracious to him. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:20.480 This plea, these pleas are made to the righteous God, and the God by whom righteousness is obtained. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:30.959 So this God who is righteous and then who gives righteousness because of what Christ did on the cross. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:50.319 If Christ did not die atoning for the sins of all those to come, and atoning for all the sins of those who had lived before, like Moses and David and all those before, there's no mediator by which David is made righteous. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:04.319 There's no way without Christ that David could say, Oh God of my righteousness, the righteousness comes to David from God because of Christ, the mediator. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.639 And David knew that his righteousness comes from God. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.959 And think about this: like, how does this shape our own prayer life? 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.120 How does this shape your prayer life? 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:25.759 Knowing that your righteousness, it's not something that you were able to conjure up, it's not something that you were able to earn, it's the righteousness of Christ. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:34.480 If we're not careful, we can view our relationship with God like a relational equity account, so to speak. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:40.240 And as long as we have kind of credit in there, enough credit, we'll go to God and make a request. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:50.560 But if the account is running low, or there's nothing in the account, or we're overdrawn, so to speak, we don't take a request to God. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:59.759 Now you might think this is just kind of silly and untrue, but I just want you to think about this for a moment in your own life, in your relationship with God. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:05.680 Do you tend to do this where you're in a season of disobedience? 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.519 Or maybe just a season where you're not pursuing the things of the Lord. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.720 Not that you're running from God. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:17.920 You just haven't been rhythmically, regularly, daily going to God. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:25.120 Then you feel convicted, and you feel like, well, I need to live a right way for a day or two. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:31.439 I need to abstain from that sin for a day or two, and then I can approach the throne of grace. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.200 Then I can come to God with my burden or with my need. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:37.360 Do you ever feel that way? 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:42.559 We say a lot, you know, you don't have to clean yourself up to come to God. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:46.320 We say this in our evangelism conversations and those kinds of things. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:52.879 But how easy it is for us who know God's grace, who've been forgiven by God, to still do this. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.759 Well, I just need to space a little bit. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:02.559 Kind of, not that we're in time out, like God's put us in timeout, but we've kind of distanced ourselves. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.679 The opposite can also be true where we do a lot of good things. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:21.519 We're hitting our rhythms, we're sharing the faith, we're doing good things, and we we kind of feel like, you know, if there's something significant going on in our life, we should be able to kind of cash in this equity that we built up. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:22.799 We should be able to spend this. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.679 And, you know, why isn't God answering my prayer? 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:27.360 I'm living the right way. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:36.639 I'm reading my Bible, I'm sharing the faith, I'm discipling my children, I'm praying with my wife, I'm reading scripture, I'm doing the thing, I'm serving in the church. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.360 Why isn't the Lord answering my prayer? 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:48.799 See, both ways, what's being hinted at is we're somehow operating from our own righteousness. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.039 We wouldn't say that. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.039 Of course, we know better. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:54.799 But we're living that way. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:59.200 We're living as if part of our righteousness is on us. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:14.960 This is a very simple illustration, but imagine you're on a cliff, and there's this big river down here, and on the other side is another cliff, and there's God the Father, and you're trying to get to him, but there's no way for you to get to him. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.639 God the Father graciously says, Well, I have a way, I will bring my son. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:25.360 My son will be this bridge that you can, then the means by which you will cross the gap and come to me. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:30.240 Now, if you're familiar with a lot of evangelism, there's a nice picture that goes with this too. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:40.240 But this picture, this visual picture, this ginormous gap between you and God the Father, that Christ has come to be that bridge for you. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:47.519 When you envision that in your mind, there's no way that you can then say, Yeah, I got here somewhat on my own righteousness. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:48.960 I did this my own way. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:11:05.039 It's because that Jesus was here, because a mediator came for you, that you're able to access God and enjoy his glory and his grace and his presence, his goodness, his righteousness. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:10.000 This is why we say you never outgrow the gospel. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.960 You never get past the gospel. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:22.399 The understanding that God is holy and just and righteous, and that as humans we're sinful and in need of a savior. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.720 And unless that savior comes, we're destined for hell and deserving of hell. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.879 But a savior has come, Jesus Christ. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:41.600 He's paid the price for us, redeeming us, and so we act out our obedience and faith to God. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.480 You do not outgrow that, you don't get past that. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:49.679 That's not Christianity 101, and then you just move on from there. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:12:00.080 It's the understanding that it's because of Christ, because of what He's done for us, that we continue to faithfully follow God. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.919 David's cry to God is based on the truth. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:12.399 God hears our prayers because grace has been given to us. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:19.200 What David's saying here, God of my righteousness, you've given me relief when I'm in distress. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:22.320 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.559 He's not saying, God, you owe me something. