1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,800 All right, well, welcome back. If you're watching online this 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,800 morning, welcome to you, especially when you're watching 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,520 with this live right now, 1116 or in days to come. 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,800 We want to invite you to come be with us in person at 115 E of 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,280 Main Street, right here in the heart of Gaylord. 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,240 This is your invitation. Hope to see you sometime soon. 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,880 All right, and those of you in the room, there are notes on the 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:25,760 back table. If you want to grab those either 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,600 to track with me while I'm teaching or to take them home 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,760 and have them for devotions for the days to come. 11 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:33,720 Feel free. They're on the back table. 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,360 If you have your Bible, please take and turn to Psalm chapter 13 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,800 13. I'm actually starting in the 14 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,800 Psalms this week, which I'll tell you more about in the 15 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,040 moments to come. So this, it's probably about 30% 16 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,680 into your Bible, depending on what you have at the back of 17 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,200 your Bible with maps and concordances and other things. 18 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,720 Psalm chapter 13, Psalms 150 chapters long. 19 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,040 So it's quite easy to find in your Bible after well after 20 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,200 before Proverbs. So I'll find it there. 21 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,080 And I'm going to be reading from Psalm chapter 13. 22 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,680 This is a song of David and I'll start in verse one and read all 23 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,320 the way through to verse 6. This is the word of God. 24 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:19,480 David writes how long, O Lord? And that's one question he asked 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,120 the second question. His first question is, How long, 26 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,840 O Lord, will you forget me forever? 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,920 How long will you hide your face from me? 28 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:35,280 And how long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,720 heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be 30 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,440 exalted over me? Consider and answer me, Lord my 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:51,480 God, and light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest 32 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,840 my enemy say I have prevailed over him, lest my foes rejoice 33 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:01,760 because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your 34 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,360 steadfast love, and my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 35 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:13,640 And I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully 36 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,600 with me. This morning I want to talk to 37 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:22,120 you about songs of grief. Songs of grief. 38 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:28,720 Let me pray for us, God. I'm grateful for the wealth and 39 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,440 the diversity of emotions that are expressed throughout the 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,280 Psalms. And in these weeks where we're 41 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:41,040 looking at just vast different emotions and confessions in the 42 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,160 Psalms, we pray that you would grow our love for your Word, a 43 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,960 greater understanding of Your Word and greater adoration for 44 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:52,040 Your Word as we open our minds and our hearts and our lives to 45 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,120 your direction, to us as you speak to us through the Psalms 46 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,920 and other parts of Scripture. Speak to us this morning as we 47 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,280 look to the songs of grief, we pray. 48 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:06,040 And Jesus name and everyone loudly together said, Amen. 49 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,720 If you've been out for a few weeks, we're doing a series. 50 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,680 I don't often do long series, but whatever so often I'll do on 51 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,440 it. And so this past summer, I felt 52 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,680 led to do a series of fall in the Psalms. 53 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,400 And I'm loving hearing back from some of you that are reading and 54 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,240 listening to the Psalms more often maybe than you have in 55 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,960 years past. And I think as a church, this is 56 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,280 a really great moment for us to to grow and how the Psalms are 57 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,320 connected to the New Testament and how they're connected to the 58 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,360 Old Testament. So this morning, particularly, I 59 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,440 want to kind of navigate through Scripture starting in the 60 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,880 Psalms. And I want to show you how this 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:45,840 Psalm is connected to this story in Exodus. 62 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,240 And, and this Psalm is connected to a Psalm in Lamentations and 63 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,520 then eventually even in the New Testament, how they're all just 64 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,240 a beautiful tapestry of connectedness throughout 65 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,400 Scripture and hopefully it will grow within you even more. 66 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,440 Again, admiration for God's word. 67 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,680 And I must say, at 55 years old, soon to be 56, I still go to 68 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:10,960 God's words, seeing new depth and new things spoken to me. 69 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,680 And in lifelong, we get to dig in and see again the tapestry 70 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,640 and how things are connected. And, and so this morning I have 71 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,839 great delight in getting to bring you this truth. 72 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,720 And I want you to know that I, that I, I get excited as I'm, 73 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,480 we're working each week to put the Psalms in a way where 74 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,280 hopefully you're growing again in your appreciation for them 75 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,000 and how they flow throughout scriptures. 76 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,920 So we started the first week. If you missed it, we go back 77 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,680 into wherever you podcast or you can find YouTube or Facebook. 78 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,960 Lots of ways to get the messages now and you'll see the first 79 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,480 week. I just introduced the idea that 80 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,640 the Psalms are a playlist. They're the OG, they're the 81 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,880 original playlist put together by God, by the Holy Spirit. 82 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,560 And these are songs that are written over a 1500 year period 83 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,320 of time. Moses has songs in the Psalms. 