1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,160 You are listening to Key Life Fellowship's Pulpit Ministry 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,640 podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,360 learn from God's Word together. For more information about Key 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:17,200 Life Fellowship, visit us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com. 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,520 Hey man, how many of you are thankful for the hope that we 6 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,880 have in Christ that we just sing of a moment ago? 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:36,520 I'm definitely thankful for all three of you and I pray by the 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,600 end of this message today as we look at hope and comfort from 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,400 God's Word, that others would join in and praising Him for the 10 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,920 hope and the comfort that we do receive from His Word. 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,240 This morning we will be continuing our journey in the 12 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,160 119th Psalm as we continue to look at living a life in the 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,240 light of God's word. And I pray that's what you're 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:01,560 doing. I pray that's what you will 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,879 continue to do is that you will heed the words in the 16 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,920 encouragement of the psalmist and you will become more 17 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,960 devoted, more dedicated to walking in the light of God's 18 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,520 Word in your life. So here we are in this golden 19 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:22,720 alphabet, this acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet, we come to this 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,760 next letter, which is the letter Zion. 21 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,440 And in these 8 verses we're going to see the psalmist 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,320 receiving hope and comfort from God's Word during a difficult 23 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:37,720 and dark time in his life. And in doing that and how he 24 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,040 handles it, He's going to teach us how we can rejoice and we can 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,200 be glad this morning as he is, for the same comfort, in the 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,880 same hope that he received from the Word of God during this 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:56,400 difficult time in his life. So the 119th Psalm, verse 49, 28 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,400 there's no need to hesitate. Let's jump right in because we 29 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:05,680 have a lot to cover this morning. 8 entire verses that as 30 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,919 you will see, contain much truth that we need in our lives. 31 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,680 In verse 49 it says, Remember your word to your servant, for 32 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,840 You have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is 33 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,600 this. Your promise preserves my life. 34 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,280 The arrogant mocked me without restraint, but I do not turn 35 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,120 from Your law. I remember your ancient laws, O 36 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,200 Lord, and I find comfort in them. 37 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:41,280 Indignation grips me because of the wicked who have forsaken 38 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,480 your law. Your decrees are the theme of my 39 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,280 song. Wherever I lodge in the night, I 40 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:53,000 remember your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law. 41 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:59,400 This has been my practice. I obey your precepts. 42 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:01,240 Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus. 43 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,600 We come to You now thanking You for the Word, Your Word that You 44 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,040 have given to us, that You have preserved throughout the ages, 45 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,600 so that we can today join together, open up the Scriptures 46 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,840 in the language that we can understand, and we can receive 47 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,800 truth from Your mouth. Lord, we know that the psalmist 48 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,200 is declaring this morning to us as inspired by Your Holy Spirit 49 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,880 that we can find hope and we can find comfort in Your Word. 50 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,160 When I pray for those who need hope and who need comfort this 51 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,320 morning, that they would not look to the means of this world, 52 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,400 the resources of this world, the philosophies and the ideology of 53 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,280 this world. They would look to Your Word to 54 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,080 find the hope and the comfort that they need. 55 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,840 God, I pray that we would, as we learn Your words, store the 56 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,840 truths away for those moments that we do need hope and comfort 57 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,240 in the days to come. God, I pray for the lost soul 58 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,560 who's here today, who has no eternal hope or no eternal 59 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,000 comfort. They only have the fearful 60 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,520 expectation of Your fiery judgement and the wrath that 61 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:11,440 will come upon all unbelievers. God, I pray today that You make 62 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,160 that ever so clear to them, that they would cry out according to 63 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,120 Your word, to the only One who brings hope to the Sinner, and 64 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,800 that is to Christ. That they would cry out to Him 65 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,760 to save them, to wash them, to cleanse them of all their sin, 66 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,160 that they would surrender their life to You, Lord, as Master and 67 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,320 King of their lives. God, I pray as your word goes 68 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,440 forth that you would accomplish your set will this morning. 69 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,560 We pray all these things in Christ's name, Amen. 70 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,200 As we've seen the psalmist declare today, there is great 71 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,680 hope and there is great comfort for those who are in Christ that 72 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,960 we receive from the Word of God. We're going to look at the 73 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,720 specifics of that this morning. And I pray that it would 74 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,960 encourage you as believers to study the Word of God because it 75 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,200 is in the Word of God where we find out and we learn about the 76 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:02,760 hope and the comfort that we have. 77 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:08,320 The psalmist here starting in verse 49 speaks of this, the the 78 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,080 promised hope. And that's what I want to look 79 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,320 at first this morning. He says this, Remember your word 80 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,320 to your servant, for you have given me hope. 81 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,120 My comfort in my suffering is this. 82 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:26,280 Your promise preserves my life, the psalmist here declaring. 83 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:31,800 That he has found comfort and he has found hope and he has found 84 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,760 this comfort and hope from the Lord in the Word of God. 85 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,760 I want you to see that at first we, we have to take note of 86 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:41,920 this. The comfort and the hope that he 87 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,920 has and that he is sharing in is promised in God's Word. 88 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,200 You're not going to find this type of hope and comfort 89 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,600 anywhere else. Unfortunately, many people look 90 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,520 for hope and they look for comfort in all sorts of things. 91 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,480 And you may find something that is labeled hope, you may find 92 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,480 something that is labeled comfort, but all of those things 93 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,080 are deceitful. All of those things are false 94 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,440 for the child of God. We will not find comfort in 95 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:14,160 anything that can be found in this world other than that which 96 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,640 the Lord has left us with it, which is not of this world. 97 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,080 It is His. Very word the psalmist finding 98 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,920 comfort there. The psalmist recounting the 99 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,800 promises that God has given regarding this hope and this 100 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,040 comfort in His word. In fact, Psalm 25, verse 3, it 101 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,800 says this, No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to 102 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,480 shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous 103 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,280 without excuse. The psalmist here understanding 104 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:50,880 that that there is no one who will find hope anywhere else but 105 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,640 in the Lord, and those who find hope in the Lord will never be 106 00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:01,720 put to shame, but those who cease to find hope in the. 107 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:08,000 Lord and in his word He says they will be put to shame, and 108 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:13,920 that in and of itself makes them treacherous without excuse. 109 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,840 Because the Lord has spoken his word, that we may find hope and 110 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,840 comfort in his word, Psalm 3318, the psalmist says. 111 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,080 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those 112 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,480 whose hope is in His unfailing love. 113 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,640 And how can our hope be in His unfailing love if we don't know 114 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,000 about His unveiling love? And where we find out about His 115 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,600 unfailing love is in and through the Scriptures. 116 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,880 We read the Scriptures, we study the Scriptures, and we find that 117 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,800 He is a God who has unfailing love for His people. 118 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,280 And we learn to rest in that. And in resting in that we have 119 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,960 hope and we have comfort through the promised Word of God. 120 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,840 Psalm 146, verse 5. It's as blessed as he whose help 121 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:03,040 is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 122 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,680 And how do we know who this Lord is? 123 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,040 How do we know who the one true God is? 124 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:12,840 We find this through the study of the Word and in studying the 125 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,000 Word and learning who God is, learning all of His 126 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,400 characteristics and all of His attributes as they have been 127 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,760 revealed unto us through the Scriptures. 128 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:25,240 Then we rest in the hope and the comfort that we have had 129 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,720 revealed to us through God's Word. 130 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,440 The psalmist here saying, Remember your word to your 131 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,440 servant, for you have given me hope. 132 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,280 Now let me make this very clear. The psalmist is not reminding 133 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,760 God of something as if he has forgotten. 134 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,200 God hasn't forgotten what he said. 135 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,960 In fact, he's faithful to everything that he has spoken 136 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,440 and he does not forget anything. He knows everything, the 137 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,680 beginning from the end. So the psalmist is not acting 138 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:58,080 here as if God somehow has amnesia or dementia and has 139 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,240 forgotten what he's promised. What's actually happening here 140 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:07,120 is the psalmist is recounting what he knew the word of God has 141 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,280 said, and he's actually getting on the same page as God. 142 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,360 He's saying, remember when you said this, how many of you, you 143 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,480 know, you have those memories in your family, right, that 144 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,280 everybody remembers that event. But when you get together, no 145 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,720 one's ever going to forget that event. 146 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,880 But we say, hey, do you remember when this happened? 147 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,120 Of course, it's a given. Everybody remembers when that 148 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,760 happened. So the psalmist, you're 149 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:33,520 approaching God in the same manner. 150 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,400 Lord, I know that you're faithful to know everything that 151 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,000 you have promised. I know that you will remember 152 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,840 your word to your servant. I know that that that hope that 153 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,320 I. Have is real because you're 154 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,400 faithful to everything that your word says. 155 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,840 So he simply begins by saying, remember your word to your 156 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,360 servant, for you have given me hope. 157 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,040 Remember the hope that you've given me, Lord, Richard Sibb 158 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,880 says when we hear any promise in the word of God. 159 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,440 Let us turn it into prayer. That's what the psalmist is 160 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,040 doing here. He has heard the promises of 161 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:09,600 God, and he's turning it into prayer. 