1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:05,000 I'll never forget the first time that I saw the Grand Canyon a 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,600 couple years back. Buddy and I were spending some 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,720 time out in Arizona, decided to drive up to Grand Canyon 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,880 National Park for the day. I was excited about this because 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:16,440 I'd never seen the Grand Canyon before. 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,080 Now my friend, he had been a couple times. 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,600 And so as we're in the car, we're making our final ascent up 8 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,640 to the park. He says to me. 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,520 He says, OK, Brian, what I want you to do when you get out of 10 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,520 the car, I want you immediately to put your hand over your eyes. 11 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,080 Don't look. I don't want you getting any 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,920 glimpses of the Canyon on your way up. 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,680 I want to see your face when you take it all in at that first 14 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:41,120 glance. I'm going to walk you up there 15 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,240 step by step. Now, I was thinking in the 16 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,640 moment. Sure, that's a little a little 17 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:49,320 scary. I guess I'll trust you. 18 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:51,880 I did trust him. I'm glad that I did. 19 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,080 So we get out of the car and we're walking up step by step 20 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,640 and I can I can hear people around me gasping and awning. 21 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,200 They're probably like, what is this guy doing? 22 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:03,720 You know, blinders over his face. 23 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,200 And, you know, people are like, oh, look at that, Look at that. 24 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,640 There's so much anticipation. And we finally get up close and 25 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,480 he says, OK, Brian, take your hands off your eyes and you can 26 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,680 look. And if you've been to the Grand 27 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,200 Canyon, I'm sure you have this image coming back to your mind 28 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,800 now. What I saw in that moment was 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:33,360 something so vast, so incomprehensible, so beautiful, 30 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,800 that the first thing I did is I looked up to heaven and I said, 31 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:43,160 God, how beautiful and powerful must you be to make something 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,600 like this and to make it no problem. 33 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,200 I was captivated in that moment by what I was looking at. 34 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:56,120 I couldn't look away. Humans are captivated by beauty. 35 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,280 I've yet to meet someone else that doesn't enjoy watching the 36 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,320 sunset or staring out at a vast mountain range. 37 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,760 I've yet to enjoy someone that doesn't like watching an athlete 38 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,479 or a musician perfect and perform their craft. 39 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,400 Why is this? Well, I think it's because these 40 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,840 are experiences that captivate us. 41 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,320 They serve as little moments of satisfaction and delight. 42 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,360 They serve as an escape from the pains and the fears of everyday 43 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,120 life. So we hunt these experiences of 44 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,160 beauty. We long for them with our soul. 45 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,080 If you're here this morning and you wouldn't consider yourself a 46 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:38,360 Christian, I know you have longings that can't ultimately 47 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,920 be satisfied by anything in this world. 48 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,640 What are those things for you? What are those experiences of 49 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:46,280 beauty that you're chasing after? 50 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,680 And if you're honest, how does it feel when those things keep 51 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,200 ending time after time, back to the pains of the real world? 52 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,800 What do you do with that? And I challenge you this morning 53 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:05,240 to ask yourself, don't you want true and lasting satisfaction? 54 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,880 Well, for you this morning, my prayer is that as we walk 55 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:14,480 through our passage, you will be introduced to the glorious 56 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,520 beauty of the one true God and the satisfaction you can have in 57 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,760 him through His Son Jesus Christ and Christians, Brothers and 58 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,880 sisters of TBC, I've been praying for you this week that 59 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,440 you to be reintroduced to the beauty of our God and the 60 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,440 satisfaction that you do have in him and you'll enjoy one day 61 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:34,680 forever. Brothers and sisters, our 62 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,440 passage this morning is Psalm chapter 27. 63 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:39,960 If you have a Bible, go ahead and please turn there now. 64 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,080 Psalm 27, it's about halfway point of the Bible, maybe a 65 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,480 little before. And if you don't have a Bible at 66 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,960 all, if you forgot to bring one, maybe you don't have one. 67 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:49,280 Feel free to put your hand up in the air. 68 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,880 Don't be embarrassed. We do this every single week. 69 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,760 We pass out our Bibles. Anyone All right, Micah's ready. 70 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,160 You're good, brother. Come sit back down. 71 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,000 You'll want to follow along as I look through, as I walk through 72 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,880 our passage verse by verse. So look at your Bibles. 73 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:11,200 The Psalms are where God's people go to praise him, to 74 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,720 confess their sins to Him, to renew their delight in Him, to 75 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:20,120 lament to Him. And Psalm 27 is about a man who, 76 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,480 when he looks all around him, all he sees are enemies. 77 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:31,080 He's confronted by fear, but when he looks up to God, he is 78 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,600 satisfied with a passionate renewal that revitalizes his 79 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,120 soul. He's filled with confidence. 80 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:46,240 So follow along as I read Psalm 27 of David. 81 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,320 The Lord is my light and my salvation. 82 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:57,200 Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my 83 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,680 life. Of whom shall I be afraid when 84 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,440 evil doers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and 85 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,640 foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 86 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,320 Though an army encamp against me, My heart shall not fear. 87 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,600 Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. 88 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,520 One thing have I asked of the Lord that will I seek after, 89 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,880 that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my 90 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:36,640 life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His 91 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,440 temple, For He will hide me in his shelter. 92 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,640 In the day of trouble He will conceal me under the cover of 93 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,680 his tent. He will lift me high upon a 94 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,760 rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all 95 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:55,720 around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts 96 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,000 of joy. I will sing and make melody to 97 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,320 the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, 98 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:10,880 be gracious to me and answer me. You have said, Seek my face. 99 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,240 My heart says to you, Your face, Lord, do I seek. 100 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,920 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in 101 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,120 anger. O you who have been my help, 102 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:29,520 cast me not off Forsake me not, O God, of my salvation, for my 103 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,720 father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will 104 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:39,440 take me in. Teach me your way, O Lord, and 105 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,960 lead me on a level path. Because of my enemies. 106 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,600 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses 107 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,320 have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. 108 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:58,200 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the 109 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,040 land of the living. Wait for the Lord. 110 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,640 Be strong, let your heart take courage. 