1 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:11,840 Amen. If you have your Bible, and I 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,800 hope you do, go and make your way to the book of Psalms. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,640 That's right about the. Middle of your Bible. 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,120 And then make your way to Psalm Chapter 4, Psalm chapter 4 this 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,440 morning. Y'all I love the psalms. 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,880 I think that it's one of my favorite books in the Bible, and 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,680 for lots of reasons, but for the next several. 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,240 Weeks. Here this summer, June and July, 9 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,520 I want us to return to the Psalms and just walk through 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,080 some that we have not covered as a church family together. 11 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:45,640 You might wonder why I'm not starting in Psalm one. 12 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:46,960 Well. Because there's 100 and. 50 of 13 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,440 these things and we've preached some of them all right, and I'm 14 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,800 so glad there's so many, but we've already covered the first 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,600 3 so we're picking. Up where we left off, actually 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,200 a. Year and a half or two years ago 17 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,040 now, I'm picking up with some Psalms that we haven't covered 18 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,760 together as a church, as a church family. 19 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,480 Y'all hear Not only the Psalms. Some of my favorite, but 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,480 there's. Rarely a day that goes by then I 21 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,400 don't read. One of the psalms. 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,960 Personally, I get asked a lot. Called What's a good? 23 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,680 Plan to read my Bible and there's lots of options to go 24 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,440 with, but if you just wanted one, that would be as simple and 25 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,800 basic as I know how to tell you. If you would have a. 26 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,440 Plan to read. In the Old Testament. 27 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,240 If you'd have a plan to read in the New Testament and then put a 28 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,960 marker. Also in Psalms and Proverbs put 29 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,600 you 3 to 4 markers. In your Bible and read a chapter 30 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,200 in the old, read a chapter in the new. 31 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,680 Read a chapter of Psalms and maybe Proverbs and you'll get a. 32 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,240 Good, well balanced diet. Of scripture to help you. 33 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,560 Walk through the Word of God in about in a year's time. 34 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,040 Reading through the whole thing, if you stay on about that pace 35 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,440 now, by the way, there will just be certain days when you just 36 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,280 need to stop on one verse you read and not read. 37 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,480 Further, because God's speaking to you so much right there. 38 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,000 He just wants you to think and camp out on that, all right? 39 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,160 But we need a plan. When it comes to reading the 40 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,000 word of gone. Y'all, the Psalms are typically 41 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,039 short. They are straight from the 42 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:10,720 heart, they don't pull any punches. 43 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,960 They deal with real practical matters of life and therefore as 44 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,120 timeless in their application to us today as the day. 45 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:18,520 David. And so many of the. 46 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,600 Other writers wrote. Them all right now if you are in 47 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,720 the. Middle of a trial, if you're in 48 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,280 the middle of some sort of struggle right now, if you've 49 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,600 got a difficulty going on in your life to any degree. 50 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,360 You're going to find Psalm chapter 4 is medicine for your 51 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,680 soul. If you don't have any particular 52 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,560 trial or trouble right now, you still need to hear. 53 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,880 Learn and know what Psalm chapter. 4 says because as they 54 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,240 have said, well now for. Many years. 55 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:46,160 I don't know how often I've heard. 56 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,240 This you've heard this it's. Been put better than I know how 57 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,440 to put it if you're not. Going through a trial today? 58 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,920 You probably will. Tomorrow it's not a. 59 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:58,000 Matter of if, it's a matter of. When all right as well. 60 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,160 Known now with the Lord. Former pastor. 61 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,480 Tim Keller said once. You listen to this quote once. 62 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,680 You're in a crisis. There's no time to sit down and 63 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,840 give attention, study and learn the parts of the Bible you 64 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,040 desperately need. Do you hear what he said? 65 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,760 Once you're in the middle of a crisis, there's no time to sit 66 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,440 down and study and learn and process the truths of the Bible 67 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,040 you need right then in that moment, he says. 68 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,600 As a working pastor for nearly four decades, I have often sat 69 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,760 beside people who are going through terrible troubles and 70 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,120 silently wished they had taken the time to learn about more 71 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,400 about their faith before the tidal wave of trouble had 72 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,400 engulfed them this past week at student camp. 73 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,040 Which by the way, if I look off. Sound off or do anything off, 74 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,120 just blame it on a week of being on a gym floor in a bunk room 75 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,360 with a bunch of high school boys and all that goes with that. 76 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,520 All right, so I'm in a little bit recovery mode today, but we 77 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,440 had, what a great week. We had our speaker for the week. 78 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:12,280 Spoke of the chronic autoimmune disease, his 13. 79 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,680 Year old daughter has been diagnosed with and his battling. 80 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,880 And he says he still remembers. Being on the 10th floor of the 81 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,519 hospital when it all went down, when they discovered everything 82 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:23,640 that was going on. And he put it like this, he 83 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:24,120 said. You know what? 84 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,200 You don't develop your theology. On the 10th floor of the 85 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,200 hospital. You. 86 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,320 Deploy whatever theology you've got. 87 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:35,880 Because when life hits. And he put it when? 88 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:37,960 Life gets lifey. I like that statement. 89 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,480 When life gets lifey on you, it's too late to find out what 90 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,000 you You're going to find out what you believe. 91 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,240 You're going to deploy whatever theology you've got. 92 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,560 So Psalm 4 might be for you today. 93 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,080 Psalm 4 might be for you tomorrow or the next day. 94 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,400 Either way, this is applicable to our lives. 