162 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,880 You see a beautiful communion between the psalmist and the 163 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:14,880 Lord here. Lord, remember what you said. 164 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,280 Not as if the Lord has forgotten, but they're enjoying 165 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,960 his promise together. Because what you said has given 166 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:27,560 me. Hope Richard Sibs again, he goes 167 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:29,840 on to say. God's promises are his bonds. 168 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,400 Sue him. On his bonds he says, take him 169 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,480 to court. See if he doesn't remember every 170 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,400 single one of them. See if he's not faithful to 171 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,920 everything that he said, call him to task. 172 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,120 That's what the psalmist is doing here. 173 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,480 Lord, you're faithful to everything you say, and I 174 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,480 remember that, and I know you remember that because you forget 175 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:48,880 nothing. You're a sovereign God who knows 176 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,400 all things. And I have hope because of your 177 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,960 word. So we see the promise that the 178 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,400 psalmist speaks of here, of that hope promised in God's Word, 179 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,160 found nowhere else. But not only is this promised 180 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,720 hope promised in God's Word, it's provided by God's grace. 181 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,280 I want everyone to understand biblically how this is accessed. 182 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:11,840 Now. This is not for those who are 183 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,080 not recipients of God's grace. Pay attention to what the 184 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,280 psalmist says. He says, remember your word to 185 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,200 your servant, for you have given me hope. 186 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,080 Where does this hope come from? It doesn't come from his quest 187 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,160 to find hope. It doesn't come from his efforts 188 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,280 to gain hope on his own or to perhaps purchase hope somehow 189 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,040 from his own pocket. He sees the hope that he has 190 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,720 been given that has been confirmed in the Word of God as 191 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,600 a grace from God because everything that we receive from 192 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,240 God, please know this church is provided by God's grace. 193 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,400 And he's seeing that this is the grace of God's mercy that gives 194 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,160 any Sinner hope. We're not the grace of God's 195 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,120 mercy. None of you would have any hope 196 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,480 today. You don't have hope because you 197 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,720 came to church. You don't have hope because you 198 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,200 walked an aisle, you prayed a prayer. 199 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,600 You don't have hope for any other reason other than that God 200 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:13,360 has graciously given you hope in Christ Jesus, and that is 201 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,680 according to His Word. The psalmist recounting that for 202 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,720 you have given me hope. He knows where true hope comes 203 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,120 from, and it comes from the grace of God. 204 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,320 And I believe this. The people of God will begin to 205 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,240 sing Amazing Grace with a new passion when they really see 206 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,160 grace for what it is. It is a gift from God-given to 207 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,120 people who were at one time hopeless and helpless. 208 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,680 And in that gift of grace through Jesus Christ, we now 209 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:42,640 have the hope. That the psalmist is Speaking of 210 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,160 here, and we have it by God's grace alone. 211 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,800 So our hope is based biblically on what God has graciously done, 212 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,240 not anything that we could do or ever have done. 213 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,760 In fact, Titus chapter 3, Paul says this there to Titus. 214 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,160 He says, talking of Christ, He saved us not because of 215 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,600 righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. 216 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,360 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the 217 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,160 Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus 218 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,520 Christ our Savior. Oh, Paul speaks here in Titus of 219 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,680 God's gracious mercy that he gives to his people, bringing 220 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,600 hope in our lives through Jesus Christ. 221 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,520 Now watch this in accordance with what God has promised in 222 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,880 Scripture. Did God not promise through the 223 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,200 prophets that there would be a Messiah who would come and who 224 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,280 would mercifully save God's people from their sin? 225 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,560 Of course he did, The psalmist understanding the hope of the 226 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,680 Messiah who was to come from the other. 227 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,440 Side of the cross We have the advantage of looking back and 228 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,480 seeing through the cross all the way to where the psalmist is 229 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,880 writing these things. And we see that all of it is 230 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,520 because of God's grace. In fact, in Ephesians chapter 2, 231 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,760 verse 4, Paul says, but because of his great love for us, God, 232 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,040 who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we 233 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,520 were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been 234 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:09,640 saved. Now I know that's very familiar 235 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,120 to the people of Key Life Fellowship. 236 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,480 In fact, one would ask probably why do you constantly remind us 237 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,160 that it's by grace and grace alone? 238 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,360 Because we constantly have a tendency to forget this. 239 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,880 That's man's nature. We we, for whatever reason in 240 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,160 our sinful nature, want to take credit for something. 241 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,160 We want to get involved in this. Process that has brought us 242 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,200 hope. And we have done nothing to gain 243 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,160 the hope that we have. It is all God and it is all 244 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,480 God's grace. And it's high time every day 245 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,440 that we remind ourselves of that, that it is nothing, that 246 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,680 we have done nothing. In my hand I bring simply to the 247 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:50,960 cross. I cling. 248 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,520 That is my hope, my hope in this life and my hope in the life to 249 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,360 come. The psalmist understanding. 250 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,120 This, he says. For you have given me hope. 251 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,560 He knows where that hope stems from. 252 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:05,560 It's provided by God's grace, promised in His Word, provided 253 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,680 by God's grace. He's clinging to it. 254 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,880 What does it do? It is what God is using as He is 255 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,080 producing comfort for God's people. 256 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:16,040 That's what the Word of God does for us. 257 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,480 It reminds us of what God has promised, what God has done by 258 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:25,240 His grace, and it is His Word that is producing comfort for 259 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,160 His people. Psalm 62, verse 5, the psalmist 260 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,520 says this. Find rest, O my soul in God 261 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:36,040 alone. My hope comes from Him. 262 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:41,280 All what rest and what comfort comes from God when we open the 263 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:45,880 pages of Scripture, when we see that He is a God who loved us 264 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,120 and who sent His only Son to this earth to die for us. 265 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,880 He is a God that as we trust in Him, we don't have to be anxious 266 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:55,720 and worry about the things of this world. 267 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,240 We can set our minds on what he has said in Scripture and we can 268 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,240 know this, that we from him have received a peace that surpasses 269 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,800 all understanding. And it'll guard our hearts and 270 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:10,840 our minds in Christ Jesus, just as Paul said that it would. 271 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,080 And so it is the word of God that the psalmist is clinging to 272 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:20,880 here that is producing comfort for himself and for us today as 273 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:22,760 God's people. He says my comfort and my 274 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:28,560 suffering is this verse 50. Your promise preserves my life. 275 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:33,600 All the comfort that we can receive as believers in this 276 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:39,480 world and true comfort for that matter, we have been given from 277 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:44,800 God through Jesus Christ who produces that comfort that God 278 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,840 desires for us to have. Romans chapter 15 verse 13. 279 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,720 It says, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace 280 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:55,280 as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the 281 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,640 power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, it's God who desires that we 282 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,880 have hope and that we have comfort when we trust in Him, 283 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,520 when we trust in Him according to His Word, and He has placed 284 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,119 His Spirit into us as promised in the Scriptures. 285 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,079 That confirms that we do have that hope. 286 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,280 Aren't you thankful for the confirmation of the Holy Spirit? 287 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,280 Confidently you read something in the Word of God. 288 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,760 It's a promise the Holy Spirit is there inside of you to verify 289 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,000 and to testify that is true. Yes and Amen. 290 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,760 God has spoken and you can cling to that promise. 291 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,760 And in clinging to that promise you have great comfort and you 292 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:37,280 have great hope in this life. This comfort comes to all who 293 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,280 trust in Christ and in clinging to the Word of God. 294 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,040 Second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 3. 295 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,360 We saw it in our scripture reading, but I want to look at 296 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,600 it a little closer. It says praise be to the God and 297 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,800 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the 298 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,840 God of all comfort. Please underline that in your 299 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,040 Bible. Maybe you're that person who 300 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,280 doesn't want to write in your Bible. 301 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,560 This time make an exception. Highlight He is the God of all 302 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,640 comfort. He says who? 303 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:04,200 Comforts us? Here's another thing for you to 304 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:09,400 highlight in all our troubles. What a promise from the Word of 305 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:10,920 God. Oh, what comfort we received 306 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,360 from that. He comforts us in all of our 307 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:16,240 troubles. Not in some of them, not in the 308 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,720 easy ones, All of them. That's what all the people would 309 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:20,960 say. Man, I need comfort. 