111 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:12,760 Wait for the Lord. The superscription before verse 112 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,240 one tells us this is a Psalm of David. 113 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,120 David wrote about half the Psalms. 114 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,040 He served as the king of Israel in the 10th century BC. 115 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,440 David was a mighty warrior, and it's said that he was a man 116 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,080 after God's own heart. Now Psalm 27. 117 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,360 We're not really sure exactly at what point in David's life he 118 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,560 wrote this Psalm. As you heard just a moment ago 119 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,320 when I read clearly, this is a time when David has many 120 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,160 enemies. He's being pursued. 121 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,240 He's being slandered. But this was common throughout 122 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,920 most of David's life, so we're not really sure when it was 123 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,720 written. Couple of things are helpful for 124 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,160 us to know before we dive in. If you glance back down over 125 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:55,120 Psalm 27 with me, David makes 9 direct references to his 126 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:00,480 enemies. 9 But he makes 14 references to Yahweh, the 127 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,280 covenant Lord. Picture David surrounded by 128 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,440 enemies. An army is outside the gate and 129 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,200 yet he's confidently fixed on God. 130 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,040 Over and over again in our Psalm, he says I will, I shall, 131 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,160 I believe God will. This is a man who has a 132 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,680 confident and passionate pursuit of God in this life because he 133 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,120 knows his ultimate reward lies in the next life. 134 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:32,320 We might even say that David has his heart set on the right 135 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,760 beauty. He's pursuing God now by faith, 136 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,280 and this increases his longings to behold God by sight. 137 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,799 That's essentially our main idea this morning if you're taking 138 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:46,760 notes. Until faith becomes sight, 139 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,160 cultivate A passionate pursuit of God. 140 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:57,000 Until faith becomes sight, cultivate A passionate pursuit 141 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,920 of God. How do we do that exactly? 142 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,360 As we walk through our passage, we'll see four ways, four ways, 143 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,280 4 points. Point #1 be confident in God. 144 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,400 Be confident in God. This will cover verses one to 145 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,440 three. Look down at verse one with me. 146 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,480 The Lord is my light and my salvation. 147 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,760 Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my 148 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,080 life. Of whom shall I be afraid? 149 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,200 David begins his prayer with what he knows to be true about 150 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,680 his covenant God. He's going to use this covenant 151 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:37,840 name, Yahweh, throughout the whole Psalm. 152 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,240 Anytime in your Bible you see capital Lord, that's Yahweh, 153 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,080 God's covenant name, God's true name. 154 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,680 What's David doing in these first few verses? 155 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:47,920 He's going to preach truth to himself. 156 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,280 He's going to pack truth into his heart. 157 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:53,480 He's going to call to mind God's character when he's afraid. 158 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,320 He revives his confidence in God and so he calls him his light, 159 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,320 his salvation and his stronghold. 160 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:08,960 Now saying God is light is a massive truth the Bible unpacks 161 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,320 in so many different ways. God is light means he's the 162 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,600 source of all truth. God is light means he's totally 163 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,320 pure. Light represents God's self 164 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,600 revelation. His light exposes our sin and 165 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,640 points us to the salvation we have in Christ. 166 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,920 Jesus Christ came into the world and said I am the light of the 167 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,720 world. God's light also exposes 168 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,200 darkness for what it really is, nothing to actually be afraid 169 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,320 of. And I think that last one is 170 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,240 what's particularly in view here with David. 171 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,320 Picture a child scare of the dark, yet mom and dad come to 172 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,840 the room, flick on the lights and the monsters have to 173 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,000 scatter. God is David's light and 174 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,920 salvation. God's light exposes the problem 175 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,160 for David, and God's salvation offers the solution. 176 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,000 What's the result? Well, David has nothing to fear. 177 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,440 He's nothing to be afraid of. God's character makes him feel 178 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,320 safe. Verse one again. 179 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:13,880 God is also David's stronghold. Now David is a mighty warrior. 180 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,360 He's the king of Israel. The dude ripped a lion's jaw 181 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,720 apart with his bare hands, killed a lion when he was a boy. 182 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,320 If anyone could say I have confidence and strength from 183 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,880 myself, it would certainly be David. 184 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,320 But David recognizes that his strength does not come from how 185 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,480 sufficient he is, but how strong his God is. 186 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,720 Brothers and sisters, don't believe the lies of our world 187 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,480 that tell you strength comes from within yourself. 188 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,120 Oh, just do it yourself. Pull it up. 189 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,760 Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. 190 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,880 Get it done on your own. The world is going to tempt you 191 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,080 to think that your problems are all outside of you and the 192 00:11:55,080 --> 00:12:01,600 solution is right in here. And that is a lie, Church. 193 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:07,200 When you feel afraid or weak, run to God's strength. 194 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,120 Rely on God. When you're overwhelmed with 195 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,040 fear, call God's character to your mind and watch your fears 196 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,880 slowly shrink. And that's what happens to David 197 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,400 in verses 2 and 3. He's going to illustrate his 198 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,400 confidence in God with two extreme examples. 199 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:30,800 Look back at verse 2 with me. When evil doers assail me to eat 200 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,440 up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and 201 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,400 fall. Though an army encamp against 202 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:44,320 me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me yet 203 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:49,880 I will be confident. Evil doers, adversaries, foes, 204 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,360 an enemy army. War right outside the gates. 205 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,480 If there's ever a reason to be afraid, I'd be terrified here. 206 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:59,840 This would be the moment. But these enemies are no match 207 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,680 for David because they're no match for David's God. 208 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,080 Still, they're definitely doing their worst. 209 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,440 David says these people are trying to eat me. 210 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:12,400 They're trying to eat up my flesh. 211 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,520 What's going on here? Well, there, there may have been 212 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,960 some sort of wartime practice during the day of cannibalism. 213 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,400 It's possible. I don't think it's likely. 214 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,920 There's not much historical record to demonstrate that. 215 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,760 But if you remember what Goliath says to David, he says, hey, 216 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,200 boy, come over here, I'm going to feed your flesh to the birds. 217 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:38,480 So whether it's a real literal thing that David is picturing 218 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,560 here or just a figure of speech, it's clearly something really 219 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,800 bad that David's enemies are wanting to do to him. 220 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,960 They're not just trying to stop David's heart from pumping blood 221 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,160 and kill him. They're trying to totally 222 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:55,200 destroy this man. But David says they're the ones 223 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,680 who stumble and fall. The evil that they're trying to 224 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,600 do to me, it's going to fall back on their own head. 225 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,040 I'm confident in God. My heart doesn't fear. 226 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:11,880 So notice here how fear is a unique struggle of the heart. 