1 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,800 I think it would be true to say that the vast majority of us 2 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,480 don't like waiting. 3 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,840 And this is demonstrated most in having to queue for things. 4 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:27,750 Last night I saw a lot of people standing, looking fed up in 5 00:00:27,750 --> 00:00:32,190 a queue that didn't seem to be moving somewhere up that way in the 6 00:00:32,190 --> 00:00:32,590 village. 7 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:36,830 Well, we get stuck in all kinds of queues. 8 00:00:37,950 --> 00:00:41,590 We get stuck in traffic queues, particularly where there 9 00:00:41,590 --> 00:00:45,630 are temporary traffic lights where people can't wait so much that 10 00:00:45,630 --> 00:00:49,790 they drive through the red lights, thereby holding up everyone 11 00:00:49,790 --> 00:00:52,270 else on the other side and not thinking about it. 12 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,880 There's queues at checkouts. 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,480 You always try and see which is the shortest one and I always 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:00:59,480 seem to get the wrong one. 15 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,560 It looks short and then there's a five minute conversation 16 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,360 going on while I stand and wait and look around me. 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,280 Or perhaps at the bank or the post office where you have to queue. 18 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,960 Whenever we were moving back home and coming to Anna Long, I thought 19 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:17,600 it was going to be great because I was sick and tired of having 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,040 to queue in banks and post offices for anything up to three 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:22,400 hours. 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,720 Or getting your MOT where you could be sitting all day just waiting 23 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,720 on someone to give you a piece of paper to say that you're passed, 24 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,079 only to come home and realize there were still queues at the post 25 00:01:35,079 --> 00:01:35,440 office. 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:40,720 There were still queues when we had a bank, and there's even still 27 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,240 queues for an mot. 28 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:44,680 And of course that's when the anxiety gets up. 29 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,560 And by the way, my MOT is this week, so I'm already starting to 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:48,720 feel the pressure of it. 31 00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:53,180 And you know, it's not even in the physical place because if you 32 00:01:53,180 --> 00:01:57,180 want to buy tickets online for a concert, you have to be put into 33 00:01:57,180 --> 00:01:57,740 a queue. 34 00:01:58,220 --> 00:02:02,580 Or maybe worst of all is the queue that we probably have when 35 00:02:02,580 --> 00:02:03,900 waiting on the telephone. 36 00:02:04,060 --> 00:02:07,100 And the situation normally comes from a need to contact a service 37 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:10,380 provider about something and then you're told that you're placed 38 00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:10,820 in a queue. 39 00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:14,940 And the worst number I've ever had in a telephone queue was 25. 40 00:02:15,860 --> 00:02:22,180 And they said it would take 190 minutes for my call to be answered. 41 00:02:22,420 --> 00:02:23,780 That's just over three hours. 42 00:02:24,660 --> 00:02:27,220 Needless to say, I thought my time was more precious than the matter 43 00:02:27,220 --> 00:02:28,820 that I needed to have dealt with. 44 00:02:28,820 --> 00:02:30,100 So I phoned back later. 45 00:02:30,820 --> 00:02:31,220 Why? 46 00:02:31,940 --> 00:02:34,420 Because none of us like to wait. 47 00:02:34,820 --> 00:02:37,540 None of us like to queue. 48 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:43,750 And although none of us like waiting, it is in fact part of life 49 00:02:44,230 --> 00:02:45,590 that we must endure. 50 00:02:47,030 --> 00:02:51,190 We know what it feels like to simply stand there and wait. 51 00:02:52,230 --> 00:02:54,230 And we're waiting for something to happen. 52 00:02:55,030 --> 00:02:57,910 We're waiting for a situation to change. 