1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,520 All right, if you have your Bibles, please take them and 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,680 turn to Psalm chapter 137. This will be around 40% through 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,720 your Bible, depending on how many notes and the likes you 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,200 have in the back of your Bible. So Psalm is 40% into your Bible, 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,280 150 chapters. So go towards the end, Psalm 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,880 137. And if you're watching online, 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,120 we're so grateful that you're here with us, whether it's 11/18 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,920 on Sunday morning watching live or in the moments or days to 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,480 come. And we want to officially invite 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,080 you to come and be with us at North Life Church. 11 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,960 Our services are 9 and 10:30 on Monday morning or Monday, 12 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,080 Sunday, Sunday mornings, Sunday mornings, it's always Sunday 13 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:42,040 morning. I don't know where that came 14 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,080 from. So Sunday mornings 9 and 103115 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,320 E Main Street, I'm going to read to you from Psalm 137. 16 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:51,960 I'm going to read the entire Psalm. 17 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,360 It's 9 versus long. This is a challenging 1, and I 18 00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:00,560 can't wait to explain it to you. But allow me to read to you. 19 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,120 It's in your notes, by the way. And if we run out of notes, are 20 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:04,959 there still notes on the back table back their way? 21 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:06,480 There still are some back there. Good. 22 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,440 OK, this is Psalm 137. Let me read it to you. 23 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:18,200 By the waters of Babylon. There we sat down and wept. 24 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,840 When we remember Zion, and on the willows there we hung up our 25 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:25,840 liars. A liar is an instrument like a 26 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:27,200 harp. If you can imagine, they're 27 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,400 hanging their instruments on the Willow trees. 28 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,120 For there are captors required of a songs. 29 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,200 And our tormentors mirth, saying, Sing us one of those 30 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,560 songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's 31 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,840 song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 32 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:53,480 let my right hand forget its skill and let my tongue stick to 33 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,440 the roof of my mouth. If I do not remember you, if I 34 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:02,360 do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy, Remember Me, O 35 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,240 Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem. 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:11,520 How they said, Lay it bare, Lay it bare down to its foundations. 37 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,760 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed. 38 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:21,840 Blessed shall be he who repays you with what you've done to us. 39 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:29,120 Blessed shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them 40 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,080 against the rocks. Wow. 41 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,280 This is a challenging passage, a challenging song. 42 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,080 So this morning I want to talk to you about a song 43 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:46,520 misunderstood. A song misunderstood. 44 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:53,360 Let me pray for us, God, as we dive into this beautiful Psalm. 45 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,640 But this challenging Psalm, they're part, they're verses in 46 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:56,560 it where we go. What? 47 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,360 What does that mean? Is that what Christianity looks 48 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,960 like? Is this a model prayer for us? 49 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,200 Is it one we should just skip over? 50 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,920 Or is it one that we can glean greatly from? 51 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,680 I believe it's one God that you can greatly grow us. 52 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,240 We pray that you will so open our minds and our hearts. 53 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,280 We we just put our seat belt on. We're like we're ready to go and 54 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,440 we race in So speak to us, we pray and Jesus name and everyone 55 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:30,440 together said Amen and Amen. Now we have been doing a series 56 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,280 this fall based on the book of Psalms, and I'm calling this the 57 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,160 OG playlist. And by ogi mean, it's like the 58 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,400 original playlist many of you created play like for those of 59 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,120 us who are old enough like me, we remember cassette tapes, 60 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,640 right? You'd sit there and you'd wait 61 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:50,120 for the radio to play the right song. 62 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,280 And you felt so rich when you'd get a whole cassette tape, Side 63 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:58,280 A and side B Remember that side A inside BI drive, a 2001 Volvo 64 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:00,000 wagon. It still has a cassette player 65 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,040 in it, right? I love it. 66 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,480 So I've got side A and side B. And back then you would try to 67 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,880 create like a mix tape and then it went to CDs. 68 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,480 You could burn ACD of your favorite songs and nowadays we 69 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,040 have playlists and they could have 200 songs of your favorite 70 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:15,400 songs. It's easy to do with Spotify and 71 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,200 Apple Music and other platforms, but watch this. 72 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:25,160 God the Holy Spirit inspires the Old Testament writers to take 73 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:30,560 150 songs, or we call them Psalms, and to combine them into 74 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,480 one collection. 1 playlist. And the songs are written over a 75 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:39,800 1500 year span of history in the Old Testament era, and 150 of 76 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,120 them from a variety of different songwriters end up in this 77 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,920 playlist. And this is God's playlist, the 78 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,560 OG playlist. So we've been walking through 79 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,960 the Psalms and we're not going through them like Psalm 12345. 80 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,720 I've kind of been grouping them or taking one or two here and 81 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,560 there bit I might have to sneeze here in a minute if I've never 82 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:58,880 sneezed in a message that I can remember. 83 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,560 If I sneeze, man, get ready. My wife's going, oh, it's going 84 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,000 to be bad. I sneeze like, get ready, Kevin. 85 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,880 If I sneeze, try to mute me because I sneeze like four or 86 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,120 five times. But maybe I'll get through it. 87 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,680 We'll see. Pray, pray. 88 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:16,640 OK, so the song God inspires the Holy Spirit to compile these 150 89 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,520 songs. And we've looked at songs of 90 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:23,240 like repentance and songs that told like, this is like who God 91 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,320 is. They explain who and what God 92 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,040 is. So there are those psalms. 93 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,440 There are psalms of Thanksgiving and joy and sorrow and lament. 94 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,400 Last week we looked at songs that dealt with grief and they 95 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,240 gave voice to grief that is painful enough where even the 96 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,640 body hurts. And to have those psalms, it's 97 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:43,520 wonderful. But this week we're going to 98 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:49,440 tackle this Psalm, Psalm 137, and it says some jarring things. 99 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,880 God bless is the one who takes my enemies babies and dashes 100 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,440 them against the rocks. How could that be rights? 101 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,480 What does the psalmist mean? Is it right to bless the one who 102 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,000 takes our little ones and dashes them against the rocks? 103 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,800 You could build a terrible doctrine or theology around that 104 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,320 if you didn't pause and go, OK, wait a minute, what's going on 105 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,800 here and strive to understand because wrong doctrines can be 106 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,840 built on missing historical context or context of near 107 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,040 verses and general understanding of what I'm going to call the 108 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,720 tapestry of Scripture. When you look at the Bible, I 109 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,400 want you to understand that it is a tapestry. 110 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,680 And Mike has a picture that going to put up here of a of a 111 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,720 really ornate tapestry, right. So tapestry is weaving. 112 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,560 My wife does some crocheting. It's called, Is it crocheting or 113 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,560 what is it called again? It's called nitty. 114 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,040 She knits. All right, she knits and it's 115 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:44,800 different. It's different than God 116 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,400 crocheting. It's knitting, right? 117 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,720 So she's knitting, she's knit blankets, you know, for our 118 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,200 grandkids and for friends and and it's, you know, sweet to see 119 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,960 her knitting. OK, but these tapestries, they 120 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,040 actually are weaving colors and ending in shapes. 121 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:00,520 I mean, look how elaborate this is. 122 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,880 That big rug has been, has been weaved. 