310 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:22,280 From God. But you don't understand what 311 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:23,680 I'm going through. No, but He does. 312 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,840 He's already walked that road ahead of you and He has already 313 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:31,160 and made sure that in the midst of whatever that you're going to 314 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,200 face, he is going to be your ultimate supply of comfort as 315 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,320 you cling to his word. He is the God of all comfort who 316 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,160 comforts us in all our troubles. Why does he do this? 317 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,520 So that when we so so that we can comfort those in any trouble 318 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,480 with the comfort. We ourselves have received from 319 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,120 God. What is He saying now? 320 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:51,120 Because you have utilized the word of God and it has brought 321 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:53,400 you comfort in your in peace in your life. 322 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,920 Now, when there are others who are going through similar 323 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,560 things, this is what the body of Christ is supposed to do. 324 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,880 When there are others who are going through similar things 325 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,440 now, the same truth from Scripture that carried you and 326 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,480 comforted you and gave you hope in the midst of whatever it is 327 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,720 that you were facing. You take those same scriptures 328 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,000 and you offer it to your brothers and to your sisters in 329 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,360 Christ. Here's what the word of God 330 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:18,360 says. Remember what the Lord has 331 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,880 spoken and promised on this and what comfort we receive as a 332 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,600 whole. He says. 333 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,520 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives, 334 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,240 so also through Christ, our comfort overflows. 335 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,040 We all in Christ are going to suffer. 336 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,800 We're going to see in a moment the psalmist suffering 337 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,280 persecution from those who would ridicule and mock him. 338 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,280 We're all going to face some type of suffering because the 339 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,080 sufferings of Christ overflows into our lives. 340 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,080 But. Also, through the Word of God, 341 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,520 the comfort from Christ overflows into our lives. 342 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:54,720 I don't know how unbelievers go through any difficult time in 343 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:55,880 this world. I really don't. 344 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,720 Without the comfort and the hope that comes from the word of God, 345 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,760 the psalmist making that very clear that he's resting in the 346 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,400 promises of God and he says they preserve my life. 347 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,720 The comfort that he is holding on to is the eternal life that 348 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,280 he has been promised in Christ and he's clinging to that. 349 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,200 Spurgeon said this. He said the world then clutches 350 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,720 his money bag and says this is my comfort. 351 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,560 The spinthrift points to his gaiety, and he shouts, This is 352 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:37,200 my comfort, the drunkard. He lifts his glass and he sings, 353 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,480 This is my comfort. But the man whose hope comes 354 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:46,200 from God fills the life giving power of the word of the Lord, 355 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:51,640 and he testifies this. Is my comfort. 356 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,520 This is my comfort, no matter what I go through. 357 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,200 Just as the psalmist said, it is the Lord according to his 358 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,840 prominence, his word. It is the Lord who. 359 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:08,240 Preserves my life in any and in every situation that I may face. 360 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,200 And so may we find great comfort in the hope that God has 361 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,720 promised to all of us who have trusted in him. 362 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,920 This is the promised hope that the psalmist begins with. 363 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,600 He moves then to the second thing that we'll look at today, 364 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,520 the persecution from the hopeless. 365 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,680 The next verse, it says this in 51. 366 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,400 The arrogant mocked me without restraint, but I do not turn 367 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,200 from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O 368 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,880 Lord, and I find comfort in them. 369 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,640 What is happening here? What's actually transpiring? 370 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,680 It's something that if we'll pay attention to, we know it's very 371 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,840 common. The unbelieving who have no hope 372 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,680 in this situation are mocking and they are ridiculing the 373 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,920 psalmist who has hope because he does trust in God and he does 374 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,720 trust in God's Word, and they are arrogantly mocking him in 375 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,960 their pride. They are saying this is stupid 376 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,440 man who clings to these ancient promises, who clings to this 377 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,560 outdated religion, who clings to that silly book. 378 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,920 That's what they're doing. They're literally making fun of 379 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:19,440 the psalmist they are despising, and this is what they do. 380 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:24,200 Those who have hope, isn't that what the hopeless does all the 381 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,640 time? They despise anyone who has 382 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,840 hope. Now, just so you don't get your 383 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:37,280 feelings hurt this morning, they don't hate you because of you. 384 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:43,000 They hate you because of the hope that you have in Christ. 385 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,760 They actually hate Christ in John 15. 386 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,720 The Lord gives us some. Some insight in dealing with 387 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,960 this, he says in verse 18 of chapter 15, If the world hates 388 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,800 you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 389 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:03,760 If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own as it 390 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,000 is. You do not belong to the world, 391 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,280 but I have chosen you out of the world. 392 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,160 That is why the world hates you. Did you catch that? 393 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,400 The world hates you because God has actually, by His mercy and 394 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,720 His grace rescued you from the world. 395 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,560 He has chosen you out of the world. 396 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,800 He has reached down into the mud and the mire, as the psalmist 397 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,160 said, and he's lifted you out of the hopelessness of the world, 398 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,440 and he's set your feet on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, 399 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,200 giving you hope. And the world sees your hope, 400 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,120 and they hate you because they hate the hope that you have, and 401 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,240 that hope stems from God. Jesus says, remember, they hated 402 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,240 me first. Remember the words I spoke to 403 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:43,480 you. No servant is greater than his 404 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,400 master. They persecuted me. 405 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,360 They will persecute you also. If they obey my teaching, they 406 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,320 will obey yours also. They will treat you this way 407 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,320 because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 408 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,480 What is Jesus saying? He's simply saying this. 409 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,120 If the world hates you, it's because they hate me and they 410 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,320 hate my word, and you're standing on my promises, so 411 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,680 they're going to hate you as well. 412 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,000 Don't take it to heart. It's just part of it. 413 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,160 Church, let me just say it so that you understand it. 414 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:17,360 It's just the way it is. Stop trying to be friends with 415 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:19,840 the world. Watch what Jesus said. 416 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,760 He said if the world likes you, it's because you're one of them. 417 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,560 The reason that they don't like you is because you're completely 418 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,800 and distinctly different from them. 419 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,880 What is the difference? You have hope in Christ, hope of 420 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,600 forgiveness and of all your sin, hope of eternal life. 421 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,560 You have communion with your Creator. 422 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,040 They have none of this. They are miserable. 423 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,880 And they see your hope, and they hate you because you have that 424 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,920 hope. They're despising those who have 425 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,840 been given hope in Christ through His word. 426 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:57,760 Not only are they despising those who have hope, they're 427 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:03,160 demeaning to those who have hope, mocking God's people for 428 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,640 the hope that they have. Did you know it still goes on 429 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,040 today? It was going on in the life of 430 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,520 the psalmist. The arrogant mock me without 431 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,640 restraint. That's for all the people who 432 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,720 think it's cute, right? The unbelievers who think it's 433 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,760 cute to make fun of the believers. 434 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,520 Oh, those holy roller Bible thumpers. 435 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,800 Those religious people who think they're better than everyone 436 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,120 else. No true Christian thinks that 437 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:29,120 he's better than anyone else. If you're lost here this morning 438 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:30,800 and you tell that lie, stop telling it. 439 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,960 It's a lie. We know that we are wretched and 440 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,520 we are pitiful and we are poor and we are blind and we are 441 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,800 naked. But we have been rescued through 442 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,720 the hope of Jesus Christ. We have been rescued through His 443 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,600 sacrifice. That's the only difference 444 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,880 between myself and an unbeliever. 445 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,640 He has blessed me by His grace with the faith to believe and to 446 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,640 trust in Christ. And because I have believed and 447 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:58,280 trusted in Christ, I have hope. No reason to demean someone for 448 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,080 that. To ridicule them. 449 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,120 But it goes on. The arrogant mocked me, he says. 450 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:04,480 That's like that little kid in the playground making fun of the 451 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,640 the kid who doesn't have the cool shoes or the cool clothes 452 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:08,400 on. He's nothing. 453 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,240 He didn't have what I have. You know what I'm talking about. 454 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,960 You all spent time on the playground when the kid had a 455 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:15,960 cooler bike than everyone else. And what did he do? 456 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,600 He ragged on the lesser bikes in the crowd. 457 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,720 So we see that. Same childish attitude in the 458 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,240 unbeliever, demeaning those who have hope in Christ. 459 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,320 And you know what those who have hope in Christ really want for 460 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,080 you unbeliever more than anything, for you to experience 461 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:31,480 the hope that they have in Christ. 462 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:34,240 There's nothing greater than that. 463 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:36,560 I know what it's like to be hopeless. 464 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,280 I know what it's like to lay my pillow on the bed at night and 465 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:45,000 not know that if I died before I woke, what eternity had in store 466 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,360 for me. But I also know what it is to 467 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:51,360 lay my head on a pillow at night and and just straight peace, 468 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,600 knowing the promises of the word of God and knowing that if I 469 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,920 pass from this life in the middle of the night, I will see 470 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,800 my Savior face to face. And that's where my inmost being 471 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:05,720 desires to be anyways. The lost are demeaning to those 472 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,440 who have hope. Oh, it's nothing new. 473 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,040 And Peter's day and second Peter in his second letter. 