84 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,080 They are songs. And of course, David, hundreds 85 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,120 of years later, and then even hundreds of years after David is 86 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,640 king, you'll find that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, the 87 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,600 days of Nehemiah and Esther, that era of followers of God 88 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,080 around 550 years before Jesus, there are songs even from that 89 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,600 period, right? And so maybe in your playlist 90 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,840 that you make, maybe you have some songs from the 50s and 91 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:27,240 maybe the songs that are recent, you put them all in one 92 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,120 playlist. And it's your expression what 93 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,680 God does this. And now we have this playlist in 94 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:35,560 the Psalms that we can go and glean from. 95 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,400 So I introduce you just to the idea of what the Psalms are. 96 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,000 And then the second week I talked to you about the 97 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,160 essential Psalms, the songs that are the most popular. 98 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,160 Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd. 99 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,440 I shall not want. I went through the ones that are 100 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,880 renowned and more familiar. And then we looked one week at 101 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,960 the Psalms to talk about who God is. 102 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,840 If you want to grow in your understanding of the attributes 103 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:02,160 of God and the character of God, the Psalms are full of 104 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,840 discussing this is what God is like, right? 105 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,280 And then we looked at psalms of repentance, particularly Psalm 106 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:14,040 51 where David is. He is addressed by Nathan the 107 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,760 prophet about his sin with Bathsheba. 108 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,680 And David comes to the point where he's saying things to the 109 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:24,000 Lord like God created me a clean heart and renew a right spirit 110 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,120 within me. There are times in our life 111 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,320 where, yes, prayers of repentance that are found in the 112 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,080 Psalms are helpful in our own repentance, the discipline of 113 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,520 repentance and growing in the ways of God. 114 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:38,400 Then finally, last week we looked at suffering and sorrow, 115 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:43,480 but particularly in the context of of like faith in God and 116 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,320 being tormented or suffering because of our faith in God, 117 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:49,360 because of our faithfulness to God. 118 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:54,120 So Peter writes to modern, well, at least in that era, he writes 119 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,000 to these Christians in what is now modern day Turkey, and 120 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,920 they're being tormented, persecuted because of their 121 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,360 faith in Jesus. And Peter quotes Psalms from the 122 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,600 Old Testament to encourage them. OK, so we looked at those types 123 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,320 of suffering moments when it's because we're standing up for 124 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,600 righteousness. The world according to the first 125 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,600 Peter, remember, he said they're going to call you the evil 126 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,160 doers. They're going to call you the 127 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,160 haters. And certainly in this era with 128 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,120 Christians, often when we stand up for our faith, we are going 129 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,240 to be called haters and evil doers for standing up for 130 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,080 righteousness. Now this week, the Psalms that 131 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,320 we're going to look at this week, they're different. 132 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,120 They're not just sorrow, but their their grief and their 133 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,960 grief because of great loss. David had sorrow for his sin. 134 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,280 That was one of Psalm 51. And then again, sorrow for being 135 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,680 persecuted. But what about the times where 136 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,920 we go through something that is devastating and we reach the 137 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:55,280 type of grief where it's physically painful? 138 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,840 You could be so sad and, and, and I have been, there have been 139 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,440 moments and times in my life where I even in my adult life 140 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,760 where I was so sad and so broken and so in despair and grief that 141 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,240 it physically hurt. And I would cry and cry and 142 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,560 moan. Maybe you've been in a place 143 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,840 like that, the Psalms that like the one that we just read, they 144 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,280 give voice to those moments, those emotions. 145 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,040 And I'm going to show you that it's really important as we 146 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,360 follow God to give voice to these emotions. 147 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,520 And maybe you have grown up in a Christian tradition where you 148 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,559 weren't aware that God welcomes those expressions and those 149 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,760 emotions and the honesty that we find in some of the Psalms. 150 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,200 Maybe you came from a Christian tradition where you thought you 151 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:45,320 always had to put on happiness and joy, not understanding that 152 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,880 joy is an ongoing state of mind. But we can have joy. 153 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,680 We can coexist in the midst of sorrow and sadness. 154 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,440 The type of joy that we received from God, It's ongoing. 155 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:01,280 It's not just a shallow emotion, but it can coexist with grief 156 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,080 and sorrow, the type of joy that we find in God. 157 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,920 So there are, if you know anything about music, you'll 158 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,160 know that a minor chord has a certain sound to it, right? 159 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,640 You flatten the third and it minor chords their their 160 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,360 dissidents. And when you hear a minor chord 161 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,440 in music, it gives voice to angst and sorrow. 162 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,120 These Psalms, some of the ones that we're going to look at 163 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,880 today and the other psalms of grief in the Psalms, they are 164 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:33,440 minor, often in their tone, their dissidents when they 165 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,160 express the sorrow that they are going through. 166 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,560 So let me unpack Psalm 13 for you and just kind of show you 167 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,040 the flow that is common with the psalms of grief. 168 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,800 There's a typical flow, and most of them have this flow to them. 169 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,200 Watch what the flow looks like. First of all, the psalmist has 170 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,160 questions for God, and maybe you didn't know that it's OK to 171 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,040 question God. God welcomes it and He gives it 172 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,840 to us as a model. In this occasion when David is 173 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,440 saying God, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? 