123 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,200 It's a tapestry and the furniture is tapestry. 124 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:10,000 And I want you to see that Scripture, the Bible is tapestry 125 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,880 as a metaphor and a tapestry is something composed of many 126 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,680 different, often complex and interwoven parts suggesting a 127 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:23,200 rich and detailed whole. And it's beautiful. 128 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,600 This is beautiful behind me. And also Scripture is this way. 129 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,600 And when you get to the point where you're understanding, wow, 130 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,400 the Bible has, wow, this shows up here and this shows up there. 131 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,600 When this is connected to that, Oh, that's, oh, that's 132 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,120 connected. Oh, I see how that's connected. 133 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,080 It excites me and I want to grow within you and excitement for 134 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,840 Scripture when you go, oh wow, I didn't know that was connected 135 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,720 here. And wow, there's a theme that's 136 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,760 showing up. It's tapestry. 137 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,640 So if you'll stick with me and allow me to unpack this for you, 138 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,400 then hopefully when we're done in three or four hours, you'll 139 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,000 get it. Yeah, I just kidding. 140 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:56,520 Good. You're paying attention now 141 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:02,440 about another 20 or so minutes. OK, now, Psalm 139 is worthy of 142 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,840 leaning into when understood in the tapestry and profoundness of 143 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,640 the Bible. So let me just kind of scan 144 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,280 through Psalm 137. I'm just going to point out a 145 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,200 couple things, and then I'm going to connect it to other 146 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,440 places in Scripture. But let me explain what's going 147 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,160 on here. The writer of the song says by 148 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,720 the waters of Babylon. And if you're new to the Bible, 149 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,840 I don't want to overwhelm you, but I just want you to know that 150 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,200 the Bible is is the it's set up. The Old Testament is the early 151 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,400 part in the New Testament is the latter part of your Bible. 152 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,640 And the Old Testament is not one long chronological story, but 153 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,600 instead it's kind of the story of the Bible, the history of the 154 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:40,919 Bible. And then after that you get 155 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:44,600 books of poetry and it's a whole nother section of the Bible. 156 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,040 And then from there you get then like minor prophet or major 157 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,960 prophets and minor prophets and their group were the bigger 158 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,080 prophets who have longer writings there. 159 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,560 There's are towards the end, towards the end of the Old 160 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:57,680 Testament. But there's a lot of story in 161 00:08:57,680 --> 00:08:59,600 history. God tells his story of his 162 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,160 people. And in the story early on, you 163 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,440 have creation and you have like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 164 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,800 Abraham, but they're like many of you know who Abraham was and 165 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,000 you know Joseph who had the coat of many colors. 166 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,280 These are all characters. And then you'll know about David 167 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,800 who killed the giant. They're all in this, you know, 168 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,760 order of story. And then eventually God's people 169 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,960 are very evil and they disobey God for a long time. 170 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:29,360 And because of that, they're going to be sent into what we 171 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,840 call exile. They're attacked and taken over 172 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:33,680 by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. 173 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,600 And this is later in the Bible. And this is the era of like 174 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,360 Daniel in the lion's den. Even if you don't know a lot 175 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,800 about the Bible, maybe you've heard there's a story of Daniel 176 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,640 who gets thrown into a lion's den because he won't stop 177 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,600 praying. And maybe, you know, the story 178 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,400 of these young men named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 179 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,400 they won't bow to this big idle. And so they get thrown into a 180 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,760 fiery furnace and they live. And there's a fourth man in the 181 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:57,760 fire with them. So I tell you all that just kind 182 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,520 of some pinpoint some moments in the Old Testament. 183 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,000 So watch, this song is being written by the waters of 184 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:06,720 Babylon. It's in the era of like 185 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,000 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylon. 186 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,960 It's modern day Iraq. OK, so that's the era. 187 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,680 And why are they in Babylon? Because the people, the nation 188 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:22,120 of Israel or the Jews from Judah, Judea, they had been 189 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,440 disobedient for a long time to God, and God's judgement comes 190 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,200 upon them because of their disobedience and because of 191 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,000 their evil. And now they find themselves in 192 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,160 exile, taken away into Babylon. So the writer of the song says 193 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,160 by the waters of Babylon. And he says, we sat down and we 194 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,760 wept. They're full of sorrow because 195 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,880 of the consequences that they're experiencing because of their 196 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,800 sin for a long time. And they say we remembered Zion. 197 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,280 And when they're Speaking of Zion, they mean Jerusalem. 198 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:53,920 They remember where they came from. 199 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,560 They remember their homeland that they've been ruthlessly and 200 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,800 just violently taken away from. And so they are experiencing 201 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,120 great sorrow because of, again, not the sin of an individual, 202 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,720 but the sin of their nation for a long time. 203 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,480 And he says that they hung up their liars on the Willow tree. 204 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,040 And again, a liar is like a harp. 205 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,320 It's an instrument. So as a guitar player, you know, 206 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,000 I appreciate like stringed instruments. 207 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,280 So I can appreciate like the idea of like, they, they, they, 208 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,920 they, they put up their, their liars, their instruments and the 209 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:26,760 Willow tree. It's like they gave them up. 210 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,400 I'm going to tell you like I, we have a guitar in our bedroom. 211 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,200 I have one downstairs. I have guitars here. 212 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,560 Like even this week we were away for a couple days and I didn't 213 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:37,480 bring a guitar and I missed it. I want to play my guitar every 214 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:38,560 day. I just love. 215 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,320 I've been playing guitar since I was 12 years old. 216 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,080 And I just genuinely, and I love that I get to do it for part of 217 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,800 my job, right? But I just love playing guitar. 218 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,840 So they're saying, listen, we hung it up out of our star. 219 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:51,840 We just gave it up. We put our instruments away. 220 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,480 That's how sad they are. I can't imagine that. 221 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:57,320 Then they said our captors required songs of us. 222 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:58,640 It's like their captors, the Babylonians. 223 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,200 Like, come on. It was like mocking them. 224 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,480 Come on, Sing is one of those songs she used to sing in Zion, 225 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:04,480 those happy songs. Come on, sing it for us. 226 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,480 And of course they didn't want to sing the happy songs. 227 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,480 They're full of sorrow, weeping by the waters of Babylon. 228 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:17,040 And they say if I forget you, they're talking about the idea. 229 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,240 It's like they had forgotten God as a people group and now 230 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,760 they're in this plight. And once he says, Scott, if I 231 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,760 forget you, he says, let my right hand forget its skill. 232 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,920 Now let me unpack this for you. It's like as a guitar player, I 233 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,320 get this because my right hand is what I use to play guitar 234 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,880 right in my left hand too, but my right hand dominant. 235 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:38,840 And and it's funny if you're if my wife is always embarrassed at 236 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:40,920 this, it's like if you're up close to me, you might find that 237 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,800 I have this one long nail here. I keep 1 nail here really long 238 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,280 and I put Polish on it and it's you know, you might think, what 239 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,120 is he doing coke or something? What's up with Kurt? 240 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,120 You know, and that long nails, what's up with that? 241 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,960 I'm not doing coke. OK, I will tell you that I need 242 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,320 that now because I use it as a pick and my right hand is 243 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,440 developed a skill where I strike the the strings right with my 244 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,400 and I keep Polish on these nails too. 245 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,000 So they get hard. And I've developed a skill with 246 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,000 my right hand and my my left hand. 247 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,040 I have I have calluses I've had since I was like 12 years old. 248 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,520 I've got calluses all the way to like my second knuckle, you 249 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,000 know, just from all these years is playing right. 