227 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,280 Now fear certainly has many outward manifestations, but 228 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,960 David locates fear in our hearts. 229 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,520 Brothers, sisters, fear comes from within. 230 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:26,680 And so how can David say that his heart doesn't fear when 231 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,240 there's likely thousands of people outside that want to 232 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,920 annihilate him? David can say it because he has 233 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,480 a right fear of God. Brothers and sisters, how do you 234 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,720 fight your fears, no matter what they may be? 235 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,280 You replace sinful fear with a healthy fear of Almighty God. 236 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,120 True knowledge, true knowledge of the one true God, always 237 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:58,000 drives out worldly fear. Now you might be thinking, I 238 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,800 don't have a little army surrounding me. 239 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,840 I don't have any sworn enemies. I don't think I have anyone 240 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,720 that's trying to eat me. How does this apply to me? 241 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,120 Well, that's true, but you do have a spiritual enemy warring 242 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,080 against you, and he wants to do far worse than these people want 243 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,120 to do to David. Pastor Michael Priest on this 244 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,120 last week from First Thessalonians, Satan warring 245 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,360 against Paul and the church in Thessalonica. 246 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,120 And you and I certainly have plenty of fears in this world. 247 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,840 All of us, no matter who you are, there's things you're 248 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,680 afraid of. So what are you most afraid of 249 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,760 in your life? What's your greatest fear as a 250 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:42,840 Christian? Maybe it's an evangelistic 251 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,440 conversation with that one family member or friend you know 252 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,120 you need to have, but every time in the moment, your heart is 253 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,480 just pumping and you can't get yourself to do it. 254 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,120 Maybe it's a part of your life being exposed to what it really 255 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,840 is. If, if church members knew this 256 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,600 about my life, if they saw this, then they'd think I'm being 257 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,360 unfaithful. They'd they'd think I'd look 258 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,520 like a failure. Are you fearful that God isn't 259 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:11,240 going to provide for you in the future? 260 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,760 Are you afraid of persecution? As a Christian, I don't know 261 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,360 your exact fear, but I know the way you fight it. 262 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,240 It's knowing God's character. That's where our confidence 263 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:28,080 lies. Church. 264 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,200 And just generally speaking, how do you get to know someone's 265 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,160 character? You spend time with them, you 266 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,040 share your life with them. They prove that they have a 267 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,440 track record of trust. You can rely on friends. 268 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,000 This is what we do with God. Share your life with God. 269 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,000 Bring your heart before the Lord. 270 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,400 Go to the Lord and see his faithfulness over the 271 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,680 generations in the thousands of years, and you can trust your 272 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,280 God and rely on him. So practically, when you're 273 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,120 afraid, when you go out here this week and you're confronted 274 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,560 with something, you should consider which of God's 275 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:04,240 attributes, what part of God's character shines light onto your 276 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,240 fear? And then you just cling to God, 277 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,480 grab hold of him there, wrestle with him in prayer over that. 278 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,359 Renew your confidence in God because of who He is. 279 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,640 And the more you know your God and has proven faithfulness to 280 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,960 you, the more you just want to spend time with him, the more 281 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,680 you want to run after him hard and pursue Him. 282 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:25,839 Which brings us to our second point. 283 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:31,240 Pursue God. Point #2 Pursue God. 284 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:39,200 So cover verses verses 4 to 6. So look down to verse 4 and 285 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,240 imagine for a second that you got to ask God one thing. 286 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:49,040 What would you ask? What is your greatest desire in 287 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,320 the entire world? Here's David's verse 4. 288 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:01,000 One thing have I asked of the Lord that will I seek after, 289 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,920 that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my 290 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:12,080 life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His 291 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,360 temple. The one thing David wants the 292 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:19,640 most in the world is to be in God's presence, so that he can 293 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,160 see his beauty and inquire or or meditate on God. 294 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,280 That word means now if you've read ahead in our passage, 295 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,600 particularly verses 7 to 12, David's about to ask God for 296 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,960 many more things. So what does he mean here by I'm 297 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,280 going to only ask God for one thing and yet then he's going to 298 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,560 go on to ask God like 10 more things. 299 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,640 Well, I think this one thing is David's ultimate request, his 300 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,960 greatest desire, his highest need, the thing that most 301 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:49,240 satisfies his soul. David is, is passionate and 302 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,640 confident to pursue God. So remember the context here. 303 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,520 David's being pursued by his enemies, but in the midst of 304 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,040 that, David is going to pursue his God. 305 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,200 So he's going to ask the Lord, verse 4. 306 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,200 And he's going to seek the Lord where he may be found. 307 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,600 So David's hope is not in a change of circumstances. 308 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,200 David's hope is not in a worldly solution. 309 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,720 David's hope is in God himself. And notice David says he wants 310 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:20,440 to be there all the days of his life. 311 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,080 Second-half of verse 4. This isn't just a one time 312 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,160 spiritual high for David. This is a settled, regular 313 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:31,040 desire to pursue God with passion. 314 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,160 Now certainly David could have met with God anywhere. 315 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,120 God's presence is not contained by any physical space within the 316 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:42,200 entire universe. But there were certain places 317 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,880 under the old covenant where God was more specially encountered, 318 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,040 like the Tabernacle or like the temple. 319 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,480 In David's day, this would be the Tabernacle. 320 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,560 The temple wasn't yet built. This would be be started and 321 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,840 finished by David's son Solomon years later. 322 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,360 So this is the Tabernacle for David. 323 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:04,680 And in verses 4 to 6, David, he's basically using any word he 324 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:06,360 can think of. He's like scouring the Hebrew 325 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,560 language for any word he can think of that denotes God's 326 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,720 dwelling place. Look down to the passage again. 327 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,960 Four to six house temple, shelter, tent rock. 328 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,000 These are the places where God uniquely dwelt with His people 329 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,360 on earth. Really, this is the place where 330 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:26,960 God is corporately worshipped with His people. 