174 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,080 Now it's important to understand, has God forgotten 175 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:08,680 David? No. 176 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,480 But does David feel forgotten? Yes. 177 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,240 Does he feel alone? Yes. 178 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,640 And he's voicing his feelings, his emotions to God. 179 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,840 God's going to honor his faith if it's going to come after 180 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,840 these verses, but he starts here and you'll find that it's OK to 181 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,600 question God to God. God welcomes it. 182 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,760 It's a model again. So how long? 183 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,840 Oh God, He starts with that and he references the face of God. 184 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,840 He says, how long will you hide your face from me? 185 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:41,400 We know throughout Scripture that the face of God represents 186 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,760 the attention of God. And This is why at the end of 187 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,280 our services, when I say, may the Lord bless you and keep you, 188 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,080 and may He turn his face towards you. 189 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,120 In other words, it's a prayer to say over you. 190 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,440 May you sense God's attention and presence in your life. 191 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,640 The face of God represents attention. 192 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:00,880 A lot of times we're their children. 193 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:02,440 We want them to turn their face to us. 194 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,080 Our children want to turn our face to them. 195 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,960 It's representing our attention. David feels like he's lost the 196 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,320 attention of God. He hasn't. 197 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:14,640 I'll look in the next few weeks into Psalms that have 198 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,320 questionable doctrine or theology, and you might read and 199 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,560 go, wow, is that like New Testament? 200 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:21,080 Does it match up with our New Testament faith? 201 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,880 I've got some examples for you, but this is a moment where 202 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:25,800 again, David has not been abandoned. 203 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:30,520 God has not left him alone, but he feels it and I'm expressing 204 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,600 it to God. God honors in verse 2, He says, 205 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,600 how long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my 206 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,960 heart all day? If you've had sorrow in your 207 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:42,600 life before, you might even question God. 208 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:44,840 God, how long is this sorrow going to last? 209 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:46,960 How long is this grief and despair? 210 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,240 How long am I going to be in it? That's this question for God. 211 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:52,960 He's expressing it now. Watch what happens. 212 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,840 And this is common. You can just Google songs of 213 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,200 grief and the Psalms and you can find many, OK? 214 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,960 Some scholars think as many as a third of the Psalms are sad, at 215 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,440 least, at least sad. And so if not grief, OK, some of 216 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,720 them are expressing sorrow over sin, against sorrow over being 217 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,840 persecuted. Some are songs of grief. 218 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,160 And this is the typical flow for them. 219 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,200 So he's expressing his sorrow to God. 220 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,560 But then watch what he does. He switches his flow and he says 221 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,160 now he's bringing petitions to God. 222 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,240 And he says, consider and answer me, Oh Lord my God, light up my 223 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,760 eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say I have 224 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,440 prevailed over him, lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 225 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:40,240 Here he brings petition after being honest with God about 226 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,960 feeling left and alone. He's honest and God is going to 227 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:46,960 honor his prayer. But then watch what happens. 228 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:48,720 And again, this is the typical flow. 229 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,280 He doesn't stay in his place of sorrow. 230 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:55,760 The song is going to live at the end with a confession of faith. 231 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:02,360 He says, verse 5, but I have trusted in your steadfast love, 232 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,400 and my heart shall shall his future tense. 233 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,040 My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 234 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,160 In other words, God, I, I, I know that you're bringing 235 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,080 salvation. It's a confession that God is 236 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,760 going to deliver and save him from his sorrow. 237 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,680 And then he says, I will future tense sing to the Lord because 238 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:24,040 he is dealt bountifully with me. Watch how it switches in tone 239 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,720 and only 6 verses at first he's like, God, you've abandoned me, 240 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,200 I'm alone, where are you God, I don't sense you at all. 241 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:35,040 Then by verse 6 he's like you have steadfast love and God, you 242 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,920 have dealt bountifully with me. In other words, God, you've been 243 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,240 good to me. So he lifts himself out of this 244 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,720 place of sorrow in these verses. And again, this is the typical 245 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,040 flow in the Psalms when the psalmist confess their sorrow 246 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:56,240 and their grief, they get to a place of confession of faith and 247 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,560 watch this. We are encouraged to interact 248 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:03,840 with God this way. Maybe you didn't know that you 249 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,960 can go to God and say, God, I feel far from you. 250 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,120 I feel empty God. I don't know if you're even 251 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,320 seeing me many occasions in the Psalms. 252 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,560 This is the way the psalmist interact with God and we are 253 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:21,080 encouraged to do the same. So the question is, when was the 254 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,360 last time you were honest with God, right. 255 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,480 You might think you have to put on like a like just a show of 256 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,440 faith and everything's great, everything's great. 257 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,600 But but again, this is giving us the model. 258 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,800 You can go to God and say, God, I have doubt, I have sorrow. 259 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,800 I feel distant from you. Where are you God? 260 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,840 And from that place, the honesty before God, God will lift us out 261 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,080 of our sorrow when we come to him. 262 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,960 And that way. Now, in a way, this song is a 263 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,600 lament. And in a lament, at least in our 264 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,520 context, a lament in simplicity is just a sad song. 265 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,760 But for us, I want to look at it as a song from people who love 266 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,680 God but are navigating through the grief that life brings. 