95 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,920 And Psalm 4 teaches us this real simple, this simple truth that. 96 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:58,800 I want you to see in your notes you can write down, I want you 97 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,360 to remember, is that Christians, Christians have confidence in 98 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,200 God in times of crisis. That's what this Psalm is about. 99 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,320 Christians are people that have confidence in God. 100 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:18,080 In times of crisis. Are you someone who has 101 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,360 confidence in God in times of crisis? 102 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,240 If not, I hope you become someone that has confidence in 103 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,320 God in times of crisis today. And Psalm 4 is going to walk us 104 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,600 through what that looks like, steps to take, actions that we 105 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,240 should take. But first, listen to the Word. 106 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:36,000 Of God. Here's what David writes. 107 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:38,280 To the choir master with stringed. 108 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:39,680 Instruments. The Psalm of David. 109 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,800 Answer me when I call. Oh God of my righteousness, 110 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,320 You've given me relief when I was in distress. 111 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,880 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 112 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,480 Oh men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? 113 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,760 How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? 114 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,520 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. 115 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,240 The Lord hears when I call to Him. 116 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,560 Be angry and do not sin. Ponder in your own hearts on 117 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,360 your beds, and be silent, and offer right sacrifices, and put 118 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,920 your trust in the Lord. There are many who say who will 119 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,120 show us some good. Lift up the light of your face 120 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,560 upon us. O Lord, You've put more joy in 121 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:31,480 my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound in 122 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,920 peace I will both lie down and sleep for you alone. 123 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,360 O Lord, make me. Dwell in safety, Father I. 124 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,120 Pray that as we hear your word today that God, you would you 125 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,560 would open up our ears and let us hear. 126 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,720 Let us heed, let us believe and let us obey. 127 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,520 Let the Word of God do the work of God by your Spirit to mold us 128 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,240 and shape. Us in the image of Christ and to 129 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,400 draw people to Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. 130 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,720 Amen. We know exactly who wrote this 131 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,280 Psalm, we just don't know exactly the situation. 132 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:05,160 Behind it. Not that we. 133 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,480 Have to know the author King David was a a godly man, a man 134 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:10,160 after God. 'S own art. 135 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,600 He was far from a perfect man. He made some mistakes, some of 136 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,000 them. Major, but he was a. 137 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,360 Man, that was no. Stranger to trial and trouble. 138 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,240 This this. Could have been written, 139 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,280 perhaps? As a result of when David was 140 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,840 experiencing being haunted for his very life, when day and 141 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:28,000 night he was on the run hiding in caves because King Saul 142 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,680 wanted him dead, right? This could have been the time 143 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,280 when the Amalekites came and destroyed the city of Ziklag and 144 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,520 the survivors were so mad at David they wanted to stone him. 145 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,720 You ever had a day like that? Probably not quite that bad. 146 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,760 This was could have been the time when the revolt of Sheba. 147 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,400 Happened against David and. There was some who wanted to 148 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,920 take his throne. Then one day it was his own son 149 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,320 Absalom who was another trial that revolted and rebelled, 150 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,800 wanted the Kingdom from David. It could have been the 151 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,720 disastrous 3 year drought in the land that caused the leaders of 152 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,080 the land. Not only just to question. 153 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,200 David's leadership, but even to question God's leadership, what 154 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,360 I'm saying is we don't know what circumstance was behind this. 155 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,600 But we know that David was familiar with trial and struggle 156 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,720 and difficulty, and we know the same is. 157 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,280 True for us. So what do we do? 158 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:19,880 What? Do we learn from this Psalm? 159 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:21,920 If we're going to be people who trust God. 160 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,920 In times of crisis, who have confidence in God, what is that 161 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:26,240 going to look like? Here's the first thing it's 162 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,440 going to look like. In times of crisis, we learn 163 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,640 here, cry out in confidence to God. 164 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,679 Christians are people in times of Christ you shall who cry out 165 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,720 to God in times of crisis. You notice what David says? 166 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,679 Answer me when I call now when I first. 167 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,800 Read that my first reaction. Is like, whoa bro, that's that's 168 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,640 pretty bold to God, don't you think, David like that at first. 169 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,880 I just can't help but think about like when I want to say 170 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,880 that and praise God y'all. My wife Lauren's gotten so much 171 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:57,960 better about this, but there was a time in her life when I felt 172 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,640 like if you called. Her cell phone, 99 point. 9% 173 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,320 chance she wasn't going to answer anybody had somebody in 174 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,440 their life like that. It gets frustrating, right? 175 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,520 You're like, and especially in times that I'm like concerned 176 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,360 about her safety. You don't know her location. 177 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,400 She's not done the plan according to where I thought 178 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,080 she'd be, when she'd be. And I just want to say answer me 179 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,240 when I call, right? You're killing me over here, 180 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,360 right? All I can, all I can in picture. 181 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,080 Is like maybe from my selfish or me getting angry about it. 182 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,760 But David here is not doubting whether God's going to answer. 183 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,480 David is not disrespecting God. David is desperately crying out 184 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,280 to God. This is not a an ask born of 185 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,400 doubt or born of being jaded by God. 186 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,360 It's one out of desperation for God, out of his distress. 187 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,360 God, he is calling to the God he knows will answer. 