250 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,960 And so the song right here is saying, God, if I forget you, 251 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,040 let my right hand. If I forget you, God, then let 252 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:29,840 my right hand forget its skill that I developed to play my 253 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:32,640 instrument. It's kind of a beautiful 254 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,920 picture. And he says, then let my tongue 255 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,000 stick to the roof of my mouth and others, God, if I forget 256 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,360 you, let it be that I only I can't even sing anymore. 257 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,760 If my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. 258 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,000 I won't be able to sing if I forget you. 259 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,960 God. And then he, he, he mentions the 260 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,200 Edomites. OK, who are the Edomites? 261 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,160 Well, the Edomites are the descendants of of Esau. 262 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,120 If you remember your Old Testament story when you're in 263 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,600 Sunday school, remember Abraham has a son named Isaac, and he 264 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:01,960 has twins, and they're Jacob and Esau. 265 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:03,800 And Jacob's the one. If you're new to the Bible, 266 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,000 there's a stairway that goes to heaven and he, you thought Led 267 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,520 Zeppelin came up with it, but they didn't. 268 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,080 It was Jacob and Genesis, right? So Jacob has a brother. 269 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:13,240 Just connecting the dots for you. 270 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,560 So Jacob has a brother and they're twins, and his name is 271 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:17,160 Esau. And his descendants become very 272 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,000 evil. And the Edomites, they mock 273 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,720 God's people when they're being taken into exile in Babylon. 274 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,840 And there's a man, Obadiah, he writes a book in the very old 275 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,640 test, very latter part of the Old Testament. 276 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,600 It's only like, it's a very short one book. 277 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,640 There's not even 1 chapter. It's not multiple chapters. 278 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,560 So if you want to be able to brag about reading the whole 279 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,280 book of the Bible, check out Obadiah, man, it's quick. 280 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,400 It's like a 10 minute reading. Like I read Obadiah, check me 281 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,400 out, read the whole book. It's not like reading Psalms, 282 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,200 but it's a quick one and watch what happens. 283 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:53,320 Obadiah is going to prophecy the destruction of the Edomites 284 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:59,160 because of their brutality towards God's people and watch 285 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,520 Obadiah verse 10, not a chapter number, just the 1 chapter verse 286 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:03,840 10. It says because of the violence 287 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:08,160 done to your brother Jacob, meaning the descendants of Jacob 288 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,400 who are God's people here in Psalms. 289 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,200 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall 290 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:17,560 cover you and you shall be cut off forever. 291 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,520 So when the psalmist says God, remember the Edomites and how 292 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,720 evil they were, how they were like they mocked us and said, 293 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:24,800 lay it bare. Lay it bare. 294 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,400 Tear the city of Jerusalem down. God's going to bring judgement 295 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,000 and it's prophesied and it happens. 296 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,120 So watch this. You can kind of determine that 297 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:36,000 this Psalm is written before the destruction of the Edomites in 298 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,680 Obadiah, but after their time of exile. 299 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,400 So somewhere in the 500 BC area, it's written. 300 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,200 So back to Psalm 137. So that's the context that 301 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,760 Edomites had mocked God's people when the Babylonians came and 302 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,600 violently took them into exile. Now watch this. 303 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,560 So going back to Psalm 137, verse 8, it says, O daughter of 304 00:15:54,560 --> 00:16:00,600 Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, the daughter of Babylon. 305 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,120 So Babylon. And when he's his daughter and 306 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,520 he's like the children, the descendants, the descendants of 307 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,360 Babylon, you are doomed to be destroyed. 308 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,080 It's prophecy. And then it goes into verse 8. 309 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,360 And here's the confusing part that I want to make sense of for 310 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,600 you. The songwriter says, blessed 311 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,720 shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them 312 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,080 against the rock. Will you forget me forever? 313 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:25,920 He says. Now, is this verse calling down 314 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,840 a call for some man to bring vengeance against an enemy by 315 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,920 killing its little ones? You might read and think it's 316 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:34,000 that that's what's happening here. 317 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:36,520 You can. It's potential for really 318 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,240 terrible doctrine. You're like, if you read this 319 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,520 and go, wow, look at the Bible. The Bible has encouraged me to 320 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,440 pray like, yeah, that my enemies, man, that someone will 321 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,720 rise up and just dash their babies against the rock. 322 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:47,920 Yep. The Bible says it. 323 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:53,080 You can build some pretty horrible doctrine, but when the 324 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:57,640 psalmist is blessed is he? The question is, who is he? 325 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,400 The answer to the question is that he, in this context, is 326 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,839 God. The songwriter is saying God, 327 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,800 they are doomed. You've prophesied their 328 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,599 destruction, you prophesied it. They're evil. 329 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,160 Justice will come and you will destroy them. 330 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,839 And he's saying, blessed is God who will do to them what they 331 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:24,680 did to us. And this is part of the tapestry 332 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,000 of Scripture, right? So you have to understand why. 333 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,680 What permits the psalmist to say, God, do to them what they 334 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,440 did to us? They dashed our babies against 335 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:32,560 the rock. God, you do it the same. 336 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,640 You must understand that it had been prophesied by Isaiah and 337 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,720 Jeremiah and other Old Testament writers that Jerusalem would be 338 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,560 destroyed and God's people would be brought into exile. 339 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:45,560 Why? Because they were disobedient as 340 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,840 a nation, not as an individual. But this is national watch. 341 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:54,200 This is national judgment upon a nation that is evil and ungodly. 342 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,120 God allows His judgment to come and Isaiah prophesied it. 343 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,840 Look at Isaiah chapter 1 verses one and two. 344 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,040 It's Isaiah opens his book by saying the vision of Isaiah the 345 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,920 son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem 346 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,520 in the days of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz Hezekiah, kings of 347 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,400 Judah. So Isaiah is like, OK, here's 348 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,320 what I'm seeing. And he says hear O heavens and 349 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,000 give ear O earth for the Lord has spoken Children have I 350 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,680 reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 351 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,920 Now though Isaiah comes after the Psalms in your Bible. 352 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,640 This passage lands chronologically before Psalm 353 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,080 137. Okay, so watch this again. 354 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,680 You just know that Isaiah man, he's over here his books like 355 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,160 over here in this area. But Psalms again, it's not all 356 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,520 in chronological order. So Isaiah prophesying the 357 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,080 destruction and the psalmist is writing a song about it in song 358 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,960 137. OK so though Isaiah comes later, 359 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:52,880 this is prophecy. Then he what is he going to 360 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:57,160 prophecy in chapter 1 verse 4? Ah, sinful nation. 361 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,360 A people laden with iniquity, offsprings of evil doers, 362 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,920 children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord, 363 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,600 they've despised the Holy One of Israel, and they are utterly 364 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,560 estranged. Who is Isaiah talking about? 