474 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,080 He wrote this in chapter 3. He says first of all, in verse 475 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,720 three, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will 476 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,920 come scoffing and following their own evil desires and they 477 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,840 will say, where is this coming? He promised, See what they're 478 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,160 doing there? Because we as believers cling to 479 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,800 the promise and the hope that Jesus will one day return. 480 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,040 He says there will be those scoffers who come and they say, 481 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,240 where is this coming? He promised, Ever since our 482 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,120 fathers died, everything goes on as it as it has since the 483 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,640 beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget. 484 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:44,920 Watch this, They deliberately forget, not that they don't 485 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,120 know. They deliberately forget that 486 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,720 long ago, by God's Word, the heavens existed and the earth 487 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,520 was formed. He created it. 488 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:56,720 They forget it. And he goes on, he says out of 489 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,280 water and by water. And then he says in verse 6, 490 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,880 they forget about God and creation, but they also forget 491 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,520 this by these waters also the world of that time was deluged 492 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,000 and destroyed. They forget about God's wrath 493 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,360 during the flood that came upon the entire earth. 494 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,400 He says by the same word, the present heavens and earth are 495 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,440 reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and 496 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,520 destruction of ungodly men. What is Peter saying here? 497 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,680 He says, yes, those people are mocking you and they're making 498 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,720 fun of you. Oh, they're still waiting for 499 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:29,320 Jesus to come back. All they still think that that 500 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,240 promise is good. Now, I know some of you right 501 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,240 now you're freaking out because it's been a long time since 502 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,000 you've been in the church. You actually believe Jesus is 503 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,160 coming back. He is, how do I know that he is? 504 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,920 Because his word declares that he is. 505 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:42,640 It's, it's a promise and it's true. 506 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,920 And my hope is in that my confidence is in that my comfort 507 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,120 is in that my comfort is not in this world. 508 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,640 But yet those people mock you and they ridicule you. 509 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,600 They demean the people of God because they trust in the word 510 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,320 of God. And it's not because they 511 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,400 haven't heard the word of God, the lost of heart God created. 512 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,920 They've also heard that God flooded the earth because of his 513 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,680 wrath. But. 514 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,760 I choose to ignore it when it comes to the future judgment. 515 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,840 Can I just insert this for free to all the unbelievers who may 516 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,800 have crept in under the radar? There will be a judgment day and 517 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,920 you will stand on that day clothed in Christ and in His 518 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:20,600 righteousness, or you will be clothed in your sin. 519 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,520 And if you remain clothed in your sin, you will spend an 520 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,280 eternity in the pits of hell under the wrath and the judgment 521 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,360 of God for all eternity. And I know what you're going to 522 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,160 say. I don't like that old school 523 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,320 Hellfire brimstone teaching. You don't like the promises of 524 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,360 Scripture because Scripture promises that is exactly what's 525 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,040 going to happen to the unredeemed and the unregenerate. 526 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:44,200 They will spend an eternity enduring what is called in the 527 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:48,120 Bible the second death. You will die over and over and 528 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,040 over again. For. 529 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,200 All eternity in hell. But yet they set back and they 530 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,880 demean those who have hope beyond this life, persecuting 531 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,440 God's people with their very words. 532 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,000 Isn't that what Jesus said that they were going to do? 533 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:05,240 But oh, what hope we have from Christ. 534 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,400 What comfort we have from Christ when he says things like this. 535 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,520 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and 536 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,280 insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of 537 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,440 Man, He said. Blessed are you when the world 538 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:18,800 doesn't want to party with you anymore. 539 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,200 Did you catch that church? Blessed are you when they know 540 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,880 that you're different. We're not trying to pull you 541 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,520 into all of their games and all of their misery, he said. 542 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,320 You're blessed for that. They reject you and they call 543 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,200 you evil because of. Christ, he says, rejoice in that 544 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,520 day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. 545 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,120 For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 546 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,480 He's saying they're treating you just like they treated the men 547 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,960 of God of old. They hate you and they're 548 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,760 demeaning to you because they have no hope and they don't like 549 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,640 the fact that you do, Psalmist, you're standing on that hope. 550 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,280 So the arrogant mocked me without restraint, but I do not 551 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:01,920 turn from your law. He says even though they hate 552 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,280 me, even though they mocked me, even though they ridicule me, 553 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,560 they call me names, they say false things against me. 554 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,440 He says it's not going to sway me from trusting in the word of 555 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:12,680 God. He said I don't turn from your 556 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,240 law. He says what I do instead as 557 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,560 they're accusing me of being outdated in old fashioned, He 558 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:18,920 said, I remember your ancient laws. 559 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,960 I love that he used that word. People say you're just kind of 560 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,160 old fashioned. I'm kind of ancient. 561 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,880 My savior died 2000 years ago. That's ancient. 562 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,720 His word has been preserved for us over 4000 years. 563 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,960 That's ancient. I'm an ancient kind of guy. 564 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,920 Old fashioned is new to me. I go back and I trust, as the 565 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,800 Psalmist did, the the ancient laws of God. 566 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:44,360 He said, Lord, I find comfort in them. 567 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,280 I find comfort in those things that others want to ridicule and 568 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,720 that others want to ostracize and others want to gripe and 569 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,600 complain, fuss about. Jesus said you're blessed for 570 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:57,440 that. You're blessed. 571 00:31:58,080 --> 00:31:59,400 So they're demeaning to those who have hope. 572 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,080 They're they're despising those who have hope here in this 573 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,320 account of the Psalms, but also in what they're doing. 574 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,920 They don't really realize this. They're directing those who have 575 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:10,080 hope. They're helping us. 576 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:12,320 I want you to see what the psalmist says. 577 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,480 I remember your ancient laws, oh Lord, and I find comfort in 578 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:16,320 them. What triggered that? 579 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:22,200 The arrogant mocking him. The arrogant mocking him. 580 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:23,680 You know what? When all your friends in the 581 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,880 world turn away, away from you, if you're in Christ, Christ is 582 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:26,840 never going to turn away from you. 583 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,120 He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. 584 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,800 It's going to force you to go to His Word, and you're going to go 585 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,320 to His Word and you are going to discover helm afresh and anew, 586 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:37,720 and you're going to receive comfort for that. 587 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,360 This persecution is intended to direct you to a greater focus on 588 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,480 God and on His word. It should propel you toward God. 589 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,280 Now, what it does for a person who just claims to be a 590 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,520 Christian, who's not a Christian at all, when when the world 591 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:52,800 begins to hate them, what do they do? 592 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:55,960 They slide back into the world. They're no Christian at all. 593 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,440 They slide back into the world because they don't lose their 594 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,360 friends. They don't want to be the life 595 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,400 of their party, so they slide back into the world, proving 596 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,560 that they were never of Christ. But to the true believer, what 597 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,400 happens is when the world despises them and the world 598 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,440 demeans them, the world persecutes them. 599 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:21,200 It draws them to focus on God and His Word and His promises 600 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,040 all the more. It guides us into a greater 601 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:29,000 faith and a greater comfort and trust in the Word of God. 602 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,720 Psalm 23, verse four, he said. Even though I walk through the 603 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,880 valley of the shadow of death, he's in the valley of the shadow 604 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,280 of death, he says. And even though I'm walking. 605 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,680 Here in this dark. Hour I will, I will fear no 606 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,680 evil, for you are with me. How did he know that? 607 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,280 He knew the promises of God. He'll never leave you. 608 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:54,160 He'll never forsake you, He says, for you're with me if he's 609 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:56,960 with you. His rod and his staff, the 610 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,920 psalmist said, they comfort me. What did he understand? 611 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,520 When I have no one, when I'm walking through the valley of 612 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,120 the shadow of death, I have all that I need and then some 613 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,440 because God is with me. And his rod and his staff, they 614 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,080 comfort me. Oh, the persecution from the 615 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,760 hopeless actually directs the true believer to trust the Lord 616 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:17,719 even in the valley of the shadow of death. 617 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,280 And guiding us to trust His promises all the more guiding us 618 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,239 to dive off into His word and to know Him. 619 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:30,120 All the more directing us to not be discouraged by what we see, 620 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:33,440 but the trust by faith and the promises of God. 621 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,280 So as others mock us and as others ridicule us as they did 622 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,840 the psalmist, because they will. Because Paul said if you seek to 623 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,600 live a godly life, you will face persecution in this world. 624 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,719 It's going to happen. So when others mock you and 625 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,080 others ridicule you, as they did the psalmist and as they did to 626 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:52,199 Christ, and as they did all followers of Christ, find peace, 627 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:56,080 find solace, find hope in the Scriptures. 628 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,200 Don't look to the world. Don't look to their acceptance. 629 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,440 Realize that in Christ, according to the Word of God, 630 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,880 you have been accepted into God's family and rest there. 631 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,280 Thirdly, we see the psalmist continue on in verse 53. 