53 00:02:59,270 --> 00:03:04,790 And sometimes we can fill the time positively as we wait, and other 54 00:03:04,790 --> 00:03:08,590 times we simply just have to stand there or sit there and endure 55 00:03:08,590 --> 00:03:08,870 it. 56 00:03:10,660 --> 00:03:16,020 Now, book three of the Psalms, which began with Psalm 73 last week 57 00:03:16,180 --> 00:03:20,700 and goes through to Psalm 89, is a section of this great songbook 58 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:23,460 of God's people that is about waiting. 59 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:26,660 But it's about a particular type of waiting. 60 00:03:26,660 --> 00:03:28,900 It's the agony of waiting. 61 00:03:29,460 --> 00:03:31,500 It's the hard work of waiting. 62 00:03:31,500 --> 00:03:33,460 It's the lessons learned in waiting. 63 00:03:33,860 --> 00:03:38,600 But it's also about the faith that is built through waiting. 64 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,240 And here at the start, the psalmist weeps over the ruins of 65 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,080 the temple and the destruction of his people. 66 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,480 And he asks, he cries out a cry that maybe has come from our 67 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:51,320 own hearts. 68 00:03:51,719 --> 00:03:52,600 How long? 69 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,800 And this is best summed up in verses nine and ten, right at the 70 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,400 heart of this psalm, because the heart of the agonizing weight, 71 00:04:01,910 --> 00:04:05,950 where the psalm says, we are given no miraculous signs, no prophets 72 00:04:05,950 --> 00:04:09,190 are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. 73 00:04:10,230 --> 00:04:12,790 How long will the enemy mock you, O God? 74 00:04:13,430 --> 00:04:15,830 Will the foe revile your name forever? 75 00:04:16,390 --> 00:04:17,510 Now, picture it. 76 00:04:18,390 --> 00:04:22,870 You're an exile returned from Babylon, and you've come back to 77 00:04:22,870 --> 00:04:26,550 a city that you were hoping would be glorious and beautiful. 78 00:04:26,550 --> 00:04:27,720 But it's not. 79 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,800 It's in desolation, probably the first of the exiles to return, 80 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,760 maybe with Ezra, possibly with Nehemiah. 81 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,280 And here you are looking around what was once and what you 82 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:42,160 were told was a beautiful city to be enjoyed, the place of God's 83 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:42,720 dwelling. 84 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:45,120 And it's in ruins. 85 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,920 And worse than that, your enemy is making known to you that 86 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:53,960 they're the ones that are in control. 87 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,760 And obviously from these verses, we're not talking about waiting 88 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:00,440 in a queue. 89 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,600 This isn't about the waiting of the long journey to get back to 90 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,320 Jerusalem. 91 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,560 It's about waiting on the Lord. 92 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:10,520 Will the Lord hear my cry? 93 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:13,560 Will the Lord answer my prayer? 94 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,640 Will he do it in the way I want, or is he going to do it some 95 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:19,160 other way? 96 00:05:20,730 --> 00:05:23,970 See, waiting on the Lord is about waiting on him to answer prayer. 97 00:05:23,970 --> 00:05:26,450 It's about waiting on him to fulfill his promises. 98 00:05:26,450 --> 00:05:29,050 It's about waiting on him to send his salvation. 99 00:05:30,730 --> 00:05:35,050 And it's about waiting for God to remember you. 100 00:05:37,050 --> 00:05:42,490 And the last psalm of book 3 asks these same haunting questions. 101 00:05:42,890 --> 00:05:46,430 So this is the theme that's going to be right up until Psalm 102 00:05:46,430 --> 00:05:50,030 89 that asks, how long, O Lord, will you hide yourself forever? 103 00:05:50,990 --> 00:05:54,910 How long will your wrath burn like fire? 104 00:05:56,990 --> 00:06:00,350 See how do you pray when it seems like God has forgotten you? 105 00:06:00,910 --> 00:06:05,630 How do you pray when you don't know when this suffering will end, 106 00:06:06,750 --> 00:06:08,870 quite literally, as the people are doing here. 107 00:06:08,870 --> 00:06:11,870 How do you pray in the ruins? 108 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,600 And you can hear their despair in verse 1. 