365 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,360 He's talking about those in Jerusalem and those in Judah. 366 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:17,400 These are God's people, but as a nation they have become terribly 367 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,440 evil and ungodly. They're in rebellion. 368 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,720 So Isaiah prophesied that Babylon will come. 369 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,960 Watch what he says. This is Isaiah 39, six through 370 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:28,960 7. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 371 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,440 who is the king, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. 372 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,640 Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and 373 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:38,720 that which your father's have stored up to this day shall be 374 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,120 carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the 375 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,000 Lord. And some of your own sons who 376 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,760 will come from you, whom will, whom you will father, shall be 377 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,280 taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the 378 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:54,120 king of Babylon. It had been prophesied as a 379 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:55,480 warning. And if they would have repented, 380 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,240 if they would have turned away from their sin, then the wrath 381 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,080 of God, the judgment of God would not have come. 382 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,240 But it does. And Jeremiah 6, Jeremiah 383 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,280 prophesied the same thing. And he says in verse 11 of 384 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,960 chapter 6. Therefore, I am full of wrath of 385 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,320 the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. 386 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,880 God's saying I'm weary of holding my wrath in because it 387 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:16,280 has to come. My judgment has to come 388 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,480 eventually. Pour it out upon the children in 389 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,360 the street. And upon the gatherings of young 390 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,160 men also both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and 391 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,520 the very aged. Their houses shall be turned 392 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,080 over to others, their fields and wives together. 393 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,760 For I will watch this. This is God speaking, and this 394 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,200 might shock you, but this is in the Bible. 395 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,680 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and 396 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,640 wives together. For I will stretch out my hand 397 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,840 against the inhabitants of the land, declares the Lord. 398 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:49,280 God's wrath appears in cycle in the Old Testament. 399 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,680 Why? Because his people become evil 400 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,000 as ungodly as the Pagan nations around them. 401 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,520 And when they become evil, God's wrath. 402 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,240 He'll permits it, and he allows it. 403 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,880 And often God's judgement will come at the hand of other evil 404 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,520 doers. God allows the evil Babylonians 405 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,360 to give consequence to the evil Jews. 406 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,960 It's a curious thing, but it's right there in the Bible, and 407 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:19,600 this is the tapestry, the weaving. 408 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,040 Watch the cycles that God's people will be obedient, but 409 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,160 then they get rebellious. They're in rebellion, and then 410 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,680 prophecy will come, warnings will come, and then they don't 411 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,960 adhere. So there's destruction. 412 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,680 And then they pray out to God. And God always over and over 413 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,000 again restores them, gives them mercy and grace. 414 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:42,280 He brings His justice. And Psalm 137 is giving voice to 415 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,600 those who are in exile. And it's a picture of someone in 416 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,560 the midst of national punishment for the sins of its people 417 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,000 saying God, we trust. When we say God blessed is he, 418 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,160 we're speaking about God. God blessed are you who will do 419 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,920 to them what they've done to us. Now I want to unpack this for 420 00:21:58,920 --> 00:21:59,840 you. But in general, what they're 421 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:05,640 saying is God, blessed are you who will bring justice and 422 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,160 judgement. They're celebrating it. 423 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,320 And it seems harsh, the voice of this one in exile. 424 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,720 Now, I want to speak to this in light of the elections that we 425 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,000 just had. And I want to tell you that it's 426 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,760 important for a church to rise up to fight against the sins of 427 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,960 the nation in order to keep us away from destruction. 428 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,360 And you know, in years past, I've I've talked about when 429 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,880 elections are rolling around, I'll talk about, you know, these 430 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,280 are the issues, these are the platforms, these are the issues. 431 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,760 And I must say over and over again, I say it, this is not a 432 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,640 right wing, left wing, this is not a Democrat, Republican, 433 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,840 libertarian, independent. That is not the issue. 434 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,720 The issue is about the Kingdom of God and principles that are 435 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,600 righteous and holy. Evil is out there and we want to 436 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,280 address it and watch when it doesn't get addressed in this 437 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,680 nation, eventually God's wrath and judgment is poured out on 438 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,880 them. And so we as a church, not just 439 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,760 our church, but the church at large, should speak out against 440 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,760 the evils in our nation. And if we don't, then we risk 441 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,200 being subject to the judgment and wrath of God. 442 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,280 And I'm not saying it to be like a doomsday type. 443 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,760 I'm telling you it's just a cycle of things. 444 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,560 So the church has often the church has fallen for the slide 445 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,760 that all the church in the state are to be separated. 446 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,040 It's a myth, it's a lie, it's not true. 447 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,040 We have freedom of speech. I can talk from the platform 448 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,040 about anything that Scripture says. 449 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,440 And if it's in defiance of our government, so be it. 450 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,920 If it's in defiance of evil in our land, I can speak about I 451 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,320 have freedom of speech and the government cannot control that. 452 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,720 And again, it's not about Democrat or Republican, it's 453 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,160 about righteousness, right? And so watch this, this last 454 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,040 week, again, I didn't talk about because locally in our election, 455 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,120 we didn't have a lot of things going on. 456 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:54,800 But I'm telling you, you need to be concerned about what's 457 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,520 happening in Dearborn. You need to be concerned about 458 00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:59,680 what's happening in New York. We live in Michigan. 459 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,600 What's happening in Dearborn with the takeover of Islamist 460 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,800 radicals, it needs to be addressed. 461 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,120 And mutilation of our children who are confused about their 462 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,480 gender identity, this needs to be addressed. 463 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,880 And if the church stays silent, shame on us, right? 464 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,560 So watch this. So the psalmist is saying, 465 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,440 listen, they're saying like God's destruction and wrath 466 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:21,960 came. Why did it come? 467 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:23,480 Because the nation had gotten so evil. 468 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,840 They experienced the judgment of God that comes as a result of 469 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,200 disobedience and rebellion against the things and rules and 470 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,760 will and laws of God. So he's in the midst of 471 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:42,000 experiencing this national national wrath and judgment of 472 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,000 God. Now in the past, like 3 years 473 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,320 ago when proposal three, maybe you remember that three years 474 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,240 ago right about now, Michigan after Roe V Wade was turned 475 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,400 over, there was a proposal before Michigan to say about 476 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,720 abortion to make it easier and easier and easier to have the 477 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,680 right to kill our children. I spoke out about it. 478 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,120 I spoke about it from the platform and I will tell you 479 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:05,040 that a lot of churches didn't in our area. 480 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,400 Even I was convicted because our Catholic brothers and sisters 481 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,560 who love Jesus, some also I was driving by the Catholic Church 482 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,480 and sign after sign after sign, I'm like, why am I being so 483 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,600 quiet about this? So we put it on our sign and I 484 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,160 preached about it. We put it on Facebook. 485 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,400 Vote no for proposal 3. And I stood right here and I 486 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,720 said church, this is not a right wing, left wing Democrat, 487 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,520 Republican issue. This is an issue of 488 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,680 righteousness. Vote no on this proposal. 