331 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,120 We'll return to that idea in a moment, how this relates to 332 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:35,160 corporate worship. First, let's look at why David 333 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:39,080 wants to dwell in God's house. second-half of verse 4. 334 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:45,840 He wants to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in 335 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,440 His temple. Now, if you're like me, you read 336 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,200 that and you think, well, that sounds incredible. 337 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,360 And also what in the world does that mean to to gaze upon God's 338 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:00,840 beauty? Are we actually going to see 339 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,560 God? You might be thinking, I thought 340 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,120 no one can see God and live. I thought God is invisible. 341 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:14,560 And you'd be right partly. In Exodus 3320, God tells Moses. 342 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,840 Moses asked to see God's glory. God says you cannot see my face, 343 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,240 for man shall not see me and live. 344 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:29,120 First Timothy 6 says no one has ever seen God or can see God, 345 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:36,840 and yet there are tons, tons of Bible verses that say redeemed 346 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,080 sinners will see God face to face one day. 347 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,160 Here's just a few. I had a hard time picking out 348 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,520 just three because they're all so good. 349 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:51,200 First John 3 verse 2 says we shall see him as he is in Job 350 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,200 19. Job says, Yet in my flesh I 351 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:02,280 shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, my eyes whom I shall 352 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,920 see for myself, and my eyes shall behold the passage Carissa 353 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,200 read earlier from Revelation 22. Four. 354 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,120 This is where we're all headed. Church, the heavenly city. 355 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:20,000 They will see his face. So how do we put these two 356 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,000 truths together? In some sense it's a paradox, 357 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,080 but I think they do. We can't make sense of them. 358 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,880 You can't see God, but you can see God. 359 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,200 Let's start with this. You cannot see God. 360 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,720 No one can see God with their physical eyes because God is not 361 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,240 a, he's not a material being. He's not made-up of physical 362 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,360 stuff. God is not made-up of anything 363 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:42,360 in the created world. He's invisible. 364 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,400 He's spirit. John 424 So we can't see God in 365 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,040 the same sense as I'm looking at like that basketball goal, 366 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,040 there's the goal, the back board's a rectangle. 367 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,320 I can see the rim kind of. I can see the net. 368 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,600 It's made-up of physical stuff. I could go up there and I could 369 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,120 touch it. But you can't see God because 370 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,240 he's invisible. He's not a material being like 371 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,360 us, but he is the most absolute being in the universe. 372 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,680 So there's nothing to see with your physical, literal eyes. 373 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,640 So in verse 4, when David wants to gaze upon God's beauty, he's 374 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,120 not going in there to look at something with his physical 375 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:21,040 eyes. He's seeing God on earth by 376 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,560 faith. And that is no less glorious 377 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,680 right now at least. So that's kind of Part 1. 378 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,400 You can't see God Part 2 of that. 379 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,760 Morally speaking, you and I can't see God because we still 380 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,720 have indwelling sin in this life. 381 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:42,200 If you and I were to see God right now, we would be totally 382 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,920 destroyed, incinerated. We can't see God because we 383 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,200 still have indwelling sin and He is totally pure. 384 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,960 Without holiness, no one shall see the Lord. 385 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,520 OK, so that's you can't see God. Now what do we make of all these 386 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:04,200 glorious passages that promised believers are going to see God? 387 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:09,440 Well, theologians call this the beatific vision, the beatific 388 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,800 vision BEATIFIC if you want to look it up later, beatific 389 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,480 vision. This is you and I seeing God 390 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,400 face to face in heaven. It's really the fulfillment of 391 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,560 Jesus promise in Matthew 5 when he says blessed are the pure in 392 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:30,800 heart for they shall see God. We actually sang about this 393 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,680 earlier. We sang about this in in 394 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,920 multiple songs, but particularly Jerusalem, my happy home, thy 395 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,840 Saints are crowned with glory. Great. 396 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,360 They see God face to face. How glorious. 397 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:49,480 Friends, if you didn't know, this is the whole point of 398 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,440 heaven. This is the ultimate goal of 399 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:56,560 every single Christian. This is the moment when like I'm 400 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,720 walking up to see the Grand Canyon and my friend says you 401 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:01,480 can take your hands off your eyes and look. 402 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,200 This is the moment when you step into glory and God says I'm 403 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,120 removing the veil. Brother or sister, see my glory? 404 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:15,200 Look at me face to face and you will immediately be filled with 405 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,760 the maximum amount of joy and satisfaction that is possible 406 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,400 for a creature to possess. And it'll never run out. 407 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,440 God will keep giving more and more of himself. 408 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,360 The joys of heaven will continue to increase as you behold your 409 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,480 God. It's impossible to over 410 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:40,200 exaggerate the joys of heaven. Brothers and sisters, this is 411 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,400 the happiness that you were made for. 412 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,440 OK, but what is it? What are we actually going to 413 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,800 see in heaven? Well, this has been debated for 414 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,360 thousands of years, I'm sure. As you can imagine, most agree 415 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:57,720 it's not a physical sight with your literal resurrected eyes. 416 00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,800 Again, God is. God's not going to suddenly take 417 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:04,520 on a physical form in heaven, but I think we can say, based on 418 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,080 the Bible's teachings, that redeemed sinners will have 419 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,280 direct apprehension of the very being of God. 420 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,840 In that sense, we will see God's essence. 421 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,160 We will see God's being now. We're not going to see him 422 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,120 comprehensively. We're still going to remain 423 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,960 finite creatures in heaven. God will always remain 424 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,520 incomprehensible, but we will see him truly. 425 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,080 This will be a perfect spiritual vision with the eyes of your 426 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,360 heart. How can this happen? 427 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,520 Because if we've seen Christ, we've seen the Father. 428 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,400 In John 14, Philip asked Jesus a great question. 429 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:46,960 He says, Jesus, I want to see the Father. 430 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:54,360 And Jesus says, have I been with you so long and you still do not 431 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:59,040 know me? Philip, whoever has seen me has 432 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:03,120 seen the Father. Brothers and sisters, we know 433 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,600 like Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 3 and four, that 434 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:11,520 through Christ we will see the glory of God with an unveiled 435 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,840 face. So what does all this have to do 436 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:16,880 with you today, this beatific vision? 