188 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,800 He's making, if you will, a spiritual 911 call, right? 189 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,840 We teach our kids how to get a hold of first responders, don't 190 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,560 we? In times of emergency. 191 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,680 We ought also to be people that teach our kids and lead by 192 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:04,480 example and how to call in our first response being to call on 193 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,240 our Heavenly Father in times. Of crisis as David. 194 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,800 Cries that you notice he calls God by a title that, 195 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,640 interestingly enough, is only used here once in the whole 196 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,120 Bible. No other time is God referenced 197 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,600 with this title. Oh, God of my righteousness, 198 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:28,240 David is crying out to God, standing on a characteristic of 199 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,800 God, an attribute of God, that which he is staking his claim 200 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,640 that God, I know you're going to answer, you're the God of my 201 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,400 righteousness. Now, what in the world does that 202 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,840 mean, right? Well, we know that God is the 203 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,960 sole source. Of any and all righteousness. 204 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,160 That means what I mean is, let's be real clear, God is always 205 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,560 right and God is never wrong. And if we have any 206 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:53,600 righteousness, guess what? It's because we've received it 207 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,960 by God or been enabled by God to live it out. 208 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,040 In fact, the Bible puts. It as plain as this. 209 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:04,200 Our best efforts, separate from God, are like filthy rags in His 210 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,160 sight. That means they're unrighteous. 211 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,240 That means mankind is a major problem. 212 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,560 The God who is righteous. Mankind. 213 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:14,560 Me. You men, women, boys and girls 214 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:18,000 who are unrighteous. God doesn't dwell in the 215 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,360 presence of sin or unrighteousness. 216 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,040 He does not. He knows none of that. 217 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,880 And this is exactly why Jesus Christ came from heaven to 218 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,640 earth, because of our unrighteousness. 219 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,280 In His righteousness, Jesus Christ lived a perfectly 220 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,760 righteous life. Jesus Christ did no wrong and 221 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:38,600 all. And only did right. 222 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,920 Why, so He could go to the cross and all of our unrighteousness 223 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,760 be laid on Him. This is the good news of the 224 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,240 gospel that we sing about. If you've been born again, 225 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,480 you've understood this truth that Jesus Christ took all your, 226 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,720 all your filthy rags, and on him it was laid, and Jesus in your 227 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,080 place died for it. They are paid the price for it. 228 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,120 Why? So that if you would believe on 229 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,360 Him in faith, if you would receive the forgiveness for that 230 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,080 sin He paid for on the cross, He in exchange would take your 231 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,120 unrighteousness and give you His righteousness, cover you by His 232 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,440 blood, wash you clean, so that when God the Father looks at 233 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,200 you, He looks at you through the lens of the righteousness of 234 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:16,040 Christ. That's covered. 235 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,600 You and forgiven you. Do you know that's happened to 236 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,320 you? Do you know God as the God of 237 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,680 your righteousness? If so, you first realize you 238 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,440 have no native natural. Righteousness of your own. 239 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,400 But see, this is where if you've never come to Christ. 240 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,720 The honest truth is, your eyes have never been open to the fact 241 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,680 that you're unrighteous before God, that you've sinned before 242 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:42,960 him. That's a humble thing to have to 243 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,040 say, but it's true, and the Bible makes it clear. 244 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,160 And being born. Again, as a matter of calling on 245 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:53,120 God to save you and forgive you, notice next. 246 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,480 That part of David's. Confidence in calling to God is 247 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,840 grounded in God's faithfulness to Him in the past. 248 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,680 Notice what he says here. God, you've given me relief. 249 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,240 Notice that's past tense. You've given me relief when I 250 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,000 was in distress. David here is not getting 251 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,880 hysterical. He's getting historical with 252 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,520 God. Hey, God, you remember such and 253 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,040 such a time. God, you've been faithful to me 254 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:16,880 in the past. God, you've delivered me in the 255 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,040 past. God, you have provided for me in 256 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,000 the past, right? In fact, you could put like 257 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,920 this, David says. When I've been in a bond, when 258 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,560 I've been between a rock and a hard place, when I've been hard 259 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:29,080 pressed and under pressure, Literally the word relief in the 260 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,160 Hebrew means God when I was being. 261 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,560 Crushed when? I thought I couldn't breathe. 262 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,560 God, you enlarged me. God, you made space for me. 263 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:38,600 Can you picture that? Ever been when you felt like the 264 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,240 weight of the world was on top of you? 265 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,200 Maybe so rest, you couldn't breathe or you couldn't sleep. 266 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:44,680 And it was like you're backed in a corner. 267 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:46,960 You didn't know which way to go between a rock and a hard place. 268 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,240 And David's like, God, when I was there in the past, it was 269 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,960 like you expanded a space for me to take a breath and survive and 270 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,080 to thrive. God, you enlarged me. 271 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,160 God, you gave a space. For me, when the world 272 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:06,080 threatened to undo me. Christian, when a new crisis 273 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,080 comes, and it will, you ought to remember God's faithfulness to 274 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:14,240 you in the past. Why would God? 275 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,840 Why would God be faithful? To you in 10 trials and be 276 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:23,320 unfaithful to you in the 11th. God. 277 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,760 Always finishes what he starts. His Grace. 278 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,640 Is not sufficient. Sometimes it's sufficient. 279 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,680 Every time. God doesn't get tackled on the 280 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:34,960 10 yard line. Amen. 281 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,400 God finishes what He starts, what he promised to. 282 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,880 Do he's going to see? To completion, all right. 