489 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:31,000 I said it from this platform, and some might have been 490 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,880 offended, I don't know. Maybe they left and I didn't 491 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:34,320 know it. But I just want you to know then 492 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,240 when Charlie Kirk was martyred, like a couple months ago, I 493 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,120 talked about it, how to deal with evil. 494 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,360 And there are going to be issues that come upon us. 495 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,280 And if Scripture talks about it and addresses it, I want you to 496 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:50,880 know as your pastor that I will address evil and unrighteousness 497 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,920 in our land. And you need to be good with 498 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,960 that. Are you very good? 499 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,400 All right. Now going back to Psalm 137, 500 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,280 watch here. He says, blessed shall be he who 501 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,200 takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock. 502 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:05,600 Who is he? He is God. 503 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,040 Now, why is why is it OK? And what is the psalmist trying 504 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:11,640 to portray here? Well, let me make sense of this 505 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,080 for you because I want you to get your head around this. 506 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,840 But the psalmist is is taking a law from Exodus, and he's 507 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,000 putting it into play. And what is the law? 508 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:22,960 The law is found in Exodus chapter 21 and also in 509 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,080 Leviticus. But this is Moses setting a 510 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,600 precedent or law that is really revolutionary in the ancient 511 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:29,360 world. What is it? 512 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,320 Maybe you're familiar with the saying verse 23. 513 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:38,560 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, Eye for 514 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:43,880 eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for 515 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,720 burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 516 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,400 This is the law. Now what is this talking about? 517 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,400 Moses is offering a revolutionary advancement in the 518 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,920 ancient world. He's saying if someone pokes 519 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,800 your eye out, then justice is you poke their eye out. 520 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,200 Now that sounds barbaric in our world, but let me explain what 521 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,680 happened in the ancient world. Let's say if I'm a powerful 522 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:10,000 person and I have a lot of power and you step on my toe and I get 523 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,240 offended and I get hurt that I and the Angel rule could go, I'm 524 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,200 going to I'm going to wipe out your entire family. 525 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:17,000 I'm going to wipe out your entire nation. 526 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,920 You stepped on my toe. I'm going to kill everybody in 527 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,520 your family. Moses comes along and says, no 528 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:24,920 eye for an eye. What's fair? 529 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,240 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 530 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,480 And again, now we've even culture has even advanced more 531 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,000 and God's lead is into greater depths. 532 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,240 But that was like a step forward in the ancient world. 533 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,360 That law was revolutionary. And so when the psalmist says 534 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,440 God, blessed are you God, who does to them what they did to 535 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,400 us, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 536 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,840 The Babylonians had taken their children and murdered them 537 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,360 ruthlessly. And the psalmist to get your 538 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:54,960 head around it. The psalmist is saying, God, an 539 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,160 eye for an eye. I'm, I'm, I'm adhering to your 540 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:58,760 law. God, blessed are you, God, when 541 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,160 you bring your wrath upon them and they experience what we 542 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,240 experience, you do to them what they did to us. 543 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:05,680 But watch what the psalmist is saying. 544 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,200 He's not saying God strengthen me so I can go out and take 545 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,040 revenge. He's not saying God strengthened 546 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,400 my brothers or though my those in, you know, those who are 547 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,520 connected with me, God strengthened them, empower them 548 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:19,600 so they can go and bring justice and revenge. 549 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:25,200 No, he's saying God, blessed are you when you do to them an eye 550 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:26,480 for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 551 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:31,600 But let me take it further. What I want you to see is that 552 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,720 Psalm 137 is an expression of trust in the midst of exile, 553 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,760 trusting God to bring justice. And that is the big principle 554 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,800 here, the big principle more than saying, God, take my 555 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,360 enemies, God, blessed are you. God, you could pray, God, do to 556 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,440 them what they did to me. But the greater and more 557 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,760 righteous prayer, even, it's like, God, I am not going to 558 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,040 take revenge into my own hands. I'm not going to encourage those 559 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,640 around me to take violence and take revenge instead. 560 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,120 God, I'm trusting you. God, you will bring vengeance. 561 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,200 You will bring your judgement, You will bring justice. 562 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,760 God, I entrust justice to you. That's what the psalmist is 563 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,240 saying. God, blessed are you when you do 564 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,880 to them what they did to us, whatever that's going to look 565 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:16,520 like. That is the greater principle. 566 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,160 Now, some people are confused about this because some people 567 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:25,720 think that Jesus demands just pacifism, that we are not to 568 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,240 celebrate justice, right? And I must tell you that like 569 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:34,560 you were made with the sense innate for justice and judgement 570 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,520 that is righteous. God wired it in you. 571 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:37,760 Maybe you don't know that, but it is. 572 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:39,840 It's there. And for me, it shows up 573 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,520 sometimes in quirky ways, right? Have you ever seen these videos 574 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:44,560 on YouTube about these sovereign citizens? 575 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,040 Anyone's seen these sovereign citizen citizen videos there? 576 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,080 There's this movement, right? Cruz has, there's this movement 577 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,960 where these, these these people, I had said they're stupid, but 578 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:54,720 they're really stupid. Not that I have an opinion, but 579 00:29:55,320 --> 00:30:00,240 but they're really stupid. And so they drive around and 580 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,680 they don't think they need a driver's license or insurance 581 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:04,440 and they think they don't need a license plate. 582 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,560 They don't think and they'll say I'm a sovereign citizen. 583 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:08,480 I'm sovereign, I'm free of the rules of the slam. 584 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,360 And they drive our roads. And so there's like thousands of 585 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:12,640 these videos you can watch on YouTube. 586 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,200 And that somehow because I've started watching now my 587 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,480 algorithm, they show up often and I find a lot of joy in these 588 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:19,840 videos. And I'm not sure what that says 589 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,680 about me. But what happens is people get 590 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,360 pulled over and the officer will say, hi, I need your driver's 591 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,040 license, proof of insurance and registration. 592 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,680 And they'll say, I'm, I'm sovereign, I don't have a 593 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,200 driver's license. But they him hauling around, 594 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,760 they, they have, they're like, I'm, I'm not trying, I'm not 595 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:37,640 driving, I'm traveling. That's one of their lines. 596 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,160 I'm not driving, I'm traveling because of some maritime law 597 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:43,520 from the 1800s or something. So they think they don't need a 598 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:45,520 driver's license. And the police officers over and 599 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,920 over and over again, they'll say you need a driver's license, 600 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,320 roll down your window. I need a driver's license. 601 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:51,920 I don't need, I'm not driving, I'm traveling. 602 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,120 You know, So eventually the punch line of the videos is 603 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,200 often what happens if they don't get out of the car, then the 604 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,040 police will break their window and they'll drag them out of the 605 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,200 car. Now, I'm not promoting police 606 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:03,840 brutality. That's not what I'm saying. 