632 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:16,640 He says indignation grips me because of the wicked who have 633 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,560 forsaken your law. What is he even saying here? 634 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,160 It's a little difficult to understand because we have so 635 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,960 many definitions of indignation that pop into our mind. 636 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:30,640 What is going on here is there is the perplexity over the 637 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:32,680 hopeless and I want. You to see this, the psalmist is 638 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:36,120 not saying when he uses the term indignation and that indignation 639 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,920 gripping him, he's not saying I hate the wicked, I want the 640 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,600 wicked to die. I despise them. 641 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,920 He has no right to hate them. He has no right to despise them. 642 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,520 God would not have him do that or to love others as we've been 643 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,360 loved in Christ. So what is he talking about when 644 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,800 he says indignation? He grips me because of the 645 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,880 wicked Psalmist is gripped by indignation because of the 646 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:02,320 wickedness that he sees coming out of their lives. 647 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:04,680 They've heard the Word of God, they've been exposed to the Word 648 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,240 of God. They see him being faithful to 649 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,720 the Word of God, and they are steadily, steadily blaspheming 650 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,960 the word of God, mocking the very truth of Scripture. 651 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:16,960 So this indignation that he speaks of is not just human 652 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:18,200 anger. It's not He's not just saying 653 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,760 I'm mad at the wicked. He's not some old man sitting 654 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,960 there watching Fox News mad because the world's going to pot 655 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,080 hating everything. No, I want you to see what's 656 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,720 really happening here. You get back to the meaning of 657 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:31,560 this. What's going on? 658 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,160 It's horror. It's anguish. 659 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,560 He is in horror and he is in anguish for these unbelievers 660 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,960 who would defile the Word of God in the way that they are 661 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:45,080 defiling the Word of God. He is literally perplexed by the 662 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:49,280 fact that these sinners blatantly disobey God and refuse 663 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,000 to believe His Word. That's what he says. 664 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,000 Indignation grips me because of the wicked who have forsaken 665 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,680 your law. He is in horror. 666 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,160 He is in anguish. You say anguish, Yes, anguish 667 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,160 over the souls of the wicked. Oh, I went to God. 668 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:08,360 That the church would get back to a place where they were in 669 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,680 anguish over the souls of the wicked. 670 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,360 That when said person would watch Fox News and they would 671 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,240 see a person who's voting to abort babies who were unborn and 672 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:25,280 murder innocent little children. I pray that we would not hate 673 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,440 that person who is just lost and without Christ. 674 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,320 I pray that it would drive us to our knees and we would be in 675 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:37,080 anguish over the fact that that person's soul is lost, that we 676 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,920 would grieve over their hopeless state. 677 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,400 Well, it's high time that Christians who have all the hope 678 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:48,960 that we have, it's time that we grieve for the hopeless, not 679 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,320 just say, oh, I have hope. I have forgiveness of sin, I 680 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,560 have eternal life, but who cares if everyone else goes to hell? 681 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:02,520 No, it's time that we get on our face and we say, Lord, I grieve 682 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,680 for the souls of the lost and for the wicked, for the 683 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:10,200 unrepentant, the sinners. Why? 684 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,760 Because I see that in your heart. 685 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,320 Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 23. You know what the Lord says 686 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,320 there? He says, do I take any pleasure 687 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,800 in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? 688 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,040 No, he doesn't. That's for anyone who wants to 689 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:27,920 make God some sadist who would take pleasure in the fact that 690 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:31,040 he does in order to remain just half to sentence the 691 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,200 unbelieving, unrepentant centers to hell. 692 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,680 He's not there saying ha ha ha, finally got you. 693 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,040 He says, Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? 694 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,120 He says, no, rather I am not pleased, or rather am I not 695 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,080 pleased. He says, when they turn from 696 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,040 their ways and live. He says it pleases me that they 697 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:51,920 would repent and that they would turn from their ways. 698 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,960 He gives more clarity to that down in verse 32 of that same 699 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,560 chapter in Ezekiel and 18. He says, for I take no pleasure 700 00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,840 in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord. 701 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:02,360 He says repent. And live. 702 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:04,920 It's that simple, he says. I don't take pleasure in the 703 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,560 fact that you die in your sin and you die forever. 704 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,360 Here's the answer for you. Repent and live. 705 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:13,200 Isn't that great hope? Repent and live. 706 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,840 Or if you refuse. His promises in Scripture to 707 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:22,920 save those who repent and believe perish forever, but I 708 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,760 don't delight and you perishing forever. 709 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:30,320 In fact, he grieves for them. We see Matthew 23, the Lord 710 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:39,680 himself grieving over Israel. Verse 37, He says, O Jerusalem, 711 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,880 Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stoned those who 712 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,600 sent you. How often I have longed to 713 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,440 gather your children together as the hen gathers her chicks under 714 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,440 her wings. But you were not willing. 715 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,200 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 716 00:39:54,760 --> 00:40:00,120 He says I grieve for you because your Messiah has come. 717 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,840 And you have rejected the only hope that there is for sinners, 718 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:09,200 and you are now desolate. And we know that just a short 719 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,480 time after this, the Romans came into the city just as Jesus had 720 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:18,280 promised that there would be no stone left unturned in 721 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,560 Jerusalem. And in that surrounding area, 722 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:24,640 just as Jesus said, they devastated the area. 723 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:30,240 It was His justice, and he grieved that he was going to 724 00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:35,040 have to exercise that on his people because they remained in 725 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:40,160 their unbelief. Or may we see that anguish over 726 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,560 the souls of the wicked ought to be our heart. 727 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:48,200 We ought to be horrified when we see people reject Christ. 728 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:53,320 We ought to be horrified when we see people forsake the Word of 729 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,800 God, to ignore it, to ignore its truths, to act as if it doesn't 730 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,120 matter. In fact, Ambrose, the 4th 731 00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:02,120 century Bishop and theologian, said this. 732 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,600 He said David grieved not because he himself was attacked. 733 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,520 This is his commentary on this verse. 734 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:11,200 He said he wasn't grieving because mean people were 735 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,360 attacking him, he says, but because the law of God was 736 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:19,520 forsaken and he bewailed the condemnation of those who so did 737 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:24,320 because they are lost to God. He said David here is grieving 738 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,720 for these enemies of God who are ridiculing him, not because they 739 00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:32,440 were mean to him and persecuting him, but because they were lost 740 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:33,960 to God. What was David doing? 741 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:35,520 What was the psalmist doing here? 742 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,480 Grieving in anguish over the souls of the wicked, But not 743 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,240 only that, he was in anguish over the sins of the wicked, 744 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:45,840 Grieving over their individual sin. 745 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:51,600 Hurting for them when he saw their wickedness. 746 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:53,560 The lives of certain individuals. 747 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,600 Though we could learn a lot from that, couldn't we? 748 00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,720 When we see the drug addict on the street, not raising our 749 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:01,680 self-righteous noses up at him or. 750 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:05,040 Her thinking that we're somehow better than them, but seeing 751 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,840 them with compassion as the Lord does, and grieving for their 752 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:09,960 soul and praying for them as we pass by. 753 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,920 Lord, may you save them. Lord, may you show them the 754 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:14,640 truth. And even more than that, maybe 755 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,040 you jerk your car to the side of the road and listen. 756 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:18,760 Don't walk up and give. Give them food, though. 757 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:20,280 There's nothing wrong with giving them food. 758 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:23,160 If they're hungry, walk up and give them Christ. 759 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:26,240 Walk up and tell them about the hope that you have. 760 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:28,120 Why? Because they're hopeless. 761 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:32,160 And they're hopeless not in this life only, but in the life to 762 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,840 come. Their soul is hopeless without 763 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,520 Christ. You know what the problem is? 764 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:40,560 You know why we drive past those people without compassion, 765 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:45,000 without conviction? Because there is no anguish over 766 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,920 their soul. There is no anguish over the 767 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,000 fact that they are lost in their wickedness and need Christ. 768 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,600 You're not horrified for them, you're OK. 769 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,920 Your family's OK. You're all believers, you're all 770 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,400 going to heaven. Who cares about that person? 771 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:04,720 Unfortunately, that's the attitude that so many of us have 772 00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:08,160 so many times and it's dead wrong and it's anti Christian 773 00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:13,480 and it's anti Bible. We have to be in anguish over 774 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,360 their sins and know this, that were it not for the grace of 775 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,880 God, we would be right there drinking the same bottle, 776 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,680 sharing the same needle, participating in the same 777 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:28,800 immorality. May we have horror for their 778 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:32,520 sins and pray that God would free them through Christ, 779 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:37,240 relieving them from the shame, the certain judgement that comes 780 00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:40,600 upon all sinners. Well, how about grieving over 781 00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:44,680 national or corporate sin, as we saw Jesus do there in Matthew 782 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:47,120 23? I mean, instead of just griping 783 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:49,840 about the fact that our whole country is going to hell in a 784 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:55,720 handbasket, when's the last time you grieved for those who are 785 00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:57,800 taking them to hell in a handbasket? 786 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,320 No, because we're satisfied as long as whoever we vote for is 787 00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,080 political parties in office, in the stock market's OK. 788 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,720 Why are we not grieving for the nation as a whole? 789 00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:14,640 Why are we not grieving corporately? 