283 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,480 In times of crisis, we can. Crowd in confidence to God. #2 284 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,960 In times of crisis we see that we ought to remember that God 285 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,240 sees and hears you, that God sees and hears you. 286 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,440 This is. Verses 2 and 3. 287 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,800 We don't know. Again, David's exact. 288 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,840 Situation and we've obviously never been a king. 289 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,800 But David here obviously is experiencing. 290 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,040 Attack from those around him. There are those. 291 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,680 Who want to undo him? Who want to see his downfall and 292 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,120 his shame. David's got enemies to 1° or 293 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,320 another. We've all experienced what it's 294 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,640 like to have people opposed to us. 295 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,240 Amen. They may not want us dead 296 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:22,680 necessarily. They might have. 297 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,680 But we understand what it's like to have enemies. 298 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:27,560 We understand what it's like to be slandered. 299 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,280 We understand what it's like to be stabbed in the back or to 300 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,280 experience bullying or whatever that is. 301 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,720 And in fact, right, Christians, throughout history, this has 302 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,760 been the essential, you know, on the majority collective 303 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,640 experience of believers around the world. 304 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,400 Even right now as we speak, you go to most places around the 305 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,360 world. It's not a favorable thing to be 306 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,360 a believer. In Jesus Christ, I mean the 307 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,360 very. Country most in. 308 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,400 One of them the very most in the news right now, Iran has one of 309 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,240 the largest, fastest growing underground church movements, 310 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,080 Christian movements in the world right now. 311 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,600 More people are coming to Christ faster in Iran than about any 312 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,520 other country underground. And yet more people are paying 313 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,840 for their with their lives, for their faith in countries like 314 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,040 Iran to this day. This is the collective 315 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,240 experience of many believers around the world. 316 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,200 David and these verses 2 through 5 here he's not talking to God 317 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,480 and he's not talking to the reader directly. 318 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,160 He's talking to his attackers. To these people he. 319 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,080 Wants that. They want to see his downfall. 320 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,360 These people, by the way, we're probably. 321 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,440 Members of his own leadership. Probably. 322 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,280 People he knew well that he knew their names. 323 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,320 That he does administrative things with as a king of Israel, 324 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,880 right? And what he says here is, is not 325 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,240 directly to us, but it is it is indirectly applicable to us. 326 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,840 And he gives these 7 instructions in these verses to 327 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,240 these people. And here's the first one. 328 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:03,360 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly. 329 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,200 For himself, the. Lord hears when I call to him. 330 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,839 I love this. Essentially, Davis says. 331 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,280 Folks, listen. You would do well to remember 332 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:17,960 whose team I'm on. You would do well to remember 333 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,560 that I belong to God. You would do well to remember 334 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,000 that I've got God's phone number. 335 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,520 I talked to God, I've got his digits and God hears me when I 336 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,800 talk to him. That's that's basically what 337 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,480 David is saying. Now, you might say, Kyle, that 338 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,960 sounds kind of odd and even, I would admit, like next. 339 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,560 Time somebody wants to. Belittle you or harm you? 340 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,600 Or stand against you. It's probably not the best. 341 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,080 Thing to walk up to him and say, hey, you know what? 342 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,360 You need to remember I'm on God's team and God's on my team. 343 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,960 Like, that's probably not the right way to go about it, but 344 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,280 let me tell you what. Would be incredibly valuable for 345 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,920 you to remember next time you're belittled or attacked or 346 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,560 slandered or someone seeks your shame. 347 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,880 The most valuable thing that you could know is that you and God 348 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:04,280 are on the same team. That God's got your back. 349 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:07,600 That when you call out to God, he hears you. 350 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,600 That God sees you, That God knows what you're going through, 351 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:18,240 that God has promised to work all things for your good, that 352 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:19,720 God's going to fight on your behalf. 353 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,360 You need to know. You need to know when you're 354 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,960 attacked, when you're coming under pressure and threat, that 355 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:28,040 you and God are on the same team. 356 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:29,760 Let me just ask you, do you know that's true? 357 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,400 You don't have to tell. Anybody else that necessarily. 358 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:36,360 But you need to know. This is the first thing that 359 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:40,360 came to David's mind. Hey, God and I, we're tight. 360 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,680 And he tells his detractors, you ought to remember that, right? 361 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,880 What does he mean by what God has done? 362 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,960 It says that he calls himself God has set apart the godly for 363 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,680 himself. To be set apart means to be 364 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,960 identified and separated by God under his special care and 365 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,200 affection as his own is to be called out from the world to 366 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,840 belong to the family of God as a child of God. 367 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,720 By the way, if you've called on God to forgive you of your sin, 368 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,880 you've called on Jesus as your Savior. 369 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,360 This is when that happened. You were called out of the 370 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,240 world, your identity changed, you were born again as we sang 371 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,000 about. You were made alive, and now 372 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,680 you're a child of God in the family of God under the special 373 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,080 attention and care of God. In fact, by this next word, the 374 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,680 godly is literally the word for loved by God in the beloved. 375 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:31,520 I thought Kyle, God so loved the world. 376 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,560 Yes, he does, and he has by sending Jesus. 