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.120 God, it's time you delivered, or God, I've suffered long enough. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.039 When are you gonna do your part? 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.360 It's not what he's saying at all. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:42.799 But rather, he's telling God, he's really preaching to himself who God is. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:50.559 He's righteous, he brings relief, he's gracious, he hears our prayer. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:56.639 Now, some Bible scholars think that David is writing that in the context of Psalm 4, it's a drought. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.840 It's a drought in the land, no water. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:08.399 Kings in that time, the leaders of the nations, they were the ones who are kind of tasked with obviously dealing with these problems. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.639 And so the people are upset. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:22.000 So whether it's a drought going on or some other issue, it's clear that the people around David, his fellow leaders and countrymen, are dissenting against him. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.000 David and his response is lament. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.000 And he's complaining about these people to them. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.000 Why aren't you listening? 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.159 Why aren't you hearing God? 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:42.559 Verse 2, O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.440 How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:52.559 Now David isn't concerned with his standing among other men or rulers. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.320 He's not saying, come on, guys, like you're making me look bad here. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.320 The nations are watching. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:00.799 That's not what he's saying. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.679 It's that they're not following God. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:12.159 They're not just rejecting God's plans, which is David, the anointed king. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:18.559 It's that they'd rather be lied to and hear than hear hard truths. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.240 They'd rather hear lies that bring some kind of false comfort than to hear hard truth. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:30.720 The hard truth is that God is sovereign over all things, he's sovereign over the drought. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:39.759 Now it could be that God's bringing judgment for their sins, or it could be just that this is the way, this is a part of the curse, and God's using this to test them and refine them. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:47.759 But either way, God is ultimately responsible for the condition that he's putting his people in. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.279 But this isn't what the people want to hear. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.159 They want to hear something else, even if it's untrue. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:00.320 They want hope, even if it's a false hope, a lie. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:03.440 They desire to be comforted with these lies. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:05.360 And this isn't something new. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.519 This is very active in our culture. 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:12.799 Human nature has not changed in the 3,000 years since this was written. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.039 Just think about this in your own life. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:16.720 Is this true of you? 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.440 Would you rather hear comforting lies than hard truths? 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.879 This happens all the time with words. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.879 People say things that are neither true nor helpful. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:33.600 But for some reason, they bring some kind of comfort or hope to people. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:39.440 They want someone, don't tell me the hard thing, just tell me what's going to make me feel good. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.639 So you have this all over our culture and our in our day and age. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:51.360 You see this even in churches where people want to make man the center of all things. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:16:09.279 I think the Bible kind of revolves around men, and God's here to love you, God's here to give you good things, God's here to make you healthy and wealthy and to bring you comfort and peace so that you can be comfortable and have peace. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.879 God is the giver of good things, but it's not ultimately about Him. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:22.799 And so we have to be honest with ourselves and even honest with one another that we are a people who want the truth. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.320 Tell me the truth. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:30.159 Tell me what's really true, not what's gonna make me feel better. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:38.799 Now, none of us, none of us are just like, hey, I don't like comfort, I just like hard things. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.200 We all want comforted. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.720 And sometimes we're comforted by like, well, we're doing hard things. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:53.759 We're doing the hard thing, and we seek a false comfort from that instead of from the Lord. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.159 The false lie or the lies of the enemy, the desire for false comfort and false hope. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.799 It's not it's not just with words, we see this with actions as well. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.240 Think about the lie of lust. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:17.519 Think about the lie of money, think about the lie of food, the lie of success, or power, or respect. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.880 It's so easy to look to these things. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:22.079 I know I say this a lot. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:32.480 It's so easy to look to those things for just some kind of comfort, some kind of hope, or just a relief. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.200 Can I just take the edge off? 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.279 Can I not feel as stressed? 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:43.599 I don't feel as burdened, it helps me forget my cares for a little bit for a moment. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:53.839 Remember back last week in Psalm 3, we talked about how the lie of Psalm 3, that the enemies are telling David, is that God won't save you. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.119 God doesn't actually love you. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:10.559 And how all the things that all the lies that I just mentioned about the things we look to for comfort and hope, they're all, that all those lies really come from this lie, that God cannot deliver hope. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:18.400 That God isn't gonna deliver salvation for us, that God can't truly satisfy. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:32.400 Yeah, that's that sounds great, it reads great, it preaches well, but that's not actually true for me. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.440 That's not how it works in my life. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:41.680 And so we ultimately believe that lie, and so then we turn and follow other lies. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.839 It's the same thing happening to these people in Psalm 4. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:53.359 There's some major distress going on, and they're looking to false things to be comforted with. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.599 So David reminds them of God's plan. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:18:59.359 Look at verse 3. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:04.480 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.079 The Lord hears when I call to him. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:17.119 True humility doesn't blush at declaring the truth. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:30.799 David saying, God has set me apart for himself, and because of this, God hears me when I call, is David just declaring the truth. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:36.160 He's not saying, look, guys, I am God's gift to man. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.400 You don't know how good you have it. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.279 Without me, who knows where you'd be? 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:43.359 That's not what he's saying at all. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.400 He's saying, listen, God has a plan. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:59.440 And even as David has been anointed by God to lead Israel, he is a shadow, a type of the truly, the fully anointed, the Messiah when he comes. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:10.319 He doesn't come saying, listen, um, I just kind of think there needs to be a leader. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.799 Rome is occupying Jerusalem, people aren't really following the word. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.759 What do you guys think about this idea? 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:22.480 Like going back to where the Ten Commandments and following it with our whole heart. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:36.079 Jesus enters into our universe, enters into the kingdom, and says, Listen, I am God, and I am going to save my people. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:50.240 And so often, I don't want to speak for you, but for me, I'll just be in conversations and I'll hear people saying their issues or their needs or what's going on, and I'll be like, hey, you know, Jesus, Jesus can be a hope. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:21:02.000 Like He is our ultimate hope, he's God, and then they'll say something, but then I just want to be bold and declare, just so you know, there isn't any other way than Jesus. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.720 There isn't any other hope. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:09.039 This is God's plan for the redemption of his people. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:15.759 And here David is just boldly declaring the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.319 I'm part of that group. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.200 The Lord hears me when I call. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Church, if God has saved you, and he has, if you belong to his people, his mercy and his grace, he's lavished on you. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.279 He hears you when you call. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:41.759 He hears you when you call. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:47.200 So often, like, yeah, of course, God hears me. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.000 I get it. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:53.200 But he's got seven billion other calls as well. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:55.759 God hears you. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.200 You're not God. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:58.960 Don't try to figure out God. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 Don't try to. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.799 Explain everything about him like you think you could. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.119 But know this. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:06.799 He hears you. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:18.880 Just because he doesn't answer the way you want him to, or do what you're asking in the timeline that you're asking doesn't mean he doesn't hear you. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.680 He hears you when you call because of Christ. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.079 How beautiful and wonderful is Christ. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.519 David then gives this warning in verse 4. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.839 Verse 4 and 5 Be angry and do not sin. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.480 Ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.559 Selah. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:48.319 I want to pause there and just say this word Selah all through the scriptures. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.079 No one actually knows what it means, which is pretty unique. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:59.039 A lot of people think it's a musical thing, it's it's a it's a something to do with music because the psalms are all musical, they're songs. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:03.279 But no one can say with great confidence it means this or it means that. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:04.880 But it means something. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.599 God has it in his word, it means something. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.759 Verse 5. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.799 Offer right sacrifices, put your trust in the Lord. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:22.160 Now, again, some commentators and theologians they think this be angry should be translated tremble. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:23.519 Tremble. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:31.680 In times of difficulty and hardship, you might feel angry, might feel a desire to tremble. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:37.200 There might be maybe it's this anger and frustration or this trembling. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.759 It's a strong emotion. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:45.759 Now we know in Ephesians, Paul uses very similar language in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 26. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.039 Paul says, Be angry and do not sin. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:53.119 Do not let the sun go down on your anger. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:59.440 Now maybe Paul was referring to this and he's just citing that passage, or he's just using similar language. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:05.440 But the message, whether it's do not tremble or do not be angry, it's to trust God. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:20.880 You're gonna feel the way you feel, but you can feel angry and you can feel this trembling or this idea of Lord, I want to follow you, but all these things are happening around me. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:26.720 People are dissenting, they're making accusations, they're not trusting. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:34.640 The instruction is to do not sin in our anger or in our trembling. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:36.240 Do not sin. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:42.319 Don't feel like it's up to us to right the wrongs, to bring vengeance. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:49.759 Don't look to ungodly things, to look to make you feel better. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:51.839 There's no doubt about this. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:25:06.319 We live in a society, in a time and age where no one has, no people group have ever been so medicated or so distracted, or so many things come at us to help us deal with our feelings. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.680 I want to be clear, I'm not saying medicine's bad, I'm not saying all those things. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:16.319 I'm just saying we as a society, we look at the brokenness of humanity and we don't say, wow, we're broken. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.359 We need someone to make us whole and heal us. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:27.279 We say, well, just take some more pills and watch more TV and eat more of these things until you feel decent. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.480 I think the instruction here even connects to this. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:34.640 Be angry and do not sin. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:45.039 Feel if it's a righteous anger or a righteous trembling or difficulty or sadness, do not sin. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:58.079 Don't go to just giving yourself to things, giving yourself over to substance or to people or to ideas so that you feel better. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:02.720 But trust in the sovereign hand of the Lord. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:07.599 He is kind and gracious and merciful, he will sustain you. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.519 So this is a God who hears. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.440 We listen to him and we obey him. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.880 He hears us and we obey him. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:20.559 Look at verse 6. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:24.559 There are many who say, Who will show us some good? 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:31.279 Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord, is David's cry. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:35.440 Even among Christians, this mentality pops up. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:40.880 Yes, we believe the Bible, we believe in Jesus, and all that good stuff. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.039 But who's gonna save us? 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:45.039 Who will fix our culture? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:47.279 Who's gonna bring justice to the land? 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.759 Who's gonna right the wrongs? 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.400 If we're not careful, we look at other things. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.720 We wonder, well, are they gonna deliver? 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.119 Are they gonna show us some hope? 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:13.359 We can look at our own life, our marriage, or our parenting struggles, or our finances, or broken hearts or relationships, and ask, who will show us some good? 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:22.160 I think this is a great question if we want to ask ourselves, to really gauge just how we're doing. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.319 Are we trusting the Lord? 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.720 When you think about that, who will show us some good? 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:32.720 What do you look to? 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:41.119 What are you waking up thinking as you seek to pursue good things? 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:46.880 As you seek to find meaning in your life, to find security and value. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.319 We know here that these these people are saying, well, who's gonna show us some good? 00:27:52.720 --> 00:28:01.200 As if God had not already shown them good, as if God had not already been faithful to them all of their days. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:03.519 Here they are looking elsewhere. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.240 Well, who's gonna show us these things? 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:31.920 It's so easy for us to claim the name of Christ, to walk the way that Christians in our culture walk, but then to look to something else, to truly bring goodness into our life, to bring some kind of contentment, some kind of peace, who's gonna deliver, who's gonna save this marriage, or who's gonna kind of help us with our parenting. 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:35.519 You just look all over the internet. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:56.960 It's filled, not just with like the corny self-help stuff, but people who are genuinely hungry and looking for ways that they might be good, that something that might save their marriage, save their children from destruction, help their coworker get off drugs. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:00.240 Everyone's looking for this. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:03.920 This question, who will show us some good? 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:09.519 Is the question the culture is asking and answering all the time. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:16.480 It's the question that your heart and my heart is asking every day when you wake up and you go about the day. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.240 It's asking this question because we're made to worship. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:26.240 We've been designed by God to worship, and we will worship. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.759 We're going to worship. 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:29.440 You're gonna worship something. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:32.720 You cannot not worship something. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:30:09.680 And so here, the Lord, or David's asking the Lord to lift up their face, that they might see Him, that they might behold that God, the Creator God, the one who has made them, that God would lift up his face, that it would shine forth, that those who are looking to other things, other gods, other people, other nations, other situations, other strategies, that they would realize that it's only God who can bring good. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.799 And he has brought good. 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:21.119 Now, if you're not a Christian, whether you know it or not, this is not the question that you're also trying to answer. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:23.599 What will show, what will bring good? 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:24.880 Where's goodness? 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:26.319 Where does it come from? 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:35.680 And I don't just mean light and kindness, I mean true goodness. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:40.240 What is the source of goodness? 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:51.039 When you go out as Romans 1 says, you go out in the world and you see the sky and the trees and God's creation, and it's screaming that there is a creator God. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:31:10.799 So you you go out in the world and you meet people and you're you see kind things and you see uh beautiful marriage and parents with their children and all these things that are good, they're not evil, and they're not just kind of like neither good nor evil, they are inherently good. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:13.119 Where does that come from? 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:15.680 Where is that coming from? 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:17.599 It's coming from God. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:27.759 And David says in verse 7, You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.119 In peace, I will both lie down and sleep. 