790 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,560 Why is the church not shedding any tears over those who are 791 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,280 lost in their sin? I can't quite figure it out. 792 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,240 Why? Because it's so contrary to what 793 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:28,720 we see here, the psalmist says. I'm horrified for the lost. 794 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,840 I'm horrified because of the hell that awaits them. 795 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,240 I'm horrified for because of the sin that controls them. 796 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:38,000 Oh God, may you bring them peace. 797 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,680 May you bring them to salvation. May you use me in whatever way 798 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:46,800 fit to be a tool in your hand to do that? 799 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:52,880 But may we have anguish in our heart over the center? 800 00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:59,320 How about anguish over the status of the wicked? 801 00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:02,480 Oh, he has anguish over the souls of the wicked and over the 802 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:04,360 sin of the wicked. But what about the status? 803 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,240 He's grieving over their present hopeless state where they are. 804 00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:12,280 He's taking note compassionately where they are. 805 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:15,000 They are just sinners. They don't know any better. 806 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,600 It's what sinners do. And he's grieving for them, 807 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:24,280 longing that they would be redeemed, grieving over the 808 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:26,640 future judgement and damnation that awaits them. 809 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,000 Can I ask this question that nobody's willing to ask anymore? 810 00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:35,720 I wasn't really waiting for your permission. 811 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:42,160 I just pause for effect. How does a true believer who's 812 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:47,280 on their way to eternal life in heaven not grieve and mourn in 813 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:50,480 horror for those who are about for hell? 814 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:56,760 How? How does a believer who is on 815 00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:02,680 his way, having the hope of heaven, not constantly grieve 816 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:04,640 for those who are bound for hell? 817 00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:07,840 Well, I'm thankful that there were those who prayed for me and 818 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,440 grieved for me and were in horror for me when I was lost. 819 00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,920 Where's our grief and anguish over the status? 820 00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:18,640 Because they have an eternal status that if Christ does not 821 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,400 intervene with his mercy, they will spend an eternity in 822 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:23,920 condemnation. And rightfully so. 823 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,560 They're sinners. They deserve it, just like I do. 824 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:35,640 How does a true believer just ignore that this anguish ought 825 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,680 to drive us to share the gospel and to pray for those who are 826 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:44,320 lost constantly. God would have mercy on them 827 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:48,320 just as he had mercy on us. That's where Paul finds himself 828 00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,480 in Romans. He's in anguish over his 829 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:55,720 unbelieving Jewish brothers. He even says this statement. 830 00:46:55,720 --> 00:46:59,040 I would. Give up my own salvation so that 831 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:02,840 they could be saved. What anguish would drive a man 832 00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:08,400 to pray for someone like that? Lord I I am in anguish and 833 00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:11,400 horror it to such an extent for the lost. 834 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,600 Then I would be willing to spend an eternity in hell so that they 835 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:21,040 wouldn't have to that we know that's impossible for those who 836 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:26,120 are in Christ. But what anguish in Paul's heart 837 00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:28,960 over those who he desired would be saved. 838 00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,480 He was grieving over the future judgement that they would face 839 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:36,640 and anguish because of it. Jonathan Edwards and his famous 840 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:39,240 sermon, The Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, said this. 841 00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:42,560 He said, how dreadful is the state of those who are daily and 842 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:45,960 hourly in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery, 843 00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:50,760 Speaking of hell and judgment. But this is the case of every 844 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:55,080 soul in this congregation that has not yet been born again. 845 00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:58,440 Well, every soul under the sound of my voice in this 846 00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:00,720 congregation. If you've not yet been born 847 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:02,760 again, that is the condition of your soul. 848 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,840 You were bound for hell and you were bound for judgement, and I 849 00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:10,720 know this gets misunderstood all the time. 850 00:48:10,720 --> 00:48:13,400 I tell you this not to judge you, not to condemn you. 851 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:16,160 You are condemned already, and you are worthy of the judgement 852 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,720 that you will face. You are a Sinner, just as I was 853 00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:24,360 a Sinner before Christ. I say this because I grieve for 854 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:30,920 your soul. He must may be born again or you 855 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:35,680 will not see the Kingdom of God. Just as Jesus said today. 856 00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:37,680 I pray that you would heed the words of Christ and that you 857 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:42,120 would repent so that you do not perish for all eternity. 858 00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:46,360 I pray today that you would surrender to Christ. 859 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,080 Diagonize for your soul. You say you don't even know me. 860 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:56,080 I don't have to know you. I know me and I know what I was 861 00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:59,440 before Christ. I know that others should have 862 00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:02,680 agonized for me. Because I can tell you this, if 863 00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:06,160 I would have passed from this life without Christ, I deserved 864 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:09,760 to spend eternity in the depths of the darkest places in hell. 865 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:13,720 But I'm thankful that Christ rescued me. 866 00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,600 And how did He rescue me? Because someone who was 867 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:22,560 horrified about my soul and horrified about my sin warned me 868 00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:25,200 of the judgment and the wrath that was to come according to 869 00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:30,320 the promises of the Word of God. But they also spoke another 870 00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:33,840 promise that if I would believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and 871 00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:38,200 Savior, and I would cry out to Him, that He would save me from 872 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:40,600 my sin. And how would He save me from my 873 00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:42,560 sin? He who knew no sin became sin 874 00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:44,600 for me that I might become the righteousness of God. 875 00:49:44,720 --> 00:49:47,680 He stood in my place at the cross, and He bore the wrath of 876 00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:50,120 God that I deserve. He took His judgment upon my 877 00:49:50,120 --> 00:49:53,920 judgment upon His back, and he exchanged to me his 878 00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:56,720 righteousness so that I can stand before the Father, whole 879 00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:59,640 and complete and perfect and forgiven. 880 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:03,920 I grieve for your soul. So I I tell you the truth. 881 00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:08,040 The person who hates your soul withholds the truth from you. 882 00:50:11,720 --> 00:50:14,120 I mean anguish over your soul. I agonize for your soul. 883 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:19,680 I would do whatever I could do today so that you would hear 884 00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:23,480 this truth and believe and have the hope that those who are in 885 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:26,840 Christ have. But all I can simply do is tell 886 00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:28,960 you the truth. All I have is what the psalmist 887 00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:33,080 had the word of God, and I give to you that truth. 888 00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:36,760 I implore you today to turn to Christ and repent of your sin. 889 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:40,760 Trust him as Lord and Savior. O Christian, may we have 890 00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:42,640 perplexity in our heart over the hopeless. 891 00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:45,720 May we be in anguish that they're lost. 892 00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:49,680 May we do what we're commanded by Christ to do. 893 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:52,960 Give to them the gospel, for it is the power of God unto 894 00:50:52,960 --> 00:50:55,840 salvation. May we share with them the hope 895 00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:58,760 that we have in Christ, that they may find hope in Christ as 896 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:03,760 well. You see the perplexity over the 897 00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:04,840 hopeless. The psalmist here. 898 00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:06,680 Indignation grips me. I'm in horror. 899 00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:11,080 I'm terrified for them because of their wicked state. 900 00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:17,200 Are you terrified for the lost? Well, if you're lost here today, 901 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:20,680 are you terrified? Oh, this is where many people 902 00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:22,120 get all crazy. Well, you're just trying to 903 00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:23,120 scare people. Be scared. 904 00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:27,800 Be very scared. I've read about the wrath and 905 00:51:27,800 --> 00:51:32,160 the indignation of God in hell. Be very scared. 906 00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,960 Know this, that God has at least been merciful enough to you 907 00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:37,160 today to allow you to sit in the service where you will hear the 908 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:41,280 truth of the Word of God. If you perish at this point, it 909 00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:43,880 is on you and without excuse. You've heard the truth. 910 00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:47,440 If you don't repent and you don't turn to Christ, you will 911 00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:49,280 suffer in judgment for all eternity. 912 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,000 Why? Because God is holy and He is 913 00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:56,840 just, and sin will not go unpunished. 914 00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,160 If you have not trusted Christ to bear the punishment of your 915 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:03,120 sin, you will bear the punishment of your sin. 916 00:52:04,560 --> 00:52:06,840 I encourage you today to trust in Christ. 917 00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:11,640 Then the psalmist ends with this in the fourth point this 918 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:15,080 morning, the last two verses, he, he says, Your decrees are 919 00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:19,480 the theme of my song. Wherever I lodge in the night, I 920 00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:22,120 remember your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law. 921 00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:26,120 This has been my practice. I obey your precepts. 922 00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:30,320 What is this? This is the practice of the 923 00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:34,960 hopeful, because if someone is truly a person who has hope, 924 00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:39,800 they will be a person of hope in practice, not just in words. 925 00:52:40,720 --> 00:52:45,240 Those who have godly hope will have godly habits. 926 00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:47,920 You write it down, You quote me. It's the truth. 927 00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:51,080 Those who truly have godly hope will have godly habits. 928 00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:55,600 If your habits are worldly, you don't really rest in the hope of 929 00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:56,800 God. You're not trusting in His 930 00:52:56,800 --> 00:52:59,480 promises. You're doing what you want to 931 00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:01,120 do, and that's what you've always done. 932 00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,000 Please be careful. Don't be deceived thinking 933 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:05,520 you're in Christ when you're not. 934 00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:11,040 Because the hopeful are going to practice the things of the 935 00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:14,720 hopeful, you're going to have those godly habits. 936 00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:16,480 The psalmist makes this very clear in the last two verses. 937 00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:19,280 It says your decrees are the theme of my song. 938 00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,440 Wherever I lodge practice one of the hopeful. 939 00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:24,120 What is this singing? Biblical praise. 940 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:27,400 Well, hasn't he put in a put a new song in her heart? 941 00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,880 A song of praise, and you think he's going to give us a song 942 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:33,880 that's not a biblical song. That's why it's so important to 943 00:53:33,880 --> 00:53:36,080 Austere Key Life Fellowship that when we sing songs, whether 944 00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:38,640 they're hymns or whether they're more modern songs, that they 945 00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:41,600 are. Biblical songs, That's what I 946 00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:43,800 care about. People ask me, do you like the 947 00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:45,400 new stuff or do you like the hymns? 948 00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:48,360 I like biblical songs. Why? 949 00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:49,720 Why would you like biblical songs? 