109 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,880 Why have you rejected us forever, O God? 110 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,320 Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture? 111 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,000 And the basic question they're asking here is, O God, why do you 112 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:28,320 cast us off? 113 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,360 And so the psalm begins for us by describing what the circumstances 114 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:35,280 feel like for the faithful. 115 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:41,640 They feel like the Lord has cut the them or cast them off, and 116 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:42,960 they don't understand why. 117 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,960 And the language is deeply emotional. 118 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,680 These are people who love him, who want to live for him. 119 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,200 And verse three tells us that the situation seems dire to them, 120 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,120 saying that the enemy has destroyed the sanctuary of the temple. 121 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:01,320 So the cries of the people are that God will remember them as his 122 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:01,600 people. 123 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:07,440 And verse one gives us the picture of God's anger as smoking. 124 00:07:08,710 --> 00:07:12,390 And in Hebrew, the image of this is commonly given to us to describe 125 00:07:12,390 --> 00:07:17,430 anger, both human and divine anger, as a kindling or a burning. 126 00:07:17,430 --> 00:07:22,070 And this here is likely an extension of that imagery of looking 127 00:07:22,070 --> 00:07:25,110 to, wondering why it feels like God. 128 00:07:25,110 --> 00:07:29,110 You're punishing us rather than listening and blessing us. 129 00:07:30,070 --> 00:07:33,710 And another common image that's given to us in Scriptures 130 00:07:33,710 --> 00:07:36,310 of God's people as a sheep, which is there at the end of verse 131 00:07:36,310 --> 00:07:36,630 one. 132 00:07:37,020 --> 00:07:39,420 And so as the sheep of his pasture, the people would expect 133 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,380 God to protect them from their enemies. 134 00:07:43,420 --> 00:07:47,100 So there's an expectation that the people should see God's blessing 135 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:50,980 upon them, but the reality from their perspective is that they 136 00:07:50,980 --> 00:07:51,420 don't. 137 00:07:52,460 --> 00:07:57,100 So they cry out to God in verse two to remember them. 138 00:07:58,940 --> 00:08:01,580 And the reason why they're crying out to the Lord is because, 139 00:08:02,390 --> 00:08:05,590 quite literally, the Gentiles have destroyed the sanctuary. 140 00:08:06,230 --> 00:08:08,390 And we see this in verses 48. 141 00:08:08,950 --> 00:08:14,110 The description presented here tells us how the enemy is in the 142 00:08:14,110 --> 00:08:15,990 face of God's faithful people. 143 00:08:15,990 --> 00:08:16,550 They're right there. 144 00:08:16,550 --> 00:08:19,030 The Gentiles have placed a standard, or they've placed their 145 00:08:19,030 --> 00:08:23,750 banner in the temple, the very place of the worship of God. 146 00:08:23,830 --> 00:08:26,310 So the people are confronted with pagan worship. 147 00:08:27,030 --> 00:08:31,180 They made light work of its destruction, they tore it down with 148 00:08:31,180 --> 00:08:35,020 it being described in verse five as they behaved like men wielding 149 00:08:35,020 --> 00:08:37,940 axes to cut through the thicket of trees. 150 00:08:38,260 --> 00:08:41,300 And verse six tells us that they chopped up the wood and set 151 00:08:41,300 --> 00:08:44,340 fire to the building as if it were simply matchsticks. 152 00:08:45,220 --> 00:08:49,940 This is a complete desecration of the temple, the most revered site 153 00:08:49,940 --> 00:08:54,940 in all of the Jewish faith, with verse seven telling us that 154 00:08:54,940 --> 00:08:57,540 they defiled the dwelling place of your name. 155 00:08:58,700 --> 00:09:00,220 So this is too much to bear for the people. 156 00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:03,020 This is their agony, this is their shame. 157 00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:08,380 They are at their most basic level, a sacred community called 158 00:09:08,460 --> 00:09:12,540 together to worship the one true living God and to live out that 159 00:09:12,540 --> 00:09:14,220 worship day to day. 160 00:09:15,420 --> 00:09:22,900 So this desperation, this complete destruction, has deeply 161 00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:24,850 wounded the very being of the people. 