607 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,200 But I am saying that I have the sense of justice and I find 608 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,840 great delight and watching justice be poured out. 609 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,120 When they drag these people out of their cars and they put them 610 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:14,800 in an ankles and they go to jail. 611 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,560 I'm like, yeah, justice, right? I don't know, man, maybe I'm 612 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:25,040 twisted, but the point is that we are wired for justice. 613 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:31,320 We're wired to go, this is right, and when right prevails, 614 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:37,040 we're for it innately. And that is kind of a moment 615 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,360 where it fleshes itself out in me right now. 616 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,560 Some though, they get confused and they think, well, maybe 617 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:48,880 Jesus demands us to not yearn for justice or to be pacifists. 618 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:53,200 What is a pacifist or pacifism is the belief that any violence, 619 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,240 including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstance and that 620 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,640 all disputes should be settled only by peaceful means. 621 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,920 OK, so pacifist like, you know, I want to be Christ like. 622 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,440 So some people think Jesus promotes pacifism, and where do 623 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,240 they get that from? From Matthew chapter 5. 624 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,360 Let me unpack this for you. And Matthew 5 verse 38. 625 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:12,480 Maybe you're familiar with the saying. 626 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,960 Even if you're new to Christianity and you don't know 627 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,200 much about the Bible, you probably have heard this. 628 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:20,960 This Jesus is speaking. He says you have heard that it 629 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,680 was, it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 630 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,000 Wow. Jesus is quoting the Old 631 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:29,640 Testament. He's quoting the principle that 632 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,720 Psalm 137 has God do to them what they did to us. 633 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,880 We're waiting on you, God, you do justice. 634 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:36,040 And Jesus says you've heard this. 635 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:39,960 But he says, but I say to you, do not resist the one who is 636 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:45,200 evil. OK, he says, but if anyone slaps 637 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,440 you on your right cheek, turn him the other. 638 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,000 Also, this passage is widely, widely misunderstood and I want 639 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,120 to bring it to clarity for you because often people think that 640 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,400 this is Jesus promoting that the Christians should just welcome 641 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:06,040 and take abuse and not retaliate or stand up or protect or fight 642 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:08,160 for righteousness. Is that what Jesus is saying 643 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,120 here when we say turn the other cheek, this is not what Jesus is 644 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,320 saying. Let me explain to you what he's 645 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,320 saying. In the in this ancient world 646 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,320 where Jesus was walking, the Romans had taken over that part 647 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:22,600 of the world, the Roman Empire. And so Jesus is existing in 648 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:27,040 exile with the Romans ruling. And the Romans, they, they 649 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,440 couldn't, you know, if you were a criminal, they could crucify 650 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,040 you. They paint Jesus as a criminal 651 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,520 and they crucify. But the Roman soldiers and 652 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,000 officials only had so many rights, so they couldn't really 653 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,800 abuse you. And this was all over the Roman 654 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,440 Empire, but they could shame you. 655 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,000 So when Jesus says if someone strikes you on your, your right 656 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,160 cheek, if they slap you on your right cheek, here's my right 657 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:51,320 cheek. But if I'm going to slap someone 658 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,200 on their right cheek, then how? But in the ancient world, 659 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,280 everybody tried to use the right hand, left hand in this was 660 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:58,480 considered evil, right? So you have your right hand. 661 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,920 So if I'm going to strike someone on their right cheek, 662 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,160 which is over here, how am I going to do that? 663 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:07,080 I'm going to backhand them. If I punch them, I'm punching 664 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,960 them in the face. If I strike them on their left 665 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,600 side, which is over here, I mean, I have more power. 666 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:14,520 I can hit them with this part or I can hit them with my fist. 667 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,719 But if I'm going to strike somebody on their right cheek, 668 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,360 I'm going to use my right arm and I'm going to backhand them. 669 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,679 And in this occasion, Jesus is saying, listen, he point, he's 670 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:26,440 saying it very specifically. He doesn't say if someone 671 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,560 strikes you in the face, you can, you don't strike them back, 672 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:30,719 just put you up your face again and say hit me again. 673 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,000 Jesus is not saying that. He's saying if someone slaps 674 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,159 you, it's not necessarily violent or death threatening. 675 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:40,040 It's not, it's just a slap. Jesus is saying, watch this. 676 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,199 If someone slaps you on your right cheek, just give them the 677 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,159 other one. And this occasion, what Jesus is 678 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:50,280 saying, he's encouraging them like to be courageous and, and 679 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,159 in the midst of public humiliation, to stand up and be 680 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:56,120 strong and like, be courageous, like, OK, you slap me. 681 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:57,520 Here it is. Slap me over here again. 682 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,240 He's not saying if you punch me, punch me again. 683 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:03,000 He's not saying that this is not an issue of physical abuse. 684 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:09,360 It's a it's an, it's about public shame and Jesus goes on, 685 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:11,320 you can go read it. He says if they ask you to carry 686 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,040 your pack for a mile, it was a rule along the Roman Empire that 687 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,120 a Roman soldier could say, hey, carry my pack for a mile. 688 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:18,920 It's shame. Jesus says, if they say that, 689 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,640 I'll do it a second mile. If they take your cloak, your 690 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,400 coat, just give it to them. It was Jesus wasn't talking 691 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:29,320 about physical abuse necessarily or or potential for being 692 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:30,920 killed. He's saying don't protect 693 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:32,640 yourself. He's saying if someone shames 694 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,960 you just off from your other cheek, and in doing so you'll be 695 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,040 the bigger person, that Roman soldier thinks they're so 696 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:45,960 powerful, but when you go, here's the other cheek, then now 697 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,600 you're in a position of power and courage. 698 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:50,240 But some people misunderstand this. 699 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:53,400 So they take this to mean that we should not stand up and fight 700 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:55,080 for righteousness and we shouldn't defend. 701 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:56,760 We should never go to war. This is not what Jesus is 702 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:58,400 saying. That is not the context of what 703 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,280 he's saying. He's saying that when you're in 704 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:05,520 the midst of public shame, this is how you should respond. 705 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,440 So what I want to show you is that we are to stand for 706 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,200 righteousness. We are to protect our own. 707 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,120 We are to protect ourselves. Jesus is not saying that, and we 708 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,600 should watch this. Maybe you were wrong and you 709 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,160 thought, oh, that's ungodly. I want to show you that it's 710 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:27,000 godly to hope and pray and celebrate the justice of God. 711 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,000 Now, how do I know it's true? Is it a New Testament thing? 712 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,120 Yeah, it's a New Testament thing. 713 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,280 Not only is it a New Testament thing, it's a Revelation thing. 714 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,600 Now watch this. In Revelation, you're going to 715 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,040 see that God is going to use the imagery of Babylon in 716 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:40,880 Revelation. So you have Babylon in the Old 717 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,120 Testament, which was a real empire. 718 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,080 The Babylonian empire was real. But then in the New Testament, 719 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,760 the evil empire that's going to rise, it's going to be called 720 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,920 Babylon in Revelation and it's going to be called the daughter 721 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:56,760 of Babylon. And Psalm 137 references, it's 722 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,200 using some of the same language. Watch what happens in Revelation 723 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,440 18. One and two, are we to celebrate 724 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,840 God's judgement that comes upon Babylon? 