437 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,440 Because if you're honest, I've thought this before as well. 438 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:25,240 You may be thinking, OK, so is heaven just going to be staring 439 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:29,320 at God all day? You may be so bold to say, isn't 440 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,480 that going to get a little boring or old for billions of 441 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,320 years, but let me ask you this and kind of flip it back to you. 442 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:42,680 How beautiful must God be if all you're going to want to do is 443 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,880 stare at Him and praise Him forever and ever and ever? 444 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,800 Our minds can't even fathom the joy and delight that we will 445 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:56,960 have beholding our God in heaven one day and remember back to our 446 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,720 passages. This is David's greatest desire 447 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,720 in life. This is his one great ask, His 448 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,360 one great thing. It most satisfies his soul. 449 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,920 And if you're sitting in the seats today, this is the one 450 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,200 thing that most satisfies your soul. 451 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,680 So practically, when you go out from here the next few weeks, 452 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,760 the next few months, think of all the experience of beauty 453 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,360 that you enjoy in this life. Maybe it's something like 454 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,680 hiking, enjoying a nice meal, just delighting in your children 455 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,600 and playing with them, a nice cup of coffee. 456 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,240 All those experiences like staring at the Grand Canyon 457 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,200 should lead you. They find their ultimate 458 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,240 fulfilment in God himself, your desires, your good desires in 459 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,280 this life. They're on a track somewhere, 460 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,440 they're marching along and they have their ultimate fulfilment 461 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,240 point in that day when you behold God face to face. 462 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,360 So make those experiences Worshipful. 463 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,880 When you stare out at that vast mountain range, when you delight 464 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,920 in your children, when you come to corporate worship, praise God 465 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,240 for who He is. Allow those desires to drive you 466 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:58,480 closer to Him. As Richard Baxter put it, help 467 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,040 me desire until I may possess it. 468 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,440 And friends, the beatific vision is good news for sufferers, too. 469 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,240 This is what David meditates on when he's afraid. 470 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,440 This is where David goes when he's suffering. 471 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:21,560 Brothers and sisters, if you're suffering here, seeing God's 472 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:26,240 face is the moment when you realize all my suffering is 473 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,840 over. And more importantly, I think 474 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,960 you realize that all your suffering was worth it. 475 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,000 It was worth every bit of it. Seeing God is the moment when 476 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:41,240 you realize all sin and death and pain and tears are gone and 477 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,440 banished. The former things have passed 478 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,280 away. So cling to God in this great 479 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,440 vision of seeing Him. If you're suffering, brothers 480 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,000 and sisters, look down to verses 5 and 6. 481 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,840 David tells us the outcome of this passionate pursuit, pursuit 482 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,480 of God. David will be hidden in God's 483 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,840 shelter. He'll be concealed in his tent. 484 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,960 He'll be lifted up upon a rock. His head shall be lifted up 485 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,880 above his enemies. David feels safe now because he 486 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,360 knows he's going to be safe in the arms of God forever. 487 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:19,440 Church, we have no reason to fear those who can kill the body 488 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,680 but cannot kill the soul. And because of this, in verse 6, 489 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,720 David is fired up. He's filled with so much 490 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,480 confidence that he says, I want to shout for joy. 491 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:33,200 I want to worship God some more. I'm going to go sacrifice my God 492 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,160 and I'm going to sing his praises again. 493 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,640 This should make us think of corporate worship. 494 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,000 What is the place on earth? Moreover, what is the gathering 495 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,360 of people on earth that God has most uniquely tied His presence 496 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,240 to? It's the Lord's Day worship here 497 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,880 this morning. We behold God's beauty most 498 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,040 intimately in our gathering today. 499 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,960 When we sing, we behold God's beauty. 500 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,760 When we read His word, we behold God's beauty. 501 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,720 When we praise Him for his attributes, we see God's beauty. 502 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,760 Brothers and sisters, this should be our greatest desire at 503 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,920 TBC. When you come into this room, 504 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,520 examine your desires. Have I come in to be seen by 505 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:16,360 others? Have I come in to check a box? 506 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,320 Have I come in just to hear my favorite preacher? 507 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,720 No, we come in to behold our great God. 508 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,440 We come in to pursue God's presence and see His beauty in 509 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:30,120 the face of Jesus Christ. Well, how about you 510 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,080 individually? Could you say that pursuing God 511 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:41,760 is your 1 great desire in life? If not, what's getting in the 512 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,840 way of that? What's at the end of the road of 513 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,680 your desires? If you're honest, which of your 514 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:54,160 desires, if they were fully grown, may lead you to abandon 515 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,920 your God? That's what Paul laments about 516 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:04,800 his dear friend Demas and Second Timothy 4 for Demas in love with 517 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,040 this present world has deserted me. 518 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,360 Friends, are you pursuing the world or are you pursuing God? 519 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,240 We have to admit, no matter where we're at and our walk with 520 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:20,400 the Lord, that this is a struggle. 521 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,720 It's a struggle to passionately pursue God in this life. 522 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,800 How do we, how do we maintain this passionate pursuit in this 523 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,360 life? We need a desperate prayer life. 524 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,920 We got to wrestle with God face to face in prayer. 525 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,800 That's point #3 wrestle with God in prayer. 526 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,840 Wrestle with God in prayer. This will cover verses 7 to 12. 527 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:44,960 So here, here's kind of the logic of our passage so far. 528 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,520 In verses one to three, David declares that goddess his light 529 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:50,800 and his salvation. So where does David want to be? 530 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:52,600 Well, he wants to be in the presence of his God. 531 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,960 And now in verses 7 to 12, as he is pursuing God's presence, he 532 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,400 wants to remain there, and he wants to see God's face. 533 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,160 Look down at verses 7 to 12. Real quickly glance over them 534 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:08,200 with me. David petitions the Lord 10 535 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,200 times in these verses 10 asks of the Lord. 536 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,040 And friends, this is what we do in prayer. 537 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,280 We wrestle with God face to face. 538 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:22,440 Look down at verse 7. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, 539 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:29,000 be gracious to me and answer me. This is David's intro to his 540 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,240 prayer petition. If you're not a follower of 541 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:37,240 Jesus, you may ask God for a lot of things in a moment of need, 542 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,280 but you don't actually want God for God. 543 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,240 You just want God for what he can give you. 544 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,720 Once God answers your request, you don't want his ear anymore. 545 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:48,200 You don't want to seek his answer. 546 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,240 But believers, followers of Jesus, want to be heard by their 547 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,560 God. They demand their God answer 548 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,680 them. And God does answer David in 549 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:03,200 verse 8. You have said seek my face. 550 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,800 My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. 