267 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,640 So the Psalm here is a lament. And maybe you know that there is 268 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,920 actually a book in the Old Testament after Jeremiah, 269 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,160 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations. There's an entire book that is a 270 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,960 lament, and we believe it's written by Jeremiah. 271 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,920 And Jeremiah is just going on and on and on about his sorrow 272 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,880 over the city of Jerusalem that has been destroyed. 273 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,120 The people are starving. Terrible, terrible, terrible 274 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,280 things are happening. And in the midst of these great 275 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,720 tragedies, the grief and sorrow, he gets voice to it. 276 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,800 And it's in the Bible for us to read, right? 277 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,440 But watch what happens in the middle of Lamentations. 278 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,240 He's going on and on and on. He's writing Lamentations, you 279 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,560 know, roughly 550 years or so before Jesus is going to be born 280 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,520 in Bethlehem. And he says in Lamentations 317 281 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:57,480 through 22, watch he takes a turn, and his turn is going to 282 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,440 lift him out of his sorrow. He's admits my soul is bereft of 283 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,080 peace. I have forgotten what happiness 284 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,760 is. So I say my endurance has 285 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,400 perished, so has my hope from the Lord. 286 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,040 He's saying hope is dead, it's perished. 287 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:16,800 I love it. Tim Keller, who has since passed 288 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,000 away the last couple years, but a wonderful pastor, teacher, 289 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,040 writer, he said this of lamenting. 290 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,360 He said we need to learn the language of lament. 291 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,040 Until we learn how to lament, we will never truly learn how to 292 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,040 praise because your praise might end up just being fake. 293 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:37,400 If all you do is come to God and pretend or fake joy and 294 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,800 happiness when it's eluded you and you're actually full of 295 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,760 sorrow, then your praise will not be as meaningful when we're 296 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,120 not honest before God, when we're full of sorrow and talking 297 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,840 to God in the midst of our sorrow again is honorable. 298 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,720 So Jeremiah goes on in verse 19, he says, remember my affliction 299 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:56,120 watch. He's following the pattern that 300 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,720 we saw in Psalms. He admits that he's bereft of 301 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,240 peace, that he is like hope is dead. 302 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,200 But then he moves on to petitioning God. 303 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:05,760 It's the same flow that we found in Psalms. 304 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,440 Remember my affliction of my wondering is the Wormwood and 305 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,119 the gall. My soul continually remembers it 306 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:16,240 and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and 307 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,079 therefore I have hope. He says my hope is dead, but oh, 308 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:21,960 I want to renew my hope. So what does he do? 309 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,079 He says I call to mine. The steadfast love of the Lord 310 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:28,600 never ceases. His mercy has never come to an 311 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,640 end. They are new every morning. 312 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:35,600 Great is your faithfulness in the midst of his sorrow. 313 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,720 He admits his sorrow. Then he makes his confession. 314 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,360 Now the New Testament, I've showed you each week that the 315 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:44,200 New Testament quotes the Psalms often, right? 316 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,280 And now here's an occasion where the Old Testament, Jeremiah is 317 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,560 quoting the Psalms even in the Old Testament. 318 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,080 I want you to see they're all connected. 319 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:53,600 The New Testament is quoting in the Psalms. 320 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,400 Jeremiah is quoting the Psalms in Lamentations because watch in 321 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:01,200 Psalm 13 five, the passage there says, but I've trusted in your 322 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,680 steadfast love, and my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 323 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:10,440 Jeremiah is quoting about the steadfast love of the Lord from 324 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,840 Psalm 13 five. He's modeling what God had set 325 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,920 up for him. Limitations 324 Then it goes on. 326 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,240 He says the Lord listen, he's lifting himself out of his 327 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,320 sorrow. The Lord is my portion says my 328 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,600 soul. Therefore I will hope in him. 329 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,760 Here he's quoting from Psalm 16, five that says the Lord is my 330 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:34,720 chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot when it says the 331 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,080 Lord is my portion. In other words, like the Lord is 332 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,720 all that I need. He, he gives me the food I need. 333 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,960 He gives me the whatever, whatever I need, God is bringing 334 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:49,040 to me, He is my portion, right. So Lamentations, Jeremiah is 335 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,680 quoting from the Psalms limitation 325 through 26 says 336 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,000 the Lord is good to those who wait for him, the soul who seeks 337 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,440 him. It is good that one should wait 338 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,720 quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 339 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:07,320 Now, I want you to see that when the Psalms are being honest in 340 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,960 this way, I want you to understand that they're not just 341 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,440 going to the Lord and grumbling or complaining, because that's 342 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,840 not what God is encouraging. He's encouraging honesty. 343 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,080 But how does that look different than complaining? 344 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,520 And it's just murmuring, right? Well, I'm going to show you. 345 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,800 So here's a story because we're instructed in Philippians 346 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,720 chapter 214. Do all things without grumbling 347 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,520 or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children 348 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,360 of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted 349 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:37,080 generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. 