725 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,240 Let me tell you what's what it says verse one, after this, this 726 00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:09,840 is John the Revelator. He says, after this I saw 727 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,760 another Angel coming down from heaven having great authority, 728 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:20,040 and the earth was made bright with his glory, and he called 729 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,120 out with a mighty voice, falling, falling is Babylon the 730 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,720 Great, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every 731 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:30,600 unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast who 732 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,680 has come down, who has fallen? Babylon the evil empire at the 733 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:37,360 end of the age that Jesus will defeat is painted as Babylon, 734 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,760 and an ancient comes out of heaven mocking and celebrating 735 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,920 the victory of God over the evil empire. 736 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:49,440 Babylon Revelation utilizes Babylon as the archetype, the 737 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,560 evil of the end times in the story of Revelation weaves that 738 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,920 tapestry that we looked at. It weaves God's judgment and 739 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,840 justice in to the tapestry of Scripture. 740 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:02,280 Now watch this. This is really big. 741 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:09,080 Revelation is not about human revenge, but it is about the 742 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:14,440 ultimate justice of God and the Angel coming out of heaven is 743 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:18,000 celebrating it. Now similar language is used 744 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,640 again in chapter 18. Watch this. 745 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:23,040 The language is similar to Psalm 137, the tapestry. 746 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,840 It's connected. Verse 4 John says, then I heard 747 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:31,160 another voice from heaven saying, come out of her my 748 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:36,920 people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her 749 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:41,400 plagues, for her sins are he pie as heaven and God has remembered 750 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:44,320 her iniquities. And then watch what John says, 751 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:49,160 pay her back as she herself has paid back others and repay her 752 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,240 double for her deeds. Mix a double portion for her and 753 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:54,440 the cups she mixed. Now watch what's happening here. 754 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,320 God is saying to his people, come out of Babylon. 755 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,600 Come out of the evil in your culture where they're evil. 756 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,640 Get out of there because if you don't, you're at risk of 757 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:05,920 experiencing the judgement and wrath that's coming. 758 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,320 Get out of Babylon and in the world that we exist in now the 759 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:13,000 culture where we are in our nation, in our state around us, 760 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,680 there is evil. There is the spirit of Babylon 761 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,480 and John is saying through the Angel come out, but watch what 762 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,920 else they're like. Pay her back God, pay back evil 763 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,760 in Babylon. We're praying for God to judge 764 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,440 the evil around us. Now watch John, the Angel is not 765 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,600 saying go out and be violent. Go out and fight the evil around 766 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:33,040 you. Go out. 767 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:38,160 No, it's saying that they're praying God, you, you bring 768 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:42,400 justice, pay her back. It's really strong language. 769 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:46,200 It's similar to the language that is found in Psalm 137. 770 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,880 And then in verse 19, Watch this, it says. 771 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,440 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, 772 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:55,440 crying out, alas, alas, the great city where all who had 773 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,640 ships at sea grew rich by her. Well, for in a single hour she 774 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,640 has been laid waste. Who is laid waste? 775 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:05,160 The queen of Babylon. Babylon, God brought his 776 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:06,560 judgement. It's happening at the end times. 777 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,680 It's in Revelation, it's there and watch what are we to do when 778 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,960 God brings judgement over the evil of Babylon, verse 20, 779 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:17,120 Rejoice over her, Oh heaven and you St. and apostles and 780 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:22,040 prophets, for God has given judgement for you against her. 781 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,600 Now you might have thought because you didn't know Psalm 782 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,400 137, and maybe you grew up in a tradition of Christianity where 783 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:31,280 it was about pacifists, and you might think, oh, it would never 784 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,880 be right to pray for God's judgement on evil. 785 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:35,840 You might thought, oh, we're to turn the other cheek. 786 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:37,120 We never fight back against evil. 787 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,800 We just take punishment. We take abuse as Christians. 788 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:44,800 No, according to Revelation, we celebrate when God's judgement 789 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:49,000 shows up for evil. We don't take revenge in our own 790 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:56,400 hands, but we do pray for God's righteousness and justice to 791 00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:01,200 come. God's justice is to be rejoiced 792 00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:05,280 over. Now Romans 12/18 let me bring 793 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,320 some balance that you misunderstand what I'm saying. 794 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,200 Romans 12 verse 18, Paul writes to the church in Roman. 795 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:15,520 He says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live 796 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:21,040 peaceably with all, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but 797 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:27,480 leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is 798 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,200 mine. I will repay, says the Lord. 799 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:32,920 To the contrary, what are we to do? 800 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:34,920 We're waiting on God's judgement. 801 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:38,840 Vengeance is his. And what does Paul say to the 802 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:40,040 Church of Rome? And he's saying to us to the 803 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:43,120 contrary, If your enemy is hungry, feed him. 804 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:47,760 If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing 805 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,480 so you will heap burning coals on his head. 806 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:56,120 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 807 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:59,720 That truth and the truth of revelation are to be blended 808 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:03,800 together in the tapestry of our faith, because if you only get 809 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:05,680 one and you miss the other, you'll miss it. 810 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:10,840 We rejoice and celebrate and pray for the judgment of God on 811 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:14,680 evil, but we don't take it into our own hands and think that we 812 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,120 are going to be the instrument of the vengeance of God. 813 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:22,320 Instead, those who are enemies, we feed them, and the ones that 814 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,320 are thirsty, we give them something to drink. 815 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,080 Do you see the contrast here? It's vengeance is mine, says the 816 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:31,040 Lord. And you and I are instructed to 817 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:34,240 those who are enemies to be gracious and loving and giving 818 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:39,080 to. So back to Psalm 137. 819 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,760 For many of you, you've never read Psalm 137. 820 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:44,200 Or maybe you read it and you got there. 821 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:48,000 And when it said, blessed is he who dashes my enemies babies 822 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:49,480 against the rock. Maybe you missed it. 823 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:52,720 Like, wow, that's crazy. Is that a valid prayer? 824 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:54,480 And maybe you can just dismiss it and go, well, it's the 825 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:55,800 ancient world. They were crazy back then. 826 00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:58,720 You know, I mean, that's bad theology. 827 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,080 And sometimes you do read the Psalms and go, is that is that 828 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,840 the model for our theology? And well, it's, it's it's a 829 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:05,640 model for our theology. When you look at the bigger 830 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:10,440 picture and you say, OK, God, like the writer of Psalm 137, 831 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:15,000 we're trusting God in your justice. 832 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:18,080 We're praying for it. We're going to rejoice in it. 833 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,080 And in the meantime, to our enemies, we're going to feed 834 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,640 them and give them something to drink. 835 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,080 We're going to clothe them. We're going to do everything we 836 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,920 can to be gracious because we're commanded to do so. 837 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:35,600 But in the end, we're trusting and trusting God for him to 838 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:39,480 bring judgment in the right time is a big discipline. 839 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:42,600 To sit back and say, God, I'm not going to take this into my 840 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:45,720 own hands. I won't just take abuse and I'm 841 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:48,520 not, I'll turn the other cheek for honor, but God, I'll stand 842 00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,080 for righteousness and I'll pray for your wrath and judgment to 843 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:53,960 come, but I won't take it into my own hands. 844 00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:58,640 This is not a call for us to rise up and do atrocities, but 845 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:02,840 instead a blessing, blessing God, a worship of God who we are 846 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:07,200 to entrust justice to. This is a big principle, right? 