377 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,200 But God's special attention and special affection is on his 378 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,160 children. There is a care. 379 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,680 And there is a provision and there is a protection, and there 380 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:47,840 is a relationship there between God and His own that is 381 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:49,120 exclusive. Do you? 382 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,120 Know that you've been set. Apart by faith in Jesus Christ, 383 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:54,680 do you know that you. Belong to the. 384 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,520 Beloved, do you know whose team you're on when attacked? 385 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,000 Of course, if we're being honest, even if we know whose 386 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,040 team we're on, even if we know we've been saved and born again, 387 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,040 even if we know Jesus Christ personally, aren't there days, 388 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,560 let's be honest, when it still feels like maybe God's not 389 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:22,680 listening, God's not answering, and maybe we're tempted to ask 390 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,080 or wonder, God, are we still? Are we still on the same team? 391 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,760 Why don't you listen to the words of the author, well known 392 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,480 author CS Lewis? In his book Grief Observed, he 393 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,960 compares his prayer for his wife's healing from cancer to 394 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:44,560 knocking on the door as Jesus Christ instructed, and he says 395 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,840 he knocked until his knuckles were bloody and raw. 396 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:54,600 You ever been there when you were praying and calling on God 397 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,360 and keep knocking on the door to the point your knuckles were 398 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:00,200 bloody and raw? And then he says when I looked 399 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,000 at the door, I felt like it was double bolted. 400 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,760 And then I stepped back and he says I didn't just look at the 401 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,080 door, I looked at the house and it seemed like the lights were 402 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:15,520 out and nobody was home. To be honest, there are moments. 403 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,200 There's times there's seasons where God lets his children walk 404 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,200 through, times when maybe he doesn't answer in the time frame 405 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,280 we wanted. He doesn't give the answer we 406 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,960 hoped he would give. Or he allows. 407 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,920 Us to experience a moment where it feels like he's far away, and 408 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,600 it's in these moments, y'all that as children of God, we've 409 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,160 got to remember He has set us apart for himself. 410 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,240 That he does hear us when we. Call and he's working all things 411 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,280 for our good, even when we can't fully understand. 412 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,400 In times of crisis, you've got to remember God sees you and 413 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:51,800 hears you #3 in times of crisis, we learn, like David, to be 414 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:53,960 patient and to put your trust in God. 415 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:56,480 To be. Patient and put your trust in 416 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:57,920 God. This is verse four and five. 417 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:01,360 Be angry and do not sin, David says. 418 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,720 Ponder in your own your own hearts, on your beds and be 419 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,120 silent. Offer right sacrifices and put 420 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:11,120 your trust in God. David gets incredibly practical 421 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:12,960 here, and I want to. Unpack this for a moment, right 422 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,200 Remember. David is talking to people under 423 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:20,280 his leadership, Israelites, who are mad at God and mad at him. 424 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:22,680 Why are they mad at God and why are they mad at Him? 425 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,440 They're mad at God for the same reason when we get mad at. 426 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:26,760 God, you know why? When? 427 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,920 Life doesn't go our way. When life gets lifey or we're on 428 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,320 the 10th floor of that hospital are things and people are 429 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,480 speaking against us and life seems against us. 430 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:40,480 Oftentimes our reaction can be to get mad at God, blame God. 431 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,880 That's what's going on there. Blaming David, who's the who's 432 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,600 the physical leader among them as God's representative and 433 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,280 they're blaming God. They're mad at God, right? 434 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,000 David says to them, Hey, y'all be angry but don't. 435 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,760 Don't sin. Now that's easier said than 436 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:54,400 done. Amen. 437 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,760 This is, by the way, quoted in the New Testament here. 438 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,120 You know you can get it's not a sin to be angry at God. 439 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:10,440 God can handle your anger. He just says don't sin against 440 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,840 him. Don't sin against others and 441 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,400 your anger. Say how in the world? 442 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,880 Can I be angry at God and not, not sin? 443 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,320 David, like I said, gets incredible, incredibly practical 444 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,200 and I want to give you 3 things. Three things here. 445 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:28,720 I just kind of embedded this in your notes. 446 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,000 I think this is so clear here in the text. 447 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,520 Three things David says we can learn of how to be angry and not 448 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,720 sin against God. Number one is put yourself and 449 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,800 time out. Now those are Kyle's words. 450 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,000 Some of you like I didn't realize time out was in the 451 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,000 Bible. Oh, it's in the Bible. 452 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,120 It's right here. This is timeout. 453 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,400 For adult believers, all right for me and you, when we get 454 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,160 angry at God put. Yourself in timeout. 455 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,680 Listen what he says, go sit on your bed, be quiet and ponder 456 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,120 the promises of God. If that's not timeout. 457 00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:59,280 I don't know what is. You ever send a kid to time and 458 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:03,840 go sit on your bed, be quiet and think about what you've think 459 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,280 about what you did or what you need to do, what you should do 460 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,680 or what I told you to do? Go think about the truth, right? 461 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,200 Literally. David says go get on your bed, 462 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,120 be quiet and ponder the promises of God. 463 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,120 Now let's just be honest, if you don't know the promises of God, 464 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,080 guess what you can't do? You can't ponder. 465 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,720 And guess what you're probably not going to do when you're 466 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,600 angry and mad at God? Go learn them. 467 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,120 You can go thinking about something else, you're going to 468 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:33,040 have anything and everything in your mind but the ammunition of 469 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,960 the truth to fire against and put out the flaming darts to the 470 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,640 enemy because you've not done the work before. 