162 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,240 And they wonder why. 163 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,600 And it is from these ruins that they cry out to God. 164 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,880 And maybe this is where their real heart is, as we come to verses 165 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,400 9 and 11. 166 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,000 Because look at what they cry for. 167 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:43,480 What is the heart of this psalm? 168 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,120 They basically say to God, and you seem silent. 169 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:50,120 That's their cry. 170 00:09:50,610 --> 00:09:57,410 They desperately want to hear from God, but there's deafening silence. 171 00:09:59,810 --> 00:10:03,250 These verses tell us that they don't receive anything from him. 172 00:10:03,250 --> 00:10:04,450 No message, no sign. 173 00:10:04,930 --> 00:10:07,010 And they don't know how long it's going to last. 174 00:10:07,010 --> 00:10:11,290 For they likewise don't know how long the enemy will rule over 175 00:10:11,290 --> 00:10:11,650 them. 176 00:10:11,890 --> 00:10:16,370 And so they frame it as a subjected people that their enemies 177 00:10:16,370 --> 00:10:19,940 are actually mocking God because of their, their subjection. 178 00:10:20,740 --> 00:10:23,700 But this is a people who still know who God is. 179 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:25,540 And look at what they say in verse 11. 180 00:10:26,180 --> 00:10:29,980 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand, take it from 181 00:10:29,980 --> 00:10:32,660 the folds of your garment and destroy them? 182 00:10:33,380 --> 00:10:37,180 Now this verse is presenting to us the image that God is simply 183 00:10:37,180 --> 00:10:40,020 standing back with his hands in his pockets. 184 00:10:42,580 --> 00:10:45,940 One of our previous ministers in my home congregation, his little 185 00:10:45,940 --> 00:10:48,660 daughter, was about two and a half or three at the time. 186 00:10:49,620 --> 00:10:53,860 And as you walked into our meeting house, you would look to 187 00:10:53,860 --> 00:10:57,260 the left and there'd be a row of men and they'd all be standing 188 00:10:57,260 --> 00:10:59,940 there leaning against the wall with hands in their pockets. 189 00:11:01,540 --> 00:11:04,540 And she asked her daddy one time, daddy, what happens if those 190 00:11:04,540 --> 00:11:05,380 men move? 191 00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:07,540 Will the wall fall down? 192 00:11:08,180 --> 00:11:10,780 Because from her three year old perspective, that's what they 193 00:11:10,780 --> 00:11:11,260 were doing. 194 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:14,100 Their hands had to be in their pockets to hold up the wall. 195 00:11:15,150 --> 00:11:17,630 Of course we know the image of having your hands in your pockets 196 00:11:17,630 --> 00:11:20,510 is actually not about doing any work at all, but about doing 197 00:11:20,510 --> 00:11:20,990 nothing. 198 00:11:21,550 --> 00:11:23,470 And that's the image that's given to us here. 199 00:11:24,270 --> 00:11:26,030 God, why are your hands in your pockets? 200 00:11:26,910 --> 00:11:28,990 Why are they in the folds of your garments? 201 00:11:30,509 --> 00:11:32,270 Why are you inactive? 202 00:11:32,430 --> 00:11:33,950 And that's what they're crying out. 203 00:11:34,750 --> 00:11:37,710 They're crying out for him to act, to do something. 204 00:11:38,510 --> 00:11:41,390 And it's at this point that the psalm changes. 205 00:11:42,260 --> 00:11:45,700 They've opened their hearts, they've cried it out, they've cried 206 00:11:45,700 --> 00:11:47,220 out who he truly is. 207 00:11:47,860 --> 00:11:49,780 But now they remember what he's done. 208 00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:53,380 And they say, but you have done wonders in the past. 209 00:11:53,380 --> 00:11:57,060 And here they're recalling his mighty deeds of salvation from verses 210 00:11:57,060 --> 00:11:58,020 12 to 17. 211 00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:02,100 In these verses, you can see them recall the Exodus from Egypt 212 00:12:02,260 --> 00:12:04,580 in verse 13 and their journey through the wilderness. 213 00:12:04,580 --> 00:12:05,940 In verses 14 to 15. 214 00:12:06,980 --> 00:12:07,630 We see. 215 00:12:07,780 --> 00:12:11,620 See how they saw God at work in dividing the waters and slaying 216 00:12:11,620 --> 00:12:14,380 the beasts so that they would have a safe passage, that it was 217 00:12:14,380 --> 00:12:18,500 nothing to God, just as they've previously described the 218 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:22,340 destruction of the temple as nothing to the Gentiles, where they've 219 00:12:22,340 --> 00:12:26,580 put their banner as that mark of territory, that this is ours now 220 00:12:27,060 --> 00:12:28,260 and no one else's. 221 00:12:30,420 --> 00:12:33,300 But we also see the memories of the people going back to creation. 