00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.240 For you alone, O Lord, make me lie down and sleep. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:44.640 In Psalm chapter 3, the Lord gives him rest. 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:50.480 David's heart is set on the things of God. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:57.519 The rain, it will fall again, the crops, they will grow again, the grain and the wine, they will abound again. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:00.720 But that's not the source of ultimate joy. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:08.480 For even when the grain and the wine abound, again a day will come when they are empty. 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:10.880 Drought will come again. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:24.000 But when God puts joy in your heart, oh, what a blessing, brothers and sisters, when God says, Listen, I'm going to put joy in your heart, regardless of your situation. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:27.039 I don't need to change your income to do that. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:31.200 I don't need to give you kind of the desires of your heart to do that. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.240 I will do that because I love you. 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.359 God is gracious and kind. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:43.519 What a wonderful thing to have a God who gives us joy. 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:58.000 How easy it is, though, for us to look around to the things around us, look around to life, relationships, comforts, status, any kind of achievement, even good things. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:06.559 I mean good things, good prosperity, good blessings, and to seek joy from those things. 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:12.880 David says, In peace I both lie down and sleep for you alone, O Lord. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:14.559 Make me dwell in safety. 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:21.759 He's saying, in peace, with joy. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:28.079 Whatever is going on around him, which we have a picture of what's going on around him, not good things. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:31.920 He knows that God has what? 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:33.359 Heard him. 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:40.160 His requests in verse 1, answer me, O God, when I call, O God of my righteousness. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:45.519 You know, give me relief when I was in distress, be gracious and hear my prayer. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:47.519 God answers his prayer. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:48.960 God hears his prayer. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:50.960 God has given him rest. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:58.880 Some theologians talk that David doesn't just mean sleep, he means death here. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:10.960 That when I lie down and sleep, when I die, when my days are over, when there's nothing more that I have on this earth to do, Lord, when you take me home, I'm in peace. 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.760 You make me dwell in safety. 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:17.199 What a faith. 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:25.039 I pray that as a church, we would be a people who have faith, that trust the Lord for these kinds of things. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:30.079 So often we're just tired. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:38.159 We read what David's saying, it's like great, the Lord brings joy and he provides, and he helps us to sleep, and he keeps us in safety. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:40.079 Those are all good things. 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:43.519 But in our own soul, we're just tired. 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:46.800 Our hearts are heavy laden. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.239 Maybe you can relate to that. 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:54.159 You feel weary from just following the things of the Lord. 00:34:54.559 --> 00:35:00.639 It's not that you don't care about the Lord, it's not that you don't care about the Bible and being a good follower of Jesus. 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:05.360 You want to be, you're trying to be, but you're also tired. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:10.960 If we're not careful, we can just try to keep going. 00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:13.280 I'm just gonna work harder. 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.079 I'm just gonna get this big project out of the way. 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:19.679 I'm gonna try to do better and just be better. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:31.119 So many times we just kind of grip the thing, pull ourselves up, white knuckle it, just bear your head and we're gonna get through this. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:36.719 And you can have a success all day long with that in the world. 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:47.039 You can overcome major financial struggles that way, you can overcome daunting problems with work or projects, you can get promoted, all those things. 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:49.679 It works in the world. 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.559 It doesn't work with your own soul. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:54.719 Your soul does not work this way. 00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:59.920 You can't outwork yourself out of tiredness and weariness into rest. 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:03.119 Only Christ can bring rest. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:08.320 And he's done that because he has done the work. 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:12.960 We often say in our church that you can't be saved by works. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:16.800 It's not a works-based salvation, meaning you can't earn it. 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:20.400 You can't just be baptized or taking communion or giving money. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:22.800 None of those things will save you. 00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:25.840 Nothing you do can earn your salvation. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:29.199 But it is good to be clear on something, though. 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:32.079 You are saved by works. 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:34.639 The works of Christ. 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:42.000 The work of Christ, his labor, his striving, his keeping the law perfectly. 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:47.280 He died completely, and he has redeemed his people fully. 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:54.800 This is the work of Christ that he's then given on your behalf, attributed to you as righteousness. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:59.039 There is heartbreak in this world. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:01.440 There's hardship in our life. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:05.519 We often have so much to lament. 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:09.280 But we are not a people without hope. 00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:14.079 We look to Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:15.280 We obey him. 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:24.960 He is the almighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, and he seeks to show us his love and kindness, and we seek to obey him. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:26.880