471 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,240 To learn what you need to know when your theology needs to be 472 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,280 deployed and not developed, he says, go put yourself in time 473 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,640 out and go think about the truth, right? 474 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,840 Instead of going to bed and laying awake and arguing and 475 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,520 brooding with God and rationalizing your anger and 476 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,760 telling God how he's wrong. This way, this way, this way and 477 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,200 this way. Go think on the promises of God 478 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,960 and let the promises of God calm and quiet your soul. 479 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,000 But you can't think. About what you don't know about, 480 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,680 which is. Why there's a daily plan to be 481 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,840 in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and in the middle? 482 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:16,200 Of the promises. Of God stockpiling ammunition 483 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:18,560 for the day you'll need to fire it. 484 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:25,800 At the lives of the enemy and for your own soul #2 Put 485 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,720 yourself before God in worship. Now again, what do? 486 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,960 We want to do when we're mad at God, stay home from church, 487 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:41,680 isolate ourselves, maybe walk away from the church. 488 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,360 We want to run away from offering right sacrifices. 489 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,800 We want to do anything else but worship, David says no. 490 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,680 Go put yourself in a position and posture of worship, or even 491 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,680 when you don't feel like it, when you don't feel like God is 492 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,560 worthy, go worship God like he's worthy. 493 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,920 Hebrews. 1315 says this through. Jesus let us continually OfferUp 494 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,240 a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that 495 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,920 acknowledge His name, That verse, that command is though on 496 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,080 the days you feel. Like it on the days you don't 497 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,840 feel like it. Because when we choose to act on 498 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,280 the worthiness and worth of God in worship God is in, we are in 499 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,200 a position for God to minister to our hearts and souls instead 500 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,680 of foolishly running away. And hardening our heart against 501 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,600 God. So put yourself in time out. 502 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,200 Put yourself before. God in worship. 503 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:37,880 And then three, put your trust in. 504 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,880 God and what I mean? By that is, don't run to other 505 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,960 things in the world to try to find peace for your soul. 506 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:49,400 Don't go find unhealthy coping mechanisms to help you get by. 507 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,440 Lean in on God more so than ever. 508 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:59,760 Put your trust in. God when writer says if we 509 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,120 communed with each other. Less and with God. 510 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,720 If men that is communed with each. 511 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,080 Other less and with God. In their own heart, more 512 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,800 allowing the heat of anger to cool in the silences of the 513 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,360 night, they would discover the futility of fuming and fretting 514 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:19,200 against God or man, it's been said. 515 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:24,640 That silt. Only settles in standing water. 516 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:32,800 In other words, all the dirt and debris in water only goes to the 517 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,200 bottom and lets the water clarify. 518 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:41,840 If the water is still but shaken up, it looks like a milkshake. 519 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,640 You get all stirred up. And you see, when I think often 520 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,000 times it's in these moments when we get still before God, that 521 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,640 God can allow all the silt of the storm that's raging in our 522 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:57,080 hearts to settle. We can see the truth, We can see 523 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,000 reality more clearly, the promises of God if we get still 524 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,080 before God. In times of crisis, be patient, 525 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,040 put your trust in God #4 in times of crisis, find your joy 526 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,120 in the Lord. Listen again to verse six and 527 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:13,960 seven. There are many who say, who will 528 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,720 show us some good? Lift up the light of your face 529 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,800 upon us. O Lord, You have put more joy in 530 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:23,000 my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 531 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,320 In times of crisis, find your joy in the Lord. 532 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,920 It says here there are many who say, who will show us some good. 533 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,040 You know what that question is? That question is this Who has 534 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:39,720 found anything worth living for? Who's found some real purpose 535 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,800 and meaning in life? Can someone show me something 536 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,520 that's not vain, that's ultimately not going to wear 537 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,720 out, or not going to die, or not going to one day be taken away? 538 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,480 Who can show us anything good? This is the question of people, 539 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:59,240 right, that are jaded with life. This is the words of pessimists 540 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,960 who only see life through the lens of their pain, that have 541 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,680 lost hope. These are the questions. 542 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,440 Of people who are mad. At God and mad at the. 543 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,520 World unbelievers most often talk like. 544 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,800 This, but it's possible for believers to talk. 545 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,280 Like this and facing. Such a question, David now turns 546 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:20,880 to the one. Place where the answer. 547 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,240 To such a question. Can be found David. 548 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,720 Cries out to God again. Now turning to God, lift up the 549 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:30,920 light of your face upon us. Oh Lord, oh God, give us food. 550 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:37,600 No, it's not what he asked. Oh God, give us health, wealth, 551 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,760 and prosperity. No, that's not what David asked. 552 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,400 Oh God, give us money in our bank accounts. 553 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,680 No, that's not what David asked. God give us safety by day and by 554 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:50,200 night. No, that's not what David asked. 555 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,920 What does David ask? God give us the one thing that 556 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,520 provides every other thing from which everything flows. 557 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,480 God give us your presence. God allow us to experience and 558 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,160 fellowship with you. God give us yourself. 