350 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,600 So if we're encouraged not to grumble or complain, then what's 351 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,040 the difference between grumbling before God or being honest 352 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,080 before God? Well, I want to try to unpack it 353 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:48,840 for you. CS Lewis says this. 354 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,680 He says we must lay before him what is in US and not what ought 355 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,240 to be in US. This is valuable to know, OK? 356 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:00,720 When you go to God, you're like, God, this is me right now. 357 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,000 This is what's in me. It's not what should be in me 358 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,400 necessarily, but God. This is where I am. 359 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,680 And the Psalms of grief model this type of honesty with God. 360 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,720 But what makes what differentiates honesty with God 361 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,320 from grumbling and complaining? I want to show you. 362 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:22,040 God is going to deal with the children of Israel in Exodus 363 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,680 chapter 17, one through 7. Now, if you remember the 364 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,000 children of Israel and Exodus, Exodus is early in the Bible, 365 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,800 after Genesis. If you're new to the Bible, 366 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,160 you'll remember Moses and the Prince of Egypt and those other 367 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,720 stories, the 10 commandments. So Moses goes to the Pharaoh in 368 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,400 Egypt where there are Jewish Israel, Israelites, slaves, OK, 369 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,040 they've been enslaved for hundreds of years. 370 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,120 And God tells Moses to go tell the Pharaoh, let my people go. 371 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,360 And the Pharaoh says, no, remember, like Pharaoh, Pharaoh, 372 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:56,480 oh, let my people go, right? So that's a story. 373 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,400 And so Pharaoh says no. But then there are these plagues 374 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:00,680 after, you know, plague after plague. 375 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,920 And eventually the Pharaoh has experienced enough tragedy 376 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,760 because of God to find and say, OK, you may leave, right? 377 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,120 So they leave out of Egypt from slavery and they cross over the 378 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,280 Red Sea and got this miracle after miracle after miracle, 379 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,000 right? He shows up in their life. 380 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,680 But what do they do? They're like they're complainers 381 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,520 and they just murmur and watch what they do. 382 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,680 This is a story in Exodus 17, one through 7. 383 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,960 It says all the congregation of the people of Israel moved on 384 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,400 from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the 385 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,840 commandment of the Lord, and they camped at refitum, but 386 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,960 there was no water for the people to drink. 387 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:43,320 Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses and said, Give us 388 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,600 water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do 389 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,080 you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? 390 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,480 Now you might think that their problem was thirst because they 391 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,600 didn't have water, but really their problem was trust. 392 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,320 They did not learn to trust in God. 393 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,040 So instead of them going to God and petitioning God to move in 394 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,080 their lives and to bring them water, instead they go and they 395 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,120 murmur and complain amongst each other. 396 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,080 And then they murmur and complain to Moses who was their 397 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,400 leader. But they don't go to God. 398 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,680 They're just complaining. Watch verse 3. 399 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,120 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people 400 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:22,440 grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of 401 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,200 Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with 402 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,720 thirst? Now consider this. 403 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,440 They don't pray to God in honesty. 404 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,400 They grumble against Moses. And this is a big principle. 405 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,600 How often do we grumble and complain instead of praying to 406 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,440 God? And like lamentations, do we 407 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,120 speak of the steadfast love of the Lord even in the midst of 408 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:46,800 struggle? No, they're not doing this. 409 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,160 So the model here is watch, you could go to God and say, God, 410 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,720 I'm tired, my hope is dead. We're not encouraged to go to 411 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,600 each other. Now, yes, there's a level of 412 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:57,800 honesty, yes, with other believers. 413 00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,600 But when it gets to the point where they're grumbling and just 414 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,080 complaining, God has abandoned us. 415 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,200 We need water. Things are terrible. 416 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,480 Oh, what was me? What was me? 417 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,680 What was me? They're not going to God with 418 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,720 their sorrow. Instead, they're just 419 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,520 complaining and living in it. So verse 4. 420 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,680 So Moses cried to the Lord. Moses cries to the Lord. 421 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,080 They're not crying out to the Lord, they're murmuring to each 422 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,600 other and complaining to him. But Moses goes to the Lord and 423 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,000 he says, what shall I do with this people? 424 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,880 They are almost ready to stone me. 425 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,440 And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking 426 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,240 with you some of the elders of Israel, and taking your hand to 427 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,080 staff with which you struck the Nile. 428 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,400 The Nile was a river that had turned to blood. 429 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,040 And go, and behold, I will stand before you there on the rocket 430 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,520 horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out 431 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,160 of it, and the people will drink. 432 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,240 And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 433 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,600 And he called on the name of the he called the name of the place 434 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,480 Massa or Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of 435 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,320 Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord 436 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,200 among us or not? Now they're asking kind of the 437 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,920 same question. David's asking God, where are 438 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:07,840 you? There's like, is the Lord with 439 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,040 us or not? But watch, see the difference 440 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,560 here? They're not asking God, They're 441 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,080 asking each other in a complaining, quarreling way. 442 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,360 It's better to go to God and say, God, where are you? 443 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:22,840 I don't sense you, God, where are you? 444 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,000 And then to follow the model of these psalms, where then they 445 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,160 make petition to God and they make a confession about the 446 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,680 goodness of God. The people who are not following 447 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,280 God well in the story, they're just complaining to each other. 