222 00:12:33,690 --> 00:12:36,210 It's not just about the Exodus, but going further back, how 223 00:12:36,210 --> 00:12:39,210 God put everything in motion, how he put everything in place. 224 00:12:39,530 --> 00:12:43,210 And it is because of these that as they remember their own history, 225 00:12:43,770 --> 00:12:47,130 they can trust in God for the trouble that they're in. 226 00:12:47,610 --> 00:12:53,290 This is the turning point for the people because they remember 227 00:12:53,530 --> 00:12:56,050 God as the God of their salvation. 228 00:12:56,050 --> 00:12:58,330 Look at what verse 12 says so beautifully. 229 00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:03,620 Bring salvation upon the earth. 230 00:13:05,380 --> 00:13:07,860 This is a Messianic cry. 231 00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:14,900 This is not the cry of David or of Solomon in the glory and heydays 232 00:13:15,540 --> 00:13:17,140 of the kingdom of Israel. 233 00:13:18,100 --> 00:13:21,700 This is a people standing in the ruins coming back from exile. 234 00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:24,260 And their cry is a Messianic one. 235 00:13:24,990 --> 00:13:26,750 Send your Messiah to save us. 236 00:13:27,310 --> 00:13:32,910 Tear down these banners that so intrude and invade so that we 237 00:13:32,910 --> 00:13:36,110 can see your glory and none others. 238 00:13:37,790 --> 00:13:42,590 They want the Lord's Messiah to come and to rescue them. 239 00:13:43,790 --> 00:13:47,230 You see, in the midst of their heartache, in the midst of their 240 00:13:47,230 --> 00:13:51,390 trouble and having to face the antagonism of their enemy, their 241 00:13:51,390 --> 00:13:54,430 cry is one to the Lord to save them. 242 00:13:55,650 --> 00:13:58,450 And this is the whole turning point for these people. 243 00:13:59,330 --> 00:14:04,170 And it's no mistake that we can easily link that to how we know 244 00:14:04,170 --> 00:14:07,650 salvation today as the turning point in our lives. 245 00:14:09,090 --> 00:14:13,170 Because quite literally, salvation in Jesus Christ is a miracle 246 00:14:13,490 --> 00:14:14,370 of a moment. 247 00:14:14,690 --> 00:14:18,690 Because that's all it takes, just a moment to know the saving 248 00:14:18,770 --> 00:14:20,050 power of Jesus Christ. 249 00:14:20,050 --> 00:14:23,050 And it is truly a miracle that he would ever want to save a sinner 250 00:14:23,050 --> 00:14:23,570 like me. 251 00:14:24,860 --> 00:14:25,660 Yet he did. 252 00:14:26,380 --> 00:14:29,460 And he continues to save sinners right around the world who 253 00:14:29,460 --> 00:14:31,900 do not deserve his salvation. 254 00:14:32,620 --> 00:14:36,380 But because of his steadfast love and because of his son Jesus, 255 00:14:36,700 --> 00:14:37,860 he pours out his love. 256 00:14:37,860 --> 00:14:41,540 And it is truly the turning point in our lives where one moment 257 00:14:41,540 --> 00:14:43,660 we were condemned for our sin. 258 00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:47,460 Now our sin is remembered no more, and we are promised a home 259 00:14:47,460 --> 00:14:47,980 in heaven. 260 00:14:47,980 --> 00:14:52,920 We're promised eternity, and that's how we are to set our minds, 261 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:57,080 to set our hope on Christ alone, that we will live his way 262 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:58,120 and no one else. 263 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,320 So although it is a miracle of a moment, it is both a lifetime and 264 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,600 an eternity of true worship of Him. 265 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,560 And that's what the people are looking to. 266 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,760 And so today the challenge from this psalm, even though we're 267 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:14,600 only halfway through, is to do likewise. 268 00:15:16,050 --> 00:15:21,410 To know that our lives are a game of two halves, or can be. 269 00:15:21,410 --> 00:15:23,450 Now, I know that's used mostly in the football sense. 270 00:15:23,450 --> 00:15:26,370 And last night if you were watching, you went into the halftime 271 00:15:26,370 --> 00:15:27,650 thinking, England have this. 272 00:15:27,730 --> 00:15:31,090 It was a nail biting few moments in the second half when France 273 00:15:31,090 --> 00:15:31,730 came back. 274 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:35,290 But then waking up this morning and told the score, there 275 00:15:35,290 --> 00:15:37,450 should have been no question that England could have done. 276 00:15:39,650 --> 00:15:42,980 Was quite literally a game of two halves in one sense, even though 277 00:15:42,980 --> 00:15:46,140 England were in the lead and they won, but France came back strong 278 00:15:46,140 --> 00:15:47,100 and there was doubt. 