950 00:53:49,720 --> 00:53:51,960 Because His decrees are the theme of my song. 951 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:56,520 If I have any other theme other than His word, I'm just singing 952 00:53:56,520 --> 00:54:00,880 noise. It's his decrees that are the 953 00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:03,760 theme of my song. You know, it's not the theme of 954 00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:06,880 my song, the themes of this world, the actions of this 955 00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:10,240 world, the reactions of this world, the system of this world. 956 00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:14,560 That's not the theme of a believer's song, the theme of a. 957 00:54:14,560 --> 00:54:16,880 Believer's song is the word of God itself. 958 00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:19,640 And he says, I'm singing these songs wherever I lodge. 959 00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:23,000 The psalmist praise the Lord, declaring His word over and over 960 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:24,920 and over again the entire span of his life. 961 00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:27,920 That's what all these psalms are all about, Songs of praise to 962 00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:30,800 the Lord in agreeance with the word of God. 963 00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:34,480 As you read them, you'll read through a Psalm and he'll praise 964 00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:36,880 the Lord, and he'll be using scripture that he pulled from 965 00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:39,440 Deuteronomy. Why? 966 00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:42,240 Because God's decrees are the themes of his Psalm. 967 00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:46,520 Oh, a practice of the hopeful is this. 968 00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:48,120 They will be singing biblical songs. 969 00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:51,720 They don't want to sing just meaningless words. 970 00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:54,840 They don't want to just sing repetitious things for the sake 971 00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:57,360 of singing repetitious things. They want to sing meat from the 972 00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,760 Word of God. What does the Word of God say? 973 00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:02,320 Oh, you know it's true. Every believer here. 974 00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,680 When you sing a song that has Scripture in that song or has 975 00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:08,960 the principle and Scripture in that song, the Spirit within you 976 00:55:09,120 --> 00:55:13,000 rises up and declares, I agree with that truth. 977 00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:16,520 Why? It is the Spirit who inspired 978 00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:18,440 that truth. He is the One. 979 00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:20,400 Of course He agrees. Pleased with that? 980 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:24,560 You know there's nothing greater than when the Saints joined 981 00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:26,600 together singing praise that is biblical. 982 00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:32,360 We saw just a moment ago where we sang biblical praise to the 983 00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:35,600 Lord. You could hear our voices roar, 984 00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:40,520 letting them be the theme in the anthem of our entire lives. 985 00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:47,160 Practice of the Hopeful will be singing biblical praise, just as 986 00:55:47,160 --> 00:55:50,800 Ephesians 5 says, where Paul tells the believers there in 987 00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:54,800 Ephesus to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual 988 00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:56,640 songs. Sing and make music in your 989 00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:58,360 heart to the Lord. You think Paul would accept 990 00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:01,640 unbiblical music? You think he would accept 991 00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:05,360 unbiblical singing as the anthem for the church? 992 00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:11,440 Absolutely not. It's interesting to me that in 993 00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:14,160 the liberal modern church culture that we have, their idea 994 00:56:14,160 --> 00:56:17,920 is to bring the world's music in and to make the church worldly. 995 00:56:19,240 --> 00:56:21,360 No, our music ought to be distinctly different from the 996 00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,600 world. Our music ought not to be 997 00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:27,680 worldly at all. Our music ought to be biblical, 998 00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:33,520 and that's it. It ought to be the very Word of 999 00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:35,960 God that ought to be the anthem and the theme of our hearts when 1000 00:56:35,960 --> 00:56:38,640 we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another. 1001 00:56:41,360 --> 00:56:43,560 Oh, the hopeful will practice singing biblical praise, but 1002 00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:45,760 they'll also practice seeking the Lord in the darkness. 1003 00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:48,280 Look at the next verse, verse 55. 1004 00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:51,120 He said in the night, I remember your name, O Lord, and I will 1005 00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:52,600 keep your law. He says in the night. 1006 00:56:52,600 --> 00:56:54,680 Now let me just help you. He's not necessarily talking 1007 00:56:54,680 --> 00:56:57,520 about the fact that it's nighttime versus daytime. 1008 00:57:00,160 --> 00:57:02,520 He's actually speaking about the darkness that he's facing in the 1009 00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:03,800 context. And what was that darkness? 1010 00:57:03,800 --> 00:57:06,360 Persecution from those mockers who were mocking him because he 1011 00:57:06,360 --> 00:57:11,000 was standing on the Word of God. Psalmist was always running into 1012 00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:14,160 some type of difficulty in darkness and trial, just as we 1013 00:57:14,160 --> 00:57:17,240 are. And in the midst of the 1014 00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:21,960 darkness, in the night, he says, I remember your name, O Lord, 1015 00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:26,480 Now keep your law. He's seeking the Lord in the 1016 00:57:26,480 --> 00:57:32,880 midst of his dark hour. Watch how he says this. 1017 00:57:33,240 --> 00:57:37,600 He says in the night I remember your name. 1018 00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:44,360 Now what's in a name a lot isn't there, especially if your name 1019 00:57:44,360 --> 00:57:48,720 is Yahweh. And if your name is Yahweh, we 1020 00:57:48,720 --> 00:57:53,760 we know him as Yahweh or Jehovah biblically, if that is your name 1021 00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:57,280 and that is God's covenant name for himself. 1022 00:57:58,440 --> 00:58:00,480 That's the name he gave himself when he spoke to Moses. 1023 00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:02,080 Moses said, who do I say sent me? 1024 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:06,520 He says you tell him Yahweh I am, that I am sent you. 1025 00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:09,480 What does that mean? His name means He is the eternal 1026 00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,240 self, existing sovereign Lord of all. 1027 00:58:13,120 --> 00:58:15,800 And so when we remember his name, what we're saying, we are 1028 00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:21,080 trusting in God to be all that He says that He is. 1029 00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:22,720 And what is he? Who is he? 1030 00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:26,240 Everything, he's everything, he's all powerful. 1031 00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:30,800 He is almighty, he is faithful, he is holy, holy, holy. 1032 00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:34,080 He is just, he is merciful, he is mighty. 1033 00:58:34,200 --> 00:58:38,440 He's all of everything that we see him in Scripture and then 1034 00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,440 some. The psalmist says I remember his 1035 00:58:41,440 --> 00:58:43,840 name because in his name it contains so much knowing just 1036 00:58:43,840 --> 00:58:46,280 who he is. And I know with a name like that 1037 00:58:46,280 --> 00:58:47,400 he's. Going to keep his promise 1038 00:58:47,400 --> 00:58:51,360 because he's faithful. He's going to keep every promise 1039 00:58:51,360 --> 00:58:55,040 that He's made, even in the most difficult and darkest times in 1040 00:58:55,040 --> 00:58:58,840 my life. I can have hope in Yahweh. 1041 00:58:59,840 --> 00:59:03,840 I can have hope in His name, seeking Him in the darkness and 1042 00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:07,480 in the troubles of life. Isaiah 50 verse 10 says, Who 1043 00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:09,960 among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servant? 1044 00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:13,680 Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the 1045 00:59:13,680 --> 00:59:17,920 name of the Lord and rely on His God when he says that in the 1046 00:59:17,920 --> 00:59:23,920 name of Yahweh, and rely on His God when things are dark in your 1047 00:59:23,920 --> 00:59:28,200 life. We who have hope will practice 1048 00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:31,040 the fact that we know the name of the Lord. 1049 00:59:31,040 --> 00:59:33,120 And how do we know the name of the Lord from the scriptures? 1050 00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:37,480 He's revealed himself to us. I know many people at this 1051 00:59:37,480 --> 00:59:40,880 juncture, they say. But wait a second, Kirk, I 1052 00:59:40,880 --> 00:59:42,840 thought the name of the Lord is Jesus. 1053 00:59:43,080 --> 00:59:45,520 It is and you. Know what his name means? 1054 00:59:45,520 --> 00:59:49,120 Jehovah saves. Jehovah saves. 1055 00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:51,960 You know that He said in his word that he will be called 1056 00:59:51,960 --> 00:59:56,120 Emmanuel God with us. Jesus was not just some 1057 00:59:56,120 --> 00:59:58,840 substitute who came and is not the one true God. 1058 00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:02,280 He's the one true God in flesh. He is Yahweh come to this earth. 1059 01:00:02,400 --> 01:00:04,960 He said what Jesus didn't say that yes he did and every single 1060 01:00:04,960 --> 01:00:08,800 one of his I am statements He mixed this term and go I me, 1061 01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:13,080 which means Yahweh and he was saying Yahweh is with you. 1062 01:00:13,520 --> 01:00:15,760 I the God of the Old Testament with you. 1063 01:00:15,960 --> 01:00:20,920 I am the I am Incarnate. That's who Jesus Christ is. 1064 01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:23,840 And so when we trust in His name, it's not like we're not 1065 01:00:23,840 --> 01:00:26,200 trusting in the name of Yahweh. We are trusting in the name of 1066 01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:29,800 Yahweh who came to redeem sinners like me and like you who 1067 01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:32,480 have been redeemed. And aren't you thankful that He 1068 01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:34,720 came? Aren't you thankful that 1069 01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:35,920 thankful that He has been revealed? 1070 01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:39,040 And aren't you thankful that He promises salvation to all who 1071 01:00:39,040 --> 01:00:42,600 trust in Him, in His word? We can trust Him in our darkest 1072 01:00:42,600 --> 01:00:43,720 hour. We can trust in His. 1073 01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:46,600 Name. Even in the difficult times, we 1074 01:00:46,600 --> 01:00:51,920 can have hope in His name. Psalm 9 pretend says this, those 1075 01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:56,560 who know your name will trust in you, for you Lord Yahweh have 1076 01:00:56,560 --> 01:00:59,120 never forsaken those who seek You. 1077 01:00:59,880 --> 01:01:03,120 Psalm 20 verse 7 some trust in Chariots and some in horses, but 1078 01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:06,400 we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 1079 01:01:06,400 --> 01:01:10,240 Do you trust in His name? The Psalmist here practicing 1080 01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:12,640 that trusting in His name, seeking the Lord in darkness by 1081 01:01:12,640 --> 01:01:17,040 trusting in His name when you go through a difficult time are 1082 01:01:17,040 --> 01:01:18,960 trusting in the name of the Lord and all the promises that he has 1083 01:01:18,960 --> 01:01:23,440 made under the heading of his name, because everything that he 1084 01:01:23,440 --> 01:01:26,240 has said under his name, you can take that to the bank. 1085 01:01:26,240 --> 01:01:31,160 It is guaranteed he cannot lie, Paul says to Titus. 1086 01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:37,120 So we see the Psalmist here singing biblical praise, seeking 1087 01:01:37,120 --> 01:01:42,280 the Lord in the darkness, and thirdly, submitting to the 1088 01:01:42,280 --> 01:01:46,720 Lord's Word consistently. He says, your decrees are the 1089 01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:49,040 theme of my song. Wherever I lodge in the night, I 1090 01:01:49,040 --> 01:01:51,640 remember your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law. 1091 01:01:51,920 --> 01:01:54,880 And he says in verse 56, This has been my practice. 1092 01:01:54,920 --> 01:01:59,080 I obey your precepts. He says this is the practice of 1093 01:01:59,080 --> 01:02:01,360 my life. I obey you. 1094 01:02:01,360 --> 01:02:04,520 His life was marked with the practice of obedience. 1095 01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,920 Now you know what, His life wasn't marked with perfect 1096 01:02:07,920 --> 01:02:11,600 obedience, because in this life you're not ever going to attain 1097 01:02:11,600 --> 01:02:13,800 perfect obedience. Because if you could attain 1098 01:02:13,800 --> 01:02:15,880 perfect obedience in this life, you know what you would do with 1099 01:02:15,880 --> 01:02:16,800 it. The same thing I would do with 1100 01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:17,920 it. I'd take credit for it. 1101 01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:22,120 It will be God when we are glorified, who perfects us. 1102 01:02:22,120 --> 01:02:24,640 Finally, when we have changed in the moment, in the twinkling of 1103 01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:27,800 an eye, when, when this immortal or this mortal puts on 1104 01:02:27,800 --> 01:02:32,280 immortality, then and only then will we we be perfected for all 1105 01:02:32,280 --> 01:02:34,360 eternity in a state of glorification. 1106 01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:37,760 The psalmist here is not talking about glorification. 1107 01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:39,320 He's talking about practical righteousness. 1108 01:02:39,320 --> 01:02:43,240 He's talking about practical obedience in his life, living 1109 01:02:43,240 --> 01:02:46,720 out his faith, living out the word of God, living in obedience 1110 01:02:46,720 --> 01:02:49,920 to the word of God. He's talking about that God 1111 01:02:49,920 --> 01:02:52,880 wrought desire that is in all of us who have the hope of Christ 1112 01:02:53,040 --> 01:02:56,480 to obey the word of God. I said all of us, If you claim 1113 01:02:56,480 --> 01:02:59,720 to know Christ and you have no God wrought internal desire to 1114 01:02:59,720 --> 01:03:02,120 obey the word of God, you didn't really trust in Christ. 1115 01:03:03,080 --> 01:03:05,080 I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings, but there are a lot of 1116 01:03:05,080 --> 01:03:07,160 people who won't be so bold as to tell you that, but I'm not 1117 01:03:07,160 --> 01:03:10,560 one of them. There will be a God wrought 1118 01:03:10,560 --> 01:03:13,440 desire to be obedient. In fact, you will hate any 1119 01:03:13,440 --> 01:03:16,280 disobedience in your life. And when you see it, what you 1120 01:03:16,280 --> 01:03:18,880 will do is you will confess it and you will repent of it, and 1121 01:03:18,880 --> 01:03:21,400 it will break your heart that you have grieved the Holy Spirit 1122 01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:24,080 who desires obedience in your life to the Word of God. 1123 01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:26,760 What the psalmist is saying here, he said, this has been my 1124 01:03:26,760 --> 01:03:28,040 practice. I obey your precepts. 