448 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,640 They haven't gone to God, but Moses does. 449 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,000 And watching what's going to happen is God is going to do a 450 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,600 miracle. And when he does, it's going to 451 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,360 give a picture of Jesus. How does Jesus respond to these 452 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,240 complaining, murmuring people? Well, God is going to do a 453 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:50,400 miracle. He's gracious to them. 454 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:52,360 He's going to bring water out of a rock. 455 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,600 And the rock, of course, is a representation of Jesus. 456 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,400 Jesus is going to be called the rock in the New Testament, and 457 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,360 Jesus is going to be called living water. 458 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,560 So in the midst of their complaining, God is going to 459 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,360 respond beautifully to them. But they're not following the 460 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:08,000 model that we get in the songs of grief. 461 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,200 They're just complaining to each other. 462 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,480 And how many Christians do you know that just complain and 463 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,560 bellyache and complain and bellyache? 464 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,520 And sometimes it's like, have you gone to God about this or 465 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:21,800 you just go to your friends about it? 466 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,440 You just go and just just all things are terrible, terrible, 467 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:26,760 terrible. Where's the Lord in this? 468 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,120 Right? But they haven't gone to God 469 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,000 about it. That's the model that the songs 470 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,120 of grief give to us. God is gracious to provide water 471 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,720 for them, but it's not a fault. It's not a model for us to 472 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,400 follow. Watch we see how Jesus shows up 473 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,920 in this picture in this moment, John 410 through 14 Jesus just 474 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,760 verse 10. Jesus answered her being the 475 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,240 woman at the well in Samaria who was far from God and confused 476 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,280 and watch. He says if you knew the gift of 477 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,360 God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink, you 478 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,280 would have asked him and he would have given you living 479 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,920 water. Jesus is a picture of living 480 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,760 water and watch it's coming from now. 481 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,360 I want you to see how this is connected. 482 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,440 Exodus has a story. They need water. 483 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,840 Moses delivers the water as he strikes the rock that is Jesus 484 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:13,600 living water comes out. That's Jesus. 485 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,760 OK now forward in history. The Psalms are going to connect 486 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:22,160 the idea of living water from Exodus Psalm 63 verse one. 487 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,760 Oh God, you are my God earnestly I seek you, my soul thirst for 488 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:33,480 you, my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land, for 489 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,040 there is no water. It's it's nodding back at the 490 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,720 story of Moses and the children of Israel hundreds of years 491 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,840 later. And then from there we're going 492 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,920 to see in the New Testament that Jesus is connected to this idea. 493 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:48,040 So they're murmuring and they're complaining, but they're not 494 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,560 going to God. That is the our discipline 495 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,480 should be going to God. When we have hope that it's 496 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,280 failing, when we're physically thirsty, we can remember that 497 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:00,920 our souls are made to thirst for the Lord. 498 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,200 This is the point of fasting. When we fast and we get hungry 499 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,200 and thirsty, it's a picture of us hungering and thirsting for 500 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,680 God. The songs of grief can remind us 501 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,560 of our ultimate need for God in this fallen world. 502 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:21,880 Now Jesus is going to utilize songs of grief in the New 503 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:23,600 Testament. The last couple weeks I've been 504 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:25,360 starting the New Testament going backwards, but this week I'm 505 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:26,600 going to end in the New Testament. 506 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:31,840 Jesus himself uses these psalms of grief when he's on the cross. 507 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,240 Psalm 22 verses one through 2. This is where Jesus is going to 508 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,040 quote. He says, this psalmist says, my 509 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,560 God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 510 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,680 Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my 511 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,400 groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you 512 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,040 do not answer, and by night but I find no rest. 513 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,040 Can you believe this is in the Bible, right? 514 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,920 This is in the Bible. This is how honest God wants us 515 00:27:57,920 --> 00:27:59,880 to be with Him in this place of sorrow. 516 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,080 Another occasion. Psalm 2219 it says, but watch 517 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,200 it's going to he's going to lift. 518 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,400 It's going to follow this pattern of you admit you're 519 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,800 honest before God. God, I'm full of sorrow. 520 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:12,680 I'm full of grief. But then by verse 19, they get 521 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:13,920 to the point where the Psalm is the same. 522 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,320 But you, O Lord, do not be far off. 523 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,080 It's a petition. O my help come quickly to my 524 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,480 aid. OK, next week I'm going to talk 525 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,240 about Psalms with some questionable theology again. 526 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,080 We'll look to those in their moments again where they're 527 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,920 looking like David. It's like, is God far from 528 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,520 David? No, but he feels that way and 529 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:37,080 God's OK with him admitting it. So in the New Testament, Jesus 530 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,640 is going to lean back to these passages. 