847 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:09,440 You might have to go back and listen to this message again 848 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,040 this week. So let me give you the 849 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:15,000 application. Is there a person or a people 850 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:20,000 group that you need to trust to God's justice? 851 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:23,560 And again, that doesn't mean that you're passive and that 852 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:28,920 you're not involved in fighting for our state or our country. 853 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:31,560 Yes, we're going to fight for righteousness, right? 854 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:33,400 But we're going to do it in a godly way. 855 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,760 We're not going to take wrath into our own hands, but we are 856 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:42,240 going to pray and hope for and celebrate when God's judgement 857 00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:46,440 does come upon evil. We're going to be gracious and 858 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,480 loving and kind as we possibly can be. 859 00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:54,560 But maybe there's a people group or an individual that you have 860 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,960 been wanting to take revenge against and you dream of it and 861 00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:00,520 it fuels you. And it's like, man, I can't wait 862 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:02,080 for that moment when I can get back at them. 863 00:45:02,720 --> 00:45:04,560 And you're just waiting. And it's like, and maybe you 864 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:07,840 just need to say this morning, it's like, God, I see, that's 865 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:11,160 ungodly. And so God, I'm going to give 866 00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:12,320 that up. I'm going to lay that down and 867 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:17,080 I'm going to entrust you with those who've wronged us and done 868 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,600 injustice to you as an individual or someone in your 869 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:23,480 life. And then can you bless God? 870 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:26,840 Can you worship God in the midst of pending justice? 871 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,480 Maybe your worship of God has been blocked. 872 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:32,360 I mean, think about that's the big one of the big takeaways of 873 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,480 Psalm 137 is in the midst of this great exile and sorrow, 874 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:38,040 they've hung up their instruments, they've given up. 875 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:41,880 But he says, God, I'm worshiping you, God, blessed are you who 876 00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:47,800 will eventually bring judgment. So maybe you've not even been 877 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:52,560 able to worship in the midst of your bitterness and in the midst 878 00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:55,400 of your hurt. And so my invitation, you say, 879 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:58,520 blessed is God. God, I worship you hoping for 880 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:02,000 you to bring justice. And then I would say, where do 881 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,160 you need to stand for right and not be passive? 882 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,560 Maybe maybe you've thought, well, it's not for me to get 883 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,680 involved in that. Maybe the evil that we see 884 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,440 around us, or whether it's getting involved in the school 885 00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:19,600 board locally or getting involved in some effort to bring 886 00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:22,720 righteousness and rightness to our state, our city, our 887 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:24,520 country. Where have you just been a 888 00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:27,000 pacifist? Like whatever will be will be. 889 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:31,120 Maybe you need to say, God, show me where I can be a part of an 890 00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:35,400 organization that is fighting for righteousness or a church or 891 00:46:35,720 --> 00:46:40,640 some type of effort where you can promote good over evil. 892 00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:45,520 This is a challenging message. I really wrestled with this all 893 00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:46,920 week long. I got really excited about 894 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:50,360 bringing it to you because I do want to challenge you and I do 895 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,440 want you to get the tapestry of Scripture, how Revelation is 896 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,880 connected to Psalm 137, which is connected to Exodus and it's 897 00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:58,800 connected to Jesus saying turn the other cheek. 898 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,400 All of it's at the tapestry. It's all woven together. 899 00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:03,800 And when you look at it, all the big picture of it, then it's 900 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,080 like, ah, OK, this makes more sense. 901 00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:09,440 But if you only see Psalm 137, you might miss it. 902 00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,640 Praying that God will bring people to dash your enemies, 903 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,000 babies against the rocks. It's way more than that. 904 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:23,240 Let me pray for us, God. What a challenge. 905 00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:29,080 I'm tired, God, after preaching this twice, just I'm so 906 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:30,640 grateful. Even earlier this week when I 907 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:32,960 was just digging deeper and saying, God, I still don't get 908 00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:35,360 it yet. God keeps speaking to me and in 909 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:37,960 the moments that I had here and there and here and there in 910 00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:40,440 between, a busy week, you showed up and I create. 911 00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,080 I'm just grateful for that, God. I really felt inspired about 912 00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:48,080 this message. And so I pray that as a church, 913 00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:56,120 you would challenge us to look and entrust you to bring your 914 00:47:56,120 --> 00:48:00,960 judgment and righteousness. When we want to revenge, when we 915 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:06,760 want to be vengeful, God want us chase after vengeance in our own 916 00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:09,280 hands. But let us entrust you and let 917 00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:13,160 us bless our enemies and those who persecute us and be gracious 918 00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:17,600 and grow us in our understanding of what this big enormous 919 00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:22,200 principle looks like and how it plays out in our lives and grow 920 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:23,760 us. God is a church as individuals 921 00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:28,960 where we can radiate your love and stand for righteousness in 922 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:34,840 the midst of Babylon evil around us give us wisdom and 923 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:36,400 discernment. We pray in Jesus name and 924 00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:40,520 everyone said, Amen. I do want to just quickly just 925 00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:42,280 say if you're here this morning, I went along this morning, but 926 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,480 if you're here and you've been wrestling with the decision to 927 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:46,360 become a Christian, I want to give you a moment to do that. 928 00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:49,920 Maybe you've never just said, Jesus become the Lord of my 929 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:51,640 life. I turn away from my sin and I 930 00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,440 want you to forgive me. I'm going to pray and maybe 931 00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:56,480 you've been wrestling with that decision and you can echo your 932 00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,640 prayer with me and it would look like this. 933 00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:03,400 You could say, heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus name and 934 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:05,080 I say, come be the Lord of my life. 935 00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:09,720 I turn from my sin, I turn for my evil and I say come and reign 936 00:49:09,720 --> 00:49:11,520 in me. Forgive me of my sin as I chase 937 00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:13,520 and follow after you. Jesus, I believe you are God. 938 00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:16,280 I confess with my mouth, I believe it in my heart. 939 00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:20,120 Come and reign and rule in me and grow me in your ways. 940 00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:22,560 I say yes to you. Cleanse me. 941 00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:25,040 Thank you that you're putting eternal life into me now that 942 00:49:25,040 --> 00:49:28,440 will last forever. I walk it in Jesus name and 943 00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:30,960 everyone said Amen. If you made the decision to 944 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,520 become a follower Jesus, I encourage you tell someone, tell 945 00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:36,520 me, tell a friend, someone that you know and let them celebrate 946 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,040 with you your decision to follow Christ. 947 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:41,320 Let's all stand together. Thank you for being here. 948 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:44,400 And I do encourage you to grab notes or go back and listen to 949 00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:46,240 this message again. Share this message with someone 950 00:49:46,240 --> 00:49:48,560 that you might think it would be an enlightening too. 951 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:51,880 And before you go, please allow me to say a blessing over you. 952 00:49:51,880 --> 00:50:01,520 And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may he make 953 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:04,760 his face shine upon you. And may the joy of the Lord that 954 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:07,960 is unspeakable and full of glory, may it abound to you. 955 00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,720 And may the peace of God that passes all understanding, may it 956 00:50:11,720 --> 00:50:14,280 surprise you in the midst of all of the challenges that life 957 00:50:14,720 --> 00:50:17,040 brings. And may the mercies of the Lord, 958 00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:18,840 in other words, the forgiveness of God, that's new every 959 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:20,520 morning. May it surprise you in the midst 960 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:25,360 of all of the challenges that life brings, and then at the 961 00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:28,040 mercies of the Lord, in other words, the forgiveness of God 962 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:29,800 knew every morning. May it be new to you and each 963 00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:33,360 morning to come and now may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your 964 00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:35,880 heart and your mind, your salt and your light. 965 00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:38,720 Go, go now and be salt and light unto the world. 966 00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:41,080 You are blessed. We'll see you again soon.