551 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:13,120 In verse 4, David asks one thing of the Lord. 552 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:19,400 Now in verse 8, God commands one thing of David, seek my face. 553 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,400 Now the Hebrew word here for seek, it's actually plural. 554 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,960 So this is God addressing all readers, all listeners, folks at 555 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,320 TBC here this morning. God's one command of you here is 556 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,639 to seek his face. And David responds on behalf of 557 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:40,080 God's people and says, My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do 558 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,120 I seek? Now, what does God mean by this 559 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,280 here, seek my face? Well, look at what David says in 560 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:52,000 verse 8. My heart says to you. 561 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:57,280 So again, this is not a physical site here, but cultivating an 562 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,200 intimate relationship with your God from the heart, knowing his 563 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,920 character more fully, pursuing him in prayer, passionately, 564 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,640 being vulnerable with God. God mentions this in other 565 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:12,360 places as well. In Second Chronicles 7, God says 566 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:17,120 that if only his people would humble themselves and pray and 567 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,600 seek my face. In Psalm 24, a few chapters 568 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:26,680 earlier, Davis says that those who seek the face of the God of 569 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:32,880 Jacob receive blessing. One of the things Michelle and 570 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,200 I, my wife, tell our kids when we're instructing them or giving 571 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:40,200 them correction, we tell them, we say, sweetie, son, look at my 572 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,320 face, look me in the eyes. Now why do we do that? 573 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:49,000 Well, we're trying to have an intimate and vulnerable moment 574 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,480 with them. We're trying to communicate 575 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,120 affection with them. We're trying to ultimately have 576 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,920 a sense of accountability with them and think about how how 577 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,520 accountable it must be when you look in the face of another 578 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,600 human being, there's nowhere you can hide, for instance. 579 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,960 That's what God longs for with us. 580 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:09,040 He wants a face to face, vulnerable, intimate 581 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,040 relationship with us. This is David's one thing in 582 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,760 verse 4, and it's the one thing that should drive our lives here 583 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,920 as well in verse 8. Knowing our God deeply. 584 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,160 A passionate pursuit of knowing who God is. 585 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:31,200 Charles Spurgeon in his first published sermon at 20 years 586 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:36,040 old, 20 years old, he preached on the duty of a Christian to 587 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:41,080 know their God. Spurgeon said the highest 588 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,560 science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest 589 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:49,600 philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God 590 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:56,160 is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings and 591 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,280 the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. 592 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:05,360 In other words, TBCA passionate pursuit of God's face. 593 00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:10,000 And kids in the congregation, this is for you too. 594 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,000 You are in a phase where you're learning so much. 595 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,240 You're having different unique desires, different seasons of 596 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:18,480 life. You're into a lot of things. 597 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:23,400 For example, my daughter, she is very into right now, magnet 598 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:27,800 tiles, helping her mommy cook and the many adventures of 599 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:29,480 Winnie the Pooh and the 100 Acre Wood. 600 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,600 And she's passionate about this. She won't let me skip a page 601 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,600 that I'm reading. And this is great, but kids, as 602 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,920 you're into so many cool things, remember that your God commands 603 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:45,720 you to seek his face. So talk to your parents for what 604 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,200 that means. On the drive home, ask your mom 605 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:49,800 and dad, what does that look like? 606 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,520 Mom and dad, what does your vulnerable relationship with God 607 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:54,800 look like? How do you seek God's face 608 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,840 through Jesus Christ and children in here, You can seek 609 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:00,600 him today through Christ. You can have that relationship 610 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:05,160 with your God with confidence. Look down at verse 9. 611 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:09,600 God commands David to seek his face. 612 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,320 But now David is asking God not to hide his face from him. 613 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,800 He just told him to seek him. Now David's praying that God 614 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,040 wouldn't hide what's going on here. 615 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,120 He says don't turn your face away in anger. 616 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:23,600 Don't cast me off. Don't forsake me. 617 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,640 I think this is David recognizing that in his flesh 618 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,480 he's still a Sinner in this life, so he needs to wrestle 619 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,960 with God by prayer. David knows the covenant 620 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,040 commandments and promises to Israel that if the covenant gets 621 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,600 broken, God's going to turn his face away from them. 622 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:44,600 And yet so David is begging that that would not happen. 623 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:49,040 He knows in his flesh he can't keep himself in the presence and 624 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,440 the love of God. David knows that God, because of 625 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:57,040 his sin, would have every right to be angry with him and forsake 626 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:00,600 him. If you're not a follower of 627 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:05,080 Jesus here this morning, I wonder what you think when you 628 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,480 hear that? That God has a right to be angry 629 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:12,880 with you because of your sin. Well, friend, as you've heard, 630 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:16,840 God lovingly invites you to himself this morning. 631 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,400 Do you want that? Do you have any interest of 632 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,240 that? I hope that you do, but there is 633 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:27,480 a problem. First, because of your sin, you 634 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:31,920 don't want to seek God. Because of your sin, you remain 635 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:36,760 an enemy of God. In Psalm 53, God says he looks 636 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:41,720 down from heaven to see if there is anyone who seeks him, anyone 637 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:43,640 at all. Is there anyone that does good? 638 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,440 And God says I haven't found a single one. 639 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:48,960 No one does good. No one seeks me. 640 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:52,240 No, not one. Friends, we've all rebelled 641 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,760 against law, God's law. We've rebelled against him, and 642 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,880 because of this, God has a right to turn his face away from you 643 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,480 and to pour out his wrath on you in hell. 644 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:05,000 And friend, God is just. God is righteous. 645 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,960 He will do it. What a terrible threat. 646 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:11,720 I mean there, if you're here this morning, there could be 647 00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:15,040 nothing worse, no worse news that you could hear in the 648 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,680 universe than that your God will turn his face away from you and 649 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:21,440 in His justice pour out his wrath upon you. 650 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:24,640 What is our hope? What is any of your hope? 651 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:27,920 To dwell with God and be him, be with him forever? 652 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,880 Well, God has to make himself known and thank God that he has. 653 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,120 God has sent true light and true salvation into the world. 654 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,560 God has sent his one and only perfect Son, Jesus Christ, into 655 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:46,440 the world. He lived a perfect life. 656 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:49,360 He died a death on the cross in the place of sinners. 