531 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:44,240 In Matthew 27, Jesus is on the cross and he's experiencing 532 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:48,600 grief and agony and pain because He's paying for our sin. 533 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,520 We spelled celebrated communion this morning to remind ourselves 534 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,000 of the blood that was spilled and His body that was broken for 535 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,160 us. We're remembering what Jesus did 536 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,400 when Jesus was in the state. Verse 45 of Matthew 27 he quotes 537 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,920 these Psalms. Now from the 6th hour there was 538 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,680 darkness over all the land until the 9th hour and about the 9th 539 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,800 hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli, Eli Lima 540 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:19,120 Sabakhthani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 541 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,600 Jesus feels distant from God in this moment, from the Father. 542 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,520 If he feels it, then they're going to be moments where we 543 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,280 feel it. But these psalms give us a place 544 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,440 to confess the sorrow and then to petition God and to get to a 545 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,080 point where we stir ourselves back to faith. 546 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:46,440 That is the flow God invites us into utilizing these psalms in 547 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,200 this way. So my question for you is when 548 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,600 is the last time you got before God and you got honest about 549 00:29:54,600 --> 00:30:00,320 your disappointment about where you feel far from Him, about 550 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,960 your confusion. Maybe there were moments you 551 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,880 were looking for God to move in a certain way and he didn't and 552 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,280 you don't understand why and you getting before God and simply 553 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,200 saying God, I'm confused. I don't understand. 554 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,320 I remember there was a season in my life where I was praying for 555 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:19,080 something that was really had caused a lot of grief in my 556 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,200 life. And I got to a point where I 557 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,640 would pray, I would say, God, this would be nothing for you 558 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,240 God, I'm asking you to move in this way and I know it would be 559 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,360 nothing. This would be so easy for you 560 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,360 God. Why, why, why? 561 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,280 And that honestly before God was beneficial in my journey to 562 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,080 growing closer to Him. Because when we deny our sorrow, 563 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,840 when we deny our grief, it actually distances us more from 564 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:47,960 God. Instead of drawing close, we are 565 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,280 honest, then we petition God, and then we lead ourselves to a 566 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,040 place where we make confessions about the steadfast love of the 567 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,280 Lord and the faithfulness of God. 568 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,960 I love the hymn. It is well with my soul. 569 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:02,920 Maybe you're familiar with this old hymn, right? 570 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,840 The story goes that the songwriter, his name is Horatio 571 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,040 Spafford. And in 1873, his wife and his 572 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,200 four daughters were crossing the Atlantic on their way to Europe. 573 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,360 And the ship that they were on went down. 574 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:22,000 And the mother reaches the other shore and she texts back. 575 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,320 I mean, she telegraphs back, right? 576 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:31,600 She telegraphs back. She she sends a message that all 577 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:36,320 four of the daughters had had passed away in this wreck. 578 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,280 And then he is going to Horatio was going to travel that same 579 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,000 route in the days to come. And the story is that the 580 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,480 captain of the ship comes from and says this is where the ship 581 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:48,640 went down. This is where your daughter's 582 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,440 went down. And it's in that place that he 583 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,520 pens the words. When peace like a river. 584 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:59,160 I have to sing it in order to say, When peace like a river. 585 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,600 Can you sing this with me? Restoreth my soul. 586 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:09,480 When sorrows like sea billows roll, He's emitting his sorrow. 587 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:16,400 Whatever my Lord thou has taught me to say, it is well. 588 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:24,400 It is well in my soul. He's doing the same flow of the 589 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,800 psalms of grief. He's admitting his sorrow, he's 590 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,960 petitioning God and he's confessing. 591 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:36,160 It is well with my soul. The discipline of this is so 592 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:37,880 important in the life of a believer. 593 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,800 And maybe you've never, maybe this is such a strange idea for 594 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:44,000 you. Maybe you didn't know that there 595 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,280 were these psalms of grief and you didn't know that they were a 596 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,280 model for us to follow. And maybe you've been trying to 597 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,200 follow God with putting on, you know, whatever level of 598 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,240 happiness you had in the midst of great tragedy. 599 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,120 God's not calling or expecting that of you. 600 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,240 Instead, he's inviting you to honest, honest admission of 601 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,880 where you are. You can question him. 602 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,960 You can yell at God. Did you know that? 603 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,120 You can? And God welcomes that honesty. 604 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:11,720 And then you get to the place again. 605 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,320 The flow is you are honest. You petition, and then you 606 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,800 confess your faith. It leads to that. 607 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,080 So let me give you application. Many of you are reading or 608 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,680 listening to the songs more than you ever have before. 609 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,880 And maybe when you come across these songs of grief, maybe just 610 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,080 skip over them and you're like, that's not where I am now. 611 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,280 And that's OK. But maybe you want to mark them 612 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,200 and go, if I ever do find myself in a place of grief, I want to 613 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,320 go back to those. Or you can just Google songs of 614 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:42,560 grief. You'll find them. 615 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,360 There are many of them, and knowing the value of them and 616 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:51,240 that they're there is important in the life of a Christian, a 617 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,760 follower of God. So my question is, do you skip 618 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,560 over them or maybe mark them to recall they're there when you 619 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,880 might need one? And then my hope is that as you 620 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:07,040 grow in your knowledge of what the Psalms are like, that it 621 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,960 will increase within you a great love for the Psalms, that 622 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,760 admiration and awe of the of the tapestry of Scripture, how it's 623 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:18,159 all connected. My hope, my hope, I do hope when 624 00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:20,280 I teach and when you hear teaching, wherever you're 625 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,480 getting your teaching from, that's solid and, and, and godly 626 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,679 that you're growing in your love for Scripture. 