1125 01:03:28,040 --> 01:03:30,680 This is my deepest desire to obey your word. 1126 01:03:30,800 --> 01:03:33,800 Hasn't he made that very clear in 119th Psalm thus far? 1127 01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:36,600 Man, this guy wants to obey the word of God. 1128 01:03:36,600 --> 01:03:38,000 Why? Because someone who really has 1129 01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:40,680 hope in Christ will have that marking on their. 1130 01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:44,200 Life, they will practice that. Will they always get it right? 1131 01:03:45,320 --> 01:03:49,000 Nope. Because that old nasty flesh 1132 01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:51,400 still exists. I long for the day where that's 1133 01:03:51,400 --> 01:03:55,520 gone when it dies and it goes back to the dirt where it came 1134 01:03:55,520 --> 01:03:57,080 from. And I live forever because of 1135 01:03:57,080 --> 01:03:59,680 Christ and the promises that He made and His sacrifice that He 1136 01:03:59,680 --> 01:04:05,760 made on my behalf. But our lives as believers will 1137 01:04:05,760 --> 01:04:07,760 be marked with consistent obedience. 1138 01:04:08,400 --> 01:04:11,600 Now, just as John says in his first epistle, John chapter 2, 1139 01:04:11,600 --> 01:04:14,200 please pay attention to this verse three. 1140 01:04:14,200 --> 01:04:16,160 He says we know that we have come to know him. 1141 01:04:17,040 --> 01:04:19,840 Chapter 2, verse three, if we obey His commands. 1142 01:04:20,760 --> 01:04:24,760 The man who says I know him but does not do what he commands. 1143 01:04:25,040 --> 01:04:28,000 Watch, this is a liar. I didn't say that God's word 1144 01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:32,800 said that he's a liar and the truth is not in him. 1145 01:04:33,720 --> 01:04:37,160 But if anybody obeys his Word, God's love is truly made 1146 01:04:37,160 --> 01:04:39,920 complete in Him, and this is how we know we are in him. 1147 01:04:40,120 --> 01:04:43,400 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1148 01:04:43,400 --> 01:04:46,720 Are you walking as Jesus did? He said we're not perfectly yet. 1149 01:04:46,720 --> 01:04:48,560 No, but are you becoming more like Him? 1150 01:04:49,280 --> 01:04:51,600 Because it is His will that you be conformed to the image of 1151 01:04:51,600 --> 01:04:53,160 Christ. There ought to be this constant 1152 01:04:53,160 --> 01:04:55,920 conforming in your life. You ought to be growing more 1153 01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,320 toward Christ and likeness. Is that happening in your life? 1154 01:04:58,440 --> 01:05:01,080 Is that consistently seen in your life that will be 1155 01:05:01,080 --> 01:05:03,840 consistently seen in the life of someone who really does have 1156 01:05:03,840 --> 01:05:08,320 hope in Christ? You won't be who you used to be. 1157 01:05:08,320 --> 01:05:10,280 You can't settle for being that person. 1158 01:05:12,560 --> 01:05:14,560 I'm not talking about just one area of your life. 1159 01:05:14,560 --> 01:05:16,360 I'm talking about the entirety of your life. 1160 01:05:16,360 --> 01:05:18,960 You won't accept any filth any longer. 1161 01:05:20,800 --> 01:05:22,800 You'll be quick to repent. You'll be quick to confess. 1162 01:05:22,800 --> 01:05:24,040 You'll be quick to agree with God. 1163 01:05:25,480 --> 01:05:27,320 That same epistle. John says this in chapter 3. 1164 01:05:27,320 --> 01:05:30,880 No one verse 6 who lives in him keeps on sinning. 1165 01:05:31,840 --> 01:05:34,400 No one who continues to sin has either either seen him or known 1166 01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:35,040 him. What is he saying? 1167 01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:38,520 You are not going to be able to live in an unbroken, habitual 1168 01:05:38,520 --> 01:05:40,640 lifestyle of sin. You're not going to be able to 1169 01:05:40,640 --> 01:05:45,760 continue sinning. You're not going to be defined 1170 01:05:45,760 --> 01:05:47,760 by that any longer. Believers, listen to me. 1171 01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:51,960 If your life is still defined by carousing and parting and doing 1172 01:05:51,960 --> 01:05:54,320 the things of the world, you're not in Christ. 1173 01:05:56,120 --> 01:05:59,560 I'm not going to lie to you and I do not apologize for that. 1174 01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:01,960 This is what the Word of God says. 1175 01:06:01,960 --> 01:06:03,840 He says no one who lives in him keeps on sinning. 1176 01:06:04,040 --> 01:06:06,880 No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1177 01:06:06,880 --> 01:06:09,800 That's meaning continues to sin without any conviction, without 1178 01:06:09,800 --> 01:06:11,960 any confession, without any brokenness, and without any 1179 01:06:11,960 --> 01:06:14,880 repentance. He says, Dear children, do not 1180 01:06:14,880 --> 01:06:16,040 let anyone. Lead you astray. 1181 01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:17,200 Why did he say that? Because he knows. 1182 01:06:17,240 --> 01:06:18,880 He knew there were going to be people who try to lead you 1183 01:06:18,880 --> 01:06:19,880 astray. They say, oh, you can live 1184 01:06:19,880 --> 01:06:21,040 anywhere, any way you want to live. 1185 01:06:21,040 --> 01:06:22,560 You have grace. You're still going to heaven. 1186 01:06:22,600 --> 01:06:26,800 No, you're not. That's the biggest lie that the 1187 01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:31,120 devil has ever told. So, dear children, do you not, 1188 01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:33,040 do not let anyone lead you astray. 1189 01:06:33,040 --> 01:06:36,080 He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is 1190 01:06:36,080 --> 01:06:39,120 righteous talking about Christ. He who does what is sinful is of 1191 01:06:39,120 --> 01:06:42,400 the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. 1192 01:06:42,800 --> 01:06:44,280 The reason the. Son of God appeared was to 1193 01:06:44,280 --> 01:06:46,320 destroy the devil work. Devil's devil's work. 1194 01:06:46,440 --> 01:06:49,000 Now, if Christ appeared to destroy the devil's work in you, 1195 01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:52,520 why would he still be free to work in you? 1196 01:06:53,480 --> 01:06:55,480 He asked another question or poses another thought. 1197 01:06:55,880 --> 01:06:58,440 He said no one who is born of God will continue to sin because 1198 01:06:58,440 --> 01:07:01,280 God's seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning because 1199 01:07:01,280 --> 01:07:05,120 he has been born of God. What is he saying? 1200 01:07:05,240 --> 01:07:08,880 Those who are born of God, they're alive, will have the 1201 01:07:08,880 --> 01:07:12,680 markings of a person who desires to be consistent in their 1202 01:07:12,680 --> 01:07:15,000 obedience. Again, I'm not calling anyone 1203 01:07:15,000 --> 01:07:17,200 here to perfect obedience. Jesus Christ is going to take 1204 01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:21,720 care of that for you. He promises that, but the Word 1205 01:07:21,720 --> 01:07:24,360 of God is calling all of you who who claim to be in Christ to 1206 01:07:24,360 --> 01:07:27,640 greater obedience. And you're not obeying so that 1207 01:07:27,640 --> 01:07:29,800 you can be saved. You're obeying because you truly 1208 01:07:29,840 --> 01:07:32,760 are saved. It is a response. 1209 01:07:32,760 --> 01:07:35,400 It is an act of worship. That's what Paul calls it, 1210 01:07:35,720 --> 01:07:38,520 offering yourselves as a spiritual. 1211 01:07:38,520 --> 01:07:41,120 Sacrifice unto the Lord. You are laying your life down 1212 01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:43,320 and you are living it in obedience to Christ 1213 01:07:43,360 --> 01:07:46,640 consistently. What the psalmist is doing here, 1214 01:07:46,640 --> 01:07:48,000 he said, this has been my practice. 1215 01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:49,920 I obey your precepts. He's not saying that in 1216 01:07:49,920 --> 01:07:51,280 arrogance. He knows that it's from the 1217 01:07:51,280 --> 01:07:52,800 Lord's strength that he does this. 1218 01:07:52,800 --> 01:07:58,160 He's simply saying, I know that I truly have hope and I know 1219 01:07:58,160 --> 01:08:03,000 that I truly have hope because I have examined my life and though 1220 01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:05,720 I am not perfect in my obedience, my heart's desire, 1221 01:08:05,720 --> 01:08:07,200 Wasn't that the heart of the psalmist? 1222 01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:11,320 My heart's desires to be obedient in every single area of 1223 01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:14,920 my life and to despise any remaining and abiding sin that 1224 01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:19,359 still exists. O believer, may the decrees of 1225 01:08:19,359 --> 01:08:22,359 the Lord be the theme of your song, the anthem of your life. 1226 01:08:23,640 --> 01:08:26,240 May you trust in the Lord, in His name and every situation 1227 01:08:26,240 --> 01:08:30,760 that you face, and may you constantly obey the instructions 1228 01:08:30,760 --> 01:08:33,720 that we see in the precepts that we see in His Word. 1229 01:08:34,680 --> 01:08:37,120 Why? Because He, He demands that of 1230 01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:41,439 us even greater than that. He deserves that from us. 1231 01:08:43,000 --> 01:08:46,600 So the conclusion is this believer, are you finding hope 1232 01:08:46,600 --> 01:08:49,439 and comfort in God's word? Let me help you. 1233 01:08:50,560 --> 01:08:53,359 If you're not opening and opening it, you are not finding 1234 01:08:53,359 --> 01:08:57,399 comfort and hope in God's word. He said, well, I get a little 1235 01:08:57,399 --> 01:08:59,279 comfort when I come on Sunday morning. 1236 01:08:59,279 --> 01:09:01,880 You give me God's word. Stop being that baby who's spoon 1237 01:09:01,880 --> 01:09:06,840 thin and open the Word of God, and feast from His table 1238 01:09:06,840 --> 01:09:11,439 directly and find delight in His Word. 1239 01:09:11,680 --> 01:09:14,040 Find hope, find comfort in His Word daily. 1240 01:09:16,840 --> 01:09:20,200 I pray that you would as a believer, find that hope and 1241 01:09:20,200 --> 01:09:22,880 that comfort from His Word, just as the psalmist has to the 1242 01:09:22,880 --> 01:09:29,520 unbeliever say this to you. You came in this morning, 1243 01:09:29,520 --> 01:09:34,160 whether you knew it or not, without hope and without 1244 01:09:34,160 --> 01:09:39,200 comfort. I'm talking about not comfort in 1245 01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:40,880 the sense of the world and what it offers. 1246 01:09:41,000 --> 01:09:43,399 Nice house and a nice car and a good bed to sleep in, an air 1247 01:09:43,399 --> 01:09:44,880 conditioner in Texas in the summertime. 1248 01:09:46,960 --> 01:09:49,800 I'm talking about eternal hope and comfort. 1249 01:09:49,800 --> 01:09:51,479 You came in this morning without any. 1250 01:09:53,760 --> 01:09:58,000 But today you can find comfort and you can find hope through 1251 01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:00,120 the Word of God that has been preached to you today. 1252 01:10:00,960 --> 01:10:03,200 Let me just say this. Yes, the Word of God does say 1253 01:10:03,200 --> 01:10:07,440 that you are condemned already. Fact John 3 makes that very 1254 01:10:07,440 --> 01:10:11,760 clear that all here without Christ are condemned already, 1255 01:10:12,480 --> 01:10:14,760 and rightfully so. You're born into this world a 1256 01:10:14,760 --> 01:10:16,400 Sinner. You were a Sinner by nature and 1257 01:10:16,400 --> 01:10:18,400 you deserve the wrath and the judgement of God. 1258 01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:21,960 And yes, the Word of God does say that you are cut off from 1259 01:10:21,960 --> 01:10:25,240 God and you are an enemy of God because of your sin. 1260 01:10:26,440 --> 01:10:29,520 Now I know that shakes the world where we're just all children of 1261 01:10:29,520 --> 01:10:30,360 God. No, you're not. 1262 01:10:32,040 --> 01:10:33,720 There are the children of God, and there are the enemies of 1263 01:10:33,720 --> 01:10:35,960 God. And those who are truly in 1264 01:10:35,960 --> 01:10:38,240 Christ are the children of God. They have been redeemed by the 1265 01:10:38,240 --> 01:10:42,360 precious blood, God's only begotten Son, their brother and 1266 01:10:42,360 --> 01:10:48,840 their King. But those who have not, you're 1267 01:10:48,840 --> 01:10:50,280 not children of God. You're children of Satan. 1268 01:10:50,280 --> 01:10:53,800 You're children of sin. You belong to this world, you're 1269 01:10:53,800 --> 01:10:57,120 cut off from a holy God, and you're an enemy because of your 1270 01:10:57,120 --> 01:10:59,320 sin. Yes, the word does say that. 1271 01:10:59,320 --> 01:11:02,560 And yes, the Word does say that if you don't repent and you 1272 01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:05,040 don't trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, you will spend an 1273 01:11:05,040 --> 01:11:08,920 eternity under God's judgement and under God's wrath in hell 1274 01:11:08,920 --> 01:11:15,240 forever. Again, I know this not popular 1275 01:11:15,240 --> 01:11:17,120 in today's church culture, but I'm not trying to win a 1276 01:11:17,120 --> 01:11:19,160 popularity contest. I'm trying to tell people what 1277 01:11:19,160 --> 01:11:27,560 the Word of God really says. It does say that, but that wrath 1278 01:11:27,560 --> 01:11:29,280 will come upon you, and it will be eternal. 1279 01:11:31,640 --> 01:11:35,960 Let me give you this part of it. Though the Word of God says all 1280 01:11:35,960 --> 01:11:41,760 those things, it also does say this, that God is merciful and 1281 01:11:41,760 --> 01:11:45,720 He's compassionate to those who repent and those who turn to Him 1282 01:11:45,720 --> 01:11:49,480 and believe by faith. And His Son, who He sent to this 1283 01:11:49,480 --> 01:11:52,800 world to die on the cross for all who would believe and trust 1284 01:11:52,800 --> 01:11:57,080 in Him. And yes, you can this very day 1285 01:11:58,480 --> 01:12:02,320 turn from your life of sin, your life of certain judgment, your 1286 01:12:02,320 --> 01:12:08,520 enmity toward God, and you can turn to Jesus Christ, calling on 1287 01:12:08,520 --> 01:12:12,800 him to save you from the coming wrath, the judgment that will 1288 01:12:12,800 --> 01:12:16,400 come upon all unredeemed sinners. 1289 01:12:16,400 --> 01:12:18,640 Oh, that's the good news of the gospel this day. 1290 01:12:19,560 --> 01:12:21,840 To this day, you can call upon the name of the Lord, and 1291 01:12:21,840 --> 01:12:25,440 according to Scripture, you shall be saved. 1292 01:12:26,920 --> 01:12:30,360 Perhaps you walked in today without hope. 1293 01:12:33,160 --> 01:12:41,520 I implore you today, I beg of you, don't leave here hopeless. 1294 01:12:42,720 --> 01:12:45,800 Don't leave here hopeless. Turn to Christ. 1295 01:12:46,880 --> 01:12:51,480 Repent of your sin. Be saved today as the Father 1296 01:12:51,480 --> 01:12:53,440 draws you out of the darkness of your sin. 1297 01:12:53,440 --> 01:12:58,480 By His word, may you receive the eternal life that Jesus Christ 1298 01:12:58,480 --> 01:13:00,880 died for you to have today. Let's pray together. 1299 01:13:00,880 --> 01:13:09,780 Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you grieving over those 1300 01:13:09,780 --> 01:13:14,540 who have already shut me off this morning, who have thought 1301 01:13:14,540 --> 01:13:16,900 of a million other things that they would rather be doing. 1302 01:13:20,000 --> 01:13:23,040 That I pray that your mercy would fall upon them, that you 1303 01:13:23,040 --> 01:13:27,680 would not hold that to their charge, but you would open their 1304 01:13:27,680 --> 01:13:31,600 eyes to their need for Christ. And that you, Christ, would meet 1305 01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:34,760 the great need that they didn't even know that they had, that 1306 01:13:34,760 --> 01:13:36,280 they have heard that they have now. 1307 01:13:37,680 --> 01:13:41,440 That you would rescue a Sinner from hell, That you would turn 1308 01:13:41,440 --> 01:13:44,640 their hearts toward you, That you would birth in them faith to 1309 01:13:44,640 --> 01:13:47,120 believe and to trust in You. And that you would save the 1310 01:13:47,120 --> 01:13:51,240 wretched soul today. God, I pray for every believer 1311 01:13:51,240 --> 01:13:55,880 here today. I pray that they would fall 1312 01:13:55,880 --> 01:13:58,480 deeper in love with you as they study Your word, as they learn 1313 01:13:58,480 --> 01:14:02,400 your word. That they would rest in the hope 1314 01:14:02,400 --> 01:14:04,680 and the comfort that your word gives to your children. 1315 01:14:07,000 --> 01:14:10,360 But I pray that your spirit be free to move in the lives of 1316 01:14:10,360 --> 01:14:14,240 your people today. That you do as only you can do. 1317 01:14:15,240 --> 01:14:19,960 Your word has gone forth. I rest and I trust in the power 1318 01:14:19,960 --> 01:14:24,240 of your spirit and I pray all these things in Christ's name, 1319 01:14:24,240 --> 01:14:28,040 Amen. You have been listening to Key 1320 01:14:28,040 --> 01:14:30,720 Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast. 1321 01:14:31,240 --> 01:14:34,000 Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word. 1322 01:14:34,560 --> 01:14:37,680 If you would like to speak with one of our pastors, please visit 1323 01:14:37,680 --> 01:14:40,520 us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com. 1324 01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:43,080 Thank you again for joining us today.