657 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,640 And what David is praying here would not happen to him, happen 658 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:57,920 to Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus cried out, My Father, my 659 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,360 Father, why have you forsaken me? 660 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:05,800 The Father turns his face away from Jesus and pours out his 661 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,160 righteous wrath onto the perfect Son of God in the place of 662 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:10,760 sinners. When it should have been poured 663 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:15,080 out on me and you, Sinner, it was poured out on Jesus Christ. 664 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:20,760 Jesus was swallowed up in death by our greatest enemy. 665 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:28,640 He actually died, but God did not abandon his Son. 666 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:31,560 Jesus rose victoriously 3 days later. 667 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:35,120 He reigns from heaven now, having paid the price for sin, 668 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,280 and he looks out and he commands everyone everywhere. 669 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,320 From our pastors this morning. If you don't know him, repent 670 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,520 and take Jesus by faith today. The only way you can see God, 671 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:48,440 the only way you can be made right with him, the only way you 672 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,760 can have an intimate relationship with your Creator 673 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,120 is that if you repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus. 674 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:57,920 So respond to the call, Respond to God's loving command. 675 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,640 Come to him today and seek His face. 676 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:07,280 Make Christ your one great desire for him and church. 677 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:13,240 Consider the gift of God, even allowing us to commune with Him 678 00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,440 in prayer. Because of Christ, we can cry to 679 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:20,600 God. ABBA Father David's prayer in 680 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:24,560 verses 7 to 12 is a model. When we pray to God, we can be 681 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:27,520 confident in His promises. We do hold fast to His 682 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,960 character, but we know we're still sinners. 683 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:35,040 We know our God is still holy. So we desperately ask to remain 684 00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:37,680 in God's presence. Friends, one of the markers of a 685 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:41,800 growing Christian is a desperate and passionate prayer life. 686 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:43,600 Would that describe your prayer life? 687 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:47,440 Is your prayer life too comfortable, or are you 688 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,480 passionately pursuing God? Are you wrestling with Him? 689 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,720 Are you desperate for Him like David? 690 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:59,920 It may feel like God is going to cast us away sometime like it 691 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:04,400 says in verse 9, but because of Christ, we know that He never, 692 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,480 He never will cast us away. Even if those in life who are 693 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,920 supposed to be most loyal to us, who are supposed to love us the 694 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:16,360 most, if they forsake us, God never will. 695 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:17,760 That's what David says in verse 10. 696 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:23,440 Look back down to verse 10 for my father and my mother have 697 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,520 forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. 698 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,920 Now, there's no evidence of this happening to David in First and 699 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:33,400 Second Samuel. There's no evidence that his 700 00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,080 parents forsook him and sided with his enemies. 701 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:37,880 It may have happened, We're not sure. 702 00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,440 A lot of translators render this as even if my father and my 703 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:44,400 mother forsake me. I think that's more of the 704 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:45,600 point. It was going on here. 705 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:50,680 Even if the people who you would never imagine turning their back 706 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:53,400 on you do. God will take you in. 707 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:59,720 God will be there for you. And I know that this has 708 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:06,200 happened to some of you in this room today, whether it be your 709 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:10,840 family actually disowning you for your faith or maybe it's 710 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:15,080 just a slow relationship being severed over time because of 711 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:21,120 your commitment to follow Jesus. Friend, if that's you, take 712 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,360 heart. Your brothers and sisters of 713 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,680 TBC, we've got your back. We will take you in. 714 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:31,120 But most ultimately, most importantly, God has taken you 715 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,960 in. God will never leave you or 716 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:39,080 forsake you. In verses 11 and 12, David 717 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,160 concludes his petitions by asking God for guidance. 718 00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:47,400 In order for David to pursue God, he's got to be careful to 719 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,920 walk in God's ways. Look at verse 11. 720 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,840 He's desperate to be taught and to be LED on a level path. 721 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:57,680 David needs this because if he gets off the path, his enemies 722 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:01,520 are waiting there to devour him. His enemies are waiting there to 723 00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,680 kill him. False witnesses are slandering 724 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:07,960 his character and breathing out. Violence brings us a reminder to 725 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:12,000 us to never assume we have nothing left to learn. 726 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,560 Every single one of us, no matter where you're at and your 727 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,920 maturity with the Lord, we all need to continue to have a 728 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,960 teachable spirit. We all need to be relying on 729 00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:24,080 brothers and sisters in the body that we can learn from. 730 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:25,720 You never should think you've arrived. 731 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,160 So would that describe you? Would you say this morning you 732 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:35,360 have a teachable spirit? Friends, we cultivate A 733 00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:39,200 passionate pursuit of God by wrestling with Him in prayer. 734 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,560 But once we've wrestled with him, brought our request to him 735 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:48,520 in this life, sometimes all that we're left to do is wait. 736 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,640 Is wait. That's our last point point #4 737 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:58,040 wait for God, wait for God. Verses 13 and 14. 738 00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:04,040 David's passionate pursuit of God leads him to this final 739 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,320 triumphant statement in verse 13. 740 00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:11,880 Look down at verse 13. I believe that I shall look upon 741 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,880 the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 742 00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:21,080 What preserves David's life through his trials, through his 743 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:25,080 fears in the midst of his enemies, is this one great 744 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:28,680 vision that he's going to see God's goodness in the land of 745 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:33,000 the living. Now maybe where David's at, 746 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:36,840 right here on earth, he might be first referring to the fact that 747 00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:39,880 God's going to deliver him. He's going to see God's goodness 748 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,240 in the land of the living and that God is going to prove his 749 00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:44,240 goodness to him. David's going to make it out of 750 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:46,840 this situation that he's in, and he's going to actually be alive. 751 00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,360 He's going to live through this. And I think that's partly true, 752 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:55,240 but I think ultimately David here is hungering and longing 753 00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:59,680 for heaven. David starts the Psalm in verses 754 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,320 one to three by clinging to God's character in this life, 755 00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:07,200 and he finishes the Psalm here by banking on God's character in 756 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:10,400 the next life. Again, this is language of the 757 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,480 beatific vision. In verse 4 David wants to gaze 758 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,840 upon God's beauty. In verse 8 David wants to see 759 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:24,040 God's face, and now he wants to look upon God's goodness. 3 760 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:26,680 images that I think are all saying the same thing. 761 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:32,800 One great and passionate desire to see God again. 762 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,880 What does David mean here by I'm going to see God's goodness. 763 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,720 You can't see goodness like you see, like you see that 764 00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:41,720 basketball goal or like you see a building. 