559 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,960 Here we're just reminded y'all if you're looking to the world 560 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:08,640 to stuff something in the world into your. 561 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,320 Heart to satisfy it. It will not do it. 562 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:16,800 It won't do it. It doesn't matter what we have 563 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,120 in life. You know, we, we, we don't say 564 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:22,520 this oftentimes, but we have this. 565 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,080 Default in our human heart and by the way the human heart is 566 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,440 deceptive all right and we still. 567 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,080 Deal, even as believers that have been born. 568 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,680 Again with the sin, that's. Retained in our fleshly. 569 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,400 Nature that we daily. Have to die to. 570 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,400 If we don't die to it, we'll fall prey to its deception. 571 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,760 And one of the deceptions we keep defaulting back to, to our 572 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,800 old sin nature is this lie that the healthy, more wealthy and 573 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,600 prosperous we are, the happier we will be. 574 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,880 It is an illusion. It is an illusion. 575 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,640 The people continue to keep falling for it. 576 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,480 You know, if it was true, the happiest, wealthiest and most 577 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:00,640 prosperous on the planet would be the happiest. 578 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,680 And guess what? You know is true that that's not 579 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,720 true. You know it. 580 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:09,800 And yet we do. We keep falling for that, don't 581 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:11,720 we? We keep sometimes wanting to buy 582 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,000 into that lie. Why? 583 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,680 Because our hearts are so. Easily deceived. 584 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,320 What we need is God. The one from whom all things 585 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,480 flow and listen. The reason for that look? 586 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,600 How, David? Puts it in verse 7 you have put 587 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,760 more joy God in my heart than they have when their grain and 588 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,280 wine abound Now I. Know that when grain and. 589 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,040 Wine abound may not mean much to. 590 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,440 You, but this is the. Deal of what David is saying. 591 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:41,920 In the ancient world, abundance and scarcity followed and flowed 592 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,960 with the seasons. Like the grocery stores? 593 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,520 Didn't carry the same thing year round, all right. 594 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,480 And they didn't. Ship I mean they did some 595 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,000 shipping and stuff back then to get stuff around the, you know, 596 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,760 the known world, but basically. You were locally. 597 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,040 Dependent on the harvest to live that next year. 598 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,760 And guess what? Are harvest abundant every year? 599 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,400 No. So guess what? 600 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,600 When the years would come along that it's abundant, this is like 601 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,800 the highest of highs in the ancient world. 602 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,920 Guess what y'all? We're going to eat this week and 603 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,960 we're going to eat next week. And guess what I think we may be 604 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,240 the next year because this year's abundance, in other 605 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,240 words, he's saying is in the in the moments when life is at the 606 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,720 highest of highs. God, you've given me more joy 607 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,640 than that even provides a man or a woman, a boy and a girl. 608 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,680 God, you give more joy, you give more peace, you give more 609 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,000 happiness, God, than when anything and everything on earth 610 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,160 that can possibly be had by. A man or woman is given. 611 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,560 That's why he says God. Let the light of your face shine 612 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:52,160 upon us in times of crisis. Find your joy in the Lord. 613 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:53,560 Can I just ask you? Where? 614 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,040 Where? Are you finding your joy? 615 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,080 And is your joy. Sturdy when storms come. 616 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,360 Do you find your joy? Ripped out from under you when 617 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:08,160 anything's taken, or when anything in your life suffers? 618 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,680 Or is your joy in something that's unshakable, that's 619 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:17,920 untouchable? Just one more thing in times of 620 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,760 crisis, sleep in peace. Now, some of you are like, that 621 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:23,080 one's really easier said than done. 622 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:26,360 I don't know why it is the older you get. 623 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,600 You know, as kids, you seem to we sleep like babies. 624 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,680 And you know, as we start getting to adulthood and start 625 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,160 adulting and life gets lifey, sometimes sleep gets more 626 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:41,080 difficult, especially when under stress and difficulty. 627 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,480 And yet David finishes this Psalm. 628 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,240 But such confidence in God that he says even in times of trouble 629 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,800 and trial, he says, listen, I'm going to lie down and sleep and 630 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,920 listen to those next few words for you alone. 631 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:02,200 Not a lock on the door, not a gate at the entrance to the 632 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:09,679 neighborhood, not 4 walls, not a security system. 633 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,639 What allows him to sleep in safety and in peace? 634 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:21,600 God alone, which is the same truth for you and for me today. 635 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,520 So David says, despite the fact that I'm under attack, you 636 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,960 alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. 637 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:33,199 It's been said like this, if God suffices for eternal life, how 638 00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:36,719 did in the world does he not suffice for life and sleep and 639 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,639 even the day of our death on earth? 640 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,440 If he suffices for. Heavenly eternal life odyssey 641 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:48,080 not also suffice for everything now, a Vietnam veteran wrote the 642 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,239 following letter. He says in one of the battles I 643 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:55,000 fought in Vietnam, they were dead and wounded all around me. 644 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:58,920 Having gone three days without sleep, my ability to make wise 645 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,400 decisions was at a dangerously low level. 646 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,720 At 3, AMI found a hole in the jungle base, virtually under a 647 00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:06,840 battery of. Cannons. 648 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,440 The heat of the jungle night combined with that of the 649 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,440 cannons which fired volleys about. 650 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,320 Every 20 seconds was insufferable. 651 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,080 Even in the stench of the gunpowder, the mosquitoes 652 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,640 relentlessly pursued their bloodthirsty duty. 653 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,760 And as I. Lay there this verse of 654 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:23,840 Scripture. Came to me now I. 655 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:25,840 Just want to stop there. For a moment. 