279 00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:49,980 You see, we can't live with that same doubt. 280 00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:52,980 We must know that one moment our lives were lost, and the next 281 00:15:52,980 --> 00:15:56,020 minute our lives are found in Christ and Him alone, but only as 282 00:15:56,020 --> 00:15:57,100 we trust in Him. 283 00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:02,340 Because in the midst of our heartache, in the midst of our feeling 284 00:16:02,340 --> 00:16:11,470 of where God is in the midst of the ruin, we're to remember God's 285 00:16:11,470 --> 00:16:15,310 saving power and we're to remember his salvation towards us. 286 00:16:15,310 --> 00:16:18,190 That's why Paul writes what he does in Colossians chapter one and 287 00:16:18,190 --> 00:16:19,150 verses 15 to 20. 288 00:16:19,150 --> 00:16:23,430 And here he links these aspects of Psalm 74 with Jesus, the 289 00:16:23,430 --> 00:16:27,550 true Messiah of God's people, when he says he is before all things 290 00:16:27,550 --> 00:16:29,150 and in him all things hold together. 291 00:16:29,390 --> 00:16:33,110 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and 292 00:16:33,110 --> 00:16:36,970 through him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things 293 00:16:36,970 --> 00:16:40,730 on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood 294 00:16:40,970 --> 00:16:42,570 shed on the cross. 295 00:16:43,530 --> 00:16:47,210 You see, our cries for help in what seems to be an unfair world 296 00:16:47,530 --> 00:16:51,529 are heard, and there's already an answer. 297 00:16:51,930 --> 00:16:53,530 And that answer is Jesus. 298 00:16:54,250 --> 00:16:58,010 He is before all things, and through him all things were made. 299 00:16:58,570 --> 00:17:02,970 He has rescued his people in previous generations from their sin, 300 00:17:02,970 --> 00:17:04,490 and he will do the same today. 301 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,560 And perhaps you are here this morning and you feel the weight and 302 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,200 you feel the burden of your sin. 303 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,880 It might be that you have never come to Christ for salvation, 304 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:19,440 but in these past weeks, these past months, you have been more aware 305 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,520 of what salvation in Jesus means, and you are very aware that 306 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:24,720 you need it. 307 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,080 Or it might be that you profess Christ, but the devil is 308 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,000 tempting you to sin. 309 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,620 And in Your honesty. 310 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:34,460 You know that you've fallen into ways that you shouldn't. 311 00:17:35,420 --> 00:17:39,740 Psalm 74 invites you to remember who God is, the God of salvation. 312 00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:43,860 And his salvation has been demonstrated to us in the giving 313 00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:47,940 of his one and only Son, so that true belief and worship in his 314 00:17:47,940 --> 00:17:50,220 name will lead you to eternal life. 315 00:17:50,700 --> 00:17:54,780 And if this sounds familiar, then you will be recalling what Jesus 316 00:17:54,780 --> 00:17:57,820 himself said in John chapter 3 and verse 16. 317 00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:02,180 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 318 00:18:02,180 --> 00:18:06,740 that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal 319 00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:07,060 life. 320 00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:08,820 This is the hope that we have. 321 00:18:08,820 --> 00:18:10,260 It's the only hope we can have. 322 00:18:10,900 --> 00:18:16,980 That whatever you face, be it the great weight of your sin, you 323 00:18:16,980 --> 00:18:18,420 know there's an answer to that. 324 00:18:18,980 --> 00:18:21,620 And it's salvation in Jesus and in him alone. 325 00:18:23,140 --> 00:18:26,950 Or maybe it's the weight and burden of your circumstances, of 326 00:18:26,950 --> 00:18:32,190 what life has thrown at you in this past week or two, in these past 327 00:18:32,190 --> 00:18:37,110 months, in these past years, the answer remains the same. 328 00:18:38,390 --> 00:18:40,310 It is Jesus to whom we look. 329 00:18:41,509 --> 00:18:45,590 So that as we wait, and yes, as we cry our hearts out to God, 330 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:49,670 we turn to know him who he is, the God of our salvation. 331 00:18:49,830 --> 00:18:53,430 And so, as we trust in God's salvation, we hear the people cry 332 00:18:53,430 --> 00:18:58,130 out that they will know it, as they say that he will have regard 333 00:18:58,130 --> 00:18:59,970 for the covenant and deliver us. 334 00:18:59,970 --> 00:19:03,330 You see, it's this cry that takes us to the end of the psalm. 