765 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:45,360 You can't see goodness pass by you like you see a rabbit 766 00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:48,200 hopping through your backyard. So what does he mean by this? 767 00:47:49,240 --> 00:47:52,720 Well, I think if we circle back to Exodus 33 for a minute, I 768 00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:54,560 think this will help us flesh this out more. 769 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:58,320 And I think that David may have this passage in mind here. 770 00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:05,120 He's reflecting on in Exodus 33, Moses asked God to show him his 771 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,880 glory. What's God's response? 772 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:14,960 He says I will make all my goodness pass before you and 773 00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:17,800 will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. 774 00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:22,600 But God says you can't see my face and live, so I'm going to 775 00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:24,000 protect you. I'm going to put you in the 776 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,560 clutch of the rock, and I'm going to put my protective hand 777 00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:28,880 over you, and you're going to see the backside of my glory. 778 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:33,160 You're not going to see it in full, friends, but I think what 779 00:48:33,240 --> 00:48:36,320 David longs to see here, or excuse me, what Moses saw in 780 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:39,040 part, David longs to see here in full. 781 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,520 He knows he's going to see the fullness of the glory of God. 782 00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:46,080 He's going to see God's goodness because it is who God is. 783 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,080 God does not have goodness outside of himself that he 784 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:52,080 latches onto, or justice or mercy or love. 785 00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:56,280 No, God is in himself good. You can see God's goodness 786 00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:59,440 because it is the very being of God. 787 00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:02,280 Well, how do you prepare for that day? 788 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:05,880 You remind yourself of God's goodness now. 789 00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:09,520 Cultivate a grateful spirit, Cling to God's character. 790 00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:14,960 Passionately pursue God today. It's not like when you're 791 00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,120 preparing for a big meal at night or something. 792 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:19,160 You may not eat as much during the day. 793 00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:24,640 I did this once years ago. I was prepping my stomach to eat 794 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,280 the Tomahawk steak at the Angus Barn. 795 00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:30,360 It's 44 oz. I tried it once and I failed and 796 00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:32,480 I told Michelle I'm I'm going back and I'm finishing that 797 00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:34,000 thing. I had too many appetizers before 798 00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:37,600 and so I prepped all day. I didn't eat that much and I 799 00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,400 finished the whole thing 44 oz. I got to take home the big bone. 800 00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:44,680 It's massive. And yeah, pursuing heaven, 801 00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:46,120 pursuing God is the opposite of that. 802 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:51,640 You fill up on God now as much as you possibly can and let God 803 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:55,200 let that whet your appetite in this life because you know 804 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:58,560 that'll increase your longing to feast on him in heaven. 805 00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:02,720 Well, here's an overview of our pastors. 806 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:04,680 David has renewed his confidence in God. 807 00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:07,880 He's pursued God, he's wrestled with God's face. 808 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:14,120 And now in verse 14, he turns towards Israel and he gives them 809 00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:20,920 one command. Wait, wait, look at verse 14. 810 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:26,320 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart 811 00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:29,280 take courage. Wait for the Lord. 812 00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:34,960 Friends, most of the Christian life is waiting, but it's it's a 813 00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,160 joyful waiting. It's an expectant waiting. 814 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:40,480 It'd be like if today you got tickets to the Super Bowl, but 815 00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:42,880 there's no date on it. You'd be so excited. 816 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:46,120 You'd be longer for that day. You'd be joyfully waiting. 817 00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:49,720 And notice how active this waiting is in verse 14. 818 00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:53,720 Wait, be strong. Let your heart take courage. 819 00:50:54,720 --> 00:50:57,560 Sometimes I think we can be tempted to think that waiting 820 00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:00,640 for the Christian is just like, well, there's not much else I 821 00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:02,320 can do. I'll just kick my feet up on the 822 00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,440 couch and I'll just, I'll just wait. 823 00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:09,240 That's not what the Bible ever means by wait on the Lord. 824 00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:12,320 You wait by filling up on God's promises. 825 00:51:12,720 --> 00:51:15,640 You wait by pursuing God now with passion. 826 00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:18,240 You wait by reminding yourself of God's character. 827 00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:20,960 You wait with your church family. 828 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:24,160 Remember that David is addressing all worshippers here. 829 00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:27,320 He turns towards the crowd. Anyone that's going to read or 830 00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:30,960 hear this Psalm, he turns towards you, TBC, and he says, 831 00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:34,240 wait on the Lord. I think by God's grace, we've 832 00:51:34,240 --> 00:51:37,760 been doing a great job of this. We're discipling one another. 833 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:40,360 We're prioritizing the Lord's Day gathering. 834 00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:42,760 We're helping to bear each other's burdens. 835 00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:46,920 We're singing a lot of songs about heaven or marching 836 00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:49,480 together towards the King's city. 837 00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:57,040 In the early church there was a man going through something 838 00:51:57,040 --> 00:52:00,360 similar. As David was here, he was living 839 00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:04,000 for Christ. He was preaching the gospel and 840 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,040 his enemies hated him. His name was Stephen. 841 00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:14,520 In Acts 7, Stephen preaches a bold sermon to the Jewish 842 00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,120 leaders. His passion for the gospel of 843 00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:19,120 Jesus Christ was too much for them, it says. 844 00:52:19,120 --> 00:52:24,120 They were enraged and they ground their teeth at him as 845 00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:26,400 they were picking up stones to stone him. 846 00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:34,880 It says that Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God 847 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,520 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 848 00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:44,160 And he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man 849 00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:46,400 standing at the right hand of God. 850 00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:52,320 Even in his darkest moment, Stephen knew he would see God's 851 00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:56,560 glory. Even as he's being murdered, 852 00:52:57,400 --> 00:53:04,000 Stephen is captivated by heaven. Brothers and sisters, you may 853 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:06,600 never be surrounded by a literal army. 854 00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:11,320 You may never have people prepared to stone you for your 855 00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:15,120 faith like Stephen, but you will face opposition for following 856 00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:17,400 Jesus. The burdens of life will 857 00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:20,320 overwhelm you. At times it may feel like you're 858 00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:23,680 walking around blindfold just looking for the Grand Canyon. 859 00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:27,840 And yet one day soon, God, when you see Him in glory, is going 860 00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:30,320 to remove the veil from your face, and you're going to see 861 00:53:30,320 --> 00:53:33,120 Him in His fullness, and you will be satisfied. 862 00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:35,000 All your suffering will be worth it. 863 00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:38,320 All your longings and desires will be fulfilled. 864 00:53:38,560 --> 00:53:43,320 So pursue Him today by faith. And one day soon God will turn 865 00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:46,760 your faith into sight. Let's pray. 866 00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:55,640 Heavenly Father, we cling to your promises that we will see 867 00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:57,280 your goodness in the land of the living. 868 00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:02,880 Comfort us with that truth. Help us to pursue you hard by 869 00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:05,760 faith. Renew our longings to see Christ 870 00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:07,960 face to face. Father, what a glorious and 871 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:10,360 great God you are. We know you will answer these 872 00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:17,560 prayers in Jesus name, Amen. Friends, our last hymn is Behold 873 00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:19,440 our God on the last page of your bulletin. 874 00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:23,080 We're going to behold Him now by faith, as we sing. 875 00:54:23,120 --> 00:54:23,960 Would you please stand?