656 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,840 This verse of scripture can't come to somebody who doesn't 657 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:33,200 know it. So here his theology is about to 658 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:38,040 be not developed, but what deployed in literal battle. 659 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,480 OK, this verse of Scripture came to me. 660 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:44,160 Why? Because he probably had a marker 661 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,600 in the Old Testament, a marker in the New Testament, and 662 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:50,360 somewhere in Psalms or Proverbs this promise came to me. 663 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:58,680 For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in a verse, a promise, a 664 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:00,640 truth, that a Psalm 4 came to him. 665 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,520 And he says, I think I had the best two hours of sleep in my 666 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:12,600 entire life. In times of crisis, you can 667 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,800 sleep in peace. You all Christians are people 668 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,640 that have confidence in God in times of crisis. 669 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,960 I just want to take a moment as we finish here and I wrestled 670 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,840 with how to close our time. John and praise team are about 671 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,320 to come out. We got a crisis going on on the 672 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:39,280 world stage right now. And the the deal is, is that we 673 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:44,080 know as Christians, the closer we get to the return of Christ, 674 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,560 things like this will only increase. 675 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,960 In fact, if you could. Just you could turn to Matthew 676 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,000 24 this afternoon if you wanted to, and just read the words of 677 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,480 Jesus, of how you're going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. 678 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,760 He says something after that, but he says don't be alarmed. 679 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,320 I love how he just drops that in there. 680 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,920 Hey, don't be afraid, nation's going to rise up against nation. 681 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:15,800 But don't get hysterical. Get historical, Lie down and 682 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,720 sleep in peace. Guess who alone makes you dwell 683 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:23,880 in safety? God. 684 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:28,200 Guess who you can take joy in even under threat? 685 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,520 God. He goes on in that burst to talk 686 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,280 about what's going to happen towards the end. 687 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,360 He talks about it every every nation, every people group will 688 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,160 hear the gospel, y'all. We're getting closer and closer 689 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,640 to reaching unengaged and unreached people groups with the 690 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,240 gospel of Jesus Christ. We're today one day closer to 691 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:49,880 the return of Christ than we were yesterday. 692 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:54,800 Obviously I just, I want to encourage, I'm not, I'm not 693 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,520 here. God hasn't called me to be a 694 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,000 political commentator, but he's called me to be a pastor. 695 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,320 And what? We know is God's. 696 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,760 People is that no matter what goes on, God is in control. 697 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:09,240 He's got the whole world in his hands and and you know what? 698 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,640 When when crisis hits, especially at this level. 699 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:17,320 The world is. Watching the church, whether. 700 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:21,040 They say they are or not your Co workers. 701 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,280 And your neighbors, they're watching you and and they're 702 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:29,520 wondering. Do you have joy and peace and if 703 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,920 you do, do you have confidence in crisis and if you do, why a 704 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,280 crisis always presents the church with one of the most 705 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,600 wonderful opportunities to witness to the goodness and. 706 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:42,800 Glory of Jesus Christ. And as your. 707 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,800 Pastor and things I just pray for us is a God allow us to walk 708 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,480 in confidence in crisis. You know you're not going to 709 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,240 share your faith. If you're not confident in your 710 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:54,840 faith. And as the storms increase, May 711 00:38:54,840 --> 00:39:00,240 God give us just an unshakeable peace and unshakeable joy, even 712 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:01,640 as we pray. And we're going to. 713 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,720 Even pray today for. Peace and protection, and for 714 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:08,400 God's will and for wisdom for. Leaders and all these things, 715 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,360 but the Christian if you know Jesus Christ, you can walk in 716 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,880 confidence. Nothing can shake that. 717 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:18,840 No matter, no matter what happens, you can walk in 718 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,320 confidence in crisis. And I pray. 719 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:25,360 That's exactly what we do. Yeah, I'm going to pray and then 720 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:27,400 I'm going to invite us to stand and respond. 721 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,720 And I don't know if you have a crisis going on right now or if 722 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:34,400 you will tomorrow, but I just wonder if God lays on your heart 723 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:35,960 today a way he wants you to respond. 724 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:40,240 Maybe you want to come and pray. Maybe you want to come and pray 725 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:41,400 with me. Maybe you want to come and pray 726 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,040 with an encourage, or maybe you need to talk to me about 727 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:45,360 trusting Christ. Maybe you just want to put 728 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,640 yourself before the Lord in a way to say, God, this is I I 729 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:50,320 want to put and I want to have confidence in you. 730 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,000 I'm not sure I'm there, but God get me there. 731 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:53,280 God, these steps that I've heard help. 732 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,360 Me take them. Maybe you know exactly which one 733 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,040 God wants you to take. You say God help me, help me to 734 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,520 do that today and. Help me to be so confident that 735 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:03,760 I. Can even out of the overflow of 736 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:07,160 that give a witness to you Jesus, every conversation that 737 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,280 comes along every opportunity where people get to watch and 738 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,880 see what you're doing in my life as a result of your strength and 739 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:15,160 your provision. Father. 740 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:19,120 I want to pray that we would be people of confidence in crisis. 741 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:21,680 God that our attention be turned to you. 742 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,680 God, you would have your way in US today and as we respond. 743 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,920 To trust you, Father, to seek you. 744 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,000 To rest in you today, that you'd guide us in our response as your 745 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,040 people. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 746 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:34,480 Would you stand with me at your family? 747 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:36,720 You come this morning and respond as the Lord leads you.