335 00:19:03,410 --> 00:19:06,690 It's this cry that allows the people to finish with great hope, 336 00:19:06,850 --> 00:19:10,489 because the psalm finishes pleading with God to remember how 337 00:19:10,489 --> 00:19:11,650 the enemy mocks. 338 00:19:12,130 --> 00:19:16,570 And here in verse 18, and repeated again in verse 22, and not 339 00:19:16,570 --> 00:19:20,290 to ignore the clamor of the adversaries of God and his people. 340 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,840 And as throughout the psalm, the prayerful worshippers may feel 341 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,960 as if God were tempted to do just that, to forget them, to ignore 342 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,320 them, and to let evil have its course. 343 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,400 And the psalm gives them words to pray in response. 344 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,000 And in verse 19, it gives us a deep cry to the Lord for salvation. 345 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,200 As the people sing, do not hand over the life of your dove to 346 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:44,440 wild beasts. 347 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,840 Do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever. 348 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,560 It's unthinkable for God to hand over the life of your dove. 349 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,000 A dove was a clean bird. 350 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:03,440 But it's also an image for Israel to hand this pure white dove, 351 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,320 this image of Israel, over to the beast, over to the one who would 352 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,120 devour it, that is, the foreign powers that the people were 353 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:12,960 seeing before them to be torn and devoured. 354 00:20:13,660 --> 00:20:17,420 The destructive invaders are a foolish people, as the singers Say, 355 00:20:17,660 --> 00:20:20,980 and this is seen by the way in which they scoff and mock, thinking 356 00:20:20,980 --> 00:20:23,340 they'll never be torn down, but yet they are. 357 00:20:24,860 --> 00:20:28,420 See, these people are not merely just Gentiles who have rebelled 358 00:20:28,420 --> 00:20:29,500 and rejected God. 359 00:20:30,300 --> 00:20:34,380 They've done evil to his people and so they will face punishment. 360 00:20:35,420 --> 00:20:39,260 As the psalm concludes, the worshipping community make no appeal 361 00:20:39,420 --> 00:20:42,800 to to the people's own merits and the things that they have done 362 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,160 in their faithful worship of God because they know they can't 363 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,640 make an appeal on themselves. 364 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,760 Rather, they appeal to God's promises, His covenant, and for God 365 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:51,760 to defend the people. 366 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:58,200 He chose for his own purposes that purpose to bring light to the 367 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:04,280 Gentiles, the very people who are rubbing it in their faces that 368 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:05,280 they are now in charge. 369 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,400 See, even in the midst of the influx of the enemy, the people remember 370 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:17,160 their calling to be a light to the nations so that those nations 371 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,200 would know the salvation of God. 372 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,920 And verse 22 gives the rallying cry of hope as it says, 373 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,360 rise up O God, and defend your cause. 374 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,360 Remember how fools mock you all day long. 375 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:34,680 And this is the hope that we have. 376 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,360 As we conclude this psalm, we can easily look around the world 377 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:43,400 today and wonder where God is, from the large scale wars and conflicts 378 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,520 to the turmoil and sadness of our own hearts. 379 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,200 Well, this psalm tells us that there is hope today and it is only 380 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:52,600 in the God of salvation. 