627 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,639 As you grow in your love and admiration for Scripture, you 628 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:32,920 will grow closer to God. And knowing that there are 629 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,080 moments like these where people are honest with God in shocking 630 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:43,320 ways, hopefully will increase within you your love and awe of 631 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:49,239 God speaking to us in the word. Let me pray for us, God. 632 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:55,760 I'm grateful to again discover how you respond to just honesty. 633 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,440 And you lead us out of our sorrow and tears and mourning 634 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:03,880 when we're honest with you about it. 635 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,760 And so grow us in our discipline of this. 636 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,440 Some of us have never had a moment of honesty with you. 637 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:15,160 We've been afraid to do so and now we see that it's so 638 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,280 prevalent in the Psalms. Jesus, you were honest when you 639 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,720 felt alone. Jeremiah in Lamentations is 640 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:27,520 honest when he felt alone. But they lifted themselves out 641 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,480 of it. Help us to learn how to do this 642 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,120 well as we model and follow after these Psalms. 643 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,440 We pray this in Jesus name. And everyone said, hey, man, 644 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:41,800 hey, before we finish, I do want to give just a brief moment. 645 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,560 If you're here this morning and you've been wrestling with the 646 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,440 claims of Christianity, but you've never given your life to 647 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,680 Jesus, you've never surrendered your life, maybe you've been 648 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,280 wondering for a while, then I want to give you a moment to do 649 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,000 that today. And what does that look like? 650 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,920 It looks like you're getting to a place where you believe in 651 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:01,080 your heart that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is God, and then you 652 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,400 confess it with your mouth. You say, OK, I'm going to say it 653 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,040 out loud, I'm going to speak it to others that Jesus is God. 654 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,800 And Jesus put on human skin and came and sacrificed himself for 655 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:14,840 us at the cross. That's Communion this morning. 656 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,880 And through the cross and the burial in the resurrection of 657 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,800 Jesus, we can receive forgiveness, we can be cleansed 658 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,160 from our sin, and we can be set up to spend eternity with God 659 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,800 forever. And we received the eternity of 660 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,600 God now and this life, we don't have to wait until we die to 661 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:31,680 experience it. No, you can experience the 662 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,840 presence, the power of God now in your life when you submit 663 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,560 your life to Jesus. So I'm going to pray in my 664 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,320 encouragement to you is if you've never done that, you've 665 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,840 never become a Christian, then you can echo this prayer with 666 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,120 me. And then I will encourage you to 667 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,640 tell somebody, tell me, tell a friend that's mature in the Lord 668 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,320 that you made a decision to follow after Jesus and you 669 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:52,240 surrendered your life to him. That's the point at which you 670 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:54,040 become a Christian. And then from there, we 671 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:57,080 encourage you to be baptized and grow, chase after the ways of 672 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,120 God and see what God will do in your life. 673 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,560 Let me pray. You might want to say this echo 674 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,240 this prayer. If you want to become a 675 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:07,040 Christian, you could say Heavenly Father, I come to you 676 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:10,680 in the name of Jesus and I believe in my heart that Jesus, 677 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:15,200 you are God and Jesus, I confess it with my mouth. 678 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,320 I say that you are Lord of all the creator of all things, and I 679 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,960 turn towards you. I turn away from my sin, I turn 680 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,520 to you and I say I want to surrender my life to you. 681 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,360 I want to repent of my own ways. So as I surrender my life to 682 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,560 you, Jesus, Holy Spirit, come and dwell within me. 683 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,520 Put eternity into me. I pray God and grow me in your 684 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,080 ways. I believe I'm saved and cleansed 685 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,200 and born again as I surrender my life to you. 686 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,680 In Jesus name I pray and everyone said Amen. 687 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,080 Let's all stand together. Thank you so much for being here 688 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:53,760 today. I hope that you enjoy the last 689 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,280 little bit of fall that is still here. 690 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,160 Whatever a little bit you can find out there, enjoy it. 691 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,200 And before you go, I want to say a blessing over you if you'll 692 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:04,760 prepare your heart to receive this blessing. 693 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:12,240 And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may he make 694 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:16,840 his face to shine upon you. And may the joy of the Lord that 695 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,360 is unspeakable and full of glory, may it abound to you. 696 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:24,440 And may the peace of God that passes all understanding, may it 697 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,240 surprise you in the midst of all of the challenges that life 698 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,640 brings. And then may the mercies of the 699 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,200 Lord, in other words, the forgiveness of God, that's new 700 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,120 every morning. May it be especially new to you 701 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,840 now in your mornings to come. And now may the Lord Jesus 702 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,400 Christ guard your heart and your mind. 703 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,040 You are salt in your light. Go now and be salt and light 704 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:45,480 unto the world. You are blessed. 705 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:46,680 I'll see you again soon.