381 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,320 And we can know peace in the waiting. 382 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,520 And we can know that it is okay to trust these things to the 383 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,680 Lord to so that we do not get burdened by them. 384 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:05,240 Just like the people of old. 385 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,800 We still have a covenant today given to us by God and sealed by 386 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:16,200 the blood of Christ, that all who trust in him today find healing 387 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:17,880 in his sacrifice. 388 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,880 So today we are to set our hope on Jesus to look to him alone. 389 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:28,630 We're to look back to Christ and we're to look forward in hope 390 00:22:28,630 --> 00:22:32,950 so that we can endure the agonizing weight as we go through 391 00:22:32,950 --> 00:22:33,470 trouble. 392 00:22:33,950 --> 00:22:37,590 Because God has given us His Son, our only way of salvation, the 393 00:22:37,590 --> 00:22:43,069 only way to know that it will be okay that God does indeed hear 394 00:22:43,870 --> 00:22:46,830 and that one day he will answer. 395 00:22:47,790 --> 00:22:52,270 And ultimately on that day he will wipe every tear from every eye. 396 00:22:53,110 --> 00:22:56,710 He will heal and soothe every burdened heart. 397 00:22:57,750 --> 00:23:03,750 For the former things will pass away and we will be new in Christ. 398 00:23:04,710 --> 00:23:08,270 This is the confidence that Paul has when he writes in Romans 399 00:23:08,270 --> 00:23:13,830 8:38,39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither 400 00:23:13,830 --> 00:23:17,510 angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any pars, 401 00:23:17,510 --> 00:23:21,240 neither height nor nor depth, nor anything else in all creation 402 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,400 will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ 403 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,920 Jesus our Lord. 404 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:33,920 This is the forward looking hope that Psalm 74 presents us as 405 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,480 we look to the God of salvation who indeed will keep us. 406 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:42,280 And that as we place our trust in Jesus, he will not let anything 407 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:43,560 separate us from Him. 408 00:23:44,210 --> 00:23:46,610 And we will have this wonderful assurance. 409 00:23:47,650 --> 00:23:49,090 None of us like waiting. 410 00:23:49,810 --> 00:23:50,530 We don't. 411 00:23:51,250 --> 00:23:53,010 But sometimes we must. 412 00:23:54,050 --> 00:23:59,809 But what we must do is wait on the Lord to know that he has all 413 00:23:59,809 --> 00:24:01,090 things in his control. 414 00:24:01,810 --> 00:24:04,290 This is the only confidence that we can have today. 415 00:24:05,010 --> 00:24:11,090 And so turn to Jesus, know Him and his steadfast love, so that indeed 416 00:24:11,090 --> 00:24:15,930 you will know no separation from him, both now and forevermore. 417 00:24:16,410 --> 00:24:17,290 Let us pray. 418 00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:21,690 Our Father God, we thank you for your word that encourages us, 419 00:24:22,250 --> 00:24:26,650 it speaks to us and it gives us something for today to help us 420 00:24:26,890 --> 00:24:28,170 in the days that are ahead. 421 00:24:28,170 --> 00:24:29,850 So may we truly take it to heart. 422 00:24:30,330 --> 00:24:33,690 May we believe you to be the God who is ever present with us, 423 00:24:34,090 --> 00:24:37,210 that as we look back we will have seen you as the God who has 424 00:24:37,210 --> 00:24:40,560 been there and have confidence that you will be the God who will 425 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:41,520 take us into the future. 426 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,680 That even if we have to wait, and even if we don't like the waiting, 427 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,320 Lord, we will know that you hear and you answer, for you are 428 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:50,040 the God of salvation. 429 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,640 And what a turning point it is when we know Christ as the only way 430 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,640 of salvation and trust only in Him. 431 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,320 So keep us close to you, we pray, and may we know your continued 432 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,160 goodness and faithfulness in Jesus name. 433 00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:05,460 Amen.